Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Las Vegas
This past weekend, the Ward Horde took yet another family vacation to Las Vegas. We visited the Bellagio Gardens, New York New York, Luxor, and walked about 20 miles. Although alcohol is a no-no for me, I enjoyed watching everyone else get goofy. It was especially funny when Allison kept poking my belly trying to get the baby to kick her back. Matt did pretty well at the blackjack tables. He ended up winning close to $250. I just about broke even. Oh well. I enjoy the family time more than anything. Matt discovered what a $35 drink tastes like and I discovered what $26 ice cream tastes like. That Vegas is tricky. Turns out no matter how good something looks, you should always ask the price before ordering it. Otherwise you had better be able to out-run the server. The ice cream was very elaborate. When the dish you order is called "The Terminator," prepare yourself. It was a mix of Oreo Cookies and Creme and Heavenly Chocolate Truffle Mousse Pie. On top of that, they dress it up with chocolate spikes, Peanut butter cups, oreos, graham cracker triangles, and a wafer. I wish I had gotten a picture of it before we devoured it but I was in such a state of shock at the price, that I was focused on eating it all and getting my money's worth....I failed at both. So I tried to take a picture of the display case to show you what I mean by elaborately decorated. I hope you get the idea. Take my advice; know what you are ordering.....
Belly at 31 Weeks
Unlike, all you people who have kids already, my day to day life is about the same. For now that is. The belly is getting bigger everyday. I am now hitting it on doors and running into counters reaching for cups when that never used to be a problem. Tying my shoes is also not on the list of comfortable things to do either. Here is a picture of the belly at 31 weeks. I have just sprouted outward over the last few weeks. He is a little basketball in there. He prefers to punch and kick on the right side and usually at night. I can definitely feel him push his foot out to the side when he stretches. I love that feeling. It is so neat to feel him roll around and push out. Some times he can be overly strong about it and I have to push back. Matt enjoys just sitting around with his hand there feeling it too. It's funny how easy Matt's heart melts when he feels him moving. I guess Gary Allen has it right in his song, "When tough little boys, grow up to be dads they turn into big babies again."
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
2008 Summary
I have finally had time to sit down and start this blog. I figure the easiest way to begin to is separate last year into 4 categories. So here we go.
Spring '08
After almost 7 months of searching, Matt and I finally found a house. It is a nice 3 bedroom, plus office, 3 bath located in Castle Rock. Two stories plus a basement, it has plenty of growing room and plenty of space for guests....hint....hint.. We had originally planned to go smaller but after all the disappointing fall through's with the other houses we looked at, and with the housing market the way it is, we were able to spring a little bigger. I don't want to have to go through all that again. We moved in the day before Easter and have been happily settled in. Painting and personalizing is so satisfying.
These pictures were taken right after we moved in so they are a bit outdated. I will try to get new ones up. Not to mention we have started to redecorate a couple rooms....... :)
Summer '08
Summer is definitely the busiest time of year for me. Summer at the barn brings all the kids and also brings 10 hour days. I teach Summer Camps for a few hours in the morning then move on to lessons in the afternoon. The summer camps have 7 kids for 3 hours learning about riding and caring for the horses. The lessons are more centered toward riding. As rewarding as it is to see the progress the kids make during the summer, it can get very repetitive and make you go a little crazy. I have advanced kids who mix it up for me. I started taking kids to horse shows last summer and they had lots of fun. It reminded me of when I was a kid. This coming summer will be centered more toward those students. They are all excellent riders and I can't wait to see how they do.
I also competed in a few horse shows of my own this summer. I started a new discipline called 3 Day Eventing. It is a three day competition combining dressage, stadium jumping and cross country jumping. In three shows I walked away with a first, and second and a big goose egg. Each of those shows was a big learning experience and a ton of adrenaline pumping fun. My horse Caesar and I love the cross country portion of the competition.
Summer also brought relaxation, fun, and vacations! Anyone in my family knows that every year we all meet up at Table Rock Lake in Missouri. We spend one long-awaited week at a resort swimming, boating, wakeboarding, surfing, and skiing. Four generations of Wards get together and catch up on a years worth of happenings and have a grand ol' time. It is comforting knowing that that tradition of family time will be there for years and years to come.
Matt and I found ourselves on a few long weekend getaways this summer. Before we went to the lake, we went to Texas to visit his cousins in Galveston. We spent a couple days on the beach hanging out with his family who we only get so see once every couple years.
Our other fateful getaway took us to the western slope of Colorado to Grand Junction, CO. There we partied our weekend away at a country concert known as Country Jam. We saw a dozen bands perform live and we spent the nights partying with fellow campers.
Fall '08
Once the summer slowed down a bit, we were able to organize a house warming party. We invited family, friends and co-workers to see our new house and to share some big news. Remember Country Jam? Turns out that was a big turning point in our lives. We found out 5 weeks later, after Texas and the lake, that we were pregnant. It came as a surprise to us but after the initial shock wore off and I convinced Matt that we didn't have to sell the house, we announced it to everyone. It was a hard secret to keep from so many people for so long but it was a relief to let it out. All the congratulations were very reassuring and our excitement grew more everyday.
Around Thanksgiving, when were about 21 weeks along, we were able to get ultrasounds of Baby. We found that it was a boy, he was a week ahead of schedule in development and around the 70 percentile for size for his gestation. But all that considered, it was hard to tell anything at all from the outside. It wasn't until about 7 months that you could really tell anything through my coats that I wear to the barn. There have been a couple decent days here in January when I can wear clothes that really show. Now there is no hiding it. It's obvious no matter what I wear. He is a very mobile baby and lets me know when it's time to wake up in the morning. He seems to be most active in the morning and at night. My favorite thing is now that he is bigger, you can see him kick. He also loves to stick his butt out to the side when he stretches.
Winter '08
December is the last stop of last year's recap. Matt and I went to Washington to spend some time with his immediate family and his uncle Art and great-aunt Estelle. We all rented a house on the Oregon coast for three days, played cribbage and walked along the beach. The weather was nice and we even saw a whale and sea lions from our back yard. Although it was way too cold to swim, it was a very relaxing trip.
We spent Christmas in Wichita, KS. Every year seems to be a bit different now that everyone is married and having kids. After a big breakfast, we opened presents at Jen and Joe's with immediate family. We spent the afternoon playing Rock Band on the Wii. Later we went to Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner. Friday, the gals threw Baby Wenstrom a baby shower. He made out pretty well with clothes, toys, a bath tub and of course diapers. We were able to finish Christmas that night after Michael and Allison came in from Oklahoma.
New Years Eve was a pretty fun time. Matt and I hosted a New Years Eve party at our house. Jen and Joe brought Rock Band, Jared and Christy brought the Jungle Juice, and John brought the Absynth. Those things combined make a hell of a party. Those who were too embarrased to sing at the beginning of the night were the stars of the show by the end. We found out who has rhythm and who doesn't and who was meant to be a Rock Star. As it turns out, if you bring in an illegal substance to drink, it may be a good idea to drink it in moderation. Absynth doesn't go down as smoothly as, say, Jager or even Jack Daniels. It is mighty potent. All in all, it was a fun party.
So that about wraps it up. Lots of exciting things have happened in the last year but we are looking forward to many more exciting things to come. I hope you all have a Happy New Year and I will do my best to keep an up to date blog in the next year!!
Spring '08
After almost 7 months of searching, Matt and I finally found a house. It is a nice 3 bedroom, plus office, 3 bath located in Castle Rock. Two stories plus a basement, it has plenty of growing room and plenty of space for guests....hint....hint.. We had originally planned to go smaller but after all the disappointing fall through's with the other houses we looked at, and with the housing market the way it is, we were able to spring a little bigger. I don't want to have to go through all that again. We moved in the day before Easter and have been happily settled in. Painting and personalizing is so satisfying.
These pictures were taken right after we moved in so they are a bit outdated. I will try to get new ones up. Not to mention we have started to redecorate a couple rooms....... :)
Summer '08
Summer is definitely the busiest time of year for me. Summer at the barn brings all the kids and also brings 10 hour days. I teach Summer Camps for a few hours in the morning then move on to lessons in the afternoon. The summer camps have 7 kids for 3 hours learning about riding and caring for the horses. The lessons are more centered toward riding. As rewarding as it is to see the progress the kids make during the summer, it can get very repetitive and make you go a little crazy. I have advanced kids who mix it up for me. I started taking kids to horse shows last summer and they had lots of fun. It reminded me of when I was a kid. This coming summer will be centered more toward those students. They are all excellent riders and I can't wait to see how they do.
I also competed in a few horse shows of my own this summer. I started a new discipline called 3 Day Eventing. It is a three day competition combining dressage, stadium jumping and cross country jumping. In three shows I walked away with a first, and second and a big goose egg. Each of those shows was a big learning experience and a ton of adrenaline pumping fun. My horse Caesar and I love the cross country portion of the competition.
Summer also brought relaxation, fun, and vacations! Anyone in my family knows that every year we all meet up at Table Rock Lake in Missouri. We spend one long-awaited week at a resort swimming, boating, wakeboarding, surfing, and skiing. Four generations of Wards get together and catch up on a years worth of happenings and have a grand ol' time. It is comforting knowing that that tradition of family time will be there for years and years to come.
Matt and I found ourselves on a few long weekend getaways this summer. Before we went to the lake, we went to Texas to visit his cousins in Galveston. We spent a couple days on the beach hanging out with his family who we only get so see once every couple years.
Our other fateful getaway took us to the western slope of Colorado to Grand Junction, CO. There we partied our weekend away at a country concert known as Country Jam. We saw a dozen bands perform live and we spent the nights partying with fellow campers.
Fall '08
Once the summer slowed down a bit, we were able to organize a house warming party. We invited family, friends and co-workers to see our new house and to share some big news. Remember Country Jam? Turns out that was a big turning point in our lives. We found out 5 weeks later, after Texas and the lake, that we were pregnant. It came as a surprise to us but after the initial shock wore off and I convinced Matt that we didn't have to sell the house, we announced it to everyone. It was a hard secret to keep from so many people for so long but it was a relief to let it out. All the congratulations were very reassuring and our excitement grew more everyday.
Around Thanksgiving, when were about 21 weeks along, we were able to get ultrasounds of Baby. We found that it was a boy, he was a week ahead of schedule in development and around the 70 percentile for size for his gestation. But all that considered, it was hard to tell anything at all from the outside. It wasn't until about 7 months that you could really tell anything through my coats that I wear to the barn. There have been a couple decent days here in January when I can wear clothes that really show. Now there is no hiding it. It's obvious no matter what I wear. He is a very mobile baby and lets me know when it's time to wake up in the morning. He seems to be most active in the morning and at night. My favorite thing is now that he is bigger, you can see him kick. He also loves to stick his butt out to the side when he stretches.
Winter '08
December is the last stop of last year's recap. Matt and I went to Washington to spend some time with his immediate family and his uncle Art and great-aunt Estelle. We all rented a house on the Oregon coast for three days, played cribbage and walked along the beach. The weather was nice and we even saw a whale and sea lions from our back yard. Although it was way too cold to swim, it was a very relaxing trip.
We spent Christmas in Wichita, KS. Every year seems to be a bit different now that everyone is married and having kids. After a big breakfast, we opened presents at Jen and Joe's with immediate family. We spent the afternoon playing Rock Band on the Wii. Later we went to Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner. Friday, the gals threw Baby Wenstrom a baby shower. He made out pretty well with clothes, toys, a bath tub and of course diapers. We were able to finish Christmas that night after Michael and Allison came in from Oklahoma.
New Years Eve was a pretty fun time. Matt and I hosted a New Years Eve party at our house. Jen and Joe brought Rock Band, Jared and Christy brought the Jungle Juice, and John brought the Absynth. Those things combined make a hell of a party. Those who were too embarrased to sing at the beginning of the night were the stars of the show by the end. We found out who has rhythm and who doesn't and who was meant to be a Rock Star. As it turns out, if you bring in an illegal substance to drink, it may be a good idea to drink it in moderation. Absynth doesn't go down as smoothly as, say, Jager or even Jack Daniels. It is mighty potent. All in all, it was a fun party.
So that about wraps it up. Lots of exciting things have happened in the last year but we are looking forward to many more exciting things to come. I hope you all have a Happy New Year and I will do my best to keep an up to date blog in the next year!!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
