The Childs Family

An Announcement

2011-11-16T13:44:00.002-06:00

After 5 years, Adam is almost done with his residency. We finally signed our contract for a job starting in July, and we will be moving to Fayetteville, Arkansas! I know, it is a random place, and not very many people’s dream city. But, we are really excited about it. It seems perfect to us. I have to say that I will be sad to leave Minnesota. I have really loved it here. Now we get to look forward to being closer to our families, and seeing a lot more of Adam.

Morning hair

2011-05-11T11:38:00.002-05:00

Do you ever just wake up in the morning, look in the mirror, and have to laugh. Lately, I have been sporting some awesome morning do's. I've started to take pictures. Adam is a lucky man to get to wake up to this every morning. It is probably a good thing that he gets up way before me, and its dark.

Farewell old friend

2011-04-18T13:47:00.001-05:00

Adam was in the middle of a car pileup while doing his pediatric rotation in the cities. Besides some whiplash he is fine. But, his old blue Honda was not. The rear end looked like this. The exhaust was pushed up into the trunk, and the frame was bent. We are very thankful that he was safe. It was a sad day when we said farewell to his car as it was being towed to the scrap yard.

Lone Star

December 2000-March 2011

We had a lot of good memories with Lone Star. Dates, road trips, racing to the hospital to deliver babies. We even hit a deer once, with minimal damage. He will be missed. Especially by Adam, who will be riding his bike to work until we buy a new car.

Congratulate Me

2011-04-16T22:04:00.004-05:00

We are just finishing up 10 weeks of Adam living, and working in Minneapolis, while I was here, at home, with the kids, all my MYSELF.
Unless you are counting the 2 weeks where my mom, and then the in-laws came to help out. We have the best parents.
I did it with no whining, at least over the internet.
Sure, Adam came home on the weekends. But it was still hard, and lonely.
I had to take out the trash, in mostly sub zero weather, shovel snow, also in mostly sub zero weather, and put the kids to bed all by myself....
We really missed him, and it will be nice to have our “dad” home again. Except tonight he is working. (sigh...)

Did I tell you that Adam has decided to NOT do a fellowship? I am one HAPPY women these days. The next 14 month of residency seem pretty easy right now.

The newest Mr. and Mrs. Childs

2011-04-16T21:22:00.003-05:00

Adam's little brother just got married. We took a quick 3 day trip to Idaho to be there for the sealing. It was so fun. Everyone (minus Phil who is in Peru) was able to be there, AND we were all kid free. Which meant that were actually able to hold conversations with each other.

Here is a picture of the bride and groom.

This is Julie, my newest sister-in-law. That's 4 now. We are very excited to have as part of our family. Isn't she cute. She was a very pretty bride. Her dress was fabulous. It was SO windy and COLD at the temple in Rexburg, I didn't take that many pictures.

It was a great trip. We stayed up way to late, ate way to much food (I made my first trip to Cafe Rio), swam, and watched movies in Uncle Dave's theater. Hopefully, the next time we fly to Utah, we will have time to see friends, and not just drive through.

Snowed in

2010-12-23T12:32:00.001-06:00

We had 30 inches of snow, even before winter began. Church and school were both canceled. We were all home together and it was great! Wade loves the snow. He would stay out there forever. Here are a few pictues. Enjoy!

Sibling Rivalry

2010-12-23T12:20:00.000-06:00

Liz wanted a post, and requested a video. Here are they boys fighting over a toy on Blake's b-day. At the time I was annoyed. But, sometimes you just have to capture the moments for them to become funny.

TA-DA!

2010-10-24T14:43:00.001-05:00

Here it is. I LOVE it!. It is so much easier to clean and cook in. It was a lot of work. I might have cried, screamed, and bled a few times, but it was worth it.

Now I just need a new refrigerator...this one is way to small.

New Stove top and Microwave!

This is my favorite feature!

A few thing's learned:

Just because you watch a lot of the DIY channel, doesn't mean you can actually "do it yourself". We ended up hiring a contractor.

Attempting to do a remodel with kids is insane

Blake can get tired of chicken nuggets from McDonald's.

It still have to paint the trim and put on the pantry doors, but I am considering this project done!

The before

2010-10-24T13:30:00.000-05:00

When were house shopping in Rochester. The first room that I walked into in this house, was the kitchen. I saw it, and wanted to walk out. Even though it might look "ok" in the pictures, it's pretty gross. The b&w stick on tiles were sliding around. The paint on the cabinets started peeling off the day we moved in. On the inside of the cabinets there was old vents that took up most up of the space. We painted it blue, so we weren't blinded by the too bright yellow, and started saving for new kitchen right away. We dreamed of something new for 3 years, and we finally did it!

If you post pictures of your daughter's room on your blog...

2010-08-24T18:54:00.000-05:00

Kayleigh saw my last post, and told me that she was so "unbarassed". After that she immediately cleaned her room. At her request, here is her cleaned room.

Is it Genetic?

2010-08-24T15:41:00.001-05:00

I'll admit as a youth I had a very messy room. For the past year K and B have been sharing a room. About a month ago, K decided to move to the downstairs bedroom. She was tired of Blake waking her up at night, and insisted that the mess was all his. Behold her bedroom.

In case you were wondering, Blake's room has been clean since she moved out.

Days like this

2010-08-23T08:22:00.000-05:00

I'm going to miss days like this. Warm summer days. Days where they play outside and use there imaginations.

We are suppose to have a cool front coming through later in the week. School starts in two weeks. I'm just not ready for the summer to end.

I can do it!

2010-08-09T12:09:00.000-05:00

Wade decided that he would try walking a few weeks ago. Here is a cute video of it.

In one year

2010-08-07T07:41:00.000-05:00

He went from this

To this

Can someone tell me how to freeze time for a little bit?

Headboard

2010-08-06T09:20:00.002-05:00

I have been shopping for headboards for years. I have just never found something that I loved, for a price I was willing to pay. But, this was perfect. It was made in a day. The total cost for the lumber was $30. It makes me feel so grown-up to have a headboard. Its a knock off of a PB piece. What do you think?

mine, $30

PotteryBarn Mason headboard, $800

Now, if I could just get the rest of the room to look like that!

New Pictures

2010-08-05T11:05:00.003-05:00

Our new family photos were taken by my friend Jolene. If you need pictures taken, I recommend calling her. She is great with kids (she has 3 of her own). That is a major stressor with me. She was able to get a lot of great shots of us, even though my kids do not sit still. It was very hot, and very humid. But, I think the turned out great.

Visit her blog, Jolene Reed Photography

Bench

2010-08-05T09:05:00.000-05:00

Adam has been busy, Well, he is always busy. But, I found a blog last spring that has furniture plans. I begged until he finally made a few things for me. This is the first one.

Isn't it great. It opens to store things on the inside.

I love benches for my coffee table. We had to use our old one in kitchen now. I've been looking for a replacement, and I knew that this one would be perfect. I love it, and I love him!

Now that is better

2010-08-04T21:30:00.003-05:00

(a make-up free picture of me. Don't look to close, ok)

Are you still there? My blog is haunting me. I realize that I haven't posted in 6 months. I feel like that longer I go without blogging the more I am expected to say. Kind of like calling a friend that you haven't talked to in a really long time. But, we all know that I don't do that either. :) I'm sorry!

Minnesota is beautiful in the summer time. we spend most of our days outside. We have to soak it up while we can. A few highlights that you have missed:

Kayleigh finished Kindergarden

Wade turned 1!

Adam finished his 3rd year of residency.

Blake has been potty trained for a while (that was hard)

Lots of home improvement projects

The Childs family visited. (I love guests! hint, hint)

Kayleigh moved to the downstairs bedroom

I'm REMODELING my kitchen.

Milo found a new home.

We now have pet fish, much easier.

The list can go on and on. So, I have lots to blog about. Have you missed me?

Jack Frost

2010-02-19T10:07:00.005-06:00

This is what we woke up to last Saturday. Isn't it pretty It is called Hoar Frost. It happens a few times a year, and I just love it. But, to tell you the truth, I am sick of winter. We are severely suffering for cabin fever. If you have a cure, let me know.

p.s. I found my camera cord, and I can now download pictures. More posts to come!

Checking In

2010-01-22T14:28:00.004-06:00

There is a mouse in my house. Well, at least their was. We had a suspicion that we had a unwanted house guest, and we set up a trap. I looked this morning and there he was. I was disgusted, and I am still very disturbed. I paged Adam several times this morning freaking out. Hoping for a less interrupted afternoon, He came home quickly to remove it from the house for me. I often wonder what the O.R. staff must think of me. I'm sure they think that I am crazy.

I am trying to potty train Blake. It is time. I just can't put it off any longer. He hates using the potty. He has even conned his sister into putting a diaper on him. I don't understand how someone how eats so little, can poop so much. We have made great strides in the last few days. He is no longer scared of the toilet.

Wade is sick, he has bronchiolitis, on the heals of a family wide stomach bug. I really don't think that we can make it through a January in Minnesota without being sick. But, the weather has been really mild. The temperature has been in the 20's-30's. I actually don't mind that at all. Adam will be home this weekend, and I am so excited. Hopefully we will seal up the hole to the attic where the mouse came from. Exciting, right?

Blog post are better with pictures, right? Here is the most current picture of the family. I love my kids. They have been so cute and fun lately.

Happy Birthday!

2009-11-14T13:13:00.003-06:00

Adam is finally 30! He took a break from studying for his big test to celebrate his big day with us. We are all sick, but kids love a good party! Happy Birthday Adam! We love you!

Just in case I forget...

2009-11-11T15:18:00.005-06:00

They really do love each other.

Before & After

2009-11-11T15:03:00.003-06:00

Kayleigh really wanted to cute her hair short, again.

Goodbye, long and tangley. Hello to cute and manageable. We are hoping that she can wash it herself.

She loves it right now. Let's just hope she still loves it in a month, and doesn't want her old hair back like last time. For the record, I love it!

Boo!

2009-11-10T15:30:00.000-06:00

Just in case you thought we didn't celebrate Halloween, here is a picture of my trick-or-treaters, Wade and I manned the door, while Adam took the kids through the neighborhood. The not so high light of the night was when my neighbors brought their snotty nose kids that had H1N1 by. Nice, right?

One street over a man grows giant pumpkins and displays them every fall. Aren't they fun?

Wade sleeping

2009-10-26T08:26:00.003-05:00

Don't you just wish that you could just fall asleep whenever you wanted to, no mater where you where at?

Is that snow?

2009-10-24T17:52:00.009-05:00

Yes, yes it is! The forecast on Friday was for a rain, maybe a mix of snow, and no accumulation. Boy were they wrong. Not that the kids minded a bit. It was the wet heavy kind, the kind that we hardly ever get here. Kayleigh built a snowman all by herself, and I managed to get my car stuck in the snow. Fun times here.

Kayleigh made her first snow angel of the year.

Blake made half an angel. He didn't want to lay in the snow.

The building of the snowman.

Our cute little frosty!

We ended the afternoon with Blake screaming because he was cold and our power being out for a few hours. Someone ran into a phone pole, and knocked down a power line. The snow is all gone now, but it was fun for a day! I'm sure we will have more than enough soon!

MEA

2009-10-22T22:18:00.003-05:00

Last week was fall break for Minnesota for an education convention. So, we packed up the kids and headed for the Wisconsin Dells. We had a great time. We stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge, and it was so much fun. Our kids, like most, love to stay in hotels. When it has a built in water park, they are ecstatic. With 3 full days of fun, we were actually able to wear Blake out. He was tired. He wanted to be carried everywhere and sat still (that never normally happens) the whole last day. The baby slept pretty well. He and I both had colds, that bothered him more than sleeping with all of us. Adam and I made a pact not to take pictures of each other in out swim suits. We both have post baby figures that we are not very proud of. But, here are a few pictures of our fun time!

Kayleigh loved all the slides that weren't dark. But her favorite part was the wave pool. She loved jumping and bobbing in the waves. She was fun to watch.

Blake really just wanted to stick to the baby pool most of the time. He really wanted to try the body slides, but he couldn't work up the courage. It was weird for me to see him afraid, because he is usually fearless. Next time I am sure he will be out of control. He love riding the slides where he could sit in the tubes with us. My arms were so sore from carrying the tube up the stairs.

We also saw a man that had to be the hairiest man alive. I couldn't help but stare. I would have taken a picture, but I thought it would be rude, You will just have to make a mental one.

I'm always behind

2009-10-21T13:23:00.002-05:00

This is only a few days worth of laundry. Isn't it gross. I can never seem to get all caught up. I can't decide what I hate more, the folding, or putting it all away. i can't imagine doing the laundry for any more people. I'm in awe of my friends that have 4,5, or 6 kids and manage to get it all done. Any tips for me? I obviously need help.

Fall Colors

2009-10-19T20:38:00.003-05:00

I spent the afternoon raking leaves with the kids. It was such a nice day. 60's and a pile of leaves to jump in. Does it get any better?

Elder Childs

2009-10-19T16:55:00.006-05:00

"Uncle Phil" is leaving on his mission. After a short stay in the Provo MTC and a MTC in Peru, Phil is headed to the Lima Peru South Mission. He will be missed by us all, but mostly by Kayleigh. She is quite upset by his leaving. She thinks that he will be gone FOREVER, because she will be 8 when he comes home. We are excited to be able to have another missionary to write to again.

We love you Phil!

Blake's Blankie

2009-10-12T21:48:00.002-05:00

When Blake was about 5 months old we noticed that he was easily soothed when he was wrapped up in his soft, blue blanket. My good mother went and bought 2 more so we had a few to spare. Thanks to her smart thinking, Blake is is never without his ”Blank”. He is still quite attached. We never take it out of the house. But, it is always with him at home and he always needs it to go to sleep. No matter where that might be. He is such a cute boy. Can you believe that he is almost 3?

Look at her go!

2009-07-25T18:36:00.002-05:00

Kayleigh learned to ride her bike today!

Guess Who?

2009-07-19T17:15:00.002-05:00

Can you guess which baby is Wade, and which is Blake?

I love having 3 kids, but I'm swamped. I'll try to get back to blogging soon.

Welcoming Wade

2009-06-09T11:43:00.005-05:00

After only 2 1/2 hours of really intense labor, and a really bad epidural, we welcomed baby Wade into the world. Weighing in at 9 lbs. 12 oz., he is my biggest baby. Our hospital stay was mostly routine until we were about to go home. My beautiful baby boy turned blue and went limp in my warms. It was the most terrifying moment of my life. I am grateful that my husband and a nurse were in the room with me. The nurse grabbed Wade and ran him back to the NICU where they were able to revive him with some oxygen. After a few more similar, but less intense scares, Wade had to stay in the NICU for a few days for IV antibiotics and lots of tests. 3 weeks and 10,000 dollars later, they assume he was just choking on all of the fluids that he aspirated during delivery. His pediatrician assures me that is shouldn’t happen again, but I confess I still lay awake at night listening to him breathe. He is beautiful and we all love him very much. He loves to eat, and doesn’t sleep very much. It makes for some very late nights of mother and son bonding time. We still can’t tell who he looks like. He is just Wade. So far we are all adjusting well, and we are all very happy that he is here.

My precious boy.

The two of us.

Blake and Kayleigh come for visit.

Sleeping in his bed in the NICU.

We suprised them and finally came home! This picture cracks me up. They have been very excited about their brother since he came.

I'll post current pictures later when I charge my camera battery.

Wade Michael Childs

2009-05-24T18:55:00.002-05:00

Wade was finally born on May 19 at 9:05 p.m. He weighed in at 9 lbs. 12 0z. He has to spend a few extra days in the hospital, and he was just released last night. He is doing very well now. We are so glad that he is finally home! I'll put up more pictures, and blog more about it when I get some rest.

Now I am ready!

2009-05-08T09:21:00.004-05:00

My friend Marissa suggested that she watch my kids, and I treat myself to a pedicure. Of course I said 'YES, please". It was literally the best pedicure that I have ever had. She massaged my poor swollen legs and feet for at least 20 minutes. It was fabulous. It was so nice to be pampered. Aren't they cute!

Well, as cute as my feet can be at this point. Kayleigh is very jealous and wants me to paint a flower on her toes too! Now I can have cute toe nails when my cute baby arrives. Do you know how hard it is to get a picture of your feet when you are 10 months pregnant? I had to really stretch. This is what I normally see.

Any day now

2009-05-03T14:32:00.004-05:00

I'm sore. I'm tired. I'm grouchy and, I whine all the time. I can hardly breathe. I don't really fit into any clothes anymore. I even wore flip flops to church today, because I can't fit into dress shoes. I just keep waiting. I think that I am being punished for bragging about having my babies early. I have definitely learned that every baby is different. Although, I am still just as huge. Kayleigh keeps asking me if I am sure just one baby is in there, and Blake gets so confused when he is laying on me and the baby rolls over. Hopefully my next post will be of a much smaller me and a cute new baby!

Here is a picture of just the two girls. Adam swears it is like looking at a five year old me. Personally, I dont think I was ever this cute.

Still Pregnant

2009-04-28T17:22:00.003-05:00

Just thought I would give everyone an update. I don't know about you, but I feel like I have literally been pregnant FOREVER! I keep hoping I will have the little guy soon. I would have had Blake by now, and Kayleigh by this coming Thursday. So I am starting to feel pretty ready. I mean ready as in "I really want this baby to come". My house is a mess and I really need to go grocery shopping. We still haven't come up with a name either. My new car seat did come in the mail today.
Anyway, if you want any of my stats from my appointments, you will have to call. That is something that I just can't blog about. I'll post any news when the big day is here.

Oh, any suggestions on how to bring on contractions are greatly appreciated.

Kayleigh's Big Day

2009-04-09T20:04:00.009-05:00

Everyone in Kayleigh's class had their own special day. Since her birthday was in the summer, her day was on Wednesday. She was so excited and really enjoyed having the spotlight. Blake and I went to spend the day with her. We brought rainbow cupcakes, she was the star helper, and got presents from her teachers. All very exciting when you are 5!

She got to change the date on the calendar, and choose the weather of the day.( it was sunny and windy, but NOT snowy! Yeah!!)

Everyone sang Happy Birthday! Even though it was her "Unbirthday", as she kept telling me!

Blake had a great time! He loved playing with the big kids, and never sat still the whole time. I was very tired by the time to go home. I dont know how her teachers do it!

The bunkbed

2009-04-09T19:16:00.009-05:00

Here are a few pictures of the kids new bunk bed. They are sleeping great together so far. I think they spend less time worrying about what the other one is doing, and they just go to sleep. I'm sure this phase will end soon and they will start to play. The only real issue that we had was Blake falling out on to the floor a few times. We borrowed a roll gaurd from my friend Marissa, and he has been fine since. We still need to hang up pictures, put up curtains, finish the pillows, and a few other things. I'm tired and in no hurry though.

Here are a few shots of the rest of the room.

This is a closer shot of K's duvet. We made them reversible. Kayleigh loves to rearrange things in her room. She flips it over all the time. It is perfect for her.

Kayleigh has to make her own bed now, no excuses. I am NOT climbing up there.

Isn't my friend Denae great for helping me make them! She is so nice to let me bring my wild kids to her house and use her serger. She is moving to West Virginia soon, and I am so sad. She will be missed!

I'll be back

2009-04-02T11:52:00.003-05:00

My computer is going to the Mac Doctor to be fixed. I'll be off the internet for a few days. I'm sure I will get lots of things done around my house, and spend some qualitly time with the munchkins. Take Care.

P.S. Does anyone else remember the days before the internet? I remember when I first started using it. Weird, huh?

If I had a pony....

2009-03-25T18:54:00.007-05:00

The parents were invited to Kayleigh’s dance class to observe this week. I was able to get a little video clip of some of it. I’m the very large women in the mirror wearing the stripped shirt. It always shocks me when I see myself on camera. I’m Huge! It’s for a good cause though :)

Progress

2009-03-17T12:27:00.002-05:00

The walls are finally painted. I really like the color. It's bright, but perfect for a kids room. The duvets are mostly done, I just have to add buttons to the top. I haven't even started the curtains, or pillows. But, those aren't necessary. Hopefully that will happen on Thursday. Frankly, it can't be done soon enough for me. Kayleigh has been sleeping on the floor in our room since Friday. She has started to think about it as her own room. Their are dolls, barbies, and dress up clothes everywhere. She thinks it is great, but I am going NUTS! I am so ready to have my own space again. My house is a disaster. Their are books and clothes shoved in every spare place and they are starting to overflow. I am really ready for some order again. Hopefully, Adam will get her closet put back together, and her moved in tonight. I'll post pictures soon!

6 weeks till full term

2009-03-09T18:24:00.004-05:00

Check List Number One:

1. Paint over the pretty purple paint and fairies in Kayleigh’s room to make it more gender neutral.

2. Put together bunk bed.

3. Finish sewing the duvet covers I started last week.

4. Convince my two year old that he is a big boy now, and it will be fun to sleep in a big boy bed.

Step 4 is the hard part. K likes the door open with a light on. Blake needs it dark, with the door closed. She talks in her sleep, and he is a very light sleeper. It can be done, right?

Here are a few pictures of the very cute and ultra girly wall murals I will have to paint over.

I just realized that I have never taken pictures of the inside of my house before. Maybe, the next time I clean, I'll do that and then post the pictures, It will be my online tour for those of you will never be able to visit.

Saturday Sledding

2009-02-25T17:31:00.003-06:00

Adam came home a bit early last Saturday and took the kids sledding. They had such a great time, together. I have given up all snow activities for the rest of the year, and I had a much needed hour of "alone" time. Here are a few pictures.

It was a bit cold, and windy, but they loved it.

Blake is ready to go. He loves to ride on his tummy!

A Finished Project

2009-02-25T17:00:00.004-06:00

I finally finished crocheting the blanket that I have been working on for the last few months. It is really thick and warm. It might not me square, but it it perfect for doing this.

On the days, and nights that look like this.

Now it is on to making duvet covers for the kids beds. Hopefully it won't take me to long, I've got a deadline for this one.

Family Pictures

2009-02-19T08:41:00.006-06:00

We had family pictures taken while we were in Texas. Here are a few.

Cute Blake. He is always into trouble

Kayleigh is so sweet. Starting to be very grown up and mature.

All of us. Someone should have told me to wear my maternity jeans. These were a little too tight.

All of us. It is a real party when all of the Childs are together.

Apparently, I waddle.

2009-02-16T20:04:00.004-06:00

Kayleigh patted my tummy yesterday and asked, " Mom is this your baby". I of course replied that it was. She is really into this pregnancy. Always asking me how I am feeling, and asking me questions about her new little brother. Then she proceeded to ask, " Is that why you walk funny?". Apparently I have started the end of pregnancy walk already. Don't you just love how honest children can be. I had Adam take a picture of me. Am I the only women who gains 40-50+ pounds when pregnant?

10 things

2009-02-13T23:41:00.004-06:00

!. I LOVE the sound of the garage door going up when Adam is finally coming home.

2. I LOVE that I am finally feeling better.

3 . I LOVE the sound of Blake's little feet on the wood floor as he jumps out of his bed in the morning.

4. I LOVE that Adam still helps me pick up the house at night, even though he works way to hard already.

5. I LOVE that spring will be here soon. It has been such a cold winter!

6. I LOVE that I am finally starting my 3rd trimester.

7. I LOVE cuddling with Kayleigh. She is so cute and cuddly. Do you think that she will always cuddle with me.

8. I LOVE chocolate banana milkshakes.

9. I LOVE that the baby has the hiccups all the time. I think it tickles.

10. I LOVE that Adam will be home with us the whole weekend.

What do you LOVE?

Thanks for the idea Shaela!

Bad Milo

2009-01-10T17:53:00.007-06:00

Adam and I were talking on Skype before he left to go round on his patients. He left the window open, and not to long after, the dog jumped up on to the back of the couch. I have often suspected that he does this, but he is never suppose to be up there. I keep yelling at him to get off, but there he sits. He looks over at the screen, and then just lays his head back down. After 45 minutes this is very irritating. This is why I always lock him in the basement. Otherwise, he runs in from the doggy door, and I have wet, muddy footprints all over everything. Its nice that I am gone. Milo and I need a break from each other :)

Christmas post a little late

2009-01-09T14:30:00.009-06:00

Most of the Christmas season I felt overwhelmed. the weather had been terrible, and I hardly got out to shop. I procrastinated and never sent Christmas cards out. We had a series of colds, and pink eye that prevented us from getting treats out to any of our friends and neighbors. I didn't think anyone would want to share that with us. But, it was still very fun and very memorable. Christmas' with children are always magical. It doesn't take much to please them, and they are always excited about everything. Kayleigh continues to say that it was the best Christmas EVER.

My parents were brave enough to come to Minnesota to share a very cold Christmas with us. It was so great to have them. I'm very thankful that our family is willing to make so many trips to come see us. They really our great. The Child's and the Ford's.

Adam was on call all day on Christmas Eve, and then had to cover his own service on Christmas day. He was home to open presents, and for dinner, he was gone the rest of the time. It bugged me, but that is something the kids won't remember. They will remember way to many presents,playing all day, and sledding with their dad and Papa.

We had a pretty traditional meal for the big day. We had ham, potatoes, green beans,corn, sweet potatoes, rolls, and an assortment of yummy pies.

K's big santa present was a Sleeping Beauty barbie and a Sleeping Beauty horse. She was very ecstatic about them both. Blake has recently developed a love of all cars. Santa brought him a big pack of cars, and a big road rug to push them around on.

My dad spent a lot of his trip up fixing things around the house. I had quite the list of things that Adam hadn't been able to get to that he decided to work on. It was a great present for Adam(I whine less) and me. He also put up a bunch of shelves for me in my laundry room. I am so excited about them. It is so nice to have more storage space.

***Adam swears that he was there most of the day on Christmas. He was just on the phone a lot, which to me feels like he isn't there.***

Just words, no pictures for a while.

2009-01-09T13:57:00.006-06:00

I took a glance at my blog and realized that it has been forever since I have made a real post. I think that I am missing about 5 months worth of happenings. I will do my best to try and catch everyone up.

The most exciting news in that we are expecting a baby BOY in May. I am getting fatter by the day. I have spent most of my time since September on this little project. Although I have not been as sick as I was with past pregnancies, it hasn't been easy. I take lots of Zofran, and try to rest as much as possible. Kayleigh is very excited. She has been trying to convince me to have another baby since Blake started walking. I installed a ticker on the bottom of the blog months ago, but never really announced.

We are currently (the kids and I) snowbirding in Texas. My sister in law Liz was married on January 2nd, and we flew down for the wedding. We decided to stay till the end of the month. We all miss Adam, but not the cold weather. Liz's and Jonny's wedding was wonderful. She was a very beautiful bride and we couldn't be happier for them. The only disappointment was we didn't get to see them for very long before they were off on their honeymoon. Apparently I didn't explain to Kayleigh that she wouldn't see her Liz again after the reception. As they were leaving she yelled, " bye Liz, see you at Mimi's". She cried for the rest of the night when I told her that Liz wasn't coming back. Luckily, they stopped by to open their wedding presents before they flew back to Utah. K was very happy she got to see them one last time.

Since I am not at home, I wont be able to add pictures to my blog. you will just have to read my rambling words instead of looking at pictures of my cute kids. Maybe I can get Adam to put an ultrasound picture of baby Booger up.

It's fixed, I think?

2008-12-07T15:33:00.003-06:00

My computer had been having a lot of issues for the past few months. Finally, it stopped working completely, and I had to take it in to be fixed. The bad new is that we needed a new hard drive. The only good thing is that it was covered under our apple care warranty. It is nice that it will be fixed, but I'm sad to loose everything on my computer. Luckily, I had at least backed up my pictures. Hopefully I will be able to blog more now that it doesn't take me 5 minutes to type a sentence. It is still doing a few weird things, but I think it is better. I hope everyone is enjoying the Christmas season. We are!

Expensive Lesson

2008-10-28T16:03:00.003-05:00

I went to turn the heater on the other morning, and it wouldn't work. After adam and I both tinkering with it for a day, and consulting my dad, we diceided to call for a repair man, This is what he found.

These 6 rocks cost me $91. Over the summer, Blake has been putting rocks into the intake vale for the heater. What a stinker. I couldn't help but laugh. At least it wasn't something more expensive, right? Oh what I could have done with that extra hundred dollars. We will have to keep a closer watch on him next summer. Today it was in the 20's when I woke up. We really need the heat here in Minnesnowta.

What is wrong with my blog?

2008-10-28T10:20:00.001-05:00

I'm trying to change some of the side things on my blog. But it won't save them, after I type them in. Any suggestions?

Hi There

2008-10-27T22:42:00.004-05:00

We are still alive, and we are all feeling much, much better. I just feel like we have been nonstop busy lately. I just downloaded a bunch of pictures from my camera. Now I will have something to blog about. Isn't this a cute picture of Kayleigh. She woke up from a nap, and had some serious bed head. Speaking of bed. I'm headed there right now. I'm hopeful that I can post more, tomorrow, maybe. Love you all, and thank you for checking up on me.

Sick again

2008-10-08T16:27:00.002-05:00

I haven't forgotten about blogging, the kids and I all have colds. I am to busy cleaning up after everyone, wiping noses, and feeling sick myself to sit down at the write. Hopefully I will feel better in a few days.

So, what has been going on...

2008-10-05T20:34:00.002-05:00

Have you ever just sat down to blog and felt like you have NOTHING to blog about. I have felt like that for months. Then it had been so long it is just really hard to get back into it. But for YOU, the one person that still checks, I will rededicate myself to blogging.

The summer past by way to quickly here. Since it has been so long, I will give individual updates.

Blake- is defiantly not a little baby anymore. His new favorite work is MINE, and he yells it all the time. I think he just likes his sister’s reaction. He has had a rough summer of teething. His molars are finally almost all in. I thought he would only have 8 teeth forever. He loves: slides, babies, his blanky, the lawn mower, home improvement shows on TV, and his dad.

Kayleigh- finally turned 5 on August 22. We decided that we would wait one more year for her to start kindergarten, so I get to enjoy one more year of my little girl home with me. She loves: drawing pictures, play Barbie’s, my little pony, and her favorite movie is Spirit. She quotes lines from it all the time. She is very excited for Christmas time and snowy weather.

Adam is very busy with work. He is gone by 5:30, and usually not home until way after the ids are in bed. He also almost never has a weekend off. He really likes the surgeries that he is doing, and his having fun. We just really wish that he could see the kids al little more often.

Me- I’m all right. I am not looking forward to another long winter, but I am excited to have another year of residency over. I was called into the Young Women’s presidency over the summer and it is lots of fun. I love being with the girls, and I get to work with some really great women. It also gives me something else to do besides the house and the kids. I really need that.

I will try to blog ever day this week if I can to post events that have been happening. Stay tuned…

Seriously So Blessed!

2008-09-12T09:39:00.002-05:00

HI Everyone!

It is starting to cool down again here. Hopefully I will be better at blogging, now that I will be spending less time outside with the kids. My friend Summer had told me about this blog, but I hadn't actually looked at it until recently. Have you seen it? It is hilarious. I thought I would pass it on to you.

http://www.seriouslysoblessed.blogspot.com/

Ta Da

2008-07-23T09:21:00.006-05:00

We spent a Saturday putting in some plants in our very naked yard. Plants are really expensive, at least for us they are. It will be worth it in a few years when they actually grow in.

Before

After

Now we just have to remove the astroturf from the front porch.

This is the spot that my dad fixed for me. Now I don't have water running into my laundry room when it rains really hard.

Of course Kayleigh wanted her picture taken. She loves to pose.

Whitewater State Park

2008-07-23T08:50:00.005-05:00

We took the kids hiking at a state park near here. Luckily, I had packed the kids swimsuits "just in case" . Because the beach that was destroyed by a flood last summer was reopened.

Here we are at the beginning of the trail. We borrowed the cool baby carrier from our friends. Blake really thought that was cool.

Kayleigh and I in the chimney of chimney rock

Here we are with the view. Isn't it pretty! This is as close to mountains as Minnesota gets.

Here we are on the way down

Blake at the beach

This is seriously the best picture that I got of K. She was so excited to swim, she wouldn't sit still.

Ouch!

2008-07-22T18:29:00.004-05:00

Kayleigh fell out of her bed and scraped her nose on the nightstand. Poor girl it really looks like it hurts.

This is a picture of K and her "sister". She really, really, really wants a sister. She talks about it all the time. Now she pretend plays that her dolls are her sisters. Last night she made her a bed, so her "sister" could share her room. She read her a story and tucked her in. Whenever we have another baby, she will be so disappointed if it is another brother.

July

2008-07-22T17:59:00.009-05:00

My parents and grandmother came to visit for the first part of July. It was so nice to have them. We spent a lot of time in the backyard, and on projects around the house. My dad fixed some of the drainage issues in the lawn, and installed a water softener. We went to see the Rochester Honkers game. They are the local baseball team, which is made up of college players in their summer break. They were here for the 4th, we had a barbque, and walked down to the elementary school to watch the fireworks. It was really nice to have so much company for so long. Frankly, its lonely around here now.

Pictures of the Honkers game

My dad and Blake at the fireworks, boy was he sqwirmy!

Fixing the landscaping. I'll post the after pictures later

This is my Grandmother, Billie, reading Kayleigh a story before bedtime. So cute

June

2008-07-22T17:11:00.004-05:00

So the month got away from us, without blogging. I decided to do a month recap in one post.

Adam’s parents, brother and sister came to visit us. It was really fun to see them. We had lots of fun with them. We went to the park, The National Eagle Center

the zoo,

the SPAM museum. We also roasted hot dogs, made smores in the back yard, and played guitar hero. Adam’s brother Phil plays on expert. I aspire to be like him some day. I'll post some pictures of the SPAM museum, if Liz sends them to me.

Kayleigh really liked to crawl in bed with her Aunt Liz. Here is a picture of them together.

Blake also turned 18 months and started attending the nursery class at school. This is very exciting for me

Adam completed his intern year, and is on to his second year of residency. It doesn't mean much to the kids or me. He still has to work to hard, sleep to little, and defiantly not see us enough. But, at least now he has started in his own program and he likes what he is doing. That really makes it more bearable.

Its going to be a good week

2008-07-21T22:15:00.002-05:00

The Consultant that Adam is working with right now is out of town. Yippie!! His days should be a lot sorter since he obviously can't do surgery by himself. This means that he will at least be home by bed time, if not in time for dinner. I am so excited. Hopefully, I will get a lot of catch up blogs posted, as well as a lot of good family time. More to come.....

So you think you can dance

2008-06-06T10:34:00.007-05:00

is Kayleigh and my favorite show in the summer time. We watch it together and she loves to dance around the room , while pretending to be a dancer. I thought I would post some of the pictures of her from her last day of dance class. We put her in a class this spring at the community center. She loved it so much we think we will enroll her in a studio for lessons in the fall.

This is her favorite dance move

We thought that this was so funny. When they stretch she tells them that they are talking on a phone. She does this all the time at home now.

Kayleigh with one of her dance friends

blogger's block

2008-06-05T15:16:00.007-05:00

Its been forever since I have blogged anything. I'll try to play catch up. Here are a few pictures from the day when we planted our garden.

Blake holding a worm. Isn't he cute? :)

This is the area of our yard that we are making into our garden. It needs a LOT of work. Previous owners dumbed a bunch of rock here and we have been trying to dig it out, it just takes forever!

30

2008-05-06T22:09:00.002-05:00

Happy Birthday to me! Today was my 30th birthday. I always thought it would feel a lot older than it does. I definitely don’t feel much wiser. Some of my friends had a surprise dinner party for me on Saturday night. It was really sweet of them, and I have to say it was the first time I think I had ever been “surprised” at a surprise party. Today was a relatively good day. Kayleigh was on her best behavior, and was trying to be extra good for me. She picked out a birthday outfit for me to wear, and even took me on a morning walk. Adam ordered a cake and we had a little family party here when he got home from work. My big present from the family was Guitar Hero. We are all pretty excited about it. I have wanted it since we got the Wii for Christmas. I really stink at it, but I know I will get better with lots of practice. I did get a few "YOU ROCK"'s tonight.

30 is a whole lot of candles

K and I rocking out on Guitar Hero

Milo

2008-04-24T09:59:00.006-05:00

Our dog Milo is a very good dog. He is mostly obedient. Never has potty issues in my house, and is really good with the kids. He just likes to run away, A LOT. It gets to be very annoying. Yesterday, I was having a really bad day. Blake has figured out how to open the oven. I have to gate him out of the kitchen while I am cooking, until I buy a lock. He was screaming because he wants to be in there with me. Kayleigh is crabby and hungry, and Milo chooses to escape. He has figured out that he can jump over the back deck in to the garden. So I spent some time outside trying to get him to come home, but he just runs farther. Finally I just give up and come inside. He usually just comes to the door and barks when he is done. After about an hour, I see some neighborhood kids trying to bring him to my door. I had to go outside and help catch him. I have to say that I was really disappointed. He had never been gone for that long and I was hoping that he was gone for good. I was hoping that he had found another family, or had even been hit by a car. Isn’t that so wrong of me? I am just so tired of him. He is just so much extra work for me. I really feel like it is like having an extra kid around. The only reasons I keep him are: guilt, worry that I will regret it later, and Kayleigh and Blake really love him. After all, “Milo” was Blake’s first word. So my question is, what the heck do I do about this dog?

Blake and Kayleigh

2008-04-21T16:09:00.004-05:00

We took a few pictures of the kids this weekend. Blake doesn't sit for them very well. He loves to sit in baskets, so we just put him in one, and they turned out really well. I wanted to post some, and I will try and write more later.

Essex Park

2008-04-04T19:30:00.005-05:00

Today we really wanted to go to a small local zoo for a grand finale for spring break. But, little Blake would not comply with his nap schedule. So we ended up going to a local park late this afternoon with my friend Maryn and her kids. It was our first trip to the park since the fall, and the kids had lots of fun. It was a brand new experience for Blake. It was cute to see him try and climb all of the play equipment. There is nothing like a few hours at the park to wear them out. Hopefully all will sleep well tonight.

p.s. this is my favorite park because their are no swings! I get so tired of the pushing...

Kayleigh on the slide

Blake was so dirty. He kept falling in the mulch. It looks like he must have ate some. oops! Isn't this park pretty? I love all the trees in the summer time, they look so green. I'm so excited for spring.

Kayleigh is 4 and she is already very boy crazy. She loves to chase and to be chased by them. She especially love to be caught. When she and Evan play, she is often the damsel in distress, and he is the knight that needs to rescue her. Luckly for her he is all for it. Today, she was pretending to be tied to a pole, but he came and set her free. It was so funny.

Where is spring?

2008-04-01T08:50:00.004-05:00

I have had the hardest time trying to think of what to post for the last few days. So I will try to give a general recap on the goings on of everyone. I did want to mention that is snowing outside. It is April and its still winter. When will it ever end?

Adam-Finished all of his general surgery rotations and took Step 3 for his medical licensing exam last week! So essentially he is finished with our general surgery year. He is very excited to have started on Urology now. He was going to assist on a surgery today using a surgical robot and was pretty pumped about it.

Kayleigh-Almost fully recovered from her surgery. She feels fine, but she is not supposed to lift things. The problem is I can’t get her to stop picking up her brother. She is on spring break from school, and we are trying to think of fun things to do, but it is hard because it is STILL SNOWING outside. We hard a play date yesterday, and we have one for tomorrow. I was also thinking of taking her to the pottery place to paint something. She is starting a dance class on Monday and is really looking forward to it. She keeps getting dressed up and telling me that she is practicing. She loves playing on the Wii with her dad. She asks to play every night. It's super cute.

Blake- He is such a little stinker, but he is so cute. He just gets into EVERYTHING. He loves to push cars around these days, and he makes the little car noises. It’s very cute. He does love to be with his dad whenever he is around. Adam couldn’t even take a nap on Sunday because Blake just wanted to be with him. I thought it was very funny. He left the chapel for a moment during sacrament meeting, and Blake flipped out. Adam had to come back in and get him. We have a very quiet ward, so it was really embarrassing.

Me- Not much is happening. I am just busy with the kiddos. I just got a new hair cut last weekend. I really love it. I have a goal of losing my last final 10 lbs of baby weight before I turn 30 (in one month). But, I am sitting here drinking a coke with my breakfast. Now how sick is that. I better get on it, because I am running out of time. I am looking for a good book to read if anyone is still reading this and has any suggestions. I have to run. I hope everyone is well.

Hoppy Keaster!

2008-03-23T21:59:00.004-05:00

Our Easter morning started out with a traditional hunt for our Easter baskets and the eggs that the Easter bunny had hidden. Hen we had to hurry up and get ready for our 9:00 church. The kids of course had a blast, and they loved the things that the Easter bunny brought. I had a nice Sunday nap thanks to the fact that my husband actually had the day off, yippee! We made a yummy dinner of Cornish game hens, and all of the usual holiday sides. The best part of the day was our dinner conversation. Kayleigh started telling us everything that she knows about the resurrection. Which I thought was quite a lot for a 4 year old. Then, she wanted to know why the guards didn’t see Jesus leave. She waned to know if they were sleeping, and how exactly did Jesus get out of the tomb. I was shocked. The only question she usually has during our family lessons is, “Is it time for our snack yet”. We talked about the story in Matthew, were an angel came from Heaven to let Jesus out of his tomb. She was really interested. It just reminded me of what a big girl she is becoming, and how much she really listens to us. That was defniantly the best part of my Easter day.

I'll post a few Easter Egg hunt photo's in the morning. Right now, I am warn out and I am going to bed.

Surgery Day

2008-03-22T12:52:00.004-05:00

I started to write a long detailed post about how hard yesterday was, but I decided that I doubt everyone really wants to hear me whine that much. I just will give you the bare basics. Just know that Adam couldn’t come, and it was really hard. But, I better just get use to it. We were to be at the hospital at 6:45. So, we dropped Blake off at a friend’s house, and off we went. Of course, after taking all of her stats (blood pressure, height, weight, etc.), they gave her a medicine that makes the kids very happy and I carried her into the operating room at 7:50. The surgery took a bout an hour. I was in the recovery room with her by 9:15, and we were home again by 1:00. It just took forever for her to wake up, and the anesthesia made her sick. She has about 5 stitches on her tummy and she is pretty sore, but she is a lot better today. She keeps saying things like, “don’t hurt my button”. She did get a pretty cool bandage that she gets to wear for 5 days. She can’t play rough or lift any thing for two weeks, and can’t take a bath for a week. It’s going to be hard on her and me. She was a brave girl and I am really proud of her.

Kayleigh before surgery, getting her blood pressure taken.

Kayleigh after surgery, doesn't she look so sad.

Here is her cool kitty bandage

Cookie Monster

2008-03-19T19:58:00.005-05:00

Blake stealing cookies

He loves jumping onto the couch from here

Trying to steal a bite of his sister's cereal

Busy Nothings

2008-03-19T16:26:00.006-05:00

This week has been pretty busy. Adam has been gone A LOT like usual and I have been trying to get lots of errands done. Tonight, I have to make decorations for enrichment night on Thursday night. I also am suppose to be making a multicultural costume for K's school. Apparently, no one else sews. Not that I do, but I at least own a sewing machine and can read a pattern. I will post pictures of that when I start the sewing. I bet it will be funny.

Blake has become quite the climber lately, and boy has he been keeping me busy. I often find him on top of the kitchen table, or with a chair pushed up to the kitchen counter. Yesterday he was on the table trying to steal his sister's breakfast when I came into the room. It is cute, but scary. I know he is going to fall soon. I will add some pictures later.

Kayleigh is having her umbilical hernia fixed on Friday. It is really simple to fix. It is just a small incision through the belly button. I am still worried for her. She isn't that concerned yet. She is excited about the mask that smells like berries, and getting to ride on the bed.

Other than that we are just prepping for Easter, and getting excited that we can finally see our grass for the first time since November. It is so nice that warmer temps are finally here.

Shampoo

2008-03-12T11:25:00.001-05:00

Does anyone have a shampoo from the grocery store that they really like. I have been using the professional kind for way to long, and I have decided that I just don't want to pay for it anymore. Any suggestions?

My Friends

2008-03-08T14:34:00.004-06:00

I add some links to the side of my blog. Please do not be offended if you are not listed over there. I know a lot of people like to keep their blogs a bit more private. I just added those who have me linked on their pages. Just because you are not listed, doesn't mean that you are not my friend. If you would like your link added or removed let me know. Also, K wanted me to add this picture from yesterday. She thinks it is really funny. Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

New Look.

2008-03-07T16:36:00.004-06:00

Kayleigh decided it was time to give herself a hair cut yesterday. I new the day would come. It wasn't as bad as it could have been. She took a few snips from all over, not a big chunk from one spot. Luckily, it was pulled half way up and the short chunks in the back are covered up by the top layer. So, yesterday we took her in and had them blend what was needed and cut the rest shorter. I think the final hair cut is pretty cute. I am still finding chunks of hair hidden around the house.

A different kind of plumber

2008-03-03T20:36:00.004-06:00

Adam usually refers to himself as a plumber of men. ( He is a urology resident right now ). Last night he got to do some plumbing in our house. After putting a lot of lettuce down the garbage disposal, Adam noticed a big puddle of water seeping up through the main line in the basement laundry room. We ended up with a pretty gross mess, and of course I wanted to share it with all of you. We had to run to Home Depot to buy a snake to clean the line. Besides Kayleigh and I being sick, and a really big pile of dirty laundry that got wet in the flood, we haven't had any problems today. Kayleigh is now on a steroid treatment for her asthma. She has to take is for 5 days. Her doctor said that "It would make her more active, eat more, and have trouble sleeping." It sounds like a fun week, huh. On a fun note, we saw two deer wander down our street tonight, while I was making dinner. One of my neighbors told me that they come up to eat the crab apples out of the trees when they get hungry. That was the first time I had seen it. Kayleigh and I tried to get a picture, but they were gone by the time we got out the camera.

Poor Me

2008-03-03T08:28:00.003-06:00

So I have had an ear infection since last Thursday. I hate taking my kids to any kind of appointment with me. They are usually very naughty, and I decided that I would try to suffer through rather than go to the Doctor. Yes, Adam is a Doctor, but he can't right prescriptions outside of the hospital yet. Anyway, I spent my weekend being pretty miserable. But I can't hear out of my right ear anymore. That is a bonus when the kids are loud. A doctor that I go to church with wrote a script for me last night for some antibiotics,and hopefully I will be better soon. So today I will be taking lots of pain killers and laying on the couch with a heating pad on my ear. Oh I do get to take my kids to the doctor today because they are sick again too. More fun for me

Blake loved it too!

2008-02-27T16:13:00.003-06:00

I was surprised by how much Blake liked it. I forget how big he is getting. He really liked looking at all of the animals, and chasing his big sister around.

Quarry Hill Nature Center Pictures

2008-02-27T16:00:00.002-06:00

Kayleigh and Blake looking at the turtles

The fish beg for food. It is really funny to watch. you can buy minnows and feed them if you want.

Isn't she brave! I don't know if I would have done this at her age. She wouldn't smile for the picture though. She wasn't going to take her eye off of him.

Hedgie

2008-02-27T15:05:00.005-06:00

Kayleigh’s class pet is “Hedgie” the stuffed Hedge Hog. He is a character in one of Jan Brett’s books. Everyone gets to take a turn taking Hedgie home, then you journal about what you did and bring him back to school. Well Monday was K’s turn and she was so excited about it. She had been waiting what seemed like forever to her for her turn. She was so funny about it. She wanted to take him to the nature center to show them the other animals. We had been talking about going there for a few days. She really wanted to go to the zoo, but it is just to cold. That is one of the things that I miss about Texas. We showed Hedgie the birds, fish, turtles, frogs, and a bunch of other slimy things. He even got to help her hold one of the snakes. What a brave girl, and Hedgehog. Here are a few pictures from our day

This one is for you Liz

2008-02-24T22:03:00.005-06:00

Eli. Kayleigh, and Reigan

The Childs' family cousins : Blake, Kayleigh, Kaleb, Reigan, Gabriella, and Elijah

Enough already!

2008-02-24T21:43:00.002-06:00

I just wanted to post a few pictures of all of our snow. it is just so cold here that it never melts.

sicko

2008-01-26T15:33:00.001-06:00

So everyone around here has a stomach bug. One by one we have been dropping like flies. The trip to Texas has been postponed until we all feel better. We are now hoping to be out of here by Tuesday.

So it has been awhile

2008-01-21T16:53:00.001-06:00

I haven't blogged in a really long time, so I thought I would quickly add something. Adam is currently in a kidney transplant and is hardly ever around. Both of the kids and I have been sick. Blake was in the hospital with pneumonia and Kayleigh is just getting over ear infections in both of her ears. I didn't believe her at first because she couldn't decide which one of her ears hurt. Poor thing. So, it has been a pretty busy, and stressful three weeks. But, relief is in sight. I am picking my mom up from the airport tomorrow morning. She will be a big help, and hopefully I will be able to get some things done around here (laundry, vacuuming, bathrooms, give the kitchen a good scrub). After that we are off to Texas for 3 weeks. She is going to drive down with me and I am so excited. I don't know when it was last above 15 degrees around here. The last few days haven't even been above 0. It will be so nice to be some place warm, or at least warmer. Kayleigh can't wait for the trip. She is making up songs about going to Texas all the time. and tells me "Mom, I'm excited to go to Texas". She does complain about the fact that we aren't flying. She thinks driving will take to long. I will try and get some current pictures of the kids up soon. They are growing up so fast.

First Snow Pictures

2007-12-20T11:45:00.000-06:00

Our first snow happened about a month ago. Kayleigh loves it, and would be out there every day if I let her. We have had about a foot and a half so far. So far I have only got my car stuck once. Luckily, my good neighbor saw me and dug me out

Pumpkin Carving

2007-11-05T19:35:00.001-06:00

Here are a few pictures of the carving our pumkin that K named "Spooky"

Happy Halloween 2007

2007-11-05T19:09:00.000-06:00

We had a very Happy Halloween here in Minnesota. With all the usual festivities: pumpkin carving, trick-or-treating, and getting sick on way to much candy. Kayleigh decided that she and Blake needed to be a cat and mouse. There was no swaying her to anything else. I really wanted to dress Blake as a spider, but oh well. They ended up both looking really cute. I believe that she thinks of him as her little prop. My friend Jolene made K’s cat ears. They just clipped into her hair. It was a very easy and warm costume. Adam was on vacation so her could go trick-or-treating with us. It was cool out, but such a nice night. Our friend’s Maryn and Eric brought over their son Evan, and they went out with us. We kept our kids up way to late, but all had a good time.

"Just a couple of kittens out on the town."

Fall Leaves

2007-11-05T13:54:00.000-06:00

We spent the morning a few weeks ago raking the leaves in the front lawn. We bagged 11 large sacks full, and the tree still has half of its leaves to drop. Kayleigh thought it was lots of fun. She loved to crawl in the big piles and hide. It was such a warm pretty day. This tree normally turns red, but we had a really dry summer

Kayleigh mowing the lawn with her daddy

New hair cut

2007-10-22T21:14:00.000-05:00

I recently got my hair cut, what do you think? Isn't Blake cute! Can you believe that he is already 10 months old? Wow how time flies by.

Pictures

2007-10-15T14:29:00.000-05:00

It was hilarious to watch her try at the doughnut dangle

Here is a picture of Kayleigh at the apple orchard. Her new friend Evan is standing next to her in the green hat. He calls Kayleigh his "girlfriend". It's cute

this week

2007-10-15T14:01:00.000-05:00

This week we went on a tour of an apple orchard. Kayleigh loved it, but Blake cried the whole time. He was too cold and missing his nap :(. We also had a neighborhood fall festival on Saturday that was so much fun. We had lots of activites for the kids and lots of yummy fall treats like: carmel apples, cider, homemade rootbeer,and doughnuts. I tried to take as many pictures as I could of both activites, but I had my hands full with Blake. On Sunday night daddy finally came home to our house ( Kayleigh now thinks that he lives at the hospital). We had fun just hanging our with each other and trying to be like a normal family. I will post some pictures in a bit

2007-10-07T14:59:00.000-05:00

Thursday night Kayleigh came into our room and woke me up because she was itchy 4-5 times. Her eczema can be pretty bad, so this isn’t that uncommon for us. I was really getting to be annoyed though. On Friday morning when she woke up, I saw her leg and it looked like this.

I guess it’s hard to tell from the photo’s, but its really red and hard. I started to really worry about it because she had a mosquito bite a few weeks a go in the same spot that became infected. She did a course of antibiotics and we assumed that it got better. Apparently it didn’t. I took her into the doctor and she actually was more concerned about it than I was. It is infected by a very resilient strain of bacteria called MRSA. Probably a strain that her daddy brought home from work. The doctor gave us some really strong antibiotics, and drew a line around it with a surgical marker. If it grew any larger that the line we were suppose to take her in to the hospital. It made for one really long Friday night. We had to keep taking her temperature and it did start creeping across in one spot around 3 a.m., but after 2 doses on the meds it looked a lot better. I was so worried for her.

I'm still here

2007-10-02T17:06:00.000-05:00

I am sorry it has been so long since I have posted anything. I have really busy. I will work on something for hopefully later today.

2007-09-03T10:22:00.000-05:00

The fall to Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year. I love crisp mornings and the changing colors on the trees. I have a beautiful maple tree in my front yard that is suppose to turn bright red. I can’t wait to see it.

This is a picture of our house.

This is apple-picking country, and we plan on taking the kids in the next couple of weeks. We took Kayleigh last September when we were here and it was so much fun.

Adam has two days off in a row for the first time since he started in June. Its nice to have him around like a normal family. Of course, he is currently working on retiling the downstairs shower floor for me. We plan on doing something fun this afternoon.

My mom will be here on Saturday. The whole family is counting the days. She is going to help me with the kids a bit while I try and get a few things done around here. It will be nice to have another adult here in the house with me.

Events of the day

2007-08-29T21:51:00.000-05:00

My phone quit working about 2 weeks ago and I have had such a hard time getting someone from the cable company to come out and fix it. I had two previously scheduled appointments, but they failed to show up both times. I was furious! But, short of canceling the service, there was nothing that I could do. It’s hard to get a satellite signal here in the winter, so I really want to stick with cable. They finally kept their appointment today and it was fixed in no time. What a relief. Now it’s on to bigger problems, like getting the roof fixed.
I also signed up for my YMCA membership today. I am so excited about it. It will be nice to have a place to drop the kiddos off and exercise. Maybe I can loose my post pregnancy pooch now. The have an indoor swimming pool so we can swim year round. We went today and Kayleigh and Blake both loved it. Kayleigh starts her swimming lessons next week.
Oh, Blake tried to fish toilet paper out of the toilet for the first time today. Lovely, huh. I need to teach Kayleigh to flush.

Blake

2007-08-25T10:57:00.000-05:00

I realize that I have made two posts and not really even mentioned Blake. Here is our busy little guy. He is crawling around, pulling up, and getting into everything. He chases me all over the house. I am convinced that he would be closer to walking, but he keeps hitting his head on the wood floors whenever he tries anything new. He really loves his daddy and gets so excited whenever he sees him. He always wants to be in the bathtub, and never wants to be in his car seat. I am really looking forward to Kayleigh starting preschool so we can have sometime with just the two of us.