Best Friends

Anna and Mady dressed like twins today.  Xavier felt left out when I didn't ask him to be in the picture.  They were so cute!!!

Christmas Decorating

Since Isabelle is at the Angerman's for Thanksgiving, we decided to decorate our Christmas tree before Thanksgiving.

Little Buckeyes

Here are some pics of everyone celebrating the Bucks win over Michigan!

Xavier is Funny

We have dance parties nearly everyday and Xavier really loves them. I bought 2 new CD's for us to dance to last week - "Party Animal" and "Tailgate Party." Xavier loves to sing along and I discovered that "Raise a Little Hell" is one of his new favorites. I wasn't able to get him on video singing and dancing to it, but I did "interview" him about his new favorite song and we think he's quite funny.


UPDATE: We decided we would take some video of Xavier actually dancing. He got a little stage fright and it's definitely not as good as unpressured dance parties, but still cute. We also have video of Xavier practicing to be a Versailles Tiger - maybe even a drummer!!!

Emily and Paul's Wedding

We had a very busy weekend with Paul and Emily's wedding, but a great time was had by all.  We are very happy for them and were so excited to help them celebrate.  I posted 280 pics of the "wedding weekend" on Snapfish, so here is a link to those:  http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=2575350009/a=53221922_53221922/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/ .  I have attached my faves below though!

Anna enjoying some cucumbers at the rehearsal dinner:

Isabelle's finished "look":

Rachel, Xavier, and Isabelle

Xavier on stage with the band!

Emily and Paul's first dance:

A little smooch after Paul removed the garter

To see more of the Ben "Air Bass" sequence, PLEASE check out the Snapfish link.  They are not to be missed!!!

To Breastfeed or Not To Breastfeed

For the past month, I have have been slowly weaning myself off of breastfeeding, well pumping.  I have been taking out 1 pump a day every 4 days or so and last Friday was my last pump.  I had reasons for quitting, but they really weren't any good (getting low on freezer bags and Emily's wedding).  So, even though I quit, I really wasn't ready to.  I have kind of been struggling with this since last Wednesday even before I "quit" - who knew it was such a big decision!  Anyway, I started pumping again about an hour ago and got 6 ounces.  I'm sure I'll be ready to quit in about a week, but at least then I'll have quit because I was ready and not because I was low on freezer bags!  So to anyone who is breastfeeding, make sure YOU are ready to quit when you do and not for any other reason.

Update on Anna's divaness - she decided over the weekend that Alex really isn't all that bad and now she likes her - yea!!!  So, no more diva behavior from Anna, well at least not more than usual.  She thinks Alex is pretty cool now and really likes playing with her on her tummy time mat. 

Brian took the kids to check out the new playground equipment at the park on Sunday and they all had a great time. 

Emily and Paul finished moving Sunday and stopped by after for a visit and to bring ice cream for dinner.  Paul is going to be a great dad - so attentive!!!

Isabelle says this is Anna's favorite way to be held - she really does have the best legs ever!

Anna is a Diva

We welcomed little 10 week old Alexandra to our daily fun this week.  She is a cutie and pretty much makes no noise unless she is hungry - great baby!  I discovered Monday morning, though, as I was holding Alex, that Anna was apparently jealous.  She started crying the saddest cry I have ever heard with actual tears rolling down her face.  I coudl see in her face that she really thought she had been replaced as "the baby" in my life by this "new girl."  I thought this would get better as the week went on, but not so much.  I now think that Anna is a diva and is afraid of someone stealing her thunder!  Xavier and Mady liked Alex though.  If Xavier can't see her, he walks asking "baby? baby?"  Mady doesn't really seem to notice her much, but she is super excited that the bouncer has reappeared!  Isabelle loves to come home from school and hold her for a few minutes - she says it's just like old times with Anna, although she's pretty sure Anna was never that little.

It doesn't matter how happy Mady is when I take her picture, I can never get one of her smiling!!!

Anna is actually crying her eyes out here, but you can't really tell. 

Potty Training (2)

There was a big happening in the Bertke household yesterday - Xavier pooped on the potty twice!!!!  Isabelle said the second was more of a "shart", but it still counts.  If you don't know what a "shart" is, don't ask!  He still hadn't peed, but I think he's starting to get interested - yea!!!!!!!!!!

Anna's First Zoo Trip

We were actually in Columbus for the whole weekend, which was very nice.  Isabelle had a game at noon on Saturday.  She was only able to score 1 goal because she was "injured" near the end of first half.  There was a possible broken elbow, but by the time she game was over, she was all better.  Her team ended the year 7-0 against the other teams at her level.  They did play a game against a team that was a year older and lost 0-8, but everyone is just pretending that didn't happen.  She did very well this year and was definitely the star of her team - we can't wait until April!  After church Sunday morning, we picked up Isabelle's BFF, Ryleigh, and we all went to the zoo. 

Anna and Xavier were thrilled upon arrival:

The tiger was pacing.  It was very cool that they were so active.

We really wanted to let Xavier run around in the petting zoo, but it was not open.  He did get to see the goats and tried to pet them.  Anna thought they were pretty cool, too.