Power Kid

Grandpa is known for giving  Brode is known to receive presents that aren't quite an age match according to the recommended age on the box.

The power wheels tractor suffices in the summer, but he was due for a winter toy a bit more power. 

Cue the snowmobile:

Pass through a line of neighbor kids as they each outgrow, Brode is on to his turn with the snowmobile!  He loves that he has the same one as the other kids had. We bundled him up on Sunday and sent him out to ride!

He rides it like he's 13, not needing any practice, watching and waving at everyone else, and goes one handed every once and a while.

As we shoveled he pulled up  and yelled "This is SO fun". It's safe to say he likes it! Hopefully we get some great winter memories out of it for years to come.

Swimtastic Yellow Fish

Brode is in his second session of swim lessons as our new location!

Brode had been attending lessons at the YMCA since 6 months old, and was stuck. We weren't seeing progression, it was extremely stuck, and it just wasn't clicking with him. We had been working hard and getting back to confidence in the water after an unfortunate (and scary) incident in lessons but he just could not get comfortable. Every 7 weeks a new session would start and they would start back at square one. Brode wasn't comfortable switching teachers all the time, and by the time they got to his level it was over so they couldn't pass him.

We made the choice last fall to switch to Swimtastic Swim School when Dane left the Y for a new job and we have seen more improvement in Brode week to week than we did the entire last 2 years. It has been incredible to see him be comfortable, confident, and having so much fun.

He is a yellow fish with his current teachers. He gets a ton of time in the water with 2 teachers and 3 kids.

 The teachers are awesome and encourage him so much. He throws a fit to be let go on a new skill, but they still let go and he gets it an is fine. He is now making forward progress by himself, dives to the bottom for rings alone, and doesn't hesitate on jumps or the slide.

Him feeling safe, knowing pool rules, and being confident is extremely important to us after having a scary moment and being near the water all the time. With the neighbors pool, the cottage lake, and many vacations with pools we want him to enjoy it!

He can't wait for our Florida trip in a few weeks to turn all his practice into fun at the resort!

Baby Fuchs - Week 19

We're 19 weeks along today and recording another update. We're really discussing things we'd like to get, what we have of Brode's yet, what brands we prefer, and that we CANNOT wait to find out what baby is. Our appointment for ultrasound and gender reveal is the 28th - thats 21 weeks. Talk about waiting as long as possible.

 

Length: 19 weeks

Baby Size: Heirloom Tomato

Heartbeat: We have had 3 appointments and it falls around 155 every time.

Morning Sickness: Still none, but still loving my sleep. Trying to work around being very active and remembering to rest.

Big Brother: EXTREMELY excited and VERY interested in babies.

Gender: Dane and I have started discussing how we want to do gender reveal and it just makes me want to know even more!

Cravings: I'm over the gummi worms for now. The last 2-3 weeks I cannot get enough chocolate milk. We have been FLYING through it between Brode and I. I feel like I go to the store for a new gallon every 3rd day.

 

Here is to still feeling good and no believing we're already half way through!

Mites and Ice Dogs

Brode's hockey team, the Blades Mites were featured at the Fox Cities Ice Dogs last weekend and Brode couldn't have been more excited! It may have had a bit to do with his dad being #8 on the team and getting to skate out with him.

The kids put on their skates, jerseys, and helmets and were introduced with the starting line up of the Ice Dogs. They stood out with them for the National Anthem.

Brode spent the rest of the game bouncing around with teammates. He was sure EXHAUSTED when we left but still insisted on wearing his hockey helmet all the way home without falling asleep.

When we get together with all the hockey kids we all just say "here is the beginning to years and years together!" assuming these little boys will be growing up and playing high school hockey together some day!

Baby Fuchs - The Beginning

We found out the first week of October that we were expecting Baby #2 and tried to keep the secret until Thanksgiving. 

Of course we had to tell our parents....

... and our closest handful of friends (I needed girls to be excited with!)....

... work so they weren't shocked if I was sick and showing early...

... Brode told all of day care....

... and the dentist....

But besides that we kept it a secret (HA!).

We had taken pictures in Disney the week before with a hunch and praying it would happen soon!

Brode then wore a special Thanksgiving shirt to tell our families as Thanksgiving fell at 12 weeks exactly. After 7 weeks of holding in the secret we were all ready to tell the world!

From then on the secret was out, we posted on Facebook, members at my work began figuring it out, and we happily shared the information.

Currently everything is going great! I'm going to try and start some pictures around 18 weeks now that the showing is MUCH more obvious. Here is our breakdown;

Length: 17.5 weeks

Baby Size: Turnip/Apple

Heartbeat: We have had 3 appointments and it falls around 155 every time

Morning Sickness: NONE! I have not had 1 day of sickness, just a few mild headaches that hang around annoyingly. First trimester was a LOT of sleeping, but passed with the correct supplementation and movement into the second trimester.

Big Brother: EXTREMELY excited and VERY interested in babies.

Gender: We find out at 20 weeks. I felt Girl for a LONG time and have recently switched to Boy or just not having any idea. The majority of everyone that encounters us says girl.

Cravings: They've changed. I had 3 days early if I didn't eat a salad I wasn't going to be happy. For a month or so there really wasn't anything, and then I had crab rangoons and I could have eaten them every day (however, I didn't.... only twice!). Lately it's been gummi worms. We'll see where each week takes me.

Our nursery is still Brode's playroom and FULL of Christmas toys. We're not making any progress until after we find out the gender. We saved 3/4 of Brode's stuff and will begin sorting through when we know at the end of January. I set Dane and my dad with projects to finish organizing the basement and moving the baby stuff over by the end of the month so we can get a jump on it in February. The spring willy fly by and I want to be ready if anything happens early.

Mighty Mite

Brode is a Mighty Mite this year for the Fox Valley Blades. He has tripled his ice time at the arena and added on a few hours in grandma and grandpa's backyard. He has already made great improvement as a skater. We're working on the whole "GET THE PUCK" thing, but he loves games and getting on the ice. He is all about the team and talks about his teammates every day.

They practice each week, play games on the weekend, and they have attended a few small tournaments.

We'll be a mite until he is 8 and really working on the basics and game play.

Christmas 2013

Well here is my starting place! It's fresh in our mind, we JUST completed all of our celebrations, and 2013 was a great Christmas.

This was our first Christmas in our new house and as a married couple/famly of 3. We had last Christmas to figure out some of the routines, but now on our own we had to make a few new ones, and it's always exhausting when it comes around for a week straight.

We celebrate Christmas with both sides of Dane's family and both sides of my family, all along with work parties, and having time for Brode to celebrate with Matt's family as well.

St. Nick coming kicked off the entire season.

The following weekend we celebrated with Dane's family and had an ugly sweater contest. Dane brought home the coveted "trophy" and we can't wait to pass it along next year.

Weekends continued with more of Dane's family, Brode being a shepard in the church Christmas play, and the day care Christmas concert.

We attended Christmas Eve mass with my parents in our church before going to my grandparents. We had a late night with lots of snacks and gifts but had to get home so Santa could come.

Dane, Brode and I exchanged presents at our house in the morning, then with my parents at their house before lunch. We tired to get Brode some play time as much as we could before we had another gathering.

The day continued with my dad's family at our house and Dane's parents and brother for some dessert and gifts.

Dane and I both went back to work on Thursday, but quickly rushed out to get a skate session in with Brode in the backyard. It was fun to turn on the Christmas music, bundle up, and skate for a few hours.

Friday and Sunday we had a few more Christmas gatherings to see more people, but we did get some down time to rest, open new toys to play with, and hit the snow hill to sled.

I spent a lot of this Christmas thinking about that Walmart commercial with the song that says;
"Oh darling don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up, won't you stay this little...." and shows home videos of kids on Christmas morning. Brode is growing up so fast and between our work schedules and only getting a few days off together I tried to savor the moment and watch him enjoy it. Before I know it he'll be in Kindergarten and I don't have the choice to pick up him and play whenever I want. The good news is with baby on the way we'll get to do it all again and still have toddlers around for Christmas, but it is a reminder of how fast it really does go!