tired puppy.

Little does she know she's headed for a vet check-up in about five minutes....

catching up.

Looks like we have some work to do catching up! Our last post was right before Halloween, and we have been plenty busy in the months since! Busy, and exhausted. And here is why!

This is our baby girl #2, due to arrive May 24th. At the time of our last post, it was still very early, and I hadn't been to the doctor yet. This has been a fairly easy pregnancy, although I will admit that with a very active three year old I feel much more exhausted than I was when I was pregnant with Ellie Belle! We have a little over a month and a half to go before we meet our new girl, and I am getting impatient. After a few hurdles, we are ready for this baby.

Ok, now that her introduction is done, let's try to quickly get up to speed so maybe we can try to be a little more regular with posts from here on out...until this newborn arrives and has all of our attention! And I'll gladly give it to her. :)September: As you know from our last post, we have a new puppy Gabby! She has quickly become just another part of our crazy family. Just like her brother Gage, she prefers the man of the house, so now I guess Bill has two dogs. I can't win! Both Ella and Gage love her, and she loves them.October: Ella dressed up as Rapunzel, and wore a costume her mommy made for her. Might be the last time I try to make something as extravagant as a Disney Princess costume! It was just accurate enough for Ella to be pleased with it. Mission accomplished. This year the weather was nice enough for Ella to actually do a little trick or treating! Walk to a few houses and come home with a few candy bars..she thought that wasn't too shabby.

November: Since we've had some really great weather this year, we were able to work in the yard a little later into the fall. And play in the leaves! Bill has been very busy landscaping since last summer, so he was able to finish a pretty large portion of our backyard before it got too chilly to do so. It looks awesome.

December: If Ella were to tell you what we do in December, she'd likely say, "we celebrate the birth of baby Jesus, and me!". She just thinks December is the month o' birthdays. She had three parties! One main party, where Gramma and Grampa, and Theresa and her kiddos, and Uncle Huey came to celebrate with her. Then we had cake and ice cream on her actual birthday, and then we HAD to have cake and presents in North Dakota when we were there over Christmas! We spent 5 days in ND over Christmas, and it was the first time we had been to New Town in over a year. It was SO nice. Got to tell my Grandparents in person that a new babe was on the way. Brought tears to my eyes to see I brought tears to my Grandma's eyes! Ella also got her first "official" haircut (we have cut bangs before, but this was her first whole head trim) by Gramma Charmaine. Gramma Charmaine is also coming in May when baby gets here...just in time for Ella's next haircut!

January: After a busy December, we pretty much just had a pretty lazy January! Except for swimming lessons. Ella did great; her first few lessons either Bill or I went in the water with her, and by the end she was on her own with a floatie. She is such a big girl now, and so smart! I'll save my Ella gushing for a separate post...this one could get might long if I start bragging about this kid of mine!

February: Pretty much the same deal here, lazy February! Swimming lessons finished up this month, right before my third trimester started, which is good because I'm back to being exhausted!

March: We're in full-blown baby planning mode now. We have her nursery ready to go for the most part, and Ella's baby clothes have made a reappearance in this little girl's closet. It brings back so many memories of when Ella was tiny! The weather is starting to get warm - like unusually warm, so we've already been to the zoo - in shorts! I'm glad the weather is nice, as it'll give us a chance to get as many out door activities in with Ella before baby comes.

Well that pretty much brings us up to speed!

weather woes

Holy buckets how the time flies. Talk about dropping the ball. Quick a bit has happened since we last posted.

For starters, Ella has grown and grown. She is working on potting training. She tends to me more successful in attempts at daycare. But we digress! She has made the transition from her "little girl room" to her "big girl room". It got to the point where she just couldn't stand her crib, so we made the move. Unforntunately, she likes her big girl room too much. There are too many books, babies and toys to keep her in bed. So her bedtime has extended a bit, but we are glad she likes it. She does still loved to be rocked at night though!

She talks about everything, repeats everything you say in question format, and is in the "what's that?" mode. It is sure precious to hear all the sentences coming out. Between her talkin and Gage's barking, the house has gotten quite loud! She has also grown up in intellect too. She demands to pick out her own shoes (even if it means wearing mom's high-feels). If she doesn't like a certain shirt, she tells us. We did get her ear's pierced! She was a friggin' champ. She didn't cry a bit. And since that day, she makes sure that everyone see's her new earings. She loves everything fruit. Banannas, apples, grapes, you name it. She will always take a bowl full and eat them right up. She has had weeks/months were she would only let daddy do everything with her, and the reverse with mommy. Recently, her and Gage restle for about a half-hour every day. As I mention below, the winter was long and she knows it. Whenever we go outside now, its a screamfest to get her back in. And she sure can spin her wheels. If she gets away from us, she runs and runs fast. Sometimes its hard to catch her. Her favorite things to watch on TV: "toys" (Toy Story 3), Tangled, Dora and Jungle Junction.

Side projects have taken up our time when Ella is asleep. Dawn continues to broaden her skillset. Purses, day bags, dresses etc. etc. She can do anything with some fabric and her sewing machine. She did find a little gem down the street called Mill End Textiles. A great little shop with all the fabric she will ever need! As Spring draws near, she did start her vegetables early for her garden. They are already getting big. As for me, the house has taken some of my time. I got a little weather crazy a few months ago and decided to demolition the basement. Our hope is that we can eventualy put a storage room and a bedroom in half of the unfinished space down there. So the demo came and went. Since then I haven't been able to do much until I fix some landscaping outside to prevent some minor water issues. So that one is on hold for now. Since then, on a whim, we decided to redo our kitchen floor. It is something we wanted to do since we moved in, we just couldn't find the time. So on a Saturday afternoon we ripped out the old flooring (2 layers of flooring and 2 layers of subfloor). By around 1am, we had 90% of the new floor installed. Tiring as well, but well worth it. I also did some landscaping to make up for some unfinished business from last fall as well as building Dawn a raised garden for those vegetables (just in time for our first 60 degree day). I also bought a new sliding door some time ago and was finally able to instal that this last weekend. Soon I will finish resurfacing that wall and paint the outside patio. I can't wait!

As for that crappy weather...It actually snowed a week ago. YES, in the middle of April. That goes to show how bad the winter was this year. Even after the bad storm that made our ND trip so rough (see last post), we had at least 2 more storms that dumbed around 12 inches of snow. And after a broken snowblower, my back sure didn't appreciate it. Whether or not I am ready for mowing the grass is another thing. Speaking of the nice weather, we are looking forward to lots of time at the cabin this summmer. We have to make it a good one!

I may have mentioned this in a previous post, but my Dad did get a new job. He now works in Neenah Wi. He has a nice 2 bedroom apartment there. He comes back to Burnsville once every other week to see all of us. It is sure nice when he is home. With all the house projects, he has been my on the phone handy-man. We look forward to spending time at the cabin with him and Mom this Summer!

As you can tell, we haven't done much traveling during the recent months. With new babies VerDouw and Dalske, that will quickly change. We can't wait for more babies! We plan on making a trip to Bismarck for the baptism of the little Verd. Because it has been so long, it will be nice to see everyone in the western land. Seeing John and the new addition on his home, seeing Charm and having Ell get another precious harcut and seeing how big Mr. Eli has gotten. Heck, I will travel to ND any weekend when there isn't snow on the interstate!

How about that, since originally starting this post, those cute babies were born...and on the same day! On Tuesday, April 26th, Charles "Chuck" VerDouw was born around noon and Emmett Miles Dalske was born around 10pm. They are both adorable little guys. Like I mentioned above, we will meet Chuck. We were able to run up to the hospital and see Emmett the day after he was born.

All in all, there have been ups and downs during the last phew months. And the next few months will probably be tough. Future posts will speak to that!

Song: Since a few killer tunes have come across the 8-track recently, I had to share at least a few. Lady Gaga - Born This Way (cover), Hanson - Give it All & Sara Bareilles - Yellow (cover)

Memory: Since the weather has been crappy recently, I will have to speak to that. Since about a month ago, I also remember playing stop and go (yes, that classic game) in the driveway of our Richfield home on my golden birthday and it was snowing. Hard to believe, snowing in April. Well, this year, mother nature put that memory to rest this year with plenty of snow far into the month of April.

a treturous drive

The holidays have come and past. It was a relaxing, stressful, exciting and quick...really everything! The weather has been about the same. Continued dumps of snow and cold air, and it's only January! Man the flip-flps and shorts can't come soon enough. I will mow the lawn any day over this shoveling crap.

The weekend before Christmas we spent in Fargo for the extended family get-together at the Metzgers. We drove up on Saturday morning and checked-in to our hotel. Gage stayed in the cities. We went Pat and Glenn's around 3pm. Most of the extended family was there and it was so great to see everyone. We caught up with all of those that hadn't seen us in a while and Ella played alot with Grandma! We headed back to our hotel around 8pm and crashed hard. Ella ended up sleeping in bed with us last night and a trend started (more on that later). We stopped by Pat's on the way out of town for a nice breakfast, said our goodbyes and made the treak back home.

We spent Christmas Eve here at home. It was fantastic. I finished my Christmas shopping that morning while the girls stayed and played at home. We made a fantastic spread for a meal and relaxed all night. We opened presents that night after dinner. On Christmas Day, I did a bit of shoveling and Ella played with a new toys (a new kitchenette, a vacuum cleaner, some books, clothes and a doll house). Early that afternoon we headed over to Hugh and Joni's for a big meal and more presents. Hugh Jr., Rose and Chas and Auntie Debbie we're all there. We had a great meal and enjoyed each others company.

Because Christmas fell on a Saturday, we only had Friday off. We headed back to work on Monday. But we took a few days off the following week to take a little vacation. On Weds. morning, we headed off to North Dakota. Because most of the state was supposed to be slammed with snow and freezing rain, we borrow the Pilot to make the trip. Gage also joined us on the trip. We way out there went swimmingly and we arrived around 3pm that afternoon. Over the next few days, we watched alot of TV and let the girls play (and fit over toys). Because of the poor road conditions, we never made the last leg of the trip to New Town to see the rest of the family. We shipped their presents the rest of the way! New Years eve we drank champaigne/beer and watched the ball drop. Saturday we went to visit Grandma Rita at her new home in Bismarck. It was so great to see her in healthy and happy. The girls played and entertained us. We had another great home-cooked meal by Darc that night. We took of from Bismarck on Sunday morning around 8am. Most of the interstate was closed all weekend because of the poor driving conditions. They were opening as we were driving (for good or bad). We ended up driving about 20 miles an hour for about half of the drive because there was so much ice on the drive. We saw cars rolled-over every few miles and had a hard time keeping the car on the road. BUT, we got home safe and were glad to be there!

As I mentioned, we weren't able to make it home to New Town. Bummed but really blessed the following week when we were mailed all of our presents. So after Christmas, we had a second Christmas. Ella recevied lots and lots of Dora (which she loves). Dawn and I also got some really good gifts. It was so nice!

Before Christmas arrvied, we finally got the news our family has been waiting for two years. My dad got a long awaited job. He is now a marketing manager at TIDI Products. It is based in Neenah, WI, five hours away from the cities. Based on all that he told me during the interview process, it is a company with a very bright future and one that he can make a major impact at in a short amount of time. We are very excited for him. It will mean some time away from us and from Mom, but in the long run, it's worth it so he is happy and life can go on. To give you an idea, any gown, tissue or fabric that you have used in a hospital, doctors or dentist office most likely was manufactured by TIDI.

Enough about holidays and traveling. Ella is growing like a weed, in more ways than one. One example, she can open bedroom doors now and turn off light switches (scray). Now that the pacifier is toast, she is talking more and more. And learning words we never expected from daycare (in a good way). More than ever she is putting Gage in his place, which he needs. She has grown effectionite to Dora and Diego, don't tell her, but almost more than Ming-Ming and the Wonder Pets. Point is, along with Walgreens, I should have invested in Nick Jr. She is back into the bath sensation. She will spend all night in there if she could. There are even a few gifts and toys she got last year that she is now realy using! Coloring is also a big fad that continues. But mainly, we can't go to bed without reading many books. And with that, she has become clingy too. Always wanting to be held, which we don't mind at all. Potty training is still in the works, which we are cool with. One thing at a time.

Although 2010 was busy for us and plenty of exciting things happened, I was disappointed that it ended. Yes, it means that I will be one year older, but its not that. Recently I have reflecting alot on how quicly time goes by. Because of it I have been spending as much time awake and doing the things I want to do. At any rate, a few weeks before she passed, Elizabeth Edwards posted this message on her Facebook wall. I don't mean to write to jump on any bandwagon, but her words are so true. In the time we do have, whether we go tomorrow or live to 100, we need to really, really, cherish those we have in our lives. Our mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers and those around us on a daily basis. After all, they make our days worth living. Cherish them and be grateful.

The days of our lives, for all of us, are numbered. We know that. And, yes, there are certainly times when we aren't able to muster as much strength and patience as we would like. It's called being human. But I have found that in the simple act of living with hope, and in the daily effort to have a positive impact in the world, the days I do have are made all the more meaningful and precious. And for that I am grateful.

As I mentioned in a previous post, one project I have started during those late nights in moving all of my mom's hand written notes onto the web. Since my parents bought their cabin in Merrifield, MN, my mom has written a page or two of stories recounting all that happened every weekend. Well, now you can see that online. Check out www.sunrise-shores.com/. It's not complete (as I have only gotten through 1994) and the design/template will most likely change (and photos will be uploaded soon), but it's a good start. Ah, memories!

Music: Brad Paisley - This Is Country Music

two and pacifier-free

Another month has past and more harsh weather has hit us. We had a windy day in early November. That was followed by a few snow storms, the worst happened yesterday. We think Burnsville got hit with about 19 inches. It started on Friday night and ended on Saturday night. We snowblowed and shoveled, and then after the snowblower broke, we shoveled some more. Our neighbors, the Walhbergs helped us out alot with the four-wheeler turned slowplow. Very thankful for that! Also, because of the snow storm, the Metrodome collapsed! I think it's happened before, but still crazy to think about.

Ella's second birthday is on Weds. Two already?!? It's unreal how the time has flown by. She is suck a big girl now. Her birthday party was set for Saturday. Because of the storm, we didn't have many party-goers (which was fine). Grandma, Grandpa and Bev joined us for a little party. We had cake, opened presents and shared stories. Ella got some great gifts! clothes, shoes, doll furniture/toys and more toys, to name a few. She played so hard she crashed in Dawn's arms once the party was over. Last weekend we had Ella's pictures at Target. Ella did great even though the time with the photographer was limited.

We have been slowly by surely potty-training Ella. We haven't hit the stool to hard, but when we can we try to encforce it. There will come a day soon when we make a priority. More importantly and tirelesy draining, we went pacifier-free a week ago. We think that we took too long to pull the plug, but each kid is different and we went at our own pace. Nonetheless, she hasn't taken it very well. She has taken longer to go down for naps and for bedtime (since that was the only time she relied on it). Tonight was the best yet. It only took her about 20 min to fall asleep. What a relief! Now that the pacifier is packed away (until the next one :), Ella has been talking alot more! Full sentences mixed with some jabber fill our past time.

For Thanksgiving we joined the Sheehan extended-family at Hugh and Joni's. Lots of food and football was had by all. Everyone was able to join us. For Black Friday, we did a bit of holiday shopping later in the day (no early mornings this year). We put up our tree and other home decorations later that Friday. Ella loved putting decorations on the tree. She found a branch that was positioned right so she could just lay the ornaments on it. When it was said and done, there were probably 12 ornaments piled together. It was cute! On the Sunday of that weekend, the Schillers and Dave and Granny were in town for a beauty pagent. We joined them at Mom and Dad's to watch the Vikings game. It was also great to see them.

With the holidays drawing near, we have had quite a few holiday parties we have attended (with work folks and others). We still have a few more to participate in before the season is over. In fact, this weekend we are heading to Fargo for the extended-family Springer Christmas. We haven't been there in a few years so it will be good to see everyone again. We will be in town for Christmas day and then head to North Dakota for 5 days. For these parties we have done our fair-share of baking and cooking. We did some cookie baking and decorating with Ella a few weeks ago. Ella had a blast and was a big help using the rolling pin and the cookie cutter. And I'm sure we will do a bit more!

Dawn has been on a Twilight kick recently. Between books and movies, she is in it to win it. I did take a moment to watch a few frames of the third movie. It was entertaining, I will leave it at that. Dawn also has her sewing projects and other books she is reading for her book club. I have been spending time with Hugh Jr. pondering to take over the world. Really, though, we usually have him over for drinks and snacks every weekend to talk about the times and whats up in technology. Hopefully we can lock-in some stellar clients soon.

Even thought we haven't come together for the last few games, we have been spending every Vikings/Sunday football game with Liz (Dawn's co-worker) and her boyfriend Mike. For each game there is always a great spread of munchies and dips. It has been fun to spend that time together!

Song: OneRepublic - Good Life

More after next weekend!

no mommy, no!

Those are Ella's famous words now. And the conversations she shares have been entertaining us over the past few months. Again, like the last post, I will try to remember all the excursions we went on!

Chris and Keli visited us in early August and took us to a Twins game at Target field. We ate great food and had even better seats. Cousin Josh and Shena treated the biggest fans in the family, Grandpa Bob and Grandma Joan, to a Twins game the next weekend. It was great to have them in the cities. We had a great steak dinner and caught up over drinks. A great time!

Also in August, we met Brian, Darcy and Madeline in Fargo to visit Grand Forks for UND Homecoming. Because hotels were booked, we stayed at a hotel in Fargo. We headed to Grand Forks around 11 that morning. We visited campus and stopped at a few stores to stock up on Sioux gear. Then we headed to the Alerus Center for tailgating and for the football game. It was great to be back in the Forks! We drove back to Fargo around 6 and the girls swam in the hotel pool and played in the hotel rooms. Hopefully we can make that a yearly event.

The past two months we have experienced many ups and downs. We are excited about the babies that are expected in our families. And we hope for more!! We have also been stricken with death. Two coworkers past away suddenly. That was definitely hard.

Halloween has come and past. Ella was a little witch for her daycare party. It was great to see all the other kids and parents. We had a few more tricker-treaters in the neighborhood than last year. The weather has been pretty good, aside from a few windy days here ad there. She continues color pictures with crayons and loves it. She is starting to put Gage in his place when he deserves it. And whenever she can, she is either watching Wonder Pets or Sesame Street.

All for now. Tons of pictures and stories soon.

if you pluck it

Our readers have spoken and here we are. A month and a half, holy crap, I will try to remember it all.

The biggest news recently was Dawn's promotion at Northern. She remains in the same department, but is now a project manager in the call center at NTE. It is so great that she is finally getting recognized for the hard work and effort she has put in. In other job news, after a very strong interview process of Cargill, Grandpa Hugh is still job seeking. We really hope he gets one soon. We continue to be amazed with his strength and positiveness during this long stretch. Rose got a full-time teaching job for the fall. We are very excited for her. And my cousin, Kyle "XY" Metzger made the decision to become a priest. He left his teaching job, is living with his folks in Fargo and will depart to Maryland in September for seminary school.

Ella has gotten so much bigger in recent weeks. And her hair is soooo long. She is talking a bit more, and we are working everyday to broaden her horizon's. She absolutely loves reading books on the chair next to you. She had a stretch of time where she hated the bath. Overtime, she has learned to like it again. As before, she is still a total shoe girl. Taking off and putting on every shoe in site. And she prefers to be outside. The weather has been alright recently. Very warm, but a lot of rain on the weekends, which makes it hard to play outside. She had her 18 month appointment and she is off the charts for height. Along with reading, dancing is her favorite pastime.

Shortly after the last post, the River Hills Garage sales took place. Although we probably went to 20 or 30 sales (only a fraction of how many there actually are), we really didn't find any great deals. We did learn that our neighbors (Scott & Kara) across the street are big salers. Every year they have a garage sale. They almost treat it like a vacation. So we spent a few nights in a row over at their bonfire trading stories and meeting a bunch of neighbors. One of the couples is Dan and Robin Pintozzi. I will chat about them later.

After playing Rock Band at Mike and Erin Inveen's, we couldn't resist. We broke down and bought Guitar Hero for the Wii. Actually, it's Band Hero, since it comes with two guitars, a microphone and a (gasp!) drumset! Since then, we have spent most Friday and Saturday nights jammin. We have had a number of friends over to be our roadies. Not Billboard hits yet. Give it time. Wasn't there a great actor that once said, if you pluck it, they will come.

Gage had an eventful visit to the vet in the later part of June. He had to get his shots that were overdue. After an hour of getting back, his face swelled up like a basketball and he could barely keep his eyes open. We had to rush him back to the vet for more shots to take care of his allergic reaction. A pretty traumatic event. Because he will be staying in a doggy daycare during our trip to North Dakota, he has to get a few more shots this weekend. Let's hope for the best.

We connected with some old North Dakota friends who now live in Shakopee. Mark and Rachel have a 1 yr old son named Noah. We were fortunate enough to watch him two times before the fourth. He is a cutie and Ella loved having a play partner. Although, because she is the queen at daycare, she may have to work on sharing a bit more :)

The Fourth of July was a fun filled weekend at the cabin. Pat & Glenn Metzger joined our fam at the cabin. Hugh Jr. unveiled his custom made, floating beer pong table which was a hit at the sand bar...it was a hit. More importantly, Ella LOVED the sand bar. She loved swimming and playing in the water. For the first time in as long as I can remember, the Springer or Bye family did not travel to Wisconsin to buy fireworks. The neighbors made up for it and Gage was scared all weekend. After getting to the cabin on Friday night, we took off on the fifth to head home.

This last weekend we visited the Como zoo. It wasn't too busy because we went so early. The best part was visiting the Conservatory afterwords. Ella loved the flowers and the coy fish pond. We did get a chance to see the seal show for the first time. It was pretty entertaining.

We are looking forward to two big weekends in the next month. In a week and a half, we are heading to North Dakota for a Satermo Reunion. We hope to see tons of family and maybe even escape on Grandpa John's house boat. Then in August, the VerDouws are vacationing here. We will go to Target field for the first time to see a Twins game and then head up to the cabin for a weekend away. Can't wait!!

As I mentioned earlier, we have become good friends with the Pintozzi's. They happen to live a few blocks away from us. Dan's father, Bob, was the dean of boys at Trinity School back in the day. He was a hardass back then, but have grown to admire him. Bob & Claire (his wife) live with their daughter, her husband and children. Both the Pintozzi parents and the Maslows are in the People of Praise. Their oldest son, Alex, was in a horrible car accident in the early morning hours of the 4th of July. Unfortunately, at the age of 16, he did not survive. Alex was a very energetic and fun kid. I had him as a camper at Servant Camp when he was younger. We stay very close to his story through CaringBridge. He was a donor and saved many lives because of his thoughtfulness. It was a very moving time for everyone involved.

song: Coldplay - Fix You

memory: With a few wool rugs in the house and all the hard wood floors, a part time job that Dawn has taken on is keeping the floors clean. Growing up, my mom worked as a house cleaner. Back then, although they may be mediocre homes now, she cleaned mansions. When I was off from school or was "sick" I would go with her to these houses. While she worked like a dog, I would watch Sportscenter in their theatre rooms. So now when we clean any hard wood service and use Murphy's Oil, it brings me right back. Those were the days! Sure wish I could be sick all the time and crash in other people's theatre rooms now a days!

Plan to write soon. Hope to upload some videos to YouTube for the next post so you can see Ella shake it!