Busy as Bees

Wow, two posts in one day?!? Expect snow in June because this is a RARE event for us to post so often. We have been very busy the last week so thought we'd catch everyone up on our adventures (not that they're really THAT exciting).

The freshly painted, yet still messy, new nursery.

The wallpaper border will go in between the two colors.

The wallpaper border is a "pond" theme with frogs, turtles and dragonflies.

The new playpen - a Graco pack-and-play

The new stroller/car seat combo.

The rocking chair in the last picture belonged to my Great Grandmother and three generations have been rocked in that chair (my grandfather, my mother and me). We're hoping to get it re-upholstered in time to add a 4th generation to that list. Right now there's just no comfortable way to sit in it, unless you like pokey springs - ouch!

COMPANY

Another event this week was the arrival of family friends from Los Angeles. Walter and Eleanore are my stepfather's friends from L.A. He has known them for many years and they have come to Minnesota to visit many times. We have gotten to know them over the last few years and were blessed to have them stop and stay with us for a day on their way north to my mom and stepfather's house. This time, Walter's sister, Ilse, came with them. She is a missionary in Panama and is on vacation here in the states for a few months. It was wonderful to see them again, and to meet Ilse - they are all such kind, loving people. Walter and Eleanore brought us a gift bag FULL of baby clothes and a blanket that their daughter made. Ilse brought us items made by the indians she lives with in Panama - they are absolutely beautiful! She also serenaded us with a beautiful song for our anniversary (they were here on June 6th, which is my birthday and our wedding anniversary).

BIRTHDAY/ANNIVERSARY

As I mentioned, June 6th was my birthday and our 9th wedding anniversary. We celebrated a few times, which was nice - it's always fun to celebrate an event more than once! We went out to brunch with my family while they were here on Sunday the 3rd. Then we went out to dinner with Walter, Eleanore and Ilse on the 6th.

OUR FIRST WEDDING PHOTGRAPHY

Saturday, June 9th, was our first professional wedding photography gig. Ugh, can I just say I am STILL exhausted? It went very well, especially for our first time. Unfortunately, some of our lighting equipment failed, but we had a good backup flash system and plenty of daylight, so we didn't need them afterall. We were there for 13 hours on Saturday - that is a VERY long day. We have learned that next time we will arrange specific hours that we will be there, instead of making it an all day (and practically all night) event. We are very happy with the results, though, and hope the bride and groom will be as well. The portraits turned out very well and all in all it was a wonderful wedding and it really was fun (just exhausting). I spent all day Sunday laying on the couch with my feet up - what a lazybones! I was tired, sore and my legs were swollen so I decided to take a day to just be lazy. It's every pregnant woman's right, isn't it???

THE WHEAT FIELD HAS BEEN CUT

We FINALLY got around to mowing the wheat field that has been growing in our backyard. Poor Tom struggled in the heat and humidity on Sunday to try to return our lawn to normal. Sunday was a very hot day, but he finished the entire backyard. Sadly, the front lawn is now in need again. A man's work is never done, is it? Unfortunately, I just have not been as much help in the yardwork department this year; I did a lot more mowing last year but just have not had the strength or stamina to push that mower around this year. I'm such a wimp.

BABY NEWS

Well, there really isn't a whole lot to share in the baby department, but what is an Archibald blog post without a baby update? Tomorrow (June 12), I will be 17 weeks. I am still tired most of the time and am still struggling with morning sickness (all-day sickness, actually). The only other changes I have noticed is my legs and feet tend to swell up if I am on my feet too long - yippee. When are the GOOD changes going to start? My next regular appointment is June 22nd and the "big" ultrasound is June 28th. We have decided to keep the sex a secret and be surprised in November. It will still be exciting to see how much the baby has grown at that next ultrasound - we haven't had one since 7 weeks. I am also anxious for them to do all the basic anatomy checks and make sure everything looks okay. Hopefully we will have another ultrasound picture to post here! We're trying to piece together the nursery as time and money allows. It's coming along. I think the next big purchase will have to be the furniture (crib, changing table, etc.). THAT will be an exciting day! I keep telling myself we have plenty of time until November, but I know how fast that time will fly by.

Wow, this turned into a very long post. I guess that's what happens when you don't update for a while. We hope and pray you are all doing well and would love to hear from you.

Take care and God Bless you all!

Joy

Long Grass, Bright Nursery

Our backyard has officially become a jungle. Oh sure, the front yard looks nice, but it's long past time that we mow the backyard. Summer has smacked us in head. (is it even officially summer yet?) We have been spending way to much time inside working on various web projects and have yet to begin our regular outdoor activities resulting in long grass, too many weeds and generally too many yard projects to wrap our minds around.

On the other had, we DID get our nursery painted last night. Joy's family spent the weekend with us and graciously helped us clean out our downstairs spare bedroom from the massive Department 56 Christmas Village that still hadn't been completely put away. Then we moved the upstairs spare room furniture to the downstairs room where it took on a much cozier efftect after a quick decoration session. Ok, now the upstairs room can be converted into a nursery.

It was merely minutes after the family left for home that Tom grabbed a paintbrush and roller and began splashing paint on the walls of the now empty room. By 11:30 pm last night the nursery paint project was completed. In the days to come we will place the wallpaper strip around the center of the room and it will be complete!....Now we just need to save for the baby furniture. So, back to the web projects we go. So much for getting the backyard mowed.

This coming weekend we will photograph our first professional wedding. We are very nervous about getting it right. It's time to put all the training and tid bits of information together and make it all work. Tom recently purchased a set of professional lights complete with a power pack, umbrellas etc. After a few more ebay purchases, (Compact Flash cards, gizmos, meters etc.) we'll see if we can bring everything together and make the flashes flash! Wish us luck. It seems easier to just be the bride and groom.

Memorial Day coming Soon!

We are anxiously awaiting Memorial Day weekend. We will travel north to spend a few days with Joy's family. No hot tubbin' this time, but we are hoping the weather will allow us to get out on the lake even if for a little while. Regardless, we look forward to spending some time relaxing and sitting around (we're really good at that).

We have finally managed to finish up three large web projects that have been hanging over our heads for some time. Of course, there are more to follow. Our work is never done.

Tom has received his final grades for the semester that just ended. Happy to annouce a couple of more "A"s. One in Digital Darkroom (a Photoshop Class) and another in Photographer's Assistant. In only a few weeks, class starts up again with Ambient Lighting. In the Fall it will be Wedding Photography and Portraiture 1. Needless to say our biggest excitement this year will come in November!

And...what will we do now that our favorite show "Heroes" has wrapped up for the season??

Have a safe and fun-filled Memorial Day weekend!

A Nice Mother's Day...

We enjoyed a nice Mother's Day with a sunny afternoon drive north to Pequot lakes. Pequot is a very small town just north of Joy's home town, Nisswa, Minnesota. Joy's Grandma, Great-Grandma and her Uncle Paul were all recognizable figures in Pequot for decades. Several anscestors are burried there, so it has become tradition to visit the grave sites and do a little clean up and leave some flowers as well. We then had lunch with Joy's family in Pine River, MN and returned home to Andover late Sunday night.

The Archibald's in Oregon had a nice time as well. We really wish we could just "blink" ourselves there for a visit now and them. Sadly, we must rely on phone calls and second-hand stories to be a part of the fun.

Baby is just about 13 weeks. Joy's world is one full of nausea and...well more nausea, I guess. We are hoping that she will get through this miserable stage and move onto the next tri-mester with bundles of positive energy. We can hope can't we?