From the Heart Walk

Stacey, Vickie and I participated in the 3rd annual From the Heart walk/run on Saturday. We have walked this event all 3 years and each year seems to get bigger. There were approximately 800 people who came out to show their support for 3 families who have been dealt the difficult hand of cancer. All the proceeds from the event go to support them in an attempt to ease some of their financial burden. Unfortunately, one of the recipients, a 2nd grade little boy, passed away a few weeks ago. His family is setting up a scholarship in his memory with their portion.
We ladies walked the 5k and although we did not set a new speed record, we did enjoy each other's company and got our dupas moving for the day ;) Each year we tell each other that we are going to run it "next year." Be sure to check the blog next May to see if that comes true. HA! I better get training now!

A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E

Here are some new pictures of the ones I love:

Happy Mother's Day!

As a little girl I dreamed of being a mommy and having babies to care for and love. Thanks to the Dear Lord above, I am living my dream and have two amazing baby girls that I call my own. Being a mom is amazing and I love my girls more than I thought possible. I had a wonderful role model in my own mother to learn from. Just by being with her, I was able to learn so much about what a good mom does. My mom was the best as they come. I can only hope to instill the same values and morals in my daughters that my mother instilled in me. Now as an adult, I am still surrounded by amazing mothers who continue to help guide me. Vickie treats me like her own daughter and I don't know what I would do without her. Aunt Evie is always there when I need her. Chris is a great listener. Jolene, Molly, and Stacey have paved the way and allowed me to watch them as moms and use them for advice when needed. Thank you ladies! You are all incredible moms!

To Megan: You are the perfect addition to our family and the answer to many prayers. You are such a happy and cuddly baby. I love holding you and feeling you breathe as you lay on my chest. Your little expressions are priceless and you are becoming so much more aware of your surroundings. Your coos and baby babble are adorable and when you smile, it warms my heart. I love you baby girl. I am honored to be your mother.

To Kelsey: You are my big girl. You are a little ham who loves to sing and dance for us. Your funny one-liners lately make Daddy and I laugh. You love to talk and talk and talk....and we love to listen to all you have to say. It is amazing how much we can do with you now and how much you comprehend. You are such a smart, beautiful, funny, dramatic, and loving girl. You are truly a miracle and we thank the Lord for blessing us with such an incredible gift. *Pinkies--forever. I am honored to be your mother. I love you.

Miss Megan is 2 months!

Megan turned 2 months today. Yesterday at the newborn clinic she weighed 8lbs. 12oz. She is still such a little one. However, as long as she is healthy, I am ok with her being little for awhile yet.

What's new with Megan?

*She has about 10 feedings a day.

*She is still wearing newborn diapers, but needs to transition to size 1 soon.

*The longest stretch of sleep she has had is 5 hours. Typically she sleeps 3-4 hours before waking to eat.

*She had her first fever of 101.4 last week. Since she got shots earlier in the week, I am guessing that is what sparked it because she has not had any other symptoms of anything going on.

*She is very smiley and gets very excited when you get close enough so she can see you.

*She coos and makes little noises now when you talk to her. It is almost like a mini-conversation that can go back and forth.

*She loves her bath. Once she is in the water, she gets so relaxed.

*Her newborn clothes are all getting snug and we are moving on to 0-3 month clothes now.

*She only likes her carseat when the car is moving. Otherwise, she tends to let us know that she is unhappy ;)

*Big sister Kelsey is doing very well with her. She likes when I lay Megan down on her blanket on the floor so Kelsey can lay next to her.

*Megan is such a good baby and we love every second we get with her. I am baffled that it has been 2 months already! I feel like it has flown by, but then think of everything we have already done in that time. Happy 2 month birthday!

Meet the New Mr. and Mrs. Skala!

It's official! Diane is our new sister-in-law! Nate and Diane tied the knot on Saturday and the day was spectacular. Mattey, Kelsey and I were honored to be part of the wedding party and share in all the festivities. Of course Megan was there too and her role was to be the cute baby at the wedding ;) Truly, everything about the day was wonderful. It feels like we have been talking about this day for so long and in the blink of an eye it was gone. Thankfully, the memories will stay with us forever. We began the wedding weekend with rehearsal and the groom's dinner. Kelsey was pretty excited to practice being the flower girl and wanted Nolan to keep walking up and down the aisle with her just to be sure they got it right. That evening Mattey stayed overnight with Nate at their parents for old times sake. My dad and Chris also arrived to help watch the girls the following day.
Saturday morning Kelsey and I went to get our hair done. I LOVED my hair. It stayed all day, too! Kelsey was not as keen as I thought she would be about having her hair done. She wanted it curled, but didn't want to wait for it to get done. Once we were all beautified, we got to church and had pictures. My sister also arrived to help with the girls. Next was the beauitful ceremony. Kelsey and Nolan did great walking down the aisle! Following the ceremony, we had outdoor pics, made a quick stop at Wings bar, and headed to the reception. To announce the wedding party, Diane choreographed a dance for us all. It was a huge hit! So was the rest of the evening. The food was delicious and the dance rocked the place. Everything about the day was magical. Congratulations to Natey and Diane who we love so much! We can't wait to see what life has in store for this amazing couple!

2 month stats

Miss Megan will be 2 months old on Friday. She went to the doctor for her check-up yesterday and here are her new stats: Weight--8lbs. 7oz. Length--20.5 inches Head--14.75 inches (Birth stats: 5lbs 11oz., 18.25 inches long, 13 inch head) She was 15% for weight and 3% for height. Even though she is still tiny, she is growing! I looked back at Kelsey's stats to compare and Kelsey was 10lbs at this point, so Megan is on the smaller side. While at the doctor's office, Kelsey kept us entertained while we waited. She sang all her princess songs, sat in the doctor's chair and said "So, what's the problem?", and read me her books. I wasn't sure if they would give Megan shots due to her cold last week, but her lungs were completely clear so she received them. Kelsey was along at the appt and I warned her that Megan would be getting shots. She was such a sweetie and held her hand. She told her "It's ok, honey." Priceless. Megan of course cried when she got them, but was pretty easily comforted. I just HAD TO spend a lot of yesterday holding her though to make sure she was ok ;) Twist my arm, right?

Easter Weekend

Megan made her inaugral trip to Pulaski this weekend for Easter weekend, and she did wonderful! Big sister Kelsey was excited to have a buddy to ride with her in the back seat, too.
We began our trip with a stop in Eau Claire to meet my friend Liz's new baby boy, Dylan. It was pretty special to be able to visit her in the hospital and see all of our children together.

Once we arrived in Pulaski, the craziness began! It is always so fun to see all 8 cousins together. We spent Friday night just catching up and relaxing as a family. We also celebrated Korinne's 2nd birthday with cupcakes and presents.
Saturday morning, our friends and neighbors, Paul and Mary, came over to see us and meet Megan. We always love seeing them!

Next up was coloring Easter eggs. Kelsey was more excited about it this year since she was able to do more on her own.



We continued with the Easter activities by having an egg hunt. It was a cool and chilly afternoon, but we bundled all the kiddos up and took them outside to search for eggs.


In the late afternoon, we had a Smith/Wojkiewicz gathering at my dad's house. Megan was able to meet her Great Aunt Evie, Great Uncle Dennis and Great Uncle Jim. She also met her extended cousins. There is always good food and good company when we get together.



When everyone left that night, we all got into jammies and played Just Dance on the Wii. It was a hit and everyone loved it, especially the kids. It was quite amusing to watch everyone shake their booties ;)
Sunday morning we went to my dad and Chris's church for Easter service. Matt and I always talk about how much we like his church and how much we get out of the service because they make everything so relevant to our everyday life. Not to mention the music is also a huge plus because it is so modern and upbeat. Plus, my dad sang in the choir which made it more special. The theme of the service was about black and white vs. color. Do you have a black and white relationship with Jesus that is old and lacks connection or do you have a close relationship with Jesus that is full of color? There were also artists painting pictures in black and white, and when they finished each one came out and put some color on it as the final touch. It was a very neat experience. It never fails that I always seem to tear up when I attend there because I become overcome with emotion.




We did traditional Easter pictures with the family and had our first Easter picture as a family of 4 :)




The girls were great all weekend, too! Kelsey played well with everyone and Megan handled all the noise and people like a champ. Both car rides there and back went pretty smooth as well. We had to make a few additional stops, but we were expecting it. Overall, I was very thankful that they both stayed as content as they did.

It was a wonderful weekend of family. We had not been home since Thanksgiving and were thrilled to be able to bring Megan along and introduce her to everyone. It definitelty gets a little wild at times, but it is part of the unique situation we have where we all get to stay with each other. We joked about what it will be like when all the girls get to be teenagers. (7 girls and 1 boy) Poor Soren will be putting up with more drama than he already does since he is the only boy! But truly, it was a great time! Thanks for a fun and eventful weekend!