Loopy Loops and a big bladder punch!

Well, I think I might need to name this baby Tyson whether it's a girl or a boy. I am sitting here at the computer and a he is doing some nasty loopy loops in the tummy. It's a amazing to me that I didn't feel Loren at all until I was 27 weeks pregnant with her **I had placenta anterior which is a rarity where the placenta forms in front of the uterus instead of in the back. Gives an extra layer of "stuff" through which it's harder to feel the baby. Got a bit frustrating! I never felt the "bubbles" or rolls with her ** Anyway, this one never stops! If I sit down, he is like "Oooooh! Time to play!" Last night I almost wet the bed with one of his sharp kicks to the bladder. OUCH! It really is cool to feel the baby moving around. It gives you such a peace of mind.

Now, about these shots! I have to tell you that they are staring to really get annoying. I have literally 12 big bruises on my stomach. These bruises feel like a big "shooter marble" under my skin. They hurt like the dickens. I have to take 2 of them a day. I just feel like crying about it a bit because those buggers hurt! Imagine sticking yourself in old bruises. It gets old. However, if it's good for the baby you know I'll do it. I just felt like having a small pity party all to myself!

Memorial Day Weekend

This weekend started out on a sour note! On Friday we were certain that the flu had once again returned to our house! It was awful! Loren had a fever and I was feeling a bit under-the-weather.

Anyway, Saturday was a bit more promising. Aunt Kelly, Unc Josh and Aunt Mina showed up around 12:00. Loren was never more excited to be the center of attention! Grandma, Granddad and Unc Kris came over and we had a big BBQ. It was so much fun. Granddad gave Loren a golf set. If I can ever figure out how to download video, I will show you all Granddad giving her a first Golfing Lesson. Anyway, as I said, Loren was so happy to be the center of attention. Aunt Kelly (aka Aunt Elmo) and Unc Josh brought us a couple of books. They look awesome! I can't wait to read it. Aunt Minda, Unc Josh, Mike and I ended up playing a 4 hour game of Settlers that night before bed. Aunt Elmo went to a Cardinals game with one of her friends who lives in St. Louis. Lucky girl :)!

Sunday we ended up sleeping in. It was awesome! We were excited to take Aunt Elmo and Unc Josh to our Church. After church we ended up going to the park. It was a great time! Here is our walk to the park. It is such a gorgeous walk.

Here are a few pictures of us at the park.

Please notice the sky in this picture. We decided it was TIME to go home.

We didn't make it! On Monday Aunt Elmo and Unc Josh left bright and early for MI. We really had a great time with them. Loren really enjoyed all the extra love and attention she got from them. We left right after they did for Grant's Farm.

On our way!

Kisses for Mommy
Loren enjoyed the train ride. She got to see buffalo, deer, ducks, geese, swans, horses and elk. She got so excited! She called the buffalo "Elepunts", the deer "Neigh's", the geese, swans, and ostrich "Ducks", and the horses and elk were "neighs". It was adorable!
At the entrance to Grant's Farm.
Petting the *&^% goats. I hate those things. They kept eating our clothes.

Or eat hair
Or eat Melinda's boob.
Here are just some other pictures of our trip


The end to our very long weekend!

My Conversation with Cooper Michael

Let me first preface this by saying Coop is 5 and a half years old.

The other day I was so early to drop Loren off at Mom's Day Out so I called Sheri and asked if she would like me to drop her boys off at school. Long-story-short, I ended up taking Cooper to school. I always enjoy my conversations with this little angel. Well this time he held Loren's hand the whole way and informed me that Loren was "His girl." It was so sweet. I asked Cooper if he knew I was having another baby. He said, "What's HER name?" A fair question since I had a girl and his mom's had all boys. Anyway, I told him that I didn't know if it was a boy or a girl. He said instantaneously, "It's a boy!" He said, "You need to name him Evan Michael." After a few minutes he said, "No, I think you need to name him Evan George. Yes, Evan George is a good name. Let's name him that okay?" How incredibly cute is that?

Guess what!?!

A big girl just went poo poo in the pottie! GOOD GIRL! I happened to be in the right place at the right time when she announced "poo-poo" so I sat her on the big girl potty and she did it! She looked scared to death and looked at me and Grandma like we were RETARDED when we went nuts over her "accomplishment!"

May I recomend a CD to you?

Okay, please do not stone me my Calvin friends! I need to recommend a CD. I bawl every time I play it. It is the Hope College Chapel CD '03/'04. It's called Surrounded. AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING! I wish I knew how to link a sampling of this CD. WOW is all I have to say. Here is a link to this amazing CD

http://www.hopebookstore.com

Click on Catalog
Click on Hope Recordings

Nice Day!

I miss my bunny rabbit! I dropped Lorén off at Mom's Day Out for her last class of the school year. She had such a good time at school. I was proud of her! She has learned so much this year! She sung "If You're Happy and You Know It" . It was classic! I am so impressed with her.

Anyway, after I dropped her Sheri and I hung out at Old Town St. Charles. I needed some more Blueberry Coffee. Oh yes, you heard me right! It is AWESOME! I would never have guessed but one drink and I was ADDICTED! Anyway, it was a lot of fun to catch up with her. Maddox is just a doll-baby! I was excited to show her my new house. We ate at Maggpie's. It was awesome! We sat outside and just chatted for an hour or so.

Later I got to go see a movie with my Mom and Aunt Helen. We saw Georgia Rules. It was sooooo disturbing. I would not recommend it to anyone. We went out to dinner afterwards. It was nice to visit with them.

So over the course of the day I realized how much I missed my Bunny. It was awesome to come home tonight and see her. I sat up in her room and watched her sleeping. I really wanted to give her kisses but I also am no fool. I didn't want to wake her up. :) She is just a beautiful little girl! Here's one of my favorite pictures of her sleeping. I think she was only 6 months old.

What to do with the time given?

So Loren went down for her afternoon nap today and I was faced with a tough dilemma: What should I do with the 2 hours I've been given? A number of things I need to get done and probably should get done crossed my mind. I could begin preparing dinner so I'm not overwhelmed at 5:00. I could get the guest room together for company this weekend. I could vacuum the (very scary) steps. Then there were a number of things I wanted to do. I wanted to take a nap. I wanted to read the People Magazine I bought 2 weeks ago. I wanted to read my new book from the library. I wanted to watch a movie I rented 2 days ago. Now, do you see my problem!?! I was torn between what I should do and what I wanted to do. So I compromised. I prepared dinner and I sat down to the first book I've been able to read in a year. I used to read a book a week in the pre-Loren era. Now-a-days I'm lucky to read a book every other month. So, are you interested to know what book I'm reading. Is it mind boggling? Is it a book giving me higher learning? Nah, it's SMUT! I checked out Nicholas Sparks Message in a Bottle. I figured I could read a smutty book before I delve again into the realm of Anatomy and Physiology.

So mommies, just out of curiosity, what do you do in the few spare minutes you get each day?

I'm pooped! Loren has me doing Elmocize with her! She is having a blast "hopping" and "bending" with Elmo! Mommy is having fun too :) Scary :)

Why Ohhh Why?

Why is my darling little 18 month old STILL having trouble sleeping through the night!?! Last night she was up from 2 am until 4:00 when I finally brought her into sleep with me. I couldn't believe it! And of course, guess who is bright and perky and wanting to play? WELL YOU CAN BET IT'S NOT ME :)! I had good intentions of dropping her off at Mom's Day Out and coming home for a 4 hour nap. Let's just say that Walmart got in my way! However, I did get a great deal on diapers today! Makes it all worth it.

Here's a question: Why when you are pregnant you get the weirdest cravings? Yesterday I ate a bell pepper. For those of you who truly know me, you know I loath bell peppers! Today for lunch I decided that I needed to have ravioli. No not the good "toasted ravioli". . .we're talking out of the can gag-ness. But ohhh it tasted sooooo good! Amazing!

Up to date!

It's been an absolutely crazy couple of months! We've been so blessed in many MANY ways! We've been incredibly busy with life! Here's a small recap

Rozema Family -

We have finally moved into our new home! We adore it! It was worth the heart-ache and the wait! We are now just trying to find a home for all of our old junk. Mike keeps bugging me that I'm a "pack-rat." Little does he know that he is just as bad! It's definitely overwhelming at times but having all of the extra space is amazing! I think what we love most about our new home is the location. We are less than a mile from the RecPlex and less than a 1/4 mile from the walking/biking trail. Mike, Loren and I explored the trail a bit this morning before church. About a 1/2 mile down the trail is an amazing little park for Loren to play. It has a soccer field, baseball diamond, huge climbing gym, and swings. It has a pavilion as well for picnics, parties, etc. We also are about 3 miles from our new church, 3 miles from the mall, and less than 5 miles to all of our grocery stores. Best of all, there is a small Christian-run farmers market about 2 miles from the house. Mike and I go there daily for fresh produce.

We are currently 17 weeks pregnant. I can't believe it has gone by so quickly. I remember obsessing over every single passing week and moment with Loren. This time I feel like I have no time to think about the pregnancy! All I know is I'm getting BIGGER! I swear, I took the test and popped the next day! I love being pregnant! I've been feeling the munchkin now for 2 weeks on and off. Today he (yes, I really DO think it's a boy) was doing flip-flops in church and making me a bit queasy! We have appointments next week and then the week after that is our Ultra Sound. We are not finding out this time what the sex is. I'm of the opinion that I never had a sister so that would be really cool for Loren. On the flip side, I had an amazing relationship with my brother so a boy would be awesome too! Everyone I love keeps commenting that I will NEVER go through with it. That the US will come and I will have to know the gender. I guess it just makes me more determined to stick to my guns! I think Mike might actually pass out if I go through with it! I did end up in the ER with the flu the other day. The whole family was pretty sick so Mike called our OB and he said to take me in just to be sure I was getting enough fluids. Guess it's a good thing he did too because I ended up needing 3 bags! Eeeks! I felt bad because Mike was just as sick as I was but I was hooked up getting anti-nausea medicine and he was groaning in the hard plastic chairs next to me. . .Ohhh the perks of pregnancy :). They did blow a vein in my arm though. . .I've been walking around looking like an abuse victim for the last few days!

Miss Michelle
I can't believe how much this little one is growing up! She speaks so clearly now. For instance, today she was saying, "No Daddy, me pretty!" That was in reference to him not letting her into the restroom to play in the water. Mean daddy :)! She has 15 teeth now. 7 of them have come in in the last week. Poor girl! She keeps licking her poor gums. They are so swollen. Loren has also gone pee-pee in the potty now twice! What a good girl. It's funny because even when she doesn't do anything she will stand up and cheer for herself! She can count to 10 unassisted, count to 7 using 1-1 relationships, sing her ABC's, name/identify 20 animals and their sounds, do summer-saults, hang from bars, climb ladders, slide, and run. Everyone at her Little Gym says she's very athletic. Her favorite thing in the entire world is still books. Overall, she is a pretty smart little girl! Now if we can only give up the paci and her night-time bottle. . .oh well! In it's own time.