It's a girl!

We had our 20 week ultrasound yesterday and learned we will be having a precious baby girl! We weren't hoping for one or the other(it will be great to have one of each tho) but just praying that all would look good and healthy and so far baby looks great and to be in perfect health! She was very active during the first half of our ultrasound, the second half she was very stubborn and kind of hard to tell if she was a girl or a boy! But thankfully we knew the tech and she did the ultrasound an extra 30 mins and called another tech in for a 2nd opinion just to be sure baby was a girl. Thank you Kari!!!



As far as this pregnancy goes, its going! LOL This time around has been completely different for me. I can honestly say I'm beyond ready to be done. I'm riding the crazy emotional hormonal rollar coaster and unfortunately Kevin has to ride it too! I've been blessed with a very, very patient husband :) My cravings are for anything sweet, I want junk food all the time, so I'm trying to replace the sweets for fruit...it works sometimes. About 3 weeks ago I felt the baby move, which was wonderful and early compared to when I felt Blake.

I took the day off Wednesday to shop!

Other than being pregnant, at least me that is, we haven't been up to much. Kevin took a week vacation and went to Florida with his dad, some friends and a guy who Kevin builds cars for. By the sounds of it they had a great time. (I'd hope so since your in Florida in Feb, while I'm stuck at home working and in the snow! :) Blake has been quite the handful lately. A week or so ago he came down with a nasty cold and thankfully is over it and sleeping again (so we can sleep again too!) and now he's got some major attitude! Blake can be so good and sweet sometimes, then he turns around and doesn't listen (he's only 2, I'm hoping it won't last forever!!!) and sassy's back to us! I have no idea where he has learned this, but I wish he'd unlearn it! But since I'm rambling about what he has learned, I will tell you the good stuff he has learned! Blake can sing the whole ABC's, count to 20, and spell his name (sometimes leaving out the "a") and he is very good about saying please and thank you.

My 2 favortie boys!

Blake showing off his Buzz Lightyear towel!

Weekend of Destruction

Just when I thought winter was getting boring, crazyness took over! Friday was going great, nice and relaxing when all hell broke loose! I was reading a book in the living room (where I can see right into Blake's rm) and Blake was watching Mickey Mouse in his room. Never heard a peep until I heard a huge crash and Blake crying and saying "Mommy!" I ran in his room to see that he climbed up his tall dresser and it tipped over and fell on him. I totally panicked, but got him out from under it quick (but not fast enough for me, it felt like eternity!) Once I got him out, he acted like nothing happened! Blake just brushed it off as just another day, I however I had a hard time letting him go and constantly checked him over the rest of the day and night!

Saturday was another day that was going great! Blake and I shopped for birthday and daycare groceries, picked up his cake and ran some errands. Saturday night Kevin and I decided we would go snowmobiling to the Blue Hills Inn. We were about maybe 15 minutes from our house when we were stopped at a stop sign waiting for the slowest car to go by, when I noticed something glowing on what I thought was on top of Kevin's sled, so I looked around quick to see what would be reflecting orange on it and didn't see anything so I pulled up next to him and his sled was on fire! So I started screaming at Kevin since he obviously wasn't noticing! (He was probably too busy getting irratated by the slow car going by!) We quick got the fire put out and found that a bottle of oil that is stored under the hood for emergencies was the culprit. Needless to say scary! We drove over to a friend's house and left Kevin's sled there and took my sled double to the restaurtant. Good thing the food is worth it because by the time we got there I was sore from having to ride double and we were both starving! Luckily we got home in one piece. And his sled had had little to no damage (that I know of at least!) 

After Blake saw us with our helmets on, he wanted his on!

Sunday was Blake's 2nd Birthday! I still can't believe he is 2 already, where has the time gone?!? I know it hasn't gone to extra sleep ;) Thankfully tho I can say his birthday day and party went great! The only thing that got destroyed was the frosting on the cake as Blake's fingerprints are all over it! This year we opted for a small family get together instead of a big, crazy party like last year, mainly because I am too tired! Reguardless of the amount of people there, he had a wonderful birthday with the people that love him the most!


My big 2 year old!



Blake's Thomas the Train cake, that he picked out!



Blake tried and tried but didn't have enough air to blow out the candle, so he ate frosting instead!



The only way he will eat cake!



Happy boy! More trains!



All he played with all day...he's in heaven!



The racetrack above was a gift from Kevin to Blake. Kevin made it, he saw an ad in the Dirt Mod or Late Model magazine for a table with a racetrack printed on top of it. Kevin called and got info on it and decided he could make a cooler one himself! And he did! My picture doesn't do it justice! Its made on a folding table, the actual track is designed as the Rice Lake Speedway. The scales, victory lane, billboards in the middle, entrance and exit on/off track, flag stand are all in the same location as the actual track. Kevin made a white wall around the track out of some kind of pipping (sp?), which is great because the cars stay on the table! Blake loves it, he finally has a nice spot to play with his cars!

Well that was our weekend in a nutshell!

Disney World!

Last Monday we jetted off to Orlando, and sadly had to come home Friday! :( It was a great trip! Blake did awesome flying on the way there, (which I might have been panicking about considering the attention span he has!) I'm so glad we splurged and got first class seats, lots of room for Blake to play! I told Kevin now that I've had a taste of the good life, I'm never going back! Ha ha ha!

Blake on his first plane ride!

Once we got settled in at our hotel we were off to Disney's Hollywood Studios! We brought Blake to Playhouse Disney, Live on Stage, he loved it! He got to see puppets of the characters, he was in awe! Just before we were going to leave we brought Blake to Guido's Garage, where there is life size versions of Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater, Blake's eyes were huge when he first saw them, he was so excited! We got our pictures and kinda hurried thru, which had Blake crying when we left and saying "Daddy, go back, go back!" It was heartbreaking! :(

Blake "meeting" McQueen and Mater!



Leaving Hollywood Studios!



Tuesday we went to Epcot, which is my favorite of the parks, I LOVE walking thru the countries, which I'm sure Kevin and Blake were bored to death doing! Blake enjoyed the Finding Nemo ride and the aquarium. Early in the day we saw the line for the characters and thought we'd just wait until we went to Magic Kingdom the next day to see them, but then we walked by a second time and the line wasn't too bad. (Or so we thought!) Well the wait was well worth it! I have never in Blake's 2 year life seen him so happy or his smile that big until he saw Mickey for the first time! It melted my heart, I cried! (Emotional pregnant lady, maybe!) For whatever reason, maybe cause he was being shy, Blake would crawl to whichever character was next! It was cute! He would give them all hugs and just look at them in awe! Blake would ask each character where another one was, he was mainly concerned where Donald Duck, Goofy and Minnie were! It was a great idea to wait in this line because he got to meet Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald and Goofy! This moment of the trip was worth every penny spent, every tired moment, and every crazy stressful time!

Meeting Mickey for the first time!

  

Hugs for Minnie!



Wednesday we went to the Magic Kingdom! We had a blast and did sooo much there! This was Blake's favorite park, there was so many rides and things for him to see! I think his favorites were going on the Indy Race Track with Kevin, seeing Mickey and Minnie again, the parade and going on Aladdin's Magic Carpet ride, which he didn't want to get off of! We still wanted to see a couple more attractions throughout the day but Blake fell asleep during the Jungle Cruise! It was a very busy day for him! So we ended up going back to the hotel for naps and then to Downtown Disney that night to go to our favorite seafood restaurant, Fulton's! Yum!

Blake loved the carousel ride, he kept saying the horse was Turk!


  

Blake loved his "lellow" balloon!



Thursday morning, bright and early we went to Chef Mickey's for breakfast with the characters! Needless to say Blake was way too busy to eat! It was a lot of fun! Since this was Blake's 2nd birthday trip, he got a birthday cupcake and a birthday party along with others who were celebrating their birthdays!



Blake and Mickey at breakfast!



Blowing out the candle on his birthday cupcake!



After breakfast, we went to Animal Kingdom, which was fun! We enjoyed the Kilimanjaro Safari ride, Blake loved the elephants, especially the baby elephant! It was neat seeing all the animals! We also went on a train ride, a dinosaur ride, played in a huge play area, attempted to see Finding Nemo the Musical, we had to leave due to a hungry and sleepy little boy! This day was the most relaxed, easy going day! After lunch we went back for naps, Blake and I were long overdo!! In the afternoon we went back to Hollywood Studios to go see McQueen and Mater, we felt awful about Blake's first visit, when he left crying. So we went back with the sole purpose of letting Blake just run around and play! I didn't care if we got a picture or not, as long as he had fun, which he did! When we left this time, he said good bye and was happy! Which made us happy! We then went back to Epcot to do a little shopping! We were back at our hotel at 8:00, just in time to watch the Magic Kingdom's fireworks, but Blake HATES fireworks so we had to shut the door and the curtains! :(

Blake with McQueen!

Friday morning we enjoyed breakfast in our room one last time, as we slowly and sadly got ready to leave for home. Which happened to have been good timing since Kevin woke up with a horrible cold and is still feeling sick. (You know he's really sick when he spends 2 full weekend days in bed, he usually can't wait to get up and get moving and doing stuff!)

Blake and I Friday morning, getting ready to leave :(

Blake and Daddy!

Our plane ride home was somewhat of a nightmare! LOL We still had our big nice seats, but Kevin was sick and pretty much out of commission and Blake was a little devil! Apparently he used up all his good manners on the plane ride there and had 0 left on the way home! I wanted the eject button...for myself! After 3 1/2 hours of a crabby, whiny, antsy kid I was more then ready to be home! Until I got home to endless loads of laundry, exhaustion from traveling, a hyper almost 2 year old and a sick husband! Home sweet home!

Baby update! I am 14 weeks along and I'm finally feeling better! The Saturday before we left for Florida was my last (hopefully) day of nausea, it left at perfect timing! I am already getting a belly, which looks more like I've been over eating then pregnant. So my wish to wear my normal clothes for as long as I can seems to be going away sooner than I wanted!

Merry Christmas Blake!

Christmas this year was so much fun with Blake! We made some wonderful memories! This year Blake was actually excited to go see Santa, he talked about it on the way to the mall, and when we got to the area Santa was in, Blake was happy and saying "Look there he is!" When it was Blake's turn to sit on his lap, Blake turned shy and straight faced! He didn't cry or anything but he wouldn't smile or even look at Santa! After we left, all Blake could talk about was Santa and "Ho ho ho!" I forgot to take a picture with my camera and only have my store bought photo and I don't have a scanner...so no picture! :(

Traditionally we spend Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with my family in Duluth and then hurry home to spend the rest of the day with Kevin's side of the family. This year Kevin and I decided we would host Christmas Eve at our house, it would be easier with me being sick and easier for Blake to not have to travel so much! Also we wanted Blake to wake up at home and be able to see what Santa brought him! I loved having Christmas at my house! I hope we can do this every year!

Blake was so happy to have my dad and my sister's dog Ziggy here, he probably wouldn't have cared if he got presents or not! Anyway from my family he got a small toy engine with tools, movies, clothes, another tool set, a punching bag (he loves this toy!), a snow tube, as well as a travel train set, cars, books, play doe and a snowmobile helmet that he hated!



Blake playing with his new engine/tool kit!

                                                                

Blake got the Chipmunk Movie!



Auntie Morgan and Blake!



After dinner and gift opening, Blake and I made a plate of cookies for Santa and finally went to bed around 11. Christmas morning Blake woke up and all he kept asking for was Grandpa, who was still downstairs! When we told Blake Santa had been here and brought him toys, he finally got excited! The excitement in Blake's eyes and the look of wonder was the best part of Christmas!



Christmas morning!



Finally getting to play with his own train set!

 Santa brought Blake a work/tool bench, a train set, tent, Toy Story, coloring book and crayons! Needless to say Blake was very busy all morning!! After we said our goodbyes to my family we headed over to Kevin's parents house for a wonderful meal and some great family time as well as more gifts! Blake received another train set, cars, clothes, movies, a box to hold all his cars in, and another snow tube!





Blake playing with grandpa Dave and Auntie Lisa!



For this being Blake's 2nd Christmas I think he did great with all the excitement and craziness! I think he got a little overwhelmed with the amount of gifts he got, and with all that was going on around him ( I did too!). Someday he will understand how blessed he is, to be loved so much by so many, and thankful for all that he has. But as a kid he gets to enjoy all the magic of Christmas and we can be thankful ones!

On a mission to go sliding!



Baby news! We had our first doctor appt the week before Christmas, all is well! We had an ultrasound and got to hear the baby's heartbeat, for me this appt is always such a relief! I love knowing baby's ok! From what we saw on the ultrasound this baby is a lot "quieter" or "tamer" then Blake was at this appt! When we had the first ultrasound with Blake, he was all over the place practically doing somersaults! Watching this baby on the monitor was a lot different as he/she was moving a bit but not much, seemed very calm! :)

This is my last post of 2010, so Happy New Year and see ya in 2011!

Not my cup of tea...

Pregnancy (at least the early stages) is just not my cup of tea! My good fortune of not having morning sickness went away... in a hurry! The last 3 weeks have been awful, constant nausea. With Blake I had morning sickness, but it wasn't constant all day, everyday and I had the "relief" of feeling better after getting sick. But with this baby I am sick all the time. So lately I've turned into a hermit! Not going out or doing anything. During the day with all the kids here I manage to get by, with Blake being my biggest challenge as always! Evenings are easier, Kevin has been wonderful with doing even more than he already does around the house, so I can go to bed and forget about being sick! Blake has been very good, he understands when mommy doesn't feel good and will ask if I'm ok, then he will say "oh its ok" and then give me hugs! Since I've been going to bed early, Blake will come into our room and say "go to sleep" and "nigh nigh"! I love it! I am just about 9 weeks, so I am praying that its almost over!

Last Thursday night we had the Rice Lake Christmas Parade, we entered a float for the Rice Lake Speedway. Kevin and Ryan did a great job decorating Kevin's racecar! Keytun and I walked the parade route handing out candy and pictures, while Kevin and Ryan got to ride in the truck with Blake and Brylee who had been eating candy and getting restless having to play in the truck! Needless to say we were happy to hand over kid duties to the men! We're hoping to make this an annual event!

Blake and Brylee riding with their daddy's during the parade!

Our float!

Last weekend was spent cleaning and decorating for Christmas, it took me all weekend but I was determined to get all my stuff up for Blake! He loves all the lights, but thankfully I don't think I will need my gate around the tree this year since he's not taking the ornaments off and throwing them! I haven't begun shopping for gifts yet so I'm hoping this week I can start, tho I won't be buying much this year, not to be a grinch but honestly I have no ideas for anyone and I'm having a hard time getting into the shopping spirit (which is VERY unlike me!!!) and really I don't want to spend much! I'm also hoping this week I can get a picture of Blake for our Christmas cards, he's very uncooperative when I get my camera out!

Have a wonderful week!

Wissota National Banquet

This past weekend we were in St. Cloud MN, for the racing expo and the Wissota National Banquet, we had a blast!  We made some great memories with our wonderful friends!




2011 Racecar (Pictures courtesy of Chris Burback)



Kevin and I at the Red Carpet, Friday night





Kevin and I at the banquet



Kevin getting his Wisconsin State Champion Award, sorry for the dark pictures, I forgot to change my camera's setting!



Kevin getting his 2nd place in national points award.



Zach Manley (street stock), Matt Leer (midwest mod),  Kevin (mod) and Shane Kisling (super stock), they all are from our area and race weekly at the RL Speedway, they all are the Wisconsin State Champions and top 10 in national points.

All in all it was a nice banquet, this year the actual awards ceremony seemed to go pretty fast, which is nice, in years past its felt like we have sat there for hour after long hour! The nicest and saddest part of the banquet was about the Midwest Mod National Champ, Brandon Davis. He couldn't be there due to a family member being seriously ill, fortunately Wissota and all involved gave a very nice speech about him and what kind of person he is as well as reading his speech he had prepared. It was all very nicely done and reminded everyone that although our passion may be racing, what really matters most is family. Our thoughts and prayers that night as well as now are with Brandon and his family.

This coming weekend Blake and I will be heading north to visit my family in Duluth and go to the Christmas City of the North Parade, which is tradition for my family. I'm excited for Blake to get to see it and actually enjoy it, last year I brought him but I had him so bundled up I don't think he could move to look at what was going on! Unfortunately Kevin will be hunting, as this weekend is opening weekend, so he won't be with us.

Kevin and I recently just finalized our vacation plans, early 2011 we are bringing Blake to Disney World, for a week! Disney World is our favorite place to vacation, mostly because it has our favorite hotel, favorite restaurant and its clean! LOL Blake is starting to show interest in some Disney movies and Mickey Mouse, and now that he's understanding things more we thought it would be a good idea to getaway just the 3 of us before we have another! The only thing that worries me is flying with an almost 2 year old! Should be interesting!

I hope everyone has a wonderful and happy Thanksgiving!

Quiet Weekend...

This past weekend was pretty quiet for us, which was great! Friday night we went over to some friends of ours house, they have 2 daughters, one who is 2 that Blake has fun playing with, they get a long pretty well! There other daughter is a newborn and is a sweetie, I spent most of the night cuddling the baby! Saturday Blake and I ran some errands and spent most of the day being lazy watching Thomas and cuddling and playing with cars, while Kevin worked at the shop. Kevin's been very busy getting his car ready for the expo this coming weekend, I will post pics when its all done! Sunday was exhausting! We cleaned out both of our garages and got everything organized, its ridiculous how much junk we have collected (and now have gotten rid of)! LOL

Blake has been pretty sweet lately, he's really into giving hugs and kisses, saying "ove you" and saying please and thank you! I love the age he is at, (22 months) he has so much to say, he asks/answers questions, I love having a conversation with him! He's also been very needy of both Kevin and I, which I'm cherishing, even tho at times it can be hard when trying to make dinner or care for the daycare kids! Blake is also showing an interest in potty training, which I'm so excited about! I really would love it if he was potty trained by the time baby arrives!

No news about baby yet, obviously since its soooo early yet! I did have my lab work done today, which wasn't too bad. The only change I'm feeling or maybe I've always felt it since Blake is exhaustion! LOL There are just not enough hours in the day! I'm thankful I haven't gotten sick yet (knock on wood :) with Blake I was sick the whole first trimester, I couldn't take the the prenatals as I would get sick as soon as I would take them. So far I've been able to take the vitamins and not get sick!

This coming weekend we have the Wissota National Banquet as well as the Wissota expo in St. Cloud, Mn. Its always a good time and fun to get a chance to get dressed up!

Well thats all for now, next time I will have to post some pix! Have a great rest of the week!