Tuesday, June 30, 2009

A Chronology of Our Pregnancy Thus Far

David and I have been blown away by all the congratulatory comments, here and on Facebook -- it's so fun to have our pregnancy announcement out in the open! :) Thank you all so much for being so excited with us, and for being such an incredible support network!

As a former history major, I wanted to keep track of all the little milestones and important dates for this pregnancy. And as a former history major himself, David is willing to humor me, his pregnant wife. :) So we thought we'd lay out some of the milestones we've already hit, but couldn't blog about until we'd made the announcement. And answer some of the most common questions we've been asked so far at the same time -- look, we're already learning how to be super efficient! :)

We found out we were pregnant on May 16. I took a home pregnancy test first thing that bright Saturday morning. I'd had a suspicion all that week that I might be pregnant, but then again, I'd had a similar suspicion every month for a while now... So you can imagine my surprise when that second line appeared on the test!



I called out for David, trying to control the excitement in my voice, but he immediately knew something was up. We then basically spent the rest of the day trying to take in this news, and being so incredibly excited together. :) We took another home pregnancy test the next morning -- just to be sure. And yup, still positive! So we called our parents that day to share the exciting news!

That day was Elaine and Ed's wedding. We saw a ton of old friends, and most of my college roommates -- I was dying to tell them all our news. But it was way early, and at that point, we had decided we wanted to wait until the end of the first trimester to make a public announcement, so I managed to keep it together. Just wanted to let you girls know now, though -- I really, really wanted to tell you all that day!

My first doctor's appointment was on May 28. Surprisingly, they only took my height, weight and blood pressure, and then we had a Q&A session with my doctor. Apparently, home pregnancy tests are accurate enough these days such that OBs don't generally take a blood test to confirm the pregnancy. I sort of wanted some independent confirmation -- the home tests are great and all, but wouldn't you want something more than the $6 test from Target to confirm such life-changing news?

We did get to schedule an early ultrasound, though. At my doctor's practice, they usually only do a couple ultrasounds throughout the entire pregnancy, the first of which is a screening test at about 12 weeks. But because we weren't entirely sure of the dating of this pregnancy, we got an ultrasound scheduled for June 4, in order to provide the estimated due date.

That ultrasound was the most incredible experience ever. At just 6 weeks, 3 days, we could see the flicker of the baby's heartbeat on the monitor! It's amazing, actually getting to see the little life growing in my womb. We were so thankful that everything looked good at the ultrasound -- and statistically speaking, the miscarriage rate drops to about 5% after you see a heartbeat! This, by the way, was the sonogram we posted in our pregnancy announcement.

That was already almost four weeks ago! We have our second doctor's appointment tomorrow morning. Because the bloodwork and ultrasounds are done at different locations, I don't anticipate having anything big come up tomorrow. But we'll go in for the first trimester screening on July 14, and hopefully have more sonograms to share then!

So today, we're 10 weeks, 1 day pregnant. (And yes, we're pregnant -- David is just as much in this as I am!) I'm not exactly far enough along to be showing just yet, but I do have a healthy pregnancy bloat going on... David commented yesterday that this is the first time I wanted him to tell me I looked "fatter." :)

The biggest question we've gotten so far is whether we know if the baby is a boy or a girl. We won't actually find out about that until about 20 weeks, at the anatomy screening ultrasound -- so not until sometime in early September. But you better believe we'll be finding out the gender then! And we'll keep you all in the loop as well!

So again, thank you so much for being excited with and for us! We're so thankful for the wonderful family and friends we have, and for the community that this little one will be born into. It's so much fun to share this pregnancy with all of you!

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Playing the Pregnancy Card

Apologies for the blogging silence! We dropped the pregnancy announcement bombshell, and then just disappeared for a while... Sorry to keep you all hanging like that!

I'm going to have to play the pregnancy card as an excuse -- I've been so exhausted the last few weeks, and then morning sickness kicked in with a vengeance last week. I'm maybe the only person in my office who's thankful that the economic downturn is resulting in slower times at work... I suppose I should be more worried about my billable hours, but right now, I'm just thankful that I can easily work from home or take afternoons off as needed!

I am thankful for the exhaustion and the nausea, though. Difficult though it may be sometimes, it's all a reminder of the incredible things going on in my body right now, and I'm choosing to take each moment of nausea as a sign that the baby is still growing and developing as he/she should. :)

And we've got some more pregnancy-related posts in the works! I do want to journal the rest of this pregnancy -- though we'll also try to keep this blog from becoming all baby, all the time. Though I have to confess, that's pretty much where my mind is these days... :)

Thank you all for being so excited for and with us! It's a little nerve-wracking and scary, the idea of being pregnant and becoming parents, but we're mostly just super thrilled about it all, and so thankful for this incredible blessing!

Monday, June 15, 2009

Coming in January!!



We're pregnant!!!

Due January 25, 2010

So excited and thankful!

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Jason's Surprise 30th Birthday Picnic

On Saturday, we headed up to the city for a surprise birthday party for a dear friend of ours -- Jason's turning 30 on Tuesday! His girlfriend, Damara, and another friend of ours, John, had planned this surprise picnic in Central Park for Saturday afternoon, and were actually successful in surprising the birthday boy!

Which was really remarkable, considering the fact that David and I managed to pull up right behind Jason and Damara on the Henry Hudson Parkway.

Later, Jason told us that he had seen a red Prius behind them for a while on the NJ Turnpike, and had joked to Damara that he thought they were being stalked by us. He then saw that the red car had NJ plates, and continued on the whole Keddie-stalking theme.

And then we ended up right behind Jason and Damara as we drove up the Parkway, and we all pulled off at the 96th Street exit. At that point, we noticed that the white Honda in front of us had NJ plates starting with UZX. I turned to David to ask him, "Doesn't Jason's car have plates starting with weird letters like that?" By then we were stopped at a red light, and it became clear to us that it was, in fact, Jason driving the car right in front of us.

I think Jason made the same discovery about us at precisely the same moment. He started waving frantically out the window, and apparently wanted to call us to see what on earth we were doing there...

Damara, thinking quickly, offered to call us since he was driving. The following conversation ensued:
DAMARA: "Hey, Keddies! We're right in front of you!!"
ME: "Wow, what are the chances, huh?"
DAMARA: "We're driving into the city to have lunch with John. What are you guys doing here?"
ME: "Umm..."
David and I thought for sure the jig was up by then. We never, ever go into the city, and seriously, what are the chances that we would all coincidentally end up at the same exit on the upper west side at the same time?

But because I'm a huge fan of surprise parties, and because Damara was still trying to play it off as a coincidence, I told her on the phone that since it was our first free weekend in a long time, we had decided to come into the city. Which, technically, was true...

Jason was all excited and invited us to join them for lunch. Which we of course accepted. :)

It wasn't until they got to Central Park and saw his mom and a large picnic set up that Jason realized that there were larger things afoot than a simple "getting together with John for lunch in the city." :)



It worked! He was totally surprised!


Damara and Jason


Some of the delicious picnic food


The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, from the day of Jason's birth
(Brought by his mother, along with a ton of other baby Jason memorabilia!)


Jason, David, and John

Happy birthday, Jason! We're so glad we could come up to celebrate with you -- and that the surprise was a success, despite our almost blowing it! :)

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Staff Fun Night!

Last night was the annual end-of-year PEF staff fun night! After the busyness of Reunions and graduation, the staff have a week or two of "June days," where they evaluate the past year and start to make plans for the year to come. Near the end of June days comes staff fun night, with all staff families invited.

This year, we went out to Chuck E. Cheese -- primarily because it would be fun for the little kids. And by "little kids," I mean everyone on staff... :)

The last time I had been to Chuck E. Cheese was actually the day I took the LSAT -- I took it down at Rider with my friends Jeff and Yashih, and we decided that we needed to do something fun and childlike to wash the taste of that exam out of our mouths... That was a ton of fun, but going to Chuck E. Cheese is probably more fun when you're not sleep deprived, and when you can share in the wonder of the place with small children. :)


Lydia and Jeremy getting their Skeeball on


Debbie joining in on the Skeeball fun


Chris and Anna competing in basketball


Laura tagging along with Chuck E. Cheese himself


Bill and Rachel playing some kind of shooting game


Anna in her own little virtual reality world


Aime and Greg playing MarioKart

Staff fun night always lives up to its name. :)

Farewell, Zartmans!

This past Tuesday was the last week that everyone in our Tuesday night married couples' small group would be in town together -- Erik and Andrèa are traveling for the rest of the month, and by the time they get back, Jeremy and Vera (and their 17-month-old daughter, Masha) will have left for Switzerland, where Jeremy is doing a two-year post-doc. We're all so proud of Jeremy for finishing his PhD (and within 5 years!), but it'll be so sad to see the Zartmans go! So we decided to do a special potluck dinner this week in honor of these dear friends.

And as an added bonus -- Erik and Erin (and 3-month-old Luke!) were in town! They used to lead these small groups, and had asked if they could come to the Tuesday group while they were around. So of course we invited them to join in!

Luke has grown so much in the almost-three months since we last saw him!


Dr. Zartman himself!


And his lovely wife Vera -- they're expecting a boy in October!


And thanks to Hilary, we got several different configurations of group photos. :)


All five couples, plus Luke


All the men


Old leaders and new


Our Tuesday group: Zartmans, Bergsiekers, Granstedts, and Keddies

We'll miss you, Jeremy and Vera! We'll have to come visit you in Zurich sometime. :) Many, many blessings on your family as you make the big move and settle into life in Switzerland. We love you!

Friday, June 12, 2009

PEF Senior Dinner 2009

Immediately following Reunions is Princeton's 3-day graduation extravaganza -- Sunday Baccalaureate, Monday Class Day, and Tuesday Commencement. In the middle of all of the university's hoopla, PEF throws a farewell dinner for the seniors and their families, on the Monday evening, right before the university's prom.

This year, we had a huge graduating class -- all of whom will be very dearly missed! It was a bittersweet evening, honoring these dear seniors and getting to know their families a bit... We're so glad so many of them were there that night, and that we could all fellowship together one last time.


It wouldn't be a PEF event without Jamie providing the music...


Nate A. and Jon K., with some of Nate's family


Going through the dinner buffet line


Molly H., one of our lovely underclassmen servers


Stephanie K. and her parents, all the way from Hong Kong


Half of the room -- it was a huge crowd this year!


Justin C., another underclassman helper, preparing fruit plates for dessert


Anna and some of the '09 girls


Bill, starting the program portion of the evening


The seniors presented the staff with gifts -- so sweet!


David, receiving his gift from Ryan


Jon H., a stalwart conservative's conservative, receiving a gift from his fiancee's roommates



Godspeed, class of 2009 -- we'll miss you!!

For more senior dinner photos, check out this Smugmug gallery.

Tae and Jeff Richmond-Moll!!

We actually missed out on the tail end of Reunions -- because we had a wedding to go to! Our dear friends Jeff and Tae got married in Princeton on Saturday evening, May 30 -- and their wedding was beautiful and elegant, just like the two of them!

It was the first time we'd been to a wedding at Westerly -- it's the church we're members of, and we love it dearly, but I had always thought of the sanctuary as a little small and awkwardly laid out. But Jeff and Tae were able to create a beautiful, ethereal setting for their ceremony, with strategically placed tall flower stands and a gorgeous archway at the front.

And their reception! It took place at Albemarle, a grand old mansion with beautiful grounds, now home to the American Boychoir School -- where Jeff and Tae first met at a summer camp, many years ago. Elegant and sweetly sentimental -- the very best combination for a wedding reception. :)


The floral arch, twinkling away at the front of the sanctuary


Jeff, anxiously awaiting his bride


Brad and Casadi S., a married couple who were in the bridal party


The blushing bride with her proud father!


Isn't this just lovely?


Reading their eternal vows to each other


The exchange of rings


Taking communion together for the first time as man and wife


The kiss!


Introducing Tae and Jeff Richmond-Moll!


Katie and Jon are so cute!


Just because I think Casadi is gorgeous :)


The seating chart, and my seat at the table


Part of the dessert buffet -- complete with wedding cupcakes...


...which Tae and Jeff fed each other :)


Proof that we were there!


The beautiful reception tent

Congratulations again, Jeff and Tae! Thanks for letting us be a part of your wedding celebrations. Many blessings on your married life together!

Check out our complete set of photos in this Smugmug gallery.