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!

Too funny

Ok, so I will be the first to admit, having kids is hard. Every part of me that thought one was hard, now counts my blessings during each scarce moment of silence. Two kids is nuts! It definitely gives you a new found respect for your own parents! I just wish people talked more about the scary parts, the sad parts, the parts that break your heart, and the ones make you feel like your losing your mind. They don't though, kids are a miracle and there's no debating that, but sometimes, just sometimes, they are so trying it can be a struggle to get through the day.

I'm thinking about writing a book, just tossing sone ideas around, about what really to expect during pregnancy and the toddler years. I've always been a pretty blunt and honest person, I think I can be funny at times (at least my sister thinks so) but mostly I want moms to know they are not alone. It's ok to laugh, to cry, to feel like walls are caving in, and then the in the next instant to feel so blessed your scared your "due" for something bad to happen. I don't know, any thoughts? Anything you wish someone would have mentioned so you could've been more prepared?

On a positive note, sometimes they melt your heart while others they can make you laugh so hard you can barely see straight. Check out this video of Wyatt, how funny! He cracks us up constantly, what an infectious laugh.

Bella is growing like a weed, she's three months already! Check out her latest pictures!

Home Sick

Ok, I think I've done a pretty good job managing two small children at home. However, I think my patience is getting maxed and I feel terrible. I love my babies so much, Wyatt is home sick, he's been sick since last Friday. It's about more than I can take looking at my child hurting and knowing there's nothing I can do. Wow, how frustrating. I know every parent goes through this but it just breaks your heart. Thankfully, even sick, I have two wonderfully well behaved kids. Wyatt is full of love and gives it out freely. He's very trusting and wears his heart on his sleeve. While I know that can cause problems, he's a lot like his mommy, and frankly his daddy too and I hope that never changes.

Bella on the other hand is laid back as well, but a little more of a diva. When she's ticked, she lets you know! But when she smiles, you just melt. I took this video earlier today, she changes every single moment and each one better than the last. Ok, so the video is totally dorky, but you just have to love it!

What a light these babies are in our lives, Fred and I are so lucky, how we ever deserved these two beautiful kids I'll never know but we are so thankful for them!

Back Again

Ok, I know I'm terrible at updating, but even my mom has now, so I guess I'm due. A lot seems to have happened in the last month, though nothing overly monumental. I decided to go back to work after 6 weeks post Bella. I've received mixed feedback on this, except for from mothers of two children equally as close together as mine. I'm pretty sure they understand. God bless my husband, he tries to give me a break, but it just doesn't work, I needed out of the house. This was as much for my own sanity as everyone elses. I have to be honest, I love being back to work, I think I'm much happier when I get home, it's busy, but it's doing what I love.

Things at home are busy to say the least, Wyatt is in to absolutely everything, one minute he is driving me bonkers and the next he's making us laugh so hard we cry. Who knew parenthood could be such a roller coaster!

Did I mention is favorite play equipment is mommy and daddy? I've never been so bruised up in my life!

Bella on the otherhand is still in the wonderful stage of laying there! She can coo, tell stories, smile, and not move an inch! It's beautiful. She is growing every day, we just had her 2 month appointment and she is 10lb 14oz, what a chunky monkey, she's also 23 3/4 inches long so she is tall tall tall! She is such a doll, I really just love looking at her, she's adapted to daycare wonderfully and I'm fortunate enough to work in the same building so I can still go down and feed her or just give her kisses!

Stay tuned, I'm sure we'll have lots of new stories coming soon!

Ok, so it's taken me a while to update. What can I say, we've been busy! First, my sister gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Quinn Gracen Fuller on November 5th. I can't believe it's already been over a month! I am bursting at the seams to meet her, she's absolutely precious. And my sister, I've never been so proud of her in my life. She has embraced motherhood in a way I never expected and is a natural! Unfortunately Quinn is a bit collicky so Hil isn't getting much sleep but she's so patient I hear and doing a wonderful job. My mom has been fortunate enough to spend time with Jason, Hil, and Quinn on two occasions. Right when Quinn was born and now she's down again to give Hil a little rest before Christmas. Mom is constantly telling me how amazing Hilary is and how impressed she is with Hil and Jason.

As if the arrival of baby Quinn wasn't exciting enough...

Mom decided after two weeks in Dallas with Hilary's family, that she better get back to Nebraska to await the arrival of our little girl. She came back November 20th, went to work on the 21st, and at approximately 12:30pm on the 22nd, I called mom and dad to put them on "high alert", we were on our way to the hospital but unsure whether or not I was in labor. For all of those who say, "don't worry, if it's real labor you will know!", they're wrong. The whole family got a stomach bug Friday night and we were just sick! I was having contractions on and off throughout the night but figured it was due to the bug... By morning they were still coming on and off but not really at regular intervals. Fred was getting nervous and made me call the doctor. She told me to go ahead and go on in, when I told her about the stomach bug we all had, she said that probably kicked it all into gear and she was calling the hospital to tell them I was on my way. Fred and I called my cousin Ashley here in town and she came to stay with Wyatt (who was sleeping) while we went to the hospital. By the time we arrived, I was dilated to 4 and my contractions were every 1 to 2 minutes apart! By 4:30 I couldn't take it any more, I called for the epidural. I'll save you all of the gory details and cut right to the point, I went fast, my epidural only worked on the left side of my body, by 7pm I was fully dilated, Doctor arrived at 7:20, we started pushing and 12 minutes later (yes, only 4 pushes!) Arabella Raye arrived. She was 7lb 1 1/2 oz and 20.25 inches long. She is beautiful with black hair and the longest fingers and toes I've ever seen!

Fred and I are so blessed. Bella sleeps like a rock, rarely fusses, and her big brother is warming up to her very quickly! He is finally giving hugs and kisses and realizing she is here to stay. We are so excited to spend the holidays with family. I will be heading down to Lincoln on the 20th with the kids, and Fred will be joining us on the 22nd. He has to work the 20th and 21st. Then we are back to Grand Island Christmas evening and will be spending the weekend after Christmas in Maywood with Fred's family. It will be a busy week but should be a lot of fun!