Brad & Jenna 6.27.14

 This past weekend I was honored to be a part of Brad & Jenna's wedding day. It was a Friday evening wedding and was absolutely gorgeous. 

Thursday evening we had the rehearsal dinner at Basta's. 

The darling couple

Me and Jenna

The bridesmaids

The cousins group that always hung out (and still does)

Adam was an usher in the wedding, so it was fun that we were both at all the happenings.
Friday I had the day off work. All the bridesmaids met at Studio 117 to get our hair done. I'll just kind of let the pictures speak for themselves. :)

Bridesmaids

Jenna looking all spiffy

The Schick girls

 Around noon we headed back to the church for lunch and to get dressed.

Then it was time to head for pictures at Glen Oak. It was kind of a hot day, but I've had way worse weather for pictures, honestly! Plus the photographers were so incredibly fast, I barely had time to sweat.

Jenna looked so pretty

The groomsmen had awesome socks they were quite proud of!

Bridesmaids ready to go!

 We had a lot of extra time between pictures and the wedding service. The whole bridal party was packed in a van for pictures, so we stopped at Wal-Mart(so we could decorate the car at the reception), and DQ. I'm sure we looked a tad overdressed at both places!
This was the 7th wedding I've been in, but it didn't matter. I still got a little nervous/anxious before walking in. The baby was kicking like crazy too... he could tell I was a bit anxious. :)

Leaving the wedding in a GT something? :)

 The reception was at the Gateway Building. It was soo gorgeous. We took a few bridal party pictures by the riverfront before it started.

Photo by Kristen Rokey Photography

The food was delicious, the decorations were gorgeous, and it was a beautiful evening outside as well.

Girl Cousins- all born within 10 months of each other

Father-Daughter Dance

Married Couples!

Me, my wonderful husband, and baby- 6 months along! 

First Dance

Cake cutting

Jamie Lynn- the MOH

It was a wonderful day. I survived looking big and pregnant in my dress. However, I was quite exhausted at the end of the day. I was ready for a bed when we got home at midnight! After all, I had to haul 2 of us around all day every where we went! :) Thank goodness our shoes were just sandals! I don't think I could've done heels.

Congrats Brad & Jenna! I'll miss seeing you around miss Jenna. Please don't forget to tell me when you're back in town- I'll host a cousins night. :) Love you both!

Busy Summer

I've been a little absent from my blog lately. I will update with all sort of pictures since I've done so much better in that department lately. But, for now, just a quick update about us.

This summer has been flying by... I am currently 26 weeks along. Only 14 short weeks until our little guy makes us a family! It fills me with an overjoyed excitement, but also a tiny bit of fear of the adjustments we will have to go through the first few months. It's a bit surreal to me the closer it gets.

Daniel is taking an online class this summer. It doesn't take a ton of his time, but he still has homework most every day at some point. I'm so glad he took it this summer so it will give him more free time this Fall as we go through the adjustments of a newborn. Daniel's still working at the hospital in the evenings, but during the day he has been working for R&K construction, a business owned by his cousin. He has been doing carpentry work and learning all sort of new skills. This thrills me, because this means he can do more home improvement projects himself. :) He definitely stays very busy going from job to job. Thankful for such a hard working husband!


The summer has been pretty boring at work, honestly. That's kind of how it always is after tax season. The last couple of months I have been training a few people on how to do my job. It's a little bittersweet, but at the same time, I'm ready for something different. I'm not meant for a 40 hour week office job. Give me more socialization. :) But I do think I will truly miss some of my co-workers. We have too much fun sometimes, and they completely give me a lift during the day. You girls know who you are, and I know you're reading this, Alyssa & Brittany! :) So I'm enjoying my last couple months at work, but at the same time, SO looking forward to having a full-time job as a mom.

I've also been crazy busy this summer with my Thirty-One business. Some of you may know that I became a Thirty-One consultant in April. (for those who don't know about Thirty-One, visit our website! :) www.mythirtyone.com) It was a little tough at first, feeling so disgusting all the time, trying to work all day, and keep up with Thirty-One. Since I've been feeling better it's been easier. But I have been swamped this summer with parties. Such a blessing! I never imagined my business would start off this well. My goal is to do parties up until the beginning of September, and then take a few month break for parties, but anyone can still order at anytime. The reason I started Thirty-One is to do something on the side as a stay-at-home mom. I like to stay busy, and still doing some kind of "work" and pitching in financially really helps me stay motivated. I have been pretty tired at work somedays with having 2-3 Thirty-One plans in the evenings in just a week, but I know this too shall pass. I'm working on building my business for the future. If anyone wants my own personal website, just leave a comment...I'd rather not give it to you on the blog. Thankful that God has provided with my business so far!

I haven't been feeling the best (not nausea this time), and it's been kind of hard for me to do a lot physically. I've been to the Dr. a couple of times and they're not sure what it is. The closest they can get is that it is possibly Pre-Term labor, but they're not sure of that. Because I'm not sure, I've just been trying to take it easy. Daniel has been extremely helpful and supportive. From little things like always filling my water bottle before bed or before we go somewhere so I will drink more, to helping me cook and do the dishes, to giving me back massages from all my back pain. Sorry if it may be cheesy, but he truly is so selfless all. the. time! Like I say all the time... I'm ready for my first pregnancy to be over so I know what is normal and what isn't. I can deal with the pain, etc, as long as I know it's not something to be worried about! If any of you mom's out there have advice to share about pregnancy, go ahead and give it. :)



Ok, so there's my short(that turned out long) update. Hang in there for an actual picture post!

Memorial Day

Oh Memorial Day weekend. How wonderful it was...I'll take a 3 day weekend all the time, please. :)

Daniel & I had pretty much no plans for the weekend...so perfect. We could do whatever we wanted, and Daniel was actually OFF the entire weekend!

Saturday morning we took Bridget & Carter to the zoo. I never get the chance to babysit them or do anything fun with them, so it was fun to do it. Plus, I've been wanting to go to the zoo for a long time, and haven't had a reason to go. :) 

Carter was extremely enthusiastic with every animal we saw, which was quite entertaining. Bridget showed us around as she knew exactly where everything was at, and all the names of the animals. I didn't even know what some of the animals were, but she did. You can tell they've been to the zoo a few times. :) 

Afterwards we headed to McDonalds for lunch. Can't beat the happy meals that are on sale. :) They rushed to the playground thing. Gag... those things are so full of germs. But since I'm such a nice aunt, I let them play on it anyway. At least they have hand sanitizing wipes there now to use afterwards!

Then it was time to head back home for naps... so I of course had to get my fill with this little muchkin. :)

She's so perfect and sweet

Saturday afternoon we went to Daniel's parents to do chores since they were gone for the weekend. I got to feed baby calves. They did slobber all over my feet...which I dealt with. :) But I think there's a reason why I didn't marry a farmer. :)

We headed out to Lughinbuhl's lake afterwards to fish and have our own little cookout with Fred & Jodi. It was a nice evening, and as usual, the lake was beautiful. I didn't catch any fish though... I think I've lost my love for fishing. I used to love it... probably because we've gone on a fishing trip to Wisconsin every year since I was 8. But, I don't have the patience anymore. Unless I'm on vacation and getting sun at the same time. :)

On Sunday Daniel got sick... the worse I've ever seen him. We went to church all day, but afterwards he felt horrible. So we had a relaxing night on the couch, something we don't do very often. Sometimes I feel like the only time I sit in our living room is when we have people over.

Monday morning he was feeling much better, with no fever. So we headed over to my mom and dad's for breakfast. It was delicious, especially since I didn't have to make it!
The rest of the day we cleaned out and got rid of SO much junk. How did we accumulate so much stuff in just 2 years?! I feel like I have so much I want to get done before the baby is born. So it was a good day to start those kind of projects I've been wanting to tackle.
For dinner we went to One World with Mom, Dad, & Luke. It was wonderful.... we went back to my parents and played Ticket to Ride with Luke. Definitely our favorite game for us three to play together, since it seems it's always just us three. Adam's always busy doing his own thing. :)

Needless to say, it was a very relaxing and wonderful weekend. Relaxing and getting organized is my #1 priority on the weekends, and I definitely did just that.

Alison Kate

I'm an Aunt again!! Heidi & Luke had Alison Kate, born on Tuesday, May 20th at 2:54am. I'm officially the most proud aunt ever... I can't get enough of her! 

My mom and I were in the delivery room with Heidi, as we were with the other 2 kiddos. However...this time it seemed all a little more REAL, since I am 21 weeks pregnant! Ahh...So neat. I maybe got a little teary-eyed right when she was born. Such a precious moment. I'm sure my pregnancy hormones didn't have anything to do with it either. :) It makes me sooo anxious for my little one! Sometimes I wish I could just hold him now, but I guess the kicks and movement inside will do! 

Heidi did amazing. Induced around 10:00pm, baby due by 3am! I didn't take many pictures right when she was born... partly because it was 3am and I was exhausted, and because I was taking pictures with Heidi's camera most of the time. I think she just invites me in there to be the photographer. ;)

Right after she was born.. she was a little bruised at first!

So in love with her!

I didn't make it to work that day since I was up until 5am. So in the afternoon we took Bridget and Carter up to the hospital. Oh my, were they ever hilarious. Bridget was fascinated by the whole hospital thing. Every person we saw they would say, "There's a doctor!" Hmmm, not everyone at the hospital is a doctor. :) They were quite excited to see Baby Alison. As we were walking up they both said, "We're getting closer and closer!"

Not so bruised the next day... just looking sweet!

Family Picture!

 Bridget doesn't look thrilled in this picture, but she really was!

Carter's no longer the baby...doesn't he look happy about it? :)

 Carter kept saying "shhhhh, baby Alison's sleepin!" Ha, that lasted about 5 minutes. By the time we left he was crawling around barking like a dog. :)

Proud Grandpa Pfaffmann

Grandma & Grandpa Pfaff

Proud sister

We can't decide who Alison looks like... she doesn't really look like the other kids OR her parents that much. Maybe a little bit of Bridget. But my mom says she kind of looks like my baby pictures.... I'll take that comment! :)
(I have no pictures of Daniel with her because he's been sick all week...not the best thing for a newborn, so he hasn't gotten to hold her yet.)

Welcome to the world Alison Kate!
(And now that you're here....I can turn my phone on silent at night...as I'm no longer on call! ;)

Thankful!

Today I'm thankful for all of the energy I've been blessed with! It has truly improved, and I'm not sure if I've felt this energetic since before all my problems I had last fall!

This past weekend even though I could sleep in, I got up and went garage saling (found some deals, yay!) on Saturday, and on Sunday I was even up at 6:30am. So weird! Maybe I will turn into a morning person after all??
Saturday after garage saling, I came home and didn't stop until after supper. We both cleaned and organized SO much stuff around the house. I was sore the next day we did so much! What a great feeling that was...

Sunday, I woke up and thought it'd be great to go on a walk before church. When I asked Daniel if he wanted to go with me at 7am, he looked at me and said "Are you my wife?" Haha... I'm certainly not the person I have been the past several months! To answer your question, he did get up and go on a walk with me... He loves to see me full of energy. :) I love the feeling, it is sooo wonderful.

Not having something like energy, and then getting it back has made me so thankful and grateful for it. I'm thankful for a husband who has been incredibly patient with me for months(or almost a year...). He told me he feels like he has his wife back now. So thankful for the motivation I've had lately and how I've been able to keep up with stuff around the house.

Now for the cooking to improve would be wonderful....

It's A.....

So.... just to get to the point of this post.... We found out what we're having today!!

IT'S A BOY! 

We love our little boy already. Last time I had an ultrasound, he looked like a little blob. Now, his hands and feet were moving around and kicking me. Yes, I have felt him move inside me. I love it. Especially when I'm in bed laying completely still and he's just moving around like crazy. He is now 16.5 weeks old! We found out a bit earlier than most. :)

I'm so glad we found out... the baby is no longer an "it" but is now a HE. And as far as the name, you're going to have to wait on that. But yes, we have one picked out. Daniel loves it and so do I. DONE. We're not even going to keep looking and make our options more complicated.

So yes, I know I've fallen off of the blogging world. The past few months have been full of tiredness, nausea, and being crazy busy at work. But GOOD news!
1) Tax season is over... and my really busy season should be done by the end of April. But this month has been a little stressful at work.
2) I have energy back! Praise the Lord! The first time I really realized it was when the other day I couldn't stop moving. I was running around the house getting stuff done all day. Daniel even noticed...I haven't done something like that in a while! Ahhh, and I can finally stay up past 8:30. Although an 8:30 bedtime a couple times a week is still wonderful.
3)The nausea is decreasing! I have been feeling pretty good, although if I do feel gross sometime during the day, it's probably in the evenings. The evenings don't agree with me. So once I get home from work, I really don't feel like cooking. So the cooking could improve a bit... Also some foods still absolutely gross me out. Anything coconut or almond or BBQ sauce.... GAG. The smell, the taste, it doesn't matter. I WILL gross out.
4) I'm almost to week 17!!

Anyway, enough about my pregnancy symptoms. :) Life is still busy. Especially Daniel...with school and work. When we both have a night at home, we absolutely love it. I can't wait until I'm home with the baby and I'm home when he is and we don't have opposite schedules. Yes, that answers a question you may be wondering. I'm not planning on working when this little boy is born! I plan to work up until he's born and then I'm done at Gorenz. I'm thankful for the experience I've received there, but I don't think I will miss working full-time! I'm ready to be a full-time stay at home mom! A dream come true in my book!

I will try my best to keep you updated, but I have been doing extremely bad with taking pictures lately of the events and places we go. And I probably won't be posting pictures of my belly every couple of weeks....just because I'm not one to do that. No thank you. But yes, I will tell you, I am looking pregnant and have a little bump.

I think this weather has helped with my energy levels.... it's SO lovely outside!! Happy Spring!!

To answer your questions...

Well, since I've been asked these questions A LOT this weekend, why not post it for everyone to see? Here are the answers to the normal pregnancy questions.


When are you due? I know the picture said October 4th, but they actually switched it to the 10th of October.


How far along are you? Depends what due date you go by. I'm just about 10 weeks. I know, it's early. But it's been a very big challenge to hide it this long...especially at work. Let's just say it's been a long couple of months!


Are you finding out what you're having? YES we are!! This is one area where Daniel & I never really agreed on... but I've convinced him that we want to find out. :) And yes, we are telling people the gender. (Disclaimer: I didn't force him to say yes, but I tried to tell him that I needed to know. :)


How have you been feeling? Hmmm.. honestly? Horrible. But it could be worse I suppose. The first month was the most awful... I can't decide if it's because it really was worse, or if I'm just getting used to feeling gross 99% of the time! I'm so incredibly nauseated all the time. Exhausted... ALL. THE.TIME. My bedtime is around 8:00pm or it will be a really long day at work the next day. Cooking has been a little sparse lately. Cooking my food just disgusts me. Poor Daniel. I've done a lot of eating out, OR the other night, I made Daniel his dinner, and he made me mine. Perfect... I didn't have to eat what I cooked! I hear this is pretty typical...
Ever since we've been married, Daniel has commented on my sense of smell. "It's unbelievable," he says. And now that I'm pregnant? Even more unbelievable. One night Daniel heated up some BBQ Chicken. Gross gross gross. It sent me to the bedroom, buried under the covers, nose plugged, door shut, and candle lit to cover up the smell before I threw up. It disgusts me to even write it on my blog. The smells at work disgust me...even the smell of coffee. Seriously? I love coffee.
So work definitely has been a big challenge. To have the energy each and every day from 8-5. I enjoy my weekends SO much. Every weekend the #1 priority is nap time. :)


Has your diet helped? I would say YES, it has. It's been a huge challenge...especially at first. I want to eat all the good looking(unhealthy) food. Fried food? Ahhh it is SO tempting! But I must say, I've cheated on my diet a couple of times... and I can tell. I felt even more gross... So, I guess I'm looking at it this way. I would probably be feeling much worse if I wasn't on the diet I am. So I'm thankful I started before pregnancy! But I definitely have cravings that I just can't fulfill! So instead... my splurge is a delicious salad at Panera, or a gluten-free and cheese free pizza or lots of fruit.


What gender do you want? I think a girl would be OODLES of fun. Daniel thinks a boy would be wonderful. Honestly, I'm fine with either... but after going to a baby shower last week, girls have SUCH fun clothes. :) Bridget tells me it's a girl... so I guess we'll see if she's right. :) Carter told my mom it looks like a helicopter. :)


Do you have names? Hmmm... sort of. Although we have very different tastes. Boys have so far been the easiest. Some may croak, but one of my favorite baby names has always been IDA for a little girl. That was my very dear, sweet, Grandmother's name, and it means so much to me. Daniel won't allow the name... which I guess I can understand why. He needed to know my Grandma. :) Maybe I can squeeze it in as a middle name...


Are you excited? We are both BEYOND excited!! I feel so young to become a parent, but at the same time this has been my dream all my life. To be a mom. We're so thankful God has blessed us with children already!

I'm sorry if this was too much info for some of you... but I know some want to know that are from a distance!

Excited to Announce....

We are so excited and thankful!!