Post Pregnancy

Here is my post pregnancy body! I know it's only been two months, but I am so ready to wear my old clothes! I'm so over my maternity clothes. Anyways, those of you with experience and ideas for returning to my previous form, or close to it, send in advice: )

Phoebe and Ethan

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all of our family and friends. We had an exciting year filled with firsts. Jared started his first semester at UCF in pursuit of his Bachelors Degree in Management--Information Systems. We bought our first home. I completed my first year of employment with Deseret Industries. And most exciting, we had our first child. We hope the new year fills all that we love with hope and health. Here are some fun holiday pictures.

Our Christmas tree smells so good! And, courtesy of my friend and former roomie Nicole, Ethan now has a stocking to match the ones she sent us when we got married.

Grandma Krause bought these cute reindeer ears. Ethan and I are modeling them below. Who's cuter? Please vote for me!

Gingerbread Houses

Myndie and Jason came over and we made Gingerbread Houses. We had a lot of fun together. Maybe next year, Ethan will help instead of sleeping through the event!

Ethan's First Photo Shoot

Here are some of my favorites from Ethan's first photo shoot!

So many firsts!

It seems everyday Ethan does something new for the first time. On Sunday he had his first full day at Church. It went well except he ruined his first outfit with a major explosion and even got me a little bit. Good thing we had extra clothes for him and that my shirt was long enough to cover his "dirty" work! Today he made a new sound and he is really starting to show his personality.
I am taking pictures, but my camera will not load them. I am working on figuring it out. I think I need a new USB cable. If all else fails, I will load them on my parent's computer and do it from there.

Our First Month!

Wow, an entire month has flown by. Strange since time has taken on a whole new meaning now that we have entered "baby-time." Crazy! Ethan turned one month old yesterday and I can hardly believe it has been a month. He feels like he has always been a part of our family. He is to be blessed in our church on Sunday, December 2. 1 PM at the Dean Rd. building if anyone wants to attend.
He is beginning to see better and is getting better control of his neck, arms and legs. It is so awesome to see him grow. I can't wait to see what the next month brings. No doubt it will be an adventure.

Our First Day

Well, today was our first day all alone (Ethan and me). We did pretty well. Although I'm pretty tired and knowing that the day isn't anywhere near over makes me even more tired. It's a different kind of tired than when I was pregnant. When I was pregnant I would just crash anywhere, anytime. Now, I'm tired, but can't sleep knowing my little guy may need me. I'm still getting used to his sounds and knowing when to get up and what to do.
Overall, it was a good day. I love being a mom and have already discovered that this is the most difficult, demanding, and rewarding job I have ever had. : )

LCSW, Baby!

Well, I did it! With all the excitement of Ethan's arrival, I forgot to share another personal achievement. I sat for my state licensure exam on October 24 and passed! That means I am now a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. This is a huge accomplishment professionally and I am so happy that I completed this goal before Ethan arrived. Good thing I didn't procrastinate, huh?

Pictures (finally)

Thumbs UP! Labor and delivery are over and all went well! I am SO tired!

Here's our sweet baby boy sleeping: )


I swear, he sleeps just like his dad!

Jared and Ethan minutes after delivery.

Dr. Abrudescu delivered Ethan. He is my doctor's (Dr. Brown) husband and was the one on call when I went into labor.

The Hesson's and Ethan. Everyone is so excited to be grandma and grandpa and aunts and uncles!

Closeup of our handsome son!

Parenthood

Well, my mom was here for two weeks and left last night. I thought I was going to have to check her purse before she left to ensure that she didn't steal her grandson. It was hard for her to leave and hard for me to see her go. She was such a help to us. Now that I'm more mobile, I think I'm ready to embrace all that she was doing (chores--dishes, cooking, laundry, etc) and take care of Ethan. I still am not going up and down the stairs. Hopefully, the pain from my laceration will subside soon so I can feel totally normal. I have cabin fever!
If you're nearby, come visit me! Just call first to make sure I am decent: )
Jared and I love being Ethan's mom and dad. He is so awesome and brings so much joy into our lives. We both agree that we love each other even more than before now that we have a child together. It's a pretty amazing feeling. I never knew I had such a capacity to love until Ethan came along. We are truly blessed!
P.S. Still working on the pictures.

Ethan's Arrival

Well, as many of you know, Ethan came early. Three weeks earlier than we expected! He is growing so fast and I wish I could share pictures but am having technical difficulties with our camera. As soon as that's figured out we'll post them. In the meantime, here is the story of Ethan's arrival. : )
Jared and I were at Sunday dinner and Brandon's Boo-day (his B-day is on Halloween) party on October 28. Melissa, my sister-in-law who is also expecting, and I were talking on the couch. Dinner was announced at 6:30 and we helped each other up. As we stood, GUSH! I'm thinking, "Did my water just break? I need to go discretely to the bathroom now!" So, I excused myself, checked things out, called Jared in to discuss and returned to dinner. My water had indeed broken and we announced this to the family. I had had no contractions and they would start for another hour at least.
We should have probably left then, but knowing I wouldn't get to eat for many hours, insisted that we stay through dinner. We left about an hour and a half later, went home to pack a bag, and head for the hospital. While Jared packed up the bag, I sent a last email to work and shaved my legs! I know, I'm a freak!
On the way to the hospital, the contractions got so bad I couldn't talk through them and they were getting closer together. I was admitted and sent upstairs. By 11:30, I was dilated to a four, getting an epidural and hearing of my family's arrival from St. Augustine (they must have sped all the way here). I then slept through most of my contractions and felt no pain! It was awesome. Just before 3 AM, I was dilated to a 10 and we began pushing. By we, I mean our nurse, Ashley, Jared, and me. Jared was so awesome! He definitely was an active participant. At 3:59 AM, Ethan William officially entered the world weighing in at 6lbs 12 oz and 20 inches. He is AWESOME!
We are so happy and hope to have photos posted soon! Love you all, Andrea, Jared, and Ethan Krause

Shower me with Gifts

Words cannot express the joy and love I felt as my dear sister, Stacey, put together a baby shower for me. It was so fun getting the regular updates about who had RSVPed and what the plans for the event were. Then, the event came and I was became overwhelmed with love. I am truly blessed to belong to such a choice family. Surrounded by 24 beautiful women I have come to admire, truly felt love. Thank you for making my baby shower such a wonderful experience. More importantly, thank you for making my life such a wonderful experience. I love, love, love sharing this life with all of you. Thank you for being a part of it all!
Pictures from the big event will follow as soon as I get them from my photographers : )

Welcome Home Brandon

Our brother, Brandon, came home on the 12th of August! We are so glad to have him back. He served two wonderful years in the Riverside California Mission for our church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) and had amazing experiences. We threw him a welcome home party and thanked him for all the blessings that came our way while he was diligently serving the Lord.

Latest Belly Shot

Whoa, Nelly! It just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Here I am at 28 weeks! (Nearly two weeks ago now.) I started my two week visits and that is exciting because it means baby is close to arriving. I am very much looking forward to it. He's sitting so high, it has become difficult to breathe! No swelling yet, which is good.

Nursery Suprise

Really all we did to the nursery was move Tony out and paint. Aunt Stacey had a surprise for us and it made me cry! Since finding out we were pregnant, she and Uncle Joe have been working on a very special gift for us. Everytime they ran errands, they would pick up a children's book for their nephew. (Other members of the family also helped out by making suggestions for the new library.) All, I have to say is it is spectacular and I hope this gift will be a way to teach our son to love good books and learning. Aunt Stacey stated that she was hoping this would be "her thing" with her nephew. She is an avid and well-rounded reader and plans to share this with her nephew. With baby showers coming, hopefully the rest of the room will fill up and I'll post more pictures then. : )

Labor Day Weekend

Well, we spent Labor Day Weekend in a very laborious way. Thanks to the wonderful, magnificent, and handy Hesson family we have the beginnings of a nursery and a remodeled bathroom! We are so pleased with how things turned out. If we can do one remodel a year ... Let's not think about that right now. Although I didn't do much because of my pregnancy and the fact that every time I tried to help, I was told I wasn't needed and to relax. Those of you who know me, know this was hard for me to do. Quite frankly, I felt bad that I was the only one not working and I got pretty bored just sitting around doing nothing. Anyways, here are some before, during, and after pics for you. (Somehow my dad elluded the camera; however, he did the most work and should get extra credit for driving to Orlando from St. Augustine twice. I think he must love us or something!)

All I have to say is gross!

Here's Jared laying tile!

Finished product!

(You can kind of see the

shower in the mirror.)

Jared's Job

Many of you have asked what is Jared's new job. Well, he is now working as an assistant to the IT guru for the UCF Housing Administration. He basically builds computers, fixes computers, loads new software, attends to needs of Housing ADMN staff, and does whatever his boss, Kevin, asks of him. He absolutely loves it! Plus, he has the added bonus of working and going to school in the same place. Between work and school he has a normal 9-5 day. He also has weekends off, which I couldn't be more excited about. Thanks for all your prayers. They were definitely answered.

Latest News

Jared started his new job last week and is loving it! We are both looking forward to his last day at Lowe's (this Saturday) with great excitement. I'm still working hard everyday and trying to get a lot done before the baby comes. We are starting to think we're not too sure about Ethan William. We really like Will (short for William) as a first name and are trying to decide. We still have a few months, so we'll figure it out.

All is well! We're happy and healthy! I also wanted to share the latest photo of our dear Phoebe! She got a haircut last week and looks a little silly.

Belly Shots!

Here's when we first found out we were expecting. Don't worry, all hands were washed after taking this picture: )

Here I am at 4 months! Starting to get that bump!

At 5 months, I'm growing everyday!

What a difference a month can make! 6 months and counting!

Here I am at the start of my 7th month! This picture was taken just last week! Time is really starting to fly by now!

Welcome!

I'm trying out a blog! Thought it might let everyone stay up to date on the happenings of our family. Here's the latest.
Jared is finishing up summer semester and is glad to have a few weeks off before the fall. He's actively looking for a new job that will give him real experience in the IT field.
I'm working hard and staying busy. I just got back from a week long trip to Salt Lake City for work. The pilot program I'm running is going very well and I was asked to attend lots of meetings to update headquarters on what we're doing.
We're both excited about Ethan's arrival. He is moving around all the time and I think he's excited about joining our family too!
Hopefully Jared can help me post some pictures soon! Keep checking back! Love you, Andrea