The Krelle Family

Look Who's Two Months!!!

2011-03-04T11:45:00.000-08:00

Rowan turned 2 months and is now almost three months so I though I should get this blog posted. One thing to note is how fast the time has flown by. I said that back with Grant and it is true still...the more kids...the quicker the time goes by. Which means we're having a blast!!! Rowan has added so much love into our house...he get kisses and loves all day long from us. He really enjoys time under the Baby Einstein. He gets his legs and arms going, kicking and waving. I like to have "conversations" with him. He coos, then I coo back and so on. The smiles from him are awesome and he has a great laugh :) Tatum really loves being around Rowan and talking to him. She has become an excellent babysitter while I go do something like shower, or go do my hair and makeup. Grant likes to try giving Rowan pacifiers. He's a little rough, but I don't discourage his interest. Rowan takes milk from a bottle like a champ, a luxury we didn't have with the other two kids.

Every one always asks about sleeping and I can say that I can't complain. Rowan goes to bed about 6:30-7:30 (somewhere in there) and will sleep about a six hour stretch. Then I go in and feed him for about 10 minutes, he goes back to sleep for another 4 hour stretch...gets fed again and then will sleep in till about 9am. I am really excited because I got an eight hour stretch the other night and that was pretty cool. Not all nights are as good as what I am writing about, but the bad nights are not typical, and that is what makes them doable :)

Some of the things I found myself worried about before Rowan arrived: like preschool drop off/pick up, time spent individually with each kid, and date nights with Eric, have really become non issues. Like the Nike slogan say "Just Do It" and that is the approach I have taken when it comes to the pick up and drop off at Tatum's preschool and it really hasn't been that bad...the cold days were the worst. I still have time to spend with each of the kids on their own, and thanks to willing Grandparents...Eric and I have gotten to keep up on spending some time out and about being alone or social :)

Eric and I took Rowan to his 2 month check up the other day and take a look at that scale!!! Rowan is 14lbs 1oz which makes him 83% for weight and he is 24 3/4" which is also 83% for length. What a blessing that nursing is going well. Rowan is gaining weight well and I have no worries there!!! Well time to end this post. Tatum is begging for a game of Memory :)

Follow The Yellow Brick Road

2011-03-01T19:14:00.000-08:00

So Tatum has decided that she wants to be Dorothy for Halloween next year. Not only does she want to be Dorothy for Halloween, but the whole family is to also partake in her love of all things "Oz" and be characters from the movie as well. The other night Tatum says "How about we go around the room and say what we are going to be for Halloween...I'll start...Dorothy" (As she raises her hand in the air). Eric-Tin Man, Grant-Scarecrow, Rowan-Lion, Me-Glenda (thank goodness she thinks I'm a good witch).

This then sent us on a quest to look for costumes now...maybe we can find some kind of deal on ebay...heck we have 8 months to go.

While looking at costumes she starts to critique the costumes...it sounded something like this:

No...look that one has red slippers, but they aren't high heels

Ummmmm.....That one has a white basket and Dorothy's basket is not white.

Those costumes have white socks, and Dorothy wears blue socks in the movie...that is not very authentic.

I could probably post more, but you all get the picture. The girl is detail oriented and she's not even five!!! Get's this from her Daddy she does :) (said in the voice of Yoda)

As a side note...she has the next 4 years of Halloween figured out. The apple hasn't fallen far from the tree. I do believe that Eric is already working out Halloween for next year with his work crew.

Well I'll be keeping my eyes out for some cheap costumes....happy hunting for me.

Boys Will Be Boys

2011-02-28T17:37:00.001-08:00

Tonight Eric was watching something on T.V. that had something to do with WWII and there were guns going off on the T.V. Grant quickly ran out to the living room and grabbed his toy power drill, ran back to the room....pointed it at the screen...and started making shooting sounds. I know I have never taught him how to play like that...so as the saying goes...Boys will be boys. Oh I should also add that he also pointed at the screens and shouted "Germans"...I do believe that Eric has a little influence in this area :)

Rowan's Birth Announcement

2011-02-10T21:57:00.001-08:00

Our Newest Little Someone To Love

2011-01-02T18:04:00.001-08:00

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We are so excited to announce that Rowan Henry Krelle joined us on December 17, 2010. He was born at 10:39am and weighed in at 8lbs 13 oz and 21" long. He is healthy and I can't get enough cuddles in on him. We couldn't feel more blessed or more love for such a precious little guy.

Tatum and Grant love on him all the time. Tatum is really big on holding him. Grant really likes to point to Rowan and kiss him. He also likes pointing to all of Rowans body parts, hands, eyes, ears and such, and then point to his own....not sure if he is comparing, or just thinking it makes a fun game.

I can't think of a more fun time for a family than the birth of a baby. Having Rowan here for Christmas really made it quite special for all of us. The best gift I got this year was the gift of love that I have for Rowan. I can truly say that I feel like a little miracle happened the moment he entered this world.

Christmas Letter 2010

2011-01-02T14:13:00.000-08:00

Hello and Merry Christmas to all of our family and friends. We hope this letter finds you all doing well this holiday season. Once again it's the time of year when we look back and thank God for the many blessings that He has bestowed upon us this past year. This year we will give you a glimpse of our year in numbers...so here it goes.

17---The number of days left in Tracy's pregnancy. Baby Krelle is due on December 17th

7---The number of passengers our new mini van will seat safely. With baby #3 on the way it was time to upgrade.

15---How old in months Grant was when he started to walk full time.

3---How many days Tatum goes to preschool each week.

4---The number of times we went to the Hanscom Park Pool some weeks this summer.

11---The number of years that Eric has been with Oriental trading Company. He still loves his job and the amazingly creative people that he gets to work with every day.

30---The number of days that Eric sported a mustache this November to raise awareness and money for prostate and testicular cancer.

201---The number of trick-or-treaters we had visit our annual "Spool House" this Halloween.

12---The number of hours I work per week at the MSR group. It has been 4 years now that I have been there.

17---The number of lawn and leaf bags that Eric filled in one day of yard work.

16---The number of hours in one day it took Eric and I to paint in the basement and to rearrange the kid rooms to get ready for the new baby.

36---The number of days Tracy was able to keep a weekend getaway trip a secret from Eric. We took the family to The Great Wolf Lodge for Eric's birthday.

3---The number of blankies Grant sleeps with each night.

9---The number of displays, reenactments, training events and meetings that Eric participated in with his Living History Group this year.

4---The number of dresses or outfits that Tatum would limit herself to on any given week. She has her favorites and would not venture past them if I would let her.

Countless....The number of times we find ourselves being thankful for booth our families for their generosity in watching Tatum and Grant for us while we work, have date nights, doctor appointments and so on. We are truly blessed by having them.

In closing, we hope that God's blessings find you this next year and that the gift of Jesus Christ is present in your hearts the whole year through.

All Our Love,

Eric, Tracy, Tatum, Grant and Baby Krelle

We are adding another branch to the family tree!!!

2010-05-20T21:40:00.000-07:00

Many of you know already, but I thought I would make it official with a blog post. We are expecting baby Krelle #3 in December. We are super excited to see who God is going to bring to our family next! Please join us in praying for a healthy baby. Tatum is excited and says she wants a sister...because she already has a brother. Grant is going to be a great big brother as he is so good at giving Tatum's dollies hugs and kisses :)

Grant is one!!!

2010-05-20T20:46:00.000-07:00

This past March we celebrated Grant's First Birthday!!! I can't believe how fast the year has gone. I got pretty sentimental. Grant has blessed our family in so many ways. He is just the sweetest little guy. He is so loving and quick to give hugs. He loves playing with Tatum, spending time in the ball pit, throwing balls back and forth, playing with cars, getting from one place to another quickly. and knocking down towers of blocks as soon as they are built.

Grant recently has begun walking and I anticipate once he gets to going not much will stop him. What a great year it has been...we love you Grant!

Major Photo Updates

2010-05-20T20:16:00.000-07:00

Well it has been a long time coming...The blog has been seriously overlooked, but I am hoping to remedy that now that I we have a new computer to work on. It is much faster and will make staying on top of things much easier.

Here are some photos from the past Fall and Winter...Enjoy!!!

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Christmas Letter 2009

2009-12-27T18:42:00.000-08:00

Another year has passed and we are busy preparing for Christmas and all the fun time with celebrations of the holiday season. At this time of year I always like to take a look back at the year and thank God for the many blessings He has bestowed upon our family.

The biggest change for the Krelle family this year was the birth of Grant William which took us from a family of three to a family of four. Tatum has blossomed into a little socialite, Eric and I ginally joined a Journey Group at Christ Community Church and I have been a busy stay at home mom with a few part time jobs on the side.

Tatum is now three years old and just fills our lives with such adventure. She has so much energy to share with us. Each day she wakes up excited to be a girl on the go and see what the day might bring. We have many outings with friends, trips to the zoo, parks, friends houses or Boingz. Often when we are heading back home she tells me "I don't want to go home mommy." She is into all things princess and likes to dress the part. Her favorite toy is Stripes Kitty, a stuffed animal, who also goes by the name Reena. This little kitty has a great life thanks to Tatum's loving care. This past summer we put Tatum in ballet at The Rose. I think we jumped in a little to quickly, as she wasn't quite three yet. It was quite the mom moment to watch her do the opposite of what the teacher was asking of her. Gotta love her, she has her own mind and won't easily been swayed. Tatum's biggest passion by far is being a big sister to Grant. Who she affectionately calls "Buddy-G". Seeing her love on him is a great joy, even if she gets a bit rough at times. She just can't seem to get enough of him, and neither can we.

Grant is 9 months old now. The time just flies by way to quick. He joined us on March 15th and my heart hasn't been the same since. He just fills it with so much love. He is an active little guy now. He crawls all over the place to get to where he wants to go. It is so funny because he sometimes grunts while doing it...cracks me up. He will look up at you and his face just bursts with this little toothy grin...it melts my heart. He is most proud of himself when he pulls himself up to a stand. Grant is a pretty easy going boy for the most part, but I will say he loves his mommy. He likes to be held a lot!!! He may not be able to talk yet, but he can really get his point across with this little man cry that he does when he is not happy. Patience is something he still has to learn. Grant also has a fondness for Tatum. He takes all of her extra love in stride even when it is a bit overwhelming, he just smiles or laughs.

Eric also has had quite the year. This past July marked Eric's tenth year at Oriental Trading Company. I can fully say that he loves OTC, the work and the people. Designing is a passion that Eric can't live with out. He continues forward in his living history hobby and has gotten to do some great displays and events with his group. He go to be a part of the "Band of Brothers" vetrans' visit to Omaha when they spoke at the Air & Space Museum. He is on his third year now being involved with a mens group though church which he currently co-leads. Above these things, Eric just enjoys his time being a dad. It is a great thing to watch. He has full kid duty on the nights while I am away and there are times I think things run smoother while I am away.

This year has again been a busy one for me. I have been active with Mothers of Preschoolers, getting together with the mommies from my Bradley group, co-coordinating Childcare for bible studies at church, freelancing for OTC and working at The MSR Group. A highlight for me this past year was getting out of Omaha for a getaway to The Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas City with ourfamily. It was fun to go down the water slides and feel like a kid. I really cherish the time that we get to spend together as a family.

This past year we had many fun times with family and friends. The memories and relationships are important to. Please call or visit anytime. We would love to hang out and chat with you.

In closing, we celebrate the birth of our Savior this holiday season and the He is what Christmas is truly about. We wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Love,
Eric, Tracy, Tatum and Grant

Neb City Trip 2009

2009-11-02T22:56:00.000-08:00

Fall is always a fun time of year. I wasn't sure if the weather would give us a break this year...but it did. The colors could not have been more amazing for our trip to Nebraska City. This year was so special to be able to bring Grant along for his first trip of many :) Tatum really enjoyed all the leaves and wanted to run and jump in them all. We went down and had a picnic lunch, enjoyed playing in the trees, and playing catch. The tree trail from the Leid Lodge was fun and just plain beautiful. Visiting Arbor Lodge is always special as that is where Eric and I were married :) Being with each other and enjoying the time really made this a great day. Here are some pictures of the day.

Photo Shoot

2009-09-13T22:06:00.000-07:00

I promise a marathon blog post is coming soon...I have been working on them. But here is one I just couldn't hold onto. Last weekend we took the kids on a photo shoot hosted by one of our friends, her wonderful sister is the photographer. Well here is the whole photo shoot. Tatum and Grant are about half way down the scroll bar. Look for Grant as he appears first. He is in a wicker basket with a cute little green hat on followed by Tatum has a pillbox type hat on and another one with a flower in her hair. They are very cute and whimsical pictures that capture our little ones in that perfect little moment in time. Grant is just being himself...a little buddy, and Tatum...well her pictures speak for themselves about her mood...ah a three year old! Enjoy!!! I also want to add that that cute little baby in the pink crocheted hat is our friend Sage. She is one of the Bradley Babies round two!!! So cute in that pink crocheted hat :)

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Happy Five Years of Marriage!!

2009-06-12T12:23:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe that Eric and I have been married for five years today. Most couples have memorable days of course, but ours was especially memorable. The day was Saturday June 12, 2004. Upon waking up and looking outside I knew it was going to be a beautiful day in Nebraska City for our wedding. The sun was out, the skies were blue... God gave us a magnificent day.

Around 11:30, the weather started to change. I got the first call from the cake vendor wanting to know if they should still come from Omaha. I said yes wondering why they were calling. I got another call from a girlfriend a bit later saying not to worry about the weather, that Eric and I could take pictures inside Arbor Lodge if needed. I decided to look outside. The weather outside didn't look so great. It was now about 12:45 and our pictures were to be taken at 2:00. The phone rang again...this time it was the chair rental place...wanting to know if they should still come. I was starting to wonder if our wedding was going to have to be indoors.

I decided to go find Eric, he would be able to keep me calm and would know what to do. I found him with the TV tuned into the local weather channel. We looked outside at what later was confirmed as wall clouds, dark, grayish blue, spinning clouds. It looked like night outside. While looking out I stated "We‘re going to get blown away aren't we?" We stopped and prayed and I headed back down to my room. No mater what the weather would hold in store there would be a wedding :)

By 2:30 p.m. it was AWESOME, even beautiful. We took pictures both outside and inside of Arbor Lodge, they turned out gorgeous. By the time the guests started to show up so did a few clouds. With gray skies and soft thunder rumbling in the background, Eric and I were married. By the time we rode the trolley back to the Leid Lodge for the reception, the clouds burst and it rained for hours.

People could not stop talking about God's mighty power that day. I am glad that people could see God and how He is in control of all things. From blue skies to wall clouds, hail and rain. It's like God parted the skies for us...just long enough. Our desire back then is the same today. That our marriage would honor God.

I smile to myself today as the rain comes down on the fifth year of our special day. Looking forward to celebrating tonight with Eric, looking at our album, reading our vows, and recounting the day.

Happy Two Month's Grant!

2009-05-15T19:17:00.000-07:00

Well another month has gone by so quick. I don't remember time flying by this quick when Tatum was little. I also feel like Grant is just getting big way too fast...I want him to stay a little baby. I guess that is how it is when you have two little ones. Is it like this for each child you have... that it makes the time go by quicker? Hummm? You mommies out there will have to let me know.

What a great month it has been for us though. Grant is such a joy to be with. He is just so sweet and cuddly. I love holding our little guy. He just takes it all in and looks up at us with the sweetest expressions. We go in his room at night and feel so blessed that God has entrusted him to us. We still do the same with Tatum. I love watching them sleep. Speaking of sleep we are getting some around here finally. Grant is now sleeping through the night with six hour stretches. Yeah Grant!!!

We had Grant dedicated at church on Mother's Day. Pastor Dusty White performed the dedication. We expressed our desire for Grant to grow up to know Christ as his savior, stand firm is his faith, become a man of courage, able to show strength and act out of love. Grant's middle name William means "strong protector" and has been passed down five generations now. Funny side note here...during the dedication Tatum waved to the congregation while up on stage. Of course having her grandparents sitting in the front row might have had something to do with that.

We took Grant in for his 2 month check up today and I am pleased to report that Grant's heart murmur is gone! He did so good while there. He put on his best show cooing and smiling at our Dr. She said that once the murmur is gone it is not likely to come back. Grant also weighed in at a whopping 11lbs 2oz which put him at 37% for weight and he measured 23" which is 54% for height. I knew that he had grown a bit as some of his 0-3 month clothes have been getting shorter looking on him.

Here are some photo's of the past month...enjoy!

Happy One Month Birthday Grant!

2009-04-16T14:26:00.001-07:00

It is hard to believe that Grant is one month old already. Time has just flown by for us here in the Krelle household. The past four weeks or so now have been such a joy being with Grant. He is such a good baby. We love holding him and snuggling with him tons. He makes such cute little noises and just curls right up into you. If you give him a minute he will steal your heart for sure.

We have a pretty good schedule going now. It wasn't that way at first though. It took awhile to get into a little rhythm going. Grant nursed about every 2 hours during the first few weeks, but now we are getting 3 hour stretches during the nights, which is nice for me. I am a person who can get by with little sleep, but there is something about being up every two hours or less that left me feeling like a zombie for awhile.

Some of Grants milestones so far are that he gained his birth weight plus 8oz by a ten day check up. He quickly outgrew this little spit up thing that he was doing while in the hospital, and the echocardiogram that he had in the hospital revealed that his heart murmur is something that we will monitor, but he should outgrow it over time.

He loves to look up at us when we are holding him. He tracks object quite well and will move his head from one side to another just to keep his eye on the object. He does not seem to scared when Normandy comes over to give him a lick, which is good because she likes to give kisses. He seems to like bath time and is pretty relaxed when we give him a bath. This is something that Tatum loves to "help" us out with. He also seems to have pretty good neck control as he can hold his head on his own while we hold him for some good little moments. He can also lift his head for awhile during tummy time too. He also bats his arms and if there is a toy that they come in contact with he seems pleased.

We have gone on quite a few outings including: BOINGZ, the zoo, MOPS, movie night with the girls, church and grocery shopping. I have found out that the world doesn't slow down when you have a baby...especially when you have a 2 1/2 year old. So we have just tried to keep up with our schedule and Grant seems to fit in nicely :)

One of my favorite moments with Grant just happened last night. We were all in the bathroom singing while giving Tatum a bath. Grant was laying on the rug and I was clapping his hands together and singing. Grant got out a few noises as well. It seemed like he was trying to sing with us all and it was quite cute.

One final thought. I can say that the saying "they grow so fast" is true. I just can't believe how quickly Grant has grown. He is getting to big for his newborn clothes and it almost looks like lengthwise he will be out of the 0-3 months well before he hits three months. The other night I went into the bedroom with small tears in my eyes and Eric asked what was wrong. My reply was that Grant is just growing way to fast. I just want to cherish each moment we have.

Here are some photos of the past month for you to enjoy!

Introducing Grant William Krelle!!!

2009-04-03T13:41:00.000-07:00

We couldn't be more excited to share with you all that on Sunday March 15, 2009 God blessed us with the arrival of Grant William Krelle. Grant was born at 4:38 p.m. He weighed in at 6lb 14oz and 18 1/4" long. He couldn't be more beautiful and we couldn't be happier. God is good.

Labor treated me well. I was able to do natural child birth as I did with Tatum. This time labor started at 4:15 a.m. and lasted a little over 12 hours. Compared to Tatum's 20 hour labor, this was a walk in the park. I will say that active labor only lasted for 6 hours this time. My admit time to the hospital was 1:50 p.m. and Grant was born about 2 1/2 hours later.

Eric was a great coach. He stayed by my side and kept me calm. There is no way that I could have done it with out him. One of the things I love about childbirth is how well we work together as a team. Our midwife, Lydia, was also great. Man she just knew exactly where I was at in labor and was able to be a great support for both Eric and I.

We are all doing well. Eric, Tatum, Grant and myself. The past three weeks have been great just getting to know Grant and bond as a family. Eric was able to take off two weeks which was wonderful for us all. Tatum especially liked having Daddy home to play with her.

I love having this little boy here to hold finally. There is just nothing like it. He is so sweet, the little noised he makes, and the way he just stares up at us it is just amazing. We feel so blessed to have two beautiful children to love on.

Here are some pictures of the first few days of Grants life.

5-5-5

2009-02-10T19:45:00.000-08:00

Thanks Victoria for tagging me in the photo trip down memory lane :) This is a picture that I love of Tatum on our first trip to Neb City with her. Eric is holding her and she is holding onto Eric's Mom's hands and looking at her. The inscription on the whispering bench in the background sums it all up I think. LOVE

So here goes: Post the fifth picture in your fifth folder and tag five people.

1. Amy Bruce
2. Bruce
3. Elizabeth Lewis
4. Eric...using army photo's for any of his blogs :)
5. Anyone who reads this could also post on Facebook :)

I couldn't love this day More!

2009-02-10T12:22:00.000-08:00

Man what a great day it has been today. Today I decided to have a day here around the house and to focus on Tatum. We had a great morning together playing and cleaning. Our friend Natalie came over for a quick visit and those girls were angles. They shared toys and would ask each other to see a toy if the other one had a toy they wanted. I fed them some lunch and they ate about every bite. And to top it all off the weather was just great outside. My neighbor Kathy and her son Christian came over in the back yard to play with the girls, which was so nice.

I just didn't know if it could get much better until we decided to run a quick errand to Target. I rolled the windows down on the way home and Tatum was laughing with pure delight. "Oh Mommy goodness the wind is all in my hair!" We drove around and turned up the music in the car...Matthew West's song More was on the radio. I can remember days like this in High School that I would just drive around with the windows down and the music up. It was great.

We came home and Tatum is now napping...first time in weeks she has napped for ME. I am now going to go take a bath...all by myself :)

Bono is our president?

2009-01-25T17:42:00.000-08:00

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I asked Tatum if she could say "Barack Obama", which she did. I then asked her if she knew who that was? To which she responded "the president." I was quite impressed as we have not specifically taught her about Barack Obama. Later, just to make sure, I asked her who the president is and she replied "Barack Obama." I guess she really knows. Later that night when Eric wanted to see for himself if she could answer the question "Who is the president?" She smiled this funny smile and laughed while saying "Bono." Now that's my girl :)

Random Tatum Funnies

In the mornings when I ask Tatum what she would like for breakfast she usually asks for things like: popcorn, fruit chewies, or pickles.

Tatum randomly at the dinner table said "Daddy it's not my lucky day."

First thing the other morning when Tatum came into our room and had her head laying on Eric's chest she asked "What's that I smell?" I had no idea what she was smelling. She asked it again and I asked "Is it daddy's breath?" and she said "yeah...does it smell like his toot?" Poor Eric. I assured him that most people have one or two bad morning breath days :)

Cuteness

Tatum wanted to know if the baby is going to hug her when it gets here.

Tatum likes to get a blankie and spread it out on the floor. She then gets the shape tiles from her Candy Land Game and a small spoon and proceeds to "paint glue" on the tiles. When I asked her what she is doing she said "I'm working on projalects, I'm decorashing them." It sounds so cute.

Tatum also likes to put out picnics for Normandy and Tavia. She gets quite upset when they do not want to "eat" with her.

Naughty Tatum

Tatum has started to blame Normandy for naughty things that she has done when I am not looking. I can't remember what it was the other day, but Eric and I looked at each other and were like....she just lied to us. She's just two man

Sometimes when Tatum does something she shouldn't and I catch her she buries her head into the carpet and covers her head.

January Updates

2009-01-16T20:06:00.000-08:00

Well the beginning of the month was quite busy for Dr. appointments for us in the Krelle house. On Monday the 5th I had a midwife appointment. I am happy to report that things are going well for baby Krelle. Heartbeat is going strong. Baby Krelle is however head up and I am hoping that this is not a preferred position. I am psycho and really want to go through natural childbirth again.

I did decide to do the blood glucose screening test, which I failed. After doing the test again on Thursday the 9th, and four blood draws later, I passed it. False positives are totally why I was going to pass, but I am happy that I fell into the false positive statistic.

Tatum had her one year eye check up on Tuesday the 6th. What a difference a year makes. I remember how upset I was upon hearing that she would need glasses. I now look back at that time and I am disappointed in my own vanity.

There have been times this year when I wanted to pull my hair out because she had been so naughty with her glasses. Especially chewing the nose pieces off whenever she got the chance. Even to the point that I was in tears one day because of two back to back visits to fix them in one day. < ---Thanks so much to the good friends who listened to all my frustrations.

Tatum has gotten so much better with wearing her glasses and I have gotten so much wiser to avoid letting her wear them in the car. I am now so thankful that our pediatrician saw that Tatum needed those glasses. Had she not caught this when she did Tatum might have had permanent eye damage. We are forever grateful for her being so thorough.

I am so happy to report that Tatum's good eye is still good and needs no correction. I am even more happy to report that her eye that has the correction needed less correction this time around. We were able to use her same frames this year and just replaced the lenses. We did put the glare proof on these ones so I am excited to see how they turn out in pictures.

Tatum has a new room!

2009-01-04T12:43:00.001-08:00

As you can see Tatum is very happy about her big girl room! Eric has been working very hard on this room project. We decided to get new windows in both Tatum's room and the baby room. Tatum also got new carpet, new wood trim in the whole room and a closet makeover, along with a fresh new color...lemon parfait. It is truly a girly room. It was so much fun to work on finding all the right stuff.

She seems to go to sleep better in this bed than she had been in her crib, which is nice. So I would say the transition has been smooth. She doesn't get out of bed until we ask her to. I am waiting to see if the novelty wears off. Naps are a bit more sporadic, but they had been for quite awhile anyway.

On her first night in her big bed we heard a "thud" followed by a cry at about 4am. Tatum had fallen out :( We did go get a bed rail that hides away during the day. She is pretty happy about that and likes to show it to people when they come to see her new room. It's funny about what excites her. But hey, I guess if I was falling out of bed, I'd be pretty happy about it too!

New Years Eve 2009

2009-01-01T18:56:00.000-08:00

This New Years Eve we had a great time celebrating with one of Omaha's singles ministries called GAME. It stands for Great Adventure Ministries. Check them out at www.greatadventureomaha.com. My girlfriend Lynnae was in town for one night only and her plans were to go to GAME and celebrate. Eric and I were fortunate enough to get to tag along. We checked the web-site out and saw that you could come as you are or come as your favorite 80's or 90's Rocker. Well Eric and I wouldn't miss an opportunity to "theme it out" so we hopped right on it. Eric decided to be Bono and I decided to be Gwen Stefani. After all Bono is my fave and Gwen is a rocker, who's been pretty rockin' while pregnant.

Well we got downtown and found "Rock Star" parking. Opened the door and noticed that people were dressed "normal"...couldn't a big hole appear and swallow us up now! Please :) It seems that the theme didn't really catch on this year. Oh well Eric and I had fun. We stayed in costume for about half and hour and then changed into normal attire. It was nice to catch up with old friends, some who I hadn't seen in years.

The whole place they have down there is quite impressive, not to mention the people involved in ministry there are so friendly. There is a coffee bar, two pool tables, a fooze ball table, a main room where the dance floor and stage were at (during the week used as praise and worship room), 4-5 break out rooms done up as living rooms and used as bible study rooms. What a great place for singles in Omaha to gather together and learn about God. They had a live band playing, Big Bo and the Biscuit Eaters. At midnight we did a sparkling apple juice toast and then got to sing praise and worship songs. They ended the night with pancakes for all.

It was a fun way to bring in the new year!

Christmas Letter 2008

2008-12-28T18:32:00.000-08:00

Hello and Merry Christmas to all of our family and friends. We hope this letter finds you all doing well this Christmas season. Once again it’s the time of year when we look back and thank God for the many blessings that he has given us this past year. This year we thought we would give you a glimpse of our year in numbers... so here it goes.

14 The number of weeks left in Tracy’s pregnancy. Baby Krelle is due in mid-March.

25 How old in months Tatum was when she became a “Big Girl” and started using the potty full time.

9 The number of years that Eric has been with Oriental Trading Company.

6 How many hours it took to put a new roof on the house this summer.

18 How old in months Tatum was when she got her glasses this year.

1,400 How many miles Eric traveled to Orlando, Florida for work this July. He got to go to Universal Studios and saw Kirk Cameron in his hotel lobby.

16 How many hours Tracy typically works a week for the MSR Group.

68 The number of projects Tracy has completed for Oriental Trading Company during the 3rd Quarter.

480 About how much we saved on gas this past year by having Eric carpool with his co- worker Gery Nible.

48 How many weeks Eric has been attending a men’s group through Vineyard Church.

12 The average number of times a day that Tatum tells us she will do something all by herself.

8 The number of blankies Tatum insists on sleeping with each night.

6 How much we save each time Tracy grooms Normandy at home instead of taking her to the dog groomers. Tracy likes doing it and Normandy loves it as well.

2 The number of butterflies we hatched this summer. Tatum loved watching them.

110 The record number of visitors to our 5th Annual Krelle Halloween Spook House.

90 How much Eric’s Pee Wee Herman costume from two years ago sold for on eBay.

Countless - The number of times we found ourselves being thankful for both our families for their generosity in watching Tatum for us while we work or have date nights together. We are truly blessed by having them.

In closing, we hope that God’s blessings find you this next year and that the gift of Jesus Christ is present in your hearts the whole year through.

All Our Love, Eric, Tracy and Tatum

Ultrasound Update...and it's a...

2008-12-17T13:52:00.000-08:00

Totally healthy active baby. We went in for our ultrasound a few weeks back, November 17th to be exact. I was 23 weeks at the time. Everything looks just as it should. We saw baby Krelle moving his/her arms and legs. The heartbeat was going good and we got to see so much up on the screen. They even did one of those newer 4D ultra sounds, which was just so neat. We got to see such a good view of baby Krelle's face. We were able to spend extra time just looking up on the screen while a Med Student played around/practiced getting pictures of our baby. This was so nice as we have only had one other ultrasound with this baby compared to the numerous ones we had with Tatum.

God totally answered prayers for no placenta previa during this pregnancy. I can also add that the nausea has subsided. Yeah! And I have started to gain weight instead of loosing.

On a funny note we asked Tatum the other day if the baby is a boy or a girl and she responded "boy", which she does quite often. When we asked what the baby's name should be she said "baby girl tummy". So there you go folks...Tatum thinks baby girl tummy makes an excellent name. :)

Fall Follies...a tad bit late!

2008-12-16T21:14:00.001-08:00

October was a jam packed month for us in the Krelle household. The bright beautiful colors of fall, the cooling down of the weather and upcoming holidays bring so much excitement. Some of the things that have kept us busy are: Oriental Trading Company's Hay rack Ride for Product Design Team, Fontnell Forest, Pooley's Pumpkin Patch, Nebraska City, Our Halloween Spook House, and Bill's (Eric's Dad) Birthday.

Some highlights from those trips include:

At Fontnell Forest Tatum and her friends had fun seeing furry caterpillars and screaming "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy" over and over again from a hut. They thought they were quite funny.

At Pooley's "Tatum got her face painted, petted some cute baby chicks and rode a pony for the first time. Thankfully she hasn't asked Mommy and Daddy to buy her one!

Nebraska City is our annual fall trip with the Krelle's. We had a picknick, walked on many tree trails and collected leaves, and we went to Arbor Lodge, where Eric and I got married at.

Halloween was also quite a day in itself. Tatum and I went up to Eric's work to see all the costumes. Eric participated in the company wide costume contest with his department. They put on an "infomercial" called "The Songs in Barry Gibbs Head". Eric was Barry Gibb and some of the others were Kid Rock, Cindi Lauper, The Andrew's Sisters and MC Hammer. They won 2nd place!

Tatum Dressed up as a butterfly and Grandma Sherman took her trick-or-treating while Eric and I manned our annual Spook House. We had a record turn out of 110 this year, which is great.

The 2nd leg of the night included getting ready for a Halloween Party at one of Eric's co-workers house. Our house was a buzz with Alisa, Brian and some friends getting ready to go out here in Omaha, so it was crazy and festive. I was a pregnant Geisha Girl and Eric was a Marine. We had a great time at the party.

Eric, Tatum and I rounded out the "fall fun" by attending Vinyard Church's Annual Fall Festival. It was lots of fun to go out and be part of the fun. Eric has been attending a mens group there for a good part of the year. We got to play in the bounce house, sit by a warm bonfire, and go on many hay rack rides. Tatum really liked swinging in a hammock there.

I have included many pictures...I hope it's not an overload but it has been such fun!

Pregnancy Update

2008-10-19T19:37:00.000-07:00

I am pleased to let you all know that my pregnancy is going well. I am 18 weeks now for those keeping track. I am still experiencing the nausea/vomiting. I had about 5 days in a row with no incidences and I was hoping I was done, but then it hit me again. I was hoping that I was done, but that's ok...I am tough so I can take it :)

I have continued to loose wight, due to the nausea, so at my last appointment I asked some questions about that. They assured me that if there was a need to worry they would let me know. To ease my mind the Midwife felt my tummy to see how the baby is growing. She exclaimed "This baby is having no problems growing...I think it's just one baby though...for now". I let her know "oh we had an ultrasound already, so we know it's just one". In the back of my mind I was thinking oh great, this is going to be a behemoth baby to push out!

After sitting on the thought for awhile I decided to google early ultrasound twin pregnancy. I was quite surprised at the amount of message boards that talked about not seeing a second baby until a later ultrasound. While I do think that the odds of me carrying twins is quite unlikely...wouldn't that be a crazy blessing! So many things would have to change for our family. Eric and I both know that God is in control and would help make any necessary provisions for our family as He has done time and time before.

Our next ultrasound is on November 17th, so we'll keep you posted. Pray for a healthy baby... or two, and no placenta previa.

Saying Goodbye to Summer...Hello Fall!

2008-09-19T20:24:00.000-07:00

As many of you know Eric and I are thrilled to be adding to our family. I am due with baby #2 in March. Just like we did with Tatum, we plan on waiting till this baby is born to find out the sex. We had an ultra sound back in July and were able to see the heart beating. Since then we have heard the hear beating at a visit to the Midwives as well. It is a blessing to know that all is going well so far.

Many of you have asked what Tatum thinks about being a big sister. Here is what I can tell you. First of all I am not sure if she really understands what it all means. From her two year old perspective here is what she seems to know. If I ask her "Tatum what can you say?" she replies "Mommy's having a baby!" When I ask her "Where is Mommy's baby?" she says "In Mommy's tummy." When you ask her "Who made the baby?" She says "God makes the baby!" It is pretty cute and I am pleased with her response. She will randomly come up and kiss my tummy and say "I kissed the baby!" She is going to be a great big sister.

There is one phrase that she has picked up that I wish she hadn't. It goes like this..."Mommy's not sick, Mommy's preg-a-net". She has such compassion in her that when I gag/get sick, which is often, she cries and I have to tell her that it's ok, Mommy's not sick Mommy's pregnant. This is a new pregnancy symptom for me as I never felt sick while pregnant with Tatum. I will say that I was tired while pregnant with her. My energy level this time hasn't suffered. Which is nice because Tatum is a very active little girl.

Other exciting things that have happened are: Tatum is potty trained as of August, we had two crysallis that turned into Monarch butterflies, I have taken over grooming Normandy and she looks great, we have been making homemade apple pies from the tree out back and Eric had a pretty cool day at work today, it was Pirate Day! How fun. We are getting ready to say goodbye to summer, but there is so much to look forward to this fall!

I have some pictures for this post, I just can't upload them right now so check back in a few days.

Jazz On The Green

2008-08-07T19:45:00.000-07:00

Jazz On The Green is one of our favorite events to go to in the summertime. I have been meaning to post about it so here it goes.

We go with my parents who have a really fun group of friends that they meet up with. They, meaning Bob and Carl, start getting ready by putting up a tent and setting tables up for the feast of food that will be brought. Each week there is a theme for the types of food that should be brought. Some past examples are: Carnival Food, Comfort Food, Mexican, Cajun, Hawaiian and so on. Let me say there is never a shortage of good food!

Tatum really likes this tradition so far. We pack up her tambourine and jingle bell shakers so she can play along. Some of this years highlights have been: Going up to the front to get beads, sitting up on Mommy's sholders, eating peaches from Grandma and Grandpa Sherman, getting flower leis from Oriental Trading Company (or favorite company around), playing in a puddle of water and getting licked in the face by a Great Dane.

All American 4th!

2008-07-08T12:39:00.000-07:00

Well the 4th of July was a great day for us in the Krelle household. We started of the day just waking up whenever, which was nice. We took the morning kind of easy. Eric had some getting ready to do for the Ralston Parade. His group was participating in it this year, which has become somewhat of a tradition.

My Mom, Tatum and I went to watch. We walked into the area with our friend Rich and his son Gregory, who is a boyscout. It was nice to be able to chat with them before they took their places in the line up. We then headed to a great little spot for us three to watch out for Eric. It was so much fun to take Tatum to see all fun patriotic folly! As you can see in the pictures she really enjoyed herself. I am impressed that she did not get scared of any of the clowns or the noise. She also took the heat pretty well. We left just short of the end of the parade, as I wanted to get Tatum home to make sure she got in her nap. We had a big day ahead of us still.

After her nap ended we, Eric, Tatum and I headed over to my parents house. My Dad cooked up a nice smoked brisket, corn on the cob, cole slaw, garlic bread and beans. Man was it good. Eric commented that he is glad to be part of the Sherman family, because you know the food is going to be good. Especially when Jack Sherman cooks it! We played some lawn darts. I won the first round and then Eric won the next.

We then headed over to the Truitt's next door. Tiffani, Nick and the kids were out in the backyard playing. Tatum had a good time playing on a climbing wall, sliding and swinging. It is so much fun to see her with other kids. It was especially surreal for me to see my daughter playing in the same backyard that I did as a kid, with one of my best girlfriends kids. We didn't have the camera, but it was a picture perfect moment.

We headed back to my parents house and watched the other neighbors do some fireworks before packing up for the big firework finale of the night. Unfortunately my Dad was not feeling well and decided not to come. That made me a little sad as it is just a family tradition of ours and him not being there was sad. Half the fun of it all is my Dad and his driving us there and back...woah!

We got downtown and decided to head to a different spot than usual. We went to Bancroft Elementary School. I think that it was a great call. We found the walk to be so short and the atmosphere was so family friendly. We got some ice cream from the ding-ding man. Tatum really got into eating hers as you can see. I enjoyed it as it was the first time I have ever had anything from the ding-ding man.

We kept Tatum entertained with some glow bracelets, which she loved. She also got a kick out of seeing some the fireworks that people nearby were lighting off. The hour and a half wait was not as bad as I thought it would be. When the fireworks were about to start up we told Tatum and she was so excited. And with a countdown from 10 to 1 the fireworks began.

As we were laying in bed recounting the day Eric told me he felt like it was the most All American 4th of July...and it was.

Look Who's Two-Two

2008-07-05T11:03:00.000-07:00

Look who's Two-Two! On July 2nd Tatum turned two, and I must say it was so much fun. The theme for her party was Tatum is turning Two-Two! I want to give credit to my friend Kelley who threw this theme party for her two year old and I just thought it was so cute and I used the idea as well. Much "Props" to you Kelley!

I had such a fun time getting ready for the big day. From finding invitations, picking out a cute little outfit for Tatum to making the cake it was lots of fun.

We had both Eric's family and my family over for grilling and fun. It was fun for Tatum to have both sets of Grandparents, Aunt Jill, Aunt Alisa, Aunt Beth and Alisa's boyfriend Brian over to celebrate her big day. This gave her plenty of people to show off in front of. She likes to have all the attention on her. (She is starved for attention otherwise don't you know?)

Eric was on the grill. He enjoyed cooking for all the family. We both thought that was the most he has ever grilled at one time on the grill.

When it came time for the cake Tatum really was ready to blow out the candles. Eric held her up and she was able to blow them out all by herself.

While getting ready for the party I was talking with my friend Lynette. We were talking about how when you are a parent that you just want to make everything so special for you child. That you just want them to experience the best of the best so to speak. The next day while driving I was thinking about that statement, and how it is kind of how God is with His children. He wants us to experience "the best of the best" which is walking with Him and seeing things with wonderment like a child. And that is just how Tatum experienced her Birthday. Eyes wide open with wonderment.

O what a weekend!

2008-06-08T22:35:00.001-07:00

Well the weekend was fun. Friday night I worked while Eric watched Tatum. They went on a fun walk around the neighborhood. On Saturday Eric did some lawn work. Tatum and I went to do some errands. When we came home we decided it was time to pull out the sprinkler that we had bought her. This sprinkler is part of her Birthday present from Eric and I, but we decided it needed to be brought out a little early.

She had such a good time running around and splashing in the water. I thought is was funny how she tried to eat the water by sticking out her tongue. As you can see for your self she was having a great time.

Saturday night Eric and I went down to the Taste of Omaha. It was fun to hang out in the Old Market. This is something that we did often before we had Tatum. We ran into our friends Ian and Suzanne with their daughter Sky...and it made us wish we had Tatum with us. It was fun to go to the event with out a little one, but you do end up missing them from time to time. We ended the night by getting a light shower of rain on us. I found it to be a romantic ending to the night.

Saturday night we went to bed pretty late and had no idea about the weather that was heading our way. We woke up to my Mom calling us around 2am or so? The tornado sirens were going off and I really did not hear them. It was a little scary and confusing at first. We got Tatum and headed to the basement. We started to empty out the storage closet under the stairs. Eric watched on the TV for updates. I then gathered up the pets. We are very thankful to say that we had no damage to our house or our property.

The storage room is now open for business, as I have now cleaned and gotten rid of some stuff that was keeping it full. It was not fun to not be able to just get in there when we needed to. But we are now ready should we need to get in there in a hurry.

Today we went to a Birthday Party for Mina and Marley and it was a bunch of fun. Tatum really liked hitting the Pinata and playing pin the nose on the clown. My friend Beth really knows how to keep the kids happy with fun games, goody bags and lots of sweets. Tatum did not take her nap today....thanks Beth if you are reading this :)

Strategic Air & Space Museum Armed Forces Day

2008-05-17T14:44:00.001-07:00

Well what a fun time we had today. Every year for Armed Forces Day the Strategic Air & Space Museum opens it's doors and puts on a great day of fun for all. This year was by far my favorite. We were greeted by a Black Hawk Helicopter parked on the front lawn. Upon entering the building Tatum was amazed by the SR 71 Black Bird staring her right down her face. We made our way into the hanger where the 2nd Infantry Division had their display set up. Boy that little girl ran right into her Daddy's arms.

Tatum thoroughly enjoyed herself. She ran around the hanger kissing and hugging the airplanes. She even got to sit up on an airplane wing. Boy did she think she was special. We watched the 2nd ID guys finish up a demonstration before heading over to the main bay area. It is in the main bay area that Tatum formed a strong bond to this little craft (pictured above). She just could have sat in it all day long. When I thought it was time to move on and plucked her out...boy she quickly climbed right back in. That little girl had found her spot!

We listened to a brass band play some great music. Tatum even sat down to listen. I think it was fun for her to see the instruments up close and all. When we were almost ready to leave we heard an announcement over the loud speaker letting us know that in 10 minutes the Black Hawk would be making it's departure. Boy what a treat. We went outside where the crowd was beginning to gather, picked out our spot and waited.

The engines started up with a rumble, and the propellers began to whirl around. The noise was not as loud as I thought it would be, but it still vibrated in your chest a bit. Tatum looked up with such excitement. When making it's ascent into the sky we could see one of the crew waving down at us as it flew right over our heads. And off into the sky it went. We watched it start to disappear and much to our delight is came back for a second fly over!

Zoo Day

2008-05-05T12:45:00.000-07:00

The weather was beautiful here on Sunday. After church we headed to the Zoo. Tatum has a really great time there. Water seems to be a big draw for her as you can see here in some of the pictures. She learned how to smell flowers today. It was so cute watching her. She liked petting the goats in the petting zoo area, and walking around on her own.

Much to my dismay Tatum did not want to have anything to do with the Merry-Go-Round...what am I going to do if she doesn't like rides??? I was going to take her on despite the crying and fuss, but I thought that in the long run it might make things worse. I guess I will just have to be patient with it and see what the coming years brings for her and rides. I personally love roller coasters and thrill rides, but I know they aren't for everybody.

Tatum picked a Dandy Lion and was bringing it to me in this picture. To most people a Dandy Lion is nothing more than a weed, But when it is your daughter walking toward you with it, it is the most beautiful flower in the whole world!

Here are my two Loves! Waving bye-bye to the zoo :)

Randomness

2008-05-02T13:08:00.000-07:00

O man where do I start? So much to say always so little time. I will start with..."Let it rain", because we have a new roof. Just before we got into winter our roof got a leak in it. A very small slow leak, that stayed small and slow and really was a non issue in the winter. This spring has brought on the rain, and we were ready to go ahead with putting on a new roof. The next time any of you come to our house please compliment us on the new roof. You see if we had put that money into our kitchen for example you would all come in and say "wow the kitchen looks great!"...it just isn't the same with a roof :) God was so faithful to us and really provided the funds for us to be able to do the roof down the the penny almost.

Let me share a bit about Tatum. She is just getting so close to being a two year old. Some of her new funnies, accomplishments and so on are:

-She loves to tell Normandy "no" or to go to her kennel

-When she doesn't want her glasses on I tell her it's time to go into the corner and when she is ready to put her glasses on she can come out. She then goes to the corner and then comes right over to put them on. If only it could stay that easy forever. Because of this Tatum enjoys pointing out and saying "there's a corner, and there's a corner too!" when she sees corners.

-She knows a little over half of the alphabet by sight. We play with foam letters a lot. She now has started to point out letters randomly in books when we read.

-she has a set of WWII airplanes thanks to Daddy. We can ask her to bring them to us by name and knows the difference between the War Hawk, Mustang, Liberator, Lightning and the Fortress.

-She enjoys "swimming" in the bathtub.

-I often say "honey" after things like "here you go honey" and now Tatum will call me honey some times.

-Tatum is trying to teach her baby Stella to use the potty chair.

-There are some days that Tatum will ask for pony tails in her hair, or to wear certain clothes or pick out her own shoes and hair bows.

-Every so often Tatum will say "Mommy's pretty ring, earrings or necklace". She has good taste I must say :)

-The other day Eric was changing shirts and she pointed to his chest and said "button". Eric then corrected her and told her it was a nipple. She then proudly stated "That's Daddy's nipple!"

-When we pray before eating Tatum likes to sing the prayer that we sing at church for snack time.

-Tatum knows what her name looks like written out, but if we use a lower case t she calls it a cross.

And last but not least...

-The Dancing With the Stars dancers have nothing up on Tatum...she knows how to
boogie!

Rockin-An-Rollin, Boppin-An-Bowling

2008-04-12T13:00:00.001-07:00

We went out with the OTC crew for a night of Bowling Fun! We had a great time and met new people. We played one normal game and then we shook things up a bit with some "Funky" bowling thanks to Anne who coordinated the evening.

This is a picture of the Crews family...Bowling between the legs of your entire team"

Bruce and Anne..."Bowling sitting on the floor"

Amy Bruce being cute and cheesin it up

Eric bowling between his legs!

Bruce actually got a strike on this one!!!

100 Artists Project

2008-04-11T18:04:00.000-07:00

As told by Eric:

This past Sunday, I spent a couple of hours doing a sketchbook page for the 100 Artists Project. I decided to use the August 14, 1944 LIFE magazine cover as my subject for this one page sketch. I had always wanted to do an illustration of this "now famous" photo. The paratrooper is Lt. Kelso C. Horne on the road to St. Sauveur, Normandy in late June 1944. I thought I did a pretty good job rendering Lt. Horne, his uniform, his equipment and the M-1. I should probably spend more time doing drawings like these because I really did enjoy working on this project although I found the helmet to be particularly challenging!

You can check out what the project is all about by visiting their site at www.100artistsproject.com.

Spit Shine

2008-03-11T08:40:00.000-07:00

This morning while getting our day started Tatum was drinking water. After awhile I noticed that she was slurping the water out of the cup and then letting it dribble onto her tray on her highchair. I asked her "Tatum what are you doing?" she proudly looked up at me and replied "it's clean" while rubbing her hand through the water. Nice eh?

Some other random funnies that Tatum is saying these days are "try it, I like it", as in "Tatum try it you'll like it honey" when I am trying to get her to eat. When she falls down she says "oh man" or "oppss" and she enjoys telling Normandy "no" or if she goes and gets a book off of Eric's book shelve she tell us "it's Daddy's book" and when she stands up on a chair she tells herself "sit down".

My Heart Melts

2008-02-25T18:11:00.000-08:00

This past weekend marks the height, no pun intended, of Tatum's obsession with airplanes. For quite awhile now when an airplane can be heard overhead Tatum stops what she is doing and says "airplane"! It is really cute. Well Eric took this phase to the next level this past weekend and thought that Tatum should see some airplanes. As in he got out the movie Pearl Harbor and would forward to parts with airplanes for Tatum to see. This would then prompt Tatum to say "wow" and "ohhh".

After getting her fill of airplanes she asked Eric for his finger and walked him into the Army Room exclaiming "song, song", while pointing to the CD player. He then obliged her with some good old 1940's era jazz. She then asked for "hat, hat" to which he placed a hat upon her head. After that she asked for....what else could she want...well a baseball of course.

The two of them truly have this great bond. I melt when I see the two of them together like this.

Breaking The Silence

2008-02-20T13:15:00.001-08:00

Hello All! I can't believe that it has been a month now from my last post. This past month has been very busy and trying for us. The busy part has just been life with Tatum, projects for work, and fun family stuff. The trying part has been dealing with Normandy, who has a very hurt back.

Back in November Normandy had apparently hurt her back somehow. We took her to the vet and it was easily healed, end of story, or so we thought. In the middle of January it appeared that she had hurt her back again...another trip to the vet. This time the medication in the shots that they gave her did not appear to work. She started to loose the ease of using her back legs. Walking was paining her and so on. We were carrying her up and down stairs and such. We got some new oral medication and it seemed to help her more. One night I accidentally gave her two pills of the wrong medication...yikes...and the vet suggested that we induce vomiting to avoid a harmful reaction. This threw her into a tailspin of reactions...vomiting more than she should have and not being able to control her bowels. It got so bad that both the vomit and bowels were tinged with blood. An emergency trip to the vet followed.

Normandy is now doing much better. We had her on kennel rest for two weeks straight. We are still limiting her as far as jumping and going up and down the stairs goes. This was an unpleasant time for Eric and I both.

We spent much time in prayer, reading about trials in the bible, and taking time off from things that we chose before God. It was eyeopening for me to see how much I chose to pick up the phone and call friends before reading my bible and spending time with God. For Eric it opened him up to being able to see how much time is spent in his hobby of all things history. We have made some adjustments in our lives and hope that in the new year ahead that we stay focused on God and what He wants for our lives.

I know that all that worry may seem silly, after all Normandy is "just" a dog. But to us she is not just a dog, but an important member of our family, a family that just wouldn't be the same with out her. The good thing that came out of it all was that Eric and I were reminded of where our hearts need to be focussed on, that we are a work in progress in God's eyes, and that He loves us beyond measure.

We are also so thankful that this month Tatum had another weight check and she weighs 19 lbs 13oz...that's almost 20 lbs. The Dr. said she was tickled pink about the weight gain and to keep up the good work. Our prayer always for Tatum is for her to have a healthy appetite for food and a hunger for God.

AMEN!

Till Next Time...

Prophetic Pose

2008-01-17T17:53:00.000-08:00

Little did we know on Christmas when we took this picture of Tatum wearing toy glasses that it would soon become her reality. In the beginning of January we went in for Tatum's 18 month check up. Everything is going pretty good. Tatum passed the autistic screen with flying colors. The doctor even mentioned that Tatum might be "gifted". When she had her big weigh in the numbers were a little low at 19lb 1oz....but she's just a little girl. She is now 35% for height and 10% for her head. If your kids are not little anymore this all probably doesn't make and sense to you anyway. When the doctor did Tatum's eye test she said she wanted us to take her to see an eye doctor to get her eyes checked out. I really didn't think anything of it really. Eric and I both have good eye sight and don't wear glasses.

Well we went this past Tuesday and it turns out that Tatum is farsighted in one eye. She needs glasses and will wear them full time. She will probably just have to wear them until the age of 9. I will say that the news was quite shocking and I was a little sad. I just want people to see her for the beautiful little girl that she is and not the glasses. You see when we go places I often get how beautiful she is or how cute she is. (I agree whole-heartily) I just hope that the comments don't turn into "oh what cute glasses!" Now they are cute glasses, but what makes them cute is Tatum!

Just see for yourself......

She could hardly be contained!!!

2008-01-06T19:35:00.000-08:00

What a great day we had today. The break in the cold weather offered us a much needed reason to go to the zoo today. we first went into the Desert Dome. Tatum was a bit hesitant at first. She was so quiet and just observing all that passed her line of vision. She seemed so serious while studying each animal, rock formation or plant in sight. Her most favorite part was digging in the dirt. She would pick it up sift it through her fingers. Next she would pick it up and walk about 2 feet and dump the dirt. She was so upset when it was time to move on. Can you guess who is getting a sandbox this summer?

Our next stop to us to the Aquarium. Tatum got quiet again. She just looked at the fish. We then headed to the Rain Forest and the mood immediately switched to "world look out cause here I come". Between the puddles, leaves, rocks and lights...she just couldn't contain herself...and we couldn't contain her much either.

We then headed to the Pavilion, where much to Daddy's delight, her favorite thing was the Safari Jeep. She loved being behind the wheel and "driving". When another little boy got in with her I liked how she said "I'm Tatum" and "I'm one"! When we had to pry her out of the Jeep she cried and said "Jeep Jeep, Jeep". It was heartbreaking.

Did I mention the most exciting part of the day for me? I changed her diaper before we went to the Zoo, and 4 hours later at home her diaper was still dry! I then asked her "Tatum do you need to use the potty?" I took her into the bathroom and with a big smile on her face she emptied a full bladder into her potty! WHOO HOO!

It's like this, and like that and like that and uh!

2008-01-01T11:16:00.000-08:00

So we have a new game around here. When Tatum is up in her highchair she easily gets distracted from eating. She starts to point to objects on the counter or the refrigerator and stretches her arm out (like she is grabbing for an item) and says "that" in a really pleading voice. I then point to the objects one by one and say "this?" She will then keep saying "that" and when I finally point to the magic object "this?" she responds "THIS!" It is kind of funny. I know that I should name the objects that I am pointing to so she will name them, but she actually knows the names and says them, this is just a fun game she plays.

Well that's it for now, so jus' chill 'till the next episode :)

"Just Because"

2007-12-22T12:58:00.000-08:00

The other day Eric came home from work, and as he came in he presented me with some brilliant red tulips. I was of course touched and asked "why the flowers honey?" and His response was "Just because. You have been doing such a great job on projects, and working hard that I just thought it would be nice." I appreciate the unexpected gesture. I like getting flowers on a day when it is least expected. I wanted to share with everyone how nice my honey is to me.

Christmas Letter 2007

2007-12-20T18:22:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,

Another year has passed and we are busily preparing for Christmas and all the fun times with celebrations of the holiday season. At this time of year I always like to take a look back and thank God for the many blessings He has given to our family.

So much has changed for the Krelle family this year. The passing of our Grandma, Marion Krelle, this past June was a sad time for our family. So often we find ourselves saying "Grandma would have said..." or "she would have loved...". We feel a pain in our hearts that we know only time can heal, but we have so many treasured memories of time spent with her that put smiles on our faces.

Tatum is now seventeen months old. She is such a different little girl compared to the baby she was a year ago. A true girl who loves to talk. When the gals in the church nursery hand her back to us they say "boy she has a lot to say". I am not sure where she gets her love of conversation from :) Her favorite time of day is when Daddy gets home. She waits at the top of the stairs for him to come and get her. she loves to play at the kitchen sink with bubbles. We put her up on a chair and she is happy for quite some time. She loves to chase after Normandy, who she lovingly calls "Nomee". Hiding in corners, reading books, coloring, playing in her ball pit and being outside are just a few of her favorite pastimes. Bath time is also a big hit. Her shirt comes off and a squeal of delight follows. The fun just doesn't end till her head hits the pillow so to speak.

Eric has had great changes and opportunity for personal growth at work. He is on his eighth year at Oriental Trading company, and his 4th year in Product Design. Recently he has been using his talents on a new specialized team that works on new product concepts. He enjoys his work and that makes for a happy home life. Eric also continues to be involved with his WWII hobby. He has rejoined his former unit, the 2nd Infantry Division, and is so happy to once again have a large group of guys to share in his love of all things history.

This past year I have stayed active. I continue to do freelance work for Oriental Trading Company. It keeps me busy and I really like the creative outlet that it adds to my life. I continue to serve on the the Early Head Start Policy Council at The Salvation Army. I love being able to stay connected to a program that has meant so much to me over the years. This fall I started Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) at our church, where I am a table leader. I have loved getting to know so many great gals and look forward to each time we get together. I still get together with the gals from my birthing class once a month or so, for lunches and outings with the kids. The greatest joy in ,my life is being married to Eric and being Tatum's Mommy.

Eric and I find ourselves wondering what we did with all of our time before we had Tatum. It is hard to remember. I must say that we are still able to do lots of the things we did before. These include: Jazz on the Green, the Taste of Omaha, Summer Arts Festivals, going to church, time out with friends and so on.

In closing, we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior this holiday season and that He is what Christmas is truly about. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Love,
Eric, Tracy and Tatum

Best Dawgs West of Chicago

2007-12-09T19:37:00.000-08:00

Just this past weekend Eric and I went to a new Hot Dog place called Chicago Dawg House. Eric is a self proclaimed connoisseur of hot dogs & this place is awesome. It is on 108th and Maple on the south east side. It has the best "Chicago Style" hot dogs this side of the Windy City. I talked to the owner and he is from Chicago and gets all of his products directly from Chicago. I tell you the seeded bun, the all beef Vienna dog, the mustard, onions, the zippy peppers, greener than green relish, the pickle and tomato with a shake of celery salt. It is a true Chicago Dog! You should all go there and check em out! Happy Eating!

Sensless Act

2007-12-09T19:22:00.000-08:00

What a tragic day December 5th was for Omaha. When I heard there was somone in Westroads shooting at people, my pulse began to quicken. Eric was out shopping for work that day & I had just gotten back from the Mall. I turned on my T.V. and just watched in horror as the news started breaking into local programing. Our phone began to ring...flooded with calls from family and friends.

I prayed to God and thanked Him. Thanked Him that Tatum was just a little cranky that day, leading me t believe that we should just go home for her nap, thanked Him for Eric's safe return to work, and I thanked Him for the rest of my family and friends safety.

I then found myself saying the "please" prayer. please don't let any of my friends, or their families be in there. Please don't let any children be hurt or killed, please protect the people there and please help the police and responders and watch over them.

I ended up not knowing anyone, personally, who was in Von Maur that day. This does not make me feel much better. Anyone of the people who lost their life so suddenly could have been myself, my family members or my friends. The fact of the matter is that they were someones family member or friend.

In the end my prayer is the God will sustain these families thru this most horrible and difficult time.

Refrigerator Art

2007-12-02T19:46:00.001-08:00

This past Saturday night Eric and I went downtown to the Hot Shops Art Gallery Winter Open House. It's a type of artist co-op here in Omaha. We had a great time with our friends, looking around at the various types of art offered.

While we were walking the halls I saw these two young girls, they were sitting in the hallway drawing each other. It made me feel warm & fuzzy and put a smile on my face to imagine that some day that would/could be Tatum.

Now let me just say that Tatum does draw her own "masterpieces". I like to showcase them on the refrigerator. I love her use of color and bold lines. she is a budding artist like her Daddy for sure.

Now to get back to the Hot Shops...There was this one piece of artwork that I just loved. It was a bit out of my price range. I will say that it would have been worth every penny. But for that night I ended up buying the $3 magnet of it instead.

In the end, I guess you could say that my great masterpieces end up on my refrigerator!

Pinnacle of Cuteness

2007-11-28T12:53:00.001-08:00

Last night Eric and I were talking about how right now we love the age that Tatum is in. He said he thinks she has reached her "Pinnacle" of cuteness. Here are some of the things we just can't get enough of, when it comes to Tatum:

*She squeals so loudly when we come thru the doors from being gone

*She will wake up and call out "Ma Ma" or "Da Da"

*She likes to play on our bed and make tents out of sheets

*She likes to get Nome (Normandy) out of her kennel in the morning

*She will read to her dolly

*she will say "milk please"

*She likes to play in the sink with bubbles

*When something makes her happy she will look at us and say "happy"

I am of course in love with her right now, but I believe (as I am sure that Eric does too), that the cuteness will just go on and on and on!

A Time of Wonderment

2007-11-25T19:47:00.000-08:00

Putting up the Tree at my parents house on Thanksgiving has been a tradition now for quite a few years now. Tatum did want to look and touch and feel. She seemed to know what the limits would be and did quite well for her age. We had a great Thanksgiving spent with my Grandma Ryan, Aunt Audrey, cousin Mindy and Mike, my sister Alisa and my Parents.

Tatum had a weekend filled with Daddy. Eric took some time off from work and we had a great weekend. On Friday morning we brought Tatum in our bed and did our "ritual" of making a tent with the sheets at Tatum's request. Tatum got a new baby doll and tried to feed it from her sippy cup. It was so cute to see her playing like that. She liked to bounce on Daddy and go for horsey rides on him. The fun never stopped.

She also has this fascination with "Bubbles". We would put her at the sink and fill it up with bubbles and let her play...this could go on for hours if we let it I think.