All I Want for Christmas...Are my FOUR front teeth

I thought it would be a fun post that has to do w/a Christmas song during Christmas time. Strummer's 2 front teeth starting coming in at the end of October, and a few weeks ago, the 2 teeth that are on either side started coming in. Hense, I said 4 front teeth! I'm sure they will come in handy when eating all sorts of yummy food this Christmas. Including Kumlas! I'm SO excited for Strummer to start eating Kumlas! They are SO yummy!

Congrats to My Dad!

My dad is an awesome person and a business-man, and the professionals think so as well!

He was selected at the IA Society of CPA's Outstanding CPA in Business and Industry for 2010!

He is also nominated as a national candidate for the same award!

I always knew he was a great president and CEO at Pharmacists Mutual!!!

Congratulations Dad!!! You have all made us very proud!

Big Boy Shoes!

A few weeks ago, Strummer received an early Christmas present from Aunt Jean. A new pair of 'big boy shoes'. Of course, I'm not saying the other shoes that he has aren't 'real' shoes, however, his new shoes are from an actual shoe store, not from the baby section in Kohls, Target or Babies R Us. In fact, they are from Famous Footwear. His first pair of tennis shoes. With laces and tread bottoms and everything! I think Strummer really likes his shoes and he also looks adorable w/them on! Here are some pics!

They have a real shoe box - Size 5

Close-up of the design

Close-up of the top

Sitting at the desk showing off the bottoms

These work swell for walking!

A New View!

I decided heading to Mason City (a little over 1-1/2 hours) would be a good time to 'test' out Strummer facing forward. Since he has been facing backwards, reclined for the past 13-1/2 months, I wasn't sure how he would react to being in a different position. Plus, I wasn't sure if he would still fall asleep in the car not being reclined. Well - my fears were no more, when I looked back at him b/f we even drove into Ames he had already fallen asleep. He stayed asleep until we got into Mason City! He did fuss for the first 5 min or so in the car, however, I think he was just confused.

I don't know about this..

Hi!

Strummer and Bosco fast asleep (PS - as you can see from this photo, there isn't a whole lot of room in the back seat. One of the main reasons while we are looking into getting a bigger vehicle)

This was taken one day coming home from the Y. Strummer fell asleep in the 4 minute car ride!

Happy Thanksgiving and a Mommy Vaca!

Okay, so I'm a bit behind again, so I'm catching up before Christmas arrives!

We had Berg Thanksgiving on Thanksgiving. We had it at Mike and Crystal's house. It was lots of fun! We had some yummy food, spent time w/the whole family and had some surprising news! That was, Hannah is going to be a big sister again and Ian will be a big brother! That's right, the Urbandale Berg's are having a 3rd! Crystal is about 8 weeks behind me, she is due at the end of May! It will be fun having cousins the same age! Congrats again to my big brother and my lovely sister-in-law!

The following weekend, we packed the 4 (well 5) of us up and headed to Mason City for the weekend. It was nice seeing all of Brad's family (Kay, Chrissy and the kids, Doug and Jean) for the day. Bosco enjoyed having more people to play with...and I think so did Strummer :P Strummer really enjoyed getting into this old desk (which apparently, used to be Brad's) and color. It was so cute, but we had to keep a watch to make sure he didn't walk off the chair, and to be sure he climb down the correct way. He's so adventurous!

Even though there was a huge variety of food for Strummer to eat, he really didn't eat like his 'usual' self. The kid is cutting a bunch of teeth at once and wouldn't even touch the turkey! Poor guy!

The weekend of Thanksgiving after the family was ready to go, Brad and Strummer went home and I went up to Algona w/my parents, Jensen's and Lockard's! Since Brad had been gone, then was sick, he decided I needed a bit of a break! It was fun hanging w/my parents and sisters and spouses. The gang pretty much was at the store (The Chocolate Season and Bradley's Photography) working on laying flooring and painting. So I was able to just chill at my parents house for most of the weekend. I did run errands for my family while they were working and stopped by the store here and there. However, since they were doing lots of smelly work w/out ventilation, I pretty much stayed away. Plus, just being in there for a few minutes started giving me a headache! I feel bad I can't help, but have assured Era that I will be there to help organize things in the store and in their new house! It was nice having a little vacation, but was ready to head home on Sunday and see my boys! I did have one 'mommy-moment' that weekend. I was cutting a banana to having a peanut butter and banana toast (YUM). However, w/out even THINKING I started cutting the banana like I cut it for Strummer. As in, cutting down the middle and slicing. Whoops! hee-hee-heee! Thanks to my WONDERFUL hubby for letting me have a break!

Here are some pics from both family Thanksgivings.

Strummer loved being on the rocking horse!

His Thanksgiving meal..all though he looks more interested in the awesome placemat Hannah made.

I think he enjoyed his birthday cupcake that grandma helped him decorate

(all fall birthdays made cupcakes)

My beautiful mom and my beautiful sisters and at my parents house

Having fun w/Uncle Doug. Wee!!!

Having fun w/daddy!

So proud of himself coloring like a big boy in the desk!

I LOVE Bearcat Football!!!

For anyone who knows me, you know i LOVE NWMSU Bearcat Football!! It's my 'obsession' during football season and talk about it....almost non-stop. Probably to the point that it may annoy my family and friends, but I don't care! I just really-really like where i went to college! :P

So once again, the football team ROCKS! They are now heading back to Florence, Alabama to play for the D2 Football Championship! This will be their FIFTH year IN A ROW! That's right! I KNOW this is the year to win it. Unfortunately, they have lost...at the very end of the game by a less than a touchdown. Really quite bizarre on how little they have lost each game. They have owned the post-season games the season!

*The first round they had a bye

*The second round the beat Abeline-Christian 35-10

(which was the only team they lost to at the VERY beginning of the season)

*The third round they traveled to Washington and beat Central Washington 21-20

Here's the link the press release - it was a CRAZY game http://www.nwmissouri.edu/sports/football/2009/pressreleases/09fb1128.htm

*The semi-final game was played at home and they beat California U (Pa.) 56-31

Here is a video I found on YouTube. Each time the guys go to the national title (well for the past 5 years) the students STORM the field after the semi-final game and take down the goal posts...literally, then carry them to Colden Pond. So - that pond is VERY full of goal posts!

Tomorrow they play Grand Valley State Lakers...again. This will be the 4th time they have played each other in the past 5 years. The first 2 years were for the National Championship. The next year was in the semi-final game, which the Bearcats WON! Now, it's back to the title game.

Here's a link to press release for the stats of the teams for tomorrow

http://www.nwmissouri.edu/sports/football/2009/pressreleases/15-GVSU.pdf

So here's my shout-out to The NWMSU Bearcat Football team and Coach Mel Tjeerdsma! Good luck tomorrow! Win or Lose, you're the best team in my book!!!

22 weeks and Comparison Pics!

Here are some stats on how little Eden is doing. On average at 22 weeks the baby is 11 inches, about the size of a Spaghetti Squash and weighs almost 1 lb. However, since she was at 11 ounces at 19 weeks (about 3 oz larger than average), she might be slightly bigger than a pound.

Her lips, eyelids and eyebrows are becoming more distinct and she is starting to develop tiny tooth buds beneath her gums. Her eyes are completely formed, however her eye color doesn't have any pigment yet. (It will be interesting to see if she ends up w/brown or blue eyes!)

Some fun things happening to me is my fingernails are growing faster and my hair might even be getting thicker! It's also possible that my feet may grow...however since they didn't grow w/Strummer, hopefully they won't grow this time. Considering I already have size 10 feet, having them get bigger is not something I would want to happen! Oh and my belly gets bigger every week! However, that's a pretty obvious change :P

My last appointment went well. She is growing and her heartbeat is good and strong. Here's a shocker....something that RARELY happened at my appointments w/Strummer....I was measuring about where I should be. At my appointment I was at 21 weeks, 5 days and was measuring at 22. W/my last pregnancy at about every appointment...except for one or so at the end...i was always measuring 3-4 weeks ahead! So maybe Eden won't be 9 lbs! Or maybe, she will still be big and just doesn't need as much room as her big brother :P

It's also hard to tell on if I'm bigger or not b/c I'm carrying a lot different. It's pretty clear now that I am carrying A LOT lower than I was last year. You can tell in the pics between this year and last year. So since it's so hard to see a from the sides (at least when I take them myself), I'm having to take by 'looking up' instead of down or from the side. I myself have been able to tell she is lower b/c I am always feeling major kicking and movement below the belly button and in the LOWER abs. It's pretty crazy! So maybe it'll be easier w/delivery since she's already so low! Who Knows! :D

21 weeks w/Strummer

21 weeks w/Eden

(as you can clearly see, I'm carrying pretty low)

This was just to funny not to post! I can't seem to show how big I am unless it's taken from below :P

We Have A Name!

The name we have decided to name our daughter is Eden Vernette. I know what you're thinking....what?? You're not having a music name?? Well - there really aren't a lot of feminine musical names out there, so we had to think of something different. Brad came up w/the name Eden. It means Paradise (as in the Garden of Eden).

We had to come up w/a first name that went w/the middle. Vernette was my mom's mom. She passed away in the summer of 1999. After she passed away, I KNEW I would name my first daughter after her. I was very close to her and wanted to have her remembered in some way. When we were growing up, she only lived a 1/2 hour away. I went to my grandparent's house A LOT especially after my sisters were born. After my grandpa passed away when I was 5, it was even more important to be w/my grandma since she was on her own. There are SO many good memories w/my grandma. Shopping, making apple pie, playing on the farm, watching Hee-Haw and Wheel of Fortune....I could go on and on! So anyhoos - that is why I wanted to use Vernette for my daughter's name.

We are looking forward to meeting her in 4 short months. We can't wait to see what she looks like, how she acts and bringing her up w/knowing God's Word. :o)

Reason #235 on Why...

I'm praying Eden is like her big brother! I was changing Strummer's diaper b/c he was Mr. Stinko! I was planning on putting him down for nap after his diaper change since he hasn't had one yet. However, he must have known my plans, b/c while I was changing him....he fell asleep! My son has usually been a good sleeper, but even this shocked me!

Proof that I was changing his diaper...as you can see, diaper, wipes and his jeans on the sides.

Nighty-Night Little One! <3

...and the COLOR is...

PINK!!!

Brad and I went to the ultrasound on October 30th. Even though we both got sick the night before w/some sort of 24-hour flu (bad timing), we were both feeling fairly good (at least, i stopped running to the bathroom that morning), so off we walked to the hospital at 2:30. Since I was sick, my mom had come down for the day, so she watched Strummer while we were gone.

I was worried that the baby wasn't going to be as cooperative (as in, not being very active). The only thing that I had in my system was propel water. That's the only thing that was staying down! (I didn't want to risk eating again until after the U/S.....just in case)

We finally were called by the tech and we went into the room. All though she wasn't as active as her brother was during his ultrasound, she was still cooperative. Thank goodness! The tech went over all the main areas and of course, left the gender portion til the very end. Once she said something about the bladder...I'm thinking...all right, she's close! Then she said, 'it's a girl!'

HURRAY!!

We would have been happy either way. As long as the baby was growing and healthy, that's all that mattered. However Brad and I were both overjoyed w/having a girl! We know Strummer is also extremely excited to have a little sister!

According to the U/S her heartbeat was at 148 and she weighed 11 oz (typically at 19 weeks, the baby weighs roughly 7 oz). Even though sometimes the weight isn't completely accurate, I still wasn't surprised that she was bigger than average. My thinking is she is going to be just like her big brother! (fun for me...hee-hee-hee)

We were also very happy to hear that she was growing and healthy. She is swallowing well, so she is able to get the nutrients she needs. Her lungs are good, her heart has 4-chambers and was beating like it should, her vocal chords are good, spinal chord is good, arms, legs, 10 fingers, 10 toes, and apparently the tech could tell she has very strong legs 'cause she kept on kicking...which she does often. I started feeling that (the hard kicking) 2 weeks ago!

Brad and I thought her profile looks a lot like Strummer's. The only difference we could see is her nose appears to be like my nose (strummer has brad's nose). In the pics it's kinda hard to tell, but it was fairly clear on screen.

We think we have her name picked out. The middle name if set, just making sure we are keeping w/the first name. Once we officially have the name, I'll let you know!

Here are some pics!

Baby Girl at 19 weeks

Strummer at 21 weeks

The Things that Strummer Can Do

It's amazing on how fast babies grow and all they can accomplish in 365 days!

So since I haven't blogged about Strummer's latest accomplishments, here are some things that he does and eats...and maybe some other things. (PS - i have not done a good job of putting these in his baby book! So this is a rough estimate)

He Can Say

*Mama - 9 months

*Dada - 10 or 11 months

*Atta - 11 months ~ this is his word for Bosco - why, I don't know

*Rara (Grandma) - this was just w/in the last couple weeks

*What's That (a form of it - it's kinda slurred together) - 11 months

*Hi - 11 months

*Yea - 11 months

*Ba-Ba (Bottle) - 10 months

*Hmmm - 11 months - this is what he does when he eats or sees something and it's good. think of Homer Simpson when he sees a donut. (For instance, he found a package of M&Ms in my purse and did it! It's HILARIOUS!)

*He also does lots of babbling and sings

Words He Understands

*Strummer

*Mommy

*Daddy

*Bosco

*Food

*More

*No

*Eat

*All Done

*Hi/Bye

*There are probably others, but these are some main words*

Signing

*Milk - sometimes

*All Done - sometimes

*I've been working on eat, more, drink...and other main words

FOOD!

This is in all caps b/c he LOVES food!

*He eats everything that we have given him. He enjoys deli meat, hamburger, steak, chicken, potato, eggs, cheese, milk, juice, avocado, tomatoes, onions, black beans, peaches, strawberries, squash, bread, cake, chocolate, the list goes on!

*On a side note - this morning Brad made eggs and put onions, tomatoes, and HOT SAUCE... Strummer ate it all!

Mobility and Other Neat Things

*Crawling ~ 7 months

*Pull To Stand ~ 7 months

*Pushing objects and Walking ~ 8 months

*Climbing up the stairs - 9 months - 1 day after he turned 9 months

*Standing On Own ~ 10 months

*Taking Steps ~ 10 months (1st week)

*Walking ~ 11 months (1st week)

*Standing up on his own from sitting (w/out holding on to something) ~ 11 months (2nd week)

*Waves

*High 5s

*Sticks out his tongue

Things He Does Not Use Anymore

*Pacifier! - Stopped using it at 10-1/2 months

*Bottles - They went away when he turned a year old

Things He Does Use

*Sippy Cups

*Plates, Bowls

*Silverware - Sometimes he even uses his fork and spoon on his own - and actually gets it in his mouth!

Things He Loves!

*His Family

*Bosco

*Books

*MUSIC (who would have thought!)

~He always stops and looks if there is song playing on the tv....doesn't matter if it's a show, commercial or movie. He stops and usually dances, claps his hands, or slaps his hand against his leg or furniture (usually to the beat)

~He LOVES going w/Brad and listening to music. He always gets excited when we go downstairs now (to the basement) b/c that his where daddy's music is!

*Being outside

*Playing piano

*'Playing' the guitar

*Food

~ He gets all excited when we are in the kitchen, open the fridge or in any type of establishment that sells food. If you are carrying him, his legs will start kicking up and down.

Teeth

My toothless baby FINALLY starting getting teeth at 9 months old

1st tooth: August 13 (that's when it was spotted)

2nd tooth: August 24th

3rd and 4th tooth: October 6 (yep, exactly at the same time)

I think that's it! Sorry for the extremely long post! I didn't realize how much Strummer has changed, until I started typing it all!

Strummer's 1 Year Appointment

Playing w/the lego table b/f Dr. Parsons comes in

Look Mom - I found a blue lego!

I can't believe Strummer is already a year old!! Here are his stats from his appointment. He is now 30 inches and 19-1/2 lbs. As you can see from his charts he was really high for awhile, now he's in the middle for height and pretty low for weight. Even though he gained 2 lbs in 3 months, it didn't help him in the percentile. I think it's the whole milk that helped him gain more weight! hee-hee-hee! :P

For his weight he went from being in the 82nd percentile

at birth and now at a year he's in the 8th percentile

For his height he went from being 95th percentile

at birth and now he's in the 59th percentile!

So as a rundown - here are his stats from all his well child visits!

Weight

Birth: 8 lbs 14 oz (82%)

Two Months: 12 lbs 5 oz (65%)

Four Months: 15 lbs 13 oz (70%)

Six Months: 17 lbs (43%)

Nine Months: 17 lbs 8 oz (9%)

Twelve Months: 19 lbs 8 oz (8%)

Height

Birth: 21-1/2 inches (95%)

Two Months: 24-1/2 inches (94%)

Four Months: 27 inches (95%)

Six Months: 27-3/4 inches (89%)

Nine Months: 28-1/2 inches (62%)

Twelve Months: 30 inches (59%)

Just the 3 of us

The night before at the hospital (4 days past due)

Minutes old....proud daddy

Minutes old....proud mommy

Our new family

(BTW - i was looking through my pics and realized we really didn't get a good pic at the hospital. I'll have to have the make sure we have a good one next in March!)

A crazy comparison!

Strummer 2 days old...and...Strummer 368 days old!

I noticed today when I put Strummer's bib on that you can really tell how much he has grown in the past year. Thanks for the bib Trisha!

PS ~ he has a weird look on his face, b/c i took the pic after he was done eating since I didn't get it while he was eating. He really didn't want it back on and kept on taking it off :P

A Day out with Sondra and Amelia

A few weeks ago Strummer and I spent the day w/Sondra and Amelia. We met at the Samp's house, loaded up Sondra's car and headed off to Des Moines! First Stop ~ Babies R Us. Where we both bought some things for Strummer and Amelia. Neither Sondra nor I know the sex of our 2nd babies, so we couldn't buy anything for baby #2 (all though, very tempting, since I saw a REALLY cute girl guitar shirt on clearance....hee-hee-hee)

Next stop was FOOD! We went to the Olive Garden where we both ordered the soup, salad and breadsticks lunch. it was DELICIOUS. Strummer and Amelia had their 'first date' of eating oyster crackers, gold fish and breadsticks. It was nice eating w/a fellow prego b/c then I didn't feel so bad about eating so much! :P

Our last stop was the mall. This is where the kids had the most fun. We both had them in their individual strollers and they kept on looking at each other, laughing and trying to grab each others hands. They were not only entertaining for us to watch, but also for other mall-goers that were around us. It was a successful shopping trip! We both found clothes for our kids and for ourselves! (We both bought some new maternity wear!) We ended the day by going to Cookies Etc and buying some cookies!!!

Here are some pics and videos of the day.












The kids were talking to each other while we were waiting for Sondra to get the rest of her things from the house.



This is just the first time they did this. They also were trying to hold hands and giggling the entire time we were in JCPenny looking at clothes for ourselves. :D

A Fun Poll for Baby #2!

I decided to start a poll after my friend Sondra started a poll for her second baby, who got the idea from our friend Kelly who had a poll w/her son last year. (still with me?)

SO - it looked like it would be a cool thing to do! I went to the website, set everything up, now it's your turn to go to the site and take a guess on the gender, the size, the date and the time of baby #2!

Good Luck!!! The winner will get a big THUMBS UP! Sorry, no real prizes here! Just the satisfaction that you had the best guesstimation! :D

Just click on the title of this blog and it will directly take you to the webpage!

Or you an copy and paste the link into a new browser if that doesn't work.

http://www.expectnet.com/games/RockerBaby2

Strummer's BIG news!

I tried to get a good picture of the front, so this will have to do!!! Strummer's news is he is going to be a big brother! I think he is very excited!

We are very happy for another little miracle from God. We feel so blessed being able to be parents again. Even more so with all the troubles (getting pregnant, staying pregnant) we had before Strummer arrived!

My due date is March 25, 2010! We are hoping that he or she will be born on the 27th, b/c that is when we got engaged!!! However, we have no control over when this baby will be born! hee-hee-hee

On another very cool note showing how awesome God can work in our lives. This baby is due almost the exact same time (w/in a week) of when our first baby would have been born!

Happy Birthday...to Me! :D

A few weeks ago I turned 28! I know! I'm getting so old!!! Just 2 more years til I hit a new decade! AHH!!

It was a nice birthday! Brad remembered to tell me happy birthday when i woke up. then went to work for a bit and Jim had a slice of oober-yummy triple-chocolate cake his wife had made. Then Strummer and I headed to Fort Dodge to meet my mom for lunch at Applebees (since Bonanza is now closed, still bummed).

Then when we arrived home, Brad came home shortly after and I eventually decided I wanted Papa Murphy's. So I went to go get pizza and Brad said he needed to go to Hy-Vee and took Strummer along.

He came home w/Angel Food cake (one of my favs), chocolate marshmallow ice cream (my fav), chocolate syrup, carmel syrup and m&ms! Yummy-Yum-Yum!

He also came home w/2 things of flowers. AND when I came back home I had another gift - from Era and Brad! They sent me flowers w/peppermint patties!

It was overall a good birthday! I do find it funny that I have been pregnant my last 2 birthdays! Last year I was 8 months pregnant and this year I was 3 months pregnant. (I know, a bit crazy)

Thanks to everyone for all the birthday wishes!!!