The Crud

The next famous contortionist! After spending a week in the house, we had to come up with someone to entertain us :)

This last week was filled with wiping noses and passing out meds. Katie began our week off with a high fever, cold and croupy cough. Then, passed it on to Casey and Trenton. Last night Tys and I began our round. This weekend everyone has some sort of this sickness.... now that we've all had it, we can only go uphill from here, right?

Baby Girl

Today was the big day where we found out if Baby Haveman was a girl or boy. Katie had been praying for months for a baby sister and, I know that Casey has also been secretly praying for a daughter as well! There were also many more family members and friends who wished for a girl too. Up until about 2 weeks ago I truly didn't mind either way. That is, until my friend Becky had her baby girl. Once I held that tiny bundle of pink, I knew that I wanted a girl also! Of course, having a boy would have been great and as Katie kept telling us "we will love him anyway" We were overjoyed this morning to find out that God is blessing us with a GIRL! She was not at all shy about showing us that she was a girl... however, kept hiding her face with her hands so that we couldn't get a clear picture of her face. Anyhow, we got the answer we desired.... We are quickly learning that she is a very active baby; always kicking and moving her hands. Infact, for most of the ultrasound she was sucking her left hand and, you could see the specific movements of her mouth. While sucking her left hand, she kept her right hand up to her face or raised it above her head. It was all so very wonderful to see! We love our 2 doctors at the women's clinic that I go to. Today we saw Dr Z. and he was very kind to take his time and show us all of her body parts (of course, he was also checking things) and let us just sit there for a period to time to watch her.
After our appointment, Casey and I headed to JC Penney's to buy our little girl an outfit. This is a tradition that he and I have always done for our babies. On the day we find out if they're a boy or girl, we go out and buy them a special outfit. Well, today we were so happy we ended up buying her 3 new summer, newborn outfits (and b/c Penney's was having a good sale...) We also ate lunch at our favorite Basque restaurant, The Star. Then, this evening we enjoyed a celebration dinner of pizza with our family (Joe, my cousins and my parents)
When we got home from Elko, I got the kids together and told them that they were going to have a baby sister. Katie was SO excited and immediately gave one of her special stuffed animals to her baby sister and, she had drawn a picture for her while I was at the doctor. Tys said "no, it's a boy because a girl baby will make you sick" He is happy to be having a sister but, wants a boy baby b/c I've been so sick and he blames it on the "girl". And, Trenton didn't have a clue that his life is about to be changed forever!!
We feel blessed and thankful that, so far, the baby is looking good and healthy. And, look forward to finally being able to meet her! Above: 21 weeks
Below: Baby's face. Not the best pictures because she kept hiding her face. The 4 little dots by her mouth are her left fingers.

Jona

The kid's have two favorite Jona's on their lives: our friend, Jona and Jona the Bear. As you probably guessed, Jona the Bear was named after Jona the Friend :) Jona is a radiologist at our local hospital and is only in town two weeks out of the month. During her time here, we enjoy her visits, her yummy authentic Chinese food and golf lessons. And, when the kids need x-rays (usually Tys) it's comforting for them to know that their friend Jona is taking their pictures!

6 years

Casey and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary yesterday. All we could say to each other was "wow, how time flies!" I am thankful everyday for my husband, who works very hard to support his family and loves me inspite of my hormonal pregnancy moments! lol
We had already celebrated our anniversary while in Lake Tahoe last month so, we kept yesterday low key. We went out to breakfast in the morning (funny how when you have little kids your anniversary revolves around them!) Casey had the day off and was able to get a few of his projects done during the day. I was busy preparing for my parent's farewell party which, is at our house today. In the evening my parents came over and mom cooked us one of our fav. meals: carne asada steak, Spanish rice, homemade refried beans and lots of salsas and chips and, dessert of apple & peach pies! It was so yummy. Our OSO. aka. Joe, and his parents also came over for dinner. It was a fun evening with our friends and family. I am excited to see what God has in store for us this next year. And I am so thankful that He gave me Casey to share in our "journey of life" together!

Snow

After experiencing spring type weather these last few weeks, we woke up to falling snow this morning! The boys immediately wanted to go outside and "build a snowman"... as you can see they are still in their p.j.s! Trent has a love-hate relationship with snow. Whenever he looks out the window and sees the snow he gets very excited and runs for his snow boots. He exclaims "no-no" His cute word for snow. I then spend 10 minutes getting him bundled up, only to open the door and have him begin to cry! He usually never makes it off the front steps....

Katie sings I am Growing

Tys sings ABC's

Tys singing his ABC's!!!

Ruby Marshes

Yesterday we went with my parents on a day trip to the Ruby Marshes, outside of Elko. It is near Lamoille and somewhere that we've always wanted to check out. Casey drives by the Ruby Marshes quite a bit for work and had been wanting to show it to us... he usually sees all different kinds of birds, deer and even a skunk that was walking down the middle of the road. We got to see lots of deer, a crane and fish at the hatchery. It was a beautiful day for a drive! We stopped by the fish hatchery and the kids had a great time seeing all of the fish in their different stages of life...

The workers let the kids feed the adult fish... this caused all sorts of commotion in the local pond!

A little Nevada scenery

Trenton

Tired and Hungry.... patiently waiting for lunch and a nap!

Home Improvements

We have been doing quite a few home improvements lately.... hanging pictures & ceiling fans, new lamps & outdoor lighting and, my dad finished painting the family room this week. I decided after living here for over a year it was time to finally hang some family pictures! A big Thank You to everyone that gave us gift cards for Christmas and my birthday... it was lots of fun to go shopping and get all of these things for the house. The guest/kid's bathroom; it will eventually be painted.

After 4 coats of paint, we finally got the color and type of paint right! My dad did all the hard labor! I have been working on hanging pictures... leaving room for the baby's pictures when it arrives.

black and white photo wall.... as you can see, I am still working on filling in these frames with actual pictures of our kids!

Our week

As always, our weeks fly by and are always filled to the brim with action packed fun and adventure! It's never a dull moment around the Haveman home.
Monday ~ Casey and I arrived home late from our wonderful trip to Lake Tahoe. Casey began assembling our new ceiling fans and tall lamp and putting up my new kitchen curtain. It's always fun to get new items for the house and see the improvements. My dad had painted the family room walls for us while we were away but, had problems with the paint (that's what I get for buying cheap Wal-Mart paint!) And, I realized that the color I chose was WAY to bright. It looked more like a blood red then the deeper red we were going for. So, we spent the week with the family room all tore a part until he could re-paint it again on Friday. Thanks, dad, for being so patient and kind to paint for me!
Tuesday ~ I had Women's Bible Study in the a.m. Then, went out to lunch with the kids, cousin Tracey and my mom for my mom's birthday. After being away from the kids for almost 3 days, it was so good to see them again! While we were gone, my mom took Trent off the bottle and seemed to be doing fine. That is, until he got home and realized there was no "ba-ba" at home either. Then, he became VERY crabby and has been having withdrawls all week. He is not a happy boy! Today is the first day that he actually took a nap without crying (screaming) for at least 45 mins before falling asleep. And, on some days he never napped at all. So, I'm hoping this week is better with no "ba-ba". And, it's a good thing my mom actually threw the bottles out (he was down to just two) because I probably would have given in and let him have them :)
Wednesday ~ Katie had school, did errands, laundry and clean up the house after getting behind. Amazing how much laundry gets accumulated when you don't do it for a couple of days.
Thursday ~ the kids and I cleaned house. And, the kids had a wonderful "birthday party" for me... complete with games, food (plastic) and gifts. Even Jona Bear dressed up for the occassion! Friday ~ While Katie was at school, I did some errands and hung out at my parents house with the boys while my dad painted the family room. At one point, Tys hurt his leg in the living room. I was in the kitchen and not sure of what happened but, Tys kept saying that he "slipped". He wouldn't walk on his leg for the rest of the day and was in lots of pain. That evening my mom came over after work and we bandaged his leg... by now I had figured out that he hurt the most between his knee and ankle. He wouldn't walk on it at all; I had to either carry him or, he'd crawl.
Saturday ~ his leg wasn't any better so I took him to the E.R. for some x-rays. There was no break so, we are assuming that it is bad sprain or contusion to the bone. Tys was still in lots of pain and not walking. To get his mind of his leg, my mom and I decided to take the kids to the movies in Elko that afternoon. They loved Yogi Bear! This was Trent's first movie at the big movie theater and did pretty good. I couldn't believe how much popcorn he consumed during the movie!
Today ~ Tys' leg is feeling better but he's still crawling. He wakes up during the night from the pain (needing more meds) but, we can see some improvement.
So, that's our week in a nutshell. I should be taking more pictures but, just haven't been very good about that lately... for some reason.... I am now 19 weeks along and feeling the baby's "thumps" during the day. And, even more so at night! I was telling Casey that we are getting to the exciting part of the pregnancy where I'm not so sick and we can begin feeling the baby. Makes it all seem so real!

Lake Tahoe

Last weekend, Casey and I were able to head up to South Lake Tahoe for my birthday. We had both been to Tahoe before but, never together. We enjoyed spending quiet time together, seeing the beautiful views of the lake and mountains and took a gondola ride that took us up to the Heavely Ski resort. The views from the gondola were amazing! We stayed at an Inn located across the street from the lake and savored meals together where we didn't have to get up once or, assist a child :) It had snowed there the day before we arrived but was, thankfully, beautiful weather while we were there. On the observatory deck of the gondola ride....

inside the gondola...

amazing views of the lake!

My handsome husband!

Heavenly Ski Resort

down by the lake