Blog Update!!!

Many people have been wondering why I haven't updated the blog lately. Not only am I busy with the kids, but I have been working quite a bit this past month and a half between the pediatrician's office and the hospital. Some days I work at both places!

I also have the daunting task of planning my 10 Year High School Reunion which is August 29th. It has been such a headache trying to track down the 600 people I graduated with. All I have is a list of names, possibily an incomplete list according to the high school! So, all the spare time I have (ha) is spent searching for people to try to have a successful reunion.

Sadie had her 18 month check up on Tuesday. She weighed in at 23 pounds 3 ounces (25th percentile) and 32 1/2 inches (75th percentile), she's on th epath to be tall and skinny! I also put Bryce on the scale for comparison and he was 27 pounds (0 percentile, below the charts) and 36 inches (5th percentile). He's still a little guy but FULL of energy!

I do have LOTS of pictures to post of things we have been up to this summer. I will try to do that this weekend as my mom is in town and can watch the kids while I do that.

I just wanted to let everyone know we are doing well, just BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!!!!

Summer Playdate Fun...

Well, with summer in full swing our play group has started to get together for our weekly playdates. We have missed our friends SOOOOOO much! During the school year, we attempt to get together about once a month but it is hard with everyone going to preschool on different days.

These our our friends we met back when we first started Gymboree, when Bryce was about 11 weeks old! Most of us have 2 kids now, all around the same age. I am so greatful for my "mom friends" and Bryce and Sadie have a blast with their real friends!

Last week, we had a BEAUTIFUL day and went to a local spray park and all the kids had a blast! Bryce and Sadie were a bit leary of getting wet, so opted to just put their hands in the trickling water. Every so oftne, the sprayers would increase and my kids would back away. I am anxious to see if they ease their fears over the summer. I predict by the end of summer, they will be drenched!!!

Bryce and Sadie playing in the trickling water.

Grace and Maddy also enjoying the trickle.

Elliott has NO fear of the water AT ALL!

Elliott must take after Big Brother Oliver, who is soaked head to toe as well!

The boys started a game of slurping the water and spitting it-this ended real quick!
(That's Ben in the background.)

The sprayers, that were originally trickling, turned on and Sadie was NOT happy!


We look forward to more of our summer playdates and will keep you posted on how our summer goes!

A Busy (FUN) Memorial Day Weekend

Well, the weather sure feels like summer!!! We had a fun filled Memorial Day Weekend.

We started the weekend, on Saturday, fishing on Lake Michigan. I had a pretty draining week with the kids while Jared was away on business, so I told him I wanted to go fishing with him and his buddy Chris. We were at the Marina at 4:45am. It was nice to see exactly what him and Chris do while they are out on the water. I was mainly in charge of driving the boat and "finding the fish", which I did quite well. We were fishing for Salmon and caught 6 of them as well as 3 Trout. We had a great time and I was a pretty darn good captain!

Later that day we had our niece, Norah's, 1st Birthday Party! It was a beautiful day and the kids had so much fun. Sadie spent most of the day in the bouncy house. Norah was adorable and had fun with her smash cake. She was so dainty while eating it- too cute! The kids were so hyped up on sugar, they were fast asleep within 5 minutes into our drive back to Indy.

On Sunday, we celebrated my best friend, Heather's son, Garrett's 1st Birthday Party! It was a lot of fun and the kids had a blast on the playground equipment. Garrett was so cute watching him smash his cake. That had to have been the most smashed cake I have ever seen, but the CLEANEST kid!

We had Jared's dad and step-mom visiting us from Iowa. Grandma Hamilton enjoyed baking bread with Bryce. Grandma and Grandpa were so tickled to be with the kids they hung out in the playroom most of the time with the kids just listening to them talk, play and giggle. We had a great visit.

We did not attend the Indy 500 this year as our weekend was so packed. We enjoyed our yearly BBQ with my Aunt Gayle and Uncle Larry, my parents, Jared's dad and step-mom and the kids. We look forward to the Indy 500 festivities for next year.

We hope everyone has been enjoying the great weather we have been having. Bryce know it's summer as the pool is open as well as the spray parks! Bring on the SUNSCREEN and SUNSHINE!!!

A Visit from Uncle Aaron and Ashley

Before Uncle Aaron and Ashley packed their things to move up to Appleton, Wisconsin they came down for a day long visit. We took the kids to the Children's Museum and grilled out. We always have a blast when they visit. We are going to miss them, especially come football season but are happy to see them moving on. Ashley finished up her Doctor of Pharmacy degree at Purdue and accepted a position with Walgreen's. Aaron was also able to get a job with Walgreen's, also in Wisconsin. No need to worry, they are not going to root for the wrong teams, they are TRUE Purdue and Bear's fans!!!

Here are some pictures from our day at the museum...

Easter 2009

On Saturday we dyed Easter Eggs. Sadie wanted to drink the dye and eat the eggs. it was quite interesting, but I know the kids had fun!

We had a nice Easter as a family in Carmel this year. It was fun to talk to Bryce about the Easter Bunny coming. He kept asking, "Is he coming to OUR house?!?!" It was cute! He was surprised to wake up Easter morning and see that the Easter Bunny had visited our home.

We attended church and Bryce learned, once again, that, "Jesus is ALIVE!" Every time we talk about Easter eggs and opening them up he says this. He learned this same message last year on Easter Sunday and remembered it the year. '

Jesus is alive, indeed! What an awesome God we serve. We are very thankful for the many blessing we have in our lives. We hope you all had a wonderful Easter spent with those you love!

Busy, busy, busy...

Ok, I know it has been awhile since my last post. As usual, the Hamilton’s have been very busy. We (mainly Jared) have been doings lots of stuff to the house, our master shower will be completed in 2 weeks as we are just waiting on the tile to be installed! Jared has done a great job with the shower and becoming handier and handier around the house. Last weekend we installed new lights on the outside of the house, they look great. They are going to make the house look even better when we get our new storm door installed. At the same time we are replacing our back patio door. I cannot wait to open the house up to the outside air! We are loving all the upgrades and have so many more plans for the house!

In my spare time (ha), I have been getting things ready for a spring garage sale, going through the kids old clothes and putting them on Ebay, couponing, working out (I highly recommend Jillian Michael’s 30 Day shred-thanks Jess- as I am getting major results!), and playing outside as the weather is getting nicer. I am averaging about 1 day of work a week, but still have some flexibility where there are some weeks I do not work and others I work 2-3 days. I love being a nurse!

Well enough about us, on to the kids….

We have started a new reward chart for Bryce. It is a start and “Point A” and get to “Point B”, where the prize is. Bryce gets to pick out his prize, to name a few…go to Bounce Zone, go to Chuckie Cheese, go get a Cheeseburger and French Fries, Make Cookies, Paint, Do a craft with scissors, etc. The way he gets to move along the path is by #1 Being nice to Sadie and #2 Being a good listener. Of course if he does not do these things, he moves backwards. The chart is working well for him!

Other big new for Bryce- He has his first Big Boy bike!!! He loves it. It is super cute watching all the neighbor kids ride around the cul-de-sac on their bikes usually in a line. He cannot get enough of his bike! He is still going to school 1 day a week and LOVES it. He likes to help me pack his lunch in the morning and carry into school. He walks right into his classroom, sometimes without telling me good-bye…I guess it’s good he is gaining independence! I am currently looking into some summer camps for him to keep him occupied and do activities that are “school-like”. Next year he will go to preschool 2 days a week.

Bryce has become quite the avid Mario Cart fan! Bryce and Jared play, about 3 nights a week, together. It is so much fun to watch the bonding between them, even if it is over video games!

Sadie is growing up too fast!!!! She is such a good little girl and soooo much fun! She is running all over the house now. She is doing breathing treatments once a day, for her asthma, and is doing very well with it. It is part of our night time routine. She gets her own mask and sits on my lap while she watches one of her DVDs. The treatment is really helping her as she is not coughing or wheezing after running around.

She LOVES to eat. There is nothing this girl won’t eat. Most of the time, she eats more than Bryce! She is communicating quite well. Not a lot of words, but she lets us know by pointing or shaking her head yes or no to a question. Her words right now are Mama, Dada, Baby, Milk, and Bryce. Milk is just “Mmmm,” and Bryce is, “Byyyyy”.

It is definitely noted that she is growing up faster than Bryce. I am sure this is due to her watching Bryce and me not being as over-protective as I was with Bryce.

Her favorite toy is her babydoll. She is obsessed with it. She also loves jewelry and purses…girly things in general!

We cannot wait for spring to finally come and STAY. The kids love being outside, as does mom! We hope everyone is well.

Where are the Days Going?!?!?

We have been super busy these past few weeks and wanted to share some of our adventures with you.

The 1st of February I headed up to Northwest Indiana to meet with some girls from high school to begin to plan our 10 year reunion (gasp!). I took the kid sup with me and made it a fun trip. We went to a Japanese Restaurant where Bryce loved the Hibachi cooking! He LOVED the food and used his chopsticks well. I took the kids over to my friend Jenny and Mike's for a Super Bowl Party. It's crazy how parties have changed to incorporate kids (there were 5 kids there). We also visited with Aunt Heather, Uncle Tim, cousins Evan and Norah, and Grandma. The kids had a blast over the weekend.

I took an afternoon to myself and went to the Indianapolis Home Show the day Kate Gosselin was talking. It was fun to be there, but I am not sure it was worth waiting 1 1/2 hours to hear her talk. She basically told of how they felt when they found out they were having sextuplets, to the pregnancy and birth of the kids. It was great to relax by myself though!

A lot of kids in our playgroup are having birthdays, so we have seen our friends a BUNCH, which has been awesome! We attended Oliver, Ben and Grace's 3rd birthdays and had so much fun! We also joined our playgroup at the Children's Museum to see the new exhibit of legos. What a joy it was to see the excitement in all the kids eyes. This trip was interesting as most of us had 2 kids to tend to and entertain. Us mom's worked together though and fun was had by all!

We have been enjoying the warmer weather and have gotten the kid's outside as much as possible. It has been so refreshing. Sadie had her first ear infection (a double) since having her tubes (not bad for 6 1/2 months without one). She has been a trooper and seems to be on the upscale to getting better!

I hope you enjoy the updated pictures of the kids!!!