Tag Archives: family

We Made It!

27 Mar

Last Thursday and Friday, we loaded all of our possessions into a 26-foot U-Haul moving truck. Our awesome friends and family helped us. Nothing had to be left behind! Travis and I slept on cots for Thursday and Friday night, my dad on an air mattress, and Travis’ parents got a hotel room. Oh, and Emma slept in her pack & play.

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MovingtoMN 022 (Large) MovingtoMN 025 (Large) MovingtoMN 026 (Large) MovingtoMN 027 (Large) Early Saturday morning, Emma, Grandma Beth and I flew to Minneapolis/St. Paul. Emma did really well on the flight. She played with toys and the in-flight magazines until she crashed.

1966916_721446454552346_1619279792_nAfter we landed, Emma and I drove my dad’s car (that he had left at the airport) to Rochester while Beth headed up to Nevis in her car.

Meanwhile, Travis, Grandpa Al and Grandpa David drove the moving van, pickup truck and SUV (with our 2 dogs) to Minnesota. My dad split off in Omaha – he kept going NE to Rochester while Travis and his dad headed north to Sioux Falls. My dad arrived in Rochester just a little before 11 pm. The dogs were very ready to get out!

Emma and I stayed in Rochester until Tuesday morning. We had a great time hanging out with Grandma Sheri, playing with fun toys (books and magazines count, right?)…

998461_723575161006142_640768047_n…and shopping for Emma’s Easter dress. We looked at every dress in every store in the Apache Mall before deciding on this one. (Apparently, I’m very picky?) Emma will look so cute in it! I also had to buy this one and this one because I’m obsessed with neon coral and stripes.

On Tuesday, Emma and I headed up to Nevis (a 5-hour drive). Emma slept the first 2 hours, then we stopped for lunch. I took the dogs and Emma on a very short walk and then got back on the road, but Emma was not having it. So we went shopping at the Shopko in St. Cloud and I bought Emma’s birthday present and a cute swimsuit top for me, among other things. She still wasn’t the happiest about being in her carseat after our shopping trip, but she fell asleep after 10-15 minutes, and woke up when we were only about 10 minutes from the house. Whew!

The minute I walked in the door, I was organizing and unpacking. There’s something in me that can. not. stand. things being out of place and messy. By the end of Wednesday, everything was pretty much in its place. So today we went to the library in Park Rapids!

10155088_723504804346511_2129091930_nNow I’m on to planning Emma’s birthday party. We’re just doing a small brunch up here in Nevis, with some cute, simple decorations. Well, that’s all for now!

 

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Christmas & New Years 2013

5 Jan

This year for Christmas, we road-tripped to Minnesota. It is 13 hours to my parents’ house and 16 to Travis’, but we ended up encountering snowy roads on both the way there and back, so it took us about 15.5 to get to my parents’ and 17 to get back from Travis’ parents. Brutal!

1511162_676430672387258_369919521_nSomewhere in Iowa, 5 am

20131222_075017Emma did pretty well though. We drove overnight, leaving around 6 pm on our way out and 1:30 pm on the way back. The way there, Emma fell asleep right away and slept the whole time, only waking up when we stopped for gas. I nursed her a couple of times but she was really easy until the morning. We were supposed to get to Rochester by 8 am CT, but we didn’t end up arriving until 9:30. Once Emma woke up around 7 am, she wanted out of her carseat. I did a few smiles out of her though…

20131222_093044The same thing happened on the way back, except her fussy period was on the front end. We left at her nap time, she slept for 1.5 hours, then was awake for about 3 hours, and fell back asleep around 8 pm. During her awake time, she was somewhat fussy. We stopped to eat dinner and took her out of her carseat, partly to feed her dinner and partly to give the distinction between her nap and bedtime. After she fell asleep for the night, she slept almost straight through until 5 am. She was a little fussy then too until we got home around 7 am. But I was fussy after being in the car that long, so I can’t blame her! We were very relieved to get home. I said what I always say after that trip: “I never want to do that again.”

Other than the drive, our trip to Minnesota was very enjoyable. We spent the week of Christmas with my family, since that’s when my siblings would be in town. Because of my mom’s health, our time in Rochester was very lowkey – we mostly just hung out at home, eating, playing games (Yahtzee and Rummikub), playing with Emma and my nephew Jensen, watching movies and talking.

1531680_10101193921359232_124572735_nJensen saw us putting stuff on Emma’s head as a game, and he decided it looked like fun!

1468708_10101193921194562_1566288813_nEmma did a lot better with sleep than I was expecting, considering she was teething and congested. We did have to bounce her to sleep for the majority of her naps and bedtime, but at least she wasn’t screaming like she did the last time we were in Rochester. She also slept pretty well at night, waking up only a few times and going right back to sleep after I nursed her. Even so, I’m sure that God gave me LOTS of patience. Travis and I also switched off getting up early with Emma, so that one of us could get a little more sleep.

We celebrated Christmas with my family on Christmas Eve morning, since that was the only time we’d all be together. We opened gifts first – Emma didn’t quite get the whole unwrapping thing but she liked all the toys she received! She got a cute outfit from her aunt and uncle and this alligator push toy from grandma and grandpa. I got a couple of new scarves and nail polish.

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IMG_5182 (Large)After opening gifts, we ate brunch. Then my brother, his fiancee and my sister-in-law left and the rest of us hung out until it was time to go to the Christmas Eve service at 4:30. After church, we ate chili for dinner and played some Yahtzee.

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On Thursday, it warmed up enough that we braved the outdoors. It was Emma’s first experience in the snow. She seemed to enjoy it overall, but was not a fan of her hand in the snow!

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IMG_5222 (Large)IMG_5227 (Large)Travis also went sledding down the steps of the deck.

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IMG_5218 (Large)On Friday morning, Travis and I packed up our stuff and hit the road. We had planned to leave for Emma’s first nap, but she hadn’t slept well the night before, I wanted to shower and we had a crapton of stuff to pack up. So we ended up leaving for her second nap of the day instead. It worked out well. She slept most of the 4.5 hour drive to Nevis. 

Our time there was a lot more lowkey than it normally is, because it was so cold outside. It was hardly above zero the whole time we were there. The day after we arrived, though, it was 30 degrees so we took advantage of the ‘warm’ weather and took Emma sledding down the driveway.

IMG_5252 (Large) IMG_5250 (Large)Another night, Travis, Emma and I ‘went to town’ to have dinner with some friends. But other than that, Emma and I didn’t go outside at all. (Well, I did walk from one side of the house to the other when it was 20 below just to remember what it was like.)  

We opened Christmas presents on Saturday night, so that Emma could play with all of her fun new toys. I’m pretty sure her toy collection doubled on this trip. She got Stack n Roll cups, a xylophone, Rock a Stack rings, a musical book, and several cute new outfits, among other small things.

IMG_5267 (Large) IMG_5266 (Large)The rest of our time we spent eating (of course), playing games (Pictionary and MarioKart on the Wii, Pub Trivia, Catch Phrase and Bananagrams), playing with all of Emma’s new toys, and doing a lot of crossword puzzles and Sudoku. We also watched some movies, though I didn’t stay up for most of the them because Emma was sleeping pretty poorly. I think she went through a growth spurt in addition to teething and the congestion. It was a doozy! Fortunately, grandma was willing to watch Emma in the mornings so that both Travis and I could sleep in until 8 or 9. 

1508513_10201283314429703_1340272208_nOn Wednesday, Travis’ aunt and uncle, aunt, cousin and his girlfriend came up for New Years Day. We ate a late lunch, played some Pub Trivia, opened gifts and then they drove the 3 hours back to the Cities. We got more cute outfits and books for Emma, a calendar, office supplies and I got nice running gloves. 

Emma learned how to use a walker on this trip at both houses. Can I just ask, why can’t they make a walker the right size for a 9 month old? Both walkers had to be adjusted down so that Emma could touch the ground. But we made it work and she really enjoyed standing up and moving around. She could mostly only go backward, but toward the end of our trip, she could go forward slightly too.

IMG_5296 (Large) IMG_5298 (Large)Emma also got to use a Johnny Jumpup for the first time in Nevis. She really enjoyed that too – I think, as much as a normal jumperoo. Definitely a good thing to have on vacation (or at grandma’s house). 

IMG_5260 (Large)She’s also starting talking a lot more, and rolling over a ton, but I will talk more about those things in her 9-month update on Tuesday!

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Elk Camp 2013

3 Nov

Every year, Travis’ parents come out in October for elk hunting. We go up to the same area, stay in the same wall tent and hunt the same mountains (well, the hunters do. I don’t hunt!). Last year, we got nothing. This year, we got 2 elk on the first day!

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Shooting an elk on the first day, let alone 2 elk on the first day, has benefits and drawbacks. It takes the pressure off for the rest of the week, but it also enables the hunters to be a bit more lazy. You get to pack the animal out when you’re fresh, but you’re sore and tired the rest of the week. But nevertheless, it’s always nice to get one so there’s no complaining!

This year, Travis’ parents, nephew and his brother all came out. Along with one of Travis’ friends from Denver, it was quite a group. Emma and I stayed behind after everyone went up Friday morning. We picked up Travis’ brother from the airport Saturday afternoon and headed up then. We arrived at elk camp just as everyone else was getting back from packing out the 2 elk they had shot.

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Packing an elk out is hard work. We estimate that 1 hind quarter alone weighs 75-80 pounds. Times that by 4, add 4 front quarters, 2 backstraps and a bull head/rack and you have a LOT of meat.

Anyway, we ate dinner and then Beth (my mother-in-law), Emma and I headed back to Frisco, where we were staying in a hotel. We were planning to go straight to bed but Emma had another idea. She had fallen asleep in the car on the way to the hotel but by the time we reached our room, she was wide awake. It took her over an hour to settle down and then she had a horrible night. She woke up every 1-1.5 hours. She’d fall back asleep right after I picked her up and I could put her down after 10 minutes or so, but she’d be up again in 60 minutes. I thought maybe she was teething but once we got back home, she was back on track so it must’ve just been the new surroundings that were throwing her off.

The next morning, I was definitely tired but didn’t feel horrible.

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We went out to breakfast at Butterhorn Bakery, which has become my tradition whenever I’m in/near Frisco. (Seriously, they have THE BEST FOOD!) I had a waffle with strawberries, blueberries, walnuts and syrup. Mmmm… Emma had sweet potatoes for breakfast – it was easier than bringing her oatmeal cereal along to mix up. Beth had an egg scramble that also looked delicious.

Stuffed to the gills, we went back to the hotel for Emma’s nap. I held her while watching How I Met Your Mother via Netflix on my phone. After her nap, I fed her and we went shopping at the outlet mall. I bought a few plain long-sleeved shirts from Ann Taylor Loft, Beth bought a cardigan from and a sweatshirt from Nike, and then we shopped for a couple dresses for Emma. We got a couple of cute ones from Oshgosh B’gosh but their sizes run really small, so we bought one 9-month and one 12-month sized dress (but I ended up exchanging the 9-month size for another 12-month one).

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Shopping complete, we headed back up to elk camp. We hung out in the tent for a while, playing. I had brought Emma’s playmat and bouncy seat, but she didn’t really want anything to do with either one.

1375674_641425979221061_1029597573_nThat’s her ‘Are you serious Mom?!?!’ face.

So we just played on Daddy’s cot.

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Around dusk, the guys came back from hunting and we ate dinner. Since the previous night had been so rough with Emma, and Travis had already tagged an elk so he was ‘done’ hunting (he couldn’t carry a gun anymore), I convinced him to come with me to the hotel so that we could trade off with Emma. That was a huge help!

We left for the hotel around 7 pm. Emma fell asleep again and got back to sleep fairly easily after I took her out of her carseat and nursed her in our room. She was up about every 1.5 hours again, but it was really nice to not have to get up every time!

The next morning (Monday), we packed our room up and checked out. We grabbed breakfast (and a pumpkin spice latte for me!) at Starbucks and then headed back up to elk camp. Emma took a nap in the car. We got up there around 9:30/10 and hung around camp. I fed Emma, we played a little more, walked around outside, I held her for a nap (while I struggled to stay awake myself!).

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After lunch, Emma started getting fussy because it was time for her next nap. So we packed the car up and took off for Denver, since I was going to work on Tuesday.

I was worried about staying awake on the drive home all by myself, but I put on some good singalong tunes and sang the whole 2 hours home. No problem!

The rest of the clan stayed up in the mountains until Wednesday, when they packed up and headed home. Our tradition is to go to Buffalo Wild Wings on Wednesday night after elk hunting and this year was no different. But unfortunately, this year it also coincided with an elementary school fundraiser so the place was really busy and packed with lots of kids. It took forever to get our food! (But they nicely comped 50% of our bill.) One good thing was that Emma sat in a highchair for the first time!

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I took work off on Thursday to hang out with everyone while they worked on butchering the elk. I helped vacuum seal for about 30 minutes before Emma woke up from her nap, and went to the store for some supplies. But otherwise, I just took care of Emma. Which is fine, because I could not cut up elk meat anyway! Eeeww.

And that was Elk Hunting 2013!

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The Move is On.

8 Oct

So, we are moving to Minnesota.

We’ve been planning to move back pretty much ever since we moved to Colorado. Don’t get me wrong – Colorado is an awesome state and we have loved living here. We have a great church, great friends, good jobs, nice house, and have done a lot of fun things here.

But… our family isn’t here.

And… there’s just something about Minnesota that makes us love it.

Sure, the summers are humid and full of bugs. The winters get down to temperatures I won’t even mention and snow sticks around until April. Many Most days are cloudy. But the truth is, as much as I like to complain about those features of Minnesota, they also endear me to the state. Minnesota is not for the faint of heart.

So why now? Well first, we were waiting to have kids. Check.

Then, we were waiting to talk to Travis’ boss about moving, since we were hoping that Travis would be able to keep his same job and just work from home in Minnesota. We got the green light a couple of weeks ago! 

I’ll have to quit my job but I’ll probably try to find something – whether a part-time ‘for fun’ job or volunteering opportunity – to get me out of the house and keep me sane. Since we’re really close to being debt-free (we’ll only have about $2K left in student loans by November), we don’t really *need* my paycheck. And finding a part-time job that pays me like my current job would be tough.

Anyway, so moving is no longer an IF but a WHEN. All that’s left is to sell our house. We met with a realtor last Friday and are planning to put our house on the market in January. We have some a lot of work to do to get our house ready to sell, but October is the Month of Hunting so nothing will get done then. We could probably finish everything by the end of November but not many people are looking at houses in December, so January it is.

To avoid having to coordinate selling and buying a house across 1,000 miles, we’re going to move into my parent’s lake cabin about an hour north of the Cities for a few months while we find a house. We’re looking at houses in the Brainerd area.

We’re definitely excited to move back, and get a new, bigger house where we plan to live for the next 20ish years, but it’s definitely bittersweet leaving Colorado. We’ll miss it!

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Memorial Day in Minnesota

16 Jun

For Memorial Day, Travis, Emma and I flew into Minneapolis and met my parents, brother and sister-in-law for lunch – it was my brother and SIL’s first time meeting Emma. She wasn’t in the greatest mood because she had had a long day of travel and naps being interrupted. We got takeout from Cossetta’s for lunch – I was still doing the non-dairy thing, so I didn’t have much of a selection (but that’s typical for most restaurants). I ended up getting minestrone soup and artichoke salad. It was tasty, but it didn’t fill me up. I think I ate about 5 Larabars that day.

After lunch, Travis, Emma and I headed up to Grand Rapids, where Travis’ parents live. Everyone except Travis’ mom had already gone up to their cabin on Lake Namakan in Voyageurs National Park on the US/Canadian border, but she stayed to go up with us. We stopped about an hour from Grand Rapids to feed Emma, sitting behind a gas station in the minivan we borrowed from my brother – such is the reality of parenthood. We got to Grand Rapids and unloaded our stuff, I fed Emma again and then we all went to bed.

At Travis’ parents’ house, there are 2 bedrooms downstairs. When it was just us down there, we put Emma in one room while we stayed in the other, so that we didn’t hear every little sound she made. But for part of our time there, someone was using the other bedroom so we had Emma in the room with us. Probably the worst part about having her in the same room was that the door on that bedroom is the squeakiest one ever. After putting Emma down a couple of times and her waking up shortly afterward, I asked Travis and his dad to please fix it – which apparently required them to take the door off its hinges and make all kinds of noise while I waited in the dark bathroom with a sleeping Emma.

On Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, Travis, my mother-in-law Beth, Emma and I made the 2 hour drive north to Crane Lake, to Handberg’s Marine where they launch their boats, and pick up/drop off people going to the cabin – the only way to get to their cabin is a 30-minute boat ride. We put all our stuff in the boat, and put Emma in her infant life vest. It was a little big.

IMG_4580 (Large)Don’t worry – we took it off after taking that picture. She wasn’t a fan of having her cheeks squeezed together.

The boat ride there was very uneventful, thanks to Travis’ brother Matthew’s good driving. \

For the next 3 days, we spent a lot of time outside, holding Emma.

IMG_4598 (Large) IMG_4591 (Large) IMG_4596 (Large)The weather on Sunday was really nice, but it was cooler and windy the rest of our time there. I wore pants and a sweatshirt pretty much the whole time, but I also spent most of my time in the shade.

IMG_4604 (Large) IMG_4608 (Large)Even though having a baby meant I spent a lot of time in our room feeding her, I got to go on a boat ride, walk to “Whiskey Point” near their cabin where a bunch of empty booze bottles have collected over the years, play bocce ball, sit around the campfire, and shoot a .22 rifle at pop cans (I missed though). Things are always pretty low-key up at the cabin.

On Wednesday, we made the trip back down to Grand Rapids for the ‘weekend of Matthew’ – his birthday was Thursday, graduation on Friday and open house on Saturday.

We went out to eat for Matthew’s birthday with his girlfriend and girlfriend’s family. Emma fussed a bit at the beginning but Travis got her to sleep and everything went smoothly then. At this point, I was still doing the no-dairy thing and man, it is hard to find stuff in restaurants that don’t have dairy and still sound appetizing. But I made it work. I got a grilled chicken sandwich and fries (At that point, I wasn’t worried about any trace dairy ingredients.)

IMG_4653 (Large)On Friday, I went on a 2 mile run near their house (more on that in a separate post) and then went to Matthew’s graduation that evening.

IMG_4667 (Large) IMG_4702 (Large)Emma got all dressed up, though we quickly discovered how impractical dresses are for little babies.

IMG_4684 (Large)Travis and I were able to stay for the entire ceremony but I did have to put Emma in the Baby Bjorn and stand in the back of the arena. The things we do for babies.

Saturday was the open house. It ended up being cold, rainy and windy, which was a bummer, but it was fun to see some of Travis’ relatives again and have them meet Emma. I had her in the Baby Bjorn again for the first part of the party because she was being fussy and everyone was busy getting stuff ready, but later she got a bottle and others got to hold her.

Sunday morning, Travis, Emma and I drove back down to the Twin Cities because Travis was flying back to Denver and I was meeting up with my parents to go down to Rochester for a week. Emma had a very rough start to the car ride but she finally fell asleep.

IMG_4775 (Large)My time in Rochester was pretty low-key too. My mom and I sat around and talked a lot, played with Emma, watched Scandal (I’m now officially hooked!), organized their basement a bit, and went shopping at the grocery store, Trader Joe’s, and the mall. I also got out on a couple of more runs, which was really nice. AND for Mother’s Day, my awesome mom treated me to a haircut, highlights and some new clothes.

20130608_102409 20130608_102331I finally have mint green jeans! I’ve been wanting some for over a year.

We also tried some new stuff from Trader Joe’s:

20130608_060738It was all delicious. I had forgotten how amazing the Crunchy Cookie Butter is.

So how did Emma do with being away from home for so long? Really well overall. She LOVES being held and there were lots of people willing to do that – so she lived it up but might have gotten a little bit too used to it. She’ll only sleep about 45 minutes in her bassinet for a nap right now. But she still consistently sleeps between 5 and 7 hours for a stretch at night in her bassinet, which is awesome and has helped me feel more human.

And that was our trip to Minnesota!

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Minnesota!

25 May

We made it to Minnesota. Emma did great on her first-ever airplane ride. I’ll post details later because we’re heading up to Travis’ family’s cabin near the Canadian border. I have Emma’s 7 week update for tomorrow but after that, I’ll be MIA for a few days. 

Have a great Memorial Day weekend! Thanks to all those who have sacrificed for our freedom.

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My Plan for Maternity Leave and Work After Baby

6 Mar

Back in November, I started working out what my maternity leave and return to work plan would be. It has just recently been approved. Glad I was so ahead of the ball!

So here’s my plan:

Since Emma has a 50/50 chance of coming on or after her due date, I’m planning to work right up until then, meaning my last work day will be April 5. Ideally, I’d be able to take more time off before she comes but because my time off is limited, I’d rather use it after she comes. If she comes early, I’ll start my leave early (duh).

If I work through April 5, 12 weeks of maternity leave would put me coming back on the week of July 4th. Since my FMLA leave won’t start until May 7 (when I’ll have worked at my job for 12 months), I’ll be actually taking 13 weeks instead of 12. Six of those weeks will be covered by short term disability at 80% of my pay, and 6 of those weeks will be unpaid. If I end up starting my maternity leave earlier than April 5, I’ll cut my leave to 12 weeks total.

When I return to work, I’ll be coming back part-time 3 days a week (Tues – Thurs). My boss is awesome and really fought for me with this arrangement. Apparently, transitioning to part-time is very rare where I work. My three immediate supervisors are kind of making an exception for me and offering this arrangement on a 6-month trial period. They want to make sure that the workload isn’t too much for being part-time. I had originally requested to work 2 days half the year and 3 days a year half the year (since our workload tends to be very seasonal) but they didn’t feel comfortable with only 2 days.

Until recently, I had always planned on being a stay-at-home mom once we had kids. I’m not a career-driven person by any means, and until recently, my job had bored me to tears about 80% of the time. But things at work have really turned around, and Travis and I both agree that it would be nice to be able to pay off some more loans while we only have one child, so that my staying home in the future (when we have more kids) will be more feasible. I also have a pretty well-paying job right now and we have a good friend who is going to watch Emma for a very affordable rate. So we really do come out ahead with me working.

I’m still not completely sure how I feel about going back to work 3 days a week, or what I’ll think about it in July. But I’m willing to try it out for a month or two. I try to remind myself that just because I’ll be a mother doesn’t mean I have to only do mothering things. And it’ll actually be beneficial to our family if I keep pursuing my own goals and dreams. Maybe that means working part-time. Maybe not. It’s another one of those questions I’m hoping becomes more clear once I’m living the reality.

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And just something kind of funny, I got this in the mail yesterday:

20130305_202242My report date? April 9. I think I’m going to be able to get out of this one.

 

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Florida 2013

27 Feb

Every 2 years, my immediate family goes on vacation together. This year, my aunt and uncle were also able to join us. Usually, we go to an all-inclusive resort in Mexico, which is wonderful. But since I was pregnant this year and my nephew is only a year old, we decided to stick to the States. We were a little worried that maybe the weather wouldn’t be as nice, or we wouldn’t like having to cook our own food, or renting a private property wouldn’t turn out well, but I’m happy to say that the whole vacation went great!

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Except for the first day that we were there, it was sunny and high 70s every day (which was plenty warm when you were sitting in the sun!). The house we rented (through the VRBO website) had a great pool and hot tub (once we figured out how to heat it) and it was a lot of fun having a common area to hang out as just our family, instead of staking out lounge chairs and deciding where to meet up every morning. It also allowed my sister-in-law to hang out with everyone while my nephew napped – something that would have been tricky, if not impossible, at a big resort. Who knows what we’ll do in future years, but for this year, Florida was perfect.

IMG_4205 (Large)The pool and hot tub

IMG_4241 (Large)The canal that ran behind our house

Just like our Mexico vacations, we spent almost every day just relaxing, mostly around the pool. Every morning started off with coffee as strong as we could make it and a delicious breakfast, usually prepared by my mom. A treat my brother and his girlfriend shared: egg, sausage and sharp white cheddar on an English Muffin with blueberry jam. Delicious.

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IMG_4234 (Large)My nephew loved that little blue truck.

We also went to the beach a few times, but it was usually pretty windy so we preferred the pool.

IMG_4209 (Large) IMG_4224 (Large) IMG_4283 (Large) IMG_4286 (Large) IMG_4301 (Large)It was fun to see how much my nephew improved in his walking ability just in the week that we were there. Kids learn so quickly!

IMG_4302 (Large)856686_10100734809113852_1519118560_oOn Wednesday, we went mini-golfing, a favorite pastime of ours.

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It was definitely a little hard to bend over for the ball with this belly!

Another notable happening was a trip to Trader Joe’s – my first time ever! I discovered the amazingness that is Crunchy Cookie Butter. Seriously, if you love peanut butter, try this. On the whole, I can see why people like shopping at Trader Joe’s but I found that it’s very similar to the Sprouts stores we have in Colorado. So I feel less like I’m missing out on things. Although, once a TJ’s opens here, I will be going to buy more of that Cookie Butter.

We also went out to eat a few times – my brother had an insatiable craving for fish and chips so we walked to the Old Salty Dog for dinner one night. They were apparently pretty tasty. I had some tasty shrimp since fried food gives me really bad acid reflux (and it did even before I got pregnant). After mini-golfing, we had lunch at the other Old Salty Dog location, which was right on the water. My fish tacos were a little disappointing but other people got the Grouper catch of the day and liked it.

856547_10100734804053992_1784737307_oAs I mentioned in my pregnancy update yesterday, I’m pretty sure I ate ice cream every day we were there. One day, I ate it twice. How I only gained a pound in 2 weeks is really beyond me. (And for the record, Crunchy Cookie Butter is delicious on ice cream too.) A couple of times, we got ice cream from a shop called Big Olaf. If you’re ever in Siesta Key Village, check them out.

Friday evening, my brother Chris, Travis and I headed to the beach about 45 minutes before sunset to take my maternity pictures. Right before sunset, everyone else joined us down there for a family picture. I’ll post those pictures once the photographers post them (aka my oldest and youngest brothers, and uncle).

And that’s about it for our Florida trip!

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Minnesota Baby Shower

15 Feb

A week ago, I flew out to Minnesota for a baby shower. I got in around 3:30 pm on Friday and we had some time to kill before having dinner with my brother and sister-in-law. I was still searching for a shirt to wear for maternity pictures so we went to Macy’s at Southdale Mall. Their maternity selection was awesome! It was about three times as big as the maternity selection at the Macy’s in Denver. I found 3 shirts I liked – one I wore for the shower that weekend and another I’ll wear for maternity pictures in Florida. And with that, I think I’m done maternity shopping. Thank goodness.

My parents and I had dinner with my brother and SIL at a restaurant called Faces and then we drove up to their cabin about an hour north of the Cities. We stopped at the grocery store on the way and even though I was exhausted by the time we got to the cabin, we turned on the first episode of Downton Abbey (my parents haven’t seen it). I slept through pretty much the whole thing.

The next day, we slept in until 9 and then had French toast for breakfast. It’s especially delicious when you put blueberry pie filling on top. Mmm… Then we just hung out. I helped my mom put together a simple website for her business (using WordPress), we ate lunch, picked up the centerpiece and groceries for the shower on Sunday, got a pedicure, and then ate dinner at Pizza Pub in Pine City.

Sunday morning, my mom woke me up at 7 am because we had an issue – the cabin plumbing had frozen where it leaves the house, meaning we couldn’t use the shower or toilet. Enter Plan B. Luckily, my brother is nice and was willing to let us take showers at his place. So we packed up all our stuff, grabbed breakfast at McDonald’s and hit the road.

After getting ready at Chris’ house, my dad drove my mom and I to Travis’ aunt’s house where the shower was. It had started snowing/sleeting and there was a lot of slush built up on the road, making the drive a little sketchy. We started to wonder if people would decide not to come, or if we should even cancel the shower. But that seemed so sad since I had flown out just for the shower. So we decided to play it by ear.

An hour later, the snow was really coming down:

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I think it ended up snowing around 5-6 inches, which isn’t too bad for Minnesota, but it was the slush that made the roads so treacherous. Nonetheless, everyone who RSVP’ed for the shower showed up, minus 4 of my college friends and one of Travis’ aunt’s. I was very appreciative to everyone for venturing out in such weather! My aunt Sharyn even drove all the way from Rochester (about 2 hours away)!

Once everyone had arrived, we had some coffee and punch while chatting and then played games. For the first ‘game’, everyone had to say their name, how they knew me and give me either parenting advice or a story. There were lots of great suggestions!

The next game, my mom had packed my diaper bag full of essentials for a newborn to 3 month old and we had to guess what they were. Whoever guessed the most won. I got a lot of good ideas from the answers, but didn’t even get close. My friend Brittany, who isn’t a mom herself, actually tied with my cousin-in-law Laura (a new mom herself) for the most right!

Another game we played was matching things in our purse to the first letters of Emma Grace. Brittany and my aunt Sharyn won that one!

The final game we played was a word scramble – all the words related to baby stuff. It was actually pretty tough! It didn’t help that my brain seemed to have stopped working.

After the games, we went upstairs and dug into the goodies.

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Gourmet cupcakes from Cupcake in St. Paul

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The candy bar

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The awesome diaper cake (made out of diapers, so it’s not edible) that my MIL made – she did a great job! I even brought it back to use at my Colorado baby shower in March.

We also had cucumber sandwiches (one of my favorites), cheese and crackers, fruit and dip, and a delicious, easy punch – raspberry sherbet and ginger ale. Try it.

Once we were full, it was time to open gifts! My very generous family and friends gave Travis and I lots of great stuff, including:

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Diapers

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A cross-stitched blanket made by one of Travis’ aunts

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Plus a carseat, diaper pail, pack-n-play, swing, bath tub, baby outfits, blankets, baby monitor, baby bath stuff, and some picture frames for the nursery. I was able to fit everything in the two suitcases I had brought along, minus a box of diapers, the diaper pail and the bath tub (the other big things were shipped directly to our house). My parents will bring the stuff that I left behind with them when they drive out when Emma is born. We won’t need it before then anyway.
MNBabyShower 035 (Large)The group

By the time we said goodbye to everyone and packed everything up, it was past dinnertime and we decided that driving all the way down to Rochester just to drive back up in the morning was a little ridiculous. So we rented a hotel room, had dinner with Chris and Meg again, and then hit the hay. I was so relieved to not have to sit in a car for a couple of hours. My back was hurting. (Though I know a lot of it is my own fault – I have even worse posture pregnant than I normally do!)

The next morning, I was able to meet up with my 4 college friend who hadn’t been able to make the shower on Sunday. We met up at Panera and it was so fun to see them and their kids!

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MNBabyShower 052 (Large)It was a little more chaotic than the previous day’s shower but all our church friends have kids, so Travis and I are pretty used to the mayhem. It was so much fun to see my college friends. My friend Jen gave me handmade burp clothes, plus a bunch of other baby stuff. Katie gave me a really cute little outfit, Samm bought us loads of diapers, and Holly gave me stuff for breastfeeding plus baby care. We’re getting closer to having everything we need!

After everyone left, we had an awkward amount of time to kill. My mom and I shopped for some baby clothes at Carter’s next door (so much fun!) and then we just hung out at Panera until it was time to go to the airport. Despite the weather, my flight was on time and the airport was pretty much dead, so it was a breeze checking my bags and getting through security. I arrived back in Denver around 6 pm.

It was a great trip! My parents made the weekend so special, and it was fun spending time just the 3 of us, knowing that it’ll probably be the last time for a very long time!

………………….

Speaking of trips, Travis and I leave for Florida this coming Sunday!! I probably won’t be posting much (or at all) the week that we’re gone, but I’ll be back with lots of pictures and stories once we’re back.

 

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Thanksgiving 2012

29 Nov

Since you’ve probably read everyone else’s Thanksgiving posts by now, you’re probably wishing you had just one more to read. Right? No?

Well, even though I really dislike it when people say this, I’m going to say it – this post is mostly for me to record what we did this year for Thanksgiving so that I have it for the memory book I was supposed to make in April. (That’s a post for another time.)

I flew to Minnesota on Wednesday and Travis and my younger bro picked me up from the airport (Travis was already out there for a work trip). We went out to eat at Axel’s Bonfire in St. Paul with my parents, older brother, sister-in-law and adorable nephew. Then we all (minus my younger bro) drove an hour north to my parents’ cabin and went to bed (it was about 11 by then I think).

The next morning, we got up and had a delicious waffle breakfast with every topping you could think of before Travis and I headed up north to Nevis (where Travis’ parents live… sort of… long story). I actually thought to take a picture before we departed ways:

It was a 3.5 hour drive up to Nevis but it went by pretty fast. We amused ourselves along the way by imagining what it would be like if we lived up there. (It is the area we’re thinking about moving back to.) By the time we arrived in Nevis, it had started to snow. We ate our delicious Thanksgiving dinner and then played Catch Phrase – pretty much a holiday tradition at this point. I’m amazed we don’t have all the answers memorized.

The next day, we slept in (ahh!), ate breakfast (Monkey bread!), and then I went shopping at Walmart in the nearest town with my SIL Carolyn. She found some presents but I only bought a bottle of non-alcoholic bubbly and underwear for Travis. I know, exciting. After Walmart, we only had a few minutes before Travis and I met up with some friends for lunch. It was fun seeing them again – we only see them about once every couple of years so it’s good to catch up. The rest of the day was spent napping, crosswording and reading until we packed up and drove over to Grand Rapids (where Travis’ parents also live…).

Saturday also started out as a lazy day. We ate breakfast around 9 am, I took a shower and then did a puzzle while the guys ran some errands. I completed the puzzle in record time (though it was only 330 pieces instead of 600). That afternoon, Travis and I headed to the Verizon store to get me a new phone – I’ve had a free upgrade for almost a year and still hadn’t used it. Verizon didn’t have the free phone I wanted but we found it at Walmart. And they had a deal where if you bought a new smartphone (even one for $.97 like the one I got), you got a $100 gift card. (The deal is good until Dec 1 so if you’re looking for a new smartphone, check out Walmart – I would assume the deal isn’t just a local one but I’m not sure.) So I pretty much got paid to get a new phone. How cool is that? (I got the Samsung Galaxy Stellar if you’re wondering.)

There was a little snafu with the upgrade (long story) so Travis and I had to go back to Walmart on Sunday to get the phone then. And I discovered the downfalls of getting the free phone that no one wants anymore – cases and screen protectors are near impossible to find in a store. I was able to find a case at the Verizon store but still need to buy a screen protector.

Saturday night, we played Yahtzee and had root beer floats. Delicious. Sunday we watched more football and just hung out reading and doing Sudoku. If you can’t tell, it was a very mellow trip. I didn’t really do much of anything. And it was wonderful. Unfortunately, we had to leave Sunday afternoon for the Cities. Our flight back to Denver left at 7 am on Monday morning so we wanted to be as close to the airport as possible. It worked out nicely though because we got to see my younger brother, SIL and parents again for a few hours. We went out to Chinese at a local restaurant and then my parents drove back down to Rochester (about 1.5 hours south). They drove up just to have dinner with us! Aren’t they the greatest?

Monday morning came early but we got to the airport with plenty of time. After we landed in Denver, we got our luggage, took the shuttle to our car, and then headed off to work. Boo. This week has actually gone by really fast though. Tomorrow’s already Friday! Yay!

 

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