Struggling

You'd think the third time would be the charm-not so.  I've been super sick the last few weeks and it's a struggle to make it through a day of working and coaching.  I'm constantly having horrible stomach pain that is only relieved by getting sick, only to repeat the situation 10 minutes later.  I'm sure my family and friends have had enough of my complaining!

Poor Noelle is so concerned about me getting sick, and today as I was laying in the bathroom she says to me, "Mom, I know you're sick but please don't let the baby come out and fall into the toilet." Oh you sweet little girl, don't worry!  I won't let that happen.

To My New Little Baby

(8/29) Dear Sweet Baby,

Mommy and Daddy found out about a week ago that we are expecting your arrival this April/May! I cannot believe how quickly it happened, and am so excited to bring you into the family.  I have been feeling wonderfully and I thank God every morning I wake up that I haven't felt sick.  I want to cherish every moment because I know it's only a matter of time before it hits me like a ton of bricks!!  I feel so content and at peace and I know our family will be complete when you arrive.  I want to be thankful for every minute of this pregnancy and think positively every chance I get.

Welcome to our family my new little love,
Mommy

Just Like You

Dear Noelle,

Tonight we were having some cuddle time before bed. You, me, Daddy, and Ty were laying on our bed reading a story and you helped Ty move his spot on the bed.  Normally, pushing, shoving, etc. would have occurred so I said, "Aw thanks for helping Ty nicely."  Your sweet little self responded, "I wanna be a good mom just like you!"

So sweet and adorable!!  I love ya baby girl!
Mommy

Ty's First Haircut

(July 13th) I've never been one of those moms who digs the long 'do on a boy.  I've never really understood the fascination with keeping the curls around or letting the hair grow for sentimental reasons.  I think Jeremy put it best when he said, "No hard working man has long hair." Yes, I know he's not even two, and hardly a hard worker, but there is something to be said about a clean cut!!

So when Ty's hair started to grow into a funky little surfer 'do, it HAD to go.  I mean, at first the little mohawk on top was cute, but then it got OC and it would stick out in the back too, with random tufts of hair poofing out here and there.  Sorry to say it little man, but it was pretty rough for a while.  I tried to take some before pics but they don't do the level of scraggliness justice.

From the moment we walked in, Ty knew something was up.  When he sat down in the chair, panic set in. 

Even the yummy sucker I brought didn't help ease the pain.  It just helped to collect random hair clippings: on the sucker, his face, and his chubby little hands.

I've been going to Tamara for ever, Noelle went there for her first haircut, and so it was natural Ty would too.  Bless this woman's heart.  Ty threw a fit of epic proportions and I'm still not sure how he managed to get a decent looking cut while he thrashed about.  Of course, I was no help because I was too busy taking pictures and trying to grab all the locks to keep in baggie for sentimental value.  (No, I don't like long hair but a milestone is a milestone and I got a LOT of clippings, ha ha.)

Oh and I just L.O.V.E. this pic.  That big 'ole pouting lip gets me every time!!

He looked SOOOOO much better afterwards and such like a young man that is brought tears to my eyes.  My little boy is growing up so fast and I am just over the moon for him!  You can't really see the great cut in all it's glory here, but be sure to be on the lookout in the next few posts :-)

And just because she is a beauty, here is a pic of Noelle.  I know I'm biased, but damn, this girl is gorgeous! She looks like a porcelain doll with her blue eyes, perfect skin and perfect hair.  Seriously, we are in trouble when this wee one gets older!

Overwhelmed...

...but in a good way.  Wow! We have been so busy finishing up our summer fun that it's so hard to keep up.  We also just finished a family camping trip to Colorado, but who knows if I'll ever get the crazy, what the hell were we thinking trip, blogged.  SO MUCH has been going on and I continue to revel in the fact that I am so blessed to have had such a fantastic summer with my kiddos.  Here's a brief recap of the last week in July:

We continued to do school work and make projects.  One recent pasta gluing project was enjoyed by both Ty and Noelle.  We started with all the different kinds of pasta-esque stuff I had in the pantry and glued them onto construction paper.  The end goal was to paint them but due to the amount of glue used, it took a llooooonnngg time to dry so we didn't get to the painting this time.

Noelle did a beautiful job gluing her pieces and make neat designs.  She concentrated really hard and made sure to place her pasta just so.

I wasn't sure how Ty would do with a bottle of glue, but to my surprise, he was a rock star!  And he got to work those fine motor skills by putting the pasta on the glue dots, which is always a plus!  The pasta parts eventually started finding their way to his mouth and he was NOT happy when I took them out.  Love the daggers he's shooting my way in the last pic!

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We also visited Great Grandma and Grandpa Knight.  They had a lot of cherry tomatoes for Noelle to pick and we enjoyed a good dinner and visit.  Noelle and Grandpa also made homemade ice cream...a wonderful treat indeed!  I love the time we spend at the Knight house and I know the kids do too!  I hope Jeremy and I are lucky enough to grow old together and be the same type of Grandparents one day- they are such wonderful inspiration!!

There were some other great things that went on that last week, like Ty's first haircut, Noelle's baseball practices, and the county fair.  But, I think those are gonna need their own post space!

Movie Night

After Touch a Truck on the 10th, the Gray's hosted a movie night at their house, complete with yummy popcorn popped in an old fashioned popcorn maker.  Noelle was excited to see her good friend McKenna who she doesn't get to see that often when Little Gym is not in session.  We made some brownie pops to take and they were a big hit!  (more so with the adults than the kids!) We watched the movie Cars and had a great night of fun!

Here is a pic of all the kiddos who were there...can't you just hear them saying chheeeeese!

Ty surprisingly sat down and watched most of the movie.  Of course, when I went to take a picture of this phenomenon, he bolted.  Not sure what is up with the look on Noelle's face here...maybe a sad part of the movie???

Beer belly...check.  Grill...check.  Food...check.  All Ty needs is a beer and we've got a typical male pic here!

Touch A Truck

On Saturday, July 10th, I took the kids to the big Touch A Truck event being sponsored by a local church just north of our town.  It was super hot, but I knew the kids would absolutely love it, so we stocked up on water and sunscreen to see all the cool vehicles.  A hot air balloon was scheduled to be there too, of which Noelle has developed an obsession for, so we had to at least stop by for a little while.  There were not a lot of people there which allowed Noelle and Ty plenty of opportunities to roam around and hang out with all the cool trucks, planes, etc. 

When we arrived, Noelle said, "Mom, I think we are at the wrong place!!"  I asked her why and she said, "I don't see any hot air balloons, do YOU?!" No little girl, I didn't see any either..turns out the company just had the basket out for kids to go in...LAME!  Everyone was interested in the balloon part, so I'm not sure why they didn't just put it up and take kids up and down (like 10 ft up) for a quick ride.  Here they are confused in the basket, LOL.

They got to check out a cop car...Ty looks awfully comfortable in that back seat...not sure if that is a good sign!

 The kids really liked seeing all the cool gear on the fire truck.  Unfortunately, they were out of fire hats, but the kids scored some crayons, badges, stickers and mini fire hydrants.

Next on the tour was an MTD bus.  We all enjoyed a little time in the wonderful air conditioning before headed out to the next stop.

Here they are on a digger...

Noelle was thrilled that she was actually going to be able to go inside a plane! Once I told her to head over in that direction, she took off in a dead run.  She felt so special being able to sit in the cockpit and check it all out.  Ty must've like it pretty well too because I ended up having to climb up and pull him out!

There were about 5 other planes there, but we chose to observe those at a distance since I really didn't feel like battling Ty to get out again.  We even got to see one taxi down the runway!

Other cool things they got to see were a dump truck....

a Fed-Ex truck....

A tow truck...

an Army jeep...

A medical helicopter...

And probably the MOST important vehicle of all...The Ice Cream Truck!