Yellowstone Summer

Happy Memorial Day!

We took Dave and Tam to Yellowstone yesterday. After we've had a week of temperatures in the 80's and 90's, the weather proves unpredictable yet again. Snow! Sleet! Rain! But today? Beautiful clear skies again and warm weather. Just in time for Dave and Tam to head back home.

An elk basking in the ... snowlight?

Leif, Dave, and Tam at the continental divide.

The Lower Falls of the Yellowstone

Our Final Pre-Baby Whirlwind Weekend Roadtrip

We went to Boise, ID this weekend. Well, not exactly for the whole weekend, but for a day. John Fulton (aka Dad), one of Leif's fellow Flooders, got married on Saturday. It's about an 8 hour drive between Bozeman and Boise. We left after the Petra end-of-school picnic and drove there - got to hang out with some LeTourneau friends we haven't seen in a long time (say, 5 years...) on Friday night, got up Saturday morning and went to the Farmer's market in downtown Boise, went to the wedding at 2:00 and were on the road back to Bozeman by 3:15. That put us back home right about 11:00pm, where we found Dave and Tam's car sitting in our driveway after their day-long drive to see us from northern WA. We haven't seen them yet, but I can hear them moving around downstairs, so I know they're here and will be up shortly. :) And yes, the fact that they're staying downstairs means that we DID get the guestroom and bathroom presentable enough to have people use them! ANYWAY - Back to Boise. Our camera's batteries died partway through the ceremony, so we didn't get all of the photos we wanted, but here are a few of the LeTourneau friends with whom we spent our time in Boise...

Center: John (Dad) and Krissy Fulton - Ceremony officiated by John's father
Best Man and Matron of Honor: Ben and Jess (Sporty) Scott

The Halls: Matt and Kendra
Matt was also a Flooder

Flooders... Sugar (Andrew Steiger) and Matt Hall

Last Day

Well, I got everything finished today. My finals are graded, grades turned in, inventory done, classroom empty. I'm done with work for, oh.... six years or so. Weird, weird feeling.

Coming to the end....

Well, we're coming to the end. The end of school is Friday, though I gave my last finals today. Once I have them graded, grades done, and inventory finished I will be done with teaching for a few years. We also came to the end of our childbirth classes - took the hospital tour tonight. Glad we did the tour, too - it was pretty helpful and full of good information. We're also nearing the end of our basement project. The guest room has furniture in it, the bathroom has towels (and a toilet seat!), and we're almost set to have people stay down there, which is good since the people staying down there will be here on Saturday! Yep, we're coming to the end of some big things. Yet, I do believe there are even bigger things that will be beginning soon.

Countdown....

50 days until July 11th!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY.......

TO LEIF! Happy birthday to Leif! Happy birthday to Leeeeeeiiiiiiiffffff..... Happy birthday to Leif!

Last day of classes!

Wahoo! Today was the last day of classes. We still have finals next week, but all of my finals are Monday and Tuesday, so I've got Wednesday and Thursday to do grades, pack up my stuff and be done. Friday is our Bike-a-Thon last day of school. It feels great to be done teaching, even though I know I'm going to miss it. It's time for summer break. And speaking of summer... the pregnant lady is not so excited about the recent 80-90 degree temperatures in this part of the world. Last year at this time we had snow. Whaaaa...? Doesn't the weather know that I'm usually too hot anyway? Silly weather... It sure makes me thankful for our basement, though.

Just Fine

We had our 32 week Dr. appointment today - everything looks perfect, she said! The baby is head down, just like she should be, my blood pressure is great, I passed my glucose test with flying colors, my weight gain is right on schedule, and I still have ankles! We're just happy to hear that everything seems to be going along nicely. This appointment also marks my transition to visiting the Dr. every 2 weeks. We also finished our birth classes tonight. Yep, everything is going just fine.

Baby Shower!

Some of my coworkers threw a double baby shower today for me and another teacher who is due a couple months after I am. Quite a few people came to celebrate with us. It was a nice shower and we got some wonderful gifts. Here are some pictures of the event...

Elizabeth and Amy, the mothers-to-be
due July 11 and September 9

The guests... some teachers, some students, some parents...

Opening gifts... the 6th grade girls were quite helpful in handing us our gifts.

My favorite gift? This quilt from Susan Gianforte and Holly Chapman, quilted by Holly. It's absolutely beautiful!

To all you mothers out there...

Happy Mother's Day!

Elizabeth's New Blog

For anyone who is interested, Elizabeth has started a new blog to chronicle her crafting adventures. It's updated pretty regularly (almost daily!) and includes current crafting goals and projects as well as musings and photos of recently finished projects. It's called "My Inner Martha" - go ahead and see what she's been up to!

Today's Question...

What is the etymology of meconium?

It is Latin and it means 'poppy juice' - I assume the juice of a poppy flower. Huh. The things you learn...

This week's pregnancy jab...

Elizabeth: I feel like I'm toting a basketball around.

Leif: It looks more like one of those exercise balls these days....

Rock-a-bye, Baby

My grandpa decided to make us a cradle for the nursery and it's finished! I got some pictures in the mail from my grandma today - here's what the finished cradle looks like. It's pretty special to me to have this kind of heirloom for our baby. I hope that she will look at it years from now and know that her great-grandpa made it for her and realize just how much she is loved.

Weird Cravings, Part 1

Conveniently, Elizabeth hasn't had many weird cravings while she's been pregnant. However, when she was hungry today, she suggested pasta; I acquiesced. Then I noticed that she pulled out not only spaghetti sauce, but also turkey pepperoni and chunk pineapple. Noticing my raised eyebrow, she said, "What? It'll be good!" In response to my doubly eyebrows, she suggested pizza, instead.

Strolling along...

So we got our new stroller... Leif got it all put together.

oooOOOOooo! Now all we need is a baby to put in it.

Isn't he cute when I interrupt his work to make him look at the camera and smile? I don't think that's a sincere smile... But I'm glad he placates the camera-happy pregnant woman who wants to document all of these momentous occasions leading up to our baby's birth. What a swell guy!

Question of the Day

What is the pH of amniotic fluid?

around 7.1-7.3

Now you know.

Gettin' Educated

Well, we started childbirth classes tonight. Two more two-hour sessions and a hospital tour and we should be ready to combat the emotio-physical rollercoaster they call labor. At tonight's class we got the details of labor from start to finish, plus a handy set of guidelines for when to go to the hospital and when to stay home until it's really time. Not REALLY knowing what to expect until I go through it myself, I'll have to get back to you on whether the "when to head to the hospital" list is fool-proof (read: paranoid-first-time-mom-hoping-each-contraction-is-indicative-of-the-impending-arrival-of-her-baby proof) or not. It seemed pretty reasonable, though. Basically, head to the hospital when:

1. You're having painful contractions at regular intervals that have been about 5 minutes apart for the last hour.

OR

2. Your water breaks.

For anything else, call your doctor and she'll tell you whether to stay home, come in and see her, or head to labor and delivery. Sounds like a good plan to me.

Let's hope it still sounds like a good plan in two and a half months, when I'm actually in the midst of it all.