Make Room for Baby

There is nothing like getting the room set up to make it real that yep--a baby is coming. This week the furniture got delivered and Corey got my birthday present (the gliding rocking chair) all set up. The room is starting to come together. So here are some pictures so everyone can see what Danica's room will look like:

This weekend was also went out to dinner with Corey's mom and step dad for my birthday. She gave Danica her first set of Red Sox stuff. Of course, Danica still has more Cubbie stuff, but the competition has officially begun. She also gave Corey the shirt that his Gramms sent from Massachusetts, it says Forever Daddy's Girl. It really is kind of cute--except now I have to get something that says Mommy loves me or Mommy's princess.

Happy Birthday to Me

Yesterday was my birthday. Corey and my dad took me out to Joe's Farm Grill for lunch. The Ahi Tuna Sandwich was super yummy, but my Aunt Shirley would never be able to eat it because it is rather spicy.

But my Aunt Shirley gave me some wonderful gifts to share with Danica. First she contributed to the rocking chair I wanted--I don't have a picture yet, but Corey ordered it and it is going to be here this week so I will more then. Then she gave me lots of fun Pooh stuff for Danica:

Corey had flowers delivered to me at work. Usually at work we all go out to lunch for people's birthdays. But since today is the first day of school, the group decided to have pizza ordered in for lunch. Which worked out perfectly because Corey's surprise arrived right as we were eating, so everyone got to see the beautiful flowers with the pink balloon:

And you may notice the streamer in the top part of the picture--I kind-of started a tradition of decorating the office of the birthday people in my area. So of course today they did it to me. But I almost messed it up because I am usually the first person to arrive. My friends knowing this, actually beat me into work but the person with the master key did not. So they took my key and sent me on a errand--but the effect was fun:

So overall it has been a fun birthday. :)

Thank you to my cousins

Growing up I remember staying at the house at the lower ranch every summer. Dad got to sleep by the window--the best place because the open window was the only real form of air circulation available. Grandpa sleeping in his room--or having his power nap in the chair in the front room and snoring so loudly that no one else got to have a power nap. But for the last few years the house had fallen to disrepair. The chimney looked like it was going to fall off the side of the house. I heard that the celing had fallen in in one of the rooms--but I never got to see it. It was too hard to see the house and think it was never going to be what I remembered as a child.

That is where my thanks come in. My cousins Kevin and Cody have spent a good portion of their time off this summer fixing the house. They have cleaned out rooms that I am sure haven't been cleaned in well over a decade maybe two. They even cleaned out the cellar which was the one area of the house I only remember going into once as a kid because I thought it was a scary place. They have fixed many of the cracks around the house and it no longer looks like the chimney is going to fall off the house.

So I am going to share some pictures of their hard work--and thank them once again for working so hard to bring the house back to what I remember and in some ways to even better then I remember.

Proof I went into the cellar--and proof that my grandma could can and preserve with the best of them (practically all of those jars are from 1981-1987). I also brought home a jar of corn that Grandma canned the month I was born--but I am pretty sure I won't actually eat, just remember her with it:

These are the pictures on the wall that I remember growing up--I am so glad they are still there:

But here are the pictures that my cousins have added--pictures of my grandpa and his brothers and the other ancesters who have been part of us all inheriting the ranching gene:

We also did family pictures while we were up there--and my Uncle Kenneth's family came to see the ranch so we got to spend a lot of time talking to them:

Since I was the one taking most of these pictures--I don't have many with me in them. But this one--you can see that I am in fact getting much larger. It is becoming more apparent that Danica is getting bigger and more ready to come out:

Family Gathering

I always grew up loving family gatherings--I think it is something I got from Grandpa. My grandpa loved nothing so much as being able to get together with his brothers and sisters and their families.

Of course I wish the circumstances that brought us all together this weekend in Vernon had been better--but I still I still appreciated getting to spend time with so much of the family.











The day started very early for us--we left Mesa at 4:30am. The trip was un eventful except for the stretch of road where Aunt Shirley accidentally turned the headlights off in the middle of a dark stretch of road and started asking my dad in the passenger seat how to turn them back on--we were in a rental car that no one was familiar with. But we figured it out after a good couple of miles of the lights going on when Aunt Shirley held the lights on with her left hand. Yes we did finally figure it out--but it did become our favorite joke to retell as we travelled.

We got to see the Upper Ranch before the services started. It was so beautiful and green--it has apparently rained more up there then it had the last time I had been up there. The smell of the pine trees and all the grass was amazing. And it was so peaceful looking.

The services were beautifully done. Marla, Judy, and Nikki gave wonderful talks. Marla ended her talk by mentioning that my grandpa had met Marie in heaven and told her he would take care of her until JT joined her again. And that sounded so much like something my grandpa would say and do that I cried--and I can't even blame it on the pregnancy because I saw others in my family were equally touched by the words.

Some of the family got together after the family lunch to tell family stories. I know that this meeting was recorded and I want to go on record as saying I want a copy of the recording. I have heard it was an amazing experience.

Memories of Aunt Marie

My dad and I have been reminiscing over our memories of Aunt Marie.

The first thing I remembered was all the help that Aunt Marie gave me when I was working on writing about my grandparents for a class project. JT and Marie had me come over to Judy and Jan's house in Mesa when they were down from Vernon and told me all kinds of stories about my grandparents. This memory reminded my dad of when my grandfather's brothers and sisters got together at the hospital to talk about their childhood--and Marie was sharing all kinds of stories. The biggest thing I will always remember is that Marie was a storyteller.

We remembered a lot of things from family reunions. Like the year we won the current syrup that Marie had made with the currents from the lower ranch. It was the best syrup we have had in a long time. Or when she made crocheted dishcloths for the family raffle and someone said if they won them--they wouldn't use them as a way to honor Marie. Marie said if you aren't going to use them, then don't try for them. She had made them for someone to use. :)

And then Dad starting talking about some of his memories of Marie from when he was younger. Marie used to scold my grandpa because Grandpa wouldn't stop in Welton when he was taking Grandma, Dad, and Shirley to California on vacation. But the family only wanted to drive through the desert and Welton at midnight--so they didn't think Marie wanted a midnight wake up call. I am not sure that argument ever worked for Marie, because I remember her commenting on the fact that her brother wouldn't stop to see her when he drove through her town. :)

I hope our memories bring a smile to everyone, and I encourage everyone to share their own memories of Marie--maybe even some of the lurkers out there?

Yum

I don't have any pictures but I had to share that Corey has become quite the chef during his time off from work. Tuesday night he made a yummy cajin rice with andouille sausage. Last night I came home to the biggest hamburgers you have ever seen filled with bacon, chorizo, sauteed onions, and cheese. They seriously were huge. But they were also seriously yummy. And tonight I get to look forward to chicken that Corey saw on the food network--the person called it Polish Chicken which peeked Corey's interest (he is half Polish). So I will have to update everyone on the yumminess of dinner tonight.

New Clothes for Danica

During our cousin's dinner yesterday, my wonderful Aunt Shirley gave Danica a couple of more outfits. The green one is nice and heavy, so it will be perfect for December and January when Arizona is not 100 degrees (at least I vaguely remember that there is a time when it won't over 100 degrees but right now it feels like an impossible dream--it feels like summer will never end, but that is a topic for another post--hehe). And I am pretty sure that the pink one will be one of my dad's favorite outfits for the baby.

And luckily my dad gave gave Danica the perfect accessory for the pink outfit--a pink cubs beanie. :)

Corey still holds out some hope that Danica will be a Red Sox fan, but really how could she be a Red Sox fan with so many cute Cubs outfits to choose from?

My dad picked out all of these cute Cubs things for Danica. And wait for it--he ordered all of these things online by himself. My dad has almost reached the 21st century--he reads blogs on a regular basis, he has started to comment on the blog--well my blog, and he has ordered stuff online. If we can get him to reply to email then he will be all set. :)

new pictures

My dad has been pointing out the fact that I haven't blogged in a while--but really I didn't think you all wanted to read about me going to work, coming home for dinner, and then going straight to bed. Really that didn't seem blog-worthy.

But today I got to have the 3D ultrasound Corey and I have been waiting for. Unfortunately, Danica proved to be less then cooperative. She decided after a couple of pictures that she wanted to stare at my spine. And nothing that I or lady doing the ultrasound could do could convince her to look up so we could get a good look. And the few times we could almost see her face--she had her hand or arm right up in her face. She has stubbornly decided that Corey and I have to wait until she is born to really find out who she looks like.

But I will share some of better pictures: