4 Months

Funny kid sayings

Bern (came into the living room while I'm watching tv, a dodge ram commercial was on). "Mommy, can we get one of those?" No, mommy and daddy aren't really truck people. "But mommy, it's an all new dodge ram 1500!"

Bella (I handed her the phone and asked her to talk to pa pa (my dad). Brian's dad is grandpa and we had just spent the weekend with him in Chicago. She is pretty shy and takes awhile to warm up to even grandparents if she hasn't seen them in a while, but was very comfortable with him by the end of the weekend. "Hi grandpa" then a few quiet words I couldn't hear, then she realized it wasn't grandpa and she asked very accusingly "hey, which grandpa is this?"

Sorry for the lack of posts, I've been a bit uninspired lately. We've had a rough patch with Bern's behavior at school and church lately, nothing major, just talking too much, not listening, hands to himself type issues. It was getting everyone down, but we've had lots of good advice and prayers and we are feeling much better about it. I'm a wee bit emotional right now, I think I just needed a good day from him and myself, plus the weather is so nice, my spirits are definitely lifting.

We have an ultrasound scheduled for the 16th, so we are getting excited to find out what kind of bambino is taking up residence in my womb. It's funny how different your first born is from your third born, all I could think about was when the baby would get here, what he would look like, decorating the nursery, etc. I told Brian that I feel bad because other than praying for him/her I don't give this one quite as much thought. As far as the nursery, I have no idea where to put this one, so it will probably be bunking in the co sleeper for a while. Eventually we'll probably move Bern into the basement, but are not quite ready for that. Bella slept in our room for almost 7 months, because Bern wasn't ready to be moved out of the crib, it seems to work better for nursing anyway.

Going outside to enjoy the weather now!

The trip to Chicago included an unexpected tire blowout, fantastic pizza (lou malneti's and piece), snow, and swimming. Lots of swimming. Due to temp I would not brave the big pool, and sat on the edge of the hot tub a lot. Poor Brian spent a lot of time in the ice tub with the little ones, despite purple cheeks that's where Bella preferred to spend her time. Bern liked to jump into the hot tub and splash whichever unwitting victim was relaxing below. Cousins Colton and Addison received the brunt of the splashing, but being boys did not seem to mind. By the way, I gained 4 pounds last month, I am blaming it on the pizza.

Bern and Grandpa horsing around.

Flower Girls

Our weekend in Chicago was fun, a bit busy and tiring but good. The girls did great, they looked so sweet and had a lot of fun being flower girls. The were a bit hesitant to walk down the aisle at the rehearsal dinner, but were old pros by the end of the night. When we got to the church the next day, they stood in front of the empty sanctuary for 15 minutes asking if they could walk yet. We finally put them in the brides room to get their mind off of it. They got to sprinkle petals, which Bella took very seriously, she even helped Elyse empty hers. Bella crashed as soon as we got in the car to go back to the hotel, but didn't let go of her basket for one second. A video of them is at the bottom of the post, I'll blog more about the rest of the trip later...

The Windy City

Tomorrow we head to Chicago for Phillip and Becky's wedding. Ms. Bella and Ms. Elyse (our niece) will be the flower girls, complete with tiara's and baskets. Crossing my fingers that they walk down the aisle, as they are both on the shy side. We are looking forward to a few days off, swimming, eating out (hellooo chicago-style pizza), but not a 5 hour drive with the munchkins. Also the packing, goodness gracious the packing!! I worry a bit about what the packing will be like once there is a new baby again, but I think that we just won't go anywhere for a while (at least with the children, ha)! Anyway, Happy Valentines Day to all of you, hope you get lots of chocolates! Look for wedding pictures later this weekend.

Goodbye Carrie (& Keith, Lexi, & Trey)

Last night we had a girls night out honoring our good friend Carrie, who is moving to New Mexico on Saturday. We have had a hard year of friends moving away, and though we try to replace them it usually doesn't work:-) Carrie's husband had to start his new job in early January, and she survived a month of caring for a newborn and a 3 year-old all by herself. So, last night she was ready to let her hair down (not literally, it was up in a ponytail). We had lots of fun, a few tears, and some yummy food.

Carrie- I will miss you very much. I will miss our workouts together, I'll miss laughing at ourselves being the most uncoordinated in the dance and kickboxing classes. I'll definitely miss playing volleyball with you, since you are a SUPERSTAR! You are so kind and sweet, I know you will make friends very easily in New Mexico. Good luck to Keith in his new job, and may your next endeavour be blessed!

Deliquent Blogger

Bella arrived home from Disney on Thursday, and although she had a blast she was very happy to see us. She is much more of a homebody than Bern, who could stay away from home for weeks without missing us too much. Her favorite disney attraction was it's a small world, and she can imitate all the dances that the dolls did, with the hula being the funniest. She was amazed by the snow, and kept asking where it came from. I stole an idea from a friend and put some in big bowls with kitchen tools and let them have at it on the kitchen table. Much easier than getting them all dressed to go outside.

On Friday I had a non-pregnancy related OB visit, and since Brian was busy at work and the doctor's office is right next to his office he met me there so he could watch the kids while I saw the doctor. The office was slow, and the nurse asked if the kids wanted to see the baby on an ultrasound, so we got the unexpected treat of seeing the little bambino. Bern said it looked a little like a monster.

Bernard woke us up in the middle of night last night covered in vomit, God bless Brian for taking care of it. In my defense, I had no idea he was sick because he went to Brian's side of the bed. He is still sick, and has a fever so he is camped out on the couch in the basement and I'm trying to keep Bella away from him. He is very easy to love when he is all sicky-poo and sad, it breaks my heart a little bit.