IT'S A GIRL!!!!

She is 100% girl...the lady even said so:)

She was such a cutie! Her thumb was in and out of her mouth the whole time and at one point both thumbs were in and we could see her little cheeks sucking so hard. She is healthy and measuring perfectly. We are so excited! Now we just need to get through finals and maybe we can think about names after that. I'll have to post some of the pictures after this test, but I wanted to let everyone know.

PINK or BLUE

On December 1st, we will find out whether we will be buying pink or blue. We are so excited! Jeff is positive we are having a girl because everybody in his family has had a girl first. I really am not sure what I think. I am always saying he, so I guess I think I am having a boy. I also have a dream that I am delivering a baby and that it is a boy....but the dream also consists of Jeff not being there and me screaming at the nurses that I want my mom....I hope it doesn't come true! We want to know your opinion so vote!

OuR LittLE GUsGuS!

Without knowing the sex of our baby we had a hard time knowing what to call it. It was not a very good name, so gusgus it became. Jeff has always teased about naming his boy Gus, and I figured we will let him have his fun for a few months.
Monday I got to have an ultrasound as part of some genetic testing. I had no idea I was getting an ultrasound so I was very excited when I saw people coming out with pictures. The only bad part was that Jeff happened to miss this appointment. He was mad/jealous he missed seeing little gusgus moving about. Here are the pictures!

Gusgus did not want to wake up. She, the ultrasound lady, kept trying to get baby to move but gusgus just wanted to cuddle me and cover his/her face.

They measure the neck skin fold thickness to test for Down's Syndrome and a couple of other chromosomal defects. Everything measured normal and the doctor will call to confirm that in about a week. They also measured the length of gusgus from crown to rump which was about 3 inches.
Here is the profile shot. I don't know if we will ever find out gusgus's gender because the legs were always crossed.
The ultrasound made the whole pregnancy thing seem real. I still am not showing many signs of pregnancy so seeing a moving baby and hearing a healthy heart beat makes me feel like someday I may actually have this baby.

There is a BABY in our near future!

It is official and we are very..very excited to tell all that I am pregnant!   Today we got to hear the heart beat of our sweet little baby.  It was to say the least very cool as most of you already know.  The baby will be here around April 19th and hopefully I will be able to finish up my spring semester before he/she arrives.  

I have been dealing with pregnancy really well.  A small amount of nausea at night and sleepiness are my main symptoms.  The only thing I am having a hard time with is not getting my great night of sleep.  I have to get up every night now to pee.  I know I've got it easier than most and I am very grateful for that.  

We are very excited and Jeff, especially, is so happy to finally let all the world know!

PAinT

Saturday we spent the entire afternoon painting our door and shutters. I can tell a huge difference but the pictures look almost identical. We used the Hawkes paint sprayer and now our door and shutters look professionally done. Thanks Hawkes!

Two years ago...

The new blackish, bluish, brownish shutters. They look different every time I look at them??

GOLF

Jeff had an entire week of school off and the majority of his time was spent golfing. I made him take the camera to get a quick snap shot. He was really embarrassed about asking somebody to take a picture and making the neighbors stand in it. Ha ha...it made me happy.

Here is Tony (this is Emma's daddy, now you know why she is so great at volleyball), Dave, Jeff and Tad. They are so cute, they even lined up by height.

Neighbors and Baseball

Jeff and I have been so lucky to find great friends and neighbors. Tony and Molly, neighbors, got the entire clan of us free tickets to watch a Bats game and get a free hot dog and drink. I had to miss the first part of the game and leave a little early because I had my final the next day, but it was still a very enjoyable time. Thanks guys!

These are 3 of the neighbor boys, Jake, Mason, and Ryan. They are so adorable and Ryan even threw out the peace sign. Go RYAN!

Emma is Jakes older sister. She is in first grade and is the most athletic little thing. She plays all the sports, including volleyball. She looks so cute when she comes home with all her gear on. I wish my kids would play volleyball, but with Jeff and I as parents they probably won't be tall enough:(

The Opossum

While I was gone to work one night Jeff spotted a furry little creature. At first glance he thought it was a cat, but when he looked again he ran like a girl. Luckily he knew I would need some pictures and as he ran away he went to the house to find our camera. He got up his nerves and tried to take some pictures of the opossum. Unfortunately, he only got one picture and the batteries in the camera went dead. Thanks for trying honey!

A Mess of Peaches

We canned our peaches and it was a long dirty job. I don't know if I'll be able to talk Jeff into helping with that project again. To add to our mess, we didn't end up with enough jars so we had to freeze some peaches and make some jam during the canning project. They turned out, we think, we have yet to use them. Peach pie in the fall and winter will be amazing!

Picking Peaches at Huber Farms

Today we went to Huber Farms to pick some fresh peaches. Summer decided she was going to can peaches and I wanted to learn too. So, we headed up to get fresh, cheaper peaches. They are delicious, I actually taste tested them at the farm :) Now I can not wait until Thursday or Friday to do the canning. Hopefully we don't eat them all up before then.Don't we all make cute fruits and vegetables. Even baby Taylor made it in one.

FHE

For family home evening the past two weeks Jeff and I each taught each other something we do often. I learned to tie a tie and Jeff... he made a card....

Jeff did not like that I wouldn't tell him exactly how to design his card...look at that frown, all those Perrero kids can do it!

Luckily, all that practice with his hands at school helped him make a soccer card. He was so funny because he measured out each line perfectly and got really upset when one goal looked different than the other. He is such a silly boy!
We both finished our cards and now we'll just have to use them.

Ghetto Salon

I have been cutting Jeff's hair since we moved to Kentucky. We figured it would be much cheaper to buy some clippers and scissors and let me whack at him. My business is now moving onward to the neighbors. Jace didn't want his mom to cut his hair, but he thought I might be a better choice. I only know one haircut and so Jeff and Jace have the same "do!"

Unfortunately, our salon is a little ghetto. The back deck was an obvious choice because of lack of clean up. Jace was not happy that the humidity was making all his hair stick to him and itch though. My apron is actually for cooking, but what the heck I was already dressed for the day and I needed something to keep the hair off of me:)

Scotch-a-roos!

I totally forgot to post this recipe that went with an older post...so here it is our favorite yummy treats. Thanks Willson family for the tasty recipe!

1 cup sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 1/4 cups peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbsp. butter
6 cups rice krispies
1 cup milk chocolate chips
3/4 cup butterscotch chips

1. In large pan, cook sugar and corn syrup over medium-high heat until it reaches a rolling boil, stir frequently! Add butter, PB, and vanilla. Stir until well mixed. (BE careful not to let it burn or you will have little bricks to eat) Mix in the rice krispies.

2. Place in 9 x 13 pan. Even the mixture out but don't press hard!

3. Let cool while you make the frosting.

4. FROSTING: Melt chocolate and butterscotch chips in microwave, stir often. Frost the top of the rice krispie mixture and let cool.

BiRTHDAY

I am officially 22 years old. Most of my birthday celebrations was at home with my family, but Jeff did surprise me with roses on July 7th, my real Birthday. He is such a sweetheart. We also went out to dinner, shopped for a new outfit and got ice cream at the Barrel of Fun. (this is my favorite place for ice cream and it is just 1 mile away from our house)

In Utah my family had cake and homemade ice cream. I got a few exciting gifts and I am so excited about my new ice cream maker, I think we will be using it very soon! Mom and Dad also gave me a few new shirts and running clothes. I had such a fun time. Thanks everybody!

HoMe

I was missing home desperately and when a sudden two week break sprung upon us we decided to pack up the car and take a road trip home. After I took my pathophysiology test we began our 23 hour trek to Utah. With no kids, the night owl Jeff, and early riser me, we made it with minimal stops to gas up and grab some grub. We listened to Twilight and talked and talked. I would drive a couple hours before it got dark and Jeff would take a nap. He is such a trooper to drive through the night, and when the sun started to come up he would wake me up to finish.

Here we are at one of our gas stops. "Boog" our greenish bluish Toyota was getting awesome gas mileage 36-40 mpg!
St. Louis was a scary drive, we thought a tornado was going to hit.
We saw so many windmills I think they are somewhere in the middle of Nebraska???

Once we were home we rested up and played with our families. My family was pretty chill as usual and we spent time geocaching, at the lake, bowling, swimming, watching movies, golfing and shopping. Jeff's family had their annual family reunion. We had a blast hanging up in the cool canyon and playing with all the nieces and nephews. Jeff had only one disappointment, POISON IVY! I would feel bad, but the boys went golf ball hunting down the creek with shorts on...Silly boys. However they did find over 600 balls. Jeff says it was totally worth the poison ivy, which has still failed to disappear. Unfortunately, all the picture taking was on my parents camera and I have not yet got the email with them. Here are a few I stole of my aunts blog. Thanks Brand!

Jeff, Mason (my cousin) and I. We had a fun afternoon swimming with the family!

The BOYS! Trace(left), Chad my sisters BF(climbing out) and my youngest bro Burke(right)

I just love Mason! He is a little fishy!

I ALMOST FORGOT.... we had a near death experience on the Fourth of July. We were driving back to Louisville, almost to Iowa and I was the lucky driver. It was dusk so my driving time was about up when we came over a hill and a deer was in the middle of the highway. I swerved to the right and thought I had dodged it, but then it ran towards the car and I have no idea how it did not hit us. Jeff was sleeping until my screaming and swerving came. His eyes were so big when he darted up:) He just kept telling me "you did so good, you didn't over correct." I was so uptight and my hands were sore from gripping the wheel so hard. Luckily we made it safe and so did "Boog."

PASS

Jeff passed his part 1 Dental Boards! We are so excited to be half way done with dental school!

AwARneSs

During my last pathophysiology class our teacher who is a NP, emphasized doing our monthly examinations. The focal point was that not only do women need to be doing breast exams monthly, but men need to be doing testicular examinations. The average age for testicular cancer is 15-34!

Our teacher was very concerned because she recently diagnosed a 24 year old with metastatic testicular cancer, meaning it has already moved to other areas of the body. She said his prognosis isn't very good and his only symptom was an aching lowing abdomen. Monthly examinations could have helped him find his grape sized lump a little earlier :)

The testicular exam is very similar to the breast exam, look for a FROZEN PEA... Here are a couple of links with more information for both exams.

Women
http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/testing/self_exam/bse_steps.jsp

Men
http://health.rutgers.edu/factsheets/testicular.htm

Comparing

LAST SUMMER







...THIS SUMMER





ALL I HAVE TO SAY IS :(

Jam

On Tuesday Summer, Glenys (Jeff's Mom) and I made jam! Strawberry, raspberry, and peach- strawberry...YUM. We had a really fun time and my PB&J was delicious today!

RaCEs, RaIN & ExciTEmEnT!

Derby was such a fun time this year. Jeff's parents and my dad were in town and we were at Churchill Downs ALOT! Our first races were with the Perrero family. A patient of Summer's is a big guy down there and he took us on an awesome tour and gave us free tickets for the Spring Meet.

Oaks day started out so beautiful and we had awesome seats as shown in the picture. My dad's friend Layne knew a trainer who got us very pricey tickets for FREE! We had a great time until the rain began. The headlines the next day described it perfectly, "SOAKED AT THE OAKS." It was really funny to look onto the paddock before and after the rain, I don't know where all the people went.??

After an exhausting rainy Oaks Day, we were hoping for a gorgeous sunny Derby. The forecasts were not great but the sunshine came through. Again we sat in the grandstands with tickets worth $260 a piece. (These weren't even box seats, more like isle and walking space tickets.) We had an enjoyable day watching races, hats, and all the rich horse owners sitting by us.

We took a trip to the infield and found girls in the mud and some of Jeff's dental school friends. WOW it was crazy out there:) My favorite part of the day were the hats. I could not believe how crazy some of the hats were!
When the Derby race came it was so exciting. Everybody stood for about 30 minutes pre-race. The owner of Big Brown and his family sat right by our standing area and they were so shaky and nervous before the big race. When Big Brown won they rushed down to the field in tears.

Thanks Layne and Dad for making a very fun Derby day for Jeff and I.