My Sweets

I just love this sweetness!  And the fact that she's sleeping 9-10 hours lately :)

 

THE FARM SHOW!

The town I grew up in has a "Farm Show" every year which is very agricultural in nature.  There's over-priced fatty foods, tractors, ghetto rides, baking entries, art entries and lots of animals.  They do a great job providing entertainment for the kids with a baby parade on Monday night, a main parade on Wednesday night and lots of animals to pet and see.  This was the first year Simon actually enjoyed the animals.  He LOVED the pigs and cows.  Oh and the bunnies and the baby chicks and the goats...he loved them all.  Here's a few pics!

 

Emery enjoying her first Farm Show

Petting the newborn calf

Getting brave and close to the goat

Goats are exciting!

Working hard to use the digger

My childhood friend and college roommate, Kat, with her two youngest Eddie and Lucy

Camp Papa

I'm not sure when it started but a few years back my dad (Papa to the grandkids) starting having campfires, S'mores, tenting out, etc. with my niece and nephew who are now 10 and 8.  Eventually Camp Papa got bigger and Papa would take the kids to the cabin and explore in the woods, ride 4-wheelers, build fires and pee outside!  Well this year Papa and Mimi invited ALL 6 grandkids (ages 10, 8, 5, 2 and two babies), myself and my sis-in-law to Camp Papa at the cabin.

 

Camp Papa was held on a Monday - Wednesday and included 4-wheelers, canoeing and fishing for the older ones, cooking hotdogs over the campfire, sleeping on air mattresses in the "Clubhouse", a trip for ice cream, 4-wheelers, shooting guns and more 4-wheelers!  The 4-wheelers are by far the highlight for the kids and Simon LOVED to ride with Papa and just to sit on the 4-wheelers! 

 

We were all a bit sleep deprived coming away from the trip but as Papa says, "We're making memories!" 

 

Can you see the pure joy on this kid's face?!

These two are great buddies (most of the time)!

Anya, Micah and Papa - Micah caught a fish!

Seriously LOVES the 4-wheeler

Emery took her first 4-wheeler ride

The smile after he "drove" the 4-wheeler with mommy :)

Papa with all of his grands

Emery in her pink camo and Papa

Happy Birthday, Chris!

Chris had a birthday on October 1.  The kids and I were leaving to go out of town the morning of his birthday so we celebrated the day before.  As exciting as birthday's get when you're in your 30's, we had peanut butter pie and some presents.  Wouldn't you be excited to get a leaf blower?!!!  I had to throw in one little fun gift which was his new Ohio State Sportula. 

 

Chris actually did have an action-packed birthday which had something to do with being locked out of our house and having to crawl through a small basement window :)  At least it will be a memorable one!!

 

A is for Apple

Apple Picking - September 2012

We picked 40 pounds of apples a few weeks ago at a local orchard.  It was a gorgeous day and Simon loved to pull our red wagon (which was mine as a kid).  We picked Cortland and Ida Red apples and I made applesauce and a lot of apple crisp.  I also tried baked apples for the first time - delicious! 

Simon helped with our applesauce - he "washed" apples (played in the water), "cut" apples (used a dip spreader which he calls his knife) and sampled!  Enjoy a few pictures of our apple picking!

 

A Line of Shoes

 

So I'm pretty proud that my little guy learned very quickly to line his shoes up by the laundry room door when he takes them off (which happens immediately after stepping into the house).  I think I told him two times where to put his shoes and this is what resulted!  I love how he puts one on each end.  And even after I put some of these shoes away he gets them back out and brings the back to this spot!  Detail-oriented?!  He's such his momma's son!

Must Be Football Season....

There's a lot of red in the wardrobe this fall and a lot of "Go Buckeye" talk from a certain 2-year-old!



4 Months and Leg Warmers

Love.This.

Oh.My.Goodness.  Leg warmers and chunky thighs...I'm in love!  This little love muffin is 4 months already.  Such a cuddly stage full of open mouth kisses, chubby cheeks and smiles.  And consistent sleeping through the night.  Finally.  :) 

Little girl had her 4-month check up yesterday and is 90% for weight and height weighing in at 15.3 lbs!  (Only 4 ounces more than Simon at this age and their height was the same!)  Thankful and blessed with a healthy sweet gal!

Lifeverse

I love my church.  Really, I love the relationships we have built through our church and am so glad to be doing LIFE with such amazing people.  The other week we had our annual BBQ Sunday church at a local park.  We had just finished our sermon series on choosing a life verse.  We each put our chosen verse on a piece of paper and attached it to these environmentally-friendly balloons.  Then we sent them up, up, up and away.  Apparently one balloon made it all the way to New Jersey.  Very fun experience...hope the verse encouraged whoever encountered the balloon!

 

 

Josiah and Simon - church buddies

Monkey See, Monkey Do

 

Guess he knows where these things go!  He's such a big helper and pushes the "on" button for me and says "I turn on the pump and you make the bottles."  Oh sweet child of mine!

Lunch with Mema

This is my grandmother, who everyone knows as Mema.  She is 91 and Simon loves to go visit Mema "at her partment."  We go to have lunch with her almost every other week.  Mema loves the little babies (my sis-in-law and her daughter usually come to) so we are quite the entertainment at the Cafe where we eat lunch.  Wednesday's is B1G1 scoop of ice cream - the highlight for Simon! 

It feels pretty crazy to take three kids under the age of 2 to eat lunch plus all of the other hoopla kids require. And nevermind the time that Simon pulled the fire alarm in the cafe right after Emery had a huge blowout - seriously thought I was going to have a breakdown!  We are very fortunate to have such a loving Mema who is so proud and loves her great-grandchildren!

Celebrating Emery

On Labor Day weekend we had this precious princess dedicated to the Lord at our church.  We are so blessed to be this sweet girl's parents and are so glad to have God guiding us as we go.

 

The dedication is probably a five minute ordeal but to a 3-month-old a lot can happen in five minutes!  Soon before we were to go up on stage Emery was gnawing on my shoulder so I rushed down to the nursing room to give her a quick snack.  She was really tired so I was hoping she would just nod off and not get fussy.  She didn't make a peep once we got up front and even gave the Pastor a little smile when he smiled at her (right on cue)!  Big brother Simon was a ham the entire time....saying "Hi Pastor Jamie", "There's a video camera!"  and "Pastor Jamie's on the dvd (video screen)!"  Whew, we made it off stage with no mishaps!

 

As soon as I walked out of the sanctuary Emery spit up all over me and onto the floor!  Good timing, girl!  AND as soon as we got home from church she had an enormouse blowout.  And then to top it off she slept for 3 hours - the entire afternoon that family was over to celebrate her!

 

All in all, it was a great celebration for our little girl.  God is good!  We love you, Emery!

 

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Hearing a toddler say certain things can really make you laugh.  Our 2-year-old will repeat anything he hears including the occasional "Oh crap" which we just ignore as to not make that a big deal!  Here are a few I've heard this week:

"Emery, you just chillin' with your pacifier."
"Get on your stool, fool."
"I know, I know."  (to Emery while she's crying)
"Oh no!  Emery spit up!"
"Bernie, you stink!"  (Bernie's the dog :)
And then there's the oh-so-common Ellen or Chris or Honey! 

Makes you realize how much those little ears hear and how important that our speech be uplifting and kind!

He Loves Her

 

 

I did not pose Simon at all for these pictures.  He just loves his baby sister that much!  In fact he loves her so much he smothers her with kisses, sits on her, bites her, steps on her head....at least that's what he tells me.  Yea, we're still working out the jealousy kinks and that it's ok to play rough with daddy but not baby sister.  Little girl is going to be tough after putting up with her brother's antics!

The Kid Who Doesn't Sleep in the Car

Taking a road trip with Simon is always interesting.  If you try to plan your trip so that we're driving during his naptime thinking he will nap in the car....FORGET IT!  AND if you plan to leave at 3am and whisk him from his bed to carseat thinking he will sleep in the car at least for a little....FORGET IT!  This kid has to be bone tired to fall asleep in the car! 

 

Yes, we left for the Outer Banks at 3am and Simon would not go back to sleep.  Talk about a long ride for momma who had to entertain him so he wouldn't wake his sister!  I knew we were in trouble when we put him in the car and he said, "I can't see the moon!" 

 

For the record he did finally fall asleep in the car as soon as we made it to our destination 9 hours later!



 

7am breakfast - going strong for 4 hours but looking pretty tired

Summer Highlights

It was a busy summer for me adjusting to a family of four and my poor blog was neglected.  Rather than "go back in time" I'll hit a few of the highlights from the summer!  And here's hoping to a little more love to the blog in the upcoming weeks. 

Emery Elisabeth joins big brother Simon May 21, 2012

Emery 1 Month Old June 21, 2012

My new Swagga Wagon!

Emery 2 Months Old July 21, 2012

Vacation to Outer Banks, NC August 2012

Just Because I Don't Want to Forget

It was Friday, May 11 2012.  It was a beautiful day outside and my dad and my husband finished our gorgeous new paver patio just in time for Simon's second birthday party and before our second child joined us on May 21 via scheduled c-section.  We had a lot of projects we wanted to finish before baby came with the paver patio being the biggest one of all!  Needless to say the week before the baby was to arrive was full of last minute details, freezing more meals, doctor appointments, shopping trips, etc. 

So when Monday, May 14 rolled around I was ready to face my last week as a mom of one head on!  Little did we know where the week would take us!  Simon went to bed Monday night and Chris headed to the basement to work out.  I heard him yell to me and my initial thought was rain water was coming in the basement again.  In hindsight we joke that that would have been better but unfortunately Chris had injured his knee!  He had injured the same knee 7 years ago and he knew it was a recurring injury and he could not straighten his knee out.  What do we do?! 

Long story short....he went to see an orthopedic surgeon on Tuesday afternoon, May 15.  He had to have an MRI scheduled and we had to travel to the next county to get that scheduled on Wednesday, the 16th.  Thursday the 17th we went back to the orthopedic doc to review the MRI and confirm that indeed he did have a torn meniscus (again).  And Friday May 18th (just three days before my c-section) he had surgery to cut his meniscus!  So much for my week of finishing last minute baby things!  My mom was out of town at the beginning of the week so I had to recruit my sister-in-law to watch Simon quite a bit so I could drive Chris to all of these appointments.  But we think having a 9-month pregnant wife surely helped to push the surgery to happen so quickly. 

Chris's surgery went well and had a pretty great, quick recovery.  He was off crutches and bearing weight within two days of surgery and then Monday morning we headed to the hospital again for my c-section!  I'll save that for another post but wanted to blog this first.  We are thankful for great doctors who took great care of Chris and overall I think the distraction was probably good for me in keeping my mind off my own pending surgery.  Now over a month later we still laugh about the unfortunate timing but are greatful for God's provision!

Things I Really Need To Do

1. Update my blog
2. Pay some bills
3. Write lots of thank you's for meals and baby gifts
4. Take more pictures of my second child!
5. Take a nap
6. Send some birth announcements
7. Update my blog

Not in any order of importance....think I might go take a nap now!  Hope to update the blog soon!

Chocolate World

 I love chocolate!

 I love my cousin Elaina!

 I really loved the singing cows on the ride....couldn't stop talking about "the cows"!

Riding the ride a second time because once was just not enough!

I've been trying to squeeze a lot in these last few weeks before baby comes.  And what a perfect rainy day to drag my mom, niece Elaina, sis-in-law Renee and her baby girl to Chocolate World!  I hadn't been there since 2005 when Chris and I were dating :)  Not much has changed!  The little ones liked it and it is a free activity....except you get tempted into buying some really good Hershey's chocolate!  So glad to have this quality time with Simon before baby girl arrives!