It's the final countdown..... :)

Now I know that each of you are singing the song....THE FINAL COUNDOWN, we can't seem to remember what movie it comes from, I say Rocky but Kam says no. Who knows not important. What is important is that in like 12 hours we will have a baby to snuggle. YIIIIIIIIIIIIKES! 

Well I came to Bis on Monday for doc appointments and a massage (VERY IMPORTANT!!!) and I had a nice relaxing day, well not really but I tried. Who can relax in this situation? NOT ME! I stopped at the insurance agency to add a mini van to our insurance....yes you read that right. A mini-van. I said NEVER would I EVER drive one. Here I am a soccer mom....where has my life taken me?! We (Kam & I) had decided we were going to wait with this major purchase, but just when I think I know him, he goes and pulls a fast one on me! He decides to trade in his truck. What? I know I was shocked. We just bought him a new truck last year, a nice truck and he said that he did it because he "wants to start doing things for his family..." my heart melted. I had been doing the dealing on the vans we first looked at and he took the bull by the horns and did most of this with out even telling me!!! He is the best husband. And I guess if I have to drive a "grocery getter" he did buy me the cadillac of all "urban assault vehicles" so I have NOTHING to be upset about, hes a keeper! On a side note we will be getting him a truck when we trade off the journey, he has old trucks to use at this point, so he will still get something out of the deal! :)

Well then last night was a nice relaxing (and yummy!) time with Nate, Lynae, and Kyler. I went to bed early we all know I am not sleeping AT ALL, but I tried to rest. Hippi had me up quite a bit but decided to try out for the Olympics at about 4 and that was the last of my sleep! :) Then today was interesting to say the least bit...... 

I ran a few errands, did relaxing things, stopped at the docs office because I had somethings to do but was feeling a little nervous about kicking and movement. I mean I was feeling a little movement, but I just dont think in this situation you can be too sure. I am almost positive most women who went through what I have would do the same thing. I was able to hear a heart beat and it was one of the sweetest sounds ever. Dr. Bradley decided maybe it would be best if i was in the hospital over night just so she and I both felt better about things. I thought that might be an option.... then Kam called just as I was leaving the clinic and he must have known I needed his wisdom at that time. He decided to leave work to be with me, i knew if he was i would feel better. i continued on my day with a quick manicure and then a pedicure, where the receptionist said i looked like I was having 40 babies! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?????? 40 babies? HOW RUDE! she was like 150 yrs old so who knows what she was thinking! :) 

The highlight of my day was when Kam surprised me with a March birthstone necklace and earrings. I love them, they are pretty special to me. And I guess he is too! :) But as Lacey said we shall see how the diaper changing goes! :) 

We ran (I waddled) to target to pick up somethings and met my parents there, mom suggested I get to the hospital and we would all feel better about things. True. I decided that my doc was right, lets get me monitored and we would all be happy. I called her office and basically they were like, "its about time!!!" so here we are. 

In the hospital, all is still on schedule for tomorrow, c-section at 7:30am, and a cozy night in a bed that goes up and down! FUN! Kam is reading, I am computing, and baby is kicking--he/she does not like the heart monitors, but thats too bad!!! :) 

So tomorrow is the day......Dr Bradley will do the section, and Dr Shafer-Mclean will be in too, I love them both and so happy that they will share in our joy! :) Kam and my mom will be with me and watch this wonderful bundle enter the world. Tonight I am trying to relax, not sure how its going, but I am trying! And my parents are on their way with Olive Garden!!! fun! so we will have some time to chat and then decide thats is bed time and a baby will be here before we know it! :) 

THank you again for reading and for praying for us. This uphill battle is almost over, and I know its worth all the stress, anxiety and everything else! :) We cant wait to see this baby and tell everyone boy or girl! :) 

We will keep you posted! :) As soon there will be 3....... :) 

Are we ready?

This is the question most asked of Kam & I. Its interesting as I sit here this morning and think...are we ready? Another popular question is what do you still need? I usually answer , "nothing" then later I freak out because I feel we are missing some essential items, like a boppy pillow, changing table, and baby monitors to name a few. But then I sit back and think of my great grandma Elise and what she had to raise her 3 wonderful daughters.

A little history on GGJ.........She has been my only connection to biological pregnancy questions on my maternal side. Her daughter Jean, my grandma, passed away before I was born, and then of course my mother, her granddaughter, Jackie, passed away when I was 6.

Throughout both of my pregnancies I have contacted her with questions and just to hear how things were in the "old days". She is more than willing to share her stories, as at 96 years young she is still sharp as a tack. There are days when she isn't as sharp as she once was, which is hard for us to understand, but she still does VERY well. I also have a wonderful mother, mother-in-law, grandmas, sisters, sisters-in-law, and miles of friends to pull advice, stories, and laughs from, but nothing says it quite like my great grammy!

She told me on her second birth that she was out doing chores and told her husband it was time to have a baby and thats just what she did. She went inside called the mid-wife and it was baby time. No hospital, no monitors, no anesthetic...NOTHING, just her, a midwife, and a baby on the way. When this bundle came out she didn't have a boppy pillow to help her breast feed, or monitors to hear if the baby was awake in its crib, or a changing table equipped with butt paste and many lotions. I feel that my grandma Jean, and my great aunts, Clarice and Linda turned out really well. Okay Linda was born at a hospital but I am pretty sure she didn't get to come home to a Bumbo seat! :) And GGJ was not worried about things on her Target registry that she needed before kids came. :)

She probably was also not worried about how the family pet was going to react. Which has been our latest concern, I mean its almost obsessive on my part. (I know thats a shock that I would obsess about something!) We are so worried about how our "baby girl" Sadie Mae will react. Will I still have time to snuggle her, will I still call her my "doggy-dog dogerton" will I still play "dance with the mama" with her? Will I still give her a puppy massage? I know most of you are picking your chins off of the floor, but these things really do happen at our house! :) I know Sadie Mae will do wonderful, she is great and she will love "baby hippi" as her best friend. and vice versa. :)

We will be fine, and yes we are ready. We have a lot of questions of "when can we do that?" but we have a WONDERFUL support staff around us to pull information from! :) And even if we don't pull the advice out it always flows freely! :) Which we love!!!!

Thank you again for all the love and support, Kam & I are so blessed to have amazing people in our lives offering up much love and prayers. Please know we (Kam, I, baby Hippi, & Sadie Mae) are forever thankful!

More to come........but in the mean time, MAKE IT A GREAT DAY!

should I start freaking out yet????

Hello all, oh how I hate that I go so dang long between posts. I was thinking maybe a video blog is the way for me to go, I mean really, we all know how I LOVE to talk. If thats a shock to some of you...then you do not know me, and what are you doing reading this! :)

Oh time, where have you gone? I honestly feel like yesterday we were just making the big announcement. "Is this the LONGEST pregnancy ever?" (only mom will get that joke!) But then again as I watch my ever growing belly I realize that its gone really slow. So are we ready? I don't know if you are ever ready...I mean we have diapers, we have clothes, we have the necessities, but ARE WE READY??? I think it must just come to you, I don't know if thats the right answer, but I sure hope it does. They say the best way to prepare for a baby is for a couple to get a pet. Well most of you know my pet history, NOT GOOD. NOT GOOD AT ALL. But maybe I wasn't meant to be a single mom, because now that Kameron & I have raised Sadie Mae, I think we have done real well. I mean she has her moments, she can be a little crazy, but all in all she really is a wonderful dog. Lets hope this shows some type of merit to our parenting skills. We also come from very good parents, so hopefully we learned a thing or two. Not to mention about 90% of our friends are parents so the network of people we can reach out, is endless. :) I think we might make it!

We are now doing 2 doc appts a week. Which is good, better safe than sorry. I can't say that the appointments have gone EXACTLY as I would like them to, this child likes to rock to it's own schedule and really thinks following the rules at the doctors office is not on his/her schedule. Well lets hope this is not a preview of what is to come. As we all know, I tend to like things my way, somehow I think that is all about to change! :)

I cannot believe its 13 days away. We c-section on 3/3 at 7:30am, YIKES! I think we have to be there at 5am, I mean I am a morning person but REALLY?!?!?! We will have my mom and Kameron in the delivery room (as long as the anesthesiologist allows 2 people. And Kam will cut the cord, not normal for c-sections, but Doc Bradley is letting us get away with it! Kam's parents will be at the hospital at the same time as will Emy. I am sure more will arrive that day to greet us, I am so excited. Sometimes I think I am so excited I could wet my pants, for those of you who have been prego you know thats not a big stretch of the imagination.

We had my parents here this past weekend, dad helped Kam in the basement and mom helped me hang things in the babies room. Also on Saturday my sister Emy and I were baptized. You might think thats odd, but neither of us ever had been before so it was a big deal. I was so happy to share the special day with Emy-she is very special to me! :) Not to mention she is one of Hippi's Godmothers! :)

Also we told our parents the sex of the baby, but we are still keeping it TOP SECRET from everyone else. Not that this is easy, because it is NOT. But everyone will find out soon enough, after all its only 13 days! :)

As we do 2 doc visits a week, Kameron cannot attend any more, we are saving his days off for when the baby gets here. It has been SO wonderful having him come with me, I am so much more relaxed then. But I do have a wonderful group of people who I have begged to take me to the remaining 4 appointments. It is hard to find people who have jobs that are flexible enough to let them take time off to run me to Bismarck. Luckily Tammi can take me today and Monday. My mil, Rusty will take me next Thursday and then the last appointment on 3/1 will have me going by myself but Tanya on call in case I need anyone. Kameron was pretty worried about me being alone and since he isn't the easiest to get ahold of at work, I need people on speed dial in case I need anything. When I go up on 3/1 I will be staying up until we come home with baby. Lynae was kind enough to offer her home to us until we check in to deliver.

We are forever grateful to all of our friends and families who have offered much love and support throughout the past 35.5 weeks. What a trip it has been! We ask you to continue your prayers in the next 13 days as, our anxiety levels have began to rise and we know we aren't out of the clear yet. Thank you in advance for the millions of prayers that go up for us and baby hippi! :)

We love all of you....

Hopefully you will be reading more from us sooner than later! :)

Who is Baby Hippi?

Hello all!!! :)  Hard to believe its been a month since I posted....not that I am shocked, but still hard to believe! :)

Okay so to the point....Baby Hippi....lots of people have been asking where on earth that came from. Sometimes I can be a bit of a flower child, but it has nothing to do with that!

Hippi actually comes from my mom Karin, who yes in her day was a bit of a hippie! And so was my other mom Jackie, but this is something totally different! :)

About 2 1/2 years ago Kameron took me on an adventure to pickup a car from a coworker of his.  Now this isnt abnormal that we were going to buy an old car from someone, but this trip was special. They have a pig named Ariel.  She was pretty big, and had just given birth to like 7 piglets...she may have just been a "plus sized" pig or she could have had a little baby weight on her still. I am not judging!

So I had the best time meeting Ariel and her crew. They were the cutest EVER EVER EVER! And that was the day I decided I NEEDED a pig, not a little bit, A LOT. I wanted to raise a pig, and I wanted one bad.

Well a few months later we got a dog....she may eat like a pig sometime but she is not a pig! Kameron said we could get a pig as long as I did EVERYTHING for this animal, or I could get a pig as long as it was cut up, and put in our freezer. (I know you are laughing, this is not funny!) he did agree to build me a pen for this pig, but I had to clean, feed, and take care of the pig, and the only time the pig was allowed in the house was when it was time to put the pig in our freezer.  I wasn't really agreeing to my terms and Kam wasn't agreeing to mine....so we waited and didnt get a pig.

Well this past May I decided I was going to push the pig issue again, after all it was getting warm out and we already had half a pig in the freezer (i mean really how much bacon can one person eat!) and so I was researching pigs one night and how they are as pets. When magically I came along to Pygmy Hippos! Can you believe you can buy a Pygmy Hippo? After Kameron stopped laughing, he said if I can find it, I can have it! I was excited and kept searching online for this new found pet of mine, I mean really who does not want a hippo in the family! Imagine the Christmas pictures!!!! :)  And they pygmys are meant to be pets not wild animals....thought you should know! :)

I was so excited I called my mom with the big news, and told her to be on the lookout, she laughed hysterically and told me we needed to have a baby!!! I already knew that, but I thought a hippo would be great! Needless to say I quickly slowed down on my "hippo hunt" and did some traveling for work and enjoyed my summer. In july when we found out that we would be expecting a baby, I called my mom to share the good news and she told me that I finally got my hippo and that the nickname should be "Hippi" and there you have it.....Hippi it is. The spellings vary which is fine, but I will tell you that I am happy we are having a "hippi" and not adopting a hippo!

We have been "hunting" near and far for hippo things, we even registered for hippo crib sheets, they are so dang cute!!! :) and I will buy ANYTHING if it has a hippo on it, I even bought a chip clip...who am i?  one would think finding hippo things is easy, it is not! do you know how many baby things have elephants, monkeys, or giraffes on them???? a lot more than have hippos on them!!! :) But Target does have some cute stuff and we have found the most random hippo stuff, so we are good to go...

and yes for the record, I have given up my quest for a hippo and a pig at this time. now if someday hippi wants one of them.....he/she will have to talk to daddy! :)

Trust me.....life is an adventure! :)  Enjoy the ride! :)

Thank you for reading.....as always we are "hunting" for hippos for Hippi! :)

The Good, Bad and Ugly Week

Well this past week (Nov 2-8) marked a mix of all feelings.... there were times it was good, others times when it was bad, and some ugly ones too.  Lets get the negative (bad and ugly times!) out of the way first then we can focus on the good! :)

Well knowing Peanuts day was Tuesday was hard for me.  Maybe being prego had something to do with it... but it will always be hard thats for sure. I was fine (or tried to be strong) all day until my dad (Tim) called, then I got off the phone with him and lost it. I actually had Kam come home from work and miss Wednesday to be with me....I was a WRECK! Now I know I could have called any of my friends or family and chatted till the cows come home, but I really just needed my husband.  I hope all understand that.  Things are better now, but lets just say that I cried so much I couldn't get one of my eyes open the next morning. Just a tough time, and probably a little nervous about this pregnancy, as anyone in my situation would be....

And for another bad/ugly situation, the Blue Hawk Girls....how sad was that?! They say, "Once a Blue Hawk, Always a Blue Hawk!" All DSU students and alum are like a family, honestly I cannot say that enough, very sad to hear about this situation and of course in my very emotional state, I cried quite a bit. May they rest in peace as this was by far the hardest thing the blue hawk family has had to go through. I was never more proud to be a hawk than last week.  What a great support staff we all have! I was proud to display my Alum shirt, my blue hawk pin, and my homecoming queen ring! It was GREAT! And this is coming from a true Hawk, one who bleeds Blue Hawk Blue everyday! :)

Now onto the good parts of my week.  As a prego lady you go through many up and down emotions so I know all weeks have highs and lows, but this past week the lows were below sea level and the highs were in high in the sky! :)

On Wednesday Kam and I ended up going for a drive and found ourselves in Fargo.  We had a wonderful day together and registered for baby gifts at Target.  It was so fun and as frustrated as it was for Kameron to control the registration gun, and put random things on this registry, i loved how much he got into it! :) he was so dang cute!!!! :)

Another good was having burgers fries and playing cards with friends, sometimes I need to laugh so hard I almost wet my pants, and trust me I needed it this week! :)

Continuing with the goods.......
I went to Bis with my mil Rusty and met my mom and sister Emy to get things ready for the nursery, we had a great lunch with our cousins and then shopped at Lowes for many hours! :)  Headed home and had supper at the Harvest and then started the painting in the nursery. About 2 am (around 5 hours past our normal bed time!) we headed to sleep, Sunday we slept in way too late (missed church-thats a bad!) and got busy finishing the walls and the floor. Kam and my mom worked until they couldn't move to get the floor done and then Kam finished up the trim while mom did the curtains! What a team! Emy held the paint tray for me to do the dots and then she reorganized my pantry! We would have been lost with out them! Thanks again for all your help! we completed the night by having supper with the inlaws and relaxing in the living room looking for baby names! we had a blast laughing and joking about some that we came up with.

Monday wasn't part of my orig week, but it was a very good day! Sadie got a haircut (shorter than we thought it would be!) and my mom, Emy, Rusty, and of course Kam got to go to Hippi's big 20 week ultrasound! It was so fun!!! :)  we chose not to find out the gender even though Kam and my mom think its a boy-or at least they think they saw boy parts! ha! who can tell anything on that crazy ultrasound! oh well we shall wait until march.  Kam and I had an ob appt and she mentioned that she would like us to deliver at 36 weeks, with the possibility of a nicu stay, but we shall see.  all looks good and we topped the day off by stuffing ourselves silly at Carinos and heading home!

Thanks to all for your prayers last week with the 3 yr anniversary and well wishes for the pregnancy with hippi, things are going well, growing and kicking like crazy! :) I have gained 4 lbs so far, not too disappointed with that, and the crazy prego dreams have been nuts! :)  I am starting to get uncomfy sleeping but I am not too worried yet, I know there are wilder nights to come! I remember being up from about 3:45-5:00am with Peanut everynight while he kicked me! :)  ha! At least I was able to catch up on some old Three's Company reruns! :)

Oh well thats all for now...... here is wishing all of your weeks are good and not bad or ugly!

25 years....

I have known I have wanted to write this post for a long time, I just wasn't sure exactly how to do it... Its hard to believe that my mom has been gone for 25 years now.  How time flies...

I still think back to that day and the days surrounding it. I also think back to the wonderful memories I created with my mom. She really was an amazing person, her smile could light up any room, her laughter filled hearts with joy, and she had the fight of a tiger.  There are times I see parts of her in me and other times I wish I had more of her traits! Luckily, I have my memories of her and my parents who tell me stories of how she was and funny things she would do.  In addition, I have my sister Annie, who has my moms physical stature and who has her "fight of a tiger" which is the trait I wish I had more of! :)

Memories I hold near and dear include, going for drives, whippin cookies behind the elevator, driving our big orange boat of a car (which reminds me of the head injury!),   going to the Chuckwagon for malts and supper then walking to "Hum and Canners", watching the brady bunch together, the mice in the trailer (YUCK!!!), hiding my eggs, stealing frosting off of the carmel rolls, riding my snowmobile, and of course the "Don't cry over spilled milk-dead cat" incident, ask me sometime and I will tell you! :)

One thing that my mom did that I will always treasure was that even though I got a million spankings (maybe not quite that many-but a few and I deserved each and everyone!!!) I always knew she was my best friend and I was hers.  We have a couple cassette tapes from our last Christmas' with her, and its so nice to hear her infectious laugh! She was a riot! Speaking of that...I need to hear those tapes again! Being pregnant I am sure I would get a good cry out of hearing them!

So 25 years have passed and it seems the more BIG events I have in my life, the more I wish she was here to share them with me. I know she is watching over me and caring for peanut.  I am blessed to know she was the first one to get to meet him! :)  I don't mention this alot but I do look to her for advice from time to time and I also talk "to" her on occasion.  She lived a short and tough life, but I was also a full life.  We can all aim for that!

I am not saying my mom was always the perfect mom, but really what parent is perfect? I was able to enjoy her for 6 years of my life, and since she was such a young mom we learned a lot together! She was only 16 when she had me and only 23 when she passed. A life truly short lived, but lived to the fullest! :)

I am proud to be her daughter and probably her greatest accomplishment! May her legacy live on in me forever and I do my best to display her sunshine to all! :) Thank you for reading....it wasn't my easiest writing thats for sure.

And I have learned one thing for sure...you never really get over someone who has passed, and it doesn't get easier, you just learn how to live without them......trust me on this one.  I have lost quite a few people who were close to me.

Winter....ALREADY????

As many of you know, I am not a fan of the season that includes the "s" word....not at all.  I almost break out into hives when people talk about it.  Not kidding, or being over dramatic here either! :)

Well Oct 6 was the big day, the day I felt like hibernating.  I mean really what is so wrong with that???  I get to eat alot, get really fat, and sleep....sounds like a plan to me! actually sounds like pregnancy to me! ha!

And I will admit, i guess be careful what you wish for...I didn't really want to be pregnant in the summer, since I am such a furnace anyhow, and so here i am....arg.....winter!  but its okay, being pregnant is the best!

This winter will be slightly different as i will be driving to work daily, i got a little spoiled on that work at home thing....but i love my job a lot better than my last one, so its a small price to pay!  i will just have to drive careful, buckle up and I will be just fine.

As far as other things....."hippi" is doing great, growing right along, as is my belly but we wont talk about that! :)  ha! had the 16 wk appt, heard the heartbeat so there was no ultrasound...and we really like ultrasounds, it just makes things so real for Kam.  I mean he knows its real....hello have you seen me!?  but he really likes seeing hippster move and groove.

So i best be done updating.....and get something done.  Big Scentsy party tomorrow night, its my grand opening, and i sure hope someone shows up....I have a TON of food! :)  oh well if no one does, i can start my hibernation stage..... ha!

until next time.....make it a great day!