Halloween 2011

Halloween 2011 was perfect for our little family of 3.5 :)  I bought Lovebug's costume on Thursday night so she could have it for her daycare party on Friday, and of course for the big Beggar's Night on Sunday! 

Lovebug has been very, very into princesses lately {which you would know more of if I could get myself on this here blog thingy a bit more often}, Snow White in particular.  Well, when you a) wait to last minute {story of my life} and b) are cheap, you do not get a Snow White costume.  BUT, you do get a pretty darn cute other princess costume.  Really, it was Rapunzel, but all Lovebug cared about was that she was a princess!!!

We both took her trick-or-treating and OMG.  I swear, my kid makes me so proud with every.single.thing she does.  As Coach took her to the first house, she was a bit nervous, but with some coaxing from her dear favorite Daddy, she made sure to say trick-or-treat.  The best part, was she needed little to no coaxing to say thank you. :)  She was very happy to put her candy in her bucket.  We convinced her it was safe to go to another house.  Basically, from this point on, she said trick-or-treat all by herself, and of course, used her manners to say thank you.  I'm tellin' ya folks, it's two little words like that coming out of our adorbs' princesses mouth that melted me at my knees that night {there's no way it could have been that I felt sicker than a dog with nauseousness though :)}.

We toodled around our neighborhood, then hit up Coach's aunt and uncle, as well as Coach Ankeny, Daddy's coach boss :). 

All in all, it was a great night spent as a family.  I'm looking forward to many more fun nights like that.  And now, what you've probably scrolled through to find already... the proof is in the pics.



{the one and only time she'll know what it's like to have straight, blond hair}




{love that cheesy face!!!}



Life These Days

Hello all you faithful followers.  Please forgive me, again (and again) for being a very, very huge slacker in documenting our lives on this blog.  It's so hard for me at night to pull myself away from playing with Lovebug to document what's going on.  Thankfully, though, I am no longer having to pull myself away from sickness :).

Here's what's happening in our lives right now...

COACH:
 Still teaching away.  He got some good coaching news and has a new position this year and is very excited about it!  His new assistant coach is a former colleague from where he used to coach.  Needless to say, we all know it's going to be a super fun summer for him!!  Poor guy is getting over a nasty respiratory illness which has had him down for the count for a few days.  I think he's also earned a few new white hairs {sorry dear} from the stress of a pregnant wife and a very, very independent and spirited 2-year-old girl. 

ME:
  Well, I am 14 weeks and 1 day today, which means I'm in the 2nd trimester!!  I had some nasty morning sickness {which with this pregnancy pretty much stayed in the morning only!}, but I haven't gotten sick in nearly 2-3 weeks!!  That's been a fantastic thing... however I have been super, super tired.  I have found myself falling asleep on the couch, bed, or floor {or Lovebug's bed} around 8pm several times... only to be woken up at 8:30 to truly go to bed.  Nights have been restless.  I'm showing :)  and have already busted out the maternity pants.  They're bigger on me this time around than last time, so that's making me feel quite nice.  And, I have to say it because I'll never believe it unless it's in writing... I've gained 8 pounds so far!  Trust me folks, that's HUGE news to me! :)  My kiddos at school now know I have a baby in my belly, and one of them lifted my shirt to see it yesterday.  Lovebug does the same thing to me, then proceeds to look straight into my belly button.  What?  Didn't you know that was the way to see a baby?

LOVEBUG:
  Oh, lil' miss Lovebug.  She is more spirited, independent, crazy, and loving than ever these days!  Her imagination makes my head spin!  She's all about using her "feeper" {aka: sweeper} to clean the floors at night while holding her cell phone with her shoulder and carrying her purse on her other arm.  That's talent, wouldn't you say?  She is uh-bSESSED with Dora {which, I at this point, could handle living without} and will randomly quote things from her favorite episodes {"Mama, I want yummy gummy fruity fishy snacks like da mermaids please", "no swiper, no swiper, no swiping!"--as I try to take something out of her hand}. 

  The other day, she swore up and down that she saw #7 Marvin McNutt on the streets of our town {which she can also name now when asked where she lives!!}.  Her favorite thing in the world is to play on my her iPad.  She has a smidge bit of a problem though...she doesn't ever listen to an entire song!  However, when Daddy and I ask her to find our favorite songs, she finds them right away {Walking on Broken Glass for me, Party Rock for him :)}.  Lovebug has also found that when Daddy feels good, he'll break it down on the dance floor with her and man, oh man!  I have to tape it so you can hear her giggle.  It brings a smile to my face just thinking about it.

  She is still obsessed with her Daddy's Hawkeyes.  She knows Coach Ferentz, Herky, Marvin McNutt, and of course, most of the words to "Back in Black".   OH!  You'll love this one... when asked about the Cyclones?  Her response is that of a true Hawkeye fan... "Disgusting Cyclones.  They're gross!!!".  This response brought a small tear to her Daddy's eye.  It didn't to mine when at church last weekend at Mom & Dad's she saw a Cyclone on a diaper bag next to us and said it semi-loud enough to be heard by the people around us... during prayer time.  Nice timing.

  Today marks a big day for her.  She has decided it's time for her to wear big girl panties at Holly's house now.  Oh yeah, and her name is now "Howee".  No more Hy-ya.  Which also means that Mama Sy-ya is now... you guessed it, Mama Sawee".  I'm very sad to see those two names go.  It was always so unique and fun. 

  Lovebug is beginning to gear up for Christmas.  Yesterday she told me that she wants to see Santa Claus, but he can't touch her.  When I asked her what she wanted Santa to bring her this year, her response was "cereals.  Lucky Charms."  When I asked her if she wanted the real ones or the ones like Mommy buys, she of course said "the real ones.  A big one and a little one."  Pretty sure Santa doesn't need to bother bringing her anything else, because those will be the only two things that get used for quite some time!


Well there you have it.  I hope to blog about Halloween{she was a super cute princess}, and do some way back Wednesday posts over the next few weeks about our family reunion/vacation this past July.  Better late than never, right?

Before then, I'll leave you with a picture {though it has poor quality} of my two favorite people in the world...

BIG...

This post is BIG in every sort of way.

Yep!  Lovebug is going to be a BIG sister.

My belly is already getting BIG!!

Lovebug's new BIG girl room?  So that the baby can have her old room :)

We've known this BIG news since the end of September.  It's been quite hard to contain it.

We had our first BIG appointment last Wednesday.  We heard the heartbeat.  160 bpm.  They said that's "normal".  For once, a "normality" in Lynamland :). 

The next BIG appointment is in a few weeks when we have our first ultrasound.  Lovebug gets to go with us to begin earning her BIG sister status.

Coach and I will have some BIG time discussions on names.  We already had one at our first appointment. 

Yes.  We will find out what we're having.  I'm BIG on planning.  It will also make for some BIG, fun, last-minute Christmas presents for our families this year. 

Last but not least, the BIG day?  Around May 15.

We Went Walking

On Saturday, Lovebug and I joined up with 20,000 other people near the Capitol complex to Walk For The Cure.  We had a blast!!!  We were part of the team "Walker's for the Knocker's" in support of our favorite Hy-ya's sister, Lori, who is celebrating being 1 year cancer free!!!!

Lovebug was the best she's ever been!  She sat in her stroller for the entire 5K, plus the 45 minutes leading up to the walk itself, too.  And though we all know I'm not a huge fan of the color pink, I outfitted Lovebug and myself in it.  I even pushed Lovebug in a pink stroller for cryin' out loud!  Ahh, the things I do for the people I care about :).

Anyway, the walk was fantastic.  The weather was beautiful.  I could never see myself running a 5K, but mad props to the people who do.  Afterwards, we partied it up at the Tavern in Valley Junction.  O.M.G.  I forgot how much I love Tavern pizza.  And cheese bread.  Lori treated us all... and even brought cake.  Needless to say, Lovebug shut the party down... only because she was still eating when everyone else was done.  Yep.  That's my girl :).

When we got home, Coach was still cheering on the Hawks at Kinnick, so Lovebug and I did what any other Mommy/Daughter day is all about... we took a nap together :)

Lovebug's New Digs

This past weekend, Coach and I enlisted the help of my parents to transform Lovebug from toddler to big girl.  Yes folks... girlfriend has a new big girl room :).

*Back story... my parents watched Lovebug all weekend so Coach and I could go with some friends to IA City to cheer on the Hawks {awesome!!}, so my parents got to experience first hand what Lovebug sleeping in her convertible crib was doing to her and us.  Poor thing was rolling all the time, didn't have enough room, and inevitably would fall out of the darn thing.  This meant middle of the night wake-up calls for us, and that wasn't fun.

Fast forward to yesterday and a "thought" sprang into action!!  An hour and a half after touring my beloved furniture store, Homemakers, we were home bound with a new big girl bed, mattress, and dresser :).

Though there is no paint on the walls or too many other cute accessories at this point in time, Lovebug's new room is perfect for her!!

AND... a big thanks to my parents for helping us get this finished in one day :).  Just the way my Dad wanted to spend the day after his 65th birthday :)  Happy Birthday Dad/Papi Dale!!!  We love you :) :)



{her last nap in her toddler bed}




{the start of construction}



{maniac running around the new room!}





{Coach approves of the new bed :)}

  



{this is one excited girl!!!}



And her old room?  Is turning into a "junk spot" while I rearrange closets.  Sorry, no pictures of that though.  I wish that sight upon no one :(.

Lynamland Heads to Kinnick!

Yesterday was a very exciting day for all of us.  I'm not sure who was more excited though... Lovebug or Coach.  You see, Coach got to take his girls to Kinnick Stadium to watch our beloved Hawkeyes.  Though this was not Lovebug's first game {when she was just 7 weeks, Coach Ferentz touched her feet at Jack Trice, a memory that is gone, but nor forgotten}, but this was her first game at historic Kinnick Stadium.  Boy, oh boy, was it a super fun day!!!

After one long trek up the hill and past the many port-a-potties...



{I agree Lovebug.  Those things are disgusting}

...we were tailgating with some great friends.  Lovebug learned the fine art of kick the can {yep, we teach the good stuff here :)}


Then, it was time for the game!!! 

{we are one happy Hawkeye family}

Enter the part where I said earlier I'm not sure who had more fun.  Coach was one proud Daddy, that's for sure.  And Lovebug?  Well, she was elated with the fact that she saw Herky... from a long, long distance.  Poor kid... costumed people still scare her :(.  She yelled "A" every time it was our turn, cheered and yelled "touchdown" when we scored 'em, and high-fived some people sitting near us.  Oh, speaking of the people near us... one girl let Lovebug eat some of her popcorn, while another played peek-a-boo, while a third neighbor helped point out Herky every few seconds. 



{l-o-v-e}





{based off this picture... I'd say Coach is the happiest}

We all made it until the start of the fourth quarter {about 2 quarters longer than I thought we'd make it}, and made our way back down to Daddy's truck.  On the way, Lovebug eyed a big Hawkeye truck! Of course, Daddy had to show it to her :)

One more landmark stop left for us...

Ahhh... this was one great day, and one of those memories that will live with Mommy and Daddy for a long, long time. 

Throwback Thursday--2nd Birthday Edition

Lovebug's 2nd birthday {ahem, 2 months ago} was picture perfect, as you will see by the zillions of pictures below.  We are so grateful to have such wonderful family and friends share this special day with her.  Even her boyfriend, Marcus, came to celebrate :). 

We ate, but of course, the real fun was opening presents!!!

After presents, she just had to cheese it up for everyone...

...as well as get a kiss from earlier mentioned boyfriend :)

{Daddy will not be a big fan of this picture...shh!}

After presents came the best part, well to this Mama anyway... CAKE!!!  I worked my hiney off to make Lovebug the perrrrrfect cake, and I think it turned out extremely well.  What do you think?

{white cake with strawberry cheesecake filling... all dressed up like Minnie Mouse}

Silly head gear and the candles came next, followed by pictures with a few of our friends and family.

{Lovebug's godparents Matt & Cheri}

Once all the excitement of the day had come and gone, Lovebug had a chance to help Daddy water the bushes... but more importantly, use one of her new presents :)

{what.  don't you water your bushes in your party dress???}