Aside from the weather, we are down to about 5 1/2 hours of sunlight a day. The sun has been rising at 9:30ish and setting at about 3pm. That basically just means that we sleep in later and I'm ready for bed at 8pm.
As most of you know, Gino and I are expecting a baby this June 17th and just recently shared the news with family and friends. We are beyond excited, as I would think any new parent would be and it sure does make this Christmas a little more special for us. Even though we won't be home for the holidays this year, our support group of friends over here have been amazing and we have recieved about a million "Congratulations" emails in the last week which just adds to the excitement. We feel very blessed to have so many wonderful and caring people in our lives.
Gino and I broke the news to our parents 7 weeks ago and got such a wonderful response from both sets of parents, I thought I would share. We had wanted to do something really special for them since it will be both sides first grandchild. I thought and thought for a couple weeks what to do and without physically being able to tell them in person, our ideas were limited. I started messing around on the computer and thought I would create a slideshow/movie with pictures of this year in Lillehammer. We ended up adding a little video and threw in some brain teasers. We ended up showing them on skype and telling them, "We have this great slideshow that Laura's going to add to the blog and want to know what you think". Here it is...
We showed my parents first and when they brought up the video on their end, we were still able to see the reactions on our side. My dad was commenting on the photos and saying how beautiful they were etc. Finally, they got to the slide with words and were both silent. Once the slide of Gino and I came on the screen that read, "Knowing there are really 3 people in this photo", my mom starting hitting my dad on the sholder scream- crying, "I get it!, I get it!". My dad had no idea and was still trying to figure it out. Once he did, he said, "Ill be darned!" Gino and I were laughing/crying. It was such a great moment that I will honestly remember forever. They were so genuinely shocked!
We were fortunate enough to get Gino's parents on skype right afterwards and went through the same spiel. They were busy looking at all the photos and both realized what it was we were trying to tell them, at the same time. Gino's dad was speechless and started crying and his mom sort of gasped for a few minutes looking at us and then looking at Pat, back and forth. By the end of it, we were all crying again! Just like my parents, they were shocked and overjoyed. Such a wonderful/emotional suprise!
We have had a few doctor's appointments and the doctor that we have been seeing is wonderful. A few things are different in Norway then at home. One, they don't believe in pre-natal vitamins. They believe that the baby will take what it needs from the mother and that the pre-natals end up just being for the mother. I think that's still important! So, I ended up buying some from home and having them shipped over. Also, I've been seeing a private doctor and have had 2 ultra sounds. Since he's a private doctor, my appointments have been at night, 9:30pm. Which I thought was very strange! From here on out, I will be seeing a midwife for all of my visits and back to a doctor in March before we fly home. Many people have been asking if we are delivering here or in MN and we will be delivering in MN. I'm not showing yet so there will be no "bump" photo for a while. Maybe by the next blog entry. Overall, I've had a bit of morning sickness/nausea and ALOT of food aversions. I've been feeling almost back to normal the last few weeks. Here's a little pic from our 11 week ultrasound. Just saying, "hey!"
Ok enough baby talk for now, Im sure some of you are bored.
Last Saturday, a group of us went out to the ski jump for the Nordic Combined World Cup Circuit. We mainly went out to watch the ski jumpers for a a few hours. It was really cool! There were people there from all over the world and a few USA skiers. As we were walking around the bowl, a worker came up to Gino and said, "Gino Guyer, would you and your friends like to go in the VIP tent?" Of course we said yes because, one, it was pretty cold out, and two, we thought there may be some free food and drinks in there. We were right! He sat us at a table and there was a buffet set up with hot dogs, salad, potatos, etc and a bar. On the other side of the tent you could stand next to little fires and watch the jumping. It was great!
We stayed until our feet were numb and then headed home. It was exciting to see some of the ski jumpers that workout in the same gym as us, jump and also to see a few USA flags and skiers.
As for news on the hockey front, the league is on Christmas break for the next 2 weeks. They still have practice but no games until after Christmas. Lillehammer is one point out of 2nd place and tied for 3rd. It's a really tight race, 2nd place- 6th place are seperated by only 4 points in the standings. So it should make for a really exciting 2nd half of the season. Here is a the link again to the Pointstreak site where you can follow the team. For some reason, the 2010/2011 season is still popping up so you have to go to the left side of the page and change the year to GET 2011/2012 with the little drop down box.
That's all I have for now! Gino and I are taking advantage of his few days off and flying to Prague on Thursday. This couldn't come at a better time, with my morning sickness at bay (FINALLY). It will be nice to get out of Lillehammer for a few days and explore the Christmas markets and a beautiful new city. If I don't write before Christmas, I wish everyone a very happy holiday and for all of you traveling over the holidays, I pray you have a safe trip. Enjoy this time, hopefully away from work, and with your family and friends.
God Bless and God Jul!
