Baby Charlie Update

Just a short update on Baby Charlie. Due to my gestational diabetes, I'm having many more tests and "checks" on aspects of the pregnancy done, including weekly visits to the doctor. It seems that it is basically under control, but my doctors like to be proactive. One fun part of that is that Kenny and I got to see our sweet Charlie at another ultrasound this past week. At 33 weeks along, Charlie weighs about 4 lbs. and all of the measurements for him were perfect for 33 weeks. He was moving so much that the pictures the tech gave us weren't that great. She also mentioned again that it is "definately a boy" which always makes Kenny proud to hear. The doctor was VERY happy to see him doing so well, as were his parents.

It also seems that unless our son decides to make his appearance to the world on his own time (and we know that is a distinct possibility since Kenny and I are BOTH stubborn people), that he will be arriving the last week of June. The doctor says they don't let gestational diabetes babies go until their due date and they typically will take them about 7 days early. If Charlie follows that schedule we just have about 5-6 weeks to go! :)

My Friend Ryan

This post is about my friend Ryan. April 30, Ryan passed away after a 3+ year battle with cancer...April 30, Ryan also turned 30 years old. This post is about what an amazing person Ryan was and the lessons we can learn from him.

I met Ryan in Spring 1998 when he joined PSE. Although I have seen Ryan many times since college, I picked pictures of Ryan from our college years at NIU. They make me smile the most because that is the Ryan that I will always remember.

Somewhere in these last few days, I saw written that Ryan passed away with grace and dignity...and that is so true....and so Ryan. He was always little more quiet in larger groups, had a great smile that made you instantly feel comfortable, loved food more than many people I know, loved to laugh and tease, and most of all was one of the most loyal people you could meet. There is a wonderful angel watching over us now.

These are some of my favorite college memories of Ryan.

This is Ryan climbing a tree outside our apartment in May 1999...putting Megan's shoe in a tree. I'm not sure why...my only explaination is...we were in college. But this was Ryan's way of teasing...this is the fun side of Ryan.
This is Ryan and Jon, taken in Galena when somehow my friends managed to talk me into camping for a weekend in August 1999 before school started. Jon, Adina, Jill, Ryan, Megan and I had a great weekend together...still don't know how I got talked into camping!

This is Ryan...when I think of Ryan...this is how I picture him...a little serious looking, but smiling. Funny thing about that shirt is that one day, Ryan and I realized we both had that shirt and were both wearing it. I don't remember the exact situation, but it was probably something like it was about 11pm and I (a management major), was headed off to bed for the night and was wearing the shirt to sleep in and had strolled out to the kitchen to say good night. Ryan (an accounting major) was just coming over to our apartment to study with my roomie, Megan (another accounting major) and he was dressed in comfy clothes because they were usually up most of the night studying. I'm sure he had tbell (that's Ryan talk for Taco Bell and a name that I ALWAYS think of when driving by a tbell) in hand to gross out Megan, who didn't like tbell at all! And next, Ryan would start his teasing about how management majors could go to sleep and true, hard working accounting majors had to study hard to get their good grades. Always a joke between Ryan and I about how I had the easy major and he had the tough major...I secretly think he was jealous! :)

Adina, Ryan and Will...May 2000...Adina and Ryan were toasting to a great time at NIU as this was our last party before graduation!

Spring 1998...PSE Bonding...a great experience to get to know the new members in PSE. And there's Ryan on a team with 4 girls.


For some reason this is one of my favorite pictures...in think it's from Spring 1999 and I know it's a E-Board picture. I was the President that semester and Ryan was the guy in charge of keeping the meetings in order (I can't remember his title). I NEVER had to worry about Ryan getting things done for his position on E-Board...they were just done...and he was probably off helping someone else with their responsibilities...and that was just how Ryan was.

Graduation from NIU...May 2000...this was a such a sad and happy day. Sad that we were leaving our friends and NIU for the real world and as hard as we worked to get there, we didn't want to be there...but happy to have accomplished so much while at NIU. Saying goodbye to Ryan was in a way similar to that...so very sad to say goodbye to him and something that you just don't want to do, but so proud of all he accomplished in life and so grateful that he wasn't in pain or suffering any longer and that he was finally at peace.

And this is Ryan...as Fred Flinstone...his face says it all.

I have tried to make sense over the last few years and in these past few days about how such a wonderful person like Ryan, could have to had suffer so much and at such an early age. Although I don't understand why, I came to realize some lessons that Ryan has taught me. He fought a long and brave fight and he didn't back down or complain. This wasn't fair that he got cancer at age 26 but he just went with it. He was brave...more so than many people could EVER be. He also lived life to the fullest...I can't even begin to describe all the places he traveled to and things that he did before he found out about his cancer AND after. It never stopped him and that makes me so proud of him. He reminds me that I should ALWAYS live life to the fullest and to cherish every moment.

Parents have many hopes for their children. Parents of daughters hope and pray that their little girls find a guy like Ryan to date and marry because they know that their little girl will be taken care of. Parents of sons hope and pray that their little boys grow up to be like Ryan, respectful, friendly, loyal, brave and funny --- I know I hope my son grows up to be like Ryan.

Babies

As everyone knows, we found out we are having a baby boy. Although many people I know DO find out what they are having, there are a few out there that don't find out the sex of their babies. In my opinion, they are strong people, much stronger than I, because if you know me, I NEED to know things...as much as possible. Especially during such an eventful time in our lives...I NEEDED to know the sex of my baby.

So, not only did we find out the sex of our baby on Valentine's Day, we officially announced his name too...Charles Edward Friedrich --- or Charlie. If it were a girl, no name announcement would have come that quick, but a boy name, we had decided on forever ago.

Some might say that knowing the sex of your baby and announcing the name, leaves no surprise for the birth. I think a bit differently. I really want to know what my little Charlie looks like...and no one can ever tell me that until he is born. So, many of mine and Kenny's conversations, when discussing Charlie, revolve around who he will look like, who he will act like, will he have traits like other people in our family besides ourselves. We know that Charlie will be Charlie...a special verison of whatever combination he makes up in looks and attitude.

Will he look like his mommy (below)?? This is me at about 3 weeks old. And yes, the chubby cheeks were there ever since birth...and they haven't left yet!


OR will he look like his daddy? This is Kenny at about 2 days old. I have two observations about this photo...Kenny was born with ALOT of hair...and oddly enough, he has kept the same style all these years. :) And, he still makes that face sometimes!!!

So, for the next several weeks, we will sit and wonder what our sweet Charlie will look like. Something tells me he is going to be a mini-Kenny. :)

Dogs...

Kenny and I are HUGE dog lovers and we have been without our Duke boy for about 3 months now. Had the birth of Charlie not been in our near future, we probably would have had a sweet new dog in our house by now. After we put Duke down, we decided it was best to wait to get a dog until after Charlie's arrival so that the new dog will join our family of 3, rather than adjust to Kenny and I just in time to readjust to Charlie. Logically, this is what we SHOULD do. It's what everyone TELLS us to do. It's really the BEST thing for us, Charlie and the future dog. Right???

But....our HEARTS want another dog sooooo badddd!! We WANT to come home and be greeted by a jumping, furry friend whose is just happy to see us and makes all of the bad things that could have happened that day go away. Kenny and I seem to take turns going through this "needy" phase. So, we spend our time studying rescue websites, looking for our next furry companion that will be a great friend to us, that will look after our Charlie...a sweet loving dog that will fill the house with fur and give sweet, sloppy doggie kisses on command.

AND...then we "discuss" the BIG QUESTION...

Do we get a sweet, midsized, loving Brittany, like I grew up with???

OR...do we get a great, bigger Lab, like our Duke and the only kind of dog Kenny has ever had?

What do you think???

Water for Elephants

I recently finished reading Water for Elephants for my book group and it was FANTASTIC!!! Great pick, Pia! It was one of those books that I probably never would have read if not required for book group. Even though it was a best seller and one of the books proudly on display right when you walk in the door of the bookstore, I still probably would not have read it. But, I loved it! And this is the exact reason why I love book group so much because it gets me to read things I normally would not have and most times, I feel very committed to finishing it, even if I don't like it. I highly recommend it to everyone!

Next book group pick is mine, The Glass Castle. Since I've read it already, I've moved on to Jodi Picoult's new book, Change of Heart. I'm only about 1/4 of the way through it and it's awesome. She is a great author!

Baby Charlie...at 24 weeks!

Here's another look at Mr. Charlie at 24 weeks. It's a profile shot of him lying on his back. His head is on the left, belly to the right and limbs in the air.

The reason we have another picture of him is because my doctors are being a little extra careful with me because I have had a few high blood pressure readings in the last few years and while I've been pregnant...to them a high blood pressure reading is 125/84 or 127/78. I have to love that they are being extra careful with me, but laugh a little because most doctors I know wouldn't look twice at that BP reading. Regardless, I'm thankful for them and I know that as this pregnancy continues, the chances of my BP going higher naturally, get better and better, so I appreciate the extra tests that they have put me through thus far. All tests and procedures have come back completely normal and if something were to get worse down the road, they now have "baseline" readings for me on everything possible, so they know better how my body is working.

With that, after our first pictures of Charlie at 20 weeks, they ordered another ultrasound for 24 weeks, to ensure that Charlie is growing at the proper pace. And, of course, he is. I can even see that from the pictures he looks bigger. Since Kenny and I were confident that everything was fine, Kenny opted not to go to the ultrasound. So at the last minute, I invited my mom to join me. Since she's retired, her schedule is ULTRA busy (HA! HA!) and she dropped everything to come and see her grandson for the first time and an ultrasound for the first time. As she pointed out to me, I'm too old to have had an ultrasound done when she was carrying me around!

She loved it and we even saw his little heart beating away! Ultrasounds are amazing!

Kid Funnies...

The first weekend in March, we had a graduation/18th birthday celebration at our house for my cousin Samantha! Now, first let me make my "I'm feeling old comment." I remember when Sam was born, I remember all of her life and I can't BELIEVE she is 18 and done with school already!!! We are so proud of her and all that she has accomplished in the last year and were so happy to host her party.



The party also means that we spent Sunday with 20 or so of my relatives. The youngest, Jack, is 3 and is my cousin's son. He's so cute and I love the innocence of a 3 year old's thoughts. Here's TWO sweet/funny Jack stories, that I can't resist not sharing...



Jack is a typical boy's boy and loves to play and was in the process of reinspecting our house to find new adventures. As he emerged from Kenny's "car room" and was telling his dad about ALL the cars and trucks in there, he spotted Duke's toy basket, that we cleaned out after he passed away, but left a few good toys in for any visting dogs or our next dog. Jack said "look at the toy basket." I said "Jack, that is Duke's old toy basket and those are doggie toys, not toys for you to play with." He looked at me, crossed the room to get closer to me and with the sweetest little look on his face asked "Where IS Duke?" Almost, like he was wondering where he was...but I'm not sure he remembered who Duke was. I explained to him that Duke was in heaven, like his dog Bear (who passed away last year) and now they are friends and can play together. He thought that was a great answer and went off to play with some of Kenny's cars. That just made me want the innocence of a 3 year old back!!!

Jack's second story is VERY funny...

Jack's mom, Amy is lovin' that Kenny and I are having a boy, since Jack is the 3rd of 3 boys in their house and she KNOWS how much fun (and trouble) boys are! I had shown Jack Charlie's room when he got to our house and invited him to play with his toys that we have received. Many I pointed out to him were hand me downs from a co-worker of Kenny's.

We were in the kitchen talking about boys and she pointed out, as Jack was eating his cake, how fun they are...Jack had a nice line of frosting and cake down his sleeve that he wiped there from his mouth! I made some sort of comment about Charlie and Jack looked over at us and said "Where IS Charlie?" Poor kid, we talk about Charlie and show him Charlie's room and toys, but he doesn't understand he's not here yet. So, I explained that he is in my belly and pointed to the growing bump and said that in the summer when it's warm all the time and Jack is wearing shorts alot, Charlie will be here for him to play with whenever he wants. He found that answer acceptable and went back to his cake. A minute later, he walked over to me and started to lift my shirt while explaining he was "looking for Charlie." :) I took out an ultrasound picture and showed it to him and said that's Charlie...and he must think Charlie is a strange looking kid. I assured him that when he was that big, his mommy has a picture of him that looks the same. Amy agreed they could look at it when they got home. At least we know that Jack is interested in meeting Charlie and I hope they will be great friends!