The Sweetest Sound on Earth!

Today has been a rough day. My poor baby is sick. She had a rough night last night that led to a rough day today. She isn't sleeping well because she is all stuffed up, so needless to say I am not sleeping well either. Just when I thought I was going to loose my mind, I heard it... the sweetest sound on earth. That sound of a baby giggling! Abby had her first real giggle tonight! She has been smiling for awhile, and boy does she like to make noises, but this was the first time that I heard a real giggle. It made all the screams and crying worth it. I worked hard for that giggle and only got her to do it one more time before I put her down for the night, but it was worth it. Now it is off to bed to try to get a little sleep before she wakes up...

Abby 4 Months Old

Yesterday was her 4 month check up and she weighed 11 lbs and she is 25 inches long. That puts her in the 10-25% for weight, and 75-90% for height! She is getting so big! It is fun to see her begin to take on more and more personality. She loves to talk (We have no idea where she get that :-) ) and she loves to smile. She still sometimes gets a little wide eyed when you start flashing pictures, but we just can’t help it. Enjoy!

Let the training begin!!

Last January Jill, one of my good friends, came out from Kansas to run in the Rock 'N' Roll Marathon. Jill is amazing, this was only her second marathon ever, she has done a few more since then, and is now about to run in the Boston Marathon! Anyway, last year we had so much fun driving around to all the spectator locations to cheer her on. I was 4 months pregnant at the time and apparently that was clouding my judgement. I let the excitement of the day lead me to believe that it would be fun to run the following year. Anyone who knows me, knows that I HATE to run. I married into a family that LOVES to run, and I really want to love running, but well, I just don't. I allowed my excitement to get the best of me and said I wanted to run in the half marathon in 2009. Seth decided he wanted to run it also, and we have even convinced others to join us. Now I have to run! AHHH what was I thinking???

Well I wasn't able to train because I was pregnant, but now that my daughter is 4 months old, that excuse is no longer working. I had to come up with a new excuse to not start my training. Living in AZ gave me my next perfect excuse "IT'S TOO HOT!!" Well yesterday my husband took some of his bonus money and bought a cheap used elliptical machine to use when it is too hot to run outside. Now I guess I am out of excuses. So, I did it! I started my first day of training today. I have a LONG way to go and can use all the encouragement I can get! I can't believe how out of shape I have gotten.

For a long time now I have wanted to say that I have run a marathon, so whatever it takes I want to make this happen, even if it is only a half marathon. So every time you see me check on me and give me some encouragement. If you are up for a challenge come join us on that day and run the marathon or half!! If you are a good runner that is great you can run with Seth, if you are a slow runner perfect, I am going to need all the running partners I can get!

Abby has something to say...

My Baby Loves Cross!!

I have been blessed with a child who loves to ride in the car. The only time she seems to cry in the car is when she is too hungry to fall asleep, or if someone is in the back seat with her. When someone is back there with her she doesn't understand why they won't pick her up! Just yesterday we took her aunt Whitney to work and she was in the back with her. She cried most of the way there, once we dropped Whitney off and she stopped crying before we even left the parking lot! She is also famous for crying at red lights, but as soon as we start moving again she stops.

The other day we were driving across town and out of the blue she started crying about 25 minutes into the drive. This was totally out of the ordinary for her, she had just eaten, we were moving on the freeway and she was back there alone, so I had no idea what was wrong. Seth on the other hand says "fine, I will give you what you want." I had no idea what he was going to do, but the next thing I knew he picked up the Ipod turned off the sermon we were listening to and turned on "Cross Canadian Ragweed." She stopped crying right then. We both just laughed. She was done listening to a sermon she wanted to hear Cross!

Otto Open

Like I said before, we just recently got back from our annual trip to Kansas for the big Otto Open. Every year Seth and his brothers take on his dad and his brothers in a BIG golf tournament in the name of his grandpa Otto. This was the 6th year for the tournament. Going into this tournament the "Young Guns" had won 4 years and the "Old Guys" had won once, back in 2005. It is always such a big deal with a lot of trash talking. Last year the "Young Guns" had the tournament of their lives and won the tournamnet big time. Well this year I guess they had some difficulty putting and the trophy made it's way back to the "Old Guys!" Seth has already warned me that he has to play a lot more this year and he has to go better prepared. Any excuse to go play right??

THE CHAMPS!!

This tournament has become sort of a family reunion. It is always so fun to get the whole family together. You never know what is going to happen, but you can be sure at some point "The Band" will make an appearance. This year the band made an early appearance so not everyone got to be there, but Seth's buddy Kris got to join in for the final song. Here are a couple of pictures of the fun. Don't worry, we have videos also!


Uncle dave on the mandolin!

The big encore!

It is so fun to see how the family seems to grow each year. This year it grew by one (Abby) and next year we look forward to having 3 new additions!!

This is always such a fun trip for us, lots of golf, good BBQ, great memeories with family, Hy-Vee cake (yum), time with old friends, and many trips to Sheridan's for frozen custard. What more could you ask for?? Until next year...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Last night we celebrated Seth and my brother Kevin's birthdays. Their birthdays are exactly 2 weeks apart so we try to celebrate them in the middle. We decided to go to Ryan and Shawna's for a "pool party" this year. The water was colder than we thought it would be so it was beginning to look like we were going to have to pass on the "pool" part of the party, but my niece Madison wasn't about to let that happen! She jumped right in and convinced her daddy and uncles to join her!

Trevor gave it a shot, but after jumping in he decided he wanted nothing to do that cold water. Who could blame him! It was so much fun. Madison was on a swim team this summer and she learned how to swim all the strokes and has turned into quite the fish. She challenged her dad and Uncle Seth to a swim "meet" with Uncle Kevin as the official. Madison was so excited when she won all 7 events!

Seth got his XBOX 360 (which he has been playing for a few weeks now!) and money for clothes (he desperately needs a new wardrobe). Kevin was surprised when got his Playstation 3, Madden '09 and money for accessories and games!

What a night.

It's About Time

After spending way too much time reading other peoples blogs I have finally decided it is time for our family to have our own. With family and friends spread across the country I thought this would be the easiest way to keep everyone up to date on our crazy lives.

We just got back from our annual trip to Kansas for the Otto Open, Seth's family golf tournament. We had such a good trip. We got to spend time with family and Abby got to meet most of our Kansas friends. She was such a trooper as we crammed way too much into such a short time. (I will post more about the trip later). After taking her on four flights in her first 3 months, we have decided that she is not too fond of airports. She makes it known to all the passengers around us, who I am sure dread getting on the plane with her, but she sure loves to fly. She sleeps through the entire flight!

We will try to update our blog regularly and we hope you enjoy a glimpse into our crazy life.