The Big THREE!

It's hard to believe that it has been three years since our little man entered our life! It's been a little different this year remembering all of the feelings I had three years ago since I am pregnant with another baby now. It was an emotional day today!

He is becoming such a big boy. Often insistent to do things all on his own - because he is a big boy now. It is definitely hard for mom and dad to adjust to letting their baby boy do things all on his own!

Brody was so excited that it was his birthday this morning. We had to go to the ear doctor this morning and he was so excited to tell everyone there that it was his birthday, he was now 3 years old and he had on a new Buzz Lightyear shirt! He had a day full of treats today! He took cupcakes into daycare for everyone to celebrate with him and we had a cake after dinner tonight. We will have another party on Saturday with some family and friends.

After dinner we opened some presents. He had some more from us and also from Nanny, Poppy, Aunt Kathy and Uncle Brian. He was so excited to open them all to find so many cool Toy Story, Cars and Spiderman things! He ended up going to bed tonight in his new Buzz Lightyear Pajamas (thanks Aunt Kathy and Uncle Brian) with his new Bullseye, Jessie, Woody and Buzz Lightyear toys. He had to move some of his current stuffed animals out of bed to make room for the new ones!

After opening presents Brody requested going to feed the ducks. So off we went - luckily we have been having really nice weather here so the ducks were still here!

It's hard for me to believe that I could ever love this little guy more than I already do. But sure enough every birthday that comes around proves to me that I can love him just a little more!

Fall Time Fun

We had a family outing on Jim and my 5th Anniversary this year. We went to downtown Rockford to eat at our favorite Mexican restaurant, then to feed the ducks and finally to finish off the evening with an ice cream clown!

Brody is becoming quite a techie! We recently decided to try out the wireless headsets that came with our trailblazer for the DVD player. Up until now he has contently watched all of his DVDs without sound (Jim and I prefer to listen to the radio rather than Shrek EVERYDAY!).

Brody has been saving up all of his money from using the potty! So Jim took him last Friday to buy a backpack with is money. He was so excited to get his Buzz Lightyear Backpack! (Nanny will be proud - it was on clearance for $5 at Kmart!). He had enough money left over that we went back to Kmart on Sunday to buy a Sponge Bob Backpack (even better deal at $2.50!).

He has been doing SO well with the potty. Typically he only has 1 accident a day if any and has even pooped on the potty 2 times out of the last 3 days! We are so proud of our big boy!

Last Sunday we took our annual trip to the Klackle Orchard located not too far from us. It has a lot of fun things for the kids to enjoy! We were to go for a wagon ride to pick apples (Brody even got to sit on the tractor!), an enchanted Pumpkin ride to see the pumpkin patch (Brody didn't want to get off to pick any pumpkins) and play in the HUGE sandbox with all of the trucks (his favorite)!

Today Jim took us on an adventure down the road to pick out our pumpkins. Brody was excited to find the surprise at the end of our walk. He even picked out a pumpkin for the baby (and tried to give it to my belly!).

He's becoming a big boy!

A couple weeks ago we put most of the final touches on the basement and it allowed us to move the guest bedroom downstairs. That meant Brody finally got his big boy room! I was a little nervous to move him over, but he LOVED it! He hasn't had a problem at all with adjusting to the new room. He even calls his old room his "baby brother's room". I'm not sure what we are going to do if this baby ends up being a girl - he is determined it is a brother!

Last weekend we were able to take Brody to the Binder Park Zoo in Battle Creek. Jim and I had been wanting to take Brody this summer because he is really interested in giraffes right now and this zoo allows you to feed them. At first Brody was too nervous to feed the giraffe but once Jim told him he could get a stuffed giraffe toy if he fed them, he was right up there giving them the "salad"! After he fed them he threw his arms in the air and yelled "I get a toy!"

Everything is going well with the baby. We had our 20 week ultrasound 2 weeks ago and everything looked great with the baby. I had thought that they were going to tell me that I was further along then we thought because it seems like I feel this baby move so much. But instead she said everything is right on track and the baby is in the 60th percentile for weight. I will have to go back for another ultrasound in about 6 more weeks because of a condition called placenta previa (the placenta is partially covering the cervix right now). The doctor seemed confident it would correct itself over time, but if not it means a c-section. So I am hoping that it makes it move in the coming weeks! The baby's heart rate during the ultrasound was 156.

Fun in the Sun

While Jim was gone for work a few weeks ago Brody and I had a photo shoot while he was playing outside. It seems like forever since I have just taken pictures of him being himself - it was a lot of fun to see the results.

We lucked out that night and the ice cream truck came by our house before bedtime. It was so much fun to take Brody up and let him pick out whatever he wanted. He was EXCITED to see that they had Shrek ice cream!

When Jim got home we took Brody to downtown Rockford to feed the ducks. We hadn't been yet this year and ended up going twice in one week! Brody had so much fun tossing the bread and watching the ducks race to get it.

Baby Raguckas Update: I had my 18 week appointment today and the baby's heart rate was 146. So I am making my official prediction that we are having another baby boy. When we were in the hospital to have Brody the doctor asked me if we knew what we were having - After I said that we didn't know, he looked at the monitor and the heart rate was 146 - he then predicted a boy and was right! We will have to wait another 20+ weeks to see if I'm right this time!

Goodbye Great Grandma!

My grandmother passed away on Monday, July 5th at the age of 97! She had a great life and I am so grateful that she had the opportunity to get to know Brody. He loved to visit her and go and see the fish at her facility. I am also thankful that she got to know about the baby that we are expecting in January. We know that she is in a better place now and is happy to be spending some long awaited time with my Grandpa again!

Over the 4th of July we camped with my good friend from home, Barb and her family. She has two little girls, Skylar (5) and Sydney (2). Brody had so much fun playing with them, especially his "girlfriend" Sydney. This was the first year he made it late enough to watch the fireworks and he seemed to like them for about the first 5 minutes. We also went to a parade, but he wasn't as interested in collecting the candy as the girls (only the tootsie rolls).

The next weekend we went camping at the Yogi Bear Campground in Fremont, Indiana. Brody once again had a lot of fun playing with the other kids and swimming in the pool. It was a hot weekend with a little rain, but we still had a great time!

We were at my parents for the majority of the week following my Grandmother's passing. During that time Brody was able to swim in their pool and even jump off the diving board! He has made a lot of progress since last year and seems to love the water.

Baby Raguckas Update: Everything is going well. We are at 15 weeks and the heartbeat was 152 at the last appointment. It will be another 5-7 weeks before we have the ultrasound where we can see the little peanut. I am starting to feel better but still have some bad days. Brody says that we are either going to name the baby Joe Pa (thanks to Jim) or Beckham (mom's favorite) - but of course that would only work if it was another boy!

Long Awaited Update

I know I have been AWFUL in updating the blog for the last TWO months! I think as you read on you will be able to understand what kept me from the updates. There is just so much to update you on! We had a great Mother's Day this year! Jim once again took Brody to Hallmark to pick me out my present. He stuck with last year's theme and bought me an angel holding a bird. We were able to spend the afternoon with my family and Grandma. The one gift I didn't know about that day was that I was carrying a new little Raguckas!

The newest addition to our family is the main reason for no blog updates. This one is giving me a run for my money and testing all of my will power to make it through. I was extremely sick from about when I found out at week 6 until last week (week 10). It got so bad that I was put on medication and that still didn't help stop the nausea and vomiting! So I didn't really feel like doing much of anything after I made it through a day of work and got Brody to bed.

Brody is very excited about being Big Brother and we were lucky enough to get to tell both of our families about the new baby in person. We made a trip to Pennsylvania at the beginning of June to surprise Jim's youngest sister, Chrissy, by attending her Medical School Graduation Party. We had such a great time and it was exciting to get to surprise the whole family with our news.

A few weekends ago Rockford had their annual Summer Celebration festival. They bring in some carnival rides and have games for the kids. Brody had a great time on the rides and fishing for ducks! They even had a parade on Saturday where he was able to see the fire trucks (one of his favorites).

Last weekend we spent Father's Day camping at Pentwater State Park. It was just the three of us and we had a great time. The Park is located about 2 blocks from town and less than 1 block from Lake Michigan. This year Brody was so excited about the water and on our first night was jumping in the lake with his clothes on. We will definitely have to keep our eyes on him now - he seems to be a daredevil!

I am going to try my best to keep up on the blog (at least get to it every month)! Hope everyone is enjoying their summer!

We've Been Busy!

Brody has grown up a lot in the last couple weeks. It has been amazing to watch how independent he has started to become after moving to the preschool class.

He moved in to his big boy bed two weeks ago. We have been holding on to the crib because he never tried to climb out of it....but figured it was time to let him grow up. He really loves his "Queen" (Lightning McQueen) bed!

A few weeks ago Brody went to stay with my parents for the weekend. They were able to take him to the Michigan State University's Small Animal Day. My mom has been planning this since last year (I'm not sure who enjoyed it more).

Last Wednesday was Brody's second time "performing" in front of a crowd. His daycare has started hosting "galas" for the kids to sing songs and read stories for their families. Last January Brody wouldn't even look into the audience and clung to his teacher. This time he waved and smiled at Jim, my parents and I. What a change!

About a month ago Jim and I took a day off together to research swing sets for Brody. After all of our waiting it finally arrived last Friday. It was so much fun to watch Brody discover it in the backyard. He is proving to be quite the daredevil climbing the rock wall already!

Last Saturday morning Brody was playing a little too quietly his toy room. When I went to check on him this is what I found! This one is for you nanny! All of the spiderman stickers you sent him for Easter were on the front and back of his shirt! He was so proud!

Here he is saying "SPIDERMAN"!
The highlight of Brody's weekend was visiting Uncle Neal and his airplanes. It was so much fun to watch him explore and "drive" the planes with Bobo and Uncle Neal! How lucky he is to have the opportunity to see them up close and personal. Thanks Uncle Neal - you are the coolest!

Dirt and Worms - he is a BOY!

We had a great morning planting flowers. Brody has started to enjoy watching the flowers grow outside, so we decided to plant a few to watch inside.

We have had a lot of worms at our house recently. There are so many that they coat the driveway and even crawl up our garage door! Brody has been very interested in them, but scared to get too close to them...until today!

I was so proud of him when he decided to pick up a worm with his work gloves on. Then he decided to pull a HUGE worm out of the ground with his bare hands! We had to get a picture of that!

We have been blessed with nice weather for the past 2 weekends. Jim and I bought new bikes last week and took a ride on the White Pine trail in Rockford. It was a great time and even took us by a nice playground. Brody is getting very brave - going up and down slides and climbing all over the place!

Last Saturday night we went to a friends house to watch the MSU vs. Butler basketball game. My mom dressed Brody in MSU gear, but as you can see Jim would not let there be proof of it in pictures!

Brody got to ride on the tractor with Dad today and finished out the evening with a ride in my car back to the garage after helping change the oil. He LOVES sunglasses - especially mine!

Easter Egg Fun

We headed towards Detroit last weekend to visit with my friend Barb's Family. Brody was especially excited to see Skylar and Sydney, Barb's two little girls.

I forgot Brody's sunglasses at home, so he had to borrow mine for the ride!

He had so much fun playing with Sydney. She is 6 months younger than him, but they are about the same size. They had so much fun playing together; here they were riding in her car together on their way to a picnic!

Barb and Kory hosted an Easter Egg hunt for they neighbors and friends. Unfortunately, it ended up being a little cold and rainy on Sunday. However, that didn't stop the 38 kids from having a great time finding all 1200+ eggs! Brody had so much fun finding all of the eggs, although he could have done without seeing the Easter Bunny! We had such a great time, we are already looking forward to warmer weather for next year's hunt!

We hope everyone has a great Easter!

Spring Time is Here!...maybe?

We had a great time playing outside last week! The weather was sunny and in the mid 50s to 60s! I was beginning to believe that Spring Time was here...and then came the snow on Saturday! We probably ended up with about an inch, but luckily by Sunday the sun was back and the snow was gone!

On Saturday we decided that it would be a great opportunity to take Brody to see all of the Butterflies at Fredrick Meijer Gardens. While this seemed like a great opportunity for Brody, it meant that I was facing one of my biggest fears! I know many people think this sounds crazy, but I am so afraid of those flying creatures! The only way I can try to rationalize it is to say they are just so unpredictable and I can't control them (or run from them!). I have to say that I think I did a great job! I focused on taking my pictures and didn't swat at any of them!

One of the funniest things Brody has done happened on the way home from the gardens. He was sitting in the backseat with our neighbor, Jennie and threw a toy car towards her. I turned around and told him that he needed to say he was sorry. As soon as I got the words out of my mouth he closed his eyes and laid his head to the side (to pretend he was sleeping!). Jim and Jennie were doing everything they could to hold back their laughter and I just couldn't believe my eyes! After saying that I was going to have to put him in bed when we got home since he was sleeping, he opened his eyes and apologized! Oh what are we going to do with him???

I hope the warm weather is finding all of you!