Beau's First Christmas!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! As you can imagine, we had the best Christmas yet! God Blessed us with a beautiful little boy this year! The best Christmas gift of all!

We got all of our Christmas shopping done last week and went out for dinner. Beau was a good baby for Gramma Richardson while she was babysitting. We didn't make it to a movie- I couldn't stand to be away that long!!

We enjoyed Christmas Eve with the Richardson side. We did our annual fonduing at Chuck's mom's house and opened gifts there. After that we headed over to Carol's house and opened more gifts and ate some more. Beau was spoiled with lots of love and gifts from everyone! The festivities stared around 3 and ended at 10!! By the end of the night we were all tired, but had a great time with everyone!

On Christmas day my parents come to our house and so we ate some more and opened gifts...beginning to see a pattern! :) (Love this time of year!) Mom and I enjoyed a scapping extravaganza on Friday while Dad and Chucker did their own thing. I think we scrapped for about 10 hours! I couldn't believe it! I got a lot done in Beau's book and mom got a jump start on some Beau pages for her book. Dad and Chucker ran into Rapids to pick up my Christmas gift from Chuck...an 8ft table for my scrapping room! I never would have guessed that Chuck would have gotten that for me- I guess he knows me all too well! I've wanted a table for so long! They brought it home and set it up and it wasn't too much longer that I was down there setting up shop :)

Sunday was a lazy day for me...Chuck went fishing with our brother in law Dan. He said the fish are really biting right now so they caught their limit and a nice size northern. I think he plans on getting a lot of fishing time in this week since he'll have his hands full for quite a while...

Only one more week and I'm off to work again. These last 6 weeks have flown by so fast...too fast! It's been the best time of my life and it's going to be very hard for me to go back. I woke up bright and early today so that I can get myself back into the swing of things of getting up early. Right now my schedule now consists of getting up, sitting on the couch with beau, watching TV, scrapping, eating, poking chuck (hehe) etc.

Have a great week everyone and Happy New Year!

A new friend for Beau!

Well, once again the week has flown by and I have no idea where the time has gone!! We are keeping ourselve busy and the little guy is keeping us on our toes :) He is smiling more and more and is really filling out! He continues to pretty much sleep thru the night- only getting up once or twice during the night which we are very grateful for :)

Today Beau and I went over to my friend Joni's house and he met her daughter Aella. Aella is 3 weeks older than Beau and is so darn cute! Joni and I had a great time talking about mommy things and enjoying each other's company...next time I'll bring my scrapping stuff!

Tomorrow night Gramma Richardson is going to watch Beau while Chuck and I go out for dinner and to a movie (maybe, we'll see if mom can be away that long!!!)

Christmas Eve we'll be fonduing at Carol's house- yummy!! Mom and dad will be at our house Christmas Day! We can't wait! I think dad and chuck are going to do some snowmobiling while mom and I (and beau) scrap. I can't wait to get started on his book!

Well, hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!! Stay Warm!!

One month yesterday!

Well, yesterday Beau was 1 month old!! I can't believe how fast the month has gone! These past couple of weeks have been so busy! Last weekend we were in the cities for my baby shower that my family threw...the shower was awesome and it was so good to see everyone. My cousin Amy and her little girl Ally even made a special trip from Vegas! It was a very special day for us! We got a lot of really nice gifts too! I can't believe we were able to haul everything home in our car, but we did it!

We were in the cities until Tuesday so I've been playing catch up since we've been home. It all started Tuesday night when we got home...I started a load of laundry and found out the dryer had broke. It's only 25 years old so I can't imagine why...So needless to say we ended up going to Brainerd to shop for a new dryer and ended up buying a new dryer AND washer. They're a stackable combo and I'm so glad we bought both now. They had a set in so chuck went and picked them up the other day. But of course buying the stackable combo means another project :). We're going to paint our laundry area and add a closet organizer. I'm looking forward to having the extra laundry space and I actually don't mind doing laundry now with our new set...let's see how long that lasts! hahaha! It's more high tech than I'm used too. It plays a little chime when the load is done and it only takes 20 minutes to dry the clothes! Never thought washing clothes would be so exciting!

Beau has been so much more alert and has been showing us his little smile. He loves his mobile and laying on his tummy while we hold him. He's so darn cute! This morning he was smiling so much I couldn't believe it! I don't think it was gas related either! I can't believe he's already 1 month old!

We're staying in today and enjoying the snowfall. There's suppose to be a lot of snow coming our way! Bring it on! I'm sure chuck will run the snowmobiles later and I'm hoping to get a couple of Christmas decorations up around the house. Last night I made some yummy caramel corn (maggie's recipe) that is to die for so we'll be munching on that too.

Hope you all have a great week!

Santa's Little Helper!

Thanksgiving and a trip to see Santa

We hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving holiday and didn't stuff yourself too much! We went over to Chuck's sister house for a Thanksgiving feast. It was delicious as usual. Beau was a good baby and of course everyone enjoyed seeing him and cuddling him.

We did some shopping on black Friday ( I can't believe I got Chuck to go out!!) which we weren't planning on and survived!! Unfortunately we didn't buy a single Christmas gift...I guess you could say we just needed to get out of the house and Christmas shopping wasn't our main priority. We were able to get a bite to eat and some badly needed fresh air!! Afterwards we went home and made some homemade Christmas gifts for the gramma's and great gramma glaus.

We had a new experience on Saturday...we made a visit to see Santa at L&M in Grand Rapids! We were told that beau was the youngest baby to visit Santa at L&M EVER! Of course beau slept right though it but we were able to get a cute picture of him.

Now that Thanksgiving is over Christmas is right around the corner- wow has the year has flown by! I guess when you're pregnant 3/4 of it it goes by fast! :) We hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving. Chuck and I are thankful for our little guy that has come into our lives and to have such a great family and friends.

Enjoy your week!

With Every Little Baby's Birth God Sends His Love and Joy to Earth.

Already been 1 week!

I can't believe it's already been one week since our handsome little boy came into our lives!

I was not expecting my water to break last Wednesday night! Chuck and I had went out for chicken wings that night and then I went grocery shopping. I came home, picked up a couple of things around the house and crawled into bed. I had just said good night to Chuck and we turned off the light- 20 seconds the light came back on as I told Chuck that my water had just broke.

We waited about 45 minutes before going to the hospital. We got to the hospital around 10:30pm. My delivery was very quick- needless to say I was dilated to a 9 by about 1am and our baby beau joined the world at 1:56am.

We are all doing very well! Beau is eating about every three hours and for the most part gets up about 2 times during the night. Last night we were lucky and he only got up once. (I'd better keep my mouth shut though before our luck changes!! ) He is such a blessing and a joy to our lives.

Thank you for all the gifts and the cards that we've received this past week! It truely means a lot to us!

We'll continue to keep you posted!

Thanks for checking in!

IT'S A BOY!!!

IT'S A BOY!

BEAU ROBERT RICHARDSON

11/13/2008 1:56AM

8 LBS

21 INCHES

6 days and counting!!!!

Wow! We have literally have come into the home stretch now! Only 6 days left until we meet baby R- well that's hoping I don't go over the scheduled due date- November 15th. I had a doctor's appointment on Wednesday and my doc said she won't let me go past the 24th- so either way we look at it, we'll have a baby before Thanksgiving! We really can't believe how fast it's gone by!

This past weekend was very relaxing and enjoyable....my dad came up to go hunting with Chuck. This was his first time out. He really enjoyed himself and although he didn't shoot a deer, he was able to catch a glimpse of a doe yesterday morning.

While the guys were out hunting, some girlfriends and I hit up the craft shows in Grand Rapids. Our goal was to find some great deals and walk baby right out of me...we found some good deals, but no baby.

Today has been a pretty relaxing day. I was able to get some scrapbooking done and Chuck's been able to catch a few zzz's. Getting up at 4:30 catches up with you fast, especially after sitting outside for most of the morning in the cold.

Well, back to work tomorrow...maybe I'll get lucky and my water will break tonight!

Have a great week everyone and we'll keep you posted!

We're at a 1!!

Well, we had an exciting day today...I had a doctor's appointment and found out I'm dilated to a 1! Of course I can walk around like this for the next two weeks, but at least it's a start right! :) My doctor's appointment went well. I have a sinus infection so my doc prescribed some drugs- thank God! I think I'm making my self more sick because I'm so nervous that I'll be sick when baby comes- so this should put my mind at ease. Baby's heart rate was around 148 today- back up! Doc said it's normal for it to fluctuate like it has been. It's hard to believe we only have about 2 weeks left! I have to admit though- even though I've had a pretty easy pregnancy, I'm really ready to be done! Next doc appointment is in one week so I'll keep you all posted.

Chuck is now working in Federal Dam this week which is nice because it's only about 20 minutes from home. He'll be working in Hermantown again within the next couple of weeks to get the floor poured- then he'll be done there. He's getting very excited for rifle hunting season- it's fast approaching- 2 weeks! He's going to bow hunt this weekend and rifle hunting the next- of course he'll be around the house in case we need to make any special trips :)

This past weekend I was able to get some scrapping done with some friends of mine. We rented out a town hall and scrapped from 9am to 8pm...AND I didn't get hardly a thing done! Oh well, it was fun to get out and spend some time with the girls!

Other than that our week has been pretty quiet, which is nice because in a few weeks we will have a lot of excitement, some sleepless nights and long days as we get move into a new chapter in our lives...

Love you to all and I hope you are having a great week~

No More TOMATOES...Seriously!

If I have to look at anymore tomatoes I'm going to go nuts! Seriously! I just finished canning the last batch of stewed tomatoes. We ended up with 13 quarts of stewed tomatoes and 17 pints of salsa. I think we have enough for the year! We have more tomatoes in the basement, but I just can't stand to look at them anymore! Chuck has been doing a little experimenting and has made some dehydrated tomatoes to use in pasta dishes and such- so far they look good!

This past weekend I went to the cities to celebrate Izzy's first birthday! I can't believe she's already 1!! She had a lot of fun digging into her piece of cake, but started to cry from all of the excitement and everyone watching her. Maggie made an awesome cake that was decorated like a bubble bath with a duck in the middle of it. It was so cute!

Chuck is still working in Hermantown until the end of this week. It sounds like he is bidding another big project in Emily so keep your fingers crossed! Not too much longer and his work season will be coming to an end- he's had another successful year!

Chuck has also been building a dog house for the boys- this isn't the average doghouse though, oh no! This is the penthouse of them all! This dog house has insulation, a shingled roof, and carpeting! AND Chuck is stopping tomorrow to buy some siding for it! Can we say spoiled?!

We found daycare!!! The quest is over! I'm very happy with the lady I found and feel confident that she will take excellent care of our little one. I'll be meeting with her a couple of times once baby arrives so she can meet him or her. What a relief!

I had a doctor appt last week and got the flu shot. Never again! This is the second time I've had a flu shot and both times have been sick afterwards! I'm finally starting to feel better- so I'll be taking it easy the rest of this week. Other than the flu shot, the appt went well. Everything looks good and the strep b test came back normal. Not too much longer!

Hope you're all having a great week! Until next time...

And the count down continues!

We finally recovered from the wedding! Another week gone and another week closer to meeting our little one! I'm now 35 weeks and it's hard to believe that not too much longer we'll have a new little one in our lives.

This past week was pretty quiet as we were both so tired from the wedding! Although we went out for crab legs on Thursday night AND I made salsa and stewed tomatoes...we have so many tomatoes I'm ready to contact the farmers market!! haha! So we squeezed in some time for food...imagine that! :)

This past weekend started out great! I found out on Friday that I passed my final insurance class and I officially earned my CISR designation (Certified Insurance Service Representative) . Doesn't that make me sound important? haha :) So I'm sure you can imagine my excitement!

This past weekend, Chuck's side of the family put on a nice baby shower... It was so fun to see everyone and get a lot of really nice gifts! We are so blessed! So we're pretty much set for baby to arrive and the count down continues! Only 31 more days until my due date!

Since mom and dad were up for the shower this weekend we were able to spend some time with them .... Mom and I had a lot of fun putting away baby stuff and getting things ready in the nursery while dad and chuck scoped out some hunting spots. Chuck ended up getting another doe with his bow on Saturday! (It was quite the experience for my dad to see this!) So they spent Saturday afternoon and Sunday preparing the deer for processing.

Chuck has been busy working on a house in Hermantown this week. Although he drives quite a distance, we are thankful that there's still business and work lined up. Of course his phone has been ringing daily too as there are a lot of people that want to complete their summer/fall projects before snowfall!

And the hunt for daycare continues...AND to be honest with you it is not the easiest task to complete as I'm sure most of you know! I cannot believe how long some of the waiting lists are!! Fall of 2009 or Spring of 2010! Are you kidding me?! We're fortunate that Chuck will be playing the role of Mr. Mom and staying home with the baby until March, but I've started to make my phone calls now and I'm glad I am! Most daycares fill up quickly or plans change and mothers get pregnant! Not only am I on the hunt for the best daycare out there, I'm also thinking about their insurance and if they have proper coverage for their "small daycare business!!" (It's only natural that I think of this since I work in the field!) Right now I'm wishing I didn't hear some of the things these yahoos tell me!

I hope you're all having a fabulous week...I'm nesting so I'm off to find something to clean, organize, paint, rebuild, plant, bulldoze, etc.
Love to you all!

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Newman!!!

Congratulations Tom and Maggie! We love you!

It's official! Tom and Maggie are married and enjoying their time together in St. Petersburg Florida on their honeymoon!

The wedding was beautiful and a ton of fun! Both families really put a lot of work into the big day and it sure showed! The room, cake, everything was amazing! Chuck was an usher so we made way to Willmar on Thursday night so we could be there Friday night for the groom's dinner. We stayed at the Grand Casino Mille Lacs Thursday night and then continued our journey on Friday. The groom's dinner was awesome and the evening was fun- the girls did their thing while the guys played a little poker... I was Maggie's personal attendant so I was able to spend Saturday with her while she got ready. The day started with a hair appt and afterwards we ate pizza and shared laughs with her mom, sister and other bridesmaids while getting ready. Pictures were at 2:45 and then the ceremony at 5:30- oh how the day flew by so quickly and Maggie was a beautiful bride! Little Izzy was pulled down the isle by her cousin Ethan in a little wagon that had been decorated. She loved it! She was smiling and clapping the whole way down and didn't like it when daddy picked her up and handed her to Grandma Newman. But surprisingly she dried her eyes and watched her mommy and daddy get married- she was so good!

Saturday night Chuck had his fill of drinks while I had my Izzy fix! She is such a little peanut and so cute! Izzy and I headed to bed around 10pm as it was a long day for the little one. Chuck came staggering in around 2:30 and was feeling pretty good...he really enjoyed himself that night but not so much the next morning. hehe :)

Another exciting weekend for the Richardson's and more to be thankful for.

We hope you all enjoy the rest of your week!

Happy Sweet 16 Amanda!!!

Another week gone and another week closer to baby!

Of course the week flew by as it usually does! We spent most of our evenings during the week relaxing and watching tv. Although Wednesday night Chuck picked 3 5 gallon buckets of tomatoes from our garden- I'm hoping I can make salsa this week!

We didn't do a whole lot on Friday night- my back has been hurting pretty bad lately and I actually went to the chiropractor on Friday so we took it easy in the evening.

Saturday we went into Boy River for a benefit for 2 of our neighbors- a father and daughter both are battling cancer. We were happy to see a good turn out...there must have been about 150 people there! They were serving chili and homemade fry bread (yummy!!). They also had a TON of door prizes! Chuck and I won a gift certificate to our local meat store as we were walking out the door- perfect timing for deer season!

After the benefit we celebrated our niece Amanda's 16th Birthday at Dan and Carol's!!! Hard to believe she's 16! The food and cheesecake were awesome! (There were 3 choices of cheesecake- like being at the cheesecake factory!!) Of course we played a little cards- Chuck kept his score low- I on the other hand racked up the points so I didn't do so hot...Amanda's taking her driving test today so keep your fingers crossed (and stay off the road j/k)!!! Good Luck Amanda! We love you!

Enjoy your week and we'll see some of you at TOM and MAGGIE'S Wedding this weekend! Yahoo! It's going to be so fun!!

Another week already!?

The weekends come and go so quickly!!

Good news! Friday night Chuck shot a doe deer with his bow! He called me at work and was contemplating going out but then decided last minute he'd go. It's a good thing he did!

Saturday night Chuck was in Big Lake for Tom's bachelor party- they played paint ball in St. Cloud. This was Chuck's first time playing paint ball and needless to say he came home with a few 'war wounds.' hehe The guys then went out to McPete's for some cocktails, but only for a short time. They ended up staying at Tom's sitting around a bonfire and put down 'a few' beers. Surprisingly Chuck looked pretty good when he got home...

I went garage saling in Grand Rapids with my friend Terra. This weekend was the annual hwy 38 garage sales. There's always a ton of them! We found some good deals and went out for Mexican after- we love Mexican! I also managed to get some painting done in the house...
AND I still found some time to relax which was nice!

So, judging by the survey I posted last week- all but one person thinks we're having a boy!!! It was interesting to see the results so far! Chuck informed me this past week that we're having a girl...so he thinks it's a girl and I think it's a boy- not too much longer and we'll see who's right about this one :)

Back to work tomorrow...enjoy your week everyone!

Thursday already!!

Wow this week is flying by! It's hard to believe tomorrow is Thursday!

This past weekend flew by as usual! We went out for dinner on Friday night and Saturday night we went over to the neighbors for their annual party. They always have a clay shoot and this year Chuck won a prize! He won a riffle cleaning kit! There's always a ton of food, beer, music (DJ), dancing, etc. Chuck enjoyed the night- unfortunately I headed home pretty early - my third trimester is making this mama tired!

It's that time of year again...Bow hunting season has started! Due to the rain this past weekend, Chuck wasn't able to hunt. He went out Monday night but didn't see anything. In October he's going to Camp Ripley with his buddy Eric, so he's looking forward to that.

I had a routine doctor appointment on Friday and was shocked to hear that baby's heart rate dropped to around the low 130's...could this be a little feller?? My intuitions say boy, but we'll soon find out :) As Chuck says, "it's a Richardson!"

Chuck is staying quite busy with the business and has been working in Crosslake last week and the majority of this week. He still has at least 3 weeks of work lined up and the phone continues to ring! Next week he'll be working in Ely. It's quite a ways, but he's gotta go where the jobs are! Keep 'em coming!

Yesterday I was in St. Cloud for my final CISR (Certified Insurance Service Representative) class- Commercial Casualty. I'm praying that I passed, especially since I work on the commercial side! If I pass, I'll be doing a little dance from my mailbox to the house! My goal was to be done with this designation prior to baby and it's been 2 years since I started the program, so your keep your fingers crossed!

I added 2 new pics of one of the bedrooms- the window and the closet. All of the trim and wood work is pine and Chuck did all the work himself. It's so nice to have a husband that's a handyman! We love our new rooms and I got to enjoy scrapping in my room this past weekend!

Chuck's going to the cities on Saturday for Tom's bacholer party...need I say more?! haha! I on the other hand will be enjoying a little R&R time!

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Getting closer!

Once again the week flew by and we were busy in the house, but we're moving on up...literally! The basement is done and we are now working in the baby's room! New carpeting was installed and chuck set up the crib, changing table and closet organizer- I came home one day and it was done! (I think someone is excited :))

Last week I managed to sign up for a fantasy football league...it's just the girls and it'll be fun! That and I have no idea what I'm doing which makes it even more fun! :) Although I learned today that my quarterback, Tom Brady is injured and will be out the rest of the season...bummer!

This past weekend chuck took some time for himself finally and got some deer stands set up for bow hunting. While he was out in the woods, I was in the cities throwing a bridal shower for Maggie with Jill and Missy! There was a great turn out and they got a lot of really nice gifts! Saturday night, mom, me, Patti, Katie, Kamryn and Jill enjoyed a nice night with each other's company- went out to eat and laughed and tried to stay up to scrap- mom and patti were scrappy doo's while Jill and I sat back and relaxed.

Everything is getting closer! Tom and Maggie will be married in less than a month and we'll have a new addition to our family in just 2 months! We have a lot of exciting things going on and so much to be thankful for! We are blessed!

Not too much planned for the week- although I went to the library today to get some baby name books....so we'll see what we come up with. This could get interesting :)

Have a great week and love to you all!

Happy Labor Day!

We hope this past labor day weekend was as enjoyable for you as it was for us! I know I could really get used to the three day weekends- especially having Mondays off!

Well, we now have two basement bedrooms completed! Woohoo! The carpeting was installed on Friday so this weekend we moved things from the upstairs bedroom (baby's room) to our new bedrooms. Chuck started painting in the baby's room which will be getting new carpeting on Tuesday. It's hard to believe that we're working on baby's room! I remember telling Chuck when we first found out I was pregnant that we didn't need to start working in the baby's room until at least September! Well, September is here already!

This past week I had a doctor appointment. Everything is going well. The heart rate dropped a little- it was around 140. It's hard to believe that we're coming into the home stretch now and I'm already 29 weeks along- not too much longer and we'll have a new addition to our family!

Today we smoked a turkey and had family over. We played a little cards and celebrated Lizzie's 14th birthday. The smoked turkety was awesome and the company was great!

Time for some relaxation now...

Enjoy your 4 day week!

A weekend at home....

Hope you all enjoyed the past week!

We had a pretty uneventful week. We had our last birthing class Wednesday night- we talked about breastfeeding for the majority of the class so I'm sure you can guess how happy chuck was...

This past weekend, Chuck put up the trim in the basement while I scrapped dry mud from the floor. We're hoping the carpet can be installed this week...then on to the baby's room!

Saturday we went to Chuck's family reunion at Uncle Louie's house. It was fun as usual and good to see everyone...there was a ton a food so we went home stuffed!

Today I went over to a friends house and did a little card making...good to get out of the house for a couple of hours.

Other than that we had a pretty calm weekend...it was good to be home!

Congratulations Mindy and Kellen!

This past week Chuck and I were able to enjoy some fair food! Yummy! Cheese Curds and Fry Bread! Oh yeah! We went to the Itasca County Fair on Wednesday night.

This past weekend we were in the cities for Mindy and Kellen's wedding. The ceremony and reception were held at Majestic Oaks golf course- it was a beautiful wedding and a ton of fun! The sun came out just in time for the ceremony and Mindy was a beautiful bride.

On Sunday we enjoyed the day with the fam-Mom, Dad, Ryan, Missy, Tom and Izzy- Maggie was enjoying a day at Valley Fair with a friend. It's hard to believe Izzy is getting so big and she is starting to walk! She's a very active little one and has taken a couple of steps! Mom and I headed over to achievers after everyone left and got a scrapbook shopping done- our fav! :)

We didn't have quite as busy of a week as we have been, which was nice.

Enjoy your week and the warm weather!!

Girls Weekend

This past weekend was a blast! It started out by getting the test results for the personal auto insurance test I took awhile back and...I passed! Only 1 more class to go until I earn my CISR designation!! Yahoo!

Friday night we headed down to the cities and stayed with Matt and Kathryn. We got there around 10pm so we were up late chatting with them...it's always so fun to see them. Chuck poured a slab for Matt on Saturday and I headed out for my annual college girls weekend. I always look forward to these weekends with the girls! We all agreed to meet at Mel's around 1ish so before hand I ventured to Albertville Outlet mall where I ran into Krista and Lacey- two of the other gals that were going to be there! Where do I run into them of all places? Motherhood Maternity! Lacey is also pregnant and due 3 weeks after me! We did a little shopping and then headed to Mel's to met up with Mel and Erin. We chatted for awhile then decided on Brit's Irish Pub for dinner - the service was not so hot, but we enjoyed each other's company. After Brit's we went Zeno's dessert bar for some carrot cake, chocolate cake and the raspberry cheese cake- it was delicious! We ended the night at ComedySportz- if you haven't been there, I recommend it. The improv is great! (that and Lacey's Chuck Norris jokes before hand made it all the more fun!) I had never heard the Chuck Norris jokes until Saturday when they came rolling out of Lacey! She bought a new book, "The Truth About Chuck Norris" for Aaron and was reading them to us...too funny! Just thinking about them makes me laugh! Sunday morning we enjoyed Mel's blueberry pancakes and then went to the farmer's market. Afterwards I headed back to Matt and Kathryn's where Chuck and I got our butts kicked by Kathryn (aka Chuck Norris) and her Dr. Mario moves...it's pretty sad she can play 6 levels a head of us and still beat us! (she even plays on high speed!!) Chuck said she actually beat him about 10 times earlier that day...so we referred to her as Chuck Norris...haha! It was a fun weekend with friends! Even though Chuck poured a slab, he and Matt still squeezed in some R&R time :)

On our way home, we managed to stop by Menardo's to buy trim and carpeting...the rooms will be done soon and we can't hardly wait!

Have a great week everyone and remember...Chuck Norris doesn't leave messages, he leaves warnings...haha!

Fresh cut fields...August is here!

This past week we were able to get some more little projects done around the house. The porch now has mulch under it and we finished the landscaping around the new egress windows. Chuck painted both of the bedrooms in the basement and started framing in the windows. Although he was not so happy about the paint since he'll need to put on a 3rd coat...He's going to the cities this week to do a driveway so he's going to stop at Menard's and get the rest of the trim. Once the closets and doors are installed, up goes the trim and our last piece of the puzzle...carpeting. We are so excited to have the rooms done! We are both looking forward to having our own little "hobby" rooms. This has been something we have looked forward to since we bought our house 3 years ago. Next on the list...the baby's room.

Our weekend was pretty mild, other than painting and windows, we didn't really do too much. Paul cut our field on Saturday which makes me realize August is here and fall is on it's way.

We stayed home Friday and Saturday night and went to Margie's last night for my birthday din din. The food was excellent like always and we played cards...3 to 13- always a good time! We have a lot planned for the the remainder of the month and in September so we'll have plenty of busy weekends a head of us!

The baby has been active as ever! Kicking away all the time! Last night when I was laying down, we could actually see my tummy moving from all the kicking! Crazy!

Enjoy your week!

Gotta love projects....

This week was slower than last week, but we managed to find a couple of projects to keep us busy! This past weekend Chuck installed our egress windows and they look so good! The windows really make the bedrooms in the basement look a lot bigger! Chuck also primed the 2 bedrooms in the basement so they're ready to be painted this up coming weekend. While Chuck was working on those projects, I painted our 2 porches. This has been on my to do list since last summer so I finally caved in and 6 hours later they were done! Of course one project leads to another and tonight we found ourselves outside working on another little project! Chuck took down the lattice around the porches and leveled out the dirt (tuff and buddy enjoy digging to say the least!) and put plastic down so we can lay mulch. Gotta love projects...

Today I had my 2nd ultrasound. The doctor wasn't quite able to get all of her reports she needed during the 1st ultrasound. She said another ultrasound was not necessary, but if I wanted another one, she would schedule it. Of course I jumped at the idea! Everything looks great! Heartbeat is still at 150. Although this time I wasn't able to see things as clearer as they were the first time- baby is bigger now. Baby is still active as ever and I feel movement all the time!

We're off to birthing classes tomorrow night. We're getting a tour of the birthing center. Deer River hospital has been under construction, but by the time I deliver, there will be new rooms with whirlpool tubs, etc.

We don't have a whole lot planned for this next weekend except working in the basement. Even though we'll be working on another project, it'll feel good to be home and to not have anything planned.

I hope you all have a great rest of the week and enjoy your weekend!

Busy, Busy Week!

Another week gone! This by far has been the busiest week we have had in a long time!!

Monday I had a couple of great surprises...my good friend Stephanie who is now living in California stopped into my office! It was so good to see her! Then, my cousin Amy who is living in Las Vegas stopped in! It was so awesome! It was very hard to get back into work mode after those little events! :) Later that night I picked up our new range microwave and Chuck installed it. It's so nice to have little more room in our kitchen!

Tuesday I was off to another insurance class and test in Bemidji- personal auto. I'm not feeling so hot about this one...oh well, we'll see when I get the results in 4 weeks! (I can't believe they make us wait that long!!)

Wednesday we headed to the cities for uncle Richard's funeral. For those of you that don't know, Richard is Chuck's mom's brother and he had been battling brain cancer for the last 18 months. The family held a very nice service in Maple Grove and he will be greatly missed by all of us. Thank you for keeping his family and our family in your thoughts.

Thursday I had another little surprise...when I got home from work, Stephanie and her mom, Luann, were at our house! It was so nice to be able to catch up with her! I wish I would have had more time with her but maybe next time. I sure miss her!

Friday night we headed over to Chuck's mom's house for dinner. His brother Bill and his family are in town from Missouri. We were so surprised to see how big the kids had gotten since last summer! Adam is almost as tall as Chuck!

Saturday we went over to leech lake for the annual Procopio family get together. Although it started off wet, the sun came out and it became a beautiful day.

Saturday night we had a wedding reception. Melissa and Boogie were married in Jamacia
in February but held the reception at the Eagles in Grand Rapids this past weekend. It was fun to get out there and dance! Chuck took advantage of the fact that he had a DD! haha

Sunday Chuck went to Brainerd to pickup our egress windows. Then he came home and dug one of the openings. I'm so grateful to have such a wonderful and hard working husband! He has been working his tail off in the basement and completing other various projects we have going on around our house plus keeping up with the business, which has been very busy this year.

While Chuck was getting the windows, I drove up to Duluth to spend some time with Amy and Ally! I drove up early Sunday morning and we had brunch with the Brandt family (my mom's side of the family). We laughed, ate DQ, shopped, ate some more, laughed some more, ate some more, etc...so fun! Ally is the best baby! She is so sweet natured and happy. Seeing Amy with Ally makes me even more excited for our little one!

Well, I'm off to bed! I'm pooped! This week is going to be a lot calmer...I think :)

Have a great week!
Kim

What a Week!!

Hola! What a week! Well we started our birthing classes this past week. The classes are 6 weeks long-2 hours each class. We meet every Wednesday from 6-8. We have a very small group- there's only 3 couples. Chuck had to put on the "bodysuit." haha! It was pretty funny to watch him move around in it! I wish I had my camera...now I know for next time!

This weekend was busy as usual! We went to the cities to spend time with my family and grandparents. My grandparents are in town from New Mexico until the end of July. Tom and Maggie stopped out for the day too so the girls (Mom, Maggie, Grandma and me) went to some garage sales and found great deals while the guys hung around the house with Izzy. Izzy is getting so big and is crawling around everywhere! Tom and Maggie are doing well...Maggie spoiled me big time today with a foot massage! It was awesome!

Saturday night Chuck and I went to my 10 year class reunion. It was fun to see people I hung out with in high school and to hear about their past 10 years. The reunion was held at the Marriott in downtown so it was fun to be back in the "big city" for a night...It was pretty sad though that out of a class of over 700 only about 10% showed up! Oh well, we still had a fun time.

We had a major shopping extravaganza at Menards today! We got there about 8 and left at 11!! We bought our doors for the basement, closet organizers, closet doors, etc. We can't hardly wait to have the basement done! The egress windows we ordered a couple of weeks ago haven't come in yet, but should be in this week...that is probably the biggest project we have left for the bedrooms. Once those are in we can paint and finish the flooring and then start working on the baby's room upstairs!

Unfortunately we had some sad news today...Chuck's uncle (mom's brother) passed away. Please keep his family in your thoughts & prayers.

I hope you all have a great week~ Kim

Happy 4th of July!

Hope you all enjoyed your 4th! We went to some friends house on Friday night had a BBQ then off to watch the fireworks. We didn't watch "professional" fireworks- one of our friends made a special trip to North Dakota so they set them off in a field on Friday night.

Saturday we got our ceilings in the basement bedrooms sprayed!! It's coming along and they look so nice! Not too much longer and we'll have 2 more bedrooms! (And I'll have a scrappin room :))

We also got a chance to see Chuck's aunts, uncles cousins and their kids at the lake on Saturday. We haven't seen some of them in so long! Most of them come up just about every weekend, but we rarely see them...you know how that goes. His cousin Greg recently added a "little" addition to his cabin- a 16x46 deck!! I think his wife put it right when she said she felt like she was sitting on the patio of a restaurant! WOW!

Sunday was my annual "Women on Water" fishing tourney on Lake Winnie. This is something I've been doing for 3 years and look forward to every year. Chuck's sister Carol has been my partner and we always have so much fun! We normally fish for northerns, but this year we decided to change it up and fish for walleye. Our 14 inch walleye didn't make the cut, but maybe next year. There are 6 categories that can place and 1st place for each category wins $550. Only 26 boats signed up this year (there's a 50 boat max.) so next year it will be held the weekend after the 4th. Yesterday was a ton of fun, but I was really draggin my butt today...

Have a great rest of the week!

This past week flew by! We had a pretty normal week at our house, but the weekend was busy as most. On Saturday we went to Kaija's graduation party (Chuck's cousin's daughter) in Bovey. It was nice to see his cousins and their families. We haven't seen some of their kids in quite a while so it was surprising to see how big they had gotten! After the grad party we headed into Grand Rapids and had dinner with some friends. Next thing you knew it was Sunday! I was able to get some scrapping done while at a friends house. Chuck stayed home and worked on the basement since we are getting our ceilings sprayed this next weekend. Sunday night we did a little R&R time and went fishing at a small lake by our house. Gotta love northern MN! A 5 mintue drive can get you to a few lakes by our house. :) Chuck caught 1 small northern and I managed to catch a lake full of weeds- oh well, better luck next time. Hope you all have a great short week and enjoy your 4th! Kim

ULTRASOUND!

Well, we had the ultrasound today! What an amazing experience! Baby was VERY active! We were told that everything looks great and that baby is healthy and right on track. My due date remains November 15th. I am 19 weeks and 3 days to the day! The head is about 2 inches wide. The tech was able to get some good shots...the image above is baby's face :). We were also able to see the little feet and the spinal cord. Enjoy! Kim

Well, this weekend was busy as ever! We took a trip to brainerd on saturday to buy our windows for the basement- slowly but surely it's comin along. We also managed to squeeze in some time to shop for cribs. Needless to say we were at our wits end by the end of that experience... out of 4 furniture stores you'd think at least one would carry cribs- nope. We were offered by people to buy theirs- one of whom looked like he had smoked a little too much you know what and was sweating profusely so we took a pass on that offer...:)

After brainerd we went out to leech lake for Carol's (chuck's sister) 40th birthday. It was fun and nice to see everyone. They had a pig roast so I was of course in heaven with all the food! :) We even had a couple of people ask us when we were going to start our family...they obviously been drinking and were dancing around the "are you pregnant" question... he he :) We forgot our camera so we weren't able to take any pictures of us or of the family...bummer. Maybe next time...

Enjoy your week!
Kim

PS- Our ultrasound is tomorrow! :)

Dr. Appt

I had another doctor appointment yesterday. Everything looks good! I heard the heartbeat again which is always amazing to hear! Doc says the heart rate is about 150 and that we have a very active little baby. Baby was movin' and groovin'! We are looking forward to next Tuesday's ultrasound appointment! Chuck and Kim

Hello!

Welcome to our blog! This is our first "official" blog! We want to share with all of you our big and little journeys in life! We hope you enjoy reading our blogs and seeing our pictures!

So where do we start? Well, we're 4 1/2 months pregnant! We're due November 15th. We are VERY excited and ready for a new chapter in our lives. So far I've had a great pregnancy and feel incredible! Our big appointment (the ultrasound) is next week. We hate to disappoint any of you, but we will not be finding out the sex of our baby. We will keep you posted!

Chuck is keeping VERY busy with the business and his projects have included stone work, basements, patios etc. In fact, he's so busy that he now has employee through the staffing agency! He's done some advertising but a lot of his business comes from word of mouth.

I'm still working at the insurance agency and enjoy it. I work in commercial lines and am taking classes towards becoming a Certified Insurance Service Representative (CISR). There are 5 classes I need to complete and test out of. So far I've completed and passed 3 tests. I hope to earn my designation by the end of September. Last October I took my passion for scrapbooking a little bit further and became a Close to My Heart consultant. I love their products and have so much fun with it! If you're into scrapping, check out my website!

Tuff and Buddy are still our spoiled "little pups"! Although they are labs, they continue to think they're our little "lap dogs". They are so much fun, but I think they are going to have a rude awakening once baby arrives!

Well, that's all for now. We'll continue to keep all of you posted!
Chuck and Kim