Visit to the Orchard

 On Sunday we took a trip to Tanners Orchard to find some pumpkins and check out a new place.  I had heard about it from some people at work and we picked a perfect day to go.  It was actually fairly warm and sunny, not too muddy after all the rain we had last week.  The place was huge! We spent time walking around and looking at things before we made it to the front where we saw the pumpkins, market, train and more.  They have a petting and feeding area with tons of goats but Ally wasn't too interested in them.  They actually have ramps and bridges complete with a tree house so the goats can walk from building to building. They even have a pulley system so you can send up food to the goats on the roof.  They had all kids of characters made out of pumpkins and Ally's favorite was Minnie of course.  We went through the market and tasted all kids of things like apples, cider, dips, sauces and came home with apple cider donuts, pumpkin bread, 2 different kinds of apples and a few other things to share.  Ally picked out some small pumpkins before we ate lunch and explored a little more.  They have a 2 mile corn maize and an entire play area called the Back 40 but we decided to save that for another time as it was getting really crowded and close to nap time.  Its about 40 minutes from our house but well worth the trip.

Pumpkin head Minnie and Mickey

Driving the Apple Express

Wheels on the Bus

First Day of Gymnastics

 Tuesday we took Ally to her first gymnastics class at United Starz Academy in Morton.  I have been searching for something active for her to get involved with for a while now and finally found something that is friendly for working parents.  Her class is on Tuesdays from 5:30 to 6:15 pm at a cheer/dance studio located about 15 minutes from home.  I went a few weeks ago to check out the place and I fell in love when I walked in the door. The building is large and has a nice reception area with tons of banners and trophies all over the place.  To the right is a giant spring floor with mats that can be divided into separate teaching areas, behind that is the smaller area with trampolines and gymnastics equipment where Ally has class and to the left is a hallway with two large dance studio rooms. It felt like home!
We gave Ally a few leotards for her birthday and she was so excited to start class. She has been doing the Tumblebus at school for several months but this was her first time in a big gym with lots of distractions. The age range for her class is 3-5 year olds and there were 15 kids or so. The teachers split them into groups and the younger ones did stretching, galloping, skipping, forward rolls, backward rolls, bridges, cartwheels and handstands.  She was one of the more engaged kids and did a great job listening and following directions (better than I expected anyway).  She got antsy with about 5 minutes left but all the kids did.  Karl and I both got to watch and she really didn't even pay any attention to us until right at the end.
It is a very strange feeling for me to watch Ally do things that I did and to see someone else work with her on skills that I spent so many years teaching.  Its hard to be away from home now that she is getting to the age where she wants to do things that I did because I want her to go to Julie's and be taught by kids I know in a place where I know how everything works.  While we were there, one of the competitive cheer teams was practicing for their competition this weekend and it was really strange to hear the coaches harsh criticisms of these little girls from the parent perspective. Definitely a change for me and something that will take time to get used to.  I might be more excited than she is about the whole thing though! 
Its a little early to get into any expectations but we want her to have fun.  We don't care what she decides to do as long as she tries a little of everything and learns to be a good listener and follow directions. Week 1 was a sucess and can't wait to see what she learns and likes to do.

Allyson Turns 3

Again, this post is way overdue but Allyson turned 3 on September 30!  We had a very busy weekend planned because of my work schedule. We got up early on Sunday and had a small birthday celebration at home then got ready, loaded up the car and headed to Oshkosh to celebrate with a big party at Grandma Julie's house with family and friends.  This was really our only option so while it was a very quick trip, it was well worth it for Ally to get to celebrate her birthday with more than just mom and dad. 
Ally had been asking for a Minnie and Daisy themed party for many months so that is exactly what we did.  There were decorations, cake, cupcakes and lots of presents to go along with the theme.  Her favorite show on TV is Mickey Mouse Club House (the modern cartoon version on Disney Junior)and has been in love with all things Minnie for a while now. She got more and more excited with every person that came and with every gift she got to open.  This year she really understood what it meant to have a birthday and had a great time.  She got so many new toys, lots of clothes, coloring supplies, a pink pedal car, books and even a trash can because she told Uncle Mark she wanted a bag of garbage for her birthday.  We missed Uncle Corey but everyone got a chance to talk to him via Skype at the party so it was almost like he was there.
In addition to the party in Oshkosh, we celebrated at the Purdue vs. Michigan game the following weekend with our Purdue family.  Terrible game but still a fun day for Ally once I took her over to the band to get a picture with the Golden Girl and a high-five from Purdue Pete.

Here are some of the photos from her birthday.  Thanks to everyone for the gifts, cards and messages to Allyson on her special day.

 

Big News from the Big Sister

We are excited to announce that we will be welcoming baby #2 around Easter of 2013.  We shared the good news with our families and close friends following our first sonogram at the end of August and now I finally have a picture of Ally wearing her new shirt to post and make it "blog official."  This week baby is 13 weeks and I just had my second doctors visit with our new practice in Peoria.  All appeared well in the first sonograms at 8 weeks and today the heartbeat was a steady 158 bpm. 
So far almost everything has seemed different this time around, except for the severe sickness which I also had with Ally for a very long time. We are in a new place where we had to find new doctors, we have a crazy almost 3 year old to care for and I am experienced pregnancy at a completely different time of the year.   Finding a practice was not difficult as I took the recommendation of Ally's pediatrician but its a different set up and I am amazed at just how much things in the OB industry have changed since I was pregnant last time.  This particular practice has 5 OBs, 5 midwives and 3 nurse practitioners on staff and I will spend most of my time with the midwife, which I am not familiar with.  I don't think Ive spent enough time there to make any judgements yet but its different.
We chose this time of year to try for another baby for a few specific reasons and I definitely underestimated how the start of the school year stress would compound first-trimester pregnancy pains.  Its been tough to balance the stress and time commitments of work with the sickness, tiredness and overall moodiness that comes with being pregnant.  I expect that to fix itself as I get my staff trained at work and we get into the swing of things with events and hopefully the symptoms will change too. 
As with Ally, I have experienced severe sickness this time around.  I had hoped it would be different but its almost been worse.  The midwife I have seen thinks it may be more reflux related that pregnancy sickness because of my straight inability to keep anything down.  Drug protocols have changed so I am taking prescription nausea meds and over the counter antacids for now and that has been helping over the last week.  I have to keep a close eye on things and make sure I don't get too dehydrated.  I am really hoping this can get under control and I don't experience it for as long as I had to with Ally when these meds were not available. 
Ally is very excited about the new addition, although its not really clear if she knows all that is going to happen.  She has named the baby "Marty" after her favorite movie character and has told a lot of people about it.  There is a lot to be done over the next several months including identifying which room will belong to who in the house, transitioning Ally into a twin bed so we can put the toddler bed back into the crib and reevaluating our stock of baby items.  Its exciting and we know it will go fast but right now we are just taking it easy on the baby prep and enjoying time with Ally.  We also have several friends that are due around the same time with their first babies so its been and exciting time for many of our friends too.

Rewind: Trip to Nationals

Ally and Whittney, Miss Majorette of America 2011

 Now that Ally is more interested and can pay attention, I decided to take her to baton twirling nationals at the end of July.  She went when she was just a baby and we weren't able to make it last year.  We just went to watch the "Big Show" which included the main competitions, all the team winners and Whittney's farewell performance as Miss Majorette of America.  I knew that this was a year that I could not miss and I thought taking Ally with me would be fun.  She was cooperative for the most part and really loved watching the big girls.  She has an amazing memory so hearing her talk about it after the fact is actually more fun than while we were actually there. (Although it pains daddy to hear her get so excited talking about Notre Dame.)  She got to see some kids close to her age out on the floor competing and she really liked watching this little boy who's mom put him out there at just 4 years old in a rhinestoned Darth Vader shirt. Crazy! Ally was completely mesmerized by Whittney and constantly wanted to know where she was and what she was doing.  She loved watching girls get their hair done before the awards and was quick to critique every dress and costume she saw.  She danced to every song in the stands and loved running around with some of the other girls.  It really is a lot of fun to go back and see everyone I used to twirl with or complete against with their kids now, especially with so many of them having little girls.  I received endless compliments about Ally's looks and behavior and lots of questions about when she will be out on the floor.  Now that college football season has started, Ally wants to know where the twirlers are and when she can see them.

I am so proud of Whittney and the wonderful role model she has become.  I spent a lot of time with her when she was little, making her practice or taking her around at competitions to do her solos.  She used to come up with some crazy excuses to get out of practicing but you see just how much all that hard work has paid off for her now as the Iowa Golden Girl.  She gets compared to her sister a lot and always has, but those that really know her can see she is a completely different person and made a name for herself in twirling in her own way.  Her farewell brought tears to all of our eyes and it was an amazing performance.  Nicky, Laura, Anna and I went to Soldier Field last weekend to see her in action in her first college game and Karl, Ally and I will be there when Purdue plays at Iowa. Its been so fun to watch the girls grow up and to have them in the Big Ten where we can see them often. For now Ally looks up to them and wants to do the same things they do so we will start slow and see how it goes.



Watching and dancing along to the music

A reunion of sorts: Jenny, Anna, Laura, Andrea, me

With the future champions: DrewAnn, Hailey, Rayna and Allyson

Whittney taking the floor for her farewell performance