Labor Day Weekend

We had a fantastic weekend from start to end. It started off with my sister, Suzanne, and her two girls, Mary and Katie, arriving Friday afternoon. We met them for some fishing and dinner at mom & dad's and then went to an open-air Beatles concert in New Town that evening. Jeff, Susie, Nick, and Abby joined us for the concert. All the kids had so much fun. They ran and danced and played and just had the best time together.

On Saturday morning, Carl, Lily and I went to Meramec Caverns to do some exploring. It was a great experience, and I love taking Lily to some of the unique places that Missouri has to offer. Pictures from that trip will be on Lily's "school" blog, Learning with Lily, since the reason for the adventure was to support our Earth Science week. After exploring the caverns, we headed out to mom & dad's again so that Lily could spend more time with Mary & Katie. Once again, the girls played so well together.

On Sunday, we spent day 3 with family at mom & dad's. My brother & family came back out, and we all enjoyed some good BBQ together. The girls worked on Angela's wedding invitations while the guys watched the game. Once again, the kids played, played, played. They then headed out to the park and played some more. It would have been hard to get Lily to leave her cousins that evening. Fortunately, she fell asleep while watching a movie with the kids. We put her in the car, drove home, and put her straight into bed where she slept for 14 hours straight!!! Carl and I enjoyed a movie night together which was just bliss.

Yesterday Carl had to go into work for a couple of hours to preview some cases, but otherwise we spent a lazy day together including a picnic lunch in the backyard. Good times.

Unfortunately, in all these good times, I only took a few pictures this weekend and those were of our unusual catch on Friday. Dad hooked this fish that Lily & I reeled in. We had never seen a fish like this before, so dad had to call a few buddies over to try to determine what it was. No one knew so Suzanne and I ended up looking it up on the internet and found out what it was. Below are the pictures of our mystery fish. For any fishing experts out there, I thought that I would give you the chance to guess what it is before posting the answer. I have to say, it was one ugly fish.

The big catch

"You ugly, you ugly, you're momma say you ugly, huh" (Anyone know which movie that is from?)



Take a gander at the fish's TEETH and tongue. Yuck!

Today I had yet another doctor's appointment. Everything still looks good. Blood pressure is maintaining nicely according to them. I have started swelling in my legs/ankles/feet. Acid reflux is in full effect, and finding a comfortable position at night is starting to become a bit of a challenge. All pretty normal stuff for this stage in the game. In three weeks, my doctor will start to check for dilation, effacement, etc. I don't know what to expect. If you recall, with Lily, we had zero dilation and effacement right up to the point when I was induced AFTER my due date. I'm hoping that things will be different this time around. I'd really like to have the baby BEFORE my due date this time, but then again, who doesn't? It will be tricky since Angela's wedding is 4 days before my due date.

Although we are certainly getting closer to the due date, it still feels sooo far away. Luckily, I have several friends having babies (there are five of us to be exact) between September and October to keep me distracted. Congratulations to Kelly who welcomed little Charlie to the world last week! We are anxiously awaiting little ones to arrive mid-September, late September, mid-October, and then our own little bundle of joy late October. 'Tis the season of babies!