Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Since we won't be sending out our (late) Christmas cards and letter this year, I thought I would update here!

As you know, we are expecting a baby on June 2, 2009! Our BIG ultrasound is January 9 and quickly approaching. Make sure to visit often because we will have an update on baby boy or girl Batson :)

The year 2008 started out in a new home in St Louis. Jerret was working at Barnes and Noble and Stephanie at SLU. Stephanie had a huge video launch to promote the college. (See it HERE) She worked really hard with Coolfire Media in St Louis!

In February, Cameron from Kansas City came to visit! He wanted to learn a little about Steph's video and what to do in college. We had a good time showing him Coolfire's loft office and a few other neat St Louis places! In March, we visited Doug in Chicago and both went on trips with friends to Memphis, TN.

March was also when Jerret took a NEW job at Purina. He works days and not weird hours now!! We are so proud of him for taking a leap and getting the job! April took us to Indianapolis, IN for little Sarah Brush's wedding. Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher really know how to throw a party!

In May, Rayna graduated from high school and in July we took a Batson family float trip on the black river in Missouri. (Dirty, but fuN!) Our friend Brandon was married to a great woman in central IL in July too.

September, we went on a bachelor/bachelorette party to Kentucky Lake for Jerret's dad Mike. We had a blast there! In October, Mike and Ashley became Mr. and Mrs. Batson! We had fun being in the wedding and sharing OUR great news with family.

October, November and December consisted of doctor's appointments, excitement, and family visits. From Tremont to DuQuoin to St Louis we were always visiting family!

We hope 2009 brings you and your family as many blessings as our year has in store for our new family!

Current Basement LOOKS like...

Here it is. The boys are working hard to make this room awesome!


Drywall is up!


12X9 bedroom for guests--with one door! Not three!

Workbench.

Basement Update 1 of 2

So the guys have been working in over-drive to get the basement completed. It is looking great. Here are some pictures from LAST week. Next post will be the current progress.

Looking at the bedroom--has insulation!


Collier gets a cold one!

Jerret standing in the doorway : ) What a cutie!

Baby Batson update!

Just saw Dr. Lauri Klabi this week and baby is doing well. I heard the heartbeat and scheduled my appointment for the BIG ULTRASOUND! We find out if we are having a BOY or a GIRL on Friday, January 9, 2008 at 9am! (If baby cooperates!!)

To make it more fun, we are going to do a 50/50 drawing! $5 to enter, only one entry per person. You can guess BOY or GIRL and the winning group will be put in a hat and drawn out by Momma Steph! The winner gets 1/2 the money and the parents-to-be get to spend the other half on baby stuff! In order to enter, you MUST have your money to us by January 5th. We will announce the winner on the blog along with whether or not we will have a BOY or GIRL baby in June. (Of course, we will do a pool closer to the due date for date and time of delivery of new baby!)

I'm excited to have started clearing out the nursery (it had eBay stuff to sell and TONS of crafting stuff!) and getting ready for the holidays at the house.

Jerret is staying busy with finishing the basement and studying for his GMAT test. Please keep us in your prayers, as we are searching for an affordable daycare option in August, Jerret takes his GMAT test and applies to Grad school in January, and we want baby Batson to arrive safely.

We have a few more requests: our family members, health for friends and family, traveling over the holidays, Don to heal fully, baby Noah's life, Joanne's mission fundraising, Joan's heart, Sue, friendships at church, our marriage, Tatia's baby and being back to work, and our enemies.
LUVS--Steph
PS, here is a picture that Jerret took while Steph tried on maternity clothes for the first time (plus, an additional belly! "This is what Steph will look like in 5 months", says Jerret!

Cuddles

Jerret and I like to cuddle on the couch and watch TV or a movie together. Sadie (dog) and Snickers (cat) beat us to it! They spent some time sleeping together the other day! Sweet dreams girls!

THANKSGIVING

So we were ready to get out of town for Thanksgiving and here are some photos and comments. We went to Tremont and had a great time. We even went shopping on black Friday! (Of course we only picked up a faucet and a light for the house!) We had dinner with Beth, Drew, Brandon and Gayle and a lunch date with Gary and his wife, Lindsay! Whew, were we glad to see everyone and then head home BEFORE the snow hit our area!

Aunt Deb, Steph and Rena after a HUGE Thanksgiving dinner! YUM



Babe, Noah playing with his new Christmas present. A CAT tractor from Aunt Pooh (Aunt Steph)

Baby Noah and daddy.

He is TOO cute! Love that hat, kiddo!

Noah learned how to kiss, he LICKS you! I love baby kisses

Breakfast, Bible, Blog

So, I was told a few times that I need to update my blog more often. SO, here it is friends. I am trying a new morning routine out. First, I'll eat breakfast--because who can blog on an empty stomach? Then, I will do my morning devotions (or try to!) Then, after God and food are out of the way, I will blog it up.

Basement update: Jerret and his buddies are making some great strides towards the basement remodel. They have made a bigger mess than even I can imagine! Now, to clean up and add in some new walls! I will take a few shots and post them tomorrow. The goal is now to have drywall up by or near Dec 1. That sounds good to me!

Baby update: the word is out and I'm getting excited with my expanding waistline. This week, we are a PEACH. Check out the Bump's weekly fruit anaology! I'm feeling pretty good and moving around a lot more than the first weeks. I am "officially" in the SECOND TRIMESTER! A little overwhelmed with labor/delivery realities, but I am excited (already!) to meet a new Batson. Please pray for my trust in God that He will help me through labor and delivery and to not worry too much. Also, we are super blessed with both having jobs, but we do need to trust God more about our finances and a babysitter for future babe Batson.

What's new? Stephanie joined a Monday night women's small group at Rooftop Community Church I really love meeting weekly and talking about Christian ideas and the Bible. Its wonderful. We just decorated the church last night (ok, so I talked a lot, hung a few ornaments and drank hot chocolate) so I will try to get photos next Sunday!

Jerret update: he works all the time! The basement is his life, but he still enjoys snoozing off on the couch with Sadie Mae.

BIG News

So, our BIG News is---





We're having a baby!

Baby Batson will be 12 weeks in the making tomorrow! We are one short week away from the second tri-mester and I could NOT keep this secret any longer!



Daddy Jerret is really excited and visited the last appointment at 11 weeks. Sometime in January we will find out if our baby is a boy or girl! And, of course we will continue to update this blog (more often now!) to give you baby updates.



I haven't been really sick, just nauseous and VERY picky when eating. I'm still working out (as much as possible with all that fatigue!) and trying to be healthy for baby and me. For the family who asked: we are getting a baby Christmas list ready. Be patient--because I have to!



A new member of the Batson family will join us on or around JUNE 2, 2009!

Basement Demo

Basement Demolition.
Jerret and Eric have been working on our basement....I hope to have LOTS of updates in the next few weeks/months.


BEFORE demo (from the stairs)



AFTER! See, there are those stairs! You can see all the way through!

The boys are really working hard on their "man room." It will be a safe place for the guys to hang out in the winter months and play Guitar Hero, darts, cards, whatever! Plus, we will have a nice-sized bedroom downstairs too! Beautiful!

Katie and Scott's Wedding!

We went to Katie and Scott's wedding reception on Saturday, November 8th. It was fun to reunite with old SIU-C friends and dance a little!


Jerret and Steph at the reception, located in the Third Degree Glass Factory! We watched them make and blow glass projects during the reception!


Dedication to Chris Jones. Jerret, Angie, Chuck, Katie and Richie

Our buddies from Indy! Jason and Sarah, what a cute couple!

Baltimore/Halloween/Birthday Fun!

I left with Sue (from work) to Baltimore, Maryland. We presented a poster about marketing the Allied Health Professions at SLU. When we left, the weather was so NICE in St Louis--but it was COLD in Baltimore! I got out the red winter coat!

Sue on the harbor!!


Sue and Steph at the harbor!

Baltimore!

Amy and Katie from Nutrition and their posters!

Steph and Sue with poster!

The day I arrived home from Baltimore was the Rooftop Halloween party!

Angela (with banana hat in the background!) Baby/Monkey Jack and Stephanie!

What a cutie pie!

Tom, Kayla and Gilligan! at the trunk or treat!

Thomas and Kayla

Sadie with her duck and daddy J.

Sadie was a DRAGON for Halloween 2008!

We celebrated my birthday on Nov 1 this year! A nice dinner and movies on the couch! Love it!

Now, I feel old!

Women's Retreat

Rooftop Women's retreat in north St Louis, October 24

The retreat was great. Judy talked about how women carrying around too much baggage. We take guilt, fear, worry, and more in all the things we do. We learned and talked about how to rid ourselves of this baggage through the love of Christ.

The retreat was time to have fellowship with Christian women and rEfUeL our bodies with God.

In addition, it was a good-ole-fashion GIRLY slumber party! We had so many snacks! It was awesome : )


Just hanging out

Fellowship Time!

Apples to Apples got a little rough!

Heather and Kristy BOTH trying to win!

I took a walk to the cemetery on the grounds. Lots of time to reflect on how God has been working in my life.

Batson Wedding Weekend

Saturday, October 12 was SIUC's homecoming....so, I took Mike and Jerret down to do a little celebrating! Here they are entertaining themselves!

Steph and Mom--a very exciting day!

Lum, Steph, Mike and Rena--acting goofy at the Rehearsal dinner Sat night

Mike and Jerret hugging.....what a celebration!

Rena and Uncle Greg conspiring and causing trouble.

Christine, Ryan and Ash at the rehearsal dinner

Pretty bride getting ready for her beautiful Sunday wedding

Yum! Cake!

First dance of Mrs and Mr Mike Batson!

The weekend was fun and crazy with LOTS to celebrate!

Tremont Visit

So, I suck at keeping this updated, but today I'm going to get through these awesome events. Stay tuned...here they go.


I visited Mason's football game. Here is father (coach) and Son (#92) on the sidelines!


Noah visited the game with dad (bill), grandma Rena and auntie Steph. Of course I couldnt help but take some pictures of him!

Dial Up

So my mom switched her old dial up Internet connection to a NEW fast one. SO, (now that Rena is in the new Internet world!) this blog is for her, ma-Alice, and new-mom to see what is going on in St Louis when they aren't here!

Here is Jerret and Eric on Jerret's 29th Birthday!

Jerret, Eric and Mike and I went to dinner at Alandale Brewery in Kirkwood. It was a good time--Jerret even got a free birthday shot! Then, we came back to the house and took some photos. The boys went out downtown while I stayed home and slept. Overall, it was a good birthday (I think) for Jerret.

I'll have some awesome pictures of Baltimore, Maryland for my birthday. I was accepted at a conference for work and will be presenting about health sciences marketing. Sue (from work) is going with me and we should have a fun time! Two girls in Baltimore! Yahoo! Here we are at Elizabeth's wedding. Aren't we cute !!?!

I'll have TONS of pics of Billy's baby, Noah, after this weekend. We are heading to T-town!

New Blog

Well, I thought since I am writing so many other blog posts and comments for work and life I would put one up for our family. I know J won't write too much, but it is a fun way to share our activities, plans and fun things we find online. We hope you enjoy it!

We just visited Crestwicke Country Club in Bloomington, IL for a wedding. Wow, was it a beautiful wedding. I have photos to share in the future. The gazebo was pretty, the lawn was very well manicured and the clubhouse was a nice building. We did hear some swimmers in the pool, but hey--its a country club! If I were getting married in central IL again/for the first time, I would consider this great place! Oh, not to mention the food was excellent--YUMMY beef and lots of it!