TGIF!

An email to those in the know (from 6/26):

Well, we started this beautiful morning off with a nice, cool walk with Murphy and then headed to our appointment. The midwife tried to reassure us that we may not hear a heartbeat today and if that was the case we'd do an ultrasound but it was nothing to worry about. After that, she took her little fetal doppler and found the heartbeat in about .2 seconds!!! We got to listen and smile for quite a little bit, which was nice. I think it's really setting in for Mark - the heartbeat was a good reassurance for him. I've had lots of other nagging things to remind me daily! :) Today is 12 weeks and 4 days. We have another appointment in 4 weeks. I'm feeling much better and the news is getting out...I told the other managers at work this week so now everyone at work knows!

In other exciting news, we close on our house today at 4pm! We have friends helping us move stuff on Sunday, which we're so thankful for! Although we did offer the incentive of free pizza! Mark's dad arrives in town on Monday (to help with some projects) and his mom, aunt, and sister should be here Thursday or Friday! This will be their first trip to Minnesota so we're hoping to show off what a great place it is!

Have a great weekend! Feel free to call...and know that we aren't ignoring you if we don't call or email, we're just a little busy at the moment!

Love (and apologies for the excessive use of exclamations),
Dani and Mark.

All is Well

An email to those in the know (6/11):

Well, we had our first official prenatal appointment this morning. We are planning to deliver with a Certified Nurse-Midwife practice that delivers at the hospital closest to us. So, today we met with Linda, one of the midwives. She put us at ease as we answered a ton of questions and then let us ask all of ours. It was a really nice experience for both Mark and me, being a little nervous.

Everything went well - I'm healthy! Yeah! And I haven't gained any weight yet (although she suggested 10 pounds in the next 10 weeks). We are 10 weeks and 3 days into this and feeling pretty good! :) The only small bummer was that we were not able to hear the heartbeat. Apparently, my uterus (sorry Lindsay) is tilted toward the back. This is no problem and will change as the two of us grow. And, not hearing the heartbeat wasn't a worry - so please don't! She was very nice and said, "why don't you come back in two weeks and we'll try again", despite not really needing to see me for 4 weeks. I think she sensed our excitement.

The funniest moment of the appointment happened while she was searching for the heartbeat with the little monitor. She was so patient and really trying hard for us. At one point she said, "this baby's being stubborn" which made me laugh, which made the monitor make horrible noises, and prompted Mark to say, "It runs in the family!" I wonder what he's taking about?

Settling Down (we hope)

Another long overdue post...Facebook may be the death of our Blog. It seems much easier to post pithy little ditties every now and then rather than sitting down to write. But, we try.

We have made an offer on a house that has been accepted. Today is the inspection!! We are very excited for this transition to a more permanent situation here in the Twin Cities! It's been interesting living in a rather small 2 bedroom apartment that is crammed with our stuff (bikes, tools, dog stuff...you name it). After having a home in Seattle, the apartment in St. Paul was to be a transition space. Unfortunatley, the transition has taken us longer than we'd (I'd) hoped. The good news is that we're hoping to close before the end of June!!!

Here are some pictures and video from Mark with those from the listing included. Take a look! But, seriously, only positive feedback! :)

The place has been fixed up already and it's a pretty clean slate. Great hardwood throughout and big enough to host parties and overnight guests! If you're looking for a summer vacation destination, you should consider St. Paul! We love it!

I'm sure with the house will come many exciting new adventures (it was built in 1917 but in great shape). And hopefully more exciting Blogs!

Squirrels

Well, after my continuously hitting the ceiling with a baseball bat for the past few months, I won!  Kind of.  Last week I had hit the ceiling so hard that I scared the squirrel right out and near our window sill.  So, I opened the window and scratched the screen making hissing noises (like any normal person would do) and to my surprise the squirrel retaliated and jumped at me all while squawking (or whatever it is squirrels do).  After realizing it wanted a fight I tried to remove the screen and send it 3 stories to the ground with my bat, but unfortunately (or fortunately?) the plastic screen tabs broke and I was never able to get some batting practice in.  I, however, DID continue to rifle our ceiling with clonks of the bat end every time I heard squirrel scratching.  Then, last Thursday, I noticed the squirrel crawling out, but with something rather large in her mouth... it dawned on me that it was a baby squirrel.  Since I knew she was relocating her family, I was all for it and decided to walk outside and see where she was moving to (also marking sure she wasn't relocating to our bedroom or living area).  I didn't see a thing, and then, something moved beside a tree near the street.  The baby squirrel in her mouth was about 1/3 her size, so she continued with the large item in her teeth across the street.  I followed and watched her go under a backyard fence of one of our neighbors.  She had cleverly pre-dug a hole there.  I looked over the fence and she climbed a tree and the scampered up it, out on a branch which overhung the house, and then jumped (about 4 feet in the air, still with the baby in her mouth) on to the roof top and clung to every shingle she could.  She continued up, then to the front, and around one of the eaves to another section of roof and then entered some hole I couldn't see and momentarily popped back out (without anything in her mouth) eying me to see if I was going to cause her more grief.  It was neat to watch, so I let her be in peace.   Luckily, no more squirrel scratching from our ceiling, and I might add, they moved to a much nicer house, so I'm guessing the squirrels must be doing quite well financially.