Blessings

It has been a tough day… I feel so blessed to have two beautiful, healthy kids. I am so thankful for a supportive husband that will drop anything so I could be there for a friend today. Thank you all for being you, and being in my life, and making me smile and laugh over and over again…

One Wild Birthday Weekend!

I’m having a hard time believing that my little baby girl is 2 years old- even though I have been rounding her age up for months since it is easier to say “2” than 21 ½ months… We threw Keira a zoo themed party weekend! It started Friday morning with all of us singing Happy Birthday to wake K up! I had gathered pictures of her from the day she was born through now and had them decorating the kitchen walls. When she saw them she pointed and exclaimed “WOAH” not believing the little baby pictures were really her. We also had the Coup (her new favorite thing in the world) set up in the living room. She throws her milk in the back, makes her vroom vroom sounds, and buzzes around the house in HER car. She even lets Quinn go for a ride once in a while! We took off for the zoo on Friday morning and celebrated with friends, animals, and cupcakes! Saturday we had a barbecue with family. Sunday… we all crashed from exhaustion!

THE Coup!


K with her friend group at the zoo- VERY difficult to get a group picture of toddlers!

K has this thing about not wanting her hands to be dirty- she ate her entire cupcake without using her hands!!

A rare picture of the two of us together since I'm usually the one taking the pictures!

Such a change from her first birthday- she now neatly uses a fork to eat her birthday cake.

Daddy made an awesome zoo cake for K!

I just had to throw this in... notice that Q man is NOT into the neat eating like his sister!

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY K!!!

As for what we have been up to....

Exploring, sliding, jumping, running, swinging, strolling, bubbles, talking, counting out loud, dancing, singing, chewing, teething, biting (Q MAN- ouch!), playing dress-up, putting MANY diapers on dolls, coloring on walls, coloring on selves, "helping" mommy cook, books, eating books, fit kids, parks, making baskets, learning to share, learning to use the potty, learning to sleep through the night, learning to get dressed all by self, eating new foods, eating dirt, ball tent, throwing balls at brother, making brother cry, learning to say sorry, tricycle riding, almost crawling, temper tantrums (boo for 2's), AND sleeping (oh wait... that's what mommy wishes she, and the munchkins, were doing more of!)

HOORAY! The ball tent is back out! Quinn's first time- he loved it! Keira enjoyed pegging him with balls.... but he still smiled. Someday you will be able to get her back Q!

We have been into getting dressed ALL BY SELF... I am learning to let it go and pick my battles!

Notice Keira's little friend in her yuck hawk shirt and Keira in her GO STATE shirt! Also notice the one who is smiling and the one who is not... I feel your pain Keira! Next season!

Girls/KIDS Weekend

Our girls, I mean KIDS weekend, turned out to be such a great time! It had been 6 months since we had gotten all the kids together- they are all mobile and very busy now! It was wonderful to see the girls and enjoy some deck time sort of like the good old days (with baby monitors) after all the kids were finally asleep each night! Our house was pack-and-play central! I couldn’t imagine having 5 kids of my own- each meal was a complete kitchen wreck- not to mention the constant tornado state the house was in! But the kids got along well and the mommies had a great time! I think we have finally recovered!

Keira and Esme enjoyed many snacks together!


This was our attempt to get "such a cute picture" of all the kids in their spotted pajamas- but it was more difficult than we thought it would be! Keira was sad most of the weekend over the invasion of "her stuff." She was kind of overwhelmed by all the kids.

The fake french fry was the most popular toy of the weekend!

Esme is SUCH a good eater....

She even ate sushi!!!

Can't wait to see you all again!

Dallas or Bust! And other random happenings...

Despite 18 hours in a van, we had a great trip to Dallas over the weekend! The kids actually did great on the trip. I was prepared with $1 Target goodies, favorite books, snacks, movies, music, stickers, magnets, play dough, masking tape (Keira’s favorite thing), sticky notes, crayons,… MUCH entertainment! We survived, barely, and are all still tired and recovering, but we got to see Nana, Papa, Aunt B, AP, UJ, and Great Grandma K all in one swoop! AND we got to soak up some very mild temps in Texas! Les and I took a trip to the grocery store while we were there (yes, the food snobs that we are, we love us a good grocery store!) and picked up some old favorites that are found only in Texas! Some good things do come out of Texas! We also enjoyed some time at the park right across the street!

We got this in the mail from the big boss in Iowa for Q-man to wear! SO CUTE and showing the bean love!

Keira INSISTED on not just wearing her swimsuit, but wearing it OVER her pajamas!

New trend??

Do you know how impossible it is to get EVERYONE looking and smiling in a picture? This was seriously the best one.

It's OFFICIAL!

I was giving Quinn his bottle last night before bed. He stopped drinking, looked up at me and then started clearly saying “BUH” “BUH” “BUH”—followed by AAAA BUH, AAAA BUH, AAAA BUH. For those of you that don’t know, Keira’s first word was not mama or dada, but ABBEY (for our dog). I was so excited, but it was confirmed this morning at breakfast! Quinn was sitting in his high chair and started his AAAA BUH sounds. I asked him “Where is Abbey?” and he looked RIGHT at the dog who was sitting beside his chair begging and said AAAA BUH!!! AAAA BUH!!! There you have it! They love their Abbey dog!

Snowball Fight!

MUTE your computer before watching... it's like a super cool old-time movie starring the (tied for first with Q-man) cutest kid in the world!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_76gzl4hwM