Happy 4th Birthday Kate!

Yesterday we celebrated Kate's 4th Birthday! It was a great day! Kate decided she wanted to have a Fancy Nancy themed party. I love these books, the illustrations and the stories are great. Kate told me who she wanted to invite and was very excited to put the mail in the mail box for the mail man. Kate wasn't able to do either in our old apartment, it was a locked box and we didn't have a mail send out box. She kept asking me is it the day after tomorrow, is it Saturday yet. We invited some of her closest friends, and even though it was a girly party, there siblings were welcome to stay and celebrate. Kate loved all the decorations I hung up around the house, she woke up with a huge smile on her face. We first started out playing pin the tail on the donkey, to entertain everyone while Jerry went to get the Pizza to eat for lunch. The kids loved it. Then we eat Pizza and watermelon. We quickly move to open Kate's presents. She was so cute as she opened up her presents, she loved everything she opened, she got more and more excited with every present she opened. I just loved seeing her smiling, excited face as she open the presents. She was having a ball at her party. We pretty much got every Fancy Nancy product made out there for Kate's party thanks to family and friends. She got dress up clothes, shoes, sticker books, and treasure box, board game, purse, sunglasses and a Doll. She was also excited to get the rest of her my little pony collection. That is her other new passion, she love to barrie her pony's in the back yard , dig them up, wash them and do there hair everyday. That's another blog entry all together, back to the party. The Gardner girls got her paints and brushed and paper, she is so excited to try them out. Bella and her mom made her new name letters for her Bedroom, to go with her new big girl theme. I made her a princess piggy bank. Thank you Aunt Amy for the collection of stuffed kittys she love them. She also received some wonder birthday card sending her love and well wishes for her birthday from more family and friends that live far away. We then moved to the next room and had all the girls make Fancy Nancy pocket purses. The girls did such a great job decorating their purses with boas and sparkly paint and pom poms. I had fun helping Kate make her purse. This was such a great idea for a party, I recommend other try it, it was a success. We then had birthday cake and ice cream. We sang to Kate and she blew out all 4 candles, I can't believe it she is four. Kate requested to have a butterfly Cake like Fancy Nancy's butterfly book. So once again I attempted to create the cake of her dreams, while stressing myself out in the process trying to make the best cake possible. It actually turned out great in the end, I was pleased with the end results and Kate love it too. She loved licking the spoon of frosting while I was decorating the cake. After we sang and ate cake I had all the Kids line up and make their own ice cream sundaes, or as Fancy Nancy calls them Parfaits. I actually found these really colorful plastic sundae containers for a dollar at the dollar tree. The kids had so much fun dumping the toppings on their ice cream. I think they had more toppings then ice cream in their cups. As a party favor for coming we cleaned out the cups and put in candy jewelry and rings pops for the kids to take home. I thought it was a good idea to take a piece of the story home with them and to remember the fun they had making the ice cream parfaits. The kids loved taking home the fancy purses, ice cream cups and oh yeah I almost forgot the tiaras too. We had a group picture before everyone left and yell out Happy Birthday Kate and everyone headed home, most likely for naps and a good rest. It was such a fun time, I enjoyed planning it, all the ideas came easily and the party flowed really well. I even ended right on time. Kate was so excited and wired from the party, she couldn't take a nap. We spend the rest of the day as a family. One of my favorite moments of the day was, when we I got to take her by herself to the store to pick out the last my little pony to finish her collection. She was so excited to take the money Aunt Karrie gave her and pay for the pony herself. We also ended up going to the drive in, to see G force. Kate seem to really have a wonderful day, she kept saying I'm the birthday girl and I turned 4 today. Wow my baby girl is 4. I was sad to realize she was no longer 3, three is my favorite age, but I am excited she is growing up to be such a beautiful little girl.

Caleb's One year old Pictures

Well, I'm finally getting around to posting these pictures. I went to Sears to get Caleb's one year old pictures done. We don't have much in regards to studios to pick from down here to get your pictures done. It's either, Wal-mart or Sear or a mom and Pop studio. I wish we had more to choose from. I decided to go to Sears to get the matching wall portrait I got of Kate so they would match. Well not that I should of been surprised, but Caleb was being a mama's boy and being really shy. The photographer was overly loud and obnoxious which made him feel worse. I know she was trying to get him to smile, but Caleb likes things a little calm and easy going. It's just his nature I guess. So when she finished I was not very happy because once again she didn't capture that smile, you know the one smile that is your child's true happy smile. The one you can hardly resist, the one that make you smile back. Once again I had a few people tell me I've captured my son in pictures better than what the Sears Lady did. I guess that is a compliment, but still frustrating to go get pictures and not have them turn out the way you want them to. I was frustrated that it's been 3 years since I went there with Kate and they used the exact same props with Caleb that they did with Kate, minus the daisy flowers. They always advertise these great props with there ads and they never seem to have any at the time you go to take your picture. I don't know why I do this to myself every year. I guess I just want a professional to do it on there Birthday year mark, so I can say I got there picture taken each year at least once. I feel bad for complaining, I'm just frustrated with the results, they turned out just ok, not great. I was hoping for great. Tell me what you think, do you like them are they good, great or just o.k.?

The Results are in!

Well, the result are in we went to the doctor yesterday to find out what we where having, and the first thing Kate say to the ultrasound tech is I wanted a baby sister, not pressure right. She was very excited to see pictures of the baby and hear the heart beat. So you are probably wondering what are we having, well we are.................

Kate could hardly contain herself she went right out in the hallway and found the doctor and told him she was going to have a baby sister. He asked her what should her name be and she said very seriously with a long pause, um I am still thinking about it. Too funny. The doctor came in and said while I was doing my duty in the bathroom that he was told what we were having. The doctor said she seem to be a real girly girl and large and in charge, and it would be good to have someone to play dress up with. I said yes, and look at Caleb and said "Poor Caleb", the doctor chuckled with me. We are very excited to be having another girl. Now the new task is to decide a a name. I was walking out of the doctors office and had that day after Christmas feeling, the surprise of what the sex would be was over. It was different for me, since I had one of each I wasn't necessarily hoping for one of the other, it was just fun having it be a fun mystery and it was fun wonder how are family dynamics would turn out to be, would the girls win out or would there be more boys. I wanted to know what it was so I could plan, but it was kind of nice to not know and have a little bit of mystery and anticipation. I'm better now and am excited to start planning for this new little one. So it's official it's a girl!

Stories that Take you down Memory Lane

Last night I was reading Kate her usually bedtime story and some how maybe because we moved she found a book I didn't know we had. Kate asked me to read leo the Lop, from the Serendipity books series. Ok all you 80's kids out there, do you remember those cute paperback books you would order from the school book order clubs. I use to love them as a kid, the best part that I didn't realize as a kid ,but as an adult they have a great lesson or moral to the story at the end of each book. The book I had was published in 1979 so I was wondering if they still printed these wonderful books, so I search on line. Sure enough they pretty much sell the whole series on amazon.com, I was thrilled and ordered my top favorite ones. I wanted all of them, but there are so many of them I think I would have boken the bank if i ordered everyone of them. So I am so excited about my find. I just wanted to share it with you all. So did any of you out there read these books when you where a kid?

Happy 4th of July!

We again had a wonderful time for the 4th, how can we not when it's your husbands favorite holiday. We bought way to may fireworks. I had to give Jerry a budget, and he was good and stayed within the budget. We had a great time at the Guistina's this year, they are so very close friends we met at church. It was a good time full of food, fireworks and Friends. Jerry put on a great fireworks show as he always does. It so funny every year after everyone is dog tired and wants to go to bed, he is so wired and excited, he has trouble going to sleep, because he had so much fun blowing up stuff. He is like a kid on Christmas Day. He love the 4th of July. I love this holiday as well, it always gives me time to reflect how bless I am to live in this country. Also for all the sacrifices made by all the service men and women and especially their families. I am forever grateful and proud to be an American! Happy 4th everyone!

Happy Father's Day

So I have to Catch up for lost blogging time, I wanted to post Fathers day! I wanted to thank my husband for being such a great day to our kids, we had fun picking his presents at the store, Jerry was so excited for the day that he wanted the Kids to give him is presents on Saturday, so we did, I got tired of him trying to ask Kate all day what she got him. We had a great time celebrating Daddy!

What a week we've had

What a week we have had here at the Rasmussen's new home. We finally finished up moving all of are stuff, out of our old place on the 1st. I thought we would never finish. It was hard to move in this heat wave we have been having. It's the hottest I have experienced since I have lived here. It's 100 or more plus humidity, SO NOT conducive to moving. Then once we got moved in, my Children ended up getting sick. Caleb had a high fever and all we wanted to do was sit with mom on the couch and nothing else. It was hard to just sit and look at all my boxes I have around and not be able to do anything about them. We ended up taking Caleb to the pediatrician and he ended up having pink eye and an ear infection in his left ear. It took us 2 1/2 hours to see the doctor. (Poor Caleb walked around all day with the tyenol and thermometer in his two hands.)You thought that was bad, my week gets better. I was driving to the apartment earlier in the week and my car broke down, and the repair place said it would take a week to even get a chance to look at it. Oh, and then a policeman instead of giving us time to take care of it, Jerry saw him while he was moving things looking at my car, and so he stopped to talk to the officer and said he call a tow truck to come get it. He said I'm not waiting to have you move it, it's blocking traffic. It's hard to believe that if you are completely pulled off the road and on the grass, no part of you car is on the road that my car could possibly be blocking traffic. So to say the least we ended up with a $125 towing fee. So no T.V., a sick baby, and no car to get out, let's just say it wasn't my best week. I so glad to that I was able to make it though last week, it was a tough one. I have my car back, Caleb is feeling better and I still have lots of boxes to unpack.

Moving Day!

Today is the officially moving day. I told Kate that last night she would sleep in this house, tomorrow she gets to sleep in her new room, she was very excited. Then for some reason whether it be over tiredness or pregnancy hormones, it finally hit me we are finally moving from our little apartment, and I got a little sad. It's been my home since I got married. I have had two children here and have really tried to make my home. I'm excited to get out of this place, but sad to leave so many memories. It's all I have know for 6 years, you kind of just get use to living is a place and forget how annoying some things are. Sharing walls with neighbors, bad wall paper, terrible green carpet. You make due and make the best home you can, and I think I achieved that. Change is good, I am excited! It's going to be a lot of work for a few weeks, but it will keep me busy. I will be without Internet for a while so this will be my last entry for a while. I'll definitely have to fill you in on our 4Th of July celebrations, everyone is already talking about Jerry and his firework show. It's his favorite holiday, he spends more on this then Christmas I think. He really enjoys himself and it's fun for the whole family. We so long for now.

Will I ever feel better?

Well, it has been a rough week in the Rasmussen home. On Monday we all caught the 24 flu bug, I was first, then Kate, shortly after Caleb and Jerry followed. I don't know, but I was just starting to feel better, getting out of that morning sickness phase I so love, and then this hits. Everyone seem to get better in 24 hours, except for me. I still seem to not be able to keep things down, not even water. I think what's happened is my body just can't seem to recover from having an empty stomach for so long, so I'm getting some of that morning sickness back. I just don't know what's worse, 3 months of sick or one day over overwhelming, to much to handle sickness. On top of all that, oh yes there is more, I am in over my head in boxes trying to get ready to move to our new place. I am so stressed, I don't know how it will ever get done. Jerry doesn't seem to be worried about it. That's either good or bad. That means he really thinks it can be done pretty easily or he has no idea how much stuff we really have to move. I hope he is right, and I hope this week gets better.

Caleb's Favorite show

I have been noticing in the last few days Caleb's reaction to this show called the Imagination movers on the Disney channel. Every time it comes on he gets this huge grin on his face and he starts to laugh. I thought it was a one time thing, but everyday this week he has done it every time. Out of all the show they show in the morning for Kids this has to be the most annoying one. Something about grown men dressed in funny outfit, getting way to excited about the smallest things, and annoying music just hits me a little strange. It figures that my son would like this show the best, the one mom can't stand. I don't mind to much, it makes him super happy. I personally think is the bright colors that gets his attention. I wasn't really paying attention to what time it was this morning, I just happen to have the camera out snapping pictures of the kids and I caught his reaction. Talk about perfect timing. It also funny that after he watches it he falls asleep for his morning nap, I think is the over stimulation of color and loud annoy music, that's my guess. Caleb's reaction I have to say is super cute. I love this little boy he is so funny sometimes.

Happy Anniversary

June 7, 2003, 6 years ago Jerry and I got married. We celebrated our anniversary yesterday, with a quite evening at home. We had are wonderful friend watch the kids for the evening while I made dinner and dessert for the two of us. We also got to watch a movie from start to finish without having to stop it 6 times. It was strange to not have the kids around. It's seems like forever ago when we didn't have any little ones around. It was a great day. I can't believe 6 years as gone by, it's been a ride. I'm looking forward to the many great years ahead. I have to apologize for the fuzzy picture, I got married before the age of digital cameras, my scanning job was the best I could do. I gave this picture to my husband as a gift yesterday and a special note. He really loved it. He doesn't remember ever seeing this one. Thanks Jill again for taking such wonderful pictures of our special day.

Packing

Well, packing is going very slowly, mostly due to the fact I get tired easily and I'm still, yes still nausea. So frustrating. I'm 14 weeks on Saturday so I am hoping it gets better soon. This time around has been seem so much worse. I feel like food will never be my friend again. I can't even think about it. Anyways back to packing. I feel like I have hardly made a dent in it. I think part of the problem is I am packing up Kate's room first. I figure that I can do and get it done the fastest. Knowing where to start was my other problem. I thought that would be the best and easiest place to start, I was wrong. Kate bless her heart make things so much worse because she see things that have been stored in her closet for 6 years and thinks everything is a toy and want to play with it. It has taken me twice as long as I plan to pack up her room ahhhh! Oh she found her pink suit case yesterday in the closet and decided she wanted to go visit grandma. She was so thoughtful to pack up some clothes for her and her brother. She said I got Caleb his p.j.'s and his tie for church and one outfit. She said how many planes does it take to get to grandma's? First the small one that the big one, can we go see grandma now. She is still asking to go to Grandma this morning. I was so frustrated with the fact she pulled out all the clothes I have been trying so hard to put away and keep folded in her draw. I love to wash laundry, it's the folding and putting away that I struggle with. It was hard to get to mad at her being as see was very serious about packing her own suitcase to go to grandma. I told her that she had enough clothes and what she pack was ok to stay in the suitcase. Kate has been pulling her suitcase around the house all night and morning. It's kind of cute I have to admit. So that's why I haven't made much progress, Kate is so busy playing new games and pretend with all the items I pull out I just can't keep up. One day at a time I guess, we will get it done. I know hate is a strong word but I really do hate packing/moving my whole house.

Farewell Dixie Drive, Hello Laurel Circle!!!

It is official we are moving! Well Moving down the road to a bigger place, a House, I am way excited. We are officially moving from 201 Dixie Drive to 107 Laurel circle in less than 30 days. Crazy I know, I am so stressed out. We have lived in this little apartment for 6 years and I have stuffed every possible space with things I probably don't realize I've been holding on to. I am so excited, the house has a fenced in back yard for Sadie and the Kids and there is so much extra space, it feels like a mansion in comparison to what I live in now. I will finally have room to do some projects I have been dying to catch up on, baby books, etc. Kate is very excited to move and have an official big girls bed, we just haven't change it due to lack of space. It's a lot to do in so little time, and I feel my nesting instinct kicking in a little which will help me want to unpack faster I think. Move in day is June 25th, I can hardly wait!