The Gounaris Family

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Pray for Brooke

Tom and I learned this morning that our friend, Frankie Toner, was killed while serving our country in Afghanistan. He and his wife Brooke were married around the same time as Tom and I. We all met here in NY in the singles ward. We are so sad for Brooke and hope that you can all join us in praying for her and her family. I can't even imagine how difficult this must be for her--it just breaks my heart. Frankie was a great man. He and Brooke share a great love that could easily be seen when you were with them. We are so grateful that we had a chance to know and be friends with such a great person and such an amazing couple.


Here is Frankie and Brooke when we went out to dinner right before he left for Afghanistan in Oct. 2008.


Afghan soldier kills two coalition troops, U.S. says

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- An Afghan soldier reportedly shot and killed two coalition service members in northern Afghanistan on Friday, U.S. forces in Afghanistan said.

The military, which calls the incident the first of its type "in recent memory," said the shooter also wounded another service member and then killed himself. A fourth service member appeared to be unharmed but was taken to a medical facility for evaluation.

The military passed along comments from Afghan Minister of Defense Abdul Rahim Wardak, who expressed his condolences for the service members killed and wounded. He said that he was "saddened and deeply regretful this tragedy occurred" and that the incident was under full investigation.

Wardak said that "it is too early to speculate, but the investigation will bear out the truth" and that "full corrective action will be taken."
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Monday, March 16, 2009

20 Weeks

Yay! I'm half way done!!!!!!

Week 20


Baby:
The fetus measures about 5.6 (14.2cm) to 6.4 inches (16.3cm) from crown to rump and weighs about 9 ounces (255g). Your baby can hear sounds by now -- your voice, heart and your stomach growling, as well as sounds outside your body. It will cover its ears with its hands if a loud sound is made near you, and it may even become startled and "jump." The baby is moving often, too -- twisting, turning, wiggling, punching and kicking.

Mom-to-be:
Congratulations! You're at about the midpoint of your pregnancy. Your uterus is just about even with your navel. Your waistline has pretty much disappeared, but only temporarily! The risk of bladder infections increases because the smooth muscles in the urinary tract relax. Your breathing will become deeper and you may perspire more than usual from a more active thyroid gland.

Tip for the week:
To alleviate backaches, maintain good posture. Sit with a footstool or use an ergonomic chair at the office, avoid standing for too long, sleep with a small pillow under your side at the waist, and lift things with your legs instead of your back.

Monday, March 09, 2009

Names

A lot of people have asked us about names. We were deciding between Caroline, Olivia, and Madison...all with the middle name Ruth after my grandma. We decided to go with Caroline Ruth (so if you don't like it, keep it to yourself ;). Tom and I have loved that name for so long and love jamming to Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond...so Caroline it is!

18 wks

Thursday, March 05, 2009

It's a.....

For those of you who voted BOY...you are wrong! I can officially say that I was not wrong because a week ago I changed my vote to girl. I decided I should change it to what I wanted it to be and not what I thought it was.
"It" can now be referred to as a "she". We went this morning and she wasn't shy at all, she just opened her legs right up so we could see. I was in shock because I have been telling myself for so long that it has to be a boy!
Tom and I are both overjoyed. Thank you to everyone for your enthusiasm and caring words! We greatly appreciate it! I'm overjoyed not only because we are having a healthy baby girl, but also because I get to buy dresses and bows! Yay! Any advice from mothers of girls, baby girls, would be greatly appreciated and accepted!

Wednesday, March 04, 2009

Prego Picture

My internet decided to be nice to me tonight and work. Tom wants to use the computer so I only have time for one picture...my trip to NM will have to wait. Hopefully you will hear from me tomorrow about the sex of the baby. If not, check facebook since I can access that on my phone.

Here I am at 17 wks

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

18 wks and counting...

2 more days until we find out the sex! We are super excited! My internet hasn't worked for wks...except on my phone so I can't upload pictures of my big fat belly:( I will let you all know as soon as we find out though.