24 Weeks

Really not the best picture....But that is what happens on Friday at an elementary school....

(We are studying healthy habits, can you tell??)

A couple reasons why I love Colorado

1. This is our backdrop....Sometimes it is covered with snow and that makes me happy too!  This is just a picture I took while driving and sometimes it blows my mind that this is our "backyard" The picture doesn't do Pikes Peak justice.

2. Friends that make life so much more fun (like the ones who lay on the floor with me to try to get Abby to kick, or the ones who invite me over for dinner, or the ones who spend their whole Sunday with me to look for rocking chairs and make crafts, or the ones who make me laugh out loud until my face hurts)...Those are the friends I am talking about....

3. The fact that we can feed giraffes....While dressed up as Tim Tebow

4. And...That I can go almost anywhere and despite the crowds see someone I know and like.  For instance, I went to the balloon glow a little while back and saw the Gradins and Tepleys...Yesterday I went to Boo at the Zoo and saw a teacher from school...Last weekend I saw two kids from my class at Target (Which is a hot spot for AIES kiddos...)This summer I walked past a car full of kids and all I could hear was "Mrs. Klenke, it's Mrs. Klenke!"  I had no idea who was in the car but waved and said, "Hey Kids!"  Then I heard one of them say, "See, I told you she knew who were are!"  That made me feel famous!

Living in a place where you come into contact with so many people is way too fun!  (But, that also means no going to the store in my pajamas...)

Things I want to do before BK comes...Continued

1. Make a pie
2. Go to the apple orchard
3. Make a snow angel and try to make it look pregnant
4. Walk to school
5. Update my phone contacts and make it organized Thanks to Ben Bolton!!!
6. Go to Michigan three times in the next three months Trip One!
7. Go to the zoo (the giraffes were scary when you couldn't see where they were coming from!  Thanks Ty and Dustin for a fun night at Boo at the Zoo!)

8. Eat a donut at the cider mill and feed the ducks with Sam and Elli 
9. Take a nap with a baby 
10. Send Steve a care package every month (I crossed off two words, because so far he has gotten two packages from me :))
11. Donate one thing every month to goodwill
12. Update the blog at least 4x/month
13. Teach all my first graders to read
14. Write in my journal to record all that God has done for me in this transition time
15. Take a bath
16. Get over my fear of swimming at the YMCA and just do it
17. Run/Walk at least 2x/week
18. Write for a military online magazine (I have all the info, I just need to write the article)
19. And to end it all, I want to have a baby.....Then Steve can come home and celebrate with us!

Things I want to do before BK comes...Continued

1. Make a pie
2. Go to the apple orchard
3. Make a snow angel and try to make it look pregnant
4. Walk to school
5. Update my phone contacts and make it organized
6. Go to Michigan three times in the next three months Trip One!
7. Go to the zoo
8. Eat a donut at the cider mill and feed the ducks with Sam and Elli 
9. Take a nap with a baby 
10. Send Steve a care package every month (I crossed off two words, because so far he has gotten two packages from me :))
11. Donate one thing every month to goodwill
12. Update the blog at least 4x/month
13. Teach all my first graders to read
14. Write in my journal to record all that God has done for me in this transition time
15. Take a bath
16. Get over my fear of swimming at the YMCA and just do it
17. Run/Walk at least 2x/week
18. Write for a military online magazine (I have all the info, I just need to write the article)
19. And to end it all, I want to have a baby.....Then Steve can come home and celebrate with us!

23 Weeks

With my new coat!!

Trip to MI

This last weekend I was so excited to go visit the family in Michigan!

I got in on Friday at about 1:00....I went right to Russ and Jen's (was able to see the baby girls) and then got to go fishing with dad, Russ and Jen.  We all caught something even though the fishing was tough!

(This is not my favorite part of fishing, holding the fish!)

Sam was even nervous about touching those slimy buggers!

Saturday I got to go to the Klenke's to have lunch with Andy, Britt, Paul, Midge and Grandma.  We even got to skype Steve for 1 hour!  It was super fun!

When I went back to Russ and Jen's we got to go to the cider mill which involves: Sam calling it the "wind mill," watching the water wheel, eating delicious donuts, drinking apple cider (yeah, I drank some, it was not pasteurized), watching the ducks, seeing my wonderful cousins, and swatting away bees.  It was wonderful and no one got stung!

Watching the ducks at the cider mill with Beaners and Sam....

These girls always wear their sunglasses...When we were on our way to the cider mill Elli was in the back saying "Daddy, turn it!" because the sun was in her face!

The 1560 lb. pregnant lady!

After going to the cider mill the girls went to Babies R Us to Register (Jen, mom, Midge, and I).  Jen is a super star and for the first time ever I went to look at baby stuff without being overwhelmed.  She was amazing and told me everything I would need.

We went to Marinetti's for dinner and got to see the Bucks and eat pizza.  It was so fun to be home and see everyone.  It is kind of hard to believe that the fidget cousins are almost all in high school and one is in college! What happened to those babies??

Sunday was a nice lazy day and I was able to wake up to Sam coming out of her room in the morning saying, "Well Hi Cookie!"  She climbed right in bed with me and we watched Monsters Inc.  What a fun cuddle time!  Elli woke up too and the girls had their snack while finishing off the movie.  Russ made a spectacular breakfast and then we stayed in PJ's all day.  We were able to paint pumpkins with the kids...See how excited they are!

Hmm...Sam, we don't eat this....

Elli looks like she is saying, "Am I in trouble?"

Later on in the day Russ drove me to the airport and although it was sad, I held in my tears (I didn't say too much though...It would have been too hard to talk).  Glad I get to go back next month!

And....we are having a baby!

So, this weekend I went to Michigan to visit my amazing family...There will be more to post on that later.

This post is really fun for me!  My mom surprised me yesterday and said, "Go to the Toys R Us and you have a gift waiting there for you..."  She wouldn't tell me what it was....But, I got the chance to go today and look at what I found!

Our baby girl has a bed!  I love the pattern and the mobile is super cute...It has turtles on it.  There is a night light and little sound machine that hooks onto the playpen/bed.  There is also a changing table and a super organizer at the bottom (for diapers, clothes, blankets, etc.)  I am loving it!

After going to MI, I got some clothes from Sam/Elli....The nursery is looking pretty full!

(I know I am much more organized than this, but I just threw the clothes on because I still need to wash them and organize them by size).