Turkey Sighting

I'm Thankful For

This Man

This Boy

This Girl

I'm also thankful for my God (I don't have a picture of Him) , my church, that we live close enough to be with our family on holidays, that we have made such great friends in St. Charles, and that people actually read my blog (not sure why, but they do).

I'm also grateful that my kids are old enough to sleep through the night, almost every night, except when something on their body itches and they feel compelled to wake us up so we can scratch it. When the kids were little I thought that we would never ever sleep again, so I'm grateful that we've reached the light at the end of the tunnel. Although if I get pregnant soon we will be sucked back in...

I love my life, and feel very grateful for all of God's blessings. Happy Thanksgiving, I hope you all have a wonderful holiday with much to be thankful for!

Babies, Babies, Everywhere

Welcome to the post that is all about babies. Speaking of, Mr. Reid N. entered the world last Friday morning, weighing in at 8lbs, 4 oz and sporting a full head of dark hair. He is so precious and full of baby goodness, I asked his mommy if she thought that I could get pregnant by sniffing his head. Welcome little man, we are so excited to meet you. Also new to the world is little Aubrey Shiloh, and by little I mean 10lbs, 7 0z! God bless Niki and her toddler I mean baby!!

Since this is a baby post I would normally put some pictures up of the kids when they were newborns, but a certain someone might have taken shots of a newborn Bella at the hospital with a camera that was void of film. I won't formally name who that certain someone is, but let's just say he feels bad about it.

When I told Bern and Bella about the arrival of Reid, they were very excited and wanted to go see him in the hospital. I explained that having a baby makes the mommy sleepy and a little sore, and that it is best to wait a while and let the mommy and baby adjust. Bern then asked the inevitable question of how the baby comes out of the mommy's tummy. Que silence, birds chirping. I decided to go the easiest route I could think of, and told him that babies come out of their mommy's bottom. Que more silence and birds chirping. After a minute or two, Bern says "Are you serious about this stuff"? Yes Bern, unfortunately I am. If only a stork could deliver one to our doorstep, life would be so much easier.

Dress-Up Day

Today Brian and Bern worked/froze outside, winterizing and mulching leaves. That left little miss and I to do some cleaning and dress like ballerinas. Have I mentioned that I love my girly-girl?

My girly-girl loves her dog.

But wait Oscar, something's missing...

Much better.

Bella woke up crying in the middle of the night last night. She had a problem that she needed help with, was it:

a. She had to go potty.


b. Was coughing and needed medicine.


c. Had an itchy bottom and needed help scratching it.


d. Was hungry and needed a snack.


e. All of the above.


If you answered e., you are correct. Morning came just a little too soon today.

Good Old-Fashioned Family Fun

Dodge

Ball

Check out what Brian was doing to the kids tonight, but please don't call family services on us.

It's Beginning to Look a Bit Like Christmas

Christmas 2007

I've officially started my Christmas shopping today. Can it seriously be time for this already? Usually I have a good idea of what I'm getting the kids, but I hadn't noticed anything super cool yet, so Bella and I ventured into toysrus today to check out the goods. I wasn't sure how I was going to buy anything without her seeing it, but was able to distract her with some musical books, snacks, and hid the goods with our winter coats. I get all warm and fuzzy inside when I find a good gift, although because I'm a instant gratification kind of gal I want to give it to them right away. There has been times when I bought them a birthday gift too early, given it to them, and had to go buy another one. Brian loves it when I do that.

The kids have a train set and table, which I swore I'd never, ever buy but got the train set for $5 at a yard sale so naturally I had to get a table on eBay. Anyway they play with it a ton, so we thought we'd get them some new accessories to freshen it up a bit. Imaginarium had the coolest polar express set, with bridges, tunnels, santa, elves, Christmas tree, etc. It looks like so much fun, I can't wait to give it to them. I love gifts that make them use their imagination, and it is a huge bonus if they are wooden ( I don't know why, wood just seems better than plastic). Extra double bonus if they do not need batteries.

The store was already crowded, and some shelves were already bare. I asked an associate where I certain item was and their were 2 other people in the aisle waiting for the same thing by the time he brought it to me. So apparently the superfriends batman cave is a "hot item" this year, and there is one hiding in the basement with Bern's name on it. Yay for consumerism.

More Vacation Pics

We never get around to taking pictures together so we took advantage of having our own personal photographer (Jill).

Mr. Quinn is a hoot, he has perfected the sayings "oh no!" and "more", which he can also sign (impressive). Problem is more is the only sign he knows, so it's hard to understand what he wants more of...which made me laugh. Lots of more, more, more. More what Quinn? More. We had a blast playing with him, it's funny how when you don't have to take care or play with children you want to, but when it's your own it can get old. We walked into their house after a day trip (in which Brian entertained Quinn in the backseat) and Brian was all about giving their dog some love. I jokingly asked him why he is nicer to their child and dog than he is to ours, he said "Because I have time, and I don't have too." Indeed.

Heavenly Resort in Lake Tahoe

We like Tahoe so much we decided to buy a vacation home, had this one in mind but it was out of our price range. We ended up buying a tent.

Reno Baby, Reno

If you live in the mountains, you must own a puffy vest, it is a unspoken rule. Luckily, Jill had 2 so I was not a social outcast.

The fabulous 4 before a night on the town.

Quinn getting a little handsy with Betty Boop.



This is probably the closest Brian and I will ever get to riding a ski lift.

We're baack! We had a most excellent time, it always a good sign of things to come when your shuttle pulls up to the hotel and there is a mall across the street. The marriage conference was amazing, I highly recommend going to one if you ever get a chance, it is a great way to get a marriage tune-up.


Jill and Dean picked us up Sunday and took us to their swanky house in the mountains of Reno, where we lounged, played with their toddler Quinn, and ate. We visited some cute mountain towns, saw Lake Tahoe (beautiful), and ate some more. I also tried my hand at a slot machine and lost $15 in less than 5 minutes, luck was not my friend. If you know Jill and Dean, visit them, they are always great hostesses. Even if you don't know them, just mention my name and I'm sure they'll be glad to have you. They don't even mind if you try for a baby while residing in their guest room:-)


Our kids greeted/clobbered us at the airport, which was a lovely way to be welcomed back. Now the challenge is to get back on track after the time change/time zone differences. I might be just a tad cranky tomorrow...

Heading West

We are off to California early tomorrow morning for this. On Sunday we'll be heading to Reno to stay at our friend Dean and Jill's house, where we will expect them to drop everything and entertain us, and they will because they don't get visitors very often and they love us. We all grew up together, Jill and I evened roomed together in college (till sophomore year, when the room grew a bit too small and we had to get a divorce, but then we were OK again). Jill also feels the same way about food as I do, we were the only ones in our dorm who didn't have a meal plan in the cafeteria. We would cook weird creations in our micro fridge (remember those?) and beg our parents to come and take us out to dinner. Anyways, should be a good time!

While we are gone we will miss cuddling munchkin #1 and munchkin #2, but will spend our time lounging, eating at yummy restaurants, reading, and doing other things that are hard to do once you become parents. Not sure if I will have time to post while we are gone, and kind of want to steer clear of computers for a few days anyway, as I've been spending way too much time online lately. I'll miss you all and see you Wednesday!

Election Through Little Eyes

Yesterday I was getting Bernard ready for school, and asked him to move quickly because daddy was going to go vote on the way. I explained to him that daddy was voting for the next president of the United States and that the president was in charge of our country just like daddy's in charge of our family (I guess that makes me vice president, but I have lots of veto power). Background: Bern is very animated when talking, lots of gestures, wiggling, and expressions. He said (while gesturing with his hands) "Mommy, are you serious about all this pwesident stuff?" Brian said that they waited in line at the polling place for a bit, then Bern said "So where is the pwesident at, daddy?"

For once I was glad to have the last name of Luitjohan, the A-K line was out the door but my line was wide open. Bella probably made my ballot invalid, she circled under and around the booth the entire time I voted, causing it to shake a bit. I'm sure the people voting next to me were very appreciative that I brought my 3 year old!

Cute link that brought a smile to my face:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/worldnews/3274186/George-W-Bush-in-pictures.html

Bowling and a Big Decision

Bella gently pushing her purple ball down the alley.

Bern chucking the green ball.

I got in a funk on Saturday, my house needs a cleaning and I'm having trouble getting it done. Most of you who know me know how I like my house to be just so, but between living with 2 munchkins, the gorgeous weather, and various activities I've been slacking. I was a little pouty about it, we had a morning of bowling scheduled with our small group and I even debated staying home so I could get it done, but I realized the my messy house is a good thing. I love that I've got 2 fun-loving kids that leave fake bugs in the fridge, and baby dolls in my bed. I love that we have good friends that we can meet for lunch at unsanitary McDonald's, veggie tales shows and bowling on Saturdays.

I am going to choose to embrace my messy house, because it means we're having fun. On the same note, we have been praying about adding a third child to our family for a few months now, and have come to the decision to start trying. We love being parents, and are very excited! Operation baby#3 is officially on!