Ultrasound

Serena had an ultrasound today. We learned that the baby appears to be in good health and developing normally. And it seems as though, come December, we will have a new baby boy.

As before, we’re happy to announce the sex of the child but we plan on keeping our name, and the entire naming process, private. We understand that some people get annoyed by that, but, well, sucks to be you. This is the way we like to do it. Anyway, we’re very excited and grateful that everything seems to be progressing well. And Serena has been feeling better also, which is great.

 

Colorado 2009

We just got back from a trip to Colorado with my family. For several months preceding the trip, Odessa’s favorite phrase to say was, “See Emily Colorado!” She was so excited to spend time with Aunt Emily. In Colorado we stayed at a cabin belonging to my parents’ friends, Beth and Pat. It was near the town of Idaho Springs, up in the mountains, off of a little “goat path” of a road, as my dad called it. Odessa enjoyed meeting Beth and Pat and especially their dog, Meeker. She talked about Meeker almost all week. Dad took us sailing on Lake Dillon and we had lots of fun “washing the windows” when the wind would blow us and tilt the boat far to one side. Either that or leaning over the edge of the boat to try and touch the water were Odessa’s favorite parts of sailing.

We spent some time exploring the smaller towns around Idaho Springs like Nederland. We took three trips to Nederland throughout the week to explore the little shops and eat a delicious Nepalese/Indian buffet. One day, Scott and I ventured out on our own to drive through Rocky Mountain National Park. It was amazing to be able to drive among the mountains and see elk at the side of the road. That evening we went to a Rockies vs. Braves game at Coors Field. The game was delayed by lightning and we left early to make the drive back to the cabin.

On my parents’ last day, we met my Aunt Jackie and Uncle Tom in Boulder for a meal and to experience the Pearl Street Mall. Odessa really became friendly with Uncle Tom and refused to walk with anyone else.

After Mom and Dad flew back to Minnesota, Emily was able to spend a couple days with us before leaving herself. We drove back to Rocky Mountain National Park to drive the steep, gravel, one-way Fall River Road. Scott enjoyed being able to hop out the the car to take photographs of the amazing landscape. Emily and I enjoyed seeing the sights from the inside of the car while rocking out to the ’90s music channel on the radio.

We took Emily to the airport a day and a half later and were sad to see her have to leave. Odessa reminded us throughout the next two days that “Aunt Emily go home airplane to Oregon.” Our next day was spent exploring some of the area southwest of Denver and Idaho Springs. We drove Cottonwood Pass and tried to look for some ghost towns.

We ate some delicious food including mountain pizza at Beau Jo’s , a birthday celebration meal for Emily at Peck House, and a nice meal at the Boulder Cafe with Tom and Jackie.

Our flight back to Madison was delayed by approximately 90 minutes and resulted in us landing in Chicago at midnight. Odessa was a very good girl on the airplane, making friends as always, and slept the whole way home.

Scott put together some pictures: