Saturday Morning

Last Saturday we spent much of the morning before Braden's soccer game lounging around the house. It was a special treat to have all four of us home for some weekend quiet time - no rushing, feeling stressed, or even a to do list generated(at least not yet!).

I found Braden curled up on the chair playing with magnetic pattern blocks (the teacher in me was beaming!!) and Olivia at his feet just waiting for her turn.

What cuties. ;)

What have we been up to?

Getting ready for baby - putting together a new swing, pack and play, etc. as well as washing clothes, burp clothes and anything else that seems gender neutral.

Decorating for Halloween with the kiddos.

Christmas Shopping - I am just about finished. Now it's time to start wrapping!!

Cleaning and organizing the garage - why? I don't know it just felt like it needed to be done. :)

Trading in our Camry for a "MOM" van, which I secretly love due to the ease and space it provides.

Getting new carpet and building a shelf in the porch~ We're getting ready to spend a lot of time out there this winter!

These were a few of the highlights from the last couple of weeks. Without pictures... I volunteered in Braden's classroom which was a blast. I loved every minute of it and hope to do more as the year goes.

We started Olivia's physical therapy which I have been TERRIBLE about following through with. Today was the first day I actually did some of the exercises with her.

My OB appointments have been going well. Baby is head down and all is as it should be.

I remember a calm that came upon me at the end of my pregnancy with Olivia and I am just waiting for that to arrive. :) I feel like I am constantly frantic about something right now. I think some might say I am TOTALLY and COMPLETELY nesting - Steve might call it anal and annoying but it's all in the eyes of the beholder right?? :)

I have been terrible about being in touch with friends and family as I am dead tired by the time dinner time roles around and then it's kids bed time and school work or other items on the to do list and down for the night. So thank you for the continued voicemails, notes and emails. I love you all.

What a night!

Tonight was quite a night at our house!

When I picked up Braden from Kristin's house today after school he was absolutely beaming! She had helped him learn to ride a bike without training wheels. We tried earlier this summer but he just wasn't ready so today was the day! He rode up and down the driveway numerous times and couldn't wait to surprise daddy when he got home. Steve, Olivia and Braden spent about 30 minutes outside before dinner practicing in the ally. He was turning circles and was even able to get himself started - what a guy! Great job buddy.

I remember my dad teaching me to ride in our front yard. I think I was a bit older than Braden for some reason, maybe I am wrong but I remember him running behind me and letting go. I actually think my mom was on the phone with Nancy and Harry at the time. It's funny how you remember some things so vividly.

Olivia couldn't let Braden have all the lime light so she decided she would go potty on the big girl potty!!! Last week out of the blue she took her diaper off and went potty in her little potty in her room. We were so excited. Tonight she told me she wanted to go potty, climbed onto the big potty and sure enough - she went! What a big girl. :) Maybe we'll be in cute princess panties before too long and I'll only have one child in diapers when baby is born - what a dream.

Doctor Updates

A few doctor updates...

Olivia's eye appointment Saturday went great. No inflammation at this point due to the JRA. They did find that she is pretty far-sighted (a surprise find) but not in need of glasses at this point. We follow up now every 6 months.

I had my long glucose screening yesterday and all four blood draws came up well below where I would have to be in order to be considered gestational diabetic so that's all good! :) Other than that baby is good - moving a lot more forcefully and pretty low but heartbeat continues to be strong. :)

We took Olivia this morning to her appointments at Children's and here's the latest...

Her swelling is down but it does appear that one leg is longer than the other due to the JRA. The hope is that after the steroid shot today (she was such a trooper) and physical therapy which we start in 2 weeks, they will be able to tell whether or not she needs a lift in her shoe. My understanding is that would be temporary but we'll see. We'll follow-up in 4-5 weeks.

So all in all - life is busy, busy, busy but we feel grateful for all of the news that we've gotten and even more grateful that we have good insurance!!!!!

Annual Dupee Family Brewer Game

This year we decided to bring back the annual Dupee Family Brewer Game. We took the last two years off due to the arrival of Olivia and other things last summer. It was so nice to see everyone again. People started arriving around 1:15 and we caravanned to tailgate at 3:00. The weather was beautiful - a perfect day to be outside with family.

Braden doesn't have many chances to interact with all of his second cousins on Steve's side of the family and he doesn't have any immediate cousins that are close to his age (we think of Nikki, Steve and Jill as more of aunts and uncles). He had a BLAST! It was great to see him playing and them embracing him and teaching him how to play football, baggo and other fun games.

Olivia and I left after the tailgate as I had the stomach flu last week and needed to come home for some TLC but Steve and Braden, along with the rest of the gang, had a great time. The roof was open the whole game, Braden got to eat his heart out with ballpark fare and the best part was that the Brewers won!





The next day Judy joined us on a trip to the Elegant Farmer. It seemed to be the perfect day to go - warm sunshine, crisp wind and a Packer game that afternoon. Does anything else say fall better in the Midwest?? We ate a yummy lunch then walked into the orchard and picked apples! Even Judy stretched up to grab what she could! :) After we went into the store and bought a few more things.

Apple picking is one of my favorite things to do. It reminds me of when I was little! My parents would drive our VW Bus into the Orchard and we climbed on top to get the apples at the top of the tree. I remember filling huge baskets with apples and then making homemade apple sauce with my mom. I hope Braden and Olivia grow to love it as much as me! Braden's favorite at this point is climbing the trees and Olivia liked sampling the different types.

We had an awesome weekend!!! I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family. :)

A Zoo Wedding

Last weekend Steve's parents came down to watch the kids and we headed to Chicago for my cousin Michelle's wedding which was held at the Brookfield ZOO. We met up with Sam and my mom earlier in the day for a fantastic lunch and then it was back to his place for some quick R&R.

The wedding was wonderful. She worked really hard and put in a lot of personal touches to make the day special. Sam and I did a reading which was fun. It is called "The Invitation." It is a really neat passage and if you click on the title it'll take you to a site where you can read it.

The reception was nicely done - the food was amazing. The best part was the time with Sam, my mom and Steve. We did visit with other family as well that we hadn't seen in quite some time but just that uninterrupted, adult time was precious. We did a lot of laughing, talking and smiling... just what we all needed I think!!

Thanks Darrell and Judy for watching the kids and thanks mom, Steve and Sam for a great time!!

Playing with Evan

Back to school also means having regular playdates with our best buddy Evan. Evan is here every Monday right now and Braden looks forward to it all weekend. :)

Last week we baked cookies with some Crayola dough which I purchased thinking it would be fun for the kids (and it was) but it totally grosses me out to even think about all the dye in it. UGH!

They made volcano's, flowers, bugs, etc. and then we put mini-chocolate chips in as a finishing touch. What we didn't use ended up secretly in the garbage. I think we'll look for more natural ways to color our dough in the future.