December 14, 2012

… was one of the happiest days of our lives.

Unfortuntely, for too many parents, it was their worst nightmare come true.

Nowadays, you give birth right there in your room.  We had had the TV on while I was going through contractions, etc (why?  I don't know.  It's not like anyone could focus on anything but the anticipation of Miss Avery).  I hadn't even noticed it on, really.  When I finished giving birth to Avery, the doctors had us all cleaned up and were out of there with all their fancy equipment, and it was just John, me, and the most beautiful little girl we had ever laid eyes on.  Our hearts were swelling.

But then we looked up.

BREAKING NEWS!! alerts were all over the TV.

On December 14, 2012, 20-year-old Adam Lanza fatally shot 20 children and 6 adult staff members in a mass murder at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut.  Before driving to school, Lanza shot and killed his mother at their Newton home.  As first responders arrived, he committed suicide by shooting himself in the head.

Nurses were in and out of our room, mostly all stopping to catch the latest on the story and wiping away tears.

I don't think I could properly soak it in, when I had my brand new precious girl in my arms.  Selfishly, I didn't want to.  I didn't want anything to take away from how perfectly happy I was that day.

But as the days rolled on, I couldn't ignore the story and all the information coming in, or the overwhelming pain it caused my heart.  What kind of world had I just brought this sweet baby into??  I think the whole nation grieved for those families.  And I can assure you, I hugged my children extra tight and prayed to God to keep them safe forever.  I don't think any parent wants to imagine what the loss of their child must be like, especially in those circumstances.

It was the second deadliest mass shooting by a single person in American history.  Court documents released from the investigation showed that the school shooting had occurred in a space of less than five minutes with 155 shots fired.

There are so many emotions, questions, and political agendas that have come from this horrific tragedy and I don't want to get into any of that.  But with the one year anniversary approaching and all the upcoming holidays, I just thought everyone reading this could send up a quick prayer for all those precious angels and those who love them.

Baby Stuff

Well, here we go again! 

We found out we were having another baby early in September.  We weren't trying to have another quite yet, but I just wasn't feeling well, so I took a home test.  Sure enough, it was positive.  I drew the same picture I did for our families to have Rudy color and give to John.  Rudy proudly showed him the picture, and John exclaimed how awesome he did and set it down.  I had to tell him, "Look closely..."  Then his eyes popped and welled up, "You're kidding??" -- along with some other phrases of disbelief.     

We had our first doctor's appointment on October 16 when I was 9 weeks pregnant to confirm the pregnancy with an initial sonogram, make sure there was just one baby swimming around in there, determine my due date and get blood work done and all that kind of good stuff. 

The receptionists, nurses, and doctors all smiled knowingly at us when we walked in and we heard more than a few times, "You just can't get enough of this place, can you?"  "Good to see you again!" "Can't stay away too long, huh??"  ... at least we have a friendly office to visit since we have been there regularly for the past three years! 

We got a clean report (me and the baby).  The baby had a strong heart rate of 172, measured exactly as I had predicted for the due date, and was incredibly active.  I don't remember seeing Rudy or Avery so active at the initial sonogram, but those were at 6 and 8 weeks.  We could see the baby's arms and legs moving around .. it was incredible.

Our due date is May 21, 2014.  Seems so far away and just around the corner all at the same time. 

I have been feeling pretty lousy, to say the least.  Lots and lots of nausea, light headed, tired like I've never been before, and just achy all over.  I forgot how miserable the first trimester is and the more kids I have, the more difficult it is!  Luckily I am starting to feel better, but could really use a boost in my energy level!  Some days I really drag. 

We have had a lot of questioning and what seems like judgments since we told our news.  I am trying my hardest to stay positive and excited.  Is the timing ideal?  Not quite.  Is it going to be difficult?  Absolutely.  But we will adjust and make the best of it.  It's crazy that we will have kids back to back to back in school, but some people have triplets.  Some people have three young kids with health or mental problems.  Some people have three young kids without any support or help from family or friends.  Some people have fertility problems and would give anything for any number of babies.  We are so fortunate and so very blessed with the cards we have been dealt.  We can do this and we will do great.  Taking on a lot is nothing new to John and I and the looks we get of "what are you thinking?" is nothing new to us, either.  But we have always come out just fine... and I am very confident that this will be the same.  We will be tested, but I believe in us and the love we have for each other and our growing family.  So people can say what they want or think what they want, but I am choosing to focus on the positive, enjoy every minute, and be grateful of the lives we have made together.  ... ok, my rant is over :)

I wrote that two weeks ago, just waiting on taking a "pregnancy pic" to add to the post.  Still haven't gotten around to it, but the days are going by fast.

We had our second doctor's appointment a couple weeks ago.  John had gotten called into work, so I took both kids with me by myself.  Again, I'm lucky I have such a friendly doctor's office to visit.  They all helped me watch and corral the kids while I met with the doctor and did what I needed to do.  And the kids were really well behaved.  The iPad and snacks definitely helped, though!  We got to hear baby's heartbeat… Rudy thought it sounded like a choo-choo :)  

Another clean appointment.. moving right along!  And I am so happy to be feeling a bit better.  I am still lacking on energy at random times of the day, but the nausea has almost all gone away.  There are a lot of foods I can't stomach.. mostly meat of any kind.  I can handle meat in something (like small pieces ground up or a little on a salad) or lunch meat (heated, of course), but a chunk of meat makes me want to vom!  In general I'm hungry, but nothing really sounds great… except last night when I had a taste for nachos.  Then I said to John, "I must really want nachos because I swear I just heard them say it on TV" (I was working on the computer while we watched football.. so why would they be talking about nachos??).  In my defense, there was a player on the Broncos, Duke Ihenacho, that was getting a lot of mention.  And, in case you were wondering, John did get up to make me some nachos.  They really hit the spot!  :)  

Pregnancy picture coming soon…   

Check and Check

Leaves, leaves and more leaves...

As you can imagine, Rudy was a really big help!

• Rake leaves:  Check
• Jump in a leaf pile:  Check

John thinks of the leaves as a chore (which I guess I can understand because he is the one that cleans them up) and can't wait to get them raked up, but I can't help but love the leaves on the ground… the view from our front steps is just beautiful right now…

Happy Birthday to Our Favorite Grandma's!

Gran and Grandma's birthdays are within days of each other... so we have had lots of celebrating to do!!

Kevin, Jennifer, Isabela, Grandpa and Grandma all came over for Grandma's birthday party one evening and we had so much fun! 

The kids made more spider pumpkins, colored Halloween pictures, and got out just about every toy.  The adults were in the kitchen and we could here giggles nonstop coming from the living room.. it was pretty darn adorable! 

And of course, we sang "Happy birthday" and had cake! 

For Gran's birthday, we went out to dinner with Gran, Papa, Kurt, Carla, George, the Fly's, the Dlouhy's, and Dawn, Dave, Kate and Tony (who all surprised Mom with their trip to Springfield!!). 

Surprise!

What are they smiling and looking at you ask?

 Oh only Rudy blowing out Gran's birthday treat from the restaurant...

 Yumm mac and cheese.. Avery's favorite!

Then everyone came over to our house for dessert and presents :) 

We love a reason to celebrate our grandma's because they are so great!  We don't know what we would do without them!!  They make our lives easier and most importantly, they love our children unconditionally and take such great care of all of us!   

What a Night!

Halloween 2013 was so great.  Really great.  

We started off the day taking the kids to the gym for a Halloween party at the daycare there while John and I were able to work out.  They wore their costumes, had a fun little party, and I was able to watch all the morning show costumes while on the elliptical (Matt Lauer's was hilarious btw!). 

Then our first stop on our Halloween caravan was Great Grandma and Grandpa Ballweg's house.  

Our Hawkeye football player and his cheerleader

Back at home for lunch and early naps, because we had lots of places to go that evening!  

Our evening tour started at Grandma and Grandpa Cicci's.  We played pool, had snacks, and got a couple pictures... but getting 2 kids and a dog to cooperate... difficult!  

Next stop... Uncle Kevin, Aunt Jennifer, and Isabela's house.  Isabela was a pink cowgirl and Grace was her cow... super cute!

And last but certainly not least, Gran and Papa's!  It was nice to finally sit down and have dinner!  And that would be the only picture we were able to get because everyone was D.O.N.E hearing me say, "Look at Mom... say cheese!"  

 And Avery giving her best cheer because she loves pasta with red sauce!

Rudy would say "Tee Tee" for trick-or-treat and got such a kick out of it.  He loved answering the door and seeing the trick or treaters and he especially loved the candy part... which was no fun trying to pry him away from it after one too much pieces!! 

At each stop we had a very special "treat" to share with everyone... 

And a pre-posed picture we took the night before to send to our family and friends that we weren't able to see on Halloween...

It was so much fun sharing our exciting news with everyone!!  John and I may not fully know exactly what we are getting ourselves into, but right now we couldn't be more happy and excited!!  Sure, it's a bit early from when we had planned to have another, but in the big picture, what's a few months early?  Some days I get pretty overwhelmed, but I remind myself how overwhelmed I was with the thought of having Avery and it's all worked out just fine.  We have so much love to share and any baby born into our family (and our extended family of friends), is one lucky little person.  And we are even luckier.  Full hearts and hands.. what could be better?!  

• Trick or treat:  Check

10 Months Old

Here's our girl at 10 months old… 

It seems so much has changed this last month.  She is a moving, crawling, walking around furniture, pestering her brother, pulling everything off shelves, giggling machine!!  

And any day now she is going to take her first steps… any day!

Avery is growing up so fast!!

Paint, Paint, and More Paint

Rudy's favorite at home activity lately is painting.  He gets so excited when we suggest it, and now he knows where the paints are and often insists on getting them out.  I don't mind really.  It keeps him entertained, contained, and I love what he creates :)  The mess is an easy wipe-down... gotta love washable paint that is actually washable!  

Gran came over recently with a project idea and her and Rudy were hard at work completing it for awhile.  They collected leaves from our yard (and both neighbor's yards) and brought them inside.  They broke out all the paint colors and painted the leaves, then "stamped" them on a canvas.  Rudy was so impressed when they would lift up a leaf and see the imprint.  "Woooow!" he'd say.  Of course they had to do several imprints and several more after Rudy got carried away and painted over everything. 

But it turned out pretty spectacular, in my proud opinion :) 

We also have painted pumpkins, Aunt Maria's birthday present, Halloween pictures, aaaaaaand the pantry floor...

Why?  Why??  Why???

It's like the "Red Paint Incident" only white paint this time and MUCH, MUCH, MUCH more paint...

We keep our paint gallons (i.e. not Rudy's washable paint) in the pantry, on the top shelf.  When working on the bathroom, John took several cans down to reach others and use some left overs and hasn't gotten around to putting them back up.  No big deal, right?  It's not like anyone could open them or anything.  EXCEPT for that fancy gimick lid that I fell for and purchased ("Use it to store and easily pours paint!" ... sounds great, right??).  Turns out it doesn't stay on if knocked over...

John was at work, the kids and I had just finished breakfast and I was working on getting the kitchen picked up.  I must have left the pantry door open (which I try to avoid because Rudy always walks out with some sort of snack or broom/mop/etc at all the wrong times), so of course Rudy was in there playing around.  I hear him say, "Oh no, Mom.  Oh no, Mom. Oh no, Mom."  I turn around from doing dishes and see him shuffling out of the pantry, waist down covered in paint, tracking white paint everywhere with each step.. and Sissy quickly crawled right over and went right through his tracks...

So what do you do?  I quickly stripped us all down, didn't want any more paint on the BRAND NEW fall clothes I had just dressed them both in this morning (!!!!), stuck Avery in her bouncer (which she was NOT happy about), while Rudy and I tried to slop up a gallon of white paint off the pantry floor... all while getting it on everything else in the process...and did I mention we were basically naked??  Thankfully we weren't expecting anyone and the mail man doesn't come until later in the day.  I called John and the conversation went a little like this:

Me (quite angrily):  Any suggestions on how I get up an ENTIRE gallon of white paint off the wood floor?!?!
John (trying to be nice/calm):  Ummm I'd get one of our old towels out...
Me (cutting him off):  I know how to get it up!  I just wanted you to know there is white paint ALL OVER!!!

Of course it's John's fault (isn't everything?! :)).  He should have put that paint away!  ... and I guess I shouldn't have put that stupid lid on it...

I did what I could to get the majority up, with Rudy by my side and Avery crying in her bouncer, and then asked Papa to come over on his lunch break so I could try and finish up.  I didn't want to get chemical stuff out around the kids and Rudy would insist on helping.  I was able to get a lot of it up, but the cracks and grooves are still filled with paint.  I'm too frustrated still to get back at it.  Maybe it will eventually just come up on it's own??  Wishful thinking.  

A Picture Worth a Thousand Words

With Avery's birthday coming up, I was working on a quick photo shoot with her to get a picture for her invitation (that I really need to get ordered!). 

Well.. Mr. Needs to Be the Center of Attention was not letting that happen.  He quickly swiped her headband, put it on his head, and gave his best smile.  No way was Avery getting more camera time than him! 

And poor, docile Avery just takes it.  Look at that sweet face... Sigh.  "Oh, Mom.  He did it again."

Needless to say, Avery's invitations won't come with a picture this year :)

Pumpkin Time!

We knew it wouldn't be a clean project, so we started out our morning (still in pajamas!) to decorate and carve our pumpkins!

Eeew!  

Rudy's masterpiece in progress

Avery was happy to be involved... with her own paint plate (without paint) and a paint brush!

Hard at work

Rudy considered helping me get the insides out...

...but it was sooo icky to him!

He was much more content to paint and decorate his pumpkin :)

Fascinated by Dad's carving

Rudy's finished product, side 1...

... and side 2.

Such a good Dad...

Rudy's choice, a scary spider!

And on to Dad's clever spider pumpkin idea...

One for Rudy

His favorite part was to glue on the eyes

And one for Avery

And to cap off our morning...roasted pumpkin seeds!

I love this sequence of pictures... "Ok, sure Mom, I'll try them.  Looks good."

In the mouth...

...and quickly out!!

• Paint pumpkins:  Check
• Carve pumpkins:  Check
• Roast pumpkin seeds:  Check