Silly Marshall

Just some funny pictures of Marshall helping with the dishes. He is one cool kid!

Jelly Belly Factory

Back in January, yes, still catching up, we took a trip to the Jelly Belly Factory. Marshall and I had been there before and we knew it was something that Richard just had to experience, so we made the drive and had a fun morning.

They take you on a fun little train ride and then you get a bag of Jelly Bellies at the end. The best part about all of this is that it is free, free, free-gotta love that!

Daddy's Clean Now

A few weeks ago Marshall started having major breakdowns whenever Richard or I would get in the shower. He has since gotten over this, thank goodness. But, one morning when Richard said that he was going to get in the shower, Marshall ran in to the bathroom and shut the door. When we opened the door, this is what we saw...

What a silly little guy. I just love those feet under the curtain.

Anyway, Marshall no longer cries when we get in shower, but he frequently tells us "Daddy's clean now, no shower."

Grandpa Yancey

I didn't take many pictures while in Utah in December for my Grandma's funeral, but I did take this one, and I love it. I love, love, love my sweet Grandpa Yancey. For Christmas he gave all of us a short book about his life, a compilation of events, big and small. I just finished reading it a couple of weeks ago and it was wonderful. Even though I grew up living so close to my grandparents, I still learned so many new things about my Grandpa. He is a great man and I love him.

Once we moved to Milwaukee, I frequently talked to my Grandma Yancey on the phone. Even if my Grandpa picked up the phone first, he was always quick to pass it on to her. Since her passing, I have been able to enjoy a few great phone conversations with my dear Grandpa. It has been a joy to visit with him and I'm just so grateful for each one of those conversations.

My Grandpa just decided to fly out to Milwaukee with my parents for Richard's graduation in May. We so look forward to spending a few days with him and he can meet our new little one. It will be great! Love you Grandpa Yancey!

Marshall Videos

One of Marshall's favorite activities, playing football in "the stadium"/living room..

And lastly, I just always want to remember how he says, "world". :)

The Final Picture

Not too sure why I am posting this, but what the heck! Here I am 37 1/2 weeks pregnant-wow!

I'm thinking this will be the last picture I will take to document this pregnancy. :)

And now to share a funny moment I had yesterday...

I'm sure that every pregnant woman has had her share of rude/awkward/insensitive remarks made to her about her appearance and bulging belly. Well, I got to experience a funny one yesterday. I was not offended, more humored by the situation.

I will not disclose my location, but I will say that the woman I was talking to is an acquaintance and has children of her own, so she's obviously been pregnant before and knows what its like. So, here's how it went...

Woman: You look like you are just about ready to have that baby. When is your due date?
Me: Less than three weeks! I'm due March 10.
Woman: Oh, so you still have quite a few pounds to pack on yet.
Me: smiling and laughing, um...maybe.
Woman: Well, that's when the baby grows the most, that last month is when all the weight comes on.
Me: Actually, I just had a doctor appointment yesterday and I lost two pounds from the week before.
Woman: Well, let's just hope that came off of you and not the baby.

Again, not offended, just incredibly amused and somewhat baffled by it all. Gotta love all the comments and unnecessary belly touching you receive when you are pregnant!

Surprise Baby Shower

I was lucky enough to spend a night out with these great ladies last week for a baby shower that they completely surprised me with! My friend Anna invited me to dinner with her at a restaurant that we both love. She called me that evening and asked me to just meet her at the restaurant because she was coming straight from work and she would be waiting upstairs at a table. (Turns out Anna was really at home with the stomach flu, poor girl), but when I walked up stairs I was greeted by these wonderful friends.

It was an evening full of great conversation, much laughter, delicious food, and of course, great presents for this little girl. We were both spoiled and I'm so blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful women-I love them all!

Just a small smattering of the presents I walked away with. Can't wait for her to grow into that little tutu. :)

What An Ordeal

I am 36 weeks pregnant today and managed to get the stomach flu last night, blah! Richard had it two weeks ago, Marshall had it Saturday so I figured it was just a matter of time before it hit me. Both Richard and Marshall took it pretty well and got back to themselves within just a few hours. I figured I would do the same, especially because the stomach flu I had in December was not too bad. Well, I was WRONG!

Yesterday at 5:00 pm I started feeling nauseous. Finally at 7:30 pm I threw up (sorry if you didn't want to know this). I felt so much better afterward and honestly thought that I could get a good night sleep and wake up feeling much better in the morning. Again, I was WRONG! I spent the rest of the night either in the bathroom or in our bed or on the couch trying to sleep. I couldn't hold anything down, not even water, and to make things worse I was having contractions all night long.

When Richard woke up at 5:00 am I was wasted. I was exhausted, nauseous, dehydrated, and having contractions every 2-3 minutes-not good! I called my doctor and she told us to go to the hospital for IV fluids and medication to control the nausea.

We dropped Marshall's monitor off with our neighbors and were at the hospital by 6:00. They hooked me and the baby up to monitors and got my IV going. Fortunately, this little girl has done very well through this whole ordeal and passed multiple stress tests while we were at the hospital, a huge relief! Shortly after we got there they also gave me Zofran, a miracle drug, and it finally relieved my nausea.

Around 7:00 am they checked me and I was only dilated to a 1-hallelujah! I was so relieved. I know 36 weeks is not too too early for a baby, but I was still nervous. At that point they brought me 16 oz. of water and 8 oz. of juice and six crackers that they wanted me to eat to see if I could start keeping down light foods and liquids. I don't think that water has ever tasted so good! That was all I wanted last night, but after I kept throwing it up, I just stopped drinking it. Fortunately I was able to keep everything down and the nausea never returned. My contractions also started to slow down to every 3-4 minutes and they were less intense.

At about 8:45 they checked me again and I was praying that I hadn't progressed at all because if I had, they would have kept me. Fortunately, I was still at a 1 and another prayer was answered.

At 9:30 we got the go-ahead from the doctor to go home. I was still having contractions, but now they had slowed to every five minutes and were continuing to decrease in intensity.

We are home now and thankfully Richard is working with amazing residents who told him to take the entire day off. Although tired, I am feeling much, much better. I'm still having contractions, but they are much less frequent, and this little one continues to bounce around so that is reassuring.

Today I am grateful for many things: 1) modern medicine and hospitals 2) a wonderful husband and his day off from work 3) Marshall, who did great at the Rabe's this morning 4) being able to feel my baby move and listen to her heartbeat for over three hours in the hospital. Oh, and also, our shower broke this afternoon, so 5) is my neighbor letting me use her shower this afternoon. :)

Marshall Videos

Just some fun Marshall moments caught on video. Some of them are a couple of months old. :)

Ah, the things we do as parents. I struggled putting on his pants one morning, but he thought it was hilarious. Always helps to have a sense of humor.

This is from our trip to Utah. Marshall really hit it off with his younger cousin, Benson. They are almost exactly one year apart. I love the moment of pause between the two of them where they are just looking at each other.

And of course, a basketball clip.

2011 Blizzard

Well, it finally happened, Milwaukee got slammed with a snowstorm. This is now our fourth winter here and every year we have had multiple huge blizzards, but not this year. Every storm that was predicted to hit us either died before it made it to Milwaukee or went north or south. I must admit that I do love these snow days. Everything shuts down and you have a perfect excuse to stay in your house and be lazy!

The snow started on Monday, but the worst of it came Tuesday night and there were huge winds creating some very impressive snow drifts by Wednesday morning. I saw on the news last night that Milwaukee got 18-21 inches of snow, not bad. The snow drifts were what made this amazing though. In some places you could see the grass and cement, but in other places there were snow drifts 3-5 feet high.

Here are some pictures from Wednesday morning when we woke up.




I love that our car is mostly clear of snow, except for the passenger side. You definitely know which way the wind was blowing!




We took Marshall out in the snow in the morning and afternoon. Despite the bitter cold winds, he had a great time.

November Recap

Back to catching up...

Nothing too exciting to report from November, but here are some highlights...

We spent a morning at an open gym for playgroup. This was a great place and Marshall loved it.



With the weather turning colder and more time spent inside, Marshall found random things to entertain himself.

He took great care of his football player.



Got stuck in his basketball hoop.


Played with his trucks.



Filled laundry baskets full of his stuff and had a ball doing who knows what in there.



For Thanksgiving my cousin, Russ and his wife, came up for a visit. Unfortunately, Marshall came down with the stomach flu just before they arrived, so it was a low-key weekend, but we still had a good time. They were both so cute with him, despite all the throwing up.


By Thanksgiving Day Marshall was doing much better so we were still able to get out and enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving with great friends. The food was delicious and the company was even better.


November ended with a stomach flu relapse for Marshall and both Richard and I getting sick-blah! Gotta love the winter and all the illness that it brings.


Fortunately there were no pictures taken to document by stomach flu experience and I'm sure Richard will love that I have posted this picture. :)