Pink Cake

I got my pink cake! I got my pink cake! I got my pink cake!

Yesterday G and Papa came for a visit. We went to the park for a picnic and I finally got the pink cake I've been telling people G was making me (before G knew she was going to have to make me one!). I ate all the pink frosting, then I said I wanted to go play. That's all I really wanted :o)

The park had fun slides and animals and birds to look at. I even saw a peacock put all his feathers up. He's a big birdie when he does that, with pretty colors.

We had fun with G and Papa. G got me 2 bags of clothes, that I had to try on until I found the shirt I wanted to wear. G also got Dirkie 2 Turtle shirts - he LOVES them! And we have some new puzzles we've been playing with all morning.

Ultrasound

I went with Mommy to see the baby! I just wanted to talk the lady's ear off and not pay any attention to the pics of the baby. Mommy got some pics, but only one or two she likes. The pic of the baby's face is weird - looks like a skeleton. Mommy doesn't like it. She said she got a nice profile pic of both Eve and me, but this baby she didn't :o( But that's ok. Right after Christmas we'll get to see the baby anyways. The lady said our baby weighs 11 ounces! No idea what that means, but it sounds cool. We made sure to tell the lady not to tell Mommy if it's a boy or girl. I say she's having a girl. What do you think? Take a vote!

G and Papa come tomorrow, so I'm sure we'll have lots of stories for then. Then next Wednesday we leave for Gran and Grandpa's! It's been almost a year since we were at their house. Hopefully this time our truck won't get an ouie again. I think Daddy should drive this time. But don't tell Mommy I said so!

Haircuts

FINALLY. I finally got Derrick into get his haircut - as you can see from previous posts, he's become a little shaggy. But look how sharp he looks now! He's like a new boy.

I also braided Eve's hair for the first time. She stood still the entire time! I put a video in and she didn't move. I'll have to remember that.

VBS and Stuff

Today we went shopping. With both kids. I need shock collars on them some days and this one was one of them. Just Eve. Derrick did well. Eve likes to run thru the clothes racks and hide. I needed a new shirt for the upcoming wedding, and a specific one - one to match in the family pics. So after looking thru tons of pinks, i didn't want to do that. I went with a black and white patterned shirt, with black pants that came with it. I fell in love with a different shirt, kind of a bunch of different polka dots all over, but it was more than the shirt and pants combined of the other one I liked. So me being the sensible one, went with a pair of pants and shirt for less. I like it tho. It's my first new outfit in a long time. Even if it is maternity. I'm looking forward to wearing it!





Derrick also got his first baseball glove! With Dad home during the day for now, he's been begging Ryan to play catch. So we bought him a glove that actually fits him now that we know he's interested in playing. It's soooooo cute! I'll get pics of it later.





Kids also went to VBS this last week and enjoyed it. This was "Preschool Bible School" as they thought they were going back to the previos Bible School from the week before. And this second VBS was at the church Derrick went to preschool at. I have lots of pics from that - so enjoy! I'll also record them singing their Bible School songs - it's stinking cute! One part the kids all yell AMEN! and Eve can't quite do it - so she yells, AH-YAH! It's nicknamed the Karate Jesus song :o)

7 Years!

Today we are celebrating our 7th Wedding Anniversary! Lucky 7 - so this should be our best year yet, right? :o)

I have lots of pics to add. But need to run to work. So I'll upload them at a later time.

Have a great day everyone!

Glasses

The kids found my glasses from when I was 16. Don't ask why I still had them, or where they ever found them! Eve liked them upsidedown.

18 Weeks

18 weeks now. I went shopping for a new shirt for work, my doesn't really cover me if I have to grab something above me. But, I really couldn't find one. Won't spend full price on a shirt I'll only wear for a few months :o) I have a different one I can wear for now, but I'm sure in a month or so, I'll have to keep an eye out for some cheapy ones. Or I'll just head to the women's section and buy an XL shirt. We'll see :o)

Baby is about 5 1/2 inches now, and 7 ounces. Moving around like crazy, but I don't feel a lot of it. Thank goodness, it will be soon enough when this little one will be so big I can't breath (Derrick) or grabbing one of my ribs (Eve).

Gran thinks it's a boy (she really hasn't been wrong in her life). That's what I feel it is. And it will be nice to use some of those baby clothes of Derrick's that he outgrew after wearing it once or twice!

When I was shopping today, I took Eve with me. We went thru the baby clothes and picked out one boy outfit and one girl outfit. Ok, she picked it out. She was excited. Until she saw a Dora dress and said we had to buy it "for the baby" :o) Sure Eve.

Derrick likes to say how big my belly is getting. "Mommy, your belly is getting SOOO BIIIG!" Thanks for pointing that out Dirkie. But he knows that my belly has to get "super big" before the baby comes.

Gran

Gran's surgery went very well! It was a long one tho - 6 hours. Grandpa said the doc came out smiling - so that's a great thing! She's also going home TODAY already. The kids made her a present I was hoping would make it to her before the surgery, but their mail takes a few extra days to get thru Chicago/Gary or something. So hopefully it's there for when she gets home today.

The kids have been playing remarkably well today. I didn't fall asleep until after 1am (I closed again at work), and I didn't get up until just before 10am! I was pooped. I was afraid I'd come downstairs to a huge mess. But they were just playing nicely.

This past week they were at VBS and LOVED it! Eve was even able to go and she had a wonderful time, especially with all the singing. They keep asking to go back. I hope we are able to send him to preschool this fall. But we'll see. Eve could also start in January, which would be great after the baby comes to be able to have one less child for a few hours during the day while I get used to 3 kids under 4 in my house! :o)

August?

Whoa, where did the summer go?!

August is a busy month for us.

1 - Say a Prayer for Gran that all goes well for her surgery today!
4 - Ryan starts his "new" job.
7 - Baby doc appt
8 - Kids get measured. I noticed in ONE year, Derrick grew about 4-5 inches on our wall.
10 - Unkie Matt's Bday! And the Applebee's Baby Shower - for all 5 of us. I'm kind of looking forward to having a shower for this baby :o) Even tho I really don't need anything.
11 - Our 7th Anniversary :o) Luv you Ryan!
20 - College kids begin returning and we get busy at work :o) And my babysitters start returning!!!
22 - My 30th Bday. And Unkie Britt and Almost-Auntie Christine's Wedding! Oh yes, Ryan, I didn't forget your 1/2 Bday - Ryan's 32 1/2 Bday :o)

I'm sure there's more happening, lots of other bdays especially. Mom and Dad are coming down sometime when it works for the both of us to bring Eve her pink cake. Speaking of that cake. Eve's been talking about G making her a pink cake with "brinkles" on it for a LONG time. I sat down with Eve at bedtime the other day and asked her why she gets a cake. She said bcuz it's her turn. Dirkie got a white cake, and now it was her turn. She remembers D's bday cake Mom made him way back in like March! She didn't have a cake for her 2nd bday, Mom knew she loved chocolate zucchini cake, so she made her a few loaves of that. Eve LOVED it. But I guess she knows she missed out, and wants her cake! :o) What a little stinker.

2 1/2

I turned 2 1/2 yesterday! Can you believe I'm so old?

I LOVE to talk anyone's ear off that will listen.

I'm convinced G is making me a pink cake with "brinkles" on it, just because I want one.

I adore Clifford the Big Red Dog and have to sleep with him every single night.

My favorite food is Chocolate. My second favorite food is cereal.

I don't like to take naps. Nor do I like to go to bed at night.

I like to tell Mommy or Daddy that I love them, especially when I think I'm about to get spanked :o)

My favorite exercise is JuMpInG. Especially off furniture. Like doing belly flops off the couch.

And my best bud is my puppy dog, Zale.

Well, I guess Dirk is my friend, too. He lets me play toys with him.

17 Weeks

Baby is now 17 weeks old :o) It's skeleton is turning from cartilage to bone, which is probably why I've been noticing I need more calcium in the last few days (I get restless leg syndrome when I'm lacking calcium). So I'll get the bottle of calcium out and make sure I have more of that at nighttime. Baby's ears are also developing the ability to hear.

Pretty sure I felt the baby move on Friday, so it's becoming more and more "real" to me. I had to buy maternity pants for work on Friday also, which are too big and don't want to stay up, but I'm sure in a few weeks they'll fit :o)

We've been putting the kids to bed at different times at night, and for the last week, it's worked very well. No more fights at bedtime or talking or getting out of bed, etc. Eve goes down around 630, Derrick's down around 8. Eve doesn't like to take naps like she's always been, so we do quiet time in the afternoon so Mom can take a nap :o) And Eve gets her down time. Today she was in her room for almost 2 hours! Just reading books and playing quietly with a stuffed animal :o)

We have to paint the apartment this week and finish the floor. Some light cleaning, too. Not a big deal, just a bit time consuming. It will be so nice once the guys are all moved in!

Tomorrow is Ryan's last day of training to keep his job. What a dumb situation. Can't wait to be out of Bethany! So the kids are off to Mrs. Kovaciny's house again - they really like it there!

Fun with Friends

Today Evie and I went to Mrs. Kovaciny's house to play with Vianna, Simon and Tavia. We had soooo much fun! I was excited when Mom said we get to go to their house. AND we get to go there tomorrow again! Here's some pics of us playing at their house. Mrs. Kovaciny likes Ron Paul, so she put some shirts on us and took a pic so we could show Mommy and Daddy, and they thought it was funny. I didn't like wearing the shirt.

Tonight at bedtime, Mommy showed me how to use my fingers to make a #2, and that it also makes bunny rabbit ears, and then Mommy said I should make my fingers into a #2 and say "Peace". So I made my fingers say #2, and then I said, "Piece...of CHOCOLATE!" Mommy thought that was funny. I guess that was the wrong "Peace/Piece". :o)

Magnets and Baby

The magnet board is working! Derrick realized that there was one day when he didn't get paid bcuz all the magnets weren't there. So I cheated and gave them each 2 quarters for each full day of magnets, so we could go uptown to buy a treat so they understand the doing chores and getting paid. They each had $1.50 to spend at the Dollar Store. Derrick of course picked out a sword, luckily it was a foam one, and he is as I type jumping around and swining the sword like the guys on Lord of the Rings. Eve picked out a neon green pony (just like the My Little Ponies). Hopefully this will keep up!

Baby is about 4 1/2 inches and 3 1/2 ounces. Over the next few weeks the baby will double in size, so I will definitely have to put an order in for new maternity shirts for work. (I don't have any all black ones). Baby's eyes are getting into the "normal position" instead of being way out on the face. Toenails are also growing. All of this of course is from my weekly update, I wouldn't have a clue what was going on without it :o)

Evie, Evie, Evie

Where should I even start. This little girl has a mind of her own and she will make sure she gets her way come hell or highwater.

On a cute note before I get into the gory details: Yesterday, or actually on Thursday since it's like 130am on Saturday now, Ryan bought me two roses, one red one, one yellow one. Eve claimed the red one immediately. But it's been cute watching her smell the roses :o)

Now, she's definitely into the "Twos" now. The magnet board (see previous post) has been AWESOME with Derrick. He will do whatever it takes to get that magnet so he can buy his turtles, even eat food he doesn't like. Eve on the otherhand, could care less and pretends she doesn't hear me telling her to pick up the books she just threw all over the floor. I guess while I was at work, Ryan rented a movie for the kids, and bought some Starbursts (kids favorite) and grape pop. They couldn't have any treats until their spaghetti was finished. Eve was bound and determined to get her treats without eating her dinner. Ryan stood his ground, for an hour, and listened to her just scream. Derrick thought he could get away with it also, but when the threat of a magnet being taken away was given, the food was gone in a flash. Eve didn't care. She went to bed screaming still for her candy. She has will power. I give her that. Which is good for later in life, with peer pressure and stuff, but right now I'm hoping this next kid doesn't inherit any of my genes! Ok, no personality genes of mine, he/she can have the good looks tho :o)

Also, Eve has gotten into remember that G and Gran both make cakes. So she told me the other day that G was going to make her a purple cake with "brinkles" on it. They LOVE sprinkles on EVERYTHING at G's house. I asked her once, "Where should we go today?" She replied - "To G's house! G makes me a cake. A purple cake. With brinkles on it." I asked her why she should get a cake. Her response, in a cute little stinker voice, " 'cuz I do."

She also does the same thing when I ask her if she wants to go to Gran's house. But I think Gran's cake for Eve is supposed to be pink if I remember correctly. She so does love her sweets!

Well, I'm quite tired, so I'm going to head off to bed. More stories to come...

The Reinstating of the Magnet Board

Derrick keeps asking for new Turtles. I said I didn't have money for them, that he should use his own money. He responded - "I don't have any moneys." So I gave each kid 8 "chores" to do during the day, and if they did them all by bedtime, they get a quarter. I figured after 4 days they'd have a dollar and we could go to the dollar store for them to see that only after a few days they can get something. So far so good (with one exception). Here's a list of their "chores" for the day:

1 - Make their bed. All I care is that the blanket is on the BED, not on the FLOOR.
2 - Get dressed. They'd rather run around in their underwear than get dressed. So now the "have to".
3 - D has to give Zale water, E has to give Zale food. This is the one exception. Eve likes to overflow Zale's dish, then try to scoop it all out and dump in on the floor. Today I got out of the shower with the kitchen and dining room floors COVERED in dog food.
4 - Pick up toys. We've started in the living room. We'll work our way to the downstairs next week :o) But one room at a time to keep clean!
5 - Set the table. All we require is that they pick out their own fork or spoon. I don't have that many dishes left since they drop them. So until they learn not to drop plates and bowls, we'll stick with the utensils.
6 - Clean their rooms. HOLY CRAP I could never get them to put the books back ON the shelf, they would just throw them at the shelf. And dirty clothes go down the laundry shoot. So far, we got half the room pretty good. Now we just need to finish up and put the toys and stuffed animals downstairs.
7 - Get ready for bed. They like to sleep in their clothes for some reason. So now they sleep in their underwears. Whatever, it's hot. As long as it wasn't their full outfit for the the day, I'm ok! Go potty, and get a glass of water for by their beds, and then they are all set.
8 - Brush their teeth. For some reason, they don't like to do this (who does really). But if that's the last step in getting a quarter - they'll do it!

So not too difficult right? Think we can do it? They each earned a quarter yesterday! Derrick is really good at it, Eve could care less. So I have to remind her what she is going to buy with her money - keep the dream alive! :o)

Little Red Riding Hood

A few weeks ago we watched Hoodwinked. I taught the kids how to sing the Little Red Riding Hood song from years ago - it's kind of cute!

I'm also 15 weeks now. Baby Z #3 is about 4 inches tall, and weighs in at a whopping 2 1/2 ounces :o)

I took the kids to the parade yesterday. We had a great time, except I got sunburned pretty good! :o( I'm not used to getting sunburned, but I haven't been out in direct sunlight with a tank top on all summer. I was blocking the sun from the kids, and they have a little tan, so I guess that's good. So I've been lathering on the aloe, which feels good on some spots, but actually hurts to apply at the top of my shoulder.

We had a lease signed on Friday, which is so nice! They move in for sure on August 1st, but may want to move in earlier bcuz of their current leases ending. Which is also great!

Funniest Video I've Ever Watched!

July 4th

Here's some pics of the kids enjoying their "firemens" as they called them :o) They didn't care too much for the big fireworks, but LOVED the sparklers and smoke bombs, etc.






The kids are also kind of catching onto the whole baby thing. So we'll see how many more cute things they do in regards to it! Yesterday, Eve jumped on my gut or something again, and I reminded her to stop doing that bcuz the baby is in there. Then I asked her if she wanted to say "Hi" to the baby. I figured she'd be like - NO WAY! But she came up to my tummy, and whispered in a really stinking cute voice, "Hi, Baby" and then started giggling. It was really cute. She's the one I'm not real sure will handle the baby coming in on her territory. She's always been a territorial girl when it comes to Mom, so when baby needs me more often than she'd like, it may not fly so well. I'll have to make sure to set aside plenty of Eve and Mom time so she doesn't feel like the baby is taking her place. Derrick will probably care less, just like he didn't care when Eve arrived. He'll be more interested in showing the baby his new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and doing their sword fights.

Ryan also had to "reapply" for his job the other day. Bethany decided to hire out a security firm to do their security needs. The interview went really well and he was sort of offered a job in the cities in administration, which would be pretty cool. But after he read thru their packet of information, he believes he was misled. He tried getting a hold of the company today to clarify, but no one would answer their phone, and no one would return his phone call. We'll have no insurance for a few months as the switch happens (not good when I'm preggo!), but not an issue for the kids or him as we'd just get catastrophe insurance. I won't bore you with the rest of the insurance details! He did some research online at the Better Business Bureau and Dunn and Broadstreet, and lets just say this company didn't do so well. So he's not so sure he wants to work there. We are looking into other "options" I guess you could say. I think Ryan has so many talents that are not being put to full use up at Bethany, and maybe a new job would allow him to use all his strengths God has given him. We'll move forward and trust that God will lead us down the right path for us. And I'll hope for a day job :o)

Doc Appt

I had my first doc appt yesterday. I was nervous that she'd change my due date AGAIN like with the other two (Derrick was pushed back 7 days, and Eve was a few days). She did change the due date, from the 5th to the 4th of January :o) So it was in my favor! Like the other two, they can't hear the baby's heart beat during the first trimester, so I had an ultrasound done. I brought the kids with thinking it was a short visit, but forgot the initial visit takes well over an hour to do. Oh well. Dr. Goerish showed the kids on the screen where the baby's head was, the back and the butt. Derrick and Eve were glued to the screen. Derrick got this puzzled look on his face - and asked if the baby was in my tummy. Dr. G said "Yes" and both of them came over, pushed my shirt out of the way and started looking for the baby :o)

The rules at the hospital have now changed, and I'm not allowed to try for a VBAC, so it will be a scheduled c-section :o( However, she said they are usually scheduled around 39 weeks, so if it's ok with me, I'd go early. I'm like - I went 7 days over with Derrick, 5 days over with Eve, if I have to have a c-section, you're taking this one as early as possible! :o) She kind of chuckled. I'm still not ok with a c-section, but now that I know that's pretty much my only option, I'll just have to pray for strength.

Derrick is such a smart little boy. He's catchign on to stuff so much quicker than I think he should! He can count to thirty, well, sort of. Fifteen is still "fiveteen", and he can connect the dots up to 20 so far, which he LOVES to do. He's super into the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles right now, and loves to grab sticks or anything else that he can twirl around and pretend to be fighting. I think he'd get a kick out of Tai Kwan Do.

Eve is still Eve. She HATES bugs and spider webs/cob webs. A bouncy ball she was playing with ended up in a cob web and you thought someone died. Once it was out, she grabbed it and said, "Tanks!" all nice and sweet and was back to playing. She loves to sing, and it's cute listening to her sing her ABCs, or at least her version of it. It's hilarious listening to her sing "Little Red Riding Hood" - the song from the radio way back when. It goes something like this - "Lil Wed Widing Hood. You sure looking good. A big bad wolf wants. OOOOOUUUUU!!!!" I think the OOUU part is her absolute favorite :o) She gets into it and howels just like a wolf, neck outstretched and everything. I've tried getting it on video, but she stops. She's still into jumping, especially off the arm of the couch. However, I haven't seen any belly flops from there recently, which I'm thankful for. I don't see how that was so fun for her to do!

12 Weeks

Whoa - the baby is the size of a lime! Brain development is key this week, so I'll have to make sure to keep up on my Omegas to make sure this kid is super smart ;o)

I had a dream the other day that I had twins, a boy and a girl. The boy was named, the name we picked out. The girl wasn't named, probably bcuz we haven't narrowed it down to one yet.

I also had a chat with Derrick. I asked him if we had a boy, if it was ok to name the baby boy _____ (sorry, not sharing names, just like the other times!). He said, Ok that's cool. Or something to that effect. I asked him if we had a baby girl, could we name her _______ (Ryan's choice in a girl's name), and he said, No, he didn't like it. So here's me thinking that I'll get him to like my girl's name and turn Ryan around to it :o) So I asked him if we could name the baby girl _____ (my choice in a girl's name), Derrick tilted his head, looked right up at me, shaking his head, and said, "Mommy, that would not be a very good idea." What?! Ha! I had to chuckle at that. Where did he get his bluntness from? :o) I asked him what we should name the baby if it's a girl - and he said, "Sadie." I'm like - no, there are too many dogs in our family that were named Sadie. Thanks anyways, Derrick!

Well, I'm off to clean more. Our renters moved out and I don't think they cleaned a thing. The shower was brown and gray - COMPLETELY! I've already spent hours over there cleaning the kitchen, but we have some awesome girls coming tomorrow to hopefully sign a lease. I'd love to rent to them - one is a fantastic babysitter of ours from last semester!

Happy Anniversary

Happy 32nd Anniversary G and Papa!

We love you!

Two Cute Kids

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Daddy's Day to all the Dad's out there! Especially to Ryan, Papa and Grandpa! I tried letting Ryan have a good day to sleep in, and even tho he didn't get up for a long time, the kids were NUTS this morning - yelling, screaming, running, jumping. I couldn't get them to calm down. Tried bringing them to the store with me today, but that was a BAD idea - they were all over the store! They didn't get enough sleep last night, and I could tell today!

Crazy, I'll be 11 weeks already tomorrow :o)

Please also say a prayer for us - that we find someone to sign a lease in the next few days. I'm starting to get nervous about it. I know we'll find someone, I just want it done sooner than later ;o)

Yesterday Ryan dropped me off at work. When we were at a stoplight, Derrick saw the hotel Gran and Grandpa stayed at when they were here. He yelled, "I want to go to Gran and Grandpa's house!" and pointed to the hotel. I can't believe he recognized it! All he could see was a little corner of it from the road. He wanted to go swimming again. That boy LOVES the water! I think swimming lessons are in his near future.

Eve has been her typical self - crazy :o) Someone left a little notepad with Elmo on the cover at work the other day, so I brought it home for Eve. She calls it her checkbook and will sit and write in it for a good 20 minutes if not more. We got the kids a new box of color crayons and they are loving all the new colors (they had been down to only orange, red, blue and green for quite a while).

It's been a while!

Oops, didn't realize it's been 8 days since I posted - sorry!

Last Tuesday Gran and Grandpa came for a visit! I'll post pics whenever Gran sends them to me :o) The kids had a great time with them! It's been almost 9 months since they saw them last, so it took just a few minutes for them to warm up to them, then it was all good! They took them out to eat, tried riding the carousel, but I guess that didn't go so well with Eve. Eve got a new guitar that is noisy and I tried "forgetting" it in G's car this weekend, but that didn't work :o) But Eve LOVES that guitar - check out the video of her with it. Derrick got a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle van. It shoots pizzas out. It's pretty cool. He is soooo into the TMNTs.

Eve also went swimming for the first time at the hotel Gran and Grandpa stayed at! It didn't take her long to warm up to the whole idea. She wouldn't jump into my arms while I was in the water, but she really enjoyed "swimming" around with me. Derrick was like a little fish. He just grabbed onto the sides of the pool and walked around. He tried getting away from the wall a few times, it's 3 feet deep, so the water came up to his chin. If he moved too quickly, he got a mouthful of water :o) OH! I even got Eve to pinch her nose and put her face in the water - was that ever cute. Derrick couldn't figure it out :o)

Then on Friday morning, we drove up to the cities so the kids could to go G and Papa's house for the weekend. Ryan and I and a group of friends went down to Omaha. The kids had a great time. Daryl was home, so he and Eve played guitars together, while Derrick banged away on the kid piano. They had lots of fun like usual.

9 Weeks

9 Weeks (31 to go!)

Since Thursday my right side has been hurting, and progressively getting worse. On Saturday, I was sent home from work bcuz the pain was so bad I was crying. I finally went in yesterday to get it checked out (I was afraid it was my appendix). After waiting an hour and a half to see a doc (the only one that would see me was the one MD working, none of the PAs would see me bcuz I'm pregnant, which I can understand), I found out I strained my abdominal muscles. I can't begin to tell you how much it hurts to sit, stand, talk, laugh, sneeze, use the bathroom, breathe, EVERYTHING! Especially sleep (I'm posting this at like 330am). Poor Eve loves to curl up on my right side and cuddle and I have to send her away :o( The cure? Rest (HA! how do you rest a muscle you use non-stop all day long?), ibuprofen (can't take bcuz I'm preggo), and ice/heat (which just the weight of the bag on my side makes it hurt).

On a good note - Gran and Grandpa are coming for a visit on Tuesday! (on a bad note - it hurts to clean and I left just about everything to clean for Sunday and Monday so it was a smelling freshly clean when they get here). So this should be an interesting couple of days! :o)

Kids are doing well - altho their schedule is all mixed up. They've been taking naps which keeps them up sometimes forever. Like Saturday night (so lucky Ryan was home!) the kids were up at like 2am until I don't know when - 5am??? They were watching movies and "sleeping" on the couch. :o)

Well, I'm going to grab a snack and try to go back to sleep. Wish me luck!

Bedtime Routine

I'm now 8 weeks :o) Only 32 (or less!) to go!

We have a new bedime routine. I cannot explain how much I dislike reading kids books, so I leave that one up to Ryan most of the time as he's much more of a reader than I am (working on it tho!). So instead of reading at bedtime, we tell stories. It's so cute. Derrick and Eve both sit at the edge of their beds and say together, "Once upon a time..." Well, Derrick says it correctly, Eve's comes out something like "Up a bedtime..." Still pretty cute. Each night I then say a new story line and they help me finish the story. Tonight, it started out "Once upon a time there was a little girl named Eve and she was downstairs_______." They said she was downstairs playing toys with Nate and that Derrick was sleeping upstairs and they had to wake him up. So they came up with all kinds of ways to wake Big Boy Dirkie up. It was really cute. We tried monkey piling on him, and roaring like a baby lion, then roaring like a daddy lion. I like getting their imaginations going. Derrick has a wonderful one, and Eve is too slow to think of something right now that Derrick will usually beat her in saying something, so we are slowly getting Derrick to let Eve have a turn. She seems kind of confused, but she's catching on. I can't wait until this new baby is 2 and can join in on all the fun conversations we have with D and E!

#3

I'm pregnant. Due 01-05-2009.

:o)

Oh boy! (or girl!) Here we go again!

Grass

The Grass is Growing!! I'm so excited! We planted grass in our front yard where there hasn't been any since before we moved in. We raked up the needles last week and now the grass has sprouted! We might actually get a full front lawn full of green grass for the kids to run around on! Oh it's the little things that make life good :o) I'd post a pic, but don't want to be that weird, yet. Just wait. I'll take a pic when it's actually visible without putting your face right next to the teeny weeny grass growths. :o)

Animals and French Fries

Yesterday, Eve wanted me to draw pictures on the magnadoodle for her. So I drew and elephant, dog, cat, etc for her to guess what it was. She got them all except for the horse, which she thought was another dog. After two "dog" guesses, she got all excited that it was a horsie. She likes horses. Anyways, I decided to draw a bird, but just did the rough letter "M" that makes it look like a bird flying up in the sky. She looked at it and screamed, "French Fries!!!" I was like, what? She thought of the McD's "M". Ha Ha! They do love those treats, and know that when we go to McD's that we are meeting G and Papa.

Happy Birthday, Mindy!

Happy 29th Birthday, Mindy! Can you believe we'll be 30 in the next year? Where did the time go?

I hope you are blessed with a beautiful day, and an easy day at school!

Luv you,

Carrie "Re"

Happy Mommy's Day!

I got home from work last night and Ryan and the kids made me a HUGE mother's day card! It's really cute - full of stickers and drawings. The kids are pretty proud of it, it's so cute! I really do love their ages - they are independent enough to not need me at their side 24 hours a day. They play very well together, especially when they build forts downstairs with the blankets coming out of the dryer.

Well, we are going to go shopping for a short time so Ryan can sleep in peace and quiet, then I'll be off to work. I close tonight, which I didn't expect, so I won't get home until after midnight :o( But hopefully I'll make some good cash and I'll be able to buy all our shrubs to plant this week!

Puppy Ears and Laundry Baskets

Eve's hair is long enough to put into "Puppy Ears" - she doesn't like calling them pig tails, so we call them Puppy Ears.

The kids also had fun with the laundry baskets - I'll pass on the captions, but make sure to look IN the baskets!

Yard Work

So, it's finally nice outside, and we saved up some money to get our yard work on the go. We trimmed up the monsterous pine tree in the front last summer, but we never finished raking up the 50 years of pine needles that have piled up and covered 1/2 of our front yard. I raked up a number of them last fall, but now we needed to get the grass seed down to get it growing. So here's what we accomplished today:

• Raked up 1/2 of the front yard of the nasty needles (in some places they were almost 6 inches thick! and piled them on the other side of our front yard until we can figure out how to discard them. I vote for burning them, but that might not fly.
• Put up edging around our sidewalk to prevent water runoff from getting dirt all over
• Aerated the area that needed to be reseeded
• Raked the dirt "smooth" - as smooth as I cared to do it :o)
• Put one full bag of seed all over the dirt
• Watered our new babies with a sprinkler we didn't realize doesn't move, so we watered it by hand

So now it's just a waiting game. We have another bag of grass seed ready to fill in the areas that don't grow. Next on the list -

• Plant more seed to fill in areas that didn't thrive (few weeks away though)
• Find shrubs to replace the yucky stumps we have now
• Remove the stumps (not so fun work, we did one last summer)
• Plant the shrubs
• Fill in around the shrubs with rock/wood chips and edging
• Find and Plant a few flowers to give some bursts of color! Can't wait for this one! I might actually plant some flowers in my big pot first, just to get the colors going :o) I'll get the kids in on this one, as we did all the flowers for Applebee's yesterday! They had fun, although they are NOT allowed to go shopping for the flowers with me. That was the biggest pain I have ever done with them! They were so naughty - running and hiding in the plants. They are usually soooo good in the store, but for some reason, they had minds of their owns yesterday!

We have another busy week ahead of us. I'll try to remember to charge our camera so I can post pics of our growing front yard and the kids playing in the dirt, I mean planting in the dirt :o)

** Hint Hint - Mommy's Day is around the corner - I'd like some plants :o) **

Fun at G and Papa's

Mommy and Daddy went away for the weekend, so we got to go to G and Papa's house! But Auntie Marcie wasn't there again. I guess she moved away for a little while, but she comes back soon! I had a lot of fun - making cookies with G, being goofy on the couch and playing with Dirkie under the blankets and outside.

I had fun too! I love being at G and Papa's house. But it was super cold outside. But I still managed to play for a little while outside. Can't wait until Mommy and Daddy get a house with a lot of grass to play on! On our way home, Mommy said we get to go to Gran and Grandpa's house soon. I said they lived "a long, long, long ways away" and Mommy said we could fly in an airplane there. But I screamed at that! Not until I'm maybe 5. I have to be a very big boy to do that. So than Mommy and Daddy said we could go on a choo-choo train - that would be fun! So we are going to do that in August for Unkie Britt and Almost-Auntie Christine's wedding.

Mitch's First Communion

Yesterday, the kids and I headed up to Milaca (St. Cloud area) for my Godson's First Communion. We sort of ended up off the road I needed to take (missed a turn), so I ended up missing it :o( But I made it in time for pictures. I'll post those as soon as Mom emails them to me. I really need a new digital camera!

I can't believe Mitch is 9 years old already. Where has the time gone. He's such a great kid, I wish I could see him more often. He was excited about his gift, which I'm thankful for. It's so hard finding gifts for a boy! Dad is his Godfather, so we both went in on it. We bought him a black keepsake box. The lid has his name engraved on it, really neat, turned out better than I expected. When you lift the lid, the there are two trays that slide out - one to the left, one to the right. Underneath those is a large tray. He already had it all set what was going in each one.

The kids did so well in the truck for so long in one day. They were very excited to see G and Papa, but Eve wanted Marcie too. They haven't been feeling the best, so getting outside yesterday was great for them. Derrick enjoyed the skateboard with Mike, and Mitch helped Eve around their jungle gym.

First Overnight Friend!

On Friday, a friend of mine watched D & E for a few hours so Ryan and I could have some alone time. In exchange, I watched Isaac on Saturday. Her plans got changed a bit, so we ended up having Isaac spend the night at our house. The kids had so much fun! And actually, I had a good night too - Isaac kept the kids occupied and out of my hair! Unfortunately, the kids wouldn't stop talking, so they didn't fall asleep until almost 1030pm. But I think the kids had a wonderful time, and I can't wait to babysit swap with Amy again!

Long Day

Last night, I went to sleep around 930. I was so tired. About 1-130am, Derrick started crying for me. It's weird, you get to know which cry is which after a while, and I knew this was a not-so-good cry. He complained that his ear really hurt. He never complains, so when he did, I knew something was wrong. I gave him some medicine to help drain his ear like I always do when they can't sleep due to ear infections. He tried to sleep in our bed, but couldn't lay even half-way down. So we went downstairs and I propped him up in the corner of the couch and we watched Disney's Cars 3 times, and then the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1-2 times. I forget. It was a long night. Of course yesterday Zale got out, Ryan called me at work and I totally freaked out. He's such a big dog I was afraid he'd cause an accident (last time he ran out he had no concept of cars on the road, and many had to slam on their brakes). When he was found and I was told there was a cop involved, I freaked. I was afraid we'd have to pay damages if he caused an accident. Luckily he didn't, a cop just put him in the impound. But it was still stressful. He has too much energy! Then I pulled a double at work today. I usually don't mind, but it was pretty slow all day, so when I pull 10 hours and go home with less than $100, I'm not so happy. But it's $ I didn't have, so I'm thankful for what I have. But I think I'm ready to be done for the day and head to bed.

My Godson's first communion is on Sunday, and I'm looking forward to that. A friend of mine is babysitting for D & E tomorrow so Ryan and I can have a date, then we are watching her little boy on Saturday so her and her husband can have a break - I'm sooooo looking forward to this!!!

Wedding

Yesterday we spent the day with good friends. Ryan stood up for Josh and Paula's wedding. It was a beautiful ceremony, and Nate sang the Lord's Prayer just like he did for our wedding. He has the most amazing voice, I wish you all could have heard him, he did a wonderful job! I have lots of pics to share, but they are on someone else's camera, so when she sends them my way, I'll put them up here for you to see.

I have to share a story from Friday. That night Josie and I decided to watch a movie and have a drink before her husband and Ryan went to the bachelor party. So I asked if there was a liquor store up by her place and she told me where it was. So I ran up there, grabbed a few wine coolers, and headed out the door. Then the wind picked up. My hair was all over I could hardly see. So I balanced the drinks and tried to dig out my keys without dropping my wallet all over, put the key in the key hole, and it wouldn't fit. I was kind of confused. I looked at the hood of the truck, and it looked different. Then my heart sank - this wasn't our truck! What's the next thing that goes thru your mind when you are trying to get into someone else's vehicle? Please, please, please don't let there be someone in the truck. I looked up and brushed my hair aside, and lo and behold, a lady was waving at me. I don't really get embarrassed, but here I am, coming out of a liquor store, trying to "break into" someone else's truck with my keys, and a lady is waving at me from the passenger seat! ha! I had some good laughs at that one! In my defense, when I pulled into the parking lot just a few minutes prior, I was the ONLY one parked in that row of stalls, so when I came out, I saw a black truck and went to it. Nate, Josh, Brian, Josie, and of course Ryan, had a good laugh with me. :o)

Debt Update :o)

Many of you know I reached my wits end about our loans a few months ago. So, I got a part-time job to get rid of it faster (amongst other reasons, which I won't go into). Last month, we were able to pay off our smallest student loan - so nice! Now the next student loan is less than $2000! I made a payment to it today, which got rid of that #2 at the beginning of the total :o) I'm so looking forward to being debt-free! Our business is growing, which also helps us have extra $! We are very excited - this is going to be a great year!

A Sad Day

Today's a sad day :o( Sherman, our kitty cat for over 6 years, has found a new home. I remember the day Ryan brought him home. He was our first "baby" so this is kind of a tough day for me. Ever since we got Zale, he won't leave the upstairs very often, and in the last few weeks, he hasn't even left our bedroom. Zale is the reason I sleep at night, so we needed to find a new home for Sherman. A lady asked for a kitten for her children, and decided to take Sherman instead of a kitty. I'm really happy he found a good home. He deserves better than being afraid of Zale 24/7. She said they have a big bay window that he is going to LOVE looking out at their birds. Turns out, her and her kids live down the road from us! So maybe one day I'll drive by and see him flipping his tail around, looking out at the birds. There are 3 kids in the house to give him lots of love.

So, Goodbye Sherman. I hope your new family loves you as much as we do!

Pics

I had Derrick's 4-year pics taken on Sunday with Paula! Check them out - Evie's is still on there from January :o)

www.searsportrait.com

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