Our Big News

I think most people know our news but just in case...

We are expecting our third child September 21!  

Amelia has requested a girl, like her.  Only time will tell with that one as I have no feeling one way or the other with this one....so far.

Things are much different this time around.  I am sick, nauseous, beyond tired and irritable.  I just plain don't feel good and am hopeful things will turn around in the coming weeks!  I've been able to sneak in some rest after work the past week or so and it really does make an incredible difference in how the evening goes!

Rocking a baby

Joe has no idea what is going to happen this fall but hopefully he takes to the new baby quicker than Amelia took to him! 

WeHaw's Birthday

This past Saturday was my sister's birthday.  

*Amelia calls her WeHaw instead of Auntie - no one is really sure why but it stuck

We met my family at the Mongolian Barbeque for lunch right away when they opened - so much less crowded! 

photo attempt #647

After lunch we went to the annual carnival at our old elementary school with the kids.  It was just as I remembered it  -crowded and crazy!  Amelia had fun for the most part - once we found some age appropriate activities for her!

Amelia raced the hot dog car at the Boy Scouts' pinewood derby booth - she WON! 

Pick-a-Duck was very popular with my children

After we had our fill of carnival fun we went back to my parent's house so Joe could get a nap in.  Of course, he must have known there was fun going on because he didn't nap very long!

Princess Yahtzee

In our family the birthday person gets their choice of dinner and she picked sloppy Joe's which we followed up with cake.

It was a busy but fun day! 

I Took a Nap

I took a nap this afternoon.  Hallelujah.

It's been weeks since I have had a chance to even sit down after work before my shower and Daylight's Savings did not help me out one bit...  This afternoon, I took a chance.  I laid down on the couch, closed my eyes and prayed Joe would just stay asleep even another half hour.  Someone up there heard me because two hours later I woke up feeling refreshed. 

Amelia was the one who woke me up as she dragged her orange tub that usually holds stuffed animals into the living room.  Take note of the word usually...

The above photo shows the state of her room after my wonderful nap.  {sigh}

The good news is, despite the disaster area, we had a great night and I give the nap all the credit!  We have been swamped at work and I am beat, physically and mentally, when I get home. A nap really was just what I needed today to re-set my patience and not get so easily frustrated because of exhaustion.

Little man finally figured out the sticks are in fact for drumming - not carrying handles.

GIRL Jake pajamas!!!

Goodnight!

4-Day Weekend

Today was the last day of my four-day weekend!  Last week I had put in my forty hours by Thursday so I didn't have to go in Friday and then I had taken today off.  It wasn't the greatest weekend (we fought quite a bit) but was still nice to not have to get up early for four days!  

Friday we went to the Mall of America for the afternoon.  

 

We went to Sea Life aquarium which had two new exhibits we had not seen yet - Octopus Garden and the finished (permanent) Rainforest section.

We looked around the mall a bit, dropped of some tennis shoes at the Nike store for recycling and went on a few rides before we left.

Joe's first (successful) carousel ride :)

After we left the mall we dropped Amelia off with my family for a few nights.  Saturday Jason, Joe and I took a little road trip to pick up the deer Jason's cousin got last fall - it was just now done being processed!  We drove it down to his cousin afterwards and ran a few errands - nothing too thrilling.

Sunday morning I got into Amelia's room and tried to thoroughly clean it and purge it but I had a little helper:

He thought he was pretty cool hanging out in his sister's room!  I didn't do as much in her room as I had hoped but something is better than nothing!

Green hair for St. Patrick's Day!

 

My parent's dropped Amelia off in the afternoon and she was under the weather.  The night we dropped her off she started showing signs of a bug (fever, congestion, coughing) and she wasn't able to kick it. 

We skipped speech this morning since we weren't sure on Amelia's health and spent the day at home.  Joe has perfected the tantrum so the day got long.  Amelia and I tried to play with him but he was much happier on his own tearing up junk mail, banging things together or reading:

While he did his thing I assisted Amelia in building a "barn" for Baby Butterscotch.

She surrounded Baby Butterscotch with loose blocks and when I asked her what they were she told me they were hay.  Clearly she had thought of everything.  

Time to get to bed!

Five

Awhile ago I was "tagged" by Suzette to do the "Five Things Thing" so here it is!

(1)  I am not a morning person, at all, which is why my current job is hysterical.  When I told my mom about it almost three years ago she laughed, literally, out loud.  I have been getting up at 2:45 a.m. for almost three years now and I still have not fully adjusted to "doing" mornings well.  At the same time I am not the night owl I used to be and I have no trouble falling asleep in two minutes flat most nights.

(2)  I love living somewhere that has four seasons but I almost always complain about two of them at some point - summer and winter!  Summer humidity starts to drive me insane and winter just never seems to end some years!

(3)  If it were possible I would love to stay home with the kids and not work.  Obviously me working is necessary for several reasons but if I could choose, I would stay home.  I get half the day at home but I am so tired by dinner time since I get up so early that I basically just count the hours until bedtime.  Not a great feeling.

(4)  Jason and I "single parent" Monday through Friday.  I work the early morning shift and he works the evening shift.  We see each other in the parking lot for approximately one minute as I walk in and he walks out.  I'm asleep before he gets home.  Last fall I got onto a M-F work week, which he has had awhile now, so we get the weekends off as a family - finally.

(5)  I can't cook.  For real.  Jason was a chef for fourteen years so I have never really had to cook.  I can make a few things but usually he just takes care of it all.  I'd love to learn my way around the kitchen one of these days and I have added making a loaf of bread, completely from scratch, to my bucket list.  More importantly though if I could get better in the kitchen I could feel better about the dinners I feed my children...we eat a lot of convenience foods and repeat the same things over and over and over! 

There are five things about me!

Block Party!

We have been playing with blocks a TON this week.  

While Amelia and I build things Joe usually drags the blocks wagon around or pushes the blocks dump truck all over the place.  Sometimes he tries to help us build things but Amelia isn't all that patient with him...

Amelia and I built a house the other day:

She even made a mom and baby out of blocks for the inside.  Oh, and that collection of blocks at the front?  That's the rocking chair...at least that's what she told me ;)

When it comes time to clean up we mix it up.  So far the favorite method of picking the blocks up is lining the wagon, dump truck and bucket up against the wall and throwing the blocks in one at a time.  It all started because I didn't want to get up....  Amelia thinks it's the greatest thing and she actually has a really good shot - she makes almost all the "baskets!"

These Kids...

"Mama, Ko heeeeeaaaaaa-bbbbbeeeeeeeeeeee." 

Yes Amelia, Joe is heavy :)  He is our big boy!