Thanksgiving

It's been a great and busy several days with friends and family and the house is now quiet. Mom, Dad, Wes and Stef all came to hang out and they happened to bring a large arrangement of power tools. When we announced we were pregnant, Wes and Stef offered to come out for a few days to work on our house as a gift to us. This was the time and all 6 of us buckled down and worked for three solid days. We put in a beautiful wood floor in the kitchen and entry way, painted the kitchen, put trim in, painted the nursery, replaced kitchen faucets and light fixtures, and put in new switches and outlets to match. The flooring was actually wainscoating that we found at the Habitat for Humanity Restore. We turned it over so the wainscoating flaced the floor and the back was up and called it flooring--it turned out to be gorgeous! Pictures will follow of the finished floor. We are so thankful to have had the help. Alone, all of that work would have taken us months to finish alone.

On Thanksgiving morning, Wes, Mike, and I ran a 5K race, the Turkey Trot. We had wanted to do it for a while but have always been gone, so this was a fun opportunity. Wes ran with me the whole way and we did it in 26:30. I was psyched! That's only just over 2 minutes slower than normal, and I had expected to do more like 33:00. Mike took 6th place of about 300 people. It was great to get a little endorphin rush and calorie burn in before the feast. 13 folks showed up for dinner--it was my first time hosting, so mom walked me through all of the cooking and it was delicious! We ate, talked, played Taboo, ate pie, laughed, hung out. Here are some photos of our time together.

The Thanksgiving feast--turkey, stuffing, grean bean casserole, mashed taters, sweet potatoes, gravy, cornbread, cranberry sauce, apple pie and pecan pie. Mike lifted up my shirt to show the belly just as the photo was taken.

Check out the belly! It felt like it grew inches this week.

We took a day off of working for a beautiful hike up Grizzly Creek. We hiked through fog and mist for hours.

A view of the canyon on the hike.

21 weeks! Wes and I comparing bellies. Similar genes?? (It's really not fair, he does about 10 situps a year.)

Wes and Mike working on the floors.

Wes with the old floor gone.

Stef scraping up the old flooring.

All systems normal!

I received the official radiology report of the ultrasound from the hospital yesterday. All systems are officially normal! Yeah!

It's a . . . . .!!

It's a Baby!! With two arms AND two legs! And hands! And feet with very tiny toes attached!! And two eyes and a nose (despite the fact that I dreamt it was nose less) and a mouth that opens and closes. We shielded our eyes when she measured the femurs so we wouldn't see the goods--that took A LOT of will power. Later, when she was working near that same area, the kid conveniently was grabbing its own package as if to hide it ("Sorry, mom and dad, you have to wait to see!"). So far, everything looks good and we'll get the official report later this week. My due date will stay the same, April 11th, as the sizes of everything today matched up with the date we had.

A perfect little footprint.

The munchkin's profile--eyes, nose, mouth, neck, and chest.

Mike and I went elk hunting from dawn to dusk on Saturday and saw nothing but prints. Mike saw two deer within about 25 yards and was VERY tempted to shoot one. The thought process went... I should shoot this deer, but I can't tag it. No tag means no getting it butchered. I don't have a garage to hang it in but I suppose I could put a tarp on the carpet in the living room...but Joy would probably then have ME butchered..." So we have no meat. Bummer, next year we will also have deer tags! We saw elk tracks everywhere as well as lion tracks. Mike had been out in the same area nearly every day last week after work and there were many lion tracks on top of his boot prints. I was glad to have a large caliber rifle in my hands. The area also happens to be a place where I trail run often, alone, and with headphones. I might think twice next time (or at least bring a slower friend with me).

Maybe the reason we didn't get anything is because I...

...like to take naps instead of hike around.

Definitely not the clearest print we saw, but you get the idea. This is not a house cat!

Mike and his friend Chris Van Leuven have been working every weekend on a new route in Glenwood Canyon. They are calling it "The Horse and Pony Show" and if you know the two of them, especially together, it describes them PERFECTLY. They are a hilarious duo. The route is really hard (5.12a), mixed sport and trad, and about 500 feet long. They have put many hours into this project and Mike comes home after working on it all day as happy as he can possibly be! They leave the house by 7am on weekends and usually get home after 8pm.

Chris showed up at our house Sunday morning with a nice little scarf on.


So, Mike insisted on wearing a scarf as well. He took my fancy Irish scarf and returned it in perfect condition. I just thought it was so funny that these two boys were out being as tough as can be...and wearing scarves. Here's Mike with his serious face on, holding his big drill, and wearing his wife's scarf. What a cutie!

The route has great views of Grizzly Creek.

Working (it)

One of my students broke his wrist a few days ago and is getting surgery right now. It's 8:30 pm and I am in the hospital waiting room...in FRISCO. For those of you who aren't locals, that is about 2 hours from home! We should get out of here around 9:30 or 10:00, then drive to Carbondale to drop him off, then back to Glenwood--it's going to be a long day. I took a little advantage of the time after I dropped him off, went to the yarn store and to a yummy dinner. I ordered an Izze and asked for a wine glass. I also ordered a salad appetizer and the most expensive item on the menu ($22.00, the seafood primavera with shrimp, scallops, crab, artichokes, roasted tomatoes, mushrooms, pine nuts topped with a delectable buttery lemony sauce) because I am charging it to the student's account--I'm not paid by the hour and figured I deserved a nice dinner for working so late!

18 weeks

I had my 18 week appointment yesterday and everything looks good. The baby was moving around so much, she could hardly find the heartbeat. Sounds like a Schneiter--very active! My uterus grew 5 cm over the last month, so I am pretty much right on target. The babe is now about 6 inches from head to butt and weighs around half a pound--about the size of a mango. I am feeling it move more and more now, pretty much every day. According to various websites, it can suck its thumb and taste, and the myelin sheath is forming around the nerves. Here is what it might look like right now:

We are going to have an ultrasound later this week, so I will add those pictures when we get them.

My midwife, Jasmine, told me that I have to cut back on the running and may have to stop completely for the duration of the pregnancy. Last week, I did 6 flat miles with some friends, an easy and normal run for me. I had to stop halfway through the run because I had some pretty severe pelvic pain. I went to see Jasmine the next morning thinking I had some sort of infection and she told me I had strained the muscles and ligaments holding my uterus in place. I kept hurting for about 4 days, and yesterday Jasmine told me to buy a pool pass because swimming is going to be my new form of exercise. Luckily, Glenwood Springs is named after the local hot springs. We have the largest outdoor hot springs pool in the country--it is about 100 meters long. I can do some long laps there! If I can't run for the next 4 1/2 months, it is okay with me--things could be much worse! Overall, I feel great and have no complaints about the pregnancy. Things are starting to get more difficult, though, as my weight increases and the belly grows.

This past weekend was a blast. I went to Goblin Valley (near the San Rafael Swell in Utah) with 3 other leaders and 22 high school girls. We had great bonding time, knit for hours, hiked a slot canyon, roasted marshmallows, made pizzas, played flashlight tag in the dark, and just had fun together. Yet another reason my job is awesome!

My kid's response to the election!

Yeah, Obama! Some friends had an Obama-Rama last night to watch and (hopefully) celebrate the election. Thankfully, it was a celebration! I'm pretty convinced the babe can hear now, because something crazy happened last night. I have felt it move a few times, but almost imperceptibly and very infrequently. Until yesterday, I could only feel it if I was lying still and concentrating pretty hard. Last night, when CNN announced Obama had won, all of the Obama-Ramers cheered very loudly and the baby started moving, REALLY moving. For an entire minute or so, it felt like it was doing gymnastics in my belly. It was so strong that a friend put her hand on my belly and could actually feel the vibrations. I like to think I've made an Obama fan already!

Rainbow Brite rocks the splitters!

Here's Tracy in all her Rainbow Brite glory--rock climbing, dress and all!

Another weekend in the Dez...

We Schneiters love weekends, especially ones spent with friends climbing in the desert. We left Friday evening and met about 17 friends in Indian Creek to climb. Here are pictures from the trip.

Evening light on the gorgeous sandstone.

Most of our group, from L to R, Tracy Wilson, BJ Sbarra, Sarah Selling, Derek Hanrahan, John Connor, Dave Meyer, Kristen Pogue, Steve Smith, Joy Joy, and Mike.

I thought Mike looked hilarious sleeping by the fire.

The belly is still growing!

Tracy and Sarah, two of my best gals.

Mike decided to make a feast for the whole group. Here are the foil packets filled with potatoes, peppers, onions, corn and spices. He BBQ'd burgers and brats and I filled the dutch oven with green bean casserole. We ate it all! It was a delicious meal! Cooking in the campsite is one of my favorite parts of Indian Creek. The unregulated camping is all on BLM land, so there are no campgrounds, no water, no picnic tables, etc. It's all free and we love it.

Steve and Mike goofing around. They were happy boys this weekend because they brought the drill and were able to put up 3 new routes.

BJ in his pirate vest. He also had a sword and flag, and his dog wore a breast plate. He had to bag the eye patch because it made the climbing a little difficult!

Panorama from the 4x4 wall.

I am still climbing (though not leading).

Courtney, Dana, and Tracy. T dressed up as Rainbow Brite. This is a bad picture of her costume, but she had on a blue felt dress with white fur trim and striped tights and arm warmers.

Dana sends!