39 weeks ... almost.

Almost.
There.
We hope!

Monday we hit the 39 week mark. It has been a long week with Heidi having a sinus infection and sore throat. Thus meaning nobody in the house is really sleeping these days - ah the joys of getting ready for an infant as if being pregnant isn't enough to endure but being sick as well. We were hoping to go into parenthood with some good rest under our belts but those days seem to be beyond us. It will be more than worth it once we hold our baby girl though so really we have nothing to complain about! :)

At our 37 week apt our doctor was out on the hospital floor delivering a baby so we saw another doctor from the practice. She was wonderful and it was fun to have a second opinion, even though we weren't really needing one. The doctor we saw felt like Heidi measured really small for being 37 weeks so she opted to do an ultra sound to check the fluid and movement of Lucy. She has been so healthy the entire time and Heidi has felt great movement from her throughout the whole pregnancy but we had no complaints getting to see our baby girl. The doctor estimated that she was about 5 lbs 15 oz and we could see that she has hair on her head! Lucy was just hanging out with her legs crossed at the ankles enjoying her afternoon - what a personality she has already!

December is always a wonderful month full of holiday celebrations, Kevin's Birthday and soon to be Lucy's and time with family.

Kevin's birthday request this year was for a day to do nothing! We can more than accommodate that around here - except if Heidi goes into labor. :) However we will do our best to give Kevin his birthday wish. Along with homemade Peanut Butter Cups (click HERE for recipe), dinner with his mom and a huge homemade breakfast of bacon, eggs and potatoes.

Our birthday traditions are fun ones and full of family; which we wouldn't trade for the world. We are excited to see what Lucy decides she wants to fill her special day with in the years to come. To see the homemade special foods she requests, the restaurant she choses for her special dinner and the activities she wants to do.

We are looking forward to lots of time with Heidi's family as her parents and sister will be here for 10 days. What a blessing to have them in town and spend special time with their granddaughter and niece. Oh what a spoiled little girl she will be!

We love the holidays and what a blessing to celebrate the birth of Jesus with friends, family, and a birth of our own!

Christmas Time

I love traditions and I love that even though for 5+ years we have just been a family of three, yes that includes our puppy, that we still have created lots of them. 

Hard work setting up the tree - Kevin had to take a nap! 

One of my favorites is setting up our Christmas tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving. One of the best parts of digging out all the our Christmas decor is seeing all the ornaments we have collected together. We have a tradition that every time we go on vacation we purchase a Christmas ornament for our tree. That way every year when we pull out the box we can see all the fun places we have traveled together and the memories we have created. 

Another favorite part is a couple days after Christmas we go to Target and sort through all the clearance Christmas items. We pick out several things and put them away in one of our boxes. The following year when we go to pull out the boxes we open up to surprises that were wicked cheap! This year we discovered that we had picked out a couple ornaments and all of Moose's gifts! That was a great surprise to know we don't have to shop for him. :) 

FOUR stockings!!! 

This year as we set up our house for Christmas it was crazy to think about that in January when we take things down Lucy will be with us. We can't wait for her to be part of the traditions we already have and of course all the new ones we will make with her. 

AND of course this year we will be a family of four not three! 

5 weeks...

The nursery is almost done.
The freezer is stocked with breakfast, lunch and dinner options - quick easy and ready to reheat!
We have been to Target weekly for random things we know we will use. Anything from hand soap to paper plates to comfy cotton clothes that still look good in public to diapers and more diapers!
Haircuts on the calendar for both of us and Moose too.

Feeling pretty well stocked and ready to go. 1 of our 2 birthing classes are completed as well as pre registration and our hospital tour. Next we need to pack our hospital bags but if that happens to not get done at least there is something on the list for when labor starts. Right? :)

Working on wrapping up Tastefully Simple with several holiday events still open and a couple online parties still gathering orders.

Almost there...

I am SO excited for Lucy to just get here. I can't wait for Kevin to hold her and love her. Since I was little my dad has been one of my best friends. I lean on him for everything. Even as we prepare to have our own little one in the house I still call my daddy for much needed advice, love, and support. Growing up my dad and I joined our local 4H club and it was "our thing" - I have so many fun memories and learned so much about who I was. My dad was always the one there no matter what with encouraging words. He taught me how to be a good sport win or lose and helped me see the importance of working as a team. I don't ever remember a time that my dad spoke negative words to me or others. He has always been a hard working and well respected man in our family, church and community. His love for God and the way he trusts in God's promises provided an example to me that I can only dream of us passing on to our own children.



When I met Kevin 10 years ago I saw so much of my dad in him. We became best friends quickly doing ministry together and the more I got to know him the more I knew he was going to be the best husband and father there was. As my parents welcomed Kevin into our family I quickly saw my dad and Kevin become great friends as well. Kevin now also looks to my dad for advice, love and support. He knows that my dad will never have negative things to say but because Kevin trusts him and his opinion they can talk honestly about things.

I know Kevin will adore Lucy as much as my dad adored me. We are both looking forward to the day Lucy decides on what her passions are. Whether it be soccer (like her daddy), dance, music, art, or another sport I know that Kevin will be there 100% right beside her. Never with negative words but with advice, love and encouragement.

It is important as parents to understand that our words and the way we react to our children become their inner thoughts. It is a powerful and humbling place to be as a human. It can impact so much of someone else's life and relationships. What an important role to never take lightly.

Thank You Dad for Everything! The only thing better than having you as a dad is knowing that Lucy gets to have you as her Grandpa! We can only dream of being 1/2 of what you were for me growing up. If we can meet that goal we know Lucy will turn out amazing! I love you!







(pictures taken by Nate Dobbins at our Wedding - May 2007)

7 weeks...

As we end October and head into November things are very busy! We are enjoying the great Colorado Fall weather that has lasted longer than many previous falls. Leaves are still changing; we still have flowers blooming in our garden because of minimal frost and snow fall and the temps remain in the mid 60s.

Kevin has wrapped up traveling for the year for work and will not resume any more travel until mid March or so. We are grateful for a wonderful company that he loves working for and the flexibility and support they show for making our family a top priority. Besides the long commute, spending over 10 hours a week in his car, working for a company that he loves and being challenged daily at his job have been great for him and made the job transition so much easier for our whole family.

Heidi has been booked out with seven events for Tastefully Simple in November. It is the busy time of year for business with holiday orders, craft fairs, and parties. We are blessed daily by her being able to work from home and set her schedule as her energy allows. Starting December 1st through March 1st we have set up maternity leave which of course still allows for online parties and orders. With March already booked out with parties Heidi looks forward to being able to balance working in the evenings while Kevin and Lucy have daddy daughter time!

If you follow us on Facebook you will see that last Saturday we had a Good Will/Thrift Store Shopping Day. All of the Good Will stores were having 50% off sales so we hit up three stores to find some great deals. Lucy's nursery is almost complete and we are ready to just stock up on diapers and hang a few decorative items. Pictures will be posted when nursery is complete and ready! (see Good Will photos on facebook) 

We have been so blessed with the three showers people hosted and attended for us. Lucy is one spoiled little girl already. Thank You to those who have encouraged and loved us through this process. We can't wait for each of you to be a special part of her life.

November for us also includes child birthing classes at the hospital, continuing of prep for freezer meals, Thanksgiving festivities, and of course some fun date nights for just us! With just seven weeks away from our due date we can't wait to meet our little girl!

For My Baby Girl

I was searching on Pinterest the other day looking for fun decorating ideas for Lucy's room. I wanted to make her something very simple. Here is my final creation. I can't wait to hang it up and have her room completely decorated! 10 weeks until her arrival!!!

Baby Moon 2 - Fall Date Day

Two of my very favorite places in Colorado are Georgetown and Breckenridge. Lucky for us they are both less than an two hours away and it makes a great day trip for us to enjoy together.

This past week I was dying to get out and see the changing of the leaves. We have yet to see a lot of color down here in the foothills so I asked Kevin to take me higher into the mountains to see the orange, yellow, and reds!

We enjoyed a quiet morning in Georgetown, about 30 minutes from us, at our favorite Old Town Soda Fountain. Kevin always loves a Cherry Coke and I love their Vanilla Rootbeers. We enjoyed walking around downtown - which consists of one main street full of shops and purchasing some cinnamon hard candy that is to die for! Afterwards we stopped by a picnic spot for a snack and some photos before heading up to Breckenridge.


When we reached Breck we walked around town for a couple hours and enjoyed the Celtic Fest that was happening and then stopped in at Whale's Tail - our most favorite happy hour spot. You can't beat the best wings ever for 50 cents each and 10 cent peel and eat shrimp and of course $2 beers that Kevin enjoyed for all of us :) We always joke that if we lived closer than the hour drive we would eat there several nights a week, it really is that good!

It was a perfect Fall Day filled with lots of our favorite things. So grateful for the time we have together and the small getaways that we can enjoy. Next time we will have Lucy along and we can't wait for her to be part of our favorite fall memories next year!

Freecycle

We discovered Freecycle several years ago through my friend Amanda when she was living in Fort Collins. It has provided some of the best bargain finds for our family as well as many frustrating moments. Every time I think I am going to give up on the whole system we find something great that makes it worthwhile again. Overall I love Freecycle and tell everybody about it when they are looking for a great deal for their home or family.

Freecycle allows you to post wanted items or to offer things you would like to get rid of. This is a great way for us to clean out our closets and get rid of things when it isn't garage sale season or even leftovers from our yearly garage sale. There is also a swap group that is fun to trade things around on. You will always have people who commit and then never show up or people you email 6 times and they still never give you an address to pick up so you just have to give up on them. Overall though you can find some pretty great things!

We have been SO blessed these past couple months with the amazing things we have gotten for Lucy through Freecycle. I first of all back in May started looking for furniture for her room. I wanted time to be semi picky about it as they are pieces I want to use for many years and potentially multiple children. Some of the items we received were:

Crib: wooden and in excellent condition, also converts to a toddler bed plus
Bookshelf: 3 shelfs, great shape
Changing Table/Dresser: excellent condition with two shelfs and three drawers
Rocking Chair: great condition, and beautiful wood!
Baby Bath Tub: brand new!
Stroller: jogging type - picking this up today, just needs a $20 new tire replacement
etc.

All of Lucy's furniture happens to match in wood color as well and looks great in her room. We are so excited to start decorating her new to us things!

We were also blessed by tons of baby clothes. I have yet to purchase any clothes for her and she is set for the first 9 months of her life! One lady had two little girls and was excited to give us 8 bags of clothes, sleepers, bibs, hats, socks, bath items, etc. Amazing and yes FREE!

Of course we are grateful for our friends and family who have gifted us various items as well, including clothes, bumbo seat, books, bouncer, infant car seat w/ 2 bases, etc. We can't believe those who already love Lucy so much  - both we know and don't know!

Thank You to those who have helped make sure she looks cute every day of her life and is provided for  with more than she will ever need!

The Joys of Nesting!

Make sure to check out an update on Heidi's cooking blog about nesting and freezer meals in preparation for Lucy's arrival!

The Homemade and Dairy Free Kitchen 

http://homemadeanddiaryfreekitchen.blogspot.com/

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!

January 2012

Wow, it is almost March and we are of course behind on our blog by almost TWO months now. We did keep meaning to update but well we didn't...

Let's back track and talk about January for a minute.

We had an overall chill month. Heidi went from working 30 hours at the preschool she has been employed at for 3 years to 10 hours a week. She is with the 4 and 5 year olds in the preschool 2 room and it has been a great change for her both classroom and hour wise. Tastefully Simple has taken off in full force. January was a great time of adjustment to working from home and is grateful to have her home office space. On nice days it allows for walks with Moose and chats with the neighbors.

Kevin has been busy with work. The computer world never slows down it seems and we love that part of the business. Wednesdays are a favorite for both of us as Heidi joins him for lunch!

We have enjoyed time with friends; both our neighbors and great church friends. Our small group is studying Romans and it has been so powerful for us to be in the Word and memorizing scripture together. The friendships we have gained throughout the past couple years are so valuable in our current lives.

We had the opportunity to attend The Elephant Room this year.  James MacDonald, one of the founders of Harvest Bible Chapel, hosted the event.  The Elephant Room is a time when 7 pastors get together and just talk about issues in they are facing in the church and as pastors.  The idea is that we, Christians, all believe in the same God and the truth of the Bible, yet sometimes there are some differences.  If we are a family, we should get together and talk like family.  For more information, check out their website, http://www.theelephantroom.com/ or you can read more on Kevin's blog http://kgunnit.blogspot.com/2012/02/elephant-room-thoughts-quotes-remarks.html.

At the end of January we enjoyed our annual trip to Breckenridge. This was our 5th year to attend the Budweiser International Snow Sculpture Championship Viewing. We saw so many great sculptures, snowshoed, walked the town, and of course ate Happy Hour at our favorite local bar - Whale's Tail.

Up and Running in 2012

As you can see we haven't been using our family blog this past year. Heidi started to focus more on her cooking blog: Homemade and Dairy Free Kitchen. Kevin forgot to focus on any of it. :)

In August of 2011 we joined the launch team for a new church plant called Harvest Bible Chapel. Through this new church we became part of a small group that has been such a huge blessing in our life.

The last couple months of 2011 we focused on our Vision; both for our marriage and individually. It became really powerful for us as we entered in

to a new year. Neither one of us are big new year resolution people; but sitting down together and looking at our long term and short term vision for 2012 was really beneficial. Several items came out of this process for us but one of them being starting back up on our family blog.

We plan to update once a month on our family adventures and the areas God is teaching and testing us in. It holds excitement to see what will come of 2012. Feel free to join us in this adventure by the following ways:

* On the Right Hand Side ----> enter your email address for an update every month when we post.

* Also on the Right Hand Side ----> if you already blog or are connected to Google you can follow us through that link.

* OR just check back!

Don't forget to check out Heidi's Cooking blog - she posts weekly!

Homemade and Dairy Free Kitchen.

For technology or theology related content, check out Kevin's blog Kevin's Blog of Technology, Theology, and More.  

Happy New Year!