last few weeks

So I just got back from the maternity store, where I purchased two more shirts. I told myself, and Wade that I was done buying clothes, even though I was running out of things that were comfortable, that fit, and were the right season. However, I did it and bought two tee-shirts. I think most of you who read this will agree, that maternity clothes are such a rip off for the amount of time that you wear them.

Oh well, when I made the comment last night that I wasn't going to buy any more shirts, Wade said "Uh, if you really need to, I think you should." I think this is his secret code-nice husbandly way of saying "I don't think you look that cute in my big tee-shirts and sweats, so please go buy something cute"

I know I don't look huge in the picture, but I am - I am feeling it anyway. I know the baby is just as uncomfortable too - he kicks and squirms all the time - maybe this means he will want to come out faster.

At the most I only have 7 weeks left, I had Gage two weeks early, so that means it could be five! I've got my list of things to do before he gets here and I'm working on crossing things off every day. I washed all his clothes and got to fold them up and put them away. I always think folding the tiny baby clothes is fun....I know, I'm strange. We've also got the name narrowed down - but we aren't telling, so don't ask - it's just a few more weeks till we get to meet the little guy!

Podiatric Update

WOO HOO!!!
Eight weeks later – Wade is now free of all pins in his foot and can walk! He is supposed to use a walking cast for the next week but then he can move to just regular shoes. He is very happy and says he can walk without pain! Surprisingly enough he said it didn’t hurt at all when they pulled the pins from his foot, the Dr. said he might feel some pressure, or a pinch, but he didn’t feel either.

For those with weaker stomachs, this a smaller picture of what the pins looked like on Sunday…..the version of what they looked like the week of the surgery is much more graphic.



Now the only person with a “foreign object” attached to their body is me, and I only have 6 or 7 more weeks to go!

Boys

After Wade got home yesterday we went to Target and bought Gage a new John Deere Tractor, they were both so excited to play with it when we got home that Gage went to bed a little late. Wade had laid down on the floor and the next thing you know, Gage was trying to lay down in the same position, mimicking everything that Wade was doing. All I could think was, "I am soo excited that I'm having another boy!" Here is my top ten list why:

1. 96 cent matchbox cars make their day…and sometimes save yours.
2. Give them dirt and a container, that is all they will need for at least an hour.
3. You can teach them to open doors for you.
4. They mimic everything their daddy does (and you married your spouse for a reason!).
5. I don’t have to buy frilly hair things and it's ok if they have a little dirt on their face.
6. I’m the princess in my house, and I have a wand to prove it.
7. You can send them to bed in just shorts...see pictures posted earlier to prove how cute this really is!
8. You can drive as slow as you want through construction zones knowing your kid won’t start screaming….maybe only when the construction ends and you have to leave will they scream.
9. I never have to share scrapbook supplies, make-up, or clothes.
10. I’ll never have to mow a lawn...ok, I might, but I’m really hoping by the time we have a lawn to mow some male in my house will be old enough or have enough time to do it for me. (I hope that Wade reads today!)

Where the wild things are

Apparently, they are in our backyard!

So Wade and I always had a garden plot at the UofU and when we moved here we thought we still could try to grow a few things in pots. Back in the spring we planted tomatoes and green peppers inside and started out from seeds. Gage has had a great time each time we've had to re-plant because he gets to play in the dirt.

Well, we knew that the plants weren't doing to hot. Mostly, I knew it was because I hadn't kept up on watering them very well, but sometimes I would blame it on the fact that the humming of I-80 behind our house doesn't offer a nice quiet spot for the plants to grow....I know, excuses, excuses.

Last week, we found out the real reason our plants are dying....the wild things called caterpillars. I’m not talking nice small caterpillars, these are mondo HUGE ones. Wade found 2 last week and "disposed" of them somehow. Then on Sunday he found a few more. He suggested that we could keep them in a container and see what they would turn into, but then he said they would probably just be moths, and seeing that I really don't want any crazy bugs in my house that idea was shot down and he had to "dispose" of a few more.

I guess we aren't that good at gardening in pots and will have to wait until we can actually plant in the soil. I haven't decided if it's worth trying again next year. Unless anyone has suggestions on how to grow a caterpillar free tomato garden in Iowa.
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A picture from last week:

I finally downloaded the pictures from the "Field of Hope" I blogged about last week. I had to laugh at the timing in this one....can anyone see Gage?

A year ago today, well, kinda...

I just got off the phone with one of my friends whom I am babysitting for today so she can attend her husband's white coat ceremony. It made me start thinking I can't believe it's been a year since I was going to Wade's ceremony. This year has gone by so fast and been really great, but man, I'm glad it's over. Some of the highlights include:

We got to move to our awesome new apartment and meet all our new friends who are great. It's not the U of U "courts" but it works and we really like it here.

No more anatomy flash cards with Wade; at least until lower limb anatomy next semester. Hopefully bones in the foot and ankle are easier to read - I had the hardest time sometimes really knowing if he got them right or not!

Iowa isn't all about corn - I think I've blogged enough about Iowa for you all to know that I like it here.

We got a wonderful summer off and had lots of free time to spend with Wade and take family vacations.

I got to play the patient and make up crazy illnesses when Wade had to practice for his student/patient assessment class...plus when he would leave the morning he had his turn in clinic he got to put on his white coat and LOOK like the Dr....which by the way suits him and makes him very handsome!

I never thought coming into school that I would have time for hobbies, but I have read the whole Harry Potter Series, Children of the Promise series, the BofM 1 1/2 times, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, plus so many more. I also got to go scrapbooking with friends almost every week.

Gage has adjusted just fine and now can wave goodbye to Wade each morning and then we can close the front door without a melt-down. When he asks where Daddy is each afternoon I can tell him he is at school and he is ok with that...for a while I was wondering if he would ever adjust to being without his Dad!

It's been fun, crazy and busy, but it's been worth it. We are already 2 months into our second year and we are surviving. The weeks fly by, even when I think we don't have much to do, and from what I hear, in November when I have our little one, the days will fly by even faster!

SIDE NOTE: Wade is totally going to think I'm nuts for putting this picture on the blog, but I love it! He hates all "ceremonial" type things, so to him that whole white coat thing wasn't all that fun. He put up with it because he had to, and the picture proves he put up with his scrapbooking wife too! I guess it shows he must really love me:)

Life comes at you fast...

So life’s been getting the best of me lately and I apologize for not posting this week. We’ve been pretty busy, but in our case busy is good. Monday night for family night we went to the Iowa Field of Hope (not to be confused with the Field of Dreams…which, by the way, is here in Iowa). This was a memorial for September 11th, and had flags for each person that left us that day. There was a band playing patriotic songs, which of course was Gage’s favorite part of the whole event. It was a pretty good site to go see – but a soggy field and crutches made it a messy/hard thing for poor Wade. I have some pictures, but I don’t feel like bending down to the floor to plug the camera into the computer right now, so sorry….the pregnant belly wins!

Which brings me to Wade…he went on Monday and found out that he can’t get the pins out of his foot for 2 more weeks. The Dr. did say that he could start to put some weight on it and stop using the crutches, but apparently that hurts too much so he still uses them. He was pretty disappointed – mostly because they hurt and he’s uncomfortable, but also because he wanted to play in a Podiatry student golf tournament that is coming up and now he had to drop the team.

Gage is keeping me on my toes this week…a nap or no nap that is the question. This week I decided to try not giving him naps, but most days he would fall asleep on the couch, and then I would end up falling asleep, so we would end up both haven taken naps. Since I had something Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday night this week I let Wade take on the bedtime ritual and I guess it’s alright that he plays in his room and kicks the walls for an hour before falling asleep.

I have under 9 weeks left until the baby gets here, so we are all pretty excited for that to happen! I was induced with Gage at 38 weeks, and that would be REALLY nice if they would let me go a little early with this one as well. We’ll see. I’m excited to meet the little guy, but not excited to start those sleepless nights again.

So…Sorry this blog is just about “life” but I’ve been uninspired to write about anything else this week and I thought I should at least post something. Maybe this weekend will spark some motivation in me!

Quiz

Check out my quiz (thanks for the cute idea Kelly). Hope no one fails!

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Library Success

This morning I took Gage to a toddler story time at the West Des Moines Library. It’s a four week program that I registered him for, but let me tell you, I was a little hesitant. We have tried it before – and we have never had a successful trip.

Today, however, was.

Now starts the bragging, so feel free to stop reading at anytime, but I feel justified in this – especially since no Grandma was there to witness and brag for me.

Now, let me start by saying, if you know me, you can guess that Gage has been going to the library, since in utro – and I’m not kidding. I’ve taken him every week since he was just a few weeks old. I always thought it would be good for him and hoped that someday it would rub off on him and he would learn to share my love for books. Plus, I realize I’m just a geek that way, and love my local libraries. Some of our first year trips were not successful…I distinctly remember a few times I would be standing in the “help your fussy baby” “your challenging child” “stop your baby’s cries” (you get the idea) section and Gage would be out of control screaming.

Needless to say there has been lost of improvement in the past 2 ½ years. Since you have to be 18 months to be in story time, I couldn’t wait to get him registered last fall. Then I took him and he never seemed to like it – or stay longer than 30 seconds. This year however, I have found library success! I know this sounds really corny, but I was so excited that he liked story time.

We left today with 3 books – and 3 movies, we are still working on getting fewer movies than books, but I’m just glad he liked it. Maybe there’s still a chance I can make a book lover out of him.

(Now watch, because I posted this, he will refuse to go to anymore story times! Let’s keep our fingers crossed!”

Baby Adventures

I was eating lunch with a friend today and her new baby was being a little fussy. She calmly told me, “She’s ok, didn’t Gage every just have fussy times of the day…..” then she paused, we looked at each other then we both bust out laughing. She didn’t even know us Gage’s first year, but has heard about how challenging his first year was. I just thought that was just about the funniest comment anyone has ever said to me.

That being said, I think I am getting excited for this next baby to get here. Maybe it has something to with me being 30 weeks – (I had Gage at 38, which means maybe only 8 to go this time!). My nesting instincts have kicked in and I’m organizing and reorganizing all kinds of things in our house. I just can’t seem to get it all where I want it. Ohhh, wait, maybe it’s because after I put it away, my 2 year old comes and puts it where he wants it.

I’m not that nervous that this baby will be as fussy as Gage was. Gage is a really good kid now and I think he will be really excited to have a baby brother around. This morning he came up to me and our conversation when something like this:

“Mama, baby have owie on ear”
“Gage, the baby has an owie on his ear? The baby in mommy’s tummy??”
“Uh huh”
Then Gage ran up stairs. He quickly returned with a Kleenex, wiped my tummy and said,
“Baby owie all better” Then he threw the tissue away and continued playing.

We took this picture one day when Gage’s tantrums were in full swing and he had worked his way out of his pj’s. At least if this baby is as “spirited” as Gage was, I will be prepared for it and besides, this time Gage can always get the Kleenex for me and wipe the babies ears?!?

It will be fun, isn't it all just part of the adventure?

This is how I found Gage last night when I went in to check on him. I laughed so hard I had to leave the room. I told Wade to go in and he was laughing so much he had to leave the room. I just had to post this picture.

Farmer's Market

Saturdays around the Christiansen household seem to be my hardest day of the week. I understand the whole wife-of-the-medical-student thing, but by Saturday I just am tired and can’t think of many creative things to do. It also seems like all my friends husbands are home on Saturday so Gage and I are left to look at each other…it’s a good thing I think he is cute!

So as usual this morning Wade left the house around 8 and left Gage and I sitting looking at each other. Then I remembered that the Downtown Des Moines Farmer’s Market is on Saturdays, so we got ready and headed downtown.

Now, don’t get me wrong, this Farmer’s Market still falls short of Pike Street in Seattle, I really don’t think anything can compare to that market. However, it was a pretty fun place to be. We walked around an hour and still didn’t see everything there was to see. We bought corn, grapes, squash and I wanted to buy more! He is really big into watching bands play right now, so there was so great entertainment for his down there as well.

I couldn’t get to my camera fast enough when we got home, because for lunch he just insisted on eating corn on the cob and it sure was cute to watch him do this. He had butter all over his face and corn everywhere, but he loved it and ate it all. Sadly, this picture isn’t even showing produce from the market, it’s Gage eating the tomatoes we’ve been growing in our backyard.

I always told Wade I thought it would be fun to go to medical school in the south so our kids could grow up saying “Daaadddy, Daaaadddy” (can you hear the southern accent). However, I’m reconsidering that, I love it here. Gage not only knows what a John Deere is, he knows the difference between a soy bean field and a corn field. And next time I will have my camera ready when he eats corn on the cob!

My Obsession

So this is going to come off like a total advertisement, but I worked in marketing and I’ll tell you up front, I’m not trying to be subtle, I am trying to sell you this book, I think it is great.

As I posted yesterday I was really excited to go to scrapbook night. DMU has a spouse significant other club called SAA and we have mini groups inside SAA, one of which is a scrapbook group. We meet 2 times a month and scrap and I totally love it. Mostly because I have an excuse to scrapbook, but also because I love being with other girls who have to scrapbook on a budget like me – it is just the best group ever.

Last night before scrapbook I went with a friend to Archiver’s a scrapbook chain here in the Midwest. It is also one of my links and one of my favorite stores ever – in all seriousness, Wade has been there with me and HE even admits it a very nice scrapbook store. Anyhow, I went there and used a coupon I had been saving and bought this book by Becky Higgins.

I haven’t owned this book for even 24 hours, but…IT IS THE BEST BOOK EVER, EVERY SCRAPBOOKER NEEDS IT!

I finished 2 double pages last night and I love this book. You find how many pictures you want to use, look up the sketches of the layouts you can use and then put your pictures and own creativity to the page. I know, maybe this takes some of the fun out of it, but when I am looking at 100 pictures from Washington DC and want to get them done, what is a girl to do?

Anyway, so of you who believe scrapbooking is “crapbooking” (Erica, Erica, Erica) I testify to you that this book will change your mind. You will have to buy your own though, I believe I will be busy with mine for a while!