and it begins!

Basketball season has officially started. Yesterday was Chad's first practice. I think it went pretty well overall. Life now becomes crazy for our family! I love basketball season though. I love Chad's players and love going to the basketball games with our kids. This year may be pretty difficult for us though. 1. We have a third child 2. Aiden is now in kindergarten and shouldn't consistently be out late 3. Chad's practices are around 3 hours this year which means seeing him less. I really pray that God allows Chad to have a fantastic season. He loves coaching.

This past weekend my mom, sister, and I went to Chicago. As usual, we had a BLAST. I love spending time with these women! We laughed so much and it was so refreshing. While I was gone, Chad had the 3 kids and Aiden got sick and was sick the entire time I was gone. I am taking him to the doctor today, since this is day 5 of being sick. His fever broke last night and he hasn't vomitted in a few days, so I am hoping he is on the mend. He acts like he is at least and has started to eat again. I still kept him out of school though and am taking him to the doctor just in case.

I am still in the process of trying to lose weight. I am down 13 lbs, but have recently been discouraged at how long it has taken me to lose the weight. I lost the pregnancy weight much quicker with the boys, but I guess I am years older with Mia. I have been exercising about 6 days a week and am trying to stick with the weight watchers program. I would love to lose another 15 by Christmas. I signed up for a 4 mile race on Thanksgiving morning. I figured that it would give me more motivation to exercise if i was training for something. I will try and keep you updated on any progress! Have a great week!

trick or treat!

What a fun night of trick or treating! Chad's dad and stepmom were here to visit and were able to come with us too, which was a special treat for the kids. I normally buy the kids costumes after halloween for the next halloween. Well, this year, Aiden was Ironman, Kian was Dash from the Incredibles and Mia was a ladybug. They had a blast going from house to house. Aiden is a pro while Kian is still learning the "proper" way to trick or treat. It was fun to see the joy on their faces. Mia did great too. Chad likes to say that this was Mia's first time "contributing" to our family, by getting us lots of candy! It was a GREAT night!

Baby laughter

I thought, "who doesn't like a video of a baby laughing?" seriously, is there a greater sound? I took this today of Mia laughing and thought you may enjoy it! Also the pictures above are of Mia in her new hat. It's so cute, isn't it! Can't believe that I found it at Sears!

blessed

There are days I find it very easy to get overwhelmed by circumstances and forget how blessed I am. Well, today was one of those days where I just sat back and realized how extremely blessed I am. I have a husband who works so hard so that I can stay home with our kids. I have three beautiful kids who I absolutely am nuts about. I have a great home and have wonderful friends and family. Lastly, I have a wonderful God who has for some reason allowed all of my dreams to come true! Seriously, it doesn't get any better than that!
Today I was in task mode. Chad thinks I am often in this mode, however, it's not too often about cleaning! Today I got so much done around the house. I cleaned windows, vaccuumed, cleaned the ceiling fan, swiffered the walls (they were SO dusty!), washed and put away 2 loads of laundry, cleaned the kitchen, washed and put away all of the dishes, and sorted through the kids clothes for clothes they have outgrown. I have too admit, I am kinda proud of myself. This afternoon, I am listening to Pandora. If you have never been on pandora.com, you are missing out. You can put any type of genre or artist in and pandora will make you an entire radio station of just those types of songs. Anyway, I am listening to Michael Buble Christmas music, so all of the crooners basically. I am in heaven. I know, I know... it's only October (which is why I NEVER listen to it with Chad). Anyways, I was singing some of the Christmas songs and Mia was playing in her exersaucer and this was the look she was giving me:



Apparently, she enjoyed the concert! Blessed, blessed, blessed!

September update

Life officially changes in our household because Mia is now doing an army crawl. Looks like the legos need to stay in the boys room! She is an active little girl. She definitely likes to be where the action is! She still is such a sweetheart and very content overall except in the sleeping department. I don't know what is going on but she does NOT nap well. I put her down 3 times a day for a nap and maybe one of them is over an hour and a half. Not only that, she is waking up in the wee hours of the morning too! I am not getting her up, but she is awake none the less. Frustrating for this mom! She had her 6 month checkup and is doing great. She is big for her age, which is just like her older brothers!
Aiden is enjoying kindergarten. He comes home and tells me everyone who got into trouble and what was for lunch, however when I ask him what he learned, it's always, "I don't know." Typical boy! This week is apple week for his class. Tonight he and I are making sugar cookies that are shaped like apples and we are going to decorate them and bring them in for the class. He is super excited. He was asked to sleep over at a friend's house for the first time. We knew the family, so decided to let him go after talking to him about it. Well, Aiden called us and asked for us to pick him up. In his words, "I was just really freaked out and wanted to come home." Immediately after we said yes, I regretted the decision anyways. Chad and I have decided that our kids won't be going to sleepovers at least until like middle school. First of all, 5 is young anyways, but we just feel like it's better to sleep in our own home. Our kids are welcome to go over to homes on playdates (if we know the family well). I didn't think that we would have to talk about this so early!
Kian is doing great. Not much new in his department. He still continues to make us laugh daily. He still loves playing with cars. He pretty much does this most of the day. In fact everywhere we go, he brings 2-3 matchbox cars with him. He continues to not eat much. I wonder if he eats fine, but am basing how much he eats on how much Aiden eats, cause that kid can put it away!
Chad and I are doing great. We both are giving plasma twice a week. We are saving for Christmas with it and then are saving for our 10 year anniversary next summer. Our hope is to get away for a week together (which we haven't done since our honeymoon).
I enrolled in weight watchers 2 weeks ago and have lost 7 pounds since! My goal is 3 more this week to hit 10 pounds in 3 weeks. It's going pretty well! Chad also has lost about 10 pounds in 3 weeks. It feels so good to be healthier! God has given us some cool opportunities the last few weeks and its been neat seeing God work! We are thankful for His love and provision in our lives!

6 months old already????

On September 9th, my sweet girl turned 6 months old! Last night we went to the park, so I figured it might be a good time to take her picture. Mia had other ideas. She was way too interested in everything else that was going on!

We are so thankful for this little girl! I praise God for blessing us with her. It's hard to tell what her personality is going to be, but right now, she is very observant, happy, and easy going. She is super close to crawling. She gets up on all fours and rocks and ends up scooting backwards. She loves her cereal and is starting to eat green beans and carrots too.

Here are a couple of pictures from last night:

Daddy and Mia watching her brothers on the playground. She likes being held so she can see everything or she twists her body like this to make it happen.

Daddy was throwing her up in the air to get her to smile.


"Look Mom, I'm on all 4's!" . I have a feeling once she starts really moving, she's not going to stop!

She kept turning around trying to watch everything that was going on...who cares about the camera!

Happy 6 months Mia! We love you so very much!

summer and school

I know it has been ridiculously too long since my last post, but we've sorta been busy. Summer went great. Chad got A's on all of his grad school classes and we had a great time visiting family. We spent a week with Chad's family and had a blast. We all went to a waterpark in Rochester called Seabreeze. Oh my goodness, the boys had SO much fun. Kian was tall enough to go down the body slides with one of us and wow, we must have gone down about 15 times. He loved it. I asked Aiden what his favorite thing of the whole summer was and his reply was, "Seabreeze". Kian said, " I liked the beach and the water." My boys love being in the water!

After visiting the east coast, we spent 4 days at home and then went to Goshen to visit all of my family. It was a little crazy with 7 little kids in my parents' house, but we had a great time. Aiden and Kian LOVE their cousins and can't WAIT to see them again. We all spent 3 days and 2 nights in Chicago, where Chad and I took the kids to Navy Pier. It was quite interesting taking a double stroller on public transit. Let's just say, I probably won't ever do that again. We went to the children's museum there and it was great. I wish we could spend more time with my family...we have such a good time together!

After we returned we had a week until school started. Crazy that my Aiden is in kindergarten and is gone ALL DAY! How did this happen??? He was very excited to start school and was even more pumped that I let him get a superhero backpack. :) After 3 days however, he was all ready saying how he wished he was still in pre-k. I think it's kind of a hard adjustment to be gone all day long now! He is doing great though. Chad has an even crazier schedule than last year, which if you knew what his schedule was last year, that's sayin' something. On Tuesdays he teaches 10 classes with only a 30 minute lunch break! He has a new appreciation for weekends! We are thankful though, for a great job at a great school.

Kian is I think enjoying having it a little quieter at home during the day. I try and make sure to get more cuddling time with him in the morning. I love that he still wants to cuddle. This past week we were a little concerned with how much he was going to the bathroom. Like, I mean, 15 times a day seems a little much and he was having accidents too (which he hasn't for months). We took him to the doctor and he doesn't have a UTI which is good, but if it continues for another week, the doctor want to draw blood to rule out diabetes. We are praying this doesn't happen, but we just have to wait and see. He has done better the last couple of days , but he still goes 10-15 times a day. I'm hoping his bladder is just stretching etc.

Mia is doing great. Weird that in a couple of weeks she will be half a year old! She is a delight! She is rolling and starting to scoot. She LOVES her brothers and is so content! One battle we are having right now is trying to figure out what to do about her pacifier. She loves it and sleeps with it. However, she wakes up and wants it in, so she is up a couple of times a night! All I have to do is put it back in and she falls right back asleep, but I hate having to get up! We aren't sure what to do... just wait til she outgrows this, or stop letting her have the pacifier and have several rough nights and days.

I am doing well. The weight loss is still a struggle. I am trying really hard, but don't see much progress. I have been getting up several days a week at 6 to run with a friend and then try on the other days to exercise too. Chad has told me to just stop weighing myself for a while and just be disciplined, so that is what I am doing. This is my first season for not coaching, but we have been so busy I have hardly noticed. I do miss the girls though! However, I know that this is where God has us right now.

Here are several pictures from our summer and school year.

My sister Shannon and her daughter Evie. Evie has one of the most beautiful smiles...she is a pill though!

The boys at the waterworks exhibit at the children's museum.

Kian and Evie hugging. They are buds.

All of the cousins (minus Mia who was sleeping in the stroller) waiting to get on the subway into downtown Chicago

Mia yesterday

Love her to death!

Mia started by her toy and then rolled under the bunk bed.

Aiden on his first day on kindergarten! We are so thankful he can go to a great Christian school where his teachers love God!