Happy December!

From the bad blogger!

I will start with my excuses for not keeping you all up to date on our lives.  Really it's only one excuse all tangled up into one long explanation, but the short of it is that I am utterly exhausted.....all of the time.  Working the night shift has something to do with it, and I think being pregnant has another little something to do with it.  I haven't been sleeping well when I have nights off.  I either wake up between 3 and 4 in the morning (and stay up) or I can't fall asleep until 7 in the morning.  Once I finally do get to sleep I wake up within an hour because I have to pee and then I can't fall back asleep because I can't breathe.  Rhinitis of pregnancy (yes, it's a real thing, Google it.)  has hit me full force.  I didn't have it when I was pregnant with Rudy so I definitely didn't expect it this time around.  It has made my nights quite miserable!   The good news is that I am feeling much better on the morning sickness front.  My nausea/vomitting hung around until I was about 17 weeks along this time, an entire month longer than with Rudy.  About 2-3 weeks ago it let up considerably.  I still have the occasional episode, but it's usually only if I let myself go entirely too long without eating. 

So, to catch you up on things.  We had a great Halloween.  Rudy was Elmo, and he was the cutest thing I've ever seen. 

Josh and I have Bert and Ernie t-shirts that we bought a few Halloweens ago.  We wore those to match Rudy, but it was too cold to go without a jacket.  We did get one picture, but it's on Josh's camera, not mine. 

We hung around Oakwood for Thanksgiving.  We had originally thought about heading out to PA, but neither of us could take any time off of work so we would have had to make a 2 day trip. Rudy isn't the keenest on long car rides these days, so we went over to my mom's house and had a nice low key holiday.  I had over a week off of work because of the way I scheduled myself so I have been hanging around the house getting it decorated for Christmas, doing some cleaning, and even a little bit of baking. 

Rudy is quite the little booger these days.  He is into everything and never slows down.  He is starting to show us that he has quite the attitude with little tantrums when he doesn't get his way.  Luckily he is still quite distractable, and it's fairly easy to get him to change his tune right now.  He is also the funniest little guy.  He LOVES to dance.  As soon as music comes on, whether it's from Pandora or a commercial on TV, all of his best moves come out.  I have tried several times to catch it on video, but he gets pretty camera shy.  He still isn't saying too many distinct words, but he babbles all of the time.  The words he can say include: Daddy, Mommy, uh-oh, doggy, puppy, woof, and belly button.  He is a pretty good eater and likes a wide variety of foods.  We are having a hard time getting him to drink regular milk though, any suggestions from you experienced moms??  I have been trying to explain to him that there is a baby in my belly and that he is going to be a big brother soon, but he honestly doesn't understand or care in the slightest bit.  He pretty much ignores me whenever I talk about it, but I think that's to be expected. 

Disclaimer: I got this picture off of etsy, it's not mine.

Over the past two days I've been trying to get him to say sissy with no luck.  But last night I asked him where sissy was and he lifted up my shirt and pointed to my stomach, so maybe he gets it a little bit.

And if you didn't get it by now, IT'S A GIRL!!

We had our anatomy scan on Tuesday and were a little surprised to see a little girl in there!  And we are thrilled.  I can already tell she is going to be a sassy little thing because she would not stop moving long enough for the ultrasound tech to get good measurements (it was probably the sugar high from the donut holes I ate right befor the appt, haha).  We have to go back in about 2 weeks for another one just to make sure everything looks okay. 

And that's pretty much everything that has happened around here for the last 2 months.  I'm going to leave you with some cute videos of Rudy, because I know you all can't get enough of him!

Happy Birthday, Babe!

Today is Josh's birthday.  He's getting close to 30, and I actually think he's pretty happy about that.  Men take that sort of thing so much better than women do. 

Photo creds: MaKenzie Dykstra

It definitely wasn't his best birthday.  Rudy and I were sick and not up for much of anything, so we had a lazy day around the house.  Then we went to Grandmas for a nice steak dinner.  Josh stuffed himself silly.  Then we went to Bible study and came home.  I keep apologizing that his birthday was kind of a drag this year and he keeps telling me that it was a great birthday.  He's the best. 

Rudy and I are definitely lucky to have him as a husband and a dad.  We love you!

Dogsitting

Rudy's been trying to save up a little extra money for some new toys so we thought we would let him dog sit Murphy for awhile.  He isn't quite old enough to babysit other kids yet, but if you need a dogsitter, let us know! 

Happy Birthday, Dad/Grandpa!

Happy Birthday to one of our very favorite guys!  We love you and miss you.  Can't wait to see you in the spring!

This is an old pic, but I don't think I've posted it on here yet. 

My dad left for Afghanistan  with the Army Corps of Engineers about a week and a half ago for a six month tour.  We haven't gotten to talk to him yet, so we're hoping he can check this while he's over there.  (Dad, I tried calling the number Becca gave me about 10 times, but can't get it to work.)

We have been doing well.  We went out to Maryland for a wedding last weekend and have been feeling a little under the weather since.  We thought Rudy was starting to hit his terrible twos a little early as he was throwing tantrum after tantrum for about 3 days straight.  Then two teeth popped through and we realized what the problem was!  He is working on two more teeth right now and is running a bit of a fever so we are cuddling and laying low for the time being!

Miss Me?

I know, I know.  It's been forever.  I've thought about blogging, but just haven't felt like doing it for a long time.  Here is what we've been up to for the last month.  (Okay, maybe month and a half.)

 Josh went on a mission trip with the youth group, and Rudy and I headed out to PA to hang with the inlaws.  While we were out there we went to a water park, got ice cream a few times (Rudy even got to hold his own cone), went to Chuck-E-Cheese for the first time, and Rudy got to ride a horse.  Of course we did lots of other things, but those are the highlights.  It was also Rudy's first time on a plane, and he was a champ. 

We came back for a little less than a week and then headed out to Myrtle Beach with my Dad's side of the fam for our annual vacation.  We hung out by the pool, shopped, played cards, went down to the ocean a couple of times, ate, and got lots of ice cream.  We had tons of fun with the family and were definitely not ready to come home. 

We were home for about two weeks.  During that time I came off of orientation at work.  I'm officially a nurse on my own now, just a little scary!  I also started working the night shift, bleh.  It hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be, but I am definitely tired all of the time.  I have no problem falling asleep when I get home from work, but I wake up after 4 or 5 hours and can't fall back asleep.  So Rudy and I have been taking lots of naps together! 

Last week we headed out to Cleveland for Josh's mom's surgery.  She has been battling with Ulcerative Colitis for about 8 years now and recently decided to proceed with surgery to get her colon removed (the only cure for the disease.)  This surgery was the first of three that she will have over the course of the next year.  She was pretty nervous about it, but the surgery went great and so far she has been recovering remarkably. 

We just got home yesterday from Ohio and I am enjoying a day off before I head back to work tomorrow. 

I have tons of pictures from all of these vacations and trips, but I don't have them uploaded onto my computer yet.  I will make sure to post them in the next few posts!

Sorry about the long absence.  Now that we are planning to be home for awhile, I am hoping to get back into the swing of things. 

Birthday Bash

Monday was my birthday and I am officially on the wrong side of 20 now, AKA: older than dirt.  Last year my birthday was kind of a stink as I had mastitis, a fever of 104, had to make a trip to the ER, and then had to stay up the entire night with a screaming newborn.  We decided this year that we were going to do something a little more fun, so we packed up the car and headed over to Indy for the day.  We were going to go to the zoo, but it was 106 degrees outside so we got a hotel room and hung out there for part of the day.  We also ate at McCallisters for lunch, had Gigi's cupcakes for an afternoon snack, walked around the fashion mall for awhile, and went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner.  I gained three pounds.  Literally.  It was awesome.  I don't have any pictures of us, but I do have some pictures of all of our treats!

I take that back, I got this one of Rudy tangling himself up in the phone cord. 

Josh left today for Kentucky with a group from the church for a mission trip called the Appalachian Service Project.  Rudy and I are pretty bummed that he won't be home until next Saturday, so we went to the Farmer's market and Target for a little food and retail therapy this morning.  I have to work the next three days too, so be sure to say a few prayers for us this week. 

The Fourth (And a Sicky)

We had a great Fourth of July.  First we went to Oakwood's parade.  It starts right by our house, so we walked up a block or so and got a good spot to get lots of candy. Rudy wasn't quite sure what to think of the loud cars, but he loved the candy. 

Then we came home so the Dude could take a nap.  As soon as he woke up we headed up to my mom's house for a little bit of swimming.  They just got a new pool and it was finally warm enough to swim.  I wasn't feeling good, so I just watched Rudy in the kiddy pool. 

After that we went up to the Oakwood park for the Fourth of July celebration.  They had lots of games and food.  They haven't had one in a long time, but there was a great turn out.  We watched fireworks and had a great time.  Rudy definitely didn't know what to think about the fireworks.  At first he seemed upset, but he sat through the entire show.  Unfortunately, he started to get a fever during the middle of the fireworks show.  He ran a fever all day Tuesday as well, so we took him to convenient care that night and they diagnosed him with a double ear infection.  BOO.  The prescribed him Amoxicillin and his fever finally broke Thursday morning.  Then Friday night he broke out in a rash from head to toe.  Apparently it is common for kids to get a non-allergic rash from Amoxicillin, but the poor guy is miserable and has been a bear to deal with for the last few days.  Hopefully, we are on the upswing! 

A wHaLe oF a GoOd TiMe

Rudy's birthday party was last Saturday.  We rented one of the pavilions at the State park and had it there.  It was nice not to worry about having it at the house, but BOY, OH BOY, it was a scorcher!  I'm pretty sure the heat index was about 115.  We decided just to invite family this year and had a "whale" theme.  I was trying to wait to write the post until I had all of the pictures people took for me, but I'm not sure when I will get them, so I'll just use some of the ones I got on my camera. 

Rudy had lots of family come to celebrate him.  He got lots of great gifts and it was an overall great time.  Lots of my family helped me make the food and it was delish... Pulled pork, Italian beef, chips n dip, fruit salad, pasta salad, taco salad, and cupcakes. 
Here are a few pics I took:

A little sign-age action.

Banner I made with my Silhouette SD.  It took about a month to put together.  Haha.

 

Martha stewart poms.  Homemade party hats.  Food table in the back.

  

Rudy's month by month pictures were also framed and put on the tables, but they hadn't arrived yet when I started snapping pictures. 



Josh's mom sent us that big blow up whale.  The kids loved it, and so did I!



Rudy just wanted to stand on top of his presents instead of opening them. 



Rudy and all of his cousins taking a dip in the whale pool. 

He loves the water!

He dug right in. 

Yay, Rudy!  Clapping for himself. 

Smurf.

Still can't believe my little boy is 1. 

Catching Up

 We have had a whirlwind of a week.  Rudy turned one, we had a big party for him, had lots of company, and celebrated the fourth.  And now my poor Rudy boy is sick as a dog. 

I'll give you the play by play in the next few posts. 

RUDY'S BIRTHDAY:

Last Thursday, June 30th, was Rudy's first birthday.  We woke up around 9 o'clock and had a delicious breakfast of Casey's donuts.  I really wanted to make something special for breakfast for his first birthday, but I just didn't have it in me after three days in a row of 12 hour shifts.  Then we let Rudy open his presents!  He got a bike trailer and helmet, a popper, and one of those plastic birthday cakes that sing to you.  It was the first time we had ever bought him any toys (he has lots of grandparents and people at church that load him up on them) so it was really fun to watch him with the stuff that we got him.  We immediately put the bike trailer together and took him for a test spin.  He LOVED it!  Then we got cleaned up, took his 12 month pictures, and packed up and headed for the water park.  Rudy had never been in anything but the baby pool in the backyard.  He loved the zero depth pool and couldn't get enough of the little slide.  I wish I would have gotten some pictures of it!  We also took a few trips around the lazy river.  After about two and a half hours the boy was tuckered out.  We headed for home and Rudy was asleep within seconds of getting the car started.  As soon as we got home we skyped with his Grandma and Grandpa Hunsberger.  Then we took the bikes for a spin up to Subway and came home for some more visitors. 

Here are a few pics from our morning:

Oh, Rudy.

Our boy is turning 1 tomorrow!  Can you believe it?  His momma sure can't.  In the meantime, we have a little watermelon thief on our hands. 

At least he's a generous watermelon thief. 

He's a Movin'

Life has been flying by.  We took the youth to Kentucky for Ichthus, celebrated our five year anniversary, and in a week our little Dude is going to be 1 year old!  I've had to work this week and have been trying to get a few last minute things together for Rudy's party since I have to work Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday coming up.  So, that's why you haven't heard from me.  Here is a little video to show you the progress Rudy has made since the last video. 

That's My Boy

He's a walkin....

Kind of.

Josh took this one of the boys the other day.  Arent they sweet?

Motorcycle Man

Rudy is Grandpa's little motorcycle man.  He didn't get to go for a ride, but he enjoyed his sit on the bike.

  Other Breaking News:  Rudy is taking some steps.  It won't be long before he is full out walking.  About 4 days ago he started trying to take a few steps without holding onto anything, but would basically just fling his body forward.  Today he took 3 or 4 very controlled steps in a row several times.  I will try and get a video to post some time this week. 

My little boy is growing up.

11 Months

 What's Rudy up to at 11 months? 

He is wearing 12 month clothes and size three diapers mostly. 

You won't ever see him in shoes because he pulls them off as soon as we get them on his feet.

He doesn't rock the faux hawk as much these days because his hair is starting to get pretty long. 

He is still just cruising around the furniture and crawling at the speed of light.  No real steps yet.

He knows how to wave bye-bye, but doesn't do it often because he'd rather clap.  (When he learned how to wave, we would clap for him.  So now he just skips the wave and goes straight for the clap.  He loves to be praised!)   

He raises his hands in the air when you ask him how big he is and will lift up your shirt and find your belly button if you ask him where it is. 

He can say Uh-Oh  and often says it just before he throws something on the ground.  He can also say bye-bye. 

He is still a Momma's boy, but is really starting to like being around his Daddy more and more. 

He loves to give great big bear hugs and gives snuggles out pretty freely, but he can also throw fits like the best of them.  He has started screaming at high pitched screams when he is not happy about something.   

He usually takes 2 naps a day, and is starting to do a really good job of taking them in his crib.

He still doesn't usually sleep all the way through the night, but does on occasion. 

He recently started loving books and will play with and "read" them for a really long time.  He will also tear them up. 

He is obsessed with fountain drinks (I have no idea where that came from ;)) and will throw a fit if you have one and don't let him hold it slash drink from the straw. 

He has been able to drink out of a straw for quite some time now, but immediately lets it all run out of his mouth. 

He will eat just about anything you put in front of him, as long as it isn't pureed.  He loves yogurt, string cheese, blueberries, bananas, puffs, pizza, turkey, mac-n-cheese, and chicken and noodles.  He is an eater.

He snacks on butter crackers and graham crackers quite often, but usually ends up giving more to Murphy than he eats himself.  (He is a very generous boy, haha.)

He loves to climb on everything and pull EVERYTHING out of the kitchen cabinets. 

He has such an adventurous spirit and is SUCH a boy.  I love it.

This little kid is crazy and wild and sweet and fun and honestly the best little boy ever. 

Here are some of the out-takes from our photo session: 

What is this stuck to my shirt?

Get it off!

Not interested in sitting.



Spaz-tastic.



This is fun.

And funny.

Can't touch this.

Isn't this just one of the sweetest pictures you've ever seen?

And a pouty, jealous big brother.

Why, Hello There Friends!

I really haven't had the desire to blog for the last few weeks.  When I get home from work I am EXHAUSTED.  I spend an hour or two playing with Rudy before he goes to bed,  shower, then head straight for bed so I can get five or six hours of sleep before I get up and do it again!

I've been trying to make the most of my days off.  Usually we go for a few walks (unless it's 95 degrees like today) and hang out by the pool.  I mean the baby pool, of course.  

Rudy turned 11 months old last week and I am still working on his 11 month post.  He is getting more and more mobile and is not so easy to photograph these days.  We had to have 2 sessions with his 11 month onesie and we still didn't get one that we were REALLY happy with.  (But we got one that will work.)  So stay tuned for that post soon!  Here are a few pics to show what we've been working with.   

Sitting inside the end table.  Pushing out all of the VHS's that we need to get rid of. 

He was being bad so I put him in time out.  In Murphy's crate.  Haha.  Just kidding!  He loves to crawl in there.  And he is playing with the wooden spoon I have been shoving through the cabinet handles to "babyproof" them.  Whoops!  Probably time for some real babyproofing. 



And here are my Smore's masterpieces.  Notice the peanut butter.  Perfection!  We've had a couple of campfires over the last couple of weeks, but I bought the flat stackable marshmellows and they fall off the stick as soon as they start to melt.  So I've been making them in the oven.  Delish!

Sorry it took so long, but that's a little taste of our last week and a half!