The Hagberg Hoopla: 2010

27.12.10

What a December!

Well it has been a busy month leading up to this baby's arrival! I have had two wonderful showers (thank you to Kate, my mom, Michele, and Bama!) that helped us prepare for Baby Hagberg with some essentials (thank you friends and family!). We are feeling ready for the baby now more than ever. We can't wait to meet him or her! The baby is moving and groovin, especially right before bed. My itching has subsided somewhat (thank goodness) but is definitely still there and I'll be ready for that to stop soon, hopefully after delivery.

I'm 36 weeks now and just have a couple more to go. We go to a group of doctors so we have seen many different ones to get to know them all, or most, before we deliver, but have now settled on just one. She reminds me of Miss Stacey from Anne of Green Gables! That must be why I like her :) All the doctors in the practice are great though and we know we are in good hands, no matter who we end up with in the hospital. This week begins our weekly visits so we know we are near the end!

We have finished our classes leading up to baby...all about baby, breastfeeding 101, childbirth preparation class...and we are one class away from finishing the introducing your dog to baby class. These classes have all helped us be more ready for the baby to come as well and we are feeling pretty well informed and prepared. We know how to go through labor, give birth, feed and diaper, and walk Rupert with the stroller. We are set!

This month has also been busy because I have been finishing up some projects with work, trying to prepare for some time off that will be inevitable.

It hasn't been all happy times though...this month brought us some tough times as well. We found out my dad has prostate cancer. It was definitely difficult to find out this news as we all care about him so much and don't want him to have to go through anything negative...ever...but things happen and we know God is getting us through it and he will be ok. We are educating ourselves (my dad is especially) and trying to figure out what the next steps are. He has a couple months to decide what to do because that's how long he needs to heal from the biopsy before they do anything, so at least a major decision doesn't need to be made immediately and there is time for learning about the options. Please keep him in your prayers along with my whole family as we go through this together. I am in awe at my dad's constant positive attitude through all of this, but then again that is my dad in every situation. He is an inspiration to us all. His life verse is "count it all pure joy when many trials come your way" and he is always reminding us of that when any of us goes through something tough...so obviously that is his theme verse for this recent development, too. It has helped all of us have a positive outlook on it. Thank you dad!

My grandma got into town from Michigan a week or so ago, which we have all been looking forward to for months! She helped throw my baby shower and it was so wonderful to have her there with us celebrating her first great-grandchild (which she is VERY excited about!) Well, Thursday before Christmas, she was out at a store with my mom and tripped on a carpet and fell. Shattered her shoulder in 3 places. Ugh. Not something you want to have happen to your 83 year old grandma! Thankfully she is in great shape for her age and is a huge trooper, but it is not fun to see her in a sling. Much like my dad, she is a positive-attitude person, so again, that helps us all get through that! She is going to the surgeon tomorrow to find out if she is having surgery or not, and if she does--she will need to stay in MN longer than her planned trip so she can have the surgery and recover. The baby is due in a few weeks so we would of course love to have her here when the baby is born...there is definitely some good that would come from a bummer of a situation. We'll see what the surgeon says. Most importantly we want her to be comfortable and heal easily. Please be praying for my "Bama" in this time as well.

In the midst of all of this, Rupert got a bad ear infection we had to deal with quickly, there was Christmas with both sides of our families, Derek and Jessica are in town, and a few friends babies have been born! It's a whirlwind! This has definitely been a month to remember! But we are so thankful to have our family together supporting one another and loving each other.

We had an amazing Swedish Christmas with Jeff's family on Christmas Eve at Jeff's parents house. It was so much fun and the food was awesome as usual! We got a video camera as a gift to record our babies first moments, which I am so thankful for. It would be hard for me to bring my big work camera out all the time, and this one is tiny and HD! So excited to have that. We had a wonderful time with Jeff's parents, his aunt and uncle, and grandma celebrating Christmas and being together. I love family get-togethers :)

Christmas day, we went to my parents house where I served a 2:00 breakfast (ha ha--I think I'm taken off breakfast duty next year!), opened stockings and presents and had a wonderful time with everyone. Dad got an ipad from all of us which he was shocked by, we got a bunch of great baby stuff including our car seat and a wooden horse my grandpa made that we can hang in the baby's room and a waffle maker (can't wait to try that!) and we all just had a great time being together as a family. Amazing standing rib roast meal, a puzzle, and Rupert was sooooo good in his kennel most of the day (didn't want him to be around Bama with her shoulder). It's always so great to have Derek and Jessica in town and we are so thankful to have Bama here this year too!

We recently discovered my hands swelled when I went to clean my ring the other day and it wouldn't come off my finger. We figured we could go to a jeweler to have it cut off, but they told us we had to go to the emergency room for that! So yesterday, I elevated my hand for about a half hour, then iced my finger for about 20 minutes, and then Jeff took soap and twisted and pulled my ring for about 10 minutes (felt like an eternity). It hurt really bad. But we got it off! It's a Christmas miracle. I still can't believe we got it off. But yeah for no emergency room visits and remolding of cut off rings!

So now the focus is: dad's treatment plan, Bama's shoulder plan, and Baby Hagberg's arrival. I'll try to post updates as they come. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers on all three of these major life events that are coming up quickly. Big things in the Heeren, Hagberg, and Herbst family this year.

Merry Christmas to everyone and Happy New Year!

Love
Arleigh

8.11.10

Itchy

So pregnancy has been bliss for me thus far, I have been very fortunate and really can't complain much! I did have a pretty bad back ache consistently for a while but we switched mattresses to a firmer one and it did the trick! But about a month ago, or a little over now, I started itching. It was while I was in Boston and after all the talk of east coast bed bugs, I thought for SURE it was bed bugs living in my skin. Well thankfully, it is not bed bugs, but unfortunately I'm super itchy still and it's gotten worse and worse. I went to my doctors appointment last week and the doc said I may have developed an allergy to laundry detergent in pregnancy. So I bought "Dreft" and washed pretty much everything I own, clothes, sheets, towels included and the doc told me I could take Benedryl at night to help me sleep (itching was waking me up and keeping me up). It's been a few days, jury is still out on whether it's getting better or not, but the Benedryl is definitely helping me sleep so I'm thankful for that. It truly is like having the chicken pox the second time around, not fun at all.

On another note, Jeff and I got our baby furniture! We are so excited and keep going into the baby's room in awe dreaming of our little one sleeping in the new crib. Rupert loves going into the baby's room and looks in the crib. I think he's waiting for that baby to be in there too :)

We have been taking baby classes, preparing us for childbirth which is very helpful, especially for Jeff to know what to expect as my "doula." :) He is excited to be my head coach and cheerleader and I know he'll do a great job! We also went to a class to learn about caring for baby when he/she comes, so Jeff got to learn how to swaddle and diaper and bathe a doll which he did with excellence and pride :) I think he's ready. We both are. I am 29 weeks now which is a huge accomplishment, but it also feels very far away from January 23rd. I'm starting to feel like a kid counting down the days til Christmas. Speaking of Christmas, I am really ready for some cooler weather to start coming in...as much as I love the sun and warmth, I have this little live-in space heater that is making me sweat more than normal and I would love to cool off with some snow and cooler air!

We are starting our next class this Wednesday and it's through our dog trainer, teaching you how to introduce dog to baby. We are looking forward to it, I think it will be really helpful with the transition for Rupert, we want to make it as smooth for him as possible, although I think he's going to take it like a champ! He has always loved our friends' babies and he knows to be gentile, so that's a good sign. Still, we want to be prepared and help him have an easy time with having a little crying babe in the house all of a sudden.

I have been keeping track of my pregnancy on a couple of websites that follow week to week what should be happening and what size your baby might be. It's been really fun, I feel like I have learned so much! This week the baby is 3 pounds and 17 inches long. Amazing, isn't it? It also said I may start to feel the baby having hiccups, and sure enough, the same day that I read that, I felt the hiccups for the first time. It was so sweet, little rhythmic bumps that are no doubt hiccups, although I have to say I feel bad for the baby because I get terrible hiccups and they give me a stomach ache...so baby Hagberg, I hope your hiccups are easier on you!

I guess that's all for now!

Arleigh :)

20.10.10

Apples and Anniversaries

Fall is hands down my favorite time of year. Hot apple cider, apple crisp, carmel apples, apple picking...you are sensing a theme here, aren't you? I have always been an apple nut! Some of my favorite pictures of me when I was little are in the apple orchard eating an apple, it just feels like that's where I'm meant to be! It's not uncommon for me to eat 4-5 apples a day during apple season. Jeff and I got engaged in an apple orchard...Sponsel's Minnesota Harvest.

We even had an apple theme for our wedding! We took pictures at the orchard we got engaged at to make our table numbers and had apples in vases for some of our center pieces. I thought we would always have that orchard be a part of our lives and take our kids there and show them where we got engaged, but we recently found out that the orchard has been sold and this is the last year. So to celebrate our anniversary this year (which is today!) we are going to the orchard one last time. It will be sad I'm sure, I'm pretty attached to that place, but I'm glad we are going.

Here are some pics from our 2008 trip to the orchard:

And last years trip to the orchard (I only have a couple because my computer crashed with my freshly uploaded pics)

We thought about buying one of the trees from the orchard, but looking into it, it might be too pricey. We'll have to find a new orchard and start new traditions, so next year I will be orchard shopping!

Thinking about our anniversary this year, I could not be happier with the man who got down on one knee and proposed in that orchard on that October day in 2006. I have always been a pretty indecisive person and growing up I was nervous that someday if someone asked me to marry them, I wouldn't be able to say "yes" right away because I wouldn't want to make the wrong decision and would need time to think about it. When Jeffrey Philip Hagberg got down on one knee and told me he loved and and asked me to marry him, the world stopped. There was not a single doubt in my mind that I wanted to be with him for the rest of my life and it was an easy "yes!" What an amazing feeling. And he has been the most wonderful husband, I couldn't be happier. I feel so blessed every morning when he wakes me up to say good bye on his way to work, gives me a hug, kisses both cheeks and says, "Good morning, beautiful." What an amazing feeling. He spoils me like crazy and would do anything for me, he's reliable, supportive, fun, loving, and I can't wait to see him be a dad to our little ones, because I know they will be as crazy about him as I am.

Here are some pics from our big day, October 20, 2007:

I have a billion pictures from the day, but wanted to just pick a few for the blog to represent our amazing wedding day. We have a tradition of watching our wedding video each year for our anniversary so I'm looking forward to watching that and reliving the day :) Today, our actual anniversary, we will be attending a baby class, so the celebrations will have to wait a couple days, but we are very excited to learn about our baby so we are thrilled about tonight! Tah tah for now,

Arleigh

23.9.10

Birthdays and baby furniture!

Well Jeff and I have had a whirlwind of birthday celebrations lately and we have one more to go! It all started with my actual birthday, we had the most amazing meal at my parents house! We had Salmon, skewered red potatoes, salad, and yummy yellow cake with chocolate frosting :) It was so fun to celebrate with my folks.

The next day we celebrated with friends, Jeff threw a birthday party for me at our house and we had fun using our porch! We redid the porch this summer and we love to hang out there and to entertain there.

Then we went to Chicago that weekend and celebrated my birthday and Jeff's birthday at Gene and Georgetti's with Jeff's parents. We had a great steak dinner and my favorite, Shrimp cocktail! That was the best shrimp cocktail I have ever had.

Jeff's birthday was yesterday and we got together with Jeff's mom (his dad was out of town on business) and went to dinner at Granite City Brewery. Then we went shopping for a coat for me (I know, on HIS birthday!!) and a baby gate for the cabin (for Rupert and the the baby on the way!) We had a lot of fun with Michele :) She even gave us a little cake to celebrate when we got home!

I got Jeff a new robe and some other fun things :) Today we made chicken and waffles to celebrate his b-day again! He has always wanted to try that, but it's sort of a southern thing, so we just made waffles and got KFC chicken and made our own version. It was good, but I'm pretty sure he still wants to try the actual southern dish sometime!

Tomorrow the birthday celebrations come to an end when we celebrate Jeff's birthday with my parents. Should be fun!

We are starting to research baby furniture and are realizing some things might take weeks or months to order...and January is starting to get closer! I just got the book Baby Bargains ("as seen on Oprah") so hopefully they'll give us some good tips on how to pick things out and what to look for, because the baby world is like a foreign world to us at this point. We are starting to learn, but have a long ways to go!

That's all for now, have a great day!

love
Arleigh