Where has the time gone?

Wow, it's been way too long since I posted on this little family blog. It's amazing how quickly time goes when you're so busy! So I guess I should catch anyone up on the last 9 months of our lives for those who we're not in regular contact with!

I think I'm going to go month by month because it's easier that way!

July:

• Kaitlynn got glasses! She look so cute in them, and her only request was that they were PINK. Of course we ended up getting a pair that were pink & yellow.

August:

• We attended the county fair. The kids didn't show any animals, but we still went and had a good time.
• The kids and I took a short "vacation" to visit my sister in Gretna and went to the Omaha Zoo. We had a great time hanging out at her apartment, and swimming!
• Two days before school was set to start, I got a call about a job that I'd applied at over the summer. I was offered the position to be a para at a neighboring town's school, and started 2 days later. I would be working 5 days a week from 8-4! It was great, but meant we all had to get into a new routine.
•  We found out after 3 years of trying, and a miscarriage that we would be expecting another baby in the Spring of 2012. It was nerve racking, and a precious moment. 
• Kaitlynn turned 4! We celebrated as a family!

September:

•  Joel took one of our young bulls to State Fair and did well in his class!
• My mom came for a visit, sadly we didn't get to see her. It was rough on the kids and I but, we've managed to get through it!
• Worked like crazy at this point I still had the previous 2 jobs I was holding part time, in addition to the new full time job. 
• Attended a local used diaper sale, and bought most of our Newborn Diaper Stash!

October:

• Welcomed a new nephew! Made grand-baby number 29 for my in-laws!
• Celebrated my sister's 21st birthday & my birthday with a virgin margarita (the ONLY thing I was craving!)
• Spent my birthday in the field at my in-laws house helping them get the Harvest done! At this point we'd been in full Harvest mood for a good month! It was almost time for it to be over!
• Told our families we were expecting. Also nonchalantly announced it my Facebook page.
• Got pedicures and ate supper out with my step mom and sister!
• Welcomed a new niece to our family. My step sister had her first baby, Hannah! So precious.
• The kids carved pumpkins with Grandpa! Their tradition, and I don't have to get the mess at my house!
• Kaitlynn put a peggler bead up her nose at daycare, and our amazing dentist's removed it! Saving us a trip to the ER.
• We heard the baby's heart beat for the first time! It was such a joy to know that I'd been so sick for the last 15 weeks because of that baby!
• The kids stayed the night with my sister Bridget in Lincoln. 
• We saw baby on the ultra sound for the first time! All looked good and was growing as he/she should be!
• The kids were a Farmer, Minnie Mouse, and a Cheerleader for Halloween. MacKenzie wore the costume my mom made for me almost 20 years ago!

November:

•  Kaitlynn attended her first birthday party for a classmate. It was a princess party, and everyone dressed up as princesses.
• We took a mini "vacation" with the kids to a motel for the night. We then attended our Nephew's baptism. The kids enjoyed swimming in the pool even though it was freezing!
• We made a tough decision in regards to our future with cattle. After really looking into what God was trying to tell us we decided to sell off our heard until we could have a place of our own to raise them. Hopefully some day soon we will see this dream fulfilled.
• Felt the baby move for the first time!
• MacKenzie lost one of her front two teeth! She had a para at school pull it. 
• Dahrran started practice for a basketball club! It will last through March!
• Joel and I braved the crazy crowds and went shopping Thanksgiving night! I also then braved the crowds the next day with MacKenzie, my step-sisters, and niece and did more shopping! Ended the day with pedicures with my girl and supper!

December:

• Managed to put our tree up without Joel killing me! It was buried in the back of the storage room!
• Started having contractions! After 2 days of intense ones, Joel finally convinced me to go into the ER. Baby's heart rate was fine, I ended up getting two bags of fluids and had an infection that was suspected to be the cause of the contractions. Thankful at this point because I was only 23 weeks!
• Attended Joel's work Christmas party and had a good time!
• MacKenzie attended a birthday party for a classmate. Her first sleepover!!
• Joel and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary. 
• Found out we were having another GIRL!!! Kaitlynn was excited, the other kids, not so much. Joel wasn't thrilled either, but I was just thankful for a healthy baby!
• Completed 3 tie blankets in less than 24 hours for the kids for Christmas! Joel was awesome and helped me finish them up!
• Worked my last shift at the Gas station and Post Office where I'd worked part time for a year an a half, and 3 years! 
• Had an amazing 2 week Christmas break with the kids. Joel was even off so we spent the whole time as a family, watching movies and hanging out!!
• Got my first iPhone! Fell in love with Instagram, and started posting a million pictures to Facebook!
• Purchased a new car, and became a Mini-Van mom again! I've loved every minute of it since!!!
• Took the kids to see Alvin & The Chimpmunks Shipwrecked in theaters.
• Joel had a job interview, and got offered the job. We decided to decline it for the time being because of location, and timing.
• We spend New Years Eve playing games and watching movies. Kaitlynn won Sorry!

January:

• Spent New Years Day celebrating Christmas with Joel's mom's family. Love seeing everyone together.
• I admitted publicly on my Facebook that I was addicted to Cloth Diapers!
• Celebrated Joel's birthday by going out for supper. My grandma also took a turn for the worse this day so we went to visit her. Supper was just Joel, Dahrran and myself, we went to Applebee's!
• Had some pleasantly mild days.
• Dahrran had his first basketball game in which they won by 2 points!
• The crazy pregnancy dreams began! I then started nesting like crazy to get things ready! I also took pictures of our cloth diaper stashes!
• We towed a vehicle to the dump, and I informed Joel if he EVER made me do it again I would divorce him. It was quite the funny experience though in hindsight! We were talking on the phone the whole time, and laughing and making jokes!
• Dahrran had his first basketball tournament. They didn't do so well, but they had a good time!
• Found my love for Pinterest.....then became an addict! :(
• Thanks to said Pinterest obsession, we started having new meals which have become favorites!!
• MacKenzie wrote the sweetest note to me about not being a "broma queen". I almost framed it!
• The count down until baby comes began on my Facebook Page.
• We ate supper on the kitchen floor one night because it was "comfortable!"

February:

• We got a big snow, and the kids made snowmen and "minions" (from Despicable me)
• Nesting really sat in, and almost every weekend there was some "project" or another that NEEDED my attention!
• Dahrran had two more tournaments, one they didn't do so well at. The second one they came out as the champions and won every game! It was the last tournament of the season!
• Joel put the crib up. It started to become "real" that we were having another baby soon!
• I got a great deal on our carseat, and ordered it!
• Heard a great sermon at church which made us feel like we were in the "right" place when it came to church! We soon will be making the switch to this church!
• Joel started having some heart issues, and I convinced him to finally go to the doctor. Thankfully it's something small and can be controlled with medication. Guess we'll see if it works!
• MacKenzie fell and bonked her head pretty hard on the bleachers at school one night while Dahrran was having practice. She ended up with a pretty big goose egg on her forehead, and black eyes for a couple of weeks.
• The kids and Joel all got haircuts. MacKenzie got the most cut off at a little over 8 inches and donated it to locks of love. She is already loving her short hair style, and I have to say it's so fitting for her!
• Celebrated my step sister and step brother's birthday with a big family meal at Valentino's. 
• Delt with a small bought of the flu bug, thankfully only Dahrran, myself and Joel got it!
• Made a quilt for baby, got birth announcements finished up. We are now just waiting for a baby!

March:

• So far we've cleaned the house like mad....or I shall say, I have cleaned like mad. Purging something or another. First it was closets and storage, then it was dressers, now it's become linen closets and other drawers! The good side of all of my purging has been that Goodwill has had some nice donations over the last couple months. 
•  Dahrran turned 9 this week. It seems time has flown by. We didn't do a whole to to celebrate, but he did have a friend over last night to stay the night. Plans ended up changing, and he ended up staying at their house, but they still had a great time!
• We've had two scares already that baby is coming early. Thankfully she is still growing inside, and we will meet her in just a few short weeks.

There you have it. I know it's a lot, and if it weren't for Facebook's new Timeline feature, I probably wouldn't have been able to update is this easily! Because honestly, I can't remember what happened the last few months!!!

I'm hoping that once baby comes, I'll have more energy, and time to get around to blogging. I miss it something fierce, I do stay caught up with most of the blogs I love to read via a reader on my phone. Maybe I'll do an iPhone dump of the last couple months in pictures :)