Blog Archive:

09/29/08

The weekend was as fun as I thought it was going to be, and Max was Amazing through it all! Friday night I got to take a nice long 4 mile walk - I really needed it and it won't be long before the snow comes and I can't do that anymore. Saturday Max and I headed down to the farmer's market to sell some vegetables. Dusty picked up Max after an hour and brought him to Andrea while he helped Chris work on his yard. We all met up and then picked up Jeff and headed to the family reunion. It was a chilly evening so we left a little early, but we still had a good time and there was lots of good food too! Sunday Max and I went with Andrea, Tara and my Mom to Barb's house to have a baby shower for Max. Naturally he was adorable and loved all around. And he got some great winter clothes, books and toys. Then we all packed up and went to the Old Spaghetti Factory to celebrate Katie's 21st birthday. The food was good, the guests were funny, and I got to bring leftovers home for lunch. What more can you ask for? Max was a bit overtired from it all and didn't sleep the best last night, but I'll take that since he was just the little charmer all weekend long! Check out the picture from the family reunion of me holding Lyla and Max!

09/26/08

We have another busy weekend to look forward to. I will be heading to market again this Saturday to help Jeff, but tonight I will be making a salad to bring to the Schwartz family reunion that is Saturday afternoon. Sunday Max and I are heading to Barb's where there is a baby shower for Max. So it should be a fun weekend of family and friends, and Max getting spoiled!

09/22/08

We all had an excellent weekend! Friday night, Max went to bed and Dusty and I had a small bonfire with a few people over. I didn't get to bed until 1am which is really late for me and Dusty came in even later than that! Saturday I was up early and Max and I headed down to the farmer's market to help Jeff. Andrea came with to check out the market and then took Max back to our house and watched him. Dusty and Bano were working on toys in the garage. When I got home Max and I both took nice long naps. Then I brought him over to his Grandparents where he was given lots of love and attention all night and the next morning. Dusty and I took off for Octoberfest with Bano, Jeremy and Andrea. We all had a very fun time. Dusty was sober cab, so I had an even better time than usual. You can check out the fun picture Andrea and I took with our gloves from winning Hammer-Schlagen on the photos page. Ok, really, we never won, but the boys did and gave us stuff and that is all that matters. We got home late again that night. Thankfully, when I picked Max up on Sunday he was due for another nap so Dusty, Max and I all took nice long naps Sunday too. Yup, pretty exciting weekend for me. I hope yours was fun too!

09/19/08

I wish I could tell you about all the exciting things Dusty and I did to celebrate our anniversary, but truth be told outside of Andrew bringing champagne for us to celebrate together at the farm, we didn't do a thing. But we will make up for it this weekend by spending some time with friends Saturday and leaving Max with Grandma! Can't wait to tell you all about it on Monday.

09/17/08

Happy 3 year Anniversary to Dusty and myself - whoo hoo!

09/15/08

I had an excellent weekend. Max went to bed at 6pm both Friday and Saturday night, woke up at 5:30am to eat and then went back to sleep so Mommy got to sleep in! He was back to his old ways this morning, but it was nice to have that break for the weekend. I also am happy to report that I am back to eating dairy. It seems Max has outgrown his milk issues and I have been carefully enjoying meals with cheese. Mac and Cheese never tasted so good! That last bit of Max news is that last night I went in to check on him to find him sound asleep with his thumb in his mouth and his pointer finger curled around his nose. Looks like I am going to have a thumb sucker on my hands!

Dusty and I took it easy Saturday, I went to the Farmer's Market to help Jeff and then we stayed in on our rainy day and watched some movies. Sunday Dusty went Golfing with Bano and Max and I did a little shopping and hung out with Auntie Tara. Max was a champ the whole time and made his mother very happy!

09/10/08

Max is still a shrimp! He measured 23 3/4 inches tall, just under two feet which puts him once again in the fifth percentile for his age. Of course, he was born a month early, but his weight was at the fiftieth percentile at 14 lbs, 13oz on the same charts. Dad came with for this appointment and the three of us had a fun time playing a game of peek-a-boo while waiting for the nurse to come and give Max his immunizations. He was just giggling up a storm when Dusty would "show" his face. It was pretty funny. Of course Max hated his shots, but I didn't cry...although it was a close call. It was nice to have Dusty there to be the one to comfort Max after he got the shots. Nothing like that male bonding to make a mom swoon!

09/08/08

We had a very successful weekend. Dusty did well at Hay Days, he only came home with a couple things, everything else he brought to the swap meet sold. Max and I just laid low on Friday since he is usually in bed by 6pm. Saturday he got to go out to the farm where Auntie Rosie watched him while Grandma canned. Naturally there was a large crowd of relatives there so he was very entertained. Reb, Terry and I were able to find a wedding dress for Reb. She looks stunning in it, but you'll have to wait until I post her wedding pictures in July to see it! Sunday's party was also a lot of fun. Everyone came over to celebrate Suzanne's birthday and since I let Dusty plan it we had to go grocery shopping the morning of, but it went well. So all in all I would say it was a successful weekend. Today we take Max to his 4 month checkup, which means more shots. Thankfully, Dusty will be with me so if I cry again, he can take over on consoling Max.

09/05/08

Yay! My cousin Josh and his wife Hallie had their baby girl. Quinn Rose Washnieski. Isn't that great?!?! Max is still sick. I've pretty much concluded that he does nto have a cold and instead has my allergies. The poor boy was whining most of the night because his cough was keeping him up. Hopefully he gets lots of rest at daycare today to make up for it. Tomorrow he gets to spend time with Grandma because I'm going wedding dress shopping with Reb and Dusty is out at Hay Days. He will be quite the spoiled boy tomorrow! Today is Grandma's birthday too! Dusty and I are having everyone over for dinner to celebrate on Sunday with a fish fry. It should be a fun evening!

09/02/08

We had a fun Labor Day weekend. Max still has his cold, so that wasn't very fun, but we survived another weekend of sniffling and coughing. Friday I got my new cell phone, so I spent most of the evening learning how to use it. I am very excited to have a phone that doesn't have the '3' key sticking. Saturday Dusty and I went to Bryon and Theresa's wedding which was a lot of fun. It was really nice to see old friends! Max had his Aunt Andrea hang out with him and he was spoiled as always. Sunday we had Uncle Jim's 50th Birthday party which was also a lot of fun. Monday we stayed home. My parent's and good friends stopped by to see the happy boy. He really wanted to flip over onto his stomach for them, but he still hasn't been able to do it. He keeps kicking those legs trying to hurl himself over, maybe later this week he'll get it!

8/25/08

Reb is engaged! Needless to say, I'm stoked! Outside of that, the rest of my news is not nearly as exciting. I saw a black bear on Friday on my drive home from work. That was really exciting since I have never seen a wild bear before. It ran across the road right in front of me and at first I thought it was a large dog since I had never seen a bear before and it was just really odd to see. I was pretty excited and called Dusty all frantic to share my news. Later that night Max got his first cold. He actually slept pretty well. He woke up a couple of extra times but he would go right back to sleep after eating. Saturday I took him to the Mall of America and he was absolutely amazed at all the lights and sounds. He just kept staring with huge eyes, and he really liked when we walked through the rotunda and he could look way up. He was a really good boy while we hung out with Erica and Reta. Sunday Dusty, Max and I just laid low which was nice. I hope you had an exciting weekend!

8/19/08

I got to meet Lyla! Yay for me! She is just gorgeous and I could barely feel her in my arms. It is wierd to think that Max was actually a little bit smaller than she is right now. I have to admit though, I really like having Max older. I'm not so much wishing away the baby like I was when he had colic, but I definetly appreciate having him able to entertain himself for small periods of time, having him respond to me with smiles and coos, and being able to watch him try to do things on his own.

8/18/08

My weekend sucked. That doesn't mean exciting things did not occur all weekend long, that means I was too sick to enjoy any of it! First off, Lyla June was born at 3:55am on Saturday, August 16th. Her parent's are very happy and doing well. Dusty and Max went down to visit them Saturday afternoon while I stayed home and slept. I also missed Dean's wedding, which Andrea sang in, and because I was sick we were not able to take the family picture we were going to take at the wedding. So basically, Saturday was a horrible day for me. Sunday I woke up still feeling horrible which put me in a pretty sour mood.

I have a very loving family and since I was sick, Andrea, Randy and his girlfriend Katie, and Tara all decided to come over and help watch Max so I could relax. But of course, when I have a house full of guests, relaxing is the last thing I am able to do. But Max did get a lot of attention so that was nice. Now I am just hoping that Katie and Andrew will be OK with me visiting them today even though I still have a pretty bad cough. If they don't want me to, I completely understand, but I'm going to hope they will let me! Oh, and I have a picture up of Max with Lyla - Andrew took that while Max and Dusty were visiting.

8/15/08

The week has been interesting. It was my first full week back at work, and while I am very happy to be back, my body hasn't quite adjusted. I'm a little more sleep deprived, and allergy season is starting, which means low grade fever, itchy eyes, dry throat and runny nose. I could really use a nice long nap. Max is still doing really well at daycare. The only thing we're still struggling with are his naps. I think the main problem is that Max doesn't like sleeping on his back. I think I've already written this, but Dusty and I have decided to go against the AAP's recommendations and instead sleep Max on his belly.

It is the only way that Max will sleep for an extended period of time. He wakes up happier, he is well rested, and we're all sleeping better because of it. I realize this does increase his risk for SIDS, but we are very careful and don't fall into any of the other risk categories to increase that risk. At daycare, they will not put him on his belly unless they have a note from his pediatrician saying it is OK. The only note we were able to get was that they could leave him sleeping in the baby swings and chairs if he falls asleep in them. Yesterday, he never napped for more than a half hour at a time. (Which is really low for him.) Dusty brought him home and put him to bed at 3:30 that afternoon. Max didn't wake up until midnight to eat! Then he went right back to bed until 3am. After that time I brought him into bed with me so that he would go back to sleep because I think he would have stayed up if I let him. Hopefully he will adjust a little bit more. He usually sleeps better at daycare, so I'm hoping it was just a fluke and not going to be the norm.

I saved the best news for last! I talked with Katie yesterday and she and Andrew are getting really close to having their baby!!!! Max is super excited to be a cousin. Well, really I just told him this morning when he was cooing, but he did give an extra loud coo when I told him. :-) I can't wait for their baby to come out so we can play with it! Keep them in your thoughts...

08/11/08

We had an eventful weekend. Friday night, Rosemary stayed over with Dusty, Max and I. Then Saturday I brought Max over to Suzanne's and her and Rosemary watched him while I helped out for a while at the Farmer's Market. Afterwards, Max and I spent some time with Daddy. Sunday Max and I went to Katie's baby shower where she got a lot of great gifts. Thankfully, she got a lot of the big things so she won't have to worry about buying any of those. I know that it was so helpful to us to have the big things already! This week should be pretty low key. I am reading a book on baby sleep and have started charting Max's sleep. I need to be careful because colic babies are more likely to develop bad sleeping habits so I'm trying to be proactive about it. I also took Max off his reflux meds on Friday. He has spit up a little bit more but it doesn't seem to bother him so we are done with the meds. YAY!

08/07/08

I am back into the swing of things at work and I'm loving it. I still miss Max like crazy but it helps that I can watch him on the web cams at his day care. It really helps put me to ease and then I feel like I am still involved. I think Dusty enjoys picking him up from day care, I'm pretty sure he is working to turn Max into a Daddy's boy instead of the Mama's boy that he is! We are heading out to Woodbury to celebrate Randy and Ed's birthdays today. We are laying low tomorrow and then Saturday I may be able to go to the market with Jeff. I'm really excited about that, it has been a whole year since I've been there! Sunday is Katie's baby shower and I know she is going to have a lot of fun and get lots of great gifts. It will be an eventful weekend for us. I hope your weekend goes well too!

08/04/08

Max went to day care today. He only went for 4 hours, as we are slowly letting him adjust over the next two days before I return to work on Wednesday. He did OK. He needed to be held most of the time, but he ate good and even slept for 45 minutes. They swaddled him and that stopped him from startling himself so much, but when we got home I pretty much put him to bed because he was tired and usually takes a longer nap in the afternoon. Hopefully he will get adjusted better with time. It was really nice though, they had a sign up to welcome us when we got there and everyone was really friendly.

I also felt a lot better about putting Max on his belly. While the day care can't do it without a doctor's note (which I haven't been able to get) they let me know I wasn't the first mom to do this to their baby. They even gave me some suggestions on trying to get the doctor's note, although they warned me that most pediatrician's will not write one. I'm sure they have to keep themselves protected in case something did happen, but I intend to try again at Max's 4 month check-up. Wish me luck, both for the note and for returning to work!

8/01/08

Max and I have been enjoying my last weeks off of work. We have been to both Dusty's family cabin and my parent's lake house, we've ran a bunch of errands and we've bummed around the house. It has been a lot easier now that Max has gotten over his colic, which also makes it harder to think about returning to work full time, but I am excited also. Max will be getting an education that I couldn't give him alone here, and I'll get to have a little more schedule to my day. On top of all these upcoming changes, Max went 9 hours between his feedings last night!

Knowing that Max is going to have to start adjusting to getting up early I should have gotten up when he ate at 5am. Instead, we went back to bed and slept until 8am. I am so well rested I don't know what to do with myself! Hopefully, this longer sleep wasn't a fluke thing and will continue. Although I know his sleep habits will get a little interupted with the start of daycare, but hopefully not too much.

Also, I've been noticing Max watching the TV. I know he doesn't realize what he is seeing, that he isn't getting into it, but I still turn it off every time I catch him watching it. So that means no more morning news for me. I need to find some talk radio that I will like instead. I usually watch KARE 11 because the weather is shown every 15 minutes, anyone have any talk radio suggestions for me that give the weather often? Thanks for your help!

7/24/08

August 6th is getting closer and closer and while I'm really excited to go back to work, I am going to miss my mornings with Max when he is the happiest and loves everything! Luckily, we get to do some fun things before that time comes. We are going up to the lake house with Mom this weekend and also going to a baby shower so he'll get to see family all weekend. I'm going to get away for the evening and head over to Stillwater for Lumberjack Days. I wanted Dusty to come with but he wants to stay home and watch Max. I think he likes when he gets some alone time with Max. We leave tomorrow so I hope your weekend goes well!

7/20/08

It has been a while since I have updated. Max naturally was a lot better when we were up at the cabin and there were two adults to help him out. He still have 1 rough day of the 3, but I'm pretty sure that is mainly stomach issue related. He also seems to sleep better when we are up there at night. I sometimes get 5 1/2 hours of sleep and he isn't sleeping with me! I don't get that much at home unless he is sleeping with me so I'm obviously not thrilled it doesn't work the same way at home.

Dusty and I got a night away without Max and had a fun time at Chris and Jill's wedding down in Red Wing this weekend. Naturally Max was spoiled because he stayed with my mom and my grandma helped her out. When we picked him up on Sunday he was wiped! Which was good because Dusty and I were pretty tired too from all the partying. Now I am looking forward to Katie and my babyshower tomorrow night. I swear, things just never seem to stop!

7/13/08

Well, I wish I could say that Max has remained the happy baby that he was at the cabin, but I can't. I guess when you don't have 15 people to one baby things just don't remain the same. We are working on his naps, as he keeps waking himself up and does not know how to self soothe back to sleep. Max and I are going up to the cabin today with Suzanne and hopefully with her help we can teach Max how to self soothe. Of course it is tough, since I never know if his stomach is what wakes him up or if he jerks himself awake, but I do know that by the afternoon he is overly tired and can't calm himself down to sleep. So the morning nap is my first goal, something that will help him sleep some and hopefully it will reduce the afternoon break downs he is known to have. Wish us luck!

7/08/08

Max, Dusty and I have had an excellent weekend at the lake! We put Max's feet in the water - he liked the water but he didn't like the cold. I got to tan and had a bunch of babysitters. I even got to drink for a day! Dusty returned home earlier than Max and I and went fishing with Carl. He called us up at the cabin because he caught a 44" musky. He is very proud! Max was excellent this week too. He was cooing and squealing a ton. I may have a happy baby now. I am going to be really upset if he was only a happy baby because of all the attention he got. He does have a round of shots tomorrow at the doctor's so I'll let him get away with being crabby tomorrow, but after that he better be happy!

6/30/08

I found child care! I'm so excited and relieved. I feel very comfortable with the place and I think Max will thrive there. Now I'm even more anxious to get back to work. It will be hard to leave Max, but I need my adult conversation and interaction again. Of course, that is still a month away. In the meantime we have our vacation to look forward to. We're heading up north for the 4th of July, which means I have a bunch of help while taking care of Max which will be awesome! I hope you have a great 4th of July!

6/23/08

We had a nice weekend up at my parent's lake house. Mom and I left Thursday afternoon. We watched Andrea sing the National Anthem at Country Splash first. Max was spoiled so he was happy. Well happier, he is still Mad Max after all. Dusty and Dad moved a bunch more furniture up to the lake house so we had a table to eat at along with the couch and beds which was nice. We all went up to Ino, WI for the Deer Tick races. After a 25 year hiatus they decided to bring it back. So Max got to meet the Grandpa he was named after while we watched everyone race their deer ticks in the Ino 200. We didn't get to stay very long though because Max can't use bug spray until he is 6 months old and since it takes place in the woods, we didn't hang out too late. I caught a bunch of fish with Dusty and my dad this weekend so I was happy. Plus I was able to get a little sun between the storms. I hope you had a good weekend too!

6/16/08

My weekend was interesting. Cecil's grad party was a lot of fun and Max got to show off to the family some more. Sunday Dusty spent most of Father's Day doing things at the farm. I wanted to go with but no one was going to be around to help take care of Max. There isn't much I can do to help out there while hauling Max around so that didn't work out. We all headed over to Katie and Andrew's for a Father's Day dinner. I was a bit of a basket case - crabby Max was getting to me. But at least there was family to distract me. I ended up having Dusty take care of Max from about 2am until he left for work, I didn't have any nerves left! Luckily that bit of sleep put me back to a good mood. Now I just have to try to help Max get into a better mood more often!

6/12/08

Max still needs to be held to fall asleep. I hate having him in bed with me. Of course, since he has been sleeping with me I have learned little tricks to get him to sleep a little longer, which also sucks because once I get him out of my bed, I won't have those tricks anymore! I am very excited for tonight, as it is Amy and Aaron's wedding. Max is going to be able to meet more of my friends, and I'm going to be able to catch up with a bunch of them. Hopefully he isn't a booger and cries. That wouldn't be fun. But at least I have Andrea to help me! This weekend should be fun too as we have Cecil's graduation party which means I have an abundance of babysitters on hand! I hope your weekend is fun!

6/9/08

It looks like the medicine is helping, Max is no longer screaming for hours. He still isn't a very happy baby, but at least now we have some happy times. I'm also trying to wean him off of needing to be held all the time. I feel like a terrible mother, but I can't hold him all the time and I want him to be able to sleep on his own without being held. I have started using a sock filled with rice that I heat up and that seems to be working a little bit. I'm also making him cry it out longer. After a certain amount of time I will pick him up, but every now and then he actually does calm down on his own. He has yet to fall asleep for more than 30 minutes this way, but hey, it's a start. Dusty took over Max duty from about 5am until 11am this weekend, giving him a bottle so that I could sleep a little longer and man, that has done wonders on my sanity!

6/3/08

Well we are on medicine number 2 for Max. The first meds didn't work and I'm pretty sure they were also giving him a diaper rash. We started the new meds last night. While I did get more sleep than I have been, I think it is because he had tired himself out and not because they have started working yet. He is still pretty upset today, but the meds should take a couple days to kick in and I am hoping that they will work. I am also cutting down the dairy in my diet. Apparently that can also upset the baby so I guess I have to up my calcium suppliments. I will not give up dairy products completely, at least not yet, as I like cheese and milk too much. Lets hope that dairy isn't the problem!

5/31/08

It has been an interesting week for us. Max had been getting crabbier and crabbier and after being up from midnight until 5:30am, I called the Dr's office. Max has acid reflux, which explains a lot of the quarky things he has been doing lately. We started some medicine and it seems to be working. It will take a couple days for it to fully work, but he already seems to be getting better. He is still crabby at night, but then again, what child doesn't get crabby at night? At least he is sleeping now. Mom is much happier when he sleeps, because then she gets sleep too!

Max got to experience his first parade today. Auntie Andrea was in the Split Pea Days Parade in Somerset, so Uncle Randy, 2nd cousin Adam and Mom took Max to go watch. He didn't seem to enjoy it all that much, he fell asleep before it started and didn't wake up even for the loud sirens. Of course, Mom had his ears covered so it probably wasn't that loud for him to wake up, just to startle him a little. But Auntie Andrea was happy to see him. Too bad he couldn't eat the candy then had because he probably would have walked away with a whole bag himself since he was such a hit with all the ladies!

5/26/08

Memorial weekend has definetly been memoral so far. Saturday I was able to show Max off to the crew out at the land. We only stayed for a little while and it was too cold to try mud wrestling again this year. One of these Memorial days it has to get nice again! Saturday was my day. Dusty agreed to watch Max for a full 24 hours so that I could do whatever I wanted to do. I was hoping to tan but the weather didn't cooperate there. Instead I scrubbed the house and did laundry. Surprisingly, that actually felt great to do! The bathroom and kitchen were really bothering me so to get a chance to really clean them was nice. I also got all the baby announcements finished and they will be going out in the mail on Tuesday. Later Saturday night, Max and I were enjoying a quiet moment together while he nursed and Dusty came storming into the house and told me to get us in the basement immediately. Luckily, the tornados never made it to our house, but we did get some huge hail! I have never seen hail so large. It was really cool. Although now we have to have the insurance company out to check the roof and the truck has hail damage. But at least everyone was safe, and Max was able to survive his first severe storm at less than 3 weeks old! This morning Dusty had to leave and head out to the farm because they got some damage out there and the greenhouses need to be fixed. Max and I decided to just hang out at home. I hope your Memorial Day is memoral too!

5/18/08

Happy Birthday to Uncle Jeff today! Max had an exciting day yesterday. We all went to the farm and Dusty and I helped tag the calves and move them and their moms over to the pasture while auntie Rosie watched Max. He was very spoiled that day with lots of attention. Naturally we didn't get any sleep that night. He didn't want to sleep, he just wanted to eat. So I'm a bit crabby today, but hopefully I'll get a nap in later to make up for some lost sleep time. He finally fell asleep for a few hours when we ran a few errands. I didn't have any diapers left! I wish he would fit into the cloth diapers already. I'm sure he will soon enough though!

5/14/08

Max is a week old today! He is doing really well and is gaining weight right on schedule. He is still too tiny for the cloth diapers, which was discovered after he leaked onto two outfits in one day. Talk about gross! I need him to chunk up a little more, but thankfully we did have disposables on hand also and are just using those for now. Hopefully in another week or two we can try them again and they'll work. It wasn't bad changing them or washing them, so I am really encouraged! He also is now able to sleep without being held! He needs to be put to sleep, but after that you can lay him in his crib or bassinet as long as you lay him on a special pillow that elevates his body. It appears he needs to be elevated to sleep comfortable, which is probably due to the fact that he was early, but at least now Mom can get sleep without feeling like she is going to smother her baby boy.

I also had a very special Mother's Day surprise. Mother's Day was a bit overwhelming for me, being that I was only a Mother for 4 days and quite sleep deprived. Dusty surprised me with a brand new wakeboard. It is purple and girly and I absolutely LOVE it! I attached a photo on the photos page along with Max's one week old picture. I was so excited, and he did an awesome job of picking it out. Now I have to try to match that for Father's Day. Thankfully I have some time to think about it.

5/10/08

If you haven't heard, Dusty and I were blessed on May 7th at 1:15pm with our baby boy, Maxwell John. He weighed in at 6 lbs 8 oz and was 18 3/4 inches long. He was a month early, but luckily he seems to be adjusting just fine. Now I just wish he would sleep without needing to be held, but that has not been the case. So night time is rather tough, but we're all still learning from each other.

5/6/08

I saw my midwife today and while nothing new has happened since my last visit, baby Cochran still appears to want to come earlier than my due date. Of course I want him to wait for about another week and a half so he is 37 weeks along but I can't really stop him if he wants to come earlier. Lets just hope for 37 weeks so I can have my water birth.

5/5/08

Feliz Cinco de Mayo! I had an exciting weekend. Friday I was in Winona to watch Tara's graduation from college, lame ceremony, but I don't find any ceremonies that exciting. Lunch afterwards was a lot of fun though. Later that evening I got most everything put away in the nursery. It isn't completely setup but just about everything has a place now. Saturday I ended up on another road trip as Dusty and I went up to my parent's lake house so he could do some last touch ups. We got home pretty late that evening and didn't do much. Sunday I had the MS Walk. It was a great day for the walk and I think we all had a good time. We didn't make the full 3 mile trek, but we went just over 2 miles so I was pretty happy with that. I had a bunch of errands to run afterwards anyway so getting back a little early really helped out! I spent most of the evening preparing meals and freezing them. I wanted to prepare some in advance so that if we have a hard time cooking we can just pop one of those in and have dinner ready. Andrea and Chris stopped by and we all sat out on the patio and talked for a while, it was a nice evening to sit outside!

5/1/08

Happy May Day! I got some very exciting news from the doctor yesterday, he believes that baby Cochran will be coming earlier than my due date based on a few different things. I am so excited! I have a lot of things I still need to get done and I obviously don't want him coming right now as I will be only 35 weeks on Friday, but I am so excited to hear that he may be showing us his face sooner rather than later!

Tomorrow Dusty and I will be journeying down to Winona to watch my sister, Tara, graduate from college. I'm so excited to see her. The graduation ceremony is a drag, but it will be exciting to be with her while she marks such a momentous occasion. Plus, Mom and Dad will take us out to lunch afterwards! I hope everyone has a great weekend!

4/28/08

It was a very fun weekend and baby Cochran was spoiled rotten! Julie's house was a lot of fun with the girls, playing games and just chatting. Saturday I didn't do a lot, it was cold and snowing so I finally packed up from Julie's and made it home to do nothing. Dusty rented Blood Diamond and Juno and we watched both of those and then watched Harry Potter on TV after that. It was a really nice lazy day. Sunday we had his family's baby shower. Once again, we were spoiled and had an excellent time. Dusty even came for some of the shower and I think he had a fun time. We got everything home and I started sorting through it all. There were a few duplicates, and even a couple triples of gifts so I wanted to get those out and also get all the tags off of the clothes and start washing them. I took a couple pictures of the nursery you can see on my photos page. There are a couple big gifts missing from the room as we haven't moved them in there yet. The floor space is currently taken up. I also washed all the clothes that were in the crib, only to find I missed a box of clothing! Arrgghh. But I am going to do a little more shopping this week since I will have to return some things, as mentioned above. I think we are going to be OK though. We got pretty much all the essentials, and more! We are so blessed to have such generous friends and family. Thank you to everyone!!!!!

4/25/08

It is going to be a busy weekend, and I get to be the center of attention again! Tonight I am off to Julie's for a baby shower with "the girls" along with a sleepover. I have a feeling I'll be laying around on Saturday. Sunday I have another baby shower with Dusty's family. I'm really excited to see everyone, it is always a lot of fun to go to showers because it is just a bunch of women and we certainly have some great conversations!

4/21/08

This weekend was fun. Rosemary and I had a good time Friday night just being bums. Saturday's bridal shower was a lot of fun, and Jill got a lot of nice gifts. Plus I got to see Chris too so that was exciting! Sunday Dusty and I painted the nursery, setup the crib and moved all the stuff I got from my first shower into the room. I haven't touched it yet though. I'm going to wait until after all the showers to wash clothes and sort everything out. It will be exciting! We also decided to go see a movie. I know, it was gorgeous out, and we should have been outside, but honestly. It isn't very easy to go for a walk when you are as large as I am right now. Bike riding is out, and just sitting around outside wasn't going to do it for me. We did take out the patio furniture, but after that we took off and saw "Forgetting Sarah Marshall". It was a good movie and a nice way to end the weekend together.

4/18/08

33 weeks today! I wish there was a countdown, but I don't want to deceive myself into believing I actually have a choice as to when the baby will come. I guess we just keep counting up knowing that 40 is the average. I have a busy weekend planned. Tonight I am heading out to pick up the paint for the nursery and Rosemary is staying over tonight. We are going to make food for the bridal shower on Saturday. Sunday Dusty and I will actually paint the nursery. Hopefully it all turns out OK, but we tend to do OK painting together!

4/14/08

I had an awesome weekend this weekend. Dusty did end up going to Duluth and Bano didn't do so well this weekend, but at least it is over now and they had a fun run of it! Friday night I went to Cecil's birthday party, then I met up with some friends at Acapulco's to watch the Wild win in Overtime. Saturday I ran errands with my mom and had dinner with my family (aunts, uncle, and cousins included) at General Sam's. Sunday was my baby shower with my family and that was so much fun. I got to see so many people and I always wish there was more time to talk to everyone! Dusty and I got a lot of great gifts and I am so thankful for such generous family and friends. It certainly is going to make things a lot easier when I have clothes, blankets, and other baby equipment instead of having to purchase it all! We really are blessed, thanks to all for a great Sunday! I was exhausted when I got home, so while Dusty did help me to unload everything, I didn't have the energy to show him all the gifts last night. I think we will just have to have show and tell tonight!

On a side note, I received some more donations to the MS Walk this weekend and I am so excited! I have almost reached my $500 goal. I wasn't sure what to expect with that goal and now it is so attainable I can't believe I was nervous. A big thank you to everyone that helped out and I promise to send an update after the walk in May!

4/11/08

Sleeping is still a difficulty for me, but the last couple nights have been a lot better. I even let Dusty sleep with me last night and it didn't go bad, so that was nice. Over this past week I have received two gifts in the mail and that is getting me really excited for my baby shower on Sunday with my family. It is going to be so nice to see everyone, plus we all know I love being the center of attention! Saturday night, a bunch of my family is going to be in town to hang out at General Sam's, where Andrea manages, so I'll even get to see some of the guys! Tonight I head over to the in-laws for Cecil's 18th birthday, so I'm going to have a busy weekend. I don't know what Dusty will be doing yet. He is supposed to go to Duluth for the final Hill-X race this weekend, but they are having blizzard conditions with power outages. So we are waiting to hear if they are going to cancel it or not. I hope he can go because he enjoys it, but I also hope he can stay so he can go to Cecil's birthday party and come out with my family Saturday night.

4/7/08

I am exhausted today. Dusty didn't get home until midnight last night from Hill-X, and I waited up for him so I could hear how his weekend went. He had a good time in the lodge with the boys, but I guess they got stuck leaving the ski hill from all the snow and it took them a really long time to get home because of the road conditions. My weekend was a lot of fun and I got to talk to and see a lot of people. Friday night I went to Katie's jewelry party and afterwards, Rosemary and I met Suzanne at Acapulco's. Saturday, Katie and I went to Chantel's candle party and then the two of us went to a bunch of different maternity stores. I only bought a pair of pants, but it was fun shopping with her. After that I met Amy at Applebee's for apps and we ended up staying there until 8:30 just catching up. Sunday I never got out of my pajamas, but I did get to talk to both Anna and Kelsey on the phone, so it was still an eventful day. Tonight, Dusty and I have the hospital tour, and after that I hope we just go home and do nothing and go to bed early. I could really use a nap!

3/31/08

I had an excellent weekend in Portage, WI watching Bano race in Hill-X. He did an excellent job too, so that made it even more fun! Dusty was up and out of the house by 4:30am on Saturday, and while I wish I could have slept in a little longer, I also had to be out of the house by 5:30am to catch my ride out there. Luckily, everyone was excited and not all that tired on Saturday during the races. After dinner and the press party we all went back to the hotel and went to bed, everyone was exhausted. Sunday morning, the boys went early since Bano had to be to the racer's meeting, and us girls hung back until we had to check out. I finally got to take a real ride in the golf cart with Dusty. I wish I could say I was safe, but that would be a lie. Lets just say, Dusty was careful and yet still made sure to get mud on me! The drive home was really quiet, but we were all tired by that point and ready to get home. I am really glad I went!

3/28/08

Becca and I met at MOA yesterday to watch Shutter. I'm not a big horror movie fan, but I am a HUGE Joshua Jackson fan. So I can't really say I liked the movie, but I did like watching Joshua so it wasn't a bad night. Plus, I got to see Becca and I was very happy about that. This weekend I get to watch Bano race in Hill-X so it will be an exciting weekend. I'll post more about that on Monday!

3/24/08

Happy Easter! Dusty and I spent most of Easter in the car, which isn't all that fun. We left at 9:30 Sunday morning with Andrea and Tara to drive up to Ashland. It turned into Ashley driving while Dusty, Andrea and Tara all slept in the car, I was pretty bored. We went to my Aunt Mary Kay's place for Easter and that was nice. My uncle Tom, Aunt Judy and Grandpa were all there along with my parents. We only got to stay for about 2.5 hours before we had to leave because we needed to stop in Hayward so Dusty could do some quick work at the lake house. Everyone got to our house at about 7pm and poor Tara still had to get back to my parent's house, load up her stuff and drive back home to Winona that night. But I guess that is the sacrifice you make to be with your family on Easter!

3/21/08

My cabinets are in and I am super excited about it. They look great and we even have open shelves with nothing on them now! It is unbelievable how much more storage we created by adding them, best investment on our house yet if you ask me. Dusty would probably argue that the second bathroom is, but then again he did do that himself. Another eventful weekend for me. Tonight I will be playing it lowkey but tomorrow I am off to Dusty's cousin's baby shower with Katie, Suzanne, and Rosemary. Sunday Dusty and I will be driving up to Ashland for the day to celebrate Easter with the family. I think Tara and Andrea will be with us also, so we should have a fun family drive. I hope your Easter is fun!

3/17/08

My weekend was eventful, but not overwhelming, which was really nice. Friday night Dusty and I went out to dinner and rented a movie, we hadn't done that in a long time so it was a nice date. Saturday I met my friend Jen and she helped me sort out a couple of the baby things I had questions on at Babies R Us, so I have finished my registering and just in time as Andrea mailed out invitations on Friday for my family baby shower. I also was working on invitations for Jill's bridal shower Saturday and was over at Katie's addressing and stamping those. April is going to be a busy month of showers for me! Sunday I joined Dusty on a drive up to my parent's lake house, he was up there installing light fixtures and other misc. things on Saturday and since he had to go back up I figured it was a good excuse to see how far along the house is and do a little reading. Naturally Dusty put me to work while I was there so I didn't get to read as much as I had planned, but the book I'm reading isn't that interesting so it all worked out.

3/14/08

I offically entered the third trimester today, and my body decided to wake me up three times during the night to celebrate by going to the bathroom. Man, am I lucky or what? Thankfully, it is Friday, which means I can just be a lazy bum again this weekend. Well, I have a few plans, but nothing that requires me to get up and out of bed early. Oh yeah, and I definetly developed the pregnancy waddle last night. I was so tired and it takes so much energy just to roll over my pillows and get up on my feet when I am half asleep that I just couldn't get myself to straiten up while I walked. Thankfully, no one was awake to watch because there I was hunched over and waddling with my legs apart to balance on the way to the bathroom. I hope you no one has to actually witness me walking like that!

3/10/08

We had a fun weekend, that ended in a bit of exhaustion. Friday night we went to Olive Garden with Bano and Jordan, the food was so good and we even had room to share dessert. Saturday night I went to Champps for Teresa's birthday and got to spend a little time with the girls, Dusty was with Bano for Sno X again and ended up getting sick on the way home. He spent the day Sunday on the couch, I made it over to his cousin John's birthday party to find out just about everybody was sick. Thankfully, I am still feeling fine and Dusty feels a lot better today.

3/7/08

I am exhausted today! It has been a really busy work week and as much as I hate to admit it, my head is just not completely there for me to keep up at times. I am really looking forward to having a low-key weekend. Well, I guess it isn't going to be too low-key, I am going to dinner tonight with Dusty and maybe Bano and Jordan, and tomorrow is Teresa's birthday party out, but I am just going to dinner with them and then coming back home. Going out to the nightclubs afterwards just doesn't sound all that fun to a woman that is 27 weeks pregnant. I hope you have a fun weekend and shake your bon-bon for me if you make it out to a nightclub.

3/4/08

Here is a funny email I sent to my parents and sisters that I thought I'd share:

3/3/08

Dusty and I both had fun weekends. Dusty was in northern MN helping Bano at Sno-X all weekend, playing pit crew with the boys. I did some work on the room that will be the nursery. Tara and Reb both came over on Friday night and hung out with me. Saturday I met Reb at her boyfriend's house and we took a 3 mile walk. It was a little cold, but nice. We saw a skunk, which was a little scary but still pretty cool. Sunday night I joined my in-laws for dinner to celebrate Ed's new job. The food was delicious as always. It was a rather lazy weekend which was nice since I was out late for work both Monday and Thursday night, and with water aerobics on Tuesday and the farm on Wednesday, it was nice to be home this weekend since I wasn't home pretty much all week. Still love my flowers! They aren't looking so good anymore, but they still smell nice.

2/25/08

I had an eventful weekend. I made three baby registries, one at Target, one at Babies R Us, and one at JCPennys. I know, who has 3 right? Well Dusty and I both liked the furniture and bedding sets at JCPennys, plus they had a really cute Farm animal bedding set that will have to do since I was never able to locate the first set I saw! I feel like a wierdo, first it is just wierd registering for gifts, basically telling people what to get you, and then secondly, I feel really picky because not only do I have 3 registries but I want cloth diapers that you have to buy online - or can rarely find in stores and the stroller I want hasn't been available at Babies R Us since I added it to my wishlist, but I did find it at Amazon and have sent that wish on to my mom. I swear, I am usually not this difficult, I mean for my wedding we just went hog wild at Target. Yes, we also had Marshal Field's, but that was only because some of the elders insisted we needed to be registered there. This time though, I have to be picky about my furniture, stroller, and diapers. As stated in previous blogs, I want All-In-One diapers which are hard to find in stores, the stoller I want has had excellent reviews and I need something sturdy enough to manage the rural roads I live on. As for JCPenny's, that might be a bit much since I could have easily chosen furniture from the other two stores, but JCPennys had the best stuff for our small room. We need a lot of storage space, and they had the best to offer for that. OK, I'll stop whining and defending myself!

I never did finish updating you on my weekend. Saturday afternoon I went to Chantel's surprise party and spent the evening with them. Sunday Dusty and I tried out a church in New Richmond. It was definintely not the church for us, but at least we tried it. Later that evening we went to Murisaki for dinner with both of our parents and Katie and Andrew. We were celebrating my birthday, but it was just a fun time in general!

2/22/08

I am very frustrated today. Last week, without even looking, I found this adorable barn yard animal type crib set and really liked it. Well since I just came across it I didn't think to write down what it was and now I have spent almost 4 hours trying to find it again. Of course I found a bunch of other cute farm animal type sets, but I really liked the first one I saw. If you know of any farm animal crib sets that has a pig on it, please let me know!

2/20/08

I did it, I joined Facebook. Although you shouldn't be able to find me unless we share friends, I put up the privacy really high. I really only joined so I could get the pictures I need from Becca. Which means that yes, my GA pictures are now up on the site. I know you are excited! I'm pretty sure Becca just said she couldn't send me the pictures so that I would join Facebook, but oh well. I guess if it is a way to keep in touch easier, I'm all for it. Of course, that does require me to keep up on checking on it, and I just don't know how much I am going to be checking it. Oh well, I guess I'm just joining the rest of society.

2/18/08

I am home and I am already missing Lisa and Becca and the warm days in Georgia. It was a really nice visit. It was around 70 degrees all weekend and while it was partly cloudy, it actually made it perfect for walking. I have pictures but I am waiting for Becca's pictures too before I add an album. Keep your eyes peeled for them! We didn't do anything extra exciting, outside of my birthday dinner where the staff brought over a drum and cymbals to bang while they sang to me. We did what us girls do best - eat out, walk, talk, and shop. Oh, and don't forget that we watched the occasional movie. It was a nice, relaxing vacation in Columbus, GA. While I was gone, Dusty got to go ice fishing with some of his uncles, cousins, brothers and his grandpa. He came home just about as exhausted as I did on Sunday, so we both laid low last evening. I wish it was as nice here as it was in Georgia!

2/11/08

OK, they have changed my due date back to June 6th. I'm going a little nuts, but in my midwife's defense, she had told me at every visit with her that she had not received confirmation from the OB/GYN that did my first ultrasound that he moved my due date up. So althought he did tell us he thought we were a week further along, I guess she finally tracked him down along with the OB/GYN that did our second ultrasound and they are all in agreement that 6/6/2008 is the baby's best estimated due date. Seems like a big hassle for 1 week of difference to me. Let's face it, baby Cochran is going to show up when he is ready, not based on a date the doctors list! Outside of that excitement, I am getting really excited to leave for GA on Wednesday. I'll share details and pictures when I get back!

2/8/08

Exciting news! Dusty's sister and her husband are expecting their first child, August 28th. That puts us 3 months apart almost exactly! I couldn't be more excited. Baby Cochran is going to have a cousin his age and there are going to be TWO babies at Christmas!

2/6/08

I found this link through Cyn's blog and wanted to share it with you. There is another family that is affected by FA and it is a brother and sister. They have made their birthday wish to raise $10,000, one dollar at a time. Can you spare a buck for this cause? If so, please go to this website and make a donation! http://www.firstgiving.com/1buck4fa

2/5/08

I just had a total freak out and thought I would share. I am 4 weeks away from being in my third trimester! Can you believe that? In 4 weeks I am going to be visiting the doctor every two weeks instead of once a month, and I still need to start looking for a church and start my baby registry. I can't wait to not be pregnant, but come on, I am almost into my third trimester?!?!

2/4/08

I finally got some sleep this weekend. I feel like I haven't gotten any sleep in weeks although it has really only been about a week. It was nice to just sleep until I wanted to this weekend. There were only two really exciting things that happened this weekend and honestly, they aren't really that exciting. The first would be that I finally got to have Acapulco's buffet breakfast. Dusty and I went there Sunday and it was even better than I expected. I wish I could have had a bloody mary because they had a bloody mary bar too! I ate so much food, it was great! The second exciting thing is that Dusty and I finally got to meet Jeremy and Andrea's baby girl, Ava. That was very exciting for us and as if seeing Ava wouldn't be exciting enough, Andrea has offered me a bunch of her baby things for when baby Cochran arrives. So while I won't be able to use girly clothes, I will be able to use a bunch of other baby things that Ava will have outgrown by the time baby Cochran is here. That was very exciting news for us!

2/1/08

It's February, the month of love and also my favorite day of the year, my birthday! Yay! And to start the month off right, I think I need to talk about my Dad. I got an email from him this morning that made me giggle and I thought I would share the story with you. On Monday, when I got to pay a visit to the hospital and get an IV, my dad was on a plane flying to London. He travels a lot for work, usually it is in the U.S. but he does get to other countries once in a while. Well this is the email that he sent to my sisters and me. "Didnt have time to shop so I thought I should send you an email. You can print it. Its almost the same as a gift from London. Love you, Dad". Doesn't that just make you grin? Naturally I forwarded it on to mom because I know she would get a laugh out of it too!

Also, Dusty felt the baby move yesterday. It is really light but at least he got to feel it!

1/30/08

I had one long weekend. Actually, my weekend was pretty normal with the company party on Saturday and a bunch of baking on Sunday. But Sunday evening I got sick and the next morning I had pretty much gotten rid of any food or beverage in my body. For those of you that have known me for a long time, you know that the minute I get sick I start begging people to take me to the hospital. For years I have always believed that going to the hospital meant feeling better. Why I associated this I don't know? I have never been to the hospital outside of being born and for a scheduled test when I was 5. Well let me tell you, being that this was my first visit to the hospital in a sick situation, I am a firm believer that if I say, "take me to the hospital" I know what I'm talking about. I got to get an IV with fluids to rehydrate me, but they also had some sort of anti-nausea stuff. While I left there still feeling sick, I didn't throw up again and the furniture stopped moving. And that to me is a successful visit! Don't worry, baby Cochran is doing fine and he hasn't stopped moving since Sunday. I know a lot of people find that exciting, personally, I have issues with body functions and it is really bugging me, but I guess I will have to learn to get used to it.

1/25/08

Wow, I hadn't realized it has been a while since I have wrote. On the plus side, there really hadn't been a lot going on, just the usual day-to-day business. Last night Dusty and I visited with Chris and Jen and got to meet their new baby girl, Abby. That was a lot of fun. Tonight I am going over to Reb's to hang out for a while. Saturday is my company party and Sunday I will probably just lay low. Maybe I'll finally get to start tackling the office/nursery but it will be tough because I need the cabinets to get put up in the kitchen. Hopefully he will have the drawings for me today as he promised. This is taking forever! Of course, if it wasn't I would have reorganized that room at least 5 times by now, I have issues.

1/14/08

I walked 4 laps at the Mall of America on Saturday with my mom for the Walk for Juvenile Diabetes. According to the mall website that is a little more than 2 miles! That is the best I have done for exercise since I got pregnant so I am really excited. Of course we probably walked more than that when you factor in our store visits, all the times we stopped at her company booth and everything else. I also took a couple breaks to sit but still, that is really exciting! Becca came over Saturday night and we caught up and watched movies and Sunday Dusty and I were really lazy. We played cards while watching football. It was a fun weekend!

1/18/08

I finally did it, I bought my first baby item! I actually decided to do the smart thing and start stocking up on diapers. But not just regular diapers, since most of you should know by now that I am using reusable/cloth diapers. I purchased 3 pairs of the most expensive type of cloth diaper out there. That's right folks, I spent $55.00 on 3, count them, 3 All In One diapers by Bumgenius. I have done a lot of research on cloth diapers, and while I plan to try most types, I know that the All In Ones are going to be the diapers that Dusty and any one else will be most comfortable using and Bumgenius has the best reviews. So I spent about $16.00 for one diaper, the rest of the money is shipping costs. I know what some of you are thinking, but in the long run, this is going to save Dusty and I a lot of money. Plus, I am not super picky about most things, so far there are only 2 things I am going to be picky about. One is that I have All In One cloth diapers on hand, and the second thing is going to be my stroller. I live in a rural area and I need a stroller that can manage on rough roads. So naturally I have done a lot of research on strollers and the stroller I have picked out is rather expensive. It is about $350 for the "Baby Jogger City Series Single Swivel Wheel Stroller". While I am not about to purchase my diapers used, I am actually hoping to find this stroller used in good condition so I don't have to pay as much. Oh well, I guess we'll wait to see what happens. Maybe I'll find something I like better?

1/17/08

It's a boy! Man did Dusty get nervous for a minute there. The doctor was explaining how there would be 3 lines if it is a girl and the baby was breech so it was really hard to tell. The doctor thought he saw 2 of the 3 lines but decided to do some other checks and come back to it. A while later the baby opened up his legs enough for the doctor to get a different view and verify that there were boy parts, not girl. (My poor little boy, he is going to be so embarrassed when he is older when he sees that I am talking about his manhood on my blog and even posted a picture of it!) But Dusty and I are very excited about having a baby boy! Lord knows my family needs some testosterone in it! Make sure you check out the pictures, and Gretchen, I'll work on getting another belly shot up there soon.

1/14/08

I had a great weekend! It started with Tom's benefit, which was a good time on Friday night. Saturday Dusty and I went to Grandpa's birthday/sledding party and then we went to PBR with Randy and Bano. Best story of the weekend happened there. One of the bulls head butted a horse and the horse started bucking and bucked off its rider! It was really cool to see, and the rider was able to stay on for quite some time too! So it was like seeing both a bull riding competition and a horse riding competition in one! Sunday I had lunch with friends from elementary school, Tanya and Mary Ann. It was realy nice to catch up with them! To top off my great weekend, I purchased my flight to visit Lisa in Georgia over my birthday. Becca and I are going to have such a fun time!

1/10/08

Celebrate good times, come on! Do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do, Yah-hoo! Pretty sure today is the start of 20 weeks of pregnancy, which means I have reached the halfway point and am on the downward slope. As you can tell, I am very excited. Have a great day!

1/7/08

I had an exciting weekend. Friday night I saw P.S. I Love You with Reb, Mel, Katie and Mike. The movie was good. It was a bit sappy, but there were some definite funny moments. Saturday I spent the day with Kelsey just catching up. Sunday afternoon Dusty and I went ice fishing. And don't worry, I caught the only Northern. I think he out fished me, but we weren't really counting. Tonight I am having dinner over at the in-laws. Tomorrow I start my prenatal water aerobics class! I'm really excited about that and hope it goes well. I hope your weekend was fun and you have a lot to look forward too!

1/4/08

Happy New Year! Ok, I'm 4 days late but I said it so lets move on. I started the New Year with one resolution in mind, to make more time for friends. I really have to learn to say no, it isn't like I am sitting around doing nothing, but at the same time I feel like I never get to see everyone I want to see. Well if you take a look at my calendar for this month you will realize that my resolution came true. But now I am running out of time again. You see, I realize that after I have the baby I'm not going to be able to do as much, go as many places, as freely as I do now. And lets face it, as much as my friends will want to see the baby, my family will be showing up a lot more. I'm not complaining, I love my family, it is just that I want to get some friend time in while I can. It is amazing how fast a month can fill up in just a couple weeks! I guess I'll just have to keep plugging away at that resolution and hope that more things open up.

12/28/07

Merry Christmas! Dusty and I are almost done with all the Christmas celebrations that we have. It has been a really busy week for us and I have to admit, we are getting a little burnt out. But it is so fun watching someone open your present and obviously we love bringing new things home too. I got a lot of clothes to help accomodate my growing bump, you can check it out in the photo gallery. I forgot my camera at a couple different Christmases this year, I don't know what my problem is! So I will add more photos to the Christmas photo album as I receive them from relatives. I hope your Christmas was fun. Now I get to look forward to New Year's!

12/21/07

The festivities begin tonight. Dusty and I won't be home for dinner until a week from today! While it is exhausting to be going to all the different places we go, we are looking forward to seeing our families for the holidays. Tonight we head over to Chantel and Ryan's for dinner. Luckily, that is just across the street so we aren't going to be far from home! I won't update this until after the Christmas holidays, so I hope you and your family have a great Christmas!

12/19/07

Dusty and I had another doctor's appointment yesterday. To start off the nurse couldn't find the baby's heartbeat and man was she looking! The wand on my stomach was getting shoved around and pushed into my stomach, it was not very fun. Then she left to have the doctor come in and look for it. Obviously that isn't something you want to hear but I wasn't that nervous. Dusty didn't like waiting for the doctor, but I was actually OK, as far as I was concerned our baby boy was fine and there was just some technicality getting in the way. The doctor came in and after looking for about a minute told me to go to the bathroom. When I got back the heartbeat was right there just as I suspected. So I have to make a mental note to go to the bathroom before my doctor's appointments, apparently your bladder can get in the way. After that exciting moment I also talked to the doctor about the acid reflux I have been having and guess what? I get to take another pill, and this one I take twice a day! I know, I am so lucky. All sarcasm aside, Dusty and I are very excited because our next visit will be another ultra sound. Not only will we get to see our baby again, he will be much more developed so we will get to confirm whether he has remained the boy we believe him to be, or if that bump ironed out and our poor little girl is going to have an identity crisis. Don't worry, I'll keep you posted!

12/17/07

I had a really lazy weekend and I can't remember the last time that happened. Dusty went out of town early Saturday morning. I stayed home and made Christmas cookies. I delivered a few of the cookies to the neighbors, but the majority of my day was spent on the couch watching movies and cuddling with Peanut since I was dog sitting. I watched 5 movies on Saturday! It was awesome. Sunday I did some reading, I went to General Sam's to watch the Packer game with my parents, Andrea, my great uncle and aunt and some of my dad's cousins. Afterwards, Andrea and I did some Christmas shopping. Which meant Andrea did some shopping and I said I'd put so much toward it as her Christmas gift. I think that worked out well. Dusty got home late and we talked for about 20 minutes before going to bed. I can't wait for him to finally be done with all the projects and night school he has going on. It is going to be such a relief to have him around again! Well I hope your weekend was enjoyable. Maybe you watched a few good movies too?

12/14/07

The good news is that I am able to pick up my car today. The bad news is that all the work isn't done. Apparently my tires weren't alligned and now I have to get 2 new tires. Well we just bought new tires and had them put on and alligned in October! So when we pick up my car I have to call the place we got our tires from and have them replace the bad tires and allign everything correctly. There were some other issues that have been fixed at the shop and luckily it was not too expensive. Obviously it is just another expense to add on for the holiday season, but at least it wasn't too much and I don't expect we will need to pay anything for the tire issue since they should be covered under warranty. Luckily, Uncle Jeff and Aunty Cyd were nice enough to let me borrow one of there vehicles while mine was being worked on. I know, I know, Dusty and I have a 3rd vehicle. The truck has a gigantic trailer hooked up to it currently and I was not able to unhook it to use the truck so that is why we borrowed a car. And I am very thankful to them for letting us use it.

12/12/07

My car is not behaving itself and I felt the need to share. It had started misbehaving 2 months ago, but it was sporadic. Then it started to get more serious and now today it has really ticked me off! For those of you that don't know, a car can only be good when it does what it is told. But my car has decided it will not do as it is told and now I have to take it into the shop. I hope it isn't too expensive because it is really not the best time of the year to be having car problems. Wish me luck!

12/10/07

It sounds like a few of you enjoyed my story from last week. I'm always happy to get responses and it is nice to say, no one has called me a hick for having my tree stand screwed into the floor! This weekend was pretty low-key. Dusty and I did some shopping on Friday night. I bought my first pair of maternity pants and let me tell you, they may be comfortable, but they sure are not pretty! I guess that is just how it is going to have to go from here on out. I'll just keep looking for cute, long maternity tops to cover up the ugly pants that I have to chose from. Saturday night I spent some time with my cousin Gwen. We watched my cousin Brooke's fashion show video which was really nice since I was not able to attend it in San Diego. Dusty helped butcher out at the farm. Sunday Dusty went ice fishing all day and I ran a couple errands and then just laid around at home. It was really nice, especially since it is so cold out lately. I hope your weekend was swell!

12/07/07

I have to share a sad but also funny story. Dusty and I got our Christmas tree and put it up. Naturally I did all the decorating as Dusty watched TV. The next day while Dusty and I were at work the tree fell over. It pulled the tree stand over with it. Water spilled on the presents and the floor, 6 of my precious moment ornaments broke, it was devastating. I got home first and called Dusty to warn him of what he was coming home to. I moved all the presents, pulled off all the ornaments I could reach and then left it because I was afraid to lift the tree up myself to have it fall over again and break more ornaments. Dusty got home and needless to say he was just as upset as I was. After he pulled the tree up he went outside, got his screwdriver and proceeded to screw the tree stand into our carpet and the floorboard below. I was laughing so hard I was afraid I was going to wet myself. So while I'm still upset about my broken ornaments and refuse to put them back up on the tree this year, I just look at the screws holding the tree down and laugh! That will be a memory to tell the grandkids.

12/03/07

What a snowy weekend! Yes, I did drive down to Winona on Saturday, and for the record the roads weren't that bad and everyone was driving safely. I did not see one car in the ditch the whole drive down there. I had a great time with Tara and enjoyed meeting a bunch of her sorority sisters. They were a fun bunch of girls! Sunday I returned home and instead of taking care of things at home, I just did the things I wanted to do and then sat around all evening. Dusty went ice fishing on Sunday so he came home in a chipper mood. I hope your weekend was well. I'm hoping to get our Christmas tree on Thursday, if not today. We'll see how our evenings pan out this week. Wish me luck!

11/30/07

This week has not been very exciting for Dusty or me. Dusty has either been working late or at night school most of the week, and I have been shopping almost everyday after work and then coming home to make dinner for myself and enough for lunch leftovers for Dusty and I. The only really exciting change is that since Wednesday I have not been able to fit into my clothes. I suddenly developed a growth in my stomach. And let me tell you, outside of the fact that trying to wear clothes that no longer fit is not attractive, trying to find clothes that do fit when you have gone up in size is not very exciting. I have been trying to buy maternity tops because I would like to be able to wear them for awhile and not just buy clothes that will only fit for a few weeks. The unfortunate part about this is that there is not a lot to choose from in the stores. Don't get me wrong, you can shop all you'd like online but for anyone that has either gained or lost weight, you know that just picking out a size isn't going to work. You have to adjust to your new body and find out what sizes work for it. Luckily, I have been able to borrow some pants that will fit me for a little while so I won't be spending a ton of money on maternity clothes right now. I still have Christmas shopping to do! After the holidays, hopefully I will have some gift certificates to spend and then I'll splurge, but right now my dollars are aimed towards gifts for family and friends, not my ever changing body. I am going to Winona tomorrow to see Tara, maybe I'll make her go shopping with me because right now I only have 3 long sleeve shirts and I am a freeze baby so I need more than that to stay warm over the winter. Wish me luck!

11/26/07

It has been a very exciting week and weekend. Wednesday night I went to see the movie Enchanted with Rosemount, Suzanne and Katie. After the awesome movie I hung out with Katie, Andrew and Jordy for a while. Thanksgiving morning Dusty and I sat around and watched TV until we got a phone call telling us to get out to the farm to chop wood before dinner. So we headed out there and proceeded to break the wood chopper. Yes, you read that right, after about the 12th log it broke, so I went inside and started grazing early. Dinner was delicious and the family is always entertaining. Friday Dusty and I had our first ultrasound. Everything looks good so far. It appears it is going to be a boy. We couldn't be more excited. But it is a little too early too tell, I'll get another ultrasound later on in the pregnancy and we'll see what that will show. We also moved my due date up to May 29th, which means possibly one less week of pregnancy, YIPPEE! Saturday was Uncle Jack's surprise birthday party in Turtle Lake which meant hanging out with more family and having a lot of fun with them. Sunday I went to Alicia's babyshower and hung out with Chantel and Ryan afterwards, Dusty was back at the farm seperating the calves. Like I said, it was a very exciting week and weekend. I'll post my ultrasound pictures once I get them scanned, so check out the photo gallery later today!

11/19/07

I had a fun weekend. Friday night Mom and I went to the maternity shop and I got a couple things to help make me a little more comfortable. Then Nicole, Lucas, Joy, and Tara joined us at home for some pizza and games. Tara and I left around 9:30 to go home since we were leaving for Ino, WI Saturday morning. Grandpa was excited to see us, which always makes the trip worth while. We got to see pretty much the whole family plus some since everyone tends to head up to Ino for the first weekend of deer opener. Dusty, Dad, Grandpa, and Uncle Tom all had a successful opener and had pretty much filled their tags by the weekend so Dusty may be coming home early. Hopefully he doesn't get any ideas and start working on the basement, I'd rather he go to the farm and help out there.

11/16/07

This week has been pretty mellow. We really didn't do a lot, just spent a lot of time on the couch after work. Which was nice, since Dusty leaves today to go hunting with my dad until Wednesday. I cannot wait to have the whole bed to myself! I haven't been sleeping very well and I think being alone in bed is going to help me get caught up. Tonight I am heading to my mom's to hang out with her, my aunt Joy, my cousins Nicole and Lucas, and Tara is coming up from Winona. Saturday afternoon Tara and I are heading up to Ino to spend some time with my grandpa and all the hunters and to get Sunday morning soup before we turn around and head home. It should be an interesting weekend!

11/13/07

Dusty spent most of the weekend at the farm helping out and I laid around and read. I also did some chores, but was mainly really lazy. Being pregnant is really exhausting! We did go to Katie and Andrew's for Andrew's birthday and that was fun. We also quick stopped by Stacey and Steve's hotel to say hi while they were in town from Boston. But I wasn't feeling very well so we didn't stay too long. Yesterday was two-tone's funeral. It was a beautiful service, but very sad. The one humorous event was that the funeral procession got lost on the way to the graveyard. We were not in the procession, they cut it off about 3 cars in front of us and we lost them in St. Paul. So when we got to the graveyard we thought we would be late but instead sat around for about half an hour until the procession showed up. While it is unfortunate that they got lost, it was nice to have a bit of humor on such a sad occasion. My heart goes out to his family.

11/09/07

Last night I took Dusty out to dinner at Acapulco's, we stopped at Walmart and bought "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry", played a game of air hockey in the arcade room and then went home and watched the movie. It was a good way to get Dusty's mind off of Two-Tone for a while and got us out of the house on our date night. Tonight I am going to Lenny's candle party and he is going with Bano to some sportsman show. I'm sure Dusty will be at the farm all weekend helping and my plans are pretty low key. We have Andrew's birthday party on Saturday night, but other than that I am playing it by ear all weekend. I have been fighting a cold so maybe I will just lay around and read all weekend. I hope your weekend is fun!

11/08/07

A good friend of Dusty's, Tommy (two-tone), passed away yesterday. Please keep his wife, Kim, and their two young children, Marlena and Vincent, in your thoughts and prayers.

11/05/07

If you are reading this and have not heard by now, Dusty and I are expecting a baby with its due date at June 5th for now. Of course that will probably change some but that is where it is at. We are very excited. Friday night with the girls and Chucky at Brat Pack Radio was a lot of fun, even with one unnamed person throwing up in the car. I wasn't able to take pictures though, my camera is broken apparently so I have to take it in to get fixed. Saturday night with the aunts and cousins was a lot of fun, especially since they all had just found out and had their own stories to share. It is a lot easier to hang out with family when you aren't keeping a big secret inside. Sunday Dusty and I attempted to fish but that didn't work out so well so we took a walk in the woods and Dusty taught me how to look for deer and how to tell if it is a big or little buck. We did see one little buck later that day. I was tired when we got home though and barely got off of the couch the rest of the evening. Well have a good week!

11/02/07

Last night was so much fun. I love having the family over for dinner, especially when I just order pizza and don't have to make anything! Dusty got some pretty funny cards and Katie and Andrew had some interesting news to share. We all had a great time. Tonight is Brat Pack Radio and I am ecstatic to hang out with everyone and celebrate 80's style. I still haven't figured out what I am going to wear! I know that is such a girly thing to say, but I want to wear something that sort of brings back the 80’s style without going overboard. Saturday night I head over to the Hudak’s for girls night. I am very excited about potstickers. Because of these plans I can’t make Amy and Aaron’s engagement party but I hope they have a great time!

11/01/07

Happy Birthday Dusty!

10/29/07

My weekend was excellent. Friday night I had a fun time being with Reb and Teresa and some of their friends. The ball was not nearly as fun as it was last year, but we left early and stayed up talking and were up early talking again which is always nice. When I got home Saturday, Dusty and I did a bunch of yard work and afterwards we laid around and watched a movie. It was one of the first times in a long time we had a Saturday night to ourselves and no plans for early Sunday morning. On Sunday we ran a few errands, but were otherwise really lazy at home. We didn't do all the cleaning we planned to do so now we have to do it this week before the festivites, but I did do about 8 loads of laundry and since that was sitting all over the family room it would have been pretty tough to clean. Oh well, I guess I just have more things to do later this week!

10/26/07

I love Fridays. Tonight I am going to the Exotic, Errotic Ball with Reb and some other girls. If you remember last year, Reb and I went as Kevin Federline and Britney Spears. Yes, I think we are the reason they got divorced! Last night Dusty and I had an excellent time at my co-worker's, Chris, house. Dusty moved a phone line for them and the his wife, Jen, made lasgana. We all, along with another co-worker, ate like kings for the evening. It was really good. I don't have any other plans for the weekend and that is good because I have to do a lot of cleaning to prepare for Dusty's birthday party next Thursday and then having the girls over Friday. I am hoping to get my Christmas cards ordered and get the groceries for this coming week, but I may also just sit around at home and do nothing. It is that time of year! I hope you get to be lazy too.

10/22/07

Happy Birthday to Rosemount today! I had an excellent weekend, for starters I never cooked a things. I came home from the birthday party last night and found my house cleaned and organized by my loving husband, and he even cleaned the bathrooms! Saturday night's dinner with some of the Knapp family was a lot of fun and the kids are just adorable! Sunday's party for Rosemary was a good time as all my in-law's partys tend to be. I was really exhausted last night though and left a little early. I had been at Katie's since 8:30 painting and then strait to the party so a little couch time was definetly needed. Luckily this week will remain pretty low-key which will help me re-energize for the weekend. I hope your weekend was fun!

10/19/07

This week has gone by both slow and fast. I know that doesn't make a lot of sense, but at times it seems to have crawled and at the same time I can't believe it is Friday already. Tonight I will be going to our other office for a pizza party after work and then I will head home to do laundry and be lazy. Saturday, Dusty and I will pick up Randy and Katie and are heading down to Liz and Brian's place for dinner. Sunday I will be heading back over to Katie's to help paint the lower level of her house and then we all head over to my in-laws for Rosemount's birthday. So it should be a rather busy weekend and the nice thing is that I don't have to cook dinner at all this weekend! I know you are jealous. Nicole and Lucas's play was really cute. I put a picture up of them in their costume for you to check out.

10/15/07

Dusty and I had fun in the beginning of the weekend but it didn't end nearly as well. Friday night we went to Forest Lake and watched Johnny play. They didn't win, but it was a close game until the end. Johnny played a lot so I got to yell which made me happy! Saturday Dusty went to help at the farm and I did a bunch of little chores around the house that I hadn't been able to get to with how busy the summer has been. Afterwards I drove to Big Lake, MN and visited with Gretchen. It was nice to see her and Tim's place, meet a few of the neighbors and just hang out. I left kinda early though since it is like an hour and a half drive for me. Sunday started out OK. Dusty wasn't feeling very good when he woke up but he made us pancakes for breakfast and then I went back to bed to take a little nap because I was really tired. When I woke up, both Dusty and I were sick and we didn't do much except watch TV. Dusty made dinner but I couldn't eat so I guess we'll be reheating it up for dinner tonight. Luckily, we both are feeling better today.

10/12/07

Have I mentioned that wedding season is over and that I am psyched?!?! I have so few plans this weekend it is absolutely amazing. Tonight Dusty and I are going to watch Johnny play his last home game for the season with the Forest Lake Ranger's football team. Tomorrow I am heading up to Big Lake, MN to visit with Gretchen, and Sunday Kelsey and I are going to try to get together to gossip in person since we've only been able to do it on the phone with how busy it has been. I am really looking forward to this weekend! I hope you are going to have an excellent weekend also!

10/8/07

Lisa's wedding was as fun as I expected. The girls and I had a great time hanging out and Lisa looked amazing. I have posted some pictures. I am really tired today from all the running around. We didn't get to crash any homecoming festivities, but that is OK. We were there for the wedding, not homecoming and I was way too tired on Saturday night to do anything after the wedding. We were up at 5:15am that morning to run down to the bridal shop for some last minute alterations so it was a really long day and we all were exhausted. The gift opening started at 9am which was really early! But we made our appearance, watched them open gifts and then Dusty and I left Chuck and Erica asleep in bed because we wanted to go home and lay around doing nothing. I hope your weekend was good. Wedding season is finally over for us!!!

10/1/07

Bob and Amanda's wedding was a blast. It was so nice to see everyone. I wish I would have taken some pictures but I just never got around to it. I know, that is bad, but I was talking so much otherwise drinking water to help with my dry throat from talking. Sunday I slept while Dusty watched the Viking/Packer game. We pretty much laid around all night. It was very nice. Today I head off to see Dr. Powell and get my teeth cleaned. Get ready for a pearly clean smile!

9/28/07

Last night, Katie and Andrew took Dusty and I out to dinner at Murisaki! I know you are jealous. We had the best chef yet, he kept setting things on fire on purpose and all sorts of funny props. There was a doll that peed on the fire to put it out, it was so funny! Wednesday night we watched Knocked Up after dinner at the farm. And now today, they are moving out. While I am excited for them and for me to get my house back to myself. I am going to miss having them around. Don't worry, I let Bella lay on the couch with me for a while this morning, just so she remembers how much she likes being with me. Tomorrow is Bobby and Amanda's wedding which should be a lot of fun. Other than that, I am hoping to keep things low key and relax. It has been a busy couple of months and I could use a lazy weekend. We'll see what happens.

9/24/07

Lisa's bachlorette weekend at Becca's was a lot of fun. The Twins game wasnt' very exciting, but we did help some little kids start the wave and it went around 3 times. That was pretty exciting! We played a bunch of games, watched My Best Friend's wedding and just caught up with each other. After I left Becca's I swung over to my grandmom's to say hello. I haven't seen her in a few months now and I'm glad I got to stop by. Naturally she still spoils me. I got dill pickle chips, a head of cabbage to take home, the leftover rotissary chicken, and a bouquet of flowers. Gotta love Grandmas! Dusty had a fun weekend. He took Bella up to Chad's family's cabin Friday night and they played and swam. Saturday he was at Bano's parent's for a chili cookoff and ate WAY too much chili. I'm glad I wasn't home because Katie said he was a ticking time bomb from all the chili. Sunday night he grilled dinner for all four of us and we sat around and watched TV the rest of the night. I hope your weekend was eventful too!

9/21/07

This week has been rough. I have been sick with a cold that had me in and out of the office for part of the week. It wasn't easy being home while dog sitting, but Bella seems to have understood that I was sick because she was really good. I have a feeling she is not going to sleep well tonight since her mom and dad get home from Vegas and will be loving her up. I only got 2 phone calls to check up on her, and they are on their honeymoon! I leave tonight to hang out with Becca, Erica, and Lisa for Lisa's bachlorette party. It will be a nice weekend of hanging out and relaxation. I hope you have a fun weekend!

9/17/07

Happy 2 year anniversary for Dusty and I today! Check out the new photo album from Katie and Andrew's wedding on Saturday. There was a lot of fun to be had and I hope you enjoy looking at all the pictures. I'd write more but I am exhausted and I would rather get these pictures up as quick as possible since there is a lot of family looking forwarding to seeing them.

9/13/07

I am taking the day off tomorrow to get ready for the wedding so I wanted to write today. I actually am not feeling very well and left early yesterday and depending on how things go today I may leave early again today. I hate not feeling well, and it makes it worse when it is before a big event, like your in-laws wedding! Either way, I am really excited for this weekend. We start tonight with drinks and apps at Gails. Tomorrow is our nail appointment and the rehersal and groom's dinner. Saturday is obviously the wedding and Sunday we open gifts. The other best part? I get to get dolled up, but I don't have to entertain as much since it isn't my wedding and I am not the center of attention. I know Katie is going to look gorgeous and Andrew is going to charm. Pray for nice weather!

9/10/07

We had a very exciting weekend with Katie's personal shower/bachlorette party. Katie and I started out bright and early with some errands for little things that still needed to be done for the wedding. I had a very fun time running around with her for that, but I am glad that I am over and done with my wedding so I wasn't the one freaking out. Lunch and Paint Your Own Potter with Rosemount and Elly was a fun time. Little girls can be so cute! Dusty is going to love our new tile that says AC/DC! Sticks restaurant was really good and to get VIP seating at Acme comedy club for making our reservations with Sticks was very much worth it. The food was excellent and the show was very entertaining. I hope I get to do that again sometime soon. My feet are very upset with me for all the dancing and walking I did in my shoes that night, but we had a great time. Sunday was just a lazy day for sitting around and watching movies, but we did get motivated enough to do some cleaning and make dinner so at least I was somewhat successful at not completely wasting the day away. I hope your weekend was fun!

9/7/07

This 4 day week went by nice and fast. Dusty and I got our new laptop and that is really exciting. It is a pain in the butt to get everything transferred over and setup but it is running beautifully. Tonight I head back over to the in-laws for dinner for Suzanne's birthday. Tomorrow is Katie's bachlorette party so we will be up early getting ready for that and then it starts at 11:30 and goes until Sunday morning. Sunday when I get home I am relaxing. Dusty and I are going to spend a little time together and we are going to have stuffed peppers for dinner, complements of my cooking. So hopefully I won't be too tired from the previous day's activities. Don't worry, I'll have pictures to post in a while!

9/4/07

I love the St. Croix river! I spent all day out there with Katie and Andrew. Andrew's family eventually made it out with us and Dusty came fishing that evening; it was just a great day. I even got to do some end of season wakeboarding and man am I sore today, but it was so worth it! Andrew definetly out fished everyone in the evening, and he wasn't shy at admitting it! Other than Monday being on the river, Friday I was with Katie and Rosemount and we watched Grease 2. Saturday I was a bum at home for most of the day, I went to the Farmer's Market then got home and tanned and Katie brought Rosemount over to watch some Newly Weds. Sunday I was a real bum and didn't go anywhere all afternoon, just did laundry and napped, but I did make it over to the in-laws for some dinner. It was such a nice, peaceful weekend, which is exactly what I needed with all the busy weekends ahead of me. Tonight I am heading out to dinner with Kelsey so let the party ensue!

8/31/07

I am exhausted today. Yesterday, Becca, Erica and I made the drive down to Easton, MN for our bridesmaid dress fittings and alterations. We took a wrong turn (actually, we didn't turn where we were supposed to) and ended up a bit out of our way which made for even more driving! I had a great time with the girls so I'm not complaining, but I was so tired that I decided to stop and stay at my parent's last night instead of continuing on my way home. I'm glad I did because I was really tired. Wednesday was my final fitting for my bridesmaid dress for Katie's wedding and that went well so I was happy with that. Tonight I am hanging out with both Katie and Rosemount and maybe heading out to a St. Paul Saint's game. Of course this depends on if they won yesterday in the playoffs and as I stated before, I was no where near St. Paul to hear if they did or not last night. The rest of my weekend is going to be really low key and I'm very happy for that as I could use a calm, go with the flow weekend. I hope you have a great weekend also!

8/27/07

I had a great weekend! I ate like a queen at the fair with Dusty, Tara, Mom, Dad, and Andrea. We had cheese on a stick, pickle on a stick, hotdish on a stick, sloppy Joe's on a stick, fried fruit on a stick, australian potatoes, jalapeno poppers and salt water taffy. Don't worry, we were sharing so it really wasn't all that much food!

We got up early to leave by 11 for Josh and Hallie's wedding. That was a ton of fun! I love hanging out with my cousins, and we were dancing the night away. We stopped at a bar after the wedding and ordered a bunch of pizzas and just sat around talking, it was a really nice time! Sunday I just laid around. Caught up on some laundry and Katie and Andrew and I went for a walk after dinner. It was a nice, quiet evening to end a very busy weekend!

8/24/07

Well this week was pretty quiet for me. Katie and Andrew were gone most nights as was Dusty. Last night Katie made a delicious chicken dinner and we popped popcorn and watched movies. Tonight Dusty and I are going to the fair with Tara and meeting up with my parents. Andrea might even make it out. I might have to make it to the carnival rides with my sisters and mom for old times sake. We'll see. We leave for St. Cloud for Josh's wedding Saturday morning and dancing will be how we end that night, I'm sure! Sunday will be for recooperating. Wednesday and Thursday I have two visits to alteration shops for both of my bridesmaid dresses. Thursday though, I have to go to a tiny town outside of Mankato, so that is going to leave me very tired. But at least next weekend is Labor Day weekend and I'll have an extra day to catch up on my sleep. Well I hope you have a good weekend. I can't wait to post my pictures from Josh's wedding!

8/20/07

This weekend was life changing. Why is that you say? Because I gained two new roommates and a dog for a while. Yup, Andrew and Katie moved into our house yesterday and will be staying with us until they find a house. Now I have people to play games with! We invited them to stay with us Saturday night while at their couple's shower. They have to be out of their house by Thursday, but obviously did the major moving on Sunday and since their bed is at our house it makes more sense for them to stay there.

My Sunday was really busy as I was on baby tour. Nathan was not able to go to the Abilities Expo because he was watching Olivia, so I went over there to go see her and hang out with his family for a little while. Then I went over to Kelsey's to meet her new nephew, Blake. Finally I did a little shopping before returning home to relax before helping Katie and Andrew move in. Our Friday night was a lot of fun at Chad's cabin also. It was really nice to hang out with couples, we don't do that all that often. I hope your weekend was fun and maybe also life changing!

8/17/07

Loaner cars are not as cool as you'd think. I went to drop my car off and get a loaner car on Wednesday after work. The only car they had left was a Buick with 250,000 miles on it and the air conditioning didn't work. They told me that they would call me Thursday when a different loaner car came in and I was fine with that. Well they didn't tell me they were going to give me the car with only a quarter a tank of gas in it! Plus, the driver side window didn't open. So not only was their not any air, but I couldn't get any wind on my face because the window wouldn't open. I called them at 8am on Thursday to remind them to call me and the guy said that they had a car dropped off early this morning that I could come get. So I drove back to the repair shop and got a PT Cruiser. Much better on the mileage and the air works but I couldn't figure out how to put the windows up and down. It took a lot longer then I am going to admit to figure it out. But seriously, who would think to look in the middle of the dash for the window buttons? Not me, that is for sure! Also, the stereo turns on and off about every 4-5 minutes so it is really annoying listening to the morning show and having it click on and off on me. Luckily he thought my car would be ready later today. If it isn't ready before I leave work I'll have to pick it up Monday because my weekend is not getting me anywhere near the repair shop.

Tonight we head out to Chad's cabin to spend some time with Dusty's coworker and friends. I've never met any of them before, but I'm sure they are going to be a lot of fun as I have heard stories. We return later Saturday to go to the barbeque (couples bridal shower) with Andrew's family. Sunday I am hoping to tan if it is nice, if it isn't I am going to get Nathan out to the Minneapolis Convention Center so I can push him around the Abilities Expo and raise some money for the Ataxia Foundation. Actually, I just want to push his wheel chair onto all the displays that say "Do Not Enter" and find a t-shirt that says "Disabled and Proud". Don't worry, I'm not that mean, Nathan knows my plan and is all for it!

8/15/07

The day has gotten significantly better. My email is up and fixed. Comcast did a great job! The insurance broker came out and has called the auto body repair shop to let them know that I'm coming and to have them take care of all paperwork involved. Plus I will be getting a rental car when I drop my car off so I plan to do that today after work. I will be in a much better mood at the farm for dinner today now!

8/15/07

Talk about frustrating! My email is gone, all gone. Everything! My mail folders, my old mail messages, my new mail messages. I opened it up this morning and all I had were 2 new email messages. I knew that wasn't right so I closed out of it and contacted Comcast via email. Then I went back in to open it and the 2 new messages were gone! I hope this gets resolved quickly, I am obviously very dependant on email.

8/13/07

I am tired today. Friday I slept terribly with the storm. I got Dusty up out of bed when the sirens started going off and didn't sleep well after that. Saturday we were up and I went to the Farmer's market and the bank before returning home to find Bella, Dusty and Ed busy working on our landscaping. Needless to say, Dusty and I were exhausted by the end of the night. Bella got both of us up during the night to use the bathroom and finally at 6:00 I got up with Bella and played some catch in the yard. Eventually I just tied her up outside because that is exactly what she wanted to do, be outside. I joined her out on the patio for a little while to sunbathe. Andrew and Katie came to pick her up and I dropped Dusty off with Bano on my way into town to meet Erica for lunch. We had a nice time and I'm glad I got to see her. Luckily I will be seeing her again shortly as we have fittings for our dresses and then the wedding! I hung out with my parents for a while, said hello to the Kochs because they were in town and then picked up Dusty from working on the golf cart with Bano and we both crashed before 9pm last night. I know, we live such a glamorous life.

On a side note, an adjuster is supposed to come by and look at my car between today and Wednesday to assess the damage and either cut me a check or if there is too much damage I think there is a different step I have to take. Either way, we are making progress!

8/10/07

Another busy weekend for Dusty and I. Tomorrow Dusty is dropping me off at the Farmer's Market and loading up on rocks at the farm. His brothers are going to help him get some landscaping done at our house while I help Jeff sell veggies. Katie and Andrew are dropping Bella off for the evening as they head to a wedding. Sunday they are picking Bella up and I am meeting up with Erica as she will be in Woodbury babysitting her cousins. My weekends are going to be booked like this until October 6th. The auto insurance claims adjuster has not called me back but from my understanding he has until the end of 2 business days which means it may not be until later today? Maybe Monday depending if they counted yesterday or not. Hopefully they will get back to me though, I want to get things rolling!

8/9/07

Dusty picked up the policy report yesterday afternoon for my car. It took him to 3 different offices and a bunch of different people before he finally found the right person in the right office to get the police report. I don't feel so bad anymore about wanting to file a claim with her insurance to get my car fixed. I assumed that she called in the accident as I stated in my blog below. According to the police report, an officer witnessed the accident and the driver didn't even know she had hit my car. So now I have the officer to thank for being observant because my bumper is scratched up and my side panel is dented in and I want them fixed. I called the insurance company of the woman that hit my car and the whole process has begun to get my vehicle fixed. Yes, I'm sure this isn't nearly as interesting for those of you who have been through this before, but I have never been in an accident so this is a first for me. It seems easy enough, but that is partially because it was a parking accident and there are no injuries. Thank god for that! Oh well, on with the rest of my day. I'll keep you informed on the interesting works of insurance companies and auto accidents.

8/6/07

I don't know why my photos aren't working, I'm sorry, I'll have to work on it at a different time though. Work is really busy as I wasn't in the office for most of the week last week and was working at our booth at the fair. This weekend was busy also. Friday night we headed out to Sal's with Randy, Bano and Jordan. It was fun to see Lou at karaokee but we only stayed for a few hours. Saturday I went to market with Jeff again, and someone hit my car while trying to park. They actually reported it and I found a police officer's card on my car telling me about it and who to call, so that was cool. You can't say there are many people that would report it. It isn't major though. Then Kelsey came over and we talked all evening. It was really nice. Dusty was out helping Bano work on their golf cart, they are both really excited as that was all they would talk about Friday night. Sunday was Dusty's family picnic and we were at Lake Elmo Park Reserve for that all day. That is about it. I have to get back to work now. Sorry for the short entry!

7/31/07

Finally, I got the software I needed so I could update my blog and photos! It has been a really busy couple of days. Wednesday last week we decided not to eat outside at the farm and went to Sal's for dinner. That was a hoot with Nathan, Katie, Andrew, Jeff, Cyd, Dusty and I all having a good time. I ate more than my fair share of the all you can eat Walleye. Man was I a pig! I decided to take Friday off to clean for Dusty's party and spent all day cleaning. I finally took a shower and got ready around 2pm to leave for Savage to have a party at Becca's place. It was nice too see her and catch up with her and her family. I just wish I wouldn't have been so tired, I felt like a giant blob that night. Saturday I was up before 6am to get donuts and OJ for the boys that came over to poor the concrete for our patio behind the garage. I stayed for a little while then left to run errands and help Andrew and Jeff at the Farmer's Market in Stillwater. After that I helped Reb and Josh clean their house, then did some landscaping around the patio with Dusty. It was 8:30 by the time we finished showering and everything and all I ate all day was a handfull of stale Fritos. It was busy! Sunday we were up early again getting ready to finish the patio and get ready for the party. Thankfully Cecil and Randy came over so it went faster. Needless to say, I was tired by the end of Sunday. But the party was a sucess, so I was very happy!

7/23/07

First I want to start by thanking the kind man at Sam's Club that mailed me my zip drive. It was apparently in the parking lot there and he found it and mailed it. Suprisingly I got it on Friday when I got home, the day I realized it was missing. As I told him in my thank you card, God works in mysterious ways. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I slept great last night, but I am still really tired. Firday night I laid low, paid the bills and worked on some of the food for Katie's bridal shower. Saturday I helped Uncle Jeff out at the farmer's market in Stillwater, and then went home to read Harry Potter. I didn't get to bed until 3am because that is when I finished the book. I couldn't put it down, it was so good, plus I wanted the closure that reading the last book can only give you. Sunday was the bridal shower for Katie. That was a lot of fun as we got to catch up with family but since I was one of the hostesses I didn't get to sit around and talk as much as they did. I wanted to head out to watch fireworks in Stillwater, but couldn't find anyone to go with me. I guess that is a good thing because by 8:30 I realized how tired I really was and went to bed at 8:45. I know, I'm a dork, but I was exhausted. Next week is Dusty's party so I'm sure I'll be really busy this week getting the house setup. Wish me luck!

7/20/07

I am in the middle of a crisis. I can't find my zip drive. Luckily I don't keep sensitive information on it since I always have it in my purse, but that is just my problem, it is not in my purse. The last time I used it was to generate addresses for Katie's shower and update them so hopefully it is sitting somewhere at home and I'll find it. I really hate losing things, especially when it is something I have on hand just because of its convenience and importance to me. Plus Pete gave it to me! Oh the agony.

7/16/07

Happy 21st Birthday Tara! I'm heading down to Winona tonight to celebrate with my baby sister. This weekend was as busy as I thought it was going to be, but I got a lot of things done on Sunday that I wanted to do so that went really well. The parade was fun but I was exhausted when I got home and pretty much crashed until about 8am on Saturday. Ashley's baby shower, Curt and Gail's zero party, and Bano's house warming party were all a good time. Sunday I did chores around the house, washed my car, finally made my wedding album with all the pictures friends and family took and just picked up. I needed to get my room a little more orderly since I plan to paint it on Tuesday with my mother-in-law and pack to leave for Winona tonight right after work. I really didn't do all that much, but the few things I did do took up quite a bit of time and before I knew it Dusty was home, we had dinner, watched a movie and went to bed. Now on to another week and another set of parties to look forward too. Friday night and Saturday morning I have to prepare for Katie's bridal shower so that when my Harry Potter book comes I can just sit down and read it all day. Yup, I'm a fanatic.

7/13/07

It is going to be busy for a while. Monday my car wouldn't start and I had to take the truck to work, I had dinner at General Sam's with Reb and Dusty which was nice. I love going out with friends. Tuesday Dusty and I both went to the chiropractor and then put a new battery in my car. Wednesday I had my allergy shot, but when I got there the nurses told me that I don't have any serum and they are waiting for the new shipment, so that was a complete waste of time. Thursday I volunteered to server beer at the beer tent for River Falls Days. Tonight I will be in the parade as I am the parade coordinator for PressEnter. Saturday I have Ashley's babyshower, Curt and Gails seafood extravaganza, and Bano's house warming party. Sunday I will have a day off but it will probably be spent doing laundry and chores around the house since Monday I leave after work for Winona since it is Tara's 21st Birthday! Tuesday I will be home, painting my bedroom. I hope things settle down for a while after that, I'm already exhausted!

7/9/07

I'm home! The cabin was a lot of fun, I always enjoy hanging out with the in-laws and working on my tan. Of course, I got eaten alive by bugs, with over 15 bug bites on my right foot and ankle alone! My allergies were acting up on Saturday and I got a really bad raw eye that apparently made me look like I had a black eye. But on the positive notes, I have a tan, I got to wakeboard a lot, the family was a riot as always, and what more can I ask for? I hope your Fourth of July was fun!

6/29/07

I am one day away from a much needed, week long vacation. This week was pretty normal with planning for the trip to the cabin the highest priority on the list. Tonight we are going to go watch Randy and the Hudson Rats take on Andrew and the Osceola something-or-others in Osceola. It should be a fun game to watch! I'll have lots of pictures from both the game and the 4th of July vacation so be prepared!

6/25/07

I know, it has been awhile, but there hasn't been much to report on. Dusty got back from his fishing trip on Wednesday. It was really windy so they had a hard time fishing. I was home sick, which is never fun, but I obviously needed the rest because I was feeling better Thursday. Friday night I hung out at home and Dusty went fishing with Carl. Saturday Dusty was in Anoka for a two-day crash course before he goes for his journeyman's test. I went to Roseville for Reb's birthday pool party with Kelsey. We had a fun time gossiping and I was exhausted when I got home from all the sun. Sunday I went over to Reb and Josh's house to tidy up before their showing...lets just say it took longer than I thought it would. Obviously that doesn't reflect on Reb since she isn't living there, but luckily I did go over there early. Then I went to Target to run some errands, overbaked some banana muffins, and sat around. I really didn't want to go outside since I got so much sun yesterday. So it was a nice lazy day. I hope your weekend was fun.

6/18/07

I am exhausted this morning! Friday night Dusty and I headed over to Gayle's house for dinner and entertainment. Don is visiting from Miami, so you know it was a good night. But we left early enough for me to do some laundry for Dusty. Saturday we had Ed's graduation party. It was a blast and always fun to see the family. Especially since it is so big and we don't get to see everyone all the time. Dusty left for his fishing trip with his brothers, cousins and uncles bright and early Sunday. I headed up to the flowage with my parent's and Andrea to get some boating, fishing, wakeboarding in for Father's day. I would say it was a successful trip as dad caught a fish, both Andrea and I got to wakeboard, and we all got some great sun while on the boat. Of course my arms were really tired this morning from wakeboarding, and both my face and back are burnt so I didn't sleep very well, but exhaustion is worth the fun I had.

6/14/07

We finally went skydiving and it was great! Naturally I got the best looking instructor...I love being lucky like that. There really aren't words to describe skydiving, I guess you will have to do it to understand. This morning I woke up early when Dusty tried to steal my pillow and couldn't fall back asleep. I was thinking of all the exciting adventures I have done and how they compared. I decided there were certain aspects I enjoyed about all of them.

The Ejection Seat with my sister, Andrea, was very much fun, as it was my first real "thrill ride". I've decided the best part about the ejection seat was that the camera was on your face the entire time. That means whenever I watch the video, I can see and remember with it, the fear I felt. Nothing else I have done has given me the possibility of having a camera so close and focused on my facial expressions the whole time.

The Rip Cord was most exciting with the suspension of getting all the way up to the top and having someone else pull the cord. The fall to the ground is really exciting, but going up and waiting to go back down was the real thrill for me.

Cliff Jumping into the St. Croix River was really fun. There is nothing quite like the thrill of jumping off a cliff and then falling without something stopping you until you crash into the water. Plus there is the fear of not jumping out far enough and hitting a rock underneath the water. I wasn't brave enough to go