Gobble Gobble Gobble!

It was such a fun Thanksgiving week! I had my 39 -week check-up on Wednesday. We found out that would be our last appointment! We have an induction date of December 3rd, and it's so exciting to be able know when to expect baby #3. We are to be at the hospital at 7:00 a.m. and would guess, if all goes well, that we would have a baby by mid-afternoon. Yeah, baby!

We started Thanksgiving off at Great Grandma and Grandpa's house for lunch. It was so nice to be able to get together with the cousins and see what's new with everyone. We made it home in time to give the kids a nap and then it was off to Grammy and Papa's house for supper. Grammy had all the fixins for the kids to make headdresses for the occasion.




Ella, Maddie, and Brock


Maddie, Papa, Ella, Grammy, and Brock




Heidi, Molly, and Adam


Saturday we set up the Christmas tree. The kids clumped all the candy canes within their reach, which later Mommy moved all of them to the top of the tree.


They didn't know where to start!


Ella and her kitty going through the ornaments.




All done! Good job, guys!

Ready...Set....JUMP!

Brock helped Mama rake up the leaves into a big pile to play. No matter how big the pile got, Brock would insist that it could get bigger. I thought it was big enough when he would jump in and I couldn't find him.




People laughed at me when I said I was going to make our own Christmas stockings, but I did it! I was on the hunt for the right stockings to buy but couldn't find any that I really liked. So I decided to make our own stockings, that way I could personalize them a little bit and they would have more meaning. We have a stocking for Daddy and Mommy (which are the same fabric), a big buck one for Brock, and Ella's is the one with the red boa on it. She thought that it was a kitty in the fabric store, so I had to incorporate it somehow in her stocking. We have a stocking for baby #3 and a stocking for Maddux, or if we decide to have another baby down the road (waaaaaaaaaaaaay down the road). All that's missing on them are the name tags, which I should be able to get this week. I had to use my mom's sewing machine that is 30+ years old, and it worked like a champ. I keep teasing Chad about making him some cool clothes and undies to wear, but I think deep down he knows that I'm not joking. Hee hee!

Happy Anniversary!

We celebrated our 5-year anniversary on Saturday. Grandma and Grandpa watched the kiddos so that we could spend the whole day together. It was the perfect anniversary treat! We had a lot of fun running around town enjoying each other. Can't believe it's been 5 years already! Definitely looking forward to many more!

Halloween

Halloween was a fun day for the kids. Brock was a ninja, and Ella was a butterfly princess. Luckily we had a beautiful day for trick-or-treating. Daddy was awesome toting around Ella and walking up to the houses with the kids. We only spent an hour tackling houses and the kids got a ton of candy. They were getting tired, and Mama kept getting contractions, so it was time to call it a night.

On a different note, Ella has been potty training and doing GREAT! She has been wearing big girl undies all day and even through nap. Whoever said that potty training girls was a lot easier than boys was right!

We had our 34-week check-up at the doctor on Tuesday. Heart rate is at 145, and baby looks good. After the appointment, we went and checked out the new maternity ward at Bryan. We were very impressed with all of the changes that they made. It was still really nice when we had Brock and Ella there, so this just makes it even nicer. We are very excited to deliver there. They even have cotton candy ice cream!!

Daddy and the babies.




Papa and Grammy with the kids.


Grandma and Grandpa with the kids.


Auntie Amanda and Carter the Pug.


Brock and Ella carving and painting their pumpkins.




Ella with the grunt call.

Original Video - More videos at TinyPic

Happy Hunting!

Chad went bow hunting on Thursday and got this doe right around 6:00 p.m. Perfect shot from about 10 yards. I brought the kids out after they heard the news. Brock was so excited to go look for the deer. Ella wasn't quite sure what to think. At first she was scared, but then she warmed up to it and liked to touch it's head.

Hercules Hercules!

Ella's Halloween costume from Grammy and Papa.




Chad and Brock tackled the tree this weekend. They got everything loaded on the trailer and taken to the dump in less than 2 hours! Next step is to set the footings and looks like there is supposed to be perfect weather for that this coming weekend.

Hercules!


On Saturday Molly went to the pumpkin patch with Grandma, Auntie Amanda, Ethan, and Carter. Everybody had a fun time, and it was neat to see all of the activities they had for the kids that they didn't have last year. It was pretty chilly when we first got there but then warmed up as the day progressed. Grandma and Molly took the kids into a castle that was supposed to be for kids, but it turns out that we weren't even sure if it was safe for adults. It had a lot of dark areas where you couldn't see where you were going and places with different lights that made it nearly impossible to walk. The kids screamed through the whole thing, but we all made it out alive. The kids had a good time riding the train and enjoyed the tractor ride out to the pumpkin patch. We spent 3 hours out there but could have easily made it a whole day event. We will definitely go back next year!

Brock loved being a cowboy on his horse, Trinket.


Poor piggies painted all different colors.






Carter was in charge of supervising for the afternoon.


Ella was concerned why the goat wanted to eat the tree. She kept asking the goat if it was okay.


Brock and Ethan quickly learned how to move up the line faster than the other kids.






We didn't get any pumpkins out of the patch because they were all ginormous. When we got back, Brock still insisted on getting the largest pumpkin they had. I think it was a little over 20 lbs.




We finally had a beautiful night with no wind! Chad started a bonfire for me and the kids to make smores and roast marshmallows. It was oh-so-yummy! The fire took a while to get started, but when it started there was no stopping it! Now that we have only one tree in our back yard, we can have fires all of the time! The kids were an absolute mess, but they loved eating so much sugar and then running around in the dark.

Daddy helping Ella with the mallow.








Brock was so sad when the fire blew out. One second later, it started up again and he was peachy keen.


Mommy told the kids that we were all done with the treats, so Ella started pounding marshmallows as fast as she could.

Deck - Phase 1

We have started phase 1 of our deck project. We had the locust tree in our back yard knocked down to which it is on the ground blocking the back entrance to our house. We are going to try to get that cut up and taken to the dump this weekend.



Chad has been hunting the majority of the week with lots of movement down by his stand; just no good shots. Last night he had 10 deer out in the field and a little buck underneath him. I can't wait till I am able to go out there with him! We are all going to go out and sight in our guns this weekend to prepare for rifle season. With this year's permits, between Chad and his dad, they are able to get 8 deer!

I had my 32 week check-up on Wednesday. 8 more weeks left!! Baby is progressing great with lots of movement. Heartbeat was 134, which I thought being low meant it was a girl, but the nurse said that she heard low meant boy. She guaranteed that it would be one or the other. Ha! Just hope he/she is healthy with a healthy delivery. My belly measured 30 cm, and Dr. said that it should be about a centimeter a week from now on. I start going to my check-ups every two weeks now, so it's getting close! I haven't had much swelling in my ankles or legs, but my right thigh tends to go numb if I stand for a long period of time. It did the same thing with Ella, so it could very well be a girl! We are all so excited to have baby here. I have already started nesting. Can't stop cleaning and getting ready for baby. Hospital bags and the car seat are packed and ready to go. Come on baby!!

We have a boy name picked out and have had it since day 1. But we still haven't decided on a baby girl name yet. Ones that we think we like one week, don't sound good the next. I think we have it narrowed down to two names, but that will probably change next month. And none of the names that we are thinking of have been suggested yet, so nobody knows. Muah aah aah (evil laugh)! As much as we change the names, we will spare you the frustration and keep the names to ourselves in case they were to change again. =)

32 weeks

No...silly!

It has been trying times in our household with the kids name calling. Whenever Ella gets mad, she calls things poopie. Her and Brock have also picked up saying stupid whenever they get mad. I think they get that from me. That is a word I tend to use when approached by crazy drivers. I don't use it often, but the kids pick up on EVERYTHING! So, we are trying "word replacement" to ween them off of saying stupid and poopie. We say silly instead! It has been working with Brock, but not so much with Ella. I think she is still a little too young to understand. We are hoping for more progress.

We started our weekend off by making oatmeal raisin cookies for Daddy. It seems that Mommy and Baby make a trip over to the freezer a few times a day just to make sure the cookies are okay. Cookies never last too long in our house. As usual, the kids ate more of the cookie dough than they put on the sheet. Brock is getting pretty good at using the cookie-baller, but Ella just insists on eating the dough and then spitting it out and playing with it. I made sure none of Ella's "cookies" were baked.





When daddy got home, it was time to give Brock a haircut. Daddy was in charge of using the clippers, while Mama used the scissors. It was time he had his fluff-a-puff tamed down. We were pretty impressed at the way it turned out.

Before:


After:


Chad and his dad went hunting on Saturday but didn't have any luck. They had a little 4x4 come right underneath their stand and a doe that was too far away. Chad is going to be going out in search of ol' mossy horns all week. Fhaa fhaa fhaaaaaa (snort wheeze)!

We spent the entire day on Sunday cooking and canning salsa. I couldn't help but laugh when we were getting things chopped up and ready. Chad was doing the jalapenos, and I was quartering the onions. He was by the sink gagging and coughing from the fumes of the jalapenos, and I was balling and sniffling over the onions. We were a match made in Heaven! Surprisingly, the only time I got hurt was when I was taking the food processor out of the box and cut my thumb on the blade. I have to say that this is our best batch yet! We ended up canning 25 quarts and had a little left over for some yummy snackin'. Grammy and Papa are going to be jealous of this magical ambrosia we have put into jars. =)

Chad vs the jalapenos


Squeezing the lemons. Brock thought it was funny when the lemon juice would get into my cut.








Today has been a pretty gloomy day outside, so me and the kids are kickin' it inside trying not to go stir crazy. So far, the day has been pretty productive. Have to say that I have 2 of the best helpers ever!

They love to vacuum, and that vacuum is heavy!






Playing playdoh; making turds.


Right out of bed and not enough coffee.




Mommy's creature:


Brock's creature:


Ella's creature:


And she thought nobody was watching...


Kids making fruit salad.