Thankgiving with the family from Colorado, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Canada!

We had a fantastic time eating, drinking, biking, and holding Elodie this last weekend! The weather was great, until Mom, Dad and Gramma had to leave-big storm almost kept them here!!! (remind anyone of any other time in Colorado???)

Aimee, Shane, and Jasper came up from Denver for the fun and Jeanne came from Canada because she heard that it was going to be so much fun! (hahaha-loved having you Jeanne! Thank you for being here.)

I am in the process of "weaning" Elodie off of being held all the time. Just kidding-I cannot keep my hands off her, either! I'll have to wean myself for next week when I go back to work. Ugh!

Here are some photos. Love ya all!

more photos!

OK-by popular demand, we have a few more photos of Elodie for you all. (We like to wait until we have to change her O2 bandaids or put on a clean canula...hopefully this business only lasts a bit more, but the altitude does funny things to babies!

Enjoy!!!

more photos!!!

Notice that she takes after her brother while sleeping!

The first few days...

Becoming a mom has been an amazing experience, and I can see it in Todd how amazing he will be as a Dad-and how amazing he already is!

We have had long awake nights-mostly because she is wide awake and hungry. No real screaming or anything! She is a very good little girl and does not get super upset-she does not like to get dressed and does not like to wait too long for her meals! HAHAHAHA-who does like either of these in our family???

I will try to keep the photos coming for you all!

Just FYI-she is on oxygen for being a high altitude baby...mostly just a pain in the butt!

New Addition!!! Elodie Ruth Olsen

Our beautiful baby girl has arrived! November 6th, 6:15pm. 7 lbs. 1 oz, she arrived quickly and smoothly with no issues. BUT-I will NEVER call anything that hurts painful, ever again! WOW! What a miracle...I guess that really separates the women from the boys out there! (sorry dad and todd and all the other wonderful men in our lives...) Todd is the most willing, supportive and interactive man that I could ever hope for him to be.

Thank you to everyone for your prayers and thoughts. God was there every minute. Didnt he make life incredible?!?!?!?!

We were able to come home this morning-Saturday. I never thought that we would get out of there! We are so excited to be here and have our little "addition" fill some warm space in our beautiful home.

More to come very soon!!!

Baby girl coming soon!

Well-

Being a week late, and after much consideration and advice from the doc, we have decided to induce. Tomorrow morning is the big day! We are a bit nervous, being that it is unnatural, but her size and my body's discomfort have led us to make the decision. Baby and I are both extremely healthy, but it is not like we are still early! Besides, they will only let us go another 4 days, anyway. Please pray for us, as this is going to be much more painful and intense than we had originally planned-as if that would have been "pleasant" - hahaha!

Sue, Todd's mom, will be here to support us and help us with our needs. It will be a great help! Mom (mine) was here last weekend helping us with much of our preparations, as well, so we are VERY ready! House clean, laundry done, etc. Thank you Mom! (She also tried to help me "naturally" induce by going for walks, going to the springs to relax, etc)

By next week, we should have plenty of photos for everyone! stay tuned...

"Peejay"

This is my monkey that Gramma Mimi gave me. It was actually a craft kit to make the monkey. I jsut wanted to post this so Gramma can see it all done.

Thank you Gma Mimi!!! It was fun!

37 1/2 weeks!

yes-I am counting days left! Our house is just about to Todd's standards for the arrival of the baby and all of our welcome guests in the next few months, years, etc! I cant wait until you all come see it (and her)! I will have photos of the house soon...

moose sighting!

On a walk today, we saw 4 moose (or is that meese?!?!?!?!) by the river...luckily we were way up on the road looking down. These photos show no justice to the grandness of these animals. One of the bulls had a rack you usually only see in the hunting mags!

Caleb was keeping a careful eye and ear out for the moose, as well!

some of you thought that I was going to put up a pic of myself, didnt ya????

8 months!!!

well...you can all be the judge? who in this photo is 6 mos, 8 mos, and just plain full of beer???

I also included another moose photo for all you wildlife enthusiasts out there!!!

Home for the "Folks'' 40th anniversary!

Mom and dad welcomed us all home with open arms for their 40th anniversary. Rachel, Mary Beth, Lori and I have been planning that party for a long time...so long, I didnt even know that I was pregnant yet...or was even going to be eventually!! hahaha

There was so much food, events, and fun that it took Todd and I a week to recover. Todd and I were priveleged to a tour of Standard Process-our supplement "sponsor" (as Todd calls it), on Thursday, Lori in on Friday morning with grocery shopping with Dad... That afternoon was filled with more fun and food when Mary Beth and Mom and Dad joined Lori, Todd and I for happy hour (yes, I was the DD). We picked Con up that evening and got home just in time for Rachel, Rog, Gma mimi and Owie to pull in the driveway.

Saturday morning, the guys all went golfing and the girls went to a shower for yours truly! (I am so lucky to have such wonderful people in my life! Thank you all!) After naps and walks in the forest, we all went out for dinner in Milwaukee-see the photos for the group shots and to see the "creepy pope" pics.

Sunday was Milwaukee Brewers day where we tailgated and all got our fill of sun, beer, food, and bad baseball (it was really fun, just a really bad game! hahahaha)!!!

Ready for another 40 mom and dad???????

"Auntie" Emmy here for a visit!

My sister Mary Beth came for a visit and helped me with a few things-including relaxing and getting sun! We rode bikes, ate yummy food, played with the doggies and Em climbed a mountain...finally someone else in my family knows what it feels like to be on top of the world!

PS-Just so you all know-that is an O'Doul's in my hand...

getting ready for our little girl

I have finally put together the special room for our little one...I am at the point that I just cannot wait!!! 8 weeks! It will go so fast, so I am desperatley trying to hold on to the feelings that I am having and spending time watching our little one "playing" inside my tummy! I dont believe that anything else could be so amazing... I will miss it for sure. A friend of mine said that she sometimes wakes up thinking that she feels her baby move inside-but her baby was born 3 weeks ago!!

7 months!

I hate this photo, but what am I to do at this point?!?! I am always twice the size at night as when I woke up that morning!

We are working at getting Caleb associated with babies...Baby noise CD's, baby dolls, etc...Fun!

I am feeling great and am still very active! She is moving a ton and it is very entertaining to watch her move around.