December 5th, Jillianne will make an appearance!

We went to the doctor yesterday, and first thing my doctor said was "Remind me again of the sizes of your other children?" So I told her Tyler was 9lbs. 12oz at 40 1/2 weeks, and Kayla was 8 lbs. at 38 weeks. She said "ok, I think we want to talk about an induction date due to the size of your baby and long recovery times. " Yeah!! She took the words right out of my mouth. I had practiced what I wanted to say to her, and that was exactly it. It was so hard to get around after I had Tyler, I was miserable for a long time. With Kayla it was just a few days, so those few extra pounds made such a difference on my body. So it looks like I will go in to L&D on Thursday night to administer this stuff that makes my cervix soften to get ready for the pitocen on Friday morning. I'll sleep there Thursday night, and I guess around 6:00 Friday morning they'll start the pitocen. I"m so anxious and excited!! Just one week after Thanksgiving!!! Woo hoo!!!

Suprise, Suprise!!!!

So I got the biggest suprise of my LIFE on Friday night. My mom and step dad flew up here to Wisconsin to see me! For those of you that know me, you know what a shock that was! It all started around a week before they came. I was planning on going to my cousin Kati's baby shower in Zion on Saturday. My husband was trying to come up with all kinds of excuses for me not to go. First he said "you can't go, becuase we have to go get a christmas tree". :) A CHRISTMAS TREE?????? I was just thinking, "geeze, can't that wait just ONE day??" Then he made up this big story of a friend and his wife were coming over, and they were bringing chicken for lunch for us, so I had to be home for that. I knew something was fishy... Who brings over CHICKEN???

They were flying in on Friday night, so he said he was going out with some friends and he would be back around midnight. When he came in the door at around 11:30, I was suprised cause he was early. Then he said "hold on, I think I left the lights on in the car" and went back outside. About 5 seconds later I look up and my MOM is standing there!!!! I swear, I almost fainted. I thought I was dreaming. How crazy!!! My mom is terrified of flying and hasn't flewn in 25 years, and for the time I"ve been living here in Illinois/Wisconsin, she has never came here to see me. This is the first time. I"m so thankful she came and we got to spend a nice, wonderful weekend together. I love her so much! The kids really connected to her really well, and I think it was nice that they actually know, and remember her now. We didn't do much, cause it was so "cold" (according to my mom), but we did go out to Red Robin for dinner one night. Mile and Jon also made us all a very nice dinner on Saturday night. And leave it to my mom, she comes up here to my house and starts folding my clothes, and cleaning my house!! I love my mommy!!

Realize what you have when it's gone...

So my husband went on his annual camping trip with his friends from Green Bay this weekend. He left on Friday right after work and will be back Sunday night. I've been here at home all weekend (with no car, so that probably doesn't help). About 4 hours after he left, I really started to miss him! It was so hard to fall asleep without him next to me, and when I woke up, I was sad cause I remembered he was gone for the weekend. My dad came and stayed the night Friday night, so that was fun, but I really really miss my husband!

With life as usual, things get so routine that I forget how special he is to me. When he's gone, I see just how much he does for me, and how much I do like having him around. It makes me feel bad like I don't tell him or show him how much I appreciate him daily. With me being so pregnant and miserable lately, I've been getting very stressed out, and have been pretty hard to deal with, but he's been so good about the whole thing.

So Honey, if you read this sometime, just know that I love you and am sooo glad your my husband!! Thank you for putting up with my crabbyness, and complaining, when I really have no reason too! I love you!!

pumpkins

Today was sooo nice I didn't want to waste a beautiful fall day. Believe it or not, it was about 60-65 today! We went out and went to a pumpkin farm in Clinton, WI, about 15 min. from Janesville. I gotta say, the pumpkin farms they have out here are NOTHING compared to the ones in Kenosha and Racine. But it was nice, anyway. The kids each picked out a pumpkin, and they got to go through a maze, go on a tractor ride, pet some farm animals, and Jon and Michael went through the "haunted" barn. Tyler was a little to scared for that.

Here's the kids at the pumpkin farm:

Here's me (and Jillianne) and Jon:

After the pumpkin farm we went bowling and ate pizza there. We had a nice family fun day. I have a feeling we won't have to many more warm days up ahead. Almost time to get out our winter coats!

Busy days, sleepy nights

I know I haven't written in a while, so I thought I would play a little catch up. Nothing new here, except my busy fall schedule, and here I thought my life would get SIMPLER when the kids went back to school, boy, was I wrong! The boys have football every Saturday from 8:30 to 11:00 in Stoughton, which is about 20 min. from Janesville. We decided to put them in the Stoughton program instead of the Janesville program, one, because it was 1/2 the cost, and two, because it was flag football instead of tackle football. For this being their first sport, I wanted something a little more gentle. They are doing their best and having fun at it, which is all that matters, but they both seem to just kinda follow the crowd when they are out there playing on the field. Tyler got the ball last Saturday, and ran the other way towards the other teams end zone!!! It was very funny, and his response was "I didn't know which way to run, I just knew I had to run!"

Makayla has been in dance for about a month now, and she loves it. We (the parents) aren't allowed to watch, only 4 times during the season, but she comes home and shows me all the "moves" she learns that day. She loves it!

Tyler brings home spelling homework every day, and math homework every Tuesday and Thursday. Their are two spelling lists, A and B. List A is the "easier" words, and list B has harder words. Since the beginning of the year, Tyler has been on list "B". I'm so proud of him! Michael is a big, responsible 3rd grader now, with different kinds of work to do. He has the usual math and spelling, but also will be studing social studies, and science stuff now. Even politics!!! I'm excited to hear about all the "grown up " stuff he'll be learning about this year.

Speaking of politics, I think this election will be such a turning point for our country, either way. I absolutely LOVE Sarah Palin and John Mccain, and hope and pray, for the sake of America that Mccain and Palin win the election. I don't even want to think of what's in store for our country of Obama becomes president, but I can almost guarantee there will be another terrorist attack on America if he wins. I pray for Americans to use good judgement, and vote smart.

I am 29 weeks, about 10 weeks to go!!! We all went and toured the birthing suites at Mercy Hospital where I will be delivering. They are very nice, and were just remodeled within the last two years. The labor and delivery rooms have bath tubs in them, but I think I will be soaking in my bath tub at home, since it has whirlpool jets, and the hospital tubs do not. My very best friend Kim will be watching the kids for me while I'm in the hospital, so at least I have that out of the way. It's hard to imagine adding another child to our family, but I really can't wait! I think the kids will be a great help, they are all so excited. Makayla talks to my belly, and kisses it. She covers my belly, saying that Jillianne is cold, and wants to go to sleep. What a sweetie!!

One of the worst days of my LIFE!

On Tuesday morning I woke up like any normal day, except I woke up at 4:00, and couldn't go back to bed. So I was starting the day off pretty tired. So I did my routine during the day, dropped the kids off, went to training, and then came home and picked up Jon. We had picked out a new washer and dryer the day before, so I was SOOO excited to bring them home on Tuesday. We went to the store and went to pick them up. Nothing was ready, so we ended up waiting around for about a 1/2 hour, which wasn't that big of a deal, but we also had to go to the bank and I had to go to the college for some things.

So I barely made it to the bank in time, and then went off to the college. The dept. I needed closed at 5:00, and I made it there at 5:15. AUGH!! So I figured I'd just register for some classes. Yeah, the lady behind the counter was sooo slow, and was just messing around and joking with the other people. So something taht should have taken 5-10 min., ended up taking about 45 min.! So while I was in there, Jon was in the van with all three kids, trying to keep them entertained.

So we finally got the washer and dryer home, got the old ones out in the garage, and I started hooking up the new ones while Jon was trying to get the momma mouse and her babies out of our grill!!!! (yeah, another nuciance!) I was so excited to try them, but I had to go to walmart to get some HE detergent. While I was just pulling into the parking lot, I get a phone call from Jon saying that ALL the water that was IN the washer, was now on our floor!!! We had standing water in the laundry room, bathroom, hallway, and part of the boys room. We were both really mad thinking it was broke. So Jon sends me to Home Depot to pick up a wet vac. As soon as I got the wet vac in the car and I'm on the way home I get another call from Jon saying SOMEONE (umm... me...) forgot to put the drainage hose in the drainage hole for the hose... So yeah.. the whole water mess was MY fault, cause I was a do-do and didn't hook up the hose right!!

So.. I get home, and Jon starts sucking up the water, but I wanted to do it (to make sure it was done right :) ) So I ended up almost going into labor because I was so persistant on doing it myself!! (not really going into labor, but it sure felt like it!) So I finally get it most of the way dry, get to bed, and the next moring my alarm didn't go off, so I didn't get up till 7:45! Then I found out a little boy that we'd been praying for really hard died the night before.

This was, seriously, one of the worst days of my life.

Makayla is a ballarina!

Here are some pics of Kayla in her ballet uniform. She really won't take it off!!

lovin' it

I'm now ending my second week of training at my new job. I'm doing very well, and am one of the top keyers in my training group. I'm catching on quickly to all the rules and regs on what to look for and things like that. I can't wait to start working from home instead of working 6 hours at the office every day!

My schedule is going to be soo busy this fall, I don't even know how I'm gonna have time to sleep! The boys will be in football from Sept-Oct, every Saturday from 8:30-12:00. Kayla will be in ballet on mondays from 5-5:30. We all have church on wednesday nights from 6:30-8:00, and then add on there 5 hours of work every day for me, plus house cleaning and dropping off the boys at 8 and picking them up at 3 for school!! Sometimes I want to keep Jillianne in her incubator until next summer when things calm down again! But I really can't wait to meet her. I know Kayla will be a big help when she's born.

I'm about 23 1/2 weeks now, and I can really feel her move a lot. I can even see her jumpin in there! I'm to the point now where I can't bend over, my belly's in the way! And to think that it's only gonna get bigger... much... much.. bigger!! But I guess I need to enjoy it. It'll fly by and before you know it she'll be here. this is definately our last one, so I am trying to cherish everything about this pregnancy.

Can't sleep!

I start training for my new job tomorrow and I can't sleep! I was supposed to be in bed by 9:00, and it's 10:22 and I can't sleep! I'm just too excited for tomorrow. Excited and nervous. Maybe I need to quit with the coffee and soda??? :)

School, work, and sports

I took my compass test yesterday at Blackhawk Tech in Janesville, and I passed all the requirements to petition for a spot in the nursing program. I am just so excited that finally after all my hard work, I can start the process of getting into the program! I"m praying that I'll be able to get into the next spot.

I am starting my training for my new job on Monday. My days of being a stay at home mom are over, at least for the next three weeks until I"m on my own typing at home. I'll be training Mon-Fri, 8:30-2:30. Luckily I have a friend that has offered to watch the kids for me, so that's one less worry.

The boys will be starting flag football at the end of August. This will be Tyler's first sport "league" he's ever been in. I'm excited for him! He's so good at everything he trys, so i know he'll be great!

Major Updates

My plan was origionally to keep up with this blog at the start of 2008. I obviously didn't do a very good job! But I'm determined to stay current with it this time. I think this is a really good way to keep track of what's going on with our lives, especially tracking my pregnancy.

So... We moved to Janesville, WI in April, and I love it here. We found a great church, New Life Assembly of God, and I am meeting some really good friends. The kids are enjoying their summer break, although I can't WAIT until they go back to school! Tyler will be in 1st grade and Michael will be in 3rd grade. Big boys!!

I am currently 21 weeks pregnant. Our baby girl (who will be named Jillianne) is quite an active little thing! I've had 3 ultrasounds and every one of the techs commented on how active she is, not to mention I can feel her too! Jon's excited about that, and thinks that she's active because she wants to come out ready to catch a football or hit a baseball!! Kayla is very excited to have a little sister, and the boys are excited and ready to help mommy.

I will be starting an at-home data entry job next week, and I am VERY excited for that! I have three weeks of training, and then I'm on my own, working 4 hours a day from my home computer. God has really blessed us with every possible thing we could need. We have a great place to live in an awesome community, We found a wonderful church the first week we moved here, Jon has a wonderful job that is only 2 miles away from our house, our kids go to one of the best schools in Janesville, and I will begin contributing money to the household by working at HOME!

Decisions, decisions...

Written: January 4, 2008

So we finally picked a permenant date for our wedding. January 26. I'm so excited!!! The year ahead is going to be very eventful with all the new things happening in our lives. We will be getting married, going to Florida, moving SOMEWHERE, and we don't know where, the kids going to a new school, meeting new friends, a new church.... But this time whereever we move to we will STAY there!! I can't wait to just settle down and start my life with my family. As for the wedding, we are planing on having it at a place called spring house inn, in Chesterton Indiana. It's a very cute little country place, with great views if all the leaves were still on the trees! All I can do now is pray for snow, which any other day I would hate, but if I can't see green, I'd like to see white!!! Then we will be going out to dinner at a place called Portobelos, or something like that. Jon and I ate there a couple days a go to try it out and the food was Excellent!! Were thinking there will be about 12 people there, perfect! Now I just have to find a dress, not too fancy, not to plain.... We are going to send out invitations tomorrow. I love this!! Today Jon said to me "In 22 more days you won't be Judy Munding anymore you'll be Judy Van Laanen, JVL"!! That made me get that excited, jumpy feeling inside, and I just can't wait!!!!!! Another cool thing is that everyone in Jon's family (his brothers and sister) all have J names.Jeff, Jody, Jay, Jim, Jerry, Jill and Jon. So they all have the initials JVL, and so will I! So if we ever do have a child together, you can bet their name will start with a J!!

First Blog of the new year

Written: January 1, 2008

Hello! So I am starting this blog to mark the start of a new year, and a new life. I have been thinking about keeping a blog for a while, and I figured what better time than January 1, 2008! Even though there is still about 1 1/2 hours left until 2008, it still counts! 2007 wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be considering how horrible 2006 was. 2007 was actually much better than I could have ever dreamed! Let's see, I moved out on my own (well, with Jon), I was able to become a stay at home mom in March, we moved to Portage, IN in April, and I got engaged in October. Things seem to be looking bright for 2008. I will get married, and we will move, once again, to a permenate location and get to start our lives together, how exciting!!! All my children are healthy, well behaved kids which I am so thankful for. I will list my new years resolutions here so I don't forget about them-in order of importance:1. Get a better, closer relationship with God.2. Be a better mother and (soon-to-be) wife by watching my tongue and not blowing up right away, and by being more patient.3. Lead a healthy life for me and my family, which will lead to losing weight! :)4. Start a savings account, and KEEP MONEY IN IT!5. Continue keeping up with this blog. It will be nice to look back on NEXT year and see how my life has gone. I truely feel blessed to have such a wonderful life, and I KNOW God has great things planned for me and my family. HAPPY NEW YEAR AMERICA!!!!