A day in the life of a Podany

starting over

2011-02-23T19:32:00.000-08:00

i need a fresh new start with the good 'ol blog, and i think a whole new one will do the trick. i tried to start one tonight, but the first thing i had to do was name it. i had no idea what to name it. so when i come up with something, i'm starting a new blog.

jumbly jumbled

2011-01-05T20:13:00.000-08:00

i have so much to say, i don't even know where to start, and i don't even know if i should, because the jumbled thoughts don't really go together. earlier today i thought about how i need to write a post about emory's exploding vocabulary, and how camryn lost another front tooth and has a gaping hole in the front of her mouth, and about the book i'm reading for the 3rd time in a month because it is totally changing my life. but all of those posts will have to happen some other time b/c today, at the highschool i graduated from, a kid walked in and shot the vice principal and the principal. the VP was an english teacher when i was there. she died from her wounds. the principal is the brother of friends of ours from church. it all just hit a little too close to home.
a friend of ours leaves for afghanistan in the morning. i was thinking today that i don't think i've ever said goodbye to someone and felt like "wow, i don't know if i'll see you again" and it dawned on me that someone doesn't have to go to afghanistan for us to not know if we'll see them again. i say good bye to several people a day, and i don't KNOW that i will see them again. i just assume i will. no one thought they were going to go to work/school today and get shot/put in a code red lock down.
i know i'm not saying anything we haven't all heard before. everyone's heard "you're not promised another day" but no one really believes it. i'm not sure if i would want to live like that anyways.
a day like today really puts things into perspective, and i just hope i don't forget.

what? i have a blog? oh yeah

2010-12-30T19:32:00.000-08:00

so the short story is my hard drive failed a month ago and i lost a bunch of stuff and didn't have a computer. unfortunately that wasn't our only technical difficulty. camryn broke my point and shoot and heith's cell phone went kaput. BOOOOOO. the task of trying to recap what we've been up to the past month is pretty daunting, so let's see what i can come up with.
in december:
one of my sisters got married(no pics, see note on broken camera above)
someone in our house turned 6
and lost a tooth
and had a karaoke party

blake started basketball practice
and we celebrated christmas

aaaaaaaand i think that's all?????

when i grow up

2010-11-19T10:22:00.001-08:00

"when i grow up....."

"i wanna be just like my big sister"

we are the champions

2010-11-07T18:52:00.000-08:00

i don't think i could express how flippin excited i am for blake and his team to go undefeated this season and win the championship.

i'm pretty sure, actually, i know, i expressed more excitment than he did. i took things to a whole new level this game. that time i ran down the sideline screaming and yelling? pretty calm compared to today.
i had a boat horn i one hand, a whistle in my mouth, and a hand clapper thingy in my other hand. i screamed so loud i got a head ache and right now my throat is a little sore. thankfully i was not the only parent who thought this game was the right time to go all out crazy.

this season has taught him so much. he learned how to be a student athlete. he learned what it meant to truly commit to a team, and on the days he didn't feel like going to practice, he pushed through it and went. he learned the satisfaction of achieving something great because of your hard work. we are so, incredibly, proud of him.

i'm pretty bummed that it's over. but i'm not gonna lie, this was pretty intense and a break from sports is going to be great. two months until basketball!

congratulations blake! we are proud of you and incredibly happy for you that you and your team acheived your goal. GO BIG RED MACHINE!!!!!

little girls, little girls

2010-11-06T20:17:00.001-07:00

i survived camryn's first slumber party this weekend! she's had a sleepover, usually with cousins, but this was the first with more than one friend. heith and blake went to a lock-in, so i thought it would be a perfect night for the girls.
if i could sum up the night, it would look like this

just me and six little pink blurbs flying everywhere.

and can't girls just turn anything into arts and craft time? when i got out cups to write their names on, they asked if they could decorate them, so we got out the stickers

we had a dance party

painted our toes

(we also painted emory's piggies but she was asleep by the time i took this picture)

we also had a sleeping bag race, and watched a movie.

and when i asked for one more picture before lights out, i got this.

if you guessed lights out didn't happen right after that picture, you're a smart cookie. they giggled, then couldn't agree on how much light was enough, or not enough. i finally told them i was going upstairs to take out my contacts, and not 5 mintues later they were all standing in my bedroom. one missed her mom :( i suggested sleeping downstairs with them, and they just stared at me. i looked at my bed, looked at them, looked at my bed again, and finally said "do you think everyone will fit?" they jumped in that bed so quick i didn't have time to even think "did i really just say that?"
they fell asleep quick and i slipped out of the room to blake's bed.

i love them all like family, but not my idea of a good nights sleep :)

more than once during the evening i heard "this is the best slumber party ever!"

ok so for most of them it was their first slumber party, but for now i'm gonna pat myself on the back ;)

emory, 18 months

2010-11-05T10:35:00.001-07:00

i feel like i should be saying "wow, emory is 18 months! such a big girl!" but honestly i've felt that way for a few months now. to say she is a busy body is a huge understatement. this little lady started walking at 10 months and hasn't slowed down one bit since. i think back now about how tiny she was (still is) this summer and how she would run all over at the pool and how i couldn't keep her in the shallow end. she would walk out until she was up to her eyeballs in water, i would rescue her, walk back to the waters edge, and repeat. for two hours.

by 12 months she was climbing onto the counters and on top of the tables. at 14 months she started climbing out of her crib. and here we are at a year and a half. what a fiesty one she is. she can make me giggle and then bite me in the same minute. she knows what she wants, and there is no distracting or re-directing her. good qualities for an adult, difficult to handle in a child.

i should have known what i was in for. even as a small infant she was much happier around people, noise, in public. she is still happiest when we are away from home, or when we have friends over. if it's just her and i, she cries, whines, won't let me put her down, and is overall just not a happy camper.
but when she is happy, she is so much fun! she loves to dance and notices even the faintest sound of music. when she knows she has an audience, she can get pretty goofy and loves when she gets a laugh out of you.
her favorite place to be is outside. i really think she'd live in a tent if she could. the number one thing she says is "outside?"
speaking of words, she talks a whole lot, but i have no idea what she is saying most of the time. she does say
mom
dad
outside
ball
hi
bye
all done
i think that's about it. she's definitely not advanced in the language department, but i really think it's more out of stubborness than anything. even out of that list of words, the only one she really says without me asking her to say it, is "outside".

miss emory, we love you so. deeper than the ocean, and higher than the sky. we love your hugs, your silly nature, and your energy. happy half birthday baby girl!

in a rut, halloween

2010-11-02T15:43:00.000-07:00

well i was a fall fashion week drop out. and dang it i even stepped up my game and wore some cute stuff over the weekend! i can't seem to follow through with things lately. i'm just in a rut, and i have no energy to get out of it. my workout schedule is wack and just not happening as much as i like. i'm not reading my bible as much as i should. my laundry pile is huge, and it's not dirty, it's clean clothes i just don't want to put away. i need to get my priorities straight.

anyways, we had a great halloween! we got together with our neighbors like we do every year.

our team

the whole gang

i haven't been to a store since halloween but i imagine christmas decor is all out and christmas music is playing. it drives me nuts when they start putting christmas items on the shelves before halloween. geesh slow down people!

anyhoo, hello november! miss emory turns 18 months this week!

friday

2010-10-29T14:03:00.000-07:00

yep. i skipped out yesterday b/c i stayed in my gym clothes all day. we didn't do much other than go to the y and lounge around the house.

today we went to nebraska city with friends and we had so much fun! the kids got to do a halloween hunt through the trails and find hidden halloween decor througout the forest.
blake once again snapped this for me

my favorite cardigan-banana republic
ruffle tierd tank-gap years ago
jeans-gap
necklace-we stopped into a shop on vacation where you could pick a clam. they opened it right there in front of you and pulled out the pearl! it was so fun!

and the kids looked like this today

hey, just trying to keep it real people. and this is what that moment looked like. no sugar coating it.

curious what everyone else is wearing? check it out over here

fall fashion-wednesday

2010-10-27T13:08:00.000-07:00

ok seriously, i got on the computer at 7 something this AM and there were like, 20 people that had already posted their outfits. say whaaaaaaa?

it's 3:15 and i'm finally getting around to it. i took the little penguins to a small pumpkin patch not too far from home today. blake snapped this pic right away when we got there

i love these boots b/c they are flat=super comfy, and i dig the ruffle down the sides
long sleeve t-gap
vest-lands end
leggings-??? target?
boots-i don't remember
scarf-old navy
head band-target

miss camryn wanted to play along in fashion wednesday

velour track suit-justice
shoes-target
super adorableness-God given
it was incredibly windy, and chilly, but we made the best of it and had a great day.

don't forget to hop over here to check out the rest of fall fashion week!

fall fashion week

2010-10-26T13:28:00.000-07:00

aaaaaaaaaaaah! i missed the first day of fall fashion week! not that i have anything that exciting to share, but i'm glad i realized it before it was too late. most days i end up staying in my workout clothes the majority of the day. but the kids are on fall break, which means i'll be out in public a lot. and i'm pretty sure i broke my toe yesterday, which means i don't know when i can work out again, so i won't be wearing gym clothes all day.

tuesday

on the agenda today was the children's museum, out to lunch, then we watched the disney oceans documentary. it was eh, kinda blah i thought.

my favorite thing about my outfit today is the leggings. besides the obvious, leggings are so comfy! i love this fun detail

t-shirt-gap
sweater-gap
leggings-wal-mart (a friend tipped me off to these. 7 bucks and i love them!)
necklace-gift from hubby
other accessories- miss emory, she totally qualifies as an accessory since she never let's me put her down lately
shoes- nope, they don't feel good on my broken toe
:(
to play along or see what everyone else is wearing, hop on over here

2010-10-18T11:41:00.000-07:00

awwwwwww, this weekend totally rocked. well with one exception, the total fluke that was the nebraska/texas game. i am still totally ticked about it. oh, and i have no pictures. zero. seems to go that way with me. whenver we have a great weekend, i seem to forget about taking any pictures. or maybe i'm too caught up in what i'm doing to take them, and shouldn't it be that way? the people in front of me are more important than making sure i took a picture of what we were doing right?

friday night heith and i went on a MUCH NEEDED date! i sooooooo needed that. WE needed that. we ate dinner outside, surrounded by the energy of fans gearing up for the big game the next day. just to be in a dress, alone with my hubby, surrounded by only adults, was incredibly refreshing. with one child, we went out plenty, two children we slowed down. and then number three, well date night has become almost non existent. a friend of ours watched the little ones for us, and we will be returning the favor when they come up with a date. i hope we can start doing this more often. paying a sitter plus the date? like a hundred dollars! yikes.

saturday morning was the usual, tumbling for camryn, football practice for blake. that afternoon we set up the jump house and let the kids play while a few neighbors joined us in the garage for the game. ugh, so disappointing. of course blake was on cloud 9. crazy texas lover. i was so sure we were going to whoop them and blake would come back from the dark side. no such luck. he's an even more die hard fan now.
after the game the kids played, the adults chatted, and we started the fire for smores. so perfect.

sunday we got to go to church for the first time in.......a month i think? blake had a bye this week. it felt so good to be around our church family and catch up with everyone. the rest of the day was backyard football, soccer, NFL, clean out the car a bit, more backyard football, and oh more football.
life is so, so good.

2010-10-18T10:45:00.000-07:00

this year our trip to the pumpkin patch was with quite a few less people. we thought blake would have a game the day almost everyone else was going, turned out he didn't, but we didn't know that until we decided to go anyways. we LOVE going to the pumpkin patch every year. here's a few pictures from the start of our day. my battery died (i didn't think to charge it, duh) so these are from the first hour or so.

yep. his shirt says "my wife rocks" :)

10.11.10

2010-10-11T17:56:00.000-07:00

today went a little something like this, hit it (sorry i couldn't resist)

so we went to the zoo

where blake asked to be a photographer, and i'm so glad i let him b/c i <3 this picture

and this one too

and of course i made them smile for me too

but this little lady is to quick for me

then it was home for a movie

and basketball

and chalk

and then "hey we made something for you"

and football practice, and bed for the kiddos. now i'm off to watch a movie with my man.

2010-10-06T12:03:00.000-07:00

yesterday at MOPS we had an early childhood development specialist talk to us about playing with our kids, letting them use their imaginations etc. she showed us several fun ways to use the "trash" we have and turn them into creative activites. i sat in my chair thinking how fun these activities look, knowing my kids would love them. but i also knew how hard it would be for me to actually let them do it.
see, i have a problem, and i know it's a problem, but i can't stop it.
i can't see past the playdough on the floor, the scraps of paper i'll have to sweep up, the glitter. oh the glitter. the clutter clutter clutter. i have a very hard time playing with my kids b/c all i can think about is what a mess we/they are making. i can't see past the mess and take in what's really going on. that they are learning, experimenting, playing, growing, living life. i'm too busy looking around for the next thing to clean or sweep or tidy.
she said to us, would you rather have your kids or a clean house? and whoa. stabbed me right in the heart.
i'd rather have my kids. and i'm missing out. b/c i care more about my house being picked up than letting them be children.
i'm gonna be working on this. so if you come over, and my house isn't sparkly, it's b/c i'm playing with my kids.

2010-09-30T11:28:00.000-07:00

soooooo yeah. i've been MIA and i don't even know where to start. i guess i could start with football, b/c it's pretty much taken over all of our spare time. blake has football 5 days a week, and his games are out of town (omaha). so yup, our world revolves around him these days. the 5 days a week is a little much, but SO WORTH IT when it comes to game day. i LOVE watching him play football, and i'm kind of the crazy, obnoxiously proud of my kid kind of mom. for example, at his last game, their on the 20 yard line, it's handed off to blake, he runs 80 yards for a touchdown.

and who do you think ran all the way down the field with him screaming her head off? this girl. right here.

i just don't understand how parents can sit in the stands and watch! i can't take it.

blake also turned 9 this month. big sigh.

the cake

presents

cousins (minus miss olive who was eating)

i just wonder, do you ever get to a point where you stop saying "wow, i can't believe he/she is......." (enter age here) when you're a kid you just think it's something grown ups say, and you don't get it. now i get it. i can't believe he's nine, i've been a mom for nine years.
blake we love you deeper than the ocean and higher than the sky. we are so proud of you and truly blessed to be your parents. it fills me with so much joy to watch you do something you love so much. i'm glad you found a passion and i pray God blesses you with the ability to do it for as long as you desire.

"Won't he be a sight with his football helmet on? that'll be his first love 'till his first love comes along"
-brad paisley

2010-08-27T11:22:00.000-07:00

well i've made it through the first week and a half of school, and let's just say miss emory and i are still trying to figure out our new normal. i've discovered some perks (um hello, i'm all by myself at naptime!) but there are a few downfalls. to be honest, we're kinda bored. we've always done what blake and camryn want to do, and emory tags along. now that it's just the two of us, i'm trying to remember how to play with and entertain a one year old. i'm hoping to adjust soon but it's been kinda rough. i think my baby is bored with me!

the other day we went to a park and i tried to get some pictures of her but she is difficult to photograph, especially without help. she is busy busy and the only time this girl stops is to sleep.

blake and camryn are doing great at school. this morning was the first morning camryn was not happy about going to school. "i don't want to go. i want to be home schooled". i was really surprised by this. i know she was just tired though. she has been hitting complete meltdown mode by about 7pm every night. i'm hoping once she adjusts to school she'll get over this.
other than that we're excited for HUSKER FOOTBALL season to start as well as blake's football season. he started practicing in pads the other day and i kinda got choked up. i told him
"do you know ever since you were born i've been waiting for this? the day you put on your first set of football pads?"
he said "how did you know i'd play?"
"i didn't, but i hoped you would. and you love it far more than i could have guessed"

there's a kiss on my hand that says camryn loves me

2010-08-18T10:21:00.000-07:00

if someone had taken a picture of me today, i would look the complete opposite of this

i was the mom trying to keep it together but kept having to pull the tissues out of my pocket that i purposely grabbed before we left the house.
"how can something that makes her so happy make me so sad?" i asked heith. she was bursting with excitement, and i was trying to wrap my head around what my heart knew was true.

today is her first day of school.
today is her first day of school.
repeat enough times, and it might sink in.

i tried to talk to blake about his new responsibility as the big brother to protect his sister at school. i couldn't even get him to make eye contact with me. he kept looking past me, waving to his buddies. didn't he know i was trying to having a moment here? sheesh.

i know he will take his responsibility seriously though. he will protect her.

i can't wait until you get home little penguins.

2010-08-17T07:56:00.000-07:00

she said "it means i love you throught the heart"

and i cried.

first day of school tomorrow.

Proverbs 31:30

2010-08-14T20:13:00.000-07:00

she is starting kindergarden ladies and gents. i just can't believe it. camryn and i spent all day saturday hanging out just the two of us. when blake was going into kindergarden, heith took him camping and they talked about how he was going to school to learn, and how God wants him to learn his word too. so i did the same with camryn, girly style.

we started off the morning by grabbing breakfast and then heading to the salon for mani's and pedi's. if you want a little girl to sit still, take her to get her nails done. she sat so still and was so quiet i couldn't believe it!

next we went shoe shopping

and then shopping for clothes. we worked up quite an appetite so we went to lunch at a mongolian grill. her choice. and she insisted on using chopsticks the whole time. just adorable.

i asked for a table in the back and they sat us in a small room all by ourselves. it's was awesome to chat with my little lady and listen to the things on her mind. i talked to her about all the things we had done during the day, and how we made our nails pretty, and bought cute clothes and shoes, but what God cares about is our heart.
"charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised" proverbs 31:30

what a special little lady she is. i can't say i am excited she is going to school, but she wants to, so i am excited for her.

monkey

2010-08-10T05:16:00.000-07:00

each of our children are different, but i thought by number three i'd have things pretty much figured out, thought i had seen it all. blake and camryn were known for climbing on the counters, mostly b/c we let them. if they could get something for themselves, we let them. but for them that started about age 3. they got nothing on this little lady

at 14 months she climbs out of her bed (making bed time and nap time nearly impossible these days)

and it is not uncommon for me to turn around and find her here

or here

it is nervewrecking! yesterday i resorted to putting the stools up like this

so she can't climb onto the counter. but being the smart little cookie she is, she started doing this

notice the "ha ha i'm so proud of myself" look in every picture?
as for the bed, i'm at a loss. she is tiny, like still wears 6-12 months clothes, and i'm afraid she's going to break an arm or a leg! a friend suggested one of these but i really think she would throw a fit and roll that thing right out of her room. maybe i should try it. i've started calling her hurricane emory, but that's a whole other post.

last week went a little something like this

2010-07-30T20:06:00.000-07:00

my friend natalie that i visited in february came to visit us last week. it was the first time we've had all of our kids together. 8 of us shared a roof for 6 nights and we survived. so i could totally have a family of 8 right? ummmmmm i don't know about that. there was plenty of dress up

and little baby besties playing

and the zoo

and swimming

and we even went to omaha so college friends could spend an evening together while our kiddos (seven of them!) played.

i don't know when this will happen again, it could be a very long time before we have all of the kids together. it's getting so much harder now that mine are in school and sports. i'm thinking we should start doing skype!

mom! my tooth fell out!

2010-07-15T11:29:00.000-07:00

camryn has been asking FOR SO LONG! about losing her first tooth. she had one just dangling there last week and we were trying to get her to just pull the darn thing out already.
two days ago she yelled from her bathroom that her tooth came out! she was incredibly excited and ran to the window to see if anyone was home that she could share the news with.
the next morning she came downstairs, tooth in hand and said
"uh, mooooooom, you forgot to put a dollar under my pillow!"
i felt horrible! heith and i were so pooped the night before that we went straight to bed after the kids and totally forgot :( i knew she had been looking forward to this for so long and we totally messed it up. i asked if we could try again, and she said yes. and the next night we did not forget!

she was so intent on making sure i could see her missing tooth she kinda ended up with a crazy look. but she's gorgeous no matter what

oh that justin bieber

2010-07-14T11:10:00.000-07:00

he can make even the tiniest of hearts swoon

(i have no idea why it's sideways)

so frustrated

2010-07-12T20:33:00.000-07:00

grrrrrrr i have a few posts i'd like to share, but i can't b/c for some reason my pictures from my big camera (that's what i call it, as opposed to my snapshot) will not upload to my computer and i have NO IDEA WHY!!!!!! i'd love to share the photoshoots of some ADORABLE babies, but i can't. oh wait yes i can. here is one

so cute right?

i guess i'll share other news, such as the blue headboard.

this thing is like nails on a chalkboard to me. one night i was on a walk and found this headboard sitting by the curb next to the trash can. score! so i brought it home. i took miss camryn to the store and said "let's paint it white or bright pink" she said "no, blue" ummm well that's a problem b/c you see blue only appears in a few flowers on her sheets, and her walls are green. i tried to talk her out of it, but she insisted, and i finally gave in telling myself i was encouraging her sense of style and design. gag.
she loves it. i hate it. in the grand scheme of life it doesn't matter.

oh yes, and do you remember spring fashion week? well it's summer fashion week! head over here to join in the fun. unfortunately i don't think i'll be participating b/c my summer wardrobe consists of workout clothes in the morning, and then i change into my swimsuit for the rest of the day. i'm pretty sure no one wants to see pics of me in the same thing every day. in case something changes i'll post it. and i'll definitely be checking in on the others participating.

thank god for my life, for the stars and stripes

2010-07-05T20:44:00.000-07:00

this 4th was ridiculously awwwwwwwsome! we welcomed TWO nieces into the family two days in a row. being the crazy proud aunt that i am, i'm even posting pics of me :) introducing miss allie lynn, born first

and miss olive jane, born the next day

the pics are small b/c i snagged them off facebook, which is kinda perfect b/c miss olive is TEEEEEENY TINY! barely over 5lbs.
this is the 2nd time i have been in the delivery room with my sister in law and her husband and i felt so blessed to be part of the experience again. i know i've been through it three times with my own children, but watching someone else do it is amazing! it's such a miracle!
we spent a lot of time in hospitals, but the kids kept themselves entertained :)

we also mananged to squeeze in time in the pool

shoot fireworks

and spend plenty of time with cousins

oh yes and we had a fire and made smores with friends, no pics of that though.

and just b/c, i'll leave you with a picture of this all american cutie :)

the baby is double fisting graham crackers, this party is out of control

2010-06-28T09:29:00.000-07:00

back in april, heith went on a fishing trip, and while he was gone i decided to get us started on putting in the new patio we had talked about doing someday. i was looking at the existing patio with its bricks caving in and decided why not now. so i started pulling bricks out of the ground. heith called while i was doing this and when he asked what we were up to i said "ripping the patio apart" and all i heard was silence. see i tend to think projects are going to be pretty easy and just start doing them, while heith understands what REALLY needs to happen, hence the silence. fast forward to ALMOST JULY and tada! we have a new patio!(well it's almost done, just need to plant flowers around it and find some cute cushions for the chairs) i did not realize it was going to take every spare moment of our weekends the past few months to do this. he is so patient with me :) hopefully we can spend the rest of the summer just enjoying the awesome work heith did. last night we brought out hot dogs and everything needed to make smores. the perfect way to end a weekend.

and this little guy might be my favorite part! he's a solar light and glows green!

blake's double marshmallow smore

always posing

the chocoholic making a getaway

and the man with the master plan

you did such an amazing job honey!

lately.........

2010-06-18T20:46:00.001-07:00

we

welcomed a new niece to the family

someone continued to proclaim his love for texas (boooooooo) by buying his own hat

what up g funk

had a baby shower for my sister

began adventures in putting in a new patio

football

soccer

(we've now moved on to baseball and summer football, but i have yet to get pics of those)

and the baby was left alone with the ice cream.....again.

may

2010-06-04T19:56:00.001-07:00

i am so incredibly far behind i considered just giving up blogging :) may is without a doubt our busiest month, and this year we threw in disney world too. there is no way i can do this justice, so i'm going to do a quick overview of what we've been up to.
disney world......we made a last minute decision to leave emory behind and it was a good one. she got VERY sick while we were gone. taking a baby to the hospital on vacation would not have been fun. besides her being sick, it was a good decision b/c it allowed us to give blake and camryn some much needed one on one time. i am so incredibly grateful that my mom took emory on such short notice and allowed us to just relax and have fun with the older ones. thanks mom!

the day after we got home was my THIRTIETH birthday. really was no biggie, i feel like i've been living the life of a thirty something for quite some time now :) i really didn't think too much about it being my birthday that day b/c besides just getting home from florida the day before, we were biiizaaaay that day. we had a football game, a soccer game, and rehearsal for dance recital. so when i came home from the grocery store to a garage full of people, i was definitely surprised. my hubby actually managed to pull one over on me. a very big accomplishment!

miss emory turned one and we celebrated with a garden fairy party in the backyard under the apple trees.

we picnicked, the kids painted garden mushrooms, and we laid around for awhile before heading out to miss camryn's dance recital.
i was so proud of her! she didn't seem shy at all (which i totally expected) and she smiled and did her thing. not many things cuter than little girls in dance costumes!

last but not least, heith and i celebrated 9 years of marriage! we'd had plenty of excitment already (with our anniversary being at the end of the month) so we just went out to eat with the kiddos. i don't even have a picture!

yesterday was the last day of school, and today i was kinda wishing school was still in :( anyone else have a rough first day of summer with all to the kids home? it's always an adjustment, it WILL get better, i'm determined to make it so. and going to the pool everyday will help right ;)

happy first birthday emory!

2010-05-05T12:35:00.000-07:00

i am so very VERY far behind here, but i will catch you up i promise. just not anytime soon :) we leave for disney world tomorrow! more about that when we get back. today is princess emory elizabeth's first birthday.
happy happy birthday my sweet darling.

who knows if you'll get a car when you turn 16, but at least you got one for your first birthday.

we love you deeper than the ocean and higher than the sky.

emory + daddy = love

2010-04-18T18:32:00.000-07:00

a moment i don't want to forget

2010-04-13T20:20:00.000-07:00

this conversation happened tonight:

camryn climbed in heith's lap and told him not to toot.
me: what if when you get older you have a boyfriend that toots?
camryn: i will say "i break up with you!"
heith: that's right. you don't need a boyfriend.
camryn: i will find one like you daddy
heith: awww thanks sweetie. but that won't happen. you will just have to live with me forever ;)
camryn: and i will snuggle with you. until i am old grandma!

piggies and a sprout

2010-04-08T19:40:00.001-07:00

a sprout

and some piggies

11 months

2010-04-07T20:03:00.000-07:00

miss emory is 11 months. to say she is busy is an understatement. i tried and tried over the past few days to get a decent picture of her, but it is so hard! she just doesn't stay still at all.
she's walking all over the place. it's just the cutest. i'm kinda sad about it actually. this year seemed to go by much faster than blake or camryn's first year. probably b/c there was so much more going on. with two older siblings there's no time for slowing down and taking it all in.
let's see let's see. she's been loving on baby dolls lately. giving them kisses and hugs. she also gets ECSTATIC when she sees another real baby. she's around older kids every day, but not kids her age too often. so when she is she just goes bazurk and practically attacks them! i decided she needs some baby friends b/c next year sissy will be in school.
her other love right now is being outside. i'm thouroughly enjoying watching her discover this whole new world she's been unable to explore until now. she's eating dirt, grass, throwing rocks, playing in the playhouse out back. if i can't take her out and brother and sister are out, she stands at the door banging on the glass and hollering in her baby jumble. i'm pretty sure she's yelling at them "come get me! please!"

oh miss emory, we love you.

easter twenty ten

2010-04-05T12:02:00.001-07:00

saturday

2010-04-03T09:35:00.000-07:00

today consists of grabbing a few grocery items, getting the garden ready, and going to a birthday party. so i'm keeping it comfy cas and cute. i love love love pieces that make you look like you put some thought into your outfit,(like this jacket does) yet they are just as easy and comfy as a t shirt. that's why i love dresses. they are so easy and comfy, but they look fancy :)
here i am trying to use the self timer and make sure the babe doesn't crawl off the counter (always a multi tasker!)

jacket-forever 21
tank- somewhere in california
jeans-gap (can you tell these are my current faves)
shoes-payless

i was so pumped to find these. i think i first spotted a pair like them at jcrew and was not about to pay over a hundred dollars for them. i found these for 6 bucks! yay!

2010-04-02T19:39:00.000-07:00

today i wore my most favoritist cardigan. it's pretty ridiculous how much i love and wear this sweater. again, i am headless, and actually in this picture the sweater is sitting kinda funny, usually i let it drape to the sides and it looks much more casual. anyways, i also wore the same jeans i had on the other day.

i really like the owl on this tank from old navy.
the cardigan is banana republic

these shoes are my new faves from gap. today was my first time wearing them!

my hubby bought me this necklace at the farmers market last summer. before he ever said "i love you" he would always tell me "i adore you".

and just because they haven't made an appearance in a few days, i thougth i'd throw in a few pics of my ridiculously beautiful children :)

day 3

2010-04-01T14:23:00.001-07:00

oh ma wuuurd. you'd a thought i was leaving the country the way miss emory was clinging to me this morning while trying to take my picture. sheesh. while i'd like to post another cute outfit, i'm keeping it real people. and today the truth was that i knew i wasn't going to make it out of my workout clothes for most of the day. i went to the gym, then off to get groceries and such. came home, chilled for a few, then we walked up to the school to get blake. once it hits mid afternoon, what's the sense in changing? so here i am today. i'll call it my sporty look :)

spring fashion week

2010-03-31T07:25:00.000-07:00

todays picture taking was so much fun! i asked miss camryn, up and coming photographer in the preschool division to take my picture. i was think standard stand still and smile for the camera, but she had a different idea. "hold your skirt momma, spin around momma, stand like this momma" this was my favorite

my head is cut off but no biggie.

dress and tank: old navy
flip flops: the buckle maybe? not sure had them forever

off to preschool playtime and then some shopping :)

spring fashion week day 2

2010-03-30T10:42:00.000-07:00

well day one for me. i just had to jump in on this, it's so fun! i found out about this here. take a look around, see the cute outfits people are putting together for spring. it's supposed to be GORGEOUS this week, 70's and 80's so it's perfect!
here's me day one

i need to work on my self portrait skillllllz. how about starting with a clean mirror eh? oh and maybe putting away all that laundry?

tank-gap
jeans-gap
flats-payless end of season in the fall, think i paid 5 bucks or less
sweater-weeeeell my friend kelly left it here yesterday and i'm holding it for ransom :)

spring break 2010

2010-03-29T20:09:00.000-07:00

over spring break

we put the bounce house up in the living room

someone got pretty good on her feet

shot hoops

made cupcakes

made martians

blake taught everyone karate lessons

and then school started again. and i missed my little man. tonight i was putting emory to bed and in the dark, in her green jammies (that could easily be boy jammies) she was drifting off to sleep, looking EXACTLY like her brother. it was like i was in a time warp and i got to travel back and hold baby blake once again. and i started to cry. and i pretended i was holding him. my only boy, my first born. you might totally think i'm crazy. but i don't care. i swear it was like blake was in my arms, as an infant, all over again.
when did he get so big that we wear the same shoe size? that he gets mad at me b/c i wear his socks and flip flops?
miss emory is walking now. and i should be happy. but i'm sad. b/c it happens too quick. and it will probably go faster than blake even. and one day i'll buy her shoes the same size as me.

signs of spring

2010-03-26T20:55:00.000-07:00

growth

sunshine

a barefoot boy

the first scraped knee

tummy swingin

a first taste of dirt

2010-03-17T20:04:00.000-07:00

there's a common occurance around here lately. feed the baby, and leave her alone with the food.
exhibit a
i found the kids hiding behind the counter

notice the spoon in emory's mouth

i turned around to put the camera down, and brother and sister ditched the baby and left her to eat the ice cream by herself, with her hands.

exhibit b

i asked blake to give emory a bite of his pizza while i finished making dinner. he gave it to her and ran off.

at least she doesn't go hungry right?

ps. yes she has a total shiner :(

2010-03-14T20:52:00.000-07:00

oh weekend, i waited all week for you and ended up being bored out of my mind. ugh. i spent all day saturday whining about wanted something to dooooooooo. so eventually, we left. and went stroller shopping. check out emory's new ride:

it has speakers and i can plug in my ipod and boom chicka boom boom down the road we go. nice right! now if only it was warm enough to use it, hmmmmm.
sunday afternoon i snuggled in to nurse emory before her afternoon nap. i overheard the kids downstairs getting all excited about building a fort, and i could tell heith was helping out. i fell asleep and woke up to sounds of the kids laughing and it sounded like they were still playing in the fort. wierd, have they really been playing the same thing this whole time? i walked downstairs to find this:

the MOTHER OF ALL FORTS! this thing was awesome! like a small apartment. two bedrooms, a living room and a play room. they played in it all day long.

the dorm couch

2010-03-09T15:18:00.000-08:00

it's not just a couch. it's also my bed. freshman year in the dorms. a futon with a top bunk. katy and i usually just share the bottom, at the end of the day, when we fold it down from a couch to a bed. nattie is there, and beth, and tiffany, rena' when she's not in omaha. it's incredibly smoky in here, although i can only see it now looking back. how did we smoke so much? there are clothes everywhere. we're watching 90210, the original. and no one is allowed to talk except during commercial breaks. there's a pooh poem on the fridge. something about being friends forever. i wish i could remember what it says. we cried on this couch, slept, talked, drank cheap boones wine until 4am. (actually we started at 4am once!). it's where i was when i was with the people who knew me then, and the same people who know who've i've become. and if i asked these girls to write about a couch, chances are at least one would write about the couch in 926, sandoz hall.

(i wrote this as a writing excercise i found which challenges you to pick a couch you've known in your life. grab a pen, set a timer for three minutes, and go! it's fun! i've been reminiscing all day)

2010-03-05T09:46:00.000-08:00

i gave up chocolate for lent. it is KILL LING ME! i've never really done lent. i mean REALLY done it right. i felt like i should this year and after my phone and internet, chocolate was the hardest thing for me to give up. i've had to pick chocolate chips out of cookies, skip hot chocolate, and probably the worst of all, girl scout cookies rang my doorbell a few days after i made my decision. the thin mints are taunting me. it's torture! we set a box aside in the freezer for after easter. oh what a treat that will be!
in other news, i went to st. louis last week for 4 days. my friend natalie and i try to see eachother once a year, and it had been over two years! even though i didn't feel well and got a mysterious fat lip (nattie i laugh just thinking about how i looked in the restaurant!) we had fun just being in the same room with each other. no missing each others calls or getting cut short from a txt msg conversation. for four whole days we got to talk as much as we wanted!

i got to meet miss bianca for the first time and nattie met emory for the first time. you can't tell personalities much by pictures so it was fun for me to spend time with her girls.
i had so much fun my dear friend, can't wait to see you again this summer!

the last thing i have to report is that emory is 10 months old today! i never posted this after her 9 months post, but she is such a tiny little peanut! from her 9 month check up she is the same weight as she was 5 months ago, but has grown four inches! talk about thinning out! she's only in the 30th percentile in weight which really shocked me, that's just not normal for my kids. blake and camryn have always been off the chart in height and weight, so 30%? well that's just unheard of around here. she's happy and healthy and that's all that matters. she is not behind in anything developmentally by any means. in fact, i fully expect her to start walking this month! yikes! b&c were walking at 10 months and i think emory is going to follow suit. she is into EVERYTHING, as you can plainly see.

catch up

2010-02-22T11:59:00.000-08:00

oh i hate getting this far behind on blogging. so many things happen, and then i can't remember them all or tell them as great as i might have when they happened. i guess i'll start with disney. we told the kids and they are so excited! i would post the video of when they found out, but i just can't stand the way my voice sounds on video. anyone else like this? i've always hated hearing myself on a recording!
here's how it all went down. we packed a suitcase with summer clothes, new swimwuits, and some micky things i found like a pez dispenser, stickers, candy etc. we stuffed a huge mickey balloon into the suitcase and zipped it shut. (well as shut as we could get it!) the morning of valentine's day we told them we had a suprise. when they opened the suitcase the balloon popped out with a note that read "we have a big suprise for you! can you guess what it is?" without missing a beat blake said "disney world?" we said "yep!" he was like really? he got very excited and yelled and jumped up and down. meanwhile camryn just sat on the floor looking through the suitcase. "sis, did you hear? we're going to disney world!" "today?" "nope, in may", "oh" and continues to dig through the goods.
she did get much more excited when we watched the planning dvd. and as for me, well i've become obsessed with all things disney. the computer is constantly calling me to research restaurants, find out which park is busiest on which day, which resort should we stay at, etc etc etc. it is SO OVERWHELMING! the last time we went was with family and i left the planning up to my dad. blake was only 1 and heith and i just went along with whatever was planned. we had an amazing vacation. it's different when you are planning yourself! i am so excited to go, the weather has just been HORRIBLE for like, 4 months. we hardly ever see the sun. i hate cold to begin with, but take away the sun and it's just depressing. grrrrrrr.
blake just finished his basketball season (i managed to forget my camera every game. mother.....of.....the.....year.) his team went 6 and 0! we were so proud of them!heith coached and did such a great job. the kids listened to him really well and it was fun to see him in a coach role.
hmmmm what else what else............camryn started gymnastics again, and that's all i got. i'm sure i'm forgetting something, but that's what i get for being such a slacker blogger ;(

2010-02-10T12:29:00.000-08:00

dear little penguins

we have the BEST surprise for you! we have been planning away on our surprise, and not telling you is so hard! mom and dad have been checking flights, hotels, dates. today i bought you all new swimsuits, and a new summer outfit. in a few days we will put them into a suitcase along with stickers, a dvd, and a few other items to tip you off to our surprise. you have no idea whats coming. we are so excited we can hardly stand it! about once a day i just want to forget the big surpise and just tell you. but i won't. i'm being patient. only a few more days until you find out....................

WE'RE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-02-05T19:04:00.000-08:00

the baby is 9 months, oh how i wish time would just stand still right now. all day i tell my brain to take in this moment, please please remember this. remember that look she just gave me. remember how she gets so excited she practically falls over. remember how she curls her whole body into a ball and snuggles into me when she is cold.

hmmph. i love this phase and don't want it to end. she is thisclose to starting to walk. she let's go of things and stands for a few seconds before plopping on her bum.

and look at that mouth full of teeth. there are SEVEN! i know one year olds that don't have that many. i keep meaning to look back and see how many blake and camryn had at this age. it just seems like so many!

she can also climb a flight of stairs in no time. she is sneaky and fast! she says dada, mama, uh oh, does "soooo big!", knows the sign for "more", and if we say "where's emory?" she puts a blanket over her face, pulls it away and just laughs and laughs.

sweet sweet baby, i love you so.

"i've got sunshine, on a cloudy day. when it's cold outside, i've got the month of may. i guess you say, what can make me feel this way, my girl"

what we've been up to in january

2010-01-31T20:58:00.000-08:00

date night

shakin what your momma gave ya

a basketball game and watching aunt lexi cheer

a first real mani pedi

and getting "sooooooo big"

i won an award!!!!!!

2010-01-28T09:05:00.000-08:00

ok not really but my friend sherri did nominate me for the lemonade stand award. i have no idea what it means or how it got started, but it's fun to play along!

**Rules for the Award**

*Put the Lemonade Logo on your blog or in your blog post * Nominate blogs with a great attitude or gratitude * Link Nominees to your post *Let your nominees know about their award by leaving them a comment on their blog *Share the Love & link to the person from whom you recieved the award:)

there are several blogs i love to read, but i picked a few that post more frequently. enjoy!

eat make live
here we go
klaire and grace: a twin mom blog
the petersons
walk slowly live wildly
adventures in babywearing
team kollar

bring on the heat

2010-01-27T16:52:00.000-08:00

oh honey, i know how you feel. i can't wait for summer!

2010-01-20T08:30:00.000-08:00

ok, i see how you are. you don't want to come out and say hello? i know you're out there b/c everday you stop by from places where i don't know anyone. hmmmmmm, maybe someday.
i haven't talked at all about some things i plan on doing this year. originally i had planned on running a half marathon, and i've already changed my mind. i re-evaluated my goals, and i realized i don't need to run a race to acheive what i want. running is not a passion of mine, i just do it to stay in shape. so, if it's not a big deal to me, i decided to focus my time and energy elsewhere. i had my whole workout re-vamped by a friends hubby. i'm now doing a whole lot of lifting, and a lot less running. i'm kinda scared, but i'm gonna trust him on this and see how it goes. wish me luck!
i also decided to do the "read the bible in a year". i've done my daily reading for a long time, but haven't read the entire bible. it's going great so far! i joined in with several other bloggers at 365truthblog.blogspot.com. (can't put in a link, not sure why?)
join in if you're interested. you have a little catching up to do but you can do it!
my last "resolution" is to be in the moment more, and worry less about having a clean house 24/7. camryn will be going to kindergarden so soon, and i just want to enjoy every last minute before she's not home with me all day :(

so what about you? what do you want to do this year?

calling all lurkers

2010-01-15T13:35:00.000-08:00

so i hear it's lurking day or week or something like that. so now's the time, come out from the shadows and say hi to me, let me know you've been following along. i'd love to check your blog too!

today.........

2010-01-12T20:28:00.000-08:00

for several days now i have been keeping a running list of what i needed to post on here. emory is 8 months, our day in pictures, another basketball game, etc. and i actually have time right now, but i just can't write about any of that b/c my mind can't get over today.
today.....
i learned of a family losing their home, a husband and father that died, a husband that has been drinking, and more than one friend with health issues.

today......
i felt as though i was never present b/c i couldn't stop thinking about all of the above

today.........
i was reminded to be thankful that i even have children to pick up after/feed/bathe.

today.......
emory looked so sweet sitting on the kitchen floor, i felt like crying. just b/c i was so grateful to have her, knowing how many women long for a child.

my heart was so sad for people who are struggling. i felt even worse b/c when asked if i had any prayer requests

today.......

i couldn't think of one thing i needed someone to pray for me about.

my family is healthy. we are strong. we are committed to each other. i have a beautiful home that is more than i need or deserve.

i think God is teaching me something, or leading me towards something, and i'm just not sure what it is.

today......
my heart was heavy.

fear the corn

2010-01-03T22:36:00.000-08:00

um has anyone else noticed my blog is still BLAKEANDCAMRYN? didn't really think that one through when i started this blog now did i? i wonder how i can change that, anyone know? hmmmmm.

anyways, we went to a UNL basketball game this weekend, and i forgot my camera, boooo. but i might not have been able to take pictures b/c i was laughing so much. at the beginning of the game we were hootin and hollerin, ya know saying the same stuff everyone else was saying. GO BIG RED! DEFENSE! GO HUSKERS! stuff like that. out of no where blake yells FEAR THE CORN! i laughed so hard! where did you hear that from? he just laughed and proceeded to yell FEAR THE CORN the rest of the game with more intensity than any other fan, and he would always yell when it was quiet. i swear i am going to figure out a way to make a shirt that says fear the corn. you just wait, it's gonna be the next big seller in UNL t-shirts.

2009-12-25T21:22:00.000-08:00

it's christmas night, and i can't believe i'm posting on my blog, but i just don't want to forget how completely awesome this christmas was. christmas eve we made it to omaha, and the drive home was terrible. i am so glad we went though and spent time with my dad and siblings. and lets not forget, with church cancelled and being snowed in christmas day, the girls had a chance to wear the matching outfits i made them :)

christmas day we were snowed in, couldn't go anywhere if we wanted to, didn't get to be with family, but christmas this year was one i will never forget.

as soon as they woke up, the kids insisted that heith and i open our presents first. we told them they could go ahead, we knew they were excited. they each opened one and continued to insist that we open ours. i was so proud that they were just as into, if not more into giving rather than receiving.

camryn has been asking for a cake maker for quite awhile and i kept saying "i have a REAL oven, that makes REAL cakes, with REAL ingredients." when blake told me he wanted to get it for her for christmas, i gave in. and it was so worth it. when she opened it, the look on her face was priceless. she stood up and gave her brother the biggest hug ever and thanked him over and over. and i cried. i'm not even kidding. i cried.

emory really could have cared less, which we expected. hey, she's #3. we laughed at how different a first christmas was with her compared to blake. he was 3 months old and we sat him in a bouncy seat and opened all these presents for him that he could care less about. for emory's first christmas, we didn't buy a thing. we wrapped up toys a friend passed down. it's all the same to her right?

we ate pizza for lunch, didn't get out of our pj's all day (and everyone just went to sleep with them still on), played several games on the wii, had a shootout challenge that lasted all day with blakes new arcade basketball, i didn't clean a thing, camryn made a cake, i made an apple pie, we didn't step one tiny toe outside of our home, the kids rode their new scooters around the kitchen, and i couldn't count how many times i heard "this is the best christmas ever!"

it really was.

2009-12-22T22:05:00.000-08:00

december at our house is

counting down the days

snuggling in by a fire

celebrating a birthday

buying gifts for loved ones

keeping in touch with friends

and focused on christ

i'm still going to pretend you are four

2009-12-21T21:16:00.000-08:00

dear missy

for the past few weeks i have been trying to talk you out of turning 5, but you insist on doing it anyways. you reply to my "please stay four, don't turn five" with "but mommy i WANT to turn 5" and i know that you really can't wait. but can't you see? five means you're not just a year older than 3, and five means you will start kindergarden soon and make new friends who you might like more than mom, and five means, well, it's just not four. and i can't explain it, don't know why i'm having such a hard time with it. but five means you're more grown up than i'm ready for. five means i'm crying right now just thinking how i don't want to go to bed b/c when i wake up, you will be five.

so i just might pretend you are four. and when people ask how old you are, i might say four ;) although i am sure you will be quick to correct me.

if you must turn five, at least do this for me. keep asking me to lay with you at night. and keep asking me to play house with you. and keep asking me to video tape you dancing in the living room. and keep making me laugh by saying "booya bebe!" and above all else, please please don't ever quit holding my hand and saying "best friends forever"

i love you deeper than the ocean
and higher than the sky

happy birthday miss camryn grace.

2009-12-07T19:53:00.000-08:00

yes, i fell of the face of planet blog land. jess,i am sorry for depriving you of seeing the faces of my beautiful children for so long :) anyways, no time for catch up, my mind can't think back that far anyways. i can hardly remember what i did the day before anymore.

emory is 7 months old! such a HUGE difference from just a month ago. she is crawling and pulling herself up on things, which leads to falling over and bonking her head frequently. poor baby :( she is SO much happier now that she is mobile.

over the past month:

*started crawling
*we're up to FIVE! teeth
*her hair is really growing
*she's eating cheerios and sweet potatoe puffs and is very proud she can feed herself
*na na na has turned into a definite ma ma ma

seven months

and i learned how difficult getting 3 kids to pose for a picture is. exhibit A:

six months

2009-11-06T06:16:00.000-08:00

miss emory elizabeth, i think you were born with superhuman powers. the power to make time fly at a rediculously fast pace. i know the calendar says you are 6 months old, but mind mind can't comprehend it.

at six months
-you are up all all fours and rocking back and forth. we are SO not ready for this!
-you eat anything i give you, except applesauce. but you'll chew on an apple all day! i don't understand it.
-you say da da da da and uh nah nah uh nah nah. (i'm just going to pretend you got your m's and n's confused and you're really saying ma ma ma)
-every day someone comments on "those big eyes!" and "such long eyelashes!"

-you get extremely excited at the sight of our kitty. and if she gets close enough that you can touch her, well that's just the best part of your day i think.
-you are still nursing full time, and i don't see us stopping anytime soon.
-your brother and sister fight over you all the time.

-the only real nickname you have is em dog, your brother came up with that (surprise surprise!) and calls you that all the time. your sissy has started to pick it up too.
-you do not like to be on your tummy. you'd much rather be sitting up and watching what's going on.
-you are happiest when we are out and about. you can go and go all day running errands and just be as happy as can be. at home you fuss more easily and get bored. gee, a social bug? i don't know how that happened? :)
-you have three teeth and i think you'll have another very soon.

we all love you so much. if i could freeze you right now, i think i might. i know any day now you will start crawling, and in that moment you will grow up right before my eyes.

we love you punkin.

you might be a redneck.........

2009-11-03T19:38:00.000-08:00

if your husband finds out a friend hit a deer and he asks where and immediately leaves to go get it.
true story.

fun conversations with my babies

2009-11-03T19:20:00.000-08:00

blake-mom, do you know what (i thought he said who) i'm going to be when i grow up?
me-well i hope you're still blake
b-no mom, WHAT i'm going to be.
m-oh, well i can probably guess
b-a football player
m-that's what i thought
b-yep, i'm gonna play football
m-well, i think there are a lot of things you can do when you grow up. i'm interested in making sure you're a good husband and daddy.
b-i will be. i'll learn from dad.

the other day camryn said several times "i don't want to be 5" and each time i replied with "i know, i don't want you to be 5 either. can you stay 4?"
by the end of the day she was still saying "i don't want to be 5" so i asked why?
"i don't want to wear underwear" she says.
i had told her the day before she HAD to wear underwear when she went to kindergarten.

2009-11-01T06:35:00.000-08:00

what a PERFECT night for halloween. can i get an amen? it was just cool enough to feel like halloween, but not cold enough for anyone to even need a coat. piles of leaves lay in yards, and sidewalks were covered with some blown from the breeze. it was perfect!

we gathered with the usual bunch, neighbors and friends, for dinner before heading out. the girls were butterflies, and blake was james bond, and then a steelers football player. for weeks he's been saying he was going to be a steelers football player. two days ago he announced he wanted to be james bond. i told him i didn't care, but he'd have to figure out a costume. he insisted on being james bond, so he scrounged up whatever he could find around the house. well, about five minutes after we got over to the neighbors he asked if he could run home and get something. he returned in pads and a steelers jersey. whatever makes him happy!

the butterfly

double O seven

heith went as me

and i went as heith

very flattering, i know.

this little butterfly just came out of her cocoon and was very sleepy :)

happy halloween!

2009-10-29T19:23:00.000-07:00

today was a good day. ok, if you start my day after 11, then it was a really good day. before 11 i had to take my baby girl to have a tooth pulled :( she looked so sad afterwards that i drove her straight to toys r us. but after that, it was a really great day. my mom came down. we hung around most of the day, we played a few games of clue, and introduced emory to a sippy cup.
later we went to the mall where i redeemed my free pair of undies (thank you victoria's secret) and my free lotion (thank you bath and body works) how fun is it when those free things come in the mail at the same time and you get to go to the mall to collect them? it's like you went shopping but it's free!
on the way home heith called, "where are you guys? i'm home already. do you want to carve pumpkins tonight?" yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

we ate chili, carved pumpkins, and while carving pumpkins came up with the idea to ding dong ditch a few of our neighbors. we filled baggies with treats and made notes that said "happy halloween from a few little pumpkins". the kids were SO excited! we ran from house to house, in the rain, ringing doorbells and running away.

to top it all off, i got to have not one, but TWO conversations on the phone! i can still hardly believe it. this is a HUGE deal b/c i have gone way too long without talking to so many people. (facebook conversations don't count!) both of these ladies are friends very dear to my heart, and i found out both are pregnant! i could not be happier for these two. both have suffered heartache and waited so long for this. i can't wait to find out what what they're having!

yep, it was good day.

2009-10-25T11:36:00.000-07:00

i have a child who hates clothes. please tell me someone can relate to this. this has been going on for as long as camryn has been able to talk. it used to be just socks. until just recently she threw a fit every time i tried to put socks on her. i even used to cut the feet off of her tights, thankfully there are footless tights now. unfortunately this problem has gotten worse instead of better. she refuses to wear jeans(she currently doesn't even own a pair), occasionally wears socks, her leggings are always "giving me wedgies!" and underwear is an absolute no way, will not do it. i've tried to pick my battles, and in doing so have chosen to lose the underwear war. now i know a lot of people are going to disagree with me on this one, i've seen many shocked faces on friends/aquaintances when i say she doesn't wear underwear. but really, does anyone know if she has on undies or not? and is it really hurting anything? of course she wears them under dresses, if she has to. but she'd prefer to wear leggings or tight cotton shorts.
now she's not one of those kids that is stripping her clothes off whenever she can, in public, friends houses, etc. when she's dressed, she's dressed. it's just finding something that she'll wear that's the problem. she won't wear jeans, only "soft "pants". i thought i was doing so well with her fall/winter wardrobe. i bought her several long tops in different colors and several pairs of leggings. they all coordinate, so it's pretty darn hard for her to not match. pick a shirt, pick any leggings, BAM! she's done right? nope. she has about two pairs of leggings that she wants to wear and has some kind of complaint about the others. OR she will try to pick out a shirt that is normal length (not long or a tunic) and try to pair it with leggings (instead of sweats) which if she doesn't have on undies, you can see her booty b/c the shirt isn't long enough and the leggings are cut lower. uuuuuuugh, i just can't win.

husker through and through

2009-10-18T19:07:00.000-07:00

the day after a horrible loss, a true fan:

proudly wears red
practices his tunnel walk
plays backyard football all day pretending to be a husker QB

GO BIG RED

pumpkin patch!

2009-10-18T12:25:00.000-07:00

woooo hooooo! i forgot my sister in law took this picture! and i love it! this is our one and only picture of the pumpkin patch this year.

2009-10-16T14:28:00.000-07:00

snuggle in with a blankie b/c i'm about to unload on this post. i'll start with fact that my baby is 5 months old. i'll give you few seconds to take in that sweet and precious face! oh my goodness, i can't get enough.

she's a full blown hip rider now, there's no cradle carrying this little lady anymore.

she's learning

eating cereal, bananas, and avocados

and earlier today i felt her first tooth.

while i'm celebrating the milestones, i'm sad too. she can't be almost half a year old! i just want ALL of my babies to stay my babies. life is moving way too fast. i mean so fast that the tooth i felt earlier today i can feel even more this evening. SLOW DOWN PLEASE!
the other day camryn grabbed my hand and said "best friends........forever" i melted into a pile of goo right there. the same day blake asked for axe body spray while we were at the store. the conversation went something like this:

B- mom can i get this?
M-why?
b-it smells good
m-are you sure you can handle it?
b-yeah
m- are you sure?
b-yeah why?
m- because, if you wear that you're going to smell good and the girls are gonna want to be by you. are you sure you want to do this?
b-mmmmm yeah.
two days later i walked past his room and he was doing this silly dance and spraying himself. then he started doing jumping jacks.
m- what are you doing?
b-the can says if exercise while you spray you smell better
he said it so serious and innocently that it was really hard for me not to laugh.

one of the kids thinks i'm the coolest thing ever, one is still young enough to want to be my best friend, the other is a teenager in an 8 year olds body. each is such a fun stage for different reasons.

the highlights of the past two weeks were our trip to the pumpkin patch (i forgot my camera! gasp!) a date night for heith and i (the first in months) game night with some friends, and blake's sweet interception that he ran in for a touchdown

running

look closely over the refs shoulder. blake intercepts the ball

sprints down field

stretches far for the touchdown

i have no shame. i'm the jump up and down yelling for my kid kind of mom.

the queen herself

referred to me as her servant today.
"servant, can you hang my clothes for me please?"
"i'm ever so sorry my lady, but that is your responsibility"

that's all for now.

adios garden

2009-10-01T20:40:00.001-07:00

it's getting too cold for our garden to keep going i think. the girls and i picked what is probably just about the last of the produce in there. the tomato and bell pepper plants would keep going if it wasn't so chilly, but it is fall after all. we found a bean plant that i didn't know was producing anything, yay! i thought the rabbits had eaten it and it was a goner. earlier in the summer there were no flowers on the plant. i never really checked in and thought it was just weeds or something. there are a ton of beans in there!
emory only cared about her toes.

here's what we brought in

and this has nothing to do with anything, but i snapped this picture shortly after we came inside and i think it shows the girl's relationship so well. emory is just smitten with her sister.

she looks at her like this whenever she is near her and kicks her legs and flails her arms frantically. it's adorable.

2009-09-28T16:17:00.000-07:00

"mom, what are these?"
(insert picture of child with a handful of tampons here)

sunday morning we woke up to see that our neighbor's daughter's car had been egged, written on, and i'm guessing that is where the tampons came from too. first i just want to say how sad i was for our neighbors. there were some absolutely horrible things written on her car and at least a dozen eggs splattered all over it. heith said he wanted to go out and wash her car so maybe she woudln't see it, but we knew it was going to take a LONG time to clean and i thought maybe they might call the police (they did)

me- "where did yo find those?"
blake- "in the circle"
camryn- "i know what they are! are they party poppers?"
me- "no"
camryn- "can we pretend they are party poppers?"
i can't control my laughter already. "no"
they were very persistent asking what they were, so i told blake what i could without having to go into how babies are made. just that when mom's don't have a baby in their tummy their body doesn't need the stuff that it prepared for the baby. so he asks
"can we use them as bullets?"
"NO! you can't play with them!"
"why?"
"did you hear what i just said they are for?"
"yeah but no one has used them yet......"
and they continue to walk out the front door while i'm stuck on the couch nursing the baby.
did that really just happen? are my children really outside playing with tampons? you bet your booty they are! and they ripped them to shreds, in the yard, and in the garage. white cotton shredded tampons outside my house. niiiiiiice right? what else is there to do but laugh?

less family time? no thanks

2009-09-28T12:24:00.000-07:00

i just read an article about how obama wants to lengthen school days and the school year. this just might be what tips us into becoming a homeschooling family. in the same article, the statement is made that other countries outscore the US in math and science, although students here actually go to school for more hours. maybe the problem is what/how we are teaching the kids rather than how many hours they spend in school. if kids in the US spend more time in school than asian countries, yet our scores are lower, is this really an issue of hours? or an issue of how they are being taught or possibly how the school hours are used.
i think that schools are "dumbed down" and we don't give kids credit for what they are capable of. i'd like to see a comparison of our pre-school and kindergardens vs. those around the world. this "keeping up with the world" just sounds like fear to me. fear of not being the smartest, fastest, best at everything. in the grand scheme of things does it really matter? do i want my kids to be happy? yes. fulfill their potential? yes. be succcessful? of course. but everyone's definition of successful is different. and for me it doesn't mean being the smartest so you can make the most money.

there's nothing to eat!

2009-09-22T20:26:00.000-07:00

how did i just spend $200 at the grocery store and can't figure out what to make for dinner? i'm usually really good about planning ahead for the week, and buying what we need to make those meals. but there is something about the change of seasons that messes me up. why you ask? well when i go from grilling every night, and then it gets colder, i start buying different foods to make different meals and it takes me awhile to get into the swing of things.
i went to the grocery store and just started grabbing stuff, b/c let's face it i didn't have time to make a list before i went and if i don't make a list who knows what we'll end up with. my fridge looks like this now

and yet i don't want to eat any of it. let's see, up top there is strawberries, eggs and yogurt, the next shelf is all condiments along with practically the whole door. honestly, who needs that many condiments? next we have lettuce and relish heith made from the cucumbers in our garden. next shelf, oj, apple juice, milk and avocados. i love avocados so much! it's the first food i'm going to feed emory after cereal. so yummy. ok moving on. in the drawers we have cilantro, bell peppers from the garden, carrots, grapes,a few bags of spinach, broccoli, and i don't know what else. and the next drawer has cheese cheese and more cheese. sliced, shredded, block. i'm pretty sure there is some turkey bacon in there. anyways, so lots of yummy food, but nothing to really make anything. so what did i end up making? tacos. yep tacos. again. our family has developed this love affair with various versions of tacos over the last two months. i'm not kidding, three to four nights a week we have tacos, or nachos, or fajitas, or taco soup, or quesadillas. i'm just about sick of it. i need to start "fall" food. ya know, soups, and crock pot dinners. so i'm curious, what's your favorite thing to eat in the fall/winter? i need new ideas!

in love with my new camera

2009-09-21T14:20:00.000-07:00

my mom got another new camera, and i reaped the benefits. love love loving the new to me camera!

what a wonderful world

2009-09-20T19:25:00.000-07:00

today was by far one of the best days i've had in awhile. we started out the morning by going to church and our awesome pastor talked about trials and how they make you mature and grow stronger. it spoke to heith and i in the same way, and that was really neat to hear that we walked away from the sermon with the same thoughts. after church we headed straight to omaha b/c heith had a gift card he wanted to use at cabela's. (mom- he got some bullets and this thing to hang his deer from in the garage when he's cleaning it. nice huh?) next we went to village point and spent the rest of the day there. it was absolutely GORGEOUS outside. it reminded me of some of my trips to california. walking along in beautiful weather, hopping in and out of shops. ahhhhhh, those days. we shopped and shopped, had ice cream, shopped some more and then had dinner. heith and i both had sushi and the kids had really great pizza, from a japanese grill, wierd huh? my favorite part of the day was when we sat down outside ( i love to eat outside!) to eat ice cream and we ended up just sitting there for a really long time just talking. and then blake got up and was busting a move in front of everyone. little man has got some moves! i told him he should throw a hat down and see if anyone gives him money. "really?" he says. the kid loves money. we're working on that. when we finally got home, well after bed time, i went into his room to pray with him. he thanked God for such a fun day and told Him how much fun he had. the best part was when he said "thank you God that you planned this day for us." how awesome that he understands that God knows all of our days set before us.

get your game face on

2009-09-13T20:54:00.000-07:00

to celebrate blake's 8th birthday he invited some friends over for a game of backyard football. our backyard is not your average yard, so it was perfect as a football field. it took NINE cans of spray paint to make this field. heith said his finger was numb all day after making it.

the boys were so pumped about it! it's crazy how some painted lines can transform the backyard into the coolest place on earth.

it took a long time to blow out those trick candles!

and this is what i got when i asked him to smile

they all had a ton of fun and it was such an easy party! they played football for an hour and a half and i watched and heith watched/played. not too shabby.

a step in the right direction

2009-09-13T05:46:00.000-07:00

i am so glad to see this
i honestly don't remember breast feeding blake in public at all, not once. oh wait, i take that back, i do remember sitting on a toilet in a restroom to feed him a few times. gross. i can recall a few times with camryn. and now, well emory eats wherever whenever. baseball games, football practice, the library, it doesn't matter. i think i don't care anymore b/c she's my third and i'm more comfortable doing it, and also b/c i see so many more woman nursing in public than i did 8 years ago (yes 8! my baby turns 8 in two days!) i love to see how more and more places are accomodating to nursing moms. when the mall rebuilt a few years ago, they made a family bathroom with stalls for nursing moms. very convenient. whenever i see another mom nursing in public it encourages me that it's ok, and not to feel wierd doing it. i hope that the more and more business accomodate nursing moms, and the more people see mothers nursing in public, it will become no big deal and moms will feel confident to feed their babies wherever they are.

2009-09-04T10:14:00.000-07:00

the baby has found her feet and is trying very hard to get them in her mouth. i love it when they do that.

4 months

2009-09-02T21:37:00.000-07:00

i'm jumping the gun a little bit here, but hey, i have time to post so i'm doing it. my baby girl will be 4 months on saturday. the only real new thing to report is that she no longer dispises her binky, they are totally friends now. no bottle yet, but that may just be b/c i'm too lazy to try again. i do have motivation though. i have tickets to the texas tech game (GO HUSKERS!) but i won't be able to go if she won't take a bottle. so we'll be trying again soon. i don't want to miss out on the husker game day experience. gives me goosebumps every time. did you know memorial stadium was just named number 2 for the college game day experience? number one was the army, which i don't quite understand, but i've never been to one of their games. anyways.......back to the sweet baby.

at 4 months
likes
-brother and sister
-blowing rasberries on her belly
-being around a lot of people

dislikes
-being burped
-staying in one place for too long

oh and btw, click on her picture so you can fully appreciate her sweet little face. you'll want to give her kisses i promise :)

so big

2009-08-29T11:49:00.000-07:00

look who's getting so big! she has a love hate relationship with her spaceship. she loves that there are a lot of toys, but she gets so dang frustrated that she can't get those hands to move how she wants them to. poor baby girl :( on another note, this is one of the best hundred some dollars i've spent. this thing has been through my three kids, a nephew and two neices. not too bad!

proof that they can get along

2009-08-25T13:27:00.000-07:00

i really want this

2009-08-21T13:32:00.000-07:00

ok, i'm getting really really bad at this, but trust me. i want to get better! every day i think "i can't wait to blog about this" and then the day is over, and the days come and go,and i just don't have the time. sigh. so i'm going to play catch up, and hopefully feel better that i'm all caught up and can start anew. here goes.
we had an end of the summer bash for the kids and their friends. the weather wasn't quite as good as we hoped, but i think all of the adults were glad we weren't sweating our booties off.
here's the set up in the backyard.

kids having a water balloon fight

and the death stars were born. word.

sunday my dad got married. here he is with his new wife and the grandkids. he's very happy and I'm happy for them.

after the wedding we went to my sister's house. her husband built a skate ramp in their backyard. it's pretty stinking cool. blake has been asking all summer to go to a skatepark, so he was in heaven. i was a little nervous, but uncle dave is an awesome teacher!

blake started school

camryn started dance

and her lovliness is cutting teeth i think.

isn't he wonderful

2009-08-21T06:34:00.000-07:00

these arrived earlier this week, for no real reason other than to say he appreciates me. isn't he great?

2009-08-09T20:30:00.000-07:00

so i haven't posted anything in like two weeks. we have been biiiiiiizay. this whole three kids business is really doing me in. not in a bad way, just in a i don't have time for anything extracurricular way. those of you who call me once or twice a week and yet haven't actually talked to me in a month or two, or three, you know what i'm talking about. i'm not doing it on purpose, i swear. i just absolutely never have a spare moment to chat. unless you want to schedule phone calls at midnight, i might be able to pull that off.

school starts in 10 days. i can't believe it. didn't summer just start? i just finally managed to take the kids to the pool last week. and summer's over? it just can't be. how is blake going to be a 2nd grader. i don't like it, not at all. he's like, his own person, with friends, and does sleep overs, and hardly ever hugs me anymore. i miss my little guy who toddled around with a binky and always had his hand down his pants. i just measured his feet tonight so i could order shoes, and his feet are TWO SIZES bigger than the last pair we bought him. TWO SIZES! and only about a half inch smaller than my feet. today he left church with a sign up sheet to be on the youth worship team. he has been asking for years to do it, and now he's finally old enough. my little man, he wants to be up on stage leading praise and worship . so cool.
i'm starting to see the effects of becoming the middle child settle in with camryn. we have a lot of baby talk going on, and it's really annoying, i'm not gonna lie. we're working on it though. i'm trying not to make too big of a deal out of it and hoping it will stop. or, i just might lose my mind. some days i think i really should have put her in pre-school this year, but i decide to home school her (for a lot of reasons) and i think it's going to work out great. as long as the baby talk stops. she really loves being a big sister and is very helpful. last night i got to swim in our pool just her and i, and it was the first time in a while i've had really good one on one time with her. she was laughing so hard and it just felt so good to give her my undivided attention. she's becoming quite the performer lately. her favorite thing to do is put on dance shows for me. she decided that even though she had a really fun time with gymnastics this summer, she wants to do dance this fall. if i had the time, i'd love to put her in both, but i can't be two places at once with soccer/football/dance/gymnastics/basketball, so something had to go.
emory just adores her big brother and sister. whenever they come near her her legs get kicking and her arms are moving like crazy. she is such an awesome, awesome baby. just the happiest little thing. she usually only fusses when she's tired or hungry, she sleeps 10-12 hours at night, in her own crib now, and she's learned how to comfort herself to go to sleep. she has also developed a new love, the binky. i have no idea how this happened, b/c up until about 2 days ago she absolutely REFUSED to take a binky. she completly loathed the thing. i haven't even tried to give her one since she was about a month old. but a few days ago she was crying and the normal tricks weren't working to get her to go to sleep. i coulnd't figure it out. so i grabbed a binky and voila! best friends. huh, i was stumped. but whatever. i was nursing her the other day and i was holding her hand and couldn't believe how much she has grown. i realized she's lost that newborn look. when do they lose that? and isn't it sad they lose it so fast? God willing, this is probably my last baby, so she needs to stay little. didn't anyone tell her that?

2009-07-27T11:27:00.000-07:00

we have't been back to norfolk in months! i am so glad we went. we packed a lot into the weekend, but it was fun. saturday we went to a birthday party and the kids enjoyed seeing their friends and heith and i enjoyed catching up with ours.

we also did a lot of boating, riding four wheelers, and just enjoying time with our family.

when kids dress themselves

2009-07-23T20:47:00.000-07:00

yes, those are santa toe socks

2 (and a half) months

2009-07-19T20:38:00.000-07:00

likes:
-mornings
-talking
-bath time
-and most definitely, her momma

dislikes:
-binkies
-bottles
-car rides

miss emory, i hardly remember life without you. you make us complete.

hello friend

2009-07-16T05:36:00.000-07:00

forgot

2009-07-13T20:24:00.000-07:00

i just found a post i started last week and never published. i can't figure out how to get it at the top of my blog, it's published by date, so you can check it out below the post before this. just scroll down and you'll see it.

highlights

2009-07-13T10:06:00.000-07:00

i forgot to mention the highlights of the trip:
*blake absolutely loved his first "real" rollercoaster
*they only lasted 1/2 hour at the waterpark b/c the water was FREEZING
*the butterfly pavillion at the zoo
*the kids asking me to take a picture of this b/c they thought it was hilarious

*accidentally ordering the hannah montana movie for $15 at 10:30 pm and no one staying awake to watch it, oops
*and the most memorable moment-
Camryn: i can't wait to see the princess beds!
me: what do you mean? what princess beds?
C: at the hotel
m: what princess beds at the hotel?
c: you said there were queen beds
m: oh sweetie, that's what size they are

poor girl was excited to see some fancy princess beds!

2009-07-13T08:10:00.000-07:00

we went on a little mini vacation this weekend and the kids did AWESOME! we drove 3 hours to adventureland and it went much better than i expected. even emory was great! i had to take her out of her car seat to nurse, b/c she absolutley refuses to take a bottle. but other than that she played or slept in her seat.
blake and camryn went on a ton of rides.

emory pretty much did this

i'm not sure what it's normally like, but almost every ride had a five minute or less wait. one water ride had a very long line, they waited almost and hour and a half. they had just gone on a ride called the silly silo, which i advised against but no one would listen to me. they all came off feeling very sick. so of course camryn started to melt down while waiting in line.

she ended up falling asleep leaving heith standing in line holding 50 lbs. of dead weight for about 45 minutes :( she woke up shortly before their turn and was in a much better mood.

i can't begin to tell you how much daddy spoiled these kids. they got just about every ice cream, food, toy they wanted. i said he works his butt off, he can choose to spoil them if he wants to. check out these huge icee's! there was this cool icee bar with about 8 different flavors and you put whatever you wanted in your cup. pretty cool.

we were there from 10 am to 8 pm and miraculously avoided melt downs, and they didn't even fall asleep on the 20 minute drive to the hotel. say what? when we got to the hotel they swam until it closed at 10. i don't know where they get the energy!
the next morning we got up and swam for awhile. we realized we weren't all that pooped and wondered what we should do the rest of the day. we decided to stop at the omaha zoo since we would drive right past it on the way home.

i wanted to get a picture of emory all snuggled in the sling, and i kid you not she smiled right as i snapped the picture! she's trained! even in her sleep :)

i was so impressed with how well this weekend went. i wasn't sure we would be able to pull off a vacation this summer with a new baby. we all had so much fun, and i couldn't help but think how if they thought adventureland was great, they're going to be in heaven at disney world next year!

the past week

2009-07-10T07:35:00.000-07:00

ha! i just realized i started this post last week and never finished it. i can't remember where i was going with it or what i had to say, so i'm just throwing it on here as is :)

well if you're here in nebraska, you know we had a very unusual 4th of july. rain, chilly, i don't even know if it hit 80 degrees. i have very few pictures of the day, i was holding a sick baby all day and daddy isn't really the picture taker.
here's blake and his buddy playing in the rain july third

camryn joining in the fun

on the 4th we went to the parade in seward, notice i am wearing a SWEATER, on the fourth of july!

also notice my 7 y/o almost comes up to my shoulder! i'm pretty sure we'll be the same height before he leaves elementary school.

i found him like this one afternoon this week. just chillin on the porch, rockin away, reading.

day in pictures

2009-07-01T14:39:00.000-07:00

i haven't done our day in pictures in a long time. i don't know why, i really enjoy it. i always think they are fun posts. here goes

the morning started out like this so sad! all i wanted was some pb on my banana. next we were off to gymnastics. today was parent observation day so i finally got to see what camryn has been up to these past few weeks. off to milkworks to weigh emory. the little chubster weighs a little over 13 lbs. she's gained five pounds since birth. check out these thighs! i love them! we went to mcdonalds, haven't been there in a long time. the kids played and got rid of some energy. came home, and they tried to put a little tykes slide over the pool edge to make a waterslide. didn't work out too well. blake and camryn had "rest time" in their rooms. camryn did this blake ended up like this listening to a harry potter book on cd i did this with emory

we went to blakes baseball game. it was such a beautiful afternoon for it we stopped at a fireworks stand on the way home and shot them off with cousins.

2009-06-30T20:39:00.001-07:00

just a few things heard around the house:

*do angels have hands?

*when babies don't have teeth yet, do they brush their teeth?

*what does anyhoo mean?

*mom, do you know why blake doesn't say bad words anymore (like weird or stupid)? b/c i prayed for him.

*i'm going to be a football player. or a basketball player. if that doesn't work, i'm going to be an inventor.

and the real stumper
*when you were a little girl, before i was born, where was i?

hmmmmm, good question.

2009-06-25T07:13:00.001-07:00

yesterday in the car camryn said "i'm so adorable, so are you momma. i'm more adorable than everyone else. and more prettier, and fabulous." well well, at least we know she has a healthy self esteem. maybe i tell her a liiiiiitle too much how beautiful she is. but seriously, look at that face!

surprise

2009-06-16T08:37:00.000-07:00

blake had another 8pm baseball game last night. the game didn't get over until 10pm and i'm sure you can imagine being at a baseball game with an infant during the evening hours is not easy peasy. we got home around 10:30, baby crying, kids hungry, and i was ready to call it a night. quick snack, brush your teeth, then time for bed. i walked into the living room to shut the blinds and stopped dead in my tracks, what is that on my porch? i ran out the front door and about cried when i saw these

my neighbors gave me these absolutely GORGEOUS rocking chairs as a thank you for watching their daughter everyday after school. just earlier in the day i was playing with camryn, sitting on the ground on the porch and thinking " i REALLY need to get some furniture out here". when things like this happen i imagine God giggling and thinking "just wait, later today you'll have beautiful chairs for your porch". needless to say we did not have a quick snack and head off to bed. the kids brought out bowls of cereal and we rocked away watching the lighting, waiting for the rain.

2009-06-12T04:41:00.001-07:00

ok, this is the THIRD time i've had to re-write this post, and now all i want to do is vent about how irritating it's been and why i've had to re-write it, but i don't have the time.
i have so many blog posts floating around in my head, and i haven't had the time to write them. now that i have (or had, before it took me three times!) the time to jot some thoughts down, i'm having trouble putting everything together in a way that makes sense. it may seem random, but i just need to get a few things on here for my own sake so that i have them documented. i don't want to forget :)
miss emory is all of 5 weeks old now and such a sweetheart. she's staying awake for longer periods of time now and is smiling real smiles. ones where she looks right at you and you know she means it and it's not just gas :)

we're all having so much fun with her. we painted her little piggies

and the other day we went to the childrens zoo. while we were on the train the kids said "this is emory's first train ride, we need a picture" here's our attempt

this picture just cracks me up. my head is cut off, camryn looks either crazy or scared, not sure which one, blake looks very sweet, and the reason we took the picture, emory, is barely visible but a few hairs poking out of the top of the sling.

i've also discovered that just like her older siblings, she is a tummy sleeper. at night she sleeps on her side, but she naps much better on her tummy. the other day she kept doing this

no matter how many times i turned her head, every time i checked on her she was all sprawled out, face down. talk about making a mama nervous!
with school out blake and camryn are getting used to spending all day together. they are coming up with creative ways to spend their time.

they tied the sled to the trike (side note, camryn is riding her old trike b/c daddy ran over her bike, sad) anyways they tide the sled to the trike, and put the sled on the skateboard. i was anticipating a broken arm.
blake is playing baseball this summer, and i'm not gonna lie, while i enjoy watching him play, i'm really hoping this isn't the sport he falls in love with. he had a game four days in a row, and this is little league for first graders. i hear people i know with older kids talk about having games everyday for over a week, or traveling to two cities in one day for games, and thats just nuts. but, if it's the sport he loves, i'll do it.

camryn is doing gymnastics again this summer. we took a break to try other things, but she keeps asking to do gymnastics. i asked her the other day what her favorite part is and she said "the jumpoline" she has always called the trampoline the jumpoline and it's just too cute to correct her.

this has nothing to do with anything, but how stinking cute are these shoes!

aunt sara got these for emory from an adorable shop on etsy. the coolest part? the flowers are the same fabric as my bag! i love love these shoes and am coordinating outfits around them :)

messy

2009-06-04T06:52:00.000-07:00

my counter tops are sticky. there are dishes piled in the sink. every bathroom has a slight stink, and the kids' bathroom has toothpaste smeared on the countertops. there are bathing suits on the floor, and beach towels next to them. i'm not sure when my floors were last mopped. my stairs need vaccuumed. one pile of clean laundry is on my couch, another pile is sitting in a laundry basket upstairs and i'm not sure if they'll get put away or if we'll just keep pulling clothes out of it to wear. diapers are piling up on the floor next to my bed from middle of the night changings. i'm pretty sure the burp rag i used this morning is not clean, i'm actually not sure if i have any clean ones at the moment, hmmmm. normally i can not function in a house like this. it get's too overwhelming, and my husband will vouch for this, i start to become a huge B. i need the house to be cleaned, and then i can return to my normal self. but somehow, right now, i'm fine. i've managed to accept that this is just how things will be for a while. and actually, whenever someone has teased me this past month with "so, are you having more?" i haven't cringed at the thought. gasp!

through camryn's eyes

2009-05-28T11:58:00.000-07:00

i hadn't planned this post, but after camryn took pictures all day yeesterday i thought it would be a fun one. she took SO many pictures, it was interesting to see what she thought was picture worthy, and also to see how things look from her perspective. these are actually in backwards order, from end of the day to beginning, but hey, i'm lucky to have time to post at all. i'm not taking the time to fix them.

down to the basement

blake's cleats

from our front door

aunt sara came to visit again yay!

friends picked her up for a playdate

just one of about 20 pictures she took of her new sister

pictures on the wall

a baby doll butt (she thought this was HILARIOUS!)

mom's shoes

a peek through the window

fake plant in the corner

doll house

weekending

2009-05-26T19:36:00.000-07:00

aaaaaaaaah, why can't every weekend be a three day weekend? we love having daddy home :) friday heith's brother and wife came down with our niece colbie. she was so excited when she realized the baby was a REAL baby.

we put up the pool on saturday, and my crazy kids got in and swam. yes it was hot out, but the water was flippin COLD! i'm talking cold, like came out of the fridge, you wanna drink it, cold. they didn't care.

sunday we went up to omaha, heith's cousin had a baby girl. the difference two weeks makes is amazing. check out baby amelia just snoozing away, and look how alert emory is.

and here's camryn at the hospital, such a goofball.

on monday, neighbors noticed the pool was up and started to trickle our way. we lounged in the sun all day and grilled out. perfect! the kids swam, swam, had a water balloon fight, and swam. when's the next three day weekend?