Smiles

Although, unintentional and besides Ryleigh's, I have never seen such a sweeter smile than little miss Landree's! She has got the most precious smile with a little dimple on the right side that is even with her bottom lip. I have been unable to get a picture as she usually does it in her sleep or while passing gas, but it is so sweet. It's amazing how much she has changed already. Her eyes remain blue, but I am betting they soon will turn brown, just a guess though. She is a good eater and sleeper and is one of the most content babies I have ever known, so far. She loves the swing and her bouncy seat, which is good that we are finally getting some use out of them because Ryleigh didn't like them. Ryleigh needed to be rocked a special way that only Jason could do to get her to stop crying, but Landree could care less if she is sitting in a wet diaper. She sleeps a lot, but when she is awake she very intently notices everything that is going on, and she loves looking into Jason's eyes! I am enjoying my time with her! Ryleigh is starting to tone it down a little bit as well. As from the first time she saw Landree, she continues to be a good big sister. I made the famous chicken and rice dinner and she scarfed it down.....Nana Peggy, you have yet another lover of your chicken and rice! One of the most amazing things to me is how big Ryleigh seems. I was giving her a bath and she wanted me to tickle her feet "fast" and then "slow" and I couldn't believe her feet were once as small as Landree's.....boy do they grow quick! I also think we are going to have a little performer/singer with Ryleigh.......all she does lately is sing songs, whether it be while playing or eating....or sitting on the potty!! Oh, and that reminds me, I was thinking Ryleigh was going to regress in that area, but she has not had one accident since we have brought Landree home. I am so proud of my big girl! An update on my grandma....it's back and forth every day. She fell again at the hospital b/c she is stubborn and tried walking without help. So far, everything is ok, but they are waiting on x-ray results. I had a feeling this was going to happen again. Well, I am going to get going for now! Call me on Skype if you get a chance, maybe with it being day now when I am home, you will get to see me (and the girls) better!

One week old today!

Here are some videos of Ryleigh singing to Landree at the hospital. I didn't realize, as you can tell from listening, that Jason was videotaping. I thought he was taking photos. But if you listen to what Ryleigh has to say, it's pretty cute. And, sorry they are so dark, now that we have our new camera, hopefully we won't have that issue. We do actually have another video of her singing that I will have to get posted, it's just still on the camera. I think it's adorable that she knows the days of the week. I can't believe that it was a week ago today that miss Landree was born! It's been great! And, I have to agree with Andie on the quick recovery compared to last time, as well as calling Landree, Ryleigh! That is getting better, though! It's been great having Jason home all week, too! Tomorrow he goes back to work! My mom headed back to Neb yesterday to be with Grandma and she is doing better than how she was on Fri. Her hemoglobin dropped to 6 (the normal low end of the range is 12) and she had to have two units of blood. It is now back at 11, so that is much better and they weaned her off of the oxygen & narcotic pain medications, she's only using Tylenol for pain. So, that is also good news as she is very sensitive to medications. We also had a few visitors today. My friend, Heidi and her two daughters came over to meet miss Landree and she also got to meet her Papa Danny and Grandma Terri. Well, I hope everyone has a great week.

Christmas 2008 Photos

Sorry it took me so long to get these on! The videos are next! Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

I hope all of our family and friends are having a merry Christmas. Ours has been very merry indeed. If only we were going to see all of our family, it would probably be the best ever. My brother and his fiancee, Kelli came into town with my parents on Sunday evening and all of us celebrated together on Tuesday evening, as they were leaving on Christmas eve back to WI to be with Kelli's family. I have to say, I was spoiled and one more thing..........I have the BEST husband anyone could ever ask for. I didn't do anything the whole day in preparation for the dinner. Jason made everything all by himself. We had ham and potatoes (they were baked in the oven with brown sugar), spinach and artichoke dip (homemade by Jason), salad, shrimp and wine. It was delicious, and the guys cleaned up and did the dishes while us girls sat and visited. It was fabulous!! We then opened gifts together. Ryleigh got lots of fun stuff...........a dollhouse (which she absolutely loves), a train set, tons of care bear stuff, clothes, puzzles, memory game, cute luggage, keepsake ornament, and a few other toys. She had a good Christmas! I got a new dig camera and.............A HEALTHY BABY and some other awesome gifts and gift card to AE which I can't wait to use when all my "baby fat" disappears! Jason got some pretty neat stuff too. Then my bro, Kelli and the folks went back to St James. My parents came back over last evening so none of us were alone on Christmas eve and we had our traditional oyster stew.........YUMMY!! Ryleigh even liked it. Then you guessed it Santa showed up this morning..........and we were very surprised as Ryleigh has not been so good for Randy this week. HAHA! Landree got some nice gifts as well, a bunch of clothes and a couple of keepsake ornaments. I didn't even have to cook today....my dad made Prime Rib and mom made a potato bake, we had leftover dips (Jason also made a crab dip. It was all wonderful. Ryleigh has been such a good big sister, but an ornery daughter. She loves to hold Landree and touch, kiss, and hug her. BUT, wow is she ever testing our patience!! Landree is doing great! She is SO content, loves to eat, sleep, eat, sleep. She doesn't so much like the cold, but as long as she is bundled up, she is happy. She is so different from Ryleigh at this point. They are definitely their own little persons.....and it's crazy that we can tell already, it's just when your first one is a little fuss bucket and your next one just lays there, you know!! We are just hoping she continues to be content. The swelling in her right eye and nose are finally starting to dissipate, and you can hardly tell she was so bruised up when she came out. We hope everyone is having a merry Christmas and we miss all of those whom we cannot see on this holiday. We love you all! I almost forgot to mention also, that Ryleigh and Jason even made it outside for a sled ride!!

PS.........Check out this website for some more photos of Landree: www.isj-mhs.org
Then go to nursery and type in the stuff it asks for and take a look at our little Christmas gift!

Landree Isabelle Quint

Welcome Emeryn Harper Quint!

We had another addition to the Quint family today!!! Jason's brother Jeremy and his wife, Andie, welcomed their 2nd daughter into this world very early this morning!! Congrats guys............we love you! She's a tiny little thing, 5lbs. 11 oz., 17 1/4 in., but is doing great, as is mommy and daddy & big sister, Havyn ! I can't wait to talk to them! Congrats again...............how I wish we were closer so we could get all 4 of our girls in a picture!! All our love and best wishes to the Quint family in Atlanta!!

She's Here! Welcome Landree Isabelle Quint!

Our little Landree Isabelle Quint came into the world quickly on 12-21-2008! I was having contractions throughout the night and we went to the hospital in the morning. I was dilated to 5 and my water was broken at 11:30 and, by 12:15, I was asking for some pain medications, but when they checked me, I was dilated to 9 and they said, it's too late, we need to call the Dr.!! Dr. was in my room by 12:30, at which time I began pushing and 30 minutes later, little Landree was born. She was born at 1 pm and weighed in at 7 lbs., 14 oz. and is 20 inches long. She had some problems on the way out where her shoulders got stuck, which caused her heart rate to drop dramatically and they needed to get mama some oxygen.....then Dr. looked me straight in the eye and said it needs to be born with the next contraction. They thought she was going to have a broken collar bone and she wasn't moving her right arm very well at first, but she's moving it all around and nothing is broken. She's just got some broad shoulders, which she will need in this crazy world. She also came out with a bruised face and ears which they said she might have for about a week, but she's pinked up good, the bruising is just present in some areas, but there are little dots everywhere on her face. Another freaky thing, right after delivery, the umbilical cord just broke, which made for another intense moment, in which the Dr. grabbed Landree's end and my nurse grabbed my end and both squeezed until they could be clamped, so much for Jason getting to cut the cord. My Dr. said in his 11 years delivering babies, he's never seen that before, neither had the nurses that were in my room. We are both doing well now and Landree is even nursing like a pro!! Ryleigh was quite excited to see her new sister. First she called her baby Lila and when we said no this isn't baby Lila, she looked up at us and asked, "baby Jesus?" It was hilarious and had the whole room giggling. She enjoyed holding her but was so excited gave her up quickly and then wanted to hold her again. Landree gave Ryleigh a little present, which was a book and Ryleigh enjoyed that as well as the huge stuffed care bear she got when my brother, Kelli, mom and dad showed up. Yes, they made it to MN safely. Ryleigh spent the day with our daycare provider Cindy and sounds like they had a ball. They made Christmas cookies, candies and painted nails. It was fun to hear Jason's stories about Ryleigh's reactions once they went home, this morning when he came to the hosp. When they were leaving the hospital Ryleigh was so cute and said, "goodnight baby Landree, I love you!" She then asked Jason if she could sleep in the car, and when they got home, she changed into her jammies, wanted Jason to sing Rudolph the red nosed reindeer and then told him she was happy to be a big sister. Also, my Grandma is doing well and was transferred to the smaller hospital on Sunday to be closer to Grandpa. Also, wanted to say Happy Birthday to Uncle Jeremy!! Will get pictures on here soon as I am typing this while in the hospital. We might get to go home this evening!!!!

What 24 hours can do!

Grandma update..........today is a whole new day. She has been awake, has been feeding herself and even walked a little bit with therapy!!!!!!! Hopefully the news stays this way. Keep the prayers coming.

Weather update.......It has been snowing all day. It was beautiful this morning coming down and then around 1 pm the wind picked up and it has been blowing all day. YUCK! It's not supposed to stop until tomorrow. It went from 24 degrees to about 8 degrees in a little over a couple of hours, and that's not counting the windchill.

That's all I have for today.

Another emotional day.

I have so much to blog, but I am not feeling the greatest and I've got a splitting headache, so I will try to make it short. I will start with my OB appt that I had today. I am still dilated to 3 cm but am completely effaced and the baby is right there. My tummy measured 34 cm and I lost one pound since last week. No big concern though, because my tummy is bigger and my ultrasound was perfect and the same thing happened before I had Ryleigh, only I lost three pounds in four days with her. Did I mention I am not feeling well, nothing sick wise, more like my lower abdomen has sooooo much pressure. It feels okay when I hold it with my hands. And, I am not really that hungry for anything. I am hoping this means its close, especially since my Dr. is going on vacation starting Christmas for two weeks. The baby's heart rate was 130, by the way.

Finally, the secret is out. I have known for almost two months now that my brother is coming home this weekend, but we have had to keep it a secret from my mom because he wanted to surprise her. But, with all the winter storm warnings and my grandma, he finally told her this afternoon. And, I just heard from my mom that it's snowing in CT. The original plan was for him and Kelli to supposedly fly into Detroit, then to Appleton WI tomorrow and then on Sunday, drive from WI to Mankato with my parents. However, with all the weather issues, all flights have been cancelled because of the snow currently falling in CT. So, now their flights have changed and they are flying into Cincinnati, OH early Sunday morning, then to somewhere in WI, then driving to Mankato still by Sunday evening. We are supposed to have blizzard like conditions starting tomorrow morning until Sunday afternoon. So confusing, but still planning on getting to see my brother and see this beautiful ring he got Kelli. It was hard to keep this secret, and Jason almost blew it once and it was hard to convince my mom to "let Jason and I mail all the Christmas gifts" to them. I am just glad he finally told her. They will be here until the 23rd and then they are going back to WI to spend a few days with Kelli's family.

Grandma update...............my grandma is not doing so good. She is not eating or drinking and is not responding to anyone. It's been an emotional evening trying to stay positive for mom, but I eventually broke down and we were both crying on the phone. She told me that she talked to my Grandpa tonight and the things he said about my Grandma were enough to make the most heartless person cry. He talked about their 63 years together and how he couldn't have asked for a better angel, in fact she couldn't be more of an angel if God would've given her a halo and wings. He said that he hopes if this is how she is going to be, that the good Lord just take her. All these things my mom was telling me, and that's when my emotions got the best of me. The roads continue to be bad in NE and they continue to advise my mom not to go back. All of my moms siblings are there and they all made some decisions as a family tonight that were very hard. My mom is hoping to make it back to NE soon within the next week. They didn't want Jason and I to be alone for Christmas, but I think that if they don't go back there will be regrets. My mom kept saying what a good thing it will be when this new life enters the world. Jason and I were talking and this week has been one of those weeks.....you know the saying, "when it rains, it pours". I just feel so bad for my mom, it's definitely not easy being far away from family, especially this time of the year.

That's about all I have. I did take a 38 week and 39 week photo, just haven't had time to post them. Hope everyone has a safe, great weekend.

ANOTHER Winter Storm Warning!

My Grandma didn't make it to the larger hospital until this afternoon due to bad icy roads in NE last evening. She was scheduled to go into surgery this afternoon around 2, but there were some other delays and she finally got into surgery around 4 pm. She was out of surgery and doing fine by 6 pm this evening. She was still pretty sedated, so my mom was going to try to get a hold of her later this evening. She had to have like 3 screws and a plate put in and was in a lot of pain last evening and this morning. Hopefully, she is pain free right now. She is VERY sensitive to medications, so I am hoping they find the right meds for her needs. Thank you for all the prayers. My mom is still sick and is still being advised to stay away. Poor thing......they are all pretty "tight". I was talking to my mom on the phone for an update and she actually had to hand the phone to my dad and run to the bathroom thinking she might vomit. Plus, like me, she didn't hardly sleep a wink last night, feeling bad about not being able to be near my Grandma. My dad said he was unsure if she was sick from being "sick" or sick from not being able to be with Grandma. That is all the news I have so far.

We are looking another winter storm warning in the eyes. Tomorrow we are supposed to start getting snow in the afternoon, about an inch and then throughout the evening and into Friday morning, we are supposed to get another 4-8 inches...........YIKES! Hopefully, we still get our weekend guests that are supposed to visit.

Everything is going good here with the baby. It's apparently not liking the snow forecast. I am also having mild contractions daily and some pains, but so far nothing exciting. BUMMER. I am just ready to see this new little miracle. Ryleigh is doing great. She is really talking up a storm, she got in trouble for throwing food at daycare the other day and told Jason the whole story on the way home. Of course, she was embarrassed to tell me. But, then while Jason was giving her a bath, I heard her tell him the story again and it was so darned cute. She told him how Cindy was sad with her and that she was naughty because she threw her food. Then yesterday when Jason went to pick her up, she told him she didn't make Cindy sad that day. It's like having a conversation with a miniature little adult sometimes around here. She is so fun right now. Well, I just took myself a warm bubble bath, so now that I am done with the updates, I am going to go hit the hay! Crossing my fingers something happens soon, hopefully before this snow hits.

Sad News.....

Well, I thought I was done blogging for tonight, but I just got some news that I need to write about because this is a good stress reliever and since I am hormonal, I am REALLY sad right now. My grandma fell tonight and broke her hip coming out of the bathroom. She has dementia and Parkinson's and my grandpa takes such good care of her, but her memory and gait are gradually getting worse. My mom wants to go see her, but she is just getting over an URI and they advised her to wait until after my grandma has surgery which will be tomorrow morning and...... the roads are bad. I wish they didn't live so far away. She is also on Coumadin for A-fib and was in a-fib when the ambulance got her all hooked up. She is being transferred to a bigger hospital, as I write, via ambulance to have the surgery and then hopefully soon will go back to the smaller hosp (as it is closer for my grandpa and family) to a swing bed. It will kill the both of them if she doesn't recover well enough to live at home. I feel so bad that my mom (or myself) can't be there. The tears are just streaming, and I am chalking that up to hormones. My grandma is one of the sweetest ladies you'd ever meet, though. I don't think I have EVER heard a negative or bad thing come out of her mouth in my 29 years of living and it's also tough b/c even though we live 6 hours away..............our family is VERY close. Every time something happens or she falls, we just always say thank goodness it wasn't anything serious, and now this happens. I know it's a part of life, it's just funny how life changes as you get older and reality sets in. I just thought as a kid that my grandparents would live forever and it's hard to see them get older and sicker. Well, I am going to go sulk now in front of the TV with a box of kleenex (oh wait, I mean a roll of TP, since I used all the kleenex already). Sorry for the sad blog and please say a prayer that my grandma's surgery goes well. THANK YOU!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I heard today from someone at work that the almanac says this is to be one of the worst winters. So far, I am thinking it's true. Jason thinks the baby knows how truly cold it is and that's why it's staying inside of me. I promised the baby that I would keep it warm.........but that isn't working either. It's funny how the saying goes.......the baby will come when it's ready and wants to. My luck, it'll be after Christmas, because these babies of mine seem to like it inside of their warm mama! Anyways, back to the weather......so it went from 40 degrees on Saturday to negative 38 degrees with the windchill on Sunday. Sunday night (or should I say,early Monday morning), our electricity was off for about 2 hours. Any longer and we might have had to go get Ryleigh to snuggle and keep the three of us warm, but it finally came back on. I couldn't sleep very well, of course, because I knew that we had to be to work on time in the morning........and it might have been that one morning where Ryleigh would have slept til 8 or something. In fact, I haven't been able to sleep well at all in the past couple of weeks. I was so tired last night though, it was one of the best nights of sleep I've had. In fact, if I did get up to pee, I don't remember it at all. And, even though I got all this great sleep, I was still extremely tired today. Weird! Anyways, before this morning we had a total of about 8 inches of snow on the ground. The storm that came today was to bring in about 2-4 inches, and it looks like we get every bit of that 4. Too bad, it's too cold to go play in it. I know the lows have been in the negatives, but today when I got off of work, my car said it was -5. I also had to find an alternate route home, they closed many of the roads in Mankato today because of the storm. Mankato and North Mankato is set in a lot of hills, so I was trying to find the least hilliest way home. What normally takes me at least 10 minutes to get home, took me more like 30 min. YUCK! I don't mind snow, but when it's this cold, that's when it sucks. It is definitely beautiful when you look out the window though...................and it will be nice to have a white Christmas. Well, I should get going. I got Ryleigh to bed early and Jason had to go back to work at 7pm for some inspectors that are there and won't get home until midnight. So, I am going to go watch some TV shows I have taped. He's worried I'll go into labor, and he's all the way in North Mankato, and the roads are slick, and we won't make it. I told him, I don't think this baby is going to come for another week and not to worry. We will see. Hope you are all having a great week.

BBRRRR!!

Well, I got my house cleaning completely finished................main and upper levels!!!! It feels great to have it done. Today was a blustery, cold, snowy day, a good day to stay inside and get it all done. By 2 o'clock it was a cold, 2 degrees, but the wind was blowing hard, so I'm sure it felt even colder with the windchill. BRRR. Yesterday, it felt like a heat wave getting up to 40 degrees. We somehow misplaced Ryleigh's snow bibs, so we didn't get to take her out sledding like we had intended. Tomorrow the high is supposed to be 0 degrees. I know north of the cities in Duluth, MN, they were in blizzard warnings today. It feels like January, only Jason and I don't ever remember it being this windy in MN. The wind is almost as bad as it used to be in KS! Imagine that. I am not looking forward to this work week, I was hoping to get out of it, but looks like this child is just as stubborn as Ryleigh was! LOL! Not much else new going on around here. I am excited about a couple of people we get to see this weekend, but since it's a surprise, I am not going to mention any names, yet. Well, I should get going. I am SOOOO tired again. Hope everyone has a great week.

Busy Saturday!

Yesterday was a crazy day! I worked 10 hours to get a lot of crap done at work all with a deadline of today for the health dept. and on top of that, I had an admit and a discharge!! By the time we got Ryleigh into bed, I was beat. Today was yet another busy day, but this time it was to get this house clean. I got the main level done and even managed to get on my hands and knees to mop the floors instead of using the swiffer (and man did it need a good nitty-gritty cleaning). I need to do that more often, even though with my busy schedule the swiffer is easier and faster. I got them all mopped while Ryleigh was taking her nap so I didn't miss out on any time with her (however, I should have been taking a nap while she did because I am beat again as I write this!) Tomorrow I am planning on getting the upstairs cleaned. Basically it just needs vacuumed, dusted and the bathrooms need a good cleaning (yeah.......another floor to mop!!) Then, my entire house will be cleaned........again! Gramma Terri and Papa Danny came over this afternoon to hang out. They brought us some lights that we needed for our basement from the cities that were no longer available at the store here in Mankato since they had gone on clearance. So, we went out to eat Mexican and hung out since they are heading to KS next weekend for Christmas. We tried calling Sarah via skype and they got to talk for a little while. Jason thinks the issues with Skype connection are related to our wireless connection, so sorry if this is a bothersome. It is nice anyways, to try and see everyone. Oh well, whatever! Anyhow, they left right after Sarah hung up on them.

My bags are packed for the hospital, Ryleigh's present from the baby is wrapped and in my bag. The Christmas gifts are all wrapped and under the tree. Those of you who will be getting mailed your gifts will most likely be late...................sorry. That is just how this year is going to be. Hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend. I am going to go rest on the couch and maybe fall asleep. Take care and love to you all.

Family Photo

I wanted to add this photo to the top, but Ryleigh and Santa just fit so right up there with Christmas and all, so I decided to just post it in the blog.

2 weeks (or less, hopefully not more) to go!

Not much has been going on here except for that it is absolutely freezing outside. Today the high was 20, but when the breeze hits your face, it feels even worse. Since my camera got ruined on the beach in April, I got to pick out my Christmas present tonight!! So, there is only one other thing I want for Christmas.............and that's a healthy baby!! Speaking of, nothing changing there except for the same old hip and groin pain...and the same old comments from people at work....."You're still here?" YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.........UUUUGGGGHHHHH!! LOL!

Ryleigh is really amazing us and cracking us up lately, and boy has she ever had an attitude lately...........I thought it was bad six months ago, ha, I never imagined this. The other night she wanted pudding so bad, but she didn't want to eat supper. Well, after crying about that she ate her entire plate of supper just perfect. She got her pudding, but was so full, she almost couldn't finish that!! We were driving to the mall the other night and were stopped at a red light and she said out of the blue, "red light....stop. Green light....go!" Which I am sure comes from reading Go Dog Go. But now every time we go come to a stop light she tells us what to do. She's also learning that yellow means, "SLOW DOWWWWN!" It's quite funny. She is singing up a storm and loves all the Christmas songs, especially jingle bells, which I am trying to get video of because she sings it while she shakes the bell ornaments on the tree! And she is still looking for Randy every day and gets so excited to see him. Hopefully, after Christmas she doesn't miss him as much as I am thinking she might. She is doing so much funny and smart stuff, I always tell myself to write it down to share and then when I don't and I get in front of the computer to start blogging, I always forget it all. That's my "mommy/pregnancy brain" for ya! Well, I should get going, I need a big glass of chocolate milk. Hope everyone has a great Friday!

Dip Lover!

Okay.......so I come from a dip lovin' family, but you all have to try this dip anyways. It is so delicious and I can't wait to try it out on my fam. We are always trying to bring new dips to our camping trips or holiday festivities. This year we are having Christmas on Jan. 31st in Nebraska with my moms family (the dip loving family) and I'm going to bring it! I am really excited because my cousin just had little Ella in Nov, so we will get to meet her. It will also be nice to see my dad's mom.......I am already looking forward to the four generation photos that will be taking place with my grandparents on both sides!!! So here's the dip you all have to try:

Pickle Rollup Dip

8 oz. softened cream cheese
1/2 cup of sour cream
Dill relish (add in amt you want for your taste)
Chopped (buddig)beef, ham or pastrami or can use any other sandwich meat.
Mix cream cheese and sour cream together, add in relish and then chopped meat. Chill and serve with your favorite cracker. Trisket or wheat thins work well. If want more..............just DOUBLE the recipe!!!

Y-U-M-M-Y!!!

Hope every one's having a great week.

This weeks appt.

I also had my OB appt. today and what I thought might possibly be my water breaking was actually only me peeing myself. I shouldn't admit to that, but sometimes it's better to be safe than sorry, right? Of course, nothing can be simple and what would have just taken them a strip of paper to see if my water had broken took me to the hospital because the clinic was completely out of the "water breaking testing paper"! And nothing is simple when you go to the hospital. My gut was telling me nothing was going on, but it's also better to be safe than to get a nasty infection and pass it onto baby, and no my "water" didn't break. While I was hooked up to the monitors I had four contractions that I could hardly feel. The baby's heart rate was 135-140. I am dilated to 3 cm and continue to be about 75% effaced. And now every time I stand from a sitting or lying position, the baby's head is so far down it's pressing on my bladder causing a little trickle now and then!! Nice, huh--oh the joys of pregnancy!! I have gained about 1/2 a pound and my tummy measured in at 34 cm today. OH YEAH...........my ultrasound results.......NORMAL!! My Dr. said I just hide my babies good when I carry them, he doesn't know how in the world I have a 7 pounder in there. I still weigh 10 pounds less than I did at my most with Ryleigh, which was about 2 weeks before she was born. I am just hoping that tonight all goes well because it's being predicted we are to get 4-8 inches of snow, and it's already begun. But, I don't think this baby has any intentions of making it's grand entrance anytime soon! I, too, like my SIL Andie, am ready to just have the baby. I also had one of the crappiest nights of sleep last night, well actually the whole week of sleep has not been the greatest. Predictions were made at Thanksgiving, so we will see if anyone will be a winner. I think we finally have it narrowed down on names and are down to one for a girl and two for a boy, sorry, but you will all have to wait for the baby to come to know ours!!

We have decided to start our own little family Christmas tradition and I thought it was going to get postponed, but we managed to get 'er done. We have decided that one evening in Dec, as a family, we are going to go shopping for the less fortunate. So, tonight, we headed to Target and got some toys for 4 kids. It was a lot of fun, except for Ryleigh wanting everything she saw!! LOL!! And, Ryleighs Christmas gift from Jeremy, Andie and Havyn got here, so we will do that, too. She has named her little scout elf, Randy. The pictures posted are of her giving it a piggy back ride, and her and Randy by the Christmas tree. I don't know if she quite gets the gist of it this year, but it will be fun. I wasn't for sure if she was scared of it or not because there for awhile she was hiding the elf or tossing it aside, but today, as soon as we got home from daycare, she asked me, "Where's Randy?" And then, her and Randy sat on the couch and watched a little Christmas movie before supper. She also got to see Santa again at the mall. The girl taking pictures used to be our next door neighbor so we stopped to say hi and of course Ryleigh loved Santa. We were having trouble with her getting her coat on, but as soon as Santa told her to be good if she wanted her dolly (that's what she told him she wanted....AGAIN!), she put her coat on like a perfect little 2 year old. Smart little ornery girl! This last picture is of Ryleigh and her friend, Grace playing. They were so cute playing with each others hair and mine!!

Happy Birthday Havyn!

Would just like to say Happy 2nd Birthday to our niece, Havyn. Wish we could have made it to your party. You will have to let us know if and when you get your present. I think this picture is such an adorable one of her.........don't you!! We love you and miss you and hope we get to see you soon. PS.......Tell your mama to send us that recipe of your cake, it sounds delicious. XOXOXOXOXO

Preview of Photos taken

Here are a few of the photos my friend Ana took of us. These are a preview and I am excited to see the rest. Didn't they turn out neat. I am hoping some of the ones of the three of us turned out good. I am excited to see the rest. Isn't it amazing that this is just a hobby for her.....they look so professional. The best part.....she wants to take newborn ones of the baby when it comes. I am all for that!! Hope everyone has a great weekend. And I will for sure post more pictures when we get them. ENJOY!

3 Weeks to Go!!

Well, I should start where I left off and that was to congratulate my brother, Ryan and his girlfriend, Kelli on their engagement. They have been dating for two years now and he proposed to her on Dec. 1st. (I think this is around the day they met two years ago??) Anyways, she called us to let us know and they were both pretty excited. They were putting up their Christmas tree and Ryan had put the ring on a branch and then had said something about, oh my gosh, whats in the tree. Kelli thought maybe it was a spider or a bug or something from being packed away and then when she went over to the side my brother was on she said she saw something glittery and she knew right away what it was and started crying. This made my brother a little nervous because he was unsure if that meant yes or no. It's a much better story to hear it in person, but they are both excited and are planning on getting married on the 4th of July in Oshkosh, WI. Not only was Jason asked to be his best man, I get to be a bridesmaid and Ryleigh is going to be one of their flower girls!!! I am so excited that I finally get to go or be a part of one of our siblings weddings, I was getting nervous there for awhile!! HAHA! My brother will be deployed for six months sometime after they get married, so that is why the wedding will be this next summer.

I had my appt this week and was a little nervous when all I had grown over the past month was 1 cm (my tummy) and didn't gain any weight in the past week and hardly any in the last month. I started to feel how maybe Andie is feeling, especially when my Dr. said he wanted me to get an ultrasound this week. So, I had my ultrasound this morning and it looks like everything is good. Dr. is just making sure my amniotic fluid levels are okay and will call me tomorrow with how everything is looking. I am guessing since there is no news today, the news tomorrow will be good. They took a million measurements of the abdomen, kidneys, etc. The baby's heart rate was 149 and it weighs 7 pounds, give or take a pound. We got a couple 3D photos of it's face, and it seriously looks just like Ryleigh did when she was born. It was fun to get to see the baby again and we opted to again be surprised at what it is. The other good news is that it continues to kick the crap out of me!! I continue to have very bad hip and sciatic pain as well as some sharp pains in the groin area. BUT, that is probably because I am dilated to 2 cm, as I was a week ago and I am approx. 75 % effaced. I was dilated with Ryleigh at 2 cm for about three weeks before she was born, so this will probably be the same.

Ryleigh is doing great. We got to see our friends Ryan and Ana tonight again, as well as baby Lila. Ryleigh loved holding her as well as feeding her a bottle. She did really good, but was almost sometimes to rough. Ana is such a good first time mommy, and is so good with Ryleigh and all that Ryleigh wants to do with Lila. Ana takes fabulous photos just for fun and she and Ryan bought some lighting and we got to be their guinea pigs tonight for pictures. I got to see a few and they look absolutely awesome. Of course, Ryleigh was being a royal pain and wouldn't sit still for a picture. Most nights she doesn't want a bath or bed, but tonight she wanted both and to go home.......rrrrr!! The picture posted is one of the photos Ana took of Ryleigh! It turned out cute! Ryleigh also got to play with her friend Grace last evening, since Grace's daddy came over to help Jason with some wiring stuff in the basement. They were so fun together and I had a blast with them playing with Ryleigh's hair and makeup station! The best part was that they both wanted to brush and play with my hair and this went on for about an hour.............I was in heaven. We have decided that we are going to be missing states from Ryleighs 50 states puzzle about 2 a week. She knows exactly where Michigan is, where it goes and can find it in the stack. Right now we are "missing" Arkansas (even though we actually know this time where Arkansas is.....and it's working). She loves this book called Silly Sally from daycare and it is so fun to hear her read it.

The weather is snowy here. We got about 3 inches in the past two days and are supposed to get 3 more tomorrow evening. It is freezing here also. Only 15 degrees out today. BRRR! It sure is pretty though and hopefully it stays white for Christmas. Work is another story that I don't have time to go into at this time, but I will post something on it later as it is stressing me out. I am trying to let it go as I think the stress of it is what is causing issues with the baby. I did get pinned at the Christmas party and received a rose though for 5 years of service to the place.......you'd think that would count, right? NOT! Ryleigh is spending the night at my parents house tonight as we don't have daycare tomorrow and they have the day off from work. Well, I was unable to sleep, but now I am finally getting tired, so I am going to say goodnight and happy Friday. Oh, and I can't forget GO HUSKERS for beating CO. What a great game of football by both teams!!

Happy Engagement!!

Exciting story...great day.....will post story soon!! Congrats to Ryan and Kelli!!

Decorating for Christmas!

Yeah!! We're ready for Christmas!! Jason and I got all the decorations that we are doing this year and decorated, along with getting the tree up with Ryleigh, which is a tradition we have done starting the weekend after Thanksgiving. Now, all I need to do is wrap gifts. Ryleigh enjoyed hanging the ornaments on the tree and I will get a better picture of the tree, but it is fully decorated from the bottom to about half way up! We also noticed that on some branches there are about 5 ornaments on the same branch! LOL!! We listened to my favorite Christmas CD, Alabama Christmas which I have listened to since I can remember growing up, while putting up the tree and decorations with my family.

36 week comparison

So, I found this picture of myself when I was pregnant with Ryleigh at 36 weeks. I still have the same shirt, so I thought I would take a picture of myself in it with this baby at my 36 week mark and compare. We tried taking the photo in the same spot and as you can see we have done some painting in the past couple of years. Jason and I think I look much bigger with Ryleigh, more filled out in the face and arms. LOL.

Holiday by the River!

We took Ryleigh to the first annual Holiday by the River festival. We decided on that one instead of taking her to the lighting of the world's tallest Christmas tree. It just sounded like more fun. We had been talking Santa up so that Ryleigh wouldn't be afraid of him this year and was she ever excited to see him. She did so good! She sat on his lap and even told him that she wanted a "dolly" this year. I don't think she wanted to leave him, so she even got his autograph on her hand and a candy cane. We were surprised of how good she did with him. I think next year we will go again, but we will be more prepared. It was all for charity as well, which makes it even more nice. We almost bought a Christmas tree, but I think we are going to go with our artificial one again.............maybe a real one next year. There was a chili feed and all kinds of warm drinks. They had Christmas carolers, a band, a horse and trolley ride, the lighting of a Christmas tree and fireworks. After we stood in line to see Santa, Jason and I were getting cold, so we headed back to the car and watched the fireworks from the vehicle. They were pretty neat and Ryleigh enjoyed them, in fact, when we tried driving away to beat the crowd, she started crying because she couldn't see them. So, we stopped and let her watch them a little more. I am just glad I had her all bundled up!! It was crazy all the people that were there and it was the 1st annual Holiday by the River. After we got home we sat in front of the fireplace for awhile to warm up. Usually, you can't find a free Santa or festival anywhere and the neat thing about this one was you could bring food, clothes or a money donation for the Salvation Army and the money for the Christmas trees went to the military men and women serving our country. They even let me take my own picture of Ryleigh and Santa together which also seems hard to find these days. She does have this weird smile on her face, but she was pretty excited, so I will give her that.

Thanksgiving~

Well, we headed to Danny and Terri's for Thanksgiving and had the usual Thanksgiving meal. The turkey was wonderful and I couldn't believe how much Ryleigh chowed down on it. She especially liked the turkey and the creamed corn, but was not too crazy about the mashed potatoes. She never really has been a big fan of them anyways once we introduced more solid foods, but last week she did eat them at home with the encouragement of a snack. She also loved the pumpkin dessert that Terri made. We came home later in the evening because I had to work today. Ryleigh stayed awake the entire drive home, which was a little later and woke up bright and early this morning. It was a nice and relaxing Thanksgiving. Ryleigh and I took a much needed 2 1/2 hour nap. I seriously think it was the most rested I have felt in awhile. It's funny how you can feel just as good when you sleep 2 1/2 good hours as you can with 7 crappy hours. I continue to have braxton hicks contractions quite a bit and can't believe there are only 4 weeks left until we welcome this new little miracle. I just don't remember them being this painful with Ryleigh. Oh, Ryleigh found the bag of dice shes holding in the picture and wouldn't let them down the whole time we were at Danny and Terri's. I think Santa might leave her some in her stocking if she's good. She had so much fun playing different games with them with daddy and Papa. This is about the best picture I could get out of her the whole day. Her hair is a crazy mess, even when we brush it! We brought some leftovers home and they made a good turkey sandwich for a meal today. I think the grandparents were surprised at how much Ryleigh was talking and singing. It was also good talking to everyone. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends and family. We are thankful that all of you are a part of our lives.

OB APPT

(peek a boo - oops, still a little supper left on the face!)I had my OB appt. today and all is great!! Let's just say intuition is a funny thing!! The baby is really ready to come and continues to stay in the right position, with the head way down in the pelvis. The baby's heart rate was 130 today and very strong. I have gained only 2 lbs from two weeks ago, my tummy is measuring at 33 cm today! I most likely am not going to gain as much as I did with Ryleigh as I am still 11 pounds behind my highest with her. I have been extremely sore in the hips and low back these past few days and yesterday I had a sharp steady pain from hell that lasted about 5 hours, which Dr. said is most likely from stretching muscles, possible sleeping wrong (I keep waking up on my back), and carrying Ryleigh. I should have stayed home from work, but I stuck it out and it eventually went away. Stubborn, I know, but I have so much to do and so little time. As long as I didn't do too much or twist, I was fine.............luckily I have a high tolerance for pain. I think I am in the same boat with Andie on the "nesting" situation. I have had the need for things to be tidy for the past few days, the house is clean and has been staying picked up, so help me! It all started last Friday when I had the need to go to town with cleaning. Unfortunately we were busy so I didn't get as crazy as my body and mind wanted. I also think that I might be a little sore from walking the mall and Cabelas the last two weekends, but I am glad to have gotten all my Christmas stuff done. I start on call Friday and am hoping all the shifts get filled because I think we are going to take Ryleigh to see Santa on Friday and hopefully get the tree up this weekend, as well as presents wrapped. My next appt is next Tuesday.

In this picture, Ryleigh lined up all her care bears while watching cartoons one morning last week while Jason and I got ready for work and this was how we found her, creative huh? Ryleigh has had a couple of bloody noses the past week. Last weekend she and Jason were running through the house when she fell and skidded on her nose, causing a nose bleed. This happened while I was in the shower, he got it to stop and thought he got all the blood cleaned up, but I found some on the floor in the kitchen. She's tough though and hardly cried, just needed a kiss on her nose from mommy. Then yesterday at daycare, the little boy who is the same age as her, punched her in the nose causing yet another nose bleed. He told Cindy that Ryleigh pushed him, but come to find out he says that frequently, even when she is not around him..........little wimp!! J/K!! His mom felt pretty bad about it, but I just laughed..................what doesn't kill them, only makes them stronger....right? Ryleigh is hilarious these days and has come up with some attitude. This evening she and Jason were going back and forth about jumping on the couch, when out of nowhere she said to him, "WHATEVER"! Here I am thinking...........where did she learn that? 2 going on 13!! We are in trouble! Oh, and she has been going to sleep, staying in her bed and sleeping all night since the addition of the doorknob safety device. Wish we would've done it sooner. Well, I am going to get going. Hope everyone has a great rest of the holiday week.

Laughter is a good thing!

Oh, was it ever great to see Ryleigh today when she came home after spending the evening with Gramma and Papa! She was so excited to see them yesterday but, she was even more excited to see us today. She was even just as excited to see me as she was Jason. She is such a daddy's girl it's not even funny. We got lots of hugs and kisses!!! It was great to sleep in, too! Jason got up around 8:30 and went hunting, I got up at 9 and started laundry and picking up. It felt good to get so much sleep, it was definitely needed. My cousins wife works at Cabelas in Neb and she sent us a percentage off coupon for friends and family for this weekend and so we headed there today and I got Jason done for Christmas!! YEAH!!

Last night, we had a good time! The comedian was extremely funny and I don't know what hurt worse, my stomach or my cheeks from laughing so hard. The baby wasn't too fond of all the laughing at first, but eventually was put to sleep, probably from the rocking motion. From all the stress recently it was good to just laugh! I'm hoping to get a lot done at work tomorrow because for short periods this week, I will be training the new nurse manager..............hopefully full time training will begin next week. I just don't want her to be stressed while I am gone and I want to get her going just in case I happen to have this baby early.

I have my next OB appt. Tuesday and am excited to see how things are progressing. We are going to go hang out with Gramma Terri and Papa Danny on Thanksgiving. I think Shea and Josh will be there too. I start call on Friday and the weekend looks crappy so far for nurses, so I am hoping that gets filled in so I don't have to work 16 hour shifts this next weekend, that just might put me into labor. I can't believe only 4.5 weeks left..............things are going so fast now. Well, I hope everyone has a great week.

Night Out!

Ryleigh didn't stay with Cindy last night, but she is staying with Gramma Pam and Papa Kev tonight, so Jason and I are going out!! We are going to comedy night again with some people Jason works with, however at the same bar is a surprise 30th party for a gal that I work with, so we are hitting up two get togethers at the same place........that's what I call "multi partying"! LOL. Ryleigh was excited to go to Gramma and Papa's and will be back tomorrow around lunch...............yeah, we get to sleep in! Jason and I finished our Christmas shopping (for Santa) today. IT was CRAZY at the mall, everywhere for that matter. Will write more tomorrow on how our night out went!

We found Michigan!!

It's been another busy week and I have had no one on my case to blog, but I will anyways. Ryleigh got a 50 states puzzle for her birthday from her Nana Peggy this past July and she works on it diligently every day and has pretty much mastered it, but we have been missing the state of Michigan for about a month. So, last evening, Ryleigh was talking to Nana Peggy on the phone, counting to ten for her in Spanish and talking about the puzzle and told her we were missing Michigan, when Nana asked her where Michigan was.................she stated, "Under the TV!" So, this evening Daddy pulled out the TV and wouldn't you know it, there is the state of Michigan. It was hilarious. Ryleigh has been doing great, besides trying to get out of her room during the night. She figured out how to open her door, so Jason and I found these safety things you place on the knobs to keep kids from opening doors. Our friends said they tried them with their kids and it worked for them all and they learned to stay in their rooms/beds at night. So, tonight we went and bought some and we'll see how they work. Discipline can be so hard sometimes, but it will soon be worth it to get a good nights sleep..........................ummmmm that is when both kids are sleeping through the night (wink, wink)!! She is so smart it amazes us every day all the things she learns. Yesterday afternoon when Jason went to pick her up at daycare, Cindy told him that she had all her dolls lined up on the couch and started singing Amazing Grace to them. She sang the whole song all by herself, and she's doing the same thing with books.............like the story of how Jason used to "read" the book, even though he couldn't really read. It's amazing how her memory just keeps getting better and better.

I sure am glad that most of our Christmas gifts have been bought, because these last five weeks are going to go so fast. I just have to work on Jason and Santa items. I have been trying to figure out my leave from work and trying to get caught up at work before I have to start orienting a new nurse manager to the position. Last night, I really felt the stress and was pretty emotional, but I got some things marked of my list of things to do today, so this evening I am feeling much better. Then, I think it was Jason, whom pointed out that my drivers license expired this year on my birthday. I have 30 days to get it renewed and the only times the renewal place is open is when I work, that's the one bad thing about the M-F, 8-4:30 work schedule. I have my next OB appt on Tuesday. I think the baby is doing great, it kicks like mad and has been getting Ryleigh pretty good, which she thinks is the funniest thing. After this appt, I will begin weekly ones until the baby is born. I feel it has dropped and sometimes when I get up after sitting I feel like it's going to fall out of me. I am also having braxton hicks contractions and am having some sharp pains, so it will be interesting to see if I am dilated at all. I can't believe only 5 weeks left!!!!!!

Jason is doing good. Almost has the basement framed and ready for sheet rock. It looks awesome and is going to be wonderful when we get it finished. He got a building permit a few weeks ago, so he has been working on it every evening after Ryleigh goes to bed. No deer this year. Tonight it is supposed to be a BALMY 8 degrees. Right now it is only about 15, but with the windchill, it is below zero...............I am freezing my buns off......oh wait I don't have any, anyways!! I don't mind the cold so much, but when it's windy and cold, that's when it sucks bad for me.

Well, I should get going, and Sarah......thank you for Ryleigh's package. SHE LOVES STICKERS AND COLORING, so hopefully hers will stay on the keyboard!! I was cleaning a pile of stuff in my kitchen and found some stuff we were going to mail to you for your birthday.....oops, my bad, it is going to be late, hopefully no longer than a month late. I shouldn't have admitted that, but it's been a crazy few weeks around here! Well, I am going to get going, hope everyone takes it easy!

Catch Up!

First, I would just like to say, thank you to all my friends and family for all the birthday wishes. Sorry that I missed some of you, it was a busy weekend. This was one of my best birthdays ever and I will tell you why. Ryleigh woke up quite early on Saturday, so Jason got up with her, I am guessing to let me sleep in on my birthday. But, when I came downstairs and Ryleigh saw me, she said, "Happy birthday mommy!" It was the most perfect little gift I have EVER received. Then she sang happy birthday to me, too. Last week was a bit of a blur, but then the whole month has actually been like that. I can't believe November is half way done. It is getting more and more cramped with my abdomen and this little person won't slow down. For the past week, I have seen a little bump move every day. This morning, I saw what was probably the heel of the foot, move across my belly and then back. It was SO cool.

Anyways, my cousins Brittany, Haley, Brea and my Aunt Lisa came to MN for the weekend. Brittany stayed with Jason and I and then the rest stayed at my parents, however we all spent Saturday together. Brittany rolled in Friday night. Then Saturday all of us girls went shopping, while the guys (Jason and dad) went hunting. They all took me out to eat at Mexican Village. It was wonderful and I got to eat for free, which pleased my mom since she was buying. I didn't want any singing, however they made sure that I did get sung to, but had to talk me into it. And really, the only reason I went for it was because I figured Ryleigh would enjoy it...........and she did. I got to wear this huge purple sombrero and I think Brittany got pictures. Yippy. Saturday night was a blast. I am such a "gamer" and we played a few games, then everyone but Brittany went back to my parents around 11. Brittany left this morning to go pick up the rest of them at my parents and they headed back to Nebraska today. It was so great to see them and I was glad that they came to make my day special. Ryleigh didn't get a nap on Saturday and got to bed later, and she did pretty good, considering..........she definitely needs naps.

I got a bunch of goodies from some friends at work on Friday. Lotions (bath and body works), some booties to wear at the hospital, a movie, some misc. stuff and some "junk" food. I, of course, being emotional in my current state, cried! I also got a pregnancy massage from Jason and Ryleigh!! I need to use that soon. We got to see our friends Ryan, Ana and Lila on Wednesday. OMG.........is Lila just the cutest little thing. Ryleigh held her, fed her a bottle, and sang to her three songs, and was right there watching every time her diaper was changed. It was so fun and cute. Hopefully when a little baby is around for more than three hours, she does that good. We will see.....................

My mom and dad got to see my brother via Skype and were so excited, they kept talking about it all evening Saturday. I think my brother enjoyed seeing them as well as Lisa and the girls. This week will probably go by fast as well. Jason and I will have the evening alone on Friday until Saturday morning at 10. We get a Christmas gift from our daycare provider for one free overnight Friday into Saturday morning at 10 and we are going to use it this week, b/c hopefully we will get another one for Christmas this year!! It's really a neat idea. I think we might finish our Xmas shopping (we still have to go shopping for Santa)! Hope everyone has a great week!

Happy Veteran's Day!

God bless and thank you, all who've served and serve our country for our freedom. Jason and I would like to thank our Grandpa's who fought for our freedom during WWII................Grandpa Ray Dinslage (Marines), Grandpa Ralph Odle (Air Force), Grandpa Ray Quint (Army) and to those currently serving during this time of war.............Uncle Ryan (Navy) and Uncle Josh (Army)! We love you all. THANK YOU AGAIN!

Busy, busy!

Hi all! It's been a crazy few days so far and it doesn't look like it is going to slow down for me until I have this baby. I have been very busy at work lately and now one of the four of us nurse managers quit on Friday. We are supposed to give 30 days notice, however she only gave two weeks, so here we are with being behind already and me getting ready to go on maternity leave. UGH! She was not much of a team player, so it's a good thing.................just not right now. Oh well, things happen for a reason and I want to be caught up before I go on maternity leave anyways.

This past weekend was awesome spending time with my mom. We went Christmas shopping and I have to say for the record that I am pretty much finished. Just need to call Santa and let him know to get a few things for Ryleigh!! Ryleigh did awesome with mom and I shopping, she was such a big girl and a trooper. She did a lot of singing while shopping which had a lot of shoppers giggling and watching her. She was quite the entertainment. There must have been a lot of men hunting this weekend, because the stores were packed with women. It was like the day after Thanksgiving. I didn't need to get much but I am only decorating with a few things this year and I definitely wanted some stocking hangers to hang the stockings from the mantle this year. Ryleigh didn't have one accident all weekend while shopping, however she had an accident with Jason this morning while running an errand. She held it in too long and then it was too late when she finally told Jason she had to go. This is her first accident in probably about a month, and she hasn't had any #2 accidents since being potty trained. She was upset with herself and seemed embarrassed when telling me about it when I got off of work today. And on a good note.........she's sleeping through the night again for the most part........yeah!

I almost forgot to mention that Dad and Jason froze their butts off this weekend deer hunting, but seemed to have enjoyed themselves. It was nasty cold this weekend here. About 32 degrees each day and Saturday the wind was awful. They had trouble warming up each evening. They saw some deer on Saturday, but they seemed to both be waiting for the "big one", so they didn't get any. There is still next weekend left.

Ryleigh has one more music class left next Sunday. She just loves going to "moosic class", so it will be a bummer when it's over. I am debating on whether we should go again next session, but I thought it would be something fun for her and I to do together once the baby comes.....some "Ryleigh and I" time. We did get to talk to a few family members through Skype last evening.......I did it, I jumped on the Skype/web cam bandwagon. First we talked with Nana Peggy, then Uncle Ryan and Kelli, then Aunt Sarah. It was good to see everyone.........and the animals...........and the crabs............now Nana Peggy just needs to get some turtles in that aquarium for Ryleigh!!! And as you can see.........she never sits still.

I had an OB appt today and all is well with the baby. My belly is growing, measuring in at 32 cm (another 2 since last appt two weeks ago). I however have gained only 1 pound since my last appt. I had a different nurse today and she was kind of sarcastic about it, but Dr. was fine with it. You can definitely tell my stress level is back down with my B/P reading of 102/56! The baby's heart rate was also 130!!!! The baby's head is down and is ready to go and will most likely stay that way until it's born, which is good. My next appt is in a couple of weeks and then I go to weekly appts until the baby is born. This week marks 34 weeks with only 6 to go! OH...........I can't wait to meet this new little person. What a fun Christmas it's going to be. Oh, and here's a picture of dad and I..........who do you think is going to deliver first????

Well, Ryan and Ana are bringing baby Lila down on Wednesday for a visit and supper. We are excited to see her...............but I think Ryleigh is even more excited as that is all she could talk about this evening.

Funniest thing

So, the funniest thing happened to me today. I called my bro because he had tried to call me and he wanted to talk to Ryleigh. So she talked to him nonstop for about 5 minutes (typical girl), he could hardly get a word in edge wise (and he said he could understand a few things, but not as good as I was able to understand what she was saying). After she was finished, I was talking to my brother telling him that he and Kelli need to start a blog. So next out of his mouth, besides asking for the website was to tell me that I need to get a webcam because he and Kelli have been keeping in contact with her family through, you will never guess, SKYPE! So, he's telling me about how awesome it is and that he and Kelli want us to get one so they can keep track of Ryleigh like they keep track of Kelli's niece, Madelyn. I told him that I didn't have time last weekend to go shopping but this weekend is dedicated to shopping, so I would get a web cam. Hopefully this makes all of you happy who have asked Jason and I to get a web cam. And, hopefully Ryan and Kelli start a blog! Ryleigh was so darn cute this evening with bedtime. We have this routine where we read books, then sing, then go to bed. Tonight with the singing, she was singing all the words with me. I will try to get video of her singing b/c it is just too cute. Well, I will say goodnight. I am going to get some stuff done since Ryleigh went to bed early tonight.

Show us your muscles, Ryleigh!

Here are some videos of Ryleigh showing us her muscles. Last week, while mommy was working late, daddy showed Ryleigh some new things. This was one of them. She even makes the grunting noises, it's hilarious. I am glad election day is finally over. Jason voted this morning on a break and I went in after work. No lines for either one of us, but I was voter number 1088 for the day at our poll place. I was just glad to get there before 5 because I am sure not soon after that, it was bound to get busy. It's been beautiful weather here so far this week, 76 yesterday (the record high was 77 in 1978 for that day in Mankato). But, it is supposed to get cold and the high for Friday is only supposed to be 38. I am all ready to go shopping with mom, I have most of my lists ready to go. Thanks, Sarah, for the compliment of wanting to look like me when you are pregnant, but............do I not look glowing? Haha. Maybe, it's because it is a black and white photo? Well, anyways I should get to bed. Oh and Andie...........you wouldn't believe it........or you might.......but there are some people that put up Christmas decorations on the outside yesterday with the nice weather, so you're not the only one. And, maybe you are going to have that baby on Nov 30th??? Hope everyone has a great week.

32 week photo.

So, it's finally Sunday and I am still feeling crappy about last week. I did talk to my mom and she put me at ease, as always. I am thinking if state doesn't leave tomorrow, I might get sick. My dad is a meat inspector for the USDA and I told him today........no offense, but I don't like inspectors. He just giggled at me. NOT KIDDING!

Jason went deer hunting last evening and seen a bunch of deer, but not until about the time he was getting ready to leave and it was getting to dark to shoot. So, he had to sneak out and was there a little later than what he thought. Him and dad are going deer hunting next weekend, so I am going to work on Christmas shopping with my mom.

So, we have decided to try a new tactic with Ryleigh and night time. When we were training her as a baby to sleep through the night, we let her cry it out, so we decided to try it again starting this weekend. For a few weeks now, she has not been sleeping through the night, but maybe one night a week. It is starting to get old and I am again missing my sleep. So, we shut her door tight so she couldn't get it open. And, this morning she decided she wanted to wake up during the night. I have always told her if she needs to go potty during the night to let us know. So she cried for about 5 minutes and then started screaming, "mommy, potty", so I took her to the bathroom and she went, so then I tucked her back in and about 15 minutes later, she started crying again. After 45 minutes of crying, she then started getting ticked. She yelled her new saying, "Oh my gosh", "mommy, daddy, open the door!" When that didn't work she got really ticked and was screaming at the top of her lungs. After about an hour, she finally said "POTTY!!!". So, I took her potty again, and she went and then I took her back to her room and told her it was still night and she needed to go back to sleep until morning. She then finally went back to sleep and slept until 8:40. WOW! We will see what tonight brings. I was laughing though, because of the "oh my gosh" statement and yelling at us to open the door. The best part was that she still loved me in the morning. So, hopefully this works.

I do have my 32 week photo on the post...........8 weeks to go, the countdown is on!! I also added the 30 week and some different 32 week photos to the slide show on the side. Well, I hope everyone has a good week!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

"Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat!!" I almost forgot about that saying until Jason said it this evening. Ryleigh had a good time trick or treating. When I went to get her from daycare she said to me, "mommy, it's Halloween!" Then I asked her what she was going to be for Halloween and she said proud as could be, "a ladybug!" Before we left the house she was saying "trick or treat" pretty good. We went to our friends house first to get some photos of Ryleigh in her ladybug outfit. It was the first time Ryleigh went up to a house on Halloween, so when she finally got to the door, after seeing many kids dressed up, she seemed shy and didn't say it. It was funny though, since this was her first trick or treating experience, when the bowl was put in front of her to pick some candy, she tried taking the whole bowl!! HAHA!! After a while she got the hang of taking one piece and by the end of the night she was saying "trick or treat" and "thank you" for the candy she got. We just went to a few houses in our neighborhood that know Ryleigh and one of the neighbors even had a special bag made up just for her! There were some scary costumes out there that Ryleigh was not to fond of and even hid behind Jason one time. While at our next door neighbors house, they told us at 4:30 today, there was a buck in our backyard, they tried getting a picture but she couldn't get her camera on her phone to get a good one. That excited Jason a lot and know we are both wanting to see this deer. We have seen deer in our other neighbors yard as well as one prancing down the street one early morning a couple of years ago, but never one in OUR yard! Now, Jason wants to set up his "hunting camera" in our back yard!

State is still at work, hopefully only until Monday. It was not such a great day as we had hoped on Friday, so hopefully now that the spirits of Halloween are gone, they will leave!! It makes for a not very relaxing weekend, that is for sure. In all the hoopla, I forgot to do some e-learning stuff and raced off to work at 11:30 tonight to get it done before midnight. One of them it said I didn't get finished before midnight, and if they are not done by the end of the month you get a level 2 absence, so I think I just screwed myself. Which, I am also trying to not let ruin my weekend. I am going to fight it on Monday because if I wouldn't have been doing other things for the state, then I would have gotten it finished or at least remembered to do it before the end of the month, especially since I had a note to myself on my computer all week. In all the emotions pregnancy brings, I again found myself crying about it and today, I feel like what Jason said last night makes sense...........SCREW IT! I can only do my best and that is what I have been doing. It really sucks though, because in the 5 years I have worked for this company, I have only called in sick about 4 times, and that is including having an infant/toddler! (which tells you, we are a very healthy family). I think I am going to be "looking around" on my maternity leave, which sucks because I actually like what I do, things have just changed in the past year, we will see, I am just venting out loud. I shouldn't write that on here, but again, I AM JUST VENTING! :)

We are going to go see Papa Kev and Gramma Pam tomorrow. It will be nice to get away for a little bit. I haven't seen my mom in about a week and a half, so I am looking forward to hanging out with them.

Week from H-E-DOUBLE HOCKEY STICKS!

So, this week started out ok, until Monday when I was taking my lunch break and the State Health Dept. showed up at work. Talk about making this week crappy. I haven't been able to blog b/c I have been at work late every day. I think Jason is irritated but what do you do. I am a manager and they come once a year, so it is expected I be there when they are. (I was hoping they wouldn't show up until I was on maternity leave, but oh well). Anyways, I don't think anyone quite realizes the stress level the nurse managers are in since it seems like our paperwork is what they seem to like to go through with a fine tooth comb. And, I was already stressed before they came because my paperwork has been behind for quite some time. I definitely think 36 patients is too many to manage, but what do I know, I am just the one doing it...right? I would just like to say I AM EXHAUSTED. It also has been sucky because Jasons truck is being fixed right now, so we only have one car and he has been having to get Ryleigh all week. The good thing is that I've heard (I'm not sure b/c I have been working 12-15 hours a day) that it has been beautiful here this week. I know it did get to 70 degrees today and I actually had a mental breakdown at work, so I did go hang outside to get a breath of fresh air for about the time it takes for me to look like I haven't been crying any longer. It's also been tough b/c Jason and friends have been working on his truck after I get home, and by the time they are done I am passed out in bed. Tuesday morning, I woke up at 3:45 am and couldn't get back to sleep thinking of everything I needed to do at work and how was I going to do it all for the Health Dept. Well, I was so shook up I was crying which woke Jason up. Then I started having Braxton Hicks contractions (which is normal at 32 weeks), however, I knew these were stress induced. We will find out tomorrow late, how many deficiences we will get....................and then hopefully, they will let me keep my job (wink, wink)!!

So, I had a Dr's appt anyways on Tuesday afternoon. The baby's heart rate was 140. I've only gained two pounds since two weeks ago. Surprisingly enough, my blood pressure was good at 110/70 (I was a little nervous it was going to be high), but I think the boring music at the office made me calm until I was taken back. My tummy is measuring two cm larger than last time, so this little miracle is sure growing good. I am measuring small like I did with Ryleigh, but it is not worrisome. My Dr. did tell me that I need to try and be stress free this week with State at work, of course he understands why I am stressed. I told him if I can make it through the week, I will be just fine. Everything is in the right position with the head down and ready to go. My cousin, who is due on my birthday, says she thinks it will be within the next week for her, so I am excited to hear about her little one.

Ryleigh has been a daddy's girl this week.........do you blame her? She probably thinks I've left town. Although, I have been able to see her every morning and evening this week. I almost didn't make it in time one night, but I did get to kiss her night-night. Luckily, I didn't wait until the last minute to get her Halloween stuff in order, so we are all ready to go tomorrow night. Should be fun.

OH.....and Sarah and Nana Peggy. I have wanted to get a web cam for years, just haven't done it. I also thought it was awesome when Andie talked about Skype and thought that that would be cool, I actually heard about Skype from a friend of mine at work before I ever heard about it from all of you and then when Andie talked about it, I wanted to go get one. Since they aren't that expensive, maybe Jason and I will get one this weekend. He did forward me the email, I just finally read it today. And.........Ryleigh says "Tank you" for the "stickas"!!!