Lots to update

I didn't realize it had been a couple months since I updated this! The "California aunts" as I call them both asked for updated pictures, and it was certainly time I get it done. The only problem is that my "regular computer" is at the "shop" (having it cleaned up, files backed up, etc) so that it hopefully runs better and I can finish getting books ready for taxes. So...I'm using my "work laptop" and all it has on it is basic Microsoft word, no picture viewer, so I was randomly selecting pictures to put on here without being able to see them. So, they are in a very random order! Good luck...lots has happened since my last 'post' so I'll try to include that in the captions...

Apparantly Santa Clause was not as interesting as the tree! This was Santa #2 (we had been to the Mall Santa the week previous). Santa took Gabrielle's pacifiers and left her with a pretty cool kitchen set to play with! The first few nights she was ready to call Santa and trade in the kitchen, but after that it was smooth sailing and she hasn't asked for them since! I still find one here and there, in a coat pocket and under the couch...good memories now as I toss them in the trash :-)

This was in line at the mall Santa. Too bad we were with 10 other kids, because she was being SO naughty that I just wanted to put her in the car and go home!!!

Opening her gift from Brice and I...a "Tow Mater" Christmas ornament. Every year our gift to her is an ornament that represents the 'theme' of her year...this year it was the movie "Cars". Santa brought her the kitchen as I said earlier...next year Santa should open the box prior to 10 p.m. on Christmas Eve so he would know that it did not come assembled. Then he wouldn't be up until 1:oo a.m. putting the 200 pieces together!

Our "Valentines Trees". I'm usually home on Tuesdays and try to find something Gabbie and I can do together while Will takes one of his 20 minute naps :-) A few weeks ago I ordered a couple trees to decorate for various holidays, so we found some things around the house to make a Valentine's Day tree.

A tea party with a friend. Looks like her friend gets the idea of sipping tea. Gabbie is apparantly preparing herself for some fun college parties by chugging hers...

"Cheese"! Gabbie playing with a present from her "Big Girl Party". A few weeks ago we celebrated with a "No paci's, no diapers, good toothbrushing, and helping with dishes and cleaning = big girl party". Lots of change in 1 month, and this week is her 2nd week of preschool! When I get my regular computer back I'll find the picture of her making her own "big girl" cake!

Finally a picture of Will! They really weren't taking a nap together. That would mean Gabbie would have to take a nap! Anyway, I was taking his picture and Gabbie said "Mommy, take a picture of me taking a nap with Will"! Kind of young to be posing already!

Happy Birthday Grandma! We had a surprize party for my Mom's 59th birthday. It was a fun time!

Merry Christmas! One of the tires on my van blew on the way to my Mom's house on Christmas. A couple days prior to that I had said to Brice "with stow-and-go seats, where is the spare tire at?" Well, I found out! Can't complain-it wasn't super cold out and we got the tire changed. But I did have to buy a whole new tire. Lucky we didn't lose control or anything, it made a loud sound.

Will was pretty cool about it! This is Will at almost 4 months old, on Christmas Day. I know his socks don't match, nor does it bother me like it would have in the past. I haven't found adding child number 2 to be much extra work if I take the appropriate short cuts :-) Matching socks is over rated anyway, just be happy they are clean.

I think that's it! So far 2012 is flying by! Until yesterday everyone was healthy...as of tonight I have 2 pukers and a coughing husband. Otherwise its been busy trying to finish up some projects in the house, work on taxes, and enjoy the warmest winter I can remember! I'm hoping to get the rest of my Christmas cards sent out this week :-) I rearranged our living room to accomodate starting indoor garden seeds by the end of the month! Wow!

Will's Baptism, Thanksgiving, Etc.

Just when I think I'm not taking enough pictures, I sit down to download them and realize there are plenty! I sure wish I could take a picture of every moment and replay them someday...

I'm pretty sure this was after eating left over frosting from her birthday cake :)

We love the tub! So happy its functioning

I love you, too!

Dancing the night away at my cousins wedding. It was an 8 hour drive one way. I thought Gabbie was a trooper, as we drove there on a Saturday, came home on a Sunday. I thought we should take the van so we had a DVD player, then Mom reminded me she raised 4 kids without a DVD player even in the house. I brought along a box of 96 crayons and had forgotten how much fun they were. Mom had lots of fun digging them out of her seats :) 

The Sunday drive home, in PJ's :)

Starting to hold my own bottle!

These 2 are great...today I even notice Will fusses if Gabbie isn't giving him enough attention when they play. A lot of people as us how she has adjusted, and I can honestly say that Gabbie has never been mean to Will, and I can tell he recognizes her and he will smile a lot for her.

Movie night! Friday nights have become movie night for us since the weather is cooler and days are shorter. Gabbie picks 101 Dalmations EVERY time, so this past Friday night I 'lost' it so we could have some variety!

Happy Thanksgiving!

He slept through his whole first Thanksgiving dinner!

Will's Baptism on 11/27/11. He was so good during the whole thing! It was a great day :)

Lots of animals around...this is one of three deer I saw coming up our lane last Sunday.

And dead racoons, yuck. I got out of the car after work and asked Brice why he put it there, but turns out it wasn't him. Guess the dog found something to do that day!

Putting up the Christmas tree. Not sure we've ever gotten it done this early before!

Chillin'

Playing with paperclips. This kept her entertained for over an hour by the time she sorted them by color, then put them all on the Christmas tree, then took them off the tree, then 'unbent' most of them so they aren't really paperclips anymore!

Gabbie is loving the snowfall yesterday. She was out for over an hour and a half last night, and first thing this morning she wanted to go out and play. I'm glad she enjoys being outside

I think we have all adjusted well to me returning to work. I'm hoping that this week we have a regular schedule. I missed a day last week with the flu, so it seemed the rest of the week was really out of whack. Luckily our wonderful daycare provider didn't mind the kids staying until 7pm on Friday! There have been some changes for me at work that I haven't responded to with a very positive attitude, so I'm hoping this week to have a refreshed perspective. I am still trying to figure out the best way to fit my home health clients in as the changes made at work have me in different places more often, where I'm used to being in the same area all day. Overall it has been good to be back. I think I use my time at home more wisely and both of the kids are full of smiles at daycare.

Happy Holidays!

The past month or so...

Meeting the great-grandparents!

The butterflies on the deck were fun to watch this summer! I took this prior to the first frost, which was the end of the flowers on the deck :-)

Again prior to the frost. The roses looked great this fall! Yesterday we got them 'winterized' and covered up.

I love this picture! Will is smiling at Gabbie while she is playing and showing him all of her toys. These two are getting along great. Sometimes Gabbie loves him too much...her hugs are so tight we think Will might need a helmet!

A blurry picture, but a great hug :-)

All smiles after a walk to the mailbox! He loves hanging out in his front carrier while we go outside.

Race for the Cure! Gabbie was in the kids run after we did the adult walk. It didn't go very well. It was soo crowded, and she said she was "scared". She tripped on my foot when they blew the whistle to start. That was the end of that :-) Great day otherwise though!

Will in his Bumbo. I did not have one of these with baby Gabbie, but thought it would be fun to try this time. Most of the time it is occupied by one of Gabbie's dolls!

Time for pumpkin painting! Grandma found some glow in the dark paints.

Licking frosting off the mixer beaters :-)

The Lightning McQueen cake (from Cars). I tried to use the picture of him from Gabbie's coloring books. It turned out alright...taste is all that matters anyway, right? I asked Gabbie if it looked like Lightning McQueen and she said yes, so I assume she is being honest even though it was a leading question.

The birthday girl! 3 years old, geez! She has changed so much the past few months...talking in more sentences with lots of stories, some that make sense and some that don't. She's so responsible for her little brother-any little peep and she is looking for me, telling me he needs a diaper or fed. She has been so helpful with getting the garden cleaned up before the snow flies. She helps me match the socks from the laundry. She has started to dress and undress herself. I have kept her home more than I thought I would while I'm home and its been fun. Its been good to sit and do puzzles and brush up on my kickball and frisbee skills! Today we tackled a puzzle with the states and their capitals-didn't realize how much I had forgotten myself. I love her imagination...yesterday she had to take her horse outside so it could eat the grass, then it had shots at the vet, then it stuck its bottom off the edge of the deck to pee. And with all these advances...she still uses a pacifier and still has diapers ;-) Oh well.

Irma and Will having a conversation.

He is so fascinated since his hands found each other! He had his 2 month check up and weighed 13 pounds (80th percentile) and was 24.75 inches long (95th percentile). We started his immunizations then as well. We spread them out, so he'll have one every Monday for the next several weeks instead of having them all at one visit. He hardly cried at the time of the shot, but was fussy the day after with runny diapers and some vomiting.

Tow Mater out trick-or-treating with her friend Kennedy! Kennedy took her on the Spook Trail in Lake View for some treats until I got home from work, then we went to a few houses in Wall Lake. She was more than tired by the time we got home...

The day after trick or treating, coming down from the sugar high :-)

Sometime I'll have to post a picture of the progress with painting the house. My initial goal was to paint the garden shed and the house before I went back to work. Then it changed to painting the house. Then it changed to painting 2 sides of the house before winter :-) My Mom has been helping and 1 more days work and the north and east sides will be done. It looks nice and I'm happy with the colors.

I have just over 2 more weeks of maternity leave before we go back to normal. I can tell we are ready! I am ready for more of a routine, though I have definetly enjoyed the freedom of having my own schedule. Part of me just feels this energy that I need to expend somewhere, but its not the kind of energy I seem to be able to get rid of by running after Gabbie and rocking the baby. The crazy part is that I don't think a day has gone by that we haven't had something to do and somewhere to go, so it isn't like we haven't been busy! People tell me how lucky I am to have gotten 12 weeks off, and I can't dispute that. I'm also lucky to have had the chance to work 1-2 days a week throughout to keep us in a little bit of a routine. I am feeling more organized after tackling all the piles and boxes that accumlated while we worked on the house this year. Next week I will hopefully get caught up on our bookwork in preparation for taxes; after that I will certainly be ready to get back to work!

Mini-Me

The title mini-me is simply because I can not come up with a more creative name for this post...I only wish I could say I was the grown up version of an empathetic, energetic 3 year old! Anyway, Gabrielle is doing a lot more "copying" lately. For example-in the car on the way home from daycare last week I suddenly realized I had forgotten to pick up eggs after work. Without thinking I said 'sh*!', then heard a little voice in the back say 'sh*!, sh*!, sh*! sh*!'. So I had to explain that Mommy was very naughty, and I was told I should probably go to time-out. In this video she seems to be acting a little like we do when we are on the floor playing with Will. It was so cute! I was glad she stuck with it long enough for me to grab the camera.

End of September

I can not believe today is the last day of September! Fall is flying by already. September was a crazy busy month for us. Gabbie had her 2 day stay in the hospital, we had a party to celebrate the house remodeling, hog building renovation, and our 30th birthdays, Brice was in a wedding in Mt. Pleasant, and I've started some indoor projects that were on hold all year due to our house being a mess including sorting through the file cabinets, getting our books ready for tax time, and hopefully today will work on some sewing. I am enjoying being home more as I get to help Brice with more work on the farm and I get to spend more time in the garden and kitchen using up what is left of our vegetables, plus spend time with the kiddos! I've set a goal for the month of October to become better at 'non-productive' time; seems like when I am here there is always something that needs done, laundry, cleaning, dishes, etc. I'm hoping to ignore the to-do list a little more often and maybe enjoy a nap with the kids, or get myself into a brainless daytime TV soap opera :-)

Yesterday Will officially turned 1 month old. He is doing great! Yesterday was also his first full day at daycare while I went to work. He did well, and I think Gabbie enjoyed having her little brother with her! I work in Carroll 1 day a week and had been taking him with me, but now he'll go to daycare on those days-I seem to get done with work faster that way! I also returned to home health this week, so he goes to daycare for the 1-2 hours it takes me to see a client. I enjoy the time I get to go to work; it seems to help me relax to get to do something I'm used to and keeps me up to date on changes, and I love the patients. I also love that feeling when I am done with work of picking the kids up! There is nothing like the sound of Gabbie running to me and yelling "Mommy!" Will has adjusted fairly well to the bottle...he had to learn fast as 1 week after he was born we were taking Gabbie to Des Moines to the doctor and he had to be fed in the car. He likes to eat so fast though and seems to puke more when he drinks from the bottle. He usually only wakes 1-2 times a night to eat, but eats almost 4 ounces at a time now!

Here are some recent pics:

Brice and Gabbie enjoy fishing when he is home early enough to take her. Unfortunatly the days are getting shorter and their time is more limited! I need to attempt taking her by myself so she can go during the day...the problem is Brice is usually the one to bait my hook!

In the hospital. This is after they had given her the sedation medication. She did not fall or get hurt, just was acting so funny! I shouldn't have laughed, but it was a bit entertaining :-)

Still acting funny!

I have these in odd order, but this is the day before we went to the hospital. She is coloring with her friend Kennedy, who was so kind to stop by with coloring books, etc for entertainment while we were in Des Moines.

Will in the hospital. He was a trooper! The nurses were so kind also. They brought in a crib for him to sleep, and the "child life" staff would come play with Gabbie so I could feed Will.

One of the better pictures of Gabbie, when she finally started eating again. I felt funny taking pictures of her in the hospital; hopefully we never have to go again! We are so lucky though; there were children dealing with much bigger problems in the rooms next to us.

Goin' home. She wouldn't let the nurse be in the picture. Guess if someone shoved a tube up my nose I wouldn't want a picture with them either! She is doing better now. We were supposed to take her back to Blank this week for a check up, but she has been doing so well and we were ready for a week to not be running to the doctor, and I don't need another doctor bill to hear 'she's doing well'. We have to keep close tabs on her diet, and she is on 2 doses of MiraLax and a dose of mineral oil each day. How many 2 year olds get to eat All Bran for a snack? :-) She had trouble 1 night this week and spent 2 hours acting out until she finally went, but I guess its a work in progress. We are having to make her sit on the potty, she isn't volunteering, and I hate to get overly agressive with potty training and have more problems.

Greg's wedding. I was having trouble taking pictures, holding Will in one hand and the camera in the other. This is a picture of Greg's back...I found it so funny he walked out of the church without his bride!

The Bride and Groom now married! The wedding was beautiful, church was packed, and weather was perfect! Nice day with a rain shower just prior to the service-a sure sign of good luck!

The bus the wedding party took to the reception. Greg is a die hard Hawkeye fan, so I love the bus is in Cyclone colors!

Brice and his Dad spent most of the week chopping. I love in the fall when the colors are so pretty, and the sky a dark color.

Gabbie chillin' on the deck.

One month birthday!

We are seeing more faces like this one!

3/4 family picture at the wedding. Gabbie stayed with my Mom and went to my cousins wedding in Carroll. Brice always makes a nice looking groomsman :-)

The hog roaster, still sitting in the yard. For our party Brice decided to roast half a hog. It turned out great! The party was fun, around 40 people came. The weather was a disappointment, as we were hoping to sit on the deck but it was cold and wet.