February is Stout Month...

... and March is the month our Baby will be born!  When we lived in Boulder we lived VERY close (like 3 blocks) away from the Southern Sun, a wonderful microbrewery.  Happily (or sadly for our budget) we would go there on a weekly basis, and in the month of February they hosted a contest for home-brewers to share their best stouts- hence "Stout Month".
Now that we are about to become parents (and I haven't had a beer in nearly 10 months!) we have heard from several sources that dark beers, like stouts, can help nursing mothers to produce more milk.  I am planning on nursing, so LJ thought this would be a good excuse to brew a Stout.  During my baby shower on 2/11/12 LJ and his friend, Pat, brewed the Stout, which he got from the Northern Brewer  in St Paul, MN.  This past Sunday, 2/26/12, we bottled it and the beer should be ready in 2 weeks, just in time for me to have a taste!  =)

The brewer filling the bottles

My bottling job is always capping

52 bottles of delicious Stout

Visiting the Yaks

For those of you who don't know the Sustar family, LJ's parents (who we lovingly refer to as Grandma and Grandpa Yak), live on 100.01 acres of land outside of Elroy, Wisconsin.  They live in a series of 4 monolithic domes created and designed by LJ's dad, who is a retired engineer.  (But the Domes are another story for another time.)
For the past  10- 15 years the land where the Domes are has been in a CRP (Conservation Reserve Program).  When the CRP finished last year Grandma and Grandpa Yak decided that they'd like to make their land agricultural land, so they decided to get Yaks!
Last April they got a bull yak, Yakkity, and two females, Kayak, and Tricia.  Both Kayak and Tricia were pregnant when they arrived at the Domes and each had a (male) baby in the summer; Basil and Sage.
When we visited the Domes last weekend (2/19/12) we discovered that the babies are now almost the size of their mother's and that both Kayak and Tricia are most likely pregnant again, which means more Yak babies this summer!

The bull Yak, Yakkity.  He is probably around 1,500 lbs.

LJ and his mom

The whole gang! 

One of the females, Tricia

LJ's dad- "the Yak whisperer" 

Baby Shower!

On February 11, 2012 two of my mom's close friends, Jeannie and Sandra, hosted a beautiful baby shower for me and Baby Su*.  I was so thankful that so many amazing women were able to make it to celebrate such a joyful occasion.
We got so many great gifts for baby, I am excited for his or her arrival to put them to good use!  =)

With the Grandmas!  Grandma Yak and Grandma Horth

The awesome onesies that guests made for our little guy

A beautiful quilt made by LJ's mom, (Grandma Yak) incorporating baby blankets that my family used when I was a child.

Jungle/ animal themed flowers

Jeannie, Elinore, Irene and Jane

Visiting with friends and family

Happy Love Day!

Happy (belated) Valentine's Day to all!  We had a lovely day yesterday.  We celebrated our last Valentine's day as a family of 2 by going out to a fancy dinner and reflecting on all of our adventures as a couple and remembering our first Valentine's day together 6 years ago.  Its hard to believe that soon we will be a family of 3!

Yum- Valentine's cupcakes!

To quote my "Aunt" Connie:  "Nothing says lovin' like a bun in the oven."

Winter Wonderland Photos!

December 3, 2011

My belly was so little then! -26 weeks

Love this.

Our lovely and talented friend, Karl Mantueffel, took some beautiful pictures of us at the beginning of December in Boulder. I have been really bad about uploading pictures to facebook these past few months, so I thought I'd post some of my favorites here!

Let the Games Begin!

Make a guess as to when Baby Sustar will arrive, if Baby Sustar is a boy or girl and how big he/she will be when he/she is born!
Person who makes the closest guess may or may not get an awesome prize, but you will for sure get the bragging rights!  =)

Click HERE to make a guess!

What I Did Before I Was Born

I love, Love, LOVE this!  I want to make a video like this for our baby!  I'm currently making a photo album for him/ her, but this is just too cute!
What I did before I was born

What I did before I was born from Megan Leigh Sweeney on Vimeo.

Baby's Room!

Trying to find the right color for the room was a challenge

We went with "decisive yellow"

The oil pastel above the shelf is something I made for my brother, Peter, when I was 6 yrs old. 

Cool diaper pail liner from Peapods in St Paul

Diaper pail liner from Peapods in St Paul

Baby Ruby-Hank's room is almost ready!  Good thing, since my due date is 4 weeks away!  

The crib! 

Neat mobile I found at Peapods in St Paul, MN

changing table

Baby's Room!  

Belly Progression

4 weeks - 7/3/11

8 weeks- 7/30/11

11 weeks - 8/20/11

12 weeks- 8/28/11

15 weeks - 9/15/11

16 weeks - 9/25/11

18 weeks -10/9/11

20 weeks- 10/22/11

23 weeks - 11/9/11

24 weeks - 11/19/11

26 weeks -12/4/11

28.5 weeks - 12/19/11

29 weeks - 12/21/11

31 weeks - 1/6/12

34 weeks - 1/26/12

35.5 weeks-  2/4/12

36.5 weeks - 2/12/12

 37.5 weeks- 2/19/12

38.5 weeks - 2/26/12

Its hard to imagine that there was ever a time when I didn't have a huge belly... but there was!  =)