She's Here!

Belated post yet again, I know. It's hard to keep up with facebook and blog and everything now that we are the proud parents of Anneka Faith DeGroot! Hard to believe that she is 8 weeks old already. I was induced on January 10th and on 1/11/11 at 1:09 a.m. (we tell people 1:11 because no one knew the time for sure), Anneka was born at 5 lbs. 10 oz. She had gained more in the last 3 weeks that I was on bedrest than they thought she would. She was and is very healthy and gaining weight like a champ! At 6 weeks, she was already 10 lbs., 1 oz! She is eating well and sleeping 5-6 hours at night. The first 8 weeks were really rough for me, as I have gone through 6 different infections having to do with breastfeeding, 1 of which landed me in the hospital for 2 days on IV antibiotics. I have said many times, I wish I could just focus on being a new mom instead of all of the medications and creams and everything else we've dealt with! Hopefully those are all behind us. I have to go back to work for 2 weeks full-time starting next Tuesday, and then will be going 1-3 days per week. We are very blessed with CJ's new job that it allows me to not have to work full-time! Below are some pictures of the first 2 months with our dear daughter. She is learning to smile and coo and hold her head up. She has numerous hilarious facial expressions that keep us laughing. What a blessing!

Baby's Room and Pregnancy

Wow. So I've neglected the blog throughout this whole pregnancy! The last 8 months has definitely had its ups and downs and this pregnancy has not been without its troubles. We had to go to the doctor 6 different times with the possibility of miscarriage or pre-term labor. For those that don't know, am now 36 weeks and 4 days and on Monday, they will be inducing labor. She is a little peanut in the 7th percentile and they think the placenta may not be doing its job and allowing her to grow normally. Our faith has definitely been tested and refined throughout this process as we place our little girl in HIS hands (as if we ever had control anyways). In preparation for her coming, we had someone paint the third floor, and the third floor bathroom is about 1/2 way done with a complete remodel (pictures to come after we paint!). Below are some pictures of the baby's room on the 2nd floor and a few of the growing belly pictures that those of you not on facebook haven't seen. Please pray for a quick delivery once they induce and a healthy baby girl!

Baby's room

Crib, rocking chair, changing table

Closet and more drawers

Blanket

Mobile and bedding

20 Weeks

26.5 Weeks

34 Weeks

36 weeks and 3 days, last belly shot!

News!

Wow...last post was April 8th. Unacceptable. However, I have a very good reason for not posting from early June until now. I was not feeling great because...I AM PREGNANT! I am 14 weeks along now and due January 30th. Weeks 9-14 were especially rough with the nausea, but hopefully I'm on the upswing now that I'm out of the first trimester! We are very very excited. In other news, please pray for a job for C.J. His structural/civil program at WashU is disintegrating, so he graduated with a Master's in May, and has been looking for a job here in St. Louis since. We've had lots of disappointments and we are wondering what this means for our lives! We would love to stay in St. Louis, but need to be open to the possibility that God has something else in store for us since a LOT of doors have closed here so far. So, I guess..rejoice with us and pray for us!

Spring!

We are definitely getting an early spring here in St. Louis! With the exception being today, most days have been in the 70's and 80's over the last few weeks. We have been loving it! Here are some pictures of a walk we took in the park on Easter!

Mani and Keri walking under the pear blossom trees

Forsythia and Redbud

C.J. and Keri under the magnolia tree

Magnolia blossoms

Keri and Mani by orange tulips

Love the color combination in the front garden down the street!

Mani and Michigan

First of all, I am fully aware that by posting this many pictures of my dog, I have become one of "those people" although I tried so hard not to be. We went to Michigan to visit my (Keri's) parents for a weekend and we also got a new camera. What else to do on a 7 hour car ride? Take pictures of your cute dog, of course! So here they are:

He has decided he prefers to be under the hammock so he can be as close to us as possible

His nose really isn't this big :)

His favorite way to ride in the car

Keri and her parents on a hike in the woods

Mani loves to be free for walks in the woods!

Keri and CJ overlooking Lake Michigan in Grand Haven

Mani in the hammock on the way home--sacked out!

We are doing well! Spring has sprung in St. Louis and we are enjoying all of the bright green, flip-flop wearing, and blossoming trees and flowers. We continue to pray about CJ's future job. There are some possibilities on the horizon...

New Art

C.J. here. I've been on spring break this week, so I decided to finally act on a painting idea that I've had for a while. We have this massive wall above our piano, and I thought that my painting would fit in with our decor perfectly. It's on a 4'x4' piece of plywood, and I used cheap acrylic paint mixed with some stuff to thicken it up. I really dig paintings that have texture--I always want to touch them in the museums. I painted the sky and black for the buildings first, then cut it into 6" strips. After cutting it, I offset the pieces so the sky has a cool effect (at least I think so) and the buildings form a skyline. Last painted were the Arch and the windows. It was about a four day process, but it has been really fun!

Original idea planned in Paint on the computer

On the wall

On the wall in context

2nd Floor Bathroom!

The second floor bathroom is....drumroll please....DONE! Our friends, Bill and Becca, started on the demo on January 11, and finished about 8 days later after a gut rehab of it. They got all of the big stuff finished and we have been working hard since then to get every detail (paint, lighting, cabinets, etc) done so that we can just enjoy it and not have it in process! Pretty much everything you see is new! First are some pictures of the middle of the work, followed by some before and after pictures. We tried to do a video tour, but it wouldn't upload, so we will post that when we figure it out in case you are the type of person who wants to see it all put together. We love it and love progress!!

Before from hallway

After from hallway

Before vanity and mirror

After vanity and mirror (yay for double sink!)

Before tub

After tub

Before toilet

After toilet and towel bars

Before laundry

After laundry

New shower curtain

New blinds on window