Merry Christmas

This year Karl and I celebrated ten years of marriage. We have been so blessed. Our greatest blessings are our three children.

Lily turned 8 and started 2nd grade this year. She is in Bible quizzing and received her first gold ribbon and perfect round this fall. We are very proud of her! She loves to read and help others. Lily’s lifelong dream of being the flower girl in Uncle Mike’s wedding came true in March. We were all excited to welcome Aunt Marissa into our family. Lily is a wonderful big sister and a huge help to mom and dad.

Isaac turned 1 in August. He is growing fast and learning many new things. He loves cars and books. He says a few words we can understand and babbles a lot! He is all boy and very ornery. Isaac loves drinking milk and eating crackers. He loves to growl; I think he’s practicing for in the future when he will have to protect his sisters from boys.

In March we found out we were expecting our third baby. Maggie joined our family on November 2nd, weighing in at 6 pounds 14 ounces, and measuring 18.5 inches long. She is a very sweet baby. While many say she looks like Lily and some say she looks like Isaac, I think Maggie has a distinct look of her own. I’m anxious to see if she keeps her dark hair.

Karl has been working at Craigville Telephone Company for 2 years. Along with working full time, and being a wonderful dad and husband, Karl stays busy at church teaching a Sunday school class, singing in the choir, and helping with the kids on Wednesday nights.

I’ve been working at the Boys & Girls Club of Adams County for nearly 10 years. This year I got to move my office to the new South Adams Club location in Berne. It’s nice having my office just a few blocks from home. I keep busy at church by coordinating our Dare to Care program, helping at the welcome center, and volunteering in the nursery.

We’re looking forward to spending some time with both sides of our family in Kansas City the week after Christmas this year. It will be the first time we’ve seen some of Karl’s family in a few years. We’ll have fun talking, playing games, and spending time together.

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas this year. Take some time to thank God for your family and all you have. We are all truly blessed beyond what we deserve.

Merry Christmas from the Mettler family of five!

Karl, Heidi, Lily, Isaac, & Maggie

What's in a name part 2...

Some of you might remember the post I made in February 2010 about names. Okay many of you probably don't, but that's alright, there's the link to refresh your memory.

As we anxiously await our third child there has yet again been much discussion about names. We have a girls name picked out, that was simple. We're using the name we had picked had Isaac been a girl. Just as Isaac was the boy name we had picked if Lily had been a boy.

And then there's a boys name. Karl and I are having an awful time agreeing on a boys name. So awful that we have yet to fine one name that the two of us like. Not a single one! This would be much more simple if Karl would just like the good names that I have mentioned, but no, that has not happened.

We've asked Lil's opinion about a boy name several times. The first time we asked, she suggested the name Jackie Chan. Today she actually mentioned a name that I like, but yet again, Karl does not like the name.

I'm sure in the next 5 months we'll come to an agreement on a name. And you never know we might not need a boy name at all. We'll just have to wait until November to know for sure.

2010 reasons we like

Love 2010 Christmas Card

Make a statement with custom Christmas cards at Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Shutterfly...

So you may have heard me talk about how much I love photo gift sites. One of my favorite photo gift sites is Shutterfly. I love creating photo books, photo calendars, and photo cards. It is so much fun taking our family snapshots and turning them into personalized gifts. I plan on ordering my Christmas cards from Shutterfly this year. I can make wonderful looking cards with Lily and Isaac’s pictures for less than what I can buy greeting cards for at the store. Plus it saves the hassle of having to include a pictures inside the card since there are several on the card itself. Each year I make photo gifts for our relatives. Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunts, and Uncles all love unwrapping a package to find a photo gift inside. Besides the ones I mentioned before I’ve made photo mugs, photo magnets, photo bags, photo sticky notes, and the list goes on and on. I would recommend a photo gift for any hard to buy for person!!

Pregnancy Time Line...

It's kinda hard to believe that August is here already. I just 8 days we'll get to meet our little peanut. As slowly as some days go by, overall this pregnancy has gone rather quickly. Here's a recap of some important dates...

• December 20, 2009 - Positive Home Pregnancy Test
• December 21, 2009 - Positive Blood Test
• December 22, 2009 - Ultrasound / Doctor Appointment
• December, 24, 2009 - We announce our pregnancy
• January 5, 2010 - Ultrasound / Doctor Appointment
• February 5, 2010 - Doctor Appointment
• March 3, 2010 - Doctor Appointment
• March 16, 2010 - Heidi feels baby moving
• April 1, 2010 - Ultrasound / Doctor Appointment
• April 29, 2010 - Doctor Appointment
• May 27, 2010 - Doctor Appointment
• June 19, 2010 - Big Sister class at Lutheran
• June 24, 2010 - Doctor Appointment
• July 2, 2010 - Lily feels baby move... Lil was sitting on my lap and the baby kicked. She looks as me and says "Mama, is your tummy growling or is mine?" I pointed to where the baby kicked and said "Did you feel something there?" She said "yes" and I said "Lil, that was the baby kicking!" She was very excited that she got to feel the baby moving before daddy did.
• July 8, 2010 - Doctor Appointment
• July 22, 2010 - Doctor Appointment, Tour of Lutheran Birthing Center, Karl feels baby moving... up to this point whenever Karl would put his hand on my stomach to feel the baby moving, the baby would automatically stop moving.
• July 29, 2010 - Doctor Appointment
• August 5, 2010 - Doctor Appointment
• August 8, 2010 - The date Karl was hoping the baby would be born making the baby's birthday 8/9/10.. also reversing Lily's birth month and day 9/8.. making it easy for him to remember.
• August 12, 2010 - Doctor Appointment
• August 17, 2010 - 12:30 PM C-section

The end is near...

The end of my time at IBC that is. Last night I started my last semester of school. All that's standing between me and my degree is 14 weeks of class. It doesn't sound like a long time, but I have a feeling this summer is going to take longer than I want. I have a feeling I may be a bit busy with other things when this summer concludes so I thought I'd take this opportunity to share a few highlights of my journey to get a degree. I'm not exactly sure what started my thought process that led to my going back to college. But there were several reasons that I made the decision. I'm glad I did, but I'll also be glad to be done.

September 2007 - Lily started her first year of preschool the same week I started my first semester at IBC. Lily quickly decided that her school must be much more fun than mine because she got to play with play doh.. I just got to sit and listen to the teacher talk. She was right.

October 2007 - I took my first 2 tests. I completely freaked out about them but ended up receiving A's on both of them. I have sense then only taken a few tests that I haven't earned an A on.

January 2008 - My second semester began... The class I dreaded my whole life.. Speech. I really hate speaking in front of people.. I mean REALLY HATE IT. Oddly enough, I actually enjoyed this class and got really great comments on all of my speeches. I even caused some tears with one of my speeches about the Club. Mainly I made people laugh with my sarcasm.

February 6, 2008 - Fog, really really really bad fog!!! Really bad. For those who are familiar with the area. IBC is very close to I69. My route home is.. I69, I469, Hwy 27. Very simple route.. unless you can't see a single thing. I ended up getting off of the wrong exit. I had no idea where I was. So I called Karl and said "I'm not sure what you're supposed to do, but I'm lost and it's super foggy and HELP!" I laugh at this now, but it was scary. Karl does an excellent job of calming me down when I over react. He jumps on line to look at a map and calmly asks me if there is a large factory on the side of the road (GM). I firmly tell him that I can't see anything, not the side of the road, not a building not ANYTHING, it was really really foggy. I finally figured out that if I turn around on the road I was on it would get me onto I469. I made it home that night and have never seen fog that thick since. I was very happy to get home. It was scary!

May 2008 - I took the summer semester off. I'm glad I did, mostly. But looking back, if I had taken classes that summer, I would be done and not in class this summer.

September 8, 2008 - Lily's 5th birthday.. yet another semester begins.

Nothing to significant during my classes for a few semesters I guess.. nothing that sticks out anyways...

September 8, 2009 - They seem to love starting the semester on Lil's birthday. This time I took her with me to class and then we went to eat afterwards. She did wonderful, but once again decided that my school was boring!!

April 2010 - I get called to the admissions office.. "We like to go over a students records before their last semester to make sure everything has been completed. We found a discrepancy in your records. You're missing a class." Oh great.. do not tell me I won't graduate in August, please do not tell me I'll need an additional semester. Turns out there were just some errors in the paperwork. The was in fact no discrepancy. Good thing!

May 2010 - I start my last semester knowing that I'll be done with classes a few weeks before classes come to a complete. I start my last semester knowing that I'll be exhausted at the end of each day. I start my last semester knowing that I've worked hard to complete enough classes to qualify for 2 Associates Degrees.

If someone would have told me 3 years ago that by the age of 30 (I'm not there yet, but I will be when I graduate) I would go back to school and earn a degree, I would have told them they were crazy! That it would never happen. But it did happen.

Do I regret not finishing my schooling at ONU or DSU. Nope. At that time I didn't know what I wanted a degree in, I was wasting time and money at the point. I think going back to school at the age of 27 made me appreciate school more. I also think I did better than I would have 10 years ago.

In August I will complete school with 4.0 (I'm pretty positive I'll be able to maintain that this semester). I'm proud of that.

I also encourage anyone else to do it. If you're thinking about going back to school, go for it. Is it hard to take classes while working full time, being a wife and a mother? ABSOLUTELY! But I think it's worth it.

Disney World Trip - One year ago...

One year ago today we left for our trip to Disney World. I still think about the trip often and am so ready to return very soon (much sooner than we'll actually be able to go). But in memory of a wonderful trip, I copied my post from the trip....

Monday, March 9, 2009
We start the day like every other Monday. We get dressed and leave. Lily spends the day with Grandma. Dad goes to work. Mom goes to work and school. Usually Dad picks Lil up after work, but not this particular Monday.

9:00 PM – Mom & Dad both arrive at Grandma’s & Grandpa’s house. We tell Lil we’re going on vacation. She’s VERY excited even though we haven’t told her where we’re going on vacation.

9:30 PM – After a quick stop at home to grab some stuffed animals, we hit the road. It’s around this time that Lil starts in.. “You probably should have told me we were going to be on vacation. I could have told Sam I wouldn’t be at church Sunday, I’m going to miss story time and caravans and show and tell at school.” We convince her the trip will be well worth if and encourage her to sleep.. we have a long way to drive.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009
12:30 PM – After much driving and a few pit stops we stop just inside Florida for lunch. We decide we should let Lil know where are mystery vacation is taking us. We order our food, have a seat, and hand Lil the envelope Grandma & Grandpa sent along for her. Inside the envelope she finds a Mickey & Minnie mouse card and some money. You would think this would give away the surprise, but it doesn’t. So we tell her we are on our way to Disney World! After she bounces in her seat for a few minutes and calls Grandma to tell her she knows where we are going, she encourages us to eat fast so we can get there.

3:30 PM (somewhere around that time) – We arrive at our resort, Disney’s All Star Movies Resort.

We check in and tote our luggage up to our rooms. Mighty Ducks was the theme of the building we were in. The stair case was surrounded by a huge goalie net. If was about this time that I completely lost track of what day it was and what time it was. That’s why the rest will be in list form.

Bus ride
Magic Kingdom
Casey’s Corner - Supper – Hot dogs, fries, brownie, drink
Cinderella’s Castle

Wishes Nighttime Spectacular (fireworks)
Bus ride
Resort
Swimming
Room
Sleep

Wednesday, March 11, 2008
Wake up call from Mickey Mouse
Showers
Bus ride
Hollywood Studios
Toy Story Mania!
Journey into Narnia: Prince Caspian Attraction
Voyage of The Little Mermaid
Pizza for Lunch (at the Pizza Place from Toy Story)
Star Tours: The ultimate Star Wars Thrill Ride (Karl & Lily)
“Talent Agent” calling Lil the next big star – Pig Tails McGee
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (Karl & Lily)
Block Party Bash – (Parade/Street Party)

Boat to Epcot
Met Belle in France
Met Aladdin, Jasmine, and the Genie in Morocco
Maelstrom (boat ride in the era of the Vikings)
Grand Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros
Akershus Royal Banquet Hall – Dinner with Belle, Cinderella, Jasmine, Aurora, and Ariel

Illuminations: Reflections of Earth (fireworks)
Bus back to resort
Sleep

Thursday, March 12, 2008
Wake up call from Mickey Mouse (got up early to take advantage of the Extra Magic Hours at the Magic Kingdom)
Showers
Bus ride
Magic Kingdom
Lily woke up Tinkerbell
Cinderella’s Golden Carousel
Snow White’s Scary Adventure
Dumbo The Flying Elephant
Ariel’s Grotto

“It’s a Small World”
Peter Pan’s Flight
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Tom Sawyer Island
Splash Mountain (Karl & Lil)
Walt Disney World Railroad
Monorail to Epcot
Lunch
The Seas with Nemo & Friends
Turtle Talk with Crush
Innoventions
“What’s your problem?” – Game show that Lil & Karl were chosen to participate in
Spaceship Earth
Spaceship Earth Pavilion
Journey into Imagination with Figment
“Honey, I shrunk the Audience”
Soarin’
The Garden Grill Restaurant – Dinner with Mickey, Pluto, Chip, & Dale

Bus back to resort
Swimming
Sleep

Friday, March 12, 2009
Wake up call from Mickey
Get ready
Bus ride
Animal Kingdom
The Tree of Life
Met Terk (from Tarzan)
Met Baloo & King Louey (From Jungle Book)
Brunch @ Tusker House – Breakfast with Mickey, Donald, Daisy, Goofy
Kilimanjaro Sararis
Pangani Forest Exploration Trail
Wildlife Express Train
Habitat Habit!
Kids Discovery Clubs (spots through out the park with activities for kids)
Conservation Station
Met Pocahontas
Met Jiminy Cricket

Met Rafiki
Met Pooh, Tigger, and Eeyore
DINOSAUR
Tricera Top Spin (Karl & Lil)
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade
Camp Minnie-Mickey Greeting Trails
Met Koda
Met Minnie
Met Lilo & Stitch

Bus to Magic Kingdom
Met Pinnocio
Supper
The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
Swiss Family Tree house
Pirates of the Caribbean
Jungle Cruise
Bus back to resort
Arcade
Swimming
Sleep

Saturday, March 13, 2009
Wake up call from Mickey
Get ready
Bus to Magic Kingdom
Met Snow White
Met Mary Poppins
Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor
Stitch’s Great Escape
Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
Astro Orbiter
Met Buzz Lightyear
Space Mountain (Karl & Lil)
Lunch
Minnie’s Country House
Toontown Hall of Fame
Met Tinkerbell and Fairies
The Barnstrormer at Goofy’s Wiseacre Farm (Karl & Lil)
Mickey’s Country House
Donald’s Boat
Dream Along with Mickey
Mad Tea Party (Karl & Lil)
Disney Dreams Come True Parade
Mickey’s PhilharMagic
“SpectroMagic” Parade
Cinderella’s Royal Table – Dinner in the Castle, picture with Cinderella, show by The Fairy Godmother and Mice

Shopping at Gift Shops
Bus Ride to Resort
Crash

Sunday, March 14, 2009
8:30 AM Head for home

Monday, March 15, 2009
2:00 AM Arrive home

It was an exhausting but wonderful trip. A trip that none of us will forget anytime soon. We got to see and do tons of stuff, but there is a lot we didn’t have time for. It was a trip of a life time. Seeing Lily interact with the characters was so much fun!