Our Smiley Austin Wayne

Announcing the arrival of our first bundle of joy, Austin Wayne.  Born Sunday, September 18 at 5:32am, 7lbs 4oz, 21 inches.  We call him our smiley baby:

Austin had his newborn photo shoot this past Tuesday, and our photographer, Lora, was able to capture some of his most precious moments, including this photo of Austin smiling sweetly.  Warms my heart every time I look at it!  Check out more of Austin's photos here on Lora's facebook page.

Austin is such a sweet, sweet baby.  He's almost always in a good mood, and we just can't get over how cute and cuddly he is!  He's always making us smile.  Dave and I could just sit and stare at him all day!  Here is more of Austin smiling:

And now back to parenthood for me!  Enjoy the video :)

Waiting Somewhat Patiently

Just a quick note that we are still patiently waiting the arrival of our little Schwartz!  At 40 weeks right now, so we know it can be any moment (or still a week or two in the distance).  Of course I'm wanting it to be happening right now, but trusting in my body and baby's perfect timing.  Been saying I feel like a watched pot that never boils...  It's hard to keep my mind distracted, but I'm trying!

Baby S at 40 Weeks

Went thru a night of prep surges a few days ago, so Dave took the liberty of getting the apartment all ready for the birth.  Birth tub is set up, plastic covering all the floors, bathrooms and kitchen spotless, and all our birthing and baby's first items are set out on our dining table for easy access.  So proud of this dad-to-be!  I can tell he's just a little excited for what's to come.  ;)

So, we're ready when you are Baby S!  Thank you to all those praying for us!  We've been asked by our prayer warriors for specific birth prayer requests, and wanted to share them with you all as well: that Elise stays calm and relaxed thru labor and birth, that baby and mom work together with each surge, Elise to stay focused thru each stage, and a calm entry into the world for Baby S the way that God intends.

As a friend told me yesterday, no news is...no news.  Lol!  We'll post pictures as soon as we can after the birth!

Realized we needed a family picture before baby arrives!  Check out the ficus tree Dave got me (we've always wanted one).  He wanted us to have it in time for the labor and birth.  Very "zen".  :)

Summer in Charlotte

Well hi everyone!  Burning up or melting away in all this summer heat yet?  We sure are!

We've been up to plenty since our last post.  Biggest news is we moved out of our little room in the cat apartment and into our very own two bedroom apartment about a minute from Dave's office!  YES!!!!  It's been so great having our own space again.  It's been about 1 year since we've lived in our own place, just in time for baby Schwartz to arrive.  Two weeks ago Dave took some time off from his clinic and we ventured home to Houghton to pick up all our stuff from my mom's house.  She'd been storing it for us in her basement since last summer, bless her!  We flew up then drove a truck back down to Charlotte.  All in all the move went great!  Dave did all the heavy lifting and we now have furniture again, as well as more than one plate, bowl, and sauce pan!  It's been like Christmas every day since as we get the  boxes unpacked and things put away in the apartment.  We honestly forgot we owned some of the stuff we have!

It worked perfectly that Kevin & Samantha's wedding in Oshkosh was the same weekend we took the trip, so on the drive down we were able to be at their wedding.  It was so fun!  We always love seeing everyone and spending time catching up with all of you guys!  We had a great time!  My favorite part was the ice cream cake for dessert!!  First time we saw that at a wedding, so fun!  Congrats to Kevin & Sam!

The pic below was taken outside at their wedding reception, baby belly at about 34 weeks.  Since this picture was taken, baby has dropped!  So imagine the belly about 2 or 3 inches lower..and yes, I'm feeling it!  But babe and I are moving along right on track for a successful homebirth.  We will try to update the blog with pictures and details as soon as we can after the birth!  Or I'm sure we'll at least have time to post a picture or two to Facebook between feedings... :)  I am so so excited to meet this little baby!  Nesting is also in full swing, and in the past two days, looking back, I can't believe how much work I've done!  The apartment is cleaned top to bottom, baby clothes washed and laid out, blankets and towels washed and ready, and all the other baby stuff is set up ready for use.  Last thing on the list is to stuff our freezer full of meals to last us at least a month.  I've got an estimated 4 weeks to do this, but will probably get started this weekend with the meal plan at least.  It's all coming together, and soon God's greatest gift will be delivered to us!

Baby Belly - 34 weeks

A little update on Dave, or should I say Dr. Dave?  His clinic is growing every day.  We try to get out almost every afternoon or evening to meet families who need our help.  Something Dave and I have set up most recently is a health and wellness group at our church.  We're calling it "The Pulse."  It'll launch this fall just after baby's born.  If you want to check out the article, they featured us on the front page of the church's August newsletter.  And the church ladies were so sweet to also included a little personal blurb about us at almost the end of the newsletter, too.  Sunday was fun as we heard whispers from behind us, "I think that's them..." as people recognized our faces.  We're so excited to get even further plugged in to the church and make some great friends here in Charlotte!

Wish I had time to write more, just using the Internet at Dave's office while he is in with a patient.  He's almost finished up and then we're off to home to eat dinner.  (I am starving!!)  We are getting Internet hooked up at home on Monday, so soon we will be back to normal again.  And I'm sure our next post will be pictures of Baby Schwartz! :)

Baby Schwartz Update

Hi all!

We're at 26 weeks this week.  Baby Schwartz sure is growing up fast!  I am now officially out of all my regular pants.  I'll admit to wearing Dave's shorts most days that I don't have to go out in public.  :)  Here's an updated belly picture that we took yesterday.  Had to laugh again, because we decided it was best to take it outside, in the sun, hence my squinty face again.  Next month will need to remember to do an indoor shot!  It's so cool to feel the little life moving around inside of my belly.  Surreal still sometimes.  And the weeks are just flying by.  Just a few more months to go!  We can't wait!

26 weeks baby belly

Next week we are starting our HypnoBirthing birth classes.  This is the natural birth method we have decided to go with.  I'll be combining it a little bit with the Bradley technique, and they go very well together.  We finally decided on HypnoBirthing for the sheer fact that it focuses on teaching mom (me) how to relax thru the labor, making it safe and easy for both mom and baby.  I've got to say, relaxing is one of my weaknesses, especially when having to work hard at something, so that was my #1 deciding factor on going with HypnoBirthing.  And if you haven't heard of HB before, just know it's not actually "hypnosis," as the name may suggest.  I won't be hypnotized or anything during the birth.  But it's the art of getting your mind to the state of self hypnosis (the super relaxed feeling you have just before you drift off to sleep).  We all enter this state multiple times per day (when we day dream).  Our classes will focus on teaching me how to control my enter and exit into that state of mind while still being in control of my body functions.  It's pretty exciting stuff!  So much more goes in to it, but that's the basis of the philosophy, used for hundreds of years!

For all of you Minnesotans who have been emailing asking for updates and wondering what baby items we need, well I'm finally getting this out to you!  Now please don't feel like you need to get us anything.  You'll see the list below, we have been so so blessed already with numerous items for baby.  What we need is simply your love and support thru the pregnancy and birth!  I love getting your emails and sharing the little parts of the amazing experience of pregnancy with you.  It's great to feel so connected to you all even when we're so far away.  xo!!

What we have:
We've been so extremely blessed with new friends with big hearts both in Orlando area and Charlotte, as well as old friends in Minneapolis.  We have been given some great items in perfect condition that moms were ready to part with.  Wanted to post the list here, in one central place, so everyone is on the same page.  We already have -

Pack-n-Play with sleeper attachment
Car seat/stroller combo
Baby swing
Bumbo
Boppy pillow
Winter jacket/snow suit
Shopping cart cover
Dirty diaper bin
Bouncer chair
Moby wrap (baby carrier)
Set of cloth diaper
Plenty of newborn size caps and mits
Plenty of bibs
and most likely going to get a glider chair from someone on Craigslist

So, as you can see, we have a lot of the big items already.  We are so grateful for all of the support.  Thank you to all who have donated to our family!  We will keep the baby tithing circle going!

What we need:

CLICK HERE TO VIEW REGISTRY

Check our baby registry at Amazon.com.  What I love about Amazon is that you have the ability to check something off if you found it somewhere else.  So please please, our goal is not to get a bunch of gifts or have a ton of money spent on our baby.  We much prefer to have used or borrowed items, not only to cut costs, but our way of staying green.  If you don't mind helping us by keeping an eye out at garage sales, consignment stores, or asking friends if they have any of the items similar to what's on our Amazon list for sale, we would much appreciate it!  If you do find something for us, go ahead on the list and click the "Buying this gift elsewhere" link.  Thanks guys!!  We will happily reimburse the cost and shipping!

Clothes...!  This is something we're not putting on our registry.  Hoping to acquire all used clothes either from garage sales or second hand stores, or a family who is willing to give or lend to us.  Since we are doing an all-natural pregnancy and birth, we are waiting to find out if it's a boy or girl.  So hold off for now and picking out dresses or a lot of pinks or blues!  We're all for neutrals, purple, green, orange, yellow, brown...  Or in general waiting to get clothes for baby until after the birth and we know if it's a He or She.

We will appreciate:

Marshall's gift card
Amazon.com gift card
Harris Teeter gift card

Dave says hi to everyone reading this!  He's doing well both personally and professionally.  His start up is going great.  Most every day we're out at a community event of some sort meeting people and spreading the word of what we do at Family Healing Chiropractic.  His practice is growing and we're so happy to finally be settling into what we've been planning for so long.

I've got to say though, this North Carolina heat is brutal!  It's been 4 straight days of 90 degree weather.  At least humidity hasn't been too bad.  I don't know if it's just because we're used to Michigan/Minnesota summers, but we can't stand to be outside more than an hour!  Monday was brutal...we were at a 10 hour Memorial Day fundraiser event at a local band shell park.  At least we had the shade of our pop-up tent!   Besides the heat in general that day, let me just say it was no fun being pregnant, having to go to the bathroom every at least hour, and only having access to a porta-potty in 90+ degree weather.  That pretty much sums up my Memorial Day experience.  ;)

Also at the Memorial Day fundraiser, The Patriot Festival, they opened the day in a pretty amazing way.  Check out this clip.  Two paratroopers who were wounded veterans dove from high above the band shell and landed dead center of a flag marked out on the ground, surrounded by the crowd of people.  I was hoping to find a full video of the jumps, but all the news stations cut down their clips.  We had forgotten to bring our camera with us on Monday..  For Channel 14, the one I linked, the camera guy was standing right next to Dave and me shooting the entire 10 minute jump.  Too bad we didn't make the final cut, haha.  It was quite amazing to see and experience the paratroopers.  The patriotism in the crowd instantly grew stronger when we saw the red smoke streaming from their backs and the three flags drop down, waving thru the sky.  Such a beautiful tribute to all those who have sacrificed for our freedom.

Hope you all had a blessed weekend!  Take care everyone!

Hello from beautiful NC

Well folks, we made it!  We've been here in Charlotte for almost 3 weeks now, hard to believe time has gone by this quickly.  It took us that first week to really get settled in, drive around our south part of town getting to know the streets, and start plugging in to community groups and find a church.  But we've made great progress!

We started our trip up on Good Friday.  Not the most ideal time to be making a move, but with Dave's end date at his clinic in Orlando and start date in North Carolina, we really only had Easter weekend as opportunity for traveling.  The entire trip from Orlando to Charlotte was about 11 hours I think.  Plenty of stops along the way as baby was pushing on my bladder.. Dave didn't like that part so much "Um...Dave, don't get mad (because this is the third time in two hours), but I have to go..again."  "Now?"  "Yeah, like, NOW.  Next place we see, okay?!!"  Good times, good times.

We split our trip into two days, drove about 8 hours to Augusta, Georgia to see Dave's brother Eric and family.  Were able to spend the night with them and part of Saturday morning.  So great to see them again -- I think it had been two years!  Their girls are getting so big, blossoming into little beauties!  On Saturday, we drove the remaining 3 hours straight up to Charlotte.  Beautiful drive as we entered South Carolina and into North Carolina.  We missed the trees!!!!  Let me say, Orlando (Florida in general) just didn't feel like home without the trees!  NC really reminds us of the UP, just a little bit warmer.  And we like that.  ;)

We stopped at Daytona Beach on the drive up to Augusta.

It was beautiful!

For these first few months, we'll be renting a room from a woman just to help us save a little cash as Dave begins his business.  We arrived and met her, got moved in (it only took us a half hour to get all our stuff moved from our car and put away in our room, ha!), then took a drive around the main part of town looking for natural grocery store options.  Unfortunately there aren't many co-ops here, one thing we miss most from Minneapolis.  There is also, surprisingly, no Whole Foods here!  We were shocked!  There is an Earth Fare, which is a small scale Whole Foods.  We'll be seeking out local organic grass fed farmers soon though.  It's been a while since we had some quality meat products, and Dave is sure missing his chicken and beef!  But Earth Fare will do for now.

Now, what else?  Well, probably the most exciting news is that Dave started his practice pretty much immediately after we moved.  As of today, he's about 3 weeks in.  We had Easter Sunday to relax, settle in, and celebrate all the good things God has done for us.  Then, Monday morning we were at the grindstone.  So far everything is going great.  My job is more of the networking stuff from home, setting up local events and community outreach for Dave.  And he's been doing everything else.  That's what I just love about Dave, he's able to go out and get it done.  He's doing awesome and he is SO happy to finally be living his dream.  I am so proud of him.  He is really in his element and already making a mark in Charlotte.  More news to come on this adventure I'm sure!  :)

I must share a sort of funny story about the apartment we're renting a room in.  The woman has a cat, but Dave and I are both very allergic.  She agreed to give the cat away the week before we moved in, since he was a mostly outdoor cat anyway, she wouldn't know the difference.  The only time she let him in was at bedtime.  So, we said "deal."  The apartment is a great opportunity and the rent was too good of a deal to pass up.  So we began our trip up from Orlando.  Well, we were about 2 hours from arriving at her apartment, and she texted us to say she came home from work to find her BOY cat had given birth to five kittens!!!  haha, for a few minutes we didn't know how to react.  We ended up laughing about it. I mean, how hilarious that for a couple years since she got the cat she thought it was a boy.  What a surprise that must have been to come home to!  Wanted to share a few pictures of the absolutely adorable little ones.  It just stinks for us as we're putting up with the cats in the apartment all this time until they're old enough to be given away.  Counting down the days (and so are my sinuses!), but until then we definitely enjoy their cuteness.

Five adorable kittens with mom.  Four grey & white, one black.

They just can't keep away from Dave!

They love to climb on him, but their little claws don't retract yet and get stuck in his mesh pants or shorts.

Precious!  Wish you could hear their "mews."

And, I think that's about it for now.  Oh, a little baby update..  Dave got to feel baby Schwartz kick for the first time tonight!  Very exciting moment.  He's such a proud daddy!!  Everything is going great, he/she is growing by the day.  I told Dave earlier that today was the first time my belly has gotten in my way.  But, I love it, wouldn't have it any other way.  Being pregnant is a really fun experience, such a blessing.  One more week and I'll post my monthly belly pic.  Right now it's looking like a little basketball.  I'm feeling great, just a little tired mid-day which requires (as I tell Dave, hehe) me to nap for an hour or two.  I actually felt it pretty bad this past weekend while we were out at an all-day event both Saturday and Sunday.  No nap either days, and man was I struggling!  So whenever I can get in a few extra zzzz's, it's a good day.

More in a week!

Charlotte, here we come!

Got to post really quick here as I'm running out of time before work!

We've been doing a lot of praying and weighing out our options since January when we found out Baby Schwartz was on the way.  It was either to stay in Florida thru the fall, a bit longer than planned, and open our clinic toward the end of 2011  OR  to leave the Maximized Living training program and seek work else where for a year or two before opening our clinic.  Well, everything has kind of come together week by week.  God was definitely pointing us in a certain direction.  We have decided to leave the ML program for now.  As of THIS FRIDAY we are moving to Charlotte, North Carolina!  Dave has accepted an independent contractor position at a Maximized Living office in Charlotte.  It's a great opportunity for us as Dave will have is own patients and all, but we won't have to pay start up costs of a brand new business.  We are so blessed!  This opportunity will allow us to get on our feet and prepare for baby.  We plan to be in Charlotte about 1-2 years if all goes well.  You can start making plans now for visits.  ;)  North Carolina is a beautiful state!  We'd love to have you!

So this is why I am in such a rush at the moment.  Spent too much time packing, even though I wanted to get this post and a few other things done online before work.  But, we'll get it all done in time.  We always do!

And really quick, here is my first "official" baby belly picture.  I have just entered week 20.  To me, my belly is really big.  Pants don't fit anymore and shirts are all getting tight.  Everyone thinks I'm looking tiny though.  I just keep telling myself God is only going to put inside of me what I can push out.  My baby will be the perfect size for me!  No need for comparison to others.  Mindset is everything when preparing for a healthy birth.  :)

Also here is a picture of the palm tree in our front yard, with house in the back.  We have two palms, but this one was the smaller of the two.  Couldn't get a good picture of the other because it is so tall!  We'll miss the little things of Orlando, but at the same time are happy to be leaving.  We feel much more suited to Charlotte and North Carolina.

We'll write again soon after getting settled in Charlotte!  More soon! :)  OH!!  And we wish you all a very blessed Holy Week and Easter Sunday!!  HE IS RISEN, ALLELUIA!

First summary from Orlando... :)

Why hello friends!

Yes, we are still alive and kickin'!  Actually, quite enjoying our time here in Florida.  A couple of reasons we've been MIA here on our blog for the past few months...#1) our jobs at the Maximized Living clinic are going wonderfully!  While our training is keeping us extremely busy physically, we wouldn't change this life for any other!  Every day we are given the opportunity to help so many people and save their lives.  It is so much more than we could have ever imagined -- can't wait to do this in our own clinic soon!!  Ready to transform lives in Greensboro!! :)

We spend about 20-30 hours each week in the clinic taking care of patients and helping in the office.  Dave and I also go out into the community to volunteer our time for about 20 hours each week, more or less depending on what events we have arranged.  We host a lot of health makeover/nutrition/toxicity/exercise workshops all around Orlando.  Various organizations invite us out (YMCAs, churches, grocery stores, schools, etc) and Dave leads the workshops of their choice.  It's a lot of fun meeting so many great people, and it's a fabulous experience helping each one of them transform their health!  I'll admit my favorite part about doing community events are the ones that have us outside for a few hours on the weekends -- like community festivals or fairs.  Temperatures here in Florida are basically perfect right now, 70's/80's and low humidity!  It's like the U.P. in July, haha!  There are some times that we walk outside and forget it's February/March..

Any time we have left outside the office and community events is spent training on protocols (mostly Dr. Dave's work) and Healing Cuisine (mostly my work).  And for fun, we've still got $1 RedBox DVD rentals and board games (cheap fun, right? haha).

So, on to reason #2 of our preoccupied-ness... The first morning here in Orlando, January 3rd, also our first day of work, we found out we are pregnant!! :)  A great start to our day, an early morning pregnancy test, hehe!  So this reason #2 is probably the more prominent reason why I haven't been so diligent about updating our family blog.  On top of our daily requirements with the clinic, I've also been battling nausea and the extreme need for naps.  I am very happy to say that I am officially into trimester 2, PTL (that's Praise The Lord), so food is going down more easily and my appetite is finally picking up.  Also, baby bump is starting to show!  Pictures to come...  Dave and I are SO EXCITED!!!  We have been waiting 2+ years for baby Schwartz, and finally the time has come.  I'm planning to write a more detailed testimonial of my health on Healing Cuisine about my fertility and health issues over the past few years.  I've not talked to many about this, just close family and a few friends, but I am finally ready to share my story and hope other women will find it as inspiration to seek help outside of drugs and surgery to conceive naturally.  More to come on that, I'll link back the post here when I get it up!

We are planning, as we're calling it, a 100% organic and natural birth!  We had our first appointment with our midwife last week and covered all the basics with her.  Baby is healthy and growing right on schedule.  I have all the normal "symptoms" of pregnancy.. we're healthy and happy.  Still quite a few things to plan out in the coming months to be ready for the birth, but we'll get there!  The biggest question at the moment is where will we live.  We will be doing a home birth, and right now we are living in a small house with 5 other people...the landlady and her daughter who live here speak only Spanish.  Nothing really works in our favor here.  So, trying to figure out if we want to birth baby in Orlando or somewhere else (like North Carolina or in Michigan).  Most likely we'll find a happy home here in Orlando, but who knows what the next few months will bring.  No matter what, we are just putting our complete trust in God!  He's given us our first baby as a complete surprise much sooner than we could have hoped, and we are trusting He knows the best path for us! :)!!

Also, if anyone has questions about natural birthing, why we are doing a home birth, or any questions relating to baby at all, please don't hesitate to email or call.  We look forward to it!  We are, as always, an open door!

At this time, I must give props to Dave who has been taking outstanding care of me for the past two months!!  I've got to admit, food prep and cooking makes me sick to my stomach.  I've had to literally run from the kitchen every time I attempt to make us a meal.  So, Dave has been THE BEST HUSBAND doing all the cooking and meal packing since January!!  Recipes you've seen on my blog, yup, Dave prepared those!!  I don't know what I would do without him!  He's so willing to try, such a blessing! :)  If he doesn't know how to do something, he'll run back into our bedroom and ask how much of this to put in, or what temperature to put the pan on..so sweet.  And let me say, he makes an omelet a thousand times better than me!!  If you ever stay at Hotel Schwartz, you will have to stay for breakfast and enjoy one of Dave's delicious omelets.  Cheese is my personal favorite, but his best is spinach and zucchini with feta!  Mmm, mmm, good!

I'm hoping to get some pictures of our Florida life up on here soon!  We have two palm trees in our front yard, which I think is incredibly cool!  There are also all these weird looking plants everywhere -- they remind us of Jurassic Park.  So, pictures to come next.  You have that to look forward to. ;)

If we haven't thanked you by phone or email yet, THANK YOU for all the cards and love since we moved here!!  Every card and drawing is hanging on our wall.  We have just a tiny room to ourselves, cluttered with our clothes, cooking utensils and pantry items.  The love on the wall really brightens our day, every day!  We appreciate it so so much!  Reminds us of all of you who have touched our lives and who we can never forget! :)  Many blessings to each one of you!

You know it's springtime when...

Cannot believe it is half way thru May already!  We're finally getting some nice, sunny warm weather here in the Cities after about a week straight of 40's/50's and rain..non-stop rain.  Looking off our deck now, everything is really greening up!  You know it's spring when you have a robin's nest full of babies in the tree just off your deck...they're chirping happily now! :)  Spring is fiiiinally here!  I'm taking some ME time today while Dave is off taking his Part 4 National Boards.  Yup, that's right folks, Dave's taking his LAST PART today!!  So exciting!  He's been studying like crazy the past few weeks and if all goes as planned, this will be the last exam he has to take for the rest of his life!  Wahoo!  Four years of hard work is coming to a close and we cannot wait.  [We also got Dave's Part 3 scores back a couple weeks ago and he passed all of those tests with flying colors.]

While Dave's been off studying at Perkins, Caribou and the beach, I've had some extra time on my  hands.  So I've finally [finally] starting working on my scrapbooking again, primarily starting our wedding scrapbook that I've been putting off for going on 2 years.  Dave insisted on taking this somewhat unflattering photo...showing off one of my page creations among the crafting mess.

Also just a couple days ago I decided to go ahead and start an herb garden this year.  I was going back and forth on the idea just because we'll be moving around so much come July/August..but I have been in need of more hobbies lately so I decided to go for it and have my seeds sprouting outside right now!

You know it's spring when your friends are popping out babies -- it seems there's a huge surge of births in the spring.  Anyone else agree??  There is another baby arrival to announce:  Eleanna Joy Hokenson, second daughter to Alanna and Tony!  So this is Teija's sister!! :)  We can't wait to meet this little angel later on this summer!!  Alanna made this headband in the picture, so talented!

Eleanna Joy
Arrived Sunday, April 25, 2010
8 lbs - 20 inches

At work, we dedicated the month of April to our health and lifestyle makeover series called Rev It Up.  Dave presented on the last night on a highly efficient form of exercise called Burst Training.  I took some video, but have to find the Flip to get it on our computer..will post those later.  Everyone LOVED Dave (as always) and we had a huge burst training club session the following weekend which spilled over from Rev It Up.  We get so excited to help people get healthy!  Here are a couple pictures of Revolution's "office cutie," as we've labeled her.  Her name is Sophia and she is a sweetheart!  If you can see her chocolate mustache, it's from the Raw Chocolate Pudding I made to share for the Recipe Night at Rev It Up.  She loved it!  [This is Sophia's excited face.]

You also know it's springtime when the wedding and graduation invitations begin to arrive.  Phew, this spring/summer is going to be a packed one for weddings!!  We recently attended Nick and Megan's wedding in St. Cloud.  Upcoming ones include Katie & Tom, Suzy & Rob, Cassie & John and Mike & Lori.  More might be coming, you never know!  As of now, none of their dates overlap, so we should be able to make it to all!  :)!!  Here are a couple pictures from Nick & Megan's Day!  [I didn't get any of the ceremony, we were sitting in an awkward spot for shots with our simple camera.]

 

 The Maximized Living boys:  Nick is in the middle, Dave in the pink next to Nick.

 

 The Maximized Living Crew

I think that's all our major news for now.  Will keep you posted on how Dave's last round of exams goes when we get the grades.  The good news is Spring Is Here!!  Get outside and take advantage of this gorgeous weather -- each day is a gift from God!

Welcome Baby Sophia!

This is going to be a bit of a scattered post.  I have so many thoughts to jot down  before I have to leave for work!  Please bear with me!

Introducing Sophia Madelynn

Arrived at 1:41am
Thursday, April 15, 2010
7lbs 7ozs  - 21 inches
100% NATURAL & DRUG FREE

Christina did an amazing job not only in delivery but also thru the 9 months leading up to the beautiful birth of their daughter.  Christina chose to do a natural water birth.  We are SO proud of her!!  Last Sunday we went out to Paul & Christina's house to cook them a meal while they adjusted to having Sophia in their lives.  We grilled up some of my secret recipe burgers and had strawberry-apple spinach salad.  Gorgeous weather!  So peaceful to sit out on the deck with Soph and soak it all in.  :)

Dave had his last day of T8 internship yesterday.  Dr. Bruce treated Dave and the entire office staff to lunch.  Dr. Beck took us out for drinks after work to say goodbye.  It was a fun time and thanks for the treats guys!  Dave will miss the office and wonderful patients.  He's got 2 weeks off then starts his T9 internship the first week of May.  He'll be working at Bandana Chiropractic, which is a Maximized Living office in Roseville (about a 30 minute commute from home).  He's really excited to get into this office and have some new patients to take thru the Maximized Living Essentials.  What's great about this next phase of work is that these doctors are going to give Dave a lot more control over his own patients.  I won't get too much into the details, we realize while we find these things exciting, maybe you guys don't...but all you need to know is Dave's going to be having even more fun at work, learning new things every day, and getting closer and closer to graduation in November!

Dave and I attended a Biomarkers of Health seminar two weekends ago in Bloomington hosted by Nutrition Dynamics.  Students were able to attend for free this time, so I dragged my boy along.  :)  It was fabulous!  It was a seminar dedicated to identifying disease in the body and treating it naturally.  I get so excited to learn more and more about supplementation and natural disease reversal. 

In honor of Earth Day, I did a post on Healing Cuisine.  I can't recommend the book Gorgeously Green by Sophie Uliano enough.  If we weren't on a student budget, I'd buy this book for all of you, seriously!  It's great, jam packed full of tips on green living!  Happy Earth Day!

My hunky husband just finished making me a large mug of homemade organic chai tea, so I must leave this post.  It smells wonderful!  Look for a post on HealingCuisineByElise.com with the recipe soon!  We've been working on it for a couple weeks now and think we finally have the perfect ratio of spices!  Yummmy breakfast treat!

It's About Time

Well folks, it's about time for a post I think!  Sorry it's been so long..we've kind of had a busy past few weekends, which is when I usually try to start a blog post, and I have been unmotivated to write over my lunch hours at work.  But, today's the day!  I am actually home resting up this morning.  I usually nanny before work on Tuesdays but I came down with this minor chest/throat/cough thing, so I'm hanging out in bed for a few hours to hopefully let my body fight it off!  I have my Oil of Oregano, Flu Terminator, Apple Cider Vinegar and Ginger Tea and 2 glasses of water at my bed side.  I love natural remedies!  Starting to feel a little better already!

Chris is here visiting us today and tomorrow.  He got here yesterday evening just in time for dinner.  Just hung out at home last night with some wine, CSI Miami, and complimentary adjustments.  It was nice.  Tonight we're going to check out this club called the Fine Line Music Cafe for free music, food and drinks.  Looks a nice, chill place.  Chris actually found it via a Google search for stuff to do around here.  Good find!

So let's see, what's been going on these last few weeks?  We've both been doing a lot of babysitting.  Dave's been helping me out taking on some of my jobs when I've been helping out other families.  Might as well, right?  We both have so much fun with the kids, and the extra cash always helps week to week.

Dave has his Part 3 Boards coming up on the weekend of the 19-21.  Please wish him luck!!  He's half way thru, having passed Parts 1 & 2.   Just 3 & 4 left!  He will be graduating in November!!  Can't believe it!  We are so excited!! :)

The weekend of February 20th, we drove out to Wisconsin Dells to meet my college friends Amber & Lucas and Katie and Alejandro.  We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge for a weekend of water park madness!  If you know me, you know I can't swim and freak if the water is over 4.5ft.  Yeah, so we spent to days at a water park.  It was insane!  I spent a lot of time on the Lazy River while the others did the huuuuge slides.  But I did finally do some slides toward the end.  They weren't as bad as I expected, but I was still screaming the whole way down.  I think my favorite part was the wave pool.  Even though the waves got really big, Dave kept me safe while I floated around on the tube.  It was fun to rock around in the waves.

Here's Dave coming down the luge slide.  You didn't use a tube on this one.

Here we are in the wave pool.  We were waiting for the waves to start up..

Lucas, Katie, Dave and me.  Amber in front!  Alejandro snapped the pic with their SWEET waterproof digital camera.

The moose mascot.  Never caught his name, but it was a great opportunity for a group pic.

On Sunday, Feb 28th, Christina had her baby shower.  She is at 8 months -- we are all getting excited to meet baby Sophia soon!!  Christina's shower was so much fun!  They had a great spread of delicious food, we played baby bingo (a classic!) and the dice game.  I had never played the dice game before, but man it was fun!  I won 5 prizes!  Dave always says we need to go gambling with me...haha!  While we ladies did our thing upstairs at Christina and Paul's house, Dave was down stairs with Paul watching the Olympic hockey game US vs Canada.  It was pretty cute:  whenever the US scored, the boys would cheer and yell and we girls would say, "Oh, the US scored!".  And whenever one of us won something we'd all scream and clap and the guys knew "Oh, someone won a prize again".  It was funny to look back on that.  :)

Here's the dice game.  Paulette went all out on really nice prizes -- candles, soaps, lotions and the coveted body scrub!

This was the most random picture!  Christina called my name to win the door prize, I was in shock and it was all caught on camera thru the basket handle!  hahaha

Christina and Suzy cutting the yummy and adorable cake!  It was made to look like baby Sophia sleeping in her bed.  :)

One of Christina's many great gifts!

Now they're ready for Sophia to arrive!  4.10.10 is her due date.  We'll keep you updated on her arrival!

So those are the big happenings around here.  We're doing well, having fun whenever we can sneak away, and just enjoying this time of our lives!  Again, please pray for Dave as his Part 3 Boards come up in the next week.  Wish him luck if you get the chance to call or email him.  Happy Tuesday!

- E

Miss Ella Marie

We finally squeezed in a visit to see Scott and Laura and to meet their new Ella! We popped in on them for the evening on Thursday. They are back in their house in St. Paul, fully restored from the fire they had last fall. The restorations look great! It was a fun night of The Office, good food & wine, and holding our new second cousin! :) I'm looking forward to babysitting soon!

Dad brings new meaning to "double fisting"

Mom and Ella at dinner time

Dave and Ella -- she's just waking from her nap here

Me with the gorgeous babe!

Recovering from Weekend Events

This past weekend has been nuts, in great ways! We both got a lot of work hours in Thursday thru Sunday, so that again means more cash to pay bills. It was another one of those weekends where we didn't really see each other because whenever I was babysitting/screening, Dave was schooling/screening and the other way around. But it's all good! We saved a lot of lives this weekend!!

CONGRATS to Dr. Pete and Lisa on the birth of their newest daughter, 8 lb. 8 oz, 20.5 inch long, #6 for the family! She was born on Thursday, April 2 and is unnamed so far. I had the opportunity to help out their family on Friday instead of screening for Dr. Pete with Dave in St. Paul. What a treat for me! I don't think I'd ever held a two day old baby before. She is beautiful! Perfect really! My main responsibility was taking care of their two younger children, Rachel (5) and Gabriel (3). All of their kids are so well behaved, polite and outgoing. It's always a blast to hang with them! In the afternoon, we dropped off their oldest brother at track practice and stopped at the school's park for a little while. I couldn't resist snapping a few pics on such a gorgeous day! Summer's on its way!

Gabriel going down the slide on his stomach, he "had to do it that way" :)

Rachel on her probably 8th time down

Rachel swinging Gabriel

Their FAVorite -- tire swing! SO much fun!

After getting home on Friday night, I unfortunately developed an eye infection. I knew something was up the whole day with my sinuses and eyes, but it really flared around about 8pm.. It's definitely got to be due to not keeping up with my upper cervical traction exercises. I know the curve in my neck is going back to the way it was 5 months ago. I (we actually) were doing great at consistently doing our spinal exercises, but we slipped off around January and I really haven't been very good about doing my neck at all since then. So I'm certain my curve is back to the -2 that it was in October (For a healthy spine and healthy, maximized nervous- and immune systems you need a perfect curve in your neck which is a 42 degree curve. My neck is straight. Is yours?). I haven't had allergies, a cold or headaches, let alone eye infections for MONTHS, over half a year since having started correcting the curve in my upper cervical. Before finding chiropractic, I used to get eye infections at least once a month due to non-functioning tear ducts since age 2. I also had quite severe allergies to both cats and pollen. For a few months, I was able to have a cat in my lap without any symptoms -- this has now come back to wheezing and itchy eyes, which can be linked back to my curve reverting. Anyway, the point of this whole story is 1) I need to start doing my exercises again for the sake of being healthy, 2) EVERYONE needs to get the curves in their spine checked. You'll never know what your symptoms are due to until you get x-rays done and locate your subluxations. You CAN live a symptom free, drug free life!, and 3) my eye infection got worse on Saturday, so I had to miss the screening with Dave on Saturday as well.

We did try something new for my infection though. Since discovering how bad antibiotics are for your body (learn more here: http://www.drlwilson.com/Articles/antibiotics.htm), we've made personal choices not to use them anymore. So, what options did we have to try to cure the infection? Well, we did some searching online, and the link above suggests some good all-natural and safe options as well. We found quite a few recipes using different herbs and minerals. The one we picked was the most simple based on what we had in our kitchen. We boiled 2 cups of water and mixed in 3 tablespoons of honey (organic, of course!). Let that cool to room temp, and then you just put a few drops in each eye just like eye drops (we just used a straw to do this). Honey and bee pollen has naturally occurring anti-bacterial properties, so it's a no-brainer why it WORKED so well! I only wish someone had told me about this as a kid so I could have avoided so many hospital visits and prescription drugs. The diluted honey gave me instant relief when we did it Saturday night -- just amazing! We continued the honey through the weekend and Monday, and I must say my eyes feel great and are almost fully recovered. I recommend anyone at least try the honey recipe (ahem, brother Mattew!!!) the next time you or your child has an eye infection.

The event Dave screened at was a m a z i n g as he told me. Dave put in 5ish hours on Friday and 9 hours on Saturday. It was at the RiverCentre in St. Paul. Dave said it was a constant flow the entire time he was there, which is rare to have a non-stop flow like that while screening. This event was mostly for parents and most of those parents had tons of questions for Dave and the other doctors, especially about body detox and vaccines. It was a great opportunity for Dave and use all of his knowledge on vaccines and chiropractic to tell people the truth to the public. He came home from that event and told me he cannot wait for us to open and be out there, saving lives for our own office. It is indeed going to be a great time, Dave!

This week and next week are finals for Dave. Thank goodness this trimester is almost done! He can't wait to get through each one of those finals. He's already been studying a bit this past weekend, but there're so many more hours of studying to come. I know I won't be seeing much of him these next two weeks. At least we'll have Easter on Sunday to look forward to together!

We're hoping to head out for an Easter brunch buffet after church -- and hopefully with Scott and Laura! *If you guys are reading this, call or email us back!!* We realize they are busy with their new little Ella, but we do want to stop by to meet her and to include them in our Easter celebration. If that doesn't pan out, we'll meet up with a few friends from around here for a nice Easter brunch. Looking forward to it either way! :)

We spun through downtown Minneapolis a few weekends ago on the way home from a screening event and happened to have our camera with us. So here are a few taken by the hubby. He's proud of his photography skills!

This is a cute little church toward the edge of the city, so small compared to all the other buildings near by.

We have no clue what this castle-esque building actually is, so if anyone knows please comment so we can figure it out. It was really cool! We couldn't find a sign on the building as we drove by, but we're thinking maybe city hall?

Some cool sky scrapers

This was the best picture we could get of the construction of the new outdoor Twins stadium that's set to open next year. They've made tons of progress in just the last month alone!

This one's really cool -- very artsy, Dave!

Think that's about it for now. OH YEAH! Happy birthday TODAY, 4/6, to Craig B., Ashley's husband!!

Hope you don't work to hard today, Craig! Give Dally a kiss and hug from both of us!

Sorry for such a long post! We'll be better in the future, promise!


- Elise

Ella Marie Haraldson

Congrats to Scott and Laura on the healthy birth of their first child, daughter Ella Marie Haraldson. Born Friday March 13th at 9:50 p.m, weighing 6 lbs 9 oz and measuring 19.5 inches. Congrats to the new family!

Ella Marie
(picture from Scott & Laura's blog: http://www.theharaldsons.com/blog/)

For those who may not remember, Scott and Laura are our amazing cousins and were also the ever talented photographers at our wedding (http://www.scottharaldson.com/). They live around here in the Cities. We're looking forward to vising them soon and meeting little Ella! More pictures to come! :)


- Elise

Spring Breakers

Oh. My. Have we been BUSY! So Dave has his first set of National Boards coming up on Saturday/Sunday. (Btw, if you have some time, please send him an email or facebook message to wish him luck! He'd appreciate it!) Like I mentioned before, I've seen little of him for the past couple weeks. This week has been no different, with him studying late into the night with his buddies. There has been busyness in a good way for me though, having taken on three NEW families for nannying in the last week and a half! Which means about $200 more per week! But, it's been keeping me away from home and friends having to spend the extra time nannying. And besides all that craziness, we've had visitors! :)

Joel came to stay with us Friday thru Monday, a little taste of a spring break vacation. Dave and I felt horrible for being so busy during his stay, but we did get the chance to take him out on Friday night for a couple hours. Here's the infamous pic of DP shots -- which were delicious by the way. You can check it on Jlo's blog as well, listed under "Blogs We Follow" on the right side of this page.



We have had the opportunity to visit with some other spring breakers this week. Eric, Rei, Ish and Aaron have been in the Cities for their break from MTU since Saturday. I had the pleasure of joining them for dinner on Monday night. By the way, I absolutely LOVE going out with these guys because they are just as adventurous as me when it comes to ethnic foods! We had a fun times of cooking meals together while at Tech together. So Monday night, they took me to a Japanese restaurant, and I wish I had gotten pictures or video because it was one of those places where there's a grill right on your table and the chef comes and does a show while he prepares your meals! It was SO cool, way better than seeing it on TV - haha! It was a delicious meal. Dave and I will definitely be going back to that restaurant (whose name escapes me right now...). Thanks for introducing me to a great place guys!

Unfortunately Dave couldn't joint us Monday night because of school, but last night, Wednesday, we arranged another dinner date that actually worked with Dave's schedule. This time, Dave and I picked the destination. So, we picked one of our favorite Indian restaurants called Surabhi. Let me just say DElish! I think we all had our fill and then some last night. I grabbed a few pics with my phone:

Aaron and Eric..note all the dishes that were JUST Eric's! It was a lot of food!

What was left of my meal, lamb curry with potatoes. A 7 course meal!

All of us, from left to right: Elise, Dave, Ishtiaque, Rei, Aaron, Eric

The boys will be heading back to Houghton on Friday. Have a safe trip, guys! Thanks for stopping to see us throughout your stay and hope you had a fun Spring Break! :)

** Breaking News ** Laura & Scott reportedly (from Facebook and their own blog) headed to the hospital late this morning. Laura was about 7 days over due as of today, so we're hoping her labor is going quick and easy right now! :) We'll get some pictures as soon as we get to visit Baby H! For now, congrats to the soon to be new mom and dad!!


- Elise

Birth, Birthdays, Death.

First of all, I forgot to include this in our last post -- Zack and Johanna had their baby boy on Wednesday evening, February 25th. Congrats to the newlyweds on their first addition to the family! I don't have his weight and measurements, so feel free to include those as a comment to this post!

Henry Dean Stout
picture courtesy of Chris

There are quite a few more birthdays coming up in the next few weeks, so just wanted to wish all of those people a happy day!

Allison K's birthday, a friend here from the Cities, celebrates on 3/3!

Allison and her daughter Ocean dressed up for Halloween '08

Eric Schwartz celebrates on 3/6!

(We need some pictures of you, Eric!:)

Jake S, another friend from the Cities, celebrates on 3/9!

Jake (on far left) with Vern, Dave and me

Elsa Schwartz celebrates on 3/11!

The lovely Elsa

Johanna Stout celebrates on 3/19!

Johanna - the new mom!

and Melissa Wagner (the cutie in our January 13 post) celebrates on 3/22!

Missy Melissy

So there are A LOT of March birthdays! We hope each of you have a GREAT day!!

Lastly, a friend of ours, Larry, passed away on Sunday in Houghton. Dave and I enjoyed visiting him, his wife Lorraine and their dog Josey for dinner and good conversations. Please pray for Lorraine and the rest of their family. We know you'll be strong Lorraine..we'll miss him too. Rest in peace Larry. We love you.


- Elise