Party Time

Sorry it has been so long since our last post-- we have been having so much fun we just don't seem to find the time to update everyone. Here is a brief recap of the past few weeks:

We had a wonderful Halloween weekend. Kellen came to class with mom to hand out candy on Halloween to the overgrown kids she teaches. On Friday night we went trick or treating as a farm; mom was a cow, dad was a farmer, Kellen was a goat and Murphy was a dog. We overestimated how many homes we could hit but Kellen's favorite was at Grandma Jean's where he got a jar of applesauce. Talk about a treat :)

On Saturday we had a wonderful fall party with celebrated with a great showing of both friends and family. Kellen enjoyed the hay ride and had tons of fun showing some of the newbies around the house. The weekend rounded out on Sunday with Kellen getting baptized.

The first week in November Kellen had his first experience going to vote-- he is learning how luck we really are to live in the USA.

Grandma Mac spent the next week here in Minnesota with us since dad was very busy deer hunting. Kellen is still very confused as to why dad dresses up like a tree, and freezes his ass off in the woods and even at 5 months with limited distance vision Kellen seems to see as many deer from the house. Never the less- dad and grandma Harry both got a buck so all was well in our household.

This weekend, mom went to a play with some WSU friends and Kellen enjoyed some time with Grandma Becks. Saturday mom watched Logan and Riley and decided that she probably needs to have her tubes tied. The saving grace was that Riley was my little helper and Kellen spent most of the afternoon in his new jumparoo. Speaking of the jumparoo, it was a rather interesting craigslist purchase when I arrived and the front porch of the house had a rather pungent smell. It was a dairy farm and little Flower the jersey calf was living on the front porch. Dad swears if mom finds any more "deals" that require 2 hours of clean up he might take away all buying privileges.

As we speak, Kellen is having a great time watching Rodeo on TV--- his has got his jumparoo parked in front of the tv and has been working on throwing his hands in the air as if he just finished tying a calf. Dad thinks it is funny how mom's rule of no TV just went out the window for about an hour.

That's all for now-- gotta start to pay attention to the barrel racing. Happy Trails!

We live here because???

Kellen is confused why we live in Minnesota.... the Vikes suck and so does the weather! It isn't even even Halloween and we had our first snow fall.

Another crazy busy week that has flown by. Thursday night we met Ann Mac, Theresa, Karen and Alma for happy hour and dinner at Jeffersons. We learned from Alma that eating fruit is good for you and helps you poop. Kellen filed that piece of advice away for now since his mean mom won't even let him eat applesauce anymore. Kellen also got to meet some of mom's party friends Skupa and Cindy as we were leaving. He really enjoyed them and thought they were rather funny even at 7:30 p.m.

Kellen had a great time with Grandma Beck's on Friday night. Mom went to a concert with Jojo and the mom's drank a little too much. Sure does work to get a great night sleep we both found. Neither Jolene or I were aware if our children woke up during the early am hours. Don't worry before you turn us in to social services, the dad's were home and we didn't drive!

Texas is the favorite outfit on college football Saturday. In fact, Kellen wore one of his Texas outfits to church today because he worries people might make fun of him if he keeps wearing the Vikes outfits... even prayers aren't helping.

Saturday Kellen enjoyed going out to lunch with David and Anne and we had a great fun. Kellen took in his first WSU volleyball game with Jojo, Mic, Deb and Addie. It was great to see everyone and meet Addie- Kellen thought she was hot.

On Sunday Kellen tried to make a snow angel on the deck with his cousins Tyler and Colin. Although it was great fun, what the hell are we living here for again??

We are going to have to change the theme of our party from BYOB to BYO sled. Seriously.....

Lovin life

Kellen had another busy week filled with lots of new learning. We had an appointment with his new pediatrician at Gunersen and learned that nearly all 4 month old babies can sleep through them night-- it is in fact that parents that prevent them from doing so. At the time I was thinking-- dude I assure you we make no unnecessary noise from our end of the house when the little one is sleeping (not sure if I or Andy would have spit that out first). So boot camp it was going to be. Kellen had been doing great sleeping from around 7 until 6:30 until a few weeks back when he acquired a stuffy nose and couldn't figure out how to breath through his mouth. Well he must have heard us threatening because with virtually no intervention he is sleeping through the night again. What a great learning-- what mom and dad says.... Kellen does. Oh if it were only that easy!

Kellen weighed in at 13 1/2 pounds so still on the tall and skinny side of life. Everything else checked out great and both of us really liked the new peds doctor. Of course I was hoping for someone who looked like Dr. Mcdreamy but a very knowledgeable geek will do.

On Wednesday Jolene and I braved our first night alone at Bergies with 3 kids under 2. Went okay and for some reason we only had Diet Coke. Should have had a few beers to settle our fears!

This weekend we spent some time around the house, Andy started cleaning the garage (no laughing when and if you ever see it) we take small baby steps around here to improving things. Might just secretly turn us in to one of those HGTV shows where you sell your shit to make other improvements around the house. Saturday night we went to a bonfire at Corey and Jo's new house and checked out Jo's parents camper. Seriously bigger than our house on Kansas Street but a great time had by all.

Sunday we took in early church and a waffle breakfast (just what both our diets called for) and enjoyed the nice day. Andy was "dying" from a cold so Kellen and I went on a road trip in the afternoon so he could rest. Thank god he made it through and we picked up an exersaucer along the journey. Kellen is fascinated with it and Murphy can't figure out how he can spin around in it. Sunday evening Riley, Kellen and Logan hung out while we grilled out and enjoyed a few beverages. Hoping that Kellen will pick up on Riley's eating habits as the kid won't stop eating broccoli and squash. Perhaps we could try the threat again to see if it might work!

Kellen got a new sweatsuit and bib from Grandma Beck's. She returned from Florida with Holly and her family. Kellen just loves the bib that says, Grandma bought this with Grandpa's money in Florida.

In addition to his time with Murphy, outside time with Dad, Kellen's new favorite pastime is is playing the piano. Perhaps a musician on our hands already! Just hope he can sing better than any of us can. Murphy might have the best voice in the house!

Getting ready for Halloween- Kellen has about 10 Halloween shirts since Dad is fond of orange and the fact that it looks great under camouflage. You know the kid is going to be made fun of when half of his wardrobe comes from fleet-farm or Cabella's. Thank god for our kind friends who donate the rest of his "normal" clothes so Andy isn't totally in charge of the closet.

That's all for this week- hope you are planning to come celebrate with Kellen at the Fall party!

What a week and what is the deal with these bugs

It was just a wonderful week to be Kellen-- grandma mac visited from Tuesday to Saturday and they did all kinds of fun things. Kellen had a few observations after the visit....

1) Kellen thinks he is going to need to eat at least one squash per week for the next year. Grandma Harry should not confuse the pumpkins with the squash when planting the garden next year. We would have had a hell of a pumpkin patch but instead we will all be eating squash for the next year and a half. But thanks to grandma mac for freezing it all!

3) Grandma Mac makes up more words to song that you can imagine. Kellen will never learn the mouth it Watermelon technique because he will just think you can make up whatever you want when you don't know the words.

4) Even though Dad says we should eat green beans first Kellen loves when Grandma Mac feeds him because he get a fully tummy on apple sauce and can skip the green beans. He wishes she would stay forever.

5) Grandma Mac's antique trips are for the birds. Grandma met mom in Rochester to look at an "antique table". Needless to say we couldn't find the place and not sure a GPS would have even helped with a screaming demon in the back seat. I guess Kellen has already been brainwashed by Grandpa JB and dad to make our antique hunting trips miserable. To top it off the table was not even an antique so all this for nothing.

6) Grandma shouldn't buy Halloween costumes so early in the year. Kellen had his heart set on being a giraffe but as you can see it is a bit small (unless giraffe's don't have spots on the bottom of their legs). Might have to hand that one on to Logan. Could be the cutest giraffe I ever saw (but perhaps I am biased).

In addition to the fun, Kellen went to his cousin's school with his Grandma Becks on Friday. Kellen went to dad's friend Drew's wedding on Saturday night. Needless to say it was a short trip because Dad did not believe Mom when she told him it might not be a good idea to take Kellen out at bedtime. So we left at 7:30 (just 15 min past bedtime) and dad got to learn the hard way (men....). At least mom and dad got to go to bed early to catch a few extra hours of shut eye.

On Sunday we went to church and Kellen misbehaved again (perhaps we will get asked to leave before we even join the church). Kellen had a great day with his dad, hauling wood, going to see Uncle Tom and Grandpa Dano to shoot guns and feeding the pigs. Sunday night Grandpa Harry and Granny Jay came for dinner and to visit. All and all it was another great week expect the bugs are bothering Murphy and that is disturbing to Kellen.

Eating new things and hanging with my friends

It was another busy and fast week for Kellen. Once again mom's friends forgot to tell her that when you first try the whole cereal thing, it will take at least an hour and require at minimum an outfit change and perhaps even a bath for the child and perhaps the feeder as well. Thanks again guys...... what would we do with out you.

Kellen does seem to enjoy his cereal though-- as you can see from the picture we wear about as much as we eat-- if he doesn't spit it out simultaneously when the spoon enters the mouth he barfs the rest up as usual. Looking forward to our visit the his new pediatrician and hoping they have some magic barf pill. Perhaps his mom can use it to next time she drinks too much.

Kellen had a very busy weekend in Dubuque. He hung out with Karen, Kim, Kelly and Ryan on Friday night. Saturday we went to farmers market, then to Loras homecoming and to the Chili cook off. Kellen forgot to wear his" are these people really my relatives" shirt as we ran into mom's cousin's Jana, Jason, Brennen, Jessica, Corey and family, Tami, Marty and kids and Aunt Jan and Uncle "won't come to my house to fix anything" Jon. Great time had by all and Kellen tried beer for the first time. Can't believe his dad and grandma JB weren't there but he seemed to enjoy it and mellowed out quite a bit after 3 drops.

Saturday evening we had dinner with Jan, Jon & Carolyn and John-- Kellen is still very confused what to think of Grandma John Haupert. He might take the lead from Murphy and keep his distance from the crazy man :)

Sunday was a kid filled day. We went to Brad and Dana's to see Nancy's new baby Ella, along with Ken and Elaine. Ella is just beautiful and Kellen enjoyed her company. We then packed up the mom-mobile and headed north to have dinner with Angie, Mitch, Blake and Jaeger & Jo, Corey, Riley and Logan. Talk about a house filled with boys. Blake was a busy guy and enjoyed marching around the house to the sound of his shoes hitting the hard floors. Riley didn't know what the hell to think of Blake running around and was pretty content playing with his diggers. Logan slept through the whole thing and Kellen just took it all in. Mom put the final nail in the coffin on having some more little ones and Murphy is having bad dreams about Kellen being 1 some day. It was great to see everyone and had a wonderful meal. Not sure how 10 years ago mom, Ang and Jojo were chasing boys (and what we thought we would gain if we caught one..... still haven't figured that out yet). And today here we are still chasing boys (ones that seem to all act a little bit like their dads). Felt a little alone drinking as Jojo isn't quite up to it yet and Angie was more interested in the caffeine free diet coke as opposed to the Bush NA. All and all a great time and even though we collectivly live 1 hour from each other it takes a miricle of god to schedule a time we can all gather together.

Should be another beautiful week filled with lots of fun as Grandma Mac is coming for a few days. Kellen will undoubtidly add to his book or learning toy collection as gram will have a few days to load up the car before arriving on Tuesday. Murphy is especilaly looking forward to seeing her as his dad forgot to bring Murphy when he met mom in LaCrosse on Friday to depart for Dubuque. I think fogetting the kid might have gone over better with Grandma JB---- Murphy did enjoy the piece of quite however.

Have a great week and more updates to come!

Pumpkins galore

Well despite the deer a few pumpkins survived in the deer plot to make it to harvest time. We found one really special pumpkin in the patch-- resting from a very busy weekend.

On Friday we went to visit Kellen's new best friend baby Logan. He was born on Friday afternoon and we stopped to say hello and introduce ourselves.

Saturday mom and dad attempted (key word) to play golf (as if what we were doing was really a sport) in the Groth open. Not much luck golfing but Kellen had a great time at Grandma Donna's and took in time with Amy and all the cousins.

Saturday night we had a bean bag tournament (now this resembled a sport much more than golfing) with the Groth clan. Kellen enjoyed seeing everyone and was a bit mad that his mom and dad offered little leniency on his bedtime ( Andy was almost ready to get out the Halloween sign where you can change the sign from the Witch in IN or OUT. If you could get through our garage to find it he might make it a permanent decoration around here).

Sunday we went to church where Kellen modeled his behavior after his dad and uncle Casey in the day. Apparently at even 14 weeks they can figure out if you misbehave you can go someplace else. Hopefully this will change in time although I think Andy prefers to get up and leave to this day.

After church we went to visit Logan again and then off to Grandma Dano's farm e-i-e-i-o to check on the 6 pigs he bought. To date Kellen knows 5 verses to the Grandma Dano's farm song.... with a moo moo here and a moo moo there, and a neigh here and a neigh there and a ruff, ruff here and a ruff, ruff there and a meow meow here and a meow meow there AND NOW and oink-oink here and an oink-oink there. God only knows what is next........

That about wraps up the week-- Kellen has enjoyed the beautiful weather and hopes it continues for about another 51 weeks.

Week 12 (so we missed a few in between)

Once again I have found that all of you have lied.... or at least withheld information. The idea that you can get the same amount of things accomplished while taking care of a 10 pound being just isn't true. The blog is just one of the great many things that have been neglected around here the past 12 weeks (just ask Murph or come take a look at the dust bunnies in the corners). Never the less it has been a wonderful summer and as we get ready for fall to set in we look at it with new eyes (droopy with black circles under them usually). Andy has learned that Kellen really doesn't care to build deer stands (if that only holds true for another 18 years, I will be in luck). On the contrary Kellen seems to behave quite well when his mom is riding horses so perhaps this is a sign. God knows even us crazy horse people don't stuff the horses we love and nail them up to a wall so horses it will be for Kellen.



I will try to catch everyone up since it has been a while for many of you. Here are the month by month highlights.

July

Kellen made his first trip home to Iowa for the 4th of July. He had a great time meeting all of his Iowa family and friends and his uncle Casey who was home from Texas.

Kellen went to his first rodeo and Grandpa JB is to start looking for a nice little calf roping pony---- children with really nice horses rarely want to ride bulls.

Kellen went on his first hay ride and took part in Grandpa Harry and Granny Jay's camp out. He seemed to enjoy it especially since a red (not green) tractor pulled the hay wagon. Kellen enjoyed meeting Aunt Jodi and Uncle Mike and spending time with Amy, Brandon and Kari.

Kellen spent lots of time with his friend Riley and they had great fun watching the Ridgeway fire dept. burn Riley's "new house" to make room for the real new house.

Mom's girlfriends from work had a lovely get together and they all brought some very nice books for Kellen. He enjoys reading books almost as much as playing with Murphy. Grandma Mac visited for the week and we had lot and lots of fun.

Mom and Kellen went to Wisconsin Rapids to visit friends Mark, Lindsay and crew. Kellen hit the motherload on hand-me-downs and his mom is jealous that he has more clothes now than she does.

Kellen also tried to help mom and grandpa Harry plant the garden (more on that damn idea later).

August

Kellen spent about 2 weeks helping his mom and dad (okay mostly his dad) fence in a pasture for the horses. He is quite content in the back of the 4 wheeler swinging away.

Kellen spent lots of time at Grandma Donna's, Grandma Becks, Aunt Holly's, Shirley's and anyone else who would take him when he got sick of fencing. Mom was made to feel 100 when Avery and Emma (two little girls mom babysat for in college) came to watch him one day. Auntie Katy came one weekend and helped to watch after him too.

Kellen had people out to grill out almost every weekend. Mom and Dad enjoyed the company and despite all Mom is sort of starting to learn how to cook. She might be a fast learner but that doesn't apply in the cooking dept. and god knows Kellen will need to eat in the next year. Thankfully in the past 30 years I have mastered Mac and Cheese and PB and J so hopefully those are favorites!

Grandma Mac visited for another week prior to her departure to Texas to visit uncle Casey. Mom and Dad were lucky enough to inherit Gus--- never getting two dogs (or two kids for that matter).

Kellen had to get his first round of shots and he thought it really sucked. He thinks he is exposed to enough dirt that his immune system will be perfect - any shots.

Kellen went to many picnics (RTP for dad's work, Winona State and UW- Lacrosse College of Business). He doesn't think much of leaving potato salad out for hours either so not sure lots of these will be in his future.

September

Kellen helped mom and dad cut wood for the first time (and unless we win the lotto he will do so for the next 100 years if he wants to be warm in the winter). He was a trooper and just swung the day away.

We now have college football Saturday's and football Sunday. Kellen is usually confused on what to wear on these days and mom and dad argue until each one gets to pick on part of the outfit resulting in ridiculous looking sports apparel.

Auntie Katy stopped in for a visit and Kellen updated her on what was new in his life.

Grandma Mac came for another week and Kellen is still amazed that she can stick her tongue out. Given that Kellen inherited his mom's IQ he should figure it out yesterday.

Kellen checks the garden (aka deer plot) daily and it goes down in history as the worst garden ever. The deer have to date eaten 8 tomato plants, 2 egg plants, several green peppers, only a few jalapenos (serves the bastards right), lots of squash and now the pumpkins. Mom is working on mixing up a little strick nine tastee treat for them.

Every Wednesday night is pizza night at Bergie's. Kellen enjoys mingling with the locals (always an eclectic mix of individuals) and mom, Jolene and Riley enjoy their 5.00 pizza's and getting the hell out of the house. Kellen is excited for his new friend Logan to make his way into the world next Friday.

Well that's all for now folks-- besides a promise to update this thing a bit more often (hell you can always improve from horrible). Kellen looks forward to adding to the memories the next time he is in your presence.

Week 2- sleeping and party time

Well we survived another week and the excitement of the week was the birthday party we had at the house on Friday night. It was Andy's 31st birthday on Thursday, Murphy will be 5 on July 4th and Kellen was 2 weeks old. Great fun was had by all!

Andy and I went shopping in La Crosse and although it this isn't Kellen's first camo outfit, it is the first one that fits.

Kellen got to meet his Aunt Kari this weekend and enjoyed spending time with her. He is looking forward to meeting all his Iowa relatives and friends this next weekend. He hopes Grandma Mac is up for the night shift again for at least one night :)

As you can see by the daylight in the photos we do a lot of sleeping during the day time and not so much at night.

Week 1--- 17 years 51 weeks to go.

Now it seems as though the countdown starts over- we begin counting the weeks as parents and although having a dog was supposed to kind of prepare you in some small way for this no practice in the world could do the trick.



My first thoughts as I signed that our kid really was ours as we left the hospital is "they really let you just leave with this thing". Getting a dog at least involved some background checking-- why in the world would an educated medical professional let someone as stupid as us out into the real world with the responsibility for this kid? Thank god that Andy is an old pro and knows what to do 99% of the time and has been a very patient teacher.



This week we broke every rule in the book and I vow to never say never. After reading faithfully Baby Wise (a book on how to establish a sleep pattern for life) we abandoned anything it suggested and have brought Kellen to bed with 7 out of 10 nights so far (he slept with my mom 2 of the other nights). He did sleep in his bassinet last night so hopefully we will get on the right track this week.

Week 1 was filled with lots of firsts for Kellen, Andy and I. The week flew by and somehow we are all still alive and speaking to each other. My mom came for 3 nights which was a great relief and Andy's mom has been able to stop by lots of days and help out too. Kellen got his first bath which he seems to enjoy for the most part and even though it is probably just chance, I am convinced that if he gets a bath at night he sleeps better so here starts the rule breaking again- he is getting a bath every night if that is what it takes. Other notable firsts include...... (in no particular order)

1. First camo outfit thanks to the fact that Cabella's is in route from Dubuque to Winona (thanks alot Grandma Mac)


2. Dad's first day at back at work (not sure who was more sad, Dad, Mom or Kellen)


3. First jackpot find on clothes thanks to a friend from mom's work who had a boy a year ago and was kind enough to give us everything and then some.


4. First trips to Walmart, Target, Winona State, RTP, consignment store, TGI Friday's, Culvers, and Hy-Vee
5. First happy hour (probably not the last either)with the ladies from Winona State at Bub's


6. First truck ride to Grandma Becks and Grandpa Dano's to fix a wagon to load our hay on


7. First trip to Grandma Donna's house and sure enough she was baking (not so good for Mom's diet)


8. First 4-wheeler ride to go visit Grandma Jaye and Grandpa Harry (and help dad fix a flat tire on the baler)


9. First night sleeping from midnight until 6:00 last night (yeah :)


10. First rainbow today while mom and dad were arguing about where to place the transplanted perennials from the Kansas Street house.


11. Mom's first step on the scale (what a frightening thing)-- even though the idea of it being summer and not having to tie my shoes because you could wear sandals seemed ideal towards the end of pregnancy, winter and baggy sweatshirt weather can't come fast enough now.


12. First time in my life that I did not want bigger boobs- and I thought the pregnant boobs were bad- I could have got a job dowtown with these things earlier this week. If I ever consider the idea of a boob job in the future someone please remind me of these days and I will quickly come to my senses.

So a busy week for all of us. In addition to the Kellen milestones, we think we sold our house on Kansas street. Accepted an offer and they had an inspection on Saturday so we will cross our fingers and say a few prayers that everything turns out this time. We would close on July 14th which would be great. Although this weekend was steamboat days and we didn't not fit in our usual beer tent times and fireworks on the river, we had a great week being parents and are looking forward to what's ahead this week!

Liars and the hospital stay

Well this is going to be a long one....... I actually was in the middle of writing a post last Wednesday night when my water broke, the computer got left on the bed, the battery went dead and the submit button never got pushed. That was only the beginning!

After working in Rochester all day on Wednesday, I came home, watched super nanny, had a pb and j and then was doing some computer work when it occurred to me that I had either pissed the bed or something else was going on. After determining that I had not pissed the bed, Andy got home from work and we packed up our stuff and off we went. Got checked into the hospital just after midnight and spent a few hours walking around, watching some late night cable TV and had about enough at 3:00 am and went for the epidural (little did I know it would be one of four). Even though they give you the little button when you feel like you want more pain meds, by 8:00 a.m. I decided either the button didn't work or I was really going nuts. After some evaluation, they redid my epidural (which made for 3 attempts because the first try didn't get into the right spot). Spend the rest of the morning trying to rest and prepare for what was ahead. Amazingly I had been up since 5:00 a.m. on Wednesday but somehow the eyelids were still open.

By noon the midwife had decided it was time to start pushing-- for all of my girlfriends who didn't tell the real story about pushing- God will catch up with you someday. Although I wish I could explain some of the maneuvers that were involved with this process, lets just leave it at that I am no gymnast and this part just sucked overall. After about 2 hours of this nonsense, the midwife said that she had one more idea that she hasn't used in a long time- sitting on a commode. So in the nurse comes with a portable toilet. I think the idea was to just use it to make some progress but after about 2 minutes of this technique, I told her and Andy that I thought the head was out, and sure enough it was. Good deal you may think, but remember my legs don't work at this time so we went from 1 nurse and 1 midwife in the room to about 15 people in no time! So Kellen's story begins, he was born with his head in the toilet at 2:12 pm.

The rest of Thursday afternoon was spent in clean up mode (who goes to nursing school for 4 years to have do deal with that mess?). Both of our parents were able to join us by about 4:00 and although at the time I thought I had survived this all in one piece, when I look at the pictures from that day, clearly the drugs must have still been affecting my perception! Some friends from work stopped by and in hindsight I have come to realize they too are liars as they said I looked great and it couldn't be farther from the truth :)

Andy came home Thursday night to take care of Murphy and introduce him to a blanket we had wrapped Kellen in. Needless to say Murphy pissed on the blanket and has been pissed at us ever since.

Friday was filled visitors and the day flew by! All in all I was coming to terms with the fact that my body not only looked (but in fact felt) like it had been through hell and back. An innocent 4 year old friend asked why my belly still looked like there was a baby in there and I was wondering the exact same thing (still am).

Saturday we planned on coming home shortly after lunch but our stay got extended when I got a spinal headache from the epidural. What a joke-- lying flat in bed was the only option for most of the morning. I got a blood patch which involved getting another epidural and then drawing blood from my arm and putting it in the epidural to cover the other 3 holes in my spine. Not the most pleasant of processes but within about 5 minuites the headache was gone.

The rest of Saturday invovled getting checked out of the hospital (you might be able to get checked in there quick but getting out is no small task) and we got home around 4:30. Murphy really wasn't sure what to think and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening smelling, licking and just looking over his new roomate.

That is where we will leave the birthing process chapter of this story--- my girlfriends are all liars, I think people who do this au natural need an non-au natural examination of their heads becuase they have scientifically altered brains, and if Andy ever thinks of looking at me in any such way (drunk or not) that might lead to this same outcome the world will be minus one 30 year old man.

Week 37

So the month of June is finally here- although the weather is no indication of such. Thank god most days it is okay to wear sandals as tying the shoes is so a thing of the past . Had a great weekend with the fam. My parents came to visit on Friday and thanks to the McDermott baby fund we got a crib mattress and bedding. Had some funny moments looking through some of my dad's baby clothes. Who the hell has baby clothes that are 56 years old is beyond me since I can't seem to find my clothes from moving just 6 months ago. Ironically many of the outfits have a Murphy dog embroidered on them which is hilarious.

Tried to do some decorating in the nursery but Martha Stewart's force was not with us and we didn't find much of anything that would work. But for all of those who are so damn nervous that I am not prepared I now have a crib, bedding on the crib, one package of diapers, one can of formula and a bottle which from what everyone says IT just sleeps, eats and shits so we should be covered for the first week.

JB and Andy worked on the deck railing so when the little beast is mobile it will no longer fall 20 feet to the yard. Which is good for a mom that might have too much to drink on occasion after a hellish day with a screaming kid. Than again Murphy has to think of a new suicide plan if he just can't take the lack of attention and jealousy.

Had an appointment today and things are moving along (literally). IT's head is down where it is supposed to be which they said is a sign it has dropped. A guy MD must have come up with that- there is only so much room in there at this point and dropping to me would mean that the soccer player would stop kicking the crap out of me and drop on out into the world.

Had some of the "fake" contractions. Another concept only a man could come up with. Nothing too fake about them to me when they wake me up at 5:30 a.m. All I have to say is epidural, epidural and epidural.

And on those famous last words off to sleep we all go!

the countdown continues

Well another week down...... things continue to go well but I can honestly say I am so ready for this to be over. Then again ask me 6 weeks from now what I think with a screaming child that refuses to be comforted with any of the 17 gadgets we now have in our closet and garage and I might think this was a cake walk.

Andy's brother graduated from high school this weekend so finding an outfit that didn't make me resemble a farm animal was a little bit of a challenge (that I did not succeed at). It was a nice weekend never the less and we were able to get a little sunshine therapy on Monday.

I have started a list of things I have tried and may continue to try to induce labor.

• Last week I jumped (okay so it wasn't quite like that) on the horse for a spin around the yard.
• For those of you from the area driving on Cty Rd 7 to Pickwick in the truck could make a non-prego person's stomach hurt last week
• Andy and I planted grass seed which included picking up rocks from the yard first (whose idea was it to have a 2 acre yard???)
• I moved the path on the outside of the field and set aside land with the 4 wheeler trying to hit every bump and gopher hole possible.

Obviously nothing has worked so far but I am going to keep trying.

In terms of other life things, we got an offer on our house which was ridiculous and asked for just about everything except our first born child (dang). We closed on the new house today which just sucks since we haven't sold the other one. Still nothing too promising in the daycare category-- Murphy just might have to do for now so he is hoping that someone can get him some books on tape related to babycare and rearing. He does watch Super Nanny on Wednesday nights but they don't have anything on baby babies very often.

Trying to get a few more things in order around the house but with pretty minimal success- perhaps this week with the rain that is predicted we can get some house items crossed off the list. I was hoping this nesting thing everyone talks about would kick these loose end house projects into high gear but so far no luck!

Have a great weekend :)

Shopping

Well I just got back from a baby shopping trip complements of Angie and Jolene. This was their compromise for not having a shower but it was still way overboard. We started by taking an inventory of what we had and although I thought we were making good progress it was evident by both of their reactions upon arriving at 31086 Nagle Ridge Drive that we were still missing a few things. Given Angie's area of expertise she was a bit concerned if I went early that we had no diapers, wipes, bottles or formula. So with that we were off to Lacrosse.

We had a wonderful meal at Grizzleys and then went to Target where we got some bottles, nipples, a nail clipper, diapers, wipes, and some other feminine products which seem ridiculous but they both assured me are necessary.

At Toys-R-Us we got a mirror for the car, a changing pad, changing pad cover, diaper bag, and baby q-tips.

Then we frequented Cold Stone Creamery to finish the night off, and there were 1,000 choices for ice cream and toppings and it took me longer to figure out what the hell to order than it did to scarf it down. But it was tasty and a fitting ending to a great night.

So a little bit more prepared today than yesterday and maybe tomorrow we will get the crib set up if it is raining.

Week 35

So it strikes me as ironic that in the beginning you are counting how many weeks along you are and at this point all I care about is how many &^$% weeks are left. My midwife told us yesterday that getting sick of this at the end is gods way of helping you endure what is to come since you are so tired of being prego.

Everything continues to go well, Andy and I have a bet on how big IT is going to be. I say closer to 6 lbs and Andy believes closer to 9 lbs. We had an appointment yesterday and the midwife did not think it was a big baby and guessed somewhere in the 6 lb range so hopefully she is right :) The every growing belly now weighs in at 28 pounds with 5 weeks to go which just sucks. Then again if Andy wins the bet that much more will be gone so maybe I should rethink my strategy.

We have another new baby (cow that is). Number 73 had a black boy today, which brought some disappointment to Andy. Sure hopes if he doesn't get his girl in real life that he won't sell it or think about eating it as the only alternatives.

Getting a little worried about when the heck we are going to get everything ready and have this house in some assembly of order for a child. Seems like the weather just won't totally cooperate with us and even though I have way more time now, I can't seem to get anything done around here. Hoping this week will be more productive but god only knows!

Also getting a little more worried about what is ahead. Had some wonderful conversations with colleagues today who are 100% rational, level headed, kind, caring people. That was until they found themselves in the birthing process. Heard from

• a pastor's wife (who's doctor was a member of their church) that vulgar language can easily slip out
• a hillarious story from one of the nicest employees at WSU who after several hours of labor and an epidural (that only worked on one leg) grabbed a nurse by the shirt upon mentioning that the baby was too big and a c-section was necessary
• a faculty member who needed to resort to creative tactics to deter her husband from using derogatory comments regarding the birthing and breastfeeding process

The scary part is all of these folks are much more calm and compassionate that I would consider myself so I may be in trouble!

Mothers day came and went-- Andy apparently didn't realize that you are supposed to be nice on mothers day so we may have to re-do it all together. His work like crazy schedule combined with the fact that he could not get a tractor running resulted in a less than chipper mood. In addition the dog rolled in cow shit so he didn't add to the pleasurable day in the least either. We did have a very nice dinner with Andy's family Sunday evening and I fully enjoyed the wide selection of desserts.

Maybe if we get the nursery together this week I can upload some photos!

Gift Thoughts

Another week down! Things have been going well- I finished up my teaching this past week and have made great strides in acquiring items this past weekend. Many of you have been asking lots about where we are registered, what we have etc. So here is the scoop...

1. We registered at Babies-R-Us/Toys-R-Us for our travel system
2. We registered at Walmart for lots of basic care items
3. We registered at Target for very little since we had such a hassle returning things there from our wedding registry. We are planning on getting our formula at Target so gift cards would be a plus, they recommended we don't stock up on one kind now in case IT doesn't like what we buy.
4. I don't know how to register on e-bay but gift certificates from there would be great as well as there are bargains galore :)

In terms of other stuff

• We have so many clothes for a newborn/infant that IT's closet is looking even worse than mine. Thanks to some great friends, and a wonderful consignment shop in Dubuque we have everything from onesies, Winona State and Vikings attire, to 35 versions of sleepers. I am pretty certain at this point either I won't have to do wash until it wears something other than size 6 months, or it isn't going to be able to wear everything.

• Thanks to some ebaying, garage sales, donations from family/friends and Kates (bargain hunter extraordinaire) we currently have crib, mattress, bassinet, 2 pack and plays, a highchair, excersaucer, 2 baby bjorns, hiking back pack, 3 wheel jogging stroller, monitors, crib set, camo diaper bag for Andy, bath tub thing, hooded towels, a bath robe,hats, mitts, socks, floor activity mat, 2 vibrating chairs, Bumbo seat, travel swing, swinging baby gates,

Other items that we would still like include

• books
• swing (but we are bidding on one at ebay right now)
• I need a diaper bag but can't decide quite what I want (UPDATED- ANGIE AND JOLENE GAVE ME ONE :)
• day care or someone who has the power to move us up the list at WSU
• a full time night shift staff for year 1
• a cleaning lady (god do I miss ours)

I will update as we acquire even more :) Who knew something so small needs so much. What the heck......

The weather sucks and we have a new number 10

Well another week down- the weekend weather resembled something from January as opposed to May. On Monday we got 4 inches of snow- I guess this plan on not being pregnant during the hot summer months is really going to work since we likely won't even have any days above 60 before the middle of June. Thinking back to last year when we had our wedding party and stole lilacs out of people's yards for our flowers. Wouldn't happen this year (not that we should have been doing it last year for that matter).

We had a new baby in the family this past week- a new calf that belongs to Louise (for those of you who haven't heard the story we have 3 cows, 2 of which run away so their names are Thelma and Louise). She had a baby boy that is black last Friday-- still don't have a name so he is number 10. People might think it is a little strange if we have to leave the hosiptal with our kid having a number 1 on it's ear if we still can't decide that either. Andy was disappointed as he was hoping for a girl- all I hope is that she doesn't get her mom's personality. Well actually Andy is probably thinking that about our real baby too :)


This weekend was Andy's cousins wedding- needless to say if I ever have another baby I am not going to any weddings if I can not drink. Just not the same experience. Although I was feeling much better about things Sunday morning as both Andy and our house guests woke up feeling worse than I did. As luck would have it I went to urgent care on Saturday for a bladder infection so if the truth was told I didn't feel that great either and there were no great stories associated with it.

Also spent the week watching Augusta, my parents dog while they are visiting my brother in Texas. Although I have no recollection of how much hair we must have had in the house growing up with 2 labs, not sure now how my mom did it. Between not having any grass and the hair housecleaning could be a full time job around here and sure enough our cleaning lady from Winona still hasn't been able to get over her fear of driving up hills and has yet to show up at the new house.

Had an appointment yesterday- everything is still going well with the exception of a stupid bladder infection. Turns out the antibiotics they gave me on Saturday are not going to work on the type of bacteria I have so I started a new one yesterday. Hopefully in the next few days it will kick in . Trying to do my best at exercising, but I am supposed to drink 2 gallons of water a day. Needless to say the dogs and I are limited to exercising around the farm so that we all can take bathroom breaks as needed. And no I have not put my toilet paper down for those of you who remember that incident.

Looking forward to the end of the week/weekend-- Winona takes part in a 100 mile garage sale which is really something from what I hear. Hoping to hit the sales Friday and Saturday and snatch up baby deals left and right. Wishing my mom could be here to bargain as I flat out suck at that part but can't blame her for laying around in 80 degree weather poolside instead of scrapping snow off the cars here.

I will update our items we have post after the bargains this weekend!

Dresses

Okay so as if the clothes trying on this weekend wasn't bad enough...... Andy's cousin gets married on Saturday. Nobody told me that finding a maternity dress in the town of Winona would resemble something more of a scavenger hunt as opposed to retail therapy. Target has 2- and one looks like something you would only wear in Jamaica over a swim suit.

Seriously if I had any fashion sense or the ability to create things I would start my own "real women's" maternity collection. A trip to La Crosse or Rochester may be in order Saturday morning. The only bright thing was a friend from work gave me a few tops and a pair of jean capri's today in a size that starts with the same letter as lettuce (which maybe I should be eating more of and I wouldn't need that size). Then again they fit and if I have to drink milk, oreo's are necessary (right?).

Looking for new friends

Well it was a great weekend with lots of visitors. Friday our friends Mark and Lindsay came to visit from Wisconsin Rapids. They had a baby 14 days ago and Lindsay was kind enough to "donate" all of her maternity clothes. Although it was great to see her the sheer fact that she could get rid of all of maternity clothes 10 days after having her 3rd child made me want to kill her. Andy enjoyed having a new baby in the house, Murphy did a great job balancing his curiosity with good behavior. I just sat in amazement at how anyone person could own this many items of maternity clothes and not need them 10 days later. Then again Lindsay gained something like 19 pounds total so that was icing on the cake.

Jolene and Corey were here this weekend as well so Jolene came over shortly after Mark and Lindsay left. It was great to see Jo and she thought it would be a good idea to have a little fashion show with the 200 items clothes that had just been dropped off. Now you must remember that Jolene is now 4 months pregnant and looks better than I do pre-pregnancy. So whatever hate I had left in my body was now directed at her as she laughed her ass off at me trying on clothes. Needless to say there were a few items that just didn't come up over the thighs and ass. I never wanted to drink a beer so badly but we resorted to enjoying our crystal light and eating.

Sometime on Friday night I decided that from now on to be my friend you must be
1. fat
2. out of shape
3. poor (or at least as poor as we are)
4. gained at least as much weigh as I have when you had a baby.

Screening shall begin today.

Saturday Jolene and I attempted to put this uppercase living saying I have had since fall on the hallway wall. Jolene is a bit more crafty than I so she seemed like a good candidate to help. Needless to say it was a huge pain in the rear and I don't think either of us will ever put another one up. It is still up on the wall but if you come over and can't make out the words because some of the letters have fallen down, don't say anything just use your imagination.

Sunday Andy and I went to the house in Winona to do a quick clean up (that means anything you clean you do so with wipes). There was an open house today and I thought about resorting to church to see if I could get some divine intervention going on the house end.

We ended up spending the day outside- which was just beautiful. We attempted to burn some brush that was left over from Andy's winter of wood cutting. Needless to say they only thing that really burned was what was left of our Christmas tree (but at least I can cross that off the list now). We spent the afternoon at the Groth farm- Andy's parents were also trying to burn. Murphy had a grand time and we spent about an hour trying to get all the burrs out of him upon our arrival home.

Now it is 3:08 a.m. and I can't sleep and after sitting in bed for 2 hours have decided that since I can't seem to get going on the physical training end of things I might as well get started on the sleep deprivation routine.

Sweet Dreams

Items We Have

Have been getting several qut,ions about what items we need lately. I will try to update this as we get things!

We currently have:

crib, mattress, bassinett, baby bjorn, outdoor hiking carrier, 3 wheel jogging stroller, 1 pack and play, exersaucer, lots of clothes, Andy's diaper bag, baby gates, crib bumper pad, one sheet and bedskirt, high chair (gotta love ebay at 3 am when you can't sleep).....

Week 29

Well we have survived another week! We had an appointment on Monday and things continue to go well. Much to my delight I had a bladder infection that was causing the majority of my discomfort last week and has for the most part been taken care of with antibiotics. When she mentioned to make sure to go to the bathroom after sex Andy almost fell off the chair. Needless to say we don't believe that is the problem or the cure for that matter.I thought this was just par for the course for the next 10 weeks, but am damn glad that there was a logical explanation for it as the crabbiness was setting in.

The midwife scared the crap out of both of us when she mentioned the July word- as in they would be okay letting me go until the first week in July (if that is the case). She indicated that if everything was fine that it was very possible. Andy asked if husband relief would be a valid reason to induce but no go.

The weigh gain continues and Andy is now convinced that I will have stretch marks- but then again he might have a black eye if he mentions it again.

We tired to finish up the tiling and grouting in the laundry room this weekend and needless to say I didn't need yet another reminder that I can hardly get my ass off the floor so I think I will be done with those projects for now. I guess if it has waited this long- it can wait even longer.

Other than that things seem to be going just fine- my mom has kicked the craigslist shopping into full gear snatching up bargins from Rochester, MN to Davenport, IA. Although the idea of adding more crap to this house makes my stomach hurt, god knows I can't resist a bargin either.

Getting really sick of the weather and hoping that the sandles and gym short days are not far away. Only 3 weeks left of teaching so that will help pass the time quickly.

That's all for now folks!

New York Travels and Ultrasound 3

Well this past week Baby It, myself and my mom took a trip to the big apple. Needless to say it is a huge city, people everywhere, noise all around and unless kicking in the ribs can be interpreted as excitement, I don't think the baby liked the trip. I also don't think it will like roller coasters as the turbulence on the airplane was no picnic either. Just my predictions though.

We had a regular dr. appointment last week and everything is coming along just fine. Had to drink some sugary crap to see if I had gestational diabetes, which I do not. My cousin gave me some advice to not eat or drink much sugar the day before and I was the rocket scientist who scheduled the test the day after Easter. Needless to say not much candy for me and it seems in my absence this past week that Andy has done quite a number on it. Or perhaps he will blame it on Murphy.

In has come to my attention that I can no longer tie my shoes without being uncomfortable, (which is down right ridiculous). Praying that this weather ceases so selfishly I can just slip on sandals and not have another daily reminder on how large I am getting.

One other frightening note- I have been after Andy to hang a mirror in our bedroom (although I don't know why-- it isn't like at this stage you are really evaluating if these jeans make your ass look big- you don't need a mirror for that). At any rate, yesterday we met at Cabella's in Prairie du Chien and I found a cute pair of sweat pant like capris and a matching top. Again apparently my friends have failed me because trying on clothes in front of a full length mirror was about enough to force me to vow to quit eating anything that isn't grown in the ground and to find some renewed motivation to workout a bit more. Needless to say it was impossible for the outfit to look cute after a look at that so back to the rack it went. Today I spoke with Angie my former roomate and fitness guru about some specific exercieses that might address this. She suggested walking but unless I am going to start walking to work and back everyday I just simply don't think walking is going to do it.

Today we had an ultrasound and everything seems to be progressing along just fine. According to the ultrasound tech IT has some hair- although in somewhat of a mullet form at this point as it only exists on the back of it's head. Guess in these parts of the country some people still think that is fashionable so who knows IT might fit right in. IT also has somewhat long legs- Murphy knows it didn't get that from him so hopefully the McDermott side and Andy's legs have combined. They never measured how big around the legs were so it still could be an orange on a toothpick for all we know. IT was no longer backwards and had it head pointed in the right direction. I will upload some pictures tomorrow.

Other than that things going okay- having my first real days of discomfort these last few days but nothing too serious. My hemoglobin was low after last week so they had me start taking some iron pills in addition to my vitamins. For the women readers the two have some similar side effects that can add some additional discomfort to your life- as if you don't weigh enough already and have "extra" room for that. At any rate- with my travels wasn't too anxious to do any at home remedy's for fear of the after after affects and airplane bathrooms. Hopefully in a few days my body will get used to it and adjust.

Got a shot in the ass today literally given my negative blood type and checked in with the doctor on this stomach discomfort but sounds like for the moment no big deal. Will likley have another ultrasound in a few more weeks as the placenta moved some but is still kind of low. Part of me thinks they are fun but then again it is kind of creepy to have a little alien looking at you and for me the temptation to give in (so I can take full advantage of the upcoming garage sales of gender specific clothes) is greater every time. Today she had to turn the screen away so we could not see anything in the pelvic region. She said she didn't look but I thought about slipping her a 20 to see if she would reveal after Andy left but was too lazy to walk back to her area (which is a pretty good indication that the walking/toning plan might fail).

Well off to bed tonight hopefully- never in my life I have not been able to sleep (for those of you who know me well stop laughing). I am not talking about getting 8 instead of my usual 10-12 hours of sleep. Since friday night I have slept a total of about 10 hours and if you asked either Andy or Muphy they might tell you my blood type isn't the only think that is negative these days.

So sweet dreams and more to come!

Week 25

So we are just ending week 25 of this process- everything is going well. We had an appointment last Friday and I have gained a whopping 18 pounds so far. My midwife swears a pound a week is average and that I should stay under 30 pounds total with 15 weeks to go. All I can think about is how damn much time it must take on the elliptical to remove 30 pounds. Of course that didn't stop me from consuming 2 boxes of girl scout cookies which Andy was so kind to bring home for me (bastard).

We have nothing ready for this child (IT) with the exception of a few small odds and ends our parents have picked up along the way. I can't even think about getting any "stuff" because if you have had the privilege of seeing our garage of late you would understand that right now despite the fact that we just upgraded the size of our house there is no room for "stuff". Besides I don't want to take the beds we have out of the bedrooms for those occasional guests who either kindly come to work on the house or take in the party festivities. I suppose in time I will have to surrender to getting a few things.

We completed the baby class a few weekends ago at Winona Health and although being a pretty good student most of my life- I would have flunked this class hands down. Of course I had to watch this ever enlightening movie on Friday night while Andy was working away. Seriously- not sure why anyone in their right mind would let someone tape that process even if it was for educational purposes. Saturday I nearly fainted (for real) while taking a tour of the hospital. Haven't had that spinning feeling since the last wedding we attended which could explain alot about how we got into this situation in the first place. Never really had the experience before but sure hope it isn't a preview of what is to come. Then again if I fall down and hit my head really hard the whole thing might just seem like a blur and based on the content of the class that might not be a bad thing. Needless to say Andy was really excited about the breathing exercises and we got reprimanded in class for laughing because he kept encouraging me to substitute the "hee or haw" words with some that I might actually really use. Another reason for the F.

This weekend we had some company in the form of a 1 year old (Riley, Corey and Jolene's little guy). Very interesting to see how Murphy was so jelous of Andy and anything he did with this little man. I just thought it was intersting how much noise some toys can make and that glass on your coffee tables probably isn't the greatest idea with kids if you want them to look clean.

I go in 2 weeks for another appointment and to drink some apparently kind of gross tasting stuff to see if I have gestational diabetes ( a routine thing I understand). So far IT's heart rate has been 150 something every single time we have heard it which further encourages Andy that it is in fact a girl.

Well will do my best to update this on occassion and fill everyone in on the fun.

More later!

Technology is a wondeful thing

I have decided that since I teach my students the ways in which we communicate are forever changing but have never really used any of the tools--this is my attempt at not being a hypocrite.

Besides you all keep asking the same type of questions so maybe I will reduce my phone minutes and not get grounded from my husband for my overage charges if I blog (that sounds like some strange illness you got on an exotic trip to me).

So with that we start the mcdermott groth baby log. And no for all of you who want pictures of how big my stomach is ---not happening. Imagine what would happen if you swallow a basketball and that is what I look like (well Andy may tell you that some other things have increased in size to but I will choose to not dwell on that and with any luck the rest of my body will all go back to normal someday as well).