Out with the Old...

We ended 2010 with a very small bang. We stayed in for a cozy evening of chinese take-out, a riveting game of giant spoons and some italian sodas in fancy glasses. The kids went to bed by 9:00 pm and I almost made it until midnight!

Some things we are so thankful for in 2010:

• participating in Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University and paying off some debt!
• a fun vacation to Wisconsin Dells during the summer
  
• our church family that blessed us in many ways
• a challenging season of growth during the campaign "Elevate"at church
• and last but certainly not least, the birth of our third munchkin, Grady

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Our Christmas started out a little rocky with Drake starting to run a fever of 100-104* for a few days. Finally, on Christmas Eve he seemed to have kicked the worst of it with a lingering cough and cold. Then, Hadley started in that evening. Luckily, we had celebrated Christmas with Nana and Papa that morning at our house, so they stayed so I could enjoy the Christmas Eve service at church and they could stay home with the sickies.

Christmas Day we headed over to the Lodge to celebrate with the Rutledge clan. ( I keep forgetting to download those pictures so I'll have to post those soon!) Hadley was a little pitiful and pretty much just laid on the couch or floor all day. Drake's legs started aching that morning and he was limping around all day. This happened after the last time he was sick too so we're not sure if it's related to the virus he had or being dehydrated while he was sick. Sunday morning the kids and I had to miss church because Hadley was still running a fever and we had to postpone the Farwell Christmas that was supposed to happen that night so she wouldn't get any of the other kids sick. Finally Monday afternoon, we made it to Lincoln and we celebrated Christmas with our big meal that everyone pitched in to make and then let the kids tear into the presents. Seven children 6 and under made for an entertaining evening!

Thanksgiving 2010

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We got to spend Thanksgiving being thankful with both of our families this year. We spent a couple of nights out at the camp with Gabe's family. We had a fun time relaxing with the family and eating lots of yummy food.

After we left there, we headed up to Indiana to visit with my mom's side of the family. It was amazingly not as chaotic as I was expecting. There were 12 kids there from 2 months-6 years, not to mention all of their parents! It's always fun to reconnect with that side of the family, eat way too much, stay up too late talking and laughing and let the kids play.

Under God's Sea in 3D

Drake's big debut:

Drake got to perform in the children's musical at church: Under God's Sea in 3D. It was a great program and he's a natural on the stage, if I do say so myself.

Drake is one of the swimming fish during this song.

Shut up!

This is not a phrase we use at our house...ever. BUT, we took the kids to Toys-R-Us tonight to browse through the toys (and so I could secretly buy something for Christmas for them that was on sale) and Gabe was distracting the kids while I made the purchase. Drake was showing Hadley a toy couch that folded out into a small bed. Drake was being very dramatic about how cool it was and when he folded it out, Hadley said "Shut..up!" Not the kind of shut up that means be quiet, but the kind of shut up that means "No way!" Hilarious. We have no idea where she has heard this phrase but there was no containing the laughter on that one. Out of the mouths of three year olds...

Two months

I can't believe it has already been another month! Grady is growing like a weed. He weighed in at 14lbs 4 oz at his appointment and was 23 1/2 inches long. Some of Grady's favorite things to do now include smiling at mommy, chewing on his hands and he's been making some cooing happy noises lately too! He still has a herniated belly button and it has gotten quite a bit bigger lately so our pediatrician has referred us to see a pediatric surgeon next week to see if he will need surgery soon to correct it. Usually, they wait until at least one year, but with how big it has gotten lately there could be a risk of it strangulating some bowel so we will see what the surgeon's opinion on it is. He's not sleeping all night yet, unfortunately, but he is starting to stretch to 6-7 hours at a time most nights. I think I've figured out that when I eat dairy products (especially ice cream) it does not settle well with him and those nights are rough with a super gassy little guy.

One Month Young

I can't believe our little man has already been in our home for one month! He has been such an easy transition to our family. He's not quite getting the hang of sleeping very long stretches consistently yet, but other than that, he is usually a fairly content baby. He has given me a few small smiles and can't wait to see how his personality continues to develop. The comments we hear about him the most from others are "LOOK at that HAIR!" and "Wow, he's so dark, were your other kids that dark as babies?" And maybe a few unspoken thoughts about what ethnicity is this kid!?



At his one month appointment Grady weighed in at 10lbs 13oz and 22 inches. He's definitely a good eater! The other kids continue to love on him constantly. They have done such a great job welcoming him to our family.

Really, it's fall?!

Well, we headed over to our old stomping grounds this weekend to visit our favorite pumpkin patch. However, it was SO warm out, it didn't really feel like pumpkin patch weather. I think we were all sweating up a storm by the time we left. But, we did have fun enjoying the gorgeous displays this place puts up and checking out all the fun things like the straw maze, animals and taking a trek out to the real patch to pick out our very own pumpkins. We met up with some friends from the area to catch up and let them meet the newest addition to our family.

L O V E

Dance

Hadley is super excited to be starting dance class this week! She is taking a combination ballet, tap and gymnastics class that lasts 45 minutes and then is followed by a 30 minute music class. She absolutely loves it. Two other little 3 year old girls (whose parents are in our small group) are also in the same class with her. I just love seeing this smile...

Our Glow Worm

Grady is struggling with some jaundice so he has been put on the phototherapy light. His number had doubled to 15 when we went back for a check on Thursday so they ordered the light that evening. Then, it had still gone up a little more on Friday. We go back on Monday for another check. He is to be hooked up 24 hours a day, with the exception of a bath. So, it has made for a quiet weekend at home for us. (Well, the kids and I at least, Gabe has had a wedding at church this weekend that he was running sound for!) Nana has been here helping out with meals and the big kids this weekend and Grammy is down at Aunt Kara's to help out with Grady's new twin cousins, born just two days after him! We're excited to meet you Lincoln and Fletcher!!

We did make our first trip to church today. Nana took the big kids to their classes and Grady and I slipped in the side door and up to the sound booth where we plugged Grady's light back in and sat up there for the service. We came back home and had a quiet day at home with naps, some castle building, and a family movie night. Ahhh, life as a family of five!

The real deal

Well, just shortly after the "False Alarm" we headed to the hospital for the real deal! I sent my mom home on Monday morning thinking that it wasn't really going to happen any time soon. Well, Monday night, just when I was getting ready for bed about 10:30pm the contractions started in again and this time they were getting much stronger. Finally, about 11:15, I made a call to my mom and hesitantly asked her to come down again because I thought we were probably going to be heading to the hospital again. So, she gladly hopped in her van and drove down. By the time she got here about 12:30, I couldn't talk through contractions and was sure this was the real thing. So, we got up to the labor and delivery floor about 1:00am and they kept us in a triage room (with another laboring woman) hooked up to the monitors to "be sure they were going to keep me" until about 3:30am. Then, they decided they would go ahead and start my IV since I was progressing to about 4-5 cm dilated. Finally, at 4:00am they moved us to a room of our own and Gabe went to the car to get our stuff since we knew we weren't leaving without a baby. From there, things progressed very quickly. By about 5:00am, I was in very hard labor and was progressing quickly and the nurse decided it was time for me to head to the bed because she did not want to be catching a baby. The doctor on call had five women about to deliver so they would not break my water until the doctor was ready, so when the doc got to my room a little after 5:00 am and I was 9 3/4 cm, she called in the troops to get things ready and as soon as she broke my water I was ready to push. I pushed for 12 minutes before Grady made his grand entrance at 5:37am.

He weighed in at 7lbs 7oz and 20 inches long. He came out sporting a FULL head of hair!
It was love at first sight...

for all of us!

Welcome to our family Grady Wilken, we are so glad you are here!
**Grady was picked because we like unique names. Wilken is a combination of both of his Papa's names- William and Ken**

False Alarm

Well, we thought for sure we were having a baby today. Yesterday, we had some, ahem, signs (that I won't go into detail about) that labor was on it's way. Then, a few hours later the contractions started about every 5-6 minutes apart. Not intense, but definitely there and regular. So, we had Uncle Eric and Aunt Sarah come over to hang out for the evening and spend the night so if we needed to make a night run to the hospital we would be ready. Well, Gabe went to bed early so he would have a few hours of sleep in case we needed to head to the hospital. I went to bed around 10:30 and slept off and on for a few hours until about 2:30 when I couldn't sleep through the contractions any more and was timing them at about every 3-5 minutes. About 5:00am I woke up Gabe and said maybe we should head to the hospital and get things checked out (since Hadley's labor was only 5 hours long from start to finish, I didn't want to take a chance of delivering a baby at home!). So he got up and got ready and we headed to the hospital around 5:30, got sent up to Labor and Delivery, got in the hospital garb and hooked up to the monitors. I was disappointed to only be 1 cm dilated but I was relieved to see a steady heartbeat as the contractions measured every 4 minutes consistently for about 30 minutes. Then, the nurse said I could get up and walk if I wanted to. YES, let me move! So, Gabe and I walked the halls of the 7th floor for a solid hour and then went back to the room to get hooked up to the monitors again, this time sitting on the birth ball while they monitored contractions and baby. The contractions were then every 2-3 1/2 minutes apart and quite a bit stronger on the curve of the monitor but when she checked me again at 8am, no dilating progress- ugh! So, home we went. We took the walk of shame back through the emergency room (where we had to enter when we got there at 5:30am) and out to the van. We headed back home, helped get the kids ready for church with Uncle Eric and Aunt Sarah and after they took off for Lincoln, Gabe headed off to church as well and made it there in time for the end of 2nd, and all of 3rd and 4th services. The contractions continued throughout the day, but did taper off in terms of intensity and length. Gabe and I walked at the church for an hour this evening before my mom came back to our house with the kids. She is spending the night tonight...just in case....

30 weeks

The weeks are flying by and I'm already to my two-week appointments! Today, I went in a few days before I was actually 30 weeks because we were going to be on vacation during my scheduled 30 week time slot. It was a quick and painless appointment. I'm still measuring slightly ahead of schedule so they will do an ultrasound next appointment to check on the baby's growth. I've gained a total of 15 lbs now, which continues to be less than with either of my other two by this point. I guess chasing after two others helps in some ways! :) We are really enjoying the summertime weather and have spent MANY days at Knight's Action Park soaking up the sun and water. This summer has been a little taxing on us with Gabe working so much this month, so we are very excited to be going on vacation next week to the Dells and relax ALL together. Then, we come back to a flurry of business again with one week at home and then a week of Jr. High camp.

Seussical the Musical

Since our month has been consumed with Gabe being gone to the Muni, where he is running sound for the show Seussical the Musical, the kids and I decided to head out and watch the show. We packed up our cooler with snacks and drinks, loaded up the lawnchairs and enjoyed an evening at the Muni. The kids LOVED the show and were totally engaged the whole time. I think the only thing Drake said to me during the whole show was to lean over and say, "I love this SO much!" a few times. I think the Muni will definitely be something we will be visiting on a regular basis.

Another Year in the Books

I can't believe our little girl turned 3 today. Hadley has been loving the book, Pinkalicious, that we checked out from the local library. She even had a lot of it memorized. So, we went all Pinkalicious this birthday! With our busy month of Gabe running sound for a show at the Muni this month, we couldn't come up with a date that all the family could get together to celebrate. So, we have been celebrating in stages. Yesterday the kids got to go to the zoo with Nana and Papa and Hadley enjoyed her "all pink" presents from them, including her very own copy of the book, Pinkalicious!

This morning we started out with some pink rice crispies for breakfast along with some present opening. Early this afternoon, Hadley got to have a few friends over for a Pinkalicious party. Aunt Sarah made some super-cute pinkalicious cupcakes for the girls to enjoy. I also had found some cute cupcake frames for the girls to make along with some pink beads to make bracelets. Aunt Sarah also stayed to help with the party and painted the girls' finger nails. It was a super-girly party, so Drake and Uncle Eric headed to the park to play some tennis while we partied it up. Everyone left in time for all the girls to get some nap time in this afternoon. Hadley kept saying, "Mom, this is the best party ever." and "This party is beautiful!".

Tonight, we (Uncle Eric, Aunt Sarah, Drake, Hadley and I) headed out to meet Grammy for pizza and then over to Drake's baseball game. It was a hot and muggy night for baseball, but Hadley's busy day had her totally tuckered out and she slept through the whole game, even amongst all the cheering fans!

Summertime Bliss

Hopefully, I will still be thinking that in August... Today was Drake's last day of Kindergarten. I can't believe that in a few short months we will have a FIRST grader! His year of Kindergarten far exceeded my expectations of what the year would hold. He is reading amazingly well, loves to figure out addition and subtraction facts, is writing multiple pages in complete sentences in his journal and is very proud to tell time on his watch that Grammy got him.

Today, while Drake went for report card day, Hadley and I ran to the dollar store so we could surprise him with some balloons and some new first grade workbooks to work on over the summer. Then, Hadley and I headed into the dentist office for our cleanings before we went to meet Drake at home as he got off the bus. (Hadley did amazingly well at the dentist once again, she even got her teeth cleaned in the next room by herself while I got my cleaned and I could hear her being oh so cooperative. I just love it when my kids make me proud!)

Drake was all toothless smiles when he got home and saw the balloons and new workbooks. Then, we decided since the weather looked to be warranting a trip to the pool, we ate our peanut butter sandwiches and fruit and headed to the pool by noon. The kids were a dream at the water park. They patiently took turns and waited on each other to try out the amenities for their different age groups. Then, when it was time to go there was complete cooperation by both kids, unbelievable! I can only hope the rest of our summer days at the pool go so well!

When we got home they each went to their rooms, Hadley fell asleep right away and took a glorious 2 hour nap before I woke her. Drake worked quietly on his workbooks for awhile in his bed before he also fell asleep for about an hour before I woke him. Then, this evening was capped off with some dinner at home before heading out to Drake's baseball game where I made no less than 5 trips to the potty with Hadley. (Thankfully, I had put the potty chair in the back of the car because otherwise we would have been trekking to the port-a-potty way TOO many times.) Other than going potty, she played quietly with a pet kitty almost the entire game, pretending to be the mommy to the kitty, oh and she threw in some artistic coloring time in there as well in her Veggie Tales coloring book. So, we topped off the end of a near-perfect day with some Coldstone ice cream (with a gift card, no-less) on the way home from the game. Then the kids got on their jammies, brushed their teeth, read some stories, prayed and crawled quietly into their respective beds with not another peep to be heard.

I wanted to document this day so I can re-read it frequently throughout the summer and remember how dreamy my kids can be!

Bellies

My sister was in town for several days while we spent the weekend cleaning out my mom's basement. Cleaning out the basement involved mulitple dumpsters, truckloadS to the burn pile and vans full to thrift stores. Amongst all the working we were able to snap a shot of the bellies to document the babies pre-birth. Kara is due Sept.16th with twins and our baby is due on Sept. 8th.

Kindergarten Awards Day

This morning, Hadley and I headed over to school to watch the Awards Program. Drake managed to get all 4 awards that were possible for the Kindergartners to receive. He received the Good Citizenship Award for the 4th quarter and also the Good Citizenship Award for receiving it all 4 quarters throughout the year! He got an award (and free ticket to Six Flags) for getting the recommended number of minutes of reading in for the spring and he received his "diploma" from Kindergarten. This year has been such a blessing for him and us. He has matured more than I could have imagined and has learned an amazing amount of information, not to mention he has also lost a total of FOUR teeth now too!

24 weeks

I can't believe it has already been 4 weeks since my last appointment! We got to start this appointment with another quick peek at the baby since they hadn't been able to get all of the measurements they needed last time. So, we got to see the baby squirming all around. The baby is usually most active for me to be able to feel it in the late evenings. My blood pressure was still looking nice and low and my weight gain jumped up to a total of 11 lbs. I thought this seemed like a lot but when I looked back at my pregnancy with Hadley, I had gained more at this point with her. We didn't get any peeks at the gender still so no hints as to what we are having. We have been working on choosing names, but it still proves to be a difficult task and we haven't settled on any names for either gender yet.

Mom's Day

Once again, a Sunday holiday in a ministry household requires the holiday to look a little different. So, after all four services this morning, we headed to Godfather's Pizza buffet (where they have super great deals on Sunday and we all 4 ate the buffet for $12!). Then, we all took naps, ahh, glorious naps. Then after dinner, we headed to Lincoln to meet up for dessert with the moms. We were able to enjoy the cool spring evening and snap a few pictures as well.

Baby #3, 20 weeks

Well, today marks the 1/2 way point through this pregnancy. Feeling the little bug moving around a lot more now. Gabe got to feel him/her move for the first time last week. Such a cool feeling. This morning we headed to the doc for our 20 week appointment. Both kids went with us, since my appointment started at 8:30 and Drake really wanted to watch the ultrasound. We got in pretty quickly and watched the little babe squirming his/her little hands and feet around. Thankfully, the placenta has adjusted it's position correctly away from the cervix so that was terrific news! The placenta is anterior, meaning laying across the front of my belly instead of at the top, so that's why it took a little longer to feel movement this time around. There is a really cute picture of the baby's hand, looking like it is shooting a gun (as Drake pointed out).

We decided not to find out the gender this time. I must admit it was tempting today as we were sitting in the little room, knowing it would only take a quick peak and we could know, but I was able to resist. I will say that it would make name selection a lot easier if we knew we only had to decide on one gender's name. We are no where close to deciding on a name, for either gender. We will get to have another ultrasound next month as well because the baby was not laying in a cooperating position to get a couple of the measurements that they needed, so we will try again next time. And hopefully get to see his/her profile next time since the babe was laying head down with it's face pointing towards my back so we couldn't get a good look at the profile. Here are a couple of other shots of the little peanut, who is weighing in at 13 ounces at the current time. In other stat news, I have gained 5 lbs now and blood pressure is nice and low. So far, I have been very blessed with great pregnancies!

The picture on the left shows part of the baby's face, an arm up beside the face, and the round part to the left of the face is the baby's torso. The picture on the right is upside down, but a picture of a foot.

Easter

The night before Easter, we decorate some eggs. The kids had fun dunking and coloring. We also baked a cake, complete with Easter sprinkles.



Easter morning in a ministry household looks a little different than most other families. Since Gabe is always up and out the door before any of us are even stirring, we have to wait to start our festivities after church. And now we have four services on Sunday morning, so Gabe usually gets to church around 6 am and doesn't get home until 1ish. Thankfully, Nana and Papa stayed at our house on Saturday night so I was able to get to church to volunteer during two services and then we all went to the fourth service together. We got home to eat lunch, open baskets and do a quick egg hunt in the backyard before it started raining.