Fun with Family

Holly with all of her grandsons.(Raymond, Judd, Blain and Owen)

This last weekend we had JB, Amanda and our nephew Blain come visit Omaha, so we got to spend the whole weekend hanging out at Tony's moms house. It was a lot of fun and we got to see little Blain, who is now 3 1/2 months old and getting so much bigger. We probably won't see him again until Thanksgiving time maybe, so he will be lots bigger then and probably crawling and all sorts of new fun stuff. He's such a cutie.

The boys really enjoyed seeing Blain and taking their picture with him. We also got JB a birthday cake because his birthday is next weekend and he will be the ripe old age of 30! ;) I'm not teasing cause I will be there in a year and a half. :(

Everything is going well with the pregnancy and I am now just a couple days away of being 15 weeks. We will be scheduling our ultrasound for the last weekend in Aug. and will be able to find out what we are having. Tony, Owen, and Raymond all say girl. Hmmm... I still don't know what I think.

We are planning on rearranging our house come the first weekend in Sept. We have to get rid of the guest room in the basement and move my daycare room down there, then Tony and my room will be moved to the main floor bedroom where the daycare room has been and the baby will be in the upstairs bedroom across from the boys where Tony and I have been the last 5 years. It will be very different to be sleeping just around the corner of the kitchen and all of the main floor noises. It will take some getting used to for sure.

We will be heading to my mom and dads in MO for the weekend of Aug. 1 which will be nice since we haven't been there in almost two years. Then the from the 13th - the 16th, Tony will be flying to FL to visit his dad and younger brother, so that will be hard for me to be on my own with the boys and we'll miss Tony, but my mom might come up that weekend to keep me company and stay through Mon. the 17th to help watch daycare kids so Tony and I can both take Owen to his first day of Kindergarten. ***pause to wipe eyes*** Pregnant hormonal and oldest son starting Kindergarten and a mom who is already emotional when it comes to her kids is not a good recipe for no tears. Just warning the school and all other parents and Owen, whom I've already told I will probably cry but I don't want that to scare him, it just means that mommy is happy for him to start school and have so much fun.

So that's what's going on for the next month. Life stays busy as always. I am planning my daycare curriculum that will start Sept. 1, Owen starting school and having to load up all the kids every day, being pregnant, taking care of day to day life with my kids and home, finishing up my class that I am ready to be done with, and starting Raymond off in preschool right after labor day. So busy busy busy as always.

The pictures below are of the boys with Blain and our weekend. I hope you enjoy! Plus a few extras and a hilarious video of Raymond in the car playing his air guitar that lasted for more then 10 minutes with his eyes closed and I even think he started to fall asleep while he was doing it. Tony and I were cracking up. The video is not 10 minutes, don't worry. Well the video was still uploading after 6 hours of it sitting here, so I gave up. I'll try again another time! Gosh it's only 2 1/2 minutes, that makes me really upset.

Judd using my straightener...ha ha...it was unplugged.

Raymond with his fav. animal (daddy lion with hair)

Raymond with baby cousin Blain.

Owen with Blain.

JB blowing out his pretend candles. His pink cake was a joke and said 'JB you are OLD!'

Holly with all of her boys minus her youngest son Nate

Fun in the Sun...

I don't know why I titled this post that, because it has absolutely nothing to do with fun in the sun! :) Just getting bored with titles I guess.Raymond and Judd cuddling.

Life is crazy as always. I spend my weeks with all of the daycare kids and running around trying to keep up with homework and errands and the house, etc. I haven't really felt pregnant until this last Wednesday after my 2nd appointment and all of a sudden I can feel the baby growing. It must be having a growth spurt week. My stomach muscle is sore from seperation, my ligaments are pulling and I have the tightness in my abdomen that comes with pregnancy.

Early jump on literacy! Judd LOVES books and always "reads" them or brings them to me.

Wednesday I had to take the day off of work because I had my appt. and Judd and Owen's check-ups scheduled for that day but Tony goofed and scheduled himself to work, so I had no daycare backup. I instead decided to make that a fit everything into the day kind of day and took the day off of work. The boys and I loaded up and left the house at 8:30am to go to Owen's new school where he will be attending Kindergarten because we hadn't been inside yet. So the Assistant Principal gave us a tour and we found out his teacher is Mrs. Lynne.

Directly from there we headed over to my doctor appointment where we were supposed to listen to the heartbeat but she did a mini-ultrasound instead so the boys could see the baby. Still too early for gender... :( After my appt. I treated myself and the boys to lunch at Applebees, and we gorged ourselves.

Then it was off to Owen's Kindergarten physical and Judd's 16 month check-up. Talk about being exhausted. I now know how my mom felt when I would cry before getting a blood test or shot because I would be terrified. Owen cried through his whole appt. and preceding his appt. and had to be held down to get his 4 shots and his finger prick blood test. It was sad, but frustrating too. Judd didn't even cry when he got his 1 shot. Owen made Judd go first and when Judd didn't cry I tried to point that out to Owen but he was so preoccupied with himself getting shots next that he didn't notice. He was crying so hard that Judd got off the doctor bed and gave Owen a big hug. It was SOOOO cute. It was like Judd was saying, see I did it and it was ok. Owen also had to do a hearing test, which he passed, and a vision test which he passed. He had to write some letters, draw some shapes, draw some pictures and write his name in order to complete his exam. Judd playing in Owen's bicycle helmet. He put it on by himself and wore it all night!

After their appointment we went to get some ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery while we waited for their photography appointment. Finally I got their brother picture taken that I have put off since May when I usually get it done. It turned out cute. Then it was time for home to clean up for the next day of work, but I have to tell you, being pregnant and dragging 3 kids around from 8:30 am to 5:30pm was EXHAUSTING!

Then Friday was the last day for two of my kids that I have had since birth. Jared was one of my very first daycare kids and he started when he was 5 weeks old and is now 3 1/2 years. Then his little sister Malia was born in April '08 and started when she was 6 weeks old and is now 15 months old. So that was a little sad. Then I found out that one of my kids that I have had for over a year now and a friend of hers that just started last month might not be coming back as of this fall due to a change in their living situation, etc. So that is surprising news, but I understand. I just hope that I can fill the spot if they do decide to give me notice. Daycare is a gamble sometimes. I know that you can't expect kids to be in your care FOREVER because eventually they do grow up and go off to school, but at the same time it always comes as a shock when you get notice from long term families.

The boys with Jared, the daycare kid that left me.

Today was the boys' baseball game and then we went to a friend of ours' kids first birthday party. Finally we got home and I finished homework while Tony took the boys outside to play and start grilling some brats for dinner. Mmmm. So anways, that's pretty much what is new with us. Just trucking along. I am already almost 14 weeks pregnant which is CRAZY! Owen starts Kindergarten on Aug. 17, so only 5 or 6 weeks from now, so I'm starting to freak out and be excited about that all at the same time. I can't wait for my summer class to get over with, only 5 more weeks of that, and I'm now finally getting to take the time to think about the new baby and what it might be. I'll keep you all posted. I hope you enjoyed the pictures and a cute little video of Judd being silly below. Enjoy and have a great rest of the weekend. To all my pregnant friends out there, I hope you all are doing well!

A Mega Update! Forgiveness needed! :)

This last month I shared with you all our exciting news of the new baby we will add to our family mid January. I am now at the beginning of my 12th week and feeling great! Life is crazy as always. I have been taking my daycare on field trips every week to get out of the house and weekends we are occupied with the boys playing baseball, church, homework and cleaning. Needless to say once again I have fallen very behind on updating the blog! I have so much to share too! So forgive me for this long winded post but I promise you a bunch of pictures at the end! So bear with me! :)

First of all we got a new front door this spring and love it. Tony let me paint it a brick red color, which I have always wanted. So that is a quick bit of homeowners news. Then we celebrated Tony's 27th birthday. We didn't do too much. After we celebrated Tony's birthday we celebrated Owen's 5th birthday. He has been a little obsessed with Mario Bros. video games lately and wanted a Mario party. So we threw a Mario bash. We played games like Pin the moustache on Mario (drawing courtesy of Tony's mom Holly), a mushroom toss (with real mushrooms), bowling down pins with coins on them, and more. I made a toadstool cake and star shaped cupcakes. I have to say, that I am very impressed with how my cake turned out, I'm not trying to brag!:) Owen got a bunch of gifts which he loves, including two rats (one for him and one for Raymond). They are both girls, and very cute but being pregnant my midwife has advised me to err on the side of caution and avoid them during pregnancy just in case. Owen named his rat Lala and Raymond named his Toekey. I have NO IDEA where they came up with the names, but they had them decided before they even left the pet store. We thought 5 was a good age to have his own responsibility for a pet. He helps Tony feed them and play with them and clean their cage once a week.

Right after Owen's party we were bombarded with a super crazy week of me teaching Vacation Bible school at church, so that was a very busy and long week, but fun and ultimately worth it. I had never taught vbs before and had volunteered to teach the 5 and 6 year olds. But since the 3 and 4 year old class had only 7 kids and I had 25, we combined classes so the other teacher could help me out. It was fine, the activities were comparable for the ages.

After VBS, the boys started playing t-ball, which Tony is coaching this year. They play for the YMCA, so it is very laid back and introductory. Tony is doing a great job as the coach, and I think the parents are overall impressed with his ability. The boys started out timid, but have made noticeable progress in their ability as well. Raymond is obsessed with baseball and plays all day every day at home, and Owen just is there to have fun. They are the red team this year and they are called the Angels. Appropriate name for our new dedication to being more active in church and Tony getting confirmed, I thought! :) We play for an hour and a half every Sat. until Aug. 1. I don't help Tony with the team or the boys much, because I have to wrangle Judd during the game because all he wants to do is run out to the outfield and play with Owen, Raymond and Daddy, so I have to hold him down.

At the end of May my parents and sister Kelly came to visit for Tony's confirmation into the church and to celebrate both his and Owen's birthday. So I have some pictures of that too.

We have found out a couple of weeks ago that Tony was denied for his vacation that we were planning in July to go to Gillette for the high school reunion and hang out with old friends. I am super bummed about that, but I'm not going to attempt that trip without Tony and it just wouldn't be the same. It was supposed to be our family vacation for the summer. So now we are left with maybe one weekend in Aug. to visit my parents, hopefully. I haven't been to their house in Missouri in a year and a half!

Owen is now 5 and will be entering into Kindergarten in Aug. So that is his big update. Raymond will be 4 at the end of Sept. and he is as headstrong as always. He is mister independent and everything has to be a fight with him, but he's still super cute and cuddly and I love him. Judd is my little bug still. He is climbing EVERYTHING! He climbs up on step stools, on the couch, on the bed, stands in his high chair, and today I watched him climb up a big slide and when he got to the top he went down the ladder. (Raymond taught him that one). He climbs up the ladder and slides all by himself. He loves to play and even though he started out being scared at the sprinkler park, he is now the one at the swimming pool that will go under water!!!!! Owen and Raymond won't do that. He is very active and independent, but not in a fighting way like Raymond. He still doesn't talk too much, but says a few words. He babbles non-stop (he must get that from his mommy), but he does say Gabba Gabba, for his favorite t.v. show Yo Gabba Gabba. I have to admit, I used to HATE that show, but Judd is so dang cute when he watches it that I have to let him. He gets so excited and dances and sings and claps his hands. He loves it. He just started saying Choo Choo for train and Woof Woof for dog.

So I guess that is where I will close for now. I have babbled on and on. We are so busy that we are not preoccupied with the pregnancy which is different than the other three, but good too, so I don't dwell on how anxious I am to have the baby. Instead time is just flying by. We will be able to find out at the end of Aug. what we are having. So start placing your bets! :)

Happy 4th of July everyone, I'm sure I will have a post with pictures for that as well. Enjoy the multitude of pictures!

Stacey and Tony plus 4!

Okay, so not as impressive as Jon and Kate plus 8, but big news in the Coffey household...we will be expecting the arrival of a new little one around Jan. 15! I assure you, the last of our family, but we are very excited.
I am SOOOO behind on my blog right now. I have lots of posts to add with a million pictures, but I wanted to type a short little post to let everyone know our good news! We have been crazy busy lately. I have been working with my 10 daycare kids from 5:30am until 5:30pm when I've been loading up Owen and Raymond this week to teach 27 3-6 year olds at Vacation Bible School until 9pm. Needless to say I am exhausted!!! To top it all off, I started another online class this last Friday, so I had to get all my reading and homework done before midnight last night too!! So tonight is the last night of VBS, and even though it has been so busy around here, it has been a lot of fun. But, I am SOOOOOOOOOO excited to sleep in tomorrow, no matter how scurvy and disgusting my house is from lack of attention this week!
So, watch closely because I will be adding a ton of posts to update other things that have been going on, like the boys baseball, etc. I will also keep you updated on the upcoming baby! And yes, I will most definitley be finding out the gender of this one too. I do not have enough patience to wait until the end, and if it happens to be a girl, I am totally NOT prepared! :)
I hope everyone else is enjoying the beginning of their summer.

Here we go a visiting...

We finally took a trip to Dodge City, KS to visit JB, Amanda and little Blain. We left at 5pm on Friday after Tony got off of work and we drove 7 1/2 hours. It was 12:30am by the time we got there and needless to say we were VERY anxious to get out of the car, or I should say I was since the rest of my family was fast asleep and I was trying very hard to keep myself awake!

We ended up staying up until about 2:30am hanging out and talking until we all felt sick we were so tired! Off to bed.

Saturday we got up and ate breakfast and hung out all day. Tony, JB and the older two boys went to JB's school and ran errands and hung out, while Amanda, Blain, Judd and I milled around the house. I tried to persuade Amanda to let me watch Blain so she could take a nap or something because she had only ended up with about 2 1/2 hours sleep Friday night after Blain had many wakings, but she is very protective and watchful I think because of his first few weeks of life and illness, so she kept declining my offers. I felt bad for her because Blain ended up sleeping for about 6 hours straight, and she could have easily taken a 6 hour nap!

He is very cute and as of Friday weighed 8 lbs. 13 oz. He is definitely going through a growth spurt because he had just gained a lb. in one week and was still guzzling the milk more than usual they said.

The boys really liked him and Raymond said that he liked Blain's little head, while Owen liked his little feet. Owen tells me that Judd likes his little hands. It's unusual for me though that Blain has such a little head, because all three of my boys had bigger heads. He is definitely cute and cuddly. We got lots of good pictures, of which I will post for your viewing enjoyment. I have to say that in my opinion he is all Amanda. He definitely takes after more of her side at the moment. Whereas my boys are ALL Coffey, no me. :(

Amanda is very dedicated to pumping breast milk and feeding him from a bottle, which I have to tell you is very time consuming and takes a lot of effort, but she says she can't bring herself to just nurse him again after his turning blue that one time. So she does an awesome job at staying on top of it along with JB. Way more dedication than I could muster with the time it takes to do it all. I'm just glad she is committed to the breast milk cause. I am SO Pro-breast milk. I can't say that I blame her, but I am always one to opt for the more convenient route and would give in and try nursing again! :) I wish there was something I could do to help her not relive those images over and over and keep worrying that he will be sick with every little thing, but nothing I say will change her of that. That's being a mom I suppose. I would just like to make it easier for her.

Anyways...we left Sunday around 11am and got home at 6:30pm on the dot. The ride home was much easier and quicker, but still a very long drive!

So without further ado, I present my family and Blain, the newest addition!