jan 30+31

On the 30th, we drove our niece home, and it was also our nephew's (niece's little brother) birthday party. The three older kids and I left the party early, because they had another party to go to. A friend of Cal's from the old school invited him to her birthday party. Conveniently enough, two of her little sisters are Maddie and Kaycey's age. They just moved and their new house has an indoor pool!! Apparently this house listed for $1.1 million a few years back. Now it was in foreclosure and they paid $350,000!! The pool area/room seriously looks like it is straight out of some Wisconsin Dells hotel. Upstairs is this huge game room with arcade/video games and an air hockey and pool table! The kids were so amazed at this place! It was very cool.

So of course, it was a pool party theme. Cal has been invited to her party 3 years in a row now, but this time he was the only boy. Usually all her cousins are there (several boys Cal's age). I thought it was a little strange, but no one else seemed to care. Cal was happy to see friends from his old school. Kaycey was frustrated because she had to wear a life jacket. Maddie loved the pool! She was one of the last kids out of the pool. She was in there (with life jacket on!) with a couple of gals Cal's age and they were playing Marco Polo. Except when the big girls would yell, "Marco!" Maddie would yell, "Hoho!" It was HILARIOUS. She is so funny. We came home and everyone was pooped, even though we got home before 8:30.

On the 31st the 3 girls and I went to our neighbor friend's house (her 2 girls are Kaycey and Maddie's age). Mike has been working his tail off, putting in well over 70 hours a week sometimes. Too bad he doesn't get overtime. Argh. Anyhow, Sadie slept the ENTIRE time we were at our friend's house. She didn't wake up until right before we were going to go home. We're talking four hours or so of sleep. Cal went downtown with his friend and his friend's parents to the Brewers On Deck. He got Jeff Suppan's autograph. The mom hasn't emailed the pictures yet, but Cal said she took a bunch.

jan 18 thru jan 29

Long post, but this is my recap of most of the 2nd half of January...

Jan 19--Maddie had an xray to make sure her lungs were clear from the episode of pneumonia earlier in the month (lungs are clear). We stopped by Emma & Papa (my Grandparents) because Maddie requested to go to the "salon". My Grandma has been doing this for as long as I can remember...washing the kids' hair in the kitchen sink (she did it for us growing up, too, and she even did it for my 15 year old cousin when she was in town from up north!!)

We found out 63 out of 350 employees were laid off at Mike's work (15% of the IT dept. got cut).

Jan 20--My poor baby got her 2 month shots : (

Maddie shows off her new headband.

Jan 21--went to my Dad's for dinner. When I walked out the door in the garage to my car, I dropped my pan of veggie enchiladas. Smash. Glass everywhere in the garage. Not happy.

Jan 22--After watching "Word Girl" Maddie says, "Do you know what my favorite word is? Sadie."

Greatest gift ever, I swear. They play with this Calico Critters stuff everyday (even Cal plays with them sometimes)

Jan 23--Cal's team finished the basketball season 2-4. In the last game Cal scored 2 baskets.

Sadie smiles at everything!

Kaycey and Maddie had some play time outside.

I began the tedious task of rearranging basement bins and labeling them.

Jan 24--The Vikings lose in overtime. Unbelievable.

Jan 25--Maddie comes home singing the "P" song...working on the letter "p" this week. "Please pass the peas...put them on my plate 'cause I just can't wait..."

Sadie doesn't sleep, practically up all day. Maddie is finally the one to get her sleep!

first picture of all 4 since ???

Sadie LOVES her giraffe-y

Jan 29--How cute, Maddie still says "amen" at the end of all stories instead of "the end".

I love this picture! And I am loving my new camera, even if I have a long way to go to really know what it can do...

Maddie has been using the footrest from the stroller (I didn't put it on yet, Sadie doesn't need it!) as a pretend snowboard. How does she know what a snowboard is?!?!

We had our niece sleep over (the one Kaycey's age). The girls were like 3 (Maddie, Kaycey, and Julia) peas in a pod. Cal and I went to some school basketball games. I volunteered in the concession stand and Cal had a great time running around with his friends.

more to come....

life with baby + 3 kids

I have posts from in between to catch up with, but more on those later. Thought I'd post this *fun* one.

See all that dust?? And yes, that's still a Christmas tree up in the house. It's been serving as a great night light when getting up with Sadie.

Oy, and this is my wood floor under the table in the entryway. Ooo, look! A lucky penny.

laundry room overload

But on a happy note, I got these in the mail. Pretty much every possibility in this stack!! Excited to use the 8 1/2 x 11 actually in the kids' albums for stuff, from school.

And I got the laundry folded.

And there's carpet in the bonus room.

Now if only my side was functional, organized, & clean...definitely toward the top of the to do list!! Along with moving all the toys from the playroom into the bonus room. Kaycey is really looking forward to having her own room (she is getting the room that is currently the playroom).

p.s. as soon as I was done taking the photos, I got to work and dusted, vacuumed, and cleaned the floor : )

I had a bad day...

Not sure if you've been able to keep up with my blog-happy self...I think I posted 6 posts in a few days time. Totally not like me!

What a crummy day. First of all, it began at 3am, when Sadie woke up. (which is fine, she doesn't sleep through the night yet anyways). She went back to sleep around 4 (and usually sleeps for 3-4 hours). SHe was up again at 5, before I even fell asleep!! I'm thinking she woke up being cold, since she had kicked her blankies off. All of a sudden, Cal is standing next to me. He tells me it's late. Amazingly, I had fallen back asleep after Sadie got up at 5. Amazingly, she had fallen back asleep, too. I try to look at the clock, without my glasses all I see is a 6 somewhere. Well, it's 7:16. Usually we are up around 6:30 or so. Kaycey and Maddie are still in bed. The bus comes at 7:30. Not a big deal if they miss the bus, but still rush, rush. I race to wake up the 2 girls, make breakfast, get bags packed so they aren't late for school (gotta be there by 8!). We make it, just in time. Sadie and I come home to begin the task of endless laundry. Go to pick up Maddie and she had a terrible bloody nose at school (she's only had one once before). We go to Home Depot, determined to buy something to cover the darn windows in the family room which has been bare since moving in. I find nothing. ARGH. I'm tired of a house that looks like we just moved in, or are about to move out. Then home for lunch, of course I don't even get a chance to eat anything, though. Too busy trying to keep up with the laundry, and filling the dishwasher. I realize that for Kaycey's dr. appointment this afternoon, I have no stroller to push Sadie in (we have 2 strollers sitting in the garage but they won't close, which means I can't get them in my car), cause there is no way I am carrying that seat with her in it through Childrens' Hospital. So while Maddie ate lunch and fed Sadie, I put together our new sit 'n stand stroller (but putting things together and having to read directions gives me a headache.) I cross my fingers that I put it together right, or at least so the wheels don't fall off while we are walking. Off to school to pick the kids up early, Kaycey has an appointment at CHildren's in Urology. I make the mistake of bravely taking all 4 kids with me. Didn't have available sitters, anyhow. Sadie cried most of the time, and Maddie was just plain sassy. After nearly 2 hours, we go home. Maddie attempts to stick her stickers from the hospital on my car window. I stop her just in time. I come in the house and immediately take a 600mg ibuprofen and put my pajamas on (it's 5pm). I walk into the kitchen to find Maddie's stickers on my cabinets. I should've let her put them on my car windows. Dinner tonight will be waffles or cereal. Can't wait for this day to be over.

catch up, part 3

Jamuary 17--Sadie's baptism. Uncle Scott & Aunt Lorie served as witnesses. We've had a baptism in church every week this month!! Lots of little babies Sadie's age!!

The six of us

We had a housefull of relatives over following the baptism at church. I took a photo of all the grandparents with Sadie. And actually there's a Great-Grandma and Step-Great Grandma missing in the photo. That's a lot of grandparents!!!!!!!!!!(Mike's parents and one set of his Grandparents, my Mom, my Dad, my Stepmom, my Grandparents, & my Great-Grandma.)

Five generations

comparison time!

finally plugged in my external hard drive to look at old pictures. I don't have Cal's on the computer, and not very many of Kaycey's first six months either. But here's the 3 girls at approximately 2 months old. Can you tell who's who??

how about sleeping babies???

I'll get some of Cal's baby pictures on here soon, too. His 3 month old picture looks alot like Sadie, I think!! (answers will be in the comments section : )

...catch up,part 2

I am realizing it would've been easier to do a ton of mini posts and change the date of the post. Oh well...I'll start doing it that way in February, no sense in changing things right this moment when I'm on a roll!

January 11-Sadie has her 2 month check up, but I decide to wait to start immunizations since she had been sick (and still had a bit of the cough left). She was a whopping 11 lbs even (54%) and 23 inches tall (74%). Oh so smiley.

Time to pack away the itty bitty baby clothes : ( I could squeeze her into some of them yet, but she is so long she can't stretch her legs completely in the 0-3 month clothes. On to 3-6 month clothes...goodbye teeny tiny clothes...

January 13-Cal scores his first basket in a game. Too bad the team lost, though. And I was so mad, I had my camera on a different setting so it wasn't taking the continuous shots. Oh well. Would've had the video camera there, but its broken : ( yep the brand new one. I just hope we are able to get the Christmas Eve service off of it. Maddie's singing was classic.

January 14-packed the maternity clothes away.

January 15-Cal's team wins their first game. He didn't score any baskets, but he got to be the captain for the night.

January 16--a busy day that began with a birthday party for a gal in Maddie's class, then a basketball game in the morning, then volunteering for the next basketball game, then a few hours to myself attending the 365 class at the Scrap. Store.

Later that night we all watched the football game. Sadie seriously sat and watched the game, too. Mike commented, "If Sadie stays up and watches this for much longer, she's going to think Peyton is her Dad." I found this comment hilarious.

Then I stayed up oh so late (12:30am) to clean and get things ready for Sadie's baptism on the 17th.

catching up, for real--part 1

I have an infant who does not like to sleep much during the day...her naps are usually in the late afternoon or evening, so my days are filled with making baby happy, and not much blogging anymore! Anyhow, I will do what I can when I can to keep up with my 365.

January 9th--We held Maddie's small impromptu birthday party for my side of the family. We weren't sure if everyone would be feeling better, so it was kinda last minute.

I love Maddie's genuine excitement over each and every gift, even clothes and socks. And I quote, "That's dorable!" (yes, she says it without the "a") and "Oh my gosh!" and "It's so cute!" and "Oh a goodness sake" (instead of "for goodness sake") and "I don't alieve it!" (alieve=believe)

January 10--Cute lil' baby foot. She was actually screaming her head off when I took the picture but I was bound and determined to get a picture of the foot. I am a little crazy, huh?

My cousins were in town for the weekend. They don't come very often, and if they do it's always such a quick visit, I don't even get to see them. Their youngest is a boy Cal's age, so when they all surprised us by coming Sunday after church with my Grandma for a quick visit, the kids were VERY excited.

Went to watch the Packer game by Grandpa Bo's. A bummer of a game, the Packers lose in overtime to the Cardinals. 51-45. Boo. Cal was so mad, he seriously went outside and stuck his head in a snowbank. Then he came in and wiped his face off with a piece of blue tissue paper. Haha.

wish i was there!!

This morning I woke up to blog posts that were so super exciting, I wish I was at CHA in California right now!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this new line coming out..."Dear lizzy" for American Crafts.

I am so excited to say that I know the designer and owner at Bella Blvd! I can't believe all the fun new product that was released this time!! And I'm honored to say that I know her & several of her creative "Artista's". The booth is beautiful, and the goodies they make, WOW. I wish I could see the goods in person.

I miss the Scrapbook Store ALOT : (

I lied

I spent last night watching the Hope for Haiti concert. Amazing performers and songs. Then I went to bed.

Today we had a basketball game, final of the season for Cal. He's pretty bummed about it being done. It sure went by fast. It seems like the boys were just getting the hang of playing as a team. They won today, 16-6, Cal scored 2 baskets. This afternoon thus far, I've been feverishly working on uploading pictures and deleting the not so good ones. I am vowing to keep up with that this year. If only I could keep up on my blog...maybe later??

The basement calls...I am labeling the dozens of bins that are chillin' down there. Sounds like fun, doesn't it??? (not really)

wow!

Our small school (100 kids or so in pre-K thru grade 8) raised money to help the victims of the Haiti earthquake. Monday started with penny day, Tuesday with nickel day, and so on, and ended today with dollar day. Kaycey brought a $5 bill from her very own piggy bank. Nearly $800 was raised by the school!! We are so proud to be part of such a generous & loving school.

I know, I know...I've been terrible with updates. I've been trying very hard to get all my photos uploaded so I can print them for my 365 abbr. & for family members who are becoming disgruntled because they have no photo of Sadie : ) I promise to make Mike entertain all the kids tonight so that I may update my blog. Haha!

must haves (must wants)

Maya Road has insanely cute new stuff coming out. Must get a job to allow me to purchase almost everything in their newest CHA release!!! The chipboard, the canvas, the felt, the flowers, the ribbons, I want it all. http://mayaroad.typepad.com/mayaroad/

Thinking I need photoshop and this: http://www.gettotallyrad.com/

it is totally rad. Now if I can just figure out my camera : ) (In February, I am taking a class offered by Art's and given by a Canon rep.)

I want to put alot of the ideas to use that I found on this blog http://theidearoom.blogspot.com/

How anyone in the real world has that much time to make all that stuff just boggles my mind, though.

365

I have a feeling my blog will be a long weekly post instead of a daily or multiple days in a week. It's just easier that way. Especially since I have at least been trying to keep daily notes.

I am taking part in a new class, "365 Abbreviated", at the Scrapbook Store, with my very good friend, Katherine, doing the instructing (check it out here). The point of the class is similar to the 365 Becky Higgins did that many of you know about (check out Becky's blog here) . But the abbr. version will not necessarily be based on a POTD (picture of the day) but whatever you want to make of it. Daily photo? Or perhaps weekly? Maybe snapshots throughout each month? Focus on Summer? I am doing mine centered around little Sadie's first year. How I wish I would've done something like this for the other kids. I am considering attempting an Abbreviated abbreviated version for the 3 older kids, since I don't necessarily have the journaling or details that I will keep for Sadie. Using the fun page protectors with the varied sized spaces (lots of 4x6 spaces to simply tuck in photos) in them will make this project oh-so-fun! I am thinking of sticking her little NKOTB onesie in a 5x7 slot : )

More on my recap of the past week or so soon.

go vikings??

I can't believe the Packers lost yesterday after such a comeback. Cal was so mad he stuck his head in a snowbank after the game.

Before you freak out, we really are NOT Minnesota fans. But as y'all know, I like Brett, so who to root for now that our beloved Pack is out?? I guess I'll cheer for Minnesota, or Indianapolis. Arizona doesn't stand a chance against New Orleans anyhow.

playing catch up

December 27-Mike & Elizabeth's anniversary & Sadie smiles for real for the first time : )

December 30-Maddie has a fever of 103.7, urgent care is closed and we really don't want to go to Childrens' Hospital. We avoid that place when and if we can. We kept checking her & her temp. through the night and decided that we'd go to urgent care first thing in the morning.

But look at those cheeks!!! So cute.

December 31-Maddie goes to urgent care, has pneumonia. Kaycey and Maddie had been coughing all week...Cal slept over by my grandparents, a tradition on New Years, something he has done for 4 years (maybe 5??)

January 1-Happy New Year!! Kaycey wipes out on the kitchen floor and cracks her chin open. Off to Children's Hospital for stitches (couldn't avoid Children's...since it was on Kaycey's face we wanted to make sure if she needed to see a specialist we were in the right place.) Of course, as to be expected, Kaycey makes nothing of getting stitches. Doesn't make a peep at the hospital.

Four teeny tiny stitches on her little chin.

Maddie is feeling MUCH better. Amazing what a dose or two of an antibiotic can do.

January 2-my grandpa's birthday. He's 11. Yep, you read that right. (He counts backwards, something he started when he was 40 I think.) Cal and Papa will both be 11 in 2010. Poor Sadie has developed a cough now.

Time to take the tree down...I usually leave it up thru Maddie's birthday, but we decided it's time to take a tree down when it sounds like it is raining (needles) when you walk by it. Thankfully, my Grandma came over to help pack stuff away, or it might still be sitting here. Check out all those needles. It's beginning to look alot like a Charlie Brown tree once we took the lights off.

Here's whats left of the tree after Mike cut off the top and all the branches and threw them out the back door.

January 3-take Sadie to Children's because she is coughing so hard she is throwing up and not keeping anything down. (Now we are not the type to go to the E.R. for just anything. ARGH!! Children's again...have I told you how I can't stand that place?? Trust me, I don't go there unless I absolutely NEED to!!) Her breathing seemed labored, as well. Dx, clear lungs, no fevers, so it's "just" an upper resp. infection. She sounds awful, and must feel so miserable!! But holy cow, she is already 11lbs, 6oz!!!!

January 4-girls stay home from school. get in to see the doctor for Kaycey--turns out she has a double ear infx. And Sadie, too, so the doc could listen to her again to make sure she hasn't gotten worse. Dr. is concerned about RSV but says Sadie is looking and sounding great all things considered--still clear lungs, no fevers. I also have a doc appt. this day (my post-partum appt). Doctor doesn't know what to tell me about my pain near my hip and above my incision. She thinks it could be a hematoma (bad bruise) or neuroma (ball of nerves). I have a feeling I'll be back in a couple weeks to get it checked out again. It hasn't gotten any better in 6 weeks, in fact, it's becoming more tender.

January 5-Maddie has a check up to make sure her lungs are clearing up. Have to come back in 2 weeks for another chest xray.

January 7-Kaycey gets her stitches out at the doctor. Maddie's 5th birthday,

& it snowed quite a bit. Funny, on this day 2 years ago it was 60 degrees.

January 8-Packer Day at school! Wow, no doc appointments. Poor Sadie is not sounding much better, though.

So that is how 2010 is starting out. Sigh. Here's to a better weekend & better rest of the year!