Ahhhh the joys....

Just for "sentimental value", documentation of my own personal pharmacy:

No, I am not just letting myself go. Yes, according to many out there, Teage and I must be a bit "crazy". :) We are having another baby! No, we don't know the gender yet. And yes, we are going to find out. I am WAY to organized to do otherwise. :) Yes, we are super excited about adding to our precious family, but sadly no, I have NOT felt well enough to truly be really super excited. I am extremely grateful that we seem to be able to get pregnant fairly easily. And I am also very grateful that all seems well and heathly so far....well, the baby that is. :)

Things for me have been extremely difficult. Which I was honestly not expecting. :) I was definitely sick with the boys, but nothing could have prepared me for this. And YES, there is only ONE baby in there. I have really been trying to focus on my blessings right now and not dwell on the fact that for months straight I could keep anything down. I finally found a wonderful doctor (and nurse!) who trusted me enough to know my own body and prescribe some wonderful medicine so that at least I could function. Things were a bit scary there for a while, though I am so blessed to have wonderful family around to help me. I couldn't do it without them. Zofran has helped me tremendously, and at least I have been able to put a load of laundry in (and even fold it once in a while!), pick up after the boys, and even take the occasional shower (which I am sure everyone around me appreciates). I am thankful.

We should hopefully find out the gender in a few weeks, so stay tuned!!! :)

Celebrations

Over Thanksgiving our family escaped the snow and flew down to sunny California! Honestly, I hadn’t realized how much I missed the sunshine….I must have sat in one spot for a full 10 minutes just soaking it up and wondering how I had done without for so long. There were many reasons for this trip, but mainly because my grandparents are so generous! They flew the whole family down to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary with them, which also just happened to be Thanksgiving Day and my father’s birthday, all rolled into one. We had a big celebration with the whole family at G and G’s place in Palm Desert, which thankfully was catered so none of us even had to do dishes! What a life! Grandma and Grandpa were so giving and generous to us during the entire trip, and we had a fabulous time! We stayed in a beautiful hotel, went swimming, ate at some amazing restaurants, and just relaxed for the first time in quite a while. It was wonderful to be there as a family, not having any other distractions (like those pesky bills) to worry about for a few days. We really soaked it up the whole time we were there. Our amazing view from the hotel room.....jealous aren't you? :)
Lucas in his enormous bed (we put two queens together for the boys, with barriers on all sides)....it was hilarious!Auntie Lindsey and Dylan hanging out at the hotel
All of us on a gondola ride through the waterways at the hotel....we had the most terrific driver who chatted with us the whole time and loved the boys!

One really special event that we were able to go to with G and G as well is to the “Blue Man Group”! We prepped the boys for months, since Grandma got tickets in the very front row, and we knew how they did not like anything in masks. We had been watching YouTube videos, talking about going on our plane to visit the “blue guys” and trying our hardest to get them super excited about it. When we got there, they handed us our ponchos and then Lucas just about lost it. I was so worried we were going to miss the whole thing! But, we came prepared with their ear phones, and once those were on he was much better. Dylan thought the whole thing was pretty cool and wasn’t really scared throughout the entire performance. Lucas still wasn’t so sure, but at least stayed in his seat the whole time. The funny thing though…..after the performance, the group came out to the lobby to take pictures with the fans, and Lucas was the one who was all excited to get a picture with them, while Dylan was completely freaked out. J Overall, we had a fantastic time, and it was an amazing show!

The boys and I all ready for the performance!
Shaka!

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Pfeifer!!! We had such a wonderful time and were very thankful to be able to celebrate with you!!

Halloween!

Or in other words, candy fest!
This was the first year that the boys really understood that they got to dress up, choose what their costume was, and go around getting candy from people they didn't even know!!!! :) The boys thought long and hard about what they wanted to be, and finally Lucas decided (beyond a shadow of a doubt) that he was Buzz Lightyear. So adorable, but not so easy to do for Mommy. :) Finally Teage found a cheap costume online that Lucas adored, so it worked out very well. And since Lucas was going to be something from Toy Story, Dylan had to join in as well. And since we already owned a hand-me-down horse costume, I convinced him that it was Bullseye! And honestly, he LOVED it! He wore that horse costume very proudly and didn't want to take it off. The two then decided that since they were Buzz and Bullseye, that Mommy and Daddy needed to be Woody and Jessie. Well, we tried (sort of), but in the end it didn't really matter. They just wanted to wear their costumes all day anyway and didn't really care what anyone else was doing. :)
We were able to go to our church Halloween function where the boys did a cake walk, and got to hang out with some of their other 3 year old dressed up buddies. And then Teage did take them out to a few homes in our neighborhood on the actual date of Halloween. The boys were so funny though! They enjoyed the candy (obviously!), but did NOT like going to strangers homes, so they did about 10 and were done for the night. The world series of baseball was on at home as well, which may have been a big draw for them to come back. :) And it was great for Mommy, who didn't have to go through a million pieces of candy and keep it around the house.
Overall, a fun Halloween for all of us. For the boys, dressing up and being Buzz and Bullseye for a few days (all weekend actually), and for Mommy and Daddy to see them in their adorable outfits having so much fun.

Our fun trip to the farm to pick out "29" pumpkins! Well....not really that many, but that is what the boys kept telling us!

Buzz and Bullseye in the flesh!

CF Walk 2010

I absolutely love working with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation every year in honor of Jolene. I feel empowered to be helping, even in just a small way. This year I was again on the committee for our annual Great Strides Walk in Snoqualmie, which was held in September. And thankfully, I had many friends who were willing to volunteer to make this day possible. My great friend Lindsay Rowlands came to stay with me the night before so we could make it early to the walk the next day and set up. She was such a huge help, we couldn't have done it without her. Everyone who came to volunteer stepped up and helped in every area asked, and as always, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation staff are amazing! The walk was wonderful and we ended up raising over $30,000 to finding a cure for CF!!!! I am so thankful for all who participated this year in any way, shape, or form. I feel so blessed to help in any way with this foundation, and so grateful for those who are behind me 100% all the time.
The walk was wonderful, the food was wonderful, and we couldn't have asked for a better day!
Go Team Jolene! Raising the funds to FIND the cure for CF!!!!

Linds and I ready to go!

The boys with their thumbs up, ready to start the walk!

Some of our amazing Team Jolene members! Thank you all!!! We had a wonderful day!