A "Super" Weekend

Since little Ringlet's nursery is just about complete, Kyle and I enjoyed a nice relaxing weekend. We went to the coffee shop and worked on a crossword on Saturday morning. We watched a lot of Big Ten basketball throughout the weekend.

 

On Sunday morning we went to downtown Indy to check out all of the Superbowl festivities. It wasn't nearly as crowded as I had expected. We each kicked a field goal. It was a neat set up, you get one try with a huge crowd watching you. Quite the pressure. Though Kyle missed right and mine was just a tad short, we were both satisfied with our performances.

 

Downtown was really nicely set up. There were people ziplining over our heads. Football fields setup in the street, and an Indy car for every NFL team at the circle (the center of Indianapolis, for those out-of-towners).

Overall, a great weekend!

Too Much Good Ice?

Kyle is a self-proclaimed expert on "good ice". He rates Pizza Hut as having the best ice. Round fountain drink ice is also at the top, followed by cubed fountain drink ice. Towards the bottom of the list is bagged purchased ice that started as a chunk of that's been broken down to pieces. At at the very bottom of the list is the dreaded... Non-filtered, homemade freezer ice. 

Kyle and his brother have an extensive critiquing procedure and rating system for all ice. So at lunch today, I was worried when my ice-ing skills came into question. He stated that my ice to soda ratio is far too high. Too much ice? Is there such a thing? 

He admits that good ice will make any drink taste better. However, he was concerned that I need to refill my soda too often due to the amount of space that the ice takes up. This then takes away from the satisfaction that the ice is providing. He stated that there just might be a preferred soda to ice ratio that will minimize your trips to the refill station while providing enough good ice to maximize your taste buds.

So, is there such thing as too much good ice? He said that we will need to wait for the other "ice-expert" (his brother) to shed some light on the dilemma...

100 days left…

100 days until the estimated arrival of Ringlet. What? Did I calculate this out of frustration at work, because I'm looking forward to a few weeks away from this awful place?  Psh... Ok, well, maybe, but I promise that I'm even more excited to be a mother for the rest of my life than just a few weeks of sanity. And yes, going through delivery and caring for a newborn baby will be less chaotic and less hostile than my current work place.

We're coming up on week 26. This marks the start of  the third trimester. Little Ringlet is kind of a night owl and likes to jump and kick at all hours of the night. Besides a growing belly, we haven't been getting any of the other symptoms other pregnant women are experiencing. No sickness or cravings, aches or pains. Hopefully she stays this well behaved and easy for the next 18 years :)

Two Years and Counting...

Kyle and I celebrated our two year anniversary today.

I'm almost 25 pounds heavier, and he loves me at least 25% more.

I got him an anniversary present, but she won't be here until May (or maybe late April)

Thank the Lord for Starbucks, Jimmy Johns and Mother-In-Laws

I went back to work today. I was out of the office for 3 days visiting a customer and then was in Alabama for an AFS-4M committee meeting. I went back to work, and was instantly frustrated with my job and the people there who constantly make me miserable. Luckily, my mother-in-law had sent me a Jimmy John's and Starbucks giftcard for my birthday. 

My day went from this:

to this:

The big stack of papers, 108 emails, and those not very nice people may just have to wait until Monday...

So this is Thirty

I'm officially out of my twenties. When I look back at where I thought I'd be at thirty, this isn't exactly what I predicted, but it's pretty darn close. Great family. Wonderful husband. Nice house. Stable career. And a little baby on the way... Not too bad for 30. This weekend, Kyle and I celebrated with plenty of Kyle and Michelle time.

It was a cell phone and computer-free weekend (Sorry if I missed your call). From morning tea and crosswords to a little bit of NFL playoffs, to an amazing dinner at J.Fords. We had pork belly for the first time. No wonder why they always cook pork belly on top chef, it's delicious! Kyle had made reservations and when I opened my menu it said "Happy Birthday Michelle!" at the top. We followed up dinner with some friendly Mario-Sonic wii.

We worked on Ringlets nursery this weekend. It went from this:

To this:

Here are a few more pictures of our progress:

On Sunday night we went to the Indiana State game with some of Kyle's friends. A great weekend. I'm looking forward to the next 30 years!

Happy Birthday Michelle!

Happy 30th Birthday to my beautiful bride and favorite blogger.  Even as gorgeous as you are, you are even more beautiful on the inside.  You are very loved.

Ringlet's Now the Size of a... (Insert random fruit/veggie here)

So little Ringlet is now the size of a rutabaga. If you're like me your first thought is "Isn't that the guy who sang Mambo No. 5??"

Not only have I never eaten a rutabaga, but I don't think I've ever seen a rutabaga either. Is a rutabaga the same as a turnip? Not that it matters, since turnips are also on the list of things I've never seen or eaten... I guess I'm just not much of a veggie connoisseur. 

Rutabaga

Last week, Kyle and I set up two baby registries for Ringlet. I hope she likes what we picked out. A slightly hungover Kyle (it was the morning after his birthday party) did really well registering at Buy buy baby. I think he picked out more items than I did! Then when we got home, I picked out a slew of cool stuff from Amazon.

We're on the last boards for the nursery floor. And then I'll post some pictures of our progress.

Next week, I fly to Alabama for work, and then I'll go on a traveling hiatus until Ringlet arrives. 

For anyone else who is still trying to Google the size of a rutabaga is, use this instead...

Oh, Ringlet and I had a glucose tolerance test on Tuesday. It was not fun. You drink a nasty orange drink and get a whole bunch of blood drawn. Our next appointment will be in 4 weeks. They'll do an ultrasound to check on how much she's grown. I think that this will be longest stretch I've gone with out seeing her!

“No Man is a Failure who has Friends”

 

“Remember, no man is a failure who has friends.” ~from It's a Wonderful Life

Kyle's big "Surprise!!"

My husband has great friends. He has a lot of great friends. He has a lot of great friends who are from all stages of his life; elementary school, high school, Indiana State, law school, work, sports, friends of friends and even friends of friends of friends... He has friends from just about every aspect of his life. He has a very large circle of friends that he’s found and kept a good relationship with over the last 30 years.

Kyle had over 60 friends show up for his surprise 30^th birthday party. That’s a lot of people. Susan and I joked that we would have to pay people off of the street to get that many people to show up for our birthday.

Most of his friends weren’t from Indianapolis. Many had to drive over an hour to be there. There were plenty of couples who had to find a sitter for their child(ren), some had to rent hotel rooms. In attendance there were six pregnant women (one of whom will deliver within the next week or two). And when Kyle or I would thank these people for coming, they would say “of course”.

I think Kyle has so many great friends because he is a great friend. He’s there when his friends need him, and he never seems to make people mad. He is the nicest person I have ever met. No, really. He is the nicest person I have ever met. (Ok, maybe he's tied with his sister for nicest person EVER). 

No one ever says, “Kyle Ring? I don’t really like him”. Kyle is a likeable person because he is a positive and nice person (and I'm sure his great personality adds to this). 

I think that as I enter my 30’s, my resolution is going to be to stride towards being a nicer and more positive person, and to spend more time on my friendships and relationships, and less time on all that other trivial stuff.

Oh and by the way, I do have a few pretty spectacular friends myself…

Happy Birthday Kyle

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband. I love you so much, and look forward to celebrating every birthday together for the rest of our lives.

I love you anyways and I love you always.

Kicking it into Week 23

Little Ringlet is now 23 weeks. According to my calculations, that equates to negative 17 weeks in human years (-16 weeks, if I predicted the due date correctly).

Though I'm not a fan of the tummy touching, last night Kyle got to feel her kick, and then again this morning. Now that this is becoming more "real" to him, he started talking to my stomach as if she can hear and understand him. Am I the only one that finds this weird? My two year old nephew doesn't understand me half of the time, how am I to expect that a negative 17 week baby can understand?

Since thebump.com suspended our fruit/veggie comparisons until 25 weeks, I've found new sources (who knows the size of a papaya anyway). One site said she's was the length of a Harry Potter book, another website said she's the length of an ear of corn. I'm going with one inch shy of a foot :)

 

11 inches and finally a whole pound in weight.

This weekend is Kyle's 30th birthday. We're planning to go out to dinner with his parents and meeting Hannah and Whitney out for a celebratory drink. I will be the one drinking diet coke and seltzer...

The Best 8 Days of the Year

Kyle on his second birthday 1/7/84

 My favorite week of the year starts on Saturday.

For 8 whole days, Kyle will be 30 and I will be a young 29...

Merry Christmas!!

We had an awesome 4-day weekend. I'm starting to get use to the bump. However, sleeping has been painful. I thought that the sleepless nights were suppose to start AFTER the baby arrived.

22 week Bump photo

We spent time playing games and celebrating Christmas with my family this weekend. Kyle's parents came over and played an eight player version of "Oh-heck". The CD exchange was a success. All different new CDs. Some excellent mixes, The Elf soundtrack, symphony music, a few full albums, and even native American flute music. 

Kyle typically plays his boardgames with one or two small children on his lap

Sister-in-law Theresa and sister Christine

On Sunday my mom, sister and I drove up to Chicago (what a great chance to listen to all our new music) We had dinner/drinks with my cousins, Aunt Sandy, and Uncle Kevin. It is always so nice to see these guys. I really should be making the trip more than just 2 or 3 times a year!

Yesterday (Monday), my dad and Kyle started the hardwood floor installation in Ringlet's nursery. The job has been going fairly smooth. The new flooring nailer gun works wonderful, and is saving us a lot of time. We only have 6 or so rows installed, but I'm hoping the rest of the room goes just as smoothly.

This is what happens when you give a  4 year old your iPhone: