Jen's shower

what a day

I had set the table all fancy last night in preparation for a family Valentine's day breakfast. I even did place cards. We awoke this morning to no power, just when I thought we were in the clear from all these outages. We all got ready in front of the fire and we took our french toast to Mandy's house to bake. We ate there then ran a quick errand before heading to the mall for pictures at the Picture People which was total chaos due to the holiday. We met Matt and Mandy at McDonald's for lunch then headed to Mandy's to take naps as Matt's parents were also without power and my dad has the flu. Just when I was getting ready to make our reservations for the night at the Wilson basement B&B, our power came back on. The kids and I made our way home a little after 4. Once home, Maggie fell face first into the stairs and then Lucy fell all the way down them. We have lived in this house, which has 2 staircases, for 6 months. None of my kids have fallen down them before and then in one afternoon, we have 2 casualties. The older 2, none the less, not the toddler who still walks like a drunken sailor. Go figure. All 5 of us went to dinner where we always go on 2-14, Digiacinto's. It was fun to take the kids especially since our days of being a fivesome (is that a word?) are waining. We then went to the hospital to visit my grandma who is having triple bypass in the morning, 3 hours before my mom is scheduled for her breast cancer surgery (when it rains it pours...). Then, tomorrow night we will celebrate Matt's grandparents who ran off to get married 65 years ago today. They might not be newlyweds but they sure do act like they are!

I love the 80's

Thanks to C-O-X for throwing such a great 80's party. Pac-man. pizza, Weird Science, 80's Trivial Pursuit, and a rockin playlist. Not to mention the fabulous costumes worn by all except the host and Johnny A. Lots of fun. Who's hosting the next decade theme party?

Happy birthday momgrandma

Today is my mom's birthday. My kids call her momgrandma because she's the grandma that's also my mom. Thank you so much to everyone who has been praying for her as she battles breast cancer. I have been overwhelmed at the number of people who ask me daily how she is doing. She goes for a second surgery next friday and then she will start radiation. Her prognosis is good and her doctor doesn't see a need for chemo. We love you mom!

why we blog

Welcome Jenny to the blogosphere. I laughed out loud several times perusing your new blog. Andrea, congratulations on 2 years of blogging. Your blog is one of my favorites. Always witty and updated regularly, I like that in a blog. I've been thinking lately about why I blog. My reasons for doing it are so different from the motivators that got me started a year and a half ago. My number one goal is to keep Ollie's foster parents updated on him. We e-mail back and forth but there is a bit of a language barrier and they always say they love seeing the pictures of him on here. I have a large amount of family that reads this. I had no idea of this until my grandpa's funeral last July. I love that my second cousins and relatives near and far can easily catch up on our lives. I just wish you guys would comment once in awhile....you all know who you are! So....tell me...why do you blog? Or...why don't you blog?

One year ago today......

...we brought a very scared, slightly bald, chubby Korean home to be a part of our family. He's grown into such a little man. He loves to kiss and cuddle and he can also hold a grudge like nobody's business. I'm so glad God choose us to be his parents.

my day doing nothing

Last night, the new baby tried to make an early appearance. After lots of medicine and 5 hours of one-on-one time with my midwife (who I think should moonlight as a therapist), I was ordered to spend the day in bed. I cannot remember the last responsibility free day I had. It was great! My mom and her sister came over to help with the kids. We had both lunch and dinner delivered to us by kind family members. I chatted on the phone, gave the girls manicures and pedicures, caught up on my e-mail, made a few to-do lists, and played Farkel. I think it would get old quick but one day of bed rest was heavenly!

our weekend

3 birthdays- Sam, Chandler, and Olivia. Sorry Chan but I didn't get a good pic of you at your party. We also got to spend an evening with some of our favorite people.

and baby makes 6

I get asked ALL the time how I'm able to get ready for this new baby when I don't even know if it's a boy or girl. First of all, let me just say that I'm glad I don't know what this baby is. The suspense is fun, it's incentive to get through labor, and I just want to experience the surprise once. I couldn't of done this with my first, and probably not even with my second, but it's been pretty easy to do it with a fourth. Here's how I'm managing. I'm not into yellow or green as the traditional unisex colors so we are painting the bassinet and changing table (both of which will be in our room) black. I had my doubts about a black bassinet, I thought it might look a little goth, but then I got the new Pottery Barn baby catalog and they are selling a black bassinet so I figure ours will look fine. My mother in law is helping me make sheets for it out of black and white gingham. I searched high and low for fabric that could be used for either gender and I finally found this (pictured above) at Hancock. I made a baby sling out of it and I will probably make a diaper bag in the coming weeks with it. That's all the neutral stuff I'm doing. If it's a girl, well she won't be wearing the same thing twice. I have all of my girls' clothes plus Jen gave me Molly's stuff so we have lots and lots of pretties for her. If it's a boy...well....I realized I only had one gown and one blanket. So every time we go to Target or the mall I'm picking something boyish up and saving the receipts. Target just on Wednesday got in this line of baby stuff. I bought three blankets in boy colors and I can't wait to go back and buy more. And that's that.

a valentine birthday

We celebrated the girls' birthdays today with a valentine tea party. They had so much fun and they loved all of their gifts. They have been wearing their new nightgowns while playing with their new toys all afternoon. I think a MLK b-day party might become a tradition since it's a day off of school and it's in the middle of both of their birthdays. Thank you to everyone for coming!

Kansas City

We had a wonderful, very relaxing weekend in Kansas City celebrating Mandy's birthday. The rumors are true, Rick and Jan really are the best hosts. We shopped a lot, ate a lot, and watched the Cowboys lose. Jan introduced me to Nell Hill's which inspired me silly. I have been hanging pictures and moving stuff around all morning.
We can't wait to go back!

Our weekend

We welcomed home a very happy Sam.

Celebrated Lucy's third birthday.

New Year's Eve by the numbers

 

The party began at 8. Mark brought 72 pages of games to play, 1 atomic clock, 1 sprig of Mistletoe, and 4 downloaded versions of Auld Lane Syne. 9 kids lasted past midnight, 1 did not. Johnson had to pause his dog joke 4 times because he was laughing too hard. We used 2 pounds of chocolate in the fountain. We had 8 bottles of sparkling juice which we thought might not be enough. We have 3 left over. We played 2 truths and 1 lie. We missed 8 of you who were stuck by weather in Colorado.

Sweet Caroline

Caroline Jane Reynolds
12-28-07
10lbs 3oz

St. Louis

We spent the weekend in St.Louis with my family. We shopped on Friday.... if you want a new wardrobe, just conveniently forget to bring all of your clothes on a trip, that's what Matt did. Then we went to Old Town St. Charles for this. which we had been to before but this was the first time the girls were old enough to understand it. We stayed in on Saturday and had a wonderfully relaxing day. My aunt fed us like kings (she's one of the best cooks I know) and we opened our gifts before heading to bed. We ate here before heading home today. We waited over an hour for a table but it was definitely worth it. The best pancakes I've ever had. Can you believe tomorrow is Christmas Eve?

Babies and Christmas shopping

Wasn't today just glorious? To be able to send my kids out to play in December without coats on was such a treat. Of course, as you've all heard by now, the weather wasn't the only great thing about today. We learned that we will be meeting our new Korean friend Sam shortly after the new year. And we discovered that Sam and Oliver will be joined by not one but two Jeppsen boys in May. How fun is that?!!

On a totally unrelated note, the girls wrote letters to Santa. Maggie asked for a goldfish and a pink polka dot bow for our fireplace. Lucy wants a pony in a house with a handle and an apple. Like a real apple, not a computer. In a few short years, it will be a real computer and pony they are asking for.

Christmas parties at Lighthouse East

What a difference a year makes

And to think....by next year, there will be 3 more!

The past few days....

Enjoyed the most perfect weather at SDC on Saturday. Swam it up the next night at Big Cedar.

live and learn

Soooo...we thought we'd try something new to celebrate black Friday. "We" being 4 SUV's full of shoppers, some excited, some not so excited. We hit Tanger outlet in Branson about an hour before they were scheduled to open at midnight. It's a good thing we got there early as parking spaces got scarce really fast. The deals turned out to be not so good and it was so busy you could hardly move in the stores. The lines to check out would of taken us hours so we walked away with very little to show for our efforts. We were home and in bed by 2:30. But.....I must say.....it sure was fun!