Early Santa present

Santa Claus came a bit early to drop off one big present that was too big to take home from Texas this year. Drew got a jeep ride-on vehicle and has loved it. He can even ride it in the house! When he went to bed, he found a letter from Santa telling him he was leaving one big present in Wisconsin and the rest he would bring to Texas. When he woke up in the morning and found his gift, he insisted we go outside and drive around. It was a lot of fun. Later that day, we took some family photos (thanks to the Rufeners!) for our Christmas card. We chose the one we took outside in the snow but here is the one from inside!

Primary Nativity Activity

The Saturday before Christmas, our primary had an activity where they went to a nursing home and performed the nativity with costumes, songs and all. I took Drew with me and spent "mommy and Drew time" together while David and Dilan stayed home so she could take her morning nap. We arrived early to get a costume on and just as I thought, Drew was hesitant. He saw his friends getting dressed up and buried his head in my chest saying he didn't want to participate. But once he was offered the donkey costume, he reconsidered and wanted to join in on the very special event. Drew was Joseph's donkey and a very good one who just did what he was supposed to do. I was so proud of him and loved watching him participate in the nativity this year.

Merry Christmas 2009!

10 months old!

Seriously, can she get any cuter?!?! One of my dearest and closest friends, Mandy, who lives in California, made Dilan this adorable hat! It fits her perfectly and really keeps her warm. I've had a hard time finding something to fit her right and this does so well. And I think it's just darling on her. We've had a very cold week, like 1 degree weather, and Dilan has cried when I take her out of the car and into stores or even the house. It's so sad because no matter how much you bundle her up, the wind hits her in the face and she literally loses her breath! Well, thanks to Mandy, she'll be warmer than she was before!!!

Dilan is 10 months old now. She is standing up and walking around while she holds onto things and even trying to stand up on her own. She is making the transition to real food every now and again trying something new like mashed potatoes, lasagna (Lynn she loved it!), and broccoli. She waves to everyone, claps her hands and still only has two teeth on the bottom! Dilan constantly smiles at us and we can't wait for Dilan to enjoy her first Christmas soon!!!

Snack time

Yesterday, I picked Drew up from school and of course, I always ask him, "How was school?," "What did you do today?" and then, "What did you have for snack?"... but this time the final question stumped him.
Drew replied, "I don't know. I think I forgot." I asked him how he could forget what he ate for snack. And then he thought really hard and finally came up with "marshmallows." We talked about how yummy marshmallows were, and he asked me if I could buy some someday. (he's so deprived!)
Then, last night we were watching the sing-off show together and a commercial came on for Rice Krispies. He leaped off the couch and pointed to the tv, shouting, "that's it, mom! We had Rice Krispie treats for snack. That's what they telled me they're called." I totally cracked up at his revelation and the fact that my four-year old doesn't know what Rice Krispie treats are called. We talked about how good they were and how we will have to make our own batch soon! I love my little boy!!!

Good news, bad news...

So, the good news was that last Sunday we found out I was pregnant. It was very exciting because my sister and her husband were here and I was able to tell them right away. I put the pregnancy test on the tree and told my sister when she came down the stairs in the morning that I had placed a new ornament on the tree. She looked and freaked out - it was so funny and we even captured it on video. She couldn't believe I was pregnant and neither could we! We were very excited because we had just decided we were ready for another baby and got pregnant the first month we tried. We didn't tell any other family members and decided it would be fun to tell them in person over the holidays. Here are the pictures from what was our good news:

Well... that plan didn't go as we had hoped. As some of you know, I had a miscarriage for my first pregnancy before Drew was born. I was told it happens in 50% of first pregnancies, it's very common, etc. So, I don't think too much of it now especially since I've had two healthy pregnancies and babies since then.

I called my OB up here to schedule an appointment after we found out I was pregnant. But they kept telling me because of my "history of miscarriage" they had to monitor me more closely and I had to come in for a blood test first before seeing the doctor. So, last Thursday I go in for the blood test and they call me back later that day and confirm the pregnancy.

Then, I set up an appointment for Monday for a follow-up blood test as they instruct me to do. I have to admit that I was a little irritated by the fact that I was having to do all these blood tests when I didn't have to do any of this when I was pregnant with Drew or Dilan. I just didn't think it was necessary.

Well, yesterday, I had a miscarriage. (sigh). It's been a roller coaster of feelings yesterday and today. I went in for the blood test today and they called back and confirmed the miscarriage. My HGC level was down to a 12 (from 115 last Thursday). They do want me to come back after the holidays and get one more blood test to ensure my HGC level is negative by that time and everything is back to normal.

I am trying to remain positive and look forward to trying again in the next couple of months. All I know is that we are ready to have another baby and hopefully we can have more children soon.

Santa's Express Train

We decided to take a ride on Santa's Express Train this past weekend. We boarded the "heated trolley" and took a ride from Mukwonago, Wisconsin to East Troy, Wisconsin. On the way, the "elves" read the book, The Polar Express, and we sang Christmas songs. On the way back, all the kids took their turn sitting on Santa's lap and telling him what they wanted. Drew sat on Santa's lap and told him he wanted a rocket ship. That's it. Nothing else. All the other kids I saw had a good long list but not Drew. He's keeping it simple these days. Of course, I really have no idea what he means by rocket ship but I digress...

Then, we put Dilan on Santa's lap with Drew and took a picture which was fun. Overall the kids had a great time!

Here we are waiting in line to board the train - little did we know we'd be standing in snow so we don't have our boots on of course!

David with the kiddos all bundled up - it was cold!

Drew waiting at the depot to board the train. Behind him is where we bought tickets.

Looking for the train!

brrrr....

Daddy and Dilan

Our first picture with Santa Claus with both of our precious kids - Dilan's first time on Santa's lap and she was quite happy about it!

Happy boy with his candy cane from Santa

Playing around on the train

After we got off the train

Let it SNOW!

You may have heard we were getting a lot of snow last night. The total is expected between 10-14 inches! So, we woke up this morning to this outside...

David bought a shovel hoping we did not have to invest in a snow plow but this took hours...

Drew all bundled up woke up wanting to make a snowman.

Then, Drew told me he wanted to make a snow-woman so the snowman wasn't lonely!

Here is our snowman we made with a longhorn hat, potatoes for his eyes, carrot for his nose and fruit snacks for his mouth!

Drew took a break and drank some apple juice.

Our final creation - SnowMan and SnowWoman

Nannie and Uncle Lars

We had a great time with my sister, Keely, and her husband, Lars, when they came to visit us this past weekend. We took it easy, just enjoyed being with one another. Unfortunately, Lars wasn't feeling well. So, Keely and I got some time to go shopping together which was fantastic and we all went to eat sushi one night, saw some good Christmas lights, and went to eat lunch at our favorite train station Mexican restaurant. We appreciate the newlyweds coming to see us, where we live and braving the Wisconsin weather! :)

More pics

As you can see, our blog has a new look! We have updated our family photos. We like to do this once a year and it was so cold outside the day we took them that none of us lasted too long. But we did get some good shots!

Black Friday

okay, so I am now doing a post in response to my friend, Laura J., doing one on her blog. I had asked her what she scored on her Black Friday shopping and now I will do the same and record it as well.

I am honestly still not over the itch to shop and get those great deals. I just love it. I have to say that I never went shopping on the day after TG because we were always at my grandmother's house in Colmesneil, TX, which is not near anywhere to shop. Plus, it was always the big UT/atm game and that was the focus of the day.

Somehow a few years ago, we spent TG with David's family, and I was introduced to Black Friday shopping by my mother-in-law and sister-in-law, Wendy. It was quite the experience. Since then, I've been hooked!

Okay, so this year, my mother-in-law and I traveled over to toys 'r us before midnight. The line wrapped all the way around the building and then some. People were already bickering, cutting in line when it moved forward and calling people names. I only saw a few items I thought would be good to get but not even stuff I was wanting badly so we did venture in and noticed things were out already. I picked up one toy and went looking for another but got stuck. You couldn't shop, you couldn't move! People weren't moving and had baskets blocking the way and claimed they were "in the checkout line" but really didn't know if they actually were. Suddenly, I began to freak out.

If you know me, I don't like feeling like I can't get out of a store or a building. Ever since that fire in that nightclub where people burned to death because they couldn't get out... so scary, but I digress. So, I start to panic and tell my mother-in-law, "we need to get out of here." I drop the toy I have, don't even look for another and just try to get out of there.
I have to say toys 'r us is terrible - they may have a line so you get in there in an orderly fashion but once you are in there, it's a complete fire hazard and you can't get out. There is a limit on how many people can be in that store, right? So, let's just say toys 'r us is out unless we stand in line for hours before it opens because I desperately need something they only sell.

On to my other adventures... we are on our way home and see my local Walmart. I was headed to the really big walmart a town away (thinking they would have more supply) but I thought since I was driving by, we should checkout if they have the same stuff I'm looking for. So, we got to Walmart at 12:35 and never left! We scoped everything out and then asked if they were selling the battery-powered ride-ons and when they showed me the line to stand in and there was already someone first in line (we were second), we got in line and never got out of it.

So, during the hours we waited, we did our Black Friday shopping. My mother-in-law and I would take turns going and getting something on our list, finding sizes of things, etc. and filling up our basket. At 3 a.m. they handed us our tickets for the ride-ons and yes, I got one of each so I don't have to stand in another line next year for Dilan's toy. But even though we had the tickets, you still had to stand in line until 5 a.m. Staying up all night paid off when at 5 a.m. we could go straight to the checkout line and we were out of there in 20 minutes!

I got David and Drew winter boots for $7 each, both of them winter coats for $7 and even one in the next size up for Drew for next winter, $3 pajamas for the kids, $3 track suits for Drew (one in his size for this year and one for next year), the musical table for Dilan's first birthday in Feb (orig $40 on sale for $19), the train ball popper so Drew can give Dilan that for her birthday ($9) and the movie, Up.

I proceeded to go home and sleep for three hours, and go to Target at 10 a.m. They still had everything there I wanted and found things there that I had wanted at Toys 'r Us. So, it all worked out nicely until about 8 p.m. when I got really tired and hit a wall. It was fun though!!! :)

Our first Christmas tree... after nine years!

So after almost 9 years (next month) of marriage, we finally have our first Christmas tree. For reasons such as living with family or not having kids to enjoy it or always traveling for the holiday, we have yet to get a tree. I have been collecting sentimental ornaments for years but had nowhere to put them. Finally, they are on display.

Our original idea was to go cut a tree down but after talking about the fact that we would then have to buy lights, etc., we hopped on over to Walmart and bought a 7.5 ft tree for $98. I was so excited because it was a nice one too! Pre-lit, only three pieces to attach, you couldn't beat it. I had purchased ornaments (the silver and red ones) at Walmart on Black Friday for only $10 a batch and that included 32 ornaments of each kind. With all of our ornaments from our travels and such and a couple of picture ornaments of the kids and Beva, it's looking quite nice.

After much looking around, Drew found this awesome train at Home Depot. We couldn't find one at Walmart that could beat it so we went back to Home Depot just to get it for him. We just knew our tree would not be complete without a train underneath it! It has been so fun and completely worth it to see Drew's face and hear him talk to everyone about his train around his tree.

Nauvoo

We had a great time visiting Nauvoo - it was a much smaller and rural town than I had in my mind. Everything shut down at 5 p.m. and we actually had to drive 10 miles into Iowa (across the Mississippi river) to get dinner at night. But it was a great time to go because it's off-season and there weren't many people. We were able to do everything we wanted pretty much. We even saw a musical called, Rendezvous, one night and it was so good - Drew and Dilan sat through the whole thing and loved it.

One morning we drove to Carthage jail where Joseph Smith was killed and it was probably our favorite place we went to. It was so interesting to be there and to hear the account of what happened.

We also toured Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff and Sidney Rigedon's homes. We walked the Trail of Hope, and we learned a lot how the pioneers lived back then. And one of the highlights was that Colleen and I went to the Nauvoo temple (David watched the kiddos!). We were able to go and do some work for my family - it was really neat and the temple was gorgeous. We met a nice ox and took a wagon ride too.

Here are just the first part of our pictures - if you are interested, click to open the slideshow and you'll see my captions of what I wrote. It was a memorable Thanksgiving being grateful for the pioneers of Nauvoo and all they sacrificed for us to be able to worship as we do today.

Happy Thanksgiving and GO HORNS!!!

Tonight is the UT/atm game - biggest rivalry of college football I must say and also the most nerve racking game for me all season. I try to be real nice to my Aggie friends but I must say seeing atm even play a game makes me cringe inside. Yes, it's that bad. It's been ingrained in me since I was 14 and went to college station, tx, for my first ut/atm game there. My older and very cool brother took me. :) It was then I bought my first huge UT flag (on the side of the road for $20) and hung it up in my room. It was there all through high school AND college when I was at my beloved Longhorn university. That's eight years it hung in my room. Things changed around it but that flag never changed and my devotion hasn't either. I am pretty loyal fan - one in fact that just might be making a trip soon to California... :)

Dilan at 9 months

Dilan is 9 months old now - pulling up on everything and very brave! She even tries to let go and stand up on her own only to fall to the ground and then get back up. Dilan weighs 20 lbs and 12 oz and is in the 80%tile for weight, 29.5 inches long (95%tile) and has an average head circumference. She did get the H1N1 shot today and will have to go back in a month to get both the second rounds of the flu shot and H1N1 shot.

What a cutie pie we have in Dilan - she has been so much fun and plays very well with Drew. She even tries to tackle him quite often. Still not loving baby food and I'm feeling a switch to regular food coming along shortly even though she only has two teeth still! We love our precious little girl. :)

Lake Michigan

We've been in Wisconsin for almost 5 months now and hadn't even been to the city of Milwaukee yet. We only live about 25 minutes west of the city but because David works in the town we live, it's not so necessary to go there. Since we had our first visitors, we took some time to actually see the city we live in and go see Lake Michigan. It was beautiful - I was surprised how pretty a city right by the water really is. With one view you see water that goes on and on and turn around to see a city skyline that just takes your breathe away. It was a bit colder that day so we all bundled up a bit but we really enjoyed just being in the city of Milwaukee and taking in the views. We saw the art museum which the outside architecture is shaped like a ship and had lunch right on the water.