April 26, 2008

10 inches, need I say more!!!

Mid-April Update

Isn't she so cute???? I am finding out that children are alot of work but also alot of fun. Grace is 5.5 months. She can almost sit up by herself. She rolls from her stomach to her back, but only because she hates being on her stomach. She is constantly grabbing at anything in sight and putting it in her mouth. I'm excited for her to crawl but also nervous cause then I will have to watch her like a hawk.


Bent and Dent is going great. We are keeping very busy. We hired Jody's sister to help us so each of us can have a day off a week. This seems to be working out well. Grace goes to Kara Messner's on the days I work and she seems to like it there better than at the store. (Something about the needing attention business!)


I left ahead of a snow storm to make it Brett and Lauras' baptisms. I had rain most of the way but atleast I got out of the snow. It was a nice but short weekend. I was ready to see Rustin though.


This past weekend we had baptisms and communion. It was a long but very encouraging weekend. Since it is actually warming up and staying relatively dry, Rustin is starting to put in longer hours. I'd say in the next week or two I won't hardly see him except to sleep. I don't particularly care for these hours but it only lasts about a month.


Well it's 8:30 and it's not dark yet. I love MN spring and summer!!!





As I said, Grace grabs anything in sight!



Grace and her twin Darcy. Still the same size and hairless!

Dent and Bent

I guess you could say my life in the last few weeks has been crazy. Rustin and I and Trevor and Jody bought a store called Meadowland Market. It is more commonly referred to as Dent and Bent. It was started about 2 years ago by a family in Hancock and they sold so they could go on tour. The type of things we sell are non-perishable items that are overstock or a little less than perfect. After weeks of legalities, running around, advertising, and so on and so forth we are going to open on Tues. the 11th. This week we have been stocking some very bare shelves. It was neat to see the variety of items that came on the load. Warehouses fill banana boxes full of a hodge podge of stuff - some things you can make money on and some things not. Right now I have been run rugged, but I am looking forward to opening day.

We made it home to Tremont for Easter. Everyone exclaimed how much Grace had grown since the last time she was down. I think the most exciting thing with Grace is that she responds to anyone. All you have to do is look at her and she smiles. She is good for me, because I can be really mad and she will smile, and I can't help but perk up. Matt especially enjoyed making her giggle. She has found her fingers and her voice ( at loud decibles) so life is interesting.

If you ever come to Hancock, you'll have to check out Dent and Bent!

Is March going to come in like a Lion or out like a Lamb?

I don't know if this question applies in Minnesota because winter seems to linger on through the entire month. It is still neat to observe weather patterns. I have major cabin fever if you can't tell. Two weekends ago, as I previously stated, we were Trevor and Jody's invite-a-couple. During the supper prayer there was so much hacking going on, you could hardly hear the speaker. I mentioned to Rustin that if we didn't all get sick, it would be a miracle. Famous last words! I got sick. Tuesday afternoon I had a fever so I took many naps. Wednesday I felt fine so we babysat 5 girls like we were going to. Me and the girls made chocolate chip cookies for Rustin and their family. It was fun to see how 5 girls take turns. They did a good job. Thursday I woke up and knew that it was going to be difficult taking care of Grace. Thankfully Rustin came home from work at 10 and took her up to visit Grandpa Fehr at the hospital. I laid on the couch the entire day. Friday wasn't much better with the fever, sinuses, sore throat, etc., and on top of it all Grandpa Fehr died that day. The visitation was on Sunday night and the funeral was yesterday. Although there is always sorrow when a loved one dies, we could rejoice because Grandpa was I think 94 and had wanted to go Home for many years. The sad part for me was I knew him the least of anyone because when I first met him last year, his mind was already going as far as short term memory. When we took Grace into see him when she was born, we told him her name is Grace Anna. He looked at us and said, "Anna is my wife's name." We knew his longer ago memory was better. Back to the funeral, we took Grace up to the front with the family and she did the best she has ever done in church. She did so good that I didn't want to even hold her in case I moved wrong. However as it usually goes when things are going so well, she decided she needed to mess her pants so I went out to change her. Upon going back into church she started fussing, so unfortunately that was the last of her being in church. I didn't miss too much of the service, and someone held her while we had the last viewing. Grandpa always had a smile on his face which is something we can all strive for. Rustin worked for a couple hours in the afternoon and then we ate a Pizza Ranch for supper. Hopefully this week will be a healthier, sunnier week than last!

Remodel Px

I will attempt to show some before, during, and after px of our remodel job.








This is the livingroom before.





This is the office before.




In the bathroom video, this is the hallway I am talking about. Rustin should've been a carpenter. (Actually it isn't his most favorite past-time.














Rustin reaching from the bathroom into the office. Now we have insulated rooms!











This is what I lived with for 2 months.

I am very thankful to be done with the project. Now I have more Grace time. This weekend we are Trevor and Jody's invite-a-couple. Not much else is new.

Weekend in the Cities

Saturday morning we left in a blizzard to meet Susan in the cities. She and others from the UofI young group came up for the weekend. They went tubing in the morning and we met them at the FH for lunch. After lunch we broadened Susan's horizons by taking her to our favorite store, IKEA. I don't think she was as impressed as we always are. We didn't have enough room in our car for what we wanted so we will have to make another trip down. After checking in to our motel, we went to Dewayne and Larae Dill's for supper and the evening. It was a nice time of food fun and singing. Sunday we arrived at church, and not 15 minutes into the service Grace puked all over Susan's skirt and her own blouse. With much wiping we cleaned both of them up pretty good. After church we said our good-byes and went our separate ways.

Last week I have been helping Jody paint an older couple's house. It hadn't been touched in about 30 years so the walls and cupboards are pretty disgusting. We are hoping to finish up this week. I was supposed to help her today, but I had to take Grace into the doctor's. She has a nasty cough and I wanted to make sure it wasn't RSV. It turns out she just has a nasty cold but also found out she has an ear infection. This is the second one in her life. Hopefully she will be feeling better in a few days. You just feel so helpless in helping these little guys that can't tell you what's wrong. Fully clothed Grace weighed 14.2 #, so I'm guessing she is between 13 and 13.5 #. I think right now it's all in her head!

We're Almost Done!!!

After two months of remodeling, our project is almost done. I am so excited! We lengthened and widened the bathroom and knocked out the wall between the office and the living room. It seems as though there is more room. I have never been through this (that I clearly remember) - where you live in your remodel job with nowhere to put things so you have to cover everything and not use most of it. It has been somewhat stressful but it's looking up. I've decided if we ever buy another house that needs remodeled, we will hopefully remodel before we move in. I don't have new px yet, so you will have to wait for a later blog. I do however, have px of Grace. She is fastly growing. At her two month appointment which was 2.5 weeks ago she weighed 11#12oz. and was 23 3/4 in. long. That puts her in the 75 % for weight and 90 % for height. She is starting to sleep through the night until anywhere from 6-9 almost all the time. I am excited for that. Now that I have written it she will probably revert back to her once a night wake-up, but that is just babies. She is a real smiley baby. It really warms my heart when she smiles at me or whoever. She seems more human now! She went through a fussy bout with her formula, but thankfully she seems to have grown out of that and now just eats all the time! Here are some px of her around Christmas time.





Grace and her TWIN 2nd cousin Darcy Wiegand








Grace's first swim with her Daddy. Her swim diaper was
so big that she had to wear a regular one underneath it.



I'll have to keep updating px of Grace, or many of you won't recognize her when you see her!