The Last Six Months...So Long 2010

The last six months is a bit blurry, now that I actually have time to look back on it. If I wrote every detail about it, you would be reading a novel, So I'll let the pictures tell most of the store....

We welcomed "Bubba" into the family in June.

We got ALOT of family time through the summer.

Bug got to spend her 5th Birthday with Grandpa Felix.

(They share a birthday, so that was pretty special)

They started the morning by picking fresh raspberries for breakfast

from Grandma and Grandpa's raspberry bushes.

Bug started Kindergarten..*sniff*sniff*

Grandma and Grandpa 'foli' and Aunt Christine came out for our

annual trip to Grand Island for a half marathon/5k

We moved from NE to the West Coast.

*note*at this point, we didn't have a place to live and

were VERY MUCH walking by faith :)

I got to help plan my sister's wedding. She let me do her invitations,

her decorations and her flowers. Here Cynthia and I

are assembling our bouquets. (more pics to come as soon as I get my hands on them!)

All the girls..and a cute baby boy :)

We finally found a place to live and FINALLY got our stuff back.

Watching the delivery from the front door.

Such a cute house! Even cuter family!

The decorated Christmas tree. The kids did a great job!

Bubba is loving solid food. (He just turned six months old )

Bug and Tman helping out with Christmas baking

And we got to spend our first Christmas ever with my parents!

(and their newly remodeled basement was beautiful!!!)

This barely touches all the events of this years. Justin is loving his new job and we are really loving our new home. (despite the leak in the basement, the broken furnace, and the broken water heater. lol) We are so very very blessed. It's a given that we truly miss our friends and family in Omaha! They have all been such a huge comfort and blessing to us. What amazing people we call friends. We hope you have all had a great Christmas and Happy New Year. (YES..I am posting this at 1am on January 1, 2011! I can now say I am caught up on blogging for 2010... :)

The Greatest Show On Earth!!!

After getting back from Kansas, Justin and I found out that The Greatest Show On Earth was going to be in Omaha and we decided to treat the kids and take them. (I've never been to a circus before, so I was a bit excited to have an excuse to go.) The kids were pretty interested in it for the most part, but it was a kinda long for their attention spans. Some of those stunts were beyond my comprehension...but I tend to be a bit of a wimp about heights. We got to the Quest Center early for the pre-show fun and we got to see the performers upclose and personal. The kids loved that part! It was pretty fun and we can all say we've been to the circus now!

Showing off tickets at the entrance

Giant mammoth pregnant lady VS. Itty bitty circus girl.
Who do you think will win?
Not quite sure why I wanted to take this picture anymore. lol

Pre-show entertainment from the lovely lady elephant!
She even painted a picture!

After the show, waiting to go see the animals

Preface To Visiting Roger

I forgot to include these in the last post. When we promised Roger that we would visit, the kids were SO excited and wouldn't stop talking about it! Even though they didn't even really know what fishing was, they were constantly asking me when we were going to go fishing at Rogers. We got them some fishing poles to take down to Kansas and for Family Night the Monday before we went down, we had the kids practice with their poles. We were pleasantly suprised. Even though they weren't really going to be casting their lines, we showed them how and by the end of the practice session they were hitting the back fence with their practice lures. They still ask if they can go out back and practice with their fishing poles. :)

they needed a little boost. :)
It was a bit frustrating at times.

It quickly turned into a game of "Tease Milo" and they thought it was hilarious when he attacked their practice lures and they "caught a cat fish"

Trip to Kansas

In an earlier post, I talked about my Uncle Roger coming up to Omaha. We had promised to come see him as soon as we could, which ended up being right after Justin graduated. Oddly enough, the last time we had gone down to see him when I was 7 months pregnant with Bug. Going down this time, I was 7 months pregnant with baby #3. It had been way too long! He's an outdoorsman, and had three ponds on his beautiful land, the biggest one being less than 100 yards from his house, (hence why I've procrastinated visiting him for so long with little kids, being the paranoid mom that I am). The kids were required to wear life jackets when ever they went outside, so that my nerves wouldn't be completely shot by the end of the two day trip. Lucky for my kids, my cousin's kids were over when we arrived, and they were very happy to have play mates. Our two day visit consisted of chatting, fishing (and sometimes catching), exploring, planting, riding Roger's Gator tractor, playing in sand, relaxing (as much as I could do with my curious children being around a large body of water), and..of course, how could I forget..Justin giving paddle boat rides. It was so great to see my aunt and uncle and my cousin(who I haven't seen in about ten years) and I'm glad they let us come enjoy their company and their gorgeous land.

Justin doing what he did best...give paddle boat rides.

(I handed that one over to him! I wasn't about to go out paddling 7 months pregnant. LOL)
Bug and T-Man playing in the 'sand box'. It was quite the hit!
I may need to invest in one, if I could just keep Milo out of it! :)

Bug wandered away from her fishing pole,

so T-man got to claim her catch with Roger. (notice the pink princess fishing pole. lol)

Justin and T-Man showing off Justin's catch

Roger and Bug out fishing. That's pretty close to what

we looked like through the entire trip! It was great!

JUSTIN GRADUATED!!!!

YEAH!!!! Justin graduated from Creighton with his doctorate in Physical Therapy on May 15th, 2010. What a cool celebration for our family!!! His hooding ceremony was my personal favorite of the whole experience, because that's what set it apart from a 'normal' graduation. It was very personal and special, (compared to the actual graduation, which was held at the Quest Center Omaha. I was a bit shocked to walk in and see that the facility didn't want to waste an opportunity for revenue and had opened their concessions. Nothin' like watchin a graduation with popcorn and a soda, right? lol) Bug and Tman behaved marvelously for both ceremonies, and after the actual graduation ceremony we went out as a family to none other than...Red Robin! The kids LOVED it! I am SO incredibley proud of Justin for all that he's accomplished and for all the hard work he has put in for our family's behalf! I love him more than anything and am so lukcy to have SUCH an amazing husband! Thanks for all you do Justin, and CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

Justin with the kids following the hooding ceremony
me and my 'almost' physical therapist

Justin and his parents

Entering just after receiving his diploma!!! WOHOOO!!

Our beautiful family after the ceremony

Baby Steps

I've been hounded all summer because I haven't been updating. I have alot! I know! So...instead of spending two hours doing one giant update, I'm going to split them up, since most of the events this summer were fairly large events, and deserve there own posts! :) Will I ever grow out of this "on again, off again" blogging habit? Who knows...

Our Last Family Night Before Baby

Time FLIES. We are less than half way through the summer and I'm already SO behind on all the fun things we've done. Graduation, the Circus, an awesome trip to visit my uncle in Kansas, and the list goes on. I will definately attempt an update on all of those things, but for now, I will focus on last night. Monday night. Family Night. Our kids talk about it all week, and when Monday comes they can't wait to start Family Night. Last night was our last Family Night before we will have the baby so we talked to the kids about what babies need and how they can be helpers. T-Man LOVED that I borrowed 'Bear" to be our 'practice baby'. Bug got to feed the baby. T got to learn how to put the diaper on. They both helped dress and doctor the baby. I was suprised at how well they did, and it made me really happy when they got really excited talking about all the ways we can show the baby we love him. They are going to be great siblings, and I couldn't have been blessed with a better family! Luckily Justin thought to take pictures in the middle (with my awesome new camera!!! YEAH...now to take classes to learn how to use it to it's full potential...posts to come...). My mom flew in last Tuesday so the kids have had a blast with G-ma Foli, and I can tell she is going to be a life saver entertaining the kids after the baby is here. I hope she doesn't set the expectation too high. :/
So here are the pictures of our last Family Night before the little guy gets here.

Swaddling the 'baby'
Holding the baby
They're pro's already! :)
Making sure 'baby' is healthy
Three Generations

Money Makes the World Go Round! Unfortunately

We've had quite an exciting few weeks, were everything we own seems to be breaking all at the same time...it's been fun!!! The Pontiac was making an awful sound for a few weeks, and luckily one of our good friends saved us ALOT of money and helped Justin fix it. That was on Tuesday. On Friday, Justin hit a deer going 60 mph on his way to work and came within $200 of totalling the Corolla. (Why they didn't just total it, I don't know...but I'm not complaining, because it's by FAR our more gas efficient car, and it has sentimental value...our first car..awwwww.lol) I'm just glad that the deer didn't come flying through his windsheild! :) Since this lovely incedent, our kitchen table has broken, our vacuum has broken (it's ancient, so no suprise..but WHY NOW?) and I killed my car battery listening to the radio while I detailed my car. Smart, I know. On the bright side, we were able to pay off our pontiac! That was awesome! AND...Justin graduates in FIVE WEEKS AND FIVE DAYS...but who's counting??? So, our family is still happy and healthy, and that's all that matters! Life is good!




Justin rolled his eyes at me when I made him take these pictures, but I have been looking forward to paying off the car for so long that I couldn't help it. LOL

Family Pictures

We had our family portraits taken the beginning of February, and it has taken me this long to get around to posting them. (Don't worry, I bought a CD, so I have the right's needed to put them on my blog! I'm legal!). I just wanted something simple to document our family right now since we are facing alot of changes this year, not to mention, the kids. They change on a daily/weekly/monthly basis, and it's so hard to keep up with them. I would hate to look back at these years and not be able to remember them the way they are. SOOO... For family members: be expecting a copy in the mail....but remember...it's taken me this long to get them on my blog, so don't be watching the mail too closely. I HOPE I can get them out soon, but we'll see. They aren't the GREATEST, but they sure are cute, and that's what we were going for. I was really anxious to document T-Man and his "Bear" and "Ball Blanky" because anyone who knows T-Man, knows he's not T-Man without his left arm around his bear and his right arm supporting the two fingers that are inevitabley always in his mouth. That bear and blanket have been attached to his side for who knows how long, and his fingers have been in his mouth just as long, if not longer. Bear has been lost so many times that I was afraid he would really REALLY get lost before we could get pictures with him. Bug wanted to take pictures with her favorite dog "Martha" and her "Pink Blanky" as well. She's had her favorite pink blanky since she was born as well, and boy do they love their blankets! The picture turned out perfectly! This is one cute family, if I do say so myself! I'm bias, I know...