Gobble, Gobble!

Happy Sunday...again!

What a wonderful 5 stay at home days I had with mom and dad and a whole bunch of other family members too! Can't believe it's already Sunday, but that's how it goes...time flies when you're having fun.

We started our 1st day off on Wednesday doing some visiting-Daddy went hunting at Great Grandma Val's so mommy and I went to visit Grams for a few hours. Daddy saw a little 4 pointer, but other than that he didn't see anything, and had a pretty unsuccessful hunt this year:(

For Thanksgiving on Thursday we started our day bright and early doing the 'Turkey Trot' 2 mile run/walk. I was pretty good in my stroller, and the weather was nice! Embarassing for mom to say she couldn't handle running the whole 2 miles though, when just 6 months ago she ran a half marathon! BUT...I guess that's what happens when you have a stubborn baby in your belly!

Then we went to the farm and Granny came there too and we feasted with all our Dummer family! I loved playing with cousin Chloe!

On Friday we kicked off the Christmas season by getting our Christmas tree! Granny came along too, so it was a fun experience watching daddy cut down 'the one' and taking the wagon ride to and from the field. When I woke up from my nap and they had it up in the house, I wasn't all that curious or interested in it...mom and dad were a little worried I'd bother it and try to take off ornaments, but I think it might all work out and we won't have a tree with ornaments only at the top!

Saturday and Sunday we relaxed as a family and did some other holiday decorating at the house, a little shopping, had the Kuehls over,went to church, visited great grandma Dummer, and recooped from all the festivites!

Here's a few other snapshots from our week...

Yes, I still love to sit on the potty...and yes, I still JUST sit! No potty yet, but after Christmas we will offically start 'training'!  

I hope everyone reading this had a great Thanksgiving too....as I said last week, we've got SO much to be thankful for!

Love, The Dummers

SO much to be thankful for!

Hi everyone! Sorry it's been a while since I've updated you. No real excuse, just the craziness that is our life at the Dummer household! As we get ready to have a Thanksgiving feast and celebrate, I am going to turn my randomness of pictures into my list of just a few of the many things I am very thankful for!

First and foremost, my daddy! I love him like crazy and I'm so thankful that he's the one that God picked for me! He's the best dad in the world and I love all my special times with him....including (but not limited to!):

Visiting him when he's working in the field... 

Playing ball and dancing with him while we're cleaning out the garage:) 

Surprising him on an early Sunday morning and going for a tractor ride! 

I'm thankful for all the outdoor projects daddy has to I can hang out and be his little helper:) I helped him put up the Christmas lights here...

Helping him dig a hole for our new tree! 

I have SO many special people in my life to be thankful for! I'm thankful for the special time I get with all my grandparents...

Here, grandma and I got to snuggle while we watched papa and daddy plant the new tree! 

(Had to throw a family one in too, because even though daddy's my favorite, I do love my mama lots too:) 

I really LOVE and am thankful for my blankie! Mom and dad tried not to make me 'attached' to any one thing, but it's crazy how it just kinda happens! I love to snuggle with it at any given moment, and you can tell I'm tired when I start rubbing the silky part with my thumb and rubbing it onto my face:) 

I am very thankful for my baby doll. I could probably spend the entire evening at home taking care of her- pushing her in her stroller, changing her diaper, putting her in the cradle...I can tell I'm going to be a great big sister because I'll have lotof practice with my babies:) 

I'm also thankful for all the great books I LOVE to read! I am learning so much and have started to really say the names of the animals and other various things in my books- I love a good story! 

Even though I'm the blogger here, mom and dad have to jump in to and say how very blessed and thankful they are to have me:) (no kidding! ;) Everyday I do something new and amaze them with my cuteness and personality, and they thank God for such an amazing gift of getting to be my parents. Parenting has it's challenges, but the good times make up for every single second of stress:) We can't wait for our family to grow and for my new baby sister to feel the love too!  

 My newest favorite, which I know mom and dad are thankful for since I'm not usually a snuggler, is our special morning time...my new routine when I wake up is to get a snack and some milk, and just relax in bed with mom and dad:)

Baby Update: 24 Weeks (already?!?!)

Not much to report...baby is kicking and twisting and turning up a storm! My 2nd ultrasound proved to be normal and that there really shouldn't be any cause for concern about having to have a C-Section, so that's great news! My only 'symptoms' of pregnancy are really how tired I get and a little pain in my right side from the pressure of baby sitting over there, but if that's the most I can complain about, I'm doing pretty good:) Oh, and Daren and I both heard wrong about the weight at our 1st ultrasound, because last week they told us she was just about 1 pound (thank goodness...I was not ready for a 10 pounder like her daddy was!)

We hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoys a few days with their families...I know we will!

Can't wait to 'officially' start the holiday season!

Love,

The Dummers

Happy Halloweeeeeen!

Well I'm a little belated, but I hope everyone had a fabulous Halloween! I know I had fun...I got to dress up twice in my costume, on Sunday to visit Great Grandma Dummer and then again Monday night for the 'real' deal. I also had another special day that I got to wear orange and black for my party at daycare. We didn't do the whole neighborhood trick or treating thing, we just drove to a few select places of people we wanted to visit.

Here's a few pics of the festivities from the week...

All decked out in orange and black for my daycare party!

(Don't I look so grown up?!?! How did that happen?)

Pebbles, Fred Flinstone, Chloe the Pirate and Great Grandma enjoying some treats!  

Big kiss for grandma! 

Dad and I carved pumpkins, but I was not nearly as interested as last year in the gooey stuff! I was mostly a naked bystander while dad did all the work and mom took pictures:) 

Our last stop on Halloween was at Grandma and Grandpa Dummer's house and by the time I got there, I was ready for pajamas! So grandma got a few 'Flinstone Family' pictures, but we only got a shot of Fred and Wilma with our camera and a seperate one of me:) 

I had lots of other fun the last week or so too... I'm SO interested in books lately; well, I kind of always have been, but I really like to find things and point and say what they are, or have mom or dad tell me what it is and I repeat it 

Just chillin' on the couch reading my own bedtime story:)

This last week dad FINALLY finished up with harvesting at Pioneer and at the farm. It's so great to have my dad home spendin time with me again and I'm SO much happier:) We did make a few ventures to visit him too...there were a few cheeseburgers in the car dinner nights while we had to bring dad supper in the field! 

Me and my hard working daddy! 

Baby Update: 21 Weeks (Almost 22 now!)

This Friday we go back for another ultrasound, this time an inside one to get a better look at the cervix and placenta...we'll hope for good results and a painless visit! Otherwise baby girl continues to move all over the place like crazy. I'm growing so much faster this time (as everyone told me would be the case!) but even the baby is bigger...typically at this point in pregnancy she should be about 1 pound, but unless I heard the dr. incorrectly, she said the baby is already 1 pound, 9 ounces! That's a lot already...so I may be getting my 10 pounder like Daren after all! Yikes! Let's hope she slows down  her growth rate a little bit in the next 4 months! Otherwise I've been feeling good and we are already starting to think of possibly baby names, although we haven't agreeed or decided on 'the one' yet...sorry, we won't be sharing those until her arrival in March! (We had to keep at least something for a surprise!)

Love,

Danika and Family

And it's A.....

....Another week here and gone! After trying to upload pictures about 6 different times at home last night, finally at 11pm mom called it quits. So, we are quickly doing it this morning, becaus I know some of you are anxious to read what I've been up to!

This weekend we went to a wedding reception for one of dad's extended cousins. I ate like a champ and of course, dance like a pro:) The only time I got crabby was when mom and dad had to pull me off the dance floor to go home and go to bed WAY past my bedtime!

Hangin' out with Auntie Lori

Anxiously waiting my turn to dance.... 

Its's so much fun! Clappin' to the music:) 

No mom, I don't want to dance with you....I can boogie all by myself! 

Chloe...sure, I'll wiggle with you a little bit, then back to doing my own thing! 

On Sunday we went to Great Grandma and Grandpa Spielman's house in Hudson for a get together with the Spielman clan...we celebrated great grandma's 85th birthday and honored grandpa as a veteran-some family went to St. Paul for a reunion for Grandpa, but I was overdue for a nap, so we headed home after the fun festivities!

I had fun playing with my 2nd cousin Reed, although neither of us wanted to sit still with my papa long enough to get a picture!

On the way home, we stopped in Menomonie to visit great grandma Marion, who is still healing from her major bone break in the ankle- She's doing well, but of course it gets kinda lonely by yourself all the time, so we visited and that put a smile on her face:) (ps...sorry great grandma I ate all your cheesy popcorn! It was so yummy though, and it kept me happy:) 

And although I know you love checking in with me each week to see how I'm doing...I know why you are really checking the blog today and it's not about me, but about that baby in mom's belly...

So what do you think...boy or girl?!?!?!

I'm (kinda) happy to announce that I'm having a baby.....

SISTER!!!!

(Don't I look so excited?!?! I kind of am, just not a fan of posing for pictures!) 

Here's a good one of the proud daddy! He loves his girls and is great with us, so I guess it's going to be another daddy's girl! He's already dreading the shopping and teenage years, but let's not rush it:)

Baby Update...20 Weeks

We are half way there! Can you believe it?!?! If the 2nd half of this pregnancy goes anywhere near as fast as the 1st, I've got lots to get ready in not a lot of time! Baby continues to grow and I feel her (fun to say that!:) every day now. The ultrasound showed that she is very healthy (1lb. 9oz already!), and me too, but there was a little concern about my placenta and cervix too close together, so I have to go back for another ultrasound next week, just to double check on how it's doing...the dr. said that it wouldn't cause harm to either of us, it just means that I would have to have a sceduled C-Section, to ensure no complications with the delivery. We'll pray that everything is fine and that a c-section is NOT in our future, but if it is, at least we are both healthy:)

The dreaded belly shot...I figured now that I'm half way I better get one of these taken! It's kind of dark and hard to see, but you get the idea...the belly is growing! 

Have a great week everyone!

Love,

Daren and his Dummer girls:)

A glimpse...

Hello All!

This weekend, mom (and I) got a little glimpse at what it would/will be like with more than 1 child! We babysat my friends Anna (4) and Allie (19months...just like me!) from daycare. They came over Friday night after daycare and stayed until Sunday afternoon while their parents went camping. We had a beautiful weekend to go to the park, play sidewalk chalk, go for a walk and be outside...however mom learned in a hurry how challenging it is to go anywhere when you are outnumbered! I can be quite a handful all by myself on most outings, but add another kiddo like me that doesn't want to be put down and she's got her hands full...We even ventured to the store to get a few groceries and artsy stuff to do and she got 'the looks' from people, probably thinking "This lady can barely handle the 3 kids she's got in her cart, and she's having another baby?!?!" :)

In her defense, dad was working all weekend so it was like she was single parenting...so as far as the 'glimpse' goes, the verdict is still out for sure, but chances are we can probably handle this new baby just fine:) As long as I step it up and become a good helper!

Really though, it was a great weekend and we played well together, minus the few times I DID NOT want to share my toys! Anna was a big helper holding my hand and walking with me when mom just couldn't possibly carry Allie, me, and the baby in her belly! I had lots of fun, and hopefully I even learned how to play nice and share! Those girls are really good at it and hopefully it rubbed off on me:) Of course, no pictures of the 3 of us kiddos...anytime mom tried to snap a picture her phone was the handiest thing and they all turned out blurry, so they aren't even worth uploading-sorry!

Today we had a picnic to celebrate my Granny's birthday (no, I'm not allowed to tell you how old she is:) It was a beautiful day at Carson park and the best part of all was that ALL my cousin's on mom's side of the family were there! That rarely ever happens...the last time was probably Easter! I had lots of fun with them...although boys will be boys and I just don't understand how to play with them sometimes:) The next closest cousin to me in age is Collin, and he's 5. He's a great pal and helper with me!

Me & the birthday gal:)

I had fun throwing around the leaves...

On the Teeter-Totter with Collin 

The whole crew...all 6 of Granny's grandchildren (5 boys and ME!) 

The six grand kiddos again...from oldest to youngest

L to R: Dylan (14), Christian (9), Tyson (8), Cameron (7), Collin (5), Danika (1) 

and of course, boys will be boys...we had to get a silly one (obviously I'm not too sure what's going on, or what exactly I'm supposed to do for this picture?!?!) 

Me and Collin, just hangin' out:) 

Dad has officially started working nights while they are harvesting at work, so he goes in around 3 in the afternoon and doesn't get home until 3 or so in the morning:( So the only time I'll get to see him is for a quick good morning kiss and hug before mom and I are out the door for the day...we pray for good weather and no machinery breaking down, so that it gets done within the next few weeks and I can get my daddy back!

Baby update: 18 Weeks!

Hard to believe that mom is already almost half way done with her pregnancy! She's been feeling much better, just very tired, thanks to me:) She went to the dr. last week and is measuring right where she should be and she also got to hear babys heartbeat again, which is always reassuring. We get to find out if it's a girl or a boy in just a week and a half! Look for some kind of update about that on the blog in a few weeks:)

Well, it's bedtime (for me AND mom after the exhausting weekend...(seriously, a note from mom here...anyone reading this that has 2+ children who are less than 3 years apart, I have a whole new appreciation for you!) Have great week and enjoy the last few days of this Indian Summer before it's back to reality for October which means colder weather, which really means I have to wear socks, which I hate!

Talk to you next week:)
Love, Danika