Precious

So far a quiet day except for our little girl who loves to cry. We are doing well and have had a constant string of doctors and nurses in. Everyone is in good shape. I have had a shower and am roaring to go! Ready for visitors to enjoy our favorite baby girl.

Jason always asks who's my favorite ____________ to the kids. There has been much conversation with them on what we do if there was another boy or girl. So as it stands - Ally is my favorite BIG girl. Drew is still the favorite boy. Tana is the favorite baby!

Isn't amazing that no matter how many times they wake you in the night or refuse to go to sleep, they are still precious. I love going into their rooms at night and kissing their precious cheeks and praying for them. (There isn't anything sweeter than a sleeping child! - any AMENS from the crowd?)

Even though she isn't sleeping - she has given us some sweet looks in the midst of refusing to sleep or eat. I know that she wasn't smiling but there was a smirk that made you forget that it was 5:30a.m.

The pictures are blurry because she is like any human and hates the flash!

Meeting the Crazies!

Sunday before Tana was born. We tried to get them to kiss my belly, but were uncooperative!

First Family picture!

Ally and Drew are so excited to have a baby sister. We called them first at school. Ally was in the library when I called so I talked to Drew first. His teacher said that he just stood there smiling ear to ear as I told him about his new sister. He didn't have a lot to say. Some of the few words out of his mouth were:

I really have a new sister! I love you Mommy!

Jason talked to Ally and he said Ally cheered when she found out. She had the role of going down to tell the teachers that I work with. She walked into the 7th grade teachers where 2 of her favorites are - Kate and Mari. Mari told me that she walked in glowing and very calm unlike the morning. She said - I was right it was a girl. Drew was wrong. I have a baby sister.

When they got to the hospital with my mom, Tana was still in the nursery getting cleaned up and checked over. They went down to watch the nurses and bring her back to our room. They have lots of pictures with their camera and danced around watching her - PRECIOUS!

Ally held her for some time, and at first Drew refused.

After going to supper with Jason, Drew decided that he would hold her and these are some of the best smiles that I have ever gotten out of him!

Whenever Tana starts to cry, Ally immediately goes over and starts singing Twinkle Twinkle to her. Tana almost immediately stops crying. It is cute - but we got to come up with more songs!

They are proud of their new sister. Ally told Grandma that she wanted Grandma to print some pictures off when they got home so she could take them to school. They will come back for a small birthday party on Friday. At least in the future if I can't make 2 cakes - the one can be girlie!

Tana's Brith Story

Jason and I dropped the kids off with our friend Mari to take them to school. They were thrilled, excited and blustering with energy. We apologized as we left them with her.

Having gone through labor before, I knew that I needed to eat because who knows how long it will be before food again. After taking a quick but slow stop at Wal-Mart we ate some McD's and headed to the hospital about 8. I was the only person there - so lots of attention. Dr. Wenzel broke my water at about 9:00 and nothing happened. About 45 minutes later, the lovely pitocin arrived and started and still nothing. About 10:40 contractions started, but slow and inconsistent. Arghhhhh

They put some different monitors on me and ordered my friend Mr. Epidural. By the time (about 11ish) this lovely doctor arrived the contractions were pretty good and 2 minutes apart and fun. They decided that I needed to drain my bladder and things would be ready quickly after that - about 12:30.

At 1:00 they switched me to my other side which brought pain of contractions back - You are not suppose to feel these!!!! Mr. Epidural Doctor came back and gave me another shot of the good stuff at 1:15. THANK YOU! They let me go for about a half an hour and started getting stuff ready - I was still a little apprehensive - it has only been 2.5 hours since contractions started?

Well with three contractions Tana arrived nice and solid screaming a little after 2. By appearance she was definitely early, but had wide shoulders. Dr. Wenzel was glad that we induced her. Can you image what she would have weighed in 10 days?

Tana Rae Willis

March 26, 2009

2:03 p.m.

8 lb 12 oz

20.5 inches

Dark Brown Hair

Long eyelashes

Solid little girlie!

(Sorry for the gross picture - we will get more when the kids get up here!)

Emotions

Tonight we took our last outing as a family of four to McD's for some ice cream. We have almost been a family of four longer than Jason and I were a family of 2 (2 months shy). As our kids are giggling in the back, Jason and I both are filled with such emotions. I feel a little guilty saying that I am sad that this time in our life with just A & D is ending. I know that the baby is going to bring so much joy - just like Ally and Drew do! But our comfortable life is going to be changed upside down for the good.

Anyone else feel this way?

38 Weeks and a Few Days

I went to my last dr. appointment today! Woo Hoo!!!

Everything looked good except for the first time ever - my blood pressure was high. A friend at school and I had joked earlier in the day that we had both hoped for high blood pressure so they would have to induce us. I had just told Jason the story on the way to the appointment. He said I hope not! Then the nurse told me that it was high. Arghhhh...

Dr. Wenzel came in and checked me out. Dilated to 4, effaced 80%, measurements good heartbeat good.... We discussed how long she would let me go and we talked her into Thursday! So Hammie will hopefully be born on March 26th a day before his/her big sister's birthday. Then I asked her if she was concerned about my bp and she said - holy cow. So off we headed to the hospital to be observed for an hour. Everything settled down so we left for home - picked up the kids for my beloved friend Mari and went to supper at Carlos O'Kelly's.

I am having some contractions, but still in prayer for consistency - the pain is usually there. I am not more uncomfortable then a few weeks ago, but just hate the anticipation and just want to have an end in sight. So my spirits are up!

So stay tuned - last day of work is Wednesday and then baby on Thursday if not sooner!

Forgiveness

The other night Jason surprised me with a date! He called Larissa all by himself and got her to babysit. Her husband is on a spring break work trip with 24-7 so she didn't have a lot of excitement going on.

We enjoyed supper and shopping. Man I don't know if we go on any dates where it is only a date. It seems that it is always a date to Target. But Ally's birthday is in a week and we hope to be slightly preoccupied before it - we hope.

While Larissa was here the kids decided that she needed to hear about God. Drew wanted to make sure that she had her sins forgiven so that she could go "up there" and Ally asked her why they came to small group. "Don't you already know about God?"

This bring Jason and I joy as this has been a common theme in our household starting a couple weeks ago when Drew asked for God's phone number so he could call and ask for forgiveness. He decided not to do it that day, but a couple days later while him and I were playing on the computer. He asked me to show him how to pray. He also talked with Grandpa Charlie about it the other night when they spent the night on the farm.

I know that God is working in both of their hearts and it is fun to see them understand God's love and salvation.

Morning Craft

I love to sew, but not clothes! Curtains, burp clothes (we need a lot of these!), blankets etc. My new adventure was a Bible bag for Ally. She has been asking for it for awhile and it really can't be that hard.

I told Jason that I wanted to make it reversible. When I asked how he thought I should do it - he said it would be easier if you didn't make it reversible. Well Mr. Downer - it would have been easier not to do the box joint on the new shelves too, but it looks cooler!

I picked out some material the other day and shouldn't have showed it to her because she continually asks when are we (we????) going to make my bag. Last night I did an internet search and watched a Martha Stewart video on how to do it. Got it all out and started and finished it this morning in less than an hour and a half!

While working on it and Ally talking continuously beside me asking about the stories in her Bible and blah blah blah, she said - I like making crafts with you, it's fun. (Meanwhile - Drew played in his room all by himself - QUIETLY!!!)

So here is our finished project. We have plans this afternoon to make a headband for her new shorter hair!

Week 37 and Ready to Go!

Doctor appointment today and all is still good. I am between 3-4 cm which means at least something happened since last week and 70% efaced. Woohoo.

Now when will the baby come? I guess my prayer is for pain and consistent contractions. Hummm not something that you typically pray for. I have the contractions and tonight they were getting more painful, but no where near consistent. If I do anything or the slightest thing I will get a contraction, but the second one doesn't follow.

So Dr. Wenzel is on call Wednesday and Friday this week and not til next Thursday. I would love her to deliver the baby but in the end don't care as long as it comes out! So I will keep a walkin' and hoping that Hammie will bless us with her presence soon!

Jason decided that he needed to start practicing his counting ability for when I needed to push. Drew thought that he could help too. Sorry Jason but Drew is much cuter! (Jason wouldn't do it for the camera so that you could be the judge!)

Ally's Prediction

This morning I was relaxing in the recliner as Ally and I were talking to the baby trying to coax it out.

Ally was feeling it and said, "it is boney - it must be a boy since boys are boney." She obviously hasn't felt her butt since she is VERY boney. Then she continued to say - "oh no what are we going to do."

I think reality has sunk in that it really could be a boy.

Got any predictions for me. You see the profile picts and there is nothing different with this one from my other ones except a lot of throwing up.

I think a girl on March 24th that will weigh 8 lb 13 oz and 21.5 inches long and lots of dark hair. (probably won't get that one based on my other cousins kids, but it is worth a try - 3 out of 28 have dark hair)

Side note: I have been meaning to get this picture of Drew up for awhile. We worked on the baby's room a few weeks ago. Drew found "this" and thought it would make a good trumpet. Someday he will be grossed out by it.

Pi Day

Pi Day is officially Saturday (3/14) for all of those wanting to plan a party. If you need music or some games let me know. See last years post for some thrilling ideas!

36 Weeks and Counting

Disclaimer: Jamie - you might not want to read! :)

Today was our 36 week appointment and it was good. Blood pressure - good, weight gain - good, heartbeat - good, head down - AWESEOME!!!! Size - on track for my kiddos. Dialation - 3 cm.

Now I am realistic and know that many friends have stayed this way for a really long time. Poor Kristy about dropped all three boys out. But a third of the way there is better than nothing. That means when I get to the hospital, the first third that takes FOREVER will be done.

So since my sub plans aren't done and our bags are not packed, the baby will probably come. I am slightly afraid that I will jinx us if I do either of these tasks! There is a full moon this week and you have a higher chance of our water breaking on a full moon - Drew was born on a full moon with my water breaking.

Pi day is Friday and I love this day at school. I would also like to have a couple days of relaxation during spring break next week, but God and baby will decide when they want to come.

Emergency Response Team

We need to work at house on our emergency response. We had a kind of "drill" the other morning. I was drying my hair and my hair dryer started to spark. Not wanting to get burned, I threw it on the carpeted bedroom floor with a scream. Jason came in to make sure that I was okay - sweet guy. He picked it up and turned it off.

This hair dryer is old and neither of us can remember when we bought it - probably not in our 11 years of marriage. He started to inspect it with the great knowledge of electricity. He had already scolded me about throwing it on the floor.

During his scientific inspection, he turned it on - DUMMY. It sparked and what did he do? Threw it on the floor.

We unplugged it and took it to the curb. The bad part was that I had only dried half my hair - so half frizzy and half straight - the kids at school did notice and asked why my hair was different.

So we learned that we will probably be the ones to start a fire in our stupidity of throwing something on the floor.

Karoke at Bar Willis

Singing at our house is loud and frequent. There are many times where we are fighting over whose turn it is and that he or she won't stop or are singing too loud and you can't hear me.

Tonight was different. After watching Mo and the Big Exit Veggie Tales, the kids pulled up the extra features. (Yes they know how to get to the other parts of the DVD menu.) They found the karoke and were hooked. While I was finishing up supper, Jason was coaxed into singing with them. If you notice closely, Jason's microphone is Drew's tennis shoe. Ally shyed down for the camera, but it was still funny - especially since they "knew" all the words. They don't get that from their momma!

Mercy Implosion

What family activities do you do on a cold February Saturday morning? We headed up to Cedar Rapids to the hospital that Jason works at to watch one of the buildings implode. It was cool - not sure the kids agree though. They were cold and we didn't bring their heavy duty mittens. We also got there fairly early to get in the "good" watching spot.

Here is the before picture. They had started to tear it down, but it was taking forever and the demo guy said he wouldn't charge any extra to implode it.

The implosion video...

After some of the dust clear you can see the pile of stuff. It should take about 2 weeks to haul it all out.

We went to IHOP afterwards to have Jason's favorite breakfast - stuffed french toast. The kids just wanted to go home and cuddle up on the warm couch, but enjoyed their breakfast when they got to the restaurant.

KCRG had several really good videos of the implosion. If you are watching closely at the end of the video of Camera #1, you can see Jason holding Ally and Drew when they scan the crowd.

Breech

We are down to the final countdown - 5.5 wks left to go and Hammie is sitting on the exit. We have three weeks to flip or we have to talk about what to actually do. So the research begins. I have had many friends tell me that theirs has flipped no problem (thanks Jamie!) and that is LIKELY what will happen.

I have gained very little weight this time - WooHoo! It should all be off with the weight of the baby! I am measuring a couple weeks ahead which is no surprise considering Ally and Drew's size. The vote is still 2 for a girl, 1 for a boy, and 1 - don't care. Names are picked much to my mother's disagreement.

We are "ready" with all baby stuff bought except the bottle vents which I have to special order since they changed them in the last 4 years - arghhhhh.

Now I just need to get the sub plans written. I should be able to get on those since my student teacher is taking over more responsibilities now. Yes I have a student teacher - I might have been crazy, but at least I am know someone will know how to teach math and my routine. She will be doing her head teaching about the time that I leave. The real sub will only actually have to teach by herself for about 1 week. If you know me - I won't be able to let much of it be unattended anyway so I will be heavily involved which gave my principal relief. I/we still have to get the kids to school during my leave.

The cold fairy brought all four of us colds this week so Kleenex are getting used up quickly in the Willis household.

Not a Great Start

It is Wednesday - the day should be great! Temps are suppose to be pushing 50, the snow is melting and it is breakfast pizza day at school! I get there and announce my normal order and they look at me and say - it is Lent we aren't doing pizza today. Now most of you have either been pregnant or have lived with someone who has been pregnant. First - we don't like to skip breakfast (or any other of the 5 meals we have each day) and we want our favorites no matter the cost!

So with 35 minutes before school starting I had to get in my car and head up to Casey's to get breakfast. Not happy about it because what I picked out wasn't even very good when I got back to school.

Sad thing - Jason had volunteered to make me eggs this morning and I turned him down since it was pizza day!

Bible Council

I love my DVR. We don't watch much tv when the kids are awake, but when they finally go to bed this momma is also tired and can barely stay awake. The last couple weeks, Jason has enjoyed Survivor with me only making it through the first half.

On Saturday sometime I sit down and finish it - typically while folding laundry. Ally has joined me and has been asking a lot of questions about how to play the game. She remembers the colors and can figure out who loses and has to kick someone off. This week I had to explain that exile island was kind of like time-out. We will see if that one was completely understood when we watch again.

When Drew came up and asked her what she had watched, very proudly she said - we were watching Bible Council to see who was going to get kicked out of the game. After correcting her pronounciation, I chuckled - thankful that God doesn't kick us out of heaven!

Basement Lookin' Good

We have some boys coming to our house this weekend for Disciple Now so we had to pick up the basement. I realized that I hadn't added picts of our comfy place for awhile.

Jason built me some end tables after searching for 4 years (yes really)! I don't know why I didn't think of it earlier. It was a ton cheaper to have him build it than find one in the store. It was actually a project we did together. Okay I didn't do much but I was there and sanded a lot!

We did decide to splurg and just buy the basement bedroom set. It was going to be about the same cost as building it and it would take only 2 weeks to get here - where it would have taken Jason about 7 years to finish.

This last picture is for Rachel. She gave us one of her wedding presents since she didn't know what to do with it. The words were meant to sit on a shelf. Since we didn't have a shelf, I had Jason cut the back off and put hangers on them. I like them and it was obviously cheap. Hope that no one reading this blog gave them to her!

Now what will my house look like after boys stay in my basement - not quite sure, but I better get used to it since Drew is slowly getting up there. He did tell us tonight that he didn't want to get bigger - just stay the age he was. I could handle that!

Happy Valentine's Day

Our Valentine's Day was fairly uneventful. Jason and I didn't even get out the cards that we usually do - does that mean we are really old married folks? I had to run to church so I didn't even get to make a special breakfast for anyone. After cleaning the house, I got groceries - see next post.

For our evening activities, we all headed back to Newton to see Grandpa Melvin in the hospital. Earlier this week when we went he was in the ICU so the kids couldn't go in. This time he was in a regular room so they went in to talk to him. We met my parents there and went for pizza afterwards. Then home to crash.

We typically make a "heart-shaped" pizza and had planned to do that at Mom's, but we ran out of time. So our little family celebrated with our pizza on Sunday night. I love my family so much and can't imagine life without them. As we sat and ate supper, Drew was making weird noises and Ally didn't stop talking. I looked at Jason and said - What are we doing? What will our dinner table look like in a year when Hammie joins us?

It has started to sink in that we will be joined by a 3rd critter soon - especially after the tax program asked us how many dependents we will have for 2009.

Are you Expecting?

Yesterday Jason's present to me was having me go get groceries (without kids). You might think that would be awesome, but I hate getting groceries and like to torture all involved and make him go with me - so it was my Valentine to him not to go!

At the check-out (for round 2 - one side of Wal-Mart first and then groceries), I was asked by the really nice cashier (who reminds me of Carrie Shupp) if I was expecting. WHAT???? I know she was trying to be nice and didn't want to get popped in the nose if I wasn't, but come on what gave it away - the waddling to the cart to put the bags in or the big huge watermelon under my shirt? I told her that I have 7 wks left to go.

She preceded to ask if this was my first. I know she had no clue, but if it was just 2 of us I was buying a TON of groceries. And I had Trix yogurt, fish crackers, and a lot of other "kid" food.

I got a good laugh at the whole ordeal - because I know that I am either ENORMOUS or pregnant. Part of the really mean me wanted to say no - but that would have been awful for this really nice girl!

So less than 7 weeks left to go! Dr. Wenzel said that she wouldn't stop me after March 1st though - Now that is SCARY - since we aren't ready!

Jason's Talents

Jason has been busy at work for me. I will continue daily posting all of our pictures from projects from this weekend. I am looking forward to a clean garage. I think that it was only clean once in the past 2 years. A day when we can get BOTH vehicles in and have room. We did have them both in all winter, but it was snug! Too many toys!

I was looking through a woodworking book at Lowes when I ran across this handy thing for wood. I kept the page waiting for Jason to return from the back of the store. He was thrilled and drew it out immediately when we got home. Hopefully this wood holder thingy will keep all the random wood neat in the garage.

Stay tuned for either a picture of my new end tables or the new bedroom set!

Getting Ready to Show Love

This weekend we have been busy bees! We have gotten a lot accomplished - one project was getting our Valentine's ready for our classmates at school. Ally & Drew picked out their cards - Drew has Spiderman and Ally has Tinker Bell. Surprise! Surprise!

Drew had to write his name 23 times. His cards were slick and a normal pen wouldn't write on them. A washable marker wouldn't either since it wiped off - wet or dry. So we had to give him a Sharpie - YIKES. I closely supervised so that it wouldn't get on the table. He took a break after about every 5 cards. He did such a great job! He didn't have to write his classmates names on so it made the job slightly easier.

Ally got to write all her classmates names on their cards. She enjoyed it a lot and then had to put a pencil in each.

I remember doing this when I was little and thrilled and very specific about which card to give which friend. I am glad that Ally hasn't figured that part out. This week she made a picture while we were still at school. She said - Mom this is for my boyfriend. HUH???? I told her that kindergarteners don't have boyfriends. Her response - okay I will give it to Daddy.

Jason felt a little jipped out of the deal, but oh well - at least we are still boyfriend free.

Supper and Standing

Little boys confuse me. Okay maybe boys in general confuse me - but that is not the point tonight. We have pub tables that we eat at, so we have stools at all our tables in the house (except for the card table). Every night you can bet that we can't make it through a meal without Drew standing up on his stool and spinning around. I knew this happens and we always tell him to sit down. I think that he has only fallen once, but still didn't learn the lesson.

The last few nights I have been watching more carefully. So far he can't do it. The last two nights it has been towards the end, but it never fails - he stands. Why? Why? Why?

I don't get boys.

Another topic is why it also never fails that he has to go to the bathroom - always #2 during supper...

Crib Is UP.

We are moving right along and getting ready for the baby. After much contemplation about the bedding I decided that I really want it to "match" it's gender so I am going to wait to decorate until AFTER Hammie is born. We have a bed. We have a changing table and are ready, but want to paint and stuff after it is here so it's room will be good to go for awhile.

I have picked out the bedding and will order it once the time is a little closer. We tried to look at it when we went to Des Moines, but of coarse I picked stuff that is online only. If it is a girl then I want purple and green. I will make some of the stuff like the bed skirt and stuff. This time around we aren't going to get the quilt that never gets used! I really like this butterfly or flower stuff also - I think my mom and I can figure out how to get something close.

I am not 100% sure on the boy stuff, but have some green and brown picked out currently at Babies R Us. Probably a dark brown bumper and who knows about the skirt. The crib looks a little silly without one though. Haven't thought much about decorations.

Ally helped Jason put the crib together today.

Drew "supervised."

It is up and ready for a little person to come live with us in no more than 9 weeks - hopefully a little earlier!

I would have posted pictures of the guest room, but they ordered the wrong color of headboard so we are waiting for that to come in.

Have I ever Mentioned?

Have I ever mentioned that I hate our van. Actually that is pretty strong. I really do like our van - I never thought that I would drive a mini-van (yes Angi - you told me so....).

This lovely van has been broke it seems more than it has been driveable. I was watching the Today show last summer and they were talking about the biggest money scams - Extended warrenties were on there. In our case - it has SAVED us oh about $25,000. Yes and that is actually a LOW and conservative number. It broke down again this week for an unknown reason, but this time the warrenty company said - oh that part isn't on the list - ARGHHH. There are 600 miles left on the warrenty and over 20,000 miles on the engine (which has been the big problem).

So Amy keep reminding us that this van has to be gone by this summer!

What would you buy? Obviously we will be buying the extended warrenty - it was worth our money.

Happy 30-Something Birthday!

I had lots of fun this week. I didn't try and "bug" Jason about my birthday plans since I knew that there was no way that he could forget it. I had been counting down since Christmas.

Last year he was so bogged down with work that he was unable to get my cake finished. This year he stayed up late one night to finish my cake. He claims that it isn't his best work, but I still loved it. I love round two layer cakes, but he says there isn't enough room to decorate. If you can't tell - Tinker Bell is driving Lightnigh McQueen. Drew and Ally couldn't decide on the characters so we compromised!

The "best" (hear the sarcasm) part of my birthday was waking up to - not the blueberry pancakes that I typically get, but a van that absolutely LOVES our family. Yep - our lovely Kia Sedona is broke again. After much research, Jason discovered a pulley that is missing so the serpentine belt is off. Originally we thought (and are still hopeful it is not) the alternator. So he took me to school and headed to work. At least I didn't have to drive to work!

We went to HuHot for supper. The kids were thrilled since they love to make their own dishes and watch the guys cook for us.

On Friday Jason invited our small group over for Bunco and snacks. It was a lot of fun. If you notice in the picture my shoulder is SLIMED. I had been holding 11 week old Maddie who is a mircle from God. She had a pacemaker put in when she was a few hours old.

Saturday was my real treat. On Thursday I had opened a box with a backgammon board, Pottery Barn magazine, diaper and box of Mac & Cheese. What does all this mean - at first I thought another trip to Turkey, but a close second is a trip to Des Moines to Pottery Barn and Babies R Us - one of my favorite store and another necessity at this time that we don't have in our area. We picked up lots of ideas for decorating and just loved walking through Pottery Barn and decided we probably need to head back again to DM after we know that is REALLY in all those totes in the basement before we decide what baby stuff we need to buy. All this with NO kids. They stayed with my parents for the days - getting spoiled - they weren't in bed when we got back at 10:00!

To top the whole thing off - Jack and Sheryl and precious Lorelai born 2 weeks ago joined us for supper at Macaroni Bar and Grill - hence the mac and cheese. They are home for a couple months from Turkey on state-side.

So let's just say that I had a great birthday even though Jason keeps telling me I am getting close to 35 - Really I am still closer to 30 though!

The best part is that my mom sent me an email saying happy 31st birthday. I called her to tell her that I really was older. She didn't believe me until she pulled out her calculator and typed in 2009-1977! Thanks mom! Not sure if you feel older now or me!

Thinks He's Cool

I just got told at supper by my four year old son - Good job my friend - fist pump.

I don't remember what I did to deserve this high compliment, but sat there shocked as Jason about fell on the floor.

Records

The kids didn't have school on Friday - it was a teacher's meeting day. So they still went but got to play all day with their friends. But it was COLD. It was so cold that we kept our hat and mittens on the whole way and the heater never caught up. I stopped to get the picture of the thermometer on the way at the coldest part. By the end of the day, the temps rose 60 degrees. If you are in Iowa you know that we have had a some warm days with a high of 30. But what did you think of the wind on Saturday - Glad that the temps were reasonable. Our subdivision almost got snowed in!

This week looks a ton better and we should be able to head to school every day ALL day!

It's Cold

That might be an understatement, AND I am tired of being indoors and in my house. I think that when it warms up to at least -15 or so we might try and head out and do some errands. We won't have a whole day of school this week - now that is crazy!

Monday - Early out - 5 inches of snow and blowing
Tuesday - Late Start - Blowing and cold
Wednesday - 5-6+ inches of snow, blowing and Cold
Thursday - BITTER cold - exact words from the news cast
Friday - No school planned - teacher inservice

Drew is in HEAVEN!!! He likes his stay at home days. He would choose to stay home rather than anywhere - almost McDonalds is the exception I think! Last night as I was putting him to bed I told him that we would eat breakfast at home before going to school since we knew we had a late start.

He said - Mommy come here and look out my window.

We frequently do this to check for deer in the front yard or just to look at the weather or moon, but tonight he said with all sincerity (for our safety). The snow plows have plowed our streets, but they haven't gotten to the one to school yet. We will have to stay home tomorrow.

In his shyness (truly) he didn't want me to tell the story to Jason, but how could I not. About 15 minutes later, he got his wish for another stay at home day - so fort building, legos and other fun things to drive mommy crazy - here we come!

Rachael Ray

My daughter (and I) LOVE Rachael Ray. If we are home, we flip it on to mainly watch the cooking part of the show - I think that we are going to start DVRing it. Ally stops whatever she is doing to carefully watch what she is doing and asks questions. Today we watched her make a yakatori noodle bowl. We decided to make it for supper and it was a hit! There are no leftovers for lunch tomorrow - bummer! It was basically teriyaki chicken and noodles.

Maybe my little girl will be a chef?

Another Computer Guru

This picture is TERRIBLE but is shows what my little boy likes to do after nap - Nick Jr. I need to get a real mouse for my laptop so they can both be on it and the fighting will stop, but until then we have 15 minute turns.

Also nobody probably has ever noticed, but when we moved into our house we didn't have a hardwood floor mat for our office chair. After 2 plus we finally got a chairmat and the piece of cardboard is retired - and a good piece it was!

Snow - Snow and some More Snow

We keep getting snow and it really doesn't/shouldn't make the news. It isn't record snowfall or even really terrible to travel in. I can handle 2-5 inches at a time - it is the ice and wind that comes before or after that is not so fun. The last couple storms have been had no ice. We woke up to LOTS of snow on Saturday. I think we were suppose to get 1 inch but really what is the difference 1 or 5 inches. No big deal. We cleaned the house and then all went out to work and play. I love the snow blower - why didn't we buy one several years ago. I can't imagine how sore and tired Jason would be without it. I did help a little with it. It is a cold and wet job using it, but you feel like a champ when you are done. Please no comments about a 28 wk prego woman scooping snow - I wasn't in pain afterwards.

Today we got another 3 or snow inches (total about 8 on the ground - not too bad!) We got out of school early today. The 3 inches aren't the bad part it is the 35 mph winds that are following the storm. Like I said I don't mind driving in 3 inches - you can still "see" the road or most of it. It is the lack of visability that I strongly hate! We got home way before that hit. It actually probably got to our house about the time that we headed out after supper in the dark to clean off the driveway. It was fairly calm and then the wind came up and wow it burned your cheeks! We are in a blizzard warning tonight. Man I don't want another no school day - late start would be nice.

The next storm blows (literally again) either Tuesday night or Wednesday for another 3-5 inches and some more blizzard like conditions. So that would put about 10 inches on the ground and another chance for some on Friday. I love Iowa winter. I love that we have change so often and it is not always warm - even though there are days that I wish for some 70 degree weather.

One positive - Ally can define blizzard for you correctly today!

Dust off the Rook Cards - Some Math Ideas for You!

Ally brought home a couple weeks ago some "homework." Actually she has brought other homework home. I am becoming the parent that I get so frustrated with - the ones who "forget" to send stuff back! I am trying to get better, but for some reason it is always the mom that has to go through the book bag.

I am a big fan of math - for some obvious reasons?!?! Don't get me wrong - we read and have her sound things out. But it is not always our focus - I am not a natural "reading" teacher. But math is a different story. Sometimes I can't believe what she is "learning" in kindergarten math since it seems so basic, but I guess there are other kids out there that don't get their addition facts as early as our kids. (We taught addition at supper with eating bites!)

They have been working on pattern units and counting units. The counting unit has been interesting. Some ideas out there to do with your kids that will help them gain number reasoning skills (and I approve this message!)

1. When you grab a random amount of something - napkins, cookies, fish crackers, legos, etc have the ESTIMATE (tell you how many the THINK are there). Then have the count them. Estimating is a skill that many kids are weak at in the middle levels but hey let's help them out when they are young.
2. When bored at the dr. office while WAITING - have them figure out how many eyes are in the room or fingers or toes or legs on the chairs. Some may start out by counting each one but that is OK!
3. Teach skip counting (evens and odds) then work your way up to doing 3s, 4s, 5s, 10s. (hopefully then later they can do the dr. office game by using those strategies.
4. As a beginer (like Drew or a 3yr old) draw numbers on one side of the page and pictures of objects on the other. Have them connect the picture to the number. Or make big number pages on paper - have them search the toy room and find that number of objects for that number.
5. Our newest idea - from our favorite kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Glanz - She gave us number cards to 10, but I pulled out the Rook cards since they went to 14. You can make your own cards but I would put them on cardstock. I would have a stack of at least 4 of each number. Divide the cards out between you and your kiddo. Each flip a card. Whoever has the bigger number says - ME and gets the cards. ALly is much faster than Drew but sometimes he makes a mistake - tonight it was 9 and 6 so we "built" those numbers out of fingers or legos or whatever and he had to redecide. We did it with 12 and 13 also.

You can do different variations of this game - like playing which is least. We have also added the two cards together and one person gets the evens and the other the odds. (throwing in our skip counting stuff!) Tonight Ally and I made a new variation of having 5 cards in our hand and playing the bigger number to get our partners cards.

You can do so much with younger kids to build number sense. These are all great ideas, but the most important part would be your kid EXPLAINING why they are making the decision to you. At first they won't be able to do it and you should model the reasoning or give them ideas of how to start, but you know they understand it if they can talk it through!

If you want more ideas - let me know. And if you are a stalker that has some great reading skill games - let me know:)

New Family Members

Introducing the newest family members - Sparkles, Mo, Sally, Gerkin, Mickey, Minnie and Kevin.

I guess we will see how long I can keep them alive. Ally got a new fish tank from Grandma Rhonda for Christmas. It has taken us a week to get the "stuff" and water in it. She came up tonight so that we could pick out some fish. Now they are all swimming happily.

Jason ended bedtime stories with "Fish out of Water" to remind them "not to feed the fish too much or something may happen, you never know what."

My Final Post for 2008

If you didn't get our 2008 Christmas letter, enjoy a brief recap written by Jason.



Shortly before Thanksgiving, I looked back at some of the Christmas letters that we have written over the last few years. Each year, we gave a (somewhat) humorous update of the events of our lives and then the letter concluded with one or two sentences asking you to ‘remember the reason we celebrate Christmas.’ Looking back over this past year, one or two sentences just won’t cut it.

We rejoice constantly that 2008 has been the year that God has provided for us and the people we are close to again and again and again. This has been a year that has had more trials than we are used to, but at each step along the way we have seen the Grace of God working and the Hand of God providing, and caring for his children. This letter won’t give you a lot of details, but since the last time we wrote, He has carried us through a short period of unemployment, protected family from tornados, strengthened us through flooding, and healed severe pregnancy problems (our own, and those very close to us).

Sometimes along the way we struggled, wondering why these events were taking place and worrying about what would happen. Other times we faced the events with full confidence that our Father would carry us through. Each time, we have seen His Grace poured out and our faith in Him has been strengthened. We thank Him daily for how He takes care of us.

We thought about making this year’s Christmas letter a list of the things that HAVE NOT changed in the last year (we live in the same house and Brenda has the same job), but really, a full sheet of paper needs more than that. Here are some of the fun things and big events from 2008.

Ally is 5 ½ years old. She is now in kindergarten and is excelling in school. She is very talented at a lot of different things, She tried out T-ball this summer. She enjoyed it and definitely got better as the season went on, but she is definitely more skilled at artsy stuff and things that involve her imagination. Ally loves Jesus and is learning to love others too. She can’t wait for the baby to come and really hopes it is a girl. She is such a joy and a blessing.

Drew just turned 4. He didn’t make the cut off for the pre-K class so he is doing the ‘early childhood’ class AGAIN. It’s a good thing he loves his teachers (and they love him). Drew is a ‘mentor’ to a younger student. That makes me laugh every time I think about it. He loves to spell his name, is very good at baseball, and can color circles around anyone who wants to take him on. Drew is also very excited about the baby, but he wants a boy and wants to name it ‘Dumpster.’ He’s not looking forward to sharing his toys.

Brenda is 23 or so weeks pregnant and due in early April. She has had much more morning (or afternoon or evening) sickness with this pregnancy than the other two. (Maybe that means that this baby won’t throw up as much as the others!!!) She is teaching 8th grade math at Clear Creek Amana and is sad that when the middle school moves to a different location next year that she won’t be in the same building as Ally and Drew. In addition to all she does for our family, she has also worked right along side me through several projects this year including finishing our basement and helping build several things the reconstruction of our church. We were also able to work together for several long days of sandbagging and evacuating the church as the flood waters rose. It’s been a real blessing to serve with her.

As our church flooded in Iowa City the night of June 12 (Thursday), Cedar Rapids was experiencing historical flooding from a completely different river system. That night, Mercy Hospital in Cedar Rapids evacuated almost 200 patients as the flooding overtook almost 200,000 square feet and two floors of the hospital. I got a call from Mercy on June 18th to come and help with the rebuilding process. All of the damaged area of the hospital was rebuilt in 100 days and I have been able to stay at Mercy and work as a project manager on all of the other projects they have going on.

We have seen God turn each trial this year into a blessing in our lives and the lives around us. HE has encouraged us and given us more faith and strengthened our trust in Him each step along the way. Our prayer for you this season is that you get to see the graciousness and goodness of God as we have.

Have a VERY Merry Christmas.

Jason, Brenda, Ally, Drew, (and Hammie) Willis

26 1/2 wks

Wow the year has come to an end and I can definitely say that 2008 has been a year to remember. I worked hard to finish up almost everything for 2008 blogwise! I can't wait to see what God has for us - the highlight will be meeting our next little one early this year!

We visited the doctor a couple weeks ago and found out that it looks like we are "growing a moose" according to the dr. I am measuring 3 cm bigger than I should be at this point. So what does that mean - it is looking like another healthy-sized baby. Hopefully a little early too for momma's comfort!

Easy Bake

Thank you Allison and Jared for our new Easy Bake Oven. We have made two vanilla cakes and a chocolate cake. I have never made anything that only ingredient is 1 1/2 tsp of water. She has thoroughly enjoyed it and it isn't as bad as I thought!

We had a guy come out and clean our furnace and when he saw us - he couldn't believe that they stilled made those. He said that his daughter had one.

Anyone know what cooks the cake that doesn't taste too bad? A 100 watt light bulb.

Willis Christmas

We postponed our trip to Jason's parents until Sunday after another ice storm. We had had enough of the weather. We enjoyed a safe day in our house cleaning and regrouping.

We enjoyed a quick trip to Aplington. The kids got to go out and sled since they had more snow than us and the temperatures were finally reasonable! I have yet to attempt to sled with my ever growing belly. Who knows if I could get up out of the snow at the bottom of the hill? Some more Casey's pizza made our trip complete!

Family Bowling

What could be more fun than bowling with your family? Well actually getting to bowl, I sat out. I thought it best to not test my luck with the back pain and pregnancy. I watched everyone else bowl and helped chase Lauryn. She is faster than me. This might have been the first time that the kids remember bowling. They had so much fun.

Ally bowling.

Drew bowling.

Kaylee bowling.

Please notice the scores (sorry the first one is blurry). Jason and Drew tied.

Klaassen Christmas

We enjoyed yet another Christmas. Jason and I headed back to IC with hope of him working a half day on Friday and coming back to my parents to open presents. But Christmas night was far from good travel weather. We had been watching the weather closely and found a break in the storm. We headed out (without kids). It was fairly good traveling until half way home when we almost pulled off to stay in the motel - the drive is only 40 miles total! From Williamsburg to IC we went no more than 20 mph. I kept praying and praying and seeing drivers slide right off the road. When he woke up early to go to work, the roads had yet to be cleared so he crawled back into bed.

The weather warmed and we scrapped some of the ice off the driveway before heading back to mom's. By the end of the day most of our 6 inches of snow was gone.

We got back in time to open presents to find out that Grandpa Charlie had a sick calf and was waiting for the vet to come. After everyone got naps - oh how I loved my snuggle bug. Too bad that my belly is so big that I take up much of the couch! We enjoyed lots of presents and laughter. Isn't it funny that everyone sits in the same place year after year when opening stuff?

We had a huge enjoyable Casey pizza supper extravaganza before heading out in the THICK fog to go bowling. Weather just isn't our luck. It was another long trip home for the Willis' in the fog with another ice storm on the way for the next day.

2008 Dumba** Award

Picture it - Christmas Eve. Our kids were in their PJs snuggled in their blankets call "Fuzzies" made by Uncle Arlie a couple years ago. We were headed back to our house to go to bed with hopes that Santa would come during the night. The kids luckily fell asleep within 5 minutes of getting on the interstate and I was close behind them but still trying to stay awake for Jason.

Suddenly about 7 miles from our exit, we came to a halt at 11:00. We had just past an exit that would have gotten us home. There was one police car stopped there, but very little action. Several cars were turning around and going back to the exit - not the safest move in my book, but whatever. One guy even tried to go through the median (which has about 10 inches of snow in it). Even dumber move. But the dumbest move of the night came from a semi-driver from Montana.

After sitting there in PARK for 15 minutes, I called my dad to check the internet for road problems - it was a long shot but I was hopeful. I do miss the traffic reports from STL that most of the time gave you a hint of what was happening. Then I called my Aunt who had kids on the road that should be close to passing us going the other direction. She gave me Christine's phone number who happened to be in IC - 7 miles ahead of us. Chris and I talked the WHOLE time she drove by and guess what she saw.... NOTHING. No police cars, no fire trucks, no accident, no people in the ditch....

We had pulled out the kid's DVD player and were getting out a movie. I think that if I would have let him, Jason would have flipped around and drove BACK to the exit. Just then my dad called and said that he did find that there was something that happened in IC at 8:00 that had shut down the interstate. Okay - it was 11:50 now - is that really the problem? Just as we hung up from him, the traffic started moving - full speed.

We found out in the morning that a semi-driver from Montana decided to do a u-turn in the median (with a ton of snow on it and a mile from the next exit). His truck flipped over which was hit by another semi and then a car. Luckily no one was hurt, but it took over 3 hours to get it cleaned up - stopping the interstate since it blocked both lanes. He got a ticket for improper use of the median.

Jason thinks that officers should have a seperate ticket book for dumba**. They would write you a ticket for something and mark the level of stupidity. This would get the highest level.

We got home before Santa and our kids slept through it all.

Santa Came...

Santa came eating all the cookies, mountain dew and bananas that we left him. The reindeer also got their snack of marshmellows and carrots. He came bringing some of our favorite toys that we asked him for. The kids THANKFULLY slept in on Christmas morning. We got home late from Christmas Eve at my parents due to an accident on the interstate - a post for the end all in itself. Aren't my kids so stinkin' cute? I love to see them so happy. I can only imagine how much joy God gets when He makes us happy. Jason spent the morning putting Drew's race track together before we had to leave. This is really cool and I recommend it also very easy to use.

On a side note: Drew loses more things - hummm I can hear Jason going - just like his momma. We spent 20 minutes before heading back to Victor for the Smith Christmas looking for the boy's shoes. They were under his bed - only if the boys would have looked there first. Then we spent another 10 minutes looking for his sunglasses. What would this world be like without Moms who can find their kids' things????