Lauren Elizabeth

Cousin Lauren

Since birth Lauren and Nate have had this special bond. Even though they don't see each other that often, they have the best time when they do and ask for each other when they are apart. Lauren has the best laugh, and uses it often! She will dance to ANY music, including organ music at church. She loves to dress up and look pretty, but also loves her hound dog Mack and loves to ride in the tractor with Grandpa and Dad. Nate calls her "Warren". Lauren calls herself "Warren". One of my favorite things Lauren has said recently:

L: Nate come sit on my lap
Nate starts to move over.
L: No wait, you're too big!

Just the fact that a 2 year old would tell someone to sit on her lap and then change her mind because of the size of the person was so cute and funny to me. Any time Lauren is doing something fun - chasing my parents cat, jumping off of the couch onto Grandpa- she ALWAY says "Nate, come on". And Nate runs over excitedly. I love that sweet little girl for always including my little guy and for loving him so much.

My brother Ben (closest in age to me), Lauren and his beautiful wife Erica.
Thanks for all the great pictures Erica. We love you guys!

I LOVE this!

If any of your kids love Mac and cheese you should try this! I never bought this because I thought it had to taste nasty since you only add water. Chris bought it one time while he was out getting groceries and it is amazing! It really tastes good and these little packets only make enough for one bowl and it is ready in 4 minutes! This is going to be a life saver for Nate when baby #2 is here!

First catch

It is such a fulfilling sight to see your son participate in something your husband loves so much. Chris caught a fish right away when they tried for Nate's first fish... hopefully he won't think fishing is always that easy!

Waterloo

My little boy was in heaven last week. Besides the gym, my dad farms which means for Nate LOTS OF BIG TRUCKS! Monday my dad brought the sprayer down and let Nate drive. For those who don't know how cool that would be for a two year old here is what a sprayer looks like-
The "wings" on the side (that's what I call them) swing out and move up and down. Nate got to push all of the buttons besides steering. It kinda reminds me of a transformer. On Tuesday we went in the semi with my dad while he hauled grain. It has been raining so much they can't get in the fields to plant (get your food storage ready! Grain prices are going to sky rocket!).

At the elevator (where you unload the grain) my dad let Nate get out and open the hatches below to dump out the beans. Almost out of reflex, Nate reached out and started to put the beans in his pocket before they went down the drain!
Wednesday he went to a John Deere dealership with my parents while I went out to dinner with my brother. He sat in every tractor and lawn mower then picked out a few toys to bring back with him to Milwaukee. Thursday we played at my parents house and had a visit from Great Grandma Jo. When he wasn't busy climbing in tractors Nate was chasing Mickey the dog (who he repeatedly said "wuv you" to) and chasing my brothers around. My favorite memories were- one night I was trying to rock Nate to sleep and my dad came home from work. Nate said "see Grandpa a minute" so I let him down and he ran down the hall into my parents room. When I went in there a few minutes later he was snuggled up next to my dad in bed watching tv. It was such a simple moment, but it melted my heart. The other was watching Nate and Lauren chase each other on the power wheels and chase the farm cats together. Cousins are the best! Thanks for the fun week family!

Tough Week

It is finished. After a rough week, we are binky free. Nate was sick this week and I knew we wouldn't be going any where and it was easier for him to breath without the binky so .... I DID IT! I pulled the plug. After about 1/2 a day I realized that I needed the binky more than him. There were so many times I wanted to give him the binky to just make him stop crying! But I didn't do it. Giving Nate a binky at nap time is like flipping a switch, he will just shut off and go to sleep. It was VERY hard to get him to sleep this week. Our neighbors complained to the office about all of the crying. Boo Hoo. But in the end, we did it. It was a hard week on both of us (Chris was gone for a work trip so he missed out on the fun). So we are spending a week at my parent's farm to relax, have some fun, and play with our family that we have been missing (Warren and Haircut!) Yesterday Chris took Nate fishing and he caught his first fish!(picture to come) It is so nice to be on a farm and every time my kid runs out the door I don't have to panic thinking he is going to run into the street (which is a safe 1/4 mile away here!!) or someone is going to take him. I was able to just sit on the swing under the big tree and watch him run around and explore. It was good for both of us for me not to be hovering over his every move. It will be hard for both of us to go back to the city.

Our first visitors

Chris's parents came in town this weekend. Even though we have only been gone a week we missed each other enough to require a visit:)

Steve brought an AWESOME kite that went up instantly and was one of the highest flying kites. Nate started to scream and I gave him a binkie (I am giving it up this week... I am at least going to try to!) because he thought that we were letting the kite go like you let balloons go and never get them back. Gaga is trying to show Nate where our kite is-

Nate and his Gaga looking at the kites. He looks like such a teenie guy here, still a baby

Cool Dude with Gaga's sunglasses

Some of the HUGE kites that were there: octopus, Nemo, teddy bear. There was also a trick kite show that was pretty impressive.Making cupcakes with Gaga

Nate was so funny about walking in the dry sand. He didn't mind the wet sand down by the lake because it was packed down, but the dry sand would squish between his toes and he hated it! Kapka (Nate's name for Chris's dad, Steve/Grandpa) came to the rescue
THANKS FOR COMING GUYS! WE HAD A GREAT TIME!

We are here!

Well, obviously, we have internet! I called the guy on our drive to Milwaukee Friday and he came that afternoon to hook it up! I was so happy! Now I can start blogging again and catch up on all the tv shows I missed the last month while I was MIA- p.s. for all of my Bachelor-watching friends... I just watched the finale... HE CALLED HER MONKEY WHEN HE PROPOSED!?! I was so embarrassed for her! Not my choice of pet names, though I did appreciate that they explained WHY in the world he calls her MONKEY! Anyway, so I still have to watch the Lost finale, but I thought I would catch up on blogging first.

We have a wonderful location here! You never know when you rent a place sight-unseen... when they say right on the lake... is that 5 blocks away? And how close to the bus route? Well, all expectations were exceeded! We have a little bridge that we take right outside of our apartment to Lake Michigan which we visited multiple times Friday and Saturday. The bus stop truly is right outside our door. There is a Walgreen's and Papa Johns 1 block away. So we are pretty pleased. It took me 45 min. to find a grocery store downtown on Saturday morning... but we finally found one! The Children's Museum here is amazing! The park by the lake has something going on every weekend (yesterday there was a coast guard helicopter parked and Nate got to sit in it! A dream for this 2 year old) and the beach is only a 5 minute walk! We are looking forward to a great summer! Visitors welcome:)

Jen, unnamed 6 mo. baby in that belly (shirt is very loose- the baby is not that big yet), Nate 23 mo. checking out the lake park after moving in Friday night

Nate loves snow cones like Chris... he wouldn't share with Dad!

Almost asleep after playing in the park all night! Walking back to our apartment

Nate in the Coast Guard chopper

The Beach!



Too cool to swim, but we had fun playing in the sand last night

Graduation

Chris's brother graduated from Duke last Sunday and at the last minute Nate and I decided to join the family in North Carolina for 5 days right before we moved. The guys did a lot of golfing and it was good to hang out with his siblings and his grandparents (who live in Atlanta). Excuse the tic-tac box in that picture- Trudy was shaking it to get Nate to look at the camera! Pictured is me and N. Jon, C. and my SIL Dazi. Jon found an elementary school close by for Nate to run around (since most of our activities were not for a 2 year old). My favorite part of the whole trip was the afternoon after graduation the whole family went to this elementary school and played. It was so fun so swing and throw a football and just spend time as a family not really doing anything. It is in those little simple moments that I really enjoy and realize how happy I am.

Last Day of Finals

After Chris's last final he walked over to his dad's office and Nate and I met them at the golf course. Nate never hit a ball, but had such a great time! He would stand up and drive so that he could push the gas peddle and steer at the same time. He also loved pulling the pin out for the guys when they were ready to put.

M.I.A

Okay, I know I promised to start blogging again, but I spent all of last week(unexpectedly and at the last minute) at Duke in North Carolina to visit my BIL and SIL and for my BIL Jon's graduation. We got home very early Tuesday morning and I have been packing and cleaning like mad because we move out tomorrow! I am not sure when our internet will get hooked up in Milwaukee but I will start posting again whenever that is. So until then... I will not have email, so don't be offended if it takes me a few weeks to get back to you!

Getting outdoors

I was at Kidworks the other day and there was this Cadillac Power Wheel. I called my mom (they live on a farm and have at least 5 Power Wheels for the grandkids to cruise around on). I suggested she get one more... knowing she was in Utah and would not pick it up for at least a week. She said buy it for her, so I did! Nate played it in all week. I can't wait until we have a yard... and garage... and an income so we can get things like this for our own! Thanks mom!
As I have posted multiple times, Nate loves water. Lately he loves to throw rocks and sticks in the stream in Chris's parent's neighborhood. What a BOY!

I know this post is kinda lame, but I can't get to my computer because it is buried in a pile of boxes so I am using Chris's laptop and pictures that Trudy (MIL) emailed me! I will have a more exciting post tomorrow as Chris promised to take boxes to his parents to store and uncover the computer:)

The last week and some...

So after a weekend of the flu for Nate.....

And an ouchie finger that had to be drained by the doctor....... (was much worse than the picture shows)

Spotted- 5 mo baby bump

Warren looks like he is about to fall out of his stroller. After 6 miles, I was ready to nap too!

We are finally all healthy and trying to squeeze in some fun before we move! Here is what has been up to:

- March of Dimes with good friends Sarah, John David and baby Rocco
-playing outside because we had nice weather the first half of the week
-playing indoors at Gma Amy's because we had bad weather the second half of the week and we needed to get out of the house so dad could study for finals.

All day today Nate has been crying to go back to my parents. I can't blame him. I just packed all day today, while we were at my parents he:
-played with cousin Lauren
-snuggled and watched movies with the family especially Aunt Erica and Uncle Ben
-played with all the toys at my dad's gym (they have Little Tykes houses inside for the kids to play with along with a ton of toys- Nate loves it!)
-had lunch with Grandma, Grandpa, cousin Lauren, Aunt Erica, Uncle Ben and played in the tunnels at Burger King with Grandpa and cousin Lauren (my Dad got up there with them!!!)
-played on the power wheel tractor in the house
-ate lots of cookies Gma Amy made
-played on all the "big trucks" and tractors with my dad at the farm

I can't think about all the other fun things that he did... but grandparents are the best!! I will post some pictures once I get my mom to email them to me. My favorite quote of the weekend was when we were all hanging out at my parents house and Nate and Lauren pulled up 2 chairs and sat next to each other. Lauren said to Nate "Sit on my lap" then said "No wait, you're too big!" It was soo cute to hear that from a 2 year old, but funny because it is very true- his little cousin Nate IS a lot bigger than him! We are glad to live close to family!

Oh BOY!

Profile and hand

So... this morning Trudy (Chris's mom) came over to watch Nate and we went to the Ultrasound clinic. While we were waiting Chris said, "Final vote?" I told him again that I really couldn't feel it with this one, but I will still vote girl because we already have a boy. Chris said that he would vote boy so that one of us was right. When I got on the table he suddenly said, "Okay I vote girl too!" I started laughing because he did that same thing with Nate (do you remember that, sweet heart?) Anyway, she checked all the vital stuff and did the measurements for the doctor and then went on to the gender and said, " Well, there's a boy part!" and then went on to point out and explain just how she knew- showing us the difference between the umbilical cord and the "boy parts" . Chris called his brother immediately- I told him he can only say "boy" and hang up because you aren't suppose to use the phone in the office. On the way to the car he said "and they can have bunk beds..." I know he is excited for Nate to have a brother to play with just like he did!

3D image of face
You can see the eyes, nose, mouth (a little)

The ultrasound tech was having a hard time getting all of the measurements because of the way the baby was laying so we were afraid we weren't going to be able to tell the gender. She had a hard time getting pictures of the face because he kept putting his arm in front of his face. He didn't do 4 flips like Nate did- he was trying to sleep and every time she would push on him he would just turn the other way or cover himself with his arm!Stubborn already!

It is a good thing this baby is going to be a boy because Nate is ALL BOY and he would have probably drug a little sister through the mud with him anyway!

Playing in the rain this morning

A few of this little boy's favorite things

[TRAINS]

Nate loves to play with his trains and train table. We live pretty close to the train tracks too and he can hear the whistle blow and gets so excited and asks for a ride. I think we will have to take the AmTrack from Milwaukee home one time this summer.

[WATER]

Nate loves water in any form: baths, sink, dishwater, toilet water, ponds, swimming pools, and as of today RAIN! Chris is such a great dad for a little boy. After we picked Chris up from school today the boys went out for a walk (like they do every night while I make dinner) and found a bunch of ANTS under the Patterson's rain gutter (so that is why we were in your front yard Chelise!) after dinner it started to rain- and Chris took Nate back outside so he could watch the rain pour out of the gutters and down into the drain in the parking lot. HE LOVED IT! Thanks for taking time away from studying for finals to make a little boy's day, Chris!

It's the final countdown

It's finally here! We get to take a look at our little baby in 48 hours! I still have NO IDEA what we are having, but I will keep my vote for girl anyway. It is strange because I was so sure Nate was going to be a boy... I just felt it, but I don't feel anything with this one (except for kicking, of course). Whenever I get excited about the appointment coming so soon, I hear the song "Final Countdown" in my mind. I attached a youtube video for your 80's enjoyment to help you get pumped too:)

In other news, Nate had been getting up between 4:30 and 5 every morning the last week crying that he's hungry. I can't get him to go back to bed. I finally give in when it is close to 6 and bring him down to get breakfast. He use to be such a good, consistant sleeper, then he got sick last weekend and his schedule is all messed up. How do I deal with this? How do I get us back on schedule?

Just to recap

I have had a lot of questions about moving after my last post so here are the details:

• We will live in Milwaukee, WI May, June and July for Chris's law internship
• Chris will live in Des Moines in August while working for the same law firm as last year
• Nate and I will be in IC as the baby is due in September and I don't want to be driving from Des Moines while in labor!
• We are moving out of our apartment in "The Hamptons" because we don't want to pay double rent and rent is going up (again).
• We are packing up all of our stuff because we aren't taking anything with us to Milwaukee. We are storing it until fall, and a lot of it will stay packed until our final move after graduation.
  
• We aren't sure where we are living in August yet. I want to save money and live in student housing, but Chris's friends have scared him out of it telling him not to do it. I say, I know it is pretty crappy- but it is for less than a year! And rent includes utilities and cable/internet for only like $460! How can you beat that? Sure we can only take 1/2 of our stuff and there is no carpet and the dryer is in our bedroom and the washer is in the kitchen... but I guess the longer we are in school, the cheaper I get! I say let's do it! Any testimonials from those who lived in student housing would be helpful!

Student housing kitchen
Yes, that is the water heater under the counter in the bottom left (one of Chris's objections)

• 

"I am so done with Iowa"

I was thinking it was probably safe to change my background wallpaper from snow after we finally had some warm weather... and then it started snowing while I was driving home from picking Chris up last night. Seriously. THis is getting ridiculous. To quote CHris's friend Taylor, "I am so done with Iowa". Although I don't know Wisconsin will be any better....We are in the middle of packing EVERYTHING right now since we only have a few more weeks left in the semester. Poor Nate hardly has room to play down stairs because one side of the house is packed boxes waiting to be put into storage and one side of the house is packing supplies.

Nate trying to eat lunch in the packing supplies mess.

I think it is so funny when he tries to walk in my shoes. Classic "kid" moment.

[Love]

I love how babies sleep with their bums up in the air.
It just makes me smile when I see it.

And it just melts my heart when him smile in his sleep

Chris posted on the blog last night. I am not sure when he wrote it if he remembered it is primarily my girlfriends that read this, so make sure to tell your husbands so they can read it and laugh at his jokes :) He wrote the post below as the new baby.

Interlude: A Message From The Womb

Hello Everyone, this is the youngest Russell speaking.

That's right. It's me. Straight from the Womb. Mom's always posting blogs on here about me, so I thought it was about time I cleared up a few things.

First of all, this whole "voting for my sex" thing is sick and wrong. It's liable to give me a complex. I mean, I'm pretty sure I'm a (cough), excuse me, but all of your debating is making me start to think it's not so obvious. I'm what, like 18 weeks old? Sheesh. As if the birthing process weren't traumatic enough. Besides, if you want a real debate, go to Mullet.com. Or any Fabio fansite. Or ask Chelsea about Monica. There's a REAL debate for ya. Boy or Girl?
Boy or Girl?

Boy or...What? It's A Legitimate Question...

Sure, you're all excited that Mom can feel me moving, but in a few months, she's going to be complaining about it. You know what? Tough. I'm the one squished in here like a Sumo Wrestler in a baby diaper. You thought there wasn't leg room on an American Airlines flight? Try riding shotgun in this Mama. I'm not sure what all the excitement's about, anyway. I've felt her moving since day one. Heck, I'm sitting right next to her intestines. I can guess what she had for lunch just from the gurgling (yesterday was Mac n' Cheese.)



Here's the thing: I feel a little cheated. You know, that first baby, he's a big deal. Me? I'm like that last piece of popcorn you find when you get up from the couch after watching a movie. Sure, you get momentarily excited, you eat it, but still: you don't tell your friends about it the next day. And if you do, your friends look at you a little funny. I'm telling you, it's just not fair.

So shape up people. I may not have a name yet, but that doesn't mean you can just talk about me like I'm not here. I'm watching. And one last thing: My Dad is the man. Numero Uno. World Class. Top of the Line. Prime Time. One of a kind. (What can I say? He controls my allowance.)