Last day of school for Matthew

My handsome boy is growing up.  This is right before his ECYC graduation!

ECYC graduation!

Handsome boy!

Ms. Coleen at ECYC.  One of his best teachers ever!  She has the biggest heart for these kids.

Matthew's friend Luke!

ECYC classroom!

I had to include this pic of Lukey. Isn't he a hoot?

Mansfield graduation.

Ms. Bannister (speech therapist)

Ms. Smith, Ms. Fehse, and Ms. Gray

Class party at Mansfield. 

Enjoying the party!

Today was Matthew's official last day of school at his preschool language class with Mansfield ISD.  Bittersweet!  They had a little graduation and class party.  Too cute.  He also had a graduation ceremony with ECYC last week and that was awesome.  They did such a great job.  They have been very good to him over the years.  ECYC is affiliated with First United Methodist Church in downtown Arlington.  He has been going there 2 days a week since he was 2.  They have a wonderful program.  He will be done with ECYC on August 1st.  Hard to believe.  Matthew is growing up and moving onto bigger and better things.  I am very excited for the new adventure, but I am scared for him as well.  Mixture of emotions.  Pic overload coming up!

24 weeks!

I am 24 weeks pregnant today.  Can't believe it!  This pregnancy is flying by.  It is kinda of sad.  When you have 2 kids you are just so much busier and I am not finding the time to sit down and cherish this pregnancy.  I know the summer is going to fly by and then baby Joshua will be here.  Can't wait to meet him though.  I feel that our family will be complete after baby Joshua arrives.  Of course I thought that after Luke, but 3 is definitely the max.  There is no way a 4th would be an option.  3 sounds like a good number to me.  The pregnancy seems to be going fine.  Had a follow up ultrasound last week and the placenta has moved.  Still low but not covering the cervix anymore so that was good news.  Other than that everything looks great.  Baby Joshua looks great and is growing perfectly.

The van that we will be inheriting this summer :)

Silly Lukey!

In Brownwood visiting with family at Hannah's college graduation.

Matthew and his fire hydrants.  His obsession is showing no signs of slowing down. 

Out for our neighborhood walk and checking all the fire hydrants.

One of Luke's favorite activities (eating) at our new table.

Ducks in our front yard.  How cool is that.

All is well on the homefront.  Matthew will be done with school the week after next.  I am glad.  I won't have to get up and get him off to school.  It will be a nice break.  I am very grateful to his preschool language class and what they have done for him over the last 2 years.  He has grown and matured so much since starting.  I am looking forward to him starting his new school in the Fall.  It will definitely be a change, but hopefully a good one.  He will be in a full time Pre-K program so it won't quite be the expectations of Kindergarten quite yet.  The expectations of Kindergarten are definitely much different then when I was in Kindergarten.  They seem to expect so much more now.  Luke is good.  He is turning into quite the little character.  I am really enjoying seeing his personality blossom.  Mark had a birthday recently.  I won't tell you his age but he doesn't look a day over 30 :) 

Work is good.  Got some extra hours last week which was a big blessing.  Trying to save up for maternity leave.  We are very busy right now.  We have more babies than beds.  Just crazy!  Hopefully it will calm down soon. 

Can't think of anything else. 

Enjoy the pics!

Blessings,

Betsey

Lots of updates!

Looks like boy #3 is on the way!  We are very excited!  I am thrilled to have 3 boys.  No disappointment whatsoever!  Sure, I would be thrilled with a girl, but I really don't care either way.  His name will be Joshua Scott.  Can't wait to meet him.  Joshua looked great on the sonogram.  I do have a partial placenta previa which basically just means the placenta isn't exactly located where it should be.  At his point not really a big deal and most of them move as the uterus expands so at this point no worries.  I will get another sonogram next month to make sure that it is moving.  If it doesn't move it could mean problems but that's not going to happen :) 

Easter came and went.  This year sure is flying by!  Went to church with the in-laws which was nice.  The boys got Easter baskets with lots of candy.  Watched the Passion of the Christ Easter night and that has to be the most intense movie ever.  I have seen it before, but I haven't seen it in a while.  It is an excellent movie, but so hard to watch, but at the same time your eyes are glued to the screen.  It amazes and humbles me to know what Christ did for us.  It is life changing.

Work is good!  Still busy as ever.  For the most part we are always running a high census.  Good for job security.  Took care of a little peanut yesterday.  She was just 1 day old and was 490 grams at birth which equals 1 pound 1 ounce.  Yep, you read right.  Just amazing.  I still feel so blessed that God has lead me to this profession and given me a passion for these sweet innocent babies.  I am starting to feel the itch to move on from my current job though.  Of course not right now with baby Joshua on the way and I will be staying put his 1st year as well.  That would be way too much change for me.  Don't get me wrong I love my job.  I am very comfortable there and I have grown as a NICU nurse soooo much while at my current job.  My dream though is to work in a NICU in a Children's hospital.  The variety of what they see is amazing and they don't turn any baby away.  The see it all.  Don't ge me wrong I get to see a lot in my current NICU but obviously not quite as much as a children's hosptial NICU would see.  I would still want part time though which shouldn't be a problem.  Most hospitals provide a variety of schedules and option for nurses which is wonderful.  I will probably try to get on at Cook Children's or possibly Children's Dallas.  We will see how I feel next year.  Of course it is possible that I may change my mind :)

The boys are good.  Luke is doing great!  He is a funny little guy and loves to eat.  I love seeing his personality develop as he gets older.  Matthew is good.  Can't believe he will be 5 this summer.  He is doing good at school.  He still struggles with certain aspects of his speech and language but has made a ton of progress. 

I can't think of anything else at the moment!

Blessings,

Baby Joshua

Love this pic of Matthew

Sweet Luke

Smiling boy

Easter

My handsome boys

Betsey

Luke turns "1" and other stuff

Luke turned the big "1" on 2/20 and we had his party this past weekend.  The party went great.  Just a casual party at the house with lots of food and cake.  Luke LOVED his birthday cupcake.  He gobbled up the whole thing and it was a very large cupcake.  He got some great gifts as well.  Lots of toys and clothes.  Grandma and Grandpa Carroll came up from Del Rio which is always a treat.  They try to make it for the grandkids birthdays.

Pregnancy is going well.  13 weeks today.  Can't believe it!  Had a sonogram a little over a week ago which is part of the 1st trimester screening and baby looked great!  It is amazing how formed it already is.  The doc made the prediction that is may be a boy.  It is still very early though and that can change.  Boys and girls look very similar at that gestational age, but the doc was pretty confident with her prediction.  I would be thrilled with boy #3.  It sure would make everything easier.  I know a lot of my family and friends are hoping for a girl but they won't be disappointed if it is another boy.  Regardless I don't care what it is.  I am just happy that I am being blessed with a 3rd child. 

I enrolled Matthew in Fellowship Academy for the Fall.  He will start with a full time Pre-K program which I think will be really good for him.  I am really excited about this school.  They are opening their new campus this month. 

Well that's all I can think of for now.  I will update again later.

Blessings,

Luke loves his birthday balloon

Grandma and Grandpa Carroll

Mommy and Daddy

Big Brother

Not sure what to think just yet

I think he decided that he loves his cake

Betsey

Well looks like #3 is on the way!

Yep, #3 is on the way.  Just a few months ago I was talking about "baby fever" and BAM, I got pregnant on the 1st month we tried.  I will take that as a sign that is was meant to be.  Had the 1st ultrasound yesterday and everything looked great.  Baby is measuring perfect and heart is beating away at 184 and the best part is that there is only 1 in there (Thank You Lord!).  I am 9 weeks today and so far so good.  The 1st trimester is always so nervewracking.  There is always that fear of losing the baby, but looks like this one will be sticking around.  Although I do have a few more weeks to go until I am into my 2nd trimester but so far everything looks great.  I can't believe it.  Never dreamed I would have 3 kids.  Thought I would be content with my 2 but I guess not.  We are definitely done after this one though.  Will be getting something permanent done.

Enjoy the pic!  Not the best pic of the boys, but it will do :)

Bye Bye 2011 and Hello 2012!

Well another year has come and gone.  Time sure does go by fast especially the older you get.  Weren't we just ringing in the year 2000?  Is it really 2012 already?  Hard to believe!  Christmas went great.  Church with the In-laws on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning at our house (just the 4 of us).  Mark's family came over later for Christmas dinner.  The boys got lots of presents of course.  I really didn't get them much, but when you add it in with what everyone else gets them it adds up quick.  I like when Christmas if finally over and the New Year is here.  It motivates me to clean, get rid of clutter, and reorganize.  The  problem is that motivation doesn't seem to last long.  There are soooo many projects, crafts, and organizational tasks I want to do, but I seem to get none of it done.  Haven't figured out how to get those thoughts to materialize.  Any ideas?  I did recently discover Pinterest and that is a pretty neat site.  Very addicting.  I am not spending near enough time on there as I would like.  TONS of great ideas.

Not much else to report as of now.  Pic overload coming :)

Blessings!

Christmas Eve at the In-Law's

Opening presents.  Obviously very excited about his helicopter

4 Krueger boys

Christmas morning!

Christmas morning hanging out in Mom and Dad's bed.

Before the craziness starts

Opening presents

Luke loves his blocks

At our neighbor's  house.  They are like grandparents to Luke and Matthew.

Riding horsey from Uncle Mike and Aunt Margie

Christmas dinner.

This was about 6:30.  Luke was exhausted!

Thanksgiving and getting ready for Christmas

Thanksgiving went well.  We all went to Del Rio to see my family.  It was Luke's 1st time to go.  It is about 420 miles and takes about 6-1/2 hours  to drive there, but of course with 2 kids it takes quite a bit longer.  Overall the drive went well.  Luke did great in the car and Matthew has always done well on long car rides.  It was nice to see my family.  Oma is doing great.  She had recently been in the hospital for almost a month and almost died.  It was great to see her.  Thanksgiving was full of great food and great family.  I couldn't have asked for more. 

Christmas is fast approaching.  The tree and decorations went up the weekend of Thanksgiving.  I love all the lights.  Matthew is very excited about the presents.  Christmas shopping for the kids is done.  It is so easy when they are young.  They pretty much like anything and everything.  I dread the day when they start wanting the "big ticket" items.  I am hoping to set a standard early as far as the amount of gifts they recieve at Christmas.  It is just ridiculous how many gifts some kids get, but if they always have recieved a ton of gifts then they expect it.  I am hoping to avoid that.  Easier said than done I'm sure. 

Well I still have baby fever, and it's a very high fever :)  My thyroid is back to normal and my period has returned so I am taking that as a sign.  I had to completely wean Matthew from nursing before I got my period back, but apparently not this time around.  I "think" Mark is on board with trying for 1 more, but I don't think he is overly excited about it.  I think at this point we will probably just try for a few months and see what happens.  If nothing happens then oh well, and I will likely have something permanent done.  I will be more than thrilled with my 2 boys, but if God decides to bless us with 1 more that would be wonderful.  Honestly I would love another boy.  It would just make everything so much easier.  Don't get me wrong a girl would be great, but I would not be dissapointed at all if it was another boy.

That's all for now. 

Grandpa being silly with Luke

Matthew and Oma.  Matthew loves windmills and Oma has lots of windmills in her house.

Del Rio

Matthew and Luke

Luke and Grandpa

The boys ready to start Christmas decorating.

Hanging up lights.

Luke is helping as well.

Decorating the tree.

Blessings!