Gone Fishing

Yesterday Chris took the boys fishing for the first time and they LOVED IT! There is a fishing farm not far from the house where you can rent equipment and then fish at their fully stocked lake. Afterwards, they will clean the fish for you and send them home all packed in ice. Here are some pictures....

Owen caught a 1/2 lb Rainbow Trout within about 10 minutes. Sammy took a little longer, but his was a full pound. Owen was able to reel his in himself and Chris only had to net it, but since Sammy's was bigger he needed Chris's help holding the rod while he turned the reel.

I was very excited to come home from work to a fresh fish dinner, but 1 1/2 lbs turned out to be not very much fish. Owen ate like a CHAMP, so I didn't get much. Regardless, I was so glad they all got to go out and enjoy the beautiful weather we've been having this summer.

The best part is that Chris had emailed me the whole story about their fishing trip, but I wanted to hear it from them so I called home and had Chris put me on speaker phone.
Me: "Hi Guys! Are you having a fun day?"
Both: "Yes!"
Me: "So what did you do that was fun today?"
Sammy (4): "We flushed a ball down the toilet!"
Chris: "WHAT???? I gotta go!"
CLICK.

The Name Game

You would think that after basically over 6 years of looking through boy names, it would be easy for us to come up with one for the new baby but we are officially STUMPED! We had a pretty easy time picking Owen's name - we wanted something that didn't have a nickname to it because there are so many names out there that we liked but didn't like the corresponding nicknames. And with Sammy, I was so sure he was a boy that he was pretty much named the minute we got the ultrasound results. William was tougher. We didn't have an ultrasound, but I was 100% convinced he was a girl so refused to "waste" any time picking out a boy name. He was 7 days overdue when Chris finally forced me to discuss it with him. We waffled between Jack and Luke for a while and then I said "What about William? Didn't we use to like that name?" and he said "That's it - William." I really appreciated the decisiveness, since I was just not up for any more discussion at that point. I'm also glad he pinned me down on that because I was pretty much in shock when William was born, so at least I didn't have that decision to make.

Anyway, that brings us to this baby. There are no names that have really GRABBED me. I feel like we've used up all the ones we like already! All the middle names have been family names: Owen Robert (after Chris's uncle), Samuel David (after my dad) and William Gregory (after Chris's dad). I think the middle name for #4 should be Christopher, but I am really struggling finding a first name that sounds good with it. Also, my main concern with naming all the kids has been making sure it's a name that will look good at the top of a resume. So I think I need something very classic and timeless.

I know we have another 7 weeks or more until this baby makes his appearance but it would be nice to have this all settled. There are names I like and names Chris likes, but none that we've truly agreed on. If it were up to Owen and Sammy the baby would be named Darth Vader. Well, that would be one way to get your resume noticed!

On a side note, I am loving William's way of addressing his brothers. He is heavy into babbling now and knows exactly what he's saying. He's my first babbler. Owen really didn't even try to talk until after he was 2 and had the words down. Sammy started talking in FULL sentences by 18 months and was perfectly clear about them. At 20 months old, he said to me: "Mama, can you get off the couch and get the phone so I can call Nana." WHAT??? He was absolutely amazing and grew up WAY too fast!

But William acts very much like the 19 month old he is and babbles CONSTANTLY! He calls Sammy "Mammy" which reminds me of Gone with the Wind. The way he says Owen's name is really tough to translate so I won't even try. It's hard to believe that in a few weeks he won't be the baby anymore! I worry about how he'll react to the new baby because I do think he likes his current position in the family. But of course by having them just 21 months apart, eventually he won't even remember what life was like before his little brother arrived. Besides, they are ALL my babies and I know they always will be.

Goodnight, Sweet Prince

It's hard to believe it's been over 6 months since we lost our beloved cat, Sir. It was such a horribly sad day for all of us and to try to explain to the kids what had happened was very difficult. Sir was my husband's prior to our marriage but I'm so glad I got to spend 7 years with him.

When we had to put him down, we had him cremated and it was just a couple of months ago that we started on a memorial garden for him. It's on the wooded side of the house where there are lots of trees and Chris planted some hostas. Eventually we would like to have it all mulched and maybe a small swing or bench. I got this rock from work (a leftover table number) and surprised Chris with my craftiness. I used Outdoor Mod Podge, so it should hold up out there but we will definitely bring it inside in the winter.

Goodbye to our sweet, sweet Sir. We sure do miss you!

Home Tour Tuesday

Ok, so it's not my "home" but it sure feels like it some days! This is my office where I spend most of my waking hours. I plan weddings for a resort and about a year ago we (my officemate, Hayley and I) were moved from the dark, windowless offices on the other side of the building to this large room that had previously been used for storage. As you can see in the first pic, there are windows but they look into the hallway. Random people are constantly walking past and peering in, which makes Hayley and I feel like we are animals at the zoo!

The idea behind giving us this room was that we would have a place to make prospective brides feel welcome and show them some of the options for linens, centerpieces, cakes, etc. Since our resort has about 50 weddings per year, vendors in the area were anxious to donate their wares to help decorate this room.

We have the linens on the show tables changed every couple of months. This vendor decided on pink and green, but I don't really like it. I would have preferred a chocolate with the pink, or maybe a khaki. You can see we have two "dummy" cakes, one being more classic and one is more modern. I make it a point to try the cake at each wedding so I can recommend my favorite bakers and the lady who donated these is one of the best. Her cheesecake filling is AMAZING!

The table on the left makes all prospective grooms cringe! It really looks like something a 3 year old girl would envision for her wedding. I like the one on the right a bit better, but I'm excited to have both of these tables re-done this week.

When management originally proposed we have this office, we were promised all new furniture. After all, we would be basically a public place (next to the gift shop) and we wanted to make a good impression on our potential customers. But, alas, it was not to be and we have cast-off chairs from when they renovated the spa. The worst thing is our desks! I actually brought in my hot glue gun to fix a part of Hayley's that was literally hanging off! Most of the drawers in our desks hardly even open and when I put my feet against inside of my desk, it bulges right out of the front. So embarrassing!

So this is where I spend about 10 hours a day. Hope it wasn't too boring for you! (sometimes it is for me!)

My little "Starfish"

Owen and Sammy took swimming lessons this summer for the first time. It was a 2 week session offered in our city. We took them every night after work and they really, really loved it. Unfortunately, after the two weeks neither of them were ready to be promoted to the "Penguin" class, but hopefully we will be able to get them more exposure to water in the next few months.
Owen was braver than Sammy and by the end of the two weeks started to put his face in the water, which was a very big step. Sammy wouldn't have anything to do with that!

10 Weeks to Go!

YIKES! I'm getting so huge! I think Chris actually took this picture last week when I was 29 weeks along so you can only imagine how much bigger I've gotten since then. Pretty soon the boys won't even fit in the frame anymore!

Birthday Week in Wisconsin

We have made it pretty much an annual tradition to get together with my in-laws over 4th of July, since Owen's birthday is the day after his grandpa's. (July 6 and 7) A couple of years ago we went to Great America and this year we spent a night at the WI Dells, which is less than 2 hours from where we live. I think it's great that my father-in-law gets to REALLY celebrate his birthday now that he's got someone to share it with. As adults, we tend to think of our birthdays as any other day and sometimes we even dread them. But I think any occasion to celebrate should be seized, especially as adults so that the days don't just pass us by.

Anyway, here are a few pictures from their visit and our time in the Dells:



William is TWICE the eater his brothers are! Here he is enjoying an entire hamburger and this was AFTER he ate 1/2 breast of chicken and many spoonfuls of corn and mashed potatoes.

I had arranged for our room to be decorated when we arrived which was thrilling to the kids. They especially loved the balloons - well what kid doesn't?

I made this cake for Pa before we left, but he shared it with Owen. I added a box of pudding mix to the pre-packaged cake mix and WOW, did it make a difference! Sooooo moist! I'll never make a cake again without it!

Owen asked for many different things for his birthday and his list of wants would change all the time. But one thing that remained constant was his request for a flashlight. Chris wisely got the crank kind so we wouldn't have to deal with batteries. (He got one for Sammy, too.)

My father-in-law loves fireworks so this was a great birthday gift for him.

We had a great week and are already looking forward to seeing them again when we travel to MI with the new baby in October. Our next scheduled visitor is my mom in September to help when I have the baby. It was nice that when William was born at home, we didn't have to find a sitter for the kids and they never even saw the midwife. We put them to bed and said we'd have a baby in the morning and by the time they got up, the midwife was already gone. Sammy still talks about "when you go to bed and the baby pops out." (Yes, that's EXACTLY how it happens!) But this time, since I will be going to the hospital we need to find childcare for at least 24 hours.

Hope everyone had a nice holiday! Can you believe we're almost 1/2 way through July already? Life is like a roll of toilet paper - the further you get into it, the faster it goes!

Bathtime Fun!

Just a quick note to any family and/or friends out there who are wondering what to get the kids for future Christmas' or birthdays: Please no more of those squirty bath toys. I caught the two older boys trying to give each other enemas with them. Nuff said. Thanks!