Christmas and Cinderella

I can't believe Christmas is over already!  It seems to have gone by in a blink.  Jay and I went down to Iowa from Christmas Eve through the day after Christmas.  I was so excited to be able to go to Iowa for Christmas Eve since I haven't been to Christmas Eve church since 2004 (one lovely perk of Jay's new job at Corporate is that he doesn't have to work the day before Christmas and was able to trade with someone for the day after Christmas)!  I enjoyed seeing the fam, we got to sing most verses of the best Christmas hymns, and we got to hear my mom play handbells, my sister lead the Junior Choir, and my brother play his trombone solo.  I realized that I may never get to hear my brother play his trombone again since we'll be busy having a baby and he'll be graduating from high school.  I hope he is able to go to a college where he can continue playing because he's very good and he enjoys it!

                                                     Emily & I at church after her flute solo

                                                                   Jay and me at church

Christmas Eve night brought 2 things.  Jeanne went into labor with baby #2 and the nephews were all sick with the flu!  Lucky us we were staying at their house....ugh.  But they seemed to feel better on Christmas and wanted to eat lots of candy!  Jeanne had a baby GIRL (I totally thought it was going to be a boy!) around midnight on Christmas day.  10 lbs. 5 oz. and no drugs!  Crazy mama!  So excited for them though and we got to meet little baby Aubree on Monday.

Aubree & Rowan @ the hospital

                                                                   The Adams family

Our time in Iowa was also filled with getting to see high school friends Nancy and Emily, doing family Christmas with Haverkamp family and Richardson family, and visiting Grandma Helen in the nursing home.  It was a full trip!  But so good to see everyone.

                                                         Curt, Nancy, Emily, me, and Jay

                                   Haverkamp cousins with Grandma Helen at the nursing home

Last night: Cinderella!  I actually had lunch with friends Ruth, Mel, Katie, and Nick and Katie's mom.  It was so good to see them and eat at Olive Garden (my favorite!).  Then went to Fridley and hung out with my FIL until my MIL got home from work and we headed to St. Paul to have dinner at Caffe Latte (soup, salad, lattes - yum!) and see Cinderella at the Ordway.  It was so pretty in downtown St. Paul - there were Christmas lights ALL over all the trees in the middle of the park area and it was so beautiful.  And I loved Cinderella and seeing all the little girls in their cute princess dresses and imagining life with a little girl in a princess dress! :)

It's a....

GIRL!


We announced last night at our Halloween party/my 30th birthday party that we're having a girl!  We wore Halloween costumes I made from this website: http://www.makeit-loveit.com/2010/10/our-last-minute-adult-costumes.html

I stenciled out the skeleton bones on freezer paper and ironed them onto some black clothes.  Then I painted the shapes onto the clothes with fabric paint.  It was a lot more work than I thought (b/c I'm a perfectionist and wanted the stencils to look GOOD). :)  But I think it turned out pretty well!  We were a big hit at the party and it was exciting to be able to talk about the fact that we're having a GIRL! (Well, I'm excited....Jay will be excited after some time I think.  He's just rolling his eyes at me how I'm oogling over all the cute girly baby clothes!).  :)

Next up: mini vacation to Dubuque this week to the Hancock House B & B to celebrate my birthday.  We spent the first few days after our wedding there and it was SO relaxing so hoping it will do the same this weekend!  Super excited to relax and not think about anything else!  And then Jay starts his new job at Best Buy Corporate next Monday!  Woo-hoo!

Pregnant things

I had this dream last night about the baby.  I know I'm supposed to be feeling it kick soon so it must have been on my mind!  Anyway, I dreamed that the baby was moving all inside my body, kind of like some unearthly being, trying to get out.  It was very weird.  I normally  have weird dreams, but since I've been pregnant, they've been weirder, I think.

In other news, my bump has protruded so that church-goers are asking about "baby cheese".  I even spilled some little communion bread bits on my tummy as I was helping with communion today.  There are worse things. :)

Halloween research and German fingers

Researching pregnant couples costumes for Halloween is so much fun!  I should be working on conferences for work but looking for Halloween costumes is way more fun.  Plus, this is highly valuable research. :)

Good weekend - went to dinner last night to the Black Forest Inn in Minneapolis for my father-in-law's birthday last night.  They had these awesome bread fingers in the bread basket that had fake blood on them (I think it was just red food coloring).

Then helped with communion at church this morning and learned the ropes of setting up communion for 250 people.  We also had a Care Circle Sunday at church and got to know some people from my Care Circle.  Jay was supposed to come to church after his morning meeting and made it just in time for the end of the service and the Care Circle Sunday.

Overall a good weekend!

Just another Saturday...

I decided to take a walk this morning and the Plymouth Parade was going on so it was a perfect excuse for a nice walk.  It was weird to watch a parade where you don't know anyone watching it or in it.  Except I think I caught a glimpse of a little girl that used to go to the Goddard School but was walking with a Montessori school in the parade.  Anyway, I realized my walk was almost a mile and half long each way so I feel better that I got some good exercise!

In other news, I never made it "blog official", but we are expecting our first baby on March 19!  I'm 14 weeks right now and in the "my loose jeans still fit if I don't button the top button" phase.  Maybe it's time for the belly band?

10 years ago....and 2 years ago today.

What an emotional day this is for so many people.  I went to church this morning and felt so impacted by singing "Amazing Grace" I just started crying in church.  I felt so sad about not just 9/11 and those impacted by it, but mostly because of remembering Gayle Copenhaver.  She passed away 2 years ago today.  And I know that she is missed so very much, especially by my nephews, sister, and brother-in-law.

I do remember 9/11 as well and like so many people, can remember exactly what I was doing this day 10 years ago.  I remember going to my 7:35 a.m. class and coming back at the same time as Tory.  We turned on the Today show out of habit and were completely shocked by what we saw.  Katie Couric had broken into full news coverage mode and there was video of the Twin Towers billowing smoke.  I remember being very confused about not only WHAT was happening but WHY on earth they were talking about "terrorism" and why our country would be hated, by anyone.  I remember Tory kneeling down and automatically saying a prayer out loud with me for what was happening.  And I remember going to Chapel after classes were cancelled the rest of the day.  Later, I know we were watching the evening news and saw footage of men and young boys holding machine guns and cheering that this happened in America.  I remember feeling so utterly confused by that image for a long time.

And I don't want to diminish the 10th anniversary of 9/11, but I can't help but associate this day with Gayle and her battle against not only breast cancer but leukemia as well.  She was a strong woman, a survivor, and a fighter.  She was a grandmother to my nephews, a mother, a mother-in-law, and a part of our family.

Her passing had nothing to do with 9/11 but just as our country has pulled together after that terrible day, I know that our family has pulled together in strength after the day that Gayle passed away.