Travels

After going to Minnesota for a week and Missouri for 4 days, we are happy to be home for a little while. We drove to Eden Prairie, MN where Garrett had training at MTS. It was a very nice area. We got up every morning and had breakfast at the hotel, Jillian and I dropped him off at MTS and she and I went for a walk at nearby parks. Eden Prairie was voted the top place to live in the US in 2010. While there, she had another ear infection so we spent some time at the pharmacy to treat the infection, then to treat the side effects. We also went to a few discount children's clothing stores and found her some cute clothes and a few toys. The three of us went to the Mall of America to visit the Lego store and aquarium. The Lego store was fun to see. Jillian really enjoyed the aquarium. She had been a little fussy that afternoon so we weren't sure if we wanted to chance buying the tickets and she getting upset during the tour or if we would go back another day. We decided to try it and she did great! She intently watched the swimming fish and talked to them in her animal speak. She has a distinct tone of voice she uses when she sees animals of any kind. One evening we drove to a nearby REI store. It had a grand entrance with a curving pathway that led to the front door, lined with trees and mostly wild flowers. We walked across a short bridge over a fish pond. To the side of the entrance stood Charlie Brown and Lucy from the Peanuts crew. We also went to Gander Mountain, Ben & Jerry's, and a local BBQ restaurant. We had a good time. We traveled to Missouri 4 days later for Garrett's cousin's wedding. It was very nice and good to see all of the family, even if for a short time. We sure miss spending more time with everyone. The past two weeks flew by and we are glad to be back home. We have a few projects we need to finish, some to start and finish, hopefully before the baby arrives.

I've been feeling pretty good. I've had some lower back aches and my c-section incision has been sore. My belly has really popped in the past two weeks and I've been feeling the baby move. I haven't noticed as many distinct movements as I did with Jillian at this stage, but more of the fluttering. I had a cherry coke yesterday and the baby became very active for a few minutes. I'm excited to feel more movement. My next checkup is next Friday and then we'll schedule the ultrasound. I have a feeling it's another girl, the Belgian relatives that we saw this weekend think it's a boy. We'll find out soon!!

Jillian is a crawling machine. Yesterday evening she was zooming across the floor from room to room so quickly she was getting out of breath. She would take off as fast as she could, stop and turn to look back at me, smile and take off again. She also climbed stairs for the first time last weekend. She went up and back down the first two steps twice, then off she went, with little pausing. I know she'll keep up hopping soon, more than we know, but at least I won't have to carry her as much. It's getting quite difficult with the growing belly. She pulls up to a standing position frequently and she is standing without support for up to a minute. She has tried to turn or move but hasn't yet been able to get her feet to follow. My dad predicted she'd be walking in 30 days. I think he may be right.

Keep in touch everyone. We love getting calls and emails.