whoa.

I (gasp) made (gasp) it to (gasp) 3 sets of ten (gasp gasp deep sigh).

 I never thought I could ever be so out of shape.

I'm actually glad I am making myself do this.  I don't even want to imagine what I would look like on the slopes without some kind of endurance exercise before going.

Shoot.  I don't think I want to imagine what I'm going to look like WITH some endurance training!

:) Day 2/19.

It's about that time...

To GET INTO SHAPE!  Greg and I are leaving for Colorado in a mere 3 weeks to SKI and I am slightly completely out of shape!  Its at the point where I can almost feel it in my legs all. the. time.  ew.  Not necessarily extra fatty, but just not toned.  ew.  So today I decided that I was going to run some stairs.  I mean, I have free access in my house 24/7.  I planned on doing 3 sets of 15.  ha.  By round 6 of set one I was winded, so I did 2 sets of 10.  I figure if I can do this every day and work up to 3 sets of 15, by week 3 I will be SOOOO ready to ski.  Right?!  RIGHT?!

The trick now is to do it every day.

So here is the countdown.  Day 1/19.

It's OVER

The Christmas marathon that is.  :)  Until Thursday!

Thank. goodness.  :) :)

Christmas: Berger Style

Welp.   Christmas was eventful.  We woke up to a very hungry baby (well Greg did, he let me sleep in), and then came down for some coffee, cookies and present opening.  Greg and I had told each other that we were not going to get each other gifts because we just couldn't really afford it.  Well, I am me, so I of course had to get him a little something.  I went out and bought him boxers.  He was in desperate need.  I was feeling pretty good about myself!  Greg on the other hand, had already bought me a gift knowing that I would say no gifts.  I have been wanting a new Coach purse since I was preggers with Sam.  In fact, I wanted it to be my "push present".  Although that's not what I got then, its what I received yesterday!  Isn't she a beaut?!

he then decided to spoil me further with this!

I'd say I'm a lucky girl.  A thankful girl.  :)

We then headed off to see Greg's parents.  On the way we didn't realize how icy it had gotten.  We were just so excited that we were actually ON TIME! (A trait that is not common with us!)  I was busy switching over my purses, Sam was in the back with her giraffe, and Finnegan was in the very back watching the cars go by. Greg hit a patch of ice and slowed down (thank goodness).  Not 30 seconds later he hit another patch.  He tried to save it but it was lost.  We slid sideways one way and then he turned it so we slid the other.  Luckily he was able to control it enough not to hit the median head on, so it hit the front left bumper, sending Greg's air bag out, and then bounced off and hit the back left bumper.  We were able to make it to the shoulder and thankful that no one was around us to T-bone us or for us to hit.  The drivers that were well behind us made sure we were okay.  We were.  Thankfully.  Sam was shaken up, but she fell asleep shortly after.  Poor Finnegan was shaking so badly.  I went back with him and consoled him.  He continued to shake until we got to Greg's parent's house.  Greg's dad came out and picked us up and we are pretty sure we are going to have to say our goodbyes to our Pathfinder.  What a great car though.  We hit that median pretty gosh darn hard and it saved our lives.

We called the cops, but with 2 people struck on the highways, TONS of accidents involving injuries and one delivery!!!  they never made it to us. (after an hour of waiting!)


I do have to say that I am so thankful for our families.  Greg's parents just handed us the keys to the Sequoia, and for now, that's what we will be driving.

We called the insurance company and had the car towed and in the next couple of days we will know the damage.

We finished the evening at my parents house with some nummy pork tenderloin, green beans, a YUMMY pie that Jake(Jennie's bf) and his sister made from scratch and some pretty thankful parents/grandparents!!

My mommy received a Wii and Wii fit, so you'll know where to find me when I'm never at home!


It was one emotional, exhausting and eventful Christmas!

We hope that you had a blessed Christmas and that you took a moment to remember the true meaning of Christmas.

Love to you all!!!

We're MOBILE!

Yup. That's right.  Sam is moving.

Is she walking you ask? Nope.

Well, crawling then? Nope.

How about scooting? Nope.

Sliding??  YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!

Its a good thing we have hardwood floors.  She slides all over the place, turning herself in circles.  She can only slide backwards so we are happy that the circle turning is a mastered skill.

She absolutely loves it!  She has been a sliding machine.  Super proud of her!  :)

Top 10 Tuesday: Christmas Edition

In no particular order (of course!):

10. baking Christmas cookies

9. eating Christmas cookies

8. just the THOUGHT of playing Santa for Samantha for many years to come.

7. Christmas trees.  Real or fake, they make me smile!  (And smiling's my favorite!)

6. Christmas movies. :)

5. Family time.  Lots of it!

4. Yummy food!

3. Gonna be superficial and say PRESENTS!  :)

2. SNOW! (Eh, well one can only hope for a white Christmas in St. Louis.)

1. Samantha's first Christmas.  We will never have another one like it!!!  :)

Christmas Marathon

It is definitely the most wonderful time of the year.  With Greg's ENTIRE family living in St. Louis, Christmas brings on many get togethers from every extension of his family.

How our next 2 weeks look:

Just this past Saturday we had the Fleischmann extended cousin Christmas
Thursday: Mass and extended Berger Christmas
Friday:  immediate Berger Christmas breakfast/Levine Christmas dinner
Saturday: Fleischmann grandparent Christmas
Sunday: ANOTHER Berger extended get together (Greg's aunt, uncle and SEVEN cousins will be in from KC!)
Thursday-Sunday: Bryant Christmas in Ohio.

Busy Busy but LOOOOOVE it!  :)

Ahhh...

Greg was out of town for the past 3 days and it is so nice to finally have him home!

Its been a lonely 3 days (minus the fact that our mothers both came over this week.)

Adult interaction had been basically non-existent (minus the fact that I had dinner at my parents house, our mothers came over, Lizzy came over and I had RCIA.).  

Having Samantha for 3 days by myself was hard work (minus the fact that our mothers came over this week, she goes down at 6:30 and she's a really easy baby).

Could I be a little melodramatic? Possibly.  But I'll never admit it!

None the less, I am glad to have my husband back...even if he is headed out of town again in 3 weeks.  *sigh*

Sam Update

I know I haven't really written about Sam lately.  There just isn't much to say.  She's adorable as always.  Eager to move but hasn't figured it out yet.  Loving every child and baby that she can see or play with.  Speaks her mind really well without even speaking!  Has a temper like nobody's business.  Loves goofy noises and loves to repeat them.  Loves her Momma a little too much (If that's possible).  Is loved by more people than I can count on 2 hands.  Is my joy each and every day.  So glad I get to spend my days with her.

:)

Random

Random thoughts for today:


I was just looking at our family calendar on Google, and I am SOOO looking forward to February.  It just has Greg's daily work stuff and that's IT!  We are SOOO busy up until then with traveling and the like that it will be nice to have a quiet life again~  :)


I am totally looking forward to Sam and Ben getting older so we can go out and about and not have to worry about naps and bottles and carrying babies and such.  Ohhhh that will be the day!


One week until a few days of freedom!  YES!!!!!!!!!!


I just want to sit home and do nothing tonight.  But, alas, I have responsibilities!  :)


There are days that I regret not keeping in touch with some friends, or not mending broken friendships.  And then I remember why.  *sigh*


I would like to hire someone to clean my house.  I mean DEEP clean my house.  Do you want to do it?!  I can pay you in brownies!  :)


Thats all.  Randomness over!

Top 10 Tuesday

Its that time of the week again!!

In no particular order:

10.  Snow.  When will you get to St. Louis?!  I can't wait to introduce Sam to snow.  My guess is she won't like it!

9. The Holidays.  From Thanksgiving through New Years...I just LOVE this time of year!  Its a crazy busy time, but I can't complain!

8.  Allison.  She supplied the first of our very few Christmas presents under the tree.  They look BEAUTIFUL!  Can't wait to open them on Christmas day!

7.  Owen Louis Bartmess.  Cutest little boy I know.  I truly enjoyed taking care of him this past weekend so Mom and Dad could attempt to get back to normal!

6. My parents.  Without them, we wouldn't have been able to take care of Owen.  They went back to St. Louis with Sam and took WONDERFUL care of her while we were in Columbia.

5. My job.  Still so very thankful for it.  With a couple of days away from Samantha, I truly love the fact that I get to be home with her every day.

4.  Vacuuming.  I hate to do it, but once it is done, the house looks SOOO good!

3.  Finnegan.  He wears me out, but I love him.

2.  An empty bed.  Never thought I'd say this, but I look forward to tonight when I get the whole bed to myself (well, minus the fact that I will probably have to share with Finnegan for a while...).

1.  Christmas lights.  They always bring a smile to my face.  I LOVE them!  :)

Happy Tuesday everyone!!!

To My Daddy

I have to thank the internet for existing.  Without it, I don't think my parents would know what was going on in my life and everything that I was thinking at every waking moment.  Is this a good thing?  One would think to say, "no".  Who truly wants their parents to know everything about their life; especially since I am in my late 20's (Oh Dear GOD! I can't believe I just said that!), married, and have the cutest baby girl on the face of the Earth.  But the latter is EXACTLY why I am glad that my parents are so involved.  They are life savers.  They basically are our on call babysitters.  They want to know everything about Samantha.  They are amazing grandparents.  :)

With all of that said, Thank You Daddy for reading my blog and calling/emailing me when you have something to say about it.  Thank you also for keeping up with Facebook and commenting when you see appropriate.  Thanks for having the Berger clan over for dinner twice a month.  Thanks for loving me unconditional (Because we all KNOW that sometimes, that can be really hard to do!). And most of all, thanks for being YOU!

I LOVE YOU!!!!!

Top 10 Tuesday...

This is something I wanted to start this week, but with the babies being on different schedules yesterday, my need to run around the entire city and county of St. Louis in the evening and going to bed at 9, it just didn't happen!

I will attempt to do it every Tuesday, and its a list of my Top 10's for the week.  (Probably in no particular order, but just as they come to mind.)

So here it is, a day late:

10. Morning walks with Amy and Oliver.  Finnegan just loves it and it is a motivation for me to get my tushy out of bed and walk!

9. A clean house.  I don't think that's going to happen until after Christmas.  For some reason, the Christmas Tree seems to clutter our house this year.  Oh, that is probably all the baby stuff.  haha.

8. Burlington Coat Factory.  LIFE. SAVER.  Baby shoes for $6.99 that she will probably only wear once or twice (Christmas eve and Christmas!), and tights for $1.98.  WOO!

7. Big! Lots.  Granted, not always the best quality.  But, they had garland for the outside of our house for $5.  Can't beat that!

6. My husband.  It's been a rough few months for us, but we are making it through and he has picked up a Saturday job to make that happen.

5. Coffee.  Its always on my Top lists.  I can't help it.  I love it. Just black.  :)

4. Crackers.  Currently, its the one thing that I can hand to Samantha as I do whatever I need to do, and she is content.

3. Heat.  It would be SOOOO cold with out it.

2. Humidifiers.  It has worked WONDERS for Sam's cold.  Granted, she still has her cough, but she isn't waking up in the middle of the night anymore...

1. Friends.  A phone call to/from a friend can make my day SOO much better.  :)

There you have it.  In no particular order, my Top 10 Tuesday(Wednesday)

Lots of "Dears" today

Dear Children's Shoes,

You're too expensive.  My daughter will grow out of you by next month.  Please be cheaper.  Specifically, you.  I only want you for Christmas. Can I return you when we are through?

Love,
Katie

Dear Winter,

Welcome!  I thought I was looking forward to you.  I was wrong.  Please go away.  Unless you are going to bring buckets and buckets of snow.  Then you can stay.

Love,
Katie


Dear Ski Trip,

You can't come soon enough.

Love,
Katie

Dear Readers,

Thanks for putting up with my stupid posts.

Love,
Katie

Thoughtful Thursday

*Disclaimer: I haven't fully thought this blog through, so its just going to come out.  Enjoy, or don't.  Whatev!


I have been attending Catechism classes since September and they will continue until Easter Vigil where, if I decide that Catholicism is the right path for me, I will be Baptized (have yet to be) and Confirmed.  I have truly enjoyed these classes.  Peter and Paul are members of the church and are teaching the class.  (Don't worry, Dad, I've already made the joke about Peter, Paul and Mary.)  They are very knowledgeable men, the are strong Christians and know the Bible back and forth like no one I've ever known.  What I truly like about the class is that they encourage us to ask the questions that many do about Catholicism.  Crazy Catholic Questions, if you will!   (So if you ever have one, I shall ask it!)

Last night one of the girls asked "If God is a good God, then why does he give us free will?".  Great question! Paul had a very insightful answer.  To sum it up, he said that God does give us the choice.  Of COURSE He wants us to follow him and make the right choice, but when we put ourselves before Him, we are more than likely going to choose the path that seems to make it better for us.  When we truly put God in our hearts, and think about what He would want us to do, we are going to make the right choice because we are then Men (Women) after God's own heart.  One thing that Paul did say is that sometimes when we make the wrong choice it can later become beneficial and the right choice after all.  Its all in His plan.  Pretty awesome.

We also talked about the New Calendar Year.  So happy New Year as of November 30th.  :)  We are now in the month of Advent.  During this month I am challenging myself to remember the coming of Christ and prepare myself for his next coming.  Even during all the "hub bub" of Samantha's first Christmas (yay!) and the excitement of Family and Friends!  I truly want to remember what Christmas stands for.

What would have been...

I had this great post for today.  Rather thoughtful actually...What was going to be titled "Thoughtful Thursday".  But, alas, I'm too tired.  Up at 3:30 in the am with a sick baby has postponed this post.  So...until I can think straight!  :)

Happy December!!!

Wow!  I can't believe that its December already!  So much has happened in the past year and I am truly thankful for it all!  Especially our little bundle of joy!!!

Yesterday I went grocery shopping.  As much as I hate to plan out dinners and make a list, once I get into the store I am at ease.  Maybe its because its one of my only chances away from the babe.  I love her dearly, but Mommy needs some space!  Sometimes... :)

Aldi's is my favorite.  Growing up in West County, it wasn't really heard of to go there.  I think I went there when I would need lots of canned goods for fundraisers, but thats about it.  I never really appreciated it like I do now.  I swear, I bought a bulk of my grocery list there ( 6 dinners worth plus extras like Salmon, sweets for Greg, and breakfast and lunch stuff).  50 bucks.  Thats it!

I then ventured to Schnucks for alcohol (I should really go to Shop N Save) and the veggies Aldi's didn't have and a few other things and I spent $114.  WHAT?!  That was outrageous to me!  Granted now that Thanksgiving is over the GOOD alcohol sales have dwindled but still.  I was dumbfounded.

So here is my shout out to Aldi's.

You never disappoint.  Sure there are things I may never purchase from you, but I love you none the less.  Thanks for being cheap and for the most part, pretty good quality!!
(now if you would only sell the booze, my life would be complete!!!)