Never a Dull Moment

I am sure that all of you are a little nervous if not terrified of getting the swine flu. Which is completely understandable considering all the hype about it. And with me being pregnant and Rick working in Emergency Services we are equally as stress about contracting the virus as well. As with all things in our ever "exciting" life, even with all the hand washing and avoiding sick people as much as possible etc, etc, etc....this past week we contracted the dreaded H1N1 virus. All I can say is I am so glad that Rick's parents were here over the weekend to visit. Of course not realizing what they were getting into and us not know what was about to happen during their visit. But they were a huge blessing to us. I was the first to get it (thanks to a very generous and discussting co-worker who doesn't know the meaning of cleanliness) after which I promptly passed it to Rick and his mom before I even knew what was wrong. It wasn't until Monday at the doctor's appointment that I had already scheduled two weeks ago for the baby bumb check-up did we realize what I had was definately the swine flu. Thank goodness for modern medicine and Priesthood blessings is all I can say! We seriously felt like we were dying. I have never felt so crummy in my entire life from being sick. I hope that now we both have immunities to it and don't get it again. But, alas, that would go completely contrary to our luck so far. But at least this time we will know how to kick it in the bud if it does come knocking again.

Hopefully all of you can steer clear of it and stay healthy this winter. It's nasty stuff! Good luck!

Cars, Bellies, Fish and Guns

This weekend for Labor Day we went up to visit Rick's parents. We haven't gone up there since June so it was nice to get away from the city for a while. While we were up there we were able to do so much. We went fishing at a sportman's club that we are both members of and we did pretty good. Nothing worth a good fish story but the catching was still fun and we both managed to get sunburned even though we were in the shade the entire time.

On Sunday we were able to stay home and relax for a while. Rick and I took several mini walks through the woods and Rick's dad snapped a few pictures of my baby belly. And yes, I know I don't look it but I am now 5 1/2 months along. I think the reason I am so small is because I wasn't able to gain any wieght the first 4 months because of being so sick and in the hospital. And then I had to compensate for the weight I lost from being sick. So I had a lot of time to make up and a lot of weight to gain back after loosing so much in the beginning. But things are going well now and Madi is very healthy and that is the important part.

While we were relaxing on Sunday Rick's dad also took a picture of our new Escape. We had to buy this back in June becuase my poor white car is on it's last leg. We wanted to sell it eventually but didn't know that we would have to this soon. At least we are selling it before it dies that way we can get something out of it. But after buying the Escape, I don't know how I did without having a bigger vehicle. It is so nice and so much fun. And it's a stick so I had "fun" learning how to drive it. But after a month of refusing to drive it I finally learned and now it is sort of fun to drive a stick. And I am so glad that it isn't a mini-van! (No offense to those mini-van moms but I couldn't do it) On Monday we headed out to the shooting range to do a little target practice. We haven't been able to shoot pretty much sice we moved away from Utah. There are no places to go and just shoot around here other then a shooting range, which costs $30/person/time. So not worth it! So we go up to the sportsmans club every chance we get to take out some stress. It is so much fun! Maybe someday we will have a lot of land in the mountains and we can make our own shooting range and go whenever we want. (Wishful thinking, I know)

Big Ultrasound.....

Things have been a little crazy around here the past few months. Rick and I have moved into a bigger apartment and have had to shuffle around a lot of things. Rick was put on a night shift at work so that has been a big challenge. Hopefully it doesn't last too long but from the sound of things at work it could be permenant. (Blah!) But we are just grateful we both have a job right now and that I am staying out of the hospital!

As far as the ultrasound in August went....it was great! Rick and I are having a little girl. I guess it's the Gudmundson tradition to have girls but we are very excited and wouldn't have it any other way. We are going to name her Madeline Coline Kaiser after Rick's grandmother and after my grandma who have both pasted away. According to the ultrasound she is already bigger then average, by about two weeks! So hopefully that means we will be having her before Christmas so we don't have to spend Christmas in the hospital. And maybe my dad will get his wish and have her born on his birthday (Dec 20th). Rick and I were both over 9 pounds and Rick's dad was 11 pounds, so our doctor is going to watch and make sure she doesn't get that big. Thank goodness! I don't know about having a baby that big my first time around, but I guess we'll see what happens. I will try and post some pictures of my baby belly once we can get the essentials unpacked and find the camera. Everyone says I am tiny for being 5 months pregnant but I feel so big! I can't imagine what it is going to be like when my stomach "pops" around 7 months like everyone says it will.

Washington DC and Baltimore

My family flew in from Utah a few weeks ago and we were able to spend some time with them seeing the sights. Rick and I have lived here for almost a year now and we have never been to DC to see the monuments so I think it was good motivation for us to finally go when they came to visit. We spent 2 very long and hot days in DC but we were able to see pretty much everything. And then my parent's and Jodie went to see Mt Vernon while Rick and I took the other sisters to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. It was so much fun to be able to get that much in all in the same week. By the end of it I was so tired and needed a vacation from the vacation just to catch up on some sleep and to rest my sore muscles from all the walking. But it was a lot of fun!


Rick showing off my baby bump at the Washington Monument

Us in front of the White House. And the President was home at the time too. You can tell by the flag; if there is a flag up that means he is home. (At least that is what they said)

The traditional picture that I am sure everyone takes at the Smithsonian's Natural History Measeum

The bubble tubes at the National Aquarium in Baltimore. I could not pry myself away from them. They were so much fun to take silly pictures by and when you are with your sisters...you get very creative.


One of the many fish tanks at the Baltimore Aquarium

The news you have all been waiting for......

Rick and I were able to celebrate our first Mother's and Father's Day this year because we now have a little one on the way! We are so excited! It is definately a new experience being pregnant and it has been a really rocky road but we are making it. We found out at the end of April that we were expecting...and to be honest we were a little surprised. But it was a good surprise. The baby is due around Christmas time. I will have to say that this is going to be the best Christmas present we will ever get. We find out the beginning or August whether it is a girl or a boy so we will keep you posted...

Can you tell the Rick is already a very proud father?!

Jon Schmidt...

He is amazing! His music gives me goose bumps everytime I listen to it. I just can't get enough of it. And I just listened to my new favorite songs from him. It is called Love Story (Taylor Swift) meets Viva La Vida (Coldplay). Here is a link so you can watch it on YouTube. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v3d6SFcDys

Rick's Very Successful Fishing Trip

Rick went fishing this Monday while I was at work since it was his day off. He went to a place near Fredericksburg, VA which is about an hour away from where we live. Ever since we have moved here from Utah, he hasn't had very much luck fishing. He has caught a few fish here and there but he has never had a "great fishing day". Monday, however, there was finally a break in the fishing storm. I called him on my lunch break around 2:00 to see how the day was going and to see if he was having any luck. He told me that he had already caught 23 fish that morning! He was so excited! He had also caught 2 turtles on his line as well. Which was a first for him. He said that he had only kept one so far since the other ones were a little small but he was going to keep fishing to see if he could catch some bigger ones to bring home for dinner. By the end of the night he had caught 28 fish and brought 6 of them home to eat and also a surprise. He had also caught 4 baby turtles and put them in his tackle box. He wants to keep two and give the other two to our niece and nephew. The turtles are about 2-6 inches across their shell and they are so cute. Right now they are taking up residency in our bathroom in a plastic tub until we can get an aquarium to put them in and give the other two away. It is always fun to see how happy and excited Rick gets when he has a good day fishing. I am glad that he was finally able to convince those sneeky fish to bite!