Videos from Macinac

Mackinac Island

We just spent a lovely few days in Mackinac (pronounced Mackinaw) Island. Keith had a research presentation to give at the M.A.P.S. conference (which by the way he won a prize for best presentation). So it was all paid for and we were lucky to be able to stay at the historic Grand Hotel. The best part about this Island is that there are no cars at all! Only horses & bikes. This absence of engines left a sort of dreamy peaceful energy in the air. The whole island town was uber cute with Victorian style houses, darling manicured gardens, and super quaint shops. Did I mention the fudge shops? there were as many as well, think Starbucks in Seattle.

Highlights:

• Renting a tandem bike with a trailer in back for Dakota.
• Early morning walks to explore before anything opened.
• Room service
• Keith winning
  
• Horse ride to a fancy cookout
• Ferry boat ride
• Throwing rocks into the lake
• When the kid finally fell asleep

(Videos failed to upload - will try again later.....)

12 weeks

Yesterday was the first day in over 2 months that I didn't feel a debilitating nauseated feeling. (mine lasts all day and gets progressivly worse throughout the day unlike it's misleading name of "morning sickness")
Is 12 weeks really going to be that magical of a number? I sure hope so! I can't tell you how many times in this trimester I have said that I just wanted to die!




























Fortunately I didn't because looks whats growing!









Isn't it amazing how something so small can cause so much trouble? Which brings me to another question. How come my belly has so quickly expanded this time to accommodate something so small? I guess this one demands a 5 star luxury suite...

How many times do I have to tell you, Dakota?

Stop eating the dirt!!!!

4th of July

My brother and his beautiful new bride just drove across country from Seattle and stopped to see us for one night before heading on to Ohio. Unfortunately my camera died and this is the only shot I have of Saskia & me. Eventually I hope to get more plus the wedding pix to share but meanwhile behold our independence day squints. They sadly had to leave first thing in the morning but what a thrill to meet my fabulous new sister. She is absolutely a doll and I adore her :)

Later that day we met up at the park for our lil' ol' ward party. Don't look too excited Keith....

Dakota loved every minute of course because there was dirt!

Dad perked up once he saw watermelon.

And the kid played his first game of all-American baseball.

That night we kept things simple with just a few sparklers out front.

Maybe he'll be more into it next year... Oh well, Happy Birthday to our Nation! Go America!

My Big Feet

When I was a kid, I remember playing outside in the sprinklers with friends. When we went from grass to cement all my palls left the prettiest little crescent shaped footprints. Mine were more like big wet ovals. I was embarrassed by them so I would walk on the sides of my feet like a weird-o just in case someone noticed my prints.

But now the horrible has happened. The unthinkable. It's Positively Inconceivable!
That flat feet can get even flatter and at 30 years old one's shoe size goes up!
Do you people know just how many pairs of shoes a woman can collect in three decades? And now to have out-grown 98% of them in one year. It's all because of childbearing I tell you! Damn pregnancy and the havoc it wrecks to a woman's body!

I have just gone through my entire shoe wardrobe only to discover that it was not just a fluke on a couple pairs not fitting anymore. I am now practically shoe-less. Even my hiking boots are completely cramped. It became apparently clear to me when I had ordered about 10 running shoes from Zappos (thank goodness for their free shipping both ways) only to discover the reality of my new size.

I remember when Keith & I were newly married and he said that he once dated someone with really big feet. A size 10. Did he not realize that mine were a 9? Just one step down from that. In essence he was calling my feet pretty big, just not really big.

I have definitely without a doubt gone up 1/2 a shoe size to 9.5. I always thought that 9 was the biggest a girl could be before she became freakish foot-lady. But that's not all. I have always had "foot issues" and recently things were getting worse so I saw an orthopedic surgeon and was fitted for custom insoles. Now that half-size bigger shoe is a little tight and I should be getting future shoes in a "really big" 10!!!! I am so embarrassed. Thank goodness nobody looks at this blog anymore. I now have 3 shoes that fit. Running shoes, casual sneaks, and Earth flip flops (no support there). I can squeeze into a pair of summer heels and thats it. What do I do now? I have a glorious box of fabulous shoes the poor will love. My big freakish feet are snobs and require expensive shoes with a good fit. Replacing them however is not an easy task during a poor residency. How many shoes does a woman really need? What about winter and all those fancy events? Oh feet, I shake my fist at you.

licensed to heal

It's taken a lot of hours of study during his meager free time but it is finally over.
This weekend Keith finished his two-day medical board licensing test - Horray!
Not that he hasn't been cutting people open all year. This just means he is not an intern anymore but an R2 (no relation to R2D2).

Of course it's not the end of grueling mind bending tests. Just the end of this one.
Congratulations Keith :)

By-the-way: father's day

It's a little over due but I thought I'd show dakota's gift for daddy. (besides the hand decorated tie that I don't have a picture of yet). Since Mommy got flowers and a card for Mother's day, it seemed natural for Dad to get the same. But men have their own sort of "taste" in flowers.

Here are the boys relaxing to a nice Thomas the Train episode.
(as told by Ringo Star)

Of course every boy wants to be just like his dad. Even wearing their clothes sometimes.

Love you dad, from the bottom of my, well you know...

FYI

Due to a series of major budget cutbacks, we have disconnected our home phone and are only using our cells now. These numbers are currently the same but will soon be changed to a local Michigan number. When that happens I will try to send out a message to everyone on our directory.

Just thought you should know in case you try to call :)

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DADS....This one is for you!!!!

What should I title this?

It's funny,

everybody seems to want me to have a girl this time around. Or they assume that must be what I want since I already have a boy. In fact, before ever becoming a mother, I always said that if I were to have only one child then i would prefer a girl. So having that girl first should take any pressure off right.

But then I had my little Dakota Jack.
My heart is filled with all his boyish love. I am happier with him then I ever thought possible and would be perfectly satisfied with only him.
Of course now another is on it's way and so they hope I'll get that girl. The things is, I don't feel so stuck on it anymore. In fact, I kinda sometimes maybe prefer the idea of two brothers playing around doing the little guy thing. Boys do tend to love their mothers more.
Then again, I like dresses and flowers and am keen to paint a room pink.

I tried to look deep inside my true desires and what surprised me the most about myself is that I actually did not mind either way what came next. I am totally and completely content with enjoying whatever God sends us. Funny that.

A few short videos from our camping trip

Mowing the lawn just like Dad

always stop to smell the flowers!

MOOMERS: America's Best ice cream!

My fabulous producer friend Tamara sent me a little email letting me know that her show profiled a little place in Traverse, MI that was recently voted as having the best Ice Cream in the country! Moomers. Thanks for the great tip. (anyone who knows me at all, knows about my dire weakness for the cold creamy treat)
So, we decided to make a stop there as a special highlight to our trip.

Inside and excited to try it out

Yummylisous!
I was actually most impressed by their waffle cones. the whole place was filled with it's sweet warm smell.

Speaking of smells, 'Kota couldn't get enough of the lovely fresh flowers on the tables

And outside we could see where it all started

This stuff was as fresh as it gets.

As you can see by the videos, it didn't take long for the sugar effect to kick in.

We are still on vacation right now

Since we couldn't afford to go far or do much this time, we decided on a nice short but sweet camping trip. Just to try it out and see how it works with Dakota 'n all.
Though everything is more of a production with baby, it was definitely a success. Now we are home to a big giant mess and multi house projects in the works. Why do we always seem to need a vacation from our vacations?

Fun in th Rain!

I haven't gotten around to learning how to edit my videos yet (it's on my never-ending list of things to do) so it may be a little long. I like the beginning best anyway. He's always been good at saying "WOW"

A quick spin

I have a secret!

I have an old dear friend named Aimee Allen.
She used to take me with her on family trips to Canada when we were teenagers and I remember her just being the coolest most fun soul sister ever! Eventually we went in different directions and somehow lost contact with each other. Then one day I saw her dad's add for a reaI estate seminar and decided to go hoping that I could find someone to put me in contact with her. That didn't work. Every once in a while I would search the internet but not find anything.
But guess what? Just now, out of the blue, Her awesome mother Daryl called me!!!! I could tell right away that it was her and we bubbled out all the info possible through excited breath.
Now my friend Aimee; or actually the new spelling would be Amae, is getting married and I might just get flown there to surprise her!!!!!!! AAAhhh WoW.
There are however a few unknowns since it will be in October and another trip is already in the works, but this is sooooooo exciting for me. Oh boy, I will be pretty pregnant by then....... :(
Well who cares. Yippee. This girl is super funky cool hip and one of the best singers I've ever known. I always knew she'd make a career with her talent. Please check her out!