Look! No hands!

Some of you asked for pictures of Matt and Lauren's little girl, Claire, weeks ago, so here ya' go. :) Since she was born, we usually go over to their house, but last night they decided to try it out at our place. Claire loved it--especially when everyone rocked out to Guitar Hero. She even cooperated while we played cards. She's growing so fast!

Man Overboard! (And wife and baby too!)

I will take full credit for this one! Ross and I decided to take Mustard Millie (as I refer to her) out on the Raccoon River after work last night. We should have taken it as a sign for the events to come when I almost let Ross back the Taurus onto the dock. He would have, too, if it were not for a nice onlooker yelling at him to stop. (I was too busy making sure the boat didn't hit the dock.)

So after a ridiculously difficult rigging and departure from the dock, Ross told me to take the tiller and steer while he adjusted the main sail. Like I knew what the h--- I was doing!! Within five minutes...and I kid you not, I had capsized Mustard Millie. Both of us dumped into the water, along with all of our belongings.

The next five minutes were a blur as I panicked (almost seven months pregnant) swimming alongside of the boat watching Ross get it upright again. He succeeded, but we had no way of getting the two feet of water out of our boat, except for manually scooping it out by hand. No, we were not successful. It was miserable.

I told Ross that twenty years from now we would look back and laugh at the whole thing, but it didn't take nearly that long. We were laughing and pointing out how utterly ridiculous the whole situation was ten minutes later (after I had declared that I would never go sailing again and that I was sorry about fifty times). At one point the park ranger/security guy had even tried to wave us to shore to lend us a five gallon bucket to bail water, but in fear that we would get beached, we had to turn him down and head for the dock still water-logged.

***In addition, Ross discredits Warren for teaching me ANYTHING about sailing growing up and that I have absolutely no intelligence in regards to physics. :) :) :)

I think I will stick to "manning the jib" in future outings...after Baby Mort is here!!! :)

I'm on a boat...

It's official... after taking sailing classes at the beginning of the summer, Ross got the itch and we bought our own boat. I should really say that Ross has a boat. I watch the weather for temperature and humidity and Ross just cares about wind speed. He originally wanted a 16-foot Hobie Cat but he compromised for a more family-friendly version. It's called a Flying Junior. Now I can go sailing with him and not come home soaking wet, unless we capsize. We still have to get a trailor hitch and practice rigging the sails before trying it out on the lake, but we are excited to give it a try! If you're in DSM, I'm sure that he would be more than willing to take you out for an afternoon. :)

It's the little things...

I have been pondering what to do with the mess in my jewelry box for quite some time and hadn't found a good solution until now. It may not be most eye-appealing, but it was definitely another frugal project that met my needs. A hand-me-down bulletin board + some leftover eyelet fabric from making curtains for the basement + some thumbtacks and sawtooth hangers was all I needed. Fifteen minutes later and voila--a jewelry hanger in my closet to hold all of the odds and ends that don't quite fit into my jewelry box. You should give it a try! :) :)

Three months to go!

This picture was taken a week ago, already. It makes us laugh pretty hard. Pregnancy is such an amazing time in your life with so many changes! I look forward to the next three months.

Frank has been extremely active lately, mostly at night when I'm trying to sleep. :) I've found that I can get up and read for a little while until he settles down and then I can sleep. Ross has also been able to feel and see him move on a regular basis, which has been a lot of fun as well.

I start back to work next week. After a busy summer of classes and packed weekends, I am ready... although I'm definitely going to miss sleeping in. That's always the hardest adjustment! I'm hoping that getting back to work will make the days pass more quickly until Maria arrives.

Matt and Lauren had a baby girl, Claire Elizabeth, on August 1st. She's absolutely adorable! We are so excited to have "play dates" in the future. As Lauren says, Claire can also show Baby Mort the ropes... (even though Baby Mort may not take long to surpass her on the growth charts!) :)