Rub a Dub Dub...Three in a tub!

One night the girls were in the bathtub and all of a sudden I heard them call out and start laughing...Rob was in there with them so I wasn't too worried. All I could hear on my walk there was "Maggie!" And yes, Maggie had successfully cleared the edge of the bathtub and jumped in with them. What puppy seeks out water? Yup, ours! It was so funny, but as you can tell Gracie was worried about getting clean with Maggie getting her water dirty! Karys would have been fine with her staying in......she started dumping water on her right away and asking for soap. Needless to say, Gracie won out and Maggie was taken out of the tub quickly and dried off only to go back in later by herself. You could tell she didn't quite know what she was doing...I thought she would be more hesitant next time, but she continues to just up on the edge every time! Crazy puppy!

Home projects...Ahhh!

So we are finally getting around to getting some work done in our house after living here for almost two years! We aren't having the best luck in regards to getting stuff done, but with Rob's school and just the schedule of everyday life it is hard to find an open day...either that or we are just putting off doing it. However, the Sat morning that Rob's mom left we did have a productive day that was rather unplanned. Maybe that is the key, to not plan it and let it just happen on its own. Rob got all of the wall paper off in the girls room and over half way done in the baby room. It is still the official verdict though that wallpaper is definitely not from the heavenly realms! The glue that they used for that stuff is horrid!Rob working the upper angle of the steamer... Taking advantage of the stuff that peeled off easily...

...and being particular around the areas that come off not so easily. So if you are in our area and need to get your painting fix or have the urge to peel off some wall paper...feel free to stop by! our hopes are to figure everything out by May 1! Can't imagine doing anything more than cosmetic work at this point!

Grandma Doreen's Birthday Visit

The weekend before Rob's birthday, Doreen made the trek up to Orange City for the weekend. She always times it around when I teach labs, so it works out so well b/c we get a free babysitter and she gets to spend some one on one time with the girls! She arrived later on Thursday evening in time to read the girls some stories and tuck them into bed...but Friday....We spent the morning making some plans for the downstairs guestroom and the girls bedroom, reading books, and playing dollies. That afternoon after lunch the ladies got ready to head to Wal-Mart while mommy got ready to head to lab. They got all dressed, got their purses ready, and even got some money in them to get a treat. Everyone had to have their purses with them and sunglasses on for a picture. Gracie is such a smiler while Karys is a poser/diva.Grandma tried to get Karys to smile with her but she was all serious....She would have made Auntie Megan proud with her kissy face and shades on!Our beautiful little girl who is growing up way too fast! She is quite the little mommy to her babies and takes care of her little sister.Everyone posing with the 1/2 sheet birthday cake Grandma brought. Half white and half chocolate. They messed up her order and gave her way more so we were eating good cake all week long!Daddy posing with his birthday cake....not only is he the lone male in our house, but the lone chocolate cake fan...He was pretty excited.We dug into the cake right away...the girls had to taste the frosting and see if it was any good.Karys would just eat the frosting and Gracie would just eat the cake if they could choose one or the other...love the little differences b/t them ;)Once we had already eaten cake and ice cream they realized that we hadn't put any candles on and sung Happy Birthday...of course we had to do that!They were a little confused at how old daddy was b/c we only had 7 candles, but none the less they were excited to blow them out!Karys got a turn first...Then it was Gracie's turn... And FINALLY Daddy got to blow out the candles on his cake! It was so funny but he had some great laughs watching the girls go first!

50%...

It has been so fun to gather with a great group of women this year and travel through scripture together! We meet on Monday nights and I look forward to this time every week! One dynamic that we have also had this year is just the fact that out of the 8 women in our group...FOUR of us are pregnant! All in different stages of course but still....travelling through this journey of pregnancy has been so enjoyable and having these women to compare, complain, laugh and pray with has been such a blessing!

Me-25 weeks, Rachel-35 weeks, Ang-39 weeks, and Brittany-18 weeks

Weekend to Reconnect

Intensives are rough, being apart from each other for two weeks...yeah you really don't need to say more than that ;) So that is why I think Rob and I were both so looking forward to the weekend it all ended. Last year we were able to head up to Lake Shetek with all of our friends over Valentines Day. The Schuiteman's have a cabin up there and are always so generous to share their amazing space with others. When we realized that our friend getaway would more than likely not be happening just due to so many babies coming in the next couple months, Rob and I asked if we would still be able to use the cabin just to have a weekend to ourselves, spending some time reconnecting and rejuvenating...detoxing even in a sense before we jumped back into the every day routine of life.The cabin is located on Lake Shetek, about 1.5 hours north east of orange city. It is a beautiful cabin that used to be a simple A-frame that they have expanded into a very spacious home. It is amazing! Rob was able to drive right there on his way home from school and I headed over after I was done with my Friday lab. At first I think we were both racking our brains with what we were actually going to do the whole time in the middle of winter, with no real towns near by or activities. However I think this thought was fleeting all in the same breath. Upon talking about it, we hadn't been away/alone for a weekend just the two of us since before Gracie on a trip that didn't involve bringing someone else's kids along. Rob did a great job celebrating Valentine's day...he brought me roses, sweaters, and was just being a real gentleman. We got some laughs out of it though b/c he would just leave things in random places and I think we are just so out of practice in doing things like that for each other that it would take me forever to notice them or pick up on them. A couple examples would be when we were getting ready to watch a movie, I picked up the sweater on the table and said "Wow, this is really cute! I wonder who forgot it here?" Note: He had taken the tag off so it wasn't totally obvious it was brand new ;) Another would be on Sat night when we were headed out to dinner he walked around to the passenger side of the car. I was so confused! "Am I really driving us to dinner?" And yeah...he was just opening the door for me, we were on a date after all!We had great times laughing about those things, talking through stuff he had learned that week, just being again with each other, watching lots of movies, catching up on sleep and.....This was the sunset we were about to see before we headed out for the evening on Sat night. So crazy to see ppl driving across the lake and lots of ice fishing houses! The sun was beautiful that evening! We headed into town on Sat night for a Valentine's Day dinner at the only local restaurant in a small town called Curry. We got this tiny table in the corner that couldn't have been any more perfect. It is a small town and you wouldn't believe how many looks we were getting wondering if ppl knew us. I even got waved at by a friendly woman on the way out!We stopped at the "oil company" before heading back to the cabin b/c we had skipped dessert and I wanted something sweet. Nothing like a good ole laffy taffy rope to satisfy that craving!Despite not going in hot tubs when you are pregnant we did sit out in one for a little while. It was freezing getting in but yeah we were so warm when we got out I forgot about the fact that my hair was frozen!Sunday finally came and I headed out first to go to Sioux Falls and meet up with the girls and my fam for the princess brunch. Rob was so gracious and hung around to wait for the sheets to come out of the dryer and make the bed! We met up with him at home later that afternoon! (see facebook for pics from the princess brunch ;)
What a wonderful weekend we had! One main thing I took away from it was our need to reconnect with each other. Especially when considering our season of life and our growing family, we commited to doing this weekend twice a year! Hold us accountable!

Jaydon (&Amy) come to visit

The second week of intensives started off a little rough around here with an overflowing toilet that I had to get up in the night to bail water out of, water seeping into our basement from all the melting snow, and Karys falling off a treadmill! Things definitely started looking up though after Monday! The weather was nice and on Wednesday Amy and Jaydon came to visit and help out watching the girls while I had lab. It was so great for the same reasonn we lovved having Grandma Sally come--It gave the girls something so fun to look forward too and provided the distraction and entertainment that made the week go by that much faster! They were able to stay through Friday morning so the girls got some good time playing with Amy and just having that time to reconnect and also getting to know baby J a little better! He is such a good tempered baby who was so FUn and easy to havve around! And I got to have Amy for a bed buddy for two nights so she could be close to Jaydon's crib;)The girls got toys out right away for Jaydon to play with...they were excited to have a use for their "baby" toys.Karys was convinced that Jay should know how and be able to play with this toy by himself if she just could show him one time...you can see the eager look on his face to do what she had told him!Friday morning, Karys was up a little earlier and she and i were able to get Jaydon up and give Amy a couple extra minutes of sleep. She wanted to hold him right away and cuddle with him. I don't think he was so sure at first but did end up sitting there for quite some time! She sang songs to him...Jesus loves me and ABCs...it was SO cute!Looking comfortable on Karys' lap...almost got a smile!Karys loved sitting in Jay's carseat...was so intrigued by most of the baby stuff that he had around and needed.Tried to get some good pictures of Jaydon! He is getting so big and just changing so much, but I could not get him to smile for me...He thought about it here...he really did...I think Maggie started barking right here, but I just love this expression!Jaydon and Amy had to take off on Friday morning, as did the girls and I. I was bringing them over to my sister's house for the weekend so Rob and I could head off for a rejuvenating weekend just the two of us! This is how I found Karys and Maggie while I was getting our stuff ready and packing the car!
She loves cuddling with Maggie and petting her. I really do think Maggie loves her for all of the attention that Karys gives her. Probably makes it easier for Maggie to go back time and time again despite Karys picking her up by her head of sitting on her. Tough dog, tough dog ;)

Weekend Break b/t Intensives

It was so nice to have Rob be home for the weekend in between intensives! For a while we thought that we would load up and head up there for the weekend just to have a change of scenery, one I thought I would need more than the girls ;) But all in all I am so glad we chose to stay put and let hime come to us. He made it home just in time for supper and we headed to the Ranch that evening to eat. We played games and read books that evening and when the girls were in bed just looked at each other and both decided we would go to bed too. He was exhausted from school and I was exhausted from chasing the girls throughout the week ;) Which went really well ;)Saturday I think was project day to a certain extent...He and the girls put the wagon together because it was a BEAUTIFUL day outside and we wanted to walk with it to church.Gracie wanted to know what she could hammer ;) There wasn't a whole lot of that to be done, but the girls had fun looking at the tools and remembering their names from the Handy Manny TV show they sometimes watch! Maggie even found something to entertain herself with by chewing and chasing chunks of cardboard around.Karys loved the screwdriver and finding different holes to stick it in and say "twist, twist, twist"As soon as it was somewhat assembled both girls were on board ready for a ride!Daddy only had the handle left to fit on and they would be on their way!...as you can tell it was also laundry day at our house so sorry about all the CLEAN clothes in the pictures!Yay! It was done and all three girls loaded on to be pulled around the "circle" that goes through the kitchen and livving room!Daddy even jumped on the dog pile and asked the girls to pull him around...the girls quickly told him he was too big and it turned into a tickle fight insteadWe finally did walk to church, and the girls decided to to even ride in the wagon but walk instead. We headed over to church so Daddy could get copies made for Sunday school and the girls had fun spinning in Lila's chair and being big helpers.This was only Maggie's 2nd walk since the traumatic day with Grandma. She was definitely not so sure about walking with ppl and cars...she is quite the little baby. But she survived with quite a bit of whining!Karys was picking up snow along the way and kept eating it...we kept telling her not to do it and taking it away but finally she got a really gravely chunk in her mouth and kept rubbing her tongue saying "bahky". It was a slow walk home to say the least ;)
Had to throw this picture on there too...Gracie dressed herself today and wanted to wear this skirt and t-shirt b/c we said it would be sunny. Well then she went on to picked a long sleeved shirt and these striped pants to fit. When I first suggested these pants though, they are gray and white striped, and Gracie said to me, "Mom! I cannot wear these! These colors are not even in the rainbow!" Oh man...I just wanted to die laughing! Love my little girl with independence!