Grilled

Well, we had a great week with Joel's parents here. I had to work Monday and Tuesday, so I didn't get to spend all my time with them, but we had an especially great time relaxing last night and playing games before they left this morning.

For supper last night, we grilled out. We knew that our gas grill was not exactly in the best shape of it's life, actually the top part of the grill is so rusty that's it's technically not even connected to the bottom half anymore...but we figured we could just put charcoal in the bottom of it and cook our steaks with that. So Joel and his dad went outside to conquer the grilling, since that's what men do, you know, and Joel's mom and I made the French fries and the veggie pizza.

Their grilling time was pretty uneventful, and the steaks were cooking fine, until towards the end... When sparks started to fly towards our porch, the guys thought about getting a little concerned. Then, while Mom and I stepped outside to see how they were coming, a couple of hot coals fell out of the grill... and so us ladies were immediately enlisted to fill buckets and pitchers with water to extinguish the coals before our grilling episode burned our house down.

Thankfully that was the end of the excitement, and the guys were happy since they got to save the day and pretend to be firemen, too. I think we'll be shopping for a new grill sometime soon. :)

Fun Times, New Car...

Joel's parents are here visiting this week, which is always nice. We're actually closer to his parents than we are to mine, really. His dad has been a pastor for about 23 years, 22 of that in Ohio, and then last fall he was called to Iowa (near Des Moines), and they're very happy out there. But now they live like 13 hours away from us, and they used to only be 7. Anyway, since his parents have always been in ministry, they understand the things that we go though, frustrations, budget issues, etc. and they're the type of people that we would like to be 'when we grow up'. Which hopefully should be soon, since, you know, we're going to be parents and all. They also enjoy the same things we do like playing games and stuff...so that makes for a fun visit.

On Thursday we had to drive two hours to trade the used SUV we just bought a month ago for another one. The one we had was nice, but it kept having maintenance problems. Which the dealership would fix for free. Problem: The dealership is 100 miles away. So we had to drive up there umpteen times to get the problem fixed. So we talked them into giving us all of our money back for the car, since it was sort of a lemon. And they did- praise the Lord! We were able to trade it in for another Explorer, blue this time (which is the original color that we wanted, but couldn't find the first time), and a year newer, with less miles on it! So we came out ahead or at least even in the end! :) It is amazing how God provides for us and we don't even know all the details!

Happy Mother's Day To Me!

On Saturday morning, as I was dragging my weary self out of bed to get ready for a day of work at the nursing home (only another month to go!!), I found this cutest note (or series of notes) stuck on my bathroom mirror! :) It was such a nice surprise, and actually a great start to my day. Thanks, Joel! :)

I had some kind of virus all weekend....started really feeling better yesterday, and I'm fine today, but it was yucky. Even yuckier than morning sickness. :(

Mother's Day was great. It was my first mother's day as an actual mother, and the last couple years, when we've been trying to have a baby, Mother's Day has been the most difficult day of the year. Joel was very relieved that I was not going to have my annual Mother's Day emotional breakdown this year. He gave me two cards, one was funny, and one was so adorable that it made me cry...what a great guy! :) Tonight we are going shopping for my Mother's Day present- a Snackster! Because, really, what else celebrates motherhood like a grilled cheese sandwich maker? ;)

Nothing's Coming To Me...

Well, I've been waiting a few days for something witty or clever to come to me for my first post on this blog. Or else at least for something hilarious to happen to me so I can write about it. Obviously, neither has happened. So I'll just share something mildly funny and the pressure of the first post will be over and we'll just get on with the blogging.

I am ten weeks pregnant this week! My baby is no longer considered an 'embryo', but actually a 'fetus' now! I feel like I should hold an embryo graduation with a tiny grape-sized cap and gown.... but really, I'm actually feeling much less sick since my hero, the Placenta, has taken over feeding Junior. I told Joel on Tuesday that I should be feeling less sick, and also less hormonal (!) this week since the placenta was taking over some things, and he was pretty excited. He led us in three cheers for the placenta- hip hip hooray! :)

Also, my Grandma called the other day, to ask me what my size was so she could buy me some maternity clothes. Being that this is my first pregnancy, I need all the maternity clothes I can get, so I'm thankful for the thought...but it's not very comforting to know that the last thing that this Grandma sent me, knowing I would Just Love It, was a huge umbrella with these life-size photos of cats on it. Kind of frightening, actually. So I'm sure when those clothes come in the mail, they will be a post of their own. :)