20 weeks

Wow, can't believe we're half way through already! We had our big "make sure everything looks alright" ultrasound on December 28th... and the preliminary results are that everything for mom and baby looks great! Below are the latest pics:


Profile pic, including button nose!















Good looking spine and brain.
















Likes to sit cross-legged like mom...















Tiny feet!















Guess we need to seriously be thinking about baby names now....

Our Christmas Letter is below for 2009 for those that didn't get a copy for some reason. Lots to look forward to in 2010!!

"Dear Friends and Family:

Warmest wishes this holiday season, as we hope this letter finds you well. As many of you have also experienced, 2009 has had its “ups and downs”. We feel blessed in many ways that we are ending the year on an “up swing.” We have always said that no matter the big things that happen - good or bad - it’s the little things that make life special. Having you as part of our lives has helped us make it through our rough patches.

John’s year has had some of those big life events. John’s dad, David Horton, was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer and had a prolonged recovery period. His brother, Pat Horton, had his first son (Luke) in January prematurely. His school was one of the ones listed as closing in 2010. However, the year has turned around – the school is staying open, and Luke and David are both doing well. John was determined to run a marathon this year, so he ran the Red Wing ½ Marathon this August. And John’s new favorite place – the TCF Bank Stadium, home of the U of M Gophers Football team – opened this fall. This latest group of 5^th graders has been quite a behavioral challenge, but everyone, including John, is finally getting into the groove of things.

Last spring break, we decided to relax a bit after this stressful start to the year and enjoy some sunshine – in Kauai HI! We never imagined that we would get to travel there at our young age. It was beautiful, and we’re already saving for “next time.” We went through Hawaii withdrawal so bad that we have a whole section on iTunes with cheesy Hawaiian music. J We also took a quick jaunt to Denver in June to see Becky’s Aunt Judy and her family. Finally, we were treated when the Horton extended family came into town, which was capped off by Gopher game in November.

Becky continues to work at Fairview’s Acute Rehab. Continuing education classes have taken up some time this year, and she has been focusing on her clinical instruction skills (she had three more students to mentor, and volunteered at a free-clinic run by students). She has continued to work on some of her “off” days at Ofstead as a Research Associate – being paid to be a geek and read tons of research articles.

Although we are both satisfied with our accomplishments and experiences this year, we are most proud by the expectant birth of our first child in May 2010. We have been trying to start a family for some time, and feel blessed that we are now able to bring a child into the world. In some ways, it seems as if our lives have been on hold for the past few years, and this is what we have been waiting for. Soon we will start to put together a nursery and sign up for prenatal classes. “Baby Who” is the name for now, because we don’t know “who it is” quite yet…. And we can’t wait to meet him/her!

Much love,

Becky & John Horton"

15 weeks

Hello all!

Went in for the 15 week checkup yesterday, meeting another of the midwives in our practice at Riverside. She said that both I and the munchkin are growing appropriately. She had a hard time (again) getting the heartbeat on doppler- "I can hear you moving! Now stop for just a minute so I can get your heartrate..." (It ended up being in the 160's again.) We've got a mover and a shaker, apparently. Maybe it's better I can't feel it moving around quite yet... it is sitting/squirming on my bladder.

I had my first non-direct colleague ask if I was pregnant yesterday as well. Pretty exciting to be able to say "yes!"

We have the big 20 week ultrasound the week between Christmas and New Years.... not sure if we're going to find out the gender or not. John and I keep swapping opinions! :-) Either way, we should have pictures to post. I can't wait to see our little Who again!

Thanks again for all of your love and good wishes!

Desparately in need of an update!

Sorry to those that have been trying to keep up with us for nearly the past year on this Blog. The truth of the matter is that our life got pretty intense for a while there, and I'm sure will get more so soon enough!

We were struggling through infertility. We've been trying to start our family for years now, and we finally got hooked up with the Reproductive Medicine Center at Fairview. About the time our posts stopped, we were getting poked, prodded, loaded up with all different kinds of hormones, procedures completed, and it finally all came to a head with IVF this summer.

Luckily, were were blessed with success on the first round with a pregnancy that is now 10 weeks old! On October 2nd we got to see the first pics of our future child. Yesterday we had our first appointment with a midwife where it was confirmed that we have an active little bugger (doing lots of squirming and backflips), and that there is just one in there (2 embryos were transferred). We didn't get any new ultrasound pics this week, but here are the ones from week 8:

The "close-up" - bottom near the top, head pointing down
















A view of the spine (the black line down the middle)
















A heartbeat! 167 bpm!
















We are very excited as we watch our family grow, one day at a time. Estimated date of arrival is May 14, 2010!

Christmas Letter 2008

Dear Friends and Family:

Warmest wishes this holiday season, as we hope this letter finds you well. It has been another wonderful year on our end, as we have shared new experiences and taken on new challenges. Between the house, travel, and work, we have made 2008 a very busy year!

Our house on Michigan Street has brought us many headaches over the years, but it seemed like 2008 was our best year in the house. In January we found that we had a hole in our second floor ceiling that was leaking air into our attic, which was the main cause for the house being so cold. It was also shocking that we didn’t have insulation on the second floor at all! So with that fixed, and the asphalt slab removed and replaced with a brick driveway, our nightmare house is becoming our dream home. We plan to work on the 20 years of finishing touches next, but we do look forward to them.

Our travels this year have taken us across the country. We both went to Nashville this spring and got to see some of the “South,” including the emergency room! Becky went to Georgia to work on a vestibular certification, which is the study of balance and the inner ear. She was there for a week of learning, but didn’t see much of Atlanta due to her studies. John was busy traveling this year as well, as he went on a baseball tour of 6 cities in 7 days with his older brother Michael. Becky was also east in Virginia this year having a “Girls weekend” with her friends from PT school. We have spent time camping and visiting South Dakota on mini-trips, but we look forward to March when we both have spring break off. It may be a trip to Roseville this year with the economy, but at least we’ll travel together!

Becky has been busy with work on Fairview’s Acute Rehab. She mentored 3 students this past year. The days are busy, the patients challenging, and her coworkers great friends. She returned to Ofstead as a research associate – her old college job. She enjoys the challenge and spontaneity of the work, not to mention her fabulous team!

John is working hard for his 5^th grade classroom this year. However, he has made attempts to cut back. He directed two plays, was nominated for a teaching award, taught summer school, and is teaching afterschool classes now. He still loves going to work, and his green and gold hair will prove it (see the Shutterfly pics)!

Stay healthy and warm, as we keep you all in our thoughts this holiday season. We hope you had a wonderful 2008, and we are excited about spending 2009 in your company.

All our best,

Becky & John Horton

http://jbhorton05.blogspot.com

Random thoughts

• I have the best hubbie ever. He surprised me with a Bread & Chocolate Chocolate Croissant this morning.
• I am avoiding folding the laundry that has been sitting in the basket since Wednesday.
• Looking forward to shopping at Borders as soon as J gets ready.
• Slowly contemplating my introductory coaching questions that need to be emailed out by Tuesday. Did I mention that I am starting professional coaching?
• Loving the big fluffy snowflakes that are coming down.
• Christmas is really here.
  

Update on Fall

Hello all!

So sorry that the Fall completely got away from me. Winter has arrived in Minnesota this last week. We had 70s as recently as 10 days ago... but the coin has flipped, and we've been waking up to white stuff on the car almost every day. It has been melting off, but we all know that won't last for much longer!

The fall was very busy with various projects: campaigning for the Democrats (hurray, hurray on the outcome of that!), trip to Virginia for Becky, car trip to South Dakota for both, 3 weddings (one in Texas), ending of a PT student clinical, several Gopher football games, and WICKED at the Orpheum last Wednesday. Not to mention completion of some outdoor house projects, preping the house for winter, craft completion, and the usual work stuff. Whew! My brother taught me how to knit last week... no rest of learning for the weary!

For those that would like to see John's only play this school year, Anansi the Spider, it is playing at 7p on 11/18 & 19 at Lincoln Elementary in Anoka. Email me if you'd like to carpool.

We are looking into taking the plunge of buying another car. So far in the running are Toyota Corolla and Matrix. Unfortunately it seems like the premium cost of buying a hybrid does not pay off in equal gas savings over the life of the car. Maybe the financial crisis will balance that out.... if you have other suggestions of vehicles to look at, drop me a line.

Since it's unlikely that I'll write again before Thanksgiving, I wish you all the best for the beginning of the holiday season. We are thankful for all that you all have done for us over the last year. You all are truly the best gifts that we can recieve.

Stay warm! :-)

Fall weather

Hello again!

After a few months of heat, we are back into our favorite season: Fall. The 2nd half of summer was a whirlwind of travel (John to the East for a baseball park trip, Becky to Illinois, and both camping) and outdoor house project completion (for the most part!). There's something very refreshing about a lazy rainy weekend.... it forces you to sit in the house and tackle some projects you've been meaning to do. Like wash the kitchen floor, change the sheets, and catch up on some reading. While perusing the stack of magazines on our coffee table, it was discovered that John is famous once again! Check it out! http://www.nea.org/neatoday/0809/futuretense.html -- he's the last comment under Politics.

Not much else to announce, other that it's going to be a very busy 4 weeks, so please excuse us if we don't communicate too much!