Team Gramkow

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

And we're back...Update with the Gramkows!

It's sad that I had to re-read what the last post said so I knew where to begin! Faithful followers, I apologize. The Gramkows have had many changes since December when I posted last. CRAZY! I'll try to catch everyone up to speed!

1. Our EXCITING NEWS is that we are expecting a BABY BOY in December! Technically my due date is January 6, the day after my birthday, but we are aiming for a scheduled c-section at the end of December. We are looking forward to meeting our son around Christmas. "You hear that baby brother...CHRISTMAS TIME!" We have been praying that this precious baby boy will be a full-term, chunky baby! :) No really, I have been praying that. Most of my nieces and nephews were chunks of love, and yep, I would like one too! :) I'm 21 weeks on Friday, and would be lying if I said this pregnancy hasn't been hard. I was graced with morning sickness the first trimester...which was different than with Ellie. Let's just say Ellie got to watch a lot of Tangled during those weeks! We found out on August 8 that baby was going to be a BOY! Different than with Ellie, we didn't find out with her. Daddy is so excited to have a son! Ellie, well, you can see based on the picture, she's not too sure what she thinks. (However, my sweet niece, Maizee, was born at the end of July, and Ellie LOVED being a helper with her. She asked to hold Maizee all the time!) A couple weeks ago, I did seek a second opinion on preventative care with a high-risk OB/GYN. And he and my doctor both reviewed my medical history with Ellie. Still some unknowns, but did get some closure on some things as well. And This past week I've had some spotting, so that has of course had me worried. But we've been to the doctor, and everything still looks good. I've been instructed to "take it easy." My next appointment is in 2 weeks, September 8, when they will start the fetal fibronectin test to detect if my body is preparing for pre-term labor. Hopefully things will settle down, and we can just coast with boring until Christmas. However, as we get closer to when the pre-labor symptoms started with Ellie at 27 weeks, I just wonder...and worry. A good friend of mine e-mailed me this, "Half of what you worry about will never happen, and the other half you can handle." I'm trying my hardest to trust God's plan for this pregnancy, and to trust that the doctors are taking good care of me, and watching. Thanks to everyone who has been praying for our sweet baby boy. Let's just say I've been talking to God quite a bit lately too.

2. Our sweet ELLIE is growing up to be a big girl! She's now in a big girl bed, she goes potty all by herself like a big girl, and is talking so much like a big girl! She will be 3 on September 3 - her GOLDEN BIRTHDAY! She's our observer. She will be the first to point out everything, and then says it to you over and over again! She's so funny! Let's see to catch up from January until now...she went to a Mom's Day Out program everyday at a church and LOVED it! We did have quite a bit of sickness with her during the winter, and lovely RSV did pay a visit. It was 3 weeks of chaos and breathing treatments, but we were just thankful that Ben was able to work from home some to help take care of her. Even though our time living at TCU was short, we did meet some sweet people, and Ellie definitely knew all my RAs names, some even babysat! :) Ugh! Life was so busy for us then, I'm drawing a blank. I know her babysitters did teach her many things! She can draw the letters "O" "Q" and "I" thanks to them. She also loved to color with them!

3. Summer Highlights: Going to Iowa to visit and stay with Grandma and Grandpa Weber on their farm. Ellie got to pick eggs with Grandpa, check the pigs, cook with Grandma, and eat lots of fresh produce from Grandpa's garden - her favorite sweet corn and broccoli! We also had my 10 year high-school reunion, and that was so great to catch up with old friends. We got to spend some sweet time with my sister's family as they welcomed Maizee into this world. Ellie and I stopped in Belmond to see Grandpa Whipple, and they even played puzzles together. We then treked to Nebraska to surprise Alisha at her babies shower (Yes, that's right...twins on the way!), stopped to see a lot of friends in Manhattan, Kansas and then of course Uncle David and Aunt Audrie on the way up and back! I'm now back to stay-at-home mom/keep baby brother baking until Christmas status, and am ready for the "school" year to start for some routine. I am watching a sweet little boy, Jonathan, in the month of September, and then Ellie will start back up 2 days a week at the Mom's Day Out in October. AND, I am completing my last course to complete my Academic Advising certificate. I'm excited to have some good mental busy-ness to keep me occupied from worrying about baby brother too much! Right now we are prepping for Ellie's 3rd Birthday party - Tangled theme! And we're actually having it ON her Golden Birthday! Ben's still really liking his job at Lockheed, and recently had to go to New York where they "happened" to get done early so they could do some sight-seeing too! Let's see...what else has he been up to...oh THE HOUSE! We are renting a house now. A HOUSE! And we LOVE IT! Ellie loves having all the space to run around in! She likes the backyard too, but it's been so blasted hot in Texas, we haven't gotten out there much. We're learning a lot about home maintenance, and I'd say Ben has quite a list of "projects" he's been working on. Well, that's all this pregnancy brain can remember right now! We took lots of pics with my phone, so next will be figuring out how to get those onto here! LOL! Until next time...which I PROMISE will not be as long in between!

Monday, December 20, 2010

11 Updates with Team Gramkow

Well, I’ve done it again...this time the blogging sabbatical was way TOO long! A lot of changes are in store for Team Gramkow in 2011. So here’s to 11 updates representing the new year! 1. We moved again. We’re still in Far Far Away Fort Worth, but just moved about 15 minutes away. It’s a bit closer to Ben’s work, and it’s even closer to my work. 2. Yep, you read it right. I’m starting a job in January at Texas Christian University (TCU) as a hall director for the apartments there. Go Horned Frogs! It’s a live-on position, so yes, Ellie is the only 2-year-old now living amongst college students. I’m really excited to start this new journey for my professional career. It will be a challenge, but rewarding as well. Ben’s super excited that we’ll get to go to all the TCU home football games. We’re all very excited to keep purple in the wardrobe! 3. Since my office hours are flexible 10 am-4 pm, we were able to find care for Ellie through a 5-day/week Mom’s Day Out program, and then are having a sweet gal watch Ellie for a few hours until I get off work. I think it’ll be a great adjustment going from being a Stay-at-home mom. The place we found is WONDERFUL and I just love the staff. She’ll be in a small class (only 5 kiddos) and I just think she’ll love being in “school.” She’s been going to a MDO once a week this past semester, and has just loved it. I love all the crafts she brings home for me to see! So thankful we found a great place that Ellie can play while we’re at work. 4. We did step down as a CARES Team at the apartment complex, and are really going to miss the staff and residents there. It was a hard decision, but I’m excited that I’ll get to do similar things...just with college students instead. They already have a new CARES Team in place, and we get to be their mentor team. They are going to do great! 5. Ben is still doing well at his job! He really enjoys it and works with a great group of people. He’s looking forward to spending every other Friday with Ellie...a little daddy/daughter time. 6. Enough about us, now about Ellie. She is SO smart! I’m sure every parent says that, but I am just so proud...and extra proud with her being a preemie and all. She knows her alphabet! Letter recognition! She’s such a sponge about learning right now, and I love it. We have a puzzle with the alphabet that she loves, and now she will just point out letter that we see in signs out and about. We’re working on numbers, and she’s starting to count too. Most of the time for counting she just says “three, four, three, four.” 7. Ellie knows her colors! Everything isn’t just yellow anymore. Ben made flashcards with colors and numbers for our long car ride to Kansas. She knows “white,” but then said “white” even for the flashcards that were actually a number! Hard to teach when technically that flashcard is indeed white. Ben’s starting to teach her to recognize words: dog, cat, Ellie, mama, daddy, pig. I told him he needs to start teaching her equations! 8. Ellie is talking SO much more lately. The other night she told Ben, “Daddy, sit on couch.” Other frequent phrases are “all done eating” and “open it” 9. Ellie loves Baby Signing Time DVDs. She knows quite a few signs, and actually more than I do! She has to remind me what the correct signs are. My favorite is “bird.” I’ll try to get a video posted soon. 10. We spent Thanksgiving in Kansas City with Ben’s family and had a great time. Ellie became best friends quickly with all her relatives because they read books to her! She’s really into books these days. 11. We are spending a White Christmas in Iowa with Mandy’s family. Ellie so far has LOVED playing with her cousins Kahle and Bodee. They played out in the snow today! And then tonight, Uncle Micah (who is a football coach) taught her the three-point stance, which looks pretty good. However, she does need to work on a more aggressive tackle. LOL!