The Role of Aunt and Uncle!

Just a couple of years ago Eli and I would talk about how exciting it would be to be an "aunt" and "uncle," after all, we both had great role models in this department! We would speculate back and forth about whether his side of the family or my side of the family would initiate this role for us! Then in October of 2007 I received the call from my sister Megan telling me that she was pregnant! I squealed, cried and did all the other things sisters do when they find out their sister is pregnant! Evelyn Grace Link was born May 31, 2008.

Then in August of 2008 while enjoying dinner with the Cann family at Mis Amores in Preston, Brittany and Joe gave Eli and me a birthday present. We opened it up to find a whole bunch of baby items! They quickly said, "Oops, I guess that one was meant for us!" Haha! Ellery Cann was born February 18, 2009.

When we found out we were pregnant, we were so excited to know that our little one would have cousins close in age to play and learn with! Things seemed perfect, but definitely not complete!

Earlier this month we went to Seattle to celebrate Evelyn's 1st birthday and Megan's, graduation from medical school! We arrived Friday night at Megan and Devin's house and enjoyed the birthday party with the rest of our family, Devin's parents, and some of the Link friends. After the party, the guests began to dwindle, but not the Henrichs clan, no we were catching up on everything, just as we always do when we get together! As the discussion led to a possible vacation in Hawaii in December, Amanda said, "OR you could all come visit us because we're having a baby in December!" There were many a squeals, tears, and hugs! What a blessing! Amanda and Randy are expecting their first and what a lucky little baby this is! He/She (I think she!) will be one of the most wanted and loved babies in the world!

CONGRATULATIONS AMANDA AND RANDY!!!

Eli and I can't wait to meet Baby Werth and take on the role of "Aunt" and "Uncle" once more!

Last Weekend

So last weekend we made the short trip up to Coeur d'Alene to watch one of my sorority sisters get married as well as to support our good friends, Holly and Justin, as they competed in the Ironman. We attended the wedding on Saturday and spent a lot of time hanging out at Holly and Justin's. On Sunday, we got up bright and early to watch this intriguing event where the athletes swim 2.4 miles in the lake, bike 112 miles throughout the hilly Coeur d'Alene terrain, and run 26.2 miles. Now you may ask who is crazy enough to do this and the answer is...NOT ME! The race began at 7:00 in the morning and to be an "Ironman," the athletes had to be through the entire race by midnight.When we arrived at the lake, I couldn't believe the number of people willing to put their bodies through such a brutal event. I had butterflies in my stomach for Holly as I knew she was really nervous. Finally the gun went off and everyone began jumping in the lake. Watching 2,600 people jump into the lake within a matter of seconds of one another is quite the site!

Eli and I ended up volunteering during the run portion by serving chicken broth. By the time evening had fallen, the temperature had really dropped and the rain was beginning to fall. You could definitely tell that the athletes were having a hard time with the natural elements. Many found the warm broth to be soothing and yummy....needless to say, we were busy!

Both Holly and Justin completed the race within the allotted time! Both of them are Ironmen! What an amazing feat to have accomplished! While there is no way in hell that I would ever be caught competing in something half that hard, it was an amazing event to watch, support, and volunteer for. I'm proud to say that my friends are Ironmen!

CONGRATULATIONS HOLLY AND JUSTIN!!!

(Of course, I forgot my camera on this little trip, so I don't have any pics but the one above is of Holly and Justin after they completed a half marathon in March!)

Happy Birthday and Father's Day Dad!!!

Without a doubt, I am "Daddy's Little Girl!" Whenever those sweet songs about dads and daughters comes on the radio, I have tears. I always knew I wanted to marry someone similar to my dad, so it comes as no surprise that my dad and Eli get along as well as they do! I feel very privileged to have such a great Daddy who taught me to reach for the stars with the confidence of knowing there were always loving arms to catch me when I failed. Thanks for everything Dad!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY & HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!

Chocolate Mayhem

So as you all know, chocolate is my downfall in life...especially since I've gotten pregnant! I can't seem to keep my hands off of ANYTHING with chocolate. It is because of this love that I thought it would be fun for my students to add Hershey's Hugs and Kisses to their Father's Day gifts. I went to Wal-Mart and bought several different kinds, brought them home, and put them on my dining room table so that I wouldn't forget to take it all to work with me the next day. Then Eli and I headed to our Monday night birthing class. After class we decided to go to half-price appetizers at Applebee's since we hadn't had dinner. Eli wanted to go home first to check on the dogs and take them potty. THANK GOD Eli had this idea...

When we opened the door both dogs greeted us with much excitement. Then, we entered into a nightmare. One of the bags of chocolate was laying on the ground with wrappers EVERYWHERE. Originally, this bag contained 18.8 ounces of chocolate yet only a few kisses remained in the bag. Together Oskar and Max had consumed over 1 pound of chocolate. To say I panicked is an understatement. I immediately called the emergency vet number. As I waited for the Dr. to return my call, I googled the levels of toxicity in milk chocolate. Many websites said that it would take 2-3 ounces to produce toxic levels that can take a dog's life. 2-3 ounces....what about 16??? When the Dr. finally called, she told us to pour 1 Tbl. hydrogen peroxide down their throats to induce vomiting. She told us that if it had been over an hour, the hp wouldn't work. (We were gone for 3 hours, so we had no idea when they had eaten it.) Anyway, do you think we had any hp in our home? Of course not. Eli raced to Wal-Mart knowing that time was against us. In the mean time, Oskar began to mope and act "sick" and I just kept giving him kisses telling him to stay strong. I have NEVER felt such fear nor cried so much.

Finally Eli arrived with his prized possession in which we proceeded to dump down their throats. I cannot believe how much vomit they both produced....Oskar between 2-3 cups and Max 1/2-1 cup. I called the vet back to report the results. She couldn't believe how much they had eaten (she said she had never heard of a chocolate toxicity case where so much chocolate had been consumed...that's comforting to hear from a veterinarian who has probably seen animals pass away from such an ailment...) She told us that we had probably gotten most of the chocolate out of the system but she encouraged us to bring them in. She said that she would give them a medicine that would cling onto the remaining toxins to prevent absorption, give them iv's and monitor them for the night....i.e. admit them into the hospital. Keep in mind...this would all be an emergency room visit for TWO dogs. I am trying to fathom how in the hell we can afford this, yet, I am willing to pay anything for my doggies. (I should mention that about 5 minutes after the dogs were done getting sick, they both were acting like themselves. So my gut is telling me that they're going to be okay, but I don't want to take a risk and lose them.) Anyway, the doc explained in detail to me the signs of chocolate toxicity and what to watch for. We decided not to take them in right away and to monitor them. They continued to act like themselves, but since it was getting late, they just wanted to sleep. It was hard to know if they were sleeping because they were tired or because they were feeling ill. We finally decided to go to bed. We let them sleep with us so that I could make sure they didn't begin to seizure and that they continued to breath. I hardly slept through the night, scared that I might wake up and find one of them gone. Luckily they both made it through and are perfectly healthy!

I thank GOD that Eli wanted to come home before going to dinner, because I honestly believe in my heart that Oskar wouldn't have made it with the amount he consumed. I know for a fact we would have needed to take them into the vet as the HP wouldn't have been helpful after so much time. We are SO lucky to have two healthy puppies!

I realized through all of this just how special and important our dogs are to us. They currently are our children and we love them SO much. They are an intricate part of our daily lives and even though they can be pills, especially Oskar, we wouldn't trade them for the world! Oh and incase you are wondering how they managed to get the bag of chocolate off of the dining room table, I have one word for you...OSKAR! We don't know if he was able to get on the table from a chair or if he jumped high enough to get ahold of one of the sacks the chocolate was in and then able to pull it off. Either way...we have learned to put EVERYTHING away that could possibly be a temptation to our mischevious child!

If you have animals, be sure to give them a few extra hugs (real ones, not chocolate!) because you never know when something might happen to them...

(From left to right: Toby (my parents' dog), Oskar, and Max!)

Another Sleepless Night...

So here I am, still awake and it's almost 1 in the morning! How in the world am I going to make it through tomorrow?!!! Oh well!

Here are the random thoughts on my mind at this insane hour:

This weekend Eli went home to visit his family. His great grandparents were coming into town so we thought it was pretty important for him to go home and spend some time with them! He came home tonight around 11 and of course, was exhausted and fell right asleep! Go figure!

I had an eventful weekend...sick...sick...worked on chapter finance stuff ALL day today...sick...yeah. That about sums up my weekend! Needless to say, I'm really not ready for tomorrow! Why can't weekends be longer?!! Oh, and it looked like there was a small circus going on in my stomach today...I have never seen such a thing...she was very active! I think all of my coughing keeps waking her up!

I need to do a post about last weekend when we were able to visit Seattle and celebrate my sister's graduation and Evelyn's birthday, but that'll be another post! I have pictures on my camera that I want to download and even though I can't sleep, I'm still lazy and don't want to move!

I also need to post about Kindergarten graduation! We had such a great time! I know I said this earlier, but I can't believe a year has already passed! I love my little munchkins and will miss them lots!...Post to come with pictures....hopefully!

Since I'm awake, I'm contemplating eating a popsicle! Oh this is random, but Dryers Natural Fruit Popsicles are DELICIOUS! High on calories but totally worth it!!! Mmmm...I think I will go have one now and then, I'm going to attempt to sleep! Wish me luck (well maybe you should wish me luck on getting out of bed in the morning, or maybe you should wish Eli luck for having to deal with me tomorrow morning...!)