and her name will be....

After much thought and deliberation and review of our family trees, we have decided that our baby girl's name will be Sarah Elizabeth, and we will call her "Sarabeth".


We had tossed around several other TOTALLY different names, but Sarabeth was the first name I said the day we found out our baby is a girl and Jon had mentioned Sarah many times before we knew if the baby was a girl!! Sarah was Jon's grand father's mother's name (so his great grandmother's name on the Tinney side) and after talking to Gigi (Jon's grandmother) and hearing stories about Sarah Hahn Tinney, we settled on Sarah for our baby girl. We have many Elizabeths in our lives that we also wanted to honor including my mom who has Elizabeth as her middle name and goes by "Beth", my sister Megan who has Elizabeth as her middle name as well, and our niece and God daughter, Elisabeth who I am sure will bond with her new little cousin over their shared name.

So, in honor of all of these women, we have chosen Sarah Elizabeth. I have always liked the names Sababeth since I read a book when I was young and the main character had this name and I was reminded of the name again when we ate at a great restaurant a few years ago in Key West called "Sarabeth's Place". Most of all though, we like that it incorporates both names we have chosen and is more unique than many of the other names we were considering. When I close my eyes I can picture a sweet little girl and a responsible smart beautiful young lady that our Sarabeth will grow to become! Sarah/Sara/Sarabeth means "princess" (how fitting for a ZTA to name her daughter a name that means princess since my sorority symbol was a crown) and Elizabeth means God's promise, both great meanings!! Let the personalization and monogramming begin!!!

Christmas 2010

We've been home now for just under 48 hours and I am feeling some semblance of normalcy returning to our lives! The gifts we shipped from Ohio all arrived yesterday afternoon right on schedule and it was like Christmas ALL over again for Jackson. We got each gift out and played with it, set it up, etc. and I got ALL of his wonderful new clothes washed and put away ready for school. THANK YOU to everyone who gave us such wonderful gifts. Everything made it just fine, not a thing broke! We're getting pretty good at our shipping and packing skills around here:)

Chirstmas 2010 was great starting with busy festivities down here and ending with a white Christmas up north with family and friends. We are fortunate to have both sides of our family live in the same place and to have lots of room at Gigi's house so we could stay comfortably with plenty of room to spread out! We spent a lot of time with all of our family and also had some time to catch up with old friends. We enjoyed lots of laughter, great food, quality time with family and friends and many afternoons and evenings enjoying quiet time with a cup of warm tea and a hot bright fire in the fire place! We were all battling some nasty upper respiratory colds but all in all we had a nice trip and a great Christmas.

Just ahead of Christmas we received the best gift of all, a healthy ultrasound and a call from our O.B. telling me that the tests were ultra normal, no risk of anything troubling for the pregnancy and we found out we are having a little girl! In the first few days after we learned that we are having a daughter we were so busy with travel that we did not have much time to talk about the whole thing, or really think about it at all but a few days later, it started to set in and I began to see PINK everywhere! We received so many beautiful gifts for our daughter already and I can hardly wait to plan her nursery. I've already been searching out nursery sets and themes! What a great Christmas gift for our family and as we prepare to close the books on 2010 and look forward to 2011, I can only wait with excitement to see the great things that 2011 will bring for our family with the birth of our second baby! 2010 was a tough year in a lot of respects but we did some good things as well, namely moving our family to a great home closer to work school, and basically everything we do in our lives and for that big step, we are thankful! Here is to a happy, healthy and hopefully prosperous 2011!

home safe and sound!!

We FINALLY made it home just after 8:15 last night! We had one heck of a day with nearly a 4 hour delay at the Toledo airport...I guess the plane's hydraulics were NOT working so it had to be repaired in Sanford...so when I heard that I was NOT upset about the wait as that would have been a disaster for them to have figured that out in the air and all things considered, Jackson was a VERY good traveler. There were many other families stuck at the airport as well all set for a week at DISNEY so he had many kids to run and play with. They ran and played for hours like a small pack of dogs, it was kind of funny to watch and observe how they played and interacted. Within minutes they knew each other's names and were playing as if they had known each other for years!! The airline was nice enough to give us complimentary soda and water but lunch was on us so we enjoyed some marco's pizza before the airport ran out of food (seriously, this happened) as it is a small airport and they were not planning on hundreds of people being stranded there for the lunch hour and afternoon! We got off the ground just after 3:30 and after that all was according to plan, just bumped back about 4 hours! The people waiting to go to New York when the plane arrived back in Florida were pretty grumpy...the delay stretched across the whole day for that aircraft but thankfully we all made it safe and sound. Jackson even slept most of the flight since he was tired out from playing at the airport all afternoon and the rest of the flight he watched his new portable dvd player, thanks Mimi for that life saving device!!!

Today we are home sorting our bags, awaiting our gifts to arrive later today via UPS and just catching up on rest. Our neighbor did an amazing job keeping our house and dogs safe and sound. We are so thankful to have found such wonderful neighbors! More on Christmas 2010, the baby's name, and photos coming later:)

SHE'S A GIRL!!

We had our ultrasound this morning and it looks like Baby Peshke #2 is a GIRL! We are very excited to know so we can begin preparing and planning for the baby's arrival in late May!! Looks like the majority of the guesses were correct:)Now we need to decide on her name, more on that later!!

hint and Santa comes to Florida a week early!!

Here are some hints to help you with your guesses on the sex of the baby:

I was feeling pretty awful the first 8-10 weeks or so. I never actually vomitted, but felt like I wanted to, like the worst hangover EVER for about 8 weeks straight and it was ALL DAY and would sometimes wake me in the night. NOT good. I also craved fruit, juice, and citrus, but I had that with both pregnancies. My skin was NOT bad this time around in the beginning, which is a difference from last time. I also was NOT sick at all last time. This time I was so ill feeling, I actually lost weight in the first trimester. Based on the foregoing, I am guessing we are having a girl, but I also have a friend with three boys who said each pregnancy of hers were totally different and they were indeed all boys so only time will tell! We just want a healthy baby at the end of the nine months, whoever is hanging out in there.

On to Christmas...we're traveling again this year for the holidays so we did Jackson's Christmas as a family this morning. He has NO idea we did this a week early anyways so why not extend the fun for him and give him the weekend and part of next week to enjoy his new toys before we depart!! I only have a few photos as I had the video cam in my hand most of the time. This is the first Christmas where he actually opened ALL of his gifts on his own and was excited to do so. He did want to stop and play and open each item along the way but we were fine with it. He got a good assortment of trucks, cars, and sports equipment to play with outside and even a few new shirts for school but really we did not go overboard because he is happy with a handful of things and he will receive so much more this coming week from family. His FAVORITE toy was the Walt Disney World Monorail set we got him...I think this cost less than $20.00 and it is what he loves best! It is always with him, he took it to his bed for his nap and it even went in the bathtub with him this morning after we opened all of the gifts. He also likes his new t-ball set complete with his own little Easton lefty bat and t-stand and bases to run, and he is enjoying his new soccer ball and goal as well as his life size dump truck, cement truck and a multitude of other things! We just finished playing with a Christmas playdough set that included silver play dough...I think this was one of my half off finds at Target last year on the 26th!!

It is gray and rainy here today so we're just hanging around the house relaxing, watching Christmas movies, playing with new toys, and enjoying a quiet weekend before the activity that the next week will bring. P.S. I also included a photo or two from Jack's school concert which was after work last week Thursday night.

Time to vote!!

I saw my doctor again today and had a good 16-17 week appointment. I have gained a total of 4 pounds which is awesome at this point! The measurements all looked good and the baby's heartbeat was strong and the baby was very active! The heartbeat kept being cut out by big whooshing sounds which were movement! I am just starting to feel the first moves of the baby from time to time called "quickening".

The big new is that the Dr. agreed to let me have my ultrasound next week before we head north for Christmas! The ultrasound will take place early morning on Tuesday the 21st. Time to get your votes in as to whether you think it is a boy or a girl! If you don't want to "comment" directly on the blog, email me your vote and I will post the votes on Monday of next week before we go. I'm still not sure and will give my final vote by Monday. Jon thinks it is a girl!!

downward slide

Phew, it is ONLY Wednesday and this has already been one crazy week! I am feeling MUCH less stress today though and starting to see the light at the end of the upcoming Christmas vacation tunnel as we prepare for the trek north next week!!! We have had SO much going on at my office these past few weeks with year end approaching. For anyone that does NOT work in a law firm, YEAR END IS HELL!!! We do a ton of real estate transactions here and everyone wants to close before year end because in Florida, they have to be the legal owner of the property effective 1.1.11 to apply for our special homestead tax exemption which is HUGE for the coming year. If they close early next year, they have to wait THE ENTIRE YEAR to apply for homestead as you can only apply between Jan 1 and March 1 of any given year, but again, you have to be the legal owner effective 1.1 of the given year to get it for the year!! Dummies like Jon and I closed in February when we bought our first house and as a result, paid high taxes that whole first year. Our clients seek to avoid this so we are VERY BUSY right now. Obviously I was not a real estate lawyer at the time we bought our house or we would not have made that mistake!!

Combine that with the hustle of collecting money on outstanding accounts to close out the year and it is quite a busy time. We also have had multiple events after work each night this week but so far it has all gone well. This afternoon we meet with our financial planner for year end stuff with that and then we have another baby Doctor's appointment. All the gifts are wrapped, tonight we have to box and prepare them for shipping out tomorrow. I cannot wait to see how much that costs, I am starting to feel more like the grinch than Santa with the amount of effort making this trip takes. Everyone might get gift cards next year becasue this is A LOT of work. We have made it happen though for the past 5 years so at least for this year, we will do it again! See everyone next week!!!

Prayers have been answered!!

After much cat hunting this weekend, randomly last night around 8:00pm or so, Nicco just showed up on his own on our back porch where we keep his food and meowed LOUDLY at Jon when he walked past the window in the kitchen! I was sitting at the table and had long since given up looking out the window for him after he had been gone for 6 long days!! All the sudden, like the phoenix rising from the ashes that this cat is, he just SHOWS UP all on his own, geez and not a whisker out of place! He ate a bit, but not like he had not been fed for 6 days so someone must have fed him and he had no burs in his fur, and no signs of injury or a cat fight so who knows where he was at!!! Jon and I both joked and said we want to put a "Nicco Cam" on him to see where the heck he goes when he wanders off like this! He did this once in Sebastian and turned up about a week later too totally unharmed so wonders never cease! We are all glad he is back safe and sound, especially since lows last night were in the 30's and tonight is a record breaking low of 27, BRRRR!!!

Weekend fun

We're having another fun and busy weekend! Jon surprised me last night and took me to the Nutcracker, something I love and something we have not done together in years! When we were dating WAY back when we went a few years to the Toledo Ballet and I always enjoyed it so much. We also had a nice dinner out at a restaurant that is known for steak and seafood right on the water before the show. It was nice to have an adult meal and actually eat my fill of my meal without attending to a toddler's needs, tastes, and schedule!!

This morning we slept in a bit and then got up to get our act together for the day. We had a birthday party near our house this morning which was a lot of fun for Jackson. My friend Ashley has three little boys and her youngest, David, turned 1! I am pretty sure Jackson thought a house full of little boy toys was HEAVEN! There was trucks, cars, and Thomas stuff galore. To top that off (he would have been happy just playing with the kids and their cool boy toys) Ashley hired a party company to come with a train that took us on rides throughout the neighborhood during the entire party and they also rented a bounce house and at the end of the party the kids went away with freshly made cotton candy made right before their eyes!! When we pulled up to the house and Jackson caught site of the bounce house and then the train en route throughout the neighborhood filled with kids and moms, if he could have unhooked himself from the car seat and gotten out on his own, I would have been chasing him down! He had an absolute blast and crashed hard for a two hour nap as soon as we got home. I was quick to follow for a bit as I am convinced that birthday parties with toddlers are equally as exhausting for the parents as the kids!! I spent the rest of the afternoon getting more organized for Christmas, getting my card list together (I got my cards in yesterday so those will go out early next week) and also I had to clean the house and then Jon helped me make up a batch of sugar cookie dough to chill over night. We will make them tomorrow for my office and a foster kids party next week I am helping out at with the JLIR.

Tonight we got a few calls from neighbors thinking they saw Nicco so we got in the golf cart (which thankfully has lights) and went on a Nicco hunt throughout the neighborhood. We think we saw him twice but it was so dark and he woudl not come to us but RAN the other way so who knows. The Humane Society did tell me when they get lost or dis-oriented they will not respond to the owner as if they know them so who knows. We are going to try again tomorrow in day light but at least he is within a few yards of ours and seems like he is not hurt or anything. After our exhausting efforts to hunt the crazy cat down, we came back and made our gingerbread house from the kit we got at Sam's last week!

Hope everyone else is having a good weekend!!

6am spin

I am proud to say that I accomplished my goal this week of working out THREE times at the gym and I also made it to Friday morning 6am spin class along with my friend Melissa (who used to teach the class but is now pregnant with TWINS, due two days before me)!! The class was great, I am a bit tired, it was an hour long workout but I did not kill myself the way I would have if I was not pregnant and the doctor told me spin is a great workout for pregnancy since there is no resistance. The class goes M, W and F mornings so I think I will try to make it a few times each week!!

We've got another birthday party to go to tomorrow morning at a friend's house and we have to finalize our shopping adn wrapping and baking this weekend to get ready for my office cookie exchange next week, a foster kids Christmas party I am helping out at for the Junior League which is also a night next week, my office Christmas party which is also another night next week, and we are shipping out the gifts to Ohio next week!!

I am thankful it is Friday, this has been a busy week at work. I am also excitd it is Friday as Jon and I are going out tonight for the first time in FOREVER, just the two of us. We have our sitter coming at 6 to stay with Jackson and I have no idea where we are going, Jon was in charge and it is a surprise, details tomorrow!!

On another note, say a prayer for our baby Nicco, he has been missing since Tuesday and we have been calling for him and looking for him ALL over the place. He did not come in for dinner Tuesday night and it has been wet and cold and we cannot find him. I called animal control and the Humane Society yesterday, he has not turned up there but they are on the look out. I've also put flyers in all my neighbors mailboxes, I'm hoping a sweet old lady took him in and will call us!!!! What is the saint for animals...Saint Francis I think...say a prayer to Saint Francis for Nicco:)

movement!

I think I felt the baby move for the first time yesterday. It is just about 15.5 weeks so definitely within the realm of possibility. It was one of those weird twinges but it was low,down where the baby is right now and I was sitting still at work at my desk when I felt it so I'm pretty sure that was the baby and not something else! I felt the same weird feeling again last night while laying on the couch. I then got out my pregnancy week by week book and read ahead to week 16 which said "you have probably felt the baby move by now or will be feeling him/her very soon" and that confirmed it! I'm pretty sure the little flutter was the baby!! The books all says arms/legs are moving now so I'm guessing I'm not crazy and it was the baby!!

I'm continuing to feel good, this is a good stage in the pregnancy in that I'm not terribly sick feeling or tired. I know the tiredness returns at the end so I'm thankful I'm feeling good now while things are busy at work with year end rush going on and also while there is so much extra activity going on with the holidays.

busy weekend!!

We've had a fun but busy weekend! The fun started Friday as we decorated our house and got all of our decorations out and both trees up and decorated. We have our real tree from the tree lot in the living room and a smaller fake tree we've had for a while in our family room. Saturday brought more fun as we attended our friend Colton's second birthday party with a sesame street theme. We came home for a nap and then it was time to get ready to go to my office for the oceanside Christmas parade. We met up with a few of my co-workers and our friends at the office since the parade went on right outside our doors and had snacks, drinks and fun before the parade. Jack's favorite part of the parade was the police, ambulance and fire trucks and motorcycles at the beginning! He was in awe and kept saying "look, look, look at THAT"!! We had friends come back to our house after the parade for pizza from south beach pizzeria and to see our decorations...I had guests at my house until midnight! Then this morning despite the fact that Jack went to be at nearly 10:30 (he would not go down with everyone over) he was up before 7am and we opened our gifts from St. Nicholas, a tradition my family always celebrates! Jack was thrilled with his small gifts from us and from my parents and really, he knows no better and was content with what he got and it could have been his Christmas!!

I got nearly all of the wrapping done this weekend, we will begin the shipping process in the next week or so! I have just a bit more shopping to do but really we are in good shape!! This afternoon Jack and I wrapped up the weekend at the Dollar Tree buying toiletries for senior shut ins in the community. My office participates in a Santas for Seniors drive for this program so we did our part and got a few bags of items! Have a great week everyone!!

Picking the Peshke Family Christmas Tree!!

We took Jackson tonight to our local Exchange Club Christmas tree lot to select our family Christmas tree. This is the same lot that Jon and I volunteered on for the past 5 years prior to having Jackson in our lives! Now, we just support the club financially!! The plan was to get the tree this week and get it up and in the stand to fall out so we can begin decorating tomorrow and Saturday. We have a parade in town near our house Saturday night and we're having some friends over ahead of the parade so we want the house to be decked by the time they come over. Also, I realized that we really only have 2.5 weeks before we travel for the holidays so all of this work will be for us to be home to enjoy for 2.5 weeks...much of which we will be at work and school for...so we decided we better get going with it already!!

Here are some pictures of our wild man running amdist the trees! It is actually cold here, lows in the 40's at night for the next few days, highs only in the low 60's but with the wind chill, it feels like upper 50's and I am telling you, since it is normally 80 or so here and sunny, that really feels cold here!! It actually felt like Christmas tree weather while we were selecting the tree!!