Almost home

Taken just on the other side of Chicago. Max was pretty wild this morning after spending the whole day yesterday in the truck. Thankfully, he is napping now. I'll be glad to have those guys home safe and sound!

Max and Adam are heading home

Here is a picture that Max and Adam sent me taken somewhere between Minneapolis and Iowa City. It looks like they stopped for a little snack!

Adam and his brother did a lot of work on the truck while they were at the Hoppe's place. They redid the drum brakes with a few complications and also patched up the topper. Finally they are on the road and heading for Iowa City to check in on baby Lars tonight and then back to Michigan tomorrow. Adam hopes to get here in time to sign some paperwork at the lab!

We're lonely

This is the picture that Puli and I sent back.

Nice Hat!

Great Grandpa Hoppe

Max & his great grandparents

I think that is a smile! Nice overalls!

Grandpa David and Max in the Big Tractor!

Click on the picture to enlarge it! It looks like they are having a lot of fun!

Grandma Ida, Max and Rory

It sounds like Max is a very efficient hauler with his little tractor. So far I've heard that he's hauled sweet corn to the cows and a load of zucchini for Grandma Ida.

More of Grandma Ida's Poultry

Guinea hens and peacocks?

I guess it is just guinea hens.

At the Hoppes

Lyle & the silkies

They are chickens in case you are wondering! We hatched them in Ann Arbor this Spring from eggs. They are crazy looking!

Drinking pop on the porch

It looks like Grandma and Grandpa got a chair just the right size for Max!

Horses and Sheep

Max showing off Grandma's hand-made railing.

Adam and Max helping move stuff to the new house.

Outside the corn bin

The corn bin is like one giant sensory table!!

Skidster with Uncle Dal

Grandma Nancy in her new house. They are just starting to move stuff in. Check out the fancy railing. The center is our brand. I'm not sure what is on either side.

Feeding the cows with Trav & Emily

corn

Playing in the corn

having fun on the farm

feeding calves

Max & Bjorn
'Iowa or Arm'

They're off!

Max and Adam are off for destinations West. Their first stop is Iowa where they'll be helping Bjorn, Erin and baby Lars move in. Then it's off to South Dakota to see Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Peter and Minnesota to see Grandma Ida and Grandpa David. I sure am glad for some "alone time" to get caught up on rest, shake the last of these first trimester pregnancy symptoms (headaches!) and move mountains on my dissertation research. But, I sure am going to miss those guys! I feel like calling them already! They promised to send at least one camera phone picture per day and I'll be posting them here to so we can all follow along on their adventures!

Getting ready

Getting ready

Pictures from Connecticut

At the wedding:

Max and friends (notice the cute kiddy-kilt!)

Hot Parents!

At the hotel room:

Trains: don't leave home without them!

Having fun in the hotel room.

At the beach:

What a huge sandbox!

Teamwork

Off to explore

There are more pictures on our Flickr site. You see them by clicking on the pictures in the sidebar on the right. (They are slightly higher quality there too. I don't know why they look so crummy here.)

Feeling better; rejoining world

Hey Crew,

The worst of the morning sickness has thankfully passed. I stopped taking prenatal vitamins and that helped tremendously. I think prenatal vitamins are a bit of a racket actually. Everyone freaks out about folic acid, but the neural tube is closed or not by 6 weeks (25-28 days past conception) so you don't really need that. Iron may become an issue, but I'll worry about that once I'm completely back up on my feet! I think my raspberry leaf and nettle tea has also been really calming to my stomach.

We're back from our road trip to Connecticut. It was great to be there for Katy and Will's wedding. The guys wore kilts and everything, but I don't think I have a single picture! Max was really into the kilts because, "Kilts are skirts that boys can wear!" We may have to get him one. Our big adventure there was a trip to the ocean. Max had a blast and there are pictures to follow. Interestingly, whenever anybody asked Max about his ocean experience, his reply was, "The water made my skin itchy."

Did you see the pictures below? I sent those directly from my phone. I feel so technologically advanced!

This is a test.

Here it is!

It sure is a little bugger for making me feel so rotten!

Ultrasound News

Everything looks great with the baby, but I forgot the file of the picture at home. We saw a yolk sac and a fetal pole inside the gestational sac. Crown-rump-length of the embryo was 5mm, and the heartbeat was 135 beats/minute. My ovaries are fine. I got extremely sick after the procedure and went to bed at 6:00 last night. Thankfully, I'm feeling a little better today!