Lull

It's still winter and it still continues to snow. Nothing is melting and nothing is getting greener.

There is still limited sunshine, limited warmth and limited width to get up my driveway.

To top things off, we have to watch the Packers in the Super Bowl on Sunday.

Uh. I can see how people get seasonal depression.

At least there's still sleeping, fireplaces... and chocolate. And the Steelers.

Yoga

I miss yoga. I haven't been in probably a month thanks to my marathon colds, the holidays, the flu and every other drama in between. I miss the quiet. I miss the studio. I miss savasana (shah-VAHS-anna). I miss the instructors. I miss my flexibility. I miss my balance. I miss how I felt afterward. I miss reconnecting. Most of all… I miss the music. I have several songs from some of my yoga classes on my iTunes play list and it's bittersweet listening to them. Bitter because, again, I haven't been to yoga in such a while and sweet because they virtually take me to my mindset when I was at yoga. Peace.

Below are some youtube links to my favorites. Go see what I mean. Try not to feel calmer afterwards. I dare you.

Such Great Heights by Iron & Wine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKGHkBComjM

Forever Young by Audra Mae & The Forest Rangers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDzJbmZe2rw

Be Here Now by Ray LaMontagne
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vl3V0dTRDvI

Changes

I anticipated some changes with being pregnant, but let's be honest, I really had no idea what was about to ensue. Naturally, some have caught me off guard and are a little, well, unnerving. I'm assuming all are normal but let's be honest, what does "normal" mean anyway.

First, there's the reality that I've recently taken up snoring, or at least that's what the husband tells me. I've always been a drooler, teeth grinder and jaw clencher so just be thankful I'm snuggling up next to Shawn and not you (or "Gary", but that's a whole other posting about great gifts you inherit from neighbors who have formally been pregnant).

Then there's my new found love (read: addiction) to salsa. Not just any salsa. Salsa Lisa salsa. This salsa binging inevitably leads to heart burn and "southern discomfort." Speaking of the southern body, everything is just "off." Things are shut down, things are turned up, nothing is the way it used to be and frankly, nothing good can come from any of it. Needless to say I'm feeling pretty damn sexy these days.

Let's not forget I now can't make it up a case of stairs without needing some oxygen administered, I can't make it through brushing my teeth without some involuntary gagging and I can't make it through the night without getting up to pee at least twice, if not three, four or five times.

Also, I'm forced to mourn the loss of a few of my former favorite foods: pancakes, pumpkin pie and Triscuits. The thought of them makes me want to regurgitate my dinner. There are others but of course I can't remember them. Hell, I can't remember what day it is. This brings me to my next point.

I can't remember my own name sometimes let alone anything else. I am a note writing FOOL these days. Or, I'm constantly telling Shawn to remind me of something. It's almost scary how stupid I feel, especially since I formally considered myself an intelligent person.

None of the above compare to this, however. The most disturbing of all, are the dreams. I have had some of the weirdest, and I mean mysteriously bizarre dreams. Ever. They're usually not scary but they can be depressing and are almost always the most eclectic combination of things, people or events. Ironically, I can remember them very, very well and I usually have about three full sets each night (probably starting the cycle over every time I get up to pee). Of all the things I need to remember, these are not it. Don't get me wrong, there are a few good ones in there but on a whole, yeah, not so good.

Only being 14 (or 15) weeks along, things are bound to get worse, if not more interesting. At least there is someone legally bound to walk this yellow brick road with me and lots of women surrounding me to assure me that when I do reach the Wizard of Oz, all will be worth it.

*deep cleansing breaths*

Answers

"Cletus the Fetus" DeBoer went public one week ago. Since then, we have told the same stories and answered the same questions approximately 1,493 times. Not really, but it has been A LOT. Suffice it to say we feel like the proverbial broken record. Because of this, I thought it about time to follow up on the infamous ultrasound with some concrete information - in list format no less.

Where did the name Cletus come from?
The Cornstubles. Andy and Mandi called all their spawn Cletus the Fetus while Mandi was pregnant. Therefore when they found out, Andy immediately asked if they could call it Cletus. Silly enough, we were actually honored they wanted us to carry on the tradition.

What is our due date?
It was originally July 20th but after our first doctor's appointment, we measured at 12 weeks as opposed to 13 and now have a due date of July 27th. Inside scoop: I'm still shooting for the 20th.

Are you finding out what you are having?
No. I know, shocking. I pride myself on being type A, OCD, a list maker and always a planner. For some reason though, I'm more motivated now by the surprise of it all and need that something extra to look forward to. Maybe something to help distract me from all the questions, unknowns and uncertainties. Shawn on the other hand has always prided himself on being the quintessential type B, "fly-by-the-seat-of-his pants, you know, moment to moment" kind of guy. Needless to say, he's never wanted to know and didn't take any convincing. Bottom line, there are very few, genuine surprises left in the world and we want to experience one of life's greatest. We're putting immediate gratification on the back burner and embracing gender neutrals.

How am I feeling?
Good. I know, equally shocking. As someone who can't handle a kiddy ride at the fair, I always assumed I'd be green pretty much for 10 months when the day finally came. As it turns out, I've fared amazingly well. That's not to say I haven't evaded all illnesses. I did have two, giant, gold medal colds and continue to battle a persistent cough and phlegm. Then of course there was the New Year's flu Shawn and I both experienced. As for morning sickness though, I've been flying under the radar. Don't get me wrong, there were times if I didn't eat, I got very "hangry" and it was a rough road until I got some sugar in me, but I never actually lost a lunch to any such nausea.

Do you have names picked out?
Yes. We have a good list for both genders but NO, we are not telling anyone. This has been the topic of great debate, and I would even say verbal abuse, especially at my work. I'm fascinated people are SO interested in the name of the future DeBoer. I will tell you this, it won't be Shawn, Kali, Norman or Leo. Other then that, you'll just have to hurry up and wait. No offense, but we have no interest in your opinion of the name of our future spawn.

How did you get an ultrasound so early?
That's a bittersweet story. We went in for our first appointment and my doctor couldn't find the heartbeat with the Doppler (sound-only machine). We found out after the fact that this is quite common. It was because of this we got to have an ultrasound to make sure everything was okay. Although I could have laid on that bed all day and watched our little Cletus practically do flips, I was also relieved to know all was well because it gave me permission to PEE! I had to go from the moment we walked into the door so it was (thankfully) a major distraction during the whole process.

In summary, we are well, Cletus is well and Norman and Leo are as rambunctious as ever.

Wordless

Sick

Pre-Christmas, I had a nasty, harsh, lingering cold. Then, during New Years in Nebraska, I got the flu. The true, disgusting, painful and miserable kind. And, I gave it to Shawn. We were not a pretty pair for a while and it was THE longest drive back home we've ever had to endure. I'll spare you the gory details. Trust me, I'm doing you a HUGE favor. Then, the night my flu subsided, I got another cold. The phlegm, phlegm, phlegm, phlegm, phlegm kind. Ew is right.

I give. UNCLE! I'm waving my white flag. I surrender. I apologize to the universe. I'm sorry! For whatever reason I've been bestowed these lovely illnesses, I don't care. I want them gone. GONE. I know every challenge builds character (thanks, Michelle) but I have enough for now. Really. Winter in Minnesota is bad enough without adding the holidays AND sickness to make it worse. Enough already.

In any case, being sick is my excuse for my absence from blogging. Not that my latest posts have been anything to write home about, for which I apologize, but at least there were such posts. When I have energy again and have exhausted my Kleenex supply, I'll get with it. I promise. Right now I'll return to my haziness and fog and try not to fall asleep at work…

Basement

The following are not pretty pictures but they are the pictures of progress. We have made steps towards finishing our basement. Again, nothing beautiful but both deemed structurally necessary.

First, we put in an egress window. Check that. Handyman A1 Services put in an egress window. It's Andersen like the rest of our new windows and it looks out onto a lovely steel surround accentuated by a steel ladder and right now, some snow. Aside from the nonstop digging by hand our faithful contractors did, it seemed to be a pretty easy, seamless process. One still better left to experts, however, since it involved cutting into our foundation. End result: We can now, legally, put a bedroom downstairs thus converting our three bedroom home to four.

The newest Andersen

Then, after great debate and much deliberation and discussion among us, neighbors, friends, coworkers, family and experts, we decided to go ahead and install some drain tile. Again, we didn't, G. Gardner Concrete and Water Proofing did. It seems rare on Ruggles to waterproof our seemingly dry basements but we wanted to insure the money we'll be investing in this redo and like they always say, better to be safe then sorry. It was a less glamorous project then even the window. It involved two days of jack-hammering, hand removal of concrete slabs, laying of PVC piping, new concrete and then there was the dust, everywhere. They did their best to shield our belongings from all the dust but to no avail, most things downstairs are a slightly lighter shade then what they started.

The new concrete slope that surrounds all four walls

Forgive me, the following photo is upside down and I'm too lazy to fix it. Who cares, it's not pretty either.

Our brand new, beautiful sump pump

Both projects were granted permission by the city of Roseville and their subsequent permits and both were inspected as being completely up to code and shall we say, perfect? We are very satisfied with the work done and would recommend either contractor to anyone. Next up, designing a floor plan. We finally took an hour last night to completely measure out the basement and it's now my duty to take those numbers and draw an accurate representation using floorplanner.com. Wish me luck.

Jordyn

Jordyn Grace DeBoer was born on Wednesday, November 17th. Team DeBoer had to wait 10 whole days to exchanged acquaintances with her on Saturday, November 27th. She's the cutest, littlest, quietest baby girl we've ever seen! Props go to her parents for adorning her with Hawkeye black and gold in honor of the Iowa versus Minnesota football game. Pity it didn't work in their favor. She must have known Minnesooootans were in town. *muah-aa-aa*

It's been so long since I've seen a newborn I forgot out teeny tiny they are. The only thing not small are her dimples! I'm inspired to see the DeBoer dimples were passed down! Granted you can't really see hers right now unless she wails or has gas, but trust me, they're there and they're adorable. She's even got a chin dimple thanks to her Maumma. You wouldn't think a baby could have that many cute features but you'd be wrong. She's perfect, healthy and most importantly, very loved.

We've had the pleasure of seeing her since our initial visit and look forward to all visits to come. We have a love/hate relationship with Interstate 35.  

Pay no attention to the dweebazoid… just appreciate the whimsical baby.

She's Chuck Norris Approved.

The rule: if she's poops when you're holding her, you get to change her. What if she poops while you're changing her Uncle Shawn?

Dad came in to help a hysterical Jordyn. Do two DeBoers make a right? Scary.

Tree

Meet this year's Team DeBoer Annual Family Christmas Tree

I'm not a huge holiday fan to start with so the thought of having to celebrate Christmas this year just seemed… like a chore. So much so that I was ready to forgo getting a tree and decorating our house altogether. I'm not exactly sure what or when I changed my mind but I did and so we did in fact, get a tree. Shawn and I each dawned a pair of my Dad's old hunting boots and set out in the Camry to Hampton Hills Tree Farm to scope out and saw down our chosen tree. In keeping with tradition, it was freezing, it was snowy, it was fun. This is the first year the mister and I opted for a tree a little… different. For our fourth go-round, we chose a squat, small, short, toad-of-a-tree. And we couldn't be more pleased.

Notice there are no decorations near the bottom. Or as we like to say, there are no decorations at basset height. There were some but they've either been broken, chewed, ate or misplaced. I have to believe a majority have fallen to the newness of Leo but I can't let Norman off the hook completely. He's not the brightest light in the harbor therefore he could be peer pressured into doing something naughty. In fact, we've been witness to it on many occasions. Leo's definitely the leader and Norman's definitely the dopey follower.

Other then our toad, I did break out the stockings. It had to be done since this is the first year with our new fireplace. You'll have to be patient for photos of that later, if I can remember to take some. We added a fourth stocking for Mr. Leo and thanks to Shawn's brilliant idea, adequately labeled the stockings for the boys. See we have a couple of basset ornaments which are usually too heavy for the tree anyway. So instead, Shawn suggested we hang them with the stocking on our stocking holders to signify which belong to the dogs… since they're not labeled in any other fashion. It was perfect. Norman got the standing ornament with it's tail held high and Leo got the sitting ornament with it's stomach ready to be rubbed.

There. Now there is some semblance of Christmas in our house. It wasn't easy but it turned out to be just as fun and I'm glad we did it. My holidays will forever be different but there's one thing we can always do, we can always go cut down our Christmas tree. We did it every year in Dad's family and even though we thought it lame in our "cool" high school years, I'm so grateful for the tradition.

Snow

I dedicate the following photos to the Cornstubles in Virginia.

Shawn had to bribe the boys with Cheerios to get them to risk their "boys" to the frozen tundra.

This is where the sidewalk ends.

What appears of a car down the road.

This is looking from our garage, down the driveway to the street at the beast of a Cav.

This is obviously at the end of our driveway looking up at the fishbowl that is our house.