Today

Today was supposed to be a great day. I'd been anxiously awaiting this day for the last ten weeks or so. Today was supposed to be the day of our first OB GYN appointment. I spent a lot of time daydreaming about the events of this afternoon -- holding Dave's hand while we walked into the clinic, going through medical history with the doctor, asking her questions, and all the while anticipating THAT MOMENT when we would hear our babies heart beat for the first time.
Sadly, that's not how today is going to go.

At approximately 3:20 p.m. Friday, September 25, we found out that today, September 30, wouldn't be going as planned. That's when the doctor came into the exam room and said, "You won't be needing your appointment. You had a miscarriage."

The ultrasound measured the baby at 8 weeks 3 days. The was no heartbeat.

Even though I had been preparing myself to the possibility of hearing those words from the doctor, it all seemed so unreal. I was supposed to be in my ninth week and looking forward to becoming a mom for the first time. And now that I've written it here, I'm at a loss for words. I don't know what else to say.

I'll say this.

The plan was that after our appointment today, after hearing the heartbeat, we'd be more public about our expected arrival. We'd tell my work, we'd tell our aunts and uncles and cousins, we'd tell our friends. Dave said he didn't want to post it on Facebook, but I imagined him being so excited that he couldn't resist. I'd post the news on my blog. We'd let the world in on our secret.

And yet, even though this day isn't going as planned. And even though we're no longer expecting a baby at the end of April, I can't help but feel the need to let the secret out anyway....just as we originally planned.

I want the world to know my baby was here.

One of the things I'm struggling with is that there is nothing tangible to say that our baby existed. No pictures. No hand prints. I never felt our baby kick. I never felt our baby grab onto my pinky finger. I haven't been able to clip off the ID tag on my wrist from the ultrasound at the hospital last Friday. It's the one thing that I have that says we've had this experience.

And this experience will impact Dave and I. It already has. This experience is a part of our story and I've been chronicling our story on this blog for more than two years now. That's why feel like I need to share the news here. This blog tells our story and this is a part of us now.

And if you're learning about this for the first time....I'm sorry you have to find out about either a) the pregnancy and/or b) the miscarriage here. I'm finding that most people don't know how to react to the miscarriage news. Dave and I don't really know how to react either. But hopefully you can understand my need to share our story. Dave and I are doing ok. I went back to work yesterday. Dave's been back at work and school too. We're sad, but we're hopeful. I've never felt so strong and so weak at the same time.

Before this, I never thought I'd be able to manage getting through a situation like this -- I want to be a mom more than anything and that's not going to happen as soon or as easily as I hoped. But I think of this as an unknown blessing...and I really understand now that God give's you the strength to get through your struggles. Our baby is in a good place now alongside some awesome great grandparents. We know we'll be parents someday...welll, I guess we already are...just not parenting the way we expected. I also know that when it happens, we'll cherish our kids that live alongside us in this life all the more after going through this.

Last weekend...

Dave and I took Otis and Cooper down to Minnesota City to see some of our family and visit John's farm. The farm is nestled in a valley surrounded my lush tree-covered hills. It's so peaceful and beautiful. Since it's fall harvest time (yes, FALL), we got to enjoy the fresh produce that John's been growing all summer. We had tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, grape tomatoes, ground cherries, and red and yellow raspberries. I had never even heard of ground cherries, but they were good! We got a preview of the pumpkins and cantaloupe that are growing. We walked around the hillside and toured John's prairie gardens.

While we had an awesome time eating and spending time with family, the dogs had one of their best days ever. They got to run around free for hours and hours. They got to explore the garden while Dave picked us some food. They played with Ann's dog, Minnie. You could see smiles on their faces -- not kidding. When they were tired of running, they'd take a break and lay by our feet. Then after a while, they'd get up and run around all over again. We all can't wait to make the trip again next year!

Here's some pics of our day. I already posted them on FB, but wanted to blog about our day too...since it's a fun one that I want to remember! And I got to play with our new camera!

Cooper squinting in the sun -- he's got those sensitive blue eyes.

Otis resting in the shade -- he gets hot so easily with his thick black fur.

The view from the prairie garden on the hillside.

Cooper, Otis and Minnie -- the three amigos.

Cooper resting with Dad.

Dave successfully picked an ear of corn!

Just because....

Just because it's TUESDAY...
And because my husband is the BEST....
And because my puppies are the CUTEST...
And because we got a new CAMERA....

Thankful Thursday...

Last week, my mom and sister, Rachel, went up north to Grand Marais for a short girls' getaway. We had a fun time. My mom and I went sailing on Lake Superior. We hiked. We browsed through stores. We ate way too much food. We relaxed and read books. We visited Grand Portage and learned about the voyageurs that traveled 1,200 miles via canoe each year for trading. We saw Canada, but could not touch it (didn't have our passports). We enjoyed sunshine and endured rain. And we laughed. I laughed so hard I couldn't talk and my stomach hurt. I had a great time bonding with my mom and sister...and can't wait to do it again. Maybe next time my other sisters can join us.

This week I'm thankful for good memories and good relationships with my family.

My mom, Rachel & I at Grand Portgage

Summer Love

The song from Grease has been in my head all day. "Summer love somethin's begun on a summer night. oh wella oh wella uhh."

Here's my summer love and I. (ok...my fall, winter and spring love too.)

Yesterday, August 23. Dave got glasses this weekend!

The good and the bad...

As I mentioned in the previous post, we went camping* last weekend. The camping trip had a lot of highlights and lowlights. Let's recap.

Camping is good when it's Cooper's first camping trip ever!

Camping is bad when Cooper eats a corn cob (yes, the actual cob) and pukes all night long in our tent.

Camping is good when we eat kabobs and poor man dinners.

Camping is bad when it rains half the time.

Camping is good when Otis accidentally jumps off the dock and has to swim.

Camping is bad when there is a BAD thunderstom while we're underneath a tall pine tree in a tent and we see lighting touch the ground nearby in the wood and the thunder makes us all jump (don't ask me how your body can go airborn when you're in horizontal positioin, but it happened).

Camping is good when there is a bean bag tournament and a scavanger hunt tournament.

Camping is bad when you lose in the bean bag tournament in the first round.

Camping is good when you're enjoying the company of friends, family and a dozen dogs (ok, 7 dogs).

*Sorry no pics! Our camera is still broken...and will be until we buy a new one. :(

Case of the Pooper(s)

I have a little mystery to solve. We went camping last weekend. The dogs could do their business whenever and wherever they please. Apparently the dogs are having trouble adjusting to the fact that our house is INDOORS and it's not ok for the to poop where ever they want anymore.

When I woke up this morning there were TWO piles of poop upstairs. ONE in the hallway and ONE in the loft.

Did TWO dogs poop ONCE? Did ONE dog poop TWICE? Did ONE dog poop ONCE and then MOVE half his pile?

I thought I'd be smart and determine which dog(s) was/were the pooper when I took them outside this morning. But they BOTH pooped outside.

Now I can't say for certain who is/are the pooper(s). But honestly, I'd rather not know and not have this incident happen again!