An amazing gift from Scott's Uncle Jerry...

We received the most beautiful baby rattle I have ever seen at our shower in Burlington. Scott's Uncle Jerry made us a wooden baby rattle that is simply amazing! I cannot believe the time and effort he put into it (he said it took about 10 hours to make!). Anyway, I wanted to share it with everyone because it is so unique and pretty...it is something that our little boy will LOVE and we will hold onto forever! A huge thank you to Jerry for making this amazing and incredibly thoughtful gift...

Our 1st Baby Shower! :)

We had our first baby shower this past weekend in Burlington! :) Maree, Lori, Tina, and Scott's mom (soon-to-be GRANDMA!) hosted the party...and I must say they did an amazing job! The food and cake were yummy, the games were fun, and we received many awesome gifts from Scott's mom's side of the family! :)

One of the funny games the guys had to play was putting a cloth diaper on a teddy bear...it was really entertaining to see them hard at work! :) Here are some pics from it:

Grandpa Ray wrapping the ENTIRE teddy bear in the diaper...what was he thinking???!!! :)

Wader's concentrating REALLY hard! :)

And yep, Scotty proved that he is more than qualified to change dirty diapers!!!

Thank you to all that made our first shower a wonderful event! We are so lucky and fortunate to have such wonderful family on all sides! :) Baby Reetz is going to be one spoiled little boy! :)

The Name Debate...!!!

How do you pick a name for your child???!!! It is such a hard decision to make! From the beginning, we have had two front-runners....

Jaxson Tyler (we would call him JT)
Andrew (Drew) William

It's really important to me to honor my Dad in our son's name...both of the above do so in different ways. :)

We love the name Jaxson (which btw...Scott has been calling him Jax for a couple of weeks now but won't actually give me a yes/no if that will be his name or not!). My Dad LOVED Jax Beach, FL...it is where he moved back to after leaving Oregon. He loved being close to his family there, loved the beaches, loved the sun, the great Southern food, the country club that he grew up on/worked at, etc. It is also where we spread part of his ashes, he loved being near/in the water so it just felt right to let him go at one of his favorite surfing spots there. Naming our first son after the place that he loved so much would also be a way (in my mind) to continue honoring him and the man he was...an amazing person and dad.



Jaxson (well, Jackson) is also my Grandpa's middle name...he too is a wonderful man with a heart of gold...so I also love the ties that we have there. :)



With Andrew William...well, we both just like Drew for a name and William was my Dad's formal name. :)

It's such a hard decision...I guess we may have to wait until he is born to decide if he looks like a JT or Drew to us. :) Or...I guess there is always the possibility of us coming up with another name before then too!!! AHHH!!!

The world of Baby Reetz at 25 weeks!

Here's what going on with Baby Reetz at 25 weeks!

Head to heels, our baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. His weight is about a pound and a half and he's beginning to exchange his long, lean look for some baby fat. As he does, he wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and he'll start to look more and more like a newborn. He's also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture.

25 Week Appointment Update!

I had my 25 week appointment yesterday! :) All is well with our baby boy! His heartbeat was going strong at 147 bpm and he is measuring (well, I guess I am measuring) right on time! My next appointment is at the end of October...and then after that one, I start going every TWO weeks instead of once a month!!!

I have been experiencing some major water retention lately which is very annoying. By the end of the day, it looks like I do not have ankles anymore! :( My doctor said that it is completely normal and to simply watch my salt intake, drink plenty of water, and make sure I put my feet up for at least a couple hours a day. Fun, fun... :)

On an exciting note...Scott and I have been feeling him a TON lately! I think he is practicing to be a soccer player or football kicker! He thinks it is pretty funny to wake me up every morning around 5:30-6:00am tossing/turning and kicking! I actually woke Scotty up the other morning to feel him because there is no way I could have slept through any of it!!! He is also very active after I eat/drink anything and right when I am trying to go to bed. :) I love being able to feel him...it really is an amazing thing!

That's it for now! Thank you for the continued well-wishes. :)

-Ris and Scotty