Our Blessings in 2010

If you've read my blog for very long you might remember that we started a year-end tradition last year of writing down all of our blessings from that year. You can read last year's blessings here. Anyway, tonight we made our list for 2010 and we are just as blessed, if not more so, than last year. Take a look at all that God has given us and our friends and family, provided us with, and blessed us with in 2010! 

2010 Coats Family Blessings:

We got a really good deal on our car (the Taurus)

Finding out that we are pregnant with a sweet baby girl!

Free boating this summer on Lauren's mom's boat

Raises for both of us

Our last minute trip to Guatemala at half price!

Lauren Smith got a job working at Lauren’s school (fun to work together)

Chris and Stephanie found out they are pregnant with TWINS!

Lauren’s grandparents bought our baby’s new crib

First youth group ski trip was safe and successful

98% TAKS passing rate for Lauren’s students

Lauren started her master’s degree in counseling

Forney ISD paying for part of Lauren’s degree

Casey finishing DTS!!! Long time coming;)

Lauren getting a new asst. principal at school

313 kids at disciple now and many accepted Christ

222 kids at youth camp and many accepted Christ

Many children accepted Christ at the high school mission trip

Lauren has made many new and close relationships through Pokeno!

Casey was able to do some inexpensive house renovations (recessed lighting and new window) with the help of Charlie Rickerson

Lauren received teacher of the month for March 2010

Lauren was awarded “best-mannered teacher” at the Junior Cotillion due to a sweet letter written by one of her students

Blessed to serve at Union Gospel Mission with our CG

Lots of money was raised for the youth ministry at the annual Micah Johnson Memorial Golf Tournament

Our vacation to Mexico

A good group of youth workers helping Casey at church

Paul & Jill McDill's adoption from Ethiopia approved

Our new CG was started and it is going well

Good health for both of us

Wow! I told you we were blessed in 2010!
I would love to hear a few of your blessings as well! Feel free to leave them in a comment! =)

Week 23

Week 23

Fruit/Veggie/Item
large mango

Size

Our baby girl is now about 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound!

Baby Changes (Source: www.babycenter.com)
Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With her sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that she's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), you may be able to see her squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze her when she hears them outside the womb.

Best Moment This Week
We painted the nursery yesterday and today and it was a lot of fun! Of course it is PINK! :)

Gender
Girl - Sawyer Grace Coats :)

Movement
I feel her everyday and so does Casey!

Food Craving
no food cravings really...

Sleep
I sleep fine when my back isn't hurting

What I am looking forward to
having the furniture delivered into her now pink room!!! We are also still planning on putting in a chair rail so I am ready to see what that looks like! I am also getting excited about registering.

Symptoms

very very sore back:(

Weight
I've gained about 10 pounds so far. 

All is well! :)

6 Chix Reunion

Tonight was our annual 6 Chix Christmas dinner! We have met at Christmastime since we were in high school to exchange presents and now to catch up! I hope we continue this tradition for many years to come!

Here is a picture that Rachel came up with! I like it! We need to do this every year when one of us is pregnant :)

 

 During dinner

 With our gifts - we do an exchange with stealing and such and this what we all ended up with!

Rachel got a cute sign (that I actually own myself and so does Amanda:), I got a $10 Starbucks gift card, and Amanda got this cute crocheted ear warmer (like a beanie, but without the top)

Crystal got the Olive Garden gift card and Lauren got the ornament that I had made! It says 6 Chix and it has all of our names on the bears' hats :) 

 Time for our photo op - Jordan was there to take pictures when he picked up Rachel :)

 Have you noticed that we are all wearing gray?! We did not plan it! I promise!

 Kristin couldn't make it this year so we took a picture showing that we missed her!!

Until next year ladies! (Unless we can make this a semi-annual thing;)

Love you girls!!

Week 22

Week 22

Fruit/Veggie/Item

spaghetti squash

Size

Our baby girl now weighs about 1 pound and is about 11 inches long - the length of a spaghetti squash

Baby Changes (Source: www.babycenter.com)

At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. Her lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and she's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums. Her eyes have formed, but her irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If you could see inside your womb, you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers her body and the deep wrinkles on her skin, which she'll sport until she adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside her belly, her pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.

Best Moment This Week

My doctor's appointment today! This was the first appointment without getting a sonogram, but that's okay because my doctor has done 4 already! I've been spoiled. Today I did get to hear the heartbeat on the doppler and that was still pretty cool! :)

Gender

A sweet little baby girl:)

Movement

I haven't felt her move as much this week as I did last week, but I am still feeling her some everyday. Last night I swear I saw my stomach twitch when she kicked me pretty hard! It will be neat to see that more :)

Food Craving

nothing unusual for me :)

Sleep

Sleep has not been going so well this week. I wake up from back pain and can NOT get comfortable. I think I am going to start sleeping in my back brace if things do not improve.

What I am looking forward to

Getting our baby furniture in and cleaning out the nursery and painting it PINK!

Symptoms

just back pain...

Weight

So far I have gained 9 pounds since my first appointment back in September. I was pretty shocked to hear that today because I feel like I should have gained way more than that…and I think I look like I've gained more than 9, too, but maybe not!

It's a CeLeBrAtiOn!!!

I wanted to post a little celebration on here because I just took my last final of the semester! I have been so ready to get my classes over with this semester! I learned a lot, but man where they a beating! SO many assignments and some were really long and difficult! Here is just a little comment I got from one of my professors this evening which made my day! :)

Kelly Kozlowski12/14/2010 7:33 PM

Clearly outstanding!  Any school would be fortunate to have you as part of their team.  Bravo.   Would you mind my sharing this as an example of outstanding work?

Yay! Now I only have to work 4 hours tomorrow before Casey & I head to Houston for a wedding! I am so excited that I don't have to go back to work until January 4th! And before we know it our little girl will be here! 2011 is going to be fun :)

Birdie Baby and Opinions Wanted

Opinions please (positive ones are always more appreciated than negative ones:)


I have been thinking about baby room ideas and themes lately and would really like to incorporate birds into it all. 


Here are some baby bedding ideas:


Option 1
Notice the super cute bird mobile...

Option 2
Another really cute bird mobile and more cute birds on the bedding. I also really like the pictures on the wall and the cute little bird on the side table - neither of those come with the bedding though.

Option 3
Okay, so this bedding doesn't have any birds on it, but I just think it is so pretty and frilly/girly. Casey loves it, too. I just wish it had birds on it…If I do go with this I am not getting the princess stuff that goes with it. Not a big fan of "princess."

So what do you all think? What are your favorite options? I guess I should show you the furniture so you know what the bedding is going on. :)

The Crib & Changing Table…

we did not order the drawer under the crib

Some details that I love…

                 

                 
The 6 drawer chest

What the crib will look like as a toddler bed (we ordered the toddler rail)…

What the full bed will look like (we ordered the side rails)…

So there it is ladies and gentlemen (although I kind of doubt there are any gentlemen reading this, haha!). Let me know what bedding option you like best :)

Week 21

Week 21

Fruit/Veggie/Item

Size

Our baby girl now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot

Baby Changes (Source: www.babycenter.com)

You may soon feel like she's practicing martial arts as her initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges. You may also discover a pattern to her activity as you get to know her better. In other developments, your baby's eyebrows and lids are present now.

Best Moment this Week

We bought our baby furniture last night and it was soooo fun to actually DO something! That was our first big purchase and it was fun! It was really sinking in to both of us that we will have a little baby laying in that beautiful bed! I also got to attend, Stephanie's (my sister-in-law) baby shower which was neat because it was my first baby shower while being pregnant! Well, I take that back…I was actually pregnant at my friend Kristin's shower, but didn't know it yet -- even thought I was already 6 weeks pregnant! Haha! :) Anyway, back to Stephanie's shower…she is having twins--a boy and a girl. She is due the end of February, but I think we're going to get to meet baby boy and girl in late January/early February. It was neat looking at all the cute little girl clothes and thinking about my own sweet little baby that will be here soon! :)

Gender

A little baby girl:)

Movement

Baby girl is making popcorn in my belly! Pop pop pop! It feels like she moves for about 10 minutes every 90 minutes! Casey has felt her and I obviously feel her everyday! So neat!

Food Craving

Nothing really anymore…in fact, almost all of my food aversions are back to normal (except Taco Bueno/Cabana/Casa). I'm almost disappointed that I don't crave weird things…I always thought that would be fun! Everyone says it's because I already eat weird things, so my normal cravings are as weird as most pregnant women (i.e. popcorn and jalapenos, olives by themselves, bread and vinegar, salt & vinegar chips, etc).

Sleep

some nights sleep is great, sometimes it's not...

What I am looking forward to

Our next doctor's appointment on Monday! My mom is coming and it will be her first time to ever see a sonogram!

Symptoms
some back pain, some sleep problems, having to use the bathroom all the time……

Weight

I have gained around 8 pounds by now…I'm not sure if that's good or normal, but my doctor suggested I not gain more than 30, so that's my goal. We'll see! :)

Week 20

Week 20

Fruit/Veggie/Item

banana

Size

Our baby girl is about 6 1/2 inches from head to bottom and 10 inches from head to heal. She weighs 10 1/2 ounces. (For the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against her torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of her head to her bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, she's measured from head to toe.)

Baby Changes (Source: www.babycenter.com)

She's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for her digestive system. 

Best Moment this Week
The baby has been moving allll over the place this week! It has been neat to feel and every time she starts kicking I reach over and grab Casey's hand. He hasn't been able to feel anything until tonight!!! I got so excited that I decided to blog about it:) He felt her move two times and I didn't even tell him that she was moving at the exact time she kicked - he said something first so I was sure he could tell! :) Yay!

Gender

A little baby girl:)

Movement

As I just said - moving all around! She even woke me up last night because I felt her move from one side to another.

Food Craving

Not much in the way of cravings this week.

Sleep

Been pretty sleepy, but it's probably partly due to the fact that I am sick! :( I have aches and pains, sore throat, and a runny/stuffy nose. No fun! I woke up at 5:30 this morning and couldn't really fall back asleep after that.

What I am looking forward to

Still looking forward to buying baby furniture and getting the nursery ready! We cleaned out the closet, but haven't done much since then! Maybe over Christmas break? My next appointment is December 20th and I am excited because my mom is coming and my doctor is going to do another ultrasound since she has never seen one (she never had one herself either).

Symptoms
Same as last week--I have to use the restroom a million times a day even when I don't drink anything?! I hope that doesn't last forever because is it isn't very convenient when I have 20 twelve year olds in a room alone while I run down the hall…I am also sick this week, like I said. Boo.