More photos

40 weeks + 1 day

Rowan said she was going to jump. I was happy that she didn't.

Rowan and Harvey LOVE this warmer weather.

Little cutie!

Happy to play with the toys that were stashed in the garage.

Fun in a basket.

Rowan was so happy to finally open up her bubbles outside. Harvey doesn't understand yet that bubbles are not a beverage. So he doesn't get to hold them often.

Still only two

Kids that is.
Haven't gone into labor yet. So here are a few pictures that I didn't get up in a timely way. Two are from our last trip to Grandma Allord's house (when Harvey fell asleep in the high chair).

Belly Collage

End of February

Rowan got to borrow some special stamp markers from her speech therapist the other day. We had lots of fun stamping on the easel paper. We had even more fun stamping on Rowan's legs. Good thing most Crayola stuff is washable these days!

Harvey fell asleep after supper at Grandma's house. We knew it would happen since he fought a nap earlier in the day. We made him a little makeshift bed on the living room floor since we would be driving home soon after. What you don't see is that Harvey actually fell asleep in the high chair and snoozed there for about 10 minutes before we transferred him. I just love how he sleeps with his little rump up in the air.

Rowan really enjoyed our most recent snowfall. We had some nice days where nearly all of our snow melted. Then we got about 4 inches on Saturday the 21st. We all stayed home and just enjoyed some family time.

Harvey is much better at staying upright when walking in the snow.

Rowan is making a snow angel out on our deck. If you were to look at our deck now, you'd see that most of the snow is melting again. At around noon it was 42 degrees out.

I attempt to take a belly shot with our dining room mirror (approx. 36 weeks). I had some professional photos taken on Friday the 20th. I think that they turned out great and I can't wait to get them sent to me. We never had professional maternity photos taken with the other kids and I always wanted to have it done. I decided to do it this time around....this could be my last opportunity since we are unsure about having more than 3 kids. No decisions made on that though.
Next time I get to post, it will probably be March and we will start to count down the days till the new baby arrives. Hey, take a guess at the sex of the baby - there's a poll on the side of the blog!

The kiddos

The kids love to play with the Tonka truck.

Harvey is now thinking that you have to lift the back to sit on the "seat".

Rowan being cute.

Harvey and mom reading a Wonder Pets book. He loves to read books.

Harvey playing peek-a-boo with Andy's knee.

If you bring out the camera, he will bring out his biggest smile.

Harvey wanted to sit next to Rowan. Rowan didn't want Harvey next to her. She started crying, but it didn't phase Harvey.

Splenda

During the past two years, my husband and I have become aware of negative attributes of artificial sweeteners. We used to be the kind of people that drank soda quite often. We used to think that "diet" sodas were healthier than regular sodas. In truth, no soda is healthy at all, but this was our thinking at the time. When we came across information on aspartame, Nutrisweet and other sweeteners (such as Splenda) we felt we had more than enough data to support avoiding all of these sweeteners whenever possible. Since we still liked to drink soda on occasion, we decided to switch to regular soda - you know, the kind with high fructose corn syrup. Now the problems with hfcs are a whole other story to be told....I'll save that for another blog.
On rare occasion, we were able to get soda from Whole Foods. These sodas were sweetened with cane sugars and other natural sugars....not the processed hfcs. Their were still a few problems with this. One - we didn't get to Whole Foods type store very often, and two - these sodas are still the lesser of two evils. Sodas still have carbonation and phosphoric acid in them.
One day, Andy decided to see if he could quit soda all together for a year straight. He was very good about it, and did not have a single sip of soda for at least 365 days. What was his reward for being so diligent? A cold bottle of Mountain Dew!
These days, we still drink soda every now and then. But you won't find us drinking diet sodas. We've taken a step backward from our year without soda...but I think we will get back to that point. It will just take a little more effort and determination....and more green tea!

Here is some information on Splenda that I recently received...


http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/02/10/New-Study-of-Splenda-Reveals-Shocking-Information-About-Potential-Harmful-Effects.aspx

Rowan's expert opinion.

So, this last weekend my mother was asking Rowan some important questions about the new baby. Here is her prediction about the baby:

Q: How old is mommy?
A: 19 years.

Q: How many lbs will the baby be at birth?
A: 38 lbs.

Q: How many inches long will the baby be at birth?
A: 3 inches.

For the sake of all of us, I hope she is not the next Nostradamus....although I would like to be 19 again. :)

Staying indoors.

This January has been quite cold for us here in Wisconsin, so we haven't been out of the house much. We are trying to keep our spirits up. Here's a couple recent photos.


Now that Rowan has her own guitar, she can enjoy Guitar Hero with her dad.
Maverick is not so enthralled with the music. He's finishing up a yawn.


After a few minutes I figured out the "hands free" shot on our camera. Rowan was a little late in posing with mom. Somehow I made some kind of goofy smile (sheesh).

Happy New 2009!

The kids are enjoying a mid-morning snack. Please ignore the awful carpet in our living room.

Harvey just loves to close doors these days. Here he is playing with his cousin Maylie. They were taking turns going into and out of the coat closet.

Harvey got a big Tonka dump truck from Grandma and Grandpa Allord. He just loves it. He puts toys in it and sometimes sits in it himself. Rowan also loves to play with all of Harvey's new things.

Rowan is helping set the table for the family meal.

By early evening, New Year's Day, our family was starting to feel wiped out. Rowan is just starting to doze off, Andy is completely out and Harvey (who just got up from a nap) is quietly watching TV with his dad.

These were all the photos that I was able to get with my camera for this occasion. Hope the new year will bring more fun and excitement for everyone!

Christmas 2008

(Katie, Rowan, Harvey, Darlene, Dennis, Addie)

This year we had the good fortune to spend Christmas with nearly all of our family members. We haven't seen Andy's sister's family for a long time. They got to meet Harvey and we got to meet Addie. It was great fun and the kids enjoyed playing with one another.

(Addie and Grandma Weisensel)

(Katie and Rowan)
On Sunday the 28th, we traveled to Nathan Cummings' home town of Black River Falls, WI. That morning we participated as Godparents for the baptism of Jacqueline Adela (Addie) Cummings. Afterward, we had a yummy brunch at Nathan's Mom's house.

(Addie, Rowan, Harvey and Katie)

(Rowan, Katie, Marissa, Harvey, Violet and Hannah)
On Saturday the 27th, we traveled to Steven's Point, WI to meet with Andy's extended family on his mom's side. There were many little kids there and they all played very nicely together. Not pictured: Grant Brazzale -elsewhere in the house, Ella and Josh Hardy in Illinois, and Lola Olivieri in Florida. The children that were there got to visit Santa and each received a gift of books and/or a stuffed sheep.

Our Family

Aunt Donna got this great photo of Harvey.

She also got this great shot of Rowan.

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Christmas Day

Grandma and Grandpa Allord were enjoying our kids antics.

Rowan is showing off her "camera smile". As she matures, she has learned how to smile even if the enthusiasm is lacking.

Harvey is having a good time communicating with Grandma.

Rowan was very good at helping open presents.

Santa brought Rowan a guitar.
She became quite interested in the guitar when she watched Daddy play guitar hero. We tried to let her play the game on the easiest setting, but it was still a little hard for her. So now she can play her own guitar at the same time as dad.

Harvey got a fire engine from Santa. He really likes it.

In the stocking were some cars.....

and a Nerf type ball.


We were all blessed to receive so many great gifts and visit with our family members from near and far. It's not over yet, we still have a Christmas/New Year's gathering with Janea's family. Look for more photos soon!

Random Winter Photos

Rowan helped decorate cut-out cookies today. She did a good job.

Harvey just came down from a bath with Andy. He was in a very good mood.

Poor thing still has a terrible time walking in the snow. He falls on his face a lot.

One of our goofy pictures that I took at our "Christmas card photo session" - see previous post.