Da Durst's

Abby's First Day of School

2011-09-08T20:55:00.004-05:00

Waiting in front of our house for the bus.

Colton didn't really care when Abby got on the bus.

Dominic did not want her to leave...or he wanted to ride on the bus, too. We are not quite sure.

She made it to school!

Ready to learn!

Well, it finally happened...I had to send my little girl off on her first day of school. Sure, she went to preschool last year, but that was only 2.5 hours a day twice a week. Hardly enough time for me to get a load of laundry done an have to go pick her up. Now, I had to load her up on a school bus and entrust her safety in the hands of the Gladstone School District bus drivers. Granted, we all met her at school to make sure she got there safely and to walk her to her classroom, but the point is for an hour she was on a bus all by herself. She was cool as a cucumber. I, on the other hand, had a little bit of a nervous breakdown. I have never had experience with school buses. We lived to close to school to ever get to ride the bus, so I had the joy of having my mom drive me everyday. Abby was brave. Braver than I would have been. Her brother did not want to go. Or, I should say, he wanted to go with her. He missed her terribly all day. We are not used to a whole day without her. It was a day filled with trains, cars, and trucks instead of dresses, dolls, and headbands. It was quite the change for me. But, alas, this day was not about me. I had to remind myself that on more than one occassion. It was a rite of passage for my little girl. Her FIRST day of school....Kindegarten Readiness...she will never have that day again. And I have to say, she did fantastic!!! She said she only cried once at lunchtime because she missed me. And I felt bad when I looked in her lunch and her fruit snack (the only junkie thing I sent her to eat) were in the bottom unopened because she couldn't open the package. But she did it. She rode the bus, stayed all day at school, chose to "play with a girl instead of a boy" at recess, had an adult help her find which bus she had to take home, and made it home safely. Whew! I'm so glad the first day is over, and more importantly, I'm glad she's really excited to go back tomorrow!

Summer in the U.P

2011-08-25T20:41:00.003-05:00

At the U.P. State Fair...we all need a family photo by a cow.

3 months old and 3 years old...I don't think it will take long for Colton to pass Dominic up.

Well, it is the end of August which means that we have had a whole summer full of fun in the U.P. It was our second summer here and we are starting to find new things to do and see. This summer the kids discovered fishing (with daddy), camping (with Nana and Papa), A Day Out with Thomas The Train (with Grammy-for Dominic's birthday),the State Fair (in which Abby and Dominic got wristband which allowed them to go on as many rides as they possibly could before it closed), walks through the woods behind our house, and that the trip back to Green Bay for some Grammy time and retail therapy really isn't that bad. In fact, 2 hours is starting to feel like a drive across Green Bay for us. Once we get to Menomoniee/Marniette it feels like we are basically there. Abby starts Kindegarten Readiness in less than two weeks. I am not at all ready for it. She can't wait. It will only be 2-3 days a week (they go every other Friday), but I'm not ready for her to be school-aged already. It seems like just yesterday that she was born. Dominic is 3 and all boy. That kid cannot sit still for 2 minutes. He cracks me up. I wish I had his energy multiple times a day. He has the biggest heart and is never one to shy away from a snuggle or hug and kiss. He loves his baby brother and shows him so with all of his kisses. Sometimes I think Colton tries to slink away before Abby and Dominic get to him, but then he remembers that he can't really move yet. Colton is almost 5 months already! I can't believe that. Although he is sized more like a one-year old. He is 6-9 month clothes and growing at a rapid rate. He is rolling over now as soon as you lay him on his back. Then he remembers he doesn't like being on his tummy and gets all mad. It's rather cute. Josh opened his new office in Gladstone earlier this summer and absolutely loves it! He is 5 minutes from home (which also comes in handy for me) and is really starting to get involved in the community. He is a member of the Jaycees and a board member of the Chamber of Commerce of Delta County. (He is, by far, the youngest member, which is quite an honor.) I just keep watching my family grow and wish I could stop time. Alas, I suppose they have to grow up. I just wish the time wouldn't fly by so fast. I looked at Abby the other day and wonder when she grew into such a beautiful young lady. She was just a toddler and BOOM, she's grown up. I see the same thing happening with Dominic and Colton. I guess I'll just have to deal with it and soak up every minute that I have with them now.

There are now 5 Durst's

2011-07-17T13:11:00.004-05:00

It's only 3.5 months late, but on March 28, 2011 we were blessed with the arrival of Colton James Durst. He weighed in at 8lbs. 5 oz. and was 21 inches long. He was born at 11:14 am and passed the Apgar with flying colors. He has by far been the easiest of the 3 (with Dominic coming in at a close second). Either that or I am getting awfully good at this parenting thing. :) He is a happy baby...always ready with a smile, laugh or coo. His eyes sparkle and will melt your heart in a second. He has a big brother and big sister who love to smother him with kisses and hugs. He takes it like a champ....mom and dad like to smother on the kisses, too. Everyone has adjusted well to the third (and final) baby Durst and can hardly remember life before him. Here are a few photos from the past couple of months.

Christmas 2010

2011-01-03T14:01:00.005-06:00

Teagan helping Abby comb her hair.

Auntie Whoa (aka: Annie) showing T and Dominic pictures.

One of our favorite presents from Nana and Papa: New stockings for the entire family...even those of us who are still in utero.

A rare family picture in which everyone is smiling. Dominic, that might be your fake smile, but it's still cute!

After many failed attempts, we were finally able to make frosted sugar cookies as a family. The kids had a blast decorating them.

The cousins! We were lucky enough to be able to spend some time with Teagan.

Feeding the reindeer before we head off to Green Bay for Christmas. Abby wanted to be sure they knew how to get to our house.

Papa playing dollhouse with Abby.

Nana and Dominic

Happy kiddos...they had just opened presents from Nana and Papa.

Newest Addition

2010-12-08T20:00:00.002-06:00

We are happy to say that we are expecting another little boy around the end of March/beginning of April 2011! We had the ultrasound a few weeks ago and baby looks healthy. We also got a free 3D ultrasound because I let them use my pregnancy to set up their new machine. By the looks of it, we're going to have another snuggler like Dominic (a mom can hope!). Abby was a little disappointed when she found out it was a boy. She still insists she will call him Allie or Baylie. Those are the names she had picked out for a girl baby. I think she got over it a little bit once we put the crib up in Dominic's room and she realized that having a boy meant she didn't have to share her room. Dominic, on the other hand, sees my growing belly as another fun thing to step on to use me as a human jungle gym. I also have a medical issue that should correct itself soon (we're hoping!) that does not allow for me to lift Dominic anymore...well, at least I'm not supposed to. I think once Dominic realized that it has made him want me to lift him more. I have a feeling Abby will be a little better adjusted for this one than Dominic, but I know that they will both be awesome big siblings!

Fall in da U.P

2010-10-30T09:00:00.004-05:00

Abby's fairy Halloween costume. She is so excited to go trick-or-treating. She missed last year because we had a wedding to go to and the year before her brother was just a baby so she could only go to a few houses. This year she will be rocking the candy collecting for the full 2-hours I'm sure.

Dominic insisted on trying on her costume, but to make it a little more manly he put a colander on his head for a helmet. I don't think it worked, buddy.

Daddy and the kiddos playing in the massive leaf pile that has become our front and back yards.

This makes me think of Napoleon Dynamite, "Whoa, you got like 3 feet of air that time." Future long jumper??

Daddy always makes things fun. He made a giant leaf pile at the end of the slide that ended up being taller than Dominic. They had fun sliding into it...and then we had fun rebuilding it every time. :)

It's been a while...a see there are pictures of sun and sand on here as our last post. Things have changed quite dramatically. The leaves have fallen, along with the temperatures and we've traded flip flops and shorts for sweaters and boots. Fall in the U.P. is fun for the kids. They explore in the woods, play in leaf piles that are taller than they are, and enjoy the watching the leaves fly off the trees when the wind blows hard. Although we aren't looking forward to the snow and cold we are enjoying the fall and all that it brings.

A Day at the Beach

2010-08-17T22:11:00.002-05:00

Dominic is always all smiles when he gets near the water. He loves nothing more than splashing around and getting soaked. With or without a swimming suit.

Abby getting her feet wet. I'm sure her dress ended up wet as well.

Josh swinging Dominic around. The blue slides in the background are what Josh and Abby usually go out to. She is getting pretty good at going down it and plugging her nose. Dominic still isn't a big fan. Perhaps next year for him.

Walking down the beach

Of course Abby has a flower in her hand. She always has a flower in her hand these days.

Hanging with my kiddos on the beach. Nothing more relaxing and peaceful than that.

My two handsome men. Josh and his mini-me. They sure do look alike.

Abby's "Castle"

2010-08-17T22:06:00.001-05:00

These are pictures from VanCleve park in Gladstone. It's a huge park that Abby refers to as her "castle". We spend many days a week here running off energy and enjoying the fresh air.

Dominic on his way to the beach. This kid loves water!

The "Castle"

Our Crazy Life

2010-08-17T22:00:00.002-05:00

The kiddos. They are just too stinkin cute for their own good!

Daddy's artwork. Abby is in love with Diego, so Josh is getting pretty good at drawing him.

Trying to figure out Grammy's pool. I think Dominic has the answer...

I guess he doesn't need me for much anymore. He's pretty much able to do anything his sister does, including pouring his own finger paint.

Abby getting us ready for prom in 13 years. I have a feeling she'll just be a little taller...and maybe not such a fake smile. Geesh, I'm not ready for that.

Sailboat Open House/Lighthouse

2010-08-17T13:16:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago we went to an open house for a sailboat that was being held at Ludington Park in Lake Michigan and we also were lucky enough to check out the Lighthouse. The kids had a lot of fun!

Abby and Dominic found flowers. They LOVE smelling "pretty flowers".

My beautiful family in front of beautiful Lake Michigan.

In front of the Lighthouse.

Abby and Dominic are in charge. Everybody take cover!

A rare family picture. 3 out of 4 are looking...that's about as good as it gets! :)

Painting of the Bedrooms

2010-08-17T13:10:00.002-05:00

We finally got around to starting to paint the white walls in our new house. Picking the colors is always the hardest part, but I'm happy with the ones we've chosen so far. Pink and Green (bright!) for Abby and Blue/Yellow for Dominic. These colors fit their personalities to a T. It took me while to get used to the brightness of Abby's green, but now that I have I love it. I just hope she doesn't want it changed before she leaves for college. :) Two rooms down, many more to go. I'm painted out for right now, though. We'll see when the rest of the house gets done.

Dominic-wow, this was taken a while ago. He now has a big boy bed.

Abby's Green and Pink room. She LOVES it.

Random Pics

2010-08-17T13:06:00.001-05:00

Abby and Dominic finger painting. I love that they are washable. They love smearing it everywhere. We both win!

My silly family.

Grammy came to visit Dominic for his actual birthday.

Building of the Playset

2010-08-17T12:57:00.002-05:00

As part of Abby and Dominic's birthday present for this year Josh's mom, my parents, and Josh and I all went in and bought them a playset. Of course we got it for Dominic's birthday so they would have all summer to enjoy it. My dad and Josh were brave enough to put the millions of pieces together and I have to say that not a day goes by when the kids do not play on it.

Hard at work. It took 14 hours of hard labor, but they did it!

Part of the pile of boards. Yikes!

Abby gave the slide a test-run before the swings were put on.

The finished project! Those muscles came in handy.

Dominic's 2nd Birthday

2010-08-17T07:37:00.002-05:00

Ok, so I'm almost 2 months past his birthday, but on June 29th Dominic celebrated his 2nd birthday at our new house. We had Nana and Papa up for the weekend and Grammy came during the week. Technically he got to celebrate about 3 times, so he's loving being 2. Here are some pictures from one of our celebrations.

Even Carmen got into the party spirit.

Diego felt sorry for Abby that she wouldn't have any presents to open, so he sent her a present. She was thrilled!

Dominic opening his Lightening McQueen car. It was a last minute present, but one of his favorites.

The decorations. We had to leave them up for about 2 weeks until all of the "parties".

Settled in and enjoying the northwoods

2010-06-01T07:26:00.006-05:00

Our flowers in full bloom. Abby spends hours smelling the flowers and asking me to pick them. She is getting really good at picking the yellow "flowers" that grow all over the grass.

We were lucky enough to have Abby's BFF from Green Bay, Estelle, come and visit our new home for a couple of days. They had a blast and were back to fighting like sisters in no time.

One of our favorite parts of our new house...the outdoor firepit. We spend many nights sitting outside around the fire. Here Josh is lighting it for the first time since we moved in.

Abby is a great helper! She helps me water the garden and flowers every day.

Dominic enjoying the fire from a safe distance. He isn't too sure about the heat that comes out of it and covers his ears when the wood crackles. I guess he really does have sensitive ears.

Dominic's first timeout. At least he got to take his banana with.

Abby and Carmen snuggling on the couch. The kids want to be by Carmen all the time. Carmen does not even try to hide her annoyance with the situation.

Well, it's been almost two months since we have moved to Gladstone and I must say we are all settled and are enjoying our new house. Poor Josh hasn't been able to enjoy it as much as we have since he's been working late most nights, but it's nice to have the family back together again. The kids and I have been spending our days tending to the garden we planted (with the help of my good friend, Sara), playing at the park and beach in Gladstone, going for walks, dancing in our front foyer (glad there are lots of woods in our front yard so the neighbors don't have to see me dance!), and enjoying the nature that surrounds us. Abby's favorite things continue to be flowers, Diego (she insists she is going to marry him), popsicles, coloring, making me dinner in her kitchen set, and playing in the basement. Dominic's loves include: cars, Thomas the Train, airplanes...basically anything that will "go". He has two cars in his hands at all times and races them all around the house. We are two weeks away from him turning 2. I still can't believe my baby will be 2! Where has the time gone? He is doing quite a bit more than Abby was at this age if I remember correctly, but he's also had a big sister to show him the ropes. He has already shown interest in potty training (he tells us when he has to go and even goes on the toilet most every time you put him on it) which is just killing me. I'm not ready for that at all. He's also drinking out of a regular cup instead of a sippy. I think that's funny because Abby still prefers a sippy. I guess you could say we are weeing an almost 4 year old and almost 2 years old off the sippy at the same time. Never thought that would happen. As I said, Josh has been working quite a bit lately and we appreciate all of his hardwork so that I am able to stay at home with the kids. When at home, though, he enjoys playing with the kids, going for walks around the tip of the bluff, sitting in the backyard, and basically just enjoying the outdoors. As nice as our last house was, the yard at this house is more inviting and offers more to do. I have been enjoying my time with the kiddos immensley. It's nice to be able to pick up and go to the beach, or park, or grocery store whenever you feel like it. It is also nice to be able to schedule appointments without having to work around so many other things. When I was babysitting other kids I did not have that luxury. I spend the rest of my time doing yardwork, laundry, cooking, cleaning...all the other fun stuff that needs to get done! I don't really mind doing all that stuff, but I often wonder how we ever got it done when we were both working full time...and how other people who work full time with multiple kids ever get it done. It seems to be neverending. It is fun for me to see the kids interacting and starting to play together. They are both doing so many new things each and every day and I'm so grateful that I get to be a part of that. We still go back to Green Bay quite often. We can't go too long without seeing Grammy or I think we would all go a little crazy. :) All in all, we are really enjoying the UP and when I get a craving for Target, we just make the two hour trek to Green Bay.

Home Sweet Home!

2010-05-03T12:29:00.005-05:00

We are finally all settled in our new house in Gladstone. So far, our family is loving it! We have a fenced in yard (great for keeping kids within our sights), a doggy door for Carmen (that Abby and Dominic use way more than she does), a relaxing home, and last but not least, we are all finally together under one roof again. Unfortunately for me, our kids do not like to both be on the same level of the house and once and I am constantly running up and down the stairs. Oh well, good exercise, right? :) Here are some pictures of the house with our stuff in it..

Abby's room (she LOVES looking at herself in the mirrored closet doors).

Abby's Room #2

Abby's Room #3

Kid's Bathroom (yes, Dominic is eating Abby's princess nail polish)

Dominic's room

Dominic's Room #2

Living Room (and Carmen)

Master/Main Bath

Firepit and backyard (complete with toys scattered about)

Backyard#2

Basement (serves as toy area and video game area)

Dining Room

Kitchen

Master Bedroom

Entryway and stairs (Abby is bringing me her watering can so she can finish watering her flowers)

Living Room #2

The move has also served as a distraction for a heartbreaking event that has happened to us over the past few weeks. I went in for a routine pre-natal appointment and ended up (about a week later) finding out that our baby had Trisomy 13 (an extra copy of chromosome 13). Trisomy 13 is not compatible with life, so we were basically told that our baby would not survive. About 2 weeks later I lost our baby, Savannah Mae Durst. Our heart aches for her loss, but we also know that she is watching over us from a safe place and that we will be reunited with her one day. We love you and miss you and hold you dear to our hearts, little lady!

Changes, Changes Galore!

2010-04-01T19:01:00.016-05:00

I apologize for taking so long to update, but we've been a little busy. On top of finding out that we are expecting our third child in late October (in fact, just 3 days before Josh's birthday) we are also getting ready to close on our house and buy a new house in Gladstone, MI. So, life at the Durst household has been hectic and joyful to say the least! After going with a realtor for 6 and a half months, Josh and I decided to list our house by ourselves on ForSaleByOwner.com. Within a week and a half we had an offer (the first people that looked at it). That was exciting in and of itself. Then we found a great home on the Bluff in Gladstone that we fell in love with. Abby had the time of her life looking for new houses. Of course she picked out the house that had a finished basement full of girl's toys. I think she thought they came with the house. We should be closing on both houses April 23rd, so I guess we better get packing! My last day babysitting with be April 9th (only 1 more week) and my last day at ITT Tech will be April 20th. I'll be sad to see both jobs go, but I am thrilled to be able to spend some quality time with my kiddos. I am also sad to see Abby and Estelle have to say goodbye to each other-they have become such good friends over the past 2 and a half years. Every day Estelle leaves Abby says, "I'm sad cuz I miss my best friend." I can only imagine how hard it is going to be when Estelle doesn't come everyday. I don't think Dominic will really miss the boys since they are still more at the parallel play stage and they are still quite young. Hopefully, going to preschool this fall will help her to make some new friends. Josh gave his notice at his apartment yesterday and could not be more excited. After 7 months of living apart from his family he is ready to have us up there and live in a "home" again. Since we will be keeping my OB/GYN from Green Bay (and the fact that Escanaba doesn't have a Target) I will be back to visit a lot. Plus, Grammy is here and we all know that we won't function very well without her! She has been such a crucial part of our lives in Green Bay that I still don't know what we are going to do without her. Below are some pictures of our new house. It is the one I've had my eye on since we put our house on the market, so it's been in my sights for a while. Josh was not on board until he walked through it. He fell in love immediately. We are both excited to get moved in and settled. (I think Carmen is going to be a big fan of the huge, fenced in yard.)

October - December 2009

2009-12-28T12:58:00.005-06:00

Nana and Papa spoiling Abby and Dominic with attention, as well as toys, during Christmas.

The dollhouse that Santa left for Abby. This was she asked for, so I'm glad he was able to fit one down the chimney!

Abby helping Grammy find our keys so we can get our sugar-indulged, sleep deprived children home.

Abby and her cousin, Teagan, watching Harry Potter. Teagan only sits there and watches for about 5 minutes, while if my children are ever missing I know that I can find them in front of the television.

Dominic and his buddy, Papa, opening gifts on Christmas.

Dominic doesn't know what the heck is going on. After he finds out there are often toys in these presents he is much happier about the whole situation.

Abby getting a ride from Papa. Poor Papa gets so worn out after visiting us!

Dominic all bundled up to play in the cold Wisconsin snow.

Abby insisted on going outside when it was -20 with the windchill. I told her she could, but that I wasn't going out with her. This picture was taken in one of the two minutes that she was out there. After that, she came inside and said it was too cold out. I guess they just have to find out for themselves...even at the age of 3.

Grammy and Abby making cookies on the night/day we got 14 inches of snow. I think Dominic is in the background waiting for more chocolate chips. He was a big fan of them.

Of course on the night we go 14 inches of snow, Josh was in Escanaba and I had never used the snowblower before. After kicking it about 5 times and using some choice words, I finally got it to work. I LOVE having a snowblower. Shoveling is for suckers!

Dad feeding the kids chocolate for breakfast the morning that St. Nick came.

The kids opening stockings from St. Nick.

Dominic riding Clifford at Chuck E. Cheese.

My two girls, Abby and Estelle, enjoying Chuck E. Cheese. This was Estelle's first time there, so she didn't eat anything. She was just too excited.

Abby and Dominic making Daddy's birthday cake. I think they ate more batter than we ended up cooking.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2009-12-21T21:18:00.002-06:00

Wow, what a year it has been. It seems that every year goes by so fast and yet, so many changes seem to occur. This year Dominic went from being a baby who could barely crawl to a toddler who can run, speak a few words, and has stopped throwing everything he gets his hands on into the toilet. He is quickly becoming such a little man that it is hard to remember that just a year ago he was such a little baby. Abby has gone from the terrible twos to the independent threes. She doesn't need/want to play with me all the time anymore. She is into imaginary play and loves dollhouses. It is fun for me to just sit back and watch her play. The stuff that comes out of her mouth makes my stomach hurt because I am laughing too hard. She definitely gets her sense of order from me. Everything has to be just so or she will not be too shy to let you know she isn't happy. As I have said before, that will come in handy later in life, but can reek havoc on mom and dad right now.

This year we have also undergone a huge shift in our family life. Josh has relocated to Escanaba, MI for work until we are able to sell our house. It has been on the market since Aug. 31 and we are still waiting. We have only had 4 showings (it's a BAD market). All loved the house but no offers yet. We know that when it is in God's plan for us, our house will sell, but that doesn't make us any less patient. It is bittersweet because he is so busy that it is almost better he has so much time to devote to his job, but that doesn't make the distance any easier. We know that this is only temporary though, and have adjusted well. Abby and Dominic know that when daddy leaves, it will be 5 sleeps until he comes back. And the smiles that come across their faces when he pulls in the driveway melts my heart. Josh is back with Edward Jones and loves the UP. He is having a great amount of success up there and can't wait for us to be able to get our house and be settled.

I continue to watch Estelle and her twin brothers, Kamden and Hudson. It is a busy house during the day, but also a very happy house. The kids (for the most part) get along really well. It's fun for me to watch the relationships blossoming from parallel play to active play. Don't get me wrong, it can be trying at times, but I love that our kids are making such great friends and having such great experiences. I have also continued to work at ITT Technical Institute part-time. I have cut out Saturdays since they cut into what little family time we have during the week, but I have kept my two nights a week. It is a great opportunity for me to get out and have some "adult" time and I love it.

Our family continues to be blessed by good health, friends and family. We are very lucky to have the wonderful gifts that we do in our lives. Here's to a fantastic 2010!

Baking with Mom

2009-10-24T22:01:00.002-05:00

Abby and I are starting a new traditon of baking together once a week. The first time we made pumpkin bars. Abby got a little bored once she was done pouring all the ingredients in so she took a time out to eat an apple (she's obsessed with apples!). She thought it was pretty neat how it was "cake" when it was all done and sure liked helping to eat the finished product.

Pouring in the goods.

Dominic loving his Pop Ice. If you even open the freezer he throws a fit because he wants one. Carmen is in the background hoping he'll drop some for her (don't worry, he dropped PLENTY for her).

Fun at the Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-24T21:39:00.002-05:00

This year we were lucky enough to go to the Pumpkin Patch and Apple Orchard with Grammy and Uncle Brandon. Abby and Dominic had so much fun playing in the pumpkins, apple trees, and looking at the animals (well, Abby looked at the animals-Daddy and Dominic went to the car to listen to the Packer game!)

Abby laughing because the little goat was eating food right out of her hand.

Mom and Abby feeing the goats.

Dominic playing in his own little cornstalk fort. He thought he was cool because he was the only one who could fit in there.

Dominic eating the apples off the ground. Try as we might, we could not stop him, so we decided to just take a picture. :)

This is one of our favorite pictures of Dominic ever. Too cute for words!

Mom and Abby by the apple trees.

Dominic and Grammy looking for the perfect apple to pick. Dominic would rather just eat the ones that have fallen to the ground already.

Daddy is too tall for the measuring device.

But, Abby fits just fine. She slouching a little in this picture, but she's about 38 inches. Soon she'll be too tall for the sign, too.

Abby playing in the train. At the library we go to they have one of these, but it is now where near as long as this one. She thought it was pretty cool to climb all the way through.

So Happy Together

2009-10-24T21:31:00.002-05:00

Here are some pictures of Abby and Dominic playing together. Lucky for us, they really do like each other this much most of the time. I'm sure that will change as soon as Dominic is able to voice his own opinion, but until then we are going to enjoy their time together!

Wrestling on the floor. Abby loves it when Dominic "gets her" (aka: climbs over her back over and over and over again)

Trying on the gloves for size. They'll be doing dishes in no time! The funny thing is, Abby put the gloves on her feet not long after this and was walking around saying, "Look Mama, I'm a peacock!" I don't know where she comes up with these things, but they sure make me laugh!

Chillin' on the couch watching Enchanted. According to Abby, she is a princess because she's wearing a pretty dress. I tell her she is my princess no matter what she is wearing and she says, no, only when she's wearing a pretty dress. Too cute!

Coloring their masterpiece.

Wrestling on the Jumpoline in the basement.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Abby!

2009-10-24T21:14:00.003-05:00

I cannot believe that in 3 years Abby has gone from a newborn who depended on Josh and I for EVERYTHING to such an independent little lady. Here are some pictures from her birthday party. (I know, I know-her birthday party was over a month ago. I'm a little slow in my old age.)

Nana and Dominic chilling with their feet up.

Kaylie and Abby eating at the "cool" table.

Abby's Tinkerbell cake. It was supposed to be Shrek, but I couldn't find one anywhere. Now she is completely into Peter Pan and says, "That's Tinkerbell, just like on my cake!" everytime she sees her in the movie.

Great G'ma, Jason, and Autumn.

Overview of the party. Abby is thinking, "Are all of these people here for me?"

Abby, Grammy, Grandpa Durst, and Dominic

Josh, me, Kim, Dominic, and Jeff. Notice how Dominic is not crying while Kim is holding him (to be continued...)

Abby wearing her birthday shirt, just in case anyone forgets how old she is now.

Continued from previous post...and here Dominic is screaming his head off when Jeff holds him. To Jeff's defense, I think this is the first time he's ever held a child, but Dominic can sense fear. You can't see it, but Dominic's bib matches Jeff's shirt. We were TRYING to get a cute picture!

Dominic picking Papa's nose. His little fingers can get all the way up there if you aren't careful!

Random Take 18

2009-09-21T20:53:00.002-05:00

Our landscaping for selling the house is finished. If we would have known it was as easy as it was, we would have done it a long time ago so we could have enjoyed it a little more.

Abby and her BFF, Estelle. They sure have fun together. This was after they were jumping on our bed.

Temper tantrum Part I

Temper tantrum part II. Even when he's screaming because he doesn't get what he wants, he's adorable.

Abby sharing her apple with Dominic. She really is a great big sister. She would do anything for him. Let's just hope it stays that way and is mutual in years to come!

Abby and Estelle after playing in the pool.

Abby and Estelle watching their 13 year old boyfriend playing outside. He is the kid across the street and both of them stop what they are doing and watch him whenever they hear him. They are both too shy to even look at him (Abby actually goes in the house to hide) when he comes over by us when we are outside. Abby says, "I love Marcus." It's too cute. (Dad is not a big fan of this statement!)

Why do I see this same scenario 15 years from now (minus the blanket, I hope!)? Dominic sitting in the recliner, watching a movie. He sure is cute, though!

Trying to pick up chicks in the bus.

Abby being Abby. She sure a goofy one.

The New Stomping Grounds

2009-09-21T20:46:00.002-05:00

This is Ludington Park. It is HUGE and we all instantly fell in love with it. I can just imagine summer days spent walking and playing in this park as a family. AND...in the UP, dogs are allowed in public parks. Carmen won't know what to think (we haven't told her yet...)

Abby took one look at this massive playground and decided she could definitely live in Escanaba. She played for about an hour and a half and was still raring to go.

Dominic loving the bucket swing. Just don't swing him too high or he acts like all of the air is being taken out of his body. Keep it low and he is happy.

Our little monkeys.

The view of Lake Michigan from Ludington Park. There is even a marina and swimming beaches. It's a very cool park, indeed. It puts Pamperin Park to shame.

Jimmy Buffett Concert '09

2009-09-21T20:32:00.002-05:00

Yes, the beer was actually $13 a piece. We did not partake in the rip-off.

Us inside the concert. You can't tell from this picture, but in about 2 hours I'm going to have a fever so high that I need to sleep with 2 comforters, a sweatshirt, socks, hat, and gloves on because I was so cold all day. It was FREEZING that day.

We actually left about halfway through the concert (BOOOOOO! I know!) because we were so cold and miserable. One good thing about it, we got a glimpse of Buffett's tour bus.

The great invention of Buffett '09: The Paintstick. Yes, it is a paintstick you would use to paint your house, but at Buffett '09 it was a syringe-type beer bong. I did not do one, but about 50+ people from all around our car did. Go figure, I'm the only one who go sick! Maybe I should have done one...

This guy made a killing off these things. They are underwear that you can carry a flask in. That's the one place they don't search when you are entering a concert....brilliant.

Walk for Autism

2009-09-20T15:28:00.001-05:00

Abby, Dominic and Daddy playing after a long walk to support autism.

Amongst the crowd..

Abby donating her money to the cause. She has a piggy bank that has 4 categories (spend, save, invest, and donate). Here she is with the VP of the foundation.

The walkers (Grammy, Josh, Brandon, Abby and Dominic). I, unfortunately, had to work.

Snacks in hand, they are ready!

Update from the Durst Family

2009-09-17T20:15:00.003-05:00

Some of Abby’s favorite things:
1. Coloring! She does this for hours on end. We’ve buy about 6 or 7 new coloring books a
week. The girl just can’t get enough.
2. Singing songs from Annie and Shrek
3. Annie, Shrek and Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
4. Waving goodbye to Daddy in the morning when he leaves for work. She’s going to be in for
a rude awakening soon…
5. Going to Grammy’s. In fact, now she asks Josh and I to “please go now” when we get
there. She finally realizes the greatness of getting spoiled.
6. Getting Daddy to throw her up REALLY high in the air. I DO NOT like this game.
7. Climbing in bed with us when she gets up before us and then telling me to “go get pretty”
because she wants to snuggle in bed with daddy and read one of my parenting magazines.
8. Chocolate!
9. Keeping her diaper dry after naps and at bedtime. She’s doing awesome with the naps-not
one accident or wet diaper (I let her decide which she wants to try) in over 2 weeks. Night
time she goes about 1 out of every 3 or 4 nights being dry.
10. Kissing and hugging her little brother. She even asked for a sister the other day. I told her
to go tell Daddy what she said and I could just hear him start laughing. I guess that’s a no…

Some of Dominic’s favorite things:
1. Practicing climbing up and down the stairs. Once he hears the gate open he is there. If
you close it without letting him go with you he throws a bit of a tantrum. He REALLY likes
the stairs.
2. Giving big, slobbery kisses. He even gave one to Abby tonight when he was sitting by her
on the couch. I wish I would have had my camera! It was adorable.
3. Mama! He is a complete and utter mama’s boy these days. Not in a bad way, I’m loving it.
He can’t see me without yelling, “MAMA!” and then giving me a big monkey hug. He
might as well just permanently attach himself to my leg, but I like it. Not much longer and
he won’t want anything to do with me.
4. Running away. As soon as we put him down, that boy is on the move. You really have to
keep an eye on him or he is halfway down the road in 2 seconds.
5. Smiling! He really is always so happy, from the time he gets out of his crib until he goes to
bed at night. Although, he has started to throw temper tantrums when he doesn’t get
something he wanted. They only last a couple of seconds, though and then he’s back to
happiest baby in the world.
6. Watching TV. We were in a restaurant the other day and he just happened to be sitting
where he could see the tv and I he was set. He isn’t picky about what is on, he just likes to
watch it. (He gets that from me, although funny enough since we’ve had kids I don’t get to
watch it anymore…)
7. Making animal noises. The ones he has down pat are a gorilla and an elephant. He’s close
to a cat and a cow.
8. Climbing on anything and everything. The other day he was climbing up a bunch of
records at Josh’s mom’s house that were leaning against the wall and yesterday at Target
he was literally climbing up the shelves. He’s 100% boy! (and now I know what people
mean when they use that phrase!!)
9. Learning new words. He can now say hi, bye, mama, bird, ball, and all done. (We tried
teaching him the sign language for it, but he just started saying the words-works for me!)
If you’re not his mom or dad you probably can’t understand him yet, but it won’t be long
and he’ll be chattering our ears off like his big sister.
10. Coloring (or eating crayons). He tries to color and really likes it, but the crayon always ends
up in his mouth. It’s the weirdest thing! He gets the concept of coloring and always wants
to join Abby in the fun whether it’s with a crayon or chalk in the driveway. We may have 2
Picasso’s on our hands!

News about us:
And I guess I should include what is new with us. Josh has accepted a position back with Edward Jones and his office is going to be in Escanaba, MI., so our house is on the market and as soon as it sells we will be moving. Abby is already calling herself a Yooper, although I don't think she has a clue as to what is actually going to be happening. She just knows she REALLY likes Ludington park there. So, Josh will be at training in Tempe, AZ next week and the week after he will start in Escanaba. It'll be a lot of traveling for a while until we get things settled, but this is a great opportunity for our family. It'll be sad to be far away from friends and family, but hopefully we'll get back to WI often. So far there hasn't been any hits on the house, but hopefully that will change soon. We'll keep everyone updated.

Camping at Indian Shores 2009

2009-08-01T12:56:00.005-05:00

Abby reading in the camper. She actually asked to go to bed the first night because she was tired. She gets that from her mother!

The first sighting of the bike. Nana and Papa got Abby a big girl bike for her birthday but gave it to her early so that she can get some use out of it this summer yet. She had just come down the camper steps and spotted the bike in this picture. The only thing she could say was, "Is that for me??" She was SOOOOO excited. She's been talking about a bike for months.

The bike rider in motion!

In my days we didn't get to watch movies while we were camping! Nor did we have a bathroom or a roof over our head that was made of anything stronger than canvas. Ahh, we'll have to break out our tent one of these times and show her what camping used to be like.

This was taken at 3 am by Josh. We were all awake courtesy of Dominic (in the stripes). I love how blurry it turned out because that's exactly how we all felt. I think we all managed to squeeze in about 2.5 hours of sleep that night.

Abby is licking Papa's whiskers in this picture. I think she likes the way it feels. Weird kid...

Fishing with Daddy. She thought "going for a ride" on the dock was pretty cool.

We went to a Wilderness place with all kinds of animals. Abby got to hold a bird, feed a bear, feed goats, and touch a huge turtle. It was a lot of fun watching her. Poor Dominic stayed in the backpack so he didn't make it in many pictures. Don't worry, buddy, we'll get you next year!

Random things around GB

2009-08-01T12:51:00.002-05:00

Abby was brave enough to ride a pony at Celebration Howard that was going on by our house. She was all excited to ride it again until the pony shook to get the flies off. That freaked her out a bit and she was "all done...all done". She didn't get back on the pony, but she talks about it all the time. I was proud of her that she tried it. A lady actually took her picture while she was on the horse for a local newspaper, but I don't remember which one she said it was so we never got a copy of if.

Dominic surfing on the pizza tray. What a boy! He has good balance though!

Abby and Dominic trying out his new pool that he got for his birthday.

Dominic's godfather, Jeff, got him this bib. Kudos to Jeff-I think this is the first "baby" item he has ever purchased. Jeff has the matching shirt. Too cute!

We have been lucky enough to have our niece, Teagan, staying in Green Bay for most of the summer. She has become quite a fixed part of bathtime and they all play so nicely together. I think the tub is at its maximum capacity, though!

Dominic's 1st Birthday!

2009-08-01T12:45:00.003-05:00

The birthday boy tearing into his cake! It's funny to look back at Abby's first birthday pictures. She ate all dainty and was neat about it. Not Dominic! He's all boy, that's for sure. Messy and into EVERYTHING. I love it!

She's not to be out-done anymore, though. She did a good number on her piece of cake as well.

Me with the birthday boy right after he got up from his nap. He didn't know why he had gone to bed with a quiet house and woke up with a ton of people in it. When he saw the presents he didn't care. All was good.

Dominic playing with Papa. There is something about these two. They are always smiling and goofing around. He loves his Papa!

Abby, Kaylie and Jason eating popcorn and watching a movie. I think this was the most I saw these three sit still all day.

Finally...Professional Pictures of the Kiddos!

2009-07-19T11:20:00.003-05:00

So, I know I am a bit lagging in the professional portrait part of being a parent, but we were finally able to get the kiddos together and get their pictures taken by a professional. This was Dominic's very first photo op. I know, I know...he's over a year old. My bad. Also, it has been 2 years since Abby has had pictures taken. The session itself went very well. There were no tears and the kids were quite cooperative. At the end they got a little restless when we were ordering the pictures, but then again, so did I. Well, here are a couple of the pictures that we got. Enjoy because it might be another 2 years before we get around to it again!

Happy Birthday, Little Man!

2009-06-29T12:59:00.002-05:00

It's hard to believe that only a year ago we were at the hospital holding our 45 minute old son. Wow, what a difference a year makes, but he is just as precious now as he was then. Now I look at him and he is walking, fake sneezing just to hear you say "Bless you", and pulling out all of our DVD's from the entertainment center. He is such a happy baby/toddler. He's smiling when he wakes up, always ready to greet the day (even if it happens to be 5 am), he is easily consoled when he is upset, and gives the best monkey hugs a mom and dad could ask for. His thousand watt smile and belly laugh can light up any room. He has brought such happiness to our lives and has been the best little brother Abby could have asked for. Now I'm going to repay him by taking him to the Dr. for his shots on his birthday. :( I'm such a mean mommy! Don't worry, buddy, we'll have cake when we get home! Happy Birthday to my favorite little man in the world!

Father's Day 09'

2009-06-21T20:53:00.003-05:00

Abby and me went our our first fishin' trip today. Kristie packed us a big picnic basket with sandwiches, yogurt, doughnuts, fruit, pudding, and a huge jug of lemonade. We went to the Duck Creek fishing pier. We didn't catch any fish, but I practiced casting and reeling in with Abby's barbie pole. It wasn't long before Abby was begging"I'll do it myself!" Abby had a great time walking around the shore and playing in an ashy firepit(sorry Mama, those stains are not coming out). After we got home and took a nap, the whole fam went to the park. It was a perfect Father's Day.

Abby by our gear. She just inhaled her custard filled doughnut that we got her at Wal-Mart this morning. ON Daddyday we can do desert first!

Abby enjoyed her first butterscotch pudding so much, that I gave her mine too. Who new that pudding also doubles as hair gel?

Abby found a "dirt slide" at our fishing spot. If you look behind her, you can see the path she took down this hill. The day was a complete success. Her outfit was a total loss.

Abby on the way back to the car. It was about a mile or so to the fishing spot. She was looking at everything and smelling every flower along the way. That girl knows how to slow down and enjoy life. Which is just what I need on the weekends.

Round' the house

2009-06-21T20:40:00.003-05:00

After giving us phone numbers of landscapers didn't work our neighbors were getting desperate and just started giving us plants. Yes we finally have our first landscaping done(except for trees put in last year). Our new neighbors had some Hastas left over from doing their landscaping and gave us their extras. It was a very nice gesture and it finally gave us a reason to get something put in. We added a jasmine bush and some red flower(yes that's as technical as I try to get with plants). Kristie and I were impressed at how easy it was to put them in. And it is nice to have something by the front door other than the dirt/weed/rock pile.

Its a start!!

Dom expressing his sentiments about mowing the lawn when he is old enough.

Abby and her BFF playing with the waterball sprinkler in the front yard.

Although we didn't have any pictures from Bayfest, here is Abby with her bag O' cotton candy.

Early B-day for Dom

2009-06-21T20:24:00.004-05:00

Grammy went to California to visit Aunt Annie for a few weeks and will be gone for Dom's 1st birthday.... but did she let that stop her from spoiling him? No way! She got a big ole' ice cream cake, sippie cups and the works and Dom had his first 1st birthday party(the other one is coming up Saturday).

After Abby's birthday parties she feels entitled to scoop the frosting off with her finger on any cake she sees. She ate Dom's cake like a champ... two BIG pieces. Dom was glad to have uncle B there as well. For once he wasn't the only strapped into his chair. And if Dom keeps cruisin' the way he has been, Brandon won't be the only one wearing a helmet.

Dom's first sugar-high. He is always smiling, but I think this is the look of shock and bliss as the sugary cake was hitting his system.

Our little queen WILL NOT miss an opportunity for cake.

Now if we can just get her to wear this look in high school, we may be able to keep the boys away.

Bye Bye Baby...Hello Toddler!

2009-06-20T13:29:00.002-05:00

It's official, I do not have a baby anymore. Dominic has decided that he wanted to become a toddler this week. That is right, he started walking last Monday (June 15th). He just up and walked. No warning, no trying and trying and trying. Although they walked at almost the exact same age, he and Abby had a completely different process. Now we are in trouble. Of course he heads right for corners and unstable surfaces, you know, the dangerous stuff. He has to keep us on our toes and let me tell you, he is doing it. Abby encourages him by saying, "Wow, Dominic, you are a really good walker". Hopefully he'll have a good handle on it to impress all the ladies at his birthday party in a week!

Brave Abby (with no photographic evidence)

2009-06-14T09:25:00.003-05:00

I saw Abby be the bravest girl ever on Friday night...and we forgot our camera so there is no photographic proof! For those of you who know Abby, you know she is a little bit afraid of new things...and loud things...and things that move. Well, we took her to Bayfest on Friday just to see how she would do. Boy, were we impressed. Not only did she climb up the climbing wall on the big inflatable slide (that was made for kids probably 5 and up), but she jumped in the bouncy castle with much older kids, ate cotton candy like it was nobody's business (ok, that isn't that surprising), made a bead-bracelet, got a heart painted on her face(which was surprising she sat still long enough) and DRUM ROLL PLEASE......She went on the dragon roller coaster and the carousel! I know, I know, not usually the most exciting news but Abby isn't usually one to try new things and she BEGGED us to let her keep going on them. The dragon she even had to go on by herself and she loved it. She went on the dragon 4 times and the carousel 3 times. She wanted to do more, but I'm sorry, that was over $20 in rides right there. I was broke at this point. By this time it was about 8:45 and well past her bedtime, but fireworks were about to begin so we thought, why not, we've come this far. Again, not knowing how our sensitive little princess would react we were ready to scram in an instant. But no, to our surprise she LOVED them. She even learned to watch where they were lit from so she knew when another one was coming. She would say ooooh and ahhh. She loved them. Poor Dominic was worn out and ready to go to bed. He was not a fan of the boom that comes with fireworks. He could grab on to me and kick me in the stomach whenever one went off. But he sure was cuddly! So, we finally got the kids down at about 10:45 pm (I think that is a record) and got to bed ourselves. Dominic decided to let us sleep in until 7:30am (that's really late in our house) which we were very grateful for. Needless to say, we had a blast watch Abby have fun. The look on her face made everything worth it. I have never seen her smile that big! Alas, it was a successful Bayfest experience!

Josh's Mini-Me (aka: Dominic's 1st Haircut)

2009-06-08T19:53:00.003-05:00

Before: "Please, please someone give me a haircut!"

After: "Ahhhh, much better." Not to mention he is the spitting image of his dad now. I just about peed my pants when Josh took out the clippers and brought them to his head. I was not ready for him to get his first haircut. But, it looks really good and I don't have to threaten to use gel on his hair anymore.

Memorial Day Weekend in Menomonie

2009-05-27T19:49:00.003-05:00

Adam and baby Lincoln. I'm not going to be able to call him "baby" much longer...he'll be bigger than Dominic in a year tops.

Abby hanging out with her Papa.

Just another day in Menomonie....

Dominic is like a maguai (sp)...Bright light! Bright light!

Dominic picking Papa's nose. He's notorious for putting his little fingers in every hole on your face.

Nana walking Dominic in the stroller. I don't know why we even take it anywhere, though. Josh was carrying it about 15 minutes later.

Abby feeding an elk. She was really brave. It came right up and took the grass out of her hand.

Josh and Abby walking down the path looking at all the animals at Wakonda park.

Abby and Josh riding the dino. And yes, Josh FINALLY got men's sunglasses! :)

Dominic holding on for dear life. He likes the swing, but he has height limits. If you go too high he acts as though all air is being sucked out of his little body. He's also sporting his new hat. He gets his fair skin from me and SPF 70 is just not enough. Drastic times call for drastic measures.

We were lucky enough to be able to spend the weekend with my cousin, Adam, his wife, Meghan, and their baby, Lincoln.

Abby and Papa going down the slide.

Family picture attempt 23098574958. We'll take it.

Abby sharing "grasshoppers" with Papa. She was really just eating Frosted Flakes.

Abby helping to water Nana and Papa's flowers. She kept saying, "Wanna dump the water." Josh finally had to tell her the water was all gone.

Jeff and Kim's Wedding

2009-05-27T19:31:00.005-05:00

Another drink, please!

Kim with her shot glass necklace that Josh picked out. She used it even though Abby had been eating Lucky Charms out of it 5 hours earlier. She's a trooper.

Bachelorette attendees at Nakashima's of Japan.

Kim and Kristie in the women's suite before the wedding. The guys got a pool table and foosball in their room. I think we got robbed...

Invisible thought bubble above our head says, "Beer."

This was the first time we were away from our kids for 2 nights in a row. They stayed at Grammy's, but we just couldn't stay away. We kept visiting and they couldn't get rid of us fast enough.

9 years together and we still like each other!

Hanging out at the ole Stan and Ollies before the reception. We are all enjoying a much needed beer (especially Jeff).

Plate O' Bones (aka Josh's supper). Josh said that it looked like the Rancor Pit from Jedi.

Josh and Randy loosening the pants. (See plate o' bones)

Kristie and Kim taking a much needed break. 12 hours on your feet is hard on a 29 year old body (or a little younger one in the case of Kim).

Eric and Kristy showing Jeff and Kim how it's done.

Josh and Kim

The Bride and Groom kissing on the dance floor...where is Jeff's other hand??

nice end to the weekend

2009-05-04T01:20:00.002-05:00

The neighborhood playground... its only a couple blocks away from our house. It was Abby's favorite place to go until we went to Pamprin Park today. The mammoth playground there put this one to shame... and there were no kids pushing her down(don't worry, Dad had a talk with them).

The pond next to the park. I love Suamico.

The kiddos on our walk. It was the perfect end to a beautiful weekend. Kristie was pretty busy yesterday(work/bachelorette party) and she was super happy to spend time with the fam.

Heading into the woods on our walk. There are trails that wind through our neighborhood and into the woods. Its a far cry from Smith Street.

I got the mower out for the first time today... it takes a long time, but man does it look nice when its done. We're thinking of doing a deck or a big playset for the kids this year(maybe both). Sure would be nice if they gave more than $20 a pop for plasma.

Barkhausen, May 09'

2009-05-03T21:13:00.006-05:00

This is the pond by the welcome building at the start of the trail. I only took this picture because it reminded me of the two bathtubs is the Cialis(sp?) commercials.

The welcome building didn't open until noon, so this was the welcoming committee.

The "turtle pond". Its the first pond on the trail and on sunny days there are always turtles out sunning themselves on a partially submerged log.

Abby was obsessed with finding "yellow flowers".

30 pound humanoid form incoming at great velocity, impact imminent. That girl can RUN.

The kiddos by the first stream on the trail. Abby lasted about 15 minutes in the stroller, which was impressive. We saw a sucker fish in the water just behind Abby in this pic.

Dad and Abby both wearing women's sunglasses.

Dom with his biter-biscuit all over his face.

Abby chucking rocks into the stream at the 1/2 way point of the short trail.

I love this picture. Ab's getting to the point where she can just enjoy a view. She probably sat here for five minutes or so checking out this spot. She was amazed that she could see the reflection of the sky in the water.

Daddy Day!!!

2009-05-03T20:59:00.003-05:00

Kristie had a full day this Saturday. She had to work during the day and then had our friend Kim's bachelorette party that night. So Josh got a full day with the kiddos. Here the men are getting ready for their day together.

...and Josh and Abby having breakfast together. Eggs, fruity cheerios, and peanut butter and celery. Anybody else might turn up their nose, but Abby likes some variety in her meals.

Abby in the car getting ready to go to Barkhausen.

Dom in the car, wondering what a "Barkhausen" is.

...and Dad leading the troops. Not that you need to know, but those sunglasses I'm wearing are "Daisy Fuentes" brand sunglasses. I lost mine and was too cheap to buy another pair, so I stole a pair of Kristie's.

Round' Tha House

2009-05-03T20:42:00.003-05:00

Rough-housing!! Dom is now big enough to wrestle and play with Ab. Abby would get mad when he stopped and say "I want Dominic to play!"

Did we mention he gets in EVERYTHING?

Abby hanging with Carmen. Carmen is glad she learned how to pet instead of just pulling her hair.

Josh made butterscotch pudding(cook & serve...not even instant!!) and Abby enjoyed it. She still talks about it(and this was 3 weeks ago....guess its time to make pudding again).

Dom is growing up FAST. We can already start to see what he's going to look like when he's older(so far he is looking a lot like Josh). He is able to stand all by himself for a minute or so and has started taking a couple steps at a time. He's already a hnadful to keep up up now...I can't imagine how much he will be into when he's walking. Dom was totally stoked to hear that his Godfather, Jeff, got him a bib. It says "Boobies make me smile." Uncle Jeff has a sweet spot, whether he will admit it or not.

Easter 2009

2009-04-18T11:52:00.007-05:00

This year Easter was pretty low-key, just the way we like it. We were lucky enough to have Grandpa Durst, Nana, and Papa visit at various times over the weekend. We took Abby and Dominic to the Easter Egg Hunt at the NEW Zoo on Saturday with Grandpa Durst, Grammy, and Uncle Jordan. Abby had more fun playing on the slide than finding the eggs. In fact, all the eggs she found she automatically put in other kids baskets (until she realized that she got candy for turning in the plastic eggs!). Abby also had fun finding her Easter basket on Easter morning, although she was pretty scared about the Easter bunny walking around in our house while she was sleeping. She was concerned that he would wake her up. Luckily, her sleep was not disturbed and she realized that the Easter bunny brings presents. We WANT him to come.

Papa and Dominic-these two are always smiling!

Abby using Papa as her human jungle gym.

Papa and Abby are doing bubbles in the front yard. For those of you who haven't seen our house yet, here it is. It's only been, what, 2 years!

The Easter bunny came for Dominic too. Poor guy didn't get candy though. Maybe next year, buddy.

Abby is pretty psyched about all the presents in her basket. Her favorite was the candy though. Poor kid is probably on a sugar high.

Abby chasing bubbles around the yard. Hey, it's less work than Josh and I having to chase her around the yard. We can just stand in one spot while she does all the work.

Grandpa Durst and the kiddos snuggling on the couch. Abby sure was concerned about where Grandpa Durst was whenever he wasn't in the room.

Abby at the park in the NEW Zoo.

I love this picture! My two favorite boys! (Taken at the Zoo)

Abby hunting for eggs.

Spring update

2009-04-11T08:15:00.004-05:00

Look who's really close to walking.

Here comes trouble!

Tough girls

Chuck E. Cheese with Grammy

Dominic LOVES bath time. The only time he cries is when I get him out of it! (Don't worry, buddy, it's COLD when you get out of the warm water!)

Chuck E. Cheese...riding in style.

I'm ready for the casino, Dad!

He loves to sit in baskets.

Snuggling Bucky

Look Mom, I can swing from your blinds!

Grammy snuggling the kids.

The funny thing is, she ate the WHOLE thing.

We got Hershey kisses for when she goes potty. Someone got them off the counter when the bag was open.

How cute! See, they DO love each other.

Colds, Bumps, and Dr. Appointments

2009-04-02T19:11:00.002-05:00

What do 5 kids with a cold, two baseball size eggs on Abby's head, and an hour long Dr.'s appointment have in common? They all give mom a REALLY REALLY REALLY big headache. Dominic got his very first cold on Monday and was kind enough to spread it to Abby, Estelle, Hudson, and Kamden. So, on Wednesday I had a house full of misearable children which made for a pretty miserable day. It is always more enjoyable when they are healthy and fun! Not to mention that when I was feeding Hudson I heard a loud bang upstairs where Abby and Estelle were playing followed by a loud scream/cry from Abby. She came downstairs and kept pointing to her head. She finally let me feel it and I just about passed out. She literally had an egg about the size of a baseball on the back of her head. To this day I don't know what she fell on, but she has limited it down to either the bookshelf or the cot that Estelle sleeps on in the bonus room above the garage. That apparently wasn't enough damage to her head because about 5 hours later she fell back into our end table in the living room and got another big egg on the side of her head. Do they make helmets for wearing around the house? I felt like the worst mom on the planet at this point. Then we had Dominic's 9 month check up. Usually not a big deal. He is, afterall, the happiest kid on the planet. But, when he's sick he doesn't like to be poked and proded, I guess. (Don't worry buddy, I don't like it when I'm not sick.) So that appointment consisted of an hour of Dominic screaming, an hour of Abby shaking and saying she wants to go home (she HATES going into any clinic type setting), and a report telling me that Dominic is skinny and needs to eat more. (Why can't they say that about me??) He only gained 1.9oz in 3 months and only grew about a half of an inch. Oh, but his head grew dramatically! Good brain development, I guess. So, this week is almost done and I couldn't be happier. Hopefully I'll be able to pull of Kim's bridal shower without too many battle scars! And hopefully next week is healthier than this one was!

1st Haircut & Nice Weather

2009-03-15T19:20:00.004-05:00

It was really nice out for the first time in months, so we took advantage by spending about 6 hours outside yoday. If we weren't eating or taking a nap, we were outside. Carmen even got a walk. She was a happy dog.

Dad: The Human Junglegym!

Abby's new favorite place to take a bath is in our tub. She pretty much does laps in it!

We had another milestone for the big girl! Abby got her first haircut on Saturday. She did better than expected. She didn't want to into the salon, but after about 5 minutes she did just fine. In fact, she even says she had fun! Whew!

I came home one night after work to this. I just about passed out. This is Josh's "getting toxins out" outfit. He worked out for an hour in this outfit. Let's just say the shirt was still not dry when I washed it the next day.

Sleeping Beauties

Dominic fell asleep in his highchair for the first time a couple weeks ago...while he was eating. I got up to stir dinner, came back, and he was out. Abby never did this...ever (she won't fall asleep hardly anywhere but her bed) so I thought I better get a picture.

And his new favorite food are the Gerber Cheese Puffs!

Meanwhile, Abby gets a kick out of wearing a lampshade on her head and wheeling around in Dominic's walker. She's going to be fun in college!

The Lego Queens! Here they are building a castle for Ariel.

Abby hanging out with Kamden.

Abby kissing Hudson. Boy, she just can't decide...

Dominic putting things in his mouth....surprise, surprise..

Dominic proving to us that he can reach anything we put on the little table. He sure is proud of himself!

Abby and Dominic playing in the same vicinity.

Stars, parties, & Nana/Papa

2009-02-28T11:40:00.002-06:00

Abby has been obsessed with stars and the moon. Every night she walks around to all of the windows in the house until she finds the moon. The other week she said "I take a bite of the moon. It tastes like chicken and ketchup." I asked her what the stars tasted like and she said "chicken and ketchup." I asked her if she wanted one and then got out the ladder and put it in front of the living room window. I reached up above the window and stretched really high and came down with a piece of chicken(it was actually ham) with ketchup on it that I had snuck outside with me. Abby was astounded and gobbled it up. Now she is always asking to get a star with ketchup. This pic turned out really cool because the flash makes it look like I'm holding a star in my hand.

Zeke, Jason, Noah(yes, that's a mohawk), Kaylie, Dom, and Abby at the family birthday party at Lee and Lynn's restaurant(The Viking) in Zittau. We do a group b-day party every 3 months for everybody that has a b-day around that time. Abby and Kaylie set some high scores on the touchmaster game and Dominic played a coin machine where you try and win quarters.

Nana and Abby snuggling on the couch. Abby had a bunch of new tricks since Nana and Papa had seen her last. I taught her to say "welcome to the gun show" and then kiss her biceps... Cousin Adam loved that one. I also taught her to "schmooze." She will go up to you and give you a big hug and say "Its so good to see you!" I told her to utilize this trick around birthdays and Christmas.

Nana and Dom. His smile has gotten even bigger since he now has 3 teeth(and 4 that have just broken through the gums). He is still (almost) always smiling.

Papa doing what he does best... making Abby laugh. These two are going to have a lot of fun when we go camping together this summer(which Abby is already talking about).

Snowstorm Julia

2009-02-28T08:42:00.002-06:00

Abby's new favorite place. Mama and Daddy's bed. She'll crawl up in bed with us in the morning, or just crawl under the covers during the day. With Me, Kristie, Carmen, Ab, and Dom, it can get crowded fast.

Meet danger magnet. Cords, I'm there. Stairs or a steep drop, that sounds fun. Anything sharp in here, I'll find it. Dom has been getting into everything lately. Do they make those clear plastic gerbil balls in toddler size?

Oh yeah, and I'll be walking very soon.... at 8 months.

Snowstorm Julia hit us this week. Driving visability was only about 15 feet and it was actually thundering and lightning during the snowstorm. I did my good turn for the day on the way home. I was driving down main st and saw a Greyhound driver walking down the middle of the road with 2 suitcases. He was from Mississippi and hadn't walked through to many Wisconsin snowstorms. I gave him a lift to his hotel(about a mile away). On the way out of the hotel I pushed a Saturn out of the road that was stuck. The seatwarmers in our Buick were MUCH appreciated that night.

This is what 5 inches of snow looks like after drifting and blowing. The drifts in our driveway were 3 to 4 feet high. The snowblower wasn't even tall enough to reach the top. If you live in WI, you NEED a snowblower. I can't imagine how long it would've taken to shovel. A few weeks ago we had rain and it melted all the snow. If you like some variety in your weather, WI is the place to be.

Guess Who's Getting Old???

2009-02-07T20:49:00.003-06:00

Laura! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LOU!! Wish I could be there to spend your 2_th birthday with you! Have a great day!

Tundra Lodge (The Blue Pool)

2009-02-07T20:38:00.003-06:00

We told Abby that we would take her to the blue pool (Tundra Lodge) when Josh got a new job. Since Josh got a new job at KI, we had to pay up. Actually, Grammy ended up treating all of us (she has to stop doing that when we invite her to go places) and I think the pictures confirm what a blast we had. Well, all except Dominic. After about a half hour and accidentally going under the waterfall in the lazy river he just clung to me like a monkey. After this we went out to eat at Legends and stuffed ourselves silly. It was a good day!

Grammy and Abby having fun.

The Durst Family. Dominic just isn't too sure about all this noise and splashing around.

Abby patiently waiting her turn. She was the only kid who took turns. I was so proud of her-and also very sick of yelling at other people's kids.

Wheeeeeee! After a couple times down the slide, she was walking to the side of the pool, climbing out herself and going again. She spent a good 88.9% of our time there going down this slide.

Walking cautiously to the side of the pool so she can do it all over again.

Crazy Kids

2009-02-07T20:28:00.002-06:00

Abby and Dominic played together for the first time tonight. At least they played in the same general area with the same general toys. It counts for me, it was cute!

Josh likes it when Abby wears a ponytail. He always makes me take a picture because he thinks it's so cute. I must agree. Here she is dressing up her doll from Auntie Whoa.

Today it hit 40 degrees in Green Bay, so we loaded up the kids and went for a walk. Granted they were in snowsuits and blankets, but it sure felt like a heat wave around here.

Dominic's cute puppy dog snowsuit. He's much more agreeable about dressing up in animal clothes than Abby was.

Apparently our kids have a thing for putting goofy things in their mouths. At least Abby's was edible.

Abby washing her hands after a successful trip to the potty. Not long after this picture she licked her hand right after I put a dollop of soap on it. She was spitting bubbles all night. Now when we go to wash her hands she says, "No eat soap-Abby cried." Hey, at least she learned.

Homebodies

2009-02-07T20:11:00.002-06:00

Dominic reading the book, "Baby Knows Best". I think he's trying to tell us something. (Oh yeah, notice he's sitting up by himself.)

Abby is absolutely obsessed with the movie, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" (which is on hiatus at the moment thanks to sassy Veruca Salt teaching her bad things). She especially likes the Oompa Loompas and was amazed that Dad had the coolest shirt ever with them on it.

Time outs never last very long thanks to this cute face.

Happy boy playing with his train. Nothing gets this guy down.

And here he is standing all by himself. He's been known to go for the dangerous stuff in a 7 month old's life, so we have resorted to putting him in his "cage". Other people call it a playpen, we prefer cage.

Abby and Estelle looking at pictures of Abby and Estelle.

Eat spinach, grow muscles. He sure loves his solids!

Mom, help me indulge in some of this goodness.

The coolness of going in the cage with Dominic wore off in about a day, but it was fun to put them both in there while it lasted.

This was when he still sat and played with his jungle gym. Now he uses it as a device to help him stand up and proceeds to knock it over like King Kong (in fact, that is what we call him while he's tearing it down).

Dis and Dat

2009-01-24T09:22:00.004-06:00

Here is our little teething man (note the finger in the mouth and the incessant drool on his chin). He is getting teeth all out of order...he got his bottom two, but the next one coming in is his upper eye tooth. Josh keeps calling him his little hillbilly.

For New Year's we had about 2 and a half hours that we could spend with our good friends, Jeff and Kim. We played a trivia game on their Playstation 3 and this is a picture of when Josh won. (Funny how he didn't take a picture of the game I won...)

Here is Josh right after his victory.

Jeff and Kim-how cute are they?? They look ready for marriage in about 4 months!

There's the two teeth!

Abby was pretty excited to have Mom all to herself last week. I don't remember what we were doing here, but she was pretty excited about it.

Doesn't he look so grown up already? Hard to believe 7 months have just about flown by.

This is Abby's new favorite pasttime. She does flips off the couch. Josh just about has a heart attack every time she does it. He is not a big fan of her new game.

Abby and her BFF enjoying cookies.

This is Abby's idea of feeding Carmen supper. Carmen likes it when Abby helps.

They say snow is an insulator, right? She sure loves the snow-no matter how flipping cold it is outside. (-25 windchill today they say-woohoo! Love Wisconsin)

She's still giving Dominic kisses. I see that changing now that he is crawling and starting to play with her toys.

Sharing toys (for now)

Post-Holiday Updates

2009-01-10T09:55:00.002-06:00

Ahhh, its post-holiday season at the Durst household. After a wonderful Christmas and New Year’s, it is good to be back in the routine of our regular lives. I’m such a sucker for consistency.

As with young kids, thing are always happening, so I thought I’d give a little update. Abby has a new favorite movie: Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory. She just loves the Oompa Loompas and even sings along with the words. She wakes up wanting to watch it and goes to bed wanting to watch it. It is a whole day affair. Unlucky for her we only let her watch it a little bit during the day. She is turning into a tv-head, which I guess she gets from me. Maybe when she gets her own house she can watch it as much as she likes. J She has also apparently forgot how to walk. She does everything but…she runs, hops, skips, jumps, climbs, but there is no walking in sight. Now it makes sense when my mom says that never walked. Abby has also started to interact with Estelle when she plays. Up until this point they have mostly been playing separately but near each other. Now they make supper on her kitchen set or run around the kitchen chasing each other. They have also started playing hide-and-go-seek which to them means one goes in the laundry room while the other one runs to the living room and then they find each other. I guess the “hiding” part comes later. It makes me so happy to see her having fun and playing like that. Estelle is definitely her Laura. I hope they are friends for 21.5 years like we have been! The funniest Abby story I have happened last night. We decided to go to Wal-Mart as a family because I needed a bunch of things and it was easier that going to 3 different stores. Our family is not a big fan of Wal-Mart stores in Green Bay because there are so many (inconsiderate) people there. So, it is usually not a very rewarding experience when we all go. Anyway, I was checking out with Dominic and Josh and Abby went to play one of those crane toys. Well, some lady made them move out of her way so she could go by with her cart just as the crane was going down so Abby got mad. Her and Josh were headed out to the car and said, “Go to car, no people”. When I got to the car she told me that people should take a time out. I told her that the lady that made them move was taking a time out at her house. More and more I see her as a miniature version of Josh.

Now on to Dominic. Oh, my little man. Of course he STILL isn’t sleeping through the night consistently. In fact, he was up from 1:30 am until 2:30 am last night and then up for the day at 6:30am. I think he just really loves life and thinks that being awake is the coolest thing in the world. I can’t really complain though because he is always so happy and such an easy baby. It’s so funny because even at 1:30 in the morning when you go to get him out of bed he has the biggest smile on his face. We should all follow his lead. He has started crawling, much to my begging him not to. He gets going and then takes a face plant, but he gets exactly where he is going. He is getting to be such a wiggly little bugger. You can’t hold him without him wiggling to get down and go go go. I’m going to be in BIG trouble when he starts walking. Dominic also doubled the amount of hair he has in the past two weeks. It’s funny because you can see all of his new little hairs sprouting and they just stick straight up. He has 2 teeth so far (the bottom ones) but the next two bottom ones are not far behind. Strike that, Josh just called to say another tooth came through so he now has 3 teeth. He’ll be eating pizza in no time! He will chew on anything he can get his mouth on. His new favorite chew toy is his toothbrush. Saves me from having to do it! He is also starting to sit up. He leans on his side and can almost get all the way up. Another couple weeks and I’m sure he’ll have it.

As for Josh and myself, not much is really new. Our lives are no where near as exciting as our children’s! Isn’t that the way it is supposed to be, though?

Christmas Updates!!

2008-12-31T15:00:00.008-06:00

The fam together at Grammy's house , minus Grammy who is taking the picture.

Abby and cousin Teagan playing in the crib at Grammy's. Abby: " Listen up cuz, I pretty much run our house and I can teach you the tricks of the trade."

Grammy and her trifecta of grandbabies... who'll have the next one?

Dom and Aunt Annie from California.

Abby and Teagan playing a rousing rendition of "Cheers". I forgot to rotate this one for the blog...it works alright if you just turn your head to the right.

Happiest baby...ever.

Abby and cousin Olivia playing in the snow. Carmen does not like the way Abby is looking at her with that snowball.

Abby searching for the "mute" button on Dom's shirt

Abby got a Disney princess camping set with sleeping bag. Abby has been slowly staking her claim on each room in the house by placing her toys in each one. No wonder when we are pulling into the driveway she says "Abby's house."

Abby showing off her Christmas outfit. Baby Suri ain't got nothin' on me!!

I made Abby one of her Christmas gifts this year. I made some of her favorite characters for her felt board. They were fun to make, but very time consuming. You can't beat 20 cents for a piece of colored felt from Wal-Mart though!!

Abby with her Pooh table and chairs that she got from Nana & Papa. She has been having "dinner" at the table that she makes in her new kitchen(pictured 2 pics down)

Abby was quick to help everybody open their gifts, and was even quicker to help them try them, out. Except for clothes. She literally tossed them over her shoulder when she opened them up(whether they were hers or not). Typical kid.

Abby's Kitchen. It makes real cooking sounds and has a timer that ticks and then dings. She likes to set the timer and then run to her Pooh table and wait for the ding. During nap time we often hear little feet pattering in her room and kitchen sounds over the baby monitor in her room. If we go check on her, she will run back to bed and act as if she has been laying there the whole time(although she usually incriminates herself by having some plastic kitchen food in her hands).

Our Christmas tree all decked out. We get our tree from Calewaerts on main street every year(in the parking lot of Josh's office).

Abby and Dad frosting cookies...well, Abby is eating and Dad is trying to keep up.

Kristie and I were finally able to frost faster than Abby could eat

Garbage can post-baby era

Garbage can pre-baby era

Abby in her fort that her and Dad built. Abby always wants to make "tents" with any blankets we have laying around.

Abby showing Teagan how to do a Renee Zelwegger impersonation

Teagan laying one on her Cousin. She looks pretty aggressive Annie....better keep tabs on this one

Cousin Teagan keeping occupied. Sheesh, if we were back home in California, we could play outside. Seriously... 5 feet of snow, 30 degrees below zero? You guys are crazy.

Abby and "Auntie woh". Annie got a kick out of what Josh taught Abby to say when teenage boys come around. Abby shakes her head and yells "GO AWAAAAAAY!"

Dom going for the Christmas ornaments. He can crawl and scooch across the livingroom pretty good now. Oh yeah... and he is always happy. Seriously, this kid almost never stops smiling (except when we try to take him to Kristie's grandma's house for Christmas...he couldn't let Abby out-do him on that one).

Getting Ready for Christmas

2008-12-14T13:48:00.003-06:00

St.Nick was quite generous with the candy for Abby and Dominic this year. Too bad for Dominic Mom and Dad had to eat his this year. Don't worry, buddy, it's all yours next year!

A bunch of our friends and their families got together for a little Christmas lunch yesterday and the kids did a gift exchange. Abby had a bit of "sharing" issues, but man did she love opening her present.

What a smiley little guy. Yes, he really looks like this 95% of the time. The other 5% he is either hungry or tired.

Decorating the tree...

more decorating...

Dad coordinating all the lights.

Our little Santa man (who's also about to pop two teeth any day now!)

Ok mom, I'm ready for my cover shot!

Abby & Estelle enjoying the white stuff. Oh to be a kid and like snow again!

Random Takes

2008-11-26T17:42:00.004-06:00

Abby hanging with her BFF's twin brothers. "Hmmmmm, if I take YOU to prom, what will you buy me?" Choices, choices.

Dom with Great Grandma Ramsey. They both like to smile a lot.... they should get along just fine.

Kiss # 1,255,347 from Abby to Dom.

Mom and Dom. We went outside so Dom could enjoy his first snowfall.

I am an admitted G'N'R fan so I had to go pick up their new album when it came out Sunday. It is different to say the least... but after a couple listens, its growing on me a bit.

2008-11-26T17:29:00.002-06:00

Unca Jordan with Dom. Dad will start him on Guitar Hero, Jordan can teach him how to play the real thing. We all went to Mackinaw's after Dominic's baptism. We didn't make all the hooplah that we did for Abby's. Dom smiled during the whole service(no crying:)... as opposed to Abby's baptism where she SCREAMED while the congregation sang "God claims you."

A rare family photo(with everybody smiling!!)

Ab got her choice on the buffett. She really liked the eggs, fruit, and bacon. But of course HER food wasn't as good as Nana's food.

Papa and Dom. Now that Dom got some baptism money he can tell Abby that he has a portfolio too!

My guess is that all the laughing is because Dom just "tooted" on Papa. He does that a lot.

2008 First Snowfall

2008-11-26T17:15:00.003-06:00

I will not eat peas, spicey food, or squash. But mysterious cold stuff off the ground...count me in!!

Abby and Estelle plotting their eventual takeover of the world. They just can't decide which one of them will run the show.

See cousin T... I can play in the sand too!! This is JUST like the beach. Except for the snow. And the ice. And the snowsuits. Sigh

I had so much fun watching Dad scooping all this snow off the driveway, I'm going to put it all back so I can watch him do it again!!

Yeah, not to brag, but I was a well paid extra in the movie Fargo. Oh yahhhhhh, I practiced some lines, but they never used em'. Messed up, eh?

Night at the Museum

2008-11-26T17:00:00.003-06:00

Last Saturday we took Dominic and Abby to the Neville Museum. Abby was raving and ranting about wanting to see the big "elephant", but just about burst into tears when it roared as she walked by. Her favorite part was touching the dinosaur poop (thanks Dad, for teaching her those words) in the kid discovery zone.

Dominic didn't get to see much, he still looks like he had a pretty good time.

Mom and Abby playing in the Discovery Area. Good to see all those years of college paid off, Mom!

This picture had Josh mesmerized for about 15 minutes. It really was quite interesting to look at all the different aspects.

Grammy was nice enough to meet us at the museum with Uncle Brandon.

Grammy and Abby petting the beaver fur.

She wasn't too sure about this bench. Although, it was right after the "big elephant" scared the crap out of her, so you can't really blame the kid.

Here's the big elephant...she just isn't too sure. The strange thing is she kept begging to go back and see it.

Tag, I'm It!

2008-11-06T18:45:00.005-06:00

I am: a wife, mother, daughter, friend
I know: how to cook dinner one handed (well, do pretty much anything one handed)
I want: the best for my children
I dislike: narrow-minded people
I feel: tired and happy
I hear: the radio and the annoying hum of my computer
I smell: my gum
I crave: more alone time with Josh (or at least being able to see him for more than 10 mintues during the week)
I cry: rarely-usually only after I have a baby and the hormones are rushing out of my body
I search: for a simpler way to live
I wonder: where we'll be 5 years from now (and if we'll have any more kids)
I regret: giving up on certain things too quickly
I love: my family and my life
I remember: to always tell my family I love them (even if I'm just going to the store)-you never know when your last chance will be.
I dance: when the curtains are closed-it is NOT a pretty sight :)
I don't: spank or take things for granted
I argue: rarely-drama is not my specialty
I win: everyday-I have a pretty amazing life
I lose: when we talk politics or economics
I wish: my house was paid off
I listen: as much as I can
I can usually be found: at home (either cleaning or playing with my kids)
I am scared: of death
I need: hugs and kisses
I forget: the heartache that I've felt
I tag: Autumn

10 years ago I . . .
1. lived in Menomonie
2. was starting college at UW-Stout
3. had no kids
4. had no pets
5. lived with my parents

5 things on my "To-Do" list . . .
1. Spend more alone time with each member of my family
2. Cancel cable (I'm hesitating because it's my vice!)
3. Schedule family pictures to be taken
4. Start Christmas shopping
5. Shampoo the living room carpet

5 snacks I enjoy . . .
1. Chips
2. Yogurt
3. Cheese & Crackers
4. Veggies and Dip
5. Popcorn

5 things I'd do if I were a millionaire . . .
1. Pay off our house
2. Retire, but volunteer
3. Move my parents to Green Bay
4. Travel
5. Invest the money

5 places I've lived . . .
1. Appleton, WI
2. Menasha, WI
3. Menomonie, WI
4. Green Bay, WI
5. (I guess I need to move one more time)

5 jobs I've had . . .
1. Registrar
2. Financial Aid Administrator
3. Office Assistant
4. Babysitter
5. Jewelry Specialist

Our Night Out in Costume

2008-11-02T16:24:00.002-06:00

Jeff went as a nerd (or a geek, I don't really know the difference).
Kim went as a doll that goes around and kills people. She then sews their parts together and dresses them up as dolls so she has friends.

Josh and I went as Britney and K-Fed. Oh yeah, we brought one of our babies. I also have to say that we put these costumes together about 15 minutes before the party started.

I think Josh just fed our baby beer.

Josh almost took "Tank" home. He was a sweet dog.

It was nice to get out amongst the adults again, but it is also always nice to get home. Even though Grammy had the kids, I still couldn't sleep past 7:15 am (and that is with the extra hour).

Trick-or-Treating

2008-11-02T16:06:00.003-06:00

Abby getting her hair done for the big night out. This was her first year trick-or-treating. She didn't have a clue what we were doing. Last year she was very upset when I kept giving our candy away to scary looking kids, though!

The costume: well, if I have to tell you, you don't live around here and don't deserve to know. She's a cute one though.

Our neighbor is a volunteer firefighter and had the fire truck at the end of our street. They let Abby take it for a spin...

She sure thought it was a pretty truck. She's not so sure about the firefighters though. Good girl, Abby, boys are bad!

Ummm, he seems ok. He's holding a hat full of candy, how bad could he be?

This was her first house. He put the candy in and she just sat there looking at him with her cute eyes. He gave her another piece...

She settled for one piece at this house.

Coming down the driveway all by herself. That didn't happen very often.

Sharing the goods with Mom.

Saving some for herself, too. She needs to learn to say what Josh used to say as a child, "I can't have chocolate, I'm hyperactive." She was flying high for quite some time after two little candy bars.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

2008-11-02T15:54:00.002-06:00

Oct. 30th was Josh's birthday. I had to work, but it looks like they had lots of fun with the cake without me!

Gearing up...

Petite girly bite...

Big girl bite!

Dominic is also starting to play with his toys.

Ah ha! I got one! He is also putting EVERYTHING into his mouth.

Carving of the Pumpkin

2008-11-02T15:47:00.002-06:00

Josh and Abby getting into the spirit of Halloween. The carving of the pumpkin. Abby thought the guts were pretty cool.

Getting brave and going after a handful herself!

Getting bored...she decided coloring was WAY more fun.

The end result! Way to go Dad (and Abby, a little bit!).

Don't worry, Dominic, you'll be able to partake in the festivities next year!

Kiddos

2008-10-30T20:38:00.002-05:00

Here are some random pictures that we've taken lately. Dominic is growing so fast we need to keep taking pictures or he's going to be as big as Abby before we know it. He ate off of a spoon for the first time today! He did pretty well. He kept spitting it out at first, but I would too if someone gave me rice cereal mixed with breast milk. We hear you buddy, pizza is MUCH better! After a couple bites he actually got some in his mouth. Luckily for him he can move on to fruit/veggies in a couple weeks. He also rolled over from his belly to his back, but no one actually saw him do it. Josh helped him roll from belly to back, turned his head for one second and by the time he turned around again Dominic had rolled back to his belly. He just wants to go, go, go. His legs are always moving. Abby is getting more adorable day by day. Her sassiness is also appearing to slow down for the time being. She only got 2 trips to the naughty step today. She still has her days though. Her new favorite saying is "right now". As in, "I want to go outside, right now!" Luckily she says it just to express what she wants and doesn't mean to be demanding and rude...yet. I'm sure she'll get the meaning of it soon enough.

Where's Abby?

Dominic-Hey Mom! These arm and hand things really DO work!

Abby-Mom, he's touching me!

Mom-No more kids!

Abby and Estelle enjoying pretzels off the floor. At least they are in a container, right? (Well, most of them are at least.)

Chick magnet! Who could resist those baby blues?

Packers Vs Indy

2008-10-24T16:25:00.004-05:00

Autumn(Kristie's cousin) and her husband Andy invited us to the Pack Vs. Indy game last weekend. Grammy came over to watch the little ones and we headed for a night out. It was an awesome night... We got an unexpected Packer victory and had some great seats to boot.

This first picture was moments before I nearly charred off my eyebrows and curled the paint on the SUV(more lighter fluid means a better fire, right?). Our neighbors tailgating next to us saw the flash and heard the "whooooooosh!" of the fire, and let out a couple "ooooooos" and "ahhhhhhhs" like we had come to Lambeau to see the old Shopko fireworks.

Kristie and Autumn...ahem, Autumn is that a SODA I see you with? And by the way....thanks for being the designated driver:) I told you these were great seats... It looked like the same view as you get when you are playing John Madden Football.

I'm not sure if this was a bad play or if I was just out of beer. Either way, both were taken care of in short order.... it was a great game.

Here's Kristie, showing her best "angry face". She looks like the worm from the PlayStation game "Worms" that says "I'll get you!!" If you have ever played the game, you know what I mean. If you've never played it, go buy a copy...its a great game.

This sign absolutely cracked Kristie up so I had to take a picture of it. Hmmmm, puns and plays on words make her laugh.... note to self to remember this the next time I'm in trouble.

View from the field. This was probably right about the time I texted Kristie's other cousin, Adam and told him we were drinking beers with Mark Chmura. Adam and his parents thought I was serious and were ticked they hadn't gone to the game. I was kidding. They will get to know me better.

Cool view of the "City of Trees" from the club seat level at Lambeau. Now that I look at this picture, I think that tan house is the one that a guy bought and renovated last year to rent out for Packer Games.

The Wisconsin Band(fresh off suspension!!) showed up to rile up the crowd with "On Wisconsin". They were all very well behaved.

Kristie and I looking rosy and having a great time.

After the game Peyton Manning said to me "Hey look, we had just as many yards as you guys." To which I retorted "SCOREBOARD!!!"

WAKE UP DUDE!!!

2008-10-17T19:49:00.005-05:00

To hear this video without music in the background, go to the bottom of the page and hit pause on the music player.

Blooming Personalities

2008-10-17T19:31:00.002-05:00

This is Abby's impressive trick...putting a whole pickle in her mouth at once. I think half of it came out a couple minutes later.

My smiley boys! Aren't they cute?? I think Dominic is really starting to look like Josh. He doesn't see it yet, but he will. :)

This is Abby's new favorite toy. She plays with it for hours on end. I didn't know she had an attention span longer than 5 minutes. She always says, "Thank you, Judy" when she plays with it because Josh's Aunt Judy gave it to her.

Dominic is starting to like his activity mats more than being held during the day. I'll hold him and he'll squirm and twist until I put him down. Then he is reaching for all of his toys. He is VERY different from Abby. She hated those things and would rather have been held (but she had to be held a certain way of course).

Josh says Abby looks like me when I was a little kid in this picture (and Dominic apparently learned how to sit by himself). Those of you that knew me when I was little can probably see the resemblance.

Abby scared the heck out of me when I took this picture. I had heard her playing after her nap, so about 15 minutes later I went upstairs to get her up and I couldn't find her. Most of her toys were covering up her bed so I was tearing it apart looking for her. Then I saw her little head pop out of the toy box. I couldn't help but laugh really hard.

I'm telling you, he is one smiley guy. (Except right now...he is crying his head off because Josh did something to make him mad).

Abby showing Dominic how to use his activity mat. She really is a good big sister. We'll see how long that lasts...

He found it. Ahhhh, against my wishes we have another thumb sucker. Dominic found his thumb this past week and he is thoroughly enjoying it.

Weekend in Menomonie

2008-10-14T19:49:00.004-05:00

We went to visit my parents in Menomonie this weekend and discovered what an outdoorsy little girl we have. Camping should be quite fun next summer! She spent most of her time outside having a blast with everything from pine needles, to a makeshift slide that Papa made out of a rain gutter thing. Of course her and Dominic were spoiled as usual...

Random Take 17

2008-09-30T20:45:00.004-05:00

Here are some random pictures from around our household lately. We took the kids up to Iron Mountain last weekend because Josh had a meeting on Saturday morning. We thought we'd get a room and go swimming on Friday night. Abby didn't like swimming as much as she liked standing on the stairs to get in the pool, but once we took her out she wouldn't stop talking about it. She kept wanting to go swimming and I had to tell little white lies about how the pool went to sleep. Then she ended up falling out of the big bed at 1:30 am and couldn't fall asleep between Josh and I after that. It was a rough night with little sleep, but we had fun on Saturday and it was nice to get the rock out of Green Bay for a night.

My big smiler..he's just so happy. How can you get mad at a face like that at 3am??

Abby and her Papa giving hugs

But Mom, I used to fit in here, right?

Nana and Papa bought this camper. Next summer should be a blast taking the kids camping. I think they'll love it!

Dominic finally playing with a toy. Granted it keeps falling out of his hands as soon as he moves them, but we all have to start somewhere, right?

This is my friend, Katie's baby, Lucas. My friend, Ashley and I went to visit last Sunday and I must say he is absolutely a pumpkin! I also credit him to helping my Bucs win because we watched the game with him...

Abby loves going for a ride around the yard with Dad...ahhh, such simple fun. Why do we spend so much money on expensive toys??

Here we are in the pool and hot tub. I wish I could have sat in there for an hour. It was quite relaxing.

Look at the love!

Some more love...

Uh oh, they WILL be 16 someday.

Party Girl!

2008-09-30T20:33:00.004-05:00

We celebrated Abby's 2nd birthday on Sat., Sept. 20th. She had a blast and, as usual, was spoiled rotten. Here are some pics of the celebration.

Abby's Elmo cake. She is a little obsessed with Elmo lately. Little did I know, Josh had given her 2 cupcakes before I gave her some cake. I am surprised she didn't throw up.

Abby's present from us was her Elmo bedding. After all the trouble I had with shipping it to our old address and all, I'm glad it is finally in her room and she can enjoy it. She loves going to bed with Elmo!

Papa, Abby, and her cousin (2nd) Kaylie having fun together.

One of the few family photos we have! It's a rare commodity so I thought I'd throw it in there.

Abby playing with one of her favorite presents....

Abby with some of her other presents. She named her pony "Grandpa Durst" because that is who gave it to her. How cute!

Abby playing with her other favorite present...her Jump-O-Lene from Grammy. I must say, this is a great way for her to expel some pent up energy.

Estelle and Grammy at the party.

Kim and Dominic...come on Kim, have one already!

Happy Birthday, Abby!

2008-09-23T20:00:00.004-05:00

Ahhh, how fast 2 years goes! I cannot believe 2 years ago Abby was an immobile infant who depended on Josh and I for everything. She sure has come a long way! Some days it seems like she hardly needs us at all anymore. Not only has she become incredibly independent, she has also become caring, nurturing, sweet, snugly, smart, intelligent, funny, and yes, sometimes a little sassy. She has grown into such an amazing little girl. Josh and I sit back and watch her all the time, still amazed at every little thing she does. Her birthday party was on Saturday and she was SPOILED! Pictures will follow soon (when we get them off our camera and onto our computer...I get a little lazy these days). Happy Birthday, Abby!

I also want to say Happy 1st Birthday to Abby's cousin, Teagan! We wish we could be with you and hope you are feeling better!

Congratulations Katie and Gregg!!

2008-09-18T18:58:00.010-05:00

My good friend, Katie and her husband Gregg welcomed their beautiful baby boy, Lucas, yesterday! Congratulations! It seems like only yesterday I was begging her to have a baby...that was 2 years ago when I was pregnant with Abby! Mom and baby are doing well, although Katie is quite exhausted. Can't wait to meet the little man!

Updated Pictures

2008-09-18T18:58:00.007-05:00

Here are some updated pictures of the little ones. I can't believe Abby will be 2 next week. Time really does fly by when they are little...contrary to what we thought when she was 2 months old.

So grown up...watch out dad, soon the boys will be calling and stopping by.
S
Since we couldn't go to the Packer game, Abby decided she would tailgate all by herself...in the garage. I hope that is milk or water in that cup!

Already so photogenic! He really is such a happy baby (except during his crabby time). He is always smiling and laughing.

Told you he's always smiling...

Grandpa Durst got Abby her first fishing pole! She needs a little work on her casting, but I'm sure she'll be an old pro by next year.

Dominic is starting to play with the toys on his ocean wonders toy. Abby is always close by in case he needs a helping hand...for now. I know as soon as he sets his mits on one of her toys she will have no problem taking it away from him.

She insisted on climbing in the pack'n'play while I got dressed to lay by Dominic....

Then insisted he needed lots of kisses. She is always leaving crumbs on his face because she kisses him after she eats.

This is my favorite! They were both laughing and smiling...a rare moment in the Durst household.

This is what Dad and Dominic REALLY do when they are spending time together....

Going Ons Around the Durst House

2008-09-04T19:56:00.003-05:00

It has been over a week and Abby is completely in her toddler bed (thank you to Grammy for having one in her basement that we could use!). Josh had to disassemble her crib while she watched Annie (yes, Annie...I know, shocking!) downstairs and drag it piece by piece into the game room until Abby went to bed and he could take it downstairs. She didn't even notice it was missing, but had she seen him trying to get it out of there she would have thrown a fit. Call it knowing your daughter's temperament...we knew what the reaction would be. So, we successfully (and by "we" I mean Josh) got it downstairs and you can once again walk into her room. She loves climbing into bed by herself and throws a fit if someone isn't sitting on the bed with her to pray at night. So, the transition went better than I anticipated. Ok, ok, I thought it was going to be the start of World War III. I had little faith in my daughter's acceptance for change, but as she proved with the birth of Dominic she is much better at it than I am. I just hope she keeps thinking she can't get out bed until I come in the room to get her. So far she says "Abby awake. All done sleeping" when she gets up in the morning. She waits for me to come get her before she gets out of bed. Keeping my fingers crossed...

Dominic went 1 successful night with no crabby period last night. He went on to surprise me by sleeping from 11:30pm-5:30am. Wow! 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep, what is that!?! It was wonderful and I'm hoping he can do himself one better and get that up to about 8 or 9 hours as soon as possible! No pressure, Dominic! He is still just a smiling away. He has also started kicking and grabbing at the toys on his little Ocean Wonders play mat. It is nice to see him doing something other than just laying there with his eyes darting from side to side. I always feel like he is so bored. Do not fear, he is becoming a real, live human.

On a much sadder note, our close friends Jeff and Kim had to put their beloved dog, Molly (Bubbers) down last weekend. Jeff had her for 14 wonderful years. She was such a huge part of their family and it just won't be the same without her there. I've never had to go through such an emotional thing, but it sure does make me appreciate Carmen for all the quirkiness that she has. It also makes her constant barking a little more bearable. Someday we'll be wishing we could still hear that bark. We love and miss you, Molly!

New Zoo on Labor Day Weekend

2008-08-31T12:24:00.004-05:00

Abby smelling the flowers in the children's petting zoo section. Her settings go well with her flower power T-Shirt that Dad bought for her in Frisco. Abby was walking through the flower garden with Grammy.... unfortunately we didn't get any zoo picks with Grammy in them. She met us out there with B and helped watch Dom so we could play with Abby. She also treated us to lunch at the Zoo Cafe when we were done. Thanks Grammy!!

Abby was VERY good at the Zoo. It was the 1st time she really enjoyed stopping and watching the animals. We got to spend about 50% of the time looking at animals and 50% of the time on the playground(it used to be 99% playground, 1% animals). Abby is starting to learn all of the animals names too. When we came up to the petting zoo she said "Big llama walking!!" Abby already knows about 20 colors and can count to 12. She is picking up words so fast...time to watch your P's and Q's Dad!!

Abby standing in front of the "Big llama". She picked out her outfit that day. She loves her tie-dye shirt. She had originally gone with pink and red sweatpants to go with it, but it was HOT on Saturday so we hooked her up with some shorts. She did really well on the playground. She climbed onto the play set and went down the slide all by herself.

Kristie feeding and changing Dom at the playground. Hottest Mom on the playground, hands down:)

Abby was chasing this chicken around the reindeer fence with no fear. Even after it got inside the fence, she was ducking down and reaching in to pet it. She kept chasing it and saying "Chicken...bawk, bawk, bawk!!"

Here's Abby feeding the pygmy goats. They were getting in fights over who got to eat out of Abby's hand....

Said goats fighting over Abby's food.

Back at home Dom is showing off his smile. He is smiling all the time now. Right when newborns seem to be more than you bargained for they break out that smile and that makes everything 10 times easier for some reason. Dom has hinted at a laugh a few times... we figure he will be giggling any day now.

Abby in her big girl bed. She climbs in all by herself and insists that we "pray" before bed. We even "pray" during her potty time now. Josh Made up the prayer:
"Now I sit down on the pot,
I hope I can pee a lot,
if I get some good BM's,
Dad will give me M&M's."

Josh giving Dom eskimo kisses. Dom seems to smile more when you touch his nose.... although here he seems to be concentrating on something else(any parent can tell you exactly what a newborn is doing when they get that looking of deep concentration... get the wipes!!).

Art Street

2008-08-23T15:56:00.002-05:00

Abby, Dominic, Grammy and I went downtown to walk around Art Street while Josh was working. I don't know how people chase around 2 kids on their own (and one of mine sleeps ALL the time..). Thank goodness for Grammy.

Abby and Grammy eating Chinese food. Abby liked to slurp the noodles up.

Dominic the entire time we were there. I'd have more pictures of him when we go places, but this seems to be his only pose for the time being. Give him a couple of months.

Abby trying to push Dominic around in the double-stroller (my favorite invention right now). It's a little heavier than the single stroller, so she didn't get it very far.

Our little Picasso... She got to be a real artist with the smock and all. She absolutely LOVED it. She also loved washing off her hands in the soapy water when she was all done. We may have an artist on our hands.

Random Take 16

2008-08-23T15:48:00.002-05:00

Abby wearing the hat that Nana and Papa got her from Alaska. I was even able to pull her ponytail through the hole in the back..too adorable.

Abby and Estelle "changing" their babies. I'm surprised the bassinet part of the pack'n'play didn't fall.

Football or basketball (or both!)? Look at the hands on Dominic. He's ready to catch (or throw).

Grammy, Abby and Dominic having fun (as usual). :) They always have fun with Grammy. Could it be the chocolate marshmallows she has?

He's getting bigger every day. I can't believe how different he looks from 8 weeks ago. Getting cuter every day. And he's even starting to show some of Josh's features, such as his chin and eyes.

Bay Beach

2008-08-23T15:33:00.003-05:00

We took Abby (& Dominic) to Bay Beach last weekend. It was a semi-successful trip. I say semi-successful because as soon as Abby saw the slide at the playground there she was lost to us. We had to basically force her to go on the helicopters & train with us. After she did (not without temper tantrums, however) we gave up and just went to the playground and let her go on the slide. It is her new obsession. She did agree to go in the pool with Dad after she had been on the slide for about an hour. Dominic pretty much slept the whole time, as you can see from the picture of him. He woke up just as we were leaving to eat. We even got him to wave to the camera. So, we all had a little bit of fun and we were able to give Abby a little bit of culture beyond the playground....even if she wasn't too fond of it.

My Little Girl is Growing Up

2008-08-16T08:37:00.006-05:00

I don't have photographic proof as of yet, but Abby successfully slept on the cot all night for the first time last night. For those of you who are not aware, I was deathly afraid of switching her from the crib to a big girl bed. She does so well going to bed and that is not something I want to jeopardize (especially since I'm already getting up a few times a night with our little man). Going to bed and sleeping are things that she is REALLY good at. But a couple days ago I started using the cots for Abby and Estelle's nap times. The first time I had to put Abby back on her cot about 3 times. When I threatened that if I had to go in there one more time she would have to sleep in her crib, she didn't get up again. Since then, she hasn't gotten up at all. She even waits on it until I come upstairs to get her. All I hear is "All done" over the monitor. It's really cute. Last night we got brave and let her sleep on the cot over night. It was a success! She fell right asleep and slept until morning. Her 2nd birthday is only a month and a week away and I have a feeling she'll be getting a toddler bed from mom and dad. Just a feeling...(good thing she can't read yet).

As for little man, he started giving us real smiles this week! He is full of them too. He still has his crabby time at night, but unlike his sister (who's crabby time lasted from 5pm-9pm EVERY night) his only lasts about 30-60 minutes. Usually he has a big burp or is hungry and then he is fine. Other than that, he is a happy baby. Too bad Josh doesn't get to see him more during the day. He only gets to see him when he hits fussy time. Like I said, it doesn't last all that long, but hopefully it'll be over with soon! It's never fun to have your baby wailing with nothing you can do to stop it. His night sleeping continues to be going well. He only gets up once between about 2:30 or 3:30 am and then sleeps until about 5:30 or 6:00am. I'm considering moving him from our closet (yes, he sleeps in our closet....don't worry, we don't shut the door all the way) up to his room soon. I just want to make sure he is only getting up once a night first because I don't want to have to run upstairs to feed him 5 times a night (our bedroom is on the first floor and the kid's are on the second). Now about the closet...our little man makes a LOT of noises when he sleeps. He is constantly chirping and Josh and I can't get any sleep if we just have him next to our bed. So, we put the pack'n'play in the closet with the door open about halfway. So far it has done the trick. I am still able to wake up while he's moving around before he starts crying, but I get restful sleep the rest of the night. Hey, you have to go with what works, right? Dominic also received his first piece of mail from Aunt Laura yesterday. It was Nioxin shampoo-it is supposed to do wonders for cradle cap. Thanks for being in the business, Lou! He has more expensive shampoo than his dad or sister! He gets a bath tomorrow, so we'll let you know the outcome.

6 1/2 weeks and stll buddies

2008-08-13T21:33:00.005-05:00

Carmen is not too impressed, but Abby really likes her!

Abby's new obsession is to "hold" Dominic. She doesn't really want to hold him though, she wants to have him propped up next to her with her arm around him so she can smother him with kisses. He doesn't seem to mind...yet. She can get pretty overbearing if she wants to.

I'm speechless...I don't even know what to say about these. They just appeared on our camera.

Nana, Papa, and their pride and joys....notice how I'm not in the picture.:)

"ALL SHE DOES IS KISS ME!!!!" Enjoy it while it lasts buddy...

A glimpse of one of Dominic's first smiles. He sure has a lot of them.

Are we there yet? Oh wait! I'm not even buckled in yet.

Estelle's a Big Sister!

2008-07-29T18:55:00.002-05:00

Estelle's mom delivered her twins on Saturday, July 26th! For those of you who know Estelle, she is as much a part of our family as you can get without being related by blood, so we are very excited for them. The twins were due in September, but are of a healthy weight and doing very well. Her mom is also doing well and word on the street is that she might get to come home tomorrow. I'll get some pics of the little guys (Camden and Hudson) when I go visit. Congratulations Kristin and John!

Firsts

2008-07-26T14:26:00.002-05:00

This is Dominic taking a nap in his crib for the first time ever. He has been in the Pack'N'Play in our room since we brought him home. I think he likes it! He's taking his second nap in there as I'm typing this.

Abby helping to get the baby's milk. Her bellybutton holds her milk I guess! Too flippin cute!

So Happy Together....

2008-07-26T14:06:00.002-05:00

A lot and not much at all is what has been going on at our house lately. Abby has started to consistently go to the bathroom on her potty when we put her on it (now we just have to get better at putting her on it more). It's a good thing she likes chocolate as much as her mom because we use M&M's whenever she goes. Not that I would say we are potty training in full force, but it's nice to get something started. I'm just not ready for my little girl to grow up that much yet! Which is the same reason that I don't want to give up her crib yet, either. She loves the security of her small confined space and I like knowing that she can't get out of her room at night. I wonder if they make covers for cribs so she never has to move to a toddler bed. Hmmm... Dominic is still not doing much. Hence the same pose in every picture. I guess we have to give him a break though; he only turns 4 weeks old tomorrow. He is finally starting to open his eyes and wake up for more than 5 minutes at a time. In fact, he even gets a crabby time like Abby did from about 7 or 8 until 9 or 10. Let's just say that his is quite mild compared to hers. Overall he is quite a good baby. I went back to working part-time at ITT Tech last week. It is nice to be able to get out of the house for a few hours a week and just be a grown up for a few hours. Josh is still working hard. In fact he's at the office right now because he had to host a meeting this morning. Poor guy doesn't even get his Saturday this week. So, a lot has been happening at our house, but we haven't been up to a whole lot. I still haven't mustered up the courage to take both kids out of the house by myself yet. Well, I went to the bank, but I didn't have to get out of the car with them. Baby steps, I guess. I'm still a little too scared.

Here is Abby rocking Dominic. She is such a good big sister so far! That is going to completely change as soon as he can go after "her" toys though. According to her, they are all her toys.

Abby snuggling her little brother. She likes it better when he is awake and if he sleeps to long she will rock his pack n play until he wakes up.

Abby picking and smelling "flowers". Ok, they are weeds, but she does a nice job of getting rid of them for us.

Abby and Estelle playing in the sandbox (as usual).

Dominic with his eyes open! Sorry this is the only pose you will get him doing for a while...

Visitors

2008-07-20T16:20:00.003-05:00

Weeeeeeeeeeeee!! Cousin Adam and Meghan came to visit. Abby warmed right up to Adam this time. Adam threw Abby up in the air and Abby kept saying"more!more!" Adam ended up tossing her up in the air 30 or 40 times. Get used to it Adam(him and Meghan are expecting in February 09'! Congrats parents to be!). In the background Meghan is helping Kritsie unload 5 GINORMOUS bags of baby and toddler clothes that Autumn sent over.

Abby getting buried in the sandbox. Again, if you have kids, build a sandbox. Best investment ever. Abby even says goodnight to her sandbox every night.

Abby and Dom chillin' with Kim. Jeff and Kim came over the other night and all Abby could keep saying was "Jeff! Kim!Jeff! Kim!"

Abby LOOKING Innocent outside. This is just before the crying tirade she threw when it was time to come in. Abby got to stay up with the adults until 9:30, and was actually really well behaved for most of the time.

Dad and Dom crashed out on the couch. Dom does really well with belly time and this is his favorite position to sleep in.

Ab and Dom

2008-07-20T16:06:00.002-05:00

Our little man... he still seems like he is too easy to take care of. He still sleeps and eats a lot of the time, but when he's awake he just likes to chill and look around the room(he loves watching Dad play the Wii).

Grammy and Dom. Grammy is always bringing over food and hanging with the Ab and Dom. She even brought over some of my baby clothes for Dom the other day.

"Psssssst! Dom, you distract em', I'm gonna go raid the pantry for fruit snacks and cookies."

Abby and Dom got a riding bus from Abby's BFF, Estelle(and her Mom). Do you think she likes it? She has been riding it all over the house.

Dad is teaching Abby all sorts of tricks to keep the boys away. She's also been working on the "pull my finger" trick.

4th of July

2008-07-06T19:19:00.002-05:00

Dad was so proud of Abby being able to count to three that he made her special 1,2,3 waffles. Apparently they weren't quite good enough as pictured, so Dad added yo-gos on top of them and then they were acceptable.

Dom at his first 4th of July party at our friends Jeff and Kim. Abby partied a bit hard and ended up puking in the back yard. Not surprising after she took full advantage of the snack table. Gummi worms, chips, Capri Sun, kringle, and veggie dip.

Everybody was doting over Dom. Jeff's Mom was holding him most of the time. Looks like she wants a grandchild(hint, hint Jeff). In this pic I think Dom is working up the courage to ask Randy(pictured) if he can take his motorcycle for a ride.

Me, Jeff, and Kim rocking out to "In Bloom" by Nirvana on Rockband. You can always count on Jeff to have the latest games.

Mom giving Dom his first bath in his tub. He didn't cry at all. He's been so easy so far that maybe we can talk Kristie into #3 and #4:)

2008-07-06T18:55:00.002-05:00

Grammy and Dom. Grammy is always there if Mom and Dad need some time off or want to get out for awhile. In fact she's usually saying " go out for dinner"... " go on a date"... just to get some time with Abby and Dom. We don't mind:) Thanks Grammy!!

Abby has been great adjusting to her big sister role. She gives him kisses and rocks him in his chair... but most of the time she is doing her own thing and too busy to notice him. Wait until Dom starts picking up on her friends, then she'll take notice.

Unca Justin came into town to visit Dom and Abby... and to play some Wii bowling.

Dom awake... a rare sight. Right now he is sleeping about 18 hours a day. We almost feel guilty because he is so easy to take care of(for now).

Dom in his normal state. Sleeping and filling his diaper. He's been filling about 10-15 diapers a day. We'll be sitting in the living room and hear the all too familiar "thbbbbbbbbbbb" come from his pack and play. He even sleeps through most of his diaper changes.

Its a boy!!

2008-06-30T21:20:00.003-05:00

Dominic David Durst was born Sunday, June 29th, at 12:37 PM. Kristie's water broke at midnight on Sunday morning, but she didn't wake me up until 3AM when her contractions were getting harder and closer together. After we got to the hospital, the contractions started getting further apart, but since Kristie's water had broke, the doc decided to induce labor with Pitocin. We had tried to bring labor on by walking the maternity ward, but after 500 laps or so and wearing out the threads on the carpet, they decided to help us along. This was a good thing, because another few laps and Kristie was ready to start doing wind sprints to get the dang baby out. We had a really great nurse, Cate, who was just what we needed at 4AM. She was VERY spunky and very friendly. At 10 AM, they gave Krsitie the Pitocin and an epidural. By this point Kristie was ready for some pain meds. Instead of screaming like most women in labor, Kristie thought she would vent her pain by grinding the bones in my hand together. Just as I was about to request some pain meds for myself, the nurse announced that Kristie was ready to deliver. Before Kristie was even pushing, I could see Dom's head. About 6 or seven minutes later Dom was out. Dominic weighed 6 Lbs, 10 Ounces and was 19 1/4" long. So far he has been a very calm baby. Overall it was a great experience(again). Dr. Morrissey and the staff at Aurora were absolutely amazing again. Aurora has to be the best place to have a child. The food is awesome, they have BIG whirlpool tubs(even I fit!!), Kristie got a massage from their massage therapist, the cafeteria is open till midnight, and the staff is very knowledgeable and friendly.

The fam(minus Carmen).

Nana and Dom. If Dom gets spoiled like Abby does, I don't think Nana and Papa will ever retire.

Dom spends a lot of time sleeping. He only fusses when he is hungry or needs changing. So far he is easier to take care of than we anticipated.

Oh yeah...he has BRIGHT red hair. When its all spiky, he looks like a punk rock star. All the nurses were doting over him and commenting on his beautiful hair. Already a ladies man...

Dom on the scale just after he was born. We were all guessing his weight...of course Dr. Morrissey hit it right on the head before Dom got on the scale...my guess was next closest at 7 lbs. I won nothing.