My attempt at an update and news of a BABY!

I woke up this morning realizing how cute the kids were and how I haven't been recording some of the adorable things Jack has been saying. He's finally talking with a steady stream (if you can understand him), and so he is saying some of the silliest things. When we told the kids that we were expecting another baby Jack said, "I'm NOT going to wipe it's butt". Addy's first reaction was, "You AREN'T pregnant"! I had to talk her into believing me. I got it on video, hopefully I can post it to my blog someday. 

Anyway, Adelynn has completed Kindergarten as an AWESOME reader. Now that summer is here she sits and reads books all the time and begs to go to the library story-times. I didn't plan much this summer because I thought we'd just have a relaxing time and do whatever we want. So far I haven't been disappointed. The kids have played so well together and they hardly ever watch TV, just because they'd rather play. Their favorite thing to do is play in the sprinkler! Can I tell you how much I LOVE having a yard! 

I have a lot to be grateful for in this post and that's mostly what I want to share. We have been blessed! I think Corey and I finally feel like we can breathe after being out of school for almost a year. But, I think we'll always have PTSD from the memories of anesthesia school. :) 

We basically thought about getting pregnant and before we knew it, I was. I started showing very early, because of my umbilical hernia that likes to poke out. So, I had no choice but to announce the pregnancy at 10 weeks. I absolutely love the miracle of life, the birth process and babies, but I can't tell you how much I HATE being pregnant! What was God thinking? In MY perfect world the storks WILL deliver babies at your door!                     

 

 I thought that Jack was a girl, because I felt SO strongly about it and kept having dreams he was a girl. Well, Jack is ALL boy! And, the same thing has happened with this pregnancy. I just knew it was a girl, I had a girl name and was thinking about all the bows and dresses I would put her in. Well, we found out on Tuesday that it's a BOY!  I've spent this week trying to wrap my head around it. And, of course Corey said he knew it was a boy. :) 

Before the ultrasound Jack said, "If it's a girl, I'm going to spank it's butt". I kept thinking what is going to happen when this baby girl comes out, he seriously will beat her up. 

But, during the ultrasound the tech said, "Well, I can tell you it's a boy" and Jack immediately said, "It's a boy, it has a penis". I didn't even know he knew that word, but he is excited to have a brother. He already thinks he can punch my belly now that he knows it's a boy. He can't wait to wrestle with his brother! As for Adelynn she will make a great older sister and boss her brother's around! After the ultrasound we went to Kohl's and bought a few baby boy outfits. Adelynn came right home and started making a list of boy names. Then, we had a vote. Corey only liked one of the names on the list and he is the one who will decide the name (because it's his thing), so we will see what he comes up with.

 I can't forget to mention that our baby is very healthy! We had a placenta problem with Jack that could of ended in still-birth. So, I have been very nervous this pregnancy, but the tech checked for that same problem and everything looks great. Now we just have 20 more weeks and we will be having our 3rd November baby! 

Some other things that have happened lately are:

 Corey and I celebrated our 9 year anniversary on June 10th. I found this saying in the Hallmark store and had to share it. We had a nice date to a dinner and a movie and I think it was one of the first anniversary dates that we didn't argue over anything. We are both getting too tired to even argue anymore. Anyway, my point is we had a nice time together and we are looking forward to our 10 year anniversary trip! 

(We are taking volunteers to babysit all 3 kids next year too) Anyone? :)

These are my beautiful anniversary roses from Corey, I feel so lucky to have him in my life. 

Family Picture, May 2014

In May we went on a 2-week vacation to see family and friends in Utah and Idaho! I will have to write a different post about that trip, but we had fun and made lots of memories with Grandma's, Grandpa's and cousins! Below are just a few of my favorite pics from our trip out West: 

 My whole family, except my brother Ethan (he's in Korea).

Addy caught her first fish and she said it was too slimy to touch, so her Dad held it for her. 

 Corey's baby brother, Kayden, graduated. 

 Addy drove a tractor...

And, there is something to be said about "wide-open" spaces after living among the trees.

 Cousin love 

My little sister, Naomi, graduated!

I got some love from the my nieces and nephews

And, we karaoke'd (that was hilarious)! 

Saying good-bye wasn't fun. But, it was good to come home to NC. Corey and I both feel like this is our home now and don't want to think about moving away from the comforts of Raleigh. 

And, our most recent change is that we bought a van. Some of you might remember that we bought a hippy van 5 years ago, so we thought we would stay with tradition and get a Volkswagen. It's a 2011 Routan and it was made with kids in mind, 2 TVs and lots of A/C and window shades in the back. 

The kids are in heaven.  

Charlotte...

We had lived in NC for 2 1/2 years and still hadn't made it to Charlotte. In case you haven't heard, it's the largest city in NC. Corey had an anesthesia conference down there in March and so we thought it would be a good excuse to go visit. I got to hang out at Ikea and had fun with the kids swimming in the pool at the hotel. Here are a few pictures from our trip.

We had an ice storm the day we were traveling and we stopped at Cracker Barrel for dinner, it was a nightmare. Everyone and their dog was there trying to get some dinner because they were all out of power. It was weird to see the effects of just a few hours without power. 

We really had a lot of fun at the Nascar Hall of Fame Museum, I don't think we will ever go again because of the cost, but we had fun learning a lot about our Grandpa Lance's favorite sport! 

Jack's Trigger Thumb

About 6 months ago we noticed Jack's thumb was bent funny, also called a trigger thumb. I would of done nothing about it (cause that's just how I was raised). But, since we have awesome insurance and three doctors who said it needed surgery, we decided to have it fixed. I was nervous because Jack usually has a cough (due to his asthma) and I was worried about his airway through the whole surgery. It doesn't help that I'm married to an anesthetist who was also worried.  But, of course everything went well and the recovery was perfect!!

           Before Surgery

   On the way...

If you look close, you can see his cool blue "cast". 

Thumbs up for thumb surgery! 

I don't have an after picture yet, but now it looks normal.

And, he can pinch his sister more effectively now! 

Staycation

For Valentine's weekend I had a great plan, we would stay in a hotel room on Valentine's night (with the kids) and then we would wake up the next morning and go to the zoo with some friends. My plan was botched completely. But, we still had fun!

First of all, we got about 6 inches of snow the Wednesday before Valentine's Day. This place shuts down when it snows, people were ditching their cars and walking home because the conditions were scary. The funny thing is that in Idaho/Utah people would rarely ditch their cars in a snowstorm because that's where you feel the safest and warmest. Corey was stuck in traffic for 3 hours trying to get home from work, but he refused to sleep at the hospital. He saw so many people walking, including a woman with an infant. It was crazy. If you want a good laugh, Casey (my brother in-law) said people were really struggling to drive up a hill on Glenwood Ave and he felt lucky his car got up it and he made it home. About an hour later the photo below went viral from that same location. People were making jokes about it looking like the Apocalypse. After a few days things settled down and we were MORE than ready to get out of the house! We packed up and went to a hotel in Mooresville (a ten minute drive from our house). The kids were SO excited to swim, and eat breakfast at the hotel. :)

The second reason my plan was unsuccessful was because the Zoo was closed due to the snow! I was super disappointed about this, but once I realized they didn't have the equipment to plow the walkways, I was more forgiving.
The third reason my plan was botched is because Corey came down with flu-like symptoms on Thursday night and was VERY sick all weekend. This is what he did while the kids and I hung out in the swimming pool, well this is actually what he did all weekend. I regret not being more sympathetic towards him because he was SO good to me when I got the flu. That's why he is the nurse in the family, he's very understanding.

So, we had a blast hanging out in the pool and just cuddling up to watch the Winter Olympics and eating ice cream.  OH, and I almost forgot, we did go to dinner at our favorite Chinese restaurant. We have lived in Raleigh for 2 1/2 years and never really found a Chinese Restaurant we could call home, but after we found Chopstix, there is no turning back. :)

 The love of my life.

 This girl would give her right leg for seafood!

 Corey's meal, I couldn't even begin to think about eating raw fish...

So blessed to have these 2 kiddos!

When we got home, I found this picture on the camera from Valentine's night:

Corey was so lucky to have me as his Valentine date!

Silly Jack

 This kid LOVEs his Superman shirt, he insists on taping a piece of paper to the back of his shirt, so he can "fly"! 

 Throwing a snow-ball 

 Oh, and he enjoys the snow with no coat on. :) 

 He has a thing for cooking his own Mac and Cheese!

 Spending time with his Dad at t-ball class

He even tagged his Dad out! 

Learning how to "play ball" with Coach K

                                            His home-run video (not bad for a 3 year old)!

Brr...with SNOW!!!

We are forgiving "Mother Nature" in this blog post, because she has officially redeemed herself. We didn't just have cold air, we got SNOW! It looks like we got about 4 inches here! We have been out this morning playing in it. I think this is Jack's "real" experience with snow. And, of course Addy had a snow-day from school! (but, from what I hear this isn't too exciting because they will have a make-up day). But, for now we are hanging out reading the mass amount of books we got from the library and looking out the window at all the SNOW!!!

I should also let you know that Corey is the sweetest husband EVER. He is out of the dog house for a while now. ;)  He got a gift card from work because it was nurse anesthesia week, and he didn't go spend the money on himself! He told me I could use the money for a camera! So, we went to Best Buy and found the camera we wanted. Before we bought it, Corey decided to look it up online and check the reviews. He found it on the website for $20 cheaper. As a result, he made a deal with the salesman and we walked away with a camera that cost us $13.00! Woohoo! Now I will be better at blogging, because I have semi-decent pictures to share with you all!

 He wanted to make a pirate snowman, but the snow wasn't the kind that sticks together. :-(

 Addy's snow angel

 Jack's attempt.

 Beautiful snow angel from Addy. 

Jack's snow angel?!?

 

 Grandma Koyle was so worried that we wouldn't use these snow-hats she sent the kids, 

they are happy to have them today!

Brrr...with a few Christmas Pics

It's January, does anybody like this month?!? It is actually COLD in North Carolina right now, so I'm ready to go somewhere tropical, but Corey is on a kick to pay his student loans off ASAP. So, I'm stuck in the house trying to stay warm and just dreaming of traveling. :)

I've had a lot of people ask what we have been up to lately, so here goes:

Corey works Monday thru Friday from 7-3 p.m. We love his schedule because then he can pick up Addy from school! Corey is also in the Army Reserves, and so far he hasn't had to complete any "work" for them. But, I'm sure they will put him to work when they need him. :) His "newest" obsession is a huge punching bag that he filled with sand and threw in the attic. When he feels like punching something he goes up there and gets his exercise. I think Jack will be learning how to use the punching bag soon too. It's a great workout and a good way to channel some energy. 

I don't have a camera that takes decent pictures so I haven't blogged forever. I want to share decent pictures with my friends, not semi-blurry phone pictures. So, hopefully I get a camera for Valentine's Day (that's romantic, right).

Jack goes to speech therapy 3 times a week through Wake County. His teacher is awesome and his speech is really improving! Trying to get him to speech and doing his homework keeps me busy. He is also in a t-ball class. He made a home-run in his last class, and tagged 2 people out. Corey came home to let me know that Jack is the coach's favorite. We are proud of Jack!

Adelynn is obsessed with American Girl (AG) dolls. As a result, I have joined some facebook pages for Mom's and I've become a little obsessed myself. We have read all the Molly books together and she got the Molly doll for Christmas. We have also read all the Addy books and she ( I ) can't wait to get the Addy doll next Christmas. Corey is actually going to help her build a doll bed for her Molly doll. She is very excited!

Addy came home about a week ago and said, "My teacher said I'm the best reader in the class". My teacher-self kicked in and I thought, "wow, I hope she didn't say that in front of the other kids?" So, I said, "how did that make the other kids feel, and why would she say that to you." Corey made sure to pull me aside and say, "Be happy for her"! So, I am!!! She has worked hard to become a great reader and now it is paying off. She will be the narrator for her upcoming play called "Brownilocks and the Three Bears".

I think that's about all we've been up to, I've been busy with girl's camp plans, and trying to recover from the terrible flu. I'm so grateful that I am alive to get my flu shots from now on. :) I had never had a flu shot, but I had never had the flu either. I will be getting the shot every year now!!

Pizza on Christmas Eve because Mom was in bed with the flu. :)