A prayer for Jack

Hi all! I'm sorry I haven't been as faithful to my blog as I would like. Life has been very busy. I know many of you who read this are Christians and so I'm going to ask you to say a prayer for this little guy. His name is Jack and he is about the same age as our Mack. He is the son of one of my good friends. Jack is going to Mayo center to have a specialist do surgery on his hand. They believe it is a vascular abnormality and can be fixed. While he should be okay it's always hard to have your child go through something like this. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

We had our first ultrasound on Friday and made it a family affair! I'm happy to report the baby is healthy and things look good. It was so neat to watch Schuyler's reaction as she saw the baby on the screen. She wanted to know if it was a brother! All of us but Mack is hoping it is! The due date is Jan 8th or Jan 10th depending if you calculate it by last cycle or ultrasound, respectively. I have days where I feel good and others where I feel terrible. I'm hoping only a couple more weeks of sickness and tiredness and I'll be back to my old self.

Mack and Mark celebrated their birthdays this weekend. Mack got to choose her cake and she chose a butterfly. She was a little ham! She got a shirt that was bright pink w/ rhinestones on it that said "I'm the Little Sister". She paraded around like she was a model. "Look at me. I'm pretty!" LOL!!

Thanks for checking in and I'll do a better job and keeping up!

2 girls + ??????

Okay, for those of you don't know, and there still may be a few of you out there, we are expecting our third child. #3!! This was a surprise to both Mark and I and took a little time to adjust to but we are excited. And the girls, well, Schuyler is sure it's a "brudder". McKenzie I don't think has grasped the whole concept yet.

One of the things I have learned in my journey of life is that God works in amazing ways! This year, I have devoted myself to Christ. This is/was a huge step for me in my faith. Since this time, I have truly experienced his hand at work. The hardest part was to let go...to realize that I'm not in control. This is still a struggle for me but let me tell you some amazing things have happened. I'll give details some time but not today. Anyway, just thought I would share that little bit.

I'll keep you all posted on baby developments!

3 Day Weekend!!

I'm so excited for a 3-day weekend. So are the girls. Stay home days is what they call them. No real big plans. If the forecast is as warm as it's supposed to be we might try and go swimming. Tonight the girls have their end of year party for the Montessori. Always a fun time... Valentino's is catered in, the kids sing some songs, slide show of the year, and then free playtime at the park for the kids. I'm sure Mark will play 9 or 18 holes. And, I think we'll FINALLY purchase a new dishwasher!! Hope everybody has a great memorial day weekend!

Just random ramblings

Hmm.... I'm at a loss for words as to what to write. That doesn't happen much. The Riese family has been without a dishwasher for what seems like an eternity. I'm happy to report that we will be buying a new one! Yeah - no more dishes by hand!

Mark started golf league a couple of weeks and is enjoying that. The girls and I usually go do something fun... bike ride, park, etc... As the weather warms up we have been spending more time outside.

McKenzie loves Schuyler's little bike and there are often fights over it. She is determined to do all the things the bigger kids are doing. They have began to sleep in the bunkbeds consistently in Schuyler's room. There are still times when one will keep the other up but generally they are good.

I had a good Mother's day last Sunday. We went to late church. Mark made lunch and dinner and I even got a nap. That's what I call a relaxing day!

Hope you all have a good weekend!

Tired Family

It seems like the Riese family is one tired bunch. I'm not sure Schuyler is getting her naps at school and McKenzie is really struggling w/ bedtime. Schuyler even fell asleep Monday night when Papa came and picked us up to go down to the post office and then look at trains. The poor girl LOVES trains so she must have been really tired!

We had a great weekend in Hastings celebrating Mark's parents 40th anniversary. Mark and I got to enjoy a round of golf, which was my first of the season and surprisingly I played well after the first hole! McKenzie became fast friends w/ her older cousin Megan. I think Megan got a taste of motherhood she helped me out so much. Schuyler was bummed that Maddy didn't come but she too got to know Megan and Ian better. And, her cousin Justin, who we didn't think would make it for the dinner, was able to come.

Here are a few more pics from the playdate w/ my friend H!

ME!

I'm going to try and update my profile w/ a picture of myself so I thought since I was doing that I would include a few here. These were taken by my photo friend, H! She is so wonderful. I actually like these pictures of myself. Hope you are all having a good Cinco de Mayo!!

A hectic, wonderful weekend!

My weekend got off to an early start since I had Friday off. We went to the Dr. for Schuyler's 4-year well-child check up. She is doing just fine. She can see me and hear me so we know when she’s not listening, it’s not because she can’t hear = ) She is 90% for height and weight and healthy as can be! Always good to hear! From there, we went to the Children’s Museum. We had a blast! The kids did so many activities. After that, we grabbed McDonald’s for lunch and went home. Saturday, we had family over for a lasagna lunch and Schuyler opened presents afterwards. We tried to get her to rest but we knew this was going to be a lost cause. At 3:00, Schuyler celebrated w/ her friend’s at Ager play land. Due to rainy weather, we were unable to do the bounce house. Maybe next year. It was a chaotic time, but the kids loved it. Later, Mark and I went to a friend’s 30th b-day for some well deserved adult beverage and social time. It was good to catch up w/ everybody. Sunday, Mark left early for an annual golf tourney is Fairbury and the girls and I headed down later to meet a friend I had met on a photography website board. We hit it off great, which was no surprise because we have much in common. We took a TON of pictures! I’m wondering when I’m going to find the time to proof them all! Her kids are 9 and 6 and such darlings! Neither of the girls got good naps, if any, over the weekend so they are catching up on some sleep. Here are some pics from our adventures! I took the one of Schuyler and H edited. Not sure who took the one of McKenzie but H did the editing on that one, too! Look for more to come.