Catch up

We've been running a hundred different directions lately, so here's a pit of a catch up.  All these photos are random shots over the last couple weeks!  Some day I'll get serious and do a real post with real pictures instead of these pictures from my phone!

I've been saying I'm waiting for something "good" to blog about since my last post was kind of a downer, but if I didn't keep it real I'd never have anything to write about.  Grammy H. still isn't doing well.  She isn't improving at all really, and it looks like we are headed toward hospice care...sooner rather than later.  I did slip up to visit her for a little bit Saturday night, and I'm so glad I did!  I expected far worse, but she knew me immediately, and was very appreciative for the visit.  I delivered some hand-painted artwork from Delaney, so I hope that will brighter her little room up there a little bit! 

We did have some good news last week!  Jessica got a job with Storm Lake Public Schools!  They offered her the job about 24hours after she interviewed!  This takes some of the pressure off Nick for their big move to Storm Lake!  Now, they just need to sell their house and they'll be good to go!  They've had a few showings, so let's hope the right buyer comes along soon so they don't have to spend the whole summer apart or traveling back & forth!

We were lucky enough to be part of a good friend's wedding this past weekend!  Craig's college roommate Travis got married up in Omaha & Craig was one of his groomsman.  If you know Craig, he's the life of the party and he did not disappoint this weekend!  We had lots of fun catching up with some old & new friends, and getting all dressed up!  We even had some carefree moments on the dance floor, which is exactly what a stressed out momma needs from time-to-time! I, of course, didn't take a single picture all weekend, but it was a good one!  We are still very much recovering today!  We're getting a little too old for all those late nights and drinks! 

We celebrated Mother's Day with our mothers yesterday!  We are very lucky to have our mother's here close with us, so that we could see them to celebrate!  We couldn't pull off any of this craziness without their love & support, so we are very grateful!  Two-year-old's obviously have no idea what Mother's Day means is all about, but I felt the love from Delaney anyway!  She was a tired, hot mess by the time we got home, but I wouldn't trade any of it for a second! 

Speaking of Delaney, here are some of her latest highlights!  Enjoy!

Delaney's dinnertime antics have gotten a bit nutty lately!  She's very independent, so she won't wear a bib, sit in a high chair, or use "toddler-size" silverware.  It's always "Dinner & A Show" at our house!

Little Miss D is just getting into Dress Up activities.  It's not fairy princess crowns and gowns for this girl.  With the exception of Mommy's high heels, she's all about super hero capes and hats! 

Her hair is getting so long!  She can rock the piggies with no trouble these days!  The hardest part is getting her to sit still long enough to put them in!

Our gauntlet of weekend travels, and as you can see Delaney is enjoying it!  The mere mention of grandparents, and she's bouncing off the walls!  I hate to "send her away" so much, but I love that she's getting lots of quality time with all her grandparents that love her to pieces!

Delaney has become very musical lately!  She's always singing one of her songs.  Her favorites are ABCs, Twinkle Twinkle, and Rock-a-bye Baby!  She has also decided that Mommy isn't allowed to sing in the car anymore and Daddy isn't allowed to whistling!  So bossy!

My nemesis in the kitchen finally kicked the bucket last week, so I got a brand new dishwasher!  I'm such a nerd, but I was so excited...I HATED our old one!  This was supposed to be my Mother's Day gift, but Delaney (with help from Daddy) spoiled me anyway with a spa gift card! 

The farmer in Craig, couldn't resist the first shipment of fresh sweet corn at the grocery store a couple weeks ago!  It was actually pretty good considering it's so early and from a grocery store (we're used to fresh from the field corn at our house!)  As you can see, Delaney loved every last bite!

We have been trying to enjoy the beautiful spring "Summer" weather we've been having lately as much as we can!  This means that the little peanut is staying up a little later, but in the grand scheme of things it's totally worth it for moments like this! 

We Survived!!!

We are back in Lincoln having survived all the holidays and the big wedding! It was all a lot of fun, but it does feel nice to be home and getting back to "normal" life. The Christmas blizzard wasn't much fun. Luckily, we made it up to Tekamah before it hit. This meant some extra quality time with my family which was great, but it also meant no Mencke/Wortman family Christmas which was sad. It was a good thing we were there too because Craig's truck was the only vehicle in the Bryant family that was able to get around town for a couple days. He even managed to get it stuck on Christmas in Tekamah, but they got it dug out pretty quick!

We didn't get to celebrate Christmas with all of our extended families like we had planned, but I'm very grateful for what we were able to do. It sounds like we were one of the few families that still had a Christmas dinner and celebration on Christmas. Many families in the area were snowed in without power. No fun!

After Christmas came and went, we geared up for Jess & Nick's wedding. Last week was a whirlwind of activities. It was a lot of fun to spend time with everyone for such an exciting occasion. Their wedding day was all but perfect! Jess looked absolutely gorgeous, and they still had a great turnout considering the crazy weather conditions. The only downside of the day was Jess's nervous stomach getting the best of her for most of the reception. All and all, it was still a great party, and everyone there had a blast! Craig was no exception. I heard from one family of party-goers that they rated him among the top 5 drunkest! If they would have seen him at 1:30 a.m. when we got to the hotel with Jess & Nick...I think he would have jumped up a few spots! Crazy!

After a day of rest and recovery on Friday, we made a trip to the Nebraska Furniture Mart with Craig's parents. We finally bought the king-size bed we've been thinking/dreaming about for months. It will be delivered this Saturday, and I cannot wait. We should have done this years ago! We also found a Lay-Z-Boy recliner for the nursery that I'm super excited about. Everything's starting to come together! I'm excited to see the room start to look more and more like a nursery.

January is shaping up to be another busy month, with lots of baby-related activities. We have meetings this week with a potential pediatrician and another potential daycare provider. Wish us luck...both are important decisions, that I would like to have made sooner rather than later. I also have my first baby shower this weekend with my best friend Amanda. She's down to 4 weeks, so keep her in your thoughts as she gets closer and closer to the end. Our next doctor's appointment is next week with the big glucose screening! Then, next weekend we have another family wedding...my cousin Joe and his fiance Erin are getting married up in Omaha. It should be another fun evening!

The Latest

It's been a while since I've posted. I'm not really sure why, but all is good here! We are now 15 1/2 weeks along with the baby. We get more and more excited about everything each day! It's good that time is flying by. It also helps that there are plenty of things going on these days to keep us busy!

We have had 2 doctors appointments now. We heard the little one's heartbeat at both appointments. According to the doctor it was around 160-170 bpm. I'm still feeling really good. I'm starting to get a little energy back, and I have more of an appetite. My doctor says I have actually lost a few pounds. I think that's a little funny considering I haven't been sick thus far in the pregnancy, but I have definitely been eating less. Mostly, because nothing sounds good!

We did have a bit of a set back last week. I got the flu, or something just like it. I actually spent 3+ days in bed. I only got up to shower (every other day), go to the bathroom, or get something to drink. It was ridiculous. I never remember being sick like that before. I definitely think I had the flu of some kind. I did have the seasonal flu shot in early September, so I suppose it could have been the dreaded H1N1 as I haven't gotten that vaccine yet. Izzy took care of me those days while Craig was at work! She's a great snuggle buddy!

We have scheduled our next doctor's appointment for November 18th. We are really looking
forward to that one as we will get to see the little one that day on an ultrasound! We are still going to have a surprise as far as gender goes, and wait until he or she is born to find out. I'm still thinking it's a girl, but time will tell!

Jessica & Nick's wedding events kicked off today. We had the Hassler Family Pampered Chef Shower. It was nice to see the family! It was also nice since I was the PC rep, so I made a little something! Their next shower is back home in a few weeks! That one will be fun I'm sure! After that the holidays start with the bachelor & bachelorette parties thrown in the middle for fun! I'm really looking forward to the wedding!

Dog Park, Road Trips, & More!

Yikes, it's been a while! Let's see, what's happened since my last post. Well, I guess the biggest news is that Jess & Nick have picked New Year's Eve 2009 as their wedding date! It wasn't their first choice because of all our December birthdays, but due to some conflicts with Nick's family next summer it was the next best option. It should be a lot of fun, and one hell of a way to end 2009! We went dress shopping last Friday, and she picked the first dress she tried on! (Of course, she tried on many others, but nothing topped that first one!) It is absolutely gorgeous on her! We also got lucky and found bridesmaid's dresses for us (She asked me to be her Maid of Honor...I'm so excited!). The dresses for us are tea length & black! I love them!

We spend the rest of the weekend hanging with friends we don't see too often. We got the chance to go to the Melting Pot in Omaha to celebrate Amanda & Scott's anniversary with them. OMG, that restaurant is sooooo good but man is it expensive! I will definitely go back, but it's going to have to be a special occasion! After dinner, we headed over to Travis's house for a backyard concert. It was pretty fun, the music was good, the friends were good, but the drive home after midnight kinda sucked!

Sunday was a lazy day up until we decided to take Izzy to the Dog Park for the first time! She was a little overwhelmed by the big dogs that ran up to her to say "Hi!", but overall I think she had a good time! Here are some pics of the experience!






Here she is just warming up to the place! Notice her tail is down...not typical!










Craig wanted to see what she would do in the water...of course, she was too scared to go in on her own, so he threw her in! Awesome! She didn't like that too much, and found her way to land as quick as she could!





Sunday evening, the Community Church had a children's carnival and fireworks. We walked up with our neighbors to watch the show. I must admit I was impressed by the fireworks display! It lasted quite a while and the fireworks were pretty cool! It definitely pumped me up for this weekend!

Monday, we had our usual grill night with our friends. As normal, the food was great and the conversation better! Last night, we exposed our favorite neighbors, Tim & Alli (and their 4-year-old Greyson) to our favorite Chinese take-out Zhangs! It was so yummy, and we had a great time hanging out with him. Izzy & Greyson wore each other out, so that was entertaining to watch!

Now, we trying to get organized for our trip out to Colorado Springs. We are leaving tomorrow afternoon as soon as we can get out of work. I have the house cleaned, and I'm working on the laundry. I hope to be packed by 9! I better get moving!

Wow! This was long, and I have pictures in my post...I'm getting better at this blog thing I think. Now, if only people would read it! Ha!

Well, if any of you are reading this, I hope you have a great 4th of July! It is definitely my favorite holiday!

It's a great day!

I got a call from my sister this morning...she's engaged! It's about time, no really we just have all knew this was coming for quite some time, so we've been waiting for what seems like forever. I am beyond excited for her and Nick. They are so great together! I couldn't have picked anyone better for her.

So...this means we have another year full of wedding planning, parties, and fun! I am so excited! I had so much fun with our wedding, so I know this will be fun too! Especially, since I'm not the one making all the decisions!

Oh, and Jess & Nick closed on their house this morning too, so it's been a HUGE day for them! Talk about timing!