A Few Firsts

This week I was blessed with a few first outfits and books.  Wednesday my mother-in-law gave us our first little outfit.  Isn't it cute!  I really like it and we were very grateful for the clothes. She said that every time they have found out the sex of the baby from one of their children they gave them an outfit.  My father-in-law Les picked out the top, which happened to match the only pants in the right size, perfectly.  I love it!

Then Thursday evening I came home and found a package that had been sent from my little sister Melissa.  Just packed full of cute clothes and books.  The best part was that I was on the phone with Melissa when I found the package.  Totally by accident.   So I got to open it with her on the phone.  Which was really cool!  She swears they were all in the discount bin and she didn't spend much.  I am very grateful though and absolutely love the clothes.  Especially the little green polo shirt.  WAY CUTER!!  

The other fun part of getting the presents was the notes that were attached.  Both were written to the baby and I loved it!  So I had to post what the notes said.  The one from Jane and Les read:

For: Zander David Maxfield  (misspelled his name, but that's okay, she will learn it)

From: Grandma and Grandpa Maxfield  We can't wait to hold you!  Love you!

Melissa's read:

Baby Maxfield,

Hi, its your aunt Melissa!  I already love you so much and I can't wait to meet you.  I wanted to give you these things so you have fun things when you come.  But don't worry, tell your mom, I didn't spend too much.  Say Hello to 99 cent bins at The Children's Place!  Whoo Hoo!  I couldn't resist!  But I did hold back a little. 

Melissa  

I guess I better get used to the misspelling of Xander, and possibly the mispronunciation as well.  It will happen.  But that's okay.  We love the name!  Thank you both so much for the new outfits.  We both loved them and are so very grateful.

Cook Fest 3000

So since we have been married I have never been much of a cook. My way of getting dinner for Dave is stopping at a fast food place on my way home from work, or telling him to throw in a frozen pizza. Well, Saturday I was a cooking fiend. I have never cooked so much in my life. Dave about fell over dead when he got home Saturday evening and saw what I had done. He has never seen me cook much so the fact I made as much as I did really freaked him out. "Are you nesting?" He said. I think that nesting happens at the end of your pregnancy, but who knows? I made Lasagna, Chicken Enchaladas, cooked up 5 pounds of hamburger, which I made into Sloppy Joes, Taco meat and plain meat (to use with Hamburger helper dishes), the remainder went into the Lasagna. Friday I had made in the crock pot, Beef Stew and earlier in the week I had made Spaghetti and Tuna casserole. All of which I put into smaller portion tupperware containers or freezer baggies and froze in the freezer. That way we can just pull them out and take them for lunch. The taco meat we can re-heat and put on shells I bought. And the Sloppy Joes can be re-heated and put onto buns I bought. All easy to do. My freezer is just full of my home made TV dinners. It worked great! I can't even believe how well. It was a lot of work, but only for that one day. Hopefully the food will last us awhile, and will be easy to have for dinners, lunches, etc. Sunday I just kept looking in the freezer to see the beauty of all my hard work. I still can't believe I did it. I have to say I don't enjoy cooking but I like to see the result of all the work. And all have been pretty tasty so far.

"Addition"

Per the request of Trish, here is a photo of the freezer in all its glory.

Horses...WHAT!?!

So we woke up this morning to find horses in our backyard.  Yes, Horses!  And we don't own horses!  Craziness!  The horses broke through the fence and got into the fenced in area in our backyard.  Fortunately, it was the fenced in area, or they would have been eating my grass.  It was kind of weird that they ended up there.  FOUR horses in my yard.  We don't know the owners at all, so we couldn't call them.  But they figured it out pretty quickly and came and got them this morning.  However, they had to totally destroy our fence to get them out.  How they fit through that little hole, I'll never know.  But they wouldn't go back they way they came.  They had to cut the support beam to get them out.  We weren't happy about it, but we didn't want the horses there, so what can you do?  They said they would fix it, so we will see.  Just a strange thing to see when you get up in the morning.

Mirrim, the Beloved

So, I have this friend.  I know her from Amtgard, and her Amtgard name is Mirrim.  But her real name is Jenny.  I haven't known her for very long, but had to put a post in here giving her the props she so deserves.  She is an amazing person, mother, wife and friend.  I can't say enough good about this person.  She hardly knows me and has already given me so much.  She has given me kindness, love, gifts, friendship, and much needed advice.  

I have to give a little back story to complete the post I wanted to do here.  In Amtgard, Dave 

and I are in a company.  This company is called the Iron Wulves.  Dave is the captain, and I am a member.  Everyone knows the Iron Wulves who are all great individuals.  I can't say enough about my company mates.  Well, I am not so great at sewing tunics for women.  It turns out that every time I try, I can't, so I have worn a man tunic from the beginning.  Which wasn't a problem until I became pregnant.  Or until I became pregnant enough to show a bit, and therefore became uncomfortable in my regular tunics.  I had one Saturday where I literally "freaked out" and wasn't going to go because I had "nothing" to wear.  I found some cute things to wear to Dragon Blade Wars (all borrowed), but had yet to come up with a solution as to a tunic to wear to the regular park day.  Well, this wonderful friend of mine Mirrim, made me a maternity tunic.  Not only did she make a tunic, but she "made" a tunic.  It is beautifully made.  It has french seams, and lots of other terms I don't know.  It is very well done, and cute to boot.  Not only did she take all the time to make me one, she drove from Eagle Mountain all the way to Liberty park to bring it to me by herself with her three kids.  I was so overwhelmed, I didn't know how to express myself.  I am hoping she reads this and understands just how much it meant to me.  I attached a photo. 

It was so amazing!!  She is so amazing.  I see in her how I would love to be.  A wonderful mother of three beautiful and amazingly well behaved kids, a great cook, a seamstress, who keeps a well kept home, an avid member of her church and has always made Dave and I feel so incredibly welcome.  She also made me banana bread when I was having a craving for it, and lent me all the maternity clothes I wear (which are so dang cute, thank you, thank you).   I just had to post and give my Beloved and Blessed friend Mirrim a well deserved public tribute.  Thank you so much! You'll never know how much I have truly appreciated your friendship.

Its a Boy!

So we went in on Friday and we are definitely having a boy! We are both so very excited. We can't wait to finally meet him. It was a neat experience getting to see him up on the screen moving around like crazy. Everything was good and as far as she could tell we have a healthy baby. The picture above is a view as if he was sitting on the monitor. So its a butt shot with his two legs and umm... I attached another one of a side view.

Can't Announce Yet

Sorry to those that didn't receive a call from me today. I was going to post the sex of the baby and some photos for proof, but when I brought the disc of photos that the Ultra Sound Tech gave me home, it was blank, nothing on it. So therefore, I have no photos to show. But she was nice enough to see me tomorrow morning to get some re-taken. Very sweet! She didn't have to do that and she felt horrible that the CD didn't burn properly. So I won't be officially announcing on my blog until tomorrow, if I have time to get to it. Any of you that read this that want to know and didn't receive a call from me today (sorry), please call me. Except tonight my phone died and my charger was left at work, so call me on Dave's phone. I'm sorry if any of you don't know the number, but I'm not going to post our cell phones. Sorry! Needless to say we are very excited and can't wait until the little one is born.

Today's the Day

Can you tell I am a bit excited?  In two and a half hours from now I go in for my appointment.  I can hardly contain myself.  Sitting here at work has never been so brutal.  If only it were a busy day, but alas Fridays are slower than any other day.  I will be calling most of you to let you know on a more personal level what sex the baby is (if the baby cooperates, oh please be a good baby).  But then I will post another ultra sound photo online and announce on my blog the sex of the baby.  Will we have a Dave Jr, or a mini Angie?  Only time will tell.  

Time is Running Out

Everyone you only have until tomorrow at 12:30 to get your votes in before we find out what we are having.  Please vote if you haven't.  So far the consensus is a girl.  With 21 votes so far.  Keep up the votes.  To all of you who have already voted.  Thank you!  This is fun for me to see and I appreciate all that have or will participate in the poll.

 

Dragon Blade Wars VI

So we just got back from an incredible time at the Annual Amtgard event Dragon Blade Wars. It is run by our friends of Desert Rose, in Elko NV. This year several amazing things happen. First, we had our official coronation of our first King in our newly formed Kingdom. King Matthias. Shown here with his regent Nidalap.

Second, a very good friend of ours was knighted. Fitz who has been a great friend of Dave's from day one. He is now a Flame Knight. Sir Fitz deserved this title and we are so proud that he was able to get this great honor. It takes years to become a knight. Flame Knights are those that give service to the game of Amtgard. And he has given years. Unfortunately during this evening I had a major brain fart and forgot to bring my camera to court. Therefore, I had no pictures of the actual knighting, but here is one of Fitz earlier in the evening with King Matthias. His wife took video of the event opposed to photos, so no photos were taken that I could find.
Third, after becoming a knight Sir Fitz was then able to squire certain individuals he felt worthy and add them to his belt line. One such person chosen was Dave. Or Marquis Ceowulf. Ceowulf has earned his title of Marquis through serving in leadership positions. After Saturday night he was then given the title Squire Marquis Ceowulf. Sunday evening another court was held. This time the Kingdom held its first court. During this court Dave (Ceowulf) was given his Master Archer title. This is for outstanding prowess as an archer on the field. He has become quite the marksman in a battle and I am the very proud wife. So know Dave is known as Master Squire Marquis Ceowulf, in Amtgard. Which is quite prestigious. And now wears a red leather belt to signify that he is a squire. All in all its pretty neat. Here is a photo of him showing off his Master Archer award, and if you look close you can see his new belt made for him by Fitz.
This other photo I had to through in. Dave was also given his 7th Rose for service, there are ten total that you can receive, so I was pretty proud. I snapped this photo and the expressions were too good I couldn't help but post it. From left to right: Westerric, Loptr, Genitch and Ceowulf.
The other exciting (I guess) thing about this weekend was that Ceowulf offered to be the Gate-o-crate at the event. Meaning he was in charge of getting the money from each individual checking in at gate prior to attending the event. This in turn made me have the same responsibility by proxy. So here is a picture of me, sitting at the gate, which is where I spent the majority of the time. I am proud to report that the gate was closed and all money was accounted for to the penny. No problems. That is always good to report at the end of an event.
Of course, there was still room for some fun and fighting.

All in all it was a fabulous event, and one of my favorites due to the following:

Good Friends and Company

Great Food

On site Flush able Bathrooms and Showers

Soft, Lush Grass

Lots of Shade

Cooler weather at night

Everything is really close, so no long walking or huge hills

RV hookups for the Pop-up

Its my favorite event of the year. And now the events are over for the most part, until the spring, with Salt Wars. Which, Dave and I and two of our good friends have put in a bid to be the Autocrats, meaning we run the whole shebang. And our bid was accepted-we found out on Monday. From now until May is going to be rather busy.