Snow...finally!!

...And since we've no place to go, Let it Snow! Let is Snow! Let is Snow!

That's kind of how we felt over Christmas. The snow was beautiful. No wind, falling so gently it was made for a Christmas card. I loved it! And, so did the kids since this was the first pretty big snowfall we have had this winter (I think we got about 7-8 inches).

We played outside both Friday and Saturday, but Sunday the wind was just a little too chilly. Here are some photos of the kids, in heaven, playing in the snow:

I love this picture of my baby girl. I'm in love with her eyes. :)

This photo of Brody sums up winter to me when you're a little one...pink cheeks and a runny nose! :)

No place like home for the holidays...

Due to scheduling conflicts on both sides of our family, we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at home, in State Center, just the four of us. Although we would always choose our families over being by ourselves, we couldn't have asked for a better two days.

We baked cookies, played in the snow, watched movies, took naps, played with new toys and just RELAXED! It was wonderful!

After church on Christmas Eve we let the kids open their gifts. Some of their favorites:

Jenna got new princess shoes because her previous pairs broke when she was tap dancing on the kitchen floor.

Brody's first real baseball glove! Ok, we took a chance that he really is going to be left-handed. We saw this glove and couldn't resist. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a good leather (not plastic) left-handed glove for a little kid? Not easy!

I was really trying to make everything extra special for the kids because it was Christmas. I bought "kids wine" aka sparkling grape cider and let them drink it in fancy glasses for our Christmas Eve meal. They thought that was pretty fun!

Christmas morning....I planted myself in the room with the stockings to catch their expressions. I love this one of Jenna. She saw Brody's train set and was pretty excited.

Brody loved his wooden train set!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM THE BURDORFS!

If you give my kids...

My containers for my spices, they just might use them as blocks and try to see who can make the biggest tower.

Good use of what they had! :)

Reactions

After our appointment last week, we wanted to pick up the kids a couple of Christmas gifts and then we saw these...

They were too cute to resist in their little newborn sizes and they aren't matching, which I think is a good thing.

We used the onesies to see if the kids could figure out that we were having two babies instead of one. We eventually had to tell them there was two. Brody, only being two, was like whatever. Jenna, at first, was laughing hysterically and seemed excited. Then, Aaron asked the kids what they thought the babies were (two girls, two boys, girl/boy)...

Brody said, "two boys."
Jenna said, "a girl and a boy."
We told them it was two boys and Jenna started crying and crying and crying. I felt so bad! She wanted a sister so much. :( Anyway, we eventually calmed her down by telling her that she got to be the "boss of the boys," and she was excited about that!

Pretty much none of our family believed us when we called them to tell them the news.

Me: Mandy, we just got done with our ultrasound and...
Mandy: You're having twins.
Me: Yep..
Mandy: SERIOUSLY?! Oh my god!

Me: Jess, we're having twins. Twin boys.
Jess: No you're not. I know you're not telling the truth because you don't find out what you're having.
5 minutes later, Jess: Jame, seriously be honest and tell me the truth.
Me: Jess we're having twins.
Jess: Oh no! Are you going to have to get a Kate Gosselin van?

Our parents were pretty laid back, although I think they were in a bit of shock too.

Ornaments

When putting up the tree this year, I realized that the last two years I have made homemade ornaments with the kids for the tree. I (shockingly!) even remembered to put their names and ages on the back, so when they're all grown up we'll know whose is whose.

So, I felt like I better keep with tradition and last week the kids and I and even Daddy sat down and made some ornaments. You give those kids glue and glitter and they are in heaven! :)


Brody's little fingers...I love this picture.


Jenna had to have everything "just right"


Proof that I made Aaron participate in the family fun! ;)


For some (dumb!) reason this picture wants to rotate like this, so I apologize for that. Anyway...the finished products, now sparkly on our tree!

Oh BoyS!!

The day I had been looking forward to for what felt like forever was December 16th, the day of our ultrasound. Even though we weren't going to find out what we were having, I just always like to see the unborn baby doll on the screen, it just gives me a sense of calm.

So, I was up at 5 AM on Thursday, antsy and anxious for our 8:30 AM appointment and it seemed like everything took forever that morning. We got right in about 8:30 AM and the ultrasound began. The gal doing the ultrasound started doing measurements and looking at the head, heart, etc., etc.

The gal doing the ultrasound did say like three times, "wow this baby is moving around a lot." 45 minutes into the ultrasound she stops, looks at Aaron and me and says, "Is this your first ultrasound?"

Us: "Yep."

Her: "Um...there's two babies in there. You're having twins! Congratulations! I'm so sorry, I'm going to need to start all over, so I'll give you two some time while I go reschedule my next appointment."

She left the room and Aaron's response was sort of shocked and sarcastic, "Awesome." And, "You were right Jame. You knew the whole time. You were right." Mine was tears. Lots and lots of tears. Aaron said he figured that's what my reaction would be and asked what the tears meant and I told him they were "holy shit" tears. :)

I'm not sure if I ever wrote this on the blog, but from the start of the pregnancy, I just had a feeling I was having twins. It was so different than Jenna and Brody, I figured twins was the only thing it could be. And, the whole ultrasound I was waiting for her to tell us there was two. I was about two seconds away from just saying, "so there's really only one?!" when she announced there was two.

The gal felt so bad. She said she had never had it happen to her before that a couple as far along as us didn't know they were having twins. We weren't going to find out the sex of the babies, but since it was twins and kind of a crazy situation, we decided to. Baby A...a boy. Baby B...a boy. Oh BoyS!! That was harder for Aaron and me to wrap our heads around than the twins part.

Anyway, since this is a high risk pregnancy (I so hate that term, it sounds scary), we learned we will have a lot of ultrasounds and they will monitor everything very closely to watch for problems and signs of pre-term labor.

The good news is that there are two amniotic sacs and two placentas!! It's a much higher risk pregnancy if the twins are sharing a placenta, so that was good news to hear. Currently, Baby A (on my left side) is head down and Baby B (on my right side) is breach.

Everything looks good with the boys. I'm 21 weeks, but measuring at 23. One of the twins has a slightly dilated kidney which they will look at more at our comprehensive ultrasound in Des Moines in two weeks. The doctor assured us it was nothing to panic about and just something that they and the pediatrician will monitor once the baby is born.

We feel so excited and overwhelmed and I don't know if it will really even hit us until the twins are born! I feel like there's so much to learn, so I'm sure I'll be doing a lot of reading on multiples.

We feel very blessed and this is definitely quite the Christmas present!

Itty Bitty Request...

For all of you that read our blog (and I know there's more than just who's listed as my followers), please know that we love the fact that you read and keep up with our family. We also LOVE comments! We like to hear if you agree, disagree or just think the kiddos look especially cute that day! ;) Anyway, for those of you that leave an "anonymous" comment could you be so kind and type your name in at the end of the comment? That would be super! Thanks!

I'm currently trying to gather and organize my thoughts for my next blog post, which I think I will entitle, "Oh BoyS!" :)

the way I see it...

Lights just seemed brighter...

Do you think everything seems bigger and brighter and just better when you’re a kid? When I was growing up, I just know that there were Christmas lights all over the my hometown. I always looked forward to driving around town with the heater on high and Christmas carols playing on the radio and enjoying all the pretty lights. There was a home about five miles outside of town right along highway 9 that always went a little over the top. That place was always my favorite!

Now that I’m an adult, it seems like people don’t decorate their houses with Christmas lights the way they used to. I realize people string a strand of lights along their gutters, but I’m talking about going a little overboard. Very, very few people do this anymore.

Did things really seem better and bigger because I was a kid? Or, are people just not wanting the hassle of putting everything up and then having the same hassle in taking things down?

You all know my love for snow. Yeah, yeah...I know I’m in the minority on this one. Last weekend was great! Yes, I know it was freezing cold and windier than all get out, but things are white now. White and festive and I just feel more in the Christmas spirit. I’m not going to lie, the brown Christmas thing was really bringing me down.

We made some Christmas cookies, decorated some homemade ornaments and watched Christmas movies at our house. It was just so nice to be all cuddled up under a blanket just relaxing.

The bad news about the storm? I didn’t get any shopping done! Yikes! I’m embarassed to even say how much shopping I have done. I think I have four presents total. Two presents for each of the kiddos. I know. Terrible.

The thing is, I know some of what I want to get, but other things I’m not so sure about. I really like to have my husband there when I’m picking out things for the kids because sometimes he’ll think of a great gift that I haven’t thought of. He’s been busy on the weekends and our schedules just haven’t jived yet, so hopefully we’ll figure out a time (and soon!) as to when we can do pretty much all of our shopping.

In the meantime, I can’t stress out about it. That’s not going to help anything or get my shopping done any faster, so I’ll just continue to enjoy the Christmas season, but that’s just the way I think it.

Keeping busy

Even though Aaron's no longer the assistant girls basketball coach at West Marshall, don't think he's just sitting around enjoying a winter off. He has been keeping very busy with reffing basketball.

Middle school tournaments on the weekends in the Des Moines area and junior varsity and varsity games during the week have filled up his calendar. Since it's not every night, we (the kids and I) like it a lot better than when he was coaching. We get to see him more!

He almost always has a story or two from every game. Aaron will definitely tell you that the middle school tournaments are the WORST! The stories he tells about how out of control 5th and 6th grade parents can be is insane! Seriously, it's 5th grade! He would rather do high school games any day.

*These pictures came from our friend Jay, who went to a game at Colo-NESCO and snapped them. Doesn't Aaron look so professional and stuff? :)

5QF

1. Do you open presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day?

Christmas Eve

2. What is your favorite Christmas cookie (or candy)?

By far...Star Cookies. Just typing that makes me want to make a batch!

3. What's the worst Christmas gift you've ever received?

I would rather not mention it, I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings!

4. Christmas song that you love?

Blue Christmas by Elvis, but I love about 99% of Christmas songs. Love this time of year!

5. How many trees do you put up?

One is all I can handle.

Just me and the tree...

Due to the fact that I am home a couple days a week with the kids, my husband had this wonderful (Please note my sarcasm) idea that I could put up the tree. By myself. An artificial one. That's kind of old and not very well marked.

Now, even though I haven't had a real tree since I have been married, in my mind, I'm still a real tree girl. I have never, ever, ever put up a fake tree by myself.

Anyway, I did it! Not quickly. I had to re-arrange branches twice since they weren't very well marked. But, I did it. I would call it a Christmas miracle. :)

The kids had fun decorating the tree. They asked about all the ornaments and I just let them put them wherever they wanted. I'm not the crazy mom who has to have "the perfect tree."

Can you see all the ornaments on the lowest branch? Makes me smile everytime I look at it... :)

The way I see it...

Christmas at Last

Our family had a great, but busy, Thanksgiving weekend and I hope your and your families did as well. When all was said and done we recorded 550 miles on the mini-van. I’m very thankful that the kiddos were good travelers and that we only ran into about 20 miles of bad weather on our way to our destination and drove out of it. Whew!

So now, it’s officially the Christmas season. I always get so excited for this time of year and I think having kids makes it that much more enjoyable. I do always wish I could hit a pause button about December 15th and just keep it that way for a couple of extra weeks because not only is it a wonderful time of year, but it seems to be really busy too.

Although I didn’t get up at 3 AM or anything to go shopping on Black Friday, I ventured out with my mom in Cherokee on Friday afternoon. That’s really the way to go, in the afternoon in a smaller town. I could never go super early because I don’t like that many people around me when I’m shopping and I don’t like people in my way blocking aisles. That might sound bad, but I just can’t deal with all those people! I like to go slowly and really look at things and not be rushed.

Now that it’s officially Christmas at the Burdorf house that means I will have the radio tuned to Lite 104.1 all the time. I also saw on our television they have a few stations that are all Christmas music all the time. I love it!! I never tire of Christmas music. Last night my husband had class, so I turned on Christmas music and the kids and I colored out of these jumbo Christmas coloring books for about an hour. It was kind of peaceful and a nice de-stressing activity after a Monday at the paper.

Looking at my calendar for the week, I’m wondering when I’m going to have time to get the Christmas tree up. Or my fall decorations down. It might have to wait until the weekend, but the tree is always one of my favorite things to put up. I love looking at older ornaments that we’ve gotten over the years. The ones we got before we were married, our “first Christmas together” one, “baby’s first Christmas”, or the ones that the kids and I made together.

That’s the great thing about Christmas,the stories and memories, but that’s just the way I see it.

The way I see it...2 wks ago

Another Blessing on the Way

At this time of Thanksgiving, it makes me realize that I have a lot to be thankful for.

I know that sometimes life gets crazy and I feel (as I’m sure some of you sometimes do) that your life stinks, maybe just due to the fact that you’re having a bad day. I always take a second to look at all the good I have in my life and feel thankful. There are certainly many people in this world who don’t have a roof over their head or food on their table or our struggling with a life-threatening illness. When I think of those things, I realize that I don’t have things too bad.

One of the biggest blessings I would like to share with you all is that the Burdorf family is going to be expanding. We have a third baby on the way, due at the end of April, and couldn’t be more excited! I’ve endured a lot of sickness this time around, but I keep it in the back of my mind that it’s all for a good cause - a fifth member of our family. I’m sure I will have much more to say on this topic as the months progress.

I also need to retract a little of what I said last week. My mom read my article and was not a happy camper with me. I should have pointed out the fact that my mom is what I would call a “color-themed” tree decorator. This means, every few years she changes up the decorations on her tree for a color-scheme of choice. Currently, she has an amber/rust colored theme going on.

After she read the article she was quick to point out that this is indeed fall colors and she put up her tree, with only the amber-colored lights (no decorations!) because of the fall and Thanksgiving. Mom, you have my deepest apologies. I also have to say that your tree is gorgeous and I love it.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and can get to where you need to go (or your relatives can get to you). Hopefully the snow stays away and makes for good travel weather. We’ll keep our fingers crossed! Enjoy your families, eat some turkey, watch some football and relax. Count your blessings and have a very Happy Thanksgiving, but that’s just the way I see it.

5 Question Friday....a day late!

1. What is your favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal?
All of it! :) Ok, if I had to narrow my choices I would say stuffing and mashed potatoes.

2. Were you a host or a guest for Thanksgiving this year?
A guest (thanks Adam and Jill for having us!)

3. When you think of one Thanksgiving tradition, what comes to mind?
Football and board games/card games

4. You have two pieces of pie in front of you and you have to eat one....do you choose pumpkin or pecan?
Pumpkin.. because I just don't like pecans at all.

5. Are you a Black Friday shopper?
Heck NOOOOO!

Five Months

I thought I would update you all on how the pregnancy has been going lately.

I had my 17 wk check-up (start of month five - yay!) last Thursday. Everything went well and the heartbeat sounded so strong, I just love that sound!

I talked to my doctor about how big I am already and she noted that my uterus is a lot bigger than it was last month, but the heartbeat is still low. She said we'd find out more next month at the ultrasound, but she thinks it could just be the third baby.

On a side note, I have spoken to a couple of other pregnant moms and they have all commented how big they all are so early, so that made me feel better.

In other news, I have been feeling a TON better than I was a month ago. It's so wonderful to crave food again and keep it down. The only other thing I have experienced is heartburn. Twice. Oh man, I hate that. I had it pretty bad with Brody, but not with Jenna. Maybe we're having a boy?! Hmmmm...guess we'll find out in April. :)

5QF

1. What Christmas song do you loathe?

Maybe the "12 Days of Christmas." It's the first one that pops into my head just because it goes on and on and on....

2. Do you and your significant other cuddle at night or sleep on opposite sides of the bed?

Yes and no. With me having to do the side sleeping with the pregnancy I'm always switching in the middle of the night, so sometimes we do and sometimes we don't.

3. Have you ever had surgery?

Just tonsils.

4. When do you typically have your holiday shopping done?

Um...a few days before Christmas or *ahem* Christmas Eve day for any last minute gifts. I'm terrible, I know! I'm hoping with Aaron not coaching basketball this year we'll be able to get things done sooner.

5. If money were not an issue (and you HAD to pick something), what would your ultimate luxury item be?

Entertainment. I would love to be able to go to as many professional and college sporting events as we wanted. Or concerts. Or plays. I sooooo want to go to "Mary Poppins" right now in Des Moines! Yep, I'm kind of a dork like that. :)

Apple Crisp

Last Easter we had the sad job of cleaning out my Grandma Beadle's closet. Not surprisingly, one of the things we found in there was a stack of cookbooks. That was the one thing that I wanted from her, a cookbook. It was just so "her."

I'd been looking through it lately trying decide what I should make. One of the things my grandma did was mark in her cookbooks if she tried recipes and make little notes by them.

I found this recipe for apple crisp with her beautiful-script by it and knew this was the winner. I made it last weekend and it didn't last long at all, it was delicious!

Someday....

My precious blond-haired, blue-eyed baby boy is going to make some girl very happy because he will be able to cook.


And someday....she'll thank his mom for that! :)

Jenna's Conference

This morning, Aaron and I had Jenna's preschool conference. I don't know why, but I always get a little nervous wondering what the teacher will say.

No worries! Mrs. Randall said Jenna is a great listener (where is this at home?), well-liked (always a good thing) and is excelling academically (music to our ears!). Whew! A good report.

I know I say this frequently, but I really am amazed at all the things that they learn at preschool in the span of just 3 hours a day. From shapes to colors to numbers to cutting with scissors to learning about animals/holidays/the weather, etc., etc., etc.

I'm not going to get political, but I will say that it scares me to think about what might happen to the preschool programs in our state. Now that I'm a mom and have seen first-hand what preschool does, it's nothing short of amazing for these kids to jump start them into kindergarten. I hope the cuts the future governor talked about during the election don't happen, because I think that would be very detrimental to our education system in Iowa.

Anyway, we will go again for conferences in April, right before (sniff) kindergarten round-up. Hard to believe that will be here before we know it!

The way I see it...

A continuation...

After my crazy rant last week about how much I dislike all the Christmas stuff prior to Thanksgiving I thought I’d share a funny story with you.

Sunday I was chatting with my mom on the phone (as I do every Sunday), catching up and I was asking her about the snow they had gotten in Cherokee, blah, blah, blah.

Then, I asked, “What did you do this weekend?”

You know what she said? My very own mother! “I put up my Christmas tree.”

Me: “You what? Mother! You are the one who instilled in me that you should really appreciate the holiday of Thanksgiving. Everything Christmas needs to wait until the day after Thanksgiving.”

My mom: “Well, it was snowing out and I was bored, and it felt sort of Christmasy, so I just decided to put it up.”

Me: “Unbelievable.”

I did have a couple of people say that they agreed with me on last week’s column and for that I’m grateful. I’m really not the only one who is off her rocker in wanting to wait until after Thanksgiving to start Christmas shopping and getting Christmas decorations up.

Ever since that column though, I have felt like Christmas is two steps behind me. All the commercials on television, blogs I have been reading online giving out gift ideas, Christmas music on 104.1 (are you kidding me?!?) and friends and family talking about Christmas shopping they already have done have all got me a little crazy.

I feel like I’m in school again and I’m trying not to give in to peer pressure. It’s a matter of principal to me I guess and even though my mom (still in shock about it) gave in after all these years, I really truly hope to stand my ground on this.

You can keep a secret right? Good. Well, just between us, I can tell you that I may have looked through a Target Christmas toy catalog (where the sales end the day before Thanksgiving by the way) and may have looked for ideas for the kids. I just did a quick looksie. That’s it. Just to see if there was anything that really stuck out at me.

And, I may have started to brainstorm in this little head of mine some ideas for the kids and the rest of my family. Just maybe.

I will look and think, but no buying or anything else of the Christmas sort until Black Friday, November 26th. I’m not giving in though, so you don’t have to worry. I watched the Food Network on Saturday morning and got all excited watching the different turkey recipes, so bring on Turkey Day, but that’s just the way I see it.

5QF

1. What is the most physically painful thing that has ever happened to you?

Child birth with no drugs!

2. How much sleep do you get at night?

A lot! Especially now with the pregnancy. Usually at least 8 hours, but last nite I got 10! It was wonderful. :) I have to thank my hubby for making me go to bed at 8:15.

3. How long did you believe in Santa Claus? How did you find out that he does not exist?

I can't remember, but I tried to believe for awhile for the sake of my brother and sister. Kind of obvious when "Santa" had the same writing as my mom!

4. What was the last movie you saw in a theater?

Date Night

5. What do you wear to bed?

Comfy clothes! Anything flannel and super warm.

The way I see it...

Adjusting

Please tell me that I am not alone when I make this statement: I hate the time change! Like really, really dislike it. I feel like it has thrown me for a loop more than any time change I can remember in the past.

My kids have actually adjusted surprisingly well. Those of you that have littles ones can relate that it can totally throw a wrench into your kids’ sleep and nap schedules.

Sunday night I just felt so off. The clock said 6:30 PM. It felt like it was at least 9:30 PM and I went in took a shower and put on my pajamas. Yes, all before 7 PM, just because it felt like the thing to do.

Monday morning I woke up and it was 5:15 AM, which for me and my stress-filled brain on a Monday morning isn’t that big of a deal. However, when 7:15 rolled around, I really felt like I was late for work and needed to hurry up.

I guess the hardest part for me is how early it gets dark. I don’t like it. It makes me kind of sad and grouchy when I come home from work and it’s almost dark or is dark and I can’t play outside with the kids or go for a walk. I’d rather have it be darker later in the morning. I’m not going to do anything before I go to work, but like to do things after.

Anyway, enough about that. Has anyone else noticed that there seems to be a ridiculous amount of Christmas commercials already on t.v.? Maybe I have selective memory (entirely possible), but I never remember this many this far before Thanksgiving. And, some people I know have already started Christmas shopping. We just got done with Halloween!

I love Thanksgiving. I think it’s a great holiday where you can reflect on what you’re really thankful for in your life. “Society” doesn’t allow us to do that though. They make a big whoop-de-do about Halloween and then skip right on over to Christmas, the biggest holiday of the year.

I know for retailers it’s all about the money, but it would just be nice if they could hold off on the Christmas trees in stores and advertisements on t.v. until at least a couple of weeks after Halloween. Now that is something I would really be thankful for, but that’s just the way I see it.

Lazy Weekend

We had a great weekend. By great, I mean we were pretty lazy, at least on Saturday. We hung out in our basement, played with toys and watched football. That's it. It was WONDERFUL. Aaron and I were trying to remember the last weekend we were at home, together for an entire weekend. We decided it has been at least two months.

Sunday we did a little more. We got up early, went to church, watched the Vikings, I went in and worked in the afternoon and we finally managed time to rake up some of the leaves in our yard. It's amazing that we have no trees, but have quite a lot of leaves.

The kids had been begging us for awhile for a pile to jump in. They had fun!

5 Question Friday

Despite having tumbling on Monday night, along with a play-off football game to cover, Aaron had a Booster Club meeting Wednesday and it was back to tumbling on Thursday, this just feels like the longest week EVER. So happy it's Friday! For the first time in a long time we have absolutely nothing to do this weekend. YAY! Ok, onto the questions....

1. If you could have any talent and turn it into an occupation, what would it be?
I think it would definitely have to be something with pictures. I've found a love for making collages for people at the photography business and love to see that look on people's faces when they see it for the first time.

2. Would you rather have a house at the beach or a cabin in the woods?
Cabin in the woods. (Although I would really love a cabin in the woods by a LAKE).
3. Is there any meaning or reasoning for the names you chose for your child/children?
Since we didn't know what we were having Aaron picked out Jenna and I picked out Brody. Ever since I heard the Hawkeye basketball player Brody Boyd's name, I knew I would name my son Brody.
We are big believers that middle names should be after someone in your family. Jenna Jo is after my mom, Jolleen. Brody's story is kind of interesting. We named him Brody George after Aaron's Grandpa, but then found out it was also the name of his great-grandpa and is my grandpa Hunecke's middle name as well. Three-for-one deal!
4. What is your guilty pleasure?
Sweets! At the current moment, the Halloween candy bowl.
5. Do you live in a house that is deep cleaned or straightened?
Sorta straightened. :)

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween 2010 from the Burdorfs! We had a great Halloween at our house.

Sunday was our night to trick-or-treat in State Center and the kids did great! By far, the best year yet. They went up to the doors pretty much by themselves, said trick-or-treat and most of the time remembered to say thank you (I'm a stickler like that!).

Plus, the weather was SO NICE! The kids were able to wear just their costumes almost the entire time, except for the last 15 minutes, when Jenna wanted to put her coat on.

We had a cat and a pirate at our house this year. Jenna thought the best part, by far, was getting to have her face done-up with make-up. Brody wouldn't keep the eye-patch on that we got (not that I'm surprised, I tried it on and found it uncomfortable to wear), so I made one with make-up, plus put on a couple of "cuts" to make him look extra tough.

Here are the little goblins!

Wishful thinking...

As I said in my post with the announcement about BB#3, I've had a rough go of things the third time around. I remember what little sickness I felt with Jenna and Brody disappeared at the end of the first trimester.

I've started the second trimester and no luck. I went six (six!!) days in a row without my head in the toilet and thought I was making progress, but the five days following I am back to the same old routine. Me. Sprinting to the bathroom. Emptying my stomach. And then all better. Wishful thinking I guess that I was on the up and up.

I'm by no means complaining, this is all for a good cause! It's just so darn annoying because I can't tap in to what sets me off. For example on Thursday, I had tomato soup for lunch and it was delicious! Friday for lunch, I decide to have the leftovers and two minutes after finishing I barely make it to the bathroom in time. What the heck?!

Oh well, I'm sure it will get better. I'm planning on talking to my doctor at my next appointment (November 18th) if things haven't gotten any better. Think happy thoughts for me!

Maddox is 1!

Friday nite we headed up to 'Kato for our nephew Maddox's first birthday party! We stopped by the Hunecke house for a short time on Friday and then headed over to Scott & Lisa's to crash for the night.

Saturday was the big day! Grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles and cousins were all on-hand to help celebrate. Justin and Mandy did a great job getting everything ready for the party. We had a great meal, enjoyed each other's company, got the kids dressed up in their costumes and let them trick or treat. For more pictures of the costumes, head over to the Hunecke Blog.

Some pictures from the day:

Grandma Jo and Maddox

Justin and his birthday boy


Mandy MADE :) us all take family pictures. It was a great idea, especially since we were all sporting black and gold! She has more pictures on her blog you can check out.

The three of us with dad... (Do you see that belly on the far right?! Yikes, already!)

And mom...

Thanks Justin and Mandy for a great weekend! :)

MSU Hockey Game

I talked about this in my column this week, but Scott hooked us up with some MINNESOTA State (aren't you proud Scott?) hockey tickets Saturday nite. The Mavs were playing #19 Colorado College.

This is the first thing I noticed when we walked in. Cheerleaders. At a hockey game. What the?!


Me and my hockey-lovin' husband. :)

Our section was a special section and they came down and threw us free t-shirts. Aaron was excited he got one until I said, "It would be hilarious if that was only a medium." He looked at the tag and what do you know? A medium! :) Luckily, Miss Jenna (with the help of Lisa) got a shirt and hers was an XL, so they were able to trade. Jenna thought she needed to wear it that second!


Lisa with Jenna and Brody. The kids LOVE her! Or, maybe it was the kettle corn she shared with them... :)

In another story, the people we were sitting by were really nice season ticket holders. The guy notices Brody's Hawkeye shirt, tell us he won a $100 bet that day because the Hawks lost, said he wanted to "share the wealth" and handed Brody a $1.

The view from our seats. Unfortunately, the Mavericks lost 1-0 and there wasn't a ton of offense and they didn't get a lot of shots on goal (listen to me acting like I know what the heck I'm talking about!), but there were definitely tempers flying between the two teams, which always makes for a good time!

The way I see it...

Hockey

We headed to Mankato last weekend for our nephew's first birthday. Ahhh....I love Minnesota in the fall with all the colors on the trees, it's just so pretty.

A good friend of ours from high school works in the sports information department at Minnesota State University and asked us if we wanted to go to the MSU hockey game on Saturday night. We thought it would be fun and said yes.

I should explain by saying that when my husband and I lived in Sioux City we got addicted to Sioux City Musketeers games (same league as the Des Moines Buccaneers). If they had a home stand on a weekend, it wasn't unusual for us to go both Friday and Saturday nights. We loved it!

Well, it's been about six years since we've been to a game. At our house we watch Minnesota Gopher hockey on t.v. (the one time we actually cheer for the Gophers). Anyone who watches the sport knows hockey on t.v. and hockey in person are two totally different things. You don't get the full effect of the hits and the skill of the players when you watch it on television and it's also harder to follow the puck.

I know hockey is not a sport for everybody. For me, I might compare it to soccer or wrestling, a sports many people don't understand and therefore don't really care for. I think once you understand something, you tend to enjoy it more.

Anyway, last Saturday night I sat in awe of the skills of these players. The fact that they have to try to get this tiny puck into the net, deal with the physical aspect of the game while doing it all on ice skates is nothing short of amazing to me! That is a lot of athletic ability wrapped up in those players.

Needless to say, the Mavericks lost, but my kids got to experience their first hockey game. I think they enjoyed themselves and I'm glad they got to be exposed to something different. It's crazy to think just one state away is a culture completely foreign to us Iowans. The sport of hockey. Minnesotans know it and love it. If you ever get the chance to go to a game, I encourage you to do so, you might just like it, but that's just the way I see it.

Five Question Friday

1. Who is the better cook, you or your spouse?
I would definitely say me. The one exception is burgers. Aaron can throw a bunch of crap in a burger and make it taste amazing.
2. How often do you talk to your mom?
Sadly, not as much as I used to. Probably only once or twice a week now. I just feel busier now than I did a few years ago.
3. Are you adventurous in the kitchen or stick to the recipe?
The first time I make something I stick to the recipe. That way I know how it's really supposed to taste. I'm not really a dare devil, but I will add my own little twists once in a while.
4. Is your second toe longer than your big toe?
Yes! Ew! I hate my feet and feet in general. Enough said.
5. Do you dress up for Halloween? (Bonus question: What will you be this year?)
Nope.

And then there will be three...

I'm so happy to "officially" announce that Baby Burdorf #3 (BB3) is on the way. I had my first visit with the doctor today and everything is looking good. We're 13 weeks along and everything is right on track. We are going a little out of the norm here after having two March babies, this one will be an (gasp!) April baby (29th is the exact date for now). :)

I will say this has been the hardest pregnancy I have had. I had a little nauseousness with Jenna and Brody and threw up probably twice with both of them combined. Not so lucky this time as I spend a lot of time with my head in the toilet. The kids see me run in to the bathroom and say, "You going to puke mommy?"

Anyway, we're all very excited and we'll keep you posted as things progress a long the next six months.

Story Time

One of the kids' favorite things about me being home is that we get to go to Story Time at the Library on Tuesday mornings.

Two weeks ago we learned about Fire Prevention Week and this week we learned about leaves.

We read a book and do a craft and the kids really look forward to it. The picture is from the librarian. I work with her at the paper frequently and she was a little camera crazy that day. :)

Pumpkin Patch 2010!

This past weekend Grandma and Grandpa Burdorf made the long trek from Sioux City to hang out with us. We had a weekend full of fun! On Saturday morning we headed out to Carroll's Pumpkin Farm in Grinnell. We went there two years ago and the kids really enjoyed it.

The morning went well, but I have to say that it was too hot. I know I shouldn't complain, but it really was hot and the kids had red faces and I was sweating. Ugh. I was hoping for cooler weather.

I love this expression on Jenna's face!

One of the great things about this place is all the opportunities they have for photos. They set it up that way on purpose and I am happy to report there were a lot of other crazy picture-taking parents there - not just me!

A hay bale turkey. Forgive Brody's bright face, direct sun and picture taking are not a match made in heaven.

Grandpa Frank and Jenna give the wheelbarrow obstacle course a try.

Brody in heaven on his Little Green Tractor. :)

Can't forget the cow train. They LOOOOOVED the cow train!

Grandma and Grandpa with their grandbabies.

They had a barn full of corn. The kids had a blast in there.

They had a giant pillow to jump on and Jenna couldn't wait to give it a try!

Brody trying to lift a way-t00-big pumpkin.

Riding the hayrack back in after picking out our pumpkins.

We had a family picture taken just like this a year ago at the apple orchard, so we needed another one. It's amazing how much the kids have grown, especially Brody!

All in all, a great weekend! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!