Going on a turtle hunt!

Since we live so close to the Mississippi River we are constantly getting turtles over into our neighborhood.  We had one in our front yard this morning when we went for a walk.  We left it at first, because it was in a safe place not near the road. By the time we got back from our walk, it was starting to cross a busy street.  The boys wanted to rescue the turtle and take him back to the river.  So we grabbed the wagon and put him in.  As we started our adventure back to the river, we came across another one that was near the road, but she was digging a hole to lay eggs.  We didn't want to bother that one, so we left her.  As we continued on our way, we saw 11 total turtles.  Of course the boys wanted to pick each one up and put it in our wagon, but we only got the ones that were heading toward the street. The majority of the other ones were digging holes to lay their eggs.  We also saw a ton of old turtle eggs so there must be a ton of little ones wandering around somewhere.  Once the boys got them down to the river they were amazed on how fast they moved and disappeared into the water. I have a feeling this is going to be a daily adventure now with the two of them.

Time to say good-bye!

Kristin, Steph, Nicole and Me

It was a really hard week last week seeing everyone get packed up and move out.  I had a great group of girlfriends that lived in housing and they all moved out this last weekend.  If they were moving close it wouldn't be so bad, but they are all pretty far away.  Nicole and her family moved to Oregon State, Kristin and her family moved to Columbus, Ohio and Steph and her family moved to Pittsburgh.  As you can see we are not going to see them that often.  All of their kids were wonderful and the boys are going to miss them all tremendously! Drew keeps going through the list of all the kids and then says, "I guess I have to meet some new friends."  It is such a hard thing for kids to grasp onto. Luckily we still have Ashley and her four kids to hang out with, but unfortunately for us they do not live in housing they bought a house.  Here a some pics of the girls and the kids. Sorry for all the pictures.

Hayden, Reed, Drew, Lauren and baby Ellie

Kristin (Ohio), Jessie (Minnesota), Nicole (Oregon), Ashley(still here) and me

Wyatt and Drew

Reed and Hayden

We are going to miss all of you and hope that we can all stay in touch!

Sarah, Reed, Drew amd Jay

Best Buds!

Reed and Drew have had to spend a lot of time together this last week.  All of their friends in housing moved out over the weekend. So the two of them have had to hang out and figure out how to play with each other without fighting constantly.  The first couple of days was a little rough because Drew wasn't used to having to share the toys all day with Reed.  Reed was trying to boss Drew around all day and of course Drew is not going to put up with that.  They have gotten a lot better and have been pretty creative coming up with things to do.  I of course didn't get the camera when they had their really good forts made, but we got a picture of one of their little ones. 

Homemade sprinkler

Jay is playing in a softball league with other residents and doctors from the hospital. Drew gets pretty bored of the games easily, because he has to sit through Reed's baseball games every Tuesday and Thursday and then Jay's games every Wednesday.  So a couple of weeks ago Drew and one of his friends decided that they were going to use the water fountain as a sprinkler.  They were hilarious!  They had the whole area around the water fountain completely soaked. Of course once they were done they were both freezing, but it was well worth the entertainment.

Notice how wet it is around them as well.

Taelyn Jolee Nordbrock has arrived!

Taelyn Jolee Nordbrock

My parents finally have a grandaughter! Taelyn Jolee was born 2 weeks early on June 14th at 3:31am and weighed 6lbs 5oz and 19 1/2 inches long. Kean called me at 9:30am our time (7:30am Tucson time) to let us know that he was a big brother. You could tell that he was very proud and very excited about his new sister! He was with my parents and he had to wait to go to the hospital to see Taelyn until after his dad got some rest. It was a long wait, but well worth it! When he was first holding Taelyn he kept saying to my mom, "Barbie come here and listen to all of the noises that she makes." He is going to be a great big brother! He loves to take care of all of his animals (fish, dog, cat and a ferret I think that is it) at their house so I am sure he will be a great help to Heather and Dan. He was also very excited about Taelyn coming into their house, because he got a bigger room which they decorated in a space theme. Taelyn is not going to know what to do with all of her boy cousins and her older brother Kean.

I love this picture of Kean and Taelyn. 

It is so precious to see an older sibling admire their younger sibling.

Proud daddy of his little girl!

Proud mother of her daughter!

An update on my pregnancy; I am 4 weeks away from my scheduled c-section, but everyone thinks I am going to go early. I am sure since we think I am going to go early I will actually make it to my due date. We hope he holds in for at least 3 weeks until Jay is done with his night float rotation. If not it is going to be a little crazy at our house with Jay working nights and having a newborn in the house. The other change that we have had is my doctor is going to be out of town when I have c-section scheduled, so I am having to meet a new doctor in a week and a half that will do my c-section.

Last day of First Grade!

I can't believe it, Reed is already done with 1st grade.  Reed had a great year at Hintgen Elementary and loved his teacher.  It is amazing how much they learn in one year.  Reed will be lucky enough to have his teacher again in 2nd grade.  She is wonderful and it will be great to have a teacher that already knows where he is at academically.

It seems like just yesterday he was still in daycare and walking around with a NUK in his mouth. He has grown up so much and has gotten so big. He loves playing sports and being outdoors.  He is taking tennis lessons and also playing baseball this summer. If it was up to Reed he would be in every sport this summer, but I had to put my foot down and only limit it to 2.  It is going to keep me busy, but it will also keep him busy and hopefully meet some new friends.  Reed's best friend is moving in two weeks to Oregon so it will be hard for him to say goodbye, since they are together every chance they get.  

Reed on the first day of 1st grade.

Reed on the last day of 1st grade.

I can't believe how much they have both grown up! 

Summer has arrived for at least a couple of days!

This last weekend was beautiful!  It was in the 80's and the boys were loving it.  Reed originally started just playing with water guns and then they were filling up buckets and throwing them at each other. I figured it would be a lot easier if I would just fill up the pool and they could play in that.  If the weather didn't start to turn bad I think they would have played in it all night.

Drew was so excited that the "big boys" were letting him play with them. Drew was so cute copying everything that they did.

Memorial Day we went over to our friends house that had this wonderful water slide.  The boys played on it for hours until it got cold out and they couldn't handle it anymore.  Jay even joined in on the fun and went down the slide a couple of times. 

 I guess boys will always be boys!

Who would have thought.....

My sister and I who are 9 years apart are sharing one of the best experiences together.  We are both pregnant and only 2 weeks apart.  It has been fun comparing our pregnancies together. The other great thing is that she is having a girl and we are having another boy.  I am little jealous of all the pink things she has been getting.  But I am not going to be jealous when she calls later in her life and she is having all the boy trouble and all the other drama that goes along with having a girl. I know what her and I were both like growing up...YIKES! Good luck sis!

Heather also has a 6 1/2 yr old son who was born 6 weeks early so we have been praying that she would not have any difficulties with this pregnancy.  She is at the 6 week mark now so hopefully everything will go alright.  I am a little jealous that she has only 6 weeks left and I still have 8 weeks. I can't complain too much, because she has been dealing with 90 and 100 degree weather down in Arizona.

My parents are so excited to be getting 2 more grandchildren, especially so close together.  My dad only had one request, he didn't want to share his birthday, which is July 16th.  I think his wish is going to come true unless Heather goes extremely late, since her due date is July 1st.  I have a scheduled c-section for July 14th, so I think he is in the clear. 

We are hoping that we will be able to see one another not too long after our babies are born, but with Jay's schedule it is going to be hard to get down to Arizona to see her and she might be starting a new job shortly after having her baby.  I sure do hope that we can find a way!

A lot of you have been asking Jay and I how big I have gotten so I had Jay take a picture of me last night so everyone could see. My dad had also taken a picture of Heather so I figured I would share both.

Only 8 weeks to go!

Only 6 weeks to go!

Can't wait to share baby photos in a couple of months! Love ya Sis!

Family Fun

Over this past weekend the weather was gorgeous so we took the opportunity to be outside.  La Crosse was having an outdoor family fun day along the river so we figured we would check it out.  It was only .25 cents for rides and food so we couldn't go wrong.  Here are a few pictures of what the boys got to do while we were there.

The boys loved being able to look inside the fire trucks and ambulance.  They also enjoyed "driving" them as well.

The race cars were also pretty cool, Drew wanted to climb in one and drive it. Reed had to have his picture taken in front of the Miller car.

How cute is this~

Reed wouldn't leave until he was able to do this. He wanted to do it with Jay, but Jay said he was too big. So instead we sent Drew into the ring.  Is that fair?

This was hilarious! Drew tried so hard to get Reed, but he was just too far away from him that every time he tried to hit him he would just fall off.  But he still had a really good time. What a great way to let out brotherly aggression. Maybe we should rent one of these.

Husband Tag

I was tagged by one of my girlfriends to share information about Jay.  So here I go.

What is his name?  Jay, Daddy, Honey, Jaybird

How long have you been married?   4 years in July

How long did you date?   about 18 months before we got married

How old is he?  He just turned 31 on May 13th!

Who tends to eat more?   Do I really have to answer that?  Jay definitely does.  I can hold my own though.

Who said I love you first?   I think it was me, but I am going to have to ask him on that one.

Who is taller?   Jay is but not by too much.

Who sings better?  Neither of us really have a good voice, but I would have to say that Jay is better then me.

Whose temper is worse?  Jay's temper is worse, but he has been working on it and is getting a lot better. I think he has rubbed a little off on me though, because I think my temper has gotten worse since being home with the kids.

Who does the laundry?  Me, but he does help put it away every once in awhile.

Who does the cooking? Me, unless I want meat loaf, homemade pizza or eggs.  

Who does the dishes?  The majority of the time me, but he does help out with it.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed?  Right now it is me, but once the baby is born we will be switching so I can be closer to the bassinet.

Who pays the bills?  Me

Who mows the lawn?  Neither of us, we have our own personal maintenance guys.  The advantage to still be renting.  Once we have a lawn I am sure we will take turns or have the boys do it.

Who tends to drive more?  Before residency it was definitely Jay, but I tend to drive a lot more now.  He likes to sleep in the car now whenever we go anywhere.  

Who has more friends?  We are about even (I think).

Who has more siblings?  We are even.  Jay has 1 brother and I have 1 sister.

Who wears the pants in the family?  It depends on the issue. I think we are about even.  If you asked him though, I think he would say me.  

I now tag Ashley. You won't have an excuse now that you had nothing to blog about!

Rainy days

         
These photos are from a little bit ago. We have had a lot of rainy days around here lately, which has been hard on all of us. Just when  we think summer is just around the corner it is cold and rainy again.  Drew had been kept in the house for a week or so, because Jay and I decided that we were going to potty train him. Since the forecast was cold and rain we thought this would be a great chance to take advantage of having to keep him in. I never thought he was going to do it since he hated getting his diaper changed and he would go all day with a soaking wet diaper if I would let him. But I was very determined to not have two kids in diapers at the same time. Well he did it!  He has been going on the "big boy potty" for about two weeks now and doing great.  He has had a couple of accidents but I can handle that versus diapers.  

Since the boys had been inside so much they were climbing the walls and needed to burn off some energy, so we sent them outside and told them to play and just run around.

They thought it was great! They could jump in puddles and get all wet and not get into trouble.  It is amazing how the simple things in life are what entertain them the most.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

I woke up this morning to the best surprise from my boys. Not only was it 7:30 and they had slept in, but they had made me breakfast and brought it up to bed. I was served a bowl of cereal and fresh fruit on their Dora the Explorer TV tray.  Jay had already left for work at 5 this morning so they did this all on their own.

Drew had made me a card at our Bible Study group on Wednesday so he has been telling me Happy Mother's Day since then, which is so cute! 

  

Reed made me a card, notepad and his own wrapping paper for Mother's Day.   Just when you thought you wanted to ship them off they do something so sweet!  

I originally thought this was going to be a crummy Mother's Day since Jay was working all day and he had told me that he had no time to go and get anything. The boys had also been pretty testy on Saturday. I think this turned into one of my favorite Mother's Day!  I will take anything homemade from the boys any day over something they can buy at the store.

Great job boys!  Mommy loves you guys a lot!

 

 

Pick your battles!

The other day Drew was in one of his moods that he wanted to do what he wanted to do.  We needed to go to the grocery store that day and he wanted to be a Power Ranger while shopping.  I thought about arguing with him and trying to convince him to change his clothes but then I realized it just wasn't worth it.  So here is his outfit for that day. I never thought I would be "that mom" that would allow my kids to go to the store in a Halloween costume in the middle of April. But Jay and I have learned that there are just some battles that aren't worth it.

Relaxing vacation or was it????

Jay was asked to represent Gundersen Lutheran at a Residency Fair in Omaha, NE this week, so we took the opportunity to take some time off and spend some time with the kids not in La Crosse.  We headed out Wednesday morning all excited for the next two days. The boys were excited because they were going to swim at the Hotel and then we were going to the zoo.  

About an hour and a half into our trip Drew started to get really antsy and was asking to go home. Jay and I looked at each other and thought this is going to be a long trip.  So we put a movie into the DVD player and 5 mins into the movie all the strawberries that Drew had just ate were now in his lap.  Great, what a way to start the trip.   We originally pulled over on the side of the road to get Drew somewhat cleaned up, but it was so windy that is was not safe at all.  We drove up to the next gas station and got him all cleaned up.  Jay took him in while I got the seat as clean as I could.  I asked Jay if he was feeling alright and Jay said, he wouldn't stop talking the whole time while they were in the bathroom.  So we knew that he had too many strawberries.  On the road we were again.  

We arrive into Omaha and we think we are in the clear.  We start looking for our exit when Jay says something doesn't feel right about the car.  We start to slow down a little bit since we are on the interstate and going 75 or so.  As soon as Jay slows down we felt the car drop to the left and the smell of burning rubber.  YUK!  Jay the great man that he is got us over to the median safely.  He got out of the car to see what it was and our tire had blown out.

We were only five exits from our hotel exit and right in front of the zoo and the College World Series Stadium.  What torture for the kids!  We got out our AAA card and called the number to have someone come help us change the tire.  Jay calls and they told us we were no longer members, because we hadn't renewed our membership.  OK, so now what do we do.  Our car has Onstar, but he had never registered the car.  We hit the button and a way we went to signing up for Onstar.  It took 45 minutes to sign up for Onstar.  Once everything was registered we just had to wait for "Mr. Repair" to come help us.  While we were sitting on the side of the road Drew kept asking, " why are the semis pushing us? That is not very nice." We tried to explain to him that it was just the wind from the trucks that was making the car move. He was not very convinced.  The things that go through their little minds.  Once our tire was changed we were off to the hotel.  The kids were so excited to be out of the car after being in the car an extra 2 hrs then needed.  Pool here we come!

The hotel that we stayed at had one of the best indoor pools for a reasonable price.  The pool only got 3ft deep and had two slides and a waterfall.  The boys swam for 2 1/2 hrs the first night while Jay was at the Residency fair and then 3 hrs the next morning while I was running around trying to get the car fixed and a new tire. Drew loved it because he could float around and touch in the majority of the pool.

Once we got the car situation somewhat under control we headed off to the zoo.  It was a bit cold and rainy so we didn't get to see all of the animals, but the Omaha Zoo is still amazing!  We could definitely tell that "Spring was in the air."  Reed started asking a couple questions as we got towards the end of the zoo trip, but we were able to change the subject.  I don't think we need the "birds and the bees" talk quit yet.  Out of all the animals at the zoo Drew's favorite animals were the ducks at whatever exhibit we were at. 

Reed's favorite exhibit was the tunnel aquarium, it is amazing to have sharks, fish and turtles swimming all around you.

After all the extra excitement and unplanned expenses we had a great time!  The boys loved being able to hang out with daddy for so long and not having him go into work.  I think Drew did ask Jay if he had to work today almost everyday.