Workin' Man

Dig is such a little man.  He loves being able to help out and when he helps...he REALLY helps! He offers...yes, offers to sweep the kitchen floor, water plants, put dishes in the dishwasher, even scoop the driveway for Daddy. 

During the day, Lane and I are home together and when it snows, he'll go look out the front windows and say something like, "well, looks like I better get out there to scoop the driveway before Dad gets home," or "I should go scoop a little so when Dad gets home it won't be so much."  Seriously, what a thoughtful little man!  So, he bundles up and scoops the driveway...for real. 

Lately Lane's been calling me "Kris" alot.  "Krissss, can I have more cereal? Krissss, where's my DS? Krissss, is it time to go to school?"  I've explained to the kids before that if someone calls me Kris, I know I've known them a long time. My parents, well, I guess mostly my Dad, calls me Kris.  All of my grandparents call/ called me Kris.  My brothers both call me Kris...in fact, I don't think I've ever heard Steve or Shawn call me Kristy, likewise, their girlfriends, Lisa & KK, call me Kris.  I remember getting on a Cambus my freshman year at the University of Iowa.  From the back of the bus someone hollered, "Kris Balvanz?"  Before looking to see who it was, I knew it had to be someone I went to school with in Eldora.  It was.  I don't know exactly when I became "Kristy?" hmmm.  I remember getting my first job after college and thinking it would be a good time to start going by my given name, Kristine.  But I never did.  But I do love it.

Anyhoo...I asked Dig the other day, "why are you calling me Kris lately?"  His reply..."Cuz' I've known you a LONG time!"   Silly me.

Yesterday, I re-filled his juice cup and he said,
"Thanks Kris!"

"You're welcome, Dig."

"No. If I call you Kris, you call me Lane."

Evidently, we're on more formal terms around here these days!

PaRtiEs!

DD's birthday was already 20 days ago...about time I posted some pictures! 

She got the best present a first-grader could ask for...SNOW DAY! Actually, TWO snow days!  The only bummer was that meant we had to postpone her friend party.  It worked out that all of her friends were able to come that following Friday evening, which really was better anyway.

On her ACTUAL BIRTHDAY she was able to eat lunch at Nanny & Pa's, which hasn't happened for a long time. 

Nanny knows her girl! She made her an apple pie.

Still gets embarrassed when people sing to her!

Nanny & Pa made a "Happy Birthday Drue" banner!

FRIEND PARTY:

Drue had a "Junie B. Jones" themed party this year.  We played a few funny games that Junie plays in her books.  This was a dress- up game kind of like musical chairs.  I read a Junie B. book and when I would stop the girls had to grab a silly dress-up item out of a bag and put it on...coconut bikini, grass skirt and all! Just like Junie B! Shown are her 'bestest' friends! Kali, Campbell, Delia, Riely & Cadence.

We had Junie B's favorite supper..."hoagie sandwiches" from Subway, then cupcakes & an ice-cream sundae bar complete with crushed Oreos, cookie dough, sprinkles, strawberries, fudge and whipped cream...however, we would have only needed the Oreos and cookie dough!  =)

Drue's gift bags for her friends were First-Grade Journals just like Junie B. uses, chapstick, mechanical pencil, gum & candy bracelets.

FAMILY PARTY

Our blue-eyed girl with her Wizard of Oz cake.

Drue's Mimi and RahRah, Nanny & Pa, Uncle Shawn & KK, Aunt Traci & Uncle Nick, cousins Cali & Clay and Great-Grandma Mary were able to help us celebrate. 

It was a week full of celebrating our cutie- patootie!

Side Note:  The Iowa shirt she's wearing is an old one of her DADDY's when he was little!! She HAD to wear it to her party!

If It's Not Gone...

...it has a bite out of it!

She may or may have not learned this from her Momma.  I, however, was a little more discreet when I was younger... I poked my pinky into the bottoms so no one could tell that I had already picked through the assortment.  =)



Our Valentine's Day

I've never been too big on the whole Valentine's thing.  Don't get me wrong, I like getting flowers or chocolates or little notes...but I like getting all those things any day of the year.  There seems to be so much pressure associated with the big V-day.  As an adult, I don't get too excited about it, but I love making it a big deal for the kids!

We made cutout cookies... 



I made these "Sweetie Pies" as a special treat for my own Sweetie Pies!  They were so easy & looked so cute!  I used Grandma Mary's recipe for a double crust and it made 18 cutie-patootie little cherry pies.  I warmed up some of the leftover icing from the cookies and drizzled it over the pies when they came out of the oven...I think it made them taste a little more like a turnover...which technically, I consider a 'breakfast food'... at least I kept telling myself that this morning! 

 Both kids had their school Valentine's Day parties today.  I got to help with Lane's.  Those preschoolers know how to spread the love!  Dig got more hugs than I could count from those little girls... was about enough to make this Momma jealous!

Drue is a pie-lover...and these passed the test!

Ryan requested "breakfast-as-supper" that morning, which was completely shocking! He is usually totally against that idea.  He likes breakfast for breakfast and that's it! I have, however, started making breakfast foods, (omelets, pancakes, sausage, hashbrowns, egg sandwiches, egg bakes, French toast, etc...) after church on Sundays and he's been ok with it...maybe it's because I call it 'brunch?'  Mind games, mind games, whatever works, I say. 

I was all excited to make heart-shaped pancakes for everyone.  Go figure, my 'non-stick' pan is becoming less and less 'non-stick' so the hearts didn't really resemble hearts...which ended up not really mattering because Ry is the only one who eats pancakes other than me.

Actually, I think Ry suggested pancakes and eggs for supper thinking he was doing me a favor.  It sounds simple enough, but no matter what I do, big breakfasts seem hard for me to orchestrate.

I have a hard time getting things cooked at the right time.  The sausage is done, then make the pancakes, without having cold sausage.  Eggs have to be HOT for me so they are last minute, but by then the pancakes are cool or stuck to the pan and it seems like we each eat at different times...

I know he meant well...but my groaning must not have been hint enough to order out... and now I have the messy kitchen to occupy the rest of my day. 

Happy Valentine's Day to me.  =)

Pokey-pine

The weather was gorgeous this weekend and the kids took advantage of it! Winters in Iowa aren't really 'play-outside' kind of days.  It seems like once it snows and looks like fun outdoors, it gets too cold...too fast.

It was a balming 35 or 40 degrees out and the snow was melting.  Perfect for making a snowman...or in our case...a snowFAMILY!

{Drue did wear appropriate winter clothing while playing outside...I made her run back out for a picture!}

This poor snow-family didn't last long.  Within about 3 hours they were hunched over and melting away. OR Cash, the dog jumped on them trying to eat their apple mouths & carrot noses, we don't know for sure!?

Daddy also helped Dig make a little tunnel.  He played in it for the longest time!

Lane told me he was a "pokey-pine" and he was needing to eat lots of food (snow) because...

pretty soon he needed to be "de-hydrating" (read: hibernating) for the winter!! 



"Re-rase it"

"MOM! Re-rase that picture of DD on your blog and put one of me on it!"

Yes, sir.

Wordless Wednesday

Drue Kathleen's Birth Story

Wow!  I can't believe that tomorrow, Drue will be S-E-V-E-N! Growing up,I wanted nothing more than to be a mommy, but never played out what my life would be like after I actually had the babies I wanted!  I couldn't have imagined it any better than it has been...

It all started seven years ago tonight.  Well, technically nine-months before that.  Ok, actually...much longer than that.  I had been praying for babies almost all of my life! 

The end of January, 2004, Dr. Glascock had put me on bed rest for the week.  I think because of high blood pressure.  I was only allowed to get up to go to the bathroom and stayed on the couch watching tv all day. (looking back, I really should have 'appreciated' that more!)  Ryan and I played alot of Cribbage that week!   My super mom brought dinner out to Ryan and I every night that week and at least one of the nights, she, Dad & Shawn ate dinner with us.

February 1, 2004 the weather man was forecasting a storm much like the one we are experiencing today.  Lots of snow, maybe some ice and wind.  I was around 38 and a half weeks pregnant and had a scheduled OB appointment on Monday, February 2.  Ryan and I talked and he said I would need to call first thing in the morning to cancel the appointment, there was just no way we were going to travel in that weather for a doctor's appointment.

I cried.

Ryan could sense my disappointment.  I wasn't hard to read.  I just kept crying.  He finally said we could go to Waterloo that night and stay in a hotel so we could get to the appointment.  I knew he really didn't want to do that, but also thought it would be silly since we weren't due until the 13th.  I could just re-schedule, as much as I didn't want to.

So, Ryan and I stayed home and watched the Super Bowl.  Neither one of us can remember who played.  All we do remember is that was the night of Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction."  We didn't actually see it.  We had already gone to bed.  (But it was all our nurses could talk about!)
 
The next thing I remember was a loud "POP!" It was so loud it woke me up.  I opened my eyes and looked at the clock.  4:14 a.m...  I layed there wondering what in the heck that sound was.  I still remember trying to figure it out and thinking, "well, since I'm awake I might as well go to the bathroom."  I stood up to go downstairs and that's when I figured it out...  GUSH!  The POP was my water breaking!

I froze.  Oh.My.Goodness!  I remember looking at Ryan sleeping peacefully and thinking, "he's going to kill me! He said we wouldn't be able to travel and now we HAVE to!" So after a minute I summoned the courage to wake him.  "Ryan?   Ryan??   Ryan?"   He poked his head up.  "What?"  "Um...I think my water just broke." This time he sat all the way up.  "SERIOUSLY?!"   "yup."

I've never seen him move so fast! Before I could change my clothes and get downstairs, Ryan had grabbed our bags, got dressed, called his parents to bring their 4-wheel drive truck over in case we'd need it to get to Waterloo and scooped the sidewalk! Arnie & Linda were there just minutes later and led the way to the interstate.  We had decided we could get there in our car so we waved them on and headed to Covenant.  Neither of us said much on the way.  I suppose we were both too nervous.  I remember Ryan telling me to "stop that!" when he would see me checking the time on my cell-phone causing it to light up.  He thought I was timing contractions, but I wasn't even having any.

We went in the Emergency entrance and sat at the little cubby answering questions for the lady.  When she realized my water had already broke, she hurried the process up a bit and got me a wheel-chair.  The next few hours were uneventful.  I got my epidural around 11 am and called my parents' house around noon.  Mom and I had a little understanding that I was not to tell her I was in labor.  Just call her when the baby was here.  She didn't want to be worrying about me being in pain all day.  When I called, Dad answered. I told him where I was and he said Mom wasn't home yet.  I decided I'd call her myself in a few minutes.  When I got a hold of her she said, "Oh, Kristy! I didn't want to know! Now I won't get any work done!"  I reassured her that I was in absolutely no pain.  Drugs are so good.  =)

About 2:00 the nurse rolled in the giant table full of millions of scissors.  I remember thinking "holy-cow! What have I gotten myself into!?"  A little after 4:00 pm the nurse told me to try and push just to see how things were going.  No sooner had I done it, she said, "oh stop! I have to go get the Doctor!"  Ry had to hold my leg up it was so numb.  I had no idea if I was pushing or not.  All I remember being concerned about was if Ryan was going to pass out and when would I hear that baby cry?! 

Well, 3 sets of 3 pushes, absolutely no pain and 9 minutes later...we had our baby girl!

Our chunky-monkey was born on 2-2-04 at 4:24 pm, weighed 8lbs 5oz. and was 19 inches long.  She had the roundest pumpkin head I'd ever seen and I was in love.

All of our family braved the bad weather to meet the first grandbaby on both sides.  Including Drue's great-grandma  grandpa Balvanz.

Oh my, has that girlie taught me a thing or two about being a mom! Those first 3 months were petrifying! I knew for sure I was going to mess something up.  I had to watch her every breath, if I didn't, I knew she'd just stop breathing all together!  I called the Dr. about the silliest things! I didn't let her sleep in a crib, let alone in her own room!  She slept with me everynight, (for years!) I sat her in the bouncy chair in the bathroom with me while I bathed.  I hesitated to leave her with her own daddy! Seriously.  I was pathetic. 

Ryan and I are so thankful that the Lord blessed us with a perfectly healthy daughter.  Drue Kathleen made us a family seven years ago and made my dream of becoming a mommy come true.

Just days ago, Drue came up to me holding one of her 'babies' and crying.  Real tears. 

"I just wanna be a mommy sooo bad!" 

I know exactly how you feel, baby.  Exactly.  And I pray God blesses you like he has me. 

I love you, DD.

Really!? I can't believe this picture!  I can't make one thing look like her! Not her eyes, not her nose, not her mouth...nothing! What a punkin'!

Little Mommy, DD this Christmas with her Twins, Bea & Ben.

DD with Charlie. I got her at my cousins' Annie & Tiff's garage sale probably 25 years ago. These days, Charlie goes everywhere!

Tonight, Drue & her other baby, Penny-Cutie.

Happy 7th Birthday, DD Kathleen!