let's get rich and give everybody nice sweaters and teach them how to dance

It's Barry's last day of work today here in MN.  Kinda bittersweet!  His boss was awesome.  We'll never forget this job!  It was flexible when we needed it most.  He could still go to school full time and get his studying done.

Two weeks until we move.  Well... 15 days until we have the truck.  That means there should be boxes around here, right?  We've barely started and to be honest, I'm overwhelmed and don't *want* to start!  Anyone else get like that???  It seems too big, but with every day that passes, the work just gets bigger if you haven't bothered to start.  That should be motivation... right?  Motivation?  I'm definitely motivated to see my dear friends before we go!  And Caribou?  Definitely racking up a high bill!  There is a drive-thru coffee shop where we're headed... let's just hope they have lots of decaf versions of their drinks!  That's my only problem with smaller shops.  Decaf drinks seems to be lacking.  Haha.  Okay you might say they're seriously lacking (caffeine), but what I'm saying is that they are almost non-existent some places.  It's a crime, in my book, at least!

So... to procrastinate, I bring you pictures!  Lately...

Ellison

Rachel and Molly at Rachel's Lia Sophia party

Who needs an amusement park when you have escalators?

<3

We stumbled upon free cone day at Ben & Jerry's.  Now that is goodness!

Fun @ Edinborough Park

Sleeping on the job

Fun with Rachel

Mommy's boy

Old work buddies and our babes

Amber looks petrified that her daughter is loving up my son.

The big green pickup means that Grandpa is home!

Cousin, Aria, searching for eggs.

Mommy found an egg! (I had to... Gabriel was just not impressed with the egg hunt!)

New nephew on April 30th

Someone drinks a lot of my chocolate banana smoothies!

The "mmm" face

Please?

Twins!  Grandpa and grandson in navy blue Izod shirts, jeans and jean jackets.  My dad's signature look.

Peek-a-boo!

Grandpa and Grandma <3 (My parents)

Playing the ABCs for Grandpa

We've had fun times these last few months!  What about you?

I'm going to miss this place!

Stronger

:)  I really like this song right now.  Please listen if you can.

ONE

ONE

year old

WALKER 

working on it still, but walks away from his mommy!

6 TEETH

four in one day (NIGHT really... thanks for staying up with him, Honey!)

Wow.  How can it be??

We

are

blessed.

:)

busy busy boy

The stairs are now off limits.  We have finally put up one gate so far.  It's a start.  Going down the stairs was always off limits, but now we have a gate at the bottom so he can't go up whenever he decides to anymore.  Oh, and I was just interrupted by the sound of the dishwasher rack being pulled on.  There he was helping Mommy again.  He is now strapped into his highchair having a snack (for my own sanity...). :)

I shouldn't complain.  It's a blessing to have to put up gates and run after this darling boy.  It means he is healthy and happy.  What a gift from God.  

It sure is invigorating to have a busy child now.  We can play and "talk" and laugh together.  It's quite amazing... I am in love!

Okay, off the Gabriel subject now (for the most part).  I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  We traveled up north(west) to Barry's parents' house last weekend.  We were able to see my grandmas on Saturday.  It was a nice visit and we went to the Fryin' Pan!  :) hehe.  Then we went to see my grandma C's brother for a bit before taking the grandmas home and going to my in-laws' house.  What fun we had there too!  It always feels like a relaxing getaway.  It's about 10-15 mins from any town, so it's nice and peaceful with rolling hills and beautiful scenery.  However, I'm such a city (suburb?) girl that it's nice to know they have neighbors just across the road too!  

On Sunday they hosted a very delicious Thanksgiving meal before we had to drive home.  We were able to see ALL of Gabriel's 3 great grandmas that weekend!  Yet another blessing!  One of Barry's sisters came home with us that evening.  She's visiting from AZ.  She is now in WI visiting another sister and seeing the newest baby in the family!  We have yet to meet him.  It's so strange that Gabriel is not the youngest cousin anymore!  PLUS there is another one on the way on that side!  I married into Barry's family when only one of his sisters had 2 boys.  Now my inlaws have 7 grandkids (being prolife-- I count each and every one, obviously including the unborn child!).

Yesterday we spent Thanksgiving at Barry's aunt's house nearby.  Gabriel had so much fun playing with cousins!  One of his aunties bought him these awesome toys for Christmas. *Look in the pic above and you will see them too!*  He loves the pear the most!  Later, my brother and sis-in-law came over with a pan of lasagna.  YUM!!!  We also got some Wii time in!  That's a given.

Today is Barry's mom's birthday!  One week ago today was my mom's birthday too.  We will see Barry's mom tomorrow and Sunday when we travel to WI for the newest baby's baptism.  :)  Yay!  Also, tonight my mom is coming home from a two week stay in IL.  I'm sure it's a bittersweet return.  At least she has a grandson here to love and adore!  It is always interesting to see what he will do when Grandma returns from her trips to see Grandpa.  Gabriel is usually bashful for a little while and then perks up and starts showing off all his new tricks.  One of which is NOT going to be climbing the stairs!  Okay, okay, I'm sure Grandma will take down the gate to see this feat!  Then she will probably take him to the mirror and do their special "Three Little Fishies" dance.

Spoiled busy busy busy busy boy...

thankfulness

Whoa... this blog is neglected sometimes!  As a reader of lots of other blogs, I have enjoyed reading their Novemberish posts on thankfulness.  It's doubtful that we focus enough on the blessings we've been given, and really, I'm so glad that we have Thanksgiving time to realize them.  We need that reminder that God is good (all the time!).  Maybe it's not ideal that we need the reminder, BUT... we. often. fall. so. short.  At least I do.

Some things I'm thankful for lately (in no particular order... just what comes to mind!):

* Gabriel's loud singing * Gabriel being healthy * my incredibly loving husband * Barry's job * a healthy new nephew * a healthy new baby for my cousin * other SAHMs (even across the US!) * Playgroup * Small Group * long lasting tires * decaf peppermint mochas at Starbucks * new Thirsties diaper covers * Sesame Street songs and how they provide coffee time for Mommy * remembering there is another close Caribou * meeting for lunch/dinner with old coworkers * text messages from old/awesome friends * the election being (almost) over-- everything but the Governor's office is done * Baby Storytime * warm slipper socks * randomly placed no-frost-on-car-window mornings * crunchy leaves * Christmas season approaching * sweet neighbors * balls and puppies * brothers + wives * grandmas * phone calls with Dad(dy) * meals with Mom(my) * Gabriel's deer in the backyard * La la la LINOLEUM * Forgotten God by Francis Chan * 

Hopefully I'll continue a bit of this during the month!  How about you?  What are you thankful for right now?

All right, this blog post is done because Gabriel has been holding a cloth over his face, dragging on the suspense of his one sided peek-a-boo game.  Poor kid.  He's definitely our "tiny prince of peek-a-boo" (from Boy of Mine by Jabari Asim).  

Online shopping

Anyone else pretty addicted?  I have cut back a lot... I guess I was never crazy, but it's been a horrible temptation for me!  So to help everyone else out-- Target.com is having a "Black Friday" sale today.  Nothing has been horribly tempting except for one cute shirt.

In other news, my husband wins for doing this for me...

I Love You

Guess who started a peek-a-boo game with me, yesterday, as we were walking around Cub (grocery store)?  That, I think, is a milestone.  :)

And this?

That is a milestone.

Other than that, not much is new around here.  We will be taking Gabriel for 6 month pictures by the same guy who took our wedding photos.  Greg Thorne does an excellent job.  That is an understatement for sure.  We're especially touched by how much he and his wife cared about us and our family and how much they remember about that day, even though they do so many weddings!!!

Wow, speaking of that day... we're coming up on 2 years on 8/2!  Time has gone quickly.  We can already see that in terms of our 6 month old darling.  I often ask Gabriel, "Where did my baby go?"  I only see a big boy now.

That big boy has to into the doctor today to see if his ears are okay.  He has been struggling with a horrible cold for the past 10 days.  Now he isn't eating quite like he used to and he seems in general discomfort.  Ear infection?  Teething?  Attitude at 6 mos?  I don't know.  We shall see!  If he is found to be okay, maybe they will give him the 6 month shots we had to pass on during his 6 month "well-child" appointment... because he was... sick.  Poor kid.

Other than that, Barry and I are doing well.  Barry is working and then doing Army stuff this week.  I am enjoying being a SAHM.   Barry is an excellent father.  It's fun to see him in this role.  Some of Gabriel's activities where DADDY is the desirable playmate:  Tonka Truck fun, "driving" Gabriel's car, going to local little league/up to legion baseball games, playing with most other toys and checking out Daddy's whiskers.  :)

And actually... Gabriel most clearly said "I love you" to his daddy FIRST.  Sooo precious!

pure joy

these last few months have been a whirlwind.  i'm trying to get everything recorded somewhere... milestones, events, etc.  how do people cope with having children?  one child is overwhelming enough.  i would like to aspire to being like one of the many super moms i know, but i am failing miserably already!

that being said, gabriel is pure joy!  i couldn't have imagined having a baby like him.  he's pretty close to perfect. when his pediatrician sees his name on her schedule, she knows it will be a fantastic day.  he smiles and talks to her and laughs and squirms.  he's just that kinda baby!  now if i dare leave the room to do laundry or go to the bathroom, you will see quite the opposite reactions out of this child.  he's way too social and needs someone around all the time.  

i love being a stay at home mom.  i was kinda excited to be phasing out of work (see last blog) because i thought life would be pretty relaxing and less busy as a sahm.  um.  wow.  no.  but i wouldn't trade it for the world.  my job is at least 16 hours long for every 24 hours... and even then, sometimes it's a 20 hour/day position.  i thought i'd be awesome-- keep the house in shape, iron Barry's clothes, put away laundry, cook every day, occasionally bake a cake or cookies, work on crocheting, schedule in dates with Barry (with a little tagalong :) ), keep the baby book up to date, dabble in scrapbooking, write letters to old friends, have coffee with friends, attend several playgroups during the week, take gabriel on outings, and of course do other things that come with being a MOM.  well... again, i was wrong.  sometimes gabriel needs to be held and snuggled... sometimes he needs to have kisses lavished upon him.  sometimes he needs tummy time with mommy...  sometimes he just wants to sleep in my arms.  there is nothing better than just hanging out with him.

after all... just look at that smile...

December?

I'm so bad at updating this thing... whoa.


Anyway, it's really hitting me hard that in about a month I could have a little baby boy in my arms!  It's crazy.  Barry and I are truly excited, but it's also pretty scary!  I know this little guy will forever change our lives.  It already feels like we don't have time for anything... but I know we will just learn to prioritize even more.


Barry has been working this past month.  It's great to have more income of course, but it's tough to not see each other since we work different shifts.  At least he is home.  So I do see him for a half hour on the days that I work long days.  That is something to be grateful for.  :)


Work has become a bit overwhelming as I'm trying to phase myself out!  The substitute notes are intimidating to write as there seems like so much to prepare the person for-- and yet I don't want to write paragraphs either.  I try to keep things in bullet format and just the must-knows.  Mostly, it's hard to find TIME to work on it.  Extra responsibilities at work and Christmas time/end of the quarter stuff is overwhelming enough as it is.  At least I have emailed my long-term sub and told her where to find my half-done notes in case Baby Face decides to come early.  Some notes are better than nothing, right?  hehe.  I do know our staff is totally capable of filling in blanks too, so that's helpful.


Hm.. I think this is pretty lame, but that is all for now!

Where did October go?

Is anyone else amazed that it is already the 20th of October??  What happened?

This is the month of trying not to get sick!  It seems like a lot of people are sick no matter where you go!  I sent two students home today already... augh.. just... stay... home...  not that hard of a concept!  I did get sick the night before flying to PA.  It was horrible!  I kept taking my temp.  It never hit 100, so I got on that plane on Friday morning.  Poor LBF had a sick bridesmaid, but she seems to not have gotten sick!  YAY!

Never fly into Detroit to make a connecting flight.  Wow that airport is horrible... the tunnel in the middle has crazy music and lights and I'm pretty sure a hallway that long is in need of at least ONE set of bathrooms.  Seriously.  We thought it was to make you all dazed and confused as you're missing your next flight.  Then you might not care.  Nah, we were late getting into Detroit because we had to be de-iced in Mpls.  Crazy.  Oct. 9th de-icing!  Lovely MN.

Ceremony Site

LBF's wedding was really classy.  She was a beautiful bride!  There was even a bad accident on the main road needed to get to her wedding, but she took it all in stride.  The wedding was then delayed about 15 mins to make sure anyone stuck in traffic could get there.  She was calm the whole time.  At that point though, I don't know many brides who would freak out, because hey-- you can't control everything... but I've heard of crazy brides, and she was NOT one of them!  Poor people involved in the accident though.  What a day for them too.  I really loved the candy theme to her reception.  Lately chocolate is all I really want to consume... so that was especially nice to have all the m&ms I could ever want at my fingertips.  Fitting that we were placed at the M&Ms table!  :)  Very nice, chica.  The whole site was very fancy and formal and it was such a sweet ceremony as well.  I loved that they used Song of Solomon 8:6-7:

Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like a blazing fire, like a mighty flame.  Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away.  If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned.

So sweet.

Reception Hall

I hope this post makes sense.  I have walked away and come back to it so often, so I apologize for any inconsistencies!  Tired.  Is it Friday yet?

80

I am now a happy sleeper with a sleep number of 80.  Well that was last night.  We will see what tonight brings. I cannot say enough for Select Comfort beds!  I know, they should pay me for this, right?  I slept in an awesome bed all of my childhood.  My parents spent a lot on our mattresses to make sure we had the best.  So regular mattresses can be amazing too!  I definitely agree with that.  However, during pregnancy, I have enjoyed setting the different levels.  Will this bed sometime break?  Perhaps.  That's a downside for sure... even with a warranty, it's a pain to have to call people and have things fixed and even then, they might not be able to fix it right away and you'd be out of a bed for a few days... so that's a definite plus for a normal mattress!  Buuuuuuuuuut... let me just smile and that I went from a sleep number of 75ish to 20 to 50 and now to 80 so far in this pregnancy!  Crazy, huh?  So for me, at this point in my life, it's the PERFECT bed.  Yesterday, at 50, I needed to be pulled up from the bed because my back hurt so much.  So really, one could say that I should have just a firm mattress, like the one I had on my twin bed, this whole time.  Yeah, but that 20 is sure nice when you want to be in a hammock for a night or two.  :)  So I guess I wouldn't tell everyone to go out and buy one, but hey, if it's on sale and costs just as much as another good mattress?  Why not?

So I'm having one of the classes read News for You online.  It has a sad first story about Lance Corporal Joshua Bernard and the pic that was taken and published of him dying.  :(  I feel so bad for the family.  I don't know enough about the rights/laws regarding publishing such a photo, but wow... I definitely would be incredibly sad if it was my loved one posted everywhere.  It does show the horrors of war, but aughhh... I think it happened in August, but my prayers are still with them!

Okay, on that note-- have a good weekend.  It's the start of fall break for us!  Too bad it couldn't be the next week when we fly to PA!  Ah well, I have 3 personal days for the year, and I wasn't even expecting to use them before the baby, so I'm using 2 for the wedding!  :)  YAY for getting to use them and MORE of a YAYYYYY for the wedding!  Oh yeah, so "No More Weddings" was JUST about my family... ;)  There are plenty more.. Two in October to attend within a week!  Yay!  At the 2nd one, we are just guests.  Big sigh of relief.  Not like I don't like being in them-- no no, I'm honored, but it seems like we haven't been just guests for awhile.  Actually.. not since before our wedding.  Whoa.  Happy weekend!

No More Weddings!

It's hard to believe my family is done with weddings... well at least for about 20 years or so!  My brother's wedding was beautiful to say the least.  I hope that my new sister-in-law got the wedding she always wanted!  I posted pics on Picasa, but if you want the link, let me know.  Those that do lurk at least should know my email or can leave a comment with that request.  It was just a beautiful day.  The weather seemed really nice too, though I wasn't outside much.  I think my brother and his wife took their limo to a park for outside pics though.  I'm sure that was lovely.  We definitely missed our other brother and his wife.  It's just an obvious sign of the times that not everyone can be around due to war and such.  I hope no one minds me being selfish in saying that I am sooo happy that all of us could be at my wedding.  It was so wonderful to have a whole family picture last year.  I'm just happy that we were able to be together for at least one wedding since we kinda failed at the other two.  Silly life happenings that keeps us away from our best friends' weddings.. pssh war and graduations and stuff...

Next month-- actually only about 18 days away is another important wedding... ;)  Hmmm...  I seem to be flying to PA for that one...  must be important.  hehe.  I'm super excited for that wedding and to be with old friends.  It will be a good time!  Thankfully that dress shouldn't be a problem since it's a maternity one.  The one I wore this weekend was very... snug.  Whenever I sat down, I'd try to unzip the back of it!!!  My crazy baby boy was apparently not allowing for any extra room to wear a dress... Oh, and man did he move during the ceremony!  So much for trying to stand still.

I'm being a good teacher-- blogging while proctoring a test.  That's allowed, right?  What else would I be doing anyway?  Twiddling my thumbs?  A crossword?

Okay... I suppose I'll stop goofing off.  **So looking forward to Fall Break next week!**

So Proud

... of a LEVEL TWO student telling her classmates to "shut up"!  :)  She was good natured about it and was laughing when she said it... but I take that as progress in the English language!  YAY for her!

In other news- I just took a drink from my travel mug and was expecting water (like always)... and I forgot that I put Aquafina FLAVOR SPLASH in there and almost spit it out as a result.  Thankfully, it's not yucky, as I like the raspberry zing, but it was just surprising.  Silly me.  My memory (or lack there of) really makes me scare/surprise myself daily.  It's kinda ridiculous.  I don't know how many times something I just did ends of scaring me and making my heart beat really quickly.  Yeah, I'm that amazing!

My oldest brother is getting married this weekend.  That should really be the highlight of this blog.  I fail at being  a good sister about that!  I am very happy for the two of them, but I'm happier to have it over and actually have a sister-in-law.  Does that make sense?  I like the relaxing feeling of a family without big events too.  Like after my wedding?  I was in a comfy feeling of *sigh* "Okay, this is my family now too."  It's hard to explain.. but before weddings, it's somewhat awkward... and after weddings, there's ... no pretending and you just are.  It's comfy.  :)  So yes, I'm excited for their DAY too, but I'm more excited for the permanent change in family.  I think that's pretty healthy, if you can follow that thought!

So our baby is sure busy!  He really likes to be busy on my right side lately.. Maybe that's because I sleep on my left, so he does enough exploring and kicking there.  During the day he makes me SO uncomfortable on my right side!  I don't know what he's doing!  Hopefully he's not like our 4 year old nephew, who, with his cousin, decided that it would be so funny to wake up in the middle of the night and just "PEE LIKE CRAZY!"  He told me their plan once when he was in his car seat in the back of my car.  My mother-in-law and I were in there and were pretty much telling him that plan isn't really that funny.  It was hard to stifle my laughter at his cute and SO-very-NOT-cute plan.  I wonder if either of them made their parents really cranky one night... hmm...  I don't think I want my son in on any of those "plans" but hopefully the 4 year old will be like... 7 by then and will have other plans that my son won't be able to fulfill.

That's all for now!  Happy Friday!!!

Handsome Baby Boy!

Yay for no Monday!

So... tomorrow is the big day!  We will know if we're having a boy or a girl!  I'm quite excited.

The baby has been squirmy.  I'm sure it has been for WEEKS/months, but this past weekend was just crazy.  It's the first time we could officially feel it for SURE and know for SURE that Barry was being kicked back by the baby.  Well... he deserved it.  He tapped my belly incessantly and then put his hand on my belly and said something like, "Don't tell me our baby is a wuss!"  Watch out!  He got kicked REALLY hard for that.. TWICE!  I'm so proud!  Barry knows that if the baby was out of the womb and had kicked him, that he would be on the floor begging for mercy..  :)  strong baby!

Hot Cocoa Monday!

Thanks, Erin, for this. :) I have a score today of winning 4 and losing 2. Let's keep that going. Ha. I better stop now so I feel good.

This weekend was wonderful. On Friday was a crazy day at work, so I was happy to go shopping with my husband to accessorize for a dinner/dance we were going to on Saturday. Macy's helped me out the most with a purse and shawl, but I did eventually find shoes at Famous Footwear. They didn't seem to make my feet happy on Saturday night though! We were in the MoA ballroom. Who knew they had one of those? It was eerie being in the mall way past closing hours though! What was Camp Snoopy (now it's called.. something else... I can't keep up) was all scary and dead. hehe. Amusement parks are weird when they're closed! Anyway, it was a good time. I didn't take nearly as many pics as I wanted to... At least I got a cute one of a couple that got married a week before us. Since our weddings (though neither of us could attend each other's weddings... imagine that), we've hung out just a couple times and went to Utah together for the marriage retreat. Fun stuff. I wish we could hang out more... but now the husband is being deployed again. Anyway, then Barry continued to have drill this weekend, so I went to church with my parents and hung out with them on Sunday until Barry came to pick me up. We ended up staying for homemade stir fry though. Mmm mmm. Mom and Dad spoil us.

Today is the first Monday without Bekki. :( So sad... at least I have the cool travel mug she gave me. I'll try to make a new normal for Monday, but I don't know if that's possible. *sigh* I miss her!!!

Red toe nail polish! I have real shoes on today, so no one knows except those at the dinner/dance. hehe. I've never done red before. It makes me feel a bit bold.

Doctor on Friday! Only about 2.5 weeks till we know the sex of the baby. That being said, no announcements will be made until we can tell our parents and siblings... one of mine is a little far away and does not have a phone number for me to call and does not have internet access yet. I have to hear about things through his wife right now, which is TOTALLY understandable, but... hopefully I can somehow let him know the sex before we tell anyone else but immediate family. So... I'm thinking that will be hard at work, as some people know I've said I'll know on the 9th.. but no... unless I get ahold of my brother... no. I'll just say, "I'm having a .......................................................... BABY!" yeah. Sure. :)

Happy Monday?

V8

I reeeeeeeeeeally want a V8.

office space?

Sometimes I like to pretend I have an office...

R + B's office is nice to visit... so is A's.. but that one is frigid. Colder than my lack of office. So that means A's is REALLY cold.

Pregnant coworker #4's last day was Friday. I miss her. Pregnant coworker #1 is going home "sick" today and I will miss her tonight. Greatly. I do have pretty awesome coworkers. How much talent is in this place anyway? At one baby shower you can get a knitted shirt or outfit piece... knitted baby washcloths, a knit baby hat and a quilt--all hand made by different people. :) Amazing!

Stuff I'm thankful for today:

a loving savior - my wonderful husband - my baby - hot cocoa - no headaches - having our 2 year anniversary of meeting each other yesterday... :) - fun coworkers - my parents and how they're celebrating 35 years today!!! - my brother and almost sis in law who are getting married in a month and 2 days! - my brother who is far, far away being brave and his amazingly strong wife and their darling puppies - my favorite caribou baristas - individual sized popcorn that I will make after 3 after some more coworkers leave :) - comp time... i just haven't figured out where to fit it all in this week... at least it works for doing this!