anybody still look at this thing?

Hey, everyone. I know it's been a REALLY long time, but there is a good explanation. Technology sucks. Of the 2 computers we have both were out of commission for a while and the home computer (one is Cliff's work computer) is still out. Can't use it for ANYTHING now. For a while I could use it for internet, but I was unable to save any pictures because of the memory being full. Hence, the lack of recent entries. I did just now come to the conclusion that I should post SOMETHING, although pictures are what most people want to see...

So, for those of you that haven't heard, Cliff and I are expecting another baby in November. I am now 20 weeks pregnant and so far things have been going very well. Not nauseated, only puked a few times from some super-strong smells (I have the superhuman pregnangy nose, so smells kinda get a little strong sometimes). I've been tired, of course, but not like I remember being when I was pregnant with CJ. My biggest complaint is the acne I get while pregnant, so I am pretty lucky. Don't know the gender yet, should find out in about 1 1/2 weeks at out next appointment.

CJ is doing really well. I swear he's getting taller every day. He's having a good summer, especially since we've been taking him on 4-wheeler rides. He could spend all day on that thing (once we convince him to put his helmet on, which he never wants to do). There's a free zoo here in Ohskosh, so we have been there a few times and they also have a little train that you can ride for a dollar, and we all knwo how much he loves trains. . .

Cliff is doing fine. He has spent a lot of time remodeling the bathroom at the cottage. He has all the plumbing done and the walls back up. The floor is still plywood and the walls and ceiling are bare drywall, but at least it is usable now! Cliff's got some research to finish this summer, too.

For those that don't know, I have switched from casual to full time at work. All that was available was a full time night position, so I work 3-12 hour shifts a week from 7pm-7am. Work itself isn't bad, but I have to use more time at home to sleep during the day and my housework is lacking because of it. Oh, well.

Well, I think that about sums it all up. Miss everyone and hope you all had a great 4th of July!

I have finally found the time to update this site. CJ is at the sitter today and I am in between sweeping and vacuuming. . .

Well, let's see. . .what has happened since Christams?

We have made a few trips to Lake Mills for McKynzie and Rylie's birthdays. The three kids have so much fun together!

I have been busy keeping house and entertaining the little one. It's been a little busier at work so I have actually been working most of my shifts for the last few weeks. I am also in the midst of applying for a full time job. I don't really want to, but with all the crap going on with our ridiculous govenor and the cuts he's making to government employee benefits and wages, we will be taking a hit next year on our finances. If I get the job I will just switch from a casual employee to a full time nights position at the same place I work now. It'll be three nights a week, but as soon as a two nights a week position opens I am going to try for that. Right now all that's open in my department is the full time position and I really don't want to switch hospitals. . .

Cliff is doing well. Spring break is next week so he is looking forward to that. He's been a little stressed this semester, not only having to deal with all the political stuff going on, but also he has two new classes this semester so he has a lot more work to do to prepare!

Now to the star of the show. . .CJ. He is as crazy as ever, a ball of nonstop energy and nonstop chatter-boxing. He is now in a twin bed after crawling out of his crib a few times. Doing fine there so far. Bed time is a trip. He usually stalls quite a bit and has a hard time settling down, so either Cliff or I have to listen to "what's mama doing? what's daddy doing? what's ruby doing?Are they sleeping? Where's grandma? Where's grandpa? Erica, Brian Kynzie, Rylie? I wanna go swimming!" and so on for anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes of nonstop questions before he finally quiets down! Potty training is up and going again. He is back to using the potty a few times each day, so hopefully that will continue now (last time he was doing great then refused for weeks to sit on the potty at all). He is doing awesome in swimming lessons. He jumps in, doesn't cry when I put him under, is paddling and kicking and blowing bubbles in the water. He has class with two little girls that he loves. They are in the second session together, so they are very comfortable with one another.

I suppose that's about it for us right now. Nothing big planned for the near future. . .just CJ's second birthday!

Hope everyone is doing well! Love you all!

Christmas and more. . .

Christmas in Waukesha

All dressed up for a wedding in St Louis




]] "Driving" a 4x4

Christmas Eve at the Moll's

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all! It's been a busy month for us. . .

We had a wonderful time visiting with my side of the family the weekend before Christmas. We celebrated with my mom's side on Saturday at my grandma's apartment in Waukesha. Then we celebrated with mom, dad, Erica, Brian, McKynzie and Rylie. The kids had a ball playing, as always.

Christmas Eve we were at the Moll's. We had a great time visiting with Jan, Lori, Grnadma K, Grandpa Henry and Eric. We dropped Ruby off there and came home, because on Christmas Day we started our drive to MO for our friends Matt and Autumn's wedding. It was a long drive, but we had a great time. We spent an extra day in St Louis and visited the Arch and we also went to Cabela's and Bass Pro Shop (guess who wanted to do that. . .) The ride home was rough for CJ, but we made it.

Nothing special for us for New Year's Eve. Cliff went to see FSU beat South Carolina in the Chic-fil-A Bowl (we don't have espn at home, so he went to BWW to watch it) and CJ and I just chilled at home and went to bed early.

CJ is a little spitfire. He loves his new train set and train table that we got him for Christmas. He spends a good majority of the day playing with it. He loves all things train, truck or tractor. His vocabulary is growing like crazy again. He is now putting a few words together to make his point. He is very convincing and if he doesn't get what he wants he throws a massive tantrum. Before the tantrum usually comes very cute begging of "please, please..." and he tries to bribe you with kisses. He also likes to ask you to follow him to the cupboard for constant snacks by asking "hand?" and pulling you into the kitchen. I think he's going to have a growth spurt soon.

Cliff is on winter break, but spends most of his time working on research. Nothing new with me. Hope the New Year brings happiness for all!

Dana

Halloween

Halloween was fun. CJ and I went to Lake Mills and went trick-or-treating in their downtown with cousins McKynzie and Rylie. He did well considering he doesn't quite get it yet. McKynzie helped. The following day we went to Madison to the Children's Museum for their halloween party. It was fun, but VERY busy. We were going to go to Green Bay for the halloween party at the zoo, but ended up with a nasty stomach bug instead and spent the weekend sick. Sunday was trick-or-treating in Oshkosh and CJ helped his daddy pass out candy.

CJ spent this last weekend with grandma and grandpa (nama and bapa) Bavlnka while I worked in Sturgeon Bay helping redecorate with Grandma K. We had fun, but MAN is border hard to remove! I will never do that again!

Lori and I took a Thai cooking class monday. It was fun and I liked probably half the food the class made. Tonight is thai left-overs, so we'll have to see if Cliff likes it, too.

Cliff has been doing a lot of hunting. He got a 6 point buck down near Omro, so he's happy about that, but they coudln't find it for a few days so the meat is no good. That sucks. We've been eating a little bear meat. I don't love it, but I like it better than venison. Cliff really likes it.

This weeknd we're just going to chill at home, then next weekend I am spending "widows weekend" with Erica again. Both the husbands will be out hunting, so we're gonna party (as much as you can with 3 kids between us).

That's about it for an update. Miss y'all!

18 months

CJ's first finger painting

Didn't really like being thrown in. . .

Driving his car in the leaves

Cliff's bear (since I couldn't post it last time due to technical difficulties)

Hello, everyone! Well, fall is here and Halloween is around the corner. Sometimes I can't believe how fast time flies. . .

CJ is 18 months now. He just had his routine appointment and is 24 1/2 pounds (30th%), 32 1/2 inches (50th%) and his head is 85th%. Guess he needs room in there for all those brains! This is about the curve he's been on for a while now. . .skinny with a big noggen! Oh, well. What's new with him? His vocabulary has exploded. He seems to come up with new words every day and copies a lot of what we say. Last night I swear he repeated "I love you" to Cliff when he was going to bed. We're also working on potty training already. He has been struggling with diaper rash since he was a couple months old, so as soon as he started showing interest in the potty, I started working with him. It's been 2 2/2 weeks so far. Each morning we sit on the toilet after he gets up and he has pooped on the potty each morning except for 4. Hope this trend continues and we can start working on other times of day. I know he's young, so my hopes aren't high, but it would be awesome if we could get him out of diapers sooner than later.



Nothing new with Cliff or me. Still no deer for Cliff. He did get his bear (I think I wrote about it last time) and we just got the meat back. I don't love it, but I will eat it, which is more than I can say for venison. Cliff is also hoping to get a coyote this season. As for me, nothing new. Just looking forward to doing some Halloween stuff with CJ. I'll make sure to get some pictures of him in his costume for y'all.



Hope everyone is well and is staying warm this fall. I heard there's a possibility of snow in our near future. . .we'll have to wait and see!

You thought I was bad about blogging before. . .it's been forever this time!

CJ dressed up for the rain (not really, those are mama's boots!)
CJ spent a long time doing this. . .can you guess what it is? He's cleaning his vacuum cleaner!

CJ anf cousin Kynzie at the park

CJ and cousin Kynzie on the boat

Well, it's been a busy summer. We've been gone many weekends up at Cliff's parents' cabin or at my parents' house or meeting up with friends in Minnesota or babysitting McKynzie for a few days. . .you get the picture. We've not had very many weekends at home, and have been busy during the week, too. When I do have time, Cliff is using BOTH computers to run programs for his summer research projects. . .

Anyway. We've had a great summer. Cliff has been working on his research and also working to bait for bears up north. Hunting and classes start this week wednesday. He's looking forward to both. After bear season is deer season, so I'll be a hunting widow from now until deer season is over. At least I know I'll see Cliff Mon-Wed since those are the days he teaches. Tuesday nights he has to go all the way to Steven's Point to teach his master's students.

I have been busy being mama and working a little. I have been spending my friday and saturday mornings dragging CJ to rummage sales. I have found some really good deals! I will be sad when winter comes and there are no more rummage sales!

And for the most exciting member of the family. . .CJ. CJ is growing and changing all the time. He now has about 10 or so words and he is still constantly chattering. He's got 5 1/2 teeth now. He's a huge handful and is always on the go. He climbs on everything, including the kitchen table. When I caught him, he was just about to hang from the light fixture! He loves to play outside and constantly goes to the door, points to the handle and asks for "more" and wants his shoes on. He also loves music and loves to dance. He jumps, shakes his butt, spins and screams with delight to anything that makes music (including when Cliff's phone rings because it has a musical ringtone). He can now reach some of our door handles and has figured out how to open the back patio door. He also learned to open Grandma and Grandpa B's screen porch door. CJ loves to be around other kids and always finds an older little girl to lead him around and play with him when we're out at the playground. Too bad none of them are old enough to babysit!

We had the pleasure of watching McKynzie for a few days this summer while Erica and Brian took Rylie to Cape Cod to celebrate Erica's 30th b-day. Kynzie and CJ LOVE to play with each other and we had a great time. We went to parks, the zoo, an amusement park, and we took the boat out on Lake Winnebago. The kids had a blast!

We took a trip to MN to the Mall of America to visit with out friends Matt and Autumn and their son Adam. We met there since it is halfway between Oshkosh and Grand Forks, ND where they just moved to this summer. We had a great time hanging out with them and CJ and Adam played really well together, even though Adam is 8. We also took our first trip to IKEA.

Hope you enjoy the pictures and hope that everyone is enjoying their summer as much as we are! Miss you all!

Busy June

CJ playing with Aunt Sharon's dog Laddie

Driving Grandpa Jan's boat last weekend

Camping in Eagle River

Cliff's 28th birthday

Hello everyone! It's been a busy June. . .

We had a wonderful time up in Solon Springs at my cousin Tyler's H.S. graduation party. CJ got to meet a lot of family members that he had never seen before. . .We had lots of fun with the family!

Last weekend we went to Eagle River to go camping in Grandpa Jan and Grandma Lori's camper. We went fishing twice and CJ liked the boat rides. He also enjoyed touching the fish that his daddy caught!

I have been working a lot because it has been very busy in our unit. We haven't reached our average for number of births this month, but the last week and a half have been CRAZY. All this month's babies are trying to be born at once!

Cliff is still working on his summer research papers. We also celebrated his 28th birthday this week. We were at the campsite for father's day and his birthday. He had lots of fun fishing and caught quite a few perch and a nice walleye. It was a nice way to spend his birthday.

This weekend Cliff is going to a gun show and we have a birthday party tomorrow night for a friend. Next weekend we're out of town again. . .summer is a busy time!

Hope everyone is well and that you all are enjoying your summer. Love you and miss you!