Our Little Boy is 2!

Although it is really hard for me to believe, Landon turned 2 on Saturday!  He is such an active little guy who absolutely LOVES the movie "Cars" and especially the star, Lightning McQueen.  So, we threw a Lightning McQueen birthday party for him.  He was thrilled with all of the Cars blankets, toys, books, pillows, etc. that he received.  But his favorite part was the cake.  He LOVES cake almost as much as Lightning!  He even passed on ice cream so he could have more cake.

I don't think he knew that everyone was there for him.  Although he did keep saying, "Happy Birfday, Landon!" :)  He didn't care much for opening presents.  Once he opened 1 or 2 toys, he was done.  Emerson and I opened most of them!  But I do thank all of you who took time to come and pick out a special gift for our special guy.

Below are some of my favorites of his 2 year pictures, which Matt and I took at the Wetlands in Nappanee:

Below are pictures from his birthday:

This is what he did while I opened most of his presents! :)



Landon and his "fends"



The birthday boy

Landon and his birthmother, Mary, who came to visit for his birthday weekend.

A post NOT for weak stomachs

"Everybody out, quick!"  I yell.  "Landon hold onto your towel.  Emmy and I are going out to get Daddy off of the lawn mower."  So Landon is standing by the front window trying to "dry" himself off and Emerson is in her towel while I try to dry her off and run to get Matt.  You may ask what's the hurry?  Is someone hurt?  Is something really wrong with the house?  No.  But I consider 6 turds floating in the bathtub an emergency (left by my lovely daughter :))!  I considered taking a picture, but I then thought that you could probably all imagine it in your head...and I didn't really want a picture of poo!  Good times! :)

A quick update on the kids:
Landon is learning new words/phrases everyday and usually surprises us with things he knows or points out.  It still amazes me how kids go from saying 1 word to hundreds.  Their little brains are so amazing!  He is 23 months and knows all of his colors, letters, numbers, and his name.  We're working on letter sounds and counting.  He loves cars/trains/tractors/and probably every other mode of transportation!
Emerson is a little "tornado".  She finds everything imaginable to get into and dump out.  She's starting to play with toys a little more and LOVES her dolly and blankets.  Her goal is to try to carry as many dolls and blankets as she can.  She also LOVES Landon and gets upset if she cannot see where he is.  She is 15 1/2 months old and eating like crazy, but not growing like crazy.  Our doctor says not to worry but she's only gained 1 pound and 2 inches since her 1 yr. check up.
And I had to include a picture (even though it's a month old!)

Landon and Emmy after a hot day mini-golfing in Tennessee

A few last summer pictures

Emerson thinks she is SOOO big to drink from a straw
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Family picture

Emerson in my Strawberry Shortcake pjs :)

Daddy and Landon simmin' in Lake Michigan...BRRR!

Landon and Emerson playing together :)

School is back in session

One week down...many more to come!  The first week of this school year has gone really well.  Now granted, the kids are usually on their best behavior for the first few days.  Afraid to get in trouble and show their true selves! :)  But it really has been a great start.  It's a little rough trying to get back into our school routine (going to bed early to get up early and get the kids ready for Gma's house on T & Th), but we're figuring it out again.
The interactive whiteboard I got this year has been a lot of fun.  The kids LOVE it.  But since it's new, there have been some bugs to work out and some that aren't worked out yet.
Tomorrow night is Parent Night (eek!).  That always makes me so nervous to stand in front of everybody and talk.  I could do it with kids all day long, but adults...that's another story! :)  I made a Powerpoint this year so I could use the new board, so hopefully that will be the focus and not me.
Hope everyone else is having a good start to a new school year!

Elkhart Fair 2010

I know I'm a little late in this post, but better late than never! :)  Matt and I got to go see Lady Antebellum in concert at the fair this year and it was an awesome show!  They are great entertainers and have such fun songs to dance and sing along to.  It was nice to be able to get there early (although we probably didn't need to leave as early as the media claimed we did!) and walk around and eat.  Then we met up with the Davis', Frye's, and Jenn to hang out before and at the concert. 

Lady A put on a great show!

The girls after the concert

The next day, we went to the fair with the kids. We took the double stroller and went to see ALL the animals, tractors, and have grilled cheese for lunch. It was a super hot day, but the kids loved seeing and touching everything. We had a great time and the kids are pretty young to go on rides, so we didn't even mention it. I don't know if we'll be so lucky next year! :)

Daddy and his babies

Landon loved all the "ta-tors" and Emmy just loved to touch everything! :)

Landon wanted to touch ALL the animals, including the pigs!

Good start to a terrible end....Tennessee vacation

Alright, so I know some people like to get the bad news over with first and some would rather start with the good.  If you're a bad news first person, keep reading.  If you're a good news then you'll have to scroll down a bit! :)

BAD NEWS

Before going on vacation, you always hope for the best.  Like nice weather, happy kids, short lines, etc.  Our vacation did not quite end that way.  By the end of the trip EVERYONE except Kristina had some kind of stomach virus.  Anything from upset stomach, to throwing up, or coming out the other way was experienced.  We spent a lot of time in the rental cabin either in the bathroom or in bed, which was not fun.

And that wasn't even the worst of it.  Our trip home definitely fits this category.  About 2 hours after leaving our house, the Bravada was acting a little strange.  Not really accelerating like it should up the mountains.  So Matt decided to pull over and look at it.  By then the engine started smelling hot, so he called a tow truck to come pick us up.  Mom and Dad were a little ways behind us so they pulled over too.  To make a long day a little shorter, 5 hours later, Matt was in a rented Uhaul truck (that we had to drive 45 minutes south to pick up) and Dad, Mom, myself and the 2 kids were smushed into their car.  The guys at the tow truck company bought our broken down '98 Bravada for $300.  After that long day, we drove for awhile and stopped at a hotel for the night.  Mom and Dad both got sick at the hotel so we rented separate rooms.  The next day (after many prayers to just get home safely) we started off with 5 of us in the car and Matt driving the Uhaul pulling his fishing boat.  We followed Matt since he couldn't see the boat and all was going well until we hit Kokomo, IN (which is about 2 1/2 hours from home).  The Uhaul started acting funny so Matt called the 1-800 number for help.  After about an hour in a Speedway gas station, no help had arrived so we decided to leave Matt and the Uhaul and head home.  We arrived home about 6:00 p.m. (8 hours longer than it should've taken) and Matt didn't get home until 10 p.m.

So needless to say, we had a horrible long trip home from Tennessee with 2 broken down vehicles!

The last view of the Bravada

GOOD NEWS 

The kids were such troopers on the car ride.  Emerson is not entertained easily, but she did pretty well for being 14 months old and cooped up in her car seat.  While we were in Tennessee and not sick, we did get to see and do some pretty cool things!  We took the kids to an aquarium and they LOVED it!  Landon loved to see all the fish and the penguins.  Emerson enjoyed riding in the stroller and playing on the toys.  Matt and Steven got to go Bungee jumping (Matt's first time).  I think they both enjoyed it, even though it only lasted a few minutes.  Mom, Kristina, and I went to a HUGE outlet mall and got the kids a bunch of stuff for $2 and $3.  I even got Emerson a shirt for 99 cents! :)  I think my favorite new thing we did was go WhiteWater Rafting.  I'd never been before, but Steven, Kristina, Matt and I had a blast!  Our guide was great and we even tipped over (on purpose :))!  We also went mini golfing and had a great time playing in the lake.  So although, I had much more to say about the bad news, we did have some good news too.  And many more pictures of the good times our kids had on their first vacation! :)

Uncle Steven and Landon checking out the penguins

Landon and Emerson excited about the fish

The kids enjoyed their first ride on a train

Having fun in the warm lake water.  Landon loved going "simmin' "

Chicago and a few other cute pictures :)

This past Thursday and Friday, we went to Chicago with Amos, Jess, Jenn, John, and Jessica. Matt and I went up early on Thursday to walk around Wrigleyville and check out the stores and restaurants. It just so happend to be 90 some degrees and humid, but we enjoyed ourselves anyway and it was reinforced about how cheap I am. But really...would you pay $25-$35 for a Cubs tank top? Because I just couldn't do it!So here I am... without anything Cubs to wear. :( But the Cubs won (12-6) and it was an exciting game with many home runs. And we got to sing "Go Cubs, Go!"The next day was cooler, thankfully, and we walked around downtown. Shopped a little, ate a little, and tried to "refrain" from taking pictures of the "Transformers 3" set that invaded Michigan Avenue for a few blocks. We didn't get to see any stars or any of the Transformer cars, but it was pretty cool anyway. Hopefully these scenes don't get cut out of the movie! :)

And then, we've taken a few other pictures to share:

Landon is getting much better at "Cheesh" for the camera! He almost smiles as much for that as he does when he talks about "Chate" (cake).
Steven and Kristina drove up for a surprise visit and Matt was really excited about getting some of Steven's Army gear. The kids seem to like it as well (neither one could stand up with the jacket on :)).
Emerson loves to dress up in hats, shoes, "necklaces" (anything long enough to wrap around her shoulders), and apparently Mommy's shirts!
Landon loves his "ta-tahrs". We went to help Great Grandpa with some things around the house and Landon got to drive the lawnmower! :)
Having a great summer so far and looking forward to more to come! :)

A Week without Daddy...

...is an exhausting week for everybody!

We made it! Matt made it safely back from Boundary Waters today around 12:30. EVERYBODY was glad to see him (especially Mommy :))

But I'm getting a little ahead of myself. A week without Daddy is hard work. I'd give a standing ovation to any single mom with 2 little ones. It is exhausting. But the kids did really well. I think it helped that we had playdates every day last week. We got to play with the Frye's on Monday, Grandma & Grandpa H on Tuesday, the Davis' on Wednesday, Grandpa and Grandma B. on Thursday, the Smith's on Friday, and had our 4th of July party at the Frye's on Saturday. We were busy, but I will say that by Friday in our down time, I was at a loss for ideas of what to do to keep these two kiddos entertained! :) They played well with their friends and got along pretty well with each other. It definitely wasn't a week of all smiles and giggles; there was some crying and falling too. But with a lot of prayer for patience, everybody made it though the week! Here are a few pictures from our adventures:

There's nothing cuter than 2 kids in just their diapers!

Emerson LOVES floating in the lake! She looked so relaxed floating around with her eyes closed.
All of the kids loved the water. Grace is turning into quite a little swimmer!
What a beautiful day for a cookout! We had a wonderful time at the Frye's: going for a boat ride, swimming, playing in the backyard, eating supper, putting the kids to bed just to get them up about an hour later to go watch fireworks, then sitting on the boat for about an hour until they started (who knows what time "dusk" is anyway??), enjoying watching the kids reactions more than the fireworks, and coming home exhausted about midnight. I do have to say a big Thank You to everybody for helping out with the kids so much at the party. It was awesome to know that they were being well taken care of when I couldn't hold both! :) So thanks to Amos, Jess, Jenn, John, and Jessica!!
Hope your week went well and you enjoy the 4th of July!

Friends and Fathers

What a great weekend we had full of friends and fathers. On Saturday the Frye's and Hahn's surprised the Davis' with a fondue dinner in their honor. The guys had never had the fondue experience before so we thought it'd be fun. We know next time that they should probably have 1st supper before having fondue for supper because it does take awhile, but it was a lot of fun. The kids were at their grandparents so we had plenty of time to talk, relax, play bocce ball, and have a great time.Then on Sunday we got to celebrate a wonderful father. We went to the Silverhawks game to sit in the skybox with the Moellers, Packards, and Coles. All together we had 9 kids under 6 walking between the seats outside and the play area inside, but they did great. Hardly any cries and only a few time-outs! :) I think everyone had a great time!
Matt has only been a father for about 20 months, but he is such a pro already. He is patient, kind, and loves to play and interact with the kids. The kids love "Dada" and Landon constantly asks for him when he's gone. Then if I ask Landon where Daddy is, he usually responds with "play disc." :) We had the kids make a craft for their "Paw-paws" this year. We went out and collected items in nature to make nature collages. Then the kids stuck them on contact paper and we framed them. Landon kept asking for "mor", but I told him he only had two grandpas! :)
Dad and Todd are such wonderful grandpas to our two little ones. They love to see paw-paw and always want to play!(notice their outfits in this picture that I took)

Then I had to throw this picture in (notice their lovely unmatching clothes in this picture that Matt took! :)). Emerson got a princess table for her birthday which the kids absolutely LOVE! Most days Landon takes his cars over there and sits in the princess seat pushing his cars and making car noises! Too cute!

Thank you Jesus for all of the Fathers in our lives. We love you dads!

Splash Pad

What a gorgeous day it was today! Partly cloudy, slight breeze, 80 some degrees. We decided to take the kids out to enjoy the weather and some water at the Splash Pad in Wakarusa. Emerson jumped right in and laughed and laughed at the water. Landon was a bit more hesitant, but eventually we got some smiles and laughs out of him as well!Landon practicing saying, "Cheese". Now if we can just get him to look at the camera! :)

Emerson enjoyed the water but would not walk by herself so Matt and I got a bit wet as well!

We also got the pleasure of meeting a new friend today. Silas Martin Fervida! Congrats to the new parents and big sister, Gretchen. What a cutie!!