Making Progress.

Well we have officially been potty-training for 5 days now, and I am finally seeing some progress! Conner has officially mastered telling us that he has to go "potty"! Now onto the next step of #2 as Preston likes to tell us in public places! He has only done that once, and that was tonight when I told him that he couldn't go with me to the store unless he went. Luckily he was up to it and did it with no problems! He is so hard headed and can do it only if he wants to with a bribe occurring! I really don't know where he gets the head strong personality from??? It really hasn't been as bad as I thought! So like I said hopefully we will get the dog and Conner trained at the same time. Molly is doing wonderful going outside. We tried those piddle pad things that everyone talked about, but no such luck! I'm just happy I haven't been cleaning up after Conner and Molly!

This is how Conner dressed before bed last night and told me that he was going to school. Like I said he is the one that keeps me hopping at all times.

Conner is obsessed with Molly! He absolutely loves her and thought that he needed to take her in Corby's room the other night to play. Corby was not in favor of this, but told him that she had to stay on his mat.

Belt Family Visits

We had a pretty busy...yet calm weekend (for us that is!). We ended the week by participating in the 1st Trivia Night held by our town to raise money for the local food bank. I'm proud to say that we took 2nd place out of 17 teams! (Thanks to my parents, our friends Rodney and Mary, and Jessica and Greg). Let's just say I knew 1 question pertaining to the 1980's hit movie, Flashdance! Isn't that sad! Oh, I did help guess on a couple! It was a fun night indeed!

Saturday consisted of our weekly basketball games and some catch up laundry and housework, that seems to be never ending! We then had our niece and nephew, Travis and Jessi and their 2 kids Andi and TJ over to visit after we attended Saturday night mass and ate supper at Preston's favorite, Pizza Hut. Heath says they know us by name! Conner had fun tormenting Andi. I don't think Andi knows what she is up for having a baby brother!

Sunday we got some much needed sleeping in and my mom and I tried to do some shopping with Preston and Conner in tote...let's just say not much shopping occurred! Here are some pictures from the Belt's visit.

The boys love to play UNO and even got Travis to play with them.

TJ and Jessi. Looks like he has started the drooling and teething process.

Andi was very lovable with Quin. Looks like she had a death hold in this photo! Quin is pretty use to it with Conner attacking him constantly!

All smiles.

TJ sucking on his fingers and getting some down time while he could.

Easter at the Palmers'

After Easter at the Eckler's we then made our way back to my parents house, where my mom had prepared a delicious Lasagna dinner. (Not your typical Easter food, but we much enjoyed it!). I was hoping for some leftovers, but I guess everyone was hungry and devoured it! We once again had another egg hunt and each kid was given a specific colored egg they had to look for. Conner caught on pretty quick and was telling everybody where their eggs were! We had a very nice Easter break and it was back to the grind on Monday.

Sydney all dressed up in her Easter dress.

Preston finding all his eggs on the egg hunt.

Chloe with her Pottery Barn baskets just like mine (hmmm...wonder who gave her mom that idea?)

Miss Delaney pretty much enjoyed Easter just like this. Wait until next year!

The boys couldn't wait to open their eggs to find out what was in them.

Corby and Sydney enjoying each other's company before Sydney had to head back to Iowa.

Easter at the Ecklers'

After church we made it to Heath's family for Easter dinner. The kids enjoyed visiting with their cousins. Corby and Preston enjoyed playing Slap Jack (a favorite of Preston's) and Conner enjoyed putting a puzzle together. Since the weather was not favorable for the egg hunt, we decided it would be best to do it inside.

Corby and Alicia enjoying Easter.

Conner enjoyed finding the eggs and worked so intent on the puzzle....I don't know how many pieces were actually put together correctly, but he enjoyed it.

Quin enjoying his first Easter. It seems though that since it is a holiday, it is time for Quin to be sick once again. Over the past 2 days he has ran a fever of over a 102 and is on breathing treatments. It wouldn't be a holiday if one of my kids didn't become ill. I think he is finally getting over it and is coming back to his smiley self once again.

We were glad we got to see Travis, Jessi, Andi and TJ and also Mari, Kyle, Gina, and Jason before they had to head back. I think everyone was pretty well whipped from the day.

Happy Easter/Merry Christmas...WHAT???

Only to look at the calendar would you have known that it was Easter Sunday today! The weather was conditions for Christmas! We woke up to snow covered grass this morning and then while we left church we walked out to snow flurries which then lead to this weird on and off again snow showers all day. Nothing to accumulate, but just enough to leave the grass wet and muddy, which meant all Easter Egg hunts were held indoors. I took numerous pictures at both Heath's family and mine, so I am only posting the early morning pictures....as it is late and I have to get up an open the daycare tomorrow. So in the next few days, I will post the other pics from our outings today. Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter with their family. The boys had a nice visit from the Easter Bunny once again.

I knew that if I didn't get a shot of their baskets last night, that this morning they would be ripped into and I wouldn't get a photo with them all put together.

Heath swore that we would not have a family picture with the dog.....hmmmm who won this one? Miss Molly spent the day in her crate in the back of our car so we could check on her often.

The boys all decked out in their Easter attire. This will probably be the last year that I will be able to dress the boys alike. My mom noticed a boy at church who is a year older pointing to Corby and laughing. (aren't kids cruel...it really hurt Corby's feelings).

Grandma and Grandy joined us for morning mass.

Well I tried to get a shot of our snow falling. As you can tell it was not Easter like weather in Missouri!

Our Dog Has Arrived.

Well we made the trip today to go pick up our little pooch. The boys informed me when we arrived that they no longer wanted her name to be Leia, but wanted to name her the original name they had come up with, Molly Rosebud. So Molly it is. She is the cutest little thing and so far the boys (AKA CONNER), have yet to scare her. We've only had one accident on the kitchen floor, so luckily Preston took care of that one. We told him, his dog...his messes! Of course we had to buy her a girly bed and we even got a hair bow to match, but I couldn't master how to keep it in her hair. Hopefully we will get both her and Conner house trained at the same time.

Since this is our first house dog ever, if anyone has any comments to post on how to house train..please do so! She is going to have to learn that this is going to be a very loud house and she will just have to get use to it!

Chicago Day 2.

Well we turned in around 8:30 Thursday night, because we had been up since wee hours in the morning and because we were completely WHIPPED! We were a little concerned because we had watched the weather report and only to hear that Chicago was going to be blasted by a Winter Storm that was calling for 9-11" of snow! I'm telling you those weather forecasters were right on track with this one! We woke up to falling snow that continued throughout the entire day. The weather did not hold us back and we continued on with our second busy day in the city.

My mom and I took out for the famous Michigan Avenue or the Magnificent Mile for some shopping, while the men and kids took back to Navy Pier to once again participate in the activities at the Spring Fest for kids. We had to think of something for them to do for a couple of hours that didn't include outside or no activity. As you can tell it was bitter and the snow was blowing so hard you had to look down to walk because as you know the "Windy City" was full of brisk winds that accompanied the snow.

We then met up with the men and kids back at Navy Pier, and since it was Friday, us Catholics had to find a place with the no meat factor. We ate at another famous hot spot, "Bubba Gump's Shrimp Restaurant". This was made famous for the movie "Forrest Gump" . Our waiter was quite comical and when we first sat down we had to answer trivia questions from the movie. They boys then tried to trick him with some of their own humor.

We were going to venture out to Shedd's Aquarium but with the inclement weather we thought it would be best to stay put at Navy Pier and have the kids go to the Chicago Children's Museum. Corby told me this was his favorite part of the trip. Here Preston is going up a maze that went up 3 floors.

Conner showing his artistic side and creating with molded clay.

Corby took part in the dinosaur exhibit by digging for bones.

Conner showing us how big he was! We will say that Conner had a milestone (don't think it is consistency yet) but he did "Poop" on the potty for us at the hotel! We were very proud of him and we all cheered!

This is what we got to look out from the top floor of the museum.

Heath showing Preston how to do the Hopscotch.

Conner loved the water exhibit and playing in the water with the boats. He thought though that whoever had a boat it was his. He attacked a little girl by taking away a boat of hers. Heath thought that he was justified though because she had 5 boats.

Taken in front of the artwork of the horse as we were leaving.

The boys then thought they needed a snack. Let's say for 2 things of ice cream it cost $12!!! Wonder why we are in a recession???

View of the snow flying in front of Navy Pier.

We then were making our way back to get our stuff at the hotel to go catch our train which departed at 6pm. The snow continued to fly.

Heath was so glad that we had missed the 2 days at home in the 60's (sarcasm!).

Even though it was freezing, it was a beautiful sight indeed!

Waiting for the trolley to take us back to the hotel.

Freezing our you know what's off!

Luckily the boys didn't complain that much and were such great troopers about walking a ways in the snow and freezing temps.

We finally got some down time at Union Station after all the walking we had completed! Overall, we had a great trip and would love to do it again...weather permitting! Well hopefully when we go to Florida (2 months from Sunday..Yeah!) the weather is quite warm and we are basking on the beach for some fun in the sun!

Quin waiting patiently in his stroller until it was time to go. We got home around 11:30 and we were all fast asleep!

Chicago Day 1.

Well here was our mini-getaway to Chicago on Thursday and Friday. I wouldn't call it a "Spring" Break, since we were in blizzard like conditions on Friday. We did though get to do some site seeing, shopping, eating, oh and did I mention we got plenty of exercising! The Amtrak departed from Quincy around 6:12am (which meant we got up at 3:45 and left our house at 5 with all 4 boys ready to go). We did not tell the boys where we were going until we got to the train station. Let's say they were pretty excited once they found out. We then arrived in Chicago at 10:30 am. Sit back for awhile because I think my camera was on auto-pilot.

We couldn't have asked for a more better baby on the train! Quin was excellent and even got his mid-morning nap in.

Preston enjoyed sitting in everyone's seat but his own. Once he realized where the snack car was, he bugged Grandy to take him several times. Corby and him each had chips at 7 in the morning (Doritos at that!) something they wouldn't normally get to do at home! I guess they thought since they had breakfast at 6, then lunch should be soon to follow.

The conductor of the train entertained the boys and punched their name on a ticket and gave it to them as a souvenir of the ride. If you have seen the movie Polar Express this is why Heath asked the guy if he could do it.

Showing off their souvenirs.

We ate at the famous "Billy Goat Tavern and Grill" at Navy Pier which is famous for it's skit on Saturday Night Live "Cheezborger Cheezborger, Chips No Fries". It was quite unique and the hamburgers were excellent!

We then walked along the Pier to get some good shots of the skyline and Lake Michigan in the background. It was a cool day, but not exactly like the weather they were calling for on Friday.

Corby was into taking pictures with my camera on this trip, and I think he actually caught some decent ones.

Grandy and Grandma on the Pier.

Another photo shoot by Corbin.

Picture of the boys on Navy Pier. The boys were just ready to go do something inside and Preston was starting to complain of his feet hurting, because we had already walked several miles.

Corby and Preston taken in front of the famous carousel on Navy Pier. It was a little too cool to ride in, but there were some brave ones.

This was just a beautiful sight from Navy Pier of the Chicago skyline.

Once we got all of our shots taken outside, we then made our way inside to the Crystal Gardens where they were having a Spring Fling for kids. It consisted of games, jumping rides, and a visit from some characters. This was actually a chance for some of us to rest our legs while the boys enjoyed the games.

The boys must have thrown balls in a target for over an hour.

Conner got a chance to ride on the Thomas the Train.

We then loaded up everyone and took to taxi's to Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. The boys remembered from our trip last May, how much they enjoyed the trains.

Conner was fascinated with the trains and had Grandy hold him up so he could watch as they passed by.

Here is just one of the many train displays.

Corby in front of the trains.

Preston and Corby enjoyed this part of the museum where you could step on the lights and it played like a piano. It was like the scene from the movie "BIG".

It's pretty sad that we had to go all the way to Chicago for the boys to experience how to milk a cow!

Conner's all about tractors as he was about the trains. Here he got to get up in a John Deere and act like he was driving.

After several hours at the museum we then worked up an appetite and ate at the most wonderful Chicago style pizza place called Giordano's. This is the same place that we also ate when we were there last spring so thought it would be good once again. We are probably the only family that would go to a place for Chicago Style Pizza and order it thin! It was still excellent!

Corby's main focal point of the trip, was the Lego Store. He has really taken and interest in Lego's this year and we think that is much better than the hand held game device which seems to be attached to him at all times. It is amazing to me how fast he can follow the directions and put all the pieces together to build some intricate machine. He is in love with any of the Star Wars Lego's.

Showing off their purchases in front of the Lego Store.

Just In Time.

I have let the Easter holiday sneak up on me....or is it that it just seems a little weird that we are having Easter in the midst of winter temperatures! None the less, I was beginning to stress that Quin would be in need of a basket this year, being his first Easter. I had looked at Wal-mart, Target, and many other stores but nothing really caught my attention for the price they were asking. Of course, once again my OCD came out and I couldn't stand the thought that the other 3 boys had a basketball, soccer, and a football, what sport basket was this poor child going to be left with a tennis ball? golf ball? So one of my favorite stores....Pottery Barn Kids came to the rescue. They had these perfect baskets on sale and even with personalization for a low fee! It was going to equal out to be the same or more than I would have spent at a retail store and I just loved that they are all matching and now they have finally arrived in the nick of time! I was afraid though that the poor Easter Bunny would have trouble filling them because they would come in this little bitty package and the dimensions would have also included the packaging. Well I have to say I'm very impressed with how big they are and seem to be the perfect size. So now the Easter outfits are checked off the list, eggs are colored, and now the baskets have arrived. Now for the true meaning of Easter to come alive starting with Holy Thursday and continuing through Sunday. Hope everyone has a blessed Easter.

Conner's Playdate.

Conner has never had a play date at our house before, and since I got off early today I thought it would be nice for him to have his 2 best friends from daycare over to play. Conner, Trace (one of the right, and Hunter, one on the left) are inseparable at daycare! They can play for hours upon hours without one ounce of arguing! The only bad thing is, is that Hunter and Trace will be in the class above Conner. They had lots of fun playing this afternoon.

Conner and Trace in the playroom. Conner's farm toys and trucks were a hit!

Conner went and played at Hunter's house yesterday afternoon, so thought he would like to come to our house today. After school I then took Hunter back to his mom and then picked up his brother Parker to play with Corby and Preston. Let's just say I've had a house full of boys today!

I don't think they left too many toys on the shelves.

Quin even got in on the action and played with them. He just pretty much sat and laughed at the boys playing.

Laughing at the boys.

I thought that I would get all my laundry caught up while I had the afternoon off, and only to realize that my washer was leaking. Heath had to come home to the rescue to figure it out. So until next time...I'm off to finish my mounds of laundry.

~Happy St. Patty's Day~

Well Happy St. Pat's Day from the Eckler Household! This was taken this morning before school..and it was not all smiles! But thought I got a good shot of all of them so happy! Preston did have a necklace like Corby's but seemed to have misplaced it within 5 minutes I gave it to him last night...guess I should have known and waited until this morning! I served Green Kool-Aid for lunch at the daycare and had green St. Pat's Day Napkins and Plates. The kids thought that was neat.

I had to show off my green with the boys!

Coloring Easter Eggs.

Well since I didn't get enough of coloring Easter Eggs with 20 at the daycare on Friday, I thought I would do it again tonight. Heath's sister Diana and her kids, JT, Kelly, and Alicia also got to help us. We had only one minor mess when Conner decided to dump the entire green all over the counter. We had some quick hands to get it cleaned up. They all had fun and we got some neat designs. The lovely thing about it is my house smells like eggs! I HATE EGGS for those of you who don't know!!! Yes along with cottage cheese, and milk....that is another whole post in itself! Well hopefully I can get a good picture of the boys in their St. Pat's shirts in the morning before school...you all haven't seen Conner in the morning, not a morning person at all, he must take after his father! Well the boys are ready for their spring break. They just go to school Monday-Wednesday this week and then have Thursday through Monday off! We are ready for our little mini-getaway, and can't wait to see the boys faces when we show up at the Amtrak station at 6:12am departure time from Quincy. It is about a 4 hour trip on the train. My parents informed me that on Thursday it is suppose to be 38 and snow in Chicago! Lovely! And who thought Chicago would be a great place for spring break??? Oh well....2 1/2 months and Florida here we come!!!

Conner was all about the dipping the egg and getting as much fingers as he could painted along with the egg.

Preston took the magic white crayon and wrote his name on his..I don't know how well it turned out though.

Preston only broke 2 of his before he began!

Corby just completed one, because he thought playing PlayStation and Air Hockey were much more fun with JT.

Alicia getting in on the action.

Putting glitter on the eggs.

Kelly with Smiley Quin.

Youth Basketball.

How fun was this to watch yesterday! Heath decided this year that since he was coaching the Jr. High boys basketball team, that Holy Rosary was a little short on talent and numbers. So he and our friend Mary (his assistant coach), decided to start a Pre-K-4th grade league. Our school already has a 5th and 6th grade league. We were kind of worried about how the turn out would be, but we ended up having 110 sign-up!!! Pretty impressive for only getting it together in a matter of weeks! The boys had a great time, and we had to tell Preston that he needed to share the ball a couple of times. He and Corby set the rims on fire! You know....taking after their momma! OK....and their dad!

Preston was wherever the ball was. There was no rest at all, since he has 5 kids total on his team. His little legs I'm sure felt like Jell-O after playing 32 minutes!

Preston waiting for the inbounds play!

There he goes again running after the ball. We had to tell him to take it a little easy, as it was Co-ed!

Waiting for the ball to come down.

Corby looking to the basket for a shot. Corby likes the offensive side of things and was always looking for a good shot and driving to the basket.

Passing it to one of his teammates.

Standing back waiting for the ball. He did have a little advantage for some breaks, as he had 6 players on his team.

Getting Bigger and Bigger

Quin has really mastered sitting up on his own and is starting to reach for objects in front of him. I'm sure in the next month he is going to be more mobile than we would like to see! Still happy as ever! He's really liking that he can sit up now and play with all his toys that he received over Christmas!

Remembering 2 Years Ago

2 years ago on March 12th, our town was rocked by a horrible tornado! I remember that day like it was yesterday. At that time, we had not moved into our new house and did not have a basement. Around 10pm we took cover at our neighbor's basement until 2am. We were then told that a tornado had hit the center of our town destroying most of the buildings and homes in its path. (Our town's population is 2,600) My daycare is located very close to the downtown and luckily it was not touched at all, but over just one street the homes were destroyed or completely damaged leaving roads shut down. Here are just a few pictures that were taken the very next day. Any time now that we know there is a chance of tornadic weather we take cover, and there have been several nights that we have spent as a family sleeping in our basement. (So not much sleep happens). Hopefully we will not have to encounter one of these ever again in our lifetime. You can't even tell today other than the Baptist Church (which is to rebuild this summer) that a tornado had went through.

Call Us Crazy!

Well I finally gave in! The boys are getting an inside dog! This has been years in the making (or begging!) We went tonight and picked her out. Since Corby has had his outside dog, Maisy since he was a year and half, we told Preston that this would be his dog. Both boys are huge into Star Wars these days, and have decided to named her Leia (after Princess Leia). We won't be getting her until next Saturday, because we are taking a mini getaway on the Amtrak with my parents to Chicago next Thursday over spring break. (The boys have no idea we are going). We thought it wouldn't be good timing to get her and then take off. I told the boys since this will be their mom's only girl that she will be a very "Girly Dog"! The lady already informed me that when I pick her up she will have a bow in her hair! She is a Malti-Poo (mixture of a Maltese and Poodle). I said it had to be non-shedding and can tolerate kids! Well we will have pictures of bringing her home next week, but until then...meet the newest Eckler Family Member ~"Miss Princess Leia".

No Pictures...Just Words

It's not often that I post without pictures (sorry), but I have some funny stories to tell on my children that have happened in the past few days, that I thought must be put in writing so I can look back and laugh one day when they are driving me crazy as teenagers. So here are my stories of the week....

#1. Conner was sitting at the lunch table yesterday at daycare, and he let out a very very loud belch...I said of course, "Conner what do we say", he just looks at me with the most serious face and said, "That stinks!"...Of course having to turn my face away.

#2. Preston was laying in bed Sunday morning with me (yes we went to mass on Saturday night because I knew with the time change it would be hard to wrestle them out of bed), and I was asking who is friends were in his class. He told me Corbin. We've tried to explain to him that Corbin is 2 grades older than him, but he doesn't see it that way on the playground, and I will say Corby is very gracious enough to let him play with him. Anyways, he then said Bailey. A very cute little girl in his class. We then said, well Preston do you have any boys that you like in your class and he said yes, Caden, but we broke up, because he thought he was in charge of me! Ok, Heath and I had to turn our face in the pillows on that one.

#3. Corby got out of the shower last night and had his towel wrapped around him and I noticed a band aid over his breast. I said Corby did you get hurt in the shower, he said no a bug bit him. I said well take it off the band aid so I can see, (they had been playing outside for awhile so I really thought he had been bit), well it was his you know what sticking out. Trying not to laugh, I had to tell him that he was born like that and when the water hit him that is what happened. We also got a good laugh with this one.

No other stories to tell about, but they are pretty funny some days! Hope everyone is having a good week! We are counting down until spring break next week!...

Just Added

My brother and sister in-law have joined in the blogging world! See all that crazy talk they would say about me, has now become contagious! I have added them to my side under Palmer Family! Now let's see how good you do on keeping up with me!

Baseball Here We Come

We can't wait for baseball season to get here! Mainly, right now for the warmer weather! We live and breathe baseball in the summer! First we have to get through our 5 week basketball program, which starts next Saturday. The boys have been dying to get outside to play baseball with Heath, and today we had a warm up in the 40's! I know isn't that warm! The boys didn't think it was necessary that they wear their jackets, so we let it slide to get some outside time in with their passion! Conner thinks he is their size and has to play with Heath's glove!

Heath had to get caught up on some work today, so I took the older ones to see the Disney movie, College Roadtrip. It was a cute movie and actually I teared up at the end (I know such an emotional person!), because they reflect back how fast the childhood years go, and then your child is off to college! I want to capture these moments while I can because I know I can't stop how fast they are growing up before our eyes! OK, enough of my sentimental side!

On a side note from my recent posts..I have really stopped stressing about Conner being potty-trained. I really think he is not fully ready. Yes, he talks in full sentences, but I just don't think he understands the concept. Heath and I both said we will wait until it warms up and use the outside our way to get him to go! More on that later...

Conner getting in on the action. He loves to be outside, and I know with the time change we will be spending a lot of time out there no matter how cool it is!

Just one of the boys!

He has such a good arm on him for just turning 3! I really don't think so when he is throwing in the house. Like the lady at work says, "I won't care when he is playing for the Cardinals!"!

Here comes a pop fly!

Corby is looking forward to another baseball season. Last year he was an excellent shortstop!

Preston lives and breathes any sport!

They did not like that I interrupted their game for some shots!

Visit to the Grandparents

On Friday night we made a visit to my grandparents house. My Aunt Merrideth is visiting here from California, so we also got to see her. The boys enjoy going to my grandparents house, because they know "no rules apply"! Conner knows exactly where the apple drawer is, Preston knows where every penny is located, and my grandma even let them empty the rocking horse piggy bank which she has had for years and they got to divide the change between them, and Corby got to sell chances on his Easter Cake they are doing as a fundraiser for his school (seems like they are always selling something!) My grandad was recently brought home from the nursing home and seems to be in much better spirits! He now has a lift chair which should help my grandma out when my Aunt Merrideth leaves on Monday.

Quin with his Great-Aunt Merrideth!

Happy as can be!

Grandma Ruthie bought chances from Corby, and Conner enjoys his apple! As you can tell from the no rules..Preston sitting on the kitchen table! Guess that is what grandma's are for! Hopefully one day I can ease up a little!

Quin with Grandad...also his namesake which he was named after, Quin Lewis.

We always have a picture taken of the 2 of us when she visits. I was told growing up, I looked and acted (hope that is a good thing!) like her! I hope I look as good as her when I am her age!

She wanted a picture of her with all the boys...easier said than done! We enjoyed her visit once again and hopefully we will see her again soon!

~Finally Putting It To Use~

For Christmas I received Photoshop from Heath! Well I finally sat down to figure out some of the ins and outs! Thanks to the help from my fellow bloggers; Dawn, Jessica, and Kim, they literally sent me emails and IM's to let help me figure out a few tricks of the program. I just learned out to put watermark on my pictures and to also add text! I know these are very little tricks of Photoshop, but this is a huge accomplishment for me, the novice!

So here is my little cheeser at 8 months old on Sunday! He is starting to really work his way up on his hands and knees, so hopefully he will be on the move soon! I know why am I excited for this next stage? At least he will be able to get from Point A to Point B, without me helping him!

Loves to be on his belly.

Showing off those 2 bottom teeth!

Laughing...or crying...not for sure what we want to do?

He is the sweetest little thing..oh and of course "Captain Adorable" like his shirt says!

Hooray!

My sister finally took the plunge! She has started her own blog! So now she can keep us all updated on her beautiful family! OK, Quinn....we are all expecting posts regularly! I'm getting ready to add her to my side blogs under the Ruhl Family!

Captain Underwear.

All I can say is, "we're so proud"! Tonight while we were at Wal-mart, I really talked it up to Conner about getting big boy pants, and that if we get them he can't wet in them. He was so proud and carried them through the entire store. When we got home while I was putting groceries away, he said "Look mom I'm a dork". He could care less about being trained! It came so easy for the other 2 so I'm really trying not to get frustrated. My mom and I will ask him at the daycare "Do we wet in our pants?", he says "Yes"! AHHHH. He will go for me if I take him, but has no use in telling me! So we are going to hit it hard this weekend! Hopefully I will have a successful post! No promises!

Introducing Delaney Marie

We made a quick trip to Fort Madison tonight to see our newest addition, Delaney Marie. It is almost at 2 hour trip one way, but it was well worth it to see her. She is so precious, and you suddenly forget how small they are. They had lots of visitors, but we were able to get to hold her for a few minutes. Quinn said the girls were pretty excited, but mainly because she had little presents for them when they arrived to see their newest sister. We then made a quick stop back by Matt and Quinn's house to deliver Sydney's backpack which she needed for school in the morning. Well enjoy these pictures of our newest family member.

She's Here!!!

I called Quinn this morning at 5:30, and they are proud to announce that Delaney Marie made her entrance into the world at 3:41am. She weighed 7 lbs. 7oz. and was 21" long (Heath wants to know how they have such long kids! ha!) She said everything went smoothly and they were just getting ready to go to bed. Quinn said she has some hair, but lighter than Sydney and Chloe. Can't wait to see her tonight!

A Taste of Spring???

What a freak day this was! Temperatures were near 80 degrees today! We can only hope that spring is right around the corner after the awful winter we have experienced in Northeast Missouri!!! Well we knew it was to good to be true, because tomorrow it is back to the 30's with snow and sleet! No wonder everyone is sick around here!

I had our weekend all planned. Friday night Heath and I finished out the week by working our school's annual fish fry. I think I got the better end of the deal, because I served and Heath was on clean-up duty. Then Saturday I said we would stay put all day (this was very hard for me to abide by, as Heath says I have a "Going..Butt (he uses different choice of words) on me, and we would stay home and get the house and laundry in order for me to be able to be gone on Sunday. We also attended mass last night so we could do a little sleeping in today. So today, Heath (not willing, but said yes) and all the kids, and I made a trip to Columbia to do some spring shopping and go out for lunch. I don't really know how successful my shopping trip was, due to the fact I had Conner saying "mommy want these???", so when I would get up to the counter I would have sizes I didn't need and clothing that I hadn't even picked up. Oh and then I decided to make one last stop at Children's Place and Conner tore off the tags off of 2 items before I even paid and then was standing up in the stroller at the counter and completely tipped it over on top of him, only to leave him screaming at the top of his lungs! So word to the wise....I PROMISE, I KATIE WILL NEVER SAY I'M GOING SHOPPING WITH #1 MY HUSBAND, OR #2 ANY KIDS! What was I thinking??? Oh, I also forgot that when we first arrived at the mall, Heath said to me" Boy sure is a nice day to be stuck in a mall", yes he enjoys an audience and caught some laughs from a few men waiting at the doorway for their wives. Like I say....always a comedian.

I did promise the boys that we would take them to a park, because I wanted to bottle this day up because it was so heavenly from what we have been use to. So we made our way onto a park in Columbia (Kim, I'm not for sure which one...it was the one across from Boone Hospital). But overall we enjoyed a nice family day, mall and all.

Conner was in much need of running off some winter energy that he has stored up for months. He took off running and instantly fell in the mud. You will notice in the upcoming pictures.

Preston always has to run for the equipment that is the highest and most dare devilish. Of course we wouldn't expect any less out of Preston and he began to instantly complain that he was hot. So he stripped down to one shirt. I say he's my girl.

Corby enjoyed climbing the fire pole.

Of course with the warm temperatures comes the high winds. I'm sure we will be paying for this tomorrow with a trip back to the doctor with ear infections. We took Quin to the doctor on Friday to find out his throat was sore and a little mild redness to his ears. Luckily he has been on antibiotics for 2 days, so hopefully we are in the clear.

Conner loved being outside and took a much needed nap on the way home. Whenever he sleeps we say he is "refueling."

The park was packed with people. Of course the boys were getting tired of me snapping pictures, but the day was just too beautiful.

They had a nice path that circled a lake that we enjoyed walking around. We got some much needed exercise after being cooped up all winter.

Conner loves slides! As you can tell from this picture I got a good shot of the mud spread across his knees and tennis shoes. Oh well, that is boys!

The wind was getting ready to take Conner's hat.

Quin was so happy and loved being in his stroller. We had to explain to him that this was the outdoors since it had been forever!

And one last picture I couldn't resist. Conner is supporting his new swim trunks that he wanted to wear to bed tonight. We really aren't for sure why he has the bike helmet on.

While we were in Columbia, my mom called to tell me that Quinn got admitted to the hospital around 4pm. She wasn't' suppose to go in until 8 tonight to be induced but her contractions had become strong enough to go ahead and be admitted. My mom called at 5 to let me know that she was only at a 1, but they were pretty strong. She is suppose to call back and let us know around 10 how she is progressing! I'm so excited to be an aunt again! We are going to see her tomorrow night, so hopefully I will have pictures posted when I get home (if I haven't crashed!) Since my mom is helping her this week and going to Branson for my dad's sales conference in Branson I'm having to open every day at 6:30. I will be whipped by the end of the week.