September 29, 2008

I know it’s been awhile since I last wrote to you, but since the last time the Seevers’ household has been a little busy. September 17 – 21, Jerry and I went to Seattle, WA for a little vacation. It was our 5 year anniversary present to each other. We figured since we haven’t been on a real vacation since our honeymoon, now was the time to go…alone. So we packed our bags, had Jerry’s mom come stay with the girls and flew to Seattle for 5 days. The weather was cold, cloudy, and rainy. The sights we saw were pretty cool. Our favorite was the Pike Place Market. I just wish there was more of the local shops, but there were quite a few. We walked everywhere!!! We decided that we didn’t really need to go back anytime soon, but we’re glad we went. We had never been there before and it was a place both of us had wanted to go. We had heard a lot about it and wanted to check it out for ourselves…so now we’ve been there, done that, and don’t need to go back.
So now that we’re home, it’s back to normal…laundry, cooking, cleaning, and of course work. But of course there's always a little time to play too, and or dance in the nude.This past week we also had to plan a very special birthday party for a very special 3 year old. You got it, Ally turns 3 years old today! Where has the time gone? I have been thinking about the day she was born all day today. ALL the pain she caused me (trust me, I’ll never forget that pain), and when the nurse called her “buddy”, I thought she was a boy for a half a second, and the crazy drugs they gave me to ‘help with the pain’, but all they really did was make me extremely loopy. Remembering all the things that happened that day makes it seem like it was yesterday and here we are three years later and two more girls later. It’s amazing how life changes and you have all the past memories to look back on.

Yesterday we celebrated Ally turning three. We had a big party for her and she did amazingly great. She was talking to her friends, she opened all her presents (with a little help from her cousins and friends), and she even sat by her cake while everyone sang to her. She did of course need a little extra help blowing out her candles, I think that was a little overwhelming for her. But overall, she was happy and excited about it being her birthday. A HUGE thank you to all of you that came to her party! She got so many nice presents that she even took a couple of them to bed with her. She got a new cell phone (a toy cell phone) that she of course had to bring to bed with her. As I was reading her a bedtime story last night her phone kept ringing, I thought, “man she sure is popular”! She would answer, “hello, yeah, I’m just reading a book, ok, love you, bye”, then she would hang up. And of course the phone would ring again, and she would answer it, “hello, yeah, I’m just reading a book, ok, love you, bye”. I just kept on reading, then Jerry came in from closing the garage and moving the cars back into the driveway. Ally’s phone rang again, I just kept on reading pretending I didn’t hear it, Ally answered it again, “hello, yeah, I’m just reading a book, ok, love you, bye”, Jerry lost it. He couldn’t control his laughter and then of course I started to laugh and Ally just looked at us like, “what, it was someone really important”. She sure knows how to put a smile on our faces!
So today is the actual big day for her. She’s been laying low. I think yesterday took a toll on her. She actually took a nap for me, which NEVER happens on my watch. Tonight we went to dinner with grandma and grandpa Bommelje. We went to Culver’s because they have good ice cream…Ally ate a pretty good dinner, so she got vanilla ice cream with blue and white sprinkles on top. She even shared a little with her sisters, she’s so sweet sometimes. When it was all said and done, or so we thought, Ally got a slight sugar buzz and was bouncing off the walls when we left Culver’s and when we got home, all the way up until sisters went to bed. NO MORE ICE CREAM FOR HER!

September 10, 2008

Aren't praying mantis's supposed to live outside? One decided to try to move in with us this afternoon when I got home from work. It climbed up the front door (when the door was open) and the it climbed inside on the door casing and started camping out. The girls weren't too fond of the giant 'bug'. The babies kept calling it a bug and Ally didn't know what to say about it. It was the biggest praying mantis we've ever seen. This thing was giant sized and it had fangs and pincher's the size of lobsters (ok, maybe not that big, but it was huge)! Jenn and I kept laughing at Lauren and OG because they wouldn't go near it. Ally was more interested in eating than the 'bug'...OG was really interested, but every time I lifted her up to see it she freaked out and kept saying "no, no, no". Lauren would just grab on to my shirt for dear life, and then she would cry. You would almost think that we were throwing them to the wolves or something, but it was just a praying mantis. To give you an idea of how big it was, take a look at these terrifying pictures.

This is Jerry's hand next to the gigantic 'bug'. Can you see how scary it is?

OG was not too impressed, at least not up close. She loved the 'bug' as long as it wasn't too close to her.All Ally wanted was her Go-Gurt, that's the ONLY reason she's smiling. Jenn bribed her by saying if she got a picture with the 'bug' then Jenn would cut her Go-Gurt open. Ally came running with a big smile on her face!Every time Jenn or I asked Lauren if she wanted to see the 'bug' she would whine and shake her head no. It was really funny and she'll probably be scarred for life because I made Jenn hold her up so I could get a picture of her with the 'bug'. Don't worry, Jenn's the best nanny ever, she's agreed to pay for all Lauren's therapy!

After Jerry came home and the girls showed him the 'bug', Ally opened the door and the 'bug' decided to jump off the door casing onto Jerry's shoulder. Jerry realized it and jumped a little bit, but I thought it had jumped outside. I said "where'd it go?" and Jerry turned and I screamed. That scared the babies a little and then they started crying a little. Then the gigantic thing started climbing up Jerry's neck...he freaked out....here's a picture of him cringing...

See the 'bug' on his right shoulder...look hard, it's a little blurry. Once it started climbing up his neck he shook it off and it 'flew' on the floor and started walking up the wall. Once the cat saw it, he wanted to join in the fun too. He tried playing with it and Ally kept yelling at him "Bubby, no! No, Bubby!" The best part was when gigantor praying mantis was trying to get away from all of us and it flew down to the floor, right next to Olivia. She fell in the cat's food, crawling away, while crying. Lauren was standing about 2 feet from her and started screaming, flipping out because she figured this thing was going to attack her sister. It was hilarious! At that point, I got out the video camera and started taping the girls, the cat, and the monstrous praying mantis! After messing with the 'bug' for about an hour, Jerry took it outside on the deck with the girls and they let it go. As much as that 'bug' was probably terrified of the girls it had no idea how much they were horrified of it! Maybe I'll send the video into Funniest Home Videos!

September 5 & 6, 2008

As many of you know Sept. 5, 2003 was the day Jerry and I got married. Yes, it's already been 5 years! Can you believe it? A lot has happened in the last 5 years...I look back and think, 'boy we were young, did we really know what we were doing?' Sometimes I still feel that way, but with 5 years comes growth, wisdom, and three kids!

Jerry and I did go out on our anniversary. The kids spent the night at grandma and grandpa Bommelje's. Ally said she was going to sleep in "grandpa's bus", their new motor home, don't worry she didn't, as far as I know. Jerry took me to Long Horn for dinner, it was really good, and then we went downtown for the fireworks, of course...just like on our wedding night. It was a little different though, we actually watched them from the 3rd floor of my cousin's Rob and Dynl's condo on the corner of Sixth Street and Monroe. They had a little get together and we crashed it, along with my mom, Bob, and Ally.

After a long week for both Jerry and I at work, we even got to sleep in this morning! That never happens, well at least that never happens for me. Jerry on the other hand is impossible to wake up and he pretty much sleeps in most weekend mornings.

Anyway, today was also an exciting day for our family...my brother Paul finally proposed to his girlfriend Amy! We thought he'd never get married...just kidding, we knew he'd find the right woman one of these days! It took a while, but he was just waiting for the perfect one to come along, and she finally did! Words can not explain how excited and happy we are for the two of them! Ally can finally call Amy, "Aunt Amy" and have it be true! Congrats to the both of them! We can't wait for the wedding day!