Huskers Win....................

.....even though it wasn't pretty! Nebraska won 17-3. To say the least, they were favored by 37 points! It was very fun, however. The tailgating was a blast and we got to hang out with several of my cousins. The food was delicious. We drove through some nasty thunderstorms on the way to Nebraska. It rained from the time we left on Saturday morning until we reached Omaha. I am thankful Jason was driving and that when I was DD, it wasn't raining!!! It was cloudy and cool when we first arrived in Lincoln, but the sun came out around 3 pm and it got a lot warmer. Thank goodness, we had many layers and came prepared. The weather was perfect for the game which started at 6pm. I think our friends had a good time with my family and tailgating, even though they were cheering for SDSU. Actually, they played really well, so their fans should have been pretty proud. I wouldn't be surprised if Nebraska dropped in rankings. I don't like it when they start the season in the top 10. I drove the four of us (Jason and our friends) back to Omaha after the game. I made it to my cousins house after we finally figured out we were heading away from her house (I had never been to her house before and it's hard enough trying to get through a city that you are unfamiliar with during the day, I was doing this at night)! I thought I did pretty darn good (with the help of my cousin)!! We woke up Sunday morning, visited for a bit and headed to Petersburg to pick up my dad and the girls. We stopped to eat and got some runza's at a gas stop, but decided a little while later to stop at an actual Runza and get the original, since we don't get them that often.....plus I had been craving them at the game, but didn't get any since we didn't have any cash. The gas stops were good, but the originals were better and much worth the stop!! We made it back to Mankato on Sunday evening around 8 pm. I enjoyed the nook on the way back since my dad and Jason were up in the front on the way home and I was in the way back. I think Landree knew everytime I turned that thing on as she'd start fussing whenever I picked it up!! It was a very fun, fast weekend. The picture of Jason and I together is not that great, so I got some pictures of us seperately as well. Enjoy the pictures of our weekend.

Letting the balloons go after the first touchdown by Nebraska:

The stadium during daylight hours:

The field at night:

Here are the players coming out of "the tunnel"!

This here is my cousin, Matt and his wife, Andrea, and a picture of the four of us together! (Andi-you should really steal this picture of the two of you from my page, it is a great picture of you both!)

Here's a picture of our friends and us: Adam and Angela. They both went to SDSU!

Happy Birthday Ana!!

Happy Birthday to my dear friend, Ana! I hope your "last" birthday is awesome!! ;) I wanted to post a pic of the two of us, however, you guessed it, our computer has pooped out once and for all. So, here I am using Jason's laptop to write blog posts!! I am able to get pictures of off my camera, but none from our other computer yet. I am sure there is a way, but my computer geek of a husband is studying hard and I don't want to bother him!! Anyhow, I can't wait to see you this weekend and hang out, adults only (should be fun)!! Speaking of computers, we are currently shopping and comparing prices/deals. I can't wait. I think we might "office space" our old computer once we get all of our information and pictures from it!! Anyhow, Ana, I hope you've had a great day. Thanks for always being there for me, for Jason & I and for always lending a shoulder when I have needed it. Life has been crazy lately, but I know no matter what, we're there for each other, always. Oh, and Jason's laptop won't let me get on facebook, so you'll only get a birthday wish here!!! Love ya! And, happy birthday (late) to your hubby also.

So Excited!!

SO EXCITED!!
Heading to Nebraska in the morning to go to the Nebraska vs. SDSU game with my wonderful hubby!!!
Jason and I will be married 11 years tomorrow!!
Instead of just going to Nebraska for the game and Duluth next weekend to celebrate with our friends, Jason also got me a bouquet of daisy's and a B&N Nook!!!!! I am spoiled!! We've already bought a few books and instead of playing on it, I am blogging about it!!
Will take lots of pictures and post soon!!

The girls are heading to Petersburg, NE (where I grew up) with my parents and then Jason and I will be heading there to pick them along with my dad on Sunday and head back to MN.

Ryleigh made applesauce in her class this morning. She got to peel the apples and had lots of fun. I already have a pile of stuff to put in a folder for preschool. Next week they are learning all about "b" and"c"! Landree continues to talk more and more, just in this week she has increased her vocab so much!!

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Girls, Huskers, Anniversary!

Let's see. Not to much going on. We've all had a little cold the last few days here, but luckily it's only been really bad one day. Ryleigh is a pain when she can't breath through her nose when she is sleeping, but Landree sleeps her normal 12-13 hour nights without a problem. Friday and Saturday night it was much easier to lie in Ryleigh's bed than to get up and go to her room every hour because she was crying because she couldn't breath through her nose. Finally last night we got a whole nights sleep. Other than that, life is usual here.

Ryleigh is LOVING preschool!! She had "teddy bear" day last Friday and brought her pink pig to show off, who got a clean bill of health. I was wondering whether it would be the pig or the lamb she would decide to bring. This pink pig has been one of her favs and I got it for only 99 cents at Walgreens when she was around 2 years. This week they are learning all about the letter "A". Of course, Ryleigh walks in on Monday morning and says, I already know all about "A", I know how to write it and everything. Her teachers just smiled at me....hehe! So this morning we found a picture of an Airplane and she got to bring that in for there alphabet book. This preschool homework is actually quite fun! (and easy)!! Yay! She said she told them that she was on an airplane this summer to see Nana Peggy. They are making homemade applesauce on Friday and all week they are having treats that start with an "A". Today they took a "field trip" to an apple tree and picked apples. She asked me tonight if she could go to school every day. I told her if she kept it up and learned everything maybe she could go to Kindergarten next year and that would be every day. Of course, her first library book was left outside and due to all the rain we've had, has already gotten ruined. Now, we have to replace that...ughh!!

Landree is turning into our little talker. She is spitting out all kinds of things. She says Ryleigh perfect and today said "I love you" for the first time. It was the most precious thing I've ever heard. She keeps pointing to things and saying something, so then we correct her and she is so close to saying it right. Sometimes it takes a few tries but at least she is finally trying and copying us! She also said, "nigh, nigh daddy!" and then blew him a kiss tonight. She is so much fun, is a ball of energy, ornery and starting to throw the tantrums. I don't know what it is about this kid and Vicks. I don't know if you remember how she's eaten it twice already? Well, I've been "vicks"ing the girls up at bedtime and she ran to that jar this evening and handed it to me. And when I put it on her, she just smiles like it's the best thing ever. You'd think it'd cause her to start dry heaving and bring back some awful memories, but no, she likes it.

Baby #3 is doing good. Besides this cold I feel wonderful. I didn't run the whole month of August, so I think I might walk/run the October 10K or just skip it. My knees were hurting and I never made it out to get new shoes with the busyness of the summer, so oh well, a little exercise is okay, but I don't want to overdo it since I haven't been doing it. Plus, I'm totally fine about not killing myself while I'm pregnant and eating all I want. Eggs seem to be the food of choice, it's like I can't get enough. I got some farm fresh eggs from my friend today, I can't wait to cook 'em up!! Other than that a cool thing is that baby #3 now has it's own set of fingerprints, I thought that was a cool quick fact I read earlier this evening. My stomach is growing, but I don't yet fit into my maternity clothes and my regular clothes are just a little tight... :) I can't believe we'll be entering month 4 here the end of the week.

Jason and I are excited to be heading to Lincoln, Nebraska this weekend to attend the Husker football game. If you love football and college football at that, this is one of the best places to watch a game, regardless if your a Husker fan or not. The fans are not only crazy, but very loyal and always respectable to the other team and their fans. I've heard more noise at a Husker game from the fans cheering than I have at a Vikings game. I can't wait. Most of my cousins live in Omaha and Lincoln, so we already have family on both sides inviting us to tailgate party's. So far, we are 2-0!! Football is one of the best things about fall. Fall is my favorite, the smells, bonfires, football (Jason likes hunting). That's why so many years ago, we wanted to get married in the fall. ( I do remember in KS it was one of the hottest fall days the day we got married, in the 90's, so I felt more like a summer bride).We will be married 11 years on Saturday, I can't believe it. I can't believe we have been in each others lives for 14 years. Time sure flies. What a great 11 years it's been. I couldn't have asked for a better guy.

Well, hope everyone is having a great week!

Out of the Closet!!

Dear Family & Friends,


I don't yet have a face to see,
Or put inside a frame.
I don't yet have soft cheeks to kiss.
I don't yet have a name.


Not yet can you hold my tiny hands,
Nor whisper in my ear.
It's still to soon to sing a song,
Or cuddle me so near.


But all that will change come next March;
When they say I'm due.
I am your newest family member;
And I cannot wait to meet you!


All I ask between now and then,
Is your love for me to grow.
I promise I'll be worth the wait;
Just think of all the joy we'll know!


So, as your waiting patiently,
Please pray lots of prayers for me.
I cannot wait to be a part
Of this wonderful family!

----author unknown


Jason and I (& the girls) are excited to tell everyone that baby number 3 is on the way!! I am 13 weeks along today and feel much bigger than I did the first two times (maybe because the stomach is stretched out a little more)!! I should say I am pretty sure I am 13 weeks along giving me a due date of March 26th, 2011. I don't have my first appointment for another couple of weeks, I just can't wait for that to hear the heartbeat and know that it's "real"!! I put the above poem in a photo book with pictures of the girls and gave it to the grandparents. I did change the words for the blog entry (but the book read "Dear Grandma and Grandpa" and "I am your newest grandchild"). I had to come up with something clever since I started my own tradition of telling the grandparents in a cool way each time that we've been pregnant. I had Ryleigh bring the book to them and ask them to read her, her new book. They liked it from what I could tell. Ryleigh is pretty excited. She told daycare (luckily I beat her to my daycare lady) and she told her classmates. Landree is oblivious! For Ryleigh's homework assignment she had to answer different questions. I will tell them in another blog except one. Ryleigh, tell us about your family. Ryleigh's answer, "I have a mommy and daddy and they feed me. I have a little sister, Landree and there's another baby on the way!" She then drew a picture of the four of us and in my stomach she drew a baby....so cute!! I have felt wonderful except that week and a half in August when we had 100+ humidity....I was fine once I got to work and was in AC all day, but once I was done with work and went out into the nastiness of it, I felt sick. The first two pregnancies were a piece of cake, I hope this one is the same. Hope everyone has a great weekend!


Ryleigh:






























Ryleigh being goofy:

































Landree:


































Landree dancing:




































Me at 9 weeks (I have to get the 13 week one onto my computer then I will share):

Quick Update and Pix

Well, as some of you know, Jason was in Colorado last week hunting elk. He didn't get any let alone see one, so that was kind of a bummer, but I think he still had a good time. He got to see his mom and sister, so that was nice. I, on the other hand, am glad he's back. It's always nice to have some time away and realize how much you truly love each other and appreciate all that you do and have together, but even so, a week was too long. It might not have been so bad considering all the things that happened (wind storm, leaky roof, Ryleigh's first week of preschool), but again, it made me realize how much I like having him around. Ryleigh's first week of school went well. She's into her 2nd week and liking it, so that is good. She has learned a lot of stuff that we hear, but she's pretty testy about telling us all that she's done. She has been learning the Pledge of Allegiance, so that's pretty neat. All you Twins fans will appreciate this one.........here's her last line: With Liberty and Justice Morneau! She says it perfect except for that last line!!! This morning after school and on the way to daycare we practiced it the right way and then she wanted to know what justice meant, but I think she is finally getting that Justin Morneau and Justice for all are two different things. I will have to post the video. And she told us, when you sit on the floor you sit, criss cross applesauce! :) Landree is doing well. She has been repeating words after us ..................FINALLY! Her newest word is "kitty" but she will pretty much try to say anything if we ask her to say it. She is working on her two year molars and then she will have all of her teeth. She's been having some major tantrums (terrible two's already), but will sit in a time out, sometimes on her own! She is a CHARACTER, that is for sure. She makes us all laugh, especially her dance moves. And here are some recent photos (from July)!!

Ryleigh on her 4th birthday:



















Landree on Ry's birthday:



















The girls on Ryleigh's birthday:



















Ryleigh posing:



















Landree being a cheeser:



















The girls posing for me:

Ryleigh's 1st Day of Preschool!!

So, today was the day for Ryleigh to go to preschool! It was a good day. She had her favorite cereal to start off the day and then took some pictures for me at home. She thought it was too cold outside, so the ones I have of her outside are funny as she was cold. We headed up to the school and I got some pix of her outside. She then ran to her locker once inside school and put her backpack and jacket in her locker. She wouldn't stand by the locker for a picture as she was so excited to get into her classroom. She found her cubby and her name on a sticker. Her friend Colin was right behind her and so she found his name too. (I honestly was shocked when she did this because I didn't realize she could read--HAHA, really I think she is used to seeing his name as much as hers from daycare, so I think that is how she recognized it!!) Then she went over to her teacher whom said, "tell your mom goodbye". Ryleigh turned around and said, "Goodbye mom, I love you!" Oh, I bet she doesn't say that in a couple of years on her first day!! It was sweet! She then raced off to be with the other kids. At first, I just kind of stood there, like what do I do next. I guess I was anticipating her to cry or myself. I slowly walked out and went to the tuition office, there my friend Emily (Colin's mom) was tearing up, which almost had me tearing up, but I stayed strong for the both of us and got her back on her feet. When I went to pick Ryleigh up she said she had fun and she wanted to go again. I had to convince her it was time to go to Cindy's and she would get to go again on Friday. On the way to Cindy's, she called Jason and talked to him about her first day. She seemed a little tired when I picked her up and she said she wanted a nap. She must have been worn out. She also wants to wear her new outfit again tomorrow. HAHA! I promise maybe tomorrow I will give an update on Landree. I have failed to mention her the last two posts, but it's kind of been Ryleigh's week here!! She is getting so fun so I will have to fill you in on a few things. I also posted some songs below that remind me of our angel and on her first day of preschool, thought they would be fun to listen too. Two that remind us of when she was born/littler. Daughter by Louden Wainwright, My Little Girl by Tim McGraw. And one of her favorite songs, You are my sunshine! I did get her in some photos with Ryleigh this morning. Here are some photos of the morning!

Labor Day Weekend

What a lazy, wonderful, relaxing 3 day weekend. The girls and I headed over to mom and dad's on Friday evening after work and we came back to Mankato Monday evening. It was so much fun visiting about family and old friends. I didn't cook a meal, mom made them all, I helped with dishes once, I think. I also got to nap all three days and on Saturday, mom let me take a 4 hour nap.......it was so refreshing and amazing. We watched the Nebraska game pay per view on Saturday night and they won. GO BIG RED!! I can't wait to see them in Nebraska on the 25th (Happy Anniversary to Jason and I)!! I finished the book, The Double Bind. It was interesting. Mom and I braved the never uneventful girls in church on Sunday. Ryleigh got an A+, Landree a C. Then before Ryleigh went to bed we pigged out on two bowls of microwave popcorn.........the only thing it was missing was melted Velveeta poured over top. The girls let all of us sleep in until 9:30 on Monday morning. Monday was a dreary, sleepy day. It rained on and off and even though it's been much cooler and got into the 40's during the nights, we were still getting bit by mosquitoes. Last night I slept like a baby and didn't even hear the storming and wind we got.

So, this morning as I was getting all of us ready (on time) and got the girls their breakfast, wouldn't you know something was going to go wrong unexpectedly. I went over to the sink, took a drink of water, looked out the window and what did I see???? All of my deck furniture, table, screen house and our pool strung out over the yard, and Jason's grill (the one I spent my hard earned money on for fathers day/birthday)...........laying on it's back over the side of the deck, part on and part off our huge window well. And, who wasn't here to help me pick it up? You guessed it. So, ran to one neighbors house, no lights on, ran to another neighbors house. That neighbor and his 15 year old son helped me pick up my yard. We had grease all over our hands from the grill, but I didn't want a gas leak to occur while I was at work and burn the place down. I don't even know if the grill works anymore. We gathered all of the furniture and then the 3 of us got the pool in the garage and the screen house in the corner of the fence so it wouldn't go into anyone else's yard. All the while, the wind was blowing so hard. So much for doing my hair for work this morning. Thank God for great neighbors!! I was late to daycare but I arrived at work precisely at 8 am!! GO ME!! After talking to Jason this evening, we had all of our pool floaties and stuff in our screen house and now they are nowhere to be found, so I am assuming they are somewhere at their new homes. BOO. I should go see if there are any on sale racks at the stores. Thank goodness this occurred this morning and not tomorrow morning.

Anyhow, Ryleigh starts preschool tomorrow. She is ecstatic. Her paperwork is ready. We worked on her first homework project that she got last Friday. I can't wait to share her answers (another day) to her questions. Her backpack is ready. Her outfit is ready. She IS ready. I am anxious and excited. I am NOT ready. I will probably cry. My first baby is going to school. I should get to bed, so I have extra time to take pictures!! I still have lots of pix to share from July and August that I am going to try and get done this week, since I have no one to say, "come hang out with me, come watch TV with me, come cuddle, get off the computer!!" Actually, I am really starting to miss that!! :) GOOD LUCK JASON.......get an ELK!!

"Hello Day"

Today was a fun day for Ryleigh! She got to come to work with me this morning for a little while until it was time for us to visit the preschool, teachers, classmates and parents where she will be attending. She was very good during my morning report meeting and colored the whole time. OK, maybe not the whole time. One of the social workers and her were discussing the color of their finger and toenails which was really cute and then everyone was just looking at her and when she noticed that, she then piped up, "I'm going to preschool today!" That had all of them giggling. Then after about an hour of work, we headed up to Ryleigh's preschool for her "Hello" day. Jason met us there and she got to practice opening and closing her locker, finding some "homework" in her cubby in the classroom and a free school t-shirt. Then all the kids got to play for a little bit. Ryleigh found her friend Colin, but she also found more, new "friends"! The one thing we noticed about all of her new friends...........they were all little boys that she was playing with!! Uh oh! Then they all got to find their names on a little piece of carpet and sit in a big circle. One of her two teachers told the class that they were going to stay and play a name game and read a story while the other teacher took the parents to the cafeteria for information and questions. Ryleigh was hilarious, she says to Jason and I, "bye mom and dad, see ya later" and was waving at us. Probably about 10 kids started bawling. So, that made us feel pretty good. Then after our informational meeting with the teacher, we were walking back to the classroom and the teacher is holding Ryleigh's hand heading for the bathroom. When the teacher asked Ryleigh if she wanted to have mom or dad take her to the bathroom or her, Ryleigh looked at her and said, "I want you to take me!" Okay, don't mind us, we're just chopped liver!! HAHA!! Ryleigh also got to meet her principal. Her name is Sister Mary Beth and I know her because her mom was a patient of mine earlier this year for a few months. So, it was fun to see her and hear that her mom is doing well! So, technically, her first day of Preschool will be Wednesday Sept 8th. I will get pictures of her on that day! Oh, it's so crazy to think she is old enough to go to preschool. I was thinking the other day how perfectly I can remember the day she was born. I got an email from Jason earlier today and he was talking about how he couldn't believe she's old enough to go either. He said he was looking at her and she looked so big, then he said something about time flying, which it does and seems to get faster with every minute. Ryleigh was so excited to tell Cindy and Grandma and Grandpa all about her "hello" day! Jason and I think that she is going to do just fine and that we are probably handling this harder than she is. Well, hope everyone has a safe and happy Labor day weekend. The girls and I are going to be hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa Zabka!!