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"!!!

Pumpkin Painting & Carving

Here's the slide show of our painting and carving of the pumpkins! It was a lot of fun and Ryleigh had fun painting them as well as digging out the seeds and "snot". It was our first time carving pumpkins, so I thought they turned out good. Jason's a pro! I also put some pictures of the snow we got today as well. Ryleigh and I had a good time at her music class tonight. She was ornery from being cooped up inside all day, so she burned off a lot of energy at class with all the other kids. ENJOY!

Happy Birthday Auntie Sarah!!

Just wanted to wish Aunt Sarah a Happy Birthday today. We love you and hope you had a great day celebrating!! There is some "refrigerator art" coming your way!! And, hopefully we get to see you real soon!

Today, it is nasty here. Blustery and snowy..........a nice 34 degrees!! I tried getting some photos however, this isn't your pretty snowfall, it's super windy and I, of course, am not a photographer! It is starting to blanket the lawn, YUCK! I am definitely not ready for this.

Yesterday, we carved and painted some pumpkins with Ryleigh. She had a blast. I have some pictures that I will put on a slide show later this evening, because we are not quite finished. When little girls get crabby, we stop and take a nap, so we have to finish today! Not only is she made of sugar, she also has some spice in her! Hard to believe, I know! Yesterday, Ryleigh and I went shopping for a few hours while Jason went hunting and then last evening, I went to a going away party for my friend Kristina! It was a lot of fun. It did feel quite funny going into a bar 8 months pregnant, but there was another pregnant one there, so, I didn't feel too bad! I am trying to find Ryleigh a Christmas dress as well as some curtains for her room. Well, Ryleigh just woke up from her nap. So we are going to go hang out and then head to her music class at 6:30, so I will get that slide show on here later! Again, HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARAH!!

SNOW?????

Yes..........we have snow in the forecast for Sunday, can you believe it? I can't. I'm sure it will just be a dusting, but I am still thinking about last Halloween when Ryleigh didn't even have to wear a coat at all. At least this year her little outfit is warmer and we can even bundle her up more. I am excited because the gal that took Ryleigh's 2 year photos is having something fun going on Halloween, where you can bring your little one over to her house and get their picture taken while sipping on some warm drink and having goodies. Cute way to promote her business, I think. So, we will probably head over there on Halloween, then to work and then to the neighbors that know Ryleigh. It should be fun for her this year. I can't believe Halloween is in a week and then it will be November already. And, thankfully so, to get over with all the political crap.
So, Ryleigh has gotten about 8 care bears from my brother in the past year. One of them is a 25 anniversary one with sterling silver nose and heart on the butt, that I have kept in the box, but the other 7 she loves. Well, earlier this week, she wanted to hold them all, and sleep with them all, so I got some fun pictures of her with them all that I have posted.


Tomorrow, I am going to a going away party for a nurse friend of mine who will be heading to Africa for some missionary medical work. She has been there before and wants to go back. Amazing if you ask me. The last time she was there she seen many babies delivered, a lot of them die, and help vaccinate and give medications to those dying of AIDS and other diseases, especially children. She even had some pictures last time of a woman delivering her baby out in the middle of a field. It was premature and died shortly after birth. She will be there for three months and she is going to be truly missed. It is not the greatest part of Africa either, so we will be saying many prayers for her. We should have a good time seeing her off, she doesn't leave until the first week of November.

I am going to go hang out on the couch with Jason as I am so fried from this week. Hope everyone has a great weekend. I have my next appt coming up on Tuesday, we will see if I have gained any weight........I sure feel like I have. HAHA.

Pumpkin Patch Slideshow (to go with post below)!

Here are some photos of the pumpkin patch visit I talked about in the previous blog entry. We went on a whim, so I didn't have any cute Halloween shirts for Ryleigh to wear since we weren't at home, but I think they turned out regardless! It was fun. And some of the things that go along with the pictures are just some things Ryleigh says when we talk about animals.........what does the cow say? What does the cow give us? ETC. If you ask her what a farmer gives us, she says corn. It's pretty funny. Shea also got some good photos, so I am looking forward to getting some of them. She got some of Ryleigh and I together, that I didn't get with my cam. Oh, and I can't forget: of course, Ryleigh had to go potty while we were at the pumpkin patch and lately if we go anywhere, I spot out where the "potty" is, just in case. So, at the very entrance is a port a potty. Ryleigh tells me she has to go potty, so I am running her to the port a potty. This is our first experience with a port a potty and it was quite comical. She did pretty good but was upset when there wasn't a sink to wash her hands, I was just glad she held it on our half mile jaunt. Well, Terri and Shea didn't see the port a potty, so they thought I was crazy when Ryleigh and I started running down the driveway of this place. Imagine a pregnant lady and a toddler running like mad, both of us almost wiping out on the way there, I am sure it looked funny, but we made it.

Crazy Week

Wow! It's been awhile. It's been a long week and I am so glad tomorrow is Friday and I am off call starting at midnight tonight. I can't believe it's been so long since I last blogged. Tomorrow will be my 7th day of working in a row and I am ready for a break........physically and mentally!! Last night I was so tired, I went to sleep right after Ryleigh went to bed and I didn't wake up until 4:30 am to pee and I noticed I hadn't budged the whole night, still in the same position I was in when I went to bed. Then I went back to sleep until 6:30 and again didn't move an inch. Then I decided to style my hair different which got me lots of compliments this morning as well as the question, "did you cut your hair?" all day! It was pretty funny. I will start off with last Sunday when Jason and I drove up to spend some time with Danny and Terri. Jason and Danny went fishing and they caught some nice fish. Jason is going to email me the picture of Danny so we can get it on here. Terri, Shea and I brought Ryleigh to the Pumpkin Patch and we picked out some pumpkins! I got some photos of the adventure that I will get on here! Ryleigh had lots of fun pulling the wagon with pumpkins in it all over the place and then her and Shea found the chickens....................it seemed like there were millions. That's when Ryleigh spotted the cow, and when we went to see her we found she also had two baby calves with her. Ryleigh was so excited to also see a cat, but when we went to pet it, it ran..........darn barn cats!! We also got to hang out with Grandma Pam and Papa Kev last evening. They brought us supper over and we hung out, and Ryleigh got a fun shirt for Halloween!! I think that is why I was so tired last night. I was non stop running from the time I got up until last night when I put Ryleigh to bed. But it was nice to see the parents as always.



We've had our first good frost this past week and poor Jason had to scrape the windows. YUCK! We need to get the boat out of the garage, so Jason can park in there, too! I have been super cold at bedtime, so today I put our heating blanket/pad on the bed. I can't think of the proper name for it at this time (brain is fried), but, yes, I know, I won't keep it on while I'm on it......I just want it to heat up my bed before I crawl in it! I'm just not looking forward to snow coming, but then again it will only be closer to when the baby gets here, so I guess I am kind of looking forward to it.



The only thing about that is, I feel like I have so much to do before the baby comes, specifically figuring out how I am going to make money while I stay home for 3 months after the baby comes! I am just trying to figure out how to divey out my vacation, sick and short term disability time so we get some money from me while I am at home. And I want to have all my Christmas shopping done before December comes. Mom and I have some plans for that. We are planning on going shopping when Dad and Jason go hunting and then getting everything wrapped after we get it. It's nice mom is going to help me with that. I am also being kind of a scrooge with decorating for Halloween and Thanksgiving and am only planning on a tree and nativity scene for Christmas. The less, the easier, the better!! So, the next few weeks will be me getting my Christmas list for everyone made up. I also have a lot to get done at work. This week I spent some time teaching another nurse manager everything that I do with charting and care conference scheduling. Luckily, Jason helped me make up calendars for some of the scheduling for the entire time that I will be off, so that will be helpful for them. I am just nervous she will be resigning shortly, so hopefully my time wasn't wasted and she stays until I get back at least.



Ryleigh has been doing good. I am not going to say anything about her sleeping b/c then I will just jinx it. But tonight, she counted to 20 and just skipped the number fifteen only. Of course, I only got her to do it once, but she did do it. She has been hilarioius this week saying all kinds of funny things, now if I could only remember them all! Hopefully, the baby is getting all the brain cells that I am losing.



Will write more another day. I have such exciting news to tell about my brother, however too many people read this that talk to my parents, so I have to keep it a secret just a bit longer. (no, he's not having a baby and no, he's not getting married......yet!!) I just can't wait until I can say more.......

Congrats to Nathan & Stacey

It was beautiful here today, perfect for a pumpkinland visit, however I am on call at work this weekend and am really getting the shaft with people calling in left and right. This morning I worked as a nursing assistant from 7-11am then jumped on the med cart and worked as a nurse from 11-4pm. I just told Jason how extremely sore I am and promised him I wouldn't b***h about it anymore, so that's all I am going to say today. I will also work as a nurse on the floor tomorrow from 6:30-11am. Usually, I don't have to work on the floor and can actually get my own stuff done, however with call ins that can be another story. And I am thinking my night nurse is going to call in because of her actions and some comments she made this morning. I have been so frustrated with work because of the staffing issues and because of it, how behind I am in my own work. Okay, I am done now, thanks for letting me vent!!!

I also wanted to say congrats to our friends Nathan & Stacey whom just had their second baby, a girl, yesterday. Her name is Kaitlyn Grace. I am sure I probably misspelled it, but you get the gist. The craziest thing Stacey pointed out to me was that she delivered this one on her due date as well as her little boy, Colin. So, both of her children were born on their due dates.............which happens in only a few women and not usually twice!! She was in the middle of a 12 hour shift (NICU nurse), and was half way through when she told her coworkers that she was in labor, she went to the birthing center in the hospital she works at and delivered little Kaitlyn, 40 minutes later! WOW! Too easy!

Yesterday, my mom and I went to a craft show, I only found a scarf and a necklace that I liked. Which was okay because then, I only spent $10!!!! My mom found Ryleigh a princess hat and wand for "Grandma's house" and Ryleigh enjoyed wearing it. I, on the other hand, didn't get any pictures, because I left my memory card at home in the computer......BUMMER!! It was really cute and my mom took pictures, but since they don't have a computer, it will be a while until I can steal their memory card and get the pictures!

Well, I hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend............and I promise, I will try and not vent anymore. LOL! Jason and I have been cooking the late afternoon away. He made roast in the crock pot with veggies and potatoes for the week and I made stuffed peppers for supper, and the peppers are ready so we will write more another day!

10 Weeks to Go!!

Today, I am 30 weeks................only 10 to go!!! Holy cow, that went fast! I felt the baby having a case of the hiccups today and it reminded me that it also had them a couple of days ago and that I forgot to mention it! It's a pretty cool feeling, but they haven't lasted too long! I picked up my book tonight to take a look at whats going on with the baby and it was funny that it talked about the baby practicing it's breathing and that sometimes you may feel hiccups because of it........it was kind of crazy since I felt them a few hours earlier and a few days ago. It also says that from now until the 37th week, the baby is gaining about a half-pound a week and weighs about 3 pounds and is about 10 1/2 inches long from head to rump!! Different books say different things about what month you are in. This one that I have goes into 10 months and so it puts 30 weeks at the middle of 8 months pregnant! I am having fun messing with the baby, it likes to stick it's feet out of my side and then I push back and we go back and forth at each other. It's really getting fun feeling the little feet, knees and elbows.............and don't forget the back and cute little butt!

Ryleigh is doing good. She cracks us up so much. I think she is going to be a runner like I was. All she wants to do is RUN!! Yesterday her and Jason ran around the entire house about 10 times and then I chased her once around it............she loves it when Remy runs with us, but of course, Remy only listens to us, so we have to run with them! Tonight she was making Jason chase her in the house, and got ticked when he was ready to eat. Her and her little playmate, Colin at daycare I guess were "fighting" today and had to be separated. Cindy told me it was like they were a little old married couple fighting!! Haha! Tonight, before bed when Jason was reading to Ryleigh, she kept saying, "one more book?" and holding up her little counting finger! She can work him good and I think he read about half of her bookshelf to her. The cutest thing was, he would say ok, one more book, go pick it out and then she would stand next to the bookshelf, looking at her books with her little finger on her mouth, saying, "Hmmmmmm!" before she would pick out her next book.

Jason went hunting tonight and saw three deer, but none worth shooting yet. I think he is going to go tomorrow, too! Ryleigh and I get to spend the day together tomorrow and I am not sure what we are going to do for sure, except head to St. James around when my mom will be getting off of work. There is a craft mill that we are going to go to for a couple of hours, they have really cute baby and kid stuff, so I am excited to check it out. Oh and before I end, I just want to finally say, congrats to my friend Laci who is expecting her 2nd child in April, she's finally out of the "baby closet"!!! Yeah!!

Leaves and Hair

Well, I thought I'd post some of the pretty color changes going on here! These are some trees in our neighborhood. Aren't they gorgeous. It's still cold outside and I begged Jason to put the heat on this evening. When we left the house this morning it was 40 degrees and only warmed up to about 55. BRRRRR!! It is supposed to warm back up here this week for a couple of days. The good news, gas went from $3.95 a gallon two weeks ago to $2.65 a gallon! And since I was low on gas, I filled her up. It was awesome not spending a crap load on filling the tank!
This is going to be short, but I just had to share this because if I wouldn't have seen it for myself, I wouldn't have believed it. Jason started Ryleigh's bath this evening, while I was downstairs for a moment. He yelled my name to come up, and when I went up he showed me this hair on Ryleigh's head. It was seriously about 15 inches long and went all the way down to her butt!! The rest of her hair is long when it's wet, but then it curls right up when it dries and it only goes to about her shoulder blades when wet. It was hilarious. She is starting to play hide and seek with us, even though it's right under a blanket on the couch, she thinks she is invisible if she can't see us!! Well, that's about all I have tonight. I think I am going to hit the sack early tonight. Hope you all have a great week!

The Negotiator

So, I am kind of repeating what Andie wrote, but since I also had an OB appt. today, I will just fill you in on mine too. I agree sometimes these appts are kind of funny...........b/c I basically did the same thing as Andie and what I have been doing at my previous appts. and that is peeing in a cup, getting weighed, B/P check and measured and the best part.....hearing the heartbeat! I didn't gain any weight in the past month, however I measured 3 cm larger, so the baby is definitely growing!! I measured at 28 cm. I always measured about 2 cm behind with Ryleigh so this is normal for me. I also have my next three appts scheduled (every two weeks) which when they are finished, I will be 36 weeks and go to weekly appts until the baby is born. My blood pressure was low to, but then it always is.....106/60, so I have no issues there, which is good considering all the stress at work. And..........the baby's heart rate was 135-140 today and VERY strong!!

And to the title..........we have a new negotiator in the family! Everything that comes out of Ryleigh's mouth is, two more minutes or one more book or three more times, or five more bites! I think she just likes spending time with Jason and I. Tonight it was one more book, or Amazing Grace, again! (That is her newest favorite song!) I guess it's good practice for counting. A couple of times in the past few evenings after she goes to bed, I have found her at the top of the steps just sitting there. This evening I waited about 5 minutes to see what she was going to do and she just sat there, until I finally asked her what she was doing..........she then ran to her bed immediately and then asked for Jason. Well, the second time she did it tonight, Jason brought her back into bed and then two minutes later.........she ran out of her room yelling..........."I have to go potty!!" She didn't quite make it in time and we had to do a pj change, but she did get a little in the toilet. Darn, her first accident in a while.

Today was an odd day, it started out warm and by 11 am it was blustery, rainy and cold. The rain we've had the past couple of days has really dropped the leaves, but I did manage to find a few trees with some red leaves for you all to see. It got real pretty this weekend, of course, I didn't get the camera out and now that the rain is making the leaves fall, I think yesterday was probably the peak of the colors this season. I am so excited that the newest tree that we planted has bright red leaves as does our red seedless maple, so in a few years, our yard is going to be beautiful during the fall. I finally got Ryleigh's Halloween outfit, I wish I had the time to make hers like Andie made Havyn's, but there's always next year, plus I have these creative ideas and then when I do them, they don't turn out like the picture in my head. That is one reason why I enjoy the scrapbooking online, you just have to add the photos to the pages!! Well, I am going to go hang out in front of the TV for awhile. Later!

Jason and Ryleigh wrestling!

Here is what Jason and Ryleigh do almost every evening before bed. It is really dark, I am sorry for that, this old camera doesn't always do what it's supposed to do, but you get the picture. Ryleigh's facial remarks are hilarious, it's always how we know she means "business"....if you look closely you can see the one she does when she is ready to "attack". Oh, and I am trying to get video of her doing her United States puzzle, she can put all the pieces where they go without any help from Jason or I, except when she accidentally bumps one of the states out of the place and can't get it back, she's such a perfectionist, sometimes its annoying, b/c when she can't get it back to it's place, or her hands are sweaty and the pieces stick to it, she gets VERY frustrated with herself. She almost knows which state everyone lives in...........she knows MN for sure and some reason she loves Idaho!! I can see now, exactly what type of student she is going to be in school. Oh, and check out the last two posts 'cause I just added them today, too.

Saturday Evening

What I thought was going to be a relaxing, early to bed evening turned out to be a late night and lots of fun!! So, our friends who just had the little boy, Osborn, 6 weeks ago have an RV and Josh wanted to get Amy out of the house for a few hours, since she is there 24/7 with 6 kids. So they came up with this plan to get a sitter and just go driving around Mankato in the RV with a bunch of friends and have a little fun. Well, Jason and I were invited, unfortunately we couldn't find a sitter, so we were just planning on hanging out at home. Since we weren't going to go, I went into work for an hour to help put a few people to bed as they were short staffed, and returned in time to get to sing some songs to Ryleigh before bed. Well, at 9:30 pm, I am finishing up my "Meeting Lila" post, in my jammies, when the doorbell rings (yes, the doorbell). It's Josh at the front door! Well, since we couldn't go, they decided to bring the party to us. So, we hung out in the RV in our driveway until 1:30 am!! I didn't even know it was that late until I went up to go to the bathroom and Jason asked me if I was going to bed. When I asked him why and he told me it was 1:30, I couldn't believe it. Of course, Ryleigh was up at 6:30, but we got her to lay in bed with us for awhile and then I must have fallen back to sleep b/c when I woke up at 8:45 her and Jason were downstairs. Anyways, back to the party! So, Josh took Amy home probably an hour after they came over because she had been away from little Osborn for a few hours and was feeling "weak" (that was her word, not mine!) While they were gone, the rest of us continued to hang out in the RV talking and listening to some good music. This is where it starts getting funny. So, first we are talking about kids............Peggy, you're gonna love this............and we start talking about children's books and Jason's friend Ben says, "Has anyone ever read the book, Fred and Ted?" Jason and I started laughing because, well, as most of you know, that was Jason's fav book as a child and he used to "read" it before he could read (let me know if that's wrong, Peggy!) So, Ben was so excited b/c "no one" had ever heard of it and his wife was starting to think he was crazy. So we told him that Jason's mom had just found the book and sent it to Ryleigh this past summer. Well, he wanted me to find it, so I found it for him and he read it all to us in the RV. Then, the more funnier part comes when all these guys start telling childhood stories, Ben's were by far the funniest. Anyways, we were all laughing so hard, my cheeks and stomach are still sore this morning. The last story he told, had us all pretty much crying from laughing so hard......I literally had tears streaming down my face. It was a good time had by all, so I am glad that they brought the party to us, even though today we are a little slow!!

Ryleigh is doing great! She was the perfect little girl in church this morning. I was sitting in church thinking how thankful I am for everything that I have...........I couldn't picture my life any different. Jason's sitting there with us, with his arm around me, Ryleigh's being good looking at a book and I have this miracle inside of me kicking and all I could think was, there is nothing else that could make this more perfect, I am so happy! Her scabbed up chin is finally starting to go away. I have a video of her and Jason wrestling the other night that I am going to try and post. I forgot to mention how ornery she was when we went to meet Lila. We brought her pj's so we could just change her and then throw her into bed when we got home, since it's about an hour drive to Belle Plaine. Well, she was running around there house in just her undies, jumping off and on their couch, and belly flopped on the hardwood floor (I now know what Havyn must have looked like). They have two dogs and all three of them were running back and forth from one room to another. It was quite the entertainment. Well, I hope everyone is having a great weekend. Jason and I are finally getting our screen house put away and I am picking up and putting away all my yard stuff for the year. I have been really bad, not putting out any fall decorations. We were going to take Ryleigh to Pumpkin land today and get some pumpkins, however it's very windy and overcast, and she is taking a super long nap, so I think we will try that one of these evenings coming up or next weekend.

Meeting Lila Kate!!

Last evening we headed up to Belle Plaine and got to meet little Lila Kate! Oh, is she ever precious and adorable and I think I hogged her most of the time, with the exception of Ryleigh wanting to hold her all the time.......sorry Ryan and Ana!! We brought up some brats and crab stuffed mushrooms to grill out and it was a good time. We got home around 11:30 and Ryleigh and Jason passed out on the way home.

Also, wanted to say........yeah Shea, for starting up blogging again and giving it another shot. Now if I can just talk Ryan and Kelli into getting blogging, I will be happy. And if mom and dad ever get a computer...........well them blogging is just wishful thinking, so maybe if they can just get a computer to read the blog, that would be fine too, but they usually know whats going on, so mostly if Ryan and Kelli would, they could read that!

It was a lazy day today. Ryleigh and I cleaned all day while Jason went golfing for work, then we took a nap together, then we watched the Huskers almost win, Jason mowed the yard and we will just hang out tonight. It rained most of the afternoon, so not much to do outside, maybe tomorrow will be better for being outside. And Uncle Ryan is back from being out to sea again..............but might be going again here in a week or so.

Rasmussen Woods Nature Area

It's hard to beleive in all the years we have lived here and heard about this place that we have never actually been here, and it's only minutes from our house. The pictures really do no justice for the colors of the leaves, but it is so beautiful and I am sure by next week, the leaves won't be as colorful. The Sumac stuff is my favorite. It must grow wild in MN, and it actually lines a lot of the highways here in MN, so it just makes fall all that more colorful. It stays this bright red, pink for a few weeks before it loses its leaves. I'm sure now that we have been here, we will definately be back. I think we only did a small amount of the trail, because when we got back to the nature center, we saw a map and these trails go on for miles. It is beautiful walking in and out of the woods on these trails. I definately wore the wrong shoes, so I learned my lesson there, but it was great exercise.

Pictures in the Park

Last few days

Well, I was going to add some slide shows tonight of Ryleigh and I at the park and then Ryleigh, Jason and I when we went for our little "hike" in the Rasmussen Woods Nature Area here in Mankato, but I am having trouble posting the slide shows, so I will just write my stories and add some pictures along the way. It has been a few days since I have posted, so now I need to catch you all up on what has been going on. If you noticed, in the new picture, the "stuff" on Ryleigh's chin............it is a big strawberry. I think she is going through a bit of a growth spurt again, because she has been falling all the time, whether she's got shoes on, or if she's barefoot. She fell on Tuesday at daycare while running with the other kids and then one of the kids landed on top of her after she fell, so she's been really getting some attention for her ouchies. She is also talking up a storm and doesn't like to be called turkey or ornery, either one you say, she always replies back, "no, I'm a princess" or " no, I'm a pretty princess". Of course, the daycare lady's daughter, Hala, has a little tiara for her, so that doesn't help matters. Like I have said in previous posts, Ryleigh likes the cartoon, Little Einsteins and watches it while we get ready for work. When it ends then she knows it's time to leave for the day. If you've never seen the show, it's these four little kids who go on these missions in their rocket. There is a lot of music involved and it's rather entertaining and a good learning tool. So, yesterday as I am holding her and walking out the door to the car, humming the theme song to Little Einsteins, Ryleigh looks at me and says, "We going on a mission?" I kind of giggled and asked her if that was truly what she said and then she said, "yes, we going on a mission." Then I cracked up and she started laughing. It made my day. She's just started talking to Jason and I in longer, more understandable sentences and we are wondering where are new little girl came from. She was up in her room yesterday and was yelling down stairs, "I can't reach it," over and over, then she came downstairs and was trying to bring her chair upstairs, so she could reach "it". And when she talks to us in conversation we can understand each other. It's amazing that just a few months ago, we were getting mumbling and now, we are having conversations with our two year old.

Anyhow, it rained a lot here on Tuesday evening and all day today, so we didn't get to do much outside, but last evening it was gorgeous, so we decided to take advantage of it and go for a walk in the Rasmussen Woods. This place was beautiful and only two minutes from our house. We live on the south side of the city, on the edge of town. It is beautiful driving to our house with the windy roads and the leaves changing colors. I usually see deer on my way to work about three out of the five days. Anyways, I took some pictures of the trees on the road to our house and they really do not do it justice. But we had a lot of fun hiking the trails. That's when we ran into this lady and she said that the three of us holding hands coming into the forest with the sunlight behind us was so neat and then she asked if we would like her to take our picture, so that is how we got the family photo. Some people are so nice. Of course, I think that I look like crap, Jason looks good and Ryleigh................well, she just won't smile for the camera. I think she is literally SICK of me taking her picture!!! Ha Ha. Have any of you read the book, GO DOG GO? Well, it is Ryleigh's favorite book and she practically knows it by heart, heck, Jason and I know it by heart. So, we are looking at the trees and Ryleigh says, "up the tree" (which is a line out of this book) and so I asked her, "what is up there in the tree?" (another line out of the book) and she replies, "A dog Party..............a big dog party!" (another line out of the book). It was hilarious........I had to laugh. We didn't get to see any deer, but we did get to see lots of dogs and a squirrel fight.

Jason finally made his "multicultural" chili (for those of you who don't know Jasons humor, it is simply his chili recipe with black, brown, white and red beans), but we get some laughs out of it. I was craving warm soup the other night and was going to make tomato soup and grilled cheese when I got home from work, but he beat me to supper and was cooking the chili instead. It has been the perfect meal for these cool evenings.

We are going to head up to Belle Plaine, either tomorrow or Saturday to see baby, Lila. I can't wait. I finally got some pictures of her and she is gorgeous. Just seeing the pictures makes me want to have mine RIGHT now, but I suppose, it's best if it cooks in there just a little longer......only 11 weeks left, I can't believe it.

Well, I will hopefully get some pictures on her soon of our park and woods adventure. Hope everyone has a great Friday.

Jason's Trip

Well, Jason didn't get a deer on his hunting trip, but he did say it was a great experience. He also told me that he seen some of the biggest deer he has EVER seen!! He seen one he could've taken on the first morning, but decided to wait and then the rest were too far and another got spooked by his friend. Jason was telling me and I had no idea, but he said the deer in Kansas are gigantic compared to the deer in MN. He stayed with a friend from H.S., Justin Wright. He did get to spend some time with Grandpa Ray and his cousin Justin on Sat. They hung out, visited and watched some football. Grandpa Ray is doing good and bought himself a fishing boat! Jason decided to come home a day early, so Ryleigh and I waited up for him on Sunday evening. The guy Jason took with him from work, Rick, did get a nice buck - I got to see a picture. It's good to have Jason home again, hopefully for awhile.........and the rest of his deer hunting will be here in MN!!

Happy Birthday and Welcome Lila Kate

Congratulations to our good friends Ryan and Ana on the birth of their little girl, Lila Kate, who was born this morning at 4:54 am weighing in at 7 lbs, 10 oz. I don't know the details yet, as I got the text from Ana at 6:30 this morning, it was the best wake up news! All I could think of all day was how I can't wait to see them all and meet her and how much I can't wait to have mine! What an exciting time! So far, in the baby guessing game I am 0 for 2. I guessed Josh and Amy a girl, Ryan and Ana a boy........................thank goodness I didn't take on the life career of being a psychic. Now, I only have two guesses left...............Jeremy and Andie....a boy, Jason and I.....a girl. I guess we will see in December!!

Weekend

**I will add the pictures on a different post and also fill you all in on Jason's hunting adventures as I am really boring and tired tonight**

So, Ryleigh and I had a lot of fun this weekend. We went to the park Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It was such a beautiful weekend and I thought I would try and get some cute pictures taken, however the sun was rather bright and Ryleigh wasn't to fond of me taking pictures because she wanted to play. So I got a few cute ones and that's about it. My dad came over after work on Saturday and I made him and Ryleigh spaghetti casserole and chocolate chunk cookies. I have never seen Ryleigh eat so much in my life! We watched the Husker game, but my dad fell asleep in the 2nd quarter and since it was sucky, I fell asleep during the 4th quarter. Since he was so tired and it was late, he stayed the night and slept in the nursery!! Then we hung out for awhile today and he took us out for lunch. Ryleigh and I took some much needed naps on Saturday and today........it felt wonderful to sleep. Ryleigh has been sleeping through the night since she was 5-6 months old, but since she became sick with her ear infection, it was like she forgot how to sleep through the night............so, I was very pleased that she has slept the past three nights without waking up. I did tell her if she needs to wake up and potty to tell me, so on Friday morning she did wake me up at 6 to tell me she needed to potty, but then she went back to sleep and slept until 7:15, slept til 7 on Sat and slept til 8:00 AM this morning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She has never slept that late for Jason and I, so I was pretty excited. And, I was even more excited that she didn't have any accidents either. My mom found a bedspread for her called Butterfly patch at K-Mart. Very cute and much cheaper than anything else I have been able to find. Only $29-talk about a steal, she also got the canopy which was on sale too, now all I need is to get some window treatments and hang her stuff up on the walls and then I will get some pictures on here of her room. She was so excited when I put it on her bed and was even more excited to show Jason when he got home, it was so cute. Jason brought up all the baby clothes, so I have all of the neutral clothing up in the nursery, ready to be washed. Ryleigh had her music class again this evening, for only going to the new building twice this fall, she yelled, "music class" when we pulled up to the building. She loves this class so much, however tonight her bladder must have been really full because we ran to the bathroom 4 times.

I don't know if I mentioned it earlier in the year, but when I dropped my new camera on the beach it got ruined, so I have been using my old camera. I still get upset thinking about it, but I am wishing for only two things this Christmas..........a happy healthy baby and another new camera b/c this old one is getting on my nerves. The quality of the photos just isn't as good and the video is even worse. We will see.

Beautiful Evening

Since it was so gorgeous out this afternoon and evening (in the 60's), Ryleigh and I decided to head to the park after supper. We got some much needed fresh air and Ryleigh got to feed the goats and see the peacocks, so we were both happy. (Oh, and Jase, she didn't get so excited about the goats this time.......she remembered to tell me she had to go to the bathroom!) HAHA! I am excited for the day when they get more of the farm animals they are supposed to get there at this petting and feeding "park". Ryleigh also had fun on the swings, slides and mazes........when I told her it was about time to get home, she replied, "2 more minutes?" while holding up her two fingers (she has been practicing so hard on that these past few weeks and I think she's finally getting it down). It was so cute, I had to let her play longer. And, she was a "princess" again this evening (Haha......NOT, ornery little fart!) I got a picture of her stomping in the leaves, so I think we will try and get there again tomorrow morning, maybe pack a picnic lunch. Papa Kev is going to come hang out with Ryleigh and I tomorrow evening and watch the Husker game, since it is finally going to be televised. I talked to Jason for a little while, they have had some luck, his hunting partner got a buck this morning. Jason is going to go hang out with his grandpa for a while tomorrow. Oh, and I added my 28 week photo to the slide show on the side bar, so be sure to check out my enormous belly. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Spider webbed......again!

See what I mean about my mind being "spider webbed", I forgot to wish Nana Peggy and Perry a Happy Anniversary yesterday!! Well, I hope it was good.

Finally, a productive day at work. I am all done with my July paperwork and now I am starting August. AAAGGGHHH! I have never felt so overwhelmed and behind with my job. I was kind of irritated on my way to work today. I was almost out of gas yesterday and had to fill up with gas, little did I know that gas prices were going to drop here by 30 cents a gallon. Talk about frustration. And it irritated me also that after I had filled my tank with unleaded, I noticed the premium unleaded was the same price. UGH!

I bought Ryleigh the movie "The little mermaid" yesterday and she is so into it! She just loves it. "Papa" Kev and "Gramma" Pam are coming to visit Ryleigh and I tonight, so we are looking forward to that. I talked to Jason for a little while today and he's seen a lot of deer, but hasn't taken any yet. We will see what the rest of the day brings as I will be awaiting his call tonight. Not much else except for that I think it's supposed to freeze one of these nights. It was gorgeous today when I got off of work, if it's nice again tomorrow I think Ryleigh and I will go to the park for awhile. Well, thats really all I have today.

Good news all the way around!

Well, I got a message from Jason this morning saying he made it to Kansas safely and that he had already been out hunting and saw some deer. He must have seen one he really liked, because he said if he sees it again, he's going to take it. And on a good note.............no news is good news. My friends 2 month old daughter was diagnosed with breast milk jaundice. Her baby's liver was having trouble digesting the breast milk. She had stopped nursing for a week, while waiting for the blood tests to rule out leukemia. After a week without breast milk the baby's bilirubin level went from 23 to 1.3. In an infant anything greater than 5mg/dL manifests jaundice and anything greater than 25 can start to cause some major problems. Jaundice is a result of excess bilirubin in the blood and is produced by normal breakdown of red blood cells that pass through the liver and are excreted through the intestines. In infants there are several reasons why they become jaundiced, either they are premature, or their liver isn't fully developed yet, or they have an excess of bilirubin and their livers can't keep up yet. And, it should definitely not last 2 months. So, all the tests came back negative for leukemia. THANK HEAVENS! And mama is starting to breastfeed again, slowly, mixing half breast milk, half formula. It was a good day and she was back to her normal self. I knew Oct would be better!

Ryleigh had an accident at daycare and I think it was planned because of what she said to Cindy (our daycare provider). Cindy told her big girls don't go potty in their underwear and Ryleigh looked at her, cocked her head, smiled and said, "I know!" Little turkey. She is cracking me up with stuff that she does. Jason, if you are reading, tonight we picked out the books we were going to read and when I asked her if she wanted to read hand, hand, fingers, thumb. She put up her two thumbs and said, "whas up dude!" with that cute little face she makes. You would have died laughing! And what a little cuddle bug she was tonight, had her arms wrapped around my neck the entire time I read and sang. That is one of my most favorite things in life..................when those precious little arms wrap around my neck.............it's like a DEEP breath of FRESH air! I added some photos of the past week and as you can see Ryleigh loves to climb ANYTHING and then jump off of it, no matter how high it may be from the ground........this kid has no fear and she loves to jump. We decided since she is starting to outgrow her cheerleading outfit, we should get some good use out of it this football season, so she wore it on game day. Even though the Huskers lost, she still got lots of compliments on her outfit at the mall!! Baby #2 is also doing well...........getting huge, continually moving, and getting in the way at work. I had to lift someone in bed today and had to adjust myself several times because my tummy kept hitting the grab bar. HAHA! The other nurse I was working with couldn't stop laughing. Well, hump day is over, so we are on the downhill slide. Still no baby Volovsek yet, but I keep checking my phone!