Highschool Football

Jon's cousin Charlie is a Senior at Lakeville North HS and is a rather good football player. In fact, Lakeville has been doing pretty fantastic this season. We have been able to take in a few of his games, which I love because it reminds me of all the fun I used to have with my friends under the Friday night lights at good ol' Appleton West. There is Charlie #8, who was named to the to the 1st Team all Metro by the Star Tribune as a wide receiver. Pretty Awesome.

Road Trip

This weekend we ventured down to SunPrairie to visit Holly, Jason, and Maddox while the weather was nice and we were still a family of 3. Brad and Maddox had a fun weekend playing together... although hard to share at times, they get along great.

Chasing eachother around the yard and hitting the baseball was definitely a higlight of Saturday morning.

On Saturday afternoon Amy & Cale and Carrie & Bailey stopped over to play as well. Bailey is the oldest as she turned 2 in May, Maddox turned 2 in June, and both Brad and Cale turn 2 in November. Another fun note is that Amy, Carrie and I are all pregnant again and due between January and February.

Kristen's Wedding

This weekend we attended one of my co-workers weddings... Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Trask!

Seattle

This week we took a trip to Seattle... the original purpose of our trip changed, but still it was a great time to get away with the extended family. Janelle still lives in Seattle, Melonie & Tom came from Alaska, Mark, Melissa & the girls came from Missouri, then Grandma, Grandpa, Michael, Jennifer, Bob, Valerie, Joel, Betty, Jon, Brad, and I all came from Minnesota. This was a trip of many firsts for travel for mister Brad and all in one day too. First ride in a taxi, first ride on a bus, first ride on an airplane, and first ride on a ferry.Brad did so well on the plane and as I thought the timing of the flight was PERFECT to fit into his schedule. We got on the plane, took off, ate some lunch, he fell asleep for about an hour, played a little bit on the plane, then descended into Seattle. Not much time in there for any tantrums. YEAH! The other good thing was that we got Brad his own seat, so we brought his car seat on the plane. I think this was the key as it was almost just like a car ride to Appleton, except he got up to play a little in the middle of the flight. Besides there not being many kids toys, the house we stayed at was perfect for us to stay at. The kids loved chasing each other around the house and playing outside. One of the exciting things was there were a few deer that would venture into the yard during the day. The kids could watch from this big window in the back, even bang on the window, and the deer didn't seem to mind. In the front of the house there was this adorable red bus stop shelter... kind of like a play house for these kids (including Jon). Saturday morning while a majority of the group was off salmon fishing in the sound, Melissa and I took the kids to a fun park to let them burn off some energy. The park had this huge wooden castle like structure with slides, tubes, swings, and a variety of things to climb on. It was awesome.

As we were playing I noticed this building in the middle of the park that had the front doors open, so due to my curiosity we went to check it out. It happened to be a kids gym that had open gym for $5 a child. We took full advantage of this as well. Emma, Brad, and Adrian loved the mats, bars, and trampolines. They could bounce off almost everything and not get hurt so it was perfect! Saturday night we got together with the FULL family at the other house on the water to feast on freshly caught salmon. It was sooo good. Again, not many kids toys... so dirt and a bucket will do :)One of the days we ventured back over on the ferry to downtown Seattle to take in the city life. We stopped at a variety of shops, especially a coffee shop, and then hit up the farmer's market! We had all been there before, but with all the activity going on there is so much to look at! This is how we roll these days....Overall it was a busy & chaotic vacation, but we had an excellent time on our adventure!

20 Weeks

This week was another milestone for baby, we hit our half way point at 20 weeks. This also means we get another peek at Weblet #2. This little one is sure a mover and shaker... it was squirming all over the place the U/S tech had a hard time getting measurements and pictures. She said that if the Dr. wanted more pictures there would be a good chance we would be coming back within the next few weeks. Weblet's head was down and backwards so we did not get a nice profile picture. Guess he/she is camera shy.

Well, later that night I went to my standard check up with the Dr. and she said the photos they did get of Weblet's legs gave her some concern, in addition they could not see the stomach which it typically filled with fluid. She said I would have to get a level 2 ultrasound at the Maternal Fetal Medicine ward at the hospital. Good thing we live in an area with an awesome and abundance hospital system. I was able to get in the next day for the level 2.

This U/S tech again took all the measurements, which she was able to get many of right away because Weblet was sleeping. But once he/she woke up... it was time to move again!

What the level 2 ultrasound showed eased our minds a little. This time we could clearly see the stomach filled with fluid, which is good because that ruled out a variety of other potential issues. The one thing she did confirm was that our little Weblet has club feet. What this means is instead of the ankle/foot having a nice 90 degree angle, Weblet's feet are pointed inward. The good thing was that all other measurements and body parts looked just fine. Club feet is a birth defect that can easily be treated and manipulated as the child grows so their legs/feet turn back to a completely normal position. It usually involves casting of the legs/feet starting within the first week or so of birth. So all in all we know we will have some additional things to work through after Weblet's born, but as long as everything else is looking healthy we are happy.

Did I mention that with a level 2 ultrasound, you get 3D/4D pictures!

Weblet again was down and backward for most of the appointment and when he/she turned around it was hiding first behind the umbilical cord and then his/her arm. Little stinker.

I think Weblet#2 looks like Brad did when he was a baby.

Another little comparison...

week 20 (2009)

Week 20 (2011)

New office space

Over the past 4 months I have been a part of the moving process for our new office. Three other ladies and I helped design, furnish, decorate, organize, etc our move from a small 1st floor suite to a now very beautiful 6th floor suite. Our company moved its corporate headquarters from Dallas to Minneapolis this year and in the process have hired 20 people since February and thus some additional space was necessary. Here are a few photos of our handy work.

The kitchen.. w/o the tables. There are a few things we are still waiting on. A Conference room...The quiet room... aka mothers roomAn Office... Another conference room...Central office...Receptionist/lobby area...Main board room...