My twin...

Recently, while running errands, I have gotten a lot of "So, do you have a sister that lives here, too?" and "You look a lot like my friend!"... Even "Hey, do you know that you have a twin in town?

While out with the girls a few weeks ago, a guy kept calling me "Erin" and asking where my husband, "Cory" was. I just blew it off, and thought that this guy has had a little too much to drink. Well, a few nights ago, while at a dart tournament, a friend of mine ran over and said that I needed to go with her to check some girl out, because the resemblance was too uncanny. So, we ventured to a neighbooring bar, and I met my "twin." It was funny to hear how her friends (and some complete strangers) had been saying the same things to her for sometime.

I know what I look like in a mirror, but the 3D, walking and talking version of me is a mystery. If no one had pointed out that we looked similar, I never would have noticed any common features. So, here is the pic, make your own conclusion!

Goodbye Uterus, Hello World!! -----My birthday!!

So, today is my 23rd birthday, and BJ let me decide on how we would spend it! So, after a very long (but very well-deserved, highly needed, and extremely fun!) night on the town, we started out a little rough!

BJ's sister invited us to church and lunch at her place, but we were a little too "under-the-weather" to make it on time. So, sometime in the afternoon, we finally worked up enough ambition to shower and start our day. We headed to the St. Cloud mall (we had been checking out this bookshelf that matches our new nursery set and our pricerange PERFECTLY!) and hit up some shops. BJ did sooo well!! He followed my aimless direction to store after store, and completely humored me! I'm talking absolutely NO complaining or eye-rolling! Even Gav was on his best behavior and didn't cry once! When we finally ventured to Target to pick up our bookshelf, it was out of stock and the sale would be ending very soon... sad...

Finally, BJ took me to Granite City for dinner (they make the best Asian Grilled Chicken Salad). After a very long day, I found out two things: I am the luckiest girl ever for having such well-behaved and selfless studs in my life... And that since becoming a mommy, my birthday will no longer be about me, but about having another to day to love up on my boys... Happy Birthday to ME!!!!

I need a musician!

With all of the planning for this wedding, we have overlooked the musician! I am new Sauk Centre area and haven't met many musically inclined people! So, if you know of anyone that can tear it up on a guitar, piano, violin, harp... trash can!! I don't really care :) Please send me some referrals!!!! Thanks!

StReSsEd...

I have so much going on my brain right now, I'm suprised I am remembering to take breaths periodically!

Gavin has been flip-flopping from sick to healthy for a couple weeks now. We got out of the hospital with his bout with pneumonia. Then he was fine. Then he wouldn't eat. Then he wouldn't stop. Now he has a cough and some ucky stuff in his chest again. UGGGGGHHHH! We took a trip to Thomas and Tara's house today, but the little stinker wouldn't nap or eat there, so I him home for a quick snooze and a tiny bit of a bottle. Then, we drove back over to join Thomas, Tara, Ryan and Kristal for dinner. Gav was so happy.... for awhile. He got tired again and the three of us just went home for the night. Now, he is tossing and turning in his Amby bed and making a few miserable baby sounds. Its going to be one of those weeks again!

BJ and I also remembered that we were planning a wedding still! Dress? Check! Groomsmen, Bridesmaids, Attendants? Check! Decorator? Check! Photographer? Uhhh.... CRAP! We forgot to book the hardest person to book!! So, I spend most of my day emailing and researching and calling and browsing friggen photographers! So, if you follow this blog and can think of ANYONE that isn't already booked, please let me know!! BJ and I are going to have "His and Hers" ulcers by the end of this... The good ol' "Courthouse Wedding" isn't sounding too bad right now. Just give me the title of "Mrs. Bryant Ostendorf" and lets cut all of this crap! (Granted, it was a blast for awhile, but the appeal of a big, extravagant wedding has been wearing off fairly fast!)

So, I am not going to go into detail, but other points of interest in my life at this moment are:

• Finding a way to balance an EXTREMELY high-maintenance baby and finding a fantastic job (Turns out, not too many daycares will take a baby without shots and a Food Journal...and there aren't too many fantastic jobs overnight!)
• Staying at home, taking care of a cranky, high mainenance baby!
• Getting over this annoying and NOT WELCOME cold...(without passing it on to the cranky, high maintenance baby or the cranky, overworked fiance!)
• Money.. thats a bit of an issue for everyone..
• Buying a house that we can afford that isn't condemned...
• Selling a house in order to buy forementioned house!

Ahhhh... Such is life!

C'mon, Gav! Give us a break!

Gavin is refusing to eat.. AGAIN. When he was sick with pneumonia, he didn't show any symptoms at first, except loss of appetite. So, since he has to be weighed again tomorrow at the clinic, we will just talk to a doctor. Our doctor is on vacation, so we will talk to a different doctor. Let me tell you how this is going to go down:

First, the doctor will need a 10-15 minute recap of absolutely everything about Gavin's history. Then, we will have a 5 minute "WOW Factor" where the doctor will be so amazed about his recovery and ask us about his follow-up with the NICU and a Gastro. Then, he will examine Gavin for a couple seconds (vitals and that fun stuff), and finally, he will ask us what we think we should do. We will say that we don't want to go to the hospital, but that if he isn't eating, we would like for his input/output to be monitored, just to be safe. The doctor will refer us to St. Cloud, and I will say that we weren't happy about our last visit and their misdiagnosis with pneumonia. Finally, BJ and I will toss around our options. BJ will say St. Cloud and I will say Minneapolis. We will go to St. Cloud (or possibly stay in Sauk).

So, that is my prediction. Hopefully, I will be completely wrong and Gav will walk up to me in the morning and demand a huge steak-n-egg breakfast! I will let you know the outcome! *Kisses!*

If I have to look at one more crib...

BJ and I decided that today was the day for a new crib for Gav. We have been borrowing an Amby bed from his mom. The Amby works awesome, but Gavin has learned how to roll over in it. Since it is just like a hammock, his little face gets stuck in the pillow where it dips, and he can't roll back over. So, fearing suffocation, we started crib shopping!

So, we started with Wal-Mart, Target, and Babies R US. We found the one that was in our price range and that looked amazing, but it didn't come in the color that would match what we already had. So, we started talking to our friends and seeing where their cribs were from. Tricia directed me toward JCPenny, and we scored big time! Not only did they have the color, the quality AND prices were waaaaayyy better. The only problem: we could use either white or espresso to match our current furnishings. Not a huge deal, but enough to take every freaking second out of my day to ponder. "Would white make it look too cheap?" "Would espresso be too hard to match?" "How would white hold up against crayola?" "If we buy a house, what would look best?"

Whatever... The ultimate decision was made upon a little research. The reviews said that the white wasn't a good shade (it had an eggshell tint) and it scratched soooo easy. I still wasn't convinced and headed over to Brian and Trish's to check out their espresso crib from the same collection. The espresso was beautiful and matched the shades of furniture at Target. Trish pointed out that her daughter, Brooke, had taken a couple bites out of the side and it was hardly noticeable. SOLD! Hey, this is a lot of money to be throwing around, so I better LOVE it, and it better hold up! So, after taking up way too much of my time considering, and probably way too much of your time reading this, the choice has been made, and (more importantly) BJ has all of his hair and just a slight headache. SUCCESS!!! (The good sport even let me pick out matching changing table AND dresser!)

*I need a new sniffer*

I have been miserable the past couple of days. My nose, chest, head, sinuses, throat, and muscles hurt. Needless to say, I am walking around with a GINORMOUS medicine head, and if you know me pretty well, I am NOT a good "sick person." I have been an all-grouch. Wanting some time to myself, needing plenty of quite time with no lights, and having no energy to get the household chores done. But, BJ and Gav have been saints! BJ is picking up my slack and my little G-man has been lovey and cuddly all day. (Doesn't really help when I am trying to keep my distance... the last thing we need is Gavin to get sick again...) So, I would just like to take a second to say, "Thanks guys! You know just what to do to get me feeling better!"

Anyways! Carl, Angel, Grace and Lydia had a dentist appointment yesterday, so Adie came over for a little bit. She was so cute! Gavin was fascinated with her hair and bright pink outfit, so he just kept reaching for her. She would just sit there and smile and let him check things out. Soon, she was grabbing toys for him and showing them how to get the best noises out of them. Gavin really liked the attention and Adie loved exploring the new toys and books. Watching the two of them play really got me wanting more babies!

BJ and I have been tossing dates around for when we would like to try again. We would both like me to be pregnant immediately after the wedding, but everything depends on our housing situation. We have found some great houses for sale, but we can't do anything until BJ's house sells. Stupid housing market! Gavin needs a little brother or sister!

Well, my medicine is kicking is in and I need to find a soft place to land...

Virgin Blogger

Welcome to my first blog ever! Since there was absolutely no names left to choose from for my url, I went with lynnettebywater.blogspot.com... I think that about sums me up!



This weekend my mom, Lynne, and Maid of Honor, Joy, came to visit me all the way from Green Bay, Wisconsin. I had so much fun showing them around and introducing them to my new life! (Not to mention showing off my beautiful, baby boy!) Last night, my mom suprised BJ and I with hotel accomodations! She pulled me into the kitchen and told me that I needed to leave because she had made reservations at a motel in Melrose and that we needed to leave to check in! Then, Joy pulled some strawberries and chocolate out of our fridge and handed them to us... They told us it was our "practice honeymoon!" So, BJ and I picked up a nice bottle of wine and headed to the motel.... where we immediately passed out! HAHA!! I guess what we really needed was a good night's rest!



BJ also played the romance card yesterday, but I think I need to take you back 9 months ago in order to explain this one...



So, BJ and I were in Abbot Northwestern Hospital for a week waiting for Gavin to be born. He had a defect that needed intense surgery right away, so we were just hanging out until the doctor's decided to deliver him via c-section. One morning, the cleaning lady came in while I was in the shower and took our balled-up bedsheets. Later that day, we noticed that the stuffed pig that I had had since I was 2 was missing. We knew it had gotten mixed with the sheets and I would never see it again. Granted, I probably did have some weird security issue with the thing, but my heart was still broken. We called the nurse in and asked if we could get it back and she said the linens had already been sent to the cleaning company, and that we wouldn't be seeing that pig again. That night, Gavin Thomas Ostendorf was born, and I thought that it was kind of fitting! It was like the transition from girl to woman. What an upgrade!



Yesterday, BJ came in from work and threw a Fed-X package at me. I was so confused, but tore it open. Inside was a purple, squishy pig! I was elated!! BJ told me that he had been looking on Ebay for months, and finally found one in Arizona. Turns out, it is a collector's item and is no longer made in the pig form. I was holding back my tears and couldn't stop hugging him. BJ has become quite good at making my heart flutter!



Alright, that's enough for today! Thanks for reading my first post!