Family Catch Up

Some catch up items. Phew.  It was a busy, ugly weekend.

We were all sick this last weekend.  Well, ok, I was sick on Monday and everyone else was sick on the weekend while I tried not to get sick.  It was Ehlke Puke Fest 2009.  And for the record, Emma started it.

The big girl bed is going great!  Emma loves it and actually goes to bed better now than she did with the crib.  Last night, though, she figured out she can come out of her room… we’ll see how that develops.  The bottles are also all put away and we’re on to big girl cups.  Every now and then she asks for a bottle, but we can usually deflect her to a juice cup instead.

Braden has now learned how to puke in a bucket.  Woohoo! Talking about your major accomplishments.  He’s pretty proud of it!  And speaking of growing up quickly, he asked Kathie today how the baby got into her tummy.  The conversation, as I understand it, went something like this:

Braden: “How did the baby get into your tummy?  Did you have to eat him”

Mom: “God gives Mommies and Daddies babies.”

Braden: “Did he make a hole in your stomach?”

Mom: “Mommies have a special place in their body for babies to grow.  It’s another way boys and girls are different.”

Braden: “What’s it called?”

Mom: “The Uterus”

Braden: “So, how do you get the baby out?”

Mom: “Eat your lunch.”

What a thinker.  He also greeted one of the painters we had come give us an estimate at the door by saying “I’m Braden.  You’re really going to like me!”

We’re probably going to move Braden into Emma’s room this weekend or soon.  We want to start the adjustment sooner than later for when the baby arrives.  Plus we’re looking at painting and that will help that process.

I have now lost 17 pounds since January and am feeling great.  I still want to lose another 10 before the baby comes in May, but I’m really starting to feel good.  I’m running 2 miles in 20 minutes and not really pushing too hard yet.  I want to get my speed and distance up a little yet, but I’m really enjoying the running for a change!

Random thoughts…

I wonder if Kleenix will sponsor Favre’s second retirement press conference.

I’m now at the point where I’m looking forward to running at night.  It feels good!  I’m wearing shirts that were tight 3 weeks ago!

I’m really looking forward to meeting my new niece/nephew when he/she arrives.  I’m kind of surprised how much the suspense of Stephanie’s due date is getting to me.  I know it’s no where no near as bad as it is for them, but they are in my thoughts a lot.

I’m really impressed with how well Emma is doing in her new bed!  And I’m really disappointed in how long it’s taking the government in getting this stimulus package approved and I’m not convinced it’ll really be the right thing anyway.

Sed fugit interea fugit irreparabile tempus

Literally translated: “But it flees in the meantime: irretrievable time flees.”  Or the shorter version Tempus Fugit… Time Flies.  My last blog post was when Emma was 10 months old.  Some how we’ve leaped forward 15 months and she’s now two years old!  Time really does fly when you’re not blogging.

Kathie really wishes time would fly.  She’s 25 weeks pregnant with our third child.  It’s a boy.  We took the kids to the ultra sound, which Braden thought was very interesting.   He thought it looked like a dinosaur, so the current leading naming candidate is Barney(no, not really).  This has been a particular tough pregnancy for Kathie.  She has been quite ill; struggling with nausea and stomach pain for most of the pregnancy.  Recently things seem to have started to turn around, so hopefully we’re around that bend.

Braden and Emma are both very excited about the coming addition to the family.  Emma has really taken an interest in dolls and mothering them.  And Braden likes to put his bear in his shirt and call it his baby.  The other day he complained that “It takes a really long time for a baby to come.”  I think his mother agrees with the sentiment.

Braden will be four in April.  He’s attending pre-school at Trinity Lutheran School in Waukesha, which he seems to really enjoy.  His speech has really come a long way. In fact, we’re struggling to understand him now, not because of his enunciation, but because he’s using more complex and longer sentences.  He loves playing soccer and with his train table.  He really likes making long, long trains.  He also loves going, and especially staying, at Grandma and Grandpa’s house.

Emma just turned two in January.  Our little princess isn’t so little anymore.  And she’s not such a princess at times.  That girl has a temper!  She’s also the sweetest, cutest girl too.  But when she’s mad, the screams hit 150 decibels without warning!  She has really blossomed and has to do everything her big brother does; She really looks up to him.  She talks quite a bit, using more words than we can list and putting phrases of 2-4 words together.   She also climbs like she’s part monkey.  She’s not in school yet, but she absolutely loves going to music class with Mom.

Kathie worked as a resource social worker for a local hospice / palliative care provider for a while this winter.  It was nice that she could stay in touch with her profession and do it in a way where we didn’t have to take on a day care.  She’s also having fun with the neighborhood ladies in a Bunco group… no, I don’t know what Bunco is either, so don’t ask me.   She stays pretty busy being a stay at home Mom, taking the kids to school, music class and swim classes and we all love her very much for all her hard work!

Me? I’m boring.  I work.  I’m taking on some new projects at work that are both fun and challenging. This year will be an interesting one for me, but I’m looking forward to it.   I still play hockey once a week and love that.  I’ve ale started trying to get in better shape.  I’ve started eating right and running on the treadmill.  I’m down 12 lbs so far and feel good!  I’ve also started to try and get in touch with my family and friends a little more, thus this blog… and my Facebook pages. 

But mostly I love spending time with the kids, even if I have to fix Braden’s long, long train 12 times a day!  Being a Dad is the best job in the world!

Well, that’s all for now… I mean I can only do so much catching up after 15 months…Yikes!

Ultrasound

No, we haven't had another ultra sound yet. But Kathie found out last night that GE Medical is looking for pregnant mothers to help them test their new 3D and 4D ultra sound machines.

We're looking into getting into the program so we can get a free ultra sound. It sounds pretty cool; you even get a DVD of the ultra sound.

Latest News

Hi all. Let's start this whole blogging experiment off with the latest news from the Ehlke family... that's the Scott/Kathie Ehlke family, in case you were confused.

As some of you may know, Kathie is pregnant! Our due date is around the end of January and we're very excited at the new addition. We don't know the sex yet, but we do know there's only one in there! (Phew!) Kathie has had a bit of a rough time with this one. She'll tell you that's a major understatement and it probably is. She's been very nauseous and had some stomach pains. But it looks like this week marked the end of that, so we're both looking forward to the rest of the pregnancy.

Braden is growing up very fast. He turned 16 months on Sept. 12th. He loves to walk everywhere, but he's still not talking; But he can imitate dogs, cats, planes and cars excellently. He plays mean games of peek a boo, ring around the Mommy and jump on Daddy. He also LOVES his train Toots.

We have received some bad news in regards to his health though. Braden has neutropenia. We believe and pray that he has a minor form of this that will go away on its own. Neutropenia is a disorder where his body does not have enough neutraphils, which are a part of his white blood cells that fight off bacterial infections. The good news is that he has had almost no bacterial infections, so the doctors don't think it's something to be too worried about. But we will have to have blood tests every three months to check and if he runs a fever it means a fast trip to the urgent care center.

We also bought a new Toyota Sienna mini-van this month. It's much more convenient than the Blazer was for hauling Braden around!

And to try and get in shape, we joined Westwood health club. Kathie has been going at least a couple times a week and I've been trying to get there 4-5 times. Braden really enjoys the child care they have there and is usually a bit disappointed when he has to leave.

Scott's hockey starts up again in a couple weeks and he is going to golf twice next week! Yeah!

We're going to try and get some landscaping done around the house before frost and start looking at installing some wood/laminate floors in the kitchen and dining room. We've been seriously considering moving to a larger house, but at this time we just can't swing a house that we'd really love, so we feel it's better to wait a little while.