Fancifying pictures

So I made up that word...I can tell because spell check is telling me it is wrong.  But I played around on Picasa with two of the pictures from the 4th...they are cute...so I gotta save them somewhere!

Fourth of July.

This past week was the Fourth of July.  Seriously one of my all time favorite holidays.  We decided that since 1) we weren't traveling 2) it was a Wednesday and 3) we have little kids, we'd extend and invitation to some other families in the area and see if they wanted to join for a few hours of grilling fun in the afternoon.   Two families were able to make it and I giggle because the three families equated to 14 people! 17 if you count the babies that are currently being made within each of the mom's bellies!

The day went fantastically and since the grilling wasn't starting until around 3, we decided to head out on the river for the morning/early afternoon.  We usually find a sand-bar type spot on the river that has worked for us in the past, but it doesn't provide shade all that well...Broghan had heard of a different spot from someone a few years ago and we decided that why not?  So we moved a little south on the river and literally found our new oasis!  It's got shade, a shallow - sandy lagoon that is shallow enough for the kids to walk in and other boaters provided to tunes for us to relax too!  It was awesome!  With air temps reaching 100, it was difficult to leave our cool reprieve; but somehow we managed to pull ourselves away and get on land.

A few last minute cleaning up projects and then it was time to host.  Like I said, it ended up being one of the hottest days of the summer, so spreading the 14 of us out outside couldn't work anymore.  Our house accommodated as well as it could though and everyone had a good time.  Around 5 though the kids were starting to cause injury to one another being cooped up indoors and so we braved the heat and filled the kiddie pool.  They had fun sliding down the slide in the yard into the pool (a make shift water slide) and running through the sprinkler though.

We also had originally planned to head over to the local ski show to watch that instead of the fireworks; but after a long day for the kids, the ridiculous temperatures, and some great conversations being had; we decided it would be best to hang at home.  We finished the night off swapping stories with some friends and once the crowds left and the kids headed off to bed, Broghan and I watched the fireworks on t.v. while listening to them go off around the neighborhood.

Here are pictures from out on the water...unfortunately, I'm horrible at getting shots when other people are with us so I don't have any of when the other families were here...

Where is thumbkin? Where is thumbkin?

Do you remember that nursery rhyme?  My mother in law has been singing it to the kids over the past few months and lately Keller has taken to singing it un-prompted...just finds himself somewhere within the lyrics and mumbles along.  I wanted to mention this because it is just a cute little habit he has formed thanks to his Mima :).

So....

Where is Thumbkin? Where is Thumbkin?
Here I am!  Here I am!
How are you today sir?
Very well I thank you..
Run away...Run away..

When you ask him to give you a thumbs-up this is what we get.

I tried to correct his fingers and it held for a few seconds! 

Until Next Time...

Socks are for what? Oh yes, wearing on your hands..

This past weekend I competed in the Warrior Dash.  My sister Anna and I decided to dress in as much neon colored gear as possible...although we ended up looking quite normal in my opinion.  In my search for clothes, I did find some awesome socks and to keep the kids occupied on our way out of the mall, threw them on their hands.  Little did I know that this would become a "thing" and every time one of them finds a pair of these socks in particular they MUST go on the hands, because socks do not go on our feet anymore..

They move really fast...

Until Next Time...

Just love them!

Broghan is much more efficient at getting the kids down for naps that I am a lot of the time.  Here he managed to get them both to snooze together in Keller's room.  It was just too precious and cute NOT to take a picture of. :). I LOVE THEM! and THEY LOVE EACH OTHER! 

Until Next Time...

Bonfire time.

This time of year is always great for having bonfires in our back yard.  It really is a great way to end a long day and to enjoy the peace and quiet of our back yard.  On this day in particular I had my MOTR (mom's on the run) running club and then ran to the grocery store.  When I got home I found these three playing outside and enjoying the warmth of the fire.  And yes...Keller is literally naked as much of the time as he can manage.  Haha. 

Until Next Time...

First Live Play!

This past Saturday Broghan surprised us with tickets to the first play the kids have ever gone to.  THE WIZARD OF OZ! It was awesome!  I sadly don't have any pictures of them at the play..we were a bit wiped out after my race that morning (that will be another post).  But we both were amazed at how great the kids behaved.  It was a full length play, with two acts and all together it lasted almost THREE HOURS! I'm still amazed we never had to get up out of our seats with either of them.  They laughed and sang along (even though they had never heard the songs) and they clapped along with everyone at the end of scenes.  They also got up and danced a little.

We're a biking family.

To try and get out to both get some physical activity and to enjoy the sunshine lately, we've been taking a lot more bike rides.  And even though it looks like Keller is now an official bike rider - it's not true.  He can sit on his bikes but he still doesn't quite understand the concept of pedaling the bike...so both him and Lucy ride in our pull-behind carriage.  These are some random pictures I captured one day when were playing outside near the bikes..

Until Next Time....

Who wants a WATER massage?? oh! oh! pick me!

Almost the entire month of May Broghan spend his spare time devoted to acquiring and getting a Hydromassage table shipped to our office.  After weeks upon weeks of work the table finally arrived...then it was a matter of getting it taken apart, moved into the office and the massage room and put back together.  Surprisingly and impressively it took Broghan (with the help of our good friend) less than two full days to get it up and running.  The last day working on it was a Saturday and we brought both kids up with us.  You can see by the pictures how helpful they were ;).  Joking of course.  But it has been a great addition to our office and if you are interested in learning more about what it actually is, just head on over to our website:  www.chippewachiropractor.com  

Broghan is actually in there now...you can see his arm! :)

Until Next Time...

Kicking...reallly!?

I couldn't believe it myself when I first came to the realization (FIVE weeks ago!) that I had been feeling movements already.  Considering it is possible to feel stuff, I have been amazed to learn that I really can decipher the difference between muscle aches, cramps, gas and other intestinal issues and actual baby movements.  They haven't picked up in frequency by any means over these last few weeks since the baby is still a wee little one, but the intensity sure has gotten my attention.  Just the other day I must have put myself into a strange position carrying Keller and got quite the kick! It was a little painful actually but great at the same time.  I look forward to a few weeks from now when the movements should become more regular....and especially that moment when we'll be able to feel the baby from the OUTSIDE!  How exciting!~

Until Next Time....

Yes, we're pregnant...again!

I wrote that last post waaay back when I first learned we were pregnant.  Back in MAY.  It's now July and I figure, well...I'm in my 2nd trimester now (14 weeks) and feel comfortable announcing it on here.  Most of the people who know me, know the news already...although as I type this I'm realizing there are some friends I haven't told...hrm... haha.  Oh well.  I'm not posting it on Facebook anytime soon so don't go posting "congratulations" on my wall quite yet please.  I think we'll wait until we get closer to the 3rd trimester maker for that one...if there is one.  By the 4th pregnancy I'm feeling a little underwhelmed about the whole making it public knowledge thing.  Not sure what has changed...maybe being pregnant in general is just less climactic.  Very possible.

Don't get me wrong, we are all very excited for another Reilly Baby to join the ranks here in Eau Claire.  Broghan and I have had a great time envisioning what it would be like if we gain another boy and then what if its another girl!  Could you imagine? Broghan would be SO outnumbered...it would be wonderful! haha.  But we'll be happy either way since we've already gotten a taste of both worlds and they both have their own wonderful-nesses.

I may have posted in the last one, but the EDD is 12/30/12 so we'll see how close to a holiday we come.  It should come as no shocker that we're planning on a homebirth again; however, as always, it depends mostly on my staying healthy and baby continuing to be good-to-go.  I can't express enough how wonderful the care is that we get from our midwife Erin.  She is just fantastic and when I hear about the relationships other mom's form with their providers (or lack thereof), I feel blessed to have stumbled upon the services of Erin.

Anyways, now that I'm public with this (at least on my blog) I get to do the traditional whining and posting of all things baby-to-be.  :)  This actually makes me quite excited since things will start to pick up and I like documenting the changes for future referencing.

So, better get started!

Until Next Time...

Oh Baby Baby...

OF course I blog about how I won't be able to benefit from being pregnant or breastfeeding as a weight gain/loss monitor and literally (i believe) the next day, I take a test and we find out I'm pregnant....again....

I am happy of course, I love babies and I always knew we'd have more than two.  But I'm also selfishly feeling blahzeh about it all.  I was really looking forward to a full year of "freedom" (haha yea, right...) but also wanted to get back into my body and feel like myself.

We took the test just over a week and a half ago (Monday May 14th to be exact) and since the I've kind of come to this place of acceptance and realization that "feeling like myself" is exactly how I'm feeling now.  This is my new self.  There will be no going back to what I felt like before or to the behaviors/liberties I was able to take before.  I'll now have three little ones to somehow keep track of and manage.

Then of course there is that nagging feeling that has come with all of my subsequent pregnancies since Madison - what if it doesn't work out?   I mean, I'm only somewhere between 5-7 weeks (I think - we'll know more after a dating ultrasound on Thursday May 31st), so there is still a significant chance we could miscarry.  Dark I know, but hard not to think that way when you've gone through loss before.  As I tell everyone who starts to get super excited for us when we share the news, yea..we're pregnant; I'm sorry if I'm not more excited, pregnancy doesn't always "do" it for me, but having the baby part - now that I get in to!

Anyways, there will be lots of blogging between now and the end and hopefully I'll be able to keep up with updates throughout the summer/fall/winter/rest of my life.

But we welcome all of your well wishes and delight it everyone else's excitement.  As for me, I'll smile and accept congratulations and continue working on staying healthy and hoping all goes well.

Until next time...