Sunday Soccer

I've been playing soccer in Mount Vernon for the past few months. In the summer/fall I went with Tyler to play outdoor soccer in one of the city parks. Now that it is cold, we play in the old middle school gym. We have had as many as 18 and as few as 7 show up to play. I know it's not really competitive, but it is great exercise. Here are a few pictures of Tyler and myself playing this weekend.

We play a bunch of five-minute games for about 60-90 minutes. During that time frame I normally score about two goals. I much prefer to dribble around people and pass the ball. Those are my best soccer skills. I'm not as good at shooting. I can kick it really hard, and I'm pretty accurate, but I am also pretty timid when it comes to shooting. I almost always feel that someone else is in a better position so I need to find them and get them the ball.

Today was different, for some reason I decided that I was going to be a shooter. I scored so many goals that I stopped counting at one point. I know I had several games that I scored twice. I even scored three times in one game. If I were to guess, I think I must have scored ten times or more today.

I was one of the people that got to pick the three teams today. I picked a girl that can run forever and passes really well. I picked a guy that plays great defence. I also picked a guy that has great ball control and can anticipate what his teammates are going to do. The last player on my team joined late. She was also very competent when it comes to playing good defense. I have to credit my scoring today with the fact that they all were great passers and didn't shoot much themselves.

Next week, I'm sure I'm going to be back to scoring once or twice during the whole sessions. But I had a lot of fun this week!

One week, six days

Last week Wednesday was a day that I won't soon forget.

School was canceled because of the prediction of ice. Sure enough, the ice came. Before it got too bad, Trina and I moved around our schedule and went to the doctors office for our planned visit. This was the first visit that Trina didn't have a boat load of questions. We just showed up and left. It was pretty easy. But there was one thing that stood out...

The doctor told Trina and I that if the baby comes after a week and six days, they are going to let her deliver. During that first week they would prevent the baby from making an appearance. However, the next six days they would only kinda try to stop it.

Trina told me that my reaction was funny to watch. I guess I took off my hat and scratched my head with the bill. My face looked worried and pale. The only words out of my mouth were, "We're going to wait until March."

Although I am probably ready for the baby to come, I really think I want to have a March baby. If you know our plans, you would agree that a March baby would be much better for us compared to a February baby. If you don't know our plans... it doesn't really matter. We just want a healthy baby.

The other thing we did that day (and the next two days) was paint circles on the wall of our baby room. We drew five different sized circles on the wall. We used the bottom of the Bumbo as the biggest circle. We also used a microwave splash cover, ice cream bucket lid, coffee can lid, and something else that was small. I can't recall the last thing.
After randomly putting the circles on the wall, we had to paint them. We bought six different colors of paint. Blue (not because it's a boy), red, orange, yellow, green and brown were are final decisions. The colors show up a lot in the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar. I am really happy with the final product. Trina and I think we are done painting the baby room now.

We also installed our baby monitor last week. I love it! It has a color display of the baby while the light is on. When the light is off, it switches to night mode. It's really cool. Trina and I spent about an hour trying to figure out where to put the camera. The biggest problem was finding a spot that we could see the entire crib without moving the crib.

A busy week!

Yes, I know we have slacked on posting, but in our defense we had a busy week.
On Wednesday we had our second of four childbirth classes. It was probably the most helpful class we've had so far. In this one we talked about "comfort skills" during labor. We learned how to use various items as a way to provide comfort. For example, bringing a tennis ball or a pool noodle for back massage.

On Wednesday we also had a visit to the doctor. We didn't really find anything new or interesting out. The baby is still positioned the way it has been for several weeks- head way down with it's butt up by my right ribs and feet kicking to my left side. The doctor said it isn't in an ideal position yet, but we've got time for it to move. She again noted that the baby seems to be very active and good sized.

Thursday I worked late into the night to work on our annual Bowl For Kids' Sake fundraiser.
http://bfks.kintera.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=334710&lis=0&kntae334710=141C20A896714D56BF4F4714EF8D05F5
If you aren't familiar with BFKS, check out this link to our online fundraising page. And while you are there, feel free to make a donation to my efforts. BFKS begins a very busy season for me. Myself and one other co-worker (who happens to be my boss) plan and implement the event. We bowl 24 times from Feb 2-28. So this baby better make it to March!

On Friday, I worked. Ok, so doesn't seem difficult, but I'm working 40 hours a week now. I've adjusted well to working 32 hours a week since my position change in April. But because of BFKS, there is no way I could get it all done in 32 hours...so I'm approved to work up to 40 a week. I started doing that several weeks ago, and will continue until baby is here. I used to take Fridays off, but now I'm working them. And soon I'll be working Saturdays and Sundays at the bowling alley too.

Saturday brought our baby shower! Family joined at Lone Star in Cedar Rapids on Saturday to help us celebrate our soon arrival of Baby Roos. The women played some games and opened gifts while eating some appetizers. Then the men joined us for a late lunch / early dinner. We feel like we have nearly everything we need for baby now! We've really enjoyed adding the new books to our reading at night. Our favorite gift was the bag of items from when I was a baby. My mom gave me the little red dress I wore for my first Christmas, a sweater and booties I wore when I was born (the booties never fit me), the pink t-shirt and hat from the hospital (again, neither fit me), and several other items. Thanks everyone who came to celebrate!!

Sunday Tanner had his usual soccer. Afterwards we went to Tyler & Taya's for dinner. Unfortunately Taya had to work, but we enjoyed spending some relaxing time with Tyler and the girls.

Last night we had another baby class, called New Baby New Beginnings. This is in additional to the childbirth series we are doing on Wednesdays. I didn't learn much in the class last night, but there were some good reminders about communication and making time for self/spouse after baby comes. We would rather try out a class and not learn anything, than to not try it and miss out.

In our 34th week of pregnancy, we're looking ahead to another busy week...another doctor appointment (weekly now), childbirth class again, 3rd Grade Specials night, 3rd Grade Clay at Coe, BFKS Kick-off event (which Tanner and I are both working at), and a Rough Riders Hockey game for BBBS.

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Starting The Year Off Right

We ended 2009 and started 2010 with my family in town. My parents came to Marion on Dec. 30th and stayed until Jan. 3rd. Autumn and Reed hosted them as usual. Besides the first and last day of their trip, we moved from house to house.

We played host on New Year's Eve. My dad was in charge of ordering pizza and he did a great job. He ordered so much in fact that half of the order didn't get eaten that night. Lucky for me, my refrigerator had enough space for one full box. That night we decided to play pictionary. Because we didn't have the game, we had to get creative. Each player had to write down three people, places and things on small sheets of paper. They were used as the object for the round. We had a great time playing the game. That night we all turned in early. Trina and I had hoped to go to Adam and Julies at midnight, but that didn't happen. We were in bed by eleven-o'clock.

That was the same day that our washer arrived! Now we just have to turn in the $100 rebate to Alliant Energy and $100 rebate to MidAmerican Energy. I love rebates!

On New Year's Day we celebrated Christmas with my brother and sister. Belinda's family wasn't able to make it this year. I did get a chance to talk to her so it felt like she was with us. Mom made us a Christmas dinner with ham, turkey and all of the other stuff that goes on your plate. Trina brought a family recipe with her. It was sweet potato casserole. It was a big hit. Besides opening gifts and watching bowl games, we managed to find time to play catch phrase. Tyler and Reed had a disadvantage in this game. As it turns out, it's hard to think straight after their beer tasting. I wasn't there, but I did see their notes. According to the guys, some of the beer taste like an old dutch lady. I'm not sure what that means? On the second we saw both Trina's family and my family. Payton had a wrestling meet at English Valley High School. He did really well. He had a lot of support in the bleachers. He is getting better and better each time he gets to compete. Later that day we celebrated Paige's birthday at Tyler and Taya's house. She turned seven. Tyler and Taya had us over for more football and soup. Trina made a zuppa that was a hit. Someone made a chili and Autumn made chicken noodle soup. There were also many finger foods to eat all day long. Just ask Max. I was holding him with my left arm and eating meat and cheese in the other hand. When I wasn't looking he took it right out of my fingers.

We finished the weekend saying good-bye to everyone after breakfast at Perkins on Sunday morning. The next time that we see my parents, we will have another member of our family with us. We can't wait!