Super Daddy...

Is anyone sick of me talking about my husband yet? I can't help it. Here are a couple more examples of what a good daddy Greg is. He made a fort in our bedroom for Brooks the other day (Sorry about the outfit, its a combo of PJ's and real clothes. Don't worry, I don't think it matches!) Brooks LOVED this fort and I can't stop smiling when I look at the pictures. Brooks loves little places and cubbies, so it does not surprise me that this fort made his day/week/life! I think the pictures are awesome too, because they show the one and only WIGGLES! I hate the Wiggles because I wake up in the middle of the night singing Dr. Nickerbacker, Nickerbacker, number nine... You won't understand unless you TiVo the Wiggles. All the episodes seem to be the same and Brooks cannot get enough of them. It will be exciting when Brooks decides he likes a show other than the Wiggles!

Play your guitar with Murray (Wiggle) the super cool dude that wears RED!

That is Anthony Wiggle on the screen if you were wondering...

The next reason that Brooks' daddy rocks is shown in the picture below! What dad (well my dad did growing up, but I put my dad in the same category as Greg) would do something like this for dinner? The hair is cheese, the ears are turkey pepperoni, the eyebrows are carrots, the eyes are grapes, the nose is a pear, the flesh is turkey and the mouth is a banana. Oh my! Greg is so amazing. I keep telling Brooks how lucky he is to have the daddy he has. I know it might get old because I always talk about Greg on this blog, but he never stops.

We had a good weekend and Greg got a chance to ski a race in Hayward, WI. He did really well and got 4th in his age group. He doesn't take any sports seriously anymore, so it is cool that he still does a really good job at the events he gets to participate in. This week is pretty "normal" for us. The next thing we will start to think about is a very special 2 year old birthday party!

Baby Update--16 weeks

I had an appointment this week and it was great. I have some friends and acquaintances that have recently lost babies (one almost full term and one at 16 or so weeks), so I have some heightened anxiety regarding the health of our little guy/girl. I am reminded often by my sister Steph that we are not in control and that God has a perfect plan for every baby. I have had to call her several times though, to ask her if she thinks the baby is still alive. She is very reassuring, even though she'd be the first to remind me that only God really knows what is going to happen.

Anyhow, the appointment went perfectly. We heard the baby's heart beat and it was 155 and strong. Yeah! It was wonderful to hear that sound. The doctor told me to expect to be able to feel the baby sooner during this pregnancy than the first! I thought I felt him/her last night, but it might have just been something I ate. I will have to pay attention tonight when I lay down.

The baby is the size of an apple right now and I am enjoying following the weekly emails about what is developing. It amazes me that baby J has joints the bend now and is "fully developed". He/she just needs to grow (a lot) now. I get to find out if it is a boy or girl on March 16th. Yeah! We both feel like it is a boy, but only have ideas for girl names so far. Interesting. We'll see...

I was also very excited that I have gained 8 pounds so far and am 16 weeks prego. Last pregnancy, for those who didn't SEE me (it wasn't hard to see me!), I gained 75 pounds. I was a very large girl when I gave birth. Who knows, maybe that will happen again this time, but I would have to gain LOTS more weight in the next 24 weeks for that to happen. I am fighting the weight gain a lot more this time. I have been working out every day (except Sunday) and have finally started to feel good. I am also doing much better on my diet, although I love to have an occasional piece of candy, which I used to be very strict about avoiding. Who knows, maybe the weight gain is still on its way, but this seems better so far.

No pictures today, since I am updating from work (on lunch, don't worry mom and dad :)!). Brooks gets his haircut today so that it grows out in time for his 2 year old pictures and party! Wow, I have a two year old in three weeks! I can't believe my precious boy is growing up so fast.

Matthew, Mark, Luke, John...M&M's!

Tonight we taught Brooks how to say the first four books of the New Testament. I was bribing him with M&M's. Check out how stinking cute he is.

Wordless Wednesday

Winter Fun

We got to watch the Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon up close this year. The dogs ran right through one of our local golf courses, so we were able to eat lunch at the golf club and walk right outside to see the dogs. It was a really cold day, but was also really fun to see the dogs. They are so strong and so beautiful. Greg thinks that our lab, Scout, would be a good sled dog. I think it would be funny to see a lab mixed in with a team of sled dogs. I bet that would turn a few heads.

We have skijored (cross country skiing with the dog pulling you) with Scout before and it is really fun. She is a super fast, super strong dog. One of the first times I tried it (Greg and I were just dating) and Greg tells me to stay put (with Scout attached to me) and he kindly volunteered to ski ahead so that Scout would pull me to him. We both thought this would be a good idea until Scout decided to take off after his master (Greg). I had no idea Scout was going to run and I was attached to her. I am sure you can imagine how many different directions my ski equipment went and how many different directions my body parts went. It hurt, but I am sure I told Greg it didn't because we were so young in our love that nothing could really hurt that bad! Good memories.

Here is Brooks with his buddy Opa. We are so blessed to have Oma and Opa as such a huge part of Brooks' life. They love him and spoil him like crazy. I was just commenting to Greg last weekend how nice it is to be able to leave Brooks with them and not have to give any directions to them. They just know Brooks so well and love him so much. No wonder Brooks always asks for his Opa and Oma!

Brooks continues to grow up way too fast. He loved the dogs and kept asking for "more puppies". He is putting sentences together pretty well now and it is fun to be able to communicate with him. He has a little bit of an accent/lisp. We hope it isn't because he still sucks on that stupid pacifier. We really need to say goodbye to that thing.

I turned 30 last week and Auntie Bean brought over a donut the size of Greg's head (I would say my head, but I have a huge head). Brooks loved it and got a bit of a mustache while eating it. Greg thought it was so funny and later admitted to me that he "helped" Brooks get the mustache. It made for a good picture though.

Brooks loves his Auntie Bean. The evening of this picture he did not want to go to bed. I think his idea to cuddle with Auntie Bean was pretty cute. It did delay his bed time by a few minutes at least! Notice the bruise on Brooks' cheek? That is due to his inability to "sit on hie bum" while on a chair. I feel bad because it happened under my care and I hate when he gets hurt. He cried pretty hard and had real tears which we don't see very often. It is almost gone now though and I am sure we will have our next bruise soon. Boys will be boys, I guess.

Baby J is still growing and all seems to be going well. I am getting pretty chubby pretty quickly this time. I am also eating way better and exercising way more this time around, so I don't really get that. Oh, well. As long as the baby is healthy that is all that matters. We will know if it is a boy or girl in mid March and I personally can't wait to find out. It will be fun to plan the bedroom and buy cute baby clothes. Yeah! I still hate being pregnant, but can't wait to snuggle the little one.

Love to all who read. XOXO