Joey & 'rents :D

I made this collage super duper quick the other day in Picasa for my baby shower - such cuties :D

Thank you....

Thank you so much for everyone, near and far, that has made today such an awe-inspiring day. Thank you for ALL of the love and support, both for me and my family during this day of celebration of life - both at it's beginning and end...Thank you! ♥ Under the circumstances, we could not have hoped for a better celebration...

baby 'st. patrick'

It's (almost) official!! They should be calling me today or tomorrow and scheduling my C-section for WEDNESDAY the 17th! St. Patrick's Day, here we come! No, we will NOT be naming him Patrick, but we are still looking for cute name ideas, so please feel free to pass them this way! Anyway, just wanted to share the news! My cutie holiday babies... at least their birth dates should be easy to remember!

Bruce - We will miss you...

In the end, the blood clots and other complications won out and my uncle, Bruce Robert Lemke, passed away yesterday afternoon at about 5:30 Milwaukee time. Plans for a memorial service are being made for this Saturday, March 6th, which also happens to be my baby shower... perhaps that's a good thing so this beautiful new life can help ease the pain of a life cut short.

We will miss him, his love and his never ending sense of humor! Family parties will certainly have a less laughs without you.

With love -

Me

Bookshelves!

Never have I really had a place to put kids books... until now!!! Joe just built these uber cute shelves (with a little Bree inspiration) and I LOVE them! He even used the router my dad gave him for the first time as well - thanks dad! No more books on the floors, getting destroyed because they didn't have a home!! Now it's just time to fill them, which we get to work on Monday as we head to Barns and Noble with Wendy and Sophie to use a birthday gift card from Onny and the M's! Can't wait!!If you look close, you can even get a glimpse of the 2nd poll Joe put in the closet to fit Priya's and the baby's clothes, as well as the top of 2 shelves for toy bins! Look at us get organized!

Thankfully, we had TONS of help from Craig & Deann -she's helped me organize and sort everything from Priya's baby clothes to boy clothes she and Katie brought over so our kid wouldn't go naked or have to wear pink! ;) They're all hand me downs, but who cares! At least we don't have to buy a complete wardrobe for him and its cute!

Craig also helped do a ton of stuff from patch the ceiling and wall to wire lights in our hallway! WOOHOO!! Maybe we've got a shot at getting this place in shape before baby boy comes after all!

Thanks 'team'! If it were all up to me, this poor kid would be up a creek! :D

Lions & Tigers & Bears... Oh my!

So, I know this is a random thing to post and I don't want to seem needy. It's just a lot of people have been asking about what we need for this soon to be born little man, and since not a ton of people see this blog anyhow, I figured this might be a discreet place to post a list :)

So here we go!

First of all, we am registered at Walmart and Babies R Us, though in truth, I think Target has some of the cutest baby stuff!

Really, what we need is anything BOY! :D We have so much pink, girlie stuff and I LOVE it!! However, I'm not sure Baby Boy Heaton would be happy to look back at his baby pictures and seem himself adorned in pink! :D Here are a few ideas:

Boy outfits, ranging from 0-24 months

Boy Bath towels and washcloths

Receiving Blankets & burb clothes that aren't pink :)

Boy Swaddlers/burrito making blankets for sleeping (they ususally have some velcro or something to help out with the swaddling

We have a few bigger blankets that are yellow, but a blue one or two wouldn't hurt either :)

Other things we need:

A new changing table cover (we registered for one or two at Babies R Us)

A hamper

Diapers & wipes! (we love Huggies brand, but will try whatever!)

Other baby care/cleaning/medical supplies that you always need on hand -lotion, bath soap, tylonal, etc. Unfortunately, we usually use Aveno, Aquafor and other scent free supplies since Priya's skin seems to indicate we'll have 'sensitive' children :)

Soothie passifiers

Bassinet sheets/extra crib sheets

Other ideas:

Books!

Baby Mat for tummy time

Boopie cover that's not pink

Same with a nursing cover!

Car seat toys

Boy hats! - baseball, beach, whatever!

A simple dinner scheduled for some time after the baby is born

A weekend get away for 2 ;)

Anything else your wonderful mommy brains come up with!

I'm sure I've forgotten things and I know we've registered for a couple more decorative items at Babies R Us. Really and truly though, we're just grateful to have friends and family to celebrate this special time with-We are blessed to have the people around us we do! A call, note, email or even facebook message or blog comment with congrats is plenty! - anything else is just extra!

My friend was kind enough to give us her old bedding set, which is adorable! Here's a link to it if you're looking for some inspiration. http://www.mybabysam.com/madaboutplaidbeddinginblue.aspx

His room is beige, brown and white (with a pink wall his sister will be sure to dominate :) Her stuff is cream, white, brown and pink)

Again, thank you for even thinking of us! We are just excited/nervous for our new arrival and can't believe he'll be here so soon!!

With love - PB&J + 1

(oh, why the title? well, I kind of like jungle animals for his stuff, but not super bright, crazy colors-though I like receiving blankets that are blue and brown, even if they're bright! just not bright green for some reason... I know, totally random! Sorry! Maybe I'll rename this post when I come up with something better :)

So, I need to change my header, but I couldn't wait any longer on the back drop! Don't worry... it may not be for another month or so, so our little man can be part of the header, but something cute is on the way! :D

A break from the serious

OK, since my posts have been of such a serious nature lately, I thought it was time to share a few photos of my cutie, crazy girl :) My dad emailed these to me yesterday! Thanks Dad! The first batch is of Priya at my Grandma Jean's house when we visited in Jan... She loves her some donut!

This next batch is from when my family was out here just after Christmas... Can you tell she loves her 'tutu's' :D

I love this little cutie! :D

Bruce...

Bruce and me :D

It looks like Bruce will have his leg amputated Wed. They've upped his pain meds, which is a relief, but my mom is really worried what damage has been done to his mind from all of the swelling on his brain the last 2 weeks... All we can do is wait and see and hope that this amputation is a good thing...

Grandma Jean... Bruce, and other thoughts....

My grandma Jean passed away Jan 23... she had suffered a major stroke more than a week earlier and though she amazingly made a bit of a recovery, it was only temporary. Gratefully, I was able to fly back for a week and spend some time with her before she passed away. Unfortunatly, I wasn't able to be there for her funeral, but I was able to design her funeral program...here's the front and back...

Its hard to really realize she's gone... and that my Grandma Lemke is gone as well... As I prepared for my trip home to see Grandma Jean, I found my self thinking about how I needed to make sure I stopped in to see Grandma Lemke... I guess it still isn't real. I love them both so very much and hope they are at peace with those they love. Of course, I also hope we will soon be able to do their temple work, but we'll have to see when the time is right for that.

Unfortunately, it appears as though tragedy has not quite passed us by yet. About a week ago my uncle Bruce who came and visited us last summer and fall with my parents went into the doctor with what he thought were stress fractures in his foot. Instead, it turned out the pain was being caused by several blood clots in his thigh (even though he's already on blood thinners) and they admitted him immediately to the hospital. By the following morning he suffered a stroke and no longer has use of his right side. His speech was also affected, which is especially tragic since Bruce is ALWAYS handy with a joke or funny comment! It may spare the staff some bad jokes, but it's really putting a damper on his ability to cope.

After seeing my grandma improve so many days after a stroke, I'm still hopeful he'll recover at least mostly... Unfortunately, today is not the day for that I guess... they just moved him to the intensive care unit of a different hospital...

My poor baby boy... this pregnacy has not been very focused on his little life! It began with the funeral of my Grandma Lemke and the chaos of moving into a new home, amazing visitors and me learning how to be a mom to a toddler. Then there were abnormally chaotic holidays, starting around Halloween and lasting into the first weeks of Jan, when my other grandma fell ill... On top of that I've been struggling to wrap my mind around the fact that there is a little BOY coming into this home... I love him so so soooo much.... but what am I supposed to do with a boy?! I know it's lame to feel that way... I've come to embrace the thought and get excited about it in the last week or two but I feel like there's so much I need to do to prepare and I just don't even know where to start.

Don't get me wrong- we have had TONS of wonderful times and experiences the last 8 months... it hasn't all been tragic. Thankfully, we have been blessed by lots of time with WONDERFUL family and Fantastic friends! I just wish I knew where to start so that I felt I was ready for this beautiful boy to join our family instead of feeling like I'll be playing catch-up from the moment he gets here!

But I didn't want this post to be about me.... I just wanted to share what's been going on lately and I guess I started to vent a little too much! Hopefully I'll post some more of the crazy and adorable things our little Priya has been up to soon... she certainly is an amazing joy and light that seems to shine no matter what else is going on! We are so grateful for her!

thank you for your patience with me. we love and are so grateful for all of the amazing people that bless our lives constantly... thank you...

With love, Bree

Cookies Cookies EVERYWHERE! :D

Well, I can't believe I didn't take a SINGLE picture, but we had a cookie exchange here tonight - what a blast! I so wish you all could have been here! You wouldn't BELIEVE the piles and piles of cookies! Thank you everyone and I hope to have recipes ready to share soon!

Isn't this so cute?! She was so excited Monday to try out her snow-suit! Unfortunatly the only boots we could find that fit were rain boots, but 3 pairs of socks later and here you are! After all of the prep and smiles, I thinks she spent about 5 minutes outside! HAHA still so cute!

So much to blog, but i couldn't miss the fact that Priya finally said "I love you" this morning to Joe as he left for work - it was so cute! Usually telling her to say I love you is met with her blowing several kisses, but not this morning!

To top off her cuteness, she has been saying most of our family prayers the last few days - most of the time she doesn't even let us say them without making sure she has a chance to repeat key phrases and words :D SO cute! Anyhow, just wanted to share!

Last Day of Gymnastics - FIRST Hair Cut!

So this was kind of a big week for our 'baby' girl! Last Tues. was her last day of gymnastics and YESTERDAY was her FIRST haircut! The photos have comments so it should kind of narrate the 2 events for you... Over all a fun week :D

Uncooked Squares aka Dark Chocolate Goodness :D

Uncooked Squares – aka Dark Chocolate goodness!

By Bree (actually, by my Great Grandmother, Helen Zion aka Grammy)

There are 3 layers.

Layer 1:

· ½ cup butter

· ¼ cup sugar

· 5 T. unsweetened coco powder

· 1 t. vanilla

· 1 egg

· 2 cups graham cracker crumbs (I use 2 packs, minus 2-3 graham crackers – 2 full packs makes the mixture too dry)

1. -Heat butter, sugar and coco powder in a pot, stirring till smooth

2. -Beat egg and vanilla together then beat into above mixture

3. -Add graham cracker crumbs (I find the finer the crumbs the better… if mixture won’t stick together, add a little more butter or less crumbs)

4. -Pack in the bottom of a 13x9 or smaller pan (it all depends on how thick you like your layers)

Layer 2:

· ¼ cup butter

· 2 T. instant vanilla pudding powder

· 3 T. milk

· 2 cups powdered sugar

-Mix and pour over first layer

Layer 3:

· 4 squares bitter chocolate (baking chocolate) (I replaced a square or two with dark chocolate because that’s what I had- it works but you need to be careful or it gets WAY too sweet!)

· 1 T. butter

1. -Melt over double boiler & Pour over layer 2.

2. -Chill the whole thing till firm –

NOTE: You want to make sure you score the top of the chocolate after it starts to firm but BEFORE it’s hard! :D

ENJOY and think of us J

HALLOWEEN PARTY MOVIE CHOICES :D

Sorry - I blurred the address for safety, but if you need it just let me know :D

OK! Here are the current movie options!!! I was going to do a poll, but there are too many and we need to decide fast if we hope to actually be able to GET a good one! While I'd like everyones feedback, I'm especially looking for PARENTS of younger kids to vote... (and ALL parents to let me know if there's something you really DON'T want me to show!) I haven't seen all of these, so your input is CRUCIAL! :D Just leave a comment and let me know that you think! Thanks! :D

(PS - if you didn't know, we're having a Halloween Party and YOU'RE INVITED!)

The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown

Practical Magic

Monster House

Wizard of Oz

B&W Frankenstein

B&W Dracula

Something Hitchcock

Nightmare Before Christmas

Corpse Bride

Curse of the Warerabbit

Hocus Pocus

Monsters vs Aliens

Haunted Mansion

Casper

Psycho

Watcher in the Woods

Wait until Dardk

Monsters Inc

Twitches

Halloween Town

Ichabod & Mr. Toad

Brothers Grimm

Monster Squad

Beetlejuice

Young Frankenstein

Something Wicked this way comes

Mr. Boogidy

Igor

The Village

Signs

Pumpkin time

Last Sunday we carved pumpkins over @ Dru's house - here are a few of the crazy photos! Yes, priya is trying to kiss Boom (the dog). Also, you can see she thoroughly enjoyed tossing pillows down to her uncles! They, in turn, enjoyed pegging her with them when they threw them back - Nice uncles :P :D

ELMO!

So, a few weeks ago Priya fell in love with an Elmo sweatshirt she got from Onny and gang - here are some photos of her showing it off! (She then wanted me to take photos of BoBo :)

Since then we purchased an Elmo trick or treat pail, which has joined her in her bed for almost every nap and bed time since we bought it!

Crazy Kid!/Future Supermodel? :D

I was going to wait till I posted a few other things first, but this was last night and these photos crack me up! I can't choose just one - they each show some other crazy part of her nutty personality! How I adore this child! :D

So... it's been a while...

Sorry it's been so long! I don't have anything particular to blog about ... probably just a million things big and small, but I thought I'd at least share a few recent photos from some of our more recent... adventures :D

First, here are a few photos of Priya and Baby David playing the other day. They were both still in PJ's and driving me CRAZY so I opened the door to the wet porch and let them at it! In case you can't tell, Priya was trying to sip the standing water out of the chair - GROSS!

She was mad here because we didn't want her to keep playing with the screen door!

As you can tell, the were both VERY wet!

I was going to combine the posts, but I think we'll just have to break things up for now... so more fun stuff later!