Fathers Day

Looking at this picture of Doug and Abi from yesterday made me want to dedicate a post to Doug and his journey through fatherhood.....

Doug was anxious about having a child. We made a deal that we had to wait at least a year, have my car paid off, and he wanted to be done with school. Doug worked really hard to get his Masters before Abi was born. I know that he was really nervous throughout the whole pregnancy but once she was born he admitted that he couldn't imagine life without her. Here are some of the things that make him a great daddy:




*When Abi was born, Doug was constantly holding her
*He takes naps and snuggles with her
*Doug will always take time to dance with Abi
*He works so hard so that I can stay home with her
*He paints her bedroom and bathroom before any other room in the house
*He plays with her
*He will go into bounce houses, toys, and anything else with her when she is too afraid so that she can still have fun
*He worries about her getting hurt at the playground even more than I do (this is saying something!)
*He gets up with her on Saturday mornings and they watch cartoons together and eat Honeybuzzers
*He tells her that he loves her
*He is able to give her blessings
*He makes a big deal about her drawings
*He is proud of her
*He teaches her things like how to play on the computer
*He gives her rides on his back
*He likes to go on outings with us
*He will do anything for her

We love you Doug! Happy Fathers Day!

Our Dads

Doug and I are truly blessed. We have great fathers. I would like to take this fathers day to honor them too.
First, my dad:
My dad worked really hard. He was gone a lot in the Navy but when he was home... he was home. His world revolved around my family. He is a war hero. He served our country in Vietnam serving more tours and time there than anyone should have. He even earned a few Purple hearts and many other medals during his service. One of my favorite memories is that when I was really little I told my dad that I wanted to be just like him. He said that he was a gorilla. I said "I'm your baby gorilla" So, using humor that went right over my little head he said, "I'm a bacholer gorilla" So I said, 'Then I'm a baby bacholer gorilla." That then became our family joke. Even on this blog you will see the picture of Abi with a gorilla and it says for grandpa. This is why. And as he has become a Grandpa he is even better. He is always there for the kids, he will always be to an event no matter what! (Too bad he lives so far from us) He loves to play with Abi and makes her so happy. And he gave her his eye color!! I love you daddy!


And Doug's dad:
One of Doug's greatest ambitions is to make his Dad proud. It's as simple as that. He always worked hard to provide for his wife and six children and set an example for his sons. Doug looks up to him more than anyone. They share a love for bagpipes and after watching his dad learn how to play them , Doug is now learning as well. Grampy Van Wagenen was the first family member to hold Abi after she was born. This was very special. Abi really likes to go look for him when we are staying with them in Utah and he is known for his "patty cake" and bouncy knee games. Abi thinks its very funny. I love you dad!


So, to both of our dads- thank you for being examples to us of hard work, love, and dedication. We love you both! Happy Fathers Day!

Saturday

Yesterday we went down to the harbor again but this time Doug came with us. I was originally supposed to go to Chicago for a TwilightMoms lunch but a few days ago I decided I didn't want to go. I knew it would be fun but I thought that on Fathers Day weekend I should be with Doug and Abi. Also I knew that Doug would love to go to McDonalds since he loves it and we never go and I knew that we'd be able to eat there for close to the same price that we would have spent for me to go to a sit down place.. so we went to the marketplace, the sneak peek of the Civil War Museum, the playground, and then McDonalds and then we came home and painted Abi's bathroom. I wanted to paint it yellow at first but then after doing her room we had so much extra paint and I hate wasting anything that costs money... especially that much money. So, we used the green that we used in her bedroom and I am so glad we did. I think it turned out great.
Abi and her stovepipe hat at the museum:(Doug called her "Abiham Lincoln")

Running to the fountain:

Playing on the toys:

Her bathroom:

Friday

Friday Abi and I drove up to Toys r us for the grand opening of babies r us so that we could see Funshine Bear and Strawberry Shortcake and take part in the festivities. It was really fun. Abi was so excited to see them but then of course she freaked out and wouldn't go near them unless I was holding her and even then was nervous! It was a fun day though. They had cake, cookies, water, and juice boxes for everyone. Abi got to make foam bookmarks, color pages, and got a little pack of crayons. We also got two car sunshades and two drawstring bags for free. Then I was able to do a little bday shopping for some of Abi's friends, some stuff for a friends baby shower, and for Abi's bday (yes this far in advance) and basically we got about a hundred dollars worth of stuff for $20. It was awesome. We had a really great time. Oh- and Abi's favorite part- she got a balloon!

I've been tagged- by Brent and Karen (how do I link it?)

~Link the person(s) who tagged you

~Mention the rules on your blog

~Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours

~Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them

~Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged

My quirks:

Well, I could go on for quite awhile... I think I have a lot of quirks. But here are 6.

1. I play with my hair.
2. I almost always have to be doing something (like blogs, crafts, cleaning, etc) while watching tv or movies or I feel like a slacker.
3. I hate being away from my kid when she is awake.
4. I eat my food in squares... like if I'm eating a waffle or something it will be rotated while I'm eating it so it becomes and then stays a square.
5. I carry hand sanitizer with me everywhere and constantly use it and wash my hands.
6. I re-arrange furniture A LOT! I think it helps me to not get bored living in the same place for too long- my navy brat roots make it hard for me to stay in one place.

Thursday fun

I wanted to stay in the kitchen area yesterday because we were having tornado and storm watches. Luckily for us, the storm passed by without coming into our area but I had the news on for a few hours watching the warnings. Doug was working late and I was trying to find ways to keep Abi busy that would allow me to keep up to date on the weather. So, we made pizza together. This is the first time I have had her help me with this. She loved wearing the apron I made her and "hitting" the pizza dough. Then we used the three balloons I got from a friends baby shower Wednesday night and made them into our family.

The Basement

I talked about the storms here the other day... here are some pics from our time spent in the basement Sunday night.

Abi's new dress

Thanks Grammy and Gramps for the new church dress! I love it! I wanted Abi to wear it a week ago right after we got it but that was the day we ended up in the hospital with her having an ear infection. So she finally got to wear it this past Sunday. She loved it. She has been saying she wanted a yellow dress for awhile now. She just had to take her purse to church today with her kitty in it.

Closet organization #2: The Craft Closet

In our 2nd bedroom known as "Doug's room" we set out to set up a closet for my scrapbook stuff. I have been organizing and re-organizing this stuff in different parts of the house for the past year and have finally done it the way it will stay!! What I already owned: The 8.5x11 paper holder- got at KMA in Utah a few years ago for very cheap, the 12x12 paper holder-got at a garage sale last fall for 5 bucks, the 3 drawer cart- got at Walmart last summer for 4 dollars, the white buckets- got at walmart for <2 10="" 3="" a="" above="" added="" all="" and="" are="" at="" below="" bought:="" boxes="" br="" buckets-="" bucks="" clear="" closets="" couple="" craft="" dollars.="" etc.="" existing="" feet="" for="" four="" got="" have="" i="" it="" just="" lobby="" long.="" love="" match="" more="" my="" obby="" one="" over="" photo="" photos="" posted="" room="" scrapbook="" scrapbooks="" sewing="" shelf.="" shelf="" shelves="" so="" stamping="" stay="" stuff.="" stuff="" target="" that="" the="" they="" to="" try="" two="" walmart="" went="" were="" what="" wire="" would="">OFF SUBJECT POST: While going into Target some seagulls flew overhead squawking. Abi pointed at them laughing and said "They said Mine, Mine, Mine, Mine!" This may only be funny to those of you who have seen Finding Nemo.

Where in the world did we move to?

I knew Wisconsin would be cold. I knew we'd have long winters. Yes, the 30 below wind chills and snow piles taller than me are not fun... but they were expected. What I didn't expect was that we were moving to tornado alley/flood central! Last January, as most of you probably saw on the news, we were hit by a few tornados here. When the sirens went off I didn't know what to do. It didn't look like tornado weather outside. I went out to check the mail and it got dark suddenly. I looked back at the house and saw Abi in the doorway in the same line of vision as the clouds beginning to swirl. I sprinted back and grabbed her and ran to the basement. So, anyway, I thought that when the sirens went back off you could come back up- kind of an "all clear" but I found out Friday night that it's just a "take cover"and you have to stay down until they are gone whenever that may be. Well, it rained all weekend. Really rained. This trailer park is just a little way down the street from us and normally just has a little stream running through it. But we also had tornado after tornado warning. I spent so much time in the basement. Sunday night it went off at night. We rushed to grab some clothes, shoes, blankets, and woke up Abi. Doug grabbed some food and drink on his way down. This was his first time being home during one. We spent over an hour down in the basement sitting on an old bed mattress cover thing while we watched the laptop waiting for the warning to go away.(Thank goodness for wireless internet!) I used to love storms and tornados even... but now that I have Abi it really freaks me out.

The scar

Well, Abi's glue finally came off her head yesterday. It has been almost a month since the accident. I was so anxious to see the scar. It's worse than I thought but not as bad as it could have been... so now we'll just have to watch it for awhile to see if it fades. If not, our friend Tanya told us about some cream we can put on it to help along the process. Abi was very excited to have the glue come off!!

New Playroom Layout

Now that preschool is out for the summer, I decided to touch up the paint on the walls around the house. I had to move everything to the center of the room. So, being me, I could not put them back the same way. I had to re-arrange. I took some toys to the basement and brought down some of Abi's "own" toys from her room. I really like the new arrangement.

A Busy Weekend

What a crazy weekend this has been! As most of you know I am hardly ever away from Abi and Doug but this weekend was an exception. (although Abi was usually asleep while I was gone)Thursday night I had a mini movies night with Emily at her apartment. We "watched" While You Were Sleeping- but really we talked the whole time. Friday I went to a surprise bday party for Tanya. It was really fun to help surprise her and to hang out and scrapbook together. Then last night I went to a skin care party at the Bruners. It has been a fun weekend.
Yesterday morning I decided to take Abi down to the lake while Doug was mowing the lawn and we ended up staying all morning. They were having a harbor market. This is my favorite thing about Kenosha. I love the lake. We walked around the booths, Abi got a "Care Bear" balloon made for her, we played and made wishes in the fountain, chased ducks, and played at the playground for a long time. It was really fun!
Abi by the fountain:

Abi with her Care Bear:

Chasing ducks:

Playing in the shipwreck:

The suspension bridge- so funny how she would get off of it:

Sailing the ship:

Going down a big slide for the first time by herself:

You can click on the pics to make them bigger!

Junk Drawer Makeover

Yes, while doing my pantry makeover, I did my junk drawer too. I really wish I had taken pictures of this. It was terrible!!! So, I bought a few divider thingies (again, from Walmart- <$1 for a package of them) and grouped the most used things into these holders in the drawer. I then threw the rest of the stuff that gets used but not as often into a basket that I labeled with a tag and put in the cupboard above the junk drawer. This is where I also added a "first aid" basket with bandages and the "meds" basket with medicine in it. This kitchen organization has been really rewarding... I can't wait to tackle the rest of our closets!!!

Pantry makeover

I like to be organized.I make lists for everything. So, I was inspired by a pantry makeover I found on the create your own experience blog and put it into action. Unfortunately I did not remember to take before pictures... but it was pretty much your average pantry. Not terrible but things falling over, rice spilling, stuff put back wherever. I LOVE the new makeover. What I did was I used a bunch of cheap (under $2)dish bins from Walmart to organize things in, mostly white but a few red. I then made labels for all of them. As you see the red buckets have big labels, the white ones have tied on labels. I outlined the labels in red for some color and then wrote the contents on them. I tied them on with pretty red ribbon (also bought at walmart for 33 cents a yard!)I used some cereal holder things (yes, again from Walmart). The ones with the black lids are from Doug's mom but the ones with white lids are the Walmart <$2 ones. I labeled these with little address labels. The bins are labeled with things like breakfast items, lunch stuff,Abi's snacks and juice, pasta, baking things, cake decorating, doug's video games, phone books, soda, etc. Now I love opening my pantry!!