Last month, we had family pictures done for Preston's 3rd birthday, CeCe's 1st birthday, and our seven year wedding anniversary by Vilma Deckena of Gem Photography. Vilma is a saint who, must also be a miracle worker, because she was able to get some great shots on a day that my kids were.... well.... let's just say, not at their best. Thank you, Vilma! Here is a link to our sneak peek on her blog!
Click HERE to see our preview!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
catch up!
Where to begin, haven't blogged, so busy, blah, blah, blah... you know the drill.... I'll skip the formalities and apologies and just say that I've been lacking on time. Check out some pics from this past summer and early fall!
Here we are at the Three Rivers Festival Parade back in July! Preston got to sit in the garbage truck, as National Serve-All is a big client of Asher's and they were the major sponsor of TRF. And CeCe got her pic taken with the Ball State cheerleaders. Go Cards!!
For YEARS, I have been badgering Kevin to go to the Elkhart County 4-H Fair and FINALLY, this year he agreed! We got to meet the Byers girls and enjoy some fair food, rides and animals. Preston is still talking about it! :)
A fun visit from the Pryors!
Kevin took me to the John Mayer concert! (swooning) And we loved The Avett Brothers, who opened for him. We even ran into my dad and stepmom. :) FANTASTIC SHOW!
I have so many pictures from the kids' birthday parties, that I have to save those for another post, but here are some other pics from the past couple of months. Highlights include: our backyard as we hosted the 2010 Illsley Place Ice Cream Social, a trip to the Grabil Fair with the Spitlers, Kevin and I before the Fort 4 Fitness 4-mile run, and me crossing the finish line, Preston starting soccer class (!!!), a girls night out, and just some other general cuteness. Enjoy!
Here we are at the Three Rivers Festival Parade back in July! Preston got to sit in the garbage truck, as National Serve-All is a big client of Asher's and they were the major sponsor of TRF. And CeCe got her pic taken with the Ball State cheerleaders. Go Cards!!
For YEARS, I have been badgering Kevin to go to the Elkhart County 4-H Fair and FINALLY, this year he agreed! We got to meet the Byers girls and enjoy some fair food, rides and animals. Preston is still talking about it! :)
A fun visit from the Pryors!
Kevin took me to the John Mayer concert! (swooning) And we loved The Avett Brothers, who opened for him. We even ran into my dad and stepmom. :) FANTASTIC SHOW!
I have so many pictures from the kids' birthday parties, that I have to save those for another post, but here are some other pics from the past couple of months. Highlights include: our backyard as we hosted the 2010 Illsley Place Ice Cream Social, a trip to the Grabil Fair with the Spitlers, Kevin and I before the Fort 4 Fitness 4-mile run, and me crossing the finish line, Preston starting soccer class (!!!), a girls night out, and just some other general cuteness. Enjoy!
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
A year ago today...
We brought home our sweet Baby CeCe! As we settled in as a family of four, we realized quickly that this baby girl was going to steal our hearts. She was the easiest newborn I could have asked for, and became slightly more .... um, .... spicy around the age of 6 months. Once she realized her autonomy, she proved to be a determined but extremely loving little girl. These days, she wears her heart on her sleeve. There's no guessing her mood- she lets us know! As a one year old, she has four top teeth, two bottom, and two more coming in, still nurses a few times a day, takes a morning and afternoon nap, often sleeps through the night (yay!), cruises around furniture, explores every inch of our house and yard, loves her brother, dollies, trucks and eating plants.
We can't wait to see what the next year has in store. We love you, Cecilia... Happy first birthday, baby girl!!!
Monday, August 16, 2010
Three years ago tonight...
My water broke and we headed quickly to the hospital to meet our sweet baby boy. 18 hours of labor later, he was born with his eyes open and soft little cry. That day, I didn't know how fully we would love him, but here we are and he's stolen our hearts forever.
We have so much to catch up on- I was without my computer for what feels like forever, so I will take the next month or so to post pictures and catch up with the blog, but I had to post tonight to wish our little guy a happy birthday!
Preston,
You make us smile every single day. Your heart is so open and you are the most precocious, kind, intelligent and thoughtful little boy we could ever ask for. Not to mention, your face is so stinkin' cute that I can hardly look at you without melting. I treasure ever moment we've shared the past three years, and love being your mommy more than life itself. Happy THIRD birthday, buddy... we love you forever and like you for always. As long as I'm living, my baby you'll be.
We have so much to catch up on- I was without my computer for what feels like forever, so I will take the next month or so to post pictures and catch up with the blog, but I had to post tonight to wish our little guy a happy birthday!
Preston,
You make us smile every single day. Your heart is so open and you are the most precocious, kind, intelligent and thoughtful little boy we could ever ask for. Not to mention, your face is so stinkin' cute that I can hardly look at you without melting. I treasure ever moment we've shared the past three years, and love being your mommy more than life itself. Happy THIRD birthday, buddy... we love you forever and like you for always. As long as I'm living, my baby you'll be.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
All over.
CeCe started crawling right at 9 months and I can't believe I haven't blogged about it yet. Oh, right- that's because she's into EVERYTHING and I can't sit down at the computer long enough to form a rational thought. She's literally the busiest thing I've ever seen and very unhappy if she's at all confined. She's super fast and is now pulling herself up on anything she can get her hands on. Including the toilet. (Where's my maid?) Unfortunately, this allows for her to get into and destroy Preston's toys while he's playing, which has been... um... difficult. But suffice it to say, she's all over the place and even though it's more work, it's pretty darn cute.
Preston is currently obsessed with performing and practicing his songs. Itsy Bitsy Spider, Ba Ba Black Sheep, Twinkle Twinkle and the ABC's. Yes, many of his songs, conveniently, are to the same tune. :) I'll have to post some more videos. He's also obsessed with the fact that he's got a birthday coming up and that he'll be three.
Enjoy some recent pics from the zoo, father's day, and our ever-elusive shot for a family photo where everyone is looking at the camera.
Preston is currently obsessed with performing and practicing his songs. Itsy Bitsy Spider, Ba Ba Black Sheep, Twinkle Twinkle and the ABC's. Yes, many of his songs, conveniently, are to the same tune. :) I'll have to post some more videos. He's also obsessed with the fact that he's got a birthday coming up and that he'll be three.
Enjoy some recent pics from the zoo, father's day, and our ever-elusive shot for a family photo where everyone is looking at the camera.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Monday, June 7, 2010
Yikes!
Seriously- Over a month since my last post! I am awful. And you, my friends, are out of the loop. Sooo.... in the spirit of a good friend who has a slight case of pregnancy-induced ADD (Hi Betsy!) I'll give you an efficient bullet-point blog post. Light on pictures because as I have found I am so stinkin' busy lately, I am constantly forgetting my camera when we are out and about. I will be better in the weeks to come because we have such a fun summer planned!
*First and foremost- Mother's Day was so nice!
Kevin made my day with the best Mother's Day gift ever. Tickets to John Mayer at Verizon in August! Wooohooo! Opening for him is the amazing group, The Avett Brothers. Trust me, you want to check them out. And by the way, maybe I just have a thing for bad boys, but aside from being a brilliant musician and lyricist, John Mayer is just misunderstood, so don't hate.
*Potty Time- done with daytime diapers!
For whatever reason, Preston refused the potty with gusto until back in April when he finally went. I had watched friends and family members potty train and it seemed so daunting and like so much work on my part. To be honest, I just didn't feel up to that challenge or have the energy to put into it. However, I was pretty much over diapers and thankfully after that first time, so was Preston! He totally led the way and started telling me when he needed to go. Within a few days, we were in underwear full time at home (except naps and nighttime) and now, he's going potty while at home and out in public on the big potty- both pee and poo. I am so proud and fully admit that I didn't give him enough credit. I was expecting it to take months and months, but in reality, he's only had one accident, and that was his first day in underwear. So, there you have it- daytime potty trained in a couple of weeks. Wootwooot!
*CeCe's eye.
Because of Preston's heterochromia, I am hyper-alert to anything having to do with the kids' eyes. The week of Mother's Day, I noticed a small black fleck in CeCe's right eye. It was about the size of a piece of pepper and I could tell it was on the surface. Nurse Mommy gently rubbed the lid towards the corner of her eye, and also tried to flush it out, but the thing wouldn't move. Her eye was red and watery, so I kept trying to trust that her body would clean it out like it was meant to do.
However, Friday morning, I was worried that the weekend would come and it would get infected or what if this and what if that, so I went ahead and called the doctor. They got us in, tried to get it out, but were unsuccessful, (very traumatic for both CeCe and Mama,) and then sent us to an opthamolagist who was also unsuccessful at removing it in the office and scheduled us for surgery the next morning. Yes, surgery...under general anesthetic. I was such a nervous mess. Thank God I had Kevin to calm me down every 5 minutes. Long story short, the surgeon we were scheduled with was WONDERFUL! He called our house to speak with us the night before, and she was only out about 7 minutes total. The nursing staff in the pre and post-op areas were awesome. They brought in a rocking chair and had it waiting next to her bed in recovery so that I could nurse her immediately. She did GREAT! She was a total pumpkin and even laughing, babbling and playing patty cake in the post-op area. The surgeon said that what he removed was a small piece of "organic matter," so I am assuming it was mulch or dirt or something of that nature since we've been outside so much lately. Our little sweetie, she was such a trooper. It was heartbreaking to see her in discomfort, but it was truly our only option. Here's hoping we never have to deal with a surgery again because even though she did well, it was no fun for any of us!
*9 months old!
CeCe is 9 months old! We are doing lots of big-girl things lately. Patty cake, giving kisses, so big, trying new foods, etc... I adore this stage. Perhaps the cutest thing she does (and she does a lot of cute things, so this is sayin' something...) is when we ask if she wants to do Patty Cake, she immediately starts clapping her hands. So sweet!! She JUST started crawling a few days ago, and is now trying to pull herself up on stuff. Life takes on a whole new view with a mobile baby around here! We just had her 9 month well baby visit- she was 18.2 lbs and 28.25 inches long- 50th percentile for both height and weight.
*I broke my (expletive) toe!
Walking into the door jam. It sucks trying to keep up with the kids, but I have it taped and am trying to elevate/ice it along with ibuprofen. It didn't stop me from plant shopping in Shipshewana later in the week with Judy, though. My friend Erin Spencer (Hi Chom!) broke both of her feet separately last year and somehow stayed out of the loony bin while chasing two toddlers, so I think I should try to grin and bear a broken pinky toe without complaints. It's been about 3 weeks and is starting to heal well, but I still have it taped. Badly, badly need a pedicure.
*We spent Memorial Day weekend at the lake, have been making trips to the zoo, I've been enjoying time in the garden while the kids play outside. Summer is here and we have no complaints!! :) Here are some pics of recent fun:
CeCe posing for the camera:
Kiwi for lunch:
Backpack, backpack!
Hanging in the exersaucer:
Cookin' up some trucks:
Worm hunt with buddy Audrey:
Washing up some dishes in the backyard:
Fun at the zoo!
*First and foremost- Mother's Day was so nice!
Kevin made my day with the best Mother's Day gift ever. Tickets to John Mayer at Verizon in August! Wooohooo! Opening for him is the amazing group, The Avett Brothers. Trust me, you want to check them out. And by the way, maybe I just have a thing for bad boys, but aside from being a brilliant musician and lyricist, John Mayer is just misunderstood, so don't hate.
*Potty Time- done with daytime diapers!
For whatever reason, Preston refused the potty with gusto until back in April when he finally went. I had watched friends and family members potty train and it seemed so daunting and like so much work on my part. To be honest, I just didn't feel up to that challenge or have the energy to put into it. However, I was pretty much over diapers and thankfully after that first time, so was Preston! He totally led the way and started telling me when he needed to go. Within a few days, we were in underwear full time at home (except naps and nighttime) and now, he's going potty while at home and out in public on the big potty- both pee and poo. I am so proud and fully admit that I didn't give him enough credit. I was expecting it to take months and months, but in reality, he's only had one accident, and that was his first day in underwear. So, there you have it- daytime potty trained in a couple of weeks. Wootwooot!
*CeCe's eye.
Because of Preston's heterochromia, I am hyper-alert to anything having to do with the kids' eyes. The week of Mother's Day, I noticed a small black fleck in CeCe's right eye. It was about the size of a piece of pepper and I could tell it was on the surface. Nurse Mommy gently rubbed the lid towards the corner of her eye, and also tried to flush it out, but the thing wouldn't move. Her eye was red and watery, so I kept trying to trust that her body would clean it out like it was meant to do.
However, Friday morning, I was worried that the weekend would come and it would get infected or what if this and what if that, so I went ahead and called the doctor. They got us in, tried to get it out, but were unsuccessful, (very traumatic for both CeCe and Mama,) and then sent us to an opthamolagist who was also unsuccessful at removing it in the office and scheduled us for surgery the next morning. Yes, surgery...under general anesthetic. I was such a nervous mess. Thank God I had Kevin to calm me down every 5 minutes. Long story short, the surgeon we were scheduled with was WONDERFUL! He called our house to speak with us the night before, and she was only out about 7 minutes total. The nursing staff in the pre and post-op areas were awesome. They brought in a rocking chair and had it waiting next to her bed in recovery so that I could nurse her immediately. She did GREAT! She was a total pumpkin and even laughing, babbling and playing patty cake in the post-op area. The surgeon said that what he removed was a small piece of "organic matter," so I am assuming it was mulch or dirt or something of that nature since we've been outside so much lately. Our little sweetie, she was such a trooper. It was heartbreaking to see her in discomfort, but it was truly our only option. Here's hoping we never have to deal with a surgery again because even though she did well, it was no fun for any of us!
*9 months old!
CeCe is 9 months old! We are doing lots of big-girl things lately. Patty cake, giving kisses, so big, trying new foods, etc... I adore this stage. Perhaps the cutest thing she does (and she does a lot of cute things, so this is sayin' something...) is when we ask if she wants to do Patty Cake, she immediately starts clapping her hands. So sweet!! She JUST started crawling a few days ago, and is now trying to pull herself up on stuff. Life takes on a whole new view with a mobile baby around here! We just had her 9 month well baby visit- she was 18.2 lbs and 28.25 inches long- 50th percentile for both height and weight.
*I broke my (expletive) toe!
Walking into the door jam. It sucks trying to keep up with the kids, but I have it taped and am trying to elevate/ice it along with ibuprofen. It didn't stop me from plant shopping in Shipshewana later in the week with Judy, though. My friend Erin Spencer (Hi Chom!) broke both of her feet separately last year and somehow stayed out of the loony bin while chasing two toddlers, so I think I should try to grin and bear a broken pinky toe without complaints. It's been about 3 weeks and is starting to heal well, but I still have it taped. Badly, badly need a pedicure.
*We spent Memorial Day weekend at the lake, have been making trips to the zoo, I've been enjoying time in the garden while the kids play outside. Summer is here and we have no complaints!! :) Here are some pics of recent fun:
CeCe posing for the camera:
Kiwi for lunch:
Backpack, backpack!
Hanging in the exersaucer:
Cookin' up some trucks:
Worm hunt with buddy Audrey:
Washing up some dishes in the backyard:
Fun at the zoo!
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