Even More Baby News!

Another big congratulations is in order! Our friends Jamie and Shawn just found out this week they are expecting! And the baby news just keeps on coming, add them to the list! Shawn has been very good friends with Dave for a very long time, they went to high school together and they grew up playing baseball together. Shawn is actually also my co-worker, we've been working together at the same company for the past year now. Jamie and Shawn were married last October, so they're first anniversary is coming up soon! Jamie has a son, named Cameron who just turned 4 this month. I asked Shawn what Cameron thought about becoming a big brother, he said Cameron told him "I want a brother!" Ha, too funny! We are so excited for them, they are great friends and a wonderful couple.

Congratulation's Jamie & Shawn!!!

Welcome Autumn

- Autumn had Arrived! - This is my second favorite season, Spring of course being my first. So in honor of the changing season, I thought I'd do a little craft project and spruce up the front porch with some seasonal decor! I also added a few Fall touched around the house, which I have also included pictures of. I found everything at Michael's Crafts, except for the scarecrow which I already had. They were having a big sale and who doesn't love a sale?!?! They of course had a ton of scrapbook books, paper, ribbon, and stickers on sale which I just had to have. Everything I bought was on sale, every little bit helps right! Now in my down time from doing school work I can start my next scrapbook. I'm very excited to get this third one underway but I have a few months until this one needs to be done which is great because I have enough on my plate with school right now!

Another reason to love Autumn, two words - Pumpkin Shakes!! I was driving home yesterday from work and Culver's had flashing in lights up on their screen these sweet little words. I had totally forgot all about them. Last season they became my obsession! I had never thought they would be so delicious. If you have never had a Pumpkin Shake or Malt and you like pumpkin pie, I would advise you to try one. I happen to love the ones from Whitey's Ice Cream here in the Quad Cities but I am sure they are good at other ice cream places just the same.

Little Miss Waveland watching mommy's craft corner

Nephew

My parents got the opportunity to make their way up North last week to visit my brother, sister-in-law and the new baby! They brought back with them some adorable pictures of Carter. Isn't he the most beautiful little baby boy you have ever seen!?!?!!! That was more of a statement then a question (I'm not baised at all!). I'm posting my favorite picture (of many of course). He is quite the little face maker already.

The Sleeper

The Smiler

The Sourface

The Thinker...

and my absolute favorite of all, LOVE IT!

The Pouter

He is so adorable. How can you not fall in love! I can't wait to meet him!

Convinced

Now that we have moved out to "the country" as I call it, I have been convinced that we have coyotes around the neighborhood!! Yes we are still in the city limits. However we are only about a mile away from the city limits ending, just under 2 miles from the interstate and there are only two houses to the West of us and then corn fields. So a few weeks ago I was out on our deck hanging up some lights and I swear I heard a coyotes howl. This was during the day and it only howled twice so I wasn't for certain if it was really a coyote or the neighbors dogs who live behind us......expect their dogs weren't out! Since then I haven't been letting the dogs stay outside for very long at night and have been keeping a very close on them when they are out. Then, over this past weekend we had a few friends over and had a little bonfire in the backyard. Well, I told this little story to our friends while we were sitting around the fire and not even 5 minutes later what do we hear........howling! And not just a little howling, this was at least 4 or 5 nice long howls coming from the field just NorthWest from us!!!!! Everyone agreed that it was in fact a coyote and not one of the neighborhood dogs. My suspicions have been confirmed people!!!! We have coyotes!!!

Coyote I would rather see in our neighborhood

The actual coyote I will be watching out for, yikes

Other Baby News *Edited*

I found out this week that one of my cousins, Kristin, is expecting! She is due in March. I am very excited for the both of you.

Congratulations to Kristin & JD!

Also, our friends Megan and Aaron had their doctors appointment last week and they got to find out the sex of their baby. They get their little baseball player....they're having a BOY!!

Congrats to Megan & Aaron!!

Apparently it is the year to have a baby or at least to be expecting!!!! I will list them out for proof of our incredibly fertile friends and family :)

2009 Baby List:

1. Friend Monica gave birth to Micah in January
2. Co-worker Erica gave birth to twins, Quin and Kendal in February
3. Friend Amy gave birth to Kennedy in February
4. Friend Juliet announced they are expecting in October
5. Sister-in-law, Stephanie, announced in March they were expecting in September
6. Brothers friends, Tim and Tracy welcomed Brody in March
7. Friend Katie gave birth to Anna in June
8. Friend Joslyn announced in July they are expecting a January 2010 baby
9. Friend Megan announced in August they are expecting a January 2010 baby
10. Sister-in-law Steph gave birth to Carter in September
11. Cousin Kristin announced this month they are expecting a March 2010 baby
12. *Friends Shawn and Jamie announced this month they are expecting a 2010 baby

And it's only September people!!! That means there is still plently of time for that list to grow!

I'm an Aunt!

I'd like to welcome to the world my precious nephew, Carter Thomas!! He made his appearance early this afternoon at 1:57pm weighing in at 8 pounds 10 ounces and 20 inches long. Stephanie, Jordan and Carter are all doing well. We are all so overjoyed and cannot wait to meet him! I was informed he has lots of hair (thanks to Steph I assume hehe) Congratulations to the new mommy and daddy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CARTER!!

Iowa State

With the Hawkeye win over Iowa State this afternoon, I would just like to rub it in a little more with these

TOP TEN ISU JOKES:

Drum roll please. Let the funny begin.

10. What do you call an intelligent person in Ames, Iowa? Lost.

9. How is the Iowa State football team like a possum? They play dead at home and get killed on the road.

8. Where was O.J. headed in the white Bronco? Ames, Iowa. . . The police would never look there for a Heisman Trophy winner!

7. What's the difference between a porcupine and Jack Trice Stadium? A porcupine has 40,000 pricks on the OUTSIDE.

6. What's the difference between Dan McCarney and a puppy? Eventually, the puppy stops whining.

5. Two Iowa State fans are walking in the woods. One says, "Look! A dead bird!" The other one looks up in the sky and says, "Where?"

4. Why don't Iowa State students use 911 in an emergency? They can't find "11" on the phone dial.

3. What's the difference between an Iowa State national championship team and Superman? Neither of them exist.

2. Why did they quit serving ice water at Iowa State games? The guy with the recipe died.

1. What do you call a convoy of John Deere tractors going down the road? The Iowa State homecoming parade.

Annoyed Much?

I was surfing around on the Internet during my lunch break this afternoon when I came across this article on http://www.thenest.com/ in which a lady started up a blog about how annoying her husband is. It's pretty hilarious, my husband does some the things she talks about! Other wives write to her and she even share their stories about what their husbands do that are annoying.

You know when your spouse does that thing that just irks the crap out of you? Tiffanie Wong feels your pain. In March, she married Mark Joyella -- the man of her dreams -- and realized one very important thing: He's annoying. His nickname for her (baby muskrat), character impersonations (his favorite: Zoolander), and poor gift-shopping skills (he gave Tiffanie a calculator for her birthday) were enough to make her start venting via blog. The result: http://myhusbandisannoying.com/ Trust me -- it'll make you feel better. Tiffanie's site is getting loads of attention lately. Apparently, everyone is annoyed at their husbands. His hair in the sink. His habit of leaving milk cartons in the fridge that have approximately two drops left. His insistence on singing U2 ballads in the shower (what...is that just me?). So what's your spouse's most annoying quirk?

My husband is also a BIG fan of the Zoolander face...case in point...

Happy 09-09-09!

I would like to say.....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JORDAN!!

My Big Brother turns the big 3-0 today! A few sayings I came across for those turning 30...

"When you turn thirty, a whole new thing happens. You see yourself acting like your parents." - Blair Sabol

"The only time you really live fully is from thirty to sixty. The young are slaves to dreams; the old servants of regrets. Only the middle-aged have all their five senses in the keeping of their wits." - Hervey Allen

"At the age of twenty, we don't care what the world thinks of us; at thirty, we worry about what it is thinking of us; at forty, we discover that it wasn't thinking of us at all." - Anonymous

"Just remember, once you're over the hill you begin to pick up speed." - Charles Schulz

Also Happy 09-09-09!! (p.s. this was the 9th color to choose from!)

• The date represents the last set of repeating, single digit dates that we will see for almost a century (until January 1, 2101)!
• The number nine in some cultures is lucky.
• The number nine is also associated with forgiveness, compassion and success, as well as arrogance and self-righteousness according to numerologists.
• The date falls on a Wednesday in September, both of which have 9 letters.
• The sum of the two-digits resulting from nine multiplied by any other single-digit number will equal nine. So 9x3=27, and 2+7=9.
• Multiply nine by any two, three or four-digit number and the sums of those will also break down to nine. For example: 9x62 = 558; 5+5+8=18; 1+8=9.
• Sept. 9 also happens to be the 252nd day of the year (2 + 5 +2) = ?
• More than most, baseball is a game steeped in nines: nine players on the field at one time, nine innings, 90 feet between bases and nine strikes per inning.

Who loves the number 9!!

Summer Time Bash

Well we finally held our first big event at the new house! With an extended holiday weekend due to Labor Day, we thought what better to do than celebrate. So we invited friends, family and neighbors over for great food, cocktails, and good company. We had a variety of delicious food and am thankful to have such good friends and family to help out and contribute. We had a variety of lawn games to keep everyone entertained from bags to bocce ball to wiffleball along with our shuffleboard in the Rec Room. Later in the evening my father and father-in-law make a nice little fire for everyone to sit around. My aunt Marge and uncle Bill drove 2 hours to come visit for awhile. We even had surprise guests, my uncle Larry and his girlfriend drove up from Kansas City to spend the weekend with our family. And our cousins Curt and Cari brought their kids Lucas and Lexi down from their campsite in Iowa City. We have such wonder family and friends, we were so excited to see everyone and so thankful for everyone who could make it. We will definitely have to do it again!!!! Pictures to follow (we still don't have Internet so it might be awhile)

More Reasons to Love September

My brother brought to my attention that I forgot a major event/holiday in September that I somehow seemed to forgot....his birthday!! So Jordan, I would like to make a formal public apologize to you, how I could ever leave that out, I don't know. In my defensive, my previous blog about why I love September was devoted to tailgating, although there are several other reasons why I love this particular month this year and I will add them to my list (in no particular order).

• My brother Jordan's 30th birthday! (please see tomorrows blog which will be devoted to you)
• Becoming an Aunt for the first time....any day now
• My father's 60th birthday
• Dave's trip to Boston and having an entire house to myself for 5 days
• Our first big bash at the new house
• Kelsey's birthday
• Jackie and Matt's wedding
• Autumn begins Sept 22nd
• Yom Kippur - can't leave anything out here or I might get yelled at again :) hehe

Now I hope I did not leave any special dates, occasions, or events out!

Why I love September

Reasons why I love September:

• Fall is right around the corner
• Every Saturday morning all those young and old, are waking up at the crack of dawn all across the state of Iowa and making their way to Iowa City
• That feeling you get when you take that first deep breath of the cool crisp Fall air
• The flood of Black & Gold
• The sound of those first few beer cans opening up at 7:00am
• Thousands of Hawkeye fans swarming Melrose Ave. and Olive Court
• The smell of the grill and all the amazing food
• Wearing mittens and sweatshirts in the morning and being in a tank top by noon
• Tailgating with friends, family and fans

All this can only mean one thing, it's that time again.... Iowa Football Season!!!!!!!

This Saturday is the official kickoff of the Iowa Hawkeye Football Season. Iowa will take on the University of Northern Iowa at Kinnick. And although I went to UNI, I will cheer them on, but my heart will be with Iowa. Iowa City will be celebrating with FRYFEST and the official unveiling of Hayden Fry Way with a number of activities throughout the weekend. I am definitely looking forward to this years tailgating season. Go Hawks!