Happy Halloween!

We had a very nice and successful Halloween. Our Halloween festivities started on Thursday. We had a playdate Halloween Party and on Friday we went to a Halloween Hop! Here are pictures of those;

Trying to get a picture of a few of the kids!Gavin & Caleb!Trex & Pace! Two super cute owls!Pin the mouth of the pumpkin!Halloween HopNolan, Gavin & Lily!

Today Mom & Dad VV came over and hung out for a little bit, we had a bonfire, ate Taco Soup and relaxed with friends & family! Gavin got lots and lots of candy & really enjoyed handing the candy out to all of the trick-or-treaters. Here are pictures of our Halloween;

Gavin's Halloween treats from Grammy & Papa!

Coen & Gavin ready to go trick-or-treating!All done!

17 Weeks

How Far Along: 17 weeks!

Size of baby: Baby Vander Velde is the size of an Onion & is 6 inches long from crown to rump! Weighing in at 7 ounces!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 5 (or so) lbs. We honestly do not own a scale so I am just sticking with 5 lbs (I'm sure it's way over 5lbs)! I go to the doctor on November 1st and we will find out then just how much I have gained since the last appointment!

Maternity Clothes: Belly Bands, Tunics, oversized cardigans, comfy clothes!!!

Gender: We can’t wait to find out! 3 weeks.

Movement: Yes! We definitely felt movement this past week. It wasn’t any ‘huge’ kicks or anything but Baby V was rolling around, moving & bumping in to things :)

Sleep: I am having a lot of dreams lately that have been keeping me up, but other than that I have been sleeping a little better!
What I miss: Lying on my stomach at night!

Cravings: Neenah’s DQ Popcorn! My parents brought us some this past weekend and I can’t seem to get enough of it!

Symptoms: Nesting! I really have wanted to get the unpainted rooms in our house painted before we start on the Baby room. I know in three weeks when we find out the sex I am going to go insane and start planning and I really want to give the rest of our house the attention we have been lacking since we’ve moved in May 2009! Gavin’s room is still not painted and we have 3 Bathrooms that need to get painted too! I hope to get it done before we find out the sex!

Best Moment of the Week: Feeling some definite movement!

Nana & Grandpa come to visit!

We had another great weekend!

Friday night Gavin had a sleepover with his cousin, Nolan! They ate, played, decorated cupcakes, watched a movie and off to bed they were! We even put them to bed a little earlier because we figured they would talk & talk & talk, but NO! I didn't hear one peep out of them! Here are a few pictures of the night;

My mom and dad came to visit us this weekend! It was a nice change for them to come here rather than us always going there to see them! They got here Saturday early afternoon! They brought with them Gavin's Halloween 'treats'! My mom always seems to think that she has to go overboard on everything. He would have been perfectly okay with a candy bar!

We watched the Badger Game, relaxed, and made dinner together! Sunday morning we went out to breakfast to Cracker Barrel & then headed to the zoo to go trick or treating! It was a nice and relaxing weekend & I'm glad my mom and dad were able to come visit! Here are pictures of the weekend;

Gavin opening up all his Halloween treats from Nana & Grandpa!Gavin is Donald Driver for Halloween! He was either going to be a Packer player or a Badger player and he picked Packer! He is all ready to go trick or treating at the zoo!He insisted on wearing his entire costume to breakfast.Grandpa, Gavin & Nana!Mom & Dad VV met us at the zoo to go trick or treating too! This is what all 7 of us looked like when we arrived at the zoo. It was raining, but the rain stopped and it got very nice out! Even Bucky Badger was at the zoo!

Our Busy Wednesday!

Yesterday we had an eventful Wednesday! We went to the MacKenzie Environmental Education Center in Poynette, WI. I never even knew this place existed. It was wonderful, so beautiful and we will be going back on a regular basis! If you live in the Madison Area, GO! There is a wildlife wxhibit that the kids, and adults, loved! Along with hiking trials & picnic areas!Here are few pictures of that;

After that we met Dave and headed to the hospital. Remember me saying our friends had a baby on the 19th?! They had baby GIRL!! Her name is Sloane and she melts my heart. She is beautiful in every way. I LOVE BABIES & can't wait until our little one arrives! Gavin wasn't to sure about her, he didn't want to hold her, which I didn't think he would, but he did keep looking and staring at her! He has been asking all day if he can go and see Baby Sloane! Cute. AND...last night for dinner I had a California Roll, finally!!

16 weeks

Update;
How Far Along: 16 weeks!
Size of baby: Baby Vander Velde is the size of an Avocado & is 4 1/2 inches long from crown to rump! Weighing in at 3 1/2 ounces!
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 5 lbs. We honestly do not own a scale so I am just sticking with 5 lbs (I'm sure it's way over 5lbs)! I go to the doctor on November 1st for a 17 week appointment and we will find out then just how much I have gained since the last appointment!
Maternity Clothes: Two words = Belly Band
Gender: We can’t wait to find out! 4 weeks.
Movement: No real active or major movement yet!
Sleep: I’ve been taking naps with Gavin during the day which helps a ton because I have been sleeping awful at night these past few days. Hoping it changes soon!
What I miss: To be honest – while my sister and I were out to lunch this past weekend I wanted so bad to order a Bloody Mary! So, what do I miss - a drink.
Cravings: The cravings have seemed to subside a little bit! I still have not had a California Roll Sushi yet & that still sounds good. other than that it’s pretty normal.
Symptoms: Tired.
Best Moment of the Week: A couple in our Growth Group is having their baby TODAY!! Can't wait to find out if it's a boy or girl!

Our Busy Weekend

This weekend was great! We were very busy, but it was a lot of fun!

Friday afternoon Gavin & I went to the new Madison Children's Museum for the first time with our play group! It was so neat & there is so much to do and see there. Gavin did not want to leave. Here are pictures of that;

Friday evening my sister came! And she came with a Halloween gift bag for Gavin!! He loved loved loved it!

Saturday morning we got up early and went to Toyland. I got a GREAT start to my Christmas shopping! After Toyland we went out to breakfast, then did more shopping, then went out to lunch, and then did more shopping and then home! Saturday evening the Badgers played so we made appetizers for dinner, yum, and watched the game!!

Sunday was a very busy day for us; After church we came home & said goodbye to my sister. We then headed to the Mid-Continent Railway Museum for their Autum Color Weekend train ride! We went with a few of our neighbors. It was really neat to do & Gavin loved it! After that we went to lunch and then headed to Merrimac to take the Merrimac Ferry home! It was a great afternoon. When we got home we had Jessie & Eric over for dinner. Jessie was home for the weekend from Austin, TX and we couldn't let her leave without seeing her! It was so nice to catch up, we've missed her & can't wait to see her over Christmas!