eric and dave's birthday dance bash

ever since dave turned 30 we have planned a buddy's pizza/laser tag birthday event. we know a TON of people with birthday's in early december so we try to make it a big combined b-day party for everyone to come and have fun. last year, our friend eric said that we should plan a big dance party for next year since he would be turning 40 and dave would be turning 35.
we met eric back in about 1999 when we started attending the bridge church where he was the pastor. we met a ton of terrific people there and when the bridge shut down, it took us until just about a year ago to finally find a church that we loved. we still really miss the bridge and the people that made it up. we do still see some people at least once a year, but many others we have only recently reconnected through facebook.
so a few months ago, eric, jennie, dave and myself got together and started talking about really making this dance party happen.
eric called the owner of the building in pontiac where the bridge met. the owner was kind enough to offer us the room for free if we had a cash bar and appetizers. so we spread the word that our party would be taking place on friday, december 4th and started working on details.
with the help of facebook, we found a friend that had a button maker so we made the most ridiculous looking buttons of dave and eric to give out to everyone that came. eric also had 2 mugs made up, 1 with one of the ridiculous pictures of him and one of dave, that we gave away as door prizes.
we originally were just going to have hayden and talan come for a little bit so they could get their dance on, and then we realized they would be more than happy to stay for the whole thing (especially talan). we opened it up to other kids as well in case people couldn't find a babysitter, and it worked out perfectly, at least for the boys (and us!), as they had several other kids to play with most of the nite.
we had probably a little over 60 people come and everyone seemed to have a pretty good time. it was so nice to see so many people from the bridge, especially since we were in the building that we had all met in.
dave is already talking about trying to put together a half birthday party next year for all of those people that get hosed having birthdays in the winter.
happy birthday, dave and eric!!!

setting up the room:




the door prize mugs:
eric and dj quarterhawk:




it took the adults awhile to get out on the dance floor, but the kids loved it!:

hayden and estella:
matt, niki, joseph, daren, jen and michelle:
former bridge peeps. jennie shanburn, matt and niki nichols, joseph, scott and samuel loudon, daren and jen bossenberger, michelle azema:

jason and sarah and jennie:
niki and sarah:
the loudon family. joseph, susie, scott, samuel and estella:
nic was a HUGE source of entertainment for the boys. here, hayden was terrified:
the party throwers:
jen and daren bossenberger:
matt and niki nichols and andy brockman:
the birthday boys:

talan was singing along to "so what" by pink. he loves that song:
hayden insisted on having his picture taken with a lion. and when hayden wants his picture taken, you jump at that opportunity:

happy thanksgiving, turkey!

jessica and justin were actually in town this year for thanksgiving, so the whole family headed over to mom and dad's to celebrate together.
the kids had a fun time playing together while the adults (minus mom and dad...they would NEVER go out on black friday!) went through all of the black friday ads to make a plan for the next day.
we all ate a delicious late lunch/early dinner and then hung out for a bit.
justin had graciously said he would try to take some photos of the boys for our christmas card, so we dressed the boys in coordinating outfits and brought them outside for a photo shoot. it actually went fairly well and we got some really cute photos.
a bit later, dave, myself, jessica and justin all headed out to see a movie and then headed back to mom and dads' for some dessert.
it was a great thanksgiving and we were so happy that everyone was there this year!
thanks for all of the work, mom and dad!

the ina garten cheesecake that i made for dessert:

talan and justin. they like each other:
the thanksgiving table:
rainah and talan playing on the computer (hayden was playing on the computer upstairs):

justin and dave met up with some friends at the movie:

the fetus at 25 weeks

i went to the dr. today for my 25 week check up. the last time i was in the office they mentioned the h1n1 shot and stated that they wanted me to get it, however they didn't have it in their office.
i usually just go along with whatever the dr. says and don't really research stuff like that. but because the dr. didn't have it available and because i am far to lazy to try to figure out where i could actually get it, i actually started talking to people about it.
in the end, i decided i didn't want to get it. what with it only being out for about 6 months and all, i figure in the near future they'll be saying "oops, sorry, we never should have had you get that." people filled me in on the research they have done and i happily took it and made my decision.
so this time around the dr. did have it in their office so i had to break the news that i wouldn't be getting it. they didn't really say anything other than "no? really?" and then the dr. said "let's not get the swine flu. i know we've talked about this and beat this dead horse enough!" so i signed my waiver and that was that.
talan has been crying the past 2 visits every time dr. hakim has me lay down so he can listen to the baby's heartbeat. we had a nice long talk about it this morning and he did great. no crying or trying to get out of his stroller. ahhh, progress!
the heart rate was at 147 which he said was perfect (much better than hayden's high 190's and even 200's!).
he also filled me in on the fact that i had gained 5 pounds since the last visit 4 weeks ago. he then told me he's not worried about it at all since from the beginning of my pregnancy i have only gained 9 pound total, but the five pound weight gain was something worth mentioning and keeping an eye on. yeah, with thanksgiving in just 3 days!
we have certainly noticed the weight gain as it seems like i went from not really showing to really showing in just a couple of weeks. i guess we'll see if i keep growing like this and if i end up having the extra fluid issue again or not.
i have been feeling the baby move like crazy for some time now, and at about 23 weeks dave was finally able to see it and feel it as well. the baby is usually a jerk when it comes to trying to feel or watch the movements, though. every time i (or anybody else) tries to see it, it suddenly stops moving. like it knows we are staring at it. it refuses to perform on command. nothing new in this house.
the boys came over one nite to try to see some movement and then started messing with my belly. talan sticking his finger in my belly button...you know, that kind of thing. i believe that hayden did see the baby move at least once, but i highly doubt talan noticed anything. they did both sit and watch for quite awhile though which i was surprised about.
i go in for my next appointment in just 3 weeks, on december 14th. this visit will also include my 1 hour long sugar test so i'll be leaving talan with grandma that day!
so far everything is going well. i can't believe how quickly its all going!!!










i think he was trying to look at it in my belly button:

christmas decoratin' time

i think for the past few years i have been putting the christmas tree up the week before thanksgiving...or at least a few days before thanksgiving. it just seems to be easier and less chaotic at that time, so i just do it. i know, i'm my mother's child.
this year i took out all of my christmas dishes on the thursday before thanksgiving and then the next day i worked on bringing in all of the tubs filled with christmas decorations as well as the tree from the garage on friday. (mom, it probably would be best if you didn't read that part...or at least just imagine the tubs were all filled with light weight garland!)
jessica was in town and had offered to come and help me, so she came right about the time i was putting up the ornaments. earlier in the morning i started to dread putting the tree up...mostly thinking about the lights. and then i realized that this would be my second year with a PRE-LIT tree!!!! and that changed my whole morning. i'll tell ya, if you don't have a pre-lit tree you need to get one!
the boys and jessica (well, mostly talan and jessica as hayden was busy playing games on jessica's cell phone) all helped out by putting the ornaments on the tree and we were done and out running to a few stores before 2pm! when we got home i finished decorating the rest of the house and it was pretty much all done by the time dave got home. it felt so good to just have it done and to be able to enjoy it and work on other things.
talan calls all christmas decorations "christmas." so anything new and christmasy that went up, talan would point and say "christmas!" "more, christmas!" "don't touch christmas!"
ahhh, the christmas season has officially begun!

hayden found the body bag:

here are some more pictures i took with the christmas card in the back of my mind:







talan loved helping me put the ornaments on the tree:




this is about all the help i got from hayden:

apparently i didn't take a picture of the tree when it was all finished. i'll get right on that....