Happy Fall Ya'LL

The girls have been enjoying trips to the Pumpkin Patch! Addison has been less than cooperative with picture taking, and Olivia just smiles everytime we say "cheese"! Last weekend, we had "grandparents weekend" at our house. Addison got to take her grandparents to preschool with her and then we all headed out to The Scarecrow Patch. We thought we would only be there an hour or so, it was after lunch and we figured the girls would get tired and need a nap. Well after 3 1/2 hours, we finally left, hoping they would fall asleep on the 20 minute drive home! Nope, both wide awake and singing in the car! Needless to say, it was dinner early, baths early and off to bed early!

While at the pumpkin patch, Addison got to ride a slide (a million times), ride the zip line, ride a pony and pick out a pumpkin. Oh, and she has a tendency to not watch where she is walking or running, and ran smack into the corner of a truck flatbed. We got some ice on the boo-boo and cleaned it up. She was good as new, and ready for more playing. Olivia enjoyed playing in the corn and watching Addison run around! We tried VERY hard to get some good pictures of the girls together in the pumpkin displays, but when one was looking or smiling, the other was not. So, not too many good pictures! A lot of pictures though.

We are anxious for Halloween to dress the girls up and go trick-or-treating! Addison likes to try on her costume EVERYDAY! Matter of fact, she enjoys trying on ALL her clothes everyday. She has made it her personal goal to see how many outfits she can wear in a single day. Sometimes, it can be as many as 10! Last night Tony and I went to parent-teacher conferences for Addison! She is doing great and her teacher thinks she is fitting into their program very well! We are so proud of her! We love you so much peanut!!!

Enjoy some pictures from the pumpkin patch!

And some more!

A Trek to Idaho

Happy 1st Birthday Leo! Mommy, daddy, grammy, Addison, and Olivia made the 15 hour trek to Pocatello Idaho to see Leo for his 1st birthday. Addison was a complete angel in the car. I could not have asked her to be any more well behaved...now she did have a constant companion to entertain her, thank you mom! Olivia, well she thought it might be fun to see exactly how many times she could poop in a day. It turned out to be 5 times just druing the car ride! I am sure that slowed us down a bit. We were up and ready to leave at 4am from Grand Island and pulled into Pocatello at 6pm - it was 70 degrees when we left and 38 when we arrived at Kevin and Jenny's house. We were able to let the girls play for a little while before starting thier baths and getting them to bed. Neither one slept much in the car on the way there, so we figured thay had to be exhausted. Addison and grammy were sharing a bed, and Addison would not go to bed without grammy, so off to bed grammy went at 9pm; good think, cuz Addison was up and ready to go at 5:30am the next morning. Tony and I learned that Olivia talks in her sleep and was rather loud, disrupting our sleep. But she slept great! Saturday, we woke up to about 2 inches of snow on the ground and it conitnued to snow all day. Jenny says 6 inches, Kevin says 3 inches! So not really sure how much snow there was. Addison, daddy, grammy, Kevin and Leo all went to the Idaho State University Homecoming parade...yes, in the snow! I think Addison had fun, she brought home a "true Idaho potatoe"! Jenny and I stayed home and got ready for Leo's birthday party! Hard to believe it has already been a year. I remember getting a call from Kevin on the evening of October 11th saying "Ker, we might have a baby...I just had to tell someone". I think cried tears of joy for them for quite sometime. I waited nervously the next day for Kevin to call me and say he was theirs. I was still home on maternity leave with Olivia. This was the 1st day I had taken Olivia to the babysitter because I had to run into work for a few hours. Well, on my way to work, I realized, I had the wrong day. So, I turned around and was just going to go home and sleep for a little while. I got the call, "his name is Micheal Leo and he is all ours! We are on our way out the door right now to go get him. What do you think we should take for him". It was so awesome to hear the excitment in their voices, a true miracle and the working of God. God has truly blessed not only Kevin and Jenny, but Leo with parents who love him uncondtionally and with so much love! I decided to head to Walmart and buy a "few" things for them. A few things turned into much more, and I filled a diaper box full of "stuff" for them!! I couldn't wait to tell Addison about her new cousin! We finally got to see them in February, when they flew into Omaha for baptism for Olivia and Leo! Leo was an answer to prayers for Kevin and Jenny, and was also a great addition to their family awhile they wait for the call from China to go get their daughter to make thier family complete!

The rest of our trip in Idaho was spent just having fun and watching grammy run around with all her grandkids!! It was so fun to watch her with them all, and truly enjoy EVERY single minute, every single cry and every single whinning moment she had with them. Addison and grammy played puppets, grammy read books to the kids, got up at 5am with Addison, grammy gave baths, put all the kids to bed, feed the kids, took them for walks, carried them and entertained them in the car! They all veyed for her attention. I wonder what she will do when they all are as opinated as Addison and want grammy with them ever second of every day! Better get your running shoes on mom!!

We spent some time at a beautiful park and tried to get some fun outdoor pictures of the girls and our family.

Enjoy the rest of the random pictures from Idaho! We sure had a great time and can't wait to get together again!

The trip home seemed to go much faster; we got home in 14 hours, but still a LONG trip, and again the girls did perfect. Olivia did not try to break her poop record, but did decide once mom was driving that it was time to poop a few times. We really enjoyed our trip and hope we can get to see Leo again real soon. Prefably before Cassie and Lou's wedding in April.

Next, we have to find a weekend to head to Wichita to see Addison and Olivia's newest cousin, Sydney. Tyler and Latisha had a baby girl this morning! Londyn is being a great big sister, although really wants mommy to hold her!

Thanks for coming by! Don't forget to check out the post before this with additional pictures!!

A LONG overdue Update

So it has been quite awhile since I posted, where has the time gone? I will try to do better. This post will be in 3 parts because we have so much to share with you all! First will be pictures from Addison's 1st day of preschool and then Kevin, Jenny and Leo's trek west to Idaho to their new home and fianlly our trek west to see Leo for his 1st birthday!! So get ready....

Addison was quite the cheeseball on her 1st day of school - she would not sit still for me to take any pictures. She has loved preschool and enjoys singing us new songs and having Jesus time with her baby dolls. She struggled with Jesus time in the beginning, not sure why, but she loves it now. Today, she was having a pajama party at school and thought it was so funny to wear her pj's to school.

Kevin, Jenny and Leo have moved to Pocatello, Idaho from South Carolina. I think they need to buy winter jackets still. There has already been 2 snowfalls! Much more snow than they have seen in the last 9 years living in South Carolina. Along their trip west was a stop in Grand Island for a few days of rest, relaxation, and chaos as we celebrated Addison and Olivia's birthdays with them. Leo decided that the trip the day before was way to long and he needed a good nap, so he slept through the party and woke up just in time for the start of the Husker game. It was fun to visit and see Leo again. We had not seen him since February. He was so big, and almost walking. Addison had a great time following him around, try to give him loves. He was a sport! Addison enjoys reading and having books read to her. Kevin always likes to take advantage of this and read to Addison when he sees her. He had a hard time keeping a straight face this time, as he thought we were all staring at him. He apparently gets the giggles when he is around me.

We even missed daddy's birthday in here, sorry Tony!! I did not forget about you!! We did not forget his actual birthday, just forgot to mention it on this blog! Happy Belated Birthday Daddy! We love you ! For his birthday, we went to York to visit his mom and dad. Tony was playing in a golf tournament, and I got to go with him. Very rarely do I get to go out to the golf course with him, so it was a nice treat. Although it was ab it chilly, actually it was freezing. I think Tony would have loved to have had Addison out there watching, but I do not think she would be able to keep quiet and last through all 18 holes. So Mamo watched the girls, and Addison and her made daddy a birthday cake for when the golfing was all done! The girls made daddy a picture frame for his office (actually just Addison made it, Olivia was sleeping!). He just needs to find "the perfect" picture to put into it!

So this blogger is giving me some trouble, so I think I will post this and then do our Idaho trip this afternoon. I promise I will get it done, I have the pictures with me! Enjoy reading about the last month!!

Strawberry Shortcake Birthday Party

Happy Birthday Addison and Olivia!! We had a GREAT weekend with LOTS of company and LOTS of fun!! Mommy attempted to make the Strawberry Shortcake cake for the party; Jenny to the rescue! I baked it and started to frost it and asked Jenny for her help, and she saved me and did the frosting! Didn't she do an AWESOME job?!!!! Thanks so much Jenny, I would have probably given up and went an bought a cake and been so disappointed with myself!!

The party went great, and all the kids had a great time. Leo slept through much of the party (he needed it after some LONG days of driving). Addison enjoyed opening all the presents and not really taking a breath between. I apologize now to anyone who reads this and was at the party that I may not have actually seen what you gave to the girls, but I will thank you anyway and make it seem like I know!! All Addison's little friends wanted to help her get into the presents, but she was VERY protective and wanted no help from anyone!! Keyara and Schyler were good sports about it and let Addison open the gifts and then tested them as she moved onto the next gift! She got an Elmo umbrella from Aunt Cassie and Lou that she can not seem to get enough of. She is highly disappointed that it has not rained yet. She wants to open it in the house, in the car, basically she just wants to carry it around open! Mommy and daddy got her a V-Tech Learning Center, (she appears to be a little young for it still - ugh!!)

Addison was pretty excited to have everyone sing to her and then get to eat the cake. After we sang and she blew out the candles for both her and Olivia; she knew EXACTLY what piece of Strawberry Shortcake she wanted, the lips and the nose (yep, right in the middle of the cake!). (On Monday, her actual birthday, we took her out to eat and then to Dairy Queen for ice cream. On the way home, she got a little upset because no one had sung Happy Birthday to her and she didn't get to blow out the candle on her cake for her birthday "today" - so we abide to her, and we bring out the left-over cake, out the candle in it and sing to her. Again, she very speciafiaclly told me what piece she wanted and then did not eat any of it!)

With all of the excitement of the weekend and all our visitors, we agreed to let Addison not have a nap on Saturday and Monday and we are now paying for it! She is slightly grumpy and very tired still. Hoping Addison does not catch a cold. Olivia and I both seem to have a cold. Olivia was really wanting to take a nap through much of the party. We did finally lay her down and she had a really hard time falling asleep. She has lately been wanting to just sit in our laps, snuggle and cuddle much of the time. Right now she is working on getting 5 teeth; so I feel sorry for her poor little mouth!

Check back soon for some pictures of our time with Kevin and Jenny and I will also add the pictures from Addison's 1st day of preschool!!

Happy 3rd Birthday Addison

Happy 3rd Birthday Addison!! I can hardly believe that you are 3 years old already. What a year it has been! You have grown up so much over the last year, you are a great big sister and I love watching you and Olivia playng together. You can see the love between you and I am anxious for the days when Olivia gets a little bit older and the two of you play house, dolls and get into all sorts of mischief!!! Addison you light up our life with your enthusiasm, your personality and your smile! Your laugh is contagious and it is hard to stay mad at you when you are so darn cute a minute after throwing a tantrum. I do have to say that you are trying hard to perfect the perfect tantrum, as hard as you try though, it just makes me love you even more! You have learned many lessons over the course of this last year; you have learned that when you are not listening, mommy and daddy will take some of your toys away. We always give them back though, after you say sorry.
Addison, you continue to amaze me everyday with your sense of humor, your wittyness and your willingness to be so independent. I love you so much, always remember that! You will forever be my little peanut!!! Thank you for an amazing 3 years!

Thoughts from a Preschooler Mom...

So my little girl started preschool on Tuesday. She was so excited; so excited that she woke up at 5:15am that morning and wanted to leave right away. I think it was a combination of nervous energy and the excitment of something new. Mom and Dad groggily and not very happily made her stay in bed with us until 6am. The day started early and with some reluctance to get out of bed, but we got going and drove to Preschool. Lots of cars, lots of mommies, lots of daddies and lots of younger siblings. I think there may have been lots of mommies hiding behind sunglasses in the parking lot as well! I am happy to report that I did not cry, but did choke back some heavy emotions as I left my oldest daughter at school for the 1st time...perhaps now is when I will cry - reflection! Addison did seem a little nervous, but sat down at the table with the other children and started coloring. Tony, Olivia and I kissed Addison, told her to listen to her teachers and then left out the back door of the classroom. Olivia and I went home and cleaned for the "big" party this weekend, and Tony went to work; where I think he got asked numerous times if I had cried, he didn't even know (he had to ask later). Tony and I picked Addison up from school, and took her to lunch at her favorite, Ruby Tuesday. She was able to tell us that she colored, played kitchen and made a hotdog and had ice cream for her snack!

As I drove to work after lunch, I thought about what had just transpired over the morning. My baby girl, my tough, independent peanut had grown up in the blink of an eye. Where in the world did my little baby who struggled with jaundice, couldn't gain weight; where did she go? My little toddler who used to poke her sister's eyes and squeeze her so hard while giving hugs (oh wait, she still does that one), my little girl who wants no one in the bathroom with her and amazes people at Sams Club that she needs to poop in private and can even make the noises to go with it, where did she go? She just walked through the doors of Peace Lutheran Preschool as a big girl. (Hope she knows that with that now comes some new repsonsibilites, like minding her manners, not throwing tantrums, not whinning, eating all her dinner when it is presented to her and sleeping until at least 6am EVERY morning!!)Now she is Miss Independent going to school!

As I wipe the tears now, and laugh at how she really is still my baby girl, my peanut and oh so much like me when I was little (so I have been told), I pray she just don't grow up so fast over the next few years!

Olivia's Birthday Party

Happy Birthday Olivia!!! We had a great birthday party for Olivia last night. We went to Valentino's for dinner and she ate great...peas, noodles, and half a whole piece of pizza! She loved it, no yelling and was just an angel! When we got home, we had a "quick" party with presents from Addison and let Olivia dive into her cake which was quite a site. Addison was anxious to have Olivia play with her Bounce and Go Zebra. She has promised us that she will always ask Olivia before she plays with "her" toys.

Olivia throughly enjoyed her cake.

Not so happy when mommy took the cake away for her to get into the bath:

Happy 1st Birthday Olivia

Hard to believe a whole year has already flown by and Olivia is one years old!!! Where has all the time gone? This first year with Olivia has been full of lots and lots of different emotions, some I would like to forget and many many others I hope to never ever forget. Olivia has been a true miracle to Tony and I. As many of you know, our chances of ever having a family were very slim, then came Addison and then to find out we were having another little miracle...it filled our hearts with so much joy knowing that we relied on God to pull us through and show us the miracle He had planned for us. Tony and I have both shed lots of tears through the years, and the best tears where at the births of each of our children. I know there will be many more tears as Olivia grows up; but it is still the cry that we have this miracle that warms my heart the most. I love to just snuggle with her (she still loves to snuggle too)! Olivia has filled a spot in my heart that was reserved only for her. She has given us so many laughs over the last year, some scares (okay many scares), but she is tough...she's gotta be with a sister like Addison!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Olivia!! Enjoy your party today with mommy, daddy and Addison!! Addison is so excited to give you your gifts and watch you eat your cake...do NOT disappoint her!!

Naps are for Wimps

Please let me preface this video clip: sometimes telling a little white lie is necessary in order to get your children to do things.
Addison played in her room for almost 2 hours yesterday coming out only a few times to know if it was "wake-up time". I told her she needed to go to sleep on many occassions; she NEVER did!

Olivia on the other hand slept great, but also likes to play in her crib.

Summer Fun

The girls have enjoyed the summer very much. We have been busy, therefore the lack of updates. Thank goodness for Bubba and Grammy who always seem to have their camer ready to catch a moment with the girls. The latest adventures have taken us to Omaha to wedding dress shop with Cassie, the Taste of West Omaha, and a trip to Fun Plex with Bubba, Lou and Grammy.


We are anticipating the arrival of Kevin, Jenny and Leo intoGrand Island on September 1st while they are enroute to their new home in Pocatello, Idaho. Addison is especially excited to see Michael Leo, and it appears that Leo is excited to see the girls as well. Apparently he has found a new fun trick, hitting people, animals and various other things. Don't worry Kevin and Jenny, Addison will set him straight and tell him that it is not nice to hit!!! She will probably also give him "the lecture" about keeping his tongue in his mouth, using nice words, being a big boy, the list could go on. You will quickly learn all the things we are telling her about being nice and about being a big girl so that she can go to school.


The hot days of August are taking its toll on us, Addison has so much energy that she can't run off, and Olivia is having some heat rashes. Both the girls are such "hot kids". They sweat very easily. We are "forcing" water. Olivia is officially off the bottle, she has been for about a 1 1/2 months now. She loves to be just like Addison and drink from the sippy cup. Matter of fact, whatever Addison is doing, Olivia wants to be doing it also. She has found that when Addison takes a toy from her, yelling is a great way to mom and dad's attention. We are trying to teach "sharing"; but Addison is pretty protective of "her stuff". At daycare Olivia has learned that when she does not want to eat something to throw it on the floor because the dogs will eat it; not so much at home. She just kind of gives us this look like "you won't yell at me for throwing this because I am so darn cute".


The rest of the pictures are of our"little fishy". Addison loves to swim and play in the water. She has figured out that jumping into the pool is a lot of fun, and so is going down slides. Still not a big fan of having water in her face, but getting better.




One last picture for you to enjoy! This cutie will turn 1 years old in 6 days!!
Where has the time gone?