Family trip to Chi Town

Back in June (yes, more than a month ago) we took our first family trip to Chicago.  We took trips in the past, but never planned a trip for the four of us just for fun. So, at the beginning of the month we packed up our car, boarded up the dog (we finally found a place who would take him), and made the road trip up north to where the Mr. and I used to live.

Our first stop was in the suburbs to catch up and spend the night at a friend's home.  We both were pregnant at the time (she has already had her beautiful baby girl), so we got the chance to catch up while our kids played in the backyard and the men enjoyed some beverages.  Have I ever mentioned how fantastic Summers in Chicago are?  I don't miss the Winter weather, but the Summers are beautiful up there (compared the usual of constant humidity and high temperatures of Missouri Summers).  We were blessed with perfect weather the entire time we were up there!

The next day we took the kids to their first game at Wrigley Field.  Mr. Sharktank and I love going to games there, so he thought it would be a great idea for the family to finally experience a game together.  Matthew was very excited to finally see the Cubs play in person.  The day was a great 82 degrees, no rain, mostly sunny, and we lucked out with great parking.  The kiddos were very excited walking to the stadium and observing all the craziness that makes Wrigleyville so much fun.

Mr. Sharktank found a great deal on tickets to the game.  We purchased seats that were covered, but we still had a great view of the field and were close enough to get a good look at the players.  Anyone who knows us knows that Matthew has been to his fair share of baseball games at Busch Stadium. We were lucky enough to sit about thirty rows behind home plate every time we went, so unfortunately Matthew thought that was our usual place to sit at every baseball game.  Once we arrived to our seats at Wrigley we noticed our little man getting upset and he started to cry.  We asked him what was wrong and he proceeded to throw a fit telling us he wanted to sit closer and in the sun (pretty much behind home plate in seats that are just not worth paying for when you have two kids with you).  The fans around us chuckled telling us, "Yeah kid, I want to sit there too," but not really understanding why Matthew was so confused.  Here is Matthew in the middle of his fit...

After he realized our seats were actually pretty decent and he could still see the players, have ice cream and soda, and still see all of the action he calmed down.  The kids made it to the seventh inning and we ended up at On The Border restaurant in time to see the game end for a Cubs win in the thirteenth.  Turned out to be a perfect day for the kids to experience their "first professional baseball game," as Mr. Sharktank says.

The kids were all smiles!

The next day Mr. Sharktank took Matthew to Legoland in Schaumburg.  Apparently, he was a little overwhelmed at first, but once he got comfortable he enjoyed it all.  They learned how to make legos, rode rides, and explored the magnificent work of lego building.  We thought Natalie was a bit too young to enjoy Legoland, so her and I stayed in the hotel room and watched Frozen for the millionth time lol.

We rounded up our trip in Chicago and headed to Indiana to see Mr. Sharktank's family.  We made a stop to visit his grandparents and some of his aunts, uncles, and cousins before we headed to stay with his parents.  Quite a few of them live on a lot of land, so Matthew had the time of his life riding all sorts of equipment.  His favorite vehicle was a real John Deere tractor and Uncle Tom even let him help drive!.  

Our trip ended with a stay at Mr. Sharktank's parents' house.  We are lucky to have his parents very involved in our lives and they live close enough that we can hop in the car to visit.  The kids (and the dog) always enjoy their large yard and the fact that their cousins live a short drive away.  We stayed a night there and left with full hearts and bellies.  Mr. Sharktank's mom is quite the cook and I am constantly eating at their home thanks to her cooking!

I'm closing this post with a couple of my favorite pics from the inlaw's backyard.  They have a fabulous tree that the kids love to hide behind (and makes cute pictures).

Our wild child is 3!

At the end of May, our little Natalie turned three years old.  Being our second child we knew what to expect with her when it came to caring for her, but we had no idea the personality that would start to show from this little girl!  She has grown up in three short years to be our spunky, wild, and carefree little girl.  Natalie slowly came out of her quiet and observant shell and she now loves to talk, role play, sing ("Let it go" anyone?), dance, tell stories (of true events and made up happenings lol), and pick on her big brother.  Her favorite things these days include my little ponies, her "special baby" (an American Girl Bitty Baby doll), bubbles, her Dora big wheel, necklaces of all sorts, the Disney movie Frozen, and stickers.

Since we don't do big birthday parties every year we let NAS have her first sleepover with a friend to celebrate.  She chose to have our dear Addison come over for the evening to go to dinner and spend the night.  Natalie choose where she wanted to eat (El Maguey, which is the usual Sharktank dinner spot) and then we came home for cupcakes, movies and popcorn.  Both girls had their own sleepover baskets complete with popcorn, necklaces, nail polish, movie tickets, candy, and balloons.

The girls had to dress of for the special occasion, of course!  Both Natalie and Addie love their dresses and pretty things :)

The night was a success and the girls were asleep by 9:15 after a Strawberry Shortcake movie and bowls of candy and popcorn..  The 6:05 am wake up call came really early, but the kids were excited for their favorite of bagels and cream cheese from Panera.  Natalie is already looking forward to the next time she can have a sleepover!

Happy 3rd year to our NAS!

More bows and dresses...

About a month ago I decided to have a secret ultrasound done to find out the sex of baby Sharktank #3.  My inlaws and godson were coming into town, so I knew it was a perfect time to surprise Mr. Sharktank.  In the over ten years I have known him, I have never been able to pull off a surprise of any sort! I would be lying if I said I was not excited to have an early peek at the baby and find out what we were having.  Women often say you feel the baby move around earlier with each child, but I guess I am an exception to this.  At 16 weeks I had not felt anything! No kicks, no punches, no turns, and no "flutters" as we pregnant people call the early movements of a baby in the womb.  Needless to say, I was very anxious to have a look and make sure all looked good with baby #3.

My dear friend, Sara, met me at our house in the morning and we told Mr. Sharktank that we were going to pick up photo props for her photography business (Sara Beth Photography... you can find her on Facebook).  I had to grip the steering wheel the entire drive to the ultrasound location, since my hands were shaking so bad.  I am the type of mom who gets extremely nervous before every ultrasound.  Knowing there is a life inside of me, knowing how the little one should be growing, and being aware of all the things that can go wrong during a pregnancy puts this pregnant lady on edge.

We went to Ultrasona and I have to say the office was fantastic.  The room was almost spa like with a comfy place to lay, dimmed lights, and a clean environment (but not "sterile" feeling like a doctor's office).  I almost expected to hear sounds of a waterfall or peaceful music lol.  The ultrasound technician took her time with me, explained what she was seeing, and was very careful to not reveal the sex of the baby to me.  I wanted to find out with Mr. Sharktank and the kids, so Sara was the only one to find out at that time.

That evening Mr. Sharktank came home and was greeted surprised by this sign on the garage door:

After explaining to him what was going on, we proceeded to the deck to pop black balloons.  I filled one set of balloons with pieces of blue tissue paper and another with set with pieces of pink tissue paper.  Sara made sure to give us the bunch of balloons with the correct color of tissue paper inside according to what we are having.  The two of us wore blue that night, only to find out (after we popped the balloons), that we should have worn pink.  Mr. Sharktank was shocked, as was I.  Matthew was just excited about the confetti like tissue flying around, and Natalie is still not enthused about having a sibling yet.  I am sure she will grow to love her sister just like she loves Matthew though :)

We also had baby MaryAnne's (that will be her name) anatomy scan this past week.  All her measurements looked good and although we were hoping for some good pictures, all she would really let us see were her feet and stomach.  The little baby just wanted to cover her face with her hands the entire time.  We were lucky to get one good profile shot though.

MaryAnne's profile.  I love cute baby noses!

Momma Sharktank at almost 23 weeks.  This shirt has made it through three babies.  I'm surprised it is still holding up!










In other Sharktank news... Matthew starts t-ball tomorrow.  He has his first practice with his new team. Some of the players were on his soccer team, but we are hoping he enjoys this sport a bit more.  We let him pick out his shoes, get a new bat, and Daddy took him out to practice last week when we had great weather.  He really enjoys watching the Cubs games on television and seems to understand the purpose of the game, so we will see how it goes.  Mr. Sharktank and I are praying that he does not want to quit and will at least give it his best effort and keep playing the entire short season.

Tomorrow starts our weekend of Easter celebrations.  I am so thankful we have family and lots of kiddos to share the festivites with.  I am sure our children will really enjoy hunting for eggs due to the beautiful weather we are suppose to have Saturday and Sunday!

Matthew is Five!

These past few weeks have been busy here at the Sharktank!  First, Matthew turned five on February 24th, then we had his birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese, and then we had his kindergarten registration a couple days ago.  Our first born is already five years old and will soon be preparing to ride the big yellow bus to go to school every day.

Matthew woke up on his birthday to find a special set up at our kitchen table.  I recently bought a helium tank to make sure we can have balloons at any time (I mean what kid doesn't get excited about floating balloons... I still do?!).  So, his chair at the table had balloons tied to it and his place setting had birthday plates, an early morning gift, and cupcakes for after breakfast.

We have told Matthew that he could have a real birthday party when he turned five years old, so when it came time to pick a place to host the festivities he chose the glorious Chuck E. Cheese.  I remember as a kid enjoying my time at the local Showbiz Pizza (now named Chuck E. Cheese), but I also remember the crazy number of kids, the lights, the noise, and the madness that goes on in that place lol.  Mr. Sharktank and I made the reservation for his party, although we knew we would be leaving his party exhausted that day!

Overall, the party was great for the kids!  Matthew loved it all and the fact that we did not have to do any prep work at our house was fantastic!  The birthday boy was given a crown, a birthday medal, tons of tokens and tickets, and chance to grab as many tickets as he could in the ticket blaster machine.  Neither of our children had ever been to a Chuck E. Cheese before, so their excitement about the day was wonderful to see!  We were so happy with the number of friends and family who could come to his party!  On our way home Matthew told us his birthday "was the best birthday and day ever!"

My loves before the big birthday party! 

NAS was clearly not a fan of the giant mouse!

The birthday boy ready to play games and win some tickets!

Matthew blowing out his candles on his rock star birthday cake! 

Grabbing his tickets in the ticket blaster!

Matthew's kindergarten screening went well.  He was super excited about seeing his new school and was very eager to show the Parents as Teacher testers all he knew.  I was not surprised to hear that he did great with his number and letter identification, but I was shocked when I was informed he did not know how old he was!  We just had his birthday, as well as a party, and he was so excited about turning five that I did not understand why he told everyone he was still four.  I just chalked it up to him getting overwhelmed with all the questions at his screening, until we were at home the next day and Matthew was choosing not to listen to me after I asked him to help me clean up the puzzles he was finished playing with.  I had asked him three times to help me clean up his puzzles and he just sat at the table looking at me.  He finally said, "I am not going to do it."  Trying not to get mad I replied by saying, "Yes you are.  You chose to play with these, so now that you want to do legos you have to clean up these first.  You are a big five year old who can make good choices, so help me and we can get out the legos." Well, I was not ready for his smart response.  

"Mom, I am not five years old.  I am four.  I don't always listen and have to make good choices, so I am four.  I am not kidding... I'm not!"

That kid can leave me speechless. I had no idea what to say, so I walked out of the room to collect my thoughts and not laugh.  I did of course return shorty to try and convince him to clean up, but I am pretty sure I am not going use the "you are a big five year old" line anymore!

I am ending this post with a baby picture of Matthew (as I plan to do every time the kids turn a year older).  I am looking forward to watching this boy of mine grow up even more.  He surprises me every day with the way his mind works and how considerate he can be of others and their feelings.  

Slacker over here...

Well, here I am again!  Somehow, I have managed to let this blog slip away from me once again and have not done any updates in months!  I can say what everyone says, about how the holidays flew by, we were so busy, I did not have the time to type a new post, but if I said that I'd be lying.  Actually, I straight up just did not feel like it!  I have been so tired that taking a shower and making dinner requires more effort for me these days.  But... this blog is suppose to keep track of the memories and special moments of our growing family, so I need to make schedule time and continue to update this at least once a month.

Thanksgiving and Christmas were wonderful.  The kids loved being around family and of course the gifts they received, but the exciting news after turkey day was that we found out we are expecting again.  Lucky for me I can usually tell when I am pregnant early on.  Does anyone else get intense reflux only a few weeks into a pregnancy that lasts until the end, or am I the only lucky one? So, here we are again watching my belly grow and anticipating the arrival of baby Shartank #3 in August.  I am about thirteen weeks along, and they say you pop sooner with every child.  I am either proof of that or I just had too much holiday food and have given in one too many times to my pregnancy cravings that I have choose to satisfy.  Pretty sure I looked like this while pregnant with Matthew at about 19/20 weeks.  Here is baby #3 at thirteen weeks:

Coming up in a couple weeks is Matthew's fifth birthday.  He always gets excited for his birthday, but this year is especially exciting, since he is having an official birthday party (his first one since turning one).  Call Mr. Sharktank and I mean, but we agreed to only do first birthday parties and then start doing them again for the kids once they actually ask for them.  We all know first birthday parties are more for the parents' enjoyment, so we are looking forward to Matthew getting a party with all of his friends at a place he has been begging us to go.  Chuck E. Cheese here we come!  I am not sure if he knows what he is in for.  He is looking forward to the cake, pizza, games, and prizes, but I am not sure if he is aware of the giant mouse that sings on the stage.  Anyone who knows my children knows it takes them a while to warm up to anything that can possibly be scary.  We shall see how it goes...

I am signing off with a couple of my most favorite recent pics.

This is how we announced our pregnancy to our families at Christmas time.

Matthew and Natalie getting ready to go sledding at our friend's house.  The frigid temperatures here have prevented us from going outside a lot, so we got lucky when we had a Saturday in the upper 20's!

Almost a month late, but here is Halloween with the Shark Tank!

The Fall season has become one of my favorites with the kids.  They absolutely love the pumpkin patches (and we have quite a few good ones in this area) and picking out the Halloween costume is always a fun time!

We started the season by going to our local favorite farm, Rombach's.  I waited until a late afternoon on a Sunday and it was a success.  The place had very few lines and parking was for once not insane!  We brought along one of my cousin's kiddos (Matthew's BFF) and they had a blast.  After seeing the animals, funnel cakes, fresh squeezed lemonade, picking out their pumpkin, playing tag in the "pick you own pumpkin field," and playing on the playground it was dark and time to go.  I always love bringing along a friend for the kids to make the pumpkin patch even more fun for them!  We also visited Pumpkins Galore with one of my in home daycare kiddos and we just may have found our new place for Fall.  Not only were they cheaper, but they still had a ton to do and was not too far from the house!

Matthew with his cousin!  They loved the firetruck this year!

Natalie was only content if she was pulling the wagon into the field towards the end of our time there.  Such an independent child!

This year it took Matthew three tips to Walmart to finally decide what he wanted to be for Halloween.  He went back and forth between a Transformer, to a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, to Captain America, and to a pirate.  He finally decided on a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, and it worked out well since his neighbor also chose to be one!  

We lucked out with Natalie this year.  She loves dressing up and all things sparkly (she is very into the princess theme these days), so when Mr. Sharktank's mom brought back an outfit from Turkey when they visited we knew she would love to wear it.  Covered in bells, gold, and bright pink, Natalie loved calling herself a "Tur Tur princess" on Halloween (we could not think of a name for her costume, so we told he should was going to be a Turkish Princess).  Almost everyone's door we arrived at that night called her a gypsy or a genie, but we didn't care because she looked cute and loved the costume!  

It was a bit rainy that night, but the kids enjoyed the time with the neighbors and Natalie's godmother.  Nothing like a great kid friendly holiday to spend time with friends and neighbors!

Going to end this post with our most recent family photo.  I have a friend from college who regularly takes our pictures and once again we had a great session. My kids love her, and so do we.  Happy holidays!

Busy family!

Yes, every family is busy!  How can you not be busy when you have a family?  I somehow let this blog slip my mind and the documenting of our lives stopped for a couple months.  I must make a mental note to do a better job!

The past couple months have been emotional, exciting, and full of energy.

As a couple, Mr. Sharktank and I have never had to deal with a death in the family until recently.  Our beloved Grandma Irene passed away August 22, and although it was expected, it was not any easier.  Mr. Sharktank's grandma was a fabulous cook, a great mom, loved her grandkids, and could always make a joke without even trying. I had the pleasure of knowing her for almost nine years and would not trade a moment of it.  The number of people who showed up at her funeral in such a small town showed what kind of woman she was!  Although she is gone and in a better place, we will make sure our kids never forget her name, what kind of person she was, and the legacy she has. "Amen!" (which is what she always said at church at the perfect moments lol).

We love you, Grandma!  Hope you are teaching everyone how to cook Cajun style in heaven!

We tried soccer with Matthew this Fall.  Things started off so great! He really loves to kick around the ball and can even bounce it on his head!  His first game he was thrown into the goalie position for the first time ever (without any practice) and only let one goal in!  A couple of weeks later he even scored a goal!  

After his first game!

He loves to play soccer on his own time, but practices and games put him into such an anxiety attack that he refused to practice or play in the games after a couple of sessions.  After over a month, we decided to pull him from the team.  He still loves the sport, but playing as a team is not for him right now.

Natalie is still our spitfire of the Sharktank clan.  I hate to say it, but her new favorite thing is to take her clothes and diaper off and run around naked.  God help me!  She is also very brave and it seems like nothing scares her.  Natalie has no problem opening any door and running outside.  I am about to lose my mind as a parent and daycare provider because of this, but we love her :)

In Decatur visiting K and K!  The kids had so much fun that weekend!

Mr. Sharktank and I took our official last vacation without the kids at the end of September.  Leave it to our family to have the Mr. puking the evening before hours before our flight to the Dominican Republic left.  I begged neighbors for Zofran (to help him stop throwing up), made multiple trips to the local Walmart for Sprite, anti nausea meds, Pepto Bismol, and anything else I could think of!  I ended up having to pack for him while he layed in bed trying to focus on what was needed for a trip for a week.  

The morning of he woke and pushed on, so that we could enjoy our trip with our great friends who just got married.  We boarded the plan with the new Peggs family and I prayed he would recover fast!  Not our luck... he got sick again and we ended up at a Dominican "farmacia" (pharmacy) hoping for help!  We got it and thank goodness!

We spent the rest of the week taking a catamaran cruise to Saona Island for a day of fun, drinking, eating, and relaxing.  SLEEP was the most important part of the trip!  I do not think either couple stayed up past eleven eastern time.  We definitely left well rested and loved our time with the newlyweds.  What a great couple to go on a trip with.  We are close enough to spend lots of time with them, but had no problem when we all needed time alone!  Here are some pics from the "honeymoon" lol.

Matthew is in the middle of diagnostic testing at our school district's early childhood center these next two weeks.  We are hoping (and not hoping at the same time) that he qualifies for some services within their program.  If he qualifies for educational services he would get free bus transportation and education until kindergarten.  We are seeing what our tax dollars are paying for and we can honestly say that we are very impressed with the staff and educators that we have met thus far!  Matthew seems to enjoy the program he is trying, but we will find out later in November whether or not he is a candidate for services.  I just hope all this will help us and point us in the right direction for him and his future!  He is such a loving and smart child (I know that every parent says that, but he scares me with what he picks up on ha) and we only hope that he succeeds in his school years.

We have a lot of great things coming up... HOLIDAYS, so I am sure the blog posts will be more frequent!  Celebrating with kids is almost as exciting as being a kid yourself!