30 Weeks

It is SO hard to believe that I only have 10 weeks to go. This baby is going to be here before I know it!! 

30 Weeks: Baby Gries is the size of a cucumber!

We (meaning Jeff) have been hard at work on the nursery. Here are a few teaser pics of the progress so far: 

First order of business... the flowers had to go!

The dresser/changing table mid redo

I want to give a big shout out to my sister who helped me envision the layout of the room.

 We still have a lot of work to do, but I'll post pictures when everything is finished. Hopefully sooner rather than later!

Baby Shower!

The weekend before Thanksgiving I went back to Wichita for my first baby shower. My mom's friends always through the most amazing events, and this was certainly one of them. I felt so blessed and loved to have all my friends and family there to celebrate our little guy!

The adorable shower invite.

 My amazing mother-in-law (Cathy) and sister-in-law (Heather) drove all the way from Denver for the shower!

My MIL and Mom

And... my sister (Melissa) flew in from Indiana to be there. So special!

Loved seeing these lifelong friends!

My cousin Kayla was kind enough to snap some professional pics of the event! 

26 Weeks

This bump update is also a few weeks delayed, but I thought I'd post regardless!

26 Weeks: Baby Gries is the size of a HEAD OF LETTUCE (or as my dad said "Cabbage Patch Baby")

With all the kicking, I am fairly certain we have a future Pee Wee Soccer All-Star on our hands!

Girls Weekend!

A few months ago one of my college friends/roommates Sarah (Snodgrass) planned a trip to come visit me in Denver. Then, a few weeks ago, Snodgrass and Alli (another college friend) called me to tell me Alli had booked a ticket to come out the same weekend. I was so surprised and so so thrilled to be having a mini reunion in Denver.

Welcome Basket for the girls :)

Snodgrass had never been to the mountains before, so I took her to Breckenridge for the day. We walked around the town, went shopping and ate at Mi Casa. Added bonus... it was snowing!

The Sarah's in Breck

 

 

On Saturday, we picked Alli up from the airport and headed straight for Snooze. I had to introduce the girls to the best breakfast ever. Plus... they have Knorks! 

 

While we were waiting for our table at Snooze, I got a call from Jeff. He told me to look under the floor mat in my car - where I found an envelop. He told me he had a surprise for us and to open the envelope with the girls. Here's what was inside...

Just when I thought he couldn't be sweeter/cuter/more thoughtful, Jeff went and booked us all mani/pedis! It was the best surprise!

After our spa day, we did a little shopping and met Sarah Noel for dinner at Osterio Marco.

We had SUCH a fun weekend. I can't wait to see these girls again... Maybe Spring Break 2014? ;)

Week 24

I realize it's been almost 2 months, since I gave a bump update. Here's a look at week 24 (almost a month ago!)

Week 24: Baby Gries is the size of a cantaloupe!

By this time, I was definitely starting to feel some kicks and jabs - still feeling great though!

This was such a fun week. On Thursday, we had our good friends Kara and Cory come over to carve/paint/glitterize pumpkins before Halloween.

Cory and Jeff opted for carving

Then, on Friday, we went to Winter Park with Jeff's family. We spent the weekend enjoying the mountains, relaxing and playing games.

Rachel (Brian's GF) takes amazing pics, so we had her snap of few of us. More to come!

The girls at lunch: Rachel, Wendy & Lindsay (we missed you Holly and Heather!)

I Heart Fall!

Last year, Jeff and I decided to start taking an annual fall trip to the mountains to see the aspens - this year, we decided on Steamboat. We were going up there for a friend's wedding, so we made a weekend out of it! We even found a pet-friendly hotel, so we brought Mowgli along for the road trip!

We got to Steamboat with just enough time to grab a quick bite to eat The Rusted Porch. Jeff was thrilled, because they were celebrating Octoberfest. After winerschnitzel and a German beer, we were on our way!

The wedding couldn't have been more perfect! The ceremony was nestled in between an aspen grove!

On our way home from Steamboat, we stopped to hike near Lake Dillion. We found the perfect trail overlooking the lake - quite possibly my favorite trail EVER!

20 Weeks... IT'S A BOY!!

20 Weeks: Baby Gries is the size of a banana!

Jeff and I had our 20-week appointment/ultrasound on Wednesday morning. And... IT'S A BOY!!! We found out everything with our little man looks healthy. Praise the Lord!!

On Friday, my AMAZING sister-in-law, Heather, was sweet enough host a gender reveal party for us. She went all out!!

The votes were tied 7-boy; 7-girl

Jeff really wanted a reveal party, so I left it up to him to decide how to do the big reveal. He googled different options and was bound and determined to have party poppers. He researched how to re-stuff party poppers, and filled them with blue confetti. It turned out even better than we thought! The party poppers were a success! Here's an action picture of the big reveal:

We couldn't be more thrilled to be having a boy! Now, we just have to decide on a name and nursery theme... stay tuned!