Good News!

So my super awesome brother-in-law got a job in Southfield! This may not seem very exciting to any of you but to us Marlow's it means that we will have Peter back in Michigan. HAZAH! (that was for Dan) Peter as been living and working in NYC for the past 8ish months. Or so he says...when I asked if the new company in southfield was giving him moving expenses he replied that all he had was a duffle bag of stuff with him in NYC. Um that doesn't really constitute moving Peter! Anyway it made me laugh because it is so him. When he was a sophomore in college and moved into an apartment with some guys he slept on the floor/couch for 6 months becasue he never came an got his bed that was at our house in Wayland. I had to physically plan a date for him to come get it or I think he would have slept on that couch for his entire college career. Anywho despite the weirdness of him we love him and can't wait for him to come home...considering he has only been on an extened visit to NYC anyway:) We're so proud of you Peter! Come home now...I need my nursery painted:)

Progress

So here I am looking gigantic. For those of you who want to see my big pregnant belly. I do not however intend to show my bare skin because unlike you lucky mom's out there I DO in fact have many, many stretch marks. I did everything right...I didn't gain weight too fast I have been working out and putting lotion on my belly but I think if you you're going to get them your going to get them. Oh well I guess, I never really wore a bikini anyway so I guess it doesn't matter. The baby is a boy for those of you who don't already know. We don't have a name yet but even if we did we would't tell. We are keeping it a secret till the baby is born. Gotta have some secrects:) Um he is doing well, growing and moving. Actually today was the first time Dan got to feel him move by feeling my belly. He is finally big enough to feel from the out side. Although most of his movements are still only felt on the inside. Also here is an ultrasound picture that gives a pretty good profile view of the baby which by the way we have taken to calling Thor.

IKEA

So here I am being super cold like I always am these days. Whoever said pregant people are always hot are full of it. Anyway the real reason for this post is that we went to Ikea and got some cool things. A china cabinet and some DVD towers. That place is cool but super busy. It is not so much fun to go on a saturday when it is basically like an amusment park! Anway Dan put together these things and it is so nice to have out the china/crystal we have had packed away since Wayland.

(p.s. don't forget to check out Dan's guns in the tower pic.....he's been working out can you tell?)

The China Cabinet


The new towers....the tall ones are new.


Anway our house is really shaping up now if I can only get going on the baby's room! First we have to get rid of the furniture that's in there! Ok well not much else going on. For those of you who care I have an ultrasound on Thursday and i have been having growing pains which no one warned me about and they are not so fun. Plus I don't even get the bonus of puberty growing pains where you get to get taller no I just get fatter! Oh well at least I get a baby out of it:) Later dudes....

Name Contest

Here is the picture of us girls that Lisa wanted me to post of Amada's "angry" eye:) Not sure what she is doing the rest of us were pretending to be sad but Amanda the rebel that she is (she does have 2 tatoo's) decided to go angry. She makes me smile

Anyway.... Back to the real reason I am writing...
So a lot of people have been asking us if we have any names that we like for the baby. We haven't really thought about too much yet. There are maybe 2 or 3 that aren't bad but we thought it would be fun to get your opinion. So this is a baby name contest. There is no guaranty that we will pick a name from this list because ultimately we have the last say but I have to start somewhere. So here are the rules..

1. If you are posting a girl name it has to go with the middle name Mary. (I am fond of it considering it is my middle name my mother's name and my grandmother's name)

2. No names that start with "M". I will not have a Mable or Mike Marlow. Too much alliteration.

3. Do not post a name that you want to name your child. What if we like it? Then you'll have to ask us not to use it and then we won't because we love it.

Other than that you can give first or middle names for boys or girls. I was going to buy a baby book or look online but this seemed more fun....Thanks to Lisa for the idea!

Oh yeah the winner gets bragging rights that they helped name the baby:)

The Smallest Marlow...and it's not me!

Here is the very first picture of our baby! It was so exciting to see and hear his/her heart beat today. I got all teary eyed:) They say from the size of the baby I am about 8 1/2 weeks along and my new and improved due date is June 11. Which the nurse lady could change again. Apparently not a very accurate science determining when babies are going to be born. I don't care as long as it comes! I am very excited and so is Dan. I will continue to update you all. The baby is between the dotted
line in case like Rachel on Friends you can't see it:) Enjoy!

A Bun in the Oven

Well for those of you who haven't heard the Marlow's are pregnant! This was confirmed by 2 doctors and 4 home pregnancy test's. We just wanted to be sure ok. I am feeling good but tired. No morning sickness which I am very happy about. I am really hungry all the time, but that's about it. I don't really feel pregnant. I am having trouble focusing on anything but me and the baby which isn't very helpful considering I forgot my friends anniversary and a commitment I had with the youth group all in the same week! Oh well they understood. Apperntly you are allowed to be forgetful when you are carring a child. I have noticed that you get away with a lot when you are pregnant. I am trying my best not to take too much advantage to this perk. So due dates and what not....well I saw my doctor on thursday and she said May 25 was the lucky day but she also said it will probally change becasue my cycles have been off the past couple of months. She said to schedule an ultrasound in the next 2-3 weeks to give her a better idea how far along I am. By the way I will be giving birth in a hospital and a I will be taking drugs if I feel the need. I know some of you blogger people out there have strong feelings about these things but I want you all to know that Dan and I are ok with our decision and I don't want any grief about it. But I would like some info on what all you mothers out there think about finding out the sex of the baby before he/she is born. I always thought I would find out but then I was talking to a friend and she was like it only the best present you ever get and you're going to ruin it! Did any of you feel that way? Ok well that is all I will post more news as it comes in....or at least I will try to! Please pray that the baby is ok through these first few months. BYE!

I CAN SEW!

I am just very excited about these curtains I made for my kitchen! I went to Jo Anne's with Robin and picked out fabric and she helped me with a pattern and I made them! It is the first thing I have made from scratch. I know it is only rectangles but it was hard for me! And it took me all day to do these three panels. One for above the sink and two for by the kitchen table. Anyway I have two more rooms to do. That is I have fabric for two more rooms so hopefully more pictures to come! Yeah I can make curtains!

above the sink

Open

closed

Trampoline...

...or in the words of Homer,"Oh, my God! Tramampoline! Trambopoline!"

So when my mom called to say her friend was getting rid of her trampoline and did we want it, this is the only thing that came to my mind and I actually shouted to my rather confused mother TRAMBOPOLINE! Which she said what? And Dan was laughing but basically we are getting a free trampoline. I t should be fun. I am worried I might break my ankle...again...but lets throw caution to the wind and say what Homer would say, "Kids, kids: once you get hurt, move aside and let other people jump." Hahaha. I love the simpsons...lets use this blog to remince about our favorite episodes...Here I'll make it easy for everyone...this is a site where it lists all the episodes of every season, plus it gives picture descriptions and quotes:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Simpsons_episodes

Anyway the trampoline comes today so everyone is welcome to join in a joyful jump, or in the words of Rodd and Todd:

Todd: Each leap brings us closer to God.
Rod: Catch me, Lord, catch me! (They collide and fall onto the ground). What have we done to make God angry?

HA! It doesn't get better than that!

Introducing Rebecca Lynn Bosman!

So one of my oldest friends got married last saturday. It was a beautiful wedding considering I went to it on about 3 hours sleep and full of cold medicine! Rebecca was truely a radiant bride and everything was so beautiful. Her bridesmaid dresses were the same color as mine (plum) so everything at the reception (including napkins) were purple. A dream come true for me. It was such a great wedding. Oh yeah and you know Sparty, the mascot for MSU? Yeah he joined in the festivites. He came to the reception and they played the MSU fight song, which everyone seemed to know except me and Dan:) It was funny. We just stood there like, "um yeah, go MSU!" :) So here are a few pics.

The new bride and me.

Rebecca and David Bosman

The new couple dancing and a better picture of the whole dress.

Peter Marlow

Check out my super cool brother-in-law's new blog. He is living in NYC now and has lots more interesting things to say than me:) We all miss you here in Michigan Pete!Also check out my husbands blog for links to some awesome home video's. Yes the squirrel one is there and the one of Jay running off the diving board...plus more! Enjoy!

Canada Pictures

Here's the whole family on a picnic on the way home.

Charlie after a swim in the lake! He hated it:)

Canadian Sunset

The cabin we stayed in...a.k.a. super ghetto

 

The Lost Pictures

Ok so I figured out how to post my pictures again but this is a first attempt. Next time I will try to put the text with pictures instead of 20 posts there should be only one in the future...enjoy them:)


Karen modeling her graduation cake.

Twinsy's Karen and Amanda bought the same bathing suit:)

 

Woo hoo I figured out how to put more than one pic! This one is Dan with his mackinac bridge hat on...HOT!

This is our late night trip to Glenn's (think Kroger only cooler) Karen almost fits!

 

The Gang. We are waiting for the fire works to start.

 

The Marlow Clan+Megan which we hope someday will be a Marlow!

 

This is Caleb's new Bride Robin...She's Silly, we like her:)

 

HOT BITES:)

Well I haven't posted in a long while so this will be a bullet list because a lot has happened...We have been out of town to parties ect. So Here has been what's up with us.

• We went to Caleb and Robin's wedding in Massachusetts. It was fun but short. Oh yes and the funniest part of the wedding to us was when Peter (who was a groomsman) was introduced as Peter Merlowe! Caleb did it on purpose because of our crapy DJ who couldn't pronouce our name right all evening!
  
• We spent 4 days at home after the wedding but nothing happened except I did a bunch of laundry so I could pack for our next jaunt.
  
• Then we were off to Peter's Graduation. Woo Hoo our new WMU grad. He then promtly moved to New York City to start his new high profile job at an Ad agency in Times Square!
  
• We left Kalamazoo and drove strait up to Gaylord for our annual 4th of July trip with Lisa, Paul, Karen, Jay and Amanda. We had so much fun I just love that we have this tradition! We went to fire works 2 different nights and yes we ate even though we weren't hungry!
  
• We got home from Gaylord on Wednesday evening, then on Friday we went to see the new pirate movie. It was good but I didn't enjoy the ending because you have to wait for another movie. Oh well.
  
• Saturday was Dr. Karen Piggotts graduation party. It was so fun! It was at the Piggotts Sr. house which has a pool which is my favorite place to be! Congrats to Karen!
  
• This past week I have been spending most of my time with Heather. We have been to the coolest pool ever twice. The Grosse Pointe community pool. I want to live at this pool. It is GINORMOUS! It has a separate pool just for diving boards, plus a water slide, plus I just love it. We went there yesterday though with one of my youth group girls and her friend and I am pretty sure we all got a bit of a sun burn. Mostly me:( Oh well it was worth it...I LOVE THE POOL!
  
• We leave next week for Canada. Family vacation with Dan's fam. Should be a good time I will post pics when we get back.
  
• I am in the process of trying to start a webpage so you all can see the awesome videos I film from my camera...I mean they are "shorts" but they are butt funny:)
  
• Something is wrong with blogger's picture posting option thingy. That is why there are no pics to this post. Which I am very upset about because I hate posting without pics. If anyone want to help me out with this problem I would be most grateful. I have been waiting to post this entry for almost a week so I could wait for the pictures but stupid blogger won't let me add them to the entry! ARG!

Ok that is what is up with me. Busy summer! Oh yeah the title of this post refers to Amanda talking about Lisa's mosquito bites.....She had a lot of them and they were hot....HOT BITES!

Charlie

Apparently, this is how Dan's parents dog sleeps! It made us laugh so hard we had to get a picture. We are dog sitting and it makes me want a dauchaund so much....short haired though. This dog has so much fur! Anyway here's to Charlie who can sleep upsidedown!

I Control The Computer

Woo Hoo! I figured out the dumb computer language of this blog. Well really I just cut and paste a lot until I got it right. Anyway I put up a booklist that I have been wanting to add for sometime. Although I don't know how to differentiate the books that I already read and the books that I am in the process of reading. Well for now the last two I am in the process of and all the rest I have finished. I love books. Ok well I am just excited I figured it out! I even linked them to Amazon.com! I guess that class in college really did help:) I played around with the layout of the the right side too. Hope you like my changes! Later for now! Here's a pic to enjoy because I know you love em!

This is us at the movies being silly...surprise, surprise

Happy Birthday AMANDA!

Hurray for Amanda Sternberg! Today is this lovely girls birthday and so lets celebrate her! (and I guess Mr. And Mrs. Sternberg for succeeding in procreation for a second time) She has blessed my life in so many ways and I am sure you all feel the same:) So I am going to write five reasons she is super cool and everyone else in blogdom can add on....

1. She speaks her mind.

2. She is funny without knowing it sometimes (ie: something stover)

3. She is tall and blond which is evidently a requirement to be one of my friends....(Lisa, Karen, Katie and my newest tall blond friend from church Jen!)

4. She is a wonderful example of how to love the Lord and obey him, she is a true servant.

5. This may sound weird but she is decisive. When there is an issue or a problem she can solve it. She can get people to stop arguing (oh lets say about what kind of pizza we should get) and get them to just decide (so we can eat!)

Anyway, there are about a million more things we all love about her, I am sure. So share your thoughts! It's time to celebrate Amanda Marie Sternberg!

love you Mander:)