Family Photo Reveal

Here are some of our family photos we did this fall. Zach was in the photos with us, he is an honorary Griffin and such a HUGE part of our life. We had blast, I love them all.

We miss Zach like crazy but he is over halfway done with boot camp, it is going by so fast!!!

Ready for Christmas!

Christmas has always been my absolute favorite holiday of the year, but my little princess makes it even more amazing :) How cute is she posing in front of the tree!

I love you Bella Jean and you make life the most enjoyable :)

Monster Longies

So one of my bestest friends had found these super cute baby/toddler pants with monster faces on the butts, they also had skull and cross bone ones, a bunch of different patters and they are knitted pants. The downfall was that they were $80 a pair!!!!

So I went online and found a pattern for longies, I realized it is super easy to just double stitch the faces or patterns onto the butt. I offered my knitting skills and will now be adding these pants to my shop.

I can't wait to keep updating the shop and then really start promoting it, I've just been busy and haven't spent the time I need to on it.

Here is the first finished pair of monster longies, actually not completely finished I don't have the cute drawstring on them yet, but that is the only thing missing :)

How cute are they??

Baby Shower #2

I realized that I had never uploaded any photos from Missy's baby shower, shame on me! :) So here are a few, although I somehow failed to get any photos of the pretty cake pops. There weren't any as intricate as the Mrs. Pott's cake pops, but they were white with pretty purple icing stripes and purple sprinkles.

Missy's only request was to have the color theme be purple. So I used some of the flowers from Mindy's shower and added purple, I used a damask print ribbon on the vases and I got lovely purple lanterns to hang. The candle holders were from my wedding in 2004, I made them and was happy to be able to still have them and use them for this.

It was a beautiful shower and I really enjoyed throwing the twins' showers for them, now we have the beautiful baby girls Evey and Lyla to ooh and ahh over :)

Lyla Rose Bechthold

Our eventful week ended with the birth of my beautiful niece Lyla Rose Bechthold, Missy and Ed's daughter. Lyla was breach so Missy had a c-section, after having Lyla and seeing that she was 9.04 lbs Missy was very glad she had the c-section :)

Missy did so well and Lyla is just like her cousin Evey, a great eater, a good sleeper and just the sweetest little girl :)

Our Marine

It is official, Zach is in San Diego at Marine boot camp. I still can't believe he is gone, his car is in our driveway, his room is still a mess and smells like Zach (I mean that in a good way :)).

We had his going away party at my hall on the 13th, it was great to see his friends and family that came to say their good byes and wish him luck. It was a tough day for me, lots to do and not enough time for it all.

Sunday we headed to Des Moines, thanks to some easy pressure from my brother in law Ed we ended up going to Jethro's for Zach's last big dinner before boot camp. It was wonderful!!! They were pretty busy and the manager came to check on us while we waited, my mom told him we were there celebrating Zach and his new journey, the manager bought us two appetizers, it was so nice of them! A lot happened in the last week Zach was home, relationships changed that made Zach thankful and ready for this new adventure.

Monday morning we headed to MEPS, we arrived promptly at 8:00am. When we were buzzed in the guy signing us in looked at me and said, "Koch?". I smiled and said yes, then asked how the heck he knew, he said it is because he is government and knows everything, still not sure how he knew :) We waited, and waited, and waited, they had a nice family area for us to wait in and eventually we got to play cards in the lunch room. Bella saw Oreos in the vending machine and wanted them, of course the vending machine was broken and I had a five year old girl having a meltdown. My dad went to ask the guy who let us in if he knew how to fix it. He comes in, and this is a really big military man, he asks who needs the snack and sees Bella and her red eyes. He was so sweet and said, ok I will get our little Marine a snack. He grabbed the machine and shook the crap out of it until some Starburst fell out, the meltdown was saved :)

Zach was finally sworn in a little after 11:00am, it was very emotional for all of us, I could not have felt more proud. They let us stand up next to the podium so we got video and photos, afterwards they even took family pictures for us.

It was a great experience and I think about Zach daily, wondering what he is doing, how early is he having to get up, are they feeding him enough, is he happy, when the heck will we get our first letter???? So proud of him and can't wait to see him again in February for his graduation :)

Bella's 5 Year Check Up

Yesterday was a big day for Bella as well. Kyle took her to her five year check up so that I could be at the hospital with Mindy. I had told him she would be getting her flu shot, I did not realize she would be getting FOUR shots and the nasal spray :(

This was Kyle's first time at Bella's yearly check up, so it was a memorable one for him! Bella did pretty well, she told me she just had to cry though because it hurt too badly :(

Our five year old peanut is "officially" on the chart for weight, woo hoo!!!! She is 32.2 lbs and is in the 4th percentile for weight, just over 40 inches tall, in the 9th percentile for height. Our doctor is very pleased with Bella's development and told Kyle we have one very smart little lady on our hands :)

I still truly can't believe she is five. A positive to her petite size would be that her size 3T snow pants from last year still fit, we had a bit of snow this morning so she had to try them out. Looks like we just need to get new boots for her this year as her 3T coat still fits too :)

Evey Belle Oberreuter

FINALLY, finally Mindy had her sweet little daughter!!!!! She went five days past her due date and labor began at 7:30 p.m. on Monday night. I would get continual texts from her husband Casey throughout the night, it was hard for me to sleep that night!

I worked half a day yesterday and then headed to the hospital. Little Evey (pronounced with a long E) was finally born at 3:52 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon. Mindy did AMAZING, she said the last two hours were the worst. She went through hell having her little girl. I believe most people who read my blog have had children so I shouldn't scare anyone off birthing a baby ;) It came down to the doctor wanting to use forceps, my mom was totally against it and wanted them to use the vacuum, but of course it is the doctor's call.

Mindy's doctor didn't realize how big Evey's head was, she basically slaughtered Mindy, I'm not kidding. On an entirely different rant, I understand your doctor may not be on call when you go into labor but I strongly believe your birth plan wishes should be fulfilled. This doctor had a horrid bedside manner, my mom was just appalled by the entire experience.

So in the end the doctor used forceps because she wasn't comfortable with the vacuum. Mindy did not get an episiotomy because the doctor felt she wouldn't need one. Well she did and Mindy tore badly, inside as well. Two hours after having Evey Mindy had to go to the hospital (the birthing center is separate) because they thought she may have broken a rib in the birthing process, thankfully she didn't.

After all of that beautiful Evey arrived weighing 8 lbs., 11.2 oz. and was 21 inches long. She has a nice big round head and is a true little beauty.

Isn't she just soooooo precious???? Not sure why the first two photos are turned like that but I can't fix them.

Next Tuesday I will become an Aunt again as Missy will be having a c-section in Des Moines, I'm a lucky girl with all these sweet babies in my life :)

Our Little Star Song

That's right, Bella was Star Song the My Little Pony for Halloween. She also got to wear some makeup, I'm going to have a little "diva" on my hands, just when it comes to makeup and hair, diva attitude hasn't hit quite yet ;) She seriously LOVES having just a little bit of makeup put on her for special occasions, she sits so well for me!

She of course looked ADORABLE!!! We went to Newhall, that has been our tradition since Bella was born. Her first Halloween she was just two weeks old and got snuggled the entire time, we also have a yummy chili dinner that my mom makes.

This year Kyle's dad was with us and he walked the route we always take Bella trick or treating. He really had a wonderful time and said it one of the most fun Halloween's to get to see Bella go trick or treating in her cute costume :)

Proud to be a Teamster

Christopher Duffley is truly an amazing inspiration, he is autistic and blind, I cry every time I watch this. He his now an honorary Teamster and we couldn't be more proud to have him as one of our own :)

2 Jo's Farm and a Halloween Party!

We had a wonderful weekend with great weather! Bella was supposed to go to a pumpkin patch on a field trip but it got rained out. So she really, really wanted to go, we did not go to a pumpkin patch since we already have pumpkins but we did head out to 2 Jo's Farm on Saturday. It was WONDERFUL!!! I really wanted to take her since they had pony rides :) Bella is a natural, when asked if she needed help up she said no, stuck her foot in the stirrup and swung herself onto that pony, what a proud moment for mommy :) She got her face painted like a fish tank, was made an honorary princess, went through the haunted barn and fed a LOT of hay to a beautiful horse. Her sweet little voice mentioned to Papa that maybe some day she could have a horse, I just elbowed dad and told him why not since he has the land ;) Kyle's dad went with us too and had a great time, he loved watching Bella ride the pony :)

Saturday night Kyle and I got to have a grown up night at Mindy and Casey's annual Halloween party. Mindy is due to have her baby girl in just 10 days but she still had to have her party :) We had a great time!!! Nothing like playing cards all night with wonderful family and friends, drinking my cousin Brett's homemade peppermint schnapps, some beer and 4 gallons of apple pie (the apple pie was shared between eight of us, don't be too worried) :) Needless to say there were lots of laughs, plenty of falling down by myself constantly on the way to the car, and wonderful Kyle taking care of David and I :)

David and I were pirate wenches

Larry was Captain Jack Sparrow (the Michael Bolton version), Ed was Wilfred

Kyle was Murphy from The Boondock Saints

Carley was a nurse and Zach was Connor from The Boondock Saints

Casey completed The Boondock Saints trio as Rocco

My beautiful preggo twin sisters, can't remember what Missy was but Mindy was a zombie :)

Happiness

My happiness today is this simple text from Zach:

"Do you care if as of November 1st I move back in with you guys until I leave?"

I'm feeling pure joy right now, we get to have him with us for the last two weeks before he leaves, yay!!!! We also get to take him to Des Moines, usually he has to ride with the Marines but they told him family can take him :)

Last night I was cleaning up his room, it had become the room where I just throw crap and shut the door, not good! While I was working on it Bella was helping and she started crying, I asked her why she was crying and she said it was because she misses her Zachy. I can't wait to tell her he will stay with us before he leaves for the Marines, she is going to be so, so happy!

November 15th

On November 15th Zach will be embarking on his greatest adventure, Marine boot camp. He got the call yesterday and it is official, he is leaving four months earlier than planned. He is very, very excited and ready to get out of here to start this journey.

I'm so, so proud of him! We will be having a going away party for him on November 12th at my work, so lucky we have this huge hall I can use when it is available :) This was Zach's idea and he even offered to pay for all food and drinks, yeah right, like I'll let him do that! Thankfully I have so many family members that all food duties are already taken care of and Zach just gets to buy soda :)

Zach is such an amazing young man, I truly couldn't love him more if he was my own son. To have watched him finish out high school and make the good choices he has made, it just makes me proud knowing he could have easily taken a different path in life.

Our weekly dinners will come to an end, I will make each one that much more special for him before he does leave. I will miss his daily random texts to me, I will worry constantly that his drill sergeants are being too tough on him, I will miss midnight pick ups from the bar (he loves that entertainment, trust me ;)), I will miss the excitement in Bella's eyes when she knows it is a Zach night.

And yet I couldn't be more excited for him. Worries will be never ending, but the proud feeling I have for him and knowing what he is doing for our country and our freedom, and even more so for himself, makes it totally worth it.

Bella is 5!!!

How can it be, how can my little princess be 5 today??? It seems like yesterday that I was anxiously awaiting her debut in this world, deciding to have an induction on Friday the 13th. Now Friday the 13th is a "lucky" day in our world :)

Our world is filled with joy every single day due in a big part to Isabella Jean, we are so proud to be her mommy and daddy. She truly has the sweetest personality, always giving hugs and kisses, telling us how much she loves us at least five times a day. I'm so lucky that my heart gets melted many times a day by her various expressions of love.

Now she does have her "Koch" temper and attitude, it seems that is a given for all girls in our family :) But it helps me to know that she can handle herself, she may be small in size but watch out, this little girl won't be pushed around. She will be the first person to tell you that she is a big girl, not a little girl anymore, she tells me at least twice a day.

I never knew how I could love until I became a mommy. I am so blessed to have such an amazing daughter, I love her to the moon and back!