Baby Repko has finally arrived!

In case you haven't heard the news, our daughter was born early this morning! She is so precious!!! We'll write out the story of our morning when we have a bit more time but wanted to post a few photos for you to enjoy. (We've already taken over 100!)

We're pleased to introduce: Raelyn Grace!

The weigh-in

First portrait

First diaper change -- Dad did a great job!

First bottle

Cuddling w/Mom

Cuddling w/ Dad

Sweet sleeping baby

A few reactions about her name... "I guessed it!" "I knew it!" "Of course!"

We are filled with joy & love beyond comprehension!

Christmas 2009

Wow, what a week! Each day we think, "This could be the day." I guess we could be saying that for several more days.

During the past 7 days we had new carpet installed in the basement, two staircases, and upstairs hall. We also painted the basement and created an "art gallery" with some of our favorite vacation photos. Mark finished laying the tile in the bathroom and cleaned up his construction zone. I put together a menu of all appetizers for Christmas Eve, baked a pork tenderloin the day after Christmas, and whipped up two batched of chili today. We also played a few games with family, tickled and giggled with our nieces, and I got to see a movie early today with my mom & Jenny. I would say that our Christmas week was jam-packed with activity!

Next Christmas will bring new traditions and activities. But for 2009, we especially enjoyed watching our nieces open their Christmas gifts and sneaking in a few hugs and kisses.

Uncle Mark & Rachelle watching Matt finish assembly on Rachelle's super-sized doll house.

Aunt Stephanie & Rachelle

Avery sporting her super cool new crocheted hat made especially for her by my friend, Brittany

Anxiously Waiting...

No news right now. We're just waiting for the call so we can rush to the hospital. (and waiting, and waiting, and ...) ;)

As we wait, we keep asking each other: "When do you think she'll arrive?" So, I'm posing the question to you. Go here to guess her stats.

The Great Nursery Reveal

I know that there are a few of you dying to see the nursery. I've been waiting until I considered it finished to show it off to you. The time is here! Enjoy the tour.

Here you can see our mixed-matched furniture (which we love).

Years ago, I had drawn on a scrap piece of paper an idea for above the crib.

I have 12 frames that will eventually hold photos of our daughter from month 1 to month 12.

I love this chair! I'm already spending about 1/2 hr a day reading or writing in it.

You can also see the gingham pink curtains and the wall decals we put on the closet doors.

Here you see the full closet doors.

Another view of the hutch.

The bottom drawer houses all of her toys and the top has blankets and extra sheets.

To the left of the hutch you can see the family tree that I ordered from Sarah Jane on Etsy.

A closer look at the frames.

Aunt Jenny painted them and made the bows.

I made the month cut-outs.

Close up of the hutch.

Aunt Jenny painted the bird houses.

I made the name blocks, which will be "revealed" once our baby arrives.

The primary colored wooden toys are from our trip to Germany in 2007.

On the wall opposite the hutch is the dresser.

The only item I'm missing in our photo tour is the area rug. It really ties everything together beautifully.

Here is a photo from the PBK site:

And now, friends & family, you've seen the whole nursery. It will be 100% complete when we bring our baby girl home ! :) A big thanks to my "decorator", Jenny!!! She helped pull my ideas together into something cohesive and beautiful.

We have much to be thankful for this year! We hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving spent with those you love and that you get to spend a little time "expressing gratitude".

Here are a few things that we're thankful for:

• A baby girl who is due to show up in less than 40 days!
• A birth mom who adores us and keeps reassuring us that we're going to be the best parents.
• Family & friends who are supportive, prayerful, and love us unconditionally.
• Family & friends who are almost as excited as we are to meet our baby girl.
• A church & small group we enjoy and learn from.
• Big, slobbery, furry Sheba.
• Jobs.
• A house we call home.
• Renters we can trust.
• Health.
• Insurance.
• That Mark is beating Crohn's with prayer & diet.
• Life, Liberty, and property The Pursuit of Happiness.
• Jesus.
  
  

The Baby Shower

Have you ever looked forward to something for a long time and then felt completely overwhelmed once it arrived? I'm sure I'll experience that feeling many more times in the next several weeks/months/years. Friends and family celebrated the impending arrival of our little girl with a baby shower on Sunday. It turned out beautifully and I will be writing thank you notes until my hand hurts and then I'll take a short break and start again. ;)

We enjoyed a fabulous dessert bar with cheesecake, decadent cupcakes, chocolate covered strawberries, mini brownies, and fruit salad. Yum!

There was a purse scavenger hunt to see who had the most items on the list. My mom and I got a good giggle out of item #3 on the list. I'll leave you guessing on that one. :)
We even had crafting! Everyone was given a plain onsie to decorate with fabric or markers. I have some craft-a-licious girlfriends!
Of course I opened baby gifts as well. While opening I received some sage advice from all the mommies in the crowd. Thanks gals!
And then my camera battery died. I'm hoping I'll receive more shower photos soon from those with fully charged batteries. :)

Here I am in the nursery trying to figure out where to put everything! I'm happy to say that all the clothes are hung in the closet and almost everything has found a home.
Thanks again for a wonderful baby shower!

xoxo,

Door County Vacation

We've been talking about vacationing with our friends for years but for some unknown reason never got to planning it. A long weekend seemed like a good way to test our vacationing compatibility. Turns out our families are a great match! :)

We had a few scheduling conflicts arise right before our trip, but we managed a few work-arounds and we all made it to Door County late on a Wednesday night. Or was it very early Thursday morning? Who cares, we made it there alive!

Our first adventure was breakfast at The White Gull Inn. Wow, it was cherry-licious! Then we were off to explore. We saw The Canal Lighthouse, which is located at the mouth of the Sturgeon Bay ship canal. This is an active Coast Guard station so we had limited access.

View of small lighthouse on lake.

View from pier toward the Coast Guard Station and Canal Lighthouse.

Next we were off to Peninsula State Park to check out the beautiful fall colors! Here, we did a bit of hiking and climbed a 75-feet tall watch tower.

Pennisula Park coast line.

Another day we drove north and made a quick tour of park that I think was supposed to be a bird sanctuary. I personally think the birds had already headed south because this day it was FREEZING!

Trying to stay warm with the lake breeze.

Addy & Keith playing on the beach.

Panoramic of Lake Michigan. (click to enlarge)

We also explored local shops and art galleries. One day we stumbled upon an art festival and enjoyed looking at the many booths of art and handcrafted goods. In the evenings we enjoyed good food and then time hanging at the lodge playing games, reading, and staying up late chatting like good friends do.

At the lodge, the Billmeier's are one silly family!

Fish boil.

At the lodge, the Repko's are not quite as silly.

The whole gang on departure day.

Our beautiful Door county lodge.

We had a great time of rest & relaxation...just what the doctor ordered!

Good Article

Just a quick post to share an article with you I read this morning. SimpleMom has quite a few good articles. They tend to lean toward the sorta-crunchy mom type, which is where I like to be and I know a few of you do too. ;) Enjoy this sleep article and search around for other good stuff (the other day there was a good post about eliminating shampoo and their harmful chemicals from your life).

Football Food

Football season has arrived and with it comes football food! Last week, I whipped up one of Mark's favorites, nachos. This is super easy and husband-approved. :)

Ingredients:
1lb ground beef
a bag of your favorite tortilla chips
1 can cheddar cheese soup
a jar of your favorite salsa
diced tomatoes
diced onion
jalapeno slices
sliced black olives
sour cream
any other toppings that sound good to you

Directions:
brown the ground beef
in saucepan heat the cheese soup and add about 1/4 cup of salsa
mix in some of the soup/salsa concoction with the browning meat
place tortilla chips on plates and top with meat, cheese, and all the other toppings
DIG IN!

It's a crazy time for a new job!

I know, I'm crazy. 

First, who quits a perfectly decent job in this economy? Especially after the company lays off almost half of the staff two weeks before I give notice! 

Second, who finds a perfectly awesome job with a stable and growing company in this economy?

Third, what soon-to-be 1st time mom takes a new job just months before bringing a new baby home? 

Apparently, I do! 

The past 3 weeks have been jam packed with training and I have several more weeks of the same. It's a great move for me and it hasn't been often that I've been able to say I really like my job. And hey, we seem to be hiring a lot so if you know anyone needing a job pass their resume my way. ;) 

Every new hire has to use the company application to send out a bio email to the entire company. Here's a copy of mine: MY BIO EMAIL. 

Fresh Okra

The Pioneer Woman wasn't lying! My photo isn't very good, but this IS the best way to eat okra. Uncooked, washed, sliced in half, and salted. I never knew there was a way to eat it besides fried. This "recipe" takes a lot less preparation and clean up, not to mention it's much healthier. If you didn't grow any this year, put it on your seed list for next summer. I'm so glad the pesky bugs ignored our okra plants this summer. :)

Pink & Green

The nursery is well under way. I can't wait until we have a completed room to show you! I'll give you a preview of the walls. :)

Since my last day at Oxygen Ed. was last Wednesday, I had Thursday & Friday free. I decided to paint. Thursday I prepared the room by taping and edging with the pink paint. And then I ran out of time because I did other errands that day like, dropping off 10 bags of purged items from our closets to Goodwill and taking my rings & earrings to the jewelry store for appraisals and cleanings. On Friday, I rolled the pink paint and then edged & rolled the green too. (BTW I did two coats of all edging & rolling.) I was impressed with my job and Mark was too. He was so impressed that he decided on Sunday to add another chair rail to the 4th wall (that I had painted solid pink) and repaint the bottom green to match the rest of the walls.

Next up, moving the furniture back into the room. ;)