Copper Harbor Camping

Today we got back from a weekend up in Copper Harbor, MI so Brian could participate in the Fat Tire Festival up there.  The original plan was to camp Friday-Sunday nights but as we drove up on Friday afternoon, the rain, wind, and temperature convinced us that maybe it wasn't the best idea.  No one else from the Ashland group was camping that night and for good reason.  We ended up getting a very nice deal on a room at the Country Inn and Suites in Houghton that had a pool, kid pool, and awesome breakfast included.  So we stayed there Friday night which also allowed Ev and I to sleep in squishy beds and Brian to go out and join his fraternity brothers at their annual reunion get together.  We headed up to Copper Harbor on Saturday morning  because Brian's first race, a downhill race, was at 1 pm that day with registration beforehand.  He did meh on that and Ev and I stayed in the tent since it was on and off rainy, with a high of 57 and the power was out in town.  That night we made the mistake of trying to join the DU guys for dinner and paid way too much for a mediocre dinner and terrible service.  Oh well.  You live and learn.  That night was chilly.  I only dressed Ev in one pair of fleece jammies and it was a long night of him wiggling and me trying to keep him in his sleeping bag.  I ended up tossing him into my mummy bag with me (good thing the belly's not too big yet!).  Saturday pictures:

Look!  a picture of me!

Sunday was much nicer, weather-wise!  It was a high of 60 but it was sunny so it felt amazing.  We went out to breakfast, took a walk along Lake Superior, got a steamed milk from the tiniest little coffee shop ever, and then headed back to camp so Brian could get ready for the big race.  Sunday's race was at 2 o'clock and a 28 mile course over a whole lot of altitude.  Ev and I stayed at the camp for a while, then loaded up some snacks, sweaters, and the stroller and headed to town.  We got to hike up a nice hill to the spectator location, but could only go so far in the stroller.  Then I had to heft a 28 lb sleeping toddler out of his stroller and finagle him onto my back in the Ergo and hike up the rest of the hill.  I managed to forget my fleece in the stroller and ended up freezing the moment he woke up and came off my back.  Oh well though.  I remembered his fleece, juice sippy, fruit snacks, and cereal bar.  And the camera! 

Brian made it down Paul's Plunge (the spectator spot we were at) without a problem and at a decent speed.  He ended up 51st overall and said it was the most fun mtn bike race yet.

 Doesn't he just look pleased as punch?

Dinner was had at the festival after the race and we even stayed to watch the awards ceremony.

 Yeah, this is the face he gives me.  It starts already.

 

Realizing that rolling on the ground puts grass on your sweater.

He saw these big boys in front of us and set himself in line with them and then proceeded to dance to the music from the stage.

Aaand some more rolling in the dirt.

Then we headed back and made a fire and the temperature dropped very quickly (ended up 45 that night), so Ev and I went to bed.  It was another restless night for me with Ev squirming and shoving me off my sleeping pad.  I thought my back was going to be forever compressed from trying to sleep those two nights but it's much better now.  (I also ended up dehydrating myself and overexerting myself by jogging up and down hills with a toddler on my back, but hey.)  This morning we got up very early (trying not to wake everyone else in the camp with Everett's whining) and headed to Houghton for breakfast at Suomi.  That place is seriously my favorite restaurant on the face of the planet and I had some wonderful finnish yumminess and brought home a loaf of nisu bread.  We stopped in Ironwood for some pasties for lunch (had to continue the finnish day) and got home in time to do three loads of laundry, air out sleeping bags, and have dinner with Brian's parents.  Now Ev is pleased as can be to be sleeping in his bed and I'm about to head up there myself (to MY bed!  No more sharing with that little wiggle worm!).

15 weeks already!

How far along?  15 weeks
Total weight gain/loss:  I don't want to talk about it.  I think my scale lies.  Supposedly I'm up about 10 lbs.  :|

How big is baby?  About 4 inches long and 2 1/2 ounces.  This week's fruit is a apple!  Wow that's big! 
Maternity clothes?  Maternity pants all the way.  Shirts are still okay except for my tighter ones.
Stretchmarks?  nope, double checked last night!
Sleep?  Still goooood!  And Everett hasn't been waking up at the break of dawn recently!
Best moment this week?  Probably actually looking pregnant.
Movement?  Nothing yet!
Food cravings?  Well, I did eat a rather large bag of chex mix nearly all by myself in three days time (Ev had some).
Bellybutton?  Flat
Boy/Girl?  Chinese gender chart says girl
Labor signs?  No
What I miss?  Time/energy/motivation to knit/sew 
What I am looking forward to?  Getting excited about the whole ultrasound deal, even if it is still over a month away.

Milestones:  the bump is here!

14 Weeks and Vacation

How far along? 14 weeks

How big is baby? About 3 1/2 inches long and 1 1/2 ounces.  This week's fruit is a lemon!
Weight gain? I think I'm up around 6 lbs
Maternity clothes? Bella band, pants.  I can still wear my post-pregnancy pants and larger sized jeans.
Stretchmarks? nope
Sleep? Not needing to nap the entire time Everett does.  Getting some energy back!
Best moment this week? Got to hear the heartbeat!  130 bpm and everything else is perfectly boring.
Movement? Should be able to feel it sooner than with Ev (which was at 18 1/2 weeks)
Food cravings? Reading a girly novel, the character ate some salt and vinegar chips.  Needless to say, there is now a bag of sea salt and vinegar kettle chips in my kitchen.  :)
Bellybutton? Blech.  Flat.
Labor signs? No
What I miss? hot water.  need to turn that darn water heater back up.
What I am looking forward to? continuation of this amazingly easy pregnancy!

In other news, last Thursday, Ev and I went down to join my parents and siblings at a cabin (actually 2) they had rented for the week.  Brian joined us on Friday afternoon.  Here are some resulting pictures:

Just being a cutie

 Hanging out with aunts and uncle

 Swinging with uncle Sam

 Going down the slide!

  Daddy took Ev for an early morning row on our last day

 And I just had to get some pictures of this.  Whenever we mow the lawn, Everett absolutely NEEDS to have his "popper" to help out.  Same thing when we're vacuuming.  It's a multi-purpose popper.

Two guys working hard

Making sure that grass gets cut

"What?  I'm being helpful!"

13 weeks

I saw this on some other blogs and keep thinking I should do it, so I guess I might as well start.

How far along? 13 weeks

How big is baby? Up to about 3 inches long, weighing nearly an ounce.  This week's fruit is a peach!

Weight gain? Somewhere around 4 lbs

Maternity clothes? Bella band for sure and some pants

Stretchmarks? nope

Sleep? niiiice.  Not needing quite as many naps as before.

Best moment this week? Having aunties and cousins around to play with Everett

Movement? Should be starting to move, obviously not feeling it

Food cravings? Pickles.  A for serious craving this pregnancy.  So I made some.

Bellybutton? Getting ugly again.

Labor signs? No way

What I miss? My jeans

What I am looking forward to? should be able to hear heartbeat next Monday!

Right, I fail.

Brian informed me this evening, in quite the accusatory tone, that I haven't blogged since "the kale quiche" blog.  Oops.  I've been sleepy!  On the days I am home with Ev, I nap the entire 2-3 hours that he naps.  On days I work, I come home exhausted (from all the tiring sitting at a desk) and don't really want to do anything other than peruse facebook and thebump.  Let me see if I can come up with some updates here. 
I ordered Everett a bike a while back and it's here.  It's a wooden balance bike to teach him the proper skills to keep a bicycle upright and push along with his feet.  One problem.  My super tall boy isn't quite tall (or confident) enough to push himself along yet.  But he does love sitting on it and having daddy push him all around the main floor.


Ev has a minor obsession with Thomas the tank engine lately and we were fortunate enough to go to a garage sale where we scored a thomas backpack (with wheels), two books, and a handful of little trains and freight cars that stick together with a magnet.  Very cool.  Especially since I paid 50 cents a piece for them and they retail for about ten times that.

Everett's two fish and Daddy's one are all doing very well and Ev enjoys feeding them each morning, especially the algae pellet for his "sucka" fish. 

Ev's learning new words every day and tries to repeat whatever you say.  He also gets this adorable little look of concentration on his face when he's trying to see how you say a word and copy it.  He calls the cats Mabba (Mabel) and ditty (Olivia.  Not sure why he just calls her kitty, but oh well!).  He loves "joooce!," "muck" (milk), "bayow-wees" (berries), "cacka" (crackers), and "nandy!" and "cookiecookiecookie!" (candy and cookies.  not that he gets much of them, but he knows he loves them.)

Now I'm off to find a snack because my dinner consisted of a bowl of instant mashed potatoes.  I blame the in utero one.