Winter Weather

We are suppose to get a good mix of winter weather starting this evening and lasting through tomorrow. We had originally wanted to get out of the house and do something outside this weekend, but with this weather it looks like we will be spending some nice family time indoors. We are going to stock up on firewood, food and movies and settle in for a nice winter weekend. I might even surprise Kevin by making his favorite winter dish - Shepards Pie. I also have some pictures of Robbie to upload as well as belly pic of little jelly bean. He/she has finally made their debut - it is like my belly grew overnight! I can't wait to meet this little one and have my two babies playing together! This morning Kevin was talking to my belly and I could feel the baby move while he was speaking! I am so blessed!!!

Is that GAS or the BABY???

Just teasing! I know I don't have baby belly pictures yet, but I thought I would let you all know that I am finally feeling little Jelly Bean move! Kevin can't wait until the baby gets big enough for him to feel the movements! Robbie is now constantly trying to pull up my shirt to check out my growing belly. When we ask him where the baby is he points to my belly. It is so sweet! I can't wait to get my two babies together!

We have one more month until we find out the baby's sex. The boy name is probably finished, but the girl name will be a huge debate between Kevin and I . . . we can't seem to find a name that we both like.

All is well in the Lewis household . . . we are as busy as ever, but that hasn't changed in a while. We went to LA with Robbie last week. Kevin had a seminar and I had a work trip. We have decided after going to Iowa and then to LA that Robbie is not a traveling man and we will probably stay home for a while!

It is suppose to be snowy/rainy here this weekend so no big plans for us. Kevin will be studying for boards so Robbie and I will probably run some errands and watch movies at home. Well, Robbie will play and I will watch movies!

Hope all is well with all of you, please know you are constantly in our thoughts and prayers!

Haitian Support

I offer up my prayers for those suffering in Haiti. It is a BEAUTIFUL country with wonderful people who have so very little. In church this past Sunday the pastoral committee said that they are taking up a collection for Catholic Relief Services (CRS), which has a large office in Port-au-Prince. Coincidentally, on Monday morning I heard the man in charge of the Port-au-Prince CRS office on the radio. The CRS building itself (in Port-au-Prince) is ruined but they are still operating out of a tent set up in their location. He was saying that although they have lost their building they are able to continue helping the community, but are in desperate need of supplies. CRS has a warehouse in the Dominican Republic which is trucking in supplies daily but they (the Dominican location, which has airport services) will need to be replenished in order to continue servicing the Port-au-Prince location. CRS in Port-au-Prince is also assisting a couple of local orphanages which are in desperate need at this time. I know there are many ways to donate money to help (Red Cross, Church, etc), but I thought I would add the CRS webpage to my blog in case anyone was interested.

http://www.crs.org/

Christmas Photos

We did a shameful job of taking pictures in Iowa. We were just too busy enjoying the moments ourselves, but I am kicking myself now. We were there for two weeks and saw all of my side of the family. Including my 89 year old Grandfather who met us half way in a small town for a homemade lunch at a family restaurant - that was REALLY special! It was freezing the entire trip, our last day was - 20 degrees! We had over two feet of snow and were actually snowed in for a couple of days, it was pretty nice! I hope you all had wonderful holidays and a great start to a new year!

A beautiful shot from my dad and Cheri's backyard

Kevin spent a good part of his vacation shoveling, the weird part is that I think he enjoyed it!

See how high the snow is!

My brother's car is almost buried - a day or two later we finally made it out to town and there were literally cars buried in the snow. I would hate to have to dig those out!

My sweetheart!

Because of the snowstorm, we did not get to take pictures with the real Santa, this is our poor attempt at a substitution.

You can't tell how deep this is, but it is over two feet - basically past my knees!

Robbie LOVES his red rocket and orange hat. He played with these non-stop!

Howdy folks!

I couldn't help put this picture in, I just loved his face. Oh and the pacifiers in each picture - well Robbie only uses them at home at night when he goes to bed but for some reason he needed them all hours of the day while we were in Iowa, I think he just needed the extra comfort/security in such a new place. It's cute and I can't wait until he is old enough to laugh at these!

Robbie showing Grandpa Frank he took his hair dryer.

Robbie loves blow dryers, he has an uncanny knack to find them and remember where people tried to hide them!

Robbie's uncle and Godfather bought him this soft Hawkeye's football. Robbie plays with it all the time! He throws so well he might just grow up to be a quarterback!

Isn't Owen a doll?

Silly one of Robbie

Robbie loves balls!

The boys playing

Robbie taking ornaments off the tree for the thirty fifth millionth time - poor kid just didn't learn from all those time outs!

An attempt to take a cute fireplace/tree picture - he is not cooperative!

He LOVED this drum from my sister, she is probably still laughing!

Adorable Nicholas!

Random Shots of Robbie

He LOVES football! He will even do the touchdown arms while watching it!

Robbie has entered a favorite phase for Mommy and Daddy - he likes to sweep, mop and wipe things down!

He is just too much fun!

Crib, Toddler Bed or Big Boy Bed - that is the question

For all you moms out there who have made the switch from crib to something else, please send in your expert advice . . .

The Facts:

• Robbie is currently 15 months old
• He is a HORRIBLE sleeper
• Robbie does not climb out of his crib yet (thank goodness)
• Baby #2 is going to be sleeping in the current crib from day one - and I mean it this time!!!
• Robbie is moving into our guest bedroom for his "big boy room"
• We need as easy and cheap of a solution as possible

The Options:

• Put a crib from Kevin's aunt and uncle in his room until he is ready for a toddler or big boy bed
• We were graciously offered Kevin's bunk beds from when he was growing up
• Buy a toddler sized bed (I think Robbie would have fun playing in a toddler bed with a theme (car, cartoon, etc) but I am not sure if it would be enough to encourage him to sleep in it plus we really don't want to spend a ton of money on this switch)

Kevin and I are trying to determine what would be the best solution for Robbie and for us. With Robbie's young age and being such a difficult sleeper we were leaning towards the crib and then we can switch to the bunk beds (with side guard rails, of course) when he shows signs of being ready. What do you all think??? What worked for each of you???

Blog Update

I want to spend some time (yeah right, when do I ever have some of that???) updating my blog. For those of you that have layouts that are not one of the blogspot ones can you please tell me where you went to get them? I just spent a bit of time googling it and came up with nothing! Thanks!

While I am here I might as well give you a little update on the Lewis family . . .

We are settled back into the house after our two week trip to Iowa. We were able to get the Christmas decorations down in a timely manner which is shocking! Robbie is back in daycare and he managed to adjust to it just fine. Sleeping is another thing, he is basically back to waking up all night long. Kevin and I are pretty worn out and trying to figure out what we can do to get this kid sleeping through the night so we don't go crazy with the arrival of baby number two! Kevin and I agree that if we can find a "Supernanny" to come to the house and help us we would totally pay for it!!! I know they have lactation consultants but do they have "help my toddler never sleeps" consultants??? Kevin is very busy with school and his internship. We are still praying about what he should do once he graduates. We will hopefully know more within 3 - 6 months. If you think of it, please keep us in your prayers concerning this subject! I am busy with work, military duty and household duties. It seems this work is never ending, but I did get a chance to take a relaxing bath the other day - my first one in over a year! This used to be a weekly treat for me - but that was back in my single I don't have a care in the world days! Kevin and I are planning on taking time this weekend for our third date since Robbie was born, that's right folks date number three in 15 months! Not good, we need more Mommy/Daddy time! I can't really blame it on Robbie though, it is really Kevin's fault with his horrible schedule!

Hopefully I can find the time to update my pictures soon - I haven't updated since Halloween!!! Shameful!

Big News

Well fellow bloggers, it has been a LONG time since my last post. I know I owe you lots of pictures and stories, and I will get there some day soon - PROMISE!

But there is one thing that I have been dying to post . . . and now that I have finally told all our families, I can now announce to everyone else . . . We are expecting baby #2!

We are due July 19th. We announced to Kevin's family at Thanksgiving but I wanted to wait until I saw my family in person so we told my family at Christmas. It was so much fun! We bought Robbie a shirt that on the front said "I know something you don't know" and on the back it said "I am going to be a BIG BROTHER". It was so much fun to have Robbie wear the shirt until everyone noticed! I will try to get him to sit still long enough to get a picture of the shirt!

Wishing you and your loved ones a blessed new year!