Meet Ah-Huh

Amelia has a new friend. She named him Ah-Huh.


She got him from Marie's wedding! He was the centerpiece of my family's table at the reception. We had to get him a covered home because of curious cats.

Amelia is in love with this fish. She stares at him at great length:


She even tries to give him her other friends:


Last night before bed she ran out of her room, down the stairs, got her stool and stared at him a little longer.

Welcome to our family, Ah-Huh.

Mr. and Mrs. Howard!

Over the weekend I was maid of honor in my friend Marie's wedding! We started our day bright and early at the salon. I had never had my hair done before so I wasn't real sure what I wanted done so I gave my lady a few ideas and she created this:


I was pleased with it and it held up all day, night and overnight! The next day I pulled 28 bobby pins out of my hair and it didn't move too much because of all the hairspray!

I drove two other bridesmaids to the church (a 45 minute drive) and poor Nicolle was stuck in the backseat with 4 dresses draped over her lap!


We were the first ones to the church so we decided they'd put make-up on me for the day. I never wear make-up. I don't even own make-up so this was a big deal! In fact, here is my "make-up bag" that Lisa made me for the day so I wouldn't feel left out:


The lone item in it is the lip gloss given to us by the bride! Here is me with actual make-up on:


They did a great job I think! I didn't feel like myself at all!

Before the ceremony we had some time so we got a picture of all the pregnant bridesmaids together! I am 7 months and the other two are 6 months!


The bride and her mom before the ceremony:


The ceremony was beautiful and Marie is married now, crazy!


Our limo was waiting for us outside the front of the church:


This was my first time in a limo and they can get a little cramped! Lisa and I indulged in a celebratory glass of champagne on the ride to the reception:


Yes, we drank it. No, we didn't feel bad!

Our ride to the reception got a little complicated a few miles from our destination. Our driver hit a 15-year-old riding her bike in a crosswalk. Someone saw it coming and yelled, "stop!" just in time for us all to look out the front and see it happen. Trust me, that is something you never want to see happen. I felt so sick for a couple of hours. By some stroke of luck the girl walked away from the accident and as far as we know she is going to be fine.

I was kind of a dud at the reception because I am not a big dancer :( I wish I was because everyone was having a blast! I had fun watching them though. Plus, it felt good to sit and have my feet up after the long day :)

Amelia was at the reception briefly and wanted nothing to do with me so I tried to bribe her with glow sticks:


They thrilled her to death but she still was Papa's girl and wanted nothing to do with me!

Jason and I:


Marie and Jordan are in Maui on their honeymoon now and I can't wait to hear all about that! For now, I am going to get some rest :)

Set-Up and Rehearsal

This afternoon we helped set-up the reception hall for Marie's wedding tomorrow. Tons of people came to help. So many in fact that there were times when some of us had nothing to do!

I really liked the centerpieces that Marie came up with:



The rehearsal tonight went smoothly and we had a grill-out at a nearby park after. Other than the heat it was a great night!


The entire bridal party:


Tomorrow is Marie's big day!

Pregnancy Update

I am 27 weeks and 5 days pregnant so it seemed about time for an update before I hit the third trimester!


Things are going well. We are having some heat this week up here. We are under an extreme heat advisory until mid-week and it has not been fun so far. Today the heat index was up to 111! Last night I felt flu-like and it was likely from the heat.

My cravings this time have been salads and most recently stuffed peppers! We made some two weekends ago and I am thinking we will make them again before North Hudson's Pepper Festival where I will have them yet again!

Here is a comparison picture:


I think I look pretty much the exact same size as I was with Amelia at this point with baby boy!

Marie's Bachelorette Party!

Saturday night was my friend Marie's bachelorette party in Minneapolis.


We met at a hotel downtown, hung out for awhile and then went to dinner at the Rock Bottom Brewery.


After dinner we headed back to the hotel for a bit. We played a guessing game where we each brought a pair of underwear for Marie and she had to guess who brought each pair.


She actually did very well at it somehow! She guessed almost each pair correctly!

Marie with her maid and matron of honor:


Jason's sister Liz and I:


Group shot before we headed out "on the town":


We had quite a long night out. Lisa and I (both pregnant) somehow managed to tag along until after one in the morning. It was fun watching everyone have a good time and celebrating with Marie but I can tell you that bar-hopping downtown is not high on my list of things to do again soon! Especially on such a sweltering evening! It was definately a new experience.

All in all, it was a successful night. Lisa and I headed back to the hotel and talked for a bit while we waited for everyone else to get back. Then we ate Marie's cake and had some snacks before bed.

Fawns

Yesterday afternoon we had a couple of fawns in the yard! One of them was much more adventurous that the other and I was able to get a good shot of him (of her):


This is the only shot of the two of them I got:


There really are two there, I swear! The second one is on the left in the shadows. If you enlarge the picture it may be easier to see!

Fourth of July Weekend

We had a laid back holiday weekend this year! I, of course, had to work all weekend but in between work we had fun! Saturday I got home from work and swam with a few people who had gathered at grandpa's house. Marie was kind enough to sit on the steps with Amelia towards the end and Amelia decided they should swap sunglasses!


Saturday we went to the Twins/Brewers game.


That evening we watched fireworks with Jason's sister and her boyfriend.



Yesterday after work we grilled out with Auntie Liz, Uncle Kory and Lisa while we swam. It was a nice way to end a long day at work! Amelia was not interested in the pool at all again. She preferred to hang out outside the pool area on her horse:


Eventually we decided to force her into the pool. I put her lifejacket on her and brought her in for about ten minutes. She screamed the whole time! A short time after I put her back on the pool deck she wanted to come back in! She pointed to her fish floatie and I put her right into it with her lifejacket on!


She floated around contently the rest of the time we were swimming.

After swimming we all went out to Kory's mom's house to watch fireworks. We got there early so we took Amelia to see the horses. She got so excited when she saw them and she yelled, "HELLO! Hi cows!!!" It was so cute.




She thought they were the greatest thing ever!

Uncle Kory also brought out a John Deere pedal tractor!


She couldn't quite figure out pedaling so Kory pushed her. She ended up going in circles because she also wasn't quite grasping steering. She kept pointing other ways and he had to keep telling her to steer them that way!

We headed out to the field to watch the fireworks and then headed home. We had a long weekend outside and I think we were all beat!

Twins vs. Brewers

This past Sunday Jason and I went to Target Field to see the Twins play the Brewers! My family got us the tickets as early birthday presents. We had great seats and were lucky enough that they were in the shade - it was a hot, hot day!

Since the Brewers had won the night before, Amelia wore her Twins dress to give them some support.


(It must have worked because they won!)

We were able to get some great pictures from our seats!




We knew a TON of people at the game that day. A local bar had two full party buses of people that they brought to the game and they got a welcome on the big screen:


I met friends Marie and Molly as well as Auntie Liz and Uncle Kory around the seventh inning.



We found out after the game that our friends Lisa and Al were there too! Had we known, we would have asked them over to the empty seats next to us to get them out of the left-field sun!


It was an exciting game to be at and in the end the Twins won. I would have preferred the Brewers win but the plus side to them not winning was that Jason was in a good mood for the rest of the evening :)