Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! In case you haven't gotten your christmas card from us...here's a copy of the letter that was inside. And here's our Christmas Eve picture :-)


Double click on the letter to make it bigger.

Traditions

We decorated our christmas tree after Thanksgiving (not the day after like usual, but a couple of days after). Gregory had a blast helping and it was fun once again to reminiscence about the memories behind so many of our ornaments. This years new ornament is one which holds a picture - which says it all - this christmas was one of expectation - baby Joshua especially.

Here are a couple of highlight pictures from that evening...oh and the pic of me...I was STUCK behind the tree :-) fun times :-)

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow

So it seems that when I sit down to blog I get on a roll and end up with a few different posts...just wish I could spread them out over time...for some reason that doesn't happen.

Anyways, here's another one...snow...we've had some, not too much, but we've had some...and we've had some fun playing in it too - not outside too much, but we've still gotten to play in it :-) with a little creativity.

Here's a little work that comes along with the snow :-)

And here are some shots of playing with snow indoors...it was too cold to go outside, so we brought the snow in to us :-)












I decided to make our downstairs bathroom a "seasonally" decorated room in our house, so I used my Craft Robo to "decorate" the bathroom...with the theme, "Let it Snow".

Happy Belated Thanksgiving

Just because I didn't post anything for Thanksgiving doesn't mean we didn't stop to be thankful and also enjoy some yummy food. We did! Just lately (better late than never) Gregory has decided he likes to voice what he is thankful for and then turns and asks us what we are thankful for...pretty cute. He is thankful for his mom, his dad, his baby brother (not here yet), his friends (and then he lists them all) and so many other things. I am so glad he is learning to be thankful and we will gladly encourage this habit.

Here's a picture from Thanksgiving day...

Baby Shower

This past weekend my sister and mom came down to help throw a baby shower for us. Along with our youth pastor's wife (a great friend of mine), Ruth, they did a wonderful job making me feel special and celebrating the upcoming arrival of our son.

That night we decided to announce the name of our baby boy, Joshua Thomas. We picked Joshua because of who Joshua was in the Bible (a very dedicated man of God) and one of my favorite verses is Joshua 1:9 (...Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.") Whenever I say the name Joshua it will help me to remember this verse and to trust in God more.

There was yummy food, fun games and a special prayer time for me and baby Joshua. My sister and mom made all kinds of yummy appetizers and Ruth came up with some great beverages. They decorated the house in red and brown (with many balloons) to match some of the colors we'll be using in the baby's room. My mom made a special wall hanging that matches the theme in the baby's room. On top of that she made and decorated a beautiful cake that was the same as the wall hanging.


Raquel (my sister) included some fun games that were not your "normal" baby shower games...these were especially fun. After the games Ruth led a special prayer time over me and our baby. Raquel wrote down the blessings and prayers so we'll treasure these forever. And then afterwards we opened presents. We received so many things that will be so useful and we were so blessed by the thoughtfulness of everyone. It was such a special time to share with so many friends who came...thank you to each of you who shared in this special time.


We have a little over a month to go with this pregnancy and I am looking forward to meeting our son and being done with this pregnancy...I'm pretty sure Tom is ready to be done with it too, so then I can move on and find other reasons to complain about all of my aches and pains (maybe just old age will work) :-)

To see the rest of the baby shower pictures go here...http://tomandroxannecook.shutterfly.com/

Where to start?

Well, it's been a busy month since my last post, but I did warn you that it was going to be a busy month :-)

And as you can imagine the next month will be just as busy minus one activity. This past month it was decided to discontinue our mom's group, Refreshed. I'm not going to go into any details on this, but just thought I'd share that I should technically be less busy. I think I am still busy with other things, just less motivated currently.

So what exactly have we been busy with this past month--doctor appointments, church, winter weather, pregnancy stuff, bible study, Pampered Chef Party, Shutterfly Photobook Party, Youth Group Leaders meeting and a wonderful Baby Shower!

The Baby Shower deserves it's own post, so I'll leave that for a separate post.

I just realized I really don't have any great pictures from this past month to share, so I guess this is it for an update.

Baby Update

So I am not that far behind on my posts...this is just from over a week ago. I had my 30 week appt and the doctor had another ultrasound scheduled to make sure everything was ok and that I wouldn't need to have a c-section...and praise the Lord everything IS ok. Our baby boy is about 3.8 lbs and doing good. We could see him moving his mouth during the ultrasound and the pictures were so clear where we could see so much detail. I didn't have an ultrasound with Gregory when I was this far along, so this was something new for us. So now I am 31 weeks and getting ready to get an appointment for pre-admission. Wow, it seems like things are moving right along. I guess it helps when you're busy like us. In the next month I have so much going on, but it's mostly fun stuff, so that should be good :-)

Oh and to cap it all off a week before Thanksgiving a special friend of mine is throwing us a baby shower and my mom and sister are flying down for it! This will be a special time. It's not too often that just my mom, my sister and I get to be together so I am looking forward to this time.

Here is one of my favorite ultrasound pictures...and as always there are more at Shutterfly.

Oh and here are a couple of recent pictures too...one of me and Gregory and how big I'm getting and another of my recent haircut.

finally an update

Well, we've been quite busy these past few weeks (months) since I've blogged, but I am still going to apologize for being away for so long.

We've gotten moved into our new home and we are loving it. It's such a blessing from God and we are so thankful to Him for providing all He has provided. We still have some things to hang up and some nail holes to fill in, but all in all, we're moved in.

We've had our first visitors, my sister and her family and it was a wonderful time. We did some sight seeing (had a fun train ride), hung out a lot and played a lot. The boys really enjoyed playing together and Gregory sure misses Jaden & Clay.


Raquel was also able to come with me for our first Refreshed meeting which was a great time.

We have since had one other meeting which was a great time as well...we had Erin Mirabella come and speak to us about fitness for our kids and then we made snuggle tied blankets. They turned out so cute and are so easy to make!

Amongst all of this stuff we've been attending a couples small group bible study on Friday nights, each leading a small group on Wednesday nights during youth group, and I've been attending a women's bible study on Thursday mornings...so if you don't catch us at home that often, well now you know why :-)

There's pictures online to see from when my sister and her family were here and that's all for now! http://tomandroxannecook.shutterfly.com/

I'll try to be better with posting, but no promises!

What's Up

So in case you are wondering what else has been going on in our lives other than the growing baby inside of me...here's a little run down.

Tom went to Alaska for a week and we survived...we were actually pretty busy while he was gone...I had lots of meetings for our mom's group that I'll be coordinating (it's called Refreshed). I also had a routine doctor appointment and we spent some time playing outside too.

After that week, then Tom worked nights for a week, so we were glad to have him home even though we only got to see him for a couple of hours a day.

Of course over the past few weeks we've been packing as well...we get the keys to our next house on Monday. And I can hardly wait for that day to come! More space, more storage and a nice tub to relax in :-)


So we'll be moving and unpacking over the next couple of weeks and cleaning too as we move out of our current house.

Oh and two nights ago we had a pretty big hailstorm so that was about the only big excitement around here.


Here's also a short video from the hailstorm...



And last week we spent some time at a park and we found some geese and ducks to feed there too. This brought back great memories of when I was little and my mom would take us to the park to feed the ducks...of course there was a not so pleasant memory with the ducks too (when my sister fell into the pond at my birthday party)...we almost had our own version of this when Gregory took off running, but I was able to steer him away from the pond when I caught up with him.

Of course there are more pics at http://tomandroxannecook.shutterfly.com/

It's a ....

Today was my 20 week ultrasound and it's a BOY. Yep, a healthy boy...still letting it sink in, oh boy another boy! Well I guess I'll start meditating on the verse that God doesn't give us more than we can handle :-)

Here are a few pictures from the ultrasound.

Day at the Park

Today was one of our MOPS park playdates...only one other mom showed up, but Gregory still had a blast...here are a few pics...more on our photo website http://tomandroxannecook.shutterfly.com/

Our time in Missouri last week

Last week we went to the Springfield, MO area...what a long drive, but uneventful so that was great. We were there for a couple of reasons--I was a bridesmaid in my good friend Carla's wedding and we were able to spend time with family (Tom's mom and sister's family live in the area).

We left Colorado on Friday and stayed overnight in Topeka at a very nice hotel (thanks to Priceline.com!) So we arrived (at Betty's--Tom's mom) in Willard, MO shortly after lunch time. It was nice to be out of the van...the weather was really hot and humid though, but Betty was gracious enough to keep us cooled off with the A/C. Beth (Tom's sister) and three kids (Matthew-5, Mark-3, Makayla-1 1/2) came over to the house for a bit since the kids couldn't stand it any longer and wanted to see us. So we hung out and chatted for a bit and had a fun time and then I was off to hang out with Carla and some other gals for a little last minute girl time before the wedding on Saturday. It was nice to catch up with some old friends during this time.

Sunday was a busy day with wedding stuff...I hung out with Carla until it was time to be at the chapel for photos and then there was the wedding and the reception. Carla was a beautiful bride and it was fun getting to know Jared (now her husband) and his family. Once again it was also fun to hang out with some other friends there too.

The rest of the week we had fun with Betty, Beth (and her family). Gregory got to run around Betty's yard and even got to chase lightening bugs. Betty caught one to show Gregory one close up. Very neat...I love lightening bugs! Since it was so warm and humid we didn't spend too much time outside, but when we could we did. We even got to watch Matthew play baseball/t-ball. What a fun thing to watch little boys learn to play baseball. We spent a lot of time chatting with Betty and just hanging out with her. Gregory became Grandma Betty's shadow much of the time we were there. So cute. We hung out with Beth, Rob and the kids another evening and the kids had more fun playing with one another. I especially enjoyed hanging out with Beth and catching up. Tom had fun going through his "toys" at his mom's to bring back more stuff for Gregory to play with. Unfortunately, towards the end of the trip, Betty started not feeling well--we continue to pray that God will touch her body and heal her.

All in all we had a good time in Missouri, but all vacations must come to an end...so Tom was back to work today.

To see pics from our trip go to http://tomandroxannecook.shutterfly.com/

New baby pics - FINALLY

Here are some pics from the three ultrasounds that I have had thus far. I am about 12 1/2 weeks along and still struggling with some nauseousness. Praying it goes away soon and that I get some energy back too.

This first pic confirmed that the pregnancy was in the right place...and was only one baby!



The second pic was to make sure that everything was ok considering the amount of pain I was in.


The last four pics were from my 12 week ultrasound.

So much fun!

This week has been so full of activities and fun it would be a shame not to blog about it all. Monday night Tom & I were involved with an activity for our Jr High students from church at a place called Mr. Biggs. So Gregory went to one of his favorite places--to be with McKenzie (and her brother and parents). He LOVED it with them at their new house. He even got to enjoy the packing materials :-) They went to the park and he got to see the big dogs and just had a fun time. Tom and I had a great time as well building relationships...it was just an incredible time.















Then on Tuesday after a late night we got up and went to the zoo. Tom hadn't been there before, so it was fun to wander around there together. We were late so we didn't get to see too many of the people we were supposed to meet up with, but we still had a fun time. We went to a couple of areas we hadn't seen before--the hippos and the primate area. Of course Gregory loved it all!













And then yesterday, Wednesday, we enjoyed a fun time around the pool with some friends at the pool at their apartment. I was very determined to make sure Gregory didn't get a sunburn---and he didn't--I DID! Grrr. I totally forgot that with the medicine I am taking I am not supposed to be out in the sun! So I am a crispy critter...and hoping this goes away soon. Ouch.

Today I have a doctor appointment--actually two of them--a 12 week ultrasound and then my physical (not a fun time). I am pretty sure I'll have pictures to share of our baby after the appt so come back later to see them.

And with all the fun we've been having this week, I am pretty sure we are going to have a slow relaxing weekend! I am so looking forward to that too!

Busy month

This past month has been very busy and I just haven't taken the time to post anything on our blog for a while. Sorry. We survived Tom being gone to MD. Had a blast with my parents here. And am struggling horribly with nausea. Most days I don't feel like eating, but do because I have to. Not much sounds good to me and smells drive me crazy! I am now about 9 1/2 weeks along and anxious awaiting this trimester to pass! That's all for now...check out our pics if you want to see our fun times over the past few weeks.

http://tomandroxannecook.shutterfly.com

Night Out

Last night we had a wonderful end to a great day! We had a gal from church watch Gregory (along with her 10 year old daughter that skipped a sleepover because she really wanted to help watch Gregory). So Tom and I used a great gift certificate that we had gotten for a new restaurant called Steaksmith. It was such a wonderful time together. Tom's big comment was, "wow, when was the last time we both went to a salad bar at the same time?" :-) Tom also surprised me with a gift certificate to a spa (an early mother's day gift from him and Gregory). Very nice.

Before this wonderful time I got to enjoy a fun time at MOPS. It was Spa Day! I had helped arrange for massages for as many of the people who came as we could. We ended up with five people giving massages, so about 20 0f the 35 or so people who came got either a 30 minute full body massage or a 30 minute chair massage. I wasn't so blessed, but I will be in the future :-) One of the gals that attends our MOPS group is in school for doing massages, so I can get one later...I just need to wait until I'm a little further along in my pregnancy.

We also made chapstick, drank smoothies and gave ourselves pedicures. It was a nice time and we had a GREAT turnout. Tom was off that day so Gregory was at home with him since he's been sick ever since his birthday party (last Tuesday night)...coughing and puking again.

Now we're getting ready for Tom to go to MD...praying Gregory gets better soon because I am not sure how much more puke I can handle!

Happy Birthday Gregory!

Yesterday and Monday we celebrated Gregory's second birthday. Wow, yes, he is already two years old! He is such a joy to Tom and I and we love him so much. On Monday we celebrated at home - it was the actual day of his birthday.
On Tuesday we celebrated with friends at Chuck E Cheese. Lots of fun!
Especially after Brandon figured out that the Sponge Bob machine could spit out 50 tickets if you played it just right! Here's Brandon & Tom enjoying the tickets!

Baby on the Way

I know this is a super impersonal way of finding this news out, but with friends literally ALL around the world - it's the easiest! Last week we found out we're expecting a baby! I'm due on Dec 30th - so we'll see if he/she is a tax right off this year, or next year :-)

So when you think of us, please say a prayer that this pregnancy goes full term and we have a healthy baby.

Weekly Dinners

So posting what we're going to eat during the week sure has helped me with the dinner decisions for the week. I'll probably take a break from this after this week since Tom will be in Maryland for work for two and a half weeks. The meals may just be whatever I find in the freezer :-) but we'll see.

So here's what's for dinner this week!

Monday - already in the crockpot! BBQ Chicken - I'm babysitting today and I come home exhausted usually, so supper will be ready when we get home :-)

Tuesday - Gregory's birthday party at Chuck E Cheese - so pizza!

Wednesday - Spaghetti

Thursday - Chicken Cordon Bleu nuggets - I got these with a couple of coupons and they were on sale. I love Chicken Cordon Bleu, so I hope these are yummy! - oh and we don't need leftovers tonight as Tom got Friday off since he's flying out on Sunday morning.

Friday - Date night for Tom & I - we have a gift certificate for a steak restaurant - so we're going out for dinner tonight.

1st Trip to the Zoo

Today Gregory and I went to the Cheyenne Mtn Zoo here in town for the first time. This was also Gregory's first trip to any zoo. We went with five other moms from MOPS along with 9 kids under the age of 4! What a beautiful day and a fun time. Gregory got to feed the giraffes and we saw so many animals. We had been waiting to take him to the zoo until he would at least recognize a few animals, so this was a good time since he knew a lot of the animals. I think his favorite was the tiger...so we got a little tiger souvenir to commemorate his first trip to the zoo :-) He hasn't put it down much since he got it. So cute.

Here are a few of my favorite pics from the day.
Not the most flattering pic, but shows we were really there :-)

Show's how close we really got to the animals...so cool! I LOVE God's creations!

Here's Gregory pointing at the tiger.

Dinners

So last week went pretty well with planning my meals ahead...we only changed two meals I think :-)

One was because I decided I wanted a simpler meal for Wed night and then on Friday night we didn't have our Jr High event since it was blizzarding out.

So here's this week so far...

Monday - something quick since we'll be at a birthday party at 330 and then I have a ladies night (for MOPS steering) at 630....Chicken Voila

Tuesday - Beef Stir Fry

Wednesday - once again something quick since it's church night....Hamburger Helper

Thursday - Chicken something

Friday - Frozen Pizza

Another snowy day & Gregory's first dentist appt

Yes, it really is Spring, but it doesn't look like it outside! It's snowing AGAIN! So no MOPS today. Yeah I'm bummed.

So yesterday Gregory had his first dentist appt. He did really well considering he doesn't like anyone else (other than himself) putting something in his mouth. So they did x-rays, cleaned his teeth and flossed them. And then the dentist looked in his mouth and informed me that he is getting his back molars and they should be cutting through soon. Now we know why the fever and the ear pain last weekend. Sorry no pics.

What's for Dinner

So I love following other people's blogs which do menu planning...I kind of do my own menu plans but in a different way most of the time...I usually list what all I have available to make and then pick each night from that list. So this week I've planned ahead a little bit and here's what we're having for dinner...what are you eating this week?

Monday - Sichuan Pork & Green Beans - I've never made this before so we'll see how it turns out. I got a great deal on FRESH green beans for $.33/lb!

Tuesday - Chicken Enchiladas - I already cooked up three chicken breasts and will put together the enchiladas tonight since I babysit on Tuesday's and come home EXHAUSTED!

Wednesday - Church NIGHT - so we eat something quick usually - but I am going to make Beef Stir Fry since I am planning ahead and can get the meat unthawed early :-)

Thursday - Pizza Mac (Mac N Cheese w/ pizza stuff in it) - easy meal since Gregory has his FIRST dentist appt at 3 this day.

Friday - eating out since we are doing a Jr High Fun night at a place called Mr. Biggs.

So there you have it...what are you eating for dinner tonight (or this week)?

Oh and some day I want to try doing the Once A Month Cooking plan off of this wonderful website! http://onceamonthmom.com/

Happy Easter

Happy Easter everyone...it's been a very snowy one! In fact this morning at church I overheard someone say "Merry Christmas". What crazy weather we've been having...beautiful warm days and snow on the other days. We've needed the moisture, so it IS a good thing (at least that's what I'm reminding myself with the slushy mess it is out there!)

Once again it's been a while since I've blogged...sorry. I want to do better, really, I do.

I guess I'll work backwards again...

This weekend has been a rough one with Gregory being sick (running a fever and his ears were hurting--but no infection--we even made a trip to the dr yesterday)...and then Tom wasn't feeling well today and this past week I hadn't been feeling too good either (just a yucky cold).

We did give Gregory his Easter basket today and yesterday we got some special presents from my parents too...my mom made me a beautiful apron (almost too nice to wear)...I'll model it for you all someday :-)...and then my mom also made Gregory a cute crayon bag and a tool apron (was to be used for dyeing eggs--but we didn't feel like doing them)...he also got a very cute noah's ark with two of each animal in a pocket (a pocket for each letter of the alphabet)...and a couple of cute books too...more pictures at http://tomandroxannecook.shutterfly.com/


Another highlight was on Friday (before Gregory had any sick symptoms) we celebrated Gregory's buddy, Luke's birthday at Chuck E Cheese. This is one of THREE birthday parties there this month! Luke (our pastor's son) is only a couple of weeks older than Gregory and I babysit him once a week with his sister, Faith, who will turn 4 in May.

Oh and the week before I celebrated another birthday - turning 34 isn't too exciting...but it was nice to spend it with my family :-) In the morning we went shopping and I got some canning supplies for my birthday (yes, this is what I WANTED), Tom also got me a cookbook and a shirt. Afterwards we went out for yummy mexican food and then in the evening was church, so nothing too exciting, but it was a nice time together...that was April 8th.

Catching up AGAIN - Random Stuff

So there are some random pictures and things that have happened here with the Cook's over the past week and half (or longer)...

I have accepted the position of Coordinator for the next year of MOPS - we'll be dropping the MOPS name and coming up with a name of our own in the near future.

We had a wonderful blizzard that came on Thursday and brought us some wet snow! By Sunday the snow will be gone again, so hopefully today Gregory will get out to play in it. While it was snowing like crazy Gregory enjoyed helping me make some yummy brownies and then painting.

Gregory and I have been to a great play area (Pump It Up) a few times and I finally remembered our camera - unfortunately the little girl that joined us got hurt last time we were there, so not sure we'll be back there for a bit...maybe save it for rainy days.

Baby Shower - Diaper Cake

Almost two weeks ago I helped do a baby shower for our youth pastor's wife...they are expecting their fourth child - still any day now.

I was pretty proud of the diaper cake I created for Scott & Ruth. Here are a couple of pictures of it...