The Life of the Marty Party

Missing Mikey

2012-01-02T13:54:00.000-06:00

I'm writing this post through tears. We lost our dear Mikey unexpectedly this Christmas. He's Quenton's younger brother. Words cannot describe our grief. To lose somone so close...a sibling, and so young...he would've been 35 this month. This picture was taken 2 years ago today. We've only seen him once since then, but somehow the fact that visits were rare (he's lived in California for the past 8 years) doesn't diminish the grief or great loss we feel. It's been difficult to accept the fact that he is gone from this earth and we will never see him again here, we will never hear his laugh or share an inside joke...it's just too painful to comprehend. But Praise be to God that he knew Jesus and his faith was in Him. Our hope now is in knowing that he is with his Lord happy and peaceful until we meet again.
I've posted my ABBA playlist in loving memory of all the times we sat and listened to and sang along to all our favorites. I can't listen to ABBA and not think about Mikey. Thanks for the memories, Mikey. We all miss you terribly.

2nd Annual Mother-Daughter Cookie Shenanigans

2011-12-22T21:12:00.000-06:00

...or should I say 'Brookie' shenanigans?

My mother does not appreciate anyone taking her picture. So we have lots of pictures of ...well, in this case, butter wrappers? So we take what we can get!

I'm so grateful to live close enough to do this kinda stuff! I love my mom and my sisters and we always have such a great time together and a lot of laughs. I'm not even sure if it's really about the cookies!

Raspberries

2011-12-09T01:05:00.000-06:00

Jude blowing raspberries 5 1/2 months

I can't decide what's cuter...Jude blowing raspberries or Briar's voice in the background?

Bouncy Baby Boy

2011-12-08T17:48:00.000-06:00

Jude (5 months) in his bouncy seat

Tru is Ten

2011-12-07T23:46:00.000-06:00

On November 2nd, 2011 our Truey turned 10!

We had a big family birthday party for him at our house...

Truman's favorite is always chocolate but another sweet close to his heart is coconut. His favorite candybar is Almond Joy. So, this year I made a 4-layer chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and this amazing coconut filling that I found a recipe for online.

...and the next day he had a Birthday Party at Mall of America with his friends!

The Ropes Course...

...at the indoor amusement park!

sweet baby brother was there too

we went upstairs to the food court for pizza...

...and presents...

...and cupcakes

boys will be boys???

Happy Birthday, dear Truman. We love you so much and we are so blessed to have you for a son. We are very proud of you and the young man that you are growing up to be.
Love,
Mom and Dad

High Chair

2011-12-02T23:43:00.000-06:00

Today was Jude's first time in the high chair! ...good thing we kept it all these years. [looks like it's seen better days]

A New Little Hobby

2011-11-30T10:36:00.000-06:00

So, I started a recipe blog "Bakin' Cookin' Makin' Love in the Kitchen" as a convenient place to keep all my recipes that are on my computer and to make it easier to share them with my friends and family and now it's somewhat unexpectedly become a little hobby for me. Right now, I can barely keep up with all the laundry, dishes, house cleaning and homework and then there's the nursing and diapering and bathing my sweet baby and trying to figure out how to handle a family of 6...and yet I've managed to start a new hobby...go figure. I'm left to wonder is it a hobby? or an escape? I suppose those two are often synonomous anyways. Nonetheless, I'm enjoying it! Check it out if you're interested!
the link is always at the top right sidebar of this page so you can just click on it anytime. Or, for now just click here.

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-28T20:59:00.001-06:00

Giving thanks and praising God for a blessed year. We traveled to Wisconsin to celebrate this Thanksgiving with my side of the family.

Truman (10) Jude (6 months) Briar (5 1/2) Eden (12)

big boy drinkin' from Daddy's cup

This is Jude and Bryson. Baby buddies born 1 day apart. [Bryson is older] My first cousin is his grandpa. In other words, he's my cousin's daughter's son. In other words, I am OLD and Bryson's mom is YOUNG. They are already so cute together...can't wait to watch them as they grow and play together at the family gatherings.

The Cheesehead is the one TAKING THE PICTURE

2011-11-15T23:00:00.000-06:00

and the moral of the story is...

Vikings fans have stronger genes than Packers fans.

Grandma Besson's 80th Birthday

2011-11-02T10:22:00.000-05:00

Quenton's grandma turned 80. We had a birthday party for her at Porter Creek restaurant with Q's dad, cousins, aunts and uncles. We don't see them very often, but it's always fun when we do, and fun for the kids to see their cousins too.

Grandma with the little ones

Jude meets Great Grandma for the first time

All of us

Happy Birthday Grandma!!!

Baby's First Halloween

2011-10-31T23:24:00.000-05:00

baby lion

Q and I went to Briar's school for the costume parade. It was so cute when she went through Truman's classroom.

Smurfette, the Grinch, and a blue man

Grandma came over with Rose and James so Briar could trick-or-treat with her cousins

Eden and her haul

Jude er...Mommy got some halloween peeps

1 in Football, 2 in Soccer and 1 in... Diapers

2011-10-25T14:44:00.000-05:00

Everybody loves Coach Q. He truly is inspiring to watch. Anyone who knows my husband wouldn't be the least bit surprised that he is so good with the kids and so composed even in the most frustrating of situations...these are 4th grade boys!

I love to watch Tru play football

had to get a picture of the two of them together...

...and then the girls wanted one too

me and my favorite QB ...or whatever position he happens to be playing...he's just plain ol' my favorite

Q was assistant coach for Eden's team

I'm so proud of her for getting in the game and being aggressive

Eden's soccer team won the championship. It was so exciting to watch...actually, I got so into it I felt like I was going to barf. They beat the only undeafeated team in their league.

Eden and her friend Rebecca thought it would be fun to take some far off pictures of them on this hill.

It was so much fun sitting at the games with Jude. Fortunately, the weather this fall has been beautiful.

Morning Conversations with Daddy

2011-10-24T23:21:00.000-05:00

Jude loves to talk to Daddy in the mornings and we love to hear what he has to say! he started doing this around 3 months. It is the cutest thing ever. Here's a video that Eden took the other day.

Knee Surgery

2011-10-22T23:40:00.000-05:00

Q had a tear in his meniscus...
He had the pain for awhile but this is a guy who literally NEVER goes to the doctor. In fact he's been to the doctor exactly ZERO times since we got married...until now. The pain was bad enough that he knew he had to do something about it.

so he had arthroscopic surgery on his knee on Tuesday, October 18th

Jude kept an eye on him and kept him company

and Briar made him a get well card...

The kids had off school on Thursday and Friday of that week so we all got to take care of Daddy!

and that is more than we wanted to see

He had a very speedy recovery. He was only on crutches for about a day and a half, but he wasn't allowed to leave the house for a few days. I must say it was nice to baby him for a change. He's always taken such good care of me after my surgeries [4 C-sections]. I'm glad I got to return the favor. We had his favorite, Chinese take-out and watched episodes of Parenthood on Netflix. It was really kinda special.

Apple Orchard

2011-10-14T00:13:00.000-05:00

Briar's first field trip was to the apple orchard and I got to go as a chaperone.

Briar's class

On the hayride

They each got a bag to put their apples in. I love how Briar writes her name.

learning about the apples

How to make apple cider

taste test...fresh apple cider

on the bus

Rice Cereal

2011-10-05T14:33:00.000-05:00

Jude 4 1/2 months

Jude's first feeding!We were so excited to have him try cereal but we wanted everyone to be there...so finally all of our crazy schedules came together at 9 pm on Wednesday night, October 5th and the baby got to eat from a spoon. He loved it and he did a great job!

all ready to go...but first he ate his hand

the kids couldn't wait to try feeding him too.

Dawn Was Here

2011-09-27T23:44:00.000-05:00

She came for a long weekend to meet Jude

We've been bff's since Jr. High. It was so great to see her!

She got to go to one of Truman's football games on Saturday when she was here...

Brizee loved spending time with Dawnie this visit. She really got attached to her. On Sunday, she went along when I dropped Dawn off at the airport. Briar cried...so did I

they have a special bond because Dawn is her middle name

playin' princess dominoes

We were able to spend some time just the two of us. We did some shopping on Grand Ave. in St. Paul and then had some dinner on the patio at Salut and dessert at Cafe Latte. I'm so grateful to have such a special lifelong friend. I love ya, Dawnie.
Love,
B

First Day of School 2011

2011-09-19T23:58:00.000-05:00

she's in middle school!!! How can it be?

excited to ride the bus with her bestie neighbor, Rebecca

4th Grade

FIRST TIME EVER!!!

I can't believe she's in Kindergarten!?

Yep, new backpack "packpack"

I LOVE her sweet smile

What a big girl!

makin' friends already

practicing riding the bus

Her teacher, Mrs. G

after school kisses and hugs

I met Eden off the bus and ran to her and hugged her and cried...mmhmm I'm THAT pathetic.

strollin' to the bus stop to meet Truman

hugs from Daddy

Eden with her after school snack

strollin' to the after-first-day-of-school-annual-neighborhood-party

neighbor Mary's tradition...school bus cake

You say it's your birthday...It's my birthday too

2011-08-18T23:45:00.000-05:00

We were in Wisconsin for the weekend [August 12th - 14th] so we decided to reserve a big room at Uno Chicago Grill in Madison and celebrate all of the August birthdays!

I KNOW! I can't believe it either...she's 12

Preston (11)

Vinson (6)

My dad (67)

Metamorphosis

2011-07-29T20:48:00.000-05:00

A little summer project: Monarch caterpillars to butterflies

step one: eat. poop. grow.

step two: attach to the top of the cage and form a "j"

step three: shed skin one last time and form chrysalis

...they stay in the chrysalis for 9-14 days

just before emerging you can see the butterfly through the chrysalis

step four: emerge and hang to dry

step five: release

What a miracle!

The Smothered Brother

2011-07-17T15:42:00.000-05:00

Jude 8 weeks

awwwww...this picture makes me feel bad for him...I guess there is such a thing as too much love!

Baby's First Road Trip!

2011-07-10T14:03:00.000-05:00

Jude's first road trip was to Wisconsin when he was 7 weeks old. Daddy was on a guys' fishing trip up in the Boundary Waters so I decided to head the other way with the kids for the weekend so I could be at my cousin's bridal shower and also so baby Jude could meet my side of the family...they were pretty eager to meet him too. It was a super fun, long weekend. We went down Thursday afternoon and stayed until Monday. I was keeping my expectations REALLY LOW for traveling with a newborn...still nursing every three hours mind you. So I figured if we plan things right, we might only have to stop once in our 4 hour trip. Well, things turned out BETTER THAN I EXPECTED! Jude slept the whole way there I didn't set foot outside the car even one time the entire trip. That's the good news. The bad news is that on Monday, I had my expectations WAY TOO HIGH. I thought "hey, we just did this on Thursday...piece. of. cake." I couldn't have been more wrong! for the trip back home I lost count how many stops we made it felt like we stopped every single exit and rest stop between my parents' house and here. Long story short, we managed to stretch 3 hours and 45 minutes out to SIX AND A HALF HOURS!!!

Jude with Auntie Remick

Meeting Great Grandpa and Grandma Blaser for the first time. (Blaser is Jude's middle name)

...how sweet is this!

Britani, the beautiful bride-to-be. So happy we got to be at her shower.

girl cousins

Haley(13)...Dakota(16)...Eden(11)

Dakota and Remick

so happy to meet Great Aunt Nancy...

...and Great Grandma Betty for the first time

more girl cousins

Briar(5)...Sawyer(4)...Evyn(3)

beautiful Evie

Jude 7 Weeks

2011-07-09T15:42:00.000-05:00

Jude loves to be on his tummy. He always sleeps on his tummy and is a very good sleeper too. He's learned to put himself to sleep for naps and bedtime and he started sleeping through the night consistently at 7 weeks. THIS IS VERY EXCITING FOR MOMMY!

Jude is getting so big! We are having so much fun getting to know him. First thing every morning the kids can't wait to see him and hold him--he certainly isn't lacking in the love department. He started smiling at 5 weeks and at 7 weeks he is so precious recognizing our faces and cooing back to us! MELT ME! He rolled over from his tummy to his back for the first time the day before he turned 7 weeks.

FOUR WEEKS OLD

2011-06-19T00:22:00.000-05:00

he's gotten so big

point of reference:
-in this photo (left) Jude is 6 days old
-same shirt -not filled out
-limbs still all curled into his body

I love that diaper butt and those sweet tiny feet

he looks so much like Daddy

A Couple of Firsts

2011-06-18T23:51:00.000-05:00

FIRST OUTING: May 28th

It was just Mommy, Daddy and Jude. [Eden, Truman and Briar were at a friends' house] We went to Galleria Mall to buy something special for baby with one of Jude's gift cards.
.

does it still count if he pretty much slept through the whole thing?

FIRST BATH: May 30th
His cord fell off when he was 8 days old so we were excited to have a "real" bath in the tub. He loved it!

a look of concern

big sister, Briar, loves to help Mommy

Off to Camp

2011-06-18T23:19:00.000-05:00

Eden went to camp for the first time.
She was gone from Monday to Saturday.
We missed her so much.
She loved it! When she got back home...she looked a little older.

she went with her friend Ashley

goodbye hug with Truman

Thank You, Mom and Dad...

2011-06-04T22:13:00.000-05:00

...for staying with Eden, Truman and Briar while Q and I were in the hospital... and for coming to visit us and bringing the kids every day while we were there... so grateful for all you do for us.
...for doing the dishes and the laundry because I couldn't. I appreciate you.

I love the memories of giving my babies their first bath at home with my mom...

I love you, Mom and Dad!
Love,
Bethany

BABY BROTHER!!!

2011-05-31T23:07:00.000-05:00

I even caught Eden doing her reading with Jude nearby...

they are crazy about him

Going Home from the Hospital

2011-05-31T01:59:00.000-05:00

...and he slept through the whole thing

37 years ago...

2011-05-27T23:34:00.000-05:00

Q was born...in this same hospital!

His 4th baby was born the day before his 37th birthday. What a special birthday gift!

We managed to celebrate Daddy's special day even in the hospital. The kids all made him birthday cards.

His mom brought the birthday cake... German Chocolate

I gave Q some new clothes for his birthday. I had the gift wrapped and ready to go to the hospital with us. He seems pretty excited about this shirt...he's silly like that. I love that guy. Happy Birthday Q! You are an amazing husband and father. I am so blessed to have you. You have been an incredible support to me through this pregnancy and then the surgery. I know I didn't make it super easy for you...thank you for your patience and love and constant encouragement. I seriously don't know how I would've done this without you. So happy we are in this together. There's nobody I'd rather share my life with!

All my love forever,

Hey Jude

2011-05-25T23:54:00.000-05:00

WE. ARE. IN. LOVE!

Newborn Photoshoot

2011-05-24T22:11:00.000-05:00

Photography by my "baby sister", Brook Blaser!

Thank you, Brookie! I love you!

Friends and Family Lovin' on Baby Jude

2011-05-24T00:48:00.002-05:00

Grandmas and Grandpas...

Friends so close they are like family

Aunts and Uncles and Cousins...Ryan and Cheryl, Nolan, Haley, Preston and Owen

My niece, Haley, handmade this baby quilt for Jude...HOW SWEET!!! {she's 13}

Uncle Josh and Aunt Heather

Aunties Remick and Brook

Friends...Audrey, Kendra and Josh

Candace, Paul, Nicholas and Ashley

Our Pastor {and dear friend} came to visit...and said a special prayer of blessing over Jude.

Marty Party of SIX!

2011-05-22T04:44:00.001-05:00

Jude Blaser Marty

2011-05-21T21:34:00.000-05:00

we arrived at the hospital at 8 am to prep for surgery

one last belly shot...39 weeks THIS IS IT!

ready to go to the O.R.

I couldn't ask for a better support through all of this. I love you so much,Q.

Seriously, the sweetest nurse EVER! Thank you, Marcy, for keeping me calm {somewhat}

about 2 hours later...

our precious boy! born at 10:27am

first picture with Mommy and Daddy

My amazingly wonderful OB, Dr. Song

38 weeks

2011-05-16T23:07:00.000-05:00

...and counting down the days 'til Saturday!!!

May 15th

Mother's Day 2011

2011-05-10T00:52:00.002-05:00

This was such a special Mother's Day. Daddy helped the kids make Swedish pancakes for breakfast with fresh lemon and strawberries and then they served it to me in bed. They all had made cards for me. It was just one of those unforgettable mommy moments...that had Q and I both in tears. I'm so thankful for the beautiful family God has blessed me with and we are all just so looking forward to meeting this precious new baby. The whole day was perfect. I got to do exactly what I wanted ...REST! ...and Q put together the stroller and the crib. Only two weeks to go!

37 weeks

May 8th

36 Weeks

2011-05-06T12:48:00.000-05:00

April 30th

ORTHODONTICS

2011-05-06T00:51:00.000-05:00

Truman needed an expander to correct his bite

It's been quite an adjustment! He talks funny and it also makes eating a little challenging...but this is only the beginning for him. Every day Daddy or I have to "crank" it a little wider. He wears this for eight weeks and then it's phase two: the "tongue trainer". I will keep posting on this so we can watch the progress!

Easter 2011...A Glimpse of Heaven

2011-05-04T23:31:00.000-05:00

The best Sunday of the year! So happy to be part of such an amazing church. It truly felt like a glimpse of Heaven just like the title of this post suggests. With the choir, congregation and the incredibly talented band that we are so blessed with all singing, shouting, dancing and lifting our praises to the RISEN SAVIOR together--I could barely contain my emotions. I didn't want the service to end...EVER. As I was saying!!! {Heaven}

I seriously think the baby felt the same way--he was jumping for joy inside of me!

We were able to spend this Easter with the Marty side!

As usual, the food was exceptional!

My cut-out cookies! (it's a hobby) The Easter variety of these are my favorite ones to do!

And, lucky for me, Eden is old enough to help me now!

the kids table...they're getting so big???!!!

Rose and Briar

Easter baskets...

35 weeks

April 24th

Rinse and Spit, Brizee!

2011-05-02T13:31:00.000-05:00

Almost 5 and she finally gets to have her first dentist appointment.

She was perfect!

Our Little Princess Turns 5

2011-05-02T07:46:00.002-05:00

Eden helped me SO MUCH with this party

"Pin the Jewelry on the Princess"

...not bad!

Craft time! I got these adorable wooden cut-out princesses for them to color.

Princess food: pizza, strawberries with whipped cream ("dip") and goldfish crackers--Briar's favorites

PRESENTS!

CANDLES!

Decorating their own bag to carry home all their princess parting gifts

The WAY. TOO. LONG. Winter

2011-04-27T07:14:00.001-05:00

This was the first snowfall, November 13th, 2010. They couldn't wait to get out there and play in it!

The new "winter scene" from the sunroom.

The kids would play outside until 9:00 pm almost daily! This is right out our front door. Truman has his snowball maker/launcher. They love to have snowball fights with the neighbors.

with cousins, Rose and Jimmy, after one of Truman's basketball games

I took this on April 16th (!!!!?????)

...it snowed again on April 20th

It was (IS?) the 4th snowiest winter on record in Minnesota. I gotta wonder, will it still be snowing in May...June?

Notice there are no kids in the last couple pictures.

We are all SICK. OF. IT.

34 Weeks

2011-04-18T21:45:00.000-05:00

April 16th

Gramma's 90th Birthday

2011-03-06T23:44:00.000-06:00

I love her so much! I'm so happy we were able to be there to celebrate this special occasion with her.

Three of the most beautiful women I know...Aunt Nancy, Gramma and Mom. I have so much love and respect for all of them and I'm grateful for the wonderful influence they have been in my life.

My gift to her was this plate that I designed and hand painted.

Gramma with my 3 of her 15 (soon to be 16) great grandkids!

51st Annual Pancake Feast

2011-03-06T11:52:00.000-06:00

My Grandpa, Louis Blaser, is a charter member of the Rotary Club in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. He takes great pride in the fact that for 51 years he's had perfect attendance.

...in line for pancakes, kisses for the baby

In 1987, my grandpa built this rotating pancake griddle for the Rotary to use every year for their big pancake feast. Appropriately named "Louie's Blazer".

It's been a few years since the last time, but I started going to this pancake feast before I could even eat pancakes.

Since it was something I did every year growing up, it was kinda fun to be able to take my kids.

Grandpa and Grandma (married 72 years) just as cute as ever. It's always so great to see them when we are in town.

It makes me so happy that my kids get to know their great grandparents.

My little sister, Brook and her boyfriend, Mike

Dad and Mom

Briar with her bestie cousins Sawyer and Evyn

Princesses On Ice

2011-03-03T00:15:00.000-06:00

It was a special time just for Briar and me. We decided to do this for her because (a) Disney World seems a little out of the question right now for many reasons... some more obvious than others

(b) Briar is really into Princesses--particularly Ariel (c) We took Eden when she was little and she loved it (d) They were in Minneapolis ...need I go on? I guess reasons a through d will suffice.

Ariel and Eric

It was so much fun! And, the show was truly way more spectacular than ever.

HOPE & Love

2011-03-02T15:33:00.000-06:00

HOPE...

I had the opportunity to join Quenton on a HOPE trip to Dominican Republic that he was leading. Mostly married couples signed up to go so we thought it would be fun for both of us to be a part of this one. I've already been on a few trips, but it never gets old. I'm always re-inspired to the work of HOPE every time I go on a trip like this or even just to hear Q speak about it. I love it! I'm sold. I'm in. This trip was no exception!

We went to observe a bank of HOPE meeting at a Hatian Batey

The kids were so adorable and so much fun to play with. They loved having their picture taken and then seeing it on the screen on the camera.

the bank meeting...making loan payments

at one of the homes in the Batey

Q and I with one of the HOPE clients.

On the bus

At the end of the trip, we had a couple hours to tour the city. This was taken in front of Christopher Columbus' son's house.

...& Love

We made the last 3 nights and 3 days of the trip a babymoon!

We stayed at an all-inclusive resort and enjoyed some time relaxing in the warm weather. Our 15 year anniversary is this year on July 20th. We thought this would be the better time to celebrate considering we will have a newborn and I will just be a couple weeks fully recovered from surgery in July.

We enjoyed early morning walks on the beach.

Flamingos at the resort...

...and peacocks just kind of wander around

It was such a blessing to just hang out on the beach and have nothing to do [read: no houses to clean]

It was my birthday shortly before we went on this trip. My birthday present from my bff, Dawn was some much-needed pampering. So, I saved it for this day on the beach, and this sweet Dominican lady came right to my beach chair and gave me a head-to-toe massage and a manicure. LOVED IT! thank you, Dawnie!

exactly 6 months pregnant

(27 weeks)

We had a special dinner at one of the restaurants at the resort to celebrate the 15 years that we've shared as husband and wife. We are both so grateful for our marriage and the life we've made together. God has been with us through the good times and the challenging times just as He promised, and we give Him all the glory for our blessings and our sufferings.

So excited about the future!

The Bump

2011-02-21T22:46:00.003-06:00

Okay...I've had some requests from my "out-of-area" friends for a belly shot. So I finally had Eden snap a few so I could post them on here.

I love this...I'm all smilin' pretty for the camera as Truman jumps in at the last second...I actually wasn't smiling after the fact. But now it kinda makes me laugh--Whatever!

February 14th

25 weeks

Yo Adrian

2011-02-17T23:28:00.000-06:00

This was a dream come true for Truman! He met his most favorite football player, Adrian Peterson --running back for the Minnesota Vikings. He got his autograph and had his picture taken with him.

Q had been invited to this event hosted by AP through a work relationship. So it only seemed natural to bring Truman along!

Now Q is on a mission trip with AP in Rwanda. Truman thinks the next step should be to invite him over for dinner and a little game of football in the backyard.

...we'll see (wink wink)

♥ B, My Valentine ♥

2011-02-14T21:15:00.000-06:00

her job was to put the hearts on...

Valentine's Day 2011
we went out to dinner and a movie
...we've made a habit of taking pictures of ourselves in the theater
to pass the time until the movie starts

2 of Each

2011-01-09T22:33:00.000-06:00

We found out January 5th that we are having another boy. We are all so excited, especially big brother, Truman! He wanted a boy so badly. I've never "found out" from an ultrasound before...and I must say, it was quite a different experience. I'm an overly emotional person as it is, so I suppose that influenced my expectations to some degree, but I fully anticipated the full-blown big emotion- filled "announcement" with all the excitement any ultra-sound tech could muster. Well, this is a "family" blog so I don't feel it would be appropriate to type the exact words of the lady conducting the ultrasound, but I assure you it wasn't, "drumroll please...IT'S A...BOY!!!" (cue noisemakers, balloons, and fireworks) It was just there on the screen and it may as well have been his kidney or his bladder. As she simply stated the mini body parts we were looking at...I literally stopped her from quickly flipping to the next screen to show the chambers of his heart [OR WHATEVER] and said emphatically, "SO WHAT YOU'RE SAYING IS... 'IT'S A BOY'!!!!????!!!!!!" I was all but begging her to please use that phrase! nope. her response? (with a smile) "They're the ones with the __________." Could she have given me a moment to let it all sink in? I wanted to gaze into Quenton's eyes and well up with tears together and celebrate. but instead, I was lying there on my back with my huge bare belly all covered in slime...come to think of it, that part wasn't that much different...but the point is there was one huge part missing! The baby! was still inside me! and he still is! I had this overwhelming feeling of like, you just told me it's a boy...now hand him to me so I can hold him and look at him and love him. Well, needless to say, she went on counting the baby's chromosomes and measuring his tiny unborn baby bones...as I just lay there wondering if I should laugh or cry, talk about it or just be quiet.
Well, he's perfect. Of the 33 tests they did, he passed every one of them as perfectly normal and healthy.

These are the pictures from the 3D ultrasound that day (18 weeks)...

face

profile

profile and little fist

back, leg/knee, arm/elbow, umbilical cord

We couldn't wait to tell Eden, Truman, and Briar the news but we wanted to do it in some special way. So we stopped at Party City on our way home and got a big bouquet of blue balloons with one that said "it's a boy". Then when they got home from school, we had them all close their eyes and guess if they thought it was a boy or a girl...they all guessed BOY! Then I snuck in the room with the balloons while their eyes were still closed...when they opened their eyes to discover the blue balloons they knew right away...well, Eden knew right away, Truman knew when Eden said it, and Briar was just kinda like, "what's up with the balloons? is it a boy or a girl?" I was bawling when Truman found out...and he was soon talking about the Vikings and how he couldn't wait to have a Viking's fan brother.

It was a special, special day.

A Whole Lotta Christmas Goin' On

2010-12-31T00:27:00.000-06:00

Our Christmas Tree 2010

What a special Christmas! With the way our life has been the last couple years...kinda all over the place...I haven't had my own Christmas tree or decorations for three years. They were packed away all that time. How fun it was to dig into them and remember all my special ornaments and things I've collected and received over the years. I really appreciated them all more than ever this Christmas.

Christmas with Q's family~

We are very excited to be settled in Minnesota again near family. It was our first Christmas in our new house, so we had the pleasure of hosting this year. We made Asian food {a Marty family favorite}and lots of Christmasy desserts. Our family tradition: to watch It's a Wonderful Life

Christmas With the Andersons~

We always have a special time to celebrate Christmas with our dear friends Joel and Sue and Josh and Alena. Again, we are so excited to have a Minnesota address that we hosted this one too. We live exactly one mile away from these guys...LOVE THAT!

my special Christmas cut-outs

Sue's AMAZING rum cake...it's tradition

Christmas With Grampa Cook and Great Grandma Besson~

It's been several years since we've been able to celebrate Christmas with Q's dad and grandma and aunts and uncles and cousins on the Cook side of the family. It was so great to reconnect with them this Christmas. Q's dad dressed up as Santa and surprised the kids.

Briar didn't know it was really "Grandpa Cookie" as she likes to call him.

Briar and Great Grandma Besson

Blaser Christmas~

Usually celebrated the day or two after Christmas. We have brunch...open presents...hang out...eat cookies...

There are A LOT of kids involved! I'm preggo with my parents' 12th grandchild.

Christmas with Dawn, Jon, Sophia and Anthony~

We all met up in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. We celebrated "Christmas at Culvers". We exchanged gifts and caught up and ate frozen custard. The kids hadn't seen each other for a whole year. They were excited --to say the least. The next day, we all hung out at the hotel. The kids swam ALL DAY. They only got out of the pool to eat. We adults sat and talked. Dawnie and I have been "bff's" since Jr. High, but the 4 of us became really good friends in college which ended up in two marriages obviously...and a really special lifelong friendship. We love it that now our kids are best friends too.

...our time together was WAY. TOO. SHORT.

Christmas Morning 2010

2010-12-26T23:03:00.000-06:00

I can barely begin to tell you how special Christmas morning was this year. We haven't had a Christmas morning in our own house by our own tree just the 5 of us or even the 4 of us (before Briar was born) for 7 years. The last time was in our Minneapolis house on the Christmas of '02. I've already expressed how much more I appreciated everything about this Christmas--for lots of different reasons and on so many levels. It was just so fun to wake up on Christmas morning and be together as a family and to have a special breakfast and read the Christmas story from the Bible together and open presents and stockings. We truly felt so blessed this year over and over and we give God all the praise and glory.We have so much to be thankful for.

I made kringle and frozen strawberry fruit slush for our special family breakfast

...sweet sweet memories

Macy's

2010-12-05T23:09:00.000-06:00

...we went with Auntie Jezzie and cousins Rose and James. We saw Santa and his elves.

The Christmas trees at the North Pole can sing.

Blaser Girls [2nd Annual] Cookie Baking

2010-11-29T23:04:00.000-06:00

I was so excited to be able to bake with my mom and my sisters this year. I had to miss out last year when we were living overseas...

There were a lot of shenanigans but we did get a few dozen cookies done. The best part though was spending time together.

Marty Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T22:31:00.000-06:00

Un-Expectations

2010-11-15T23:01:00.000-06:00

October 4th 2010...a day I will never forget. What a rush of emotions! you name it. I felt it.

and then at 10 weeks we got to see it. the two lines weren't a fluke...it wasn't just a bad tummy ache that wouldn't go away...I'm pregnant for the 4th time, and it is still the greatest miracle.

Lauren

2010-11-05T22:17:00.000-05:00

Our sweet friend, Lauren (from Lancaster PA) was in town for the weekend to see some of her college girlfriends. We selfishly offered to pick her up at the airport and take her to her hotel so we could steal a little visit with her as well. It was so fun to see her. She was AT OUR HOUSE!!! I can't even believe it. We took her out to our FAVORITE breakfast place {Original Pancake House} before delivering her to her friends in Eden Prairie. It was such a special treat to see her. We miss our dear friends in Lancaster so much and think of them so often.

all three of our kids were in Lauren's wedding in December 2008 she loves them so much and as you can see the feeling is mutual. Love you, Lauren!

TRUMAN IS NINE!

2010-11-02T21:54:00.000-05:00

I can hardly believe my sweet boy is 9 years old. Where does the time go? Truman is definitely the entertainer of the family. He's just a great kid all around. He makes friends very easily and we are so proud that he is a friend to everyone. He is very sensitive (of course he doesn't like it when I say that but it's true) and personally I think it's one of his best traits. He LOVES sports particularly football but he is really good at basketball and seems to have natural talent in both. We've really enjoyed watching him participate and grow in his sports and Daddy loved being the head coach for his football team AND his basketball team. He also does very well in school. His favorite is Math and he's really improved a lot this year in reading and spelling.

for his birthday, I made Truman's favorite dinner and we had Q's family over to help us celebrate.

I always make his favorite...chocolate with chocolate

cousin Jimmy

sister Briar

He wished for a DS-I for his birthday...and he got one!!!

Carving Pumpkins and Too Much Candy 2010

2010-10-31T10:33:00.000-05:00

We had so much fun carving pumpkins this year. Eden and Truman are old enough to do thier own now. I still have to help Briar...just a little bit. Sadly, these are the only pictures I have of all our hard work and creativity. It was literally moments after we put the pumpkins out on the front porch they were smashed all over our street along with all of our neighbors' pumpkins and our neighbors' neighbors'...how rude

But we got to eat all the yummy, salty, roasted pumpkin seeds

Ariel is Brizee's fave princess!

By the way, her hair was bright red...but for some reason it looks pink in these pics! (???)

Rose and James a.k.a. Jessie and Woody (Briar's cousins)
came over so we could all go trick-or-treating together

Brizee and RoRo

This was the first year that I didn't have Eden and Truman with me...surprisingly, I didn't bawl my eyes out. They went to a Halloween party at their friends' house and got HUGE bags of candy trick-or-treating with them. Eden was Alice (in wonderland) and her two friends were the Rabbit and the Queen of Hearts.

Truman was a Viking.

looks like this was taken at the house of a fellow fan

Back to School (for real) 2010

2010-09-07T10:09:00.000-05:00

After 3 years(for Eden)and 1 year(for Truman)of Private Christian School, and two glorious years of homeschooling, we decided to send the kids to PUBLIC SCHOOL!

First Day!

The neighbors invited us newbies to their 15th annual after-first-day-of-school-party ...school bus cake, snacks, and lemonade...

...and a picture of all the kids! That would be fun to look back on over 15 years. We truly love our new neighborhood. They have made us feel so welcome...like we've always been here.

Here they are waiting for the bus on the second day. This is also a first for them {and me}!
We've never used the bus system.

...it felt like the bus driver ripped my heart out and drove away with it. I was pretty emotional the first day.

Now, I just think it's brilliant!

"The Great Minnesota Get-Together"

2010-09-06T19:41:00.000-05:00

We always go with our friends the Andersons...but we've had to miss it for 7 YEARS! So excited to be back in Minnesota!

Corn Roast

Joel and Sue

My great fun friend from college, Diane, who lives in South Carolina who comes back to Minnesota every year for the state fair who happened to be there the same day that we went!!! SO FUN TO SEE HER!!!

Briar LOVES cotton candy (she takes after me)

We met up with some friends from church so the kids could hang out a little while. {Nicholas and Ashley}

the kids tried out the 4-wheelers

Sue and I ALWAYS get cream puffs

Sue was so sad the Republican booth was closed by the time we got there

the end of the night

American Girl

2010-08-23T17:10:00.000-05:00

For her birthday, Eden wanted to go to American Girl Place at Mall of America and pick out something special for her dolls. We decided to go on Daddy's lunch break so he could come too! We all had fun walking around this beautiful 2-level store of dolls in excess!

While we were there, she got a very special birthday phone call from Grampa and Gramma in Poland. If you look closely, you can see that she is wearing Daddy's blue tooth.

Briar loves American Girl too!

just bein' silly shopping in the mall

We had lunch at the food court.The birthday girl's choice: a loaded baked potato

Ironically, Daddy's lunchbreak was over by the time we sat down to eat, so he had to head back to work.

After Truman's football practice that night, we all went out for ice cream at this great little place in town. Eden opened her presents while we were there...

We invited Andersons to join us on short notice--how fun to live close enough to do that!

the kids with their favorite "big brother" Joshy!

It was a great day celebrating our Eden! Happy Birthday, Eden!

EDEN is ELEVEN!!!

2010-08-21T18:41:00.000-05:00

Mexican food!

Eden doesn't really prefer sweets in general, but she does love pie! Her favorite is pumpkin...but because of the pumpkin shortage of 2009, there was no pumpkin available in August of 2010. So, we settled for cherry. It was YUM!

she had her "best cousin", Haley, for a sleepover She LOVED this place, "Color Me Mine". We had been there for our girls' weekend in July, and that's when she decided she wanted to come back for her birthday! Briar loved it too!

It was such a fun birthday. I can't believe she's already 11!!!??? Where does the time go?

Are You Ready for Some Football?!

2010-08-20T14:14:00.000-05:00

We're well into Truman's first season of tackle football {3rd Grade}and it has been F*U*N!!!

He loves having Daddy for the head coach! Q is loving it too!

Big sister is proud too.

Go Clemson Tigers!!!

Truman is so much fun to watch. He's really serious about his favorite sport. I think he wants to be the next Adrian Peterson! {he's the running back for the Vikings for those of you who don't keep up with such things}

A Week in Wisco!

2010-08-12T16:55:00.000-05:00

It was the second week of August, Q had an opportunity to speak about HOPE at my Grandpa's Rotary Club meeting. We all went down to Sun Prairie [Wisconsin]with Daddy so we could visit with my side of the family...but then the girls and I decided to stay for the week. Truman and Q went back up to Minnesota for work and football and then came back to get us the following weekend. It was so great to spend some time with my older sister, Remick, and her daughters, and my mom and dad and my grandparents and just have some time to hang out and relax.

a few pictures from our time there...

Briar got to spend time with a couple of her favorite cousins, Evyn and Sawyer

Eden and Dakota

Evyn again...

We spent a day at the Wisconsin State Fair...IT. WAS. HOT.

My niece, Dakota, was working at the fair in this food stand {owned by our friends} so we got to see her and have some of Charlie's famous fair food...

When I saw her in there all "grown up" like she is I totally cried!!! It's just crazy how time flies-- it seems like just last summer I was 16 and working in this stand???

YES, CREAM PUFFS

...at the Wisconsin State Fair! YUM!

Dakota got to walk around with us for awhile on her break

a Visit to the Vikes

2010-08-11T22:15:00.000-05:00

While we girls were in Wisconsin, Daddy decided to take Truman and his two cousins to watch the Vikings practice and hopefully get a few autographs!

More Than a Cookie America=My Kitchen

2010-08-05T11:05:00.000-05:00

Q organized an event for HOPE International and More Than a Cookie {that is: ME, MYSELF, and I} catered the dessert portion. There were 50-60 people in attendance, and one of them decided to hire More Than a Cookie {again: ME, MYSELF, and I} to cater HER UPCOMING EVENT! This time it was for an expected 200 guests and it was a lot of work but mostly just fun because I love to bake. Everything turned out perfectly!

My kitchen table taken hostage by dozens of cupcakes

<-- chocolate mint cookies swirled with melted mint-chocolate. Perfection confection!

The ever-popular irresistable carrot cake cupcake with creamy cream cheese frosting {mini version}

The peanut butter cheesecake swirled chocolate brownie

our fluffy citrusy-sweet lemon dessert

mini German chocolate cupcakes-- a perfect marriage of coconut, pecans, and chocolate in one delicious bite

in the back of my mini-van...

and off we go to deliver these sweet packages.

Flowers for Mommy

2010-07-31T15:43:00.000-05:00

We are all born with it. When we see flowers we want to pick them and give them to Mommy. I did it when I was little...now I'm the happy recipient.

It didn't take long after Eden was old enough to pick flowers and walk over and hand them to me, that I decided I would always be prepared to receive them. For about as long as I've been a mom, I've always had cute, tiny bottles or vases in my kitchen window--some extra short for the flowers that "come without stems". I LOVE IT! I LOVE IT WHEN THEY BRING ME FLOWERS! I LOVE FLOWERS! I LOVE MY KIDS!

I usually say in a somewhat-loud high-pitched voice "Oh thank you!!! This is the best day EVER!" They know I appreciate it and they love to make me all happy and excited!

Gramma Bonnie

2010-07-26T15:46:00.000-05:00

My parents were in town for the kids' baptism and it happened to be the same weekend of my mom's birthday, so after a quick trip to Mall of America {the kids and me} with Dakota...everyone met at Olive Garden to celebrate my mom a.k.a. Gramma Bonnie. I had made her favorite, German Chocolate Cake [2-layer cupcakes] just for her and brought them to the restaurant. Happy Birthday Mom!