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.