Rudolph the headless reindeer....

Oscar got a new toy from his Auntie Mora. It lasted for a couple of days, then his head fell off.

Sunday Night Measurements

So I decided that I want to start making Sunday night the "official" night to do measurements. I want to remember how much I grew from week to week. I've been slacking for a few weeks, but this past Sunday Tim and I pulled out the old tape measure and boy were we in for a suprise.

Girth (around belly button which is trying to pop out already): 38 whopping inches! Already!

Weight Gain: 20 pounds, and I'm hoping it is ALL baby if you know what I mean, wink wink.

Movement: Starting to wake me up at night with his late night dance parties. I'm beginning to feel a difference between movements, such as kicks/punches & body rolls.

Also started experience Braxton Hicks contractions for the first time. I guess they are totally normal past 20 weeks. Tim and I spent the weekend cleaning and painting the nursery. I think all the bustling around got my body worked up and I took the evening to relax on the couch.
Our next adventure is looking for a crib.

Kung Fu Baby

So last night was a big night at the Vedder household. Little baby Vedder decided to be a kung fu master and was kicking and jumping all over the place inside his/her home, which just happens to be in my belly. At 18 weeks today I've been feeling the little movements for almost 2 weeks now, they started out very subtle, but have become a bit stronger and for the first time ever Tim got to feel the little one move. He got his big hand kicked about 3 times last night before we went to bed. We know you are in there little one, thanks for reaching out to us and letting us know you are doing well.

15 weeks

Mexican baby bump. Playa del Carmen view from hotel balcony.

Pumpkin Gut

Almost to the 14 week mark and the belly is a growing...33 and a half inches around to be exact.  Thank goodness for the invention of stretchy pants.  

Oh Baby!

Whew, we made it past the 3rd month, so we can breathe a sign of relief and share our big secret. Little baby Vedder will be making his/her appearance around April 19th, which just happens to be Tim's birthday!!!! I bet he didn't know he'd be getting that for his 30th birthday.

We now have seen the little alien creature twice on ultrasound and heard it's heart beating strong. Things are moving along quite well and my pants are getting very tight.

We will now hopefully be much better at keeping our blog up to date.

My Marathon Man

He did it! Tim ran his very first marathon yesterday - the Twin Cities Marathon - at an astonishing 3 hours and 40 minutes (the average is 4:22). Laramie and Lynn were nice enough to let me tag along to watch the event. We braved the pouring rain to support the runners and it was worth every rain drop and soaking wet clothes. We cheered Tim and Brian on at mile 8 near Lake Harriet, where we were also lucky enough to see the very first runners, including the big winners and amazing wheelers.
After warming up with croissants and coffee we headed over to Saint Paul where we just missed Tim at mile 21. After taking a while to find a parking spot, as we were walking up to the race Tim just zoomed on past....he was too fast for us to catch. Even though we sadly tried. I wish he could have seen me running as fast as I could screaming his name, but no luck there. Laramie and Lynn (being runners themselves) got to get a look from Tim, but I was slower than a turtle and just missed him! I made up for it though at mile 26 when we got his attention and cheered him on to the finish line. That is where we also discovered that insane bloody nipples are infact true!!! I always thought they were kind of a joke, but after witnessing several runners with huge bloody spots on their shirts I now know that bloody nipples do happen.
Congrats to Tim and Brian!!! I am so proud. To everyone who runs marathons, you simply amaze me. Oh and please remember to protect your nipples.

Mora Visits

Last weekend my sister Mora flew in from Olympia to spend a little time with her big sister. Our Mom was here as well, fixing up the old house in Saint Paul before the renters moved in. We worked our butts off cleaning and preparing for their arrival. The house looks great and the people seemed very excited to move in. I should have taken some pictures! Oscar was happy to have his Auntie visit, and of course his best friends Edgar and Millie, and let's not forget Grandma Mindy too!

Edgar, Millie, & Oscar

The dogs tend to get exhausted after spending the day together. Looks like someone got kicked out of his bed.

Our friend Jay Cooke

Okay, so we don't really know who Jay Cooke is and he isn't really our friend, but we did go to the state park named after him and spent the night in his wild backyard. We put the Honda Element to good use and packed it up with our camping gear and coolers, picked up the Lockner newlyweds and hit the highway going north towards Duluth. Sam ended up taking over the driving midway (thanks Sam) so I could sit in the back with Sarah and look at respectable Hollywood gossip magazines. Can you believe Brad and Angelina used IVF to have twins?!

We were a little unprepared for our 2.5 mile hike into the wilderness of Jay Cooke State Park. I guess the best way to explain is by showing you a picture. Sam prematurely won the award for best sport, but then I had to revoke it since he threatened to leave me on the trail when my cooler busted open and would not close.

Somehow Sam got stuck with the largest cooler and two backpacks.

Tim may look more prepared than Sam, but you do not see the second cooler in this picture.

Note: This is not the trail, it is the park entrance. The trail was filled with cliffs, rocks, swamps, bogs and fallen trees. Oh and biting blood-sucking horseflies.

Once we got to our remote camping site (a strenuous hour+ later), we cracked the Sparks, explored our surroundings, cooked up some food and played a killer game of devil ball with a log bat and a perfectly shaped rock ball. Note: this is not a safe game, nor is climbing 20 feet into a tree on a cliff, and forging a rushing rapid filled river just for the sake of seeing what the rocks look like on the other side. Sassy boys!!!!

I also feel the need to mention how much we learned about each other while spending the night under the stars with just nature's backyard to entertain ourselves. The dominating topic somehow turned to super powers and we found out that Sam would choose to be invisible (I won't even go there, stay away from mysterious air-floating cameras) and Tim wants to fly. Sarah and I just want to destroy evil with our fire throwing and laser shooting selves.

What would your super power be?

Oh how beautiful you are Jay Cooke.

Pass!

I passed! I passed! My long awaited and longer feared CFA Level 1 exam results came out yesterday morning, and they were gooooood. This means I can enjoy football season and the holidays before starting in on Level 2, which will be June 2009 and a even deeper level of hell.

Special shout outs to my friends and family that put up with my erratic behavior and reclusiveness in the final months leading up to the exam, and a huge thanks to my lovely wife who not only put up with my zombie-like lifestyle, took care of all the house(I couldn't tell you where the towels go but I can now value a bond using spot rates and bootstrapping), but also made sure I was stocked with Twizzlers and soda at all times...thank you thank you I love you!

Oscar + Mona

Someone has a girlfriend. Mona the Doberman is Oscar's newest squeeze. She was shy at first, but after spending the weekend with Oscar at her house she is warming up to her new boyfriend. The only problem with this is that she is a quite a bit younger than him, and already his size.

Double Date

Last night we had a double date with our good friends Cortney and Matt. After a long day of working on the house (we are still in the process of moving our crap around) we thought it would be fun to treat ourselves to dinner and finally check out the much talked about neighborhood cafe. Matt and Cortney showed up around 7 with a bottle of wine and then we headed over to Cafe Maude and enjoyed a delicious dinner on the patio (note to self, always order the baby red mashed potatoes). What was supposed to be a couple of casual drinks after dinner turned into 4+ bottles of wine and a very late night on our deck.

Oscar was not pleased with our late night behavior. He was ready for bed hours before our night ended, but he couldn't turn in when his favorite buddy Matt was here.

Hamburger Hand

Well today was a learning experience for me (Tim). First of all, do not try to fight a saw, you will lose and it will hurt. I was over at our old house cutting up some random things when my handsaw attacked my hand, slicing my finger clean off (ok, not really), and making part of my hand look like hamburger. After a long time of bleeding and searching for my insurance info (memorize who your provider is or carry your card) we decided to rely on my sister Kaylan, the nurse of the Vedder clan. Kaylan broke out a first-aid kit that most EMTs would be jealous of and quickly patched me up, sending me on my way back to the saw...and I sawed like a champ once again but with a much safer stance...

In other news, our friend Fannie was in town for the weekend. We decided to have people over to catch up and cook out just in time for the storms to roll in. It was my new grills first appearance (only took me 3 hours to construct), and she cooked wonderfully. It was nice to have people over and hang out for a bit as the house was overrun by visiting dogs once again. I also locked myself out of the house this weekend and had to climb thru the doggydoor to get back in...needless to say this was not my best weekend. Oona is as beautiful as always and somehow manages to put up with my constant catastrophes...I'm a lucky guy. With that said I am off to repay her by watching Matthew McConagay in "Fools Gold" with her, which I think makes us even!

Night in Milwaukee

Last weekend Tim and I loaded up the Stratus, filled up our 70's era cooler and drove the 5+ hours to Milwaukee to visit Sarah and her fiance Joe. Sarah is one of my dear friends who just a little under 6 years ago was a total stranger. After a little incident of fate, she was brave enough to drop everything in her life and move to Madrid with me to teach English. I decided it was past due that I visit her in M town so we found a night that worked and off we went.

Her and Joe live in a super cool part of Milwaukee. I have to admit I'm starting to like that city, it is really cleaning up it's act. Well the part we were staying in anyway. They live in such a great spot within walking distance to the lake, shops, restaurants and even Urban Outfitters...which of course we had to drag the boys into, well kind of! Tim and Joe talked finance (yawn) while Sarah and I caught up. We saw the sites, drank some stiff margaritas and ate some killer mexican food at my new favorite spot, La Fuente. All in all it was a fabulous weekend with great weather and amigos.

After a few pitchers of rainbow margaritas at La Fuente...mmmmmm.

After a few rounds of bean bags (which I am horrible at).

Baby Oscar Turns Two

Little baby Oscar turned two today. We celebrated his birthday with grilled veggie burgers and ice cream treats. He had his two best friends over, Edgar and Millie, to play in the yard and eat some doggy ice cream. Grandma Mindy was also there to party.

I can't believe our baby boy is all grown up. Who would have thought this little guy was two, he just went potty in the house the other day.

Just a baby at 8 weeks...

I remember Tim bringing this little bundle of joy home like it was yesterday. He was scared at first and found comfort sitting under chairs. He also had very big ears, and we never thought he'd grow into them. Well he did, and he also discovered that sitting under chairs is not as comfy as laying in big beds, and that he liked to eat wood chips.

Can't believe he was ever so tiny...

Happy Birthday Oscar!!!! You are our little wiggler and we love you a million times over.

Introducing Tim Vedder, the "T" of O+T=V

Coming to the realization that I need to start chipping in around here, it is time for my inaugural post. I am Tim, husband of Oona, and father (not biological) of Oscar. Now that my CFA exam is completed (results due July 29th, zoinks!), I am excited at the prospect of being a person again. A few updates from the Vedder family...


Tim Vedder, Godfather...my niece Mara celebrated her first birthday on May 27th, and boy did she make out like a bandit. You wouldn't know it from her picture though as she looks like a child entering the Terrible 2's a year too early. She had her first taste of sweets with a bday cupcake and am sure she is hooked. Note to self, next bday present to her should be a 12-pack of Sunkist Soda.

Cabin Fever...we made what is turning into an annual trip up to our family cabin in June, bringing our friends Matt&Cortney and Laramie&Lynn. The weekend was everything it should be: people trying to party like they are still in college and realizing they get tired shortly after the news is over. The weather was warm and sunny, and we lounged around during the day, taking time to scare ourselves to death on Laramie and Lynn's jetskis. The evenings brought every card game imagineable as well as a cabin favorite- the marble game Aggravation. I turned out to be the most "aggravated", as anyone who knows me knows I hate losing...and man did I lose. Laramie whipped up a bonfire on the beach as we toasted smores and tried to drink the place dry. Matt and Cortney suffered thru a weekend on bunkbeds like champions, Oscar learned he hates the water, and the rest of us got mild sunburns to remember the weekend by. I am excited for next year...I plan on winning Aggravation.

(Pics are Laramie and Lynn, Matt with his boyfriend and jealous girlfriend Cortney looking on, and everyone hanging on the beach)

Tim Vedder, Marathon Man? Well, we will soon find out. In an effort to do something different, painful, and fun each year, I have found my 2008 activity. My "friend" Brian and I somehow talked eachother into suffering through 26.2 miles of the Twin Cities Marathon this October 5th. As we each blame each other for the idea, so far my legs and lungs are still intact. I have found it to be a great excuse to buy shorts, shoes, shirts, and act like I am some sort of athlete. As the long runs are just beginning (this Friday is a 10-mile stroll), I look forward to seeing if I can not only complete the run but also if I can beat Oprah Winfreys time of 4hr 29min 20sec...eat it "O". Wish me luck, progress reports to follow.

So there ya have it, up to speed in only a few paragraphs. I hope our page views don't go down the tubes now that I am bangin' away at the keys, Oona will be back in no time to rescue this blog I am sure.

Just call me Carrie Bradshaw

So this weekend was full of family, the big CFA exam for Tim, graduation parties, birthday parties, visiting with friends, meeting new puppies and family house projects which included lots of yard work and rebuilding a 7' fence. But I'm not really going to write about that, because something else really special happened that I must write about. Something that I've been wanting to do for a long time and something that gives me a feeling nothing else does...my sister and I got our movie tickets out and popcorn bucket filled and sat ourselves front and center for Sex and the City...the movie!!!

Let me give you a little background. When I first moved to Minneapolis about 3.5 years ago I didn't have too much of a social circle and Tim was working long hours so a co-worker of mine borrowed me her beloved DVD sets of every episode of Sex and the City. Now at that time I had never seen the show and I wondered what was so special about it, it didn't seem that special to be honest, but oh was I wrong. So wrong. I would put a DVD in everynight and snuggle in my bed anxious to see what happened next in the lives of my new "girlfriends" Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha. I would laugh and I would cry and I spent pretty much every night like that until the dreaded last episode in which I probably cried for about an hour because it was all over, no more Sex and the City, no more wild nights with the girls, no more make-believe land of friends. It was hard for me to imagine not having another episode to watch. I was hooked. Then my sister moved to Olympia and was feeling the same loneliness so I borrowed her my collection (I had ran out and bought my own Sex and the City library by then) and she ended up experiencing the exact same thing I had...she was totally hooked and so it began, our obesession with a show that was no longer available for our viewing, no more new episodes, no more Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda. Nada.

But then something miraculous happened...at first I thought it was a rumor, but then there before my very eyes I saw it for myself, Sex and the City was coming back, but this time as a movie!!!! The girls would be back on the big screen and I couldn't wait to see them again. I waited for the big day, but then made a promise to my sis to wait until we were together to see it for the first time. It worked out perfectly that she'd be in town visiting for a grad party the second weekend the show had been in theaters. So there we were last night, at the theater with our buttered popcorn and gigantic soda 30 minutes early to get the best seats for our big event. We were nervous the girls would let us down and the movie wouldn't be as good as it could be, but we were very very wrong. The movie was amazing, perfect I should say. We laughed and cried and never once even blinked through the 2.5 hours of perfect Sex and the City bliss. I feel as if I've had some closure now, and all I can say is, it was worth the wait. I love those girls. I know I sound like a freak with how much I adore the show, just don't worry about me unless I move to Manhattan with heels on and a cosmo in my hand.

Boyzzzz

A few pics of the guys being guys, as you can tell by the beer, toilet paper and football. Just celebrating their manhood before Sam ties the knot.



Sam's last meal - pb&j with 2 Amstel Lights on the side.


Andy "Bud Light" Dufresne works on the Bud Light 50 pack in the fridge.

The Dog House

Welcome to the dog house, where the dogs are crazy and the people are going crazy. Up until a few days ago our house had one dog and seemed quite quiet and orderly, now there are 3 and the place has quickly turned into a total disaster zone. I can't even remember what it is like to have 1 dog just after 3 full days of having 3, which conveniently forms an official pack. That's right, there is a pack of dogs living with us, wild dogs. Let me explain...Tim and I are watching the Lockner's dogs while they enjoy their first week of marriage in Napa. We offered to watch them since they are brand new to the family and we love dogs, so we never thought twice about it. I introduced you to the Boston brothers Bruno & Rosco about a week ago, and after getting to really know them, and by that I mean spending a few days living with them, I feel it is necessary to re-introduce them. Please meet the devil dogs also known as Hey Stop That, and NO Bad. No, I'm kidding, well...kind of, okay, not really. These little guys are absolutely adorable and we do have our special moments together, but please do not be fooled by their cute innocent ways. Deep down behind those sweet little puggy faces and big brown wide-set eyes are two little terrors at heart. I never imagined two puppies would be this much work. I have had a terror puppy before, just under two years ago and we still have bad moments. (Oscar, I'd like you to explain the poop piles in the basement.) But I don't remember this. Chew toys are not interesting but somehow rocks are, oh and doors, woodwork, dresser knobs, tables, shoes, garbage, aluminum cans, you name it and it has been chewed
on these past few days. Also having two puppies means having two little wiggling
bodies peeing and pooping all over your life. And I don't mean it like they are ruining my life, I mean they are literally peeing and pooping all over it. Reminder - do not put cute puppies in your bed, it leads to yellow sheets. And just when you are cleaning up after one the other is most likely squating behind you leaving a puddle.

Now I don't want you to think that these dogs are not the sweethearts that they are, because they do have very good qualities too, but they are puppies and there are two of them and they test your patience even when you really really
love dogs.

Oh what am I saying, I take it all back. Look at that face!

Just looking a bit frazzled as I round up the boys.

Don't you want to pet me? Huh? Huh?
Nap time on the couch.

Oscar is a good boy!