Cache #200

We are unbelievably addicted to geocaching (thanks a lot Jared)! We ran out twice this weekend (once at 9pm) to get a "first to find", which means that we were the first people to ever discover that cache . We had a good, relaxing weekend of caching and surpassed #200! It is so much fun! We have found so many cool places during our hunt, one of which was a picnic table just outside the Gainesville airport where you can sit and watch the planes come and go. E was in heaven! The pics are somethings we saw along the way this weekend and me with GPS in hand (the one cache was actually in the owl)!

Christmas 2008

We had an interesting Christmas Eve. We woke up and headed down to Madeira Beach to be with Jake's entire family. It was a pretty uneventful drive, took us about three hours with a stop to geocache (of course) and a quick Walmart run. Shortly after we got there however Jake started to show symptoms of the stomach flu and I was battling horrible back pain and a headache (I don't think I was 100% after having the stomach flu a week before). Ethan had a rough Christmas Eve night, which didn't help the situation. Not a good Christmas Eve by any means, I would've given anything to be home...but I am very grateful that I had Jake's family to help me with Ethan and take care of Jake.

We spent Christmas enjoying the beautiful weather on the beach. Jake was much better and able to join us for the day (but still not 100%). Ethan enjoyed time in the pool with Grandma, Auntie Jenny, Uncle Brian, and his cousins.

We left for home after lunch on the 26th. Ethan really enjoyed the beach and it was nice to see everyone, but I was really happy to be home. After a weekend of resting I feel much, much better my back pain is almost entirely gone and I am not as exhausted as I have been.

P.S. The pic of me on the beach was taken Christmas morning at 23 weeks. I have a belly!

Rock Climber

Ethan is officially a rock climber! Yesterday he climbed the 5 foot rock wall on his Rainbow swing set, with only a tiny bit of assistance at the very top. It was amazing watching him plan where to put his hands and feet and the strength he has in his upper body. He scaled the wall like a pro! (I promise I will get better with pics and will post some soon!)

Shush!

Jake started singing along with one of Ethan's videos this morning and his singing must have been bad because Ethan went up and put his hand over Jake's mouth! :-) My singing must have been bad too, because he did the same thing to me later!

OB appt update

Well I had another OB appointment today (I am 22.5 weeks). I gained no weight, but that is understandable considering how sick I was last week. The baby looked good, with a strong heartbeat. We decided to do a repeat ultrasound in my doctor's office (no level 2 for now...hooray!) around 37 weeks to check the dilation in the kidney. I also got a flu shot, which thanks to an awesome nurse I didn't even feel! I started wearing my maternity clothes this week, even though they are still a little big and I'm continually pulling my pants up! My next appointment is on MLK day.

Early Morning Bath

Daddy: "Ethan is being awful quiet, I wonder what he is doing..."
Mommy: "I will go check"

Mommy walks into laundry room

Mommy: "We have a problem!"

Daddy comes running...Ethan standing in the middle of the laundry room with a huge smile on his face and kitty liter all over the floor.

Off to the bath Mommy and Ethan go and Daddy is left to clean-up kitty liter. Mommy got the better end of that clean-up deal!

Ethan, What I Love About You...

Ethan, You have forever changed my world! I never dreamed being a mom would be so great!

• I love the way you suck in your cheeks when you give kisses
• I love the fact that you LOVE snuggling (even if that means early mornings in mom and dad's bed)
• I love it when you give your "dog" hugs and kisses
• I love it when you pull my shirt down because my belly is hanging out
• I love your belly laugh
• I love hearing you talk (and hope you do more of it soon)!!
• I love your stubbornness!
• I love it when you help me around the house (whether feeding Visken, helping with laundry, or "washing" dishes at the sink)
• I love your smile :-)
• I love your little pats and hugs that you stop and give during the day
• I love it when you make complete strangers smile and laugh
• I love your independence (even though I think you are trying to grow up too fast some times)!!
• I love the look you give your daddy when he walks in the door after being gone
• I love the way you blow kisses to everyone!
• etc., etc., etc.
• I LOVE YOU!

Lots of Love--Mommy

What a week it has been...we survived!

We were blessed to have a few days with my Mom. Ethan and I drove to Jacksonville last Thursday, December 11th to pick her up. The following day we took Grandma to "stay and play", a gymnastics center in town opens up the gym on Friday mornings for toddlers to run and play in foam pits, ball pits, jump on trampolines, etc. It is one of E's favorite things in the world to do. Saturday my mom ended up with the stomach flu. Sunday she was feeling better and we started the Christmas cookie baking process. Monday it was more baking and a little shopping at Kohls.

Tuesday (Ethan's birthday) it was back to the Jacksonville airport. We left a little after 7am and dropped Grandma off around 9am. We had major traffic delays on I-10 driving back to Gainesville, which resulted in me getting off the interstate and weaving through Jacksonville streets in attempts to find an alternate way home. Ethan thankfully slept! I had the start of a headache when I got home and thought it was because it had been awhile since I had anything to eat. As the afternoon progressed I felt worse and worse. Jake got home from work at 5pm and I thought maybe if I ate something I would be better. No luck, I ate something and immediately got sick. The next 12 hours were spent vomiting every 1-2 hours. After being that sick and up all night I was too weak and exhausted to even think about lifting Ethan, let alone take care of him. Jake had to call into work so he could watch Ethan. Ugh, the stomach flu twice and a major head cold in three months, never in my life have I been this sick....I am tempted to stay in quarantine until after this baby is born! I am much better now (thank God for my wonderful husband), but missed going out for milkshakes (his favorite) for E's 2nd birthday and barely made it through him opening gifts. :-(

Sweet dreams!

Ethan does not want to put his pjs on lately so we have been letting him fall asleep and then put his pjs on him. Jake and I were trying to put them on the other night when Ethan started an entire monologue, most of which we were unable to understand except he randomly kept saying "dog"....all while asleep!

This morning he was snuggling/sleeping with me in bed. He all of the sudden pushed himself away from me and started clapping his hands (while still sleeping), then right back to snuggling!

I really have to get better about taking pictures...........

"Knock, Knock..."

We have a little step stool in the half bathroom for Ethan to stand on and use the sink. The other morning after he was done eating breakfast he ran off to the bathroom in a hurry and closed the door. I went to see what on earth he was doing and opened the door. He was at the sink washing his hands, turned and looked at me and said "knock", with an attitude! :-) He gets funnier everyday, how truly blessed we are to have Ethan in our lives!

E's 2 Year Check-Up and Baby Update!

Ethan had his 2 year check up with the pediatrician yesterday. He is 28 lbs 8 oz (50-75th percentile) and 36 inches on height (90th percentile). The dr. was happy with his weight (after his illness in September he had lost quite a bit of weight and had dropped below the 50th percentile)! We can now switch him to either 1% or 2% milk and he can have peanut butter and shellfish. A little concerned with his verbal delay, since he still doesn't call me "ma-ma", but calls me "dag-ma" instead. (Of course he talked more yesterday than he ever has, go figure!) The dr. said until he is 4 years old though (especially with boys) that there is nothing to be alarmed about, but if we did want a consult with a speech therapist that she would always give us one. Ethan is a motor driven child, always has been...why talk when you can do it! All in all he looks great and managed to sneak out of the office with only one vaccination and it ended up being the nasal flu vaccine. He won't have to return until his 3rd birthday!

We also chatted for awhile about the baby and the issue with the dilated kidney. The recommendation from the ped. is that I have a repeat ultrasound (whether it is the level 2 or a normal ultrasound) later in my pregnancy to see if it has resolved itself. I was told that it is probably nothing to be concerned with (85% resolve themselves and the babies are 100% normal), but if they know prior to birth that there is an issue with the kidney then Shands (UF) pediatric nephrology will be contacted immediately for advice. If it turns out to be serious they may recommend that I deliver at Shands, but said that is worse case scenario. The dr. said no matter what they find they will repeat an ultrasound on the baby's kidneys after he/she is born just due to the dilated kidney found on my 20 week ultrasound. Jake and I still need to talk about it a little more before my next appointment with the midwife, but I think we will go ahead with a regular ultrasound later in my pregnancy so Shands can be contact ASAP if it happens to be serious. I am a little concerned, but not worried or freaked out. I am at peace with whatever God brings to our family and know this little one is safe in his arms. Please continue to send prayers for this baby though that he/she doesn't have to go through lots of tests or be in pain!

We survived!

We survived he week. Yes, literally survived! It was one of "those" weeks and I am thanking God that Ethan is in one piece and didn't end up in the ER or DCF custody and that everything is a-okay with me and the baby.

I have been fighting a head cold all week. This pregnancy and Ethan has left me exhausted most days, but to be sick on top of it was pushing me to the max! I am still blowing my nose and coughing a little, but things are slowly getting better. I am mainly just "blah"! About the only thing you can take while pregnant too is Tylenol (which for me I might as well eat 2 M&Ms and call it good)!

Ethan decided to run a fever Monday evening and off and on Tuesday. He had no other head cold symptoms, but just wasn't "himself" all week. Yesterday, he attempted to see just how far he could push his mommy. We started the day trying to get his haircut, we were unsuccessful (Ethan allowed for one cut to his hair). When we got home he thought it would be fun to climb into the kitchen sink, later stand on top of the end table in the living room, no nap, and ended the day when I caught him putting AAA batteries from the TV remote into his mouth! See what I mean, I'm glad we "survived" the week! Poor Jake had a rough day at work yesterday as well and called to ask if he could stay late, but ended up coming home earlier than he intended to keep his pregnant wife from going off the deep end!

It's a....

Ha, Ha only kidding! We did not find out if the baby is a boy or a girl, but did find out that there is only one baby! So all of you will have to wait with us to find out if Ethan will have a brother or sister. The baby is healthy, weighing in at 12 oz. My due date according to ultrasound was 4/22 (only 1 day sooner than my estimated date). One thing did pop up on ultrasound and they want me to go to Shands for a level II ultrasound. It appears the baby's left kidney is slightly dilated. Jake and I have declined the level II ultrasound at this time. We have done our homework and feel the absolute worst this could mean is a blockage, which is something that wouldn't be corrected until after the baby is born. Some of you remember that they scared the crap out of us with Ethan as well when he had an ICEF that appeared on ultrasound, and he is healthy as can be. We are quite confident the baby is 100% normal, healthy and are trusting he or she is in God's hands.

Yesterday came with such mixed emotions, someone who has become a dear friend to me in the last few months, had an ultrasound as well and found out her baby had been called to be with God at 7.5 weeks. Please keep my friend Kelly in your prayers as her and her family mourn the loss of a precious, very much loved angel.

Happy Monday!

Good morning all (Happy Black Monday)!

We have a busy day today. Ethan and I are off to MOPS this morning for my monthly leadership team meeting and then this afternoon is our ultrasound! Unfortunately I have been battling a cold for much of the weekend (which is no fun when all you can take is Tylenol), but am feeling a little better today. We had a great weekend despite the fact that I was not feeling well, we went geocaching with friends all day on Saturday, our Gators won, we went to Evan's baptism yesterday (our good friends Megan and Graham's son), and our Vikings won!

Funny Ethan story that just happened...(our pediatrician has us brushing his teeth with just water), so a few minutes ago I go into the bathroom to brush my teeth which is when he brushes his in the morning. He watched me put toothpaste on my brush and asked for "soap". And every time I would rinse, he would again ask for "soap" on his brush.

Decorating for Christmas

We spent Thanksgiving at home, just the 3.5 of us. We had delicious "Thanksgiving chicken kiev", stuffing, and green bean casserole. Yummy! We also decided to try putting up our Christmas tree (we opted last year to have a small one on our counter top to avoid disaster). Ethan is quite confused as to why we have a tree in our living room. He walks by it, stops looks at it puzzled and says "tree, lights". It has survived 24 hours though, so I think we might be safe to put a few non-breakable ornaments on it!

Destruction...

Ethan woke up on Wednesday morning and realized within about 60 seconds that all of his toys had been neatly put away. He got a twinkle in his eye and the destruction of the house began. Sigh, will my house ever be picked up for more than 5 minutes?! Good thing he is so darn cute (especially in these Lightning McQueen jammies)!

18.5 weeks down...

Just a quick update on the pregnancy, everything is going really well. I am still wearing my regular clothes at 18.5 weeks (with Ethan I was in maternity clothes around 14 weeks). I feel good most of the time; I do get worn out quickly, but can't complain. My next appointment is December 1st and that will be the ultrasound. As with Ethan we will not find out the sex of the baby until delivery day. Stay tuned for further updates, just thought those living far away might want to see the growing belly.

Happy 2nd Birthday Ethan and Friends!

We had a birthday party at our house yesterday for Ethan and his friends, who will all be turning 2 in the next few weeks. I met this amazing group of mommies just after Ethan was born and don't know what I would do without them! Last year we celebrated their birthdays by having a picnic and taking part in the March of Dimes Walk. This year we decided to do something a little different and we had a potluck party at our house and collected food for our local food shelf. We collected kid type foods like mac and cheese, peanut butter, baby food, etc. We also had some that contributed "birthday kits" which consisted of cake mix, frosting, paper plates, napkins, and small party favors that will also be donated to the food shelf, in hopes that another child will be able to celebrate their birthday. I have a dining room table full of food and 7 birthday kits so far (and have more food coming in the next few days from people who couldn't make it)! The party was a success! Ethan had a great time and was fast asleep by 8:30pm last night (and still asleep at 8am today)!

Thanks to everyone for making last night such a huge success! And a big Happy Birthday to the most amazing 2 year olds I have ever met!

Poor Visken! :-(

Well Visken had surgery yesterday to remove two skin tags (basically benign skin tumors). The one skin tag was on his leg and was getting quite big. He was continually biting it so we decided before it broke open and got infected we would have it removed. The second one however was on his eyelid. He had this one removed in August when he had dental work done, but this one unfortunately grew back. It was causing pressure on his eye, so his eye was continually blood shot. Thankfully a really great friend of ours is a vet at the University of Florida Vet School (and watches Visken when we are away and loves him dearly), so we scheduled him for surgery yesterday. Surgery went well, however Visken has to wear this lovely cone on his head for the next 2 weeks and have eye ointment put in his eye twice a day. (The last time they just basically cut the tag off so he didn't have the cone, but this time they took off a fair chunk around the area so they had to stitch the eyelid back together.) Then in 2 weeks we will take him over to Julie and she will remove his stitches. Ethan was quite confused last night as to why Visken had this ridiculous thing on his head, and Visken was recruiting him to "help" get it off so it should be interesting if this actually stays on his head for 2 weeks. And...we have a birthday party at our house this weekend for Ethan and his playgroup friends, so we will have 7+ soon to be 2 year olds in our house. Poor Visken!

Spicy!

I have been doing some volunteer teaching at our local Red Cross, last night I taught first aid and after class I decided to stop at Bentos on the way home for dinner (Chinese/Thai/Japanese type food). When I got home and sat down to eat Ethan saw that I had noodles ("spaghetti") under my red curry beef. I told him several times that it was really spicy and he wouldn't want it, and finally I gave up and decided to let him try for himself. At first it was "m-m-m-m", then when the burning started to take place he stuck out his tongue and was trying to wipe it off...."ooo, ooo, ooo" and lots of whimpering. But then he went over to the wall and started to lick it! Needless to say Ethan wasn't a fan of the red curry beef!

Another funny story...Ethan refused to wear pajamas last night to bed and when we tried to put them on him he took them and tried to hide them under the couch!

The Foam Pit...

We took the cushions off the couch over the weekend to vacuum under there. Ethan thought "what a fantastic idea for a foam pit", ever since he has been happily bouncing and playing on the couch cushions. (He goes to a gym in town on Friday mornings for a tumbling type program and they have foam pits there which he has absolutely no fear of and happily dives in.) Who needs toys anyway?

As you notice from the picture Ethan is not wearing any pants. He has also discovered that he can take his pants off by himself (still working on the shirt). He is happiest lately when he is running around the house in just a diaper. I did catch him the other night running around without a diaper, thankfully that wasn't disastrous but I know our day is coming.

His vocabulary gets better everyday, although I feel as if we still have a ways to go. I asked him today what a lion says and he responded with "roar"! I also caught him today actually trying to "read" a book. One of these days he will be jabbering up a storm!

What's in a name?

I asked Ethan on Monday what his name was, he looked at me like I was totally crazy at first and then pointed to himself and said "Eeeeeee"! He did it a couple of times that day, but now of course refuses to tell anyone what his name is.

The exciting news of the week in our house is that Jake got a new job! (We are still going to be living in Gainesville, don't get too excited!) Jake is the new pharmacy residency coordinator. Basically he is in charge of the pharmacy residents and managing the residency program. It is a brand new full time position and something he has been working for several years to obtain, a major step in his career! Great job, Jake, we are so proud of you!

Misc. Ramblings and Stories from the Week...

All in all we had a pretty good week in the Tillmann house. Jake had off on Tuesday in honor of Veteran's Day so he took Ethan to Orlando to have lunch with Aunt Lisa. I on the other hand spent the day cleaning in the "pit" aka office, which will soon be Ethan's new bedroom. I got a lot done, but unfortunately still have a lot left to do. Wednesday our wonderful babysitter, Jennifer, came to spend the day with E and I got to enjoy a workout with my trainer followed by my first mommy to be massage. The bummer of the week however is that I have been suffering from bad sciatic nerve pain! No fun at all!

Funny/Amusing Ethan stories of the week...

1. The other day I was in his bedroom emptying the diaper Genie and I hear water running in the half bath. I was alarmed since it was just us in the house and Ethan can't reach the faucet...I walk in to find Ethan standing on the waste basket "washing" his hands. I decided it was time to get out the step stool and show him the proper way, before he fell off the waste basket and cracked his head open! He will basically move anything he can to reach what he can't get.

2. Ethan has this bad habit of throwing food when he doesn't want anymore. The other day it happened to be red Jello that went airborne. O' what a mess that was and Visken doesn't like Jello, but at first didn't realize that was what it was until he got a mouthful and then spit it back out adding to the mess!

3. We made a yellow cake with chocolate frosting the other day. We let Ethan have a few bites and he is now in LOVE with "cake". When we stopped at Publix the next day they had cake mixes on sale (buy one get one free), so I decided to pick up a couple. Ethan saw the box and insisted on holding it and did so until we got home when he put it down on the table in front of his booster seat. "Cake, please...cake, please"! I had to open the box and show him that it was a mix, no cake! He didn't believe me grabbed the box and had to look inside for himself, poor Ethan!

Hope everyone has a great weekend! Go Gators!!

Congrats President Obama!

Congrats President Obama! I hope the enthusiasm shown during this election will continue, that ALL of us will realize that change can only come about in this country if we ALL work together. Our responsibility as citizens does not end on election day. Please give this man a chance to LEAD our country to a better place...be inspired to help others and get involved in your communities. Our children depend on it! Prayers to you President Obama, you have an incredible job ahead of you but have shown us all that anything in this country is possible. I am proud to be an American!! May God bless our country!

Would you like cream and sugar with that?

In the last few days Ethan has pulled out the half and half carton multiple times when we have asked him "what would you like?" while standing at the frig. I was quite confused as to why on earth he would "want" the half and half?! Then this morning I figured it out. He was sitting at the table contently eating his breakfast, when I poured myself a cup of coffee and poured cream in it. He all of the sudden got very upset and wanted cream in his milk. Two drops later and he was happy as can be again. :-)

One the things I admire (and at times drives me crazy) about Ethan is that he definitely knows what he wants and won't give up! I look forward to watching that trait as he grows, his possibilities are endless...will he be a pharmacist, professional football player, paramedic, doctor, teacher, will he cure cancer, be a father, or President of the United States, etc.? I hope he always has the determination he has today and all of his dreams will come true!

Happy election day! God bless our country!

Happy Halloween to all!

Ethan was so excited to be Curious George for Halloween that he thought it would be a good idea to wake up at 5:30am! :-) We had a busy, but pretty good Halloween. Ethan and I went to a Halloween party this morning at his friend, Liam's house. Ethan really enjoyed hanging out and showing off for the ladies. At the water table he showed Linnaea, Ashleigh, and Abbie just how hard boys can splash and had to show the adorable Audrey (in pig tails) how strong he really is! We will be in trouble when he is a teenager!! He did not want to wear his Curious George hat, but didn't mind the rest of his costume.

This afternoon we had my second OB appointment. My midwife said everything looks good and the three of us got to hear the heart beat for the first time. Ethan actually thought that was pretty cool. The baby had a really strong heart beat, but it took her a minute or two to find it because he/she was sitting pretty low in my pelvis. I started feeling the baby move when we were on vacation, mainly at night when I am finally "resting" from the day. My next appt is on December 1st and we will get to see the little one on ultrasound. I am tired (some days more than others), but overall feeling pretty good. God has truly blessed me with an easy pregnancy thus far. I know Ethan doesn't grasp that he is going to be a big brother yet, but if you ask him to say "hi" to the baby he will rub my tummy and say "hi". It is so adorable!

Tonight we have a low key evening at home. Ethan is having a blast opening the door for the trick or treaters (maybe next year we will actually go around the neighborhood)!

Hope everyone has a safe Halloween and wonderful weekend!

At home is where your story begins...

I didn’t know what guilt was until I became a mother, it is really unbelievable how much mothers really carry around with them in their hearts. I have tremendous guilt about raising Ethan and this next baby here in Florida, away from our family and friends. I know much of this is brought on by myself, but some of it is brought on by family and friends that don’t intend to put that burden on me, but miss and love us so much that they can’t help but can’t help but share their opinions/feelings.

I had the opportunity to reflect on this several times during our visit to our previous homes in Minnesota and Iowa over the last few weeks. But it was a passing comment that Jared made when we visited Des Moines that stuck with me. We drove past our old "home" and Jared said "there are a lot of memories in that house". Funny thing when you put it in perspective Jake and I lived in that house a very short period of time (less than 2 years), but what he said was so true. That house contains in it to this day many, many memories...Halloween parties, my infamous b-day party that resulted in "Megan and Andrew", bringing our puppy "Visken" home for the first time, the cleaning that took place when we moved in, etc. etc. It wasn't the quantity of time we had in that house, but the quality of of time we spent in that "home" at 1444 43rd Street in Des Moines.

I hope and pray that Ethan and his brother or sister will learn that it is not the quantity of time you have with people, but the quality that creates memories. That traditions are more important than gifts (because in all honesty I have a tough time remembering what I got for gifts for any holiday last year). I promise to do my very best as their mother to help them know our family and friends, but it is ultimately up to them to nurture that relationship.

So....like it or not welcome to our home in Gainesville, Florida and not the one that is made up for company, but our honest and everyday home. Yes, we have weeding to do outside, dishes piled up by the sink, laundry piled high on the dining room table, beds unmade, and toys everywhere. There are things in this house you will never see in pictures though...lots of love and many, many memories. I have no idea how long we will live here or where God will call us to next, but I am truly grateful for our beautiful home, for the friends that we have made here, for the memories in this house, for our favorite places in the area, for the warm sunshine, etc. etc. This is our current "home" and "At home is where your story begins..."

Day 23...Home Sweet Home!

We had a fairly short drive from Pensacola to Gainesville, took us about 6 hours with a stop for lunch in FSU country (Tallahassee). I don't know why it is the closer to home you get though the longer it seems to take. We arrived home finally at 3:30pm (EST). Ahhhh, it is so good to be home! Ethan was so excited to be home that he didn't want to go inside and played outside for a good 20 minutes before finally deciding to go in. Once he finally did get inside we really didn't need to entertain him much as he was quite happy to play with the toys he hadn't seen in 3 weeks and chase Visken and Suzie (our clean house was destroyed in a matter of minutes). Well tomorrow is a crazy day as it is back to work for Jake and MOPS for us (hopefully E won't be a bear in the morning since he has converted his sleeping schedule to CST)!!

Thanks to everyone we visited along the way for your hospitality and companionship. We truly enjoyed seeing all of you...and we are very sorry for those that we missed on this trip. It seems no matter how long we are there we can't manage to squeeze everyone in. (Winter is coming though...and the weather is usually beautiful in Florida in the winter....hint, hint!)

Love to you all!

Day 22...Pensacola Beach

We spent the morning walking along the beach picking up sea shells and digging in the sand. Ethan is totally into digging in any form of dirt these days so he was in heaven in the world's largest sand box. He felt the need to lick the sand on a number of occasions, not sure what that was all about. The afternoon (nap time) was spent watching the Gators cream Kentucky...Go Gators! Then it was back outside to the super awesome kiddy pool. Our hotel has a fairly large pool that is 1/2-1 foot deep with all kinds of cool fountains and sprinklers. In a way I wished we could stay here longer, it is so peaceful and gorgeous, but I am more than ready to be home. I am exhausted and looking forward to sleeping in my own bed...and I truly can't wait to be back in a routine again. Hopefully someday we will be able to come back to Pensacola Beach!

Day 21...Olive Branch, MS (Memphis, TN) to Pensacola, FL!

We spent the day driving through much of Mississippi, what beautiful country we saw today. The weather was foggy and misty in the morning, but cleared off nicely around noon. We continued our geocaching today and after finding a couple of caches in Alabama...we successfully completed our goal of finding a cache in all the states we drove through which was 12! Ethan had a meltdown at Cracker Barrel in Jackson, MS causing us to leave after getting our drinks. I think he was over tired and in all honesty ready to be home. He was a trooper the rest of the day though and took over a 3 hour nap in the afternoon. He is funny because when you are waiting for traffic (like stopped at a stop light) he will frequently say "set, go". We arrived in Pensacola, Florida around 7pm (EST).

Day 19 and 20...Elvis!

We continued our drive south to Memphis, TN on Day 19...uneventful driving with some geocaching along the way. We woke up the next morning however to it pouring (and I really mean pouring). Our plan was to spend that day going to Graceland and seeing the sights in Memphis. We were able to make it to Graceland, which was really cool and fun to see and then decided that since the weather was bad we would spend the afternoon at the Children's Museum so Ethan would have a place to play. Ethan absolutely loved the Children's Museum, I think it was one of his highlights of the trip. We had to pull him away literally kicking and screaming. It got me dreaming again about starting a Children's Museum in Gainesville. Hmmm, I think I may need to do some serious looking into that when we get home. Unfortunately we didn't get to walk around downtown Memphis, which I think would've been a lot of fun but we had a great day despite all the rain. Of course we forgot the camera at the hotel that morning, but with all the rain it was probably safer for our camera to spend the day in the room.

Day 18...Pepin, WI to Hannibal, MO (and Quincy, IL)

We woke up to frost on the car this morning (brrr!), so south we headed with our goal for the day being to make it to Hannibal, MO (home of Mark Twain). We had a nice day of driving and geocaching, fairly uneventful. We saw a camel in Missouri...yup, a camel and it was not my pregnancy brain. We had some delicious pizza along the way at a little diner in southern Iowa. Ethan as always was a trooper in the car. We arrived in Hannibal, but couldn't find a non-scary place to stay so we did a little back tracking to Quincy, IL. We found a beautiful Country Inn and Suites and were able to get some rest before heading off the next morning.

Day 17...Mike and Grace

We spent the morning geocaching...8/8 in 3 hours!

And then off to the Twin Cities in the afternoon with my mom to go and visit my brother and goddaughter, Grace. We met at the Maplewood Mall and it was fun to see how much Ethan and Grace changed since the last time we visited. Grace is an expert crawler and by the next time we see her will probably be an expert at walking. It was great to spend some time with Mike and Grace...we sure miss them!

The hardest part of every trip to the midwest has arrived...the saying "good-bye" and the realization that we will not be able to see everyone or do everything even though we took a longer trip this year. I am ready to head home though and get back into our routine again...and I am looking forward to visiting some new places on the return trip. It is fun to visit "home", but it is fun to explore new places too.

Day 14-16...The Tillmann gang!

It was a busy weekend, but lots of fun! We got to spend the entire weekend with Jake's parents, brother, sister in law, and our three beautiful nieces! It has been quite some time since we have gotten to spend a whole weekend with our nieces, so we were fortunate that it worked out.

Friday before Brian, Jenny, and the girls arrived we got to make lefse with Grandma Beth. It is a great family tradition that I hope we will be able to carry on and lefse is o' so delicious! The gang all arrived soon after and we headed out to a local fish fry, which was one of Jake's wishes for the vacation!

We had a great time playing outside in the leaves over the weekend. Ethan did a little "tractor tipping" with his car (if you don't get it watch Ethan's favorite movie "Cars"). It was so awesome to see Ethan interacting and playing with his cousins. He adored all of them, but especially took to Erika and her cool birdhouse.

We look forward to seeing the Tillmann gang again at Christmas!

Day 13...Grandma Beth!

We got to spend the day hanging out with Grandma Beth! Yup, she too got introduced to a little geocaching, but didn't seem to like climbing over the edge of the bluff to find her first "cache" however. We mainly spent the day at their beautiful home in Prescott, WI. Ethan loved playing in the leaves and running his little car up and down the driveway. We convinced Grandma in the afternoon to help us make an apple pie with apples we brought back from Des Moines (thanks, Chuck)!

Day 12...Caitlin!

Yup, we spent some time geocaching today. The coolest place we visited on our hunt was Frontenac State Park. I must say it was really crazy that Jake and I lived so close to there most of our lives, but yet never visited this gorgeous state park. Don't you just love that view of the Mississippi River in the background? I hope someday we get to come back to hike the trails.

The highlight of the day though was visiting Ethan's first nanny, Caitlin, who is now living in Rochester and attending nursing school. We so enjoyed seeing her and Ethan loved playing with her pumpkin and gourds! We are so blessed to have her part of our family! We miss you, Caitlin...you are welcome in our home anytime!!

Day 11...Megan!

We spent all day on Tuesday with our great friend, Megan. We started off the day with coffee and breakfast at Lily's...yummy! Then introduced Megan to geocaching for a little bit (yes, it would be wise to stay clear of us unless you too want to experience geocaching)! We tried not to torture her too much though and headed to the Twin Cities and did a little shopping. And ended the day with Papa Tronnios pizza at Andrew and Megan's with my mom. Ethan loved playing with all the cool toys at "Auntie Megan's" house! Megan did miss the best part of geocaching that day though, after we dropped her off we came across a beautiful doe and fawn.

We were so lucky to get an entire day with Megan!! It is so hard to say "good-bye".... :-(

Day 7-10...Des Moines, Iowa

We headed off on Friday to spend the weekend in Des Moines (our "home" prior to Gainesville). We stopped along the way and picked up some apples and of course did a little geocaching! We had some neat finds along the interstate...stopped at the Guardian Angel Chapel outside of Mason City, IA and I found a really cool "great hide" coin in one of the caches. It was really great on our drive to see all of the windmills that are being built across the farm land in southern MN and northern IA...go alternative energy!!

We arrived at our great friend, Jared's house around dinner time on Friday. Jared is a regular "Martha Stewart"! :-) We felt so welcome while we were there and can't thank him enough for his hospitality!

We headed out to do some geocaching on Saturday...note our find in one of several cemeteries that we visited that day. (Congrats Jared on find number 600!) We also went out to one of our favorite places in Des Moines; Gray's Lake park which has an awesome view of downtown. Mmmm, yummy milkshakes for lunch at the Drake diner and a tour of our old stomping grounds. We were blessed to have dinner that night with friends Jared, Renee, Ruffus, and the absolutely adorable Gabriella.

Sunday we headed to Knoxville, Iowa to church to visit Pastor John and wouldn't you know it we got there and he was on vacation. (We did however get to visit with him on Monday when we came back to crash his office hours. Pastor John was such an integral part of our time in Des Moines and it was so good to catch up with a great person that we haven't seen in 6.5 years.) Sunday afternoon we got to visit with the pharmacist we use to work with Chuck and his lovely wife Chris. Chuck was a fantastic mentor and our "adopted" dad (he bailed all of us out more than once, I have no idea what we would've done without him)!

We had a great weekend!!