That was easy!

Where do I begin?

The Munce household has some big news...again! It seems like I was just establishing this blog yesterday in anticipation of a baby; he is here, and has completely changed our lives. We are busy, happy, tired, and so thankful for Sullivan. On that note, we are excited to announce that baby #2 is on it's way! Wowser! That happened so fast, and so, do I dare even say it...easy! After so much difficulty, heart break and heart ache to get our first baby, it seems something has clicked and apparently my body is able to do the right thing all by itself. We had intentions of starting to 'try' in March, but I got a positive pregnancy test on February 22. Just like that, 13 weeks have come and gone. After half a dozen ultrasounds and appointments, it appears the baby is perfect in every way. Gosh, I'd be lying if I said it doesn't bring a tear to my eye just thinking about that. Although I'm not 'advanced maternal age' quite yet (I'm 33), I am older, reproductively speaking, and know there are risks involved. So, for perfect measurements, a strong heart beat (it was 153), and a fetus that will hardly sit still for a few photos, we are grateful.

I will admit, the news came as a major shock to both Dave and I. When we got married, all Dave wanted was a big family surrounding him, lots of kids and laughter. I wanted lots of kids myself, but knew with our ages, time would be our limiting factor. We are obviously not messing around, and are working as fast as we can to make it all happen. We will be busier and even more tired come November 2, but we are prepared (as best as we can be) to handle the challenges and excitement of two.

Sullivan's big news. 

Baby Munce #2 at 12 weeks, 5 days.

After the ultrasound, we took Sullivan for a celebratory swing.
The perfect ending to a pretty perfect day.

DC, again!

I have a great group a girlfriends who I have been lucky enough to travel to St John with a couple of times in the past five years. We had a tradition of going every other spring, but due to some circumstantial changes, we were not able to go this year. Fortunately, Megan, one of the girls (who lives in DC) suggested a weekend trip to DC instead. Everyone eagerly committed, I, however was on the fence due to a previous engagement, and because it was a call weekend for Dave. My hesitation was not well received, the girls quickly e mailed suggesting options (even inviting Sullivan along for the weekend...ha!), urging me to reconsider.  After a few weeks, I came to my senses, arranged child care and booked the trip.

We had a really great time. Although it was brief, it was nice to get away. I arrived on Friday, just in time for a pedicure, some appetizers and a fabulous dinner. We followed that up with a late night at the bar. After a quick night of sleep, we toured The White House Gardens, had lunch, saw the Cherry Blossoms in The Tidal Basin, then had a Low Country Fish Boil. We made it to bed earlier on Saturday night and I was home by 2:30pm on Sunday. As I said, it was very brief, but really fun. I couldn't imagine missing the opportunity to be with the girls for the weekend.

Sullivan spent most of his weekend at The Oliver's as Dave was on 24 hour call on Saturday. They had a full house...my parents had lost electricity due to the storm, so were also staying there. Much to my delight, Sully was a champ for Maggie and Jeff, sleeping through the night, even being the latest sleeper in the house. What a relief! Thanks a million, Maggie and Jeff, its so nice to know he is in such great hands.

Reunited. 

Garden Tour tickets. 

The ladies on The White House lawn.

Cherry Blossoms. 

Save the Birch!

Last week Sioux Falls was devastated with an ice/snow storm. Not totally unusual for this part of the country in April, but a surprise, nonetheless. Rain, then snow had been forecasted for the area. The worst of it came on Tuesday morning with ice, 1+ inch of it. Our trees began to bow with the weight of the ice, we lost power for a couple of hours, but were able to go on with our day, mostly uninterrupted. The snow began on Wednesday afternoon. We ended up with 6 inches by Thursday morning. Needless to say, the trees that were already struggling from the weight of the ice were really suffering. My neighborhood in particular was hit hard. We have amazing old trees that were snapped in half. There were entire trees, and thousands of branches down. The sound of the limbs cracking, then crashing to the ground is a sound I wont soon forget. It is really quite depressing.

Our trees actually tolerated the storm quite well. We lost a few branches, but I think we will be able to keep all of the trees. Our Birch Tree in particular caused quite the ruckus. It is a gorgeous old tree that has four large limbs, all of which were bowed way down from the weight of the ice and snow. Every night before bed I would look out the window and wonder if it would make it through what that night would bring. Each morning, there it leaned, definitely sore from the weight of it all, but still intact. The northern most limb had completely blocked our next door neighbor's driveway (blocking her car in in the process).  Initially it was not an issue as the city was shut down so she didn't need to get anywhere, but by the time Thursday rolled around, she wanted to get out. Due to the severity of the storm, there was literally no way I could get anyone over here to take care of it, and the idea of having to chop it down made me cringe. After talking to several people with tree knowledge, I was confident that it would bounce back once the ice had melted, it was just going to be a matter of time.

Dave came home from work on Thursday afternoon and upon his arrival, I told him we needed to come up with a solution for the tree, and chopping it down was not an option. Desperate, he hooked up the hose to a hot water spigot in our basement and spent the next 5 hours melting the ice off the tree.  The hot water didn't last as long as we had needed it, but he was patient and very determined. It was a cold, wet and messy job, three days later, he regained feeling in his hands and feet.

By the following day, the tree had lifted significantly, enough for our neighbor to get out. It was such a relief. After driving around the neighborhood and seeing the thousands of trees and branches down, I felt so proud of Dave for saving our Birch. One less tree to line the boulevard, waiting to be turned into sawdust. I will forever feel a sense of pride when I look at that tree.

The City is doing a remarkable job, the branches were removed from our street today. Although the neighborhood is dirty, we are recovering. It will take years to completely recover from the loss of the trees and branches, but the leaves budding in the next few weeks will definitely help the process.

The is 6th Ave facing North. Im standing in the middle of the street. 

This is the front of my house from the street. 

The leaning Birch Tree (over the neighbor's driveway).

Saving the Birch! 

The following morning, she is making her way back to normal. 

Bruiser Baby

Anna came over yesterday morning so Maggie could watch Isaac in a preschool performance. It was really busy, but really fun. Anna was a good girl, she came with me to get Sully up and as soon as he saw her through the crib, he squealed with excitement. She sat with us while he at breakfast, then played with him the basement. She also loved Kenzie, and taunted her with bones and treats.

I was on the floor with Sully and he was crawling around, heading into his apartment when he inadvertently slammed the apartment door and a photo hanging above fell onto his face. The poor little guy screamed and cried for a couple of minutes before calming down. Anna came down the steps to see what was going on with Kenzie's treat jar in hand. She got distracted and dropped it from about halfway down and it broke into several pieces. I told her to stop where she was in fear she would step on a piece of glass and my concerned voice scared her to tears. We had a solid 5 minutes of tears from both kiddos, but then happiness the rest of the morning. 

Anna, you are welcome anytime! 

Right after the accident.

The following day, looking better already.

A good day for Green Day.

Dave and his buddy Paul have been huge Green Day fans for as long as I've known them. Shortly after we got married, Dave and Paul signed a contract to each other that they would go on a 10 day Green Day tour as soon as the next tour was announced. Knowing there was alcohol involved and that we were planning on having a family, I thought one or two shows was plenty. In Dave's clear mind, he agreed.

Finally, Green Day announced their upcoming tour. Dave was thrilled, but it was over our planned vacation week and I wasn't quite as excited about changing our plans. We were negotiating dates and options when their lead singer fell ill and ended up in rehab. Its a REALLY good thing we didn't change our plans for Green Day, because they were clearly not considering our schedule when they changed their tour dates ;).

In the end, the dates worked out well, Dave and Paul hit the road to Moline, IL last Friday morning. They had a great drive, spending most of it listening to every Green Day song ever recorded. The concert was really fun as well, and most importantly, they had a great time together (something that has happened less frequently since Sully's arrival). Dave made it home on Saturday afternoon with a spring in his step, with the heart of a reborn Green Day fan.

Sullivan and I are glad they had such a great time, and next year, Sullivan will go along with them ;).

Paul and Dave preconcert.

Green Day

The contract.

Sully showing his enthusiasm back at home.