Kiddo Update

I'm totally just throwing slide shows at you to play blog/life catch-up.
I'm sure you won't mind after these cute pictures.

House Update #1

Here is a quick slide show of the house we are building (well, we are having it built).
We currently live a 1/2 mile from where we are building so it has been fun to drive by almost every day and see the house come to life little by little.


I need to upload more pictures soon, the house now has siding on and brick. We should have stone on soon and the exterior painted. Once there is sheet rock and cabinets go in I will happily share interior pictures but all of the framing is great to look at in person but framed bones of rooms don't really translate in a snap shot.

Fun Side Note: I'm told the family that lives in the house behind ours has 4 boys, the 3 youngest are triplets and are about K's age! Hope they are nice little boys. :)

Adventure or Worrisome Journey

Our family is going on a journey - a new journey - an adventure with some worry in tow. :)

Soon we will be leaving the Central Plains of the USA and living for several months in the Northwest.

We of course will be taking our two small children and our dog. We will drive out there, the Mister will be working, the kids and I will be living it up Apartment life style - ;) I'm not really sure what that means, other than I am going to have to get creative and teach our kiddos to be respectfully quiet or our neighbors are going to hate us!

Good news is they only have to put up with our noise for a few months. Then it's back to the Plains.

Where we will be moving into a new house. We are getting pretty excited for our journey.

Life in the moutains and near the water and some of the best food (seafood) in the U.S. and then home to a new home with the kitchen of my dreams (well pretty dang close to my dreams).

Should be pretty exciting and trying at the same time.

Hope to get some pictures up soon of the house building process and I am WAAYYYY over due posting pictures of the kids!

Try to get you updated soon.

Baby E Update on Tubes

Sometimes kids get sick. Sometimes when they are sick they are still very happy and have no fever, so you don't know they are sick until they have green goop coming out their nose and their eyes look all watery like this & they have not been crying. Poor little guy! Sometimes you go to the Dr and find their ears are full of puss and it is the 4th month in a row for an ear infection. And your heart breaks.


So your pediatrician suggests you see an ENT doc and then you find your sweet little munchkin in a hospital gown, waiting in a play area to have tubes put in his ears. They will tell you, "It's no big deal." "He will feel so much better the same day" "It will only take 10min and then you can be with your child" and all of these things will be true.
They will also tell you, "He will be crying when he is coming out of anesthesia." This will be a half truth.
What they SHOULD have said is, "He will be screaming mad & cry like you have NEVER seen him cry before. He will still be out of it but look awake. His eyes will be blood shot and it will simply melt your heart like nothing has before and you will cry with your baby while you try to choke out a familiar song you often sing to him so he can be comforted (only it won't work b/c your crying is either also stressing him out or simply he has no idea what's going on because of the sedation meds). " and then you will pass him off to daddy and take a picture and try to pull yourself together. Because really he's fine & the meds are just making him not himself. And then before long, you will see this face!
And you will forget a little bit how sad it was to listen to your child cry so hard and be so confused for just a short time. You will feel blessed beyond measure. He will hear better and he will interact more and he will learn the hand motions to "Itsy Bitsy Spider" in just a few minutes and your heart will swell.
And you will feel blessed beyond measure.
Love ya Buddy!

The PARTY!

In the post previous to this one I posted pictures of what inspired the party theme for Baby E's 1st Birthday. Here is a slide show of what we put together. We sure love Baby E!

Birthday Inspiration

Here are pictures of what inspired the party theme for Baby E's 1st Birthday!

January - February Update Photos

Any time you hold up a camera to take pictures of Baby E, he makes this ornery look in his eye and opens his mouth WIDE OPEN - like "HAHA, see my tonsils?" :) He is such a sweet baby and certainly keeps us all laughing. He and KJ totally love each other and it makes our hearts happy to watch them play together.

For several weeks I never knew what I was going to find when going to get KJ after her nap. She would wake up and quietly, really quietly, play in her room. And she likes to play dress up most of all, oh the "outfits" this little lady can put together! LOL
We now remind her every nap time & every bedtime that she can't play in her closet and she can't open her dresser drawers. So far the reminders are working. Less wardrobe laughs but also less mess, and this mama is thankful for that.


And here are pictures from the last two snows we had. The temps were much to cold to let Baby E explore the snow, but maybe next year we will have a little for him to play in.

Lemonade Confusion...

I am cracking up at KJ!
A few months ago KJ had a hap*py meal a couple of times and so aquired two toys of the strawbe*rry shortc*ake family.

Strawberry herself and her friend Lemon Meringue.

She can never remember the lemon girl name, or really the strawberry girl name either - so she calls them both "Lemonade". Even after several reminders, she still calls them Lemonade.

KJ has some princess board books. Two of the books are about this princess:

Guess what I am often asked these days?

"Mommy, where is my lemonade book?" and "I want to read princess lemonade, please."

It is SO funny! I still correct her some but not every time, it's too cute.

And for those of you wondering if she still calls candy canes "lolli-canes" - yes she does.

"Let's Go To the Movies!"

Well shoot! I just blogged a paragraph and now it is floating off somewhere in cyberspace & I'm too tired to retype it.
So the short, less cute, version of the story is this.
We took our little princess to see a princess movie.
It was great.
She loved LOVED LOVED it!
Much popcorn was consumed.
No tears
No wiggles
just fun & smiles
and one tired family
Great Memory.

The following photos are in backwards order. Yep, I keep messing up this blog post.

Yep, the perfectionist in me cares. Nope, not going to change it, because I'm sleepy

and because I'm sure no one cares about the order but me. :)

This photo taken when we returned home from the movie.

She was wound up, wanted to be a princess (fairy?) and wear mommy's shoes. OK Silly! lol

Dear KJ,

Mommy & Daddy LOVED sharing this experience with you. We loved watching the movie through your eyes. You are our princess for SURE! Looking forward to our next movie date.

Praying your family enjoys many blessings in the New Year!

Scarlet Stars Christmas

Shutterfly has classic, elegant Christmas invitations for your party.

View the entire collection of cards.

Family Christmas Photo Shoot

Little Miss K loves to wiggle! Daddy is not a fan of photo shoots and since photo shoots with a wiggly two year old take longer, well....... let's just say Daddy doesn't love photo shoots. :)
Baby E, he LOVES to cheese it up and I think even though he is officially on the move (crawling), he is always willing to stop and pose and melt your heart!
As for me, I don't mind a photo shoot. It's probably the one time I am the most patient. Trying to stay calm and patient hoping it will rub off on the two family members who don't find this event so amusing. And also praying the photographer doesn't hate us when it's all said and done, because let's face it - a photo shoot with our family can be somewhat of a circus (or crazy town).

Alas, here are a few shots a sweet gal at church was able to pull off. Although there were wiggles, there were no tears or screaming red faces of tantrum so it was fantastic in that regard.

The above picture is the definition of our independent girl. Doesn't want her picture taken. Then it's mommy & daddy's turn and she doesn't want to be left out and requests to have her photo taken. Silly girl. :)

And this boy...does he melt your heart or what?
Yes, he is THIS happy 98% of the time!

And really, most days they actually do play together this sweetly.
That is, unless mommy is on the phone which pretty much equals a competition for my attention and they mean business! LOL

Seriously over due photo update

Sorry I dropped off the face of the blog world.
Here are some fun photos of the past few months.
Check it out...Baby E has 4 teeth. His two top teeth are so cute and funny!

Kids are good. Mom and Dad are good. Life is busy and full. Love it!

Itching...

I am Itch, Itch, Itching to bake bake bake!
On my list:
Pumpkin chocolate chip muffins
Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins
Pumpkin Ginger Cheesecake
Apple Pecan Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes (yep that is ONE thing!)
Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
Mulled Cider

Hmmmm....
oh and RANDOM but some Grilled cheese & tomato sandwich which involves using panko bread crumbs and looks heavenly

I feelin' like I need to host a brunch. I may feed an army if someone will buy the groceries and watch my kids so I can bake it. :)

One thing at a time I guess.

I did try making Apple Cider Doughnuts this week - EPIC FAIL! I think it was God's way of telling me not to eat fried things. LOL

The Aunt Sandie Blanket

There are some babies and kids out there who have the privilege of owning what I will call
The Aunt Sandie Blanket
it is a pretty special blanket. So silky and cuddly. There are different sizes, different designs sewn on, but each one made for a special baby, made by a special friend, and made to bring happiness and comfort.
Thank You Sandie for making my kids something so special.
(if I can wake my daughter up & pry her purple Aunt Sandie Blanket from her grip, I may get a picture of her with her blanket and post it...IF. LOL)

the cast

In my previous post about vacation you will notice that KJ has a cast on her arm. I realize that some of you may not have heard that she fractured her arm just above her elbow.
So if you haven't heard, that is why she has the cast. She was sitting on a picnic table bench, straddling it, when she put her foot up on the bench to play with the velcro on her new shoes she lost her balance and fell off the bench landing on her elbow first on the hard patio.
Thankfully it was just a fracture and not a break that moved the bone out of place. She is not taking any medicine and seems to act as though she has always had a cast. She has not asked once to take it off. She is so tough.

the road slowly traveled...

When I go on a trip I really like to drive straight there. Stop for the bathroom as quick as possible, grab food from a drive-thru and then relax and enjoy the destination. Having small children does not work for this kind of travel.
So, patience, a new El*mo doll, a generic travel magnado*odle, a travel dvd player, Mary Po*pins and some Baby Eins*tein videos, a GG (Great Grandma) for back up/help, and a LOT of prayer and we hit the road for a 10hour drive with a 2year old and a 5month old. And you know what...God was with us, the kids did ok (not fabulous but not bad either) and we made it. We had a blast while we were gone and the ride home wasn't as bad either. We did more than just survive and I'm happy we decided to go for it. I'm happy we took GG with us. And finally, I'm happy to share a few pictures/highlights of our trip with you.


We stayed at the YMC*A of the Ro*ckies in Est*es Park.
Here are some pictures I took of our 2br mid size cabin (it was only 1 yr old, and a comfortable, great location, recommended place to stay.

Happy Birthday KJ!

Today our sweet daughter is offically 2 years old! We are so blessed to call her our daughter. We love her more than words could ever express. We are grateful to God for his gracious gift of KJ and do not take for granted that is it certainly a blessing to have a happy healthy little girl.

This weekend we had a big party with lots of family and a few friends to celebrate our special girl. Here are some pictures of the craziness and fun! (and a little of my party planning craziness, because I LOVE to celebrate birthdays - Love. It.)

KJ loves animals, espcially elephants and pretty much any animal you can find in a zoo. We go to the zoo often and if we don't go for a couple of weeks, she will ask to go. So I thought she would enjoy an animal/safari themed birthday. Then several months ago I found this dress on sale:

It is difficult to see in the above picture but on the far left and far right of the dress this little elephant and monkey are on there too. SO CUTE! The dress is from Gy*mbo*ree. The theme and the dress inspired this homemade birthday invitation:I wanted to order this cake (except in purple rather than blue & with the #2 on top) from Cheri's Bakery (I LOVE Cheri's), however my husband asked if I would put my own baking skills to the test...I hesitated...I complained....and complained...and spent more money on supplies than it would have taken to just order the cake....but it ended up looking pretty cute and I made the animals on the cake to look more like the animals on her birthday dress so that was cute. And the cake was very yummy. The locally owned popcorn shop made a batch of purple & green (grape & green apple) popcorn which I displayed on the food table in a fun tall vase but also I put in baggies (as shown here) for party favors, with foam craft animal heads on craft sticks that are suppose to be puppets but I've found make great bookmarks! So cute and so yummy! The adults enjoyed the popcorn as much as the kids! Here is the Birthday Girl, with her party dress, cake and birthday balloons! There are about 6 people with cameras in front of her taking her picture...she just wants CAKE! ;) After a lot of spilled food on her dress, presents and SO MUCH FUN, here she is at the end of the night (celebrating a birthday AND a K-State Win...what more could a girl want?! not much I tell ya, not much!)

Here is a slide show of more pictures from the big party:

Found this idea today...

I hope to find this book locally soon so I can flip through it and see if I want to buy it for our family. Reviews I've read are favorable and I think it could be a great way to share my love of food, "cheesy" fun, and family all together!
If you've read or tried this book, let me know...
I will keep you posted if I try it out! Maybe if I don't love the book it will at least inspire me to come up with a few ideas of my own.
Friday Night Bites by Karen Berman

Baby E Update & Pics

Well it seems that Baby E doesn't get many posts on the blog. Poor Baby! KJ is just full of so much action and Baby E is just learning to move and groove so I haven't had much to post of him that I feel is super interesting to anyone but mommy. However, he is pretty stinkin cute and I feel you need to see this little man more often! Plus he is getting quite active these days.
Here is a slide show of our little guy, or not so little guy.
3-4 months old.

Soon to be 2!

Well our little sweetheart of a daughter is going to be 2 years old very soon. Her party is just around the corner and we are looking forward to celebrating 2 wonderful years of all things KJ! Those of you getting an invite to the party will notice the invitation says, "no presents needed" this is indeed true. The girl has plenty. However, a few of you have asked what she would enjoy so if you just want some ideas (Aunt Kim ;) ) here are a few...

iTunes Gift Card - so we can download music for her to listen to, she loves to dance and sing.

DVD's - Elmo's World or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse are her two favorite shows currently. Please no Dora videos - she yells everything 3 times (Dora that is) and it drives us crazy!

Books - She LOVES books! Here are some favorites that we get from the Library but that we do not currently own.

Blocks - any kind really, but here are a couple of ideas I found pictures of online.Bath toys - I would love for her to have some foam ABC's for the bath tub, I found these (sassy brand) at Target Online, they also come with 123's which I thought was pretty great.
Paints - washable of course. Or any Crayola Color Wonder paper, coloring pages, etc. She has Color Wonder markers that only color on the special paper - AWESOME!
So there ya have it. Ideas for the little munchkin, if you want them.