The results are in...

The votes show most thought I was having a boy (though Ben voted many times... )
The ultrasound results are in..
and
it's
A GIRL!!!

The craziest company party ever

So Ben and I just returned from Orlando, FL. We were there for his company's christmas party. His company is based out of Orlando, so they flew EVERYONE down there, and paid for us to stay at this really nice resort, the Gaylord Palms.

That, in itself, was above and beyond anything we have ever seen. But then we went to the party, and it was the most extravagent thing I have ever seen in my life. There were 2 women on stilts at the doors to the ballroom with 10' high butterfly wings on that were lit up! The tables were had blue lights underneath them so everything had a blue glow to it. At the end of the dinner, but before the dancing, there was a performance by a group called Cirque de' Mystique.

I forgot my camera, but if we get any pictures from Ben's coworkers, I will post them. But in the mean time, I took one from the Gaylord Palm's website.

All in all, it was a fun time, but it was SO nice to get to the airport and have Josh see me across the room, run to me with his arms open, saying "Mommy!!!" Melted my heart...

What is your guess - boy or girl?

So, our ultrasound for the new baby is scheduled for December 16th, and I thought it would be interesting to do an informal poll to see what the average Joe on the computer (ok, my friends and family reading this) were thinking. Am I having a boy or a girl? I am going to keep my feelings to myself, but just so that you know, our house is divided in their opinions. Vote for which one you think we are having using the link on the left!

I will let you know who was right and who was wrong on Dec 16th!!!

3 years ago today...

I was sitting in my hospital room, looking down at my precious (although quite beat-up looking) son with amazement. I couldn't believe that he was mine, and I was wondering "how long will it take his nose to get in the right place?" I can't believe that little baby is 3 today. The time has just flown by!

Groff Family Photo

 

We went to Potrait Innovations today to have Josh's 3 year pics done (yes, he is gonna be 3!!) and a family photo. I have to say this was our best professional photo experience to date with Josh. The pictures (for the most part) came out great, and it wasn't expensive compared to some places. Overall, we were very pleased.

Halloween

 

 

We all went over to Aunt Abbie and Uncle Joel's house for Halloween. After Josh "helped" Abbie carve some pumpkins, a quick dinner was eaten, and then we were off for trick-or-treating! Their neighborhood has a lot of houses that go all out for Halloween, so it was fun to see all the decorations. Aunt Abbie and Ellie joined us for our trick-or-treating, while Uncle Joel stayed back to hand out the candy! We had a really great time, and Josh was completely warn out!

Pumpkin Carving

 

 

We carved our pumpkins tonight, and everyone had a good time. At first, Josh did not like pumpkin guts, but by the end, he was having a blast. He had so much fun with them, that he cried when I threw them away. He requested that I do the Pooh Bear pumpkin, and Ben chose Piglet (because he looked easy)! And then Ben did a traditional pumpkin.

Happy Anniversary!

Today is Ben and I's 8th anniversary. Today was a lot like the day we were married, sunny with a slight crisp in the air, though it was not nearly as windy as the day we were married! We have been through so much in 8 years, it's hard to wrap one's brain around. But, through it all, he was there for me, and I love him more today than I did 8 years ago.

So Ben - I love you! Thank you for being a wonderful husband!

Tuttle Orchard

We headed out to the Tuttle Orchard with the Smith family this past weekend. The kids had a blast, and so did the parents. We picked our pumpkins (with a great wagon), saw a horse, ate some brats, and saw a beehive. Here are a few pics from our day!

 

Pulling the wagon to find the best pumpkin

 

Searching for the right one

 

"Wait I think I found it!" says Zach

 

"But I can't pick it up!"

Day One of Potty Training is Over... (warning, toilet talk!)

And there were accidents galore! We woke up Sunday morning and said "today's the day! Big boy underwear!" Well, it took an hour just to get him to wear the underwear - he's not one to like change much. You move a piece of furniture, and he tries to move it back. So this was some what expected.

After we got the underwear on, he was fine with wearing it. Now Josh HATES to be wet! So we were hoping that would help. We were ready with an abundant supply of sweatpants (easy on and off) and underwear, and we began our day. I also made a potty chart for just the first few days. If he goes 5 times in the potty - he earns a reward. If he goes poo-poo, he gets a reward.

Well, lets just say we went through about 7 or 8 pairs of underpants and sweats. We did manage to go pee-pee 5 times (he got a matchbox car), but no poo. As I was typing this, we had a potty break, and it was a complete success! No constipation issues today!!!!

Ok, I know this is a gross post, with the talk of pee and poo, but you can expect these for awhile - I will always warn in the title when pee and poo are discussed!!

Anderson's Apple Orchard

 

Aren't they cute together???

 

She's such a cutie! I can't get enough of her!

We headed out to our third orchard visit for the year today! Today we went with Ellie, Aunt Abbie, and Uncle Joel. We had a wonderful time, and finally the weather was perfect! We love spending time with family, and it's so much fun to have so many cloes by!

Pumpkin Patch Fun

 

We went to the Beasley's Orchard Apple Festival today. Ryan, Erin, and Caitlyn joined us for the fun! We didn't do much with the apples, but we did ride the hayride out to the patch, and the kiddos picked their own pumpkins. Unfortunately, it was VERY warm, and the pregnant woman did not enjoy that part of it, so we didn't last long. We finished off the day with a lunch at Chick-fil-A, including yummy ice cream! Lots of fun!

Just Because

 

I thought this was a cute picture and had to share! The smile can brighten anyone's day!

Lance Update

 

 

So Lance was rescued by the Carolina Poodle Rescue (after he bit Josh in the face, not bad, but bad, yeah know?). Anyway, the gentleman who picked Lance up has 2 poodles already. He is only staying there temporarily, while waiting for transport to South Carolina.

So it looks like he has made friends, and is happy playing with the other poodles. I miss him terribly, but I am happy to see him happy. Now I just hope he goes to a happy, loving family.

Giant Ear!

 

Holy Cow! In the time span of one shopping trip to Meijer's - Josh's one ear grew, and grew, and grew. His poor ear was hot to the touch. After inspection, I couldnt' find an insect bite. So, off to the doctor's office. He was saying it hurt, and he was itching it. The doctor also looked for an insect bite, and couldn't find one. So it was diagnossed as a skin infection.

It's interesting what can happen in the span of 45 minutes!

The Kiddie Olympics!

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I HATE Nemo!

It's a very rainy day here, so I decided to have a "movie day" for Josh. The Disney channel was playing Finding Nemo, so I thought "perfect, one he hasn't really seen."

At first he was kinda bored with the movie. He would walk away and play and do his own thing, which was fine with me, seems like the perfect movie. One that keeps his attention every once in a while, but that he's not so engrossed in that he doesn't play. I thought this would be one we watched again.

That is, until the end. For those of you who don't know the story of Nemo, he gets taken away from his dad, and the whole movie is about his dad finding him. At the end, after his dad finds him, Dory (the other main fish in the movie) gets trapped in a very large fisherman's net, and Nemo decides to save her. So Dory and Nemo are on top of this very large pile of fish in the net, and the top of the net makes it out of the water. Nemo and Dory start flappin' around, and Nemo's dad (who is still in the water) is convincing the fish to swim down to escape from the net.

This scene made Josh start to cry - and cry hard. He was saying "nemo gone mommy! nemo gone!" over and over again. He was terrified. In the, Nemo is fine and reunited with his daddy. But Josh was too busy crying to see that part. So I had to rewind the movie and show him that Nemo was with his daddy. I thought that would calm him down. It did, but he was still very upset.

This all happened right before nap time. I took him back to his room, and was sitting in his chair with him about to read him a story, and he started to get upset again and say "nemo gone mommy." I promised him that Nemo was with his daddy, and they were both ok. That seemed to settle him down, but he passed out while I was reading his book to him. I think the whole situation exhausted him.

So, no one get him a fish that looks like Nemo. No Nemo movies, coloring books, or stuffed animals.

And lord knows, I hope none of our fish die anytime soon!

"Awww So Cute"

As many of you know, this is one of Josh's new phrases. He will grab Tiggy (his blanket) and say "Aww Tiggy so cute." It kills me. Well, he did something today that made me say "awww so cute."

I was watching Erin (Paula's little girl) today while Paula was off at an appointment. Erin was sitting by herself and playing with blocks. We have the Elmo medical kit, and the medical case is just a plastic Elmo head, but it looks kinda like a briefcase. Well, Josh grabs the Elmo briefcase, goes over to Erin, kisses her on her check, and says "Bye Erin. See you later. Going work" and then walks to the garage door. So you can only imagine what he sees every morning when Ben goes to work. But Ben doesn't carry a briefcase, he carries a laptop backpack.

All in all, it took me by surprise and made me laugh. It's amazing to watch the imagination.

A Very Useful Mom

 

 

 

Time for a change of pace. I felt the need to finally get Josh's crib out of his room, and I had finished sprucing up the train table that we got used from someone. After some elbow grease, and chalkboard paint for the table top, it looks good and was ready to put in his room. Josh was SO excited. He's never really had his toys in his room, and we were worried he wouldn't go to sleep. Luckily, he seemed to believe that the trains were sleeping for the night. I also added his toy bins to his room. All in an attempt to remove some of the clutter from our family room. We'll see how it goes.

Obituary

 

Susan Elizabeth Vieweg

 

I hate to put this on my blog, but as this is about our life, this seems to be a big enough event to publish, no matter how sad. My mother passed away this morning after a hard battle with breast cancer. She was a strong and brave woman, and I will miss her terribly.
Thanks to everyone who have kept her in your thoughts and prayers. I have appreciated all of the support.

Sad Update

As most of you know, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in late December. Well, it looks like the long, hard battle is coming to an end. After spreading to her lungs and brain, it is now in her spinal fluid, and there is no longer a chemo or drug that will fight the cancer.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayer during this time. Please keep her in your thoughts as she makes her final journey.

You're a very Useful Engine!

 

 

So we leave the baptism party for Logan, and we're not 5 minutes away when I get a call from Allyson. She says "hey, the lady across the street is giving away her Thomas the Train table and some track, and I thought of Josh. Do you want it?"

Now, we have a train table already, but the track is expensive (for what you get), and he doesn't have a ton. Plus, I'm thinking I can put the other table in his room. So I say "She's GIVING it away?" This stuff is expensive after all, and I'm thinking she missed a money making opportunity. Sure enough, she is giving it away. So we take it!

After some cleaning with clorox wipes, Josh now has a ton of tracks. There were also trains, but they were the metal ones, so we are holding on to those for a while. I haven't cleaned up the table yet, but that is on my "to-do" list.

After he woke up from his nap that day, he saw the new train layout (including some new big pieces like the mountain pass and mine shaft), his eyes got huge and he came running over! Now he's saying "Play trains!" even more.

So a huge thanks goes out to Allyson for calling us, and to the lady across the street!

Ellison Rose

 

My beautiful niece was born yesterday right after 2 pm! She weighs 9 lb 3 oz, and is 21 3/4" long. Abbie did really well, they started the induction process at 7 am, and with 10 minutes of pushing, she joined the world a bit after 2 pm! She's a sweetheart, and mom and baby are doing well.
We look forward to spending lots of time with her!

The Wagner Visit

 

The Wagner family came to visit! Actually, they came to look at houses because they are moving here!! YEAH! And they stayed with us while they started their search. I watched Erin and Josh while Paula and Ryan put a bid on a house. The sellers of the house are being stupid, so the deal didn't go through, but I had fun watching the two of them. I can't wait for more fun times with them!

FOXY!

 
Seriously, we have wild kingdom in our backyard. Last year we had a baby woodchuck and its momma, as well as a Cooper's Hawk eating its prey in the front yard (blue jays were squawking and dive bombing the whole time)

Today, after I put Josh down for his nap, I came out to the family room and Lance was laying low and growling. I look outside and there were 3 baby foxes having a good ol' time. One was just sitting there, looked at me, and I think he was thinking "what you staring at??"

Now I am trying to figure out how to get rid of them! Most of the numbers, including animal control and the DNR, won't deal with them. And those that do handle it are pricey.

I need to get rid of these things! but, they are cute.

Slumber Party

 
Paula and Erin came to visit us the past few days, and the kids had a blast. This morning, while they were still in their pjs, they decided to have some fun jumping on Josh's bed. It was great to see them playing together so well. It seemed to be the first time they played together, not just next to each other. Erin loved to hide in the corners of the rooms all over the house, and Josh would run and find her. We always have so much fun with them!

Good God It's Cold!

 
This month has been a busy month. Abbie and I threw Sam her bridal shower, and then a few weeks later, Sam and I threw Abbie a baby shower. I feel like I've been showering all over the place! Sam's wedding plans are going well, and Abbie looks like she's ready to have that baby - even though she's not due until the end of May.
Josh and I went and visited my mom up north (after a stop to Erin and Paula's house). She's doing well, and the chemo is making her tired, but nothing like the previous chemos she has had.
Josh had his first push-pop, and his response was "COLD"
Other than all of that, just the normal month, with play dates, and what not.