Christmas 2008

On Christmas Eve, we went to church service at our church. It was so nice to be able to do that for a change! We've always been out of town!

After church service, we went to Ben's parents to spend the rest of Christmas there. I will not bore you with all the endless food we ate, but do have to tell you about the awesome presents that Ben and I got!

I know, I know, Christmas is not about presents, but these simply HAVE TO BE mentioned:

Tom BUILT us a cradle for the baby, and Ben a gun cabinet for his rifles! When we got to the house, Tom and Marilyn made us close our eyes, guiding us to the living room, where we were allowed to open them - suprise! They are so beautiful! I love that cradle!

Sage admiring the cradle. It has a pin on the side that you can pull out so you can rock the cradle, or stick it back in to keep it stable.

And me - with the hugest smile ever on my face :)

Ben's gun cabinet. Beautiful!

The inside.

Do you think they liked that we liked our presents? :)

Early Christmas morning at mom and dad's. Home made cinnamon rolls and hot coco - mmm.

Early Christmas morning pyjama walk with Sage and Kenai.

Do you think it was windy?

After all the Christmas festivities Ben and I (I admit, mostly I) spent some time "nesting". On friday afternoon we went to Babys R Us in FtCollins to get registered - we spent two hours in that store! We decided on sort of a natural theme, based on some really cute bedding that we found, with the colors yellow and natural green. Ben also bought me the rocking chair for in the nursery! Except it had to be ordered so we'll have to come back for it. We also went to Lowes to buy some shelves that I will paint and use in the nursery.

On sunday, I spent all day sanding and re-painting a little old dresser that I got from grandma Bryan, and yesterday I spent all day painting the nursery! I'm a tad sore today, but it was all worth it :)

A little dresser from grandma Bryan that I sanded and repainted.

The cradle in the nursery - and my newly painted green wall behind it :)

Cradle again, with green and yellow wall in background.

Bouncing at the doctor's office - twice.

Again a post with a "double" theme :)

First doctors visit was with Sage this morning - poor thing has some sort of infection in her eyes, and had been rubbing her face for the last couple of days. She also had to have a few yearly shots (rabies, kennel cough, etc.), so along with all the treats she got from the vet (cheese!) and all the other puppies around, she was bouncing!
Then it was my turn - I thought it would just be another boring, quick, in, pee in cup, and out sort of prenatal appointment, but they had a fun surprise for me - the glucose test! I had heard all sorts of horrid stories about the stuff they make you drink, but truly, I was able to swallow the orange flavored syrup stuff down quite easy :) but - yikes that is sweet!
I then met with the doctor, and I mentioned to him that the baby had been pretty quiet over the last couple of days - he told me not to think too much of it - the baby is just starting to get more snug in there :). He also checked the heart beat, and everything looked fine, and I measured normal.
10 Minutes later I sat in the waiting room, waiting for my hour to be up so I could have my blood drawn. And - BOOM! - I guess all that sugar must have reached the baby, because she was bouncing around! So fun! I guess all I need to do when I want to feel the baby move is eat a pile of sugar :)
I hope I pass the test though!

I guess I'm now also starting my third trimester (woaa!), because they want to see me every 2 weeks now.

Double 26 - and more!

Last monday was my birthday - HOOT HOOT! I am now 26 :)
That makes the first 26. The second 26 is our little fish. I had to hurry with this blog, because tomorrow she will "turn 27" (weeks that is). My mom has been begging me for some belly pictures, so here they are mom! :)


Full frontal.


A little blurry, but I think it shows that bump pretty good!


And here, with the sign - 26 weeks, 5 days.

I've also been doing some baking lately. Fun! Last night's project was to make some more "speculaas" cookies - these are cookies with a blend of spices (imported from Holland, of course), similar to that of ginger bread cookies, but with a bunch more different kinds of spices.

I also made some moose cookies, and WYO bucking horses.

Last saturday night, we had a beautiful snow storm, so on sunday morning I went out to take some pictures of the house:

View from the front door, into the field.

And: ma voiture.

And, yes, there is even more to this blog! Last friday, Ben joined the Army National Guard! Wohoo! I am so proud of him! We have been thinking about this for quite some time, and finally it happened. We are both very excited about the decision, looking forward to what is going to happen, but also realize that it is a pretty huge deal, and that things will change quite a bit come fall.

Anway - while Ben was doing that all day last friday, I couldn't keep my head focussed on work, so I took the day off, and as a surprise remodeled his 'man bathroom' downstairs. No more pink and purple flowers in my man's bathroom! I thought it would just be a simple painting job, taking only a couple of hours (it is a very small bathroom), but, as with any house project, it turned out to be a much bigger pain in the **** than expected (removing wallpaper, and fixing a huge hole in the wall), and I was slaving away at it for 9 hours! (and yes, I did realize that evening and the next day that that might have been a little too much)

We had decided on a cowboy theme (brown and gold), and though the cowboy/UW decorations still need to be put up, here is a preview:

(* I bet you can't even tell where that huge hole in the wall was - eh? HAHA!)

Christmas Tree Hunt!

Last saturday we went to the Snowies with a bunch of friends from church for our annual Christmas tree hunt. We had a blast playing in the snow, and eating some good food afterwards.
Below some pictures of the event, in random order:


A very bundled up Cody

Mrs. Erin with Cody and Kirby.

Yes, take note! Debbie hiking up a snowy mountain, at 36 weeks pregnant! One tough lady :)

Princess Eva.

Me, Jo and Sarah

Tom chopping down his tree (or is he practising?)

Cody: "What - am I in trouble?"

Indeed.

Beautiful Jo and Sarah.

Posing :)

Mountain men Sam and Ben.

The Watsons in the trees.

Terrence hugging a branch. Or playing branch-guitar?

Stomp, stomp, through the snow :)

Tom in the trees.

"Hi"

Sam and his princess Callie.

Jo and Sarah. Too cute.

Proud papa Sam and a bundled up Lori.

The Linds.

The Reeses.

Erin with a very bundled up Kirby :)

The group headed out into the woods.

The Ennist men preparing for their hunt.

Thanksgiving 2008 - A Utah Camping Adventure

This Thankgiving season I again have many things to be thankful for, including an opportunity for Ben and I to get away together on our 5th annual thanksgiving winter camping trip :).

Destination: Arches National Park, Utah.

Key words: Lots of good food, good naps, reading, beautiful scenery, gorgeous hikes, together- alone, road trip! (= time for good, endless conversations - 8 hrs on the way there, and, due to lovely mountain winter weather, 13 hrs back. Main topic this year? Finding a name for our little girl! **Btw - just for those that have asked - My due date is still March 20th, and no, we won't be announcing her name until after she is born :) ** )

Below an array of photos. I tried to post more of the 'people shots' (since it is a blog) then the nature shots. It was really hard to pick which ones to post though - Ben is far too good a photographer, especially of the beautiful scenery! He also likes to take many, many photos (about 450 actually!).

SO HAPPY TOGETHER! :

POSING WITH THE BABY BUMP:

SOME SCENIC SHOTS:

THE MAN OF THE HOUSE:

Isn't he handsome?

HIKES:

THE ATMOSPHERE - RAINY, BUT COSY:

Cards, drinks and Dutch apple pie ... mmmm