Lovin' It!

Eli & I are having a great time getting to know each other. It's funny, just when you think 'Ah HA! I've got it figured out!' they change, the little muffin cakes. That's where patience from God comes in :)

We weighed Eli (with Justin on the scale & doing the math) and he appears to be around 11lbs, but we'll find out exactly at the doctor's appointment tomorrow.

Thanksgiving was great! Here's Eli with Great Grandma Joyce!



Here's Daddy & Eli taking a nap :)



It's been a while since we've talked to some of you...sorry for the absence. You're on my mind and I hope to hang out with my dear friends soon :)
much love!!
J,J & E

Family Time

Hey all! Eli is growing...he's got a double chin to prove it. It looks like he's singing in this picture, but he's actually yawning. Soon enough we'll have a little guitar for him and he and daddy will be jammin' together :)

We're having fun getting to know the little man...everyday is new! Justin & I have fun giving him baths. He actually likes them if the water is warm enough... it was a little cold once and we will not make that mistake again!! Poor guy!

We had some family visit to help out, which was much needed :) My sister in law Whitney and her daughter Isabella came out for a week to help and keep me company. We had a good time. The week following my mother in law Suzanne came out to help too. Family is so awesome, thanks sooo much you guys!!

My father in law Cris and grandma Mildred came out to visit yesterday...here's some pics to enjoy- http://picasaweb.google.com/jjcourter/ElijahFamily1107
Hope you are all doing well!!

Elijah

Hey all! Thanks so much for your prayers & support during this time as we've waited patiently for Eli to come into the world. He arrived Friday, October 26th at 6 a.m. 8lbs 3oz & 21 inches long. God is good! Here are a couple of pics of him and a link to a photo album. http://picasaweb.google.com/jjcourter

God is good! We praise him everyday for this little miracle.

Contractions are FUN!!

Oh yeah...it's begun. I mean, my body is starting to recognize that this baby is cooked and ready to come out! Yippee!! It's kinda hard taking a picture of your own big belly, but I managed :)


My contractions started at 4pm yesterday and so happily stayed with me till about midnight. Then they slowed down drastically to about 1 every hour till about 5 am! FUN! I had to sleep upright on the couch because they hurt worse when lying down. That was good though, then Justin wasn't woken up by my 'hee, hee, whooo' breathing sounds. :) Now they are only happening about once an hour. I'm going to In Spa to get a pedicure!! Can't sit around and just wait for this little man to get going again...it'll drive me coo coo.

My first weekend as an at home wife & mom, we met up with Jen, Timm, June & Willem and got some yummy Greek food and ate down at the Des Moines marina. The sunset was soo beautiful.

The Nursery!

Hey friends & family!
I'm really close to finishing the nursery, but I thought I'd post a few pics to share with you on where I am at :)
I was soo grateful for Katie & Jenny's help on Saturday afternoon. They helped me finish up some sewing projects!!! They are super stars, let me tell you! Katie hung up the valance above the window in the nursery and today I hung up the letters around the room and th 3 pictures. I have a few more frames I want to put on the wall with pictures of family members and then hang up a mobile above the crib.




Here's a pic of the quilt I made...Katie did the quilting & binding for me :) thanks Katie!!!!


Now, I didn't just sit around and watch Jenny & Katie finish my projects :) I finished one too! Here's my diaper bag that I finally completed today! Yahooo!!! I LOVE it and was so amazed that it turned out...really.

Jenny helped finish up the binding on my sisters quilt! Nice work Jenny!!


We have 2 more weeks to go! I pray it's not any later as my back is beginning to get tired and it's SO hard for me to stop and rest when I've got things that I could do :) It's a good discipline I guess. We're just very excited to meet the little man.

Home Stretch!

Well, I'm 36 weeks now and am excited that we're really getting close to having Eli. I'm pretty sure he's beginning to drop too cause I can breathe a little better and he feels a little bit lower, but we'll see what the doctor says next visit :)



So here's where our kitchen is right now!! We still need to install our convection oven over the range, but the rest is done! I'm so greatful for the face lift!




Last Saturday Justin & I visited my sister & Timm and we got to meet little Willem!

Still Growing!

All is well in the Courter family! Justin's dad Cris has been staying with us for a week now and has been doing some awesome projects around the house before the little one comes. Here's a couple of pics of the fence he built in the back yard, to block off an area for doggies only.



Conner of course is fine with the whole new arrangement, but Ginger on the other hand is having issues coping. She's whining a bit, but getting better :)
Now we can grow some real grass in the backyard and have people over for a bbq, without stepping in poo!! And of course, baby C will have a backyard to play in.

I came home today with my kitchen looking like so...



...but with good cause! It was all Cris' doing today. He took out the drop ceiling (apparently something they did in the 70's to actually install fluorescent lighting!!!) but had to take the cabinets out too. So we went out to Ruby's for burgers & fries :) I can't wait! We're going to paint, put knobs and new kitchen lights in and it'll be a lovely little face lift! ooohh...some bamboo flooring would look real good...

yes! I am growing as well. I have my 28th week appointment tomorrow. I'm not supposed to eat anything but I get to chug a lovely flat orange soda that the midwife gave me, that will tell me if I have Gestational Diabetes or not....and then I'll get to eat breakfast :) sounds like fun!! can't wait!

So, here I am in all my pregnant glory! I'm so grateful to be feeling good. Little baby is moving tons, but sometimes it gets a little crazy. Feels like he's doing kung foo...no joke. He's a wild one :)



I'm finishing up the bumper and quilt for the crib, so I can't wait to have it all set out and ready :) I'll post pics when I'm done. Hope eveyone is doing well. It's been a really busy summer for us. We're almost gone every weekend, but we're super excited to help lead worship this weekend with Chris and friends :) miss you guys! Hope to see you at church on Sunday!
love,
J&J

Baby Courter Travels

We went on a 'baby-moon' vacation for 10 days to the East Coast. It was a fabulous trip! Super hard to go home!!
We stayed mostly with My sister-in-law Whitney and her husband Jason and two children Caleb & Isabella.

The first weekend we drove up to New York! Baby C got to see the Big Apple! We all loved it; lively city with lots of history and amazing food! Baby got to see lots! Time Square, Broadway show of Les Miserable (or the miserables as Justin likes to call it) and even the locals break dancin' in the subway!




The sights from the Empire State Building where pretty crazy. It's hard to believe that there used to be 2 very large buildings right in the middle of all this.


Baby C got to do some shopping in China Town where we definately picked up a Coach purse knock off!! yeah! It was so busy in the streets. So many people around shopping and seeing the sights like us!


In PA we visited Gettysburgh for a day. The history is so amazing! The land and monuments are spectacular!


And here's Justin partaking in the action.


More amazing monuments that baby C got to see!!



Justin really wanted to mount this cannon...instead he decided to just pretend he was igniting it.


Well, what's a trip to PA if you don't go to HERSHEY!! Justin here is excited for the chocolate :)



We also visited DC for a day...and let me tell you, DC in a day is for the not so faint of heart!
Here's us at the Capitol.


We basically walked the mall and saw as much as we could of the Smithsonian. Here are some awesome sites baby C got to see :)









We really had a great time.

And here is little miss Bella at breakfast :)


And at Hershey!



Here is Caleb at breakfst too. Those guys!


Here is Justin, Whitney, Caleb and Bellla enjoying some b-fast!! And Whit was the only normal looking one :)



Well! Here's a belly shot.


I'm 23 weeks now and little baby C is growing so fast :) It's really awesome to feel him kicking and going nutz in there. On the plane ride home I put my big headphones on my belly, put some blue grass on and it was the first time that I got a reaction from him!! He was kicking like crazy...breakin' it down to bluegrass!! He's like his papa already!!


And what would a belly shot be without Justin's????


He is officially a heavy weight! Good work love!!

We're back home, getting back into the real world again of work and home life. We missed our friends!! We hope to hang out soon!