Sleeping like a king!

A lot has happened since we last posted, so here is all the news in the order it occurred...
First, last Tuesday we got a new KING size bed. It's so big I need a step stool to get into it and Max is afraid to jump onto it, even using the dog stairs! It's so comfy and cushy and best of all, it's like having a full size bed for each of us. We got the bed and head/foot boards on an amazing clearance sale! One day we will get dressers and other furniture to match it.
Second, on Wednesday, we had another ultrasound. Under normal circumstances, I would have only gotten the one ultrasound at 20 weeks. However, we got the second one at 30 weeks to check on the placenta previa. We found out I no longer have placenta previa! This is great news because we won't have to schedule a c-section. That also means there less additional risks to worry about. We also have hope that the baby won't be early! I'm no longer on pelvic rest, so am able to lift things and have more physical activity (and get to enjoy that king size bed). The ultrasound wasn't as clear as the first one because the baby is so much bigger now. It weighed in approximately 3 lb 6 oz. It was so big that the entire baby didn't fit on the ultrasound screen. However we did get to see a lot more movement this time. The baby was sucking it's thumb and playing with the umbilical cord. We also learned the baby has it's head WAY down, and we're able to feel the butt sticking up.
Next, we enjoyed some time at home on Christmas Eve opening gifts from each other and watching the dogs get their stockings. Max knows exactly what to do when he sees the stocking on the floor- dig in for the prizes. Marley wasn't sure what was happening. That evening we went to Trina's parents house to enjoy clam chowder and appetizers after going to the Christmas Eve service at their church. We got to play Santa for a while, helping wrap many of the gifts since Mom was sick. On Christmas Day we stayed there and the rest of the Juilfs family joined for great food, gifts, and games. We got up the next morning and had Big Foots (a yummy breakfast food Mom makes) and headed back home.
AND...during gift open on Christmas, Tasha & Kyle announced that they are pregnant! They are 12 weeks along. Everyone was surprised and excited for yet another baby. I already knew this news, and it was so hard to keep the secret. Tasha is feeling pretty good, just really tired and hungry. For us, that will be the 5th baby Aug '09-Aug '10 in our immediate families. Not including 8 additional family/co-workers/friends we know who are pregnant. Tyler and Taya are going to have a baby girl near the end of May. Autumn and Reed are going to have their baby at the beginning of August. We can't wait to have all of the kids together at the same time.

Check out my baby bump.

Week 11Week 21Week 31

Looking ahead (because I'm assuming we won't post again this week), we will be spending a lot of time with the Roos family this week, celebrating Christmas together. Tanner will be spending a lot of time finishing yet another class toward his degree while he is off of work. We also expect to get our new washer on Thursday. The old one leaks and I don't want to deal with that when we are washing our cloth diapers.

Last Week

Last week was a very busy week for the two of us. On Tuesday's, Trina went to Young Parents Network. I believe that she has volunteered with them for about three years. This week was the last week that she was going to be a group leader. After we have our baby, she may or may not return to help the young mothers get prepared for their babies. She has some time to make that decision.

On Wednesday night we had a parenting class at St. Luke's. I believe that it was called Prenatal Stimulation and Baby Massage. I thought it was a pretty good class. It reminded me about things that I have heard or read over the past seven months. I don't think Trina gets as much out of these classes. She rarely comes home with information that she doesn't already know. I on the other hand could use all of the reminders.

Thursday night was the Grant Wood music program. The second grade sang songs about Santa making his way through the weather to deliver to their homes. It was really cute. During a rehearsal, the kids started shouting SANTA SUIT at me. I guess they wanted me to get dressed up. After talking with the music teacher, we decided that the kids couldn't handle singing with me in a Santa suit next to them.

Friday night was really busy for me. The PTA Christmas Party was right after school. There was great food. One of the guys that helps with the Running Club cooked a bunch of Italian food. It was great. After the party, Trina and I went to Orchestra Iowa at Coe College. The orchestra played Christmas music and had a fun skit between songs. It tied everything together to tell a story. It was much different than I thought it would be. I enjoyed it. I think our baby liked it too.

Family Photos

If your looking to save money on pregnancy pictures, you should read the following steps.

1. Get pregnant

2. Grow a belly (guys can do this too)

3. Borrow a camera

4. Borrow a tripod

So far, everything listed has been free. Some of it has been fun. I rather enjoyed eating Trina's leftover supper each night from week six until week fifteen.

5. Take the sheets off your bed

6. Wash them (optional)

7. Hang them on your wall with thumb tacks

Although washing them is optional, it is highly recommended if either you or your spouse drools.

8. Figure out how to use the ten second timer

9. Smile pretty

10. Edit the pictures to accent your wife's beautiful belly

If your husband is feeling left out, you can repeat steps 9 and 10 to include his new baby bump.

This is just a small taste of the pictures that we took. There are many more that I would have loved to post, but some are more private than others. All of the shots were very tastefully done.

One of the highlights surrounding these pictures was when we picked them up at Wal-mart. The guy at the photo booth didn't want to give them to us because he thought we were printing these without permission from the photographer. He wrote "copyright?" on the packaging. He must have thought we were breaking copyright laws. When Trina said that we took the photos, I could tell that Trina was proud of our work. She did a great job with these. I just wish you could see them all.

Snow days... one of the many perks of being a teacher.

This weekend was busy for Trina and I. On Saturday I went hunting with my friends. We shot our guns a lot, but only Adam came home with a deer. He shot two bucks. One was an old 10-11 point (I can't remember) and the other was a wide eight point. The closest thing I got to taking home a deer was when four of us shot a total of nine times at a very wide eight point buck. We could see that someone hit it in the rear, but we couldn't track the deer down. I'm going to take credit for hitting it for three reasons. First, I took the first shot. Second, I had a rear angle. Third, I don't want Trina to think I'm a horrible shot.

On Sunday, Trina and her family went to Des Moines for the day. I don't really know what went on, but you can go to Kim's blog to find out more.

If you haven't noticed, Iowa has been covered in a blanket of snow. Let's change that to a comforter of snow. There has been a lot. I recently purchased a used Toro snow thrower on Craigslist. It came in really handy the last few days. Trina snapped this picture of me in action this morning. Before bed, I got rid of the same amount of snow as I did when I woke up. I"m really glad that I didn't wait until morning to do all of it. I think the snow thrower can only handle 8-10 inches at a time.

While Trina was working on Tuesday I stayed home with the dogs. I am home today too. One of the fun things I did to pass the time yesterday was have a photo shoot of the dogs. Trina made Marley's vest and purchased Max's shirt this weekend. As much as I hate dogs in clothes, I have to admit that Max looks pretty good. Besides keeping the dogs warm, it's important that Marley wears his when he goes outside. His hair collects snow like Tiger Woods collects girl friends.

In response to Christmas Questions

This post is in response to "Christmas Questions" on Kim's Kreations blog.
I love the Christmas season!!! There is something about the smell of Christmas, all the lights and decor, the music and spending time with family that floats my boat. Tanner doesn't love the season quite as much as I do, but I will share that I caught him listening to some Christmas music when I wasn't home the other day. I hope he converts to loving the season as much as me, and think he will once he sees how wonderful it will be to have our own family traditions.

1) What is your favorite Christmas movie? I love to watch Christmas movies on Christmas Eve, and any other time I can. It's a Wonderful Life is by far the best, followed by a tie of White Christmas and Christmas Vacation.
(2) What is your LEAST favorite Christmas movie? A Christmas Story.
(3) What is your favorite Christmas Song? It's impossible for me to pick just one. I love I'll be Home for Christmas. I also like Jingle Bells as sung by Bing Crosby.
(4) What Christmas song(s) drives you crazy? I can't say I have one.
(5) What is your favorite Christmas drink? Egg Nog
(6) What is your favorite Christmas memory? I really liked driving around to look at lights as a family, finding reindeer tracks in the snow on Christmas Eve, and the traditional soup/cookie dinner we at on Christmas Eve. I expect to continue these traditions for my family.
(7) What is the best toy/gift you've received on Christmas? I can't say any one thing stands out to me. Not like I didn't get great stuff!
(8) What is the worst toy/gift you've received on Christmas? One year Santa left me coal in my stocking, really!
(9) What do you LOVE about the holidays? I guess I answered this at the top. I just love the feeling of love in the air.
(10) What annoys you about the holidays? A focus on gift giving and all the "rules" that come with it.
(11) Do you prefer a star or an angel on top of a Christmas tree? Or something else? I follow in my mother's footsteps, having 5 trees in our house. 3 topped by a star, 1 topped by a Cubs flag and one without a topper.
(12) What is your favorite family recipe for Christmas? I don't really have one. I enjoy a variety of cookies (especially since I don't make them), and I also enjoy sweet potato casserole.
(13) Are you a Grinch or a Who at Christmastime? A Who for sure! And I think I'm turning Tanner from Grinch to a Who.
(14) Christmas light displays - Love them or Hate them? Love them...on other peoples' houses. I love to drive around and look at the lights, but would prefer to keep my efforts toward decorating our house/outdoors to a minimum.
(15) Santa’s at the mall - Fun times or Creepy? I think they are fun. It's gets everyone in the spirit. But sometimes they don't look real and can be creepy.
(16) Christmas cards - do you send them, yes or no? I've never received many Christmas cards and only send them sporadically. We do, however, plan to send them this year to a few people.(17) What is the best thing about Christmas, in your opinion?Everything!
(18) What is the worst thing about Christmas, in your opinion? Again, I hate that people have certain gift expectations. I think people should appreciate the little things more.
(19) When do you put the tree up and take it down? I usually put the tree up the weekend after Thanksgiving, but since we were gone this year, we did it the weekend before Thanksgiving. We'll take it down the second week of January. But I'll leave up "winter" decorations into February.
(20) Out of the 12 days of Christmas, which day and item would you want your true love to give to you? The golden rings.
(21) Why do you think that Grandma got run over by a reindeer? Santa saw Grandma coming and had to rush away from the house before anyone saw, and he accidentally ran her over!
(22) Who is your favorite reindeer? Rudolph of course.
(23) Do you believe in Santa Claus? I believe in continuing a tradition started by a generous man who gave gifts to people to needed them. So yes.
(24) What is your favorite smell at Christmastime? I'm not sure what the smell is, but it's missing in my house. Is it pine cones with cinnamon scent?
(25) What would make you happy at Christmas this year? For no family quarrels, appreciation of the little thing, and spending time with family.

Deer Hunting

I got up at 2:45 this morning and headed over to Sychra's house. On my way there I found myself ten feet from a deer. It just stood on the side of the road as I stared at it. If we weren't in city limits, I might have taken out my gun right there and shot it. Within an hour I could be back in bed. I think it's a sign that hunting is going to be good! I'm pretty sure that Adam, Greg (Adam's step-dad), Craig (Adam's college friend), and the Maffin's (Tony and Lance) will be there. I haven't seen Tony or Lance in a really long time. I am really excited to catch up with the two of them.

It looks like it is time to get in the trucks. The sun will be up in a few hours and we want to be the first to pull the trigger!

BANG, BANG!

Thanksgiving Weekend

This is the 26 week picture of Trina. She is 27 weeks along today. That means if things go the way they should, I could be a dad in about 13 weeks.

We spent Thanksgiving in Marshall this year. Autumn, Reed, Tyler, Taya and the girls were there as well. Besides eating a lot of good food, we also played a lot of games. Our favorite game was called Pit. It can be played with 4-8 people. If you haven't played it, look it up on the www and read to see if you would like it. We also watched a lot of football (Trina pretended to care) and played a lot of pool.

I did something that I was really proud of this weekend. While playing pool, I broke the balls up and hit in five balls. One of them was the eight ball. For those of you who don't know anything about pool, that means that my team won with just one shot. It was really cool. However, the cool factor only lasted about two minutes and then disappeared. That's why I had to bring it back up. Other than that one shot, I'm pretty horrible at pool.

After we got home from Marshall, we decided that the dogs were just tired enough to let us give them another hair cut. Trina shaved them, while I held them down. We haven't figured out how to shave their heads yet without being eaten. Here is a photo of Max after we shaved his body and left his face hair long.

After bringing him to PetSmart, Max looks like a little puppy again. They cut his face hair without incident. I don't know how they do it for only $6.00. I would pay them $30.00 if they asked.We shaved Marley too. This is a picture of him just after we put him in the bathtub. Do you think he enjoyed it? After taking him to PetSmart, Marley was back to his old self. His big eyes melt my heart. I hope our kid has eyes that big