More details!

I'm glad you all enjoyed our announcement. We actually told our church family the news a couple weeks ago when Andrew just wore that shirt to church. None of us said anything, we just wanted for people to notice. Our pastor's wife is Andrew's Sunday School teacher, and a very, very good friend of ours. She didn't notice until halfway through class; when she did the door burst open and she came running out asking "Is this true??!?!?!?" Not exactly a shirt you put on your kid as a joke! :)

Here are a few more details: I'm just a bit past 10 weeks, so we're due May 25. Very early in this pregnancy, when we knew but Andrew didn't, he and I were eating lunch one day when he started talking about being Butterscotch's big brother. I reminded him that he could only be a brother to a person and asked what he'd think if that happened. He thought it would be "cool." Then, out of Andrew's mouth came this sentence: "If I were to have a person baby brother [a sister isn't even a consideration in his mind], I think he should be born in May." WHAT??? When I asked why, he just said it sounded like a good time. I knew already that he would be right, but my goodness!

We told Andrew shortly after this conversation, and a bit earlier than I would have initially liked, because I have been fairly sick. Way more than with Andrew, although I don't think as sick as Sarah seems to get. One day Andrew told me that I needed to stop throwing up so we could leave for school. I was trying, buddy! I have started having some better days, so am hopeful that as the end of the 1st trimester approaches, I'll start to feel better. It is pretty funny, however, because even Andrew has started to blame Tater (our in-utero name for this child) for about everything...

The other amazing part of this preganancy is it's timing. Some of you know that we lost a baby 2 yrs. ago (we're very comfortable talking about it at this point, although Andrew does NOT know about it). It was a pretty rough road for Mike and I, and each year I have struggled around the anniversary of the miscarriage. We found out about this baby on the 2 yr. anniversary of my D&C to treat my miscarriage. Literally, on the day. For us this was a beautiful gift from God and a redemption of a day that held such sadness. It doesn't take away the pain of the loss, but it does add great joy to that date. Because I have lost a baby, I have been monitored closely and all is progressing well this time around. We saw Tater on ultrasound around 4 weeks ago and they picked up a heartbeat--earlier than the normally can. Again, another blessing of comfort that all is well.

So, we're super excited, and maybe a bit anxious about what it will be like going back to a helpless being! Andrew has become pretty self-sufficient in many things and it will be a big change to have a newborn in the house. But, he's really excited to help, often asks how big Tater will be when he's born. We've been looking at various websites that track the growth of the baby and loves to think about Tater as the size of a kumquat! We do, of course, covet your prayers as we continue through this pregnancy.

Love,
Heather

Nehre Update

I'm with Erin--I can't believe it's been so long since there have been updates on here! I know we've been in contact via email some, but wow!

I did want to send a brief update on life in STL. Things are well with us. Andrew is LOVING preschool. Today was the halloween party, so he was all excited to go in the robot costume that he and Mike designed a few weeks ago. It's pretty cute and the best part was that Andrew drew "blueprints" for it, so it wasn't a daddy-led project. I'm about ready to go pick him up and hear all about the other costumes, I'm sure.

School is going well for both Mike and I. I enjoyed a bit of reprieve last week during fall break. The only bummer was that I couldn't find affordable airfare to Minneapolis to visit Mom. :( It's been hard being so far away through this whole ordeal, as positive as most of it has been.

Here's a recent picture of Andrew that will tell you a bit more about our lives right now....

As you can tell, he's pretty excited, and so are we! More to come, but I need to run for now!

Love,

Heather

Nina

I just realized my post from last week wasn't published, so I just published it now.

I brought Nina home on Thursday and she is doing very well.

She and Bailey are getting along great.

She loves squirrels. She stayed in this position for about 2 min watching the squirrel come down the tree.

Here are some additional pics of her since coming home.

We went to the vet today for her first visit - she weighs 78 lbs, which is her ideal weight. She was 64 lbs when she was rescued around 8/15. I'll be reducing her food down by a cup to maintain. We talked about the # of calories treats can add and how to use treats but to break them up into pea size chunks to use throughout the day rather than a whole treat each time.
She's definitely had at least one litter of puppies.
The dr thinks she is a mix of some sort with Great Pyrenees given her size (not as large as a GP), although as I read about GP's she fits with the descriptions of the females. She has mild anxiety, but the dr thinks that's a good thing. I just need to work with her so she doesn't end up with separation anxiety, which I expected.
I signed her up for a "Welcome Home" dog training class that starts this Sat (lucky!) and runs through the weekend before Thanksgiving. The training company is actually behind the vet, so it's very easy to get to. Here's the description of the class:
"Did you just adopt an adult dog? Or is this your dog's fifth home in five months? Based on our extensive experience and knowledge of shelter dog behavior, we created this class to meet the needs of re-homes and rescued dogs 8 months old and up. We will work on basic handling and obedience skills to encourage good canine manners and facilitate communication and trust."

Changes at Erin's Home

Hi all,

I hope you are doing well. I have to say that it is sad that the last post was in June. I can't believe it is the end of September!

So, a couple of weeks ago I would have said my exciting news was having new windows installed in my new home (9 of them). I can now open my windows and the trim color is more to my liking. No more 1950's golden pine, now I need to find someone to strip and restain my door moldings. :)

My more exciting news is that I am adopting a dog. Her name is Nina and she is a 3-year old Great Pyrenees. She was rescued from a kill shelter and has been in a foster home for 1 month with 3 kids, 2 adults and 2 dogs. I had found her online and then went to an adoption event to visit her where there were at least 50 other dogs and she was calm, cool and collected. She didn't bark or seem stressed. She seems to walk well on a leash and has been learning how to "sit". We'll see how she and Bailey do together, that is the only unknown.

I am going to pick her up on Thursday.

I hope you are all doing well! Looking forward to Thanksgiving and seeing everyone - especially the little kids who don't appear to be so little anymore!

Erin

Flowers...

For those of you not on Facebook.... I am loving my yard! Lots of flowers blooming, dying back, new stuff growing... I spent a little time today in the yard - playing with my camera and taking some pics... I've been playing with the "macro" setting on my camera. Unfortunately a couple of the pics are sideways and I haven't figured out how to rotate them on the blog.

G&G I will have my laptop next week, so I can show you more pics of my yard and house.

June, again!

Just thought maybe I should mention that Dad's 87th birthday is soming up fast and wondered if you had been thinking whether everyone can get together this year and when. The actual date is on a Monday so I suppose the week-end before would be good. Would Saturday work better than Sunday for some of you? Think about it and we can all decide.

Finally, a day without rain! Still windy but the sun is shining. Wish everyone could see my purple clamatis at the northeast corner of the house. It is in full bloom from all sides and is quite beautiful. Just a solid mass of purple.

Think about the birthday and let us know what you think.

Grandma

Per my previous post, here are some pics I took tonight with my blackberry... If you click on the pics, they will open larger pictures.

Not sure what the plant in the middle is, but it is surrounded by hostas. Any ideas? This is the south side of my house, it's like a jungle out there with the hostas and pachysandra (sp?), those are roses sticking up from the hostas.

When I bought the house, the daughter said there were 2 lilacs. Tonight I finally figured out that the small bush south of the house is a lilac. The other one is blooming, this one is growing and just starting to have blooms appear.

This is something new that has sprouted up over the last week or so (and it's already a foot tall). I'm not sure what it is - any ideas? I posted on Facebook and 2 people think Lilies....

I have a few different clumps of columbine throughout the garden. On the north sunny side, I see ones that will be pink. Towards the front of the yard, I saw these - I'm not sure I've ever seen deep purple!

Wright Plus - 48 hours away!

It's hard to believe, but it's almost the 3rd weekend in May, which means Wright Plus weekend!!
Also hard to believe, I will have owned my house for 2 months on Saturday!
I'm still not unpacked because I have been so busy with work and Wright Plus preparations for the last 2 months. I'm really looking forward to the next 2 months when I can finally get unpacked and settled in.
I walked around my yard today after almost 2 weeks (due to travels for work and then freezing cold/windy weather) and WOW - has the yard exploded. Those really warm temps last week and then all of the rain... I will post some pics in a separate post, because there are some plants I am unsure about.
Matt is coming to visit this weekend with Dad for Wright Plus. They are staying with me for the short weekend - so excited!
Mom & Dave are also coming out for Wright Plus. They came for a visit a couple weeks ago and stayed with me and helped me put my grill together and get some essentials like shelving! It will be fun to walk the yard with mom only a few weeks later, but it looks so different! Mom's long-time friend Deb & her husband are also coming to Wright Plus, so they will be hanging out together while I am hanging out with Matt & Dad. We'll be able to hang on Sunday and maybe Monday (I love retirement and how you don't have to have a schedule set in stone - wish I could retire).
Sounds like Sarah has one week left of school - good luck! What else is new in everyone's life?