Me and my wolf pack

Last weekend I went to Las Vegas with some friends from St. Olaf, on what we like to call The Big Trip III (preceded by two slightly more local but no less glamorous Big Trips).  Despite the heat (103 degrees!), the close living quarters (six girls in one room... jealous?), and the fact that I was forced to wear a swimsuit while pregnant, the trip was a smashing success.  There was lots of walking, eating, drinking, pool lounging, laughing, gambling, Elvis sightings, Hangover references, and other memorable shenanigans over the course of three days.  I can't possibly document all the fun times in one post, but here are a few highlights:

One of the few benefits of being pregnant in Vegas is eating stuff like this and not feeling at all guilty about it.

The cotton candy was actually part of a brunch buffet.  Do they do things right in Sin City, or what?? 

I warned you there were Elvis sightings.

One of the best parts of the trip was meeting Alissa's daughter, Ella.  She's happy and adorable, and it was so much fun getting to know her.  It made me even more excited to meet my own little girl in a few months.

 
We took some time away from the Strip to see Alissa's house and Hoover Dam.  The dam was pretty impressive, although we all agreed it might have been more meaningful if we knew anything about its history or what it does (something about power generation?  there must be some kind of turbines involved?).

Straddling the Nevada-Arizona state line.

Here we are on Fremont Street, also known as the "original" Vegas strip.  Love these girls!

All in all, it was a fabulous trip and a great way to spend some much needed time together.  Thanks, ladies!

The end of an era

Earlier this month, my dad retired.  After nearly 40 years with the same organization, he's going to focus on the more important things in life: fishing, boating, and playing with his soon-to-be granddaughter.  We went over to his house for a barbeque to celebrate the big occasion.

Hopefully Margret can keep him busy in his retirement.  What's that saying again?  Oh yeah... "twice the husband, half the paycheck."

Information Systems Supervisor no more.  Congratulations, Dad, you've earned it!

Huskies vs. Some Other Team

North played their first home football game a week ago.  The Huskies lost 20-16, but the game was a nail biter... a pass into the end zone in the final four seconds would have changed the outcome, but it was just a little too long.  Regardless, the team played very well and we all have high hopes for the season!

Coach Schmidt had quite the fan section:

The youngest fan at the game with his godfather:

So this is what anxiety feels like

Pregnancy is a time of great excitement. It’s also a time of complete and utter terror. The closer I get to my due date, the more freaked out I get. And not just about obvious things, like if I’ll make it through labor or if my daughter will have all her limbs when she’s born. There’s other things too. Like, what if she robs a liquor store at age 15? What if she winds up in one of those polygamist compounds? Or on a reality TV show? What if she drops out of college to become a swimsuit model, or never understands the difference between “your” and “you’re”? What if she marries a NASCAR driver and buys all her clothes at Wal-mart? I could go on and on.

All of these concerns seem to result in the same scenario, which involves Jeff and I sitting in front of a psychologist who tells me I should have eaten more broccoli and watched less Bachelor Pad while pregnant. I’m not even playing Mozart for her in the womb! (Don’t worry, I already called social services on myself.)

That being said, there are a couple things that make me feel better about this whole parenting thing. The first is having Jeff around. Not only will he be a great father, but apparently was a very “spirited” child… meaning he’ll know how to handle it if our kid drives our car at age 12 and parks it on the wrong side of the street, getting the cops involved (yes, this actually happened, and no, I don’t know how Jeff’s parents managed to produce a relatively normal adult from this sort of monster).

The second is looking at this ultrasound picture. Something about it makes me smile every time I see it, and suddenly I stop worrying about all the ways we could screw up our baby. Instead, I start wondering what color her hair will be and what her laugh will sound like and whether she’ll be the first female president. The possibilities are simply mind-boggling, aren’t they?

An unexpected side effect

Since I got pregnant, people have been asking if I've been having any cravings or aversions.  I usually say no, but that's not entirely true.  For instance, I crave pretty much any fatty, starchy, salty, or surgary foods (basically the entire menu at Dairy Queen).  And I've been somewhat turned off by vegetables and all forms of exercise.  The problem with this is, Jeff works out on a daily basis, so by comparison my inactivity is borderline pathetic.

In a lukewarm attempt at getting in shape, I recently bought a prenatal yoga DVD.  I did it for the first time last night, and woke up to something even more alarming than the soreness in my legs... a very obvious belly!  It's like the baby ingested some steroids overnight.  I got several comments on the size of my bump today, so I know it's not just my imagination.  At 23 weeks pregnant, I shouldn't be surprised... however, I'm convinced that this growth spurt was a direct result of exercise.  I should have known better.

   By the way, I'm not the only one in the house who's taken up yoga.