Luke Andrew Friesen Has Arrived....

So, many of you know our big news already, but we've been a bit delayed on making this blog post. But, many of you already know what it's like with a new baby in the house.



Luke Andrew Friesen was born at 11:02 P.M. on Monday, July 21, 2008, via C-Section (which was very much unplanned). He weighed 7 lb., 13 oz, and he was 19 3/4 inches long. He has black hair (which will probably turn light seeing how his parents are light-haired) and blue eyes. He's wonderful! We're so extremely thankful that he's healthy as getting him here with us has been a long process for us!





Right after he was born...





The official "weigh-in"...

One of the first photos of Luke cleaned up and ready for Mom and Dad...

Sarah holding Baby Luke in her hospital bed...

And finally, the car ride home...on Thursday, the 24th of July...

The Shorts That Should be Sold in the Garage Sale....

This is going to be one of those blog posts that is both tacky and borderline embarrassing. But, you know...why not post it anyways?

Marc has had these HUGE black shorts for quite some time. We've been saying for awhile that they should be used during late pregnancy. Well, we had kind of forgotten about them until this evening. It turns out that they completely fit around Sarah's belly. Don't worry -- they will be in the garage sale next summer.

First, we have Marc demonstrating the "largeness" of these shorts.

Second, we have Sarah actually wearing them completely around her belly. Lovely, aren't they?

Cleaning Up From Winter -- Still!

For those of you with children, your weekends are probably much more exciting than our's right now with Sarah on "restricted activity." We used to have more exciting weekends, but for now, we're relying on "homebound" things to do.

Many of you know we have a large brick patio around the back of our house. The bricks also are a part of a "sidewalk" that leads to both the shed and dog kennel.

Each year, during winter, many of the bricks crumble thanks to ice, snow, and cold weather. Each spring (and this time, summer), Marc spends a great deal of time replacing bricks.

Marc started digging up and replacing bricks this weekend as part of our "excitement."

Here's a "before shot" of the patio. We'll hold onto this photo so that when Marc's finished, we'll compare the after shot.

Here's an "in process" photo near the shed and dog kennel.

Lastly, here's Marc working on replacing the bad bricks near the shed and dog kennel. Understand this is definitely not an overnight process...especially with a baby coming very soon.

Clyde....

We're not going to be those dog owners who make many posts about their dog, but I (Sarah) thought we should do one -- since many of you may not be familiar with our dog. Plus yesterday, we got a dog story.

We "inherited" Clyde from Marc's parents shortly before we were married. Overall, I'd say she's a fairly low maintenance dog -- compared to others we've been around. She's an outside dog, so we don't have messes or dog hair in the house. She likes cheap dog food, so we don't spend a lot. She's friendly, so we don't ever have to worry about her biting anybody. She's a "mutt," and I don't know if this has anything to do with it or not, but she's healthy. Marc has a little frustration with her digging holes in the backyard, and I have a little frustration occasionally with her barking in the middle of the night, not just waking me up but also the neighbors -- or so I fear.

I mentioned earlier that she was healthy, but the other evening, I happened to notice a bit of blood in her urine in her kennel. Marc verified that I was correct. We also noticed her straining a bit to go. So, after a little of Marc's research on the internet, we determined we should probably take her to the vet.

Yesterday, she spent the day at the vet. When we went to pick her up at the end of the day, we paid a nice hefty $158 for an exam, lab work, x-ray, and some medication. She does have a bladder infection (not sure where she got that). So, she's now on an antibiotic for a couple of weeks. Hopefully, that's it....I've already asked my parents if they would take over "dog medicating" duties for us if our son is born in this next two weeks. They said they would :)

Overall, Clyde's a great dog to have around, but I will bite my tongue a little bit more when I say she never gets sick.

Broccoli Salad

Over the last several weeks, I've noticed several blogs with recipes. So, I (Sarah) have decided that I will periodically (no promise on the timing of "periodically") post some of our favorite recipes. These are recipes that both of us really like.

The first recipe is that of "Broccoli Salad." I can't take credit for this recipe, as it comes from a good friend of our's, Stacy....

Here it is...Broccoli Salad

3 bunches broccoli, cut in small pieces
1 medium onion, finely diced
1 cup sunflower seeds
2 cups shredded cheese (mild cheddar)
12 strips cooked bacon, crisp and in pieces
1 cup raisins, optional (we personally do not add the raisins)

For the dressing...

1 cup mayonnaise (we actually use "Miracle Whip" light)
3 Tbsp. vinegar
3/4 cup sugar

Add the dressing to the dry ingredients right before serving.

Enjoy!

It's a Green Sort of Day....

So, you may ask yourself about the "green" day. Nope, it has absolutely nothing to do with saving the planet. Today, Marc earned his green belt in Tae Kwon Do. He started this sport back in January with the white belt. He then progressed to gold, then orange, and now green. It's actually quite interesting to watch the belt tests -- at least I (Sarah) think so.

These first three photos are various parts of the belt testing....

After the new belt is earned, Marc first retires the previous belt -- the orange.

Then, he receives the new green belt and puts it on in front of everybody.

Lastly, he shakes all of the hands of the current black belts.

What We Like To Do....

This may not be the most exciting post (with no photos), but we figure we'd share a bit about what we like to do.

Most of you know that we both like to run (Sarah's on a bit of a hiatus right now, however). Marc runs quite a few marathons and ultra-marathons as well as shorter distances. Marc also does tae kwon do, and he enjoys weather (he does do daily weather readings for the National Weather Service). Sarah enjoys reading and hanging out with friends (Marc would say she also enjoys talking). We both really enjoy traveling, and some of our favorite trips together have included Hawaii, New York City, the Northeast USA (VT, NH, ME, MA), and northern California and Oregon. Our last big trip was a trip with our good friends from Manitoba down to the Florida Keys (very relaxing and enjoyable as well). Our travel habits will drastically change after our child is born, but we hope to instill the love of travel in him as well.

Over the 4th of July weekend, we really enjoyed watching quite a bit of the Olympic trials -- mainly swimming and track and field, of course. It'll be exciting to watch the Beijing Olympics in August. Our son will get an early glimpse of the Olympics in his life!

The other hobby we have in July is to watch and closely follow the "Tour de France" cycling race. Marc has liked to watch it for years, and since marriage, Sarah has really gotten into watching it closely as well. It's an amazing race of endurance, competition, and interesting strategies. Plus, as a bonus, there's some pretty good European scenery to see (at least on TV). One of our travel goals in life is to someday get to watch at least part of the race in person (it's actually 3 weeks long).

So, there's a glimpse into our lives outside of work. We realize many of you that read this blog know us fairly well, but perhaps some of you learned something you didn't realize about us.

Our 4th of July...

We have decided that God must have other plans for us for July 4th. Last year, we were unable to attend our Sunday School's party because Sarah was in the hospital most of the day, recovering from surgery the day before. This year, since Sarah's on restricted activity for the final part of the pregnancy, we will once again NOT be attending our Sunday School's party. Perhaps next year.....We will also not be attending a family get-together at Sarah's parents due to "restricted activity." Again, perhaps next year....

Anyways, this morning, Marc ran in a race in Derby called the "Firecracker Run." Sarah has run this race in the past, but of course, it was always hot. This year, when she really shouldn't be running a four-mile race, it was a bit cooler (of course). Marc ran in both a four-mile race and a one-mile race, placing FIRST in his age group for both races. Here he is modeling the medals he earned at the races.

Shortly after the race, Marc was involved in a Tae Kwon Do demonstration at Athletic Park. He has recently become involved in Tae Kwon Do. Here are some photos from that event -- Sarah did sneak out of the house to watch -- albeit sitting in a lawn chair. In the first photo, Marc is kind of in the center of the photo. In the second photo, Marc is more toward the left of the photo.

Sarah's Long Days....

As I (Sarah) mentioned a few days ago, I have been put on "restricted activity" because of my slightly elevated blood pressure. How have I been filling my days? Well, I've decided to create a list of the top 10 things I've been doing -- and they're in no particular order of importance or enjoyment.

1) Working on DQ Stuff -- Nope, DQ work doesn't stop for my restricted leave. Thank Goodness for a home office with a company-provided laptop to keep going somewhat.

2) Reading -- I actually am reading a novel as well as my obligatory pregnancy and baby books.

3) Watching TV/Movies

4) Talking on the phone -- For both work and for fun

5) Fixing EASY meals for supper for Marc and me

6) Napping -- if I were to rank these items by enjoyment, the napping would be toward the top.

7) Sitting with my feet up

8) Going to Doctor's appointments

9) Going to the Post Office -- I can thank my job with DQ for this one. It gets me out of the house for a bit almost every day.

10) Monitoring my blood pressure with home monitor

If any of you have any other great ideas for "restricted activity," please let me know.

Our Wonderful Neighbors...

Most of you know that we live on a small "No Outlet" street. There are a mere eight houses on the street, and we all know each other. In fact, the whole neighborhood even gets together occasionally for dinners, visiting, etc.

This past Sunday (the 29th), the women of the neighborhood got together and threw Sarah a small shower. It was a lot of fun to get caught up with everybody. At the shower, they gave us the baby swing we've been wanting for Luke. It was a very generous gift! The really cool thing was that three of the neighbors even assembled it for us -- a nice added bonus.

Good, tight-knit neighborhoods are often hard to come by, and we feel very fortunate to have the neighbors we have.