The Navarro Family

Christmas and New Years

2011-01-02T11:31:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! I have to say that this was one of the best holiday seasons I can remember! We had a lot of fun with holiday parties, Cally had her first Christmas program at school, we had a cookie baking afternoon with Grandma, and countless other memories! This year Nick's sister Katie came in town for Christmas with her boyfriend Moe and her son Gavin. We had so much fun having them here for an extended weekend the kids were in heaven. We went down to my parents for Christmas and enjoyed a nice relaxing holiday Nick and I even got in a run!
New Years Eve we went with some friends to a kids holiday party which was great! The kids even got to play with a pinata. We all made it to midnight, even the kids! It was great! Needless to say we are still recovering this weekend! Cheers :)

Thanksgiving

2010-12-05T11:56:00.000-08:00

This year we went to Iowa for Thanksgiving. I took the kids out the week before sans Nick and spent the week with his family. That weekend I got to run one of my favorite races with Katie, LIving HIstory Farms, and it was a blast SO muddy and crazy in fact I think it took us 2 hours to run the 7 mile course but so much fun! On Sunday we spend the day with RoseMarie in Perry and the kids saw Bambi for the first time (they loved it!!) We then got to go to Chloe and Laney's bday party which the kids loved! Monday I drove the kids to Omaha to meet my aunt and cousins out there and it was great! We were able to meet Christian and Bethany for lunch and I showed the kids our first home and their dad's restaurant! I even got to take them for a run around Lake Zorinsky! The rest of the week was spent with all of the family and we even went as a huge group to see Tangled, another hightlight! We had so much fun I forgot to take pictures but we will for sure always remember this trip!!!
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Halloween

2010-12-05T11:51:00.000-08:00

The kids had a great time at Halloween this year. Cally choose to be Ariel and Reese wanted to be a "magenta princess"! We had a lot of fun with Halloween parties and the White fish bay pumpkin festival all leading up to trick or treating on Halloween! The kids lasted out for over an hour, it was great!!!

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End of Summer/Fall :)

2010-10-17T17:36:00.000-07:00

Ok, there is a lot to catch up on! Life has been crazy between my racing and recovering and Nick traveling like crazy and Cally starting school I feel like I havent had more then two seconds to sit down! Lets start back in July we had a lot of fun that month! We went to several outdoor concerts with friends and spent many days at the pool. I had my 1/2 ironman in Racine which was a great experience I finished in 6:14 which i was really happy with especially considering that it was in the low 90's that day!! Nicks mom was nice enough to come and help and to visit for a few days and my parents were able to make the trip as well! The kids had fun at the park and the beach while they were waiting for me to finish! The last day of July was spent by me driving out to Madison with my friend Courtney and completing the entire Madison bike course of 112 miles, which we actually did 116 cause we got a little lost!!!
August: We celebrated Cally's 4th bday which was so much fun. We had a bday party for her at Possibility Playground with 24 of her closest friends :) Everyone had a blast and the weather was perfect! We spent a lot of time outside at the parks and pools and had a great summer!
September: Cally started kindergarten on Sept 1! Her teacher is Mrs. Kubicki and Cally is thriving! We are so blessed to live 2 blocks from her school and for her to be in such a great place! It has been quite an adjustment though I must say but we are now into a groove. Cally is also going to her nature preschool 2 afternoons a week (Schlitz Audubon Nature Center) and that has been such a blessing for her! She is so comfortable and just feels at home there! Right after school started it was time for my Ironman which was Sept 12. I have to say it was one of the best days of my life! It really felt like a dream. The whole day was perfect. I felt fantastic barely tired, I just kept thinking "I am going to be an Ironman" and I also kept thinking "90% of my training days were harder then this!" THe kids and Nick were able to come along with my mom and sister and our dear friends Melinda and Craig came out to cheer me out on the bike! The swim was horrific! I got beat up like crazy by all the men. The bike was incredible and ironically was my favorite part of the race. It is such a beautiful course,extremely hard but so pretty. The spectators were amazing on the climbs I felt like I was in the TOur de France! I got up to 45 mph on one the hills, scary! The run was great. It was all through downtown Madison and was so pretty the support again was incredible and felt really strong. I finished in 13:24 which far exceeded my expectations! It was an amazing experience and I am so glad that I did it and I feel so lucky to have such a support husband who wants me to accomplish my dreams and to my friends and family who helped me out SO MUCH!!!
Sept/Oct: We have been doing all of the fall activities from going to the Cedarburg Harvest Fest, Pumpkin Farms, and Apple Picking. We went on some beautiful fall hikes and have been spending TONS of time outside considering the weather has been perfect up here!!! Here are some pics from the last few months!

Jamaica

2010-06-14T18:42:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a wonderful trip to Jamaica with all of Nicks family to celebrate Steve and Dani's 10 year wedding anniversary! The week was spent golfing, swimming, going to the beach, swimming with dolphins and spending quality time with family. We stayed at Silent Waters in Montego Bay and it was an incredible villa! THe girls had so much fun and in was so nice to spend so much time together as a family! Here are some pics of our trip!

Callys Last Day of School!!!

2010-06-14T18:34:00.001-07:00

It is so hard for us to beleive that Cally has completed her first year of school! Here are some pics of her last day!! I can't beleive how fast time is going by, we wish we could just freeze time!!!

Reese turns 2!!!

2010-06-14T18:34:00.000-07:00

I know I am late but our little goofy turned two April 26! We celebrated with some dear friends and family, we kept it small because she tends to not like big crowds and she did great! She was so excited to have some of her friends over and loved all the cake and presents! Reese just got a new pair of shoes which for her is a big deal considering that she has been wearing the same shoes since November!!! SOme of the things that Reese is doing a two:
-She has to have her "blankie" which is a restoration hardware HUGE blanket that she wont let anyone touch, those of you have tried to use it know what I am talking about!!
-She loves her dolls! SHe is constantly playing with them and normally always has to have two! We always joke that she is destined to have twins!
-She is my accessory girl, she is always wearing several necklaces and bracelets, she also loves shoes, which is so sad cause she only has one pair, but she loves to wear her sisters!!
- Her fav words are "mine", "no"!!!
-She LOVES to cuddle she is our cuddle bug, I hope that she never grows out of this phase!
-She is very certain of what she wants and has definite opinions, she has no problem sticking up for herself and is extremely stubborn, all traits that we love about her!!!
And last but certainly not least, Reese we love you more than you could ever imagine, you inspire us every day with your perserverence and strength, we love you sweetie and feel so blessed to have you in our lives!!!!

Lots of Changes!!!

2010-04-21T18:29:00.000-07:00

I know that I have totally been slacking on the blog but I swear things have been CRAZY around here lately. Back in March we traveled to Baltimore for a surgical consult with a surgeon for an operation we are going to do on her foot this fall/winter. WHile we were there we got to see my friend Morgen and explored Baltimore and DC! Of course the day we were in DC was the day the health care reform passed so it was crazy!!!
After we got back from that trip Nicks mom came to visit us during her spring break from school. WHile she was here Cally's preschool had their annual pancake breakfast which was Nick was on the committee so he was their cooking the sausage and bacon all morning! But we all had so much fun and it was great to show Rosemarie the school and she easily fell in love with it just like us!
I then took the girls with me to Des Moines solo to spend some time with NIcks Family. We got to go to the zoo, spend time with their Great Grandma, spend tons of time with their cousins, aunts and uncles, and grandparents! THey were in heaven! NIck met us on Friday night and we spent some time wiht our dear friends Matt and Bethany. Sat morning we went to LIving History Farms for their easter celebration that was so cool! We got to see the easter bunny, hunt for easter eggs, egg rool down hills, pet easter bunnies and the rest of the petting zoo, and of course indulge in candy!! easter was spent at Nicks moms were we got to see the whole fam and then we headed home
During our time in Des MOines Nick got a promotion to regional manager which is HUGE! He is so excited and dove right in! This also meant that I am now staying home full time! No more nursing for me! It has been such a relief and so much fun!
So that is about it, this weekend we are celebrating Reese's 2nd birthday! Here are some pics from the last couple months!
Oh and we went to go and see Disney ON Ice which was fantastic, I highly recommend it I don't know who had more fun me or Cal!

The month of January

2010-02-08T16:07:00.000-08:00

The month of January was slightly hectic for us this year, can you tell I only have one entry! Nick's business has picked up and he was in Las Vegas twice this month, lucky boy! Cally celebrated her 1/2 birthday at preschool (they do that for the kiddos with summer bdays!) and she was so excited. At her school they don't allow us to bring treats for the celebration instead I got to come in and read a story to the class that Cal chose and she got to walk around the "Sun rug" 3 1/2 times! She loved being the center of attention! It ended up that they were making animal print shirts that day so Reese and I stayed to help which was a lot of fun.
Cally and I also got to have a "date" and go to see Disney on Ice which was fantastic. We went with a coworker of mine and her kids and we had a blast, I don't know if Cally or me had more fun, I love disney!
In other news I am now officially a stay-at-home mom! I am still working casually which means picking up a couple of shifts a month to keep up my license but I am going to be at home 99% of the time which gives us huge releif, it has been NUTS around here lately between mine and Nick's schudules!
We recently had an appointment with a pediatric neurologist regarding Reese's foot. We had gotten a second opinion for our surgeon's boss upon his request and he was worried that not all of her muscle and nerves were developed in her foot. After two hours of nerve and muscle conduction tests (which were brutal) it turns out that everything is there!!! Some of hte nerves and muscles are damaged and some work 100% but we meet with our osurgeon on Thursday to formulate a game plan from here! We were just so thrilled that all of her muscles and nerves were there!! Such great news!
I also officially started my ironman training and decided to hire a coach out of San Diego named Dirk, Nick loves that name :) Today was my first day and it included a 3 hour workout!! We will see how this goes!!! I promise though now that I am at home we will update some more!!! Here are some pics of our last month

Our anniversary!!!

2010-01-26T16:15:00.000-08:00

Nick and I celebrated our four year wedding anniversary on the 21st! Needless to say it has been an eventful four years but I don't think either of us would trade it for the world, and our marriage is stronger because of it!
We were spoiled last week, we got to go on a date on our actual anniversary to Tess and enjoyed some adult time! Then on Saturday we traveled down to Naperville and dropped the kids off with my parents and headed down to the city for a night alone! We stayed at the Intercontinental and went to the most AMAZING sushi restaurant called Sunda! If you are ever in Chicago you have to try it. Our evening was pretty uneventful and has Nick reminded me, that is how it should be when you are parents of toddlers!!! Sunday we even got to go to our fav breakfast old neighborhood eatry, Nookies!! WE miss that place so much. All in all it was a wonderful anniversary and thanks again to my parents for watching the kids so we could enjoy some much needed alone time!!!

Christmas 2009

2009-12-28T18:34:00.000-08:00

I know that I have been really bad lately about updating the blog but we seriously have been so buzy!!! So, this post is going to encompass some celebrations over the holiday season. Cally went to her first cookie decorating party, which was amazing! We took the girls to go and see Santa, Cally jumped right up on his lap and started listing off all the things that she wanted, Reese on the other hand was reluctant and screamed upon sitting on his lap. However when we were leaving Reese walked right up to him on her own and said, "Bye Santa!" It was so sweet!
We traveled down to Chicago for Christmas and the girls and I were even able to make it to my sorority sisters annual grab bag party, we had so much fun!!! From there we headed to Naperville to spend the weekend with Nick and my parents! Reese was diagnosed with pneumonia on Sat morning, thank god she was fine through Xmas and is recovering on her meds!!! Cally is currently still down in Naperville spending a couple of nights by herself, the house is way too quiet!!! Needless to say we are anxious for her return tommorrow and we know she is in good hands :)
Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to you all!!!

Thanksgiving

2009-12-06T19:10:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year going out to Des Moines to see Nick's family! We stopped at Mondos both on the way there and back which always makes me happy and had a blast. The girls did great in the car much of that due to the new DVD player that we purchased, yes we purchased another one because Cally broke our last one!! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving feast and even got all of the cousins together for a group pic! We went to Nick's home town Perry where is Mom hosted us for dinner and a Christmas light parade and a appearance by the big man himself! On saturday night we were spoiled by Nick's Dad and Dani with a night out on the town were we got some shopping done and got to go out for tapas with Matt and Bethany, such a great time!! All and all a wonderful and memerable holiday with so much to be thankful for! I also included some pics from Cally's Harvest Party at preschool!

Cast Free!!

2009-12-06T18:54:00.000-08:00

Last week (I wrote this post originally 11/20 opps!) Reese got her final cast removed and was fitted for her AFO brace! She is now wearing a contraption similar to an ankle brace on her foot and they made her special shoes with a lift in them, quite stylish! to help her walk around! She is doing great, besides one minor mishap of the brace being to tight and having to get it adjusted things have been great! This is the first time in her life that she has been able to walk and bend her leg! She is walking around alot know with her babies stroller and holding onto our hands, she has walked across the room several times on her own but is still more comfortable with crawling although I think that is changing quickly.
UPDATE: She is walking like crazy so fast that she is running at times, amazing!!!

Halloween Festivities!!!

2009-11-02T05:52:00.000-08:00

We have had a wonderful week heading up to Halloween, complete with lots of parties and celebration and ending with a wonderful time trick-or-treating with Daddy!!! Here are some pics from the week!

Cally at her gymnastics class Halloween Party

Cally with her friends Hannah and Talia

Cally and Reese all dressed up for the gym Halloween Party!!

One of the many pumpkins at the White Fish Bay Pumpkin Festival

We even found a Hawkeye Pumpkin!

Just some of the pumpkins lit up and on display!

Cally and her friends dancing around the tree FOREVER, who ever knew a tree could be so entertaining!

Off Trick-or-Treating while mom stays and hands out candy!!!

Happy Halloween, we hope you all had a fun and safe holiday!

Our little Goofy

2009-10-31T14:35:00.000-07:00

Our little Reese just turned 18 mo last week!!! She is getting so big, her vocabulary is growing every day and beleive it or not she is becoming more of a ham then her sister!!! She definitely is more reserved then Cally at first, but once she is comfortable she loves to be quiet the actress. Her fav activity is dancing, she LOVES to dance. She is walking with her cast but is still primarily crawling. She is feeding herself wonderfully with a spoon and fork, although she loves to share her food with Mondo! But probably her most prominate trait is her hard-headness!!! Here is one example. . .
I decided to take the girls down to see my parents on Thursday, the car ride, which is just short of 2 hours, was wonderful on the way there. On the way home however Reese decided she didn't want to be in the car, she literally screamed for 1 1/2 hours!!! I was a mess by the time that we got home and Reese had a hard time even calming down once she saw Daddy! Nick finally was able to get her to go down after about 1 hour. Then around 1am Nick comes into our room with Reese who is wheezing terribly and can't catch her breath! I have been a pediatric nurse for 4 years and I was scared, she was bad. I took her outside hoping the moist air would help, NOPE! I told Nick we had to take her to the ER, Nick took and her and the car ride had calmed her down, she played the whole time in the ER and happy as could be! The doctor wasn't sure what was going on because by the time he saw her she was fine, according to the history they thought maybe croup and gave her a dose of steriods, just to be safe. He also noticed a innocent heart murmer that was going away that they thought she had induced from screaming for so long and her heart rate being so high!!! She came home slept great and has been happy as a bug in a rug ever since,no cough nothing! So this precious little face not only will make herself throw up when she doesn't get her way she will cause herself respitory distress and give herself a heart murmer! Boy are we in trouble when this one is a teenager!!!

A Day at the beach???

2009-10-25T12:40:00.000-07:00

We went on an adventure this weekend to a local park, where Cal goes to preschool, and hiked down to the beach! You would have thought it was July the way that Cally was frolicking in the water claiming she wasn't even cold!!! Reese was totally content skipping stones with Dad. And I on the other hand was just glad to be outside and spending time together as a family!

On a side note, I wasn't able to complete my 50k race that I set out to do yesterday :( I have been battling a hip flexor injury since the middle of August and it just wasn't strong enough for a 31 mile trail race. To compound matters it had been raining here for a week straight so the trails were extremely muddy which didnt help my situation. I am trying to except that fact that there will be other races but I just hate when I can't complete something that I set out to do. At least I got 23 miles in right???

A lot of Changes!!!

2009-10-16T17:06:00.000-07:00

I know that I haven't posted in awhile, things have been a little chaotic around here there have been lots of changes taken place!!
First off Reese got her cast removed from her surgery just for us to find out that the surgery again was not as successful as we had hoped that it would be! Therefore we are in the middle of a series of castings for the next 6 weeks in a final attempt to stretch out her Achilles tendon. She then is going to be wearing what is called an AFO brace, similar to an ankle brace 24 hours a day to help offer some support and add some height to her leg. The castings are hard because the angle that they have her knee is similar to when you are about to climb up a stair, it is at a very weird angle so her "good leg" is getting really strong, she however is not able to walk on it. By the way I am not sure if we had mentioned this but when she was still in her original cast she began to walk, she was walking everywhere, it was so neat, we hope that she will able to do that again once she gets her AFO brace on!
Another piece of exciting news, Nick has taken a new job!!! More details soon but we are so excited he was presented with an amazing opportunity and we couldn't be more proud of him!!!
We have also been very busy with Cally lately for she is in every activity under the sun, but is thriving! She is currently in gymnastics, dance, swimming, and preschool, I get tired even thinking about it but she is loving every second of it and frankly she and everyone else is so much happier with her in organized activities. We just had her first parent teacher conferences for preschool and she is doing great! She is getting a little tired on the hikes, but I think that has to do with the time of day they are normally hiking around 2pm which is when she is beginning to wind down, but otherwise she is making a lot of good friends and has become quiet the little artist, which I find hilarious because I don't have any artistic talent whatsoever!!!
All and all we are just glad that everyone is back under one roof, Nick has been out of town a lot and we have had two meals as a family in the last 2 1/2 weeks!!! Sad I know but we are looking forward to spending a much needed weekend together as a family after Cal's swim lessons of course and cheering on the Hawks!!!!! Have a great weekend everyone!

Apple Picking

2009-09-26T09:48:00.000-07:00

Cally's 1st day of Preschool

2009-09-14T14:34:00.000-07:00

Cally had her first day of preschool today and had a great time! Cally is going to Schlitz Audubon Center here in Milwaukee and they are outside the majority of the time! Today they went on their first hike and played in a wooden "tree house" and homemade playdough! She had a blast, but Reese missed her like crazy, she screamed out when she saw Cally and gave her a huge hug and kiss, it was priceless. Needless to say Cally passed out within 5 minutes of getting home!!!

A Yummy Dinner

2009-09-02T18:52:00.000-07:00

I am trying something a little different just to get some feedback! I am going to share with you a wonderful twist on the traditional lasagna and give it a south of the border twist!

You will need

Tortillas (preferably whole wheat)
2% Mexican Cheese
1 can of black beans
1 can of Rotell
1 avocado sliced
1 Lb. of lean ground turkey or meat whatever you prefer
1 can corn
1 can of garbanzo beans
1 can of enchilda sauce
You can add extra veggies if you want I added some zucchini and yellow squash do whatever sounds good to you!!

Directions:
In a oven safe pan spray with Pam then pour a thin layer of the enchilda sauce to coating the bottom of the pan

Layer your tortillas in one thin layer just as you would the noodles

Take your fully cooked ground meat and spread a thin layer, I also put some diced avocados in this layer as well then sprinkle generously with the Mexican cheese
and sauce

Layer the tortillas

Combine a bowl the beans, the Rotell, and corn and combine a layer of this next sprinkle with cheese and sauce

Repeat alternating the layers, go for as many as you want!!!
When you get to the last layer do the sauce and cheese and then take some low fat baked tortilla chips that have been crushed and sprinkle those over the top to provide some crunch! Then bake at 350 until the cheese has melted 15-20 minutes! Enjoy let me know what you think!!!!

Preschool Open House

2009-08-31T11:42:00.000-07:00

We had Cally's preschool open house this past week and boy is she ready to go. She was already in the building before I had gotten Reese out of the car! Nick was able to take the afternoon off so that he could come to, which was awesome. It seems like Cally is going to have a great time, she is going to Schlitz Autobaun Nature Preschool which is a preschool centered around the enviornment and the outdoors, the kids go hiking daily rain or shine, even in the dead of winter! Her teachers seemed great and we even got to meet some of her classmates! We still can't beleive that she is all grown up!!!
Quick update on Reese, she is moving around like a mad women cast and all, doing every she did before, she never ceases to amaze me!

Reese's Surgery

2009-08-26T09:16:00.000-07:00

As many of you know Reese had her third surgery on her "special foot" this past Monday. This surgery was different in the sense that it was much invasive, it involved cutting open her leg so that he could visibly see and cut the tendons around her ankle and foot, and subsequently we were going to have stay overnight in the hospital! My parents wer so nice in taking Cally for us so that she could have fun and not have to worry about her sister, even though every time I talked to her all she wanted to know was how Reese was doing!
The surgery was considered a success even though our surgeon was discouraged in the amount that he was able to lenghen the tendons, he ended up cutting 4 tendons instead of just 1 and it still wasn't enough but there was only so much that he could do! As of this point she is done surgically until the age of 4, we need to wait for bones and tendons to grow before anything else could happen. There are other things that they can do if this persists such as external lengthning devices and more surgeries but all of that is speculative! He wants us to just watch her and keep stretching and using the boots and bar, JOY!
Reese did wonderful with the anethesia this time, not nearly as cranky as before which was nice but the recovery has been much harder. She was really out of it most of the day on Monday, she spiked a temp of almost 104 that night, which scared me half to death, apparently that is a "normal" post op occurence as long as the fever comes down and isn't persistant. We were able to get the fever down after a couple of hours and then her temp hovered between 100-99 which made them very happy. Monday night was rough, Nick and I both were able to stay but we were sleeping in those wonderful hospital chair/beds and Reese was so irritable we weren't able to put her down at all!! We took turns though and got through it and by morning we both agreed that our baby was back!!!
Since coming home she has been doing pretty well although her appetite is certainly less than normal she is loving playing with her dog and sister as normal. We are still having to give her pain medicine pretty often, especially at night, Nick was up with her a lot last night! And she is getting used to being pretty much immobile. Her cast goes all the way up her leg, just like her other ones, but it makes it pretty hard to crawl and virutually impossible to walk, even though she keeps trying!! She is really liking all of the new stuffed animals that she got from friends and has been enjoying trying to feed them!!
We will keep you updated on her progress but frankly we are just glad that it is over and excited for getting that cast off in 3 months!!

The Wiggles!!

2009-08-18T16:01:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday my mom and I took Cally to go and see the Wiggles! This was her second show and i think I can safely say that she had even more fun at this one! I had gotten us aisle seats so that she could dance her little heart out in the aisles which she did for 1 1/2 hours!!! She even got a high five from Sam, the lead singer!!! Needless to say at the end she declared, "Mom this was the best concert ever!!!!"

Wild West Relay

2009-08-18T15:59:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity to go out to Colorado last weekend and run in a 200 mile relay race from Fort Collins to Steamboat with some of my running group from college! It was so much fun. I have the best husband in the whole world to allow me to take some time away from the family and he did a really good job!!! It was the experience of a lifetime and it was an unforgettable experience. Here are some pics of my adventure.

Cally is Free (Three)!

2009-08-04T11:49:00.000-07:00

This Saturday we celebrated Cal turning three. She really had a birthday week starting with the Cubs game with Daddy. She then got to go down to Chicago on Friday and spend the night with Grandma and Grandpa were she was taken to Brookfield Zoo, out to dinner and ice cream, and then got to eat popcorn and watch Dora in bed with Grandma, oh the life!!! Nick and I enjoyed a night with just our little Reese to focus on, and boy what a difference with just one to look after! Saturday morning Cally returned with my parents and we had her first birthday party with all of her little friends! We ended up having 9 toddler over here and had a "Make your own pizza and ice cream sundae Party." The kids had a blast and were very proud of their creations. We didn't take as many pics as would have liked because as you can imagine we were slightly buzy but all and in all it was a definite success!! Happy Birthday Cal!!

GO CUBS GO!!

2009-07-30T14:11:00.000-07:00

Nick Blogging here...I normally let Sandy run the blog...but today I'm taking the reins! Last week I was listening to ESPN 1000 the Waddle & Silvy show and I called into one of their contests and won four rooftop tickets to the Cubs Game. If you haven't been before, these rooftops are pretty cool! So how they work is the top floor and the rooftop are accessible; the top floor filled with what looks like an upscale sports bar with flat screens everywhere, and then on the rooftop they have open bleachers and another bar to make sure no one goes thirsty. They have all sorts of bar food, desserts, and an ice cream machine(which Cally thought was the coolest thing)! So all of this was included in the free pass to the rooftop. Since this weekend is Cally's Birthday, I thought it would be a cool idea to make a poster and see if we could get pictures with Tom Waddle(Ex-Bears Receiver) and Marc Silverman(ESPN Radio host)!! We met one of our good friends Katie and she brought the poster supplies and came with us, her husband Dave joined us a little later in the game.
So we get to the game and make the poster and it is an instant hit! The poster reads "Thank you Waddle and Silvy, Celebrating my 3rd Birthday!" Strangers were wishing Cally a happy birthday and both guys took photos with Cally. She loved all of the attention, we were having such a good time and then it got better! As Cally is finishing her dish of Ice Cream and Cookie, we walk by Tom Waddle again. He stops us and hands his rooftop pass that he was wearing to Cally, being the huge Bears fan I am, I am pretty geeked out about the kind gesture! Then I ask Cally if she would want the pass autographed by Tom and she takes the Sharpie and pass back to him and again he is gracious and talks about his four daughters and the soft spot he has for others with young girls. To top this all off the Cubs are playing awesome and win 12-0!! We sang "Go Cubs Go" as we left the park, we had such a fun time and really appreciate our friends Katie and Dave joining us. I've been to Cubs games before, but nothing was better than watching her take it all in and appreciate where she was and what she was doing.
We have included a few other photos below, there are a couple of Dylan, we went down to Chicago last Sunday to have dinner with many of my college friends and baby Dylan's family. It was great seeing him and Bobbie, we are so happy he is recovering well from his surgery and looks incredibly cute! Please check out Dylan's blog at http://www.dzleeharsch.blogspot.com/!

Visitors!!!

2009-07-17T12:00:00.000-07:00

We were so lucky to have Nick's mom referred to as "Grandma So Much" and our nine year old nephew Gavin visit us last week! We had a very eventfilled weekend which included going to the Jelly Belly Factory, the Circus Parade, the Cedarburg pool, out to California Pizza Kitchen, and a Grill out!!! It was so much fun to have them here and Cally was in heaven, actually both of our girls just loved having family around! Thanks again for making the trip we really appreciate it and can't wait for you to come again!

4th of July Whitefish Bay Style

2009-07-08T12:14:00.000-07:00

This was our first 4th in Whitefish Bay and we had been warned that this is a BIG deal around here, we figured how big of deal can it be? Its the 4th of July don't you just BBQ and see fireworks? So Nick was at a golf tournement all weekend so I decided to embark on the fesitives with the girls by myself!
The day started out at 9am with a breakfast party, yes 9am! The hosts had a catered breakfast, a 4 piece dixie band, facepainter, flags and decorations for the kids, and anything else that you could possibly think of, I know now when our friend Brad said, "Sandy I don't think you know what you are getting yourself into," he was right. Cal was in her heyday I don't think I saw her for more then 2 seconds when she showed me her red,white, and blue bagel!
Then it was off to the parade. Now I don't consider myself a parade person but even I had fun. They had stilt walkers and clowns, bands the whole nine yards, Cal once again with her flag waving with her friends yelling "Go Team!"
Quick trip home for lunch and then off to BBQ and a town carnival and then fireworks to which Cally exclaimed,"They are beautiful!"
Yes and that was all in one day, lets just say we slept well that night!!!
Happy 4th of July!

Parties, Parties, Parties!!!

2009-07-08T06:15:00.000-07:00

The last couple weeks have been crazy but fun! We started off on a trip to Chicago to celebrate my birthday. We also had the pleasure of going to our dear friends the Schroeders for a party in the same weekend and loved being able to catch up with old friends. Cally loved our friends daughter Izzy who is the same age as Reese, Reese on the other hand continued to give her dirty looks, lovely!

Weekend in Chicago!!

2009-06-18T11:12:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we headed down to Chicago to celebrate my sister Katie graduating from college!(Congrats again) Nick had an opportunity to go the cubs game with our good friend Dave so the girls and I spent the day in the city with his wife and my dear friend katie! Nick and Dave ended up getting the opportunity to sit in the 4th row behind home plate and had a great time, a little too good of a time but hey I think Nick deserves it we don't get out much!!! The girls and I got to go for a great run in the rain, go shopping, and a great lunch! We later met my family for dinner to celebrate Katie's graduation!
The next day we finally got to see Al and Ben and meet little Will downtown Naperville at Egg Harbor, what a treat! Paige and Cal enjoyed feeding the ducks while we waited for our table and although it was a crazy brunch considering 4 kids under 2 it was so good to see them!!
Things in Milwaukee have been going well the girls have been really enjoying the summer and we feel like we are finally starting to branch out and meet people! We joined a local moms group that Cally really enjoyed, they had pizza, she was hooked!! We have a pretty eventful summer planned and will do our best to update the blog as much as possible! Enjoy the pics

Nick turns 30!!!

2009-06-08T05:58:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we loaded up the fam and went out to Des Moines for what was supposed to be Nick's surprise bday party, he ended up finding out!! Needless to say we had a blast. It all started with a spotting of the weiner mobile, Nick was uber excited! Friday night we were able to go out to dinner with Nick's mom and sisters Bridget and Katie and their significant others which was a lot of fun and involved alot of Margaritas. Cally stayed behind and got to spend the evening with her cousins, she was in heaven! The next morning I got a pleasant surprise when I ran Dam to Dam (my fav race), I met up with one of my old running friends from Iowa City whom I haven't seen in years and we ran almost 1/2 the race together, it was awesome, such a pleasant surprise, I love running friends they are the best!! Now after the race involoved some rather unpleasant adventures which I will not indulge you in at this time if you would like details just call and I will fill you in! Nick ran the 5k with our brother in law and did great! I was then off to the lake for the party! A bunch of our dear friends made the trip which was unbeleivable Cally's godparents even flew in from Denver for the party and Nick was so excited! We don't get out much with friends anymore so it is so nice spending time with them when we do!!! We are so lucky to have such great friends and family. God truely blessed us with a perfect day for being out on the lake so we were able to boat, jet ski, tube and even water ski a little. The next morning the boys all enjoyed a great game of best ball while the girls stayed behind and took the kiddos to the park! All in all the weekend was perfect thank you to everyone, you all went to above and beyond in making sure the weekend was special for us, we love you!

Water Mountains

2009-05-26T18:45:00.000-07:00

Our family has really been enjoying this nice spring weather. We have discovered that the local mall has these water fountains that all of the kids play in on these hot days and it has become Cally's favorite thing to do!! Reese has been dabing in them a little bit too but she is still a little unsure. We have included several pics of the kids enjoying this first bit of warm weather!! We had a great time for Memorial day going down to Naperville to visit my family and even got to go to the parade which Cally really enjoyed, she kept waving her flag and yelling, "GO TEAM" hilarious!! Enjoy

Those frustrating ears!

2009-05-08T13:02:00.000-07:00

Hope that everyone has been enjoying this wonderful spring weather! Just wanted to update you on Reese, her ear tube surgury went well, however she still was really cranky all last week and weekend, so we went back to a NEW ENT on Monday, we were having issues with the original ENT and were told the poor thing still has a lot of fluid behind her ear drum so now we are on two antibotics, one oral and one ear drops hoping that this does the trick. Otherwise we are going to have to go back in and have them manually drained, until then we continue on with our sleepless nights! They are getting a little better though, or maybe we are just so used to it!
The kids and I have been loving this spring weather during the days and Nick was even able to join us for a bike ride last weekend! We have been picnicing at the park and enjoying our back yard sandbox and slide! Today we even got to meet Winnie the Pooh at our weekly storytime and then we went to the zoo with one of my girlfriends and her kids, the zoo here is fantastic we had a blast! I promise to post pics soon, the camera was out of batteries for all of today's adventures! Sorry!

Reese Turns 1!!!

2009-04-26T19:42:00.000-07:00

This weekend we celebrated our little baby turning one! Wow did that last year go fast! Nick and I just looked at her and couldn't beleive how fast the time has gone and what a goof she really is! It is so fun to see Reese as she grows up because she is so different then Cally. Cally is so thoughtful yet independent, clumpsy and playful. Reese on the other hand is so cuddly and sweet, she is deliberate and dependent! We just love watching them grow and coming into their own. Here are some pics of our celebration back in Chicago at Grandma and Grandpa's house.
On a side note we are on our 6th ear infection and are schuduled for ear tube surgery on Wednesday we will keep you all updated!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-14T10:48:00.000-07:00

We were lucky enough to get a chance to go to Des Moines for the Easter holiday and visit with all of our family there! We had a great time and Cally loved seeing all of her cousins!!! We had easter egg hunts and got to go the park with the beautiful weather, Nick and I even had a date night!! Reese unfortunately came down with her 5th ear infection Sunday morning and we are going to see ENT next week about getting tubes placed! I included a bunch of pics including a recent family outing to the Milwaukee Children's Museum and all of our Easter adventures! Hope everyone had a great Easter!!!

Moved In

2009-03-30T11:03:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone! I know this post is long overdue! Since I last posted we have moved into our new house and are finally settling in!!! We are so happy, Cally loves that she has so much space to play and run around. Reese has found a new skill in climbing stairs she loves to do that 24/7. Nick and I are so happy to finally have space for all of our stuff and a yard for Mondo. We are also loving WhiteFish Bay. It is such a great community tons of shopping and restaurants all within walking distance. We are two blocks from the lake with access to the beach and lots of parks everywhere. I hace included some pics of our new house and some random pics of the girls including our recent trip to the Children's Musuem up here, what fun!!! Enjoy!

Where do I begin?

2009-03-12T04:51:00.000-07:00

Life has been so crazy lately I have been neglecting the blog, SORRY!!! I truely don't know where to begin with updates so I will just dive right in and hope that I make sense! A couple weekends ago we were able to go to a baby shower and got to meet a lot of really nice people up here. It made us really excited to move to Whitefish Bay knowing how great the people around us are going to be.
We had a follow up appointment with our Ortho Dr. for Reese and was blessed some wonderful news! He couldn't beleive the progress of her foot since Nick and I have taken over streching it and Reese walking on it constantly that he doesn't think we have to do surgery right now!!! We were so excited!!!
On a lighter note the girls and I have met some other moms with kids Cally and Reese's age and have begun to do a lot of playdates and fun outtings which have been great for the girls and me!
Then last weekend Nick and I were lucky enough to get a night away just the two of us downtown Chicago! We stayed at a wonderful hotel right off Lincoln Park and just had a wonderful time. I indulged in a 2 hour nap! We were able to go to this wonderful Italian restaurant on the far north side that we have been dying to try called Caro Mio's and even were able to meet one of my girl friends out celebrating her bday! It was so special to have a night just the two of us with uninterrpted sleep!!! Of course the bliss was short lived with Cally waking up Monday morning with a fever and cough, UGH! We have been to the doctor twice this week and she was put on antibotics yesterday and already seems to be doing so much better!
And last but certainly not least we are closing on our house tommorrow and moving in on Saturday! I am not even going to get started with how stressful that has been!!! It just seems fitting that our new close date is Friday the 13th and on a full moon, what are the odds!!!! Anyways, the house seems to be worth it, lets hope!!! And we are so grateful and appreciative of the wonderful support we have received from our parents, thank you from the bottom of our hearts we love you all, we are so blessed!!! So, everything seems to be ironed out and set to go tommorrow, we will keep you updated on the big move and we will include pics as well!

An Exciting Weekend

2009-02-23T17:19:00.000-08:00

The weekend began with us packing up the car and heading down to visit my parents. I was able to escape for a little bit to see Sandy and go for a long run on Saturday afternoon. It was fantastic to go down to the city and run with my best friend, it is my favorite pasttime. We did have to laugh several times at ourselves though, considering the wind chill was below freezing and we literally almost got blown away in Lincoln Park, it was all worth it though!!!
Cally had an exciting milestone on Sunday, we were on the way home from brunch and Nick and I hear from the back seat, "Guys I want to go upstairs by myself and take a nap when we get to Grandma's." Nick and I look at eachother and said "OK dear." Well, it ended up that she actually did it!!! I included a picture I couldn't handle how cute she was, big girl sleeping in a big bed all by herself!
The next bit of news is that I have decided to sell Lia Sophia Jewerly! It is a great product and I thought it would be fun and Nick has been so supportive! We will see how it all goes I am taking it one day at a time I am definitely going out of my comfort zone here but it is exciting to do something new!

Update on Reese!

2009-02-18T18:44:00.000-08:00

So, we had Reese's follow up appointment from her surgery on Tuesday. I have learned not to be too optimistic with these appointments because it is rare that good news comes out of them. We got to the Doctor and the first order of business is to remove her cast which is always a releif. Then the doctor came in, not as much progress as he would have hoped to see! Her achilles tendon just doesn't seem to be responding to the surgeries the way a club foot typically does. Our surgeon up here has a different theory on Reese since she has been such a unique case from birth, he is considering that she not have a club foot at all and that her deformity may have been caused from compartment syndrome in utero. He has been very reassuring that it is nothing that anyone, especially me, did or could have prevented just a freak incident. But regardless she is probably going to need another surgery in a couple of months. The good news is that worst case scenerio she needs more surgery and will need orthodics, our surgeon continues to assure us that this is correctable and that she will be ok!!! What is so sad now is that she is having a difficult time adjusting to her leg. Since she had the cast on she learned to walk on furniture and the cast actaully gave her leg some stability. Now that the cast is off her leg is very unstable and she doesn't understand what has happened. Again this is something that she is going to have to adjust to, just hard to watch your child struggle!! So, keep little Reese in your prayers and we will keep you updated on her progress!

Sleepless in Milwaukee

2009-02-15T12:08:00.000-08:00

So to make a long story short Nick and I haven't slept since we moved here! At first it was Cal adjusting to her new surroundings, then it was the traveling for the holidays, lately it has been they we have been constantly sick since Xmas and just when we thought we were on the other end. . . last night happened!!! I discussed this issue of not sleeping, mainly Reese, with our pediatrician this past week at her second sick visit in a week, a single ear infection had turned into two, thanks Amoxillin! He had recommened that we sleep train again, just letting her cry it out. We had done this once before and had done it with Cal a little bit so I took his informational handout and said we would give it a try. He had recommended us waiting until we both had a couple days off work, there may be some sleepless nights he warned, but since that wasn't really an option because we both weren't going to be off of work for two weeks we decided to bite the bullet and start on Thursday night. The first night she screamed for 1 1/2 hours, and the worst part was now she can stand up in her crib so you would go to check on her she would standing up with these eyes like "what are you doing to me" HEARTBREAKING!!! She finally did go to sleep though and slept until 6 am the most cumalitive sleep Nick and I have gotten in months!!! Here we are thinking success, until Sat night rolled around. We literally got no sleep last night!!! She is so stubborn she just will not lay down and go to sleep without throwing an hour long fit, only this time she threw three hour long fits at seperate times! Does anyone have any suggestions, we are open to them! Needless to say we are sticking with it and hope that sleepy nights are ahead for Nick and I! ha ha
On a much lighter note we hope that everyone had a great valentines day! Thanks again for taco dinner honey! And we wanted to post some recent pictures of the girls. Reese is now really into riding those push toys that help teach them to walk and Cally loves playing with her! It is so fun to see the two of them interact and really have fun together it is priceless!! We also were able to go and see our good friends Brad and Kate and their beautiful new baby boy, Mikey! Cally was so interested in the baby, all she wanted to do was hold him the whole time that we were there! I took that role though, I couldn't keep my hands away from him, it is so much fun holding those newborns with all of their cute noises and their baby smell (don't worry I know how sleep deprived and ragged we are right now, no more kids for us for awhile)!!! We also included some pics of us going to lunch with our dear friends Matt and Melissa who we used to nanny share with. Cal got to see her old bud Dominic, the two of them had so much seeing eachother!

Spring Is In the Air!!!

2009-02-10T19:25:00.001-08:00

I can't tell you how wonderful it has been to have some warm weather the last couple of days. I actually have been able to take the girls on a couple of runs outside, which I hope will help with their immune system breakdowns!!! Speaking of which we are on the mend, knock on wood, it seems from all of our illnesses. However, I am taking Reese in tommorrow morning to check her ears again, she now is waking up a lot at night and is driving us nuts. Poor Nick and I are so sleep deprived I don't think we can even see straight, but they are worth it those little buggers. On a lighter note we went to Chicago this past weekend and had a great time visiting my parents.

To My Friend, My Hawkeye, My Cubbie!

2009-02-03T20:39:00.000-08:00

To My Friend, My Hawkeye, My Cubbie
a loyal friend you will be
for all eternity...

Our time began in a place we all belonged
A circle of friendships
that mean the world to me

We were a band of brothers
that gave me strength and unity.

We would talk sports,
we would share dreams,
and quote movies all the while

You made me laugh,
made me smile,
and forget about my worries for a while.

The times we had were spirited
and nothing short of great!

I wish I could turn the hands of time
before it was too late.

We will never say goodbye,
for I am confident you know how I feel.

Today is a difficult day
because sadness and grieving
was not a part of our deal.

Instead we will celebrate your life
and what you taught us during
your short time here.

That is to LOVE what you BELIEVE IN
and BELIEVE IN WHO YOU HOLD NEAR.

Thank you to my friend, my Hawkeye, my Cubbie
a loyal friend you will be
for all eternity!

I wrote this poem in remembrance to my friend Zach Harsch who passed away last Friday. Zach was the biggest Hawkeye and Cubs fan, if you can believe it, he was even more passionate than I am. At the age of two Zach made the cover of Newsweek for being a Cello prodigy. He was diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes at the age of seven and his dreams of being a professional baseball player would soon diminish. He never let any road block stop his zest for life though, when challenged he worked hard to overcome any obstacle. The diabetes didn't stop him from being active and enjoying sports, when he wasn't accepted the first time at the University of Iowa, he went to a smaller school and was accepted the following year. It was here at Iowa where I met Zach through a mutual friend of ours, Brad Steeves. Then soon after Zach and I shared five or six Psychology and General Ed courses. He always attended class and saved me many times when my alarm clock didn't work. I became an expert at deciphering his messy notes.
Zach loved life and made friends wherever he went. He settled down in Kansas City with his wife, Bobbie. He became a teacher and taught seventh grade Social Studies while he persued his Masters in Counseling. He made so many connections during his four years at the Middle School he taught. His mentor said he was a Natural and I don't doubt that a bit.
At his viewing last night the huge room was standing room only and it was impressive to see the hundreds of people that Zach touched in the short 28 years with us. Even more impressive were the dozens of seventh graders that had the courage to go up to podium and share their great memories about "Mr. Harsch". I am convinced that he had found his calling and made a huge impact on those children's lives. I am so honored to have known such a wonderful teacher, friend, and good man. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and many friends. Zach's wife Bobbie is due in March with their first child, he was already a wonderful father and he will live on in all that knew him. Please pray for a healthy delivery, thank you...Nick

What a week!!!

2009-02-01T17:57:00.000-08:00

We have had quiet a week this last week! Let me start from the beginning. . .Monday we woke up with Cal having a fever, being extremely irritable and sleeping all day, what fun! By Tuesday we were at the Doctor and she was diagnosed with pneumonia, fantastic! Wednesday we decided to put a bid on a house that we were really interested in, which was exciting but I determined I am not meant to be a realtor. It is so stressful waiting, and waiting, and waiting for the seller's answer. So of course if you know me I don't do well in situations in which I dont have control so I was quiet a joy to be around. The only way I survived that day was my father being so gracious to come up and help me for the day, that way I only had to bring Reese to the three hour meeting with our realtors. Of course we didn't hear anything until Thursday at 12, which was the deadline of their counteroffer. We decided to make yet another counteroffer and therefore waited again, therefore another sleepless night for me! Friday morning we woke up all stressed out about whether or not we were going to get the house when Nick received a phone call that one of his dear friends was in a coma and had no brain activity. Boy, did that force us to have some perspective and realize how trivial our everyday worries are. Nick's friend ended up passing later on that day but I ask that you all take a moment and say prayers for all of his family and friends, especially is wonderful wife Bobby who is 7 months pregnant with their first baby boy! The rest of the day we were in a daze not sure what to think or how to act. You don't ever expect to bury one of your friends when you are in your late 20's, it is such a tragic situation. We made the decision that Nick was going to go to the services in Kansas City Monday and Tuesday to mourn and spend time with his friends. Zach our thoughts are with you and your family you will deeply missed!
On a lighter note we recieved word late Friday night we got the house! We are so excited. We close March 14 and plan on moving that following weekend. We will keep you all updated on the progress. Then... just when Cal started feeling better Reese developed a 104.6 temp on Saturday. WOW! We took her in Sunday to my work and seems as though it is viral, still spiking those temps today!!! I guess we will have to just grin and bear it!
Anyways, say a prayer for Zach and his family and for Nick, he is being so wonderful through all of this but I know the next couple days and the 9 hour car ride to Kansas City is going to be tough. But this sitation also allowed us to reflect and be thankful for each moment that we have here and realize how lucky we are. So to all of our loved ones, we love you and thank you for adding so much joy and happiness into our lives!!! And P.S. thanks to Steve and Heather for the shout out I love it, so funny!

"What a Trooper!"

2009-01-23T17:27:00.000-08:00

Reese had her surgery today and boy, what a trooper, we've decided she wins "Trooper of the Year," (We also agree my mom comes in close second!) Nick and I arrived at the hospital at 6:15 this morning and we were on our way home by 9:15! Everything went well according to the surgeon, and the best part was that they just used a mask to put her under so no ETtube, which made her throat so sore the first time! The surgery took about 15 minutes and then we had to wait another 15 minutes to go back and see her. When we got to her she was sitting up in bed holding her glucose water bottle in her mouth with one hand as if she was kickin back drinking a beer it was too cute! At first we thought maybe she wasn't going to get irritable from the anethesia like she had done before but that soon became a fleating thought as our little "angel" turned into a screaming, bucking, crazy baby for the next 30 minutes. She stayed that way until we got to the car, then she passed out! She proceeded to sleep for awhile and then woke up as if nothing had happened. She started crawling around pulling herself up, unbeleiveable! She is fascinated by her cast she keeps looking at it in amazement trying to figure out how this big pink thing got on her leg! We are just so proud of her! Thank you for all your prayer and well wishes!

We Love Grandparents!!!

2009-01-21T09:41:00.001-08:00

We were so lucky the past couple of days to have Steve and Dani visit us this past weekend and then have my family come up on Monday! The girls were so excited to see Grandpa and Grandma Navarro on Saturday and they even got to open more Xmas presents (thank you again) which is always a huge deal in this house. We got to go out to a wonderful dinner on Saturday night and the girls did really well, we were so excited, besides the fact that Grandma was called to the bathroom by Cal one to many times and Cal was a little too enthusiastic with her glass during the "cheers" and proceded to spill 1/2 of Grandma's martini!!! Opps!!! All in all it was definitely a succussful dinner. Sunday we checked out a new breakfast place up the street that has great omelettes and an apple pancake that is to die for, just like my beloved pancake back in good ole Naperville, it was fantastic!! Thanks again for coming we really appreciate it and the girls loved seeing you too!!!

After that exciting weekend my family decided to venture on up here to celebrate my sister's bday a little late, what a treat!!! We went out to Cheesecake for the celebration and once again it was a success, I don't know what has come over my children, but I am not going to ask too many questions. We also made some bday cupcakes since that is Cally's favorite part of bdays is blowing out the bday candles, so we proceeded to sing "Happy Birthday" to Katie about a million times!! We are so glad we finally got to see everyone!

Reese is crawling around everywhere now! She is a fast little bugger and loves to get into everything! It is kind of sad though because after her surgery on Friday she will be in a cast for 3 weeks, so we will see how her crawling goes then, I have a feeling we are going to have one cranky girl on our hands!!! We will let you all know how Reese is doing as soon as we are able to on Friday, she goes in at 7:30, keep us in your prayers! We also wanted to post some pics of the weekend and I so happy we finally have a pic of the four of us, it is about time!!!

A Change in Plans

2009-01-14T17:25:00.000-08:00

Well, we had a little bit of a disappointing day, I was going to take the girls to Chicago to see my family for my sister's bday and had to cancel our plans due to the weather! I was really sad about this due to the fact that I have been really home sick lately and haven't seen my family for a couple of weeks, which for me is a long time! But, what was really hard was trying to explain to Cal why we couldn't go. Thank god for our babysitters at the gym, they let Cal take home one of the toys there to try to ease the pain and I promised her we could embark on our gingerbread house that I have been putting off doing for ever now, yes I know that Xmas is over!!! Anyways, that seemed to make Cally feel a little bit better, I included some pics of the gingerbread house, for those of you who know me know I am not very crafty, so I thought the finished product was something to be proud of! Thanks for understanding Katie, Mom, and Dad, hopefully we will see you soon!

On a lighter note, Cal and started Spanish classes at this really neat place called the Big Backyard. She is so funny because you would think she would be the most outgoing kid there when in fact she is the complete opposite!!! Whenever the teacher calls her name she hides in my lap and refuses to answer the question, Great!!! Reese on the other hand is bouncing up and down trying to talk the entire time, she is the most enthusiastic student there! Hilarious!!!

We also had Reese's first ortho appointment up here. We made the decision to switch doctors from ours in Chicago to one up here locally, it was a hard decision for us due to the turbulent start that we had with her treatment and with the severity of her condition. However, we couldn't be happier with the doctor that we chose. He was recommended to us by some of Nick's clients and he was just awesome! I was so glad that Nick was able to be there with me, with him being a foot and ankle specialist, he has become quiet the expert in the anatomy which is very helpful!!! Anyways, the bad news is that Reese needs to have another Achilles tendon release next Friday!!! The good news is it is an outpatient procedure and this should hopefully be the last of the surgeries for awhile! We will keep you all updated but keep us in your prayers!!!

I wanted to include some fun random pics of the girls being goofy! We hope that you all stay warm in this crazy weather, it is supposed to be -4 for a high tomorrow! As you will see in the slideshow I posted Cally has decided to wear two pairs of fleece PJ's to stay warm, we had to take a pic, it was just too cute!!!

A Trip Down Memory Lane

2009-01-07T18:37:00.000-08:00

So, the past couple days have been really emotional for me, God only knows why but I have been reminiscing a lot of when Cal was a little baby. Reese has seemed to grow up so fast and with her first bday a couple months away, it makes me so sad to think how fast they both have grown up. Cally is now so independent she barely needs help doing anything; she dresses herself, goes to the bathroom on her own, knows how to help herself to the pantry if she needs a snack, heck half the time she is one who tells me where my keys are! I know our jobs as parents is to allow them to be themselves and to foster that independence, but a small part of me, although I am so proud of the little people they are becoming, wishes they were that newborn again. Anyways, I thought you all might enjoy to look at some old pics of us when our family was just beginning. It is amazing to see how small Cally really was!!! It's interesting to look and compare Cal and Reese as newborns, I still don't think they look anything alike, Cal is all me, and Reese is all Nick, what do you think?

Grandma "So Much" Visits!!!

2009-01-04T18:44:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful weekend with Rosemarie (Grandma "So Much") coming to visit for the first time our new home in Milwaukee! I unfortunately had to work all weekend, but Nick throughly enjoyed the extra set of hands and getting to spend some quality time with Mom! We were able to enjoy a nice breakfast before work on Saturday morning and then they went and played at Monkey Joe's which Cally loved! I then got to meet them for a nice, but always hectic, dinner at Cheesecake Factory (where else!). Rosemarie got to see Reese's many attempts at crawling, she is VERY effiecient at crawling backwards, just hasn't mastered that foward movement! And got to experience Cally as a potty trained Big Girl! Reese is also giving out her lovely open mouthed kisses that are so priceless! We had a lot of fun, thanks again for visiting Rosemarie, hopefully we will soon have a house with a guest bedroom so no more early mornings!!!

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T14:16:00.001-08:00

We had a very low key new year after such a frantic Christmas! For those of you who don't know both of the girls were really sick over Christmas! Last night were all asleep by 10, which Nick and I were thankful for! We went to one of Nick's co-workers today to watch the Iowa game (Go Hawks!) which was a blast. Cally really liked their kids (miss social butterfly), within minutes she was running around like it was her house, it was hilarious! We wanted to also post some new pics from over the holiday season. I couldn't resist putting up this pic of Reese, notice how well she matches! Nick picked out this lovely outfit while I was at work, we got a good laugh out of that one! All in good fun,we love Daddy! On a more serious note, we wish you all a safe and happy new year! We are truely blessed to have such wonderful friends and family!

Our First Blog!!!

2008-12-31T13:40:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone! With the new year approaching Nick and I wanted to try to stay better in touch with our beloved family and friends and with our lifestyle it can be really hard to reach out as often as we would like so we thought this would be a creative and convenient way to keep in touch!

We are settling into our home in Milwaukee. Nick is loving his job and getting to know his accounts. He is learning more and more each day and is really excited about the opportunities that lay ahead. I am getting settled into my job as well and am really enjoying getting to be home more with the girls! We signed Cally up for Spanish classes that start next week and have found some friends here that we are starting to play with! We joined a really great gym that does all of these great activities with the girls, they really love going! Cally has even learned how to bear crawl and crab walk, which she makes me do constantly with her, boy am I sore!!!

We are very much looking forward to the new year and all of the opportunities that lie ahead. We wish all of you a very happy new year too, God Bless!