Old Friends

This morning we had a final get together for our reunion. Burgers and brats a the golf course. It was fun to see everyone one last time.

Esme got to meet a few other babies too. Baby Oe is about 1 month older that Esme. She is the daughter of Mike and Heidi Schoch.


Baby Bradyn is about 2 weeks older than Esme. He is Brent Bautz' son. Look at his little shoes!!!


After lunch we decided to drive to Medora. Aaron had never been there before, so we drove through Theodore Roosevelt National Park. But first we stopped at the Painted Canyon viewing area.


As soon as we got into the park we saw buffalo. This one was keeping people from using the bathroom! :)



We also saw wild horses.


Esme didn't think any of it was too exciting...


On the way home, we decided to stop at The Trappers' Kettle for dinner in Belfield. While we were eating my mom looked over and saw Dorothy Petri sitting at another table. She was my Grandma Pearl's best friend. We had invited her to the baby shower, but she wasn't able to make it. I was so excited that we saw her and that she got to see baby Esme. She is Esme's honorary great grandma! :)

Shower and Dance :)

This morning Esme had a baby shower. Grandma and Linda hosted. This is the second quilt that Grandma Jackie made for Esme. It's beautiful!


Esme got to hang out with family and meet some new people.


We took a four generation picture.

That night grandma and grandpa watched Esme while Aaron and I went downtown for reunion activities. First a dinner and then a street dance. I was most excited to hang out with Jill and Tina and they weren't even part of my class!



The best part of the night was that Grandma and Grandpa kept Esme in their room, so Aaron and I got to sleep the whole night!

Lazy Day

Friday was a very lazy day.


We spent most of the day sitting on the deck and playing with Aaron's camera, trying different settings. Here are some of the shots that were pretty good.


That night we went to Lion's Park for a get together for my 20 year reunion. Esme was there for awhile and then we took her home. It was really chilly out! The best part was meeting up with Cheri Ehlis who I haven't talked to in years. It was so great to visit with her. Oddly, I didn't take any pictures. :(

A visit to the farm

Today was a quiet day. Aaron and I went for a walk down to the Credit Union so that I could sign some paperwork for Esme's savings account. Grandma and Grandpa opened an account for her.


We spent most of the afternoon hanging out on the patio and doing a whole lot of nothing! Not a bad way to spend the day.



Later that night we went to the farm so that Len and Gini could see Esme again. And so I could have a bloody mary. It was so yummy, thanks Len! :)


Aaron took some pictures of the surrounding area and now you know why I'm so fond of trees.

Going to North Dakota and Walmart (Yikes!)

This weekend was my 20 year high school reunion, so we went to North Dakota. It was Esme's first really long car ride. Because she is a pretty good night time sleeper, we thought it might be better to drive through the night. So we left Maple Grove at about 6 pm Tuesday evening and drove. Esme slept all the way to Jamestown where we fed her and she went back to sleep. She made it to the Dickinson Airport before she woke up and fussed for the last 20 minutes or so. We got to New England at about 2am.

Wednesday we went to visit Grandpa at work and got to meet all the Slope Electric people.


That afternoon Esme went to Walmart for the first time!


Keep in mind this is the same baby who went to Target on her way home from the hospital after she was born and before she even saw her own home! She's a born Target snob! But we had to get some groceries, and in Dickinson you get groceries at Walmart, so what do you do? Aaron pointed out that the only time we ever go to Walmart is when we are in North Dakota or Hawaii. I guess that's not such a bad thing. Esme may not agree! She was a little embarrassed afterward!


When we got home from Dickinson, Esme had a bath and then got to meet her Great-Great-Aunt Gini who was very anxious to meet her. They snuggled and had a nice visit. :)


This was the same night that a tornado went through Dickinson. Gini was on her way home from Dickinson when she stopped to visit us. She just missed the tornado which was good because it was dangerous enough that it destroyed several homes. Whew!

New Mom Stuff - again...

This morning we went to the pediatrician. Esme has been congested pretty much every morning for the last couple of weeks. But yesterday it was a good chunk of the day that she was stuffed up and this morning was really bad. We have a love/hate relationship with the nasal aspirator. It's definitely no fun, but it gets the gunk out - after a drop or 20 of saline drops that is. And they are no fun either.


I thought it might be best to just have the pediatrician take a quick peak at her and make sure that she's ok. He did, and she was. No real news, as long as she's eating and doing well otherwise, we just keep dropping and sucking. Yuck! I asked if it was a cold, or from spitting up through her nose sometimes. He said it could be either and that with their little airways, it doesn't take much to get plugged up. He looked in her ears, nose and throat and listened to her lungs and said she was great!

We talked a little bit about chicken pox and he said it might be kind of nice if she got them. His opinion was - there's really not much you do for them anyway, she's young enough that she can't scratch the pox, and if she got them she wouldn't need the vaccine later. That made me feel a lot better because from what I got before, I thought it would be very dangerous for her to get them. Nope!

The other question I had for him was how long should I burp her. She is a TERRIBLE burper sometimes. I can try for 15-20 minutes and nothing. But then she'll spit up a bit more than usual later. He said to try for 3-4 minutes and if nothing happens, don't worry about it. Again, if she's gaining weight and seems to be eating well and happy, he's not worried. This is my kind of guy, no nonsense. They did weigh her and she is 9 lbs 9.6 oz I think. Or is she 9.096 pounds? Look at the pics and you decide. Nonetheless, she is getting bigger.


So mostly a visit to reassure me - again. First time Mom stuff is so fun! :)

Coon Rapids Dam

Today we went to the Coon Rapids Dam for a walk. Nothing too exciting, but a nice place to go. Esme got a little hungry in the middle of our walk, so we stopped to feed her. Other than that, it was pretty ordinary.

Esme was/is pretty congested today. She has been for the last couple of weeks, but today it seems to be most of the day. If it's not better tomorrow I will probably take her in. Especially since we are leaving for North Dakota soon.