Happy Holidays!

Hello all! Merry Christmas Eve to those who celebrate it, I'm having a pretty cozy one so far. More about that later, first of all I have some backtracking to do! Not that I have such overly exciting things to do, but there is something unsettling about leaving things out so I feel like I should cover the last few weeks. The past few have gone by pretty quickly... My guess is because Eric and I were able to get away for a few days last weekend, and also because between then and now I have done 4 births and that makes the weeks very busy. They make for long days, but when you sit at the end of the week and think back I can hardly find where the time went. I feel very very lucky to have gotten the births and now is the big question-- usually I like to put birth money towards big things like buying tickets home. I have been planning to make one last trip home in January before I our little man comes in the spring, because I want to see the family and meet my new niece who will be here soon! I'm having trouble deciding if I should go however. I would still really like to but I know it will be a long few flights for a short few days while I'm 31-32 weeks pregnant and swollen. It's still really important to me thought, that I see everyone and meet this new person, so I hope it works out. It's amazing how fast everything is changing, and in such exciting ways that every day I look forward to the next exciting moment and stage, but sometimes I wish I could have a tad bit of extra time to do some things like go visit home!

So my wonderful husband planned a weekend trip for us as a birthday gift to me, and since my work Christmas party (which was extremely fun!) was the weekend after my birthday, we had to go another weekend so that ended up being last weekend! We went to Girdwood, AK which is about 45 minutes away from here. It is nice and close, and somewhere we've passed through many times but we have never really explored the area. It's a small town, and a ski town so it's easy to explore the whole thing in not much time, but that makes it extremely relaxing. And it is so very beautiful! I tell you, when I picture living life in Alaska, Anchorage is really not what thrills me. But the minute you get out of Anchorage, even 5 minutes down the highway, everything changes into the beautiful place it is. The drive was gorgeous, we drive along the coast the whole way, surrounded by mountains. On the left people are ice climbing on the side of the road, and on the right is the ocean covered in ice chunks with snow covered mountains alongside. Really not a drive to complain about so we were off to a very good start! When we got to Girdwood, we stopped at a little restaurant right next to the skiing action so we could see them come down the hill, and the brunch was delicious! I most mostly in awe of the space-- it was a large house and the seating area is in the large 4 season porch area. Huge windows that let all of the light in, surrounded by snowy trees, and it was really beautiful inside. I kept telling Eric I want a house with a room like that!! It was then that I decided, (though I've thought of it before) that when we get our new couch set I want to turn one so that it faces out our back window. We have an interesting layout where there is only one windown downstairs and it goes straight to the back yard. I personally like to see out onto the street but even so, I just want to be able to sit and look outside so we will be doing this soon I hope :)

After brunch we walked into an adorable shop that had fun jewelry, clothes, little knick knacks, and baby things. We bought Henry a little onesie that seemed perfect because it reminded us of Iowa. And though this babe is going to be born in Alaska, he'll still be a little Iowan. It's a onesie with a big ear of corn on it. I'm sure that will seem a lot cuter when you see the photo of him wearing it, but really it is very cute. Eric bought me a really great hoodie as another birthday gift (feeling spoiled). It was so comfy, and FIT me! A really unique dark redish color, and on the back there are white dandelion prints going across the back. Hard to explain, but it's really lovely and it kept me so warm. We then went to the "downtown" which is one street that took us about 5 minutes to get from one end to the other. I love towns like that! We stopped in the coffee shop where a little group was playing music and we sat there relaxing for a couple of hours. I told Eric while we were there, that it's funny we feel like we don't have time to do that kind of thing anymore. We used to go to coffee all of the time together when we were dating, and now we rarely do... It's funny because we still could but it sometimes takes getting out of town to really feel like you have free time, even if you could make some while at home. It felt great, and we were entertained the whole time by a fluffy 4 month old puppy named Joe. It was easy to tell he spends the day with his person at the coffee shop every day because this 4 month old can put on an entire show of tricks. Very impressive. The man making our coffee told us they have a lot of time on their hands :)

We then checked into the bed and breakfast which was amazing. So beautiful, comfy, perfect, and we'll definitely be back there. To Mom and Denny and Mike and Ruth: I think you guys would REALLY enjoy it and I would strongly encourage you each to spend a night there sometime during your visit up here in the spring!

We had dinner at a restaurant called the Double Musky which is famous nationwide for their huge steaks. Huge indeed-- we at 16 ounce steaks at this place which were amazing. Every night of the week the restaurant is STUFFED full, both in bellies and in overall space. It's hard to even walk in there it's so busy, but so worth it. We spent the rest of the night watching movies and being cozy, and then enjoyed the wonderful breakfast and company of the owners at the bed and breakfast the next morning. Back to Anchorage, and we went straight to pick up the nursery furniture that had come in!

Eric wasted NO time putting it together, so it was done a few hours later. Over this last week the painting has also taken place as we decided to change the color of the room from yellow to a nice latte color with one green wall. So it's starting to take shape, but there is a lot of work yet to be done.

We ordered this wonderful wall decal that is a tree with an owl sitting on it--brown and green. It's perfect! I ordered it on Etsy of course, because I am thoroughly obsessed with that website and have been a little "etsy happy" recently. It came quickly and yesterday we put it on and it looks fabulous I think!

That essentially brings us to today-- it's been a busy week of trying to get Christmas shopping and such finished. We are going all out with Christmas together this year, I'm not sure how that happened but it looks like Santa hit our house with gifts. Usually that isn't how it goes, but I think it's just a special year for us and I like to justify it by saying that in the following years it will be about our little guy so this year we're spoiled.

It was so lovely to be able to sleep in today on Christmas Eve, not that I really slept in that much... I hopped out of bed at 8:30 to get ready, and Eric and I headed out for some last minute things, a trip to the grocery store etc. I had planned to put away laundry then, but instead I fell asleep for over an hour which was lovely! We spent the evening at the UU service, then came home for some homemade soup. Bekah/Ted made oyster stew, and Eric/I made cream of chicken and wild rice soup. I tried to replicate the Panera soup, but this was a little funkier. Still very good though! Eric and I took Finn on a walk afterwards which was chilly to be sure, but felt so good. I really like to get a walk in each day, but it's harder to keep that motivation when it's bitterly cold out. We had to get out one of Finn's "christmas presents" early... His feet have been getting really cold when we go out and walk on ice, and sometimes he gets balls of snow caught in his pads so I bought him booties. Of course this led to the funniest walk I have ever seen in my life which gave me a great laugh, but he caught on soon and didn't mind them at all. It's funny, it's as if the minute something warm and cozy, however unusual, touches his feet his limbs no longer work. He was walking on three legs with one back one hiked way way up, and then was wobbling the front two all over the place and he just looked plain ridiculous. But look now, he's a natural in his booties! We are home now, I'm comfy in my sweats and my big slouchy grandpa sweater :) Another thing I got during the birthday weekend. I wear a lot of slouchy sweaters usually but now that I have a belly my big sweatshirts are like spandex on me so I bought a maternity one and it looks just like something I would have before, but now it fits! Long thigh length brown sweater with toggles, I love it!

(These last 3 pictures are from tonight), I like the last one because Eric's mustache froze on our walk.

I'm thinking I'll go put the laundry away and head to bed, I just now realized it's already 11pm and I go on call at 6am... I would love another birth this weekend but I'm hoping for Sunday because I really don't want to miss Christmas! Whatever you do this weekend, I hope everyone is safe and happy.

Merry Christmas!

Birth, Guitars, and every day things!

I have tried multiple times to learn to play acoustic guitar... never once has it worked for longer than 2 days when I forget the chords I've learned all over again. This time, I am determined to learn, and I'm going to make that my project over the next 3 months until there's a little man in my life and there is less time for guitar playing! I want to learn how to strum which I'm horribly terrible at, and I want to learn a few songs by my three very favorite artists-- Brandi Carlile, Jeffrey Foucault, and John Gorka. Good thing I like slow mellow music because I can already tell you, I slow down even those songs about twice as much. At least.

Tonight Dad and I skyped for about an hour, and we both tinkered on the guitar and listened to music and I'm feeling inspired to try again! Eric, David and I played a few songs after that and after looking online I realized I really could learn to play some of my favorites, and that would make me extremely happy. So here I go!

My weekend turned out to be entirely unproductive. I made crappy pancakes because we had 2/3 of the ingredients and in a sleepy stupor I decided it would be a good idea to try making them anyway. Ew . I watched movies instead of doing laundry, but it felt nice. Eric and I took a trip to Blockbuster on Friday night, and watched a movie that night, and then Sunday we woke up and had coffee and watched a movie together. I don't know when the last time we had time to do that was, and it was great. Saturday I dusted off the cross country skis and headed out with some friends from work, Felicity, Sarah, her daughter Maddie, and Kasey. It was so rejuvinating! So Sunday we headed out again and this time brought the dogs which was extremely fun, and we went about twice as long so I got a really good workout in . I love the feeling of skiing even though I'm not an efficient skiier by any means. It will be a regular weekend activity, as I don't like to go out alone in the dark and it's dark well before I get off work. On the weekends, we caught the daylight and went during sunset around 3:30-- beautiful . Another fun activity of the weekend was going to an Irish pub to listen to a blue grass band play. My friend Kasey's boyfriend plays the bass in the band, and it was great music and great fun. I ate my share of delicious snacks which made it easier to stay out past midnight-- I was quite proud! Midnight used to be nothing for me, but now I start craving bed around 9... There are nights like tonight where I fell asleep on the couch before 9, but I bounced back and woke up for a walk with Finn and Eric and then here I am, still awake! (Not for long)

While we were skiing yesterday, I got a call saying that our nurse/friend Jen was in labor. We have been waiting for her little girl named Story to arrive, and knew she'd be here soon!

I rushed off the trail and to the birth center, and it was a beautiful night. She had quite a few of us from work there, which was different and fun. She did beyond a wonderful job, and brought a very small and gorgeous little girl into the world! Jen is a childbirth instructor as well as a nurse, she has tought hypnobirthing and now teaches birthing from within, and I knew she'd handle the experience gracefully. She sure did and it was wonderful to be a part of. We were up late, and back to work early in the morning so I am exhausted, and on that note I'll head to bed now.

Have a wonderful Tuesday. It's trash/recycling day here, always exciting! :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my wonderful Stepdad, Denny.

V

Non Working Friday!

I really shouldn't act so excited, like it's been oh so long since I've had a day off. With the holiday week being a week behind us, it really hasn't been that long. But who doesn't love a day off!
I work M-Th and every other Friday, and so today is one of those Fridays where ideally I get some things done. So far, I have accomplished snoozing in bed a bit longer, then thinking of getting up, and deciding not to... Then I came down for some cereal and strawberries, watched a show and pet Finn for a while, and here I am. So far, obviously a productive day. On the agenda for the day, laundry, cleaning the house, lunch with Eric, and I may go look for some paint colors, followed by a trip to the dog park. We want to paint the stairwell, laundry room and Eric and I are going to paint our bathroom. There are constant house projects in the works, which I love. Eric and David put new kitchen flooring in which is great, and we are going to do that in the laundry room, as well as our entryway. Eric and I found a new living room set last week, so we may order that in the next couple of weeks. VERY exciting, as our current couch just must go. It's not in the greatest shape, and we're trying to make changes for a comfier cleaner nicer place before baby Lindeen gets here.
We picked nursery furniture, and that will be ordered Monday. Such exciting changes, it feels great to get moving on a few of these things. Rachel is our designer from afar, so she'll be helping us to find some curtains and other things and we'll get this little man's room rolling .
Yesterday we had a baby shower at work for our nurse Jen, who is officially term today! She'll be having a little girl any time now :) Eric's work Christmas party was also last night, and it was actually really enjoyable, and I was able to find a dress that fit, so that worked out nicely.
Off to make myself productive, let's hope I get some things done today!

cont...

Well that post probably seemed a tad anticlimactic. Somehow as my fingers hit buttons too fast, I hit the perfect combination of keys that told the computer to publish my post without my permission! Anyway, believe it or not, we did more than start preparations and listen to music :)

It finally started snowing again today, and we had beautiful huge flakes falling. Very festive and very beautiful, and refreshing after all the rain and ice!

It was a pretty relaxing morning, and then we started on our first ever turkey. It almost seemed too easy! We used a turkey bag, which ziplock makes and it made it so easy, we just shoved the bird and such in the bag, put that in a pan, and it cooked everything quickly and well. It even browned perfectly. It was so easy in fact that we thought "this can't be, let's leave it in a while longer" and it ended up being great, but we probably could have taken it out a bit before. Next time!

Everyone started coming over around 1 something. Our friend Dave, the Haussners, and my coworker Sarah and her family came to join us. It made for an extremely fun Thanksgiving, and we had so much food. Turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, corn casserole, another kind of potatoes, salad, veggies, cranberries, rolls, turnips, and 4 different kinds of pie. Delicious. After eating way too much dinner, we played some games which were lots of fun, and then somehow a neighborhood snowball fight started up. I have never seen our neighborhood look like this before, and it was really really nice, and fun for everyone. There was no difference between the kids on the street and the adults, everyone was running around throwing snowballs for over an hour. Something that has never happened around here, but now that it did tonight, I'm sure it will again! When we all came in and got dry, we played a few more games, and then everyone took off to head home. We got the kitchen cleaned up and here we are relaxing again and I'm thinking bed is in order.

So because it's Thanksgiving, and just because, I should give thanks for things in my life.

I'm thankful this year for a wonderful wedding and a wonderful husband, a healthy pregnancy, and an always exciting job to go to every day. I'm thankful for the arrival of Truett who I was instantly in love with of course, and thankful I was able to go and visit Sydney and Macy and family recently. So thankful for seeing friends in Iowa City and just having the feeling of driving around Iowa City again on a pretty fall day. I'm thankful for family and friendships and the list goes on!

I'm off to bed and hoping the turkey I ate for dinner (and just finished for snack) will help me to sleep soundly. Good night!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all! We just wrapped up our fun Thanksgiving, after a long day of activity. We got up this morning and Eric, David and I worked on some preparations and listened to music.

Photos!

So I've been asked for some photos and I said I would post some, so here they are! This first belly shot is me at 18 or 19 weeks. I can't remember, but somewhere in there. I should start keeping better track. The one in the white shirt is from today after work, at 22 weeks and some days. Now granted, it's the end of the day and no one is their smallest after a day full of snacks! But I think it has become more clear that there is more than just snacks in my belly, our little man is making a nice home in there! Definitely a noticable jump! The picture of him is from our midway ultrasound 3 weeks ago. He has always loved having his hands up on his face every time we have seen him, and he scared me by having his cord draped over his shoulder/neck. No worries, plenty of space for him to bounce around in there and not get tangled in it, but what mom likes to see the cord near the neck? So we're all happy and healthy, and Eric let me know tonight that "he's a natural" :) So I'll mention that next. Definitely worth a mention-- My wonderful husband has been SO great during this pregnancy. From the surprise of it all initially to the day to day changes, emotional ups and downs, he has been extremely caring, supportive, and is always thinking of us. We're a lucky pair to have him!

Ever changing updates!

Happy winter to all-- it sounds like it's creeping up on everyone, and it is certainly in full force up here in Alaska! Welcome dark sky, welcome snow, but no welcome to the ice storm.
That's right, we have been in the middle of an ice storm the past few days. I don't think it's as intense as a few I have seen in Iowa, but it does the trick for making every surface outside as slippery as can possibly be... not so good for the preggo trying to walk down the ice rink driveway. I learned my lesson a week ago when I went down the driveway too quickly and while trying to avoid tripping over Finn, started falling immediately. I was putting on a ridiculous display trying not to fall on my belly, or my back, or my head, or who knows how else I could have fallen at that point... After spinning my wheels for a few seconds I was able to just slide down to my knees. So close to saving it but the ice won this time. Yesterday, it was a struggle to get to work and many people (hubby included) were unable to get out. A friend and coworker of mine has a van with nice studded tires so her husband and she came to get me and we made our way to work, only to find out we were closing early. No complaints here!
I cannot believe how quickly the holidays have gotten here, but I'm very happy about it! In a way though, it sends me spinning into this unnecessary cycle of worry because Thanksgiving is here, then on to Christmas and Christmas parties, and then it's New Years, and then Kate has a baby and then it's already practically February and when we get there I'll be weeks away from having a baby... and we have done NOTHING to prepare. I realize there is time, but my point is all of these events make time pass quite quickly and pretty soon it will be hard to catch up!
I am definitely in the mode of holiday cheer, however. This weekend Eric was nice enough to humor me and so we went to Target together in search for festive decorations. He got into it pretty quickly though and we ended up going home and while I made chex mix and listened to Christmas tunes, Eric and David hung Christmas lights outside (SO excited to have those this year!) and then Eric made a wreath for our front door. He wired berries and little frosted pine cones and made a really nice looking wreath. Haussner clan came over after that and we made rolls for Thanksgiving. There's a chance I already ate my portion, but good news is we made a ton! Well I actually had nothing to do with the making, I was the taste tester. Anyway, a very festive day and it felt really nice.
Baby boy is kicking, he must know I was just about to mention him.
So on that topic, here we are at 22 weeks! Pretty amazing really, at the beginning the time went so slowly, and now I feel like it has picked up and doesn't plan to slow down. I won't complain because I'm loving all of the changes. (Well, not the ever increasing numbers on the scale, but it's all fine and normal) I have been feeling baby kicks and squirms for weeks now, and I just can never have enough. Last week for about 3 days though, I stopped feeling him as much. Maybe a few squirms here and there but really not much at all. Turns out he must have been resting through a growth spurt because during the weekend, he was more active and stronger than ever. He just barely stopped moving! Morning, day, night, none stop kicks and movements. It. Was. Wonderful.
I have been doing a lot of thinking about the nursery that has nothing in it yet, and trying to work out a plan of attack in that department. I'm finding it's just hard to get started though with so much going on. I think if we just pick out the big items, the rest will fall in place over time.
We had our second ultrasound a few weeks ago at about 19 weeks. I will post some pictures later on this evening, but everything looked great! He is most definitely a boy, and looks healthy in every way-- we are SO thankful!
His name is all picked out and he fits naturally into daily conversation, we are getting very excited to meet this one. Along with it comes all of the normal fears of becoming a new Mom however, so that stage is the one I'm currently experiencing. It's a LOT of change that we are in for, change that we are excited and ready for, but it is easy to worry about and fun to anticipate.
I hope everyone is staying warm and having a very wonderful holiday season! Happy eating! :)