We're Expecting!!!

It's pretty early to make a big announcement, but we've had several 'leaks' due to the fact that I have been terribly sick.  "Fake it 'til you make it" only goes so far, and I feel like in the past few weeks I have ended up looking flaky because I just couldn't "make it".  I'm only about 8 weeks along, and I don't know that we'll tell the kids until Christmastime.  But, I wanted to get the word out to family and friends; it's hard to start telling some and not telling others (that's dangerous).  So, I'm just making the announcement.  It's such a long time for our kids to wait, so hopefully we can keep it under wraps a little longer for them.  So, anyway, if I have "flaked out" on you in the past few weeks and given some lame excuse, please accept my sincere apologies.  We are so excited to add another little one to our family and feel so blessed (so long as I can get something to get this 'morning' sickness under control).  Seriously, who came up with the name 'morning sickness'?  It must have been a guy, 'cuz I don't think I honestly know any woman who has ever gotten sick with pregnancy that is sick only in the morning...

I Liked This

Copy and paste this to your blog and bold the ones that you HAVE done.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous

92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Cutting Back

Since Brooklyn starting going to preschool, we've been able to cut back a lot on TV time.  It has been a huge blessing.  I think it was just the change in routine that motivated me to turn off the tube.  What's nice, is that now it is MORE effective at entertaining the kids when I absolutely need a minute to have a conversation on the phone or make dinner etc.  Whatever we were doing before just wasn't working.  Honestly, why put them in to watch TV so that you can get something done, when every two minutes someone is coming in and needing you...might as well not watch TV.  It wasn't that we were huge TV viewers ever to begin with.  But when Ty was able to recite, verbatim, one of those creepy "I see dead people" (dead zones) commercials from Verizon, I knew we had to cut back.  So far, it's working out okay.  I'm finding myself turning to it more now that the weather is turning for the worse, but I'm trying to keep a balance and not overuse it.  Somedays, I wish they could just watch it ALL DAY...but that wouldn't be good for anyone (well, I guess it would be kind of a break for me....)  I'm certainly not posting this to say that TV is awful or to condemn anyone for how much/little TV they watch.  I'm finding it's a personal thing, and I'm just better when I am aware of how much we are watching.

Funny Ty

Yesterday, I was in Ty's church nursery class to help with singing time.  I was singing with the kids at the end of church, so after we finished singing, I asked Ty to come with me so we could go home.  He flatly refused and kept trying to get away from me.  I finally let him go and he ran to the child gate at the door of the nursery where parents pick their kids up.  I smiled at his teachers and walked out another door (the room has two doors).  As soon as I took a few steps down the hall and stood at the second door, where Ty was standing at the child gate, he yelled "mommy, mommy!".  It was like my alter-ego had been the singing teacher.  He acted as if he hadn't seen me for the whole church meeting and was so excited to have his teacher lift him over the gate, just like he does every week, and come to his mommy.

That's All I Have to Say About That...

Actually, it's not wholly true.  I have a lot to say about the elections...but what's done is done.  But, honestly, I had to laugh tonight when I read this article on Foxnews.  Apparently, before the elections, President Elect Obama promised to get his girls a dog after the elections were over.  He has now cited the search for a dog as a "pressing issue", as his daughter is allergic to dogs and he would like to find a shelter dog (hard to find a dog in a shelter that you know what breed(s) it is so that you can avoid allergies).  Hence, the buzz!  Obama himself said that the search for a dog has generated as much traffic on his website as anything.  After all that we just went throught to elect a president, and now the people of this country have their man, and one of their biggest concerns is helping him choose a dog!  Yes, getting a dog for your family is a big issue, but seriously.  I understand that the search for a dog is a major concern for his family, but it blows my mind that we've gone what we've gone through over the past forever months to choose a president...now, the biggest concern isn't 'what is he going to do to the economy?' or 'what are his first priorities in office?'...we're all worried about what kind of dog Pres. Obama's family is going to choose.  All I can do is laugh...we live in a great country, and we are so blessed that despite all the the fact that this election got pretty nasty; and we are now looking at a historical event come inaguration day, that we are most concerned with what kind of dog Mr. President will choose.  God bless America!

Beautiful Day

We had plans to get some much-needed grocery shopping done today.  But the weather for November 1 in Milwaukee was so fabulous, we headed to the zoo last minute (it was just over 70...you should have seen it...everyone out in shorts and tank tops!  Only in Milwaukee!)  I got some shots of the kids with the leaves....testing, testing...we're supposed to go back with Jenni for more family pics later this week.

Happy Birthday Brooklyn

It's Brooklyn's birthday today--hence the name change with the blog.  I survived and conquered "three under three".  With Brooklyn turning 4 today, and Sadie is almost 18 months, all I can say is, "you've come a long way baby!!!  We celebrated on Saturday, she honestly has no idea it's actually her birthday today...but we had a lot of fun.  We had a 'surprise' party (Jake took her shopping while I decorated with crepe paper and yelled 'surprise' when she came into the room), went out to eat, and had cake and ice cream.  It's fortunate she's so easy to please!

Sadie is Walking!!!

At almost 18 months, our little peanut is walking!  It's a big milestone for us, she's been so behind on other physical development.  She's still only taking 10-15 steps on her own, but we're so pleased!  Her physical therapist says she's still within 'normal' range and we expect her to be walking all the time within the next few months!  Go girl!  (Notice her Halloween tights in the picture...I put these on her the Sunday before Halloween!)  I wish I could get away with fun stuff like that!

Halloween -- Round 3

On Halloween, we went to a 'party' in the morning at Maggie Moos.  Are you kidding?  These kids are MY kids.  They ate ice cream at 10:00am...what a start to Halloween.  They had fun mixing their own ice cream and making a huge mess.  After that, I met a friend at Betty Brinn Children's Museum (she was supposed to be able to come to the party at the ice cream store, but we had a mix up...so we changed plans).  The kids of course enjoyed the museum, which also was having Halloween festivities.  Ice cream for breakfast...candy for lunch....they're living the dream!  Saturday (November 1) we had another Halloween party with a friend of Jake's from work...we were so burned out on Halloween, we didn't get pics!  I'm so glad its all OVER!  The best part...not wondering 'is that person dressed up or not?"  Fashion sense is non existant in Milwaukee.  Anything that isn't the 80's is high-fashion!

Halloween -- Round 2

On last Wednesday night, we carved pumpkins with the kids.  We did most of the gutting, my kids, of all kids, were grossed out by the 'slimy' insides of the pumpkins.  Honestly, this morning Ty was slurping rain water off of the ground outside...and you're grossed out by pumpkin guts?  They had fun anyways...

Halloween -- Round 1

Halloween here this year lasted all month, I'm sure.  The weekend before Hallween, we had the ward party on Friday.  I dressed up like a zookeeper, Jake was a donkey, and he pulled a cart/cage with all our our wild animals in it (Brooklyn-giraffe, Ty-elephant, Sadie-croc).  Everyone loved our costumes...the kids had so much fun going from door to door in the church trick-or-treating.  Then, on Saturday, we went to "Boo at the Zoo".  I was a sport and wore Jake's donkey costume...the kids went to different stations around the zoo to get candy.  It was a good time.  

In Wisconsin, most cities have designated trick or treating  hours.  In Wauwatosa, it's always a Sunday.  This year, it was the Sunday after we went to the zoo (the Sunday before Halloween).  It was a freezing day, and the trick or treating hours coincided with church, so aside from a special visit we made after hours to two close neighbors, the kids didn't get an authentic trick or treating experience (although the loot that our neightbors had ready for them made up for what they could have got by going for blocks!)  

Pumpkin Patch

I'm obviously catching up...October was a long month in many respects.  These are some pictures of picking out pumpkins at the pumpkin patch.  The kids had a blast and we always enjoy the drive out to the 'country' to find our pumpkins!