Little Evie

On the bright side, and somewhat, I dunno, ironic? side some would say, my best friend Kathleen had her daughter on April 16th, 2008.

Evelyn "Evie" Elizabeth weighed in at 10 pounds, 5 and 3/4 ounces, measuring 21 inches.

Kathleen ended up having a c-section because her body just wasn't cooperating with such a large and healthy little girl.

We went up this weekend to Sandstone to see them and I have to say, Evie is absolutely ADORABLE. And so disgustingly good a baby you've NEVER seen. Seriously, she barely whimpered when she had gas - and she ate like a champ. I was just in awe! Kathleen joked that she was going to be a hellraiser when she hit 2 though... payback for being good the first couple of years. Tee hee hee.

Aunty Witchy has nicknamed her "Cheeks" because she had the most sweetest and pinchable little cheeks... That kid is lucky. :)

Kas and hubby were obviously tired and all, but doing well. After 8 years they finally have their first child and the glow hasn't worn off yet...as they are already planning for their second!

Blessings to the mothers of the world on this beautiful Sunday afternoon. :)

Good Weekend? Mine was!

We were SO FREAKING BUSY this weekend! It was INSANE!

Friday night I bit the bullet and said "Screw it!" to all the cooking implements that had no place to live in our kitchen. I enlisted Alli's help and we went through all the cabinets that had pots and pans I knew were just sitting there, unloved, and unused.

My kitchen is clean! I have places that now lovingly house new cookies sheets, new pizza pans, my new crock pot and toaster from Kathleen, and ....well, I didn't quite get to the cabinet that houses the rats' nest of tupperware, but was pleased with the results. Tupperware is a plan for next weekend, methinks.

Exhausted, I then headed upstairs and started packing for Sandstone. Alli tried to help. I know she did. But all she really did was play on our bed in the sheets and hide while I asked her every few minutes to go and get things to put in her bag - which she did - and then she'd hide back under the sheets. Silly girl. After the bags were packed, she realized it was time for bed and ran to brush her teeth.

She gets really excited when she knows we're going to visit Aunty Kathleen and Uncle Charlie - especially since Kathleen's been pregnant.

Saturday morning began bright and early with showers, getting dressed, grabbing breakfast and taking leave. We arrived at Kas's around 11am and chilled for a bit before destroying her living room.

No, really - she asked us to.
We helped her and Charlie move around their living room so they could put the changing table in there for the baby. Yes, it makes sense - their rooms are upstairs, but everything else is on the main level and really who wants to be running up and downstairs all day when you're already exhausted from being up all night?

Anyways...Dave and Charlie spent about an hour trying to figure out how to re-hook the cables up once the entertainment center had been moved. Pretty hilarious when neither man knows how it's supposed to go because it was Kathleen and I who just ripped the cables out and threw them on the couch. hee hee hee. We're evil. Diabolically so.

I cleaned their kitchen while the boys played with the TV- because that's the kind of friend I am; Kathleen's back was hurting so bad. I can't say I remember being nearly 6 months pregnant, but her body has certainly changed shape and she is still trying to do things that she used to, although her center of gravity has changed.

We went out to dinner - minus Charlie who's back hurt so badly he came home early from poker.
Kathleen, her mom Linda, Alli, Dave, and myself all had a lovely dinner at Tobie's - Dave had a 20 oz porterhouse steak. Gah! It made me glad that we don't really eat that much red meat, that he could enjoy the steak without guilt.

Sunday morning we snuck out, not wanting to wake them. Yes, we frequently sneak out when they are still asleep and let ourselves out. Hey, we have a key to their house, we're allowed. *L*

We headed over to my parents' house and Alli was deluged with pressies while my brother Alex gave us his old Nintendo 64 and talked alot about moving in with us this summer, and going to Le Cordon Bleu in Mendota Heights which is about 25 minutes from where we live.
Think he was trying to buy us off a bit? Alex even pulled out his Guitar Hero 3 and let us crank on that for a bit. I have pictures I'll post later; it was pretty funny. :)

A good weekend. And now...I'll just watch some Keith Olbermann and chill with my honey.
Make it a good week everyone!

Baby News

No, I'm not pregnant, yet. But Kathleen is! Having now passed her 22 week, they were able to do an ultrasound and determine that the doctor says Kas is having a .... are you ready?

*drumroll*


GIRL!


Yes, Charlie was a bit disappointed at first, but he's definitely come around; Kathleen made sure of that.
Believe me, Aunty Witchy is going to be mighty involved. :)

And I just realized that my year is shaping up like this:

Jan-Feb: Plan Kathleen's Baby shower with her mother in law and mom
March: Kathleen's Baby Shower
April: Mine, Alli's and Kathleen's birthdays -
Late April/May: Baby due!
October: Bachelorette Party for me
November: Wedding!

Man, I'm gonna be pooped by the time we get married.

Gurgle gurgle....

My tummy isn't feeling so well this weekend. Either I'm prego or it's the cheesey egg hashbrown bake we made this morning. I have no excuse as to why my boobs hurt, unless it's just because my hormones are gearing up for me getting my period here in a few days. Still, I have some small hope....even as I tell myself at the same time that it'll happen when it's supposed to. (But I want it to happen NOW! WAHHH! *lol*)

Every time I talk to Kathleen on the phone, I offer up prayers of thanks to the Gods. Her pregnancy is progressing just as it should, and she and Charlie get more excited as the days go by. I just hope and pray for them that this is a successful pregnancy. :)

Work is work. Helping others daily. I don't hate going into work, but after a while, the tedium gets to me. The busy season is coming though soon, which means we'll have very little time to breathe, let alone worry.

Next weekend the girls and I are hitting the Twin Cities Bridal Association Wedding Fair. Yay! Yeah, even though I'm not so much traditional, as many of you know. I think if anyone would ask why we're going there, I would say "I heard there was cake!"

Kathleen is going to be driving up next Saturday morning and we'll hit Motherhood Maternity stores locally - Ridgedale Mall and Eden Prairie Center Mall both have locations. Apparently Motherhood Maternity has super cute clothes for the lovely pregnant woman. I can only hope I get to utilize those stores too.

It's funny. When I was prego with Alli nearly 7 years ago, they didn't have much for the pregnant woman out in the hicks. I have to wonder if Kathleen would have still found the Motherhood Maternity shop if she hadn't taken my advice and gotten internet access 3 years ago. heh.

Someone's Pregnant...and I'm borrowing her Fertility Monitor

Kathleen is FINALLY pregnant!! YAYYYYYYYYYYY!!! For the first time EVER, in her LIFE, she is prego.

Get it?

Prego! (It's in there.)

Okay, maybe you're too young if you don't get the Prego Spaghetti Sauce reference. Nevermind.

But yay!! So, she's due, funnily enough, at the end of April 2008. hehehe. Like we don't have enough going on in that month, what with MY birthday, Alli's birthday, Kathleen's birthday, Kathleen and Charlie's anniversary.... criminy! Let's just add another birthday in there for the heck of it. Why not?!

So we were talking the other night and she's decided that she's going to let me borrow her fertility monitor since she's pregnant (5 weeks officially ~ they were spreading the word on Monday). She's even giving me some of her pee strips - oh stoppit! They're UN-USED ones. Sheesh.

I think she's hoping I get prego here in the next couple weeks (Yay! I'm fertile the weekend before Alli starts school!) so she and I can share the experience of the nausea, the heartburn, backache, hemorrhoids, and horrendous gas together with a large dose of emotional rollercoaster of feelings on the side.

I have to wonder if we do, will we survive each other's crabbiness, bitchiness, and eating each other out of house and home? Keep you posted.

Circle of Life

So on Monday afternoon I got an email from Kathleen.

"OHMYGOD! I woke up this morning and I'm OVULATING! OHMYGOD I'm SHAKING!!"

I emailed her back with "I TOLD YOU SO! GET ON IT!!!"

She said that her and Charlie had been talking the night before, and they had kinda talked about how maybe her dad could give them a nudge in the right direction.... and then all the sudden, the next morning, to have her ovulating according to the Clear Blue Easy monitor.... Her mom, Linda definitely said it was a blessing, which it is.


So now, in the circle of life, where a death has occurred, so must a birth.

Believe me, we ALL needed to hear this good news, despite her saying earlier this month that she wouldn't tell anyone if she even ovulated. *l* We all just needed to know that good things can still happen.

So cross your fingers and toes. I'll start the baby blanket to get a head start. ;)

In Memory

Grandma Linda, Grandpa Gary, and Alli (about a year and a half ago)

Man Dies In Boating Accident Near Lake Sturgeon

(WCCO) A man is dead after a fatal boating accident on
Island Lake near Sturgeon Lake, Minn. Wednesday.

The accident happened around 4:30 p.m.Gerhardt Pfeifer, 64, of
Sandstone, Minn. was attempting to get water out of a boat by pulling the plug
and driving rapidly around the lake.

Witnesses said Pfeifer was driving around in circles very fast,
hit a wave and was thrown into the water.

One witness got into a pontoon and went out to try to save
Pfeifer, but was unable to bring him up on the boat by himself. He held Pfeifer
above water until help arrived.Once on the pontoon, CPR was performed and
Pfeifer was brought to shore where an ambulance was waiting.

He was immediately transported to Mercy Hospital in Moose Lake
where he was pronounced dead.Pfeifer was not wearing a life jacket at the time
of the accident.

What they didn't tell you is that he was my best friend's dad and she and Charlie and his wife saw the whole thing happen. And that it was Charlie & Kathleen's boat that he flipped accidentally, causing him to fall out and drown. Because, despite his 20 some years in the military as a medic and then later as a Physicians Assistant, and later, his service at the Federal Correctional Institution and Duluth Camp, he didn't know how to swim.

If you know me, I've told you what happened. I've told you how I had the dubious honor of driving Linda, Kathleen, and her grandmother Margie in the very van that Gary had helped me pick out 5-6 months ago....never knowing that I would one day be driving behind the hearse that carried his body.

At one point, Kathleen asked how fast I was going. The hearse kept slowing down and speeding up as it followed the firetruck escorting us. Kathleen laughed and said it was just as Dad drove; he would never set the cruise.

I laughed and said "I don't know about you guys, but I think it'd be kinda rude to pass a hearse..." and Kathleen chimed in with "....and flip him off as you go!" So for a moment of time, giggles filled the van from all of us. And then we remembered why we were there.

Gary was what I imagined my dad would be if he was still around. He was a good man, a wonderful dad, and a fantastic grandfather. He and Linda always treated Alli and I as one of their own - and they still have. It was a long and harrowing weekend.

When Kathleen called she was hysterical and Dave couldn't get a word out. I called her from where I was, and then she passed the phone to Charlie who asked, "How soon can you get here?"

We drove up to Sandstone on Wednesday night and clustered with the other gathered peoples - family and some friends. Thursday was a blur. Friday was the wake, with the funeral on Saturday.

Alli cried. She wasn't scared by Gary's body in the casket. She was sad. She knew he'd never be around to play horsey with her and Dillon again, not tease her again about bugs, or be around to fix her bike tires and watch her play in the playhouse. No more Grandpa Gary.

Maybe I'll talk about this more later. Maybe I won't. I was there and present for the family all weekend. I think now is my time to finish grieving in private.

Babies

These days right now it seems like everyone I know knows someone who is pregnant or has just given birth....or is about to!

My best friend, Kathleen, and her husband Charlie have gone through multiple resources trying to get pregnant. Kathleen has PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome) and has been steadily losing weight on her own for the last year in the hopes it would have a drastically good effect on her fertility.

This month, in precisely 10 days, she *should* begin to ovulate with the assistance of Femara.

And the bitch won't tell me if she does or doesn't ovulate until mid July. ARRRGHHHH! Seriously, I am THE WORST PERSON to wait for surprises!

According to one study she and I found online, nearly 3/4 of all women placed on Femara to encourage fertility conceive within 3 months and carry to term. Wow. Considering this is the first real infertility medication that her new doc has prescribed, I'm astounded and can't WAIT for the outcome! :) As I keep telling her, now that she has a doc that will actually listen to her and work with her on how to conceive, this medication is just the first step in a long line of many that she can try before ever having to touch artificial insemination or in vitro.

So everyone... cross your fingers and toes for Kas & Charlie. They've been married 6 years and trying that entire time. If anyone would be awesome parents it'd be them for sure!


And speaking of my own baby front.... Yeah? See that ticker up there? It says 2 months. Really, it's fibbing a bit. I decided to go with 6 cycles - because by the end of the 6th cycle I have a doc appt with my Hematologist, Dr. Weinshel, and he can give me the all clear-go ahead when I see him July 19th (I think!). Yay.

The other night Kathleen and I were kidding around... imagining having a wedding with both the bride - myself - and the matron attendant - Kathleen - totally prego and with bellies out a foot from our bodies. We laughed ourselves silly. Then I told her that it would serve me right if she delivered on the day of our celebration - just like I was in the hospital having Alli when I was supposed to be her Matron of Honor when they got married. *L* Luckily, our friend Megan stepped up and they quickly altered the hulacious gown for her small stick figure for the wedding instead. Sigh. Always a bride and never a Matron.