KidSpot

This morning we joined the Mom's Club at KidSpot. This was our second visit, and Dylan loved it just as much this time as the first. Here are some pictures from the morning.

There are a few giant foam pits the kids can jump into. Dylan loves being tossed into the pit, but after each toss, holds out his arms and says "stuck."

Such a climber...

More than climbing or jumping, I've noticed that Dylan loves to RUN. When we open the garage door he takes off running down the sidewalk. He runs in circles around the kitchen, living room, dining room, around and around. And at KidSpot today he loved running from one side of the room to the other.

Here is a video of Dylan jumping on the big trampoline.

Playtime with Addison

My friend Tracey had some further complications, but is finally (we think!) on the mend. She and Aron are still in the hospital, but hope to come home tomorrow or Wednesday. In the meantime, we've been trying to help out Paul by supplying a dinner casserole here and there, and occupying Addison while Paul takes the bigger kids to the hospital to see their mom.

Dylan has really been enjoying having a playmate, although the meetings have not been without their toddler squabbles. So far I'd say it's Addison 2, Dylan 0. With two older siblings she already knows how to get her way. Dylan tends to be surprised when she does something to him, and he starts to cry. I think of this as big brother training for him.

Most of the time they play nicely together. Here they are making some music on the piano (what a great child magnet this piano is!).

While they were coloring, Dylan saw me throw our old scratched up version of Cars away. We purchased a new one, and I didn't see any reason to keep a damaged copy around. It's so scratched we can't even watch it. Well, as you can imagine, Dylan didn't like seeing that go into the garbage one bit. He fished for it for a minute or two before his arm got stuck in the can and I had to retrieve both he and the old movie!

After coloring we headed for the bathtub. I know Paul appreciated picking up a clean and sweet smelling child, and Dylan needed a bath anyway. Addison is quite used to sharing the bath with her older brother or sister, but Dylan was very confused about why someone else was in his tub.

And holy moly, I just realized how much work two kids are going to be. You have to bring everything you need into the bathroom: pajamas, onesies, diapers, lotion, butt paste, etc. You can't leave to get it with one child and leave the other behind with a tub full of water, and you'll never get them both to follow you all wrapped up in their towels. So I devised a plan. I'm feeling quite clever that it all went smoothly, but I'm sure parents of two children do this every day! First I took Dylan out, lotioned him up, diaper, pj's, all done. Then it was Addison's turn. Same order of operation, except she has long hair and needed a blow dry. So I made them both stay in the bathroom with me, and we all took turns having our hair blown!

Christmas Decorating

Here are a few pictures of our Christmas decorations. I'm still working on the tree - I need some garland, or new ribbon or something. I'm waiting to be inspired by someone else's picture!

The mantel is done for the season. I love having the lights from the tree and the mantel turned on at night, and no other lights in the room. It's such a nice cozy glow! I wasn't able to capture it with the camera, but you get the idea. Here are our stockings hung in a row...

Thanksgiving

We have many things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Our families drove down to be with us this year, as they've done for the last few years. Our house was filled with laughter, family stories, and the delicious scents of Thanksgiving dinner.

Dylan enjoyed every moment of having so many people in the house. When the last group finally left this morning he was in tears. What's he supposed to do with only mom and dad to hang out with?

Uncle Gregg brought over this Pac-Man game. It connects right to the front of your tv, and you can play Pac-Man just like the old days! Dylan thought this was the most miraculous thing he'd seen in awhile.

We had appetizers and hung out from mid-morning until the meal was ready. It was fun to hang out with everyone!

After dinner, I couldn't resist giving Dylan a gift. I had purchased it as a Christmas gift, but I wanted to see his reaction so badly I couldn't wait. I also thought everyone else would enjoy seeing his reaction. Add to this the fact that Dylan spotted the gift in a cabinet when I went to get something out of the guest room, and I almost had no choice! So Dylan opened up the Sodor Engine Wash and James the Engine. He loved it! Pretty soon the adults were joining us at the table. They convinced me he didn't have enough track, so I got out another Christmas present - the track add-on pack - and Dylan soon had his own little railway going! It was really fun to see how pulling out the train brought everyone together in the kitchen.

One more thing we are thankful for - our friends Paul and Tracey had a baby boy yesterday on Thanksgiving Day. It was a rather traumatic entrance for little Aron. At some point the doctor discovered the baby wasn't getting oxygen, and hadn't been for approximately 5 minutes. They rushed Tracey off to the operating room for an emergency c-section. It went so fast Paul was not able to join them, Tracey wasn't able to get any more pain relief drugs, and Aron was lacerated in the process of cutting Tracey open. Aron had to be resuscitated, BUT today everyone is okay. So it was a day to be very thankful!

30 Weeks

Well here we are at 30 weeks now. Just 10 weeks to go, yay!!!

The days of sleeping well are over. Now I toss and turn for what feels like most of the night. I think of Dylan in his room, sleeping peacefully. It's strange to be the only one in the house awake! It's been awhile since I've had any reason to be awake in the middle of the night without some company.

Baby is still nameless. I've narrowed it down to one name I want, but Brian just isn't ready to choose a name. I think I'll be able to convince him, but you never know, maybe he'll surprise me with a new suggestion I really like.

For some reason, today I had more people touch my belly than all the people in both of my pregnancies combined. It was co-workers that suddenly realized I'm pregnant and wanted to get a feel. I don't mind - I think a total stranger would creep me out though!

The baby continues to be very active. He tends to sit right on my bladder, which is getting painful. I think I may have started waddling when I'm in a hurry to get to the restroom.

Now that Thanksgiving is here, I'm feeling like babies are going to be born fast and furious. My friend Tracey is due this Sunday with a boy. Angie is due around Christmas with a girl. And then it's my turn. It will all happen soon and before we know it there will be three more precious little lives in the world!

I'm getting excited for my 32-week appointment. My doctor's office does an ultrasound at 32 weeks to check the growth and progress. I'm planning to schedule my appointment at their office location near the hospital, which is where the 3D machine is. Cross your fingers my plan works out! I've been daydreaming a lot about what this baby will look like, and how he'll be similar to and different from Dylan.

Gathering firewood

After our visitors left about 12:30 this afternoon, we decided to make a quick trip over to Galena. The Luther's cabin is coming along, and with snow forecasted for next week, Brian wanted to get firewood in our garage to dry out for next winter.

Dylan was very helpful, and quite a little work horse. He enjoyed handing the wood to Brian. This slowed down the process a bit, but that was alright. With the three of us working, we barely spent twenty minutes at the cabin before heading back home.

Dylan loved running around the backyard. He seemed to really enjoy exploring. I think once we start spending some quality time there, he is going to be in his element. He did fall down quite a bit, and informed us he was 'dirty,' but kept running around.

We call this one "Pooping in the Woods" because, well, that's what he seemed to be doing. Turns out the grunting may have been because his butt was soaked when he got up. Either way, the look on his face says it all.

While we were at the cabin, we were thinking of the Luther family. They were all in Anamosa, IA at Brian's aunt and uncle's house, celebrating an early Thanksgiving. Not knowing what time my family would leave, we decided it wasn't going to work out for us to attend this year. For those of you reading this, we missed you and hope you had a great day together. We hope to see you at Christmas!

Early Thanksgiving

This past weekend we had lots of visitors! Oma, Kelly, Oma's friend Lori and Jess all came on Friday. Oma and Lori went to the SOLD OUT Brad Paisley concert at the MetroCenter (yay Brian!), while Kelly and Jess joined me and some neighbor friends at my Lia Sophia jewelry party. My mom and Lori enjoyed the concert, and I think the rest of us had fun shopping for jewelry in the catalog. My co-worker Cari is a Lia Sophia advisor, and instead of feeling forced and awkward, she made if fun and inviting. The party went well and I think I'll be getting lots of new jewelry!

Saturday we ran all kinds of errands. Throughout the day we split off or went together to many different stores, and both Kelly and I managed to get some Christmas shopping taken care of.

For dinner on Saturday evening my mom made an early Thanksgiving dinner. She brought the turkey, pie and other ingredients with her. She even made us real, fresh whipped cream to top the pie.

The turkey was juicy and a lovely brown color!

While waiting for dinner, Dylan colored. He has become quite an artist lately. He usually likes to color a few lines on each page. We're going through coloring books rather quickly now.

Here's a picture of me with my buddy.