A BIG SURPRISE!!!!

Back in September of this year me and Charlie found out that we were in for the surprise of our lives! See, we have been pretty lucky and have been able to do almost everything according to plan! We went to college together, after college we got married (I was 25 years old, which was the age I had wanted to be when I got married). A year after we were married we bought our house. In 2003, we welcomed our beautiful baby girl into our lives and then added to our family in 2006 with our son, Cole. They were three years apart in age, just as I planned! At that point Charlie made it clear we were done! We had a beautiful daughter and an adventurous son, one each, both healthy and happy, our family was complete. Plan accomplished!

And then come September, I realized something just wasn't right. Things weren't going as expected. I didn't mention anything to Charlie, no need to panic right. Well come mid-September, I thought I better bring it to his attention. We laughed about it, pretty much laughed it off and just thought maybe my "schedule" was off. I had been on some pretty strong antibiotics for an infection I had so things over the last few months had been kind of crazy anyway! And then another week went buy and it was time to take "the test". It was now time to panic. Two lines shot up immediately, no need to wait the full three minutes! I almost fainted, really this was the closest I have ever come to fainting. This was not planned, this was not happening.

I told Charlie and that next month we were both just like deer in headlights. How are we going to afford another baby. With the housing market bottoming out, we knew we weren't getting into another house. We only have three bedrooms, where would we put another baby. It just seemed like constant hyperventilation the entire month. I couldn't sleep, I caught myself in tears all the time. This was not according to plan and I could not deal with it!

At this point I had already started blogging and one of my friends at work kept telling me about a blog I needed to read. It was written by a mother of four girls who just lost her 18 month old to a drowning. On one of my sleepless nights, I decided to sit down and read this blog. I cried and cried and cried. I wrote about it in a previous post of mine. But those words written by that mother literally changed my outlook on life that night. There was a picture of her hand holding her daughter's hand (who was in a coma and about to be taken off of life support) and the second I saw that picture and read the entry the gray cloud that was hanging over me literally was gone. I was crying tears of joy at that point for the beautiful blessing I had been given.

My children are my world, what would make this one any different. So we would have to tighten our budget a little and the kids would have to share rooms. Big deal! We were going to be blessed with another beautiful baby, and as long as it was healthy, nothing else mattered! The next morning on our way to work, I broke down in tears telling Charlie about the excerpts from the blog I had read and how stupid I was to shed one tear over this. Our family was growing by one and that would only bring us more happy memories then we could have ever imagined! For the first time I saw the cloud disappear from over Charlie and he got it. Even though it was not according to plan, this was nothing but a blessing! We waited until I was twelve weeks to tell people, wanted to see the doc and make sure all was okay. We were actually nervous about telling people. How do two, responsible adults accidentally get pregnant? I just told myself, God has a plan for us and it includes three beautiful blessings! Ever since I have had such a good feeling about our family, it now seemed like it would be complete! Charlie has been absolutely fantastic throughout this whole thing and I am lucky to have him as the father of my kiddos!

We recently went in for our Ultrasound and found out...It's a Boy! Everyone, I would like you to meet Chance Neilson!

Cole and the "Meow"

We let the kids stay up late the other night to watch, "Journey to the Center of the Earth". Cole fell asleep on the couch and Jager decided to cuddle up next to him. I thought this was such a cute pic of the two of them. According to Cole, all cats are "Meows" and all dogs are Brew's. He gets this from our dog Brewtus. Anytime he sees a dog he starts yelling Brew, Brew, Brew. Even if the dog is a little white poodle and doesn't resemble our big Rottie, Brewtus in any way shape or form!

GIANTS GAME

Our first Giants game! Over the weekend of November 22-23 we loaded up the kids and drove down to Phoenix, AZ for the Cardinals vs. Giants game. Our friends Wayne, Jamie and their little girl, Layla followed us down. We left on Saturday morning and arrived in Phoenix shortly after 3:oo pm. Saturday night we went to Mill Street in Phoenix and met up with some old friends from High School. It was great seeing everyone and catching up.

Sunday morning we woke up early as the guys insisted we had to leave the hotel by 9:30 am, even though the game didn't start until 2:15 pm. We headed over to the stadium and found a parking spot. Luck for us we were surrounded by Giants fans. As one fan mentioned, "I feel like I am at home in the Meadowlands!" We set up the vehicles and tailgated. The kids had a blast playing football and baseball in the parking lot. We met fans from all over, California, New York and even some first time football viewers from Edmonton, Canada! After chowing down on some burgers and hot dogs we made our way into the stadium. It was breathtaking! They did a fantastic job. It was a beautiful stadium and very well designed. It did not feel cramped at all.

Cole had so much fun tailgating that it wore him out! He fell asleep on me not long after kick-off and didn't wake up until right before halftime. I don't know how but the noise (and there was a lot of noise!) didn't bother him one bit! Once he woke up, he was ready to go, cheering and throwing his hands in the air to signal, "TOUCHDOWN!" Kadee was Daddy's buddy throughout the game and really helped our friends keep their baby entertained! We were pretty lucky with our seats. Past games me and Charlie have been to have been pretty rough with a lot of profanities slinging from one end to the other. The crowd around us for the most part was pretty tame. We had lots of Giants fans surrounding us so we felt right at home. The game was great and thank goodness we won, 36-29!

Neon Golf

The Kids were invited to a birthday party at King Golf here in Las Vegas. What a cool place! It is indoors and is lit only with black lights! The kids had a blast! Kadee of course was taking the game pretty serious and really trying to get the ball into the hole. Cole on the other hand took the game into his own hands and decided he would play a little different than everyone else and just put the ball right next to the hole and knock it in!

After the game of golf a magician came to entertain the party. Kadence got to be his assistant and couldn't believe how easily he was pulling quarter after quarter from behind her ears. She even tried pulling some money out from behind my ears but like the magician said, "Mommy must be broke!"

Here Comes Santa Clause...

On Friday night we made our way over to Town Square, which for those of you not from Vegas, it is a fantastic outdoor shopping mall that has everything and anything. On Friday night they were having their annual tree lighting, Santa parade and lots of fun things for the kiddos. We met our friends Dallas and Chi and found a spot to watch Santa's parade. It was VERY crowded and all of the kids were on pins and needles waiting to see Santa. Once the parade turned the corner you could hear nothing but little ones screaming with excitement. Santa was riding in a beautiful white carriage being pulled by a black Clydesdale horse. After the parade we made our way over to the center park where they turned on the lights of a huge Christmas tree. It was beautiful! We then wandered over to the stage where the elves put on a cute little show on for the kids. And then it started to snow. Yep you heard me right, they made it snow in Las Vegas, in the middle of the desert! The kids all looked up in wonder and were trying to catch the snowflakes in their hands.

After all of the festivities we ordered pizza to go from the California Pizza Kitchen, found a table in the park and had some dinner. While we were eating, Cole got up and started wandering his way over to one of the advertisement signs. I know that some of you might think this is in bad taste, but I was rolling on the floor as my son carefully stood in front of this ad studying every little detail.

A Day at the Park

We were off of work today so we wanted to do something fun with the kiddos. We were thinking of a movie but by the time everyone woke up from their naps, including mommy, it was too late so we settled for a trip to the park. We have a new favorite park not far from our house and right across the street from Green Valley Ranch Casino. It has so many fun gadgets and toys and it even has swings for mommy's and daddy's, they are like chairs that you can just relax on while you watch the kiddos run all over. The kids and mommy and daddy had a great time. It was a beautiful evening. We were even fortunate to take in a great sunset. The pics don't really do it justice but it was pretty. It made me miss the New Mexico sunsets we grew up with. That was one thing we took for granted, you were pretty much guaranteed the most beautiful sunsets every night in New Mexico, full of oranges, pinks, blues and purples.

All Better!

On Sunday afternoon I took Cole to the Doctor's to get his stitches out. We went back to the same Urgent Care where he got the stitches. He has some memory. The second we walked in the office door he stopped, looked around briefly and then started whimpering, "no mama no, bye-bye mama, no mama no!" He knew exactly where we were and knew that nothing fun happens in a doctor's office! We were seen by a pretty young doctor who was making me very nervous because you could see the fear of working on a child in his eyes. All went well, the three stitches came out in no time, the doc patched him up with a band-aid and then there was the good ol' lollipop cure to soothe any leftover whimpers. Hopefully he won't have a big scar, but if he does I reassured him he would be okay because like they say, "Chicks dig scars."

One of the Most Horrible Things I Have Witnessed

Just as a warning this isn't a happy story at all...


On our way to Kadee's football/cheerleading game today we unfortunately witnessed one of the hardest things for one to see. We left a birthday party and I just insisted that Charlie take another highway to Kadee's game because there would be less traffic. So along we went and halfway there I hear Charlie yell, "Oh geez!" I immediately start looking around and there I see two Rottenweilers, a mom and her puppy come running down the highway ramp onto the highway. I scream at Charlie to pull over so we could try do do something, yell at them and scare them off of the highway or try to catch them before they got hurt. All I could think of was oh great, what are we going to do with four Rottenweilers! We were in the fast lane and there were construction barrels everywhere on the shoulder so by the time we could pull over, I heard Charlie who was looking in his rear view mirror just say "Oh God!" and he hit the steering wheel. I knew what had happened. I looked back and unfortunately saw the second one get hit. It was absolutely horrible! I cannot get that image out of my head. I know this is a gruesome thing to blog about but I am sitting here unable to sleep because that image just keeps popping in my head so I thought maybe if I wrote about it I could get it out of my head. We were so far ahead of them and several other cars stopped to help them so we left, all of us, me, Kadee and Charlie with tears in our eyes. If only we could have done something, anything! I said a prayer with Kadee tonight and just asked God to make them at home in heaven, to give them really big bones to chew on, nice comfy beds to sleep on and a kiss from us!


This really hit home for us because we are the proud owners of two Rottenweilers, Brewtus and Bristol. These dogs are like family to us! They are our constant companions and we love them often more then we show! Today's events changed a few things for us Brewtus and Bristol. More walks, more hugs and kisses and more puppy treats. We love you and are so grateful to have you in our lives!

Our Visit to the Museum

On Saturday we were invited to a Birthday Party at the Lied Discovery Museum. What a fun place! The kids had a blast. There are so many fun things to do! Cole loved the water table and spent a good 20 minutes sailing the pieces through the water. Kadence loved the grocery store! She got to ring up some other kids grocery orders and thought that it was pretty cool! I also got to snap one of my favorite photos of them afterwards. They got these rock star glasses as party favors and were jamming in the car on the way home!

OUCH!!!

Kadee and Cole were up at my mom's house on Monday. She usually keeps them at least one day a week. Come about 3:00 pm I get a call at work from Grandma, "Kristi...I got the bleeding stopped but..." My heart dropped to my stomach as I waited for the rest of the sentence. Cole biffed it big time and cut open his cheek. I calmly (which I am not sure where the calmness came from) told my mom, don't worry we will be right there. Off we went from work up to Grandma's. When we got there Cole was running around like nothing really happened. However when I did ask to see his owie I did get the sad face as he pointed to the little gash on his cheek. Charlie cleaned it up and we thought it would be okay but decided to take him to Urgent Care just in case since we're not doctors.

Well once the doc saw him, he decided he needed stitches, three of them to be exact. So the bundled up Cole in a little papoose so he couldn't fling around and three stitches and a few tears later he was on his way to being mended up. He cried right up until we got to the receptionist desk and the big basket of lollipops and magically all the pain disappeared. Thank goodness for those docs who still believe in the lollipop cure!

My poor mom and Kadee felt so bad like it was their fault, however anyone who knows Cole is neither surprised, nor do they think that this is the last time he visits Urgent Care! I stayed home with him the next day in an attempt to limit his activity as the doc ordered so he didn't bang it and open it up. Wow, when you really watch this kid (not that I don't keep an eye on him normally) but when you really try to prevent the injuries...he is like a little tornado. If he isn't jumping off of the dog crates behind the couch onto the couch and coming within centimeters of the coffee table, or pushing his little table over to the TV to climb on top of the TV or better yet pushing the bar stool in the garage up to the dart board and pulling out all of the darts, then it is just not a regular day! Oh my son, my 100%, all boy son!