Thanksgiving in Kenmare, ND

This year Corey and I (and baby) spent Thanksgiving with Corey's parents and siblings, in Kenmare, ND. It is quite a magical place, especially on Thanksgiving.

The Friday after Thanksgiving the town celebrated Light Up Night, which includes a parade, town square lighting, craft fair, and open houses hosted by the town merchants.

It was a bit strange not having any snow, but the lights were beautiful nonetheless.

Here is our gang waiting for the parade. As you can see, it was chilly, but well worth it - I made out like a bandit with all the parade candy I got.

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The rest of the (extended) Thanksgiving weekend we played lots of games, ate way too much food, the boys went pheasant hunting, I finished a quilt, watched football, and enjoyed each other's company.

Thanks for hosting us, Hagers! We had a great weekend!

Baby got wheels

Today the baby received some transportation equipment (Chicco Cortina Key Fit 30), compliments of Great Grandma Katy (thank you!).

After the pieces were all assembled, Dottie (my favorite childhood comfort – a Cabbage Patch Doll) got to take it for a test drive.

Here is Dottie in the car seat. The set also came with a car seat base that will stay in the car (not pictured).

The car seat fits nicely onto the stroller for rolling around with the little one.

I think she likes it!

Here she is ready to explore the world in the stroller (without any of the car seat parts).

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As for Corey, baby and I, we'll be exploring Kenmare for the next few days - visiting Grandma and Grandpa Hager and family for Thanksgiving.

gobble gobble gobble.

Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

a piece of the prairie

As if we didn't have enough changes and announcements this year ...

Today Corey and I officially became the proud owners of 17+ acres north of Mandan, ND.

The land is located on Hwy 1806, about eight miles north of Mandan, across the highway from the (new) Harmon Lake.


We already know there are lots of deer and pheasants in the area (Corey identified their tracks) and fish in the creek (fed from the lake). Corey is especially looking forward to some snow - we've got a few great sledding hills.

The sunrises are amazing.

Looks like Corey might actually make a real country girl out of me ...

Happy birthday to my sweetie!

Happy 31st birthday Corey!

This weekend, in addition to celebrating Corey's birthday, we put up the Christmas tree, went to Lamaze class, shopped for Christmas gifts, watched Aliens on TV (I had never seen it), and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

Over the hump

Hard to believe there are just 19 weeks until my due date. It seems like we have so much to do between now and then. How distant it seems that we'll have a new person in our house in about 19 weeks!

Her movements are getting stronger. This week she seems to enjoy rap music and the church organ. She has quite a wide array of music tastes.

The nursery: part 1

My nesting urges have been fulfilled, at least for now ...

Our crib arrived last week – many thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Hager (Corey's parents)!

Corey spent a few hours assembling it this afternoon. I had so much fun watching. He was really cute making the crib :) It took him a bit longer than it should have because he ran into a glitch getting everything lined up, but in the end, it turned out great!

For those that might be crib shopping - this is the DaVinci Emily Crib in white.

The rocking horse was made for my sister and I by my Great Grandpa Lowitz, and refurbished by my dad. The adorable little chair (with the pillow on it) was Corey's when he was a little boy. It is in need of some serious TLC, so my dad and Corey will work their magic on it later this winter. The nursery will also have a twin bed in it.

The nursery is located in our former upstairs guest room. The guest room relocated to the next room, and is now an office/guest room.

It's so exciting to see the room come together!

I can't wait to continue "fluffing" our nest.

It's a girl!

We had our 20-week ultrasound today and are proud to announce that we are blessed with a healthy baby girl!



Caitlyn and Grandma Rene joined Corey, me, and baby for the event. The ultrasound was amazing but the preparation for it wasn't quite as fun. I was instructed to drink 32 ounces of water one hour before the appointment and not use the bathroom until the end of the appointment. I've never been so unbearably uncomfortable.

Of course, it was well worth it!



The ultrasound tech said she is a very active baby – just kept moving the whole time. As expected, her movements resulted in a few blurry photos (see foot, above). My dad (Grandpa Z) thinks all her movement means that she'll make a great 800-meter runner. I think it means I'm going to have lots of sleepless nights.



At the follow-up appointment with my doctor, we found out that our baby girl has mild pelviectasis. Basically it is a slight enlargement in one of the kidneys. The doctor assured us it is nothing to worry about. She was actually more concerned/surprised that the lab technician said we're having a girl, because it's much more common in baby boys. Go figure!?!

The doctor wants to keep an eye on the kidney (in most cases it'll return to normal size) so she requested another ultrasound next month.

I know what that means ...
... another morning of an uncomfortably full bladder

... but most importantly, another chance to watch our beautiful baby. So worth it.

Just to be sure, we'll also get a gender reading again.

Today was magical!

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To answer the inevitable question - we do have a few girl names picked out but we're not sharing until baby is born. If you know me well, you know how indecisive I can be ... so this process just might take until birth anyway.

19 weeks

As of today, we're officially half way to the due date. It's amazing how slowly ... and quickly ... and amazing ... this journey has been. I can feel the baby kick almost every hour (wonderful!). And when the baby is really kicking, Corey can feel it too. I'm so excited that he can finally connect to the baby this way.

We have the "big ultrasound" the day after tomorrow - Tuesday, Nov. 10. So if you haven't guessed if we're having a boy or girl, be sure to soon! The big reveal coming Tuesday!!!

As for my expanding tummy - it appears that the bump is not leaps and bounds bigger than week 17, but it's definitely moving up. I can feel when the baby is resting on one side now too - some days the bump is kind of lopsided.

Last week I started twice-weekly water aerobics with some ladies at work. I've heard it's a great pregnancy exercise and I have to say, it was perfect. The water really felt nice and the exercise was the ideal pace/intensity. As an added bonus - we use the pool at school, so it's free and convenient! Let's see if I can keep up the habit all winter.

Shootin' in Kenmare

During our visit to Kenmare, ND, last weekend, the boys and Maria went out to the shooting range.

Corey, Papa Hager, and Andrew got the guns worn in.

Maria was quite apprehensive. It was difficult even talking her into going along. But once she started shooting ...

... She didn't want to quit. Legend is that Maria is the new Annie Oakley.

We've got some sharp shooters in the family!

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Thanks to Corey and Maria for taking the photos - the baby and I passed on attending the noisy event.

Matthew gets confirmed

We spent the weekend in Kenmare, ND, celebrating Matthew's confirmation.

Jesse was his confirmation sponsor and it was great having him back in North Dakota (he and Megan live in Boston) for the weekend.

As always, "Grandma" and "Grandpa" Hager were fabulous hosts! Such delicious food :) I'm still enjoying the leftovers!

The Bishop was there to make it official.

The class

Matthew - looking cute as ever.

What a special day!