The first snow

Cameron and Morgan were waiting and waiting for Kyle to get home so they could go outside and help him shovel the snow. Since the snow wasn't going to stop anytime soon he decided to wait until tomorrow and took the girls on a ride around the house. It wasn't long before I heard knocking on the door to let them in. Too cold today, try again tomorrow.
Getting on the 'boats' as Morgan called them. She spotted them in the garage this morning and asked all day to get the boats down.

Collection Complete

This year when I unpacked all of the Christmas decorations I found myself unpacking the last box of my nativity scene. Over the past 4 years for Christmas I have been getting a piece of the Willow Tree nativity scene from my mom and grandma. Last year I received that last one to make the collection complete!

Cameron had to pose with it as she helped very intently to get each piece in the correct place.

Stuffed!!

After three Thanksgivings, we are stuffed to the brim. Really feels like I've been eating non-stop for 4 days now! Having a few extra days of 'vacation' was nice but where did it go???

We managed to put up Christmas decorations and the tree up over the weekend (I've learned already with 3 kids I'll be fixing the tree every 5 minutes). Kyle play Clark Griswold and hung the lights on the house. Friday I took the annual shopping trip with my sister, Mom and Grandma to Waterloo. This year we traveled to Waterloo instead of the annual Des Moines trip. I have to say this was the best shopping experience I have had. So many items crossed of my list on the first day of Christmas shopping! I will admit I'm quite proud of the job I did!!! Kyle started his basketball reffing season with a game on Saturday.

Today we did something that I hope to make a yearly tradition. We headed to Des Moines for the Festival of Trees which is a charity event for Blank Children's Hospital. There were so many beautifully decorated trees, activities for the kids and Santa and the money going to help the hospital and children who stay there. In with the path of trees were posters with a child's picture and story about when they were at the hospital. I don't think I read one without a tear...even the one with a story of a broken finger at a girl's soccer game!

It was a good way to end the Thanksgiving weekend and remember just how lucky each one of us really are!

Split weekend

Last weekend we were split between two places as Kyle and I were in Iowa City and the girls were in Ames, both during the Hawks and Cyclone home games.

Kyle was my escort to Iowa City on Friday morning with a pre-sunrise departure time of 3:30 Am from Conrad. We were heading there because I was having my right ear 'fixed'. After my left ear was operated on in April we decided that if I wanted to have the right ear done it would need to be this year...we are looking for BIG tax return in '09...lots of children and lots of medical bills. The procedure was scheduled for a early time of 7:15 Am. A bone in my hear was removed and a piece replaced it so I can hear without assistance. Everything went well, much better than the first one. It is an overnight stay and by the time I was discharged it was about 1 hour from kickoff. Since the hospital is literally a few feet away from the stadium, Kyle had time to locate a couple of friends and join in the Hawk tailgating festivities while I got ready to head home.

Over in Cyclone country was a tailgating party we were sad to miss. My family headed to Ames to watch the proposal of my brother, Marcus, to his girlfriend, Tanya. It all took place at the tailgate party her parents have at each home game.

Marcus posing with Jack (Marcy's son), Morgan, and Cameron.

Plans are now in the works. Congrats to Marcus and Tanya!!!

Happy Halloween

Here is a little glimpse of Halloween at the Bergman's this year.

This was taken of Tinkerbell and Dora before went took them to preschool for the Halloween party.

Parker relaxing comfortably in her favorite bean-bag chair.

Tinkerbell, a UNI cheerleader and a cow were the choices this year. Having a tub full of girl Halloween costumes was great for the checkbook this year. We hope they are this easy every year!!

Morgan practing her spirit fingers before walking around the block.

Parker staying warm while trick-or-treating.

Favorite quote while collecting way too much candy.

Cameron: "My basket is getting too heavy!"

Kyle: "Do you want to put in in the wagon for a while?"

Cameron: "No, Dad, you make such bad decisions sometimes."

Just a little afraid of not getting the candy back, perhaps???

Parker Update

Friday went very well for Parker. Her doctor told us that the surgery went as well as it could have. And well enough that we didn't have to spend the night for observations. The device was put into place to block the open value just like the doctor had wanted. When it was over the doctor showed us the x-ray videos that he used during the surgery to see everything. It is so crazy what technology can do. This morning she is up playing and acting if yesterday never happened!

Here we go...

The end of this month was to bring yet another doctor visit for Parker. Originally we had a surgery date of Oct. 23 to close Parker's value in her heart. I have been wanting this day to get here so that we could get it taken care of and let this chapter be put behind us. Yesterday I received a call from the doctor's office wanting to change the date....to this Friday. I eagerly agreed to the change. My biggest fear was Parker getting sick and we would have to move it around as the cold season is fast approaching.
Very hard to believe that this surgery is an out patient procedure. The doctor will go in a vein in the groin all the way up to the value that needs to be block, insert the 'blocker' and be done. (I'm sure with a bit more detail) Similar to that of an adult patient needing a stint put in a value. If all goes well she will be discharged that afternoon.
And that is what we are hoping for.....

Birthday Party

Last weekend Cameron was invited to attend one of her friend's birthday parties at Adventureland. We thought she would have a great time and maybe not be such a chicken to go on rides if she had friends going with her. Well, she did have a good time, but still was a big chicken on a lot of the rides.

At the end of the day the moms thought it would be fun to get their picture taken at the old-fashion photo shop.

The workers asked us if we wanted them to hold guns for the pose. We thought maybe the guns should wait at least until they get in kindergarten.

Looking back....

Just remembering where we were 1 year ago today! This picture was taken after Parker returned from surgery at 19 days old. She had Malrotation meaning that her intestine was twisted. The memory of the surgical team bring her back to her room will never leave my mind. When she returned there was close to 20 people in her room not including Kyle, Al & me. The surgeon, her doctor, repository support, nurses, you name it, they were there. What a sight!! You can see they big patch on her stomach where the incision was. The scar is about 2 inches long, just to the right of her belly button. Her surgeon told us she can still be a model if she wants to. (With our genes, the scar probably won't be what holds her back!!)

Almost a year after that surgery, we just scheduled her surgery to correct the valve in her heart. It is causing extra blood flow in her heart which is making her body work harder than it should. We are very anxious to get this procedure done with so she is able to keep up!

Pumpkin Patch

This spring we took some seeds out to my parents house to plant our very own pumpkin patch. The girls have been watching them all summer. Here are few pictures I got one day when we took a little field trip.

This day we were watching our neighbor, Mason. They are picking raspberries in this picture. From the looks of their faces, they must not have tasted too good!

Multi-taker

Morgan has been very into playing with phones lately. Toy phones, old cell phones, our cell phones, you name it. She usually calls her friends, grandmas or maybe Marcy some days. 'How you doing?' 'OK', 'OK'. It goes on for sometime. What I love the most about this picture is that you have to look close to see that she does have a phone on her shoulder. One day she will be quite the multitasker by the looks of her phone skills at this age.

Fixer upper

Kyle and I have lived in our house for almost 6 years. We really are not very confident when it comes to little fixer-up projects. So instead of tackleing simple things we tend to just ignore them and only do project that must get done.

This weekend we made a pact to get all those little projects done (mostly painting) done by the end of March (our 6th year in the house). Here is a look at the first weekend of the home improvements. The stairs going to our basement. The paint palate before this was a light green straight from a 50's diner. We really like the way this one turned out.

More to come...

Cake, Cake & More cake

Tonight was the big birthday party for Parker. Grandparents, Great-grandparents, Aunts & Uncles and cousins. Parker had no problem digging right in to her presents (especially with 2 older sisters knowing this routine) or tackling her first piece of cake. She had so much fun that she fell asleep before everyone had left.

If you look closely at the left side of the cake, you will probably notice a bit of flaw. This was not the work of our great cake lady, but the work of our middle child (the one my grandpa calls the "demolition child"). I was outside working, and I hear Morgan begin to sing "Happy Birthday to Parker" several times. As I peek in with a sense of panic, I see what I was worried about. She is getting more than her share of frosting as she sings to Parker. I smoothed up several finger prints, recreated the B & P, added a bit more pink frosting and it became doable! The good thing is that it still tastes great!!

Happy Birthday Parker!!!

Saturday was Parker's 1st birthday!! We celebrated that night by going to a park and having cupcakes. You can tell she is a typical one year old by taking care of the cupcake! Looking forward to the big party with family on Monday.

Parker has had a great, healthy summer. She is moving and crawling fast enough to keep up with the older two. She is pulling herself up on everything and will be walking before we know it.

In about 2 weeks she will see her cardiologist for her check-up on her heart. Her surgery will be scheduled then to close the value in her heart that remains open.

Football Season

The football season has officially started at our house...well about 2 weeks ago actually!! I like to refer myself as a 'Football Widow" when the big games begin. Defiantly 'loosing' my husband to the game as he is off to ref about 3 times a week. In addition to Kyle's football games we have spent the past 5 years watching Kyle's brother, Brett, play football at UNI. We really enjoyed going to the games and turning our girls into life-time Panther fans!!

Since Brett is working at the high school, he was helping out with some football practices. We came home one afternoon and I pointed out to Cameron that Brett was helping across the road. She has been glued to the curb ever since!!

One lady walking by said, "She must be a Bergman!"

(Don't worry, we don't allow them to sit on the curb!! Only for a picture do I let them stay.)

First Day of Preschool

Here are some pictures of Cameron's first day back to preschool. She is going 4 mornings a week this year and loving it so far!

Morgan didn't want to be left out! She is all excited because she is going to a play group two times a week at the daycare too.

Bad weather

This was the conversation on Sunday morning during the rain we were getting. Cameron was a little scared of the storm that was rolling in.

Cameron: "Can we call the news station?"
Me: "Why do we need to call them?"
Cameron: "Because I don't like this thunder and lighting. We need to call them so they can change the weather."

We wish it was that easy!!

Parker is 11 months

Today Parker is 11 months. So very, very hard to believe it has been almost one year since we were told she was not going to come home with us from the hospital. She has been doing so well this summer. She has not been sick since May!! Since she has been healthy she has been able to make up so much. Besides crawling everywhere, following her sisters to see what they are doing and babbling to us, she has started pulling herself up on most anything. Her favorite is the bathtub. She will crawl right to the bathroom and stand up to the bathtub knocking anything on the ledge off. This would keep her busy for a long time if we'd let her. I know someday she will discover the toilet and think the tub is a thing of the past :)

Here is a picture of her today on her 11 month b-day with her first corn-on-cob experience. The first of many I'm sure.

Kyle was spent after his helping of corn!

Where has the summer gone...

I have really not posted anything since early July??? The blogger gods are probably cursing me as I type! This summer seems to be flying. The month of July has gone by and we must have managed to stay very busy as I don't remember being on the computer too much at all! Here were some of the highlights of the past month that I was able to catch on my camera.

We have been to the lake once this year. We would love to get down there more, but it doesn't always work that way. My Grandpa and Grandma Hooper were at the lake this weekend too. Cameron is helping Grandpa George drive the boat.

Morgan playing in the sand making castles.

This picture was taken after Kyle brought Morgan back from the pond in the background. Kyle was fishing with his new fishing pole and accessories when she got too close and fell in head first. She was a little upset about the whole deal!

Morgan has been binkie free since about a week after her birthday. One afternoon I peeked in her room to check on her and could not find her anywhere Finally I saw her under Parker's bed...where there happened to be a binkie. I could not resist a picture.

Happy 2nd Birthday Morgan!!!

Morgan's birthday was this week on the 7th. Tuesday we traveled to Des Moines for her pictures.

In following tradition once you turn 2 at our house, it means "No more binkies". Morgan is a big time binkie stealer, so our task of getting her to sleep without it has be challenging the past two nights. I think our best plan is to get Parker off of her binkie at the same time. Last night was slightly better than the first night, so there is probably hope!

More picture to come of her big party on Sunday!

Brett & Liz's Wedding

We celebrated Brett & liz's wedding on Friday night. It was an outdoor wedding that was beautiful. This was my first outdoor wedding and I told Kyle if we had to plan ours again, I would go outside in a heartbeat. The rain drops came down just enough to tease the guests, but by the time everyone was seated it was dry.

Cameron did her job and she DID walk down the isle. Very unsure after the rehearsal! She pulled it off..could it have been our bribery tactic of a trip to the water park the next day?? Who knows, but she it and we were so happy!! -

Here is Cameron and Henry after they have made it down. She told me later that they were up there smelling the flower petals. "They smelled so good and they must be grape!" she told me later.
Scott, Brett & Kyle before the wedding.

Kyle, Cameron, and me during pictures.


The view of the 'alter' at the Pipac Center.

Cameron posing for me in front of the pretty flowers that were all around the wedding area.

Henry & Cameron posing for a few quick snap shots.

Cameron talking to Liz before the wedding. Showing off her hair do.

Brett & Cameron just before he had to head up for pictures. It amazed me how calm Brett was the entire day! Maybe he wasn't nervous. If he was he showed no signs.

Cameron before we got to Cedar Falls getting her hair all done up. Lots of hair to curl that took a long time!!

This was taken at the rehearsal. Moments before Cameron had a breakdown and refused to walk down any isle! Again...bribery tactics came in to play.

This might be the funniest thing that happened all night long. Morgan is now officially our wild child and she ran, danced, and ran some more during the entire reception! We caught some of her moves with Henry, the ring bearer, that are too funny not to share! (and of course we'll break out when they graduated high school one day :)

Congrats to Brett & Liz!!!

Wedding preview

On July 3rd Kyle's brother, Brett, is getting married. Cameron has been asked to be the flower girl. After some alterations she tried on the dress for a 'final' fitting with shoes. Morgan is wearing the dress that Cameron wore when she was the flower girl in my sister's wedding.

This picture they are practicing for the dance.

First swim of the summer

I haven't found enough courage to venture to the pool with all three kids by myself yet! But over the Father's Day rounds we made, the girls found themselves taking a dip Grandma and Grandpa Bergman's hot tub. Here are some pictures of their first swim.

For those of you who have not seen Cameron's haircut in person...here is a look. You can see on the right side lot of layers that go well beyond her hear. The left side is covered up by the pieces that she missed, thank goodness!! The only solution is to let it grow, grow and grow some more before we even it out. At this point if we were to 'fix' it the only style that would come out if it would be a mullet that even Billy Ray would be jealous of!!

Parker just testing the waters.

Parker is 9 months

Earlier this month little Parker turned 9 months. (9 as Cameron informs everyone) The past 2 months she has made up lots of ground! She has now been without a cold for almost 2 months now and really started moving. Her little army crawl has now upgraded to a full out crawl. She has began to pull herself up on a few things too. Kyle and I don't remember our other girls doing this so young, but Parker is waving bye-bye on cue. Very sweet!!

We saw Parker's cardiologist about a week ago and had some promising news from him. She has a value in her heart that did not close like it was suppose to. The plan from the Dr. was to close the value around 1 year if it has not closed on its own. It has not at this point therefore, the next appointment at the cardiologist will be in August and we will schedule her surgery for sometime in September. The extra value causes extra blood flow, which then creates extra fluid on Parker's lungs. Which makes it easier for her to catch a cold. Our hope is that the surgery will give Parker a much better winter with less colds!

Since Parker was in the hospital in Feb. for RSV, Morgan has been very in tune to the many doctors visited usually followed by a trip to the pharmacy. We probably haven't been to the pharmacy for about 2 months, but each time we drive past the pharmacy Morgan says, "Parker's medicine?" Thinking that we need to make a stop.