Maywood and the Zoo

Maybe not all in the right order, but nonetheless.

We made a trip out to Maywood so Fred could help the volunteer fire department with some training. Wyatt got to see horses, cows, and even mow the lawn with Grandpa. He got to drive all by himself (until grandpa got sick of going in circles!)

A little playing with daddy on the trampoline...Wyatt loved to "jump."
The whole time he ran around daddy yelling, "super fast." We later found out this was a quote from Dora the Explorer we didn't know he had learned.

Wyatt and Bushie got to pet the baby calves at Kelsey's friends house. Kelsey's friend also had horses, Wyatt was just besides himself to see them up close and personal!

...And a little playing in the park.

Grand Island has a great little park, they even have train rides, this is a great place for little ones to work off some energy, I think dad had a good time too.

Wyatt's favorite things, are goats, monkeys, Carousels, and choo choo trains, so off to the Zoo we went. We had a great time, went with mom and dad and did a lot of walking! Needless to say the kids were pooped out by the time we left, but you can't beat Wyatt's monkey impression:

"Oooohh Ahhh Ahhh"

This is one proud papa....

On the road again...

Ok, it's been two months but in my defense it's been a pretty busy two months.First, at the end of July, Fred and I took a trip up to Calamus to go camping with Brent and Katie. We had a great time! The weather was perfect, the beer was cold and most importantly it was quiet! (most of the time) So let's start with some pictures of the "good boating".

Very peaceful!

Captain Fred

Did I mention it was absolutely beautiful!?

Now...the "bad boating."

1. Apparently an "older" boat tends to build up a lot of "gunk" if you will which can reside in the engine shaft (I'm making this part up because I have no idea what it's called) preventing the boat from actually turning. This is usually better to know before you put it in the water, but nonetheless, we got out, and had some helpful fellow campers willing to lend a hand!!

2. Also, when you go to buy a boat battery...better not to skimp on quality. Additional lesson...playing the radio while trolling on the lake, may lead to dead battery and need for more than 1 1/2 oars! ...ooops thank goodness the one random man out in the lake boonies was the son of the head of the Marina! :) This resulted in a very angry captain!! It didn't help a storm was moving in and we were all starting to freeze.

Additional pics from camping....

Yes, this is was as stupid as it looks...but it was so much fun!

Fred made a great dinner the one night, braised short ribs and potatoes...and who said camping food can't be gourmet!? It was incredible.

Next... We took a trip to the Omaha Zoo, always a good time! Wyatt loves carousels and choo choo trains and goats so this is right up his alley! Stay tuned.

More to come on our trip to Maywood to see Fred's fam and our infamous trip to St. Louis as well!

Yea yea yea....

I'm terrible at blogging which is interesting because I love reading and writing, but somehow this seems to require more effort than I maintain on a daily basis. It doesn't help that I have to muddle through the challenge of typing without the majority of a keyboard, oh the pleasures of the terrible 2's. (it's ok, he only picked off non-important ones like "E" and "ENTER" and "TAB" not to mention the " key. It makes for a complicated email or internet search let me tell you!

Ok, lets start where we left off...

Wyatt is officially two and loving it. He can count to 15 (which caused mommy and daddy's jaw to drop because we never taught him that! God bless daycare!), he says his ABC's, and loves to tell you the names and sounds of animals and identify everything by color. It is so neat to watch him grow, he is turning into a little man for sure!

Fred and I took a much needed vacation to Las Vegas! We stayed at Mandalay Bay, then drove to California for the wedding of our dear friend Misty and her fantastic new husband Jeremy. We had an incredible time and really took the time to reconnect with eachother baby free! We missed the kids so much, but it was definitely easier knowing they were in good hands. Grandma and Grandpa Yoder braved a 5 day babysitting extravaganzaa!

When we got back, we all made a trip to the Children's museum in Lincoln which was fantastic. Wyatt is a crazy man and takes advantage of every opportunity to run and play!

Hilary made it home the end of June and spent a couple weeks between KC and Nebraska. It was fantastic! I can't believe I ever doubted her maternal instinct. She's incredible. Quinny is the beautiful, well adjusted, happy, smiley baby! She just can't sleep through the sound of a pin dropping. I'd say if that's your biggest fault you're golden! It broke my heart to say goodbye to her, I just wanted to love her up! Me and the fam are going to make a trip down to Dallas this fall around Thanksgiving time to visit Team Fuller, I miss them so much already. Did I mention Quinny crawls! Everywhere, she's amazing....Here are some pictures from their trip here...

Happy 4th of July- Mom and Dad came to soak up all 3 grandkids for the 4th!

Fred and I then decided to head to Norfolk for a Big N Rich concert along with Zac Brown Band. It was fantastic, we went with an old college buddy of Fred's, Timmy and his wife Erin. We had so much fun and took the kids, they got a chance to play with Timmy and Erin's 3 yr old, MJ and their 1 yr old Britley. (and 2 very brave babysitters) (this all took place somewhere in the middle of Hil's stay in Lincoln and her trip up to th big city of Grand Island)

Finally,

Bella is finally starting to crawl! She doesn't have much coordination yet, but she's getting there. She can definitely get where she wants to go, sometimes it just takes her a bit! Here is a picture of her getting ready to bear crawl in her crib (Wyatt decided to get in and play with her, thats his leg in the corner)

Happy Birthday Wyatt!

Ok, I was going for a smaller birthday party this year and was traveling for work last week, getting ready to go on vacation next week, and in the madness forgot to invite a lot of people to our "small" bday party. If you were one of those people I left off my last minute email invitation, I apologize, it's been a little crazy.

Wyatt did however have a wonderful birthday and a big THANK YOU goes out to all who contributed. He had loads of fun playing with Camden and his cousins...
Thought it was pretty funny to jump in the pool fully clothed!

And had the best birthday cake known to man! Thank you grandma Yoder for the most amazing looking cake. I'm truly blessed that Wyatt has such a loving family. I could have never pulled this all together without everyone. Between mom decorating the cake and bringing potato salad to dad entertaining Bella so I could keep Wyatt from drowning in the pool, to Steve and his help last minute cleaning, and Kelsey's babysitting while I tied up loose ends!

We love you all and appreciate all of the love and support you give us on a daily basis. I can't believe my baby is 2 years old already, he had his first day of actual Sunday school today also, wow, what a weekend! He's growing up so fast, what a blessing this family is!

Happy Memorial Day!

Well, this has been a busy weekend! We went to Stuhr museum again today, we still had so much to do after yesterday we decided to give it another go this morning. We fed the ducks, played in the flowers, ate lunch, and played played played! I just had to take more pictures, the kids weren't exactly cooperating, but we still got some great ones!

Wyatt is feeding the ducks...

He's such a big boy, he's so independent, orneriness comes with this, but he just amazes us on a daily basis. As the first child, I think they always hold a special place in your heart, there is a bond with him I cannot explain.

Then there's Bella, she's a diva, a princess, and an angel all in one, I can't help but just love her to pieces. Maybe it's the fact that she's a girl, but she holds my heart in her hands. These kids, I tell ya, have their momma wrapped around their finger, look at those smiles, who could resist?

This just showcases his ornery side doesn't it?

It's memorial day, after working with people who lose their loved ones daily, hug your babies, tell your spouses that you love them, and thank God for every man and woman who have sacrificed their families and their lives so that we can enjoy ours. Because no matter how much I seem to complain about this or that, I get to come home to these beautiful smiling faces and a husband who loves me unconditionally. I couldn't be more blessed.

Today I remember the friends, classmates, and family that I've lost and although sometimes it hurts so much to think about them for all selfish reasons, I take to today to remember the good things to: My Grandma Faust making jokes about black and white nurses aides who helped at the nursing home (same name and she wondered how she'd ever be able to tell them apart!) and loving her racey novels, my Grandma Yoder and how excited I was to run over to her first when Fred proposed. For some reason she was the first one I wanted to tell, and she took one look at my face at her doorstep and knew exactly why I was there. I wish they could see my babies grow up!

Have a great week and say a small prayer that Courtney and I get to Orlando and back safe and sound. Maybe say a prayer for Fred too, that his sanity hangs in their until Friday night.

Summer Time! Ok it's been a while

.........isn't she precious? I love my new camera!

Well, I don't really have any excuses, yes I'm busy, but the truth is, my free time has been consumed with "New Moon" the second book in the twilight series, catching up on my DVR recordings (there's an abnormal amount building up) when Fred is home, and going to bed at 9:00 when he's not.

I'm getting things ready around the house since I leave for Orlando Wednesday morning for 2 days, I'll be back Friday evening and while I'm a little hesitant being away from Fred and the kids for that long, I'm looking forward to the sleep and spending time on the 3rd Twilight book. I'm going for work, a new Amgen study for Lung Cancer related anemia (ok, just lost 1/2 of you I'm sure) but either way, the investigator meeting is where we learn the ins and outs of the study and help prepare us to run things smoothly, I don't think it'll be difficult one, but it's always nice to go to these and get pampered a little. Courtney, my co-worker will be going with me, leaving Mary all by her lonesome in the office, I know she'll do great, but we'll be keeping our cell phones on and in close proximity. :)

We are definitey enjoying the summer, Fred's dad, Steve, came down a few weekends ago and they put up our fence, this was fantastic! Now we can let him run around the back yard and fun off some energy. The kids are definitely having fun in the sun!

Fred decided to take Wyatt fishing last week, I think they both had fun, although Fred was a little frustrated at the fact that Wyatt's attention span resembles that of a "gnat" I believe were the exact words. I'm sure this is just the beginning...

This weekend has been wonderful, yesterday it was just me and the kids so we went on a walk, played outside, got lots of things done inside (4 or 5 loads of laundry, picking up my bathroom, and toys galore), and even went to visit Fred at the station. Wyatt had a blast watching the firetrucks and seeing their lights.

Today, we got up, had breakfast, waited for Fred to get home...then we loaded up the kids and went to church. They did great, Wyatt ran right into the church daycare and Bella smiled the whole way. It was the first Sunday Fred has been able to join me in a while, so that was nice. Then we decided to head over to Stuhr Museum, we walked around railroad town, had lunch, visited the "choo choos", the jail, and played around. We had a great time, so much to see, it was almost disappointing the kids were tuckering out so quick. We made it about 2 hours, then we were going to see more, but the kids were done! We loaded in the car and within about 90 seconds, both were sawing logs.

After nap time, we ordered pizza, ate outside so Wyatt could play on his swingset, then decided to retreat inside to wind down for the night. Everyone is pretty pooped so it was an early night.

Tomorrow, I think we're going to try to go back to Stuhr tomorrow so we can feed the ducks, fish, and play a little more. Hopefully we can spend a little more time since they open earlier and we should get a little more play time in before nap.

Talk about the ideal place to take pictures! I plan on taking many more tomorrow! It's absolutely beautiful there!

Happy Saint Patty's Day!!!

I can't help it...this post is just full of cheezy funny things!

First, Wyatt now does an impression of Stevie Wonder...check it out. He is so funny, when he's not driving me to drink, he is making us laugh hysterically! I know people are reading my blog thinking..."oh poor thing, she's so depressed." I'm not, I get overwhelmed, but then I get around these crazy kids and sometimes all you can do is laugh hysterically. Wyatt had Fred and I in stitches over his "goofy eyes."

Last night was eventful to say the less... it was Wyatt's first night in a big boy bed. We found a thomas the train bed on craig's list and Wyatt is absolutely obsessed with "choo choo's". Needless to say he was more than excited. He slept through the night and couldn't wait to go to bed tonight either. It's definitely a welcomed addition to his room! Now if we can just keep him out of there...getting ready this morning was a little challenging.

Finally, here's the kids in their St. Patty's P.J.'s thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Yoder, they were so funny, all smiles! Wyatt even had his arm around Bella, too cute! I know the color is off, I need to adjust the color on my camera, but it's adorable none the less.

What a blessing these two are, even though it can be exhausting, we are having so much fun wrestling around and playing constantly. We can't wait for Summer to be here!