First off, behold the finished wall! Doesn't it look incredible?! I am so proud of Ryan and how hard he worked. (Again - thank you Justin and Tanya for your help with the tractor. We would still be digging.) Every time I pull into the driveway now, I just stare at the wall and think about what an amazing improvement it is! And this next summer, I should finally be able to paint that section by the garage that was never painted to begin with because there was a pile of rocks there.
I realize I take a lot of pictures of Pierscen sleeping, but it's because he is always doing silly things! This time when I went to wake him up, I found he had pulled his pillowcase off and was using it as a sleeping bag. Okay then!
35 weeks, four left to go. (C-section scheduled for 39 weeks. More on that later.)
During the early part of November we had a super bad cold snap. So bad in fact, that this picture isn't even accurate. It got down to -27 earning us the coldest spot in the US that day, and 5th coldest in the world. Yup, this is where I live guys. To make it worse, I was texting Fred, who happened to be in Alaska at the time. It was in the mid 30s there. Over a 50 degree difference from Wyoming to Alaska! How is that right?!?
In November, Tanya, Vivi and I all signed up for our second "Do It Herself" Workshop from Home Depot. We attempted one of these before in September, but when we showed up, confirmations in hand, no one new a thing about it. It was a joke. So we knew this was a risk too, but we called before hand they at least had things set up for us... so that was a start.
We were supposed to be making "JOY" marquee signs that light up. When we got there, we couldn't see any materials for us to make our own (which is the whole point.) It was supposed to start at 6:30 on the dot. The guy in charge didn't come over until almost 7 and even then he had no idea that we were each supposed to get to make our own. He thought he was just supposed to show us how. (Granted, that's what he was told only a couple hours before this started, so it wasn't his fault.) With some persuasion from Tanya and Vivi, he called his manager and got permission for us to get our own materials and started making it.
Oh man. Obviously this one was way better than the last one considering we actually got to sort of make something, but it was pretty laughable too. Mostly because there was only one set of tools so we could only do one thing at a time. There wasn't enough time to get it done and the store didn't actually have all the materials needed to complete the project anyway. Ha! But hey - at least they sent us home with everything we would need to finish it up on our own. I'm doubting any of us will actually accomplish it on time for Christmas.
These pictures below were taken at Ryan's work when we stopped by for lunch one day. Ryan told P to draw a face, and this is what he came up with. I was super impressed! This is the first thing I can think of that he has drawn that totally looked exactly like what he wanted it to. So fun to watch kids learn and make progress like this.
A huge chunk of my time in November was dedicated to NaNoWriMo. (National Novel Writing Month). If you remember, I did this (sort of) last year, when my sister in law challenged me to it. But we did it in July - just the two of us. The real thing is in November and it's huge. If you manage to write 50,000 words in one month, then you are considered a "winner." (You get to print off your own certificate. Hahaha). But really, if you get any where close, it's a huge spring board from where you would have been anyway. I initially decided I wasn't going to do it because I had way to much to do to get ready for baby, but then I realized that BECAUSE baby was coming - I NEEDED to do. Last chance for a writing frenzy. So I did. And BOOM! I did it! With a week and a half to spare! (My goal was to get it done before we went home for Thanksgiving because I knew it wouldn't happened otherwise.)
This time around was a totally different experience for me. This is a whole new story, new genre, new point of view, everything. And this time, I found myself really hating parts of it - wanting to change things, etc. But this is not the time for that. This is really just to write, write, write. And of course, it would be awesome if it all came out perfect, but I was actually really happy to be finding things I didn't like and that I wanted to change. It's hard to explain, but I feel like I'm progressing as a writer BECAUSE I can see where there are issues now.
We headed to Utah the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. That was hands down the longest and most painful drive we have made yet, partly because we had to stop a million times, partly because we had to go really slow for parts of it, partly because we were fighting a 50 mph head wind, and partly because it was dark the whole drive - which makes a boring drive even more boring. But we made it!
This was the longest trip I think we have ever made together. Usually it's a Thurs-Sun thing, but this one was Tues-Mon. Six days! It was awesome because we got to spend time with everyone.
Some of the highlights:
Pierscen and Kristopher swinging in the backyard. This is the best thing about visiting - P getting to play with cousins and grandparents!
The boys on both sides went shooting on Thursday and cut wood/pheasant hunting on Friday. They all had a great time.
We had Thanksgiving dinner with both families, but P managed to pass out at dinner on Ryan's side. He initially fell asleep in my arms after I insisted he climb on my lap after trying to make a pillow out of his napkin on his chair. Then Ryan took him from me and put him under the table. He took a pretty long nap under there!
On Friday while the men were out chopping wood and hunting, we went out to visit Grandpa Hansen. It turned out to be an... interesting... visit as Grandpa didn't want to share his toys, but that's okay! There were still plenty of other things for the kids to do, include play with the worlds friendliest cat and hang out with the ducks and chickens. It was good to see grandpa.
Friday night was the traditional crab night. This year, however, they held it at the church. This made for easy clean up, but oh man. The smell. I hope no one died at church on Sunday. Sea food is pretty potent stuff!
P was both impressed and terrified by the size of the crab legs, but he still ate several bites.
Saturday afternoon my mom hosted a baby shower for me. It was mostly family, but my dear Rayola, Lindsay - who just moved from Casper to Utah this summer, and one of my friends from Academy of Ballet, Angela, came. It was awesome! We got some really adorable stuff!
We also had a great birthday party for Pierscen. We had a big family waffle dinner with both sides of the family. We are so lucky to have such great family!
Thank you to my mom and my amazing family for offering such amazing support! We love you!
Saturday night we went down to the Riverwoods to see the lights, Santa, and go for a horse drawn carriage ride. P didn't want to sit on Santa's lap at first, but agreed as soon as we asked Isabel to sit with him. P knows who Santa is as a person, but we really haven't said anything about the present part of things. We told him he could tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas and he said, "Oma and Opa." It is seriously so hard living so hard away from family sometimes!
Here is my one week, one day picture before c-section day...
Sunday afternoon we got together to do some informal family pictures. I haven't seen the "official" big family ones yet, but here are some from my phone. This was the grandma/grandpa/grandkid shot - plus Fred, because Hazel wouldn't sit there without him.
It was super bright, so we kept telling the kids to close their eyes and then open them on the count of three. I loved Pierscen's solution below...
He was looking up and smiling after all. :) Below are the official pics of our little family. I think they turned out pretty great. Too bad it was a week too soon!
We left Monday morning after stopping to see my old boss Jeanette and then grabbing lunch at Cabelas. It was a really great trip and I am so grateful that I was in good enough health to make the trip... even if I didn't go into labor there like I had hoped. I guess this baby was determined to be a true blue cowgirl. ;)
Thank you family, for your love and support. You are the best!
