Hello strangers!

Wow...so much time has passed since my last blog I don't know where to start!

Our family has been through our share of major ups and downs in the past month. On April 24th my grandma Dorothy (my dad's mom) passed away after a tough fight w/ pneumonia and other infections. She was surrounded by her family as she took her last breath here on Earth which was exactly what she would've wanted since her family was truly her pride and joy. I learned a lot of things from this amazing woman but the number one legacy of hers that I will always keep w/ me is that family is the most important thing in the world. She worked hard and sacrificed a lot to give her kids and her grandchildren and great-grandchildren the kind of life she felt they deserved. She was always there when you needed her to provide a kind word, a comforting hug, or a shared laugh. I needed her one night and she never once complained that I woke her up at 2am and kept her up talking until after 5am. I think her ability to be so understanding and supportive is a great lesson for me as an expectant mom. She also taught me the importance of humor. During her last hours she continued to joke w/ us and giggle at herself and others. I'm so blessed to have had her as my grandma. She truly was the warmest, most generous person I have ever met. I'm sad that Ellie wasn't able to meet her great-grandma but my grandma did make several blankets for her complete w/ a tag that reads "Made with love by Great-Grandma Dorothy".

OK...now I need to take a moment to breath and dry my tears....

Several weeks later I enjoyed my first mother's day as an expectant mom. My family dragged me away from my studying and gave me some great cards and gifts. I wasn't expecting anything so it was such a wonderful and touching surprise! Mike and Sadie bought me a gift certificate for a relaxing pedicure that Sadie and I used a couple weeks later. It was amazing! My mom picked up a Canadian Tuxedo for our little Ellie--the cutest jean skirt and jean jacket! Mike hates when any of us wear jeans w/ our jean jacket so it was the perfect gift for his daughter! W/ Sadie's help my dad picked up some cute pink cowgirl onesies and w/out Sadie's help he found some adorable pink cowgirl boots for his granddaughter. They are too cute!!! There's some pics on this blog of Ellie's cute cowgirl outfit...enjoy!

Another one of our major ups was me finally becoming a normal human being again! What I mean is that I finally finished my Master's degree!!! Since the beginning of March I haven't done anything except talk about my master's project, work on my master's project, and stress about my master's project. Several nights before I presented my project Mike and I were struggling to have a normal conversation about something other than my master's project and I was having a lot of trouble following what was going on when he said "I can't wait until your done so I can have my wife back". Awww.... so sweet! Before you give him too much credit though let's not forget his other comment about a week earlier though where he referred to me as a "fat hobo that sits in the basement all day". Not so sweet.... ;) I still laugh outloud when I think of him saying that because it's so true- for 3 straight months I gained weight (thank you Ellie), put on my sweats and threw my hair back in a pony tail every night, and sat in the basement in front of the computer for as long as I could handle it. Wow-what a relief to be done!!

Now that I'm done it feels good to have a normal life back! Papa Joe, Tone Loc, Mike, and my aunt Sandra and uncle Jon came to my commencement at Northrop on the U of M campus and then we met Sadie and Mike's aunt Julie at Granite City afterwards for a post-graduation celebration. We had a great time and I was glad to spend that evening w/ all of them!

Part of my graduation present to myself was a cute little U of M shirt for my little Ellie. I figured since her dad went to undergrad there and I was a grad student there it was only fitting! There's also a pic of the shirt I bought along w/ a U of M onesie Ellie received as a gift from the professors in my grad program. After we presented our projects there was an award ceremony for all of the students. One of my peers is also pregnant (and due just 3 days before me!) so after the awards ceremony we were presented w/ these adorable little onesies for our babies! Our professor said we proved to everyone else that it IS possible to have a life and finish your master's project!

And now the update that this blog is supposed to be all about....Ellie! She's still doing well and moving around all the time. I can feel her getting bigger and am getting to know her schedule and what gets her excited. She loves hearing her dad talk to her but she doesn't like when we push on my belly too much since she always ends up pushing back! At our last doctor appointment her heartbeat was 154 which is normal for her and I was measuring right on schedule (although I feel like I'm huge for having so much time left!). We'll now be visiting the doctor every 2 weeks for awhile so we should have another update soon!

OK...that's all I've got for now. Hope everyone is doing well. And enjoy this last pic of me at 32 weeks.

Love ya!