Tuesday, May 31, 2011
New Swing Set
As a thank you for doing their bathroom, Brandon and Carly bought our family this AMAZING swing set. Kirby spent all day yesterday putting it together and we absolutely LOVE it.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Two Parties, Two Cakes, Two Years Old
Lydia had a fun and busy 2nd Birthday.
It started with presents and cinnamon rolls at home.
She opened her present so carefully, it drove Clae crazy, he wanted her to just rip into it!
My mom always made us Pillsbury cinnamon rolls on our birthdays growing up and I'm carrying on the tradition.
Lydia shares a birthday with Kirby's Grandma Brown. This year was her 90th Birthday. Just 88 years between her and Lydia! We had a family gathering at Morris Park to celebrate. 70 of her 100 plus children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren were there to wish her a Happy Birthday.
We managed to get a picture of ALL six of the grandkids on the swing, our kids plus our 4 nephews.
Lydia having fun playing on her birthday
The birthday girls, Grandma Ruth Brown and Lydia
I decided not to try to do a party at our house since it was such a busy weekend, so we went out for pizza at Pizza Ranch with Kirby's family on Saturday night.
Picking the nem nems off of her cake
Sunday evening we had a party at my parent's house. All of my mom's brothers and sister were back for the weekend so they were all there. It was a beautiful evening and we enjoyed sitting outside on the porch.
I told my sister she was in charge of the cake, this is the adorable cake she came up with.
Daddy and kids
This is what happened when we left her alone with the cake for a couple of minutes! Oops! Some people had fingerprints in their piece of cake. Oh well, it was her birthday!
It started with presents and cinnamon rolls at home.
She opened her present so carefully, it drove Clae crazy, he wanted her to just rip into it!
My mom always made us Pillsbury cinnamon rolls on our birthdays growing up and I'm carrying on the tradition.
Lydia shares a birthday with Kirby's Grandma Brown. This year was her 90th Birthday. Just 88 years between her and Lydia! We had a family gathering at Morris Park to celebrate. 70 of her 100 plus children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren were there to wish her a Happy Birthday.
We managed to get a picture of ALL six of the grandkids on the swing, our kids plus our 4 nephews.
Lydia having fun playing on her birthday
The birthday girls, Grandma Ruth Brown and Lydia
I decided not to try to do a party at our house since it was such a busy weekend, so we went out for pizza at Pizza Ranch with Kirby's family on Saturday night.
Picking the nem nems off of her cake
Sunday evening we had a party at my parent's house. All of my mom's brothers and sister were back for the weekend so they were all there. It was a beautiful evening and we enjoyed sitting outside on the porch.
I told my sister she was in charge of the cake, this is the adorable cake she came up with.
Daddy and kids
This is what happened when we left her alone with the cake for a couple of minutes! Oops! Some people had fingerprints in their piece of cake. Oh well, it was her birthday!
Saturday, May 28, 2011
For My Lydia
It is not even possible that TWO years have gone by since God blessed me with a baby GIRL!
May 28, 2011
May 28, 2010
May 28, 2009
I remember driving to the hospital the morning you were born, watching all of the new baby lambs and calves out in the pastures with their mamas and thinking what a special time of year it was to have a baby.
When we got to the hospital I sat in the car and told daddy, "I'm just going to wait out here, let me know how everything goes!" Unfortunately, it didn't work that way. The process of having Clae was still all too fresh in my mind and I wasn't sure I was ready to go through that again. But ready or not the time had come, and the experience was just as pleasant as I remembered it being the first time...but it's all worth it in the end.
Somewhere in the midst of the unpleasant surgery prep, among the IVs, cathethers, shaving, etc, a nurse strapped a heartbeat monitor onto my belly, I heard your heart beating and was reminded why I was going through it all. The tears started rolling and I couldn't wait to meet you.
Finally, it was time to go to the OR. I walked this time, they administered the spinal, and I knew it wouldn't be long. Daddy came and stood next to me, and we waited. It wasn't long before we heard your cries, Daddy disappeared to go be with you and the anesithist announced to me, it's....a.....GIRL! A girl. I couldn't quite wrap my mind around it, they held you up so I could see your tiny little naked body and then took you away to take care of your needs.
I was in recovery for quite a while, it seemed, so they could monitor my vitals and make sure everything was fine. I was taken back to our room where I finally got to see and hold you. Everyone left us alone so I could nurse you. You latched right away and we got to share a few special moments together, mother and daughter.
We had several visitors at the hospital, but it seemed like we had more quiet time with you than we did with Clae. I wasn't such a paranoid first-time-mom this time, so I would lay you next to me on my bed and snuggle with you, I wasn't afraid to give you a little bit of a bottle before my milk came it, I just wasn't as stressed in general which made for a much more enjoyable experience.
I think the second Grandma and Aunt Carly heard the word "girl" they ran out to go shopping. I am not even kidding. They showed up in the afternoon with bags and bags of PINK clothes for you. You were the best dressed little girl in town!
We left the hospital on the most gorgeous day. Quite a contrast to when we had to scrape 12 inches of snow off of our car when we took Clae home. We spent the next two weeks getting to know each other. I was recovering from surgery and couldn't lift Clae yet, so Daddy and Clae spent a lot of time together, which allowed us to have some girl time.
Two years later I have a spunky, independent, little girlie girl. You love to carry your babies around, put them in their car seat and tuck them into bed. You strut your little self around the house with your purse on your arm and a phone tucked against your year. We tell Clae to eat his veggies because they will make him strong, we tell you to eat them because they will make your hair pretty. You love to have your fingernails painted, but you don't really like to have bows in your hair. Every morning when you get up you have to pick our a pair of shoes to wear around the house. And you have to do it "yourself." Whatever it is, whatever we try to help you with, you say "no, self." Your daddy and your brother adore you.
I love you baby girl, you are so precious! Happy 2nd Birthday!
May 28, 2011
May 28, 2010
May 28, 2009
I remember driving to the hospital the morning you were born, watching all of the new baby lambs and calves out in the pastures with their mamas and thinking what a special time of year it was to have a baby.
When we got to the hospital I sat in the car and told daddy, "I'm just going to wait out here, let me know how everything goes!" Unfortunately, it didn't work that way. The process of having Clae was still all too fresh in my mind and I wasn't sure I was ready to go through that again. But ready or not the time had come, and the experience was just as pleasant as I remembered it being the first time...but it's all worth it in the end.
Somewhere in the midst of the unpleasant surgery prep, among the IVs, cathethers, shaving, etc, a nurse strapped a heartbeat monitor onto my belly, I heard your heart beating and was reminded why I was going through it all. The tears started rolling and I couldn't wait to meet you.
Finally, it was time to go to the OR. I walked this time, they administered the spinal, and I knew it wouldn't be long. Daddy came and stood next to me, and we waited. It wasn't long before we heard your cries, Daddy disappeared to go be with you and the anesithist announced to me, it's....a.....GIRL! A girl. I couldn't quite wrap my mind around it, they held you up so I could see your tiny little naked body and then took you away to take care of your needs.
I was in recovery for quite a while, it seemed, so they could monitor my vitals and make sure everything was fine. I was taken back to our room where I finally got to see and hold you. Everyone left us alone so I could nurse you. You latched right away and we got to share a few special moments together, mother and daughter.
We had several visitors at the hospital, but it seemed like we had more quiet time with you than we did with Clae. I wasn't such a paranoid first-time-mom this time, so I would lay you next to me on my bed and snuggle with you, I wasn't afraid to give you a little bit of a bottle before my milk came it, I just wasn't as stressed in general which made for a much more enjoyable experience.
I think the second Grandma and Aunt Carly heard the word "girl" they ran out to go shopping. I am not even kidding. They showed up in the afternoon with bags and bags of PINK clothes for you. You were the best dressed little girl in town!
We left the hospital on the most gorgeous day. Quite a contrast to when we had to scrape 12 inches of snow off of our car when we took Clae home. We spent the next two weeks getting to know each other. I was recovering from surgery and couldn't lift Clae yet, so Daddy and Clae spent a lot of time together, which allowed us to have some girl time.
Two years later I have a spunky, independent, little girlie girl. You love to carry your babies around, put them in their car seat and tuck them into bed. You strut your little self around the house with your purse on your arm and a phone tucked against your year. We tell Clae to eat his veggies because they will make him strong, we tell you to eat them because they will make your hair pretty. You love to have your fingernails painted, but you don't really like to have bows in your hair. Every morning when you get up you have to pick our a pair of shoes to wear around the house. And you have to do it "yourself." Whatever it is, whatever we try to help you with, you say "no, self." Your daddy and your brother adore you.
I love you baby girl, you are so precious! Happy 2nd Birthday!
Friday, May 27, 2011
Lydia's Cake
This is the cake I decided to make for Lydia at the last minute. Last year I practiced for weeks trying to make the perfect ladybug cake and ended up ordering it from HyVee! This year I wasn't going to make a cake at all, but decided to try to find something fairly easy and cute, this is what I came up with.
I found the original idea on the Family Fun website.
I made a few modifications, and this is the finished product...
I made a double layer round instead of rectangular. I used M&M's instead of Sprees. And I had to make it pink for my girlie girl. I thought about making it white but I use butter in my icing which makes it kind of yellowish, so it doesn't look as nice to leave it white. I do have a recipe for nice white icing, but it uses Crisco and I don't like the taste of it nearly as well.
I also found this great tip for making a level cake. I usually just trim off the dome, but I knew there had to be a way to make it flat, and this is what I found out. If you wrap a wet towel around the outside of the pan the cake turns out flat! It really does work. I didn't do any trimming of this cake and it's almost totally flat. There is a slight bit of a dome that I could have trimmed off, but I didn't really care, so I didn't mess with it.
I found the original idea on the Family Fun website.
I made a few modifications, and this is the finished product...
I made a double layer round instead of rectangular. I used M&M's instead of Sprees. And I had to make it pink for my girlie girl. I thought about making it white but I use butter in my icing which makes it kind of yellowish, so it doesn't look as nice to leave it white. I do have a recipe for nice white icing, but it uses Crisco and I don't like the taste of it nearly as well.
I also found this great tip for making a level cake. I usually just trim off the dome, but I knew there had to be a way to make it flat, and this is what I found out. If you wrap a wet towel around the outside of the pan the cake turns out flat! It really does work. I didn't do any trimming of this cake and it's almost totally flat. There is a slight bit of a dome that I could have trimmed off, but I didn't really care, so I didn't mess with it.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Trip to Minnesota
We had been talking up our trip to "the city" to the kids for weeks so they were very excited about this trip by the time it finally arrived.
We arrived at our hotel on Thursday night around 10:30, they had been asleep in the car, but the trip inside woke them up. They were quite impressed with the hotel room and Clae was pumped to get to sleep on this cool couch!
We spent Friday at the Mall of America. We got there at 9:30 only to find out it doesn't open until 10, but it actually worked out nicely because we were able to scope the place out without fighting huge crowds. By the time the amusement park rides opened we had our tickets purchased and the rides we wanted to go on picked out. There were no lines at all for the first half and hour which was nice since waiting paitently is neither of my children's strong point.
Clae was obsessed with these big rigs. We rode on them countless times, Lydia didn't really care what she got to ride as long as she was riding something.
Daddy was mainly the rider and I was the stroller watcher/picture taker.
This little bus was actually Lydia's favorite thing. Clae even let her drive it!
We visited the Sealife Aquarium at the mall.
The kids played with the Legos.
We spent Friday evening with my aunt and uncle, Doug and Delilah, who live just a few miles from the mall. They watched the kids ride a few rides and then treated us to dinner. You don't realize how high maintenance your kids are until you try to have a dinner conversation with two other adults. It kinda...doesn't happen. But we made the most of it and had a nice evening.
Saturday morning we went to Doug and Delilah's house so Kirby could see where they live and then they joined us at the Minnesota Zoo. It happened to be a cold and rainy day, but we were able to do a lot inside and ventured outside to see the grizzly bears and tigers. Clae was very impressed.
We stopped at Cabela's on the way home. Clae thought we should buy daddy a boat and a truck. When we left he couldn't understand why we had to drive our car home and not drive Daddy's new truck, pulling his new boat behind it!
The kids had fun driving these Rhino thingies or whatever they're called.
Taking a two and three year old to the biggest mall in the US was not the nightmare I thought it might be. Clae was awesome the whole time, Lydia wasn't bad she was just...two, what do you expect. Other than a little sleep deprivation and a whole lotta laundry to catch up on we had a really great time!
We arrived at our hotel on Thursday night around 10:30, they had been asleep in the car, but the trip inside woke them up. They were quite impressed with the hotel room and Clae was pumped to get to sleep on this cool couch!
We spent Friday at the Mall of America. We got there at 9:30 only to find out it doesn't open until 10, but it actually worked out nicely because we were able to scope the place out without fighting huge crowds. By the time the amusement park rides opened we had our tickets purchased and the rides we wanted to go on picked out. There were no lines at all for the first half and hour which was nice since waiting paitently is neither of my children's strong point.
Clae was obsessed with these big rigs. We rode on them countless times, Lydia didn't really care what she got to ride as long as she was riding something.
Daddy was mainly the rider and I was the stroller watcher/picture taker.
This little bus was actually Lydia's favorite thing. Clae even let her drive it!
We visited the Sealife Aquarium at the mall.
The kids played with the Legos.
We spent Friday evening with my aunt and uncle, Doug and Delilah, who live just a few miles from the mall. They watched the kids ride a few rides and then treated us to dinner. You don't realize how high maintenance your kids are until you try to have a dinner conversation with two other adults. It kinda...doesn't happen. But we made the most of it and had a nice evening.
Saturday morning we went to Doug and Delilah's house so Kirby could see where they live and then they joined us at the Minnesota Zoo. It happened to be a cold and rainy day, but we were able to do a lot inside and ventured outside to see the grizzly bears and tigers. Clae was very impressed.
We stopped at Cabela's on the way home. Clae thought we should buy daddy a boat and a truck. When we left he couldn't understand why we had to drive our car home and not drive Daddy's new truck, pulling his new boat behind it!
The kids had fun driving these Rhino thingies or whatever they're called.
Taking a two and three year old to the biggest mall in the US was not the nightmare I thought it might be. Clae was awesome the whole time, Lydia wasn't bad she was just...two, what do you expect. Other than a little sleep deprivation and a whole lotta laundry to catch up on we had a really great time!
Monday, May 9, 2011
Great Weekend
What a beautiful weekend to celebrate Mother's Day!
Early in the day on Saturday my mother-in-law dropped of a gift for me, so I was explaining to Clae about Mother's Day and I asked him if he got me anything. He said very confidently, "yah, Daddy and I went!" I could tell by the deer-in-the-heatlights look on Daddy's face that they had NOT gone anywhere to get my anything.
Later in the evening he put the kids in the car and they made a last minute trip to the store. When they got home, before Clae even got out of the car, he was yelling, "WE GOT A PRESENT FOR YOU, IT'S CANDLES!" I could hear Kirby saying, "shhhh." I was cracking up!
They got me candles, balloons, and a card. What they don't know is that he best part of the present was the time I had to myself while they were gone! shhh, don't tell!
We tried REALLY hard to get a picture of me with the kids, this is not and easy task. This is the best we could come up with.
We had a really nice church service Sunday morning, went home for naps, and spent the evening with my family at my sister's house.
Me, my mom, and Lydia
Me and my mom
Me, my mom and my sister
We were taking pictures and I jokingly said to my mom, "get a picture of me doing all of the work!" My sister isn't big into cooking and my mom was voluntarily taking the night off because it was mother's day.
My sister said, "sorry I'm making you do all of the work, but you're used to it." Brother! Once the little sister, always the little sister!
We cooked hot dogs over the fire and made s'mores. Yum!
Early in the day on Saturday my mother-in-law dropped of a gift for me, so I was explaining to Clae about Mother's Day and I asked him if he got me anything. He said very confidently, "yah, Daddy and I went!" I could tell by the deer-in-the-heatlights look on Daddy's face that they had NOT gone anywhere to get my anything.
Later in the evening he put the kids in the car and they made a last minute trip to the store. When they got home, before Clae even got out of the car, he was yelling, "WE GOT A PRESENT FOR YOU, IT'S CANDLES!" I could hear Kirby saying, "shhhh." I was cracking up!
They got me candles, balloons, and a card. What they don't know is that he best part of the present was the time I had to myself while they were gone! shhh, don't tell!
We tried REALLY hard to get a picture of me with the kids, this is not and easy task. This is the best we could come up with.
We had a really nice church service Sunday morning, went home for naps, and spent the evening with my family at my sister's house.
Me, my mom, and Lydia
Me and my mom
Me, my mom and my sister
We were taking pictures and I jokingly said to my mom, "get a picture of me doing all of the work!" My sister isn't big into cooking and my mom was voluntarily taking the night off because it was mother's day.
My sister said, "sorry I'm making you do all of the work, but you're used to it." Brother! Once the little sister, always the little sister!
We cooked hot dogs over the fire and made s'mores. Yum!
Bathroom: Before and After
This is Brandon and Carly's bathroom before and after the remodel. My husband spent MANY hours working on this bathroom to get it ready for them to move back in. For several weeks in a row he would go to work in the morning, go straight to Brandon and Car's after work, we would bring him some dinner to eat, and he would stay there until eleven or twelve o'clock at night. He did an AMAZING job as you will see in these pictures...
Sink/Vanity
They left an open space under the new sink for Brandon to be able to roll in under it.
Before
After
Door
They thought a pocket door would make it easier for Brandon to get in and out. They also took out the cabinets to the right to make an open space for him to be able to turn around more easily.
Before
After
Toilet
Before
After
Shower
He is able roll right into the new shower with his chair.
Before
After
Sink/Vanity
They left an open space under the new sink for Brandon to be able to roll in under it.
Before
After
Door
They thought a pocket door would make it easier for Brandon to get in and out. They also took out the cabinets to the right to make an open space for him to be able to turn around more easily.
Before
After
Toilet
Before
After
Shower
He is able roll right into the new shower with his chair.
Before
After
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