Family Reunion

This weekend was a busy weekend. We went to Lima to visit Matt's cousin Elliot at his Amish store to look at kitchen islands. His Aunt and Uncle also stopped by the store to see us. We also stopped at other furniture stores along the way for couches. We have some possibilies, but nothing set in stone. On Sunday was the Papp Family Reunion. It was fun to meet new Hungarian relatives and the food was delicious! We found out that we were related to one of Matt's couple friends (Erin & Dave Miller) that we see once or twice a year. It turns out that Erin & my great grandfather were brothers.

Family Reunion ethan Illona

Ethan and Illona playing peek-a-boo

week 24 appointment

I am thinking that this baby is going to be a one in the morning feeder. The baby has been constantly waking me up at this time. Unfortunately, I've been having a hard time getting back to bed. Tuesday night I didn't fall back to sleep until 5 in the morning. Gotta love it. I didn't have the best 24 week appointment. The doctor express his concern of the recent weight gain of 7 pounds in a month. Mommy going to have to take a closer look at the extra hidden carbs and force herself to eat more veggies. They are going to test the pee a little bit further for any infections. Mommy has to go back in 2 weeks to also make sure her cervix is fine due to family history. The doctor is optimistic about that part. On a positive note, my wonderful husband surprise me with a gift certificate and a set appointment to get my hair highlighted and cut and a pedicure. He didn't even know I was having a bad day! Perfect timing for him.

Sigma lunch gathering

On Sunday, mommy and some of her sorority sisters had lunch at the Olive Garden. It was great to see everybody and my soon-to-be friends: Liam and Maddie

IKEA Trip

Mommy has the best friends ever. Rachel and Cathy surprised me by planning a day trip to IKEA in PA. Rachel brought the Teddy Bear Chair above for the baby. It's so cool because it bend to lay flat or sit up like a chair. The arms, legs, and head moves. Mommy can't wait to take pictures of me monthly in the chair when I am born. Mommy brought me a fun play mat. The cloud on it is so soft! Mommy, Rachel, and Cathy had a fun girls night watching Clueless, Empire Records, and going through Rachel's memory box from high school. What a fun day and night we all had.

Zac Brown Concert

Baby attended another concert this year on Aug 20th. He or she listened to Zac Brown band at Blossom. We went with our friends Kristen and Chris. Mommy got a lot of exercising walking that night. She was excitied that they brought kettle corn!

Starting week 23

Today is Matt & I third wedding anniversary! We are planning on going to the Road House for dinner. I can't wait for the yummy rolls. Although I feel indifferent about steak in my pregnancy, which normally I look forward to if I wasn't pregnant. It is also the start of week 23. With the start of preseason football, it's appropriate to say that the size the baby is one week away from being the size of a football (hopefully the kind of football where Jake Delhomme will throw to the end zone for a completed pass). Other pregnancy effects that are occurring is acid reflux and charlie horses. Tums is helping and the old wives tale of putting a soft pillow at the heels of my feet to prevent legs from stretching too far to prevent the charlie horses. The baby is waking me up more often in the middle of the night, but luckily I am able to fall back asleep better quickly.

Golf outing

On Saturday was the 9th annual Jim Evans (my uncle) Golf Outing. All the proceeds went tothe Radiologoy program at the local hospitals to aid students in their training. Above is Matt, Jason, Matt M., and Garret. They had a blast. Down below is Matt at hole 4 which he doubled his money by hitting it on the green. Jay made it on the green, too and both donated the money back. Jay also golf the longest at hole 17. Kate and I helped take bets on hole 4. It was a hot one with a downfall of rain, but all and all it was loads of fun!

Willy Wonka

I went to see Willy Wonka at Tallmadge High School with my friends Jaime, Rachel, and my sister Charla on Friday. The show was so cute. I loved all the little opupaloops (picture below). I think one of my old preschoolers was one of them. All the casts did an amazing job. It was well worth the $9 for a community play!

look for flag car

Matt's car is in full gear with Browns and Akron U. He is so pumped that football season is here (at least pre-season)!

21 1/2 week ultrasound

Matt & I went for an ultrasound on August 9th. All the measurements were good. The baby weighs one pound. She first showed us the face. Matt had a hard time seeing it. She took the top picture for us. The baby's hands are curled up next to his/her cheek. She showed us part of one foot that was kicking like crazy. That was our favorite part! She showed us the spine which is all intact. Lastly, we saw the forearm which is the picture below. Having the 8 minute ultrasound made it feel so real! Right when I layed down, I told her we did not want to find out the baby's gender! I did not see any private parts. It will still be a surprise around Dec 15th

Matt's new job

Matt started a new job on August 9th at Etactics off 91 in Stow. He is really excitied that this company wants to grow! The future looks very promising for his career in sales. He will be selling software to doctors. There is lots to learn! Our good friend Jaime works at the company, too!

Pregnancy benchmarks through week 22

May 20th: Baby's first concert

May 20th: Baby's first gift (Brown's bib & pacifier) from Lisa & Delaney S.

May 29th: Baby's first vacation: Daytona Beach

June 5th (week 12): Daddy Powell noticing mom's stomach is getting bigger

June 17th (week 14): Shopping for my first maternity clothes

June 24th (week 15): Wearing my first maternity pants. It was a little big, but more comfortable

June 25th: Ouch Ligament stretching

June 26th: Baby got his/her first book from Grandma Powell. Baby got first onies from Amy K.

July 9th (week 17): I felt baby move with confidence

July 27th (almost week 20): Hormones kicked in. I cried for at least 20 minutes because I dropped my hamburger

August 7th: Baby went to first golf invitational at Firestone country Club. We cheered for Phil Mickelson

August 8th (week 21 1/2) Mommy threw up for the first time.

Doctor visits up to week 22

First visit: Guess what you're pregnant determined by a pee test. Due date is Dec 14th

Second visit: Changed due date to Dec 15th. Measuring 8 weeks at ultrasound and 163 is heart rate.

Third visit: Nurse Practitioner Diane took blood work and asked a lot of questions

June 11th. Nurse couldn't find a heart beat, but the doctor found it right away which was 155.

July 1st: Heart rate is 154. I heard the baby move during it

July 30th: Quad screen was negative. Heart rate was 145, but baby moved right as she was finishing counting

August 6th: Emergency doctor visit because I fell down the stairs the night before. Heart rate 150.

August 9th: Ultrasound looks good. Baby weighs one pound. Heart rate 153

Finding out

Within a 24 hour period of April 12th we found out that we had our first offer on our house (which was full price offer!), celebrated our dog's 5th birthday, and found out we were having a baby! Both the house and the baby were a surprise! I found out the pregnancy test turns into a plus sign right away! That night we had our friends, Jaime and Erin over to for game night and to watch 24. It was hard not to tell them about the baby.

How we told our parents about baby

On Mother's Day, I made them a 8 x8 scrapbook of pictures of their first grandchild (Maddie for Kathy Powell & Ethan for Charlotte Gilbride). On the last page was a scrapbook page of my ultrasound. Kathy didn't get it because she thought it was Michelle's ultrasound. Once when we pointed it out, she was very thrilled. Charlotte said, "What!" Her and Greta shed a few tears

Remodel Bathroom

With Matt being in between jobs, Matt was able to work on our downstairs bathroom. The top picture is the before and the bottom pictures are the after. He remodel everything but the shower. We are very pleased how it turned out. We hired Matt Finkler Tile and Stone to do the bathroom floor.

pregnancy injury

August 4th: Mommy fell down the stairs and got a huge bruise on her lower back. We called the doctor on-call and they made sure everything was okay the next morning.

Michelle's & Greta's bellies on July 10th (17 weeks)

14 weeks

Belly at 14 weeks

Baby's first concert

May 20th: Baby went to his/her first concert at Blossom to see the Country Feast. This is the first concert that we left early and mommy only drank water at.

First baby gifts

May20th: One of our preschool moms and co-worker (Lisa) gave us our first baby gifts. Matt had to make sure they were safe