Finally, a girls trip!

My college girls were able to get together last weekend in St. Louis. Since Dave Winters died, we have not all been together. So much has happened. Sad to say, mostly difficult happenings. It was so so good to be together. We all arrived by noon on Friday and quickly settled on to her screened in porch. We sat and ate and talked for hours. We would relocate to various places (ie. the spa, a coffee shop, or restaurant) but the conversation just kept going. Many tears were shed, but we had a lot of laughs, too. I was sad to see it come to an end, but so happy to see Dave and the kids. It feels good to know that we are going to be back in the get together groove again. I love you, girls. You have made me who I am.

Leanne, Suzie, Stacy, Becky and Jill

Johnson City, TN

Dave did his residency with a man named Fernando Zepeda many years ago at Mayo in Rochester, MN. Fernando and his wife, Farissa became fast friends of Dave, they worked together and grew together during those years. Since I have known Dave, we have connected with the Zepeda family on two Anesthesia trips and have really enjoyed their company. Dave and I decided last year to take a trip to visit them in their home town and finally made it happen last week.

We had a great time. Sully latched on to their boys, Caleb (9) and Tyler (13) in no time. He loved to play soccer, basketball, and 'bat' (baseball) with them. They were great entertainers, too. They have a great home with a large amount of land behind it fully equipped with a trampoline, four wheelers, and plenty of room to run. Sully had his first real exposure to water guns and water balloons. He was in heaven. It was one toy after the next. Meanwhile, Greta kept us on our toes. From toilet bowl playing to bug eating, she is seriously such a handful. I don't remember Sully ever being so wild. She definitely has her mama's spunk, while Sully has his daddy's more reserved nature. It is so funny to watch their personalities evolve.

We spent Mother's day at the Zepeda's and then went to Ashville, NC to see the Biltmore Estate on Monday. Farissa and I spent Tuesday getting pedicures, lunch and shopping before returning to host their family for a BBQ at our quaint little farmhouse.

We had a great trip and are thankful for our time with the Zepeda family. We hope to host them in SD in the near future.

Water balloons with Caleb and daddy.

How does this work, mom?

Breakfast with daddy. 

Sully and daddy playing 'bat' at the farmhouse. 

Sweet GG.

Tubby time at the farmhouse. 

Hiking with daddy. 

Swinging at the farmhouse. 

Group photo. Fernando, Farissa, Greta, Suzie, Dave, Sully, Tyler and Caleb, 

The daily grind.

Now that we are settled into the rental house, it feels as though we are resuming our routines and weekly schedules, which feels good. Sully is nearing the end of his speech therapy as his third birthday approaches and I seriously cant believe I just typed that. Greta turned 18 months yesterday and she is crazy, in every sense of the word. 

Sully's current obsessions are robots, basketball, and soccer. It is so fun to watch him turn into a big boy, and to see him gaining confidence in himself. Dave and I are so proud of him. We are still battling the sleep issues, but it has improved, slightly. And by slightly, I mean that one of us lays with him until he falls asleep, which, on a good night, is 15 minutes. But on a bad night, it can be more than an hour. It can be exhausting after a long day with the kids, but we are both holding out hope that when we get back to the house things will get better. 

Greta is wild. She loves to do dishes, or anything involving running water and she loves to be outside, that is usually her first request upon waking each morning "outside, outside!'. She is so sweet and smiley and pretty easy going. She is gaining a bit of independence, which is adorable. Her cozy blanket has turned into her favorite thing, right behind me and then Dave. She loves her cozy and will run up to her pack and play squeal at it until she gets it. She is able to follow rules and directions, and is the cutest little thing. 

Construction is underway. We had a 7 day delay waiting on sheet rockers which was so painful. I knew that every day we were delayed meant we would be delayed moving home, which is the most painful thing. The rental is going fine, it just lacks outdoor space and the homey feeling. I will be so thankful to be home which we are hoping takes place in 5 weeks from this weekend, but that could easily be 6 weeks after this last delay. We get daily calls from our builder with 5-10 questions in each call. So, it feels like things are moving. The addition and basement are being framed, sheet rock is going up on the second floor and in the attic, and kitchen/bathroom cabinets finally went into 

production. Tick tock! (I'm 15 weeks pregnant this week :))

Grandpa Paul and GG. 

Doing dishes (if you look closely, you can see the
train tracks outside the kitchen window).

Visiting Grandma Helen.

Playing in the construction zone.  

Framing of the addition.

My welcome home crew after a day of meetings. 

Grocery shopping fun. 

 

A shower for Lizzie.

The wedding celebrations have officially started. My sister, Liz, and her fiance, Matt are inching in on their wedding date of July 4, 2015. Maggie and I jumped at the opportunity to throw her a family shower. It was really nice. Due to construction and the size of the shower, Maggie and I decided to throw the shower at a restaurant rather than one of our houses. This was the idea of the century. We chose The Falls Overlook Cafe which was really nice. Although it wasn't quite warm enough to be on the patio, it was still nice to be near in the park and near The Falls. We also coordinated a group gift, which was a fun alternative to the traditional gift giving. We raised enough money to get her her dream vacuum and a hammock. She was thrilled.

We had a great turn out and spent the first half hour as a group showering Liz with great tidbits about her. Many tears fell out of gratitude and happiness. I cant think of a better way to celebrate Liz.

Im already looking forward to the next celebration.

Me, Liz, and Maggie

Liz and her MOH, Colleen. 

Connelly Ladies.
Mandy, Suzie, Liz, Mary Ellen, Maggie, and Shelley. 

Gift opening.
Lovely flowers done by my mom. 

The addition.

While the blog title may be deceiving, 'the addition' I'm referring to is not house business (for once), although I wish that addition would hurry up and take place.

We are adding another member to the Munce family! Dave and I are excited to announce that baby #3 is in the works and is expected make it's grand entrance sometime in late October. This pregnancy has definitely been the hardest on me so far. Between nausea and exhaustion, everyday has been a challenge. Not to mention the rest of the excitement going on in our lives. I will be 14 weeks on Monday, so I'm hopeful that the first trimester symptoms will begin to subside.

I had an ultrasound on Monday and was relieved to get a great report. I am officially advanced maternal age which makes me high risk, so needless to say, we are hoping for a very uneventful pregnancy and delivery. Im under no false illusions that once this baby is born, my life will be more hectic than I could ever imagine as I will have three kids, three and under, but we will survive :).

Here are a few photos of the newest member of the Munce family.

Baby's profile with its hand by its nose. 

3-D image of the previous image. Peek a boo! 

Baby's footprint. 

A move and a boys trip.

We made the transition to our little rental last week and overall, I'd say it went pretty well. The kids were busy at Maggie's on moving day so Dave and I could work together and get as much done as possible. There is a train track that runs next to and behind the house (it is literally a stones throw away). So we woke to trains the first night, the whole house was vibrating. Needless to say, that is something we will have to get used to.

Dave was on call the following day so I took the kids to Miss Jaspers' playtime and went to my parents' house to clean, vacuum, change sheets, and pick up dog poop. What a morning. I was so efficient, and so exhausted by the time it was all done.

Months ago, Dave booked a boys weekend to see Greenday get inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. At the time, it seemed great and really fun and awesome, however, when the timing coincided with the move to the rental, I nearly blew my top. We were in new surroundings, I was not feeling very settled and I was overall just over the whole being out of our house deal. He left on Friday and I pulled up my big girl pants and made it through the weekend. The anticipation is always so much worse than it actually ends up being. The house was gradually feeling more homey by Sunday. The kids and I hardly woke up to the trains by the end of the weekend. Dave returned on Sunday evening and by Monday morning he claimed he was over the rental and ready to move out. I got a good laugh out of that as the kids and I had been there for nearly a week and he had been there for maybe 24 hours.

Seven weeks and two days until we move home (not that I'm counting down or anything ;).

Crazy hair. 

Bowling party for Sully's buddy, Rhys. 

Picking up daddy from the airport. 

Star Wars fun with Rhys. 

Tubby time at the rental. 

Hall of Fame induction. 

Ringo Star's drumset. 

Souvenirs and smiles. 

Wrapping up Riverview.

Its hard to believe we have been here for almost 10 weeks and it is already time to move on. Since we have been here, Sully has given up diapers and his crib, both sure signs that he is a big boy. Unfortunately the crib transition has not been smooth, at all, in fact, it has been an absolute nightmare. Unless one of us lays with him until he falls asleep, he will come running out looking to play, it is exhausting, to say the least. Bedtime is when I wish we were home and had our own bedrooms to retreat to. Since Sully and Greta are currently sharing, we feel like we need to do whatever possible in order to assure he doesn't wake her, which results in us completely catering to his every whim. Transitions, phases, call it what you want, we need to get on to the next one, asap. I like to think of myself as a pretty patient and fun mom, but I am neither of those right now. Spending an evening at work has never felt so amazing.

We are off to a small rental beginning on Wednesday and we will stay there for 8 weeks. Everything is on schedule for us to move back in to the house on June 13th. I go through weekends (usually weekends Dave is on call) feeling desperate to be home, to have my own space and to feel settled. I am looking forward to this being the last move before the last move, and having open shelves and closets to move in to. I am not looking forward to living next door to a set of train tracks and not having a dishwasher. Everything is temporary, I keep telling myself that, I can do anything temporarily... Now if we could just get Sully to sleep!

We will miss my parents' house. The old familiarity of things, the amazing outdoor space, the huge kitchen and the cozy living room. I am a bit bummed that we wont spend any time here while my dad is here as the kids talk about him so much (I use grandpa's potty, I take a tubby in grandpa's tubby). We are grateful for the time we did spend with my mom here, when she was home. I feel like the kids developed a deep space in their souls for her, something I will appreciate for years to come, that and the fact that she made room for us in her quiet space without question or hesitation. There is no doubt that we will be frequent visitors once we have moved out, don't worry, mom ;).

Easter at the Willard farm.

Prezoo smiles (Sully wore his monkey for the monkeys :)).

Eating duck food.

Matching fleece jackets, Greta loving the hand me downs. 

He loves his basketball shirt, this is his third day
in a row in it. 

Shooting hoops in the driveway. Don't you love the
basketball net holder (the tree)?!

The Magnolia Tree blooms. 

Backyard fun.  

Watering grandma's flowers. 

The usual order of things, Sully leads, Greta is always a few steps behind. 

Popcorn night while mommy is at work. 

Popcorn night gone wrong.