Holy Crap- Literally!!

So we decided that our annual garage sale will take place this Friday and Saturday morning (we had it last year 4th of July weekend and had an amazing turn out), so in order to do that our house is trashed while we go through all of our stuff. It is such a long process and I just get so exhausted so easily these days---UGH!!! So I am going to bed now (and scrapbooking all day tomorrow!!) so this is the way I am leaving my living room tonight! I hate it and I KNOW that it makes Heath absolutely crazy but I can do NO MORE tonight!

Baby Sutton

Our good friends Dennis and Lindsay Wood had their baby boy Sutton James last Thursday. We stopped by to visit and hold the baby today. He is such a cute boy! He weighed almost 10lbs but still seems so tiny! The girls LOVED holding him and are going to be such good big sisters in a few months!!!

Uncle Bill

My Dad's younger brother "Uncle Bill" came to town Sunday so we met him for lunch. He is such a great, easy going guy!! It was so nice to see him!!

Curtis Family Campout Day 1

It is Saturday morning and instead of being at the campout i am at home blogging! Why do you ask??? Because I am out of my MIND if I thought I could camp and be this pregnant. Now, I can be a TROOPER but when we get to the campground and my husband can't get the air conditioning going in our camper, that should have been my first RED FLAG that this trip wasn't going to be for me!! I decided to stick it out---the girls were having so much fun fishing with their dad and I was hanging out with my SIL Kelli so I thought, I'll be okay. When it was time to go to bed my dear, sweet in-laws let us sleep in their camper that had working AC! Well everyone was snoozing away and I was still up reading at 1am cause the bed was hard and I was having trouble getting comfy. I turned out the lights and laid there for about 30 minutes all the while thinking "I just don't feel any air circulating." At 1:50am I got up to check on the AC, went to flip on the light and ...nothing!! I woke Heath up to tell him that he needed to go check the generator. He got up but assured me that he had NO IDEA how to get it started, and of course WE DON'T HAVE A WORKING FLASHLIGHT WITH US!!! At this point I started crying and going over my options in my head. #1 Maneuver the bumpy dirt/grass road I had only seen in daylight and try to open the gate myself and Go home alone #2 Load up the girls and have Heath take us all home #3 SUCK IT UP!!! I rolled with #3. I went to my HOT camper and cried a little more and eventually fell asleep. It wasn't my bed at home but our camper is my space and so I knew that would be my best chance at making it through the night. Well, I did and I woke up bright and early this morning laying in bed trying to decide what I wanted to do. The simple fact that I had cried 3 TIMES-which is out of character for me, even pregnant--- was a sure sign that I was MISERABLE!! As these thoughts are running through my head Heath came into the camper and said he was gong to run home and let the dogs out. I decided that was my cue and I volunteered to go promising my DEAR MIL that I would be back by 7pm for the LUAU!!!!! I had no more than been home 10 minutes when Adler called with an earache and Crosby with some mysterious leg pain?!?! I think Chel was still sleeping off the night before's injury when one of her boy cousins was casting his pole and the hook caught her thumb!! (She wasn't sure she was going to make it!! She did have a little cut that we got all fixed up but the sight of her blood FREAKED her out big time! She was Shaking and Crying sooo hard! Poor thing!) We will see how long they last out there without the comforts of home and the lovin from their momma. I am giving them til about noon {wink ;)} We all just love being at our house---What can we say??? I plan on posting more pics tomorrow from the Luau festivities...if you scroll to the bottom of the page you can see a little video I put together and here are a couple of other pics that didn't make it to the video for some reason!!???!!

Crosby with cousin Arlie strummin' their 6 strings!!! Cros and cousin Adalinn are dancing fools! Check out Addy's new do!!!

Today was the last day of this session of swimming lessons. I couldn't be more proud of my girls. Adler is in Level 6 (the highest level) working on dives, lap swimming, and lifeguarding techniques. She has done a great job working hard as always and is hoping to pass Level 6 next session--Adler is my perfectionist and wants to be the BEST at anything she does. So I know it was a little hard for her to not pass but these upper level take more than one session to master because they are so tough! Anyway, I told her to STALL cause if she passes it her beloved swimming lesson days are over! {sniff sniff} She of course just looks at me and rolls her eyes! She thinks I am silly!!! I cannot IMAGINE where she would get that---thinking her mother says silly things...I, never!! love ya mom!
Crosby is in her first year of lessons. She started the first day in Level 1 and was quickly moved to Level 2--her instructor said she was a fish! Well yesterday after her lesson she was a little upset. She said a couple of the other kids moved to Level 3 and she didn't get too because she was too little. Usually I can count on what she says to be pretty accurate but I didn't want to be the overbearing "why didn't you move my kid up" mom. So today mimi and I were sitting on the bleachers watching the girls and up comes an instructor. She tells me that Crosby is very ready to be in Level 3 but the class is in the deep end and Crosby can't touch so they wanted to know what I wanted to do. I said whatever Crosby was comfortable with and she of course is like let's go...where is level 3???!! So next session in August she will be in the deep end with the bigger kids and I KNOW she will be fine. All of her life she is going to be the little one that can hang in there with the big kids because that is all she knows! If her sisters can do it, so can she!!! The lady in charge of the whole program (that has been there since I was in lessons!) came to me and said that they just don't put 4 year olds in Level 3 but are making an exception in her case... that Crosby is just so strong. That is just how her body was made and I can't wait to see what great things she does with it in the future!

Everyday Life

The girls just love the mustache machine at Wal-Mart! They crack me up! Crosby now want to be "a police" for Halloween so she can wear a fake mustache!!! I say go for it!!The Ripits played in Derby last night and while they were getting warmed up Crosby and I ran to Kohl's for their "biggest sale of the season"... SWEETNESS! First stop was a potty break and we always go in the "Family Restroom" if the store has one. This was the nicest one I had ever been in! There was even a little kid potty! Cros and I LOVED it and thought every house with kids should have one!! It is kinda hard to tell the actual size of the potty in the picture but Crosby wanted to "pose" so we could remember the mini potty! I am sure that will be her first request every time we go to Kohl's. Oh the little things! ;)

While at Kohl's we were on a mission to buy one particular item! A new set of bath towels! At the beginning of the summer I just got fed up with how ratty our towels we getting and knowing that I had had a lot of them from college was RIDICULOUS!!! I started pulling out towels to use in the camper and for the dogs and guess what...there were only like 5 good ones left when I was finished!!! So I have been patiently waiting for a good sale so purchase our first set of all matching, big, fluffy towels. I had no idea how many towels we needed so I bought 15. I thought that was a great start! Hopefully if we ever need replacements I can just go back and pick them up. The sage-y green color wasn't my first choice --I actually had my eye on some mustard colored ones but this is the only set there was 15 of. They work and will be so nice to have. You know you are getting old when you get excited about new towels!!!!

Here is one shelf of them! I have 2 full shelves!!!YAY YIPEE!!

Oh and to finish off my day...my cute puppies...Mosely was taking a little rest, her head on a pillow, and one of her ears sticking straight up. I thought she was tooo darn cute to pass up!

And while I was taking pics and paying attention to Mose look who came over and said "momma I want so attention too!"...My baby Fruse aka Bruiser Moose. Oh how I wish my doggies had the voice collars and could talk to me like in the movie UP! Heath and I always crack ourselves up making voices and saying what we thing the dogs would say!!!

21 Weeks!

another week has passed already??? Summer just goes too fast! I have said all along that it is OKAY if this summer flies by cause that means we are that much closer to our baby girl!! So here is this week's tummy shot---prolly not much different than last week's but i think i will love looking back on them down the road.

We all have dentist appointments today and then I need to go up to my OBs office and have some blood work done. Chelo's little sister Clover has 5th's disease, we just found out yesterday. It is a virus that isn't super harmful, EXCEPT to pregnant ladies!! So I need to go up and get stabbed to make sure baby pumpkin wasn't exposed! GOOD TIMES!

Relaxing!!!

As all know by now, this is our first summer seriously dedicated to playing softball. It was a decision we made as a family and I do not regret it a bit--now when Crosby starts playing I may be singing a different tune!!!! :) But needless to say the five, actually six!, of us have done a lot of happy sacrificing of our summer so far for the Big Girls. However, we just get going and going so fast that we forget how to CHILL sometimes!! Heath and the girls are happy as clams at the ballpark (even on non-game days!), well this momma needs her rest and relaxation- INDOORS!! I have always been a Summer Lovin Girl and could live outside and in the pool but right now---air conditioning is my BFF!!! I just get soooo hot and sweaty and the heat ZAPS my energy. So after yesterday's game my Kara Girl treated me to one of our FAVORITE inside activities!! Pedicures!! KG and I have been getting pedi's together pretty regularly for almost 10 years now!!! (Back in the day when we were single and a little poorer we would sit on my back porch, drinking a few beers, and giving each other spa pedicures from this really great kit I bought from the salon... almost as good as the real thing!! She also used to wax my eyebrows in the bank drive thru but that is another story for another time!!! ...back to yesterday... KG called around and found out that the nail salon in Wellington's Wal-Mart (the apparent home of the 40 minute pedicure!!) was open on Sunday so off we went for some much needed TLC. Our toes are looking great today but I think we will be sticking to one of our usual salons for next month!! I think a pedi should last AT LEAST an hour!!! It was a WONDERFUL treat though and I want to say thankyouthankyouthankyou to MY Kara Girl... one of the best friends a girl could have!!!

Another summer indoor activity has been DVRing new shows! One day I caught the reality show about Tori Spelling and her life now. Back in the day I was a HUGE 90210 fan, and even though Donna Martin was probably my LEAST favorite character, I found myself quickly addicted to her new show!! Her little family is surprisingly down-to-earth and I love the interaction between her and her SUPER cute husband Dean McDermott. So in true Danelle fashion, when I find something I really like I can't get enough!!!--hello Twilight!!, I headed out to find her first book sTori Telling. I started it on Saturday morning and plan on finishing it today (kara girl-I will put it in your mailbox tonight)! It is a quick and easy read and I recommend both the book and the show for a fun summer treat, especially if you were a Dylan, Kelli, Brandon, and Brenda fan back in the day!!!

This is what I have lined up next:

...I don't know much about it other than it I saw it listed in my Glamour magazine as a can't miss summer read---that's all i needed to hear!! I will let you know how it goes. What is everyone else reading this summer???? I am always looking for a great book!! OH, I almost forgot the MOST IMPORTANT PART!!! Saturday afternoon while I was reading in bed, baby girl started moving around quite a bit. I have always described her movements as a goldfish swimming around in my tummy with a few occasional big kicks, but this time was dIfFeReNt!! She was going to town and you could see and feel it from the OUTSIDE!!! I was soo excited my eyes started to get teary. Since we got to see her in the sonogram I am picturing her as a baby now and less of the fuzzy blob from our first sono!! She is moving constantly now and if I would take a few minutes to lay and relax I am sure Heath and the girls would be able to feel her too!! I told Heath that this is baby's way of telling me she likes to relax and take naps with me!!! :)

Happy Father's Day Daddy!

Happy Father's Day to our Dad Heath---the best daddy and husband this group of girls could ask for! We love you so very much! We spent another exciting weekend watching the Ripits play softball. This time we were at home in Winfield--which was nice!-- for our state qualifier. The girls played great and took third place!

Medal Ceremony

Last night we finished off a day of 3 hard fought wins with a team trip to Braum's.

You gotta love eating ice cream at 10:30pm!!!

Dave was the Ripit's honorary coach this weekend! Dave, Teresa, and Davin were at every game supporting the girls--it was sooo nice to have them there! Thanks guys!

Ripits Winfield Tournament

Davin and Crosby get along so well and were sooo cute sitting and watching the Big Girls play ball. This was a cutecutecute picture of the team in the Winfield paper on Friday. The article was about the Ripits being a first year team doing well so far this season.

Celebrating Our New Baby Girl To Be

The girls and I (Daddy was working) had a little celebration dinner tonight in honor of our baby girl. We are of course thrilled to be having a girl---but the celebration part was really for the fact that we got to really meet our baby today. We were all so ready to find out what we are having that now phase two of pregnancy starts--shopping for her, creating her nursery, and just dreaming of what she will be like... We all needed so bad to move into this phase...we have been walking on cloud nine all day just knowing our little girl is more of a reality...

***Disclaimer...when I say "we" in this post I am mostly referring to the girls and I... I think Daddy is still in shock {winkwink}...he keeps walking around the house mumbling things about being the best softball coach ever and getting the baby clothes out of the attic!!!!

Sonogram Day!! 20 Weeks

My plan is to take a weekly picture from here on--I have enlisted the help of photographer Adler to help me remember!! So here we are at a little more than 20 weeks! Whew--the camera DOES add 10 pounds!!! ;) Today was the day we have been waiting for for 5 WHOLE months!! Sonogram day finally arrived. I think we were all nervous and excited. I had trouble sleeping and was glad I made my appointment for first thing in the morning so we didn't have to wait ANY longer!!! All 5 of us (plus the sono tech) crowded into the little sono room to hear the big news. We weren't in there very long at all when the sono tech nonchalantly announced that.....

(the reaction-Crosby was there too but she got bored after about 2 minutes!!!)

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!

Yep, that's right Heath is going to be the proud daddy of 4 little girls!!! I couldn't believe it!! As you know I LOVE LOVE LOVE being the mommy to my little girls so I am just beside myself at the thought of having another one!! I think Heath was in shock for sure---he was just smiling and shaking his head. When I asked him how he was doing he gave me a big kiss and said he knew it was a girl all along....he was just trying to "talk it into being a boy." He also said that his 4 girls will give him 4 son-in-laws and probably a ton of grandsons!! What a great way for him to look at it---girls, don't let your daddy down---pick some Great husbands!! Jodi and I decided that I am going to have to start a separate wedding fund!!!

Here are some pictures of our sweet baby girl. They don't look so great on here but you can certainly tell what you are seeing. This first one is her whole body--her tummy is as big as her head right now!!

...and a closeup of her little profile. I can't wait to see what she looks like--I am envisioning a little Crosby with curly blonde hair!!!

She was doing flips the whole time we were watching her. The tech said she is going to be our little gymnast!!! YEA!! I also found out that I have placenta previa so they will be monitoring us pretty closely. No aerobics, picking up Cros or NOOKIE!! Poor Heath---today just wasn't his day!! No purchasing of lottery tickets for him!!

Monday Night-Wet and WILD!

The Ripits beat Quiet Riot (the first year 10 and under version of Motley Crew that is really good) 13-2 tonight. It was a great game and fun to have Aunt Dawn and Larry there to watch the girls play.

After the 6pm game we headed to MadRocks to eat. Madrocks is a nice, fairly new sports bar in Derby (Heath was ecstatic about the 2 for one beers and the flat screens over the urinals!). It is VERY kid friendly-which was a good thing cause the Ripits are NOT a quiet team!! It is neat to watch the team together-they get along so well and hopefully will be playing together for years to come!

We were scheduled to play a double header at 9pm against a team we will see at this weekend's state qualifier, but it was not to be.... while we were at Madrocks a huge storm blew in!! We waited it out at the sports bar and headed home. It was our first rain out so far this year so I think we have been pretty lucky!!!

Ripits Take 4th at Wichita Tournament

Way to Play Ripits!!!

New Market Square and Ripits Update

We didn't play til 4:45 so we went to New Market Square near Lindsay's house and did some shopping! We hit Super Target and got a few little things and then Old Navy. We were able to do a little damage there, as always... our new obsession is criss cross flip flops (i'll have to post a picture later). We picked up some pairs for me, Adler, Grammy, and Mimi. After we met up with Lindsay's fiance Jeremy and Heath at TGI Friday's for lunch. We sat out on the patio--the weather here today was PHENOMENAL!! A perfect 80 degrees. We had a delish lunch with great company!!

My Bacon Cheesy Burger... we thought the thing on top was a big onion ring but NO, it was a huge round hunk of fried mozzarella!! It was sooo stinkin good and the fries---woohooo! I have always been a HUGE ketchup fan and right now is NO exception!!

The girls ordered worms and dirt for dessert-- what a fun MESS!

RIPITS WIN RIPITS WIN RIPITS WIN RIPITS WIN RIPITS WIN RIPITS WIN RIPITS WIN
We HAD to win our 7pm game to play on Sunday and win we did!!! We KILLED them 15-2. We are now in single elimination and play again at 8am!! Heath had to head back to Winfield to be at work at 3am so it is up to me to get these girls to the fields bright and early. Luckily my good buddy Lindsay only lives down the street from the ballpark (even though she is moving in 11 days so this is the last chance for us to have this convenience!!) so the Curtis' are sittin pretty!!! No getting up at 5:00am for us!!!





Crap I forgot to rotate this but here is a quick pick of Chel hitting the ball. The girls were ROCKING their pitchers---crushing the ball. I will hopefully remember to take more pictures and video for tomorrow's update!! I just get soo wrapped up in the game and keeping an eye on the Cros I forget to take pictures---- and that is CRAZY for me!

Ripits Tournament-Wichita

Just an update on the Ripits tourney this weekend so far... we are in Wichita at Twin Rivers Youth Complex which happens to be a few minutes from my good friend Lindsay's house. So we are crashing here for the weekend!---more on that later.... we played two games last night and lost both to some TOUGH competition!!!!! The Ripits played well, these two teams were from Wichita and a little better than what we were ready for. We play again tonight at 4:45 so I will be on here to update again soon!!!

Tuesday- Baby Bruiser

We decided that it was time for Bruiser to go for a little dip today! Look at his face!! haahaahaahaa! He seems to love water normally so we put him in to see how he would do. The girls were ROLLING watching him paddle around the pool and when Chelo would pull him out of the water his little paws would keep paddling like he was still in the water! Chelo thought this was the funniest thing EVER!!! I am sure we will put him in again...he seemed to like it okay...

Derby-Wednesday

I have been wanting to go to Target since the Ripits started playing in the Derby league. Tonight was the night, I decided. We dropped Dad and the big girls at High Park and Crosby and I went to go shop around. I still haven't started wearing maternity clothes, but I am cutting it pretty close so I thought I would go look for a few new things. I had a lot of help in the dressing room as you can see!!!

I LOVED this dress but it was a little too dressy for the everyday wear I was shopping for. I did get several comfy skirts and 2 tops and of course some SUPER cute sandals!!

We hustled out of the store when we were done to go watch the Ripits kick some booty! The girls were FIRED up for their 9pm game and just seemed to have a great time playing ball!

Winfield Pool--Thursday

As promised Chel, Cros and I went to the Winfield Pool on Thursday (Adler decided to go ahead and go to her Thursday with her Mimi-we missed her but will take her soon). Luckily the weather held off and we were able to stay for 4 hours! The girls and I had a blast swimming and playing and I even had a nice chance to relax and read some. It was a great summer treat!!!

Crosby and I had a great time playing in the sand at the playground area. She was in charge of "art"--where we would do things in the sand like make sand angels, build sand castles, and write our names with our hand, foot, and butt prints in the sand!!

I was in charge of games! I had her climbing all over the jungle gym, doing cart wheels, and going across the monkey bars. It is soo cool to see how much upper body strength she had for such a little thing!