Lauren and Elliot make it official!

Lauren and Elliot got engaged shortly after we found out we were expecting. We knew they wanted to get married at The Prairie Club, a golf club Lauren's father, Paul, opened a few years ago, and knew it would be a gorgeous wedding. The only hold up? The Prairie Club is near Valentine, Nebraska, a four hour drive from Sioux Falls. We knew it would be up in the air for me to make it, but it was ultra important for Dave to be there. You see, Lauren (and the rest of her siblings) are among the most important things in Dave's life. Since Julie's (his sister) passing, he has maintained a significant presence in their lives, and they have done the same for him. Their uncle/niece/nephew relationship is quite remarkable.

When we were told of my blood pressure issue, it was definite I would stay home, but we were not sure what that would mean for Dave. Fortunately our Doctor gave Dave the green light to go, and he had a blast. He spent his actual birthday there, and they made his day ultra special, surprising him with desserts and bagpipe performances. I could tell by the sound of his voice that he felt on top of the world. I had several messages throughout actual wedding day, including photos and texts expressing how perfect the occasion was. He came home on Sunday, and I not gonna lie, I was anxious for his arrival. I was bored out of my mind and needed someone to entertain me.

We are so happy for Lauren and Elliot and are anxious for them to return from their honeymoon so we can see some photos and hear all about their wedding in their own words. We hope the baby is here for their homecoming to make it extra special.

Lauren and Dave at the
Rehearsal Dinner/birthday celebration

Congrats Lauren and Elliot! 

Blood Pressure Schmood Pressure

Well, just as we were smooth sailing through the third trimester, my body decided to throw a curve ball. It turns out Dave's surprise party was a bit too alarming for my body as well ;). Im not gonna lie, I did notice a significant amount of swelling after the birthday party on Friday night, but just wanted to get through it and get to bed. Saturday was a little off for me, I had a headache, my ankles were the size of my thighs (ok, not that bad, but you get it) and my hands were really tight, so I thought it would be best for us to head to the pharmacy and have them do a quick blood pressure check (Maggie also had issues with blood pressure with her pregnancy with Isaac).

Needless to say, my blood pressure was up. It wasn't dangerously high by any means, just a significant change from my OB appointment the Thursday before. So, we headed up to the the hospital and Dave (taking on his roll as Dr Munce at this point) took a couple there before we headed home with a manual cuff. It continued to linger in an "it could be better, could be worse" zone for about an hour when I decided to call the on-call OB.

After a quick discussion, she thought it would be best for us to come in, have lab work done and check things over, just to be on the safe side. Fortunately I was exactly 37 weeks, so worse case scenario, the baby could be delivered and the baby would be really close ready.

A couple hours of blood work, blood pressures, and baby monitoring later, we were given the 'ok' to go home, but on 'modified bed rest.' So, that is where we are now. I have been home and taking it easy for the past few days. Dave has been checking my blood pressure a few times each day, and it remains in the same range, just shy of too high. I have really high hopes of making it another week so Dave can make it to his niece, Lauren's, wedding in Valentine, NE this Saturday. I have another appointment on Thursday, so that should tell us all we need to know.

So, until then, Im taking it easy, enjoying my last few weeks (or days, eek!!) of quite time.

Surprise!

I had the idea to throw Dave a surprise party for his 50th birthday a few months ago. Dave and I had been brainstorming about what to do for the big birthday, but but with the baby being so close to its due date, and a million other things going on, we decided to wait to do something after the baby was born. HA! Little did he know, I had something else up my sleeve.

We pulled it off, I think he had a few suspicions, but overall, he was pleasantly surprised with the night. I had it at my parent's house last evening, and although it was a bit warm and windy, it was a great night to be on their deck, surrounded by friends and family.

It had been a busy week leading up to the party. I worked three days and spent the other two (and any other downtime) at my parent's house preparing. My ankles are "cankles" right now, but boy did it make the week go fast! I had my 37 week check on Thursday and everything is right on target. My blood pressure it good, weight is up (grrr, that damn scale ;)), the baby's heart rate remains in the 130-140 range, I'm 1cm dilated, and still 50% effaced. Im officially 37 weeks, today, so whenever the baby is ready, we are also ready!

The invitation

The initial surprise, the guests were all hiding in the yard

Dave taking it all in

Maggie and I, and a glimpse of what I used to look like

Happy Birthday, Dave, Its going to be a wild year :).

Mother's Day

What a joy it was to celebrate my first official Mother's Day. Ok, I am not technically a mother yet, but close enough. The baby has definitely made it's presence known, in fact, it has the hiccups right now :). I had my 36 week appointment last week and the baby is measuring a smidgen small, I am 50 percent effaced and I am just barely starting to dilate. Progress if you ask me! 

We had a nice Mother's Day, we took Helen to church with us, then went to visit Julie's grave. What a beautiful morning to be in each other's company. After this we went to my parents house for brunch with my family, which was really nice, followed by a trip to Landscape Garden Center. I then planted my pots, which is a sure sign of summer, although it has felt very summer like for the last 6 weeks or so around here. 

Dave gave me a gorgeous bouquet of flowers and a weekend getaway to a cabin in Wisconsin in October. What a nice surprise. We are hoping to have a beautiful fall drive (and a baby who enjoys road trips). 

I hope you all had a nice Mother's Day as well.

(On a side note, we are officially bat free, two nights in a row...yay!)

Avera Race for the Cure

Avera hosts an annual Race agains Breast Cancer each year on Mother's Day weekend. Maggie and I have done our best to coordinate some sort of group to participate. Its generally hit or miss, but we usually end up with a handful of friends and family. The overall Race attendance this year was a record for the event, topping out at over 6,500 people.  

Dave ran the 10K and Jeff ran the 5K (yay Dave and Jeff!), and the rest of us walked a 1.5 mile family fun walk. I was a little hesitant to commit, not knowing how I would feel, considering it would also be the maker of 36 weeks. I was thankful for Dave's gentle push to commit because it was a beautiful day and its such a fun event. Our group consisted of my mom, Sonia, Maggie, Lauren, Isaac, Anna and myself, we had a great time and great conversation. Below are some pictures of the event. 

Dave and I after the Race

Go Walkers! Sonia, Anna, Isaac, me, Mary Ellen and Lauren

Jeff and Dave post run

Me, Dave and Lauren (two weeks before her wedding)

Batified

What a weekend we had, not only did we have a lot going on, we also had some unexpected visitors...

Dave and I have known that a few bats have resided in our attic for some time, but they have never been much of an issue, they have been more of a "we will tackle that problem soon" project rather than something more urgent. Of course this plan changed when I found out I was pregnant. We didn't want bat roommates with a baby. So, needless to say, we started working on the problem. We hired a local company to come and take care of them and to our knowledge, they finished their work on Wednesday of last week. Great! Bat free, not that it really made much of a difference, but we were thankful for the peace of mind. 

Life is good...until Dave goes to work on Friday night and I settle in for bed. Im all situated and ready to finish my last 15 pages of "The Hunger Games" trilogy when I hear what I assume is a moth (we have had a lot of those around lately). I grumble to myself and make a note to have Dave take care of it when he gets home from work the following morning, then lay back. Moments later, something catches my eye. Not just something, something flying above my bed. I panic...call Dave to inform him a flipping bat is flying around my room. He talks me out of my frenzy and encourages me to go to the basement and close the door behind me, he cannot come home. Fine with me, I can take care of myself, Im happy to sleep on the couch in the basement all by myself with a new little roommate in the bedroom (sense the sarcasm). Im settled in my temporary bed for the night chatting on the phone with my mom, getting plenty of empathy about how scary and freaky the situation was when it happens again. That damn bat has followed me downstairs! The next few words into the phone to my mom were four lettered and foul, followed by, "Im coming home! Ill be there in 10 minutes, I cant stay here." I get up, compose myself (while dodging the the diving bat) and call Dave again, This time, much less composed than the first time. I tell him the bat followed me and Im freaking out. Just then, the bat swooped too close, got (almost) under my blanket and I screamed bloody murder and ran up the stairs, tripped and hung up on Dave. He was the least of my concerns. I needed to get dressed, get Kenzie, and get home ASAP. I found myself locked in my bathroom hyperventilating in my pajamas wondering what to do next. On a side note, keep in mind that I am 36 weeks pregnant. Im sure this would have been quite the sight to see.  

I then hear Dave, panting and hollering my name. He is running home from the hospital convinced of the absolute worse. I yell to him from the bathroom window that I don't know what to do and Im scared. He comes in, with a pocket full of pagers and phones (he is on call). He spends the next 15 minutes trapping the bat and releasing it. I bring him back to work and head to my parents house with Kenzie in tow. I open the cabinet for a water glass and find the one photo'd above and cant resist the irony, I fill it up and head to my old bedroom. Sigh of relief...its over. Or is it?

Fast forward 18 hours... I return home from a pool party and spend a few minutes doing dishes before heading to a BBQ, Dave is on call again. Everything is hunky dory, until I realize I wake a sleeping bat by running the water in the kitchen sink. Apparently the one wild bat who chased me down the stairs was a second bat. Are you kidding me!? He must have crawled down the drain for his day down time; cool, wet, and dark, just like a cave. He came crawling out at the stream of water. I immediately flipped the fruit bowl over and trapped him in. I then got the heck out, with no plans to return until Dave is home to help me handle the situation.

Dave returns from work on Sunday and we spend several hours in the yard. He has been avoiding the kitchen sink for some time, knowing I expect him to take care if it and also knows the easiest way is probably the most gruesome way. I give him credit, he mans up, turns on the water and turns on the garbage disposal. Eeeew, Im still grossed out at thought of it. We then fill up the sink with hot bleach water and wash away our problems, literally.

The bat guys returned today and did another inspection and found a spot in the chimney that had not yet been sealed off. So, we are about two hours from dusk, and I cant tell you how anxious I am to be back home, so hopeful that the unexpected guests have found somewhere new to settle. 

The Black Hills Babymoon

Dave and I spent last week in the Black Hills. We were hoping to have time for a big "last trip" before the baby was born, but because of schedules and timing (and our OB saying, "you absolutely cannot go to Europe this late in the game"), the biggest we were able to manage was a trip across the state. It turned out to be the perfect trip.

We spent a lot of time reading, relaxing, cooking, eating, and spoiling Kenzie. We stayed at the Schock cabin which is way off the beaten path. So far off that cell phones and internet didnt even work, and although that seemed a bit daunting at first, it actually turned into quite the blessing.

We planned a daily walk and a daily excursion, most of the walks were near the cabin which is surrounded by a couple of creeks. Kenzie went nuts, swimming and exploring. You would never know she had her 9th birthday last Sunday. However, I think she is still recovering, but not complaining. We went to Sylvan Lake; a favorite for both of us, Mt. Rushmore, Deadwood, Spearfish Canyon, and drove up the backside of Terry Peak Mountain, which has amazing views, and a great feel.

We are very thankful to have been able to get one last trip in.

Dave and Kenzie playing fetch.

Dave mastering the grill at the cabin.

Sylvan Lake

A walk on the Michelson Trail.

Mt Rushmore

I am 35 + weeks now and am feeling pretty good, I do have some occasional contractions, but nothing consistent. I go in to the doctor on Thursday for my 36 week appointment, and Im curious to hear if I have started to make any progress. Im trying not to get my hopes up, but its darn near impossible...