Our Fargo Nest

A real toddler

2012-01-20T21:51:00.000-08:00

Landon has morphed into a real toddler over the past couple months. Every day he adds to his vocabulary (he said "breakfast" and "garbage" in the same day last week) and he's constantly displaying new skills and personality traits. He LOVES to put things "back" right now. "Baa. Baa. Baa". He says, and then I have to help him throw a teensy piece of yarn or paper or whatever in the garbage. After I put his Goldfish crackers in a little bowl for him, the box has to go "back" into the cupboard, with his help.

The other morning I unplugged a nightlight from the bathroom outlet so I could plug in both my hair straightener and blow dryer, and he wanted to put the nightlight "back". I didn't know where he was going to put it since it's always plugged in, but I watched him open Tony's nightstand drawer and shut the nightlight inside. Weird! But the next morning as I was getting some lotion out of my nightstand, I saw an extra nightlight that I'd stored away and not noticed before. That pumpkin. Isn't it so observant of him?

He says "up" at least 600 times a day right now, and I don't think that's an exaggeration. Especially since he usually says it 8 or 10 times in a row like that... "Up, up, UP!". Luckily for him, up can mean up or down, or open or close, or whatever he's trying to do at the moment. I'm getting soooooo good at deciphering the difference.

Here's a cute video from lunch a couple weeks ago. Another favorite word is "ball", as you'll see here:

He still LOVES boxes and climbing and using tools. Tonight Tony was home for dinner because he's fighting a bad cold and couldn't make it to the new house. So the guys were watching This Old House Hour, and next thing I saw, Landon was standing on an overturned toy bin, hammering away at our window seat with two different plastic hammers. What a little copycat! It's a good reminder to teach by action. And to remove those actions from our lives that we don't want Landon showing off to the neighbors : )

We got another new niece yesterday! I was telling my boss Thursday morning that she was up in the birth center, and she looked kind of surprised. I was like, "Yeah. I know. I had another niece up there just a few months ago!" And she said, "Your family is good for business!" Love it. And so true! I did get to visit Tori and our family on Thursday but I only saw Izabella through the nursery window. I've had a really gross cough for over a week now, and even though I don't know if I'm contagious, I'd rather not take any chances with a newbie like that. But she's beautiful, of course. Lots of features that are similar to her big brother's. Can't wait to see her up-close!

Hey. How did I get this far in without mentioning that we have a CLOSING DATE for the sale of Little Fargo Nest? Wahoo! Inspection and appraisal have gone beautifully and now we are waiting for February 13th. And for me to pack more than the one box of cookbooks that I'm sure I won't need between now and then. And for New Fargo Nest to be ready for us! We're hoping that all the details are complete over there later on the week of the 13th, so please keep your fingers crossed and pray for Tony to stay healthy and motivated! He is teaching class again this semester so really couldn't be any busier than he is. Selfishly, it's been nice to have him home the past couple evenings despite the fact that it's because he isn't feeling well. We just miss seeing his face around here!

Okay, you're nowhere near updated, but my daddio mentioned today that he hasn't seen an update since November. Not good blogging, Apes.

For our kiddos

2011-11-10T21:13:00.000-08:00

I just got back from a Safe Kids conference in Charlotte, NC so I'm extra amped to educate people about ways to prevent accidental injury in children (or anyone, for that matter - but kiddos most!). It was a great trip, but I was SO ready to get back to my boys and my pup! Thanks to my parents for watching the littlest guy so much while I was gone. It's a relief to know he's in good hands even when I'm not hovering over his shoulder.

It's come to my attention lately that coin lithium or "button batteries" are causing serious injuries to little ones. If they're swallowed and lodge in a child's throat, their saliva can activate the electrical current and cause serious burns in the esophagus - and sometimes even lead to death. I've been obsessing about how to keep them away from Landon ever since I learned about the risk several weeks ago. I remember saying to my boss, "I'm never going to keep him alive, am I?" But she told me that I will. And I trust her.

The problem with these batteries is that they're in so many of our techie gadgets; automatic car openers, remote controls, as I noticed today - my reading light, even in the musical cards that are everywhere right now (for the record... I really don't like musical cards for a million reasons; but the biggest being these dang batteries!). And it's so scary to think that if Landon dropped a remote on the floor and the battery cover fell off, he would absolutely put a battery right in his mouth. You should see him eat dog fur off the couch... it's really disturbing. (I guess "eat" isn't the right word because I rip it from his lips as soon as I see it hanging out like a mini-cigarette. But the intent is there, for sure!)

Anyway, the reason I'm writing this is that tonight Landon and I were in the kitchen and he went straight for the drawer where I keep my dishtowels. We have soft-close drawers, so they're kind of hard for a toddler to open, and when he finally got it open I shut it right away. Then I had a change of heart and thought, "Let him explore. What's going to happen if he throws all your dishtowels on the floor? No big deal, right?" So I opened it up again for him.

When I did, I saw something shining in the front corner of the drawer - the easiest place for Landon to reach. I thought, "What's that? A bolt for something?". When I picked it up, of course it was a coin lithium battery.

What if I wasn't a hoverer? What if he was looking through the drawer as I made dinner? What if the shiny metal caught his eye before it caught mine? It's just too scary for me to imagine.

What's harder is that if you didn't know about it, you might not have stressed when you saw it. There are plenty of things I come across that just make me think, "I guess it would just pass through his system!" (for the record; I haven't seen any non-edibles in a diaper yet. But I wouldn't be surprised with a 15 month old). So for my friends with littles, (and for grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other lovers-of-littles), pah-leese keep your eye out for these batteries and store them way out of reach of the kids. You won't regret taking a minute to stash them up high.

Okay. Off my soapbox. But I'll be back soon enough, for sure.

Halloween (and the past 6 weeks)

2011-10-31T12:11:00.000-07:00

Boo!

Wait, not scary? More like the squishiest, cutest tiger you've ever seen? Well, we gave it a shot.

Here's Landon the FIRST time he tried on his Halloween costume today. He's dealing with a cough, teething, and general toddler clingy-ness, so he wasn't too enthused. This is the best pic we got (so far... but we'll be trying again, of course).

Here are the outtakes:

... so much fun trying to get a good pic of a 15-month-old. Sheesh!

Speaking of outtakes, Jenna and I took the boys to the Buffalo River Pumpkin Patch a couple weeks ago. Naturally, we wanted darling pictures of our boys in the "fall landscapey-ness". Here's what we're working with there:

See? It's just soooo easy to get a nice shot!

I'm not posting pictures of our friends because I haven't asked Jenna if it's okay. And because then she'd know I have a blog and she might read it... And then I might have a total of 12 readers and it would make me self-conscious. But I'll have to check in with her because the boys are so funny together. And she's just the cutest. You'll like them.

ALSO since my last post, my dad (and his twin, but that goes without explaining) turned 60! Their wives and kids planned a perfectly-themed Minnesota Twins party for them, and it was really and truly a surprise to both of them! We had family in from as far away as Virginia, Missouri, and Arizona. What a fun weekend. Here are the twins and their families:

Ryan is good at everything... I even had to hand over the cupcake decorating!

Aw yeah, big drinker!

Things are moving along beautifully with the house right now! I can't even remember what the status was last time I posted, but this week we're just waiting on sheetrock taping and texturing. Tony spent the weekend free-eeezing while he stained and varnished all the window jambs (we're planning on having stained jambs but white trim) so that they'll be protected during the mudding process. I guess the sheetrock mud consists of a lot of water, which would be absorbed into the wood window jambs without the finishing on it. Makes sense to me. (It actually does this time... not like the times I just nod while Tony tries to explain what's going on over there!)

looking from the kitchen to the main entry and garage entry

Looking from the kitchen to the living room and main entry

Grandma, Landon, and I stopped by on Friday to visit as he was starting his work. Here's Grandma in the kitchen:

Looking from the living room/entry to the kitchen


The boys in the master bedroom

Self-portrait in Landon's bedroom

Detail shot of the jamb stain. Love!

Alright. Time to wrap it up. L is losing patience with me. I'll write again soon(ish).

House Updates, and other Tidbits

2011-09-10T21:24:00.000-07:00

This will be a quick-ish post, full of random details about the past couple weeks at our place. Time is moving too fast right now... feels like I just turned around and now it's nearly mid-September.

Last week Tony and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. We took our annual photo at Fair Hills to commemorate the day (although the pic was actually taken on September 4th).

I didn't know that Landon could get any sweeter than he is during his "nose-blowing" sessions, but last week as I walked up the driveway to my house, he and my mom were pounding on the window to greet me. I waved maniacally in response (for real... I look nutso but I just am so excited to see them!) and then with no apparent prodding, he blew me a kiss. He's been doing it regularly since then, making a gigantic smooching sound on his hand and then tipping it towards whoever he's admiring at the moment. Lots of times it's me, but I've also seen him blow kisses to other friends and family... including Amy's dog. Love it.

Speaking of love, Landon smooched the bathtub today after he got out. Made me realize that I don't show enough appreciation after my showers and am dedicated to changing that.

Here's the West Fargo house as of yesterday:

Why yes, those are shingles! Thanks for noticing. Amy and I swung by there today to see that the whirly things are spinning away on the roof. (You might have noticed that I'm on a need-to-know basis with a lot of the construction process. I'm kind of refusing to learn some of the details, including the whirly things' real names).

In our current nest, we had a helluva week trying to get the basement spruced up. We hired a handyman to paint the floor and walls and ran into ~~a few~~ several snags along the way. Long story short, Tony was way more involved than he intended to be, the fumes forced all of us (including Sabie and our baby who is in the middle of his second anxiety-inducing fever!) out of the house for a couple nights while the literal and metaphorical dust settled over here (Thank you to my grandparents and Jam-amy, who took us in!). It's finally looking - and smelling - nice, so we're one step closer to listing. Yay and sad, of course.

Happy birthday yesterday to my favorite father-in-law, today to my fabulous aunt Jill, happy Grandparents' Day tomorrow to our our grandparents and Landon's (cards are sitting on our dining room table, naturally).

Please remember to do something nice for someone tomorrow. Can you believe our world changed forever 10 years ago already? I still vividly remember the tiniest details of that day in 2001. And I will never forget.

Zootown.

2011-08-26T22:40:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post because it's getting late, but I wanted to share a few pics from our trip to the Chahinkapa Zoo this afternoon. My mom, Ryan, Kristin, Leighton, Zoe, Landon, and I spent a couple hours enjoying the beautiful day in Wahpeton. Leighton is the world's biggest animal lover so it was no surprise that she had a great time, but it was also fun to see Landon notice and enjoy the change of pace as well. And I always say, "a tired dog is a good dog", but I'm learning that it applies to kiddos too!

Zoe, on the other hand, didn't care she was at the zoo. But she's about the cutest little bug ever, isn't she?

We cruised around a bit...

... fed the ducks and cowered from the bears... (I mean, he's a little close, isn't he!? And he ran at us, then stopped short, shook off a bit, and walked back the other way several times. Scaaaaary. That reminds me - Jill, didn't you see a bear on a walk in NY? I'd faint on the spot, I swear).

... we ate ice cream... (pics 2 and 3 for GG June specifically. See? I'm loosening up the old strings on Landon's diet, don't you think!?)

... rode a carousel, a wagon, and admired our teeniest family member. And with zero breakdowns between 3 kids, it was a totally successful trip.

Then on our way back to town my mom, Landon and I swung by Arby's to grab dinner for the guys at the new house. How lucky is it that we pay for manual labor with food? BIG thanks to Jamie and my dad who helped Tony get this done today:

Moving right along, aren't they? (Notice Tony's ~~bandaged~~ duct taped hand. In regards to hiring free labor, once in awhile they'll shoot you with a nail gun. Not that either of these guys did it, I'm just saying that sometimes it's bound to happen. Hey - you get what you pay for).

Can't wait to be all settled in over here! (But will miss you and adore you forever, Fargo Nest).

Out for a Stroll, and the Rest of our Week

2011-08-24T08:11:00.000-07:00

It's been a fun week over here at our nest! Kelly and I finally did something I'd been talking about doing since I moved back to Fargo. We walked Historic 8th Street and admired the gorgeous houses found up and down the blocks. LOVED it! It was even better than I'd expected because it was topped off by a visit from the ice cream truck. How lucky are we?!

I owe Sable a HUGE thanks because she was a dream-dog on the whole trip. She deserves regular exercise and it's way more fun when she behaves the way she did on Saturday. Love the way she graciously posed for photos:

Do you recognize that VW bus? It's the same one featured here, in my maternity pics! (Pretty soon they'll realize that I keep posting pictures of their car on the internet and will charge me royalties... lucky I don't have a huge blog-following!)

Had such a great time that I talked my girlfriend and her baby (Landon's buddy K) into going again yesterday. Except that it was 94 degrees and I was crazy-sweaty. So it didn't feel quite the same.... in fact, it mostly felt wet. But I'm sure we'll go again in the fall, which is just around the corner. Yay and ugh.

Finally, here's a quick video of Landon. He's just so cute! On Saturday, he was unrolling toilet paper in the bathroom while I brushed my teeth, so when I put my hand on the roll to stop him and said, "No", he tore off the TP he had in his hand, and "blew" his nose. Totally out-of-the-blue, like he was saying, "Geez mom! Can't I even take care of my runny nose without you in my business?!" If you can't tell in the video, he's just blowing with his mouth. That makes it even cuter.

Tony is still hard at work on the house! I was actually "in the basement" a few times this week. Was the most exciting time for me this far, as I can actually visualize the layout with some of the walls (as in, 2x4's) up.

The Week in Pics

2011-08-18T21:19:00.000-07:00

Big week over here at our nest! First, we got a really fun call on Tuesday evening that our sister-in-law Kristin was headed to the hospital with contractions (not unexpected at all... things had been moving along for the past couple of weeks). She got settled in around 6 pm and our niece Zoe was born at 10:42 that night! She didn't waste a whole lotta time in the hospital, that's for sure! I am anxious and excited to see how Leighton adjusts to her new role as big sister. I'm sure it's pretty confusing for a two year old.

Leighton offered to let us "pet" her baby several times that night. Maybe she was hoping one of us would get attached take her home with us! The nurse couldn't get over how verbal Leighton was; saying things like "This is my baby Zoe", "I love little babies", and "She's adorable!" It's always fun to watch Leighton impress a new audience.

We stopped by the mall this evening to meet Tony's mom, sisters, and our niece and nephew for dinner in the food court. Such a good idea - Tina and I are both at a stage right now where restaurant dining is anything but fun, so Tori suggested we try this and it worked perfectly. Here's our "best" photo of the three cousins and their parents (the siblings).

After dinner, we swung by the new house to check on the dirt (See?! Couldn't you just drool over the beauty of it? I had to ask Tony, "now what were they doing with our dirt today?" and he said they'd removed a gigantic hill of it behind our house. Besides that, it still just looks muddy and, well, dirty to me. But I looked on in appreciation anyway. You gotta do that for the hubs once in awhile!).

I am truly impressed though, by the progress on the rest of the house! It's moving more slowly than Tony had hoped, but he's doing a ton of the work single-handedly (and with the help of some friends and family) so he's literally invested his blood and sweat (tons of sweat... you should ~~smell~~ see his laundry!) into the project. He works from 6:30 or 7 am until 9 pm pretty much every day right now. Anyway, Tony - you are appreciated, big time. Funny to give him a shout-out on this blog because I don't know if he ever reads it!

Get serious. Don't you think this guy's eyes are to-die-for?! I think he got my Grandpa Al's baby blues. Lucky little guy. And lucky mama.

Summer Round-Up

2011-08-09T12:17:00.000-07:00

Hey there! So you still check in on my blog? You're pretty loyal, aren't you? Here's a quick run-down on the summer at our place:

We decided to go ahead on the construction of a new home - exciting and nerve wracking! By the end of November, our blog will officially be about Our (West) Fargo Nest. I'll make sure to post photos as things move along. Right now we've got all of our concrete work finished (basement, garage, driveway, and walkway to the front door), and Tony has begun some of the framing work. Just wait... I think you're really going to like it. But there are a ton of decisions to be made between now and then, so I may have to run some of my ideas by you.

Which reminds me... we'll have to sell our sweet north Fargo house around the same time we move into the new one. If you know of a buyer who will love our first home as much as we do, let me know! I'm happy to send them pics and information or put them in touch with our Realtor. We don't have it listed yet so our friends' friends can have first crack at it!

In early June, I accepted a part-time position with our local hospital; working with education in child passenger safety, fire and burn prevention, pedestrian and wheeled sports safety, safe sleep for infants, poisoning prevention, etc. We basically cover accidental injury prevention for children from birth to 14. I'm having a ton of fun, feeling productive, and contributing a little money to our family. So far it feels like it's a win-win. And lucky Landon gets to spend 20 hours a week with his Grandma Denise, so he's super-lucky too!

Although, let's be honest; Grandma Denise is the lucky one!

Landon celebrated his first birthday a couple weeks ago. He's since taken a few steps and finally cut a tooth! I felt a teeny sharp bump yesterday for the first time. Love that he was over a year old when the tooth broke through his gum. (Tony and I were both about this age when we got ours, too!)

We're anxiously awaiting the arrival of another niece, who should make her appearance any day now. Can't wait to meet her and hear her name for the first time! Despite my best efforts, I haven't been able to crack either of her parents - they won't tell us her name until she's born. (Really though, it's a fun secret and I can't wait for the surprise to be revealed!)

Okay. Have to take advantage of L's nap and get some cleaning done. I'll be in touch again soon - I promise!

Long time, eh?

2011-05-19T15:12:00.000-07:00

I have a habit of starting journals, then skipping an entry or two a few weeks in. Then the next thing you know it's been so long that I don't know where to pick back up. So I quit altogether and a few months later I come upon the journal - 12 entries in all - and throw it away, because it feels like starting again would create a book with chapters missing.

I'm trying not to let that happen with this blog. In the midst of a computer virus, issues with our router, and expired antivirus protection on my laptop, I just didn't have the energy to work through it. So, here's a quick update of our life "nowadays"... missing chapters and all:

Tony has finished the last of the big projects on our house; and we're just completing a few landscaping tasks, organizing, and cleaning before we put our home on the market. I'm so sentimental that of course I'm having a hard time with the idea of leaving the house we became a family in; but I also know that we'll make the best new memories in our next home too. Fingers are crossed over here that we are able to build in West Fargo this summer. (All is looking really good... just now finalizing the details of a possible lot!)

He also completed his first semester of teaching at MSCTC. I think all-in-all it went really well, but of course he's glad to have his evenings back (if only to work on previously mentioned landscaping, organizing, and cleaning tasks!).

Landon started crawling on Sunday, which is a real game-changing milestone! He makes a beeline for cables, cords, doors and drawers. All "favorites" of his that I didn't know he felt so strongly about until he was able to get to them himself! Makes me wonder if all the hours I spent reading to him and playing peek-a-boo he was really just hoping I'd get the heck out of the way so he could eye - and map out an attack plan for - an electrical outlet. Motherhood, right?

I'm still home with Landon all day while "casually" looking for part time employment. We are so happy with this arrangement that I know I won't accept a position that isn't the right fit, so the process is admittedly taking longer than I'd ever imagined it would. But days like today - including a leisurely stroll through NDSU campus with our friends Jenna and Keaton - remind me that I am LUCKY to be a stay-at-home-mama for now, and to just enjoy this while the moment lasts. I know something will come up ~~soon enough~~ too soon.

Our weather has finally started resembling summer (or what I remember as summer, it having been so long since our last encounter!), and we have heaps of things to look forward to; Landon will be taking his first swimming lessons with his buddy Jaxen, we'll be attending a Twins game in the cities with a big group of relatives (first time to Target Field for all three of us!), Landon will celebrate his first birthday, and we'll have the chance to enjoy plenty of lazy days at the lake. I heard there are 99 days from Memorial Day to Labor Day, and I want to soak 'em all in.

Sneezing is funny... and other insights from a baby.

2011-03-09T20:07:00.000-08:00

Kathryn turned one last week, and we celebrated with a pool party at a Fargo hotel. Not surprisingly, her mom planned the day perfectly from the color scheme to the party favors. Tina even made an owl-shaped cake from scratch to accompany the owl theme that has been Kat's entire life so far. And Kathryn was the cutest birthday girl!

Landon appreciated the opportunity to give swimming a try! First time in a pool took a little getting used to, but it ended on a good note!

Owen will be the birthday boy in exactly 4 weeks! I think he spent some time during the party figuring out what's expected of the guest of honor. He's going to rock it when his turn comes around.

And so that the title of this post makes sense, check out this video. I think we could have gone on like this for hours:

Oh little boy, you are too funny! He's been on a strict food strike for over a week now. Still nursing fine, but something must have happened that soured his interest in solid food. It came the day after trying applesauce for the first time, (obviously a traumatic experience!) and we're just now getting back on track. He has the sweetest way of refusing food though, all smiles and talking until he sees the spoon, then his mouth becomes an impermeable straight line. So the video above was my attempt to trick him into opening his mouth for a second.

Yesterday and today I did get a few spoonfuls of rice cereal and oatmeal through his lips, so I think I may be talking him back into trying again. I'm positive that he'll be eating regular food by kindergarten, so sometime between now and then it'll all click.

Landon has been increasingly amused by Sable lately, and I think she can sense that. She puts forth a little extra effort when he's around to appreciate her!

And finally, we had Landon's photos taken at the Plains Art Museum on Monday, and we LOVE them. He is just so pleasant and charming. I have to assume he gets it from me! (Okay, I'll share the credit with Tony. 60/40 and that's as much as I'm giving him).

Tony has still been super-busy with work and teaching, and I've been able to assist another Realtor a couple days a week the past month. It's been nice to get back to the office a little bit, and easier knowing my mom is watching L. I can't believe it's been over 7 months since I was working full-time. It's amazing how quickly the past months have gone. Now if we could only make it to springtime, right?

El Profesor.

2011-02-17T12:37:00.000-08:00

Have you ever tried to picture Tony with a monacle? Me neither. Until he started teaching a class at the local tech school; and now I laugh about it all the time!

In the midst of my job-search, Tony was offered yet another gig. Isn't that totally how it goes? I'm the one applying for dozens of jobs, and he was offered a great position - no application necessary! His former construction management instructor recommended him to the college to teach a class in the construction management department. After some re-arranging of schedules (his and the students'), he's now teaching 32 people in an evening course on estimating principles.

I've worried about him sometimes because it feels like he was kind of thrown to the wolves. He observed the former teacher lead one class, then took it over since then! Crazy to think that licensed teachers spend at least a semester - if not an entire school year - student teaching on top of their 4 year education in order to prepare them for this role, and Tony got exactly 2 hours and 50 minutes!

Not surprisingly, Tony has adapted really well. It's keeping him busy - two evenings of teaching each week and at least two nights of lesson prep - but he's getting more confident with every class, and I'm sure the students are feeling that too.

So thankful that he's as marketable as he is, since my job search is turning up few leads at the moment. I'm temporarily working with another Realtor at Coldwell while his assistant is out of town, so will be there two days a week for 5 or 6 weeks. Then who knows!

But honestly - I don't mind having this guy as a boss for the time being!

No, Thank You.

2011-02-06T22:23:00.000-08:00

The title of this post was going to be "yes, peas", because I proudly made a batch of sweet pea baby food for Landon to try out this week. But since his response to his mama's cooking was ~~less than enthusiastic~~ that of disgust, I thought I'd better post something more accurate!

I was honestly so excited about whipping up these "homemade" peas because it's really cost-effective, and if the ingredients in Gerber's food are peas and water, couldn't I just blend them together for him?

Took about 15 minutes to microwave, add water, blend, and freeze the little cubes. thought they were adorable, but Landon needs a little convincing yet. Guess who doesn't... Sable! (Can't be too shocked, can ya?) On a side-note, Sable's vet was super pleased with her eye's recovery, so we're weaning from her medication and hope to have our well-behaved darling back soon.

We spent this weekend at the lake with mom and dad, Ryan, Kristin, and Leighton. Landon learned a new trick - sitting unassisted - and paired with working on his first teeth (nothing to see yet but excessive drool and chewing!), I think he looks like one of those funny animal greeting cards! You know, where they have the big heads and silly grins?

Aw, sad baby. He also had 4 shots at his 6 month check-up on Friday. He's got a lot on his plate right now. Umm, except for peas. He's like to decline my offer at this time.

Speaking of his appointment, he's now leveled out a bit statistically. He's in the 49%ile for weight (at one point he was 98-99%) and 59%ile (I think) for head circumfrence, which is the most important. He's also in the 7%ile for height! Hahahahahah! He's just so cute I can't get over it.

And here's a cousin hug - look cozy? Pretty sure they toppled over half a second after this photo was taken. Gotta act quick with these guys!

There's so much more I've been meaning to post about, but I always get behind, feel backlogged, then bury my head in the ~~sand~~ snow, pretending that my blog doesn't exist. Might get around to posting some older stuff, might not! Kind of fickle like that.

Our Week in Meals

2011-01-18T22:35:00.000-08:00

This has been an exciting week (from an eating perspective, and I don't know a better way to judge a week) at our house. I tried to step it up in the kitchen a little bit thanks to the "dining in" challenge I proposed earlier this month, so since my last post, I've made:

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
Homemade Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Homemade Swedish Meatballs and Mashed Potatoes
Homemade Granola
Homemade Pasta with Broccoli, Tomatoes and Sausage (recipe from All You magazine, and mine turned out "eh.")
Crockpot Roast with Veggies (which is a great idea when you come home to a delicious-smelling kitchen, but kind of torture when you have to smell it cooking for 8 hours beforehand!)

Making dinner is an entirely different experience when you plan ahead a little bit. I've gone from totally throwing something together in a frenzy when Tony gets home from work to planning our meals a day or two ahead of time, and I'm loving it.

My sous chefs, Landon and Sabie, wait patiently in the corner of the kitchen as I explain each step of the cooking process. I think they'll be really helpful with a little more experience:

(Also note that my naughty dog ate half a raw meatball and a whole slice of bread off the counter during two separate meal preparations this week. The nerve.)

And, it wasn't on everyone's menu, but one of us has eaten rice cereal four nights this week. Can you guess who? (Wait, I actually have to include Sable too, because she licked the bowl I left on the dining room table as I was cleaning up. Who trained this dog, anyway?)

Here are a couple pics of Landon's first meal:

And of course we got it on video, too.

I know I've said this before, but Landon is so much fun right now! His personality is really beginning to present itself, and I've heard from some of my girlfriends that he has the most sparkly blue eyes. I think I see a little mischief in them, and I hope I'm right... I think it will be fun to raise a "spirited" little guy.

And in all seriousness, I'm feeling a little sad for HuskyPup right now. She's been on a steroid for an eye issue for almost two months at this point, and I think that's what's been making her so brazen as to snatch food at every chance she gets. She's a little more aggressive (not violent with us or anything, of course) and a lot hungrier than her usual self. So that makes it hard for her to behave, I think. Fingers crossed that at her next check up the vet will give her a clean bill of health. I don't know how to do a better job protecting our food!

Oh, and if you have any favorite go-to recipes that I can try over the next couple weeks, I'd love to hear about 'em!

Inspired.

2011-01-11T14:58:00.000-08:00

I'm going to have to come clean here, you guys. I am a total blog-stalker. Somewhere through various links, websites and message boards I've come upon a handful of mamas, couponers, and DIY homeowners who I just fall in love with. And then I can't get enough of them - their daily lives somehow become really important to me.

Almost a year ago, I stumbled upon Enjoying the Small Things, by Kelle Hampton. Kelle is a super-talented photographer and writer who learned last January that her sweet baby girl had been born with Down Syndrome. After reading this amazingly moving post, I was touched so deeply that I just couldn't stop learning about Kelle and her "littles", Lainey and Nella. Maybe it was because at the time I was carrying my first baby, whose good health I had been praying for; or because my hormones were at an all-time high, but I have been adoring Nella and supporting her mama ever since.

Kelle has taken the opportunity to speak about Down Syndrome on her blog throughout the past year, and now in honor of Nella's first birthday, she challenged her readers to "pay it forward" by donating to the National Down Syndrome Society. Her original goal, to be met by Nella's birthday on January 22nd, was $15,000... to date she's raised more than $44,000. Forty Four Thousand Dollars! And she's got 11 days to go! It's unimaginable to me that Kelle, who basically blogs about day-to-day life with her husband, step-sons, and two little girls, has influenced her readers to share so generously!

The first time I checked Nella's fundraising site, Kelle had raised $245. Since then I have been cheering (literally!) each time I refresh the page to watch the funds grow. I am astounded by the power of Kelle and everyone who has grown to love Nella through her blog.

Anyway, just wanted to spread the word. If you're looking for a place to share - the National Down Syndrome Society would be a deserving recipient. And if you're looking for a blog to stalk, try Kelle's. And, if you're looking to swoon over a sweet little man, try this one:

Works for me every time.

Delish.

2011-01-06T11:29:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I get extra-inspired to save money and challenge Tony to spending freezes. I really do! And he's always game for it. This month I suggested that we not eat out at all until his birthday (coming up on the 29th), so I am trying to do some fun and creative meal planning to cover lunch and dinner until then.

I've always been curious about eggplant because they're so dang pretty! But I had no idea what to do with them; so even though sometimes I'd pick them up and consider buying them in the past, I never actually got to the check out with one. But this week they were on sale at CashWise (Gaw! You didn't think I'd pay full price, did you?! I'm too much of a cheap ace for that.) and decided to give Eggplant Parmesean a try. And to be honest, as a person who's never tried Eggplant Parmesean - it was a great choice! We have no idea if it tasted "right" or not, but it was pretty good!

I kind of consolidated a bunch of recipes and ended up with this:

2 smallish eggplants, peeled and sliced in 1/4" pieces, then salted and pressed between 2 plates for an hour to remove most of the water

See? Smashed.

A can of pasta sauce
Shredded mozzarella cheese
2 eggs, beaten
Seasoned bread crumbs

I preheated the oven to 350, then dipped each eggplant slice in the egg, then the bread crumbs, then sauteed them in a skillet with olive oil and garlic until they were brown (could have made them a touch crispier during this step, I think).

I put "some" of the pasta sauce in the bottom of a glass baking dish, then a layer of the breaded eggplant, then cheese, then another layer of each. And that's pretty much it!

I put it in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes and served it with spaghetti and some freshly baked french bread. Yum!

So, does that look like Eggplant Parmesean to anyone who's had it before? It's definitely on my list of "to try again in the future" meals. And of course it made a huge amount, so I know what we'll be having for dinner tonight, too! And maybe lunch tomorrow, and then dinner....

A Shiny New Year!

2011-01-02T22:10:00.001-08:00

I just love starting fresh with a brand-new year. There's something so thrilling about choosing a new planner and daydreaming about what will fill those pages... 2010 held a lot of really exciting appointments; 9 months of doctor's visits and lamaze classes, the birth of our amazing son, a niece, and a nephew, holidays, birthdays, and girls' nights out, trips to the lake and dinner dates. My planner is documentation of who I was each particular year, and 2010 was defined by wonderful changes!

I've been trying to consolidate a lot of my high school/college paraphernalia, and ran into my planners from my time in Montana and Virginia. So interesting to re-visit those years! Puts me right back in the moment, you know? I love keeping those planners as a way to reminisce about the "olden days" (and they really are "olden" now; I've been out of college 7 years this May; high school for 11!)

We just celebrated a wonderful Christmas, though we weren't able to join Tone's family in Frazee like we'd planned. I came down with the stomach flu on Christmas night... (came and went pretty quickly, but left me laying on the bathroom floor during!) So disappointing to miss the first Christmas for Kat, Owen, and Landon.

Here's the pic of a little boy who made Santa's Nice List this year: (note the gorgeous back drop behind Santa! We went to the Center Mall because we heard there were no lines. No offense to Santa, but I can kind of see why. We just reminded ourselves that we made a donation to the local food pantry).

When Tony put Landon in Santa's lap, he said, "Sorry, we just woke him up".

And Santa said, "That's the best... they have no idea what's going on!"
And he didn't.

Here are a couple shots from Christmas Day:

We've had a TON of snow lately (always fun to imagine how it will affect our spring flooding situation!) Here are some pics of Tony snowblowing AGAIN a couple days ago:

That's a lot of snow even by North Dakota standards. Glad the little guy and I were safe and warm inside; and so thankful that Tony takes such great care of our home.

And here's a video from today. My heart just can't take much more of these guys!

Could Landon get any cuter?! He thinks his dad is especially funny, for some reason. Love it. This is the best game of peekaboo that I've seen with him so far. Very glad we caught it on video!

And anyone recognize that blanket? My college roommates will for sure, because it's not Landons : )

Owl be home for Christmas

2010-12-08T21:29:00.000-08:00

Hmm. I was stretching a little bit for the post title there. Ha! But I wanted to get these pics up on the blog too. Which do you prefer... "serious owl", or "I realize this hat is a little goofy" owl?

(Hat was a gift from Amy and a favorite of little guy's. Loves it. Admires it from his changing table about 11 times a day!)

Roller Derby

2010-12-08T21:21:00.000-08:00

A fun anniversary: Last year on December 6th, I gave Tony a onesie. And since he doesn't wear onesies and might otherwise think it was a weird gift, I also gave him my positive pregnancy test. I think it all became pretty clear at that moment... we were going to be parents!

Here's the same onesie, one year later!

Landon looks confused, to say the least!

And, do you want to know how Landon celebrated the anniversary? By ROLLING OVER - twice! Yep, he finally got his head and body going in the same direction and flipped from his stomach to his back.

Here's another picture of that cutie pie from the same day. Love his Sabie hat, don't you?

...But does he? Eh, jury's out on that one.

In other "nest" news, Tony beat the winter weather (by exactly 12 hours, I think!) by completing the siding and finishing of our garage a few weeks ago. He shingled, replaced and painted soffit and fascia, added new trim and a garage door, added a new window (not pictured in these photos), and a number of months ago added a service entrance door. (There was only one way in and out of the garage before, through the rickety wooden garage door. Obviously it couldn't be locked because there was no other way in, so Tony's tools were at significant risk of being stolen. The benefit of having a garage in the condition ours was in... no one would ever suspect there was anything of value in there!)

Here's our "before"

Actually, it's a "during", but this is the general pre-rehab condition

Then a few of the work in progress:

And, the finished product! (minus the light fixture... Tony had to get the appropriate screws for it, and now has to psych himself up to work outside again in the wintry weather!)

Wahoo! Another one off your list, Tony! We are REALLY getting down there now. And no one could possibly be more excited than you are. Except maybe this little guy. He wants to hang out with his dad!

The House That Built Me

2010-11-14T21:34:00.000-08:00

You know that song by Miranda Lambert, "The House That Built Me"? I had that moment today. An awesome one with my mom that I don't think I'll ever forget. My very first home is currently on the market, and today the Realtor held an open house. We decided to go take a look - walk through the setting of my earliest childhood memories for the first time since we moved out 21 years ago. We didn't know how we'd feel about it, really.

Of course, because this is one of the best times of my life, I'm not feeling any of the sorrow or wistfulness that Miranda sings about. But I can completely relate to the desire to just catch a glimpse of your history; to for a minute, step back into the place where you started. Here are the lyrics to her song (if you aren't familiar already):

I know they say you can’t go home again
I just had to come back one last time
Ma’am I know you don’t know me from Adam
But these handprints on the front steps are mine
Up those stairs in that little back bedroom
Is where I did my homework and I learned to play guitar
I bet you didn’t know under that live oak
My favorite dog is buried in the yard

I thought if I could touch this place or feel it
This brokenness inside me might start healing
Out here it’s like I’m someone else
I thought that maybe I could find myself
If I could walk around I swear I’ll leave
Won’t take nothing but a memory
From the house that built me

Mama cut out pictures of houses for years
From Better Homes and Gardens magazine
Plans were drawn and concrete poured
Nail by nail and board by board
Daddy gave life to mama’s dream

I thought if I could touch this place or feel it
This brokenness inside me might start healing
Out here it’s like I’m someone else
I thought that maybe I could find myself
If I could walk around in I swear I’ll leave
Won’t take nothing but a memory
From the house that built me

You leave home and you move on and you do the best you can
I got lost in this old world and forgot who I am
I thought if I could touch this place or feel it
This brokenness inside me might start healing
Out here it’s like I’m someone else
I thought that maybe I could find myself

If I walk around I swear I’ll leave
Won’t take nothing but a memory
From the house that built me

Now check this out: when mom and I pulled up to the house, I hauled Landon out of the backseat of the car and walked directly to the concrete patch below the front steps, and lo and behold, right where we left 'em....

ADJ and RTJ, 9.1.87.

Seeing it really did make my eyes a little misty; for some reason I can remember the exact day we did that. And in the years since, I've lived in another house in Moorhead, then Idaho Falls, then Missoula (5 homes there!) Alexandria, VA (2 houses there), and back to Fargo, where I'm in my third home since coming back. There is something so awesome about coming "home" to your very first house.

As mom and I walked through the property, it was obvious that most of the home had been updated (as it should have been... mom and dad had the house built 30 years ago!) but we're pretty certain the kitchen appliances are original, as was the bathroom light fixture, door hardware, laundry room flooring, stairway handrails, fireplace mantel, and all of the woodwork. We looked into the backyard where our swingset and sandbox had been, and discussed how it seemed so much bigger back then. It brought back the best memories. So glad we went, and so glad my mom was there to share it with me.

I want to say that the carpeting is no longer there, but the rest of the fireplace looks exactly like this! (Nice look, Ryan!)

Here I am with Grandpa in the living room of my first house.

And, just because it happens to be on my computer, this is how a baby sleeps when she has an older brother. (Pic also taken in our first house).

In other news, look at this cutie's newest achievements:

Learning to suck on his fingers, just like his daddy did as a little guy!

... And sitting in his Bumbo! (Thanks Katherine, I think he's going to really like it!)

Game Day Baby/Riverdance Baby

2010-10-17T18:00:00.000-07:00

Aahahah! This video is so cute. Even though it was complely coincidental, I love that it looks like he's standing up and dancing! He's actually laying down in his pack-and-play... he doesn't even know how to walk yet : ).

On A Roll...

2010-10-15T21:39:00.000-07:00

Can't stop sharing videos of this little dude! If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth a million. So I can keep these video posts short and sweet:

Isn't his voice so darling? Not so much if he were say, in high school, but since he's just a baby there's nothing sweeter.

Landon's Baptism Day

2010-10-12T19:13:00.000-07:00

Landon was baptized during church on Sunday - it was an awesome day to welcome him into God's family! We were so lucky to have temps in the low 80s because we had lots of family members over after church for lunch (which turned in to 3 hours of visiting and soaking in the gorgeous fall day!)

Here are a few pics with Landon's sponsors:

Sommer and Cory

Tina and Jason

And here are a few from our house after the service. See what I mean about the beautiful fall weather?!

There It Is!

2010-10-08T12:13:00.000-07:00

Cuuuute. Check out this video of Landon grinning!

This was taken just a couple hours ago. Nice to finally catch some smiles on video!

Trying to Catch It!

2010-10-08T09:15:00.000-07:00

Sheesh! Landon has been smilin' up a storm lately - most affectionately at the owl hat Amy bought him (thank you again, Ames... he LOVES it!), Blaire's "deluxe" baby toy, and a funny stuffed cow from Tony's boss and his wife. Here's a video of me TRYING to catch a hint of a smile. How is it that babies just shut it off when the camera comes out? He must be taking pointers from Sable.

He has been so much fun lately! It's really rewarding to see him respond to us. He smiles, coos, and has even laughed out loud a couple of times. Such a doll. So lucky he's ours! Not so lucky that he demands we bounce with him on an exercise ball 10 hours a day, but it makes us aware of all the things parents do for their littles, even when it's not that fun. (A huge amount of thanks to our parents - you guys are awesome!)

Speaking of dolls, here's a shot of Landon, Kathryn, and Owen with their dads, taken a couple weeks ago at a family dinner. Don't all of them look exactly like their fathers?

The weather has been amazing here the past week or so! I think we're supposed to reach a high of 85 degress today. Unreal. Lucky though, because this is a hint of what Tony's been working on now:

... but you can't see anything else until we reveal the "after". He's a hardworking man, that Tony.

2 Month Check-Up

2010-09-28T18:12:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned to you how much we love our pediatrician!? Dr. Hanson is the best. I actually kind of looked forward to Landon's 2 month appointment today because I knew we'd get to visit with her a bit! She so sweetly assures us every time we see her that Landon looks great and we're doing everything right... what new parents couldn't use that?

We found out today that Landon weighs 13 lbs and 3 oz. Compared to other babies born at 38 weeks gestation, that makes him a 95-96%ile baby! Whoa! He's also 22 inches long (4 inches taller than he was at birth), so about the 18%ile! Dr. Hanson reminded us that it's not indicative of his future stats, but it makes ya wonder a bit!

Other mamas know that the 2 month appointment marks the first of a huge number of vaccinations. So today, Landon received one oral vaccine and three shots in his chubby thighs! (See baby, your extra chub came in handy today!). Does it make us bad parents if we snuck a few pics during and after the immunizations?

Here he is with Dad before the appointment. (Yes, that's Tony... with his "hunting beard")

Look at that cute profile! Do you think his nose looks familiar?

Relaxin' on the exam table.

Owie. This was after 1 oral vaccine and 3 shots.

"Whaaaaaa? What did you guys DO to me!?"

A hug from Mom makes it all better.

Crayon band-aids. And a sad Daddy.

We're actually very proud of baby for taking this appointment like a champ. He's been dozing for most of the afternoon, and just now woke to eat and get a new diap. He did cry for a few minutes now too... I suppose his legs ache a bit. We'll see if a little infant Tylenol does the trick.

Landon Lately

2010-09-25T19:44:00.000-07:00

...Been awhile, huh? Here are a few things Landon has been up to lately, for the sake of posting a few recent pics:

We went to dinner with Tina, Jason, and Kathryn two weekends ago; both babies were totally well behaved but boy, is dinner out different nowadays! Seven months ago, there would have just been 4 of us!

This was actually Tina's FIRST time holding Landon! She and Kathryn had been fighting off colds for a few weeks, so each time we got together she had to hold back. He loved it - see how comfy he is with her?

Of course we think Landon is absolutely perfect, but he isn't the most photogenic little one yet! Kat has figured it all out though. What a sweetie.

Last weekend, one of my very best girlfriends came from Seattle to meet Landon and to hang out with Tony and me for a few days. It was awesome to have her here, and considering that Tony and I were both fighting off illnesses, she couldn't have been more helpful! I wish we could have been out and about a little more, but was reminded that being with Blaire will always be so easy and comfortable, no matter what we're doing. Here they are during their visit (I can't believe I only got a few pics on my camera!):

Sable hates to be in photos, unless we want a picture of Landon. Then she's all about it!

Blaire brought this totally deluxe baby toy for Landon when she came. He really started to pay attention to it one morning when she was in the shower, so I tried to take some video so she could see it herself. I didn't catch any of his smiles, but you can see that he's actually pretty amused! He doesn't just hand out smiles for free, you know...

This week Landon also borrowed a swing from his cousin Owen (and a bouncy chair from Leighton, but no pics of that yet). He really liked that, too! Our living room looks kind of crazy right now... we have a TON of baby gear spread throughout it, but it is SO WORTH IT to know that we'll have a happy, content (and quite possibly over-stimulated) baby on our hands! Just don't expect a place to sit if you visit!

Can you see Landon's protective big sister in this pic?

I liked this one too - he dozed off while he was taking a look at his jittery bluebird! Aw, he's just so cute.

I honestly can't believe that we met our little guy over 8 weeks ago! We're both just in love with Landon and enjoy watching him grow... he seriously learns something new every day! What an awesome time in our lives. We are the luckiest.

Wedded Bliss!

2010-09-06T20:26:00.000-07:00

This weekend, Tony and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary. Time is flying... I know I've said it a few times lately, but I'm surprised by it so often right now! I just cannot believe it was two years ago that we promised each other to love and stand by one another for the rest of our lives.

To me, marriage is about believing that the person standing next to you is one you can trust with your heart, your dreams, and your life. It's taking a leap of faith - and praying that this is the one time that you are the MOST right!

Happily, I truly believe that Tony is the perfect match for me. He has proven to be an anchor for our little family; willing to do more than his share of the work, and to offer 110% of himself in everything he does. Tony, I love you and am so proud to be your wife!

We went back to Fair Hills today, on our second anniversary, to reminisce a bit. We were so blessed to have had the gorgeous wedding weather we had two years ago - today was miserably rainy and windy!

Then...

...And now! (We couldn't even take baby out of the car for the pic like we had planned. It was just too rainy and gross).

Then...

...And now!

...And for good measure, a few of that darling baby. Here he is resting with Grandpa Tim at the lake.

Visiting Grandma and Grandpa H on Saturday afternoon...

Snuggling with Dad...

...and relaxin' in the tub with Grandma and Mom (Ha! He really does love the bath, despite the fact that he looks like he's trying to flag down some help!)

Hope you had a safe and wonderful Labor Day weekend!

The Professional Pics

2010-08-30T18:38:00.000-07:00

We just love having photos taken by Casie Beldo - she is awesome! If you don't believe me (although why wouldn't you - I'm not a liar or anything!), take a look at these pics of our little guy... isn't he to die for?!

He is already growing and changing so much. It's crazy to think that these are "old" pictures of our one-month-old baby! Now his hair is definitely longer, his cheeks undeniably bigger, and his arms and legs have just really filled out. Can't get enough of that chubby, snuggly, talking-in-his-sleep baby of ours. How did we get so lucky?!

Excuses, Excuses.

2010-08-28T20:57:00.000-07:00

THIS is why you haven't heard from me in forever!

Aaaah, Landon. you have turned our lives upside down - in the best way imaginable.

But we are running on fumes over here, people! I purposely don't add up the total number of hours I sleep per night because I'm afraid of how little the number will be... thinking it's around 3 or 4. But oh, is it ever worth every second of every minute (of every hour) I sit in the peacefullness of his nursery, rocking our sweet little babe. He is heavenly.

(Sabie has taken amazingly to her new role as big sister and protecter! She wants to be next to us, or whomever is holding that little guy. Just quietly watching and observing. What a great dog!)

I'll give the quick version of Landon's birth story, because you may not want to spend too much time reading about it, and honestly, I can't spend too much time writing about it. Our baby is on his way to being spoiled... he sleeps most peacefully when he's curled up in the arms of his parents!

You might remember that Landon was due to be born on August 12th. Since we knew he was breech (and since our attempt at a Version, despite the $700 price tag, didn't move our stubborn boy) Dr. Herzog scheduled us for a Cesearean Section on August 10th. Being our first pregnancy, we definitely didn't think we'd be meeting him any earlier than that, because it's always been my assumption that first babies tend to be on the late side.

Our 37 week appointment was uneventful... I hadn't dialated at all, so we were given the okay to travel to Ottertail for my family reunion/golf tournament on Saturday, July 24th. (Which I definitely would NOT have done if I'd known we'd be meeting Landon in just a few short days!)

I woke up to use the bathroom twice the morning of July 28th, which was totally normal. But looking back, there must have been some pressure down there because I'd gone twice in a really short period of time. At around 2:40, I woke with total shock - my water had broken (and for the record... you KNOW when your water breaks! I'm surprised that there is ever any confusion between that and just wetting the bed.) I said, "Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh" (really, 3 times like that!) and Tony woke up to see what was going on. I raced to the bathroom where I sat on the toilet until we could figure out what to do! (Luckily, Tony had his wits about him and called labor and delivery at Sanford). They said that if I wasn't progressing, I could take a shower and then come on in.

Then I called my mom to let her know what was going on. Since we'd had such crazy weather lately, she answered and said, "I suppose there's another tornado warning?" and I let her know that we were getting ready to head to the hospital! That was a fun phone call. From my perspective anyway, she might have liked the call better if it came at 7 or 8 am instead : )

I wasn't feeling any contractions at that time, so Tony packed our bags for the trip (another note to self: actually FINISH packing ahead of time for future children!) I just shouted things at him from in the shower as he gathered everything we'd need for our stay at the hospital.

Wait... this isn't the short version of the story - sorry! You can skim if you're getting bored : )

By the time I was getting out of the shower, I was definitely having contractions. I just raced to finish getting ready and we left the house.

I have to laugh at this next part, because all of my pregnancy books suggested knowing an alternate route to the hospital in case of traffic or road construction. Tony and I thought we were so lucky because live literally 50 seconds from the hospital, so we didn't worry about that at all. Lo and behold, one of the 2 streets we needed to take was CLOSED FOR CONSTRUCTION! How funny is that!? It set us back no time at all because we just turned a street earlier, but it was too ironic. Loved it.

Tony dropped me off at the front doors with our suitcase, and I was shocked because the two employees at the front desk completely ignored me! I didn't need a wheelchair or anything, but I thought the whole point of having someone there would be for them to ask if I needed help or directions or something. Very weird.

We went to the L&D triage where they confirmed that my water had broken. We were able to settle into our room where they thought we'd wait for Dr. Herzog to get in at 7:00 to perform the C-Section. But I was having lots of real contractions at this point (one time I even told Tony, "I have to do something right now... either poop, or pee, or throw up, or something!" Sorry, TMI. But the point is, my whole body was feeling pretty crazy).

A nurse checked me and said she thought I was 5 centimeters dialated, but that it was hard to tell because there was a knee or foot in the way. Then another nurse came by and said she thought I was 3 centimeters, but again, she couldn't be sure. They decided to have the on-call doctor start prepping for the surgery now. It was all moving so fast!

The anesthesiologist actually told me that we wouldn't have time to do a spinal anesthetic, and would have to undergo general anesthesia, which freaked me out pretty bad. I was relieved when my nurse, Jeanine, defended our position to have me awake during the procedure. I would have been really disappointed to be completely unconscious when our baby was born.

I was wheeled to surgery and Tony had to wait until we were ready to go before he was allowed in to the OR. I remember feeling jolts of electricity in my spine when Wayne attempted to put the anesthetic in. Jeanine continued to hold my hands and remind me to stay still while he was inserting the needle, but I said to her that I couldn't control my back arching when it went in. I don't know if it was in a nerve or what, but we did it three times before we got it straightened out.

Then Tony was able to come in just in time for the surgery to begin! What a surreal moment; after feeling a lot of pressure and tugging and pulling; hearing our son cry for the first time! Here are a few of our first family photos:

He was born at 4:54 am (just two hours after my water broke!) and weighed 6 lbs. 11 oz. and was 18 inches "tall". (Jumping way ahead, at his 15 day appointment, on his real due date, he weighed 7 lbs. 11 oz. and was 19.5 inches tall, so he did a lot of growing in those couple of weeks!)

Here are a bunch of pics from our stay at the hospital:

I can't rave enough about the care we received at Sanford! We LOVED our nurses, the lactation consultant, the pediatricians and each physician who came to check in on us. It was actually a little scary to leave them, knowing that they were such great resources! But surprisingly enough, on Saturday they just let us walk right out the doors with our baby - I'm sure every new parent thinks the same thing Tony and I did... "Are we really qualified for this!?" But guess what: we are!

I'll have to post some of his professional newborn pictures next. I'm just too tired to keep going for now! Besides, I think I might owe you another post or two : )

This has been the most exhilirating 31 days of my life! We are so crazy in love with our baby and are amazed by him every day. Can't wait to see what's in store for our little family.

Time is Flying!

2010-06-23T19:44:00.000-07:00

Whoa. My last post was almost a month ago! Maybe I'm not so good at this blogging thing, after all!

I know that summer only officially started this week, but I have to say that since Memorial Day weekend I've hardly caught my breath! Our weekends have been filled with tons of family events, spending time with friends, going to the lake, and organizing our home! Tony finally convinced me that it's time to pare down and get rid of the things we really don't need. I've heard before that you should only keep something if it's "useful or beautiful" (or something like that) so I'm trying to use that as a mantra while I sort through old boxes of decor and mementos. We really don't have much room, and even though Bacon will weigh somewhere between 6 and 9 pounds at birth... he comes with a lot of gear.

Speaking of that little fella, my former co-worker (and amazingly talented photographer) Casie Beldo took some really fun maternity shots of the three of us a couple weeks ago. (Tony kept trying to call them "paternity" photos, but I reminded him that he couldn't get a picture of our baby unless I was in the picture too, so he conceded and let me be in all of them!).

I am just in love with Casie's eye for design and the way she captured exactly what we wanted to portray: lighthearted, fun, unique pics:

Now these, I won't be paring down. Ever.

Sweet Summertime

2010-05-26T19:47:00.000-07:00

YUM. We have had some delicious weather recently! (The obvious exception being the recent rain, but I can totally handle it for a week or two. Don't we suffer through winter for about 5 months here?!) At our house, summertime also means a totally different diet - one including the juciest fruit and crispy, fresh produce, and meals cooked on the grill. It's amazing. Something about wandering outside barefoot to check on the chef's progress just really gets me.

Tonight's meal was polish sausage, corn on the cob, and watermelon. We all loved it!

(Obvs, Michelob Golden Light was not on my menu)

Sabie thoroughly enjoyed her first taste of watermelon, too.

It was also very likely her last, considering Tony had to wrangle a piece of rind from underneath her tongue. Oh Devil Dog, you are really something. But totally cute enough to make up for it.

Here are a couple pics of baby and mama today - 28 weeks and 6 days along!

I'll admit that I'm starting to get a touch uncomfy. My back has been aching, my skin seems like it's a little over-stretched, and more days than not, my ab muscles feel like they're being pulled straight off my ribs. Yikes. But that's really all I've had to complain about through my entire pregnancy, so I am thrilled with how it's going - and completely blown away by the fact that we will meet our little guy in approximately 11 weeks.

**Summertime, I know we're crazy excited about an important event coming up on or around August 12th. But please don't race by too quickly. We love you too much around here!**

This Girl Loves a Bargain!

2010-05-18T20:15:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to get into coupon-clipping for awhile now. I've heard from so many people who swear by this method of discount-shopping, but have to admit that it's a little intimidating, especially when they try to explain "piggybacking" coupons and price-matching, etc.

But I gave it a pretty decent shot this week, and was so impressed with my bargains that I had to share 'em! I mean, this is free money, people! Yes please, I'll take some.

Here's the loot from my first trip of the week, to CVS.

I was completely out of shampoo, hairspray, and mousse (and you were wondering what I have been trying to do with this mop lately!) so saw that CVS had Pantene hairspray and mousse on sale for $2.99 ea. Then I used my $1.00 off coupon, so got each for $2.49 (regularly $4.99 and $4.49 each).

The Dawn dishsoap is regularly $1.99 each, but they were on sale for 12 for $10.00. (Who would stock up on 12 is beyond me... obviously someone who lives in a very different house than ours). But that made them $.84 each. On top of that, I had two $.25 off coupons and a $.50 off coupon - so each of them rang up at under $.53 cents a piece! (And they are yummy too. Green Apple, Orange, Pomegranite and Lavendar!)

Total Spent: $7.74

Total Saved: $10.35

I felt really encouraged by my first stop! I think the trick is to go in with your list and not steer from it - I was tempted once or twice but am so glad I didn't. There wasn't anything else I needed, anyway.

Then I went to CashWise grocery store. They're notorious for giving away free items with specific purchases or with a certain purchase amount. I took advantage of their coupons and my manufacturers' coupons to get a bunch of sweet deals.

I picked up

5 boxes of General Mills cereal
10 packages of Knorr Sides
4 boxes of store brand mac'n'cheese
4 avocados
2.5 lbs tomatoes on the vine
lettuce
a lemon
butter
croutons
2 frozen pie crusts
3 cans of mushroom pieces and stems
Country Time Lemonade mix
1 bag of pretzel sticks
2.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts

All for just $36.57! I saved $16.03. Here's how I did it:

Cereal: advertised 4/$10, plus get $4.00 off when you buy 4. I got 5 boxes because I was able to use my $.55 off coupon on the Cheerios, too.
Knorr Sides: advertised at 10/$10.00, with coupon they were 10/$8.00 AND I got my chicken breasts for free!
On-the-vine tomatoes: Regularly $1.99/lb but on sale for $.98/lb
Avocados: $.88/ea
Mushrooms: 3/$1.00
Lettuce: $1.28
Pretzels: $1.99
Lemon: $.58
Pie crust: $1.88
Butter: $2.99
Mac'n'Cheese: $.25/ea
CountryTime Lemonade: FREE because I spent $25.00

And, I got a coupon for $.04 off per gallon of gas so I filled up at their pump just around the corner. It ended up being about $.11 cheaper per gallon than at the gas station closer to my house!

I can't even explain how much I loved buying all the things I was going to buy anyway, but for way less money! It did take a little time to make my lists based off the Sunday ads, and to clip the coupons from the manufacturers' circulars, but in these three trips alone (including the gas station), I saved almost $30.00! And it was all for things I use, including a few items that I needed right away, so I couldn't wait for a sale or coupon. Knowing that, I could have done even better - and will! You just wait and see...

Mothers' Day

2010-05-09T20:18:00.000-07:00

Tony and I had an amazing day! A great weekend, actually, but Mothers' Day was especially fun. For some reason Tony and I were both awake around 4:30 this morning, and I couldn't help but laugh about our conversation:

Me: Hi! (when I realized I wasn't the only one awake)
Him: Happy Mothers' Day (good one Tone, for remembering it in the middle of the night).
Aaaugh. I just spent the last hour wheeling and dealing for a set of Tonka Trucks.
Me: (laughing, because I know the story of vivid dreams!) Well, did you get a good bargain?
Him: Oh yeah... but now I don't even get to keep 'em!

Must have been frustrating to have to haggle all night for non-existant merchandise. I really like that Tony - I think he's pretty funny.

I've been praying for our baby to be as nice as Tony is, and guess what?! He gave me a Mothers' Day card before he was even out of the womb! So that was really sweet of him and totally unexpected. In fact, I thought it was impossible but evidently it's not. (His dad might have helped him out with that one).

Did I mention yet that I made two pies before 9:00 am!? I love days like this. I actually had a load of laundry in before that, too! There's nothing better than taking advantage of the weekend.

The pies were really easy to make. Here's the recipe:

Crust
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups crushed graham crackers (1/2 pound)

Here are mine:

(In my defense, the recipe does say you can use pre-made crust. And it was 8:00 am after all!)

Filling
3 8 oz packages of cream cheese
1 can sweetened condensed milk
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 8 oz container of Cool Whip
1 can of your favorite fruit filling

Beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix altogether. Fill pie crust (we actually had to throw some filling away because it made so much. We could have purchased larger crusts, so I'll remember that for next time.

Top with the fruit filling. Tony picked cherry, and I went for the blueberry:

(could have at least considered combing my hair before having my photo taken... but for the record, my teeth were brushed and hands were washed! Again... this is 8:00 am!)

Here are the finished pies. Yum. I hope mama Sarah and the rest of the fam enjoyed theirs, too!

At 11:30, we met my Mom, Gandma, Grandpa, Kristin, Ryan, and Leighton for lunch at the Speak Easy. I rarely order anything other than the Tortellini Carbonara there... sooo good. After that, we went to Grandma and Grandpa's so we could have dessert and visit for a bit. Grandpa played piano for Leighton:

(Shoot. I'm not sure how to upload that video, so I may have to look into that and post it soon!)

We took a picture of Great-Grandma, Grandma, Mom, Auntie (and Mom-to-be!), and Leighton at the park across the street from their house:

Then Mom and I ran to a fun fabric store (Carolyn, I left empty-handed again! I refuse to buy that fabric until I can use my 60% off coupon...) before meeting Tony at our house. Here's what we worked on this afternoon:

I know we have a little over 13 weeks until baby is due to arrive, but we've been pretty excited to get his nursery started, and it was Mothers' Day, after all! This means we're one step closer to being ready for baby R! We just can't wait to meet him...

Happy Mothers' Day again to our wonderful moms, grandmas and sisters (who are all amazing mothers already!)

The Big One...

2010-05-04T19:15:00.000-07:00

One, as in one year old! Can't believe that once-teeny-baby has already celebrated her first birthday. Leighton is such a fun addition to our family - and Tony and I think we're getting pretty good at playing the role of proud Auntie and Uncle. (To her and to cutie pies Kathryn and Owen - all born within 11 months of each other!)

Here are a few pics of her celebrating her big day over the weekend:

(I love this pic of Leighton and her momma laughing together)

Her party was "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" themed... Such a cute idea!

...She didn't love the hat, but it it was festive so she put up with it for a minute.

4 generations at Leighton's first birthday: Great Grandma and Grandpa, Grandma, Daddy and Leighton

(who thinks Grandma Deej is pretty funny!)

Opening some of her gifts...

Leighton was crazy about the wagon Tony and I picked out for her! We loved that it had two folding seat backs, seatbelts, and cupholders! She'd take her sippy cup out of the holder, throw her head back to take a swig, then put it back - too funny. Here she is taking a little ride with her cousin.

She's looking a little protective of her uncle Tony in this pic... she must know he was the one who assembled her new toy! Notice that Leighton's daddy was having a great time at this point (I guess you can't blame the guy who works nights, but still....)

Kristin sent me this adorable picture today - said that Leighton is still in love with the Radio Flyer! (Owen and Kathryn, your first birthdays will be here before you know it...

and we think we have an idea of what to get you!)

To die for. She is so adorable.

Done Done!

2010-04-24T07:25:00.000-07:00

At our house, there's a difference between a project being done, and a project being "done done". Our bathroom renovation was done a year and a half ago (just in time for Thanksgiving), but was really and officially "done done" just this week! I know it's hard to finish up the teeny details once a room is functioning just fine, but it's those details that really finish off the space. We always try to keep sale-ability in mind, and certainly we could never consider putting our house on the market with "mostly finished" projects throughout. (Not that we're planning to sell anytime soon, but that we like to know we have the option, you know?)

Here is a "before" picture of the bathroom from when Tony bought this house. I remember loving the original medicine cabinet, but for some reason there was a smell inside that we could not clean out! Plus, it was way too huge for such a small bathroom. Add that to the fact that it was off-centered from the sink, and it made the decision to remove it slightly easier. We do try to keep the original fixtures, woodwork, and finishes whenever it adds to the character of our home, but not when we have challenges like this:

Really hard to get a good photo of the bathroom, because like the rest of the house, it's pretty little! But you can get the idea.

So here's what we (okay, mostly Tony) did:

Patch the window in the shower (and hire a company to stucco the exterior)

Remove all old tile and wallpaper

Skim coat walls

Replace flooring

Add beadboard to the walls

Install shower surround and fixtures

Remove and replace pedestal sink with smaller space-saving option

Install new medicine cabinet and over-the-stool cabinet

Hang new hardware

Paint everything

Install ventilation fan

Re-do ceiling

Hang crown molding

We decided just to hang a white shower curtain because anything darker or more patterned would bring to attention that the shower was alarmingly close to the bathroom entry! We can't do anything about the size of this space, but I love how useable Tony made it. We have plenty of storage between the medicine cabinet, additional cabinet, and linen closet (just outside the bathroom) and it definitely blends with the style of our home. Yay for being done done, Tony! I love this bathroom.

While he's been working on that, here's what I've been working on this week:

Snuggling with our dog,

... and putting on the lbs!

My job is so much easier.

Catching Up

2010-04-06T19:49:00.000-07:00

I know I fell behind a few weeks ago, so thought I'd post a couple of the things that we've had going on around here since then:

Jill spent her spring break in Fargo which was so much fun! We worked together on a fitted sheet for The Bun's crib. This is us in the process:

And I realized that I won't have a picture of the finished product until I have a crib mattress to put it on, but for the record, we tried it on Leighton's crib and I'm thinking it will work just fine. It was a really easy pattern and it was actually a lot of fun to make! Once I'm certain that it will work for The Bun's crib I'll start on my next set as well as the crib skirt.

On March 12th, my grandparents celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary - I just love that Tony and I have role models like them and our parents to look up to! I was talking to my grandma on their anniversary because I wanted to get all the details of their wedding. Long story short, it was a simple affair! Not even a wedding photo to document the day. The funny (terrible, really) thing is, we didn't get a photo of their 60th anniversary, either! We did have a little family get-together at Ryan and Kristin's the next weekend, where we got lots and lots of pictures of that darling baby. I mean, she wouldn't even be here but for grandma and grandpa, so it does all tie together!

Oh! That girl - she is just getting funnier and more animated every day. Pictures cannot even do justice to her adorable personality! (Grandpa, I really am sorry that you didn't get in to the picture with Gram and Leighton. I'll do better next time we're all at your place - promise.)

And, last week Tony and I met our first nephew! His sister Tori and her boyfriend Mike welcomed a very, very handsome boy into the world on March 31st. He was almost two weeks early, but still a good-sized guy, for sure. Tor's delivery wasn't exactly easy, but I'm sure she'd agree that she'd do it all again when you look at these two:

What? You couldn't see Owen's face through all those blankets!? I think it's so funny because this is the same type of picture I have of Kathryn and Leighton their first day or two of life. How they can even tell it's their baby is beyond me! I'm just going to assume that's Owen in there, for my pictures' sake.

And poor Kathryn, who at 28 days old is now left to fend for herself, being the "older cousin". Her time as the baby of the family was pretty short! But she seems to be getting by just fine on her own... Tony taught her to hold her pacifier in herself so she should be basically self-sufficient by now : )

The following Sunday was Easter, and we loved being able to celebrate with both sides of our family. We had a lunch in Frazee, followed by dinner in West Fargo. Here are the new little families on Tony's side. I kept talking about how crazy it was that a month ago there were no babies, and now there are two! So much can change so quickly!

(It looks like Owen is crying in this picture, but he wasn't. He seems to be a very peaceful little guy in general... Except for the minute that I held him in a picture, in which case he was justifiably uncomfortable and a bit panicked! I'm not even posting the photo due to the risk of ya'll deciding that I'm not qualified to have my own baby.)

Here are Kathryn and her parents. She's also a very mild-mannered little one! Makes me nervous because it seems like a hellion-baby is about due in our family...

Grandma and Grandpa brought little cupcakes for dessert at Ryan and Kristin's dinner. Here's a picture of the "big baby" eating her first cupcake! She thought it was silly - and delicious.

(That's her cheesy smile!)

....and it's gone. And you may notice that her clothes are too! That's not a long-standing holiday tradition. The rest of us stayed dressed the entire time we were at Ryan and Kristin's, FYI.

So that basically sums up the past couple of weeks - I'll be back to my regular, chronological postings soon!

First Sign of Spring

2010-03-30T19:40:00.000-07:00

One of the things I love about Tony is that he really gets into his work. And even though one of his favorite lines is "It's not that fun to be an ay-dult", he does those ay-dult jobs so well that I'm lucky enough to totally forget about them! Like taking the garbage out to the curb each week, sorting our recycling, organizing the basement, refilling the humidifier each night... the list goes on. And it also includes cleaning Sabie's poop from the back yard.

Now, I realize that we haven't kept up with it at all this winter, but I can guarantee you... it's not knee deep.

This is how I found Tony when I peeked out the back door to check on his progress. Might be a touch dramatic, in my opinion! Thanks for really goin' for it, Tony. I appreciate your passion for the job!

Boy Oh Boy!

2010-03-25T20:51:00.000-07:00

First of all, I need to apologize because I'm going to have to post a few things out-of-order this upcoming week. I'm totally exhausted after having taken care of a sick puppy last night but still wanted to get this post done before I head to bed! You probably won't be surprised to hear that I slept out on the couch last night in order to more easily provide endless amounts of belly rubs and back scratches to the pup with a tummy ache - or that I was awake from 2:30 until 6:00 am in order to accommodate her need to lay outside on the cool grass every 15 minutes, or that I tried to tempt her to eat by making rice with chicken stock at about 3:15 this morning. But the hard part about it is that 8:00 am brought one of the BIGGEST events of our lives - and certainly that of our married lives! We had an appointment to get another glimpse of baby R and discover whether we'll be raising a son or daughter.... so huge.

I finally made it back to our bed around 6:40 this morning so that I could "sleep" for another 20 minutes before getting up for the day. (You would have expected me to bolt out of bed, considering that I've been counting down the hours - literally - since we scheduled this ultrasound). But I was just begging for a few more minutes. Anyway, we got ready and headed out to the hospital.

Tony and I anxiously waited for my name to be called. We had actually asked the ultrasound tech to keep the sex a secret until she could write it down in a card we'd brought along to the appointment. Then the plan was for us to have breakfast together somewhere fun and open the card when it was just the two of us.

The appointment went well, she clicked through so many images on the computer; taking measurements and labeling body parts as she went. It was amazing to see the little pumpkin's hand resting on it's face, all the toes and fingers, the heart chugging away, and other various organs exactly as they should be. That was the most important part of the ultrasound, of course. When we were done, she asked us to head out to the waiting room again where she'd bring a CD of images and the card in the envelope.

We were so giddy when she brought the CD out! She congratulated us again as we practically ran to the truck!

We got to Josie's Corner bakery (which was a funny choice - neither of us had ever been there before) and ordered a couple of hot chocolates. Then we sat down with the card between us. I think we were both really nervous to open it! When we finally did, this is what it looked like:

I was totally shocked - and I was the one who thought it was going to be a boy! (I was 50% positive, at least). But this guy here looked like he'd won the lottery! I guess he did want a little boy, after all.

It was so fun to be able to find out when it was just the two of us, and I love having that little card for the baby book. Tony sent texts to his family right away - he'd already started the message beforehand so he could just fill in the sex and then hit send. Before we left the bakery, we ordered blue-frosted sugar cookies for Tony to take back to work, since he didn't have the whole day off like I did.

Then we went to my parents' place to tell them the news. The night prior, I had put 20 pink and 20 blue M&M's in two little satchets to give to them, knowing I'd have to take a pink or a blue one out after the ultrasound. When we got there, they were both excited to find out what we were having, so we said, "You tell us!' and gave them the bags. There might have been some aggressive competition by one of them as they raced to see whether there were more blue or pink M&M's, but I won't say from who!! It was really fun to see their reactions as they discovered for themselves that they were getting a grandson.

After that, Tony headed to the office and I went to grandma and grandpa's to share the news with them. I spent the rest of the day shopping and checking on our dog (who seems to have almost completely recovered from her stomach ache, thankfully).

I am about dying to get to bed, but wanted to include a shot or two of the baby boy! We just cannot wait to meet him in August and are crazy about him already!

A profile shot is above (and I did tell Tony he'd better hope that nose grows a bit; or he runs the risk of having a mini-nose like mine! And then the money shot where you can see some shin bones and the "boy parts" that the tech mentioned in the card. Aaah, we love that little guy! Can't wait to meet him in person!

Pita Pete

2010-03-14T19:37:00.000-07:00

We had the opportunity to enjoy some gorgeous weather in Fargo on Saturday! The Pita Pit (and therefore Tony and I) participated in the St. Patrick's Day parade downtown... which was actually pretty fun! Of course it was a little chilly, but the sun was shining and we had a break from the recent rain, so it was as close to perfect as you can get in North Dakota... in March.

You may recognize these shoes... they were actually super-popular with the crowd! I kept hearing pre-teens (and some parents) shouting, "Hey - love your shoes!" I was thinking that as long as they've borrowed the costume, someone should show up to the office in them on Monday.

My camera actually displayed the low battery icon after I took the first picture of the day, which was a bummer. I used Tony's cell phone to get a few extra shots, but to be honest, I was too busy tossing candy to the crowds (and trying to figure out how we were going to make the remaining 20 pieces last throughout the second half of the parade) to take many pictures. But I did get a photo of the big guy right before the parade:

We were cracking up a bit because it's obviously hard to see or maneuver when you're wearing a gigantic pita over your body, but he did just fine. Er, except for when he was nearly crushed by the pita car right in front of our restaurant. That wasn't so good - but aside from that, all went smoothly! I think he was a huge hit.

I've been sworn to secrecy as to who was in the Pita Pete costume, but as a little hint: he's my baby-daddy. That didn't give it away, did it?
We were barely able to get this photo after the parade because so many little kids wanted to get in it with us! It's not easy being married to a celebrity, but the perks are totally worth it. Thanks for being such a great sport, honey!

Raising a Teenager (in a dog's body)

2010-03-08T19:20:00.000-08:00

I just can't get enough of Sable! Some of you may have heard me talk about her "chicken breast and white wine lunch" a few years back, and while this meal wasn't quite as gourmet, it was enough to crack me up (and make me grab the camera!)

This is exactly what I saw when I came home from work today (as a side note, she does have a water bowl, like a dog should have, but she won't eat her food when it's next to her water bowl in the dining room - she insists on eating all of her meals in the living room and will even carry her bowl out there, full of food, if it's not where she wants to eat. And naturally I caved long ago so she eats all her meals in front of the television, like any high-schooler would!)

I realized as soon as I saw it that I'd forgotten my glass from lunch on the end table next to the couch. Looks like she finished off my vanilla soy milk with her meal!

And I tried to get her to pose next to it after the fact, but she's having none of that:

Aaah, you'll never be able to see just how darling she is in photos...

Sweet Baby Kate

2010-03-06T20:19:00.000-08:00

The first of the cousins (on Tony's side) has arrived! Kathryn Jeanmarie was born 8 days ahead of schedule, on March 3rd. We were so excited to finally be able to meet that darling girl! She'll be followed by baby Owen next month, and The Bun in August. Here she is just a few hours after being born:

We didn't get to see her eyes at all that day - she was obviously exhausted from making her entrance into the world. Luckily, we got to visit her and her (tired!) parents today when they had settled in at home. They've set up the sunniest nursery for her! I think the wall art turned out so well.

And we were lucky enough to get a shot or two with her eyes open! Love her. Love the pink and orange ensemble, love that teeny baby face. Isn't it crazy how much they can change in just a couple of days? I remember that with baby Leighton too. It makes ya glad to live near them, so that they don't go changing too much between visits!

Here's a shot of her with her proud aunt and uncle. Sad that we didn't take a single picture of her with her rightful parents tonight! They hardly got to hold her while we were at their house (sorry T & J!) so we'll have to get one next time.

So much fun to see them tonight. Thanks for allowing us to stop over, you guys!

Not that there's been much change this week, but here's Kate's cousin tonight after we made it home (17w2d)

I think I'm getting somewhere!

2010-02-27T16:18:00.000-08:00

This is the cartoon that comes to mind almost every morning, when I stand in front of my full-length mirror to see if there's a chance I'm bigger than I was when I went to bed the night before.

And then somewhere between last week and today, this happened: (and was documented in the Old Navy dressing room for proof!)

That looks like the start of a bump to me! So exciting. And now that my boss is aware that I'm pregnant, the question is: Do I continue to wear an array of scarves, vests, and jackets to keep the bump under wraps, or do I just show up to work on Monday, visibly pregnant for the rest of the world to see?! It makes me laugh to imagine just never mentioning it to anyone, but I also don't want to have to make any type of announcement, either. So until I decide, I think I'll throw on another pashmina.

I've spent my Saturday running errands, helping my girlfriend Kells move over to her new (and soon to be super-cute) apartment, and doing loads of laundry. It feels nice to have a weekend for getting things done, because last weekend I had a terrible cold and was completely useless. Things have been a little backed up over here, so I'd better get to it again. Hope you're having a great weekend!

The New Wheels and a Teeny Surprise

2010-02-21T20:08:00.000-08:00

We both knew that Tony would be needing a new vehicle within the next couple of months... after all, his last truck belonged to his former employer, and we couldn't borrow my parents' Honda forever! We wrangled with the idea of buying a second vehicle for awhile, but one of us (so hard to figure out which one!) struggled with the idea of adding another monthly payment to our bills, despite the fact that I (er, that person) knew it was necessary. So the hunt began.

Tony dove in with both feet; he did tons of research and more dealership drive-bys than he told me about, I'm sure. But finally, the *perfect* truck showed up. And we're both really excited about it.

So, here's Tony's new ride - a 2006 Crew Cab Chevy Silverado! The best part (in my opinion) is that it had just over 31,000 miles on it. And we plan to drive this guy for many years. I think it's kind of cute that it matches my Envoy perfectly!

It's a pretty big truck. I'm just hoping that it's got enough cargo room to transport items along these lines by the middle of August, when we're going to need 'em!

So, back to the truck:

Just kidding! Okay, the more important news in this post is that Tony and I are expecting a baby this summer! I'm almost 16 weeks along, so we've been keeping it "hush hush" for awhile now, but it's time to let the cat out of the bag. (I was, admittedly, a touch relieved when the storm came on Christmas Day and we weren't able to make it to Breck this year. How would I pull off not drinking one single beer. all. day. long? Especially if we were cooped up because of the weather. One look at my guilty face would have been the end of our little secret, for sure.)

Anyway here's a picture (of a picture) of our little bun. This is from its 10.5 week appointment, in mid-January:

Isn't it darling? (Don't worry, I won't be offended if you can't interpret the photo!) the oval on the right is the little one's head, the perfectly round circle on the left is the tummy, and the bumps between the two are little fists. We could see the little guy or gal moving around like crazy on the ultrasound that day. Heart flickering away, doing some kind of baby-mambo. Loved it. Might have teared up a bit. And before you start to worry, it does have legs. I just don't know where they are in this picture : )

So, feel free to keep an eye out for upcoming posts - I think we'll have lots of exciting news to share down the road!

The Kitchen Reveal!

2010-02-07T10:07:00.000-08:00

Wahoo! I've officially joined the blogwagon! This is the first of many posts that will give you a glimpse of what's going on in our little (but ever-increasingly adorable) Fargo home.

Some of the biggest activity around here is the never-ending list of renovations that Tony has been working on. These pictures will be completely out-of-order, and some renovations will have taken place a year (or more!) ago, but I love the idea of having some before-and-afters for people to peruse.

Let's start with the BIGGEST of all renovations - the kitchen! This is really the most recent of the house projects that have been forced upon Tone, but I think it's the most amazing transformation yet. Now I have to see if I can learn how to post pics:

Got it (that was actually pretty easy)! This is a before of the sink and countertop area. I know those are original cabinets, so it was kind of sad to tear them out. But Tony was able to save a few of them for basement storage - love that.

And here's the after of the same area (I just LOVE that faucet. The sink is also much deeper, which makes hand-washing dishes sooo much easier. But who needs that when the hubs installed a sparkly new dishwasher!?)

Here's another before: (Why would I honestly keep that much crap on my fridge?)

And unfortunately this isn't the same angle, but it's a shot of the same space. The fridge and oven traded spots in the kitchen

Love the new stove and microwave. Does anyone know the best way to clean a glass-top stove? I own some scrubby pads and spray, but maybe there are some tricks I haven't learned yet? Let me know...

This is the old stove (you might not be able to see it in the pic, but the handle broke off months prior to the renovation. It had been electrical-taped on since Tony bought the place in 2006!) Guess that boy didn't cook much.

I pretty much just gasped when I looked at this photo! How in the world was I convinced to move into this house!? I guess love makes ya do crazy stuff.

Here's the same space today: (STILL too much on the fridge. I'll have to take care of that).

And since it's a tough space to photograph, here's another shot: (that Sabie just refuses to smile in photos). I love the miniature countertop by the door. It's the perfect space for charging cell phones, the candle warmer Jill got us for Christmas, keys, etc.

And one final shot of the kitchen in general. What do you guys think!?: