I don't think I asked Santa for THIS!!

I am a firm believer in birth control. In fact, I LOVE birth control. It has always been a friend of mine. Until now! I must have made it angry or something. Maybe I brushed my teeth first before taking my pill one morning and it got jealous. Either way, we have one more on the way!

I think God has picked me to repopulate the Earth. He figured this was his last chance because T.J. has an appointment NEXT MONTH to begin the processes of getting fixed.

After this one, I think I am going to get fixed as well. Obviously birth control doesn't work for us so T.J. getting a vasectomy isn't a for sure thing either.

We were definitely surprised. This wasn't a planned pregnancy AT ALL! We figured I was pregnant though because I was late and I am NEVER late when I'm on the pill. I have never had a problem with the pill until now. The only difference is I started taking a generic brand. I guess you get what you pay for.

If you have spare time and would like to pray for me...please do. I will have a three year old, an 18 month old, and a newborn at the same time. I'm sure this one will be a boy as well. It seems like I'm pretty good at making those. Although, a girl would be nice if you want to add that to your prayers!

Christmas, Zoo, Museum and Sheboygan

I have so much to catch up on. We have been very busy this whole trip.

Christmas was great, Santa brought the kids all they wanted and more!! Much more! So much that we are going to have to end up leaving our big stroller with T.J.'s mom because we don't have room in the car. It was either that or one of the kids. I opted for one of the kids but I guess I don't always get what I want.

All the kids with Papa Bill

The day after Christmas we headed over to the Lincoln Park Zoo in the middle of Downtown Chicago. It was so cool being able to see all the buildings while you're walking around looking at all the animals. The best part, it was FREE! They also had their light show at night and all the kids got 3-d glasses that made all the lights look like snowmen!

It was pretty cold at the Zoo

We left Chicago early this morning and drove up to Wisconsin. We went to the Milwaukee Museum this afternoon. I was a little worried that there might not be too much there to keep Cody's attention but he did great.

All the kids have been perfect this whole trip.

The kids really enjoyed the museum. Cody was a little terrified of the Elephant. He didn't quite get it wasn't real.

They loved the Butterflies the best.

Ty was a little freaked out when a butterfly landed on him. You can see the butterfly in the bottom corner after Ty shook it off him.

McKinly and Ty standing VERY still so one would land on them

She finally caught one

While we were at the museum, it was snowing like crazy outside. The pretty snow too! The soft, powder kind! I loved it!! However, T.J. didn't love driving in it the next hour to Sheboygan where we are staying right now. We are staying at the Blue Harbor Resort here in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. It has an indoor water park so while it's snowing outside, the kids are in their bathing suits inside!

Ty chillin' on the lily pad

Cody swimming with Daddy

McKinly and part of Ty in the Lazy River

The view of Lake Michigan from our Condo

The cool thing about this resort is every night, at 8 o'clock, all the kids in the hotel get in their pajamas and meet on the Grand Staircase in the main lobby for milk, cookies, and a story. I am an idiot and forgot my camera tonight. Hopefully we'll catch the story tomorrow night as well and I'll be able to take some pictures then.

We have a packed day again tomorrow. I promised the kids I'd build a snowman, a "BIG snowman with REAL snow. None of the crap we get in Oklahoma. Then we're off to the water park!

Chicago So Far

Other than the fact it's FREEZING here, we've been having a great time!

We arrived Saturday afternoon, dropped the boys off with T.J.'s dad and headed to the Bulls vs. Rockets game with T.J.'s brother's family! We really enjoyed getting to go to the game and spending some time with them.

T.J. and McKinly

McKinly with her tiny cheeseburger

Our view from our skybox seats

Thank You Doug, Veronika and Danika for a great night!

Sunday afternoon some of T.J.'s family came over for lunch.

McKinly, Ty, Cody and their cousin Danika

Cade playing with his cousin Patrik

McKinly reading a book to Danika

Did I mention it was COLD?? On this day, it had a windchill of 2!

Today it was a little warmer, in the 20's, so the kids decided to go try a little sledding.

McKinly and Cody

Ty going solo


After a nice warm bath and some hot chocolate, the kids got in their pajamas so they could go to bed early to make sure Santa didn't pass them up!

Cody by Papa Bill's Christmas Tree

We'll find out tomorrow if the kids were good this year. They'll either have a stocking full of coal or lots of presents!

Off to Chicago

We're leaving tomorrow afternoon to head to Chicago. I will be bringing the laptop so I can try to post as much as possible.

Wish me luck! I will be in the car for 12 hours with FIVE kids. Yes, I count T.J. as a kid. If you have been in the car with him for any amount of time, you'd consider him a kid too!!

Just so you don't go through withdrawals I'll leave you with a few pictures.

McKinly and Cade


Cody helping Cade with his sippy cup


He didn't want me to be taking a picture of him


Cody jumping from the coffee table to the couch
(for some reason, he thinks this is OK)


He looks guilty

Cigarette anyone?

The other night some friends of ours gave Cade a french fry. It wasn't until I put the pictures on the computer that I realized it looks like my nine month old is smoking a cigarette. The scary part is, he looks like he knows what he's doing.

Don't think he learned this from me, I've never touched the nasty things!

Weekend Updates

There is really nothing to report. Our meteorologists were wrong once again and the 4" of snow we were supposed to be getting turned into not even 4cm of snow. It was pretty while it lasted but there wasn't even enough on the ground to make a snowball let alone a snowman.

The wind chill was horrible though. It was so windy and cold that when you walked outside you literally thought your ears were going to fall off. It was 24 degrees here but the wind chill was below zero. Cody hated the wind and would cry every time he had to walk outside, he wouldn't even look up because he said it hurt his face too bad. What am I going to do with him when we go to Chicago on Friday??

Cade has been a little cranky lately. His stomach has been bothering him the past couple days so he has not been the happy baby we're used to. He did find the ribbons on the Christmas tree this weekend though. He would just touch them gently, never tried to pull them off. This kept him entertained for a solid twenty minutes.


Cody was a big help this weekend so I let him pick out a little something when we were at the store. His choice, a Rudolph nose! He walks around the house singing Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer over and over. I should also mention, "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer" are the ONLY words to the song he knows. I never thought I, of all people, could get sick of a Christmas song. He sure is a cute Rudolph though!


Cade hates wearing hats. Every time I try and put a hat on his head, he just rips it off. That's why it's so funny that he kept his hood on ALL day yesterday. I don't even remember who put it on his head, probably Cody, but there it stayed.


We didn't do much this weekend but it was a good thing. We are leaving Friday for Chicago so I'm sure we'll be pretty busy the whole time we're up there. I'll be spending all week trying to pack and figure out how we're going to get 8 things of luggage, 6 bags of presents, 4 kids, 2 adults and a partridge in a pear tree in the car without having to leave anything or anyone behind!

Being Lazy

Since it's been so cold and icy outside, we've been pretty lazy the past few days. It's not like we really had any other choice considering we can't really let the kids go play in the ice. An iceball fight would have an extremely different outcome than a snowball fight. With all the kids being cooped up inside, don't think the thought of letting them go outside and try this hasn't crossed my mind. A trip to the emergency room due to a blow to the head seems a little more exciting than sitting around here much longer. Not that I wish any harm to my children at all, it would just give us something to do!

Cade has been sleeping like a champ the past couple of days. His naps have ranged from 2 1/2 hours to up to 4 hours in the afternoons. I guess it might have something to do with the cold weather. It's nice and cozy in his room, who wouldn't want to stay in there as long as possible? His nighttime routine has stayed the same even with his long naps. He goes to bed around 7:30pm and doesn't wake up till around 9:00am.

His favorite place to fall asleep is on his Daddy though. I have tried to let him fall asleep on me but as soon as he sees his daddy, he crawls off of me and onto T.J.'s chest! So unfair.

The kids finally got to go back to school today but ANOTHER winter storm is supposed to come through as early as Friday. Hopefully that one will just bring snow. I can handle snow, I can still do things in snow.

I WASN'T dreaming of an ICE Christmas!

I guess when I was dreaming of a White Christmas, I should have been more specific. We have been hit by a terrible ice storm! Yes, once the ice accumulates on the ground it can look a little like snow but that really wasn't the white I was going for.

The streets are awful. Right now, they have built up over a 1/2 inch of ice on the roads and we're no where near finished. It's freakin' cold out there!


Just to give you a quick preview of what we've been hit by...just today!

a tree in our backyard this morning

an hour later


two hours later


another tree covered in ice

This is in our front yard, look at all the ice on the ground



The good news is school was cancelled today and since the roads were so bad, most parents couldn't get their kids over here so it's like a little extra vacation day for me. I did say most parents because there were a few who decided to drop their kids off anyway.

I don't mind helping friends of ours out and keeping their kids for them, but I just wish they didn't take advantage of the situation. Some of the parents who decided to drop their kids off today didn't even go into work. They risked driving in this terrible weather so they didn't have to be the ones to entertain their own kids all day. They said they wanted to "get things done around the house". They're all friends of ours who have asked me to keep their children since I stay home with ours anyway. I do it to help them out so I charge them next to nothing. If I charged them what everyone else charges then I would understand dropping them off because they're paying for it anyway. However, because I help them out, I guess I just expect them to keep their own kids when they don't have to work. Is that too much to ask??