the emergency room

Of course I would spend my morning in the Emergency Room today.  As a patient.

Woke up with my eyes fused shut - my face completely swollen.  I look like I got in a bar fight.

But add conjunctivitis to my list of extreme nasal decongestion, the common cold, and sore throat...and I'm a freaking mess.

I do not recommend going to the ER for small things like "pink eye" - that's what Walk In Clinics are for after all.  But - I have been feeling contractions throughout the night and knew that if something was wrong with my blood pressure or something, the baby could easily be monitored at the hospital - so I went with the ER instead of a Walk-In.  I guess you could say I'm cautious (paranoid?).

I knew everyone in the ER this morning (a couple of my fave nurses were working, and my most FAVE doc was there!) I got in and out really quick....a little perk to my job I suppose.  Now I'm spending the weekend in bed (with medicated eye drops and warm compression all over my face).  This is my one lil moment on the computer today...to get the story out.

Lame weekend.  But at least this way I really will have to follow my doctors advice of keeping my feet up (I was scheduled to work today AND take call all weekend - no longer.)  But that means I can't get anything else done either...so lay in bed I will.  I need it.  I'm freaking sick.  Ugh.

tommy's babyface

My husband was THE CUTEST BABY in the whole entire world.  No seriously.  I'm kinda bummed that I don't have any of him as a baby baby...but his mom was a real sweetheart and graciously gave me a few extra pictures of him as a bigger baby while I was visiting her last.

As a baby baby, Tommy looked like a real life Cabbage Patch doll.  Literally.  As a toddler, his curly blond hair came in and his sweet personality started to unveil itself...as did his affection for sports.  There are pictures of him playing every sport...from golf to football and baseball.  Cutest little thing ever.

I hope our little one is just as sweet and wonderful as her daddy. (and perhaps as athletic?)

hehehe - cute button for baby.

awww - petting zoos are so magical to little ones

cute!

always a lover of the snow

with his BFF cousin Eliza

my babyface

this is my mom's favorite picture of me as a toddler - I look so happy!

Meet me as a lil baby.  My family tells me I was the happiest...that I smiled and laughed all the time.  Aren't those nice things to hear about yourself as a teeny one?  (Do people even tell their kiddos if they were fussy criers?) 

I wonder if my baby will look like me.  Will she have my smile...or my eye color? 

If my daughter is anything like me as a baby - she will be bald until she is about 2.
 

four generations...my mama looks so pretty.

my expression is so funny here - and wow - my fingers were so small.  i love my daddy in this picture...so early 80's.

me and mommy...and my dolly.

baby faces wenzel and albert

Check out these ooooooldies - this picture is from 1888!  My great-grandfather is the little boy on the right, in the straw hat and the little white dress.  My great-grandfather's name is Albert, his baby brother's name was Wenzel.  Albert grew up to be a handsome young lad, and hard-working North Dakota farmer. 

Not a terribly cheery crowd, eh?  Here's the fam in 1894...with little baby Joseph in the middle, and my great-great grandfather Albert and great-great grandmother Anna.  Oh well, sitting still for a long period of time would have been tricky...and icky.  My great-grandfather is the child on the far right.

paula's babyface

My mother, Paula, was the fourth child (of five)!  Needless to say, there aren't any baby pictures of her...with an exception of the one featured above (don't you love the car in the background!)  It's seems to be a trend for there to be massive amounts of baby pictures of the first born, and as the next kiddos come along, it's more difficult to take pictures.  I don't think my mom actually minds...it is what it is of course...but I wish there were more of her.  I get such a kick out of this stuff!

My grandmother kept a folder full of my mom's grade school drawings, projects, report cards, and the like.  I remember finding a paper she wrote when she was in 2nd grade about what she wanted to be when she grew up.  She said she wanted to be President of the United States.  I always loved that.

 Aww - those rosy cheeks! 

 With two of her siblings, Eliot and Carla

Not quite a baby picture - but so adorable!  My mom...as a kindergarten kid!!
My sisters and I agreed that when we read To Kill A Mockingbird, we picture our mama as Scout.

Oh, and by the way, my mom looks the same now...seriously!

Will my little girl have my mom's smile?  I hope so...my mom smiles alllll the time and I love it.

arnie's babyface

Here's a picture of my grandfather's brothers...a bunch of cutie Minnesotans.  My grandfather, Arnold, is in the front row on the right.  This was taken in 1922...with five of the eight siblings.  I often think it would have been insanely fun to have had 7 siblings...can you imagine the constant chaos of that action!? I love hearing stories about him from my mom...she talks about hims a lot, even now.  He sounded like such a wonderful wonderful man...I wish I could have met him. 

I think the order goes:  Everett, Warren, Arnold, Gordon, Douglass, Russel (top L to R), Lowell, Matthew, Gertie and Adeline (bottom L to R)

Here's the whole family, taken in the 30's (I don't know the year!).  Such a handsome clan.  This side of the family used to have huge family reunions every year...when we were kids... they were a total blast (there were so many cousins to play with - can you imagine!)  I remember all these great-uncles would gather together to sing sweet songs to their sister, Adeline.  Always brought the house down!  (My grandfather is the top row third from the left - so handsome!  The face of a future business owner (a grocer!) and Mayor of my parents hometown!!

*random sidenote:  when my dad was a kid he would caddy at the local golf courses.  He says that my grandfather was always his favorite customer as he would tip great AND always buy him a Coke (the Coke was a big deal, as he was the only golfer in town who would treat his caddy to one!)  My grandfather died before my parents started dating, and I like that my dad has sweet memories that he shares about him too.

eleanor's babyface

 Here is my grandmother Eleanor...in a wagon... perhaps one of the most classic items of childhood.  Her brother, Harlen, was pulling her along, playing in the rose garden at their farm in the rolling hills of South Dakota. 

I just had to include this picture because I thought it was so cool - this is a picture of all the girls that my Grandmother went to school with.  She attended school in a one room school house - imagine that!  As a grown up, she was actually a teacher in one of the last one room school houses in South Dakota - brave woman.  (She is the fourth in from the right.)  IN FACTO - she was one of Tom Brokaw's elementary school teachers, as was my aunt.  Random.  I know.

Growing up, my favorite stories tended to center around prairie stories.  All of those American Girl's Collection books about Kirsten Larson, obviously all of the Little House on the Prairie Stories, and even as I got older, My Antonia was a fave.  So much of my family history revolved around farming the great plains.

george's babyface

Not exactly a baby picture, but it IS a great shot and totally makes me smile!  This is my grandfather, George, the most hilarious man I've ever known!  This is him in 1929, all dressed up in swanky cowboy style!  I'm pretty sure that I will be framing this print for my little girl's room too - it's too precious not to.   I wish we would have written down all the stories he used to tell about growing up in South Dakota - fascinating stuff - he always told the best stories.  Now, my lovely Grandfather has Alzheimer's, a disease that is terribly frustrating for the individual and devastating on the family.  Thankfully, my rosy cheeked Grandpa hasn't lost his sense of humor at ALL, he still cracks me up and brings the house down!   Every time I talk to him on the phone he asks me to please come visit...and it brings stinging tears to my eyes.  I wish I had a job that would let me hop on a plane to do that.

*side note:  last night Tommy and I went and toured the "baby" facilities at the hospital!  Great hospital- beautiful delivery rooms :-)

marcella's babyface

I love this sweet image so much that I recently had it made onto a canvas for my little girl's room.  I love that you can see my great-grandfathers farm in the background...and I love her little bonnet!!

My maternal grandmother, Marcella, was born in 1918 in North Dakota to a hard working farming family.  She and I had a special relationship, and I miss her everyday.  Though she lived in South Dakota, and I lived in Arizona, we were close while I grew up.  I wrote her letters nearly every week - and she always wrote me back...I really loved that.  When we would live with her every summer is was the highlight of our year!  Her house was always filled with fresh flowers and sunlight, the fruit jar was brimming with dried fruits, and everything always felt so special.  She was a truly lovely woman and I think about her all the time. 

How blessed am I to have these photos of her as an infant!?  Well, I don't "physically" have these photos...but the last time I was in South Dakota, I scanned as many pictures as I could of my grandmother, grandfather, their parents and siblings, and my aunts/uncles and mom.  I downloaded them to CD's.  I then made TONS of copies of these CD's and sent them to every aunt/uncle/cousin/sister in my family as Christmas gifts last year - I wanted everyone to have them.  They are treasures.

Don't you love the buggie wheels in the background!

With her grandfather (so that would be my great-great grandfather!)

Awwww...little girls and their dolls.

Love the pose!  And those CHEEKS!!

Here she is with her parents, Albert and Jessie.  Her mother, Jessie, tragically died when Marcella was little, so this is one of the only pictures of them together.   I'm sure my grandma held this picture close to her heart.  Here's an interesting thing, my grandma grew up speaking Czech - she had to learn English in order to go to school!

I hope my lil one has cheeks that chubby and cute!

GO ENTER TO WIN VIDEO save-the-dates AND birth announcements HERE!

baby face

I was browsing through some old pictures last night and I found myself staring into the face of my dad... as a baby!  I am completely smitten with these images. It makes me wonder what our baby girl will look like - will she have my smile, my dad's eyes, or my husbands curly hair?   I will be exploring some of the baby pictures of my family members - just for fun.

My dad, David, was the first born, so there are soooo many baby pictures of him!!  I love I love!  Such a lil cutie pie...and quite special as he was the first born in his South Dakota town on January 1, 1951.

When my dad was still a baby he contracted polio... my grandma gets teary every time she talks about it... they thought he was going to die, as so many little ones did.  They kept him isolated in a little hospital room and wouldn't allow his parents in...they didn't understand the virus.  So, my great-grandmother assured the hospital staff and her family, that she had lived a full life and if she got sick taking care of her grandson that that was OK, but she wasn't going to let her grandbaby be alone in a hospital room.   Thankfully, my dad was very fortunate, and turned out just fine.

These photographs are such a treasure.  Tommy and I want to take lots of pictures of our little one when she comes along - any camera suggestions??   

the day he was born

 with his mama

 do you see the smile on that face?  has any kid ever been so happy in the history of the world!?

 I love this one on the bike.

 on the tractor with grandpa Ed

this one reminds me a lil of Spanky from the Lil Rascals...makes me crack up!