Eventually it may warm up.

A little more Montana weather for you all:

Tonight: Flurries likely, mainly before 11pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around -29. Wind chill values as low as -38. Light and variable wind.

Monday: A chance of flurries before 11am. Partly sunny and cold, with a high near -11. Wind chill values as low as -39. South southeast wind at 8 mph becoming west northwest.

Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around -29. Wind chill values as low as -48. West wind at 7 mph becoming east.

Down right cold

Not much has been going on since our last post. David is now over a month old and is starting to do a little more. We think he discovered his tongue because he likes to repeatedly stick it out while we are holding him. Kristin also thinks he is starting to smile and has almost gotten his thumb into his mouth. Other than that, he sleeps, eats, and poops.

The weather has definitely gotten winter-like. We have been bouncing back and forth between unseasonably warm and unseasonably cold weather. Over the weekend, we were hit with more unseasonably cold temperatures. Yesterday morning was the coldest it has gotten, with a low of -26 and a wind chill between -40 and -50. Our lows have been and will continue to be in the negatives but it is supposed to start pushing into the teens and 20s next week. We did not get our vehicles prepared for the cold yet and they are showing signs of it. -26 is hard on the batteries and we need to get a block heater on the truck at least.

We are both looking forward to getting home in a week and a half. Baby David says he's excited too.

I apologize for the delay in updating, but David has been keeping us busy. I wrote our last post on here on Tuesday, November 3rd. We turned around and headed right back to Havre at 1 in the morning on Thursday November 5th when my water broke! Jeff was actually spending some time down south working on some stuff and getting the trailer ready to be closed up. So I called him and told him to come back up because we would need to head to the hospital soon. He packed all of his belongings in the trailer, threw them in the truck and headed back up to town. Praise God that his drive up here and our drive to Havre were safe and did not involve any contact with wildlife.

I won't bore you with all of the labor details. After 23 hours of labor, David Joseph Wright was born at 8lbs 2 oz, 20 1/4" at 12:06 am on November 6th. It's neat because Grandpa (David) Wright's birthday is on November 6th. Everybody at the hospital was convinced he would be born on the 5th, but he held out to be born on the other David Wright's birthday :)

We have been doing well here at home. We saw the family practice doctor who will be taking care of David last week. There are no problems with him and he is gaining weight very well. He was almost back to his birth weight as of this past Monday.

Jeff and I are just getting used to having a baby. Jeff has been subbing quite a bit lately, so David and I have had some quality time together. We like to go for walks since it's still so nice outside here and he sleeps well in the stroller.

I am doing well and finally feeling back to normal. It's been such a long time since I felt normal! I'm enjoying being able to sleep on my stomach and see my toes!

I will leave you all with some pictures

He's Here!

Weekly Dr update

We ventured to Havre (yet again) yesterday to see the doctor for my 37 week check up. I kind of felt like it was a slightly pointless appointment. They weighed me, took my BP, measured me, and asked if anything was wrong. I think I could have gone without having to pay for someone to tell me everything is fine. Next week my Dr. will start checking my cervix everytime I go in.

We also toured the hospital maternity wing and filled out all of the pre-admission stuff. The rooms are pretty nice and they all have jacuzzi tubs - which I've heard is nice for labor. The nurse we met was super nice, but notvery encouraging of my desire to have a drug-free birth. Jeff is being super encouraging and supportive as we practice the Bradley method together and Dr. Dow is really supportive of my desire not to be offered pain meds, so the nurse's comments about "most people ending up with epidurals" didn't bother me quite as much. I am going to make little goody bags with our birth plan attached so each person that we come in contact with at the hospital knows the things that are important to us during and after labor. I'm well aware that this will be probably the hardest thing I will ever do, but it's important to me.

We also met with Dr. Walter, a Family Practice DO to talk with him about being our family doctor. We really liked his answers to our questions. He seemed very balanced in his opinions, and also affirmed our roles as parents in making decisions about the baby's care in the hospital and beyond. We feel very comfortable with him caring for the baby in the hospital and afterwards.

After all of our appointments, we got some groceries at Wal-Mart, stopped by Herberger's, grabbed Subway and headed home. When we got home, a 5 gallon bucket of Charlie's Soap was waiting for us. This is the soap recommended for our cloth diapers and Gram was nice enough to buy the big size for us. It's definetly the most economical way to buy it. If you buy the small package, it's 20 cents a load, but the big one is only 12 cents per load. That's cheaper than grocery store brands. So today, I ran the small size diapers, all the inserts, the cloth wipes I made, and all of the blankets through the wash with the new soap. It's supposed to keep everything residue free and be very environmentally friendly. It smells pretty good too.

Jeff headed down to the trailer today. He is not measuring vegetation anymore, but instead he's just getting comfortable with the way he is going to collect his data. He also has to clean his stuff out and help close up the trailer for the winter. The people that own the trailer are coming in on Sunday to close it for the winter. Jeff wont be going down there as much after the trailer is closed but will be doing more studying for his comprehensive examinations and working on his proposal. Which is good, because when he's out in the field, I can't get a hold of him, which would stink when I have this baby.

He will be back up on Thursday so we can go over to our friends' house that evening for fellowship and bible study.

Lastly, we are officially coming home for Christmas - we've got tickets and everything! We can't wait to see everyone!

Quick baby update

Everything is looking fine and going well with the baby. Blood pressure is good, weight is good, heartbeat is good, measurements are good and I'm 1 cm dialated. I know the 1 cm doesn't mean much in terms of David coming soon, but it's kind of cool to know things are working. It's weird to think that he will be here so soon!

Malta Baby Shower

I thought I would post some pictures of the baby shower that the ladies at church threw for me.


These are the "present girls". They helped by walking the presents around for everyone to see.

This is me opening presents and holding up the frog bath toy holder. Amber (next to me) wrote down all the gift info for me!

These are most of the ladies in attendance minus a few. I am blessed that God has provided such a great and supportive church family.

This is me holding the cake.

This is the baseball boquet that Donne made. The roses is the bouquet are baby socks!

Lastly, this is the yummy cake that Robin, our pastor's wife made for the shower. It was beautiful and delicious!

Dr's appointment and Jeff's first pheasant

We headed to Havre today for my 35 week appointment. Every thing looks fine -blood pressure, size, weight gain - nothing realy eventful. I have to start going every week now, which kind of stinks, but means we're getting really close to baby time.


I think we have most everything that we need for the baby now - at least I think so. The ladies at church threw a shower for me this past Sunday. It was great to get to know some of them more and I had a really good time. They also gave me some really cute clothes! I got a lot for older babies, which is good! We have just a few more things that we need for the baby that we will have to order.


Yesterday, Jeff headed out hunting after church and ended up shooting his first pheasant (as you can see below). We have yet to eat it, but we'll let you know how it tastes.





Lastly, I tried to get a video of David moving around. I couldn't get him going really well, but I got a little bit of him moving on video. He'll be here soon!

Snow!

We got our first snow last night. I looked out the window and there was about 3/4 of an inch on the deck and lawn! It's funny because yesterday afternoon I was thinking, "We should start raking up the leaves in our yard before it snows." Well, we didn't get to it before it started to snow :) I didn't even get to buy a rake yet. It's crazy because like 3 or 4 weeks ago, we were having record highs in the upper 90's and 100's and then we just skipped fall.

I had a Dr's appointment earlier this week. Everything is going fine - nothing eventful. I'm measuring a bit big for my gestational age, but they haven't told me that there's any cause for concern at all. I've got to get my flu shots soon, but they aren't easy to find around here. My next Dr's appointment is not this week, but next week, so I'll probably get both flu shots while I'm in Havre.

I found a car seat cover on Craigslist and I bought it. I paid $3 for it and $4 for shipping! I got it in the mail yesterday and it fits our car seat and is in pretty good condition. There's one little seam I need to put like two stitches in to make sure it doesn't come undone, but overall, I got a really good deal! Everyone says that car seat covers are a MUST to have in Montana weather.

Well, Jeff is headed back to the trailer and should be pulling in the driveway soon, so I'm going to figure out dinner.

Tummy pics

Jeff made it home safely!! It's nice to have him home for a few days. He will go down to the trailer tomorrow and then we are off to Missoula on Tuesday. I am looking forward to a burrito from Taco Del Sol...yum!

I also posted this picture of Facebook, but I'll put it on here too. My mom and sister have requested to see pictures of my tummy...so here we go. This is me at 32 weeks pregnant. I've been feeling fine with just your typical pregnant woman aches and pains. I have my next appointment the first week of October and then I have to start going every two weeks. Then, soon after that, I go every week.

Other than packing for Missoula, we are going to enjoy the beautiful weather today. It's about 65 degrees, sunny, and breezy! I think we're going to head to the park to play horsehoes with some friends of ours.

Jeff has been enjoying his time in Monterey, Ca so far. He has reported seeing sea lions, otters, and seals on walks he has taken. I'm a little jealous because he says there are so many seafood restaurants and I LOVE seafood! He did get to visit the aquarium there also. I'm assuming the lectures and talks he has been going to have been good as well. We talked briefly last night while he was at a student-professional mixer and he said he was meeting some neat people including the head of the US Fish and Wildlife Service's wolf program.

I've been keeping busy here in Malta. I usually go for 1 or 2 walks during the day and sometimes do a prenatal yoga DVD that I have. I also have been getting stuff ready for the baby by putting some stuff together, sanitizing and washing the new bottles, and organizing baby clothes upstairs. Today I had coffee with my friend Jennifer and will go for a walk with my friend Allison tomorrow. I'm really trying to get to know people here as much as possible because the sooner I feel comfortable, the better.

Jeff should get back from his conference on Saturday and then we have to turn right back around and head back to Missoula a few days after that for his committee meeting. It's good that we're going though because Jeff's been trying to get this meeting together for months and it looks like it finally can happen. It's gotta happen soon because the baby will be here before you know it and Jeff is supposed to take his comprehensive exams (his "Comps") in the spring - and he has to have this meeting to know what to study for those exams. I am excited to go to Missoula to see ladies at the Club and friends from church. I have no idea where exactly we are going to stay, but I hope Jeff's planning on figuring that out.

In the meantime, I'm just going to enjoy the nice, slightly cooler, but still too hot weather that we are having.

Jeff just left for the National Wildlife Society Conference in Monterrey, CA. He's first driving to Missoula and then driving down with the other graduates students that are going. There is a big symposium on bison that he is looking forward to participating in. I think we're both getting tired of being apart, but the conferences are good for him to go to, and we're almost done with the back and forth for the winter.

After he gets back from the conference on the 26th, he has to turn around and head back to Missoula on the 29th for his committee meeting. I'm hoping to go with him that time to see some friends and get the rest of our stuff out of storage. We just have to find a place to stay.

We went to Billings last weekend and we had a good time shopping for baby stuff. We got the majority of what we needed bought. There are still a few things that we need to get before he comes, but they aren't a big deal. The ladies at the Community Church are also throwing a shower for me on October 18th. I thought that was very nice of them since I don't know most of them very well.

I did join a ladies Bible Study and I'm enjoying that so far. It's an interesting group of women...lots of different ages and places in life. I'm the youngest (as usual). We're studying a book called "The Excellent Wife". It's a little frustrating because not all the ladies actually come every week, but its been good to get to know some other women in the community.

So, we're doing ok up here. I'll be looking for stuff to do this week and missing Jeff and he'll be mingling and going to lectures about animals.

Hunting Season has begun

We are very excited to announce that Jeff got his very first elk last night with his bow! Here are pictures of his bull elk.

Some new baby things

We got internet!! Yay! So, I've been able to start ordering and shopping for good deals for the baby! I thought I'd show you a few things I got today.

I got an awesome deal and free shipping on this glider rocker/ottoman set from Target. It was rated really well on the website, so hopefully it will be a good one.
I also got a really cute moose outfit from Target. com. Jeff loves moose, so he'll like this outfit.
Lastly, I got some long sleeve onsies for 0-3 months age. I think were doing really good on clothes for 0-3 months. Maybe a few more sleep n' plays or a brown/neutral colored jacket or sweater would be good, but we've got quite a bit. I need to get a few more things for 3-6 month age - like pants, long sleeve onsies, and some short sleeve stuff in case it gets warm earlier here.



After that, it's kind of hard to buy stuff because I don't know when exactly he will be in what clothes and what the weather will be at that time. We are going to Missoula (hopefully) next week so I'm going to check out some garage sales and get a few more things that we need.

I've officially hit my third trimester now...three more months left!

I'm finding it very difficult to update this blog when we don't have internet access at home. I'd love to put some photos up, but I don't want to upload all the photos and such here at the coffee shop where I check my e-mail.

Jeff and I spent a few days at the Boone and Crockett Ranch for the annual meeting. We had beautiful weather and enjoyed being away from the mosquitoes for a while. Except there's grasshoppers everywhere! This year we have the largest population of mosquitoes that Montana has had in 20 years. Some farmers are suffering damage to their crops. I just get tired of them landing on me and making Jeff get them out of the truck before we leave the house :)

I had another prenatal appointment last week. Everything is fine on the ultrasound that I had and the baby is doing well. My uterus is bigger than to be expected at my gestational age, but that just means the baby is growing fast. I'm getting excited to go shopping for the baby and to get the rest of our stuff out of storage in Missoula. We were supposed to go this week, but I think we're going to go the first week of September instead. I'm hoping to find a nice used changing table at a garage sale or on Craigslist and then get all the little things like burp cloths and a bottle scrubber, etc while we are in Missoula. I also have some baby stuff in our storage unit that we got at garage sales before we moved. Jeff is just hoping that his mounted duck in storage hasn't been eaten by bugs and is ok :)

So, pray for Jeff's duck :)

Time in STL

I haven't updated recently since most of the people that read this I have been seeing. I am having a good time in St. Louis/Kirksville/Muskogee visiting friends and family. I flew in on the 22nd of July and then took off for a few days in Kirksville. I didn't get to see everyone I wanted too, but I had limited time. Jeff and I will have to catch up with everyone else when we are home over Christmas. The trip up there really made me remember how much I miss Kirksville and all the people in it. It's just a perfect sized town for Jeff and I...not a city, but not too tiny either. The youngin's had a goo representation at the Franklin Street Reunion too...go 2000's!

Then I spent a few days with Jeff's family catching up with them. Toni and I went to get mani-pedi's so that was nice... I won't have to paint my toes for a while now! Good thing too because bending over is becoming more and more difficult.

Andrea and Maddie came in last Wednesday, so I've been hanging out with them and my family since then. We had the baby shower on the 1st of August and it was really fun. It was quite tiring though! We did a brunch baby shower, so we had Panera bagels, fruit, danishes, egg casseroles, and yummy cake. Toni made the cake and it turned out beautifully and tested amazing too. My mom got tons of my favorite fruits, so I've still been snacking on the lefovers.

Tomorrow we are leaving for Muskogee to take Andrea and Maddie home. We're going to stop and see my Grandpa Dahlberg in Rolla on the way and then spend 2 nights in Muskogee to see her church and her new house.

Jeff is excited since Joe and Alban flew in yesterday and they will be heading to Glacier National Park tomorrow. Joe and Lindsey also sent a bunch of baby stuff too!

I will be sad to leave here next Wednesday, but I miss Jeff a lot and I'm excited to start putting the nursery together. I'll post more about the trip when I get home.

I leave for St. Louis in 2 days! I'm very excited to spend some time in Kirksville and St. Louis with family and friends!

I think the best way to describe things with the Wrights these days is"overwhelming". There's a lot of change happening at the same time and it gets tiring and frustrating sometimes. I've decided I really am a city girl...or at least a larger town girl. Jeff and I are getting tired of having to drive for over an hour to get anything. We had to drive to Glasgow (70 miles) to get a UHaul to move the rest of our stuff into the house and we ended up driving to Havre (90 miles) to get a push mower to cut the jungle of a yard we had. I also like some of the anonymity involved in places with more people. When I go for a walk here, people slow down and look at me. We had a guy drive by our house super slow this weekend while Jeff was working on the yard. I know they are just trying to figure out who we are, but I miss just going into a grocery store getting the stuff I need, having a business transaction with the cashier and going home...not having to say who I am, where we are from, how long we will be in Malta, why we are here, and how far along I am. I also miss the cheaper prices of discount stores...like Target. Oh, and I also miss community theatre and electric guitars in church.

I'm excited to go home because some of the akwardness that I experience here at church and everwhere we go will not be there for three weeks! I'm tired of trying to make friends and I'm ready to be around people who already know me and love me.

In other news, I think we've officially decided to go to the Community Church in town. It's not really the style that Jeff and I prefer (see the electric guitar comment above), but it's the youngest church with people closest to our age and young families that I can relate too. The people have also been very nice to us so far. We visited another church in town, but there was nobody our age and while the people we met were really nice, I have a hard time really experiencing community with older people who are mostly ranchers. I don't know how I will survive for three years without being a part of a band at a church, so hopefully I can find some people who maybe want to get together and play music. Sometimes when I think about living here for three years (this far away from family and friends and this far away from a city) I get sad. I just keep praying tha Jeff will finish on time.

Jeff is down at the trailer right now working on stuff. He's coming up tomorrow evening to take me to Billings on Wednesday to fly out. Please pray that while I am gone, he is able to get a lot of work done. I know that this project is hard for him because I like being with him and he likes being home so that cuts into time he could be working, so it will be good that I'm gone for a while so he can catch up.

Well, I will try to update while I'm in STL...or at least talk Jeff into updating.

I apologize for our tardiness in updating the blog. Our internet at the trailer has been very spotty and we don't have internet at our house in town yet. So, I'm sitting in our coffee shop here in Malta so I can check my e-mail and update.

We closed on our house a week ago today. It's nice not to have to be at the trailer...although I miss Jeff a lot when he's down there. The house is beautiful though! I will post pictures once we've moved all of our stuff in. We're moving in slowly. Since Jeff had to go to Indiana for his grandpa's funeral last week, we didn't get as much done, but I was glad he could go and see his family.

I leave for St. Louis next Wednesday. I've been looking forward to it all summer and I can't believe it's this close! I am worried about missing Jeff while I'm home for three weeks, but I'm sure I'll keep busy and he will be able to get a lot of work done.

If you're praying for our family, please pray for God's provision - or rather that we would trust in his provision. He has provided so much for us already, but I still have regular freak outs, mostly about money. I don't think the pregnancy hormones help much either. :)

And, if you haven't heard from facebook or a phone call, we found out we are mostly likely having a boy. The ultrasound was cool because the technician really took time and showed us the different parts of our baby. We are very excited to bring David Joseph to the midwest to meet his family this Christmas.

Craziness and Canoing

Things have been crazy around the trailer and the American Prairie Refuge this week. We've got some people camping in our front yard here. They are from the Montana Conservation Corps and they are taking down some of the internal fences that are still in the Bison Range. Wednesday night, we went over to the Yurt Camp (a camp with these circular permanent tents for the donors to APR and WWF) where they were just finishing up a safari. The safaris are like mini camps for the high dollar donors and potential donors. The WWF and APR staff drive the guests all around the Refuge to see the bison and different wildlife and they wine and dine them with delicious food and drinks. They asked us to come over for the last dinner so people could meet Jeff and ask any questions they had. We didn't get tons of questions, but we had a good time (and good food).

The next day, Jeff's advisor, Dr. Paul Krauseman, came out from Missoula to see the study site and to see what Jeff and Mike had been doing. Jeff, Kyran (the project director), and Dr. Krauseman, drove ALL over the huge property on Thursday looking for bison, checking the fence that Jeff had built and seeing the land. It was kind of neat to see the whole thing, but I was REALLY sick of being in the truck on bumpy little two-track roads.

Yesterday, Jeff worked some in the morning and early afternoon, but came home early so we could actually see each other for a while. It's nice right now being the only people that are in the trailer. Mike is in Helena getting married until next Sunday, so Jeff and I got to cuddle on the couch and spend some time alone. Although, the trailer is not conducive to spending time together. We probably killed 10+ moths, some flies, and found a dead mouse during our lovely alone time together. I will be very VERY glad when we are not living here anymore. We did go canoing on Forchette Bay yesterday evening . Forchette Bay is a little piece of Fort Peck Lake that comes in about 20 miles from the trailer. The Missouri River actually makes Fort Peck Lake, and as you drive down to in, the landscape changes dramatically. It goes from flat sagebrush prairie to very hilly country with different vegetation. In some places there are big cliffs that go down to the lake. It's called "the Breaks". Here are some pictures from out canoing trip yesterday.

This is the view of the cliffs across the bay from the top of the road

These are the cliffs from the water...very far away.

We saw the biggest spider either of us had ever seen, but I wouldn't stay near it long enough to take a picture. We also saw huge things in the water. We're not sure if they were giant fish...there's walleye and some other big fish in the lake, or if it was a mammal of some sort.

This is what the landscape looks like most of the time. Off in the distance, you can faintly see the Little Rocky Mountain Range.

Jeff is doing well. His helper isn't here this week or next week. That slows things down and I know Jeff doesn't like that. I can't go out and put up fence all day...I can't even lift a fence post. He's been working on a lot of computer stuff and getting locations for bison and moving some wood to places he needs it to be, but I think he wishes he could keep going on the exclosures he needs to get put up.

I'm feeling fine. I felt the baby move this week and I'm positive it's the baby. I've never felt anything like it before and it is VERY reassuring. My tummy is also starting to look more like a pregnant tummy too. We're hoping to hear back about insurance and assistance stuff soon so I can go to the Dr. for a check up and hopefully find out what the gender is soon! We've got names picked out for both a boy and a girl, so we are just chomping at the bit to know what it is!

Well, Jeff has really gotten started on his project this week. He and Mike have been out a lot putting up fence and collaring cows from different ranches in he area. He got burnt really badly the first day he went out with Mike to fence despite my harping at him to wear sunblock. So, I put the sunblock in the truck. He's remembered to wear it since. I went to town every day this week (except Monday when I was sick) to help with VBS at church. I decided that VBS is awesome, but it is the ultimate energy drain :) I came home yesterday and napped for three hours I was so beat.

It was nice being in town so much this week because I got to see a lot of people and get to know people in the church more, but it got really old driving an hour to town and an hour back everyday (not to mention pricey). I also did a lot of things we needed to in town this week like license the truck, look at houses, talk to the WIC people, etc. On Monday I have my appointment with the WIC people to see if I qualify for the program. Hopefully I'll also get to take Jeff to town next week to see the house that I liked in town.

I'm counting down the days until I get to go home for a little while. I think I'm going to be home for about three weeks. I'm kind of sad because it's the longest Jeff and I have been apart since we've been married, but I am excited to see friends and family that I haven't seen in a while. I also have various St. Louis/Kirksville things I would like to do - get coffee from Java Co, eat at Imo's and Panera and Longhorn, go to the Zoo, and others.

Supposedly, this week, there are supposed to be a lot of people coming in and out of the trailer here. I think there's someone coming today. Although the last time they told us two big shots from WWF were coming to stay here, they never showed up, so who knows?!

Anyway, this morning I was watching some music videos while I ate my breakfast and the lyrics from this song really struck me.

How He Loves Us - Jesus Culture

He is jealous for me
Love's like a hurricane, I am a tree
Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy
When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory
and I realize just how beautiful You are and how great your affections are for me.
Oh, how He loves us so
Oh, how He loves us
How He loves us so.

Yeah, He loves us
Oh, how He loves us
Oh, how He loves us
Oh, how He loves.

So we are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes
If grace is an ocean we're all sinking
So heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss and my heart turns violently inside of my chest
I don't have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way

That he loves us,
Oh, how He loves us
Oh, how He loves us
Oh, how He loves

I love this song and you can watch the video here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoC1ec-lYps

In sickness and in health...

We've got some illness going around the trailer. Jeff's dad came up to help us move and caught a cold on the way up here, Jeff got it, and now I have it. I've spent all morning sleeping trying to get rid of it as soon as possible. It makes me nervous being sick while I'm pregnant, but at least I have the time to take care of myself while we're out here.

I really don't want to be sick tomorrow. A couple from the church we went to on Sunday invited us to their ranch for cattle branding, dinner, and bible study. Jeff is very excited about the cattle branding part. When we went to church last Sunday, people were super super nice. We're going to go to the church picnic this Sunday, so I'm excited to get to know people.

Jeff and I are looking for a place in Malta. We're not really sure where to start. We know where to look to buy houses and there a quite a few for sale, but we're not sure where to start looking for rentals. There's no website or listings in the paper, so we mentioned it at church and people said they knew some people they could hook us up with.

I think going to church is going to help Jeff with his project too. For his project to be successful, he needs the cooperation of a lot of people who disagree with the organization (American Prairie Foundation) whose land Jeff is working on. Jeff really has a neat ability to see both sides of every story and really sees why the ranchers and area folks could be offended by the APF. He also sees ranching as an important and valuable part of life out here, which some people he works with fail to recognize. I think the relationships that we build in the community will really help Jeff understand the policies and people he's working with.

Well, Jeff and Mike are back home from the field, so it's lunch time.

Little Trailer on the Prairie

We have arrived at our new temporary home. Things have not gone quite as smoothly as we had hoped, but things are starting to get worked out. The trailer is ok for now. Moving in took a little longer than we had hoped. We had to finish laying some of the stick-on tile in the trailer before moving a lot of stuff around. Dad has been great to have around. He fixed the broken door and has been good emotional support for us both. Yesterday, Kristin, dad, Mike (another grad student from UM), and I drove to Malta to pick up food and supplies we needed for the trailer. The 1 hour drive gets boring towards the end but we all made it there and back sane. The people around Malta seemed pretty nice. I especially liked their hardware/general store called Hardware Hank.

Today was a little more enjoyable than the previous two. We lounged around this morning for a while and then took dad and Kristin on a tour of the property. Our first stop was the prairie dog colony at the south edge of the property. It was fun watching all the prairie dogs and we saw a burrowing owl. Kristin thought the prairie dogs were cute but they made annoying sounds.

We then went to the bison jump that is on CMR. We walked out to the ledge and looked down at Forchette Creek. On the way back to the truck, Mike told us about Moss Agate, a rare rock that can be found in this region. We found some, even one that had been partially knapped into an arrowhead. Kristin also took pictures of a number of flowers she saw.

After that, we drove out to the lone exclosure I have up. To our surprise, the fence has stayed up and the bison have stayed out. There were tracks around the edge of the exclosure but none were inside. We saw the majority of the herd when we went to look at an old branding pen that is still up.

After dropping Kristin off at home, Mike, dad, and I drove the rest of the property and went to CMR. It is amazing how vast this landscape really is. Plants are starting to flower, so the prairie is starting to look really nice. There are also a ton of great birds to see out here. We have seen lark buntings, long-billed curlews, western meadowlarks, yellow-headed blackbirds, pheasant, grouse, ducks, American avocets, western kingbirds, and we have a great-horned owl that lives in a building near the trailer.

The most exciting thing that has happened so far occured this evening. Dad went out to check if our laundry was dry. He came in with a wild look in his eyes and told me to come outside. In the path to the laundry was a 4 - 5 foot prairie rattlesnake. Due to WWF policy, we had to relocate the snake instead of kill it. Mike, dad, and I had a heck of a time dealing with this snake but eventually got it in a bucket, threw it in a truck, and drove out to the winter pasture to release it. The snake didn't want to leave once we let it go but we were able to collect all our gear and drive off. I think that is the most fun dad has had in Montana so far. While I knew these snakes were out here, I did not expect to see one yet and didn't expect to see it now. We are going to be buying snake tongs to deal with snakes from here on out. Unfortunately, none of us grabbed a camera before we left so there are no pictures of our first snake.

Answered prayer

We found a working used washing machine for $35!! God provides!

Headed out

We're very sorry it has been such a long time since we've updated. Jeff kept saying that he wanted to write an update, but he never did :) So, I thought I'd clue you all in on what's up.

I had my second prenatal appointment. Everything looks great... all the tests came back with good results and we got more sonogram pictures taken (above). The baby actually looks like more of a baby now. Jeff calls it an "alien". I wont go to the same OB-GYN again and will be switching to someone in Billings, MT. Not sure who it will be yet, but I didn't really like my Dr here too much so I'm glad to get to go to someone else.

I also had a shower/goodbye party yesterday at work. It was really sweet of everyone to do that for me. Paula, one of my trainers, made the baby a beautiful quilt! I also got baby exercise DVD's, a gift card, and a Montana piggy bank that Debby said I have to make everyone put positive thought in at all of my showers. Debby is pregnant too and is great to have as a friend!

On Tuesday we are headed out to Malta. The house is almost packed up and Jeff's dad is coming up to help us move on Sunday night. So, here we go. I have no idea what is in store for us, but it'll be an adventure, that's for sure.

My parents were up for a few weeks and we had a great time with them. We pretty much ate our way through Missoula. We also went for a beautiful hike at Blodgett Canyon! I'll post pictures soon.

Next post will be from the Bison Ranch!

Time here is short

Well, I feel like our time here now is just wrapping things up so we can actually move. We've been cleaning our apartment a lot as our landlord is selling our house. It's kind of getting annoying because we have all this stuff like pictures being taken and open houses, but at least it keeps our place spotless.

I've been working like crazy trying to get a new team up and running and get things in order before the new person gets here. We've got four interviews this week for people to do my position. I'd be really excited if I got at least two weeks to show them how things work and what I've been doing.

Jeff is finishing up this semester. He has two more weeks of classes, finals, and then we move. He's been out of town a lot lately for field trips. He'll be going to the Boone and Crockett Ranch again this weekend, but when he comes back on Sunday, my parents will be in town!! Yay!

My mom and dad are coming up for 9 days or so to visit. I'll actually get to see my mom on mother's day and celebrate my birthday with my parents. I'm sure we'll be going to HuHot (Mongolian Grill) while they are here (my mom LOVES HuHot). I think we may also take them out to the Boone and Crockett Ranch for a few days to hike and see some wildlife.

I've just got to get my rear in gear and start packing!

The first prenatal appointment

Well, Jeff and I went to our first prenatal appointment today. We got the works... the pap, more cultures, exam, ultrasound, blood tests. I was nervous going into it, but I really liked the Dr that I randomly got hooked up with. Her staff was very nice, her office was pleasant and warm, and she understood that I didn't want to wait until I was 12 weeks along to see a doctor.

She said everything is going perfectly so far. The baby is in the right spot, the right size, and I am 8 weeks along. My official due date is November 26th...Thanksgiving! Jeff says that the only thing missing from Thanksgiving is Birthday Cake, so now Thanksgiving is perfect! He already posted the sonogram pictures on facebook before I even thought about it. He's a proud daddy, even if he does call our baby a smurf.

I don't mean to only write about baby stuff. There's a lot of stuff going on other than a baby, but it's pretty much all I think about. I really like Easter. It's my favorite holiday. Jeff proposed to me 4 years ago on Easter. We're going over to Brian and Andrea's house for Easter dinner(our pastor and his wife and kids). I'm bringing potato casserole. So, right now, I'm going to go shop for dinner tonight and Easter food.

Love you all!

Strawberries

Well, I am perpetually hungry! Luckily, I found four pounds of deliciously sweet strawberries at Albertson's grocery store for about 5 dollars!!!

I was initially really sad about Jeff leaving for this week, but now I get to eat all of these strawberries myself! I also got some watermelon because I found out it will help prevent you from retaining so much water and I really think it works.

Jeff is in Malta putting up some fencing on the ranch that he will be working on. He'll be there until Tuesday when he drives to the Boone and Crockett Ranch. I will meet him there on Wednesday and I'll get to see the area a little bit.

This is what his trip looks like. Missoula is A. Malta is B. The Boone and Crockett Ranch is C. He has a lot of driving to do in the next few days :)

More details

Well, I thought I would post to answer some of the many questions that people have been asking lately!

1. When are you due? I'm assuming November. I haven't been to the Dr. yet so I'm kinda just guessing.
2. When did you find out? Last Monday
3. How is this going to affect the move to Malta? Well, we're still moving to Malta... to the ranch outside of Malta. Originally Jeff was to move in May and I was to move in June, but I may go with him in May instead. We're not sure yet.
4. Is there a hospital in Malta? Nope. I looked up OB-GYN's in Malta and couldn't find one either. I'm probably going to find a Doctor in Billings (3.5 hours south of the Ranch). I have a good friend who is getting married and moving to Billings this summer, so she will be there and has even graciously offered Jeff and I a place to stay as I get close to my due date. It's so nice to have generous friends!
5. Are you still going to get a puppy? Well, Jeff is really kind of sad about not getting a puppy as he had his heart set on it. I told him we could look at the possibility once we get to the ranch and see what's going on. I figure if we get the puppy and have 7 months or so to get him/her acclimated to us and trained, it would be ok. So, "maybe" is the answer to this question.
6.Are you sick? Not really. I'm super tired and I sleep a lot, but I haven't had any nausea yet.

I desperately wish we were in St. Louis or Kirksville so I could share this experience and get wisdom from all of the great mothers I know and love, but we'll have to settle for a phone conversation for now.

This weekend, Jeff and I did nothing! It was great! I took naps and we watched movies and I went to Target! I also got to talk to Lindsay in South Africa for a few hours and it was great! Gotta love Skype!

Jeff's spring break is coming up so I will get to go out to the Boone and Crockett Ranch with him for a few days, which I'm, excited about. Also, our church is having an egg drop for the city of Missoula. you can see more info about it here: www.missoulaeggdrop.com

Love you all!

New addition

Well, we've changed out mind about the puppy for now. Mostly because we now know that we are expecting a baby this year! Wow and SURPRISE!

This was not in our plans and Jeff and I are doing our fair share of freaking out...but mostly we are just excited. As I look back on the past few months, it seems as thought things have just been leading up top this. Last week, I was walking down the hall at work and one of our (slightly crazy) older ladies held the door for me. I said "thank you" and she said "you're welcome...both of you). Now, it was clearly only me walking through the door so I just chalked it up to her craziness. Ha....turns out she was right!

I haven't been to the Dr yet, but I have an appointment in a few weeks. Jeff and I were going to wait to tell people until I went, but we're not very good secret keepers. We just decided that we want to share the news right now! I am estimating that I am about 5 weeks along...I think. I'll let you know a more exact due date after I see the Dr. I haven't been really sick, just feel SUPER tired and a little bit PMS-ish. And by Super-tired, I mean I feel like I got hit with a tranquilizer gun to put it in the words of a friend of mine. Luckily my job is flexible and I can do some work at home and take naps in the middle of the day :)

We will keep you all posted on all the details as they come. We're not sure what this means for the moving situation, but we're figure it out. God will provide.

Love you all!

Well, I was hoping that we would find a dog to adopt this weekend, so I could post pictures of him when I updated. Sadly, we did not find a dog that would be the right fit for us yet. We'd really like to have one when we move out to Malta, so I can take him with me to run and to have him around while Jeff is out in the field. Jeff also would really like to train the dog well for hunting.

So, we've been looking for a lab mix of some sort. We've been to shelters here in Missoula, Butte, and Helena. We're also checking rescue agencies and craigslist and stuff. We have certain stipulations from out landlord and certain things we are looking for. It doesn't help that Missoula is ridiculously remote and to go to another shelter requires hours of driving. We've decided to just keep looking and wait for the right dog. We may not even get one until after we move... who knows?

Also, I have downgraded from a full marathon to a half marathon. I don't have the emotional space in my head right now to commit to training and running my frist marathon. It's going to have to wait. I'm much less stressed now that I made that decision.

Jeff suprised me this past week with Missoula Symphony tickets. Yesterday we went and saw Verdi's Requiem. It was really enjoyable and quite a production. 75 piece orchestra, 100 voice choir and 4 soloists from all over the country. If you've never listened to it, you should. It's a very engaging and dramatic piece. IJeff even liked it and thought it was entertaining. Since Verdi was primarily an opera writer, it kind of feels more like a dramatic opera than an oratorio. Also, before the performance, the conductor gave a short presentation on the piece and talked about the background and where the piece sits in Verdi's life. It was great! It made me miss making REAL music. Singing opera arias and art songs was hard work, but I was always so proud of myself when I did well. Hopefully one day I'll get to take voice lessons again!

Well, I thought I would write a short update of what's been going on the last couple weeks. I spent some time in Couer d'Alene, ID for a Conference for work. The Women's Club belongs to an association of clubs called FitLife and they sponsor a retreat for owners and managers of participating clubs in the Northwest. It was a great time. I went with four other awesome women from work and I had a blast. The conference was good - we had workshops on how to cut your expenses and how to use social media as a marketing strategy along with meetings for the actual FitLife organization. The accommodations were wonderful...we stayed at the swanky Couer d'Alene resort http://www.cdaresort.com Most of all I had a great time with the ladies I went with and enjoyed getting to know them better. Jeff spent some time in Kalispell, MT for a while, but has mostly been going to class and working on his proposal and writing grants for funding.

I've been Twittering lately... if you don't know what that is, check it out at www.twitter.com The club may want to use it for marketing purposes so I thought I should familiarize myself with it. Not gonna lie... I kinda like it.

This weekend we drove up to Blodgett canyon (a hiking trail area south of Missoula in the Bitterroot Mtn Range) and when we got to the top of the icy snowy road that we shouldn't have been driving on, there was a girl who was stuck in the snow. And I don't mean "one good push" stuck. We - and several other people - were up there for about 1.5 hours trying to get her out of there. I think all of the cars of people there made it down safely. It certainly was an adventure.

Next post I am going to share some pictures that we have taken since we moved here. I need to edit them and then I can post them. Some places here are so beautiful that a picture doesn't do it justice, but I can try.

additions to the "You know you're a Missoulian when..." list.

• You have a dog..or several dogs
• You take your dogs everywhere with you
  

Salute to Jiffy Lube

I went for my first "marathon training" run yesterday. It sucked. It was the hardest 3 miles ever - which is weird because my long run right now is at 7 so it's not like I can't run it. I've built up this whole marathon thing in my head. Today's run was better. IT was longer and easier. I feel better.

Jeff is currently in Kalispell, MT (further north) for the Montana Wildlife Society meeting. I told him to take the blue Scion since we have a leak in in the radiator of the truck. I drove the truck to work this morning since I have to be somewhere right after work and as I was in the drive up line for a Double split shot sugar free mocha with soy (I had a free coupon!!) at The Loose Caboose - best coffee in Missoula that I am hooked on thanks to my coworker Abbey - I looked out my windshield and I couldn't see out because of the billowing smoke underneath the hood of the truck. Luckily, next door was a Jiffy Lube and a really nice guy opened the hood, look at the radiator, replaced some fluids and sent me off without making me pay. He said I should be fine today, but the car may smoke a little bit. Awesome. So, I just have to make it to my church (5 blocks away), back to work (5 blocks) and then home (about a mile or so).

Jiffy Lube saved the day for me. I got in the truck this morning feeling really tough and awesome because I can drive an old truck with a manual trasmission and then by the time I got to work - after pulling the "I'm a female" card at Jiffy Lube and totally missing the place they asked me to pull into and having to back up and try again - I was pulled back down to earth.

Jeff got to Kalispell ok without any trouble. I'm assuming he's been in seminars all day and then this evening he will be "networking" over free food. I have a retreat next week for an organization called FitLife and I'm excited to do some "networking" over free food. My free food will be served on a dinner cruise on a lake. That's my kind of business.

Well, today is my first "official" day of my marathon training. I have decided I'm going to keep a training journal where I detail my weight, what I eat, how far I run, and how I feel that day both physically and emotionally. I really do feel like God is calling me to run this marathon. I don't really think I can do it and I'm really reluctant, but I believe I am supposed to.

I don't actually have a run today as Monday is a rest day on my schedule, but I'm going to hop on the elliptical and do a little cardio exercise just to get things started. I wrote all of the training in my planner last night and it was really scary writing "Long Run 22 miles".

Jeff and I had a good weekend. On Saturday we went out to Frenchtown - just a little bit west of Missoula - and we hiked through some ice and snow in search of a black-backed woodpecker. We saw 1 black-backed along with some Pilliated woodpeckers, white breated nuthatches and about 1 billion hairy woodpeckers. I have come to the conclusion that I need some ankle height snow boots if I'm going to do things like that because, even though I was wearing waterproof shoes, my feet got soooo wet because the snow entered the top of my shoe. Sunday, we went to church in the morning, I hung out with my friend Camille to plan our Tuesday night Bible Study, and then we went grocery shopping. We also got a LAMP!! We've been wanting to get a lamp for our room since we moved here (we didn't have room in the car to bring Jeff's prized moose lamp when we moved here so it's living at my parents' house) and we finally did!

Hooray for accent lighting!

Change of plans

Well, we've had a slight change in our original plans. Jeff was accepted as a PhD student at U of M with the intention of doing research at the Boone & Crockett Memorial Ranch (http://www.boone-crockett.org/conservation/conservation_trmr.asp?area=conservation) which worked out well because it is close enough to Missoula that I could stay here and work part time and still see him on a regular basis. However, because of some funding changes, Jeff will be doing a different project. He will be doing bison research on a ranch near Malta, MT...aka...the middle of nowhere. And by "near Malta" I mean "50 miles south of Malta on a gravel road."

So...I'm kind of sad about this. I will have to leave my job at The Women's Club (www.thewomensclub.com), that I really like. I told them a few days ago and it's just been kinda sad to be at work. So, right now I'm busy asking God why he opened this amazing opportunity and I feel like its been taken away so soon. His response through many of my close family and friends has been "because there's something else that you need to learn on a ranch in Malta."

Jeff and I are both kind of scared. I'm not exactly sure what I will do out there. I'd like to teach exercise classes and do some training in Malta, but I don't know how that would work out. I want a guitar because I will finally have the time to practice. I think Jeff's excited about the project, but I think he's also nervous about starting his research so soon (May).

In the meantime, I'll just finish strong at the Women's Club, run a marathon (I start my preliminary training tomorrow) and keep serving at church.

Speaking of church, our 20-somethings group had our first weekly bible study meeting this past Tuesday and it was really great! We're studying John. I really like John chapter 1. I never quite understood the whole "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God" when I was a kid reading it. But in those words is a whole chunk of theology. The deity of Christ, the Trinity, the pre-existence of Christ...all packed in one sentence. Love it!

Yet another reason why I am sad to be moving yet again. But I will just keep praying that Jeff and I will learn what we are supposed to.

6 months after the move...our first blog!

Hello friends and family! So, we're finally starting our family blog...we'll I'm starting our family blog. We'll see how much Jeff actually writes on this thing. While we were home for Christmas, we realized how much we miss everyone and how much happens in such a short period of time, so we're (I'm) committing to updating you guys on what's going on in our lives.

Jeff and I moved out here to Missoula, Montana about 6 months ago (early August) so Jeff could pursue a Ph.D. in Wildlife Biology at the University of Montana. Before we moved out here, I was blessed to interview and secure a job as the Fitness Director (and personal trainer and group exercise instructor) at The Women's Club Health and Fitness Center. We're living in a basement apartment that comes with two bonus dogs and cats (the lady that owns the house and lives there has pets!).

Jeff did very well in his first semester on school and I'm still learning about my job, but I think I've got the hang of it. Since we got back from our vacation in St. Louis over Christmas, Jeff has started classes again - he is now really working on putting stuff together to begin his research project this summer. I've gone back to work and have a new intern who is working with me this semester and just finished a seminar on Running your first 5K - hopefully to blossom into a 5K training program here at the club.

We go to a church called River City Church. You can see their website at www.rccmissoula.org I've been leading worship for the church occasionally and our "20's" group is starting a study on John this week. We've been blessed to meet some really great people at River City and we're just glad to have some friends outside of work and school who share our love of Jesus.

Right now we've got some big stuff starting to happen, but I'll blog about those later when things are more concrete.

Instead, I will leave you with the beginning of a list I would like to call "You know you're a Missoulian when..."

• You drive a Subaru
• Your spouse has one as well
• You are not originally from Missoula - you're from CA or AZ or PA...or something
  
• Montanans from other towns do not like you
• You think a red light means speed up and get through the intersection.
• You and everyone else you know voted for Barack Obama
• You assume everyone in the room voted for Barack Obama
  

...to be continued