Our little golfer

Joy loves to play golf these days. You will see some serious concentration and good basic golf skills in the pictures below. Dada is really proud. But, I think we may have to move the golf clubs outside pretty soon because she can really hit them far and in the air. I also think it is so cute to hear her call the 3 clubs she has by name: putter, wedge, and driver.

Night Swinging & Sliding

Hi everyone. We are grieving the loss of our outdoor playtime before and after dinner these days. Joy asked to go outside while she was eating on Monday night. I started giving her our usual response, "It's too dark to play outside". Then Danny chimed in quietly & respectfully, asking for my approval, "you know..." My response, "if you want to continue allowing this idea past tonight, it is up to you". To his credit, they had a blast. Here is what resulted...

Halloween 2011

Joy plays in leaf pile

Hi again. Life during the month of October has been very busy. It's been a good busy, working during the week, and family events on the weekends. We moved Joy into her big girl bed at the end of September. She really likes it and has adjusted well, for the most part. There is an occasional skipped nap, but that doesn't happen too often. We've been soaking up the last of the nice weather. Joy loves playing outside, so she makes sure we get our fair share of vitamin D everyday. It has been quite windy lately. This caused all the leaves in the yard and nearby to pack in around the front of our house. We went out after work on Friday to clear it out some and Joy took over the pile. It is something that all kids do, but it is so fun to have my kid doing it now too. We took some photos and video of her having a blast out there. You'll find that below.
Lastly, the baby and I are doing well. I'm over the 'morning' sickness and just hungry all the time now. I had several migraines early on during month 4 but I haven't had one now in two weeks! Danny is nearing the end of the golf season. The internet-based golf program that he started with his dad is taking off. There are at least 15 golf courses in the area using it and lots more to reach out too yet. There have been several on-the-spot sales which is very encouraging for everyone involved!
Well, that about covers us for now. Have a very blessed fall and I'll do my best to keep this updated better.

Joy's Birthday Party

Well, Joy is officially 2. I think she celebrated for almost 5 days straights. My whole family arrived at our house either on Friday night or Saturday morning. We had about 40 people to our house for Joy's party on Saturday afternoon. Joy was pretty quiet and overwhelmed by it all, even though she knew almost everyone there. She was very excited to eat her Elmo cupcakes, decorated by Aunt Christi! My family left Sunday afternoon and she had another small party at Grandma Rainbows with all the kids on Monday morning, her actual birthday. The days before, during, and after her birthday were filled with lots of birthday songs, even at 6:00 in the morning one day. We all had a wonderful time last weekend! Thanks to everyone who made it so special! Here is a highlight video of the birthday party.

Surprise

Hi everyone. Joy's interest in babies has become even greater lately because we've been talking about her becoming a big sister soon. Yes, we are expecting our second baby around March 29. Joy says she wants a sister and she has named the baby Tom. :) I'm sure she doesn't understand half of what she is saying, but it is very entertaining to us. Since our due date is March 29, that puts me at 10.5 weeks now. I've been feeling nauseous most days, but mornings are the best. I'm looking forward to the first trimester being over soon which should equal the return of some energy and more normal eating habits again.
We are also looking forward to the upcoming celebration of Joy turning 2. Time has FLOWN by! She has definitely entered the terrible twos. I'm a bit surprised by the huge challenge this has presented. I'm very thankful for two sets of grandparents that love Joy so much and are so willing to have Joy visit them often. She actually just returned from a visit to the Krafve farm. Danny and I enjoyed some R&R for 1.5 days. We went out to eat and did some shopping on Saturday. Sunday started by getting some work done and then ended with us golfing and going out for pizza at Doughboys in Waunakee. I highly recommend that pizza place if you are in the area! I guess it's one of Steve Stricker's favorite spots!
Here is a picture of us the night we shared our baby news with the Rainbows.

Joy goes golfing

We finally got Joy out to the golf course last week. Of course, she enjoyed riding the golf cart again and she even took a swing, with dad's help, at a few balls. She demonstrated some great problem solving skills on how to get the ball from point A to point B. She has been practicing at home ever since and has quickly learned how to hold the club and hit the ball on her own. Dad is pretty proud! Enjoy the videos below...