This post was originally written at the beginning of March when we first learned of baby’ Reape’s gender, however, it wasn’t posted until after we made the announcement.
Kevin and I went back and forth trying to decide if we’d look at the gender results up until the moment we found out. We knew we’d have the opportunity to find out earlier than our anatomy scan, due to the genetic screening that our doctor recommended. We have friends and family who have both found out and who have waited until the birth day and both seemed to have pros and cons. We loved the idea of a surprise (there are so few in life!) but we also loved the idea of calling baby by their name and bonding in that way before they are born. So, we decided to find out! Before I share, let’s see if the old wives tales can accurately determine the results.
Heart Rate
Boy = below 140, Girl = above 140
Our baby’s heart rate has been between 160-165.
Conclusion: girl
Chinese Calendar
Based on conception month (December) and my age (29)
Conclusion: girl
Complexion
They say that girls steal their mother’s beauty.
I have had terrible acne since finding out I am pregnant.
Conclusion: girl
How You’re Carrying
It’s still too early to tell
Cravings
Salty = boy, Sweet = girl
I have been craving all the sweets (cake, fruit, gummies, etc) and normally I love salty snacks.
Conclusion: girl
Severity of Morning Sickness
Mild = boy, severe = girl
I’ve had very little morning sickness.
Conclusion: boy
Mood
Moody, irritable = girl, Stable, mellow = boy
So far, Kevin says he hasn’t noticed any difference to my fairly stable mood.
Conclusion: boy
Mom’s prediction: boy
Dad’s prediction: girl
Totals: BOY = 3, GIRL = 5
No surprise that it’s a close one, and with a few tests left out or inconclusive because it’s still so early maybe we didn’t get the most accurate results. But without further ado….
Restaurants we loved: CC’s City Broiler (always), Pancheros, 44 Canteen, Barred Owl
Meals we made: Korean Beef, Barred Owl Burgers, Chicken Tikka Masala, Chicken Salads, Sausage and Roasted Veggies, Smoothie Bowls
Shows we watched: Veep, Better Call Saul, You, Dr. Disrespect and Kitboga on Twitch
Movies We Saw: Fantastic Beasts, Pacific Rim: Uprising, Isle of Dogs, Wont You Be My Neighbor
Places we went together: La Jolla/San Diego, CA, Las Vegas, NV, Lake Geneva, WI, Kansas City, MO
Things We Did: celebrated a huge and exciting job change for Kevin, invited two of our favorite people to live with us for extended periods of time, went to multiple gaming events and expos, joined Twitch, played (and won!) at trivia, celebrated 9 years together, watched some of our best friends get married, remodeled our bathroom, and tailgated for almost every Mizzou football game.
Restaurants we loved: CC’s City Broiler, Coley’s, Adison’s, Chick-fil-a
Meals we made: Chili, Chicken and Wild Rice Soup, Chicken and Swiss Bake, Chicken Salads, Spaghetti Squash, lots of yummy BBQ on the flat top grill
Shows we watched: House of Cards, Fixer Upper, This is Us, Curb Your Enthusiasm
Movies We Saw: Ingrid Goes West, Get Out
Places we went together: Kansas City, Omaha, NE, and lots of trips to St. Louis
Things We Did: joined a small group, celebrated a promotion, cheered on Mizzou football and basketball, celebrated a couple PUBG chicken dinners, went on our first photo date (now that we have two cameras in the house), celebrated 8 years together, dressed up as PB&J for Halloween, celebrated Kevin’s mom’s wedding, drank lots of diet coke, hosted game nights, dinners, and overnight stays
I wrote this around Thanksgiving but never got around to posting it. With today being our second anniversary, I figured that there is no better time. Two whole years of marriage seems to have flown by, but has simultaneously felt like forever – I hope it always feels that way.
Kevin – I have a million reasons to be thankful for you, but for the sake of brevity and the front page of my blog, here are 50.
I’m thankful for the way you love me.
I am thankful for your social knowledge and the way you lead in conversations.
I’m thankful for the ways that you invest in our marriage.
I am thankful for your surprises.
I am thankful for your patience with me.
I am thankful for your silliness – making up dances, songs, and measuring the floor at Michael’s.
I am thankful for your leadership.
I am thankful for your love of hosting friends and making sure we always have snacks/drinks/dessert for everyone.
I’m thankful you will try anything I cook – even vegan tacos full of beans.
I am thankful for the way you love on and take care of Chloe.
I am thankful that you make me feel beautiful.
I am thankful for your hardworking attitude and the way you provides for us.
I am thankful for the way you serve me and your friends.
I am thankful for your pursuit of God.
I am thankful that you hold me accountable and challenge me.
I am thankful for your knowledge about computers, blogs, and marketing.
I am thankful for your humor and the way you smile.
I am thankful that you expect and allow me to take tons of photos.
I am thankful for the way you make me laugh.
I am thankful for your dreams.
I am thankful for your optimistic spirit
I am thankful that you encourage me not to let things ruin my day.
I am thankful for the way you pray for me.
I am thankful for your love of fountain Diet Coke (especially before a road trip).
I am thankful for your strength and protection.
I am thankful that you supports my dreams and will do anything to help me achieve them.
I am thankful for weekends and sticking together.
I am thankful for inside jokes.
I’m thankful that you are my best friend.
I am thankful that family is so important to you.
I am thankful for your family and how they love on both me and my family.
I am thankful that you are a learner and are always interested in exploring bookstores and libraries with me.
I am thankful that you enjoy seeing movies by yourself.
I am thankful that you are self-motivated and creative.
I am thankful for your ability to design beautiful websites.
I am thankful that my memory-keeping is important to you and that you are always interested in seeing my latest project.
I am thankful that you take out the trash and do the chores I don’t care for.
I am thankful that you choose me everyday and always show me that I’m important.
I am thankful for your friendships.
I am thankful that you are our financial guru and budget master.
I am thankful that you converted me into a wrist watch person.
I am thankful that you always see the best in people
I am thankful that you encourage me to be a better person and wife.
I am thankful that you set your clock five minutes fast and believe in the phrase “if you’re on time, you’re late”.
I am thankful for your ability to plan and be prepared. One of my favorite pictures from college was your cereal and spoon on the desk that you set out the night before.
I am thankful that God intertwined our stories and uses it to encourage others for His Glory.
I am thankful that we’ve been friends since fifth grade.
I’m thankful to get to do life with you.
I’m thankful that this list could be much, much longer.
I am thankful that you are my husband.
Our Second Year:
Restaurants we loved: CC’s City Broiler, Medici, Addisons, Flat Branch, Chick-fil-a
Meals we made: Tacos with corn tortillas, Hamburger Casserole, Blackened Tilapia Bowls, Meatloaf, Breakfast, and Salisbury Steak
Shows we watched: House of Cards, The Young Pope, This is Us, Veep, Fixer Upper
Movies We Saw: The Nice Guys, Finding Dory, Neighbors 2, Sausage Party (I can’t believe I’m admitting to this…), It Had to Be You
Places we went: Sikeston, MO, The Lake, and lots of trips to St. Louis.
Things We Did: bought a house, celebrated a promotion, hosted plenty of dinners, changed churches, made friendships and deepened others, hosted overnight guests, purchased a computer, spent lots of Saturday mornings at the dog park.
One year ago today, I walked down the aisle to say “I Do” to my best friend; the wonderful man that was once the little boy with frosted tips from my fifth grade class. It’s hard to believe we have to start counting back at one after six and a half years together, but I’m happy I get to do it with him. This year has brought lots of fun memories and we are both looking forward to year two.
Here are some of my favorite wedding photos that never got posted; now seemed like as good of a time as ever to relive my favorite day. If you’ve been following along (or know me at all), you’d know that I’m definitely low-maintenance. Especially when it comes to something like a wedding. I had no interest in an over the top dress and would have been perfectly happy skipping the flowers in favor of carrying a puppy down the aisle. (In afterthought, I’m pretty sure that a puppy would have cost more than the flowers, but how fun would that have been?)
And of course, I had to sass that dress up with some funky shoes. Gosh I still think these are killer and I’m never getting rid of them. My main reason for not doing something more bridal (*shutters*) was because I knew I would never wear them again. I’ve already been there done that with a pair of shoes that I wore to prom in high school. And now they are in my parents basement, where they will probably stay forever. Sorry Mom and Dad!
My photographer, Chelsea, suggested during one of our meetings that I create a bible journaling page for the wedding and I’m so happy that I did! I’m obsessed with this picture and then when we got home from the honeymoon I used some of the blank space to write in a few words about the day. Kevin gave me the necklace and my brother gave me those earrings.
This was the gift that Kevin gave me the morning of the wedding, along with a sweet note. At the time, I couldn’t believe how surreal everything was that morning, it was so normal it almost felt like nothing was happening that day. When I woke up, I went downstairs ate some breakfast and chatted with my Mom like I always do when I’m there. I still had a little time before my hair appointment so we just hung out. I loved that.
The hair appointment was fairly uneventful, which was a plus. You’d have to be terrible to screw up some basic curls. I went in about a month before for my trail and I walked out with my hair looking so ridiculous that I went home and brushed it out immediately. Since the hair trail took so long, I ended up not even trying my make up. Good thing I’m not picky. I really did like it though and I thought it looked super natural. For someone who literally wears zero make up on a daily basis, I was really pleased with the look and longevity of the spray on stuff.
My sweet Momma helping me getting ready.
I know I’ve said this 100x but having a first look was the way to go – my pictures are amazing and I loved having that time to relax our nerves. Neither of us is very emotional, so this gave us some time to tell each other how we were feeling and that’s exactly what I needed. Easily the best decision of our wedding day.
These ladies are my absolute favorite, no one I’d rather have standing by my side than these five goofs. Not 20 minutes later, these ladies (and some of the groomsmen) were using a Tide-to-go Pen and baby wipes to get mud all out of my dress and off my shoes. Doesn’t look muddy but it was, I’m not mad though because the photos were definitely worth it.
This describes us pretty well.
The family – obviously we couldn’t have done any of this with out them! I really want to remember how important their roles were in planning, financing, and helping us get to this point and not only that but how well they did it together. Planning a wedding a different city isn’t easy, but our Moms really went out of their way to make sure every single detail was accounted for during the process and on the day of.
This photo. I love it and I’m so thankful for the way he taught me what to look for in a husband, not through words, but the way he loves my Mom. I don’t know if he said this in his speech or if it told me separately but his advice was to always start the way you want to finish. I love that.
The First Kiss.
Probably one of my favorite photos from the whole day. Right after this picture we had to run out the back door and around the venue so that we could start the receiving line. We just kept saying “OMG! We’re married!”
My two sweet cousins, who totally rocked the whole flower girl thing.
All time favorite! He’s always making me laugh!
Us cheezin’!
Maid of Honor and Best Man Speeches were on point.
Because you have to have center pieces. Oh also fun thing I found out afterwards…this caused a mini fire.
The only bite of cake I had all night. On the other hand, someone told me they they ate one of each cupcake flavor, so there’s that. At least they were good!
Our First Year:
Restaurants we loved: CC’s City Broiler, Flat Branch, Formosa, Houlihans, Chipotle, Chick-fil-a.
Meals we made: Chicken Cordon Bleu, No Bean Chili + Cornbread, Salisbury Steak, Chicken Burgers, Tilapia, Flat Bread Pizzas, Sweet and Sour Chicken.
Shows we watched: House of Cards, Better Call Saul, The Bachelor, Billy on the Street, Modern Family, Making a Murderer, Undateable, Fixer Upper, Rich in Faith, The Christleys.
Movies We Saw: Chef, Inside Out, The Martian, Furious 7, Trainwreck, Focus.
Places we went: St. Lucia, Chicago, lots of trips to St. Louis.
Things We Did: Honeymooned, adopted Chloe the Dog, Saw Billy Joel in concert at Wrigley Field, Purchased Apple Watches, Started House hunting, I got a new job, dinners with friends.
