D. Family Coffee Break

Last week, Baby Ella received an "Aloha Baby" outfit from Grandma and G-Pa, all the way from Maui. Yesterday, Baby Ella received yet another package all the way from Maui, but this time, from Great Grandma Earline.  How cute is the kitten on the shirt?!?!?!  It's McKayala! This baby is so loved already!  Thank you so much for all the gifts! God Bless, Kat

Wyatt and I took another updated pregnant photo of myself and when I looked at it, I was in shock.  Can I really be looking like this already at 20.5 weeks?!?!  SERIOUSLY?  SERIOUSLY.  I guess I don't notice it every day, but when you take a snapshot, it's pretty obvious now. I guess there's no hiding this Ella girl! My look of shock and/or excitement (not sure which) after seeing the first photo. And just for fun, everyone...every once in awhile, we turn the corner and find McKayla bored out of her mind.  (Yes, she sleeps on her back.) God Bless, Kat

Well, who knows?  At 20 weeks yesterday, Baby Ella gave Mommy 20 minutes of legitimate kicking!  I was so excited.  I didn't know whether to cry or laugh.  As I was having "Mommy-Baby time" with McKayla  (yes, nightly quality time with the cat on my tummy), Baby Ella gave a couple kicks.  Within seconds, McKayla's eyes opened wide and she jumped right off.  (She's not too sure how she feels about the new baby yet.) While Wyatt was in the shower, the baby kicked for 20 minutes, every 3-5 seconds.  That's one active baby!  She could be the next female soccer super star!  Since Wyatt was in the shower, I had to tell someone.  So, at 10:30pm, I called Mama, who was probably already asleep), to tell her the good news!  Just as we were making dinner a few hours before, Wyatt turned to me and said, "I wish I could feel the baby too".  Well, Ella must have heard Daddy because when Wyatt got out of the shower, he put his hand o...

...and everything nice! This weekend we got together for dinner with some of our closest friends and Baby E was showered with gifts.  It made me think that I should post and give credit to the people who've already given us gifts for this unborn baby. Blanket from Mama Bernadette, from her trip to the Philippines. Camo onsie from G-Pa Conner. This was given to us even before we knew if E was going to be an E.  G-Pa Conner is hoping Ella will want to go hunting one day. Hello Kitty onesies from Auntie Claudia and Uncle Luke! New socks and bibs also from Auntie Claudia and Unle Luke. Auntie Melissa made Mommy and Daddy a scrapbook! Uncle Alex got the entire family some Toms shoes!  Blue for Daddy, red for Mommy, and elephants for Baby E! P.S.  Lots of credit to Daddy for his modeling skills! God Bless, Kat

*Note:  Notice that Wyatt has passed on his chin and head to this baby. Well, today we had our second trimester ultrasound and officially found out the baby's gender.  Ladies and gentlemen, make way for this bundle of joy, Baby E.! There's so much in the name... E-__-__-__ was my sister, Angela's nickname growing up and C-__-__-__-__-__-__ is Wyatt's Grandma Gloria's maiden name.  At first we thought Peyton E. or Peyton C. would make sense.  However, we couldn't decide which middle name to go with, so we opted to push Peyton out completely and go with E. C. D.! It's not that we hope this kid will be exactly like those women she's named after (although that's not such a bad thing), but we wanted the name to mean something.  For Wyatt, I'm sure he'll always have fond memories of his grandmother every time he looks at her.  For me, I'll have hopes that my daughter will hold my sister as a role model, just as I did. ...

Yup, we are officially at 18 weeks and 1 day today! :)  Woohoo!  Time is flying by so quickly!  Dressler baby-to-be is officially the size fo a sweet potato!  It's been awhile (and by awhile I really mean one month) since I've seen the doctor.  In that month, I've become increasingly anxious.  I was used to seeing the doctor every other week and looking at the baby that going one whole month without an appointment made me really insecure about whether the baby was okay.  Yesterday, we finally had our appointment and boy was it good to hear the sweet sound of this sweet potato!  Like every appointment, we were able to hear the baby's heartbeat (never gets old).  The only difference this time, was that the doctor didn't have to search so long to hear it.  Since the baby is getting so big, she was able to pick up on the sound of his/her heart pretty quickly and it sure was pounding hard and quickly! The doctor also gave us some promising ...

For those of you who don't know, my niece, Kaycee, is a pretty amazing person.  [No, not kid- person.  She is a wise woman trapped in the body of an 8 year old.]  Not only does she have a heart of gold, but recently, she has discovered her love for acting.  She is involved in community theatre and in the last few plays, has really made her way from supporting actor, to a real star in the making! Her plays usually take place mid-week, but thankfully the most recent play (The Saga of  Sweet Hannah Sue...) was showing on a weekend.  So Friday night, we drove ourselves up to Sacramento to watch her show.  Now, I knew she would be good, but she was phenomenal!  Here are a few pics of our fun, but short-lived weekend. Mady just got her present from Ninong Kris- Justin Bieber backpack! Before the play, in her awesome outfit. :) What a cutie with freckles! Proud grandparents! Before breakfast the day we left... :( Kaycee reading the Bi...

Email #1 to my husband (a.k.a. Daddy-to-be)... Me:  "Honey, thank you so much for doing so much cleaning around the house lately.  I really appreciate it." Daddy-to-be:  "No problem.  Don't worry, I have to get used to it..." WHAT A GREAT GUY, RIGHT?!!?! Because the first three months of pregnancy were spent passing out once my butt hit a couch or a chair, or staying away from cleaning fumes, or gasping for air after 3 steps up to the apartment, Daddy-to-be has really stepped up to the plate.  He has taken on many of the household responsibilities that used to be painless for me to perform.  Although he might not do it "my way", I really appreciate that he's willing to do part of my share, on top of his own. Email #2 Me:  "Hey, babe.  What do you want for dinner this week?  I'm headed to the market after work." Daddy-to-be:  "...maybe you can also pick up some sort of meat and some potatoes and I'll make some ma...