Klous House

Funny Girl

2009-10-10T13:11:00.000-07:00

Out of the blue Alex pulls her t-shirt sleeve up around her shoulder and we have the following conversation:

Alex: Mommy, do you wanna smell my armpit?
Me: NO! Why would I want to smell your armpit?
Alex: Because, girls armpits smell like flowers. Like roses! See? Smell!
So...I smell.
Alex then smells her own pit.
Alex: MMM! Roses!!

What a silly girl! :)

HUGE UPDATE!

2009-10-10T07:06:00.000-07:00

I don't have time to blog very often...here is another update with a ton of pictures!
This is a picture from this morning. It snowed last night for the first time this year so of course we had to get out in it right away this morning. It was still dark out but we were all so excited about the first snow and wanted to play in it before the sun melted it. Brrr!! We were out for less than 5 minutes and came in to have hot chocolate!! :)
We celebrated Ryleighs first Birthday Sept. 19th! I can't believe how fast her first year has gone!

CAKE MONSTER!!

We've had some owies lately...This first picture is of Alex. Last weekend she was upstairs playing when she all of a sudden started screaming. I ran up to find out she had hit her mouth on the futon. There wasn't any blood but she was crying so hard. I eventually gave her Tylenol because her teeth hurt. Her lip puffed up a tiny bit but then when we woke up the next morning this is what she looked like...

I ended up taking her to the dentist because her front teeth were loose and one tooth was pushed back while the other was pushed up. Luckily they'll move back and firm up on their own. It was all black under her top lip...all bruised up and really ugly looking. Poor girl!

Eric got a black eye the first week of school. He got kicked in the eye and ended up with a pretty nasty shiner!

And poor Ryleigh is learning to walk and so she face plants A LOT! This owie is old and doesn't look so bad but it was ugly for a while. She face planted over and over to get this one and part of the problem was crawling faster than her hands could go!

Silly kids!

Alex really is a monkey!

Pictures in the leaves...

Sorry for all the pictures and little update. We just go, go, go....and go some more!! Life is good and we are still having fun! :)

2009-09-09T11:29:00.000-07:00

It's been an extremely busy summer and I haven't blogged in ages so here is a quick catch up! Here are a few of the things we've been up to this summer! We...

...went to the zoo... (I'll blog that one another time!)...
...went to the Mall of America...
...hung out with Dora and Diego (sp??) at the MOA...

...dunked the Mayor! (good job Eric!!)...

...went to (apparently a loud) parade...

...learned how to ride a bike! Eric got on a bike one day and just rode and rode. Didn't have to teach him!...

...hung out with cousins...

...and more cousins....

...and more cousins!...

...And Andy went to Vegas!

We've had a fun filled summer! There are too many pictures to post so this was just an idea of what we've done! Maybe if I get around to it I'll do another post with more pictures! Also, Ryleigh is walking around the furniture and climbs the stairs. Andy has also taught her how to get down the stairs! So now she not only goes up but then slides all the way down! Its so cute!! She is getting so big!! :)

Been DREADING this day for the last 5 years...

2009-09-09T11:02:00.000-07:00

Eric has officially started Kindergarten. He had his "first" day yesterday. He only had to go for an hour and we got to go with him. It was 30 minutes with his teacher in their classroom and then 30 minutes for bus safety. Yep, I'm one of those moms that would LOVE to go to school everyday with their child! OK...not really. I just worry about how he is doing. I'm sure it's going to get easier and I'm sure he is having a blast! I can't be there every minute of his life to hold his hand... :( I just wish Kindergarten wasn't ALL day EVERY day.

I took him in to the school and pretty much just handed him over. I think he was scared but I had to let him go so... I can't wait to hear about all the fun things he did today! Do you think he looks scared in the picture below??

Getting ready to walk the block and a 1/2 to school! I must admit living so close to the school has its benefits! :) Such a handsome boy!! :)

Mothers

2009-05-12T14:19:00.000-07:00

I just got this fun email from a friend that asked 2nd graders questions about their Mothers. It was cute reading their answers and so even though my kids are a bit younger I still thought it would be interesting to hear their answers! I'm not sure how I feel about some of their answers though! :)

WHY DID GOD MAKE MOTHERS?
Eric: Because I need a mom. If I didn't have a mommy, I'd be alone. (Alex argues: You'd have a dad.)
Alex:Because Mommy, Jesus of the Christ make you happy.

HOW DID GOD MAKE MOTHERS?
Eric: Putting blood, bones and a spirit in Mommy's body so she can run, walk and be a mom. And can only die when she's old.
Alex: Happy

WHAT INGREDIENTS ARE MOTHERS MADE OF?
Eric: Babies
Alex: Makeup

WHY DID GOD GIVE YOU YOUR MOTHER AND NOT SOME OTHER MOM?
Eric: Because I was your baby and you did have me.
Alex: And not another daddy? Because Dad love you.

WHAT KIND OF A LITTLE GIRL WAS YOUR MOM?
Eric: Like Lisa. (my sister) You have the same hair as Lisa.
Alex: A little, little girl

WHAT DID MOM NEED TO KNOW ABOUT DAD BEFORE SHE MARRIED HIM?
Eric: I don't think you needed to know anything.
Alex: I don't know dat!

WHY DID YOUR MOM MARRY YOUR DAD?
Eric: You thinked he was handsome and he thinked you were pretty and you thinked you should marry him.
Alex: Because daddy just married you because...I don't know. This really hard.

WHO'S THE BOSS AT YOUR HOUSE?
Eric: My mom and dad. Who's the real boss? Daddy because he's big enough. You're kinda the same height but he's 12 and you're 14.
Alex: Mommy and Daddy.

WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MOMS AND DADS?
Eric: I don't know
Alex: When you are fighting?

WHAT DOES YOUR MOM DO IN HER SPARE TIME?
Eric: Eat
Alex: Exercise

WHAT WOULD IT TAKE TO MAKE YOUR MOM PERFECT?
Eric: To be pretty or beautiful. You are beautiful and pretty all the time.
Alex: Exercise

IF YOU COULD CHANGE ONE THING ABOUT YOUR MOMMY, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
Eric: Change your hair to be curly like ice cream.
Alex: umm...a dress?

Gotta love children!! :)

Go Go Go...

2009-05-04T12:29:00.000-07:00

I don't know how long its been since I last posted but it feels like its been forever. We've been going nonstop lately. This last Saturday was our first Saturday that we've been home it a long time...and that doesn't really even count because Andy had to work half a day. Our weekdays are so full too...maybe its the warm weather?? I know I've thought of things I wanted to post as we did them but it's been so crazy I didn't get a chance and now I don't remember them! Oh-well I guess! The pictures I'm posting are a bit out of order but I was too impatient to get it them all straightened out!
A couple of Saturdays ago I went to Aitkin for my soon to be sister in laws bridal shower. My sister put it on for her and did a fantastic job! Lots of work went into it and it turned out to be loads of fun!! After the shower my brother, Russ, and his wife had the missionaries over for dinner and decided to have a bonfire at my grandparents house. My brother Bryan (the one getting married) and his family came over too. I love bonfires!!

Me and my niece Natalie (she's so cute!!) Russ and Kara's girl
Kara and Russ, Bryan and Kelli, and my Grandpa

Bryan and Kelli and their boy Wyatt and my grandpa

Soon to be Mr. and Mrs Crowther!!

Kelli and Wyatt

The winning veil at the shower! (made of toilet paper)

Beautiful Bride-to-be!!

I found this adorable fruit bouquet recipe...so easy to make!!

A family friend, Abbie, decorated the cake. She used the picture from the bridal shower invites and just went to work. It only took her a couple of hours. AMAZING!! Very artistic girl! No one wanted to carry the cake in (in case of tripping and ruining it) or cut it!!

You can see the card she copied in the upper left hand corner. She did so fantastic!!

We've been spending a lot of time at playgrounds lately. The kids play so hard and sleep even harder! Gotta LOVE fresh air!!

Alex has been doing so awesome with potty training. She has a chart she puts stickers on whenever she goes potty in the toilet and about every third square there is a reward listed. Today she landed on picnic so here she is enjoying it!!

Saturday after Andy got off work he decided to climb the tree in the back yard to trim it. It was so funny watching him try to climb it!! Then even funnier watching him try to get out of it. He broke one of the branches (a nub) he used to get up so it wasn't there to help him get down.

Of course Eric had to get up in the tree! He didn't want to get down. I wish we had trees he could climb but this is the only one we have. Alex was having fits watching her daddy up in the tree. She was scared he was going to fall. I gotta say I was pretty scared watching Eric up there too. He kept wanting to climb higher and higher.

Ryleigh got a pretty bad sunburn...on half of her face...

Yep, that's our girl! A bottle in each hand! Someday it will be a cookie in each hand!! One had milk and the other had water...gotta have options!!

She loves her sweet potato puffs!!

Our FUN Weekend!!

2009-04-22T06:43:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we went to Crosby to Andy's sisters house. Her husband is working in Iraq and won't be home until July(ish) so we went to hang out with them and help with yard work. Danny, Andrea and Mya came too and so we all just had a blast!! Here are a ton of pictures of our fun weekend!
We all got there Friday night and brought pizza's. It was a fun night of American Idol Wii and hanging out. Danny and Andy singing and dancing is a sight to see!! So funny!

Saturday morning Andy and Danny woke up early and went to St. Cloud to look at a car for Andy. I didn't really think they'd get it (Andy had been so back and forth on cars) but they traded his car in and came home with this.
2007 Mitsubishi Galant. VERY nice car! We really like it!!

Then we all got busy and started doing wood. Andy and Danny chopped it and us girls loaded, unloaded and stacked it. Then we built a brush pile to be burned but it was too dry to start fires. The following pictures are from Sunday. We got up and started the yard work again. More chopping and stacking wood. Then we built another brush pile. This one was more out in the open and it had drizzled a bit that morning so it was kinda wet. So Danny and Kim got the brush pile roaring (took a bit and Danny almost started on fire ;) but it got going!!).

One really strong, brave, amazing woman!

Jared is seriously the nicest kid! Worked hard with us!

We had such a good time together. The kids all played so nicely together and had so much fun. Eric and Alex didn't want to leave and talk about going to Kim's everyday! They play so hard and just have so much fun there.

Look at those two! So beautiful!

Katelynn! She is so beautiful!!

Saturday night we got all cleaned up and had a girls night. Andy and Danny were kind enough to watch all the kids so the girls (big girls) could go to a movie. We went to Brainerd and saw 17 Again. We all now have crushes on Zac Efron. So cute! It was a really good movie!! Then we went shopping for Sunday dinner stuff. It was just a really fun night giggling with the girls! Thanks Andy and Danny!! :)

Sorry Katelynn and Kim!! I'm not good at taking pics. in the car!

Sunday after we finished outside we had a so so yummy ham dinner. Ham, funeral potatoes, pink salad, green bean casserole, watermelon, and rolls. YUM!!

I cannot wait for Becki, Ryan, Klous and Aysha to come!! We are all going to have SO much fun! Can you imagine Becki, Andy and Danny all together?!?!? Always so much fun and lots of giggles! Wish we could ALL be together. Maybe at Christmas?!?!?

Just a couple pictures of Ryleigh. She has a new interest...getting into everything on the bottom of the bookshelf! She entertains herself for long periods of time and thinks she is so big!! She isn't happy until she pulls the diapers off. So cute!

Venting!!

2009-04-21T09:50:00.000-07:00

So I just turned off my workout video... AGAIN. I start it, get 2-3 minutes into it, and shut it off. I used to LOVE to workout...mostly I loved not being soft...but I loved the workout. I decided today is the day to get started on getting skinny! I started warming up but Andy was here and I cannot work out with him watching so I decided to wait until he left. He left and I started again. But then Ryleigh had to have a nap. So I put her down and started the video. Then I remembered I had to put a load of laundry in the dryer and start another one. I ran down and did that but then the load I pulled out of the dryer to put the other one in had to be folded. I HATE wrinkles so it couldn't wait. I folded them and started again with the video. But then I had ZERO desire to workout with Denise Austin. I can't breathe, it hurts, and I can hear the kids upstairs destroying their rooms. I cannot concentrate and therefore...the video has been shut off again. Maybe I'll try the treadmill...I wish I had a workout partner. Maybe that would make it easier?!?!? Or maybe I just need to get up really early before the kids are up and my mind can be only on working out. Why does losing weight have to be so hard?!?!??! Why did I even let myself get to this point?!?!?!?
SO FRUSTRATING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Eric's Birthday!

2009-04-15T16:04:00.000-07:00

We cannot believe it!! We have a 5 year old!!! How crazy is that?? Eric turned 5 yesterday! He keeps saying that he's not 5 because he isn't bigger. I really think he thought he was going to be all grown up when he turned 5!! He is so funny. We started the day by having his birthday breakfast request...french toast. (Andrea, I've been so hungry for that since church on Sunday! Smelled so yummy!) Then we just kinda hung out at home. Had his birthday lunch request...Mac and Cheese and baked beans! Then we got ready and went to buy balloons. He HAD to have balloons! He really wanted to have a party with friends and family but didn't tell me that until the day of so...maybe next year! He wanted to go to the playground and play and then out to eat so that's how we celebrated. We came back and had cake and opened presents. I think we all had fun and he was so excited with his Lincoln Logs he got and water balloons! He also loves his Frisbee but that needs to be a park thing I think! I had to run all the way down the block to retrieve it today. He threw it and then it rolled and rolled and rolled and kept on rolling down the street! WHEW! Gave mommy a good workout!
Castle Playground

Ryleigh watching everyone else play

Lovin it up for the camera!

Such a fun playground. I didn't know about this one!

Taco Johns. Yes, Ryleigh is eating the napkin!

Ryleigh was so fascinated with the table edge!

So excited to get his Lincoln Logs!

SO handsome!!

Happy Birthday to the BEST 5 year old in the world!!

2009-04-15T14:58:00.000-07:00

I'm a little behind on my blogging but here are a few pictures of our FUN Easter weekend! We went to Danny and Andrea's for a nice long weekend! I'm bummed I didn't take more pictures of our weekend. The kids had so much fun roaming Danny and Andrea's LARGE house, their LARGE backyard and playing at the playground right across the street from their house! We spent a lot of time at Andrea's parents house and had a blast there!! They also have LARGE everything!! So the kids had so much fun!! Andrea's parents were so kind and good to us and our kids! Made us feel right at home. Alex just fell in love with her Dad, Doug. He was so super to her! She is usually so so so shy but made best friends with him instantly. These pictures are mostly of Easter morning. The whole weekend was amazing and it was so good to spend time with Danny, Andrea, Mya and Jax!!
Easter or Christmas?? They love their toys though!

Look at how long she looks reaching for her book!

Loving her Easter presents! (She got some sun the day before.)

CANDY + TOYS = ONE HAPPY ALEX!

Found his Easter basket!

Easter Egg hunt!!

Danny with his son and daughter! So cute!!

Sweet little family! Danny, Andrea and Mya

So funny story: We went to Andrea's church on Sunday. In our church they pass around bread and water in what we call Sacrament, each of us partaking of it. So we are sitting in her church and they have a collection plate type of thing going around. It passes across Eric to me and I pass it off...Eric calls out (not super loudly but loud enough that me and anyone close by could hear) "Hey! I didn't get some of that!!" What was the plan Eric?? Help ourselves to money?!? Wouldn't that be nice?!?!?! :)

One CLASSY Family!!

2009-04-09T21:06:00.000-07:00

I'm sure our neighbors think we are rednecks as my children feel the need to escape outside without my knowledge every once in a while now that its getting nicer outside. Nicer, not WARM...just a bit nicer than it has been. Alex can be found outside coatless, pantless and shoeless all at the same time and I just caught Eric yesterday taking his shirt off as if it were 90 degrees outside! We still have snow on the ground!!
So here are some pictures to show how truly classy we are!!

What on earth happened?? Was he burping Ryleigh and she got him good??
Haha no, that's not what happened at all! I was being very immature...getting lots of laughs from the kids... copying everything he said one night while I was feeding Ryleigh her cereal. I was sitting on our exercise ball (the only action that thing sees!!) feeding her and Andy was sitting on the floor. He thought a good retaliation would be to kick the ball out from under me. I went flying to the floor, landed on my butt and HE ENDED UP WEARING THE CEREAL!! haha Joke is on HIM!! I got a tiny little bit on me but as you can see it mostly landed on him! Funniest thing ever!!
Poor ball! That's about how much landed on me too!!

Maybe it's time to take 'em to dat der dentist??

THIS NEXT ONE IS FOR MY SISTER LISA!! She knows Alex so well and will appreciate this and love Alex even more!!

We were coloring Easter eggs...what on earth is on her chin??? Is that a...piece of a... shell??

That's right! NOTHING can stop her!!

So gross! It was pretty nasty hearing her chomp that shell. I tried to get it all out of her mouth but I think there were MANY tiny little pieces!!

Ryleigh wanting in on the fun!

There would have been more but mammoth mommy enjoyed a couple of them!! See the scared look on the pink ones face? I was eyeing him next!! Eric even tried eating one!! He feels pretty left out that he never gets to eat eggs so I let him try some. His eyes didn't swell shut!! He didn't have a reaction at all!! (He didn't have the yolks though. So...hard to tell...maybe they were just cooked long enough??)

Watch out little pink one...breakfast is coming soon!

The Journey To The Ocean Has begun...

2009-04-07T08:33:00.000-07:00

Well...the dreaded day came sooner than we expected...

We had to send Tank Marlin (Eric's fish) down the toilet so he can swim in the river and eventually ~hopefully~ he'll find the ocean. Eric was pretty bummed but he said his goodbye and wanted to flush him himself. He was very brave... but then got pretty sad that he flushed his fish down the toilet. ...Then he went back to watching his movie! He got over it pretty quickly!! I'm glad its a pet he wasn't able to hold and love so he didn't get too attached. He wants a new one so we'll get probably keep up with this fish thing. Hopefully they don't all die that fast though! That could get to be a real waste of money! His fish was always funny acting so I don't know if it had something wrong with it to begin with?? I would put the food in there and it wouldn't eat...the other one gobbles his up no problem and is a fun active fish. Eric's was mellow and I don't know...just kinda funny acting??? How are fish supposed to act though?!?!?!? His was just different than Alex's. I'm kinda glad it happened to Eric's first...that way if (when) it happens to Alex's she knows that its ok. I think she would have been a lot more sad had hers died first. Now she saw that Eric didn't cry and that fish like to swim to the ocean! I don't think I could handle it if they started crying. That would break my heart!! I remember my mom crying with us when our pets died. We would get so attached to animals and then cry and cry and cry when they died. I don't think my mom would've ever cried because a calf or chicken or especially a stray cat died but I always knew she was crying because we were so sad!!...she was such a good mom! (still is!!)

Have a good swim Tank Marlin!!

2009-04-06T15:33:00.000-07:00

I need a break from cleaning house. I've been working on this house ALL day and am exhausted. I'm just going to blog about nothing interesting to anyone reading this. This is just me wasting time!
With watching General Conference in the comfort of our home yesterday I didn't feel the need to get all prettied up...I didn't shower. And last week I tore the bedrooms apart switching them all around but never completely finished the project so that's what I've spent all day today doing. I didn't take the time to get all prettied up just to get all sweaty and gross...I didn't shower. Now I'm still going through puberty so if I don't shower EVERY day I look like I haven't showered in a month. LOVE PUBERTY!! So I'm lookin real HOT right now!! With my big project today of finishing the switching of 3 bedrooms (clothes, books, toys, beds etc...) and rearranging the living room our house looks like it got hit by a tornado. The first tornado (me) hit the house pretty hard doing lots of damage. But then 2 more little tornado's (Eric and Alex) followed behind the first one and hit over and over again the damage made by the first one. Seriously, it's like they've never seen their toys before! I'm so frustrated at making ZERO progress with these little angels following behind me making mess after mess. So I asked Andy to take them out. He's taking them shopping and out to eat. (I'm fine that they are being rewarded for being so naughty...as long as they are out of my hair for a little bit!) And so here I sit on the computer while I could be using this time to finish up. I should shower...I feel so gross. But I have way too much left to do. Showering now would be pointless. I have a feeling this project might take all week. We'll just call it spring cleaning. I'll definitely have to shower before tomorrow... someone is bound to come knocking on my door and I wouldn't want to start rumors of me being on my death bed. (Yes, I look that awful!) And I'm sure I'll end up having to go out of this house at some point! Some days I just don't love being a girl... Guys can put on a hat and it's all good.
Eric said the funniest thing to me before they left. Maybe I just thought it was funny because I'm so tired??
He was getting ready to go and kept asking where they were going and Andy wouldn't tell him. He was guessing with me and I wouldn't tell him so then we were upstairs and I noticed he was wearing this ugly blue necklace he got at a parade last summer.

Me: Eric take that necklace off. You can't go out in public wearing that thing.

Eric: OH!! THAT'S where we're going! - IN PUBLIC!! DADDY! I KNOW WHERE WE ARE GOING!!! -IN PUBLIC!!!!

Smart little guy! I wish I were 5 again! Life is so simple!

....BLAH....BACK TO WORK....

The Attack of Ryleigh Girl!!

2009-04-02T09:19:00.000-07:00

I've always known Ryleigh is a long baby (maybe because they tell us at each of her checkups that she is off the charts) but I REALLY noticed it the other morning when the kids wanted to hold her. I'm kinda sad at how big she is already. She's moving all over the place, eating cereal and holding her own bottle. She just seems so much bigger than the other kids did at 6 months. Seeing how big she is while the kids were holding her made me want to compare them all. So they all got down next to each other on the floor and I measured them. Eric is 3 ft 8 inches (44 lbs), Alex is 3 ft 1 inch (30 lbs), and Ryleigh is 2 ft 4 inches (14 lbs 12 oz). Then I put their info into this chart on the computer to see where they are compared to other kids. Percentile- Eric is 72nd for weight and 71st for height. Alex is 49th in weight and 59th in height. And Ryleigh is 9th for weight and greater than 97th for height. HOLY CRUD! She IS long!

Ryleigh can't be next to the kids without attacking them! If they are on the floor she is doing everything in her power to get them. She especially loves picking on Eric...I think because he is so sweet and easy going with her. Alex tends to get mad. :) If he is sitting next us on the couch she reaches trying to get him...usually his ears or hair! We went to a movie last night and with the theatre being so dark I don't think she even knew he was there. But then Andy handed her to me and Eric was sitting next to me. Once she spotted him I knew she had! She got all excited kicking her legs and then practically lunges her body towards him reaching for his hair. It was so funny! She just adores him! I couldn't get her to leave Eric alone so I could measure him... I ended up measuring him standing up!

See how she uses her legs to attack him?!?!

"Lets see how Alex will react if I attack her!!!"

Two Little Monkeys Jumping On The Bed

2009-03-30T08:40:00.000-07:00

The above pictures are from the other day. Yes, the "dress" Alex is wearing is my tank top. She insisted that it was her dress. The look on Eric's face when he is laying on the bed shows what I miss about being a kid. Its just so much fun jumping and being wild and free. When is the last time I jumped on a bed?? Way too long ago! (I'd probably break the bed!-Maybe that's why we grow out of jumping on beds!?!?!)

*UPDATES ON THE KIDS!!*

Ryleigh girl is getting so big! She is a very serious girl and doesn't smile as much as the other kids did. I thought it was because she was sick for so long with her cold but I think she is just serious! She does her fair share of smiling though and we take what we can get! The kids love to make her smile and giggle! There is nothing better than all of them giggling together! Everything goes into her mouth and she drools ALL THE TIME but so far no teeth. She loves her cereal and is not a big fan of applesauce (the only fruit we've introduced to her so far). We are slowly starting her on the fruits and vegetables. She rolls from back to belly and belly to back. Can get herself across the room if there is something she wants bad enough! She is still an awesome sleeper!! I love putting her to bed, having time with Andy before we go to bed, and waking up before she wakes up in the morning! It's pretty nice! She is also at the shy...reaching for us when someone else has her...stage. She is so much fun and her personality is really coming out!!

Princess Alex! What a doll! I cannot believe how big she is getting!! She is always telling Eric that she loves him which makes him a little squeamish but she usually doesn't care! Sometimes she insists that he tell her that he loves her too!(When he thinks its just the two of them he doesn't hesitate to say it back. SUCH A BOY!) The two of them have so much fun together!! She knows how to get her way...especially with her daddy! She flashes those baby blue eyes and pouts her lips...NO JOKE!...he falls for it every time! (I am also guilty of giving in but I am better at standing my ground!) She still loves her dresses and makeup and jewelery. There are days you MUST call her Princess Alex or she'll just keep saying, "NO, I'm PRINCESS Alex"! But she is our princess and she is very much adored by all of us!

Here is our Tom Cruise! Eric was trying on his new church outfit but the pants didn't fit so he just had the shirt on. It was pretty cute with his little legs!! We've been going through a "fun" little something with him. I don't know if you'd call it a stage or just "itstimeforsummersowecanplayoutside-itis"...I'm ready for summer so I can send them outside! He is still sweet and my big helper but the arguing...begging...jumping from EVERYTHING HE CAN CLIMB...making his sister yell...stuff is getting frustrating! But I'm SO not ready to send him off to Kindergarten and push the thought of it to the back of my mind as quickly as possible! It's not fun to think about! I'll miss him so much! I think its a bum deal that he has to go all day everyday. What happened to every other day like when we were kids?? (tears!!)

We are looking for a new car...not fun! I'm so tired of looking at cars and mileage and years and all that stuff. BLAH! We both REALLY REALLY love one that we drove though! It might not be the BEST buy but we love it! It's an 04 Mitsubishi Galant (sp??). It has 60,000 miles on it and they want $11,xxx but went down a bit. Its pricey for the year and mileage and there isn't a garage here that can fix them that we know of but if we can get them to go down more we might buy it! It has lots of power and is super fun to drive! Plus it would fit all of the kids in the back if we needed and its pretty! We'll see...

Newest Additions To Our Family!

2009-03-27T12:31:00.001-07:00

There is one thing that me and Andy completely and entirely agree on...we ARE NOT pet people. We both like animals and would love to someday have a dog but right now living in town we don't feel its fair to the dog. That and its not another responsibility either one of us want. Neither of us like rodents (rats, mice, gerbils etc...) and we are allergic to and strongly dislike cats. But we've felt like its not fair to the kids to not have pets. When I was growing up we always had some sort of pet...dogs, wounded pigeons, stray cats and kittens, chickens, calves, cows that were once bottle fed calves...whatever you can find out in the country. So since every kid needs some sort of pet we are trying FISH. I explained to the kids that fish are sensitive little creatures and that some day we might have to flush them down the toilet so they can go to the river which will bring them back to the ocean (THANK YOU FINDING NEMO FOR THE EASY WAY TO SAY GOODBYE!). So meet Eric's fish, Tank Marlin (Tank is the first name, Marlin the last name) and Alex's fish, Nemo.

Yes, we are very creative in picking out names! How do you change the minds of a 2 and 4 year old after they are already made up?? They love watching their fish and are very excited when its time to feed them! I think we made a wise decision going with fish for pets. They are pretty easy to take care of! I just hope neither of them go belly up any time soon!

All grown up...

2009-03-26T11:40:00.000-07:00

The kids were practicing their ABC's and counting today while I was fixing lunch. Alex isn't so great at the ABC's so Eric was helping her. He'd say the letter and she'd repeat it.

My conversation with Eric after they got done with the alphabet:

Me: You guys are so smart! That's so nice of you to help Alex. You can teach her all the things that you learn.

Eric: Yeah, I have lots of people who teach me things. My teachers at church Sister Strege and Sister Jensen, my speech teacher, you and daddy, and my teacher at school.

Me: Eric you don't have a teacher at school because you haven't started Kindergarten yet.

Eric: Yeah, but when I get all grown up and turn 5 I will!

TOO CUTE!! Its SO funny to me that he thinks 5 is all grown up! I'm 26 and there are days I don't feel "all grown up"!! I love being a mommy and hearing the things my kids say and learning the way their little minds think!!

GETTING SO BIG!!

2009-03-19T09:14:00.001-07:00

It's been a while so just wanted to post some pictures of the kids. They are growing up way too fast. Tuesday night we took Eric to Kindergarten Round-Up...can't believe he will be starting school this fall. :( We think he really enjoyed it and will love school! He especially loved riding on the school bus! ...Still has the same smell as when we were kids!
Both Eric and Ryleigh have a pretty bad cold so they look extra cute in these pictures! You can see around Eric's nose and cheeks that he has a cold! And Ryleigh just snots everywhere! She is always blowing bubbles out of her nose! She drools A LOT too! We don't know if she's teething or if its part of the cold??? She sure is cranky...but she's had this cold for well over a month now and we are considering taking her in for the 3rd time. They just keep telling us it takes babies a while to get rid of colds but this is a nasty one and she is miserable. (The original cold was going away but is back and really nasty.)
Anyway...Enjoy the many many pics.!

She really loves Eric and Alex!

I can't believe she is getting so big!

She wears these cute little outfits almost everyday!

He posed this way...guess its his "stud" look??

SO BIG!

Loves her "chew toys"!!

Happy Birthday Andy!!

2009-02-03T19:36:00.001-08:00

So here are a million pictures of Andy's big day!! He turned 28 today!!

I got up early and got Andy his Birthday Burger King breakfast! Crown too!!

SURPRISE DADDY!!! Andy just getting home from work.

Poor Alex not feeling well but keeping Mommy company while fixing supper.

Groovin with the music on the radio! A cold can't stop her moves!

Trying something new! Gyros...Andy said they were good but the smell made me sick so...

Attack of the balloons!! Over 60 of them! WHEW!

Trying to be tough but its not fun...

Andy trying out his present...Wii American Idol...so much fun!!

Alex gets her groovin moves from her Daddy!

Holy crud! 28 candles really do make smoke when blown out! SERIOUSLY!

" Better than ANYTHING cake"

Trying out the cool present from Auntie Becki!!

So not really sure what I'm doing wrong with the blog. Sorry for the big gaps between each picture.

I hope Andy had a good Birthday?!?!? We had fun blowing up the balloons and wrapping presents. It was fun to surprise Daddy! I don't know what happened with his surprise dinner. He said the Gyros were good but was he just trying to make me feel better?? I got really sick (head between my knees sick to my stomach) while cooking the meat. It just didn't agree with me I guess...so I didn't get to eat it. We've had so much fun tonight playing the American Idol Wii game. Andy has a very good voice!! Me...not so much!! But its a blast!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDY!!!

Holy long post!

2009-01-13T09:26:00.000-08:00

So here is another long post since I don't blog very often.
These first pictures are from my parents house Christmas Eve. They started a tradition of a pie eating contest each year. Since Andy isn't a fan of chocolate pie I was the one who did it for our family. I USED to love chocolate pie...not so much anymore!!

My oldest brother started off by shoving my face into the pie! I had chocolate pudding up my nose...GROSS!!

This brother thought he was going to win. HA! maybe next year!!

Face full of pie! YUM!

Sharing my pie with my brother in law!! (I was cheating but he was winning!! I had no other choice!) He almost puked when I did that!!

Compared to my face I don't think Lisa tried very hard to win!!

I took 3rd place! I was giggling so hard I had no chance of winning! My brother in law that I shared my pie with won 1st place and my cousin took 2nd...neither one of them laughed throughout the whole thing! Took winning very seriously I guess! :)

My BEAUTIFUL Lisa!! So glad she is home now!!

Ryleigh loving her baby!!

New Years Eve-playing the Wii...Eric loving BJ's hat!

Silly kids!

She is getting SO BIG!!

She did it!!!

2009-01-05T07:59:00.000-08:00

So because the three kids are always running around like crazy 2 and 4 year olds Ryleigh doesn't get much floor time. While the kids were eating breakfast I put her on the floor for a few minutes and noticed she kept laying on her side. So I thought I should snap a picture for Andy because it's a first for her and its exciting!! Then this is what she did!! I was so glad I had the camera in my hand so Andy can see it happen too!!

I think she was pretty surprised that she ROLLED OVER but then was pretty pleased with herself!! She is getting SO BIG!!

2008-12-11T12:37:00.000-08:00

Here are a million pictures of the kids! I can share the "Christmas picture" ones with you because Andy didn't like their outfits so we aren't using them for our Christmas cards. I thought the kids looked adorable but he said Alex's dress looked like something his sisters would have worn when they were little and I don't think he liked Ryleigh's either! OH-WELL!! We redid the pictures this morning and he is right, they do look better in matching jeans and shirts he went out and bought them last night! I'm just glad for his help in it this year!!

Looks like Eric has a little surprise in his nose! Don't know what that was!

Our tiny little Christmas tree!!

Smiling!! I LOVE her smiles!!

Rudolph Eric

Rudolph Alex

Rudolph Ryleigh-love her little hands and foot!

Rudolph family!! ...Plus Noah... :)

Caught another smile!!

Hello Again...

2008-12-11T11:24:00.001-08:00

So I've decided to close my Myspace account and start up this blogging stuff again! Myspace just isn't for me anymore and I'm not really into doing Facebook. This blogging is pretty fun so here we go again! I'll just ignore any comments I don't care for!! :)
Hey if you want a card from us I need your address PLEASE!!! Thanks!!
I will post pictures in a while...Andy should be home for lunch soon so I'll post them when he goes back to work!! ...As long as the kids cooperate!! :)

Farewell...for now...

2008-11-20T12:48:00.001-08:00

This is my last post for a while. Andy may choose to post something...who knows...but I will not be doing this anymore. At least for a while. I think I take things the wrong way when people comment on my posts. And maybe people misunderstand the things I say in them?? I just think this will help me to not have hurt feelings anymore. I am not upset with anyone who has commented on my posts...this is just what is for the best for now. :)

OH MY GOOD HECK!!!

2008-11-20T09:02:00.000-08:00

HOW ON EARTH AM I GOING TO GET THIS WEIGHT OFF???
I so badly HATE working out!!!!!!!!!! I just tried to do TAE BO...GRRROOOSSS!!! It KICKED MY BUTT!! I couldn't even finish the video!!!
I know I know...it will get better if I keep at it. It just sucks!! Me and Andy have decided to hang up posters in the basement of HUNKS and BABES for motivation. We both feel like puking by the time we get off the treadmill and neither of us do much more than a mile!
One more thing...my elbows hurt really bad now that I did that TAE BO video. Maybe I was doing it wrong??
GRRRR.....
:)

Finally!!

2008-11-17T09:49:00.000-08:00

We were FINALLY able to get a picture of Ryleigh smiling! We've been trying so hard for so long and at last here we go!! She would only smile for Eric! Hopefully we'll be able to capture an even better one but for now we are so excited with this one!!

Reality

2008-11-10T12:34:00.000-08:00

So apparently I am an extremely vain person. All I can think about is getting this weight off. I HATE looking down and seeing my belly and feeling different areas jiggle. I'm sad that I can't just be confident and happy with the way I look right now. I wish I could be "fat and sassy" "large and in charge" etc...I just can't. Maybe it's from growing up skinny with skinny siblings?? I realize I had a baby only 7 weeks ago but I set out to prove my doctor wrong. He said, "9 months on, 9 months off"... I am hoping its gone by Christmas. However, I think the goal may be a little harder to reach than originally planned. I still have time but so far NOT SO GOOD. I'm working my butt off but had a little set back when my incision started hurting really bad. I probably overdid it. But now I'm feeling good! I'll take it easy but I am working my butt off. Hopefully I really am literally working my BUTT off. It jiggles too! :) I try to diet but then I end up overeating. Why can't healthy food be as fun and taste as good as unhealthy food??!?!?!
Anyway...I just needed to vent. I sure wish this weight would just FALL OFF already and my body would instantly firm up a bit! That would be so nice!!

GRANDMA!!

2008-11-06T07:10:00.000-08:00

WHERE ARE MY GRANDMAS???

Oh Alex...

2008-11-06T06:47:00.000-08:00

Alex...our little GIRL...is so....so...so...???.... There are no words...!!

Because she doesn't listen...this is a burn from touching the stove

6:30 this morning she is on the counter trying to eat the marshmallows, a sucker and had a cookie in her mouth. Notice it is still dark outside. She beat me downstairs.

I told her to quit picking her nose so she went and hid on the stairs to do it. SO GROSS.

Sent her upstairs to get dressed...comes down with clothes that don't fit that I have in a box to put away. Plus they are on backwards.

The burn happened the other day but all the rest of the pictures are from today. And its only 9:00 AM!!! Can't wait to see what else she does today!

I LOVE THEM!

2008-11-03T06:46:00.001-08:00

I absolutely LOVE having kids!! This morning I made them "work" for their breakfast! There weren't any complaints about getting to help mommy! They each took turns adding the ingredients for the muffins, stirring, filling the muffin cups, watching to see if they were done, and even doing the dishes! We were all pretty soaked after we got done doing the dishes but boy did they have fun! And they sure enjoyed the muffins! Kids are so amazing and so much fun!! I LOVE being a Mom!!

2008-11-01T11:20:00.000-07:00

I don't have much time to write about our Halloween day but I posted a million pictures. The kids had a blast and got way too much candy. They seem to want to eat it all in one sitting so it is now on the fridge...the only place they cannot reach or climb to! Me and Ryleigh stayed home and passed out candy. The last couple of years we've had to turn the lights off outside because there are so many trick-or-treaters we run out of candy. This year we bought like $50.00 worth of candy to give out and ended up not having as many kids. We actually have candy left over. We still had a ton of kids though! Andy and some friends went out to try to win money at the costume contests. They only hit two places and at the last one is where they won. Andy won $50.00 and Darren won $150.00. Darren insisted that since it was Andy's costume he wore that Andy take $100.00 of it. NICE! So it wasn't as great as years past but he still came out ok!

Ryleigh in her "costume"

Eating their pumpkin looking pancakes

Silly kids!

Waaaaayyyyy too much candy! They each have a bowl!

Darren as the Tin Man!

Darren and Andy

checking out the goods!

Ready to go!

So pretty with her makeup and sparkles!

Andy's Halloween Costumes

2008-10-31T04:42:00.000-07:00

Andy amazes me with his ability to make costumes! He is so creative! Here is a look at all of his costumes he has made over the years! AMAZING!!

2004 Oscar the Grouch

2005- Tin Man

2006- SpongeBob

2007- Headless Horseman

2008- Army Toy

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

2008-10-31T04:18:00.000-07:00

We had our branch (church) Halloween party this last Wed. night and the kids had a blast! Eric went as Spiderman and Alex as Tinkerbell. It was so much fun getting them ready and seeing their excitement! I'm sure I'll be posting more pictures after tonight's fun trick-or-treating!!

Andy and Alex drawing monsters!

Eric playing games...He got ONE!

So funny to see them trying so hard not to use hands!

Poor Alex couldn't help but use her hands!

Eric coming out of the maze!

Tinkerbell and Spiderman!!

A little of everything...

2008-10-29T10:10:00.000-07:00

The kids painted their pumpkins yesterday and had so much fun! I stripped them down to their diapers and underwear and they hardly got dirty...YAHOO!! The only one to get paint in their hair was Noah...shocking! :) Ryleigh was so good the whole time they were painting. She just sat in her chair she loves so much! I'm posting a picture of Alex from this morning. I was in the kitchen getting breakfast ready when she started whining. I asked Eric what was wrong with her and he tried telling me but I couldn't understand him (speech starts next week). She woke up with a fever and a tummy ache so I thought maybe she was just being cranky. I told her to come into the kitchen and help me get breakfast ready. Eric said she couldn't because she was "stepping on something"...or so I thought that's what he was saying. She gets herself up on things and can't get down so I figured that's what she had done. I went in to see what she was "stepping" on...he was saying "CHOKING". She had her head through the handle of this mesh clothes basket we have and then had it twisted. She was really CHOKING. It was so scary...I could hardly get it off of her and almost ran to get the scissors to cut it off. The picture I took isn't very good but its almost like she has rope burn. The picture was taken 1/2 hour to 45 minutes after it happened. Most of the marks are gone now but there are still some on the side of her neck. I cut the handles off of it so it never happens again. Things happen so fast and I'm just really lucky Eric was here to let me know what was going on. SCARY. Does anyone else ever feel like they are just living day to day...like they are in a fog?? I can't shake it...maybe its from having 3 kids plus Noah?? Maybe its from everything that's been going on lately?? Maybe a mixture of both?? My heart aches. I miss my Lisa and worry about her. I know she has awesome people in Idaho but my heart still hurts. Eric keeps saying "uh-oh mommy's crying again..." and asks me when I'm going to stop crying. I'm just so sad. I feel really alone but I'm busy all the time so I don't know how I have time to feel this way. Something is definitely missing in my life. I don't know what. Maybe SLEEP??
Blah...sorry this was a post about the kids. I really am grateful for all that I have. I complain so much. I really am blessed and have so much.

I DID IT!!

2008-10-27T08:27:00.000-07:00

I DID IT!! I made it through an entire workout video! YAHOO!! And it really sucked!! haha I'm so glad I did it though! Ryleigh stayed sleeping and the kids for the most part stayed out of my way! This is the first time since having Ryleigh that I've done an entire workout video! My 'scar' from the c-section felt really tight the entire time I worked out and I have a pulled tendon in my abdomen area that is really sore but I DID IT!! Now my plan is to get on the treadmill once the kids go down for naps...if Ryleigh cooperates. I'm really mad at myself for putting so much weight on and for not working out more while I was pregnant. Now I get to work really hard to get it off...blah!!!! 60 DAYS!!

The kids thought it was fun to work out with me...for like 2 minutes! Then they gave up!!

60 Days

2008-10-27T06:46:00.000-07:00

Only 60 days until Christmas!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE Christmas!! ...but this is not about how many days until Christmas...it's about how many days I have to get back into my pre-prego clothes! With everything that has been going on lately I have had to give up the diet/working out but I'm back and starting strong! So here we go AGAIN! How awesome would it be if I'm back into my clothes by Christmas?? SO awesome! And Andy seems to really be motivating me. He has a big dumb mouth that keeps saying the wrong things and makes me feel really gross and it really hurts my feelings but at the same time really gets me wanting to get this stuff off of me. Guess I can't really blame him...he just doesn't think before he talks! But what guy does?!?!
...60 DAYS!!

2008-10-21T04:00:00.001-07:00

Thank you so much to everyone that shared their thoughts and testimonies with me. It has helped me so much to hear that you all really -truly- firmly believe in the gospel and have strong testimonies of it. I said I was searching for my "ahh ha"...searching for what my testimony really is. Last Friday (when I wrote that blog looking for answers) was the worst day of my life. I hope I never have another day that even comes close to that one. My sister and cousin both attend BYU-Idaho. They were driving to Utah for the weekend so my sister could start looking for a job as she is almost done with school. They were south of Pocatello when a moose ran out in front of them. I'm not going to blog very much about this as it is so very devastating. My cousin died at the scene and my sister somehow had minor injuries. Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us and it is His will in our lives. We have this time on earth to learn and to grow and to repent. This is our test...the reason we are here on this earth. I know that Heavenly Father loves each of us individually and he doesn't allow things to happen to hurt us. I am devastated by the loss of my cousin but I know that I can see her again and that our loving Heavenly Father has other plans for her than what we expected or wanted. It is His will and he knows better than us and we need to understand and trust in that. My amazing beautiful sister has such a strong and firm testimony of the gospel and as fearful of seeing people and causing lots of attention as she was she so badly wanted to attend sacrament meeting and partake of the sacrament. She just amazes me. We went to her ward for sacrament meeting and one of the hymns we sang was I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go. This was a very hard song for me to sing but it was sweet and helped me so much. I am grateful to have the gospel in my life and I'm grateful for the knowledge we have of eternal families. I don't think our families could get through this time if we didn't have the gospel. I am so grateful I still have my Lisa. I can't say more about this as my heart is so full. She is amazing and beautiful and I love her so much. I am so grateful I got to drive out with my parents to get her. My arms just ached to hold her. She is so strong and we will all get through this.

It may not be on the mountain height or over the stormy sea,
It may not be at the battle's front My Lord will have need of me.
But if, by a still, small voice he call To paths that I do not know,
I'll answer, dear Lord, with my hand in thine: I'll go where you want me to go.

I'll go where you want me to go, dear Lord, Over mountain or plain or sea;
I'll say what you want me to say, dear Lord; I'll be what you want me to be.

Perhaps today there are loving words Which Jesus would have me speak:
There may be now in the paths of sin Some wand'rer whom I should seek.
O Savior, if thou wilt be my guide, Tho dark and rugged the way,
My voice shall echo the message sweet: I'll say what you want me to say.

I'll go where you want me to go, dear Lord, Over mountain or plain or sea;
I'll say what you want me to say, dear Lord; I'll be what you want me to be.

There's surely somewhere a lowly place in earth's harvest fields so wide
Where I may labor through life's short day For Jesus, the Crucified.
So trusting my all to thy tender care, And knowing, thou lovest me,
I'll do thy will with a hear sincere: I'll be what you want me to be.

I'll go where you want me to go, dear Lord, Over mountain or plain or sea;
I'll say what you want me to say, dear Lord; I'll be what you want me to be.

Help

2008-10-17T03:12:00.000-07:00

Any LDS bloggers who may read this blog...I need your help. Please, if you will, share with me why you believe our church is the true church. I realize with conference 2 weeks behind us I should be on a spiritual high right now... Please just give me something...anything...something that will make me remember or realize...make me go "ahh ha, what was I thinking to doubt it?". And please do not judge me...I'm not at a good place right now.

WEAK

2008-10-16T12:14:00.000-07:00

I am seriously sucking at this diet! I have yet to workout let alone walk a mile every day. I'm so weak when it comes to diets...If I told you all I've eaten today is a bowl of cheerios at 6:45 this morning, carrot and celery sticks at lunch and more carrot and celery sticks for snack just now you might think I'm not doing so horribly. ...The carrot and celery sticks were covered in peanut butter. LOTS and LOTS of peanut butter. NOT GOOD! But even with the peanut butter I'm doing better today than I have all week. Tomorrow's a new day and I just won't add the peanut butter!! It's so good though!! The really sad thing is that I have a slight reaction when I eat peanut butter. My lips get itchy and really sore...so you'd think I wouldn't eat it...you'd think.

3 strikes you're out?

2008-10-15T16:44:00.000-07:00

Last night Alex tripped while going up the stairs to bed. I didn't see it happen but she must have face planted into the stairs because she ended up having a bloody nose and a fat lip. Strike 1!
Now tonight she was walking in the living room and just face planted into the floor. No bloody nose this time but she bled from the mouth and made her fat lip come back! I was holding Ryleigh and had to lay her down so I asked Alex to go into the bathroom. Her hands were all bloody from holding her mouth so the light switch, wall and sink were all covered with blood. Not being dramatic...there was lots of blood! It was really gross! I don't know if you can really see it in the pictures I'm posting but she also has like rug burn on her chin. Poor girl! Strike 2!
If there is a strike 3 (keep your fingers crossed there isn't) I'm sure it will end up with her knocking herself out!

Here We Go...

2008-10-14T04:57:00.000-07:00

"It took 9 months to put it on...It'll take 9 months to take it off"...so says my doctor about my pregnancy weight gain. I'm out to prove him wrong! It started falling off nicely while I was breastfeeding but then when I quit I put a little back on and now I'm just kinda stuck. I gained 30 lbs with this last pregnancy and still have 10 of it to lose...but LOTS of firming up to do!! :) I don't want to do any hardcore workouts yet as I'm not supposed to do anything for 6 weeks and it's only been 3. I am however going to walk at least 1 mile everyday and do my "easy" workout video and be careful of what I am eating. I did part of a workout video last week (until I was interrupted by Ryleigh!) and just wanted to roll over and die! It sucks being SO out of shape! But I'm sure it'll get easier as I go as long as I stick with it! My goal is to have it all gone and be back into all my old clothes by Christmas. I would say Thanksgiving but I get the feeling that won't be long enough for Miss Inconsistent over here!
WISH ME LUCK!!

2008-10-09T11:02:00.001-07:00

Not that i'm a huge fan of getting struck by lightening but I have to say that somedays I think its obvious I was created by a MALE. At least that's how i've been feeling since I had Ryleigh...child number 3. We aren't going to get into the "poor me, why do I have to be female and have to have a period and hormones blah blah blah"...although I do wonder that once in a while! I am wondering why God only gave me 2 arms. Yah, that worked when I had 2 kids!! I could manage 2 kids and cooking and housework etc with 2 arms...now that we have 3 kids those things aren't as manageable. So this is what i'm thinking...If I were to make a woman...haha...I'd make it where if/when needed she could pop out extra arms! Take me for instance, the breastfeeding didn't work out this time around so I don't need boobs for anything...what a perfect place for an extra set of arms!! Imagine the advantages of that! I could get so much more done!! Ok, so it might freak Andy out a little bit but I would bet meals would be on time, the house clean, kids under control and Ryleigh content! Hey, if we are able to grow a human inside of us for 9 whole months we should be able to grow an extra set of arms from time to time!!
Haha I'm such a dork!!

Just a Picture Post

2008-10-03T13:46:00.000-07:00

So frustrating...

2008-10-03T11:41:00.000-07:00

Having 3 kids is a lot harder than I had thought it would be. Don't get me wrong...I LOVE having all 3 of them and feel so incredibly blessed. Ryleigh has just not been a happy baby. She sleeps ALL the time...I know that's usual for newborns but she does it more than normal. When she's awake she's eating and I'm unbelievably sore because she's not latching on right and before she's full she falls asleep. If she is awake and not eating she's crying all the time. She just hasn't been very content. Nights have been a nightmare as she is waking up wanting to eat and I'm so so tired and it hurts so bad that I can hardly feed her laying down. Yesterday I got what I thought was a blocked milk duct so I'm even more sore. Oh my goodness is the pain unreal. I never once cried because of the pain of my c-section but last night that's all I could do is cry. I took two hot showers, put hot wet towels on...and went to bed early. I think I had a fever because I was so freezing cold and could not warm up but then woke up really hot and my whole body was wet from sweating. Part of my crying all night was due to the fact that Andy went out and bought formula and bottles and we got her started on that. That's right...I'm giving up the breast feeding. I feel like a woman who has had her breasts cut off...I seriously mourned the fact that I am unable to continue breast feeding. It was such a beautiful experience with Alex and I really loved the bonding we had. Me and Ryleigh just aren't working out together. And I would continue to cry and be sad about it except that I've seen how much better she already is today. She gulped down two bottles last night so that tells me she was hungry so maybe I was kind of starving her?? She slept in her bassinet all night with only one bottle at 3 AM...before she was up all night and had to sleep with us. And now today she has been awake so much more and really content. She just sits and looks around and isn't crying. Its amazing. She's a completely different baby today than she was yesterday. Luckily she had her 2 week check up today. I say luckily but its not really all that lucky. Her doctor looked at my boob that hurts so bad and said its not a blocked milk duct but rather Mastitis?? A breast infection. So now I'm taking something to take care of that and she said if I were to not take it I would end up having puss come out of my nipples. How insane is that? However the lucky but unlucky news is that she took Ryleigh's diaper off that Andy had seriously JUST changed due to poopy pants and we discovered she had pooped AGAIN. All of a sudden she asks very concerned if Ryleigh has had blood in her stool for a while. ??? WHAT??? We had never noticed it before so she took her diaper to lab and sure enough it really is blood. So she is thinking Ryleigh has a milk allergy. So is that an allergy to the formula she's been on less than 24 hours?? She gave us some other formula's to try and hopefully they work. I just don't understand why she is so content if she all of a sudden has an allergy. She said blood in a baby's stool is alarming and is never a good thing so if that's the only sign she's going to give us that she has an allergy than I'll take it. I just would think she'd be fussy??
Anyway...I hope we can get this all figured out. It's really overwhelming and emotionally draining. I'm glad its almost the weekend and Andy will be able to be home. That will be nice.

Ryleigh Ann...Here she is

2008-09-22T13:57:00.001-07:00

This is andy blogging and i have never done this before. These are pictures of our newest bundle of joy. Everything went well. Ryleigh Ann was 7 lbs 14 oz. and 21 1/2 inches long. This picture here is a Beanie Baby she received just to show you how small she is. AND BEAUTIFUL....

My Sweet Angels

2008-09-18T12:57:00.000-07:00

Busted with Mommy's eyeliner!

Eric "being Mommy"!! Oh so funny...!!

I love these two to pieces!! They have been so amazingly sweet to me. They both came into our bed this morning...usually not such a sweet thing...this morning I didn't mind. I'm going to miss them so much while I'm in the hospital so there are no arguments when they come into our bed. Anyway...they came in and Alex was on my left and Eric on my right side. Alex was falling asleep there rubbing my arm and Eric was rubbing my face. It was dark so I don't think either of them knew the other was rubbing me! Maybe my fat skin is so so soft?? (That's what my mom used to say about her skin when I would tell her it was so soft!) Since this was at an hour they should have been sleeping and they were both half asleep I think they were just being loving and sweet! I loved it though!! I love when Eric just comes up to me and says he loves me and when Alex says "Love...mommy...sooo...much". (Her sentences come out slowly!) We have been so blessed with sweet sweet children! I just adore everything about them!!

OH MY GOODNESS

2008-09-18T11:21:00.002-07:00

In less than 24 hours we will have a baby. I'm getting to the basket case point now. Andy asked what was with me while he was home for lunch because I was being really silly. I think I'm just going nuts! It's better to be silly and giggle than to sit down and cry right?? Don't get me wrong...I'm so excited! I'm just really nervous for tomorrow to actually come.

Just an EVERYTHING post...

2008-09-17T15:42:00.000-07:00

I don't have anything exciting to blog about or any cute pictures of our kids to show off...I think mostly I'm just getting really anxious and nervous about this baby coming. I love this blog stuff because I can use it to vent out all of my nerves and frustrations!!
First frustration: Had an OB checkup 2 weeks ago and was at a certain weight...went in 1 week later to meet with the doctor doing the c-section and was still at that same weight. One week later (2 days ago) I go in for my last OB checkup and I gained 6 lbs. WHAT??? I was shocked. 6 POUNDS!! 6 STINKIN POUNDS in ONE WEEK!! WHAT IS THAT?? I'm not swollen or anything that would explain 6 lbs. The doctor just laughs at me as he has this entire pregnancy. He probably thinks I'm some really vain dumb girl who is pregnant and doesn't want to gain any weight. I'm totally fine with gaining weight and being very healthy for the baby. I'm all for that! I just don't want to gain the weight I did with Eric. Oh my goodness...I was a WHALE! He says he wanted me to gain 30 lbs and now I've done that...he says it like 30 lbs is oh so easy to lose. Grr...
Anyway...I had a very productive day today. I cleaned all of my kitchen cupboards. Ok well not the ones with pots and pans but I did all the food ones. That made me really mad at myself. We just painted what 9 months ago?? We're talking pulling all the food out of the cupboards and putting it all back when we were done painting....key words...PUTTING IT ALL BACK. I had food that expired in 2007. WHY ON EARTH WOULD I PUT OUTDATED FOOD BACK?? So dumb. Anyway...its all clean and taken care of NOW! Then I went outside and cleaned the garage. I even went so far as to sweep it all out! After naps we all went back outside and the kids wanted me to make them a pile with the leaves. So yep! I raked the yard. Well most of it. Only to have the kids spread the leaves everywhere. It was fun for them though. Not so fun for me at the moment however. I'm pretty sore and exhausted now. Sad thing is I still have so much to do tonight. The daycare kids moms and our neighbor all think I'm nesting. NESTING?? No, definitely not nesting...nesting would have been a month ago. What this is is FREAKING OUT that I didn't do it a month ago and now we'll have a baby in TWO DAYS!! :) I just hope I have all the important stuff done. I think all the baby stuff is ready. The stuff I'll need is pretty much ready. Now I just need to do a last cleaning so I don't get to do it 2 days after I get home. Maybe if I'm really good and plan it out just right I can do a little tonight, some tomorrow while the kids are here, and then the rest after the kids leave tomorrow night. I don't want to vacuum while the kids are still here...that would be pointless. The good news is that both of the kids will be picked up at 4:30!! One wasn't going home till 6:30 but her grandma is coming to get her at 4:30 so I can have the night with my family! SO NICE!
Ok well I guess this is getting a little long...Hope if anyone reads this they don't mind reading every thought that has gone through my head the last 15 minutes! :) Just getting it all out!
OH and one final vent! ANDY DOESN'T LIKE OUR NAMES WE HAVE PICKED OUT. ??? He is such a pain! He likes them and then all of a sudden "they just don't feel right". But yet if I throw out a hundred other names they don't feel right either. He can't figure out any names and hasn't exactly thrown out any himself. Hopefully we get this figured out before Friday. I would really really love to have a name for our baby when it comes out!
Ok that's all. ...for now! I'm a bundle of nerves so maybe I'll post a million more times before we go in Friday at 10:00!!
:)

Big Helpers?

2008-09-15T10:40:00.000-07:00

I think it was about 6 months or more ago that we discovered Eric could change Alex's diapers. It got to the point of Alex wanting only Eric to change her diapers and would cry if we did it. Now he only did it maybe 5 times so it's not like we got lazy and just had him start doing it! It was like most things with a 4 year old...it got old fast and he stopped doing it. But it was really interesting to see how well he could do it.
The Barbies are now put away with the intent of someday soon throwing them away. (Out of sight, out of mind??) I gotta say its been nice not hearing my kids say "boobies" a million times a day or hearing them fight over Ken and clothes and shoes and brushes. HONESTLY, what is with Barbie actually having boobs?? What kid needs to see that?? And I gotta say being 9 months prego...I got a little jealous seeing her perfect body! Who really looks like that?? :) Anyway..enough rant about Barbie... This is what the kids thought was really fun to do with the Barbies and it made me a little excited that they are going to be such good helpers when this baby arrives. No, they won't actually be changing diapers but its nice to know that they are big enough to help me out! Hopefully they never try to hold the baby by the head though!! ;)
(Sorry the pictures are out of order.)

Forgive me...

2008-09-13T08:55:00.001-07:00

...I think any blogging I do this week is all going to be about the baby. I have been seriously so freaked out about the surgery and everything that goes with it but now I just can't wait. Don't get me wrong...I'm out of my mind scared about the c-section...its not like I just get to go in, get cut open, and bam there's a baby. Ok, well yes that's the way it goes but there is so much to it!! I cannot wait to see this baby and hold it and cuddle it!! This is going to be the longest week ever! So today I've been going through all the baby clothes my sister sent up and all the clothes and blankets we've had in storage. Our living room is a disaster...full of all this laundry I have to do today. It's been so fun though to see the blankets Eric and Alex had as babies and some of their little outfits! It would be so much easier to do this if I knew the sex but I'm just going to wash it all and separate it into tubs so when we get home we can either put the boy stuff or the girl stuff back into storage. OHH so much to do today! It would be nice if I didn't have kids this week but since I do have them all week I have to get it all done today. So back to work I guess...just needed a break so I thought I'd blog my excitement!!
I CANNOT WAIT FOR FRIDAY TO COME!!!

OH GOOD HECK...

2008-09-10T07:32:00.000-07:00

Our baby will be born NEXT FRIDAY!! Surgery time is set for Friday, September 19th at 12:00 PM. WE WILL HAVE A BABY NEXT FRIDAY!! Holy crud!! I cannot believe this pregnancy is almost over already. I cannot wait to meet the newest addition to our family!! The doctor that will do the surgery measured me yesterday and said this will definitely not be an 8 lb baby. Guess we will see!!
Our doctor (doing the surgery) told me every little detail of what is going to take place. I'm the kind of person who would rather be brought in and just have it done...Please do not tell me everything you are going to do to me. It really has me freaked out now. But she also said that after they get the baby out she'll hold the baby up over the sheet so I can see him/her. My old doctor never did that so I am excited for that! I'd love to see my baby before its all cleaned up! I've never seen one that has just come out. Is that dumb that I feel that way??
Anyway...WE'LL HAVE A BABY NEXT FRIDAY!! WOW!!

Need opinions...

2008-09-05T14:52:00.000-07:00

We have an issue in our house. Although it may seem dumb to everyone else it has been a pretty serious issue here in the Klous house. It's caused some minor arguments...nothing too serious but definitely disagreements. My mom sent up a bag of Barbies and accessories for Alex to have. Well someone else likes playing with them too...ERIC. Andy has had a fit that he is wanting to play with Barbies. He even took him outside the first day Eric attempted to play with them and played catch with him! I thought it was cute! My opinion has been that he is 4 years old and is only playing with his sister just as she plays catch, cars and every other "boy" activity with him. Although I think Barbies are dumb I do think its good Alex has something girly to play with because she is a very tough girl and is definitely already a tomboy. I don't think playing with Barbies is going to make Eric grow up to be a sissy. HOWEVER, I don't know if I am just so frazzled because I've had kids all week and I'm so pregnant and tired and GRUMPY but I am getting REALLY IRRITATED hearing Eric fight with his sister over Barbies and accessories. And whining that he can't find an outfit to match the shoes the Barbie is wearing. He is also making my skin crawl when he makes a high pitched voice to sound like a girl as he's playing with them. He really and truly is starting to act and sound like the boy from "I now pronounce you Chuck and Larry" or whatever that movie is called. I kinda feel like he's going to start prancing around the living room pretty soon. As I am writing this he is making Ken and Barbie kiss. Ok, I've answered this myself...or rather he has just answered it for me...the Barbies are going to disappear. We'll have to find something else for Alex to play with that is girly. Andy was right, I was wrong. I just really thought it was something he wanted to do so bad because Andy was making such a big deal out of it. Still please give me your opinion. I was going to ask if you guys thought Andy was being silly about it but now I'm asking if you think WE are being silly about it. Are we wrong to make the Barbies disappear?? I WANT TO TAKE HIM OUTSIDE AND PLAY CATCH WITH HIM!! Why does he love them so much??

So Special...

2008-09-03T10:36:00.000-07:00

Our children are so so "special". They were playing the other day while I was in the kitchen when they yelled for me to come take their picture. This is what I found. I don't know who had the idea to hike up their shorts so far and take their shirts off but if I had to guess my guess would be it was Eric! Goofy kids! I love 'em!

I had a doctors appointment yesterday...it wasn't the icky kind i was dreading all day. The nurse had one of those little sheets to cover up with waiting for me on the bed/table thing but then said she would have to ask the doctor if it was needed. Turns out the "swab" they would have done yesterday was to check for some virus thing you can pass onto your baby when it comes out and since I'm having a c-section it wasn't necessary!! YAHOO!! I'm on my third kid so you'd think I'm past being shy about that stuff...you'd think. Another plus...I only gained 3 lbs and that was even after being on vacation!! I was pretty happy about that!! :)
I go back next Tuesday and talk with the doctor that will do the c-section and we'll set a date for the surgery. YIKES...I really have to push the thoughts and fears of c-section to the very back of my mind or else I really freak out. I'm so excited for this baby to come but am so scared of the process.
BOY? GIRL? BOY? GIRL? We'll SOON find out!! A little over 2 weeks!!
HOLY CRUD!!

Belly...

2008-08-28T12:15:00.000-07:00

So my belly has obviously been growing and growing these past 9 months! Maybe not at first so much but definitely the last 4-5!! I thought it would be fun to see how much it has grown. I'm always the one with the camera so I don't really have any pictures from before May but that's about when it started to REALLY grow!

May...little belly!

June...little bigger!

July...getting even bigger!!

August...ready to POP!!

We'll see what it looks like next month! I'll have to do a picture the day before I go in. We'll see how much bigger I am then...hopefully not TOO much bigger!

3 WEEKS TO GO!!

2008-08-28T11:41:00.000-07:00

36 weeks! BIG BELLY!

Holy Crud!! I cannot believe we only have 3 weeks left until this baby comes!! Believe me, I'm SO ready for this baby to come out! I love the feeling of being pregnant...feeling that baby move and kick is unreal and I always miss that feeling after the baby does come. HOWEVER, I've never been more ready for "delivery"! Maybe you are right Becki, I have a big belly and small baby!! Whatever the reason...this baby will not give me a break with the kicking and punching and stretching and whatever else it's doing in there. Maybe its trying to be like its big brother Eric...watched the Olympics and is now trying to be a gymnast!! Sure feels that way!! :) I haven't been sleeping at all the last week or so...either have heartburn, the baby has hiccups or it just wont settle down. I'm left feeling wide awake and HUNGRY. I've been so good at not getting up at night to eat...its something I've refused to do. I caved this morning at like 5:30...I'd been awake for almost 3 hours thinking about how hungry I was and the baby was just going crazy. So I finally gave in and had a bowl of cereal. Baby settled down, I crashed for a half hour and then the stupid alarm went off. You'd think after being awake ALL night crashing for a half hour would be like power nap...wake up with lots of energy...not even close! It was so hard crawling out of bed!! But I guess its helping me get used to being up all night with a baby again. (I'm trying to find the positive in it!)

I should post the pictures of our fun vacation but really have no desire to. I think I just figure the only two people on my friends list went on the same vacation and have the same pictures so whats the point?!?!?!? I know there are other people who read this blog too...I just can't figure out how to add them onto the friends list...that's Andy's job! So at some point I will blog about our trip for you guys! ...Just not today!

Doing a little better!

2008-08-18T16:07:00.000-07:00

Besides my amazing husband...this girl right here is my soul mate!! She is perfect in almost every way. Again, besides my husband...she is my best friend. I'm not including Andy in this because I'm "supposed to"...he really is my soul mate and best friend. Before he came along this was the girl that knew everything about me and loved me anyway. He came along and she moved away...this is called life. He is my absolute everything and knows me better than anyone and in some amazing superhero way is able to be everything and more than I ever hoped for and NEEDED. I have so much emotion when I think about him...I just might break out into a country song!! He really is my everything. But she still knows so much about me and loves me unconditionally and is able to tell me when I'm wrong and/or being ridiculous! She is kind and beautiful and spiritually she is a ROCK. She is hilarious and there is never a dull moment when she is around. I had the best time with her this last weekend and am so so sad that our fun is over and I don't get to see her until Christmas. I cannot wait till Christmas! Hopefully someday we live closer and we won't have to go through the rough goodbyes. She truly is an amazing girl and I'm so lucky to have her for a sister.

Venting...

2008-08-18T12:38:00.000-07:00

I'm using this blog to vent right now. I know no one else cares but I need to get this out.
I AM SO FREAKIN' SAD RIGHT NOW. This poor boy I watch just stares at me as I'm crying my head off. I'm trying so hard to keep it in but that just makes it worse and I cry harder. I hate the fact that my sister is in the state of MN and I am not with her. She is an hour away and I'm stuck here. I'm grateful that I get to watch this boy and for the income it gives us but I am not loving sitting here knowing my sister is here until Thursday and I don't get so see her anymore than I already have. She came Friday morning and stayed until Saturday. We drove to Aitkin Saturday morning and stayed until Sunday night. I haven't seen her in forever and my time with her went by so fast. I'm so glad for the time I had with her and don't mean to sound ungrateful but she's still in MN and I'm not able to be there with her. Being a grown up really sucks some days.
And so do hormones.

What the heck??

2008-08-13T02:27:00.000-07:00

So here I sit...on the computer...at 4:30 in the MORNING. I don't have my extra little guy today so I should be sleeping in until at least 7 or 7:30. ...This is not what I consider sleeping in! Who on earth wakes up sneezing?? It was the most bizarre thing I've ever done and it really scared me! I went from dreaming to sneezing! Does that mean I wasn't 100% asleep?? Can you really be sleeping and start sneezing?? Unfortunately that's not the end of my story... So I'm tossing and turning and unable to go back to sleep. I try to fight with my bladder because I hate getting up and going downstairs so early...so I'm fighting with that... Finally give in and go downstairs...and I end up getting the hiccups. Surprisingly they don't last too crazy long but then the heartburn begins. Are you kidding me?? It wasn't even 4 AM yet!! Hope this isn't the start to a really bad day!
Just so you don't think I'm entirely crazy...I have been fighting with allergies pretty bad the last couple of weeks. I usually wake up during the night (having to pee, of course!) and fight with an itchy throat or itchy eyes. I'm usually able to go back to sleep though.
Here I am...wide awake...and now my tummy is rumbling! BEAUTIFUL!

Long blog update...

2008-08-12T16:17:00.000-07:00

I don't really care for pop but once in a while it tastes good. I'm not really good at drinking a whole one myself...it either gets dumped out or the kids eventually drink it for me. I started a pop this afternoon and left it on the stove so the kids wouldn't get it or spill it. Andy came home from work and the boy I watch went home so I was relaxing on the couch, celebrating that I don't have that little boy tomorrow (yahoo!!) when I hear Alex go into the kitchen. I asked her what she was doing and she responds "drink...daddy...pop". She's our climber so I put two and two together that she was trying to get my pop. Too exhausted to really care I just let her go for it. Then a couple minutes later we hear chatter and giggles in the kitchen and this is what we found:

Apparently the stove isn't the best place to "put things up"! I don't know how many pictures we have of Alex sitting on the counter eating something that was "put up". Usually its cookies out of the cupboard. Maybe I should start putting everything in the lower cupboards when they aren't looking! They are monsters and I love them to pieces!!

I had a checkup yesterday. It was a good one...still just weighing in, getting measurements and listening to the heartbeat. I can hardly wait for the fun appointments when they "check" you.

I go again in 3 weeks and then I'll go once a week. Those will be the fun appointments. :( I gained another 4 lbs. I'm starting to not really care...I haven't been eating the greatest foods but I haven't been so bad either and I've been walking almost every day so I figure the baby is growing and I'm just going to gain weight no matter what. My doctor said I'm the exact same weight now as I was with Alex at this time (33 weeks). I thought that was interesting. He also said I'm the same weight now as I was with Eric at 23 weeks!! hahaha I was so huge with him!! I was 186 lbs when I had Eric and 165 lbs when I had Alex. So crazy!! I asked him again about going to South Dakota. He didn't say yes and he didn't say no. He said if I were to try to fly to SD they wouldn't let me board the plane and that driving puts me at higher risks of things. But he also said that if something were to go wrong he's sure there are hospitals on the way to and in SD and if I do decide to go that I have to stop often and walk around. I'm sure everything will be fine!!

Anyway...I'm absolutely out of my mind exhausted tonight. I'm getting more and more tired. Can't wait for that energy boost I read about in my baby books that is supposed to be coming??? The kids are so good to me...they get the lotion out and rub my legs and my feet. Usually without my even asking! They are so beautiful and sweet! Eric told me today at nap time that he can't wait for the baby to come! I'm glad they are excited!! I'm just a little excited too! ;)

6 weeks and 2 days!!...

2008-08-06T08:47:00.000-07:00

...Not that I'm counting or anything!! 6 weeks until this baby comes!! I CANNOT wait!! I have so many exciting things coming in the next 6 weeks and all i get to do is WAIT, WAIT, WAIT!! Lisa is FINALLY coming HOME where she BELONGS but not until next week. We FINALLY get to see BECKI, RYAN and KLOUS plus Danny and Andrea and Andrea's tiny little belly!! :)...but not for 2 WHOLE WEEKS. (Becki, you have NO idea how excited I am for our trip!! We are going to have SO much fun!! But we have to WAIT!!) And in that time I turn 26...not so excited about turning another year older but hey, its a birthday and birthdays are always exciting! And while on our trip to South Dakota me and Andy will celebrate our 5 year anniversary!! THAT'S exciting!! 5 YEARS!! WOW!! I'm glad there are so many awesome things going on to help pass the time until this baby comes. I think I would just go crazy if I had to do the same thing day in and day out until he/she arrives!!
So I know its a little early but I set up the cradle where the baby will sleep in our room. I rearranged our entire bedroom. EVERYTHING has a new spot!! That was some heavy moving (the bed, the dresser with the t.v on it)!! Eric helped me and had so much fun screwing in the screws to the cradle. He kept saying he hopes the baby is a boy! He changes his mind every day though...some days he wants a brother and others he wants two sisters so???!! Guess he'll be happy either way! I get so frustrated thinking about all the things I need to do before we have the baby but then decide i can only do so much without knowing the sex of the baby. And that frustrates me even more!! I would like to have the dresser all set with the clothes but all the clothes are in boxes in the garage and basement. Since I'm having a c-section I don't really think I'm going to be up to digging through clothes in the garage and basement and washing them after the baby comes and we finally find out the sex!!... So I guess I'll just pick out the onesies, sleepers and blankets that could go either way boy or girl?? SO MUCH TO DO!!
Guess this is what I'll be doing while I'm WAITING for all of our excitement to happen!!

SHE'S COMING HOME!!!

2008-08-05T09:50:00.000-07:00

My sister Lisa is finally coming home!! I cannot wait!! She goes to school at BYU-Idaho so obviously I don't get to see her very often. When she does come home its only for like a week so its never long enough. That's what she's doing this time...only staying a week so I'm going to make the most of our time together!! She is flying in on Thursday and will come to my house Friday (its my birthday!). Then since Andy has softball tournaments in Duluth all weekend me, Lisa and the kids will drive to Aitkin on Saturday and spend the rest of the weekend there. Unfortunately that's all I will get to see Lisa. :( But we have big plans of eating birthday cake all night Friday night and having our usual crazy fun all weekend!! She is such a blast and I love her SOOOO much!! I'm pretty sure she will be all finished with school before Christmas so hopefully she'll get to come home and stay longer then. She doesn't want to live in MN but maybe we can convince her its a rockin' state now that she's been gone so long?!?!? Have to find her a nice LDS MN boy! She can't seriously live so far away forever!!
I CAN'T WAIT FOR NEXT THURSDAY TO COME!!!

Another Goodbye...

2008-07-24T20:10:00.000-07:00

I had to say Goodbye to yet another pair of jeans today. I just wore them the other day and they fit nicely. They went up fine today but then were way too uncomfortable when I buttoned them so we've parted ways! I think that was my last pair of pre-prego jeans. This baby is growing lots and lots and my belly is getting HUGE!
8 weeks to go!!! I can't wait!!!

31 weeks today

Unreal

2008-07-18T21:02:00.000-07:00

I am sitting here at 11:00 at night waiting for Andy to get home from doing his Relay for Life walking. Me and the kids tagged along with him until 9:45... I don't even know how to describe how I am feeling about our experience there. It is being held at this great big park with nice long walking paths. Lining the entire walking paths are bags with peoples names that have either died from, have or have had cancer. Not only are they lining the path but because there are so many they have a ton of them set up in an outdoor hockey rink. Inside these bags there is a single candle. They hadn't lit them yet (when we left) but people that have done this in past years said its amazing to see all the candles burning together in the dark. I cannot believe how many people have had or do have cancer...let alone those that have died from it. And that's just people that family members in this area did bags for. We had 4 bags made up...One for my mom, one for Andy's mom, and one each for a Grandpa and a Grandma on Andy's side. There were hundreds of people there and a bunch of different teams put together that will all walk... Andy is on a team from the bank. At 10:00 (I'm guessing after the candles are all lit) someone from each team starts walking. There has to be someone from each team walking at all times and they walk all night long...until the first bird flies?? Since Andy has to work bright and early tomorrow morning he was only staying until midnight. How amazing would that be though to take part in something like that?? I bet its pretty powerful over there right now! To stay up all night walking in honor of your family members and/or friends. WOW. We walked the whole thing so we could find our 4 bags (which were all in different areas so very hard to find) and we took pictures. Unfortunately it wasn't our camera so i doubt I'll be able to share the pictures on here. I was so blown away though to see how many people cancer has affected in our community. If you ever get to take part in something like this I really recommend you do. It's powerful.
One little vent though...don't come to a cancer walk puffing on a cigarette. Doesn't make much sense. I realize smoking is a tough habit to kick but come on... There was one lady there that had one of the shirts that said something to the effect of "Had it, fought it, beat it"...something like that... So she has HAD cancer and she was puffing away on a cigarette. Seems a bit sad to me. I guess that's her struggle in life so I shouldn't judge her.
I'm very proud of Andy for taking part in this. He is so awesome. I'm glad he's walking in honor of our moms and in memory of his grandparents. If he didn't have to work in the morning it would have been a great all night date night.

She's on to us!

2008-07-17T11:21:00.001-07:00

Now that I'm watching this extra little guy (which means two 2 year olds 8 hours a day 5 days a week) Eric has really become my big helper. I don't know what I would do without his help...probably go crazy! I refer to him as the big kid and the other two as the little kids. I think that makes him feel big and important. Right after lunch the little kids go to take their naps and Eric gets to just hang out on the couch with me. I tell him he doesn't have to take a nap just rest for awhile...99% of the time he falls asleep!! This last week our favorite thing to do together has been putting the kids down for their naps and then hanging out on the couch and eating our yummy tootsie rolls! He eats a few and then lays down and falls asleep. Well yesterday Ms. Alex came down the stairs and caught us. I gave her one tootsie roll and sent her back upstairs for her nap. However, I think she has caught on to us. Today she kept sneaking down the stairs and I kept sending her back. Was she looking for that big bag of tootsie rolls?? After I thought she was sleeping I pulled out the candy and me and Eric enjoyed a couple then he fell asleep. Alex wasn't sleeping after all...she came down again and so I figured we'd take the time and enjoy some bonding time like me and Eric do. I'm sure I'm going to regret not giving her a nap today but we have to have those special moments too. I remember being little and feeling important when I got to get out of taking a nap and being able to just hang out with my mom.
I love being a mommy!! It's so awesome!! And I just adore my kids!!

I hope she doesn't think she gets to do this all the time now!

Had to say Goodbye...

2008-07-16T10:06:00.001-07:00

Sadly I had to say goodbye to my beloved car. I've had that car since I was 18...she was my first and only. What an amazing car she was... There are a TON of memories in that car. I taught my sisters not only how to drive but how to spin out and do girly doughnuts! There were lots of good times and lots of tears in her. She saw me through for sure 3 dumb boyfriends and then took a beating when I got married and she got decorated on our wedding night...inside and out. The inside has never looked the same. She carried our two babies home from the hospital when they were born and has taken them to many places and back safely. But now we have another baby on the way and we just don't have the room needed so we traded her in for a MINIVAN. Yes, you read that right...a MINIVAN. The one vehicle I SWORE I would never drive. 25 years old and I am now pimping around in a MINIVAN! ...and no offence to my old car but... I LOVE IT!! We bought a 2006 Dodge Grand Caravan. It is so nice and there is so much room! Its power everything. You push buttons and the doors open and the back opens. Push the buttons again and they all close. Its so magical! I would have loved to hang on to my Pontiac Grand AM but there is no other vehicle I would drive now. And the kids absolutely love it!!

Saying goodbye to a very good car...
Hello minivan!! White isn't my fav. color though...

Magic doors...open with the push of a button!

A CD PLAYER!! YAHOO!!!

WHAT?!? Power windows?? Movin' on up!

I'm sad to say goodbye to my old car and our memories together but am really happy with our new van. I'm a dork for being so excited about the power everything but my car only had the crank windows and they were a real pain sometimes! And I didn't have a CD player either!

I didn't cry when we left my car in that parking lot all alone because a mom and her son came in to look at her while we were there and said her son was probably going to buy it. They looked like nice people and i think (hope) he'll be good to her. It's not some punk kid who only wants to trash it. I tried driving by yesterday to see if the car was still there and Eric got really sad. He almost started crying and said he missed the car and wanted it back. He's been the most excited one about the van so I was really surprised. That's the closest I've been to crying about it! ...That and this morning when we put $75.00 worth of GAS in the van...HOLY CRUD!! I'll never let it get on empty again!

...And...ANDY LOOKS HOT DRIVING A MINIVAN!! For real!! :)

Finally!

2008-07-16T07:59:00.000-07:00

At our last ultrasound we didn't get very good pictures of the baby as he/she was being very stubborn and was all curled up. We had to go in for a second ultrasound because they couldn't see all that they needed to with the heart. EVERYTHING is fine!! They got to see it perfectly this time and all looks good. The baby was once again being stubborn but finally did turn so we could get some profile pictures. It is so amazing watching this baby on a screen. Today we got to see the baby sticking its tongue out, yawning and making sucking or chewing motions with its mouth! SO cute!! I cannot wait to hold this little one!!

This is the one with the tongue sticking out! Can you see it?!?

Our Children

2008-07-08T10:05:00.000-07:00

Anyone else ever feel like they let others control their lives or parts of their lives?? I've been really feeling like this lately. I'm very much the kind of person that lets people walk all over me and hurt my feelings but wouldn't dare be rude to them or stand up for myself. As much as I think its good to be kind and respectful I am really getting tired of being the person people walk on. Maybe its pregnancy hormones??...but I am really ready to take a stand! The thing that has been bothering me the most is my parenting skills. I'm a very strict, constantly nagging kind of mom. I didn't used to be. Andy says I need to just relax and let them be kids. There are those that tend to critique my parenting skills and question what it is I am doing. This drives me nuts!! I want my kids to be good kids and be respectful but they have a mom and a dad and that's all they need. NO EXTRA MOMS OR DADS ARE NEEDED!! I think we are doing a dang good job with them. Are they perfect?? NO! But they are KIDS!! 2 and 4 year olds!!! From now on I'm going to let them be kids. I'm going to let them be naughty from time to time and let them learn things for themselves. My parents weren't strict with me and I think I turned out just fine!

So today I let them climb on the chairs and help me bake cookies. We had so much fun!! Eric dumped half of the flour combination on the counter instead of in the bowl and i just laughed and wiped it from the counter into the bowl. Alex kept eating all the cookie dough mix from her spoon, licking the spoon and then putting the spoon back into the bowl. And while it was her turn to stir the mix she kept spilling it everywhere and smearing it across the counter trying to clean it up. These are things I would normally just go crazy about and make them get down. But today was just a much needed fun day. I used to be so easy going when it was just me and Eric but lately I expect perfection from them. IT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN! We danced to the radio and just had a blast!! Then after lunch we enjoyed our "spilled and put back in the bowl, licked and eaten from" cookies!!

I love our children and am so proud of who they are! I think they are dang good kids and I'm going to start letting them be just that...KIDS!

4th of July weekend

2008-07-07T16:04:00.000-07:00

I'm not so good at this blog stuff...all of my pictures are out of order and crazy but I guess so was our weekend so oh-well! :)
We started off with fireworks in Nashwauk Thursday night. We got there like 3 hours early and parked right on the highway... the kids couldn't get out and play which meant we were all stuck in my little car for the entire 3 hours. With the DVD player and lots of snacks they did surprisingly well! The fireworks weren't amazing but it was a fun family night!
Friday morning we were up bright and early for the 4th of July breakfast at church. Andy was over it this year so we had lots to do! It turned out really nice and we all ate lots of really yummy french toast, sausage and orange juice! YUM!!
We had gotten an invite from Andy's sister to go to their place and go boating with them so we took them up on their offer Friday and headed to Crosby. We got there and the kids played in their huge pool, we had yummy cheese burgers then headed off to the lake for the fireworks. For such a small town they had AMAZING fireworks. The best show I've ever seen! That is where we plan on going every year from now on! We laid back and they were right over our heads...it was like they were going to fall on us. AMAZING! The next morning Mike made us a delicious breakfast of biscuits and gravy...TO DIE FOR!! Then we all got ready and went back to the lake for swimming and boating. We were there from 11 AM-5:30PM...lets just say me and Andy are looking like lobsters and hurting SO SO bad. This is the worst sunburn I've ever had...i can hardly walk my legs are so burned...OUCH. But we had a blast so i guess someday I'll feel like it was worth it!! ...Maybe when I can sleep again and the hurt goes away! Andy is a lot tougher than me so he isn't complaining much about it...I've cried like 3 times...seriously.
We had so much fun playing and not having any worries this last weekend!! It's so much fun having kids and seeing them play and laugh! And so much fun hanging out with my awesome husband!! We got to hang out all weekend and now don't want much to do with each other...we both lean our heads out as far as possible and pucker our lips as far out as they go just to kiss goodbye. There are no hugs...no cuddling on the couch to watch a movie...Nope...that would all HURT WAY TOO MUCH!! We seriously hurt!
I am so grateful for our freedom and for all the troops and their families that make it all possible.
We are truly so lucky to live in a land of freedom!

Now we know...

2008-06-27T10:03:00.000-07:00

This is my 3rd and final post for today! I can go forever without posting anything and then all of a sudden have lots to share! This made me giggle so I had to share it!
When I was a kid if my mom made something we ate it or we found our own food or went without. I agree that my kitchen is not a restaurant! However, today for the first time we had tuna fish sandwiches! I'll let the pictures tell you whether or not we'll ever have tuna again!!

Pretty sure I was making the exact same face as the kids! YUCK!! This is one thing my kids will NEVER be forced to eat in my house...EVER!! Tuna serves NO purpose!! Today Eric was not yelling "Mom made the BEST lunch EVER!" like he normally does if he really likes something I made!! :)

27 Weeks

2008-06-27T07:08:00.001-07:00

This was me last september...ignore the stretch marks.... Here i am now and will be even bigger in September when the baby comes!!

Check out that monster butt and love handles! Thought we carried babies in our bellies

not our butts!

Yesterday was the start of week 27 in this pregnancy! I can't believe how fast it is going...and even more how fast these last months are going to go. We'll have a baby before long!! YIKES! It's been a good pregnancy...your typical sickness in the first couple of months but the heartburn hasn't been nearly as bad as the other two pregnancies. (Knock on wood). I've felt really good. Things are starting to get harder now. I'm really exhausted all the time and have random pains. I've been told the pains are probably old scar tissue and re-stretching and whatnot. The last 2 weeks there has been a really bad pressure feeling and feeling really heavy. I feel like this baby is really low but obviously its not! Other than those few things I really do feel good! I just wish i could take a nap during the day! Maybe that would cure everything! ;)

I weighed in yesterday at a whopping 150 POUNDS!! So now that I've put my 20 lbs on what am i supposed to do for the next months until i have this baby?!?! Eric asked me the other day if I have TWO babies in my belly! Guess its getting pretty big! I am already looking forward to getting this weight off and not being hungry ALL THE TIME. I'm going to TRY to eat a little better so i don't gain 20 more pounds before all is said and done. As we all remember i am quite capable of gaining a lot of weight during pregnancies!! It's summer so i have all the fruits and vegetables available and nice walking weather. I just have to do it!! I still have 2 pairs of pants that fit from before pregnancy...lets be honest...they are my after pregnancy (before i lose all the weight) pants but hey, they still fit!!

I love feeling this baby kick! He/she kicks ALL THE TIME! It's to the point where i can be sitting on the couch and it'll kick and Andy will SEE it! It looks like a chick trying to hatch from an egg!! :)

Anyway...so here are the pictures Becki and Andrea have been requesting!! Not cute but now you see I'm DEFINITELY pregnant and LOOK pregnant!!

Can't wait for us girls to get together and get some pictures of our bellies taken!! What are the chances we'll all be pregnant together again??!?!?!?

Why on earth...

2008-06-27T06:12:00.001-07:00

Wed. night there were three baptisms at the church. After the baptisms there were your typical refreshments...I think there were two relief society sisters in the kitchen getting things all set up. In our building there are big heavy curtain things that open up from the Relief Society room into the kitchen so you can be standing in the RS room and get refreshments from the kitchen counter. (Does that make sense?) Anyway...the curtains were open so we could see into the kitchen but neither me or Andy were paying any attention to the kitchen as we were visiting with the family that had the baptisms. Alex was in sight but Eric was not...he isn't the kind of kid you really need to worry about if he isn't right under your nose. All of a sudden there was a ruckus coming from the kitchen. In an exaggerated way imagine if a fox got into a hen house! Apparently as these ladies in the kitchen were getting things set up Eric went in and spanked each one of them on their BUTTS. What is a mother supposed to do?? How do you even react to that?? Why on earth would he spank these women's butts?!? They are both definitely over 50 and are Grandma's...not old old but old enough to definitely fear them. WHY WOULD HE DO THAT?? One of the ladies laughed and said he's been spending too much time with his papa but the other lady (so I've heard) was NOT HAPPY about it.

I think I'd rather the ruckus coming from the kitchen be that my child got into the brownies than have him spanking peoples butts.

When I asked him why he did that he said "Well Mommy, YOU spank MY butt."

?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! How do I even respond to that?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Summer Fun!

2008-06-23T20:11:00.001-07:00

I'm too busy to write a big post so i'm just posting pictures so you can see what we've been up to! Today was a really fun day playing outside! We are really enjoying summer and love being outside all day!

Update

2008-06-05T11:47:00.001-07:00

I thought I would be better at this blog stuff but have been too busy lately. Just thought I'd update whats been going on in our lives.
We had our first ultrasound last friday...it was so amazing! We didnt really get any good pics but i'll try to get them on here so you can see him or her!! We didn't want to find out what the sex is and ends up we probably wouldnt have been able to anyway because he/she was so curled up. The lady could hardly get the measurements she needed!! I still do not understand why my bladder has to be so full for ultrasounds...she pushed down so hard the whole time...i'm lucky i didnt pee my pants! It was amazing to see him/her moving the arms and legs around so much! I definately feel it all now! Andy gets so excited when he feels it which is happening more and more!!
On Monday I started watching a little boy, Noah. He will be two in August. He is SO good and lots of fun so its really working out and giving us a little more income! That can never be a bad thing! Alex is a little frustrated with him and wants to be the boss. Today she does what i do and got down (which isnt very far!) to his level and pointed to her nose (to have him look at her face) and said "nose, nose...Purse"and held up her purse. She wanted him to understand that that was HER purse and not to be played with by HIM. It was cute but at the same time it gets a little overwhelming having her being so bossy and telling on him all the time! I'm sure next week will be better! But i will say Thank Goodness for parents who actually love their kid and show up on time everyday to pick him up! No repeats of the last kids i watched!!
Speaking of extra income...ANDY GOT A RAISE!! He went in this morning and lets just say they told him THEY wanted to show him their dedication and commitment to HIM!! And they did that!! So we get to stick around Rapids for a while longer which is nice because its a nice town and we're happy here. We are very pleased and extremely grateful! Finally they are seeing how amazing he is!! I'm so proud of him!! He deserves this SO much!!
I have pictures i will post of the kids later and update on them! They are doing so well and are healthy and really loving warmer weather!!
LIFE IS GOOD!!

Happy Belated Birthday Alex!

2008-05-28T11:37:00.000-07:00

So since Alex was sick for her birthday and the entire weekend after we had to postpone any form of a party until Tuesday afternoon. Andy was still off from work so we took advantage of it and went to the playground and had a blast! I'm a little post happy with the pictures and i haven't figured out yet how to label them. I can't believe Alex goes down the biggest slide all by herself! I get up there and feel a little woozy from the height of it! The kids and Andy love to scare me I've decided! They like to see my reaction?!?! It's madness! Some of the pictures I'm posting are while Alex was still sick. She put her present from Auntie Lisa (the earrings, necklace etc...) on on one of the days she was sick and she loved it but then she got feeling miserable again so then Daddy tried to make her feel better by wearing it! Oh so cute! As you can see Eric loves her presents too! He was the one to watch her Barbie movie this morning! If he wasn't such a boy I would be worried! He just likes to be silly! It's a good thing we finally celebrated her birthday yesterday because Eric woke up bright and early this morning throwing up. And when i say bright and early I mean the sun is barely coming up and the birds are out chirping. I am usually awake at this time most mornings due to a baby pushing on my bladder. And I love listening to the birds but this morning I wanted to take them all out. Maybe its from a long weekend and very early mornings full of vomit and misery?? I was just so tired and between Eric throwing up and the stupid birds all chirping like they don't have a care in the world I was really grumpy. And being the good wife that I am I sent Andy to the couch...Mostly it was selfish on my part...I didn't want to clean up anything from him if he saw what Eric did. Plus I guess he had to work this morning so he got to sleep. I really hoped we got rid of this stuff but the doctor did tell us its very contagious and would go through our household so I guess I was warned. Hopefully Eric is feeling better very soon and that me and Andy don't get it. YUCK! Apparently we aren't the only ones with it though. Two of my sisters have it as we speak. I haven't seen Mandy in who knows how long so we didn't get if from or give it to her and Lisa lives in Idaho so... its EVERYWHERE. So DON'T LEAVE YOUR HOUSES IF YOU DON'T WANT IT!!

Anyway...I'm glad we got to finally have a small celebration for Alex. I can't believe she is TWO already. She is so beautiful and sweet and we love her to pieces!! Happy Belated Birthday Sweetie!!

Vacation

2008-05-28T07:51:00.000-07:00

We decided since Andy is done with school to take a little vacation with Danny and Andrea. Andy took last Thursday and Friday off, had the weekend and Monday (Memorial Day) off and then also took Tuesday. So we had a nice long time to be together and do some fun things. Alex's birthday was last Thursday (first day of vacation) so we decided we'd go to Duluth and go to the zoo and stay at a water park hotel. Sounds like fun, right? She had had a fever since Sunday night and we figured by vacation time it would be gone. And it would go away...but then it kept coming back. She was fine all day Thursday and lets just say we had a good time together at the zoo. The Duluth zoo is "oh so exciting"...you know...with all the animals that WEREN'T there!! All the cages said they were there but we must have been blind because a lot of the cages looked pretty empty to us!! But it was fun spending time together and the weather was nice so we enjoyed that part of it! Then we were off to dinner and check in at the hotel. Right away we got ready and went to the water park. What a BLAST! Eric LOVED the big water slide...I don't even know how many times him and uncle Danny went down it. Just a couple of months ago at Danny's wedding it was so hard to get him to go in the pool...now we couldn't get him to leave! He loved everything about it and had so much fun! Alex didn't have as much fun. She started burning up again and would just moan and whine as we tried floating down the lazy river with her. She did that the whole time and so we ended up not celebrating her 2nd Birthday with cake and whatnot. She never threw up or anything...just a fever. We ended up taking her to the doctor Saturday morning...we figured a week of fever is just weird...not to mention Sat. early morning she started throwing up. The pediatrician that saw her said she possibly had two things...the fever could have been Fifth Disease?? She said they'd been hit pretty hard with that lately. And she did have the "slapped face" symptom of it earlier in the week. Then the second thing was "summer flu" which was the vomiting and diarrhea. I can deal with fever...but this last stuff was not fun. She did that the rest of the weekend and was FINALLY feeling better Monday. We adults took full advantage of it since it kind of tied us down all weekend. We had my sister and her boyfriend come up and watch the kids. (SO grateful to them!!) We went and had root beer floats at A&W, walked around Home Depot, went to the AWESOME movie What Happens in Vegas, then went to dinner at Forest Lake. We ate $83.00 worth of pork, steaks, shrimp and crab legs! (Thanks to Andy doing favors for the Bank and them in return giving him gift certificates to somewhere we don't dare bring the kids to so they added up quite nicely!) YUM!! We had so much fun!

Sadly, Tuesday morning Danny and Andrea said goodbye and went home. I think the kids thought they moved in and were gonna live with us forever! We all had so much fun together. I really enjoyed our girls night Friday night which consisted of just me and Andrea going to the movie Maid of Honor. No kids to fight with and someone close to my own age to visit with!! So we didn't love the movie so much but we had fun being out of the house and away from the craziness of kids and fevers and whatnot! Saturday night the boys had their boys night and went to see the new Indiana Jones movie. They didn't love their movie either (Eric slept through most of it!) but when they got home we had fun grilling and enjoyed a wonderful meal of shishkabobs (Sp?) and corn on the cob! So even though Alex was sick most of the time we still had so much fun together!!

This post is long so I'll post later about the party we finally had for Alex's birthday! I'll also try to get some pictures posted. I was too busy at the water park to get any pictures taken of the fun everyone had there but I have some Zoo pictures I'll try to post.

Work in progress...

2008-05-17T20:13:00.000-07:00

As you can probably tell we are very new to this blog stuff. Hopefully it'll get easier to figure out and we'll get more creative and have our blog looking better! We don't have many recent pictures of our family as we keep forgetting to buy batteries for the camera. We'll get some new pictures posted soon but for now i'm going to try to post the most recent ones we have! The kids are constantly changing and there is so much we'd love to share with everyone!

Eric loves being outside at every chance he gets. He loves riding his bike!! He gets going really fast down this small slope in the sidewalk and then takes his feet off the pedals!! SO brave!! His new interest in bugs is a little disturbing...he definately doesnt get it from his Mommy. He now holds a variety of bugs in his hand and begs to get the spiders when mommy is freaking out at the discovery of them in the house. I guess it would be nice for me so i dont have to do it but his aim isnt very good yet and they usually get away which leaves me feeling all creepy and crawly. I can't believe how big he is getting!!

Alex also loves being outside and loves going buh-bye. It doesnt matter to where...apparently anywhere is better than here at home! We'll be driving home and turn onto the street we live on and she starts yelling and crying and begging to go "buh-bye". Its crazy how she knows when we are almost home. And its really sad that she doesnt want to be here! Maybe its from being cooped up all winter??? She is really starting to love wearing dresses and you can tell she feels very pretty in them. How, you might wonder? Maybe its the twirling or the swaying her hips from side to side to make her dress sway back and forth? Or maybe its the big eyes staring up at us begging us to tell her how pretty she looks?!?! In her defense though, she really does look beautiful in them! The only problem with a 2 year old in a dress is that she hasnt quite gotten the "acting like a lady" while wearing them. We discovered this last sunday as Brother Cook was saying 'Bye' to her and she lifted her entire dress over her head. She wasnt wearing any tights or anything other than her diaper. Guess its not so bad while she's only 2 but still... :)

Anyway...Guess i'll quit bragging about my family and try to get pics. posted before I head off to bed!

This HANDSOME Man...

2008-05-17T19:23:00.000-07:00

...is ALL DONE WITH SCHOOL!! Andy has gotten all A's this semester which means he will be graduating with HIGHEST HONORS!! He is amazing and I am so lucky to say HE is MY husband!! He has worked very hard for this and I am so proud of him!! It feels like our life is really taking off now! We have all this time to actually be together and the last two days have been amazing! I am so grateful for Andy and am really really grateful that we are now past the school stuff and moving on to TOGETHERNESS!! :)