Two Things...

Thing One: The baby gender announcement was a false alarm unfortunately.  The appointment went fine, but they said we couldn't find out for another couple of weeks... which I know for a fact is not true in terms of whether it's possible or not.  But regardless, we are still anxiously (read: almost dying because we REALLY want to know) awaiting that big news.  So the polls are still open.  If you didn't get your votes in there's still time!  And if anyone is good friends with their OB and can get us an ultrasound...

On the brighter side, I am 10 pounds heavier, starting to show, over the nausea, and LOVING this guilt free eat all you want when you want thing... so nice!

Thing Two: We are officially done internshiping and back to Idaho!  We have pictures to post, I know you're on the edges of your seats for that.  We'll see about getting those up... sometime

In the meantime, enjoy this festive video on me along with my Happy Christmas Preparation wishes!  So thankful for the true meaning of Christmas!  One week and counting... yay!!!! 

Sugar and Spice or Snakes and Snails?

Well, tomorrow is the big day!  We have our 16 week appointment in the morning and if the baby cooperates with the ultra sound (fingers crossed) I believe we should come away knowing if we are the future parents of a boy or a girl!  At least that's what they said.  I had originally thought that keeping it a surprise would be fun, and I'm still not totally convinced that it wouldn't be... but we're getting so darn anxious I'm not sure we'll be able to wait!!!  I really think it will be a surprise for us anyway, we haven't had strong feelings in either direction, and either would be so much fun.  But I'm curious what your thoughts are.  Are we thinking pink or going blue?  We'll see if you're right!

Nurse's Note: Toothbrushes

I worry about little things... I think I get it from my mom.  But today I implemented a basic Healthy Home 101 principle: Boiling the Toothbrushes. 

 

This is one I picked up from my mother actually, she often gathered up all our toothbrushes and gave them a steamy disinfecting bath, and I suppose the idea has stuck with me.  Simple and effective, and I'm pretty positive bedtime brushed teeth from a newly boiled toothbrush feel even cleaner!

 

 Some say why not just buy a new one?  I say come now, these ones have just barely been broken in!  Besides, the $1.50 savings is too worth it to me.  That money can buy us a chocolatey ice cream treat, 

which we will later brush off our teeth with our freshly boiled toothbrushes

Cruel Irony

So I'm sitting here with a little sniffle looking at the weather being cold outside and thinking to myself how ironic it is that exactly two years ago today I spent another fabulous Monday before Thanksgiving not quite feeling right and watching the weather be cold outside, that time with a concussion... How did that happen?  

It's simple really.  Mostly it was a not-well-thought-out, bad combination of things.  I had just been accepted to the nursing program and was needing my vaccinations updated and some blood work drawn, so we thought we would get it done super quick before meeting my mom and sister at Flying Pie for lunch.  We had slept in and I wasn't starving, so I figured that planning on an early lunch that I wanted to be hungry for was a good enough excuse to skimp on breakfast.  But apparently that's a really bad idea for someone who tends to have low blood pressure and is heading in for shots, and when needle #3 hit my arm, I passed right out mid sentence, fell off the examination table, whacked my head pretty good on the tile floor, and woke up a few minutes later confused, embarrassed, and with a pounding headache.  If I had known then what I know now, me puking my guts out in the bathroom before even leaving the doctor's office would have made me a little more skeptical about running out so quickly.  But wanting to be tough and maintain what little dignity I had left we hurried out and to the restaurant, where the puking episodes only continued... in fact they continued all throughout the day and into the evening.  Tim spent the afternoon bringing me cold rags for my forehead and waking me up every hour to make sure I knew where I was and what holiday was coming up... such a pleasant experience.  Needless to say I have never been back to the doctor's office on an empty stomach, but still don't really love getting shots.

In fact, come to think of it, this week is somewhat of an annual bad luck time.  It was the day after Thanksgiving last year when Boise State lost that big game that made Tim sick and unable to sleep, and I came down with strep throat.  How oddly unfortunate.  I'll have to flag this week on my 2012 calendar as the one to watch out for and hope for the best.

As a nice side note though, at least this year's Thanksgiving week tradition will not be taking place at a Borup family member's home.  Sparing the relatives is the least I can do, don't mention it guys.

Indiana Chronicles Chapter 5: One Proud Wife

Yesterday Tim participated in an undergraduate research conference here at IUPUI and got his first experience presenting some of the stuff he's been working on.  He wasn't so into my "let's photo document this monumental experience" idea (though I did manage to snap one epic shot).  But regardless of the lack of photos I can proudly say that he did awesome!  I can't even pronounce half the words in the title of his research, but he was a born natural and totally professional.  This was the first of a few of these things he's actually got lined up over the next few months so, should be fun to see some more!  Maybe he'll agree to more pictures in the future... or maybe he'll stop inviting me

Bargain Shopper? Yes...

...fashion designer?  Unfortunately no.

I found these two skirts the other day on sale and couldn't help myself.  The grand total for both was a whopping $9.00... that's right folks, $9.00!  Hello!!  That makes them all the cuter even!  They practically jumped into my cart.

Unfortunately though now I'm stuck in the "what do I wear with this" drama.  I am not exactly a fashion gooroo (read: I must have missed that lesson in womanhood and may be better off if someone else picked my clothes. Why aren't pajamas an acceptable all-the-time option?) And so far nothing in my closet seems to want to match quite right.  The green one isn't such a problem.  But the other one... it's not exactly brown, and it's not white, and it's getting chilly out, so... hmm

Looks like I may need to get creative... or do some more shopping  :)

Too Soon?

So yesterday I was out running errands, and I may have stopped at Target for no real reason... and then I may have spent a descent amount of time wandering through the baby clothes and shoes... I know I shouldn't have, but it's just so stinkin' cute!!!  And I must not have a very good poker face because the cute little grandma shopping there was getting the biggest kick out of my "future mommy smiles".  So silly!  Is it way too early for this kind of thing?  Because I sure can't help myself  :)  

Indiana Chronicles Chapter 4: More Culture and Some Birthday

It's birthday time at our house!  Baby B is now officially 12 weeks along, and Tim is now officially 24 years along!  This calls for a celebration!  I don't know why, but 24 seems like kind of a big deal.... and it makes sense I guess, this should be a big year.  Lots of exciting to look forward to!  And I know 12 weeks is a big deal.  So to celebrate we decided to bundle up the family (that is me, Tim, Baby B, and Flat Stanley) and go see a few new things for a day out on the town.

First stop, the Indianapolis Museum of Art

I wore the scarf on purpose, I thought it made for a more artsy savvy look. 

Yes, this is an original van Gogh, aren't you all impressed?

And this is some kind of modern depiction of... well that's up to you to decide.  If you stand with your head tilted I think it makes more sense.  I thought the balloons were appropriate for the occasion though. That is, until I got in trouble for using flash photography.  Oops

Second stop, downtown Indianapolis

And this is about where my camera battery died, so typical.  I did manage to snap a few shots of the war monument though.  It was such a nice day, perfect for a downtown walk.

Stop number 3 was a nice leisurely and romantic stroll along the canal and by the capital building. 

 

Of course, by that point Baby B was ready to eat again and was past due for a nap (or maybe that was just me... hard to say), so we may need to take that walk again another time.

We really had a good time though.  The fall weather was so nice and the fall leaves were SO pretty (not a highlighted feature in the above picture given that my camera was dead and it was pulled from the internet instead)!  And it was nice to get out for the day and spend some fun time together.  Not a bad birthday I would say. 

P.S.

I did get into the Halloween spirit enough to treat myself to a little blast from my childhood past.  This is from the Disneyland Sing Along video... I'm pretty sure it was made in the 80's, but it is pure joy!  I found it a little while ago for super cheap on DVD and just had to buy it... and yes, I watch it often.  Tim thinks I'm crazy, I on the other hand think I am awesome!  This is just one small clip from it, but totally spook appropriate.  If it's not too late for you to have a little Halloween fun, please enjoy this video on me, and feel free to sing along!

This is Halloween

Well Halloween has come and gone, and... yet again... our Halloween-ing was somewhat lame.  I have the hardest time getting into this holiday.  I love fall, and I LOVE candy, should be a win win.  But ever since I stopped trick-or-treating for some reason my inner excited always skips right from summer to Thanksgiving.  I did plan on doing a fun Halloween night dinner at least, which I was really kind of excited for.  My mom always did really fun creative "spooky food" that I just loved as a kid!

So....... Tah Dah!  The Borup Family first ever Halloween spooky dinner!!!  We had beetles and guts (spaghetti with olives), monster brains (blue mashed potatoes), and a witch's brew (fruit drink with some spinach... for Baby B).

Normally I would NOT consider spaghetti with mashed potatoes a real meal, but on Halloween (or the day after) anything goes.  This isn't as elaborate as the things my mom used to do, I'll have to work up to the good stuff I guess.  But maybe this will make up for the lack of costumes and pumpkin carving this year... better luck next time.

Happy Halloween!

Idaho Adventuring and Tom Seleck

Well these last few weeks have been... Interesting. Long. Busy! Stressful? Not Ideal ...I'm sure there's others that fit, but that's probably good for now.  I move ahead now to the tale of a girl who dreamed  of an easier way.  But alas, it just was not meant to be...

This girl is in a class right now that requires some intensive and critical patient care training (ICU, NICU, ER type stuff), and when she found out that she and her husband would be in Indiana for five months, she started the paperwork required to do the training in a different state.  Something about legal affiliations and law suit coverage... I don't know, but she figured the super impressive intensive care unit here in Indianapolis would be just the place for the experience.  Little did I... I mean she know that this legal stuff can take quite a bit of time, and as the weeks marched forward and time wore more thin, it became apparent that she may need to try to make some other plans.

Then came the fun....

After some morning sickness, a nice cold, and a bit of a sinus infection finally got under control, I jumped on a plane to Idaho to get those hours.  The plan was to begin Monday, complete the 60 hours by Sunday, spend some family time in Boise, and come back rested and accomplished.  Instead I spent the first few days in bed with an advanced urinary tract infection and kidney inflammation (worst pain ever!), did five 12-hour night shifts at the hospital in six days, wrote a 10 page paper, taught a few classes at the elementary school about hand washing and infection control, and went back to Indiana exhausted.  But... I do feel accomplished!!  Better to be busy than bored, right?  And I did get some awesome family time, including a trip to Downtown Boise to see my brother before work where we went out to a delicious dinner with him dressed as Tom Seleck for 80's night... totally made the trip!

Huge thanks to my wonderful grandparents for letting me bunk there for a week!  And dad and Dianna for the awesome comfy bed, the car, and movie and food... sorry I ate all your Milky Ways.  And mom for all the delicious meals and use of your classroom!  Can't wait to come spend some more time!

Poor Tim was left a lonely man for two weeks while his wife and growing baby journeyed afar for some kind of not-so-fun but still exciting and definitely needed adventure.  He's a trooper... but let's just say we'll probably try to avoid planning on those arrangements again any time soon.

Poor Lonely Blog

Oh blog, how neglected you are these days...
It has been a little while since we put much up on here.  Things have gotten a little crazy.  

But life is beautiful,
the fall leaves are gorgeous,
we are wonderful,
and for the time being we can all just keep referring back to the post before this.
Doesn't that darling bean of a baby just make you smile?!  :)  I love it already!  

BeSt NeWs EVER!!!

And Mark It With a B

Well, it's official, Tim and I are excited to announce that we will be welcoming Baby Borup #1 in May!!! Little Bean got its first picture taken on Friday and looks just as snug and as happy as ever!

I am only about 8 1/2 weeks along and so far mama and baby are doing pretty good.  I've stayed pretty close to bed lately with some nausea and a few migraines.  And B has made it clear that he/she does not care for Italian salad dressing... but other than that we are pretty content.  We're just crossing our fingers that everything stays that way while we push through the end of this first trimester thing.

Little Bean is scheduled to be here May 15th.  I like May, it brings good things.  For starters, my grandmother, brother and I were all born in May.  And of course there's the arrival of May flowers, sunshiny weather, the "almost here" feeling of summer vacation,  and Mother's Day.  Plus there are already a few May cousins that B will be able to celebrate with.  What fun!

We won't know for a little while longer yet whether we're welcoming a girl or a boy, so I suppose if you have a vote you better get it in now (sorry Brian, I'm afraid no twins this time).  I think a grandma or two are crossing their fingers for a girl, but I have always thought it would be fun to start with a boy... and Tim is only anxious about helping with baby stuff if it's a boy ;)  We'll see I guess.  Either way we are anxious to get to know Baby B and look forward to our little family growing!

Sick and Tired of being Sick and Tired

Well Fall must be here.  The leaves are changing colors and look beautiful, which I love!  But my seasonal sicky stuff is starting as well, which I don't love nearly as much.  Last week was a bit of a joke as far as getting anything done.  Instead I was in bed first with a stomach thing, then a nasty migraine headache, then a really unpleasant cold and cough that is finally on its way out.  Considering the big picture though, with 2009's swine flu and 2010's strep throat, if this is as bad as 2011's Fall season ever gets I will be one happy camper.... I'm crossing my fingers.

I would like to note here that this will be the first health/sickness post that doesn't have only my name attached.  Though I am usually the lucky one, unfortunately I passed my round three of last week's fun on to Tim and he is working off a sore throat and stuffy nose now too.  One of the great blessings of true love

The Fun, The Unfortunate, and The Lost

Our schedule the last few days has been kind of off, but at the same time kind of nice in that Tim and I have had a lot of husband/wife time.  Given his schedule lately, unless it's a weekend we're not always able to do much together.  But he has been home the last few days and we have had a lot fun  enjoying general conference, sleeping in, breakfast for lunch at Cracker Barrel, and a little bit of friendly card game competition.  A minor SkipBo win goes to Tim... however a huge Phase 10 victory goes to me and should probably actually go down in the record books.  The cards were certainly on my side.

Unfortunately the reason for the out-of-the-normal casual Friday off was a sick car needing to spend some time in the shop... boo.  Something about a new hose, spark plugs, and a thing or two about the brakes?  We were there for a good two or three hours Friday afternoon.

And today we mourn the loss of our good friend Courtney the Crock Pot.  In an untimely Sunday dinner accident, she was tragically and unexpectedly taken from us.  She was a gift from my mother when I graduated from high school and has seen me through two universities and two years of marriage.  She graced the cupboards of 6 apartments, aided in the production of countless tasty meals, and bravely journeyed across the country with us. 

 

Now she is in a better place and we bid farewell to this faithful friend.  Though her cooking career may have been cut short, her legacy of love and culinary masterpieces will live on in our hearts forever.

Cookie Caking

Oh what do you do on a Friday night when you're watching someone else's kids?  Make sugary overloaded treats, of course!  Plenty of frosting, plenty of cookie, and plenty of creativity.  Perfect.  Let the cookie caking begin!

 

On one side we ended up with a rainbow and clouds, and on the other, some historical Constantinople symbol.  Both tasty and educational.

Indy Livin'

Well we have now officially been Indianians for two months (and four days to be exact) and life here is still rolling right along!  Though our picture taking and blogging activity for the last couple of weeks doesn't really show it, we are indeed still having a good time, still seeing lots of good stuff, and still learning a ton!  In fact, we have some new additions to our Indy Education archive ready to make their debut:

4. Milk product prices seem higher than normal and ground beef is even worse
5. Tap water and drinking fountains are not the way to go
6. Hospital conference room floors do not make for a good night's sleep
7. Freeways should be avoided at 9:00 am, noon, 5:00 pm and apparently 2:00 pm on Wednesdays

Tim is keeping nice and busy in and out of the operating room and finishing up some almost-publish-ready research projects.  I am exploring the life of an advanced intensive care unit nurse while working on some course work for my next nursing degree (if I weren't some kind of student I'm not sure I would know what to do).

We have developed a recent fascination with NOVA documentaries.  We stream them through Hulu and have watched several in the last two days.  We now know everything there is to know (or at least what NOVA knows) about Making Stuff: Smarter, Making Stuff: Smaller, Making Stuff: Stronger, and Becoming Human.  Tim became hooked first, and I initially made fun of his obsession, but between you and me I think I could get into this stuff.  It's pretty neat.

Needless to say we don't find a lot of time to be bored.  Which is good I suppose, but sure wears me out.  In fact, I think I might take a nap.

Two months down, two more to go...

Visitors

My wonderful grandparents live much too far away in sunshiny Florida and once a year they make the cross-country trek over to Idaho to visit my family. So much fun! We always have such a good time laughing and making memories with them. Of course, this year we aren't in Idaho and thus won't be able to see them while they are there. So they changed up their usual drive and rerouted through Indianapolis! They arrived yesterday afternoon and we spent a perfect evening enjoying each others company! They went to church with us this morning and then hit the road for another full day of driving... I would have kept them here all week if I could. I have never known anyone else quite like my MawMaw and PawPaw, they are wonderful. Sure love you both, thanks for the visit!

....now, if I can only get my family to save me some of those famous meatballs......

80 Years

 

My wonderful grandfather is turning 80 years old today!  That's a pretty big deal!  He's such a good man and has done a lot of good things in those 80 years.  And so, naturally to celebrate, my whole extended family is having a big party that they've been planning for months... and unfortunately our being across the country is going to make us unable to be there.  :(  I'm totally bummed.  But the distance didn't keep us from sending our best regards in the form of a card, a festive picture, and a dozen eclairs, a sugary passion he and I happen to share (a thousand thanks to my mom and Amy for making the trip to the bakery to pick up the order, you gals rock!!!)

Happy Birthday Grandpa, sure love you!

Oh Hi Ohio!

More pluses about living in Indiana just keep stepping forward! This week's discovery: cheap tickets and a mere 4 1/2 hour drive to one of the world's coolest theme parks. Introducing Sandusky Ohio's Cedar Point, America's Roller Coast! We're talking world records galore! We spent two days packing in as many adrenalin rushes as we could and loved every minute. Top heights, top speeds, and endless up-side-downs... yes please!

A visit to the pumpkin patch to wait for the Great Pumpkin, a dream come true! "The Great Pumpkin will rise out of the pumpkin patch, he'll fly through the air and bring presents to all of the good little girls and boys..."

can't... stop... roller coastering!!!

420 vertical feet and 120 mph in less than 4 seconds... amen

Day two of theme parking for some reason turned into Tim and DeeAnna have bad luck day. We had rides experience some kind of trouble while we were in line not once, not twice, not three times, nay not even four, but five times! Dare I review, I think so.

Bummer #1: Almost to the front of the line, ride quits, we decide to wait it out. 30 min later it's up and running and hey, we get front row seats at 120 mph... sweet!!!
Bummer #2: At the front of the line, ride quits but is back up in 2 min, not bad.
Bummer #3: We get in line, estimated wait time 10 min, someone throws up all over the ride. Ride shuts down for a quick bath, 10 min wait turns into 20 min wait.

Bummer #4: Again, almost to the front of the line, ride quits, we decide to move on to something else... 35 min wait wasted.
Bummer #5: Five min away from getting on ride, of course it quits, we wait it out. 25 min wait turns into 45 min wait. We get on and all strapped in and even start pulling forward... and then sit on the track for another 10 min, in the sun, while the ride thinks about things for a while. Was the 60 min of waiting worth it? Absolutely!

In the park's defense, it was so hot! I'm sure the rides were just getting tired, I know we were!

So much fun, we will definitely be adventuring there again! Who's with us next time?

Are You Ready for some Football?!

Living near an impressively large football stadium during NFL preseason time definitely has its pluses, of which we took advantage of in the form of Colts vs. Green Bay tickets! "Get ready to feel the thunder"... amen (never mind that the Colts lost 23-21 in the last 3 sec... sad day).

Let me go ahead and give some quick stats on this place: 8.1 million square feet, seats over 63,000, over 160 concession stands, fully retractable roof, $720 million in building costs, 14 escalators, 10 elevators, and 1,400 toilet fixtures... we're talking serious game time!

Sorry Dianna, this is as close as we could get to Peyton Manning...

and yes, this is a poster. Poor fellow was MIA due to PUP status, which (as I learned from Tyler) means "Physically Unable to Perform". That definitely sounds better than the "Person Unable to Play" that Tim and I had come up with... we may just use it anyway.

The Fair is a Veritable Smorgasbord!

Yesterday Tim and I celebrated the year of the soy bean at the Indiana state fair! It was a lot of fun. I fell in love with almost every baby animal and Tim decided we really need some goats...

And Flat Stanley had his first outing! He is so cute and had such a good day! What a fun little companion.

We stopped to see a lumberjack show, which I was skeptical of at first, but it was actually really kind of cool. And it renewed Tim's motivation to be more of a manly man...

Doesn't he look good? Tim on the tractor I mean

And the best part of the day: Introducing Reggie, the world's largest bore. This sucker was massive, 1,305 pounds... so gross!!

Flat Stanley is Born!

I have always liked the Flat Stanley idea and have always wanted to do a small scale family adapted type version, and for some reason just never have. But I am feeling artsy craftsy lately, plus Indiana is plenty far enough away from nieces and nephews for this idea to be totally fun, right? So Lola (the GPS) and I journeyed to Micheal's craft store the other day and purchased the makings of the little guy. Step 1, check!

Step 2, cut out all the pieces. I looked online for a pattern (see here for an idea of the real deal), but I decided to just make my own... so I guess we can't technically call him Flat Stanley. Perhaps we'll have to come up with a different name...

Step 3, assemble pieces and add decoration and voila! Flat Stanley is born!! And lookin' spiffy if I do say so myself, I think he turned out alright. Now to plan an activity worthy of Flat Stanley's first official outing and send him on his way.

Indy Education

We're settling into the easterner way of life and becoming more learned in its ways every day. Who would have thought this adventure would be so educational! I've collected a few priceless tidbits already that I believe everyone should know:

1. Glasses fog horribly and thin hair does nothing in humidity
2. 'Hoosiers' is not pronounced "who-c-airs"

3. Lola knows all and should never be questioned

Tim is practically becoming an expert on liver transplant surgery. Last Saturday morning Dr. Mangus had us both in to see one... most romantic date ever! I had been in the operating room before of course, but never for a transplant. It was pretty neat! And Tim was able to follow right along and explain things, I was impressed.

And the educational experiences don't stop there! We also discovered that baking while watching the Cosby show is a really bad combination, as made manifest by a pitiful batch of charcoal cinnamon rolls...

But never to worry, the loss was nothing a quick trip to Cinnabon couldn't remedy. Bon appetit!

We went to the Indianapolis Zoo, and would you believe I forgot the camera?! Serious slap on the wrists, I wish I had had it. It was a neat zoo. It was surprisingly big and unfortunately hot, but again, highly educational. We learned that 1. hungry penguins will do anything for the lime light, 2. polar bears aren't too interested in performing, 3. walruses don't even show up for the show, 4. baby monkeys dig in dirt, 5. elephants find humor in spraying water at innocent passersby, and 6. if tigers weren't behind glass, they would eat everything! Tim pet a shark, I chickened out. I did however try my hand at speaking Ostrich... it didn't seem impressed. Better luck next time

Indiana Chronicles Chapter 3: Becoming Cultured

This last weekend we went over to the Indianapolis Speedway. Little did we know a race was actually going on, and about the time we got there a couple thousand people were spilling out. So we didn't get to see a whole lot. But we did see a few cars make some laps, and luckily we got to see all the race fans in all their glory.... quite a crowd, 'nuff said

Later that evening we went to an Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra concert, obviously not Tim's choice! But they sounded awesome and the outdoor amphitheater show was really fun. Quite a different crowd there than the one we saw earlier at the speedway though... from cigarettes to fine wine, nothing like an Indiana culture crash course!

The timing worked out quite nicely, a trip across the country and the start of a new adventure all just in time for our anniversary! Two years ago today we sealed the deal and since then have been happier than ever! Happy Anniversary Tim, love you!