Christmas Recap

Hello everyone! Before 2011 gets here I wanted to give you a quick recap of our busy, but wonderful Christmas weekend!

It started on Christmas Eve. Kyle and I went down to my sister, Wendi’s house. We spent all afternoon doing our Christmas baking, including oreo balls, peanut butter ritz crackers dipped in almond bark, chocolate star cookies, and puppy chow!

In the midst of all that we got he house ready for extended family Christmas that night!

And what else do you do at Christmas family gatherings, but eat!!

A delicious Christmas dinner: ham balls, deviled eggs, cheesy potatoes, strawberry pretzel salad, green bean casserole, and scalloped corn! Not pictured is dinner rolls, oreo salad, and of course all those yummy deserts!

And what else do you do at Christmas family gatherings? Open presents!!

And then play with your new gifts!

Only if you can figure out how to get the batteries in the toys! ;)

We went to Christmas Eve service at church that night and then set up the Christmas present we got for ourselves: a new tv!!

Football games will never be the same in the Bangert house!

Christmas day we went to Mom & Dad B’s house for our immediate family Christmas. Mom B made her yummy homemade pizza, not the traditional Christmas dinner, but still delish!

After lunch we did our gift exchange! Mom & Dad B must have been good this year! ;)

Abby even got in on the fun!

Travis was anxious to rip off that beautiful bow!

It was fun to have Mel & Steve home from Chicago! We keep telling them then need to move back here!

Grandma joined us for the day too!

Mom & Dad B got us a big Geroge Foreman, now we can make more than 1 chicken breast at a time! Our small George Foreman just wasn’t cutting it anymore!

Laura was pretty excited about her new Twin’s jersey, she’s a HUGE Joe Mauer fan!!

And Mel, the baker, can now make Hawkeye cakes!

We spent the afternoon playing cards & other games!

The next day our headed to Kyle’s aunt’s house for extended family Christmas. I didn’t get many pictures of the day, but it included more food, gifts, and family time!

One special gift we got was from Grandma. Grandpa passed away this summer and she had each of his ties made into a purse for the all daughters (& in-laws) and grand daughters. Such a neat way to remember Grandpa!

Grandma knew just the one for me, black & yellow! There is a long strap that is tucked inside, it will be perfect to take into Hawkeye games!

Other than family & food, we enjoyed our cousin’s little 3 year old boys! They are always on the go and kept us entertained with funny things they say!

An overall wonderful Christmas weekend! I hope you were able to enjoy it with the ones you love! Now let’s get ready to ring in 2011! Can’t wait for all that 2011 has for us! ;)

Merry Christmas

I wish I could send a card to every one who reads this blog! I SOOOO would if I could! But since that MIGHT be a little costly and take a while - I'm posting our card and wishing each of you a VERY merry Christmas from our family to yours!

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Sharing the news…

In case you’ve been MIA lately, click here & here for a quick update on what’s going on in the Bangert household!

So we waited a few weeks to share the news with our family. Initially we were going to wait until after we heard the heartbeat, but that would have meant I would have had to spend a week on the cruise ship with my sisters. No way could that happen! ;)

The first weekend in November we got my family together, which wasn’t the easiest task! ;) Everyone is so busy these days! We had everyone there except my Dad & 1 sister. We sat down at the supper table and I volunteered Kyle to bless the meal. So he did like he would any other prayer “Thank you Lord for this food and the hands that prepared it, etc….” but he ended it with:

“And thank you for the addition to our family coming in June, amen!!”

Everyone shrieked and was so excited!! My sister, Mindi, said she knew it because I was so adamant about getting everyone together for supper and I’ve been “SO TIRED” lately! Well, she was right! We spent the rest of the evening talking all things pregnancy & baby!

The next weekend we were in Chicago with Kyle’s parents, his sister, & her husband for the Iowa vs Northwestern game. The day after the game we went out for breakfast. I had been wearing a zip up hoodie, went to the bathroom, got rid of the hoodie, and came back to the table wearing this shirt:

Needless to say everyone was surprised! When we got home that night we shared the news with Kyle’s brother and skyped his sister in Omaha! Sharing our exciting news is SO fun!!

The week of the Thanksgiving we spent 5 days on a cruise ship! The only reason I was excited to come home was because Monday, November 29th we had an appointment to hear our baby’s heartbeat! I was so anxious/nervous for this appointment! Hearing that beating inside me was a completely indescribable feeling! Of course I cried and Kyle said it was the proudest moment of his life!

He also said he thought he heard 2 heartbeats! But the doctor reassured him that one was mine the other was baby’s! He thought it would be perfect to have twins, 1 boy, 1 girl! Good thing he doesn’t get to choose! ;)

My Dr. ordered an ultrasound for a few days later so we got to see little Baby Bangert! It was so crazy to see how much that little baby was wiggling around inside me! So now we even have pictures to show off of our little one! ;)

These are when I was 12 weeks. Look at those long legs all stretched out!

Hope everyone is all ready for Christmas, only 3 more days!

10.16.10

October 16th, 2010 is a day that Kyle & I will never forget!

I woke up early, 5am to be exact! I think I was so sure I was pregnant I couldn’t sleep! And I took the test I had purchased the night before. I didn’t tell Kyle I had purchased it though!

Seeing those 2 pink lines was almost surreal. I was excited, surprised, shocked, anxious, happy, etc all at the same time!

Since it was early on a Saturday I let Kyle sleep in & I ran down to my craft room to get busy! I wasn’t 100% sure how I wanted to tell Kyle. I brainstormed and knew just the way!

Before I show you a picture of the card I need to give you some background! The weekend before was 10.10.10, the day of the Chicago marathon. I tracked a bunch of people, fellow blog friends, strangers, and a few “real life” friends! I was so inspired that day, people of all shapes, sizes, weights, ages ran & conquered this race!

I had always thought I didn’t want to run a marathon, the 1/2 marathon was enough for me. But something changed that day and I had this HUGE urge to run a marathon! The next day I started researching spring marathons and came across Grandma’s Marathon in Minnesota. I read that it was a great marathon for your first, a mostly flat course! Race day was June 18th, 2011. I had convinced myself I was going to do this! I was so pumped that week, researching training plans, reading race recaps, setting dates to get started training, etc, but then…

Friday I realized I was about 1 week “late” and that’s when I decided to buy the test! And Saturday morning it was positive! Ok, so now that you’re caught up here is the card I wrote to Kyle:

And I wrapped a gift with a few things! When he finally woke up, I gave him the card & gift. He was a little confused, but I told him to just open it! The card totally threw him for a loop, almost made him mad! ;) First I didn’t want to run a marathon, then I was all for it, and now I was saying I didn’t think I wanted to do it! It was perfect because he didn’t have a clue!

Confused, he then opened the gift! Once again he was confused at first, why did he need baby clothes?!?!? He thought maybe it was for some friends who were coming over that night for supper who were 8 weeks pregnant at the time! But then he read the notes:

“Not only are you SuperMan, a Super Husband, but I know you’re going to be a Super Dad!” Kyle loves anything Superman!

“We may not need this to cheer on the Hawks today, but our little Hawkeye will get good use out of them next fall!”

With an ear to ear smile, he looked up and said “We’re pregnant?!?!?!?!” All giddy with tears, I squealed YES!!!!

We spent the next few hours talking & talking! It was a wonderfully happy day!! But let me tell you hanging out with our friends who were 8 weeks pregnant that night was SO hard not to spill the beans!!

Last, but definitely not least, Kyle & I thank each & every one of you for all your sweet comments on the Wordless Wednesday post yesterday!! We were overwhelmed with your excitement & kindness! So obviously the focus of my blog is going to change, gaining weight is now ok! I hope you all are up for some changes & continue to follow me in the new stage of my journey! Stay tuned for more!

Wordless Wednesday

Last Minute Road Trip

Saturday I took an unexpected road trip to Kansas City!! I packed my bags quick...
Had some cereal in my favorite bowl...

And my sister, Mindi, and I hit the road!! She had a wedding to go to and I was going along for the ride & to surprise my friend, Jenna, who lives in KC!

We had a few snacks along the way...

Some healthy...

Some, not so much! ;) The 4+ hour trip flew by, I always enjoy sister time!!

Our first stop was the Legends at Village West Outlet mall!!

Mindi made friends with some "animals"!!

We couldn't shop on an empty stomachs though! We made a quick stop at Five Guys, a new try for me!

I got the "little" burger, but there wasn't much that was little about it! ;) But it was one good burger!

Mindi's got the little burger too...but went "all the way" with her toppings!

Word the wise, if you go to Five Guys, get the regular fries! Our little container was overflowing. We barely made a dent in them!

We shopped the afternoon away and I made a quick call to my friend, Jenna. She had NO idea I was in town and was TOTALLY surprised!! I love surprises!!!

We met up downtown at The Plaza for some more shopping. It was EXTRA fun to see her because she recently got ENGAGED!!!
For supper we hit up one of my favorites, Cheddars! We had their homemade onion rings...LOVE these!!
And I got the chicken tender wrapper! I think they changed something on it though 'cause it wasn't the same as past times. Why mess with a good thing?!?!

We enjoyed supper and met up with my sister from Omaha, Stef, who was also in town for a wedding. It was a fun girls night! Oh and Jenna asked me to be a bridesmaid!!! Can't wait for your big day Jenna, you're going to make a gorgeous bride!!!
Sunday involved sleeping in, more shopping, and Mindi & I made the drive home! We didn't get back till after midnight though! I was one tired girl!! It was worth it, such a fun weekend!