Adam's Day

Yesterday was Adam's HS graduation. The family was certainly proud as he received special honors for over a 3.8 GPA in High School. He's off in the Fall on a full ride scholarship to Butler to play soccer.

Adam is a great guy. He's athletic, super smart, and has a great personality. It was fun to celebrate him, as he's been helping to celebrate weddings and babies the past few years. It's fun to watch him get the recognition and celebration in the family and I know it's only the beginning.

After a great ceremony, Dave and Pam took the family to the Melting Pot and the server put mass amounts of gooey cheese, bread, food, and chocolate in front of two pregnant women. Needless to say, it was a marathon of a lunch, but even with two babies at the table, I think Grandpa Tormoehlen enjoyed the meal more, as it was his first time for fondue.

Some days, I think I look only chunky, but other days, I think I look pregnant. I totally looked pregnant yesterday. Check out the photos of Elvis making room combined with a three hour lunch at the Melting Pot!

Elvis is Sixteen, Going on Seventeen........

We had our 16 week check up yesterday. Things are sounding great! I feel well, just tired.

Elvis is about five inches long and we'll know the gender on June 7th! Hopefully he/she will like the nursery set I bought off Craiglist this past weekend! I love getting a deal, and this was no different. The set is white, so I'm excited to start thinking about filling the room with decor. I found a great paint store that will send a designer out to help pick out paint colors, so I'll schedule a time with Kyle and designer when we get back from FL. (I'm kidding, designer and Kairee will be picking colors and Kyle will be painting.)

We're excited to take this baby to Florida in just two weeks. Even though we're in the Gulf, we'll make the best of it by sitting by the pool!

Tomorrow is Adam's HS graducation, so Kyle and I will take the day off to celebrate with the family. I'll post pictures after the main event!

Good Things

Kyle has been traveling for work the past week, so we don't have a photo from the weekend, but I assure you, this baby continues to stretch out!

Here are a few updates from the week:

• Our friend Shannon recommended we rent a Doppler to hear the heartbeat at home. It came at the end of the week and it's been fun to hear Elvis' strong heart. My mother's response to the new equipment, "That's so TomKat!". (Apparently, Tom Cruise purchased an ultra sound machine so they could see their baby at home.) I brought the Doppler over to the Walsh house this weekend and it was cute to see the boy's faces when they heart the heartbeat. Dylan shouted "BABY!!" and they both quickly tried to put it on their bellies to see if they had anything in their tummies.
• Our next appointment is on Tuesday afternoon. Many books say you can tell the gender of the baby this week, but my Doctor plays it safe and waits until 20 weeks to determine. It would be fun to know before our trip to Florida, but also fun to know for sure rather than an 'oops' weeks after we pick out nursery gear.
• The only time I'm not hungry is when I'm sleeping. I find that I'm frequently hungry throughout the day. I eat lots of fruit, but can usually finish an entire watermelon by myself in a few days.
• Kyle and I have been working long hours, so we're getting excited for our big trip to FL in a few weeks. We're also looking forward to seeing Grandma and Grandma Tormoehlen this week for Adam's HS graduation on Thursday. It will be fun to see family, celebrate, and probably eat another watermelon.
• My Parents return from their winter in Arizona later this week. My mother has yet to see my growing belly, so it will be fun to see her. She's also excited to show me her baby name list. Since Mom has been a Kindergarten teacher for 20+ years, she's met lots of cute kids and wrote down her favorite names over the years. I'll be curious to see what she has on the list.
• Kyle and I will start the process of looking into daycares around our home. It's pretty crazy, but here in Denver, there's usually a big waiting list to get into a daycare and for some of the best, you literally need to put your name in when you find out you're pregnant.......no joke. I think it will be good for us to take a peek into what life will be like next year!

I'll post more updates after our Doctor appointment on Tuesday, but just wanted to check in for a bit. Kyle and I are healthy, happy, and we're super anxious to hear if we're having a boy or girl soon!

More good things to come,

Mothers and Other Things I'm Thankful For

Today is Mother's Day and it's a great day to tell your mom (and your grandma) how much you appreciate them. I have many great mothers in my life and I'd like to share a little bit about why I like them so much.

1. I really like my sister. She's not only a mom to two little boys under four years old, but she also takes care of Kyle and I. She's the most generous person I know, always thinking of others. I'm thankful she's gone through this experience before to ask lots of questions and thankful she's let Kyle and I practice our parenting skills on her kids.

2. I really like my Mom. If you don't know my mom, you should. I think she's pretty fabulous. She was a Kindergarten teacher for over 20 years, so she certainly has a creative side and a talent for keeping the attention of squirmy kids. She always has a tune to her stories, almost singing and can strike up Marry Had A Little Lamb on a piano at any time. I'm so thankful she's my Mom and think her Grandkids are pretty lucky to have such a talented and creative Grandma.

3. I'm pretty lucky to have Pam. She's the center of the Tormohlen family, keeping everyone together and keeping everyone well fed. It's pretty incredible to hear Kyle talk about growing up and his mom working the night shift at work just so that she could pick up her kids from school and tuck them in at night. It's clear she made a lot of sacrifices for her family and everyone loves her for it. I have a lot of respect for a mother that raised three talented boys. Here's a picture of us this weekend, headed out for Indian Food!

Check out Kimbo in the winow-

4. I like me being a mom. I like the thought of the goofy things my kid will say, all of the firsts, and all of the laughs. I like the thought of Kyle getting excited to be a dad and him taking our kid fishing. I'm thankful for my life and everyone it in. Take a look at the love I received on mother's day this year. Kyle had flowers delivered to my office on Friday and I was showered with cards, texts, and cupcakes all of the way from California from Cara. (Note: cupcakes are not featured in the photo, as they quickly disappeared promptly after arrival). I'm so thankful my kid will have these amazing women in his/her life and it makes me feel so lucky to have such great moms around me.

"Oh. That Makes Sense! I Just Thought You Were Getting Fat."

Fun Topic of the Day: The joys of having a single male as your boss......and telling him you're pregnant.

I've told you all how I've been attempting to hide Elvis from my work and it's been getting a bit challenging, so I thought Friday was the day to tell the boss. My boss and I have a typical work relationship, but for some reason, I was worried to tell him I was pregnant. I suppose I had fears of being treated differently or pushed to the side with the back-of-his-mind thought of maternity leave, but all worries aside, it was time.

We were traveling in the car and I took a deep breath and blurted it out. And there it was....the big elephant. He smiled and gave me the most memorable response. "Oh. That makes sense. I just thought you were getting fat." I think most women would be offended, but for some reason, I just started to laugh. I laughed that I was worried about being under minded in the workplace, but truly, the only thought that was going through his mind the past few weeks was, "Man, Kairee's really kickin' back some brews on the weekend."

This might be a story of 'guess you had to be there', but it still makes me smile. This whole time I was worried and my boss just truly believed I was on a workout strike. It's a good reminder how surprises and laughs can come from unlikely sources.

Whoa Baby!!

My Aunt Lulee told me this happened to her, and now it's happened to me!

Last night, I went to bed early and had dreams of puppies and kittens and woke up this morning to a large baby bump! Bam! I went to bed with a teeny bump that I would hide under long shirts and woke up this morning with a BIG bump! Did I accidentally eat a basketball last night?

Elvis is certainly stretching out down there!

Spring Fever

Signs of Spring are everywhere in Colorado. Kyle bought me this teeny tree last year, and as you can tell from the photos, it's ready for Summer.....too bad I'm still wearing sweaters in May. It's the joys of living in Colorado.

This weekend was the Kentucky Derby part at the Walsh house. No mint juleps for me this year! If you were at the party, you may have noticed I no longer hover next to the whiskey dispenser and I now entertain myself with toddlers at the dessert table.

I still have Indian food cravings followed by crystal light popsicles. Casey and I were laughing this morning at the thought of my blond haired, blue eyed toddler ordering Tikka Masala in a few years.

Kyle has been a big supporter of the cupcake cravings. He recently walked down to his local bakery by his office and had a heart-to-heart with the baker. He explained that he will need variety in the bakery for the next several months to satisfy his crazed pregnant wife. She must be a mother, as he's been bringing home a gourmet selection of treats the past few weeks.

There's certainly plenty of Spring Fever in the air around the Tormoehlen family. Trees are blooming, horses are racing, and we're moving out of my first trimester. Change is certainly in the air, and I'm welcoming all of it with gourmet treats in hand.