The Secory's

Halloween and other fun

2009-11-06T21:35:00.004-06:00

I am horrible at updating blogger b/c facebook is just so much easier, but alas, since i believe we have a few followers that don't have facebook, i will continue to add some of our pictures and stories here as well.

First, We were finally able to squeeze a trip to a pumpkin patch in. The weather in october was horrible in DM, and it was so hard to find time for all 3 of us to go when the weather was decent. Apparently this was a common phenomenon as there were literally 1000's of people at the pumpkin patch when we went. Thankfully, the place is HUGE, so it wasn't a problem. Activities we enjoyed included: picking out and rolling pumpkins, "swimming" in a corn pool, jumping on a huge blow up thing, hay ride, petting zoo, "pretend land," etc. It was a blast! Here a couple of cute pics from the day, i particularly like the one w/ Daddy and Gretta.

Sadly, halloween night (or beggar's night in DM) was horrible weather. My family was down here, so we wanted to take G to a couple of houses, but it wasn't going to happen. We did end up stopping out at the new neighborhood for a little get together. I love how they already include us in their activities. We are moving in to the best neighborhood ever! :)
We also got the chance to dress G up in her costume to go to Ankeny Library's trick or treat night. Adam was really disappointed to learn that no candy was handed out. Thankfully for him, he convinced me that we had to have candy on hand in case we had any trick or treaters ourselves (which is hilarious for anyone who knows where we live right now), so we still had some candy around the house. I am sure trick or treating next year with Gretta will be a blast!
Well, I wanted to share pictures, but unfortunately blogger isn't letting me. Adam and I forgot our camera when going to the library, but thankfully aunt ali remembered. Unfortunately, in order to send the pics to me they had to be in a file that my computer really struggles with. so, no pictures right now. I'll figure it out at some point and try to remember to post.

In housing news, we hope to move in to our new house on Nov. 25th! We just really hope there aren't any hiccups along the way. Rescheduling adam's time off is virtually impossible as it would affect 80-100 patients, so we just hope the appraisal, etc. goes well and is done in time. We already can tell that we LOVE it, and are really excited to be in our first official house for Christmas. I will be sure to share pictures when it is completely done.

Finally, in our biggest news - we are expecting again! Baby S #2 is due June 13th, although I am going to guess it will be a tad earlier, as G came a little early, and my dating suggests earlier. Either way, that means Gretta will be almost exactly 2 when the new baby arrives. It is a little earlier than we initially planned, but we are very excited and hope this means they will be best of friends. I am already convinced it is a girl, but we'll see (but not before the birth day, we like the surprise). So far I am feeling pretty good. I am more tired than I was w/ Gretta, but I don't know if that is just b/c i am tired chasing her! I also seem to be having more intense cravings. All in all it is going pretty well, though. I was sad to get H1N1 very early on in my pregnancy, and hope that everything with the baby is going great. We have no reason to believe otherwise, and the baby has a strong heartbeat, etc. but we would appreciate any prayers in this regard.
We are warming Gretta up to the idea of being a big sister. I think she'll love it at times and not love it at times. :) She likes to kiss the baby (my belly) and tries to feed the baby milk through my belly button. But, when I asked her whether it was a baby brother or sister, she yelled, "I DON'T CA (care)" haha, in her defense, it was like the 100th time i had asked, i was probably annoying her.
Either way, she likes her big sister shirt:

Blessings to you all!

Gretta Update

2009-10-09T13:27:00.003-05:00

We've been spending plenty of time at daddy's office lately, but not just visiting him for fun. Gretta has had a string of ear infections that she just can't seem to shake. We met w/ the pediatric ENT yesterday and after looking at her medical chart and peeking at her ears immediately asked, "so when do you want to schedule her surgery?" I guess she is a prime candidate for tubes. So, we are scheduled for this coming wednesday (the 14th) bright and early. I am not too worried about the procedure itself, more about the general anesthesia, since she has never had anything like this before it is impossible to predict w/ certainty how she'll react. Thankfully we don't have a family history of poor responses, so I imagine it will be fine - but we'd definitely love some prayers that morning.
We are hoping that the tubes may solve a couple other problems as well. Word on the street is that occasionally placing tubes will dramatically help a child's appetite. we really hope so, b/c she is still a terrible eater. Every time G's ears have been looked at they have been full of fluid, even when not accutely infected, so perhaps draining them will make her feel better and be more willing to eat. Apparently just generally feeling better after tubes can also improve a child's behavior. Not that she is horrible in this regard, she is just a typical toddler, but if it made her a tad more agreeable, we'd be all for it! Most importantly, we just hope it fixes her ears so she isn't prone to hearing damage.

Speaking of Gretta, I was reflecting a couple of days ago on just how much changes in such a short period of time. At the beginning of this summer she was barely able to walk. Thus, when we would go to a park I'd have to hold her hand everywhere, and we primarily stuck to the swings. Now it is a totally different story. She really wants nothing to do w/ the swings b/c she has so much fun exploring. I still follow her around, just so she doesn't decide to plummet to the ground at any given point, but I really don't have to help her any longer. She can climb up the stairs like a "big girl," holding only the handrail and walking up. She loves running over the bridge and to a slide. She can sit herself down now (after we have learned this lesson the hardway) and pushes to go down by herself. We don't have to catch her or anything, she just runs off as soon as she hits the bottom. It is so cute to see her enjoy her freedom at the park so much now. It is just crazy how much they change in only a few months.

In housing news, we have an official close date of Nov. 24th now - yea!! We are hoping to move in on the 25th and will probably eat thanksgiving dinner sitting on moving boxes. We are just so excited to get in before Christmas! Can't wait to go get our first real Christmas tree.

2009-09-09T23:05:00.001-05:00

15 month appt

2009-09-09T22:44:00.003-05:00

I admit I am getting bad about updating the blog since most family/friends seem to have moved to facebook, and it is much easier to upload pics to facebook than blogger. but, nevertheless, i will continue to update at least periodically the sort of things you don't put on facebook.
For example, Gretta had her 15 month appt yesterday. Things are going pretty well. She is in the 57% for height and 21% for weight, which is pretty consistent for her. She is a horrible eater, but manages to continue to gain weight, so that is good. We tried to learn some "bad eater" secrets, but it turns out there isn't much we can do about it at this point. She is still too little to send to bed hungry, so at this point she still gets what she'll (kind of) eat, at least at dinner. Which means dinner is often 1 bite of whatever we want her to eat, 1/2 a cup of mandarin oranges, and as many lucky charms marshmallows as she can pick out of the serving we give her.
Gretta is slowly but surely learning more words, and we were assured that her vocab is very normal for her age. apparently my perfectionism carries over to my child as well. i didn't think i could count it as a word unless it was perfectly correct. i guess if she uses a "word" consistently and I know what she means, it counts. so "dare" for "there" counts. who knew? G's fine motor skills are particularly developed, which is the one and only area where adam and I excelled in sports, so that is somewhat expected. G is very cute/clever in our non-biased opinions, which is good, b/c she is a big time stinker sometimes too.

It is getting late and I am losing steam, so here is a picture of our trip to the zoo to add some interest. We had a nice time showing Gretta all of the animals, the giraffes and beavers seemed to be 2 of her favorites. She really enjoyed the petting zoo, until a mean old donkey bit her fingers. One of them actually got infected, but we were able to fight it w/o having to go to an oral antibiotic. Lesson learned for us, be careful around donkeys.

Things on the house front are going well. We will try to remember to take some pictures tomorrow b/c things are really changing daily at this point. We hope to pick out flooring tomorrow during adam's day off. i just don't know if i can look at any more hardwood! i really hope carpet choosing goes smoother. it seems like it should, i don't really have strong opinions about carpet. of course, i always think that until i see the options. it turns out i am much pickier and more discerning than even i originally thought. according to our builders, i am the most "involved" home owner they have ever worked with. haha! it was said in a kind way, but i am *pretty* sure i know what they meant.

Long overdue update

2009-08-12T09:12:00.012-05:00

Things have been really busy lately w/ house building, etc. and blogger just takes forever to upload pictures, so I have been bad about updating the blog. It is about time that I do so, however. Who knows if anyone is still checking for updates any longer though...
First things first, Gretta is doing well. She is a very proficient walker at this point, where we no longer have to really worry about her falling over. She does like to climb on furniture, playset, etc. and she doesn't seem to understand that she is not able to walk over the edge of a tall object, so we'll have to work on that one a little. We go to the nearby playground every morning that we don't have another activity planned so that she can run off a little energy. We usually meet other moms and kids there, which is nice for both of us. We have been attending a Wee Worship class every tuesday morning for the past month which we both enjoy. It is held at a girl's home in Beaverdale. The host is a former elementary school music teacher who is currently staying home w/ her kids, so it is great instruction w/ a Christian focus, and it's free! Can't beat that.
Our little G is already extremely feminine. It is so funny how early gender tendencies seem to develop. She is very loving to her dolls and animals, always picking them up and patting them gently on the back. She especially loves Kate (her monkey that she always sleeps with). She loves watching mommy do her hair, and then always asks me to put hers in a ponytail as well. Of course this is a tad difficult since she is still kind of lacking in the hair department. She also loves it when Aunt Ali puts lip gloss on her, she puckers her lips and everything. She is always stealing Ali's jewelry too and wants "pretties" on all the time. She thinks she looks beautiful in my glasses too. Here is some photographic evidence:

Getting lip gloss applied:

Last weekend we enjoyed a full weekend of anniversary celebrations. My parents celebrated their 30th, Adam's parents their 35th, and Dana and Dylan their 1st, all w/in the same week! We celebrated by having both sets of families down for two different dinners and nights at an I cubs game.
Here is my family at Racoon River Brewing Co.:

And here is the Secory's at Centro:

Finally, here are just a couple more pictures over the past month.
Gretta posing:

Playing w/ Grandpa:

Spending time w/ Uncle Rip and Aunt Dana:

Oh, and for anyone interested, house building is still going well. I hope to take some pictures today and will post soon so you can see how things are coming along. We still have tons more decisions to make - kitchen, floors, etc. So it wouldn't seem we have done that much, but there are so many other "behind the scene" decisions that have been made, so I assure you that we are making progress. As one might expect, my type A tendancies are in full force, which means I am doing a lot of leg work myself. I have researched appliances like crazy and Adam and I are going to go to all the area stone fabricators this Thursday while my mom graciously watches Gretta so that we can be assured we are getting the best counters for the right price. Hopefully all the hard work will pay off in the form of a house we love that is still (relatively) w/in our budget.

Boating and House Building

2009-06-30T12:14:00.010-05:00

I figure I better update before we head home for a long 4th of July weekend and take more pictures.
We were back in CL just over a week ago and enjoyed some great weather. Gretta even got to go for her first boat ride, she loved it! It is a very rare occasion when G is laid back and calm - which she was throughout the whole ride. We are always a little concerned that something is wrong when she isn't yelling and running around! She loved laying on nana and sipping water as we looked at the beautiful homes on the lake.

Last week Gretta had her first dentist visit. She did relatively well. She didn't love it, but also didn't totally freak out, which was good. She is just getting some practice in before Uncle Rip becomes her dentist and she has to be a good girl for him. She has 8 teeth totally in and is working on her first molars right now. They said she has great baby teeth - very straight and the perfect amt of spacing. I guess there is some good that comes out of never taking a pacifier or a bottle, no shifting of teeth! :) I am really hoping she inherits her daddy's teeth as he got to avoid braces!

In housing news, the framing is well on its way. So far they have framed the basement and main level, and should be working on the 2nd level this week. It is exciting to see some progress and start envisioning where things will be going. Here are a couple of pictures from the front and back:

While we were out looking at the home we had the chance to meet a few more of our neighbors. Actually, I was meeting them for the first time, adam already had the chance to do so. He knows a few of our future neighbors b/c he is their pediatrician and the others he has met from his frequent visits out there. I think we are going to LOVE our neighborhood. There are lots of young, fun families who are very outgoing and friendly. There are already 2 other girls that we know of w/in 6 months of G's age, and several other slightly older kids. We are really looking forward to moving in! Here is a picture of Gretta getting to know the next door neighbor's dog:

Lots of new pictures

2009-06-21T20:49:00.013-05:00

I haven't updated for a while, so there are many new pictures and events to report, I am just hoping that I can remember them all!
First, Gretta and I continue to enjoy getting together w/ several different babies and their mommies. Recently we have enjoyed some pool time, park time, etc. Here is Gretta w/ her friend Malachi, loving the ball pit.

As an added bonus, Malachi has 2 doggies, which Gretta absolutely loves. She also loves to tell you what a doggy says.

Another fun recent activity comes courtesy of one of Adam's partners, Brian Waggoner and his wife, Julie, who gave us their Burley bike trailer. It was such a generous gift and Gretta loves going for rides. The first night out she won the battle of the helmet, and was so relaxed she quickly fell asleep. From then on she has worn her new bike helmet, which is absolutely adorable on her (picture to come). The ride didn't go quite as smoothly as she hates having anything on her head, but we made it and she'll get used to it. I bet we'll put plenty of miles on the trailer this summer.

A couple of weekends ago the 3 of us went to the DM Home Show Expo, which was held in Johnston this year. It was a little smaller than in years past due to the economy discouraging large home building, but it was still fun to see. We were actually able to get a few ideas for our own home too, which is nice. Building has officially begun on the home, it is fun to actually see some progress. We are still months away from our move in date, but we are excited nonetheless. No pictures yet b/c I am sure they would be exciting only to us b/c you really can't see
much. Here is a picture of Gretta sporting a (clean) foot bootie:

That same weekend Adam's parents came down for a visit and we had a great time. The highlight of the visit was dinner downtown followed by the Iowa Cubs game. Unfortunately, Gretta and I had to hit the road early due to an early bedtime. The rest of them enjoyed great weather for the game followed by some fun fireworks.
Gretta looking at Grandpa Jon to see if was ok to try the spinach dip:

She really liked the pita chips and dip, which was funny b/c it was spicy spinach dip that others thought was "too hot."

The gang at the game:

We'll have more pictures soon, I am tired of uploading tonight! :) Oh, I almost forgot, Gretta is now officially a walker. I wasn't sure when to give her credit in her baby books b/c she has been "kind of" walking for a couple of weeks now. She walks pretty well now, and prefers it to crawling, so she'll get it checked off in her calendar now.

1 Year Physical

2009-06-06T15:49:00.004-05:00

Things went pretty well yesterday at G's 1 year check up, considering that is generally a tough physical according to Adam. She didn't mind the exam, even the ear exam (it helped that Brian went really quickly). She was not a fan, however, of the finger poke and squeeze. Adam thinks she might have my poor circulation to her digits, thus requiring several minutes to acquire enough blood in a vial. She didn't love the shots, either, but got over them fairly quickly and was her usual self the rest of the day (full of energy!)

Gretta continues to lose percentiles on the growth chart, but not weight itself, thankfully. She is now 19 lbs 3 oz, which is 20%. She just doesn't eat all that much and she is CONSTANTLY moving. She looks and acts healthy, though, so no biggie. She is almost 29'', which is 37%. She is getting close to outgrowing the infant carrier, which is kind of a bummer b/c I like to be able to carry her into the house w/o moving her after she falls asleep in the car. I think she'll like her new convertible car seat, though, so that will be nice. She will still have to be rear facing in it for a while, however. The new recommendations are to keep kids rear facing basically as long as possible, so we won't be moving her around when she hits 20 lbs (which at the rate she is going won't be for a few months anyway!) We will try to make it until she is 2, unless her yelling destroys our will. ;)

Gretta still isn't walking completely on her own, but she is very close and it is just a matter of confidence at this point. It doesn't bother me one bit that she isn't walking, however, so I don't push it at all. I do which she talked more, as I probably have mentioned. She is right on target for her age, however, based on the questionnaire I filled out. She is very communicative, just not w/ words. Many will be relieved to hear that she does respond w/ a touchdown sign as soon as you say "touchdown hawks!"

And because no post is complete w/o a picture, here is G and I at the Ankeny pool. It isn't a great picture, but you get the idea. I tried to get one of G and her friend McKenna to spare myself the embarrassment, but when I tried to take that one I got in trouble for having a camera by the pool (which I didn't know was against the rules). She had a lot of fun despite the fact that it was a little chilly for the pool that day (at least in my opinion, but I am a wuss about temperature).

Birthday Girl!

2009-06-04T16:13:00.016-05:00

I wish that blogger didn't take so long to upload pictures, b/c we have lots of good ones from Gretta's 1st birthday celebration. I will try to find a few of the better ones to share. We all had a great time and Gretta was a wonderful birthday girl. To be honest, I wasn't expecting a lot out of her b/c she has always acted a little ornery at home where she is out of her element, doesn't sleep all that well, and is surrounded by all sorts of people who cannot get enough of her. She completely blew me away by absolutely thriving at the party. She slept really well the night before (in the pack n play, which is an anomaly) and was ready to go for her big day. The large group of people and commotion didn't seem to bother her one bit. She has always been very "social," but prefers to entertain others from the safety of her mommy or daddy's arms. However, at her party she was fine w/ anyone holding her, which was great. One of the best moments was when she decided to direct us all in our rendition of "happy birthday." She loved being the center of attention! She also LOVED the cake so we were able to get some really cute pictures of her devouring it!
Thanks to all of our family for making the day so special, and in particular to my parents for hosting us all (and allowing us to make a huge mess of your house!)

Memorial Day Events and other Happenings

2009-05-27T20:52:00.011-05:00

We kicked off Memorial Day weekend by making a trip to the DM farmer's market. We have been trying to go for the past couple of weeks, but it has always been cold and rainy. We totally lucked out on Saturday, though, with great weather! We had a lot of fun looking around at the vendors and other people in the crowd. There are TONS of dogs there, so we knew Gretta would have a blast. She managed to stay awake on the way home and took a nice long nap at home, which was great b/c we had a birthday party to get to in the afternoon.

Then on Saturday afternoon we went to G's friend, Hudson's birthday. Luckily the rain held off and we enjoyed some more great weather at a park. Gretta got to practice her mad b-ball skills w/ daddy:

Sunday was just a nice day of relaxing and errand running. We had lots of things I wanted to do out west, and since it is such a long drive from Ankeny (especially for Gretta, who doesn't particularly like the car), we wanted to make sure to do everything at the same time. We always make sure to drive by our lot to check on any progress, but thus far have been disappointed b/c they have only had the stakes in place. We heard from the builder today, however, that they were digging the hole and we have plans to meet with them tomorrow to discuss windows and the placement of the downstairs bathroom - fun stuff!

On Monday we went to one of my friend's (Karlee) grill out at her new place in Johnston. She and her boyfriend, Brock, have an adorable new puppy named Lola. Lola and Gretta loved each other, perhaps a little too much. We had to keep them somewhat separated for their own good. Here are a couple of pictures of the two of them, neither all that great. They are both incredibly cute creatures!

In other Gretta news, she continues to become more and more like her Daddy. About the only finger foods we can get her to eat are things that Adam loves. I have wanted her to eat only healthy foods - but I can see how parents can get into bad habits, she is pretty small and we want to make sure she eats enough, so she tends to get things she enjoys. Her favorites - pizza, grilled cheese (especially if made by daddy) and mac n cheese. She'll eat healthy pureed foods, thankfully, let's just hope she learns to like chunks of protein and veggies! Here she is enjoying Adam's special mac n' cheese:

Tonight Aunt Ali treated Gretta to some dress up time w/ her jewelry. G LOVES Ali's jewelry and shoes, she is such a girl! G managed to only break one necklace, nice work g.

Finally, one of Gretta's favorite activites (like most babies) is trying to find anything and everything she shouldn't get into. Here she is exploring the contents of a garbage. (at least it is "clean" garbage not the kitchen one)

Another update

2009-05-22T10:02:00.007-05:00

I can never think of snappy titles for the posts, so most of them are just going to be "update." I know, thrilling. This post is going to basically just have random pictures and tidbits of G's life.
First, as I mentioned before, we have been fortunate to meet some new friends up in Ankeny that Gretta and I get together with on a weekly basis. One of the little girls turned 1 about a month ago and we went to her party. Her is the best shot we could get of the kids all together. G's hat remained on for about 2 seconds. When I tried to replace it she freaked out and the moment was over. We are busy making plans for gretta's own party, which will be next weekend back in CL. It won't be anything too extravagent, b/c she doesn't even "get it" now anyway, but it will be a fun time to get together with some family that we don't get to see very often. I am sure there will be lots of pictures from the big day.

Speaking of family, we have had the chance to get together w/ both sets of parents in the past week. Well, actually not my dad - and he wasn't too happy about it! :) My mom "needed" to make a trip to Ames on tuesday (I think seeing G was the main reason for the drive), so Gretta and I met her for lunch and a little shopping. We had an awesome lunch at a new cafe in Ames, complete with fancy chocolate tortes. We gave gretta a tiny taste of the chocolate, which she absolutely loved! I was planning on funfetti cake for her b-day (b/c it is the world's best), but maybe will have a chocolate cake on reserve in case she would prefer that. Either way, we think she'll have a great time smashing into it, she seems to be a sweet tooth already!

Adam's parents were both able to come down yesterday. Adam and Jon played in a golf tournament fundraiser for DMU and the girls went shopping and out to lunch. Gretta enjoyed the extra audience once we all were back together. She is such a little ham! She is getting very close to walking now on her own. She has been a very fast cruiser and able to stand for long periods of time in the middle of the room for a while now, but has been hesitant to take unassisted steps. She is gaining confidence now, though, and even getting a little cocky w/ her skills (i can forsee a few bumps and bruises). She did actually walk a little on her own a couple of days ago, kind of by accident. She was playing hide and seek w/ daddy and when he came around the corner she was so surprised that in her attempt to run away from him she forgot to hold on to anything. Adam said she ran about 4 steps alone before falling.

She is also really working on communicating w/ us. She doesn't talk as much as I would like, but adam assures me she is totally normal. I was a huge talker - I know, big shock - so I kind of expected the same out of her. We can tell she is smart and gets what we are saying, she just doesn't say too much back. We can get "dog" and "bye" out of her (along w/ mama and dada), but that is about it. One cute thing she does now is shrug her shoulders and turn her hands upside down - which means either "i don't know" or "ooops," depending on the situation. When you ask her where daddy is, she shrugs and points to the door, as if to say - "out there somewhere, that is where he always comes from at least." She also loves to throw things on the floor and then shrug like "oops, that was an accident, now pick it up for me to do again." We tried to capture this on camera, but this was our best attempt. Her doggy is featured in this pic as well, she loves him!

Gretta Golfing!

2009-05-07T21:12:00.004-05:00

We had a really nice day today on Adam's day off. It started w/ a peaceful morning where Adam and I could just relax a little during G's morning nap. After she woke up it was raining, so we made the 40 minute trek to Jordan Creek and Costco (we literally live in the boonies up here) to do some shopping and grab some lunch. After a little shopping it was time for Gretta's afternoon nap, so I drove her around while adam finished up his shopping. She didn't really want to nap, unfortunately, but pulled through the rest of the day like a champ, so it wasn't a big deal.
Next we went out to the driving range so Adam could finally break out the clubs. It was such a gorgeous day by this point - absolutely perfect. Gretta loved being outside and watch Daddy hitting some golf balls. Adam didn't seem very rusty, he was pretty good right from the gate. I, however, struggled big time. I am nervous I have totally lost my golfing skills. Hopefully w/ some more practice I can at least be decent again.
Finally, we decided to go to the Valley Junction Farmer's Market. No pictures from that, but it was fun. Gretta seemed to really enjoy it - which isn't a surprise, she loves people, dogs and music, all of which were in plentiful supply.
We had such a wonderful day as a family, we are so grateful for days like this.

More updates/pics

2009-05-05T21:13:00.005-05:00

Nothing too new to report on the house front (unfortunately). The paperwork takes a long time! The home plans appraised well (not a small thing in the housing market these days), so we are just waiting to close on the lot and break ground.
Gretta is getting cuter and more fun (in our humble opinions) every day.
In true Gretta form, basically all of her new "skills," come completely on her own terms. We can work w/ her forever, and as soon as we stop, she does what we were asking all along. Case in point, we have been working on blowing kisses for a long time, but she doesn't play along. Just a couple of days ago, however, when adam was leaving she looked him right in the eyes and said "bye bye" and blew him a kiss. It was so cute! Especially since we hadn't solicited it at all, she just decided he needed a nice farewell that day.
Gretta also LOVES dogs. You can tell whenever she has spotted one on a walk b/c she starts like hyperventilating (anyone who has seen her in the past couple of months in person knows exactly what I am talking about). She is even able to spot the doggie in some of her favorite books. Today we were looking at her Little People Animal Farm book, which has tons of animals on each page. When you ask her to find the doggie, she searches the page and points right to the dog - we were thoroughly impressed. :)
Here are a couple of recent pictures of G:

Ankeny Update

2009-04-17T21:54:00.008-05:00

We are all settling into our temporary home up in Ankeny. Things are going okay so far, the only downsides are that our place is small and we have some obnoxious upstairs neighbors who makes insane amount of noise at all hours of the day. Gretta and I have already made some new friends, though, which is really nice. We started going to library time a few weeks ago and met three moms and their babies there - all of the babies are between 8 months and 12 months, so we all have a lot in common. Today we got together for our first play date at McKenna's (Lynn's) house - it was a great time! Here are some pictures of the kids playing. Gretta and Hudson are both 10 months, Hannah is 12 months and McKenna is 8 months.

Gretta loved "playing" (chasing) the dog around the house. I think she would love a pet, but that isn't happening any time soon. Oh well, she can enjoy animals at the zoo and other people's homes!

Snack time!

We are also looking forward to several play dates with Laura Patterson and her kids, who we knew prior to moving to Ankeny. Her kids are older than G (4 years and 20 months), but I am sure Laura and I will have fun together nonetheless. We will both get pool passes and probably spend lots of time there this summer.

Here are also some pictures from Easter. Even though Gretta was coming down w/ a cold and ear infection, she was a trooper that day. I think she enjoyed seeing her Uncle Rip, who she hadn't seen for several months.

On the housing front, we have officially signed papers and handed over a significant chunk of change to our builders, so we are definitely moving forward. We finally found a lot we really like. We meet w/ the lot owner and builder this Sunday to see about negotiating a deal. We hope to get the price down a little bit, but we honestly love the lot and the neighborhood so much that we will probably go forward with it anyway. Hopefully things will continue moving forward, we really look forward to have a single family home again!

More Changes

2009-04-01T15:54:00.004-05:00

Well, we are officially moved into our rental property up in Ankeny. So far, it has been a difficult adjustment. We sold our townhome b/c it was just too small for us, and now we have a place 200 square feet smaller and have added another person to the mix. We are definitely glad we live w/ Aunt Ali, but I think we all could use some more space. Add to that the fact that the neighbors above us are 21 year old partiers, and life has been better. We have a new drive to get on the ball w/ building. Of course, things have become far more complicated in that realm recently as well. We were planning on going through Bank of America's Physician loan program that required nothing down and didn't have any PMI b/c the loss on our home depleted much of our savings. On the day we closed we found out that the program was no more. :( The past several days have consisted of me calling tons of different financial institutions to try to figure out a creative financing scenario that wouldn't require too much down and would avoid PMI. I think we have found something that will work. It isn't as ideal as the Dr's loan, but it will get us out of here! :)
Now we are busy trying to find a lot, which has proven to be very challenging. Lots in the area of town we are looking come at a premium. And there are many more steps that we didn't know about that really slow things down. We just hope to get moving soon, we need a light at the end of the tunnel! We are definitely looking forward to good weather than hopefully lies ahead, i think we all need some more fresh air.
Gretta is doing pretty well. She is energetic and healthy, but also very unsure of the move. She does ok during the day, but seems to still get quite nervous about her surroundings at night. Add to that the fact that she has 4 teeth that are all coming in at the same time, and sleep is at a premium around here. I think she'll have a total of 8 teeth w/in a week, which is pretty early. I think she wants to impress uncle Rip! :)
Last weekend Adam's family was here helping Ali move her things in. Gretta really enjoyed the audience and was really hamming it up for everyone. I should have tried to record her b/c it was so funny in person, but all I did was take some pictures. I will include a few for fun anyway. She was proud of herself for emptying her snacks all over the floor.

9 Months!

2009-03-07T07:48:00.004-06:00

Many things have changed since I last posted, most having to do w/ Gretta. It seems she has really been hard at work over the past few weeks learning new "tricks." She can now crawl forward (she was only able to scoot backwards before). She isn't really fast yet, unless she is trying to get to something she shouldn't have, but she is working on it. She also pulls herself up very well. She can move along a piece of furniture, but needs to have one hand touching part of the furniture at all times, or she falls. She is also babbling a lot more lately too, which is fun. Right now she is standing in her crib staring at me saying "ma ma ma," but I don't think it is directed to me yet. The pulling up thing is fun, but it makes putting her to bed more difficult, b/c when she doesn't think she wants to sleep - she just stands at the end of her crib and yells. I thought w/ her blanket wrap she might not be able to overcome having her legs wrapped together, but apparently where there is a will there is a way.

EDIT - I forgot to add a couple other things that G currently enjoys doing. She loves clapping, particularly if she has just done something naughty, like pulling my hair. She likes to immitate noises that Adam and I make, and she continues to get louder and louder until she "wins." She does "so big," when she feels like it. She also waves hello, but does not wave goodbye. Instead she freaks out whenever someone leaves. She used to reserve this special treat for whenever I left, but now she just gets upset whenever anybody, who is a potential audience member, leaves her presence.

We just had G's appointment w/ Dr. Brian yesterday. She is healthy and doing well. She continues to become relatively smaller, however. Which I suppose is ok b/c she isn't losing weight, just dropping percentiles. Adam said it is fine. I think she is just too active and burns off her food very quickly! She is now 27% for weight, and 30- something% for height. She still wears 6-9 month clothes, I hope she grows into her 12 month stuff soon, she has some cute clothes to wear from her grandmas!

In housing news, Adam and I have decided we are going to build. We have looked for months now in the area of town we would like to live, and there just isn't anything that we love in our price range. We are going to take the plunge and build our first home this summer. Actually, we'll probably break ground in a few weeks. We already know the builder and the plan we are going to do - it was the one house we loved during our search, but which sold before we could buy it. We are making a few changes to the plan, but sticking close to our budget. This will most likely be the home we live in until Adam retires, so we want to do it right! We are busy looking for lots now. We think we found a great neighborhood that we would love to build in - directly north of where we live now. We actually just found it last night, so we are glad we didn't rush the lot buying process, otherwise we may have been somewhere we didn't like as much.

In the mean time we are looking for a place to rent while our home is being built. Adam's sister, Ali, is actually going to live with us as well for the time being. We don't know if she knows what she is getting in to w/ Gretta... But we are looking forward to having live-in help! ;) It is much harder to find a decent 3 bedroom rental than you would think - most people want you to sign a 1 year lease, which we can't do. Hopefully we'll find something soon!
I better get going, G is getting restless.

Here is one quick picture of Gretta w/ her friend Malachi from a couple of weeks ago. Malachi is my friend Bethany's son, they are only 5 days apart in age!

Dining out and Swimming!

2009-02-13T19:12:00.010-06:00

Lately Gretta has gotten a little better in terms of her ability to be taken to public places. It helps that she can now eat small finger foods and, therefore, is more distractable. We have actually had a couple of successful nights out at restaurants, which is really big for Gretta. We are making use of her highchair/shopping cover often now. As a germaphobe, I cannot imagine life w/o it! Gretta is surprisingly a pretty adventurous eater - there is very little that she doesn't like, including coffee! (She likes to lick adam's fingers when he has coffee on them - weird.) Now if only her willingness to try new things carried over to formula! Here she is enjoying a banana pepper at the OG. We were getting ready for a sour face - but she liked it. [Edit - wait, that isn't a banana pepper, that is a lemon. oops. well, she liked both and didn't make a fun face for either]

Yesterday Adam's mom came to DM for a little Gretta time and also to celebrate my birthday. We went out to eat at Palmers and showed her some of the lots we are considering. We also were able to take her through the home that is similar to what we would build. Here is Gretta and Nana Sue together.

Yesterday was also a big day b/c it was G's first pool experience. We went to the Y here in Waukee and had a good time! The water was pretty warm, I didn't even mind it too much. I think Gretta will enjoy swimming lessons in the future!

Finally, here is just a recent cute picture of her.

Finally an update!

2009-02-03T16:59:00.006-06:00

Sorry it has been so long since I've updated the blog! It is really hard to find any quality computer time around here since the computer is in gretta's room and the only good time I would have is when she is sleeping, but that doesn't work out...

Anyway, the big news around here is 2-fold: First of all, Adam passed his pediatrics boards w/ flying colors!! We are so very very thankful for this. He really worked his butt off studying for months, and it was hard on all of us. Now he doesn't have to worry about taking them again for like 7 years or so. Here is a picture of gretta and adam celebrating the good news, right before we went out to eat at Granite City. Gretta was a very good girl during the meal, i think she was very happy for daddy.

Secondly, we sold our townhome! We were really surprised that it happened so quickly in this market (4 weeks on the market), but we had it priced right and were lucky enough to get an offer. We will of course be losing a significant amt on the sale, and were hoping to recoup the loss (and then some) in our next purchase. However, Adam and I fell in love w/ a house that sold right before we could make an offer and now we can't get that house out of our minds. We spoke w/ the builders (a really nice couple) and they are going to get back to us w/ a quote as to how much it would cost to build the same house on a lot of our choosing. If the price is in our ballpark we'd be hardpressed to say no. Of course this will mean moving into temporary housing while the house is built, which we really don't want to do - but the ST sacrifice is probably worth it in the LR. I just hope we can find an affordable and very clean place for a couple of months.

Also since my last post we celebrated adam's 32nd birthday w/ family. Of course we forgot to take pictures while either family was here- but i can assure you we had a good time!

Here are just a couple of recent pictures of little G:

Pictures from CL

2009-01-10T11:08:00.007-06:00

We recently got back from a nearly week long visit to Clear Lake. It was our time to celebrate Christmas w/ the Secory side of the family. We had lots of fun and were once again spoiled by everyone! Someone in particular was especially spoiled... We had a great time watching the Hawks crush S. Carolina in their bowl game. Despite the fact that it was a week late, we enjoyed our belated Christmas.

Gretta had a little trouble adjusting to sleeping in the new environment this time around. We had a couple of rough nights of sleep, but of course she was doing well right about the time we were heading for home. Once we got back to DM she came down w/ her first major illness - some sort of nasty upper respiratory illness. G was miserable for several days, and still is pretty stuffy now. The problem w/ going out and about in CL is that everyone knows us and wants to touch G, and some people don't seem to understand that by touching her hands, you might as well put your hands right in her mouth, b/c that is where they are going. We are thankful that her first illness was at 7 months old, but I am going to go back to being super anal about pureling, even if people think I am weird - b/c this week was really tough for us all.
"Christmas" Morning:

Hanging out w/ Uncle Dylan and Aunt Dana before their honeymoon in the Riviera Maya, which we hear is going spectacularly.

Couple random and Christmas Pics

2008-12-23T14:55:00.005-06:00

We have been trying a few more foods lately. Gretta now likes sweet potatoes, applesauce, pears, and just about anything she can eat through her little mesh strainer. I think she'll appreciate it when she can have table food, she seems to like to chew her food. Here she is enjoying some clementines.

Gretta loves to pull herself up now, and she likes to pretend she can walk if anyone is willing to help her to do so. Daddy is usually the one willing to hold her hands all around the living room.

My parents and Dana and Dylan were down here last weekend to celebrate Christmas early. Unfortunately, Adam has to work this Christmas, and the Ds were planning on being in Davenport anyway, so we just decided to get together a little early! We had a great time together - enjoyed a homecooked meal where everyone contributed, and had lots of fun opening thoughtful gifts. G really enjoyed all of the tissue paper, wrapping paper and bows! My parents took many more pictures - I'll add some when I get more from them. We look forward to going home to celebrate w/ Adam's family in about a week!

Merry Christmas to everyone!!

6 Month Milestones

2008-12-02T14:30:00.006-06:00

Gretta turned 1/2 year old on Nov. 30th, and is changing every day now it seems. She has become so much more fun over the past few weeks. She is now babbling, which is really cute. She sits like a pro and likes it when I hold my pointer fingers out so she can grab on and pull herself up. She especially likes it when Adam is right there to clap for her. She starts looking for him and smiling midway through the pull-up. We can see why first borns are the way they are - she has developed a need for parental approval already. She also rolls very easily both ways, so we have stopped putting her to sleep on her back, b/c she just doesn't stay that way. I think she'll be an equal opportunity sleeper though, b/c she likes to nap on her back, and sleep at night on her tummy. She has started sleeping a little better again too. Still not as good as she was doing from months 2-4, but better than she has been doing. We are still working on trying to incorporate more solids. She enjoys rice cereal, is okay w/ squash, and really doesn't like carrots very much. I have been making baby food on my own so far, but will probably get some stage 1's soon, there are some things I just don't have the ability to make b/c I don't have the tools to get things quite smooth enough. I will definitely buy stage 3's, b/c there is no way I am pureeing meat, yuck!

We had her 6 month physical and shots today, so she is being babied the rest of the day (she is asleep on my lap right now, usually she sleeps in her crib). She weighs 15 lbs, 13 oz (46%) and is 25.5'' long (40%). Everything is looking good. She actually does really well at the doctor's office (adam doesn't do her exams, it is too hard to be impartial w/ your own kids). Adam is particularly proud that she doesn't squirm w/ the ear exam. Apparently some kids hate it and are real pains to examine. We'll see if she is always so tolerant.

Here are a couple of pictures from our great Thanksgiving long weekend in CL:

Funny Pictures

2008-11-21T07:31:00.007-06:00

Nothing too new to report. Adam and I are both sick, he has some viral thing and I have strep throat, so we haven't been up to too much lately. So far G seems to have avoided them both, thank goodness. It will be so sad when she gets sick for the first time! (and I have a feeling our lives won't be too much fun either!)
We are going to be able to head home for Thanksgiving this year - from Wed-Sun, which is nice. We have to miss Christmas at home, though, sadly. But we are looking forward to time w/ family in the near future.

Here are a couple pictures I came across that I just thought were kind of cute. As you can tell, it is from a little while ago. The outfit was worn on a much warmer day than we are currently experiencing. Also, Gretta had not mastered sitting at this point, but I was trying my hardest to capture her sitting by herself. Good thing she was having such a good time, b/c I admit she did fall over a couple times in my attempt to get a good picture (which I eventually just gave up on).

The next series of pictures kind of captures Gretta's LOVE of pop cans. She just goes crazy when she sees them. We allow her to put her mouth on the cold can, but not to get close to the sharp edge. She has gotten a drop of it before, and thinks it is great.
Pop can is sighted:

It is w/in her grasp:

Appears to take large drink (not really):

Ahhh, that was delicious:

Now if only there was a way to feed her breastmilk or formula out of a pop can...

Gretta's First Road Trip

2008-11-10T15:14:00.005-06:00

This weekend the 3 of us went to Baraboo, WI for one of Adam's college roommate's wedding - Jamie Kling. It was about 6 hours one way, so we weren't sure how G would handle it, since the furthest she had traveled up until that point was 2 hours home (which is short enough to encompass one good nap when timed correctly). She actually did awesome! On the way there she slept for 3 hours right away, took a break in Dubuque w/ us for lunch, slept another hour, and then was away for most of the rest of the way. She got a little fussy during the last stretch - but hey, my butt hurt too and I wasn't in a 5 point harness! The way back went even better. She slept for the first 2.5 hours, then we took a little break. She cried a little before falling asleep for another hour. This brought us to Williamsburg to the outlet. We all got out for an extended break to do some shopping. This helped a lot b/c she really needed some fresh air at that point. Once we were done she slept the entire rest of the way home - yea!!
Gretta really did pretty well at the wedding itself too. She was a little cranky and loud, but that is just Gretta! We got a chance to introduce G to all of the old roomies, everyone made it except the Schwemms, but they live on the East Coast and just had a baby of their own, so they had a darn good excuse! Gretta got to meet Bella, the 2nd daughter of Chad and Jess. Gretta and Bella are only 12 days apart in age! Here is a picture of the 2 girls w/ the daddies, and a picture of the 3 of us at the wedding.

Busy Weekend

2008-11-05T10:09:00.013-06:00

Last weekend we celebrated both Dana and Dylan's birthdays, and Gretta's Baptism. On Saturday night we went to PF Changs for the b-day celebration. At first we were hopeful that G would be better behaved than during Ali's birthday party at Changs, b/c she was sound asleep when we arrived:

No such luck, however. She once again exercised her impeccable timing by waking up and crying as soon as the food arrived. Adam and I ate in shifts so that the other one could walk her around and entertain her. Here is a picture of Dane and Dylan enjoying the meal:

Afterwards, we all went back to our house to enjoy oreo cake and watch football. Thankfully G was plenty tired at that point and went right to bed.

The next day was baptism day! Hope baptizes people after the 11:00 service, which is nice b/c then your child isn't a distraction during service. Actually, Gretta did pretty well w/ the whole thing. She didn't mind the water one bit, and was quite intrigued by the fire - she wanted to hold it herself! She was pretty worn out after the service and fell asleep on the ride home. To our surprise, she stayed asleep during her entire party. This was good to some extent b/c it allowed Adam and I to eat and enjoy our company, but we did feel bad that they didn't get to spend more time with her. We did manage to snap some pictures of everyone w/ the guest of honor. Here are some pictures from the big day:

And finally, at the end of the day Gretta got to enjoy a little quality time w/ her Grandpa Gary before he had to undergo hip replacement surgery. Thankfully, his surgery went well and he is now in the recovery phase at the hospital.

Halloween Fun

2008-10-31T20:27:00.004-05:00

Just a quick post tonight b/c it's time to get Gretta to bed. We had to share our halloween pictures. Aunt Ali came over for "trick or treating" (which actually just entailed driving over to Matt and Jenn Willis' house. Unfortunately Matt wasn't home, but we got to hang out w/ Jenn for a little while, which was nice. The weather was almost TOO gorgeous down here, and G got a little warm in her costume. She only ended up wearing it for about 30 minutes. So, if anyone needs an adorable monkey costume size 3-6 months in the future, let us know!
This weekend family will all be in town for Gretta's baptism and the Loos family will also be celebrating Dana and Dylan's birthdays, so there will definitely be pictures to follow.

Debutante Ball and Race for the Cure

2008-10-25T14:15:00.005-05:00

We've had a busy weekend so far. Last night was Aunt Ali's long awaited Debutante Ball! It was actually a cocktail party w/ her coworkers, but it involved a fancy dress, and a grand entrance! Other people wore fun clothes too, mostly old prom outfits. It is funny how one joke can spiral so far out of control. I think everyone had a lot of fun w/ it, it was a good excuse for her coworkers to get together, they did a great job making wonderful food, etc. Adam, G and I were able to stay a couple of hours before it was time to go home for bath and bed. Until Gretta tolerates babysitters, it looks like 9 pm is as late as it gets for us!

This morning Gretta and I were up bright and early for the Komen Race for the Cure here in DM. I had never done this before, but when my friend Andrea asked if we'd like to do it, it sounded like a great idea! Gretta started off a little fussy, but quickly fell asleep while we enjoyed 5k worth of good conversation. At the end Gretta awoke a very happy girl!

Monday is Adam's big test in Chicago. He'd love continued prayers for mental clarity! We are all anxiously awaiting the completion of the test!

Look Dad, No Hands!

2008-10-21T19:27:00.005-05:00

We were working w/ Gretta to practice sitting tonight so that Adam could really see her talent. They were sitting across from each other and really interacting (Gretta LOVES her daddy). Adam threw his arms in the air and, to our surprise, Gretta mirrored him! This continued for a while until she started to get so excited that she was unsteady, so we placed a couple of pillows around her in case. It was cute both that she was copying Adam, and that she was able to sit, momentarily, unaided by the support of her hands.

After one of our most recent walks together, I snapped a quick picture of Gretta sporting her 'debutante' hat from Aunt Ali, the name suits her precisely. The lower picture is Gretta biting Adam on the nose when he wasn't doing what she wanted him to do. We think it is funny now, but know we have to stop encouraging her, otherwise she will be the mean little girl at preschool that bites! :)

G's Singing and New Skillz

2008-10-20T11:58:00.005-05:00

Gretta has been working on "tripod" sitting for a little over a week now, and just yesterday really got the hang of it. Prior to this, she always used to throw herself backwards b/c she prefers standing to sitting and, thus, does not want to be flexed at the hips. She finally figured out that sitting was kind of fun, and wanted to practice at Mommy and Me music this morning. Here are pictures from her first extended sit period and from music class.

We also decided to try out some rice cereal last night. Gretta has been very intrigued by what we are eating for a few weeks now, so we thought she might like to try some food herself. She thought the spoon was a lot of fun, but I am not sure any of the cereal actually made it to her belly. Oh well, it was fun trying. I think we will probably do a little bit every night b/c it seems to preoccupy her which reduces night time fussiness.

Gretta must have wanted to stay up last night thinking about her new "tricks," because it was another rough night's sleep. With Adam's boards a week from today, we are trying to avoid having her wake him up, so I roomed w/ G last night. She is a noisy sleeper even when she isn't crying for attention, so needless to say, I think we will be trying something new tonight. We'd really appreciate some prayers for goodnight rests during this important week. We'd also really love some prayers specifically for Adam's boards. The past few months have been hard on us all w/ Adam having to study during most of his time away from work. We really hope that all of his hard work pays off! The test is Monday the 27th in Chicago. Thanks!

Secory's Visit

2008-10-19T15:39:00.004-05:00

Grandpa and Grandma Secory and Rip came to town this past weekend to celebrate both Aunt Ali's birthday and her gallery showing. An art gallery in Valley Junction (Pegasus) had a special "meet the artist" event featuring Ali. I think viewers were impressed! (I know little G was, she loved looking at the paintings!)

Then on Saturday night we all went to PF Changs together. I didn't get any pictures of that night, b/c I was busy trying to distract G, but hopefully will get some from them soon. On Sunday the "kids" all went to church together (Jon and Sue left for CL Saturday evening). Here is a couple of pictures of Gretta with her Aunt and Uncle. We all had a great time!

More Recent Pictures

2008-10-11T10:10:00.009-05:00

While the weather is still nice, Gretta and I like to hang out in the front yard in the early evening and wait for Adam to get home. The sun wasn't quite low enough to get great lighting, but I decided to take a couple pictures of her anyway.
Practicing tummy time outside:

Looking for Daddy's car to come around the corner:

Staring at the one tiny tree in our yard. Hey, if you are going to have one pathetic tree, at least it is the prettiest on the block. The others' leaves just are turning brown and dying, but ours is a really nice red right now.

G and I went to visit Adam at Hope to break up his studying. They have a little playground that I am sure she'll enjoy when she is older. We thought she might like to go down the slide on Adam's lap. She only marginally enjoyed it. I'm sure it will be more fun in the future.

Last night I was enjoying a popsicle and Gretta was very intrigued. She pulled it towards her mouth and licked it quickly. At first she was surprised by how cold it was, but then found that it was nice and sweet! Besides her prevacid (which is strawberry flavored), she has obviously never tasted anything sweet before. Although it was sure cute, we aren't going to let her have anything else sweet until we have started solids and she likes to eat her veggies. But I guess you could say G's first official adult food was a sugar free Lifesavers popsicle. (Which are awesome and only 20 calories by the way!)

Visit from my parents

2008-10-07T13:37:00.003-05:00

Last Sunday my parents came down for part of the day. We had a really nice time together, getting as much out of the day as we could before they had to head home for Bible study that night. After breakfast and church we all went to the mall to eat lunch so that i could easily feed Gretta in the nursing room before moving on to other things. Adam's food was once again messed up by Panana. At this point it is really getting funny (at least to me, he might disagree). They literally cannot get his order right no matter how clearly we communicate (this was honestly about the 10th time it was messed up). Apparently a sandwich w/ turkey, cheese and lettuce is very difficult to make! :)
After lunch Adam went to study and my parents, Gretta and I went to some open houses. Adam and I are starting to check out the local real estate market b/c we are getting pretty cramped in our little townhome. We saw some decent possibilities. I don't think the buying will be the hard part, it will be the selling! We are so anxious to have a home that works well to entertain family and friends!
Overall, Gretta was a pretty good girl that day. Here are a couple pictures of G with her Loos Grandparents:

And the type of picture that doesn't often get posted, G letting us know that we were doing something wrong:

New updates

2008-10-03T15:34:00.007-05:00

G is enjoying her jumperoo for longer periods of time now, although she still doesn't really get the jumping aspect of it. She does like to explore the different toys, she will occasionally use her hand to grasp one, but she would prefer if you would simply place it in her mouth, since that is where they all go anyway - might as well cut out the middle man.

Evenings are still kind of a challenge. She refuses to take naps after 4:00 pm, regardless of how tired she is, and she gets progressively louder as the evening goes on. We work on different ways to distract her b/c apparently she gets bored rather easily in our house (not that we can blame her). She decided that riding on Daddy's shoulders was fun, if only our triceps could handle this position for longer periods of time!

We are struggling w/ nighttime sleeping right now. Gretta was a sleeping champ from months 2-4, averaging 9-10 hrs straight! This totally spoiled us and it is really difficult to deal w/ the fact that she is now reverting (particularly w/ Adam's boards coming up soon). Last night was one of her worst yet - up at 2:30 am (as seems to be the pattern), up at 4:00, 5:00 and 6:15 am. I fed her at 2:30, rocked her at 4:00, we ignored her at 5:00 (which surprisingly seemed to work this time), and let her get up at 6:15 am. If anyone has any sage wisdom for dealing w/ this, we'd be all ears (THIS is the type of thing they need to teach pediatricians to deal with in residency). I have a feeling we'll be depending on prayers for patience and that this soon resolves itself.

What? Am I supposed to be sleeping??

4 Month Physical

2008-09-26T18:23:00.003-05:00

Gretta had her 4 month appt today. Things went pretty well. We discussed w/ Dr. Brian the fact that she refuses to take a bottle and seems to have developed quite the attitude lately (rather than crying she has taken to yelling at us whenever we do not immediately do whatever it is that she wants at that moment). The bottle thing is really only going to be a problem if something happens to my supply in the near future, in which case she'll have to learn how to take the evil bottle. :) The attitude may, unfortunately be a facet of her double Type A personality. As for stats - she was 14 lbs exactly (63%) and 24 inches long (50%), so pretty average. It is funny b/c some people who see her say she is "so big," while others think she is really petite. who knows? I think she looks just right. :)

Here is little G praying for a hawk victory tomorrow so that she has a happy daddy.

2008-09-21T17:13:00.003-05:00

Adam and I were both out of town this past week. He went to a board review conference in Ann Arbor, MI, so I went back home to CL so Gretta could have some grandparent time. I have some pictures from the week on my camera, but haven't downloaded them yet. until then, here is one picture of the 3 of us a couple weeks ago, and another one my parents took this past week.
Things are still going pretty well here. Gretta had trouble sleeping at my parent's house, but seemed to do a little better last night. who can blame her? doesn't everyone sleep better in their own bed? She is going to bed earlier now, so isn't sleeping through the night according to my definition of doing so, but she is still sleeping 7 hrs straight apx. Last night was 9 - 4. I am a little tired trying to adjust, but I know it will get better eventually. She is so incredibly alert and aware of her surroundings now that feeding is somewhat difficult at times, and she doesn't like to nap unless she is home in her own (already discovered, ie boring) bedroom. I could tell she really missed adam a lot during the week they were apart - she was such a happy little girl yesterday and loved spending time with her daddy!
Enjoying the beautiful weather we have had recently:

Aunt Dana and Uncle Dylan w/ Baby G:

Recent Pictures

2008-09-06T16:04:00.007-05:00

Things have been going pretty well over the past couple of weeks - nothing too new to report. Gretta continues to grow and is much more alert and interactive these days. She is very strong, can easily support her own weight while standing (we hold on to her hands), but doesn't really have the knack for hand/eye coordination yet (although her hands find her mouth ALL the time). I took her in to the office to be weighed when she was 3 months - 13 lbs exactly. She is 65% for both height and weight - very proportional, unlike her mommy when I was a baby :)
We go on about 1 outing a day, to the store, to visit a friend, etc. Next monday we are going to go to a mommy and me sing along at Hope which I am looking forward too. I would like to meet some other stay at home moms for potential play dates in the future. Right now Gretta is too young to play with other babies, but I assume she'll like to do so in the near future.

Here is little G playing w/ a new toy - when she kicks it it lights up and plays music. She is mildly amused by it right now, and only if someone is standing right there watching her play with it.

This was just a good smile shot:

And here I just was proud of the picture I took so had to share :) It was an accident of course that the lighting turned out decently. We bought a nice camera when Gretta was born so I need to take the time to learn how to consistently get good pictures from it.

Couple Wedding Pictures

2008-09-06T15:54:00.003-05:00

We received the pre-ceremony pictures of Dana's wedding and so I thought I post a couple cute ones of little g. I am sure there will be more pictures to come later.
Gretta with Daddy before the ceremony, taking it all in:

Gretta with her beautiful Aunt Dana:

New pics

2008-08-27T12:04:00.005-05:00

I decided I finally need to get around to updating our blog. I was going to hold out until we have wedding pictures from Dana's and Dylan's wedding, but Adam and I didn't have a chance to take any since I was in the wedding and he was tending to little g. Once we get pictures from family, i'll post a few. in the mean time, here are a couple new ones from last time i updated:
Gretta w/ Uncle Servideo celebrating his big win on the golf course:

Our moms came down for the day last friday. Adam and Ali were able to join us for lunch at Palmers and then the girls went on to the mall. It was really nice to see them, and Gretta actually behaved very well!
Gretta w/ Grandma Sue:

Gretta w/ Nana Karen scoping out the merchandise at Williams Sonoma:

Gretta is enjoying her Bumpo seat more than her bouncy chair (which reclines), b/c she likes to sit up and see what is going on, I suppose. It makes a great place to have her sit for a few minutes so I can do something quickly. I also think she would love a jumperoo, so we just ordered one today.
Daddy enjoying a bite to eat as gretta watches:

In all, things are going really well in our household. The three of us went to an event at Hope last night that involved dinner and a presentation about raising a family by the Korver family of athletes. Gretta was amazing! She was awake and attentive the whole time, but didn't cry once. For post 7 pm this was AMAZING! She still has her moments, but we can tell she is maturing. The latest battle is her unwillingness to take a bottle. I hope to work on this so Adam and I can go on dates for more than 2 hours. We were fortunate to have aunt ali watch Gretta last Saturday so we could attend a friend's wedding. Ali reported that Gretta did very very well and loved looking at her paintings (the girl can appreciate fine art when she sees it). She wasn't having the bottle, though, so I had to make a speedy exit from the party when it came time to feed her. oh well, all in good time.

Just a couple of new pictures:

2008-08-06T11:01:00.003-05:00

I just thought this picture was funny b/c it somewhat captures the excitment our families feel about Gretta. This was one moment during the Secory's last visit to DM - you can't tell she's loved, can you? We all just sit around and stare at her, waiting for her to do something funny - she is going to develop a complex I fear.

Gretta (debbie 2) and Aunt Ali (debbie 1) at Uncle Rip's birthday party. Gretta was a very good girl and loved showing off her debutante shirt, complete w/ a crown.

And finally, someone is very excited for Aunt Dana's wedding this weekend and wanted to model her outfit for everyone. We'll be posting pictures from the big day in the near future...

New Pics

2008-07-20T14:40:00.002-05:00

We had a couple more professional pictures taken at 6 weeks - here is a sample of 2 that were posted on Amy's blog. If you want to see more, go to amydoerringseniors.com, click on "clients" and enter "gretta6" as the password.

Milestone Update

2008-07-19T13:54:00.005-05:00

Gretta is changing every day now it seems. Since she was about 6 weeks she has become much more alert and engaged. She loves looking at faces and imitating expressions, especially her daddy's. She makes tons of fun noises, and we swear she uses "hi" in appropriate circumstances! :) Of course all of the videos I have of her demonstrating this skill are on my phone b/c it is the only thing that is close enough to me when she starts to "talk." Hopefully soon I'll catch her on my camera so I can download a video.

Little G seems to be pretty physically advanced at this point - this morning she rolled from her tummy to her back all on her own! Generally babies are only able to lift their head to 45 degrees at this point, and it is really rare to rollover at 7 wks. I caught the roll-over on my camera, but not in video mode - but here is the progression.
Pushing herself up on her forearms:

Midway through, I didn't think she'd have the strength to push past this point:

Finished product - Gretta on her back. She was really happy after this, she must have been proud of herself :)

Couple last pictures:

2008-07-15T15:01:00.004-05:00

The day after her shower, Gretta wanted to wear one of her new outfits. Here she is in one from Jenn Willis. Jenn is married to Matt and they used to be our neighbors until very recently. They still live close, however, and we are sure we'll stay friends with them long into the future b/c they are such great people and so fun to be around. As you can tell, Gretta loves her new clothes!

Finally, we have made a big transition - Gretta is now sleeping in her crib in her own room (as opposed to the bouncy seat in our room). We didn't want to wait until too late, which she would perhaps reject sleeping in her crib all together. Also, we wanted to make good use out of the beautiful nursery my parents help create, since we hope to only be in our home for 1 more year.

One last Shower...

2008-07-15T14:51:00.006-05:00

Gretta was spoiled once again with a shower - this one thrown by my friends Andrea and Ashley. They did a wonderful job - the food and decorations were great! Gretta received some really nice gifts of course, but more importantly, she got to meet my good friends!
Gretta with Ashley:

Gretta with Andrea:

Gretta with Aunt Ali - sporting her new "debutante" hat, custom created by Ali (she also has a matching debutate shirt with a crown). It is a long story, but basically once Ali learned of debutante balls, she felt robbed of her coming out party and wants to make sure the same fate does not await Gretta. Gretta's personality fits the label of "debutante" perfectly, as she has very specific demands that must be met immediately.

4th of July Pictures

2008-07-15T14:38:00.007-05:00

Adam and I were fortunate enough to spend almost a week in Clear Lake over the fourth. Most of my mom's family was also in town, so they all had a chance to meet Gretta. Kaylee seemed to have the "magic touch" with her, Gretta always fell asleep in her arms:

My dad volunteered for morning duties with Gretta, since he is wide awake by 5:00 am anyway. This was great b/c it allowed Adam and I a little time to sleep in. You will note Gretta is wearing an ISU onesie, which Adam allowed only b/c it was my mom's birthday. :)

Aunt Dana had some more time to spend with Gretta over the 4th, which I am sure they both enjoyed since it was their first time hanging out since Gretta was born:

While in CL, Gretta had a chance to meet her namesake - my good friend Gretta Nagle. We can only hope that our Gretta is as kind and beautiful as Gretta Nagle one day :)

Father's Day and Graduation

2008-06-28T10:14:00.004-05:00

It has been a couple of weeks since I have last updated our blog, and a couple of significant events have passed since then.
First, Adam celebrated his first father's day! Gretta got him his own daddy diaper bag, a bottle of his favorite cologne, and a book about why she loves her dad so much - he loved his gifts! Here are the two of them on the big day:

AND... After 26 years of education, including 13 following high school alone...
Adam participated in his final graduation! (Or at least we assume final) We are both SO grateful that God spoke to Adam's heart last year, telling him that he was better suited for general pediatrics rather than peds cardiology. Otherwise, we would be packing up to move across the country right now. Adam is more than ready to be done with his education and to be starting his first real job. He is joining a terrific group starting in July and we couldn't be happier. After he gets through his boards in October (please pray for success), our lives will be so "normal"! I am so excited to be able to see my husband so much more! He will take call every 4th weekend (a huge improvement over a resident's schedule) and will have every Thursday off - yea!
Residency graduation is significantly better than typical graduations. It only involves about 20 people, so you don't have to listen to an endless stream of names, and it was held at DM Golf and Country Club and included a wonderful meal. Both of our parents, Adam's grandma, and Ali were able to join us. Gretta also made an appearance and was a very good girl!
Here are a couple of pictures from the big night:

Adam's fellow pediatric residents

My mom taking care of Gretta during the ceremony - she likes to be held, and preferably walked, at all times.

The 3 of us at the end of the night, when Gretta started to get a little restless.

New Pictures

2008-06-14T20:25:00.003-05:00

Gretta enjoys her swing, which is nice. As long as her tummy has just been satisfied, she will rock in it while I make lunch. On this particular occasion, she looked as though she was trying to "pump" the swing with her head to make it go higher! :)

Often after she has eaten, Gretta will just pass out for a couple minutes wherever she is at the time - here Adam caught her in a cute position, still laying on the Boppy.

Update and Pictures

2008-06-12T15:07:00.005-05:00

My grandparents came to visit Gretta while my mom was staying with us. Here is our first 4 generation picture:

We took Gretta to church for the first time last week, when she was 9 days old. Her name was in the bulletin and she received a rose to celebrate - Gretta and her "birth rose":

Adam starting Gretta off young as a hawkeye by reading her a book from her uncle Rip. I am sure she was enthralled. I have no doubt there will be plenty of Daddy/Daughter bonding time over hawk games this fall.

Gretta ready to go to a "Mommy and Me" breastfeeding class. She is doing well - has regained her birth weight as she was supposed to, and ate nearly 2 oz during the sessions, also as she is supposed to do.

Baby Gretta has Arrived!

2008-06-05T20:12:00.006-05:00

We had our baby last Friday - a little girl! We would have been so excited either way, but I think Adam was particularly pleased to have a little girl. Gretta Joleigh is healthy and is a good baby, which is all that we could ask for. She does have her days and nights mixed up though, which has put a lot of stress on us, particularly me since I am up for hr long feedings every 2-3 hrs all day long. Since I am not much of a napper, this has been pretty difficult to adjust to. The sleep deprivation mixed with the hormones and gravity of life changes has been overwhelming at times, but we have had a lot of support from family and friends. Both Ali and Andrea have stopped by to relieve us for a while, my dad is spending a couple of nights with us right now, and my mom will be here next week. Things are definitely getting better, it is just a major adjustment that I was not prepared for. I am sure that everyone is right that this time goes fast and hopefully she will be on a little more normal schedule soon. Despite the stresses, we are both so happy to be Gretta's parents - she is amazing!
Here a couple of pictures, I will try to update our website more often, it is just hard to find time during these first couple of weeks.

Countdown is on...

2008-05-19T22:59:00.004-05:00

Now that finals are over, I finally have time to update the blog a little bit. I think that finals went okay, but most importantly - I am done!! Now we are ready for the baby to arrive at any time. I kind of think it is going to be a little while still, but who knows? There are a few things left to accomplish, of course, but things are mostly coming together. It still hasn't set it that we are going to be parents in just a matter of days, but I don't know if it really does set in until you have your baby in your arms.
Here are a couple of pictures from the past few weeks...

Adam and I comparing bellies at our birth class:

My parents and I celebrating gradutation:

Adam and I before a shower w/ his resident friends:

Weekend Pictures

2008-04-28T12:17:00.004-05:00

Adam's good friend, Bogdan, was in town visiting from North Carolina this weekend. Adam and Bogdan spent a year in Ohio together during their med school training. We had a great time doing a variety of things over the weekend.

Here we all are on Bogdan's first night in town, enjoying food at Dos Rios, a fancy mexican restaurant:

Adam and Bogdan before a golf outing Saturday morning at the Tournament Club of Iowa:

Sunday morning before church:

We also enjoyed a beautiful afternoon at an I-Cubs game on Sunday, but apparently I didn't get any pictures on my camera. oops.

Showers!

2008-04-22T17:37:00.005-05:00

Last weekend Dana and I both had our first showers, generously thrown by our Aunts and Grandma! We had the wedding shower portion of the day at the Rose Cottage Tea Room, it was a delicious brunch. The baby shower portion was held later at my parents house, with lots of delicious desserts! It was such a nice day and we received so many wonderful gifts!
Here is a picture of us at the Rose Cottage:

Sue (adam's mom) and I at the Rose Cottage:

Adam and I at the end of the day, saying goodbye to my little cousins, Nola and Michael (who drove all the way from Alabama with his mom for the showers!)

Wedding and New Belly Pic

2008-04-06T12:53:00.003-05:00

Adam and I went to a wedding for one of his high school friends, Mike Anderson, last weekend. The wedding was at the Cambridge Winery. It was really nice and they had amazing food! It was particularly nice since Adam's family (minus Rip who was busy studying in IA City) was able to come. Here is a picture of the 5 (and 1/2) of us at the wedding:

And here is an updated picture of Mercury, taken this morning at 32 weeks:

Easter and New Belly Pic

2008-03-24T13:46:00.004-05:00

Here is the most recent belly picture, Mercury at 29 weeks:

And here is a picture of Adam and I with his parents from Easter Weekend. Adam's whole family was able to come to DM to go to church and out to eat to celebrate Easter. We had a really good time! Church was extremely busy, we are guessing they will probably have to move it back to Wellsfargo Arena next year, but I guess overcrowding in a church is a good problem to have!

Early Nursery Pictures

2008-03-24T13:31:00.005-05:00

My parents came down to DM a couple of weekends ago to help us create our nursery. My mom worked on painting the walls - a deep shade of brown which doesn't show up very well in the pictures, it looks great! My dad painted both of the major furniture pieces - the dresser/changing table and the armoire. Then Adam and my Dad worked on putting the crib together. We have to add all of the decorative details, but so far we are really pleased by how it turned out. We are so thankful for our parents help, there is no way we could have done it without them! Here are some pictures, I'll add more once the entire thing is completed (which realistically won't happen until Mercury arrives probably).

New Church, Baby Belly

2008-03-10T12:47:00.003-05:00

No, we aren't joining a new church (we love Hope), but Hope did just move into a new building. Here is a picture of Adam and I in front of the baptismal font, which is a beautiful marble structure that runs from floor to ceiling. All of the vases of water in front of the font represent the number of wells Hope members have helped to dig in Africa. Pastor Mike placed a call out to the church during a sermon 3 weeks ago to encourage members to donate to build wells in African villages to provide access to safe drinking water (polluted water is one of the leading causes of death in the villages). The church's goal was 7 wells. Three weeks later we are at 47 wells and counting. It is awesome to be part of such a faithful and growing church.

Here is our attempt to capture the size of the cross that is in the new sanctuary, although the picture does not do it justice. It is 27 ft tall and weighs 4000 lbs. A member of the church carved it from scratch from a douglas fir. Then members of hope helped walk the church from his home to the church. The 11 mile trek was featured in many news stories down here.

Double Digits!

2008-02-24T14:12:00.003-06:00

Only 99 more days until "Mercury" is due! We can't believe how soon we will be becoming parents. With as busy as our lives are, there isn't much time to sit around and think about it, so the pregnancy has been going really quickly!
And with only 99 days until the birth, that means that I have 80-something days until I am done with school! Adam has a few more days until he is officially done, but the month of June is his "office" month, so it is essentially what he will be doing come July anyway, so we are both nearing the end!
We have both been studying a lot lately since I still have a pretty heavy course load and Adam is preparing for his pediatric boards. I have to give him credit, he has really increased his study time in the recent months, but of course he still likes to squeeze in those naps. Here is how I caught him "studying" at the Drake library recently:

Yes, he is under a desk sleeping on what is essentially cement covered with only thin, cheap carpeting, I really don't know how he does it.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T20:39:00.005-06:00

Adam and I are not doing anything too special tonight, we just made a nice dinner together and enjoyed Adam's new favorite cake - Lemon (who knows?) Tomorrow night we have reservations at Sam and Gabe's, a nice italian restaurant in town - a Valentine's, anniversary of our engagement, and my 25th birthday dinner. Hopefully we'll be able to taste our food since we are both struggling with some pretty nasty colds right now. I was so excited b/c I had made it through most of the winter w/o so much as the sniffles, but I got hit hard by the cold bug yesterday and it continues to become more special since then. Adam has had his cold for almost 2 weeks, so I can't complain. But not being able to take anything for mine gives me some room to whine, right?

I thought I'd share a couple new belly pics along with my new hair style. I finally had the mess I called my hair taken care of today - the first time it has been touched by a professional since August! I could pretend that that is because I was being extra careful due to the pregnancy, which has a grain of truth, but mostly I was just too lazy. I am feeling much better now that my hair is several inches shorter and a couple shades lighter.
Before:

After:

And yes, these pictures were only taken 3 days apart - I had just enjoyed our large dinner right before the second picture, which is why I look huge despite being dressed in black!

More Birthday and Belly Pics

2008-02-05T14:27:00.000-06:00

My parents and Dana and Dylan came to DM last weekend to do a joint birthday celebration since they will be in CA over my birthday. I would have been willing to fly to CA to celebrate the big 2-5 if they had asked, but unfortunately I guess Adam and I will be enjoying the Iowa snow and ice over my b-day.
They all came down mid-morning and we enjoyed lunch at Palmers followed by some shopping/relaxing and finally pizza for dinner.
Here is a picture of the 6 of us enjoying some taco pizza at Happy Joes.

Also, here is an updated 23 week belly shot. I am pretty much "noticably pregnant" now, but still kind of look fat. I don't want to have a huge belly, but I wouldn't mind more of a "cute" pregnant belly than what I have now.

Birthday and Belly Pics

2008-01-23T15:39:00.000-06:00

This past weekend we celebrated Adam's 31st birthday with his whole family. It was a great time, but went too fast! We had funfetti cake with rainbow chip frosting *Adam's* (read: my) favorite and ate dinner at PF Changs. On Sunday night we celebrated with our friends the Willis', Jenn made Adam a funfetti cake too, which was great b/c I only got 1.5 pieces of the one that I made, and she sent us home with leftovers that I have thoroughly enjoyed (hey, you gotta live up this pregnancy thing, my stomach is going to look bad anyway). We had pizza with the Willis' and watched the GB/Giants game, where we really wanted GB to win, oh well (sorry Clark!)

It was a really fun weekend, not only because we got to see family and friends, but because Adam didn't have to work at all - which was his first day off since Christmas break!
I thought I'd share a 20 week belly picture too for anyone interested. I look kind of scary in it, and never mind the hair, i am going to do something about that mess soon!

I have started back at classes again. I have a pretty full schedule between doing a mediation clinic, taking 4 classes and working part time at the hospital still, but I think it should be manageable. I just can't wait for this summer!

Finally an Update

2008-01-11T10:59:00.001-06:00

The internet on my laptop has not been working so it has been a ridiculously long time since I have updated our blog.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We were home for 9 days, just relaxing and visiting friends and family, it was wonderful! Adam had to come back to a January floor month, which is notoriously not fun, so it was a difficult transition from the peace and relaxation of home, but we're making it.
Here are a couple of Christmas pictures, we wish we would have taken more, particularly a couple with Adam's family, but we always forget!

I still have one week off before going back to classes. In the mean time I have been working full time at Iowa Health. I was originally going to quit after this break and just focus on classes (which will be more demanding this semester) and getting ready for the baby, but it is hard to say goodbye to a job you enjoy that pays decently well. I think I am going to see if I can still work just a few hours a week throughout the semester.
Things as far as the pregnancy are going well. I am almost 20 weeks already, it has gone by pretty quickly. I am still wearing prepregnancy clothes, but it won't be too much longer until I need some maternity clothing, things are starting to get tight! I have felt just a few minor flutter movements, nothing substantial yet, which I guess is normal for your first pregnancy, particularly considering the position of the placenta (sorry, TMI for some).

I'll try to update the blog soon with a couple of belly shots. I have just started to show a little, so there is actually something worth posting.

Hope everyone else is doing well!

Update

2007-11-18T23:06:00.000-06:00

I thought it was about time that I updated our blog, although nothing particularly exciting has happened since the last time I wrote. Things are still going well as far as the pregnancy. I have never had any morning sickness, just the occasionally indigestion, which isn't really out of the ordinary for me anyway. :) I haven't changed too much physically yet, I just look like I ate a little too much at my last meal. I don't think I'll be in maternity clothes any time real soon, which I think is largely due to the fact that I have the world's longest torso for a 5'7'' person.

Adam had this weekend off, which was really nice since he is working 12-12 shifts in the ER this month, so we rarely get to see each other. We spent some time at the mall Saturday and relaxed watching The Office DVDs that evening (which is always a great time!) After church on Sunday we made our weekly trip to Costco for samples and to look at things I feel are baby necessities, like a new SLR camera. :) Later we went out to eat at Biaggis, it was wonderful to spend so much quality time together, even doing relatively boring things!

We are really looking forward to heading back to CL for Thanksgiving. Adam works over the weekend, but at least we get to spend a couple days at home with family.

Hope everyone has a fabulous Thanksgiving!

More Big News!

2007-11-02T18:56:00.000-05:00

Adam and I are expecting! I am about 9.5 weeks along and due June 2nd. (I graduate May 17th, so let's hope the baby doesn't decide to make an early appearance!)
So far things have been going pretty well. I am super tired all the time, which makes studying really difficult, but I haven't felt sick very often, so I can't complain.
We told our parents the same weekend that Dylan talked to my parents about proposing to Dane, so it was a very exciting weekend for them!
Here is a picture of Adam holding up the booties that I used to tell him I was pregnant (he is clothed from the waist down). We found out the day before our anniversary, so that was a nice surprise!
We won't be finding out the gender, and neither of us have any strong feelings one way or the other right now. We will both be completely happy either way - we just pray for a safe pregnancy and healthy baby!

Big News!

2007-10-29T15:09:00.001-05:00

Dana and Dylan are engaged! We just found out last night and it was the perfect cap to our busy weekend! I think the wedding is going to be sometime late next summer, but I'll let them make that official and fill everyone in on the details.

As for Adam and I, last weekend was another eventful one. It started in Thursday evening when we took Ali out to dinner to celebrate her birthday, here we are at the OG.

Then on Friday we went to Iowa City to hang out with Rip and met up with Andrea later on the evening. We had a really good time catching up with them both.

On saturday we went with one of Adam's friends - Jason Floy or "flash" to the Iowa game. At half we were seriously considering leaving soon b/c it was so ugly, but the hawks managed to pull off a double overtime victory - making for a great time at kinnick! It was a little chilly, but not bad for a late october game.

Last weekend

2007-10-24T15:16:00.000-05:00

Adam and I had the chance to go home to Clear Lake last weekend to see our families (well, my family and his parents), and we had a great time. We went out to eat for pizza with Jon and Sue on Friday night. On Saturday we celebrated Dane's 21st birthday with the immediate family and then went to my friend, Emily Becker's wedding in Mason City at the Music Man square. It was a really pretty wedding and we had a good time. On Sunday my mom's family came over to help Dane celebrate her birthday (and Dylan and my aunt kathy actually - they are all Oct. birthdays).
Now it is just back to school and work...
Here are a couple pictures from the wedding:

Hitting the Links

2007-10-14T20:43:00.000-05:00

Last week we had the awesome opportunity to skip class and a half day of work in order to do some golfing for a good cause. Of course we didn't pay for our entry fee to support the children with cystic fibrosis (just don't have that type of money) but we did volunteer our "services" that day. :) Adam's friend and co-worker Luke, who is seen in the picture, asked Adam if they should invite their significant others along for the day. I was glad he suggested it, because it was a lot of fun. Adam played really well, I played okay. The weather was gorgeous, and you just can't beat a day away from the ordinary!
Here we are with Luke and his fiance Melanie:

Our weekend

2007-10-07T19:32:00.000-05:00

We had a fairly uneventful weekend, consisting of watching an ugly football game and some studying of course. We did get together with some friends on Friday night, and had a lot of fun! We went downtown with a couple that Adam met in medical school - Jason and Ailey Brehmer. They are a great couple and we have a lot of fun together when it actually works for all of our schedules to see each other! Des Moines was having a World Food Festival in the East Village, so we decided to go check it out. Everything was $5 or less, and you could get large samples for $1. Adam ventured out with pizza (hey, it's not american) and also had some beef and rice. I am just impressed he eats what I make every night, apparently he used to be really picky! I wasn't too much more adventuresome - spring roll, pad thai, some chicken dish and pumpkin ice cream - which was great!
Jason then took us on a little tour of the older and nicer parts of Des Moines, around Grand Avenue. We decided we would have to have his dad, who is a realtor, take us all out some time so we can get inside the homes for sale.
Here we are enjoying festival:

Update

2007-09-25T08:35:00.000-05:00

It has been a long time since I have updated our website, so I figured I should do so now, even though not much has changed and we don't have any pictures to share. Actually, we did take pictures at the Iowa/Iowa State tailgate we went to, but I think Adam would appreciate it if we do everything we can not to memorialize that day.

September has been a pretty challenging month for us both. I am fully in the swing of school, and have been busy trying to help Gov. Vilsack conduct research he will use during upcoming presentations in Iowa and Pennsylvania regarding changes to the healthcare system. Adam has been extremely busy as well, not only is he on a floor month (so spends the night at the hospital every 4th day), but he is the only senior resident on the floor. This has never happened before and it makes for a TON of work for him. Needless to say we are both pretty excited for him to change rotations Oct. 1st!

On a positive note, we just celebrated our 2nd anniversary yesterday (Monday)! I can't believe it has already been 2 years. We went out to eat together on Sunday night b/c I had night class on Monday, but we (I) did manage to wait until Monday before exchanging gifts. We both happened to get each other hawkeye and golf-themed gifts, funny how that works out. :) We have very much enjoyed these first 2 years together, and know that the best is only yet to come!

Here, I have to include at least one picture, so here we are almost 2 years ago on our honeymoon!

Labor Day Weekend

2007-09-02T21:49:00.000-05:00

Adam and I got to go home for an extended break this weekend. We went back to CL on Thursday for a couple of appointments - dental crown for Adam, and hair appointment for me. I went in with intentions for "the usual," but came out a brunette! It is taking a little while for me to get used to, b/c I have always had highlighted blonde hair. I had wanted to give the "darker side" a try and september is a good time to try it I suppose, and since Adam assures me he likes it, I think I'll be okay.
On Friday we went up to Minneapolis to get my ring looked at and to do some shopping. My ring looks as good as new and we both got a few new items (headbands for me, namely - I feel I need to "spice" up my newly brown hair) so it was a successful trip.
On Saturday my grandparents came over to spend time with our family (including Dana and Dylan) for the day. We all had fun eating and playing games together (and getting Viking ice cream for the last time this year).

Adam and I also spent time with his family on Saturday, cheering the Hawks to a victory. It wasn't terribly pretty, but hey, we'll take the win! Here are a couple pics of everyone enjoying the game.

Adam's day "at work"

2007-08-27T19:54:00.001-05:00

Adam had the opportunity to golf rather than work today, an event so rare I memorialized it with a photo. He was asked to participate in a charity golf tournament for the American Cancer Society at Wakonda golf club. Being the only peds resident who plays golf has its perks! We both got to go to a dinner associated with the event last night, and adam had a really nice lunch and dinner there today - so it was a bonus for me too b/c I didn't have to cook! Adam had a great time on the golf course and walked away with lots of new golf balls and a really nice cold-weather vest (which he is modeling in the 95 degree heat). He is also displaying his newest prize possession (which we actually purchased), a ping hybrid club, which he said performed very well today. Honestly, I am not sure if anyone could be more excited about golf gear than Adam. And, yes, I put him up to this, he doesn't tend to "model" things w/o being asked. :)

Last First Day of School

2007-08-27T19:43:00.000-05:00

In keeping with tradition, I had to take my picture on what is (most likely) my last first day of school ever. Since Adam had to leave for work at 7, and my first class isn't until 10, I went to the effort to prop the camera to take my own picture - very dorky, but my mom will be proud that I remembered and made this effort :)

The day itself was fine, a little overwhelming like most first days are, but significantly better than my 2L and 1L years (of course one can only improve on a day that ended in bawling and the dry heaves...)

For those who are interested (family namely) this semester I am taking International Trade, Administrative Law, Natural Resources, Negotiations, and Health Law. I am also supposed to help Gov. Vilsack and Branstad with research for a new Health Policy Initiative in the state of Iowa, which I am pretty excited about. This along with working for Iowa Health System part time. It will be busy, but with Adam as busy as he is, it is nice to have things to preoccupy my time.

Slide Show of Our Trip to Maine

2007-08-22T21:06:00.000-05:00

My Slideshow 8/22/07

Our Trip to Maine

2007-08-21T23:10:00.000-05:00

Adam and I were able to go on a vacation to Portland, Maine the week before school starts. Since a resident's vacation isn't exactly plentiful, this was our first "big" trip together since our honeymoon almost 2 years ago. We stayed with Adam's college roommate, Mike, and his wife, Anne. They were fantastic hosts and we have a wonderful time! Below you'll see the highlights of the trip, to see more pictures click on the link to the slide show above.

Our first night in Portland at a great seafood restaurant. The pretty redhead in the middle is one of Anne's friends. The others should be self-explanatory, but it's Adam and I and Anne and Mike.

The view from Mike and Anne's backyard. They have a place right on the Atlantic, it is amazing!

Here we are at a lobster bake we had back at Mike and Anne - so much fun!

Adam at a pier where we purchased the lobsters fresh from local fishermen.

On a ferry ride around Casco Bay, visiting the area's lighthouses.

Mike and Adam at Portland Headlight, the most photographed lighthouse in the US (world?)

Enjoying the beach - the weather was too cool to swim, but it was really nice for walks and enjoying the views.

The four of us on our last night there at a Black Crow's concert. I didn't know who they are either (think Chris Robinson as in Kate Hudson's former husband), but we had a great time!

Rip's Birthday

2007-08-21T22:49:00.000-05:00

At the end of July we had the chance to hang out with all of Adam's family back in CL to celebrate Rip's 23rd birthday. Here he is holding the delicious cake Heather, his girlfriend, made for the party.

The girls (Heather, Ali, Me) enjoying the festivities.

An "engagement shot" according to Ali. Adam likes to mix up our poses for fun.

Um... don't ask. On second thought, this really should be explained. Basically, Clark (Adam's dad) had some really sweet denim shorts he rocked in the 80's. Ali wanted someone to recreate the image. Adam volunteered. Doesn't my husband have sexy legs?! :)

Spending Time with Family in DM

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In July we were able to work out a weekend where both my parents and my sister, Dana, and her boyfriend, Dylan, could all come to Des Moines. Here is a pic of Adam and I at an Iowa Cubs game we all enjoyed.

Here are the "kids" at the Farmer's Market in downtown DM.

Summer Fun

2007-08-21T21:20:00.000-05:00

Since this is the first time I have sat down to actually figure out the blog thing, I am just going to go back in time to share our summer's activities. First, in June we spent a weekend in Clear Lake with our neighbors and good friends, Matt and Jenn.

Here are the boys celebrating their bocce ball victory, but the celebration was short lived...
Because the girls soon reclaimed the victory circle in ladder golf.