Boy or Girl?

So it's been just a little while since I posted (so much so that my blog is still decorated for Halloween). Lizard started walking about a month back and that is where my time has gone. Oh my gosh is she a climber! Noodle was never like that, never. I will post more about the last month later, though.

My real reason for writing tonight??? We had our ultrasound today. And today we found out we are having a boy! While this wasn't exciting news at first (to me and noodle, that is. husband was thrilled right away) it's very exciting now. My initial reaction was similar to that of when I found out I was pregnant, minus the tears. Noodle flat out told the tech that she wanted a girl baby.

Once we got home and showed my Dad the pictures Noodle told him that we could keep the baby outside :) All we could do was laugh. Once I composed myself I knelt down to her level and told her that it really will be okay having a boy (i even believed it myself! i was so convincing). I also reassured her that she would still have Lizard. And that, I believe, was her turning point. It was almost like she forgot she has her sister.

Not to cut this too short, but it's almost midnight here and I'm very tired. Sweet dreams to you all and I'll try to get you all caught up throughtout the week (and probably next week).

Happy 1st Birthday?

Friday morning started off with the girls and I heading over to pick up Grammy and make our way to Costco to get some odds and ends for Lizard's birthday party Saturday. And while we were getting ready that morning Husband calls and tells me that he doesn't feel good, he has a fever and the chills and he thinks he's getting the flu.

Jump ahead to that evening when Husband calls again and says, just for good measure, he's going to go to the convenience center and get checked out and make sure it's just the good ole fashioned flu because by that point he was coughing pretty bad, on top of everything else, and it was making him really dizzy. The doctor checks him out and says, 'yep, you have the flu'. Well no shit. But was it the regular flu or H1N1? Because Husband does not fall into any catagory of being considered high risk they didn't test to find out. Ok. But, Husband failed to mention to the doctor that he has a pregnant wife and two kids ages three and under and do we need to be concerned about getting sick. So I had to call the convenience center and talk to the nurse. Her recommendation was that it wouldn't be a bad idea for us to keep our distance. Otherwise, use common sense and wash your hands often, cough and sneeze into your arm, blah, blah, blah. So the girls and I ended up having a sleep over at Grammy and Poppa's that night.

The next day was Lizard's big party day. Or what should have been her big party day. Husband, obviously, wasn't able to be there. My Grandma called that morning and my Grandpa was sick so they wouldn't be able to make it. Cousin called shortly after (or before, i don't remember now) and she had had a fever the last couple days and her youngest was coughing pretty good so they wouldn't be able to make it. My other Grandpa wasn't feeling great so he laid down to take a nap and woke up at 6:30 so he wasn't able to make it. None of Husband's family showed up except his parents. And even then they totally bailed after about an hour. And while Lizard did not know the difference it really bummed me out.

The girls and I stayed at my parent's house one more night. Mainly because it was late by the time we finished cleaning up and the girls were tired and ready for bed. Noodle fell asleep on the couch around 8 and my youngest sister played with Lizard while I got ready for bed. Around 9:00 or so Noodle woke up with a fever and shortly after that Lizard threw up her cake all over me. The next morning everyone was fine and we headed for home.

Two o'clock Monday morning roles around and Noodle wakes up with a fever. At 3:00 Lizard woke up with the same fever. They were both back to sleep within an hour or so and woke at a more suitable time feeling just fine. No fevers, nothing. By bedtime that night Noodle's fever was back and stayed for the next 24 hours.

All of this being said I had nothing for my baby girl on her actual birthday, which is today. She had no presents to open from us. We didn't do anything fun or special to celebrate. It was like any other day. And it broke my heart because while she won't remember it, I will. Being she doesn't have any concept of today being her actual birthdate maybe we'll do something fun this weekend when everyone is 100%. That's my plan anyways.

Happy 1st Birthday, babygirl! Mommy loves you so much.

Things Kids Say Thursdays

We had a very busy and eventful week. So, unfortunately I didn't write all of Noodle's quotes down, but I did remember my two favorites.

This first quote requires a back story first. We have been having some pooping issues at our house (she doesn't want to go on the toilet all of a sudden. so were doing pull ups for the time being). So my Mom made a deal with her that if she starts pooping on the potty again she will buy her the Little People Nativity set (last Christmas all she wanted to do was play with my Mom's good Nativity set. And, obviously, she couldn't do that). That being said, we were at my Aunt's wake Sunday evening and Noodle and my Grandma went for a little walk around the funeral home. And on their walk they came across a picture of Mary and Jesus. This prompted a conversation about who they were and a few other things. A little later I'm talking to my Grandma and she tells me that Noodle told her 'I have Jesus on my underwear.' I had a little explaining to do.

As we were making the rounds before we left the wake Noodle noticed my Aunt Lil (the one who passed away). She wanted to go see her so my Mom took her up there. She looked her over and commented on her jewelry and lipstick and whispers to Mom, 'Don't scream. You'll wake her up.'

My favorite one of the week was just a couple days ago. Twin sister stopped over to borrow some nail polish and as she was walking to her car Noodle stood in the doorway yelling, 'Hey, come back here! I need to tell you something!' She yelled this a few times so Twin sister came back and stood on the front porch (she didn't come back inside) and asks, 'What did you need to tell me that was so important?' Noodle slams the door in her face and yells, 'Nothing!' Husband and I both thought we were going to pee our pants we were laughing so hard.

To read more funnies head over to Mud Pies for Mommy.

Things Kids Say Thursdays

Last Friday afternoon my Mom and sister babysat so I could run and get Husband an anniversary present. Once I got home and settled in Mom and sister packed up and were getting ready to leave when Noodle asked Grammy to beep four times (she's very particular these days) before she drove away. Their conversation went something like this...


Grammy: 'OK, look out the window and I'll beep for you.'


Noodle: (standing in the doorway) 'Beep four times, Gramma!'


Grammy: 'OK, close the door. It's cold outside.'


Noodle: (still standing in the doorway) 'Beep four times, Gramma!'


Grammy: 'OK! Close the door!'


Noodle: 'Beep four times you two faced son of a jackal!'



By that point Mom was already in her car and didn't hear Noodle say this, but I made sure to call and tell her right away :)


Last night at dinner we were all sitting down and I realized I forgot to get the girls their drinks. So I get up and refill sippy cups and Husband took Noodle's to hand it to her. Well, he failed to realize that she had gotten up and was standing next to him, but behind him a little bit waiting for me to hand her the sippy cup. He didn't see her and turns to give her her drink and elbows her smack dab in the middle of her forehead. It very obviously hurt (there was a nice red bump front and center) so he apologized. However, that wasn't enough for her and she hit him back. At this point I intervened and explained to her that Husband hitting her was an accident and he said he was sorry so she needed to let it go. This evidently was not an acceptable answer to her so she turned to Husband and tells him, 'Go to work Dad. Just go to work.' And went back to eating her dinner.

For more fun reads head over to Mud Pies for Mommy!

Five Years

Today, Husband and I are celebrating our 5 year anniversary. We aren't the same people we were then.

But, I wouldn't trade who we are now or how far we've come.

Happy Anniversary to the best Husband in the world :)

Things Kids Say Thursdays

I happened to stumble upon this at Mud Pies for Mommy while checking out all of the You Captures this morning and thought it was a great idea! The idea being that you simply keep track of the funny things your kids say throughout the week and share with others. So here is my favorite Noodle quote of the week...

We were driving home from the grocery store Tuesday afternoon and we just made the turn onto our street when I hear Noodle (age 3) tell Lizard (11 months), 'It's ok sweety, I'll keep you safe from rhinos, IIII promise.' And if you ask me that's a promise I think she'll be able to keep :)

You Capture. Red.

For You Capture this week the theme was red. And while I had every intention of getting some beautiful red fall pictures that just didn't happen. So I settled for the next best thing and went for the yummy tomatoes from my Mom's garden that are sitting on my kitchen table. This picture was taken at the beginning of the week and the bowl of tomatoes looks nothing like this now (it's actually pretty empty). Head over to Beth's and see all the red you can handle :)

In The Clear?

Well, this is the second morning in a row that I have not thrown up (that has been my morning routine for ooooh 6 weeks now) :) So I'm really hoping all of my first trimester 'fun' is coming to a close. I will be 12 weeks on Friday and I was right around that when I started to feel normal with Noodle (Lizard was more around 14 weeks). Overall I have felt better with this pregnancy than I did with my first two. I think more so because I have two kids and, therefore, don't have the luxury of laying around as much as I could first times around. So it has forced me to stay busy and not have time to focus on feeling crappy. And at the same time I think you get smarter with each pregnancy. You know what did and didn't work first times around and you learn from those experiences.

I have been more tired the last couple weeks, but I think that has more to do with the fact that Husband has been working an unbelievable amount of hours. His official clock out time for this past week was 65 hours! Where he works they are horribly understaffed and some accounts had been pushed to the wayside, which caused them to get backed up that much more. I know he's nervous to go back to work tomorrow and find out just how bad it still is. But, at least he's working, right?

On a happier note I had my first doctors appointment and found out baby #3 is due to arrive April 24th! I was able to hear a quick little heartbeat (and there was indeed only the one) and it was wonderful. With the girls it wasn't until my second appointment that I was able to hear a heartbeat. So I was pleasantly surprised. I go to the doctor on Monday and will have a little more to report. Until then, this will have to do.

You Capture. I Heart Fall.

The quest for the perfect pumpkin (we must be picky about these things).

If Lizard were looking at the camera it might have been the perfect family picture.

Noodle thought these were hilarious.

For me, fall is the single greastest season of the whole year. If I could have it all year long it still wouldn't be long enough. The weather is beautiful, the colors are GORGEOUS, what's not to love about fall? So when I saw that this was the theme for You Capture I was thrilled. We made our first (of many) trips to the pumpkin patch. It was a beautiful day to spend outside and we had so much fun. I hope you all had as much fun with fall as I did :) Head over to Beth's and see everyone else's fall captures.

Unanswered Prayers

First, thank you to everyone for the wonderful baby congratulations. They were a lot of fun to read. We truly are excited and looking forward to adding to our family. And I have heard from many people that going from two kids to three kids is nothing compared to going from one kid to two kids (and i believe it!). Noodle will be a fantastic helper and Lizard will learn to roll with it (i hope. she's my mama's girl so i'm a little apprehensive about it. but it will be fine. no, really it will). If this weren't to have happened how it did, though, I honestly don't believe would have had another baby. We were very content with our family of four. And even more so it was starting to get easier. Like next summer if we wanted to go to Indiana Beach for the day we could do that. Or if we decided on a whim to go to Chicago over night we could easily do that as well. And Husband and I felt like we were starting to get our life back a little bit. Just little things, but, our life all the same.

Very unfortunately last week there was a heartbreaking death in husband's family. His cousin in Colorado lost her ten and a half month old baby boy. From what I know (i'm not sure of the complete details) he had a fever that turned out to be Group A Strep (they didn't know this until the received the autopsy results) that then caused an infection in his blood stream. They took him to the hospital, but, by that point it was too late. He passed away on the chopper going from one hospital to another. Neither of his parents were able to be with him because there wasn't room for them on the helicopter. They had to find this out when they got to the second hospital. This was an extremely rare case of this happening.

Husband and I hugged our girls tighter than we've ever hugged them the night we found out about Hunter, especially Lizard. She is exactly one week younger than him. I couldn't imagine losing her and my heart hurt more thinking about them losing him.

I have never been more thankful for my girls. And I am even more thankful for our unanswered prayer...the wonderful baby we thought our life would be complete without.

You Capture. Something New.

So the theme for You Capture this week was to take a picture of something you've never photographed before. At first this sounded tricky, but then quite the opportunity presented itself.

Now (to be very truthful) I was not necessarily excited when we found out. In fact I cried for a day and a half (because when you have a three year old and an at the time nine month old and you find out you're going to have another one...FUCK). After a few days of the initial shock wearing off we felt a little better about it. And after a few weeks we finally stepped back and thought 'if this is the curve ball God is going to throw our way then we are unbelievably blessed.' And I say curve ball because this was a 'surprise' not an 'oops.' The difference being that a 'surprise' happens despite your best efforts to be 'careful' (i think you all know what i mean). There are so many more things I could say right now, but I'll stick with the short version for the time being. Make sure you head over to Beth's blog and see what everyone else captured.

The little tornado that was...

So in our little town last night a tornado paid us a visit. Where our house is you would never have guess that any of this happened (and we're only 10 blocks out from this picture!). It rained heavily and then at 7:32 p.m. the National Weather Service flashed an emergency message on the television screen saying that a storm with strong rotation would be in our town by 7:35 (not enough time to get to mom and dad's; ya know, because they have a basement). So I round up my troops to get to our bedroom closet, but by the time I got them the storm had already passed us. Thank goodness, right? Then our power went out, came back on, went back out, came back on, went back out...and stayed out. I packed up the diaper bag to go to Grammy's (figuring they had power) and we were on our way. As we got closer to town (which, again, is only 10 blocks) Husband and I realized that a big storm did indeed go through town. As we got even closer into town we realized that it was, indeed, a tornado. Trees were down (some uproooted)everywhere, power lines were down, and firetrucks and police cars were driving around with their sirens blaring. At the local middle school the roof was taken off the south end and almost all of the windows were shattered. Mom and I went out early this morning and took lots of pictures before they started closing roads. These ones are from when little sister and I went out. It was quite a sight. The girls and I ended up staying at my parent's house that night. It helped to keep Noodle's mind off the fact that she couldn't watch a movie. But, Husband went home to sleep because he had to work this morning and all of his work stuff was at home (with the entire town out of power, 8800 people to be exact, I didn't feel the need to be driving around and trying to get into my house in the unbelievable darkness. It was freaky how dark it was outside!). Mom will have more details on her blog because she saw the actual cyclone above her house! Freaky deaky. I'm hoping our first tornado experience is also our last.

Check out Bacardi Mama to see more pictures (i'm not sure when she'll have her post up. you might have to check back later. her pictures will be worth it).

Party on, Wayne!

So we finally had Husband's 30th birthday party, and it was a blast! To say he was surprised would be an understatement. Two hours before the party, though, I thought for sure I had blown it. Husband was doing his P90X workout in the family room and I was in the kitchen talking on the phone with my niece (the one who babysat that night). And I'm going on and on about details she needs to know being I wouldn't see her when she got there. And half way through telling her about bedtime it occured to me that Husband was in the next room and quite possibly heard our conversation (well, my half of the conversation anyways). Now, that normally would not have been a problem. Except he was under the impression that I was out to lunch and a show with my sisters and would be home around 7:00. So why would Niece need to know about bedtime? Luckily for me, Husband was in his own little P90X world and didn't hear a thing.

When I left the house I stopped by a local florist to pick up three bundles of balloons. And as I went to pay I realized that I had left my party shoes sitting in the mudroom of my house. Again, why would it be a problem for me to run home and get them? Because by the time I realized I forgot them I should have been halfway to the restaurant for lunch with my sisters. I had no choice, though, but to go home and get the shoes because the shoes I left the house in would have looked sooooo stupid with my party outfit I took with to change into. And again, when I ran home to get my shoes Husband didn't even know I had been back in the house (which now scares me a little to think about that).

Once I got to the party destination, decorating and setting up tables went fairly quick. Twin sister and her husband and my mother-in-law came early to help (which was a great help). Everyone arrived around the time I asked and then it was just waiting for the guest of honor to arrive. Once he pulled into the parking lot with my accomplice I made the big announcement and everyone got in place and were ready to yell surprise when he walked in (I made sure I was standing front and center).

When Husband walked in and everyone yelled 'surprise' I thought he just might pee his pants. It took him more than a couple minutes to take it all in and realize all of the planning that had gone into the one event. Once he got his barings he said 'i need a drink' and proceeded to walk straight to the bar....didn't look at me, didn't say 'hi' or 'thank you', didn't even acknowledge that I was even there. It got a good laugh and I saw the humor in it as well. Immediately afterwards my Mom went over to him and made the suggestion that he should maybe go over and thank his kickass wife (ok, so she didn't say it quite like that. I adlibbed a bit).

All in all, the party was a big hit. Because of Husband's work schedule I had to have the party on a Sunday. That, actually, worked out quite well. No one was out really late (or got really drunk) and we were home at a reasonable time as well. The girls had a great time with our niece and the icing on the cake was that Noodle was in bed when we got home and Lizard was soon to follow. It was a great night.

You Capture. Friends.

This is my Godbaby and Noodle. They have been buds since the day Noodle was born.

I took this one of us on the Tilt A Whirl at the fair just a few days ago. Not too shabby, eh? These are my sisters-in-law. It's impossible to get a group picture in Husband's family and have everyone with their eyes open. That would be too easy :)

And, finally, these are two of my sisters and my "big sister" (also Godbaby's mommy).

These are some of my favorite people in the whole world. See everyone else's favorite people over at I Should Bd Folding Laundry.

Catching Up

Oh, where to begin??? It's been about a million years since I actually wrote something. Ok, so that might be a small exaggeration, but you know what I mean. June got off to a very rough start. On June 1st, our Grandpa John passed away after suffering from Alzheimer's. It was bittersweet because he had been sick for so long, but it was hard to let him go all the same. And then on June 15th husband's Grandma (Dad's mom) also passed away. She had congestive heart failure and had had more frequent issues with it in the last six months. She was 96 and had mentioned before that she was ready whenever He was. So in both cases it was a blessing. A positive spin on Grandma Rose's passing was that all of husband's siblings (6 to be exact) were able to be there and then stayed for a long weekend. We hadn't seen his brother Bill in over three years or his sister Lisa (my favorite sister-in-law) in almost a year. So, in spite of everything, we ended up having a fun weekend.

On a positive note Noodle is completely potty trained!!!!!! Back in fall I had bought a seat to go on the big potty (I think the little potties are disgusting). And then Lizzy was born and that went to hell. After her third birthday it was time to hit it full force. Well she wanted nothing to do with it. So we went to Target and I let her pick out her own seat (thinking she would pick Dora or Disney Princesses or something along those lines). Can you guess what she picked? She wanted the little potty that played music when she sat on it :) Go figure. Within a few hours of us getting home and getting the potty out of its box she had to pee. And wouldn't you know, she went on the big girl potty. It was a nice reminder that I need to let go and let God way more than I have been and that things can't be my way all the time. There were a few accidents the first week, but it didn't take more than that. As far as pooping, she went for the first time when Husband and I were out to dinner. Mom called and let Noodle tell me all about it. And her exact words were, 'I just pooped a little. I'll poop big later.' She is nothing if not honest. And with that there were some set backs as well. The final draw with that was a week and a half ago when I called her into the family room from her bedroom and she tells me, 'Don't check my underwear, Mom.' To remedy this we printed up 'Noodle's Poop Chart'. She has three stickers to go (out of ten) and then when all ten stickers are on her chart we are going to take her to Toys 'r Us and she gets to pick out any toy she wants. I'm slightly dredding this trip. As of right now she is saying she wants a new baby doll. I think, though, once she sees all the toys she can choose from she might change her mind.

Lizard is growing by leaps and bounds. She will be nine months old on Tuesday. How in the hell did that happen?! She is crawling (quickly) all over the place and is pulling herself up on anything she can get a grip on. She is growing way too fast and I don't like it one little bit. What are you going to do, though?

Lastly, Husband turns 30 at the end of August. I have been planning his surprise party for a few months now and it is finally coming up next weekend. I am getting really excited! I've received many RSVP's this week and I am going to run to my in-laws this weekend to rummage through some baby pictures. I am going to have an embarassing banner made :) Not too embarassing, though. I'll give you more party details (and pictures) once it's all said and done. Well I think that is enough catching up for one post. Have a great weekend everybody!

You Capture. Black and White.

From left to right that is Noodle, my neice Lea, my neice Abby, and their friend Corrine. This was this past weekend at Abby's birthday party. They were on their way from one clue to the next during the treasure hunt. What's a pirate birthday party without a treasure hunt?

As for this one their matching bottoms were just too cute to not take a picture. To see everyone else's black and white captures head over to Beth's at I Should Be Folding Laundry.

You Capture. Shapes.

I took a very literal approach to this weeks challenge. Having little ones made it very easy :) I hope you all had a fun with the challenge as well. To see more Shapes head over to the You Capture homepage.

You Capture. Independence Day and Food

Happy 4th of July! We started off the day by going to the parade with my family and then to my sister's house afterwards to sort out our loot we accumulated while we were there. Later that afternoon we celebrated at my cousin's house with a cookout and fireworks. I, unfortunately, missed the them due to two fussy girls who needed to go home and go to sleep. My sister took some amazing pictures of them. And I'm reasonably certain she'll have them posted for this challenge. Check them out at Just Another Reason to Eat Chocolate. And to see everyone else's Independence Day captures get scootin' to Beth's blog.

You Capture. Photographer's Choice.

So, my choice for this week was my girls. They are two of my favorite things to photograph and they are such great subjects :) I, also, had a lot of fun playing with the brightness and contrast and things like that. Hopefully they look alright. I hope you all had fun with the challenge this week as well. Now take a peak at what everyone else captured at Beth's blog!

You Capture. Summer.

The hot weather came just in time for this weeks challenge :) It's been a hot few days here so we've been spending them in water.
She is swimming all by herself this year. It's very liberating for us.

She loooves the slide at Aunt Kay's pool.

And, as it turns out, Lizard loves the water, too.

Enjoy the other You Captures at Beth's blog.

You Capture. Emotion.

Head on over to Beth's blog and see what everyone else Captured.

You Capture. Nature.

They are sooo close to blooming
Get out your magnifying glasses! I uploaded the wrong one and can't figure out how to delete photos. Oops!

Lizard took a nap so Noodle and I had fun outside

I swear we were having fun

How can you not love this shot? This is Lake Michigan looking out towards Chicago

There are more You Capture's to see at Beth's blog. Enjoy!

It was a great day for a birthday party

Can you guess what the theme was?

She loved opening her presents
and loved singing happy birthday

She actually sang happy birthday to herself.

Well, we had Noodle's birthday party this past Sunday and it was fantastic! The food was delicious and the company was even better. This is the first year that she had a grasp of the whole birthday concept and it was so much fun to see. She loved every minute of it.

And just a little side note here, if anyone wants a great brisket recipe check out the pioneer woman. It was soooooo yummy!

You Capture. Family.

My sweeties



























My gorgeous sisters




























He's such a great daddy






























Snuggle time with my baby

Gosh, I love her!

Check out everyone else's pictures at Beth's blog.