Steph's Survey

After reading the survey in Steph's blog, I decided to fill it out myself. So... enjoy!

Since the only thing I think about these days is babies, I thought I would do this survey:

First Born

Here you go mommies - a different kind of survey for a change - it's all about your first born (or adopted!)! Just copy and paste it in a new note for yourself!

Let's see how much you remember!

1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED?
No, not really.

2. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS?
Denial, then joy.

3. HOW OLD WERE YOU?
25.

4. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT?
My body began to feel different and I took a pregnancy test.

5. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST?
Rustin and then our parents. We didn't have to tell too many more!

6. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX?
I did, but my husband didn't. He won that argument : )(same as Steph's)

7. DUE DATE?
November 10 or 12.

8. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS?
No.

9. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE?
I didn't have specific cravings but was always in the mood for Mexican food.

10. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST?
Not having the same amount of energy as before.

11. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX?
Girl.

12. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING?
I did some at first, but Rustin wanted a girl. (I am very thankful for a girl, now.)

13. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY?
Theoretically 40. But actually 45-50. You have to remember I was at my all time record low from the wedding jitters!

14. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER?
Not before she was born.

15. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW?
No.

16. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY?
I didn't except for the occasional uti.

17. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH?
SCMC.

18. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR?
From 6am on the 6th until 11am on the 7th. It wasn't all hard labor!

19. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL?
Rustin.

20. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH?
Rustin, Dr. Tatsumi, Cheryl, and Amanda

21. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION?
Natural.

22. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN?
Nope. I think I might in the future!

23. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH?
7 pounds 2.6 ounces.

24. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN?
November 7, 2007 at 12:41 pm.

25. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER?
Grace Anna.

26. HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY?
15 months.

A Belated Happy Valentine's and President's Day

I thought I'd start off by showing you what Grace and Rustin do in their spare time when I'm not around. I found several interesting pictures on the camera when I was uploading others. At least they have fun together!



Church serving went smoothly. I had great help and could hardly believe it when it was over. Unfortunately it was a small Sunday so there was lots left over. The guys at Trico were the beneficiaries of much of it.



For Valentine's Day Rustin and I went to the Fellowship Hall for the "Love Supper." It was put on by some dear friends of ours. There were 100 of us for the meal. Afterwards we played some table games, sang, and listened to a few speakers on love - mainly God's love. There was a lot of time and effort put into the evening and we enjoyed it immensely.

Grace received her first Valentines from Emerson and Abbi. Emerson also gave her a huge lollipop. She took one lick, threw it on the floor, and it broke into many pieces. I decided that she might appreciate them more in the future.

On President's Day I decided to be adventurous in my cooking (not because it was President's Day.) I marinated some pork all day in teryaki sauce. I later sauteed the veggies and boiled-in-a-bag the rice. This was my first attempt at cooking and eating stir-fry. We decided this meal could be added to the list of Rustin acceptable meals. Here's a pic of the final product.



Since I've been talking up Grace's walking for so long, I put on a video so you can enjoy. She still is a little tipsy, but please note that she can walk and drink at the same time!

I tried to get her to say uh-oh spagettios, but she wasn't interested. If you ask her to say hi on the phone she'll say it for you.

This week I started cleaning the Hancock Community Center. Why...I'm not sure, but it will be a little extra spending (ha-ha) cash. It's only once every two weeks, so not too time consumming.

If anyone is in need of an antique upright piano, give me a call. I've had a few bites from Craig's List, but no offers to drive to Hancock and seriously look.

Groundhog's Day

Happy Groundhog's Day!

Actually I forgot it was until I went to yahoo news. I don't know if it saw its shadow or not, but hopefully spring is near.



Two weeks ago my Mom was able to hitch a ride up and visit us for a couple of days. We had a Schaefer funeral and some Tremont Schaefers drove up for it. It was short and sweet. The first evening we played Phase 10, a family favorite. Mom babysat Grace while I waited a table at the funeral, the next morning. In the evening we went to the Peterson's to begin a half week of baby/house sitting.

We have found out what it is like to have four kids ages 15 months, 3, 6, and 10. It is alot of work. (The sad thing is we were only with them in the morning and evening.) Rustin's coworker and his wife went to Mexico for a week so we stayed at their house and took care of their children. The mornings usually started around 5 with Grace crying because she was hungry and in a strange place. (We put her in a pack n play in the walk-in closet.) We tried to calm her down asap so the other kids wouldn't awake. About the time we got back to sleep the alarm would go off and time to get up for work and school. Thankfully they already had a routine of going to school or Grandma's so this didn't change. I forgot how hard it is to get kids up and ready to catch the bus. After work, Rustin picked up the kids and I got home around 6:30 to make supper. Grace cried herself to sleep everynight. (only about 5 minutes worth) She is becoming more picky as to where she sleeps. The three year old is a girl and she loved playing with Grace. Grace liked being mothered for the most part. The last day we were there Grace threw up in the hallway. I asked Rustin to watch her so I could clean it up. He must of smelled too close because pretty soon he was running to the toilet. At least one of them hit the toilet. I always said I would never clean up puke. It looks like I am going to have to eat those words.

While we were babysitting we heard from Bob that he is engaged to Jenny Wyss from Washington, IL. We are very excited for a newcomber to the family. We are extremely excited that we know and like her already! Our spring and summer is already filling up with wedding trips to IL and Missouri. The only thing I wish I could observe is Bob as an engaged person. I get a pretty good sense though just by talking to him.

Grace took her official 'first steps' the other day. Some day I will get it on video, but it happens not very often, almost accidental. She gets pretty excited though. She knows where her belly button is: she lifts her shirt and points in the general area and says something that resembles belly. She'll find yours too if you let her! It is enjoyable to listen to her babble away.

This Sunday we are serving church lunch for the first time ever. Everything is baked and ordered. All I have to do now is wait for Saturday and set tables and prepare things. I'm not too nervous, but I'll be glad when it's over.

Brr!

Not alot is happening up in Minnesota. Just trying to stay warm and indoors. The temp has reached an all time low for me of -32. I can tell when it is below zero when I walk outside and immediately start coughing and it hurts to breathe. The store is a little slower due to the cold weather. We are nearing the end of a load and it is going to be a couple of weeks until a new one arrives, but this will be a good time to get rid of the old so the new can fit. This week the guys have been installing the furnace in the new store so progress is being made, little by little. We are still hoping to be in the new store by Spring. We'll see!

Last week we had Greg and Sheila and Emerson over for supper and the evening. Emerson liked doing dishes as much as Grace does. In fact she was a little protective of her step ladder and was making a little fuss. From the picture it looks like she kept plenty busy in that cupboard. They stood together for awhile until they started pushing at each other.

Grace is making progress towards walking. She now voluntarily stands on her own and giggles in delight. Pretty soon I think she will make the 'first step.' She now blabbers all the time. Her favorite saying sounds like 'bidabidabidabidabida.' Rustin thinks it's funny to encourage her to say that. I'm trying to talk normal to her so she talks with real words. One of her favorite 'real words' is uh-oh. The other day Rustin was reprimanding Grace for something she was doing and she looks at him and says "bidabida....." I started laughing. See what you get when she thinks it's funny! She is also shaking her head no and sometimes yes.

This coming week we are house/kid sitting for a co-worker of Rustins. They have 3 children. It will be an interesting week. Their 3 year old daughter loves Grace and dotes on her except when Grace is in her things.

This weekend's forecast looks like a balmy 20's to 30's. I can hardly wait. Maybe winter is almost over!!!

Happy New Year!

Now that we lived through another Holiday Season I can get back to blogging and regular life. I really do enjoy this time of year: visiting family, eating once a year food, and most importantly reflecting on Jesus and His humble entrance into the world.

One of our dear friends, Larry Nohl, passed away the week before Christmas, so his visitation was on Monday and funeral on Tuesday. Our original plan was to leave for IL after his funeral. After looking at weather reports between here and there we decided to leave Monday night after visitation and drive until we got tired. The roads were fine except for fogginess until we reached IL and then they became a little slippery. We showed up at Mom and Dad's at 6:30 am and visited a little and then crashed. Tuesday evening we braved the icy weather and ate out at Flat-top Grill, Rustin's favorite restaurant. Those of you who have eaten there and know Rustin's food choices are probably as surprised as I am that he even will set foot in the restaurant. Afterwards we dropped Mom off at Bergner's and the rest of us went to Cold Stone for ice cream. Wednesday we visited Grandma and Grandpa Beutel since we were unable to make it to the Beutel Christmas. Grace loved the buttons on Grandpa's wheelchair and she was her usual chatty self. 4:30 was the time for the Koch Christmas, so we headed there next. Grace did pretty well considering her nap schedule was all messed up. She was definitely the squakiest, but that's not unusual.

This is after we opened presents and Olivia decided to push Grace on the scooter. This went well since she can walk. However when Olivia wanted to ride and Grace push, Grace would try to get her off. I think she may have some of her mother's tendancies (bossy, lazy?)unfortunately. That evening when we got home, a few of us played triominos. Thursday morning we awoke early to attend Christmas service. After visiting for awhile we went home. I wasn't feeling the best so I took a nap until we opened presents. We didn't get many px of Grace opening gifts because she was rather crabby. We opened hers and put her down for a much needed nap.

Susan and Matt are good at teaching Grace new tricks. This time it was to take a drink of pop and say ahh! Grace hasn't perfected it yet, but even now a week later she still will do it. After opening presents we made supper which consisted of roast, potatoes, and carrots. It was delish! We played Phase 10 later on.

On Friday we met the Slager crew for lunch at Avanti's. It was nice to catch up and eat some great Italian food. I took a nap when we got home. My sinuses were acting up this trip. When we left Hancock it was -2 and when we arrived it was 20. The temp kept rising all week. That evening we had some cousins over that I hadn't previously seen. We played games, watched babies and talked. Rustin commented that he hadn't seen so many 'babies' together at once.

Grace and Max got along quite well as you can see. Poor Max had just woke from his nap when they came. He came out of his shell later.

We left IL on Saturday morning at a balmy 60 degrees. The temp soon fell as we headed north and west. On Sat evening and Sunday evening we went to Rustin's parents for Christmas. Everyone was there so it was a full house. Now that 2009 is here I am hoping for a short winter and mild weather come about April! (There are new px in my photo gallery.)

Spearing and Shopping

Two weekends ago Rustin and I parted ways for an extended weekend. He was invited to go up north on a 'men only' spearing trip. There's a reason why it's a men only thing. He took the camera, so unfortunately there are no cute pictures of Grace in the Cities. We left at noon on Saturday and met Michelle at our hotel. We stayed at the Embassy Suites by the Mall of America. I would recommend it, especially if you have kids. Grace slept the best she ever has at a motel because each room has two rooms in it. She felt like she was in her own little. As we arrived it started snowing and didn't quit until Monday evening. Thankfully not much accumulated, but it made for unfun traffic. We ate supper at TGIFridays and then went to the mall for the rest of the evening. On Sunday we arrived at church and met many old friends and quite a few surprise visitors. Grace did pretty good in the morning and was a crab in the afternoon. Pretty typical. She needs her sleep just like her mom. After church we hunted down a Target in the area. We went back to the mall in the evening. On Monday we had a full day planned, so we got up at 6 with Grace and started getting ready. I should comment on the complimentary breakfast they offer every day. There are about 6 different stations filled with fruit and breakfast food. They have a chef who will cook you an omelet to order or pancakes or whatever you want. In the evening they have a happy hour with a spread of snacks and veggies. We were well fed. There were 9 or 10 floors and our room was on the 5th floor. Grace loved to go into the hall. It overlooked the lobby, restaurant and tables set up for breakfast and happy hour. There were many trees and plants and ponds mixed in the setup also. The only negative was that Grace, if not watched closely, could slip through the bars, so she didn't get to spend as much time in the hall as she would've liked. It was nice to have Michelle along to help with Grace duty. After breakfast we went to Rosedale Shopping Center. It is located in northern Minneapolis. It was a nice, less crowded, mall. I was going to take Grace up to say hi to Santa, but when we were about 30 feet away, she was tensing up so I decided not to push it. We ate lunch at Ruby Tuesdays and then travelled to the Somali Mall. It is located in downtown Minneapolis, so we didn't want to get there too late in the day. We felt fairly safe as we entered the gated shopping area. It was very different than I had imagined. We wound through a long hallway and arrived at the store, greeted by an eager saleswoman. We looked through the many skirt racks as the women would hover around and speak to each other. Who knows what they were saying! We noticed that if you picked up a skirt that said size large, it actually looked like it would fit a size small person. When you wanted to try on a skirt they ushered you into their booth and pulled a flimsy curtain and sat and watched you commenting how good the skirt looked. After a half hour of looking around and being pestered, we left with one skirt. It was a neat experience for me, but I don't know if I will have to go again. We went to another shopping center on the west side of the Cities. By the time we were leaving the snow was falling harder and rush hour was starting. It took a little over an hour to get to our motel where usually it takes 20-30 minutes. I was tired so we decided to order in pizza. Tuesday morning we didn't get down to breakfast in time so we travelled around for a LONG time trying to find a Denny's. We finally found one and the breakfast was delicious. We were going to shop at IKEA but decided we didn't know how the roads would be, so we parted ways. Grace and I stopped in Willmar to pick up her 1 year photos and do some more Christmas shopping. (I'm almost done!) Michelle drove through rain and snow almost the whole way, so it's good we left when we did. Grace and I slept good that night.

Rustin didn't leave til Sunday after church. They drove through snow up to a resort. (I don't know which one.) They arrived late but stayed up late buying groceries and playing games.



This is Rustin's catch after a whole day of spearing. That's from 9 til 4 or 5. They set up these spear houses and each of them sits in his own house with a propane heater all day by hisself. I don't think too many women would want to torture themselves this way.




This is Rustin's catches for Tuesday. Two 7 pounders and one 5 pounder. It was a little more of an exciting day for him. Every night for supper they eat fish. They each brought a bunch home, so I get to try my hand at making fish.



In case you didn't know, this is what a spear hook looks like. They lure the fish into their hole with some sort of bait and then stab them with this hook.



Here's Rustin and the Guys.

This past weekend church was cancelled because of the snowing and blowing. We called into Tremont and had a very relaxing day at home. I'm kind of holing up at home and trying not to go out if I don't have to. Yesterday the thermometer said -20. I'm looking forward to heading south next week. Hopefully we won't bring the snow and cold with us!

Thanksgiving

I just want to say to the commenters on my blog, Thank You for providing entertainment for the rest of us. I'm glad you enjoyed Grace's first birthday as much as I did. It's good to know my diary is being read, and I'm not doing this for naught.

My Mom and Dad came up the Sat. before Thanksgiving and stayed until the following Sat. It was very enjoyable to have them here for awhile. They were surprised to see how much Grace had grown. She was a ham for them which I was thankful for. When they walked in the door she went right to them with smiles and blabbering. On Monday, Mom and I took Grace to Willmar to get her one year px taken. She screamed and cried the entire time. You wouldn't be able to tell by the px, though, because the photographer was excellent with kids. She distracted Grace enough to snap a shot and then the crying would start back up. I was glad when it was finished and happy to see some good ones.

We did alot of relaxing, visiting Rustin's parents, house projects, sleeping, outdoor projects, just enjoying the time together.

My siblings arrived early Thur. morning. Grace welcomed them here at 2 am and proceeded to stay awake crying until 6 am. I honestly think this was the worst night I have ever had with her. She fell asleep until 9 am and woke up her cheerful self. I don't know if she had a stomach-ache or if she was teething. This is what I am blaming it on. She has 4 teeth coming in on top, so even her face is starting to change.

We celebrated Thanksgiving at Rustin's parents in the afternoon and evening. I always look forward to the scrumptious turkey dinner.

I worked Wed, Fri, and Sat at the store, so Mom came with on Wed to help out. I think she had fun, but you'd have to ask her. She was able to peruse the aisles anyway and fill up boxes to take home. Good thing they didn't have any passengers. Fri I took off some to spend more time with my siblings. Rustin put them and Dad to work trimming trees in our yard. One branch almost fell on our house during the last snowfall, so we decided it should go. Later in the evening he hung Christmas lights outside.

My family left on Sat so they could make it to work and school on Mon. They arrived to Tremont just in time for a 4 inch snow. I was glad that for once it was them and not us! Sat. evening we went to Rustin's parents for one last shindig before ReKeeta went home. She was here for two weeks and Eric came up for Thanksgiving and a ride home. Abbi and Grace had much fun together in the two weeks. Abbi is 6 months older than Grace, so there was definate tasks she could handle that Grace couldn't. After observing Grace crawling everywhere, Abbi started crawling sometimes. It was cute when Abbi would tell Grace 'no-no' for things she thought Grace shouldn't be doing.

This week has consisted of putting up the rest of the Christmas decor inside, cleaning up the house, and playing around with Grace. Jody came over on Mon and we made cookies for a cookie exchange we are both in. This weekend the Christmas gatherings are beginning! On Sat Grace and I are going to the Cities to meet Michelle for a few days. Rusting is going Spearing up north with a bunch of guys, so I thought it would be perfect timing for a girl's weekend.