Number 2!!!!

We just wanted to let you all know that we are expecting BABY #2!!!!! WooooHoooo!! We had planned to have our kids less than 2 years apart. The way it is panning out, they will be about 17 months apart! We went to the doctor today and he did a sono in order to determine a due date. Our prediction was that I was 9-10 weeks along, but the baby was measuring 13 weeks! YIPPEE! That means this sickness might be over much sooner than I thought!! With Taylor it was over after the 1st trimester. The doctor did not give us an exact due date yet. He wants to wait till the 18 week apt. (Oct. 4th) and compare measurements then and come up with an exact date after that! We will also plan to find out if it's a boy or a girl on that day too! Unless, we decide for some crazy reason not to! So as of now, it is early-mid March! Perfect timing to take the rest of the school year off! We will keep you updated as we find out more. Have a great Labor Day weekend!

Back to School!

Summer is over. I started back to school last Monday, the 13th. The students started on Thursday. For those of you who don't know, I am job sharing this year with a very good friend of mine. We have been teaching 3rd grade next door to each other for the last 2 years. Last year, we both had a baby, so life for both of us has changed! We are so fortunate to be given to opportunity to teach part time together. I teach in the morning and will always teach math, writing and word study. I get to leave every day at 11:30!!! She comes in and teaches reading, science and social studies in the afternoon. I am loving this new change!
It is so much fun having more time to be with Taylor at home. She has been going to grandma's house a couple times a week and Dave's Aunt Barb also. Dave is off on Fridays so he gets to be home with her those mornings. Between all of her different "babysitters" she is being passed around and spoiled quite a bit!

Newton Pool Dog Swim!!!

So, to those of you who SWORE, after having Taylor that our little princess Anni would take a backseat in the family....we'd like to let you know that she is STILL getting PLENTY of attention! This past Sat. was Newton City Pool's Annual Dog Swim! Yes, that's right....take your dog to the swimming pool day! It is the last day before it is drained for the year. We saw an ad for it in the paper and put the date on the calendar immediately! Anni could hardly wait for her chance to let loose with all the other dogs in Newton at the city pool!

She and Dave had quite the time! And this was a family affair too...both Taylor and I went to watch and Grandpa joined the fun also! I would have to say, out of all the dogs, she was the BEST swimmer! You'll probably wonder, looking at the pictures, where the other dogs were. Well, due to the fact that Anni is an advanced swimmer, we spent most of the time in the deep end. The other dogs were in the shallow end and the baby pool. And yes, the dogs were even allowed to go down the slide and off the diving board. Dave had to give Anni a push down the slide to get her to go. When she hit the first curve she stopped and tried to climb back up, so Dave had to join her and go down with her! She wasn't a big fan. None of the dogs really liked it...but it sure was fun for their owners!
So yes, now you have seen it all! Dog's taking over the swimming pool! We will plan to make this an annual event...so anyone who would like to join us with their dogs next year, are welcome!

Recap of 1/2 the summer

The last month or so has completely gotten away from us and I realize I have not done a good job at all of this blog! Oh well! Here's a recap of most of the month of July....

BRANSON

The first weekend of July we went to Branson with our good friends Joel and Kendall and their baby Oliver. We went to Dixie Stampede and spent a day on Table Rock Lake. It was a VERY enjoyable weekend. Taylor stayed with Gma and Gpa D. that weekend, but met us at the lake.

She also got her first visit of the fire station where Grandpa is the fire chief!

RALLY

The 2nd weekend in July, I spent 4 days in Ft. Worth, TX for Premier's National Rally! It was my first year as a "Designer" (leadership). It was fun to learn that being in leadership means I am in the top few percent of the company! I got to attend special leadership only sessions, as well as a semi-formal leadership dinner! Such a fun weekend with the girls and always one of the highlights of my summer! This is a pic of me and one of my newest Premier "daughters"....it was her first time at rally!

JILL'S WEDDING

The 3rd weekend in July, we went to Kansas City for one of my college sorority sister's wedding. It was SO much fun seeing all my college girlfriends! Taylor had SO much fun when the music started at the reception. She sat on the edge of the dance floor just breaking it down!

THE ZOO

One of Dave's good friends from college came to visit us with her husband and little boy in July. We went to the zoo, it was Taylor's first time! We saw a very NEW baby giraffe and baby rhino! We also got a VERY good close up of the lion!

FLOAT TRIP

The first weekend in August, Dave and I went on a float trip with 2 other couples. We floated on the Elk River in Noel, MO. Oh my, was it hot! We floated for 6 hours, camped and took turns making several yummy meals! Our friends borrowed a pop-up camper from a relative, so 4 of us slept in that. It was a spitting image of the pop-up my family had when I was growing up. No AC, but at least we could plug in fans! It was lots of fun and we hope to make it a annual tradition! Sorry, no pics! I wasn't going to risk taking the nice camera on a canoe!

POOL TIME

Another highlight of the summer for Taylor, was getting her very own pool! She loves the water! She learned quickly that she was going to have to share though!

COUSINS

Our summer ended with a visit from Dave's brother and sister-in-law, Jason and Stacy, and our nephew and neice, Jeremy and Sydney.

And now, the end. Our summer is officially over tonight. Tomorrow I start back to school. The kids start on Thursday! I had a blast this summer being home with Taylor and am looking forward to only having to work part time so I can spend more time with her! Hopefully, as we get into a routine when I go back to work, I'll do better at keeping up with our blog! Hopefully everyone hasn't given up on us and decided not to even check this anymore! Happy back to school for anyone that pertains to!

Trying to catch up!

I'm sure most of you who check this often are quite bored with our blog! So I decided to make a new post. Right now, it's 11:05pm, I'm in bed with my laptop...only the 2nd time I've ever done this. Dave is sound asleep next to me...for some reason I just can't sleep! So I figured it's a good time to do things on the computer that I never have time for during the day! And of course, one of those things is to post a new blog.

This month has been crazy so far! We took a trip to Branson with a couple friend of ours (Joel and Kendall and their 3month old, Oliver). We had a an awesome time...hopefully I'll post some pics of our trip soon! I was back for a day after Branson and then left for Premier's National Rally in Ft. Worth! It was amazing as usual but I was exhausted when I got home! I'll hopefully get some pictures of that up soon too! All these pictures I would like to post have not been downloaded from the camera yet and I don't think I will try to do that in the dark. So you'll have to settle for some random pictures of........who else.....but Taylor!

Bath time in the sink....if only she really knew what we did to her hair! She thinks we're just taking a picture of her cute self!


This next picture is taken after her escape from a diaper change! She not only got away, but also turned to me and stuck her little tongue out! Her personality is getting to be much more fun lately! Hopefully this picture is legal to post.Have we mentioned that she is already reading at a kindergarten reading level! What can we say, we have a braniac child! She is trying to hide her pride a little bit in this picture...she doesn't want others her age to feel bad they are not as excelled....but it's just so hard to hide such greatness!


Taylor will be 9 months this Friday...so hard to believe! We're taking her to the zoo for the first time with one of Dave's best friends from college who will be visiting us with her 1 year old son! Saturday we're headed to KC for another Pi Phi wedding (one of my sorority sisters from college). Like I said....things have been crazy and will continue to be that way. Maybe I AM ready for school to start....it seems like summer is always this way!

Fall, already?

69 degrees, sweatshirts, hanging out by our fire pit....my favorite time of year....fall! Oh wait, it's July! Well, at least we got a taste of fall these past few evenings! Last night, after we put Taylor to bed, we decided it was the perfect night to try out our new fire pit. It's not exactly new, we bought it last fall right after Dave finished building the deck in the backyard. But seeing as Taylor came along shortly after the purchase, we couldn't seem to find the time, energy, or the right weather to enjoy it.

We also are very excited about our new lights that we hung over the deck. We've been looking for this certain kind of light ever since seeing them hung in Macaroni Grill! We finally found them at Target a couple of weeks ago. So we hung the lights, made a fire and had a nice and relaxing night on the deck. There are lots of other plans we have for the deck, but of course everything always require $$$$. So we'll have to add things one at a time. We'll keep you posted on any new additions (of the deck that is).

Our First Blog: Weekend in California

Well, this is our most recent and best family photo! This was taken at my sister's wedding in California on June 9th. I was the matron of honor and Dave played the role of daddy quite well, keeping Taylor occupied and happy for 2 days, pretty much cooped up in a hotel room! The wedding was gorgeous! It was a beautiful California day. The ceremony and reception were outside. Rebekah and Steve looked great and were SO VERY HAPPY!!


We were in California for 3 days and one of those days we got to do some sight seeing. We would have loved to stay longer and do more, but hey, just because I have the summer off, doesn't mean Dave does too! On Sunday, after a yummy brunch with Steve and Rebekah and other family and friends, we went to San Francisco! Taylor got to stay at the hotel with Grandma! We went to a Giants/A's baseball game and then tried to find our way to Fisherman's Warf (one of the major touristic piers on the bay). On our way to the pier we just happened to look down the street and see the famous hill street where the cable cars drive!




















We finally got a taxi and made our way to Fisherman's Warf where we saw Alcatraz, the famous seals that have taken over the dock and we ate at Bubba Gump's Seafood Restaurant (which was all based around the movie Forest Gump).






It was a very fun weekend, but we were glad to get back home and get Taylor back on schedule! That 2 hour time difference really messed her up! We were so excited to get to share in Rebekah and Steve's BIG weekend!