10 years

So my sister in law did a blog post about the past ten years, and at the bottom asked what we have done in the past ten years. Reading hers was fun and interesting so I decided to do it myself.

2000: I was a Freshman/sophomore in High School. I worked at the Pizza Ranch. I spent New Year's in Florida because the high school marching band was marching in the Citrus Bowl (maybe the Orange bowl...I can't remember.) We took buses from Pella. It was a big deal, because it was fun, we brought in the new year at Epcot center and parents were freaking out that because it was 2000 that maybe gas pumps would stop working and we wouldn't be able to get home.

2001: I was a sophomore/junior in High School. I saw Utah for the first time when I went to my brother Brandon and his wife Wizzy's wedding. I played high school soccer and still worked at the Pizza Ranch in Pella.

2002: I was a junior/senior in high school. Still worked at Pizza Ranch. I spent the New year in California because my high school band marched in the Rose Bowl parade! It was a lot of fun, I even saw Eddie Murphy at Disney!

2003. I graduated from high school! I headed off to my first year at Calvin College in Grand Rapids Michigan. I had great friends, but didn't like college. So I went home after the first semester.

2004: I went back to college in the fall. After working at the Pizza Ranch and at a cafe I realized that I needed more in life! This time I had a lot of fun, I roomed with my best friend Bianca. I headed East to watch my brother Jeremy get married in Ohio.

2005: I was a sophomore/junior in college. I spent the fall semester in Honduras. I had a blast traveling around Latin America and learning Spanish!

2006: I was a junior/senior in college. I had a lot of fun just living life. I partied, I lived freely, I learned a lot in class. Life was good. I also met the man who would be my future husband in August. I worked with Pizza Ranch as a corporate Store Opener/Trainer. I helped with the Iowa City Pizza Ranch. There I met Mr. Scott Pearl, one of the assistant managers. We flirted, we hung out while I worked there for 2 weeks, then I went back to college. We continued to talk on the phone randomly and soon it developed into a relationship. I would try to visit him as much as possible.

2007: I "graduated" from Calvin. Well I at least walked across the stage and got my diploma holder. No diploma yet though. I'm 3 credits short, because of the semester I took off. I thought I would have to go back another semester, but wasn't going to do it for just 3 credits. I moved to Iowa City to live with Scott and another guy named Dave. I got a job as an assistant manager at Brueggers Bagels. In November we got engaged!

2008: In March a job opportunity opened up for Scott and me to be managers of a new Pizza Ranch in Mt. Pleasant Iowa. We accepted and Scott became the general manager and I was an assistant manager. So we packed up our stuff and moved, a month before the floods destroyed the house/apartment we were living in. On October 18 Scott and I got married!

2009: Jan 1st I found out I was pregnant! The year was busy with preparing for a baby, working at the Pizza Ranch and driving back and forth to Iowa City for Dayzy and Chayse. On September 12, 2009 William David was born and life has been great ever since! In November Scott was demoted at work for who knows what. So we are currently searching for new jobs in the Iowa City area.

We are very excited for what 2010 has in store for us! It's been a crazy last decade for me and as a couple it's been a whirlwind since 2006! We hope to find careers, not jobs soon, a place to call home, and open a new chapter in our life! We hope that 2010 treats you all well also!

Christmas X's a few

Ok I know I already did a Christmas blog, but seriously we have sooooo many! But we love every one of them, and consider ourselves lucky to have so many people to share this time of the year with!

But I would like you to know that they are not easy to plan out.

We Have:
Grandma and Grandpa Heersink's
Grandma Roma Pearl's
Grandma Janey and Grandpa Tom Toycen's
Grandpa Jim and Grandma Janice
Our own personal Pearl Christmas

Plus on top of it, we share custody of the kids with Scott's ex, so we have to plan when we can have Dayzy and Chayse, work around work and everybody else's schedule! WHEW! But we manage to do it every year. Oh yeah and like I mentioned before Christmas Eve is Chayse's birthday so that day is always split between us and his Mom and Step Dad.

It's enough to tire one out....Just like it did to William, during presents time!

So It's a crazy fun few weeks around the holidays. At least this year we missed the crazy weather too. Thankful for us personally it wasn't bad getting to where we needed to go. Unlike my brothers ad their families who headed west and forged the snow!

Our Final Christmas at Grandpa Pearl's

Thanks to Grandma Janice for the new cute outfit...which was needed because William had a blow out in the outfit he wore there!

One last picture of William with Great Grandma Roma Pearl, she came to Grandpa Pearl's Christmas, which I'm sure she enjoyed because she got to hold William a lot! At her house Great Aunt Teri was in all her glory holding William, and even Daddy's cousin Lisa got to hold William for awhile...and during that time he managed to spit up and poop on her!

Birthdays!

Happy Birthday Chayse!

Chayse turned the big 5 on December 24th! I met him when he was just a year and a half old. I can't even believe that he is already 5. Time sure does fly by.

So because the poor guy gets a birthday the day before Christmas I wanted to separate a time out for him to get a little party. He is in love with Monsters Vs. Aliens so he wanted that for a cake. He always likes to look at them at Wal-Mart. Well I'm not paying like 20 bucks for one of their cakes. So I decided I would attempt to make one myself. I think it turned out pretty well! It's B.O.B. Chayse really liked it!

Every party has it's pooper!

And of course the other amazing birthday celebrated is Jesus's! We went to Pella and had a lot of fun because both my brothers and their families were also there. I haven't seen Brandon and Wizzy for awhile and Patrick has grown so much! I see Jeremy and Hilary a little more, but still not often enough and their son Samuel has grown a foot I swear since I last saw him in August!

Ok So the major Christmas news we've had is a little funny and a little maddening.

So usually in the mornings I get up and go to work, Dayzy and Chayse are usually up watching t.v. while I'm getting ready. Scott stays in the bedroom for awhile taking care of William and sometimes he sleeps in a little longer. (the kids wake up at like 7 a.m.) Anyway they decided to open their Christmas presents either before I woke up, or while I was getting ready, or after I left for work. We didn't notice it all day long. I did look over at the tree and thought that it looked like there were less presents but thought nothing of it.

Scott and I didn't buy presents for each other, and only bought for the kids because money is a little tighter this year. So there weren't a ton under there to begin with. Anyway that night was fine the kids played in the living room and we had a normal evening at home. Chayse fell asleep watching a movie on the couch and so I let him sleep there and was going to have Scott move him when he got home from work. So I went to tuck Dayzy into bed and found a toy on the floor. It was a Bakugan toy. I was like, "huh...Dayzy is this from Mommy's? Because I swear we also got Chayse this toy." She just said uhhhh I don't know. I then saw the box/ plastic to it. Then I saw the wrapping paper. I asked if they had opened presents. She admitted it right away.

Come to find out that they had seriously opened almost all of their presents and all of Chayse's birthday presents! They hid them in their room, they also hid the wrapping paper in their room. That means they knew what they did was wrong. I told Dayzy that I'm taking them all away. And I searched their room for the presents and they had to find the rest the next day.

Ok so what do you do when this happens? I put this as my status on facebook. Most people laughed, many told us to re wrap them and give them back.

NOPE! Scott and I decided that they had to learn their lesson. So I took all the toys away that they opened, and even the ones they didn't open. If they had left it in a box it got returned. If it was opened I re gifted to my nephews, or sold some toys to a guy at work. They got nothing from us, no stockings either.

Amazingly they've been really good about it. They realize what they did was wrong, they didn't complain. Santa didn't bring them presents at my parents. (yup they woke up early to look) They asked where the presents from him were. My mom asked if they had been naughty and they said yes. Chayse lost out doubly because he opened birthday presents too! He got 1 movie that I hadn't wrapped that he hadn't opened. They saw my nephews get what they had opened and said oh I really liked that...but then walked away.

I know many years from now we'll laugh about this and probably bring it up every Christmas. But I was so mad! Half the fun is seeing the kids' faces when they open them. I wanted to see their reactions.

But on the plus side, Scott and I work opposite schedules and the time we do have off together has been spent going to family Christmas events. So we didn't know when we were going to do our family Christmas at home. Now we don't have one! :)

Swimming!

Tonight we decided to go swimming as a 2nd year tradition for Chayse's family birthday party. The poor guy has his birthday on Christmas Eve. He's too young to realize he gets double presents at Christmas, and none the rest of the year. He'll get his presents and cake on his real birthday when we go to Pella to spend time with the family. So for his family party though we go to Fun City in Burlington, IA.

They have an indoor/outdoor waterpark. Obviously the outside is closed. So the inside is open with 2 slides for bigger kids and a pretty big play area for younger kids. It's only $3 a person and a lot of fun.

Tonight though it was not being manned, so I had to search for someone to ask what was going on, and to explain that the internet said it was open. So after the worker searched for awhile and found someone else that had no clue what was going on, they decided we could go in for FREE! But there was no life guard so we couldn't go on the big people slides. Which whatever, that's fine with me. So William got to go swimming for the first time!

He loves bath time so I was excited to see how he did in the water.

He did fine, but the water was a little bit colder than I would have liked it to be, so after 10 - 15 mins I took him out. Dayzy and Chayse had a lot of fun too, because they were the only kids there for most of the time. We put life jackets on them and Dayzy even swam around the whole pool! Chayse learned to trust Daddy and had fun "swimming" also.

It was fun and a great way to spend a random Monday night!

Snow Day & Santa

So at Pizza Ranch Santa came to visit!
He was kinda awkward and I really like the Santa's that have real beards, not fake ones, but you gotta take what you can get.

Again Chayse did not want to sit on his lap. But he did stand away from him and tell him what he wanted! :) Dayzy and William did sit on his lap again.

If you've been watching the weather channel you can see that it's a WHITE OUT in the Midwest. We've gotten 6ish inches and lots of wind. On top of that last night it rained so we have ice also. This all translates into a SNOW DAY from the Pizza Ranch and a SNOW DAY from school! We've had the kids longer than usual because the roads are too bad to bring them back to their mom. That's ok! We love having them!

They are getting cabin fever. So I did go into work today, because if we were going to be closed I need to go to Wal Mart anyway and it's really close by the Pizza Ranch. So I went into work for 30 mins and then we got the call we were not going to open for the day. So I headed over to Wal-Mart to buy stuff to make Christmas cookies! We had fun, and the kids did awesome. We still have to teach them about portion control on the frosting...we do want it to be edible.

Smiles

Does it look like his hair is getting redder?!?


Look at that cute double chin!


William sleeping on big sister Dayzy


He is watching t.v. in this picture, he very much likes to be faced outward so he can see what is going on, and when the t.v. is on (which is almost always) he points his attention that way.

It's been a while

Yes to those of you faithful readers...if I have any, I'm still alive, we all are and doing fine.

Since everything has happened at work I've sprung into going back for 5 shifts a week as the person in charge. Therefore I close on Sunday nights and work at least 7ish hours during the day shifts. And I am tiiiiiiiiiiired. William is still breastfed so it's extra pumping for me, and I still get up with him atleast 2 - 3 times at night. So I spend my evenings napping on the couch with William or watching movies with Dayzy and Chayse. My house looks like it's exploded but oh well.

We've heard a little back for opportunities for Scott. They ( a hiring agency for restaurants) wanted to have permission to contact references and to do a credit check. I think the guy called on Monday...so hopefully we'll hear something this coming week! But we were not given any kind of time line. The restaurants thrown out were Ruby Tuesdays or Red Robin. Because neither of those restaurants are in Iowa City, were assuming they are in Cedar Rapids. I'm ok with living there and I've been told it's a lot cheaper to live there than in the Iowa City area. The drive will be a lot less than Mount Pleasant.

We had a good thanksgiving in Pella with my parents. It was my family of 5, my parents, and my Grandma! The food was good and Dayzy loved helping anyway she could. My dad is a big black Friday shopper. I decided that I wanted to do it this year. So we all went! Dad made us get up at 2:30 a.m. Dayzy and Chayse were up before Scott and I and they were chipper and ready to go! We were at Kohl's in Des Moines by a little after 4 a.m. We then hit Wal-Mart, Bass Pro Shop, the Jordan Creek Mall, and went to eat at Prairie Meadows. By that time everyone was getting crabby and tired. Poor Chayse had a few meltdowns because he was tired, but they were Grandpa's little helpers so he got to deal with those.

I allowed my dad to show the kids the buffaloes in Prairie City on the way home. We saw some right by the car and the kids thought it was awesome! (and maybe it was so awesome because the buffalo was licking his nose and then eating it) We then went home and everybody wanted to nap. Well the kids slept in the car and didn't want to nap because I don't think they wanted to miss out on anything. They didn't sleep and then they were told by Scott to go downstairs after they had gotten up once. But they got up again a little later and woke my poor Dad up. So he was on grandpa duty and had to play while the rest of us slept.

If you're wondering how William did...he did awesome! If we couldn't grab a cart I had a front back pack with him in it. He slept the whole time! He was awake a bit when we got home and I wanted to nap, but after awhile he fell asleep again. It was fun, but Scott and my mom said they wouldn't do it again. I loved it, the rush of getting in the crowds getting what I wanted. But we had nothing major to purchase and just went for the fun and the few good deals.

Now the tree is up, and I can't believe how time is flying by. I don't think it feels like Christmas because it hasn't snowed here yet! I have about half my shopping done. But I need to get more for our brother sand their wives/fiance, our parents, and birthday presents for Chayse.

Question to the moms out there:
Were tighter on money this year and since William is 3 months do I really need to buy presents for him and put them under the tree? He'll get atleast one from Santa because the other kids still believe in him. What have you done in the past for little ones?

Big Boy

William had his 2 month doctor visit on Monday. He has been battling a cold and so have I. The doctor didn't seem concerned with his at all. Will did have to get his shots though. I made Scott hold him, everyone says how horrible they are. While we were waiting for the nurses to come in, William even fell asleep in my arms. Scott laid him on the table though and they both attacked him at once. Poor little guy. He screamed! Then he was crying and got so mad that he didn't breath or make a sound for 10 seconds! It broke my heart. After we got him calmed down we put him in his car seat and left. He was ok the rest of the afternoon. He slept the whole time and didn't really wake to feed at all either.

By the time we got home he was really fussy and had a fever. We gave him Motrin and just held him and comforted him as much as possible. At night he didn't sleep very well if he wasn't in my arms. Which meant he slept with me, because I had to work this morning, and wanted slept for myself, and I am too fighting a cold. But he did wake to nurse a lot, so he made up for not eating a lot earlier in the day.

Today he seems ok, Scott had him this morning/ afternoon and I just got him at 4. He doesn't feel as if he has a fever, and he is able to be put down in his vibrating chair thing. He still does have a cold though, little coughs and sneezes with lots of boogies!

His weight at this appointment was 13 and half pounds ( I hate how not exact they measure him from metric.) They never told us his height either. Anyway for height and head he is in the 50th percentile. For weight he is something like 87%. The doctor said everything looked good, and was amazed at his strong neck muscles!

Sorry I don't have a picture, I haven't been taking many...and I need to!

Update Time

It's been a bit, I've been lazy and busy and our world here has been turned upside down!

On the 12th William turned 2 months! My little man is growing up so fast.

He feeds every 2 hours for 10 mins, with a stretch sometime during the day with out eating for probably 3-4 hours.

He is still only breastfed. I can't imagine having to get up and fix bottles for him..yuck.

He wears size 2 diapers.

Clothing - 0-3 pants (for length) but some are too tight on his little belly. Shirts are 3-6 or 6 months.

At our Vitamin D study he weighed 13lbs 13 oz! and is 23 inches long.

He will get his shots this coming week.

He loves baths, and is almost too big for the little "hammock" thing that sits in his.

He holds his head up very well!

He laughs a little and smiles A LOT! Especially for mommy.

He is getting used to his swing and actually fell asleep in it the other day.

I am now back to work. I was going slow and working about 3 hour shifts. But I actually pumped at work last night and worked for 5 1/2 hours.

Speaking of work there has been some changes. Were looking at the positive side and realize that God is giving us our push back to Iowa City, where the kids go to school, and Scott's family lives. So as soon as we can find jobs, we'll be heading back that way. We're excited for new opportunities and less driving! No matter what we've learned a lot at the Pizza Ranch and have had a fun ride.

Complete side note, I love for those who blog that there are suggestions for "Labels for this post: e.g. scooters, vacation, fall." Those are 3 things I love! Scooters (Scott's nick name) , Vacation (who doesn't love time off from work and getting away), and fall (hence why I had a fall wedding, it's my favorite season!)

I Love Sleep

I love sleep. Granted I don't get as much as I used to, and some how my body is ok with it. I could easily sleep over 12 hours a day if I was allowed to.
Anyway, its not just me who loves to sleep, so does my family!

Except sometimes, Chayse especially, will be up on non school days at 7 a.m. They have good little internal clocks. It doesn't matter what time they go to bed, Saturday morning they are up long before Scott and I. I think they secretly race to get up early, so they can control the remote and watch cartoons and the t.v. they want to, before we wake :)
Chayse sleeping in the car

William sleeping on daddy

Sleeping during the phase where William didn't like to sleep in his crib, and mommy did anything to get him to sleep, so she could sleep.

William sleeping in his crib awhile back. No he does not have a mullet even though this picture looks like it. This shirt hardly fits him anymore also. He's a growing boy, therefore he needs his sleep.

The cutest picture in the whole world! William and Daddy sleeping on the couch.
This one melts mommy's heart.

New furniture

For the first time in our adult lives we have brand new furniture. Yes, not just "new to us" but straight from the store!

We decided that with our next tax return we would buy a new couch and love seat. We weren't planning on buying it already. But a furniture store in Iowa City was going out of business so we thought we'd quick look before we had to get back to a meeting at work.
The place was majorly going out of business as in 2 weeks left and eager to sell. All the signs on the couches were being slashed lower, and we could even make an offer after that price and see if they would take it! Needless to say we found something we liked, for a price that we both liked, so we went for it! (Thanks Discover Card!)

It's amazing because the decorative pillows actually match nicely with our area rug and blend nicely with the living room curtains.

Here is the couch!


Not a happy model!

The love seat is the same, just smaller. I'll take a picture of the living room when I have everything where I want it. I'm very much a visual person, and poor Scott has already moved stuff around twice. I'm still not sure I like how it is. :)

Back to work I go

Today was my first day back to work.

It wasn't bad at all. It was nice to be missed. Fellow employees welcomed me back, and even a customer (guest in pizza ranch terms) came up to me and welcomed me back. :)

It helps that Scott is the one at home taking care of William, not some strangers at a day care. If we ever got to the point where we couldn't work opposite shifts, I would probably stay home. But fortunately we can work it out this way that we both work, and William is always with one of us!

We'll see how it goes as my working times increase...today I only worked 3 hours. So I did not have to pump at work, I pumped and fed him before I left, and came home and fed him.

Swingin'

William 6 weeks

Dayzy, Chayse, William

First off...there are some fun pics. They will be upfront of my parent's church on Sunday when William will be baptized!

So I have gone back and forth on whether or not to buy William a swing. Some babies absolutely love them, while others hate them. I didn't want to waste the money if he was going to hate it.

He is a fussy baby though, at night that is. He has to be rocked, and patted on the butt to calm down. Well rockin/swingin same thing right? We were blessed with quite a few gift cards to Wal-Mart recently so we decided to buy a swing.

We bought this one. It was cheaper than some, and I liked that it was "smaller" or so I thought... I think I was mistaken. But I like that it can change into different things. Such as a swing to an infant seat, to a toddler rocker


Well it seems that little Mr. William HATES it! He cries almost instantly when he gets in it. Sometimes we can get him in it for a whole minute before he throws a fit. He is a spoiled baby, and likes to be held. I'll continue to try to get him comfortable with this, but time will tell.

On a totally different side note, I LOVE yahoo answers. I read them a lot while I was pregnant. I would search for something on google in a question form. It's nice because it's normal people answering, so you get a lot of "advice" from people out there. Obviously you need to take it with a grain of salt. But now I like to go on there, and answer other people's questions, like I'm an expert! Go now, if your bored, and give it a try! Ok some people ask stupid questions that you don't need to waste your time on, but others really are fun! I do believe this is the website.

I do believe that this may be the first year for awhile I'm not doing anything Halloween related.

I trick or treated almost all through college, or at least passed out candy.

Since being with Scott we've had the kids, or if I worked we dressed up or passed out candy there.

We don't have the kids though, and I'd bring William around...but I think people would be suspicious how a baby can eat the candy. ;)

In other news, I go back to work this week. I'm not super excited but it's OK. I think it'll be good for me to get out more, talk to more adults, and allow William to bond with Scott while I'm gone. I'm only working 4 days, for a few hours each day.

I also sell Avon now! I would love to make enough to not have to work. But I think you have to work really hard at it, which would mean it in itself is a full time job. So for now I'll sell to my friends and family to make a few extra bucks...because Christmas is coming!

Anyway if you would like to purchase some Avon visit my site!

Click Here

Rub a Dub Dub

We gave our kitties a bath last night.

They did surprisingly well.

They are shedders, and rub their dirty cat butts on our carpet.

Hopefully this will help.

Car Seats & Costumes

Today we dropped the kiddos off to their mom at Wal-Mart in Iowa City where she works.

As we drove in we noticed the Rotary Club was doing free car seat checks. We knew ours wasn't in quite right and jumped at the chance to get it looked at!
The base was not level and Scott had been meaning to put a pool noodle under it to keep it level. It turns out that the base had a hidden piece that came down to make it level. So the Rotary people got it all fixed and properly installed. William was in his car seat which he was sitting in properly.

In Iowa, for a kid to not have to be in a booster is 80 lbs or 4'9". I would like to say there are some kids in Middle School or even High School that aren't bigger than that. Granted these are very petite people but still! And apparently they should not be in a booster until they are 6.

Chayse has been in a booster about a year. He was too big for his last seat. The kid is almost as big as his 6 year old sister. Oh well. I think we'll keep him in his booster, his seat belt seems to fit him properly. We've been pulled over by a cop before with Chayse in the back and nothing was said.

But I would highly recommend getting your seat checked, it's free and a peace of mind! Plus at this location they checked to see if our seat was in recall, if it was they would have given us one for free! How awesome is that?!

Side note about the Iowa City Wal-Mart. William was hungry after the drive to Iowa City. The kids' mom had told us to use the dressing room. We went to the dressing room to feed him, and the lady was rather rude. She said she "guesses" we could use the handicap fitting room. But probably as soon as I got in there, there would be a Mom with young kids, or a handicap person who would need it, so I would have to get out if need be.

EXCUSE ME?!

Anyway I was in there for like 10 mins and had no one that needed it. But still, I'm sure if someone did come up that needed to use it, they would have let me finish. It's not a toilet...trying on clothes can wait. Plus nobody was trying on clothes there the whole time I was in there. So we told the kids' mom and she was going to tell her supervisor how the lady was rude.

We're debating writing a letter to the Wal-Mart to complain about how rude the lady was.

Whew! Got that off my chest... which I guess is an inconvenience at that Wal-mart if I feed from it!

William and I are home alone tonight so I decided to do a mini photo shoot with his Halloween Costume!

I bought it because usually we bring the kids trick or treating. But this year we've decided to leave it at whoever's night trick or treating falls on, gets them. Plus this person is the one who pays for the costumes also. This year we don't have them. Oh well. Enjoy!


Growling like a Monster!

And today William is 6 weeks old!

Baby Showers

So this is long overdue.

Us Pearls are very loved! We've always known it, but some very special people have also gone way out of their way to let us know it, and to help us welcome William into the world.

We've had 3 baby showers!

Our first one was thrown by our co-worker Peggy, at the Mt. Pleasant Pizza Ranch. Thank you Peggy!

look at all those presents! I was so overwhelmed and appreciative!
Playing a game, where we had to guess the flavor of baby food!

Grandma Janey (Scott's Mom) threw me a baby shower in Iowa City for the family that lives there! Again overwhelmed with the generous amount of gifts. We had a lot of fun there too!

The kids loved helping us open presents, but were a little confused why all the presents were for the baby!

Thursday my mom had a baby shower for me in Pella. Again same, very overwhelmed and appreciative of all that we received!

We played games, and passed the baby, and ate some great food! Granted Will was a little crabby, but he's been going through a growth spurt, and gets crabby at night.


Thanks to all that came to help us celebrate, and prepare for William!
Also thanks to those who couldn't make it and gave us a gift!
We love you all!

Prince Charming

A few photos of William.
This isn't his Halloween costume.
Pictures of that will come later :)

A Magical Year

Today Scott and I have been married a year!

A lot has happened this year. We got pregnant and already have a 5 week old baby! (Those of you trying to do the math, he's not a honeymoon baby, he was concieved in December.)

We continue to work and thrive at the Pizza Ranch. :)

Facts about our wedding day:

I bought my dress at a trunk show. Meaning there was a possibility it wouldn't be included in the line, and I could have been the only girl to ever have it. (It did get added to their line...I forget the brand name)


My lovely ladies were:
Liz Terborg
Dish Dobson
Wizzy Heersink


Scotts men:
Sean Pearl
Doug Toycen
Keith Pearl

We got married at the methodist church in Solon, Iowa. This is Scott's grandma's church.

The weather was perfect. Probably in the 70's.

Our flower people who threw leaves were Dayzy and Chayse.

The girls and guys wore brown. It was a fall themed wedding. Sometime ill get pictures up!

We honeymooned in Chicago. It was fun to bum and do what we wanted. We rode the Amtrak train there and back. :)

It was fun and amazing and flew by.

Soon we will eat the top of our cake. Which we only ate the pieces we fed each other that night.

But here's to many more years with the man I love!

Loose Ends

William will be baptized at Faith CRC in Pella on November 8! If you're in the area come join the celebration!

I'm finally now thinking of going back to work. :( I don't want to, but it needs to happen. So Ill slowly go back starting in a few weeks.

Ill have to pump at work. That will be interesting. There is really no private area. No closed office. I'm not pumping on the toilet! So ill do it in a corner right before we open.

I've thought about also donating my milk. It burns calories, and foremost helps premie babies. Its through the university. I have to donate atleast 200 oz once I sign up. Nursing moms...is this plausible? Keeping my baby fed and pumping for when I'm at work and then enough to donate?

Were getting our desktop fixed so soon I can put up pictures!

And I'm super excited to announce that Scott's brother proposed to his girlfriend last night! I don't know any plans for the wedding but we are all super excited!
Congrats Sean and Dish!

One Month Old

Today William is already a month old! Time really does fly!

Weight: 11lbs 1 oz.
Length: 21 5/8 in.
Head: 38.2 cm

At birth he was

Weight: 8lb 4 oz
Length:19 1/2 in.
Head: ??

He is now in the 90th percentile for weight and 50th for height.

He now focuses on faces.

Likes to pee when the diaper is off... Latest victim is the wall.

Has a very strong neck and arms. He will push away from your body when holding him, and hold his head up for atleast 5 seconds.

Can be crabby for no reason, which usually passes with time or his pacifier. Or warm arms.

Feeds every 2-3 hours. Usually for 10 to 30 mins. Only breastfed, and for now only from the breast.

Smiles when gassy and its the cutest thing ever!

Does not want to sleep in his crib. Mommy got in the bad habit of having him lay on her, so she could sleep. Now that's the only way he'll stay asleep at night! (Any suggestions how to break this and allow me to get sleep and have him in his crib?)

Wears a 0-3 month or 3 months clothing.

Does well during bath, but hates being cold when out of the water!

Is now in a study on vitamin D deficiency. He is given daily vitamin d drops. He will be checked monthly for growth and occasionaly by a heel stick for vitamin d levels. He'll be in this a year. He has to be breastfed the whole time (no formula), and can not eat food until 4 months. Everytime we go he gets 25 bucks! On heel stick days he gets two small packs of diapers!

We decided to save his money and put it in a savings account for him. He should have atleast $300 by his first birthday!

He's amazing and ever changing! He most definetly has stolen my heart from day one! He is worth the sleepless nights, the poopy diapers and the crying! We love our little man!

To be or not to be...baptized

Scott and I are going to Pella tomorrow to talk with the pastor of my parents church. We want to get William baptized at my childhood church.

Were uncertain of what Scott's role will be because he's not a professing member of a church. He was baptized as a baby though. Anyway usually this would mean that he or the person would make profession of faith and then be able to take full part.

I don't want Scott to have to jump into profession of faith until its on his own terms and something he wants to do.

So pray for us so tomorrow we can find out what our options are, and what role Scott can take part of.

I wish it was simple and the "politics" could be taken away. We want to promise William to God. We want this about William, not about what Scott and I have or haven't done with the church.

Shop til I drop...

Shopping is very depressing now. I've never been skinny but never was huge either. Well I feel huge after today.

Its so hard to go from flaunting my belly when I was pregnant, to hiding the extra fat and stuffing it in my clothes.

I was shedding the weight nicely, and now I've stopped. I know its only been 3 weeks, but I'm ready to get out of my maternity clothes, and into regular clothes that fit nicely. My belly is a nasty sight.

But I understand I need to work at it, which needs to happen soon! I've saved a pair of jeans that I love, that I don't think I've fit into since high school/early college. My goal is to fit back into those pants.

Plus for Pizza Ranch Scott has an opportunity to win a trip to Jamaica, and I don't want my baby flub hanging out! This trip will be this coming March!

So here's to me getting motivated...and sticking to it!

Hold me accountable if we talk, or on here. I'll be completely open and honest, I have nothing to hide.

I was 190 when I married Scott last October. On September 10th I was 280. During my pregnacy I gained 75 pounds. I now weigh 245. I would like to be 160. Wii fit don't fail me now!

All I need is some bon bon's

I wish I could be a stay at home Mom forever. I enjoy sitting in my chair holding my little guy all day long.

We sleep in until 10! Granted we usually have a 2 - 3 hour wake fest in the middle of the night.

I seriously move from bed to lazy boy. Granted I know stay at home mom's work really hard and do a lot! Right now William won't sleep during the day without being held. So I sit and hold him and watch tv. And the house work piles up.

But I know these days are short lived. Eventually I go back to work. We can't afford me not to. Well we may be able to but we couldn't live as freely as we do now. We pay our bills and have money for fun. But Scott and I both have a fair share of student loans. We also spend a lot on gas to drive to Iowa City for Dayzy and Chayse. And believe me they are most definetly worth that.

We are fortunate enough to have Scott make the schedule so we won't need to put William in daycare. Scott and I have always worked opposite schedules. So one of us can always be with Will. Ill start pumping, and Scott eats with me so I can nurse him on my break too. We stay strong admist our time apart and cherish our time together. That's also why the time off now is nice though, I actually see my husband on a regular basis!

But I do wish we could win the lottery and not have to worry about work, and could spend more time together. But I guess it would help if we actually played it!

Right now I'll cherish my house being messy, and spending my whole day with my beautiful baby boy in my arms.

He must be dutch

Today William and I had our doctor appointments.

Again they forgot about me, and then were confused why I was there. Anyway I got my bloodpressure checked it was 112/80! So I don't have to go back until my 6 week post partum visit.

William just had a general check up. Last week he was 8lbs 9 oz. Today he was 9lb 6 oz! He is now also 21 inches long! What a big boy! Those two and his head were all normal and in the 50 - 70 percent ranges.

Anyway a pound in a week is crazy to me. But he has been cluster feeding a lot lately. I don't like these when they are in the middle of the night, or because he doesn't know when to stop, so he spits up. Poor guy. I hate it when he spits up or chokes from getting too much milk. I think I have a fast let down. But I'm still glad I'm making enough milk to satisfy my boy. I mean he is half dutch. Which means he needs all his meals and coffee times and snacks. Ask scott about the dutch eating schedule.

Everyday he is more aware and is awake longer. I love it!

In other news, Dayzy was sick last week at her Mom's. Chayse got sick last night at our house. He complained of his stomach hurting. Scott and I both passed it off as nothing. He always says it hurts when he doesn't want to eat. We went to Pizza Ranch, and kept telling him to eat.

As we were leaving and were by the front counter Chayse let's go and throws up right were people stand to pay. Poor guy got it all on himself. Anyway I went to get a mop bucket and Scott told Chayse to stand in the back. Well he came looking for me, and threw up in the pick up area. So we rushed him to the bathroom.

The wonderful employees cleaned up the mess. I took Will from Scott, because I was gaging, and everything was soon fine.

Chayse was fine today and went to School. I hope nothing gets passed to me, Scott, or William.

Anyway the manager last night was upfront on the phone taking an order when this happened. Today someone called into work to complain about last night that the employees stood around and did nothing. It was taken care of in 2 mins. The manager was on the phone with an order! He can't hang up with them until they were done with their order! What Jerks! They didn't think it was cleaned up fast enough and complained the manager just stayed on the phone.

I now will end this post, I have a hungry, crying, baby!

What's in a Name?

The story behind William David is family.

I originally had picked the name Miles, and told people that's what his name would be. After awhile though I couldn't decide if I still loved that name. Scott said we can change it. I wanted a family name for him.

My dad sent me my family tree. It went back to I think the 1600 or 1700's. I'm dutch so most of the names were dutch. William (Wilhem on the tree most of the time) was a named that Scott and I liked and agreed on. It mostly was our favorite because it was my paternal grandfather's middle name ( he passed before I was born), my dad's middle name, my brothers, and his son's middle name also.

My dad told the story also that William was a relative that helped sponsor my fathers mother, my Grandma De Boer's family to come over from the Netherlands.

William is a name to be proud of.

David is Scott's middle name. It is also Scott's fathers middle name. I wanted William to be named after his daddy!

What we didn't know was that David has a story behind it. Scott's grandma, Roma Pearl was read stories as a little girl by her father. Her favorite was David and Goliath. When her little brother was born she was allowed to pick his name. She choose David. When Roma and her husband Don had their third son, they chose to name him after their brothers. He got the name James David. When Jim and Jane (scott's parents) had their twin sons they were named Scott David and Sean James after their father. Therefore David has been passed down the line! And maybe William will some day pass it along also.

In other news William is two weeks old already! He is changing constantly. He doesn't sleep through the night, but will sleep for 2 to 3 hour shifts and nurse for 20 mins when he does wake up. He sleeps a lot during the day though! He will focus more and look at you now.

He is pretty good at holding his head up for a few seconds. He kicks his legs a lot and can push with them!

His stinky umbilical cord has fallen off.

He smiles when gassy...and it is the cutest thing ever!

He has made two trips to Pella and atleast 3 trips back to Iowa City.

Both William and I have doctor appointments on Monday.
His is just an overall check. Not sure what mine is for. I went last time to get my bloodpressure checked. I was almost forgotten about. Anyway they checked it and I left. A few hours later the scheduler called me to say a nurse said I needed another appoinment.

In other happy news while pregnant I gained 75 lbs. Woops! But in two weeks I've already lost almost 40 lbs! I haven't even been trying yet. But I do need to get this loose skin tightened back up. Yuck. But hopefully it will continue to melt away.

William David Pearl

The birth of my wonderful son goes as follows:

I went in Thursday the 10th ( my due date) for a scheduled appointment. Williams heartbeat was fine, his head had not dropped yet, but my blood pressure was high. I was getting my nasty headaches again and to me I was swollen more than normal. My midwife didn't like my blood pressure and since it was my due date she ordered yet again another 24 hour urine test and I was to bring it in on the 11th. She also wanted to do a NST. I told her he was still moving a lot. I told Scott we'd do the Non Stress Test and be on our way in 20 mins.

Well his heart beat would move from the 130's to the 150's but not fast enough. It didn't fluctuate like they wanted. I got pop to make him move and a radio to place on my belly. The nurse showed my NST to the midwife who then said she wanted to meet with us.

That hadn't happened the last time. She said the baby looked ok, not great but def not bad. She then told me I was being held hostage! We were told to quick grab food, and head up to labor and delivery to be monitored more. Labor and Delivery was extremely busy so we sat in an ultrasound room. Again William's heart rate didn't fluctuate like they wanted. So 2 other midwives said they were going to talk to the doctor and decide my fate.

I was to be induced once a room opened. Luckily Scott and I had brought everything with us! Anyway I was being induced because I had always been borderline pre-eclamptic and they didn't want me to pass over or to become pre-eclamptic. Remember that can cause stroke or seizures. The only cure is to deliver the baby.

We asked to leave the hospital because they didn't have a room and we'd come back, but they said no. So they found us a room to sit in and watch tv in the mother/baby unit. Plus I had to start my 3rd 24 hour urine test!

We were told we'd get a room around 5 or 6. I was to get the next open room. I think we finally got up there around 7:30. By 8 they had the cervidal in me trying to dialate me.

The cervidal lasts for 12 hours so at 8 am they checked me and really no progress was made by the morning of the 11th. So they put another one in.

My parents came that afternoon and we played the waiting game. They debated on wether or not to get a hotel room or go home. The nurses and doctors said to go home, this is a slow process and they'd have plenty of time to come back. But my parents wanted to wait until 8 at night came around to see if the 2nd cervidal worked. I was also going to get a billyball (I don't know what it's called) to inflate in me to get me to three centimeters. Oh by this time my urine test came back and I was spilling protein which means I was official pre eclamptic, I had to have doctors instead of the midwives.

When I was checked I was at 3 all on my own. So they didn't have to use their thing. My parents then decided they'd rather be safe than sorry and got a hotel. I was left to rest.

I was dilating but my cervix wasn't thinning and the baby wasn't dropping.

They put support hoes on my legs, the baby bed was brought in, I was hooked to a blood pressure machine that went off constantly!

They checked me awhile later and I was at 4 cms. The dr debated wether or not to break my water. She decided to wait a little longer and told me to get my epidural whenever. I wasn't having painful contractions. But those exams hurt! So around 1 or 2 I wanted my epidural before I got my water broke.

During my epidural Scott fainted! Not because of it, he just got hot in his mask and bam! Was out! His blood sugar was high and he started throwing up. Poor guy was throwing up and sick until I had William.

Ok so by the time I had the epidural I was feeling good!! I probably looked like a machine though! I wasn't allowed out of bed because I was on a magnesium drip. This helps prevent seizures. That crap is nasty! It made me hot! And later it felt like I had the flu. Anwyay I wasn't allowed out of bed on that. So I got a cathater, I had the baby/ contraction monitors on, pitocin drip, fluids (I also couldn't eat or drink on the magnesium), I had leg massager things to prevent blot clots, and the blood pressure cuff, and lastly the epidural drip. But I did sleep ok.

I think around 4 my water was broke and I slept more. I woke up at 7 and they checked me and I was at 7 cms. I called my parents and told them to eat, and come in. Not too long later I was feeling the contractions! I told some random guy I feel like I had to poop. He said uh ok and left the room. I'm still not sure who he was. The epi was not helping with the pressure!

Scott called my parents back around 8 and told them to hurry up and get to the hospital. They said I was progressing fast.

I believe by the time my parents got to the hospital the doctors were letting me "labor down". Which means to let the contractions bring the baby down. Holy Moly these were intense. Like I said it felt like I had to poop really REALLY bad!

Soon the doctors checked me and I was at 10 cm finally! The baby had a little more to drop. Like from your second knuckle to the tip of your fingernail. The doctors left the room thinking it'd be a bit. I was allowed to push with the contractions while the nurse was in the room. I went through maybe three rounds of pushing and you could see Williams dark hair! (I say doctors because the University is a teaching hospital, so I had normal docs and residents and med students. I believe there were atleast 6 doctors in the room). Anyway Scott felt ill again during this and sat in the corner and my mom held my leg.

The nurse quickly called the doctors back. They later told me there was no way they thought it was me paging them because I was a first time mom. But guess what...I was ready! By this time it was around 9:30 and the docs were ready to have me start pushing!

10 mins later William was born! 9:40 am, 8lbs 4 oz. 19 1/2 inches long!

I didn't scream I just pushed like a bangee! I heard them say it should take me about 2 - 3 hours. I was not going to have that!

Words can't describe finally meeting my little man! He was perfect and handsome and amazing!

As soon as William was out, Scott was up and cut the cord and felt a lot better! Poor guy had sympathy pains.

I was honored to have my mom, dad, and Scott there to witness our miracle!

Ill skip the boring recovery part, and on the following Monday we got to bring William home!

Tonight is the night...

Hopefully, tonight is the night I go into labor. If this was a perfect world I would choose tonight, to guarantee a 9/9/09 baby! But alas if it was a perfect world I would have a stork drop my baby off to me, and not have to go through pregnancy. Don't get me wrong its not all bad, and I know its worth it, but dang! God wasn't kidding when he punished Eve with painful childbearing/ birth. I'm sure I've barely expeirenced anything yet, I know the true pain will be labor.

If tonight isn't the night, that's ok too. I'm getting more and more anxious/nervous for delivery. Plus my belly button hasn't popped yet...so my bun isn't done. :).

So again today I made Scott walk the mall with me. For lunch I had subway and put pepper jack cheese on my sandwich along with southwestern sauce. I ate the new spicy chipolte chips from sun harvest. I sat on my exercise ball for an hour moving all around trying to swing the baby down. I ate tabasco sauce with mashed potatoes for supper. I went for a good 30 min walk. I took a warm bath. See all that I'm doing William to get you out so we can all meet you! Please hurry up! I just want to hold and cuddle you. I want to see my toes standing up, I want to put my wedding ring back on, I want to wear all my old shoes again, I want to sit/ stand up with ease, I want no more swelling of my feet or my sausage fingers!

In other news my parents came down for Old Threshers. For those of you not familiar its a big ole tractor reunion. Its 5 days ending labor day. There's lots of vendors of worthless crap, little old western shows, a craft show on the square and of course a lot of tractors on display. Also events at the grand stand. Of what I do not know. And every night there's a country band that plays. It was ok. I wouldn't travel from far away to see it, but a lot of people do! But it was fun to hang out with my parents, and to walk around. Tulip time is way better.

Sorry, I still don't have picture loading capabilities. When I was at a computer, I tried to set it up to text my pictures, but silly me I forget my Sprint blackberry doesn't text pictures, I have to email them. That I did not sign up for. Someday though, I will have lots of pictures!

Good News Everyone!

My title should be spoken like DR. Farnswoth from Futurama. Don't know him? Well then you are missing out!

Today I had my end of week 39 appointment! And amazingly everything was awesome. My bloodpressure was something like 122/70 or 80 something! I think that's the lowest yet. My midwife thinks its because I am no longer working. She said in Europe pregnant woman don't work at the end of their pregnancies, and get paid for it! I think Pizza Ranch could take a lesson from the Europeans!

My urine had no protein in it today also and my 2nd 24 hour urine test had 180 something, compared to last time of 280 something!

She didn't check my cervix at all so I don't know how that's doing. But she seemed really optimistic, and it doesn't sound like an induction is going to happen anymore. She told me not to be concerned if I go past my due date. I have another appointment scheduled next Thursday anyway. But since everything is looking good, I think were going to let nature take its course.
(Baby, cover your eyes at that, and hurry up! A lot of people are anxious to meet you!)

That doesn't mean I'm not trying to get this baby out. I swang again tonight, took a mini walk, and a bath. Oh and for lunch I ordered cajun chicken...but it wasn't spicy!

I don't think I've mentioned that this past monday Chayse went back to headstart pre-school! He loves it and is really glad that his best bud Sidney is in his class. Scott said his teacher seems nice also.

I guess at school they did a BMI on the kids. Apparently Chayse is boderline overwieght. EXCUSE ME? Chayse has no fat on him anywhere! He is a skinny boy. He does have a big head though. ;). But seriously there is no belly, no rolls, not anything fat about him. I do believe he is big for his age but don't they take height as one of the factors?

Scott and I shop while the kids are at school. Today we had the appoinment and then took grandma Janie and a friend from work out to lunch. Thursdays are early release days in Iowa City, so we had little time to shop. Which is good for our budget! Anyway the Dollar Tree is a must hit. I bought each kid a Dawn of the Dinosaurs watch. I don't think either of them shut up the whole car ride home about the watches. I love the cheap thrills in life. :)

I also got my very own cheap thrill, a Coupon organizer! I feel so old lady but I wanted one because I keep getting coupons in the mail for baby stuff or to clothing stores. So this way I'll know where they are at. Not sure though if Scott is thrilled by it. I'm a sucker for sales and clearance. I can then justify buying about anything if I can get a good deal on it! :).

Well then soon to be momma needs to head to bed and get as much sleep as possible before baby is here!

It's the final countdown!

A week from tomorrow is the supposed big day! Man how time continues to fly! I was afraid the last month would drag on, bit it hasn't. Luckily we've been busy with work, family, and the kids going to school!

I had a dream last night that I had William. But for some reason I don't remember giving birth, or being in the hospital. I saw him in a car seat next to my brother Jeremy. My baby was CUTE! He had dark hair and a lot of it, and it was thick! I asked when he was born and someone showed me a piece of paper that said September 11. Then I woke up. We'll see if my dream predicted anything. ;)

I'm doing all that I can to get this baby out. I'm going on walks, I'm taking baths, I try to eat spicy food, I swang at the park. I don't really care if he's early or not, I just want to help the process.

If he is early and is born September 4th, I may have to give him two middle names. It will be 8 years ago that my maternal grandfather passed away. I would love to add Henry into Williams name in honor of him.

I also hopes he's just one day early and comes on the 9th so he can be my 9-9-09 baby. No one would ever forget his birthday then.

I don't want September 11 because its a negative day. But if he chooses that day, it will always be a positive day for me!

In other news I bought cute flannel to make my hooter hider and so far I have the strap done! Woohoo! The rest shouldn't take long either. I'm hoping to finish it tomorrow. Then maybe Ill figure out how to put pictures on here from my phone!

Junk in the Trunk

What a crazy day. Did I not just say that I was looking forward to do nothing!?

I went with Scott to Iowa City today to drop the kids off at school. Then the plan was to go to Village inn for breakfast and JoAnne's Fabrics to find material to make a hooter hider.

Well we had just dropped Chayse off (thankfully) and were headed to Village Inn, when the excitement began. We drive through downtown Iowa City, where the University is located. Traffic isn't horrible but its there. The cars in front of us were moving slowly and so were we. When all of a sudden BAM! Some stupid college girl who wasn't paying attention nailed us from behind! I screamed and immediately started crying. I was startled and scared for baby. No air bags went off luckily. Scott thinks she was probably going 20 when she hit us. Scott got out to check out the damage. Luckily neither car had anything, not even a scratch! So scott didn't think to get info and they decided to go on, and not report it because it would just cost money. And he wanted to check back on me as soon as possible.

I was still shooken up, but not in any pain, and wondered what to do next. We called labor and delivery and they said I should probably be monitored. Well they monitored me for 4 hours! But baby's heartbeat was really good the whole time! I think part of the reason they kept me there so long was to also make sure this didn't put me into labor and cause contractions. It didn't. But I did have super high bloodpressure right away. I think it was 159/90. By noon it was 117/67. ( I don't remember exact numbers but it dropped a lot and was really good by the time I left).

We finally left the hospital and went to go get food. Scott still wanted his pancakes from village inn so we went there. We never did go to JoAnn's fabrics because Scott needed to get home to work.

I came home and slept two hours! Today wore me out. Baby and me are doing fine, and he's still moving a lot! (Hopefully he's moving towards the light) :p.

But I'm very thankful that no one was hurt and that nothing happened to my car. People joke its a grocery getter. Well my grocery getter must be able to withstand a lot! (Its a 2000 or 2001 Chryslar Concorde). Thank you car for your junk in the trunk!

Pasta with a side of Boobs

So today I had an appoinment scheduled to drop off a 24 hour urine and have my blood pressure tested.

They dipped my urine while I was there also. I'm not sure which one they were talking about but my urine today was fine with little overspill of protein. My midwife also said that my previous bloodwork looked really good. My kidneys and liver are doing their jobs. I had packed my hospital bag, and the baby car seat just incase I was told to stay. I honestly half expected it.

But I got to come home. Which is bittersweet. I want to meet William, but I also want him as healthy as possible, and if that means in my belly, well then there he will stay.

The midwife checked my cervix. Which side note, it doesn't sound like they do often, just because its uncomfortable and not entirely necessary if I'm not in labor. Remember midwifes are all about comfort and not making this a medical process. Anyway she asked to check me because if I happen to be far along, or almost ready, they may have sent me to be induced, knowing it wouldn't take much and this maybe/maybe not preeclamsia could be dealt with. Remember delivery is the only cure. But alas I am 1 cm dialated and I think the baby is at -3. Or is it positive 3? Forgive me, I was reading the info as she put it in the computer, she didn't tell me what position the baby was in and I don't remember if the further away is negative or positive. (Feel free to correct me) Anyway my cervix wasn't very ripe either. So no baby today atleast!

That makes Grandma Heersink happy because A. She has asked for time off starting the 10th. B. She bought a brat pendant for her necklace with a September birthstone for William. :)

Back to the baby. They don't want to induce me because it can be a slow process that leads to a C section. I asked how likely it is that I get induced and the midwife said that it depends on my blood pressure (today 130's/70's) and my due date. They do not want me to go much past my due date. At this point I'm thankful to be with a midwife. I have 2 sister in laws that had C sections. One needed to because she has preeclampsia and had a complicated pregnancy her whole time. The other was doing fine, and wanted a very natural birth. But she believes from the beginning her doctor wanted her to have a c section. So she didn't even get the chance to push before they made her have one.

So I'm lucky my midwives are looking out for me, and my baby, now and for the whole process. They want me to have a pleasant expierence, and hopefully we will!

And for now I'm not on the schedule at work, but I may go in and work short shifts if needed. The midwife thinks if I work too much it will elevate the bp. But she also reminded me I do not have to be a couch potato. It feels great to have nothing planned at all! I'm going to make a hooter hider. You know those fabric apron like things that cover your girly top parts when you nurse. And I'm going to finish cleaning and organizing the house!

Before I end this long post, I have to tell a story.

Olive garden has unlimited pasta bowls for 8.95. YUM! So Scott and I went there for lunch today. Well a few tables over there was a mom nursing her daughter. Scott was completely embarassed. Ill be honest it was akward. This momma had no hooter hider. She lifted up her tank top, and had on a nursing bra. We had the side view so I don't know how much was seen. Well the daughter who was atleast 6 months pulled away, and the mom didn't realize it for a few until she jerked fast to cover her exposed nipple. I've talked to Moms about nursing in public. Some are for it some against it. Which is completely fine, I don't know how I feel yet. But I do think if you're going to nurse in public cover the goods! I don't want boobs with my pasta.

PS Anyone know good ways to get this baby out and ripen and dialate my cervix?? And no castor oil please!

I do believe my dad did tell me one way was to have crazy wild sex. :)

Next appoinment is this Thursday! Maybe baby!?? That'll be the end of week 39!

Date Day

Yesterday Scott was supposed to do a golf outting for Make A Wish. In the eastern part of Iowa this week it rained a lot. I think we got 10 inches in a night here in Mt Pleasant. Needless to say the ground is wet and golfing was cancelled. Since Scott and I both had the day off we decided to head to Iowa City to go shopping and quite possibly have our last date night without a baby.

We decided the day of to head to Cedar Rapids to get a membership to Sam's Club. Since Scott's mom lives inbetween Iowa City and Cedar Rapids we called to see what she was doing. She happened to be shopping in CR so we wanted to met up with her. But first, I wanted to get a pedicure. It's hard painting your nails 8 and half months pregnant! Well it so happens Jane was also planning to get a pedi. So Jane and I went to get pedicures while Scott walked JC Penney.

We then went to lunch at Texas Roadhouse. YUM! (Thanks again Jane). She then headed home to mow and Scott and I started shopping. Our main goal was to find a Cubs outfit to take home baby in. Well most places are switching to football gear so we couldn't find any that would fit. But we did buy A LOT of other things.

And we never did get that membership to Sam's. Those of you that have one is it worth it?
We ended the night by driving back to Coralville and eating at Bennigans. Then heading over to watch The Ugly Truth. We thought the movie was hilarious but it is a little crude at times.

It was a good day together!

Today has been cleaning, cleaning, cleaning! I want to be prepared to go to the hospital at anytime, and not have to come home to a mess.

Today I'm doing another lovely 24 hour urine test. Yuck. I have an appointment tomorrow where Ill drop of my urine, do bloodwork, and check my bloodpressure. I don't/ haven't had headaches as bad this week. Hopefully everything is ok. I'm not to worried though. Oh but from yesterday and the cleaning today my feet are swollen! But my hands are not. We'll see if they say anything about my feet tomorrow. I've had them swollen before and they haven't said anything. I'm ready to just go with the flow with all of this. No matter what he'll be here before we know it!