Craig, Nicole, James, Will, Charlie, and Alaihu

Happy Belated Easter!

2011-05-10T13:23:00.002-04:00

Well, since our last post was about a month before Christmas, I guess we're due for a new one. Actually, I've pretty much decided to stop blogging, but I wanted to upload this video for the grandparents to see, so I had to use the blog! This video was actually taken today. I took one several weeks ago that I wanted to send to the grandparents on Easter, but had some technical difficulties! So here is a much delayed Easter greeting for our family and friends! This is a little poem the boys learned at church that they say all the time. I didn't put them up to this - they just do it spontaneously all the time! We made these crowns today, so that reminded them of their poem, so I got the chance to re-film them. Charlie says "Hi", too. He was in the original videos, but sleeping during the remake. By the way, the words they are saying are: "Palms waved high, On the Cross He died, Roll away the stone, Cloth left alone, King Jesus is alive!, That's the Easter surprise!"

We're Ready for Christmas!

2010-11-09T08:25:00.002-05:00

I couldn't resist buying the boys matching flannel Christmas pjs. And I figured we might as well start using them now so that we can get plenty of use out of them. James loves them and insisted that I take a picture of all three of them sitting on the couch wearing their new pjs, so there you have it!

Summer of Puff

2010-08-18T21:04:00.011-04:00

"Now Dragons Live Forever, but Not So, Little Boys. And Paper Wings and Shiny Things Give Way to Other Toys." My dad and family visited for two weeks this summer, and they love the song "Puff the Magic Dragon". I had never listened too closely until now, but this line of the song just really stuck with me lately. Every time I feel stressed and want to wish away this phase of our life (which is way too often!), I have to remind myself of how soon it will all be over. It's a terrible thought but helps me to live in the moment a little more and appreciate all the ridiculous, frustrating, and adorable stuff my little monsters do every day! Between the move and trying to deal with Will's weight/allergies, it has been a crazy summer for sure. But they sure are funny, and my favorite part right now is how totally obsessed they all are with each other. They all want to be wrestling/hugging/kissing/sitting on top of one another at all times. Poor Charlie is lucky he's still in one piece. Here's a few pics from the summer, since I haven't posted in over 3 months!

I put on Super Why and left Will on one couch, James on another, and Charlie on the floor.

Came back moments later to find them like this.

Wrestling- Yes, Charlie participates

Will at the Children's Museum "Rock Stars, Cars, and Guitars" exhibit

With Aunt Lauren (age 12) at the Children's Museum

Chillin' with Uncle Alec (age 14)

Will watching Super Why and looking particularly tiny

James, still hockey-obsessed, attempting to ice skate for the first time

Playing Sea Doo/Motorcyle on Daddy

Just Cuteness

More Wrestling

At the Playground, you know...

Play-ground... (Said with a Kris Kross beat)

Charlie and his girlfriend Ryan Meek (one day younger) on the Fourth

July 4th

More July 4th

Feeling Guilty

2010-05-03T22:09:00.004-04:00

Feeling like a slacker for NEVER having time to update our blog, or read anyone elses for that matter! So here are three pics of the kids, and an update on our life in one sentence: We close on our new house June 16, James is I think "officially" fully potty trained (fingers crossed), Will is talking a lot more and is still insane and impossible and also hilarious (don't let the picture fool you - he cries 80% of the day!), and Charlie is doing great - easier than the other 2 were and sleeping and eating well, though he 100% refuses to drink a bottle. That's it! Time to get ready for bed!

He Likes Brushing His Teeth - And Wearing These Hilarious Glasses

James Likes to Play Hockey Wearing Mickey Mouse Ears - I Decided to Spare You the Pictures Where He Was Doing This Pantless

Just Laying Around Being Sweet As Usual

Who's Who? [challenge]

2010-04-18T13:59:00.005-04:00

So, the boys get the "they look a like" all the time. All three images are around 2 months. Now, here's the proof-filled pudding...

Answer is:

The list is Charlie, James, then Will.

--Dad

Happy Easter from the Kelkers!

2010-04-04T22:41:00.005-04:00

I can't believe it, we actually got a picture with all three boys looking at the camera! Here are a few others, too. Enjoy!

New Charlie Pics

2010-02-17T08:34:00.008-05:00

Charlie is now 12 days old. So far, so good! No reflux yet, although he does spit a decent amount, so it could certainly progress into GERD - but we're keeping our fingers crossed that it doesn't! So far he is a really good baby. Eats a lot at night, but that's my only complaint! James and Will are adjusting really well; they both seem pretty much unphased and just love giving him kisses. Don't get me wrong, things are crazy around here, but that is almost entirely because of Will's "difficult temperment". Nothing new, just the same stuff that's been going on for months with him - lots of tantrums, wanting to be constantly held and entertained, etc. Fun times! Here are some pics - in order of newest to oldest b/c of the stupid way that Blogger uploads pics these days. Anyone else having trouble with this? If you know how to fix it (it won't let me drag and drop to rearrange them!), let me know!

Wearing a hat my stepsister sent for him:

Will sporting a youth size hockey jersey - it went down to his ankles

On his playmat - so far he can lay flat on his back without screaming!

Getting kisses from his brothers

Everyone participating in Charlie's first Tummy Time

Chillin' in his baby papasan

First day home - trying to keep the troops entertained

First family photo

Getting ready to leave the hospital - the day after he was born!

With Mimi and Baba (my mom/stepdad)

With Grandma/Grandpa (Craig's parents)

My Three Sons

2010-02-05T18:17:00.003-05:00

During our retrospective of the birth of each of the boys, Nicole and I discussed "who looks like who". These are IMMEDIATELY after birth pictures. Guess who is who (answers below):

First is Will, then James, and finally Charlie.

-Dad

Welcome Baby Charlie!

2010-02-05T13:40:00.006-05:00

Charles Winston Kelker was born at 10:57 a.m. on Friday, February 5, 2010. He was 8 pounds even, and 21” long. That makes him the biggest baby of the three. Everything went as smoothly as can be expected and Charlie and I are both doing well! First, the name:

Charles

I think everyone knows by now that I have a thing about naming our kids for English kings, so this name met the criteria.

We’ve always liked the name Charlie, but had planned to use Marley if we ever had a girl, so we never seriously considered using Charlie until we decided that there were officially no baby girls in our future!

And, as always, there is a family history to the name. It is the middle name of both Craig’s grandpa (Robert Charles Groves) and my stepdad (George Charles Elliott). It is also the name of a great grandpa on my dad’s side (Charles Denby).

Winston

We always enjoy a good Beatles reference, as well. Winston is John Lennon’s middle name (well, until he changed his middle name to Ono!). And Lennon was born during the Nazi air raids of 1940, so he was named for Winston Churchill. A Nazi reference, an English Prime Minister reference, what more could you hope for? No, no, I do not like Nazis, I hate them. But I have always been very interested in WWII/Holocaust history.

Tidbit: The other boys have Beatles names too – JAMES is Paul McCartney’s first name, and Will’s middle name is GEORGE. Just seems appropriate since none of these precious little guys would exist if it weren’t for the Beatles!

Labor

Starting on Thursday I was having contractions about 5-6 minutes apart all day long. But they never got stronger, and they never got closer. In the afternoon the doctor’s office decided to check me so we could decide what to do. I was 4cm and 90% effaced, so they (and we) thought the most sensible thing to do would be to come in on Friday morning and have my water broken. Otherwise, the labor was probably not going to progress on its own, but the contractions were not going to stop on their own either!

They broke my water at 7am, in hopes that I would progress without needing any Pitocin. No such luck. Started a very low dose of Pitocin at 8:45am, and by 9:30am things were getting much more painful. Sometime after 10am I was at 6cm and thinking I couldn’t handle any more pain, or I might loose my mind. Luckily, I went from 6cm to 10cm in a matter of 25 minutes. 2 rounds of pushing where I thought I would just die before this kid came out of my body, and the rest is history. I managed to forgo the epidural (Yey!), but the pain was of course absolutely terrible (Boo!). They kept telling me that I was progressing really quickly, so I think that is what gave me the strength to hold out on the epidural (oh, and the whole money thing, which is quite a nice motivator).

Charlie is just precious and definitely looks like his brothers. We haven’t decided yet which one he looks like the most, but he fits the Kelker mold through and through. Love it!

Listening to his headphones:

A thumb sucker already

Can't deny he's ours with feet like that!

So sweet...

Right after delivery (forgive my looks):

Now We've REALLY Gone Digital!

2010-01-10T22:06:00.003-05:00

Ever since finding out that we would soon have 5 people living in our overcrowded, 3-bedroom house, I have been on a serious decluttering mission. The amount of stuff I have given away, sold, recycled, and trashed in the past few months would make Clean Sweep proud. One particular thing that was stressing me out was huge rubbermaid boxes in the garage full of old photo albums. Did I ever open the boxes and look at the pictures? No, of course not. But obviously, I was not about to throw them away, either. The problem was that I had about 20 years of pictures, and they were taking up A LOT of precious space! So Craig and I started researching a way to get our entire photo collection digitalized. Basically, we were looking for a bulk scanning service. We came across www.scanmyphotos.com, and decided we would use them since they seemed to have the best price out there. I took every single picture out of every single photo album, boxed them up, and sent them off to California. In all, we ended up having about 7,000 photos digitalized. You heard it. 7,000! And when they were sent back to me, they arrived on 4 tiny little DVDs. I was thrilled. I immediately trashed every single hard copy photograph (don't worry, we've backed up the DVDs). Even Craig was shocked that I threw out my photographs, but I just had to get all that extra junk out of my house. In all, it cost us about $400. It would have been a little less if I hadn't paid extra for the service where they guarantee that your photos will be kept in the same order that they are in when you send them, but after spending 20 years keeping every photo in my life in exact chrological order, it was worth the extra $60 to me. So, now, in addition to knowing that my photos will be protected in case of a house fire (b/c I will keep backup DVDs at my mom's house), I am also able to easily locate any given picture from any given time period in my life and present you with gems such as these:

Craig and I looking like we are about 13 years old the summer we started dating

A picture some of you may recognize from 8th grade (you gotta love those outfits- notice I chose a picture that doesn't include me!)

And finally, a picture from 5th grade of my friend Stephanie and I with John Stamos (I know, you are all jealous - both that I met John Stamos, and that I have a denim clip bow in my hair)

Some Christmas Pics!

2010-01-05T21:18:00.007-05:00

We had a really good Christmas, although it was a total insane whirlwind, as usual. Christmas Eve was spent with my mom, George, brother, and stepfamily. Christmas morning the four of us were at home together, which was great, but before we knew it it was 1:30pm and time to head back over to my mom's house for a get together with the extended family (my aunts, uncles, cousins). Then we came home, put the kids to bed, packed, and got up the next morning and left for Ft. Wayne for the weekend. Busy, busy! Here are some pics.

Will Christmas Eve

James Christmas Eve showing off a new "Cars" truck

The tree/stockings after Santa came

Trying to get a pic of the boys Christmas morning in their matching pjs

The annual pic in front of mom's tree - totally exhausted before we walked out the door Christmas night!

The boys on the way home from my mom's Christmas night - this was how I felt, too!

James in his roller skates from Grandma/Grandpa and Florida Everblades hockey jersey from Gigi/Boppy - Just like Uncle Alec's jersey!
Will in some glasses that came with James' "vet kit" from Mimi/Baba
James in his skull and crossbones pjs from Grandma and Grandpa

Come on Ride That Train

2009-12-28T14:02:00.004-05:00

James is obsessed with trains and has been for at least a year now, so it only makes sense that this Christmas he has been totally crazy about the Polar Express book. So my mom started a game with him where they pretend his bed is a Polar Express train. He sometimes wears a conductor's outfit. And he always tries to get as many passengers (both live and stuffed) as possible. He also gets very distraught when Will won't get on board. Here are some pics:

Ready to go

James is driving, and they are all looking at the stars

He's so excited about his outfit (a hat and apron with railroad signs on it)

We had to self-time a picture when James was driving all of us
Oh, and yes, I do still wear crocs. Only at home though. They feel so good on my back, I can't give them up!

Night at the Museum

2009-12-22T13:49:00.005-05:00

Saturday night we got to go to a fun private party at the Children's Museum. It was great - good food, sundae bar, and access to the whole museum which was practically empty! The kids had a blast, though it was hard to drag James away from each exhibit so that we could move on to the next thing. Here are a bunch of pics:

Driving the dozer

Water Table

Craig playing in Playscape

James going down the Yule Slide with cousins George & Jessie

James "ice skating"

Will in the Snow Castle

Will Ice Fishing

James Ice Fishing

Then and Now - A Copycat Post

2009-12-11T16:04:00.005-05:00

Ok, so my friend Becky posted a picture this week showing her belly with her last pregnancy and her belly with this pregnancy. In order to assure her that she is not alone, I thought I would do the same. My mom keeps telling me that this is the biggest I have been with any pregnancy, but I thought I was the biggest with James (weight-wise, I was definitely biggest with James). But after comparing pictures of myself exactly 7 months pregnant with each kid, I think my mom is right - as usual. The fact that I am wearing different types of shirts and standing at different angles does make it a less-than-ideal for comparison, but oh well.

2 months before James' due date:

2 months before Will's due date (galavanting around Disney for 5 days, no less) - this was the best pic I could find:
2 1/2 months before Will's due date (since I don't have a good 7 month one):
2 months before Baby Boy #3's due date (Yikes - it looks like I should be due in 2 weeks!):

Will's One! Will's One!

2009-12-04T13:35:00.005-05:00

Yep, we survived our first year with Will. Just barely, it seemed at times. :) And in typical Will fashion, he spent his first birthday feeling a bit under the weather with a reflux flare up (after a failed attempt at taking him off of his medicine) and what we later learned was an ear infection. Poor kiddo had a rough couple of weeks. So it looks like he will be back on Prevacid for the foreseeable future. That said, he still had a very nice birthday party, and even seemed to enjoy himself until the cake part - at which point the exhausted and miserable little guy had a complete mental breakdown. Here are some pictures from his dog-themed party:

Three New Babies!

2009-12-04T13:28:00.002-05:00

We have three new babies to announce! Our friends Julie & Brad welcomed their third son (under age 4!) to the world on November 20. His name is Killian Michael, and he was 20.5" long and weighed 6 lbs, 11 oz. He is adorable, just like his big brothers!

After a long couple of days (and weeks and months for that matter), Kim & Will and big brother Ben welcomed their twins to the family on December 1. Josephine Ruth (Josie) was 20" long and weighed 6 lbs, 1 oz. Samual James was 19.5" and 6 lbs, 5 oz. Both babies are doing absolutely great (and looked perfect and adorable immediately after birth judging by the pictures Will sent out!), but it sounds like Kim is having a bit of a tough recovery, so we are keeping her in our thoughts and prayers!

October Pictures

2009-11-01T19:38:00.008-05:00

I am so bad at updating the blog these days! October is probably my favorite month of the year. It was definitely a busy one this year, but we had a lot of fun! Here are about a thousand pictures from the past month (kind of in reverse order b/c that is just the way they uploaded and I am too lazy to rearrange):

Halloween Day

James and Kyla trick-or-treating

James LOVED playing in our big leaf pile!

Headless Horseman at Conner Prairie. Here are the boys waiting for the hayride. James was a little more scared of it this year than last year. We may have to skip the haunted hayride next year!

James LOVES the part where you get to play all sorts of old fashioned/homemade instruments with a bunch of other kids.

Brushing a miniature donkey

Our trip to the pumpkin patch. 45 degrees and raining. Craig's parents were troopers and joined us for the outing! We bundled up and still actually managed to enjoy ourselves.

Watching the leaves fall in their green pjs! They stood there a good five minutes.

Just playing around the house. James' current obsession is football. He insists on watching ESPN every afternoon. Guess I better get used to life with boys! Will isn't walking yet, but is starting to get closer and definitely likes to push around his walker toys.

James loved helping me make Halloween cut-out cookies!

Welcome Claire and Emma!

2009-10-15T17:14:00.005-04:00

Our two good friend, Jade & Becca, recently welcomed new baby girls. Claire Annalise was welcomed by Jade & Todd and big brothers Taylor (5) and Connor (2 1/2). Here is a pic of Claire with proud brother Taylor.

Emma Grace was born yesterday to Becca & John and big sisters Jaylee (17? - not sure if we consider Jaylee her sister aunt) and Olivia (16 months). We can't wait to meet Claire and Emma - but are going to have to wait until everyone in our house is 100% healthy!

A Belated Welcome to Suvi!

2009-09-18T16:57:00.002-04:00

I am so behind on everything in my life right now. Our friends Erica and Jarmo welcome Suvi Lynn Monttinen on September 2. She is their first child. She was 21 1/2 inches long and weighed in at 8 pounds 11 ounces. Poor Erica had a very long labor that ended in c-section, but everyone is doing well, and Suvi is precious!

Potty Training - the beginning

2009-09-14T20:10:00.006-04:00

Dad here. It's day one for potty training. Nicole purchased three 3-packs of super sweet undies for James, so he's in. He did well today. The day included one accident and one micro accident, but more inportantly he told us three times that "he had some pee".

Then he got a little Captain in him.

Then a REAL pirate showed!

But who plays favorites! Another pirate!

Cute Random Pics

2009-08-22T07:50:00.008-04:00

Can't think of anything to post about, but here are some cute random pics. Oh, by the way, my friend Angie, who is an ultrasound tech, was over yesterday and looked at all my pics from that 13 1/2 week ultrasound. She seems awfully convinced it is a boy!

Chillin' in the hammock:

Will hanging out in the hockey net:

James dressed as a cowboy (we had no cowboy hat, so a flourescent green visor had to do):

Second SeaDoo ride of the year with Daddy:

Hanging out under the chair at my computer desk:

James "lifting weights" with me during a workout video:

Some Pics of Baby #3

2009-08-11T20:58:00.006-04:00

We ended up having an unexpected ultrasound at 13 1/2 weeks. Basically, a friend of a friend works for a company that sells ultrasound machines, and they needed to test something out on someone of my gestation. So we got a bunch of pics/videos of the baby, and also convinced them to guess at the gender. See for yourself. Here the baby is all stretched out, laying on its tummy:

Then, a closeup of the face (hand is not quite in mouth, but in a fist right next to it):

And finally, a money shot. They say their best guess is that this is a boy. You think? I mean, how could this not be a boy??? I totally don't understand the angle of the picture, but the arrow is pointing to the alleged boy part. Apparently both genders still have some sort of "nub" at this age, but I just find it hard to believe that this could possibly be a girl! Guess we will see for sure in about a month, but I'd probably keel over in shock if this wasn't a boy. I am just past 14 weeks now, and feeling pretty decent these days.

An Early Arrival

2009-08-09T13:41:00.002-04:00

Our friends Angie & Jeff welcomed Nicholas William on Friday, August 7 at 12:45pm. He was 5lbs, 4oz and 19 inches long. He had a bit of a dramatic start to life. Several friends and I were over at Angie's having pizza on Thursday night when her water broke. She was just past 36 weeks pregnant, and her husband was in Chicago! As you can imagine, this was a little scary for her, but her stepmother took her to the hospital, her hubby rushed home from Chicago, and baby Nicholas waited to arrive until 12:45pm the next day. He is in the NICU, but hopefully not for too long. It sounds like he is doing well, and he is absolutely adorable! Congrats, Angie & Jeff!

Vote on the Gender!

2009-08-06T21:54:00.002-04:00

Please cast your votes for baby #3's gender. Always entertaining to see what people think!

Carol's Pool

2009-08-05T12:54:00.002-04:00

On Saturday we went to Carol and Bob Fearrin's house to hang out and swim in their pool. Carol took lots of cute pictures. Here is one of us and the Meeks!

3 New Babycakes!

2009-08-03T15:48:00.005-04:00

Lots of new babies have been born in the past week - all healthy and doing well. Yey! Lisa, Scott, and Tate welcomed Macy Laine on July 29, weighing in at 7lb, 8oz. Then, Jiffy & Craig welcomed Eleanor Blanche ("Ellie") on Friday July 31, weighing in at 8lb, 70z. Sweet little Ellie is shown above. She was 3 days late, so we were all very anxious for her arrival! Finally, Ulla, Chris, and Lewis welcomed Silas Christopher this afternoon, weighing 8lbs, 2oz. Ulla was induced today at 39 weeks, but it feels like we had been waiting forever for this baby, too, b/c Ulla had Lewis at 36 weeks. So we thought Silas was going to arrive a long time ago! I can't wait to meet all of these little cuties. Hopefully I will meet Silas soon, but the others live out of town, so it might be quite a while!

Angie and Erica, you're up next!

Everyone is on the move!

2009-07-30T13:03:00.011-04:00

Seems like everyone is on the move around this house. Baby #3 has been kicking for about 2 weeks now (I know, crazy, but my kids all kick really early), so that is fun. It's not terribly frequent, but still fun to feel once in a while. And Will is definitely on the move. He is in the process of mastering crawling, so he sort of does a 1/2 and 1/2 combo of army crawling and real crawling, but he can get all over the house. Just not terribly quickly yet! He is pretty excited about it, as am I. As anyone who is around me much knows, I love it when my kids can crawl, and I've been waiting for this day since the day he was born. I just think my boys seem so much more content once they can move around. Seems to be true so far with Will, too. Hurrah!

And we're all on the move with my new workout routine! What is this routine, you might ask? It's called pushing our MASSIVE new stretch limo stroller around the block. When we found out we were going to have 3 little ones soon, we decided to once again upgrade strollers. I believe we have now owned at least 7 strollers. We sold our double, which was in excellent condition, on Craig's List for pretty much the same amount it originally cost. Then we bought our new Joovy Big Caboose on clearance b/c this color was on closeout. It was $100 off, so we figured we should snap it up while we could. At any rate, the thing is so long it just barely fits in the back of the Highlander with canopy removed, and when it is loaded with three children, it weighs over 100 pounds. More when you add in my 15 pound diaper bag! But it still pushes very well, and I really love it. It just is extremely hard to make turns because it is so long, but it is wonderful for fitting three kids and they have plenty of leg room, which James loves. Kyla, James, and Will gave it a test run last weekend on a long neighborhood walk.

Oh, and James is ready to be on the move to wherever life might take him with his new backpack that we got at Target yesterday (thanks for the gift card, Alisa!). He is obsessed. It has a motorcycle on it. He wants to wear it all the time. And I love it because it is super cute, awesome colors, and contains no cartoon characters! Thank God they were sold out of Thomas the Train, and he didn't insist on having the Elmo one! School doesn't start for 6 weeks, but mommy is a little over eager.

Oh, and here is a pic of them definitely NOT on the move, but too funny not to post. James never watched TV at Will's age, but since I now let James watch 1-2 shows a day, it is pretty much impossible to keep Will from doing the same. At least his attention span is shorter, though. Here they are sitting together this morning watching The Letter Factory (highly recommend it).

Trip to Pigeon Forge

2009-07-21T19:08:00.011-04:00

We just got back from our trip to Pigeon Forge. Had a great time hanging out with the family. We went to a waterpark, hiked, and did a lot of eating! We were there with my dad and Paula, my brother Alec (13), sister Lauren (11), and Paula's brother David and his two daughters - Christina (15) and Sophia (6). James had a blast hanging out with the big kids. And of course we loved that we barely had to watch him at all - they kept him entertained the entire vacation! Will on the other hand has yet another ear infection, so we were glad to have extra people around to help with him. Both kids did well with hiking - Will was relatively happy to ride in the backpack carrier or Bjorn, and the first day James hiked 2 1/2 miles all by himself. The second day he was pretty worn out, so we carried him for half of the hike (it was all uphill, so it would have been tough for him!). Here are the some pics. Lots more good pictures (51 pics) at: http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=c5lam7x.bjc10t1h&x=0&y=-sa2rb2&localeid=en_US&cm_mmc=site_email-_-site_share-_-core-_-view_photos_button

James playing hockey and doing his celebration dance:

James at the waterpark

In front of a cool rock arch that doesn't really show up in the picture!

In front of Laurel Falls

Dad, Paula, Alec, and Lauren

All 11 of us!

James and Alec outside a wood carving store

Boppy and Will

# 3 is on the way!

2009-07-13T12:00:00.002-04:00

Yep, you heard it. Kelker baby #3 is en route. Yikes! Here are the details:

I am 10 weeks along. That means the baby is due February 8, but will be induced on February 1. This is because of Will's extremely quick arrival. The docs have mentioned several times that they will try to prevent me from going into labor on my own in the future, as the baby would likely arrive even quicker than last time. As in, we'd probably be delivering the baby in the car on the way to the hospital if we waited for me to go into labor on my own!

The ultrasound was today and all looks great.

I'm feeling so-so. Not totally miserable, but definitely not great. Sometimes nauseous, often dizzy, headaches, and completely exhausted! It's pretty much impossible to get an 8 hour night of sleep when you have a 2 year old and a 7 1/2 month old.

Speaking of which, for those of you trying to calculate at home, Will will be 14 months when the baby arrives, and James just about 6 weeks short of his 3rd birthday. Could be a rough couple of years. We would have preferred that this baby arrive about a year later, but apparently that wasn't the way it was meant to be!

We learned that having 3 kids in 3 years is called "Irish Triplets". I call it insane. I know I have at least a few friends who would also fall into this catagory (Shanelle, Kristen, and obviously Ria - who has quints! - all come to mind), so I'm sure I'll be turning to them for advice!

Yes, we will find out the gender. Probably in about 2 months I guess. I can see pros and cons to either gender, so I'll really be excited about either. Although I'm not sure we'll be psyched to come up with yet another boy name!

We were super relieved to learn that we weren't having twins. My stomach is so huge, we were starting to wonder. But apparently that is just what happens when your stomach muscles have no time to recover between pregnancies. I have attached a picture taken today for your complete and utter amusement.

Pictures - July 4th

2009-07-07T20:33:00.005-04:00

This must be love

2009-06-29T19:40:00.002-04:00

James and Will are slightly obsessed with each other these days. Lucky for me, because James seems to be the only one who can make Will happy sometimes. They definitely help to keep one another entertained. Here are some cute pics of them snuggling, which they love to do! James also likes to hold Will in the rocking chair and try to make Will give him Eskimo kisses. Finally, after 7 months, we are able to get some pictures where they are both looking at us and no one is crying!

Summer Fun

2009-06-29T19:18:00.006-04:00

Just a few pics of recent summer activities. A week ago we went to a putt-putt fundraiser thing with some friends at Ben & Ari's. I hadn't considered taking James' putt-putting before this, but he absolutely loved it! And actually managed to get the ball in the hole after only a handful of strokes each time.

Yesterday we went out on the lake with the Straws. James, Kyla, and Will all had a good time swimming. It was Will's first time swimming in the lake. Of course, you can't even see his face in the picture because it's covered by his hat, but I had to take one anyway, since it's a milestone and all.

And finally, Alaihu celebrated her 7th birthday this weekend. Such a big girl! She enjoyed a banana with peanut butter, and James was highly amused that we all sang Happy Birthday to her.

New Additions

2009-06-29T19:12:00.003-04:00

Just a little update on the latest babies! Our friends Dave and Alisa (and big sis Marissa) welcomed Margo Jenna to the world about 3 weeks ago. Friends Michelle and Ryan (and big bro Will) welcomed Carter Jackson 6 days ago (and still managed to make it to playgroup at the spray park this morning!). In case you are concerned that the due date list is starting to dwindle, don't fret. I know of at least 3 babies due in February - but since the parents-to-be haven't made any big announcements yet, they shall remain nameless for at least a few more weeks. Looks like there will be no letup in the endless stream of babies in the near future!

Fort Wayne Tincaps Baseball

2009-06-07T21:00:00.007-04:00

Craig here. Fort Wayne's new baseball park opened this season. This new and very nice stadium was this afternoon's place to be.

The Tincaps used to be called the Fort Wayne Wizards.

James had a blast and I got a hat!

Just a little video of James kickin it freestyle.

James Shows Off His Newfound Musical Interests

2009-06-01T21:14:00.012-04:00

The past week or two James has been very into performing, which is not like him at all. So we've been sure to capture the moments on video, in case this is just a 2 week phase. Here are a few pics of Will, too. He still has no skillz to speak of, but he sure is cute with that bald dome!

James warms up for his show:

He performs Daytripper, with musical accompaniment by Craig:

Next, he will recite a song and nursery rhyme for you. It is nearly impossible to understand, primarily b/c of the quality of the video, but also b/c he is sort of mumbling or something. The first one is "This Old Man" (starting with "he plays 5"). The next one is his favorite nursery rhyme, "Rub a Dub-Dub", but he reverses the baker and the butcher. Every time.

Don't try this at home!

2009-05-27T21:20:00.005-04:00

This weekend we made the mistake of thinking it would be easy to cut James' hair at home with clippers. How hard can it be, right? So here is what he looked like before:

Cute, right? But when it would get humid out, he ended up looking like this. Not so cute:

So we decided we would just cut it really short for summer. We started by cutting it to 1" all over. But then the hair clippers came with a taper attachment to use at the side and around the ears. Figured we better try it out. BAD IDEA! James ended up with bald patches behind his ears and Vanilla Ice stripes on the side, as seen here:

So we left it like this for a couple of days (yes, we took him in public, occasionally even without a hat!) because we were so scared we would make it worse. Finally, last night, Craig cut it shorter on top to make the difference less obvious and tried to even out the fade. It is by no means fixed, but at least the stipes are gone. His new, updated style can be seen in this video. Needless to say, next time we are going to go with the 3/4" clippers all over and NO TAPERS OR FADE!

The Straw's New Swingset & James' Last Day at Mother's Day Out

2009-05-12T08:48:00.008-04:00

Just a few cute pics (and video) from the last 72 hours.

Dinner Conversation with James {paraphrased}

2009-05-05T11:24:00.004-04:00

Dinner started with a prayer. Nicole and I put our hands in First Communion position. (James thinks this infrequent happening is funny.) Nicole thanks Jesus for:

this meal
our friends and family
having a good weekend with Grandma and Grandpa

About 15 mins later, James asks "who bought this?" while pointing to his peas. Nicole and I looked at each other oddly because he never asks that kind of question. I thought he asked because Marian (Nicole's Mom) will sometimes bring stuff over but she was in Sedona, AZ for nearly a week. Nicole answered him with "I bought them for you!". James smiled and continued shoveling.

Another 5 mins passed. James again points to his peas and asked "Jesus make this?". We nearly fell on the floor.

From our prayer, James thought Jesus came by with dinner.

Kodak Gallery Easter Pics

2009-04-16T21:58:00.003-04:00

Here they are, by popular demand. All of our Easter pictures. Ok, not really popular demand, only one person expressed a mild interest, but I like to pretend there is a demand. Sorry there are quite a few - even though this is James' third Easter, it is the first one where he has been old enough to actually enjoy it, so we had a lot of fun this year!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=c5lam7x.cl6lufap&x=0&y=bv0gj8&localeid=en_US&cm_mmc=site_email-_-site_share-_-core-_-view_photos_button

Easter Weekend - various events

2009-04-12T22:42:00.011-04:00

Hey, all-
Dad here. Just a handful of the deliciously cute photos of the kids.

James "learns" to make funny faces. See video below.

Easter Egg Hunt at the Klien residence (Will's parents house).

Will sat out during the hunt happily chewing the BabyBjourn.

James was reviewing the "find egg, put in basket" strategy prior to the madness.

Egg Coloring

Farm fresh eggs - free (thx Jane)
Egg Coloring Kit - 88 cents.

Not destroying something with dye? Amazing.

and we're coloring eggs...

I love the engineering involved in the metal egg scoop.

Perhaps the best photo of James and Nicole to date. (Note insertion from Nicole: not quite the best photo to date - I have no makeup on!)

James, Nicole, Will, Me, and Chris at Marian and George's. In the same spot, another photo is taken at holiday time.
James with the Easter Bunny at Harbour Trees Golf Club - he LOVES Easter Bunnies!

At Mimi's and Baba's for a Easter Egg Hunt!

James in his Easter outfit. A little too cold to wear outside, this was a indoor-only fitting.

Please notice Will next to James. He's behind the white bunny, who's behind the blue bunny.

Nicole takes a photo of James 15 secs into Easter morning. He doesn't even have a fresh diaper on yet.

James Gets New Hockey Set - Dad schedules knee replacement 2012

2009-04-04T16:27:00.009-04:00

Dad here. Gigi & Boppy send a hockey set for James' birthday. I wish Will could walk.

Enough Already!

2009-03-23T20:46:00.001-04:00

Somehow I am going to have to figure out how to take control of the blog back from my husband so he will stop posting ridiculous, dreadful pictures of me! Ugh!

Bunny Tryouts

2009-03-23T20:04:00.006-04:00

Dad here. Bunny tryouts were conducted this evening.

Walking

2009-03-22T21:26:00.008-04:00

Dad here. Funny video from a recent walk while watching Kyla Straw. Kids.

2009-03-21T12:25:00.011-04:00

Dad here. This reminds me of someone.

Other cute photos...

James is 2!

2009-03-20T15:45:00.006-04:00

Ok, I give up on catching up on the past two months, at least for the time being. James turned 2 last week, and Will is just about 4 months. Thought I better just go ahead and post some pictures or else I might not get around to it until the boys are ready to start kindergarten. We have all been sick around here (sinus infections, ear infections, RSV, all sorts of fun stuff!), so I really haven't taken a ton of pictures in the past month anyway. Oh, and James really doesn't like to have his picture taken, so I really don't have any great birthday pictures of him to post anyway. But here's what I've got!

On top of one of his big gifts - The Fisher Price Give Me Five Sports Station from Mimi and Baba. He also got a Sand & Water Table from Grandma and Grandpa - both gifts are HUGE hits!

Eating his birthday cake

Here is Will with Grandpa Kelker

The only other munchkin at the party was James' best bud, Kyla Straw. How cute is she!?!

And here is one more recent pic of Will!

January MINDY Weekend

2009-02-26T11:51:00.007-05:00

In mid-January, we had a MINDY reunion, which is just a get together of a bunch of my friends from Miami of Ohio (Alyssa's college friends) and Indy/IU (our high school/IU friends). We celebrated our friend Melissa's birthday, ate pizza, drank, and watched the guys play Wii. Here are a few pictures. More in the Kodak Gallery January pics: http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=c5lam7x.4b86d6xt&x=0&y=-xedy10&localeid=en_US&cm_mmc=site_email-_-site_share-_-core-_-view_photos_button

Poe, Melissa, Kristie, and Will

Jenny, Cooper, Erica, and Becky

All of us, being cheesy

Me, Jenny, Becky, Grace, and Carter at Scottys

New Year's Eve

2009-02-25T09:19:00.007-05:00

Ok, so I'm trying to slowly catch up here. Only 7 weeks behind now. We spent NYE at Sara, Ian, and Kyla Straws house with some of our close friends. It was a pajama party, if you're wondering about our attire!

The Straws

Taylor Mann and James
Jade and Connor Mann
James and Kyla

For more NYE pictures, see our Kodak Gallery album of all January pics (sorry, I didn't seperate them out):

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=c5lam7x.4b86d6xt&x=0&y=-xedy10&localeid=en_US&cm_mmc=site_email-_-site_share-_-core-_-view_photos_button

Christmas. Yes, you read that right.

2009-02-20T18:11:00.009-05:00

Here are my Christmas pics. I had to post them to feel "caught up". Sorry.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=c5lam7x.3r27tcup&x=0&y=u37yl6&localeid=en_US&cm_mmc=site_email-_-site_share-_-core-_-view_photos_button

Yep, I guess I'm a few months behind

2009-02-20T17:00:00.003-05:00

Well, I've pretty much posted nothing since Will was born and am even debating about giving up on the blog entirely, but I thought I'd do a couple of quick posts and see if I decide to keep blogging once I get a little caught up! So, here is a link to our pictures from December, not including Christmas (see other post for that):

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=c5lam7x.7ccxjfi9&x=0&y=a2qluz&localeid=en_US&cm_mmc=site_email-_-site_share-_-core-_-view_photos_button

Welcome Ethan Hutcherson!

2009-01-27T09:00:00.001-05:00

Ethan Grant Hutcherson was born Friday - January 16th at 12:47 pm after only 4 short hours of labor! He was 9lbs 7oz and 22 1/4 inches long. Congrats to Emily, Andy, Aiden, and Izzy on their newest edition!

Kreativ Blogger Award

2009-01-05T13:45:00.005-05:00

A friend of mine from high school, Molly Powell, gave me the Kreativ Blogger award (thanks, Molly!). I know, I should probably be posting pics from Christmas instead of doing this, but I haven't had time to sort though those, so this sounded much easier! Here are the rules: List six things that make you happy. Pass the award along to six more bloggers. Do not give the typical answers and go for the less obvious, as you all know that family, friends, God, etc would be on the list.

British accents. I just love them. But who am I kidding, I love all things British, really. Their buses and taxi cabs, English pubs and futbol, a great British beer, high tea, sheep and goats in the countryside, the Beatles, the monarchy, and of course those adorable Princes! sidenote: southern accents make me very unhappy. can't stand them. sorry if that isn't PC, but they drive me nuts.
Listening to a storm while sleeping. And just sleeping in general. Sleep makes me really happy.
A great pair of jeans (worth every penny) makes me REALLY happy, and a comfy sweatsuit, for those days when even jeans seem too dressy (if you have a newborn and never leave the house, what's the point of even putting on jeans?). And shopping makes me happy.
Cookie dough, cake batter, frosting - really anything that is so sweet it would make most people sick. Occasionally I eat so much that it makes me sick, too, but I sure do love my sweets!
Being a stay-at-home mom. I know it's not for everyone (and believe me, I have my moments when I think I will completely loose my mind), but 90% of the time it is absolutely blissful for me. Ok, with a newborn it's only blissful 50% of the time, but I know we'll be back to 90% bliss in a few months. I just love it. Love playdates, and long walks, and going to the Children's museum, zoo, playground, spray parks, Conner Prairie... I could go on and on. And I love spending so much time with my sweet boys. If only Craig were home with us all day, too. That would be perfect.
The smell of clean laundry. Of course, since most of my laundry requires unscented Tide Free and no fabric softener, I rarely get to smell it. But I do absolutely love it. Makes me happy, and it makes it feel like Spring!

Ok, so 6 friends to pass this on to. Hum... I know a lot of you have already done this, so sorry if I have any duplicates on here. Jiffy Mitchen, Becky Knutson, Erica Monttinen (you never did it when Becky gave it to you!), Julie Laughlin, Allison Thornton, Ria Chan (HA! As if she has time with quintuplets at home)

Just Pictures

2009-01-02T15:52:00.011-05:00

Ok, totally don't have time to blog, and haven't had time in over a month, so decided I would just post a few pics really quickly from the weeks leading up to Christmas. I'll deal with doing a Christmas post later!

Eskimo Kisses

First Bath

Sledding

Me and the kiddos

The boys

James playing at Conner Prairie

Trying to get a decent pic of both of them

James giving Will a hug

Will's First Few Days

2008-11-28T13:23:00.013-05:00

We came home Thanksgiving Day at noon, and so far we are all doing well! We got discharged at noon Thursday and were glad that we were able to celebrate Thanksgiving with our families. Me, Craig, James, Will, Craig's parents, and my brother all went to my mom and George's for Thanksgiving dinner. We had a good time, and it was nice to be "out and about"! Here are a few more pictures. Many more (about 100 - sorry, but I hate to eliminate any from his early days!) at Kodak Gallery:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=c5lam7x.an18rqe1&x=0&y=-nfs4eu&localeid=en_US&cm_mmc=site_email-_-site_share-_-core-_-view_photos_button

Will in the hospital:

With Grandma and Grandpa (Craig's parents):

Getting ready to head home from the hospital!

Laying on my lap Mimi and Baba's house:

James and Uncle Chris being uncooperative for my pictures:

With Mimi and Baba (Nicole's mom/stepdad):

Me, Craig, Chris, Mimi, James, and Will:

Our bigger, even happier family - so much to be thankful for!

Welcome to the World, Will!

2008-11-25T06:04:00.008-05:00

William George Kelker ("Will") was born this morning, November 25, at 3:26am. He is a doll. I haven't had much time to study him yet, but I would say he resembles James. He weighs 7 pounds, 2 ounces and is 19 inches long. The doctors predicted all along that he would be a bit small, but I have to say I was shocked that he was only 19 inches long! That is tiny by the standards of our family. But his length was surely the least shocking thing about the morning. His quick arrival caught Craig and me completely off guard.

After months of Braxton Hicks contractions and several episodes of "false labor" in the past week, I awoke at 1am this morning with painful contractions. However, this was really nothing new. Still, they seemed a bit more painful than usual, so I got up, tried to see if I could "walk them off" (which seems to be a decent way to diagnose the false ones I have discovered), and decided to start making sure all the last minute stuff was ready for James, who would need to be dropped off at Mother's Day Out at 9am this morning. By 2am I was sure it was real, and they seemed to be getting pretty close together, so I woke Craig and called Marian to come over. From there, things went full speed ahead. Within a half hour, the contractions were coming every 2 minutes, and we were rushing to get everything done, call the doc, and get out the door. By the time we left home I was in terrible pain, and we sped to the hospital. We beat the doctor there, and by the time we got there, I was fully dilated (10 cm) and had an unbelievable feeling of needing to push. It was 3:13am when we arrived, and Will was born at 3:26am! He was almost delivered by the ER doctor, as our doctor only made it there just in time for me to push. Two contractions and that kid was out. I am probably a wimp, I can only describe giving birth without an epidural as excrutiatingly, indescribably painful, and something I really don't hope to endure again! On the upside, it was wonderful to be so alert as soon as he was born, and I am glad to have had the experience once in my life. But, I assure you, it was truly an indescribable amount of pain. How women like my grandma could have endured this 8 times (and many women more times than that!) is truly beyond me.

Finally, I would like to explain the significance of Will's name. Reasons for the name William:

He is named for Nicole's 14th great-grandfather, William Brewster, a founding Pilgrim elder who came over from England on the Mayflower - beat that for a Thanksgiving baby!

I have a thing about naming my kids after English monarchs (I think Craig secretly likes it, too), so that doesn't leave a ton of choices - Alfred? Albert? Hum... William was our favorite option. Luckily, there are still a few good ones out there if #3 is a boy!

In addition, we both just have always liked the name Will. I remember us both saying as soon as James was born, "ok, so if we have another boy, we're thinking it will be 'Will'". We tried to consider other names, but really nothing else caught our attention at all. He was always going to be Will.

Reasons for the name George:

Where do I begin? Primarily he is named George for family. He is named after his two grandpas (George Wythe Vyverberg and George Charles Elliott) his great grandpa (George Hubbard Vyverberg), his uncle (Christopher George Vyverberg), and his cousin (George Daniel Elliott). That's a lot of history with the name George!

Second, now both of our kids are named after Beatles (James Paul McCartney and George Harrison), which is very appropriate since Craig and I met while studying the Beatles in London.

Third, it's the name of English kings - how could one go wrong???

We are all doing a great. Just trying to recover from the absolute whirwind of his birth. I think we are still in shock at how it all went down. More pics will of course be forthcoming, but in the meantime we just wanted to post something! If you plan to visit (St. Vincent Carmel), just call my cell! We will be here until Thanksgiving morning.

An Early Thanksgiving

2008-11-17T17:40:00.005-05:00

Well, we are going to miss out on Thanksgiving dinner with our extended families this year, but we did get to enjoy a Thanksgiving pitch-in with friends this past Saturday. We got together at the Straws house with our usual monthly group - the Kleins, Manns, and Wollenburgs. Here are a few more cute pictures on Kodak Gallery (14 pictures): http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=c5lam7x.68zt2uy1&x=0&y=6in6qh&localeid=en_US&cm_mmc=site_email-_-site_share-_-core-_-view_photos_button

James, Taylor Mann, and John Wollenburg take on Will Klein in ping pong:

Conner Mann; Jade Mann & Olivia Wollenburg:

Playing with Maquire

2008-11-17T10:01:00.003-05:00

Just wanted to post this cute picture of James playing with Maguire Thompson (my friend Jamie "Maslanka"'s son) a couple of weeks ago. Maguire is about 11 months old in this picture - and practicing his walking, as you can see!

October Pictures

2008-11-04T23:19:00.003-05:00

Here are the October pictures that have not been linked to in previous October posts, including our bonfire, trunk-or-treat, Halloween at McCormick's Creek, and more. Lots of cutes ones!
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=c5lam7x.7xq1tw75&x=0&y=c4kpef&localeid=en_US&cm_mmc=site_email-_-site_share-_-core-_-view_photos_button

Our Little Hippie

2008-11-04T22:24:00.006-05:00

I just had to take some pictures of James in his adorable outfit yesterday. The pictures don't do this cute shirt justice. It has guitars on the front and says "Jam Band" all over it, and then the sleeves have tattoo-looking designs of peace signs, the globe, doves, music notes, etc. I love it. He wore it with his faded Levis, and then, to top it off, he put on the grey wool clogs that I was wearing yesterday (that I have had since high school!). He looked like he belonged at a Dead concert. Mommy couldn't have been more amused.

McCormick's Creek State Park

2008-11-04T21:39:00.009-05:00

Craig with the little Monkey and Bat

This past weekend, we went to McCormick's Creek with our friends Sara, Ian, and Kyla Straw. We stayed in these rustic cabins, since we didn't want to deal with camping with 1 1/2 year olds! We had a great time. We cooked out, hiked, played cards, and went trick-or-treating around the campground, where they had a campsite decorating contest. James and Kyla (who are together very frequently anyway) are becoming super close buddies. They were hilarious this weekend - "racing" each other on the hiking trails, passing a ball back and forth for a long time (while allowing their parents free time to play euchre!), and wrestling and tickling each other on the wooden cabin floors. It was really funny to watch them.

Here is James sitting in the rocking chair on our screened porch

James checking out the inside of a cave during our hike

The Straws hiking

The Kelkers on a hike to the waterfall

I LOVE this cute video of James and Kyla "hiking". They were having so much fun running on the trails!

I love October

2008-11-04T21:14:00.008-05:00

We did so many fun things in October. Here are the highlights of the week before Halloween. On Oct. 22 we went to the Headless Horseman at Conner Prairie. While James wasn't old enough to enjoy some of the things, he really liked the area where you could play tons of different homemade instruments, and we all liked the hayride (no, he didn't realize it was supposed to be scary). So here is James playing an instument with Daddy:

The weekend of October 25, we had a few close friends (the Meeks, Bolles, and Johnsons) over for a hot dog roast. We really just wanted an excuse to have our friends over so that we could see all of their cute babies in their costumes. At the time of the pictures, Carter Meek is 7 months, Nate Bolles is almost 6 months, and Mia Johnson is about 6 weeks. Here are pictures of Carter and Nate, Chris and Nate Bolles with Kristie and Mia Johnson, and Mia in another cute outfit!

Then, on October 26 we dressed up again for a "Trunk-or-Treat" event at the preschool/church where James goes for Mother's Day Out. We decorated our trunk, handed out candy, took James trick-or-treating from car to car, and then watched "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown". Here is our family, along with a picture of my friend Ulla and I with James and his buddy Lewis. Clearly, at this point, Lewis had had enough!

Bonfire at Cammacks

2008-10-22T21:10:00.005-04:00

On Sunday our family friends, The Cammacks, had several families that I grew up with (from Noblesville) over for a bonfire. We had a great time - each family carved a pumpkin, they had a pinata, and of course we had hotdogs, smores, and lots of other good food. Here are a couple of pictures. The top picture is James with Elizabeth Pasquesi (Kate "Antrim"'s daughter). Several more can be found at:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=c5lam7x.6ingsw9d&x=0&y=-pfhfdj&localeid=en_US

Stonycreek Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-22T17:42:00.006-04:00

I always remember going to Stonycreek to get a pumpkin every year growing up, so we thought we'd go back and check it out this past weekend. Sara, Ian, and Kyla Straw went with us. The kids had fun looking at the animals and playing around in the pumpkin patch, and I think they liked the hayride, too. Below are pictures of us on the hayride, and then a video of James and Kyla looking at the cow. Here is a link to the rest of the pictures (there aren't too many) - there are some cute ones!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=c5lam7x.701s7uvl&x=0&y=skmvyg&localeid=en_US

Ana is One!

2008-10-22T17:35:00.004-04:00

Ana Craft, daughter of our friends Buffy & Tim, turned one last week. I can't believe she is already one - I feel like Buffy and Tim just got back from adopting her in Guatemala, but I guess it has already been like 5 months since they got back. She is just as cute as can be, and as you can see, she certainly enjoyed her cake!

Really, where do the days go?

2008-10-08T13:54:00.004-04:00

I have no idea where my days as a stay at home mom go, but somehow they seem to be flying by, with me never getting anything done. I just realized that I was months and months behind on uploading our pictures to Kodak gallery - something I like to make sure I do so that I have a backup if the computer ever fails (of course, my hubby backs up the computer, too, but still, I'm paranoid). So I finally got around to uploading pictures from months 14-18 1/2 today. I hadn't uploaded them since May, other than the ones from vacations and special occasions. So the pictures in these albums are only ones that I haven't previously had links to on the blog. Here is age 14-16 months (including pics with friends Kyla Straw, Grace Harpster, and Marissa Halle):

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=c5lam7x.6lhi8j0l&x=0&y=tz8gi4&localeid=en_US

And here are pics from 16-18 1/2 months, a time period during which I apparently took a ton of pictures! If you don't have time to look at all of them, at least look at the last 20 or so - Craig took them outside this weekend, and they are SO good! Also includes pics of friends Carter Meek, Kyla Straw, Mila Johnson, Connor Mann, Olivia Wollenburg, and Ben Klein:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=c5lam7x.4ucdq0qt&x=0&y=-r0io7w&localeid=en_US

Also, James had his 18 month checkup last week. The kid is still tall! Weighs 24 lbs, 10 oz (30th percentile) and is 35" tall (97th percentile). We also met with his gastro specialist this week and are going to be attempting to take him off of his reflux medicine. He spit up today though (not normal for an 18 month old!), so my hopes that he is going to be able to stay off the medicine are not high. But it would be great if we could finally get him off of it. Otherwise they'll try again every 6 months now.

What a perfect weekend!

2008-10-06T09:44:00.012-04:00

Our family could not get enough of the great outdoors this weekend. Saturday morning Craig and James played outside for hours and made a huge campfire in the backyard (trying to get rid of some rotting logs). Saturday afternoon we met up with several of our friends (the Meeks, Bolles, and Ragsdales) for a picnic at Holliday Park, followed by a hike. I was so excited to learn that there were actually a few hilly hiking trails so close by. Apparently Richie Woods in Fishers has some, too? We had a great time. Thanks to the Meeks for planning the outing! Pictured below are Craig/James, Sean/Jonah, and Kyle/Carter. Sorry, I couldn't get the little guys to look at the camera!
That night we attempted to go on a boat ride at my mom's (boat was dead, so we ate dinner in the boat inside the boathouse!), then played in my mom's yard. Sunday we did more hanging out outside in the morning, then watched the game with the Straws. I will have you know, I actually enjoyed watching the last 4 minutes of that Colts game! I was paying attention the entire time! Here are Craig and James getting ready for the game (those are campfire ashes on their faces - by the way, be careful with those, James got a hive on his cheek from it!).

We Saw the Mice at Disney World!

2008-10-01T14:11:00.008-04:00

We spent last Wednesday through this Monday at Disney World and had a great time. Dad, Paula, Alec and Lauren drove up from Naples to be with us at the parks on Saturday and Sunday. We did 3 days at the Magic Kingdom, 1 at Epcot, and 1 at Animal Kingdom. You may wonder why we took an 18-month-old to Disney, but we had a nearly free trip (ok, we still had to spend $500 on tix to the park, but hotel, car, and flight were nearly free) and wanted to do one getaway as a family before the new little guy arrives and things get more complicated. James was actually a wonderful age for it though. At this age, they are so go-with-the-flow and adaptable. He was absolutely fascinated with everything, but at the same time, not old enough to whine about wanting to do a certain ride again, or be scared of some of the rides that preschoolers might be scared of (he doesn't even realize they are scary) or beg for certain foods or toys or anything like that. We just did what we thought he would enjoy, and he happily tagged along! We rode pretty much any ride that didn't have a height restriction, since he doesn't even realize that things like the Haunted Mansion or Pirates of the Caribbean might be scary to some kids. Some of James' favorite things were the Carousel, tea cups, It's a Small World, The Seas with Nemo and Friends (included lots of aquariums), and meeting all of the characters. And of course he loved seeing his family from Naples who he only sees a few times a year. Click here to see our pictures (I'm sorry, there are a ton, but I already deleted like 50% of them ,too!). We had such great memories from all of them, I didn't want to delete any more!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=c5lam7x.5arjamyd&x=0&y=jsj453&localeid=en_US

Here is a video of James and daddy on the carousel:

And James meeting Mickey (we literally had to hold him back and then let go of him just before I took the video, but the video is short b/c I wanted to switch over to taking pictures):

A Goetta & Baseball Morning with James

2008-09-21T10:45:00.006-04:00

Another post from Craig, who is on a roll this weekend with blogging: For non-Cincinnattians, Goetta is sausage patty-like product from the Germans. It started out as a way to stretch the limited amount of cheap meat by adding grains and other fillers.

So, this morning I grilled up some Goetta - Hot! variety on the grill (with aluminum foil). Delicious. James had a few nibbles, too.

In the morning we played baseball and discovered new nuts. We threw sticks in the firepit.

James is batting right-handed which is offputting considering he's to pitch left-handed.

James is a woodsman. Some might say, one with nature.

Future Soccer Star - if pitching for Cubs doesn't work out

2008-09-20T13:25:00.004-04:00

Hi faithful readers-

Craig again. On Thursday, James had his second Little Kickers practice. During the workout, the team worked on Red light-Green light skills as well as Kick the Ball procedures. Coach Emmalou did a great job of instilling sportsmanship and gameplay theory.

Here are some pictures.

Finally, a picture of Rylee!

2008-09-17T22:08:00.003-04:00

I finally got a bunch of pictures tonight from Bryan and Kim Surface of Rylee Elizabeth (see previous post!). Here's the little cutie on dad's lap!

I Heart Mila

2008-09-13T12:35:00.006-04:00

I got to meet Mia Lara Johnson today (aka "Mila"), and she is a doll. I never cease to be amazed how tiny even an "average sized" newborn is! Mom, dad, and Mila are all doing well!

TWO New Babies in the past 1/2 Day!

2008-09-12T09:19:00.004-04:00

We have two new arrivals among our friends - whoo hoo! Rylee Elizabeth Surface was born to Bryan and Kim Surface last night about 7:30pm. She is 21 inches long and weighed 7 pounds, 11 ounces. Mia Lara Johnson was born to Drew and Kristie (Cayetano) Johnson at about 5am this morning. She was also 21 inches long and weighed 7 pounds, 3 ounces. Congrats to the Surfaces and Johnsons! I will post pictures as soon as I have them.

Big Girl in a Little Shirt

2008-09-10T21:35:00.005-04:00

Yep, 11 weeks to go, and I'm getting big and a little waddly and achy! So, usually people say that people have been requesting a "belly shot" and that is why they are posting one. Well, I would be lying if I said that anyone has requested that I post one, but just decided maybe I would do so anyway. We really have only taken like one belly picture this whole pregnancy, so I thought maybe having some sort of pictures from this pregnacy would be good, anyway. I can't believe we are in the final trimester - I have a feeling this little man is going to be here before we know what hit us!

Mother's Day Out

2008-09-10T21:24:00.004-04:00

James has started Mother's Day Out at The Learning Center at Orchard Park Presbyterian in Carmel. He goes every Tuesday from 9am - 2:20pm. He eats lunch there and even naps there! We have had some seperation anxiety issues and some tears, but his teachers are so nice, and I think maybe he is even starting to like it. There are 6 kids (4 boys, 2 girls) and two teachers. It is entirely play-based; they do arts and crafts, play on the playground, go on rides in this little bus thing (that holds all 6 kids) around the school, play in the classroom, and learn bible songs and other songs. He has to take a backpack and lunchbox. What a big boy! The picture above is with dad on his first day, and below is with mom on his second week:And a picture of his artwork from week two - a dot painting. The teachers said he loved making it!

Kristie & Drew's Party

2008-09-10T21:07:00.006-04:00

Two weekends ago we went to a little cookout to see our friends Kristie & Drew Johnson's new house. It's beautiful! And of course, Kristie hosted this party while being like 2 weeks away from her due date. By the way, Baby J should be here any day now - stay tuned!

Here are James and Carter Meek playing in James' wagon:

And Kristie, Becky, and Carter on the couch:

But the highlight of the night was that Ria and Jamson Chan brought two of their quintuplets over with them. Here is a picture of the adorable little guys, Micah (left, I'm pretty sure!) and Brayden, who are now 4 months and weigh about 10 pounds. They're precious!

At the Zoo

2008-09-10T20:59:00.006-04:00

I am so behind on posting. About 2 weeks ago, my mom and I took James to the zoo. They had a special butterfly exhibit, and he LOVES butterflies (I know, not the most manly animal). He also really liked the fish and penguins and stuff. Here are some cute pics.

Congrats, Redmons!

2008-09-10T20:25:00.003-04:00

Ethan Christopher Redmon was born on September 2nd, weighing 8 pounds, 11 ounces. This may sound big, but I went to see him today, and he still just looks absolutely tiny! You forget how little a one-week-old is! His mom Jenny and big sister Claire (18 months) are friends of ours from one of James' play groups. Congrats to Jenny, Scott, and Claire!

Worldest's Slowest Crash

2008-08-30T16:23:00.006-04:00

Craig, here. It happened. I got into my first car accident. Don't worry, every one's fine. The Highlander got a little dinged on the bumper.

The Story:
Imagine the excitement for a Beatles concert at Conner Prairie. Marian watching James and Kyla with her Aunt Mary. The Kelker's and Straw's start the approximately 1.5 mile journey to the show. We hit traffic... about 1 mile of traffic. Barely creeping, we finally make the light to head toward Conner Prairie 45 mins later. Then she pulls up. Her: newer blue Honda - slightly sporty. Us: Highlander and bitter for traffic.

She passed about 1/2 mile of cars to make the turn at the last second. No one was letting her in - no one. She decides to make the single turn lane into two. While rounding the curve, we roll down our window instructing her she's not getting in. That turned the situation hot. I was bumper to bumper with the car in front. She decided to force her way in then BUMP. She ran into me at .5 mph scraping my bumper.

Then the fun started!

The guy behind me, seeing the accident, gets out of his car and starts going cRaZY at her through her window. During the screaming, he smacks her rear window. She then decides to get out of her car. These two are toe-to-toe.

"Don't hit my car."
"Shut up you fat bitch."
"Hit me and you'll go to jail."
.....30 secs more

Then another individual shows up from a car that was ahead of us. He screams "I'm a Cop from Marian College - everyone back in their cars." A college cop saved the day.

After an hour with 4 of Fisher's finest, we had to provide a written statement. The car-beater probably got a misdemeanor.

Visit To Cinci

2008-08-27T14:24:00.008-04:00

This past weekend, we went to Cincinnati for the day on Saturday. In the morning, we went to visit our friends Bryan and Kim Surface. Bryan is my good friend from college, and his wife Kim is due to have a baby any day now! We had breakfast at their house and then headed to Jarmo and Erica (Roudebush) Monttinen's house for a housewarming party. There were lots of families there with young kids, and they had borrowed a spray pool from the neighbors that the kids played in all afternoon. The next day, I went out and bought one for ourselves! Here is James and Carter Meek in the pool, James in the fountains, and James and Hudson Barry playing cornhole. Well, sort of.

Loving the Backyard

2008-08-26T21:12:00.006-04:00

James just LOVES to be in our backyard. He can entertain himself for hours. Which is wonderful for me because it is always nice and shady back there, and usually cool, even when it is hot out. The other day he was so proud of himself for helping dad clean the slide on his playset. He just started doing it on his own - no prompting from us!

And here are some pics of him just playing in the yard. His favorite things to do are collect sticks and put them in the fire pit, collect nuts and put them in a pile by a tree for the squirrels, and play in his sandbox. Here, he shows off a nut that he has found. How exciting!

Two Weekends Ago

2008-08-26T21:02:00.004-04:00

Ok, so I'm really behind on my posts. James wants to be out and about all the time now, so there isn't as much time for me to sit in front of the computer anymore. I'm so behind on responding to emails, too! Here are a couple pictures from the party we had at our friend's Jade and Todd Mann's house a couple weekends ago with our "dinner group". We try to do a pitch-in dinner once a month with the Kleins, Wollenburgs, Straws, and Manns. This picture of the kids eating dinner is the best one I could get. Yes, I know, none of them are paying any attention to me whatsoever, other than possibly Taylor. Left to right in the picture are Connor Mann (17 1/2 months), Taylor Mann (4 years), Ben Klein (just over 2 years), Kyla Straw (19 months), and James (17 months). Hey, at least give us credit that we were able to get them all corraled into one area for a picture, even if they wouldn't look at the camera. Not pictured, but in attendence, was Olivia Wollenburg (2 months), who was inside being fed! More pics (including Olivia being sweet and Ben as a knight, can be seen at:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=c5lam7x.4vnpny5p&x=0&y=-alcy31&localeid=en_US

Caroline Gries has arrived!

2008-08-26T20:55:00.002-04:00

Heather, Matt, and Lily Gries welcomed Caroline Anne Gries to the family on Saturday, August 23. She was 7 pounds, 3 ounces and 20 1/2 inches long. What a doll! Some of you may remember Heather (formerly Hiatt) as my roommate from my Junior year at IU.

The State Fair

2008-08-15T22:38:00.004-04:00

Last weekend, we (along with at least 50% of the population of the state) went to the Indiana State Fair. Here are some cute pics from the fair. If you view the Kodak gallery pictures, those of you who know me well or read the blog regularly will not be surprised by the absolutely ridiculous number of pictures of goats. Seriously, I might need to see a professional about my obsession. Of course, I was pleased to see that James' favorite part of the day was feeding the goats! See the Kodak Gallery pics here (34 pictures):

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=c5lam7x.6mb8sngl&x=0&y=capikf&localeid=en_US

Here are James and Grandma (Craig's mom) fishing, and one of Craig and James driving a combine!

Dancing With Mimi!

2008-08-14T15:09:00.004-04:00

James is into dancing these days. We need to work on his moves a little bit, but he's pretty funny to watch. As is my mom.

Kristie's Baby Shower

2008-08-14T15:02:00.002-04:00

This weekend we had a baby shower for our friend Kristie at my house. We had a fun time, and Kristie got lots of good loot! She is having a baby girl, so we are all excited to finally have her add a girl to the group. I think my season of baby shower planning has wrapped up for the foreseable future. There was quite a burst there for a while. I know I helped plan/host at least 5 in the past 10 months! Maybe more, I've lost track now. Guess I'll have to find a new activity now. I sure do love to plan showers!

Welcome Baby Harpster!

2008-08-04T19:23:00.004-04:00

Cooper Daniel Harpster was born today at about 1:30 p.m. to Jenny and Randy Harpster. Cooper weighed 8lbs 9oz, and was 19 3/4 inches long. Big sister Grace immediately began asking how soon they could bring him home when she went to the hospital to visit this afternoon. Mom and Cooper are both doing well. Congrats Harpsters!

Kyla and James Playing B-Ball

2008-07-31T21:00:00.003-04:00

This video is from a few weeks ago. Unfortunately we took it on our really old digital camera, so it is really blurry. You can't see the huge smiles on the kids' faces. But James and Kyla Straw were playing basketball, and they were so proud of themselves everytime they would make a basket - it was just adorable. Kyla is just 6 weeks older than James (she is the daughter of our friends Sara & Ian), and they are best buds.

Things I Never Knew Would Happen To Me...

2008-07-30T13:43:00.002-04:00

until I became a mom.

My grinning toddler would walk over to me, while playing in the backyard, carrying in his hand a treasure that he was excited to present to me: a piece of dog poop
I would, without thinking, hold out my bare hand, calmly accept the treasure, and then remark in my calmest, sweetest, most motherly voice, "Oh, I see, Sweetie! But let's not play with the dog poop. Icky," before throwing it into the woods. With my bare hand. In case you missed that part.

I Gotta Say It Was A Bad Day

2008-07-27T08:02:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was a very rough day for the Kelkers. We had our first trip to the Emergency Room with James. The day started off great, with Craig, James and I meeting Ian and Kyla at the Dillon Spray Park to let James and Kyla run around in the sprayers. But about 45 minutes into it, James was running around on the cement and stepped in an area of sitting water that had like a slippery, sludgy kind of stuff in it. His feet flipped out from under him and he went face first onto the concrete. He immediately started crying, and when Craig picked him up the blood was just gushing from his mouth. We got in the car and rushed to the emergency room, with James in his soaking wet swim clothes and diaper, and us holding a towel to his mouth to catch the blood. The blood slowed down pretty quickly, and then we were able to see the damage. Warning: do not read this if you are trying to eat your lunch! He had scrapes on the outside of his chin, a cut on the inside of his lip, a loose front tooth, and-for lack of a more delicate way to put it-he had bit his tongue halfway off. It was severed all the way through, halfway across. It was terrible to look at, and I'm sure it didn't feel too good, either! They had to give him a shot to consciously sedate him (if you have ever had this done to a child, you'll agree it is very freaky - they have their eyes wide open but are like in a trance with glazed eyes, and they'll grunt and make random noises). Then they put a single stitch through his tongue to hold it all back together. It was pretty traumatic for Craig and I to watch - we aren't good with all that blood! But James has seemed pretty good ever since we got home. He has been on plenty of Advil for the pain and swelling, and we had to do some stuff the first day to hopefully keep his front tooth alive. He has been eating great, which was the main concern, along with the possibility of infection. Drinking has been a different matter, as he can't use a sippy cup and will only drink small quantities from a real cup. Oh well, overall we are thrilled that he is doing as well as he is, and the tongue is already growing back together - apparently they heal super quickly. We sure hope so! Above is a picture of our little trooper as he is coming out of the anesthesia. Note the dazed look in his eyes!

Trip to Sedona

2008-07-23T13:24:00.012-04:00

We just got back from a 5-day trip to Sedona to visit my mom and George. We did some hiking, ate out A LOT, and went to some really neat indian ruins north of Flagstaff called Wupatki that we had never been to before. I had a hard time deciding which pics to post, so I just posted a ton. Below are a bunch of family photos...

And then some cute ones of James...

And a cute video of James playing in the water at Red Rock Crossing:

The rest of our pictures (I might be biased, but I think there are a lot of good ones) are on Kodak Gallery. Click here to view: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=c5lam7x.bkrf3ymd&x=0&y=ed72wc&localeid=en_US

I LOVE Books!

2008-07-23T13:18:00.004-04:00

Mommy couldn't be more excited about how much James seems to like books these days. Ever since about the time he turned one, he has been obsessed. I loved books growing up (and still do, though I never find time to read), so I'm glad James is showing an interest in them finally. I read to him constantly when he was a newborn, and he'd always fall asleep within about 2 minutes of me starting to read - so I had some concerns that he was never going to like reading! Anyway, the other day I was in the family room, and he disappeared. I went into his bedroom, and found him sitting in his rocker (which I didn't even know he could climb into) with a book on his lap. Too cute!

Who says we can't change our minds?

2008-07-14T08:28:00.010-04:00

After telling people for the whole pregnancy so far that we weren't going to find out the gender of Baby #2, we decided this weekend that we wanted to find out after all. The first time around I was adament about not finding out, and I remember having two main reasons for this:

1) I wanted to make sure we purchased totally neutral nursery decor and registered for totally neutral items, so that we could use everything for any future babies. I stand by this reasoning and am glad we didn't find out the first time around.
2) I felt like I deserved to have the bigger say in the decision, because I was the one who was going to have to go through labor. I remember telling Craig that I at least wanted to have some surprise awaiting me at the end - something to make me more "motivated" during labor and make things more exciting. In retrospect, this was the most ridiculous logic imaginable! I don't remember a single time during labor thinking, "I can't wait to get this baby out so that I can find out whether it is a boy or a girl!" I could have cared less about the gender at that point. The only motivation I needed to get the baby out was the fact that trying to expel a 7+ pound being from your body is painful, and I wanted to do whatever I could to get it over with as quickly as humanly possible and end my misery.

With these things in mind, we ultimately decided that there was no good reason not to find out the baby's gender this time around. It will be nice to be able to prepare James for whether to expect a brother or sister and to be able to get all of the newborn boy/girl clothes ready for use before the baby arrives. But for me, I'm most excited about not having to decide on both a boy and a girl name. While the first time around I loved pouring through my book of 30,000 baby names, thinking about all of the possibilities for both sexes, this time around that just seems like an unnecessary waste of time. I am so glad I am only going to have to pour over 15,000 names instead! Piece of cake.

So, in order to prepare for today's ultrasound, we decided to see whether we could prove or dispell some of the old wives' tales about gender prediction. Then, later today, we will find out the truth!

If you're carrying low it's a boy, high is a girl: we think it is hard to tell, I'm sort of in the middle, but we're going to go with high (1 point girl)
If the heartrate is greater than 140 it's a girl, less is boy: so far heartrate has been about 150 (1 point girl)
If you crave sweets it's a girl, sour or salty is a boy: definitely sweets, but I always crave sweets, whether pregnant or not (1 point girl)
If your husband puts on weight too it's a girl, otherwise boy: no weight gain for Craig (1 point boy)
If your face gets round or full it's a girl, otherwise boy: nope, no change in face (1 point boy)
If you get acne it's a girl, otherwise boy: No acne this time, although with James it was terrible, so this definitely isn't true! (1 point boy)
If you are carrying out front it's a boy, to the side or in hips it's a girl: out front (1 point boy)
If the baby is very active it's a boy, less active it's a girl: this baby is not active at all, it's so wierd compared to James (1 point girl)
If you have bad morning sickness it's a girl, otherwise boy: I was a little quesy last time, but more so this time (though still not bad enough to throw up). Since this time was definitely a bit worse, we are going to call it "bad" (1 point girl)
If you are moody it's a girl, otherwise boy: well, I certainly haven't noticed it, but Craig says I am moodier than last time! (1 point girl)
Chinese Birth Chart calculates gender based on mom's age at conception and the month of conception: chart says boy (1 point boy)
Wedding ring test (over belly or wrist): my friend Heather did this to me once when I wasn't pregnant, and it said I would have two boys. I have made Craig try it several different times, and the ring doesn't move one bit at all. Not back and forth or in circles. Nothing. (result: inconclusive due to Craig's freakishly steady hands)
Drano test: Sorry, we had no Drano on hand, and I wasn't about to spend money to buy any
Quiz on JustMommies.com: said there was a 75% chance for a girl (1 point girl)
Quiz on iVillage.com: girl won by a couple of points (1 point girl)
Survey that we put on our blog: slightly more of you voted for girl (1 point girl)
Finally, an interesting thing I read (no idea if it is true) said that the mom's gut instinct is correct 71% of the time. So Craig and I decided we better make our own guesses. Craig's guess is that it is a boy (with the caveat that the difference between this pregnancy and the last one makes him question his guess). My guess is girl (based on gut instinct, although I have always envisioned myself with lots of boys, so I don't really trust my gut). So that gives us a split result on that one (one point boy, one point girl)

Result: 10 POINTS GIRL, 6 POINTS BOY

Finally, one other item to note is that 5 of the items above (heartrate, acne, baby activity, morning sickness, and moodiness) are different than they were with James. I have known many people (like my stepsister who has three girls) who say that differences between pregnancies mean nothing, so we'll take these difference with a grain of salt. I'll complete this post with the ultrasound results later this afternoon!

We are excited to announce that the verdict is in! Click to find out....

What you are looking at here is a side view - head on left, body curving down from there, and you-know-what smack dab in the middle!

Weekend in Fort Wayne

2008-07-03T21:22:00.005-04:00

Last weekend we went to Fort Wayne. On Saturday during the day we went to the Fort Wayne zoo with Craig's family, and on Saturday night we went to Craig's cousin Leanne's wedding (congrats Leanne and Brian!). Then, on Sunday, we became Godparents to cousin's Matt & Steph Kelker's newest addition, Evan. We are already Godparent's to their daughter, Avery. Here is a picture of Craig and James in the goat petting area (I'm obsessed with goats, I truly took like 50 pictures in the goat area trying to get both the goat and James to look at me - and never succeeded). The other picture is us with Matt, Steph, Avery, Evan and the preists at the baptism. Click on the link below to see more zoo pictures (lots of cute goats), a few wedding pics, and pics from the baptism and the party afterwards (50-ish pictures):

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=c5lam7x.6xd3frr1&x=0&y=9j4vn5&localeid=en_US

Sales, Sales, Read All About 'Em!

2008-07-02T17:42:00.002-04:00

For those of you who are loyal blog readers (I think there are about 3 of you), I thought I would reward you with the inside scoop on some fantastic kid's clothing sales that are going on right now. First, this one courtesy of Kate Pasquesi: Piper Children's Boutique (on 116th west of 69, same strip mall as Fionn McCools) has all summer merchandise in the store 50% off, and there is a really good selection and range of sizes! Second, Teeter Totter (Merchant's Square- Carmel Drive and Keystone, across from Old Navy, Arhaus, and World Market) is going out of business. Which is very sad because they have such adorable stuff. Everything in the store is 50% off, plus many things marked down 60, 70, and 80% off! Marian and I got some insanely good deals there. The selection is starting to get a tiny bit picked over, but there is still really a very good variety of sizes, and quite a bit of both summer and winter things. They are staying open till late July. I'm sure the deals will get even better as the selection gets smaller. Both stores have fabulous "designer" kids clothes, so it is rare to find such good deals on them! Enjoy!

It's Time to Start Getting Ready....

2008-07-02T15:16:00.004-04:00

Ok, so we still have a really long time until baby #2 arrives, but as we approach the halfway mark (I'm 19 weeks along), preparations for the new arrival are well underway. What can I say? I'm a planner. I love to plan ahead and obsess over things. Here are some pictures of James last week helping me put together the furniture we got at Ikea for his new big boy room! Special thanks to Erica Roudebush for spending 2 1/2 hours at the Ikea store with me, helping me pick stuff out, load it all into bags and carts, and lug it through the store. We pretty much bought out the children's section of the store. Anyway, James is very into trying to help work on the furniture, so here he is trying to help me put in some screws.

In other news, I have been telling some of you how I haven't been feeling nearly as well this pregnancy as I did with James. I have been so tired, had lots of headaches, and been dizzy. So last week at the doctor, they decided to draw blood to check my thyroid. Since I research things like an obsessive maniac, I also had it in my head that I wanted to be checked for anemia, so I asked them to do that as well. Sure enough, they called yesterday to say I am anemic. So I started some new medicine today that I will need to stay on for the rest of the pregnancy. Hopefully I will start feeling better soon.

Family Visit

2008-06-25T09:36:00.005-04:00

My dad, Paula, and Alec and Lauren have been staying with us for the past week and a half. James has had so much fun playing with the kids. We will definitely miss them when they leave today! On Monday dad, Chris, Alec, Lauren, James and I all went down to Lake Monroe and rented a boat. It was very fun! Here are pictures from the week:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=c5lam7x.2lge3rql&x=0&y=-98rpqt&localeid=en_US

An Amazing Wedding!

2008-06-25T09:14:00.007-04:00

This past weekend we went to my friend Deepa's wedding in Chicago. It was great because I got to see all of my friends that I used to work with at my first job at Johnson & Quin. And the wedding was absolutely GORGEOUS! It was a traditional Indian ceremony, done in Sanskrit, and was almost 2 hours long. But it was really interesting, and so beautiful. Mimi and Baba came with us. We all stayed at The Drake, where the wedding and reception took place, and Mimi and Baba watched James while Craig and I got to have a free night! Here is a link to more pictures (23 pics), although they don't do the wedding justice!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=c5lam7x.cba4i91p&x=0&y=dt46qr&localeid=en_US

Becca & John's Baby Has Arrived!

2008-06-17T10:47:00.003-04:00

Olivia Kay Wollenburg was born last night at about 6:30pm. She was 20 inches long and weighed 6 pounds, 11 ounces. It is about time someone else had a girl - there have been so many boys! We can't wait to meet Olivia. Congrats to John, Becca, and Jaylee as they welcome their new addition to the family!

Lovin' the Warm Weather

2008-05-31T14:09:00.009-04:00

I took some really cute pics of James out in the back yard and on the deck. Click the link below to see more pics on Kodak Gallery (29 pictures):
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=c5lam7x.1x3741id&x=0&y=qgkkk7&localeid=en_US

Another Boy!

2008-05-28T08:47:00.000-04:00

Matt, Steph, and big sister Avery Kelker welcomed Evan Matthew Kelker to the family this morning. He weighed 8 pounds, 6 ounces. Matt is Craig's cousin (he was a groomsman in our wedding), and Matt and Steph are James' Godparents (along with my brother, Chris). Congratulations, Kelkers!