what's up

Let's see...what have we been up to lately?

Picnics at the park. And then there was the "Olympics" at my sister's church. Addison's gold medal was for "Best Jumper" but I think there may be a future in rhythmic gymnastics in her future...Presley's gold medal was for "Greatest Gymnast".They also competed in sand volleyball (or playing in the sand... )Addy gave the hula-hoop a shot as well. You can see Reilly trying the stilts in the back. Presley tried those too, but they didn't work out too well for her. ;)A cook-out/bonfire with friends. (3rd Annual) We took the girls and it was a scorcher. Just take a look at Reese.It was good catching up with friends. Some of who we only seem to see once a year at this cook-out. Here's Chad's childhood friend Kevin's girl, Kate. (Did you follow that?) It was amazing how many more kids seemed to be around this year. And this picture doesn't even include about 5 babies that were being held by their parents. Good times.

weekend re-cap

This weekend we:

• went MAJOR grocery shopping (think more than 2 times the normal amount - have I mentioned I avoid grocery shopping as long as I can?)
• did MAJOR house cleaning (all the normal, plus shampooed the whole house, organized the pantry and cupboards)
• celebrated 3 people's (AJenny, UMatt, and friend Grayden) birthdays (two parties)
• worked in the nursery at church
• did yardwork
• enjoyed our family time together

pictures take before church this morning

R.I.P.

Yellow (our goldfish).
You've been a good friend to us all, especially Presley. Sleeping most every night right by her side. Thanks for keeping her company at night. She will miss you greatly- until we get your replacement. ;) I hope you've enjoyed your life. You have outlasted many of your other friends we have had in your home. May you rest in peace.

2 year check-up

We took Addy to her Dr. for her 2 year well baby check and she was indeed a "well-baby". :) Well, I guess I can't call her a baby anymore, but more a well-toddler.The Dr. said she looked and sounded great. She is growing right on track. Here is the important stuff:

weight - 27 1/2 pounds (between 50 - 75%)

height - 33 (between 50 - 75%)

another wish

I want to wish my brother-in-law Matt a very Happy Birthday today. Hope you had a great day. We love you. This picture is from Addison's birthday party and the sun washed everything out, so I darkened it just because it's the only picture I could find....

strange

So we started back at school today and we had a new 6th grade student enroll at our school. Get this - she has the exact same first name as me not too strange, but she also has the exact same last name as me as well - spelled exactly the same... How odd is that? I don't think we are related, but I wonder how many times you meet someone that has the exact same name as you. I should ask her what her middle name is. That would be really weird.

back to school, back to school

Yesterday was our first day back at school. It seems to get earlier and earlier every year. Kids started today. Thankfully we start with two 1/2 days to ease into the school year. We had our Open House tonight so we were at school most of the day today. Right now I have 20 kids on my class list, but had a few who didn't show up today, so I'm not sure if they have moved, or just didn't make it in. This is the first year I didn't have any kids cry. :) In fact, it seems like I may have a pretty good class. I have a few boys who are "full of energy", but I think that's a fact every year.

In other news we have been talking to Presley a lot about pre-school. At first she thought she got to come to our school. Now she thinks we will go with her to her school. Tonight while we were talking I was telling her that I would go with her, but I wouldn't be able to stay, and she said, "but I will miss you." I told her that Grace would be with her and she asked, "So, Nikki (Grace's mom) will stay with me?" I told her no, and she said, "But, I might be a little shy to my teacher." :) We got a letter from her teacher last week, and I teared up just reading it. Hard to believe she's ready for pre-school in just a few weeks. Life never went this fast without kids, did it?

Happy Birthday, Jenny!

Just want to wish my sister Jenny (second from left) a very Happy Birthday today. I know it wasn't the easiest day, with the girls heading off to school, but I hope you had some good times anyway.

Again, no picture of just the birthday person. I think I need to get a recent head-shot of all my family so when it's your birthday, I have a picture to post with your birthday message. :)

movin' on up

to a big-girl twin bed with no rails.

We moved Addison into Presley's room when we got home from vacation. We were a little worried as to how they would sleep but so far, so good. I think practicing in the camper this summer has really helped them out. They usually "talk" for 15 minutes or so, but then Addison usually goes to sleep and since Presley doesn't have anyone to talk to anymore, she goes to sleep too. So far, they have stayed in their beds and haven't gotten out. I guess it's time to get Reese into her own bed now...

thumbs up

I think I've mentioned before that Reese will not take a binky. She instead would much prefer her thumb or other fingers. She loves to suck on her hands when she's awake, but when she is trying to go to sleep or sleeping it's her thumb she prefers.

Photo Shoot

Dad B. needed to get a picture of his whole family to take into work tomorrow and we hadn't taken one of all of us since Reese was born so we set up a photo shoot today. We went down to the park and attempted to take a few by ourselves with setting the camera on a tripod. I think they turned out pretty good. Here are some of my favorites...Can't decide if I like this picture in color or in black and white?Ben and CindyMom and Dad B.Ben, Cindy and kiddosMawmaw, Pawpaw and their 6 grandkidsChad and IAnd then Cindy wanted Chad to take a few pictures of Trenton to see if she could use any of them for his senior pictures. These are some of my favorites of him.

2 years

Addison Lee is 2 years old today. We celebrated her birthday with family a little early and it's a good thing we did. Yesterday she woke up and we could tell she wasn't feeling the greatest. She wasn't as active and had a little temp. She still has a little temp today but seems to be feeling better so far. I don't know if she is working on her 2 year molars or if she is fighting off a virus. I can't see any teeth, but that doesn't mean they aren't bothering her. I'm thankful she continued to feel better through the day so we were able to help her celebrate tonight with Mawmaw, Pawpaw, Uncle Ben, Aunt Cindy, Trenton and Gabi. This morning I went back and read last years post like I always do on their birthdays.

Here's a glimpse of Addison at 2 years:

• loves her "free-fream" (ice cream) and most other food as well
• loves to hold Reese
• likes to play outside
• now shares a room with Presley and sleeps in a twin bed with no rail
• is becoming a great talker (at least we understand her most of the time) - putting a full sentence together
• likes animals, especially cows and doggies
• questions everything - "What, Mama, what? Why, Mama why?"
• has a 'thing' for men - she really likes her 2 uncles - Matt and Ben and her Papa and Pawpaw - always wants them to watch her and wants to know where they are
• has a definite STRONG opinion on everything
• has quite the outgoing personality - says Hi to everyone she sees
• is FULL OF ENERGY and constantly on the go!

Happy Birthday Addison Lee!

We love you very much.

Pictures from dinner here.

fixed

Just found out my pictures from up north weren't loaded properly (thanks Hil) and I think I fixed them. You can check them out now here.

close enough

I think it's close enough to August 5th (only 40 minutes early) to wish Pawpaw a very

Happy Birthday.

Hope you have a great one. We love you lots! We think you are the best.

Chad, Amber and the girls

up north

Some highlights from our trip up north:

• lots of family time
• visit to Great Grandma D.'s (and Papa's) farm
• seeing Great Grandma D.
• getting tractor rides
• dinner at favorite Mexican restaurant
• mini-family reunion with lots of aunts, uncles and cousins
• family fun fair - bounce house!
• lunch at favorite pizza place
• ice cream at the "snack shack"
• family walks around church camp
• visit with Great Grandpa and Grandma P.
• lots of Nana and Papa time and playing with cousins Reagan and Reilly

More pictures of our weekend trip here.

The girls were once again excellent little travelers on the 4 1/2 hour trips both ways - especially considering the DVD player quit working on the way up. So good to be up there to visit family. Not ready to get back to work, but ready or not - here it comes!

12 weeks (and some)

Ok, so I'm not so good at getting Reese's 12 week update on here. I did a good job at getting her picture on time, just didn't get around to putting it on the blog.

Here she is at 1 week:

and 1 month:

2 months:

and at 3 months:

When I took her to the Dr. last week for her well-baby check her stats were:

12.6 pounds 50% (down from 75% last time but still gaining ok overall)

24 1/4 inches 75%

I purposefully scheduled her appointment to be later than her 12 weeks because I knew they were combing some of the immunizations so there would be less number of shots. I was pleasantly surprised when we got there to hear that Reese would be getting only 2 shots (and one oral) instead of the normal 4. :) yea! She actually did really good with the shots. After the Dr. looked at her I got her dressed and we were waiting for the nurse to come in the room to do the shots and Reese fell asleep. She woke up when she gave her the first shot, fussed a second and then found her thumb and went to sleep. With the second shot she fussed a bit again and that was it. I put her in her seat and she was out. I didn't even have to nurse her, and I even forgot to give her Tylenol. She must handle pain pretty good. :) So let's see at 3 weeks she is still a great sleeper. She sleeps at least 9 hours at night (usually more) before waking up to nurse and then it's right back to bed. She has GREAT BIG SMILES for almost anyone. She especially seems to like Presley right now and will light up whenever she sees or hears her talking. She's such an easy going baby. Nothing much seems to make her upset. She's content to just go with the flow of our family. She doesn't take a binky at all, but instead is content to have her thumb (or other fingers). When I lay her down awake, she finds her thumb and is usually out within a few minutes. She's getting the cutest rolls on her legs and arms, really chunking up. She doesn't like to lay down much now, would rather sit up when being held so she can see what is going on. She's really close to rolling over, but has only done it once and I don't think it was on purpose. :) She has already had her 1st haircut (by me). Just can't believe how fast time is going...

Mini-Vacation 2008

Last Sunday Chad and I and the girls set out for a mini-vacation. We went with Chad's parents and had plans to visit the zoo and drive-through safari on Sunday and then spend the next 3 days at the waterpark. We had a great time. The weather was great and the kids were excellent travelers. We had a really good time. The girls really liked the pony ride at the zoo and then when the giraffe stuck his head down through our sun-roof on the drive-through part. The water park was especially a big hit. We took turn sitting out with Reese while the other adults would take Presley and Addy all around. We all (even the adults) each had at least one time down the slides. Presley and Addison watched the little puppet show in the lobby several times with Mawmaw. The lodge was great for the kids. We had a great room that had a king bed for us and a little cabin room for the girls to sleep in. Chad's mom and dad had their own room 2 doors away from us. The girls would've been in the water all day if we let them. They really are 2 little fish. One night after a full day swimming we ordered ice cream from room service. It was a HUGE campfire themed treat complete with ice cream cone logs, cotton candy blue flames. The girls, especially Addison loved it. She wanted to lick up every last bit. We definitely want to go back sometime. We are really thankful that Mom and Dad B. went with us. We definitely couldn't have done this without their help with the kiddos. They were a big help in making sure we kept tabs on all the girls. And I just had to add this last picture from right before we checked out... the girls are spent. Addison is exhausted at 10:30 in the morning and Presley is about to have a melt-down... Love it! Here are pictures from the rest of our time.