Baby #3 Update

Well since I just started my resolution I better not fail within the first day! I haven't done a very good job documenting on this pregnancy and baby #3!
I am officially a full 23 weeks tomorrow! In the last couple weeks I have really started feeling the baby move around. It's almost to the point where I can let other people put there hand on my tummy and feel the movement too, but it's not very clear. I had a checkup a week ago today and things were lookin good! The heartbeat was 160 and I'm horrible I can't remember what it was with the girls. I am measuring right on target and overall feeling very well. I did have a dizzy spell in the doctors office, which hasn't happened that often this pregnancy so far. I got them a lot with Mackenzie, less with Kate and not near as much as I remember with this one, so that's good. I have been telling people recently that with this pregnancy and comparing it to the others, from what I can remember, I don't remember my 1st trimesters being so bad, but then I don't remember my 2nd trimesters being so good!
I have popped out in the last 2 to 3 weeks as well, people starting to comment on me showing! I guess that is a good sign. I didn't have to start wearing maternity clothes until about my 20th week, I was getting a little tired of the small wardrobe that my normal clothes were coming to! My last pregnancy several friends loaned me some clothes, so this time around I am thinking a small shopping trip might be in order. Most of the clothes that I have were from my first one and I was working, so I have a lot of dressy clothes and not as many casual. I have a good amount of pants, but will need to find some shirts. I'm also slightly off on seasons compared to my other ones, they were both winter babies and this one is almost summer!
That's about it for right now....not a whole lot of action. We aren't close enough to have really started the name converstations....last minute people here! We are thinking about the room situation and getting a bunk bed for the girls so they can share a room, and since we aren't finding out...that's right, we are not finding out....there isn't a whole lot more to get ready for at this point!

Kate Update!

It's a new year and even though I haven't quite figured out my New Year's Resolution.....I have a lot in mind. I think I haven't "set" them as in the past they never make it very far into the year ...can anyone relate, or am I the only one? All this goes to say that I have high hopes of being more organized and on top of things this year! I still haven't said it's my resolution, ok well I guess it is...there I did it, I made a resolution!
One of the ways I want to be more organized is staying on top of recording more about my kids development. I started a baby book for Mackenzie and did pretty good, first child right! Kate's is well, still in the sack...horrible, she is only the second....what is this third child going to have......this blog, right!

I missed updating around 18 months for Kate and I'm a little early for her 2 year so does that make up for one another? She has just been changing so much and I know I've already forgot so much, but here's to what little she has been doing lately!
Kate is quite the talker and quickly becoming our little singer! She stared talking a lot earlier than Mackenzie did, around 18 months. We call her our little parrot, repeating anything we say. She is very clear in her vocab and pretty much can say anything. She is working on putting things into sentences, using 2 to 3 words in row right now. Her famous sayings have been "Mowe(more)," "Nasty Nose"(with a slight lisp), "Awe Man!" and "Oh boy!" You can often hear her singing "Jesus Loves Me," "Twinkle Twinkle," or "ABC's!" I have to say she does a really good job with the words too! She counts to 10 all on her own.
Kate's personality is really starting to change...I'm not sure if it's terrible two's setting in, or just her finding her place in the family. She has been a very good baby and toddler.....very compliant and fairly laid back. Lately there has been this different way coming out of her once in a while. She has an opinion, wants to do things her way, slight temper, and fighting back with her sister! A couple times during a game of tug o war over a toy, she has reached up and pulled Mackenzie's hair. It's hard not to laugh a little for a couple reasons.....awe as to where she has learned such a thing and second because her sister has had it coming to her for a couple years worth of torture! Actually Mackenzie handles it pretty well...not fighting back!! FFeww!
She has definitely been a great sleeper...always has been! Goes to sleep on her own, but she went to one nap much earlier than Mackenzie did, around 14 months...I think! I can't believe we are going to move her to a big girl bed here soon when the baby comes. It's much earlier than we switched Mackenzie, but I think it will be fine. We plan on having the girls share a room and hope to get a bunk bed, with the double on the bottom, for Kate and also if we have visitors we'll still have a big enough bed for them to sleep in!
She is a pretty good eater.....as long as there is Ranch to dip it in! Ok, not everything, but pretty close. She also is a HUGE fruit eater! She does very well with a spoon and fork. It's so nice not having someone to feed....I guess I only have about 4 more months of freedom with that!!!
Her favorite things right now are Elmo and Dora & Boots! She really likes to play with Mackenzie....and Mackenzie does a pretty good job of playing along with her. She likes dress up, playing "house/babies," kitchen, doll house, and "Ashes-Ashes!"
It is so funny...if we are leaving the house for any reason at all Kate will always say "HyVee?" and if we say no she says, "WaMart?" Those happen to really be the only 2 places we ever go, no just kidding, but it's almost true as that is about all we have in our town! We can't really figure out why she loves HyVee so much....she begs and begs to go there! It's either we drive by it so many times in a week, or that she loves the car carts!
She has been pretty healthy besides the cold every once in a while, which she tends to get more often than Mackenzie ever does. I guess she had croup right around Thanksgiving which would have been 21 months for her. Not fun!!!
She definitely keeps us laughing, with all her facial expressions and antics she is quite the clown! She is much more of a climber than Mackenzie was at that age. She seems so grown up already and I know she will seem even moreso when the baby comes!
We feel so blessed to have been entrusted Kate to raise and pray that with grace and mercy we will do the best we can with the Lords guidance! She has brought so much joy to our lives and before she came we couldn't imagine loving another child as much as you love the first, and now we are at the same point again, anticipating loving another child as much as our 2 beautiful girls!

Christmas '09 -Part 2

We had about a full week of celebrating this year! We love this time of year to spend with our families and we could not be more blessed with a better set of them! This last month at our MOPS meetings they have been talking a lot about getting along with family at the holidays and I had taken it so for granted how easy our families are. Now I'm not saying they are perfect, but for the most part there is not a lot of drama, but excitement to see one another!

Our first get together was my dad's side of the family and we all (minus a couple cousins) made it the weekend before Christmas. My parents hosted it in the gym and had a great time of amazing food, gifts, watching our kids play with one another and reminiscing about the days when us cousins made so many special memories at the holidays!

Kate got the old school Little People schoolhouse! I love all the old toys that we used to play with coming back now and getting them for my kids!

Mackenzie and my cousin's little girl Jessica played the whole entire day together and we didn't hear a word. They are so good for each other.....holding their own! They got matching Fancy Nancy phones from my grandparents!

Then we celebrated Mackenzie's birthday on that next Monday, followed by heading to IL for Aaron's side of the family on Wednesday evening. It seemed like all or our time together this year seemed to be more rushed. All the family was together minus one of Aaron's brothers.

Besides me almost burning the house down by throwing a towel over a candle we had a great time with my in-laws and the cousins had a great time. Thanks Grandpa and Grandma Musselman for Mackenzie's Barbie house set and Kate's Dora tent with a tunnel!

Less than 24 hours later we were heading to my family Christmas. This year it was a little different as my sister and brother in law had to fly out on Christmas Day for his sisters wedding in California.

So this year we did our Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve!

Thanks Dad and Mom for all your work....the dinner was delicous!

And our Christmas morning earlier than normal......our traditional annual Christmas picture on the steps, minus Kate who we couldn't decide if we should wake up or not!

I love it that we still do it the way that I did growing up. It probably helps that I still have a little brother that is in junior high and as of right now we are the only one with kids!

Thanks Grandpa and Grandma Massner for all the fun presents.....Legos will always be a kid favorite. Mackenzie got her first set of the little legos.....and pink! Kate got the Farm Jumbo lego set!

Mackenzie doing one of her many craft kits and Mommy showing off her new robe......first ever robe! I love it!
Daddy sporting Mommy's new robe.....the color is perfect for you hunny!

Mackenzie playing her new Dora leapster game and notice the earrings she has on. Do you remember those stick on earrings you had as a little girl.....Aunt Amy of course!

We had a fun relaxing Christmas day at my parents and then we headed home so we could have our own family Christmas the next morning.

Forgive the picture quality....I guess I should have asked for a new camera for Christmas!!! This is also the best one I could get of the girls in front of the tree.

Squint and look closely and you'll see Kate's new sunglasses! My girls love them and really we haven't gone through that many ....but Mackenzie had accidentally stepped on Kate's so we needed a new pair!

Mackenzie excited about her Preschool Teacher Barbie set! One thing we wanted to get her this year was Barbie stuff. She has several Barbie's and a swimming pool, but not a whole lot to really play with furniture wise. She is just getting into them and since we have to plan for the whole next year of what she'll be into....well! Another thing Mackenzie got was a Lite bright and Kate a sit n spin....like I said earlier we enjoy getting them the things we used to play with as kids.

We wrapped up the celebrations on Saturday with my paternal grandfather's side of the family....yes I said Grandpa....his family, 13 siblings in all, still get as many together as possible every year! Then on Sunday we headed back to IL for my mom's side of the family....sorry no pics yet! I let my mom be my photographer if she's there..... hence the above photos!!

It's an enjoyable time getting together with everyone for the holidays....then on Monday you kind of have the let down of adrenaline and by Tuesday you are thankful for some normalcy!

Here is one of our Christmas card pics! Better late than never, but Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you readers from our family to yours!

May you all reflect on the real reason we celebrate Christmas not just now but throughout the year!

Christmas '09 -Part 1

With all the goings on and prepping for Christmas I'm a little behind in posting, but I still want to go back to the beginning and remember what fun special things we did. So we are going to have to do this in a couple parts.
"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.....everywhere you go...."

Our traditional picture of daddy helping each of the kids putting the star on the tree!

I enjoy trying to do special things with the girls like I did growing up and then some that we want to start as a family of our own. Something new we did this year was advent. At our MOPS group the craft one meeting was an advent jar. I had really never heard of it until a couple years ago and until recently thought it was some other religion's tradition. As I learned about it, I realized how I could use it to teach the girls the importance of the real meaning of Christmas. We had a lot of fun doing things from making treats for neighbors, family movie night, reading scripture, giving to others, taking time to go look at Christmas lights as a family...etc.

This was the first year doing a gingerbread house. It was fun for Mackenzie and I to do it together and learning to get over my slight perfectionism.

Our finished project! Now are you supposed to eat these or just look at them?

I try to do some holiday baking, easy things that the kids can help with. This year we did almond bark pretzels & oreos, sugar cookies and then for our neighbors and teacher gifts we made carmel puffed popcorn and french vanilla hot chocolate mix!


The girls have enjoyed a little time in the snow, but we definitely need to do more. Mackenzie loves it and Kate well.....time will tell!

We got to enjoy our first ever school Christmas program this year! The whole school put on a program and the preschoolers dressed up as shepherds (dad's button down shirts with a tie around the waist. It was fun to watch, but Mackenzie kept making weird faces and went to her teacher a couple times.....we were wondering what her problem was and when she got done I took off the shirt and she still had her coat on underneath! Poor girl, I'm sure she was roasting, but she said her sleeves kept falling down and that's why she kept going to the teacher.

The last day of preschool before break was the class Christmas party and she also celebrated her birthday, as it was the day before, with treat bags for her class! I always remember looking forward to that special day at school taking treats for your birthday!

Nov. happen's update!

Well as I started out the November Happen's post with me getting my first deer......about 30 days later Aaron got his first deer with our other vehicle! Yes, we are now reaping the benefits of that car insurance that we have been paying how many years for. It's just those deductibles that make it not so exciting! Thankfully no one was hurt and neither vehicle was totaled. Now Aaron is thinking about getting into hunting to help with the problem!!!

Mackenzie turns 5!

I can't believe my little girl turned 5! I think back five years ago and I can barely remember, but what I do remember December 21st changed Aaron and my life forever! God blessed us with a beautiful baby girl and I can't even explain the joy that she has brought to our lives! She is so full of life, sweet (most of the time), smart, and her personality reminds me so much of myself'!
I have always felt a little guilty for her birthday being so close to Christmas, so we make a strong effort to make her birthday special, complete with a party and not just thrown together with Christmas. This year she chose to go to her favorite restaurant, Pizza Ranch, and we had my family along with one of her friends Tucker, whose parents happen to be our good friends as well!

It took Mackenzie up until the moment we had to order the cake to decide what "theme" she wanted for her party. It was between Dora and High School Musical and although I must confess I enjoy a little HSM, I am glad she chose Dora, a little more age appropriate for a 5 yr old. Kate was pretty happy with her choice as well.....Dora and Boots are a hot item at our house!

After dinner we came back to our house and did the traditional birthday party thing.....cake, ice cream and of course the presents!

These are the balloons that Aaron brought to Mackenzie when he came home from work! I was so impressed with his idea.......complete with both of her choices....a Dora AND HSM balloon!

Kate sporting one of Mackenzie's gifts....she also had the "glubs" on to match at one point!

She got so many special things.... HSM things, games, a lot of crafts to do (my favorite was the old pot holder loom and loop set), a jewelry box, calendar board...etc!

This is the part where the birthday ends and I start rambling about my child....again mostly for my memory preserving benefit, but if you would like you can either choose to read on or just exit!

I have been meaning to give an update on each of the girls for a while now, and this seems to be an appropriate time to do exactly that! Mackenzie is really enjoying preschool and I think she'll be very ready for Kindergarten next year, I just don't know if I'll be! She is such a good helper around the house and is learning to be a very good big sister. I would have to say her favorite activities are something involving art.....coloring, doing a kit, cutting and glueing, basically anything along that line. Like I mentioned earlier she likes Dora, High School Musical and a few other favorite shows are The Fresh Beat Band and Electric Company. She is still taking naps most days, and I am very thankful for that time during the day to just sit down and well.....do something like this! She loves being outside, playing school or playing "me being her sister and dad being her brother." I'm not really sure what she does when she instructs us of this, but it is about everyday that I hear that phrase. She is a fairly good eater....sometimes just sparadic. Her favorites are fruit, fruit and more fruit along with some Mac n cheese, pizza, hamburger rice casserole....the typical kid foods. Does like raw veggies with dip and if I really need her to eat....Mc D's hamburger with ketchup, mustard and pickle with a soft bun always does the trick! I just try to avoid that if I can!!! The one thing that she is not big on is dessert, maybe a couple bites of ice cream once in a while, but really not a big fan of the cookies, cake..etc. Does not like chocolate, but loves candy! ( just like her mom) She is now pretty much in"big" girls clothes, although I still try and do 5T sometimes, and coordinate the girls, but I think that time is soon coming to an end. She is just getting so tall, but then the next girls size is 6/7 and that is too big!!!
I think the 5's are going to be good for us, she has grown and matured so much in the last couple months and is starting to figure some things out. We feel so honored to be called her parents. I know God is working on her heart and as our prayer has always been we pray that He draws her to Him more and more everyday and that she will make that choice to call Him Lord of her life!