I'm It!!!!

I was tagged by Christi so here it is...




This is our baby on Dec. 3, 2008 - I was 19 weeks pregnant and that day we found out that we are having a boy. Speaking of the baby; we have decided to name him Lucas Tyler Kepner... we really like the name regardless of our families' distaste.

Here are the instructions:

Go to the place where you store all of your pictures on your computer
and open up the 4th folder.
Open the 4th picture.
Post the picture and give an explanation.
Tag 4 people

I tag Jenny, Martha, Tobi, and Liz

More pictures and updates on Lucas are coming soon!!

Random Thoughts

HI! So I know it's been a little while but we've been a little busy around here. First of all, I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We had a great time with the Kepner (and Thompson) family. Tyler and I did not exchange presents because we bought a MacBook a few months ago and that was our Christmas to each other. Tyler did give me a perfume I've wanted for a while and I gave him my "upgrade" so he could get the iPhone hahaha.
Besides Christmas we've been busy cleaning and emptying Peanut's room. We took a lot of stuff out that we had in the closet and other places. The room was nice and empty so we could paint. We are thinking a nice light green. Well... I said it was empty because my in-laws showed up with a beautiful white chest of drawers last weekend; then today they delivered some of the baby stuff we inherit from our niece Ella; and we move the changing table from the garage to the bedroom to visualize set ups and spacing. We are getting really excited about the baby's room and all the stuff in it; decoration, furniture, clothes, and all the other things that come with it.
I am happy to tell you that we have also narrowed down our baby name list to 2 names... YES!!! Two names that we both like. Soon we can ask Christi to monogram some cute stuff from her store P3 Well, I guess I've gone from Christmas to baby... sorry. I am just so excited about getting ready for our baby.
As we get ready to end this year I stop and think about how it feels like it was just yesterday that we were in Costa Rica spending Christmas with my family and a few days at the beach talking about the year to come and what to expect. If we only knew that we would be pregnant with a little boy!!! Now we just thank God for His blessings and mercies for the year 2008. Got us thru some rough times but also brought us some great times. We have grown closer to HIm and as a couple and it really was something we needed. I can't wait to find out what's in store for 2009 with Peanut in the picture. We were talking about how weird it's going to be to say " this is my son" or be called mommy and daddy...I pray that God leads us to the right path, His path and that we are smart enough to follow.
Now that I have talked about a little bit of everything... sorry again... I'm going to go and leave you with some pictures from Christmas. I hope everyone has a Happy New Year and many blessing to your family from mine.

This is us at Jenny and Paul's house on Christmas Eve


Me showing off the belly on Dec. 23th.

Halfway there!!!

WOW!!! I can't believe we are 20 weeks pregnant already! It seems like few weeks ago that I took the pregnancy test and I could not believe my eyes when I saw a positive. As you may already know, we are having a boy and we are very excited! I have picked out a few things I want for the nursery and we are trying to clear out the "office" so it can become the baby's room.

One of our biggest issues right now is trying to pick out Peanut's name. We have a top 5; however, Tyler's top 5 is a bit different than my top 5 so it's more like a top 8 hahahaha. We need names that both families can pronounce and that go well with our last name. Also, we are going to register our child as a Costa Rican citizen so Peanut will have Kepner Mendoza as last names... yes, we keep both father's and mother's last names. We are reading Baby Names books but haven't found "the one."

Even though Peanut has no name yet; we are very excited about picking the color for the room and decoration. We bought a wonderful crib and changing table; we also have been lucky to get our niece's (Ella) baby stuff like a rocking chair, pack-n-play, high chair, and many other things that we will find out about when we get them from my mother-in-law's house.

Since I haven't taken any pictures that really show my belly, I wanted to post this little picture (from babycenter.com) that let's me know each week the progress of our little one and what he "look like this week."




We will have a busy January getting Peanut's room ready as much as we can. We are flying to Costa Rica in February and need to leave with as much done as possible. My mom is going to throw us a big baby shower while we are down there. We are also going to the beach for a few days... gotta love summer in February! It will be a nice time with my family.

So, that's the update for now... I promise I will take some pictures of the belly soon and post them. I hope everyone is having a great time getting ready for Christmas and remember the real meaning of this time.

Much Love,

Susie (& Peanut)

It's a baby boy!!!!!

We are very excited to announce that we are expecting a baby boy!! We are so thankful, we feel so undeservedly blessed, and can't stop thanking the Lord for such a gift in our lives. I can't find the words to express how we feel right now... so I won't try. I'll leave you with the pictures and I'll come back to this subject... trust me; there will be a lot more on Peanut/Baby Kepner.

The Beat

So this is Tyler's first entry to the Kepner's blog. I figured it was time to give it a go. I feel as if I'm entering a whole new world of internet communication (maybe I'm behind the times). Yesterday, Susie and I went to the 4th appointment for her and the baby. This was a very simple check up to make sure things are progressing as expected, with the exception of one very important discovery: we heard our baby's heart beat for the very first time! It was amazing, I kept trying to imagine what that would feel like, what emotion I might experience - and, of course, I was way off. The moment the doctor placed the instrument to Susie's tummy, we heard this incredibly rapid beat. As if the baby had run a marathon or something. Absolutely amazing. So far this journey of pregnancy has revealed to me just how indescribable God's creation really is. I've always been captured by God's infinite wisdom, power, and presence - but yesterday was something completely new for me and Susie. This tiny little being inside her is a gift from God we will never take for granted.
In a time when this country has redefined the beginning of life and, through courts of law, decided that women have a "right" to take that life - I, as a father-to-be, stand amazed at this perfect gift from God, captivated by the precious audible sign of life. This post comes a few days after the election of Barack Obama, arguably the most liberal law maker in our country's short existence. This man has pledged to bring about even more liberal laws permitting partial-birth abortions within his first acts as commander in chief. There's only one question I would ask him on this issue if I had the chance: "Mr. President-elect, are you glad your mother chose NOT to abort you"? To which he might respond with some classy, yet meaningless quip. However, I would venture to say that the thought has never crossed his mind. I didn't mean to get off subject - but I do want to point out that, as Christians, we have rights we may lose if we are not careful. Pray for this country...everyday, pray that God's hand of protection will continue to be upon His people. I know God has a plan for this nation as we move forward. But if we are not careful, we may just lose the right to voice our opinion on these matters. God bless you and yours and may God bless America!

GO 'NOLES!!!!!!

On October 25th we went to the FSU vs. Virginia Tech game in Tallahassee and had a blast! We had great seats next to the marching band; they day was perfect and so was the company. Here are few pictures from that day.







Last week we spent some time with our friends Matt & Martha (and their little Maegan); they are on the way from Texas to North Carolina so they stopped by for one night only visit. We wished they could stay longer but know we'll just have to go vsit them. Here is our picture before they left:



I'll be posting soon after our Dr's appointment on Wednesday. ' Till then...

Update!!

Hello all!!

I know it's been a while but I can finally update you on what's going on in our lives... Wow! It feels like forever since I last posted; also it feels like I have so much to say but not really LOL!!
So, my dad came to visit us in September; we picked him up in Atlanta and drove to Durham, NC to see my aunt and uncle. We had a great time with them! We didn't do much but hang out; I think that was the nice thing about that trip. Here is a picture of us eating outside after a cookout...



The last day, right before we left, they gave us a sweet present. It's our baby's first outfit. It's for Christmas next year and is conveniently green in case baby is a girl we can girly it up with a red or pink top and a cute pair of shoes ;-) So here it is a picture too..


After leaving NC we went to Atlanta to watch the Braves play the Phillies; which turned out kind of cool now that they won the World Series. We had a great time. This was my dad's first MLB game so he was very excited taking pictures of everything. We came back to Pensacola and spent a few days at the beach; it was nice and warm and the water at a perfect temperature. My daddy sadly left two weeks later but we really enjoyed his visit.


We are now 15 weeks pregnant and I've been feeling sooooo tired and with no energy whatsoever. I never got morning sickness (Praise the Lord!) but I spent a lot of time sleeping. It really felt weird because that's very unlike me. I'm normally running around and finding things to do but not the past few weeks. I felt asleep in the couch EVERY time we sat down to watch tv, I was going to bed early and almost falling asleep at work (LOL!. Also I've been VERY hungry. Not like "I think I'll have a snack" kind of hungry but STARVING hungry; every 2 to 3 hours I just want to eat whatever is in front of me. I had to go to the store and we went to the Farmer's Market and got a bunch of fruit, yogurt, cheese, and others so I can snack freely.

Since this past weekend I feel a lot better... more like myself. I have more energy and I still get hungry but it's not so bad. I think is 'cause I'm now on that 2nd trimester (Thank you Jesus!!) Finally cleaned the house like it needed it to be. Tyler has been such a great help; he has let me sleep when I need to and has been really good about quick and not so good meals. This past Tuesday he got home with bags of groceries and cooked for me... Yes, you read it right Tyler COOKED!! He made Fettuccine Alfredo from scratch. It was so delicious! He's just great... He helped cleaned the bathrooms and pick up around the house. I'm so thankful :-)

We have our next Dr's appointment on Nov. 5th. We'll get to hear the heartbeat and make sure that our little "Peanut" is growing healthy. I know he's growing cause my clothes let me know... shopping anyone?! So I promise I'll be posting next week with new updates on baby and ultrasound pictures.

That's all for now... I will have to post pictures of our trip to Tallahassee this past weekend for the football game. Here is a picture we took about two weeks ago at a friend's wedding at the Pensacola Yatch Club. 'Till next time...