Sunday at the Zoo...

Here is a quick update on whats going on at the Struckman household.
I think Shane and I have been in a constant state of exhaustion for the last few months!!! Shane is busy at work, and all the mowing and garden work falls to him.
I have been battling migraines and headaches for over a week now...Saturday was my only relief! I actually woke up headache free, I felt like I could conquer the world, but settled for Wal-Mart and HyVee, while Shane volunteered at Habitat for Humanity. Shane has Monday off, so am hoping he can take me to my chiropractor in Oxford. I remember going thru this same thing with Emma around this time in the pregnancy. I don't remember being soooo tired while pregnant with Emma tho, must be because this time around I have a toddler running around! The baby is kicking and moving sooo much now! Shane even felt the baby kick a few times for the first time on Saturday morning in bed! Its definitely making this pregnancy feel more real, and its also one of my favorite parts of being pregnant!
Emma is doing great! She is just a fireball! And makes us laugh all the time! Everyday I look at her and am just blown away at how incredibly beautiful she is! I love her dark brown hair and green/blue eyes! She is so beautiful inside and out!
Our garden is really growing! We have zucchini about ready to pick and should be able to do a round of pickling this weekend with our cucumbers (they are just going crazy)!. We have already had cherry tomatoes, and we have to be careful to watch Emma in the garden, cuz she will just pick them off the vine, red or green, and pop them in her mouth. She looked at the yellow squash growing and said 'banana...yum, yum, yum'...we tried telling her that is wasn't a banana, but she looked at us like we were crazy...guess she will figure it out when it doesn't taste like a banana! ha!
On Sunday, we went to church and attempted small group, but I wasn't feeling well and really needed to get something to eat and take something for the approaching headache, so we went thru McDonald's and came home. After I started to feel better, we headed to the Niabi Zoo.
Below are some pictures of our afternoon:

Emma saying 'quack' to a duck

Emma feeding the koi fish

A baby and mama giraffe

A turtle saying hello to Emma

Emma running...something she loves to do nowadays!

Emma and me
I started to get overheated and needed to take a break!

Emma and her daddy

We took pictures by these butterflies last year, I posted last year's pic below...

Emma has sure grown! Its hard to believe she was that small and chubby!

Its hard to get a decent shot of Emma these days, she just can't sit still for long, but this was the best shot I got...last year's pic is below...

We went thru the gift shop on our way out, and Emma found a book called 'Zoo Poo' that had a picture of a bald boy on the front and thought it was Caillou from the PBS show 'Caillou' that she LOVES! So of course I made Shane get it for her! Ever since, she has carried it around and has had to take it to bed with her!

We don't have much on the agenda for this 4th of July weekend, except catch up on a few things around the house and relax!

A little Vaca to Nebraska...

We arrived home yesterday from a little vacation back home in Nebraska. Since it will probably take me a while to get this whole post written because of the continuous breaking to take care of Emma, keep the 9 loads of laundry going and cleaning, I will just recap each day we were gone:

Friday, the 11th - Shane, Emma and I drove all the way home. Emma only slept an hour the entire 10+ hour trip! It was a challenge to keep her entertained! We stopped in Lincoln and spent a little time with Shane's sister, Janice, and let Emma run some energy off with her 2 cousins, Mady and Parker. We also made a quick stop to say hello to Heather (who was still very pregnant at the time!) The trip went well, but as soon as we passed the Paxton exit and only had 12 miles to go, I told Shane that this was gonna be the worst part of the journey as I begun to feel sick, sure enough I spent the last 15 minutes of our drive throwing up!
Brad, Britni and the girls were down for Ashton's wedding the next day. So Emma, Zoe and Haley played during the evening, while I worked on a set up for my craft show the next day.

Saturday, the 12th - My mom and I were up and out the door by 6 am and headed to Palisade for my first craft show. Shane and Emma slept a while longer, then headed out to spend the day with Shane's parents at the farm.

Me sitting at my table.
I would say my first craft show was a success and a lot of fun. I made sales, took a custom order, had many business cards picked up and got lots of great feedback. Since the craft show, I have also received 2 more emails for diaper bags. I am trying to decide on a craft show in Iowa now.

I also got to see my brother and his family (they live in Palisade)

My nephew, Luke, carrying around his 'man bag' which happens to be a denim purse I made for my mom a few years back. He asked if he could have it a while back, and she told him yes, apparently he carries it around a lot....so cute!

After the craft show, we loaded up and headed home, we had a wedding to get to! My cousin Ashton married Dell Simmerman.

Brother-in-law Brad and girls, Zoe and Haley

My aunt Sara and her family

Me and Emma...she just woke up and wasn't very smiley yet

Shane, Me and Emma...this was also our 6 year wedding anniversary! Ashton was so kind to announce it during the middle of the dance and have our first dance song played...it was so fun to celebrate our anniversary dancing to 'the way you look tonight' by Frank Sinatra.

Emma and Sophie doll sporting pigtails!

Finally a family picture with everyone smiling!

Emma and Zoe

Catchin' bubbles

Sunday, the 13th - No pics from this day. Shane got up early and headed back to Iowa. He had to work the next week. Emma and I stayed behind. It was hard to let him go, it always is!

We spent the day relaxing. Brad, Brit and the girls stayed til afternoon, so the girls could play. My brother, Jared and Jacob came up for the day, Jared needed to do some work, so Jacob stayed at the house and played.

Monday, the 14th - My mom, Emma and I went to town. We got donuts then went to my Gramma Cena's while my mom headed to do the church deposits. After that, we headed to the grocery store then home. Papa came bringing us some turtles he found along side the road for Emma to check out...

Emma didn't quite know what to think at first, but soon warmed up to them.

We later released them in my mom's garden.

Around 2pm, friends Codi and Tonya showed up for a visit! It is always a must to see them every time I am home. They stayed for supper and didn't have to leave til after 8pm...it was great!

These girls always make me feel short!!!
My brother ended up coming back up to do some more work, this time he brought my niece Kenna and nephew Nathan. They all stayed the night and part of the next day.

Tuesday, the 15th - We had the weekly lunch at the Sandwich Shoppe, there was quite a few of us: Me, my mom, Emma, Kenna, Nathan, Gramma Cena, Grandpa Bud, Aunt T, Jayden, Jillian, Aunt Becky, Kris, and my Aunt Sara (i think i got everyone). After lunch, Jared and kids headed home, and my mom, Emma and I headed to Valentine, NE (3 hour drive) to see my sister and check out her new place. She just moved a few weeks before. We enjoyed supper, playtime for the girls, chatting and stayed the night. Britni has a beautiful new home in an amazing location! Its just outside of town with a view of the Niobrara River, and the stars at night look like they are just sitting in her backyard.
I also stayed close to my phone, as my best friend Heather was induced in the morning, and I was awaiting the news of the arrival of their baby (I will share details and pics of our visit with them below).

Wednesday, the 16th - We spent the morning with Britni and the girls. Brit showed us around town, and where their new business is. We then ate lunch and headed back home to Roscoe.

Thursday, the 17th - Emma and I got up and made a quick trip to town for some donuts, as I knew Jared was on his way up again to do work and he was bringing Matthew and Nathan to stay with us for the day and all night. My friend, Tonya stopped by again to drop off some jeans that she gave me to have for my business (my friend Codi had also brought me some, and my cousin Tracy mailed me some too, so I am now restocked! What a blessing it was, because I was down to 1 pair, and have quite a few orders to fill) Anyway, Tonya arrived just in time to join us for donuts (I insisted she stay) She ended up staying til noon, we took the kids outside to play and just enjoyed being able to visit some more! That afternoon, I headed into town to get my hair done while the kids stayed with Nana.
Emma, one very sleepy girl. She skipped a nap this day and was out like a light at 7pm...it didn't make for a very good night tho, she was up from 1am to 5am!!!


Friday, the 18th - Emma, Matthew and Nathan played in the morning. Emma really loved Matthew! She would take his hand and lead him around (he is 4, almost 5). Emma really kept up with the boys well! She has many bruises and a few scraps on her legs to prove it!!!

Nathan, Matthew and Emma

Around lunch time we headed to town to run errands and eat lunch. We ended up passing Jared on the way there, so he turned around and picked up the boys to head home. We then went and picked up my Gramma Cena, and we ran our errands then stopped at A&W for lunch. Ashton ended up walking in while we were there, so we were able to chat a bit and say good bye. We dropped my Gramma Cena off and said good bye, came home and did some laundry and packed. We also spent some time down at my parents new house they are redoing, watering flowers and the garden.

Saturday, the 19th - My mom, dad, Emma, and I headed to Lincoln in the morning. We stopped at Kearney and ate Red Lobster (my dad's fav, and something I have been craving since I got pregnant, but Shane doesn't like to eat there)! We then made our way to Grand Island and stopped at Kohl's and Home Depot. When we finally made it to Lincoln, we checked into our hotel and my mom, Emma and I headed over to Heather and Jon Hughes' to meet their new son, Nolan William Hughes!!!

Mr. Nolan William Hughes (isn't he just precious!)

Me, Nolan and the new mom, Heather!
Doesn't she look great! I remember how terrible I looked after having Emma, pale and huge circles under my eyes, etc!

The beautiful new Hughes family!

Baby Nolan sleeping with his hands in his pockets!

Heather, Nolan, Emma and I

My mom, Heather, Nolan, Emma, Me and Jon

We were able to stay a few hours and hear the birth story and just share in the joy of what a blessing it is to be able to bring life into this world! Heather and I have been friends for many, many years (since 6th grade) and have been able to share many stages of our lives together, and I am excited to now be able to share the experiences of being moms!
Congrats Jon and Heather...Nolan is just beautiful and we look forward to watching him grow up and come to know Christ thru you both! He is very blessed to have you as his parents!

After we left the Hughes', we made a quick stop at Bed Bath & Beyond, grabbed Emma some supper and headed back to the hotel. There we ordered mom and I some chinese, and my dad some pizza and enjoyed our last evening together for a few months.

Emma being tickled by her Nana!

Emma and her Nana!

Sunday, the 20th -Happy Father's Day! We loaded up the suburban and headed to Iowa! Shane met us in Stuart, where we had lunch together, then said good bye. We made it home around 4:30pm, unloaded the car and then ran and got a few groceries and a movie. We spent the evening just relaxing and being together!
We plan to make it back to Nebraska for Labor Day weekend, and then that will be it for the year. We are not going to take our usual 2 weeks off over Christmas to go home, since the baby will just have been born.

Today has been a busy day trying to unpack and put everything away. I have laundry to catch up on and a huge pile of receipts to enter in my budget! I also need to get my sewing room put back together, take inventory of what supplies I am low on and get that ordered. I have several custom orders that I need to work on now.

As far as a baby update, I am feeling better than I was a few weeks ago. Not throwing up as much. The headaches have started tho and occur daily! I am also beginning to show more. I will have Shane take a picture sometime this week and get that posted!
Well, that is all for now!

14+ Week OB Appointment...

We had our monthly OB appointment today. Emma even came with Shane and I, and she did very well. It was a quick appointment. Here is a picture from today and my current stats:

14 Weeks, 3 Days Pregnant
(my shirt isn't very form fitting, so doesn't show the 'pop' in the belly I experienced this week very well)
Baby's Heart Rate: 162
Weight: 117 (down a few from last month)
They scheduled us our big ultrasound for next time, 7/7/10! And yes, we are still waiting to find out the gender til this little one arrives!