Corn. And More Corn.

When I as younger I dreaded corn day each year.  The thought of being woke up earlier than normal so that I could help shuck wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow load of corn just did not bring joy to my soul.  As I got older I started finding ways to get out of corn day.  Typically, I was conveniently working during such a time.  But I must be an official grown up now because I decided on my own accord that I wanted to once again participate in corn day.  There's a strong possibility that it's because it gave me an excuse to see my family but we'll just pretend that it's because I'm really mature and stuff.

So last weekend my parents and grandma came out to visit and confirmed that corn day was to be that Wednesday.  So I rode back with them to spend a couple days in IL before Danny came out to join me.  It was a great time!

Summer got to spend lots of time with her IL cousins.

And I got to see my cousins too!  I rode along with Angie for her weekly grocery shopping excursion which we decided required a stop for ice cream at Uncle Bob's.  Which is some of the best ice cream ever!

My trip also included a pool party at my aunt's house with more family.  It had been planned for quite awhile and I had high hopes that corn day would coincide with it because I really really wanted to go.  So I was a little bit thrilled when it did!

Then came the once dreaded corn day.  We shucked and we shucked and we shucked and we shucked.  And then we shucked a little more.  Oh that pile there?  That's about half of what we did.

Even Summer helped out!

She got her ear of corn shucked in record time.  And made friends with the fly who took up residence on her forehead.  

Raising up another generation of kids getting sucked into corn day.  They're not old enough yet to know that it's not really that fun!  Well, maybe it's a little bit fun since you have everyone working together.  Haley did a great job helping fill freezer boxes.  And Laney had the very important job of stacking them in stacks of five.  She took it very seriously:)

We left around 4:00 when the party was still going strong, but we didn't want to get home too late.  About the time we got home (4 1/2 hours later), we got word that they were finally finishing up and that they had done 292 pints of corn.

That, my friends, is A LOT. OF. CORN.  And the reason behind my corn day dread as a child.

But now we have some deliciousness stocked up in our freezer for the next year so I shan't complain!

And the day after we got home we officially hit two months!  I love this girl:)

Take Me Out To The Ballgame

Pretty much my whole life I've wanted to go to a baseball game.  I've just never gone.  But last weekend we went out on a date for the first time since Summer was born and we decided to go to a Tincaps game.  Except for that one night it was the Ft. Wayne Octane.  Apparently they have theme nights and that night's theme was "What Could Have Been".  The Octane was the second place choice when the Tincaps were named.  I guess the gas pump was invented in Ft. Wayne or something.  But I thought the uniforms were cooler than the Tincaps uniforms!

Anyway, we had a lot of fun.  Oh, but the girl sitting behind me in the gray and white shirt?  She talked the ENTIRE time!  I can tell you all about her pregnancy, the summer camp she helps with, her insurance, her job...  I really don't think saying she talked the entire time is an exaggeration.  The friend she was with looked a little worn out and bored from all that listening!

While I was walking around trying to decide on what to have for supper (I decided on the classic hot dog and nachos), I was halfway listening to the announcer over the loud speaker.  I heard something that caught my attention while he was naming the starting lineup.  So I looked it up when I got back to my seat and confirmed what I thought I heard.  Turns out the second baseman is from Magdalena!  So we rooted for him the whole game and he ended up being the last batter and pretty much won the game:)  Good job, Luis!

So, like I said before- I had never been to a baseball game before.  So when everyone in the stadium stood up at the same time at one point, I was a little confused.  Turns out that the seventh inning stretch is a literal time to stretch!  Who knew?!?!  Yeah, not this girl!  I always thought it was just talking about a stretch of time during the game:)  We got a good laugh out of that one!

Oh, and just cause I think she's so cute.  I have to put a picture in!  She gets a little mesmerized by the stars on her swing.  I think it's hilarious watching her gaze at them:)

Green Thumbs Have We Not

Oh, our landscaping.  It's a little bit of a nightmare!  You maybe can't see it too well, but we have weeds in our little flower bed that are almost as tall as me!  It's a jungle out there!

But at least we're doing our part in keeping the rabbits of Willowbrook well fed!

And the hydrangea looks great:)

When we bought our house I was all excited because there was a little garden.  But the people who lived here before left it all overgrown and had the dirt filled with sea shells and corks from wine bottles.  (Still haven't figured that one out.)  So by the time I got it somewhat cleaned up, I had lost all motivation to plant anything.  But Danny loves garden tomatoes so I promised him that this year I would at least have a tomato plant.  Want to know what the garden looks like this year?  

Pretty awful.

But I still want a garden!  If anyone loves to garden and wants to help me get started next year, I would take you up on it!  The only requirement is that you are able to teach me on about a first grade level.  And have lots of patience:)

But anyway- a promise is a promise and I was determined not to break it!  So I did the next best thing I could think of and tried the whole "garden in a pot on your patio" thing.  We're not sure if it's the amount of rain, not enough sun, old potting soil in the pots, not enough room to grow in the pots, or a combination of all of the above, but the success has been minimal.  Not a complete failure though!

It's no bumper crop, but we have a few cherry tomatoes that Danny claims are delicious!  We also have a big sandwich tomato plant that looks like it might produce one or two tomatoes:)

And if you remember, we had most of the landscaping around the house chopped down last year since it was about 20 years overgrown.  Time to just start over!

So now this year, we've taken the next step and gotten all the stumps ground out.  We now are proudly displaying random piles of dirt and mulch all around our yard.  I'm sure our neighbors are so impressed!

Oh, and we have met and exceeded one month!  We're actually closer to two now.  We just love our little peanut:)

A Few Things I've Learned

The last 2 1/2 weeks have been like none other I've ever quite experienced, which is to be expected!  But I've learned a few things along the way.  Or at least, I'm in the process of learning!

-I've learned what postpartum hormones are!  I was a little blindsided by those.  It's one thing to hear about them, and it's a whole nother ball game to experience them!  Thankfully the worst of them only lasted about a week and they have gotten progressively better since then, but WOW!  Poor Danny- I would be so normal during the day but come evening and night time I would just cry.  And cry.  Oh, and cry some more!  During one particularly emotional episode, he sat across from me while I fed Summer and just dabbed my cheeks with a kleenex.  He's been awesome through this whole time!  I was such a mess. But now I can go multiple days without breaking down so things are looking up!

-I've learned, truly, how much of an accomplishment taking a shower is!  Bonus points for shaving:)  However, blogging- well, I've been meaning to do this for about four days now!

-I've learned that single-handedly taking care of four babies in a daycare is easier than taking care of just one of my own.  Must have something to do with those emotions that were mentioned earlier:)

-I've learned that as much as I want a routine and a schedule, I just can't expect that right now.  Now if only I could learn to be patient until we get to that point!

-I've learned that the birds start chirping around 5:00 in the morning!

-I've learned that it's possible to miss the person you live with.  That's also getting a little easier, but with both of us being quality time people, it's been a little tougher adjustment than I anticipated having that time interrupted by a fussy baby.  And speaking of a fussy baby...

-I've learned that I can be madly in love and completely frustrated with one little person all at the same time.

-I've learned that it's a TERRIBLE idea to try on my old clothes two weeks after giving birth.  I'm just really not sure what I'm going to wear all summer long.  You might see me rotate between about two different outfits and that's it for the next few months!  My apologies if those two outfits start to smell.  I'll try to keep them somewhat laundered:)

-I've learned how encouraging it is to talk with people who understand.  And since so many people in our lives have kids, that's a lot of understanding!

-I've learned that God sustains.  Sometimes just an hour at a time, but He sustains!

And sorry to my peeps who live far away- I don't have new pictures to put up here!  I guess I'm not a very good picture taker.  I'll try to do better and get some updated ones soon!

Summer Danielle

How does one even start this post???  Last Wednesday I had an appointment with the doctor and came away feeling pretty discouraged.  I was officially overdue and hadn't made any real progress from a week earlier.  In fact, my doctor was a little worried that I would end up needing a c-section because things just weren't moving along like she thought they should be.  She doesn't like to let her patients go much past 41 weeks, so she gave us the choice to induce early Saturday morning or wait out the weekend and come in Monday night to get started.  There were pros and cons to both options, but in the end we decided to wait it out.  She was off duty all weekend long, and I wanted to give my body a few more days to cooperate and progress on its own in hopes of avoiding that c-section.  So we made plans to go camping with Danny's family and started praying that my body would do the things it needed to do.  All the while knowing that if it did end with surgery, it really wouldn't be the end of the world and we would survive just like everyone else who does it.

I had some cramping on Thursday night, but nothing really more than what I had experienced in the last few weeks so I didn't think a whole lot of it.  But probably in the back of my mind was hoping it was something!  Friday morning I woke up around 6:00 with a sharp pang in my lower back, but I was out of it, it ended, and I fell back asleep.  I noticed a few more sharp pangs in the next couple  hours but still was just thinking cramps-  I just didn't believe it might actually be labor.  But as I got up and ate breakfast it just kept getting worse.  While I was up and about I would have what I thought was a contraction every three minutes, but it only lasted about 10 seconds each.  Something just didn't seem right about it so finally I called the hospital to get an opinion.  They said to just lay down on my left side, drink water, and see what happens.  Just as soon as I did that I was pretty convinced that I was in labor.  I was having contractions every 6-8 minutes that lasted 25 seconds.  I had Danny come home from work, finish packing the last minute stuff, and by the time I called the hospital again they were 5-7 minutes apart for 40-45 seconds.

We got to the hospital a little before 1:00 and I was 3-4 cm.  I told the nurse in triage that I was a wimp and wanted an epidural as soon as I could get one.  Once she admitted me, she asked if I wanted any meds through the IV because the anesthesiologist was going to be about an hour.  I said I thought I could handle one more hour, but somewhere between signing paperwork and the end of that hour, the contractions kicked it up another notch and the offer for those meds won out.  I got my epidural around 3:30 and I was around 4 1/2 cm.  And thus began our long afternoon and night in labor and delivery.

I made slow progress on my own for awhile and then kind of stalled out at 7 cm.  After a few hours of being there, they started a little pitocin but I still didn't get much past a 7.  I started questioning the c-section again but they assured me I would have to go like that for hours before they took me to surgery.  The nurse sat me upright to try and get a little help from gravity and it worked!  Within a few more hours I was ready to push.  When the nurse came in, my contractions were just what she wanted them to be.  But once I started pushing, they slowed down a little.  I spent an hour and a half pushing with the nurse- I would have about 4 contractions to push through, and then stop and wait for awhile.  Finally we were ready for the doctor to come in, but she was in the room next door with a girl who was in a race against me and had started pushing just a few minutes before I did.  The doctor had to decide who to take and who to have wait and, well, she had me wait.  

I had about another half hour with the doctor, during which time I started feeling nauseous.  Danny was put on barf bucket duty (poor guy) and it was a good thing he was there!  All the water and three cups of jello I had throughout the night came up.  Yuck!  But every time I heaved the doctor said "this is working- she's coming!" so maybe it was worth it:)  One more giant push after throwing up and she was here!  She had meconium and had ingested quite a bit of fluid in the womb so they had the NICU in the room in case she came out not breathing.  Which was the case.  It only lasted about 30 seconds but then she required about 10 minutes of deep suctioning.  I was pretty out of it still and getting stitched up, but Danny said it was pretty tense for awhile while they were getting her to respond.  Thankfully they got her going and she didn't ever have to go the the NICU.  

The doctor had guessed she would be around 8 pounds, but she was only 7 lbs 1 oz!  I was okay with that- I like itty bitties:)  She had a terrible cone head at first!  We say this is her ogre picture because her facial expression and cone head are so bad.  Danny said he'll show this to her when she's a teenage girl who feels ugly and she'll feel better about herself:) 

My first few minutes with my sweet baby girl.

Daddy taking his turn- he was smitten!

Our family of three:)

All clean and fresh after bath time!  I could have sat and smelled her all night long:)

Burrito baby!  There's not very good lighting in this picture, but I wanted a good non-cone head shot!

And that marks the beginning of our sweet Summer Danielle.  We sure do love her!

And So We Wait...

* Tomorrow I'll be at 39 weeks!  We have everything as ready as we can and now it's just a matter of waiting until baby girl makes her debut.  I posted pictures of the nursery on facebook and said how we were ready.  Someone commented "That's so cute.  You think you're ready!"  Which really made me laugh out loud because I know that we probably have no idea what we're getting into!  So I guess by saying we're ready, I really mean we're anticipating.  And excited!  I'm making slow progress but the doctor thinks I'll still be around for my next scheduled appointment on Wednesday.  Things can change in a hurry though- only God knows when things will happen!  But in the meantime...

* We have had many house guests in the form of ants the last few weeks.  At one point there were literally hundreds crawling in a nice organized line aaaaallllllllllll the way across the kitchen floor.  And they just kept coming!  Someone suggested putting down a line of cinnamon where they were coming in, and since I had cinnamon on hand, I did.  I might have gone a little overboard, making more of a mountain than a line, but I was feeling a little desperate!  And sure enough, they quit coming in!  But I figured it was just a matter of time before we started seeing them again, and I was right.  A lot of people suggested using Terro, and so far it seems to be a great suggestion!  I don't think we're completely over the ant problem yet but after just a few days of using Terro, I'm only seeing a few stray ants around.  Which makes me very happy!  The thing is, I think ants are amazing creatures.  Just not when they swarm my kitchen!  And so I couldn't help but inwardly shake my head and narrow my eyes a little bit the other night in church when the minister started talking about them!

* We've been trying to enjoy this last bit of time together before we become a family of three.  We've gone out on a couple of dates in the last month, trying new places we've never eaten.  One night we just started googling restaurants in Ft. Wayne that neither one of us had ever tried, and we decided on Dash In, which is downtown.  It was really good!  And while we were there we saw Pint and Slice right next door (or maybe it's Slice and Pint- I can't remember) and thought it looked like a good place to try sometime.  A few days later one of Danny's co-workers just happened to mention that was his favorite pizza in Ft. Wayne, so then next time we went to Ft. Wayne, that's where we ate!  And he was right- it was goooooood stuff!  Today I picked up Danny from work and we went to Bummie's for lunch.  Now, don't get me wrong- it's good food.  And it's a fun place to go.  But having not grown up here, I don't share the same sentiments with most of you who grew up going there and just LOVE the place.  So no, I don't quite get the hype.  But I do have that feeling about places and things that I grew up with so I guess it's okay if you think it's just the best thing ever.  And maybe someday I'll have kids that feel the same way:)  But anyway, while we were sitting there eating, I realized my shirt had completely ridden up and my belly was hanging out.  Nothing makes you feel more attractive than stuffing your face with a greasy corn dog while your belly hangs out!

* My parents, and maybe my grandma, are coming out for a visit tonight and tomorrow.  They won't even be here 24 hours because they have to get back to host family for Mother's Day.  But my dad decided he wanted to see me pregnant one more time.  So even though they'll likely be coming back out again in the very near future, they're making the trip!  It will be short but sweet!

* And that's all for now.  Hopefully the next post will be to introduce our baby!

The Countdown Is On!

We are at 35 weeks, folks!  Actually, according to my own calculations and those of the ultrasound tech at the local hospital, I would say 36.  But my doctor and the ultrasound tech at her office say 35.  So we'll see!  It really could just be wishful thinking on my part because I am definitely to the point where I feel every bit as preggo as I look!  I really can't complain, though.  I haven't had any complications, the aches I feel are nothing out of the ordinary, and I can still pretty much do all my normal activities.  Granted, there's usually some grunting and heave-ho involved (getting out of bed or tying shoes, anyone??) but we manage!

Last Saturday we had our "preparation for childbirth" class.  Both of us enjoyed it and felt it was beneficial.  For me it helped ease a little anxiety.  Key word being little.  I'm pretty nervous about labor pains.  I feel kind of dumb to admit it, but I'm more nervous about that than I am the thought of having to have a c-section!  Not that I want a c-section.  Not if it can be helped.  But I am such a wimp when it comes to pain.  I am ALL ABOUT the epidural- sign me up!!  However, I found myself telling Danny after the class that it made me ALMOST feel confident enough to ALMOST consider trying to go natural.

And then we laughed and said "yeah right" and moved on with our day.  

I know that all you ladies out there who did it without are probably looking at me and thinking how pitiful I am:)  Okay not really, but maybe kinda a little bit you are!  And I know there's a chance that for some reason or another the epidural won't happen, so I can't bank on it.  If that's the case, so be it.  I will survive.  I hope.  I know it's been done for years and years without and I know that plenty of girls nowadays still chose to forgo it.  But for me?  If I have any control over it, it will happen.

Other than that, we are just plain excited!  Anxious to meet baby girl all while trying to enjoy just being a couple while we still can.  And for me- trying to just trust God and not dwell on the fact that sometimes things happen and there's always the chance we could come home with empty arms.  And trusting is all I can do, knowing that He loves this baby more than we ever can, and knowing that He really does have complete control.

Oh- and I'm getting ready to go garage saling with a purpose!  I've never been a garage sale person and if I do stop by one, I wander aimlessly and remember why I don't usually go.  But this year I'm planning to look at the sales advertised and choose accordingly.  Baby girl clothes and baby items?  Count me in!  I went to one yesterday and had good success, so for the first time in my life, I'm excited for garage sale weekend:)

And for the sake of those who think I should post a picture, (ahem... Boni!!) here you go!