Pumpkin Carving 101

Allison got her first lesson in pumpkin carving.  It didn't go too well.  For her or us!  Ha!  Neither Jesse or I are very artistic, so we just carved the basic face on our pumpkins, and to be honest, I just really wanted to dig the seeds out for pumpkin seeds!!  I have been craving them for weeks and we finally got around to doing it.  Allison throught the whole thing was pretty "gross".  She thought the insides looked like "poop".  She is such a funny kid!  She wouldn't touch it! 

Our Growing Family

Well, this is pretty much the last place I am announcing this, so everyone probably already knows...but our family is going to be growing by one (hopefully only one...) this May 2011.  Allie is going to be a big sister!  My due date is officially May 30th, but since I am planning to have a repeat c-section I will probably (assuming everything else is going ok!) have the baby the week before, so sometime around May 23, depending on when my OB's OR day is. 

I am going back to my favorite Dr., Dr. Antkowiak.  I think he is wonderful, not only the way he treats his patient's, but the way he treats us as nurses and that is the main reason I chose him.  He can be a bit "high maintenance" as those of us who work with him say (we are pretty sure he has adult ADHD) but he really cares about his patients and I remember when I first started in OB, he was so kind to me and he taught me how to put an internal monitor on (among other things, he likes to teach). 

Anyway...I had my first OB appointment last Thursday, just with the NP, and everything went well.  We were able to hear the baby's heartbeat by doptone, which is awesome, not only just to hear it, but once you can hear it by doptone they say your risk of miscarriage drops to less than 5%.  (I don't even want to think about that!).  So, I am 9 weeks now.  Overall feeling pretty good.  Mostly just tired...VERY tired!  I don't remember being this tired with Allison, but I figure I just had more time to sleep then!  I have not been very nauseated, thank goodness!!  (Wasn't a problem with Allison, so far they are pretty similar...another girl??)  Speaking of gender...I am not sure if we will find out what we are having or not.  We did not with Allison and it was so fun to be surprised at the delivery, but on the other hand, with having another child I feel like it would be great to get as much done ahead of time as possible...we'll see.  It is more tempting this time.

Baby Briena Pics!

 Here she is!!!  Sweet Baby Briena!  She is so adorable!  The hat is so cute, but she has even prettier hair under their!

The happy (and maybe a bit tired) new family!!!!  Jodi, Brad and Briena.

Yup, like I said, it was a good weekend at work.  I not only got to see my good friends all weekend but also got to see my family too!  Jesse brought Allison to see the baby Sat. and Sun.  She (kind of) held the baby Sunday.  She was very intrigued.  She brought a book with her to read to Briena. 

Welcome Baby Briena!!

Our good friends Brad and Jodi had their baby this past weekend - made going to work all weekend a LOT more fun knowing I would see them and baby Briena!!!  She was born early Sat. morning and weighed a whopping 8 lbs and 3 oz!!!  I don't know where Jodi had all that baby hidden!  And she is positively adorable!  (I am trying to add pics, but they aren't downloading - I don't have any of my own, so am using some from other people)  Chubby little cheeks you just want to kiss! 

Allison was so cute with her.  She wanted to "hold" her, which basically just involved me holding her on Allison's lap.  She imitated all the faces Briena made.  And now has talked about her since!  She is going to make a great big sister!!!

Congratulations to Brad and Jodi again.  We are soooo very excited and happy for you guys!  All these girls are going to have so much fun gowing up together!  And if I ever get pics downloaded or when I get some taken, I will post them!!

Tuesday Morning QB

Since the Vikes played last night - if that is what you want to call it, what else could this Tues. morning blog be about??  I will be honest, I only saw the first half of the game and that was hit and miss.  But I was soooo dissappointed!  I thought the offense looked Terrible!  I guess I had high hopes that the Vikes would come out strong and destroy the Jets.  We need some sort of revenge in NY!!  But I hardly saw the offense since the D was on the field most of the half.  I guess the 2nd half or last quarter anyway, went slightly better for the Queens, but that was a little too late.  I don't know if Brett didn't have his head in the game or what, but here's hoping it gets better!  A little more time and practice with Randy Moss should help too.  I still have hopes they will turn the season around and make it into playoffs...hey maybe even win a couple playoff games??  Ok, that might be asking too much. 

Well, that's all I got.  Not too exciting, I have education for work this afternoon.  Should be interesting.  We are going to be implementing a new protocol for pitocin inductions and all inductions for that matter.  But first I am going to look at TV's and washer and dryers!  Yeah!!!  Have a good day!

Sadness in the Mages Household

We are pretty bummed in the Mages household.  The Twins season is over.  Of course it isn't that surprising, Jesse said he knew we wouldn't make it past the Yankees.  I had blind hope (as always) that we were going to overcome our past with them and beat them this year.  With all the good things going for us, nice weather, new stadium, signing Joe!!  But, alas, as always, the Yankees got the better of us, and in 3 games no less.  Oh, how I can't stand those Damn Yankees (excuse my language!).  Don't even get me started on those over-paid, 'roid filled, arogant you know whats!!  I don't care who wins the World Series now, as long as it isn't the Yankees!!  Allie wore her Twins shirt to daycare last week for the start of the series.  I love that she had put on her Sparkly shoes with it!  I took these right before bath and bedtime.  (and I think she was telling me she was wet...sorry!!)

My LITTLE Girl!

 Allie had her 2 yr. check up on Friday.  She was such a trooper and did awesome!  We had talked about that she was going to see Dr. Swanson and he was going to look in her ears and mouth.  She let him do everything and was very cooperative!  It was great!  Then she had to get a couple shots.  Poor baby.  Just her Hep. A and the Flu shot.  She chould have had the mist this year, but she had a bit of a runny nose and our pediatrician recommended the shot instead yet this year.  Hasn't even been a bit crabby from her shots!  She is tall for her age - 35 inches and skinny (shocking, isn't it??): only 25lbs!!  But Dr. Swanson wasn't concerned.  Just said to make sure she is getting snacks and stuff between meals and a variety of foods.  Pretty normal for her age, she is go, go, go and has become a bit of a finicky eater.  I (mostly) refuse to make her anything different than what we are eating because I don't want to encourage her pickiness and for that to become the norm that I always have to make 2 meals.  If we are having something I know she won't eat, I do make her something else.  I try to put butter on pretty much everything she eats!  And for the most part she is a good eater.  But just look at her dad, is it any wonder she is tall and thin??

But the best part was the promise of pizza with Grandma Nancy after her appointment!  She talked about it all morning!  I was wondering if it was a bad idea that I had told her!!  But it helped calm her down after her shots that she was going to see Grandma!!

2nd Birthday Party!!

Allison had her 2nd birthday party last Sat.  Even though it was a bit chilly, it was a gorgeous day!!  It was so fun to have everyone over in our new house, I love the garage, it is insulated and sheetrocked (and heated, but it wasn't THAT cold!).  She was spoiled rotten with presents, she is a very lucky little girl who is enourmously (sp.??) loved!!!  I wanted to be super organized and have a fun "theme" birthday, and my first idea was Sesame Street, since she LOVES Elmo and Cookie Monster!  But, I ended up working Thur. night (long story) and we still had to order the cake, so I had to have Jesse do it Fri. while I was sleeping.  Well, we had decided to get it from Cub, I love their bakery, but they didn't have any Sesame Street cakes????  What?!  So, he got Pooh.  Well, we ended up with Pooh cake, Elmo balloons, and Minnie Mouse wrapping paper and card.  She loves them all, so no big deal.  I should have taken pics of the house all cleaned up, but didn't.  It looked GREAT!!  Thank You MOM!!! 

Allison helping clean windows!

Playing with her favorite toy (and probably the cheapest...go figure!!)!

Opening presents with Grandma Linda, Emma and Audrey watching!

Ok, this is kind of a funny story.  Allison has these little Sesame Street books she got for Christmas last year.  One is counting and on one page Zoe is figure skating and you are supposed to "count" her skates.  Well one day I was reading it to her and we got to this page and she got off my lap and posed like Zoe is in the book!  It was sooo funny.  Completely unprompted and on her own.  Now whenever we say "do the Zoe pose" she does it.  What a goof ball!  So, here is the back side of "Zoe Pose". 

AAAACK! Missed again!

So, another Tuesday come and gone, and I have failed. Sorry!!!! I have sooo much to blog about AGAIN! Or at least that I would LIKE to blog about, but I need TIME!!!  Here's the scoop...

So super excited for the Twins!  As I am writing this they are beating the Yanks!  I hope they sweep them, but however they do it, I just hope they win the series. 

The Vikings got Randy Moss back.  Here's hoping that can help give their season a boost.  But Childress still needs to GO!!  And as much as I like Favre...pretty soon they are going to have to get him a wheelchair.  We need to get a young but GOOD QB next draft!!!!! 

AAACK...I wasn't even thinking of it when I first wrote that, but now I remembered that this week was the cartoon "Cathy" 's last week.  I am pretty sure the last strip ran this week.  Not that I really read it much, but it was kinda funny.  (She said AAACK all the time).

We celebrated Allison's birthday Sat.  It was a beautiful day.  So much fun.  That is what i am hoping to get to soon.  Post some pics of that.  She has her 2 year check up Friday.  Poor baby, more shots!!  I can't wait to see how big she is getting.  And see if our pediatrician has any good potty training advice!!

Ummm, that is all I can think of for now.  I really need to study a bit before bed for an education seminar I am taking for work.  Ugh.  BUT...I also have a really good book that I am sooo close to finishing, I just want to get it done!!!  AND I am soooo tired.  So, we'll see.  OH, the book is "The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo" by Steig Larson.  Love it, would recommend it.  But only if you have nothing better to do for a few weeks until you finish it!!! 

Goodnight!