The Kohlmans

Brad and I counted yesterday. This year we got to celebrate 6 Christmases (if you count the two of us together, which we do), and we even missed a couple more because of our schedule. Then I got curious and went back in time to count... the first year or two we were married, we had 9 separate Christmas celebrations, all of which we attended. Crazy. We only made it to all 9 that one year. We are very, very blessed to have so many opportunities to share this season with our families. Kohlman Christmas (with Brad's grandpa, uncles, aunts, cousins) is usually about a week before Christmas. This year we got together on the 16th at Barb & Jeff's new house in Cottonwood Falls. They have the perfect place for big family get-togethers. This was at home that morning before we left - about 27 weeks. There's always plenty of food... As usual, we got fantastic gifts from Brad's aunts and uncles and had a great time visiting with everyone (and playi...

You know those days when it just doesn't feel right for life to be going on as normal? Like last weekend? But somehow it does. Today is one of those days. Brad's second cousin, Tom, and his wife, Brandi, have a little girl with special needs. This fall, Kaci has been in and out of Children's Mercy in KC a couple of times. You can read her story here . Tom and Brandi are amazing people. Their outlook is continually positive, no matter what is happening with Kaci's health, no matter how many days they have to spend in the hospital, no matter how many hours Brandi spends trying to get medical equipment. I admire them so, so much. Kaci got to go home yesterday, for the holidays. Brandi and Tom were so excited; they got to surprise their son, Troy, by picking him up after school. And then, last night, their house burned down. (Update: you can read about it here.) They all made it out safely, which with Kaci's needs is a huge praise. But they have lost everyth...

I am now, as Brad likes to call me, a "Master of the Library." Part of me can't believe it's all over, that I actually did it. Another part of me is so relaxed now that it's over. I am so grateful to my family, in-laws, and friends for all their support over the last 2 1/2 years. There were definitely days when the only reason I came home from work and did my homework was because I didn't want to have to tell them that I was quitting because I knew that they believed I could do it (even when I didn't). I could go on, but I'm starting to get emotional just writing that. Now for the Praxis test and the job hunt!

I had my 26 week appointment today. After she measured fundal height, my doctor told me, "He's measuring perfectly. You hide that baby well." She sure does know how to boost a pregnant lady's self-esteem (which is good after said pregnant lady has to step onto the scale). I was supposed to have my one-hour glucose test today. I arrived early to drink the special "juice" and wait my hour for the blood draw. Much to my chagrin, the lab was out of "juice." Seriously?! I didn't know labs ran out of such things. I even avoided the chocolate cake in the lounge today! So I'm going to a different lab first thing tomorrow morning. My doctor did say I have a two-week window... but I really want some cake. ;) Other than that, there's not much to update. Things are pretty boring at my appointments, which obviously is a good thing in the medical world. My nurse said something about how easy I am, I replied that "I try to be," and she...

Well, I have to say I knew it would only be a matter of time before Allison asked about the name. And I'm glad she did. Yes, "Baby K" has a name. He actually has a number of them right now, from various people/groups of people: Jolis, Theodore, Baby Angus... And, he does have a real name that will go on the birth certificate and social security card when he's born. We've decided not to share until he's here, for several reasons. 1. It will be fun to have some kind of surprise to announce (other than "he's here!"). 2. I've heard people are less likely to be negative about the name once the baby's officially here. I'm not really worried that people won't like it, though. (Although I'm pretty sure I know what my dad's first comment will be.) 3. By now, it's become kind of fun. :) There are some people who really, really want to know and try very hard to get us to tell them... which makes it even more fun to keep ...

A lesson on perspective... In the span of 5 minutes today, I was told: "You hardly even look pregnant!" -co-worker "Your belly is getting really big!" -student I'm going to have to agree with the student. Today marks 25 weeks of pregnancy. Some days I can't believe I'm this far along already. After all, this was the point at which I was going to let myself stop running without feeling at all guilty. (Instead I ran 2 miles this morning and plan to keep going as long as I possibly can.) A few weeks ago we hung up the curtains in the nursery. This nighttime picture does not do the room justice, but I promise the paint and the curtains look great in person. Baby's room is going to be, by far, the most put-together/decorated room in our house. By far. I have my one-hour glucose test for gestational diabetes next week. Yuck. I've gone back and forth on being worried about it, but I'm pretty sure that there's not a whole lo...

On Friday we split and spent the day in two different places. Hannah, Jason, Sarah, and Daniel went to Adler Planetarium . Brad, Mom, Jamie, and I went to Shedd Aquarium . We were kind of expecting that the museums wouldn't be too crowded, since it was Black Friday. Unfortunately, that was not the case. The line at the Shedd was long. As in, an hour and a half outside in the cold long. Thankfully, we had great and cheerful company. And once inside, we decided that it was worth the wait. Definitely.  Their current special exhibit was jellyfish. It was amazing. I took lots and lots of pictures, but I'll spare you. These were little eels that burrow in the sand. So cool. After we were museum-ed out, we headed out for some Chicago deep-dish pizza at Lou Malnati's .

I have a ridiculous number of pictures from our Thanksgiving trip to Chicago, so I think I'll break them down into a couple of different posts... We left on Wednesday morning, drove to Columbia, and headed to Chicago from there. I was dreading the thought of spending so much time sitting/in the car/in-between bathroom breaks, but it turned out to be a lot easier than I thought it would be.  Jamie has a huge office!  The Mighty Mississippi  Backseat drivers... Thanksgiving morning we took a walk around Hannah & Jason's neighborhood, Pilsen. There are lots of beautiful murals, including many at one elementary school. The Turkey Day spread, courtesy mostly of Jason. Other than the walk and eating, we didn't do a whole lot on Thanksgiving Day. It was nice to just hang out and relax.

We spent Thanksgiving in Chicago. I have lots and lots of pictures I was going to upload, but I am apparently out of free storage space. So now I have to pay a small fee. It's worth it. I'll do it. Just not tonight... Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

The last couple Saturdays have been good. Very good. I finally feel like myself again... meaning I do a lot on Saturdays and then wonder why I didn't relax for a while. Last Saturday was Justin's last football game. I don't know about him, but I'm ready for basketball season... when the games are inside! After we got home from the game, my mom came over. She brought us this dresser that was my great-grandma's, dad's, and mine. It's nice and large, so we hopefully won't have trouble storing clothes and diapers for Baby K. This weekend we started working on the dresser... We sanded the top and every drawer. The little decorative detail on the front is going to be a pain to sand, but I think I'll leave that for Brad. All the rest is going very quickly. Rewinding... last weekend mom and I sewed curtains and a crib skirt for the nursery. I don't have a picture of them in action because we don't have the crib, and we're wai...