this christmas

is over. and i'm so sad about it.

as i was laying in bed last night, which was crowded with gavin, bella, dan and i- by the way it's a FULL bed, not a queen or king or anything- i was saddened by the fact that our christmas for 2012 is over. it was filled with so many wonderful memories and great times spent with family, i didn't want it to end.
last night we let gav eat a little too much candy from his stocking, so by the time night night came around he was extremely hyper and not willing to go to bed. which is fine, last night i really didn't care, he just wouldn't go to sleep. so he meandered up to our bedroom at 10pm and snuggled in between dan and i, with bella at his feet. we will have to get a newer, bigger bed when jude is able to get out of his crib and join us. which means i will shed a major tear getting rid of our antique bed-frame that i had to beg dan to bring up and replace our much bigger and newer queen sized bed.
we came home from our fourth and final christmas in new ulm with an extremely over tired little jude and an extremely happy little boy who was so excited to play with all of his new toys, and of course his brothers as well. before that we had my mom over for a delicious brunch and present opening. in which she spoiled our kids and us more than she ever has before. i feel somewhat horrible for only getting her the booster carseat she wanted, but she insisted that was all she wanted this year. because i feel as you grow up you loose that "
getting" feeling and grow into the "giving" instead. which is what it's all about when you have kids.
like dan and i. we decided to only do stocking stuffers for each other. we have had some extreme purchases this year, and what dan wants i cannot buy.. new tires? are you kidding me? like i have an extra 2grand laying around? we spent most of our "christmas" budget on the special little ones that are a part of our lives, not on each other. but of course dan over did himself and went far too overboard for me. i am a lucky girl. and i feel bad, yet again for getting him a "stocking stuffer" of candy and goodies, and a runnings gift card. i'm losing the point of this post surely but quickly.

Grandma Audrey's beautiful Christmas tree

christmas eve we had an amazing day filled with family. of course we went to paynesville- and ate, drank and the schramels are always merry so the "be merry" never is needed. spent some quality time with my dad, adored my grandmas exquisite decor in each and every room and laughed with family until 10pm when we finally decided to head back. that morning was spent with the schroeders, watching the kids run around and play. i can't wait to watch jude and merrick play together next year, as they are only seven months apart :)
the holidays are always so much fun. i enjoy spending time with our families.. and i love that we all have a "larger" family. since i was little i dreamed of having siblings around the holiday times to play with and spend time with. and i am SO thankful that jude and gavin have that now. i now dream for a larger home, or even a more hosting efficient home to have holidays at our house.
we are in talks of expanding/changing things in our family. in one way or another. nothing happening soon, but whether it be a move, a dog or another schroeder baby (dan's got a big negative on the last one, for now) i feel that 2013, or maybe even 2014 will be a big year for this family. we have so much coming up in 2013 that i feel it will fly by much faster than we have ever hoped.

god bless

i am so lucky-
i have a husband who loves me.
two sweet little boys.
family and friends whom i love...
and many other amazing things that i cherish.
and in CT there are hundreds of people crying over loved ones who have lost their lives because of some mentally unstable man who decided to shoot up an elementary school. i am so sad. i cannot stop watching the news and crying, constantly. it's so so sad. my heart aches for all involved.
say your prayers and cherish this day.

new music

so my husband, aka d- dj- dan, finds all of these new artists because he must have some spare time at work (haha... right) and brings them home and i usually blow them off. like i did aaron lewis. then out of the blue he and a few of his co-workers decided go to go an aaron lewis concert downtown minneapolis. i said yes basically because i knew it would make dan so happy to spend some time with his fabulous co-workers outside of work, and dan has been a huge fan of aaron lewis (so is his mom, shari). shari talked and talked about how amazing aaron lewis is during thanksgiving and i kind of just brushed it off. she asked me if i knew who he was and i honestly had NOOOO idea.
remember the band staind? here goes the song: "i'm on the outside, i'm looking in, i can see through you, see your true colors, cause inside you're ugly, you're ugly like me, i can see throug you, see throug the real you" OR "it's been awhile, since i couldn't hold my head up high, and it's been awhile since i first saw you"...well that my friends is aaron lewis. he is/was (i don't know the logistics) the lead singer of staind and is now going out on his own... dun dun dun, country!

so anyways i went out with dan's co-workers, mike- who dan thinks of as his mentor maybe? and mikes super hot girlfriend, chrissy. and pete (a guy who is my mom's age) and his girlfriend. it was SO fun. we ate and had a few drinks downtown and then headed to the concert... it was amazing. the opening act was randy montana.. dreamy! he just might of topped my celeb crush over cam gigandet, dave franco or charlie hunnam. no, no i guess he didn't. but anyways. i had the pleasure of running into randy montana, literally.  i was headed to the bathroom and randy was coming out of backstage and bam! he did grab my arm and say, "excuse me, miss" with his southern charm. it was pretty cool. don't worry i did wash my arm and i didn't think it was fate or anything... just coincidence.

but getting back to the meaning of this post. these two were awesome! i will go back to see randy and aaron again. aaron put on an amazing show. his voice is SO sexy and played acoustically at the end which was my fav!

here's aaron:




and i can't seem to add randy.. but his 1000 faces song is my personal fav!

thankful

as you all know thanksgiving is my favorite holiday...

and this year didn't let me down.

i love everything about thanksgiving. the food, the family, the thanks.

i feel like this year (2012 in general) has been a doozy. many highs and lows. many things to look back on and improve. but no matter what i am totally thankful for everything this year has brought. especially my sweet little jude baby. our family and extended family has grown so much closer since jude was born. we are so lucky and so blessed!

i am looking forward to Christmas as well. i can't wait!... and a new year in 2013!

9months

JUDE IS NINE MONTHS OLD... really?
i can't believe it. i feel like i was just going through some excruciating pain and welcoming my sweet little boy.  now i am shuffling to get gavins toys away from jude, praying to go to the bathroom without jude rolling (yes, rolling, sliding, whatever) to greet me, and waking up to jude babbling into his monitor at 7:15 sharp- everyday!
this is jude at nine months:
an eater. loves food. not a bottle. but foooooooood. not so much cereal, but fruits and veggies are his thing. honey nut cheerios and the famous puffs are of course fav as well.
my sweet jude is a sleeper but not, absolutely not a napper. he likes to take cat-naps. cat-naps don't really work with this mama so we spend a lot of time crying (to be honest), and rocking, and lately driving in the car for a little nap around 4. jude sleeps from 9:30-10:15, at the max. and again from 1:00- maybe 2:30... but that's not all that often. bedtime is always at 7 and we get up at 7:15.
in that cute little mouth there are now 6 cut through teeth, and three teeth cutting through. REALLY? i cannot wait for teething to be done and over!
as previously addressed jude cannot crawl. we've talked to a few nurses and doctors and other mommies and are now okay with the fact that crawling might not happen. jude can pull himself up onto the couch, he can stand next to things but just cannot crawl. rolling and scooting across the floor is how he seems to get around. my mom said that i didn't crawl right away, too. instead i was one of those babies that walked at 7 months, and that just might be how i got my nickname "scooter"... fun fact that i never knew about ;)
jude's hearing is at 100% and that's a relief because he didn't pass his first two hearing tests. they say that because his delivery was so fast the junk that's in babies ears and gets pushed out by being pushed out slowly didn't all come out because his delivery was so fast.
those chocolate browns that he got from his mama are ladykillers. my grandma calls them shit brown eyes, so that's what they will be called! at his last appointment jude's doctor and myself became slightly alarmed with jude's left eye. it's slightly off center. we will soon be heading to our first eye doctor appointment. and my doctor was shocked that i haven't ever been to the eye doctor? i've never had problems so why would i go? right? i'm extremely nervous about this eye "precaution" because vision is so important in babies.
he's growing up just like his brother. long and almost lean. he's 29 inches, 21 lbs and a large head!
favorite words: beeeelllllla, ma-ma, daaaaaaah, and uh-oh. it kills me when he screams for bella!
speaking of bella, he LOVES her. bella comes and follows us around all dang day and jude will almost always be in a good mood when she's around. other animals he loves are horses, but not all of them, just lilly. which melts my heart. jude kicks his little legs and cant wait to grab onto lillys nose when he sees her.
what else????
toys.. baby toys are no fun so jude plays with all sorts of old phones, remotes, toys gavin will allow him to play with and a blanket.
jude sleeps with his blankie, stuffed dog and his burpee. he still sleeps soundly on is tummy and now has a slight snore.
favorites are mommy, daddy, grandma shari and of course big bro gav. he's kind of terrified of men with big beards...? i feel like around this age gavin was as well.
jude is getting to be such a fabulous little boy.. not that he wasn't before but well, i guess he kind of wasn't the easiest baby in the beginning... but of course, I LOVE HIM. LOVE HIM LOVE HIM LOVE HIM.

there's always something in his hands :)

he kills me over and over in his little fleece and hat

this is how he eats. he blows bubbles, rips off all his bibs, and spits... it's fun.

SEA LIFE

so i guess the name has changed since i last visited "underwater world"... it is now called SEA LIFE- Minnesota Aquarium.. my bad.
we had an amazing time and want to go back again. the boys were SO well behaved i would take them back in a heartbeat. i am only blogging about this adventure because i get to post a picture- that i am in for once. i am always the one behind the camera... capturing the photo of my little loves. thankfully, my mom went with us and we snapped this photo before the lady told us we weren't allowed to take it :)
we did a small amount of shopping, toured the sea life and went for a delicious lunch at famous daves. i'd say our day was perfect!

another instagram picture... sorry! but one that i love more than most.
my sweet little boys :)

halloween

i'm a sucker for halloween. the idea of dressing up in costume is fabulous... if it were my choice, halloween would happen at least four times a year.
i will say that i had an amazing time this year. and to be honest i had way more fun trick-or-treating with my little munchkins then i did on the party bus. something about knocking door-to-door, yelling out trick-or-treat, getting candy, taking pictures and everything else is SO fun when you have kids. of course jude didn't really understand halloween, but gavin was in full force this year. we had to drag him home in the pitch black of darkness... :)
i am so in love with these two little cuties.

my sweet little cow, and handsome cowboy

happy first halloween to my little moo moo

next year, i'm making the entire family be a theme :) i wore cowboy boots and a cowboy hat.... dan didn't.

the others we love.

my moms sweet, young, beautiful horse cutter passed away last week.
he had been battling what we think could've been colic, or hardware, both are life threatening. it's a sad time. my mom was the one to find cutter after he passed, and since sue and jim had been gone in south dakota it was up to my mom and i to remove the body...
which we didn't do, and i will probably praise jeremy and dan for doing it for us. thanks again!
so with that said, we are so sad not to have cutter but he joins daisy and my moms rabbit rufis, and all the other lovely animals we once loved in the heavens (clouds, as gavin calls it) with God.
thanking the lord for sweet lilly, maddy, and bella today.

it's been forever..

since we've had absolutely nothing to do...
and that's what is coming up this weekend :)
well... kind of. dan has a shingeling job in the cities for a work buddy and my mom and i are taking the boys to underwater adventures. so i guess we are busy, just a different kind of busy.
in the past four months we've been to numerous weddings, parties, events blah blah blah and now, nothing! iloveit!
i am overjoyed to be able to spend some time with my fam and my favorite holiday is coming up too: thanksgiving! the best, ever! simply excited!
gavin said to me today, "mama, you stay home with me and not leave"--- poor baby that's all i've been doing on the weekends. yes, yes gavin, i will stay with you :)
jude told me he is excited too... he showed it in a different way. by cutting four top teeth this week. it has been, well... interesting. crab city is what i should say.

obsessed

i am completely obsessed with SOA, that is sons of anarchy for the people who aren't watchers.
i started to watch this addictive show last season and now i honestly can't wait for tuesdays.. and i never really get sucked into tv shows that i can't miss. and might i add that dan is here sitting next to me from 9-10 every tuesday sucked straight into the tv. at one point he started to swear because the commercial came on, and i will admit that i forgot he was sitting next to me.
really? yep, really!

small things

today was a day like any other...

did everything in my "normal" routine..

but one thing stuck out..

the screaming laughter coming from jude while gavin was tickling him.

it was heaven.

sometimes it's the small things

six months

the other leading little man in my life is half a year old.. well now he's almost seven months (so i'm a little behind). ohh i love him so. he's such an wonderful little baby boy :)

my three year old

really? i have a three year old? where in the WORLD has time gone.

gav is three and whoever said the two's were "terrible" really lied. the twos are wonderful, it's the three's that aren't. well, most days gavin is his usual self but with juggling naps and play, and his new brother some days are obviously way better than others. but i am lucky that he is usually such a love :)

gavin's current favs:
-tractors
-excavators, dump trucks, ect ect.
-riding his bike
-thomas and cars everything and anything
-swimming
-watermelon, cantelope, strawberries, raspberries.. any type of berries
-MOM and papa gerry, and grandma "beez"
-fair rides
-HORSES- probably precious, duke, lilly and cutter (and in that order)
-going on walks/runs with mom
-playing at every park that he can get to
-helping dad fix things
-his friends blaise and nora
-playing games and doing puzzles
-being the center of attention and entertaining people with his craziness
-adventure nature walks with grandma and mom
-watching jake and the neverland pirates (at least it's not elmo)
-sleeping with mom
-snuggling with jude and talking to him... it's adorable!
-BOOKS

i could go on and on but i'm going to end it... he's a pretty easy going kid, well for the most part.

i am beyond proud that gavin is growing up and becoming such a great little man. i cannot wait to see what the next year will bring with g. and i can't wait for him to start learning all new things at preschool!

being mischevious with papa scott at ashleys wedding.

drivin boats after the tractor pull at the willmar fair

this one might of been his favorite

gavin has a new love for puzzles... and he can put together a 24 piece puzzle like no other

 riding with reins.. SUCH a big boy!

riding his bike!!! :)

taking the dogs, grandma, jude and i for a walk... it took us almost an hour 

and of course his favorite, precious

all the beauty

there is something that is so pure and humble about horses.


as adressed in previous posts, i have been riding since i was three- and i mean, riding. my mom thought it would be a good "bonding" experience for us so she popped me up on a horse (even though i pouted because i wanted a pony) and set me on my way. by four i was riding completely alone in a round pen trotting along side my mom, and  being "ponied" on trail rides.


we haven't been out riding as near as much as we'd like, but this will soon change. my mom recently bought a new horse so now we can finally ride together.


we've been spending a large amount of time out at sue's house, housesitting and taking care of their animals while they are away on all of their adventures... it is heaven. i get up, get the kids ready for the day and head outside. all of us, jude included, stroll into the pastures and sit and watch the beauty that is horses. i feel completely blessed!


of course i come completely biased since lilly, the white, is my own and i've raised her since she was born, but they are all simply gorgeous!

of course gunner, my buddy was here for this gorgeous evening

its been a few

i feel like it's been quite some time since i last blogged, and looking at my previous post (july 5th) it has.
summer is quickly ending and fall is coming on soon. i am looking forward to the september/october weddings we have and of course.... halloween. and yes, my costume is already coming along quite well.
as much as i was looking forward to the slow and steady pace of a lull summer next summer, that will not be happening. this girl, well she is already a part of two weddings, two trips and two toddler kids. goodness! justine and anthony's wedding and now, katy has asked me to be a bridesmaid for the upcoming ballantyne/brandl wedding that will be taking place in montana. which for those of you adding it up is one trip, and vegas for justines bachelorette party... and the two kids part, yes just two, as in the ones i already have. NO MORE.
maybe this weekend i can catch up on my blogging. i've canceled all of my plans and am going to stay home with my sweet little boys and relax, and do nothing.

four months (a little over, but who's counting)

jude andrew is now FOUR MONTHS OLD...
seriously, time seems to be flying by. and to be honest i am okay with it. i enjoy the little newborn/infant time, but i am really excited for jude to be a toddler and up and walking around :)
here are a few things about jude:
-he is in the 80th percentile for weight, coming in at a whopping 16.6 lbs! and the 67th percentile for height at 25 inches.
-jude has decided to be a belly sleeper. he absolutely hates to be on is back. if he rolls over in his crib he will let you know and won't go back to bed until he's back on his belly.
-he loves his mommy, but hey who wouldn't :) daddy and gavin tie for second and grandma shari is defiantly number 3.
-he eats, a lot. 6oz every 2 (sometimes he'll push it to 3) hours..
-he adores his big bro, gavin. when jude is crying and i'm busy i'll send gavin over to talk to jude and he will immediately calm down. he smiles ear to ear at his big bro and loves when gavin "plays" with him.
-as much as jude loves to be with people he is usually okay being by himself... wait, not alone, but you must know what i mean... right?
-some say jude looks like gavin, but actually looks a lot like me when i was a baby. is that possible? yes, yes it is! and he has the most adorable little dimple right below his left eye and when he smiles, it melts my heart. and he smiles quite a bit so i melt all day long.
-jude makes quite a bit of noise. he likes to babble to me when we're in the car and when he's sitting in his highchair.
-speaking of the highchair, he also just had his first teeny tiny bit of rice cereal yesterday, and he loves it!

-as you can see in both of these pictures, jude loves his tongue... so so so cute! he is currently teething (so much fun...) so there is usually drool below this little tongue.

-we are very very blessed jude is a healthy and happy boy and are so happy to have him in our family.

a sneaky peek

we've had a beautiful last couple of days and i am lucky that jude was in a phenomenal mood to snap some new photos. i've only had a chance to quick upload them on my computer (too busy with two little boys ) so the editing will have to wait a day or two... maybe when it's yucky out they'll get done!

here's a quicky of jude today. almost four months old.

"chemo is so 90's"

i really wasn't too sure what to label this post.. something sad and sappy or something uplifting..

the phrase "chemo is so 90's" was something erin told me lauren said when the nurse was talking about starting her chemo, and it's probably the only thing during my conversation with erin that made me smile. i was a wreck.
for those of you who don't know lauren has leukemia.
the schillers have honestly been my second family, and in fact my other name for vicki is my MOMOM (my other mom on main). erin and i became friends in 3rd grade, but truly became the best of friends probably in 6th grade. we've fought like sisters, acted like sisters and became sisters at some point in our life.  we got ourselves in a few pickles and have so many stories that probably only we would laugh at. our friendship has had it's struggles... boyfriends, different friends, different states, many different things have happened in our life, but somehow we still remain close through everything. and that is no different for her family. we have always been there for each other. i feel lucky to have shared so many remarkable memories with the schiller family, all of them. and soon this will only be something that we will look back upon... because lauren will get through this; she is strong and such a fighter. and she has her mom that will see that questions get answered and everything is done for lauren. God bless vicki for her no nonsense attitude when it comes to things like this.
the details of laurens leukemia is something i don't want to share with the world, it's not my story to tell... but i am asking and hoping for many prayers and thoughts for lauren and her family.

laurens love.

found this picture, from erin to lauren... i think it's fitting :)

blessed

i am so blessed to have my husband, my two beautiful and healthy boys, my mother and mother in law :)
...and of course the rest of our family as well.

mothers day was an absolutely beautiful day and we took complete, full advantage of it.
we woke up early, went to the park, got dressed and went out to eat at triple r in kimball for a wonderful and delicious brunch with dan's side of the family. we were there for quite a while because we enjoy each others company so much that hours go by, quick. after being there for a couple hours we said our goodbyes and shari gave sarah and i a beautiful hanging flower, love it! we then went to the smith residence to drop off a camper that dan borrowed the previous weekend for glendons bachelor party, and i got to see jer's new, cute as ever, pitbull puppy (so jealous by the way). gavin, well he was so interested in the sweet baby calves he almost followed craig into the pasture to check on a baby calf. he's pretty used to just going into the pasture with the horses that we need to instill some fear in him so he doesn't think he can just walk into ANY pasture... scary!
we continued on our way home, got jude down for naptime and spent the rest of the day outside. i got some "me" time to plant a bunch of flowers to make the front steps look a little bit better.
we honestly spent the entire day outside and have a pretty nice tan to show for it. it was glorious out this weekend and today is no different. we're currently taking a time out from the sun cause gavin was getting "hot mama" and a little red too- time to reapply that sun screen. the entire day was amazing and it really made me happy to be a mommy to my two wonderful love bugs! they were so so so good all day, i really felt lucky to have them. okay, back to what this post is about.

i have been wanting a double jogger for quite some time and have been pretty persistent in letting dan know that it is a purchase we need, not want. i have done the online search for which is best and what will have enough room for gavin and his 4 year old length (yes, he measures as tall as many 4 year olds) to grow into. we have looked high and low, asked our friends and even took a few out for a "test drive" at some stores- they'll let you do that if you ask, we felt like idiots ;) i believe our single in-step jogger we got for a sweet $50 on craigslist, even from litchfield... just two streets down. it has seen it's better days. but it works fabulous for gavin to be in and we've defiantly put on huge miles. but jude, not so much. it doesn't recline and the shade cover is pretty minimal, plus it's kind of starting to have that wear and tear look... which isn't a big deal, but i would just like something both boys could go in so we can go for walks everyday. we found this jogger, exactly what i had been searching for: schwinn turismo swivel wheel double jogger...  double seats, swivel front wheel, cup holders, thick tires... pretty reasonable price. i was set. and we were set on buying it until i found this beauty: the BOB revolution se duallie stroller... ahhhhhhh, i think i heard the angels singing :)

it is perfection. double seats, room for gavin to grow, thick wheels, annnnnnnnd a swivel AND locking front wheel. perfect for when i'm in the mood to run and push (not for awhile sadly) or just walk, easier than the fixed wheel. we talked and talked about purchasing this double but just couldn't bite it on the price. 

well, we were planning on today (monday) going to pick up the instep jogger from the cities after dans done with work but dan, the love that he is, surprised me with a picture of this beauty in my mothers day card. ah love him. we have a few extra things that need to get paid this week and if you know dan at all he's not at all about getting the account below a certain amount for extra splurges... so we are waiting until next thursday, after all the bills are out for the month and we have no payments for the next two weeks, to go pick up this beauty. 

i feel so lucky! 

lucky to have my husband, lucky to have my boys, lucky to have my parents, and dan's parents, the rest of our family and our freinds... our health, the ability to stay at home with my two kids and watch them grow, the roof over our heads, the food in our bellies and of course the love that we all share. 

this post kind of seems like it's all about what we can buy and afford, but really what i'm trying to put out is that dan is so sweet and loving and tries his hardest to make things wonderful for our family. i REALLY am blessed and so grateful for dan, and our boys and our family. 

i also am so happy to say that gavin is pretty much totally 100% potty trained. we still put on a diaper at night and if he is going to take a nap... but that's it. he's such a big boy. he isn't even going pee while sitting down, hes a big boy like daddy, and stands up ;) seriously he makes me so so happy, most days! and jude is growing up and is such a well behaved little almost three month old (one day shy)... again, i feel so lucky!

we have such a busy week with play-dates and park dates, and a shopping trip to hutch, that it's going to fly by. then this weekend we kick off the wedding season and my cousin ashley's shower dance with all of my crazy schramel family! first overnight away from my boys since the hospital trip... maybe i'll even sleep in? :)

... and to top it all off, the sandbox/playset will be built by the middle of june for gavin's THIRD birthday, where did time go?

hope all you mothers had a beautiful mothers day :)

6 weeks out

jude and i headed off to our six week check up today... all things good.

i started off our appointment first.

i will admit that i usually don't look at the scale when i have to hop right on it. but when my doctor came in and congratulated me on getting back to my pre-baby weight, i was pretty excited. i am exactly at the weight i was when i got pregnant, almost down to the ounce. i am, however, not where i would like to be... but can check off that goal that i wanted to achieve by may. i am well on my way to my goal weight and body, lets hope i can continue. everything with me is going great and i feel so fabulous.

jude, well with the weight that i'm shredding, he just might be gaining. jude is hefty- 11lbs 2oz! yep, i knew he was going to be a little fatty :) he's in the 69th percentile for weight and only the 50th percentile for height, at 21 2/3 inches long. i think gavin might of got the height gene in the family, and jude the weight... for now. our doctor was extremely thrilled to see how strong judes neck is and how he can just about roll over already. she also confirmed that since he is so incredibly strong it is PERFECTLY okay for him to sleep on his belly. i have had NUMEROUS incredibly rude mothers comment about how jude is a belly sleeper and honestly make me feel like a horrible mother for letting him sleep on his belly.. shame on you! poor thing got his shots today and is "sleeping like a baby". i am a-okay with him sleeping now cause it gives me some much needed workout time. i haven't worked out since friday :( but today is a workout day and a yoga day so i am pretty excited!

also, the weather is fabulous so if jude wants to sleep for a few more hours that's okay as well! i have some gardening that i would like to finish! LOVE this spring :)

4.1.12

so it was april fools day yesterday.. i clearly forgot about it or otherwise i would of had something marvelous up my sleeves for dan... i usually get him pretty good. but, eh i must of been too preoccupied.

around dinner time i got a text from emily saying she made a great april fools day joke on andy.... "sam and dan are pregnant again"...

funny, but not at all at the same time.

i guess andy was like, ohh wow, oh that was fast.. yes, it would be, but we are NOT pregnant, nor do we want to be--- maybe even for like four years? :)

i told dan about emily's joke and his response was, that's it... i'm getting a vasectomy... (nice try dan)

for now...

these two are good enough for me.. love them!

ever read?

i'm not telling you what to do... but read it! i was totally not a "gamer" at first but decided with all the hype that i would read the first book.. well, i read it in two days. i found myself hoping and praying jude and gavin would leave me alone for 10 minutes longer than usual so i could read it for just a bit longer. i read while feeding jude, while sitting with gavin in the bathroom for his bath, while pumping and well, pretty much doing anything that i didn't have to be fully concentrated on. dan hates when i buy books because i read them in two days and then they just sit there, oh well!

i am heading to the movie tomorrow with danielle (and maybe others?) and cannot wait to see it and put a face on the characters.

i just started the second book, love it.

a really really quick read, and totally worth reading. DO IT! :)

a week of highs

and i mean that (somewhat) literally...

i joined a yoga class-- but you know that by now, hence my previous post. and on the first day our yoga instructor told us we were going to be doing handstands by the end of this session. at first i was like, oh ya, sure i can do a handstand. i mean, i thought i was pretty freakin awesome when i would do drunk handstands at parties (yea, pretty cool huh?) and i don't just mean on the keg ;) well as we were getting ready to do these handstands i totally freaked out. "what about my neck" is all i thought. well, i didn't do one yesterday at our class, but today i did! woo hoo! i was pretty excited. next week we don't have yoga so sarah and i are going to get together and try to continue our yoga routine... who wants to place bets that we will sit around and drink wine on our yoga mats and call it yoga? i'm pretty sure only that will happen ;)

on an extremely different note, gavin has been having a week of play dates. blaise has been hanging out with us from monday to wednesday and i am kind of sad to see him go. we have had so many great moments and did so many cool activities- i'm beginning to think that three kids wouldn't be that bad. but, definitely NOT now! or for quite some time. actually blaise and gavin are just about the same age difference than gavin and jude are. it has been so much fun and pretty easy ( i will say) having blaise here. he and gavin play together and i, well, i just continuously clean up after them and break up the teeny tiny spats they have, usually over a toy! we have been having fun and it's been wearing gavin out!

on tuesday, while mr jude slept in his swing.. (surprise surprise, a sleeping baby?)

we made playdough and cupcakes.

and had to stop to enjoy an icee

they thought it was pretty cool to make playdough and then be able to play with it...

and cupcakes as well...

i couldn't believe how serious both boys were about frosting the cupcakes... they weren't so serious about eating them... it was a huge mess! i was pretty proud of myself... i didn't even have one!! woo hoo for sam!

we finished out our wednesday together by ordering some pizza.. we got the "pizza box" and it was perfect for the boys and i. 8 small pieces, breadsticks and cinasticks... we had a lot left over, enough for dan to take to work today!

another positive? well justine and theresa came over on monday and delievered this:

WHO'S EXCITED? not me.. I AM ESCATIC! i couldn't be more honored and happy about justine and anthony getting married, and being a part of this special day. i mean, i feel like i've been waiting for the ring on justines finger just as long as she has. THANK YOU ANTHONY, for finally proposing to your girlfriend of SEVEN years :) ahhh love! justine is so prepared for this weeding- she has the colors, dresses, decor and most everything set... now to just book a venue! they are getting married next summer... so that means??? another fabulous summer full of weddings! cannot wait!

gavin has a busy rest of the week as well. grandpa and grandma are taking gavin out to taco johns (his favorite) today and then friday he's going to daycare! woo hoo! this means i have some time to take some pictures of jude.. something i've been saying i was going to do for ummm well a month now. lets see if i can get some snapped today. i guess we have a busy weekend too. we are starting the project of finishing our small area of hardwood floors... and thank goodness we know some pretty awesome guy to do it for us for... the great price of... free! of course we plan on paying him something, but he doesn't want any money- just some beer.. OKAY! the only bad part... staying at my moms with both boys, urgh!