What's been happening

Let's just start this post off with a couple of pictures of my adorable children. :)

There...now that we got that out of the way, this is what we've been up to lately:

1. Last month we took a trip to visit my brother and his family. It was awesome and much overdue! It was so great to catch up with them and the girls, and we were even lucky enough to be there on Homecoming night and we got to see Shyanne all dolled up for the dance. She looked gorgeous and we met her date and definitely approve. They are pretty much best friends and it's nothing romantic, but we're hoping there's a wedding in the future (far future!). He's a good one. :) Anna and Bella had so much fun all weekend playing with each other and it was so much fun watching their imaginations take charge. They were very sad at the end of the weekend to say goodbye to each other. So sweet. :)

2. Two weekends ago my parent's came into town and we remodeled our downstairs 1/2 bath. It's the one that our guests use the most since it's our only bathroom downstairs, but I hadn't done a darn thing with it except for towels and a sad attempt at a couple counter decorations. We painted the walls a really pretty light blue and then all the accents were chocolate brown. I love it and it is such an improvement! New towels, new shelf, new wall pictures, new mirror and lighting fixture (thanks to my parent's as my birthday present), new rug, and new accessories. It's gorgeous, and my parents deserve all the credit. They were great and did pretty much all the work while I chased after the kiddos. In addition to the bathroom, they watched our kids for us and put them to bed, while Dane and I went out and enjoyed an adults only dinner out with friends to celebrate a bunch of November birthdays. We got dressed up (well, dressed up for us!) and went to a nice restaurant, had a lovely dinner, drinks and great friends to enjoy it with. Thank you mom and dad...you guys rock! Oh, did I mention that my mom brought a HUGE pot of homemade stew and left it for us to eat on all week long? Lovely.

3. I had my 31st birthday. Yes, I know, I'm old.

4. Anna is thriving as a nearly 3 year old. She turns 3 on Dec. 17th, but you would think that she's going on 13. I love this girl to pieces. Here are a few conversations we've had lately:

- While I'm getting dressed and putting on a pair of black boots, Anna walks in and says "Mama, those your boots?" "Yup". "Oh wow. Cool boots, Mom." Thanks Anna.

-As we're eating dinner, she requests her favorite song be played on our ipod. "Anna, you need to eat more of your dinner first" "Oh, Mama! I have an idea. You put Down, Down on and then I eat my dinner." Um, let me think. No.

-After picking up the kids at our friend Jodi's house after work, I tell Anna I have a special surprise for her (I was given a dum dum sucker at work). "Ooh mama, what you have in the car?" "Well, it's a special treat since you were such a good girl today." "Oh wow, I'm really excited mama!" After handing Anna the sucker she says "Oh my goodness mommy....I'm so lucky!!!!!" "Wow mommy, this is so exciting!" It's the little things in life. ;)

5. Drew is now 7 months old! He is weighing in these days at 20 lbs 13 oz and is 28 inches. BIG boy! He's our little chunky monkey and we love him oh so much. He's sitting up good on his own and is LOVING solid food. He gets so excited when he's put in the highchair, he can barely contain himself until we start feeding him. The kid is a moose, and loves to eat! He's absolutely happy and smiling all day long...I'm not even kidding or exaggerating. Maybe the happiest baby ever. He's going through a rough patch though. He just cut his first tooth which obviously causes pain, and he's fighting an ear infection as well. Not a good combo. Is it necessary for me to even say that we are not sleeping these days? His sleeping lately has been atrocious. He goes to bed pretty easily, but wakes up more times than I can count. I know at some point we need to let him just cry it out, but I can't do that knowing he's in pain. My motherly instincts just won't let it happen. So until we know he's over his ear infection at least, the soothing method will continue, which means no sleep for mama. It's okay, I'm kind of getting use to going through my days in a foggy haze.

6. Dane and I have been in a weight loss challenge with each other. We started at the beginning of October and we're doing it until December 31st. The person with the highest percentage of weight loss gets a Saturday "off" with $100 to spend however he/she wishes. Sounds good to me! We've really changed the way we eat and it's felt great so far. We weren't eating terrible, but we're just cutting out a lot of our cheese and fat, switching to whole grains, more fiber and protein...those types of changes. We have one day a week where we can have cravings and we just feel like that is necessary if this is going to be a life style change. Gotta have treats every once in a while. :) Dane's done great so far and has lost about 12 pounds and I have lost about 7 pounds. I've been pretty steady with about a pound a week and am okay with that. I'll keep you all posted as the end of the year approaches.

We are looking forward to the holidays coming up. We are spending Thanksgiving in town with Dane's family and then my parents will be staying with us for Christmas. I'll be honest...I cannot wait until the Thanksgiving meal!

Our family had some very sad news this last Sunday. My cousin Michelle lost her husband Lance to his battle with diabetes, among other illnesses. He has been very sick the last couple of years and was having kidney failure and was actually on the "Hold" list to receive a donor kidney and pancreas. His body just couldn't fight anymore and he passed away on Sunday afternoon. My heart absolutely breaks for Michelle and their two children Makenna and Ryan. It has been a very emotional couple of days, but the outreach from their friends and family has been tremendous. Lance was a one-of-a-kind man; always smiling and laughing with such a loving heart. He was so much fun to be around and liked by everyone who's life he touched. Lance will be greatly missed. Here is a link to his obituary for anyone who would like to read it...what a wonderful tribute it is! http://www.yakima-herald.com/obits/2010/11/17/g-lance-braden.