little girls

Our niece Krispen makes us laugh more than anyone. Just last night she had us all crying we were laughing so hard at her antics. It is amazing that a two-year-old can be so aware of her impact on others. She knows she's funny, and she eats it up! She has gotten so good at making funny faces, and will strike a pose just to make you laugh.

It is even more fun now that we know we will have a little girl of our own in a few months. Kip provides hours of endless entertainment for us, and I'm sure it won't be any different with our little Ella. I can only imagine the trouble these two will get into in a few years! I can't wait.

Ella Kate

We first starting talking about baby names back in May. At the time I was still feeling like we were going to have a boy. The only trouble was, we could not come up with a name! We knew what the middle name would be Samuel - after Nate's dad, grandpa, and his own middle name. But everything we came up with for a first name either was already taken by a family member, didn't work for initials (can you imagine an Andrew Samuel Skaff?), or we just didn't agree on.

But a girls name? That was a different story.

Over a year ago, before we had even started to think about trying to have a baby, I mentioned a name to Nate and - to my surprise - he really liked it! So when we started talking about names back in May, I mentioned the name again. He still really liked it - even though he didn't remember liking it a year ago! We decided at that point that we were about 90% sure that would be her name - if she was a girl!

Then the week before the ultrasound we started talking about names again. Still the same trouble with boys names. When we talked about girls' names, I mentioned another name I really liked. Nate said it was ok. Then I mentioned THE name again. Nate got a big old grin on his face - and I knew that was her name.

So when the ultrasound technician announced, "It's a Girl!", we instantly knew what her name was going to be. We also knew that we would tell our friends and family right away that we were having a girl, and we thought it would be fun to able to share the name with everyone right away as well. So in the waiting room waiting to see our OB, we made it official. We're having a girl, and her name is Ella Kate!

Knowing Ella is a girl, and actually being able to call her by her name has made things more real than ever. I am not so excited and anxious for her to get here! I just cannot wait to see what she will look like and who she will be. I love her so much already!

ultrasound

So Friday was our long awaited ultrasound. Finally. It's hard for me to even find the words to explain. Such a strange and wonderful day.

Let me just say, ultrasounds.are.amazing! I've seen plenty of ultrasound photos in the past, and I'll be honest, I never really understood what the big deal was. It's just a little blob that kinda looks like it could possibly be a baby, or sometimes even a tadpole!

But when it's your own it's completely different! I suppose it's quite different too since I'm 20 weeks and having my first ultrasound. So MY ultrasound photos actually look like a real little baby!

A real baby that's a GIRL!

That's right. We are going to have a little baby girl!

I was surprised. Nate not so much, he had a feeling it was going to be a girl. We both secretly wanted a girl ... but both felt like we wanted a boy first. But I guess God had other plans!

The ultrasound ended up taking about 40 minutes! Our little baby girl is a little gymnast! She did not stop moving once the entire time! The ultrasound tech had a difficult time getting all the photos she needed - the heart and the spine were the hardest. She kept having me roll onto my side, then to my back again, then to my other side - just to try to coerce the little girl to stay in the positions she needed her to.

She did finally get all the shots she needed. And I wasn't complaining one bit because it meant that I got to see my little girl for that much longer! I thought the most amazing thing yet was just feeling her move and kick inside of me. Well I was wrong. It is so much cooler to SEE and FEEL her kick at the same time!

It was such an amazing experience laying on that bed, holding Nate's hand the whole time, and watching our little baby girl kick and squirm around inside of me. Inside of me. Such a strange thing to think about a real live person living inside of me!

the fourth of july

There is nothing like the 4th of July to make you stop and appreciate what you have. To me this holiday is all about being thankful: thankful that we live in such a great country, thankful for amazing family, thankful for God's beautiful creation, thankful for the sun ... And another great thing that happened this 4th of July? Nate felt the baby move for the first time :)

Happy 4th of July!

thirty and three

Saturday Lisa turned the big 3-0, and of course used the occasion to throw a huge "kids style" birthday bash - complete with food, games, pinata, pin the cell phone on the Lisa, party favors, karaoke, a blow up bouncy castle, and nearly 70 people!

After the party was over, we headed downtown to stay at the Graves 601 for our anniversary. It's hard to imagine that we have been married for three years already! And the truly amazing part is that it just keeps getting better! I cannot imagine wanting to spend the rest of my life with anyone else.

Back in October I bought U2 tickets for Nate and surprised him for his birthday in December - yes I kept it a secret for nearly two months! He has always wanted to see U2, and never been able to get tickets. The concert just happened to be the same weekend as our anniversary, so I thought it would be perfect.

On our wedding night we had wanted to stay at the Graves 601, but had such an early flight out for our honeymoon the next morning that, after driving to Minneapolis from Willmar, we literally only had three hours in our hotel. So we decided staying at a nice hotel wasn't exactly the smartest thing to do. So once we made the plans for the U2 concert, we thought staying at the Graves the night before would be perfect. Especially once Lisa announced her plans for a big 30th birthday bash!

Unfortunately, back in May Bono had to have emergency back surgery after a concert in Germany and had to postpone 16 of his shows. You guessed it, ours was one of them. So needless to say we were heartbroken about the concert, but we still had a blast at Lisa's party and at the Graves.

That's the Stone Arch Bridge etched into the headboard, exactly at the same spot where Nate proposed. How perfect is that!?

we have movement!

The coolest, most amazing thing happened last night! Nate and I spent the weekend in the cities - Saturday Lisa had a big 30th birthday party and then Nate and I celebrated our three year anniversary by staying at the Graves 601 hotel downtown.

We stayed much later than we had planned, and started our three hour drive home about 10:30pm. Nate was my hero and drove all the way home - with the assistance of a couple energy drinks. I did my best to stay awake and keep him company.

We were talking, he was in the middle of telling me something (who knows what), and suddenly I felt this really strange feeling in my lower abdomen. My stomach wasn't growling, it wasn't gas, it wasn't a cramp or the round ligament pains I've become oh-so-familiar with lately. No. It was something completely different. I interrupted Nate (very uncharacteristic of me, of course) and told him, "I think I just felt the baby!"

I had no idea if it was actually the baby I had felt. I have been watching and waiting to feel him, but had no idea what it would feel like. The rest of the way home I kept feeling the same thing every so often. With each time I become more and more convinced that it was indeed the baby. Nate of course was so excited and wanted to feel it. He kept his hand on my stomach for probably half an hour but was never able to feel it. They are such quick little movements, that even I have to be paying attention or I sometimes miss them.

I've continued to feel him move throughout the day today. Once I even thought I felt him from the outside, but it is so hard to tell if the feeling is coming from the outside, when you are feeling it inside as well! Hopefully Nate will be able to feel him soon! I think it would be so cool for him to experience that.

Feeling him move is by far the best feeling yet. There is nothing that makes it feel more real than actually feeling the baby move inside of you! So cool, and so strange all at the same time! Love it.

update on Nate and iPood

We finally heard back from the lab yesterday with Nate's test results. Everything was negative. As in no infection. Part of me is relieved. He is ok. He's starting to feel better too. The other part of me wishes they had found something. Then we'd have a concrete reason for why he was feeling the way he was feeling, and then they could fix it. But for now he is ok, and I am happy for that!

Monday night - after spending most of the day in the clinic, and then trying to go to work for a few hours - Nate was in a lot of pain and not a very good mood. I left him on the couch and went to fill his prescription. I came home with more than just Vicodin, I found this:

If you know us at all, you know that we are both huge Apple fans, so this little shirt is perfect for us. I can just imagine our little 6 month old sporting this shirt with a cute little pair of jeans ....

It made him smile, and that was all I wanted.

an ultrasound ... but not for me

Well hubby ended up getting an ultrasound before me! It's been an interesting week already, and it's only Tuesday.

Hubby woke up with such severe stomach pains yesterday morning he could barely walk. I'm a bad wife and didn't realize the severity of the situation so I left for work anyway. Luckily we were staying at the lake cabin with his family, so his dad brought him into the clinic. They were concerned about his appendix and his gallbladder. He ended up spending most of the day there getting an ultrasound, a scan, and hooked up to an IV in the waiting room.

The ultrasound showed such a high white blood cell count that they were almost certain he had appendicitis, and figured they'd have him in surgery that afternoon to take out his appendix! But they wanted to confirm that with a CT scan. That meant sitting in the waiting room for several hours, hooked up to an IV for fluids, drinking a little cocktail about every 1/2 an hour. Thankfully the scan did not confirm appendicitis. So no surgery!

But with white blood cell counts as high as he his the doctors are pretty sure he has some sort of infection. They want to do a few more tests, including E Coli and Crohn's disease. So they took a blood sample and sent him home to get a stool sample. We're currently waiting to hear back from the lab.

He's still in quite a bit of pain, but not as severe as Monday morning. Please pray that he gets better quickly and that they figure out what is going on inside his body!

15 week checkup

I've been in Ohio for work all this week so I haven't had a chance to do any blogging, but we met with our OB (Dr. B) for the second time last Friday. It was a pretty uneventful appointment. She mostly just asked how I'd been feeling and then brought out the doppler, and found the heartbeat right away again - which was still just as amazing to hear! The heartbeat was right around 140 bpm this time.

I must have misunderstood Dr. B at my 10 week appointment. I THOUGHT she said that I WOULD get an ultrasound at the next visit (around 18-20 weeks), but IF she could find a "medical excuse" she would do one at this visit.

Turns out, she has to have a "medical reason" to do an ultrasound. Period. Apparently some company did a study a few years back that looked at low risk pregnancies, and whether or not the 18-20 week ultrasound made a difference in the end. They found it didn't. So of course the insurance companies jumped all over that, and now don't cover ultrasounds unless there is a medical reason to perform one.

In other words, you could technically go through your entire pregnancy without ever getting an ultrasound!?! I don't know about you, but that just doesn't sit well with me. Thankfully, Dr. B said I'm "measuring small" so I will be getting an ultrasound next time! Phew! (I don't know if I actually AM measuring small, but I'm thinking no since she didn't actually measure me ...)

My ultrasound/check-up are scheduled for July 9th - when I'll be 20 weeks. Again I have to wait 5 weeks between appointments, instead of 4, because of the holiday weekend. But if baby cooperates, we should be able to find out if he's a boy or a girl next time!

 15 week bump

Krispen is Two!

I can't hardly believe it, but my niece Krispen turned two on May 12th! We all went down to Excelsior this past weekend and had a little birthday party for her. She definitely got the idea that the party was for her - and that the presents were all for her! She just went from one bag to the next, pulling each item out, looking at it, and moving on to the next! It was stinking hilarious! Here's a few photos:

Target Field

Nate has been itching to get to a Twins game at the new stadium since it opened. It literally has been killing him that he hadn't been there yet! We bought tickets with my family to go to a game in September, but that just wasn't enough for him. He COULD NOT wait that long!

So last weekend we headed down to Minneapolis, stayed with my brother at his new apartment downtown, with plans to go to the game on Saturday. Problem was we didn't have tickets! We couldn't get tickets online anymore, but we figured if we went down there surely someone would be selling tickets! Well, it turned out to be a little harder than we thought. We ended up paying more than we had planned, but got some pretty great seats!

We didn't luck out with a beautiful sunny 70 degree day like so many have lately. We actually had really strange weather. It was around 50 degrees and quite windy. One minute the sun would be out, then it would rain, then we'd get a gust of wind, then hail ... and on and on. Ah the joys of an outdoor field. But we had a blast none the less!

oh baby!

I've been pretty absent from my blog lately - but not because I haven't had anything to write about! Actually quite the opposite is true! I've had tons to write about, just nothing that I could share yet. But I'm breaking the silence ...

We're having a baby!

Yup, that's right. Our little family is growing, and we COULD NOT be happier! We found out pretty much as soon as we possibly could have, and it was SO hard to keep the news to ourselves. We did tell our immediate families right away, but thought it wise to wait at least until our first OB appointment to start spreading the news.

The first few weeks after finding out were the toughest. I never had any full blown morning sickness, but just felt queasy and nauseous almost all the time. Also had some cramping, was absolutely exhausted all the time, and starving! I felt like I just could never eat enough, except nothing every sounded good! By around 8 or 9 weeks most of the symptoms subsided - except the hunger. But I've found that if I stay on top of that, I don't get queasy or nauseous. So I've now incorporated a mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack to my day!

At 8 weeks we were finally able to meet with the prenatal care coordinator at our hospital. She was absolutely wonderful! I was so nervous, and she just put me at ease about everything. She took time to go through everything with us and let us ask as many questions as we wanted. I had a bunch of lab work done, and also got an official pregnancy test!

At 10 weeks we finally got to meet our OB. We didn't get an ultrasound, but we did get to hear the baby's heartbeat with the doppler - a strong 150 bpm! I wasn't sure how I would react, but in the moment all I could do was smile - and look at Nate. It was beyond amazing. I'm sure it is a moment I will never forget. In that moment the pregnancy, and the baby, finally became real to me.

Today is the start of my 12th week, so past the scary part of pregnancy but not quite to the 2nd trimester yet. I started gaining weight almost right way, as you can see below! The first photo was taken around 6 weeks, the second was taken today.

 6 Weeks

12 Weeks

So now you know why it's been so quite on my blog! I've had so many thoughts going through my head, so many things I wanted to share! But just couldn't spill the news just yet. But the word is out! Yay!

flood 2010

Many have been asking, so I thought I'd give a little update on the flood situation here.It seems amazing to me that we are even talking about this again! It seems like we just wrapped up last year's flood, times flies I guess.

They were originally projecting the river would crest later than last year, around Easter. But last weekend, they changed there minds. As of today, they are predicting it will crest at 37.5 feet on Sunday morning.

The city is much more calm this year. I guess that is what happens when you plan for weeks ahead of time! They are much more organized, and much more prepared. As of Wednesday night, or for sure Thursday morning, they reported that all the sand bags were delivered and placed! So then it just became a waiting game.

As for Nate's parent's house, well they planned ahead too! Sam built a concrete wall behind his house! (I can't remember exactly how tall it is, but it goes several feet below ground as well.) So, if anything, all that is needed is to tie into the neighbors walls with sandbags.

Here's a photo Jenna took on Tuesday, from the back patio of their house. The water has come up about 7 more feet since then (it's currently at 35.73 ft), but you can see a portion of the wall.

*** Update 3/23/10 ***

The river crested on Sunday morning at 36.99 ft, and is now continuing to go down.

doing nothing

Today is a good day. I've been wearing my favorite sweats all day, watching the Olympics, and doing nothing (... well except for loads and loads and loads of laundry!) And it is wonderful.

Well remember in December when I mentioned spending 15 hours working on my husband's Christmas present? Probably not. We'll if you want a reminder, check it out here. So I couldn't tell you about it then, in case he actually read my blog, but I promised to fill you in later. Well not is later, apparently.

Nate was big into sports in high school, and has always wanted a quilt made out of his old jerseys and athletic tshirts. So, with the help of his mom, I decided to take on the challenge! Unfortunately, I did not think to take pictures of the process. But I did remember to take a picture after I was done! (Which is how Nate almost found out about it before Christmas!)

I started by creating a 13" square pattern. Then cut out the front of each shirt/jersey using my pattern. Laneil then helped me iron on backing to each, which was especially helpful for the holey jerseys. Then I cut all the strips. Then sewed it all together. We did not have a machine that can do a quilting stitch, so I paid to have someone do that part (I got the name through a local quilting shop.) That's a pretty simplified explanation, but it really wasn't too difficult - just took a lot longer than I expected!

It was all so worth it when I saw the look on his face on Christmas. :)

My mom got me a sewing machine for Christmas! So I'm now looking for another project to start. Any ideas?

He's Home

Those are my favorite two words right now. My little brother made it home safe and sound from Iraq on Tuesday. After a week debriefing at Fort Lewis in Washington, he flew into Minneapolis on Tuesday at 3pm and we were there to welcome him home at the Inver Grove Heights armory. I cannot tell you how proud I am of him, and how good it is to be able to give him a hug and know he's not going back!

A Case for Faith

Nate and I have just joined a new small group through our church. This winter/spring we will be going through the book 'A Case for Faith' by Lee Strobel. A former atheist, Strobel addresses the top eight roadblocks people have to faith in Jesus Christ.

I'm only on the first chapter, but already I've been caused to think about many things in a new light. In the first chapeter, Strobel interviews Peter Kreeft, PH.D, a philosophy professor at Villanova University and Boston College. Kreeft explained faith in a way that I have never heard before, and I just wanted to share it with you!

"Only in a world where faith is difficult can faith exist. I don't have faith in two plus two equals four or in the noonday sun. Those are beyond question. But scripture describes God as a hidden God. You have to make an effort of faith to find him. There are clues you can follow.

And if that weren't so, if there were something more or less than clues, it's difficult for me to understand how we could really be free to make a choice about him. If we had absolute proof instead of clues, then you could no more deny God than you could deny the sun. If you had no evidence at all, you could never get there. God gives us just enough evidence so that those who want him can have him. Those who want to follow the clues will."

Wow. If God made it obvious that he existed, we wouldn't have a choice whether we believed in him or not. There would be no free will involved. God created us with free will, so that he could have a love relationship with him. But we have to choose to love him. If we did not have that free will, we would not be human. But since we have the ability to choose to love, we also have the ability to hate.

The first 'objection' in Strobel's book answers everyone's biggest question, "If a loving God exists, why is there so much evil in the world?" Kreeft explains that it is not logically possible to have free will and no possibility of moral evil. Since God created us with free will, it was then up to us whether evil exists. God did not create evil, he hates evil, but rather he created the possibility of evil. We are the one's who chose to bring evil into the world.

Kreeft went on to explain how the existence of evil can actually be used as an argument for the existence of God, and against atheism. "If there is no Creator and therefore no moment of creation, then everything is the result of evolution. If there was no beginning or first cause, then the universe must have always existed. That means the universe has been evolving for an infinite period of time - and, by now, everything should already be perfect. There would have been plenty of time for evolution to have finished and evil to have been vanquished. But there still is evil and suffering and imperfection - and that proves the atheist wrong about the universe."

What are your thoughts?

I'm excited to keep reading and see what else I learn! I may share more as I get further into the book.

backyard football

Lately I have been more interested in reading other people's blogs than writing my own blog. I sometimes get so caught up in admiring others creativity that its hard for me to be creative myself.

Anyway, no more procrastinating. I have been wanting to share some of my favorite photos from the holidays, but haven't gotten around to it yet. The holidays were a little different for us this year. With the death of Nate's grandpa, and David being home on leave they seemed to fly by even faster than normal. But the time spent with family was as sweet as ever!

As I mentioned, my little brother was recently home on leave from Iraq. I was talking to him last week (when he surprised me with a phone call on my birthday!) about the fact that he will soon be coming home. For me this year seems to have flown by - but for him, he said, it feels like his life has simply been on pause. He'll refer to things that happened 'last year' and then realize it was actually two years ago. He's anxious to get home and get back to his life.

And yet, his life has not 'been on pause'. He has actually been through an experience like none other, an experience that many of us will never know or understand. And he has grown. And he has learned so many things; he has learned what he is capable of.

I find this to be a good reminder for myself as well. I have a tendency to continually look forward to the future, to what's coming next. Which is a good thing, I think. But it can have negative outcomes as well. If you are so focused on what is to come, you can miss out on what is happening now. And I don't ever want to look back and wish I could relive a particular portion of my life over again because I didn't appreciate it at the time.

Ok, now that I've completely gone off track ... I'll get back to the point.

So in an effort to 'appreciate' the moments, here are some pictures of my favorite part of the holidays this year. Playing football in the backyard.

This was the most fun I've ever had playing football.

I'll be honest, I don't normally enjoy playing football in the backyard - or most group activities like this. I am not the most talented when it comes to athletics. I lack the desire and competitive edge to have ever gained any real skill. And I don't exactly enjoy displaying my lack of skill to others. But this day was different.

Maybe it was the fact that I had such an attractive quarterback ...

Or maybe because David was home ...


Did I mention this girl has an arm? Because she does. Not that that was good for ME, seeing as she was on the other team.

And did I mention this girl is a born athlete? Because she is. Not that that was good for ME either, because anytime I had any chance to doing anything - SHE was right on top of me.

Like I said, I couldn't get away from her! We were brutal. It was powder puff football at its finest. Full on touch football ladies and gentleman.

Whatever the reason, on this particular day - with the perfect backyard football weather, and with some of my favorite people - I was in heaven. I even caught the ball a few times! It was exhilarating.

And when you're down 14-35, decide the first one to 42 wins because your tired and ready to call it a game, and then come back to win 42-35 - it makes for a pretty good game.