Kudos to Jocie!

Jocie was very happy to tell me that she has been selected to be on the "Safety Patrol" for next year! The selection process is pretty intense. First, students have to be nominated by their classroom teacher (4 per classroom). After that, then that list (of 29) was narrowed down to just 12! The kids were selected upon their behavior, grades, attendance, kindness, and leadership skills.

She is most excited about the Safety Patrol Camp that she will get to attend this August. This camp is in Brainard, and she will be there for 6 whole days/nights!! (Mom and Dad are a little sad about her being away for so long, but we know she will have a TON of fun)

We are so proud of her!

Reality

OK, OK...I'm really trying to be positive, but enough is enough. These last few weeks haven't been the best, and they aren't going to get any better until the baby arrives. I know I have to buck-up, but I have to vent just a little. Last month, I wrote a blog named "Top 20". This post was about the Top twenty things that were GOOD about pregnancy. Sorry to be a downer, but here is the "Bottom 5" list...

1. Instead of walking, I now WADDLE (seriously! it looks ridiculous, but I really can't help it)
2. Can't sleep AT ALL (was up until 4 am last night) I really want to sleep now while I can, because Lord knows I won't be sleeping when the baby is here!
3. Have incredible pelvic pressure/pain whenever I'm not lying on my side.
4. Have had a head-cold for the past two weeks. I'm so stuffed up (this doesn't help when I'm trying to sleep), and because of the pregnancy, can't take any type of med's to help with the symptoms.
5. Every time the baby moves his/her head, I almost wet my pants.

Thanks for listening. I promise to be more positive from now on.... :)

Spring Break or Winter Wonderland?

We planned on spending our spring break relaxing up at my mom's lake cabin...which is what we are doing...but there has been some unexpected weather-related drama. Spring flooding is seemingly inevitable up north. But this year, they are really worried about it, especially in the Fargo area. Yesterday the city of Crookston (20 miles from my home town) evacuated some of it's residential areas due to the rapidly rising river. We ran over to Crookston to get a few things at Walmart, and saw National Guard members and a lot a sandbagging volunteers getting supplies. This scene reminded me of the flood of 1997, which is not one of my best memories.

Then, to top it all off, we woke up this morning to a winter storm! There is about 5-6 inches of snow on the ground! And Maple Lake didn't get anything close to what Grand Forks/East Grand Forks received. All the schools were canceled for today, including UND (which NEVER happens)!

Oh well. I'm not going to complain. We don't have school all week...and NOTHING can ruin that :)

Baby Update #2

I had a Doctor's appointment yesterday due to some pelvic pressure/contractions I was having. I was very happy to find out that although the baby is still very low, I wasn't dilated at all, so everything was OK. The Doctor is still telling me that I may have to go on bed-rest, but so far, so good. The baby is still really active, and had a heart rate of 137. Next week is our Spring Break (Woo-Hoo), so I will be lounging and relaxing at the Lake!! :)

Baby Update

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday (32 weeks). The doctor said that everything looked great. Blood pressure was low, all my tests came back great, and she said the baby seems to be "happy, active, and healthy" (heart rate was 153). Her only concern was the baby's position. When she checked me, she found that the baby is already at "station 0"...which means that the baby is extremely low. She basically said that if the baby were any lower, that I'd be in active labor (Station +5 is considered a floating baby = really high, Station 0 means the baby is even with your "sits bones", and -4 is when the baby is crowning). Since the baby is so low (this soon), she was wondering if she should put me on bed rest (YUCK). After I talked to her about it, she is allowing me to work as long as I "take it easy". She also told me that if I keep feeling a lot of pressure or more contractions, that I will need to be put on bed-rest.

One very positive thing is that my student teacher started this week. So I will be off my feet a little more because of this, and come April, she'll basically be teaching full-time :) So I hoping that will help out! I want to stay at work as long as possible so I don't run out of sick-days for the end of the year!

Wish me luck!

Sunday, Funday

We had a lot of fun today! After church, we headed to the Moose Sheritt arena for open ice. I was a little bummed because I couldn't join in on the festivities, but Carl and the girls had a good time skating. Jocie keeps improving her strokes, and Ella is almost ready to skate on her own! She is still a little apprehensive about it ( . . . Ella is always a little apprehensive about every new activity), but it won't be long until she's gliding on her own :)

After skating, we headed to Maple Grove to meet our dear friends the Holt's at Chucky Cheese. I now FULLY understand why they sell beer at Chucky Cheese (genius). This place was wall to wall craziness . . . but the kids had a blast with each other and Carl and I got to catch up with Christy and Chris, so it was well worth it! We can't wait to see their new beautiful house in Northfield in a few weeks!

Here is a picture of all of our kids together (Noah, Avery, and Eli) . . . they sure make cute kids :)