Better late than never...

Here are a few pictures of Libby from Christmas. As most of you know, we got snowed in at Mike's parents house for 5 days. It was a pretty cool Christmas if you ask me. We all just hung out, watched movies, played games, ate, ate and ate some more. We all got lots of cool gifts. Libby got her Buzz Lightyear, the only thing she asked for. Mike bought me a DSi but somehow Libby plays it more than I get to. Libby and I didn't make it to my sister's until the day after Christmas due to the weather. We didn't get to hang out with them as much as I would have liked. I think the Christmas holiday should be 5 days long every year!!

Sorry, no pictures again...

Since I have been sharing a computer with Mike I never thing to download pictures to the laptop, they are on the desktop that I don't use very often. I also keep forgetting to bring the camera with me! I need to start leaving it in my purse or car (when it decides to warm up!)

Nothing new to report. We went to Sioux City Friday night so Mike could play softball. Libby went and spent the night with Taylor and Caleb. She had fun playing with them and their dogs. I had lunch with Jeni and her girls on Saturday, hung out a little bit and then we headed for home. We were expecting a blizzard over the weekend but it looks like it missed us.

Libby got into the Gingerbread House preschool. In September she will start going on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:30-3pm. I am going to sign her up for gymnastics on Wednesdays at 12:30. Mike thinks I am crazy but I am also going to get her to play soccer this fall. It only lasts 4 weeks and should be some good 3 year old entertainment.

Last weekend for Valentine's Day we all went out to breakfast on Saturday morning and then to the Durham Museum. It is an old train station and it has lots of neat things about the history of Omaha. I want to go back (without Libby) so I can loiter around and read everything. It was pretty cool. Saturday night we stayed home and I made crab legs for the first time. They turned out excellent!! I may never go out for crab legs again....

Sorry this got added to the wrong blog: It was suppose to be my post last week.

This Thursday was my birthday. We didn't really do anything special. Libby is pretty tired of watching TV so I have been trying to keep her busy with outside activities. This also means my house is a disaster! Tuesday we went to Gymboree, got Libby a hair cut and went out to lunch. Wednesday I took Libby swimming and then we went to McDonald's playland all afternoon. Thursday it was my actual birthday-I took Libby to Gymboree and then we went to look at a preschool for her. I am trying to get her into the Gingerbread House. I do not have her immunization records yet so I am crossing my fingers that she gets in! Thursday night the 3 of us went out to dinner and then did a little shopping. Friday we got up super early (which is anything before 8 for us!) and went out for breakfast with Carla and Kelsey. Libby and I then went to the Carter store and Target. We also had Gymboree for 2 hours that afternoon. Libby did awesome considering how tired she was! Once I get a few pictured downloaded I will add our weekend post.

I'm a Big Girl!

Libby got a new big girl bed! I am very sad to see the crib go. It was so easy (most nights) to put her in and let her play or fall asleep. Now, one of us has to stay in her room until she falls asleep, otherwise she is up roaming around. It didn't help that we picked the worst week EVER to switch. Libby got sick on Wednesday. She had a fever, runny nose and a cough. A couple of nights she was awake every half hour. SO, she ended up sleeping with us 2 nights. Last night she didn't wake us up at all but when I went in her room this morning she was sleeping on the floor. I sure hope she gets well soon and gets on a better sleeping schedule for all of our sakes!

My computer crashed!

Shortly after I updated from Libby's birthday party my computer crashed. The mother board is fried and the cord went out. We are just going to live with Mike's laptop for now. Maybe if we find a super deal on a new computer I will get one since it would cost more than a cheap computer to fix!

Also, this is the first week I have felt good since Libby's party. I had a fever for about 8 days and severe muscle aches set in about day 4 or 5. A couple of nights my fever spiked to 103 but hovered right around 99-100 during the day. I wasn't really tired but had no energy. Mike stayed home a couple of days to take care of Libby. She was VERY good the whole time I was sick. My legs still feel pretty weak but I can function a little better now.

I will re-download the pictures from Christmas and recently to start updating a little more.

Libby's 3rd birthday party

I can't believe my baby is 3 already!! We had Libby's party on January 9th in Sioux City. Mike is playing softball on Friday nights in South Sioux so we decided it was easier for us to stay there and have her party instead of making everyone drive to Omaha the next day. It was a small Buzz Lightyear party with a Wall-E cake. We ate lunch and opened gifts. Libby got lots of good presents-a few games, a bunch of movies, a Toy Story sleeping bag, barbies, barbie clothes, and a bowling set. We are saving the big party celebrations until she is old enough to know the difference and tell us what she wants.

This year.....

I am going to post once a week (or more). I might not add pictures everyday but I am going to post a bit about what is going on with us. I am really behind right now and will try to catch up soon.

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.