Happy Birthday Abby!

We had Abby's Birthday party in Norfolk on Friday. This year was really fun because she understood what was going on and even helped pick the Little Mermaid theme. Bryce and Caleb have been talking about her birthday all month trying to get her ready. She was a little shy when people first started coming over but after a little while she started to warm up to everyone and have fun. When we got to the present opening she acted like she was a pro! She was tearing through gifts like crazy. She got some really cute things. We had a great time with all of our family and it was so nice of everyone to come and help us celebrate.

Abby with Mommy and Grandma

Uncle Andy giving Abby her charm for her bracelet.

Abby modeling the scarf that Grandma Cindy made her

Congratulations Mitch and Courtney. We are so excited for your engagement. Glad that you agreed to the job of Aunt Courtney since they having been calling you that for years.


Thanks for coming Grandpa Steve,even though you had just had surgery.

Aunt Ginger and cousin Brook

Abby and her Little Mermaid cake.

Abby with Grandma and Grandpa

The whole crew "fixing" Aunt Steph's hair with the beauty shop set.

Abby and Mommy

Abby and Daddy

Abby is 3

Our Abby girl turned 3 on Sunday. I know I always say this but it really is hard to believe how fast she is growing up. I still think of her as my baby but she is growing into a beautiful little girl. I had to take a walk down memory lane and think about the day we welcomed her into our family. It is still hard to believe that Bryce and Caleb were only 2 1/2 when Abby was born. Wow! What were we thinking. Just kidding! I was much more nervous for Abby's delivery because I knew what was coming. We went into the hospital that morning at 9 and by 12:28 we had our baby girl. I was a bit drugged and Robb still likes to remind me of the comment I made in the operating room. I was drowsy and when she started crying I asked "is that our baby?". I know pretty silly but I had a lot of meds on board. It is always a relief to hear them cry for the first time, but Abby didn't STOP! Poor girl cried for the next 2 hours straight. The next thing I knew the crying had turned into grunting and we were meeting with the pediatrician and neonatologist who said she had to go to NICU. I was worried about her but I knew that she would get good care by my co-workers in the NICU. I was really sad that she didn't get to stay with me in the room though.
She had to be in the NICU for 48 hours until they made sure that her breathing had improved and that she didn't have an infection. I know she got great care from my co-workers and I even heard stories later that she screamed so loud that she was disturbing the tiny baby next door and had to be moved down the hall. Poor girl was just hungry! She was 9 lbs 1oz and looked enormous in the NICU bed.
It was so fun to have the boys finally meet their baby sister. They were so sweet to her. It was nice having time with just her in the hospital but I missed seeing the boys. Robb and I both had a lot of snuggle time with Abby while we were in the hospital. We went home on February 2 with our healthy little girl.
Abby has been a wonderful addition to our family. We have loved seeing our baby grow up to be a smart, spunky and sweet 3 year old. Love ya Abby!

Have Fun, Try Hard and Listen

Today was the first day of the basketball clinic that we signed the boys up for. They have been looking forward to this for months and we have been talking it up for awhile. After the soccer disaster of 2009 we haven't signed them up for any organized sports so we were looking forward to this being smooth sailing. Well, that's not exactly how it went...
Bryce and Caleb were looking forward to going to basketball since they got up this morning. Robb practiced passes with them in the kitchen and they were shooting hoops in the basement most of the afternoon. Robb had a little chat with them before we left to go and told them "have fun, try your hardest, and make sure you listen and pay attention".
We got there and they got signed in and put their t shirts on. We were early so they both grabbed a ball and were shooting around with the coaches and other kids. They had a group huddle where the guy explained the rules and then he had them line up. The boys didn't line up together and he started them off in teams of 8. Here is where our problem started... Bryce was confused where he was supposed to go and Caleb looked terrified that he wasn't on the same team as Bryce. Second problem: Caleb got the loud, expects a little too much from the kindergartners coach. Bryce on the other hand got the soft spoken high school girl. I was nervous from the start and Robb kept assuring me that they would be fine. It went alright for a little bit but then you see that Caleb was getting nervous when he couldn't do it or didn't understand the instructions. Not to mention his coach was not an appropriate kindergarten coach. Pretty soon Caleb was attempting to dribble with tears running down his face. I wanted to cry, grab him, take him home, hug him and tell him that he never has to go back. Robb on the other hand told me to leave him be and he would be fine. A couple minutes went by and we both started feeling really bad for him so finally we had him join Bryce's team with the nice high school coach but it was too late. The poor kid was already too sad and nervous and continued to cry off and on while he played. It was a torturous 10 minutes watching this. Bryce on the other hand looked nervous but managed to keep it together. He was doing what they asked of him and doing a good job but still looked unsure. Again we felt like we made a bad decision about signing them up for this.
After it was over they both said that they had fun but I think Caleb was saying that for our benefit not because that is what he really thought. On the way home we stopped to get Gatorade's and candy to make everyone feel better about how the afternoon went.
I'm not sure if I am ready for them to grow up! I guess it is probably good that Robb keeps me in check because I probably would be the "helicopter mom" that annoys everyone otherwise.

This is the before picture.

Bryce's group

Caleb's group

The after picture. I giant smile on Caleb's face is to try to hide the tears. Poor guy!

Sparkly Ears

We went to the mall on Tuesday night to get a few things. On the way out I wanted to stop in Claire's and see how much ear piercing was and the earring options that they had. Robb said "we are here we might as well just get it done". We have talked about when is the right time to get Abby's ears pierced and we have decided that anytime now is fine so we were going to leave it up to her to decided when she is ready. Bryce and Caleb have been asking her if she is ready to get shots in her ear and of course the answer lately has been NO. But once we were in there she couldn't resist the sparkly earrings and decided that she was ready. I was way more nervous than she was! Abby really wanted the Hello Kitty earrings but I really didn't like them, especially not since these have to be left in for 6-8 weeks. So we told her that they didn't have any Hello Kitty and instead chose a multicolored little flower that is really cute.


She got to hold the ear piercing bear and sat really still. The first one went in and she looked a little surprised but didn't say anything and didn't cry. The lady must have done this a lot because right after the first one was in she was piercing the second one so that she didn't decide that she didn't want the other one. Once they were both in and cleaned she got to look at them. Abby loved her sparkly earrings. So far so good on her letting me clean and twist them 3 times a day. I just hope they heal up ok and don't cause her too much pain. Our little girl just took another step into getting older.



She was so proud of her earrings!

Monster Jam

For Christmas we all got tickets to go to Monster Jam which is a monster truck show. Both boys like monster trucks and we knew that they would Love it! We were really excited to see their reaction even if a monster truck show is the last thing we ever thought we would go to. The kids were all up early and ready to go. Even Abby was pretty excited.
We had pit tickets to meet the drivers and take pictures by the trucks. Bryce made sure that he got his picture by every truck. Bryce picked his favorite which was the Wolverine truck. Caleb picked the orange truck called Maximum Destruction ( this seemed fitting since he is the little maximum destruction of our house). Abby was a little overwhelmed by the crowd and the massive trucks. She stuck with grandpa most of the time.
We had lunch and it was time for the show to start. Bryce, Caleb and Brook could hardly contain their excitement. The first contest was the wheelie contest. It was amazing to see the massive trucks about stand on end. The kids screamed and cheered. I was amazed at how loud they were and I was really glad we had ear protection for the kids and I was wishing I would have brought some for Robb and I.
Caleb's truck Maximum Destruction won the wheelie contest.
Bryce's truck Wolverine won the race and the free style competition.
It wasn't something that we ever thought we would go to but it was a fun day for everyone. Thanks for the tickets Bob and Susie!

Getting ready for the race to start.

Bryce, Caleb, Brook and Abby in front of the Wolverine truck.

Our family at Monster Jam.

Maximum Destruction doing a wheelie.

I knew she could sleep through a lot of noise but I never dreamed that she could sleep through this!

Welcome 2012

2011 was a great year for us so I am excited to see what 2012 has in store for us. I have never saw the beginning of the new year as a big holiday to celebrate but as a couple friends and I found out it is more of a holiday than I consider it. I had to work New Years Eve and New Years Day. A couple friends and I decided to meet for supper before our night shift on the 31st. Come to find out everything closed at 6 so people could celebrate. So we made the most of it and enjoyed the company anyway just not so much our quick Amigos meal.
Robb and the kids have celebrated New Years without me since they were born so they have made their own traditions. The kids get to stay up "late", like 9:30, drink pop and they always eat jello with whipped cream on top. Spoons optional. He is a great dad and makes it fun for them every year.
I rang in the New Year holding babies in the nursery and watching fireworks out the window. Oh well, like I said it has never been a big deal to me.
I'm not big on making New Years resolutions but this year I have a couple things I want to work on. I have been trying to organize our house since Robb finished the basement a couple months ago. I found this 52 weeks of organizing online and I plan to try it this year. It takes you through each room in your house and breaks it down into small do-able projects. So maybe next January if you visit my house it will be organized. I have also been wanting to lose weight but more than that just be healthier in general. A friend and I decided we were going to be healthier in October and so far so good. The treadmill and couple more vegetables haven't killed me yet.
On a different note I read something on the momastery blog that really hit home and I plan to look at things a little different this year. In summary it talked about how this mom was annoyed when people would tell her to cherish every moment because they grow up so fast. She felt like if she wasn't greatful for every moment she was going to regret it.
I too have felt this way and even though I know I am extremely blessed to have 3 wonderful children and get to spend everyday with them I know that raising 3 young children is STRESSFUL. I will admit I do not cherish every moment and I don't want to have to feel guilty for that. I am instead going to look at the big picture. Am I enjoying my children and life overall. And I hope the answer is Yes. I am not going to feel bad for wishing their Christmas break was not 4 weeks long, for getting frustrated when evryone is running different directions in the store, or feeling DONE when I am cleaning pee off the floor for the 3rd time of the day. I love my kids dearly but I am not stupid enough to think that every moment is a cherishable one. I hope when I am the grandma in the store someday watching a mom dealing with 3 flailing children I don't say cherish every moment. Instead I want to be the one that says "I have been there and it is hard but it will all be worth it eventually".
So on that note Happy New Year!

Our Year in Review

It is fun to see how the kids have grown and changed over the last year! 2011 has been quite the year for us. It started out rough with a lot of illness and a couple surgeries but after that we had a great year. The kids are growing and changing every day and it is crazy to think that we have two 5 year olds and an almost 3 year old.

Abby had to get her adenoids out the first week of January. It was hard to see her in pain, knowing that she didn't understand anything that was going on but we were hoping it would help her constant sinus infections.


We tried ice skating for the first time with the kids. Surprisingly they really enjoyed it even though they had quite a few falls.


The end of January our baby turned 2 and no longer wanted to be called a baby. She has always wanted to keep up with her brothers and that is still true. She wants to do everything that the big kids do.


We were hoping that Abby's adenoid surgery would be the answer to ending her constant string of illnesses but that turned out to not be the case. After her adenoids were removed she started getting chronic ear infections that we weren't able to treat with oral antibiotics and the poor girl ended up having to get a lot of shots. Finally the decision was made that she needed ear tubes put in. So the first week of February she went into surgery for the 2nd time to get tubes. Luckily this recovery went smoothly.


Like I said earlier, 2011 started out kinda rough for our family. Bryce had also been having a lot of sinus infections and ear infections so at the end of January the decision was made that he needed his adenoids out and ear tubes in. He was pretty nervous but handled it like a trooper. So we finished out the 2011 with a couple less adenoids than we started with.


February we had the experience of taking the boys to their first hockey game. They really enjoyed it and they got to ride the zamboni. They looked terrified but they said they had fun. We also had friends from Oregon visit and got a taste of what it would have been like to have 4 kids. A little crazy but fun.
This was also the month that we decided that we couldn't keep doing the same crazy sleep routine we had been doing with Abby. Now that she was completely better it was time for everyone in our house to start getting some sleep! So we did sleeping boot camp. It was horrible for everyone but I am happy to say that we now have a child that falls asleep on her own and sleeps by herself Most nights. Its not perfect but we had to take what we could get.



The end of February and beginning of March brought the much anticipated vacation without the kids. We went skiing with friends in Colorado and had some much needed time together.


March brought a couple mishaps. This month Abby and Caleb both managed to crash while running on the trails at Pioneer Park. Abby managed to cut up her nose and lip pretty bad. Caleb skinned up his nose and it wasn't his first ouch of the year. A couple weeks earlier he had to have his head glued. Bryce and him were chasing around the house and he ran behind the tv. The cable box came crashing down on him and suddenly blood everywhere. The ER staff laughed at him when he very seriously asked them if they were going to sew or glue his head. It definitely was not his first or last ER trip.


April poor Caleb ended up with bronchitis. I guess it was his turn eventually. He was pretty healthy most of the year.


In May we attended Super Hero Day at the Children's Museum. The kids always have a blast at this event and how could we not take our Super Hero crazed Bryce.


We celebrated Easter with our families. We had beautiful egg hunting weather!


The middle of May brought the end of Pre K for the year. We had decided to not send the boys to Kindergarten in the fall. Since they have a summer birthday, they would have been pretty young for their class. I am convinced that we made the right decision for us but it was still sad seeing them say goodbye to friends that they wouldn't be moving up with.


June is always a busy and fun month for us. The kids and I spent some time in Norfolk while Robb went to Calamus to work on his fish hatchery project. We went fishing with Grandpa Steve and Bryce caught is first fish in the first 5 minutes. After a fun morning of fishing we went to see grandma and grandpa Mattern. They were back from Arizona and we hadn't seen them in awhile. Little did we know that it would be the last time we would get to talk to grandpa Larry. Sadly he passed away in January 2012 from complications of cancer. I have always know that I was really lucky to have all my grandparents but I never knew how hard it would be to lose one. I have great memories of my Grandpa Larry and I am glad that he got to meet my kids and they got to meet him.


On a happier note, our boys turned 5 in June. They loved every minute of their birthday. We let them have a water fight friend party and a family party. It is hard to believe how big they are getting!


This year we took the kids to the Madison County Fair. I have great memories of the fair but it never worked out for us to go and this year it finally did. We watched a horse show, walked through the 4-H exhibits, went to the rodeo and rode carnival rides. We had a great time!


We had a great time at the annual Yankton vacation This may have been the hottest year at the lake yet. We spent most of our time in the water. This was a sad year for Robb, his boat was broke and he didn't have a boat for the trip. To make it worse in August he sold the broken boat. His plan is to get a new one next summer. We will see how that plays out.


You can't keep our kids out of the water. If they weren't swimming in the backyard, we were at the spray ground, water park, running through sprinklers, having water fights or slip n sliding. We are so glad that our kids all are little waterbugs.


This 4th of July the kids experienced their first parade. Bryce was catching candy like it was his job, Caleb just wanted to see the tractors and 4 wheelers, and Abby caught 1 piece at a time and ate it right when she caught it. Abby still hated the noise from the fireworks this year but the boys loved the fireworks. Their dad even let them light smoke bombs so that was a big step in being big.


In August we had a mini reunion with a group of friends from high school. We don't live very far from each other but it seems like life gets in the way when it comes to getting together. It was wonderful to catch up with each other and get to know all the kids. If you would have asked us in high school, we never would have thought that between us we would have this many Kids!


In September Bryce and Caleb started Pre K at Pioneer Park again. They have went to this preschool for 2 years now, so this year they were veterans. When all the kids were crying and clinging to their parents the boys were looking at them like "what is wrong with those kids". It was Abby who I had to carry out screaming and crying because she wanted to stay. Soon enough Abby.


We went camping at Calamus in the middle of September. Robb had been working on a big project out there all summer and he had to go pull back the big camper that they had been staying in while they worked. So, we decided it would be a good idea to camp. After this trip I have decided I am not a camper! It was ok I just can't stay in a camper with 3 kids. There just is not enough space.


This October was busy with school costume parties,pumpkin painting, pumpkin patch visits, Boo at the Zoo, and trick or treating. We also hit a couple really important milestones this month. Abby is finally potty trained which is SO SO exciting! That means we are diaper free for the first time in 5 years. Bryce and Caleb also hit a growing up milestone of taking the training wheels off of their bikes and we bunked their beds. Caleb is the only one that will sleep on top. Luckily he is fine with that.



We got to spend Thanksgiving with all of our families this year. We truly do have a lot to be thankful for.


Bryce has shifted his interest from super heroes to a new kind of hero. All of a sudden he is really into cops, K-9 dogs, firefighters and EMTs. Lucky for him his aunt Steph works at a police station. She gave him a tour and he got to meet a real cop and sit in his car.


Robb has turned all the kids into Husker fans. He took the boys to a game during their Christmas break.


We had a wonderful December. The kids are all at a fun age. They loved getting a tree, helping decorate it, buying gifts, wrapping gifts and getting ready for Santa to come.


We had a great 2011 and I can't wait to see what 2012 has in store for us.