September: Indiana - Baby Moon - Wedding

September has proven to already be a busy month for us and we are only half way through!

We traveled to Indiana to visit with Heidi's family for several days. It was a busy couple days combined with birthday celebrations, baby shower, baby moon in Chicago, and attending a wedding! Even though the trip was quick it was filled with lots of fun memories and milestones.

We celebrated Heidi's birthday in Indiana with her parents and grandparents by going out to dinner at a Japanese Steak House (Heidi's favorite!) This was the first time since Heidi was 17 that she was able to celebrate her special day with her family. It was a wonderful evening and even though Heidi missed out on eating Sushi, Kevin and her dad for sure enjoyed theirs!

Spending time with Heidi's grandparents Ray and Ruth Tyson is always some of the most cherished time in the world. They are getting ready to celebrate their 70th Wedding Anniversary in December and what an example of Godly love they show through their marriage and life together. We enjoy playing cards with them and I know Lucy loved hearing great grandma's voice for the first time. Our prayer is that no matter how much time Lucy gets to spend with her great grandparents that she would understand the importance and specialness of being named after such wonderful women.

Heidi's parents, sister and her sister's best friend more than out did themselves with our Open House Baby Shower. The theme was centered around books and the evening was more than perfect and special. The food correlated with some of our favorite childhood books and guests were asked to bring a book with a special message written to Lucy instead of a card. She received so many special books, outfits, and other fun baby items. We can't wait to read from her abundant library! Thank You to those who attended or sent special notes/gifts. Specially Thank You to our parents, Krista, and Jessica!

After our time in Indiana we headed to Illinios for Nate and Leah's wedding. It was a beautiful evening and we were so honored to be part of their special day! Can't wait to for you guys to come visit soon - you know Denver is where you belong! Congrats to Nate and Leah Dobbins!!!!

The following day we drove back to Chicago to catch our flight back to Denver. We spend the day in Chicago as a Baby Moon! We bought our favorite candy bars at Macy's and Lucy's special coming home from the hospital outfit. Then enjoyed lunch at our favorite restaurant Elephant & Castle. They serve the BEST French Onion Soup and Heidi couldn't miss out on that!

Things in Denver are still going well. Kevin is loving his job and Heidi has had over a $3000 quarter in sales with Tastefully Simple with 15 more days to go. We are excited for two more baby showers to come and looking forward to setting up Lucy's nursery as we prepare to meet our baby girl.

Only 14 weeks until our Due Date!!!!

Questions about Nursery and Baby Registries...

We have had a lot of questions regarding our nursery colors and where we are registered at. Here is the info:

Lucy's nursery will be decorated in the "I Love Lucy vintage theme. The primary colors will be Raspberry Pink and Green with her furniture being a chocolate brown. We are not too focused on colors so you will see that we have registered for a breathable bumper, crib skirt, and sheets (Target) instead of an official nursery package set. Feel free to incorporate blues and purples as well as the above colors mentioned.

Our registries can be found at the following places by searching for "Heidi Gunn" or "Kevin Gunn"  OR by clicking the orange links below.

Babies R Us - larger items such as stroller, pack n play, crib mattress, play mat, etc Also some bath items, swaddlers/sleep saks for sleeping, and small misc items as well.
Babies"R"Us - Baby Registry

Target - First Aid needs, bath items, bedding, nursery accessories, etc.
Target

Amazon.com - books, I Love Lucy vintage items, puzzles, etc. Feel free to use this registry and take note this was specially created for a baby shower in Indiana where the theme is "books", as we are asking people to not purchase large items due to flying in from Denver.
Amazon 

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask us! You can email us at gunnfamily07@gmail.com

Thanks!

20 weeks - IT'S A GIRL!!!!!

Wednesday August 1st arrived and it was time for our 20 week Ultra Sound. We knew from day one and both agreed that we wanted to know the gender. Being pregnant was a surprise enough for us that we didn't want anymore surprises and wanted to be able to plan for Baby Gunn. We both felt from the moment we knew Heidi was pregnant that we were having a boy. Both of our mom's and many other family members felt the same way.

There were a few exceptions... at five weeks we told Heidi's parents and Kevin's mom that we were  pregnant. Kevin was scheduled to travel to Ames, Iowa for a business trip so we wanted to let a couple people close by know Heidi was pregnant just in case. We told our small group leaders Robert and Monique who for months now have predicted a girl and called her "Olivia". Then we told our neighbor Sharee who just new it was going to be a girl! Thanks for keeping our secret and not letting us go over board planning for a boy!

Just in case though we had chosen both a boy and girl name. Our boy name was to be Jeremiah Andrew and the girl Lucille Jean. Kevin 3 days before the appointment decided to combine them and start calling baby "Jerelu". Thank GOD he didn't come up with that sooner! :)

Well... much to our surprise again - IT'S A GIRL!!!!! While we are totally in shock but are so blessed by the wonderful reports from our Ultra Sound Tech and Doctor on how healthy she is. Lucy is currently 11 oz, meets all her measurements and doing great. She was so hard to get a good profile picture of. Lucy is already a sassy little girl as we watched her kick her legs up and take her little hands to cover her ears. As the tech went to count her little fingers she flashed the middle one proudly for all to see. We have NO idea what we are in for!

A little bit about her name:

LUCILLE

* Lucille is Heidi's maternal grandmother's middle name. So her name comes from Ruth Lucille. Heidi's Grandma Ruth is one of our very favorite people. She has always been so special to Heidi and carries many memories of sleepovers, UNO games, popsicles, bike riding, playing in the park and swimming together.

* Lucille also comes from our most beloved TV show "I Love Lucy" - we have spent countless hours watching old reruns and laughing for hours together.

* Lucille is also part of a song that Heidi's dad use to sing to her. The song by Kenny Rogers called "You Picked A Fine Time To Leave Me Lucille" provided many laughs and specials moments between Heidi and her dad as he use to change the word Lucille to "loose wheel".  In fact it was the first voicemail he left on Heidi phone when we told him the name of our baby girl!

* The nickname "Lucy" that we will use comes from a little girl that captured Heidi's heart and several years later Kevin's too. Lucy Grylicki is the oldest of two sisters (younger Molly) who Heidi use to babysit in college. The girls in 2007 were our Flower Girls in our wedding and will always be claimed as "our girls". We love these two dearly and to make it extra special Lucy Grylicki's birthday is December 18th - one day after our Lucy's predicted due date.

JEAN

* Jean is Kevin's maternal grandmother's middle name. So her name comes from Beatrice Jean. Kevin's Grandma Bea is also one of our favorites because of all the fun memories we have. She loves the outdoors, fishing, hunting, and etc. Grandma Bea's home is a favorite for all of us to visit and a place where we enjoy her wonderful cooking, nights by the campfire, hiking, fishing and playing games together.

* Jean is also the middle name of our neighbor Sharee Jean. Sharee is the greatest wife, mother, grandmother, and dear friend anyone could ask for. Heidi and Sharee have spent countless hours swimming, comparing gardens ("wait is that a weed?!") and chatting on the porch with laughter and memories that will never be forgotten.

We will call Lucille Jean by her nickname "Lucy" she will not go by "LJ" unless she would to make that change on her own at a later age. We ask that you feel free to call her Lucy with us. Her nursery will be decorated in a vintage "I Love Lucy" theme with colors of Raspberry Pink and Lime Greens.

Thanks for your love and excitement you have shown us. We are beyond blessed and daily surprised by our little Lucy!

Journey of Baby Gunn - 2nd Trimester

Ah FINALLY 2nd Trimester. At 13 weeks baking and cooking were still not that exciting but energy level started to finally pick up a little.

Cravings went from fresh veggies, yogurt and grilled cheese into green olives, applesauce and fresh cherry tomatoes from our garden in weeks 14-16. Week 17-19 cravings for peaches, apple juice and pancakes took over.

June 17th was Father's Day and Kevin received a board back book called "I Know My Daddy Loves Me" and a picture frame that says "Daddy and Me". In the book it talks about I know my daddy loves me because he makes me pancakes. Heidi loved this part because pancakes are Kevin's speciality in the kitchen. Even when he was 2 or 3 and tried to make them for his mom mixing them on the kitchen floor with yummy ingredients like ketchup included. He has since, with lots of practice, perfected them and they are a highly requested item from Heidi.

When we first found out we were expecting we knew our lease for our townhome would be coming up for renewal in mid September. While it seemed like a perfect time to move before winter came and locate ourselves closer to Kevin's new job it felt stressful at the same time. Heidi would be 5-6 months pregnant and unable to lift much as well as have the energy to clean and pack. With lots to consider we decided mid July that in September we will sign another 12 month lease and remain in our townhome. It does mean an hour commute each way for Kevin but it also means the security and company of our wonderful community of neighbors and a great price on the space we occupy.

Moose hanging out in Baby Gunn's Crib

Kevin spent two days moving Heidi's Tastefully Simple office from the third floor of our townhome to the basement. Then in return moving all the generously given baby items that were being stored in the basement to the third floor bedroom for a nursery.

We are looking forward to Wednesday August 1st for our 20 week Ultra Sound. Boy or Girl?????

Journey of Baby Gunn - 1st Trimester

1st Trimester with Baby Gunn was a rough one. We could never be more thankful for the timing God provided for our lives. With Kevin taking a new job mid April and Heidi moving from balancing work at the preschool and Tastefully Simple to moving full time with Tastefully Simple it has really worked out. Being sick for 12 weeks was rough and while at the time it felt like years it actually went by quickly. Heidi was thankful to have her home office where she could sleep in and take lots of naps as well as get some work done when need be.

Heidi lost her love (only for the time being) for cooking, baking and even bacon! :) Many nights Kevin would come home from work and make himself dinner eating in front of the oven fan while Heidi sat on the porch waiting for the house to air out.

Kevin's new office or car or something smelled moldy! No one else could notice this but there were no hellos upon arrival home from work until Kevin changed into other clothes. What a trooper!

In the first trimester Heidi lost almost 25 lbs. Food was really the last thing to think about. However around week 10 a couple things sounded good: Oatmeal Cream Pies and Caesar Salad. Starting at week 12 we realized Heidi wasn't eating any protein at all and this was creating horrible headaches. Chipotle became our best friend! Ordering naked bean burritos and starting to crave fruit, specially raspberries along with vanilla yogurt and lemon water.

While Kevin was working and enjoying his new job Heidi spent time in her office; enjoyed afternoon swims in their pool and time with neighbors on the porch. We are so grateful for the community we live in and the neighbors we have. Several other women work from home or are off for the summer and it has provided many days of good company and sunshine.

At our 12 week apt we heard a heathy heartbeart and our doctor said Baby Gunn was doing a LOT of flips! So thankful!

Announcement of Baby Gunn! (March - April - May update!)

So as you can see we haven't posted in March or April as we promised to give you updates monthly. We have been holding onto some BIG news and while we have still been having lots of other fun adventures we didn't want to spill this one too soon. All rumors are true WE ARE PREGNANT and Baby Gunn's due date is December 17th!!!

We did our best to contact our immediate family first before shocking them on Facebook. If you found out on on Facebook thanks for celebrating with us and know that we didn't try to leave anybody out of the "finding out process" there was just a lot of people to get around to. Feel free to spread the word now and many thanks to those who did help keep our secret early on.

So here is a little bit of our story.

2012 has already been an exciting year for us:

* March - Heidi finished up 3.5 years at the preschool she was working at to pursue her dream of Tastefully Simple.  She now works from home and while keeping super busy with her business is loving every minute.

* April - Kevin started with a new company called WebFilings here in Denver. He has a commute of about 45 minutes to an hour each way to and from work but overall loves the new challenges and opportunities this company provides.

* May 19th will be our 5 year wedding anniversary!!! We are so blessed to be celebrating so much as best friends and are excited for many years to come!

With those three major things we have a lot on our plate so why not add something else right! HAHA - we had NO idea! Let's first back up a little bit...

Adoption:

In college we both had worked with an urban poor ministry. Heidi's focus was with street kids in Denver. Through this ministry these kids changed our world; including a little boy named Shadow who Heidi helped through the foster and adoption system. We new this process would change our lives and family when we got married several years later.

Two years ago we really started talking about adoption. For no other reason other than that is where our hearts were/are at. Knowing we had been married several years and wanted to have a family and acknowledging that the process can be quite involved we wanted to start praying through and looking into that option for our family. On a more personal level we haven't done anything to prevent or really pursue getting pregnant. We both felt really at peace with not having our "own". Families often talk about the stress of this process but for us there wasn't really any we were just really excited about adoption and I had really no desire to be pregnant. We knew we wanted siblings (2-3) and wanted them to be older.

We started the process of talking to our parents. Finding that both sides of our families were more than supportive we began looking into the foster to adoption process. As we did we realized that we needed to get a couple things in line.

First - we needed Kevin to have a better insurance plan through work that offered a good plan for a family and also some long term benefits including life insurance and retirement.
Second - we needed to move because right now our 2/3 bedroom and 1.5 bath townhome wouldn't provide the space we needed and still allow Heidi to have an office for her business.
Third - Heidi needed to keep building her Tastefully Simple Business and client base so she had a strong foundation to work from and the time to take off when needed.

How Things Lined Up:


With Kevin's new job offer in April and knowing we needed to move with our lease being up end of September this year we decided to put the foster/adoption process on hold. This would allow us to focus on Kevin's new job, Heidi working from home, and us finding a new home for our family and time to get settled.

Our plan was to come back to this process in January of 2013 when life settled down for us.

Surprise!


The same weekend Kevin was to start his new job on Monday we had planned a date night to Whole Foods for a Seafood Cooking class. It is our tradition to always have a weekly date night and often we attend these free classes because they are so fun! At this point Heidi was only three days late and we started joking with each other about now that we had decided to put adoption on hold for a couple months wouldn't it be funny if I was pregnant. We were 100% joking!

To take the joke even further before we walked out the door for our class Heidi ran upstairs to take a pregnancy test. 3 minutes later there was 2 lines! We laughed it off and ran out the door telling each other that it was defective. Seriously it had been five years.

The next morning Heidi took test 2 and again 2 lines! At this point we were already at five weeks. We called our parents right away just so they could be in denial with us.

So God really did have a plan even when we thought we had the plan this whole time. We promise you that if you were shocked by our news we were shocked x2 for you!

Our 8 week apt was last week (May 11th) and we saw a healthy heartbeat on our ultrasound. We will be finding out the sex of the baby the first week of August and will make sure to share with all of you as well.

For now foster/adoption is still on hold. We will for sure be revisiting this in the future as it really is still where our hearts are at. We are excited about Baby Gunn and still maybe in a tad bit of denial of course. We were reminded again what a fun sense of humor God has for our lives!

Thanks for sharing in our journey and our exciting news.

February 2012

So... since we are playing catch up here is our February update as well.

The first weekend of February we got hit overnight with a huge snow storm. Our friends in the mountains around 50 inches of snow in about 24 hours. At our house, just at the base of the foothills we had around 18.

Poor Moose - he needed a haircut SO bad. The unfortunate part was that haircut came the day before the storm. We love that Heidi cuts his hair to save on cash but did not love how cold Moose was. Still shivering with fleece boots, a sweater, and a jacket on. Thank goodness it is starting to melt and warm up around here quickly!

Heidi also had a conference that same weekend in south Denver so Kevin got to play Taxi cab to three ladies so they could attend! Tastefully Simple on Tour is a mini conference that reveals the new product line for Spring and Summer. The weekend was so much and we are grateful to the Ford Explorer we own and Kevin of course!

February has been an exciting month for Tastefully Simple. Along with the conference we both participated in a nine day Garden and Home Show. My Business Sponsor/Coach has been working a booth at this show for the past 9 years. It was great to learn the ins and outs from both Bonnie and Crystal. The show was amazing and worth every minute of our time and money that we invested. It really helped jump start the business for the unveiling of our Spring/Summer products. Make sure to check out Heidi's Tastefully Simple Website to learn more about her company and the product line itself.

Kevin continues to be busy with work. We are grateful for the flexible schedules we have and the many lunches and evenings we have together. Living close to Kevin's family in Fort Collins allows us to see them from time to time and that has been a highlight for both of us.

Kevin is most looking forward to a date night at Rodizio Grill - Brazilian Steak House with unlimited servings of meat. There goes Heidi's goal towards moving the family to Vegans...sigh. However, Kevin has earned this as a late Valentine's Day Gift. Forever grateful for your hardwork and support in the start up of a new business adventure!