Some recent pictures

Here are a few new pictures of Lucy.

Talking to daddy.

I LOVE my thumb! And my pacifier too!

2 months old!

I could be a supermodel if I wanted to.

It just never ends...

After getting our sewer problems taken care of a few weeks ago I was hoping that our water issues would become a distant memory. Not the case. In fact it's become a nightmare that I hope to wake up from soon.
As I last reported we were still waiting on the plumbers to come back and hook up our floor drain. This should have been done when they replaced our sewer, but they thought that the drain was an old connection to the old storm drains when the gutters used to tie into the sewer line.
Over the weekend as we got closer to Monday and Tuesday and all the forcasted rain, I was starting to get very nervous. Our floor drain was not connected to anything. I just kept thinking that if the ground becomes saturated then eventually that water is going to come up that drain and we're going to have a muddy basement once again.
Monday came and went and everything was fine, but Tuesday brought a whole new set of problems. Dan was home working that day and late in the afternoon he came upstairs to tell me that the laundry sink was full of water and about to overflow. How could that be? We have a back water valve in our line that is supposed to close when the city mains can't keep up. This back-water valve is supposed to stop any rain water from coming up our line. Since our laundry sink was full, obviously something was not working right. We also had water coming in from the small room off the steps. This is right next to where they dug outside, so the soil has not settled. There are lots of air pockets allowing water to pool and allowing it to seep through our foundation. It was gushing through at alarming speed. All that water was running across the floor and pooling up around our second floor drain where the washer is hooked up.
Poor Dan. He had to stop working and get our small pump and start pumping that water out our basement window. He hooked up the long hose and ran it out the window and down our neighbors drive far away from our house. Then he had to keep moving the pump from the laundry sink to the floor drain. They both kept filling up so quickly. Thank goodness the pump was working. I am sure that if we had not been here to pump this water out, we would have had a flooded basement once again and this time I think it would've been more than 3 inches.


Dan made another call the plumbers and yesterday and today they've been out to try and fix the problems that should have been done right the first time. All I can say is that they better be giving us a nice discount. The price for this job was not cheap and I think we've been put out one to many times. Not to mention Dan's lost work time.

After all this I am seriously ready to start house hunting. I don't know that we will, but I've just about had all I can take of this.
Anyone want to buy a house?

2 months

Lucy was 2 months old on Monday. We went to the doctor today for her wellness checkup. She weighed 13lbs 14oz and measured 24 inches long. She is getting so big so fast. She's already outgrowing her 3-6 months clothes and even wearing a few 6-9 month things. Lucy had to get her first shots today and I hated seeing her cry in pain. Her face got the brightest shade of red I've ever seen. She cried for quite awhile afterwards. I think partly from the pain and also because she was overly tired. She's been doing pretty good this evening and is sleeping at the moment. I am not looking forward to the 4 month shots!

I forgot to take her picture yesterday and was going to do it this evening, but with her not feeling well I think I'll wait till tomorrow. So I'll only be 2 days off. I'll post those pics when I get them.

Mom advice needed

I'm posting this so that maybe some of you who read this can give me some advice. We're having trouble with Lucy's naps. She won't sleep for more than 30 minutes at a time. I'll put her down and she'll go to sleep and then like clockwork, 30 minutes later, she's crying out. She's still tired when she wakes because as soon as I pick her up she goes right back to sleep in my arms. She'll sleep at least 3 -4 hours at night (thank goodness) so I can't figure out why she's waking during the day and I'm not sure what to do about it. If she woke up and was alert and happy I wouldn't worry, but it's obvious she still tired but just won't sleep.
And I have tried letting her cry for a few minutes to see if she'll go back to sleep. She sometimes will but only for another 5 mintues or so and then it starts all over again.

So for all you ol' pros out there, any advice??

There it is!

I finally caught one of Lucy's smiles on camera. Her smiles are becoming more frequent now which is a lot of fun.

And we thought we were done...

After all the sewer and plumbing craziness that happened 2 weeks ago we thought we'd gotten everything taken care of. I think I mentioned in my last entry on this subject that we had to have some guys come and snake our drain because they thought that after all the work being done the trap was clogged. Parks Sewer came out and did just that, but all that happened was black muddy water pooled up around our drain. Still nothing would go down. Parks contacted the people who did the job and told them what happened and come to find out that when the guys were hooking our new sewer line back up they didn't connect this drain. Luckily we have 2 drains and this was the floor drain that is just for draining any water we get in the basement. All the water from the house and laundry goes down another drain and then out the house where the two lines are supposed to connect. So, they have to come back out and dig up a section of the trench again and reconnect this line. This is getting frustrating!!!

6 weeks old

Here's a picture of Lucy. She turned 6 weeks yesterday. I wanted to take a one month picture, but we were in the midst of our sewer problems and staying at my parent's house when she turned one month. With all that was going on I just didn't think about it, and when I did I didn't have her outfit or the camera with me.

Why is she wearing a huge onesie? This was mom's idea. She saw this done on Martha Stewart. I am supposed to put her in this each month on her birthday and take her picture. Then at the end of the year we can look back and see how much she's grown into the 12 month outfit. I am not sure what to do if she grows into it sooner than 12 months. I'll have to figure it out when the time comes.

I can't believe that she's already 6 weeks. She's changed so much already. She just started smiling but she makes us wait for them. She's only doing it about once a day. I can't wait till we see that toothless grin all the time.

Home Sweet Home

Well, after a week of being out of our house, we are finally home. The plumbers finished up on Thursday and got the water turned back on.

I last blogged on Tuesday about our flooded basement. That was just one of the many "incidents" that happened during the week. After all that rain on Monday, the workers could not come back till Wednesday to start up again. They had a few setbacks that day that prevented them from finishing the job by that afternoon. First the Bobcat they were using broke down and they had fix it which took a few hours and second, one of the guys was injured on the job. While working down in the trench, a 10-12 foot section of our concrete curb broke off and fell into the trench landing on this guy's foot. They had to take him to get it looked at to make sure it wasn't broken. Last I heard, it was just a bad sprain.

Then Thursday morning I called Dan to see how the work was going and he was in the process of trying to locate the breaker for the garage. The pump they were using to get all the water out of the trench was plugged into an outlet in our garage. The pump tripped the breaker and Dan was trying to locate the box. Just as he feared the box was in the garage. for most people this wouldn't be a problem, but you see, we only have an overhead door as access to the inside. The only way inside is to use the garage door opener. With the breaker tripped, the opener doesn't do us much good. So Dan had to break the latch on the window and one of the workers crawled through and all was well. Except now Dan has to fix the broken latch.

Finally, Thursday afternoon, they were filling the trench in with dirt and cleaning up the huge mess in our neighbor's driveway. With the exception of our torn up front yard, it looked like things were going to get back to normal...we couldn't get off that easy. In trying to get the basement floor cleaned up, Dan sprayed water on the floor and it collected at the drain like it's supposed to BUT it won't drain. The other drain that's connected to the washing machine drains just fine. We now have to have it snaked because they think the trap is clogged.

In all this, we got the nicest note from our neighbors down the street. Inside was a giftcard to Pizza Hut. The card said, "Between the plumbing and the new baby we thought you could use a pizza". How nice! So last night, we ordered pizza.

And the water saga continues....

I was wrong. Now things have gone from bad to worse. Yesterday the plumbers came and started digging up our sewer line and they got about half way to the street and then quit for the day. With the rain coming they didn't want to tear out our backwater valve and leave the line open. They said they would come back today to finish the job. Dan got up early to go to the house to be there when the plumbers came back and then he was going to work. I also went in to stay at the house, since Dan had to go to work, so that they could have access to the basement. I got to the house this morning, took some stuff in and found Dan talking to one of the workers in our backyard. I stepped down the back steps off the kitchen and looked down into the basement and the sight I saw made me want to cry. Our entire basement was flooded with about 3 inches of muddy water. When the plumbers left yesterday they capped off the line as best they could, but we got so much rain last night that the 6ft deep trench was half filled with water and all that water seeped into our basement. I'm assuming Dan called them this morning when he discovered the mess. By the time I got there they had a pump in the trench that was pumping the water out into our backyard. I'm hoping the basement will be drained by late aftenoon. Dan is needing to work down there to get orders out. The plumbers obviously can't do any work today because of all the excess water. They are supposed to come back tomorrow and I HOPE they get it fixed and we can be done with all this mess. Although, now we have an even bigger mess to to deal with. Once this water drains we will be left with a muddy basement that will have to be cleaned. I don't think too much will be lost because we were always prepared for water and kept everything in rubbermaid tubs or up off the floor. BUT, all those tubs will need to be moved so the floor underneath can dry.
I guess we'll be staying at mom and dads for another night.

Welcome to the Ryan Motel, We'll keep the light on for ya

(This is an update to my last post. So read that first if you haven't done so already.)

Well, this past week our water problems went from bad to worse. Thursday evening Dan came home from work and went down to the basement to do some work. He came back up and told me we had water coming through the cracks in the cement floor. We are assuming the water main leak has gotten progressively worse and with the ground frozen this leaking water had no where to go but under our house and up through the cracks. We'd already scheduled the plumbers to come Monday morning and start the huge undertaking of replacing our entire sewer line, but this new problem could not wait till Monday. The water would just continue to seep in and have no where to go. The solution? Have our water shut off. Dan called the emergency city number and a truck came out right away to shut off our water. This was about 8pm when all this happened. We could not stay at a house without water so I called mom and dad and asked if they'd like company for a few days. Dan decided to stay behind for the night to try and get some work done, but I packed Lucy and myself up and headed to my parents. So, we've been camping out here for the last several days and the workers are supposed to come tomorrow but they are calling for rain. I'm not sure if they can do this job if it's raining.

I'll keep ya posted on the situation.

The joys of being a homeowner

Many of you who read this know that Dan and I have had water issues with this house from the very beginning. Our house was a rental before we bought it so since the owner never lived here, he couldn't say whether or not the basement got water. Well, it does and has been a constant source of problems for us. The first thing we did after moving in was have a back-water valve installed in our sewer line. This was supposed to stop any city water from coming in our line during heavy rains. We forked over $1500 to have this put in and while it does work, we still got water during heavy rains. Then we put new gutters on the house and had the backyard patio redone and those two things helped keep the water out some as well. Our latest problem has been that our drains have been backing up. I usually discover they are clogged when I'm doing laundry and the washer is draining. The line can't keep up with the flow of water from the washer and it backs up into our laundry sink or onto the floor. We've had our drains snaked at least a have dozen times since we've been here, and 3 of those have been in the last 6-8 weeks.
Well, after 3 years of trying to figure out this problem, we've finally figured out why all this keeps happening. When the sewer guys were here snaking our drain, they would get about 20 feet out and then not be able to go any further. They suggested getting someone out to put a camera down the drain to find out the problem. They thought we might have a slipped tile.
Sure enough. We have a slipped tile which is causing debris to get clogged easily, which is why the line won't drain. But it's worse than that. There's a whole section of old clay tile that is slipped and broken AND there's a leak in the city's water main that runs to our house. The leak is before our meter and so we never noticed it on our water bill. This is why we are continuing to get water in the basement when it rains. The back water valve is doing it's job, but this leak is pouring water into our line and then it comes up in our basement.
So, what's the solution? We have to replace our entire sewer line and get the water main fixed. The line runs along the north side of our house next to our brand new curb and neighbor's drive way. The new curb will most likely get destroyed when they dig, so we'll have to have that redone as well as replace a section of the city sidewalk.
What's all this going to cost? Yeah, don't ask. Let's just say when it's all said and done and we've paid for the new line, the new cement work, and the leveling of the yard, we could purchase a VERY nice used car, or take a 2 week vacation to Hawaii at a top resort.

I guess this is the risk you take when you buy an old home with 100 year old sewer lines.

Reason 1001

I love my husband. Tonight he sat and watched the movie The Sound of Music with me. He said he's seen bits and pieces of it over the years, but never seen the whole thing all the way through. I love this movie and never get tired of seeing it, so we watched it together. He must have enjoyed it a little, because even as I sit here typing this, he's watching the end of it by himself. Gotta love a man who'll watch a movie like The Sound of Music and not make gagging noises through the whole thing!

First Christmas

Here are a few pictures of our first Christmas with Lucy.




And baby makes 3!

Lucy wearing the new hat from Aunt Lori. She looks pretty cute!

Settling in

Well, we've been home with Lucy now for almost one week. Overall it's going well. The nights are tough because I've been spoiled and 8-9 hours of sleep was normal for me. Now, I'm not sure how much sleep I'm getting. I try and sleep a bit during the day when she's napping, but sometimes I feel worse after that.

Today was my first day home alone with her. Dan took the week off, but had to go in today and do the bulletin. He's the only one who know's how to run the program that it's designed in. He's taking next week off too. Most of you know that Dan runs a decal business from home and December is our busiest month. After not working for 5 days because of staying in the hospital with me, he's trying to play catch up. Just to give you an idea, he had over 800 emails to reply to and he has over 500 orders to get out. Soooo, he needs time to work at home to get caught up. I told him we'll have to try and plan the next child during one of our slower months!

We've been blessed with great friends who have been bringing us meals in the evening. It's so nice to not have to think about cooking right now. We have friends bringing us meals through next week. I will have to do some major grocery shopping after that.

Here's a picture of Lucy that I took today. Take note of the onesie she's wearing. I could not resist buying it when I saw it.

SHE'S HERE!!!!!!

Many of you have heard by now that I had our baby this week. Lucy is doing great and I am slowing recovering. If you want to see pictures you can go to our website and open an account to view all the pictures from the hospital. Go to niebrugge.com/lucy and you'll find what you need to do.

I'll post more when I have the energy.

Ramblings

Dan and I slept in till almost 10:00 this morning. Dan's been getting up really early to do decal work before actually going to his job at church and so he deserved a day to sleep late. I also figured that we need to enjoy this time as much as possible because in a few shorts days, we will not have the luxury to lay in bed for as long as we please.

I got started on my holiday baking today. I made cut-out sugar cookies. It didn't take long, and I'll save the decorating part till I actually need to take them somewhere. Till then they are in the freezer. I also started my chocolate dipped pretzel rods. I made the white chocolate ones today and I'll have to do the regualr chocolate ones later.

Dan put together the pack-n-play. It didn't take long, but it's nice that it's ready to go. It's bigger than I remembered it being. I don't really like where it's sitting in the living room right now, but until the tree is taken down this is the only spot for it.

Dan also started working on installing an outlet in the baby's room. We needed a plug behind the dresser for the lamp and cd player. It's turned into a much harder job than we expected. There's a light switch above it and Dan was going to tie the wiring into that. Well, we have an old house and some of the wiring has been updated, some hasn't. He can't tie into the switch, he'll have to run a whole new line. So this "quick and easy" job is going to take longer than we thought. Oh well.

I'm kinda wanting to go to the Olive Garden for dinner. We have left over soup from last night, but pasta sounds so good right now. I don't really feel like getting out though. But, this could be our last chance for a nice quiet dinner out by ourselves-just the two of us-no baby to worry about. I don't know what we'll do yet, we still have some time to decide. Their open till 10 or 11pm right?

Those are the highlights from today. Sorry it's not very exciting. Hopefully I'll have an exciting email to send out here in the next week.

Place your bets

Anyone want to place a bet on what day you think I will deliver??? No money, this is just for fun!

Come out, come out wherever you are...

I'm officially full term today! I had my 37 week appt today and everything still looks good. I got another ultrasound. The doctor said she wasn't worried but wanted to check the baby again. So we got to see her. Well, saw a little of her. She's been head down for months now and she's so low that the tech can never get a good look at her face. She's measuring 6 lb 11oz already. If I go beyond my due date, she's probably going to be a little fat thing. So I am really hoping I go on or before Dec. 10. I really don't want to be pushing out a 10 pound baby!

My doctor doesn't do internals either, so I really have no way of knowing if I've started dialating.

We have the nursery all done. I am still on the look out for an antique mirror to go over the changing table, but it might take me awhile to find exactly what I'm looking for. So that part of the wall will be empty for awhile. I took a few pictures so you all can see what our baby girl's room looks like.

The crib we bought new but the other furniture I found at antique stores or flea markets and painted it white.

I love the way this shelf turned out. It was the molding that came from the bathroom window we replaced. I painted it and antiqued it and Dan made the letters for me. The hooks came out of our house, I think they were in another closet at some point. The vintage dress came from my Grandma Eva's house. They think it might have been my dad's when he was a baby. I don't know, looks a bit girlie to me.

The set of frames also turned out really well. Right now they are pictures of my mom and the middle one's my dad's cousin. I eventually will replace these with a picture of our baby and her handprints and foot prints. I really like the way the pics look in there now, so if I don't get around to changing it, then that's ok too.

Just about ready

I think we're just about ready for this baby. I've had all my showers and gotten lots of great stuff. I went to Babies-r-us Wednesday to pick up some of the things we still needed and we're going back tonight to get a couple of the big items we didn't get. I have been busy putting everything away and getting it all washed up.

The only thing we don't have yet is the video camera. Dan's been wanting to get one and he realized last night that we shouldn't wait too much longer cause I could technically go anytime.

I really need to start Christmas shopping. I think this year all the nieces are just going to get cash or a gift card. That'll make things easier on me!

34 weeks

I had my 34 week appointment today. I had the usual weigh in, urnine sample, and hear the heartbeat routine. I was surprised though that the doctor ordered another ultrasound. My belly growth is way behind and since I haven't really increased in size much, she wanted to check and make sure the baby is still growing on schedule. I was glad Dan came with me today because he missed the last ultrasound I had done. Anyway, everything still looks good. I just hide the baby well I guess. In fact the technician said the baby's even measuring a day ahead. She's already up to 5 pounds and I still have 6 weeks to go! This little girl may end up being a 9 or 10 pounder. Who knows, though. I am hoping that their guess is a little off and she's not quite that big upon arrival.
It's hard to believe though that in 2 weeks I'll be full term and we'll just be waiting for her arrival. I'm so glad that everything is ready to go and we can enjoy the last few weeks without having to get any last minute projects done.

I just found out today that our neighbors are moving. Unfortunatly, it's not the hoodlums who live on the South side of us and like to throw hot-tub parties. No, Brian and Betsy are moving. They have been very good neighbors and I will be sad to see them leave. It has me a bit worried because you never know who's going to be living next door to you. I am hoping whoever it is will be as nice and courtieous as the Yeagers.

Dear Neighbors,

Thank you so much for inviting Dan and I to your hot-tub party last night. I'm sure you sent out a formal invitation, but since we didn't receive one, I'm assuming it just got lost in the mail. Normally, at 2:15 am, we are sound asleep in our beds, but how exciting it was to be ripped from our slumber by the shrieking of half naked girls and yelling from you and your roommate. We loved listening to your loud and annoying chatter that I'm sure was alcohol induced. We especially liked that you continued your party until 4:30 am, ensuring that we stayed up with you while you enjoyed your good time. We hope you liked the gift we sent over. We called in a special delivery from the Police, just for you. We'll be more than happy to call them again, should the need arise.

Sincerely,

You're sleep deprived neighbors

I think I can, I think I can

Last week I wrote about my pregnancy blahs. I was seriously wondering how in the heck I was going to make it 2 more months. Well. thanks to Dr. Penwell I am feeling sooooo much better that the end of this process actually seems bareable. I have been seeing Dr. Penwell (chiropractor) for over 2 weeks now and I feel like a new woman. I get adjusted 3 times a week and I'll probably have to continue with at least that for the rest of the pregnancy. That's okay by me, as long as I continue to feel better, I'll go as much as necessary. I am just so thankful to be able to walk normally again and go up and down stairs fairly comfortably.

Now, if we can just get Dan's foot out of that cast....

Welcome to the Neighborhood...Now Leave

I've always joked around that I am a nosy neighbor. Actually, I think that I am just aware of what's going on around me. I pay attention to things, kinda like the neighborhood watch program.
Anyway, a few weeks ago I noticed that our neighbor on the south (the bachelor guy) was moving out. I saw a truck in the drive and some men were loading furniture. This guy was living in a house his parents owned and he was hardly ever home so it made sense to Dan and I that he was finally moving. Then the next day I heard some commotion and looked out to see several ladies carrying in cleaning products and a vacuum cleaner. I figured they were going to get the house all clean before they put in on the market.

Dan and I were looking forward to a "For Sale" sign going up cause we wanted to go see the house. Not that we're wanting to move, we are just curious to see the whole house.

A few days after they ladies came to clean, I happened to look out the front window and saw a U-Haul truck out front. I then started noticing some movement in the house. (They keep the blinds open, so it's hard not to notice things at night) I kept seeing different people come and go and I couldn't figure out who was living there.

I'm still confused as to what is excatly happening over there, but here's what I've figured out so far. There's a white guy who drives the car with the CiCi's Pizza logo on it, there's a black guy and then there's a blonde lady who either lives there or is the girlfriend of one of the guys.

They have 2 small black and white dogs, one of which chased me back in my house last week. He came charging at me and was barking in an aggressive tone. This has me concerned. We saw the dogs loose again yesterday. I don't want to have to be afraid to be in my own yard. I'm tempted to call animal control.

They also like to have very loud conversations in the backyard at 3 am! We woke up last Saturday in the middle of the night to the sound of yelling and loud talking. They were out there for a long time and it really started to get annoying. The next morning, I found a pair of shorts in our driveway. I threw them back over the fence. I guess they got in the hot-tub after all!

Anyway, if this is going to be the norm, then I'm ready for these people to move out. Who'd have thought that I'd miss David.

AND THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS

I am 31 weeks today and I am sooooo ready to get this baby out! I have read that all the misery that comes with the 3rd trimester is getting you ready for labor. Instead of fearing what is going to happen, you are so uncomfortable and miserable with pregnancy that you don't care as much about the pain of labor anymore. You just want the baby out.

I'll have to say that I was doing pretty good up till last week. I think part of what's making it worse is that Dan is on crutches and he's unable to help me do the little things around the house that are becoming harder and harder for me to do.

I went to a chiropractor last week and will continue to go as much as necessary until I deliver. It made me feel better to know that there was someone who really believed me about how much pain my hip has been causing me. I told my OB about it and she did finally schedule me for some physical therapy, but the first few times I mentioned it she just told me "pain is normal". Well, DUH! I realize that I'm going to be uncomfortable, but when you are no longer able to move, I think that's a problem!

What I want to know is, why don't pregnant women really tell you how they're feeling? It's a question people ask almost every time they see you. I know I asked my pregnant friends many times how they were feeling and the answer was always the same. Fine. It wasn't till I got pregnant and started asking them questions about pregnancy that I learned they didn't really feel that great. Maybe it's seen as complaining, or they just don't want to go into details, but I wish I'd known some of these things ahead of time. Now, I realize there are women who have wonderful pregnancies, but I think they're the exception.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm excited to be having a baby and I can't wait to meet her, but the process of getting her here... not the best. I'm going to definetly need a couple years to forget before I want to do this again.

Okay, vent over. Time to move on.

Update on Dan

Dan went to the doctor yesterday and they ended up putting a full hard cast on his foot. It goes up to a few inches below his knee. He goes back in 3 weeks and they'll take the cast off, xray the bone and then decide if he needs a new cast, or a boot that will allow him to walk on it. The doctor told him it could take 6-8 weeks to heal. I'm due in 10 weeks. Let's hope I don't go too early or they'll be wheeling us both into the hospital when the time comes!

Updates

Today I'm 30 weeks pregnant so I thought I'd share a new picture. The comment I get all the time is "Well, you're not very big". I may not look big, but I'm certainly feeling every bit of weight I've gained.

I thought you might also like to know that Dan did break his foot this weekend. He's going into the doctor's this afternoon to see what they'll want to do. I'm hoping for a walking cast or an aircast so when the pain has lessened he'll be able to put some weight on it.

Getting old???

If you look very closely at this picture, you'll see that it's actually a picture of Dan and me.....Well, it might as well be. Let me explain.

This past week, pregnancy has really started to affect my hips. My right hip in particular. Earlier in the week, I could barely walk because the pain was so bad. It's gotten better over the last few days, but I'm still in constant pain when I put any weight on my right leg. So, I have been hobbling around the house and I definetly have a waddle to my walk.

Why would Dan need a scooter? Well, this weekend he had a special event for the martial arts class he is taking. It's called Warrior Weekend. They camped out from 6pm Friday till noon on Saturday. During the campout they also did drills and learned new moves. Dan gave me a call on his way home this afternoon and told me he had an injury, but that it wasn't serious. When he gets home I notice he's limping up the sidewalk and that his foot is wrapped. During a move where he was getting flipped, he landed wrong on his foot and it might be broken. Luckily, there is a doctor that's also taking the class and he took Dan to the hospital and got an xray, but we won't get the results till tomorrow. So we are hoping that it's just a bad sprain, but this evening, he can't put any weight on his foot at all and it's pretty swollen.

So, Dan and I make quite the pair these days. I usually rely on him to help me get around, and now I'm having to help him.

To see us walk around the house, you'd think we were 80 years old!

Tastes like Fall

For those of you that are unfortunate enough to NOT live in the Decatur area, here's what you are missing.

Caramel apples from Dell's Popcorn Shop. They are the absolute best caramel apples you'll ever taste in your life. Every Fall they sell these delicious treats and I can't let this season pass without having one, or two, or...four. That's how many I bought today. Dell's is a quaint little shop in Downtown Decatur that has been around for years. Dell's sells candies, popcorn and caramel apples. They keep a running total of the number of apples they sell each day and when I was in at 4:00 this afternoon the count was a little over 2000. It's just a shame that these treats can't be bought year around. Maybe that's a good thing for my waistline!

Oh, and I would have taken a picture of their caramel corn, which, by the way is also the best you'll ever find, but I ate the whole bag.... oops!

Moving Up

Just thought I'd post a few pictures of a sight you don't get to see too often.

If you look closely you'll see that this house has been lifted off its foundation and is getting ready to be moved.

This is where my brother Kraig and his family lives. They are going to build a new house, but instead of just bulldozing in this one, they are moving it to the back of the property. They'll hook everything back up and continue to live in this house while the new one is being built. Then the "plan" is that sometime down the road, they'll turn this old house into a second garage/storage space. They'll tear out the old basement and foundation and pour a new one in this same area. The new house will give them much needed space for their family of 4.

Sadly, I didn't get pictures of them actually moving the house to its new location. The guys working told us two times that they wouldn't move it till tomorrow. So I went home and about 30 minutes after I get home, mom calls me to tell me that they are going to move it today. So I missed it!

Home Sweet Home

Dan and I have been out of town for 3 out of the last 4 weekends. I'm all about roadtrips and traveling, but this was a bit excessive for me. I am so glad to be home and not have any upcoming trips to pack for. It's not so much the being gone that bothers me, I just hate having to pack everything up, live out of a suitcase for a few days, then get home and have to put everything away. Not to mention, that I never sleep as well when I'm not in my own bed.

So where did we go? Well, this weekend we "killed 3 birds with one stone" so to speak. First, we went to Indiana. Dan's brother and family live in Columbus, which is about 45 minutes south of Indianapolis. Jeff and April are hosting Christmas this year, but since we're going to be a little busy the first part of December, we will not be going. So, we had promised Jeff and April that we'd come over some weekend to stay and see the new house they built. That's bird #1. Another reason we picked this weekend is that Dan wanted to attend the annual Sign Show that's held in Indianapolis. He enjoys going because he gets to see all the lastest in sign equipment and get lots of new ideas for products to sell. The show was on Friday, so went to Indiana the night before so Dan would only have to drive 45 minutes to the show. There's bird #2.
Dan had also been talking about going to Cinncinati to visit the Creation Museum. It only made sense to do that this weekend as well, since we were only going to be 90 minutes from Ohio. So on Saturday we drove to Ohio, visited the museum and then drove home. There's bird #3.

The Creation Museum was very interesting and if you're ever close to it, it's worth the trip. This is a state of the art muesum that proves that God created the Earth and how so much of the "science" surrounding evolution is false. I think we'll definitely go back when our kids are older and able to understand what they're seeing.

Anyway, I am so glad to be home. My next overnight trip will be at the hospital.

Baby Fat

I have had a few requests from friends to post a picture of myself so you all can see how big I've gotten. I haven't really taken many pictures throughout this pregnancy because for a long time my stomach didn't look pregnant, just fat. And I guess I'm too vain to let everyone see my "fat" belly. Now that it's starting to round out a little more, I don't mind the pictures. So here is one from the other day. I'll try to take more later one and post them for your amusement.

Pregnancy Update

Here's the lastest pregnancy news. If you're tired of reading about all this, too bad. :)

Today was my doctor's appt. I normally go on Monday's so that Dan can join without taking time off work. However, since Monday's a holiday, the lady scheduled me for today. At this appt, I was getting another ultra-sound and taking the 1hour glucose test.

The ultra-sound was fun and baby girl is doing well. Everything looks good. She's just so active. I'm hoping that's not a foreshadowing for things to come. Dan and I may be in for it....

And then came the lovely glucose test. For those of you who don't know, they make you drink a 10 oz bottle of this sugary drink to see how your body handles the sugar and if you'll have gestational diabetes. Oh, and they only give you 5 minutes to get the whole bottle down. FUN!

I am able to drink the whole bottle fairly quickly and then I have to wait and wait and wait. Finally I see the doctor and she's looking over my chart and tells me that they scheduled me too early for the glucose test. At 25 weeks 4 days, the results won't be accurate. So, I have to retake the test at my next appt. GREAT! This was so much fun that I now get to do it again! My question is, why didn't the receptionist know that she was scheduling me too early. She knew I was getting a glucose test! She handed me the slip of paper with the "rules" on them. She should have known!!!!!!

On the plus side, I get a few more weeks of eating whatever I want and not having to worry.

Oh, and for those of you keeping track, I only gained 2 lbs this time! Yahoo!! So that puts me at a total of 19 lbs.

Trip to Mayberry

I just got off of the phone with a man from Babies-r-us. If he hadn't told me his name, I would have sworn I was talking to Gomer Pyle from Mayberry. I was trying not to laugh as he was telling me the crib we ordered had come in. I just kept waiting for him to say "Shazam" and "Goooolllly".

That made my day!

My first "splurge"

I was looking for a coming home outfit for baby and finally found one at Babies R US in St. Louis. It was more money than I ever expected to spend on a baby outfit, but I just couldn't resist. It's off white with pink bows and made out of a sweater material. It's totally impractical from the stand point that it has all buttons. It'll be a pain to button her up, but she'll look so cute. This outfit also came with matching booties but they look like they're a size 9 months or so. I guess she'll wear those later....

To Market, to Market

Dan and I just spent the last 2 days in St. Louis at an investor education class. These were 2 full days of stock market 101. I did really well on Saturday. I absorded all the info and felt like I understood all they were teaching. I think I really learned alot. By day 2 however, it was a good thing Dan was there to absorb the information for the both of us! Let's just say, my brain was tired and I just couldn't focus as well.

strange encounter

One thing about living in town that I haven't quite gotten used to is that from time to time we'll have random people ring our doorbell and ask for work. Growing up in the country, the only time we had people stopping by was if they had car trouble or if the UPS or Schwans man stopped. Not true for city living. Yesterday was one of those days.

Early afternoon the doorbell rings. I typically don't even answer the door if I look out and don't know who's there or it's not a delivery of some sort. As I got to the front door and peeked through the sheers, I saw a lady I didn't know. As I said, I usually ignore them and they go away. This lady, however, had already opened the porch door and was standing on the front steps with the door wide open. Again, I probably would have ignored her if she hadn't been looking with great interest at the 10+ boxes on the porch that UPS had delivered a bit earlier. There was nothing of great value in the boxes, they contained cardboard mailers for Dan's business.

So I opened the door and this is the conversation we had.

Lady: "Can you come here a minute?"

Me: Not knowing how to respond to that said nothing and already had decided I wasn't stepping out the front door.

Lady: "I'm looking for work you got anything I can do"?

Me: "No"

Lady: "I'm from Springfield and we need gas money." "What about your yard?"

Me: " We have someone coming to mow it already."

Lady: "OK."

With that she left and I closed the door and locked it. It just seems a bit strange to me that you'd drive all the way to Decatur to look for work when you're short on gas money. I didn't see a car and I think she may have been with someone (cause she kept looking at the neighbor's house) but I'm not sure cause I didn't think to look out the window when she walked away.

I still can't help but wonder if she saw UPS deliver all those boxes and was coming in for a closer look. I've heard about "burglars" who will ring the bell to see if people are home before they try and break in. Wouldn't she have been disappointed to know that there was nothing but empty cardboard boxes in those 10+ boxes.

observation

Twice in the last week I have totally under-estimated the cost of food.

Example 1: When Dan and I were at the seminar in STL I grabbed a $20 bill and headed out to the concessions to get us some lunch. I went to the Pizza Hut Express and ordered 2 personal pizzas and 2 waters. When the lady told me "That's $22.50" I about flipped! Thank goodness my mom had come out with me and I was able to borrow the extra $2.50 from her. I had more money in my purse, but wasn't even dreaming that it'd cost more than 20 bucks. The bottles of water alone cost $5 each! That's insane!

Example 2: Yesterday, Dan and I went to Bloomington for 3rd Sunday Market. We grabbed some lunch on the way home. I wanted Subway, so we stopped there first. I had $7 on me and thought that would be enough. I ordered a chicken, bacon, ranch 6 inch sub with the meal. The total came to $7.15! So there I was again without enough money. I had to run back to the car and get more from Dan.
Since when did Subway get so expensive????? I used to be able to eat there for a little over $5. I think the Subway commercials about the fat wallet are false advertising. The Subway owners are the ones with the fat wallet.
I like being able to eat somewhat healthy when I'm out, but when I can go to McDonald's and eat for under $4, as compared to over $7 at Subway.... the cheaper food is going to win out most of the time.

Dan and I are MOTIVATED!

Dan and I attend a seminar on Thursday along with my parents. It was called GET MOTIVATED and was held at the Scottrade Center (formerly the Savvis Center, formerly the Keil Center) in St. Louis. My dad got some info one day in the mail on this seminar. It was for small businesses or sales people, although really, anyone can attend. We'd never heard of it before but it sounded really interesting. So we decided to go and see what it was all about.

The tickets were only $5 if you bought in advance. If you waited to buy at the door they were $225! So for $5 this is what we got.

We saw and listened to Steve Forbes of Forbes Magazine, George Foreman, Brian Tracy, financial expert Suzi Orman, Zig Ziglar, and former Secretary of State, Colin Powel!!! There were also several other speakers that we'd never heard of, but they were just as good and entertaining. We really learned alot of helpful information and found the day to be very worthwhile.









We're actually going back to STL in the upcoming week to take another course that was offered through this seminar. Dan and I are going to learn how to strike it rich in the stock market! :) It won't be quite that easy, but we're going to learn how to handle our own money and make our own investments online.

If you're interested in attending at some point. You can go to getmotivated.com and find out more about it.

Good-bye Grandma

Today's entry is dedicated to my Grandma Ryan. She passed away early Thursday morning in her sleep. While this is sad news to hear, we we're all prepared for her passing because she hasn't been well for many months. She lived a long life--she was 94 years old.

This is one of my favorite pictures of my grandparents.

Eva Ryan

Born 12-19-1912

Died 8-16-2007

8 more pounds

I had my 23 week doctor appointment yesterday. Very routine, pee in a cup, blood pressure, and of course the lovely weigh-in. I gained 8 pounds this month!!!!! YIKES. I've now gained a total of 17 lbs. I told Dan that it was the fault of these maternity clothes I'm wearing. They stretch so much that I don't feel like I'm gaining anything. Before I stepped on the scale, I really didn't think I'd gained much this month. W.R.O.N.G. I need to be more careful in the next 3 weeks.
I've also hit the mark in my pregnancy where my doctors visits are scheduled more frequently. Instead of every 4 weeks, I'll now be going every 3 weeks. I'm not sure when it changes to every 2 weeks??
My doctor is also letting me have another sonogram at my next visit. I was hoping she'd do another one, but you never know if they will or not. The reason she's doing another one is to check for growth. I really don't think there's anything to worry about. I had asked her about my belly growth and if I were as big as I should be for this stage. She thought I was a little behind, but for my height, I'm probably fine. But, to be sure, she's scheduling another sonogram. So we'll get to see our little girl again... it's so fun to see.

What will not be so fun at the next appt is the 1 hour glucose test I have to do. I'm really not that worried about it, but if I fail, I have to do the 3 hour test.

"There's no crying in baseball"

I love this movie and never get tired of watching it. Right now it happens to be playing on the Family Channel.

Anyone want to venture a guess as to what movie it is????????

Long overdue

I'm a bit embarrassed to admit this, but I've lived in Decatur now for 2 years and last night was my first trip to the public library. They were having a lecture on Decatur architecture so Dan and I went to that. It was ok. I would have liked to seen more pictures of private homes and such. There was a greater focus on the commercial buildings here in town. But it was a worthwhile trip because I got a library card! I even checked out a book on cd. It's only 20 hours of listening!!!! It's a good thing I have 4 weeks before returning it.

I'm sure once baby Niebrugge is old enough, we'll be making lots of trips to the library. I look forward to those days.

making progress

So little by little we're getting the baby's room ready. I'm anxious to get it done so I won't have to worry about it. Here's what's been done so far...

Painting done, check
bought rug, check
got bedding, check
changing table, check
closet door fixed, check
outlets replaced, check
shades hung, check

Still to do.... fix hole in celing closet, paint closet, put up closet organizers, buy crib, buy dresser and paint it, hang valances, and ummmm..... I'm sure there's more.

Parade fun

Here are a few pictures from Saturday and the annual Mt. Auburn Farmer's Picnic Parade. I wish I had a few more, but the camera batteries died on me soon after it started. So here's what I got!

Dan's reward

I figured that spending 6+ hours in the hot attic last weekend installing my new vent hood deserved a little reward. I made Dan's favorite today. An apple pie!

When things go bump in the night.

This has turned into a funny story to tell, however as it was happening, it was anything but!

Last Friday morning at about 2am, Dan and I were jolted from our sleep by a loud crashing sound. We both jumped up out of bed and looked around. I grabbed the phone so I'd have it in case I needed to dial 911. I was scared to death. I thought someone had tried to kick the door in, or thrown something through a basement window. As my heart was about to pound out of my chest, Dan and I slowly made our way to each room and checked all the doors and windows. I wasn't about to let him go searching alone in case there really was someone in the house. I had the phone remember?? Everything was locked tight and all the windows were fine, so we made our way back to the bedroom completely puzzled as to what made that horrendous noise. We turned on the bedroom light and I checked my closet and then I suggested that Dan check his closet. I thought, maybe something fell off the shelf. When we opened the door we discovered what had made the loud crashing sound. Dan's entire closet system had fallen out of the wall and crashed to the floor. So there we were, after 2am picking up his clothes off the floor and trying to find room in my closet and the nursery closet to hang his stuff. Thankfully, that's all it was and we weren't faced with an intruder. However, it did take me a good hour to get back to sleep because it took awhile for my heart to settle back down, Dan on the other hand fell back asleep almost immediately.

Back in the groove

I've been planning my monthly grocery shopping trip this morning. I'm not quite done, but I won't be going till tomorrow so I have some time. I'm glad to finally get back in the swing of things after all the horrible pregnancy woes earlier on.

Since last fall, I decided to start planning my meals so that I wasn't faced everyday with the question of "What am I going to make for dinner?". I have to say that for me it works great and I love it when I'm organized. I made a template on the computer and so for each week I have a paper with the days of the week and plenty of room to fill in my menu. I usually plan for 4 weeks of meals and then I go shopping. Now, of course there will be a few things that I can't get till the last minute, but I get the bulk of my shopping done and out the way. I have found that I actually spend less money when I do this. Dan appreciates that!!!

I got out of the groove in April when the morning sickness began and even though I've felt good the last 10 weeks, my laziness took over and now it's time to get going again.

When I tell people about my menus I get some surprised reponses. Some are amazed that I can think about meals that far in advanced, and I often get the question, "What if you're not in the mood for you planned to fix"? Well, I'm flexible. I always have the option to switch meals around if something comes up or we just don't feel like having "meatloaf" that night. But for the most part, it's never been a problem.

I'm going to try and keep this up after the baby gets here. I will probably have to modify my plan a bit and do a bit of trial and error. I think it'll work though.

What do YOU think of when you hear the word Monticello?????

I bet you don't think of large, attacking lightning bugs, now do ya?

I bet you don't think of Superman riding a bicycle???

And, I bet you don't think of a bathroom so small a pregnant lady could get stuck???

Well, I didn't either until last night.

I think we may have a future soccer player! She's kicking up a storm.

I thought it'd be too early for Dan to feel anything, but he was able to feel one of her kicks the other night.

My new stove is being delivered on Monday!!!!!!!!

The GE Profile, Dual Fuel with double oven!!! It has a true convection oven and I can't wait to try it out!

Sugar and Spice and everything nice...

that's what little girls are made of.

I was excited about being pregnant and having a baby, but there's something about knowing that you're having a girl that makes it all even more exciting. Now I can look at the baby section and know that I need to buy pink or purple. It's so much more fun to shop now that we know what it's going to be.

I've been going through a huge bag of baby clothes today. A friend from church asked if we'd like some t-shirts and onesies and I accepted the offer. I couldn't even imagine the amount of stuff she was talking about. The way she talked it sounded like just a few things. I don't think we'll even have to buy anything for the first 3 -6 months. It all looks brand new. I appreciate it all very much.

I think we've settled on a name.... I hope I don't change my mind again. :)

But you'll all have to wait till she's here to find that out!

Baby update

So I begin week 18 tomorrow. Time is going by quickly. I'm almost half way through the pregnancy. I have the big ultra sound next Monday and I'm anxious to get to see the baby and find out if it's a boy or girl. I have a feeling it's going to be a boy. Which, in the grand scheme of things is fine, but I really hope that at some point we are blessed with a girl.

I am almost postive that I felt the baby move today. I've been waiting for it cause they say that starting around week 16 you may start to feel little flutters and taps. I was laying down on the couch today and I'm pretty sure I felt it. It was very reassuring --cause I get paranoid at times....

Anyway, that's the baby news for now.

Happy Birthday to me...

...one day late! I meant to post something yesterday, but didn't get a chance since we were busy with birthday activities. We didn't do anything too exciting, but it was a nice day. I had a total of 5 people call me on the phone and sing to me. I'd have to say my favorite version was Becky with Maggie in the background singing the "cha-cha-cha's". Also, I kept getting a bunch of emails from people I know at church, but don't usually get emails from. They were all wishing me happy birthday. I finally got Dan to fess up and tell me that he'd sent out an email to a bunch of people telling them that Sunday was my birthday. So that explained the unexpected phone calls and emails. It was a nice gesture I guess...

So now that I'm 32, what will this year bring?

Another Friday Night

I thought I'd blog for a few minutes this evening before I go out. I'm not going anywhere exciting. Mom and dad are picking me up in about an hour and we're going to dinner and then to visit grandma at the nursing home. Where's Dan you ask? Well, tonight is his racing night and he's going straight from work to meet the guys. He races mini RCcars. They usually do this on Saturdays, but they had to change it this week. Luckily they only do this twice a month.

I didn't feel like sitting home by myself tonight so I called mom to see what they were doing. It'll be nice just getting out for a while.

coversation with our waitress

Dan and I went to Red Lobster the other night. We don't go there often, Dan doesn't like seafood too much. I, however, was hungry for some salmon. We sit down and our waitress comes over and our conversation goes something like this:

Waitress: Are you ready to order?

Me: Yes, do you have just a regular salmon entree?

Waitress: Yes, but we're all out of fresh fish today..

Me: You don't have any fish?

Waitress: I think we have flounder left and that's it.

Me: (looking at Dan) Do you want to go somewhere else?

Waitress: I let you talk about it and be back in a minute.


Isn't that the craziest thing. A seafood place is out of all their fresh fish! I really wanted salmon and didn't want to stay at RL if all I could get was chicken. So Dan and I were going to go somewhere else when our waitress came back and said they did have a few pieces left. So we stayed and the meal was very good. I just thought that was extremely ironic.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, DAD

Flashback

I found this picture and I just had to share it. This was my 9th birthday-my first slumber party. It was a Cabbage Patch Doll theme. Everyone was to bring their dolls. I didn't have one, but got a "homemade" one that day. I didn't get the real thing until 2 years later.

This picture just makes me happy when I look at it. It reminds me of how much fun I had growing up.

Notice my brother Kyle in the highchair holding my new doll....

The girls were all classmates of mine.
L-R
Connie, Becky, Jenny, Cindy, Kris, and Amy... and of course Kyle!

2 years!!!

Today is our 2nd Anniversary. June 4, 2005 Dan and I got married!!!!!It's hard to belive that it's been that long. It's funny how your life gets "divided" up into time chunks. Looking back there was the "time before I met Dan", now there's the "time before having children", and soon we'll start the new phase of "time afer having children". We've been blessed more than I could have ever imagined.

Someone's got a birthday!!!!!

Look who's turning 39 today! It seems like only yesterday that you were slamming the bedroom door in my face...

Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For fun...

Here's few baby names that I"m thinking about--- opinions???


1. Beverely Fairfax
2. Sepulveda Marie
3. Bob Barker
4. Kitty Jr.
5. Rebecca Michelle
6. Michelle Rebecca
7. Eva May



Disclaimer:
This is only for fun, I am not in anyway seriously considering naming my child Sepulveda.

11 weeks and counting

I had my Dr. appt today. Dan went with me cause I figured they would try and listen to the heartbeat. I thought he might want to be there for that. Anyway, everything is looking good. We heard the heartbeat, which is just amazing. Dan keeps saying, "You have another human being in there". I know that, but if I think about it too much it kinda freaks me out.
I also lost 1 pound. How that happened I don't know, this past week I've felt like I've been eating non stop. I even wake up in the middle of the night and want to eat. I haven't yet, but I just might at some point.

Also, the Dr. finally gave me a due date. Pretty much what I thought. December 10

I"m also in that stage where I don't really need maternity clothes yet, but my regular clothes are not fitting like they should. It's frustrating cause instead of looking pregnant, I just look fat. I sometimes want to wear a sign that says, I'm not fat, just pregnant.

More to come....

Updates

Tonight was the last episode of my favorite TV show. Gilmore Girls is gone forever into tv history. I got curled up on the couch with my box of Kleenex and it's a good thing I had 'em. I'm not ashamed to say that I blubbered most of the way through the whole show! lol (I'm blaming part of that on my pregnancy hormones)

I am now 10 weeks along and the nausea is getting better. I've still been pretty confined to the house because I've been so dizzy and faint. As much as I'd like to get out of the house during the day, I'm leary of going anywhere for fear that I'll faint at the mall or walmart. So, my only activities have been ones where Dan can go too.

Here's some TMI for ya: Burping. I swear I am doing this 10x what I did before I got pregnant. It's driving me crazy! lol...

My new superhero power

This pregnancy thing is so bizarre. I was expecting the morning sickness, the fatigue, etc... but what I didn't expect was my new acute sense of smell. I'm not kidding, I could smell someone baking cookies across the street! Ok, so maybe it's not that good, but pretty darn close. I had to have Dan throw out a brand new bath and body wallflower yesterday cause I just couldn't take the smell anymore. I put it in before my nose went in to over drive. I loved the scent before I got pregnant, but now it makes me want to throw up. He couldn't even smell it anymore, but I could! And then there's this smell in the kitchen that I can't figure out. I've cleaned the sink, done the dishes and nothing helps. I never noticed it before, but now it makes me sick. And then there's my poor husband, after he sits in his office all day, he comes home with this scent on him. I can't describe it, but it's only there after he's been at work. It makes me want to throw up.
Ah, the joys of pregnancy.

Have you heard the news?

Just in case you haven't heard the latest news....

I'm pregnant!

Yep, there's a bun in the oven and it'll be ready to meet to world in December. The Dr. hasn't given me a specific due date, but I think it'll be Dec. 10 or 11.

I am almost 8 weeks and I'm looking forward to getting out of my first trimester. The nausea is taking it's toll on me.

I'll be posting more pregnancy info as the weeks go on, but that's it for now!

This makes me sick to my stomach

So last year we paid a good amount of money to have our flagstone patio pulled up and relayed. It looked so much better and we were pretty happy with the way it turned out. Well, after the ice storm and Ameren's truck trying to get down our neighbor's drive (which butts up against our patio) which drove over a 2ft width x about a 15ft length of our patio, it's now crumbled and sunken in. It looks horrible! It makes me sick. Then last week our neighbor rented a POD and that truck did the same thing and has made it even worse. You know Ameren isn't going to pay for the damages, and we like our neighbors and I don't want to create any hard feelings between us, but they made the problem worse! I guess it's just going to stay looking horrible. Oh, and a section of our concrete curb was completely smashed into the ground. It's now level with the neighbor's concrete drive. UGH!!!! Can you tell I'm upset??

In honor of Krista's questions

1 large, old, beige crock bowl: 4 dollars
1 medium brown crock bowl: 4 dollars
1 old metal milk crate: 2 dollars
1 old enamelware bucket : 1 dollar
1 flat of glassware: 50 cents
1 glass juice reamer: 1 dollar
2 old refrigerator dishes: 2 dollars
1 old gallon crock: 3 dollars
1 large, no huge, glass bottle (for making "moonshine") : 4 dollars

6 hours at the auction with Lori finding great old stuff: priceless

SOLD to the highest bidder!

So, I've discovered something very dangerous. Now that I know about it, it's going to take a lot of restraint to not go. What's the discovery??? A weekly auction here in town. I don't know how I lived in Decatur for almost 2 years without hearing about this sooner. But, I've found it and I'm hooked. I went today with Lori (my auction buddy) and we had a great time trying to get our favorite things for as cheaply as possible. I must say, we both did really well.

Can't wait to see what I find next week!

Random thoughts

I haven't posted in awhile, so here are some things I've been thinking about.

** I love Spring, but hate my spring-time allergies.

** I'm contemplating repainting my kitchen...any suggestions?

** I love America, but get annoyed that I hear more Spanish, German, Chinese etc... being spoken than English!

** I enjoy watching Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel!

** I don't like my next door neighbor. Never met him, but not really a fan of any man who doens't like to get his hands dirty. He's a pretty-boy--YUCK.

** I'm tired of picking up sticks from the yard. I have feeling, after this winter, I'll be finding them all spring/summer long.

** I can't wait for May and 3rd Sunday Market!

Say Goodbye, Herb

No tears are being shed today as we gladly say farewell to our Summer Home in Wilderhaven.

In other words:

WE FINALLY SOLD THE MOBILE HOME!!!!!!!

I can't tell you how relieved we are to finally be rid of this thing. Of course, we're taking a loss on it, but it's well worth it to get it off our hands.

**doing the happy dance**

Sorry to those of you who were looking forward to using our summer home for you're own getaways. But those are the breaks. You'll just have to vacation somewhere else.

Why I might need therapy!

My mom gave me a bag of stuff that was left over from old room at home. Apparently, I had left behind a few odd and ends. Anyway, last night I am going through an old box labeled "Birthday Cards". I had birthday cards, graduation cards (8th grade), college graduation cards... I figured it was time to go throught them and throw some of them away. So as I am looking through them, I come across this card.


Now there's nothing too out of the ordinary about this card. It's kinda cute. It's gotta somewhat funny punch line. And it's got a picture of a ten speed bike that mom cut out and glued inside the card.

Now, I'm thinking about this bike picture and I'm saying to myself:

I NEVER GOT THAT BIKE!!!

I totally got scammed for my 13th birthday! The promise of a bike that never came to be.

So I called mom last night to inform her and dad that they owe me a ten speed bike. She tried telling me that I got a bike at some point, but I clarified by saying that I did have a small bike that I learned to ride on and then later KIMBERLY got a red ten-speed bike that I would ride, BUT I never got a new bike after that. The forgotten child once again!!

So what did I get for my 13th birthday if I didn't get that bike???? I can not remember. I'm sure I probably got something, but it sure doesn't stand out in my memory.

Mom and I had a good laugh about this over the phone. I'm going to have fun bringing this up for years to come!!

Two little monkeys

These two monkeys, aka, Meredith and Natalie spent the evening at our house Sunday evening while Kim and Roscoe went out to dinner alone. A much needed break, I'm sure. Our evening included watching Mickey saves Santa, playing the Dora Memory game and playing dress-up. The girls were good and seemed to have a good time. I even did their hair. As you can see from the pictures, I think I missed my calling as a stylist.

* In my best singing voice* --OH, ya got to have friiiiieeends, la la la la la .....

Last weekend, Dan and I went to the big ole' town of Ozark Illinois. Well, ok, it's not really a town. It's more like a Willie's Station, for those of you who know what that means. Anyway, to give you a better picture, we were 20 miles south of Marion Illinois. Now what would take us to such a rural area of the state? Well, friends of course. Meet the Coopers!!




This is Aaron and Michelle and their adorable kids Kristin and Luke. Michelle and I met at SIU while we were both majoring in Elementary Ed. (we're both retired from teaching now) and have continued to stay in touch and see each other about once or twice a year.

We had a lot of fun visting with them. Dan and I even got to be Kristin's show and tell for Pre-school. She took in pictures of us to tell her class about our visit.

Here's a few more pictures of our visit.






Kristin loved playing with Dan. He'd pick her up and turn her upside down, and she liked the way he could talk like Donald Duck. Luke didn't really like it when I held him. He wasn't feeling good that day, so he was wanting mom to hold him, not me.







Thanks Coopers for a great time!!!!!