First Christmas!

We celebrated Christmas in Kansas City this year. Emerson's first christmas has turned out to be very lucrative for her. We had family christmas just the 3 of us on Christmas day and then joined Troy, Robin, Maggie, & Abby along with Robin's parents for Christmas lunch. She hit the motherload on gifts with the Oberle family christmas this weekend and she still has the Kehrt family Christmas yet to go.

She was a very popular little girl with the family and it is a good thing she likes to be held. She was being held by someone all of Friday and Saturday. She was able to see and be seen by a lot of family that we don't get together with very often. All of the other kids took turns holding her and all did very well! Our niece Maggie took over many of our parental duties for the day and took good care of her. I asked her to come live with us for a while...she declined...I can't figure out why a 13 year old wouldn't want to come hang out with us boring people for a while?!?! It was a wonderful weekend and we are so glad that everyone was able to make it here for Christmas. It has been a very special year for us and we were excited to spend time with the Oberle's. We are equally as excited to spend time with the Kehrt family when they all come down in 2 weeks for our Kehrt family Christmas.

We are ready to go meet the entire family at Uncle Troy & Aunt Robins house!

Spending some quality time with Uncle Scott!

Uncle Troy & Emerson bonding... He was teaching her to use more than just her index finger to express herself!!

One Week Old!

Its hard to believe Emerson is already a week old. She is doing great and we are still star struck with her!!

Grandma and Grandpa Kehrt came on the day she was born and stayed until we got home from the hospital. They had to go back to Iowa on Monday and we are excited for them to come back this Thursday to stay for a week! Grandma and Grandpa Oberle came on Saturday to see her too. I think we can safely say that she has 4 Grandparents that are just as smitten as we are withher! Grandma and Grandpa Oberle can't wait to see her again in 2 weeks at Christmas.

She had her first Dr appointment last week. She was at 94% of her birthweight and is in the 10th percentile for her size. She is gaining her birthweight back like a champ and although a little small, she is doing great! She is a great baby. She doesn't fuss a lot (yet)! So far we are pretty lucky! Here are a few more pictures of her!

She is the cutest ever!

Emerson with Grandma & Grandpa Kehrt

Emerson with Grandma & Grandpa Oberle

We are proud to announce the arrival of

Emerson Christine Oberle

Born: December 6, 2008

10:31 am
Weighing 6 lbs 5 oz

18 inches long

She is the joy of our life and we couldn't be more blessed to have her here and completely healthy! We came home for the hospital on Monday and like most babies she has her days confused with her nights. But she hasn't been a fussy baby and doesn't cry a lot. I could bore you with the details but let's face it, you really just want to see pictures of her!

Our beautiful baby Girl!

Our first family photo

I got a clean bill of health!!

A VERY proud daddy!

Mommy's little Angel!

Baby Watch Dec 2008

Still here....still pregnant! We are officially on baby watch now. We could see the arrival of Little O at any time. It may be tomorrow, it may be 3 weeks from now...only he/she knows. My stats have not changed since last week. 100% effaced, Little O is in prime birth position (head down and a zero position), and I am dialated to 1. We are ready for Little O to get here and getting very excited. I am having a lot of back pain and still gaining weight so I don't see that improving until he/she gets here, since all of my weight gain is in my belly.

I am continuing to work right up until labor. Frankly, I see no point in sitting home doing nothing when I can sit at my computer at work and make money. Work keeps me busy and my employer is great about letting me get up and move around and pretty much doing whatever I need to keep myself comfortable. Bruce is getting very excited too. He hasn't had to tell his work that he can't travel anymore. They have been able to keep him in the office, which is good.

We will continue to try to keep you all updated on our status and of course we will let everyone know when our addition decides to make his/her grand entrance!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Since we are grounded from going anywhere we are going to make Thanksgiving dinner here for the two of us plus Mike Krier. Bruce has certain requests for his turkey day meal that must be carried out, even though we aren't in Claflin this year. My family doesn't typically get together for Thanksgiving but there is always a lot of phone calls to keep us connected. Mom, Rox, and Jill, I will warn you that when you make your yearly "Black Friday Shopping- wish you were here" call at 7:30am....I won't answer it again this year either :) Have fun on your shopping trip, I am sure you will enjoy it much more without a tired, crabby, b*$U& joining you.

We had more appointments for Little O today. It was a good visit but today's appt made it all come together and both Bruce and I realized that in 4 weeks or less....God is going to actually allow us to be parents!!! Whoa. My blood sugars have been low (almost too low) for the last couple of weeks so they took me off the meds, however, my numbers are up a little today so we may need to go back on the meds but change the dosage. Little O scored a 10/10 as usual on testing today. Let's hope he/she does this well with school work... Dr. Smith said that she typically will induce labor at week 39 with her diabetic patients so it looks like we will have an addition before Christmas....Although Dr. Smith is very conservative, I am not sure so she really wants to work on Christmas so inducing 1 week early will help her vacation plans too :) We are at weekly and more invasive evaluations now (you really don't want the details). While Dr. Smith did say that inducing me is the most likely option, she is not so sure we will not go early on our own as I am completely Effaced now and dialated to a "tight 1". We do have everything ready to go except getting the car seat in the car and check to make sure we have it in correctly. After that we are ready for Little O. Now it is just the mad dash to get everything around the house that we want to get done before he/she arrives.

Have a very Safe and Happy Thanksgiving everyone. We are of course VERY thankful that we have the joy of a little baby on the way and wonderful friends and family!

Mom & Dad Kehrt

Mom Kehrt has been planning on a trip for quite some time and this weekend was it. We got a surprise from Mother Nature and it rained/snowed in Iowa so Dad Kehrt was able to come too. Mom and I spent Saturday morning shopping for Little O. There is some must haves that we still need before he/she gets here and Bruce, although very excited about the baby's arrival, is not so excited to shop for him/her. It was good to have Mom here to shop for these last must haves. We had a great time and picked up all of the stuff we will need. We met Dad, Bruce, Mike Wondra, and Mike Krier at Buffalo Wild Wings for some lunch and football. We did have to move the party downtown as we wanted to show Mom & Dad the Power & Light district. We made it only as far as the Flying Saucer... which is Bruce's new favorite bar. It has over 200 beers... not your average Bud Light/Miller Lite variety. We were joined by several more of our friends and to our surprise, Troy and Robin dropped in while celebrating their 15th wedding anniversary. They all had a great time trying all the different kinds of beer. I can't say I had quite as much fun as they all did but I did enjoy the time spent with Mom & Dad and friends.

Little O is doing good. Mom and Dad were excited to see that I actually look pregnant now... from the front and side anyway :) Here are some updated pictures of us and little O. No, worries Noel-- the belly pictures are not that bad.... I think you can handle these :) :)

32 weeks

We are 32 weeks along and doing well. I thought I would post another update since we are now into our two week appointments with Dr. Smith. I have been doing very well on my diet and I must say that it really sucks...this is no fun. I have done everything to the letter and still my morning fasting numbers are high. The result is medication. The perinatologist said my numbers look really good during the day so I am doing everything I absolutely can and my body still can't keep my fasting levels down at night. No insulin shots, so I can live with that. But when he started going through my diet, I fully admitted that for my nightime snack I do include a sugar free ice cream bar... he scolded me for that because it has no nutritional value. I must say, it takes a lot of guts to sit across from a 7 month pregnant woman, whom you have put on a diet which consists of absolutely nothing fun and then scold her for partaking in a sugar free ice cream bar. For the record...sugar free ice cream bars aren't that good but are the one free treat that I look forward to. Dr. Smith now has us going in weekly for non-stress tests and sonograms to make sure little O grows appropriately. This is a change since they put me on medication. I told the receptionist that I was going to get a tent and camp out since I will be in their office so much for the next 8 weeks.

Bruce and I have both been busy at work lately. I am learning a lot in my new position and things are starting to come together. I have been putting in some longer hours but I can see as I get into a groove those should decrease a little bit....maybe. Bruce was in Atlanta for training all last week and his traveling has decreased a little too which is nice. His project here at home has been the master shower. He and Mike have been working on it quite a bit lately and with Mike's help it looks really good. Bruce's home improvement skills are much better than he believes they are. His confidence is building the more he does. He is at the tiling stage and it looks pretty good! Here are some pictures of the boys working...They call it work but for some reason, a few beer cans usually end up on the bathroom vanity at the end of the day too. I suppose they deserve it :)

Taking after Dad

It feels like all we have done all week is baby appointments. Tuesday I had my first Perinatal appointment for my GD (gestational Diabetes). The doctor told me that my levels look really good and he can tell by looking at them that I am abiding by my diet very well. I don't have to take any medications or insulin if this keeps up. He even let me reduce the number of times I test my blood from 7 to 4!!! For anyone that has to test their blood regularly...that is AWESOME!! Some jerk at work filled the candy bowl yesterday with mini Snickers bars...which was just plain mean!

We met with the physicians of the pediatrician group that we have choosen as Little O's doctor. We are really comfortable with all of the doctors in the group. We had to do this before we met with the hospital to pre-register. This was a meeting to get everything in order so all we need to do on the big day is walk into the hospital and tell them we are ready for Little O to join us on the outside! Let's just say the pre-registration nurse is excited about her job. After the 45 minute meeting, Bruce and I were worn out and assumed that she must have forgotten to take her ADHD medication.

We met with Dr. Smith today for another appointment and sonogram to check Little O's size. Dr. Smith wants to make sure that the GD does not make the baby grow to big. Little O is in the 51st percentile which is right where he/she needs to be. They estimated him/her to be about 3.3 pounds right now ... they check that by doing circumference checks on the sonogram. The heart rate is steady at 147 beats per minute. Since I was 4 pounds 9 oz when I was born and the baby is already estimated at 3.3, she said that Little O is taking after Daddy when it comes to size but not too big. Hopefully, Little O does Mommy a favor and doesn't let those broad shoulders get too big.... Have you seen Bruce's shoulders?!?!? I love them on Bruce but my one fear of labor and delivery is delivering those!

29 Weeks along & Baby Shower!!!

This weekend has been a lot of fun! My KC friends held a baby shower for me this weekend and we had our friends Justin, Sara, & their daughter Claire in town for the event. The shower was fun. We received a lot of things we are going to need for Little O's arrival. Thank you for everyone that attended and of course for the hostesses for the work they did to put the shower on. Since I am not a "game player" when it comes to showers, the hostesses did a fun craft project instead. The guests made Little O personalized onsies with fabric paints their own creativity. It was a fun project and Little O now has some pretty cool onsies to wear!!

Justin & Sara's daughter, Claire is 18 months old. She is mobile now so it was a great opportunity for Bruce and I to see what we need to get rid of or at least put out of hands of small children... we actually did pretty good... or Claire kept occupied with enough other stuff that she didn't notice. We spent Saturday night with them and our friend Stacey Wray, catching up and enjoying the wonderful weather. James, Janna, & Kaden stopped by with a gift of necessities for Little O and we got to spend some time with them as well. It is always great to see our out of town friends when we get the chance.

Little O is doing well. His/her kicking/punching is much more defined in the last couple of weeks. Since we are in our 3rd trimester, Dr Smith told us to start counting fetal movements. She wants 10 kicks in 8 hours... Bruce and I looked at her and laughed...we can get that in 5 minutes on most evenings! I saw the dietitian this week for my Gestational Diabetes and starting my blood sugar monitoring and strict diet. This is not your typical diet--it is geared around the when and how much aspect of eating carbohydrates/sugars. The kinds food I can eat is based on the food guide pyramid-- which in my opinion is the best way to "diet". The diet and monitoring is really one of the hardest things I have ever done...it is a lot of discipline and a whole lot of meal planning. We see the parinatologist this week to find out how Little O is progressing and make sure that everything is still going well. We are doing everything we should, so we hope Little O is doing just fine... more precautionary than anything else.



I tried to do a better job of taking pictures this weekend...for those of you that keep telling me to post more pictures...this is the best I can do so get used to it :)

Its been a while

It has been a while since we last posted. The fact is we have been pretty boring. We have been staying close to home doing a lot of chores around the house. Bruce has been working in the back yard and we are re-doing our master bathroom shower. Bob Villa/Bruce has been learning a lot lately!!! Last weekend Bruce's parents were in town for the NASCAR race. It was good to spend time with them and we enjoyed their company. This weekend we are going to our niece Maggie's cross country meet. We also intend to get in some good football watching as well :)

We had another Dr's appointment today. We are in our 3rd trimester so we go every two weeks from here on out. Crazy that we are getting this close!!! Little O is doing great, he/she has the kicking thing down to a science. She/he generally gets really active around 8-9pm. His/her heartbeat was at 154 today so right on target. I have been diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes, so that is not great news for me and my love of pasta. This will require more doctors appointments, tests, and monitoring by a dietitian. Dr. Smith will also now be checking little O's size. One of her main concerns for the baby is that there is a greater chance of Little O getting too big now... who would have thought we would have to worry about my kid getting too big??? Other than, baby should be just fine as long as I monitor it well and listen to the doctors orders. We have a strong family history of diabetes on both sides of my family but with all luck this is limited to pregnancy only and it will go away after the baby is born.

Have a great week everyone! I will try to get some pictures posted soon! I could post pictures of us laying on the couch watching TV but who really cares to see that.

1 year anniversary!!!

We made it to one year!! Our anniversary as all of you probably know was Monday September 8th. We celebrated the day with dinner a Lidia's italian restaurant. It was a great meal. Bruce even surprised me with flowers, which were dual purpose for my birthday too!!! A year ago I had invisioned us at dinner and then coming home to further celebrate with a bottle of wine from our wedding day. Since we both had to work the next day AND little O isn't old enough to drink yet :) Bruce had a glass with his dinner and I celebrated with a Sprite! Oh how a year changes things :) We had a wonderful anniversary and are still as happy today as we were then. although our celebratory activities have changed dramatically in the last 6 months :) :)

We had another appointment this week. Little O is measuring exactly on where he/she needs to be. We saw Cindy the nurse practitioner at this appointment. We really like her because she is very laid back and we can depend on her to answer all of our questions honestly. She does not hold back in anyway. We get to see Dr. Smith again at next month's appointment. We are very fortunate to have a doctor and nurse practitioner that we really like. Cindy said that Little O is progressing perfectly! That is always a relief. I was given another 4 weeks of travel because everything is going so well. However, in 4 weeks, we are done going anywhere for a while. These appointments are pretty quick, so there is more waiting around then there is appointment. We have been making a lot of meetings lately for daycare interviews, pediatrician interviews, and birth preparation classes. It is getting exciting the closer we get to Little O's arrival!!

If feels like we have been busy the last couple of weeks but we haven't been up to much. Both Bruce and I have been busy at work. Bruce is traveling a little bit here and there but home much more than he used to be. Which is really nice! I have been busy at work as well. I was promoted to a Claims Manager as of September 1st, which means I will no longer be adjusting work comp claims but instead will be the manager of a team of adjusters. I am officially and unofficially in my new position. My title has changed but they have not found a replacement for my adjuster duties. So in the meantime, I and doing 100% of my adjusting duties and everyday I seem to get more team manager duties... hopefully we will find a replacement soon and I can get onto my management duties. One of my first events as a manager is to attend our Team Manager meetings in Las Vegas September 15-17th. So it is a good thing I was given 4 more weeks of travel :)

There is not a lot to report after that. We are going to Claflin to a wedding this weekend for one of Bruce's friends. This will also give us one more chance to get there and spend time at Bruce's parent's home before little O gets here.

Kehrt Family Weekend

We traveled to Des Moines to stay with my family and have a baby shower put on by my sister-in-laws, niece, and one of my mom's best friends Kim. It was a great weekend. Since we all come from different sides of the state and Illinois, it has become common practice to spend a lot of our holidays and special moments in hotels. Friday night was pretty low key with dinner and good company. Saturday Dad Kehrt, Chad, Bruce, and Nick went golfing. This was quite an adventure for Nick as it was his first golf experience. He did pretty well so we hear...considering he is a lefty playing with right handed clubs!

Saturday afternoon we had the baby shower and the girls did a great job of putting it on. It was great to see everyone and Little O received lots of toys and must haves. We had a lot of fun and I couldn't have asked for anything better. THANK YOU LADIES!!! We spent the remainder of the day swimming with my cousin Laura's daughter Aly, who is quite the waterbug and my nieces Mara & Ellen. They were content sitting on the steps in the beginning but with a little coxing and the element of time, They were jumping in and having fun!

Sunday before heading home to KC we went to my sister-in-law Stacey's parents home for a birthday party for Mara and Ellen. Mara turned 3 on Aug 21 and Ellen will turn 2 on Sept 15th. They also got lots of goodies to play with! Ellen may have had more fun with the tissue paper than her toys. It is hard to leave everyone and come home to Kansas but it was a great weekend and we had a lot of fun. It was our last trip to Iowa before Little O arrives so I am sure the next trip home will be equally eventful. Here are some pictures of our weekend!

Great Grandma's Kehrt & Thompson, Grandma Kehrt, & Mom Oberle

I had an excellent helper opening the gifts from Aly!

Kim, Roxanne, Jill, & Stacey- Thanks so much for the shower!!!

My friends were all able to make this great day!
Happy Birthday Mara & Ellen! Ellen has no problems digging into her cake. Mara likes to make sure she knows what she is eating :)

Although the rest of the family is making up ground. There is still an extra place in Ellen's heart for Uncle Bruce.

Little O Update

We had our 20 week appointment yesterday with the doctor. We first did our 20 week sonogram. Since we are not finding out what the sex of the baby is until he/she arrives the tech avoided certain areas of the baby. She told us, she didn't even go down there because boys are so obnoxious, they will show you if you want to know or not :). It was quite amazing to both Bruce and I although we did need some help telling what everything is. She tried to get us a good look at the baby's face because apparently, I am harboring a future Gold Medalist in Gymnastics or a Martial Arts expert because Little O would not sit still long enough to get a good clear picture. She told us that the baby wouldn't sit still (which I can clearly feel) and Bruce laughed and said "Yep that sounds like my kid....already being difficult!" It is also much like his kid to avoid pictures at all costs :) The baby is measuring at 21 weeks so Little O is right where she/he needs to be. I have gained the weight that the doctor wants me to gain and everything is on track!!

Have a good week!

New Adventure!

We have hit August and that means travel, travel, travel.... We are trying to get it all in before the doctor confines us to the city limits.

August 2nd, I made a quick trip to Des Moines for Sarah Towns' baby shower. We were able to catch up with her and get some good girl time in before baby Towns arrives in September. The shower was very nice and it was good to see a lot of girls that I haven't seen for a long time, some that I haven't seen since I left Des Moines. Bruce headed to Claflin for a family gathering at the Oberle household. They spent a lot of time in Great Bend at his sisters home. It was a great weekend and everyone had a good time catching up. I was sad to miss the weekend as the kids all went to the pool to swim and that is just as much fun for me as it is for the kids! My wonderful mother-in-law and father-in-law didn't hold my absence against me and did send some canned pickles home with Bruce! THANKS! Little O and I both thank you!!!!


Last weekend, we were pretty busy with a lot of odds and ends... We are getting back into the home improvements again, trying to get a lot done before Little O arrives-- yes we are only half way to Little O arrival... but it is a big list :) Bruce somehow talked me out of painting the nursery but we did a fair share of painting this weekend in places we have talked about doing since we moved in. The previous owner's painting skills were less than stellar.... one coat and call it good apparently was his motto. We got a lot of things done, most of which nobody else will ever notice is changed, but Bruce and I feel much better about it.


Bruce and Mike did embark on a new adventure they have never found themselves in this weekend too. The crib and dresser/changing table came in so we picked it up and the boys assembled the crib. It was not nearly as difficult as we anticipated. There was a Kodak moment where both of the boys were looking at each other in the "how the hell does this work" look... I actually was able to catch it with the digital camera....unfortunately to my dismay, I had the memory card door open on the camera and lost the picture... but here are the boys afterward rewarding themselves for their achievement. Nice job guys!!! Thanks for your help "Uncle" Mike!!

The Foo are Amazing!!!

Last weekend we attended the Foo Fighters concert. I have been to several concerts and honestly, it was one of the best concerts we both have ever been too. You cannot compete with Jimmy Buffett's atmosphere but the Foo rocked them all musically. Our seats were really good so we had a good view of the band the entire time. They did an excellent set of "unplugged" songs which was my favorite. As the only sober one in the group by the end of the night, watching our group trying to get themselves out of the arena was another great show for me!!!

Below are pictures we took at Mike's party a couple of weeks ago!

Congrats to the newly engaged couple! We are excited for you Rupe & Christy!!!

Bruce & Julee, enjoying the party!!!

Highly talented (& intoxicated) Mike proves he can pat my head and rub the baby belly -- at the same time!!!! Yes, he is wearing my jacket as a Superman cape :) :)

Little O Update -Dr appt #3

We had our 3rd Dr's appt for Little O on Monday. Bruce has been putting brutal hours at work and was not able to attend. Dr. Smith said everything is going along as planned. The baby's heartbeat was in the 140's at this appointment which is where he/she needs to be. My blood pressure and vitals are excellent. I haven't gained a lot of weight this month but Dr. Smith said overall I am where I need to be in weight gain. Our next appointment with the Dr is in August and that will include our ultrasound!!! The second trimester is awesome compared to the first...not that I had a whole heck of a lot to complain about in the first....it could have been MUCH worse. I feel pretty "normal" again...with the exception of the baby bump. It was kind of like a switch went off about 2 weeks into the second trimester, I started feeling better and now I can even use my electric toothbrush again (instead of a regular toothbrush:) Below are some 16 week belly pictures.

Have a great week!

Relaxing 4th !!

We had a relaxing 4th of July. We took a few extra days and went up to Clear Lake to spend some much needed time at the lake with Mom and Dad Kehrt. We did a little bit of everything....Bruce and Dad took to the links for a couple of days on the small par 3 golfcourse near their house. Bruce lost by a few strokes on the first match and demanded a rematch...He was VERY excited when he won the second round. While they were competing for bragging rights, Mom and I went to the Craft show downtown. Although the craftshow had little to be desired, we did manage to get some shopping done. I am not much of a shopper but they have this GREAT little store called "The Red Geranium" that I can always find something in! We found the perfect 1st addition for the baby's room. It is a nightlight that matches the nursery theme we have picked out. It will be fun once we get it all together.

We also spent time with the Thompson family. All of my mom's brothers and sisters were in town for the weekend. As is tradition on the 4th, we went to Belmond's parade and watched it from Grandpa & Grandma Thompson's front yard. Now, this is Bruce's "favorite" part of the weekend.... Bruce is not fan of parades...any parade... but Mom again worked her magic and got him to go... This is an opportunity to see family and Bruce likes that part. However, he does not see the point of parades. Although the Belmond parade is generally the same parade year after year it is fun for us to see people we haven't seen in quite some time. But I do have to agree, how much farm equipment and firetrucks can you put in one parade... and let's not forget the area car dealerships that feel the need to put as many 2008 Chevy Impala's as they can in the parade...as if we don't see them every day on the road... this year, I counted 3. We had a great time with all but one of my aunts and uncles (hope you are feeling better Aunt Cindy), most of my cousins and two of my cousins, little boys.

Bruce and I had a great time swimming with Donovan (my cousin Angie's son) in Clear Lake and Trenton (My cousin Missy's son), Bruce, and I walked around the farm looking at the cows, barns, and tractors. Trenton and I ended one night staying inside while the rest of the family watched my uncle's shoot off some fireworks. Trenton didn't care for the noise and I hate fireworks up close... I prefer to leave it to the professionals, and I like to watch those kind but hate being near them. Fireworks are much more dangerous then people realize-- yes I sound like a Nervous Nancy but its true. A Co-worker of mine, who is a trained fireworks tech found that out this weekend as well. After he was released from the KU burn unit he is doing well and back to work already. That is my soapbox for now... I have only one picture of the whole weekend... and it isn't great quality. Have a great week everyone!!

Need a vacation

I need a vacation! It is summer, the weather is nice, and it has been a while since we have taken a vacation. Therefore, I think I need one :) We will be in Clear Lake for the 4th so our vacation time is coming at a perfect time!

We are all doing well. Bruce had to travel this week for a training session to Dallas. He doesn't mind the travel and I don't mind if it is kept at a minimum. He hasn't done a lot of traveling lately so I can't complain about a few days here and there. And...it is part of his job so we have to be ok with it.

Little O is doing well. We are moving into the 2nd trimester and The Blah is wearing off. There are a few remnants here and there but overall much improved. We are about 14 weeks along. Most baby books give you a unique description of how big the baby is...Bruce prefers these descriptions to technical terms. Little O is about the size of a peach now. We have started some initial nursery planning and made our first baby purchase.... the glider/rocker. We thought it was funny how you walk into a furniture store and the nursery section has "baby gliders" for a crazy amount of money...but then you walk over the glider/rocker section and you can find the same glider for 1/2 the price. When we got it home Bruce thought we need to break it so it is ready for the baby and now it has taken up temporary residence in the living room.

A weekend Outside!

Last weekend was a busy weekend. Saturday we spent the day at the Clinton Lake on our friends John & Heidi Ernst's boat. It was a windy day so we anchored off in a cove and enjoyed the day. Later that evening we went to Rockfest which is a rock concert in Kansas City with 15 bands on 2 different stages. It is a huge crowd of about 50,000 people. Since we didn't go all day, we saw only 2 bands. Shinedown was a band I had high hopes for but I have to say I was disappointed at the performance. The main band we wanted to see was Stone Temple Pilots who put on an AMAZING show. It was a great concert and we had a blast. Here our some pictures of the weekend. I didn't take my camera into the concert so the pictures are courtesy Stacey & Tom Wray :)

John & Bruce, Joseph (John & Heidi little guy) & Jill & Heidi, Joe, & Miles

ROCKFEST

NEW ADDITION!

Coming Soon... and additional member of the Oberle Family! Bruce and I are having a baby! Little O's Estimated date of arrival is December 27, 2008. We are very excited and although the pregnancy has had its challenges, Little O is growing very nicely.

The doctor has estimated our conception date to be approximately April 5th. Which would have been our trip to Las Vegas... lets just say that trip turned out to be much more lucrative and yet at the same time more expensive then we originally thought!! That makes us about 11 weeks along and doing very well. We have had 2 doctors appointments. The first was on Bruce's Birthday and he says it was the best birthday present he has ever gotten...ask him that again when Little O is 16 :) The second visit was today. Dr. Smith says that everything is going along just fine and there are no concerns at all. She does want to run an extra test since all three of us Kehrt kids were premature but she doesn't think that is cause for concern. We were able to hear the heartbeat at today's appointment. And that was by far the BEST sound I have ever heard. Little O's heartbeat was cranking at about 165-168 beats per minute and doing great! We were anticipating a much more complex form of finding the heartbeat but it was relatively routine to Dr. Smith and yet for Bruce and I, it was simply amazing. She did not have to search for it at all. She was able to find it immediately. It was beautiful and something that is difficult to explain until you hear your own child's heart beating for the first time!

Weeks 6-8 taught us that Morning Sickness is a myth... it does not only occur in the morning... It can come and go all day long. We have conveniently labeled this symptom "The Blah" I have a much better understanding on what increases the likelihood of me getting the Blah and how to avoid it. It can't be completely be avoided. I am the cracker queen!! By looking in my purse at any given time, you will surely find snack bags of crackers and fruit loops! I have also been a little more tired but I am able to do pretty much everything I want which is important to me. I was much more tired in the beginning and now really just notice it after a later than usual night.

I haven't had any "cravings" yet. I have noticed that Oreo cookies elicit the Blah so those are out of the rotation for a while. I do eat more tortilla chips and cheese/nachos than I used to. I have always had an addictions to pickles particularly my mother-in-laws canned pickles. They are by far the best ever! I generally make a rule to ration these out so the jars last until our next trip to Claflin or when Leon & Judy come to visit. I now eat these about 1/2 jar at a time. Again, pickles have always been a favorite food (I used to get them as a Christmas gift) so I am not sure you can call this a craving....

A few answers to many general questions...

1. We are not planning on finding out if it is a boy or girl until he/she arrives.
2. We have 10 nieces and 1 nephew but we really don't care which one we get.... However, for those of you that want a boy...if it is a girl... It's Bruce's Fault! :)

3. We haven't started any major changes from the spare bedroom to the nursery yet...but we will be soon.

4. I am showing much faster than I though I would... I have gained 5 pounds so far...Bruce and I were very surprised that I started showing so fast (we noticed at 7 weeks) but since I am so slender, it is normal....and we did only hear one heartbeat today!

We hope you are all doing well and we will try to keep you all posted on the growing of Little O as well as the rest of our lives!!

The losing streak ends!!!

As most of you know, When it comes to professional sports, my & most Kehrt family members heart lies with the team that lives in Chicago... Chicago Bears, Chicago Cubs (Sorry Dad & Uncle G), Chicago Bulls, etc.... But now that I live in KC, I find myself getting more involved in the Chiefs and The Royals every year. Neither team has given me reason to completely turn on my Chicago teams.... they aren't that good. The Chiefs also let my favorite player, Boomer Grigsby go this last year...he is now a Dolphin...I am still a fan Boomer!!!


The Royals are going through a major stadium renovation and it isn't without its growing pains for the team and fans. But it will be well worth it in the end. After 12 game loosing streak the Royals have started to redeem themselves...they still have a long ways to go but they are trying. We attended the game this weekend with Mike Wondra and it was a great day! It was hot and the zoo was giving a way stuffed Otters for the kids... so it was a family friendly day...hot screaming children everywhere...It was a ton of fun to see all the little Royals fans! My favorite Royal David DeJesus (#9) also dropped a little farther down on Bruce's shit-list after hitting a home run...Bruce is not willing to remove him completely off the list yet though...



Here are some pictures of the game!! The Royals play the White Sox tonight...Since I am a cubs fan and a Royals fan, I will have to say GO ROYALS! Hopefully dad will talk to me tomorrow

Memorial day was a quiet one this year. We didn't do much this long weekend. Our house was a little more active this weekend as our friends James, Janna, and their son (Our Godson) Kaden stayed with us while they were in town for a family event. It was fun to have them around.

Saturday night we went to a party at our friends Maggie & Michael's. They have a nice home and it was a lot of fun to hang out with friends. We did have a cut-throat tournament of the Bean Bag game....somewhere in the late of the night, it was renamed to a title that isn't fit for the blog but it was a lot of fun!!! Needless to say I really don't know who won but I can safely say it was not Bruce and I!

Sunday morning we got the most wonderful Memorial Day gift. One of Bruce's very best friends, BJ Buehler, has been serving in Iraq since last June. He called Bruce on Sunday morning from Atlanta!!! He was on his way home and was calling while on a lay-over at the airport. All of the men in his unit came home safe! I am sure that there is nothing better than being home with his wife and two little girls! We are so happy to have him home!!! WELCOME HOME BJ!!!!

Spring is here!

Finally some warm weather!! We had a great weekend of weather and it looks like it may stick around for a few more days. There hasn't been much new in the Oberle household the last couple of weekends. We continue the yard work which both of us really actually enjoy. We have the flower beds done (we think) and the yard is looking 100x better then it did last summer. I had only two requirements for the landscaping... a liliac bush and daiseys.

"Sara's spot" is growing in nicely!! that is what Bruce calls a small (ok medium sized) spot that I maybe... I could have... ok I definitely did kill all the grass last summer. I was trying to kill the massive weed problem....and ended up sacrificing some grass too. BUT, I did my job....the weeds died too!!!

Last weekend Bruce took out a few more tree stumps. He is coming along pretty well. He has just the big ones left and he did it this weekend without breaking another shovel!! It is really crappy work and he is working hard... The trees were pretty good sized and the roots go down quite a ways. Keep up the good work Bruce! Hercules, Hercules!!

We also went to our nieces' soccer games. Abby and Maggie both were playing on adjacent fields so we could watch both games at once. Bruce was not going to be happy until he watched Abby tackle at least 3 girls. Our niece Abby is what I would like to call competitive and aggressive. It is not that she is intentionally going after the other girls...they have the ball and she wants it... pretty simply concept. I think she got 4 nice tackles so Bruce was happy. Maggie is not quite as aggressive but her skill level is definitely a benefit to her team. Maggie is also quite the track star so running on a soccer field is no problem for her. She ran the mile in track this year and I have to think pretty hard to remember my track 1 mile and 2 miles times but I am pretty confident she is pretty close to beating my high school times as an 8th grader if she hasn't already. If she is a future Cross Country star, I may cry in tears of pride!! Both of the girls are very good at sports and it was fun to watch them play. We wish we could see all of our other nieces and nephew play their sports more often.

We also need to give a shout out to our other niece Ashlin who had her first communion this weekend in Greensburg, KS. We didn't get to go see her but we want to congratulate her!! Hopefully we will get to Greensburg sometime soon to see the new house too!!!

Happy Birthday Bruce!!!

We have been pretty busy lately! Between the yard work and the fun...there hasn't been much time for rest.

Last weekend, 4.26.08- Bruce's parents were in town for the races. We were able to spend some quality time with his family on Friday night. Bruce's brother, Troy lives in DeSoto and his cousin Teresa lives just down the street from Troy's house. We had a good time catching up with the Oberle's. Sunday we were able to attend the Indy Car race at the Kansas Speedway thanks to Bruce's Aunt & Uncle giving us their tickets. Bruce's dad is a HUGE race fan!!! It is not really something that we get into but it was a great opportunity to spend some time with them. I of course was cheering for Danika Patrick...who doesn't love a chic that can race an Indy car....and WIN! She unfortunately had poor results that day. Her car had some tire trouble and they had to shut her down with only a few laps left in the race.

This past weekend,5.2.08 My parents came into town for Bruce's Luau birthday party... and I will admit now, I suck as a picture taker because the only pic we have of the entire party is me holding Kaden and adoring him!! Bruce hates having his picture taken so he isn't too upset about it. We had a good crowd and a ton of fun. Most of Bruce's great friends were able to make it so we had a awesome time. My parents came into town on Friday and we went for sushi. Dad has a new love for sushi and Bruce is an experienced sushi eater. He orders and dad eats it! It works good for both!!! Mom is still too scared to even try it.... raw fish isn't her deal, in some of the stuff, I can see her point. Saturday we prepared for the party and took them to eat at Arthur Bryant's BBQ joint. It is excellent food! We want to thank all of our friends for coming and making Bruce's party a huge success. We have enough Gin to last us two years!!! Thanks again for all who joined us and for those that were had other commitments, hopefully we will see you soon!!!

Have a VERY happy Cinco de Mayo!!!!

Hi Everyone! Welcome to our blog!! Since I moved from Iowa, I have apparently done a crappy job of staying up to date with my friends and extended family because I have heard from a lot of people that I need to join Facebook or My Space. Well, that isn’t going to happen so this is the next best thing I can offer. You see, I work at a desk all day long, looking at a computer and talking on the phone-often at the same time. There lies the dilemma, when I get home the last thing I want to do is… talk on the phone or be in front of the computer. Now I say that with an open invitation that I will answer the phone if you call me… so that doesn’t mean that I won’t do it….I am just not good a volunteering for it. And I can safely say that Bruce just isn’t into the posting blog thing. This is our opportunity to update mass parties of the minor...and I suppose major (although there isn’t many) happenings of our lives. Since September of 2007, we really haven’t had a lot of major happenings. Some of the minor ones though have been a lot of fun! Hopefully this blog will help us do a better job of keeping you all update on the exciting and unexciting parts of our lives.

Some of the big ones….

Kaden Schremmer- Son of James and Janna Schremmer. We were blessed with the opportunity to be his Godparents. He was baptized on February 3, 2008 and he did so well and we can’t be more proud to be his Godparents.

Vegas!!!- We took a trip to Las Vegas at the beginning of April for a mini vacation. We went with our great friends, Tom & Stacey Wray and Mike Wondra. We had a blast! With the exception of the sunburns Mike and I got from sitting by the pool for 1 ½ hours! We didn’t count how much we lost but it wasn’t much at all. I think we broke even when you include the $40 that Bruce won at roulette!! We saw Wayne Brady in his live show and he is a funny guy. If in fact his show is as impromptu as he advertises it is…he is a genius!! And of course, no trip would be complete without a trip to Margarittaville!!

Iowa State Vs. Kansas State Men’s Basketball Game- In March we joined the Kehrt family for a weekend of Fun and Basketball. The Kehrt family did allow Bruce to bring reinforcements for the KSU cheering section. Mike Wondra joined us for the family fun and apparently has becomes a surrogate son to my Mom & Dad! They love him!!! It turned out the Bruce didn’t need any reinforcements of fans. Hilton Magic was on vacation and Michael Beasley took care of things just fine. Good thing is…Beasley is on to the NBA and there is two more games next year! I stole this picture from Noels Blog... thanks Noel!

In February I took a trip to Cedar Rapids to see my brother Noel, his wife Stacey and their daughters Mara & Ellen. Stacey and I went out for some girl time on Friday night and we spent the rest of the weekend hanging out with the girls. Mara is a smart little thing and we had a lot of fun playing. She is learning new words and I was impressed with her memory- like an elephant! Ellen did the best she has ever done around me. When I first got there, she ran right up to me and gave me a hug. I would love to believe that this is because she missed me and loves her Aunt Sara more than any one else…but I know the truth… Uncle Bruce was gone so that is the closest she is getting to him that weekend. You see, I have to watch my back around her… She loves Bruce and I sometimes wonder if she won’t lock me in a closet sometime so she can have Bruce to herself!

Our calendar is filling up fast with fun weekend activities and we are gearing up for summer. I am sick of winter and ready for warm weather. Bruce has vowed to make the backyard our major updating project on the house. The people that lived there before us got really excited to start big projects and apparently lost steam and took the easy way out… which leads me to another invitation…. If any of you are interested in any river rock or lava rock…let us know… we have plenty of BOTH!!! Heck, we will even give it to you for FREE!!!