Baby Mobile

I've been on the hunt for a cute baby mobile for a few weeks, but I've been coming up empty-handed Either they were too "cutsie", themed or overpriced; so I decided that I could make my own. I'm not a very "crafty" person, so I was trying to come up with a design idea that would be realistic, yet still cute. With some help from Luke (he's super creative), we put together a cute little mobile to go above our little guy's crib.



Closer look:


The view from below (as the baby will see it):


It's hard to really tell how it looks in the pictures, but this gives you an idea. Those little animals are so dang cute!

Bored

We are fickle creatures. A week ago, I would have given just about anything for even just a half-day just to do whatever I wanted -- Read, watch TV, go shopping, clean my bathrooms!, etc...but now that I'm being forced to stay in bed indefinitely, I've come to the conclusion that it gets old really fast! I like being busy -- in fact, I thrive on it -- so having someone sternly tell me that I am to go home, get in bed and not move except for bathroom breaks and to eat a little something every few hours has been a challenge.
That's right. I'm on bedrest for at least two weeks.
On Monday at work all day I was feeling a bit off. Just feeling lousy; having pain and "tightness" that I couldn't explain, and when I got home I was just miserable. My weekly appointment to see my OB-GYN was the next morning -- so I decided to wait until then to see if she knew if I should be concerned. So far any aches and pains that I've brought up have been "normal", so I just figured I was feeling the effects of only having a few weeks left. I brought it up to her on Tuesday morning and she decided to hook me up to the monitor and make sure nothing was going on. Well, something was. I was actually having regular contractions about every 2-3 minutes. Some I could definitely feel, but I had no idea that I was having them that regularly. She sent me immediately to the hospital to continue monitoring and to receive IV fluids because dehydration can sometimes cause contractions. After being monitored for a few hours, they gave me a shot that was supposed to stop the contractions and the doctor decided to send me home on temporary bedrest and an oral drug to keep the contractions stopped. Wednesday, I could feel that I was having them again despite the medication and I was sent back to the hospital for more monitoring. They upped the dosage of the Terbutaline in shot form and watched to see if it would kick in. They seemed to be fairly well under control for the first part of the afternoon, but about 5 pm, just about the time they were going to send me home, I started having very regular and full minute contractions. The doctor decided that to be on the safe side they were going to give me a steroid shot (ouch, ouch, ouch!) that would help my little guy's lungs develop quicker, and to keep me overnight. What a miserable night. I don't know how they expect anyone to get better in the hospital when they are bugging you every five minutes! By the time morning came, I was exhausted and had gotten maybe an hour of sleep the entire night. The nurse told me that the doctor wanted me to stay the whole day and continue monitoring. Also the steroid shot is in two doses, so I needed another one about 6:30 pm. When the doctor came by a few hours later, I told her I would be SO much more comfortable at home and if she agreed to release me, I would obey any bedrest orders to the 'T.'
So, here I am. At home, in bed, and pretty bored. As long as nothing gets worse, I should just be home for the next week and I'll see her Wednesday to check things out again.
In the meantime, does anybody have any good suggestions for books to read, etc? I was trying to figure out what Luke could pick up for me at the library, but I'm a browser when I go, so having to come up with something without looking around was proving difficult.
I'm sure that some of you are envying my position of being able to be lazy...so I need some suggestions. If you could have a day to do anything -- well, anything that you can do laying/reclining -- what would you do?

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Last week my Mom, Amy, Bethany, Harley and my Grandma came to visit us! It started out with just Bethany and my Mom, but pretty soon I made it sound so fun :), that we got quite a crew. Luke was a little out-numbered for the week, but he was a great sport.

We picked them up from the airport early Tuesday morning and decided to spend the rest of the day in Chicago seeing some of the sites.

-The Famous "Bean" by Millennial Park


-Our reflections in the "Bean"


-Enjoying some of the parks near Lake Michigan


-One of the views from the Sears Tower (Oh, I mean the "Willis Tower" now)


-Bethany and Amy snapping pictures in the "glass box". For those who haven't heard, they've installed a glass observatory that juts out over the street, so you can walk out into this, well, glass box and see straight down to the street 103 floors down. It can definitely be a little unnerving at first, but it's pretty cool.




For the rest of the week, we spent a lot of time shopping. (Luke was glad work gave him an excuse to miss out on most of that). Everyone got some really cute stuff and it's a good thing they brought an empty suitcase with them, otherwise getting home would have been a bit of a challenge.

While they were in town, my dear friend Amber organized a baby shower for me and it was great for my Mom and sisters to get to meet some of the women in my ward.
Amber designed the theme around "books," first starting with the Book of Mormon, so she entitled it, "I, Baby Werrett, having been born of goodly parents..." It was so sweet, it brought tears to my eyes.











Everyone was so generous, our little guy is going to be sporting some pretty cute outfits soon!

For our last few days, we ventured to Shipshawana, Indiana to visit some Amish country. They have a cute little town that is full of shops -- mostly crafty things -- but Luke was able to score some great chocolate and other sweet stuff. I think the food shops were the only thing that kept him sane, while he heard "awww, isn't that cute..." about a thousand times.

-Amish buggies


-Resting our tired feet after a full day of shopping


-Apparently everyone was a little tired...


Whew! What a week! We all had a blast together talking, laughing, staying up late every night, finding cute stuff for everyone to try on...etc. It really was one of the best weeks I've had in a long time. I miss you guys like crazy already!

We're having...

A BOY!

Our Stick Family

Yep, that's right! I'm expecting!

Everything has gone really well up to this point and we are so excited. I'm about 5 months along and I'm due August 21st. We get to find out the gender in about 2 1/2 weeks (if of course, the baby cooperates).

In the coming months, I'm sure I'll be asking all the mommies out there for tons of advice, but for now we are just enjoying the ride.

Two Weeks of Awesomeness

I've admitted it on here before, but I LOVE the Olympics. I love the interesting stories about each of the athletes and their individual journey to make it to that kind of athletic level; I love the thrill, the stress and excitement of each event; and I love watching the excitement and joy the winners experience and my heart goes out to those who missed out on a gold by just a hair. It's pretty incredible how hard these athletes train for just seconds of competition -- and it is all or nothing -- they either give the best performance of their lives, or it's all over, just like that.

Highlight for me so far:
MOGULS. Both the mens' and womens' freestyle mogul competitions were amazing this year. I had the opportunity to see a world cup competition right before the Torino Olympics in Park City, UT and ever since then, the moguls have been one of my very favorite events. This year was insane. I've never seen a mogul competition come down to speed so much (it only counts for 25% of the score), but this year, it was all about the speed. In order for the women to be in the hunt for a medal, they were needing a time of about 27 seconds and the men needed under 24 seconds. Crazy.
Even though a Canadian guy won the gold this time, I was happy for him. He was the first Canadian man to win a gold medal in a "home" Olympics EVER. Good for him.

See what I mean? It's so exciting. History being made.

Whew! What a year...

I can't believe we've closed out another year. Where does the time go? It seems like the older I get, the faster time goes. It's been a whirlwind of a year for sure, but we've been incredibly blessed.

Highlights (and lowlights) of 2009:

JANUARY
* Luke gets laid off from Dow

MARCH
* Luke finishes work with Dow
* Florida vacation


MAY
* New job in Chicago area
* Luke moves to Illinois


JUNE
* Emily moves to Illinois
* Emily's parents visit


JULY
* House in Houston sells!

AUGUST
* Luke's family visits
* Trip to Nauvoo with them


SEPTEMBER
* Closed on old home and new home!
* Emily gets new job
* 4th Wedding Anniversary

OCTOBER
* Never ending house projects

NOVEMBER
* Thanksgiving at Paul and Betsy's


DECEMBER
* Christmas in Idaho!
* Bethany gets back from her mission!






While everything has worked out beautifully this year, we're hoping for maybe a little less "excitement" -- at least in the department of moving... ;)
Happy New Year everyone! We hope it's a great one!

Giving Thanks

This year, Luke and I were able to travel to Luke's brother's house in Nebraska for Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful time with them and it really reminded us how thankful we are to have such wonderful families in our lives. As we've traveled and lived throughout the country we've met so many people who don't have good relationships with their families, or simply don't take the time out of their busy schedules to talk or visit regularly. I really can't imagine what kind of void I would feel if I didn't have such great people in my life -- and people who will always be there, no matter where we live, or what our circumstances are.

Thanks for your wonderful hospitality! We had a great time!

A, showing us her Thanksgiving turkey made out of Gumdrops:


E, a.k.a, Cinderella, super excited about the Thanksgiving dinner about to commence:


During the weekend, we were able to visit the Temple Visitor's Center. It is a very small one, but very touching. What a reminder on Thanksgiving of all the sacrifices the saints made during their exodus to the West. I'm constantly amazed at the strength they all had.



In the basement of the visitor's center, they had their annual Gingerbread Display, and it was pretty amazing! One ward did "Noah's Ark" out of gingerbread and it was so cool. They sculpted all the animals out of tootsie rolls and starbursts and whoever did them was very talented. There was also one that did "The Night Before Christmas" and they did a scene every few lines of the book. Very impressive.

We also went to the city Zoo for one of the days. I've been to quite a few zoo's around the country, but this was by far the best. Instead of dividing all the animals into different areas according to the type of animal, they organized it by habitat: so there was a "desert" habitat, a "jungle", etc. For example, in the "jungle", they had paths going through a real jungle that you could walk through and see all the birds, monkeys, etc. The more dangerous animals were kept in cages or behind glass, but for the most part, they were out in the open. There was one tiny little monkey that came so close to us, we could almost touch it. It was pretty amazing. There was an incident in the "Gorilla house" that the two girls and Luke will probably never forget, but other than that, it was a pretty cool experience.

We forgot our camera, but I wanted to try to find some pics of the Zoo:

This is the "desert habitat" that you walk into:


The jungle was the coolest:




This was the rope bridge that we got to walk across:


Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Defeated

Today Chicago lost the Olympic Bid for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games...so sad. I was really hoping they would get it -- not only because I absolutely LOVE the Olympics and it would so exciting to have them here -- but also for the economic benefits. If we got the bid it would benefit this whole area immensely.

But, I'm not surprised.

America is not the most popular nation right now, and Chicago is probably one of the most corrupt -- if not THE -- most corrupt city in the country. It's a fact here. Everybody knows it, and it is just accepted. That culture here is a little hard to get used to. ;)

Oh well, I'm just going to have to save up my pennies to go the Olympics somewhere else...

House Update

Luke and I have officially moved into our new home and it is so relieving. It was a mess to coordinate a sale and purchase on the same day (note to self: NEVER do that again)...but we're here!!

It is so nice to be in a house again, and although we have about a million projects to do to make this place into the vision we saw in our heads when we bought it, it is still great to be settled.
I've been covered in paint from the first weekend we moved in -- one room down, a billion to go -- but I keep reminding myself, "one step at a time."

I picked these roses from my garden, and I love them! I've always had a love affair with roses, so to be able to pick my own, is pretty cool. Now I need to do some reading up on how to take care of them. Unfortunately roses aren't the low-maintenance type. They're worth it though!



People have been bugging us to send them pictures of the house...and we will....as soon as we get our projects done! So, if you want to see it sooner, well, you might just have to come visit us! :)

It Just Keeps Getting Better

Four years ago today Luke and I were in Portland, OR celebrating our marriage for Eternity. While I couldn't comprehend it at the time, I can honestly say I am even more in love with my wonderful husband than on that perfect day. And it just seems to grow infinitely day by day, year by year.
Without being too sappy, I'll just say that my life has never been the same since I met Luke and I feel like the luckiest girl in the world.



Here's to 4 years -- and to 50 more!

Happy Birthday!

I love this guy!!!



While it wasn't the most festive birthday we've had together (Unfortunately we had to move that day), we still managed to celebrate my favorite guy's 27th birthday, complete with his favorite meal: Cheese Fondue. I also made a chocolate, chocolate, chocolate cake for his birthday celebration while his family was in town last week. We had a great time.

One year older and wiser too....



Unfortunately our cameras are packed, so the cake picture is the only one I have (courtesy of Gordon)...

Moving and House Hunting!

Luke and I made it -- 17 hour moving truck ride and all! When we first pulled out of our subdivision and started on our journey from Houston at 4:00 a.m., the truck cab was pretty uncomfortable and I was thinking "Oh man, this is going to be the longest day of my life..." But, it did get better and we actually had a pretty decent day. We got to our apartment in Illinois at about 9:00 p.m., and just crashed. Monday morning, the missionaries came by and helped us move most our stuff into the back bedroom of our little apartment. It is stuffed pretty much to the ceiling! (see picture below). We figured if we were going to buy a house soon, there was no point unpacking anything!

We had been looking around the area and a few areas up north for houses that we liked and we were really struggling with the decision of where to live. We weren't sure we were going to find something that we really liked in the town that Luke works, so we were exploring all the surrounding towns and wards and trying to figure out what we felt like we should do.
After we got somewhat settled, we went on another house-hunting trip with our realtor and we found the perfect house! We put an offer on it a few days later and it was accepted! So we have a house! Well, not officially until the end of the month, but pretty close. We are super excited and Luke is ecstatic that his commute is about 5 minutes. (I don't think we can call that a commute....). It is definitely an improvement from his previous commute, which was 50 minutes one way.
The house definitely needs some updates because the couple who owned the home are retiring to Florida and their taste in wallpaper and paint colors are definitely "from another time...," but we are really looking forward to the projects and making it "ours."

Our "storage unit":

Chicago -- And Some News!

I apologize that I have been neglecting my blog, but in my defense, I have been pretty busy and I've had a very testy internet connection. We're not really getting along, but right now we are trying to work out our issues.
We've been having a good time this last month, getting used to a new place and figuring out where we want to live. We also have some news (read the 2nd and 3rd post!) Don't assume too much -- no, I'm not pregnant. I know that's what you were thinking.... ;)

Luke and I have spent a couple weekends in Chicago since we moved up there...and we readily admit it is a lot more fun than Houston. Sorry Houston. There are a billion shops, restaurants, cool architecture, festivals, shows, Navy Pier, the beach, museums -- the list goes on and on. I don't think we'll run out of things to do up there anytime soon.

The weekend after I got up there, my parents came to visit on the way home from their second cross-country motorcycle tour (9000 miles in two months!!!) and we had a ton of fun with them.
We took an architectural tour which is cool because I love buildings, rode the famous Navy Pier ferris wheel that overlooks the entire city and Lake Michigan, and caught a cool show in town.

One of the views from the Navy Pier Ferris Wheel:


At the Italian Tapas restaurant we found just off Michigan Ave that was SO good:


One of the cool art installations/fountains dotting the city:


At the end of the Pier:


The new Chicago riverwalk (apparently, they are really working to revitalize this):


Kate: This one is for you. We found a moose right downtown Chicago! ;)


We figured out how to take the train into downtown, so now we can go more often and not have to worry about paying $30 for parking every time! Yay!

A new nephew

My sister was due to have her second baby down here in Houston on July 4th. My mom was flying from Chicago (after coming to visit us for the weekend) June 30th and on a last second whim, I decided to join her. (Priceline.com -- try it!)
We came down a few days before the baby was born and got Heather ready for the big day. He is such a cute little guy and the BEST baby ever. He is so good natured, and besides have his nights and days mixed up for the first week, is a little gem to take care of.

I was planning to fly back home July 14th, but plans changed (see my next post!) and I will be sticking around until the end of the month! I miss my Luke something terribly, but it is for the best and it will only be 1 1/2 weeks more.

Yesterday, Mom and I planned an at-home-spa day to give Heather some pampering and relaxation and it was really fun! Eva loved it too -- she loved it so much that she had a hard time going down for her nap because she knew she was missing out on a party -- even though we were taking a break because we all needed a nap!

Our House

IS SOLD!!!!!

Yes, folks the crazy real estate monster did not get the best of us. We've got a contract on our home and will close on August 26.

Luke is going to fly down here on July 24th and help me move all of our stuff out and then we'll make that awful drive just one more time with the moving truck. Oh well, it will be much more fun with my best friend along for the ride. (After 16 hours in the car by yourself, you even run out of things to think about). So I'm excited that Luke is able to take a day off of work and make the drive with me.

Oh, and we are super excited to get our stuff back!!! Yay, we'll have furniture again!