Sledding At Mel's

So what a blast we had when we all packed up and went up north a couple of hours to our good friends farm, Melanie and Justin! We took two cars, me, Corey and the kids in one and our neighbors The Dentons in the other! It was a beautiful drive up there and we also saw three bald eagles! We had to do a little four wheeling on the back dirt roads to her farm, which was pretty fun! When we got there we all gave hugs hello and the kids were sooo excited to see their kids Shay and Ethan! We packed up stuff to roast hot dogs and smores and headed up the hill where her husband already had a fire going for us! We literally sledded all day long and only to take a break to warm up by the fire and roast some yummy food! On a funny note Cody has recently learned that his potty is called a penis, and when we got to Melanies and he said his hellos he then went on to tell Melanie that he has a penis!!! hahahah it was pretty funny and embarrassing at the same time! But out of the whole wonderful day, the best part was seeing the smiles and laughter on all their little faces as they sledded down the hills! It was complete happiness they were all experiencing!

Riley Rae

There was a time in me and my husbands life, where I wasn't sure if I really ever wanted kids. My husband knew this but still every year he would ask "Are you sure? do you want to try?" and I would always answer "maybe next year?" It wasn't That I didn't like children, I was just completely scared of raising them! What if they turned out bad? what if I'm not a good mom? Those are the questions that would go through my head, as I am sure it went through every persons head considering children! Its a good thing that Riley's pregnancy happened without being planned, because I don't think I ever would have given the okay or felt that I was ready! We knew exactly when it happened to! a fun night out a little to much to drink (and we all know good judgement is out the window with alcohol! hahah) and well I'm sure you can guess the rest! A couple weeks went by and I just knew!!! I was sooo nervous though to take the test and know our lives were about to change!!! We went and got a test and it said the best time to take it was in the morning, so I put it in the bathroom drawer and we went about the rest of the day. It was pretty late at night and I couldn't sleep, Corey got home from swing shift and we decided to take the test then! we just couldn't wait til morning. I took the test and of course right away it was positive! I thought I was going to be devastated because of course I thought I was not ready, but instantly I was soooo excited! And of course Corey was, he had been wanting children for a while! We ended up calling everyone very close to us to tell them at 1 in the morning, we were just sooooo excited!!! The pregnancy went perfect other than the fact that I blew up like a balloon and was not at all attractive, and I am not just saying that either! I started off weighing 110lbs and ended the pregnancy at 197lbs! I don't know what happened because I still did light exercise and ate pretty good! Maybe its just my family's genes, cause nobody in our family is attractive when they are pregnant!! hahaha Sorry Riley hopefully you got your dads genes in that department! Corey was deployed during my pregnancy which was quite a surprise to him that when he left I was super skinny and when he got back I was the St. puff marshmallow man! Both of us wanted to find out the sex of the baby, and so we both found out at the same time I had the ultra sound technician write the sex down and seal it in an envelope, and then I waited til Corey had a chance to call me and I got out the envelope and opened it and read it over the phone so that we found out together at the same time! The birth was a different story for another time. All in all I never realized how much I could love something. Corey's mom had told me while I was pregnant that I wouldn't understand how much I was going to love her until she was here and she was sooo right! Of course I still have the fears of not being a good mom, but now there are so many emotions that I didn't expect, not only the love and how much I love them (Them meaning because I also have a son, his story will be next) but the love being soooo great you just want to squeeze them and kiss them and cry sometimes just because the love is overwhelming! Another emotion that can become over bearing is fear, Fear that what if someone kidnapped them, what if Riley didn't get off the bus, what if they hurt themselves, hopefully that is not in my plan of my life because I could not go on with my life with out them or the thought of thinking about them being hurt and I am not there to help them. So having children was even more than I thought it would be, The question should not be are you ready for children, because I have come to think that no person can ever be completely ready for all the emotions that come with children. The question should be "do you want to feel a flood of emotions of ups and downs that will test you every day of your life and still through all those emotions it is the greatest joy of your life"? My answer is yes and yes!!!! I love you Riley and no matter how big you get, you will always be my baby girl!! Love mom

So...

Christmas is over and it was a very memorable and tiring time. Any plans we had thought about making for the new year, quickly went out the window and we spent the night cuddled with our kids and watching a movie, and RELAXING! We made some great memories this year though and another year has gone by so quickly!!! I remember when my children where born everyone saying "enjoy it, the time goes by so fast" everyone was soooo right, I cannot believe they are getting so big it seems like yesterday Cody was born and he is going to be four now!!! And Riley 8! But it doesn't matter how big they get, cause they will always be my babies!!!!!

Our last and final Christmas!

Our last and final stop for Christmas was my Grandmas house. The kids enjoyed pretending to fish in her ponds with Aunt Jessy, and Great Grandma read the kids stories while I visited with my sisters, cousin and Aunt that I haven't seen for ages! We also for the first time met her twin babies! They are soooooo adorable!

Fifth Christmas at my dads!

Okay so by now we are all starting to get exhausted and thinking of our own beds back home, but no, no, still two more Christmas's to go! The homemade blackberry wine that my dad makes, makes it alot more easier to keep on going!!! This wine is absolutely the best wine I have ever had, it is not sweet like the blackberry wine you would by in the stores, but more of a wooden type blackberry taste, okay so I cannot describe it very well but I LOVE IT! maybe a little to much because I got pretty tipsy at my dads, but had a great time! the kids all got diggers from grandpa, This is something he use to do to us kids growing up, he would sit on you and then slowly come down with his hands while making the music that you hear right before Jaws the shark attacks, (you know, the dada dada dadadadadad) and then right as his self made music gets faster and faster he tickles you to where you think you going to pee your pants! The kids love it and apparently from the pictures dad thought we were long over do for diggers also! hahahaha

Fourth Christmas at Corey's parents house!

My husbands parents house is always a blast! We always have a drink of the night, last year it was pomegranate martinis and this year was gin and tonics. We also do a different dinner every year, Last year we did a rib cook off and this year it was London broil! I always enjoy the company of Great Grandma T! She is a wonderful lady with such a classic presence to herself! Papa always gets into his football games and all of us just watch him and laugh! Coreys sisters birthday just happens to be right after Christmas so we all had the pleasure of taking her lunch and flowers to her at work for a fun surprise!

Moms house cont.......