Ten Amazing Years!

Friday was our 10-year anniversary, and we celebrated by going out to dinner with my parents at Trio after our work-out. Thanks to everyone who has been a part of our lives during this decade (15-years if you count the time we were dating). Your love and support has meant so much to us. Mostly I want to thank Jake for being a wonderful husband and father! I love you so much! Most years we haven't exchanged gifts, but I felt inspired and got him a metal bucket with ten of his favorite drinks - tin is the traditional gift for ten years of marriage.

Other fun activities for the weekend: a visit to see the dinosaurs at the Museum of Natural History - Kennedy has been begging to go for weeks now; watching our friend, Jake, play football in the rain with the Cache Valley Bears; geocaching and playground time; and Easter dinner at "The Club!", but that deserves its own post.

Easter Eggs

Here is Kennedy’s first egg dyeing experience. She liked choosing which color to put the eggs in, but her favorite part seemed to be putting on stickers once they were dry. These are just going to be for eating. We’ll stick to hiding the plastic ones. This is now one of her favorite games, thanks to the egg hunt experience she had with her cousins at Grandma Sue’s a few weeks ago. We’ve been hiding eggs all over the house for her to find and put in her basket. Sometimes she refuses to leave the room while they are being hidden, other times she wants to do the hiding, but it’s always exciting to see her face light up with each discovery.

Time with Grandma Sue

Kennedy spent Thursday and Friday with Grandma Sue. She kindly offered to watch her so that we didn't have to take time off from work. I'm saving all my sick and vacation time for maternity leave and Grammie and Pampy are visiting Andy and Meg in Washington. Kennedy did so well after the surgery that she probably could have gone to school on Thursday, but spending alone time with Grandma Sue is a special treat for her! Usually Grandma Sue's attention (and toys) have to be shared with Eliza and Huck. They went to Home Depot and to lunch with Aunt JoAnn at Paradise Bakery. They also put together puzzles, read books, had a tea party, and played with playdough...but no nap either day. Friday they also went to The Little Gym. There was just too much fun being had!

Grandma Sue bought Kennedy this cute tutu, which she calls her "fancy dress". She had to wear it on all of the errands they went on - it's a big hit! Thanks again Grandma Sue. We hope it was as much fun for you as it was for Kennedy!  

Ear Tubes for Kennedy

Yesterday Kennedy had surgery to put tubes in her ears. She has had problems with ear infections since starting school in January, so when we met with the specialist last week he said that she is a good candidate. We wasted no time in scheduling the procedure – it’s both better for her and for us not to delay this.

Daddy had an important project meeting at work, so Grammie met us at Primary Children’s for Kennedy’s 8:00 am check-in. The toys were a great distraction from not being able to eat or drink anything since the night before. There were a few issues with sharing things with the other kids, but overall Kennedy did really well. They got her checked in, took her stats, discussed the surgery and anesthesia with us, and before we knew it she was being wheeled away in a wagon by Dr. Long and Dr. Hill - both former colleagues and friends of Jake’s dad and I learned that Dr. Hill lived across the street from my parents when I was growing up. She was a great patient, very agreeable and not at all afraid. This is a girl who actually asks if she can go to the doctor!

The surgery took about 15-minutes total. We barely had time to get settled in the waiting room before they called us to come back to recovery. She was unhappy for a bit, but did so much better coming out of the anesthesia than last time. She got to snuggle in mama’s lap with two blankets and her friends from home, Elmo and Cookie, drink some juice, eat a popsicle, and watch Super Why on tv – what could be better? On the way home she cried because she didn’t get a sticker, but then she was asleep in the car seat before we made it to the freeway.

The nap didn’t last long because as soon as I tried to put her in bed at home, she was wide awake and wanted to sit in my lap. We watched the old favorite “Farm Movie” and then she was ready for something more exciting. Daddy came home and we all colored, had a tea party, read stories, ate lunch, and played ring around the rosies in the kitchen…but still no nap. Finally I took her on an errand to Babies R Us and she fell asleep in the shopping cart just as we were checking out. It’s amazing how well she is doing. We had a great night and she woke up today and seemed totally back to normal. Hopefully this will make all the difference for her!

I forgot to bring the camera, but Grammie took pictures with her phone. Stay tuned for photos.

Date Night

Jake and I went out to a wonderful dinner at Franck's to celebrate our upcoming anniversary (April 10th) and baby (April 18th?). We decided on a splurge night (diabetic diet out the window!) and had some amazing food. We shared a wild mushroom tart for an appetizer. For the next course I had a salad and Jake had cauliflower, green tea and white chocolate soup! What an unusual combination, but it really worked together. Our entrees were salmon for me and duck for him - both delicious and the sauces, which the restaurant is known for, were so good! Finally we ended the meal by sharing a butterscotch chocolate pudding. Yum! When we left, the valet was pulling up with our car before we even reached the parking lot. I’m definitely impressed with this place, and would recommend it as long as you know that the dining room is small and a bit noisy, and be prepared to spend some time and money on the experience.

Thanks to my parents for making this night possible - treating us to this gourmet meal and letting Kennedy spend the night!!! I'll get my dad to send me the pictures he took of us before we left and post them. It's certainly not every weekend that we get dressed up to go out.

The Final Countdown

I can hear the cheesy 1980s rock song by the band Europe playing now, "It's the final countdown..." I start my weekly prenatal appointments next week! Less than a month to go and the end is in sight. Please enter your guess of her birth day, time, weight and length in the pool (link on the right of the blog or click on the title of this post).

We had a non-stress test (NST) and an ultrasound today, and the doctor estimates that Macy is just barely over 6 pounds (about 35th percentile) and still has lots of hair! She seems to be doing really well. Jake and I got to see her “practice” breathing, my fluid levels are great, and her heart rate did all the things that they needed to see. I’ll be doing a NST weekly until the delivery. It’s kind of relaxing to lie there for 30 minutes listening to her heartbeat. This is just another “benefit” of having gestational diabetes – since everything is going so smoothly, I really do view it as a perk. Luckily I’m able to control my blood sugar with diet and exercise. Sticking to the special diet (it’s been hard giving up sweets, but I have found a few occasions to work them into the plan – birthday cake!) and finger poking four times a day are all so worth it to know that Macy is happy and healthy!

California Dreamin'

Kennedy and I spent the day together on Thursday - her school was closed, so I took the day off too. We took a nice trip to the zoo to enjoy the beautiful sunny day and we picked up grammy and grampy from the airport. They spent the week in Coronado with Mimi. Coronado and San Diego are some of my favorite places to visit. I have such wonderful memories of spending vacations there growing up, especially for the Fourth of July. Jake and I have also taken some fun trips there. Padres games, tour of the aircraft carrier USS Midway, Sea Port Village, the zoo, Balboa Park, Sea World, the beach!

Today it's snowing here, and I know we won't be taking a vacation like this anytime in the near future. That's ok, I'll look forward to the day when I can share these adventures with Kennedy and Macy.