Playing hard with Daddy!

Resting on the grass... the boys had been playing pretty hard and were very excited because Daddy got home early to play outside with them! They all played ball and ran around the backyard like they love to do!



Ben is truly our little athlete, always has to be throwing, kicking, or hitting something!



Conner is still our snuggler and loved the attention he was getting from Dad!

Old Tricks...

Really...?! This obviously doesn't require much explanation! (Notice the closet door hanging precariously and just so you know, the changing table isn't usually in the middle of the room... now as for Conner's mischievous look, this is actually quite normal!)



Ben tries to just hang out on the couch and act innocent... but I know better!



Great start to the day...!

Mikayla's Adoption Day!

It was a wonderful Wednesday! We headed to Charles City to be there for the adoption of our niece, Mikayla, and to celebrate her first birthday! Before heading to the courthouse, the kids had lots of fun playing outside. Ben loved hanging out on the rings!!!



At the courthouse, I couldn't help but be reminded of walking into our courtroom (not exactly a courtroom since at the time, the CR courthouse was still being refurbished from the flood!) I remember thinking that finally, we could breathe... we could relax... our kids were ours and now we could prove it! I missed most of Mikayla's adoption hearing because I was standing in the hallway with Ben, who had made it clear he wanted no part of sitting quietly in the courtroom! The irony is not lost on me here!!! But, I was still thrilled to be there and watch this sweet little girl become an "official" member of our family! Congrats to Bill, Kristin, Jennifer, and Mikayla!



The boys are usually very tender with Mikayla... Ben sat next to her for a little while before she opened presents...



Jennifer also got some "Big Sis" presents!



Conner and Ben entertained all of us with their musical abilities. Conner even did a little singing while they both played the piano!

After a full day yesterday, I am trying to get the boys to have a little bit more mellow of a day (good luck to me!) but we will see how that goes...

Love to you all...

Not exactly what we planned...

Okay... so I take back the whole kids-free weekend thing because as we have grown all too accustomed to... our plans took a backseat to our first priority, our children, and specifically our Ben... As Nick and I were just about to go out for the evening on Saturday my dad called saying that Ben had had a seizure... I am going to focus on the good news here - - he recovered from it very quickly and wasn't having any trouble breathing... very good things! I am so sorry that my parents had to witness Ben in that state, but I am incredibly thankful that I have two parents who knew exactly what to do! They did everything right and I suppose it was bound to happen at some point that Ben would have a seizure without Nick or me there with him.

Our children have been such a true blessing to us. Not only to Nick and me, but our entire family... tonight as I am sitting here, writing, thinking, and praying, I am also listening to the sweet sound of my boys sleeping contently... Tonight I just thank God that I have been blessed with so much and I thank my parents for taking care of our baby in a very scary situation! I don't understand why Ben has to go through this right now, but I definitely have enough faith to know that we can be strong and keep praying that hopefully in the near future we can find some kind of answer so that this doesn't have to happen so frequently. Would you throw a prayer up for Ben as you read this... we're gonna get this figured out yet! There is no keeping our boy down! That's for sure!!! He has way too much stuff to do to slow down!

Kids-Free Weekend!

Conner and Ben got to go stay with Nana and Gramps this weekend so Nick and I headed out to Palo today in search of sun, fun, and fish! I am happy to say we found all three! Takes a little getting used to not having our two babies around, but man... we have had a fun day so far (and I know that they have too!) We are going to go out tonight and party!

Bubbles and Banana Pops?!

The boys woke up from their nap yelling "shoes" and "go outside" so that is where we spent the majority of our afternoon!

Ben was loving the bubbles today! We got a new BIG bubble wand so he focused on that for a while...


Conner was much more interested in the bubble soap than actually blowing bubbles...


Conner mostly enjoyed his new toy (free from a neighbor, can't beat that!)


The boys are loving the popcicles almost as much as I do... however there was a mysterious yellow colored one in a package I bought the other day so I had the boys try it today... (I am not very daring when it comes to food!) Apparently it was banana flavored...

Conner was not diggin' it!


Ben, on the other hand, thoroughly enjoyed it!

"Keen, Keen"

Yesterday the guys were having fun with cleaning! I asked them to help me clean up their toys and they both started screaming "keen, keen!!!" and then they would throw each toy on top of the last one they had thrown in the corner of the room! They were very proud of themselves!

Our Little Helpers!

Daddy was able to get off a little early on Saturday so we spent some time in the backyard. It was so relaxing to sit and watch as Nick tried to get a few things done and the boys tried to "help" Dad!




The boys took a little rest on the grass...



On a completely different note, my last Mothers Day present arrived on Saturday! (Nick had assured me that I had something else coming that he was pretty happy with so I was anxiously awaiting this mysterious gift!) He knows me so well!!! Sunglasses with my initials on them in jewels... The perfect gift...

The boys made out like bandits at HyVee this morning... balloons, cheese slices while we shopped, and suckers when we checked out... lucky guys...

TGIF!

Thank God it's Friday!!!! Seems like a really long week when you can't really get outside and play. We have sang all the songs, played all the games, and are getting tired of being cooped up!

Conner has developed this habit where he is sooo grumpy after his nap... Here they are ready to be set free! (at least Ben is ready!)


Luckily the grouchiness can apparently be fixed with junk mail!


And then it comes back...


Ben is having fun all by himself! Always smiling! (when he's not having a fit of course!)


Hope everyone enjoys the weekend!

Status Update...

The days get away from me every now and then and I get to thinking about all of the things that I have not been getting done... like writing! So I thought I would just give you a little update!

Mother's Day was awesome! I got to sleep in which was great and Nick and the boys got me some cool gifts...

Property Destruction Report... the boys broke the antenna off my radio the other day and their closet door is (again) in desperate need of repair. They have had a lot of fun in the mornings throwing diapers all over their room and in to the hallway. They only seem to do this on mornings after I just filled up their diaper basket. It holds about 60 diapers... coincidence?! I think not... not exactly property destruction but just as annoying!

Potty Training Update... Hmmm... well... they have apparently decided that they are not interested in this (at all) and actually run away from me when I say "potty." I have gotten out of the habit of making them sit on the potties anyway so my goal is to kick it back into full gear this week... we'll see...

Weather Update... since the weather has turned sour on us this week, we have spent a lot of time inside... together... all day... you get the picture! We are all hoping for sunny days to come back soon!

Injury Report... Last week Ben fell outside in the driveway and skinned one of his fingers pretty good. He spent the next several days with his fist balled up becasue he refused to use that whole hand for anything! He still whimpers if it accidentally gets bumped! Other then that, we were doing pretty good until last night when Conner hit his mouth on a toy and ended up with a bloody lip and then Ben hit his face on a shelf and had a bloody nose... no lasting scars though which is always good!

Behavior Report... tantrums, tantrums, and more tantrums!!! On the bright side, Nick's behavior has been quite good so that's always nice!!!

Love to everyone...

May Weather...

We are loving the nice May weather right now! Makes for some fun days outside...

Ben decided that it was much too easy to just get into his car using the door... he likes a challenge!


I was all excited to get the boys their first pairs of underwear... their poor potties however have not seen much action the last couple of weeks so we will have to wait on the big boy underwear for a little while... at least it's getting some use now by Conner!


The boys love the word puzzles that Nana and Gramps gave them...


Hope you enjoy your Wednesday as much as we have been!

Weekend Fun!

We took full advantage of the nice weather and the short naps today (I don't know why they won't nap well anymore) and spent most of the afternoon outside.

Nick was getting his boat ready for us to use and he wanted the boys to try on their life jackets. They both ran away from him but Conner wasn't quite quick enough!



My sister had given us a monster soccer set that we got out today. Ben rocked at kicking the ball in the net... Conner got a little stuck...



Apparently my soccer skills weren't impressive enough because the boys soon abandoned me to go help Dad!

Ben was thrilled to see that his mower blows bubbles! He raced around the yard for quite a while "mowing" the grass!

Conner ate so many bubbles today that even when he wasn't holding a bubble wand, he blew a bubble right out of his mouth!

We had some favorite foods tonight... Nick grilled steaks for us and the boys enjoyed some chicken, twice baked potatoes, and corn. Conner LOVES the twice baked potatoes and he ate the entire thing, skin and all! Then he decided that it would work better if he just licked his plate clean!!!

Ben, of course, saw Conner and just had to join in!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

The Joy of Cars

Our day started at 4 am with Conner crying... why, you may ask... I have no idea. He never did go back to sleep for more than 20 min. So needless to say I was all excited for the boys to take a long nap this afternoon. Of course that wasn't in the cards either... again, I have no idea why... Two very grumpy little boys and I decided to take our chances outside and miraculously those grumpy boys became happy again... ahhh... the joy of driving our cars in the backyard!!!

Ben enjoyed just sitting in it for a while... this is the only time he ever sits still!



At last... Conner is happy!!!