Check out my cute girl!

Libby is potty trained!!

I know I am WAY behind on my blogging but I had to share the news that Libby is officially potty trained! She has only had a handful of accidents in the past 3 weeks. She has even stayed dry during nap the past 4 days too. She got a Woody doll for being such a big girl!! Minutes later she asked for a Buzz Lightyear for Christmas.

Happy Halloween!

For Halloween this year Libby and I went to Sioux City. Mike was gone to Louisville, KY for a business trip. Libby and I weren't feeling the best so we decided to wait and go on Saturday morning, plus she had a costume party at Gymboree Friday afternoon. We met Caleb, Taylor and Kim and went to the Train Museum in Riverside. We went on a hay ride, the kids painted pumpkins and looked at a few trains. Then we went to visit Nick, JJ, Jordyn, Mimi and Papa for a little while. Libby didn't get a nap that afternoon but had slept pretty good the night before. I was worried about how long she would hang in there. Taylor, Caleb and Libby started Trick or Treating about 6. Libby lasted less than an hour. She tripped about half way through the night and wanted to be carried the rest of the night. I stopped and got her stroller but that only lasted about 4 more houses. She was perfectly happy handing out candy at Kim's house. About 8pm we packed up and left for home. Libby was asleep by 8:20 and slept the whole way home. She woke up about 3am for a diaper change and a drink of milk and was out again until 9am. Libby was happy to see her Daddy when she woke up! Mike got home about midnight, just in time to sleep in his own bed and enjoy his last day off for a LONG time.

More fall weekends...

I just realized how far behind I am on my blog!

Here are a few pictures from when Josh, Jessica, Tina, Ben, Kim and all the kids were here a few weeks ago. Kristin, Collin and Sylvia couldn't make it because the girls were sick. We originally were planning on going to the pumpkin patch but the weather changed our plans. We all just hung around at our house. The kids played very well with only minor meltdowns. We also made "Thanksgiving" Dinner. It was awesome and we all ate too much. I can't wait until Thanksgiving comes again so we can have more turkey!

Pumpkin Patch

On Friday October 9th, Kim's kids didn't have school so the 5 of us headed to the pumpkin patch. We were originally going to go on Saturday but the weather called for 40 degrees and snow. Friday was sunny and 50-nice fall weather.

The kids had a good time. The big kids went into a couple of haunted houses (Libby tried one and got scared 5 steps in the door), we fed a bunch of animals, and the kids rolled around in hay a few times through the day. The big kids also had carmel apples and Libby and I shared a popcorn ball-which I dropped on the ground. We went on hay ride and picked a pumpkin out of the patch. The hay ride was definitely Libby's favorite, she still talks about it to this day.

We are lucky we went Friday because we woke up to 4 inches of snow Saturday morning!!

Fall Days...

Here are a couple of pictures of Libby playing school and at the zoo. I have been printing off worksheets from a couple of school sites so Libby and I can "play" school. She mostly colors but I want to try to work with her on letter sounds, writing and a little more on numbers. Libby recognizes all the letters but doesn't know them in order. She can count to 17 but only recognizes 0-9. She knows all of the basic shapes and colors. I got her to write "L-i -b" the other night and then she quit. She is such a stubborn student-I wonder where she gets that from??

A couple of weeks ago when it was still nice, Libby and I went to the zoo for the afternoon. We ended up staying for 4 hours! She got a free ride on the carousel and we spent a lot of time watching the new baby gorilla and the monkeys. I could spend all day in the aquarium but Libby wasn't having any of that. When we were getting ready to leave we passed a man pretending he was a gorilla next to the gorilla statue. Libby thought it was funny and tried it herself. The guy was still around and was laughing that Libby was copying him! She is so cute! I am hoping the weather gets nice enough to go to the zoo one more time before it snows...again.

We also took Libby on a Ferris wheel ride at Scheel's. She kept begging us to go on it. I didn't think she would really like it once we got on and it got going. Libby did great! She held on really tight and sat really still at first but once it got going she really enjoyed it. Unfortunately we didn't have our camera with us since it was a surprise that she actually went!

Libby Belle...

Again I am sorry for not posting for a while. Libby and I were busy enjoying the nice weather while it lasted. We played catch outside, went the park a few times, and went for a some stroller rides. Libby found her pink t-ball glove that I bought her before she was born. She likes to try to throw the ball with the glove or use it as a helmet. Hopefully she will have more athletic ability as she gets older. Daddy gave Libby a hair cut due to the fact that she REFUSES to get one at the salon. He did a pretty good job however she still has crazy hair everyday. Every so often she will let me put it up and make it look cute.

I am also happy to report that Libby is OFFICIALLY pacifier free!! It has been almost 2 weeks now that she has been without it. The first couple of days were a breeze. After that I think she got overly tired and was whining more at bedtime. She hasn't even mentioned them for a couple of days now so hopefully we are over the paci.

Labor Day weekend

(Sorry it took so long for this post)

Well to say the least, Labor Day weekend was a bust for us this year. Mike left for St. Louis on Friday morning to visit some clients and to play softball that weekend. Also on Friday morning I twisted my lower back while getting Libby ready to leave for Gymboree and to run a few errands. I tried to call Mike to come back but he was already too far away. I couldn't sit, which meant no driving and it was pretty painful to walk. Luckily Aunt Joyce was available to bring me some much needed diapers. Joyce and Brady visited a little while-the highlight of Libby's day. I some how made it though taking care of Libby by myself but not without a lot of tears, pain and laying around.

Saturday morning, I called my sister to come take care of Libby. In the mean time, Mike's games aren't scheduled to start until 6 pm so he is calling around to find me a chiropractor in Omaha. I was thinking "good luck-it is a holiday weekend, nobody is open on Saturday". With luck he found someone that was open and would see me right away! Aunt Joyce came over to drive me and watch Libby while I was there. I felt a little better after the visit. The painful twing was gone but it was still sore and stiff. About the time we were getting home Kim and the kids showed up. Libby was SUPER excited to see them since she had been stuck at home with mom unable to do anything. The kids played, watched a bunch of Disney movies, and ate pizza. Kim did some laundry for me, cleaned up the messes that Libby had made that I couldn't pick up, and changed about 6 poopy diaper-she was my lifesaver!

Sunday morning Mike's team was on a rain delay. They still hadn't played any games and weren't scheduled to play until 7pm that night! I had another chiropractor's appt. at 1:30 (what an awesome chiropractor to see me on Sunday during the holiday weekend!). Kim stayed until about 3:30. She originally was going to take Libby home with her so I could heal but Mike had called to say the team was heading home. I was so glad! The boys got home around 7, they were pretty disappointed in how the weekend went. I was too! Libby and I missed the Husker party at Steph and Howie's and we missed the pool party (and the weather was beautiful) at Uncle Rod and Aunt Callie's.

Monday we went to Lowe's so Mike could get some supplies to finish painting the basement. It felt good to walk around but was still painful to sit in the car. The rest of my day was spend on the couch.

Tuesday I took Libby to Gymboree art class with a little pain. I still couldn't sit on the hard plastic chairs or bend over much to help with her projects. I had another chiropractor appt that afternoon. I have been getting around much better but still am a little sore.

Hopefully next Labor Day weekend will be better for us!

Busy weekend

Friday night we took Libby to the carnival for Millard Days. Again, we forgot the camera so here are a few camera phone pictures. Libby surprised me and went on all the rides! She normally freaks out and wants off when thing start moving. She rode the carousel twice, the train twice and drove a big semi. Libby also played two games and won a stuffed "nemo" fish and a HUGE dolphin "balloon". She had a great time and would have stayed all night! When we were leaving she got to sit in a fire truck. Austin came over and spent the night with us since we were going to Sioux City on Saturday morning.

When we got to Sioux City we all went out to lunch with Jeni, BA and Sophie. Mike took Libby to put her down for a nap and Jeni and I went shopping and ran a couple of errands. Later, Libby and I made a quick trip to visit Taylor and Caleb. We didn't stay very long since Libby was cranky and hungry. Jeni and I had a much needed night out while Mike had his fantasy football draft.

Sunday we stopped at the Maxfield's on the way out of town. Their swimming pool is so freaking NICE!! Libby and Austin got in since the water was very warm and it was sunny but the air was still too cool for me to get wet. I didn't get any pictures-of course.

Where did the summer go????

I can't believe it is mid-August already!! School started in our area yesterday. Most of the pools, except 4, closed August 1st and the rest closed August 9th. Our busy days are coming to an end. I think Libby is a little lonely now since she has pretty much been with other kids non-stop for about 5 weeks. We will now get back into going to Gymboree 2-3 times a week since we missed about 10 classes that we now have the time to make up. Here are a couple of pictures of Libby at art class that we go to on Tuesdays. She is an excellent painter and is learning how to use a glue stick pretty well. They do 3-4 projects per class, I am still trying to decide what do with the all the stuff once I get it home!

Omaha Children's Museum

On Saturday August 8-the 12 of us headed to the Omaha Children's Museum. None of us had been there before so it was pretty exciting. Libby loved the little house, the "shopping" areas and the science room. We all went to "The Body" Sesame Street exhibit. I think that was geared towards older kids but it was pretty interesting. I think the face painting was Taylor's favorite and the costumes were Caleb's favorite. Sylvia was getting tired so Kristin, Sylvia and Collin left for home. Libby and I will be headed back there in the near future sometime during the week. Mike was starving so the rest of us went to the Old Market to eat at Spaghetti Works. Once we got home Bailey took a nap, the boys went to the GI Joe Movie, and the girls hung around the house. Libby wasn't interested in taking a nap. When Bailey woke up from her nap, the girls went to the outlet mall for a little bit. Again it was after 10 when Libby got to sleep.

Sunday we all slept late and lounged around the house then ate breakfast. All of our house guests were gone about 2pm. I spent the next few hours picking up toys, cleaning up the kitchen and starting loads of laundry. Daddy and Libby tried to take a nap but Libby again wasn't interested. The previous days had gotten to Libby-she fell asleep in our bed watching "Scooby Doo" at 7:30, woke up at 4:30am to have some milk and a diaper change then slept until 9:30! I still don't think she is quite caught up but she should be by the end of the week with the way she has been sleeping in the mornings.

Family Fun

Friday August 7th I got up early and starting preparing myself for all of the house guests that were going to be arriving throughout the day. I took and break and Kim and I took the 3 kids to the pizza machine for lunch. They had a good time as usual with no major meltdowns. I continued my cleaning until Kristin, Sylvia and Collin got here around 3:30. The kids played and we visited. Josh had called during the day to let us know that their family would not be making the trip. After dinner I set Libby's pool up again-I had taken it down during the thunderstorm the night before. The kids had a ball splashing and running around. Taylor and Collin still played as nicely as they did when they were 2-like no time had past since the last time they had seen each other. Ben, Tina and Bailey arrived around 9pm. All the kids were still up waiting to play with Bailey. It was kind of a late night for all the kids but none of them were crabby.

busy week!!

On Tuesday August 4th Taylor and Caleb came to stay with us!! It was Taylor's birthday so their Grandma Dora and Papa Dana took the kids to the zoo for the day and then dropped them off at my house. Tuesday night we went out to the DQ to get ice cream for TT's birthday and then to Target to get her a present. Wednesday I took all the kids to the spraypark/playground. It wasn't very warm so we didn't stay long. When we got home I set up Libby's little pool so the kids could rinse the sand off themselves. It didn't work very well, so we had an early bathtime. Wednesday night after we ate dinner we went for a walk and then played in the pool again. Thursday I took the kids to the movie "Hotel for Dogs" and then to lunch at Sonic. Libby had gotten up really early that morning so she was ready for a nap by the time we got home. The big kids played in the pool while Libby slept. Again after dinner we went for a walk and played in the pool. About the time we got done with baths and bedtime snack time, Kim showed up. The kids were pretty good, I only had to break up an occasional fight. Libby was super entertained so I could get a few things done around the house. It seemed like a lot of work because I am not used to having so many kids around but it was fun to have them here.