Baby Boy Ulmer

I had my 20-week ultrasound last week and Dave and I decided that we wanted to know the gender of the new baby and ... It's a Boy! Here's a sneak peak at our little man.

The proof is in the pudding in this picture (some day I'm sure he will not be happy with me for putting a picture of his winkie on the Internet).

This one is a nice profile of the little guy.

Here's a foot.

And a close-up of his face.

Everything checked out really well overall and all indications are that we are still on target for mid-February. I am feeling pretty good, despite a seasonal cold right now, and the boy has been very active recently.

In other news, Krysten and I went to the Morton Arboretum last weekend with our friends Karyn, Taylor and Sami.

Krysten found a bridge that she loved running across. I think we were there for at least 15 minutes with her just going back-and-forth across this bridge. She did really well holding on to the chains for support and even enjoyed it when bigger kids came by and and bounced on the bridge.

Karyn was the photographer for the day and tried really hard to get decent pictures of the girls, unfortunately she wound up with Krysten's "cheese" face most of the time.

The Arboretum was actually a lot of fun and had a lot of interesting things for the kids to explore, like this set of jingle bells coming out of a giant flower.

And there was plenty of climbing and running in the wooden fort.

Sami and Krysten had fun exploring this dog house at the entrance to the Children's area (other people kept calling it a bird house, but I think it looks like a dog house).

The arboretum was decorated very festively for fall. We (well, actually Karen) were able to get a good picture of the 3 girls together by this particular display of pumpkins, mums and hay.

Summer Wrap-up

We are certainly bummed that summer is now officially over, but we did have a few occasions to really have some fun this summer ...



In early August we took what has become our annual trip to Batavia to see the Kane County Cougars play. We found out that Krysten does not like crowds that make a lot of noise. She became very agitated and cranky soon after the game began and would cry every time the crowd cheered. She did find some solace in eating nachos though.





And when the game was over, the night ended with a fireworks display ... she didn't like that either.

The next weekend was the Roge family reunion on my Dad's side. The reunion was held on a very nice private camp ground that one of my Dad's cousins belongs to about an hour south of where we live.

Krysten and Jeffrey enjoyed some time on the swings before we ate lunch.

Then after lunch it was time to go swimming in the lake. Of course, Krysten had a blast in the water with her Daddy ...

... and Jeffrey even took the opportunity to cool off.

Sometime in August, Krysten went on her first date with the little boy that lives next to Brian and Liz, his name is George. George had gotten a battery operated car for his birthday and Krysten was more than happy to sit in the passenger while they tooled around the neighborhood. There were lots of jokes from Daddy and Krysten's uncles to make sure George kept his hands where we could see them :-)

Then, towards the end of the month, my cousin Becky and her family (husband, Harv, and kids Marla, Adam and Tyler) came to Illinois for a visit. Becky's boys are only 2 days younger than Krysten and this was our first time meeting them. We drove down to my Uncle Dave's place near Peoria and spent some time with them.

Krysten and Marla became fast friends ... hanging out in Uncle Dave's re-build Camaro ...

... enjoying lunch together ...

... and playing on the tractor.

Krysten and Dave had fun on the 4-wheeler ...

... and we found out that Krysten loves to play inside tents.

Uncle Brad even brought a surprise for Krysten and gave her her very first Jeep Wrangler (just like Daddy's). It's taken a while, but she is getting much better at "driving" it. At first, she would sit back, no hands on the steering wheel, and push the pedal to the floor. Now she holds on to the wheel, but really hasn't grasped the concept steering yet.

My other cousin, Betsy, was also in the Midwest from North Carolina visiting her family in Indiana with her new son, Cayden, so they came over to Uncle Dave's too so the whole family could be together. I think this is the first time in quite a few years that we had all been together for an occasion other than a wedding or a funeral.

There are now 6 kids in the great-grandchild generation on my Dad's side of the family ... we did our best to get a decent picture of all of them with their respective Mommies.

Summer Vacation

Once again, I am not timely with my posts, but here are some of our pictures from our summer vacation this past July. We went to Hayward, WI with my parents, grandmother, aunts, uncles and cousins to the same lodge we have been visiting for about 18 years now. Obviously, this was Krysten's first trip to the North woods.

The weather was very chilly for July, but we made the best of it anyway. Krysten enjoyed her daily rides on the pontoon boat around the lake ...


... and of course, had to take her turn in the drivers seat.

Even though it was chilly most of the time, there were still a few good days to get some swimming in. Here Krysten shows us her touchdown pose while playing in the sand area.

The water a bit too cold for me, so Dave was in charge of swim time. Krysten loved it until she reached the point where her feet couldn't touch the bottom any longer, then she go scared.




On one particularly chilly day we headed over to the Wilderness Walk, which is kind of like a zoo. Krysten started the day by petting a baby deer.

Then she fed some of the animals, but I cannot remember what the one is called.

I think she liked the cow the best.

We also discovered that Krysten loves to be a cheeseball and stick her head through those wooden cutouts that you take pictures in ...

... and even though she was a very good girl that day, she paid a visit to the jail anyway.

One of Krysten's favorite activities of the week was chasing ducks ... she even learned how to say the word duck.

The only problem was that she would have followed them right in to the lake if someone didn't stop her.

Krysten's vocabulary really started to take shape and grow during this trip ... one of the words she learned was "bubble", which she repeats over and over again in this video.

Despite the cold weather, we had a nice relaxing trip ... next time we'll be doing it with 2 kids ... ahh!

Busy, Busy Summer

So, the Ulmer's have been pretty busy since the last time we posted. After we got back from John & Sarah's wedding in May we finally received an offer on our house! After spending about 5 days negotiating the deal, we signed a contract and began the preparation to move.

In the meantime, we had plenty of things going on in June to keep us busy. We had a visit from our friends Nick & Bridget who were driving through on their way from Alabama to Winnipeg Canada where Nick had been stationed for the next few years. They had never been to Chicago, so we took them downtown and went on the architecture tour on the Chicago River.

The next weekend little Jeffrey was baptized and I assumed my new role as his spiritual leader (aka Godmother)

And then July came and the pressure was on to get the house packed. Dave's Mom was kind enough to come for a visit over 4th of July and help me pack the kitchen. Even with all the hard work, we still managed to make to Nana & Papa's for their annual picnic.

Even though the 4th was cold and rainy, Krysten still had fun hanging out with her Papa.

We even went to the fireworks where Krysten had lots of fun playing with a glow stick and with Uncle Brian, Aunt Liz and Sadie ...

... unfortunately, neither Sadie nor Krysten enjoyed the fireworks very much.

The next was warm and sunny, so the weather was perfect for Krysten to play in her new squirt pool when we went back for the day 2 of the picnic.

After she was done swimming, Krysten tried to put her own special twist on playing bags ...

... and Jeffrey hung out with Grandma looking simply cute.

The weekend after 4th of July we moved out of our house and in with my Mom and Dad (temporarily). It was a big task, but we got it done and finally settled in to life back at home.

Although we have been pretty busy this summer, somehow we managed to find time to get pregnant as well .... yep, we're having a new baby! Due date is February 20th (yes, the day before Krysten's birthday). I guess my Mom's curse has rubbed off on me and I am doomed to have all my children born in February. Here's the latest picture of the new nut (or eggplant if you ask Dave)

Stay tuned. Up next is our family vacation to Hayward, WI!

Cutest Flower Girl Ever!

Dave's brother, John, got married in New Jersey last weekend. We were out there for about 6 days and had a wonderful time. The action was non-stop, but we'll just start with the Wedding Rehearsal ...

Krysten was the flower girl, of course, and she did a pretty good job of making it down the aisle during practice, despite one minor detour into the pews at one point.


After her stellar performance, Krysten sat nicely in the front pew and enjoyed a snack while the rest of the wedding party continued to rehearse.


Then, we were treated to dinner at a quaint little Italian restaurant near the church, where Krysten was able to spend some time with Aunt Sarah, the bride-to-be.


As with most 15-month olds, Krysten does not stay still for very long, so we were fortunate that Aunt Bev and Aunt Marianne offered to entertain her for a while so we could enjoy dinner too.


We actually had a day off between the rehearsal and the wedding, so the next day, we spent some time at the hotel pool. Krysten's swimming classes and the YMCA are really paying off as she just loves to be in the water.


After a while, Krysten chilled-out with Uncle Brian and gave him pointers on some of the advanced features of his cell phone.


After a good nights sleep, we were all ready for the big event. The Ulmer boys looked quite dashing as they prepared to leave for the church ...


... and Krysten ran off some energy in the hotel lobby while we waited for our limousine.



Finally, it was time for the wedding! John waited very patiently as the wedding party came down the aisle ...


... and although she had done well in rehearsal, Krysten needed Daddy's help to make it down the aisle for the actual event.


After everyone was in place, John and Sarah got married!


After the ceremony, the bride and groom enjoyed some champagne outside the church ...


... and Krysten spent some time with her Daddy.


After that, there was the normal menagerie of wedding photos to be taken, and Krysten kept her self busy combing the sidewalk until it was her turn.



We had a little bit of time between the church and the reception, so I took Krysten back to the hotel in hopes that she would get in a quick nap, but she had other things in mind and refused to go to sleep. So, this is what happened right around the time the reception started ...


After a quick snooze, Krysten was up again and we were able to take a family photo on the outdoor patio at the reception hall.

But, the best part of all is the fact that our daughter learned to dance at her Aunt & Uncle's wedding. Krysten spent most of her time at the reception snuggled up with her head on my shoulder, but every once in a while she would pull her head up and observe what was happening on the dance floor. Well, just before it was time for her to go back to the hotel for bedtime, Krysten got probably what was her 10th wind of the day and .... well, the video speaks for itself.

Since that night, whenever Krysten hears music she now dances! In addition to the arm movements, she also spins around in a circle and sometimes even does somewhat of a jumping motion too.

Although tiring, we had a wonderful trip and enjoyed spending time with our family that we aren't able to see as often as we would like. We are so happy for John and Sarah and are honored that we were able to be a part of their big day.