Goodbye, Friday night lights. See you next fall.

Last night was North's final football game of the season.  Not only did they WIN, but they played an outstanding game, with a final score of 54 to 22.  Way to go, Huskies!  What a great way to end the season.  I'm so proud of Jeff and all the work he's done to develop some great players. 

Pre-game huddle:

The proud coaching staff:



The wide receivers that Jeff coached:

Coach Schmidt with his two biggest fans (his wife and his mom): 

We're sad to see the end of the football season, but I'm glad to be getting a husband back for a few weeks.  Then it's on to basketball!

Dog = baby's best friend

I know what you've all been thinking since Jeff and I announced that we're having a baby: what will happen to Betsy??  How will she adjust?  Will she be jealous?  How will we possibly be able to continue coddling and spoiling her in the manner in which she's become accustomed?  Believe me, we've asked ourselves the same questions.  Frankly, I'm a little worried that the baby will have absolutely no idea that Betsy requires constant love and attention and might even expect that we devote more of our time and energy to her, rather than the dog.  Babies have some nerve, don't they?

A few weeks ago I watched our nephew, Brennan, and was eager to see Betsy's reaction to an infant in our home.  She was extremely interested in him, and even though she was a little clingy and anxious, I was pleased that she didn't try to tear his arm off or anything.  She actually tried to play with him a little (unbeknownst to him).

Can you tell which one is the baby here?

    
Betsy: "Fine, we can share the couch... for now."
Brennan: "What the heck IS this thing?"

Keep your fingers crossed that Betsy and our baby will be buddies.  Otherwise, it's off to a new home... for the baby, that is.  Only kidding.  I think. :)

Thirty

My birthday was last month.  It's not bad enough that I had to wear a bathing suit while pregnant, I also had to turn 30 without consuming any alcohol.  My child has no idea what kind of sacrifices I'm making for her.  Fortunately, I was able to compensate with some delicious Coldstone cake, courtesy of my husband.

Also, my friend Jodi got me this awesome maternity t-shirt!



Speaking of which, I'm officially 30 weeks into growing the person inside me.  Meaning she will make an appearance in about 10 weeks.  Meaning I'm freaking out just a little.  Here's a pregnancy update:

1) Baby Schmidt can now open her eyes and sense light/dark, weighs about three pounds, and is putting on fat quickly.
2) Bending over, walking, and getting up from the couch is starting to get uncomfortable at best and downright awkward at worst.
3) For the first time in my life, I'm consistently warm.  Even warmer than Jeff!  The other day he asked if we should turn on the heat and I thought he must be joking.  He wasn't.
4) The baby moves All. The. Time.  In the past month or so, her movements have evolved from sweet little kicks and nudges to what I can only assume are escape attempts.  I'm surprised I don't have bruises, the way she bounces around in there. 
5) I recently thought it would be fun to measure my belly.  Don't ask me why I thought that would be fun.  Suffice it to say that, in my doctor's words, I'm "growing very well."

There you have it.  30 years old and 30 weeks pregnant!

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?