I haven't forgotten about you, blog!

The 4 of us :) Avery got a "grand piano" from Nana and Papa! She LOVES it! She loves singing Twinkle, Twinkle into the working microphone. It's soooo sweet :)

With her pal Papa John

Aves and Nana Marti


No, I didn't quit the blog, we have just been BUSY!!!! We are all settled into our house in Coralville, IA and READY for baby #2 any time now! He's due in less than 2 wks, but we're ready for him today! We'd love to spend Christmas as a family of four in 2010! Our move was very smooth, and we already feel so at home here. Our neighborhood is awesome...we really lucked out in that department again.

I have to note a couple funny things Avery has said lately:

1.) At the dr.'s office: "Mama has no pants on! Avery has pants on. Avery take pants off too?"

2.) Today she sang "Tinkerbell, Tinkerbell, Tinkerbell Rock!" to the tune of Jingle bell Rock.

3.) "You make me laugh, Gigi!"

4.) Every time she has to go to bed she says "2 minutes!" and hold up her 2 little fingers for effect

5.) She named some of her stuffed animals: Lucy, Justin, and Chuck (who knows where she got those from!)

She cracks us up every single day. What a blessing this little person is to our life.

Month in review

Ready for trick or treating with Dad. She actually preferred being at home answering the door for the kids. She loves answering the "ding bell"...especially as snow white!

Snow white (the blond version!)

At Paige's birthday party with Abby and the birthday girl.

Nana Marti put rollers in Avery's hair. She loooved it! She's alllll girl!

We have been busy, busy, busy these past several weeks, and it isn't going to slow down anytime soon! The highlights of the month include: buying a house in Iowa, Luke starting his new job, trying to sell our house, a trip to Indiana, Halloween, and oh yeah, growing a baby! ;) So far Luke is really enjoying his new job. He is BUSY and learning a ton each day. We found a great house in Coralville. It's in a lovely neighborhood and just a couple minutes from Iowa City. The movers are coming Friday morning, and it's so long Sussex. We are really going to miss the wonderful people here, but are very excited about the change.

My pregnancy is cruising along. Only 9 wks til due day! We cannot wait to meet this little guy!

Moving on...

We went to Chuck E. Cheese last weekend. We all had a blast! It has definitely changed from it's Show Biz days! (the pizza is still terrible though!)

Catching up with my good friends Steph and Lindsey in Tucson.

This was the highlight of the game...it was pretty much downhill from here. We had a great trip despite the loss.

Our little Hawkeye. She says "GO HAWKS!" when any football game is on!

Fall and winter '10/'11 will bring big changes to the Recker family. As if welcoming another member to our family isn't enough, we are moving too! Luke recently accepted a new job in Iowa. He will be selling surgical instruments (i.e. drills and other equipment) for spine, neuro, and ENT surgeries throughout the entire state of Iowa. It is a wonderful career opportunity for him, but we are SO SAD to leave our wonderful neighborhood. We have been so lucky to meet such awesome people in Sussex. I wish we could move the entire neighborhood with us! Luke starts mid-October, so we are hoping to make the move asap. We are setting up shop in Iowa City. It'll be so weird to be back there as non-students! It's such a great, family-friendly city. And growing up in a college town myself, I am happy to provide those same fun experiences for my kids. So, we have A LOT on our plates right now, but it's all positive and exciting. We are very grateful!

Move over pink!!! Baby Recker is a BOY!

The cake for our "gender revealing party" It said "10 little fingers, 10 little toes, Which one will it be? Only Gigi knows"

The BLUE cake! We were SO excited!

In Omaha at a family wedding last weekend. Avery was 0-v-e-r picture taking! Early flight+no nap+the hokey pokey= 1 exhausted little girl! She did awesome though and had a BLAST dancing with all of the kids.

First bump picture! 22 weeks

We, along with several of our good friends, learned that baby Recker is a boy at the "Gender Revealing Party" that my mom threw us on 8/20. My mom came with us to the ultrasound (on a Wed) and was the only one to find out the sex at that time. She then ordered a blue cake to be made for the party on Friday. The guests wore pink or blue to match their guess on baby Recker's gender. There were definitely more blue's than pinks (including Luke and I). We were so excited to cut the cake to reveal BLUE cake! It was really fun and special to share that moment with friends. We are thrilled to be having a boy, but mostly just incredibly grateful to know that baby is healthy. We are sooooo blessed! Uncle Matt will have to give this baby boy some advice as to how to deal with a big sister! I kinda feel sorry for him already! ;) Avery is excited about "witto bruder" (little brother) and told me that he can use the baby swing on her swing set and she'll use the big girl swing! Awww!

Summer Fun!

My little beach bum can't get enough of the sun, sand and water.
Making silly faces with cousins Paige and Caden

Checking out the cows at the WI state fair

"Are you sure about this Dad?"

Taking a turn on the big pig slide at the fair

We're having such a great summer. I can't believe it's coming to a close...it's gone so fast! Despite being in the States for well over a year, I still have to remind myself at this time of year that we aren't back to Europe! We've been keeping very busy with lots of visitors. The Pettis family came to see us a couple weeks ago, and Nana and Papa Pepple came to town last weekend. Uncle Matt even stopped by for a quick visit. It's been so nice to see everyone.

We're quickly approaching the halfway point in my pregnancy. Hooray! I am feeling baby move more and more. It's just as amazing the second time around. We find out if Avery is getting a baby bro or sis on the 18th...we'll keep you all posted!!!!

Great America

She LOVES merry-go-rounds, a.k.a "up and downs"

Her favorite part of the day was the water play area (I mean, it was 95 degrees...I contemplated getting in!)

She loved driving the big red car she has been singing about for months!

I laughed watching them on this ride because it looked like Luke was riding solo. This huge guy in this tiny airplane alone just tickled me!

She loved Tweety, but more specifically his big feet...she is still talking about Tweety's feet!

We took a trip to Six Flags Great America last week. Avery had the time of her life! She loved "Wiggles World," an area in the park made just for toddlers. She wanted to go on all of the rides and wasn't scared a bit. Dad had to accompany her on all the rides since pregos aren't allowed even on the kiddie rides. Plus, spinning and jostling isn't exactly my thing right now. We had such a great day, despite temps in the mid 90s! Avery was POOPED after our big day...I think she was asleep on Luke's shoulder before we even got to the car!

Adee's Park

Avery LOVES the park so much, that we decided to get her a big swing set for her birthday. She was so excited when she saw it and calls is "Adee's park!" I actually have to keep the blinds to the back of our house down in the morning, or I don't think this kid would eat breakfast before wanting to go out and play!

We had a full house last weekend when 4 of my very best girlfriends, and their husband/fiance/boyfriend came to visit. It was so great to see them and catch up. We had so much fun...I can't wait til the next time. I have the best friends in the world!

My pregnancy is moving right along. I'm 15 weeks now. I have gained back a lot of energy, thank God, and am feeling really good. I feel very grateful to be experiencing another enjoyable and healthy pregnancy :)