The Envelope Please......

(ignore the goofy look on my face, my boys were making me giggle)

Today was a big day, here for the Adair's! We had our 20 week ultrasound, and everything looked perfect, from the tiny little heart to the tiny little toes. Absolutely incredible how clear the images were, technology sure has come a long way in the last years since Colby and Cale were born.


We decided with this pregnancy we would find out the sex, something new and exciting since we didn't with either of the boys. We had the ultrasound tech seal the results in an envelope so we could find out all together, which we thought would be tonight but Colby is home sick (pink eye) today so we got to check the results right when we got home from the doctor, and......

IT'S A BOY!

Bells will be ringin....

Yesterday Cale and I went to Merle Hay Mall to ring the bell for the Salvation Army. This is the second year we've done this, and I really enjoy it. I bought some candy canes for him to hand out so he likes that too, as well as eating them!

Colby and I will be at Merle Hay Mall on Christmas Eve ring ring ringing the bell some more!

I'm such a wimp I had to pick a location where I could be inside.

Getting in the groove of things....Again!

Putting the angel on the tree!
Shawn's birthday-lunch at El Rodeo...Yummy!

The boys at the wrestling tournament in Waukee.

Colby at the Capital

Halloween-Colby, Cale, and Riley (a friend from the neighborhood)

It seems like I keep doing these blog updates where I claim we have been busy and I promise to do better. And this is kind of the same thing....sorry. So here goes.....

• The boys went trick or treating with Dad and some other friends from the neighborhood, it was unseasonably warm. I remember having to put my winter coat under my costumes when I was little. It was so nice. Cale was Aang from Avatar (a Nick cartoon) and Colby was a Minnesota Vikings player.
• Amy and I went to see Dolly Parton at the Civic Center, it was an awesome show! She is one talented lady, and soooo funny. She sure looks great for 62! Amy and I had a great time, it was sooo much fun.
• We implemented "date night" with the boys. Each week Shawn and I switch boys and we get some one on time with each of them. This picture is from when Colby and Shawn took a trip to the Iowa Historical Building and the Capital.
• The boys started wrestling in November. Dowling Catholic School has a Mat Club for ages 4 through 8th grade. They practice on Sundays and Tuesdays. The weekend following Thanksgiving they participated in a tournament in Waukee. Colby got 3rd place and Cale got 4th place. They seem to be loving it!
• Shawn's birthday was last weekend, so after the wrestling tournament we went to El Rodeo for lunch with his family. Gotta love a cute guy in a sombrero!
• Last night we put up our Christmas tree. The boys had so much fun getting out all the ornaments. Every year we get a new ornament and its always fun to look back from past years. Both the boys wanted to put the angel on the top so Dad lifted them up for a little team work. As you can see even Maggie wanted to help, she is wearing her Christmas bow.
• I'm now 20 weeks along, 1/2 way there! This week we go to the doctor for our ultrasound. We should be able to find out if we are having a BOY or Girl, although my guess is BOY. Which is perfectly fine, I know how they work. I'm just praying that we have another healthy baby. Our lives are so blessed and we can't wait to add another little miracle to our family. I love being on this end of the camera!

I promise to keep up this blog better, just as life promises to slow down a bit. If only there were more hours in the day.

Library Elf....

I have to share this great new web service I found. Its called Library Elf . It sends you email reminders when your things are due, or if you have items on hold to pick up. They will even text you.
I know sometimes things get crazy and the due dates slip my mind. If like my family, you have multiple cards, overdue fees can add up.
Sign up is quick and easy, and most importantly FREE!

Ouch!

Today I had made doctor appointments for Cale, Colby and I to go for get flu shots. My OB highly recommended that I get one, and the boys are also in the high risk category so we all went to our family doctor this afternoon.

Cale also needed to have his yearly check up so I scheduled it for the same time. He was weighed (35 pounds) and measured (40 1/4 inches), 40% for both on the growth chart. When we got there they were both aware that we were getting shots, unfortunately Cale didn't know what he was in for. He had to have four immunizations, plus the flu shot, and have his blood drawn. So 5 pokes. He was not a happy person, can't say as I blame the guy. Ouch! He looks like a pin cushion. The nurses felt so bad, they gave him candy and stickers, but I don't think he is up for forgiving them yet. The bad news....they could only give him 1/2 of his flu vaccine, because of his age, so he has to have the other 1/2 next month. I think Shawn gets to take him....

Beautiful Fall Day!

The weather this fall has been absolutely incredible. I hate hate hate the cold, so this has been awesome. I'm thinking about hibernating when the winter finally does hit.

Today I think it was around 75 and tomorrow is forecast for 76....woohoo! We took advantage of the nice weather to get some much needed yard work done. As much as I had hoped the leaves would just blow away it was clear that wasn't going to happen. Shawn and I went outside and mowed, raked, bagged and got a good portion of the leaves taken care of. That is until we ran out of bags. Tomorrow I'll head out and pick some more up and try and get the side and back done. The bad news is the neighbors still have almost all of their leaves on the trees, so we will probably have to do it again.

Cale came out and helped me with some of my plants. We were working on cutting them back. I explained to him that since we had a freeze they had died, but if we cut them back they will grow again next spring. We were working away, of course he loves this part, the cutting that is. He says you know what we need.... Aqua Globes. Then the plants would get there water and not die. Okay maybe he watches too much television, either that or he is following after his father, he used to be, still is :), a sucker for those gadgets. Too funny....

Okay we are home...

One of the sharks in the pool.
Fishies in the pool. You can see the slide, it goes right through the middle.

Picture of the pool area, where the slide goes in.

Yep, were back. As always when you come back from a vacation you are thrown right back into reality and sometimes HARD. We had a wonderful time, it was awesome to have some time for just Shawn and I. Its not that we even did anything that note worthy but just taking uninterrupted time for "us" was great. We ate some great food, that was super cheap, gotta love that about Vegas. We walked around, saw the sights, laughed at the silly people and each other, and basked in the warm sunshine. Below are a few tips I have for you when traveling to Vegas

• Sign up for the shuttle through the airline, it would have cost us $28 round trip. Instead after some checking on line, must have been outdated info, we decided we would take a cab. $42 to get us to the hotel, we took a shuttle back which was $17.00. Ouch....
• Do not play BINGO. I love BINGO, but I am obviously not a professional. My head is still spinning at how quick the numbers were thrown out. I couldn't have known if I had won or not.
• The motto should be up all night, sleep all day. Not up all night, up all day, especially if one is pregnant.

Of course I say all these things in great humor. We stayed downtown at The Golden Nugget. The hotel was beautiful, especially the pool, and there is no way the prices could be beat. And if you have ever been to Vegas you know about the friendly (haha) handouts on the strip, none of this downtown. So clean, it was amazing to us when we went to the strip for the day how different it was. The have an amazing feature downtown called The Fremont Street Experience. It is soooo cool, this website shows some of the detail, but it is absolutely incredible. My favorite was Don McLean's American Pie. They do a show every hour, if your in Vegas it is a must!

All I can say is I'm so glad that Shawn got no pictures of me in my bikini at the pool. Now I'm sure that was quite a sight, but who cares....:)

And were off....

Saturday we celebrated our 11 year wedding anniversary, yeah us! In so many ways it seems much longer than that, and I mean that in a good way. Shawn brought me beautiful roses on Saturday morning, and they have bloomed into some of the prettiest flowers I have ever seen. They are absolutely huge! We went to dinner as a family with the boys since we are taking off for our vacation today.
So this afternoon we are off. So excited I cannot even begin to explain. The boys are excited for the fun they are going to have while we are gone with Ashlin, Papa, Aunt Sheila and Michele. Amy is going to come and pick up Cale and Ashlin for Mom's Group tomorrow, so they get to go to the pumpkin patch! Thanks to all of you for being willing to step up and help us so we could take some time for us.

The Big News!

And now the news you've all been waiting for, we went to the doctor this morning, and heard the babies' heartbeat, and there was only 1! That's good news, I think both of us exhaled a huge sigh of relief.
After weeks and weeks of everyone saying WOW, your big already. I had actually started to wonder myself, could there be two in there? I totally went in thinking that is what we would hear, so I was way relieved when there was one tiny little beating heart! So exciting!
We will have an ultrasound in December, and will know whether we are having a boy or girl before Christmas!

Busy, Busy Fall Days!

We are busy as ever. Enjoying these especially warm fall days, wishing it would stay this way, but I'm sure its only a matter of time before it is bitterly cold.

We've been staying busy with little (ha) home improvement projects around the house. It will be awesome when everything is complete, but right now not so much. Just wanting it done.

Counting down the days until our mini-vacation. Woohoo! But even more excited that this week we go to the baby doctor, we should be able to hear the heartbeat. It always makes my heart melt, can't wait!

Las Vegas, Baby....

Right before we found out we were expecting we had been planning to take a small vacation to Las Vegas. When we found out I was pregnant we stopped the planning. Last week I said to Shawn-"I feel good, its super cheap to go, and seriously when are we going to go on a vacation after this new babe arrives".

This is sooooo bad but we have not been gone more than overnight since Colby has been born. PEOPLE--he is 9 years old, it is time! So I got the arranging done, hotel is booked, plane tickets are purchased so there is no turning back.

Got all the childcare lined up, so now I am just super excited for the date to get here. The countdown is on, we leave October 20. Just a short trip, but what a great time it will be. And we leave 2 days after our 11th wedding anniversary.

Oh the things kids say....

Today my mom and sister Kelly came up, of course along with my beautiful niece Tayler Lynn. We went to lunch and then went out to do some shopping. While we were shopping at Target, Cale saw a picture in the grocery section like the one above. He says "Nana, that's what our baby looks like right now." Oh my, I was trying to make him understand how much growing and developing the baby will do while its in my tummy, funny how they take things so literally. I certainly hope the baby gets cuter before its born....

If this doen't say it all.....

Anyone with children in school can totally appreciate this. I remember when I was in school--way back in the day, peanut butter sandwiches were served with ALMOST every meal. Allergies had to have existed then, but wow have times changed. This is a tidbit of what came home from Colby's school last week....

PEANUT ALLERGIES AT WESTRIDGE

Please remember when packing school lunches and sending treats to school, that Westridge Elementary does have many students in each grade level and staff members that are allergic to peanuts. We are trying very hard to stay peanut-free and your cooperation would help those that have this Life-Threatening allergy. Even the mere odor of peanut products can trigger a severe situation for them. Thanks for your help and understanding.

Wow! I cannot even imagine how difficult it must be to have a child with allergies to food, so I am willing to take precautions to make sure everyone else's children can be safe too. But can this be true, can the mere smell trigger a reaction? I couldn't imagine, and after looking a little on the Internet, it does look like that maybe an exaggeration, but whatever, I guess better safe than sorry.

Just the other day, I went to our pantry to grab Colby a snack to have at school, they are allowed to have a snack in the morning-granola bars, fruit, veggies, anything slightly healthy. He totally freaked-I CAN'T TAKE THAT GRANOLA BAR IT HAS PEANUT BUTTER...wow-e!

Its a learning process I guess that will take a little getting used to, especially when I have a 9 year old who LOVES peanut butter and jelly....

Missing the Olympics....

I am missing the Olympics terribly....this is a picture of Michael Phelps in the beginning....a little post Olympic humor.
I'm not much for watch football, but boy oh boy are my boys. They are planning to have a huge Viking party this evening to watch their team. So if you need me I will be curled up with Maggie May and a good book.

Something in the water?

This afternoon when Shawn was talking with Pastor Josh and he thinks something may be in the water at church, although its bottled water....hmmm. But if you have been to our church lately you know what I'm talking about, baby bumps everywhere you turn, and now I am adding another to the mix. We found out yesterday that we are expecting a new little Adair next spring. We are so excited, but totally still in shock. The boys are pretty pumped, and so are Shawn and I. Three...wow...I must be crazy!

Camping Fun!

Spoiled rotten little foo foo doggie...
Some might think it would be easier to ride the scooter...
Ashlin & Colby
Maggie on the look out for another rescue
Me & my girlie-before the wild ride!

The last couple weekends we have taken advantage of the mild August temperatures and went camping. We went to Three Mile Lake which is down near Afton. The first weekend we tent camped (like we normally do) and then this past weekend we rented a cabin there. It was awesome. The cabin has two sets of bunk beds, a sofa with a pull out bed, table and 4 chairs, fridge, microwave, and most importantly air conditioning/heat. It was so nice to be able to go in at night and not deal with the extreme temperatures. That's one thing with tent camping, usually when you go to bed at night its OK, then you wake up in the middle of the night freezing, and then in the morning its sweltering hot.

We were able to do some fishing, tubing and most importantly just relax. Its nice to get away from the modern luxuries of computers, TV, and phones to concentrate on family. We played cards with the boys, roasted marshmallows, it was a lot of fun.

Ashlin drove down on Friday afternoon and went out on the boat with us. She and Colby went on the tube, then she and I. We were laughing so hard our ribs hurt for days. Shawn had a ball whipping us around the lake like little rag dolls. That was my first time, and I have only one thing to keep in mind for next time.....wear a one piece swimming suit....

Maggie even went for a swim in the lake, I think she went in to rescue Colby, all 11 pounds of her to the rescue...

The new boat....

On Cale's birthday we got our new boat. Well actually 1/2 of a boat, the other 1/2 belongs to Brad & Sheila. I don't know too much about it other than the fact that my husband is giddy as a school girl in love with this thing. Oh sure not as much as he loves me but hey who could?

Of course this was one of those screaming deals, that just could not be passed by. I do know that it is currently occupying ALL of our garage. It is too big to fit in normal ways so it must sit diagonally, thus making it hard to even walk around the thing.

We went out last Monday and cruised around Saylorville, just to test it out. Then this past Saturday we went fishing-me, Shawn, Colby and Cale. The boys loved it and did awesome. We were out a good six hours without one complaint from either of them, except for Colby complaining that Cale had all the fish on his side of the boat.....:) Cale was the big winner for the day with 4 fish. I think this boat is going to be OK, we will have a lot of fun with it. Now if it would only get off my side of the garage.

My baby is 4....

The dreaded CAREBEAR cake....
The brothers having fun at Chuck E. Cheese
Chuck E. Cheeses where a Dad can be a Kid.
Cale and Daddy at Adventureland, his first driving lesson.
Where does the time go?

I'm so behind in the blogosphere....trying to get caught up.

On July 20, Cale turned 4. I can't believe it. You know when they turn 4 there is absolutely no baby left in them, they are all little boy. He will tell anyone who will ask or even if you don't ask, that he is this many....4

The Friday before his birthday we hung out with Sheila Brad Haley Addy Grandma Linda Grandpa Gary Papa and Barbara. Haley and Addy also celebrated birthdays in July so we just had one big celebration. Cale got to pick whatever cake he wanted and much to the disappointment of his father it was a CAREBEAR cake. It turned out adorable, and I don't think at 4 a CAREBEAR cake is going to ruin our little boy.

Saturday night we headed to Chuck E. Cheeses, because Nana thought he for sure needed to go there to celebrate his birthday.

Then on Sunday, his actual birthday, we headed to Adventureland for the day. We got there right at opening (10 a.m.) and stayed until 6 that night. It was a full day of rides, food, and hot sweaty fun. Why is every time we go there it seems like its 400 degrees. We invited Ashlin and my mom to go along, and my mom even rode some rides. We had a great time, we were all exhausted but it was alot of fun.

Cale Jeffrey, I can't believe your 4 already. You have provided us with so much joy in your short life, and can't wait to see what this year brings us. We love you so much!

Cale is swimming!

Earlier this month we enrolled Cale in swimming lessons. For two weeks in the evenings he swam at Holiday Pool here in West Des Moines. The first night I thought it was going to be a long 2 weeks. He was about mid-chest in the water, when he exited(quickly). "I'm too nervous, its way too deep" This boy of ours has always been very timid in the water, about mid calf is good for him. Colby on the other hand, I'm pretty sure is part clown fish, the other part of him being just clown, but that's a whole other blog.

We went to Holiday that first week a couple times during the day just so he could get comfortable in the water where he was doing his lessons. He did so good. These pictures are of the 2nd to last night. We finally got to go out to the pool area, they keep the parents fenced into the concession area. Good idea, probably so they can't run to their mommies for help.

The first picture is of Cale and Miss Megan doing a front float, and the second picture is of Cale and some classmates waiting in line to go off the diving board. Now that is some serious progress.

Yesterday when we went to the pool, he was jumping in, completely underwater, swimming, without even plugging his nose. Yeah Cale!

Baptism

Sunday July 13 was Baptism at church. That night we gathered at Raccoon River Park for a BBQ and then Baptism. There were about 15 of us baptized. What an amazing feeling. Before the Baptism we each did a video testimony, which I am totally dreading having to watch. I tried to convey about how great our lives have become since we joined the church. All of my life I have tried without luck to fill my life with whatever it was I was missing, not ever having gone to church before I had no idea that the thing missing was God. Since I have God in my life of course my life is not perfect, but man what a change has come over this family, and me. The pictures above are of Shawn and I before being Baptized and of Ashlin.

Thank you God for the comfort I have found in you. Now I know you are the only one that could make me feel complete.

More VBS!

Sonya is in absolute amazement at how well the preschoolers are behaving....
Mandy taking a picture of me taking a picture of her.
The kids cooling off with a Popsicle.
Mandy leading the kids in morning worship time.

Wanted to share some more pictures of the fun we had at Vacation Bible School!

Outrigger Island Vacation Bible School

Miss Lori Starkey & Miss Meg Wetzel with the K, 1, 2 graders
Miss Mindy Abendroth & Miss Sonya Brown with the 3 to Pre-K
Miss Mandy Cecil with 3, 4, 5 graders
Miss Rebecca Baird helping with crafts
Miss Marcie Smith helping with crafts

Okay so I'm finally getting caught up....July 7-11 was Vacation Bible School. Not only did it happen in our backyard, I was the director. Oh what fun, it was an awesome time! Two different mornings I was literally outside on my deck, arms reached out to the sky, praying like no ones business for those pesky rain clouds to goooo away. He answered my prayers, it rained at night or after we were finished, but never more than a few quick sprinkles on our days.

Our theme, Outrigger Island, taught kids the ABC's of becoming a Christian. We had right around 35 kids, which I was thrilled with. We even had a visit from the Des Moines Register, she wrote a story and took pictures of the kids. The kids were great, and I think everyone had a good time. Am I crazy to say this....I can't wait until next year!

I can not even begin to thank the people who gave their time and energy to make it happen. Thanks to everyone for their donations, prayers and helping hands to help out "our kids!"

Back from Vacation

We had a great time on vacation. It has been a total whirlwind since we returned. But then whats new.

We had a great time in Branson. We went to White Water for 2 of the days. It is an awesome water park. We had so much fun there. Colby loved the 7.5 story water slide, although he was hard pressed to find anyone willing to go on it with him. Shawn and Ashlin both went once but said it hurt so bad speeding down at 45mph, getting knocked all over creation. Cale had a ball playing in the Little Squirts Waterworks, he has never been a huge fan of water, totally unlike his brother, but he really loved this. They provide lifejackets for you to use here, so it may have made him feel a little more comfortable, but by the end of the 2nd day he didn't even want to wear it. He went on a few water slides even. The wave pool was great, Ashlin giggled like a small girl the whole time. Although I would have to say her favorite part was the cute life guards.

We did a lot there, saw some shows, ate some food, did some shopping, got some sun. All in all it was a great vacation.

We had a lot of fun, but its always nice to get back home. I missed my baby girl. Thanks a bunch to my wonderful neighbor, Michele, for taking her in.

dinner time...

Thursday night after we got to our temporary home we decided we would go grab a bite to eat. Shawn's best friend Steve has an apartment in Kansas City, Kansas he's not currently there so he let us crash there. Steve is a storm chaser by trade so he is currently between working a storm in Decorah, Iowa and Minneapolis, Minnesota, which is good to know we could have a place in either of those spots too. :) So we are driving around and decide with 5 people its probably easiest to grab a quick bite at a mall, then everyone can pick there own thing. After about 25 minutes of driving we get to the mall, where everyone decides they will have SONIC... I know what are the odds we will all eat at the same place. We eat and head back to the apartment, another 25 minutes, stop by the HyVee right across the street from the apartment to grab some essentials, only to see a SONIC right there. UGH! you have got to be kidding me.