Our Family Journal:

May 19, 2008 Entry by Rachelle

So, wow a lot has happened since my last entry! We've been very busy. Matt is enjoying his new job working from home for HP. He has set up his office in the spare room out in the garage. He has joined the local "coffee club" downtown where he goes just about every morning. They have free wi-fi so he can check his email and get a jump on his day while getting some social interaction as well. The twins celebrated their 6th birthday with a party at Recreation Unlimited with friends from school. That was fun. Sullivan can finally ride his bike (with training wheels)!! Jillian is officially riding her bike without training wheels and Nolan is a pro this year as he learned to ride without last summer.

Matt and I found a house we fell in love with and decided to take the plunge to put ours up for sale and see what happened. We worked very hard getting our house de-cluttered, painted and organized and put it on the market about a month ago. We put a bid on the other house contingent on the sale of ours. Now we are having second thoughts and think we may just stay put and do some remodeling to the kitchen and master bathroom. Matt did get the kids' bathroom finished 100% and it looks great! We wish we would have done it four years ago.

Matt ran in the Indy Mini marathon and I walked with some friends. Matt was very pleased with his performance and I was a little disappointed in mine. I did much better than last year but fell behind the last two miles from my friends. I am not sure I will do it next year. Maybe the kids and I will be there to cheer daddy on at the finish line. Matt and his mom took the kids downtown to the Rookie Run and they got to run the kids race.

We upgraded our pop-up camper just last week to a 26' travel trailer. It's a 2004 Surveyor with quad bunk beds and a fold down Queen bed in the front. We figured with all the camping we did last year and how much the kids love it that this would make it easier and more enjoyable for us all. Not to mention we needed a little more storage space for a family of six since Matt's Commander doesn't have any room in after we put all the kids in it. We will test the new camper out this Memorial Day weekend with a trip to Columbus, IN. There will be 6 other families going and Matt has been planning it for months. It should be lots of fun!

Brendan has been learning new words every week. He says Mommy, Daddy, book, ball, drink, kitty, doggy, up, uuh-uuh (for NO), Eli (a child of friends of ours) and a few others. He loves to mimic people and their actions and will do a little dance when you say Happy Feet. Sullivan's last week of preschool is this week. He finally can write the letter "s" and can almost spell his name. He gets to the "i" and forgets the rest, or so he says he forgets. He counts really well, though. He has also become a soccer all-star! We signed him up for soccer and boy is he good! He has one mission....kick, kick, kick the ball into the goal if you ask him. He loves that his older brother and sister sit on the sidelines and watch him for a change. He'll give them a thumbs up after every goal he scores. (and he scores a lot)

Jillian and Nolan are officially beginner readers and writers. They have a lot of enthusiasm for learning right now, but are easily frustrated. I am hoping to work with them a little bit over the summer so they don't forget too much before first grade. They can also do simple addition problems and they like me to print off math problems for them to do. Jillian is in love with a boy named Camden in her class which also happens to be Nolan's best friend. Nolan has a girlfriend named Emma. They have written I love you to each other in school so I guess that makes it official. I had no idea this started so early! Nolan had been saving his money for months to buy a Nintendo Wii. Daddy had told him if he saved half that we would pay for the other half. Well, he saved a little over half with the help of his brother and sister and is now a proud owner of a Wii. It's been fun for the whole family, but also a source of arguments.

March 12, 2008 Entry by Rachelle

Matt finished his marathon! I was there with tears in my eyes as he crossed the finish line. With the help of his Aunts and Uncles the kids and I drove to different sites along the race route to get out and cheer him on. That was pretty fun. We enjoyed Sarasota for a week at his Aunt Barb & Aunt Brenda's house. The kids made it to the beach one day and had a blast. We went with Mim to see the manatees at Mote Marine. We visited Grandma and Grandpa everyday. We ate Thai & Vietnemese food. We ate at Primo's, an Italian restaurant and at Rotten Ralph's. Matt and Nolan went deep sea fishing. Jillian and I got pedicures. Sullivan and Matt went to a spring training game (Baseball, the Red's and I forget who they played.) Then it was off to Disney for four nights. We really splurged this year and got a family suite at Disney's All Star Music Resort for four nights. We only did two days at the parks, which was plenty for the age of our little ones. Magic Kingdom is by far their favorite park because they are the age where all they want to do is ride, ride, ride. Nolan went on the Tower of Terror twice and loved it. The weather was pretty good except for some rain, but there were no lines for almost everything in the parks! How great it was just to walk on the rides! Our last night at Disney we went to a Disney dinner show called The Hoop-De-Doo Revue. The kids really enjoyed that and the food was great.

We had a scare on the drive home from Florida. Just after crossing the Indiana line we were clipped by a semi that had come over into our lane. We were driving the far left lane and had nowhere to go. Once he made contact with our passenger's side mirror, he jerked back over into his lane. Thankfully Matt is a great driver and was able to avoid major catastrophe. We did make contact with the concrete median barrier but it only scraped the van rather than denting it all in. No one was hurt and the airbags did not deploy. The semi driver never stopped. Now we are in the process of insurance and estimates and I am driving w/out a passenger side mirror. Thankfully the van was still driveable, but most importantly that no one was even remotely hurt.

Now we're home and back into the swing of things. Matt will be starting a new job with HP in another week. The first week of April he will leave for NC for a week of training. Then he will be working from home. We will be working on clearing out that extra room in the garage to make him an office in there. Not sure where we are going to put all the junk that is in there, but I suppose we'll get it figured out. With news of Matt's new job, I put my two week's notice in at Kohl's. Matt is nearly done with the kids bathroom upstairs. The tile is finished and now he's doing touch-up painting, trim installation and such. Cannot wait until that is done! This project has dragged on and on.

February 4, 2008 Entry by Rachelle

For those of you looking for photos, they are up and have been up. I'm trying a different album, so you have to click on the chain link photo to get to the photos for December 2007 and January 2008. (Or you can click on those two dates I just typed to see their respective albums.) I know this confuses everyone and I apologize. This way is much faster for me to get the photos online and organized. Sorry for the lack of journal updates. Just after my last update, I started working part time in the evenings and on weekends at Kohl's. I got pretty busy from Novemeber through the holidays then as you can imagine.

Thanksgiving was fun this year. My Aunt Mary came for a visit from New Mexico and stayed about 9 days with us. We celebrated the holiday a few days early to accomodate my out-of-town sisters from that side of the family and my Grandma in the nursing home. We had a full house, it was crazy, but it was so fun and nice to have everyone together. This is my Dad's side of my family that rarely gets together, at least all at once anyway. After that whirlwind it was full speed ahead to Christmas. The kids have never been as excited for Christmas as they had this year. It was hard to get them to go to bed! Santa brought them their favorite things on their list and they played relentlessly with their new goodies. It's hard to put into words how much I enjoyed the holiday this year.

I celebrated my 31st birthday with a group of friends. We all went to eat at Maggiano's, a great Italian place. Then in early January I hit the road for a girl's trip to Georgia with my friend, Brooke. We traveled to my friend Melissa's house to stay a few days and celebrate her big 30th. I got in some serious girl shopping! Coming home is always hard for me. While I'm gone I get to be me with no responsibilites other than myself. It's so hard for me to adjust to being needed so much when I get home. This time I had an extra hard time adjusting and had a mini-mental breakdown the next day. It made me realize just how much I do in a day and how demanding and overwhelming it can all be. Once I got my "mommy legs" back everything was just fine. But it did take a good week or more. Thank goodness I have such an understanding and supportive husband to talk me through those tough times. Now that my perspective and priorities are back in order, I am really enjoying the kids and all those special moments that occur at any time.

Speaking of the kids, can you believe that Brendan is one already! Neither can I! He's getting big so fast. Faster than all the others, I swear. Maybe it's because he's my last baby that I feel this way. He's adorable, smart, funny and perfect in every way. Ok, maybe not perfect....but's he's pretty close. He's been walking for two months, mastered going up and down stairs & throws balls like an MVP. Balls are definitely his favorite thing to play with. He has five teeth with three more that just broke through. He was easy to wean off the bottle, just two weeks before his birthday he was done. He smiles at everyone and you can make him laugh by doing just about anything.

Sullivan is doing well in preschool. He can count to 12, and higher with some help. He has no interest in writing letters or even learning them. His teachers say he does very well with everything in class but needs to have more patience with his peers. He gets upset at them for little things.....hmmmm....sounds just like his big brother. At home he's a clown. Always doing silly things to get a laugh. He's mastering computer games and video games at the moment. And I believe his favorite activity is eating junk food. He's quite the kisser and loves to cuddle. And he's smooth with words, surprising me with the sweetest things out of his mouth at times.

Jillian is almost reading. She can sound out short words and recognize longer words and has been "reading" some of her books to me that she makes at school. She finally wrote all of her numbers to 100 without making any of them backwards. She has lots of friends at school. Her favorite thing to is are make crafts, or craftseses as she calls them. She still enjoys dressing up in princess clothes and playing make believe. She will often ask me is she looks fabulous, thanks to High School Musical. She likes to sing and dance to The Cheetah Girls and any High School Musical song.

Nolan is doing very well with numbers and math in school. He was one of the first in his class to write and say his numbers to 100. He is making strides in controlling his temper and short fuse. We've been really working on that at home. He loves to watch daddy play Guitar Hero and will grab his little guitar and "rock out" with daddy. He knows a lot of rock songs now! He shows a lot of interest in music and told me he wants to learn how to play piano. Like his brother, he has been playing a lot of computer games and video games. He is so mature in the way he talks and loves to use big words he's heard grown-ups say...in context.

Matt is hanging in at Sallie Mae through cut-backs and layoffs. So far his job is safe and he feels it will be for awhile. He's looking into selling his hosting business which would free up some time and eleviate a lot of stress. Right now he's focused on training for his first full marathon. On March 2 (or the 3rd, can't remember), he will be running the Sarasota Marathon. We're incorporating our family vacation with this. He's been doing very well with his training and I am so proud of him. I can't wait to meet him at the finish line!

October 7, 2007 Entry by Rachelle

How can I possibly remember what the months of August and September held? I know we took a camping trip up north to Eby's Pines one weekend in August. We dropped Sully off at Grandma and Grandpa Roose's so they could let him pick out his birthday present. Grandpa ended up bringing him over to the campground the next day because he was bored and asking for us. Matt and I celebrated our 9th anniversary. Didn't do anything spectacular...went to dinner at the Roadhouse and then went bowling. Hopefully our 10th year will hold something more memorable. In September Sully had his fourth birthday! It seemed like he was three forever! We just had a small get together of family over at the house for cake and ice cream.Great Grandma & Grandpa Miller were in town staying with Ga-Ga for about a month, so they got to join in. We also celebrated Great Grandpa's 90th birthday.

We drove down to Tennessee for a family renion/celebration of Great Grandpa's birthday. We all stayed at the Smoke House cabins and had a lot of fun. The kids got reaquainted with their cousins from Georgia and had a blast. They are still talking about Ally, Abby & Shawn. It was really nice seeing Matt's cousins and aunts and uncle. We had a garage cleaning and sale that didn't fare that well, which confirms to me that we should never have another garage sale again. Too much work, so much easier to drop it off at Goodwill. We took what might be our final camping trip of the year up to Peru, Indiana with 7 other families. We did this last year and the kids get dressed up in their Halloween costumes and trick or treat at the Mississinewa campground where all the campsites are decorated all spooky. Then we go to the chili supper and head back to our campsite. After the kids are all asleep the adults stay up way too late. It was so much fun!

Matt was out of town a lot in the month of September, so we're glad to have him home, now. The kids are loving school! Nolan learned how to ride his bike without training wheels and he lost his first tooth. Sullivan adjusted to preschool very well. Brendan is now 8 months old and crawling and cruising the furniture. He has two teeth on bottom and two on top. He is still a happy baby and has a smile for everyone. We are all enjoying him immensely.

August 4, 2007 Entry by Rachelle

Trying to stay on top of things with this website. Our Holiday World trip was great! We had a really nice double campsite that was very roomy and grassy. The kids had lots of room to run and play. We only got rained out one day and it happened to be a park day. At least it was toward the evening and we were able to get some fun riding before then. We've got our spots reserved for next year! Matt left on his trip to Chattanooga the very next day after we got home. That was a bummer for us, but fun for him. From what I've heard he had a very good time. And he came home in one piece, that's always a bonus. The day after he got back, we went to The Brickyard race with client of Matt's from work and his girlfriend. That was fun! We didn't so much like the outcome of Tony Stewart's victory, but fun nonetheless. Not much has been going on since all that traveling. Just hanging out at home and taking it easy. Haven't tackled any new projects around the house yet.

The kids are getting excited for school to start. They are anxious to meet their teachers next week and Sullivan is looking forward to finding out who his preschool teacher will be. I'm kinda anxious to get back into a routine as well. On Tuesdays and Thursdays it will just be me and Brendan for two whole hours! I know those two hours are going to fly by. Brendan is almost sitting up completely, he falls over after a minute or so. He's still the sweetest, happiest baby on the planet.

July 14, 2007

Here you go, as promised. I'm not sure if I can think all the way back to May! The mini marathon went well. Matt ended up only improving his time by about 20 seconds and I finished within my goal. I struggled more than I thought I would after mile 7, but I made it. Next year I will be in much better shape for it as I don't plan on having another baby before then. Friends of ours moved back to our town from Arizona after being gone for over a year. We were excited to have them back and have been doing things with their family. I took a girl's weekend with some friends and my sister, Stephanie to Nashville, TN. That is always so much fun! I had saved some bingo winnings and money I earned from Tastefully Simple to pay for it. Thank you to wonderful Matt for taking excellent care of our home and children while I was away getting refreshed and reoriented with myself.

The twins had their preschool graduation program which was very cute. We went camping over Memorial Day Weekend in our newly purchased pop-up camper. We tried out a new campground nearby. It was ok, but the camping was still fun as ever. I especially liked having a potty in our camper! And the much more comfortable sleeping arrangements. It was just us and the kids, even the baby. We went camping again over Father's Day Weekend with two other families. We had a blast! We had a Fourth of July cookout with family and my parents stayed with us for a few days to spend time with the kids. The kids loved having them here and were sad when they left. We're gearing up for our 4th annual Holiday World trip next week. We'll be taking the pop-up with us and some tents. Each year we go we end up going for one more day than the year before. So this year it will be from Wednesday to Sunday. We always have an excellent time and plan to again this year. The kids will be tall enough to ride a lot of rides this year.

I am now the local MOMS Club president. MOMS Club is a group of mothers that are home during the day with their children. I am hoping to do a great job as president this year and have fun. Matt will be taking his annual Star Days motorcycle trip this month. I dread having him gone that long, but always manage to survive somehow. He did get the roof done! I posted a before and after picture of the house along with one of the shed. We didn't tear it down, just did some repairs. Matt gets kudos for the roofing job as he did the majority of it himself. And it looks beautiful! Not sure which project is next on the agenda....probably staining the fence and playset out back.

The summer is flying by as usual. Soon the twins will be off to kindergarten and Sullivan to preschool twice a week. I know we will try to cram as much fun as possible into the remainder of the good weather. Brendan is growing so fast! I can't explain in words just how sweet and adorable he is. He'll be sitting up in no time as well as crawling. He can scoot clear across a room on his back! He is very strong. I started him on some baby food and so far his favorites are peas, green beans, carrots, pears and chicken noodle. He doesn't care for bananas, just like his mommy. The twins are starting to sound out letters and words and figure out how to spell short words. Sullivan's attention span is about 2 minutes or shorter so sitting down with him to do anything is quite difficult. All of the kids are so unique and I love them so much! Even on the days I have to excuse myself and go into the garage to let out a series of screams to relieve some stress. At the end of the day it still warms my heart to see them all tucked in their beds in snoozeville.

May 1, 2007 Entry by Rachelle

We are having technical difficulties with the photo pages, so I apologize for not having new photos up. I tried putting our vacation photos up, but only half of them went through and I haven't been able to put any more photos up at all. Our vacation was wonderful! The rental house was beautiful and the pool was sooooo warm! The kids have never swam so much in their lives. They were loving every minute of it. We did take one day to go to Disney's Animal Kingdom. That was a lot of fun, which makes us want to plan a Disney vacation for next fall.

We are finally getting some warmer weather here and Matt is faced with some home projects. He plans of putting a new layer of shingles on the house, tearing down our shed and building a new one and putting up new shutters on the house. But this weekend is a busy one for us....we are both participating in the Indy 500 Mini Marathon. Matt will be running...he ran last year and hopes to improve his time this year. I will be walking with a group of friends. I'm hoping to finish between 3-3 1/2 hours. This will be my first year.

Brendan is the sweetest baby ever! He smiles at everyone and laughs all the time. He is ticklish just about everywhere. Boy does he light up when he sees his siblings. And they LOVE to entertain him. If any of them hear him fuss, they rush over to him to make him happy. They are tremendous helpers! Nolan asked me if I could have more babies because he said he just loves having babies around. Brendan started rolling from back to tummy at 8 weeks! He is sleeping 10-11 hours straight through the night which makes my life so much easier. Brendan fits into this family so well that it is already hard to imagine what it was like without him.

Sullivan is our family clown. He likes to get attention by cracking people up with the silly things he does. He will have the twins laughing at the breakfast table every morning. He still gets left out of their play time a lot, so he will hang around with me quite a bit. Nolan is still the sensitive soul. He has a very strong attachment to Brendan and wants to be in charge of all the kids. He can be quite moody, when he's good....he's sooooo good, but when he's bad....WATCH OUT! He finally counted to 20 for his preschool teachers. He has known how to do for awhile, but wouldn't do it at school. Jillian is confident and independent. She can found playing ponies or Polly Pocket in her room all by herself for hours. We have learned of her sneaky ways, but in general she is a very good girl. She will be trouble in about 8-10 years.

March 2007 Entry by Rachelle

Brendan is one month old! That first month is always such a blur. We really had a rough time around here for a couple weeks. Matt has been battling an ongoing sinus infection, Nolan had a weird ear infection that caused multiple rounds of pink eye in all the kids, I got mastitis (an infection in my breast) not once, but twice and decided to stop breastfeeding, Jillian got some sort of stomach bug and was throwing up AND the cat and dog also were throwing up at various times. But that is all behind us now and brighter days are ahead! Poor Brendan had not gained a single ounce of his birthweight back in four weeks because of breastfeeding issues, but he's a happy boy now that we've switched to formula. It was a very hard decision for me to make, but we are all much more at ease now. He is a very good baby and has been sleeping 5-7 hour stretches at night since two weeks old. Now who can complain about that? We are all debating about his hair because he just might be a red head. Time will tell I guess.

The kids started swim lessons at the YMCA. They were sooooo excited and had the biggest grins on their faces during their first lesson. Jillian and Sullivan even jumped in off the side of the pool several times which they normally do not. We are gearing them up for our vacation that is coming up at the end of March. We've rented a 5-bedroom home in Orlando with another family. It has it's own pool and hot tub and is in a gated community that also has a huge pool with lots of other things to do. We are very excited! Of course we will be spending a few days in Sarasota as well to visit with family.

Matt is making a lateral move within in his job soon. Another position opened up that sounded exciting to him and after inquiring about it, the job was his. He's not sure how long the transition will take, but he is eager to be doing something a little different. We are all anxiously awaiting warmer and better weather. Overall this winter has been mild, but the kids are definitely ready to play outside again.

February 11, 2007 Entry by Rachelle

As I am sure you know, we finally have a baby boy! I went ten days past my due date and I was starting to wonder if maybe I had a large tumor in my belly rather than a baby. I was scheduled for an induction Tuesday morning, but thankfully went into labor on my own early Monday morning, January 29th. We arrived at the hospital at 7am and my contractions were about 4-5 minutes apart and getting more and more painful. We skipped admitting when the nurse checked me to reveal I was already 7cm! My doctor came in to tell me I needed to make a decision right then as to whether or not to have an epidural. I wasn't sure if I wanted one, but after talking to the anesthesiologist I decided to go ahead and get one. He promised my legs would not go numb and that I would be able to push very well. At 8cm we realized we left the camera out in the van. I told Matt to hurry up and go get it before it was too late. I was feeling pretty good with the epidural and I could still move my legs! Things were going along very nicely.

My doctor had a scheduled c-section at 8am, so his partner came in to check on me and break my water. Immediately after breaking my water, panic started to spread in the room. Matt was not back yet and the doctor could not find the baby's heart beat. I was not fully effaced yet to push and after placing the more monitors on the baby's head they could still not find a heart beat. I was rushed to the O.R. for an emergency c-section. I started to cry, I was so scared. Once in the O.R. the anesthesiologist had to crank up my epidural to numb me for the surgery. (All the things he promised were no longer true) I kept praying over and over for the baby to be ok and to avoid the c-section. Finally, the doctor was able to pick up a steady heart beat! I was fully effaced and ready to push! Then I see Matt's face at the door and they let him in. The doctor tells me we are going to try and push the baby out. "Yes, yes, " I am thinking in my head. "Let's push him out! Thank God!" Because I am completely numb, the nurses have to tell me when to push and I need people to support my legs to help me push. I push as hard as I can but I have no sensation whatsoever and cannot tell if I am pushing. It took three or four contractions and the help of the vacuum, but he finally came out!

Brendan came out purple and lifeless but he quickly perked up as the doctors worked on him. I heard a cry and felt instant relief. Later we learned that he did have the cord wrapped around his neck. We could not touch him for an hour, but we could tell by looking at him that he was a big boy. He did not need oxygen or any special treatment. He passed all of his tests and seemed perfectly healthy. He weighed in at 9 lbs, 14 oz and was 22" long! I never thought he was going to be that big. He was beautiful and he was finally out of my body!

We've been home for eleven days now with Brendan and the rest of the gang. The first two days are a blur. I got sick with a breast infection, all the kids got pink eye and the Colts won the Superbowl! And then we had a snowstorm. I am starting to feel human again and the kids are settling down from all the excitement. Brendan has been a very laid back baby so far. He rarely cries and is easily soothed. But when he does cry, everyone knows it! The kids do not like it when he cries. Nolan is a very proud big brother and a huge help around the house. Jillian has gone about her playing as usual. She likes to bring her toys into the nursery and play while I nurse Brendan. Sullivan is a little unsure of his role around home now that he no longer the baby. He seems to be dealing with it better and doesn't display any signs of jealousy yet. Matt has been a tremendous help. I never would have been able to do this without him taking time off work. The kids have enjoyed having Daddy home and I think he is enjoying it as well. They plan on going to the Children's Museum this week and doing some fun stuff before he goes back to work.

January 2, 2007: Entry by Rachelle

We made it through Christmas without a hitch and we all had a lovely time. The kids loved what Santa brought for them and were really into the whole Christmas thing this year. Sullivan was the most entertaining to watch open presents because he would get so excited and shout, "A ________! Just what I wanted!!" One time he even said, "It's a box! Just what I wanted!!" Then he would proceed to toss it aside and look for the next gift to open. They have played non-stop with their new toys and were even excited to wear new clothes. Matt surprised me with a beautiful diamond ring! The day after Christmas we got down to business packing up the decorations and throwing out the tree. We knew we had to get busy getting ready for this baby. The nursery is done, just not complete. It's cleared out, painted and ready to go.....it's just waiting to be decorated. The kids could hardly wait to put the crib together, or the baby crate, as Sullivan calls it. They are getting so excited. Only 17 more days until my due date! Everything has been great with the pregnancy, though I have to admit I am ready to have my body back.

December 2, 20006: Entry by Rachelle

Let the holiday madness begin! This morning we picked out our tree at the corner market and we plan on decorating tonight. The kids are very excited. Matt is finishing up the outdoor lights and then we should be all set. I did the whole "black Friday" mall shopping experience this year with a friend. It wasn't all that bad, if you don't think about the getting up at 3:30am and shopping for over 8 hours straight thing. I managed to get 90% of the kids' and Matt's gifts as well as a few others and some things for myself. (I broke my cardinal rule of never buying anything for myself while Christmas shopping. But it was my birthday the next day.....) We're down to only six and half weeks before this baby is due and I really feel unprepared in that department. We haven't made any more progress on the nursery and I need to start going through clothes and seeing what I still need. We'll get it done somehow; we always do.

My girls trip was great!!! We checked into our room and there was a beautiful boquet of flowers sitting on the table from Matt. How sweet! We did some window shopping, got free make-up makeovers, ate a great dinner at a nice restaurant, saw a movie and had some good old girl time. We also spent a lot of time driving around being lost. All part of the fun, right? It was just what I needed! Matt has been working out and training for the mini marathon in May. He also wants to run a mini marathon in Sarasota in March, which we would incorporate into our family vacation for the year. We haven't made any final plans yet.

The kids had a great month. Sullivan has not made any huge catastrophic messes and I've been able to rest on the couch when needed. They are getting very excited about Christmas and about baby Brendan's arrival. I signed them up for the sibling class at the hospital. They will get to take a tour of the maternity ward and learn how to help me take care of the baby. I've been feeling pretty good overall, just starting to feel the fatigue set in. Hardly any swelling this time around and minimal heartburn. I'm still making it to the gym, but my intensity level is quickly decreasing as it doesn't take much to get my heart rate going. By my next update on here I will only have two weeks to go! Hard to believe that we will soon have four children. What are we, crazy?

November 2, 2006: Entry by Rachelle

Oops, looks like I skipped a month in the journal. Must have been busy. Thanks to everyone for their patience with the changes in the photo pages. We feel more secure now that not just anyone can look at photos of our family. If you haven't yet, please register on our photo page so you can view the newest pictures. All you have to do is click on Register and make up a username and password for yourself. Then Matt will approve your access and you can login anytime to look at pictures. I've also been working on a new look for the website, but have to rely on Matt for the technical aspects of it. I'm hoping we can get that up soon.

Let's see, I am in my third trimester of my final pregnancy and feeling pretty good. Only eleven weeks until my due date and we have a lot to do yet. If you haven't heard, it's a boy and we've named him Brendan Matthew. We did get the computer moved out of the baby's room so now we have to go through everything else that we've thrown in there, paint and move in the baby's stuff. We've weeded out 90% of the toys that were in the "playroom" downstairs and that seems to be working well. The kids had way too much stuff down there and it seemed we were endlessly attempting to get the kids to clean it up.

I'm headed out of town tomorrow morning with a girlfriend of mine. We're meeting up with another friend of mine in Nashville, TN for a weekend of relaxing, shopping and good old girl time. I thought I should get at least a weekend off of being mommy before this baby comes. And maybe I'll get a jump start on some Christmas shopping. I can't wait....boy do I need a break. Sullivan has been really testing my patience lately with his antics. He's constantly getting into things and making huge messes. The last big mess involved raw, Bob Evans sausage....use your imagination with that one. We now have a lock on our refridgerator and snack cabinet. Speaking of refridgerators, ours has been broken for the last week. We are waiting on a part to be ordered before it can be fixed. Let me just say that a family of five living out of a mini-fridge in the garage is not very convienent....but worse things could happen. I'll be stocking the family up on canned goods for the weekend while I am away.

An update on the kids:

Nolan: He went through an angry phase for about a month that had me so worried and in tears almost daily. He seems to have worked through it and is much better. Thank goodness. He is really into music and loves to listen to the radio and sing. He still loves to be in control and be the boss of everyone, so you can imagine how he might clash against his parents every now and then. He's a very good boy in preschool and seems to enjoy going. I can tell that he is very smart and is going to give us some big challenges in the future. Once when I put him in timeout he cried and said, "I just want to play with my best friend, Jillian." The funniest thing he did was just a couple of weeks ago. A friend of mine, whom he is very fond of, was joking around with him about Nolan coming to live with her. He really thought she was serious and thought the idea was great. While I was chatting with this friend in the parking lot, he proceeded to get his carseat out of our van all by himself and put it into her car! Should my feelings have been hurt? He did say he would miss me.

Jillian: Can you say princess??? Jillian was in heaven the other day when we went wedding dress shopping with Aunt Michelle. She got to try on some flower girl dresses and did not want to take them off. I think she stared at herself in the mirror for 20 minutes straight. It was so cute to hear her oooh and aaaah over the racks of bridesmaids dresses, too. She always tells me that after she gets married, she's going to get a baby in her belly, too.....like mommy. She is definitely all girl. She loves school and her teachers and I suspect that she has a lot of friends. She really gets into playing with her little princess figurines and ponies. She will keep herself occupied for a long time setting up elaborate play scenes for them. She's very creative and resourceful. She also loves to make crafts. Or craftes, as she calls them.

Sullivan: Trouble-maker about sums it up. A lovable trouble-maker, though. He will be the first one to say he loves you or give you a big hug and flash that handsome grin of his. But watch out! He's planning his next mess-making adventure. He's not picky in his mediums, he'll use whatever is most readily available to him at the moment, but water is his favorite. At least twenty times a day I am after him to quit playing in the bathroom sink. We went through an entire bottle of hand soap in less than a week thanks to him. He also prefers to potty outside in the backyard and no matter how many times he gets in trouble for it, you can almost always look out back and see his bare bottom as he doesn't like to put his pants back on after going potty. He's putting wrinkles on my face, I swear it. I hope he grows out of this mischievious phase before Brendan gets here or I might really go crazy.

Brendan: He's a very active little baby in my belly. Probably the most active one so far. He has a strong heart beat at every appointment and is already very loved by his brothers and sister. I bet he can't wait to get out and see what all the comotion is in this world around him.

September 2, 2006: Entry by Rachelle

Is summer really almost over? Seems like it just started. Highlights for this past month were: trips to the park and water park, a visit from our Phoenix friends, building a new swingset, Matt's Grandma & Grandpa Snowbird visiting from Florida and adopting a rescued Golden Retriever. I am halfway along in my pregnancy and feeling great. I'm back to exercising 3-5 times a week which I feel is making a huge difference this time around. We have our BIG ultrasound this coming Wednesday and we do plan on finding out the gender of this baby. I'm secretly hoping for a girl this time, but am thrilled no matter what the outcome. Sullivan's birthday is Tuesday and he has insisted on a Nemo cake and party, which is great because that Nemo cake I made for the twins was the easiest cake I've ever made. It will be "a piece of cake" to do again! Daddy will have the new playground all done just in time for his party.

Matt and I did not go to Turkey Run for our anniversary afterall. Our very dear friend and neighbor, Kathy, passed away days before our trip and we had no time to plan. The kids loved Kathy very much and so did we. She died of cancer. We will all miss her terribly and we'll do our best to keep her sweet husband, Charlie, in good spirits.

We have not "officially" adopted Chase, the Golden Retriever, until tomorrow. That is when he is being delivered and we sign the contract. A family dog is something Matt has wanted since we've been married and especially a Golden. And Sullivan is a huge dog lover! I felt the time was right, but couldn't see us training a puppy properly before the new baby arrived, so I started looking into shelters and rescues for a young dog. I found Chase! He's one year old and a very smart and loving boy. He was wonderful with the kids and cats and it was love at first site for us all.

I can't sign off without giving props to Matt for all his hard work on the new playground. He really wasn't keen on the idea of building it himself, but I convinced him to do it to save $$. I knew he had the skills to do it and do it well. He's worked non-stop and is only one day away from finishing. It looks fantastic and the kids already LOVE it. Don't worry, there will be photos of the finished product coming soon!

July 30, 2006: Entry by Rachelle

Sorry for the delay, folks! Man, some people get worked up if I skip a month of updating pictures. I'm not sure anyone reads this journal or not. In June we had our vacation to Florida which was wonderful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We decided last minute to hit Disney World for a day before going home. What a great decision! We can't wait to go back. The kids had so much fun and we savored every minute. Despite the heat and the crowds, we could not have had a better time! For the Fourth of July we had my sister and her two boys in town along with my Aunt Mary. Aunt Mary was on her way to Arizona where she is relocating from Connecticut. We all drove out to enjoy the fireworks together and it was a lot of fun! Soon after, it was time to pack up again and go with GaGa and Aunt Michelle to our annual Holiday World trip. This was our third year going and Sullivan's first year. We rented a cabin at the campground right next to the park and had a blast. One of the highlights for the kids was the golf cart that Grandma insisted on renting while at the campground. We have our reservations for next year already and extended the trip by one more evening. We're counting down the days!

Matt just got home from touring the wild west with a buddy of his on their motorcycles. He was gone for 11 days and has lots of pictures to share. He had a great time and is making plans for a family vacation in the future for us to Yellowstone. While he was away, I decided to pack up the kids and drive to Georgia to stay with a friend. She has three boys of her own, so you can imagine that our days were not quiet or boring! We enjoyed each other's company and all the kids really did get along pretty well. Sullivan didn't want to leave. And the 8 hour drive went very smooth by myself with three little ones. (What would I have done without that DVD player and my audio books?)

August is looking to be a quiet month for us, with the only travel plans being for our 8 year anniversary. We will spend a weekend at Turkey Run just the two of us. (Thanks, GaGa!) We wanted to stay at the Inn, but there aren't any rooms available. Looks like we'll be tent camping instead. I have wanted to go there for years as I love to trail walk. I can't wait! I am 15 weeks along in my pregnancy and feeling good. The fatigue seems to be wearing off and my belly is beginning to round out. I've gained more weight than I would have liked to so far thanks to all the traveling, but I hope I can keep it under control for the remainder of the pregnancy. It's back to the gym for me now that we're home again. Sullivan's third birthday is creeping up on us. I can't believe he's turning three!!!!! He says he wants a dolphin cake, but we'll see if how many times he changes his mind before his party.

June 1, 2006: Entry by Rachelle

The month of May held a dance recital, soccer games, college graduation, a mini-marathon, children's museum and camping! I guess we like to keep busy. And not to mention the biggest news of all that we are expecting another child mid-January. And of all days to find out, I took a pregnancy test on Mother's Day! We are all very excited, especially the kids. Jillian can't wait to buy baby clothes and get all the baby stuff out. Sullivan is having a hard time waiting and wants to know where the baby is and if he can see it. Nolan informed all of us exactly what will happen when the baby gets too big to be in my belly, "It will come out your 'gina." That kid kills me sometimes. As for the expecting parents, we are quite happy, but also certain that this will be our last journey down the baby path.

Preschool is over for the summer, but the kids do not seem to miss it. They finished their soccer season, which was only four weeks. Jillian had her dance recital and looked so beautiful up on stage. My sister, Monica, graduated from college and we had a small BBQ at the house for her. Matt ran his very first half-marathon in the Indy Mini Marathon. I had signed up to do it as well, but my sister's graduation ended up being on the same day. He did really great and we are very proud of him. He's planning on doing more races and improving his time. He just has to be careful though, as he injured his knee and it bothers him quite often. For Mother's Day, our annual state park picnic got rained out, so we went to The Children's Museum instead. That was fun! For Memorial Day weekend we took the kids on their first tent camping trip. They absolutely loved it. They can't wait to do it again and pretend play that they are camping all the time now.

We are going to Florida afterall! We decided to leave June 8th. Matt's been working so many hours that he finally got fed up and said we were going no matter what. The kids are excited to go the beach. Our bedroom is in the final stretches, with only the last coats of paint to go on the trim and curtains to pick out. It looks very nice so far. I think it's finally safe to say that Sullivan is potty trained! He is now telling us when he needs to go and hasn't had any accidents for a long time. (Knock on wood) Wow, to think when I have a baby this time it will be the only one in diapers! That will be a change. :-)

April 30, 2006: Entry by Rachelle

April was busy! Between the birth of my new nephew, moving my Grandma, Easter and the twins' birthday we barely had time to relax. Our Dr.Phil showed aired and we had friends and family over to view it with us. That was a lot of fun! And in case you didn't get to see the show, Dr.Phil said I WAS RIGHT!!!!! We will eventually sell the Jeep and get something we can both agree on. We have not yet completed our bedroom redecorating, but we did make some progress today. We choose red for the walls which is almost done. I can't wait. Our new garage door is in and is so quiet compared to our old one. We were not able to work out the time and money to go to Florida yet this spring, but we're not giving up hope. We still have either early June or this fall. I am saving my earnings from Tastefully Simple to go.

We have been spending a lot of time visiting my grandma and getting her settled in the nursing home here. She was three hours away before, so it's been great having her close. The move went very well and she is adjusting nicely. Nolan and Jillian turned four this month. They will say things like, "I can do this now because I am four!" They had a great party with friends they invited from preshcool and they choose to have a campfire on their actual birthday. We just signed them up for a four week soccer program. Every Saturday they will play soccer for 45 minutes with other kids their age.Nolan did not want to participate once we got there but daddy finally talked him into it and he had a lot of fun. Jillian was put off by the chilly morning weather, but she participated and had fun as well. Hopefully next time will be a bit warmer. Sullivan really wanted to play, too. He wore Nolan's jersey for awhile and kicked a soccer ball by the fields while Jillian played. He did not want to take that jersey off. The sad thing is, he won't even be old enough to play next year....his birthday just misses the age cut-off.

The weather is starting to warm up and the kids have been playing outside quite a bit. It's doing us all good to get out of the house more. We look forward to this summer and all the activities it holds. I plan on getting a great tan from all our trips to the pool!

March 24, 2006: Entry by Rachelle

I can tell we have all been cooped up for way too long because I barely took any pictures the last month and a half! I am sure most of you have heard by now that Matt and I were contacted by The Dr.Phil show a couple of weeks ago. They had come across an email I submitted almost two years ago. They were putting together a lighthearted show using five different couples with different arguments that Dr.Phil could solve for them. They liked our argument and decided to fly us to L.A. to tape the episode. So, we were one of five couples appearing on the Dr.Phil show titled, "Settle Our Dispute", airing on Monday, April 10th. It was such a great and fun experience and we cannot wait until the show airs so everyone will know the outcome and quit asking!! : - )

We have started a new project in the house of stripping wallpaper in our bedroom. Ideally, we would love to do some renovations with our current bedroom and bathrooms. However, our budget says we need to wait a couple more years before that happens. So in the meantime, we will paint and redecorate our bedroom. I will post pictures of the finished project whenever that may be. We are also getting a new garage door! Woo-Hoo, that's exciting to read about, isn't it? It's exciting for us, though. We're talking about getting down to Florida in April or May. I really hope we can get things worked out and get down there for some family visiting and fun in the sun with these kiddos. They are looking forward to playing at the beach again.

I am doing well with Tastefully Simple. I really enjoy that it's my own business and I can be as busy or free as I feel. I love the control I have and the flexibility of when I can work on it. I have also been using the products quite frequently, to the delight of Matt who has been raving over my dinners for the past few weeks. Matt is in the middle of planning his next motorcycle trip. He has opted to not go to Star Days and will be touring with a friend. I think they have the majority of the route all planned out already. He can get on here and give you all more details when he has time.

The children are sooooooo ready for nicer weather! And so am I!!! We are going crazy! Sullivan got ahold of a pair of scissors the other day and I found him cutting up Jillian's Snow White dress-up dress! At least it wasn't her Belle dress, she would have been much more devastated. Sullivan has also regressed with his potty training a bit, but he's getting back on track. The three of them keep me entertained with their pretend play. Sometimes they pretend one them is a video game, while the other one controls them. They make up their own characters, it's so funny! There is never a dull moment in this house, that is for sure! They are getting so excited to go to Holiday World again this year. Everytime they see a billboard advertising Holiday World they shout it out and start talking about how they will go on all the big rides this year because they are taller.

February 4, 2006: Entry by Rachelle

Whew, made it here again before too much time flew by! All is well here and I can hardly believe it's February and we have not had a single illness strike our home. (KNOCK ON WOOD!) By this time last year we had all been sick at least twice and some of us more. Not much exciting to report for the month of January, other than Matt got a promotion at work. Go Matt!! I can't even express how proud I am of his accomplishments at work. I also signed up as a consultant for Tastefully Simple. It is a direct sales company that features easy to prepare gourmet foods. I give in-home taste-testing parties and it's pretty fun! Matt and I have been discussing it off and on for a couple of months and we finally decided it was a better route for me than a part time job elsewhere. I have already paid off my initial investments with my earnings in less than a month! As for the transcriptioning, I think I am officially calling it quits. I hate to be a quitter, but it just wasn't for me. Too much isolation for this stay-at-home mother.

Each month that rolls by, the kids get more and more fun! Sullivan is potty-trained!!!!! And Nolan no longer needs a pull-up at night! I have a feeling that by summer we will be a 100% pull-up free home. Now that is a good feeling. Sullivan is really talking now! It is so fun to hear him interacting with the twins verbally. Although they all fight like cats and dogs constantly, they do have their sweet and tender moments. Nolan has been blossoming at preschool, but still struggles with having class attention on him. Jillian is Miss Popularity in her class. Sullivan bounces around this house like the energizer bunny all day long. We cannot wait for warmer days when we can play outside again!!!

December 27, 2005: Entry by Rachelle

Well, hello! It's been awhile since I've added an update here, now hasn't it? What have I been so busy with that I don't have time to come here and write a few words? Nothing, really. I quit my part time job at the fitness center in November and have been staying home full time with the kids. I will have to replace that income somehow of course and soon. I started up the medical transcriptioning courses again, but it's going slowly as I haven't made it a priority. I will either have to buckle down and get that done or go out and get a part time job in the evenings and weekends. Neither one sounds exciting to me, but I'll do what needs to be done. I still visit the fitness center to get my exercise in and am active in the MOMS Club here.

Matt has been a busy bee at work. He really enjoys his job and I know he's very good at it. We are both enjoying the children. They seem to have matured so much so quickly. Jillian is in dance class and loves it. She got to practice on stage last week and it's obvious she's a natural performer. She loves the spotlight. Her passions right now are Disney Princesses and Barbie and anything pink and girly. She loves to be my little shadow and watches me closely. Nolan, on the otherhand, does not like to be noticed. He is easily embarrassed and don't you dare laugh at him. He has a tremendous grasp of vocabulary and will use words in complete context that he has heard us use. Some of the things he says leave us speechless. He is an observer and is very good with fine motor skills. He can handle a screw driver better than me and you should see him with a bottle of glue! Very precise! Sullivan is two. Need I say more? Just kidding! He has begun speaking in sentences and we can have conversation with him now. He is hungry all the time and growing fast. I have people ask me all the time if he and Nolan are twins. He and Nolan are both into Star Wars and if you ask Sully what his favorite movie is, he'll yell, "Star Wars!" He'll choose Star Wars over Elmo every time. He's still using the potty, but is not potty trained.

Nolan and Jillian started going to preschool in August for two hours, two days a week at our church. I put them in separate classes and I think they enjoy the time apart. They are always so excited and happy when they get out of school. I have really been enjoying my time with all three of the kids during the day. Things are getting easier as there is less care taking and more teaching and interacting I can do with them. Well, Nolan and Jillian have locked Sullivan in a dark closet so I better go rescue him. Hopefully my next update will be sooner than the last!

July 26th 2005: Entry By Matt

It is back to the Daily grind of work and home. Rachelle and I returned from Missouri on Saturday July 23rd. Over the period of 6 days we completed 1500 miles on the bike. We managed to get 550 miles in 11 hours on the trip home. It was long, hot and tough. I must say that Chelley was a great sport, never complained once. She got many accolades for her great job of planning our last group ride on Friday. It was 103 in St. Joseph on Friday, but the route was a blast.

For those who don't know Star Days is an annual event held by Star Touring and Riding and moves location from year to year. It is the time when all the chapters from around the world get together and meet. This year there were people from just about every state in the US along with several from other countries. Canada was represented along with England and the furthest travelers came from New Zealand. I must say that Star Touring and Riding is a class act that brings people together. This year the event raised just shy of $140,000 for Feed the Children, STAR's partner charity organization. It was a great time to see the money raised and the hands on experience of helping people in need was priceless.

The only hitch in the whole week was the un-invited arrival of an jail escapee at the hotel next door, you'll have to check out the photos for more on this but it was a 6 hour stand off between police and him that ended peacefully with no one harmed.

The kids stayed with Ga-Ga, Chell, and Monica while we were gone. They seemed to have grown leaps and bounds. I must say while the time away was nice it was even better to come home and see our precious little ones again. We only have a few small habits to break them of after returning. Nolan seems to always want to pee in the grass. :)

Well till next time, thanks for stopping in! If you want to see ride pictures check them out here.

July 14, 2005

Summer has been so busy! Our trip to Florida was postponed a few weeks at the last minute due to a death in the family. I spent a few days in Michigan with my sisters by myself. Despite the circumstances, it was nice spending time with them without my children to distract me. It was also great to spend one-on-one time with my nephew. We did get to Florida at the very end of May. We didn't go to Sea World as originally planned, but we did visit the Tampa Aquarium which was very nice. We had a great time and the kids really loved the beach. They still talk about Florida all the time. Right after we returned from Florida, Matt went away for a few days on business. That was a rough transition for me, going from having lots of help with the kids to having none. But we survived.

Our bowling league is over and my average went up while Matt's went down. We didn't join up again because of summer, but we may in the fall. It was a lot of fun and we looked forward to it every week. Last weekend we went to Holiday World (A family amusement park) with Matt's mom and sister. His mom took all of us last year for her birthday and we had so much fun we went back this year. We stayed at the campground right next to the park in a rental RV. Sullivan stayed behind again this year, but next year he will definitely be going. We all had an absolute blast! The kids got to go on just about everything but the big coasters. They were cracking us up all weekend. They loved riding on "the couches". That's what they called the Scrambler and the Tilt O Whirl. They also loved having a campfire and eating roasted marshmallows. Matt's mom already has our reservation for next year!

Sullivan is growing up so fast these days. He's definitely not a baby anymore. He has started using the potty and is talking. He has to do everything Nolan and Jillian do or he's not happy. He is still so sweet and loves to snuggle and give kisses. Some of his most common phrases are, "I'm hungry", "He/She hit me", and "Oh, dear!" Nolan and Jillian surprise me daily with the things they say and talk about. One of their favorite things to do this summer is ride their tricycles on the driveway. They will be content for hours just doing that. And since we've gotten back from Holiday World they run around the house pretending to ride rides. They just love to pretend play. Their imaginations are huge.

My hours at the fitness center have been scaled back for the warm weather season. Just this week I have started to do some work from home for a friend who has her own nutrition consultant company. Right now I am typing up daily menus for her. Matt has been working, working, working. But I guess it all pays off considering he has gotten a very nice raise this summer. I believe he is very happy where he is working. We did get Jillian's room painted finally and I think there are a couple pictures up of both her room and Nolan's and Sullivan's room. She loves her pink walls! Matt and I take off this Sunday for his annual "Star Days" trip. Last year he rode his motorcycle out to Virginia for the event and I stayed behind. He talked me into going this year and we'll ride to Missouri. The kids will be well cared for by my sister, Matt's mom and Matt's sister. This will be our very first extended trip together without the kids. We'll have pictures when we return!

March 1, 2005

I am so ready for spring! It's been a long, boring winter and the kids have a lot of stored up energy to burn off. There's not a whole lot to report for the last two months. Sullivan continues to mature and form his own personality. He seems to be quite ornery these days and loves to pick on his older brother and sister just to hear them shriek. His newest trick is climbing. He is constantly moving the kitchen chairs around to climb up on and get into things. He definitely keeps us on our feet. Nolan and Jillian are very into make-believe and pretend play. It's so cute to hear the things they come up with while playing. Right now their favorite thing to play is "monster in the living room".

We still have not painted Jillian's room, but I hope we'll get to it soon. She is anxious to have a pink room. We have a trip to Florida planned for the first week of May. We'll spend one day in Sea World and then spend the rest of the week with Matt's aunts and grandparents. We should have lots of fun at the beach with the kids. We are all looking forward to it. I had a girl's weekend away recently and had a blast. It has become an annual February event and I am already thinking about next year. Matt and I have joined a "non-competitive" bowling league and we bowl every Wednesday night. It's nice to have a little something fun to look forward to.

January 1, 2005

Two more months have gone by and we're already in the new year of 2005! We certainly don't have much to complain about for the year of 2004. In fact it went by so fast, it's hard to remember much of anything. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at our home this year with my sisters from out of state, my Grandma who lives a couple hours away, my only aunt from my Dad's side who lives very far away, my other sister and Matt's mom and sister. It took me a couple of days to clean everything up, but it was worth it. Despite our entire family being sick right before Christmas and on past it, we did have a great holiday as well. We had some sort of 7-10 day flu virus that started with Sullivan and worked it's way around to us all. We're all well now and hopefully we'll stay that way for awhile.

Sullivan has grown leaps and bounds with his comprehension and he no longer seems like a baby. : - ( He follows many simple requests and commands and has been talking a little bit, too. He can also go up AND down the stairs all by himself which leaves me hands free! He loves to play with Nolan's matchbox cars and get into Jillian's play makeup just to make them mad, I think. And he loves to go bye-bye and will run to get his shoes and holds out his arms to get his coat on. He is simply adorable. Nolan is finally potty-trained!!!! I thought I would never say that. He is even just about ready to ditch those pull-ups for naps and bedtime. Thank goodness! Now I can take a break from potty training for awhile until it's Sullivan's turn.

Nolan and Jillian are also growing up fast. They are so funny and I am enjoying them so much lately. They are talking in long, complete sentences and some of the stuff they say is priceless. They are both very concerned about Mommy being happy and ask me all the time if I am happy. They seem to be enjoying the time they spend at the gym childcare. They definitely burn off a lot of energy and have made some friends as well. It's so cute to hear them talk about their friends. I can't believe only two and a half more years and they'll be going to Kindergarten. **sigh**

My job at the gym is going well. I am even starting a preschool movement class in February that I will teach twice a week for six weeks. I work about 18 hours a week which is perfect for me and we're glad to have the money even though it isn't much. I have not made any time for the transcription courses that we are still paying for. I need to make a decision about whether I want to continue. Matt just finished up his busy time at work. He was working 60 plus hours a week and it was really hard on everyone. Thankfully things have slowed down for him and we look forward to spending more time with him. We're getting ready to paint and decorate Jillian's room, so maybe by the next time I update this site we'll have it done.

November 4, 2004

Wow, I skipped an entire month! Oh, well. Sullivan is walking!!! He thinks he's pretty cool, now! He's already trying to run just to keep up with the twins. He has to know what those two are doing all the time. He has cut a few more teeth so he now has about 12. He can say "bye, bye..."mama"...."dada" and tries to repeat words that he hears. The other day we were eating lunch at McDonald's and he saw a little boy jump and say, "Ta-Da!" with his hands up in the air. Sullivan started mimicking that right away and still does it everyday. He loves, loves, loves to eat and he can really pack it away! He will eat more than Nolan and Jillian combined! He has this awful scream that he does anytime he sees food....you would think that I starve him! But he is still quite the cuddler and is constantly seeking hugs from Mommy.

Jillian is now night-time potty trained! YEAH....one kid completely out of diapers!!!! She is really into babies and stuffed animals and coloring and reading. She could probably sit on your lap and listen to you read for two hours straight. She also loves watching movies. She can sit through an entire hour and a half movie and will even repeat lines from her favorite ones. After five months of potty training efforts....Nolan is still holding out. I have resigned myself to just not worry about it, but he has to wear underwear at home. Nolan is easily stressed and freaks out about the slightest things. He is into music and has to listen to the Oldies channel at bedtime. He likes to sing along to a CD we have playing in the van, too. It took us forever to figure out that when he was saying "susic"...he meant music. He is also jealous of his little brother, but at the same time is his protector and playmate. Nolan is also quite good at puzzles and building with blocks.

I have been working part time at the local fitness center where I have been a member for about six weeks now. I get about 20 hours a week and take the kids with me to be in the childcare center while I work. So far I am really enjoying the balance it gives me between staying home with the kids and being "me". And I also get a free membership with the childcare included! Can't beat that! Matt has really stepped up to the plate with helping out around the house and with the kids. I work two evenings a week so he has to feed the kids and get them to bed by himself. He has been doing awesome and I think he secretly likes that alone time with the kids. No home improvement projects to report and I have taken a break from my medical transcriptioning courses. Hopefully I can pick that back up again soon now that I am in a routine with my new job.

September 5, 2004

Not too much to report for the month of August. The kids had fun while their cousin Tristan was here for a couple of days. They asked where he was for a few days after he left. We drove up for his 2 year birthday party and they had an absolute blast. No new tricks for anyone this month that I can think of right now. Sullivan is cutting more teeth, but none are through yet. He is taking two or three steps at a time every now and then. When Nolan thinks Matt is being mean he will yell, "Matthew!" just like Mommy does. Jillian has become attached to a little stuffed pig that someone gave her at Tristan's birthday party . She carries it around almost all day long and she makes it pick up toys and eat and sometimes the pig pee-pees on the couch and she cleans it up. It's quite funny!

Our next interior project turned out to be the entryway/hallway. Matt decided to rip off all the wallpaper one night. It stayed that way for a couple of weeks until we finally made it to the store to pick out paint. It took us three nights to get it done after the kids went to bed. Jillian's room will probably be next. Matt and I did make it to Cedar Point and we had a great time. We rode the motorcycle up there despite some scattered rain and stayed overnight in a small cabin. We didn't have enough time to ride everything, so we decided next year we would go for a longer time.

August 1, 2004

Goodbye July! We had some really hot weather and took several trips to the local public pool as well as dragging out the sprinkler. Sullivan has cut two more teeth, making a total of 6. He's practically weaned himself off the bottle just days before turning 11 months. No new tricks this month other than trying to agitate his brother and sister by knocking over their toys while they are playing. I put Nolan back in diapers while he sorts out his issues with going #2, but he's starting to tell me now when he has to go #1, even with the diaper on. He never did that while wearing underwear. I think he's playing with my mind. He has definitely hit the "terrible two's" being very defiant and challenging our authority along with some tantrums at home. Jillian is still the chatterbox going non-stop from the minute she wakes up. She's been playing "mommy" a lot with her baby doll. We took the rails off of their cribs at the first of the month and they've done great! We're still looking for beds.

Matt went on a week long trip on his motorcycle with some people from his Star Chapter. They rode down to Virginia for what is called Star Days. He had a great time and got a lot of miles in on his bike. While he was gone, I took the twins to a week long summer preschool program everyday from 9-12. They had a blast! They learned about flowers and planting/growing and came home with a lot of artwork. Matt's mom took us and the twins to Holiday World (A family amusement park) for the weekend and we stayed in a very nice cabin. For the very first time, Nolan and Jillian slept somewhere other than their bed or pack-n-play. They used their little sleeping bags they got from Grandpa Eash for Christmas and slept in the loft with Aunt Michelle. They did pretty well, except for waking up at 5:15am!!!

The house looks great on the outside with the fresh paint! I did some trim work painting on the front porch and painted the swing. What will our next project be?? Hopefully getting Jillian's room painted and decorated. But now that Nolan has begun stripping the wallpaper in the entryway, maybe that will be our next project. Matt and I are making plans for a Cedar Point trip sometime in August without the kids. We used to go every year, and it's now been four years since I've been. I cannot wait!!!

July 2, 2004

Where does the time go? It hasn't been quite a month since my last update, but I am trying to get back on track with updates at the end of every month. And Sullivan has been amazing us with new tricks everyday. He's perfected his crawling and goes after every electrical cord he can find. He just learned to pull himself up to standing by himself so soon he will be taking some steps. He has been a pure joy in our lives and he sure has some personality! He has been testing the ranges of his voice and the power it has over our reactions. And does he ever love toys! He will play for a long time all by himself with just a little bucket of toys. He especially loves to have the playroom all to himself while Nolan and Jillian finish their afternoon nap.

I spoke too soon about Nolan soaring through potty-training. Though he's really not doing badly, he will not go #2 in the potty. I hear this is a pretty common thing, especially with boys. I am just hoping we can work through it quickly. I cannot tell you how tired I am of wiping bottoms! Other than that, Nolan has been maturing right before our eyes. He can be the sweetest little thing giving out hugs and kisses and sharing with others. But watch out when he gets attitude! He has been showing a lot of his musical and creative side lately. He sings for almost an hour every night before falling asleep. It's fun to hear what he sings about. His favorite color is yellow, or wellow, as he calls it and he has a fascination with butterflies. He is also big into bug watching.

Jillian is Mommy's little side-kick. She loves to follow me all around the house and help with chores. (Probably because the girl cannot sit still longer than 30 seconds.) She is quite the chatterbox and you have to acknowledge everything she says or she will repeat it over and over and over. She has become a little dramatic about things lately, which I hope is a phase. The slightest little thing Nolan does to her she runs to me crying, "Maaaaaahhhhh-Meeeeeeeee!" with a little shriek in the middle. She is insisting on doing a lot of things on her own like dressing herself and she's doing quite well. We're in the process of looking for twin beds for the both of them so they can say bye-bye to their cribs.

The painters have arrived at our home and are hard at work beautifying the outside of our home. It's a good thing we're doing this now because the house was way passed due for a painting and some of the wooden siding was in bad shape. Matt had to replace a few places that were really bad. I cannot wait for the finished result! Matt has been having second thoughts about turning the room in the garage into the office. He thinks we should just make it into a multi-purpose room for sewing/crafts for me and workshop for him. We'll see. I am still working on my transcriptioning and billing courses, only much slower than I had hoped. Warmer weather lures me outside when I should be working. I will not reach my September goal, but maybe I can make before the first of the year. I have hit the 40 pound weight loss mark!! I can hardly believe it because I really did not think I could lose that much. I don't plan on losing more than 5 more, if that's even possible. Yeah, me!!!

June 11, 2004

This journal update is a little late due to the fact that I took a mini-vacation by myself with nine other girlfriends to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. It was only four days and it went way too fast. I forgot what it was like to only be responsible for myself, but I quickly adjusted. :-) I didn't think I missed the kids until I heard their voices on the phone during my layover on the trip back. And then when I saw them running toward me at the airport the tears started coming! However, I am already looking forward to taking another trip next year with my friends!

Nolan has begun his potty training and he has shocked me with how quickly he learned. I guess he was observing Jillian do all the hard work first so he could get it right the first time. (Nothing like his Mommy) Ahhhh, only one child in diapers!! I am in heaven! Sullivan has cut two more teeth, this time on the top. And he is finally crawling! He thinks he's hot stuff now that he can get to all of Nolan's and Jillian's toys. He tries to wave and he can play peek-a-boo with his blanket. He also started eating finger foods a couple of weeks ago. He's at the age where things start changing so quickly. Soon I won't have anymore babies. Whatever will I do?? ;-)

We decided to hire out the painting of the exterior of our house. Matt just does not have enough time for a project that large. The painters should be starting some time this month. Instead we have taken on a seemingly impossible task of converting the spare room in our garage into an office. That means we had to take A LOT of stuff that was stored in there and go through it. We haven't been able to park in our garage for a few weeks. It's so hard to find the time to work on it. I am sure you will see some pictures once it's done!

April 30, 2004

The birthday party was a great success! We had four other sets of twins in attendance and there were a grand total of 15 children at our house. Matt finished the fence in time so the kids were all able to run around while the parents could relax a bit. It was a warm, beautiful day! Nolan and Jillian are offically two years old now. Jillian is 90% potty trained; we're still working on the night time. Nolan is starting to show a little interest. Jillian has been putting 4-6 words together and Nolan has been putting 2-3 together. They have a new swingset in the back yard now and are addicted to the swings. It is so much fun to watch them play out there when they think I am not looking. Today I watched Nolan push Jillian on the swing....it was so cute! **sigh** They are growing up so fast.

Sullivan finally has two teeth! He cut the first one on the bottom and the second one on the bottom came through the very next day. No wonder he's been so cranky! I think he's working on even more! He's starting to show interest in crawling but gets soooo mad when he can't go anywhere. The only direction he's managed to go is backwards. Can you believe he will be 8 months in less than a week? Soon it will be time to plan for his birthday party.

Matt has been busy, busy, busy with work. I can't wait until things start to slow down for him. I am still plugging away at the medical courses. Our next big project around the house will probably be painting the outside wooden siding and staining the fence. By the way, Matt did a beautiful job on that and we get compliments on it all the time. I have hit the 30 pound weight loss mark and am working on those last 10 or so pounds. It feels great to be getting my body back! I have a lot more energy to keep up with kids now!

March 30, 2004

Whew! I made it on time this month! Is March really over already? I've been busy planning the big 2 year birthday party. We invited a lot more people this year since we have a bigger house to accomodate. They will even have some friends their age over to play with. Matt has been working on getting a fence put up in our backyard in his spare time. It's a slow process considering he doesn't have much spare time. I hope he can get it done before the toddler invasion in a few weeks! I am just finishing up the first of five at-home courses for medical transcriptioning and billing. I am hoping to have all the courses completed by September and then begin to work part time from home. And if any one is wondering how my weight loss is going; I've lost 23 pounds so far and I have about 15 more to go. So I am over halfway, but the hardest part is just beginning. Matt has even shed some pounds by working out with me!

Jillian is an official potty-trainee. Why didn't anyone warn me how frustrating this was going to be? She decided on her own that it was time about two weeks ago so we bought a ton of underwear and dove right in. She's been doing pretty well, but she's not quite there yet. Secretly I am glad that Nolan is not ready yet because I don't think I could handle training two at once. Nolan has taken quite a liking to his baby brother! He will sit with him and show him toys and books and will dance and make faces at him trying to get him to laugh. It's so cute! Sullivan has mastered sitting up and rolling both ways. He wants to crawl but isn't quite strong enough yet. I don't think I am ready for another mobile youngin' in my house! Every night after the kids go to bed I am always amazed that somehow we all made it through another day! Yes, it's that crazy around here! But well worth it!

March 2, 2004

I know, I am a couple days late on the update. I apologize to anyone who came looking at the end of the month. I just got back from a little weekend get-away with my sister, Stephanie and my friend Melissa from Georgia. The three of us drove to Cherokee, NC to catch a Chippendale's show and some slot machines at Harrah's. We had a great time and were not ready to leave! It was so nice only having to worry about getting myself ready to go anywhere and the day seemed so much longer! But, it's back to reality and the land of dirty diapers.

Not too much exciting to report this month. Nolan and Jillian are experiencing a vocabulary explosion and are also working on going up and down the stairs standing up. The hitting and biting has decreased so we only have maybe one or two episodes a day compared to 20 or 30. I can handle that much better! Sullivan has graduated to some baby food and loves it! I guess he just really did not like that cereal because he gobbles up his carrots and bananas. He is also working on sitting up unassisted and rolling from tummy to back. Before we know it he'll be on the loose crawling everywhere!

January 28, 2004

Wow, this new photo format is soooo much faster for me! I love it! From now on I will only update the site at the end of every month with new pics and a journal entry. I think I've finally got it all figured out. January has flown by! This week we actually got some snow around here that covered the grass. This weekend we'll probably test out the new snow pants we got for Christmas and play outside with Nolan and Jillian. They are already fascinated by the "no" (their word for snow). Nothing too eventful has happened this month. It took us about three weeks to get our house back in order and get things put away from Christmas. Now it's time to start thinking about Nolan and Jillian's 2nd birthday party.

Yep, that's right! In less than three months they will be turning two! I did not give them permission to grow up so fast! Their vocabulary is really starting to take off as they surprise me almost daily with a new word. They finally learned their "M" sounds and it feels so good to finally hear, "Momma"! Of course along with that comes "Mine!" and "More!" They are truly the most wonderful, terrific children and I am not just saying that cause I am their mommy. As wonderful as they may be, we have entered the biting and hitting stage. That is a daily battle for me, but so far they have only hit and bit each other and not other kids when we go to playgroups or church and gym childcare. They are really becoming quite fond of their little brother as well. The second I get them up in the morning they say, "Baby?!" They make sure he has plenty of toys to play with, they read to him and give him kisses. It's so very sweet.

Sullivan is growing off the charts! I am not used to having such a big baby! He's so long and has outgrown all of his 3-6 months clothing at age 4 1/2 months. We also had to buy him a new carseat because he's over the height limit for his infant carrier. The doctor suggested I start him on some cereal at his 4 month check-up because he had more than doubled his birth weight. Well, he hates it! I've tried all different kinds of cereal and tried making it thinner or thicker and he hates all of it. Oh well, he seems happy anyway. He LOVES his big brother and sister and I can tell he cannot wait to get big enough to play with them. He is rolling from his back to his belly and sitting up very well with a little assistance. He loves to grab things and explore stuff with his hands. Right now he constantly has his hand in his mouth so we may be seeing a tooth or two very soon! He is a joy with the funniest little screeching sounds he makes when he's excited.

Matt has started to join me at the gym twice a week for a strength training workout. That is so nice! He definitely makes me work harder. The kids still love going to the childcare there. The ladies always say how well-behaved and cute they are. I have lost about 13 pounds since my six-week postpartum check-up and am still losing. I have about 25 more pounds that I would like to lose. I am very motivated to get this baby weight off once and for all!

December 24, 2003

Well, finally things are situated with our new website and I can continue to entertain your eyes with adorable pictures of our children. Matt has been hard at work trying to find an easier way for me to add all those photos. I hope you can find your way around the new photo format. It sure is a lot quicker and easier for me! November was filled with the sickies around our house. First, Sullivan came down with RSV which is a respiratory virus. Thankfully I caught it in time and was able to get him on some meds for his lungs before it got bad. He still has some congestion in his lungs, but is feeling much better. Nolan and Jillian each had some type of virus causing high fever, runny nose, cough and fatigue. For awhile I thought my children were never going to get well. I surely did not like seeing them so miserable and being cooped up in the house for so long. But here it is, Christmas Eve and everyone is well!!! Yeah!!!! Just what I asked for as a Christmas gift.

Jillian and Nolan are 20 months old! Can you believe it? Before we know it they will be turning two! They sure are funny these days, cracking me up all the time. Their newest obsession is television. Actually Jillian is the TV junkie. That all started when they were sick and lying on the couch all day. Now Jillian wants me to turn the TV on all the time. She will sit on the couch and watch whatever is on. I have started to limit the TV watching to a half an hour of Sesame Street while I feed Sullivan in the afternoon and a half an hour of the Wiggles after dinner. One of their newest words is, "Ewww!" and they say it everytime they see something yucky. They are both into Christmas this year and Nolan even knows how to turn the lights on the Christmas tree on and off. Every morning they come downstairs and he turns the lights on and they stand back and say, "Oooo! Tree!" They had a blast opening presents at my parent's house this past weekend.

Sullivan is almost 4 months old and he is such a charmer! He has a smile that could melt the coldest heart. And now that he is feeling better we can get him to belly laugh like Nolan. Strangers always comment that he looks so much older than he is. He is definitely going to be a handsome little heartbreaker! He is sleeping about 10 hours at night straight through now. As much as I love my children, it's a blessing when they are all in bed asleep by 8pm every night.

I have joined the local gym that has a childcare facility in it. The kid love going there and running around. They never want to leave! I definitely enjoy my time there as it is a small break from taking care of the kids and at the same time doing something good for me. I have recently had a friend join me with my workouts which is a great motivater! Matt and I stripped some wallpaper in our front living room last month and painted. It feels a little more like our home now that we have our wall decorations up. It didn't even feel like work while we slaved away because it was a nice change of pace from the everyday. Matt's mom kept the kids for us that weekend. Now we are thinking of trying to do one room every couple of months.

October 20, 2003

Yet another computer glitch has slowed down the posting of new pictures. But, I think Matt has fixed the computer for good this time. Not to mention that things have been a little busy around here lately. As you probably heard, our Baby Nugget arrived on September 5!! Sullivan Ray Eash came into the world weighing 8lbs. 7oz. and 22" long. My labor was about 6 hours with only a couple of minutes of pushing. Everything went great with the delivery and I was so relieved to not be pregnant anymore. Sullivan is 6 weeks old already and is doing wonderful! He has been very alert and bright-eyed since the day he was born. He started smiling and cooing two weeks ago. He is up to almost 13 lbs. Just this week he has started sleeping 8-9 hours at night; which feels so good for me to get more than 3 hours of sleep at a time! Nolan and Jillian adjusted pretty quickly to his arrival, although it was difficult in those first two weeks. Things are starting to settle into a routine and feel "back to normal".

Nolan and Jillian have been working on new words lately. I can tell that once Jillian really starts talking she is going to be quite the chatterbox. Nolan is much more laid back. They both try to "help" me with Sullivan. They will burp him, rock him and give him kisses. They have also started getting into a routine of putting their toys away in their bedroom every morning, putting their dirty clothes in the hamper, putting their shoes away and cleaning up toys in the playroom before nap. That may sound nice and orderly, but don't think that means there isn't chaos around here!! They are always testing their boundaries and have begun fighting with each other over toys and other things. Jillian is agressive and makes sure she doesn't miss out anything that Nolan is doing or playing with. Their newest game is to sneak upstairs and shut themselves into one of the bedrooms. They are definitely a lot of work, but also a lot of fun. Now that I am not tired and pregnant I can keep up with them!

Matt has been busy painting a bedroom for Sullivan. It's finally painted, now we just need to decorate it. As well as the rest of the house. We have paint picked out for our living room. The challenge is trying to find kid-free time to paint. Maybe we will have our house decorated and put together before the kids start kindergarten. I guess there is no rush since we plan on being in this house for a LONG TIME.

August 21, 2003

I apologize for the delay in updates to the website. Our computer has been acting up for awhile and I was getting quite frustrated while trying to work on the website and just gave up until Matt fixed the problem. We're all moved into our new house! We closed on both homes on the 31st of July and all went smoothly. We're settling in quite nicely and love the new house more and more each day. Nolan and Jillian didn't seem to mind the transition to the new house and slept like usual in their new room the first night.

Nolan and Jillian are as cute and adorable as ever and seem way too smart for their age. Currently they are perfecting their use of a spoon and fork and practice even when they're not eating. They have also mastered going up and down the stairs all by themselves which makes things much easier for preggo mommy. Hats are a fashion statement around our house lately as both of them have started wearing ball caps while playing with their toys. Of course they insist on wearing them backwards. They still both have a passion for books and are known to sit for close to an hour just "reading" and looking at all their books. They have a collection of alphabet books that they favor and will try to sing their ABC's while pointing at the letters. It is very heart-melting!!

Matt started a new job at Sallie Mae and is really liking it so far. His daily commute has been cut by about 30 minutes one way which means he gets to spend a little more time with the family now. His job description and duties are relatively the same as they were at his former job. Only now he works for a much larger company with some better benefits. I am only days away from my due date and we are all getting very anxious to meet the newest Eash. Hopefully he or she won't keep us waiting much longer!

July 8, 2003

Well, there is a lot to share for the month of June! As most of you probably heard, we finally sold our house! We should have a closing date of July 31 or soon thereafter. The buyer of our house also gets possession at closing, which means we have less than 30 days left to pack and move. We did find the perfect home for our growing family and should close on that one close to the same day as we close on the sale of our house. The current owners of the home have already moved out and are allowing us to begin moving some of our things over before our closing date. Thank goodness for that! Now we just keep our fingers crossed that all goes well with both closings, as I am sure it will.

Nolan and Jillian grow more fun everyday! Their comprehension is mind blowing sometimes even though they are not talking yet. Jillian is building up a small vocabulary consisting of words like "dog, cat, car, flowers, nose and light." Nolan is our outgoing little guy when we go places and will plunge into a crowd without hesitation, showing off at every chance. Jillian is more reserved when surrounded by strangers, but will always offer a smile. At home, Nolan will sit and play with toys for long periods of time while Jillian has a hard time sitting still. She always has to be moving. We have started attending a local chuch and they both did great when we dropped them off in the nursery. No tears whatsoever and the attendants said they were angels.

The pregnancy is going very quickly now and we have less than 8 weeks to go before the newest Eash member arrives. Everything is still going well and I have very few discomforts or complaints. I have started to feel a little sick in the mornings, but luckily it fades quickly and I am fine the rest of the day. This little baby stays awake for long periods of time poking and jabbing me everywhere. Hopefully will be able to get settled into the new house before he or she decides to come out and join us. There are so many things in our lives that we have to be thankful for.

May 31, 2003

Nolan and Jillian have finished up their swimming lessons. At the last lesson Nolan seemed to really enjoy himself and even managed to smile a bit. Jillian is catching up with the number of teeth Nolan has. Those molars are sure rough on them and us! Jillian's latest trick is climbing on the couch, but the novelty is starting to wear off, thank goodness. They are both testing their limits and boundaries with us, which can be nerve-wracking when they decide to do it at the same time. However, they still melt our hearts with their hugs and kisses and precious laughter. There is definitely not a dull moment around here. Well, except for naptime and bedtime!

The pregnancy continues to go well with no complications. I am just entering the third and final trimester. Three months to go and on one hand it seems like a long time and on the other it seems like we hardly have any time left before the baby arrives. Especially since our house has still not sold. We did have a couple of positive showings, but no offers have been made. We are very unsure of what to do if our house does not sell before August. My sister, Monica is staying with us for the summer on her break from college. She has been busy searching for a summer job in between helping me change diapers and pick up food off the floor.

April 30, 2003

The months go by way too quickly these days! Before I know it, it's time to update this journal again. Jillian and Nolan have started swimming lessons this month. Matt and I each get in the water with them and it has gone really well so far. The last time we went Jillian got excited just seeing the water and where we were. Nolan is a little indifferent to the water. He likes to splash and really relaxes when we float him on his back. He's not too sure about going under because he swallows a lot of water. We teach them to kick their feet and pull up on the side of the pool. They have even got to go down the slide. Now that the weather has finally been nice, I've been taking them on long stroller walks. They just love going for walks. They are so fascinated with all trees, flowers, cars, dogs and people that they see. I usually walk to the park and push them on the swings, which they absolutely love! Nolan squeals with delight everytime. Nolan is getting four molars in!! That will make for a total of 12 teeth for him once they all break through. Jillian has been the kissing queen lately, giving kisses out like crazy. This morning she even gave her brother a kiss and he gave her a hug back. He then proceeded to gouge out her eyeball and bite her on the shoulder. They can't all be fairy-tale moments, can they?

My belly is slowly growing and I am showing now at 23 weeks. We held to our decision to not find out the gender of Baby Nugget during the last and final ultrasound. Matt's intuition is that it's a girl and I am also leaning towards a girl. But we will not know for sure until D-Day. (delivery day) Nugget looks very normal and healthy up to this point and was weighing approximately 1 lb. and 1 oz. We haven't even seriously discussed names yet. I think it will be a difficult decision this time. We have switched realty companies and really like our new realtor. The right buyer has to come along sooner or later, right?? Heck, I'll take any buyer at this point. It's starting to get very frustrating as the months go by without even one offer. I remain optimistic...May might be our month!!

March 31, 2003

Our Florida vacation was very nice, as you probably can tell from all the pictures I posted on the site. The kids traveled much better than I ever expected and I do think they had fun. They really liked the sand and water at the beach. We'll be celebrating their first birthday in just three weeks! Not much has changed for either of them as far as physical milestones. Jillian is still walking everywhere and only stops for naps and meals. Nolan has been trying much harder the last few days to walk on his own. I can definitely tell they are both comprehending more of what is said to them. Jillian will go find certain toys that you ask her for and bring them to you. Nolan said his first word, "dog", while we were on vacation. And they both know what "night-night" means.

The pregnancy is still going very well. As I write this I am almost 19 weeks along. Matt and I have decided not to find out the gender this time, so it will be a surprise for everyone! I am working on getting a new preggo belly page up on the site so you can watch my belly grow again. We have reduced the asking price on our house with hopes that it will sell quickly now.

February 28, 2003

Wow, the kids are 10 months old! Each month seems to go faster than the last. Jillian is officially a walker! She walks all over the place and can climb all the way to the top of the stairs without help. Nolan has taken his first steps unaided, but is still uncertain about the whole walking thing. They are both quite the characters. They can each wave and clap now and even give "fives". They are using a sippy cup quite well now and are no longer getting bottles. I was so worried it would be hard to get them off the bottle, and here they are only 10 months old and doing just fine without them.

I am in my fourth month of pregnancy and still feeling good. I'm barely showing and would like to keep it that way for awhile. We leave for Florida this Saturday for a two week vacation in Sarasota. Matt has relatives living there that we can stay with. It will be so nice to get away from all this snow and cold weather!! The kids and I had our four minutes of fame this week when we appeared on a local morning news show to promote the Twins Club that I am a member of. Nolan and Jillian were very well behaved and received many compliments. Our house is still up for sale with no interested lookers yet. Hopefully the right buyer will come along before "baby nugget" makes it's arrival in August. I guess we'll just have to be patient.

January 31, 2003

In three months Nolan and Jillian will be turing a year old! I just cannot believe how fast the time has gone. Last night Jillian took her first "official" walking steps! She took about five or six steps before plopping down on her bottom, all while sucking her thumb. We knew it was coming soon. Nolan hasn't shown much interest in walking yet, but he's never too far behind. He can't let his sister show him up for too long. Jillian also says "Bubba" now which he responds to. Nolan waves hello and bye-bye and Jillian claps. They seem to communicate with each other a lot. Somtimes they crack each other up for reasons unknown to me. And sometimes they will play "chase" and laugh like crazy when the other gets close. Everyday gets more fun with them.

Matt's hernia surgery went very well and he recovered more quickly than we anticipated. He also received the raise at work that he was after. So far my pregnancy is going smoothly with no sickness or symptoms. Next week is the doctor's appointment where I am hoping it will be confirmed that there is only one baby nesting in there. We had some small renovations done to the house this past week. The stairs were torn out and rebuilt to be less steep and some old closets were torn out of the main bathroom to make room for a doorway to the laundry room. Then the old doorway to the laundry room from the living room was drywalled over. We are still going back and forth on buying a larger home. Of course we would love to, but we also want to do what is best financially. For now, we are leaving our house on the market but aren't doing any open houses for awhile.

December 31, 2002

As most of you have recently heard or read, I am pregnant again! My due date is August 30. My first doctor's appointment is February 12. No, we were not "trying" but we weren't being extremely careful either (obviously). It was definitely a surprise, but a welcome and exciting one. At least we know we are set for clothes no matter if it is a girl or a boy. I am going to assume there is only one baby in there this time.

Now on to Nolan and Jillian. They just get more precious every single day! Nolan finally figured out the crawling stuff and mastered it very quickly. And within a short time he was also pulling up on the furniture. Now if only he wasn't so scared to get down. Jillian has been showing off the past couple days by letting go and standing by herself for a few seconds. I always hold my breath, but she manages to fall gracefully everytime. Needless to say, with two curious, expert crawlers.....I don't get much time to sit down! Both of them LOVE music and will dance anytime they hear music or singing. It is sooooo cute! Nolan is still a little cuddle-bug. He loves to snuggle with anyone. Jillian is as independent as ever. She's much too busy to be held and cuddled.

Matt is scheduled for outpatient surgery in January for a double hernia. I guess all the baby lifting will be up to me for awhile after that. I just quit my part-time job yesterday. I just didn't realize how much I liked being a total "Stay at home" mom. Now I will once again have time for my play groups and freedom to come and go. Matt's mom has posession of her new house now and has moved out of ours. I think she misses seeing the babies all the time, but is happy to be in her own place. We are definitely motivated in selling our house now that we are expecting another baby. Hopefully we will be able to sell soon. Until then we will continue looking at houses in Pendleton, though being in a small town limits our possibilities. I know everything will work out eventually.

November 31, 2002

Is November really over already? Hope everyone had a delicious Thanksgiving with lots to be thankful for. We are definitely thankful for our babies. I can't believe they are 7 1/2 months old. Jillian is crawling like a pro and pulling herself up on the furniture to cruise around. She's pretty proud of herself. Her favorite thing to do is crawl after the cats. Every now and then she gets ahold of them and grabs on tight and laughs. She has just started giving kisses every once in awhile when you ask for one. Nolan started getting up on his hands and knees and rocking just last week. He's learned that he can pull himself by his arms to reach a toy. He gets pretty frustrated watching his sister crawling around and getting into everything, but he will get there soon. He has four teeth with two more on the way. Jillian has close to 3 teeth with one more on the way.

We still have our house up for sale, but so far haven't had any interested lookers. Matt's mom had a small delay in closing on her new house, but things are on their way now. She should be closing soon with immediate possession. I got a part-time job working 15 hours a week in an office downtown. It's only a mile from our house and my hours are very flexible so Matt's mom can watch the babies. I've been walking there just to get a little bit of exercise, too. It's a nice break for me everyday and a way to make a little extra money as well. I