Links

Thursday, February 26, 2009

I hate bugs!!

Just real quick...

I have had some sort of a GI bug over the course of the week and let me just say this, I hate being sick.  But, being sick and pregnant is maybe the most uncomfortable situation, hmmm, EVER!  I was so dehydrated with my little spell that I spent all of Wednesday morning getting pumped full of fluids at the hospital just so I could function somewhat normally.  Let me tell ya, I was hating life.  Where's Grandma's chicken soup when you need it.  Oh wait, it's in Hammond.  All is well again, and all I want is a bacon cheeseburger!  :)

Oh, Sidney James Wingfield!!

Happy late birthday, Nate and Danielle!!  What a weekend we had celebrating!!

It started out with a late trip to the Quad Cities for me.  Dennis stayed in Iowa City to celebrate with Nate downtown and I was heading out to meet Jane, Danielle and her friends at Nan's Piano Bar in Davenport.  Before heading to D-port I ran by my parents' house to get my mom for hers and Jane's first meeting.  Before my mom and I landed at the piano bar I received a phone call from DL informing me that the one, the only Sidney James Wingfield was playing that evening... and this is when I s*** my pants!  I couldn't believe it.  For those of you who have not heard me go on and on about this man let me sum it up for you.  He's going to play at our wedding and I LOVE HIM!  Sidney is maybe the most amazing piano player/entertainer I have ever seen.  He has a special place in mine and Dennis' heart, hence the reason he'll be playing at our reception.  It's crazy that he was playing in the QC for a couple of reasons.  1.  He's from Florida, and who leaves the sunny state for the QC (he plays in IC because he's originally from the area)?  2.  Jane has had the opportunity to see him play, but my mom hadn't so it was a wonderful opportunity for her to get a taste of why Dennis and I are going the route we are for our wedding reception!  3.  Did I mention I love this man?!

Anywho, great show as usual with the exception of Matt "I bang the hell out of the piano just because" blah, blah, blah.  he was Sidney's dualing partner for the evening and we hate him.  After Jane and my mom got to know one another a little bit (lost them for an hour and a half) and Danielle had her fill of birthday fun we took off for a late night bite and IHOP!  I was quickly reminded of why breakfast food is so necessary at 2:00 in the morning.  It was was delicious.  A late night, but a wonderful night.

Saturday Jane and Danielle trotted out to North Liberty just for us all to turn around and head back to the QC to see Sidney's Saturday night show.  Again, he never disappoints!  GO SEE HIM IF HE'S IN YOUR AREA!  We even sat in "VIP" seating (THANKS, SID!!).  It was another fun filled night of our favorite tunes.  Oh, and IHOP again at 2:00 a.m.  Thanks, Jane, for coming in, Linda (mom) for joining us and here's to 24 years for DL and Nathan!!

Sidney James Wingfield

Linda and Jane getting to know one another.

Danielle being serenaded!!

The ladies with THE MAN!

Mmmm... IHOP!!



Monday, February 16, 2009

Kicking Dad!!

Dennis felt Michael's big kicks for the first time last night.  
WONDERFUL it was!
119 days to go and counting until we meet our little man! :)

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Which One?!

So, I've spent the last couple of days reading and reading and reading reviews on car seats and strollers and high chairs.  I'm exhausted.  I believe we've found exactly what we're looking for, but my gosh... so much to know!  I believe we're going with the Peg Perego brand for both the stroller and car seat considering it's a "travel system" (which I don't believe existed when my mom was raising the five of us).  The car seat fits on the stroller and the stroller will fit your child until he's motivated enough to walk and not ride.  It's kind of costly, however I've been given some great tips on where to shop in order to cut inflated prices.  Thanks, first time moms, for all the input!  Let me just say that I've been an eBayer for about six years now.  I love finding the deal, but never would have thought to look there when purchasing my "firsts" for my first.  I hop on there today to find the items I'm looking for for hundreds of dollars off all because they are coming straight from the warehouse and not going through another store.  THANK YOU EBAY!  Who knows, after all this research I'll probably change my mind another eighty-seven times.


Our choice for car seat and stroller?

Thursday, February 12, 2009

"Hey, hey... Miss Kim..."

I recently had the privilege of becoming the lead preschool teacher at a local "kiddie campus" here in North Liberty and now spend eight glorious hours a day with 15 three year-olds.  Some days are crazy, but others put the biggest smile on my face.  Today was one of those days.  We spent our day preparing for our Valentine's Day festivities, which will take place tomorrow (we are hosting an ice cream social to celebrate the holiday).  I was taking pics of all my kids next to an "I Love You" sign to make special valentines for their parents, and one of my little ones turned to me and said the sweetest thing.  "Hey, hey, Miss Kim, can your baby be my valentine, too?"  They are all clearly aware that I have a baby in my belly, and make daily references to him.  Such as, "Hey, Miss Kim, does your baby like mashed potatoes?"  "Hey, Miss Kim, will the doctor cut your belly to get him out like they did my mommy's?"  I've had to explain to two or three tots that I plan on having my baby in a special way.  Needless to say I then have parents asking me what my birth plan is exactly that makes it special.  I simply explain to them that I didn't want to be the one to go into detail exactly how it is this little one will be coming into the world, that it was maybe best coming from them as a parent when that moment was right.  I think it's hysterical that they go home and chat about this stuff.  

Some of my rugrats!

Straight From Facebook... My 25 Things!

For those of you who are not familiar with Facebook, the recent craze on the famous website is listing 25 things about yourself that others may not know about you.  I had a second, so I listed 25 things.  And here they are...

1. I cannot wait to meet our son. 
2. When I was 12/13, I wanted nothing more than to be a brain surgeon. I would sit and copy my dad's encyclopedias on the subject. Good thing I grew out of that.
3. My favorite love story of all time... "The Bridges of Madison County"! Oh, the agony. I have seen it a billion times, and still cry every damn time.
4. The best gift I ever received (other than my Michael on the way) was my brother.
5. I want to be 6'2", all because can you imagine what you could do with a volleyball from up there? 5'10" just isn't tall enough.
6. I love going to Target, buying new toiletries and coming home to put them away. I know, I know. 
7. My favorite street in all of Iowa City is Summit. All because of the porches on the old victorian houses.
8. I've busted my arm (Christmas Day, '89), my ankle, my neck (sumo wrestling my sister at Cordova Days), all of my fingers and my nose a couple of times. I've completely destroyed my ankle and had it reconstructed. Tore the hell out of my knee and had it fixed. Have had 26 kabillion surgeries on my mouth, and got four fake teeth out of it. Busted some toes (but who counts those?). The majority of them were sports injuries.
9. I'm addicted, ADDICTED to farmers' markets. The fresh produce gets me every time. I can't wait to get it home to cook.
10. My secret dream job... Martha Stewart. 
11. The summer of 2001 was ridiculous and maybe the best time of my life. Drunken monopoly every night of the week. You know if you were there or not. Oh, Keith.
12. I want to develop a line of cards for Hallmark.
13. I believe without a doubt that my kid sister, Abby, is the most amazing person on this planet. She's 16 and phenomenal.
14. Writing with a new Sharpie is fun to me! Oh, and it should be on a Post-it!! 
15. October is by far my favorite time of the year. I love everything about it especially the comfort food and Halloween is my favorite holiday.
16. I love that my parents taught me how to garden. I dream of the garden I will have one day.  Oh, and I'm the proud owner of many house plants and want nothing more than for each of them to thrive. 
17. My family will eat dinner together every night which we are able.  I did it growing up and believe I'm a better person because of it.
18. Dennis makes me want to be better every day. Better for our son. Better for him. Better for us. 
19. I send hand written notes/cards every single week to someone I love and will continue to do so until the end of my days.
20. PEOPLE is quite possibly the best periodical in the world.
21. I would grill out every single day if I could.
22. My favorite memory from growing up was playing ball with Ry, Casey, Ali and Kristen. There was something about having them around all the time that made me feel like wherever we were at that particular moment was right where I belonged.
23. I hate brushing my hair.
24. I have every single card/letter/note ever written/mailed/given to me. Every single one and Dennis gives me shit about it.
25. I'm slightly OCD. I like things done a very specific way and will work on it until I get it that way. For example, I've unfolded and refolded loads of laundry Dennis has folded just because "that's not what it's supposed to look like."

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Check Out Our Friday Night...

This is what I found at 9:02 on Friday night...


They must have had a long week.

Surprise Instant Planning!

Dennis and I made a trip to Darien last weekend in hopes to kick the winter blues we've found in Iowa City.  Winter blues are now gone and wedding bells are ringing in the distance.  To make a long story short, on Saturday we hopped in the car to just "go look" at a few things and all of a sudden everything fell into place.  We have a wedding date!!  OCTOBER 10, 2009!!  Reception hall... BOOKED.  Hotel... TOURED AND BOOKING.  All before lunch.  Easy enough I think.  I'm sure the details will be a little more overwhelming, but for the time being I'm happy with all of our decisions and the manner of which they came about :)

We had a wonderful weekend with Mike and Jane.  Saw Chris, Jane, Hannah and Adam on Saturday evening for some bowling family fun.  Then we headed over to Julian's Piano Bar for late night entertainment.  Super Bowl Sunday was incredibly laid back, which we needed terribly.  After a four hour nap (we intended for it to only be an hour) we mauled our way through some Patio BBQ and watched the end of a pretty good game.  All in all, the weekend was exactly what we needed!  Thanks, Mike and Jane, for letting us crash your weekend.

Dennis and Mike at Julian's


20 Week Check-up!

We had our 20 week check-up on January 28th and everything is still running smoothly.  For me, I'm coming in right where I need to be as far as weight and belly measurements are concerned (20 cm).  Our little guy, however, seems to be lengthening at a speed above average.  Dennis' first response, "Maybe he'll be like a 6'4" volleyball player!"  We'll just have to wait and see!  Heart rate = perfect (150's)!  Fetal activity = wonderful!  He's all over the place now.  Every once in a while I get one of those "Hey, Mom, I'm here!" shots to the ribs.  I enjoy every single one of them.  So, we've hit the half way there moment on this journey.  Now, if only I could be a little more patient.  We're just so excited to meet him!