Christmas Day, The day after, Day 6, Day 7. Day 8. Day 9....In other words...catching up!! =)

So my idea to chronicle every day of our Christmas break has been less than successful! Today we are just laying low so I am going to try to get caught up!

Christmas Day we had a wonderful time at home and then with Brian's family. Christmas morning becomes more and more fun as the kids get older and are more excited! The kids were very grateful for their gifts both from us and Santa (Andrew even added in his prayer, "Jesus, tell Santa thanks for my presents).


Andrew and Kelli love playing Life on the comptuer at Grandma and Papa Mauch's and were very excited to get the "real" version for at home!

A new kitchen for Kelli (and Emily)

Training utensils for Emily

A 4 car electric race track for Andrew...just like his daddy used to have!

Stroller and Pack and Play for Kelli's kids

And a specific request from Kelli to Santa...A baby for my sister so she stops taking mine!

A pink glove and baseball from daddy

A blanket for Emily made with love by Uncle Rod!

Easy Bake Oven!!

A personalized 64 piece art set!

The day after Christmas we went to Freeport to spend the day with my family. After a photoshoot with one of the cutest babies on the planet, we had a wonderful time together celebrating! Papa Cronk asked Andrew if he would read a portion of the Christmas story. He was very excited and did a great job! Brian surprised me with a 10 piece set of Calphalon stainless steel cookware!! We stayed until midnight playing games and hanging out and then had a lovely 2+ hour drive home in dense fog! Got in bed after 230! Brian set the clock back in the kids room and told them not to get up until 8am, so we got to sleep in until 9! I guess I didn't take a whole lot of pics that day...here are a few from the trip up there...excited to see their cousins!!









So day 6 we did nothing! We just relaxed, played with our new toys, and recupperated from the previous days.

Day 7, again we just hung around the house, getting things picked up a little and resting some more. Sunday night we took the kids to Brian's sister's house to spend the night with their cousins and Brian and I went out to dinner and did a little Christmas money spending.

Day 8, I had the whole day to myself and boy was it nice! I slept in a little, got some work done, and then went to Bed Bath and Beyond all by myself! That store is WONDERFUL when you don't have kids with you! I got 2 new knives, a pastry brush, tongs, corn holders and a utensil organizer! Whoo Hoo!!

Day 9, was again pretty uneventful with the exception of a hair cut...








Today is Day 10 and we yet again are doing nothing structured. But that is what break is about, right? I did get a Bissell Steam Mop with my Christmas money and I do plan on trying that out on my floors today....keeping my fingers crossed that it works because NOTHING else does! Otherwise we are gonna just snuggle and be together! Emily loves to have books read to her, today she was reading it to me...thought it was cute!



Happy New Year!!!

Day three...in pictures

Huge snow flakes this morning! It was beautiful!







Picture Thank You cards

Making a birthday cake for Jesus...and a lesson on measuring liquids















Helping Daddy clear off the sidewalks and porch

Merry Christmas Eve!

Day Two

Oh my did we have a full, fun day today! I hadn't gotten as much accomplished yesterday as I had hoped because we had a frozen pipe in our kitchen so that set me back a few hours. So after a little cleaning up we bundled up to run out and finish the last few Christmas errands. I decided to cut that trip a little short because the roads were bad and I had a very cranky, whiny, tired 4 year old on my hands! Got home, had some lunch, the girls took a nap, Andrew watched the rest of the Bears/Packers game from last night and I did some more picking up. When Kelli woke up she and Andrew worked on some fun craft projects I picked up on clearance at Walmart. This kept them occupied for hours! Brian got home from work, he is fighting a cold, so he rested for a little bit. Andrew and Kelli went through their toys up in their room to sort out some of the things they don't play with to make room for new ones that will come at Christmas, and they did this with no prompting! Whoo Hoo! Sat down for a nice family dinner. Then family fun in the living room, including Emily trying to do sommersaults! Kids and Brian went to bed and I wrapped presents! Now I am pooped, but wanted to get this up before heading off to bed! Oh and in the midst of this lovely day I am very certain that I felt this sweet little baby move! I thought I did one other time, but since I was only 12 weeks, just dismissed it as a gas bubble. But today I am confident that it was the baby! I guess with your 4th you might be aware of it earlier! What an amazing miracle taking place in my body! Such a priviledge! Here are some photos and videos from today!





I feel like I look ancient it this one, but I love a picture with my girls!

One more for day one

A few weeks ago Emily started dancing any time she heard music. I finally got some on video and know you will love seeing it! And it seems I always have to have some disclaimer with my videos...but just ignore Andrew's pink shirt. He and Kelli decided to switch pj tops! Those of you who know how shy Kelli is will also appreciate this video! Shows a side of her that few get to see!!

And so break begins!

Today is the first official day of Christmas break (although there was no school because of snow Friday). I have not been good at posting lately, so I thought I would so a post for each day of break, with the exception of Christmas Day and the day after as we will be out of town. I also have sent my camera in for repairs and I feel like I have lost an arm! It will be a 4-6 week process before I have it back...so I will have to go back to my little point and shoot, but I am actually a little excited about it! So today is our first day and we have deemed it a take it easy, mom needs to get some work done day so we can have fun the rest of the week day! The kids were all snuggling together watching one of their favorite shows on PBS called Super Why and they looked so sweet together so that will be our picture of break...day one!

I am still alive!

Sorry it has been so long since the last post....here are some of the reasons why...

Elise is back from Africa (although she has been in Texas since last Thursday)

Our annual women's Christmas Celebration was last Sunday and we had over 150 attend. Lots to do with that whole thing. It was a wonderful evening, but I am glad it is over!

Getting the house ready for Christmas and doing Christmas shopping

Editing 5 families pictures and doing their Christmas Cards

Oh, yeah and last but not least...crazy tired and sometimes feeling icky because I am growing a human in my belly! =)

And Chris...no worries...Kelli is all set! No midnight trips to Walgreen's on Christmas Eve like last year!! =)

I would normally post pictures of the kids decorating the house for Christmas, but they decided to do it in their underwear this year! But I will get some other pics up soon!

Finally, The Details!!

Disclaimer....Remember I am a nurse, so when I say details, I mean details. But, seeing as we are talking about an unexpected pregnancy, I do feel the need to clarify that it will be medical details that I share, not baby making details!! I believe all you who read this don't need those anyway! Although Brian and I have been asked numerous times lately if we know how it happens!! =)



Brian and I had talked about having a 4th, and were still undecided. Both undecided about different things though...

Brian was undecided "if" he wanted another baby and I was undecided as to "when" we would have another baby.

I didn't have the overwhelming sense that I was done, but also wasn't ready to add another one any time soon. My ideal time line was to wait until Kelli was well settled in full day school (starts fall of 2009), get Emily potty trained (I wont even think about starting that until they are at least 2) and have Emily in a big girl bed and then I would be ready. Oh, and surely by then I would have lost that last 20 pounds that just wont budge and be at my long time goal weight!

Really, we didn't even think pregnancy was an option at the present time. Since Emily had finished nursing (much sooner than I had hoped) I had been having lots of mid cycle bleeding. Sometimes even only stopping for one week before starting up again. (remember I warned you, there would be details!) I had been using the birth control pill for nearly 10 years and I just didn't want to start back on it. With all the lifestyle changes I had made and with the weight I had lost, I really liked how I felt and didn't want to mess it up with synthetic hormones. I tried regulating this myself with some natural remedies, all that failed to have any impact at all. After
6 months I finally went to see the doctor. I expressed my desire to try to treat it naturally and he was agreeable. He did say that from what I was describing it sounded like I may have polyps on or in my uterus. We decided that I would do one month of prescription concentration of natural progesterone (I had been using a much lesser dose of this previously) and then do a hystoscopy (fiber optic camera that checks out the uterus), see what that showed and then make decisions from there.

Being on the stronger progesterone did the trick. No bleeding at all that cycle. So in a perfect world I would have started my cycle on the Friday before the procedure, but the night before still had not. Now, I have to tell you, pregnancy NEVER entered my mind. I completely attributed it to the progesterone doing too good of a job and that it was just going to be a little late as those hormones wore off.

About 8pm the night before the procedure I got all my pre-op meds I was supposed to take and one of those was cytotec. This is a medication that is used in labor and delivery on occasion to induce labor. I didn't think much about taking it, but read all the warnings labels on the side of the bottle and it said pregnant women should not even handle this medication. Now if you know how my mind works, I over think things alot! I decided to prevent that from happening by calling the doctor and just having him tell me what to do. He said it was very unlikely with my past 6 month history but that if there was any doubt I should just do a pregnancy test before taking the medication and since my period was late there was doubt. So I told Brian and since he knows me SO well didn't argue one bit with me going to get the test. He knew that if I didn't do the test (even though we both knew it would be negative), that I would be up all night worrying that I just taken medication that could be detrimental to a pregnancy. I made a quick trip to Walgreens and came home, did the test, put it on the counter, and set the timer (I was afraid I would forget about it since this was totally just to ease my mind so I could take the pre-op meds).

Timer goes off.

I walk to the bathroom.

I pick up the test...

"Oh, Lord Help Me! It's POSITIVE!!"

I went to the living room, test in hand, tears flowing freely, and handed the test to Brian.

He then said just what I needed to to hear break me out of my momentary breakdown...

"So when can I schedule my vasectomy??"

Don't get me wrong, I was not breaking down because I was pregnant, it was because all my perfect plans just went straight out the window!

Brian was amazing. He talked me through all my worries about having a baby now and how really it was an even better situation! (Funny how he had to convince me of that, even when I know that everything happens in Gods PERFECT timing!)

So here we are, 12 weeks pregnant today. And working through the details that will make the arrival of baby 4 a pleasant one!

We have no room for the wee one, so Brian's winter project is finishing off our attic that will be the worlds most awesome room for Andrew. He is so excited about that! He said to me the other day (before he knew about the baby and his new room that would come along with that)..."Mom, I wish my room was like Seth's." (Seth is a boy from church who has 3 younger sisters and no brothers) I asked him what was special about Seth's room and he said, "It doesn't have any sisters in it!"

Emily will be 22 months, not potty trained, not out of a crib, and instead of having Andrew and Kelli occupied in full day school, this little peanut will arrive about a week after Andrew is done with school so all 4 will be home!!! I do have moments of sheer terror, usually when I find myself feeling out of control of the three I have! Then I remember I have such a strong support system around me. My God (really the only support I need!), a wonderful loving husband, involved, supportive and not too far away family, and not to diminish any of the previously mentioned supports...the most amazing group of girlfriends who I really don't know how I could do life without! So then I just put on my big girl panties and deal with it!! =)

We are SO blessed and I just want to emphasize how excited we are for this baby. Even though it was a shocker, we treasure the miracle of each life God has entrusted to us and do not take it for granted for one second! I complained a lot with my pregnancy with Andrew. Then when he was born, as excited as I was that he was in my arms, I missed being pregnant and wished I had enjoyed it more and complained about it less. So with the last two I really tried to just relish every moment. (I didn't do as well with Emily...gained 54 pounds and it was August!!)

Anyway, we are so thankful for all of the things the Lord has brought into our lives...good, painful, expected and unexpected!

And don't have any doubt that you will be kept up to date on the goings on of the next 6 months!! Then I may never be able to blog again! =)

An unexpected reason to be thankful!!

More details to follow!

My boys...

Brian and Andrew are two peas in a pod...cut from the same cloth...a chip of the old block. Andrew is really Brian's "mini-me". Andrew absolutely loves to help Brian on whatever project they are working on. On Sundays they watch the Bears game snuggled up in Brian's recliner. Andrew knows more about football that any 6 year old I have ever known. He also is a big Nascar fan too. He can tell you who won the race and what place Tony Stewart (his favorite driver) finished in and how many times Tony Stewart has won a race this year. Andrew has so much common sense for a 6 year old it is crazy. He just constantly observes and absorbs. He has since he was super young. He knew the difference between a Phillips head and a flat head screw driver was before he was potty trained and just has amazing instincts about how things work. He is getting old enough now that he is actually a help to Brian when they are working on things. Today they went out and mowed the lawn, probably for the last time this season. While Brian mows, Andrew always has other jobs that Brian has given him. After the lawn was mowed they transitioned the winter stuff (snow blowers, shovels) from the shed to the garage and the warm weather stuff (lawnmower, bikes...) to the shed. It was so fun for me to look out and see Andrew helping with all this stuff. I know one day he won't think it so special to help his dad, and will see at more as a chore instead of a priviledge as he see's it now. Brian is such a hard worker and takes such good care of his family and our home and it blesses my heart to see him passing that on to our boy. I love you both, my boys, more than I could ever say!





Be still my beating heart!

My favorite almost 15 month old

Emily has developed such a personality and I am so in love with her. You recall that she was quite a pistol the first many months of her life. Well, now that we are doing better communicating with eachother there is much less frustration and she is just a sweetheart, still with a streak of firecracker to be sure. It is not all roses. But oh so much better! So much better that Brian no longer refers to her as "that one"! That may sound horrible, but really, she was a beast! Anyway, here are just a few shots from the other day that show a little bit of her new zest for life!

Bird Hunters

We are all finally feeling better! Praise the Lord! It was a long week. Andrew didn't have school this last Thursday and Friday, so we really enjoyed just hanging around the house and relaxing! Friday morning as I was putting away laundry I could hear that there was a bird in my bedroom wall. Unfortunately one of the "blessings" of having a century old home is that animals find their way in. We have bats, squirrels and birds that get into our attic. If my memory serves me correctly, it is only the bats that make their way into the house. We also have balloon framing which means that once the animal gets in the wall, it can go from attic to basement. So I made a mental note that there was a bird in the wall so I could tell Brian when he got home from work. Well the older two kids were both having some computer time in the office while Emily was napping, and I kept hearing something in the hallway by the office. I excused it as one of the kids. After I kept hearing it, it started to annoy me so I went to see what in the world they were doing. Well it was that stupid bird. It had made its way down into the basement and into an open piece of duct work that heats part of the basement, into the furnace, into another piece of duct work and was attempting to get out at a register that is in the hallway! And wouldn't it just figure that it is the one register/vent that is not attached it is just resting there against the wall. So I slammed my hand against the register and had Andrew grab a couple of heavy books so we could secure it and keep the frantic bird from entering the house. The kids figured that it would eventually come out of the duct work, back into the basement and that we should be there to shoo it outside when it did. I told them I would finish the project I was working on and then we would head down to the basement to try to flush it out. A few minutes later this is how they came to me..."Mom, were all ready! Can we go down now??"



We did find where the bird was in the duct, but it was not finding its way back out. But we haven't heard anything in a while, so it is either in the basement or back in the attic, or dead in the furnace. I guess it will start smelling like roasted chickadee when the heat kicks on if it's in the furnace?? =)

Bloopers

I saw this on another blog today....it made me laugh, so I thought I would share. It is fun to see someone who is usually so composed mess up!

Are we on the upswing?

As I wrote earlier Sunday Brian and I were hit with the stomach flu, followed by Andrew in the wee hours of the morning on Monday. Brian felt okay Monday morning and went to work. Andrew stayed home from school and just took it easy. I felt really very good compared to the day before. Brian came home from work exhausted, but feeling okay. We just relaxed and ate dinner, which then threw me into another fetal position, don't touch me, I am not moving state of nausea for many hours. When I woke up Tuesday morning at 630, Brian was still in bed. Normally he would have already been on the road for over a half hour at that time. I woke him, just to make sure he hadn't overslept and he said that he was nauseous again and was going to stay home. I on the other hand felt much better! So I got up, took Andrew to school and then Kelli and I went grocery shopping. After stopping to vote we got home unloaded and put all the groceries away and rested for a while on the couch. I went and picked up Andrew from school and then Brian took him with when he went to vote. In the mean time Kelli has begun to complain of an ear ache. She was hesitant to make a decision as to whether she could go to swim lessons that afternoon, but decided that she would at least try. So after returning home from voting, I had Andrew and Kelli get in their swimsuits, gave them both a snack and we got in the van and headed to the YMCA for lessons. We were probably a mile from our house when I heard the puke hit the back of my seat. "Kelli, did you just throw up?" "It's all over my clothes mom, and my car seat". I laughed. It was that or cry. So I laughed. I grabbed a towel out of the swim bag and handed it back to her, did a u turn and headed for home. Brian met us at the back door and quickly knew what had happened by taking a quick glance at our sweet 4 year old. Poor thing, she without a doubt got hit with this harder than any of us. The poor thing was a limp noodle today. She seemed much better tonight. Every time Emily burps we all freeze wondering if is going to be her next! I told Brian I am really thinking about what I feed her as I process if it is something I am going to want to clean up later! =) I am sure you all love these thoughts that enter my head! But hey, it's my blog and I'll share if I want to!! =) Seriously though, thanks to the many who have been praying that we get better. It is really appreciated! I know there are alot worse things than the stomach flu, but when you are in the middle of it, it sucks! Here's to keeping it down!

A great reminder

Romans 13:1b..."for there is no authority except that which God has established"

I received the following in an email this week...
TOP 10 PREDICTIONS NO MATTER WHO WINS THE ELECTION


1. The Bible will still have all the answers.


2. Prayer will still work.


3. The Holy Spirit will still move.


4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.


5. There will still be God-anointed teaching and healing.


6. There will still be singing of praise to God.


7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.


8. There will still be room at the Cross.


9. Jesus will still love you.


10. Jesus will still save the lost.

Trick or Treat, weekend getaway and the flu??

Well we have had an adventure filled few days! Friday I helped out at Andrew's school for his Halloween parade and party and then we took the kids trick or treating after dinner. Emily wasn't sure what was going on she mostly just hung back with me and Brian, but did muster up the courage to go to one door and was thrilled with her bag of whoppers!





And this was funny...Emily saw all these political signs in this one yard and she made a bee line for this one and ran right into it and tried to knock it down! =)


Our last stop for Trick or Treating is always Brian's parents. This year we left the kids there and Brian and I headed out for an overnight getaway that I had been planning for a while! I don't think that I have ever successfully pulled of a surprise as long as I have known him, so I was so excited that I had been able to keep this one a secret! We left from there and headed in towards Chicago and stayed at a lovely hotel Friday night. Unfortunately, I was up coughing all night long, so it was not the great night of sleep I was hoping for! We headed out Saturday morning for a yummy breakfast and then on to the College of Dupage for a show at their arts center. Brian and I are big fans of WGN Radio and one of our favorite brodcasters is John Williams. He is funny, intellegent and just a real character. He has been doing this show for the last 12 years where he interviews an actor that is playing Thomas Jefferson. Last year this same actor portratyed Teddy Roosevelt. It was such a great show that they did that again this year. The tickets are really hard to get but I got some for us and it was super! We were a little worried as neither of us are big history buffs, and the fact that the mean age of the audience was about 30 years our senior was also a little unsettling! =) But it was a fabulous show! Very entertaining! From there we went and saw a movie and then off to Cheeseburgers In Paradise for an early dinner. Brian is a Jimmy Buffet fan so this is a restrauant he had wanted to try for a while now! I happened to get a gift card from Ted and Danielle for my birthday that could be used there! So thanks Ted and Danielle for helping fund our weekend! After our yummy meal we headed back to get the kiddos. Got everyone home and settled in bed shortly thereafter. Brian and I watched a little tv and then off to bed ourselves. We woke up the next morning and neither Brian or I felt well at all. Both of us with really upset stomachs. We figured it must have been something we ate at the resteraunt. That is, until Kelli came and wake me up at 330 this morning to say that now Andrew was throwning up too!! I called Brian's mom to let her know and she had been sick yesterday too! Uggh! Well we are just laying low today. All feeling much better than yesterday, but not totally recovered. I sure am glad Brian and I had our little getaway as a little respite before the puke hit the floor! =)