The past couple weeks have brought on a number of changes and challenges. Probably the biggest challenge has been the realization of the impending doom of our once carefree lifestyle. Of course we have had 8 months for this to sink in but I think it hit both of us like a ton of bricks this week. Although we are both very excited about the upcoming addition to our family, we are also mourning the loss of our spontaneous weekend trips to Des Moines, Okoboji, Chicago, the North Shore; our frequent dinner and movie dates; happy hours; twins games; 2 hour workouts; a decent golf game; the list goes on. Does this make us bad "soon to be" parents? I like to think just the contrary. We are starting to see the huge sacrifices and challenges that we are about to make and neither of us have blinked an eye or have felt a tinge of regret, only a sense of duty to this new precious life and the huge pressures of r-e-s-p-o-n-s-i-b-i-l-i-t-y! <gulp> I realize that this is not a foreign feeling to any new parent but I think it all hits us in different ways and at different times. Now, I may be a little over dramatic because of course this isn't the end of all these things but it will certainly make them more challenging. It has made me grateful to my parents for making those sacrifices and ALWAYS being there for me. As I look ahead I know it won't be easy and at times will be flat out hard; as I'm sure it was for them. So a quick shout out to Mom and Dad: I can't say it enough or even come close but thanks for EVERYTHING! I love you both.
Staying with the theme of out with the old and in with the new; we got a new car!!! The silver Pontiac has treated me well over the years but as a 2 door sedan it wasn't going to pass mustard as a baby carrier. So we stepped up in a big way and joined the Honda family with a 2011Pilot. I was sad to see the old car go, but I have a feeling I'm not going to miss it for very long. The silver bullet was beginning to fade. As a matter of fact, I had to jump start it the morning we took it into the dealership. I thought it was going to be a clean mutual break but apparently the car wasn't to pleased to be traded away. One last F-U for me. We are very pleased with our new child chariot!
Melissa continues to amaze, she is doing great at 37 weeks. I went with her to her 36 week appointment and the doctor assured us that everything is going as scheduled. Melissa will be going in every week from here on out. She has even scheduled an appointment for 41 weeks -- apparently 70% of new mothers deliver in the 40th and 41st weeks. As many of you know, Melissa is an avid golfer. This is one of the many many reasons I fell in love with her. With the poor weather and other commitments she hasn't been able to play yet this year so we thought we would give it a shot this weekend. On Saturday night after doing some car shopping we headed out to the neighborhood golf course for 9 holes. We got to the course around 5:30 and walked right on. It had stormed earlier in the afternoon which cleared out the golf course and left behind a picture perfect evening. Light breeze, sunshine, mild temps, and low humidity. We felt like we had the course to our self, it was an amazingly peaceful 2 hours. Melissa and I rode around in our golf cart and enjoyed each others company. Playing golf with her is one of my absolute favorite things to do. Due to the growing baby and belly (see previous posts) she had a tough time bending to tee her ball or get it out of the hole. It was good to feel useful and I was happy to caddy. The many of you who know that Melissa is an avid golfer, will not be surprised to hear that she shot a 44. This is a video of her on the first tee, her swing is amazing. Nobody will ever know that this was her mulligan. My favorite part of the whole video is how pleased Melissa is with herself after the shot!
We had decided prior to the round that it wouldn't count against our lifetime tally, as it turns out that agreement was moot because we tied! So just so everyone who is keeping track at home is clear, Jason still leads the lifetime tally by 4 rounds :) I'm not sure how well the video will work so here are a couple more great picture from the round.
So, what's new in the nursery? Here are some of the latest pics from the baby palace!
- Last weekend was a work weekend in the nursery. We spent Saturday morning hanging pictures and hooks, packing away clothes in the dresser, organizing and de-cluttering, and converting part of our built in book shelf to a little extra closet space with the removal of a shelf and addition of a hanging clothes rod. Its hard to tell from the picture above, but the framed item on the wall is a cross stitch that my mom made for us. It's fantastic, I'll try to get a better picture of it for an upcoming post.
- Here is a picture of dresser, complete now with a changing pad and cover, lamp, and bins full of diapering supplies. I just need to figure out how to use them (I'm told I'll have plenty of practice soon enough). Also a picture of what our curtains will look like when and if they arrive. This has become a thorn in Melissa's side. We ordered these curtains and were told they would take 2 weeks. As you might have guessed, that time has come and gone with no curtains in sight. Melissa has hounded the woman who is overseeing the project and was informed that custom jobs will take 4-6 weeks. News to us! And not in a welcome way, as we were hoping to have everything in place for baby's arrival. It's still possible but it will be cutting it close.
- Melissa's sister (Aunt) Megan stopped by this weekend on her way home from Okoboji. On her way home you say? Indeed. I have a feeling Minneapolis will be "on her way home" from Okoboji to Dubuque a lot this summer. She brought a wonderful surprise gift of hand painted animals that match our bedding. Apparently she snapped some photos while she was here last and channeled her inner van Gogh to create these awesome paintings!
Well, that about covers most of the goings on over the past couple weeks. In the weeks ahead Melissa and I will continue to enjoy the "calm before the storm" and spend lots of quite time together doing all of our favorite things while we await our little miracle.
From Minneapolis with love
~ Jason and Melissa
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