Kansas, Colorado, and a whole bunch in between!

We recently took a family road trip down to Kansas to visit Dan's family and celebrate his mother's 60th birthday! What a blast! We wanted to extend the trip a little longer and visit some friends in Colorado so we got plane tickets, thanks to my father-in-law's frequent flyer miles, and flew there as well. Greta got to experience the ride too and we had a wonderful time there. Here's a play by play of our trip down there.

Thursday 7.29: I'm was officially 22 weeks then and had a midwife appt! Emme came to my place to check me out, chat about the pregnancy, and talk more about this birth we are hoping to have. With each visit I am more and more convinced that this is the right path for us. We cannot wait to see what a neat experience having a home-birth will be! She also helped me load the car with our luggage and I took off to pick up Daniel. We drove to Kansas, leaving town around 4 pm, and arrived right around midnight. We were exhausted but Greta did great in the car!

Friday 7.30: Party prep day! Alan, my father-in-law, and I took off bright and early for some grocery shopping for the party. Although we decided to have it catered, we still had to make quite a bit of the side dishes and desserts for the big event. I made Secret Cookies (I'm not sure if I can share the recipe or not so I'll wait to give it out until I have permission!). They take quite a bit of time but they are so worth it! I also make a watermelon, basil, lemon salad that was quite delicious. The other girls in the family were busy either helping me or Kit so we spent the day there! Mama Hansen also helped here and there but had to answer a ton of questions from all of us. At one point, since it was so hot out, she decided to give Greta a tubby in their cooler. Ahh- how sweet.

I also made dinner for the family that night: cream cheese wontons, pork egg-rolls, and white rice. Yummy. We played some games and enjoyed eachother's company.

Saturday 7.31: Party Day! We got up early, started getting the house ready, and prepped the rest of the food! We were literally busy until the guests started arriving- at which point I was presenting Mama Hansen with my gift to her- a video slideshow of her wonderful 60 years so far! All in all, the party was a huge success and Mama Hansen felt loved! We even found a way to get photos of all the guests at the party so we could put them in a memory book for her too! Here's our family photo!

Sunday 8.1: This day was all about relaxation. I had hoped to make it to church with the parents that morning but Greta wanted to sleep instead- fine by me! After we all enjoyed some leftovers for lunch we went out, just the ladies, for manicures and pedicures. Such a fun treat! That night we left Greta at home with Grammi and Grandpop and all the siblings and their significant others went out! We had a great dinner and laughed a bunch. Greta did great with them too- as expected- and it was so fun to be out with Daniel- sans baby!

Monday 8.2: Pool day! Some neighbors were kind enough to let us borrow their pool for an afternoon. We all got into our gear, loaded a cooler, jumped into the conversion van, and spent the afternoon at the pool. Such a treat! That night was our last night with Kit and Paul so we just hung out at home, relaxing and playing more games.

Tuesday 8.3: Our day with the Flanery's! Part of the dilemma we face when coming to Kansas is spreading out our time with not only our family but also our friends. Some of our best friends live just 30 minutes away and we always try to make time to see them. We had a lovely lunch with them and their three beautiful children (number 4 is due in less than a month!).

Then Crystal and I got to take off, sans kids, for a little Target run and smoothie treat. It's truly the little things as a mom! Then we all headed off to their local neighborhood pool and went swimming for the afternoon. Poor baby Greta got some sunscreen on her hands and then rubbed them into her eyes- she recovered but was oh so sore. After that we enjoyed a lovely dinner cooked by Dick at the Truxaw residence. Again- another wonderful day.

Wednesday 8.4: My brother's birthday! Although I had to be away from my brother on his 29th birthday I mailed him a card, and thought about him all day long. Such a great guy!

This was our travel day. We took off for the airport around 2 pm. Got there. Checked in. Loaded the plane. Took off. Greta did great! You would think she was a pro at flying. There was a little boy who sat behind us and kept her entertained the whole flight- well, most of the flight... here's what happened. We actually got to Denver about 20 minutes early and then the pilot announced, "we won't be able to land quite yet, due to weather, so we'll keep doing circles over the airport until they tell us it's time to come down". OK, no big deal. Ha! After about an hour, and another brilliant announcement, "I'm optimistic we have enough fuel to make it" we started heading for Colorado Springs. Bummer. We landed in there, through plenty of turbulence, and sat on the tarmac for an hour and a half. Because there was no gate there for us, we couldn't get off the plane. That's right. We were stuck. I'm 23 weeks along now, almost 6 months, hungry, and have already nursed Greta twice so I'm starting to feel a little dehydrated. They didn't come around and ask if we needed anything- which was a huge disappointment- but we understood. We waited patiently and then heard it was almost time for us to leave. We got to the runway but then stopped again as the pilot announced, "It appears we are not the only plane ready to head back to Denver. We'll just wait for our turn". Great- so now he's a gentlemen! Once we took off, and I nursed Greta again- we had a quick flight there. We landed and then sat on the tarmac again, as all the gates were full from the planes that got there before us! We finally got the gate and realized that all the restaurants were closed- just 5 minutes before we landed. BUMMER! I was super hungry so we got some taco bell from another terminal and then got our rental car and luggage. I have to say, Greta did better than we did. Both Dan and I were starting to loose it at one point and she was so happy. Praise God!

Once we finally got to our friends Jon and Kendra's place we were exhausted. We were supposed to have a BBQ with our friends there but missed them all. We ate something quickly, chatted for a little bit, and then when right to bed. Tomorrow would be another day!

Thursday 8.5: We spent this day just hanging out around town. We missed seeing Joel and his kids the night before so we really wanted to get together with him. He had 2 guest passes to the Denver Children's Museum so we went there for a play-date with his adorable sons. We had a great time!

After a drive home, a rest for Greta, and showers for Dan and I, we took off for dinner with our friends, Jeremy and Marie. When I lived in Denver, the summer of 2005, I spent most of my days with Marie and her cute kids, Caleb and Eva. Eva was the only one there that night but we had a lovely evening. So good to reconnect with them!

Friday 8.6: Dan used to be an optician and so he wanted to visit his old co-workers. We drove out to his old office and spent some time with them- always great! Then we had lunch at Baja Fresh, one of his favorite chair restaurants in Denver, and drove home. Greta fell asleep in the car on the way home and continued to sleep for another 2 1/2 hours- I think she's growing! We got up, got dressed, and were off to dinner with our friends Gary and Melanie and our cousins, Ross and Katie. We had such a fun night with them too- Greta went down great in the pack and play that we brought- so we were able to enjoy a whole evening as adults!

Saturday 8.7: Our day with the Clarks. Jon and Kendra- our hosts- are amazing.

We love spending time with them, whenever we're out there, and Saturday was nothing short of that. We had a lovely breakfast in the am, drove out to Mt. Evans, and spent an hour or so hiking around the trails. Greta did great in the baby bjorn on Dan and I managed to not get sick- it's a lot of work to stay hydrated while nursing one baby, growing another, and hiking in the high altitude!


We got to have Thai Basil for dinner that night- my favorite restaurant in Denver. It was just as delicious as I remembered it. Again, another wonderful day.

Sunday 8.8: When Dan lived in CO he went to this great church called Denver Community Church. It has been through quite a few changes over the past few years, new pastor and lead team, new interior, new structure spiritually, but it still felt good to be back. We enjoyed a nice Sunday morning service and then headed off to lunch with friends from our old small group. We had a great lunch at Todd and Tonia's and were able to visit with almost everyone from our group. Such a great reminder of the love surrounding us from afar! Greta was a hit too!

Since we had to wake up at some awful hour the next morning we called it an early night, watched a movie, picked up a pizza, and got to bed at a reasonable hour.

Monday 8.9: 3:30 am. That's right. 3:30 AM! That's what time my alarm went off. We had packed the car the night before so we got dressed, brushed our teeth, woke Greta up, and took off for the airport. We got there with plenty of time, dropped the car off at the rental place, checked in, went through security which took way longer than it should have, and barely made it to the plane on time. We did however, have a smooth flight, and made it home by 8:30 am! We promptly went back to bed upon our arrival back.

We spent the day hanging out with the family, cleaning Nana's (Dan's 95 year old Grandmother) fridge, and relaxing. Such a great end to our wonderful vacation.

Tuesday 8.10: This was our last day of our trip. We got up early, with Greta, had a delicious pancake breakfast, and took off. After 7 1/2 hours of driving we arrived at our house- warm- but home. My folks came over with food to stock our fridge with and pizza! Such a treat.

I love traveling with Daniel. Just another reminder of how good we are together and what a gift he is to me.

9 months and 18 weeks

Well. It appears my darling daughter is teething. I know this is a very common baby stage but I have to say, I hate it. There really isn't much I can do for her. We try to comfort her with tylenol/motrin whenever possible. She has plenty of teethers that we keep cold so she can chew on them when needed. A friend of mine lent me a wonderful gadget. It's a way to let babies eat/suck on frozen fruit without choking. Greta loves it and so do I! We've been getting outside as often as possible and letting the distractions help. We walked Lake of the Isles yesterday, Lake Harriet today, and tomorrow we're walking Calhoun. It's great to get out and get some exercise and I'm convinced we're making people happier with Greta's bright eyes and beautiful smile!

Our baby turns 9 months tomorrow. 9 months! Holy cow. I cannot believe how quickly this time is flying by. She is so much fun (well, not currently). She sits up now, can pull herself to standing while holding onto me, laughs all the time, plays coy when new people come around, eats big kid food, and sings to herself all the time. She is absolutely wonderful. I'm so very lucky to be her Mama.

I am now 18 weeks along in this pregnancy. 18 weeks! Also- we found out what we're having.... it's a girl! We couldn't be more excited! (We would have been excited either way really!) We didn't find out the gender when we were pregnant with Greta and I loved it. It was so fun not knowing and having that moment in the hospital when we saw her for the first time. However, since we really didn't need any more surprises this time around, we opted to find out. Also- it's kind of fun to have the option. We had an ultrasound on Father's Day and were able to see our new little daughter. She was moving like crazy and had a beautiful profile! We are so blessed.

Camping

I love this day. This is the last day before camp. This is the preparation day. I have my to-do list. My groceries purchased. My clothes cleaned. My packing list has been tweaked, to add the stuff we now need for Miss Greta, and it's been printed! Now all I have to do is start.

This year I'm making jalapenos stuffed with cream cheese and wrapped in bacon for the wine tasting that I will not be able to participate in. I need to prepare those ahead of time as they can take a little while and then I don't have to worry about doing it once we are there. I also need to make egg salad for one of the lunches we're going to have there.

We are trying something different with food this year. We always end up driving home with extra food so instead, we are going to do food communally this year. Everyone has been assigned a meal, or three, and they are responsible for providing food for everyone in our group. Should be kind of fun to see how it works! I think I like change. Actually, I know I do.

I always over pack knitting projects for these sorts of trips. I get optimistic thinking about how much I could accomplish, pack a ton of bags of knitting supplies, and rarely knit. I'm currently working on a birthday gift for my friend's twins- not needed until December and so I think I'll bring that.

I met Daniel camping. That is where we fell in love 6 years later. We got married with most of our camp friends around us, outside. We love to travel together and we love to be outside. Memorial Day is always fun, even in the rain. Here's to a fabulous weekend ahead. Oh, and it's Greta's first time camping!

Round 2

Well, it's official, we're pregnant again! This was definitely a surprise to all the parties involved. Greta still has absolutely no idea and I have a feeling she really won't until this little bundle joins us in the world. We are 13 weeks along, as of tomorrow, and I'm feeling pretty good. I've been tired, which by the way, means I should be resting now as Greta is but I felt like writing instead! Other than a few headaches from not drinking enough water though, I've been great.



Emotionally however, not so much. Well, I'm getting there. My dear husband and I found out about this bundle the day before Easter. We've had our share of family and friend troubles so far this Spring that telling everyone right then just didn't feel right. Also, we weren't excited. Isn't it even awful to think? Then we felt guilty for not feeling excited. Both things that my God does not want me to feel. Alas, we took in what we could, breathed, cried, got a Frosty at Wendy's, said a prayer, and went with it.

We told some good friends of ours not long afterward as they were in a similar boat, pregnant, with children already, and not really expecting it. They were excited and supportive which is exactly what we needed.

I guess I had a different plan (isn't it funny when that happens!).

• I wanted Greta to be at the birth of her younger siblings and to maybe realize, a little, what was going on. We're still planning on having her there, she just might be clueless!

• I wanted Greta to get to be the baby for a while. No matter how hard I try, she will now be the "big girl". I'll have unfair expectations on her just because she's not the infant.

• I wanted to nurse Greta for as long as we both wanted it. Breastfeeding was not easy for us. In fact, sometimes I laugh about this, but we pretty much endured every possible problem with nursing until she was about 6 weeks old. I know that may not seem like very long for some of you but let me help you with the math: nursing 10-12 times daily (on both sides!) times 7 days times 6 weeks equals 420 to 500 times of an excruciatingly painful experience that neither of us were enjoying all the while knowing that it was supposed to be beautiful and bonding. Ha. All that to say however, I'm not quitting nursing just because I'm pregnant. And I don't plan on stopping once the new babe is born. I have lots of reasons for it and maybe I'll write more about that later.
  

• I wanted to not be pregnant for a little while longer. I mean, I feel like I just got out of my maternity pants. Well, I did.

• Even as I look back on this I realize that I have started each sentence with, "I wanted" Ha.

As we approach the second trimester I am feeling much better, emotionally, about the whole situation. I am eagerly anticipating finding a midwife that will deliver this babe in our home. I am excited about eating healthy for not only myself and Greta but also this new little one. I am confident that this birth will be an experience I won't forget. I am looking forward to finding out the gender of this babe (we really don't need anymore surprises) and planning for him or her. I am excited to watch Greta become a big sister and see all the gifts she has as a little girl come to the table. I'm also excited for this bit of JOY in the midst of what felt like a hurricane around us.

Nap Time

I know it's been a while since my last post but I just wanted to write about how much I love nap time. And yet, I can't wait for it to be over. Isn't that the strangest thing? While having lunch today I realized that my little gal had been asleep already for almost 2 hours*. She rarely naps longer than an hour. That's her sleep cycle. So, me, being the crazy new mom that I am, went upstairs to check on her. She was definitely still sleeping, until she heard me breathing, and then she woke up. And I was glad. I absolutely love my life.

* today she had shots- which might explain the longer nap.

St. Patrick's Day!

I love this holiday. As a 1/4 Irish gal, celebrating St. Patrick's Day is a must. My family marches in the parade downtown and everyone gets dressed up. As this was Greta's first St. Patrick's Day I wanted to make a special outfit for her. I made these stripped leggings a few days ago but needed a top. I found this great pattern for a super cute dress and got to work. I also found this really easy to follow chart for making a shamrock right in the center. With a few adaptations and some time, I made this whole outfit in one day!

Greta's Dedication Dress

Well, we're having Greta dedicated. I've been working on something for her to wear for the big event for quite some time now. Here's what has happened.

I started a dress with a sweet and simple pattern only to find that it was just way too big.
Then, I found another pattern, checked my gauge, and knit the entire thing... only to find that this too was quite too large for my little babe. This dress is called Oriental Lily and I thought it would be just perfect. I made it white with a pink sash around the center. It will probably fit her for Easter of 2011!
So, I have officially started the third dress for this babe and I'm not more that two inches from the bottom, (it's a bottom up dress) and I already think it's too big.

All that to say, if any of you know of a good place to find an affordable dedication dress, read less than $20, let me know. We're running out of time here and I just can't knit that fast!

5.3.10
Photos added of the dress!

Nana is happy!

and so is baby Greta! (Mama too of course!)