What we've been doing while Daddy is working...

Matt started residency almost two weeks ago. Luckily he has two weeks of orientation, so it's been pretty predictable, easy hours. This week though, he starts the long rotation of night float, that will last most of the summer. We really enjoyed having him around for a month and a half, but I know he is happy when he is busy working (finally earning money!!!) and doing something he really enjoys. 

Luke and I try to stay busy and enjoy the summer sun.

We've made several trips to the city pool, two trips to the beach, shopping, play-doh, watercolors, markers, bubbles, bike rides (him, not me), and lots of helping mommy. To top off all of the fun, we were lucky enough to have our good friends visit us for a few days. It was so much fun and nice to have some company!

Me and Luke at Huntington Beach (on Lake Erie for anyone who wonders what we call "beach").

Lake Erie is MASSIVE. It's hard to remember that it is a lake, because it is so big and there are decent sized waves. But the 4 feet of moss and crap you have to get through to actually get to the water is a quick reminder that we're not at the ocean!

It's not the most beautiful beach you've seen, but I thought it's fun how off in the distance you can see the skyline.

We also started (yet again) Potty Training! 

Luke was doing awesome until we went on vacation and then moved...it threw it all off. 

He has filled 7 squares on his potty chart, only 1 more and he gets a toy.

He's great at going number 2, but number 1 will be tricky....boys are hard. Any good tips?

So then Bryce, Maddy and Britton came into town for four days and we had a BLAST!

Unfortunately, I have not been into much picture taking lately (weird for me, I know), so I only have a few pictures from our adventures. Maddy got a bunch more that I am excited to see.

In a nutshell we...played and played, went to Kirtland, watched movies, had a bbq, went to a kiddie amusement park, went to the beach, the drive-in, went to some awesome garage sales, watched soccer, ate good food, talked, the guys made some house repairs, chased little boys, continued potty training for both boys.

Friday morning Matt had the morning off so he was able to come with us to the Memphis Kiddie Amusement Park, that was right by his work. It's only for kids under 50 inches. It was pretty hilarious watching some of the kids being forced onto rides. Our boys had SO much fun and so did we! We will definitely be going back regularly.

Even though Matt placed Luke on a girl horse, Luke loved it. He waved every time he passed me.

Britton is only 6 weeks older than Luke. This trip was so fun, they were such good little buddies.

For those of you who don't know, Bryce and Matt have been best friends since high school and Bryce is currently in med school down in Virginia. We were so happy they could come and visit us and be our very first visitors to our new house!

This ride was the best. It was so funny to see all these little white-knuckled fingers gripping the cages as they went around on this mini ferris wheel. Luke would squeal "wahooo, hi dad!"

Right before Matt left, he went on the little roller coaster with Luke...he was excited at first...

But after the first turn...well, I've never seen such a terrified little face on him before. 

Matt had to hold his head from being flung around for the rest of the ride. It was pretty funny.

I know this picture is terrible, but it's the only one I got as the ride was slowing down.
You get the idea. Haha.

But that didn't stop him. They still went on the rest of the rides.

After Matt split, we drove down to the beach. It was probably the worst beach I've seen in Cleveland, so sorry Egberts! We didn't stay too long, and I think the boys still had fun playing in the sand.

We had our own, very first bbq ever in Cleveland. We got this grill from some friends that were moving out and cooked us up some yummy steaks and potatoes! Ahh they were so good.

Luke and Britton loved playing outside together. Britton is much bigger and has much stronger legs than Luke, so he would peddle and Luke would jump on for the ride. It's so fun to watch our boys grow and play together!

They had so much fun chasing each other in circles, catching fireflies, watching the rabbits run across the lawn and squeezing in the bubble car together (even though we have two of them).

They are so cute.

Luke misses you Britton.

Thanks you guys for coming. I hope you can come again, we had a blast with you!

Pregnancy Blues

Why do we forget so quickly what it's like to be pregnant?

When I wasn't pregnant I thought, "I loved being pregnant, it's so fun."
It is so NOT fun.

But it's what we do.

And, I'll do it again.

And again.

I still have 12 weeks to go, but I'm ready to be done today.

I shouldn't complain because my pregnancies are not as bad as a lot of women I know.

 The first trimester is full of fatigue, nausea and hunger pains that can't be satisfied. 

The second is wonderful. I'm hungry, I eat, feel good, have energy, start to get a small and exciting little bump and find out the gender.

Then comes the third. For me, it's full of massive heartburn that keeps me up all night and is like breathing fire all day. If you haven't tried Tums Smoothies, the work pretty well and aren't completely disgusting. Then comes the back pain, squished sciatic nerve pain, sore hips and tail bone. My feet are swelling more and more each day. I feel feet in my ribs and punches in my hips. Braxton Hicks contractions on and off all day. Shortness of breath. My energy is gone midday and I'm ready to nap-even though Luke is over the napping phase. 

And luckily for me, I have the flu! 

Thankfully Matt should get off early today and Luke loves to watch movies.

But, I'm STARVING!

Ahh, motherhood.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful father's in my life!

My life has been blessed with wonderful men (I know, that sounds weird). I have an amazing dad that I love and miss very much. My grandpa rocks and he calls me sweetie. I luckily married into a wonderful family and have a great father-in-law who has been a great example to Matt, which has taught Matt how to be an amazing husband and father.
Matt, thank you for being such a wonderful husband and father to me and Luke. I love you and truly appreciate everything you do for our family. Happy Father's Day!

Isn't he cute?

Too bad. He's mine.

Stolen pictures, but finally something from our trip to VA!

At the very beginning of May we drove 9 hours south to Williamsburg, Virginia. It was our graduation trip and we had a blast spending a week there. Dave, Meg and McKelle came down for a few days, as well as our good friends Bryce, Maddy and Britton, who live close by. Thanks to Maddy I can finally post some awesome pictures she took. I have yet to get mine off of our hard drive. I will post those ones next. I just loved all these great pictures she took!

During the week her and Bryce came with us to Virginia Beach. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed some great weather. The water was chilly, but that didn't keep the boys out. Maddy and I were happy having girl talk, laying out on the beach.

Matt and Bryce have been best buds for years, since sometime in high school-I think. Bryce is also in medical school, so they have lots to talk about when we get to see them.
And Luke and Britton are only 6 weeks apart, even though Britton is a head taller than our little Lukey.

The boys wandering down the beach, chasing birds.

Luckily, Luke was pretty afraid of the water, so we didn't worry too much about him jumping in-because he wouldn't.

We brought our kite. The boys loved it.

And before we left for the day, Matt and Bryce decided to jump all the way in. Here are some great in action shots. They are crazy, it was so cold!

After we walked down the board walk. It was a really fun day at the beach with some good friends! Thanks for making the drive you guys.

Later in the week they drove out again to spend the night with us at the condo.

All the boys wanted to do was either play in the pool or watch "Handy Many Motorcycle Adventures." And they would seriously say the entire title of the movie each time. They are so cute.

The pool was right behind our room, so we spent a lot of time there.

Saturday night (it was the night before Mother's Day) the guys sent us out (without the babies) to the outlet mall to do some shopping. When we got back we were pleasantly surprised to find the table set, dinner ready and the table all decked out. It was our Mother's Day dinner.

It was so cute!

They even guessed our favorite candy bars and surprisingly got them all right.

After dinner they had us blow out our candles on our cupcakes.

None of us knew they were trick candles...it was pretty funny when we discovered they kept lighting up. More great in-action pictures.

After blowing them out a few times we realized we were standing under the smoke detector.

Notice Dave fanning the smoke away?

We have great hubbies.

Natural Labor?

I am 27 weeks pregnant and it's all starting to hit me that I am going to have to give birth sooner than I think. Since I've been so busy with everything I haven't thought much about being pregnant. 

Matt asked me the other day if I wanted to try to go with out the epidural this time around. Of course, I laughed at him and thought he was insane. But it seems like everyone I talk to lately tells me how amazing and quick recovery is when you do it naturally and how they never want an epidural again. Again, I always thought they were crazy...but now I'm actually considering it, or playing around with the idea. 

When I had Luke I didn't receive my epidural until I was dilated just past an 8. I almost couldn't even have it, but it did make a huge difference in actually giving birth. However, I am dreading recovery more than anything! And this is why I am considering doing it naturally. 

So, for those of you with strong opinions either way I want to hear them! And those of you who have done it naturally I would love to hear why you wanted to do it and if there are any good books or websites that you recommend me looking at. Because if I do decide to do it, I think I need to commit before I get there and be prepared. 

Blessings

Yesterday we were very lucky to bring our 2nd car home. (Which is waaaaay easier than buying a house!)And we are proud to say that we own a minivan. I never ever in my life wanted a minivan and swore I would never drive one....but after becoming a mom and realizing it was the best choice (better gas mileage and cheaper than an SUV) for us. 

We weren't planning on buying one for two more months but we were thankfully able to get it early enough so that our visitors this summer wouldn't have to get rentals when they come. I am just SO happy to finally have my own car. I haven't had one for over 3 years. Freedom at last!

We ended up going with a Honda Odyssey. We looked at a few cars and almost got suckered into buying the same car and year, with less extras, for more. We waited one more day and found this one. We love it!

We were just looking for the most basic model, but lucked out with getting leather interior, dvd player, towing package, etc. We feel very blessed!

Only one problem...as you can see, it doesn't fit in our garage. 

We knew that, and oh well! Maybe we'll have to fix our garage door at some point. 

We are just so thankful and feel so blessed that we now have our own house, a second car, a job (which Matt started today!), a healthy boy and a healthy baby on the way. 

We are now more than ready for visitors. We have an extra guest room (or a whole extra floor if you want to put it that way!) with brand new bed and plenty of room in our van! 

I don't want to hear anymore "we are planning on coming to Cleveland..." and then two months later, "sorry, we decided to go to ____________ instead." 

Why wouldn't you want to come to Cleveland?
At least our parents love us and come visit us occasionally. 

Cannot wait to see you Mom and Dad!!!

Living in Ohio

This past week we took a little trip out to the country side of Ohio to our favorite farm, Monroe Orchards, in Hiram, Ohio. It's right next door to probably my favorite church site, the John Johnson Farm. I absolutely LOVE it out there, all times of the year it is just beautiful! It's definitely worth the 30 minute drive.

Since we've lived here we've made a tradition out of picking fruits during the summer months. We love to pick strawberries, raspberries, peaches and apples. We're going to try blueberries this year too. They are so much better than the store. Anyway, we picked 20 something pounds of strawberries this year! Mainly because I wanted a plentiful supply of jam to last us until next year.

It was a breezy day in the 70's. It was so nice! And I say the picking is addicting!

Maybe not so much for Luke.

But he was a good sport.

We had (and still do) a ton of strawberries!

And now we have about 20 cups of freezer jam. Shesh.

In this next segment, I can't say it's one of my proudest moments in mothering...but since we're living in Ohio, I guess he'll fit in somewhere. Maybe in Amish Country?

In one of my last posts I mentioned that we were growing Luke's hair out. I decided to try trimming it. Apparently I REALLY need some hair cutting help.

His hair is so long and I was just using the scissors....well, you get the picture. Poor kid.

It's not too bad, but it's pretty embarrassing on my part. I hope no one noticed that we brought a little Amish boy to church today. At least he didn't have a mullet that hung over his collar.

It's going to be one of those pictures he looks back on and wonders what his mother did to him. Like our mullet or bowl cuts when we were growing up.

And for those of you who haven't heard the World Cup started this past Friday. It only comes around every four years, so it's a pretty big deal around here.

We only have TV set up in our kitchen right now...so this is how we spent our Saturday afternoon while England and US played. Notice Matt is wearing an England jersey...trader. :)

Just as a side note, I have some major blogging catch up to do from our trip to Williamsburg, that happened back at the beginning of May and of when Matt's parents came out to visit us. Matt put all of our pictures on our hard drive and cleared them off his computer temporarily-so I need to get them back and catch up. 

Stay tuned.

Also, pictures soon to come of our house. I feel like we're now in the "final stages" of unpacking (are we taking a ridiculously long time?). We are hanging pictures, decorations and finishing up organizing. Hopefully we'll have it all squared away very soon!