Meghan

Meghan is such a funny girl. She loves to cook, clean, play with most any toys, dress up and/or change her clothes several times each day, and dance and sing all over the house.

Here are some pictures from the last month or so. She can't wait for our baby to arrive in 4 months. She is practicing with her doll.

She has been drawing pictures with the baby in my belly and Joe asked her the one time what the baby's name was and she said "Sam". We all are calling the baby Sam for now, but it most likely won't stick.

And jumping on her bed is a favorite past-time, but she is now forbidden as she has broken several of her bed slats in the process. She loved jumping from on her dresser onto her bed.

This spring we found a couple small snakes in the front yard by the flower beds. The kids loved watching them and grabbing them by their tail.

They really tried hard to get the second snake, but he was wound through the thatch layer of the grass and I think he would have been pulled into pieces if I didn't stop them. I'm not a huge fan of snake's, but ones this size are ok.

As long as they aren't rattlesnakes, like the Michigan rattlesnakes we used to have at the house I grew up at in Michigan. Each spring we would find ~10 baby rattlesnakes, but never the adults. It was amazing to see the little bugger's (less than a foot long) try and shake their rattles and strike at anything that got close - like the shovel. The DNR at the time told us to either chop them in half or capture them in a jar and take them in to them for disposal, since they were in our yard...

Colorado

Back in the beginning of August I had a work trip to Boulder Colorado for a 4 day software workshop. Since Joe and I hadn't really been on a trip by ourselves without the kids, we decided this would be the perfect time for him to come along. Plus, he loves Colorado and served his 2 year mission for the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the Denver North mission.

We arrived on a Sunday morning and dropped our belongings off at the hotel. Then we explored Boulder on foot. Monday we rented a car for the day and took off to visit Rocky Mountain National Park. While it was pricey to get in ($20 for a 7 day pass - but for us it was just one day), it was amazing. I even got to see my first real wild elk! As we drove in the mountains just outside of Boulder we stopped to see a waterfall. I forget the name, but it was just a short hike from the road.

Then we drove to Estes Park and from there to the Rocky Mountain National Park. We decided to take the Old Fall River Road and drive along the narrow dirt road along the side of the mountain. It gave us some amazing views. It was also scary at times, because there was literally only a foot on either side of the car (one side dropping off and the other side rock cliff straight up).

I just love this picture and have it as the background on my laptop and my mac at work.

We saw a couple areas were avalanches in the mid 1980's and early 1990's completely wiped out sides of the mountain. All that is there currently is rock; nothing growing at all.

I believe these were called chimney formations.

For it being the beginning of August, I was surprised at the amount of snow that was still present. In fact we were told that the mountain roads (both the Old Fall River Road we were on and the Trail Ridge Road) usually open Memorial Day weekend, but they were still closed as of July 4th due to the large amounts of snow that fell last winter. There was one area where the snow drift that covered the road was still about 7 feet high on the one side of the road (that was some really nasty, dirty looking snow let me tell you). The temperature change was drastic from Boulder to the Alpine Visitor Center; in Boulder it was 80F and at the Alpine Visitor Center it was about 42F and very windy.

It was neat to see the snow melt form waterfalls down the side of the mountain.

I would love to have a house built in this meadow...

We crossed the continental divide at one point and then reached the Alpine Visitor Center. At this point we got out and walked around the gift store. The high altitude was making our heads feel funny (over 13,000 ft at this point, Boulder is around 5,500-6,000ft). We drove west further and saw some beautiful lakes in some valleys. Then, we headed back towards Boulder and got us some delish pizza at Beau Joe's Pizza.

We had done a lot of research on places to eat, so we ate pretty well and I think we were happy with all our choices. I made sure that our hotel had a good breakfast that came with the room as well, so that helped us get a good start to the day. We also ate at the Rib House, Foolish Craig's Cafe, Agave Mexican Bistro, and Snarf's Sub Shop.

Overall we enjoyed our trip (and my workshop was good too). The time always goes by fast though...

Meghan and her love for dogs

As many of you may know, Meghan has a huge heart and lots of love for most any furry, four-legged creature, but especially for dogs. I swear that child has a dog radar that covers at least one city block. She always knows where the dogs are and always wants to stop and pet them. Most of the dogs in our neighborhood are friendly and the owners are very cautious if their dog doesn't like kids (they always cross the street before passing us).

Jase's best friend has a golden retriever, Clara, whom Meghan adores and loves to walk on the leash (whether in their fenced in backyard or in the house).

Meghan also loves going to Gramma Fick's house, because there she has 3 doggies to play with (actually just 2, Mitzi and Molly, as Sam is more stand-off-ish). Here are some pictures I took this summer when on vacation. Meghan was in heaven having Molly on the leash and running with her all over the large front and backyard.

This first one is my favorite!

Here Meghan is singing (her second favorite thing).

Happy Halloween!

Halloween has been a long time coming in our house this year. We decorated the house towards the end of September, before I was scheduled to have my ankle surgery. Then the surgery got canceled. So we made some crafts, made some yummy food, including sugar cookies in the shapes of pumpkins, bats, and leaves. The kids also frosted the cookies and Jase discovered that green and orange make brown (kinda - I think it was more of a puke green and I couldn't eat any of those cookies :)).

Then we had our annual trunk or treat at church and we all had fun. Jase had his school Halloween parade and party. And now finally tonight, trick or treating around our block. It is a cold one out, but I am glad it stopped raining.

We have one pretty sweet and adorable puppy dog, and one protective turtle named Leonardo. Thankfully with him around we stay safe!

Ice Skating lessons

Jase and Meghan started ice skating lessons this last week.

They are in different classes due to their ages, but both are in beginner lessons.

Joe took them and said they did pretty well, since they have have never had ice skates on their feet before.

Jase fell some and Meghan fell alot.

They were very excited to come back home and tell me all about it.

They can't wait for next week!

I am grateful that Joe remembered the camera and took these pictures for me to see them in "action". Thanks Love!

The one with a pinched nerve...

Today marks the 9th day of being in bed since I pinched a nerve in my lower back. On the Friday morning of incident I was getting out of the shower and lifted my left leg up on the side of the tub and bent forward to dry my foot. My right leg went instantly numb, I became very dizzy and nauseous (almost ready to faint) and Joe had to help me back to bed.

In bed was where I stayed all day (hating the times I had to get up and use the bathroom). Lying flat was the only way I could get any relief from the sharp and stabbing nerve pain and to get at least partial feeling back in my leg. Saturday I saw a chiropractor and I felt quite a bit better afterwards and actually walked around for about an hour at a park. Sunday morning I woke up and my entire right leg was cramping for hours. Into the ER we go. The hard part is trying to get any pain relief while sitting or standing (there is none). All the good meds are not for use with while pregnant.

Fast forward to Tuesday when I talked with my OB to get referrals to Ortho (spine Dr) and Physical Therapy. Sadly these referrals will take a week or so to get scheduled... Wednesday to the Chiropractor and felt better afterwards. Thursday back to the chiropractor and feel even better afterwards, as we found a position for me to lay on my stomach (thankfully I'm still in the 1st trimester) and to stretch my legs down at an angle (the futon works well). This allows the "probable slipped disk" to fall back into place, relieving the pressure on the nerve in the back.

Each morning is getting somewhat easier to do gentle stretching and then getting out of bed. However, the more I am up, the more it hurts. And being up for more than 5 minutes at a time is difficult. The sciatica is still there and my glute and hamstring muscles are so tight that they pinch the nerve as soon as they are engaged. Stretching them just makes the back hurt worse, so we are working from the top down; back first then the muscles.

I see the Chiropractor on Monday again and then the Ortho on Tuesday. I really hope that I can get back to work later this week, as I'm burning through all my sick days and vacation days. If I'm off much longer, then there will be little traveling for us over the holidays this winter...