Daily Tip

Each day I get an email about being pregnant.  It's some tidbit of information or a little tip.  So often, they're a couple days late and once in a while they actually explain something to me.  Such as: Last week it said along with ankle pain you might have wrist pain as ligaments are swelling and stretching.  My right wrist had been bothering me for a couple days.  Yesterdays email was a quiz so you could decide if you should find out the gender or not.  We've decided not to find out the gender but I took the quiz anyway, for fun.  Here's the result:

Prepare for a surprise! It sounds as if you should probably wait until your baby is born to find out his or her sex. This is how people have been doing it for centuries, and there's no reason to change now. Unlike so many people nowadays, you seem to have the patience and knack for "living in the moment" that's necessary to remain in the dark about your baby's sex.There are definitely benefits to not finding out. By waiting, you can spend the rest of your pregnancy having fantasies about babies of both sexes; this can actually make the last few weeks more bearable. And here's an extra benefit: Deciding not to find out might drive your relatives crazy!

Week 16

This picture was taken three weeks ago.

This Sunday will be the beginning of week 20.

Loving the chalkboard Mark made me and loving feeling this baby move.

Last night we were all in our bed reading and Christian had his head on my belly and the baby kicked him right on the cheek.  It was so funny!  Christian laid back down and the baby did it again.

Then daddy tried and the baby promptly fell asleep.  

We have 145 more days of this pregnancy to feel that baby move!

Baby Grace's Debut

Baby Grace made her debut this morning at 9:23am.  Chris is doing great and resting.  I was lucky to make it to the hospital during lunch today.  Guy was so happy.  We all got together tonight to celebrate Johnny's birthday, which he now shares with Grace.

Grandma Terrie

Emilee is so excited to be the Big Sister!

The new family of 5!

The Proud Daddy!!

John and Grace on their birthdays!

Grandma Jeanne

Holding that little 7 lb 1 oz little bundle warmed my heart!

I didn't want to leave!

Chris was doing well and that tiny lil' babe slept peacefully in my arms.

 I got photo bombed by the Big Sister!  

The Stats

So glad she's here and healthy and the hard part is over.

I'm so happy to be this baby's Auntie!

Impromptu Trip to the Farm

About a month ago I was picking Christian up from daycare and my friend Mary was there picking up her grandsons.  She nonchalantly asks if we want to go see some horses at her nieces farm.  Of course, I agreed, not one to miss out on an opportunity.  Who cares if I was starving and wearing flip flops.  Off to the farm we went, after stopping for some carrots.

We walked into the gated area to get to another part of the farm.

The whole time I kept saying, "Stop running.  Pay attention.  There's horse poop everywhere!"

And then I stepped into a pile wearing white sandals.

Totally disgusting.

On our way back, the horses noticed us and started trotting over.

I told my kids to run and get behind the gate.  

I wasn't comfortable with the horses let alone the small children getting bitten or knocked down or something.

I would have run too, expect for the inappropriate shoes and the whole pregnancy thing.

The horses surrounded Mary and her grandson and their carrots.

It was funny....

once I was safe on the other side of the gate.

I love what good friends they are.

Can't leave a farm without feeding the pigs!

Notice the donkey on the right.

His name is Burt.

Mark won a stuffed donkey in a claw machine a couple weeks after this 

and Christian promptly named it Burt and sleeps with it each night.

The kids' favorite part was climbing up into a barn looking for some cats and jumping off bales of hay.

They loved it.

I love an impromptu experience with friends!

Chuck E. Cheese and a Special Guest

I had last Thursday and Friday off for MEA.  The kids and I didn't waste anytime.  We were up and at 'em.  They got their flu mists at 8am and then we were off to Chuck E. Cheese.  I called my dad and the way and told him we were going there.  He said he was already at work.  Less than ten minutes after we walked in to the completely empty Heaven for Children Dad not only walked in, but he had two entire pockets full of tokens.  He already stopped at home to get left over tokens from a previous trip.  

So there they are, three little kids two little kids and one grown man;-)

Having the time of their lives.  They played and played and won and won.  We stayed for nearly two hours of pure enjoyment.  I was exhausted when we left and those three were so content.  

Everybody got what they wanted: Christian got cotton candy, Victoria got new pencils and plastic spiders, Dad got to spend time with his favorite little people and I got to entertain the children while barely doing anything.  

It was a fabulous morning.

A Family Portrait - by a Six Year Old

I was walking down the hall a couple weeks ago and noticed Victoria's teacher 

put up some new art.  

Of course, I paused to find hers.

It says, 

I am special because my family loves me.

So sweet.

Take a close look at Mark.

Can you tell what he's doing?

He's in the fridge grabbing a Diet Pepsi.

I think that's one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

The next two are Victoria and me hugging and then it's Christian taking Cookie for a walk.

I absolutely love this pictures.  I am going to have it laminated and we'll save it forever!

Baby Shower for Baby Grace

My cousin is having a baby with my brother in law

TOMORROW!

I can't wait to get my hands on Baby Grace!!

That makes tonight the perfect time to post pics of the Baby Shower I threw

for her in early October.

The first game we played was Name That Baby Food

Clearly, Emilee didn't enjoy the green beans.

Chris was blessed with many fabulous and meaningful gifts.

 Homemade quilt made by Aunt Jane.

Priceless!

Who can resist an adorable pair of baby booties?!

 Tegan whipped up an adorable Diaper Cake.

Love it!

I'm totally going to steal that idea;-)

Chris (and Grace) with the whole party.

I really lucked out on the weather and we were able to be outside.

Super cute cupcakes, compliments of Tegan and her creativity!

The two Pregger Momma's.

Aunt Joan was in town from Colorado.

Chris and her mom, Auntie Terrie.

The proud Parents to Be

 And then Guy realized that last shot wasn't his 'good side.'

Yes, I'm totally serious.

It was fun showering Chris & Baby Grace with love and gifts.

Soooo excited to meet that little bundle tomorrow.

It's going to be a very exciting Birth Day!

Girls' Night Out All Over Town

About a month ago the girls and I got together after school on a Friday for dinner.

The dinner turned out into a full night out that lasted about 5 hours.

It started in Hugo, went north all the way to Forest Lake.

We drank (I had my share of Sprite!), some danced, and we laughed A LOT!

I drove each of them home safely and arrived home after 1am.

Not bad for a pregnant lady, if I do say so myself.

I am very lucky to have such fun and supportive ladies in my life

& 

I get to work with them too!

Lendt's: A Family Tradition

One of my favorite family traditions is going to Lendt's Pumpkin Patch.  We go early in the season so it's still warm and there are thousands of pumpkins to choose from.  This year we met Amanda and Rosie there.

We had a fabulous time!

I love this picture of the three of them.

So cute!

 Leave it to Christian to want to carry a heavy pumpkin

all the way back to the wagon.

Daddy to the rescue!

Great picture of the two of them!

She not attempting to pick it up,

it's more like a cuddle with a pumpkin.

We stayed until the sun went down and they were closing down!

Take a look back at last year and 2010

or way back in the day!