Balloons, Chalk, Fish Fry, and a Papaya, Oh My!

Well this past weekend we went to our first supper club as WI residents together, went to our first farmer’s market here in Wausau, and attended the big festival here called “Balloon and Chalk Fest”. The supper club was very anti-climatic due to being there for a total of 1.5 hours and the food was nothing special (at all). The perk to it was that it was the cliché tacky decorations and it was in the middle of nowhere. These are musts for me as a seasoned supper clubber. The farmer’s was not comparable to downtown St. Paul but it was fun to buy locally again. We grabbed some fresh peas, cucumbers, and cheese curds. The big festival was actually quite nice for what it was. The chalk aspect of it was a drawing contest in the center of town where we saw some really great artists being showcased. You will see below. As for the balloon part, well this was an air balloon observation and some very nice fireworks. Please see those photos as well. I think we may be quite bored this weekend due to “all” we did this past weekend.

Caleb's fave. Bob Ross anyone??

Ribs to go'round'n'round

We are also doing a home reveal this week on this here blog. We finally finished putting it all together and we are quite happy with the results, don’t you?

View when you walk in...

Kitchen

Living Room

Baby Giblet's Abode (our place of things for now)

Office (under the stairs)

Entry Area

Just the newest addition to our homemade collection:
'Merican Flag

Primary bathroom

Our bedroom loft

Our master bathroom

View from the loft

Week 22

• Gibby is a papaya size this week. A “standard” papaya measures about 10.5 to 11.8 inches and weighs about 12.7 to 20.8 ounces. We can count those stats as true this week I suppose.
• This kid has lips, eyelids, eyes, eyebrows, and it's even developing tiny teeth buds beneath the gums. 
• Inside Gib's body, the pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.

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• Well I overcame a migraine on Tuesday night with solely a pounding headache and nausea, all those other symptoms were not existent. Thank you, Jesus.
• I have been home all week for the past two weeks so I have been enjoying time thinking about baby items and the house.
• I have reached my 10# mark and I am having a very hard time with it. I know it is just apart of pregnancy but this whole cellulite thighs and big booty is not going nicely with this baby bump I got goin’ on.

I am off to Mpls this weekend so expect some bestie shots from me next week!

Klinge Kamping

This past week has been pretty great. We left for camping shortly after I posted last and had a great time in fantastic weather with Caleb’s family. We went down to Wyalushing State Park and tent-camped for about 4 days. I just got a bike and so my highlight was trying that out. I think Caleb’s highlight was probably the water balloon fight that we had. That was such fun to have. We celebrated our nieces, Pais and Dell’s, birthday along with their mom’s as well. It was so great seeing them get shy after opening each present just because they were so excited. I was able to see the rest of the littles as well. My niece Kendall has been very hesitant of us since she was born but this weekend was such a great time for her to come out of her shell and just be with us. She was my snuggle bug for the first part and Caleb’s sporty spice during the second half. Our baby sister, Anna, is leaving for Belguim next month so it was so bittersweet to say “good luck” as we will not see her for a whole year. She will do great. Here is a recap for you all via photos:

Kickball was a blast...

... until I fell due to this center of gravity of a babe.

Playing with birthday presents

The sister bunch

Soccer

Water Balloons

The water fight! So. Much. Fun.

Take this to Belguim, Anna. So cute!

A wife's duty to her husband.

The year of the braids... thank you Carrie!

Men and their drinks of choice

Besties for real

O-Dawg got a lil tired... poor guy could only find an
empty table to zonk out on.

The fishing crew (They didn't catch a lick)

Singing sensation

We both look forward to this weekend a lot and this year was one for the books… until next year.

Week 21

• We are looking at a 12 ounce babes that is about the size of a pomegranate. I think that is a little off being that it’s feet that are pushing out at me seem not as small as predicted. You read correct, I am feeling the little person in there. Today was the first time that there was a push on my hand when I held it there. What a milestone for this Ma.
• It’s digestive system is developing and starting to create it’s first diaper fill, oh joy!

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• This Ma is a little tired these days. I don’t know if it is just because I am unemployed for two weeks (I got a job! More details next week or the week after) or because I am just so tired from all this change.

• Success Story: I did not get a migraine in the last 7 days so maybe I am behaving myself better or I will get one tonight. Eek, I will pray for me just being better.

• I looked in the mirror today and I noticed that I am rocking a prego belly for the first time. I still think I look like a carb loader with shirts covering my belly but I think he/she is going to peek out of this feeling-phase very soon.

I am here in Wausau being a stay-at-home wife so if you need me, give me a jingle. :)

Big Move and Half Way There

Hey folks! We are safely moved to Wausau, WI. We are WI residents and Chicago is a thing of the past. Wowza... this is just crazy sauce to think about so I won't for too long.

We said good-bye to those folks of Chicago and focused on our move this past week. Some really great people live in Chicago, in case you were wondering. Hard, but totally worth it for our family.

I would like to give a shout out to my husband who packed almost all the home the U-Haul (thanks for helping Caleb with the heavy stuff, brother Nathan!) and unpacked (with help of my family) the U-Haul within a 48 hour period. Let me just tell you that this man worked hard so his baby would be safe and sound as I cleaned Chicago and unpacked Wausau.

Here is the house we left:

Home Sweet Home! Well old home.

Farewell Greenview Ave, you were the best!

Here is the house we have now:

 More pictures to come... We need to unpack. Next week we will do a big reveal.

Week 20

• This week, it is the size of a banana and about 11 ounces
• It is working taste buds for the several ounces of amniotic fluid it is swallowing each day
• We know if we are having a boy or a girl! Yup, we know... nope we are not sharing with folks. You are welcome. My mom is bummed to not be in "the know" but sometimes mommas just gotta be patient. I too am learning patience. 

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• It is safe to say that I get a migraine once a week for the last month and change. It is certainly not fun but I caved in and now take one tylenol, a sip of water, and a very early night sleep to pretend life isn't attacking me. Sometimes pregnancy is not fun but most times it is very fun, am I right?
• Nothing more has changed than last week at all in terms of me. I am showing baby under my shirts but no one, in public, is brave enough to ask if I am pregnant for the fact that I could just be  belly-fat. I am okay with being unseen for a while longer.

We are off to Klinge Camping for this holiday weekend so please expect cute photos of my nieces and nephews as well as mediocre photos of the rest of us. Hooray for family time!

Celebrate the Dad and Outdoors

Happy Father's Day, boys. My boy was celebrated this Sunday with love, a gift, and (of course) pizza. It was surreal to celebrate a man that was just my husband but is now my baby's daddy too! Love you, sweet thang.

Last Friday we went to a free Mumford & Sons concert. You heard me... go to a outdoor concert, pull up a chair, but stay out of the gate = a free show. Badda-bing-badda-boom. It was a pretty good show but they got a little bit slow and mello so Caleb and I got bored. Yup, bored. We didn't pay a thing so we weren't bummed to leave after 45 minutes. What a great, summer time we had.

Week 19

• He/She is a mango-sized cutie about now being 6 inches long and a whopping 1/2 pound. We have reached the milestone, 1/2 pound and growing bigger as we speak. I am so proud of the babes for being so brave in there. 
• He/She is growing a protective, greasy coat to help it's skin. 
• He/She's brain is developing the five senses right now and Caleb is working on it's listening skills as he constantly encourages it to be strong and to not make mom sick/sad.

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• We will be looking for a new delivery doctor and a pediatrician when we get to Wausau which is nerve racking to know this person is going to be apart of my baby's very personal life. Pray for us to find just the best fit, big prayers for big decisions. 
• We will find out the baby's gender before we leave Chicago but unfortunately for every one of you, we are not sharing with anyone. Nope, not mom or any Klinge sibling. Sorry all, this is the happy ground we found with me not wanting to find out until I meet him/her and Caleb being beside himself to just HAVING to know. Be kind to us, it is our decision and no one else's.
• Well, I got another earth-shattering migraine again on Tuesday. I am open to any reliefs you all have. I was just a part of a Young Living Essential Oils session and I am intrigued with the Peppermint Oil... Any thoughts on that, folks? I am getting desperate here, any help?

A lot is occuring in the next week. By the time you read next week, I will have finished a job in Chicago, packed our Chicago home, travel 6 hours to be moved into a new apartment, unpack a uhaul, have an interview for a new job in Wausau, and travel 3 hours to Klinge Camping to start the 4th of July weekend. This baby loves chaos....or will after the next 10 days. 

Chicago Fests and Baby Gibby

Well that was fun. Thank you all for reading my blog last week and supporting us in this exciting time of our lives. We have not been up to a ton in the last seven days. My mom did come down for the weekend to have "one last hurrah" in Chicago. It is ALWAYS fantastic to have my mom in town or to just be with my mom. She is kinda my favorite lady around. The night before mom came, Caleb and I went to Ribfest in our neighborhood along with like a thousand other people and ate ribs until we needed to roll home. It was great to be out on such a great night and to take part in an event that a good amount of Chicago enjoys as well. Please enjoy these shots...

 Mom came into town the next morning and we shopped (of course) and attended the Midsommars Festival, a Swedish festival in Andersonville (our favorite neighborhood). The festival was quite fun but the there was not a lot to experience if you weren't into signing up for local activities or eating. Oh well, I did find a band that was performing called "The Shades" @wetheshades. I think I will go to one of their shows before we leave. All in all, we all had a great weekend.


Week 18

• It is about five and a half inches long and still under a half of a pound. The size of a Sweet Potato.
• Baby is yawning, hiccuping, sucking and swallowing... this is mind blowing to me as I still cannot believe I am growing a human that is developing without me really doing anything.
• Baby is twisting, rolling, punching and kicking, too but I cannot feel it yet
• I heard it's heart beat at my appointment this week and it was so reassuring to know it is doing okay and is still pumping blood through it's lil body. I miss it already as I feel the ultrasound, heart check, and kicks/nudges/jabs (later on) are the only way of communicating until Turkey Time. 

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• I am getting monster headaches in the second trimester but yesterday was one for the books. I was knocked bad for a good 14 hours with a migraine. I SELDOM take meds for any purpose but when I get a migraine I am all about the Ibuprofen. My babes cannot handle that stuff so I am left with roughing it and taking an extremely low dose of Tylenol. Peeps, life is never over until its over but I would have liked to freeze life and sit those moments out to not be in that pain and vomit-fest. Delivery will be a rude awaken I am guessing for this lil whiner.
• I only did okay in the heat this weekend as I was anti-prego clothes. On Sunday night I did splurge and order some clothes on Old Navy and Gap to see how they look, yup I caved... oh well. 

That's all, folks. Until next week...

Big News for this Small Family

Well folks I am going to cut to the chase... Europe was not just for the two of us. It was actually for the three of us. That is correct, I am going to have a little Laura or Caleb to play with for this holiday season. Baby Gibby is due just before Thanksgiving and we are just so excited. 

Baby Gibby got it's name from a morph of Thanksgiving due date, then to Turkey being a main thought to that holiday, then to Giblet for a small piece of the turkey, then to Gibby which is Giblet for short. Your welcome on that explanation. 

Why did I wait to share? Well to be honest, I didn't want to tell Grandma before I went on the big trip so she didn't have to worry any more than she already was. There were other reasons but I am not willing to share the more personal reasons. All that really matters is that babes and I are making our debut today. 

I just started this week taking cliche, weekly pictures and I regret not doing it sooner. I really popped this past week so it would have been fun to compare. I have learned my lesson and I am looking forward to the next 23 weeks of photos. 

I thought it would be fun to share my tactics for these posts. I am going to try and use the same shirt for the whole pregnancy each week to show the difference better and also share a fruit/vegetable of the size of the baby. I will also be sharing the changes in both baby and mom each week and how we are feeling. So here we go...

Week 17

• It's bones will be forming this week from its previous state of more cartilage-type structure and is gaining some fat for those bones
• It can now move its joints and is beginning to regulate heat
• It is the size of a onion (5 inches) and weighs about half a pound

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• I am having some CRAZY dreams these days and they are freaking me out. I am determined they are real until like 2 minutes after I wake in the morning. I borderline hate it but I have always wanted to remember my dreams and now I know why it is better not to.
• I no longer sleep on my back as I am training myself to not do so when it counts (in a few weeks) 
• I think I got sick about 3 times in my first trimester but I have been sick at least once a week in trimester two so far and I am getting a feeling of what others talk about. I thought I was a lucky one but these "no warning" sick moments are quite inconvenient. 
• My jeans do not button but I have a pair of pants in each color that fit fine. So I am working with 3 normal pants (black, khaki, and blue), dresses, and a smorgasbord of jersey shorts/workout leggings. I am anti-prego clothes but I am thinking soon is going to be a visit to the thrift store. Who wants to send me clothes? Anyone?

See you all every Thursday for my weekly updates of this lil babe and every so often for our life events. We are beyond excited for all this life we are about to experience!

Our European Getaway

I would like to begin by saying that we had the time of our lives and we were so grateful for this opportunity to take time off work and just enjoy ourselves.

We booked our tickets a month before we left and we had talked about doing this just before Christmas came last year. We are ones to just do and not really think through all the what-ifs so this trip was perfect for us.

We left on May 1st and arrived back home on May 20th... three weeks of Caleb and Laura time. I thought we would have a rough time throughout the trip but we actually didn't really fight at all other than our occasional jabs or "conversations" (you will see one of these on the video). We learned a lot about our marriage to each other and how we function outside of the everyday element.

Enough about us... please enjoy this video to get a summary of our trip without the words:



Stats of the trip:
Countries Visited = 7
Planes Taken = 12
Time in a plane = 30+ hrs
Miles walked throughout the trip = 211

Let's talk by week's end so I can tell you some other fun things about us lately!