Thanks be to God!

Wow, what a great Thanksgiving weekend we had! It was so nice to have a 4 day weekend to just spend time with each other and to SLEEP IN!!  Thanksgiving Day we spent the morning watching the Ronald McDonald Parade hoping to spot a local marching band that was marching the parade.  We never did see them, but we still enjoyed watching the parade just the same.  We enjoyed a fabulous Thanksgiving feast at my mom and dad's with my whole family.  I always enjoy visiting with my sisters and their spouses/significant others and seeing my nephews.  The kids played downstairs almost the whole day and it was such a beautiful day that they even enjoyed some time outside!  The older girls ended up going with Em and John to see the Muppet movie and having a sleepover at their house. 

Saturday we enjoyed the annual Round Lake Fish House Parade as part of their Winterfest celebration.  It was quite chilly so Haidyn stayed with Mom but the older girls and I went to watch Eric and Dad march for the Legion.  I stayed in the car with the heater on, but the girls watched from the sidelines so they could catch the candy!  Our good friends, Dana and Dave Sniadak, were also in town so they sat and watched the parade with me in the warm Durango.  That evening Eric and I enjoyed a night out with Dave and Dana.  We had a wonderful supper followed by some drinks at the local bars.  It was a fairly early night for us though and we were home by 11:15. 

Sunday Mallory woke up with a fever and sore throat so her and Eric stayed home from church.  After church Isabella was begging to put up the Christmas tree so that's what we spent our afternoon doing. 

I am sad to see the Thanksgiving weekend over and having to go back to work.  I really enjoyed my time off and the time spent with the ones I hold dearest to my heart.  But soon the Christmas holiday will be upon us and it'll be even more time off and more time with my loved ones.  Hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving as well!!

My little Trick-or-Treaters

My little lamb

The lamb with her sister, the country diva

My beauties

Lamb, country diva, cupcake

The girls with their great-grandma

Haidyn trying to find just the right piece of candy from her bucket

Halloween Party

Saturday night Eric and I decided to spend the night in Sioux Falls and my sister's house.  Her and her boyfriend were having a Halloween party and since my mom offered to watch the girls overnight we thought it would be something fun and different to do.  We decided our costumes at the last minute and ended up deciding on...Al and Peggy Bundy!!  It was super easy and fun!!  We had a great time hanging out with my sisters and their friends and were definately paying for it the next day!  Enjoy the pictures!

Wedding

Well, the wedding has come...and it has gone!  We had such a great time I am sad it is over.  Jocelyn was a beautiful bride and her and Chris looked so happy.  And the weather was beautiful for a Minnesota wedding in September.  Mallory and Bella did their job as flower girls well and danced up a storm.  I am happy to say they made it the whole night without crashing.  Everything was beautiful and went pretty smooth...you couldn't even see the purple paint that Isabella happened to splatter on her dress right before the ceremony.  Luckily Jocelyn was not a bridezilla otherwise it could have been a major disaster. 

My pretty flower girls 

My parents-the father and mother of the bride

The huisband and I

So here's to Mr. and Mrs. Chris Bauer!!!  We love you both and are so ecstatic that you are now married and starting your life together!!

Happy 9th Birthday, Mallory!

Yesterday we celebrated Mallory's 9th birthday.  I CANNOT believe that she is 9 already!  It really shows how time flies.  I remember just like it was yesterday the day she was born.  We couldn't wait to meet her!!  I was 3 days overdue and Eric was to be in a wedding at the end of the week so we knew she had to come soon otherwise Eric wouldn't be going since we lived in Crookston at the time and the wedding was in Rock Rapids, Iowa.  The day she was born it was cold and windy.  My labor was hard but short.  Eric was a champ!  My best friend, Amber, was able to be there for the delivery and my parents made it about 20 minutes after she was born.  My mom couldn't get enough of her.  She was so cute and petite and had just a little fuzz of light brown hair.  She was the best baby!

I had to work yesterday so we let Mallory pick where she wanted to go for supper.  She chose Hickory Lodge.  Always a good choice!  She got to pick the lunch at daycare and the fruit and snack.  We had a party for her on Sunday at the lake.  She brought two friends, Zach and Cali.  Grandma was there along with Mom and Dad and Em and John and the boys.  I made her cake from scratch this year in the shape of a turtle.  It turned out pretty good I thought. 

HAPPY 9TH BIRTHDAY, MALLORY MARIE!!!  WE LOVE YOU VERY MUCH!!

Pine Haven Christian Assembly

Mallory and I are back from camp and we had a GREAT time!!!  I forgot how much I missed being at that beautiful place until I was actually there!  I was nervous driving there by myself but I did just fine.  It was nice it was only for 3 days but I still wish it was at least one more day.  It seems like just when the kids get used to being there they have to go home.  But Mallory made some new friends, as did I.  One of my favorite things about camp!!  It is unbelievable how close to God I always feel when I am there.  I can put all of my worries and troubles aside and just focus on glorifying God and thanking him for all of the blessings I have in my life.  And having a few days of relaxation doesn't hurt either!  Mallory and I got to be in the same cabin but we were not in the same family, which truthfully was good for Mallory.  It helped her to have some independence, even though I was there, and to make new friends.  She did get a little homesick on Monday b/c she felt nobody was being nice to her but I think a lot of it was that she couldn't hear what was being said so she felt worried that they just weren't talking to her.  After a talk with her family mom it turned out to not be so bad.  She didn't want to go home on Wednesday and said she'd go back next year even if I didn't go with her.  But I had so much fun myself I have a feeling I WILL be on faculty again next year and every year to come!!! 

I am so grateful that we belong to such an amazing church that has the best camp!!  I went almost every year when I was younger and loved every minute of it!!  I came back a stronger Christian with newly formed friendships that have continued to this day!  I learn something new every time I go.  This year I  learned the Pine Haven Theme Song.  Who knew there was such a thing!! 

So thank you God for this amazing camp and for the awesome experience that I got to have with my daughter.  Without You, none of it would be possible!!  You are the creator of all things!!!

Independence Day

I know it's already almost 2 weeks past the 4th of July but we had such a great 4th of July weekend that I had to blog about it.  I have not uploaded my pictures yet though so I will have to add those another day. 

We spent almost the entire weekend at the lake, which is usually what we do for the 4th.  We left Friday when I got off work.  We spent the weekend swimming, fishing and relaxing.  We visited with our neighbors.  We went for walks and bike rides.  We ate and drank and then ate and drank some more.  We went for a pontoon ride.  On Sunday we watched fireworks and lit some of our own off.  We watched the kids do sparklers over and over.  On Monday we were all exhausted so we packed up and were home before supper. 

We had such a great 4th of July weekend that I am so sad it is over.  How did you spend your 4th of July?? 

Memorial Day

Wow!  We had a great Memorial Day weekend.  Saturday night we went out with some friends to celebrate some birthdays.  We got a party bus that picked us up in Round Lake and took us to the Barefoot Bar in Arnold's Park, then after that we went to the Ritz.  It was wayy late by the time we got and wayyy too much fun!!  We spent the whole day Sunday recovering! 

Monday we went to the Memorial Day program at the school in Round Lake.  We always enjoy going to the cemetary for the service they have there after the program.  My two grandpas flags wave there and we always get pictures of us by them.  My uncle and cousin are here this week from California so they were able to be there as well and to see Grandpa's flag. 

After the program we had lunch at Mom and Dad's so we could all get together with Lyle and Alex.  We ate some brats and chicken and played some ladder golf.  It was a beautiful day, but warm.  The girls had fun riding bike with their cousins. 

Easter

We had such a great Easter!  We enjoyed breakfast at the church, which Mallory was amazed that we "pulled it off" and made it there on time.  Haidyn slept through almost the whole church service!  After church we enjoyed a fabulous lunch at Grandma's.  The men took the kids to the park so we could hide Easter eggs.  The kids had a fun time finding them all when they got back!  It was such a beautiful day outside that we all enjoyed just sitting out in the sun.  After the egg hunt we had a little party for my nephew who will be 3 on the 29th.  He is so darn cute!  He wanted some "fast shoes" so that's what we got him along with a Buzz Lightyear action set.  The cupcakes we shared were delicious and I enjoyed seeing his big smile while we sang happy birthday. 


I ended up not feeling good the whole rest of the day and evening when we got home.  Not sure if it was something I ate or if it was a touch of the flu but I feel better today so that's good. 


I hope you all had as fabulous of an Easter as we did!!  I will post later with pictures!

Easter Eggs

As is tradition in our house, we did our annual dyeing of the Easter eggs.  Mallory wanted to do glitter ones this year.  We even let Haidyn in on the action.  I think she really enjoyed herself. 

We let Haidyn hold her egg while the older girls were dyeing theirs.  Mallory was terrified Haidyn was going to drop her egg or throw it.  So I took it way before she had a chance. 

Haidyn had fun squishing the egg around in the bag

She thought the colors were so pretty!

Haidyn's finished egg with her name on it!



It'll only hurt for a second...

is what I told both the girls when they decided they wanted their ears pierced.  Mallory has been asking for awhile so since she's 8, which is the age I was when I had mine, and I thought she'd be old enough to take care of them on her own.  And since Bella has to do everything that Mally does, she wanted hers too.  Now let me make one thing clear...Mallory has a high pain tolerance, Bella not so much.  I was almost certain Bella was going to chicken out at some point, but I'll get to that later.  First, the only place we could get them done after 5, that I knew of at the time, was Wal-Mart.  Mallory was sure she didn't want them done there for whatever reason.  But since we were limited on places and time, that's where we went.  We ended up having to wait a good half hour until the lady came back from break.  So I called around to other places b/c I wasn't sure I wanted to wait that long, but the other places I called either didn't do them or I couldn't get them in until even later...Mallory wanted them done that day.  So we waited.  Finally the employee came back so we went to get them done...picked out earrings for both girls.  Mallory went first.  She sat in the chair all by herself.  Was totally excited....until she went to put the earring in.  Mallory flinched and the earring didn't go in and broke.  She cried.  Had to pick out another set to try again.  She was very brave the second round and didn't cry or flinch.  So now my 8 year old has Minnie Mouse earrings and needless to say is VERY PROUD of them.  She had to wear her hair in a ponytail this morning to show them off.  And she even cleaned them this morning all by herself. 

Mallory before the piercing

Before the flinching and tears

Finished product!

Next it was Bella's turn...it didn't go as smooth as Mallory's.  She sat in the chair very good. 

You can see how scared she is

The employee went to pierce the left ear first while I was holding her hand and it went good...only one tear.  We gave her a little break before she started on the second.  This time it wasn't so good.  The earring broke so it didn't go in...the tears were flowing heavily by now.  She had the choice to pick out another pair to try again, which she did.  But she really didn't want to do it again.  So she had the choice of leaving the one in and going back another day to have the other ear done, which they couldn't guarantee that they would have that same set, or taking it out and trying both ears another time or doing both ears right away with another set.  She opted to take the one out and try both of them another day...maybe when she's 10. 

So I did get a shot of the earring in the one ear before we took it out:

So we will try again another day with Bella.  It was quite a tramatic experience for her so I'm pretty sure it'll be awhile before she decides to try it again. 

Baby, Baby

My baby girl is 9 months old today (sniff, sniff).  It makes me so sad to think of how fast this year is going.  I just want to keep her my baby forever.  She is changing so much every day and I feel like I am missing out on so much with her.  I yearn to be able to be with all of my babies all day every day...it is so hard to have to be a working mother!  I love my job, but I love my kiddos even more.  I feel like I didn't spend enough time with the older two girls that I really wanted to savor every single moment with Haidyn and now, in the blink of an eye, she is almost ONE!!  I look back at this time last year and how we couldn't wait for those last few months before she was born to hurry up and get here so we could meet her and now I wish they would just go away so I wouldn't have to deal with the fact that she won't be a baby anymore.  Although I am excited for her first birthday, I am not excited to see this first year with her end.  I won't ever again be pregnant, give birth, or enjoy the scents of a newborn...and that makes me sad.  I so love having babies and holding them in my arms.  I am sad that the events surrounding Haidyn's birth had to happen and have questioned why they did so many times.  Why couldn't I be one of those women that doesn't have anything go wrong in labor and delivery and can have oodles of children if she wants?  I know the answer is simple...because that is not the plan that God has for my life.  Ok, I get that...but it's soo hard to REALLY get it.  I have told myself that over and over, "The plan I had for my life is not the same as God's plan".  BUT why couldn't God inform me of this before?  Maybe then I could have been a little bit more prepared knowing that Haidyn was going to be my last baby.  Don't get me wrong, I am ETERNALLY GRATEFUL that Haidyn and I both are alive...it could have been a very different story were it not for the fabulous doctors and nurses that had a part in saving both of our lives.  And people keep telling me "But you have 3 beautiful children and you should be thankful for that".  Yes I should, and I am, VERY THANKFUL.  But I wanted FOUR beautiful children; I've always wanted FOUR beautiful children.  Why am I not able to have FOUR beautiful children?  I know that I need to quit feeling sorry for myself and think about the women who are not able to have any children or who have lost babies.  I cannot imagine what it must be like for them.  All I know is how I feel about my current situation and even though I can do nothing to change it, I am still allowed to feel this way.  On that note...

HAPPY 9 MONTHS BIRTHDAY HAIDYN GRACE!!!!!!!!  WE LOVE YOU SO VERY MUCH!!

Basketball

We have been enjoying catching a few games of our school's boy's basketball games.  We decided to go to their section play off game last night against WWG.  It was a pretty intense game.  But they ended up winning!!  So they will play Hills on Saturday in Worthington, which we'll probably go watch.  The older girls of course had red cheeks by the time we left.  They go more for the running around they can do, which brings back memories for me of doing the same thing.  They also like to bring their own money so they can buy snacks.  Whatever floats their boat and keeps them entertained.  Haidyn enjoys the games too!  She just sits and people watches.  Can't wait to cheer the boys on on Saturday!  GO RAIDERS!! 

Weekends are becoming a blur

We had a pretty good weekend.  They are beginning to go by so fast it seems like we didn't even have one.  I really miss my girls during the week so I don't like it when the weekends seem to go so fast that I feel like I haven't spent hardly any time with them. 

I was up bright and early Saturday morning to head to Minneota to help judge the speech meet.  I had judged once last year and was asked to judge again this year.  I really enjoy it!  The weather, however, I did not enjoy.  It snowed the whole way there and was hard to see at times.  I was very relieved when we finally made it to Minneota, but was on pins and needles the whole day hoping it wasn't going to be the same on the way home, which it wasn't.  It was snowing still but the roads were MUCH better.  The girls were happy to see me since they were all asleep when I left.  Haidyn was especially happy as she was very clingy to me the rest of the weekend.  I love that my baby loves me that much!! 

Yesterday we had the pleasure of watching my nephews during the day.  I hadn't seen them in what seemed like forever.  All 4 kids played outside for quite a while when they first got there then played inside, then back outside for about an hour before supper.  Em said Mason was sleeping before they were even out of town!!  I am so happy that my nephews live so close so I can see them and spoil them often!! 

As if the dentist charges weren't bad enough...

Isabella has had a loose tooth in the front on the bottom for quite awhile.  We tried and tried to pull it out with no such luck.  Last week we noticed the permanent tooth has now grown in behind the baby tooth, quite a ways back from the teeth and crooked nonetheless.  So I scheduled an appointment for her to go to the dentist.  As always is the timing with our family, the tooth finally fell out yesterday at church.  That was the only good news...she needs to see an orthodontist for it.  Second time I have made a trip there with one of my children this year...Mallory went this fall for something else.  Also we were informed by the dentist that Isabella has a pretty bad deep bite and will eventually need braces.  As far as the tooth, he may do an extension...lovely.  We will find out when we go back in April.  Better stock up on orthodontic insurance. 

I love my pops!

What was to be a fun-filled weekend with the Sniadaks turned into a devastating one with the news early Saturday morning that my dad had had a stroke.  So needless to say we rushed home and made it to Sioux Falls before they took Dad to a room.  A big shout out to my friend, Sarah, for taking ALL THREE girls overnight for us!!!  I honestly don't know what I would have done if I had had to worry about where they were going to go.  I am blessed to have the most awesome friends in my life!!  Dad is doing much better now.  He came home yesterday but will have quite a few days of rehab ahead of him.  Fortunately he is able to do most of that at home and he is recovering nicely.  I just love him so much and am so happy he is doing well.  It was very scary and it could have been a lot worse, for that I am grateful!!  LOVE YOU OLD MAN!!! 

Me and my pops

Yogi Bear

Saturday the older girls and I went with my sister and my nephews to see "Yogi Bear".  It was an okay movie.  It was funny in some parts but mostly just drug on.  Mallory enjoyed it and Isabella did too when she was sitting to watch it.  She got up 3 times.  First was to get another snack, second was to go potty and third was to get a drink.  Mason, my two year old nephew, did better than she did.  That girl has got to have some form of ADD. 

All in all we had a fun day.  The girls love being with their cousins and they all get along so well.  And I enjoy every minute of being with my girls and seeing my nephews. 

Wii is Entertaining

Mallory was playing her new game, Babysitting Mama, on the Wii last night.  When my mom and I went to see Haidyn we found her like this:

She found the game to be quite fascinating.  I'm not sure if it was the colors on the TV or the sounds that the baby makes in the game that interested her so much, but I just may have to find my Baby Beethoven movie so that she stays entertained longer than 5 minutes. 

Rollerskating=Fun for the whole family

We must really enjoy rollerskating because we went again on Sunday with our church.  We had gone last Saturday to Sioux Falls for Bella's birthday.  I only fell once that week but it happened to be on my bum and I think I damaged something.  It still hurts to sit.  But yesterday I only fell once and this time I made sure I didn't land on my backside so instead I tried to land forward and ended up on my knees.  Have a pretty bruise to show for it.  With Eric's help I made it back up and did pretty good after that.  Haidyn was well cared for by Barb, the pastor's wife.  The older girls had a great time and both only fell once.  Eric, again, was super skater and would only stop to help me off the floor. 

The rest of our weekend was pretty good.  Friday night E and I went out for drinks and supper with my family for my dad's 62nd birthday.  Happy Birthday Dad!!  We have tried to make it a tradition to do supper for both my dad and mom's birthdays.  It's kind of nice b/c Dad's is in January and Mom's is in May.  Because we weren't sure we wanted to go that far for supper we just went to the Sunset Grill.  It was still a fun time.  We were sad to not have Trisha and Brian there but hope they will be able to make it for Mom's birthday supper in May. 

Saturday Eric had overnight drill in New Ulm so the girls and I just hung out at home.  Mallory and I did not get out of our jammies all day.  Haidyn was kind of fussy because she has been having problems with constipation.  She probably pooped about a dozen times but they were all very hard.  Poor girl!  This is her second time having this problem so her pediatrician has prescribed something for her as he thinks she may be prone to constipation.  I gave her prunes for lunch and supper and that, thankfully, has seem to loosen her up since her diapers yesterday were mostly all soft. 

Haidyn is also sprouting her first tooth!!  You can BARELY see it, but you can DEFINATELY feel it.  I was quite surprised to feel it come through b/c she hadn't acted fussy at all.  So hopefully she will do well with teething.  She is such a good baby and we are so blessed to have her in our lives!!