Halloween and more pictures

My Halloween Costume


Tummy Time


Hanging out with Daddy


I am getting so BIG

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween to everyone. We are currently sitting at Chris's office on a Friday night and Chris is watching something online while I have been busy ordering Christmas presents online and now blogging---can you say WILD on a Friday night. Earlier we went to the house we are going to be renting and handed out candy to the trick or treaters in the neighborhood. Mary Cate dressed up as a reindeer and I will post pictures soon---but let me just say she looked adorable.
The excitement in our house is that MC is finally growing out of her preemie clothes and at almost 5 months just now fitting into newborn and 0-3 month clothes. She seems to be getting chubbier and chubbier cheeks which we are completely fine with!! We go to the Dr. on Monday and will get a weight check but last we knew she was a bit over 8 lbs. Auntie Trista has been in and out of town lending a hand when she can and this has been a huge help. We are about to get super busy as we look to move into the rental hopefully the week before Thanksgiving. I will get some recent pictures up soon, hope this finds you all well!!
By the way---my younger brother Timmy dressed up as MaryCate for Halloween tonight----if I can get a picture I will be sure to post that as well, it is a sight for sore eyes to see Uncle Ditty in a onesie.

Fun in Fort Myers

This is FL--trying to go all fall, what you can't tell is that it is 89 degrees and humid as all get out

This is a great family picture---can you say Christmas card 08

Can you see the excitement on her face

Look at how thrilled she is to be there

Hanging out in one of my fun new toys

MC in some fun PJ's getting ready for bed
All is well here in HOT FL---yes I am missing the fall so much already, but I guess it is time I get used to this. We decided to embrace fall as much as we could this week and took MaryCate to the local pumpkin patch. Unfortunately she had been awake the entire day so by the time dad got home and we took off ---well the pictures say it all. I am not sure who had more fun, but judging by the pictures I think you can tell that mom and dad were WAY into it and MC could have been in her pack and play and had just as much fun. Chris and I have a tradition where we carve our pumpkins and then ask the trick or treaters to judge whose is best----we got one for Mary Cate this year, and Auntie Trista is going to give her a hand ----we’ll let you know who wins----I have yet to get a W, but I am hoping with all the time I have at home I may be able to conjure something pretty creative up this year, we’ll see. (we were a bit worried about getting trick or treaters where we live but we are going to use the rental home I mention below and give out candy there next Friday!!)

The update on our house is that we decided to take our offer off the table and rent for 6-12 months. The house needed some work and at this point we felt like that would only add stress---which we feel like we have had enough of over the past 4 months. So, we found an adorable little rental in a neighborhood we LOVE. The woman is still doing some work on it, but will be done soon. It has a lot of really nice upgrades and she is even going to let me decorate a nursery for MC. We are hoping to get in within the next 3 weeks at which point I will be reunited with all of my things I left when I went to WI on May 15th----including pants that are not elastic at the top----can you tell I am thrilled!!! Enjoy the pictures and we will take some pictures next week and update soon. This is my Saturday time away so I am off to Marshalls, TJ Max and my favorite---SUPER TARGET!

More Pics of MC and where we are living

The horses in our backyard

Our family room

Our bedroom

/our Kitchen

With my Uncle Ditty and his Brewers Rally towel, too bad it had to come to an end

Ready for Fall

PIctures, Pictures and more Pictures!!!

This is me playing in my Gym and mom forgot to flip the picture

Mommy's Favorite Dress

With my sweet cousin Brady Shea


These are some of my favorites----hope you enjoy!!! I had planned to put a lot more up, but it took so freaking long for them to download and MC needs to eat, more to come at a later time!! All is well here

Life in Fort Myers

This week has been filled with lots of unpacking, getting settled and Dr.’s appointments. Mary Cate is doing well. She is so incredibly even tempered. She has gotten 5 shots this week and has really been a trooper. We have gotten all good reports. Her last weigh in with the pediatrician was 6lbs. 8 ½ ounces. She continues to get fortified breast milk and I continue to pump with each feeding to keep up with her. Her eyes checked out great with the retinologist and he referred her on to an ophthalmologist whom we will see when she is 6 months. The Pulmonoligist reduced her oxygen again but left her on it. She is only on .3 liters and it sounds like he will leave her there for a month and then take her down to .1 for a month and then take her off. I seemed to have thought it would go a bit quicker than that, but I am learning how differently they handle things here in FL than they do in WI, so all in due time I guess.

We are in the process of placing an offer on a house but it seems to be taking longer with all the logistics and the economy the way that it is, so we will see if that works out. Lastly, I am truly learning what it is like to be a stay at home mom. I feel like no matter how hard I work I literally never get anything done. I am at a coffee shop across the street from Chris’s office catching up on email and blogging-----could it get any better. That is right, I dropped MC off with Chris and then after taking the advice of my cousin I belted out “I am Free-----Free Falling”----last Saturday night at 7pm I left Chris at home with Mary Cate and went to Target and again-----HEAVENLY!!! Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE staying home with her and would not trade it for the world, but it is good to get out every now and then, especially because we are so far out of town right now. We still have not found our cord for the camera but as soon as we do I will get some pictures up!! Hope this finds you all doing great!

We made it!!!

Again it has been a while since our last post, but we have been traveling the country to finally land where we belong, Fort Myers Florida. We left last Saturday with a tearful goodbye and plenty of Oxygen to carry MC here. Day one we made it to Lexington. KY. This was our only stop at a hotel. The only mishap was when we got there we realized one of Mary Cate's Medicines had spilled all over---it was 11:30pm so we had to page our pediatrician in WI and get them to call in the script to a 24 hour pharmacy and it all worked out. Sunday we were off to Lynchburg, VA to see some friends and introduce MC to many who had been praying for her. We had a wonderful visit there and then on Monday headed to Savannah, GA to see Auntie Trista. Tuesday we went to Orlando where Chris had some Young Life training and then on Wednesday Mary Cate finally got to meet Grandad and Memaw Mustaine in Bradenton. We met them for dinner and then headed to Fort Myers where we have been since.

We LOVE the place that we are staying. A wonderful family that is on the YL committee here has opened their barn apartment to us----no joke, the horse stables are right below. It is a beautiful place and we are getting settled in quite well. I do not have internet there so I will not be able to post as much, but am going to try and make it to Chris's office at least once a week to update you all. We are still in the process of looking for a home and learing how to live with a preemie. The simple things like going to the grocery store are a lot harder now. Mary Cate is loving FL. She went to see her doctor on THursday and weighed in at 6lbs 4oz. We have a lot of appointments next week for follow up but all in all she seems to be doing great. I have a TON of great pictures but we left the cord that connects the camera to the computer in WI so once I get that I will post more pictures. Just wanted everyone to know that we have landed safely and are slowly settling in. Miles of smiles from home sweet home!!!