Yes, I know, it's been awhile (again!)

Yes, it's been awhile yet again, but there's been LOADS of stuff going on in this house. But, since my dad is leaving the country for a few weeks, I thought I'd put some pics up for him before he leaves.

Caleb's favorite place to watch his DVD's.
And Abby's favorite place to watch DVD's. . .fortunately, they don't tend to want to use the chair at the same time.
Abby starting to prepare for the runway. . .uh oh.
This is how the kids watch the DVD together. Of course you must wear your lobster and shark hat while watching.
"This is how Daddy washes my hair...grrrrrrr."
The kids like to stand behind this table and pretend they are working at a restaurant. Caleb will say "What you want, Mommy?" and then he'll bring me a cheeseburger. :)
Abby in her goldwing shirt. We celebrated Abby's birthday a couple weeks early so Pappy could be here for the cake. Here she is with the adorable "Abby Cadaby" cake that Grammy made for her!
Poor li'l guy. . .I made him wear the pink bib. He's waiting quite patiently for his piece of Abby's cake.
Abby showing off one of the pillow shams from the bedding set Grammy made for her birthday!! Abby went straight from the crib to a queen size bed, and there just isn't much "toddler" bedding for that size of a bed. So, Grammy made stuff for her! There is a quilt, two shams, two pillowcases, a bed skirt and a valance!! She has a pretty amazing Grammy!!!
Caleb was all excited to get to share it with her. Oh, and Grammy actually made this whole ensemble in about two weeks. All while helping us pack our house!!
Here is yet one more way the kids like to watch their DVD's. It's a good thing they like each other. . .
And one last picture of Abby cuz she's just too darn cute!!

Well, there's the pictures. We're kind of in limbo right now. . .we finally sold our house here in Shelbyville and will be moving to Greenwood. . .but the house that we made an offer on is a short sale which means we are at the mercy of the seller's bank to approve the offer. We made the offer Labor Day weekend and still do not have confirmation yet. Unfortunately, we closed on our house here on Wednesday and have until next Wednesday (24th) to be out of the house. Sooooo, we'll probably end up in a hotel for a few days, but we're hopeful that the bank will approve the offer and we'll be able to close by the end of this week. We'll see. At this point we're almost packed and are REALLY indebted to my parents!! My mom is still here and helping us pack and clean everything. Dad stayed for a couple weeks and helped us fix some stuff around this house and of course enjoyed spending time with the kids (and they were a little spoiled to get to see him everyday).

That's all for now! Hopefully I'll be able to post again within the next two months!! ;)

They Grow So Fast

My little guy is getting big already. Maybe not in size, but at least in age. The county fair was here a couple weeks ago, so we went to see if he'd try any of the rides. Unfortunately, the "little" guy was only 36" and could only go on two of the rides himself (and I wasn't about to get on a ride with him. . .my big belly wouldn't have fit in those little things). He loved it though!

Here he is on the dinosaur ride. Go figure, he has his fingers in his mouth. :) After the dinosaur ride it was time to take a ride on the train (of course!). He really liked that one. Everytime he'd come around he'd wave and try to point out something on the train. They also had little boats, but you had to be 42" to go on those so he couldn't. He kept trying to tell us he was getting bigger and taller so he could go on them. Um, yeah, doesn't work that way. . .
The kids LOVE to play together, and since they're a little older now we just let them play on their own sometimes. This is what happens when we leave them alone for a little too long. . .they had pulled one of the drawers out of Caleb's dresser and were both sitting in it. They had also pulled all the towels out of the bottom drawer and were trying to "hide" under them. Ah, at least they're cute.
And last, but CERTAINLY not least (and maybe mommy's favorite). . .both kids are on their way to potty training. (YAHOO!!!) Little Caleb is much farther along than Abby, but this morning Caleb put underpants on Abby for the first time since she did go potty this morning. I thought it was a perfect photo op. We know the road is still quite long until they're both out of diapers, but if we could get them both done before #3 makes an appearance??? Well, I'd be one happy Momma!
OH, another cute story for the week. . .Abby has finally started saying Caleb's name. For the longest time it's been "brother" or "buddy" which really came out kind of like "budder" or "brudder." This past weekend she started saying "Caleb" but it sometimes comes out as "Cabub" which sounds REALLY cute in her little Abby accent! If you ask her to go get her brother, she'll start running through the house yelling "Cabub! Cabub!" Makes us laugh.

Another quick story

Wow. . .2 posts in one day!! :) I just wanted to add a quick story while it's fresh in my mind. I'm trying (unsuccessfully so far thanks to the continued fireworks tonight. . .) to get the kids to go to sleep and I went into li'l Caleb's room to check on him. . .and he was laying with his Bible. I was cleaning out a drawer earlier today (after he and Abby pulled 3/4 of the stuff out of it) and found an old Gideon's Bible/New Testament (probably one I got in college) so I gave it to li'l guy. He said, "I'm going to take this to my room and put it away." I thought that was a grand idea, so off he went. Well, tonight, I walk in there and he was laying in bed, with the Bible sitting on top of his head. When I tried to move it, he said, "No, I want it to sleep next to me." and he patted the pillow. So, he's sleeping with his Bible. Can I really argue with that though?? Joshua 1:8 tells us ". . .but you shall meditate on it day and night. . ." so I guess li'l guy really gets that already. (He also gets the pray for your enemies as he prays nightly for Uncle Chris and Auntie Em's cat Tic-Tac even though the cat REALLY does not like him (or anyone else for that matter).

Ah, the boy continues to make me laugh. :)

Random Stuff. . .

Since the last post was chock full of photos, I have nothing this time. . .but I did want to at least throw some stuff/info out there.

First of all, it has occurred to me (thanks Shannon and Debbie) that I never really announced this pregnancy! SO, for anyone that did not already know, yes, I am pregnant again. Number three should make an appearance sometime in December (December 12th is the due date). I've already told my mom she'll be on call and when I go into labor, I'll call her and she has been instructed to be on a plane within 2 hours. :) She just laughed. We'll figure it all out between now and then I'm sure. Number three came as quite a surprise for me and Caleb. We weren't necessarily sold on having three kids, but we weren't necessarily sold on being done with two either. So, God made the decision for us, and who better to make the decision than Him! At this point I'm 17 weeks (even though I look about 28 weeks along) and FINALLY not feeling the nausea every night. Li'l Caleb's reaction to the baby is kind of funny. He points to my belly and says, "There's a baby in there. There's a big boy in there. (then pointing to his belly) I have a baby in my belly too." Cracks me up. Oh, and no we don't know the sex yet, he just assumes it's a big boy because we keep calling him a big boy. Abby doesn't seem to get it yet and still tries to crawl all over me.

On to something else. . .I tend to be a blog hopper sometimes. I'll start at one, see a link to another and before I know it I've been to five different blogs that I have no idea who the people are. :) So, the other day I was doing that and I found this one. . .Cracked Me UP!!! I firmly believe that a good sense of humor is what is necessary to look at certain things, and this guy has a great sense of humor about church (at least I think so). So, if you have time, check out Stufffchristianslike.blogspot.com and read some of his posts. It's good for a chuckle or two.

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July!! We had a very uneventful one. . .since we're in the Eastern timezone (and the far West part of it at that) the fireworks don't go off until almost 10pm. . .way too late for the kids. BUT, another grand thing in Indiana is that just about anyone that wants to can light off fireworks. . .so we had them going on all around us (three hours straight from one house!!!) which REALLY helped keep the kids asleep (um, NOT). That's ok though, it ended eventually and they took great naps today. :)

I promise there'll be pics next time. Bye for now!

Loads of Pics. . .

It's been a LONG time since I updated (yet again). I keep getting reminder e-mails from my dad to update ("we don't want snow anymore") but it's been quite busy, and since I STILL don't feel great at night, there hasn't been time to update. BUT, here I am on a quiet (yes QUIET) Sunday afternoon feeling halfway normal (just large) and ready to update the blog! So, without further ado. . .please to enjoy!



Anyone that has seen my parents blog has already seen pictures of the fabulous family vacation we took earlier this month (June). We had a GREAT time and I am so thankful for the wonderful family time we were able to have. Unfortunately, our camera didn't see the light of day until the end of the week when we went to "Day Out with Thomas" so I got nothin' prior to that.

The "Day Out with Thomas" was a lot of fun and I think little Caleb was on major overload by the end. I was also on overload, but it was just loads of people in one place. . .I don't do crowds for long. The picture below is just one of the big train sets they had put up for the kids. . .little guy just liked walking around the table looking at everything.

Part of the fun available were temporary tattoos. . .here's Grammy and Abby showing off their pipes. Abby was really funny the rest of the day. We'd say, "Abby, where's your Rosie?" and she'd try to flex her little muscle. She's too funny.

Then li'l guy got his put on too. We thought he'd go for Thomas or Percy, but he wanted Rosie just like Abby. We didn't actually take it off for about it a week or so and it was quite the traumatic experience when it was finally time to say goodbye to the tattoo. (And as Mom realized a couple days after getting hers with Abby, the tattoos weren't as easy to get off as they might seem. . .she had to wear a dress with sleeves to church so she didn't show off the Percy on her arm. . .made me laugh when I heard!)

After the tattoos, we were able to take a ride on an actual train!! I didn't think li'l guy was going to be able to contain himself. One good thing about no potty training yet. . .at least I didn't have to worry about him peeing his pants! Here's a picture of Abby, Pappy and Caleb waiting in line to get on the train. The little engineers are ready to go!

Then we got on the train and the kids were able to stand between Daddy and Pappy to look out the window (wasn't too exciting as the train was only going 3-5 mph, but they still enjoyed it).

And of course, the Ruge family tradition, for every two attractions there is food. . .so Grammy grabbed a bag of kettle corn prior to boarding the train. She has definitely taught the kids a love of popcorn!

And last but not least, we stood in line so li'l guy could get his picture taken with Sir Topham Hatt! Don't you just love the smile on his face (Caleb's)??? He was Sooooo excited to see Sir Topham Hatt!! He had a little bit of a rough time leaving, but we got to ride on a real school bus back to the parking lot, so that made leaving worthwhile.

After leaving Green Bay (yes, we were WAY up there to see Thomas) we started back south headed towards home (kind of). We took a little detour and went a little west to see Jon and Ronda and new baby Matthew Joel Worgess. He was born on June 11th (yet another June birthday!) and is a cute little guy. We both thought he looked a little like little Caleb, but his head isn't as big. For some reason, both my kids have big heads. :)

So that's the extent of my vacation week pics. My vacation week started out fabulously though. . .my parents kept the kids overnight Saturday night and I was able to stay with a friend back in the 'burbs and then attend another friend's baby shower on Sunday! Niki was very gracious and opened her home to me on Saturday night (and shuttled me around everywhere) and it was SOOOOOOOOOO great to see her again! She's getting married in August (less than a month and a half to go!) and she's just bursting with excitement! It's very contagious! Here's a picture of Katrina, me and Niki at Ann's shower.

Now, the shower itself. . .wow! My YAM friend Stacy was the hostess with the mostest!!! I don't have a picture of her at the shower, but she and a couple other ladies planned this quite elaborate affair! It reminded me of the baby shower/tea party Mom had for little Caleb after he was born, but that was in a tea house. . .Stacy did this all in Ann's house and it turned out wonderful! Here's a picture of the food. . .little tea sandwiches, finger foods, and desserts. . .all the food was quite delicious!

Then the cake. . .oh my how adorable is this cake!!! One of the other ladies ordered this at a bakery in town, so I can't give Stacy credit for it, but I bet she could do this too!And last but not least, Ann the pregnant lady! Here's Ann and Niki just before I left. She looks so cute! Some people look very cute when they are pregnant. . .others just look big (me!). Oh well.

Now on to some random pictures of the kids. Part of the fun of vacation was to go to the mall in Green Bay and hit the Build a Bear store. Caleb made "Crush" the turtle (he picked out the name, and yes it's after the turtle in Nemo) and Abby made "Abbers" the bear (named after her by her father. . .original 'eh?). Well, the outfit Caleb picked out for "Crush" was the fireman's uniform. He decided that he should try it on though. . .made me laugh.

And of course Abby couldn't be outdone by her brother so she had to try it on too. Caleb's first response when I showed him the picture was "Fat Guy in a Little Coat" (from Tommy Boy). Made me laugh too!Yesterday we went to the Children's Museum in Indy, and Abby thought she'd try her hand (or arms) at this movable train thingy. . .she couldn't get it to go, but she sure tried hard. :)And of course, what does little Caleb do at the Children's Museum? Why, play with the trains of course! We think it's a little sad that he goes to the museum to play with trains when he can (and does) do that at home. . .but at least he does other stuff while we're there too. Here are a couple random pics of the kids. . .both of these are a couple months old by now and I think I was trying to get a picture of their outfits for Grammy since she bought them. . .can't remember now though.Remember the "Smart Cycle" the kids got for Christmas from my Uncle Rick and Aunt Peggy? Well, they both still love it, even though Abby can't reach the pedals. Soooo, this is how they play with it now.

Back in April for Caleb's birthday, his gift from Grammy and Pappy was the crab sandbox. Since I haven't posted pics of that yet. . .here you go! He loves his crab sandbox and feels bad when it rains because his crab sandbox gets wet. :)

Abby just likes to play in the lid.And last we thought we'd share our claim to fame. . .yes, former President Clinton came to Shelbyville to speak during the Indiana primary. He was at the middle school which is only about 2 blocks from our house. Yipee, huh?
I'll try to get better about posting and as long as this nausea decides to subside, I'll be ok. So far though. . .it's still sticking around. Oh well. I'm at 16 weeks now and both other pregnancies the nausea stopped around this point so I'm hopeful!

Birthday Boy and more. . .

First, yes, it's been awhile. . .here are a couple pics from our one and only big snow of the year. Little Caleb was so confused with the white stuff he thought he'd try to use the lawn mower (ok, not really, he does know what snow is. . .we just had basically nothing down here). Then there's Abby, who really resembles that kid from The Christmas Story (can't remember his name). She couldn't move very well all bundled up.
Here's a picture from Easter. . .don't they look cute? And I wonder why people always ask us if they are twins. . .
Abby proceeded to put on my winter hat and one of daddy's gloves. Apparently I should have bought the Easter hat and little white gloves for our dainty girl. Momma didn't get the memo I guess.
And speaking of dainty. . .here's "Daddy's Little Princess" after consuming not one, but TWO peanut butter/chocolate bars. A couple weeks ago I went to Georgia with the kiddos for a couple days to visit my relatives. Gran-Pappy and GiGi, Kerry, Rich and Marissa (or 'Rissa as Caleb says) were all on hand to spoil the kids. Then my parents flew in for a couple days as well. Can we say SPOILED?? Yes they are, but hey, so was I. :)Miss Kerry, Mr Rich and 'Rissa had easter baskets for the kids and little Caleb's had these funky glasses. He wouldn't let us take a picture of him with them on, but Abby sure liked them. Such the little fashionista. . .already wearing heels with jeans. While we were in Georgia, Miss Kerry and 'Rissa took the kids to Chucky "Disease" for their first experience. They both had a blast! Marissa helped little Caleb climb up the big tower/play set and he crawled all over the place. Here's a picture of Abby chattin' with her driving partner. :)Abby has mastered the word "no" and this is the expression that goes along with it. Nice 'eh? (and yes, if it seems like we have more pictures of Abby, we do. Caleb has learned to run away when the camera comes out, but Abby seems to not mind still.) And now, for the big birthday boy!!! My li'l guy turned 3 today. I cannot believe he's already 3! Seems like just yesterday I was going to the hospital and waiting for our firstborn to come! Ok, not really cuz A LOT has happened since then, but it really does feel like time has flown by!

Here he is as we're singing Happy Birthday to him. (No, I didn't make the cake.) He knew just what to do. . .we sang and then right away he blew out his candles. Such a big boy!The frosting left a lasting impression. . .he seemed to like it though.Abby REALLY liked it! She ate every last piece. Much cleaner than her own birthday, but still could use some work. . .Time to open presents. We had taken him to the store yesterday and let him get a couple more train cars, so I didn't wrap those, but he also got some "Cars" figurines to play with. . .he's been playing with them for the last couple hours since he opened them, so I think he liked them. :)

Here he is with all the cars lined up in front of him. Abby had already swiped one and was contemplating how to grab another without getting whacked in the head by the birthday boy. Time is flying and both kids are getting so big. Now if only Mr. Big Birthday Boy would FINALLY decide he'd like to be potty trained. . .ugh.

Video Attempt

It's been a month. . .oops. I do have some pics to upload as well, but they're still on the camera and I wanted to get this out there to see if it works. Caleb has a new laptop (he went to the darkside and got a Mac. . .but that's what he has to use at work so I guess it's ok) and it has this cute little camera thingy in it. He tried out the video this morning with Abby. Hope it works!! Pay no attention to Abby's hair. . .talk about some major bedhead. . .then again, it really does look like that most days anyway. Ahh, the curse of the curly hair. :)