Welcome Baby Chance!

We're excited to have another nephew in our family. My brother Travis and his wife Kerry had their baby boy Saturday at 8:55 pm. He weighed in at 8lbs even and was 21 1/2 inches long. His name is Chance Joseph Juilfs. He is a cute little baby with red hair. I can only hope that our baby is as well behaved as he was yesterday when we saw him. Seeing and holding little Chance made us really excited to have one of our own. We're glad our Baby Kanga will have a cousin the same age.

So the pressure is now on us to have a girl.

This is also my week in review for week 13. I don't really have much to say about week 13. I am relieved that the news is out and don't have to hide it anymore. In fact, I wouldn't be able to hide it at this point. I wore my first maternity shirt on Friday night. We also went to a class called "Mom's 9 month Journey". We left the class feeling like experts, since we already knew everything we were told. Yes, I'm still feeling sick and had a bad night Saturday night into Sunday morning. I'm just hoping week 14 brings a calm stomach and some weight gain.

My First Day of Kindergarten

Cael, Braden and I all had our first days of kindergarten recently. I hope theirs was better than mine. My first day was horrible. I had no clue what to expect. I hadn't taught kindergarten for the past three years. The last time I taught kindergarten, I had no control of the kids at Nixon. I think I had 30 kindergartners in each of my classes. When I got five kids under control the other 25 started acting crazy. I think one even started smoking when I turned my back.

Things didn't change that much for me on Wednesday. The kids at Monroe had never been in a room the size of the gym. Their eyes got huge and their medication started wearing off. I had flashbacks of walking through the Mexico City airport. It seemed that I was the only one in the room that spoke English. When I finally did find someone that spoke English it was a five year old girl. Things got worse and worse until their teacher came to pick them up. When their teacher showed up, I was relieved... I turned around and saw another group of shorties walking in a line that looked more like a octopus. My relief turned to grief. It didn't take long for me to start looking at my watch.

Thursday was much better. I didn't start the class by asking the kids their names. In fact, I decided if I did learn the kids names it was only because they were getting themselves in trouble. This seemed to work. I got the kids moving right away and they were happy. Now that they were having fun moving, I had something I could take away from them. If a student can't sit still, they can watch us play. If students start giving each other tattoos when I'm not looking, they can watch us play. This strategy was awesome! The first class of my second day couldn't have gone better. I think I might survive kindergarten. I will have to ask Cael and Braden if they have any pointers.

Week 12 summary

Tanner and I have been taking turns posting. While he was in school, I posted. When I haven't been feeling well, he's posting. My goal is for me to post at least once a week with an update on how I'm feeling, etc.

If you haven't noticed, at the bottom of our page there is a pregnancy tracker. It is following or pregnancy and shares fun developmental facts about the particular week we are at. Today is the last day of week 12. The tracker mentions pregnancy dreams, nausea, and weight gain. So that is what I'll touch on.

As for my nausea, it is much better with the prescription they finally gave me. I only take one a day but am allowed to take up to 4 a day. I still find that I cringe at the thought or smell of many foods. I haven't had cravings, though I find beef jerky to work for me. Some say that is a craving, but I've found that it's one of the only meats I can eat and enjoy, so I eat it. I eat mostly fresh foods. It's the "yummy" things, like pizza, that I can't stand. It's pretty tough when neither of us really cook fresh meals.

Weight gain has been a concern of mine. My weight has been pretty consistently 3-5 pounds less than what I started at. My doctor is not concerned with that at all. However, I feel like maybe I should be gaining by now. But I understand why I'm not...especially when I struggle to eat meals and when I do eat it's just fruits and veggies. That's completely opposite of my prior eating habits. Although I'm not gaining weight, I am growing out of my clothes. I've resorted my closet to put the things that still fit in one section and everything else separate. I find myself having to move at least one item to the "other" section every day. I'm pretty confident I'll be actually wearing maternity clothes by next week.

Yes, I've been having weird dreams. But the thing is, I've always had extremely vivid, frequent, and odd dreams. The only change is the subjects. It's crazy how accurate things are...I've read that in the beginning pregnant women usually dream of past relationships/boyfriends, etc. to reflect the extreme change and coming commitment. In the second trimester dreams are more about actually being pregnant and related to pregnancy/delivery/etc. Just the past week or so, my dreams have all included pregnancy or a baby somehow. I guess things don't seem as unusual for me as they would for some people since I've experienced active dreaming patterns all my life.

By the way, they say our baby is the size of a peach in week 13!! Wow!!

5 Seasons Ski Show

Earlier this summer during the Freedom Festival, Trina and I went to one of the 5 Seasons Ski Shows. It was at Ellis Park on the Cedar River. The skiers were anywhere in age from ten to fifty. Besides just skiing, there was also a jump team. This particular jumping team had three jumpers on one ramp. Two of them did flips off the top, while jumping over the third skier.

There was also a 24 person pyramid. I don't know if everyone got into position before they fell. Trina was able to take this picture and capture the basic idea for the stunt.

Telling Co-Workers

This is how Trina told her co-workers that she is pregnant. It is a Baby Ruth candy bar with the word Ruth covered up by the name Roos. Her co-worker Elizabeth also announced that she was pregnant at the same time. Her Baby Ruth bars were covered with Miller stickers. Many of Trina's co-workers didn't notice that there were two people making announcements at the same time. Everyone was excited for both mom's-to-be.

Exciting News!

It’s been very difficult to keep this a secret for so long. And now it’s time we share some exciting news.
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We’re having a baby!

Most of you probably know that Trina and I have been really looking forward to extending our small family. In preparation for this, we have been hitting the garage sales and reading parenting books all spring. We have even started taking classes at St. Luke’s Hospital, mainly so I know what I’m getting myself into. I feel like I’m learning so much! I can’t wait to find out more. I feel like Trina is a know-it-all when it comes to this type of thing. She is such a great resource for me. If I am a good father, it’s will be because of conversations she and I have had about parenting. I love that she has such a large pool of background knowledge. Even before she was pregnant, she knew more than I will ever know about what people should or shouldn’t be doing while they’re pregnant. She has been a volunteer at Young Parent’s Network for the past three years, teaching pregnant teens about pregnancy and making good life choices. That’s another thing I love about her!

Here’s how it happened. Well… I think you know that part. How about I tell you how I found out. That’s a more appropriate story.

On June 25th, Trina woke up before I did. If I weren’t sleeping, I would have thought this was really odd. She never wakes up before me. In fact, I think this might have been the very first time she beat me out of bed. When I finally realized that she was out of bed, I got up too. Looking back on it Trina seemed a little different that morning. She was excited to run some errands and see a movie. I didn’t really care what she was doing; I had a long paper to write for one of my masters classes. It was due in a couple of days and I had a long way to go. That was the only thing I was thinking about that morning. Having Trina out of the house actually helped me focus. If you ask Trina, she will tell you that I’m very distractible.

She left the house and by the time she came back I had most of my paper written. I was so focused on the last minute details that I didn’t realize what she was bringing up the stairs and into the spare bedroom. A few minutes later Trina said that she bought me something. I walked up the stairs and she handed me a card. It was really sappy and made reference to the fact that we had been married for eight months. She then handed me a button down shirt. I tried it on and it was okay. Nothing to get too excited about.

She noticed my lack of interest and told me that she had another gift for me. It was in the other room. As I walk in and to the other room I see a Chicago Cubs shirt that says Dad with the number one under it. To the left and right I see a blue and a pink balloon that said something about having a baby. I then see a new photo album sitting on the desk. Slowly, I begin to figure out what she is trying to say to me. I looked at Trina, looked back at the shirt and asked Trina, “For real-zees?!”

With tears in her eyes, she gave me the same answer as she did when I asked her to marry me. Yes.

As Mommy and Daddy, we can’t wait for our baby to arrive. Our due date is March 2, 2010.

[Trina’s Additions]
We are really excited to finally share this news with everyone! It’s been difficult because we are so happy. Now you know the real reason we started a blog, because we wanted to be able to share our family with those who don’t get to be here for all of the joys. And it’s much easier to post a blog than to give an update to 5-10 people over the phone.

For those of you who don’t know, I’ve had a very difficult pregnancy so far. I’ve had terrible morning/all day sickness since the week after we found out. Finally last week they gave me a prescription which helps a ton. Food was not something that could be talked about, seen, smelled, or eaten in my presence. After weeks of only eating crackers, milk and beef jerky, I’m glad to finally eat normal food. I’ve also been experiencing a rash on my entire torso area. It’s itchy and looks like chicken pox, but it’s just a rash. Not really sure why I’ve got that. The list does go on, but I’ll spare you the details.

We had our 12 week prenatal exam on Monday. We got to hear the heartbeat, which was amazing! I think it really sank in for us that we are going to be parents! I finally felt a little better about having suffered through the last 7 weeks of sickness. It’s all worth it. Our next appointment will be in 4 weeks. Most people usually ask the same questions, so here are the answers:
Yes I’m growing out of my clothes already, bring on the maternity clothes.
Yes, I’m more emotional, but it could be worse.
We aren’t sure if we are going to find out the sex, but we are open to suggestions.
I plan to take the full 12 weeks off (partial STD and partial vacation time). Tanner plans to be home immediately following my time off for the summer. If we are lucky, that’s 6 months without daycare.
I haven’t really had cravings yet.
I’m not sleeping well, and neither is Tanner, Max or Marley.
No we haven’t had an ultrasound.

We’ve been taking “belly pics” and will post them when there is a big difference to see.
So for now, we’re trying to take things easy and hope the symptoms lessen a little week by week. I hope you are all as excited as we are.

Fun in Minnesota

Here are a few photos of us in Minnesota this weekend. The first is of Gnorman and Alexa. Gnorman in a naughty little gnome that lives near my parents house. He is always trying to find a way inside. We were told to keep an eye on him because he moves really fast.

Here is Trina lounging near a ring of fire. Surprisingly, nobody started singing Johnny Cash songs.
Paige is learning how to hit a baseball. She did really well. Hopefully Tyler and Taya can convince her to take up tee ball. Trina and I would love to see her play.
This is how Max and Marley spent their weekend. Marley was constantly being held by Paige. Max was constantly watching the girls to see if they dropped any food. I think my mom loved having us all spend time in Marshall. She had a huge smile on her face all weekend.Dad and I are enjoying the beautiful evening. He is sitting in an Adirondack chair that he build. You can see a little more of it in the photo of Trina. He used Norm Abram' s (New Yankee Workshop) blueprints for the chair. They are made out of a wood that grows in the swamp. They should be able to stay outdoors forever without rotting.

Tough Enough to Wear Pink

Friday night we (Brad, Pat, Tyler, Taya, Paige, Alexa, Tanner, Trina) went to the Lyon County Fair and PRCA Rodeo in Marshall, Minnesota. This is the second county fair that I've been to this year. I am even planning on going to the Iowa State Fair in the next week or two. You could say I'm turning into a country boy. I can even tell the difference between a cow and a pig.

While at the rodeo, we saw a lot of bow-legged cowboys. It was really fun watching them do things on horses that I would never dream of doing. For example, some of the cowboys tied a wrap of some sort near the bulls testicles and then tried to ride it for eight seconds. I'm pretty sure that the first time the bull jumped, I would have gone flying into the second row of the grandstands.

This is the list of events we saw: Bareback Riding, Tie Down Roping, Sheep Riding, Team Roping, Saddle Bronc Riding, Steer Wrestling, Barrel Racing, Bull Riding.

My New Glasses

I made it 28 years without glasses. Some of you haven't seen me since I've picked them up.

Thanks Bob!

I want to say thanks to Bob. I've never met him, but I'm sure he was a great guy. For those of you who don't know, Bob was Trina's great uncle who lived in Tennessee. He passed a way earlier this year. When we traveled south to prepare his house to be sold, his wife Ruth gave me a bag of his clothes. I first thought it was a little strange, but I took them anyway. I've sense worn shirts from Bob for the past three or four days. Bob had some good taste in clothing. However, there was one pink shirt in the bag. I'm not sure if I can pull it off. So I'm going to take the philosophy that if it's good for Bob, it's good for me. If you see me today, and you want to make fun of me... remember that Bob picked out this shirt. And if you see me today, and I look good... remember that Bob picked out this shirt.


Thanks Bob!

This is the only picture we have of us from that trip.

Wrigley Field

Trina and I recently attended a Chicago Cubs game at Wrigley Field. This was the second Cubs game we've gone to together. Both games were against their biggest rival, the Saint Louis Cardinals. Last time, the Cubs cinched the division championship the day we were there. The people in Wrigleyville celebrated as if the Cubs won the World Series. Or at least as much as they did in 1908 when they last won the World Series.

This game was just as special for me. It was my birthday gift from Trina. You may remember back in April we drove to Chicago in a really bad rain storm. Five minutes after we checked into our hotel, ESPN showed the game had been postponed. We were very upset. We couldn't get a hotel refund, we didn't know if we were going to be able to use our tickets, we had no plans the rest of the night.

Fortunately for us there was a computer in the lobby of the hotel. We searched the web for something to do. After an hour of debate, we decided to go to Second City to see a comedy troupe. When I called they said they were sold out. However, they have and ETC, Stage. This stage had another show. I hung up, we researched it and called back for tickets. When Trina was about to order, they asked her if she wanted to do the dinner and a show option. She was curious and asked about it. When the person got done telling her about it, she mentions to Trina that the show is now sold out.

We were so mad that nothing was going our way!

We eventually found out that the Chicago Improv Festival was going on and a participating theatre was within walking distance. We ended up seeing three imporv groups at a theatre that's name escapes me right now. We ended up having a pretty good time.

The second time we tried to go to the game was much more successful. Not only did we get to see a game, we also saw the Cubs beat the Cardinals for the second time! It must have been pretty windy on the field, because both teams failed to catch at least on fly ball hit to an infielder.

The only bad part about the game was that we didn't get to see our favorite players play. Trina likes Derek Lee the best. I think she just likes looking at his butt. My favorite player from the Cubs last year was Mark DeRosa. Before the season started he was traded to the Cleveland Indians. A week before the game, DeRosa was traded to the Cardinals. I knew he had an injury, but I thought I would get a chance to see him play against his old club. It didn't happen. At least we got to see Big Z pitch again!