Time to slow down...

We spent some time with our friends Joe and Laura in Breckenridge. We had a great time but I'm soooo tired. At 31 weeks pregnant (almost) I am still active but have found that I definitely tire more easily. Laura and I shopped while James and Joe hiked a fourtneener and mountain biked. I did manage to do one hike that was supposed to be easy. The picture at the end says it all though! I'm ready for a vacation from the past few days. We have a couple more busy weekends planned and then it is time to slow down for awhile.

James hiking Quandary Peak.

The beautiful view

Wildlife

Black Powderpass Hike

This says it all...

Anniversary Weekend

This weekend James took off Friday and we headed to Central City/Blackhawk for a little slot machine feeding and a yummy dinner. We enjoyed the afternoon hanging out with the "seasoned gamblers." On Saturday we did yard work almost all day. It was nice to have some time at home getting some things done! On Sunday we went for a hike called the Three Mile Trail in the Mount Evans wilderness area. It was longer than three miles and gorgeous! We had fun playing with the camera and James helped me cross the streams. When we came to the last crossing one of the logs was broken and since my balance isn't the best we decided to head back. We had never been to this area in Colorado and the scenery was beautiful. We took lots of pictures of wildflowers. After we got back James grilled salmon and veggies on our new grill given to us by his parents for our anniversary. Grilltastic!

Pregnancy Brain

My test went okay yesterday and really wasn't as bad as I initially thought. I will find out the results tomorrow.

***Update..my doctor just called and said I'm negative for gestational diabetes! Yay! She did say that one out of the four was just a bit high so I may have to repeat the screening in 4 to 6 weeks. I feel so relieved!

Today Molly and I had an adventurous day. We set out on an hour long walk this morning because it was beautiful and cool. I brought my cell phone but didn't bring my keys because I thought I would go in through the garage. Towards the end of my walk a friend called and after talking to her for a few minutes my cell phone battery died. I got home, opened the garage door, and couldn't get in the house because the actual door to the house was locked. So, my cell phone was dead and I had no way to get in the house. Before going to our new neighbors' houses and begging to use the phone to call James's cell phone (which would be long distance), I decided to try to demolish the doorknob on the door leading to the house. After all, I had numerous tools at my disposal. I also knew that James had bought new locks for the house and he would replace it anyway. That didn't work. Molly and I decided to walk to my friend Kathleen's house, which is about another 10 minute walk. She wasn't there. We headed back to the house and hung out in the back yard for a little while. I was starving and tired from the long hour long walk. Neither of our immediate neighbors were home. The people across the street were home but I'm not sure if they know english. After about an hour I left Molly on our deck and waddled (truly) to my friend Kathleen's house again, hoping that she would be home this time. She was. We drove back to my house and rescued Molly. I was able to call James to tell him what happened as he was trying to submit some major plans. He was able to take off work early and finally come and get me.

Lesson learned...Always have a spare key handy. I'm going to blame this all on being 29 weeks pregnant.

28 weeks and then some...

We have been preparing for our baby boy. We painted his room but haven't totally finished it yet. I had my 28 week appointment on Tuesday and I commented to my doctor about how relatively easy things have been. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything. I had to have my blood taken after drinking a glucose drink for the 28 week gestational diabetes screening. I for sure thought I would pass the test considering the fact that I walk every day, eat healthy (for the most part), and feel good. My doctor called and told me I didn't pass and now I have to take the dreaded three hour test. I have to follow a special diet on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Then I have to fast Monday evening and go in on Tuesday morning. I will have a blood draw, then drink more of the same stuff, and then have three more blood draws. That means I will be at the doctor's office for three + hours. Yuck!! I did go online and read that many women take the first test and don't pass but then they pass the three hour. For the original one hour glucose screening I read that some doctors have their patients fast and some don't. I didn't fast and now am thinking about everything I had to eat and wonder if it had something to do with it. Please think happy thoughts for me and I should know something next week. Here are some pics so the post doesn't sound too depressing.

28 weeks plus a few days

Before James painted the nursery

Molly is waiting patiently for Baby C.

We played a name game with her and she

helped us choose his name..

She chose the same name four out of five times! (And then ate the paper)

4th of July weekend

We had a wonderful time in the mountains over the 4th of July. We rented a townhome with two other couples and their one year old babies. We got a taste of what our lives will be like in a year! The townhome was one of the nicest we have ever stayed in with gorgeous views. The boys did some mountain biking, the girls and babies did some hiking, and we enjoyed good food and beautiful fireworks over Grand Lake.

View from the deck of the townhome.
It was so serene and beautiful.

Ready for smores.

Roasting marshmellows over the grill.

We were cold on the 4th of July.

Beautiful fireworks.

Camping

Let's see.. camping was fun for one night but also a lot of work for one night. It will be the only time we actually go camping this summer because I'm only going to get bigger and bigger! We had a good time but I didn't sleep well even though we had an aero bed. Maybe I'm still a little afraid of bears and mountain lions. The boys were told at the ranger station that because of the rain they have had there isn't as plentiful of a supply of berries as usual so to be careful and be on the lookout for bears. They neglected to tell us this until the next morning. Of course I still kept thinking of bear attack stories and the movie The Grizzly Man. I know, I know, there aren't Grizzlies in CO but still.

We didn't cook the best food but the views were amazing. It is sad looking at all the tree kill from the bark beetles. Poor trees.

Over the 4th we are staying in a condo with four of our friends. Maybe that is my kind of camping (at least until I'm not pregnant anymore).

James and his oreos.

Poor trees...

Burnt sausages anyone?

James's idea of roasting an oreo wasn't a

great one..

So peaceful..

Tired doggy.

Baby stuff

I can't believe I have been out of school for almost a month! Wow, where has the time gone? I feel so thankful to have the summer to unpack, do housing projects, get ready for baby, etc; however, it seems like we have overbooked ourselves a little bit. We looked at our calendar and realized we only have one free weekend until I go back to school. We have a lot of fun stuff planned but we need to make some time during the week to do the housing projects I guess.

I'm 26 weeks now and can't believe it. We are going to start childbirth classes soon and to be honest, the whole thing just scares me to death. I'm sure I'll shed a few tears just thinking about it. We are super excited about our little fellow but I'm not overly excited about the whole birthing experience.

We are busy planning for our little guy. We found a preschool for him and was really impressed when we took a tour. He won't start until January of 2010 because I'm taking three months off of school. I'm going to try it and see how it is when I go back. I'm really nervous about going back to work but it will give me some time to decide if I want to take the next year off or not. It's hard to know how I'm going to feel but I'll give it a try. Anyway, it felt so strange to fill out the papework at the preschool because we haven't even chosen a name, pediatrician, etc. We are having a hard time with names. We know we want James as a middle name but sometimes with boys it's hard to find names that you can imagine calling them when they are young and older. We have a list of about 6 names but we just haven't found one we love. I'm sure we will by September though.

Biking Studs

This past weekend James's friend Brady visited from St. Louis to ride a century with James in the mountains. They started in Keystone and rode for 100 miles, although Brady rode about 111 miles. It was cold and rained hard for the last 50 miles but at least they survived with no hypothermia. Brady decided to do the last little bit and climb another mountain (after 100 miles). He made it to the top but James rescued him on his way down. He was shivering and ready to jump in the warm car.
Molly and I relaxed at home for part of the weekend. I don't think I'll every do a century! Yikes. Let's just say that when the guys returned to Denver on Saturday night they were exhausted. James had a relaxing Father's day and is feeling much better. Way to go guys!

Life Books

Update: The two life books are now spoken for. I'm glad that I have found some people that will use them because they are just beautiful!

We have finished unpacking most of our things. I came across the two life books that I had purchased from someone (through the Vietnam message boards). I didn't have time to create the shell for the lifebooks and I thought that these were better than I could do. They are absolutely beautiful and I love them but I would rather see them go to blogging buddies rather than sit in a box in our basement. I'm giving them away for free but I think I paid around 60-70 dollars for each one (don't remember). So, if you would like one, please leave me a comment or email me at mizzoumel@hotmail.com. I really want them to go to someone who will use them. One is red and the other is blue.. The quotes were just placed in the book so you could change them if you wanted to and there are a few more pages that I didn't take pictures of. I hope someone can use them!

Having Fun and Staying Busy

James had a huge deadline and worked A LOT of hours on Thursday and Friday. On Saturday he was still up for doing some unpacking and housework. We powerwashed the deck (didn't quite finish), unpacked, did yard work, and organized the garage. We still managed to squeeze a little time in for some fun and I talked James into taking Monday off. We went hiking in Boulder and went to see a movie. Here are some pics:

A view from one of the bedrooms of our new house.

The sunsets over the mountains are amazing. I'll

have to get some pictures from a little earlier in the evening.