Welcome Hannah Nicole!

Well, Tim and I were awoken Tuesday morning at 12:20 to my water being broken! I was quite surprised, since baby Hannah was still over 4 weeks early, and very nervous, but we packed up our belongings and headed to the hospital. Once we got here and it was confirmed that it truly was my water, they admitted us for what I thought was going to be a long day. At both the intial check and a good hour later, I was only dialated to a 1, so I was prepared for a long day of labor. Since my water was broken, they had to start Pitocin so things picked up a little. At 8:30, I was at 3 cm and decided to get the epidural. That helped me relax a little and Tim even had a chance to take a small cat nap. At about 9:30, I began feeling some pressure which just kept increasing. I started pushing at 9:57 and we welcomed Hannah into the world at 10:06! I think I am still in shock of how quickly things moved from 8:30 until Hannah's birth! Here are a few pictures of Baby Hannah and our new family! Hannah Nicole Casey - December 30, 2008 - 5lbs. 7 oz. - 17 3/4 in. - 10:06 am

Our new family of 3 - Mommy, Daddy and Baby Hannah!

It's Been a Long Time....

Well, sorry it has been so long since I've lasted updated our family blog. In the last month, I have finished my Master's (which included a few final projects and final exams), worked on maternity leave stuff for school (planning, copying, organizing), going to childbirth class and was blessed by having three different baby showers. We have also taken a trip to Wisconsin over Thanksgiving to visit with Tim's family. Needless to say, life at the Casey home has been super busy! I have one week of school left until Christmas break and I am looking forward to those two weeks and three weekends more than ever! It will be a great chance to get some finishing touches done around the house in preperation of Baby Casey's big arrival! Here are some pictures from my showers.

The first shower was given by two of my best friends, Christie and Becca. It was a wonderful day that included both friends from church as well as family friends from O'Fallon. I am so blessed to have such wonderful friends who always love and support me in everything I do.

Thanks girls!

The very next weekend some very close family friends of mine threw me another shower. "Grandma Mary" and "Grandma Betty" hosted a wonderful luncheon with many friends of my family, most of which I have known my whole life! It was a great afternoon of visiting with people who I don't always get to see. Another special treat was that Tim's mom and sister (and dad) came down just for the shower. It was a great afternoon!

Just last weekend, my cousin, also name Elizabeth, threw me a family shower in Southern Illinois where my mom and dad grew up and most of my family still lives. Having an afternoon with the women of my family was truly amazing. It is so great that even though we, as a family, sadly continue to get smaller, when everyone gets together it is always a nice time. The shower was at a bed and breakfast and it was decorated beautifully for Christmas. It was another wonderful day!

Our Extended Anniversary

Although our official 3rd anniversary was on October 15, Tim and I celebrated our third year together the following weekend in Madison and extended the celebration the next week with a date night.

Earlier this fall, I decided that Tim deserved something special not only for just being a great husband, but because he has endured a lot of pregnancy ups and downs. One of his favorite places is Madison, Wisconsin, especially if the Badgers are in town playing football. We picked a OTHS sports-free weekend and headed up north. We were unable to get tickets to the actual game, but spent most of game time downtown with Nikki and Kyle and some Buffalo Wild Wings! After the game, we hit up the local outlet mall for some shopping. There is nothing better than football followed by shopping! It was an awesome weekend to just relax and spend time with Nikki and Kyle.

The following Tuesday, we had a date night which included dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse and a night at the Fabulous Fox Theatre! Tim found AMAZING tickets on Craigslist for "The Color Purple." I had already seen the production once last summer, but this was Tim's first time. We love all types of theatre and this show was no different! It was amazing! It was the perfect ending to our extra long annivesary celebration!

A Growing Family

Well, this is a non-pregnancy related post, but I wanted to share a recent "house" project with all of you. Over Labor Day weekend, Tim's family came to help with the nursery. While they were here, I had Tim's mom Delaine help with some other decorative projects (she is so good with decorating!) I have been working for quite some time on a family tree project. I originally wanted to actually have a tree on the wall with pictures hanging from it, but realistically it wasn't happening. I have been gathering a variety of black frames as well as black and white pictures of our family from us to our parents to our grandparents when they were younger. Now all I needed was to get them hung in a cool way. So, I enlisted Delaine and Nikki to help find a cool sign and figure out the best way for the pictures to hang on the wall. During our day of shopping, we found the most awesome sign and were able to get all the pictures on the wall. I felt like it was perfect timing to have all of our family prominently displayed as we begin our own family. Here is a picture of the finished product. I have to say, it was one of my most favorite spots in the house.

Pictures of our Little One

We recently had our "big" ultrasound followed by an appointment with the doctor. The ultrasound was amazing! This was our fourth ultrasound, but by far the best! The other ultrasounds were done fairly quickly and were mainly to check the heartbeat. With this one, the tech took so much time showing us everything and we got some really awesome pictures! We couldn't believe how much you could actually see in the ultrasound. It truely was amazing! The week after the ultrasound, we had a monthly check-up with the doctor. Everything looks great and she gave me a clean bill of health. Overall, it was a great couple of weeks! Here are some pictures of our little one.

Halfway There!

Well, here is the long-awaited "belly shot." I am officially at the halfway point in this pregnancy! I remember in May when we found out we were pregnant, 12 weeks seemed like a lifetime away. Now it is already 20 weeks with only 20 left to go! I'm very lucky and feeling pretty good! Next Thursday is our "big" ultrasound, but we are not finding out the sex so we are just praying for a healthy baby.

Thanks for all the prayers up to this point. We ask for continued prayers for a continued healthy pregnancy and baby.

The Nursery

We had a wonderful weekend with Tim's family. It was great to get together and just hang out as well as work on the nursery! Here are a few pictures of the almost finished product. All we need now is our bundle of joy to put in it! Thanks for all your help everyone!

On one side of the nursery is our beautiful crib (Thanks Mom and Dad Yates!) with a verse above it (Thanks "Aunt" Becca!). In the corner is our rocking chair which I love (Thanks Mom and Dad Casey!)

Here is a close up picture of our crib with our bedding. I love the neutral colors and white look to the crib bedding.

On the other side of the room is our dresser and an awesome cabinet we bought to hold some of our babies goodies! Above the dresser is the matching quilt to our bedding set. I

love the look of it as a wall hanging!

It was so much fun working on this project as a family! Thanks again to our family for helping us make this nursery possible!

Another One Down

Yesterday, I had another appointment with the doctor. Everything is going great and the doctor seemed very pleased. It was the first time we heard the heartbeat with the Doppler because I had ultrasounds done at my other appointments. The best part is that I can hear it anytime I want because I recorded it on a Build-a-Bear recorder. We heard this idea from someone at our church to record the heartbeat using one of them and then placing it in the bear for the baby to hear. The doctor had done this before and she was so great in making the perfect recording.

On another note, Tim's parents, sister and her fiance are here for the weekend and our big project is working on the nursery. We are putting wainscoting around the bottom and painting the top. Our furniture was finished this week so it will all be coming together soon. I'll try to put some pictures up when we have some done.

Speaking of pictures, I'm trying to wait until I officially hit the halfway mark before posting a picture. Look for that soon in an upcoming blog!

Summer is Winding Down

Well, it's offical...summer is almost over. Next Wednesday, Tim will be starting up with fall sports as OTHS starts then. I go back to work the following Monday. Even though seeing summer come to a close is sometimes sad, it's also a very exciting time as a teacher. I love getting my room ready and organized and my curriculum planned. I also work with some wonderful people and it's always exciting to see them again. I also LOVE meeting my new students. It's exciting to think about what the school year will be like.

Tim and I had a wonderful summer. In May, we were able to travel to Wisconsin twice and visit with family and friends. In early June, we took a long weekend to Nashville and had a blast visiting the city and going to an awesome concert! Just a few weekends ago, we were able to take a weekend away to St. Louis for a PAO/FCA Coaches Time Out conference. Throughout all the trips, it was a wonderful time to get away and be with each other. Overall, it was an awesome summer!

The Casey's are Expanding

Welcome to our blog! Many of our friends have started blogging about their families and what's going on in their life so we decided to jump on the bandwagon and start one also. Hopefully, this will be a way for all of our friends and family to keep up on what's going on in our lives down here in St. Louis.

Our big summer news can officially be announced. Tim and I will be expecting our first child at the end of January! We have had quite the journey through infertility and we praise God for bringing us through it and for the blessing we will welcome in January. We thank everyone for all the thoughts and prayers throughout our journey and ask for continued prayers for a safe and healthy pregnancy.

We can't wait to share our pregnancy and future blessing with all of you through our blog!