New Years Eve 2009

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

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...

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!

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

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!

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

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.