Introducing Leah Mae Templin!

Family and Friends,

Our little one made her debut on Monday, Feb 21st and we'd like to introduce you to her:  This is our little bundle of joy, Leah Mae.  She was 7lbs 2oz, 21 inches tall, brown hair, long squirmy legs and arms. 

We ended our Sunday (20th) a little disappointed that she hadn't arrived and her due date had come and gone.  About 11pm that nite, before we actually got to bed, my contractions started and they came strong and fast!  They pretty much started 5 min apart (when you're supposed to call the dr) and after 4 or 5 of these, we finally decided this was the real thing and called our Dr's office.  The Dr on call called us back and talked me through what was going on with me, then decides that it sounds like the 'real' thing and that we should head to the hospital.  However, he said we couldn't go to the hospital we planned on going to (10 blocks from our house), but we needed to go 15 miles away to Burnsville!  I am freaking out a little and crying because I'm in so much pain, Art is trying to get the information from me - I'm the one talking to the dr and Art's watching me...but we finally figured out directions, grabbed our bags, the car seat and of course, the snow shovel.

By the way, did I tell you that we got 12 inches of snow that day and it just stopped snowing for our 'short' trip to the hospital?  The plows hadn't made it to the roads when we were driving, but we made it to the hospital after about 20 min or so at 1:30am.  I was loving Minneapolis at that moment...

We made it to the hospital with plenty of time to spare - and we both were able to get a little sleep over night while we waited. 

Morning of the 21st was relatively 'easy' and the birth was as smooth as we could've asked for.  Leah came at 10:21am and was very healthy and as perfect as ever!

The Definition of Nesting

I now completely understand the definition of Nesting.  This whole concept was somewhat foreign to me - mostly because I thought I had been nesting ever since I moved out of my parents house and into the dorms at Auburn...boy, was I wrong.  What has occured over the past couple weeks is nothing compared to what I thought 'nesting' was.  I have found the smallest things that make me the most crazy and have had to fix/update/clean/change them.  My wonderfully patient husband has been nothing but supportive (as he's learned over the past few months) mostly because he's realized he's not going to change my mind and I'm a much happier person when I'm done.  To quote Art:  happy wife, happy life.

I'll spare you the dry-erase board list of projects.  Dry-Erase was the perfect medium because the projects were turning over so quickly, there were just too many pieces of paper to keep track of all of it.  However, the latest on my 'list' was updating our ivory/painted/50 year old switches, receptacles, and face plates on the main floor.  After the basement remodel, all the switches and outlets looked so nice and added a great finishing touch to the place, I decided it was time to take this to the main floor. 

What a difference!  Thanks to friends that gave us some great tips and tools, I had the confidence to flip the breakers and carefully test each one before touching.  I have touched a live one before (by accident, I promise) and definately won't do it again!!!  It was so much easier than I anticipated - even with the 50 year old wiring - and am so proud of myself for tackling this one like a pro! 

We're getting down to the wire and (thankfully) my list is dwindling.  Only a few items left that I will hopefully be able to get to today.  So...off I go to dust the dining room chandellier and take down the wreath on the front door...perhaps I'll have some time to replace those painted-over registers (if of course, we can pry them out of the wall)...

4 days til due date!

The Wish List

Art here; my first blog experience.......we love our little girl and want to share a few of her interests thus far.......  she likes dancing to Cee-Lo... hearing Dad freestyle sing for he, she loves elbowing and kicking Mom's belly..... I think she will be an Olympic Soccer player with all that kicking..... but I also support her being the first Female President..... or maybe she will lead Safaris in Africa.... or be the next CEO of Target..... or be a professional Billiards player (once I finally break Mom down and buy a pool table)....... or lastly, I support her kicking and elbowing her way to a full ride swimming scholarship at Stanford...... someone's gotta do it!!! :)  Adios all, Art is signing off from his first and last blog entry.  GOOD TIMES!

T-Minus 19 days!

Here we are, in the dead of winter - Will it ever stop snowing here?  Only 19 days left until my due date and things around the house are just about ready!  ...Or as close as I think we'll ever get to being ready.

Here's a few of our favorite things in her room:

We're down to Dr's appointments each week now, and getting closer each time.  Things seem to be progressing nicely and I'm as uncomfortable as ever.  I suppose that's normal at this stage.  The Dr estimated her weight around 5 1/2-6lbs this week, so she's still little, but I'm sure she'll continue to grow as I continue to eat everything in sight! 

Overall, things are good these days.  Art is like a kid at Christmas, so excited to see what's in my belly.  We both can't wait to see who she looks like, whether she'll have red hair or brown hair, if she'll inherit the 'Templin Toe' or not...all very exciting! 

4 Weeks and Counting...

All final checks may now officially commence.  Pack the bag; install the car seat; wash a handful of clothes, blankets, and sheets; clean the house (again); stock the freezer; and finally, visit the doc lots of times.  My revolving dry-erase board list is getting lots of use these days.  Too many things to think about and remember to do...holy smokes.  All I can do is remind myself that everything that needs to be ready is ready, the rest will fall into place. 

The Templin's hosted a shower for us this weekend, which was absolutely amazing!  We were able to finish most things on our registry and got some awesome extras for the little one.  All in all, a great party!  Thanks, Grandma Joan and Grandma Vicki!

Thus far, 36 weeks in, I've gained 28 lbs - with about 20 of it in my belly.  As Art likes to say, the horizontal stripes help make my belly look bigger. Haha.  The little one continues to grow and get bigger and just as active as ever! 

We're so anxiously awaiting the day we get to meet her...4 weeks and counting.

Merry Minnesota Christmas!

As I mentioned last post, we STILL have 2 feet of snow on the ground - with another addition of 2-3 inches over Christmas.  Not sure anyone in Minnesota ever questioned whether they'd have a White Christmas or not.  Even with all the snow, Santa made it to our house and we had a wonderful Christmas morning with Gary and Vicki in attendance to share it with us. 

Later that day, we hosted the Johnson family Christmas dinner complete with Potato Sausage (Swedish thing) and my grandmother's recipe for Ham and yeast rolls (YUM!).  It was a wonderful get together and had some friendly competition with the white elephant gift exchange and Rook (cards).  As Vicki and I compared our battle wounds and burns from the oven, everyone was actually able to fit in our house comfortably.  Thanks to the newly completed basement, we could all gather together around the tree.  We all (16 of us) sat at the same table for dinner which was a wonderful treat.  I'm very thankful to everyone that made it and didn't complain about my cooking!  Although, personally, I couldn't find anything to complain about - I thought all the food was actually quite amazing (thanks, Mom, for all the holiday lessons).

Day after Christmas, we headed north to the Cabin for about 24 hours to relax and hike through the snow a bit.  I seemed to keep holding everyone up and moving so slow with my big winter boots and the 1' of snow we were trudging through...we had to take lots of photo op breaks for me...

The scenery was amazing and hiking through the 'North country' is always great fun.  Not a whole lot of wind and very minimal snow made for the perfect hiking weather.  Out on the lake, we found a few spots for ice fishing (or in Art's case, getting a drink of water...).  I still can't get over that you can actually drive out on the ice with cars and trucks and even build a little house right on top of the ice!  Out of habit, I always have to check the ice before I walk out - even if there is a car out in the middle of the lake. 

Merry Minnesota Christmas...

Snowed In...

Today is the official start of Winter!  Since starting winter with 2+ feet of snow on the ground this year, we have already spent countless hours shoveling both the roof and the sidewalks.  (Yes, we shovel the snow off the roof in Minnesota - don't ask, I still don't fully understand).  We have so much to look forward to in this winter wonderland called Minneapolis!

Since we've had some extra time inside these past couple weeks, between shoveling sessions, we've spent our time getting the house ready for baby and the Johnson Family Christmas party later this week (post coming on this later...)! 

Our basement remodel is quickly coming together now and we've been able to move some of the other furniture around in our house to get the baby's room set up.  This photo is the current state of where we're at in her room.  The rug was our big splurge - and if I may say so myself, makes the whole room AWESOME!  It's a braided rug with all the fabulous 'girly, yet not girly' colors (Art-approved).  Some of  you may recognize the lazy-boy (thanks to Mike and Amy Garrett), we were able to repurpose this for the perfect chair for me to relax in once the baby's here.  I'm sure we'll be filling those book shelves soon and am very much looking forward to spending lots of time in this corner!

Thanksgiving

We just returned from a great trip to Indiana and spent a total of 30+ hours in the car over the course of 4 days.  The total 18 hours there and back contributed to most of the windshield time, but the 4 hours to and from Muncie every day just about did us in.

Art was officially named the Euchre Tournament director this year and you could say, the tournament might have been the most controversial in history!  Not only were the partners a little suspect, how in the world did Aunt Amy and Uncle Marky actually win?! 

Other than the traditional razzing and fun, the Florida folks were able to make it north and it was a great visit!  The food was fantastic (as I always expect) and all the cousins are growing up so fast.  The newest cousin will be born very soon - Brian and Brianna, we wish you the best with the new one!  And we're not going to be far behind.

Baby Templin at 28 weeks (only 12 more to go!!!)

Surprise! Baby Shower

Thanks to my wonderful family and friends - they tricked me into driving to Muncie on our 'day off' to attend a party for my Aunt Amy who would be in town for the weekend.  Much to my surprise, my best friend, Bree had spearheaded the entire event, it was all for me!  They made the most adorable little bootie cakes (thanks, Laurie!) and had my favorite Pizza King Pizza.  About 90% of the family was in attendance and it was just an awesome way to celebrate baby and celebrate the holiday! I LOVE YOU ALL (even if you did lie to me, Grandma)...

Belly Photo #1

This was the first day I allowed any photos to be taken of my belly...our day at the park.  We just planned to play with my anniversary present (new Canon Rebel T1i) down by Minnehaha Creek, but Art suggested we start taking photos of my belly, now that it was actually noticeable.

This is baby girl Templin at 22 weeks...