state fair

Hello blog-fans, it is Matt again.  Let me see where Kat left off.........alrighty then.  Well as you might have guessed at the beginning, it has been mostly Kat posting here and I think she has done a great job.  I was able to get a partial day off this past week and we went to the North Dakota State Fair!  Well if that doesn't get you excited then you're obviously not from 'round here.  And by " 'round here" I mean Canada.  So US citizenship aside, we would like to welcome you to our NDSF experience.

We went, as always, with our dear friends the Douglas's. 

While the girls were very state fair appropriate and fashionable, Matt and I were very...Matt and I.

And... Jeff came too.

The following pictures will depict the majority of our activities.  We did bring a professional photographer with us, but somehow she missed the two 5 ton, 40 year old, trick performing stars of the only show we went to.  But, elephants playing basket ball and dancing to music is so commonplace, you really aren't missing much.  What we WERE able to capture is the following:
1) Tigers stalking about because the elephants got all the attention.
2) Giant sand sculpture done to express the unique qualities of North Dakota's abundant beach sand.
3) A rabbit.
4) An awesome sign we found.
5) 3 grown men playing NASCAR on go-carts.
Enjoy.

The "Elephant and Tiger Encounter" that we saw at 2:30 should have been called the "Elephants Only Come Back in Two Hours to See the Tigers Encounter"  This obviously did not amuse the tigers any more than it did us.  Boo.

I don't really have mush to say about this one.  I really don't know why it was even there or why they gave that poor sheep that expression or why they needed to put a leaf over the bull's.....situation instead of just not sculpting one for him or covering it with his own tail.  However, I can say that it was a little impressive to see such a large sand sculpture at our stat fair.

Yes, a rabbit.  There is a building FULL of rabbits.  This is the one rabbit that Katherine took a picture of.  I don't know if that means I am supposed to procure this rabbit and add it to our pet filled home (in other news we did just get a new fish for her, it is another beta, no tricks yet, but it does make a lovely living room decoration) or if maybe this is just the one rabbit to sum up the entire rabbit building experience.  There were pocket sized rabbits, breadbox sized rabbits, rabbits that explain those explosively furry slippers, rabbits with 4 chins, fighting rabbits and even a rabbit that played dead.  There were a lot of rabbits.  This is the one we have a picture of.  Hmmmm.

Awesome sign, need I say more?

Ah, yes, the NASCAR.  Fun times were had by all.  This is us at the start.  This is also a great picture of Matt's game-face.  And while at the time I couldn't see it, this is a picture of me smirking incredulously at him about his game-face.

This is an actual picture of an actual NASCAR fan actually beating us soundly.

THIS is a picture that makes it look like I won.

So, that was part one of our NDSF 2010 experience.  Jenny is now in town and we are going to take her as soon as I am done writing this blog.  No pressure or anything.  And on that note, thanks for keeping up with us and we look forward to reading any of your comments.  Mom, just ask Dad.
-Matt

happy birthday oscar

Oscar turned two on the 16th! 

He celebrated his birthday by getting different food, extra treats, and getting extra time to play with us.
.katherine.

it's a kitchen

We finally have some kitchen updates!

Last time we updated you we had just installed the floor and so much has happened since then.  In fact...it is actually looking like a kitchen!  The day after the floor was installed the appliances arrived!  We got a new fridge, stove, dishwasher, and microwave.  All the appliances are black with the exception of the fridge...it is silver with black handles. 

The next day Matt went to Menards for bleach to clean the water damage in the basement and found out that our countertop was in.  Stephen, Mandy, Jeff, and Jackie all came over to offer their help!  The guys installed the lower cabinets and dishwasher while Mandy and I sorted through papers and boxes.  After a break for pizza, Stephen and Matt began installing the countertop!

 They also began cutting the hole for the sink!

While they worked on that, Jackie cut lining for the drawers.

After getting the hole cut for the sink the guys called it a night.  Jackie and I continued to work for a few hours on cleaning and sorting.  It was wonderful to have so much help!

Two days later Stephen came over after alert and he and Matt worked on installing the sink.  We actually ended up having to purchase a new one...while they were cutting the hole, Stephen and Matt didn't calculate the curved corners into the measurements (and the sink did not come with a template).  The hole they cut for the sink would show on the corners.  So we all piled into the car and went to Menards to look for a new sink...with less rounded corners.  We found one...for less than we originally paid! 

Once we got home with the new sink everything went smoothly.  The new sink fit perfectly into the hole with no gaps or holes and the faucet, disposal, and plumbing were quickly installed. 

Over the next few days we worked on cleaning and moving things back into the kitchen.  I worked on making dividers for the drawers, the cabinets got lined, and we put up all the cabinet doors.

On Monday we finally had our first meal in the new kitchen!  The menu:

Salmon with lemon juice and capers

Asparagus with Bearnaise Sauce

Orzo Pasta with feta cheese, pine nuts, and kalamata olives

This is one of our favorite meals so we figured it was fitting for it to be the first one we made in the new kitchen!

This week we got the dishwasher fully installed (it needed to be bolted to the countertop and floor), ran the first loads in the dishwasher, moved and organized all the food and appliances from the dining room into the kitchen, and began putting on all the pulls onto the cabinet doors.

Matt and Eric just completed putting in a new outlet for the microwave and Matt and I will install it first thing tomorrow morning.  Overall things are coming together nicely.  We finally have a working kitchen again and it all looks less like a construction zone and more like a messy room (this may be the only time I am excited about a messy room)!

Once we get the microwave in we will work on getting pictures of the entire space to share.
.katherine.

doctor follow up

Well, I had my doctor's appointment yesterday and there are no immediate problems.  Dr. Brown was filling in for my normal doctor, Dr. Fischbach, and she is a good resource.  Her suggestion is to try medication to regulate my cycle.  We haven't completely ruled out the possibility of the scope...just trying to weigh all the options.  Dr. Brown got the blood work ordered that will be necessary to make a more informed decision at my next appointment in August when I will see Dr. Fischbach.  Until then we will be praying about our options and controlling any more pain with medication.  

Next post will be more exciting...I promise!  We have a lot to share about our kitchen...including our first meal!!!
.katherine.

an emergency room visit

First off...I am fine, no need to worry...just wanted to share what happened. 

Everything started on Monday afternoon...I was having a little bit of cramping but all females do during their cycle so I didn't think anything of it!  About 8:30 I realized something wasn't right, I was in extreme amounts of pain and bleeding way too much to be "normal."  I called the base on-call doctor and asked him "if I was your daughter, what would you do?"  After laughing at me, he told me to go to the emergency room.  Matt and I got to the ER about 10 and went straight back to a room.  It took about an hour and a half before the doctors were able to give me pain meds and start running tests.  They had done blood work...it came back normal and I was not pregnant (even though I had told them I wasn't).  The doctors did an exam and an ultrasound....they found a small fibroid and a thick endometrium lining...nothing abnormal.  They sent me home about 1:30 with pain medication and told me to follow up with my doctors. 

On Tuesday Matt was scheduled to go on alert.  He woke me up before he left and I felt fine...no pain so no reason to keep him home.  After waking up a few hours later, I took a shower and started to get some cramping again so I took one of the pain medications and tried to take a nap.  Two hours, two pain medications, and a call to Mom behind me, I called Abbey to take me to the ER.  Abbey was a lot of help...she took me to the ER, called Matt at site while I got processed in, and sat with me even though she had Henrik!  The doctors came in quickly and followed up from the day before.  First things first though...I had to get an IV for the medication.  Since my large vein was used the day before and the next best one had just been used to take blood we moved on to the hand.  After trying the right side and the veins not working with us, the nurse was able to get it on the left side...I must say, hand IVs hurt more than an arm one!  Abbey was great...she let me squeeze her hand while they put it in...even while she was holding Henrik!  The doctor ran more tests and did a CT scan.  When I returned from the scan Jackie was there to take over for Abbey...it was best to get Henrik out of the ER so he didn't get sick.  The doctors returned with the test results...nothing...my appendix is fine, nothing is wrong with my ovaries, etc.  His diagnosis...endometrosis.  He suggested that I talk to my doctor about getting a laproscopy done.  They sent me home with more pain meds and told me that if it did get worse to return again.  Jackie made sure I had dinner at home and took the dogs for the evening so I could sleep.

Wednesday I woke up feeling better and headed off to the first of two doctor's appointments of the week.  Maj Smith was great...we talked about the ER trip and her suggestions.  She told me that the fibroid is too small to worry about.  She did suggest the laproscopy based on my history of endometrosis.  I left the appointment feeling confident about the information but we will see what Dr. Brown says on Friday.  The rest of the day I spent taking a nap and hanging out with Matt.   Most of the pain is gone...I am just tired.   

Overall I am doing well.  I am a little bummed that the Lupron may not have fully worked but staying upbeat about the next steps.  I will keep everyone updated about my appointment on Friday and where we go from here.  There is no need to worry...I have great doctors here and Matt is taking great care of me.   

.katherine.