Tuesday, December 21, 2010

From Halloween to Christmas and a baby in between!

I know it's been forever since I updated. It took me a month to figure out how to sign in after an "e-blogger" page took over my regular sign in page. After many calls to the help line, I figured it out! So, to update you on the past couple months:

In September, we started trying for baby #4 and were blessed to get pregnant right away....which seems to have happened each time we try. That gives us a June due date which is perfect. The baby is supposed to arrive a week after Kiley gets out of school and I will have all summer to just hang out with my kids and not have any obligations or school functions. I am about 16 weeks now and starting to show. I am not sure why I am surprised to be showing..it's about that time and it's my 4th baby, but I am still a little disappointed. I am going to steal an idea from my friend, Mary, and post info on the baby after each check up. Check up at 15 weeks:

Weight: Up 5 lbs overall...
Blood Pressure:92/80 - a little close in range, but I am not sure what that means.
Baby size: 4 inches (a large apple)

The nurse did an ultrasound because I was measuring at 12 weeks, but everything looks good. I always measure a couple weeks behind. I will see a perinatologist this time around too, just because the last two pregnancies have had low amniotic fluid levels from about 20 weeks forward. The nurse tried to get a peak at the gender, but the little babe was curled up in a ball and refused to stretch out. That's okay though. We did the OTC Intelligender test at 10 weeks and it gave us unclear results, but I would put my money on girl if I had to. They say blue for boy, orange for girl, and it turned orangeish brown-so I'd say girl. I also have different cravings and am carrying different than I did with the boys. Who knows though. I always try to guess and have been wrong on all 3 babies. I think the names in the running for a girl are still Cheyenne Isabella and Karissa Kay. I have no good guesses on what names Chad will throw out, but I know he is really fighting for the name Champagne and is recruiting his friends to gang up on me in his quest. I have had to battle this with each pregnancy. He thinks the name Champagne Shaffer is a cool football name, but I have my doubts about any of my kids becoming professional football players. I like Carter Brooks for a boy, but it's already been shot down many times. None of us, including myself, will probably know the name until they are pushing us out the hospital doors like we did with Cort.

Halloween was fun. Kiley went around the neighborhood with a group of abut 15 friends and 5 supervising parents. They went to haunted houses (there are a couple in our neighborhood that go all out). Chad and I took the boys up and down the street and then came home to hand out candy. Kiley was a pink pirate. Cort was a green dinosaur, and Creighton...oh, Creighton-the stories this little boy gives me to tell :) He insisted on being Woody from Toy Story. I searched high and low and could only find an 18 month. Creighton was 30 months, but SQUEEZED himself into this outfit. It was short and tight, but he wore it. Pics will be in a post to come.

Thanksgiving was very low key. We weren't able to head back to Nebraska because Chad's work finally picked up and he had to work. He was off Wed-Sunday, but worked each day during his break. I can't complain though. We have been praying for it to get busy for the past year and a half and it looks like things may be on the right track again. We played outside most of the day, since nearly all winter it's been in the 50's and 60's. We ate a nice dinner with the traditional food (ham, sweet potato pie, candied yams, green bean casserole, corn, rolls, salad, etc) and then played games.

Christmas was celebrated here on the 18th. Creighton got a silver power wheels truck and loved it! Cort got an outdoor play set that is a rocket and slide. He is much too little to play on our outside equipment, so this will keep him busy for a year or two. Kiley got a lot of things and was very happy. She keeps asking me if Santa is real and, in an attempt to not disappoint, I keep saying yes. I did tell her of the real Santa Clause and then told her that Santa is a term we use to refer to anyone who is giving and I told her of some stories of money being given to the poor, etc. I am transitioning into this conversation. I don't want to ruin the magic of Christmas for her, but I also don't want her to be the only one in her class arguing with her classmates that Santa is real and to get made fun of. Maybe I can find a good book that will break it to her softly.

Well, until next year.......

Monday, October 4, 2010

Just a few pictures

Sorry about the formatting. Sometimes my page has a mind of it's own. Here are several updated pics of the kids. I have many more to post...maybe this weekend. Please excuse the ones of Creighton without pants on. We were trying to potty train him and decided to let him run around outside without pants. He didn't have any accidents and sat on his potty chair a few times and tried to go. The cowboy boots were his own idea :)





















































































Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Pictures to come soon!

I have dozens of new pictures of all the kids, but have little time to post them. It's on my "to-do" list though. We had a wonderful summer. Lots of family came in town and we went to the beach, the zoo, the waterpark and more. Kiley started school on Aug. 24th and is loving it. She kept saying she didn't want a specific teacher, Mr. Ginsberg, but I know she was secretly hoping for him. He is hilarious and they have a lot of fun....I was cleaning out her school cubby (her own cupboard in our laundry room) and found a note that she had written...I guess to herself, that said "School is about to start. I don't know my teacher yet, but I hope it's Mr. Ginsberg. He is funny. I know he will embarrass me though because he always calls me fashion queen". I was also hoping she would get Mr. Ginsberg. Having a fun teacher can make school so much more enjoyable. It wasn't easy to get back into the routine of waking up early, getting lunches and school bags together, taking her and picking her up, etc. Oh, how I miss the laizze-fair lifestyle we live during the summer :)





The boys are doing great. Cort is almost walking. I can't wait!! Creighton is beginning to potty train and talking more and more. We officially kicked off "operation baby #4" a couple of weeks ago. We are going to try for a girl following the ovulation method, but we will be thrilled with whatever God gives to us. I am SO excited to be done having kids. We are hoping for a mid-June due date, so that I can have a few weeks off before the chaos of the school year comes. Of course, I have names already picked out. If it's a boy, I like Carter Brooks and if it's a girl, I like Cheyenne Isabella. I also like some other C and K names. Chad is the really picky one. I like the middle name Brooks because it fits in with Creighton and Cort's middles names of Walker and Sawyer. They are older, not very common, and distinguished. Of course, I am planning on my boys being architects, lawyers, doctors, or engineers, so I should name accordingly :). Chad thinks they will grow up to be professional football players and I have had to build a case against the name Champaigne Shaffer for each boy. He thinks it's a cool football name and I agree, but the odds are against them for becoming professional football players.





Chad is officially a licensed architect!!! Yay!! It takes so much work. He had to get his Masters degree, work for 3 years, acquire hundreds of hours in specific areas of work, and take 7 tests. He had to take a couple twice. Each test is about $300 and he spent an estimated 100 hours per test studying. It took 1 1/2 years to take all the tests and get licensed. I am so proud of him. His work just got in a huge 10 million dollar job too, so he may get the increased salary and bonuses that typically come with getting licensed. Although, we know that it probably won't be as much as it normally would be, I am still happy to see things start to recover.



Chad and I are doing what I like to call "The Marriage 30 Day Challenge." We want to make every effort to be kind, considerate, affectionate, respectful, thoughtful, etc. towards each other every day for the next 30 days. It's so easy with jobs and kids to forget about those things. We started two weeks ago and it's been great. It's amazing how little gestures can make a huge difference. It's kind of a fun experiment to do and I like to fulfill my desire to be a marriage councelor by seeing what I can do to make my own marriage the best it can be. I think my husband gets annoyed with me sometimes, but it's important to make your marriage a priority and to always be working on it. It's easy to fall into a rut, become complacent, and let your marriage take a backseat to everything else in life, but we all know that is not a healthy approach.



Our Las Vegas trip is quickly approaching. We will be leaving in about 2 weeks. I am not sure if I am excited or not. I am not the girl you bring to Vegas. I don't drink, don't party, don't gamble. I like to be at home, taking care of my kids, cleaing house, and cooking. We are taking Kiley with us too. She had asked to go to Pheonix for her b-day. Her grandparents have a beautiful home down there. That would have been more my type of vacation: swimming, shopping, sitting in the hot tub, and golfing. It's very relaxing. My twin sister is getting married though in Vegas and we decided to take Kiley along for her birthday. I have a lot of fun activities planned for her.

I will post pics soon. You can see the original post date for this is 9-22 because that's when I started it! I get a paragraph written and have to stop and pick it up at a later date. So, 2 weeks later, it's ready to be posted...minus pictures and, I am sure, some very exciting details of our summer, but this will get the grandparents up to date and I can fill in the holes later! :)

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

New Pics of Baby Cort

Some new pics I took at home. I thought the laundry one was appropriate because Cort is always finding folded laundry and playing in it. I have heard many, many times that he and Creighton could be twins (well, if Creighton was still a baby, I suppose). They do look alike, although there are differences. I also hear all the time that Cort looks like Kiley. Cort and Kiley both have my mouth and nose and eye shape. They are both pretty fair skinned and super blond. They both have these two little dimples above their upper lip when they smile. It's adorable. All three of them look so much alike. If baby #4 is blond, Chad and I may have to consider doing some highlights to our hair so that we look like we belong with these kids.






















































Monday, July 26, 2010

Summer time....

Well, these past couple weeks have been very busy for us. We have been doing tons of work around the house and Chad has really impressed me. I am beginning to think he should become a handy man. I am sure being an architect pays better though. He has done so much though. He did a chimney sweep, cleaned the gutters, powerwashed the fence, installed a gate in our fence to our neighbors yard, built steps, repaired some parts of our sprinkler system, changed the brakes on our cars, put in a new alternator and battery in his car, built me a beautiful new dining room table and bench that can now seat 8 people, and more. Seriously, I had no idea he could do such a broad range of things.

We have been planning to start slowly doing some things to our house. Most of the projects will be saved for the winter, but we did find some really nice hardwood flooring on sale for the weekend and bought it. It's a Vera Mahogany and really pretty. We got a pretty good price on it too. We are going to put it in the entry way and formal dining room. I am really excited to see what it looks like when it's done. The carpet is in great shape, so I think we will save it and put it in the basement bedroom. My next project is to paint our double front doors. They are steel, so there is no wood grain. I did find a "how to" guide on painting steel doors to look like nice wood doors. There is this tool that makes marks that look like grain and then you stain over it. I am going to give it a try. I love having double doors, but hate that they are white.

We have had a lot of family visit lately. It's been fun. We had this huge tool bench in our basement storage area and Chad and his dad (and Creighton) took it apart and Chad's dad is taking it back to his house to use it. I am glad to have it gone. We also went to the County Fair and had a lot of fun. Some of the people we went with tried to convince me to go on a roller coaster. They tried everything. They offered to clean my car once a week for a year, make me dinner every night for 2 weeks, money, massages, etc. I did not go. It would take a lot more than any of those offers to get me to do something like that. I have kids I need to stay alive for! I did win a Ipod touch, a home stereo system, and $25 at the fair though. I thought about giving the Ipod touch to Kiley for Christmas, but she just got an Ipod last year and I don't want her to think she gets these expensive gifts every year. So, I haven't decided what to do with it yet.

Kiley comes back from her visit to Nebraska soon and we are so excited. My mom is flying back with her and we are going to go to the beach, shopping in Castle Rock, and to the Springs to do some shopping and go to the Garden of the Gods. I can't wait for her to get back. Here are some pics from the last week.


Pictures from the County Fair.
The petting zoo at the county fair had baby pigs and they were sooo cute. I wish Kiley had been there because she loves baby pigs.








Creighton and Chad have really developed a very strong bond. They adore each other. He is very loving to me as well, but he is at the age where "daddy" is most important.




Chad is the new Sheriff. He got this badge from some Kiosk (sp?) and wore it around the entire day.





























I realize the if Creighton ever sees this posting when he is older, he will kill me, but it's so cute. He thinks the swimming pool is a "bath" and REFUSES to wear any sort of suit in it. We have a 6 ft. privacy fence, so it's not bothering anyone and, if I bring out some soap, he can actually take a bath in it. Saves me some time!









Creighton is always digging in the dirt in this part of our yard. I think it would be nice to eventually put a garden in here. It's about 2 1/2-3 ft. wide and about 20 ft. long. Maybe next summer....










Grilling out! Every Sunday, we BBQ with out neighbors. Since Creighton is always doing what Chad does, we got him this play grill so he can cook alongside Chad.
























Creighton loves tools. His tools are his favorite toys and he LOVES Home Depot. Chad takes him all the time and Creighton says "Tools!". He goes in and just runs his hands over all the tools. He doesn't grab them or play with them, he just wants to look and maybe touch a little. He has started to want to use "daddy's tools". We let him use the hammer sometimes. Here he is "fixing" his swing set with a real hammer and some of his tools.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Pictures of the kiddos


Daddy and Creighton changing the brakes on our cars.






Not sure why he is wearing a santa hat, but there isn't always a reason besides, he's two.



Ohhh, Creighton was kindly telling his brother not to get into the dogs food. So sweet. All of my kids are so kind to one another. That is why having 4 or 5 kids doesn't scare me. They are so great.



Creighton and daddy spending time together after work.














This was one of those days that I decided I couldn't win against the two year old and I simply let him do what he wanted. He tatooed his arm and ate jalepeno chips for breakfast. Whatever. Sometimes, it's easier to just let them make their own decisions for a day. 99% of the time, he is such a joy, so kind, so obediant, so loving....and then there is 1% of the time that he is a terror and that was this day.














Hahahaha....he got the puzzle piece stuck under his knee and couldn't figure out how to get it unstuck. He was very confused. :)


















Getting so big. He will be walking soon!






















Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Grandma's visit

Grandma came to visit and we had lots of fun. We went to the zoo and to Splash water park. Kiley brought her friend, Sabrina. Cort loved the water. He was not cautious at all and was ready to dive right in. He's a brave little 8 month old. Creighton is very cautious and loved the water, but stayed in the areas he felt comfortable in. Kiley and Sabrina went down the water slides and laid out. They swam a bit, but Kiley seemed more interested in getting some sun (even thought she was lathered up in sunscreen). We swam for a couple hours, played in the sand and then went to get a snack. Creighton was running to throw away his ice cream cone and fell, skinning both knees pretty badly. He turned around and blood was already running down both legs and he said "I fall....it hurt". Cute. We took him over to the first aid station and he was so brave as they cleaned him up with soap and water and put some big bandages over his knees.

The bandages stuck for a couple days and we finally had to rip them off in the bath. Even though both Grandma and I did it, he only held a grudge against Grandma and wouldn't let her touch him for a while. He covered up his knees if she tried to change him. They made amends though. We went to the Denver zoo. We are pretty spoiled by Henry Doorly in Omaha, so it was hard to not compare the two. It was a good zoo, but not half as good as Henry Doorly. We walked the entire thing in about 2 1/2 hours. I don't think we will get a pass though. It's just not like Henry Doorly.



Kiley flew back to Omaha with Grandma Kriss for a summer visit. Creighton was so upset he cried and tried to get out of the car. Poor guy. Things are surely different without Kiley and we are surely counting down the days until she comes back. A little girl at church, who adores Kiley, said "I need my Kiley". She's funny. Kiley will be very excited to learn that some friends of ours are expecting a baby in January. My best friend, Jimmi, and her husband, Paul, are expecting a baby in the next week. I am so excited. Paul plays baseball for the Rockies, so we get to see them a lot. He usually gets traded every couple of years though, so it's been nice to have them here for 2 straight seasons, but we never know when they will have to move. Fortunately, they are from Omaha, so we always see them over the holidays.



We had our garage sale over the weekend and made about $500. Kiley made $100-well, we threw in some to make it an even hundred since we are requiring her to save 1/2. We gave Sabrina $30 for helping out. We plan to put in a nice sandbox for the kids under the tire swing and fort and put in a 4th bathroom in the basement.



We don't have any big plans for the 4th. I have to work at church that Sunday, so the boys will lay down about noon and sleep until about 4pm. Around 5pm we are going to have a BBQ with several neighbors and then watch and set off fireworks. Hope everyone has a fun, but safe, 4th of July.



Creighton and Grandma




Yep, the hat goes in the water too! He had a lot of fun.























Kiley and Sabrina in line for the water slide.











Colorado is awesome. Nebraska doesn't have water parks nestled in the foothills.






Kiley is in the brown suit. She was more interested in laying out than swimming. Her friend, Sabrina, is in the pink.
















Chad and Creighton in the little cave at the zoo.































Creighton watering Kiley's flowers while she is visiting Omaha. He is wearing Kiley's shoes. He likes them because he can slip them on and off without my help.







I realize this pic is only cute to me, Chad, and Grandma Kriss. Whenever Creighton is working in the yard, he gets very serious and he will occasionally put his hands on his hips and think for a moment before going back to work.






























Sweet baby Cort in the airplane swing in the backyard.


















Baby Cort put his hat on this way.

















Creighton was hanging out in the backyard while I made dinner. He is sitting infront of our raspberry and blackberry bushes. He was so excited when Chad came home and they hung out for a while in the yard while I cooked and baby Cort slept. Creighton adores Chad









































































I know I am posting a lot of similar pics, but I couldn't resist. Chad and Creighton were having some one on one time in the yard and it was so cute.