Friday, May 30, 2008

Secret Project


So, I'm finishing up my secret project. I would like to share full pictures with everyone, but I've decided not to do that yet. For those of you who live around here, hopefully, you will get the chance to come over and see the nursery in the coming weeks. For those out-of-towners, I'll post pictures later. The picture above is just a portion of what I'm working on. Notice the pink! Don't worry, it will all make sense soon!

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Thankful Thursdays

Today I am thankful for...

1. EMS personnel. My grandma was taken back to the hospital today following what seems to have been a mini stroke. The EMS personnel who came to my parent's home were wonderful. In moments of stress, it is so nice to have people who are professional and compassionate helping you. Grandma was admitted to the hospital for observation.

2. My husband's creativity. He has been creating items for the baby's room all weekend. This little guy is going to have the cutest nursery I have every seen (I might be a bit biased)!

3. Peanut Butter M&M's. I have had an entire pound this week by myself!

4. The halfway mark of clinical. Today, I am officially halfway done with my clinical hours. Only 75 hours left to go!

5. The smell of fresh cut grass! Nothing screams spring more to me than pretty lawns and yummy flowers!

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Pink Is The New Blue



Week 27 is here! Only about 3 months to go until the due date. Matthew is quite the growing little boy, weighing in at almost 2 pounds (about the size of a head of cauliflower), and about 14 1/2 inches long, legs extended. His lungs have developed pretty well by now, enough that they would be able to work out in the world. Let's pray that that is not the case, though. It's also possible now that he will be starting to have hiccups!

It's pretty crazy to think that in just 3 months, we will be having a baby. We got a lot done with the nursery this weekend. More on that to come with a later post. I will try to get pictures taken of my secret project. Just know this: Pink has made a return to the nursery.

Friday, May 23, 2008

I'll Give You A Nickel For Your Pickle!

So, I've fallen a little behind on my growth reports. Sorry. Not a whole lot to report this week. Matthew is now the length of a 14-inch English hot house cucumber. I don't know what that is, but here's a picture of one.

He is now weighing in at a hefty 1 and 2/3 pounds. What a porker!!! He'll be continuing to put on his baby fat all the way until he's out. Another interesting item to file in the "Too Much Information" file: Matthew's testicles will descend this week!!! It should take two to three days for them to make the long journey. Sorry, Grandma...I have to let everyone know what is going on!!!

My big job this week was to put together and move baby furniture. (Thanks, Kyle!!!) The nursery is really starting to come together. I have another job that will keep me busy the rest of the weekend, but for now, it's a secret. Shhhh.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Thankful Thursday

Today, I am thankful for...

1. Grace... I certainly use my share of this everyday!

2. For tired legs... I finished my second week of clinicals today and I am so tired tonight. However, I am grateful because I know my body feeling tired hopefully means that in some small way I have helped someone else's body heal. I am realizing more and more everyday that nursing is exactly where I am meant to be!

3. Hot fudge... I have my glucose tolerance test tomorrow, so I am thankful for each and every bite of sugar I have had over the past couple weeks. I have a feeling these Thankful Thursday posts might contain a food item for the remainder of my pregnancy (hopefully tomorrow won't bring an end to the sweet options in my diet).

4. For yellow walls in the baby's room. We were planning on re-painting Matthew's room when he was a girl to go with the pink and brown motif, however, due to our little surprise, we have discovered that the yellow walls are perfect with the bedding set we chose! Hallelujah for no painting!

5. Steven Curtis Chapman. For those of you who do not know this man, he is an incredible Christian musician. Ryan and I have been blessed by his concerts on more than one occasion. We danced to one of his songs at our wedding. This morning we were heartbroken to read that his youngest daughter, Maria, was killed in a tragic accident at their home. He has blessed our lives so many times, and we are thankful for his witness to the world. Would you join us in lifting his family up over these next difficult days and weeks? If you would like to read more about their ministry or their family you can visit his website: http://stevencurtischapman.com

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Safety First


Here is Ryan's latest creation! He made a gun cabinet for our brother-in-law, so that he has a safe place to store his firearms since their little boy is starting to get into EVERYTHING! This is his most difficult project to date, and I must say it turned out beautifully! Jared was really surprised tonight when he came to our house to see it for the first time! Hopefully, our cars will find their way back into the garage sometime later this week!

Monday, May 19, 2008

Matthew Thomas Peppler

Well, after several rounds of elimination our little guy has a name! His name will be Matthew Thomas Peppler. Ryan and I both had uncles pass away several years ago who meant the world to us. We wanted to use parts of their names for our little boy. We hope he will be as wonderful and loving as these two men were in our lives! Here's to Uncle Todd and Uncle Tom, we love them and miss them everyday!

Friday, May 16, 2008

Thankful Thursday (well, really Friday)

Today I am thankful for...

1. Ultrasound machines (I think)!

2. My grandma is home from the hospital. She is living with my parents again and gaining strength everyday!

3. Baby Gap sales!

4. 3 days of clinicals down... only 18 more to go!

5. All the little kicks and movements I feel everyday! Our little guy is so active these days and it makes me smile just thinking of how busy he will be when he arrives!

Have a great weekend!

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Re-registering!

It's a good thing I enjoyed the registering process the first time because doing it a second time is not nearly as much fun! My mom and I went back to Babies R Us tonight to remove the pink items from the list and replace them with blue! It seems the decisions were harder this time. I was a bit torn between an animal theme and a sports theme for the room. In the end, I decided our little guy would be a member of the animal kingdom! He will be living in a jungle for the first couple years of his life! GRRRR! I am hoping Ryan likes the choices I made, however, I am fairly confident that he will pretend he likes them no matter what because he doesn't want his emotional wife to have a meltdown!

I survived my first week of clinicals and only have 6 more to go! I have some really wonderful preceptors this semester who are providing me with some really unique and interesting experiences! I will definitely be relieved when I am finished with school and can focus more on the little guy who is moving all over the place these days!

My sister told me I was waddling the other day (I asked for her opinion)! I am trying very hard not to waddle, but I don't think I am succeeding. Oh well, I guess being pregnant has its perks!

Waddle on, friends!

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

The Morning After...

Well, after our big news last night, I thought I better post and let you all know we made it through the night!!!! I hardly slept, however, Ryan was sound asleep for most of the night! There are a few details we left out of the initial post that I thought you might find interesting. The only reason I had an ultrasound yesterday was because I started clinical at Warsaw Women's Center and one of the ultrasound techs wanted to scan my belly "just for fun." Well, her fun was a tad more than I bargained for! My Mom is now convinced I am having twins because we were 95% sure with the first ultrasound that it was a girl! I promise there is only ONE baby in there! I have another clinical this morning... hopefully they don't have an ultrasound machine!!!! Have a great day!

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Okay, Now What Do We Do?



Y'all ain't gonna believe this!!!!! Start thinking blue. Jamie had an ultrasound done today, and guess what the doctor found? I'll keep it G-rated, but they did find something that little boys have and little girls do not have. To say that we were shocked would be an understatement!!!! You have no idea how much pink stuff we have purchased and our families have purchased over the past 6 weeks! DON'T MISUNDERSTAND: WE ARE VERY HAPPY THAT WE ARE HAVING A HEALTHY LITTLE BOY, but it is taking us a little bit to adjust to the news! I guess he won't need too many hairbows!!!! As you might have guessed, we haven't decided on a name yet!!! Once the fog lifts, we will get back to you! The second picture from the top on the left shows the evidence!!!!


Growth report: Our little boy is the size of a rutabaga this week. No other news to report.

Monday, May 12, 2008

No Grace Here

All right, it's time for a middle name update. Bad news for 12 of you out there. The middle name will NOT be Grace. Jamie and I both love what it stands for, but we love the other middle name that we chose better! We're still not revealing what the actual middle name is, so you'll just have to change your vote to something different. Have a great week!

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Addy's First Photo Shoot


Thanks to Jacob's Curious George, Addy had her first official photo shoot today! Look at all the pretty hairbows!!!!!! Can't wait to see them on our little girl! If this nursing thing doesn't work out, maybe I will go into the hairbow making business!!!

Thankful Thursdays

Today, I am thankful for...

1. HAIRBOWS! I have been creating hair accessories for our little girl for the last 24 hours! This little adventure started when I was searching online for hairbows for babies and discovered that they cost between $12-$30 each!!! That was the end of searching online and the beginning of production at my house! I have been to Wal-Mart 4 times in the last 24 hours to gather the needed supplies and so far our little girl has 20 hair bows to accompany her little outfits! I figured making anymore than that would be overkill at this point! HA! I just keep reminding Ryan of all the money he is saving. Pictures to follow later.

2. Hot glue guns (except the blisters on my fingers!)

3. Little Debbie Fudge Rounds! (YUM!)

4. Learning how to sew. Before this little hairbow project, my sewing skills ended at putting a button back on a shirt (which I am not very good at). I kind of have enjoyed this new little hobby, and think I might start sewing a little more.

5. For my Mom! In honor of Mother's Day this weekend, I want to give a shout out to all moms everywhere! Thanks for all you do everyday!!! I am blessed with one incredible MOM!

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Congratulations, Sis!


The Peppler family made a trip to Indianapolis this past Friday to watch Rachel's graduation. She now is has her doctorate in Physical Therapy from the University of Indianapolis. Congratulations, Rachel!!! I altered the logo above in honor of her accomplishment!

Corn on the Cob and Baseball





Weekly growth report time! Adelynn is now about as long as a foot-long ear of corn. "Footlong, who's got the footlong?" That was for those Dumb & Dumber fans out there. She has gained about a quarter of a pound just this week, and is really kicking up a storm in Jamie's belly. I love hearing from Jamie when she is kicking and I am now able to feel Adelynn a lot more. What a cool feeling! Jamie had a good report from the doctor yesterday, and everything seems to be going well.


I was asked the other day about the pictures that I have been putting on here, and why there is a quarter on them. I get these pictures emailed to me, and I guess the quarter is just there to give an idea of size. In other words, I don't know why there is a quarter in all the pictures!!!


Also, for those of you who don't know me very well, I am a huge St. Louis Cardinals baseball fan. And I just want to send out a shout to all my friends that are Cubs fans. Although it is very early in the season, the Cards are on top of the division, and primed for a great season. I'll end this with one of my favorite quotes about the Cubs. "Anyone can have a bad century!"


Take care, all.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Thankful Thursdays

Well, I am stealing this idea from a fellow-blogger friend of mine (Thanks Deanna!). She posts 5 things she is thankful for every Thursday. I find this idea refreshing and a welcome change in my somewhat ungrateful attitude. So, I am going to attempt to do this on a regular basis. Hopefully, it helps me remember all I have to be thankful for! Here it goes...

Today, I am thankful:

1. For a husband who loves Jesus and loves me!

2. For a clean house!!!!!! I have spent the better part of the last two days cleaning our house. I even made our bed two days in a row which might be a record around here... GASP (I know most of you probably make your beds everyday, but that is usually not the case around here!) I even came up with an idea for a new invention while I was cleaning: a device that allows you to clean crown molding without climbing on chairs and clean the baseboards without getting on your knees! I used a baseball bat yesterday to get this job done, but think there is surely an info-mercial out there somewhere screaming for this product!

3. For a healthy pregnancy so far. Despite the morning sickness (which has almost completely subsided as of late), I have felt good and Addy seems to be developing on schedule! Praise God!

4. For finals next week (not exactly the final exam itself, but the fact that next Tuesday will end my time spent in a classroom for awhile! All of my summer classes are online!)

5. For brownies baking in the oven! YUM!

Huntington University

Well, as most of you have read, I had an interview with HU last week. It has been a goal of mine to return there to teach since I left to pursue nursing. Ryan and I have been praying and discussing the idea of the position being full-time for the past week and decided that I would not pursue the job any further. One of the things we value is the thought of being able to spend as much time with our kids as possible and me starting out in a full-time position does not fit into that picture very well. I have been a tad emotional over this decision, but I know it is for the best and something else will come along. So, if you know anyone who needs a nurse practitioner (on a part-time basis), let me know!