13 weeks!

I'm almost done with my first trimester! Thank heavens the Augmentin that I was given cleared up my sinus infection so that I could start enjoying this pregnancy! I had my first OB appointment and actually lost 2 pounds my first trimester! I didn't think that I was that sick. The Dr. said it was OK - it happens often the first 12 weeks. I'm not as tired as I was, but still am pretty wiped out these days. Don' tknow if it's the pregnancy thing or if I'm just not sleeping well.

I got to see the baby on an ultrasound at the doctor's office! One little bean in there - she said she could see good limb development, good placental development, and a heart beat! What more do we need?! It hasn't seemed totally real until I saw that picture - she even gave me a print out - it's so small, but it's there!

Still sick

This is crazy. I've had a sinus infection for 5 weeks now. I've been on 10 days of Amoxicillian and 5 days of Zithromax and still feel like heck. I can't breath through my nose during the day. To use my CPAP at night, I have to use saline to clean my nose, blow like crazy, and then coat the skin under my nose with Mentholatum. I've been to the walk-in clinic and seen a family practice doctor and talked with an OB nurse. I'm ready to be done with this!

Emily has a basketball tournamet that starts tonight at 4:30. If they win, they play tomorrow at 10:50. If they lose, they play at 8:30 AM. (I told her they better win.) Rob doesn't get home until 6 PM, so I still have an entire day without him around. I felt quite a bit better yesterday and actually got some cleaning done - the kitchen looks better as does our bedroom, but there's still a ton to do and laundry piled high.

On a positive note, I'm at 11 weeks now, so think that my exhaustion should be nearing the end. And my morning sickness is pretty much gone. I still have stomache aches, but they're not constant and they seem to dissipate with food. I am going crazy waiting for my first official OB appointment on February 19th. It seems so far away!

Scrapbooking weekend

I returned Sunday afternoon from a super weekend of scrapbooking, rest, and socialization. Some friends from work (and Kim from MN), met at a villa on Lake Reno and had a blast. The owner of the villa waited on us and fed us awesome food. I only got 14 pages done because I ran out of pictures (left stacks and stacks on my desk at home), but I went to bed early, slept in late, and just rested to get rid of this terrible sinus infection that has rendered me useless for weeks. I can finally breath through my nose for the first time in 5 weeks! Now if I could just get over feeling so exhausted. But, being pregnant can do that to you! I'm 10 weeks along, so in 2 weeks I should get another burst of energy. (My fingers are crossed.)

Rob's in Redmond this week at a conference - he's presenting. Of course, the day he leaves we get 3 inches of snow! I've asked my neighbor if he would snow blow our walks as Rob doesn't want me out there doing it. (And I'm not sure I should be, anyway!) Only 3 more days and I can sleep in again!

21 Days

Wow - 21 days since I last posted. That doesn't mean that nothing has happened - it just means I've been too busy to post! My weekends have been filled with things like laundry, taking down Christmas, sledding with the kids, laundry, visiting with neighbors, cleaning the house, and laundry. It's been rather cool her lately - double digits below zero for a few days in a row - so we've been hanging out around the house. Thank goodness we got lots of fun games for Christmas. Sam's favorite is Kidz Headbandz! We walk around the house with these funny headbands on with cards sticking out of them trying to guess what we are! :-)

Next weekend will be tons of fun! Rob's parents are celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary near Madison, SD. We will be heading down on Friday night for a weekend of fun! Saturday is the actual celebration, starting with a mass. We're staying at Camp Lakodia, which is a camp for the deaf outside of Madison.

The following weekend I'll be heading to MN for a scrapbooking retreat! I can't wait!!

Wonderful, relaxing Christmas

Finally back to work after over a week off. Rob and I both had Dec. 23-Jan. 1 off and enjoyed it tremendously! We went to Christmas in MN, spent an evening in Watertown, then hung out at home, cleaning, relaxing, and enjoying time with the family. Here are some fun pictures.

Wonderful day

I had a wonderful birthday yesterday. The day started out nicely and got even better quickly when Rob presented me with 12 long-stem red roses at my desk. He doesn't do that often, so when he does, it's extra special. I left work early to take Emily to an orthodontist appt. - hard to believe that she'll only have her braces on for 13 months. Then we picked up Sam and met Rob at Johnny Carino's for supper. It was so nice to have some down time with the family. We're so rushed these days with all of Emily's activities and our busy work schedules. After dinner we shopped at the mall for about an hour and a half and then went home. We rested there for 30 minutes and then started getting ready for bed. It was so nice to relax!

Today is the 65th anniversary of the bombing at Pearl Harbor. Rob and I watched the movie on TV this past weekend. I cried quite a bit during it.

Cute picture of the kids

My friend from work came over to take some Christmas pictures of the kids. I don't want to share all of them yet - the surprise will be in your Christmas card. But here's one that's adorable.

Sam lost his second tooth!

Halloween pictures

Sam is the ninja between the two girls. Holly is Violet Incredible, Paige is the purple and black cat, and Sarah is the princess. I took this picture on Halloween when Sam's kindergarten class went to Bethany Homes to sing songs and trick-or treat!

Sam lost his first tooth!

Sam lost his first tooth yesterday! He was so excited about the tooth fairy coming to visit! He went to bed early without any fussing! The tooth fairy brought him a Susan B. Anthony silver dollar and a flat rock with an angel on it. I told him that the tooth fairy usually brings something special for the first lost tooth. The other bottom middle one will be going today - it's hanging on by a thread!

My, how time flies!

Rob went hunting last week and was gone for quite awhile. I guess I didn't realize just how much he helps out around the house! ;-) He left on the 3rd (Emily's 13th birthday) to go pheasant hunting in SD with family and took Riley. It was her first time out and she did pretty darn good! After being there for 5 days, he came home just in time to pick up my dad from the airport. Dad wanted to visit the kids during their veteran's day break from school. I had a tamale cooking class that didn't get over before the plane landed.

Then, Thursday morning Rob left for mule deer hunting in Western ND with a couple of friends. The three of them go every year, but this is the first year they got mule licenses. After 2 days of hunting the barren plains, they came home. Rob didn't get one, but wasn't upset about it - I think he got bored! ;-)

Emily's basketball games started last week. Her team won their first game against D-G-F (Dilworth, Glyndon, Felton). She has another game tonight and another one on Thursday. She likes it and I'm glad she is keeping busy. Sam is excited to start basketball "camp", as he calls it, on Saturday. He really is his father's son!

School happenings

We have a Level III sex offender who not only lives in our school district, but who has a step-daughter that attends Hawthorne. So, legally he can be on school grounds and at school events and functions. The parents are in an uproar over this, and rightly so. Last night there was a meeting at the school to discuss sex offenders and laws in general. There were representatives from the police department, the states attorney, and the school district at the meeting ND is behind-the-times in laws regarding sex offenders. There are some that are being worked on and the district is creating a policy, but everyone wants it NOW. You can read about some of it here: http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=144907&section=news. I'm the PTA President, so I was hounded all day yesterday by the media for a comment. I just avoided them and let the other parents have their say last night. Now if we can just make it to the next school board meeting, when the policy should be drafted and presented to the public.

Halloween 2006

It was a scary day, alright. I spent the first 2-1/2 hours of my day driving 5 kindergarteners to a nursing home to sing songs and trick or treat with the residents. It was fun, but I don't know how teachers can spend all day with that many kids and still be sane. Of course, Sam's teacher was dressed up as Amelia Bedilia and said she was often compared to her...

On the way back to work, I ended up with a very flat tire. I did hear something about a mile and a half earlier, but didn't see anything. While Rob was changing it, he broke a lug nut. Once he got going, it only took 15 minutes. But we ended up having to run around and do all of our stuff last night with one vehicle. Sam was done with swimming lessons at 5:55. Emily needed to be picked up at 6:00 from swimming and dropped off at 6:20 for dance. Sounds easy enough, but the buildings are nowhere near each other!

Sam did get some trick or treating done. I did take pictures, but haven't gotten them off the camera yet. Hopefully tonight! Emily did a little bit after dance, but she was pretty tired. She originally wanted to be Marilyn Monroe, but it was only about 20 degrees here and the halter-style dress just didn't work with the weather! Maybe next year.

Attitude is everything

I read this today and it really made an impact on me.

There once was a woman who woke up one morning, looked in the mirror, and noticed she had only three hairs on her head.

"Well," she said, "I think I'll braid my hair today." So she did and she had a wonderful day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and saw that she had only two hairs on her head.

"H-M-M," she said, "I think I'll part my hair down the middle today." So she did and she had a grand day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that she had only one hair on her head.

"Well," she said, "today I'm going to wear my hair in a pony tail." So she did and she had a fun, fun day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that there wasn't a single hair on her head.

"YEA!" she exclaimed, "I don't have to fix my hair today!"

Attitude is everything. Have a Good Day!

Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.
Live simply,
Love generously,
Care deeply,
Speak kindly.......
Leave the rest to God.

Bowling scores for Emily

Emily hasn't done as much bowling as she usually does by this time of year because of her swim meets. However, this past weekend she blew her average out of the water with a 111, 134, and 157!

Wonderful weekend

I spent last weekend at a scrapbooking retreat. 12 women, one cabin, 3 bathrooms, and lots of scrapbooking supplies! We had a great time. It was nice to focus on getting some pages complete - I finished almost the entire year of 2005 - one book for each kid. It was also nice to not worry about cleaning the house or getting someone somewhere on time. Rob did a great job with the kids and hosue while I was gone. I told him I might need to do it more often! Emily had a swim meet on Saturday, so he had to get her to the school by 7:45 AM to catch the bus. Sam had a birthday party at noon that Rob needed to get him to, plus shop for a birthday present for the birthday boy. He also mowed the lawn, cleaned the house, and took care of Sam. Wow!

Emily swam 500 yards again

And she did it in 8 minutes and 2 seconds again! Quite consistant! This meet was in Moorhead, so it wasn't far to drive and it was just the two schools, so it started at 6 and ended at 8. Unfortuately Emily didn't swim until 7:15 and I dropped her off at 5 for warm-ups, so I spent over 2 hours watching other girls. Now, had I waited to come closer to the time she actually swam, I would have saved myself 2 hours and $5! But it was fun and I learn something new everytime I watch a meet. I've been lucky to sit next to seasoned swimming moms who share their knowledge with me.

I also got my hair cut. It's not at my chin - maybe an inch below. Rob thought I should try it and since I wasn't attached to my current style, I thought I would. Not sure if I like it or not - it dries faster, but I haven't figured out what to do with it yet. It's great for those windy North Dakota days when your hair whips around and gets all knotted! And today is one of those days - swirling snow - our first snow of the season!

She did it!

Emily completed the 500 yard freestyle event today! She swam it in just over 8 minutes. I'm so proud of her. She was exhausted afterwards, but proud to have accomplished it.

Rob and Sam stayed in Fargo, so I drove to Mandan by myself. I was looking forward to some "alone time" to clean my van, take a walk, window shop, etc., but instead, I twisted my ankle at the swim meet and it's now swollen to the size of a tennis ball! I'm resting in the room with ice on my ankle. I'm so bummed that my free time is going to be spent resting.

Another swim meet

Another Saturday, another swim meet for Emily. She had some personal bests at this one! It was in Dickinson, ND - she left on the bus at 5 AM and didn't get home until 1 AM - LONG trip! I wasn't able to attend this meet, but plan to be at all the rest of them. Emily swam the 200 yard freestyle and decreased her time from 3:32.20 to 3:03.10! That's 30 seconds better! She also swam the 100 yard freestyle in 1:19.57, and swam the 200 yard freestyle relay - her time was 37.63 and the total team was 2:35.75.

This was all good practice for her as next Saturday she's swimming at a meet in Mandan and will be doing the 500 yard freestyle! That's 20 laps!

Sam and I had a cute conversation over the weekend:
Sam - "Mom, when is my next birthday?"
Mom - "You just had a birthday last month. You have to wait 11 more months until your next birthday."
Sam - "But what day is my next birthday?"
Mom - "August 25."
Sam - "Why is my birthday always August 25?"

Weekend news

Emily attended her first swimming invite on Saturday. These are different from regular meets that usually have 1 or 2 different schools (duals). Whapeton, Willeston, Fargo North, Fargo South, West Fargo, and Shanley. Emily competed in 4 of the 11 events. 4 is the maximum number you can compete in. She had a great time and I was able to learn a bunch because I sat next to a seasoned swimming mom and asked a lot of questions!

On Sunday, Sam attended his first day of Sunday school. He really enjoyed it and even asked on Monday if he was going to Sunday school. I explained that he had to wait 2 weeks now because our church's Fall Festival is next week and there's no Sunday school. Emily and I then prepared food and served it at the Salvation Army that afternoon. We picked up one of her friends and there were 2 other ladies from our church there, in addition to the kitchen manager. I definitely want to do that again. It made me very grateful for what I have, and there were so many kind, thankful people there that it made me want to help more.