Welcome Brock Christopher!

Matt & Christi welcomed their 3rd son, Brock Christopher in early August. He is just a little guy and is so cute. He loves to suck his bottom lip in which is just precious.

Notice the toddler hand creeping in on this pic. Shocking.
The baby fanatic.

Brock & the fam.

Taryn decided SHE wanted to be Matt's baby and lay in the Boppy on his lap.

We got to see him again a week later at Drew's birthday party. (Don't mind Lee's face, he had a Police Academy injury.)

Meeting Miss Rue!

Last week my mom, Taryn and I went down to see my cousin Joey, his wife Jackie and their new baby Emma Rue (they call her Rue). It was a bit of a haul in the car, but fortunately, my mom acted as baby entertainer and I did the driving. Teamwork!

Stopped for a gas station snack break!
Welcome to Kentucky. Geez.

Our hotel had a pool and my mom was able to coax Taryn into the pool.

Yeah... This is the girl that wouldn't go in above her knees a few weeks ago. It's amazing the things she'll do for Grandma but not for Mom!

Hotel room entertainment... Cheers!

Finally!! We had been promising Taryn the whole way down she would get to see a baby. I think she was starting not to believe us!

Baby love!

Rue loved her 2nd cousin Lauren! I kept getting good smiles from her and she even fell asleep on me one day.

Taryn was so excited to hold the baby. But, as soon as she was done, she tried to just push Rue off of her. She doesn't quite get it.

The new parents...

I just love talking to new parents! I remember going through so many of the emotions. There are such great highs and such awful lows in those first months. It can seem so overwhelming. As I was going through all of it, I felt so often like I was failing at this or that or that I was weak. I was fortunate to have family and friends going through the whole baby thing just a few months ahead of me, and when I got the chance to talk to them, it was such a relief to hear I wasn't the only one going through the emotional rollercoaster. It feels good to share some of that with Joey and Jackie. They have it a little rough down there without any family in the state. We tried to give the new parents a little date night. They were a little nervous to go, so dinner and a movie turned into KFC and a trip to Babies R Us. But, hey, at least they got out for a moment to themselves!

Welcome to the Family Emma Rue!

Emma Rue Beas
7lbs4oz ~ 20.5 in

May 6, 2011

In the last few years my mom's side of the family has been growing much faster than it has in a LONG time (like since Joey and I were born!). First there was Layla, then Taryn a month later, Kylan was born in December, and today we welcome Emma Rue! My cousin Joey became a daddy today and my uncle Marty became a pile of mush. I mean a grandpa. :)

We can't' wait to meet you Rue!

Welcome Kylan Wade!!

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On Wednesday, my cousin Jamie gave birth to an 8lb9oz bundle of joy named Kylan Wade. Today we went down to meet and greet our newest little family member!

Grandma Shirley with her new great-grandchild!
Taryn kept pointing to him and saying BABY! She kept wanting to hold him and she listed all of his facial features... Ears, eyes, eyebrows, etc. She also spent her time immitating whatever Kylan did, which was hilarious. If he stuck out his tongue, so would she. We did worry, though, because when we tried to take him back from her she said "MIIIIIINE!"

The proud momma!

The proud one that thinks she's his momma!

At the end of our visit, we had finally managed to harrass Kylan enough that he woke up and stayed awake for quite awhile. During this time, he just looked around and then struck a pose for some pictures. He is such a good baby and only cried when we changed his itty bitty little diaper. He was so interested in everything around him.

I forgot how tiny newborns are! Congratulations Jamie & Matt! You really have a cutie here!

Welcoming my new cousin... Jacob Charles!

Jacob Charles was born yesterday. He was 21.5 inches long and weighed 8lbs 12oz. (Apparently it is the Coleman genes that make the big babies like Jacob and Taryn!)

Jacob is my cousin, which is totally odd. It seems like he should be a nephew or something. Basically, my family is a bit loco. I have an aunt that is younger than me... There are grandkids and great-grandkids being born in the same year... Madness! Basically, my grandpa had kids from when he was 17 until when he was 38, so that tends to confuse things a bit. And, speaking of my grandpa, the Charles is after him.

I can't wait to meet little Jacob next month when we go out to NJ after Christmas!

Welcome Max Adam!!!

Congratulations to Grant and Ashley on their bundle of joy... Max Adam was born today! 7lbs7oz 21 in. (Is that a double Elway? And then Elway times 3?)

Grant and I have been friends since pre-junior high. I still remember him wearing sweat pants to school everyday. I am so excited that he's a dad now! Hopefully Taryn and Max can grow up being friends as well. (But that Max better keep his paws to himself!)

Dumbo in a Bumbo

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I have mentioned before on this blog about how our cat Jasper thinks she is the baby... And all of Taryn's things are really hers. It is just getting out of hand now.

We didn't even put her in here. She got in on her own. She is ridiculous!

*Note, from my old blog post link of Jasper in the sling... Jasper liked the sling much more than Taryn.

Wednesday - The BIG Day

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I went to the doctor this morning and it turns out our little bundle of joy is WAY too comfy in the womb. Since tomorrow is my due date, it is time to take the bull by the horns and get this show on the road.

So, I report to the hospital at 6am on Wednesday for a date with destiny (and an IV of pitocin).

As Mich & Reuter can surely vouch for, it is so strange to have the date set. And to know your baby's birth date before it happens. "Yes, honey, you were born on May 20th because Wednesday was the doctor's on-call day!"

(Oh well, it's as good a reason as Lee & my wedding anniversary. When we had to move the wedding up 8 months thanks to the Navy, we called our reception hall and they happened to have a cancellation on September 16th.)

On one hand, it is nice to know and be able to plan for it. But, on the other hand, if it were a surprise, I wouldn't have time to overanalyze everything which would be nice too. My last day of work was on Friday, so at this point, all I have to do is obsess. And I'm doing a good job of it.

While prego, almost everyone reads the book "What to Expect When You're Expecting" or some similar ginormous book. (Seriously, it's 616 pages long.) You read about all the crazy things that are going to happen to you thanks to that alien being growing in your stomach and the hormones that come with. And you don't believe it. "There's no way a dark line is going to appear on my stomach." Oh... There it is.

The thing I probably was most skeptical about was the idea of "nesting". When a woman is getting close to the end of the pregnancy, supposedly she starts wanting to get the house in order, clean everything in sight, wash & re-wash the baby clothes, etc etc etc. I did NOT think that sounded like something I would ever do. I usually avoid cleaning as much as possible.

But, as shocking as it sounds, I have totally gotten kind of crazy about things. I want to organize every closet. I am obsessed with baskets and all the things I could store in baskets. I bought bags that go under your bed to store winter clothes during the summer and summer clothes during the winter. I have rearranged our bookshelves. I wrote out directions to whoever might come to our house about how to feed the cats. I've gotten every thank-you note written for the gifts we have received. I have some baby bottles sterilized and ready to be used. The inside of my car has been cleaned. I have created a list of everyone in the family's phone numbers and who is supposed to call who.

And now, things have been stepped up a notch. Knowing that labor is like 40 hours away, suddenly my "clean enough" house is not clean enough for the newborn that will be coming home this weekend. Or for the guests that will be arriving to see the newborn.

So, what is left on my nuerotic list of nesting?
* Wash every blanket & towel in the house.
* Dust everything.
* Clean every un-dustable surface with PineSol.
* Re-pack my hospital bag.
* Make up the beds that my mom & dad will be sleeping in when they visit.
* Make Lee vacuum (I don't like to vacuum, it's loud.)
* Stock the beverage fridge (yes, some celebratory Bud Light will be included)

Ok, time to get back to nesting. (I think Lee is out "man nesting" in the yard.)

39 Weeks - Dear Lord

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Today I am 39 weeks pregnant. On a positive note, the doctor told me that if I do not go into labor on my own, I will probably be induced next Wednesday the 20th. So, I only have 8 more days to go.

But, when you are ginormous and extremely uncomfortable, you never want to look at the positive notes... Here are some not-so-wonderful stats from this pregnancy:

~ I got pregnant 259 days ago.
~ That means I have been pregnant close to 71% of the year.
~ If I normally drink 10 beers a week, that means that I have missed out on close to 400 beers!
~ The great drinking days I've missed: Labor Day (I actually had a couple beers, but I had a suspicion I was prego, so I only had about 2 over a 10 hour day at the lake), Thanksgiving & the night before, December 23rd, Christmas, New Years (although, I did manage to toss my cookies sober), my 28th b-day, St. Patty's Day (ouch) and Cinco de Mayo.
~ I have gained 28% of my body weight during pregnancy. (Yes, I gained quite a bit more than I had hoped.)
~ My stomach's circumference has increased by around 50%. Scary.

For some reason, when I imagine the baby in my stomach, I picture her having my stomach set up like a really pimped out college dorm room. She probably has a flat screen tv and a stocked mini-fridge. She steals our WiFi and is already on MySpace or Twitter or whatever the kids use these days. HEY, SHE BETTER NOT BE READING MY BLOG RIGHT NOW!

Like the doctor said yesterday, hopefully she isn't this hard to evict when she is 18!

(I told the doctor if she takes after her dad, she will be this hard to evict at 18! Haha!)

Small work rant (that may turn into a large work rant)

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One of my bosses at work (who is a female, by the way) absolutely HATES when people take time off work. I think she has a complex that she works harder than everyone else and everyone else is a slacker compared to her. She complains whenever someone had PTO scheduled and makes comments like "Well, they really shouldn't take PTO before an exam." And "Well, they really shouldn't take PTO after an exam," and "Well, they really shouldn't take PTO in the month of August." She hates it when people stock up on PTO and then take a 2 week vacation (although she just did it last month). She makes totally inappropriate comments like "Well, I guess it's ok that she take two weeks off since she is going on vacation with her family." Hey, it's personal time off of work. You don't get to JUDGE whether it is appropriate or not. If I want to take all my PTO days to sit around the house alternating getting drunk and nursing a hangover, that's my own business. (I would personally pick at least a different locale to do that though. Getting drunk around the house for 3 weeks would be pretty boring.) This woman also emailed me (expecting a response) last summer when I was in Hawaii for a week. I actually DID get the email because email was the only way I was in touch with Lee on the ship. But, to EXPECT people to respond when you KNOW they're in Hawaii. Come on.

Anyway, that initial rant is just background to what is happening now. Obviously, if this woman hates PTO so much, she REALLY hates maternity leave. She has two kids and brags about the fact that with her second child she returned to work after three days. I personally don't think that is something to brag about.

She has been giving me a hard time about my upcoming maternity leave since she first found out about my pregnancy. This is clearly not "right" (or legal). Especially since... This is going to be shocking... She is in charge of our Human Resources department!!!! I can't think of a better person for THAT role (insert heavy sarcasm).

Anyway, at first she just kept complaining because I hadn't informed her of when I would be out on maternity leave. Um, you know my due date and I said that I planned to work up until the baby came... Beyond that, you might need to ask God & the baby.

Then she was asking me disapprovingly how much time I planned to take off. Full 12 weeks baby! I don't care if you like it or not. It's the law.

Now that I am down to (hopefully) one more full week of work, things are ramping up. Yesterday she wrote an email saying that a project "of mine" was near the deadline and was concerned that I hadn't worked on it. I wrote her back to tell her 1) I was not assigned to that project (listing the people who ARE) and 2) the project doesn't even BEGIN until July 1st. IN YOUR FACE!

Today she has been asking if I have transitioned one of our common clients to the person that is taking over for me. I have sent him a 3 page (single space), DETAILED to the point that it makes me nauseous, explanation of what he will need to do for the client. And she was Cc'd on the email. Yet, she is still harrassing me that "THIS TRANSITION MUST BE SEAMLESS." Well, to be honest, I've done what I can do to help this guy, and at some point, I just can't be held accountable if he totally screws the pooch on the client.

SO, at this point, I am SO ready to just get the hell out of here and have this baby and not check my work email. (Or check it but not respond. Haha!) Sorry for the huge novel. I commend you if anyone actually made it through the entire thing. But, if nothing else, it made me feel a lot better. Although, these are the days that a Bud Light would be even better than a hateful blog!

Back to work. Urgh. Hurry up baby!

A few pics from the Beas baby shower...

Some decor...
I love brownies!!!

Cousin Tyler chugs his beer...

Cousin Jamie chugs!

Dear baby,

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COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT!

Thank you for your cooperation!

Love,
Your mom

How I Met Your - NEW - Mother(s)

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Let me preface this by saying that I don't keep up with celebrity gossip at all!

Lee and I noticed a few weeks ago that Lily on "How I Met Your Mother" always had something in front of her stomach. It was the episode where Marshall was coaching the kindergarten basketball team and she always had a guitar or a basketball or a shelf of basketballs in front of her. Lee was like "She's totally prego." Then, she was totally missing from a couple episodes.

This week, Lee made the same comment about Robin. I was like "No, it was LILY that was pregnant." But, sure enough, Robin was hiding her stomach too.

Turns out, they're both preggers! A HIMYM baby boom! Actually, I think both of them may have had their babies by now. I couldn't find it anywhere online, but I know "Lily" was due March 24th and "Robin" was due 2 months later.

At least we know none of the other main characters can get pregnant!

36 weeks... Is it over yet?

The one good thing I have found about this ginormous belly is what a great shelf it makes. I can set a bowl of cereal on top of the belly and use both hands to type while I eat breakfast in the morning. It is a very stable surface. Truly, handy.

That being said, once the baby decides to make her appearance, I hope the belly makes its exit in a timely fashion. (I have a 10 year reunion in September people.) I can learn to live without my cereal shelf. Really, I can.

First Great-Grandchild of the Family

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Yesterday, my grandma became a great-grandma!

My cousin Anna and her husband Nick had this little bundle of joy.

(Pictured with Aunt Jamie.)

Layla Lucille 7lbs 12oz, 22in

For some reason, this is all mind boggling to me. My cousin is a mom. My aunt is a grandma. My mom is a great-aunt. My grandma is a great-grandma. It's like everyone just got a lot older all in one day!

Family trees. They amaze me.

6 more weeks!

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As we close in on these last 6 weeks of pregnancy (only 3 weeks until she is considered "full term"!), I have really started to wonder. Just who will our baby girl look like...

Daddy? Or Mommy?

I guess only time will tell.

But, MAN don't I look way more alert than Lee in my picture? I am totally doing the Vogue. And the bangs/spike combo was totally the newborn style back then.

Weekend Wrap Up

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Well, it's Monday morning and I barely feel like I had a weekend. Isn't that the worst? No sleeping in whatsoever... BOO!

Saturday, Lee and I had our first birthing class. It went from 10am - 5pm with a 1/2 hour break for lunch. Seriously, is it a good idea to force a bunch of 8 month pregnant chicks to sit in uncomfortable chairs for THAT long? They really need to invest in some La-Z-Boys.

The nurses that taught the class were pretty entertaining though and there were videos to keep our attention. Although, some of the videos scared me a bit... I have SEEN a video of a birth before, but not since like 8th grade health class. It seemed much more distant and unrealistic then. I mean, I thought in the 15 years since then, maybe we would have figured out how to get the guys to carry the babies... Just kidding. Anyway, there were definitely some moments of "Um, yeah, my body is going to do WHAT?!?" We also got a tour of the hospital which I liked. I can now ENVISION where we need to go when the time comes, and that makes me feel much more prepared.

After birthing class, we went up to Merrillville for a Target run. We were going to go to BW3's to watch the Michigan St game, but it was PACKED! So, we took advantage of halftime and just drove home.

On Sunday, we got up early to head down to Lafayette for our nephew Austin's 2nd birthday. They made hotdogs on the grill and had Dog N Suds coney dog sauce to put on it... MMMMmm! There were also cupcakes & ice cream. Afterwards, we hung with my mom for awhile, then went up to Monticello to hang with Lee's parents for a bit, hit up Wal-Mart for some groceries and headed home. I never knew Wal-Mart groceries were so cheap! So much better than our actual grocery store. I'm sold.

Next weekend is going to be another busy one with day 2 of birthing class on Saturday followed by Easter on Sunday. (Woohoo for only one more Friday of Lent!)

My what a furry baby you have... Part deaux

Our cat Jasper STILL thinks that everything for the baby is actually for her. She is thrilled that we are finally finishing up her cat-nursery... Nothing is more exciting than when the closet in the baby room is open. And it was just pure genius of us to finally buy her a cat-crib.

Since Jasper thinks she's a baby, I decided she could model some baby clothes. She fits well in a size 3-6 months!
Here she is in "her" crib. Really very kind of us to get a crib for her.

Also, since this is a blog about Jasper, it is only right that I acknowledge her birthday! Yesterday, on April Fool's Day, she turned 1 year old. Happy Birthday Jasper!

I hate walking slow

Ever since the 3rd trimester started and my stomach got extra large, I just can't walk as fast as I used to. It's a combination of things, really. There is the extra weight to lug around, the fact that the space where my lungs usually reside is now also housing my stomach and the baby's feet, the general waddle that comes from pregnancy, and the glorious hip pain!

I used to be a pretty fast walker for my height and I hated dodging slow moving vehicles on the sidewalk. It really sucks to be one now.

It is so convenient to be able to catch every walk sign on the 9 block walk to the train. But, now I can only catch MAYBE two green lights in a row.

And it is really depressing to see the people that pass me these days. Here is a list from my commute on Tuesday:
* Overweight union workers talking politics
* 6 month pregnant chick (just wait, honey)
* Black dude with "pimp limp"
* Guy with actual real limp

Fortunately, I will probably only be going into the office for 4 more weeks.

Casa Biscuits and Gravy

Lately I've been having these crazy pregnancy cravings for the biscuits and gravy at a restaurant that I went to in Athens, OH called Casa.

The restaurant had amazing vegan Biscuits & Gravy. Strange, I know, since I'm not usually big on vegan food!

I'd totally go there to get them if it weren't a 6 hour drive... I couldn't get Lee to take a trip over there for Biscuits & Gravy either.

So, I've been searching all over for a comparable recipe, but I can't find one anywhere. Any ideas?