She's Here

I know, I know. I have been horrible at posting the last couple of months, basically due to work, holidays, dr. visits, etc. But I promise, now that I have extended time off from work, I will do a much better job of updating you on the happenings of the Monkey household. Pictures and all from the holidays and delivery will be coming soon, but just wanted to officially announce our newest addition to the family. We welcomed Elinn Hope Hooker into the world yesterday 12/30/2009 at 11: 19 a.m. She was 7lb. 4 oz. and 20 in. We are all doing well, Elinn has had many tests performed and spent sometime in the NICU, but so far we are getting very positive news. She was just about 3 wks. early, so feedings have been a bit challenging, but she is getting the hang of things as of late today. We even had big sis here again tonight, she finally is beginning to warm up to her new role and was quite cute cuddling and asking tons of questions about her new sis!! So to close out 2009, the monkey household feels very blessed and looks forward to a happy, healthy 2010. Wishing you and your families the same!! Will be back to post more updates, of course next year!!

Goodbye 3, Hello 4!!!

Well a lot has happened since our last post. Ry was in a car accident right after Labor Day, which consumed most of September, helping to get him back on his feet and healed up. He is doing much better now and has been back to work for the past several weeks. The newest monkey's development is now at about 28 weeks and things are still going well. Monkey #1, just celebrated her 4th birthday and she was so excited!! Here are some of the monkey's to do's now that she is 4:

1. Go on another merry go-round

2. Go on a roller coaster

3. Be brave when she goes on Snow White's Scary Adventure if she goes back to Disney World.

4. Play some more games

and a few of her favorites at this stage:

1. Favorite Movie: Snow White

2. Favorite Food: Chicken Nuggets

3. Favorite Drink: Apple Juice

4. Favorite Toy: Polly Pockets

5. Favorite thing to do with Mommy: Go to the store

6. Favorite thing to do with Daddy: Go on a date to DQ

And now for a few 4th Birthday pics, we spent her actual birthday just the three of us. We had lunch w/ cake and presents and then we went to dinner at the Olive Garden. Last weekend we had an indoor pool party with our friends and family at our local recreation center, needless to say a goodtime was had by all!!

Looks like PINK may be here to stay...

Well we are now more than half way thru the pregnancy. 21 wks. on Labor Day to be exact. We went to the Doctor yesterday and everything looks good and healthy. The Dr. got one good glimpse at the beginning of the ultrasound to say he thinks we may be getting another girl. He went on to check all the organs and take measurements, etc. He then tried to check one more time to ensure it was definitely a girl and by that point the baby had flipped, but he did say he is fairly confident a girl is in our future. Luckily, he advised he will do one more ultrasound at around 32 wks. as long as everything keeps progressing as normal. So we are all excited that things looks so good, and that we may be blessed with another daughter. The monkey is excited as well and is definitely getting used to the idea of becoming a big sister. She has been quite cute lately checking on me and the baby and trying to get the baby to kick her. We think she may be quite the helper come January, and is looking forward to having fun in the pool with a sister!!

Summer Fun

I am finally getting around to posting some pictures of our summer fun. It has been a busy summer, but full of lots of adventure and excitement. Everyone here is doing well. I am now 19 weeks along and things seem to moving along just fine for now. The monkey goes back and forth on whether she thinks she will have a baby sister or baby brother and still ignores many when questioned about becoming a big sister. Here are a few photos of some of our summer fun. These were taken off of my parents camera for now and I still have to download our others from our trip to Wisconsin. Enjoy, we will be back soon to let you know whether it is a boy or girl as long as the baby cooperates when we go for our next check-up!! :)

Man-Holes

Just had to take a few minutes to post another fun 3 1/2 yr. old memory, before my pregnant brain forgets. Since I am on rolling layoff for 2 weeks, the monkey and I decided to spend the first few days visiting friends and family in Indianapolis. Yesterday, while driving home from the grocery store with Mimi, the monkey stated she heard a noise and asked what the noise was? Mimi quickly responded and said "it's okay we just drove over a manhole". Continuing on our path, a few moments pass and then the monkey shouts from the back seat, "why did we ran over that man"? Mimi and I broke out in hysterics, and since we didn't quickly respond the monkey continued to ask what the man's name was that we drove over and why did we run over him... Ha, you can't make this stuff up, it is truly out of the mouths of babes!!

Where we've been

Well were way over due for a blog post. I'm sure some of you may be wondering what we have been up to the last couple of months. Well the highlight has been our wonderful trip to Disney World the first week in May. The monkey was in absolutely heaven with all those princesses and characters. She loved the rides and it was fun to see how everything comes to life, it truely was magical. She additionally loved spending time at the resort pool, it was sunny and 95 + almost everyday. Mimi and Umpa joined us on this adventure and it was lots of fun to spend some extra time with just them. We were especially glad to have Umpa along as he got choosen to ride the spinning tea cups, not a favorite for the rest of us!! Upon our return, we got to stay in Indy for an extra night and attend our cousin "Cookie's" 4th birthday party. He was a little under the weather, but made a miracuously come back to enjoy cake, skateboarding, and playing outside with his monkey "BoBo's". A good time was definitely had by all on our week off, even daddy enjoyed the craziness of Disney World, despite the heat and crowds. Were still working on a video of some of the trip that we hope to share really soon.

For mother's day we returned home and I recieved a rather cool present this year, which I will get to later. The rest of May was filled with the monkey's first boogie bus recital (so cute), getting our pool ready for the summer, catching up at work, and ensuring we are ready for the monkey's summer field trip schedule at daycare.

So, that bring's us to June, which has started a little rough. We did have a good time celebrating our niece Maggie's 2nd birthday, she is absolutely hesterical. She talks more than any 2 year old I have met and is just like her Daddy, full of personality!! We have made some quick trips back to Indiana, due to some loved ones not doing so well, but I am truly glad we were able to get back and spend some time with our family.

Speaking of family, back to the cool mother's day present I received. Upon our return home from Disney, we found out that our family of 3 will soon be turning into a family of 4!!! That's right, the monkey will become a big sister in January 2010.... You may not want to ask her about it, she is a little less than thrilled. I have been quite sick this time around, and am currently almost 9 wks. along. I am praying I feel better again at around 12-13wks., so hopefully not to much longer. When we told the monkey she said she doesn't want one, and am only sick b/c I have tummy ache and it is not because their is a baby in there!!! We hope her views change as it all becomes more real to her, but will see.... For now, we plan to enjoy our summer and have fun with all our family and friends.... Promise, a video will becoming soon.

I don't feel it....

This morning at breakfast I was sitting with the Monkey and as usual I was trying to quickly get her to eat, put her shoes on, etc. etc. etc. We were having our typical breakfast of choice these days, frozen waffles and a glass of milk. This morning though I didn't put chocolate milk in in her sippy, I put white milk. I figured I was safe since she couldn't see thru the sippy cup and tell her milk was not brown. But you guessed it the Monkey asked, "Is this chocolate milk"? I said yep it sure is. The monkey then states "I don't feel it". I said "Do you mean you don't taste it"? She said "Yea, that is what I said, I don't feel it". One things for sure, I am definitely going to miss our meal time conversations some day!!