Banana Bread

Here are the girls cooking banana bread with Nana, so cute!

A Busy Few Weeks

Last Thursday we, I mean myself, Joya, TJ, mom, dad, Heather, and Violet, headed down to California to visit Grandma and Grandpa NeeNee. They live in Redding CA, my dad, the kids and I traveled together in dads truck while pulling the 5th wheel. We made it in 6 hours and only stopped twice. The kids did wonderful on the way down! We stayed down there until Sunday. We had a great time, Grandma took the kids to an awesome park called Kids Kingdom, the next day we toured Simpson University. There are a lot of new buildings since Heather graduated from there! We mainly hung around the house to have some good quality time with Grandpa! He is pretty thin and his energy is limited, but he was in great spirits. Timmy just loved him and went right to him! The kids got to hear some of his Stinky the Bear stories and GG (great Grandma) did her story apron with the girls. We took the kids bikes since GG and Great Grandpa NeeNee have an awesome backyard with a paved path all the way around their house. They also had a trampoline, which was a big hit with the kids.

Then we came home and went to the Pumpkin Patch with HOME group. HOME stand for Helping Our Moms Excel. Its like MOPs and we love it. So we picked out pumpkins, had fresh donuts and apple cider and then went and played in a hay maze and hay pyramid

Today I finally finished Joya's Halloween costume. Timmy is wearing the Elmo one I made a couple of years ago for Joya and Joya is Cinderella!

Some Milestones!

Here are some pictures of Joya at her ballet class. She is so cute and I will post so video when I take some, but its hard because I have to entertain Timmy during Joya's class. For now enjoy Joya's ballet costumes and her poses!

Here is the family at the first home beaver game, it was during Timmy's nap time so he fell asleep for a while but enjoyed himself yelling "OOOO" with a random "dutchdown". Joya loved it too, we taught her the OSU chant and anytime it happed during the game she joined in but was always a letter or two behind the rest of the crowd. It was very cute!

And here is Timmy doing all of his animal noises! Just for your enjoyment!

Timmy had tubes put into his ears yesterday. He did fantastic until he came out of anesthesia. He screamed and flailed for a half an hour. The doctor said he would be cranky...I do not call that cranky, I call it mad! Here are some pictures of him before the surgery while we were waiting there and a video of him after the procedure. He was so cute in his little yellow scrubs!

Timmy also got his first hair cut this last week. Our neighbor across the street used to do hair and offered to help me with the kids, but she ended up just doing Timmy...he was a moving target that would have been hard to learn on!

Here is the before picture, he did very well about sitting there and playing with his toys while Mrs. Jenn cut his hair.

This is a picture of me, today on my birthday! I have had the worst day! I started getting sick last night, but couldn't tell if it was from the baby or the flu...it was the flu! I had extremely bad stomach cramps, I actually at one point thought I was loosing the baby, but I called my sister and she has the same flu a few days before, she said she had the same thing! I vomited anytime my zofran ran out and everything came out the back end too. The bad part is because I am pregnant that I have low blood pressure and I just kept fainting! I would have bad stomach cramps and double over in pain and then try to get up and then would faint! Ohh how I love the first trimester in pregnancy!!

Pregnant with Baby #3

Well we were really surprised a week ago Sunday when I started getting sick. I couldn't stand the smell in my parents house and everyone else said they didn't smell anything. I walked down to my sister's house because there was a Philippine meeting in progress and I was planning on going with her to teach VBS there. They handed me my plane ticket and I put my two sense in and then headed back to mom and dads house. I walked in and couldn't stand the smell again, so I hung out in their backyard with the kids. I remembered feeling the same way when I was pregnant with Timmy. I had been feeling nauseous all day but attested it to the coffee I had earlier that day. When we finally got home that evening I decided to take a pregnancy test. It was as clear as day a positive sign! I cried a little and smiled a little. This changes my plans for this year, especially going to the Philippines. I also had plans to sub a little more this year and we have a trip planned to Orland in November. That trip is still on but my other trip is not happening and I haven't decided about subbing yet. I need to get through the sickness first! I have some meds that help me not throw up but the nausea is still there in waves. I am extremely tired and am napping everyday while the kids nap and rest. Joya comes and wakes me up when her noise maker goes off and by then it had been an hour and a half!
Needless to say we are excited that the Lord blessed us with another baby, it was really nice not having to decided when to try for baby #3! We were a little shocked because I was on birth control! We also are really excited that we are still on Tim's NFL insurance! That is a huge blessing!!
Baby is due April 24th, Easter Sunday, but will most likely be born the week before because my doctor told me she doesn't operate on Sundays! When baby comes, Timmy will have just turned 2 and Joya will be a couple months shy of her 4th birthday.

Swimming

Joya has been taking Swimming lessons from our babysitter who also teaches at Osborne Aquatic Center. I hired her on the side to come to our pool and teach Joya while Timmy is napping in the afternoon. Yesterday Zoey had to come in the evening so we got to watch and Joya was swimming! She can hold her breath and swim underwater the width of the pool. She puts her arms in front like she is diving in and just kicks! She is doing great and Zoey is a great teacher, she is going to start working with Timmy for just a few minutes after Joya's lessons! This is the first day of swim lessons with Zoey.

Timmy is trying to repeat and talk more and more. He has a few words that he says ALL the time. Doggie, Ball, Dada and Mama are his constants, but now he tries to say football, which sounds like "BotBall". He is also repeating animals like kitty, pig, and bear. He is teething really bad right now to where his mouth is bleeding. His molars are coming through...three of them at the same time. He hasn't slept through the night for the last 5 nights in a row. I don;t think he will sleep through the night again until his teeth stop hurting!! Poor guy!

We're Sick Again!

This is the kids and I making cookies for the new neighbors...and for ourselves!! We made monster cookies and the kids licked the beaters. Timmy is old enough to join in now, and he fights for his turn to pour in the ingredients and of course getting the rewards of helping!

We almost went a month without being sick...but not quite! We have been sick since October. The kids had hand, foot, and mouth in Oct. Then in November we all got the swine flu, in December the kids got croup. January we moved into the house and Joya and I got the flu. February, I can't remember what we had but in March we all got sick with a horrible virus that lasted a month! April we were still sick and I got a virus in my eyes and have not been able to wear my contacts since then. We have had colds since on and off since April including a cough that has lasted for awhile! Joya and Timmy are sick again, but I think that has to do with staying up late and playing hard this last weekend!

On Saturday we went and hung out with my cousin and his family, they were camping with their Church outside of Sweet Home. We floated down the river, had dinner, and then church with them. We hung around to roast marshmallows and then left when it was getting dark. It was about 9:45...the latest the kids have ever stayed up! Sunday I went to church and Tim and the kids stayed home, Joya and Timmy already had nasty green goop coming out from their noses by then! We just hung around the house for the day. After nap time I took the kids swimming and Tim worked hard at finishing the shed, he finally finished today. Anyway then we walked over to the neighbors house to grill with them and a bunch of friends! We walked back to our house where we lit fireworks, starting at 8 and finally ended at 11. I put Timmy to bed at 9:45 and he never woke up! He was out. He even took a 3 and a half hour nap today because he was so tired from last night! Joya was able to make it until the end. We all slept in until 8:30, i think that is the latest the kids have ever slept in and I think today was the first day in 3 years that I woke up on my own instead of one of the kids waking me up!
We had a great weekend and loved having Daddy home today!