Brady's 7!!

Well, Brady's 7 today! SEVEN!! It's crazy to think he's that old!!!! He was able to read most of his cards this year by himself. He's really doing well, sounding out the words and figuring them out. At times he gets frustrated, but that's to be expected.

We had a birthday party with four of his friends on Friday. We went bowling. It was fun! It was interesting with 5 boys. Whew!! They all bowled very well and had a great time. I know Brady really enjoyed it! Bethany even bowled too, the ball went Verrrrry slowly. I keep telling everyone think of the scene on Uncle Buck! hahaha

Today after church we went out to eat Brady's choice. He either wanted to go to KFC or Long John Silver's/A&W-go figure! He's 7! haha We ended up going to KFC and then he got a RootBeer Float for dessert at A&W. We don't think the float is what he expected. ;) We came home and opened up his gifts from us and the rest of the family. Thank you guys!

I think he enjoyed his birthday weekend very much!

Some pics:

Van

Well, I honestly can't believe I'm saying this but we are now owners of a minivan. Seeing #3 is coming shortly we decided to pony up and get one. We got a 2002 Honda Odyssey, it has some miles on it but it's still nice. We figure this is a nice transitional vehicle and we aren't paying out the rear for one. So far I like it, it's alot easier to get Bethany in and out. She can actually climb in now, where with the Durango I had to lift her in every time and that was getting more and more difficult. I was VERY sad to see the Durango go. It really was a great vehicle that was very comfortable. But times change so here we are, I have the mommy van, I feel older now. Guh! :)'

Happy

We went to my 28 week appt today and I'm happy to say that our prayers were answered and the previa is gone! My placenta moved up so I don't have to worry about any complications with that!

We are so happy and relieved!

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers!
Amanda

Trick or Treat

The kids had a lot of fun this Halloween, Brady was an Army man and Bethany was a butterfly. Kirk took them around the neighborhood and I stayed home and passed out the candy.






On Saturday, we went to our friends Joel and Jenny's House for a Harvest/Costume Party. We had a really fun time. I don't remember the last time we sat by a bonfire and roasted hotdogs and marshmallows. Kirk and I did dress up! Picture below. I won a prize too! Wahoo! We had a great time with our friends, it rounded the weekend off wonderfully!


Can you Guess?
I'm the oven and Kirk's the baker, and of course "baby" is the bun!


To end this post I think we should all join together in singing a Halloween classic that my son sang for a week...

"Trick or Treat smell my feet give me something good to eat, if you don't I don't care I'll pull down my underware..."

Oh, you know you're singing it!!!

Happy Halloween!!!!

Snow?

We officially had our first snowflakes today! We almost always had snow by halloween in Medina, but I think since we've lived in Marion this is the first I can remember it being this early around here.
It is really pretty, but I'm glad it's still too warm to stick. :)

Cameron Annual Pumpkin Carving

Saturday was our annual pumpkin carving day. We look forward to it each year. Mommy ends up doing most of the carving and daddy is usually left in charge of pics and cleaning off the pumpkin seeds to roast. Brady helped clean out his pumpkin this year. Bethany did not like the gooey mess. She was not a happy camper when she saw the pumpkin insides. We did get her to hold some pumpkin seeds and actually pick a seed out of the pumpkin but that was it! She was very into how she wanted her pumpkin to look..."not scarey, round eyes, round nose, and a smile mouth with 2 teeth" she seemed to be pleased with the outcome. Brady had very specific wants too..."3 triangle eyes, a wierd nose and a pointy mouth that was smiling and had pointy teeth and ears that looked like B's for Brady." He helped carve some of it this year, he did pretty good.
When we went to the Pumpkin patch we found a pumpkin that Kirk and I thought resembled me, it's very pear like(we tried to take some pics, but I think it's hard to see).

We are really looking fwd to Halloween: trick or treating and the parties! Just a few more days!!

Birthday

Happy 32nd Birthday, Kirk!!!

Just chilled out at home and spent time together. The kids love it when it's our birthday's! They were really excited to give their gifts they made and got for daddy.

Football, Patch and the Orchard

We had a busy Saturday but it was a nice family time. We started out the day going to Brady's football game. He made his first touchdown! He really did a lot better this time, he actually ran instead of standing and watching everyone else run. ;)' He's getting the hang of things now I think.



We then went home for a potty break and then headed over to the pumpkin patch to find some pumpkins. I don't think they had as good of a crop as last year and the pumpkins that were still in the patch were way out this year too so we didn't go and pick any ourselves. We found some nice ones, we'll carve them in a couple weeks.


We then headed over for a quick trip to Lawrence apple orchard. It smelled so good! We bought some apples and some cider and headed home.

It was nice just to hang out together and watch the kids run around.

I love fall and all it's colors, the coolness, crispness.

Pregger pics-24 weeks

Alright, I said I would post some prego pics of me for the gussing game. I've been putting it off, but my friends said I looked "so cute" today, so it gave me enough good self esteem to take the plunge and post some.

So here ya go:







NO LAUGHING!!

Rachel Joy!

Saturday we were able to take a quick trip to Pittsburgh to visit our new little niece, Rachel Joy!
She is so cute, you really forget how little newborns are.

The kids were able to play with Abigail too, Bethany has been talking about her a lot ever since we got back. Abigail is so funny, she has this mischevious grin!

It was really nice to catch up with Eric and Christy too!!

Here are some pics of Rachel:





Don't you just love that little pucker! ;)

Funny

I had to post this because it's so cute...So I'm sitting here at the computer and Bethany is in the playroom playing with her dollhouse. All the sudden she says as she's playing "Honey, will you help her with that please" then rattles other stuff off.

They really do pick up on things. A little scary to think about at the same time. Definately makes me put myself in check!

Bethany's 3!!

Bethany turned 3 today!!!



We had a Pink Poodle Party with family and friends this afternoon. She has been anticipating this party for weeks. Her 2 requests were that it be pink and she have a chocolate cake. Well, her wish came true, she definately had a pink party. This girl is seriously all about the pink!! She had a lot of fun playing with her friends and cousin. We had a pinata, which was so funny I think most of the kids were "a swing and a miss" but we did get a couple hits in there. We had a little family party after the big shindig, just Mommy, Daddy and Brady. She was so crazy, I think a lot of it was the sugar. :) I posted some pics below:

Here's a little info on how Bethany has changed this past year.
She is very talktive and a lot more clear on what she is saying. She is a whiz at memorizing, it amazes us! We have this book, We call it the Goldbug book, but it has another title I can't remember right now. Anyway, Brady had gotten it when he was about Bethany's age. Well, the big thing is you have to find this itty bitty "goldbug" in the pages. She can turn to any page and know exactly where he is, it even takes us a few minutes to find him, but she is all over it!
She has recently learned to flip, so she does somersaults through the house now. She's a dancing machine. She makes up her own songs quite frequently. :) She loves to do her little 24 piece puzzles and will do them like 5 times in a row. She loves having her nails done, in pink of course.
She's just hilarious, she cracks us up everyday. She is so loving and gentle. She has changed so much this past year, it's amazing how fast time flies!

Side Note(10/3): Bethany has been potty trained for awhile now, but not "night time" potty trained. Well, we are now going on two whole dry nights! She decided she didn't want to wear pull-ups anymore. Wahoo!! Maybe now I'll get to spend a few months diaper free. :)

Yippee!

We are so excited that we have a new niece in the world!

Rachel Joy was born today!
7lbs 14 oz

Congratulations Eric, Christy and Abigail!!!

We can't wait to meet her!

It's...

STILL A SURPRISE!!!

We went to have my 20 week ultrasound done last week. Baby #3 is very healthy, very active, and growing well. Yes, the sex of the baby is still a surprise. Actually, baby's legs were crossed so he/she wants it to be a surprise too, this baby gets it's parents already! :) The kids enjoyed seeing their new little baby on the screen. They thought it was pretty funny when it got the hiccups!

The one thing that we ask for prayer on is that the placenta is low, right now it is just considered low-lying to marginal previa. It is not covering the cervix yet, which is good and promising. We are hoping as my uterus stretches and grows the placenta will move itself up higher and we won't have any more risk. I would rather not have to have a c-section if possible. :) We will have another ultrasound at 28 weeks to see how things are progressing with it.

So other than the above little glich, I am doing well. Feeling better, just getting more round.

Here's a picture of baby #3:

First Day of School

Today was Brady's first day of school. He is a big 1st grader now! We were able to meet his teacher last Thursday. She seems very nice. Her name is Mrs. Peterson. There aren't as many kids from his kindergarten class in this class this year so he was a little bummed about that but like we told him making new friends is a lot of fun and he will get to see his other friends on the playground.
I was able to take him to his class this morning although he was ready for me to go right when he walked in. I guess I'd rather have him that way then clingy and constantly afraid. It was easier this year letting him stay behind, maybe I'm getting used to this school thing. :) Bethany did not have an easy time letting Brady go. She started crying the minute we left his classroom and continued all the way to the car and in the car. "I want Brady!" :)(we had a mother/daughter donut stop, it helped some)
He rode the bus home from school today. When Brady came home we talked about his day. He was able to play with his kindergarten friends at recess so he was very happy about that. Lunch is a bit later this year and he wasn't happy about that, they do get a snack mid morning so I think that helps a bit. He liked his teacher and thinks she's very nice. He will have homework this year and really not playtime. He's growing up!
He said he liked school and he wants to go back tomorrow. All is well!

Trip to the State Fair

We were able to go to the State Fair this week, thanks to my dad for the tickets! It was a nice little family outing. The weather was great and it wasn't too crowded. We picked Kirk up from work and then headed over. The kids had a great time and so did we. :) They were able to milk a cow(fake one), say hello to Smokey the Bear, plant some flowers and other stuff too. We were all pretty tuckered out by the end of the day but it was so nice to be able to have little day trip with our family.

Wall-E

Today my friend Jenny and I took our kids to see the movie Wall-E. Everytime my kids see the commercial they run around the house say Wall-E in a robot voice. It's pretty funny, especially Bethany. They all seemed to really enjoy the movie. Bethany lasted about halfway through and then fell asleep, but then woke up and was so upset because she realized she didn't get to finish it. :( I recommend it, it's sweet. A little robot love story.

Amanda's in the paper

As many of you know I am very active in our MOPS group that we formed at church. To help with publicity and to get the word out to the area moms we were able to have a newspaper article written about our group. We were very excited! Other than my phone number being wrong, it's was great!

Here it is: http://www.marionstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008808020314

Anniversary

Ah another year of wedded bliss has passed by. We can't believe we have been married 9 years today, it crazy. It doesn't seem that long, and to think we dated 3 years before we got married.

It's been a happy 9 years, can't wait to see what the next 9 hold!

Amanda's 31st Birthday

Well, I'm now 31. July 20th was my 31st Birthday. Last year, was awful turning 30, I was dreading it up to the last second, and I think even after I turned 30. It did turn out to be a good year though. I had a rough start, but my life switched around for the better as the year went on. I have some really great friends that have come into my life, my family situations are better, the new house actually feels like a home, there's a new baby on the way just to state a few. I didn't know what to expect with this upcoming birthday, I usually don't expect much but I was surprised a several different times with the thoughtfulness of the people I care about. It's nice to know that they care about me too! :)

My birthday morning started out with a little sleep in time and then having Kirk get me some Honey Crullers and a BK Mocha Joe! Yummy! In the afternoon, we had gift time, which is always FUN! Then for dinner, Kirk called some of our friends and we met at Mi Jalepenos for a birthday dinner. I have been craving some Mexican. The servers sang to me and brought a cake and as a big surprise to me and everyone else one of the servers smooshed whipped cream on my nose!! It was pretty funny, BUT we forgot the camera so I don't have actual proof that it happened. Kirk did decide to reenact it on Monday night(pic below).
Monday, Kirk brought home a Reese's PB Cup Blizzard Ice Cream cake, double yum! I had been wanting one ever since I talked to Cait last week. So my birthday got extended to Monday. It's Thursday and the kids still think it's my birthday, haha I haven't corrected them, might as well take it while I can! ;)
I appreciate all of you who made my birthday special, it means so much to me! Thank you!






Whipped Cream in the Face Reenactment

First Barbie!

Brad & Abbey also bought Bethany her very first Barbie Doll! She was extremely happy!!

A wedding...

Last weekend the kids were in their babysitters wedding. Abbey started watching Brady for us when she was in HS and has continued watching both of them off and on when we need her and her schedule allows. Once Brad came in her life the kids quickly bonded with him too. Going over to Brad and Abbey's is one of thier favorite things to do! We appreciate them so much, knowing they are safe and sound when we need to be away is such a peaceful feeling!

So onto the wedding, the kids were the ring bearer and flower girl. They looked so cute! We had such a great weekend. The kids were so excited and ready to go from the beginning. Brady quickly bonded with all the guys and Bethany the same with the girls. Bethany got her hair professionally done for the very first time! She looked so pretty. All curly and sparkly. She loved it! They both did so well during the cermony, it was a Catholic ceremony and last a good hour plus. They walked up and down very good, and sat pretty still(for the most part). I think everyone was very surprised at how well they did. We got several compliments afterwards at how well behaved they were. Made us feel like we are doing something right with this parent thing! :)

They both had a great time at the reception. They both danced their hearts out. Brady can get down with the best of them, and of course Bethany is all about twirling! Kirk says they definately get it from my side! I would have to agree, I have a boogyin' family! :) Brady met a girl, they danced the whole night. They were too cute! It was so much fun watching them!
Congrats to Brad and Abbey!!
I posted some pics below:

Swim Time

The kids have been enjoying there swimming pool in the backyard. My mom recently bought them some goggles which they think are pretty cool. Bethany is really not afraid of just getting in the water(even if it's a bit cold) and sticking her head in. Brady is a little more leary and hops in and out more than stays in. :)

Here are a few pics of our summer swim time:

4th of July

This 4th of July the Birches came over for a cookout at our house. My grandparents came in from IL and Eric, Christy and Abigail came in from PA. It was so nice to see everyone. We had a really nice day, had some good food and played some games. Brady showed everyone up on the Wii, it was pretty funny watching them play. We played some Hillbilly horsehoes and some cornhole. The girls enjoyed playing in the wagon and playing with the new babies and grocery carts Grandma Great and Pappy brought them.

I was happy we all got to spend some time together, especially with the family that we don't get to see that much.

We miss you all very much!

Vaction Bible School

We had VBS the week of June 16th. Brady really enjoyed his time there. I think he learned a lot, he was always excited to go. Bethany was too, although she was too young to go to actual VBS she got to stay in the nursery and play since I was in charge of crafts this year. It was a challenge for me, just because I didn't know exactly what to expect. I had some great helpers and it really went well. The kids seemed to really enjoy them and I got some good compliments from the parents. I think I might do it again next year, we'll see. :)

Here are a couple of pics from the closing night, the kids sang all the songs they learned and because they raisied so much money for missions, Pastor Tim had to eat 3 crickets!

Bun in the Oven

Well, we decided we might as well let the rest of the world know that we are expecting Baby #3!

I'll be 10 weeks tomorrow and Monday I saw and heard the baby's heartbeat for the first time. I really wasn't supposed to yet, but after a minor fender-bender while on an outing with friends the Dr wanted to check me out just in case. It gave us peace of mind and made us even more excited for this little one.

Brady is super excited about the baby and pretty much asks everyday how big the baby is and when it's coming. He knows that I've been feeling pretty crummy so he usually asks if the baby is making me sick again. haha He gives me as he calls "gentle hugs" and "he won't step on my toes" just at the right times.
Bethany at first said an adimate "no baby", but has since warmed up a little more and now has a baby of her own in her tummy. We rub our tummy's at the same time and look at baby magazines. :)

Here is a pic of our new little one , now remember this is a 9 week pic so he/she is just a little bean it's the white blob in the middle of the darkness. We think it's a darn cute bean though!




I'm due January 28th!

The last day of school

Leave a Kindergartner...



Come home...







A FIRST GRADER!!!!




What a big growing year for Brady! He's reading wonderfully, writing so much better, talking well, lost a tooth-with others a little loose; He's quite a boy and we're very proud of him!

Mother's Day

I had a very nice Mother's Day! I got to rest and relax! Kirk got up and made us cinnamon rolls in the morning, we went to church, then came back to relax some. Brady made me a Wonderful card, if you come over I'll have to show it to you!! Also, they made Mom's breakfast in bed bags at school, I ate mine later in the day though, they also to me out to dinner to El Campesino's, it was really yummy and I ate WAY too much!
Kirk and the kids also got me a very "unique" gift! One that scared me half to death! haha I unlocked and opened the door when we got home from church and I about jumped out of my skin! I thought a black dog was sitting in my mud room! But no it wasn't, it was a black lion!! I had to laugh...Here's the story...about 2 weeks ago we were all at Lowe's looking around. We went to lawn and garden and we were by the lawn ornamnets. Kirk jokingly said " Ohhh, I found your Mother's Day gift!!" A large lion! We laughed and moved on. Well, SATURDAY Kirk went to run his "errands" with Brady I guess Kirk asked him what he wanted to get me for Mother's Day and Brady started going on about this lion at Lowes. Kirk had no idea what he was talking about, but he was going to go there anyway to probably get some flowers. So they got in the store and Brady marched on over to where the lions where and said "This daddy!" Ohhhh! He was adimate that this is the gift I should get. My son has a good memory!



We have dubbed the Lion "Henry"! So far he's a good protector, doesn't require any feedings, does not go to the bathroom, doesn't smell and just requires a slight dusting every now and then.

Another first for Brady!

Brady reached another milestone in his life yesterday!!

He lost his first tooth!

I think I was more excited then him! He was a bit nervous when it really started to wiggle and it did bleed a little. But he got a bit more excited when I explained the tooth fairy to him.

He lost his tooth Sunday afternoon. I knew it was going to fall out at anytime so I told him he needed to stay inside until it fell out because I was afraid he would lose it/drop it outside. He was fine with that but as soon as it came out he said " No can I go outside??" :)

Before he let loose in the yard I was able to snap some pictures:








The Tooth Fairy Came!!!