We're back from Vaca!!

Well, we are back from Ponca Nebraska and had a great time, despite the on and off again storms. Jason, my mom, Ryleigh and I got to Ponca at 12:30 pm on Thursday afternoon, just in time for Jason to meet my dad, brother and uncle Merle at the golf course for their tee time at 1. Every year we go, I swear the check in time for our cabins gets later and later. There are about 8 cabins that all 48 of us stay in and we try to get there early to get a good one that's close by most of the cabins so that we can put Ryleigh to bed in the evening, but be able to hang out with the family yet after she goes to bed. This year the check in time was 4, but they had most of the cabins cleaned by 2:30. Us girls just hung out at the park and office/wildlife center area until they were ready. I should have taken Ryleigh swimming on Thursday b/c it rained the rest of the weekend on and off. There was also a kayaking adventure that Jason was going to do but that also got cancelled b/c of the rain. Pretty much we just hung out with family and Ryleigh played with all the kids. It's always really nice also because all of my young cousins (teens) love little kids and steal them from us, so we have lots of babysitters. It was so nice to just relax for 3 whole days. I did take Ryleigh to see the horses and they let her sit on one, but she was quite scared of that so, I only got some pictures of her petting the horses. My cousins 5 year old son caught this huge wolf spider (looked like a tarantula). I will get a picture of it on here. The animal biologist was quite excited to see it when they brought it to the wildlife center and I guess they fed it some crickets which excited the little boys. It was really CREEPY and HUGE!!! I didn't know there were that big of spiders in Nebraska. It was kind of nerve wrecking the rest of the weekend, knowing that we were sharing land with those icky creatures. There were lots of lightning bugs out also, which is always neat to see. We did get to go on our annual hay rack ride on Saturday evening, which started out nice, turned into a disaster, but somehow had us all laughing. After it was all said and done, I think it was one of the most adventurous and fun hay rack rides I have ever been on. This is what went down. We started our journey at 6:30 pm at the wildlife center and headed on our way. I think when it was all said and done, we only seen 3 things on the tour, which we see every year, but learn something new every year as well. Our tour guide was some surfer dude from California and his girlfriend came along for the ride. We got about 30 minutes into our ride and we spotted some nasty clouds coming for us. I knew we were going to get drenched but that didn't make it go any quicker. In fact, it started sprinkling and they gave us some blankets, which ended up being bed sheets by the way. We also ended up using them as umbrellas when a few minutes later it started pouring rain. It was all family on the hay rack ride except the tour guide and his girlfriend, so we didn't mind sharing the "umbrellas"!! They stopped to ask if we wanted to go in the shelter but we said to keep going. My cousins little girl was crying so he took her up into the truck, once she was gone Ryleigh and the other kids stopped crying and we were all laughing so hard. When we got back to the wildlife center all of us were pretty much drenched and wouldn't you know it the sun reappears and it stops pouring. I did do a good job of keeping Ryleigh dry as her hair was the only thing wet. And I was happy about that b/c she had her only long sleeve t-shirt and pants I had packed for her. I, on the other hand, had on my only sweatshirt/long sleeved shirt/jacket and it was soaked the rest of the trip. HAHA. I hid my camera but my cousin got some shots during the downpour. And the scariest thing, after my cousin and his little girl got into the truck our driver was going to fast and jack knifed the trailer. So I felt this bump, of course I am squatting in the middle of the hay bails and my cousins are holding me up b/c I am holding onto Ryleigh, anyways there is this bump, I look out of the blanket to see this huge dent in the truck and our trailer facing the side. Next thing you know, my cousin who got in the truck runs around to the drivers side and starts driving us to the wildlife center at full speed. It was crazy and hilarious at the same time. Like I said I have never been on a hay rack ride like this before!

Ryleigh had lots of fun with my cousins daughter Payton who is exactly a year older than her. I have lots of great pictures. And Paytons baby sister, Brooklyn who was born a week earlier came to see us all. Ryleigh was amazed at this little person and kept gently petting her head and peeking under her blanket to look at her little feet. It was so cute.

There were some major storms in Omaha (about 2 hrs from us) on Fri. Many of my family comes from there and one of them had to chainsaw through the trees that had fallen over his driveway to get to Ponca. 120,000 people were out of electricity all day and by Sat and Sun there were still 60,000 people without electricity. They are holding the Olympic trials at the Qwest center in Omaha and had to evacuate it. Part of the roof was damaged, but fixed quickly as the trials were to start on Monday. It wasn't considered a tornado b/c the winds only reached 95-100 mph and for an F1 tornado the winds need to reach 120 mph, but they were straight and damaging winds.

I also made a pact with my cousin Cali. She is due on my birthday, Nov 15. So, I told her if she had her baby on my birthday I would have my baby on her birthday, which is Dec 20. So that is what we are shooting for!! Wouldn't that be something. We got back to Mankato around 12:30 pm on Sunday and then brought my brother to the airport in the cities to fly him back home. Ryleigh and I got back in time for her music class which she enjoyed and got to play the drums and the ukulele again. I will get vacation pictures on here soon. Oh, I almost forgot to mention all the delicious food we had and how much I pigged out. I am getting huge already.

Peace Out!

Tomorrow starts our annual Dinslage camping trip. This is my mom's entire family. Last year there were 46 of us with one on the way. This year there are 48 of us, with two on the way. However, my cousin Dawn just had her baby on Friday, so she, the baby and her hubby might not be there, but then again if they are feeling good they might come for a day. This year we are camping in Ponca State Park in Nebraska. It is beautiful there and borders South Dakota and Iowa, there is a special spot in the park called the three state outlook where you stand in Nebraska and the Missouri river divides the states. We go from Thursday morning and come home Sunday morning. We have been doing this for as long as I can remember and it has brought a lot of memories and great family traditions! My grandparents started it long ago, because when all their kids got married it was harder and harder to celebrate the holidays, so this way we all set a special weekend aside for just this family and then we get to see each other at least once a year. I know it will continue on long after my grandparents are gone. There is always tons of wonderful food and we leave full for a week. (That's one of the best parts.......all the food, and this year, I get to eat as much as I want and not feel guilty!) There are lots of things to do in Ponca and if you hit the right weekend, you might get to see a rodeo. HAHA-it's actually kind of hickish. There is a golf course, tons of fishing, boating, swimming pool, horse back riding, hay rack rides and much more. They just built a wonderful wildlife museum that has many different animals and tells about the history of the area dating back to dinosaurs and Indians. We will definitely miss my brothers girlfriend Kelli this year, she is so much fun and the family just loves her. Hope everyone has a great rest of the week, we are heading to God's country so I will not be seeing a computer for a few days. Peace out!! And please if anything happens (like an emergency) we will have cell phones, so call us!

Also want to congratulate Jason's college buddy, Jeremy "Stew" and his fiance Holly. They had a baby girl last Monday. And another addition to the Dinslage family, just heard my cousin Cali is due in November. Yeah........a playmate! Oh yeah, and please check out the June posts as our computer is up and running and I finally got to add photos to my posts. Take care.

Memories......................

I know I mentioned this in an earlier post but I forgot to mention it in May and May had some milestones for Jason and I. We both graduated from good ole' GCHS 10 years ago. Then I graduated from Nursing School 5 years ago! I didn't officially get to practice until August 5 years ago as I took my State Boards on July 30th 2003. Our 10 year class reunion is Labor Day weekend however, with gas prices being so high, we are not thinking we will get to make it back for it, but we will see. Back to high school, Jason was a hurdler in track and went to state both his junior and senior years. He didn't join track until he was a junior and hmmmmm I wonder why, maybe because he liked a certain someone who was also in track!! Basically all I did in high school was run cross country and track and played softball in the summers because of course it interfered with track. The worst part that I remember was running so bad on my shin splints that I developed stress fractures both after my junior and senior years of track. But cross country was my passion and that's as far as I will go there. Also have to brag a little that Jason and I were Senior prom king and queen. So I am going to post a few pictures of graduation day from high school, our king and queen picture and some senior photos. Also there is a picture of the day I graduated from nursing school. It's kind of cheesy b/c I had this huge grin on my face for like a month, I was so happy. Enjoy!!

Happy Anniversary Jeremy and Andie

Just want to congratulate Jeremy and Andie on their anniversary. I hope when you do finally get to be together this summer that you have a blast. Even though I didn't get to be there to help them celebrate on their wedding day, I really like this picture...........So here's to you two! Cheers!

Well, Ryleigh's hand is looking better. There are just a few areas that are still red and burnt, but for the most part she is using it and doesn't even notice it anymore. Thankfully it didn't blister up. It looked like it might but it didn't. It amazes me how smart these little babies are and they are not even two yet. Ryleigh is a huge breakfast and lunch eater but not a huge supper eater. She likes to eat light before bed. Well, Jason finished his supper and went and got some pudding and then guess who wouldn't eat any more supper after seeing the pudding...........Ryleigh. I said to her and Jason, "no pudding until you eat some supper!" So Jason made a little pact with her to eat three more bites and then she could have some pudding. Well it worked and she took three huge bites of her supper. She had trouble getting the last bite down but she did it. We then went fishing this evening, which she loves to do. We went to Spring Lake Park and caught a few small bullheads, was about two feet away from the state bird.......a loon, Jason found a turtle and a baby rabbit. So Ryleigh was having a great time and wasn't too thrilled when we said it was time to go home.

Crazy Weekend

First off I just want to thank the following guys who helped Jason get the house painted and thanks to all their families for letting them spend time away to give us a hand: Uncle Ryan Z., Ryan V., Paul, Jerhod, and Ben!! Well, it was a crazy weekend and that pretty much explains it all. It started on Friday when Jason took a vacation day to get the house painted. He had two friends show up around noon to give him a hand and they worked until dark, actually past dark with flood lights. The first thing I did when I got home from work was make supper because I figured they'd be hungry and it would be cheaper than ordering pizzas or something, so I made my grandma's recipe of spaghetti casserole and the guys and Ryleigh scarfed it right up. I was in bed before they were finished and when I woke up on Sat they were out painting already. We had Zabka family pictures taken at 10 am and hopefully no paint shows up on Jason in the pictures, I think we got it all off. It was fun and didn't take long so once we were finished we headed back to the house to continue painting as we had help there while we were gone for a short period. I started making sloppy joes when I got back and had them simmering in the crock pot for the guys when they got hungry. They scarfed them up too! Jason wanted the house finished Saturday so the guys only sat down to eat and then they were painting again and by dark, they had the whole house painted........what a job. It looks SOOOOO good! Ryleigh was her ornery self and decided to place her hand on the hot stove after I told her no several times. Luckily she got it off in time, but she cried for awhile. Her hand was red all day Sat but no blisters. I slipped her a little Tylenol for the pain and she took a 3 hour nap. Poor kid. I had to feed her lunch too because she did this to her right hand which is her dominant hand and she couldn't hold her utensils. By Sunday her hand looked much better but it bubbled up in a few places. I felt like the worst mom ever for her getting burnt, but I betcha she listens the next time I tell her something is hot. It's crazy how it only takes a split second for them to get hurt and just when you think everything is under control, it falls to pieces. I was kicking myself for turning my back for only a second. Oh well, she's okay and still loves me and her hand is in good working condition. It's crazy too how pregnancy can make your hormones fluctuate like this, here Ryleigh is crying because she just burnt her hand and here I was crying because she did this under my supervision. I hear it gets "better" the older they get! Anyhow on Sunday my mom, dad and brother Ryan hung out with us. The guys went golfing while mom and I visited until Ryleigh woke up. Then we went and got some fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and baked beans for supper. We met the guys at home and had supper together. Sad news to hear that a friend of my moms family had a 16 yr old son that committed suicide. Please say some prayers for his family. On a good note, Ryleigh's music class was on Sunday evening at 6 and we had lots of fun. She didn't give me that crazy face this time, like "what in the hell are these people doing". She actually got involved and was dancing and singing! She shows some favoritism towards certain instruments and loves to get her chance at playing the ukulele! She gets so excited and turns to give me this grin and then the entire group just laughs. It's hysterical. I actually met a couple that goes to the same church as us. There little girl, Nora is only a few days older than Ryleigh and they just had a baby boy. So it was a lot of fun. Even more fun than the first time. What was not so fun was about an hour after we got home, I had the worst gut wrenching pain ever. The only thing I can think is that this baby was not agreeing with the fried food I ate. I was in bed by 8:45, finally fell asleep around 9:30 and don't think I moved once through the night.

Congrats Dawn and Joel!

Just want to wish a special congrats to Dawn, my cousin and matron of honor at my wedding. Her and her hubby had a healthy baby girl whom was born this morning. Her name is Brooklyn Lea and she weighed 8 lbs 14 oz. She joins an older sister Payton. HOPEFULLY we get to meet her next week if they are all doing well and are staying healthy!

Ryleigh had a wonderful week and did a lot of swimming at the pool and played at the park quite a bit. She is quite the tan little girl........she (and Jason) put me to shame. We have our family pictures tomorrow morning and hope they go well. I am still trying to decide what I am going to do with Ryleigh's hair. My mom wants it curly ;) I made my moms famous spaghetti casserole this evening and Ryleigh pigged out on it. (as well as the helpers we have helping to paint our house)! Ryleigh is getting to be such a big girl, but she can be quite whiny if she doesn't get her way. I have been teaching her to say "help, please!" It is finally starting to work and it is SOOOOOO nice to not hear this whiny cry when I can't figure out what she needs. She has gone potty quite a bit in her potty chair this week, it has been wonderful and she is excited about it when she finally goes.

Yeah............my first trimester is officially over and it went well. It's so exciting to be heading into my second trimester. It's nice to know the baby is doing great along with mom, dad and sissy. I'm not fitting into any of my pre-pregnancy clothes and all my maternity clothes are too big. I do have a pair of jeans I bought when I didn't fit into anything with Ryleigh and if they can get me through the family pictures, I will be happy. I only gained 6 pounds during my first trimester and I am excited that my belly is finally starting to protrude, it makes it so much more real. My next appt is on July 14th, I can't wait!!

We are finally starting to paint the house. Jason took a vacation day today and two of his friends came over and they have been working on the house all day. Tomorrow after pictures the help will arrive and we will have about 6 guys painting the house. We are hoping to have it finished tomorrow but definitely by the end of the weekend. It will be nice to finally have my hubby back as he has been working on the house every spare minute he has. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

In Loving Memory of Marvin Joseph Zabka

December 5th, 1929 - June 18th, 1996. Dad to 7 children, Grandpa to 21 grandchildren. Today, 12 years ago, my grandpa passed away from a massive heart attack. He was only 66 and left us all too soon. He will always be remembered for big red and juicy fruit gum and snicker candy bars!! He owned and operated a service station in Petersburg, NE which still belongs in the family today. I remember getting to ride in his gas trucks when he went to deliver gas to the local farmers. He always had your choice between juicy fruit and big red and whatever flavored pop you liked. My brother and I would go with him quite often and he would call me, Pete and my brother, RePete! We always thought that was the funniest thing. He had lots of fun songs he would sing too, that my parents weren't to fond of us memorizing, but we pretty much know most of them by heart now. Him and grandma always used to have Snickers waiting for all the grand kids at their house when we would go to visit. He was a jolly, quiet man, who had a good heart and got along with everyone. He had no enemies and all friends. I have a picture or two to post with this of him, but I am still unable to d'load photos so when I am able, I will get them on here with this post! I love and miss you Grandpa and hope to see you again, someday! Thanks for always keeping an eye on your family down here!!

Reptile and Amphibian Discovery Zoo

Ryleigh went to a reptile and amphibian discovery zoo this morning and had a good time. She seen many different fascinating reptiles and amphibians including: lizards, snakes, turtles, large frogs and crocodilians. The Blue Earth County Library sponsors these summer events which are free to the area children. There are over 1700 kids signed up for the various different events going on. It's amazing. The owner/biologist of the reptile and amphibian discovery zoo has worked in the Disney's Animal Kingdom. They hold some of these events right in the library's auditorium. It's meant to get kids involved in reading and books. Ryleigh enjoys animals so much so she had a really good time and was very interested in everything. Some of the animals pop up in her little "stories" she tells us. I'm not sure if she is going to go the event tomorrow, but I'm sure they will. It is the raptor center from the U of M in Minneapolis which features birds of prey and they have a bald eagle and are making a trip down here to Mankato. She also went potty this morning when she woke up and was so excited. We now do this thing called the "potty dance" where we both kind of go crazy and flail about when she potty's in her chair or on the toilet. Shes a hoot and just laughs when we do our potty dance.

Jason informed me today that in September he will have to travel to Cincinnati, OH for work for a few days with his boss. I think with this job he might see all 50 states someday............for free on company dollar!! It's a good way to see the country I guess, and if it's ever somewhere fun or cool to see, I can meet him out there. I am just hoping he doesn't have to go to India in January, but if he does I am sure Ryleigh, the baby and I will be staying with mom and dad for some of it. At least I will be home from work!! So far no rain in the near future so that should help get the painting done. It's supposed to be in the 80's all week and then 85 on Saturday.

I finally got my new office somewhat organized. I just have a few more stacks of papers to go through but I have another admit tomorrow and 4 care conferences, so I doubt I will get to it until Thursday. What a crazy week. I am so looking forward to the weekend already and it's only Tuesday. Well, I am going to go hang out with JQ and the dog. Later!!

Tired Day!

Hello! Not much to report today. I had a crazy busy day at work. I moved into a new office which is bigger and cooler but I just don't feel like I'm "at home" yet. Along with all the moving and trying to get to know my new 36 patients and their families, I also got a new admit today. I feel somewhat lost and was ready to go to bed at 4:30 pm, but went grocery shopping instead. We had a light supper and then Ryleigh and I colored the driveway and sidewalks with her new favorite thing..........sidewalk chalk!! Beautiful evening.......not to hot, not to cool, no wind! Oh, Peggy, I just wanted to let you now that we received the Fred and Ted book and Ryleigh just loves it. Jason didn't remember it that much, but has enjoyed seeing it after all the years of hearing about it. Ryleigh is doing well after all her issues yesterday. I was brushing her hair tonight when she said ouch. I found two bumps on the back of her head, probably from falling in the tub yesterday. She had a wonderful day today and played in the park for hours. Jason and his friend Paul are getting the final touches done on the house and we will finally be painting it this weekend. Pray that we have a nice weekend with no rain, as rain has been a norm lately around here. Since Jason had taken most of the caulking off around the windows we now have an ant infestation in our kitchen, I have about had it, but it has been nice to have a clean kitchen every day!! We finally got some stuff to get rid of them after Jason has listened to me nag heavily for about 4 days. Besides watching a few movies here and there with Jason, this is the first evening I have had the TV on for about a month and let me tell you, it's super boring. I think I am just going to go to bed since I can hardly keep my eyelids open. Hope everyone is doing well.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the cool dads we know, especially to my dad, Danny, Jeremy and of course last but definitely not the least, Jason. Ryleigh and I surprised Jason with a grill for birthday/fathers day and he loved it. This is the first time I have ever got Jason something big without him knowing about it, ever! I have been saving my pennys and it felt good to surprise him and to get something that he likes without his help! Our old grill, we bought before we got married and it has lasted this long. (but it was starting to charcoal everything to the core), so I decided a few months ago that this is what I wanted to get him. We even used it for supper this evening and made: stuffed pork chops, cheese and crab stuffed mushrooms, pineapple brats, butternut squash and sweetcorn all on the grill and then had some cottage cheese on the side. Turned out delicious. Ryleigh wasn't too fond of the squash (which she used to eat like crazy when she was a baby). She was trying to like it but was making a funny face and then would get the shivers, funny! Jason mostly spent his day working on the house, so Ryleigh and I hung out by her pool and she took a 3 hour nap as well. She was even good in church. We did have a little girl (3 yrs?)in front of us, who choked and then swallowed a piece of her bracelet. She turned out okay (as far as I know). Scared the crap out of me. Poor Ryleigh didn't have fun at the grocery store when we went to get some stuff for supper. She hates sitting up in the cart and wants to be down pushing the cart or helping put things in the cart, so I was looking at hot dogs and was leaning on the cart (she was right under me), but what I didn't realize was that she was playing with the wheel and when I pushed the cart a few cm forward her 2 fingers got pinched in the wheel. I felt so bad b/c at first I didn't realize I got her fingers in there. Oh man, she screamed for like 10 minutes straight. We put some cold food on them and she was clinging to me. Poor thing. No blood, just a little warm and purple, she was able to move them for me after a few minutes with no problems and then she was fine and couldn't wait to show daddy her ouchies. Then she had some issues in the bathtub as well, she was goofing off and wouldn't you know it, she slipped, fell and hit her head. Some days, she is just prone to injury. Luckily, it was nothing too bad! Well I am going to say goodnight and go hang out with Jason who is watching Tombstone. Again, hope all the dad's have (or had) a great fathers day!

Baby Update

Well I had my 2nd appt yesterday, my first real one, as the first one was basically to say yep, you should have an ultrasound because none of us are really quite for sure when the due date will be! So I had some blood work done. I have gained about 6 pounds since becoming pregnant. And the best part of the whole appt.............I got to hear the baby's heartbeat again. The heart rate this time was 160 and strong even though it was dancing around in there. I am 12+ weeks at this time. So good to be on the last week of my first trimester, yeah, we're 1/3 of the way there. Jason took a picture of me today and I will try to get it posted with this blog soon! Just some info on the baby........it's chin and nose are becoming more defined, as are its reflexes (like opening and closing fists),its mouth is making sucking movements and it's getting little toenails and fingernails, it's about 2-3 inches long (about the size of a lime) and weighs approx an ounce ........cool huh?! We are so excited! My next appt will be in about a month and also my regular scheduled ultrasound too! Will keep you posted.

Well, we finally got the boat out Saturday evening and took it for a spin. It was lots of fun and Ryleigh enjoyed it so much. I think she liked it better than last summer b/c she was able to move better in her life jacket this year compared to last. I made chicken salad sandwiches with grapes and had chips and we had a fun supper on the boat. Ryleigh got to drive it which was hysterical because she went in one huge circle. The water is about 71 degrees and should probably be about 78-80 before jumping in, however, Jason and Ryleigh hung their feet over the edge for awhile. Ryleigh is saying all kinds of words and sentences, and she's getting easier to understand. She will say, "honey, I'm home" when we pull into the driveway. She has been trying to make her own decisions lately as well. If you ask her something she says, "uummmm, yes", or "uummmm, no"! We got some sun also yesterday and hung out by the pool. Hopefully we can do the same tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Dad! (a day late)

Okay, so I didn't get to post a blog yesterday on Dad's birthday, but that is because I was actually spending time with him! My brother is here from CT and they came to Mankato on their way to St James to hang out for a while and then to bring Ryleigh with them to St James. Ryleigh is hanging out with Grandma and Uncle Ryan today. I have my Dr. appt here in about an hour...........I will let you all know how it goes when I return. Anyways, last night my dad called to let me know that Ryleigh went potty and poopy on the toilet at their house. I guess she was so excited she kept running out and bringing in my dad and brother one at a time to show them what she did. I forgot to mention last Friday I spent so much time with potty training and then the next day she went for Jason while I was a the store. Figures, I do the work, she won't go on the potty for me, but she goes for everyone else...............uuugghhh! Well my dad had some more of his ear removed and they are doing some testing to see if they got all the skin cancer removed. His ear looks really good, so were hoping they don't have to remove any more of it. I knew it wouldn't be as bad as what he was expecting. So we are saying more prayers so that this next report comes back good! My dad turned the big 52 this year, so we are also heading to St James after my appt to hang out with all of them before my brother and dad head off for their week long fishing trip to Canada and to pick up Ryleigh. Will write more after my appt!!

Tornadoes!!

So this week has gone by pretty fast so far. It feels like I haven't gotten a chance much to post a blog so I am going to do one quick before I hit the sack! We have been pretty busy, but not only that we continue to have computer issues. I am on our laptop right now which, in the past few days, is not letting me post pictures or use my spellcheck, so I am sorry for both of those. I have some cute pics to add too! With all my memory cells going to this new baby, I can't even hardly remember whats gone on since the last blog, so I will add what I know right now. I have been pretty busy at work as we are changing some things around next week with jobs and job titles. I am lucky and will remain an RN nurse manager, however I will no longer be doing tons of computer/paper work. I still have some paperwork but with my new title it seems I might get to be out where all the action is.........which is why I became a nurse in the first place. Not to sit behind a computer 5 days a week, so we will see how this goes. I move offices on Friday and am supposed to be caught up by then, but I also only work 3 hours that day and then the rest of it is vacation. I have my first OB appt and will update you all with all the baby details after. Enough about me. Ryleigh is doing great, she is saying new words and phrases on a daily basis. She loves to say upsy daisy, which I just realized I say a lot to her. HAHA! She had an entire conversation with my dad on the phone this evening and wished him a happy birthday, which was adorable. We had our first music class last evening and she had fun. For a few minutes she just stared at everyone like they were crazy but then started to join in on the fun. She loves music and dancing so much so she fit right in. One song that we sang there is a lullaby I sing to Ryleigh every night called Hush a Bye, well when we started singing it she laid across my lap and kept saying back, back. Which means "scratch my back". This little girl LOVES to be massaged and get her back, tummy, and armpits scratched. Don't ask. The only thing I can think is that when she was colicky, I learned some tricks to help calm her with massage and she has loved it ever since. The first time I tried these massages on her (when she was 2 months old)...........she went from screaming to sleeping within 10 minutes. It was amazing. And now, whenever shes tired or fussy or being ornery, I can always count on a little back scratch or foot rub to calm her completely down.

Well, this evening I used the last of the TP and realized that we had no more in the house. So I thought I would run to Target quick to get some and pick up a few things for birthdays and fathers day and while Ryleigh and I were there, wouldn't you know it, the tornado sirens started sounding. We had been in watches all day starting around 3:30 pm and I listened to the news before I left and it sounded like it was going to go straight west and north of us. But while we were there the winds must have changed direction and the next thing I know, we are being directed to the back of Target. I was talking with Jason who thought I should stay, but then a short time later called me back and said the storms weren't here yet and to try and come home. Well......they locked us in Target and wouldn't let anyone leave. So we spent about 40 minutes in the store room. There were tons of other families with small children so I didn't feel like such a fool for being out and about in this crazy weather. Anyhow, we got lots of free food and water so it ended up being a good bedtime snack for Ry. I was sitting next to some kids who were not so excited about these storms, so it was fun keeping them calm and talking to them about summer plans and breaks from school. They did pretty good for being so scared. If only they lived in KS and went through this every evening in the summers, they probably wouldn't have been so worked up about it. We finally got the heck out of dodge and got home to see the end of the storms. It just hit 10 pm and we are finally out of our tornado watch, but now we are having some nice thunderstorms, which probably isn't so nice due to the massive amts of flooding going on in Southern MN and northern IA! A few tornadoes did end up touching down near St James (where my parents live) and they spent practically their entire evening in the basement, but luckily so far no damage reported in St James!

My brother flies in tomorrow from CT for a few weeks and we are excited to see him and tomorrow is my dad's birthday so the guys are going to hang out tomorrow and then Ryleigh will be spending the night at Grandma and Grandpa Zabka's house and spending Friday with Grandma and Uncle Ryan, then we are celebrating my dad's birthday and Fathers Day with them on Friday evening. It should be fun. I am looking forward to meeting up with a few friends for lunch on Saturday as well. Just a couple more weeks til we head to Nebraska for our annual camping trip............I can't wait. I have all my pictures from 10 years ago lined up, now I just need a computer that will download them to a blog. UGH......sometimes technology sucks! Oh yeah, thanks Peggy for checking up on us tonight, we appreciate it so much. Sorry I cut our conversation short when I was in Target :) Also just wondering if you enjoyed the video that we finally got posted of Ryleigh dancing. Well I should get going to bed, talk to ya'll soon!

This past week!

This week has been the pits for computers, in our house anyways. We finally went and got an antivirus as ours had run out and that is probably why we are having so many issues with our computer, so hopefully all will be well in that area again and I will get some more photos on here. I also forgot to mention in May that, Jason and I graduated from high school 10 years ago. I am making a separate blog for that with some nice senior photos and graduation photos to look at, however, I am trying to find a scanner to get them to my computer as they are old school and just prints. It will be fun to view..........so keep an eye out. I also graduated from Nursing school 5 years ago. I can't believe I have been an RN for 5 years. I will also post a picture from that graduation as well.

Jason.................is hard at work on the house. It has not been a fun week for it as we have had many thunderstorms and hail, but he has managed to get the whole house power washed and now only has 2 sides left to prime and then we can start painting. I think we are going to do the same color but are now thinking of changing up the color of the shutters, we will see. He is also getting the boat "summer ready" as it has been sitting in the backyard all winter. We CANNOT WAIT to take it out. Jason is also very busy at work designing generators and soon again he will be going to France. He and some friends had a baseball home run derby this past week, he hit 1 1/2 home runs. He is very much enjoying his semester off of school for his Masters and has been watching lots of dirty jobs (his fav show) and Twins baseball after working on the house.

Heather..............beside eating everything in sight and gaining some weight I have been doing well. This baby is definitely taking every ounce of energy I have, but as it was the first time around, this is also so much fun and magical! I have my first real OB/GYN appt here on Friday the 13th!!! The lady scheduling my appt kept saying are you for sure you want to do it that day. I told her, yes, that's fine, my husbands name is Jason and nothing has happened in all the years I have been with him on Friday the 13th's! I think she was a little superstitious, don't you! Anyways, it should be fun and apparently pretty long and most likely we'll be able to hear the heartbeat! I had to have an ultrasound in May just to make sure it was viable and also to make sure I was right on my dates! I will have another ultrasound in between weeks 16 and 20! I will finally be telling work on Monday, which will be right into my 12th week. Other than the baby I am really boring. Work is going good, so far. The house is pretty clean and the laundry is almost finished. I am excited about Tuesdays (see below for more info).

Ryleigh................is growing like a (cute) weed! She and I went out to eat with my mom today and she cleaned her entire plate, I couldn't believe it! When that girl wants to eat....she eats. She was also a mess and had lots of grins in the bathroom when we were getting cleaned up. (OFF SUBJECT......a lady went pee and then left the bathroom without washing her hands...........................GROSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS)!! Anyways, we went shopping for a little while because Uncle Ryan is taking a leave and coming home for a few weeks. We are getting family pictures taken and needed to find something for Ryleigh! I am so excited for Tuesday evenings (or Sundays I guess). Ryleigh and I will start our summer session of music classes. They will be from 45 min to an hour or so one evening a week for 7 weeks. The class is called music together and it sounds like all kinds of fun things will be happening. We start this next Tuesday!! Ryleigh also got her summer pass for spring lake park. It is a zero depth entry chlorinated pond and park here in Mankato. When it stops raining her daycare will be going there almost on a daily basis. They should have lots of fun! She is going to be a little fish come fall as we will also be trying to get good use out of the boat and take it out in the evenings and weekends! We were counting Ryleighs toes last evening and while I was counting them she stated, "I'll do it" so she started counting away and when she got to eight (all by herself) she looked up at me like, ugh oh I forgot whats next!! So I helped her and said 9, she looked at me like, OH yeah, and then shouted 10!! Potty training is not going so well. As I have said before she is ornery and independent and she does something only when she wants to. Yesterday she didn't care how long she sat in her wet underwear, it was like it didn't even phase her. I think she is going to go free as a Jaybird because that seems to be the only time she will go on the toilet. HAHA! Well as soon as the other computer is up and running, I will add photos!

I should get going..........our friends Ryan and Ana (who are due in Oct with their first) are coming over for supper. I am going to make chicken chili casserole and serve with tortilla chips and salsa and I need to get going on getting it ready!! Hope everyone is having a great weekend! Also, my dad had a lump to his ear which has been there for a few years, but recently it turned into a non healing sore. Finally, my mom and I got him talked into going to the doctor (his favorite) and they removed the lump. It was what we had figured......basal cell carcinoma (aka: skin cancer). They were unfortunately unable to remove it all so now he has to go back and get more of it removed. Luckily it's only skin cancer and not some other type of cancer, however, after speaking with the doctor he is afraid they might have to remove part of his ear and they are uncertain of how much they will have to remove, so if everyone could just pray that he gets to keep most of his ear. I was teasing him about it, but he is not taking it as lightly, so I have stopped. There has been a lot of cancer in our family. My grandpa had skin and lung cancer, my uncle recently passed away from colon cancer and my aunt (his baby sister) had breast cancer and has been in remission for a couple of years. I just think the word cancer freaks him out.

Blogoholics Anonymous

I don't think Jason realized how much I enjoy reading everyone's blogs until he had finished school for the semester. I like to look at them everyday and enjoy being updated on everyone's lives and I also enjoy filling Jason in and then he likes to read them too. But I don't think he thought I couldn't wait to read them every day, so he told me the other day that I need to join blogoholics anonymous, in fact, that maybe all of us needed to! It was pretty funny so when I spoke with Sarah the other night on the phone I was telling her what Jason had said and she thought I should make it a blog. So we have decided (as a joke) that we need to all join a family blogoholics page and meet like, I don't know, every Tuesday! HAHA! It seems we all enjoy hearing about each other. I was told to give more updates on Jason and I so I will try to do that, but we are boring compared to all the fun stuff Ryleigh and Havyn are learning, what everyone else is up to and how Korea is. Also just an FYI...........we are not perfect. Just this evening when I took Ryleigh grocery shopping I could have screamed right there in the middle of the store. The kid is so ornery and luckily I got through most of it with coaxing her with a cookie to sit still. We were about 3/4 of the way done and she started being one of those kids whom everyone looks at like, shut that kid up. Very embarrassing. And then to make matters worse she cried the entire way home. When we finally got home I could have used a drink........................but since I am pregnant I had to opt for about 5 minutes of quiet time, and believe me this is something I don't like to confess because I like to feel I can handle these situations. Anyways, I should get going and just want you all to know I love ya!

Happy Birthday Grandpa Ray and Uncle Al!

Just wanted to give a little birthday wish to my Grandpa Dinslage and to my uncle Al! These are two of the coolest guys I know and it stinks they live so far away (j/k 5 hours isn't bad and at least I get to see them a lot)!! I will be seeing the both of them when we go to Nebraska on our annual camping trip at the end of June! Attached is a picture of Ryleigh with my Grandpa when she was only about three weeks old. Precious! This morning started off with Ryleigh waking up nice and early at 6 am and wouldn't go back to sleep. She did lay on me in the chair for about 20 minutes and then was ready to go get something to drink. I am about to go find some room darkening blinds b/c every morning when the sun is shining, she won't sleep later. I'm half tempted to use Uncle Jeremy's idea of putting dark blankets over the window, I remember him doing that when the three of us (Jason, Jeremy and I) lived in his dad's house in Garden for a few months! Fun times that always resulted in us (or mostly I) cleaning the house every other day! Boys, boys, boys!! Back to our busy Sunday.................finally got moving around 8 and cleaned the house and headed to church around 10:30. Church is usually a wrestling match where Ryleigh ends up singing or talking loudly b/c she likes to hear the echo of her voice. Today, she was actually quite good. At one point we were all praying and at the end of the prayer the whole congregation said Amen. Well, Ryleigh took it a few steps further and shouted "AMEN!" about three times! There was a family sitting ahead of us and the little boy (10 yrs) and his mom were laughing so hard. It was hilarious! We got home around an hour later and headed over to our final graduation party. Very good food! Some friends of ours were there with their 5 kids (and one on the way)..........OMG, I thought we were busy with Ry!! They are the ones we usually get together with a couple times a month. The party where we were at has an indoor pool (huge) and their 2 year old little boy, Axel, was getting awfully close to falling in. It was funny! We headed back home around 1 and Ryleigh and I took a 3 hour (much needed) nap. We had filled Ryleighs pool with water in hopes that the water might be warm enough to play when she woke up. So this afternoon when we finally did get up we went and hung out in our suits playing in the pool. My mom and dad came over for supper and hung out this evening! When Ryleigh spent the night at their house a few weeks ago, she had left her blanket and teddy bear there, so my parents brought it back for her. I didn't realize she missed them so much, but for about 5 minutes she was holding them and would lay on the ground with them and then get up and go lay somewhere else with them...........and she was breathing funny almost like a whimper, but almost like she was hyperventilating because she was so excited to see them. Please don't mind our polka dotted house, it's almost ready to be painted. Sure can't wait so we can get our screen house up, I got my first mosquito bite this evening. (The boat, screen house and landscaping remain on the back burner until the house gets painted)! Hope everyone has a great week!