Oh my achin' back!

Well, I finally did it... I threw out my back. It's been a very grim last few days here in the Nelson house while Jared has taken over the roles of Mr. Mom, Nurse, and Physical Therapist. He's been wonderful, but I must admit I haven't been the easiest "patient" at times. It's funny how the pain and near paralysis aren't nearly as bad as the feeling inside of having totally let down my family! I have had a hard time just letting go and letting others do for me, but in the end I know that it's the best to get me back to normal as soon as possible. We have been SO thankful for all of our friends here that have rushed to our sides with meals, groceries, company, and babysitting. It really dazzles me how everyone has been so willing to drop everything in my time of need. What a blessing!

Since I am still not able lift much, or walk for that matter, we decided that it would be best if Ruby spent the day with Claire and Carter. Although it was a bit rough on all of us to get out the door bright and early this morning, I'm sure that she'll have much more fun there than she would with a "Bum Mommy". To make things a bit more interesting it's finally decided to snow after weeks of rain, so it will be interesting to see how Jared fairs pushing/pulling/carrying the stroller through the drifts tonight! I'm sure glad it's not me!

On to other topics, last weekend we went ice skating at Kongens Nytorv in the city. They have several of these public skating rinks where you can skate for free. The only drawback is that since the weather had been so warm the ice was quite wet. This is, of course, primarily a problem if you fall! Jared stayed on his feet the whole time (thankfully!), though I did have one lady wipe out right in front of me. As much as I tried to halp her up, I think I just made things worse--spinning her around in the muddy puddles at the edge of the ice. She did seem appreciative of my efforts though! I didn't risk it skating this year with how sore my hips and back were already feeling and stayed on the side-lines cheering on Jared and Ruby. Ruby thought that "shoe-skating" was pretty fun, but I think that she liked being whisked around the rink in Jared's arms even more.

This week, however, the temperatures are finally dipping to around zero (Celcius), so maybe the rinks will finally get hard. We were happy to find that the skate rental place did have skates to fit Jared's size 15s, so we'll have to go again on a sunny day. Maybe this time we can convince some of our friends to go with us...


I suppose I'll leave you with this self-portrait of my growing belly. This was taken last week (29 weeks along) and isn't exactly the most flattering shot, but I feel like I have to post a few of these just to remind myself how big I get while I'm pregnant! (Not to mention all those lovely stretch marks!)

Christmas with the Nelsons

We spent the bulk of our trip at Jared's parent's home in Elk Rapids. It was so good to see everyone and it was also nice to get some rest after all the travelling. These first three pictures are from the Essary Christmas party, for all the Michiganders anyway! It was a great party with tons of yummy food (thanks Aunt Kim!) and tons of gifts for everyone. We also got to see Michelle for the first time, about 36 weeks pregnant with TWINS! Wow! She looked great though and now is happy to have her babies at home with her... welcome to the world Noah & Jenna!

Ruby's favorite present was this metal tea set from Nana and Bobo. As soon as we unwrapped it she took off with a cup and the tea pot and started having her own little tea party. We started to wonder where she had run off to and Jared found her having a tea party for one on the stairs...

GULP!

Ruby and Bobo did some serious bonding this visit. She still walks around the house wondering where her "Bobo" is! I can't believe I didn't get a picture of Ruby and Nana, but it was just kind of one of those trips! Things just didn't go as expected most of the time...which I suppose SHOULD be expected with a toddler in the family!

Ruby's cousin, Tyler, was quite the entertainer and was always willing to do whatever Ruby asked... in this case, apparently she and a few of her closest friends needed a ride! Watch out Rudulph!

The pacie wars! This popular game has gone to the wayside now that we are battling our own war against the pacie. Ruby still asks for her pacie some, but can usually be distracted. I'm not looking forward to the day when we decide it's gone for good though. She REALLY relies on it for getting to sleep.

Believe it or not, that's ALL the pictures (well, okay ones) that I have from our two weeks in the states. Not pictured is our trip to Avalanche Falls Indoor Water Park...that was a real hoot and Ruby just loved it. We also got to see Anne and Ken for several days (no pictures, sorry) and we were able to see some of my good friends from the Geneva days, Erin Couch and Mary Williams. Somehow seeing them made me realize all over again how much I miss them! That's the hard part about globe-trotting I suppose, but there are up-sides too! Hope you have a great day, whatever continent you're on!

More fun with the Armstrongs...

I feel really bad that I didn't take more pictures when we were in the US. I don't have ONE picture of the whole family and didn't get any of my sisters really either. But, I did get a few more cute shots of Ruby!

Jared and Ruby were hard at work picking, planting and hoeing up a pretty flower garden. Ruby liked the indoor "pretend" version almost as much as she loves the real garden.

Here's my Dad, Ruby, Christina (my baby sister), and Jonny (Dad & Anzhela's little boy). He's a real cutie and was in a good mood almost the whole time we were together. As you can see in this picture he had a BIG grin on his face most of the time.

One of the biggest exhibits at the Children's Museum was about blown glass art. They had a neat area for kids to make their own "art" with plastic replicas of the glass shapes they used in some of the huge sculptures. Ruby loved plugging each piece into its hole!

Anzhela wanted to get a picture of Ruby and Jonny together... Unfortunately, I think that Ruby was a bit scared she was going to be squished. Jonny doesn't look too happy about the idea either though! Jonny is a really big guy for his age and actually weighs about the same as Ruby, so that figures into her fright a bit I think!

Heidi (I mean Santa) left stockings stuffed with all kind of goodies for us. Ruby's "stocking" was this "Angel" hat. She wasn't exactly an angel during our visit, but she could almost fool you in this shot!

Right after that, we piled into the car for the LONG drive from Indianapolis to Elk Rapids, MI. Unfortunately, Ruby was VERY UPSET for a lot of the trip and screamed/cried for at least 4 hours wanting out of her carseat. We definitely learned that she can outlast us, big time! Next car trip, I'm investing in some good earplugs. Thankfully, since we're home again she's back to riding the bus and train and has realized that she has it awfully good, so she's been a pretty good girl.

We've also said "buh-bye" to the beloved pacie except for nap and bed-time. It's been a rough couple of weeks, but she does seem to beg for it a bit less each day. And when she DOES beg for it, it's a good sign that she's feeling tired.

That's all for today! Hope you have a wonderful day!

Where does the time go?

Well, here I am posting again after over a month of silence. I've found that blogging is a lot like exercising, I have to really make it part of my routine or else it is easily jettisoned as extra baggage in my busy schedule. I will ATTEMPT to make it more of a priority! Another problem has been that I just haven't been taking pictures and most of the ones that I try to catch of Ruby turn out blurry. You really have to be on the ball to catch this girl because she's "on the move"! I do have about twenty okay pictures from the last two months, so I'll work on getting those posted up this week. Here's the first batch!

Here's what Ruby looked like when we left for our vacation in the States: SICK! She really had a rough time between being sick and jet-lag. But after about 10 days (we were only there 14!) she was a bit better. Don't you just hate that!?

Jared got a picture of Ruby's amazing table setting abilities. She's getting pretty good at ferrying the plates, glasses, utensils, and napkins to the table, but we generally have some reshuffling to do before we can actually get down to the business of eating!

We were able to see some of my family at my sister, Heidi's home, in Carmel, IN. The only one who didn't make it was Alyssa (who is now living in Maputo, Mozambique!). While we were there, Heidi had planned a day at the Children's Museum. It was a really neat place and Ruby did have fun (in between tantrums!).

Jared and Ruby raced my step-sister, Yulia, down the slide. It looks like Ruby was a bit concerned!

They had this neat "water clock" in the entrance of the museum that can tell time, as well as being an amazing piece of art. Maybe we scientists aren't so left-brain after all!

On the baby front, we are getting anxious for our little guy to make his debut. In my 30th week now, I am starting to feel pretty big and my hips and back are aching much of the time. Jared has been so sweet to give me lots of massages and Ruby always likes to rub tummy butter on my growing belly for me. What a sweet family I have!

Keeping Busy!

I feel like I'm cleaning out my closet with all these old pictures, but I guess things just haven't gone as I would have hoped the last few months in the time management department. I'm not sure I have ANYONE to blame for that, but myself though! But, before I get into what's been filling my hours, I'll narrate these next two pictures! ;) WAY back in October we had a pumpkin carving party for some of Jared's co-workers. As I've mentioned in previous posts, Halloween is a pretty novel idea here in Copenhagen, though the Danes have been embracing it a lot more the last year or so.

I was really impressed at their works of art--a lot better than I usually do!

So my "free" time has been totally absorbed the last few months with reading... yes, I was reading a lot before, but it really did get a bit ridiculous the fall, even for me! The impetus for my reading explosion has been my membership in the Copenhagen Book Club. This is a "by-invitation-only" club that I was fortunate enough to join. There are about 25 members, mostly older women who have traveled and lived all over the world. We meet once a month and choose books to add to our library based on literary reviews... I have definitely been exposed to a lot of really wonderful books. If you're looking for one to curl up with over the holidays, here's a short list of my favorites:

1. Sun at Midnight by Rosie Thomas
2. Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
3. The Future Homemakers of America by Laurie Graham
4. A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian by Marina Lewycka
5. The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
6. Crow Lake by Mary Lawson
7. Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
8. Peace Like A River by Leif Enger

I've actually read about 20 books this fall, but I'd say that those are the best... hope you give one or two a try!

Jared got this stroller for Ruby this fall and she absolutely loves it! For about 3 weeks she used it almost non-stop... surprisingly we don't yet have a rut running around the house, but it's close! Ruby's also been practicing using her potty chair. Unfortunately we haven't made any major practice yet, but at least she's headed in the right direction!

We have also been busy preparing for our Christmas musical at church, "One Small Child". We have 35 singers and we have really had a good time learning the music. It's been fairly easy too, since we all have CDs/mp3s with our parts. So, I've been listening to mine on my mp3 player most days and have enjoyed getting into the Christmas spirit. Jared even has a solo and a speaking part, so it should be fun!

I'll leave you with a picture of Ruby looking rather sad... I have no idea why she's looking sad, probably she just didn't want to smile for us since we were taking a picture. She's getting bad about that--I hate to say it, but she probably gets it from her Mommy! Oh well, we all have our grumpy moments!

Hope that you are enjoying every moment today without a grump in sight!