Dance Party Cletus

Let the kicking begin! We certainly have an active little baby living within! I've had fun in the last few weeks feeling little Cletus kick at all times of the day; during meetings at work has been the most fun as it takes me by surprise. The baby is usually quite active before bedtime so that Jason gets to feel some movement. Jason and Cletus are working on getting to know each other through a series of questions and then a "one kick for yes, two kicks for no" response - ha! I have noticed the movement calm down quite a bit when I'm at choir on Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings. I'm hoping that music will be a great source of comfort for all of us once baby arrives! Other than that, no real baby news to report. We're zeroing in on day care and nursery furniture decisions. It will feel good to get some of these things crossed off the list!

LeaderShape in Minnesota!

I'm just reentering the world after a week of LeaderShape at Camp Ihduhapi outside of the Twin Cities last week, mostly below zero! It was a fantastic week with an excellent group of students and staff. This year, LeaderShape was especially fulfilling for me because it was the culmination of a lot of work bringing this program to Minnesota. LeaderShape has been around on college campuses for 22 years as a leadership development curriculum focused on living & leading with integrity. I believe that for most students it's the first time that anyone has asked them to voice their aspirations for their own contributions to the world, their core values, and made them think about how those core vales should line up with every day actions. I could go on forever, but I really believe this is important work and I'm proud of them all. Now I'm excited to move forward and figure out how to sustain this program at the University of Minnesota for years to come!

Ultrasound Pics

We promised that we'd post some ultrasound pics for those who want a first glimpse at Cletus in the womb. Click on each photo to see it in larger form. Our 20 week ultrasound confirmed that all is well after many measurements. How do those techs have any idea where to find these things inside? Crazy! Anyway, the photos are below. I was disappointed that we didn't get more clear images, but it was magical watching the little one move around.


We also had an ultrasound at 12 weeks for a first round genetic screen and I think these images are precious too!