Two Thousand Ten... or Twenty Ten?

Tuesday December 29th –

Today I worked while Mike stayed home and enjoyed his vacation. We met up at night with Mandee and her fiancé Ben to welcome her back to town for a visit. They had just recently got engaged and it was a bit of a celebration night for them too. Mike and I are very happy for them and expected to hear all about Mandee’s elaborate wedding plans. Instead we were shocked to hear she and Ben are getting married tomorrow!! No big wedding, just a justice of the peace deal.

Knowing Mandee I never would have imagined such a thing would be possible but she and Ben had reason to rush. Ben is in the military and about to be deployed. Unless they’re married she can’t go with him. So, they need to push up the wedding so she can follow him wherever he goes. I understand a May reception is planned. I just hope it’s after the baby is born or way before so we can go!

Wednesday December 30th –

Today was Mandee and Ben’s wedding. I didn’t get to go because I was at work but Mike went and took pictures for them. It was a small group but after a little while, Mandee became Mrs. Benjamin Little! Congrats Mandee and Ben =)

Thursday December 31st – New Years Eve

Today was a very nerve wracking but special day. Mike and I got up early and had our ultrasound appointment at 10 a.m. We were so excited yet nervous because we didn’t know what to expect at the ultrasound. We hoped our baby was healthy and everything was alright. It was like a moment of truth kind of morning.

Anyways, finally at the appointment we were beyond thrilled to see our little baby BOY moving happily in my belly. The tech counted all the fingers and toes and confirmed he only has two arms and two legs. Everything appears normal and healthy. We were so relieved and excited. Now the reality is starting to sink in that this little one is on his way whether we’re ready or not!
The rest of the day we were on cloud nine. We had a nice afternoon together and dinner out at a new Hibachi restaurant in town. As it got later we met up with Melanie and Bruco to celebrate New Years Eve. We only had plans to stay for a few hours in the bars with them but soon we ended up and their neighbor’s house for a New Years Eve party. We intended to leave again after an hour or so but then the neighbors pulled out Rock Band and I knew I was doomed. Mike was thrilled and played for hours until finally it was midnight and time to welcome in the New Year.
About 12:15 everyone was ready to call it a night and I drove us home. Thankfully the weather was nice and we didn’t have a giant snow storm as we have in the past few years!

January Highlights (Thus Far…)

Saturday - January 9th

Today we celebrated Christmas with the Dozeman family. It was a bit odd celebrating Christmas after Christmas but I was surprised to hear how many of our friends were doing the same thing this month. I guess people just have too many family members to squeeze everything into one day! It was a very nice dinner and it was great to see everyone.
Obviously it was a bit different this year for us because now we’re expecting and it was the first time the family had seen us since hearing the news. We had a great time hearing the family members discuss different birth stories and give advice on how we should prepare for the baby. My favorite comment came from Audrey who told me in complete sincerity and in a helpful sort of way: You don’t look pregnant; chubby maybe… but not pregnant. HA! I’m still rolling from that comment.

Monday – Wednesday January 11th – 13th

This week Mike was in Pensacola, Florida at a convention or something for work. I had three whole days to myself where I planned to do all kinds of house hold chores. Unfortunately I started experiencing something called round ligament pain which basically means I get sharp pains in my lower belly whenever I reach for stuff or do something too strenuous like walking. It’s very frustrating but I’m told it’s all normal. Baby Doze is making room for himself in there… Needless to say, I was completely useless while he was gone.

Saturday – January 16th

Today Mike attended his first baby class – Daddy Boot Camp! I know it’s a bit early but we’re friends with a couple who are expecting 5 weeks sooner than us and Mike wanted to go with his friend. I understand it was an interesting experience. Mike was disappointed the class didn’t focus more on the financial aspect of the baby but he was happy to get tips like bring a suit (in case I randomly decide to have a water birth… you never know) and what to do when we go into labor. I never thought of it from the dad’s side but it would be discerning to know your wife is in labor but have no idea when the baby might pop out. I guess the class gave great advice on how to handle the whole process.

The rest of the day was pretty lazy. I slept most of the morning and when Mike got home we had lunch out and then I had to clean house. Mike had some work to do so he left to get some things done while I cleaned. It’s getting harder and harder to clean without falling over exhausted. Lugging the vacuum and cleaning supplies around and sweeping, vacuuming, mopping etc, it took its tool on my back. I feel like an old woman!

On a side note, we are very sad to hear about my in-laws loss of their beloved dog Charley. In the past week we found out Charley tested positive for a disease called Brucella. It’s very, very rare but can transfer to humans and in the end the decision to put him down was necessary but difficult. Especially since Charley wasn’t even a year old yet. Please keep my in-laws in your prayers are they get over the sudden loss of their beloved pet. I think most of my family and friends a.k.a blog readers are avid pet lovers and understand how difficult this is for them!

Sunday – January 17th

Today we had company over and I was very excited about it. Chris, Minchie and their two kids – Alana and Garrett came over for lunch. We had a really nice time hanging out with them. Alana is two and a half and just full of energy. She talks up a storm and says the cutest things. Garrett is just 3 months so he was fun to make smile and hold. Mike even held him on his own and I was very proud he did it without too much hesitation. We need all the practice we can get!

Monday – January 18th

Today was another day at work and for me, a project day. I’m working on laundry and I’m proud to report I’m finally done organize the future baby room. It’s moved from just a junk room to now a future Good Will run and storage for things I want to sell on Craigslist. Pretty soon it will be cleared out and ready to paint! I can hardly believe the time is approaching where we need to consider painting the baby room. Time is flying by!

We have a busy week full of dinners and club meetings. My mom and aunt worked really hard to get our curtains and pillows made for our living room. I’m super excited to see how everything turned out. We’ll find out how it looks tomorrow. Then there’s French Club (which I’ve sadly not attended as much as I should) and bowling… always bowling.

Saturday we leave for Washington D.C. for a mini trip. I’m following Mike on another business trip but I think we’ll have enough time together it will still be fun. So much to do between now and Saturday… pet sitter scheduling, laundry, pick up dry cleaning, get work stuff done for a week off next week… ugh. Why are vacations so stressful? =)

Baby Update

Things with the baby are going well. I’m now 21 weeks, almost 22 or 5 months for general purposes. I feel him move a lot and sometimes he bounces on things that make me uncomfortable. In general the round ligament pain is the worst. I know it will continue as my belly makes room for him to grow. I’m outgrowing a lot of clothes which makes me depressed but I’m trying to look on the bright side as I continue to get new things to replace the old =)

We have our 5 month appointment next Thursday but we don’t expect to hear anything new. They’re basically check ups now. I will have my glucose test soon but I don’t think that’s for another few weeks. Wish me luck. I hope I won’t have pregnancy diabetes!

December Highlights

We’ve had a busy month! To spare you the great details, I will summarize the highlights:

November 26th - Thanksgiving:

We had a very nice Thanksgiving at my cousin Andrea’s house. All the kids are growing up so fast it’s hard to believe how big they’re all getting. TJ is 9 already, Chloe is talking up a storm and very social, and Max is walking! Then of course there’s us expecting our first so we’ll be adding to the mix next year. Mike is preparing for fatherhood by playing with the kids. I believe Chloe beat him at gator golf!
December 4th- Art Hop:

Every first Friday of the month downtown Kalamazoo hosts an Art Hop for local artists to display their work and to promote downtown businesses. A big part of the draw is local businesses hosting local artists will offer free wine/Champagne and refreshments while people walk around. We met up with some friends at a local Italian restaurant and had a nice dinner before taking off to look at the different art work. The night was pretty cold and it had started snowing heavily but we made it through and had a great time. My friend Kim brought her daughter Natalie who is such a trooper and handles moving around from place to place very well. She didn’t make a peep the whole night!

Mike took advantage of my inability to drink and helped himself to many of the refreshments offered at the various places. It also didn’t help that Kalamazoo isn’t a very big town so we ran into a lot of people we knew who all were mingling and drinking. Overall it was a great time, although we did not buy any art work, and we made it home at a decent hour.

December 7th - Christmas is coming!

Once again we bought our tree from a local tree farm and put it up. This year we had to put it on our large family room because we are planning to paint our formal living room, dining room and kitchen later this month. I didn’t go crazy on the decorations this year just because I knew we would be painting and I didn’t want to take everything down later.

December 19th - Stryker Christmas Party

This year the Stryker Christmas party was held at the Radisson. Last year was a disaster because we had a huge snow storm and the location of the party was so inconvenient, people were waiting hours for their cars and the valet was losing people’s keys, etc. I guess after that Stryker decided to change venues. Mike and I were happy with the change because the Radisson has a huge parking garage and a few of a our favorite restaurants to visit in case the party got boring.

The theme was Casino so they had fake money for people to gamble or you could use them as addition raffle tickets for big prizes. They didn’t have slot machines, just card tables, so I didn’t play anything. Mike lost a bit in some table games but saved some for the raffle. Unfortunately we did not win anything in the raffle =( There was also a comedy show, dancing and other things to do. We had a really nice time but were very exhausted by the time the night was over.

December 17 – 22nd – Painting Project
** See more pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/dssmolsky

After two and a half years in this house, we finally started painting! Granted, we did the bathroom months ago but that still wasn’t finished. Mike, his dad, and my mom all worked really hard to get the painting done before the holidays. We decided to paint the three rooms a shade of green to match the rug and paintings we bought earlier. I’m really happy with the living room but the kitchen and dining room need to grow on me. I think it doesn’t help there is nothing to pull the colors together in the kitchen/dining room like the rug and paintings do in the living room. Just one step at a time…

December 24th – Christmas Eve

As usual, my husband is still doing his finishing touches on the house. I’m panicking slightly because we have Mike’s family coming for Christmas dinner and the house is in shambles. I spent most of this day making cookies and preparing for Christmas. I was not having a good start. I made a horrible batch of cookies that tasted like sand, my basement flooded from a load of laundry that didn’t drain properly, I only had time to wash half the clothes on the floor before we had to leave for a Christmas party at Norm and Mary’s! Since the day didn’t go as planned, I knew we were in for a long night.

We did stop for a break at Norm and Mary’s house for Christmas. We had a really nice time and needed the break from cleaning/painting/putting things back in order. We stayed about an hour and half visiting and eating before we had to head back home to finish for Christmas.

After working until 4 a.m., we had the house in somewhat good shape for Christmas day. It was a very long night for a pregnant lady!

December 25th, Christmas Day

We manged to drag ourselves out of bed early enough to catch the last Christmas mass on Christmas day. We then headed back home to finish cleaning and getting ready for our guests. It took all day but by about 4 o’clock we had the downstairs finished enough for company!

The ham I bought turned out great and I think the meal was up to everyone’s standards =) I don’t claim to be a good cook- I can bake but not cook. I was really excited though because I finally had the opportunity to use our new china from Mike’s parents. They handed down the china from Mike’s grandmother. It’s very beautiful and I was so grateful for the complete set with serving dishes and everything! I’ll look forward to using it year after year =)

I managed to surprise Mike with a repaired Neptune model. If you remember, Louis destroyed his months ago. I tried to see if they had spares at work but Mike didn’t want to trouble anyone to make a new one. I thought the matter was closed when one day I received an email out of the blue from an engineer telling me he had made Mike a new model and I just needed to pick it up. I am so proud I kept it a secret until Christmas. Mike is very happy to have his new model and had been very protective of it. No one but him has touched it since he got it! I also surprised him with a bowling lesson. He is a little obsessed with bowling right now but he is improving his game greatly which is more than I can say about my own game. We’re still in a league but I’m not doing great!

Otherwise, we also received some very nice gifts from Mike’s parents, Tia and Steve and the Gibson’s. Since we’re old now it’s kind of nice to be surprised with gifts at Christmas! I managed to finish my gift baskets in time to give everyone. I only do baked goods and canned goods though. I don’t really do any shopping…

December 27th – Catch up!

Yesterday we were complete beached whales sitting in the mess from Christmas day and just relaxing after a hectic few weeks. We did leave the house long enough to get food and see the new Sherlock Holmes movie. We liked it a lot. I was slightly disappointed they didn’t follow the stories very well but overall the movie was entertaining. Not to sound like a snob but how could they make Sherlock Holmes without mentioning his heron addiction and making him swoon over a woman! In the stories Sherlock admired one woman but I would say he was far from swooning over her. Anyways, I know I’m taking the story too seriously =) It was only PG-13 after all…

Right now I’m trying to finish my mountain of laundry and dishes. I’m making progress! We have bowling league again tonight so I only have a limited time to finish what I need to get done.

Baby Update

Pregnancy is going well. I’m feeling much perkier now that I’m in the second trimester. I’m 18 weeks along now and have my big ultrasound on December 31st – at which point I will be 19 weeks. We plan to find out what we’re having if the baby will cooperate. We just hope everything is going well and the baby is healthy. In the last few weeks I’ve started feeling movement. It’s small but happens every once in awhile when I sit very quietly. I’ve also noticed the baby tends to move a lot when we go to the movies. I assume it’s because I sit still for a long period of time and the theater is usually loud.

I have no started the baby room or anything like that yet. We want to wait until we find out if we’re having a boy or girl before we start any new projects!

Blog Pending!

I know it's been awhile but I've had a lot going on =) We're currently painting (as I type I am only taking a break) our living room, dining room and kitchen. I'll have updates as soon as possible. Most likely after Christmas when I'm not working and I have a day to devote to blogging!

Chicago Bound...

Friday, November 13th

After a really long week where I tried to cram too much into one day 5 times this week, I was so grateful for the start of the weekend on Friday night! I was also very surprised to see a bouquet of flowers when I arrived home. Mike had bought me flowers to celebrate our anniversary =) I know it was last week but we're celebrating tomorrow in Chicago. It was very sweet of him and made me smile!

Tonight we had plans to visit my parents in Battle Creek for a late celebration of their anniversary, my dad's birthday, and Mike and my anniversary. We had a nice meal at Applebees and then played a few games of bowling.

Mom and Dad claimed they had not bowled in 20+ years so Mike and I, on a league after all, thought we would beat them flat. Not the case... my mother bowled a 120 game on her first shot! I didn't even break 80... Mike did a bit better with like a 135 or something but all in all, it was a terrible game for us. We did play another round but Mom still beat me and I was greatly disappointed. Dad and I competed pretty closely but with a little practice I know he would beat me easily. Maybe I should get bowling lessons...

Overall we had a great time and agreed we should get together again to go bowling. Mom and Dad discussed getting their own bowling balls so maybe they will join their own league!

Saturday, November 14th

Today we had to get up very early to catch a charter bus to Chicago. Our employer offers a chartered bus to Chicago once a year for Christmas shopping. Mike and I didn't want to go shopping but we did want to have a day in Chicago. When we were dating we frequently went to Chicago for the day just to have a good time walking around.

We did end up doing a little window shopping but overall we didn't see too many stores. We found the Hershey store and their crazy candy bar sizes. The smell was so nice too... fresh chocolate from the factory is the best.

In addition to great smells at the chocolate store, it was a fantastic day out - in the mid-60s with no wind. We couldn't believe our luck. The only downside was having to drag our coats around all day. Two years ago in October when we were in Chicago I remember freezing just from the wind blocks away from the lake. It was terrible.

We did end up seeing "Boondocks Saints II" since it's still in limited release everywhere. We liked the first movie and enjoyed the second as well. It wasn't as good as the first but we were still entertained. After the movie we walked a bit around Millennium Park and then headed to dinner at a memorable restaurant.

Three years ago in October Mike and I made our relationship "official" at the Chop House Restaurant in downtown Chicago. We made reservations to celebrate our first anniversary (a week late) at the same restaurant. We had a fantastic meal and stuffed ourselves just before we had to return to the bus. We had a great time even if it was a short trip =)

Sunday, November 15th

Today was a pretty relaxed day... Mike and I were exhausted after getting up early and staying out late for the Chicago trip. We slept most of the day away before getting around to a few things we needed to do around the house. Before we knew it, it was time for bowling league!

I had a crazy first game where I scored the highest I ever have in bowling: 146! It was amazing but for only one game. After that I was back down to the 90s. I did raise my average a bit though. Mike also did well but I can never remember his exact numbers... I think his average is in the 150s now.

Monday, November 16th

Today we officially announced we are expecting Baby Dozeman in May 2010 =) It's been a very rough 12 weeks keeping it to ourselves but we wanted to make sure everything was okay before we spread the news.

I'm feeling great and not having too many problems. I have a lot of nausea but no morning sickness really. I feel like I eat all the time even though I'm not really hungry - ever. They tell me that will change as time goes on but I'm also hoping I won't become a whale throughout this pregnancy =)

Mike has been a great support. He's come to every appointment and read about four books by now. He's really ready to become a dad and I'm so thrilled he's as excited as me. We find out whether or not we're having a boy or girl on December 31st. I believe that's like 45 days or so from now =)

Tuesday, November 17th

Speaking of babies, my friend Michele had her baby last night so Melanie and I made a quick trip to the hospital to visit her. She and baby are doing well. It hits a bit closer to home for me now when I think, geez, this will be me in less than 6 months!!

The rest of this week looks pretty normal for me. Mike's going on a business trip tomorrow and Thursday. Luckily his trips are never too long! I give up asking what they're for anymore. I can never keep up with his projects =)

Halloween, Concert & First Anniversary

I know it's been awhile but honestly, we've been pretty boring lately. We do have a few fun events to mention though...

Saturday - Halloween - October 31st

Today was a pretty laid back day up until Trick or Treating. We had prepared 110 treat bags because in previous years we've had about 100 kids. This year the weather was really nice and only got down into the 50s. We had some really cute kids come around earlier in the night. Some memorable ones were a little girl dressed as a Jellyfish and three little boys who were all pirates traveling in a homemade pirate ship made out of cardboard and glued to their power wheels car. They used the boat to go house to house so it was priceless! I wish I had taken a picture. In addition to the cute mode of transportation, when they came up to trick or treat I said, "Wow! Those are some scary costumes." One of the boys, probably 4 years old, replied, "Doh! We're pirates!" I thought that was hilarious.

After an hour and half we had a lot more kids than expected. By 7:45 we were out of candy bags and started giving out our personal stash of candy. Once the coast was clear we turned off all the lights and hid in our living room. Not ten minutes later we had some very obnoxious teenagers ringing our doorbell repeatedly demanding candy. Mike told them we were sorry but we were out of candy and three of the seven revolted and said, "What, no candy!?" and started to come at Mike. Luckily they're only 13ish so once Mike turned on all the lights again and started to go outside, obviously towering over them, the rest ran away. Luckily that was the only issue we had and thankfully we did not get TPed for running out of candy.

Saturday, November 7th

Today I went to a concert with my mom and friend Kathryn. We went to see Celtic Women who is often on PBS and a group I've enjoyed in the past. They had a very cool concert and we all enjoyed ourselves immensely. I was a little disappointed they didn't sing as many Celtic or original songs (they do a lot of remakes) but I still enjoyed it.

Since Mike was not interested in the concert he went with his friends to a Pinball Party. A friend of a friend collects Pinball machines and once a year he and his wife have this Pinball Party. Mike said it was a lot of fun and he was shocked to see so many Pinball machines in one ranch-style house. He said there were rows and rows of them. He did take a picture on his camera. I'll see if I can get that on the blog somehow.

Sunday, November 8th

Today is our 1 year anniversary! We made it a year and things are still going well =) We had a nice relaxing day of just lazing around. We did pull out the old wedding cake we've been saving since the wedding day. I was very pessimistic about the cake so I bought a spare at the bakery. We did let the old cake thaw and Mike and I tried a piece.

I thought it was terrible. I spit out my piece shortly after it was in my mouth. It tasted like an old Popsicle that was too close to the side of the freezer and had serious freezer burn. Mike on the other hand thought it tasted good and he finished his piece. I decided to not bother and cut up our new cake. I tried to warn Mike the cake was bad but he didn't believe me until later when the cake he ate made him sick =P After he was ill he agreed I could throw out the remaining cake.

Monday, November 9th

Today we took our cat Louie to the vet. He had some caked blood on his paw that we noticed yesterday and we couldn't figure out what he did. He wasn't limping or anything but there was definitely something wrong with his foot.

I took him in after work and after the vet and a few techs held Louie down and snipped the tuffs of fur out of his toes we had a clear view of burned skin and a few burn blisters. Somehow Louie burned his foot! Obviously it's been bothering him so he's been licking at it causing irritation and the blood we saw. The vet came him a strong antibiotic to help with the healing and pain so hopefully Louie will leave it alone and let it heal. Now we're just watching him.

Mike and I think he did it on the space heater. He loves to sleep by the heat and usually is too close for comfort. The other possibility is our glass stove which he's not allowed on but I'm not watching him 24/7 =) Hopefully this is the last time it happens but we're certainly trying to keep a closer eye on him.

Finally... Furniture!!

Wednesday, October 14th -

Finally... after weeks of searching we found and had delivered a new living room sofa and love seat! It's a little out of place now but it's a start. Next we'll focus on end tables (arriving soon from Mike's grandfather's estate) and pictures for the walls. Once we have those, we can choose our colors and start painting. I'm super excited to actually be starting the redecorating process =)

Thursday, October 15th -

Today we had dinner with our friends Adam, Jessica, Hannah, Maya, Kim, Phil & Natalie. We had a great time playing with the kids and just hanging out with everyone. Life is so busy it's hard to find time we're all free to get together. Plus, every time we do, the kids are usually twice as big as the last time we saw them!

Maya & Natalie

Hannah & Adam

Kim & Natalie's Arm =)

Maya

Jessica & Hannah

Adam & Hannah, Natalie & Phil, & Kim

Saturday, October 17th -

I've always talked about having a Harry Potter party but I never got around to actually doing it. Finally, this year I told my friends I was having one no matter what! I didn't plan very far in advance but I invited every HP fan I knew to come. A lot of people loved the idea but the day didn't work out well for them. In the end I had about 7 people confirmed. On the day I lost 3 to sickness and 1 to an unexpected event! I had two troopers who stayed despite the low numbers - My mom and friend Melanie =)

Mom and I dressed up and I think we look great. Mom put a lot more time into her costume than I did though. Maybe next year I'll be more prepared. For the actual party the three of us tried to eat what we could but we ended up with a ton of leftovers. We watched two HP movies and then called it a day.

Sunday, October 18th -

After my party I was pretty spent so Mike and I didn't do much this day. In the end I think we looked for some pictures for the living room and then went to our bowling league. We kicked butt in bowling this week. Last time we lost every game and this time we won every game. Mike's average went up quite a bit from all the practice he's been putting in. Mine stayed the same. I will be happy if I average 120 by the end of the league.

Tuesday, October 20th -

Melanie and I have started our Christmas baskets! Usually we're very behind but this year we're trying to get on top of things. We made our first item for the baskets - Applesauce! We're very happy how it turned out and were shocked how easy it was (after all the peeling and slicing... that took forever). We're becoming canning pros. At first we weren't so great but now we've made a few mistakes and learned from them so the canning process is going very smooth for us.

Friday, October 23rd -

Today I relaxed and watched a chick flick (Ghosts of Girlfriends Past) and had a quite night to myself while Mike and his buddies went out to the Firekeepers Casino in Battle Creek. Apparently he had a great time because he didn't get back home until about 3 a.m.! Luckily he broke even gambling so it wasn't a wash financially. I haven't heard too many people coming back as big winners from that particular casino. I think some people won early on but not anymore. Maybe someday we'll win big too =)

Saturday, October 24th -

Once Mike recovered from his night of gambling and drinking, we went to Grand Rapids to look for pictures for the living room. I'm surprised how hard it is to find places what have a lot of choices for living room photos. We didn't want anything special... maybe a nature scene or something colorful yet not too contemporary. We couldn't find anything in GR. After a day of looking at all kinds of places and finding some art gallery paintings considerably out of the budget, we were tired and grumpy. We came home kind of late and I crashed on the couch while Mike played a few hours of Rock Band. We lead such an exciting life...

Sunday, October 25th -

Today Melanie and I planned to make our second basket item: Salsa! Last year we had a pretty good batch so we were optimistic about this year. After hours of peeling, chopping, cooking, canning, etc, we ended up with an even better batch than last year salsa! We think the trick is this year we used lime juice instead of lemon and it really made a huge difference. We also made larger jars this time around. Last year we had really small jars which were more personal size than sharing size.

In between all the cooking, Mike and I stopped by a Persian rug place in town that we made a quick stop at yesterday. The owner runs the place and is a super nice guy. We looked at several rugs yesterday and loved one particular set for our living room. We gave ourselves 24 hours to think about it but today we decided we liked them well enough to buy. I think they compliment the couches well but the walls really need some color now.

We also lucked out because the rug dealer happened to be selling some student art work in his shop. We found two real oil paintings for dirt cheap done by a New York art student. After such horrible luck yesterday, we were thrilled to find something we liked! They're not exactly what I wanted but for the price and the quality, we're very happy with what we got. Now we just need to work on the paint colors!