A Good Sunday

Almost every Monday, I exchange emails with my friend Val about what we each did over the weekend. Sometimes we have spent time together the weekend before, but most of the time we just exchange stories about the various events. She's one of the only people I know that truly and genuinely is interested in even the most mundane things I've done. I've even gone into detail with her about what excact chores I did, how many pages I scrapbooked and how many hours I slept each night. I love hearing about her weekends too...So, please excuse me if I go into detail about things that may not seem so significant in these posts...

Jay & I had a good day on Sunday....we both got some much needed rest and "slept in" until after 8:00am. We had some breakfast, cleaned up the kitchen and went to church and to Sears. We thought about renting a movie but decided against it. When we were just thinking about watching some TV, Jay suggested playing The Farming Game. This game is something he played with his family when he was younger...I had played it back in high school at a friend's house, Dawn Duppong's house, to be exact, with her family. Even the mention of this stirs up our great debate over the "correct" pronunciation of the name "Duppong." In Glen Ullin, it is pronounced "DU-ppong" with the emphasis on the first syllable. In Bismarck, it was always "Dup-PONG" with the emphasis on the second syllable. I avoid telling that story and saying the name for the purpose of avoiding any disagreement prior to playing the Farming Game. It has been too enjoyable of a day to get into a debate over that!

We know there is a storm brewing but become lost in rolling dice and "purchasing" cattle, farm equipment and acreage of fruit, grain and hay. The Farming Game is set up on a square board, much like Monopoly, and is divided up into months/seasons of the year. Of course, you start in January. I make it around the first time without too much trouble. Then, I got caught in a cycle of rolling the dice and landing on the same square where I (as the farmer) hurt my back and have to go back to the 2nd week in January. How disheartening! Don't I have any help at the farm to get us through my back injury? Eventually I break out of this cycle and through the course of the next hour and a half, I accumulate over $300,000 in assets (perhaps I missed my true calling somewhere along the way?). Jay put up a vallant effort in accumulating somewhere around the $200,000 mark in assets. He had a rough couple of years in there...

It just felt good to do something different together, just Jay and me, interacting and talking, joking, laughing. In a couple months, there will be no more "just Jay and me" and I think we are becoming more keenly aware of this as our baby's due date gets closer. It has been a long, hard winter for us all - and it's not over yet. Then, after a glimpse of spring, the Apocolypse seemed to be upon us with massive flooding and furious storms. In the midst of all that, it was so nice to have a day all to ourselves. I guess I felt compelled to write about it, to memorialize it in some way...

After our game, we cleaned up around the house a bit and made some walleye (just caught last weekend) and potatoes for supper. I got my Scrapbooking Central area organized in the basement. We watched some TV together and eventually went to bed. Jay does not like going to bed early on Sundays because he says it's like "giving up on the weekend" once you go to sleep on Sunday nights. I have to agree with that...

Monday morning we packed up some clothes and the beagles and headed into town. We did not return to our house until last night (Tuesday) after work. We have resigned ourselves to giving up on staying at the house during the many winter storms/blizzards we have had this year - the first year, actually first months, in our new home. Who would have seen this winter coming? I believe we are around 2 inches away from the all time record in snowfall for a winter currently. Our future son will hear many stories about this winter and spring I'm sure!

Our friend Missy had her baby girl on Monday, naming her Kaylee Mae. I guess Kaylee wanted to make her debut on the snowiest day of the year!! I got to visit them Tuesday over lunch hour. Missy was upbeat as always - telling stories about the delivery and how she cracked jokes with the nurses and doctor in between contractions. A beautiful, proud new mom! Kaylee was just so sweet and beautiful....thick, dark, wavy hair and such a sweet face...soft skin and tiny features. I can't wait for our little guy to meet her - to grow up playing with little Kaylee at the softball diamonds while their moms play softball together!! A little over 10 weeks until the due date...it seems so soon and yet so far away all at the same time...

We are back into the old grind at work. Jay's foot was causing excruciating pain and so he went to the doctor this morning to get it checked out. He got some medication for gout, which was likely onset by him injuring himself by his fall down the steps while sleep walking a week and half ago...We're hoping the medication helps ease the pain for him...

We also found out on Monday that Tom & Candace are expecting twins - a boy and a girl! What incredible news!!

So, it's been a big week since our nice relaxing Sunday and it's only Wednesday!!

We shall see what the remainder of the week brings us.....

Update

Well, in the midst of everything that's been going on this week with weather and flooding, everything going on in our lives seems kind of insignificant...but I will just post about some highlights...

Had another appointment on Thursday this week. The main purpose of that visit (besides a regular checkup) was to test my blood glucose levels to make sure I don't have gestational diabetes. They said they would only call if the test came back abnormal. So far, no call. I consider that a good sign. Baby's heartrate was 142, which is good. And, he continues to grow & grow!!

This weekend marks 29 weeks gestation. Almost 3/4 of the way done!! The baby really moves around a lot and, much to our amusement, you can see a lot of movement from the outside. (As I type this, he is squirming around again!) Jay even saw a couple kicks from across the room the other night! From what I've read, the baby is probably about 2.5-3 lbs in weight and about 14-15 inches in length (head to toe) by this point. I continue to sail along with very little discomfort, so no complaints here!

I have managed to get us registered for baby stuff and let me tell you, it is a bit intimidating for a first-time mom-to-be! With some help, I think we got most everything covered! The baby's room is also cleared out, ready for furniture and the other numerous things that will go in there!

We went over to our friends Mike & Kari's for supper and to visit the other night, where we met their 2.5 month old daughter, Layken, for the first time. She is such a happy, smiley baby! I could have held her all night! Gave me more baby fever than ever!

On Wednesday, it was our sister-in-law Julie's birthday and today is Lexi's birthday. We will be going to their house tomorrow for Lexi's birthday party...

Other than that, work has slowed down somewhat for me (settled a divorce that was supposed to go to trial last Thursday-Friday) but am still busy with some other cases. Jay's work has picked up - literally and figuratively. He's been working hard on some projects and their office was in the middle of an area that was threatened by the flood this week, so they had to dismantle the office to make sure nothing got destroyed in the event the flooding got worse.

It seems as though Bismarck has gone through the worst of it by now and the Missouri River level has lowered since Wednesday. People are returning to their homes. We can be thankful for that. Fargo, on the other hand, is starting to face the worst of things to come there as of today. Not good! Meanwhile, winter storms have rolled through and are predicted to roll through again starting possibly on Sunday...we can only hope and pray they miss us (and the eastern portio of the state). We also keep the people of Fargo/Morehead and surrounding communities (and any ND community that has been hit by flooding this week) in our thoughts and prayers!!

Anyway, one more topic before I sign off...My nights are getting really interesting even before the baby arrives! Jay went on his second expedition sleepwalking since we moved into the house (actually about the 2nd time in the past month or so) last week. This time he decided to take off down the stairs and wasn't 100% successful in getting down them gracefully - let's just put it that way. The other time he went in the laundry room for the purpose of doing something that shouldn't be done in the laundry room - let's just put it that way! (Don't worry, I was able to stop him in time). Then, as of last night, Bailey started falling off the bed - she did it twice - once in the evening and once in the middle of the night. What a clutz!! At this rate, the baby crying will be the least of my worries at night! ;)

That's about all - we hope that you all enjoy the weekend - we will try to! To all of those working and living in Fargo & the other communities - we wish you the best of luck in your fight against the flood!

3 months to go!

Well, three months from today is the baby's due date! I'm officially in the last trimester of pregnancy and am getting VERY anxious for this baby's arrival. He needs to stay where he is for at least 10 more weeks to get him to "full term" at 37 weeks but I still just can't help but be excited and anxious for his arrival!

At this point, the baby is over 2 lbs. and is about 14-15 inches in length. He can start opening his eyes around this time as well, I believe. He continues to move around quite a bit - until I have Jay try to feel him move! It's just a little joke he likes to play on Daddy I guess! :) I continue to cruise along for the most part with not much discomfort so far. Today my lower back did start to hurt a bit again but nothing too bad.

I'm at work today - needed a(nother) break so I decided to update the blog. Earlier, I joined my mom and Aunt Barb for some shopping at the Country Barn (home decor store) where I got some pictures and a wall hangy thingy (technical term) for the dining room area in our house. Slowly but surely we are getting our house decorated...I'm in the process of trying to figure out what to do in the baby's room...I've got a few ideas...

We also got some lunch at Peacock Alley...spinach/artichoke quesadillas for me - yum!

The weather is just gorgeous outside - I am dying to get out for a walk - and perhaps take the beagles for a walk (most likely followed by a bath) this afternoon! Hopefully it stays this nice out for awhile and then warms up even more! Love it!

Work has been a bear for me this past week as I prepare for a trial next Thursday-Friday. We're getting closer to settling but it's been an unbelieveable amount of work to prepare for it so far and it won't let up until it settles or we have the trial. I'm trying to get a bunch of stuff done over the weekend here so I'm as prepared as possible if it does go on to trial.

Other than that, Jay is out ice fishing with Trav and Nick today up at Audobon. Last night we went over to Chris and Val's - Ryan and Kelsen and Cody, Wendy and Finley were over as well. It was nice to get to visit and catch up with everyone again. We both must have slept well last night, as we both woke up at abotu 6:15am this morning and could not get back to sleep. Much to my delight, when I finally did get out of bed (the beagles had me trapped, I swear), Jay was making breakfast for us - sausage and blueberry pancakes!

Next weekend I believe we will attempt to start a registry - I'm sure I'll be overwhelmed and not know what I'm doing but we'll see what we come up with!!

I suppose I better get back to work...want to get done with some things so I can get out and enjoy the lovely weather!!

Have a great rest of the weekend everyone!!

Marching Toward Spring

Well the frigid cold weather gave us a reprieve the past couple of days which has added to Spring Fever. Fortunately, spring is inching closer...I can see it right around the bend...

Since the last post, we've been pretty busy...Jay and I started Jerz on a treadmill regimen last week. Actually Jay got her going. We both tried the same with Bailey - however, that whole experience was pretty traumatic for her so we stopped trying to make her do it. On the other hand, Jerz seems to like it, as you can see in this picture:

Here are some of the pictures of their recent snuggling:

Last Thursday marked my 31st birthday. I ended up taking the afternoon off of work, going to lunch and shopping with my mom, going to the salon for some highlights and a haircut, and doing some more shopping. I wrapped up the day by going to supper with Jay and taking a nice warm bath in the whirlpool tub! So, despite the very cold weather that day, I managed to really enjoy it.

Friday evening we had Nick & Lyndsey and Chris & Val and the girls out to the house, which was fun! It's so much fun being able to have people at our house after years of us living in apartments and the trailer.

Saturday night we went over to Brian & Val's for what has turned into our annual Carribean dinner party. This year we expanded it to 5 couples and kids - last year it was just Brian & Val and Jay & me.

Jay & I after dinner. Either I ate too much or there's a growing baby boy in my belly! :)

The girls hanging out:

The guys shootin' the breeze:

The spread:

The menu was as follows:

Caribbean Jerk Chicken

Coconut Shrimp

Mango Rice

Coconut Rice & Beans

Crab Cakes

Salad

Fruit Kabobs

Fruit Pizza

Caribbean Rum Cake

Chips and Homemade Salsa

Pina Coladas and Dacquiries (regular and N/A)

The food was awesome and it was a really fun night - much more fun than going out! Plus we were able to "escape" somewhere tropical during the cold weather even if it was only in spirit! Thanks to Brian and Val for hosting again and we hope to continue the tradition next winter!

Sunday we had a pretty lazy day except for church and then later that evening we had my parents, Tom and Grandma out for cake & ice cream. It's pretty much tradition in our family to have at least cake & ice cream in honor of everyone's birthdays - even the adults! Again - fun to have people over!

Tuesday I hosted a Sociale girls' night party where we made some great meals that will be ready to pop in the oven - which is the best part in my opinion. Well, that and the fact that the ladies at Sociale do all the clean-up for us after we make our meals! :)

This evening we babysat Taylor, Landon and Alexis while Ran & Julie went out to eat for their 9th wedding anniversary. The kids are a lot of fun - we had some pizza and watched a movie and of course played with the dogs.

Tomorrow is Payton & Sydney's 5th birthday and we'll be going to their house for the birthday party on Saturday evening this coming weekend. Not sure what else we'll be up to but I'm sure we'll continue to work on organizing things in the house and hopefully will find time for some R&R.

I'm at about 25 and a half weeks right now in the pregnancy. The baby is probably about 1 1/2 pounds and I believe around 13-14 inches long head to toe. This week the baby starts practicing breathing through his nose. His hands are completely developed and he practices grasping things. He continues to move around quite a bit and I continue to enjoy that. I again can't complain - I have been feeling really well except some occasional heartburn/indigestion and mild back pain. I continue to try to exercise to help alleviate some pain and to say strong and healthy as much as possible. It is getting a bit more difficult, however! ;)

Yet another picture of the beagles snuggling up together to leave you with...

Have a great rest of the week and weeekend...

Until next time...stay warm and happy. We are looking forward to the spring thaw, whenever it arrives!