34 weeks

I had another 2 hour Dr. appt on Monday.  They did another non-stress test and everything looks great.  I had my blood drawn and I can drop down to one shot per week now.  Yeah!  Preston was a trooper, again and was treated to McDonald's for lunch.  Then, yesterday I had another ultrasound.  They are doing these to measure the fluid level, heart rate, growth and to check the placenta.  Everything looked great.  The Dr. estimates the baby weighs 4 1/2-5 pounds and would be in the 46 percentile for weight if born right now.  He thinks I'll probably have 1 or 2 more ultrasounds before delivery.  Laken went with me this time, so I had an excuse to take her to Dairy Queen for a cheesequake blizzard as I have been craving cheesecake.  Cheesecake, Clausen pickles and snickers bars have been my cravings for this babe.  And, I've been in a total got to get my christmas shopping done and everything wrapped frenzy. 

On a side note Preston was up all night throwing up.  He is not running a temperature, so I don't think it's the dreaded flu, but his stomach hurts and he is just feeling punky. 

Squirt Blue

Braeden will play on Owatonna Squirt Blue for his first season of traveling hockey.  He's skating in the photo above during tryouts.  To see his schedule, go to http://www.owatonnahockey.com/cgi-bin/calendar/calendar.cgi?config=526.cfg&Year=2009&Month=11&p=.

We are told this schedule can change on very short notice. 

One of the neighbors, Tim Garbers is also on his team.

Amazing 1st report card

Preston just came home with his first Kindergarten report card.  He is doing just awesome, so I just had to brag.  Here is what his teacher wrote about him, "Preston is wonderful! He always tries his best in school.  He loves to please.  At this time I have no concerns academically or socially.  He is doing an awesome job!!  Keep up the great job!! I really enjoy having him in the room!"  She also wrote, "He is very cooperative-mature-leader.  He interacts well with peers-very well liked.  He always observes school and classroom rules.  He has made a lot of friends.  He is very polite and well-mannered.  Preston is very attentive in school.  He always raises his hand and volunteers great answers.  Keep it up! At this time I have placed Preston in a small guided reading group to challenge him more (not all my children are ready). Super job!!  We'll keep him going!"

Good job buddy!  Keep it up!!!  We are sooo proud of you!  Love, Mom and Dad.

Meeting our New Cousin

The Sunday after Halloween we met Gammy, Grandpa, Mike, Amy, Aaron and new cousin Alexis at the Holiday Inn in Owatonna.  Lexie is such a sweet little girl.  She is very precious.  Laken enjoyed showing her, her toys.  Laken is also convinced that Amy lives at the hotel.  Everyone, but Braeden got to go swimming.  Him and I needed to attend a hockey meeting that evening.  He had the Sunday night blues when we got home, because of missing out on all the pool fun.  I'm bummed that I forgot my camera in all the chaos of the day, so if anyone has any pictures please email them.  Speaking of camera we had to break down and get a new one.  It's awesome, but now we just need to read the thick manual so we know how to operate everything.

Halloween Fun!

Laken, Preston, Braeden and our adopted daughter Leone went out Trick or Treating.  Brad stayed home to pass out the candy.

We went around the neighborhood.  I pushed Laken in the Stroller.  The kids were more than satisfied with their loot and their hands were ice cubes by the time we got home.

Carving Pumpkins

We carved our pumkins the Wednesday before Halloween.  The kids totally enjoyed the process.  They had gotten them with Nama and Grandpa from the Winona Farmer's Market. 

October Happenings

Constance Elizabeth celebrated her 1st Birthday on the 17th.  She is such a happy go lucky little girl that can easily entertain herself.  She loved digging into her cupcake.

We have been very busy working on Christmas crafts.  Laken and Preston are working on some of theirs.

Gammy and I went looking at Churches in LaCrosse for Ben and Chrissy's wedding on August 7th.  We also went to a Bridal Fair, too.  It was a fun time!  Just wish Chrissy could have been there.  We are all so excited to be a part of their big day.

We posed for pictures for the Express Hockey Team.  Notice Laken's infamous pose.

Then, geared up for the upcoming hockey season.

28 Weeks

I had my 28 week appointment on Monday. What a lengthy one. Poor Pudge had to come with me and we were there for 2 1/2 hours. He was a total trooper and was rewarded with McD's Drive-thru for lunch. First I had my blood draw for my progesterone test. Then, up to see the Dr. were I was measuring right on and she did a cervical check as I've been having quite a bit of Intense Braxton Hicks, but I was completely closed. Yeah! Then, she sent me back to down to the lab, because, as I suspected, they forgot to do my glucose test and a urine test. So, poor Pudge had to sit with me for an hour down there. They drew blood and then, it was back up to my Dr.'s office. They put me on a monitor for 20 minutes to check the heart, which turned out to look great. I got a flu shot, two progesterone doses and my rhogam shot. In all I was stuck 6 times that day. The nurse made sure I got all sparkly bandages. Later, my doctor called and my progesterone has finally made it up to zone 3. So, she wants me to do shots for two more weeks. Then, test it again and if it is still in zone 3 we can stop doing them. That would be so lovely.

Outdoor Movies

We have been wanting to an outdoor movie all summer, but it just stays to light out too late. So, September was the perfect weather and opportunity. Brad brought his screen from work, but I think it would work on the garage, too. The boys of course, chose none other than Star Wars. A bunch of the neighborhood kids came over. Preston made Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches, we popped popcorn and the Jacobson Family brought over cookies and bars. It was a ton of fun and Gammy even Skyped us while we were waiting for the show to begin!

September Happenings

I headed back to work on September 16th for my second year with Great American Fundraising. Here is picture of how I found my desk chair once when I got up to attend to something. Full of Star Wars Action figures. It is a challenge to be a work at home mom to say the least. The order forms I enter have a timer and if you don't get them entered in before the time runs out, the image goes away. So, multitasking with the laptop nearby has become the way of life around here. Now to the shameless plug. I work for the same company that Laken's Dance Academy uses for their fundraising efforts. So if anyone wants to help a little ballerina fund raise. Here is the process: www.gaschoolstore.com. Enter the code 723775 and Laken Meier and she'll receive credit and you'll be helping my employment as well!!!




Braeden had some exciting news last week. He got elected to student council for the first semester. He had to write a speech, which he waited to do until that morning. And, of course Brad had to be out of town that entire week, so I got the privilege of helping him brainstorm. He was having severe writer's block and wasn't liking any of the ideas I was tossing out. I love the Yoda voice he does, so I suggested he wear his Yoda shirt, do his Yoda voice and ask kids to vote for him. Then, the wheels started turning. Along with introducing himself, adding why he was a good candidate and doing his Yoda voting commercial, he added, "I'm Braeden Meier and I approve this message." The kids apparently loved it.

Finally, we've been blessed with an abundance of garden tomatoes this year. So, we've self taught ourselves how to make homemade tomato sauce. We've eaten it over spaghetti and in chili and like it in chili the best. We don't have any canning equipment, so we actually found a crock pot recipe. We make it in there and eat it as we go.

25 Weeks

You'll have to click on the picture to view it larger. For now I can't figure out how to enlarge it. I had an ultrasound today. Everything was measuring and looking as it should. Baby was kicking up a storm so he had a hard time measuring the placenta and blood flow at first. The first pic is baby's profile. Baby is head down right now. The second is a pic with baby's nose labeled. He was very cautious not show the gender parts as he remembered from last time that we did not want to know and he said he prefers that. Baby was talking up a storm. I figured it was because Preston and Laken were telling each other knock-knock jokes during the ultrasound. Boy is it going to get louder in this house. Baby is measuring in the 74th percentile. So, we hopefully keep chugging along. Thanks for all the prayers!

Preston's Turn!

Preston had one extra day of vacation last week. He started Kindergarten on Wednesday, although he would have been more than happy to go on Tuesday. He was so excited to finally be going to Washington Elementary. The only glitch was the bus was so suppose to come at 11:30 am. When it was 11:45 and it still wasn't there Mom decided I had better drive him. Big bummer for him. Turns out it stopped at our house 22 minutes late, ugh! His mood brighten when he discovered that one of his preschool friends was in his class and they both had the exact same Star Wars backpack!


















Preston outside of school. The tag he is wearing tells what bus he gets picked up from and where it picks him up and what bus he goes home on and where he is dropped off it. He made it home on the bus and was sooo excited to be riding with all the neighborhood "big" boys!







He had Thursday off as 1/2 the class went Wednesday and 1/2 Thursday. Then, Friday the entire class went. He finally got to take his 1st bus ride to school. We hope we can figure out this bus pick up time as it was late on Friday, but yesterday it was on time. It's driving him and I crazy! But, so far he loves it and it hasn't been a big transition as he goes the exact same times he went to preschool just one more day out of the week. He brought home the cutest humpty dumpty drawing this week and his teacher wrote that she loved it!

Braeden and Laken's 1st Day of School

Braeden and Laken both started school last Tuesday. I seem to mark time more by the 1st day of school rather than their birthdays or the New Year. So, it always makes my heart ache a bit.


Braeden was up and ready to go at 6:15 am. He is starting the 4th grade with a teacher who seems to be wonderful named Mrs. DeKam. He will also continue his orchestra endeavors and is already signed up for hockey.
He had a fabulous 1st day where they watched a video on their new smartboards, played Jeopardy to get to know their teacher and he found a mysterious scrap of paper on the floor that led him to claim a prize from the treasure chest.









The neighborhood children lined up waiting for the bus. The energy level was pretty high!










Braeden getting ready to board bus #4.











Laken started 3-year old preschool at Trinity Nursery School (or Preston's school as she calls it). It also, is at church. Her teacher moved over from ECFE and has already been Laken's teacher the past 2 years, so the transition was a piece of cake. In fact she talked her ear off at the home visit. She was way more detailed than the boys about her day, too. They had donuts for Thomas's birtday, read a book about a duck going to school, saw pictures of Ms. Kris's family and played with the dress-up shoes. She, also, rattled off several new friends in her class.

She posed this way all her self. Such a girl.

Outside her classroom at Trinity Nursery School.

Labor Day Relaxation

Since we all labor so hard, it was a great day to go outside and play cosmic catch. There are different games and you were testing your quickness and hand eye coordination!








Cosmic Catch in black and white-oooohhhh!
Braeden didn't like that one.








Laken works so hard all week long that this is how she spent her Labor Day.









The great American pasttime, baseball. It was a big game at Meier Field. Grandpa Dick standing on 2nd base with a double.

Last week of summer vacation

For the last week of summer vacation a trek to the Science Museum was in order. I promised Braeden we could visit the Titanic Exhibit there and it was less expensive to go on a week day. Before we saw the Omni movie we played around in the favorite area, the MN area. They each weighed themselves on the fish scales.

Here is Braeden's results. Can you believe it!

Laken's favorite was all the stuffed animals. A lot of which came from animals that were once at Como Zoo.

We then watched a movie on Titanic and how they retreived some of the artifacts. My kids and myself always get a little squeamish in the Omni Theatre. The sounds are very overwhelming for Braeden. He loves it once he covers his ears and adjusts to the noise. I think Preston felt a little claustrophobic with the screen coming down as do I. Laken fell asleep.

Then it was off to the Titanic exhibit. They first give a boarding pass that tells some history about who you are suppose to be on the Titanic and then, you go through and see many artifacts and read many historical facts along the way. Brae and I would have enjoyed it much more without the little ones. Preston was begging to go as soon as we entered and Laken needed to find a bathroom, but if you exit the exhibit you can't reenter. So, I was a mean mom and made her hold it. Remarkably she stayed dry. At the end you find out if your character lived or died. We all died.

Braeden, also, made this sweet tower during the week. Then, can you believe one of the Laken's dolls knocked it over?

Finally, we went camping with Nama and Grandpa for the last time. Unfortuately, I was down for the count with bathroom problems made much more worse by consuming prune juice, so no pics. But, we got to go through the lock and dam a total fan favorite and visit the Dam Saloon, another favorite. Braeden and Preston, also, tried waterskiing. The skis were too small for Brae who wears a men's size 8 shoe. Preston did it a few times along the shore with my dad pulling him.

Gladiola Days!

St. Charles is the Gladiola Capital of the world, so at the end of the August the town celebrates! Anyway, we haven't been to the parade since Braeden was a babe. Our trek this year was brought on by my Grandparents, Victor and Mildred Feine being named the St.Charles Senior Citizen's King and Queen. How sweet is that!

While we were waiting for the festivities to start, Laken, Preston and Madeline kept going behind this gate and pretending they were jailed. The kids got a ton of candy. Braeden was very selective in his candy grabbing and would only go after the good stuff. Preston would go after everything, but would share the stuff he wasn't fond of with his sister.
The marching band brought back oh such fond memories. I think I could still do the flag routine to, "We Got the Beat."

22 Weeks

I had my progesterone levels checked, again, yesterday. It is usually an every 2 week thing. My Dr. called last night after hours and my levels have dropped a bit since last check, so she is uping my dosage from 1ml to 2ml. She is also going to have me have ultrasounds every 3-4 weeks to check on baby's growth and development. Then, from 32 weeks until delivery she will have me come in weekly for non-stress tests and ultrasounds every two weeks to monitor baby and check fluid levels. We have passed the miscarriage stage and are now focusing on preventing preterm labor with the progesterone. Of course, all this news is scary and worrisome to say the least. I know my Dr. is extremely cautious and caring and that we are in good hands with her. I'm also, trying to give all my fears to God, but it is sometimes easier said than done. I'm feeling baby move quite a bit and I think I could feel the kicks on the outside this morning. Of course, baby decided not to perform for anyone else. We did take Amy's advice and rent a doppler, so that always gives a bit of peace of mind. Please continue praying for our family.

Crafting for Chrissy

Chrissy had requested the kids make her an apron for her birthday. It took us awhile to complete this request as we do not have any craft stores in town (boo hoo). The kids each painted a portion. Here is Laken painting her spot on the apron. Happy Belated Birthday, Chrissy!

A Family Staycation

We were in need of a get away, but with a limited budget a staycation was all the we could handle. Grandpa Dick was gracious enough to let us use their home while they were in Utah. First stop was a trip to the MN Children's Museum on Friday afternoon. A place that our children adore. It has a plethora of activities for all ages. Preston liked delivering mail, Laken loved the special Clifford exhibit and Braeden's all-time favorite is the block factory (which we always need to explore and visit toward the end).

Next came a trip to the Midway Cub foods for some groceries. We even ran into the Swenson's there! It was home to Gammy's for supper and strict orders from the boys to watch Star Wars The Clone Wars on Cartoon Network (because we do not have cable at home). We even tuned into Farve's first start.

Saturday brought a trip to Como Zoo (Free!). It was crazy busy. We parked far, far away and had to take Pudge on a bathroom break halfway there. First stop was Sparky, which proved to be by far the kids fav. We enjoyed seeing all the animals. Then, it was across the road to the park for a picnic. Brad hiked to the car and back with the cooler. The kids were complaining about how long it was taking Brad (I think they had forgotten how far it was to the car). We ate lunch and played at the park.

After Como Park came a mini trip to Como Town. The kids each got to choose one ride. Laken choose the carriage ride and loved it! Brad, Braeden and Preston went on the bumper cars, but Brad at the camera so no pics. Then, Laken and Preston found a dragon ride for 50 cents.

Supper that night was Boston Market courtesy of free and discounted meal coupons from BzzAgent Jono!

Sunday brought an adventure to Chuck E Cheese. The kids absolutely love this

place! We think it's pretty darn fun, too! We beat the lunch crowd and had a blast playing a bunch of games!

After Chuck E Cheese, a second trip to the Steele County Fair was in order. We had went on Tuesday for the rides as it was 96 cent ride night and each ride was only one ticket. Preston had went earlier with a neighbor and we met him out there. The boys again did the bumper cars while I took Lake on the Train, bounce castle and fire trucks. Our second trip brought touring every single camper from the local dealers. The kids had a blast doing this. We each agreed on the same favorite. A camper with a kids suite, complete with 4 bunks, a table and it's own bathroom. Then, we went in the animal barns and Pudge tried his had at milking a pretend cow. Laken loves the animals and Tuesday night we had to make sure to say good night to some of them.

Our finally destination on our Staycation was the movie theatre for the G-Force matinee. We stayed in budget, made great memories and had wonderful fun!