Safe and Sound In Orlando!

We have arrived in Orlando!! The flights and everything else went great! We got off the plane and RAN for a Chik-Fil-A as fast as we could! Sarah and I are thrilled with the hotel so glad we got a steal on Hotwire.com. We are off to Medieval Times tonight! Check out a picture of our room and one of my beautiful wife and her progressing pregnancy! Check back for updates!

Project Completed and Promised Pictures

Things are busy here at the Kidder house, we leave tomorrow for Florida. We are so excited about going on vacation - when you live in the cold north, venturing south for a few days is a welcome relief from the cold. The weather in Orlando is supposed to be in the 70s for the next few days (perfect if you ask me!) and for the most part, Mr. Sun will be shining - there is a chance of thunder storms on Saturday, but I love me a good thunder storm so it will not dampen my spirits. :)

Brad's birthday is on Friday, so we will celebrate with some golf - hopefully I will continue to get better! :)

In order to keep my hands warm, in cold Chicago, I have been working on completing a project for my sister Anna's birthday. It was intended to be a gift last year, but with school, papers and reading - the afghan did not get completed. It is finished now, and ready to mail at the end of February. And my hands are ready to begin a blanket for our daughter! (I already started it, pink and white loverlyness :) ) Here are a few pictures of Anna's blanket:

For those of you who are jealous, or concerned about Laura - rest assured, I made her a blanket a few years back. So all is fair. It makes me happy to think that they can wrap up in these blankets that I have made them, its kinda like a hug from me! :) (although when they need blankets in Texas.... it stays pretty warm down there)

Here is a promised picture of our new(ish) bookcase. It completes our "office wall" and provides some much needed storage. (I say newish only because I got the bookcase for my birthday back in November, and it has taken me this long to post a picture of it....)

I need to apologize, I can't seem to find pictures of our Christmas tree that I promised I would show you (even though it is late, I must keep my word). Alas, I think they got deleted somehow. :( I am sorry.

We are bringing our camera to Florida, and hope to come home with lots of fun pictures. :) Brad wants to buy our Little One a Minnie Mouse - we shall see :)

The Results are In...

Votes for Boy: 13

Votes for Girl: 14

(Winners receive bragging rights :) )

Official Results: Girl

That's right! We are going to have a daughter! We are so so so excited. :) Here are some pictures of our little princess. :)

The technician was proud of her at one point during the ultrasound and said, "Good girl, you turned!"

I drove Brad into work today after our appointment, I had to smile when he said, in all seriousness, "Someday she is going to want to date a boy. That will be hard." A few weeks ago we were sitting in church and saw a few high schoolers holding hands in the service - What does it say about us as parents when I immediately thought of our baby someday holding their "love's" hand. Okay Sarah, calm down, lets just help her walk and talk first and then we can move on to relationships..... :)

Brad has thought, since we found out we were expecting that it was a girl - even coming home from an "errand" with pink baby clothes. One of the onesies he bought says "Daddy's little Lady" - he is so excited! :)

God is so good to us! We are truly counting our blessings today.

Time to Vote!

Ok Friends,

The time has come to cast your vote - Do you think Little One is a boy or girl?

We can hardly wait for our ultrasound on Monday - and we will be sure to update you if/when we find out the gender. :)

This vote is important. Almost as important as casting your vote for a presidential election - so don't miss out. Voting closes at 12:00am Monday morning (to ensure that there is no cheating).

How to vote: Post a comment on the blog or make a comment on my most recent Facebook status. :)

Have fun! :)

Catching Up

Hello long lost family and friends,

Yes, the Kidders are still well and alive (I know you were wondering there for a minute). This post is dedicated to my dear friend Linsey who recently wrote me, "Miss Sarah - I need to stalk you, can you please update your blog?" Now, I forgive her for calling me "Miss" she knows I am a "Mrs" now... but since she lives far far away, I decided to oblige and update our blog for her (and you too of course). :) I give you all permission to stalk us (through the blog - don't get crazy on me....).

Sarah Graduated:

As you can see it was a great day with family and friends. I even got a picture with Moody's President (Bottom middle picture) - thanks to my friend Kim for asking him :). We came back home after the ceremony for a great meal, prepared by Brad, and a fun afternoon spent together.

Addington Family in Chicago:

Our time with my family was so much fun! As you can see from the pictures above, the Wii was a big hit! Rock Band and Mario Cart were sources of great entertainment. (I love the look of concentration on so many faces :) ) Jana took some fun pictures of Mom playing Mario Cart - she has them up on Facebook - check them out, definitely priceless. :) We were able to make it to the American Girl place, Laura and Anna loved it! It was so fun to see the look of awe and excitement on their faces. We really missed Becca, she had to stay home because of finals, but we hope to see her soon. :)

Christmas in MI:

Christmas in Michigan was so fun. It was wonderful spending time with family and getting to catch up with the Grandmas. I got to be creative as Lori made Cran-Strawberry Jam (recipe courtesy of Jo Mama) and asked me to make tags for the jars. The tags came out so cute (see picture on the left in the middle) and the task, far from being stressful was so relaxing. Funny how paper can make me so happy. :) The second picture from the left on top was taken first thing on Christmas morning, please excuse Brad and my goofy faces - why everyone else looks beautiful and we don't is a mystery to me :).

New Years in Chicago:

New Years in Chicago was a lot of fun! We had Jenny, Christy and Brandon over for the night (they slept over :) - yes, when you are adult you can still have slumber parties.) We stayed up to celebrate the new year and all crashed afterward. We enjoyed breakfast together the next morning and had an all around good time just spending time together. As you can see from the pictures below, Brad taught them how to play Xbox and they really got into it. :) Thanks to Brandon for bringing the party hats - they helped us get into the "2010" mood. :) We all thought it strange that the noise makers had the address where they were made printed right on them (see the middle bottom picture).

(I have grown to love Picassa's collage maker! :) ) FYI: You can click on any of the pictures to see them in a larger size.

We have resumed our Monday Night Gatherings (MNG). A side note to our Chicago friends, we would love to have you some week if you are able to stop by, just let us know you are coming! :) MNG help all who attend look forward to Mondays, a day that is usually dreaded by all.

Little One is doing well, we have our ultrasound on the 25th - hopefully we will have gender specific news to share! :) Here is a picture of me at 17 weeks. I have since gotten a hair cut and love having shorter hair (just below my shoulders), it feels much more "mom" to me (probably because it is easier to handle). :)

In other news, we enjoyed a three week break from Awana over the Holidays, but are happy to once again be spending our Wednesday nights with 3rd -6th graders. We had over 50 kids last week which made for a rousing game of human foosball! (One of Brad's creative games, the kids LOVE it!)

Coming up in the next few weeks:

1. The promised pictures of the new bookcases and our Christmas tree (which is put away - fyi)

2. Will curtains finally be hung in the Living Room?

3. Is Little One a he or a she?

4. A new Before and After transformation

5. Nesting Part 1: Closets

Love to all!

Sarah (for Brad too)

Wonderful News

We are thrilled to announce that in June our family will have a new member! We are pregnant! :) At 12 5/7 weeks Little One is as big as a peach - 3 inches long! :) We heard his/her heartbeat today - it's real, not just something that people tell us is in there. :)

Our baby has all of its life-sustaining parts (heart, organs, intestines ect.) but is continuing to grow stronger (we don't want to see you yet Little One! :) Keep growing!) and grow into his/her head, which is half the size of it's body right now . Little One has fingers and toes that are defined and no longer webbed (like a duck). He/She has working joints (elbows, knees, ect) and fingernails. Highlight: this week it's vocal chords are forming..... I am sure there will be points in my life I love that he/she has vocal chords (like when he/she says "mama" - which is going to be before "dada" :) - and words like, "please" or "thank you" and "I love you") and times that I wish it didn't (like when it talks back - I have been told by Brad's family to get ready for this, but I know I contributed some stubborn genes too :) ).

I have been feeling great - no morning sickness at all. There have been a few times when I have not wanted to finish dinner because my appetite has left me, but I can't complain! Health has been a huge blessing over the past few months as I have been working hard at school (almost done!) and I have been able keep up working. I graduate in 11 days, picking up my cap and gown today made it seem real.... time flies! As of now, I haven't been able to devote much time to thoughts about baby stuff - but once I turn in my last papers next Thursday - my mind is going to be baby, baby and more baby. :)

We are so very excited and are thrilled to be able to share this exciting news with you! :) Here are some of the top questions we have been asked lately:

- When are you due? Our official due date is June 10th.

- Are you going to find out the gender? Yes - we both are "be prepared" people, and we want to have the dresser/closet full of gender specific clothes for Little One. We will let you know as soon as we find out if Little One is a boy or a girl.

- Do you care if you have a boy or a girl? Sarah's Answer: "No." Brad's answer: "Of course we care! We would like it to be one or the other." {He makes me laugh :)}

- Do you have a "mother's intuition" about the gender? Well, when both Brad and I picture having a baby around, we envision a little girl. But we have no experience or factual data to back that up. We will see... :)

- Do you have a name picked out? Yes we do, both a girl name and a boy name. But sorry - Little One's name is going to be a secret until it is born.

Let us know if you have any others! :)

You did what?!?!

The title of this post is reflective of your thoughts after you read the following.

What do you get if you put together:

1 dvd of a crackling fire
1 Chris Tomlin Christmas CD
1 Sarah Kidder
1 Brad Kidder
2 boxes of decorations

= 1 assembled Christmas Tree

That is right - we are crazy. It is November 9th and we have put up our tree. We held back though - we left the egg nog in the frige. :)

Brad asked me if we could set up our tree - then challenged another couple in our small group to see who could set up their tree first. It was Kruskas vs. Kidders. At that point I couldn't say no - anyone who knows me is aware that I get a little competitive when it comes to challenges or games.

I think Amy told Matt (the Kruska's) that they couldn't put up the tree until the house was clean (I gather this from a facebook status update). I told Brad a similar story - "Please assemble my new bookcase, I will do laundry and put the house back together after a fun weekend and then we can set up the tree."

Needless to say, the Kruska's won. :) We recieved a text message from Matt with a picture of their beautiful tree. Congratulations Kruskas - I am glad we aren't the only crazies in Chicago. We will back you up when they tease us at small group on Tuesday. Thanks for the healthy competion.

(Pictures coming soon of both the bookcase and the tree)