New car and an almost done garden

Stef and I picked up our NEW Subaru Outback yesterday after work. Pretty fun stuff! It's our first family car. Baby J can now safely travel around MN. A guy is coming to purchase Stef's red truck tonight. I'm sure some tears will be shed. No more hauling big stuff!

Dan, my dad, and Stef moved almost all 40 cubic yards of dirt on Saturday into our new garden. It looks amazing and I can't wait to grow stuff, especially tomatoes next year!!! :)

34 weeks and "nesting" has begun

My belly has grown exponentially over the past 2 weeks. CRAZY!! :) I am officially at 34 weeks today. I had a doctors appointment yesterday and weighed in at +13 pounds. The baby measured a week behind (33 weeks along), but that is totally okay with me. Small baby means less pain!!!! :) I tried an experiment this doc appointment. Last time, I ate good old Coco Puffs right before my visit and Baby J's heartbeat was pretty fast. So this week, I had a nice calming bowl of Multigran Cheerios and it dropped like a fly. I don't know if it was a coincidence, but crazy non the less. I have my next appointment at 36 weeks.

Stef had a bit of a "nesting" craze on Sunday night and wanted to clean and fix up the baby's room. We really only have a crib, thought it would be fun to hang our curtains and tidy up! I promise to post a pic of Stef's new daddy diaper bag that he picked out at Target next week. The baby has been SUPER active and my coworkers and students love watching when Baby J sticks its butt up in the air.  It makes my belly all lopsided.  It looks really odd, and doesn't especially feel the best, but it is so cool that an actual baby, made with God's handy work, is in there moving around.  

All is well here in MN. We love you all and pray that God is blessing your lives! :) Stefan, Betsy, and Baby J

32 weeks, YIKES!

My belly seems to be growing exponentially. My belly button is officially sticking out now. You can see it through anything that I choose to wear. I can't believe Stef and I only have 8 weeks (or around there I guess) until we get to meet Baby J. Hopefully Baby J decides to hold off for a bit seeing how we haven't registered yet and only have a crib. I guess technically all a baby needs is a place to sleep. It was my first day back to school today and even though I know it will be tiring at times and hard to move, I'm really excited to start the year off with my kids. I got to see my class list and I have 25 students (AWESOME number) and I think they are going to be a fun group of 12 year olds. We love you all up in Canada and can't wait to see you again at Christmas with our new little member of our family. Hugs to you all!!

God Bless, Stefan, Betsy, & Baby J (Norm too)

Summer in Point Roberts

We had a great time at the cabin in Point Roberts, WA this past week. We got to see lots of friends and relatives that we haven't seen for way too long. Betsy got to show off her tummy and let everyone feel Baby J give them high five or a kick, who knows?

The family enjoying a beautiful sunset, this is probably going to be our Christmas card pic, but here is a sneak peak. I know OK magazine is offering us $2 million, do I hear $3 million?

Here we are for the Annual Maple Beach Sandcastle Contest, our submission of "Chateau Julien/Grimston/Borchert/Bartnik" was disqualified because we exceeded the designated boundaries and disregarded the time constraint. We almost beat the tide this year, but the Mother Nature is a real birch tree! Anywho, back to the drawing board for next year. Dad FYI - don't stand next to Kenny in pictures.

Here is the Julien/Howay/Matheson crew.

Milwaukee Part I - Jaime & Nathan's wedding & Trolley ride

This past weekend we took a long weekend trip to Milwaukee, WI. We started off bright and early Friday morning 7am, with a Caribou Coffee to help. When we got to our hotel, we unloaded and went for a walk on the boardwalk along Lake Michigan. Stef has now seen 2 Great Lakes! Milwaukee has a great Trolley system that takes you on a riding tour of downtown for free. This ended up being our main mode of transportation.

That night we met up with some friends and went to the Lakefront Brewery for dinner and a tour. We had a blast! The boys were plotting on what type of brew vats and tools to purchase for their next batch of homemade brew. I guess what they have isn't big enough! :) Then we went to a local pub called the Safehouse, which was pretty fun except we ended up having a pretty incompetent waiter who thought he was funny and we forgot that Wisconsin still allows you to smoke in bars!! It was like walking into a cloud. We then met up with the wedding party at an outdoor pub and then headed back to the hotel to sleep 6 in our 2 person hotel room! Cozy and fun!

Jaime and Nathan's wedding was absolutely beautiful! I realized after the wedding that I didn't get a good pic of the two of them, so a far away shot is all I have. The two of them are heading up to Vancouver for their honeymoon, so Stef is excited that one of our sets of friends is visiting his homeland!!! We pray that they have safe travels and lots of fun adventures. We can't wait to see all of you in less than 4 days!! YIPPEE!! Norm and Baby J (from the womb) say hi! Love you all and see you soon, Stefan and Betsy

Milwaukee Part II - Lakefront Brew Tour & Views

Beth & Scott's wedding - Part 1

Stef & I went to a good friend's wedding this past weekend in Madison , Wisconsin. (I'm not sure why everything is underlined???) Beth looked absolutely beautiful and we had a great dance party afterwards. Stefan was a dancing machine and even the air band came out towards the end of the night (pics below). We are back for this week and then leave again Friday morning for another weekend, this one in Milwaukee!! We are planning on leaving bright and early Friday morning in hopes of getting in a couple brewery tours! :)

Beth & Scott's wedding - Part 2

28 weeks - YIKES!

Crazy how much my belly popped out over the past week and a half, eh? Stef and I decided to start taking pics every week, because it seems to be growing at an astronomical rate!! Love you all and see you soon!

Cristin & Tony's wedding

We went to Cristin and Tony's wedding this past weekend at the International Market Square. They were blessed with a beautiful day, gorgeous wedding, and a wonderful party afterwards. Cristin looked like a princess. They are off on their honeymoon to Mexico. Stefan and I booged on the dance floor till the wee hours in the morning. He's my dancin' machine, that's why I love him so much! Lots of fun!

26 1/2 weeks / New Carpet

We decided it was time to update the belly pictures. Man, it's starting to get big. We can now feel the baby moving all the time and can sometimes see Baby J as it rolls or pushes, whatever it's doing! We went to the doctor a couple weeks ago and everything seems healthy!!! I've gained 8 pounds so far, the baby's heartbeat is around 150 I believe (I can't remember if that was the right number), and the its due date will be somewhere between the 20th and 26th of October. My cravings have somewhat subsided, but I still enjoy bagels and hamburgers! :) Fresh fruit has also been a lifesaver when it's hot out! I'm also excited to get up to Point Roberts and eat some fresh crab and blackberries.

Stef and I also got new carpet this past Thursday (thanks Grandma and Grandpa). My mom and I painted all three bedrooms, the hallway, and the family before they put the carpet in. It looks awesome! Man, it is so fun to get out of bed and step on something soft, rather than the peeling cork! :) Norm also loves have a permanent bed throughout half the house. He rolls and rubs everywhere!!

We love you all and miss you much. In less than a month, we'll be up in Canuck land!! See you all soon! Hugs and love, Stefan, Betsy, & Baby J

Stef's 2nd Triathlon - Chaska, MN

Stefan, David and Steve, just finished their 2nd triathlon this morning. It was a gorgeous morning for a race. As Ashley and I drove into town, before their race had started, we passed what looked like a man made pond. We were surprised to see buoys/markers all over, and then realized, THIS was the "lake" they were racing on. Yuck! I'm sure it was fine, but man it looked kinda gross. Stef said it was nice, warm, and CALM!!!!!

The swim was 0.3 miles, bike 16 miles, and the run, 3 miles. All three boys did excellent and got done around 1 hour and 30 minutes. Dave came in 6th, Steve 8th, and Stef 9th (in their age group)!!! Way to go boys!