Bundled Up

Ben is feeling good!

It's a big boy!

Benjamin Warren Grossner

8 lbs 13 oz

8.5-9 cm

soon...

7.5 cm dilated

Progressing along...

Feeling good!

Water broke

Colleen's water just broke. Shouldn't be too much longer!

6 cm dilated

We're off to the hospital!

At the Dr. office

To see Dr Slotta

Stopping at the doctor's office on the way to the hospital -- contractions are 2-3 min apart. Baby Grossner is coming finally!

Could be the big day!!!

Not headed in to the hospital yet, but I am starting to do some timing, and getting excited!!! Mike is on his way home :) We shall see!!! We are so excited for our new addition! Yeah!

Doctor's Report

Well, there are 9 more hours in the day...I'm feeling lots of contractions, still only 3 cm, more like 90% effaced (instead of 80)...so we'll see :~ Dr Slotta stripped my membranes, and that did the trick for Carla, so our fingers are crossed.

On a more exciting note...we've finally decided names! We're saving that announcement until after the baby is born :)

Bye for now!

Happy Birthday Carla!

Carla is getting SO big! Anna says she is too small to be 2 (and also that she already had her birthday (early party on the 4th) -- very confusing), but I say she is definitely 2 in all ways! She's perfected curling up on the floor with loud volume when she doesn't get her way:~ On the bright and more abundant side, Carla is doing great in her big girl bed, knows her colors, loves to count, remembers and tells us all about things she did last week (Riley...nice dog, pet him, eat purse -- though this didn't happen!, Jane (Mrs Hagan)...pick candy, eat cracker, Alta...room, toys, baby, Uncle Bob...sand -- her little brain and her smile are both so darn cute!), eating, cleaning, coloring, pottying, talking up a storm, repeating what she hears all the time, especially what Anna says, and mimicking EVERYTHING Anna DOES. She is such a pleasure and we thank God for the blessing that she is in our lives :) Happy 2nd birthday Carla!

In other news: I did my exercises this morning and went for a nice walk/run, got scared by a bulldog, and am off to the basement to do some more cleaning (how I went into labor with Carla :). Maybe today is the day :) Otherwise, I'm off to my doctor's appointment tomorrow afternoon...I scheduled it thinking that I wouldn't have to come for it! Oh well, God's in charge right! We are so excited to meet you New Baby Grossner!

Waiting...

I'm really hoping now that tonight/tomorrow is the big day! I think it would be cool for Carla and new baby to share their special day. It's going to be close after all, might as well share the date :) Hopefully I won't make it to my Monday doctor's appointment. Thanks for the nice wishes Aunt Terese, Kim, and Katie!

And Jenny!, thank you for all the sweet comments!!! I meant to say it a week ago when you wrote a bunch, then a few days ago, and then again today! Carla is doing SO well with her big girl bed -- really amazing! She even came to me the last two nights without even crying, around midnight, wanting to go potty, going potty, and then right back to bed without freaking out! Also, this morning her diaper was even dry! I guess she is getting ready to be a big girl, big sis :)

We're going for a walk, so maybe that will do the trick!

Test

Just a test to see if I can update with my phone.

Fun, fun fun!

This evening was a night full of exciting surprises/coincidences! We thought of going to lunch at El Rodeo, our favorite Mexican restaurant, but opted not to because Anna wanted a balloon -- "because she gets one every time we go there". We would go for dinner instead... We get to the door for dinner at 5:40 (Swifty the Clown comes with his balloons at 6) and there is a sign with today's date as the restaurant's anniversary party, 6-9pm! In addition to Swifty, kids eat free tonight, and a mariachi band is playing live! The girls were mesmerized as Swifty created a Strawberry Shortcake for Anna and a ladybug for Carla. We all have fun with the song La Coca Rocha at home, so Mike asked Anna if she wanted to request it, but then within the time of the conversation...the Mariachi band began playing the song! While Carla and I were in the restroom, Mike and Anna were even serenaded! Then when they were in the bathroom, Carla and I enjoyed the whole band singing and playing in our little section of the restaurant!

Next, we stopped at the library and Mike was going to run in to drop off books. Anna really wanted to join him, and then Carla wanted to come too, and so we all headed in, just after 7...inside were about 100 kids and maybe 30 parents watching excitedly as Dave the Magician began his show! Anna was again mesmerized, and by the third time the magician asked for volunteers, Anna finally raised her hand, very eager this time, each time he picked a child to come up, she started going forward. I reminded her to just raise her hand, but sure enough, she shot up to the front (un-called on), but he said "oh yes, I need one more!" and there she was magically coloring a coloring book by waving a huge inflatable crayon at the book! Then she and 2 other girls just "made" the whole book be filled with blank pages by stroking the cover with their fingers! Finally, she was the last one standing of the 7 volunteers and got to wiggle her fingers over the cover to make all drawings reappear! On the way home, we told her that Mike used to do magic as a kid, and had "magic sets". So she wanted one, but by the time we pulled in the driveway, she said she already knows how to make things disappear and reappear just by wiggling her fingers, so she just needs the coat, hat, and pants! What an exciting outing!

Perhaps the night will end with another surprise...I'm officially due in less than 3 hours! As of yesterday, I was dilated 3cm!!!!

Another fun day worth the documentation, but without photos -- forgot the camera again! Oh well, it was a "magical" night that I think we'll all remember even without photos.

Big Girl Bed

To be or not to be? Oh, Carla, the timing, terrible timing. Carla crawled out of the crib last week when she didn't want to nap, for the first time ever. And then another oh, 5x that day (once after she actually slept for her nap, and then 4 more times when it was bed time). So we busted out the big-girl toddler bed that night. As you can imagine, since she isn't even quite 2 yet, this has been a challenge since that night. She sleeps through the night once she is asleep in there -- major bonus. Though getting her to sleep in there is another thing...stroller and car rides and slipping her in bed asleep works, but it's certainly not a permanent solution. Also, with all the time we've been away from home in the last few days, she has had several complete naps in the car. She's really relaxed with the whole nap/bedtime regimen, but when it is time to say goodnight, she totally freaks out! You can probably hear her screaming and banging from down the street. Well, anyway, that was a long explanation of this snuggly photo. This was after some afternoon non-nap screaming, falling asleep on the potty, and then in my arms.

Sleepover at Aunt Terese's!

Anna and Carla had a ball at the splash park at Morton Park, and then had lunch and a movie with Grant and cousin Erin. After that, the girls had fun hanging out with Uncle Lee out on the porch and in their garden of a back yard!

Yippee -- Anna likes to go underwater!

Yesterday in the lake, Anna timidly got her face wet, all on her own (HUGE breakthrough; I'll explain later), and we got all excited about it. Before we knew it, she was swimming, underwater, between me and my mom, as we kept getting further and further apart! She was ASKING if she could get her face wet again, and swim underwater, over and over! Normally, at swimming lessons, she chooses to just be thrown in, in order to avoid bobs (dipping her head in the water at the side of the pool, in and out, 5x, and the beginning of each lesson). She had never even done a single bob before in the pool! She was so excited for "swim camp" this week and when I mentioned it to her this morning she was still excited about it, saying Miss Brianne (her instructor) was going to be so impressed and that she wanted to do 15 or 19 bobs, and swim underwater in the deep end! She said she keeps her eyes closed so they don't get wet, but "it's kinda cool with my eyes open because I can see all around under the water :)" She has been progressing really well all winter with her lessons, swim/treading water all over the deep end on her own, but still avoiding getting her head wet at all costs. So this is SOOOO exciting!!! We are so proud of her! The picture is actually from her second lesson as an underwater swimmer -- she wanted to try goggles since her eyes were stinging from all the chlorine, and they worked out really well!

Aunt Maribeth's 5th of July Party!

Sand, sprinkler, and picnicking fun at at home and THEN off to another 4th of July celebration!

Happy Birthday to Violetta, Carla, and the USA!

Thank goodness for "Uncle Bob's lake" (Lake Erie) on this toasty day! The birthday girls and everybody had a wonderful day!

Fast forward to July!

I guess I didn't take any pictures in the last week or so of June until today! We had the chance to enjoy some "Carla time" while Anna was having a sleepover at Grandma M's! Thanks Mom:) Both the girls also stayed over at Aunt Maribeth's last week and had a ball! I'm sure we did lots of other fun stuff too during the rest of June -- but I can't remember! I gotta remember that camera!

I could just eat her up!

Happy Father's Day!

What a beautiful day! Thank God that Anna and Carla have the very BEST dad ever!!! The sand and water and weather were awesome, and the cherries were also quite a highlight for the Grossner girls (including me) -- aren't they beautiful? Strange not having cousins there at Uncle Bob's lake, but we will see them soon -- in a week, they'll return from their trip to Italy and cruise all over the place!

Sleepover party!

Tonight, Ben, Lisa, David, Erica, and EVEN their dog! came to spend the night at our house. It was lots of fun -- both the big (adults) and little kids had so much fun playing together! Thank you guys for dinner! ...Lisa, you're a sneaky one!

Our cutie :)

This morning Carla was marching around giggling, saying over and over "Caween (Colleen), Mama, Caween, Mama...!" It's the first time she said my name. I have a video, but here's just a cute pic of our lovely lovey :)

Red, ripe, juicy strawberries - Yum!

We started the day inside playing dress-up, but then braved the rain for some berry picking, and it was awesome! Actually a lot more comfortable weather compared with picking in the hot, hot sun! And no sun block - yeah!

Roomie Reunion

What a fabulous day! 6 lovely ladies, 6 sweet husbands, 14 little darlings, and 2 more on the way! Good luck Alex! Thanks Jocie for your initiative, and everyone for all your yummy eats!

Sand Castle Masterpiece!

Thanks for building with us Grandma M! Have a great trip to Ireland!

Loving the new sandbox!

Thank you Dad!

Playground and Picnic

Another fun day with special friends :)

Happy Birthday Uncle Billy!

Anna was so proud of her new "invention". She latched a new Little Tykes wheel barrow cart to the back of Carla's tricycle - pretty cute. They were giving each other lots of rides; Carla is so strong - I can't believe she could pull Anna along - she sure was making an effort!

Our mystery hole

Check out this hole Mike found in the yard during the sandbox project -- pictures to follow of our new toy! About the hole, see the red in the grass? That's the end of that long shovel Mike is holding - he stuffed it in and there was enough space to fit in the whole shovel! He has filled 4 or 5 wheel barrows of dirt in there and it is still taking more dirt!

Happy Memorial Day!

Fun in the sun at the beach, in the sand, in the lake, and at the park with cousins! Here are some favorites from the day! And below is a slide show of lots more!

Depot Princesses

Nice to meet you Baby Jadyn!

We were so happy to spend time with my cousin Holly who lives in Chicago and her son, Mason, and new daughter, sweet baby Jadyn. As you can see, she is just beautiful, and sweet as can be. She lets everybody hold her (just like Anna did). I hope our new baby is the same way! Anna and Carla were both so sweet touching and trying to take care of Jadyn :)

Remember: you can click on this collage to enlarge it :)

Yippee -- I passed!!!!!

Today I became a certified as a Clinical Exercise Specialist through American College of Sports Medicine -- what a relief! Thank you everyone for all of your help, especially Mike and our moms, and Aunt Maribeth, and to the girls for their patience :) Never again will Carla have to worry about "Mommy's cards" (flash cards) and Anna is excited because "Now Mommy can play with us more!" (so sad about the last few weeks, and happy about from now on!) We had a fun evening celebrating out in the sun playing in the water.

We sure are having amazing spring weather!!!

Here is the result of Anna having some photo-editing fun!

Bright eyes :)

Daddy's Girls

Anna and Carla are SO in love with Daddy :)

New Sink and Old Friends!

Our new sink arrived (to be installed along with new kitchen counter tops in June - yeah!) and the box provided lots of early morning fun!


Then our friends Aubrey and Dane came to play, and everyone got along so well together! We've missed our Donovan buddies :)


PS- How funny is Carla with the pacie?! It was her first time trying one and she's almost 2! Same sort of thing with the dolly's baby bottle!

Horsie Rides

What an awesome, awesome day!

Back from a great trip, and oh, the beautiful weather! Anna probably multiplied her biking miles by 100 with our trip to the park! Usually, she just rides at the top of the driveway, and I don't think she's ever ridden past the sidewalk right in front of our house. She rode the whole way there (more than a mile!) and back (another mile!)! And Carla walked! Though Carla, sweet thing, didn't quite make it back. I gave her a ride for the last probably quarter mile, and as you can see, she fell asleep on my shoulders! Precious :) Taking that photo was a tricky challenge :) Carla was so cute helping Anna with her bike, pulling her! -- or as Anna was saying "helping a lending hand" ...or something like that (I think she was going for "Carla's lending a helping hand"). They had a great time at the park too, so much to look forward to for sweet summer days! Thank you God for the blessing of this gorgeous day!

Big Sister

Anna is really becoming quite the big sister. I think she will be genuinely helpful when our newest baby arrives in July. The Grossner girls always need "a story" when they are going to be going potty for a while. Thanks for your help Anna!

Our Trip to Lexington, KY

Funky focus seemed just right!

All she needed were two fingers up making the peace sign!

Had to get out the camera--

When I saw Carla with Anna's shirt around her waist, some cute too-big boots, and Daddy's leather glove pointing at me, I knew I had to delay getting ready to go to out for a minute to take a few pics! Anna with that flower in her hair was a bonus :)