Thursday, December 4, 2008

Santa Pictures
















Every year we have to go see Santa at Oakwood Mall. This year I am really on top of things!! We went on Sunday November 23rd after having some family and kid pictures done at Sharp. I thought if we got there early in the season and early in the day we wouldn't wait so long. Well we were the first ones in line and only waited like half an hour, better than an hour and a half we waited one year!! The pictures are fun and the kids got to talk with Santa a little longer since we were the first in line and the elf's were having some issues with the camera. The pictures from Sharp (which I have copyright for) turned out good for the kids. I am not too keen on the family pictures but I like the 2 I posted here. I love the one of the kids with Ian hugging his sisters and then sisters giving him a kiss. This really represents how they get along. Yes they have their days and fights like any siblings but for the most part they are great friends.

Ultrasound







On Tuesday, December 2nd I had an ultrasound at CVTC to see how our baby #4 is doing. He or she is great!! Getting big, by measurements they have me 2 days ahead of my current due date, hopefully that means baby will come a little early but I am thinking baby will also be big like big brother Ian was (he as 8#4oz). Baby, dubbed "Homer" by Nicholas was sure moving and grooving. Even at our very first ultrasound at 8 weeks baby's arms were flailing all over the place!! This time baby would not stop moving, maybe a few seconds at a time. Even the ultrasound techs had a hard time getting measurements due to all the movement!! I can tell me and Homer are going to have some fun months ahead of us. Just in the past few days I have really started to feel baby moving around, love this part of pregnancy! And my belly definitely popped out now. Can't wait for April. I think it is going to be a boy as this is the name we cannot agree on. For a girl it is either Anastasia or Isabella (I have had these names since Katarina was born) so it was very easy, middle name is still up in the air. Boys names on the other hand are presenting to be a challenge. If it is a boy the middle name will be Jason, after Deputy Jason Zunker who was killed in the line of duty earlier this year. But I tell you finding a name that flows nice that both Nick and I can agree on is more difficult than one would initially think it would be. Our baby will be the one who isn't named for like 3 days after it's birth cuz we can't decide on a name. If worse comes to worse we will just have to have a few picked out and let baby decide. The pictures they were able to get for me for the baby book are wonderful. There is one of the hand, almost like giving you a high 5, a look at baby's face and last both feet pressed against the side of my belly. And this time I got a DVD of the entire ultrasound. When I had one with Ian 5 years ago they forgot to put the tape in while doing the ultrasound!!! I wasn't very happy that time btu things happen and it just wasn't meant to be. Enjoy!!

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Surprise 40th Anniversary Party

Nick and his brothers and sisters decided to throw their parents a surprise 40th wedding anniversary last night. The party was held at our house and was a ton of work (thanks Michelle for all your help) but everything went well!! Lorraine and Rich were surprised and had no clue that we had planned such an elaborate event for Saturday night. Lorraine had already wanted us to attend a dedication mass at St. Charles on Sunday, November 16th, their actual anniversary and then do brunch at the Bridgewater Restaurant. Nick had said we wanted to buy them a portrait sitting at Sharp Photo in Eau Claire and then to come to our house for a late lunch Saturday to celebrate Nick's birthday which was on Nov. 7th. Most everything went off without a hitch. We did have a few mishaps: Ian with a large goose egg on his head above his right eye and Michelle with 3 stitches in her hand after cutting it on a glass while doing dishes on Friday night!! It can be expected that everything will not go perfectly but it was pretty darn close. Michelle had made up a wonderful slide show of Rich and Lorraine throughout their 40 years of marriage. I hope Nick and I have as much to be grateful for in another 33 years!! I am sure we will as we are very lucky already being blessed with 3, soon to be 4, beautiful children, wonderful, loving families and good health for all. All in all it was fun to see everyone and help celebrate a long, prosperous marriage. Wishing them many more years of happiness!!

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Halloween 2008

Halloween was a busy run around as usual. Sam was a farmer, Katarina was a cheerleader and Ian was a gorilla. The good thing was that the weather was awesome!! And the farmer made fresh hay bales just for my Halloween pictures. We went trick or treating downtown with Christina and Alan. Then to Grandma and Grandpa Bowe's, next was Grandma and Grandpa Gardow's for supper and cake for Papa Rich's birthday (Nov. 1). Dad took the kids trick-or-treating around the neighborhood, then off to home and to bed. The next morning we traveled to the Mall of America for a 4H outing at the Nickelodeon Studios for a day of fun. It turned out okay until Ian got overtired and overstimulated at the very end of our day and made for long walk out of the mall. Other than that the day was great. Would have been better if Nick could have got the day off work and gone with but oh well.

November 12th, 2008

I have decided to try a blog. Facebook has proven to be way too much and I want something simple where I can post pictures and what we are up to pictures, that friends and family, especially those far away can enjoy. Pictures to come later. Right now we are busy setting up the baby's room and getting ready for a big event at our house on Saturday (more to come, it's a surprise!). Enjoying the first snowfall. Maybe this year we will have enough snow to be able to take the kids downhill skiing for the first time. I will keep you updated. Have an awesome day and week!!