Mom & Jim's Christmas Pic

We took a family pic at Mom's christmas but we forgot to do it when Grandma & Grandpa Kral were there. We had to build a tower for the camera to sit on and hope that the kids would at least look in the direction of the camera. It only took about 5 tries but we got one!

This one would've been great but then Jared was being Jared... grrr!

Moved Jared over and it worked!

This is the one we used... good profile shot, Chloe.

Good Morning!

12/17/2009... I heard Chloe being her usual chipper self at 6 am and discovered her standing like this. I had just shown her the night before how to hang on to the tub while she waited for the water to fill. Looks like we'll be lowering the mattress now!

Dress-Up

11/29/2009... The Beranek grandkids have an abundant supply of Dress-Up clothes at the farm. Mostly all girly stuff from their auntie's Ice Skating and Dance Recital days. Jared and Alec love to get in on the fun... as you can see! Needless to say, their dads weren't too excited to see their sons dancing around like ballerinas but it was pretty funny! I'm sure Jared will just love me one day for posting this one. =)

Not exactly sure what was going on here...

Outside Decorating

November 28th... What a beautiful day to put up Christmas lights! I don't remember the temp. but it was nice enough for Chloe to be outside for about a hour so we took advantage of one of the last nice days of the year!

Keith can't wait until Jared is old enough to take over tree climbing part of the job... neither can Jared!

Chloe loves to watch!

Jared helped me clean up some perennials so we had a little bonfire.

Happy Holidays!

Here is this year's Christmas card...

Santa at Daycare

12/12/2009... Santa made his annual appearance at our Daycare Christmas Party. The kids absolutely LOVE him and the parents always have a good time too! Jared had TONS of things on his list... go figure. He kept thinking of things to add after it was his turn so he'd just say "hey Santa, I want this and that too". Too cute.

Chloe fell asleep by the time all of the kids were done. So peaceful!

Holiday Train

12/9/2009... The "Holiday Train" made a stop in New Ulm. The kids and I picked up Grandma Deb and went to check it out. It was about -1° out so Chloe and I stayed nice and toasty in the car. Jared and Grandma Deb walked around and checked it out for about 5 minutes before they came running back to the car. I don't know how the band stayed warm while they were performing! The pics aren't the greatest due to the darkness and flashing lights but you can get the idea. It was definitely much better in person!

Chloe & Santa

12/5/2009... Chloe got to meet Santa all by herself. The girls and I were doing our annual cookie baking in Courtland and we took a break to go see Santa. She was in awe of his real beard. Started crying when he started talking to her... too cute! She even had on her Santa outfit to match.

Christmas Decorations

I just had to share this funny story with everyone. I have no idea who wrote it but thanks to Kim for forwarding it! =)

I truly out-did myself this year with my Christmas decorations. The bad news is that I had to take him down after 2 days. I had more people come screaming up to my house than ever. Great stories. But two things made me take it down.

First, the cops advised me that it would cause traffic accidents as they almost wrecked when they drove by.

Second, a 55 year old lady grabbed the 75 pound ladder almost killed herself putting it against my house and didn't realize it was fake until she climbed to the top (she was not happy). By the way, she was one of many people who attempted to do that. My yard couldn't take it either. I have more than a few tire tracks where people literally drove up into my yard.

Farming with Dad

I'm only about a month behind on updates... oops! These pics were taken on 11/8/09. We had the whole family out farming. Chloe got to ride with Daddy in the combine and Jared and I ran the grain cart. It was so cute watching her just sit there in the buddy seat mesmerized by all of the stuff going on. Jared was in his blaze orange because it was also deer hunting weekend... he's already wondering when he gets to go hunting with dad. Yikes!

Take a picture of me!!!

Let's go!

She lasted about 5 or 6 rounds... I think she slept for about 2 of them.

18 weeks

I realized the other day that I haven't really done any updates on baby #3. On Monday I was 18 weeks and everything is going well. Pretty much the same pregnancy as the other two so I've been lucky... no sickness at all. I was at training in the cities the whole week and on Thursday I definitely felt the first flutters. I had a huge smile on my face so I'm sure the instructor was wondering what I was up to! =) We have an ultrasound on the 15th so I'll have more to update then.

Bath Time

Chloe LOVES bath time! She gets excited the minute you set her on the floor and turn on the water. On this particular day she was 7 months old and was in a great mood, as usual!

Her favorite towel from auntie Krystal

Go Vikings!

The kids and I watched the Vikings Monday night football game against the Packers (a while ago... I know). I dressed them in their purple and gold. Chloe's was a hand-me-down from Jared. They were so cute!

Halloween 2009

I'm a SO behind on updates... sorry! Changing positions at work and farm life are keeping me super busy. And when I'm not busy, rest is golden! :)

Halloween was a lot of fun. Jared was a Transformer... Megatron, the bad guy. Chloe was a cute little fairy. We started the day by going to the United Prairie Bank Halloween Party at Vogel Arena and then picked up Dad and made the usual stops in the evening. Jared is finally understanding the whole "Trick-or-Treat" thing so that makes it even more fun. The kids got tons of treats... Daddy was so excited! :) Here are some pics from our day.

Jared and Chloe

Hannah and Jared

Grandma Deb and Jared (Chloe was sleeping)

Chloe is getting pretty good a sitting

Donna (daycare lady)

Grandma Patty and Grandpa Roger

Chloe and cousin Ashlyn Hillesheim

Just being goofy

Jared and I taped together 6 big pieces of paper so I could trace his whole body. He thought it was SO cool! I drew the face and he added his own little drawings. I hung it on the basement door and he keeps adding stuff like a tractor with really big wheels. Such cheap entertainment!

He's getting really good at writing his name.

Chloe's 6 Month Pictures

I took the kids to Sears last Friday for Chloe's 6 month photo shoot. It was a cruddy day to travel (rain and sleet) but we had a good time. Chloe did great! And of course big brother had to get in on a few shots too.

And... we're done!