My Lucky Husband

So on Tuesday, Doug spent the day in Indianapolis at a conference for work. Usually it's rather boring and the only thing he looks forward to is the breakfast at Cracker Barrel on the way there! But this year, he got an early Christmas present. (Side note - I've been wanting and talking about a Kindle Fire for months, and before that just a regular Kindle.) WELL.....Doug didn't get a Kindle, or a Fire, but an IPad. The conference organizers had a drawing for an IPad, and guess who won!! Merry Christmas, Doug! I guess I don't need the Fire after all, because I'm sure he'll share his new toy with me! Since he got the call earlier this evening, he's been researching all the apps he can get and fun things he can make & do with his new IPad.

Tornado in November?

OK, so why do tornadoes have to happen when I'm on a roll? About 4 o'clock this afternoon, I had 2 of the 3 kids napping, and I'm cranking out fundraiser packets when I get a call from my almost frantic hubby telling me there's a huge storm on the way, and we are under a tornado warning. Yes, that is right, a tornado warning on November 14th. It shouldn't really be that shocking since it was almost 70 degrees today, and we live in Indiana. Since we have no basement or any rooms without windows in our house, I stop what I'm doing, wake up the girls and load up the family and head over to my grandma's. It turned out to be nothing, but you never know. So, the storm passed, we ended up eating supper and then I rush off to a meeting, making it home after 9:30 to a house that was left as it was this afternoon - dishes on the counter, toys all over the floor, fundraiser packets strewn across the dining room table, laundry in the washer and dryer. Good thing I have nothing to do tomorrow.

Cool Fall Days

It's that time of the year again! FALL! My favorite season! I love the leaves changing, the cooler days, crisp nights, smells of campfires, apples, and harvest! Last week, I got to take a drive way out into the middle of nowhere and enjoy the beginning of fall in Indiana, (which also included a 2 year old screaming for part of the trip, but I digress). The scenery was beautiful, lots of woods with varying amounts of color change on the trees and fields of corn turning to a rustling brown. Tomorrow is Kenzie's first field trip of preschool. We get to go to the pumpkin patch! She is very excited, and so is Lillia (who also gets to come along!) Wish me luck, I'm taking all three kids. Am I slightly crazy?

Anyway, this week is going to be super busy, lots of places to go, things to do, and people to see. And actually, this is just a busy busy month!! The one thing I'm looking forward to the most is the fact that Doug's football season will be over! Only 3 more weeks! Finally - especially after a very long week last week, where he had 5 games in 6 days. The kids and I missed him very much!

Well, I just pulled 7 quarts of spaghetti sauce out of the canner, and I have 3 totes of clothes sitting in the living room that need to be priced for the garage sale this weekend. (This is just a start of the garage sale stuff, there are at least 8 or 9 more totes upstairs that need to be gone thru and priced.) It has been slightly sad and bittersweet sorting the girls' clothes and significantly downsizing the amount that I'm keeping. Even little Elijah has a tote of clothes that don't fit him anymore!

Here's another reminder that kids don't stay little long - my little Kenzie is tying her shoes by herself and is riding her bike without training wheels! And the sad part is, she didn't even really need anyone to teach her how to ride without training wheels - she just basically started riding! (Tear..., sigh...)

Size Update

By the way, at Elijah's 5 week check up today, he weighed in at a whopping 12 lbs 1 oz and is 23 inches long. That puts him in the 90% for his age. Yikes, he's a big boy, and already wearing 3-6 month clothes. Wow!

Newborn Photo Shoot

Here are a few of my favorite of Elijah's newborn pictures. He was 3 weeks old, and we also took some of all 6 cousins, which was a treat.

Hilary, who at 15 1/2 is very concerned with people seeing her in "embarrassing" situations, was not thrilled with the fact that she was wearing jeans while my girls were wearing shorts and it was 100 degrees. And she really didn't like the idea that we were taking the pictures outside by the trees closest to the road - "But someone will see me!!" Hence the picture of them all looking down the road. But by the time we started taking pictures in the corn field she was over her insecurity of having her picture taken. She was actually having fun. Gasp!

My Big Little Man

I am finally getting to posting about my big little man. I can't promise lots of details right now, but at least I'll get some pictures up!

Elijah Joseph was born Aug 9, 2011. He was a whopping 9 pounds 12 1/4 ounces and 22 1/4 inches long! YIKES! Yes, he came on his own, and I delivered him naturally, with just a few drugs (surprisingly, not as painful as you'd think with his size!) But enough of that stuff, here's the good stuff - pictures of my beautiful little man!!

Me on Saturday night before he was born. (Where was he hiding?? I have no idea!)

Yes, he has really LONG feet!

Meeting Kenzie & Lillia for the first time

Mommy & Elijah

Showing his support for Daddy's team - the Colts

Kenzie & Lillia ADORE their baby brother!

Watching TV with Dad

All dressed up & ready to go home!

Such big, bright eyes!

Sun-tanning to help get rid of a little jaundice

Busy, Busy, Busy!

I cannot believe it is June already! This spring has flown by and here we are, June 6th. Yikes! It has been a crazy busy spring, but that's what keeps us out of trouble! Here's a quick update:

Doug's youngest brother got married this past Saturday, and my three favorite people were in the wedding:

My new favorite song is "Just Fishin'" by Trace Adkins. It may be my pregnancy hormones in full swing or the fact that this song IS Doug & Kenzie, but I almost cry every time I hear it. My favorite line "She's doing almost everything but sitting still. Talking her ballet shoes and training wheels, and her kitten. And she thinks we're just fishin'......But I guarantee this memory is a big 'un." Especially since Kenzie is so excited to be able to go fishing with her Daddy again this summer with a new pink princess fishing pole.

We spent Memorial Day relaxing and enjoying family in Tennessee. Everything from swimming, eating, Laser Tag, eating, swimming, and eating some more. What a great weekend!

The girls enjoyed the pool. Even Lillia was all over the pool on her own with her "wings."

Oh, and it was the year of the cicada. I could not believe how LOUD they were! The sound was almost deafening during the day, and it was constant! It sounded like someone shaking maracas very hard, all day long! And the ugly things were everywhere!

We also started our big outdoor project over Mother's Day weekend. Our deck by the back door. We've talked about this since we've moved in, and this year seemed like a good year to actually do it. Well, to at least start it. This is what it looked like after the first weekend.

And this is almost how it still looks today - but there are the rest of the joists in. It is quite a chore to use our backdoor. And its only been about 4 weeks since we started. It MIGHT get done before the end of the summer.

We had an absolutely gorgeous spring (if you don't count the unusually large amount of rain that we have been getting) - at least I think our yard was amazing this year!

The girls have a few new animals to take care of - we got 6 new baby chickens in March and 5 new ones in May. Of course, they are all named. Sometimes I wonder why we name all our animals! Kenzie could not wait to hold the new chicks, but Lillia was a little more skeptical! She hated the feeling of their feet on her skin, so she preferred to just "pet" them with one fingertip!

Notice the mitten in the hand she's actually holding the chick with!

We are also just 2 months away from meeting the newest little member of our family! And I don't think Doug will be allowing me to put hair bows and cute little dresses on this one! We already have a laundry basket started with lots of clothing with BLUE, puppies, footballs, and cars! The girls cannot wait to meet "Baby Brother." And Kenzie is doing a great job practicing taking care of her baby doll - asking questions like, "Will be hold Baby Brother like this?" and "When will Baby Brother be big enough to do....?"

Yes, There is a Reason!

To answer any questions before they are asked, "Yes, Lillia is wearing Kenzie'shirt." But,"Yes, there is a reason she is wearing it!" Lillia is going to be a big sister too! We are expecing Baby #3 in August! We can already tell that Lillia is going to be a BIG help, too!

And after this weekend, three kiddos will definately keep me busy! We took our first trip to the ER for stitches on Saturday. Miss Lillia, my little helper, was helping me in the kitchen and found the food processor. She managed to get the cover off, and grabbed for the blade, as I reached for her. Her little thumb bled and bled, until we made it to the ER, in a snowstorm, none the less! Lillia ended up with two stitches and a big bandaged thumb. She was a trooper, poor thing even fell asleep with we were numbing her thumb in a little cup of lidocaine. However, she was wide awake and not happy as they put the two stitches in her little finger. She has done very well, though, and for the most part leaving the bandage on. Lillia hasn't complained or even acted like it bothers her! She just holds it out as she goes about playing - and the only reason she does that is because the tape is all the way down her finger and keeping it from bending! This is the child that will give me gray hair. I'm sure of it.