It's a GIRL!!

It's time for us to buy some pink!! We had our ultrasound today and it is 100% a GIRL! We spent a great deal of time in the ultrasound room getting to look at every possible angle of our baby. It was so fun to see the 4 chambers of the heart, kindneys, tongue, and girl parts. This baby girl was very active and fiesty. They thought I had been drinking caffeine all day, but only had a little bit of sweet tea for lunch. But, luckily since she was so active the ultrasound tech was able to look at everything!

We had such a great time seeing our little baby girl. My mom flew in last night and came into the ultrasound room with us, so that was exciting. Grandma Rodgers was proud!

Here's a couple pics from the ultrasound!

One more week!

One more week until we find out whether we're having a sweet baby boy or a precious little girl!! We're excited to find out!

Here is a picture of me at 16 weeks in front of our Christmas tree.

Four Wonderful Years

This year we had an extra special Thanksgiving Day! Eric and I celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary. We have a lot to be thankful for this year. We have an incredible marriage, wonderful family, excellent jobs, terrific friends, sweet dogs, and a precious baby on the way. We feel very blessed to have one another. Here are a few pictures from our wedding day four years ago:

14 Week Appointment

Today was my third prenatal visit with Dr. Damrich. It was overall a very short appointment because I didn't have another ultrasound. I heard the heartbeat and it was 156 bpm. I talked to the doctor about the severe lower back pain I have been having and he thinks I have a slipped disk. The only thing I can do for it is to take Tylenol and put a heating pad on it. There is no other treatment while I'm pregnant.

Our next appointment is Dec. 18th. We'll get to find out the sex of the baby then! My mom will be in town and will get to come with us! We can't wait!!

Big News for Katie...

I received some WONDERFUL news this morning! I passed the National Board Certification for Teaching!! All last school year I worked very hard on this literacy certificate. I had to turn in four big portfolios that included case studies on students, lessons, DVDs of my lessons, hundreds of pages of papers I had to write, etc. etc. Then in June I took a big assessment that had six main sections all relating to literacy. Well, after the long, long, long waiting period I received my scores this morning! I did wonderful and I passed!! This is a big achievement for teachers. It was a lot of work, but I am very proud of myself for accomplishing this. Below is a picture of the flowers that my mom and dad sent me to work. Thanks, Mom and Dad!

Our First Children...

In all the hype with my pregnancy, we have to remember that Eric and I already have two children. Two pugs to be exact. We both think they're going to be in for a very rude awakening come May when a little baby is in THEIR house. These dogs RULE the ROOST and are loved very much. Right now it looks like it snowed a blizzard in our house because their favorite thing to do is to rip the stuffing out of stuffed animals. Oh how spoiled these dogs are! I just wanted to post some cute pictures of our sweet little furry children!

Productive Day

I got the day off work today for Veteran's Day. Unfortunately Eric got yesterday off instead. After I got off work yesterday, we went and toured three daycares. They all seem very similar. We would like to find one that is convenient for both of us, since I'm sure we'll both be transporting Baby W next school year.

I woke up early this morning and went to the gym to work out. Then I called about three dozen daycares and went to visit a couple more. This is a very stressful duty. All the daycares are very, very similar. However, some are quite different on prices. We just want to find a daycare that will love our baby and take really good care of him/her.

Anyway, after looking at daycares I went to The Summit to do a little Christmas shopping. It's only November 11th and I'm 3/4 of the way done with our shopping!! I'm pretty proud!

I have bunco tonight with my medical wives. Well, I'm off to walk the dogs. Happy Veteran's Day!

TGIF!

TGIF! Well, for me anyway. Eric is on call tonight and then again on Sunday. Eric is getting all of his November calls out of the way b/c he is off the last 11 days in November. He is ready for a much needed vacation. We are both ready to go up to IL for Thanksgiving. We can't wait to see our family and friends back home. We haven't seen our families since August 3rd (except for my Mom who came for a visit in October.)

Things have been going great. I definitely seem to have my appetite back which is good. A few things that I enjoyed before don't even sound good to me anymore...like chocolate and cookie cake!! I have been eating A LOT of apples, which is a good thing I guess. I definitely feel my stomach starting to poke out (more and more each day). If people didn't know I was pregnant they'd probably think I just had a beer belly.

It seems that we have a lot of friends that are having babies this Spring. There are 4 teachers that I work with having babies in the month of April and May. I have several friends through my medical organization (resident's wives club) that are having their babies in March, May, and June. We're going to have some fun nights out together...a.k.a. play dates. Also we have some good friends in Bethalto that are due a couple weeks after us. It must be our age or we're all drinking the same water!

We are glad the election is over. We were both a little tired of all the politics.

As for the weekend, I think Eric will spend all day tomorrow playing Gears of War 2, his new xbox game that came out today. I am going downtown with Emily and Nicole to Christmas Village (arts and crafts festival). Next weekend my college roommate, Beth, is coming down to stay with us for the weekend. I am excited to see her. She lives in Memphis. It's been a while since I last saw her, so we'll have a lot of catching up to do.

Oh and I'm 12 weeks along tomorrow. I'm not 100% sure, but I think this will start my 2nd trimester. This must be why I'm finally feeling better!! I got over the hump. I have a lot of pregnancy books I need to start reading, so I will know exactly what is going on inside my body!

We'll blog soon!

10 Weeks!

Eric and I had our 10 week appointment with Dr. Damrich. I had a lot of blood drawn and then had an ultrasound. Eric and I got to see the little baby on the ultrasound, which is so cool. The little baby was very fiesty and moving around a lot. The heartbeat was 170 bpm. Everything looked great! Here's a picture of our cute little baby, which I think sort of looks like a duck.

Really!!??

Almost November already? We can't believe it's already the last week in October. I have to admit that I am pretty happy it is. We are both ready for a little vacation and are excited to head up to IL for Thanksgiving break. Only 4 more weeks!

I have been feeling better the past few days, so I hope that I'm kicking this morning sickness to the side. We go back to the doctor tomorrow, so we'll update ya'll afterward. Eric needed to use a vacation day in October, so he's using it tomorrow. He'll pick me up from work and take me to the doctor. I think he's excited to hear the heartbeat and see our little baby on the ultrasound machine. I'm excited, too. I think it'll be exciting everytime we go!

Fall seems to be settling in down here in Alabama. It was about 60 today and my students thought it was way too cold to go outside for recess! ha. I had to tell them that in St. Louis I would stand outside at recess in a winter coat, scarf, hat, gloves, and coffee. I told my class that my students then had to play outside unless it was literally like 10 degrees outside. Burr. They weren't amused by my story. It's supposed to warm back up, though.

We'll update ya'll tomorrow night!!

My Mom's Visit to Birmingham...

We had a nice weekend visit with my mom. Since it's hunting season my dad decided to stay in IL to do some bow hunting. My mom flew in on Thursday night. She came to school with me on Friday. She ran my classroom all afternoon! It was great. She had several mini-units planned for the kids. She did a unit on hand-washing, flu season, nutrition, and taking care of their bodies. My class absolutely LOVED having her there. I'll post some pictures below of my students.

Friday after school my mom looked at a few daycares with me (apparently i should have been doing this weeks ago) and Friday night we tried a new restaurant at The Summit called "Sweet Bones Alabama". It was good. It's a lot like a Smokey Bones restaurant.

Saturday morning a group of friends and I (and my mom) walked in the Race for the Cure. We had a nice overcast morning, so it felt nice. Mom and I did some shopping in the afternoon. I then passed out for a couple hours, and we went out for dinner again! It was so much fun having my mom visit us.

Unfortunately she had to fly back home Sunday morning. I felt pretty good while she was here. I think she was my good luck charm, because as soon as she left I felt really sick again all day Sunday and Monday. I'll be glad when the morning...i mean all day sickness goes away!

Here are some pictures from our weekend:

These are the "bodies" that my students made out of brown grocery sacks. They have all the organs in there along with what they ate for lunch in their stomachs. Cute!!!
Me, Marion, Adair, Laura, Nicole, Leah, Lissette, and Emily--Race for the Cure

My mom wanted a picture with my belly.

Grandma is getting some lovin' from our babies.

Finally some exciting news to post...

We haven't blogged in a while because there hasn't been anything exciting to report about. Well, we now have something exciting we can officially post public. We are having a baby! I went to the doctor on Tuesday....and was extremely nervous...to "confirm" the pregnancy. The morning sickness alone is a sure sign that I am pregnant. While at the doctor they did an ultrasound, which was the coolest thing ever. I could see the little lima bean and then could hear the heartbeat. The doctor came in the room and said it was a very strong heartbeat. I was so excited that all was well.

It was so much fun to finally tell people our big news. According to the ultrasound our due date is May 23rd. We go back to the doctor on October 28th and I think Eric will get to come with me to that appointment. They told me they would do another ultrasound, so I'm glad Eric will get to see "it".

Here's a picture that we sent to our parents to let them know they're going to be grandmas and grandpas. ..

Yes, our parents and grandparents are very happy for us. We also have some great friends who are excited, too. We will keep you updated!!

Roll Tide, Roll!!

On Saturday Eric and I made the "quick" drive down to Tuscaloosa to tailgate with friends and watch the Alabama game. I say "quick" because it was only supposed to take 40 minutes to ge there. However, an hour later we still had 35 miles to go. Apparently a tractor trailer was lying across all three lanes of traffic a ways up. The interstate ended up shutting down. Praise the Lord for our GPS that navigated us off the interstate and through some country roads.

We arrived in Tuscaloosa and walked a couple miles down University Blvd. to meet some of our friends at a frat house to tailgate. I will post some pics of the tailgating. It was really cool, because there were huge tents set up with flat screen TV's and surround sound, so we could watch other games on TV. Before the game we hung out with some friends, went to a legendary bar, and then went back to tailgate.

The Bryant-Denny stadium is pretty impressive. It holds 90,000 people. Busch holds 45,000. The stadium really didn't feel that much bigger than Busch Stadium. But, Eric and I noticed that we were literally sitting right on top of each other. It was bleachers, and we didn't get our own chair.

Our seats were really good. It was on one of the end zones. We got our tickets from a man in Bethalto that has season tickets. All the fans were wild, even though it wasn't even a conference game.

I understand football, or so i thought. Eric gave me a play by play of the entire first quarter, and then quizzed me through the second quarter. I think I understand football now, really. We had a great time, and Alabama beat Western Kentucky 41-7.

Eric and I left the game during the 4th quarter and went to Jimmy John's. This is my favorite sandwich place. They don't have them in Birmingham, so I was quite excited. Eric despises Jimmy Johns, so he went without!

We made it home safe and sound. Enjoy the video of pictures.

August is a great month!

Where does the time go? I can't believe it's almost September. August has been wonderful! We're pretty excited about the 3 day weekend, though. Well, I'm excited for the 3-day. Eric's excited for just 2 days. Bless his heart!

I have the best class in the whole world this year! They are absolutely precious and I'm so excited for this school year. Seriously! I only have 16 students, which is great.

August is full of special days! Eric and I both had wonderful birthdays. Thanks for all the birthday wishes. We haven't went out and celebrated yet, b/c I was sick all last weekend and Eric worked most of the weekend. So, we're hoping to go out this Friday night and celebrate. Eric turned 27 on the 21st. I turned 26 on the 25th. Eric's mom and I share a birthday, so that's pretty special! Also, Eric's grandma (she's my Grandma, too) turns 76 on August 29th! Oh, and our brother in law Robert turned 29 on the 9th! August is full of celebrations.

We have a few fun things planned for September. I got Eric and I tickets to the Alabama vs. Western Kentucky game on September 13th. Roll Tide! We're really looking forward to going to Tuscaloosa (about 40 minutes away) and watching the Crimson Tide play some ball! Also, our next door neighbors are getting married down the street at the Botanical Gardens at the end of September. We're looking forward to that as well!

Not much else to report. Eric's busy, busy, busy in the Eye E.R. and has a lot of great, classic stories to share. Just ask him about the lady and the chicken! ha. Funny story! Love you all!

JCRMA Welcome Luncheon

On Sunday JCRMA had a welcome luncheon for all the new wives that moved to Birmingham. We had about 45 ladies at our luncheon. It was a great turnout. We had two men from the Paragon Group sponsor our lunch at Cobb Lane. JCRMA is the Jefferson County Resident Medical Alliance...we call it the wives club! We have a great time together and we've all become close friends. We play bunco, do charity events, fundraise, have girls' night outs, and tons of other fun stuff.

My next door neighbor and best friend Leah. She's the president of JCRMA. I'm the social chair.

Katie, Ginger, Leah, Robin, and Meredith

Robin planned the luncheon!

Ginger's husband Ryan is an Ophthalmology Resident with Eric.

Katie, Sarah, Jennifer, Erin, Brittnie, Nicole, and Emily

Nicole and Emily's husbands did transition year with Eric.

Kim, Anne, and Lissette

Nicole, Emily, Katie, and Leah...good buds!

We have had a fun weekend filled with spending time with our friends. Friday night Eric hosted poker night at our house for all the guys. The girls all went to Sips-N-Strokes. It's a studio where you bring wine and an art instructor walks you through step by step how to paint a picture. We had a lot of fun. We all decided we chose a very hard one to paint! I think they all turned out great...even though mine somehow has a pink background.

Saturday night we had a couple that we hang out with a lot over for dinner. Tonight we are hosting a supper club with some of our neighbors.

My students come on Tuesday. I have 16 students this year, which is a perfect number! Eric is still playing softball on Tuesday nights. The team consists of about 15 other residents and they're good, however they still haven't won a game. We're holding out hope that they'll win at least one! The wives have fun watching them.

This should be a busy week. I have bunco on Thursday night, which is a lot of fun!

I'm posting a pic of our sips-n-strokes masterpieces.

I think we all need to grow a foot to catch up to Megan! I think she's wearing heels though!

We had a great time in St. Louis for Kane and Chrissy's wedding. It was great to spend time with our family and friends. Friday night the rehearsal dinner was at Maggiano's on Brentwood. Saturday the wedding was in Forest Park at the World's Fair Pavillion. The reception was at the Chase Park Plaza. Here are some pics from both the rehearsal dinner and wedding...

Summer is about over...

Unfortunately for me summer is about over. I have been playing mom to two kids for a while now while their parents are in England. It has been fun hanging out with them, going swimming at the country club, and doing other fun things. Their parents return this Wednesday night.

Eric and I will fly to St. Louis on Friday morning for our friends' wedding. We'll spend Friday hanging out with family and going to the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. Saturday Eric's whole family will be going to the wedding, so that'll be great to spend so much time with them. Then Sunday we were supposed to go to a Cardinal's game, but it got switched to a night game, so we can't go now. So now on Sunday I believe we're spending the day at my parents house in their pool.

I go back to work next Monday the 4th. My students will start the 12th.

Eric received his Alabama state license for Ophthalmology in the mail this week, which means he will be taking call all by his lonesome from now on. He will be the only Ophthalmologist working in the middle of the night (when he's on call). No good stories to share yet ( I'm pretty sure it's illegal to share them anyway!).

That's all for now. I'll post some pics of the wedding and our weekend after we return!

July 16, 2008

It's hard to believe that July is half over. This summer has been fun, but it flew by. Last weekend Eric's parents flew down for a weekend visit. We had a great time with them. We ate out, shopped, went to the zoo, the guys golfed, and we had a great time just being together.

For those of you that knew us when we bought our big ol' TV a few years ago... it broke! Luckily we had the replacement plan through Best Buy and we were able to get a nicer TV in its place. It all worked out well. If all goes as planned then in about 3 more years this TV will break and we'll get another nice new TV! :o)

I have been to a few summer workshops this week for my school district and will not be attending anymore. I will be babysitting up until the 1st of August. We'll be heading to St. Louis on August 1st for some friends of the family's wedding. We're looking forward to seeing our family and friends then! Oh, and we get to go to a Cardinal game!

Oh, and we were pretty bummed that the AL had to go and win the All Star game again! No fair!

July 10, 2008

Eric's on call today (which means a 30+hour shift). So, I'm at home cleaning and running errands. Eric's parents are coming in town tonight and we're really excited to spend the weekend with them.

I can't believe it's already the middle of July (almost). I go back to work on August 4th. I am really enjoying my summer and will have a hard time adjusting back to school days.

Eric is enjoying Ophthalmology. He takes call with second years for the month of July, but as soon as he gets his Alabama Medical license he will be on his own.

Well, I'm off to run some more errands. Have a great weekend.

July 5, 2008

This is our first attempt at blogging. We (Katie) set up this blog as a way to communicate with friends and family all across the country.

I (Katie) am enjoying my summer vacation. I travelled to Cancun, St. Louis, Chicago, and Destin, FL all in the month of June. I'm doing a lot of tutoring and a little babysitting this summer as well.

Eric started his Ophthalmology residency last Tuesday. We think it's going to be a great three years. It seems that he'll have some great mentors to teach him along the way.

We love Birmingham and have made some wonderful friends in the one year that we've been here. Bailey and Shiloh are loving each other and their back yard.

That's all for now.