Terrific Two's

For just about 3 months out of the year, Oliver & Brynn are the same age. So right now, they are both 2, and so far, there hasn't been anything terrible about it! They are really too cute when they are together. As much as Oliver likes playing with the big boys, he also LOVES his Brynnie! I took these candid shots of them a couple of weeks ago, and I wish I could have heard what their conversation was. . .

"Look, Brynnie, do you see that over there?"

"Wasn't it SO funny?!?"
"I don't think you really understood. . .Let me explain how funny that was."

"I love you, Brynnie."

They are just precious, if you ask me.

Brynnie's Birthday

Guess who is already 2?? Little Miss Brynn Marie, that's who!

Grandma Cheryl made this adorable little ladybug cake and flower cupcakes for the party.

Kyle & Sara treated us to a yummy dinner, and then Brynn eagerly tore into her presents.
She got some big-girl pants from Grandma Sandy, and immediately started trying to put them on; it was too cute!

Then Brynn found a great surprise outside from Grandpa Kermit & Grandma Cheryl -- her very own car! This car is so cute, it even has a functioning radio. The kids patiently waited for their turn to drive.
Oliver decided he wanted to move in with Brynn after he had his chance driving. (I'll let you in on a little secret: Oliver may be getting something similar for his birthday. . .Grandpa Kermit really wants to give it to him now -- or a month ago when mom bought them -- but I have insisted that they wait until his birthday. I know how excited he will be; he'll never forget his 3rd birthday!)
"Happy Birthday to Brynn. . ."

Blow out your candles, birthday girl!

What a fun day! I can't believe we are only a month away from celebrating our little Miss Violet's birthday!

Six Figures

Just after Christmas in 2004, Russ & I decided that it was time we got a bigger vehicle. I had been driving my 2-door Grand Prix since we got married, and we knew this would not be a great family car. I was so excited when we bought our brand new GMC Envoy. I had never driven a NEW car before, and it was so luxurious!

(Note: this picture was NOT taken when the car was brand new, but rather in the present day in all of its dusty glory.)

Well, that "new" car just hit a milestone -- it turned over 100,000 miles!

We have made a lot of great memories in our Envoy. . . taken it to Colorado, Bull Shoals (14 times), Chicago, Lake of the Ozarks (6 times), St. Louis, Oklahoma City, and Wisconsin Dells. All three of our babies have come home from the hospital in the Envoy. . . and oh ya, it has made a couple of trips to Children's Mercy also. This car has gone from no carseats, to 1, then 2, 3, 4, and now 5 most of the time (my 3 + Ty & Brynn). It has truly been the ultimate family car. I still really like my car, and hope we can log another 100,000 or more!

Making an Impression

When I heard the crew was going to be pouring the concrete for the back patio today, I asked the boys if they wanted to go put their hand prints in. Of course, they couldn't wait. Our wonderful builder, Lee, assisted them as they made their impressions. . .

When it was Violet's turn, I knew there was no chance we would get her little fists open long enough to press in the cement. I thought we could get a pretty good footprint, though. . .
What do you think? Calvin definitely did the best; Oliver was a close second; and Violet was a very distant third. I wasn't anticipating her toes curling up immediately when they hit the cement. I think we'll probably have to explain to everyone who visits what the blobs next to the handprints are. . . Oh, well, it's still cute in its own way.

It's What's On the Outside That Counts

The men have been working hard on our house, and the cooler weather this past week has been a welcome change. From the outside, our house looks nearly done; a little paint, some shutters, and a front porch would just about complete the package.

I was so pleased with how well the brick turned out. I gave our brick layers full liberty to do whatever they thought would look nice, and I think they did a great job!

They poured the back patio today. Russ thought it needed to be big enough to shoot a 3-pointer when we put the basketball goal down there. . . By the end of the week, the deck should be complete.

So it looks ready to move in, right? Uh. . . not so much. The inside of the house is pretty much still nothing more than studs.
Studs and a fireplace, that is. The plumber and electrician should be out within the next week, and then hopefully the interior will catch up with the beautiful exterior!
I love seeing the changes each day; it's so much more fun than I thought it was going to be!

A Perk of the Palate-less

Just this week, I discovered my favorite part of having a baby girl with a cleft palate. . . Listen closely:

Nearly all babies (including my boys) say "dada" first because it's supposedly easier. Easier, that is, assuming you have a palate. Have you ever tried to say "dada" without a palate? CAN'T BE DONE, my friends. My boys were well past their first birthdays before I ever heard the word "mama" grace their sweet little lips. Not my baby girl, though. She's saying Mama like there's no tomorrow, and it just might be the sweetest sound I've ever heard. Partly because, well, every mom likes to hear it. But also because she hasn't really done any babbling at all, and I wasn't sure if she would until she got the fluid out of her ears. I'm optimistic that maybe she is hearing a little after all.

For the record, I think Violet would have said Mama first anyway. . .

A Croupy Day. . .or 2 or 3

It has been almost 2 months since her G-tube surgery, and Violet gets a little "home sick" from time to time, so she decided we needed a couple nights' stay at Children's Mercy. Wednesday night, we had a really rough night of wheezing and labored breathing. I called our doctor yesterday and he was out of the office, so I decided to take her to Urgent Care at Children's Mercy South. After sitting in urgent care for over 6 hours, she was diagnosed with croup and they decided she should be admitted for observation. She got a x-rays of her chest & neck, a dose of decadron, 2 racemic epi breathing treatments, and a shot of Rocephin for an ear infection they discovered (her first, amazingly). Unfortunately, she still had a rough night here last night, with her oxygen dropping into the low 50s at one point. I was SO glad to be here, and not at home when that happened! Because of that episode, we will be staying again tonight. I'm praying for a nice uneventful evening and hopefully we'll get to go home tomorrow.

After 2 days of almost no sleep, Violet is finally resting a little more comfortably today in her little baby-jail.

It was so funny last night when the room was completely dark and she discovered her glowing toe. . . (E.T. phone home)

In spite of the insane amount of effort it takes for her to breathe, she still manages to make my day with her precious little smile.
In less than 2 months, we'll be back for her palate-repair surgery. Hopefully that will be soon enough for Little Miss -- I'm really not sure what it is she sees in this place!

Are You Ready for Some Football?

The last couple of weeks have been sweltering hot, which makes me SO ready for cooler days of fall to get here. In attempts to speed the process, we got in the "fall" spirit this week by going to the Chiefs training camp. Actually, I stayed home with the little ones while Uncle Kyle & Grandpa Kermit took the big kids. The preseason is a great time, when we can dream about actually having a decent football team in Kansas City. . .

The kids had fun running through the obstactle course set up: Pass, Run. . .

. . . and Kick! Calvin informed me that Tyler won. I'm afraid Calvin will probably spend most of his life telling me that Tyler won. Thankfully, Calvin doesn't seem to be quite as competitive, so it all works out.

I'm pretty confident that Calvin will not grow up to be a linebacker. . .

While there, the kids did actually watch some of the Chiefs' practice; Jackson was probably the only one who really cared, though.

The younger boys were more interested in checking out the ginormous football player.

ESPN was there with their big "On the Road to Camp" bus, which the kids thought was pretty cool.

They watched as Coach Haley put the Chiefs on the map.

It was a warm day for sure, but the kids had a great time getting ready for some football!

Eva & Scarlett

Saturday evening, I was so excited to see my friend Eva, and her new baby girl, Scarlett. I lived with Eva my first two years of college (until Russ stole me away, as she says), and then she moved to Arizona a few years ago with her husband, Shawn. That was a wordy way to say that I miss Eva, so I get really excited anytime I get to see her! And this time was extra special because I got to meet her precious new baby.
The occasion was her family's great big "End of the Summer" picnic. Let me tell you, it is ONE happening party! I bet there were upwards of 200 people there, and the kids had a ball. Calvin's favorite thing there was the "spinner" (most of us would call it a merry-go-round). He rode & rode & rode until I was really afraid he was going to lose his dinner. (By the way, I thought this picture turned out pretty cool; I was actually able to focus on Calvin.)

Oliver's favorite thing, surprise-surprise, was the tractor rides Eva's brother was taking around their huge yard.

As the evening wore on, the boys also had fun walking through the orchards Eva's dad had planted, and they even got to "drive" the tractor themselves!

Meanwhile, Violet & Scarlett got to know each other a little better inside. I can't wait for Eva & Shawn to move back (at some point) so these girls can play together more often, along with their mommies!

Oh, What a Decade!

Yesterday was Russ' & my 10th anniversary; I have officially been married 1/3 of my life! I'm confident that I couldn't have wished up a better 10 years. Spending my life with Russ has been more awesome than I could have ever imagined. And our 3 beautiful kids and our dream house being built. . . I wish I could just bottle up this time in my life! I don't think it gets any better; God has certainly blessed me immeasurably!

I know I've included these pictures before (a couple years back), but in case you don't remember. . . My mom took me shopping before our wedding to get me a couple of new dresses for the honeymoon, one of which was this green dress. The evening I wore it, we took a normal picture and then Russ picked me up and set the self-timer on the camera for a 'carrying over the threshold' picture. (Clearly, we weren't great with the whole self-timer thing. . .yet.)

The next year, I packed the dress when we went to Chicago for our anniversary, the picture was taken again, and thus the cheesy tradition began. . .

See if you can figure out in the next 8 pictures which times I was pregnant (it's pretty obvious with Violet, somewhat apparent with Oliver, and not really noticeable with Calvin).

And this was last evening before we went to dinner. . .Where were we, you ask?

Well, I had always thought we might go to Europe or Hawaii for our 10th anniversary. We didn't make it either of those places, but we got close:

So I know Topeka isn't really all that far from home or exotic, but we had some errands to run there for our house, so figured we could find a place to stay. Russ found this historic old hotel called "The Senate" and it was built in 1928.

How long has it been since you've stayed at a hotel with one of these? This hotel looked like there hadn't been a whole lot changed since it was built. . .

There have been a few famous people stay here (although not really in the last 20 years, it looked like). Here was their wall of fame, including Grandpa Munster, Travis Tritt, some Miss America, and as Calvin was quick to notice, Dora the Explorer. Wonder which room she stayed in? Did they let her monkey stay?

In our room we found these delicious chocolate-covered strawberries and sparkling wine. We ate at a delicious Thai restaurant and had a wonderful relaxing evening, thanks to Mom & Dad keeping the kids for us.

What a wonderful 10 years we've had! I don't think it's possible to have another 10 years as great as the last, but we'll sure give it a try!