Here We Go Again...

Where was I? Oh yeah, a little over 2 weeks ago I was hoping to update about the fun weekend we had planned! Well, same old story, I've not been feeling well most of the time, so the blog has taken a back seat. I seriously think about it every day, and it drives me crazy to get this far behind!

Ok, so a little over 2 weeks ago, we had a great weekend. The rain never showed up, so we were able to do everything we had planned!

Addy and I started out by making chocolate chip pancakes on Saturday morning. When she got up she said she was hungry. So I asked her what she wanted for breakfast. Without skipping a beat, she answered, "chocolate." That's usually her answer these days! So we agreed on making chocolate chip pancakes. And then we cut them out in the shape of Minnie Mouse, just for fun.




Then on Saturday evening we went to our local minor league baseball game. We went with a big group from our church. Addy loved it! She actually payed attention to the game for quite a while. She did so well we even stayed for fireworks after the game. She says that was her favorite part! During the game, we gave her her first cherry icee. Much to our surprise, she wasn't that crazy about it. She liked it at first, but got over it pretty quickly. We all had a great time, it was a super nice not-too-humid evening to boot!




Sunday we went to church and then Addy went to Jen and Chris's house while Steven and I played the part of tourists. We went on a "homes of the stars bus tour". We joined some friends, who are also local, because we all are interested in being able to give the tour ourselves when people come visit us! So, yes, I brought a notebook and wrote down addresses as we went! No, not in a creepy stalker kind of way.


Alright. Fast forward through a pretty uneventful week to Thursday night. Grandma and Grandpa L. came down to visit for the weekend. We had another fun weekend planned! Saturday we went to a water park. We'd been wanting to take Addy to one all summer, and it just hadn't worked out. Then Wendy called and said they had extra tickets for Saturday, and asked if we wanted to go. Perfect!

We had a great time. Addy's favorite was the kiddie pool with a pirate ship slide and the lazy river! And for the record, it's not easy to keep up with picture taking at a water park! It's times like this that I'm thankful we have a blog. Without it, I'm sure I wouldn't have even bothered!










Grandma even went down one of the big slides!



Then, it was ice cream time!



After a great day at the water park, we hurried home to let Addy get a quick nap in before Jen, Chris, and the girls came over for dinner and to hang out!

Sunday was a pretty lazy day. We were still recovering from our big day at the water park...at least Addy and I were. I think Grandma and Grandpa were fine! They had to leave in the afternoon to catch their flight back to MN.

Steven had a really busy day at work, so he was up for a low key evening, too! When Addy got up from her nap, we asked her if she wanted to have popcorn for dinner and watch a movie. You should have seen her eyes light up! She was so excited. Obviously, this was a first for her! We ended up watching the movie Tangled. It was so cute! Addy did pretty well with it. It kept her attention for the first 45 minutes, and then on and off until the end of the movie.



Okay, I'm out of steam. I'll have to update about last week next time!

Week in Review

I hate that I'm not able to keep up as well right now with this blog! I think of things all week that I should blog about, but this "morning" sickness is not working for me! It's been a tough week, but I called my Dr. and asked for a Rx, so that should help. I had to take Zofran when I was pregnant with Addy, too.

Anyway, last weekend we had Mackenzie and Katie come spend the night with us on Friday night. What a HUGE help they are to us! Seriously, I love it when they come over. They are so helpful with Addy. I caught some video of the girls dancing in the living room...that is, until Addy decided that she needed to make a phone call! It just cracks me up.



After we ate dinner, the girls went swimming!


And then Mackenzie took care of bath time!


On Saturday morning we dropped the girls off on our way to My Gym. By the way, this was our last Saturday class at My Gym! Addy got moved up to the next age group and will start going on Fridays with Steven!

Saturday night Jen and Chris invited us over for dinner to celebrate Steven's birthday. It was awesome! We ate and played games, and had cheesecake for dessert!

The rest of the week was pretty low key. Once I got home from work I pretty much went to the couch for the rest of the evening. Addy has been super sweet and plays with me while I'm laying on the couch! She brings her toys over and we play. Or she'll lay with me and snuggle!

Here's a few pictures from this week:




Addy giving me "the look":


Thursday was Steven's birthday. He and Addy spent the day together, and then we went out for pizza when I got off work. Not too big of a celebration, but we had fun nonetheless!

On Friday Steven took Addy to My Gym. He said she did really well! She's by far the youngest in her class, but apparently the other moms kept asking how old she was because of how well she was doing! It helps that she's been going there since she was 10 months old! She does really well listening to the teachers and following directions, though. She also likes to practice what she learns at home. It's too funny.

I'll try to update on this weekend sooner than next week! We have some fun things going on, we're just hoping the rain won't ruin our plans!

Meet Baby #2!

(For those not used to looking at ultrasounds, the head is to the left with it's back at the top and rear end at the bottom right)

We went to the doctor yesterday and had our first ultrasound! We were so excited to see the baby had a very strong heartbeat of 175 beats/minute and measured 8 weeks 5 days in age. We thought I was exactly 9 weeks along, so within 2 days is pretty good! We were excited to actually see the baby's head and spine, too. When I had my first ultrasound with Addy, I was 7 weeks and 1 day and she only looked like a yoke sack. Amazing the difference a week and a half makes!

We were given a due date of March 7. Since I'll be having another c-section, my doctor likes to schedule delivery during the 39th week. So, I'll have this baby some time between March 1 - 7, that is unless something else comes up before then.

We also started taking belly pictures. I started taking pictures at 8 weeks along with Addy, too. This time I'm showing at 8 weeks!



I'm feeling exactly the same as I did with Addy at this point, tired and nauseous all the time! I learned a lot from before, though, that the more I eat the better I feel. So, I'm eating all the time! I felt like this until I was 22 weeks along with Addy, so I'm hoping it won't last that long this time, but I'm not holding my breath!

Addy has been so sweet since I've started feeling this way. Most evenings I come home from work and go right to the couch. Addy likes to kiss my belly to make me feel better! Then she'll put her hand on my belly and say, "hi baby." She's just so sweet! She told me tonight that the baby is hungry and she wanted to feed it a bottle. I think she's going to be a great big sister!

July 25-31 Review

Another first for our family...Steven and Addy flew by themselves without me! Last week on Monday, I dropped Steven and Addy off at the airport to fly to MN by themselves. FYI: this is something Steven said he would NEVER do! But he did great, and so did Addy.


They spent a few days with Grandma and Grandpa E. and some of the cousins. Now, I sent the camera with them...but...Steven didn't use it. :) So, there really are no pictures to show!

Well, I take that back, a little. Steven did capture a couple pictures with his cell phone of Addy riding his parents' 4-wheeler! This is something that Addy has absolutely REFUSED to even get close to in the past. Steven said it took some convincing, but after Addy saw her cousins ride it, she agreed to ride it, too. And she really liked it! In fact, she rode it every day after that, too!



Wednesday, Steven and Addy went to the Cities. Addy spent the afternoon with Grandpa and Grandma L. while Steven went to visit some friends he hadn't seen in a long time!

Thursday morning I flew up to join them. Addy, Steven, and Grandma L. picked me up from the airport and we went over to Mall of America to let Addy enjoy some of the rides. We took her for the first time last Thanksgiving and she enjoyed it then, so we thought she might like it even more now. And she LOVED it! She was excited about all the rides.








Addy even put her arms up on the roller coaster! And the big rig trucks were definitely one of her favorites. I love how she's adjusting the mirror!

She even saw Sponge Bob Square Pants and wanted to give him a hug and a high five!



After a few hours at the Mall of America, we went to Grandma and Grandpa L.'s house for naps followed by dinner. My mom even had a cake to celebrate my birthday. Addy was very glad about that! She kept saying, "Addy share Mommy's birthday cake."



After dinner and cake we headed back to Grandma and Grandpa E.'s house for the rest of the weekend. Steven's brother, Mike, was supposed to be getting married on Saturday. Due to some issues with the marriage license, like not being able to get it in time, they weren't actually able to get married, but they went ahead with the reception anyway!

We had a lot of fun. Friday was great for the kids. All the cousins were together and spent the whole day playing. The rest of us spent the day getting things ready for the reception. The reception was being held in my in-laws' back yard. My mother-in-law made all the food! The guys set up a tent in the yard and got the dance floor ready along with the tables and chairs.




Friday evening we celebrated our nephew, Aiden's, birthday. He turned 9! We also celebrated all the July birthdays. Just in the immediate family, there are 6 birthdays in July! There were cupcakes, and Addy was in heaven!





A picture of all the cousins together...not the best picture ever considering half of them aren't looking up, but it was the best I got!

Saturday was the big day. We spent the first half doing food prep, and then lots of friends and family came to celebrate Mike and Candice.

My mother-in-law read the Scripture verses they chose for their wedding.


Here's a picture of our family:


Addy and Gabi (who just turned 11, which is crazy!):


Addy with Great Granny (Steven's Grandma, who's 92!):


The kids had a blast dancing!


Our friends, Jerik and Susan, were there with Nina and their newest addition, Ema! This was the first time we got to meet Ema, and Addy was in LOVE! Right away she kept saying, "Addy hold baby!". She didn't care if Ema was crying or not, she just wanted to hold her. She kept kissing her and hugging her. Absolutely loved her! It was really sweet.



Sunday morning it was time to go home. Our flight left at 6:20 a.m. That was rough. Addy did great though, falling asleep about 20 minutes before we landed in Detroit. Then on our flight from Detroit-home, we got first class! This was Addy's first time in first class. We really aren't supposed to fly first class with her since we're standby. Kids are supposed to be 8 years old before they're allowed up there! I warned the gate agent she assigned us first class, and she said that they'd switch us once we got on board. I warned the flight attendant as soon as we got on board, and he looked at me like I was crazy. So I just said, "well, if you don't mind, we don't mind!"

Addy's expression was priceless when she saw that she got a blanket and a pillow in her seat waiting for her along with her own bottle of water! And then when she saw her apple juice in a real glass glass, with a straw...oh my. She knew it was a big deal! She did great. She complained about her ears hurting when we started to descend and started to cry, but I had taken some M&M's from the snack basket earlier and offered them to her. Amazing how quickly she forgot about her ears! Sweet girl.



Another great trip up north. We always wish we would've had more time to see more people, but the whole working thing gets in our way of that!