Halfway

We just recently passed the halfway point of our pregnancy! I am currently 21 weeks, which means about 130 days to go ;) I am feeling great! After a full day of teaching and coming home to keep up with Kelsey, I am pretty tired at night and usually fall asleep by 9pm everynight. However, that seems pretty minor to me. Thus far I have gained about 6 pounds. According to Baby Center (great website by the way!), the baby is about the size of a carrot. (10 inches) When we went for our ultrasound last week, the doctor said the baby weighs almost 1 lb. Everything looked good and is measuring just as it should be. Just like with Kelsey, I am not showing a ton yet. I wish I already had the big belly though! I loved being pregnant with Kelsey and feel the same about this baby. There is just something so beautiful and amazing about a pregnant woman's belly bump. The doctor said not to worry, it will get there. For me, I think it is just another sign that everything is moving along as it should and makes everything seem that much more real. However, baby is moving a lot now so that gives me great comfort and joy. Matt is unable to feel the movement yet, but that will come, too. Here are a few pics of my growing belly. I hope I don't offend anyone. I am also attaching the profile picture from the ultrasound. We are definitely looking forward to March when Baby Skala #2 arrives. Oh, and for those of you wondering what the baby is, we did not find out, so you'll have to wait until March!

Pumpkin Carving 2010

We had our annual pumpkin carving festivities with the Skala clan on Sunday afternoon. Last year Kelsey was not really into it and this year was not much different. We thought she might like getting in there and helping Daddy, but when she got just a little bit of the pumpkin guts on her, she tried desperately to wipe it off. That was about the extent of her pumpkin carving contributions.She would rather see what Lucas was up to or play with the Ginskey's cool toys. Thankfully, Matt was a trooper and carved our pumpkins. He made a cute girly kind of face and also attempted the Disney Magic Kingdom. Thanks, Daddy :)I am not much of a pumpkin carver myself so I appreciate that he is willing to do it for us. Connor rounded out our pumpkins with a face that I drew. As you can see from the pics, we were all in our Packer and Viking gear in honor of the big game that night. Great way to end our MEA break.

MEA Break

I have been waiting for MEA break for awhile! Wednesday night we went to the Husky football game with Grandma Vickie. It was a little chilly and Kelsey was pretty antsy the first half, but thankfully she snuggled the second half and the Huskies went on to beat JM! Thursday we just hung around the house while Daddy had football in the morning. In the afternoon, Kelsey and Matt got their flu shots. They were both very brave, although Kelsey did shed more tears than Matt. That night, Mattey and I went on a date :) Natey and Diane watched Kelsey while we went out to dinner. We have not done that in a really long time! Friday morning brought more football for Mattey. However, once he got home our family time began :) We spent the afternoon and evening in the cities. We did some shopping and took Kelsey to Chuck E. Cheese's. It was her first time there and she did not know which way to look first! What a busy place!

By the time we got home, she was a very tired little girl.

Pumpkin Patch, St. Mary's Carnival, Pumpkin Party

It seems I have gone back to my regular Sunday updates, so here you go! We started the weekend by going to the Huskies football game on Friday night. Nate, Diane, Connor, Kelsey, and I got dressed in our royal blue and cheered the huskies on to a victory over Faribault! This picture is funny because just as I went to snap it the team kicked off and Natey noticed it was an onside kick.

Saturday morning Kelsey and I went to buy her some underwear because she has been doing so well with potty training. She doesn't tell us she needs to go all the time, but if we put her on every 30-60 minutes, she usually goes. I think we will try undies this week over MEA and just see what happens. I know we will have accidents, but she is so close to being ready. She was cute picking them out at the store because she wanted them all. She settled on Disney princesses and Tinkerbell.
Later after nap we met up with the Skala clan at the local pumpkin patch. It was a great fall day with perfect weather. Kelsey was a little timid at first, but warmed up to it all quickly. She has been big into saying "I scared". Not sure what is prompting it, but with some reassurance she seems to get over it. (Unless of course it is a frog--see previous apple orchard post) While there we went on a hayride, watched Kelsey and Grandma go down the big blow up slide, watched the goats, played in the blow up house, and walked through the corn maze. Kelsey wanted to keep up with the Ginskey boys in the maze and Mommy was a little nervous nelly because she would dart around the corners and I couldn't always see her. Thanksfully Daddy was there to catch her and keep Mommy calm ;)










Next up was the St. Mary's carnival which benefits St. Mary's school. They had a bunch of games set up, along with food and prizes. Kelsey tried the ducky game, spinner game, fishing game, wishing well, cars ball throw, and cake walk. Mommy kind of "suggested" the cake walk as the desserts looked amazing. Bummer we didn't win, but that is probably a good thing. Kelsey came home with many treasures including a pencil, notebook, orange and blue hair extension, mini-stuffed animals, jump rope, and candy. What a lucky lady!




Finally we headed out to the annual pumpkin party hosted by a family we have gotten to know since Matt coaches their sons. They really do it up with a corn maze, corn pit, food, entertainment, and pumpkins for everyone. By the time we got there Kelsey was on overload from our busy afternoon, but she was a trooper and had a blast. She really liked the corn pit and didn't want to get out. She also pushed the black tubing with Daddy and would stick her head in one end and yell "Hello?" Mattey was also able to catch up with some of his graduated baseball players who were home for the party. Once it got dark, Kelsey decided it was time to go and let us know with a case of the whinies. Can't really blame her though as it was quite the busy afternoon and evening.


What a fun fall day!

Sunday Helper

Connor came over after church today to help Matt do some yard work around the house. Connor's school is raising money and in order to do that, Connor decided to do chores for people as an exchange for donating to his school. Connor helped Matt pull out the rest of our flowers from our garden first. Next, Uncle Matt trimmed the bushed and Connor helped pick up all the clippings. Kelsey wanted to help, too. It was a gorgeous day for being outside. Thanks for coming over, Connor! We are happy we could help support your school!

Apple Orchard Weekend

This week we celebrated the annual Smith Family Apple Orchard Weekend. I have been very anxious for this because I have not seen my dad since August. This is usually the longest stretch we have to go without seeing each other and I was definitely ready for it to end. Matt and Kelsey started the festivities a little early because they attended the Homecoming parade on Friday afternoon while we waited for Grandpa to arrive. Since I teach in a different district than Matt, I was not able to go :( They had fun though without me! The weather was a little out of season as they were able to wear shorts and t-shirts due to the temps rising to the upper 80s...in October!




When I got home from school, Kelsey and I patiently waited for Grandma and Grandpa to arrive. Kelsey gave them a grand entrance when they got here and ran to them yelling, "Hi Grandpa Larry and Grandma Chris!!!" Once we were all reaquainted, we dressed in blue and went to the Huskies game. It was a nail biter, but the Huskies pulled out a win! Again, how weird we were comfortable in t-shirts at the game. Not typical for a football game in October.
Saturday morning we were back at it bright and early as we went to cheer on Soren at his soccer game. The unseasonal weather continued and we all wore summer clothes.
Here is Soren's cheering squad:



Next up was the main event--the Apple Orchard! Last year it rained the entire time we were there so we never got to pick our own apples. We were sure this year would be different---however, mother nature thought she was funny by dropping a 20 minute rain storm on us when we arrived. Thankfully, we hung out in the shop and waited for it to pass. With the mini-storm did bring a cold front that made us have to put on our sweatshirts, but not for long :)

We have gone to the same apple orchard the past 2 years and decided to adopt trees for our kids this year with the idea that we will continue to use this orchard in the future. It is a free program where a tree is designated as your child's/children's tree. Then every year you go there the kids can pick a small bag of apples for free and you can see how big your tree is getting.



Kelsey did pretty well with picking apples. She was more worried about the frog she spotted and how she was going to stay away from it. Not a frog fan apparently. Grandpa helped out with filling her bag while she kept on the lookout ;)





We found a perfect spot to take pictures of the kids before we left. We are quite the spectical trying to get 7 kids ages 6 and under to smile and look at the camera. Here is what I came up with:


We made our way to our house for an afternoon of family time. First we had lunch which everyone devoured from all our hard work. Next, the girls went shopping (with all my coupons, right girls?!?) and the boys watched the Badger/Gopher game and hung out with the kids. When the ladies returned we were back to work and started the pie making process. I got this great apple peeler for a gift last year and was so excited to use it because it makes peeling and slicing apples so easy.....unless the handle breaks off :( How does that happen after barely ever using it? We did eventually rig up a way to make it work without the crank, although it took 5 adults worth of trying and many laughs.

Due to the great weather, the kids played outside quite a bit and the guys got in there to play a game of baseball with everyone.



We ordered pizzas to round out the night and ate apple pie for dessert. What a good combo :) No one went hungry, that's for sure.

What a wonderful way to spend our weekend. I am so thankful that everyone makes it work coming from different areas to be together. As everyone drove away I did shed a few tears because it was just so good to all be together. Can't wait to do it again next year.