Veronica is HERE!!!

Sorry it's taking me so long to update on here, BUT VERONICA IS HERE!!!!!!

After 16 hours of labor, 4 doses of epidural, lots and lots of ice, and 20 minutes of pushing, Veronica arrived on November 2, 2009 at 3:19 p.m., 9 pounds 3 ounces and 22 inches long!

We arrived home Wednesday Nov. 5th and we're all doing well! Veronica goes to her first check up this coming Monday. It is hard to believe she is almost 2 weeks old!!!

Matt and I couldn't be happier!!!

A Very Quick Update - Sunday's the day!!!!

We went to the doctor yesterday and I'm still 1 cm dilated. The doctor said that they wanted to induce labor that night because of my high blood pressure. It wasn't terrible yesterday, but it wasn't low either. It's been up and down each week. They are concerned that it might turn into preeclampsia. I believe another reason they wanted to induce last night was because they know that Veronica is developed enough to not be underweight. They also gave us the option if we didn't want to induce that night to wait until Sunday (they don't induce on the weekends) and see if she decides to come on her own. This is obviously what Matt and I decided since we didn't go to the hospital last night. You wanna to know how we decided? We played Rock, Paper, Scissor. No lie frog eye. Thankfully I won and I was Sunday. Even though I won, I'm 99.99% sure that we would have gone with Sunday anyways. So, here's our time schedule for Sunday:

Lunch: Last big meal of the day
3:00 p.m. light food after (i.e. soup) but continue drinking fluids
7:00 p.m. call the hospital to make sure they still have room for us
8:00 p.m. Get to the hospital to start the process!
Sometime after 8:00 p.m. HAVE OUR DAUGHTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We'll try to keep you as updated as possible though here. If you're on Facebook or gmail, you'll probably know before you know just from here, so check there. Most likely I won't feel like updating on here till after I've slept and rested.

I'll also try to come up with an email "tree" tomorrow, so if you want to for sure be added to that list, send me an email at kathryncmonroe@gmail.com or post your email here.

VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY EXCITING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

Week late, or Week early?

Well, today marks week 39!! Can you believe it? We sure can't!!!!!!!!!! Other than some braxton hicks contractions last Thursday and Friday, not much has gone on here. We go to the doctor tomorrow for a check up so we'll find out where we stand. Hopefully I'll be 8 cm dilated and Veronica will be here within 30 minutes, HA - wouldn't that be nice?!!!? But of course I know that won't happen. We're hoping though that we won't even need to go to the appointment tomorrow afternoon!!!

I've been feeling great!! I'm not miserable at all, and thankfully I still don't feel pregnant sometimes - certainly not 9 months pregnant! You'll catch me waddling every once in a while, but that's probably because I'm tired and have been on my feet for a while. I have certainly had a wonderful pregnancy, and I know I'm very lucky!!

So, keep your fingers crossed for us that she gets here soon!!!!!

Can't wait to share the good news and photos with you all!!
Love you all,
Katie and Matt

Getting close to the due date!!!

(get ready for one of my story tellings...)
Well, I feel for the Braxton-Hicks contractions on Sunday. I thought that I wouldn't fall for them, but turns out I did! I had been getting them for the last couple months, but it was very irregular and I knew they were just preparing my body. But Sunday morning they started and kept going throughout the day. I kept an "eye" on them but Matt and I went on with our plans for the day. We stopped by our friends' house in the morning to give them a baby gift - Laurie and Jamie Painter are due at the end of November, it's so fun to go through this experience with a friend, and we cannot wait to meet Wyatt!! After we left the Painters, we headed to Mom and Dad's to pick up our changing table. Thankfully Matt's pretty strong because all I did was tell him what to do - well I did bring out the drawers, so I guess that helps right?! After getting the truck and picking up the changing table, we headed home stopping at Home Depot on the way so that Matt could work in the yard. During the flood, our neighbor's tree feel (rather it rested, thankfully!) on the corner of our carport, so that needed to be removed. He was also planning on cleaning out the gutters and cutting the grass. So, we stopped at Home Depot, I waddled through the store following Matt. We left Home Depot and headed home. Because I'm always hungry, I asked Matt what he wanted for dinner. He said: Steak, Potatoes, Asparagus, Rolls, Apple Pie and Ice Cream. So, that meant a quick stop at the grocery store. We went to the store, Matt stayed with the truck and I went in and got Steak, Potatoes, Asparagus, Watermelon, Milk, Eggs, and a Paper so we could get the coupons. I conveniently forgot the Apple Pie and Ice Cream because we had some ice cream at home already. I also managed to walk past the doughnuts without adding them to my cart. So, we had stuff for dinner and could now finally go home. When we got home, I cleared out the area for the changing table while Matt brought it in for me and we both started on our separate tasks for the day. Through out all this, I was still having what I knew was Braxton-Hicks contractions, but they weren't that big of a deal. So, I'm working in the nursery getting it cleaned and organized. Matt is up on the roof cutting branches from trees and cleaning out the gutters. Thankfully I can hear him walking around on the roof while he's doing that, and I'm going outside every once in a while to see how he's doing and if he needs anything. I'm also giving him updates on the "contractions" We both joke how we've got lots to do today and that we're not ready yet. Ha, ha, ha. Around 5:30 p.m. I notice that they are getting stronger and closer together, so I go out and give Matt an update. He decides that he's going to finish up the yard work and put away all the yard toys so that he can come inside and clean up - just in case. At 6:00 I start writing down the contractions. They are about 5 minutes apart and lasting any where between 45 seconds to a full minute. I'm trying to keep working on the nursery. Around 6:45 p.m. I decide that maybe I should go finish packing my bag and get Veronica's outfit ready and her bag packed as well. We decide that if we do go to the hospital that we're not going to call anyone until we know for sure that I am in labor. I call Katie Walker to get advice on what to pack and she gets it out of me that I might be in labor. So, I go back outside to tell Matt that I'm about to call the doctor to tell them that I think I'm in labor and then I'm going to get in the shower. While I'm in the shower, the doctor calls back. It was decided that since they were 5 minutes apart, that I'm not in any pain (it's just uncomfortable and annoying right now), and that I'm far enough along that we should pack up and head to the hospital to get check out. My plan all along was to stay at the house for as long as I could before heading to the hospital so I take my time getting ready. Making sure the food that we got for dinner is put up. Making sure that Veronica's room is good to go. Picking this up, putting this away, looking for this, walking around, anything to waste time. It's about an hour later and I've done all that I can do and say, well I guess we can go now. So, we pack up, say goodbye to the 4 legged kids and hit the road. We joke at how glad we are that we switched to DeKalb since it's so close to us. We talk about what we want to stop and eat for dinner. We stop at Sonic and sit there and eat our dinner (which wasn't Steak, Potatoes, Asparagus, and Rolls) - but we did get dessert! During this time Katie Walker is texting me asking me what's going on, how I'm feeling, telling me to let my family know, ect. So, I text Alice (who is out of town) telling her that we're headed to the hospital. Matt calls Jamie (who is at work) and tells her that we're headed to the hospital and we would keep her posted. And I call Mom and Dad (who are in Savannah till Tuesday) and tell them that we're headed to the hospital, but not to freak out because we don't know anything. Mom asks me to hold off till they can get home, I tell her I'll do what I can. Matt had already talked to his brother, who would go home and get their mom if this was really happening. So, all the family was on alert. We're both full from Sonic and we head to the hospital. Because we haven't had the tour yet, we weren't (or I wasn't) 100% sure where to go. Luckily Matt had delivered a pizza to a family who just had their baby (well really to the husband) so Matt knew where to go. I sign in at 8:37 p.m. (so an hour an a half after the doctor told us to head to the hospital). The lady at the admission desk tells me that they will call me back as soon as a room opens up. So we wait. I mention to Matt that the contractions aren't as bad as they were while we were at home and we both look at each other like Uh Oh, hope this wasn't a trip for nothing. So a little while later they call me back to assess my situation. The nurse asks me this, she asks me that, then she asks me about my contractions. I tell her that they have lessened and she looks at me and I think - oh crap, I fell for it! But she hooks me up to the monitor, and hooks sweet Veronica up as well. V's doing great, good strong heartbeat and I am for sure having contractions. I tell her that my level of pain is about a 3 and that I'm not in any real pain it's just annoying. She looks at me again. She then tells me that I have to be 4 cm dilated to be admitted. I'm 1 cm dilated. She tells me that she's going to go run some tests and will tell Matt that he can come in the room. He comes in and I tell him the news. So we wait till she comes back with my test results. As it turns out, I was really dehydrated and that's why I was having the contractions. Apparently just because you drink (what you think) is plenty of water the day before and the day before that, doesn't make up for the fact that you had hardly drank anything THAT day! So, at 10:00 p.m. I get my first ever IV and amazingly the contractions spread out and lessen in strength. This also explains why the contractions decreased in pain after eating yummy Sonic. Around 11:15 p.m. I'm cleared to go, all hydrated up, with instructions to drink a gallon of water a day and was told how the real contractions will be. I go back for my check up Wednesday afternoon.

Sorry this story was so long!! I did manage to leave out some of the details though (like the dad yelling at the nurse saying that his daughter was in pain), so it could have been longer! I promise when the real thing happens, I won't write a story about it.

So, the waiting game is back on! We had another ultrasound on October 1st and she's still measuring about 2 weeks ahead and they estimated that she weighed 7 pounds already!! Ugh. Tomorrow we have 3 weeks till our due date, but she could really come any time now. Let's just hope we can make it through the tour of the hospital on the 18th!

Here are some pictures of Veronica's room. We have things to go on the walls but haven't put them up yet.

31 weeks, or is it 33 weeks?

Last week I went for my 30 week checkup. After checking my blood pressure, the doctor was a little concerned that it was getting higher each check up. So, she had me do a 24 hour test to see if I had Preeclimpsia. Preeclimpsia (or Pre-eclimpsia) describes a group of symptoms that occur only during pregnancy or shortly after delivery. Some of the books I have interchange Preeclimpsia and Pregnancy-induced hypertension. It's basically high blood pressure, swelling (more than normal), protein in the urine, and some other symptoms. Apparently (or from what I've read) the only cure for Preeclimpsia is delivery. If I had it, I would have been put on strict bed rest. And if my blood pressure didn't improve on that, then they would have to induce. Thankfully I don't have it. But, my doctors are still concerned about my high blood pressure, which is called Gestational Hypertension (which some books also call it pregnancy-induced hypertension). Long of the short is, I had to stop working at the restaurant, and I'm only going into the office one day a week, then working from home the rest of the week. I'm also not allowed to do anything that will raise my blood pressure, so I had to stop working out. I guess you could say that I'm on light bed rest. I just have to take it easy and rest a lot during the day. Oh and try not to stress.

Which brings us to today. Last week at one of my appointments (I went Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday!) one of my doctors said she wanted to do an ultrasound to check Veronica's growth. So Matt and I went for our 4th (if you don't count the very first one at 7 weeks) Ultrasound this morning. We didn't get any pictures, so none to post (sorry). But we did learn some interesting things.

In one of my books, it says that at 31 weeks, your baby weighs about 3 1/2 pounds. The ultrasound tech measured Veronica weighing around 4 pounds 15 ounces. OH and she also said that she has me measured at 32 weeks 6 days (almost 2 weeks ahead of my due date!) In the same book, it says that at 33 weeks, your baby weighs about 4 1/2 pounds. So either way, Veronica's already a big baby!! And who knows when she'll arrive! The good news is that she is no longer breech.

So, what does all this mean? I don't know. But what I do know is that Veronica is growing healthy, her heartbeat is excellent, she's moving around and is very active, my weight gain has been minimal (which makes me happy), and I feel great. Normally I would be going to the doctor every 2 weeks, but because of my high blood pressure they want me to go every week (now I'm even more pleased that we changed doctors!) The doctor suggested that I cut out all liquid sugar; so juices, sweet teas, milk. What!!! Milk?!!?! This can't be! I literally almost started crying when she said to only have a small glass of milk a day. I go through a Gallon of Milk every 2 to 3 days lately! So, guess we won't be buying milk every 3 days now :( We're not changing my due date, and we're not sure if we'll have another ultrasound later on.

Matt has finals tomorrow then he'll be on break from school for 3 weeks. Unfortunately he will still have to work and do things around the house on his break though. But don't worry, he's still got plenty of golf trips planned for his break.

Our 4 legged kids are all doing well. We've taken all 3 cats to the vet and they all got a clean bill of health. Black Cat (yea we still haven't changed his name) weighs around 4 pounds, Meredith weighs around 7 pounds, and Frank weighs a woppin 13, almost 14 pounds (now you know why we call him Frank The Tank!!!) We haven't taken the dogs to the vet yet, but plan to do that before Veronica gets here.

The weeks are counting down quicker and quicker!!!!!!!! But we absolutely cannot wait to meet Veronica!!!!!!!!!!!

Almost Week 30!

Can you believe I'm almost 30 weeks?!! Matt and I sure can't! I'm in the third and final trimester! To start off, I feel great! There are still times and days that I forget that I'm pregnant! Veronica's been moving around for quite some time and her kicks, punches, and movement has gotten stronger. I'm still working out (of course some weeks more than others), I have 5 personal training sessions left then I'll put my membership on hold until after Veronica's here.

I'm sorry that I haven't updated lately, no excuse other than laziness. Much has happened with Veronica since I last updated. We had a tiny scare about a month and a half ago but thankfully it was nothing (besides a sore shoulder for a while). I slipped outside on our wet carport and landed on my left side. Thankfully Veronica continued with her moving around and kicking that night and hasn't stopped since!! We've been to the doctor a couple times since the last update and her development is going great!! At 25 weeks, she weighed close to 2 lbs - which according to the Ultrasound doctor, her weight is a couple days ahead of schedule. So, this means she's going to be a big baby, she's going to be early, OR she'll be both!!! Matt thinks she'll be a week early. If she's like her mother, she'll be late.

We've switched Hospitals - from Northside to DeKalb. I wanted to go to DeKalb to begin with but my doctor - who both Matt and I LOVE is at Northside. I didn't realize that there was a chance that she wouldn't deliver our baby, so after much consideration, we switched to the hospital I wanted to go to in the beginning. Driving 10 minutes in traffic for our doctor's visits is so much better than driving the 30 minutes with no traffic to a hospital I didn't want to go to. This Wednesday will be our 3rd visit with our new doctors and we couldn't be happier!

We've painted the nursery and put the crib together.

Alice is painting a mural on the "changing table" for us. I say "changing table" because it's not your typical changing table. It's actually the piece of furniture that Mom used as my changing table. And it's actually a Hoosier Kitchen Cabinet. Here's a picture of the before - keep in mind that this piece of furniture has been in Mom and Dad's basement since we moved to GA in 1986, and it was painted shortly before 1979. Mom and I did a lot of work to get it to where it is now...

BEFORE! The top part:

BEFORE! The bottom part:

We cannot wait to see the finished product!! Which of course I'll post pictures. It's a Latte Color now. And yes, the strawberries are gone.

We still have lots to do in the nursery - like move the furniture to it's spot in the room. I keep telling myself that it will all be ready by the time she gets here.

We have a new addition to our 4 legged kids. Matt got me a cute little black kitten. We haven't come up with a name for him yet, so we're just calling him Black Cat right now. Thankfully he's still pretty small, weighs about 3 lbs, because he loves to walk all over my belly. He's a handful, and super sweet when he's sleeping. Other times he's a pain in the butt, especially to Meredith (our grey cat). They have a love hate relationship. With the addition of Black Cat, that brings our 4 legged kids up to 3 cats and 2 dogs. We'll be stopping there, this house is going to be pretty full come November!

Sorry again for being so slack on the updates! I'll try to do better. Since Wednesday marks Week 30, I'll start going to the doctor every 2 weeks. Around the beginning of October I'll start going once a week till our daughter arrives!! Cannot wait!!!!

Here are a few pictures for you.

2009-07-22 (25 weeks) this was taken at our last ultrasound. She weighs an ounce shy of 2 lbs (the baby book says "your baby now weighs about 1 1/2 pounds" But then clarifies by saying that this is an average weight - I'd say!!!)

By now, her eyes can open and close and react to light!

2009-08-12 (28 weeks) At the Vet with Meredith and Black Cat - not sure what BC will do when the belly goes away...

Much to some peoples scare tactics, the Vet did not tell me that our cats (or dogs for that matter) will kill Veronica - either by mauling her or suffocating her because they smell milk on her breath. Trust me, the cats haven't tried to suffocate me with all the milk I drink!

I'll try to do better with the updates!! Thanks for following us!

Katie, Matt, Veronica, Sam, Lash, Frank, Meredith, and Black Cat Monroe (that's a mouth full!!!)

some pictures from the ultrasound

I remembered I took pictures of the ultrasound on my phone. We've got some other good ones that I'll post after I get the folder back from Mom and Dad.

SHE'S SOOOOOOOOOOO CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Veronica's feet: Veronica's hands:

We shall call her Veronica!!!!!

Sorry it's taken me so long to post on here. I took the road trip out to Arizona last week, so I'm getting caught up on everything this week. We've had our Ultrasound and we've told the Grandparents what we're having, so it's now officially public!!!!!

WE'RE HAVING A GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We've picked the name Veronica Emily for our daughter!!!

The way we told our family:

I got a blank inside baby card and wrote:

"CONGRATULATIONS!!!! IT'S A . . ."

"We couldn't be happier!!!!!"

"Love, Matt and Katie"

I also had a Brown and Blue (reusable!) small bag with white tissue paper wrapped around a pink onesie.

We had dinner with Pat, Jason, and Carrie the evening we found out the sex. Pat couldn't wait till everyone had arrived before she found out. To add more suspense, we gave her the card only first. She read it and said: It's a boy!!!!!! Because of the 3 dots. Then we gave her the bag and here was her reaction:

Needless to say, she was VERY excited!!! She was jumping up and down on the booth and was sooooo happy to be having a little granddaughter!!!! And of course, she cried with tears of joy!!!

The following Sunday, we told Mom, Dad, Jamie (who already knew), Alice, Kyle, Kim, Caitlin, and JT (Joseph was sleeping, and I'm sure he could have cared less and wondered why all these people were screaming and crying with excitement in his house). Before we told, we took a vote. It was (I believe) 4 for a boy (Dad, Alice, Kim, and JT) and 3 for a girl (Mom, Kyle, and Caitlin). We told everyone the same way we told Pat, Jason, and Carrie.

We gave Mom and Dad the card first. Mom started bawling and would not look at the card!! She kept saying "I can't look!! I can't look!!" So Dad read the card out loud to everyone. On the inside of their card, I wrote the same thing but added: "Love, Matt, Katie, and V.E." Alice immediately knew it was a girl then because of V.E.
After reading the card, I gave them the Brown and Blue bag. Mom had already started crying and needed tissue so she could see what was in the bag. We weren't fast enough to get her a Kleenex so she used the wrapping tissue - which worked just as well!!!! Once they saw the pink onesie, Mom jumped up and down and said: IT'S A GIRL!!!!!! Poor Dad, hopefully one day he'll get a little boy in the family :) Needless to say, they were both VERY excited as well!!!!!!

I'm so glad we told our families this way!!! It was such an amazing experience! I'll have to post pictures from the ultrasound later - we left our folder with all the pictures in it at Kyle and Kim's.

We're going to start registering this week since we now know the sex of our little one!!!

It's very hard to believe little Veronica will be here in about 4 months!!!!! Thanksgiving and Christmas are going to be awesome this year!!!!!

This past Wednesday was the 5 month mark. It's so cool to notice the slight growth in my belly, it's now 40 inches! I still look tiny, but I'm sure that's all going to change very soon!

Matt and I are so glad to be able to share this event with our family and friends!! We thank you all for your love and support thoughout this life changing event!!! It means so much to us both!!!

What an amazing journey it's been so far!

Someone, Jason, spilled the beans - sort of

Well, Matt and I had the big day yesterday!!!!!!!! Of course I cried (with excitement!) when the doctor told us! Both Matt and I are thrilled with the news! The Ultrasound Nurse gave us some great and not so great pictures of our little one but I'll wait to put them up. After the appointment we went to the mall so I could return some shirts I got and we bought our first onsie!!!! I can't wait to show it off on our little one!! I knew it was exciting to shop for friends' babies, but never imagined how overwhelming and exciting it would be to shop for ours! Everything looked so cute!!! Definitely going to have to watch this and not let it get out of control!!

After we left the mall we were going to go to the Braves Game. But after being out in the sun for about 5 minutes, we decided not to go to a hot afternoon game and went to a movie. We finally saw Star Trek! It was awesome! I cannot wait (and I hope!) that there will be more to come!!!!

After the movie, we met Pat, Jason, and Carrie up for dinner to tell them the exciting news. Thankfully out of all of our busy schedules we were able to get this night planned because who knows when the next free night we'll all have will be! Pat was very, very excited!!!!! She's still trying to come up with what she wants our little one to call her. Jason was obviously very excited as well because when Matt and I got home he had posted it up on Facebook! Thankfully, and hopefully, only one other person saw it before he deleted the comment. I told Jason that we won't be telling him any more secrets :) (Don't try and look, all the evidence is gone)

Sunday will be the big day of reveling!!! After the Corriher's (and Soto's) find out, everyone else will know!!! So, keep waiting just a little bit longer!

Matt and I can't wait to share with you all that we're having a little..............

Picture from today

Matt and I played golf today and took some pictures. Here's one of me for those of you who have been asking for current baby bump pictures - not sure why there aren't many more!!! Enjoy it! Oh and I should clarify, I ONLY put the clubs on for the picture. We had a cart for the 18 holes.

Next week I'll be 20 weeks. Can't believe we have about 4 months and 1 week left!!!!!!! Time's gonna fly by!! Guess we should start working on the nursery...

Quick update (I'm 4 1/2 months now)

Here's a quick update on what's going on with Matt and I, and the baby!

Matt's almost finished with another quarter of school. His last final is next Tuesday, the 9th, he'll be off for two weeks and then he'll start his next quarter. He's doing exceptionally well in school!! Couldn't be more proud of him! He studies all the time, I mean all the time! If he's not working (and provided our internet is working) he's studying - or playing golf. Matt's rocking waiting tables up at Shorty's - in fact he got a nice shout out in this months newsletter! The idea was that he would work less but make more, but he's loving it (or the money part of it) so he's working a little bit more than he was when he cooking.

I've been doing well. The baby is growing a little bit each day and week. On Monday, May 25th my belly grew 1/2 an inch. That doesn't sound like a lot, but it was very noticeable to me! I've gone from waiting tables to only hosting up at Tijuana Garage (yes they changed their name back to Tijuana Garage from Sabroso...) It's not so bad and I'm hoping that I can continue to host up until the very last minute. It is nice to be able to sit down in between seating people (even though that's a no, no, I still do it) The mornings for me are the most difficult lately. It's been very hard for me to wake up some mornings for some reason, so I've been working at home a good bit lately, which is nice that I'm able to do this. Plus it's saving us money and wear and tear on my car - every little bit helps right?!

Baby Monroe is doing well. Went to the doctor this past Monday on the 1st and heard the heartbeat again. Apparently "he" was moving around a lot! I haven't felt any movement yet, but hopefully I will soon! We go next Thursday, June 11th to get our second ultrasound and find out the sex! This will certainly help with nursery decorating, baby naming, and shopping/registering!

On Sunday, June 14th, the Corriher crew is heading over to the Soto's for a cookout. It's been forever since we've seen Kyle, Kim, Caitlin, JT, and Joseph - even though they live so close to us! Because all of our schedules are so busy we had to schedule this gathering about a month in advance! Then I made the appointment for our June 11th Ultrasound. So, it was perfect that this would be the day we revealed the sex to the family. The original plan was to have the doctor put the sex in an envelope then we would open it at the Soto's on the 14th. BUT because I know that Matt and I will want to see the Ultrasound, we've decided to still keep it a secret until Sunday, but Matt and I will know. Then we'll buy something boy or girl related and have the grandparents open it to reveal the sex! Hopefully it will be as exciting as it is in my head!!! We still have to schedule a dinner with Matt's mom, Jason, and Carrie to tell them. I know everyone is eagerly waiting to find out! I know we are!!!!

Up Coming Trips:
On Monday, June 15th, I'm heading to Phoenix, AZ with Katy Wilson Ross. We'll be driving out there with her two pups so that they don't have to fly. It will be bitter sweet since she's moving out there. I'm very excited about the trip because I've never been out to AZ, or to pretty much all the states we'll be driving through. I'm not too excited about the heat, but the company (and the pools) will certainly help things out!!!! I'll be gone for that week, then I'll fly back on Sunday the 21st.

July 4th weekend the Corriher clan will be heading up to Faith, NC for their 4th of July celebration! Needless to say I'm so excited about this for several reasons!!!
1. Matt's never been and it's quite an experience,
2. It's been forever since I've been to the parade and the celebration!
3. Cheerwine Slushy
4. Incredibly Awesome BBQ sandwiches
5. FAMILY!!!
6. Fun rides - that Matt, Jamie, and Alice will be riding and I'll be watching, with a HUGE grin on my face!!!!!!!
7. Memories!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
8. Cheerwine Slushy
9. Candy at the parade! (those kids better not get in my way...)

I'd like to think that Matt and my crazy busy schedule will be over soon, but I know it won't be. And I also know that November will be here before we know it!

So this wasn't as quick as I hoped it would be but that's ok! Keep your eye open for an update on the sex of Baby Monroe!

Love you all!!
Katie

In Honor of Barry Wilson

I wanted to take a minute to talk about my best friend's father, Barry Wilson. Mr. Wilson lost his fight to Pancreatic Cancer on Wednesday, May 20th. He fought his cancer hard all the way to the end. Every time I saw him before and certainly after he was diagnosed Mr. Wilson was in such good spirits and had such an amazing attitude about life. Mr. Wilson knew the importance of family and knew that friends were family and family were friends. He knew that it was an amazing feeling to be surrounded by your friends. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson raised two amazing children who have grown up into amazing people. I have been friends, best friends, with Katy it seems like all my life. I cannot imagine not having her in my life. We've been through so much together and seen each other grow over the years. Katy is the woman she is today because of her mother and father. I'm very thankful to have known Mr. Wilson!

Please go to this link and donate to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network in Honor of Barry Wilson http://www.firstgiving.com/barrywilson Help Katy and her family go beyond their goal of $2,500.00

Here's a video I took of Katy and her father at the Wilson's 40th Anniversary Party on June 22, 2008. This just shows how full of life Mr. Wilson was. This was about 3 months after being diagnosed.

May 10, 2009: Mother's Day and Dad's Birthday

Sunday, the Corriher's celebrated Mother's Day and Dad's birthday at Mom and Dad's house. We had yummy food and as always a great time! I wanted to make Dad's birthday cake, his favorite cake - Carrot Cake. Needless to say it was quite an experience for me. This is what happened the first time I made the cake. Should have put it into two cake pans instead of one...

Thankfully the cleanup wasn't too bad and I started on the second try. This time I learned my lesson (with of course the help from Jamie) and split the batter into two cake pans and surprisingly everything turned out perfectly!!!!! It was so good, I'm most likely going to make it again this weekend!!!

Here's the most recent picture of the Corriher's. It was a wonderful gathering!

14 week check-up

Matt and I went this morning for my 14 week (and 1 day) check up. It was pretty uneventful - except of course for hearing the most amazing sound! The heartbeat!!!!!!! It's still so cool and awesome each time we hear it. Especially since I don't feel pregnant still. I got another clean bill of health this time. Although the doctor wasn't too happy to learn that I lost more weight (another 1.5 pounds), but I'm sure that will be changing soon enough. I'm still going to my personal trainer 2 times a week and trying to do cardio at least 2 times a week for 30 minutes. Although since the gym I go to is right next to my office, if I don't go to work (like today) then I don't work out, SO on average I'm going about 2 days a week to work out.

Now on to my diet. This might be why I'm losing weight, but once you see what I'm eating you might wonder why it's going the other way. I seem to only be able to eat food that is bad for me, i.e. Checkers Double Cheeseburgers - hold the mustard and onions please (and wings if I go on Wednesday), Chick-fil-a sandwiches, Willy's Burritos, Black Bean and Cheese Enchiladas (or Nachos!!!) at Sabroso, Pizza, Noodle Cafe, Cheese Toast and Cinnamon Sugar Toast in the mornings, you get the point. BUT I usually only eat half of what I would normally eat at one sitting because I get full fast. My liquid intake isn't that great either. I do drink a lot of Milk in the mornings (when I say a lot, I mean I go through a gallon of milk every 3 days). I stopped drinking coffee in the mornings (but still have it every once in a while). I stopped drinking coke on a regular basis for about a year but since water wasn't tasting good too me, I started back up again. Now I try to only have one a day. Water is my enemy. I do not, do not, do not, like the way it tastes now. I still try to force myself to drink one to two Nalgene bottles a day (for some reason I can drink it if it's cold and out of a straw better).

The Nurse made me feel better (and it confirmed what a lot of people have been telling me) when she told me to eat what I can eat, don't force myself to eat something (like a boring ole' salads). She also told me that around 16 weeks is when food and water becomes your friend again. So, I only have about 2 more weeks - if it's going to be like that for me that is.

No morning sickness for me. The only problem I've really had is when I brush my teeth. I've changed tooth pastes and nothing really seems to help it. It's either going to happen or it's not. I do think it has to do with the amount of food I eat the night before. For instance when I work at Sabroso and I don't get home till 12:00 a.m. I only want to go to sleep, not eat. So the next morning isn't fun for me when I brush my teeth. FYI, surprisingly bananas and cantaloupe doesn't taste bad coming back up (EWE GROSS! Sorry about that). About 5 minutes after I'm finished brushing, breathing, brushing, breathing, brushing, rinsing, I'm all good. And thankfully it doesn't happen every morning.

Next doctors appointment. I go back in 3 weeks for my next regular check up - I'll be 17 weeks (well technically 16 weeks 6 days). I also go back in 5 weeks for our next Ultrasound - I'll be about 19 weeks then.

First Trimester Screening

We had the First Trimester Screening April 28th. For those of you who do not know what this screening is, it helps identify babies who may have down syndrome, trisomy 18 or trisomy 13. It's a combination of a detailed ultrasound and blood work. I had my reservations about doing this test. We felt that it would be important to know if our baby had down syndrome, trisomy 18, or trisomy 13, but we also felt that it wouldn't change the way we felt about the baby. Another reservation I had about the test was the cost of it. I know, I know, I shouldn't put cost in front of our baby's health. But I was a little concerned because I called my insurance to see if it would be covered and I was told that only one ultrasound would be covered per pregnancy. I had already had one at 7 weeks and 5 days to see how far along I was. When the lady at my insurance was telling me this she was really reading from a script and it was very confusing. I tried to talk to a couple different people at different places but no one could really give me an answer that either I wanted to hear or made sense to me. Thankfully a high school friend, Heather Ringer Martin, was able to answer my questions and put me at ease. So I decided to keep the appointment and keep my fingers crossed that it wasn't going to cost us and arm and a leg.

The day of the appointment. When I made the appointment, I didn't know that Matt had a midterm scheduled for that afternoon - oops. So, we drove separately so that he could go straight to school after the appointment. Matt is very, very, very good about being on time and leaving early for appointments. Me, not so much (wonder where I get that from?!). So, thankfully Matt gave us plenty of time to get there and took traffic into account. After passing the place twice, we finally pull in about 10 minutes early. We walk in and have no clue where we're going. We get directions from the sweet lady at the information desk and we finally find the place. I go to check in, sign my name and the guy tells me this paperwork is showing that you do not have a copay today. I said, What? I don't have a Copay? He says, Nope. SWEET! After checking in, we walk next door to the doctors office. Um this place is standing room only, it's packed! Slowly chairs open up and Matt and I are able to sit next to each other. My appointment time comes up, then passes. I'm getting hungry, I have to go to the bathroom, and Matt is getting ancy about his midterm. About 30 minutes later the nurse calls my name. I think Matt and I say at the same time, finally! (Mind you this is the day after I spent 2 hours at the eye doctor waiting to get my eyes checked!) The Ultrasound Technician is awesome! She super nice, pleasant to talk with, and is very calming. Next thing we know, we're looking at the monitor and seeing our little "apple" move around!!!!!!!!! Of course I start smiling and crying, Matt immediately grabs my hand and starts smiling. We were both in total awe over this little tiny baby moving around inside of me!! It was so awesome to see it move!!!! It was like it knew we were watching. It would crouch down and push off, then slide back down. Crouch down, push off, then slide back down. Over and over again. At one point we saw it put it's hands up like it was on a roller coaster! So cute!!!!! She said everything looked good so far and that the doctor was going to come in to do some measurements his self. She leaves and Matt and I look at each other. Matt says something like, that just made my day! The doctor comes and and shakes my hand then Matt's hand. I think to myself, maybe he shook my hand that way because I'm a girl? But he seems nice enough. We get to see the baby again. Same thing, couch down, push off, slide down. It never got old! He gets the same measurements as the Technician did and seems pleased with them. We thank him and he leaves. Finally! I can pee!! As we're about to walk out to get my blood work done, Matt asks me how I liked his handshake. I told him that I hoped he shook it that way because I was a girl, but apparently not! Thankfully he's not my regular doctor! (This is one of the reasons why we are going to Northside, because of my awesome doctor. She has the most confident and caring handshake. When I first went to her about 6 years ago, I knew then that she would be the one who delivered my baby) Anyway, I digress. I get my finger pricked, the nurse tells Matt that I can't cook or clean for a week because of the wound in my hand, ha ha ha...

We leave and can't stop talking about how amazing that was!!!!!! Unfortunately the baby was too busy having fun and we couldn't tell the sex.

The results. Like I said, the doctor said that everything looked normal on the ultrasound, but he wanted to wait till the results from my blood work came back. I got a call about a week later and they said that everything went well!

Why we're setting up this Blog

We wanted a central location for all our family and friends to come to, to see what's going on in our lives. So to catch some of you up on what's been going on in the Monroe household over the last couple years (don't worry, I'll be brief):


Matt and I got married on October 15, 2005 after dating for 3 1/2 years:

John and Jackie Corriher; Katie and Matt Monroe; Pat and Marty Monroe


After living in various neighborhoods surrounding Atlanta, Matt and I bought our first house in Decatur, GA in February 2008. We were lucky enough to find an older house that had been renovated so it was ready to move in and we didn't have to do any of the hard work!

Our 4 legged children:

Sam, (a.k.a. Samu Ljac Son) age 10 1/2

Lash, (a.k.a. LASH NO!!) age 4

Frank (a.k.a Frank the Tank), age 5

Meredith (a.k.a. Dr. Grey), age 2

What's going on with Matt:

Matt is currently working at Shorty's Pizza in Tucker. He won Pizza Maker of the Year in 2008! In addition to working Full Time, Matt is also enrolled in classes at Gwinnett Tech in Lawrenceville, going for a degree in Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Management. He began this chapter of his life in January and is loving every minute of it (well most minutes that is). We're all so incredibly proud of him!!!!!

What's going on with Katie:

I'm still working at the Office of the Georgia Capital Defender in Atlanta. I can't believe I'm going on 7 years this June, boy does time fly when you're having fun... My title now is Capital Case Manager. I also work a couple nights a week at Sabroso in Little 5 Points. Currently I'm waiting tables, but will soon go back to Hosting.

Our newest and most exciting news:

After a year and a half, I found out in March that I'm pregnant!! I'm due November 4th. We are completely blessed with the fact that we will be bringing a new life into this world!!! Needless to say our household will be even crazier come November! We're still not sure what we'll be having, but we will be finding out. Once we know, you will all know.

Here is a picture from our latest UltraSound, I was 12 weeks, 6 days:

I think that's all for now. Hopefully I'll be good about posting news and events!

Thanks for taking the time to read it! Love you all!!

Katie and Matt