32wks Pregnant?!?!

Yep, you read that right, I am already 8weeks away from my due date, which is roughly 56days (not that I am counting). I am so thankful to be out of my 2nd trimester!! 2nd trimester was terrible for me and full of morning (all day and night) sickness. Thankfully my passing out episodes have been greatly reduced, I have to take it easy and as a precaution not drive or go anywhere on my own. I am so glad we got Penny fully potty trained by November because there is no way I could have been running her up and downs the stairs.

I have been having ultrasounds every 4wks to check baby's growth (because of the heart meds I am on) Today he is measuring just shy of 5lbs :) that is 68th percentile and a huge relief off my chest! He is well on his way to being bigger than Penny (8lbs 8oz). We have gotten most of the nursery done and with the help of my family, and a lot of bargain shopping, we have been able to pull together a wardrobe for our little man. I truly can't wait to hold my little man, but I know he needs to cook a bit longer.

Lily turns 4!

We have been a very busy house and I have fallen behind once again!

Miss Lily turned four on Jan 30th! Don and I are both in shock that our little girl is growing up so fast. On Lily's birthday weekend, aunt Michelle and aunt Jessica and soon to be uncle Jason came up to help us celebrate! We also finally got to celebrate Christmas with them, so there were presents galore!

We opened lots of presents and had a cake for lunch and for supper we all went to the Sake House in Beaver Dam. Aunt Jessie tried to teach the girls how to use chop sticks to pass the time. We all had some good laughs and enjoyed our time as a family.

Unfortunately our time with them was cut short due to an ice storm so they had to leave a day early. It was so nice for the girls to get to see them, even if for a little while. It is hard to see our family in Iowa over the winter months.

The weekend after Lily's birthday we celebrated with Don's family at nana and papa's house. Nana, Papa, CJ, aunt Kels, and great-grandma Cupery all came over to celebrate. Lily was so excited to get her blanket from Great-grandma (Every great-grand gets a handmade blanket from Grandma Cupery on their 4th birthday).I was unfortunately very sick over Lily's birthday weekend and didn't get to participate. Don took some pictures and it looks like they had a nice time!

We actually registered Lily for 4K today and it seems unreal! We can't believe the girls will both be in school half days next year... Time has really flown

Our baby Fred?

Well, I am 24wks 5dys pregnant. This has been quite the pregnancy! It has been filled with morning sickness and now I have developed Tachycardia and a heart murmur. Basically I just pass out if I stand too long and my heart rate is too high. Lol can't just have normal pregnancies!!

Our big plan for this pregnancy was to not find out the gender of our baby, but the baby had other plans! At our ultrasound the baby showed us HIS goods lol. So we are excitedly expecting our first son in April!! The girls have stopped calling him Laura and started calling him Fred, but they know mom and dad will give him a new name in April when he is born. Here are the pictures from the last 2 ultrasounds.

It's a boy!

Christmas Day 2012

Waking up to the sound of our girls squeeling with glee, when they found that Santa had come, was enough to make my heart burst! They ran up the stairs to wake us up Christmas morning and tell us the good news. Poor Lily was just slightly dissappointed that Santa had not brought her the "jumper" (trampeline) she had specifically asked him for. We went down and dug into the pile of presents under the tree.

There were presents a few presents from Santa and my mom and sister Michelle and of course Don and I. Every year I buy my children a new ornament, it is the first present they open, and then they put them on the tree before opening the other presents. I will buy them one every year and some day, when they have a Christmas tree of their own I will give them their ornaments to decorate their trees at their houses ( a long long time from now). I love that starting our own family we get to start new traditions and still keep some of the ones from our childhood too.


After all the presents were opened we sent the girls into the kitchen to look for more presents. While they were investigating we pulled the "jumper" we bought them out of the closet and placed it in the middle of the floor. When the girls came back in, they did a double take at it, and then took turns jumping to their hearts content. I couldn't get them to stay still on it for a picture, maybe someday lol.  It was such a great Christmas and it was made all the more sweet by the fact that Don didn't have to work for the first time this year.

 This year we had a special Christmas dinner with our neighbors. It was a delcious Prime rib supper with Cheesy potatoes and green bean casserole. Along with an assortment of local cheeses and pizza dip. After we ate (way too much) we all decorated Christmas cookies together. I was a wonderful Christmas and so much fun!

Christmas Eve 2012

Christmas Eve we got up early and headed to Don's parent's house for their Christmas. The girls had a little trouble waiting for everyone to arrive and eat brunch before we could open presents. Poor Pen broke out into tears a few times, but they did manage to wait :) We had a yummy brunch of egg bake, cinnamon rolls, banana bread (Nana bread), and cutie oranges. It was a delicious way to start the day!

After brunch we opened presents. We always let the girls open their presents first so they don't lose their patience. They got presents from uncle CJ, Nana and Papa and aunt Kelsey and Greg. Some of the highlights were new back packs, new PJs, sweat suits, Bean bags, baby dolls and Lala Loopsy dolls.

After the girls ripped through their presents it was time for the rest of us to exchange gifts. The last few years it has become a tradition for the adults to exchange names and do secret santas. This year I picked Greg's name and Don picked his mom's name. Don's dad picked my name and Greg picked Don's name. I think CJ had Kelsey, Kelsey had dad  and Jackie had CJ (but don't quote me ;) ). Donny really enjoyed his presents from Greg (hunting and beer gifts are the way to my husband's heart lol) We have really enjoyed having Greg as an addition to our family his personality and sense of humor fits well with our crazy bunch :). My father in law blessed me with some much needed maternity clothes!! And a new candle for my kitchen (warm apple pie YUM). The present that meant the most was the book he gave me, "Count Your Blessings". I cherish the man that my father in law is and raised my husband to be. I gladly take his fatherly advice and will cherish this book forever. We made some great memories this year and can't wait for another little one to be crawling around next Christmas!

Christmas Eve evening I got to serve on the worship team for our Christmas Eve candle lit services at church. I have really enjoyed adding this to our family traditions. Though there were a few bumps in the road, the service was beautiful and it is so wonderful to be surrounded by our church family and celebrate the true meaning of Christmas together. This year I had the unique oppurtunity of singing "Breath of Heaven" (Mary's song), while pregnant and carrying a son. I had to not think about the words while singing, because it is such an emotional song. I cannot imagine what Mary felt like carrying God's child. I have trouble getting in and out of the car at times, I can't imagine get on and off at donkey at full. It was very special and an experience I won't forget.

Miss Lily: Tonsils & Adnoids

I have been very blessed with good sleepers for children. Lily and Penny both started sleeping 10-12hrs at night starting around 3mths old. For the past few months Lily has been waking up coughing and coming in my us EVERY NIGHT. So we made her an appointment with Dr. Yaish, our local Ear, Nose, Throat Dr. On November 6th we took both girls in to be evaluated and we found out that Lily as sleep apnea caused by her tonsils and adnoids. they actually block her airway when she sleeps and she stops breathing! So we scheduled the surgery for November 14, to have her tonsils and adnoids taken out.

Don was 4 when he had his tonsils out and I was 5, so we weren't shocked that they had to come out. We were greatful that there was a solution to her problem. That doesn't mean we were excited about Lily having to have surgery at such a young age. We were pretty nervous about the whole thing for the week we had to wait.

Lily's ready to go!

My mom came up the night before, so she could watch Penny while Lily was in surgery. Don's mom, Don, and I all went to the hospital at 7am for Lily's surgery. We got Lily up and out of the house by 6:30am, the sun was just coming up and Lily got a huge smile on her face and said "Mommy look! God put pink and purple clouds in the sky for me!" We didn't really tell Lily what was going to happen, just that the Dr was going to fix her tonsils.

Jan RN did a great job with Lily

Waiting patiently for her surgery

The hardest part of the day was when they went to take Lily for surgery. Don and I walked her to the door and then she got scared and wouldn't let go of my arm. She kept screaming and crying "I'm scared, don't leave me mama!" The nurse (Jenna) had to pry her off of me and then carry her back to surgery in her arms. I held onto myself long enough for the doors to shut and then let the tears fall. I wish they had just let me hold her til they put her out :(

Lily's surgery went great and only took a few minutes and then about 30 minutes for her to wake back up. She was not happy when they brought her back to us and was screaming and crying that her throat hurt. Once we got her a grape popsicle she settled down, and then she downed 3 more in a row. They gave her some Vicadin and that seemed to ease the pain. After an hour they said she did great and could go home. Lily insisted on walking herself down to the car and was walking like a drunk. Everytime she would look up and see the balloon that nana bought her she'd say "Look a balloon" She did it several times and everytime it was like a new suprise lol.


Our little girl... higher than a kite!

It did not take us long to realize that Lily was not reacting to the Vicadin correctly. they told us she would be groggy and tired for days... She bouncing off the walls and talking a million words a minute. Penny thought it was pretty fun, but I called the Dr to see what we could do. He said either give her just tylenol or mix half and half. When we took her off the Vicadin she would cry out in pain, so we stuck with it during the day and then tylenol at night so she could rest.



Lily loved her diet of popsicles, sherbert, and chocolate pudding!

Lily got a lot of presents after her surgery:
My little Pony from us, Madagascar 3 from nana and papa, Brave from grandma Mary,
and Disney Princess Candyland from aunt Purple and uncle Al

At the end of everyday since her surgery, when the drugs wear off, miss Lily just passes out. The Dr says she should start being herself again in a few short days. unfortunately she won't get to eat everything on Thanksgiving, but she will get to have her mashed potatoes and gravy! So thankful for all of our friends and family who helped or kept our family in their during this stressful time!



My girls meet my BFF's at Callie's Wedding

October 5,2012 I got the privilege of watching one of my best friends, Callie, marry her best friend :) I also got to catch up with some of my best friends over the weekend too. God has truly blessed me, while some have one or two best friends over a lifetime, I found Laura, Alyssa and Margie in 6th grade (1996) and freshman year of high school (1999) I found Callie and Amy. These girls have been a constant in my life and I love them like sisters. No matter how much time we spend apart, we always pick up right where we left off. Unfortunately life has taken us miles apart and we are spread over Iowa, Wisconsin, Washington and Georgia!

 

This weekend was especially fun because our little group has been adding babies and it was fun to get to see all the little ones. It melted my heart that my usually shy Lily ran right up to Laura and sat on her lap and was 100% at ease with her. Penny had fun playing with Roman (Alyssa's little man). While my kiddos were occupied I got to have some snuggles with baby Kenley (Laura's little girl).



Aunt Laura teaching Lily how to use an iphone. She is sorely disappointed with my phone now that she has seen how fun a smart phone can be :)



Miss Kenley and Me

another classic Penny



miss Penny's many faces




Here is Alyssa and Roman

Lily was so proud to hold baby Kenley

Later on Amy and Jeff came for the reception. My girls have not really met them, they have seen many pictures from my trip to see them in Georgia this past May. They knew them by name and took no time at all to warm up to them. Lily and Penny were both singing and dancing for Jeff. It makes me so happy to see my girls with people that I love so much!


I had to drag the girls off the dance floor at the end of the night
 



Penny and Roman

Unfortunately Margie couldn't make it to the wedding, but I did get to meet up with her the next day. Marge and her daughters (Zara and Charlotte) met up with me and my girls at the apple orchard. Unfortunately it was kind of cold and dreary out, but we did get to pick out a pumpkin and some apples to take home. I wish we would have had more time together, but I am thankful for what I got. I have really been missing my friends this year and it was so refreshing to get to see them all in one fun weekend! 

Zara (6), Penny (2), Charlotte (5) and Lily (3)
 

Our girls :)