update

Well, they took my gall bladder out, not my bladder, so that was good. I am feeling fine, quite sore, but happy to have eaten cake today without worrying about the repurcussions. Jason has been a wonderful caretaker, and poor Addie keeps wondering (and crying) why I don't hold her as much. It just hurts when she kicks me in the stomach!

The doctor let me have one of my gall stones, it is about the size of a pea. I wonder how many I actually had in there! Hopefully in the next few days I won't be stooped over like an old lady when I walk!

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School Update

Just thought I would give everyone an update on how the application process is going. So far we have heard a definite no from Maine and an unofficial no from Missouri. That still leaves MSU and Chicago to hear from. While I am still hopeful that one of these schools will offer me an interview, at this point it seems like a long-shot. In the wake of all of this I did apply to a Masters program at the D.O. school in Missouri. The lady in admissions made it seem like I had a good chance to get in so we will see what happens. The degree would be in Human Anatomy Education and would give me a great head start when it comes to applying to med school again. Just thought you all would like to know what is going on and if anything changes we will keep you updated. Other than that we love you all and are grateful for your prayers and support in our behalf. Stay healthy and be safe.

Good Luck, Jana!

Tomorrow our sister is having her bladder out and I think we all need to cross our fingers and say our prayers that everything goes well. I am excited for Jana because she hasn't eaten cheese since before Thanksgiving. So, good luck Jana! We all hope that it goes well for you.

Heather - What ever happened with the job offer you had and the one you were expecting?

Jana - Do you have your sugery scheduled yet? When is Jason's spring break again? Isn't that when you were going to try to have the surgery? If you don't, are you going to come up and visit?

Kari - How is Noah? How are you doing with Eric back to work? I'm sure you're doing O.K.

Mom - How did the bag drop-off go? Did you get to all the neighborhoods you wanted to? Were people expecting the bags and willing to give? I hope it goes well.

Dad - How is school? Did you get your mid-term test grade back yet?

I was just wondering how things were overall for everyone since no one has added to the blog in almost a week. I think that's the longest we've ever had without a new addition. Not much is going on here. Charlie just went to the state wrestling tournament with the kids from the team that made it that far. It was held in Madison. It started Thursday and went to Saturday. The school paid for them to rent motel rooms to stay there. He ended up coming home early though because all their kids lost by Friday. He came home Friday night because he didn't need to be there any more and he expected the other coaches to go out and party hard that night. It wasn't something he really wanted to be around. I was glad he came home because I wasn't expecting to be able to do much on Saturday, but because he was home, I was able to do the things I had origionally planned - before he was invited to go to the tournament. I'm glad he got to go, even though it was a bit of an inconvience for me. It was a good experience for him. I am going away this coming weekend as kind of a trade-off to his weekend get-away. A woman from our ward had an extra ticket for the Time Out For Women in Chicago. She asked me to go so I thought I might as well. Because we only live an hour or so away we decided to just drive back home Friday night and go back in the morning for the Saturday portion. I think it's going to be a good way to get to know some people from church a little better. Plus, I can really use the break from motherhood. Being cooped up in the house so much isn't doing well with my nerves. I can't wait for spring. We're suppose to get another 4 to 8 inches of snow tonight. I can't wait! Well, I hope all is well with all of you out there. Write soon.

Sweet Pickle Mania

We went to visit some of my family this last weekend and did the eat-and-hand-off-the-kid ritual that is one of the untold skills of parenthood. While I had Harvey I let him try my sweet pickle which was really, really strong. I thought he'd spit it out like he had asparagus and some other random things we've given him. Instead he sucked at it like crazy. When he started gumming pieces of it off I took it away and he screamed and screamed. So we took it as a sign that he was ready for food and started him on rice cereal this week. He doesn't like to bend so we have to feed him in his sling chair but he's really enjoying it and I'd say over half of what we give him actually goes down rather than out so I think he's doing pretty well.

I'm shrinking...

...it's a good thing though. I weighed myself at Curves today and found myself at 163.5 lbs. This is the smallest I've been since I was pregnant with Alexis! I feel so good about my weight loss now, especially since I haven't lost weight since before Christmas (it was really hard getting back on the weight loss band wagon after the vacation I took from it). Now I hope I'm back on track to being at my goal weight by the middle of June (that will be my year mark from when I first joined Weight Watchers). Just thought I'd shout it from the roof tops (figuratively) and share my good news.

Happy Birthday, Jaxson!

Happy Birthday, big guy. Hope you get a huge piece of cake today.

Our "little" cousin

On the left is our new little cousin William-Rick's son (I apologize for the sideways picture-I'm not sure how to flip pictures on Eric's computer). He is 4 months old and I don't know how much he weighs, but according to Elise, he weighed less than Noah did when he was born. So I have included a picture I took of Noah today (doesn't he look cute in his church clothes?) who wil be 3 weeks old on Tuesday. This is just for comparison.

Also, I have included another picture of Noah I took today and also one I took of Grandma while we were there eating dinner tonight-just in case you guys have forgotten what she looks like.

Here are somethings we found out while we were there:

Paul is engaged! His fiancee's name is Bronwen (I'm not sure how to spell that), she was there tonight and seems nice enough...she gets along with Bob, that's got to count for something. She is 30 and her and Paul were friends in South Dakota while he lived there and I guess they kept in touch all this time. They got engaged on Valentine's Day and are getting married April 25th in the Logan temple. I wish them the best.

Also, Karen is doing much better. She is out of a leg cast and walking usking a crutch. She thinks she could be on a cane if it wasn't so icy outside. She goes to physical therapy and says that it's doing wonders.

And, Amy's due date is March 30. Robin says that she is super excited and that the reality of the situation hasn't set in yet-I hope that reality isn't too much for her.

Here are those pictures as promised.

Movies Recommendation

So, in the last month we have seen three movies that we both really like, and I thought I would share them with you all, if you are looking for a movie to watch. The first movie we saw was Dan in Real Life. We saw this like a week before Noah was born and were both surprised at how much we both liked it. It was funny, but we thought it would be a little more like stupid funny and were glad that it wasn't. There isn't any sex, but I'm sure there is swearing-I can't remember exactly. But we both really liked it and recommend it-for those of you who haven't seen it.
This movie we watched while we were in the hospital. It is very heartwarming. It is about changing your life and helping others-Mom, you would really like this movie.

And this movie we watched just last night, it's the third Pirates. We bought it when it came out on video even though we had never seen it and we have owned it for about 2 months without watching it. But we watched it for Valentine's Day yesterday and I absolutely loved it. It took a while for me to fully understand exactly what was going on, but once I did I got all wrapped up in the story.

So there you are, the three movies that we've seen lately that we liked. Take it or leave it. If you are going to watch any of the them, the middle one is the cleanest and the most uplifting of the three. Enjoy!

baby question

Do I really need to worry about "brushing" Addie's teeth with a baby toothbrush? I've read that I should, but will they really start decaying this young? I just don't want to buy a baby toothbrush.

Happy Birthday, Alexis!

Happy Birthday, Lexi!

Hope you have fun, fun, fun today.

Happy Valentine's Day from Harvey

Hope everyone has a happy valentine's day.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD//HAPPY VALENTINES DAY EVERYONE ELSE!

Happy Valentines Day, everyone! Jason and I bought ourselves an inexpensive grill for Valentines Day, we figure there isn't anything more romantic than a delicious piece of meat. What's funny is that we'll be using it this weekend as well. I'm sure the rest of you won't be using a grill anytime soon!

Dad turns 54 today! Woohoo! Way to go, Dad, you're one year older and wiser, too. By the way, the picture that we've been guessing on is Dad at his graduation. I'm guessing most of you didn't recognize him because we've so rarely seen his bare lip. Him and Kurt do look an awful lot like each other. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

WE DID IT!

This morning little Noah surprised me when I put him to nurse and HE ACTUALLY DID IT! We have been practicing these last couple of days and he would latch and suck more each time. So this morning, before I was about to pump I decided to have him try and nurse, not expecting anything-just a repeat of what had happened before. He was on and off, like usual, and then, BAM! he started to nurse and he stayed on for 8 minutes. YAHOO! I burped him and then tried to get him to nurse on the other side and he only stayed on that side for 2-3 minutes. I still had to feed him from the bottle because he didn't have enough from me, but I didn't mind because this means that we might have a future in breastfeeding. I just wanted to share that joy.
Also, thank you Heather and Kurt for the swaddler-I love it! I really love the velcroe bears. I don't know how much longer he'll get to use it because he is getting soo fat. The bottom bear bearly reaches the velcroe opposite side. We went to the doctor yesterday for his 2 week check-up and he is 9lbs 13 oz. He never lost weight after he was born. He is just huge! People who see him don't believe that he is only 2 weeks old. But the doctor says he looks great and that his weight gain is great. He's just getting heavy-especially in his carseat. As long as he's healthy, it's okay.

Cold Sassy Tree

If you're looking for a good book to read in your spare time (I know Heather and Mom have already read it) try Cold Sassy Tree, by Olive Ann Burns. It's great! I read it a couple years ago, but forgot everything, and just finished is last week again. I absolutely love it. It's one I'll have to get for my own collection.

I just picked up the sequel, Leaving Cold Sassy, which the author didn't finish because, well, she died while writing it. I heard that Heather said it wasn't very good, but Mom recommended I read it so I could have a good discussion at our book club next week. I'm not a fan of thinking it will just end in the middle, but oh well. We'll see how it goes. As for Cold Sassy Tree, it's definitely worth reading!

Harvey on the move

More Harvey news.

He's been rolling from his back to his sides for a while now, but he hasn't gotten all the way over yet. On his stomach he hasn't rolled at all. He mostly just lifts his head and kicks his feet. And gets annoyed after a few minutes.

Two nights ago, though, I put him on his stomach and put a noisy, blinky toy in front of him. And he started inchworming toward it! He'd look at it for a bit, and then put his head down, pull on his arms, and dig his feet in. He obviously won't win any races yet, but over the course of a few minutes he probably moved 6 or 7 inches forward. And he didn't get really annoyed like he usually does when on his stomach. It was pretty exciting.

Now we get to start really baby proofing. What a joy that will be.

Slept through the night

Harvey slept through the night for the first time last night. We both woke up around 6 am because it was so weird that he was still sleeping. It's 10 to 8 right now and he's still snoozing. I hope this isn't a one time thing because a whole night of sleep will make a huge difference in our lives.

On a cruddier note, I get to talk to a lactation consultant today. I hope mine is nicer than Kari's. My milk is turning rancid after I pump it. If I pump a bottle in the morning it is rancid by nighttime. I have almost 30 bags of milk stored and I'm afraid I'm going to have to dump them all. I will cry like a baby if I have to. It was a lot of work. Hopefully the LC will have some good advice for me.

Snow Pictures

This first one is of the pile we created from the snow on our driveway. We ended up shoveling twice for this storm. We went out at about 3 pm and shoveled about 8 inches of snow. Then we went our again at about 8:30 pm and shoveled another 4 inches or so. It was incredible.

The second picture is of our backyard. We had to shovel out a small area for Meg to go to the bathroom in because it was too deep for her otherwise.

This is the front of the house and the pile in the front yard is the pile in the first picture. Compare it to our van. Isn't it high? It hurt to shovel that much snow into a pile that high.

I thought I'd post some pictures of the 12 + inches of snow we got for my birthday last week. This passed weekend we had temperatures below zero with wind chills in the -30 to -40 degree range. There was a wind chill warning in effect from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon. Tomorrow we are expecting to get another 3 to 5 inches of snow. It's so hard to travel around on the roads right now. All the snow we had on my birthday had not been plowed off the roads before we got the arctic blast. That means that most of the side roads are now sheets of frozen slush. The city can't spread salt on them either because it's too cold for it to matter. Salt only brings the freezing temperature down to about 18 degrees. So with temps down below zero, the water and snow freeze dispite the salt. They have been putting down sand to try and provide some traction, but it's not the best. I really try to to go anywhere when the roads are like this. This winter has been so delightful! We also found out that we have to make up all four snow days that we've had so far. The school district doesn't build in snow days to their calendar. Does that make sense to anyone? We are in Wisconsin and they don't automatically count on having at least a few snow days? I think it's ridiculous!

Up close pictures

Jana, those up close shots of faces are kind of fun to guess about. This one is lots harder than the last one. I'm ashamed to say that I guessed wrong on the last one, even though it was a picture of my own kid. After I locked in my vote, I looked again more closely and realized that the eye was brown, not blue, and therefore couldn't have been Jimmy like I had voted. That's when I knew it was Makayla, but I had already voted. I am so disappointed in myself. I probably won't get this one either.

Little Green lives again!

Little Green is the car with 9 lives. We took her in last week and it was her timing belt, just like Hillary suspected. She got special treatment because she also received a new water pump. We took her to a guy in our ward and he charged us $367 for everything. We thought that was a good deal. I remember paying over $400 last time the timing belt went out on her. Do you think that was a fair price? I'd like to know if we should go somewhere else next time. We really like them and their shop is just starting so we'd like to continue doing business there if the prices are as good as we think.

Anyhow, three cheers for Little Green!