18 weeks

Here is my 18 week picture. This was taken after our trip to the buffet for Valentine's Day. I think we ate enough but I felt awful afterward. We probably won't be hitting any buffets until after Bo is born. I haven't gained very much weight so far, about 9 lbs total, but I already feel fat. Dean decided we would call the baby Bo, short for Baby Orvis. Slightly cheesy, but he thinks it's great. Nothing too much has happened this week. We are pretty sure we felt Bo move. I haven't felt much movement yet but the doctor keeps telling us we have a very active baby so I am sure I will feel enough movement as my pregnancy continues. My only cravings this week have really been for Cheesecake and Valentine's candy. Most of my pants do not button or zip. I created some belly bands to wear over them so I can still wear my prepregnancy pants for a few more weeks. Only two weeks until our ultrasound!!

Keeping Secrets

Our families have been keeping a secret for 6 weeks now. We decided it was probably time to let them share the news. Can you guess what it is?

Yes, we are having a baby!!

We asked our families to keep it quiet until we were ready to share and now the secret is out. It hasn't been too difficult for us to keep it a secret but I know some of our family members are bursting at the seams to start telling everyone.


 I am not going to keep a detailed pregnancy journal on here like some women but I will try to post weekly pictures so you can all see how big I am getting. Here are bits from the first 17 weeks.

 9 weeks

10 weeks

11 weeks

12 weeks-Heard baby's heartbeat for the first time. 155 bpm

13 weeks

14 weeks

15 weeks

16 weeks- Had a doctor appointment and heard baby's heartbeat again. 144 bpm



17 weeks

Thank you to our families for keeping our secret. We will be finding out the gender of the baby but not telling anyone until our first baby shower. Stay tuned for more baby bump pictures later on.

Autumn in Michigan

Hello again everyone!! It has been quite awhile since I have done any blogging but thought it was time for a new post. Fall has went racing by here in Michigan. One day I am admiring the leaves and beautiful colors and the next day all the leaves are gone. We have been very busy taking care of our animals, working, and getting prepared for winter. Volleyball is over for the season. It was fun and challenging. I have lots of ideas for next year. My parents came out a few weeks ago and helped us paint the trim on the house and stretch out the fence for the horses. Unfortunately, we had to decrease the pasture size because of hunting season and people accidentally thinking our horses could be deer. So no more grass for Shiloh and Lily. But hooray for hunting season. Hopefully, Dean can get at least one deer. I am going to sit in the deer stand with my kindle and be the deer spotter. They keep breaking the electric fence so they must be out there. We are loving living in Michigan. We do miss the warmth of Texas but love the land, our new church, and our animals. Even those pesky mice. Here are some pictures of fall around our house. We love it!!!

Product Giveaway! Don't Miss It!!!!!

I am having a giveaway during the month of October. Since it is Breast Cancer Awareness Month I thought it would be a great time to give away some great products in support of Breast Cancer Research. Go to my online AVON website and place an order. After your order is placed I will send you your FREE gift.
www.youravon.com/rorvis


Spend $15 and get a FREE breast cancer pin

Spend $25 and get a FREE pouch

Spend $35 and get a FREE backpack

*Offer good with

Campaign 21 and 22,

Ending October 23


Let me know if you have questions by email drorvis@gmail.com or facebook.

Happy Birthday to Me!!!!

• Tomorrow is my birthday!!! Happy Birthday to me. Today Dean took me to a fancy restaurant in town for lunch. Tomorrow we will be at the Pow Wow so we won't really get to celebrate my birthday. So we went today. The food was only ok anyways. Tomorrow we will eat some Native American Food!
• I thought I was going to get a really great early birthday present and get offered a really good job. It sort of worked out that way. It just wasn't not the job I originally wanted and interviewed for. I am disappointed but know that God has something planned just for me. I just have to stay patient. I am pretty excited about my birthday weekend plans and wanted to share.
• Tomorrow Dean and I are volunteering at the annual Pokagon Kee-Boon-Mein-Kaa Pow Wow. We are not sure what we are doing yet but I am excited to go and know it will be fun. I will post pictures next week.
• On Monday we are going to walk the Mackinac Bridge. It is an annual Labor Day walk Dean's family does every year. The bridge is 26,372 ft long. I am terrified. I hate bridges. I really hate bridges over water. I thought we would be able to jog it, which would make it go faster. Now that Dean tore his PCL we will be walking. He will be crutching. I will post pictures of that also. I hope you have a great weekend and Happy Labor Day. Buy Avon products from me. That would be a great birthday present. www.youravon.com/rorvis

August on the Ranch

Here is your monthly update on what's going on down at the ranch. I can't call it a farm. We don't have cows or corn. Things are going pretty well around here. The horses and goats are keeping us pretty busy. It seems like they are never satisfied. We have been letting the horses out into the yard to eat the grass. They do a pretty good job keeping it mowed. Shiloh and Lily are their names. We got them from a very nice family that lives in the next town over. They are both broke to ride and we have taken them across the road and down the trail behind the house and across the creek. Unfortunately, Dean tore his PCL playing softball on Sunday so we haven't been riding much this week. He can't ride and it is not much fun riding alone. George and Jorge (the goats) are doing fine. One morning George started sounding like a sick duck. Thankfully, he sounded normal at the end of the day. Sometime I will try to post a sound byte of how loud they are. They are cute, regardless. Here are some pictures of the horses, goats, and my garden. The plants are finally producing real veggies!!!

George and Jorge

Some of you know that we started a new adventure this summer. Dean got offered a new job and so we moved. I won't disclose the location on the blog but if you want our new address email, call or text. Our new house is still being updated and decorated so I will save those pictures. If you know us at all, you know that we have always wanted a farm/ranch and farm animals. Moxie doesn't count, even though she is as big as our current farm animals. We were riding our bikes one night and went past this house with a huge barn and quite a few goats. Dean wanted to stop but no one was outside. He decided that if someone was out when we were riding home we would stop. At this point we had been in our house for 3 weeks and it is not ready for chickens, goats, cows, or horses. Dean didn't really care about that. Dean started talking with the lady and she showed us these two kids that she would be willing to sell. They were so cute with their little horns and so friendly. We decided we would talk about it an let her know. Right after we left Dean was ready. He really wanted the goats. So I decided we could get them for our anniversary. Our new house has a chicken coop so we decided we could put them in there. We bought all the essentials and some fencing and built them a nice little pen. That Tuesday we picked them up and brought them home. They are adjusting pretty well. They make a lot of noise and haven't really started eating the grass or weeds yet but they are fun to play with. Jorge has a flipped ear and is the lighter one. He is really friendly and loves us. George is not. He has the darker head and floppy ears.He will let you pet his face but always runs away when you try to get closer. Moxie sits out there just watching them. If she sneaks in the chicken coop, she chases them around and causes all sorts of problems. Once the boys get big they will be able to beat her up. Enjoy the pictures of our Boer goats and Moxie too.