Door County-July 4th

Ryan and I decided to take a mini-vacation up to Door County Wisconsin to celebrate the 4th of July and visit with his mom (Deb) and step-dad (John) who have a house in Egg Harbor.  The drive is about 4 hours and we decided to take our time and enjoy the ride up.  First stop was Oshkosh where we went to the Motherhood Maternity outlet store.  This stop was a success as I found several t-shirts, jeans, and even a dress to purchase.  I even let Ryan stop at the GAP store :)  After the outlet mall, we headed on up to Green Bay and stopped at the Packer Pro shop.  We were really excited to buy some cute clothes for Baby Hagemeier.  Unfortunately, we were very disappointed at the selection.  The baby ended up getting some booties and a teddy bear.  So we left Lambeau field and headed on up to the Egg.

Our visit with Ryan's parents was very relaxing.  Our first night we went to an excellent restaurant called Cooper's Corner.  They had a store there that sold oils and vinegars.  I got an excellent pomegranate balsalmic vinegar that is perfect for bread dipping and making reductions.

Dinner at Cooper's Corner

The next morning Ryan and John went golfing while Deb and I got pedicures and shopped at some baby stores.  That evening we went down near the beach to watch the fireworks.  We were so close that we could actually watch them setting them off.  Although we enjoyed the fireworks, I'm not convinced that the family dog Hampton had a good time...too many booms for him!

Waiting on the fireworks

On Sunday July 4th we decided to watch the Egg Harbor Parade.  They had been advertising that the University of Wisconsin Band would be performing and we figured we might as well check it out.  We picked out our spots and watched the entire parade which lasted an hour and a half!  It was also extremely hot out and we all had to take showers when we got home.

Ryan and I watching the parade

Here are a few things that we saw in the Egg Harbor Parade...

Local Firetruck with Mascot

Camel

Lots of tractors

And finally...the UW marching band!

There were literally 20 kids from the band on the back of a truck.  We were so disappointed.  I just started laughing...we were so hot and sweaty and we had waited an hour and a half to see this!  Oh well!  We should have trusted our instincts that the band would not be performing in a 4th of July parade in Door County!

Once we were showered, we headed out to Fish Creek for some shopping and dinner.  We  also got our picture in the giant beach chair.  It was somewhat of a challenge for me to get in and out of the chair.  Apparently I showed off my underwear in the process!

The big chair

Me and Ryan at his mom's house in Egg Harbor

Ryan and his mom

Needless to say we had a nice visit and enjoyed getting away from Madison for a few days.  Next trip to Egg Harbor will be with Baby in tow!

Learn your vegetables

This week baby center informed me that my baby boy is now the size of a rutabaga.  After putting some thought into it, I realized that I have no idea what a rutabaga is!  Then I began to worry that I won't be able to teach my little man his vegetables.  After asking a couple of other people, I realized that there were several of us who are familiar with the word rutabaga, but can't visualize what the vegetable looks like.  So I have decided to share a few facts I have now learned about rutabaga.

Taken from How Stuff Works

Taken from Kevin Weeks "Seriously Good" Blog

Rutabaga facts:

1. also known as the yellow turnip or just generally a turnip
2. root vegetable that is a cross between a cabbage and a turnip
3. carved for halloween in Britain and Ireland
4. cooked in a variety of ways and often used in soups and casseroles

Now I feel that I can at least visualize what a rutabaga is and will be able to tell my son that he was once the size of this purplish-yellow root vegetable!

Halloween Baby

Last weekend we went to Green Lake where 3 of Ryan's brothers were camping and where Ryan's dad has a summer place.  We had a great time at the pool playing with our nieces and nephew.  While there were many great moments of the weekend, there is one particular one that makes me laugh whenever I think about.

Here is a conversation (paraphrased of course) that I had with my nephew Ethan.

Ethan: Are you having a halloween baby?
Stacy: Yes, he is due around halloween (I was very impressed that he knew this information).  Do you think we should dress the baby up in a costume?
Ethan: Yes
Stacy: What should we dress him up as?
Ethan: Christmas!
Stacy: (Laughing) Should we dress him up like a Christmas tree?
Ethan: No
Stacy: How about an elf?
Ethan: Yes (laughing)

After this conversation, I may have to buy a miniature Elf outfit in case the baby is born before Halloween.

Little kids say the funniest things. I can't wait to hear what my little boy will have to say in a few years!

Lions and Soccer Balls

The summer is flying by and we are starting to plan for our little man to arrive.  We have now registered and picked out a theme for the babies room.  We are going with a safari/sports theme.  Many of you may be surprised that the babies room will not be a tribute to the Brewer's gift shop!  Our bedding is really cute and has lions and giraffes and other safari animals playing with soccer balls, etc.  Below are some of the wall hangings (copied from Babies r us) that go with our crib bedding.  Now we just need to decide what color to paint the walls.

Along with our sports theme, Ryan's mom got the baby some really cute socks this past weekend at a shop in Door County.  My favorite pair are the baseball socks.

I'll post more about our trip to Door County and all the other activities we've been up to this summer later.  I still have to take pictures off the camera...a simple task that always seems to take longer than necessary!

Yoga and Tornadoes

Last night I had my first prenatal yoga class.  Now for those who have gone to yoga with me in the past, you know that I do not excel at the art of relaxation.  I have always left yoga more stressed than I started because I push myself too hard.  Needless to say, I was hesitant to do prenatal yoga but decided it was a good idea to find something active to do and possibly meet other pregnant women in the area.

My first class was not what I expected.  We sat around for 40 minutes talking before any yoga ever occurred.  Our instructor is a doula and seems very informative about the birthing process.  She told us 3 birth stories from women who had been taking the class and had their babies over the past week.  It was interesting to hear them and I even learned a couple of things.  After the stories, we went around in a circle, stated how far along we were, and any aches/facts that were happening related to our pregnancies.  The dula gave a few women advice and other class members occasionally gave feedback as well.  Although it seemed a little too chatty for me, I think it will be good for me to attend and hear about other pregnancies and child births.

While we were talking the electricity went out for a minute and it started to rain...at the time I didn't think anything of it.....

The yoga itself was actually very relaxing!  The poses were much simpler than other yoga classes I had attended.  Additionally, I could tell that the stretches were helping at just the right places.  I was especially happy to learn a pose that will help stretch out my stomach which is rapidly expanding.  Also, since there were many full-term women present, I knew I wasn't the worst yoga student in the class!  Who says you can't be competitive at yoga :)

At the end of the class, I was very relaxed and happy to see it wasn't raining outside.  I grabbed my cell phone from my bag and saw I had quite a few missed calls....and all of them were from Ryan.  Apparently while I was relaxing in yoga, Ryan was trying to get Oli into the basement because the tornado sirens were going off by our house.  I had never told him what time yoga was going to end and he assumed I would be home earlier.  While he was worrying and I was relaxing, there were reported tornadoes and flash flooding throughout the Madison area.  I felt horrible that I had caused Ryan to worry about my safety.  At the same time, I realized how wonderful it is to have a great husband who cares so much about me.

Halfway there!

We finally reached the halfway point...20 weeks!  

On Monday we had our 20 week ultrasound and got to see our little BOY!

He moved around during the entire ultrasound.  They had to shift me to several different positions to get all the measurements they needed and get a few good pics.  He kept moving his hands around and I felt like he was trying to say "mom, make them stop!"

It is so surreal to see this tiny human that is growing inside of me.

Movement: I'm starting to feel small movements every now and then.  Yesterday I felt like the baby was doing boxing aerobics!  I can feel my belly expanding and I'm guessing that in the next couple of weeks I will start to feel this baby squirm.

Sleep: I don't sleep very well, but then again, I never really did!  I shift positions a lot at night and move my snoogle pillow in and out of the bed on a nightly basis.  Ryan doesn't complain but I know I wake him at least once a night.

Cravings: Candy!  Not sure that this is specific to being pregnant but I would prefer to eat candy with every meal right now.  I currently don't seem to have any food aversions.

What's to come in the next month...we are going to start working on the baby nursery and registering.  I see trips to target and Babies r us in our plans for next weekend.  My sister Kasey and Brandi are throwing me a shower in WV next month and I'm excited to celebrate with my hometown friends and family.  Another shower is in the works for my Wisconsin family and friends for later this summer/early fall.

Names: We haven't chosen one yet.  Feel free to give us some ideas!  We don't plan to share the baby name we chose until he is born but we would love to hear more names to throw into the mix.

We can't wait to meet our little man!

Daycare Dilemmas

We have always known that our baby would have to attend daycare; what we didn't know is how hard chosing a daycare can be.  Here is a brief description of what we found...

Daycare #1 Playhaven (Construction Zone): This daycare had a decent infant room, but surprisingly seemed to be missing kids in the older age groups. The building needed renovations and they informed us that the daycare was going co-op to pay for these renovations.  Overall, the whole co-op thing seemed weird to us and we really could care less about owning a part of a daycare center.

Daycare #2 Campus for kids (Cult for kids):  This daycare is run by a church.  So before going to the daycare, we decided to attend a church service.  After 5 minutes, we decided it was too cult-like for us.  We are just too traditional and don't get into dancing and screaming out during church services.  Since we don't want our child brainwashed, we decided not to tour their daycare.

Daycare #3 Bright Horizons ($$$$$)  This daycare was awesome.  The infant room was wonderful and they even had cribs on wheels ready to go in case of a tornado or other need for evacuation.  It was also obvious that the classrooms for the 2-4 year olds were set up similar to my moms first grade classroom which I consider to be a good sign.  My only complaint was that there was no gym.  The catch...$$$$$.  This place is by far the most expensive place we looked at.

Daycare #4 Little Explorers (The Learning Farm)  This daycare is a child's dream.  There are tons of animals both inside and outside of the facility.  There was even an expecting llama!  They have a great curriculum for the children and a wonderful facility.  Waitlist: 2 years.  Can anyone explain how there is a 2-year waitlist for the infant room when you can't get on the waitlist until you are pregnant?  Who are the infants in the infant room if their parents were on this waitlist?

Daycare #5 LaPetite (Child Abuse)   This place made me cry.  It was so horrible I felt like taking the little ones with me when I left.  The facility was dirty and the teachers had no control over the classroom.  Our response was a "HELL NO"! We left there as quickly as possible.

Daycare #6 Monkey Business (Home away from home) This is an in-home daycare in our neighborhood with 2 adults and 8 children. If I ever run an in-home daycare, I will set it up exactly the same way.  And when the owner referred to me as Miss Stacy, I felt right at home.  Also, this place is significantly cheaper.

THE DECISION:  Our baby is pre-enrolled at Bright Horizons ($$$$).  We will be starting there and are on a waitlist to go to Monkey Business (Home away from home) when there is an opening. We are also on the 2 year waitlist at Little Explorers (The Learning Farm) and hope to get our child in at age 2...assuming we still live here!

I never thought it would be so hard to not only pick a daycare, but to find one with an opening.  I wish all expecting parents the best of luck in making this difficult decision.