Beautiful Saturday...

Finally some wonderful weather that we were able to enjoy! Ed went golfing in the morning with his dad, and kicked his butt (had to rub that in a little). Ed shot an 97, he was rather proud! They went to Nagawicka Golf course, they had a few vouchers from the weekend they were rained out of Ed II's birthday party in early May. Was a much better day weather wise! Ed got a bit of a sun burn!

Then in the afternoon my Mom and Bill came into town and took us to the Brewers Game. Bill has access to tickets in the summer through Teamsters/UPS, and their seats are amazing. They are right behind the Brewers dugout! It was great, weird to see them so close up. My Mom and Bill bought a new camera for their upcoming Alaska trip, so we got some nice pictures at the game too. We got into the park about 3:30pm and tailgated, had some Cheddar Wursts, chips, cookies, salad, and drinks (non-alcoholic for me of course). The game was a good one too, Brewers 4 Astros 1.

Skate Already 42!!!

Well Ed survived hockey game #2 tonight. With another loss sorry to say, and plenty of sore muscles again. No puking this time. Only 4 minutes of penalty time, and no goals! He shows up to play when his wife isn't there to see, imagine that. It wasn't the most comfortable hour and a half for a pregnant woman to sit and freeze her tush off, but I survived And then to ride home with the air on high as Ed is sweating perfusely. That blanket I brought to sit on came in handy! So here is the man in action:

Between periods.

Notice Ed off to the right in the penalty box!

Ed with a burst of energy, short lived as he is only one of four defense men.

New Moulding...

Our ongoing house project has been putting up new moulding around the new windows we put in last summer. We are slowly coming to the end. I shouldn't say we, Ed has done all the work, but I should get some credit, somehow I end up doing all the cleaning up after him. So today he accomplished the baby's room and full bath. The downfall is that we have to buy new blinds for the windows once we change the moulding. So now we just have the master bedroom, guest bedroom and one window in the living room left. Hopefully by the end of the week we will be done, blinds are on sale this week so that is our goal.

Memorial Day Weekend...

Overall our weekend was rather uneventful. We both worked on friday, therefore I slept on Saturday, and Ed worked part of the day Saturday and most of Sunday.

Casey came home from Florida for the long weekend to see her new nephew Breyson, friends and family. Saturday afternoon she came over to hang out for a few hours and catch up. Saturday night, Ed and I went out to dinner (due to not wanting to make anything) and then came home and relaxed.

Sunday while Ed was at work, I went to Mukwonago with Casey and Jennie to visit Aaron, Andrea and Breyson. We brought bagels and some fruit and juice to share with the new family. Casey was a little under the weather so she relaxed on the couch while Jennie and I hogged the baby.

Casey under the weather!

These pictures were taken by Aaron and Andrea, after coming home from the hosptial, but i had to share them because they are so darn cute. (This is why I need a new camera)

When Ed got home from work we went over to Ed and Sue's house for dinner. Had some tasty shish-kabobs on the grill, watermelon and a delightful strawberry dessert. We played a few rounds of Crazy 8's and then it was home to relax again. Gizmo came along of course so he and Tallulah ran around and played a bit.

Then Monday we ran some errands in the morning, and stopped by the Swan's to say goodbye to Casey before she left Tuesday for FL again. No matter how many times she has been home to visit, it is still just as hard to say good bye as the first time she left WI almost 2 years ago. At least this time I can blame it on the whole pregnancy and hormones thing. It is hard to say goodbye to your cousin and best friend. Next time she is home our child will be on the outside, crazy! Then it was home to relax and for me to nap as I had to work Monday night.

So as you can see, nothing too crazy took place this weekend! We are saving up for the crazy days and nights to come when we are parents! 6 1/2 more weeks!

Made by Sue Smith...

Had to share a picture of the quilt that Sue made for Baby Smith! She and I went shopping several weeks ago to pick out fabric, and somehow she found the time to finish it before July! She also made the lamb to go with it! Super cute!

Baby Smith Update...(32 4/7 weeks)

Another long wait at the doctors office for a few minutes of one on one doctor time. Oh well, just glad to leave with good news all the time. Visit went fine, my weight stayed the same as last visit (probably because of the cold I am fighting) Blood pressure was good, heart rate today was 133. And we are measuring right on! So it was a good visit minus the wait.

Prior to the doctor visit, I went to Children's Hospital to visit Aaron, Andrea and Breyson! They are all doing well, they had a pretty good first night, and of course he is cute as ever. Little guy is on a bilirubin blanket for jaundice, they plan to go home tomorrow! Andrea is nervous, Breyson is getting circumcised tonight!

He was hungry, thus the scowling at the camera! He has seen enough bright lights!

Mommy and Breyson!

Proud Daddy!

Nasty Cold, Hockey, Confirmation and Breyson

Nasty Cold
I guess it has been over a week since I have posted, but not too much exciting is really going on in this household. Last Thursday I came home from work with a sore throat, by Friday I was developing a cough, by Sunday it moved to my sinuses, and today it is all of the above minus the sore throat. So despite working (which I probably shouldn't have) the last two nights, I have been medicating with the little I am allowed and trying to rest. I probably over did it a bit last week with meetings and working extra and whatever else, but I think the cold is moving along. Just ready for it to be gone, it is hard enough to sleep well being pregnant and then throw a cold and not being able to breath into the mix, makes it even worse.

Hockey
On a lighter note, Ed had his first hockey game of the summer on sunday night. I had to work so I was unable to attend, so no pictures, but here is a snapshot of how he said it went. The team lost the game, but Ed scored 1 goal, had 2 assists, 6 minutes of penalty time, only threw up once after the first period, has at least 3 blisters on his feet and couldn't move the next day he was so sore. I think he had difficulty just walking from the truck to the shower after the game that night. So despite the loss, it was a successful game. I think he realized he isn't in as good of shape as he thought!

Confirmation
Ed and I attended our church for the first time since our wedding (1 year and 9 months ago) to witness my brother Mitchell being confirmed. Ed was surprised that the pastor even remembered his name, she has called me Amanda in the past also. She called us both by name when we went through for communion, impressive. Anyways, the service really was painless, we just don't have the time to spend our sundays in church with us working weekends.

This is one of not so many pictures of Ed and I since I have been pregnant. Now I know why!

Mitchell is looking so grown up! You should hear his voice, starting to get a bit deeper!

Breyson John Schuett
Aaron and Andrea welcomed their baby boy into the world this morning at 8:11am. He is 7 pounds 5 ounces and 21 inches long. Sorry no pictures to share yet, I am going to visit them tomorrow so stay tuned for photos of the new family! Both Andrea and Breyson are doing well!

Another Shower...But not for us!!

After working friday night, I slept really fast and was up preparing for a Bridal Shower that my mom and I, and Amber threw for cousin Rachel. I think Rachel has been mentioned previously on the blog when she gave birth to Aiden last October (2007). Rachel and Greg are getting married June 7, 2008. So it was time for a shower.

Rachel and Amber (Maid of Honor)

We had a very nice turnout, and things went very smoothly despite my lack of sleep. We had a picnic themed meal with Rachels favorite, croissants. We had chicken salad and ham n cheese, pasta salad, fruit kabobs, veggies, chips, brownies and cake. Our decorations were mostly blue, black and white, as royal blue is her color choice for the wedding. My mom even had the cake decorated with blue and black and white frosting, which didn't do so well for the pearly whites.

(Notice the black and blue teeth and lips!)

Amber was in charge of games, she had a questionaire about Rachel and Greg for everyone to play, and also a purse game where if you had the things she asked for in your purse you got a ring, and the person with the most rings in the end won! Many women realized all the extra junk they hide in their purses. We also put together a scrapbook for Rachel and Gregs Wedding photos, everyone made a page. (I stole this idea from one of my baby showers, thanks Andrea!!) It turned out very nice!Then of course, there were plenty of gifts for Rachel to open too. Despite the shower festivities, Aiden seemed to take center stage in his activity center. Try to get a peek at his 2 teeth, the child doesn't get his tongue out of the way. Someone taught him a bad habit! Gizmo seemed to be loved by all too. He got lots of attention too, he was rather well behaved!
So to say the least, I am glad that all the parties at 1010 Anton Road are over with. I need a break from cleaning my house!

Contact Dermatitis...(30 6/7 weeks)

When I woke up Wednesday afternoon after working Tuesday night, I had some red raised itchy bumps on my right arm. I thought I had been bitten by something while I was sleeping and just brushed it off. Put some over the counter hydrocortisone cream on to stop the itching and went about my business. Even had my doctor appointment, but didn't mention it to her because I thought it was nothing.

Well, come Thursday night it had gotten slightly worse, more reddened, becoming more of a blotchy looking raised rash. So I took my husbands advice and called the doctor on Friday morning. Started by calling my OB office to see which doctor I should see and they recommended either my Family Practice Doctor or the Dermatologist, because the nurse said chances are they wouldn't be able to diagnose whatever it was. So turns out I was able to get into my dermatologist (with a physicians assistant) that same morning and have it looked at.

My biggest worry was the fact that I had to work that night and wasn't sure if it was appropriate for me to be around sick babies with some random rash on my arm. The thought that I had gotten it from a baby when working earlier in the week also crossed my mind, because gloves don't cover that far up your wrist or arm. So to make this long story short, they called it Contact Dermatitis and gave me samples and a prescription of a stronger topical steroid. She had said if I continued on with the over the counter steriod it could have taken 6-8 weeks to go away. So we will see how much the extra doctors trip and co-pay helps the rash. Hopefully it will be gone sooner than later. It was a pain having to cover it up at work friday night. It seems to be improving, but not as fast as I would like. We will see, I am supposed to return to the dermatologist in 2 weeks. If it is gone, I will be saving my $30 and cancelling the appointment, keeping our fingers crossed.

Baby Update...(30 4/7 weeks)

Had another bi-monthly doctor appointment this afternoon. Again, all is well. Heartrate was at an all time low of 128 this time (which is still okay) we've just gotten used to hearing 140's. I am guessing I measured fine as the doctor didn't say anything otherwise. My blood pressure is still stellar as always, the numbers on the scale keep going up, which I guess is good for now.

I inquired about Pediatricians, as I have been asking around the ladies at work for recommendations. So I asked for an opinion from my doctor, and she was on board with the names given to my by my fellow co-workers, so now I just need to call and make sure they are accepting new patients and decide if I feel the need to go meet them before the baby is born. Right now I am rather unmotivated to do that, and Ed definitely won't be interested. It was like pulling teeth to get him to go to the doctor with me today, and it thankfully was a quick in and out appointment.

Lastly, I got the approval to have hot dogs!!! Yahoooo.... Ed has been forbidding me to eat them as they were on the list of things to not eat while pregnant because of the nitrates. I had bought Cheddar Wurst a few weeks ago because they were on sale and have been craving them and Ed hasn't let me have them. Now I got the official okay, but in moderation of course. My plan wasn't to eat all 6 by myself, all I want is 1, geez!

So anyway, I have some major television watching to catch up on, it has been weeks and the DVR is filling up. Hope this finds everyone doing well!

Ed II's 50th Not So Surprise Party...

Following the shower, we moved everyone from Sue and Ed's house over to our house to quickly prepare for the "Surprise" 50th Party for Ed II. We had everything essentially ready that morning, but just needed to get the people to our house before Ed II arrived as the shower went a little later than anticipated. We did manage to get most everyone here before Ed II arrived, but the weather put a bit of a damper on things as well.

The men had planned to golf 18 holes during the shower and then arrive at our house after 4pm, but since the weather was crappy, they only did 9 holes, and it was a wet 9 holes. So following golf they all went to a sports bar in Hartland to waste some time as the shower was still going on. Turns out Ed was getting a bit antsy at the bar so we had to hurry and get to our house as Ed II wanted to leave the bar. So his arrival was a bit prior to 4pm, but there were enough people here to give him the surprise. Also, turns out little things people were saying sort of gave the surprise away anyway, but he still enjoyed the party we think. It is difficult when family is coming from out of town and possibly needing a place to stay and what not to pull the wool over Ed's eyes. But that is fine, Sue's party last year didn't turn out to be much of a surprise either, but it is the thought that counts, right?

So anyway, it turned out to be a house and garage party due to the weather. We had a ton of food of course, and plenty of beverages to go around as well. The pig roast was a hit, Gizmo especially really enjoyed it, minus the pig head. Certain people were tormenting him with the pig head, he was rather afraid of it, he is afraid of some weird things, including the baby stroller, we'll have to work on that. But he got plenty of handouts from people, which is why he hasn't eaten his dog food in two days. Anyways, back to the party.

Ed II got plenty of gag gifts for being the big 5-0. The funny thing is, there are people in this world that probably actually use some of the crazy things he received. Needless to say, after an evening of entertaining and food, our house was a bit of a disaster. Well in my book, I tend to be a bit of a neat freak, so it was killing me not to sweep the floor every 10 minutes and pick up after people. But as of today, it is all back to normal, kitchen is mopped, garage is cleaned out, we pawned off some extra food on family so we have some room in our refridgerator again. But plenty of leftovers for the next couple of days. Now we just need to get Gizmo back on schedule with eating and sleeping. Find room for all the wonderful baby things we have received in the last couple of weeks, and prepare for this little bundle of joy. As I was napping on the couch this afternoon, I was thinking about how I only have a couple months left to do this until there is a baby that our lives with revolve around, yikes!! It is coming quick!!

Otherwise, Ed just has a few classes left this semester. He is taking a summer class, and then the one year countdown is on until graduation. That will probably be the next and last party we will be having, until it is birthday parties for the baby!!

Lastly, here is a picture of Ed and his long lost child. Just kidding. This is Bryson, Ed's cousin Tara's second son who looks just like Ed when he was little. So this is what our son, should it be a boy, potentially look like. Ed is practicing getting used to holding babies, he even changed Bryson's diaper, no poop though, personally I don't think that counts. But of course I got a picture of him in action, he did a fine job!!

Polka Dot Shower...(30 weeks)

Well, another busy weekend started out with a wonderful baby shower put on by Molly and Sue Smith! Shower #3 was a polka dot theme, and believe me, everything followed the circle/dot motif. First of all, the decorations were all round, or with polka dots. The food was all circular shaped or round, for example, we had wraps that were circle shaped, the fruit was scooped in balls, the cheese puffs were circular, the cake was polka dot, Molly's gift wrap was polka dot paper, the Baby pool was adorned in the polka dot paper, the bowls that served the fruit had polka dots on them, you name it, it had polka dots. Such a creative idea. Poor Molly was running out of ideas for games and gifts and what not as she has followed the updates on the previous showers I have had. But have no fear she still came up with wonderful new games and ideas!
So onto the games....we plays a baby name matching game. There was a list of celebrities, and a list of all their babies names and we had to match the appropriate babies to their parents, I was not good at all, but some women got 11 out of 15 correct, I maybe got a 50% and that was with extra help from Tara! The other game we played was Baby Prices is Right. So there were like 5 or 6 items we had to guess the price of and who ever was closest in total, won. And then we got to keep the items. The items were things like, diapers, wipes, diaper cream, baby oil and baby bath wash. Again, I didn't win, oh well! And the third game was to see how long it took me to drink 4 ounces of water from a baby bottle with a newborn nipple. Everyone had to guess a time frame and whoever was closest, won. It took me about 9 minutes, it was not easy. I thought I was going to have a blister on my tongue when I was done, but I didn't. Oh, and I can't forget, the prizes for the games were bags of M & M's (again round/circular in shape!!)

Then came gift time, once again this unborn child was spoiled royally!! Some of the bigger items included the stroller and carseat, the swing base for the carseat, a couple tummy time/floor mat activity centers, the bumbo seat, a piggy bank and matching frame (polka dot!!), some onesies, bath stuff, Baby Gap gift card, a couple blankets, and the list goes on. Another truck full to say the least.

Kieran had lots of fun helping with garbage and playing with the tissue paper.