Thankful Thursdays...

Today, I am thankful for...

1. Scrapbooking. I have not actually done scrapbooking since I was in college. I made a scrapbook for Ryan that chronicled our dating life up until we were engaged. Then, I went on hiatus. Thankfully, Ryan's cousin, Cara, has done Matthew's entire first year for us as a gift! HUGE BLESSING! Now, I am going to try to keep up with important milestones/events in his life from here on! I am also thinking about getting a book started for baby #2, but I am hesitant since we aren't sure of the sex. I am looking forward to having a creative outlet again!

2. Fall decor. I am going to try to get my house decorated for fall this weekend! I love pumpkins and leaves and my house just happens to be painted in fall colors! I can't wait to get all my little gourds out! :)

3. NAP TIME!!! I did not let Matthew take a morning nap this morning... I am not sure we are ready for that transition yet, but I thought I would try it on a day when I didn't have too much planned. He was quite the little trooper, even as we made a trip to Michaels. Now, he is sleeping and I am hoping he takes a nice long nap!

4. A meeting that went well. I requested a meeting with my bosses earlier this week to discuss some things that were causing increased stress in my life! It could not have gone any better! Best news of all... my office is moving to a beautiful new location! I am meeting with the Plant Ops guy in the morning for a walk-through! I can't wait to have a new office and a separate space to see my patients! YIPPEE!!!

5. An official name for baby #2... as long as baby #2 is a girl! I really wanted to use family names for this baby like we did for Matthew, but as we previously posted, we really could not agree on what to use. So... this is what we have decided. My maternal grandmother's name was Esther... and although I loved her dearly, I really couldn't bring myself to name my child Esther. So, we started looking for names that started with "E." My paternal grandmother's name was Marcella... again, not going to name my child Marcella. Ryan's maternal grandmother's name is Joyce. We had decided that the baby's middle name would be Joy to honor Grandma Kessie, but we could not decide on a first name... then it dawned on me... thanks to my sister's suggestion... Why not name the baby Ella? It starts with "E" and it is the end of Marc"ella." Why didn't I think of that??? We had liked Ella previously when we thought we were having a girl, but had not really even considered it this time around. So, that's how we arrived at our little girl's name. We will name her Ella Joy. Now, if it ends up being a boy we will have to start all over again, but for now we are calling her Ella! Hope you like it!

Have a great weekend!

Little League

Ryan here...

One of my favorite things to do this time of year is to watch the Little League World Series on television. Jamie will even watch the games with me! I ran across this story the other day on ESPN's webpage, and had to share it with everyone.

Thankful Thursday on Friday...

Today, I am thankful for...

1. Lots of movement. Baby #2 is quite the little wiggle worm. Ryan was able to feel her move for the first time the other night! She is quite the little swimmer!

2. A name for baby. Ryan and I wanted to use a family name for our little girl, but unfortunately could not agree or did not really like any of our choices. We have come up with a name that incorporates several important family members that we really like. My sister came up with the name and we love it! We will share soon!

3. Meeting with friends. Two of my good friends came over yesterday afternoon to visit! It was so great to see them and catch up on life, not to mention, spending time with their little bundles of joy!

4. Brownies. I made brownies yesterday for my friends' visit. They each had one. I think Ryan has had several, but I polished the rest of them off today when I got home from work! YUM (too bad chocolate gives me terrible heartburn!)!

5. Walking. Matthew is walking. He is still quite wobbly, but today he walked from the kitchen to the living room and yesterday from the living room to his bedroom all by himself! He looks a bit like a baby giraffe testing out its legs, but we are so pround of him anyway!

Name Update

Well, for those of you who participated in the poll about our favorite names, we have some news. Our little baby girl (if in fact it is a girl), will not have any of those names (Adelynn, Miley, Mia, or Annie). Although we like all of them, we have recently come up with a new favorite. We will share soon, once we both agree for more than 24 hours that this will be the name. Boy names seem so much easier for us! We have another doctor's appointment on September 3rd where we will hopefully be deciding whether or not another ultrasound is needed. I have been measuring about 3 weeks ahead of schedule (which I did with Matthew), so the doctor didn't know whether she would order another sneak peak or not... guess we'll have to wait and see. Have a great week!

Matthew's 1st Birthday!

He enjoyed his cake!

Giraffe cake and safari cupcakes! YUM!

The Kessie Family

The Pease Family

4 Generations with new baby Caleb!

Happy 1st Birthday Matthew Thomas Peppler!

Wow! I can't believe an entire year has passed since our little guy was born. Here are some of our favorite pictures from his photo session on Saturday. He wasn't overly smily, but they captured some of his cute expressions! The first one with the bear just makes me smile. I took many of his own stuffed animals thinking they would make him happy. He wanted nothing to do with his animals but loved the studio's bear. So much for Mommy planning ahead!

Here he is relaxing in a recliner! He thinks he is pretty cool now that he can get in and out of chairs on his own!

This one makes me laugh! I just love his little expression!

These are the things you don't say to your wife!

We saw this video on a friend's blog! It made us laugh! Hope you enjoy it!

A Picture Post Thankful Thursday...

Today, I am thankful...

That most of our meals do not turn out like this one did. Yes, this is chicken, and no, we did not eat it!!! Ryan and I are trying not to eat out for the entire month of August, so I decided to try a new crockpot recipe. Usually, our crockpot cooking turns out beautifully, however, on Tuesday we settled for leftovers! The smell of burnt soy sauce and honey is NOT a good combination!

This great group of youth. Ryan and I have been having a Senior High Bible Study at our house on Sunday nights this summer. We have really enjoyed getting to know these great kids! We are sad that this week will be our last meeting, but look forward to continuing to get to know them during Sunday School!

Our growing families... Saturday the Phegley family had a family reunion at the Mississenewa Reservoir (sp?). The boys had a great time playing in the water and the sand and the big boys enjoyed tubing and boating! The best part of the whole picture is that the 2 love birds seen standing behind us started making out just after these shots were taken! Too bad we missed that!!!

A Daddy and his little buddy!

Our independent little cutie!