Happy Birthday Daddy!!!

Happy Birthday to the most incredible husband, daddy and man that we know! We Love You!!!

Daddy had a good day......we started by making his favorite breakfast....biscuits and gravy along with some bacon and  potatoes. Then we did a whole lot of "not much", which was glorious!!!

And dinner.....Daddy's favorite mexican restaurant, I told them it was his birthday just expecting to get their big ice cream dessert thing and ..........................

 they put a sombrero on his head and sang "Feliz Cumpleanos" to him............we were laughing so hard, it was GREAT!!!!!

Rylie took a turn trying to the hat too...................

 and so did Katelin.................too cute!!!

We came home and watched "Big Brother" (my guilty pleasure), put the little kids to bed and then the big kids.............well overly tired Rylie threw a ridiculous fit for a 9 year old and we were frustated to our wits end but after she calmed down she wrote us a note (her favorite way to communicate, especially when she knows she's done wrong) and we had a good talk and all is good again.........at least for tonight, there will always be something new tomorrow but that's okay because..................

while I may occasionally get upset with one of them, there is nothing in this entire world that they could do to make me love them any less than I do or make me unhappy with the most incredible little family that I could ever ever ask for!

Johnson County Museum

Oh man has life been busy busy busy lately and unfortunately blogging hasn't been able to be a priority for me lately.....which makes me sad because it is something that I love to do so hopefully I can find some time to catch up a few things.

Anyway, I have tried to find some fun things to go do with the kiddos over the summer and a couple of weeks ago we headed to the Johnson County Museum Kidscape. I took my camera hoping to get some cute pics but after getting there discovered that I left my SD card in the computer so I took what I could with my phone so not the best pics ever but they get the point across!

Dressed up at the interactive farmhouse.

Rylie Jo....the farm girl (ha!)

Owen just chilling.

Little Miss Katelin!

Kiddos in the chicken coup!

Owen at an orange barrel.

They thought the car was pretty cool.

Working at the little store.

Katelin with the cow.

Take me for a ride on your big green tractor......( love that song!)

My girls putting on a production at the little theatre.

Dr. Katelin.....she sure loves those baby dolls.

Scary seeing her with that needle in her hand.....poor babies!

My boy.....the surgeon!

Evan really liked the cars!

Fishing in the little pond.

She caught one!

Evan much preferred sitting in the pond!

Love them!

Hitching a ride in the back of the semi.

Working at the store.

This is definitely something you would never ever see with a real cow!

It is a pretty neat little place and it's FREE...........I think the big kids got bored with it kinda quick but Katelin and Evan definitely enjoyed it so maybe a good place to go while the big kids are in school!

Future Chef?!?!?

Rylie has really begun to enjoy cooking, so I try to let her help out............and she seems to have a knack for it! However, I hope she has learned......................

 that for certain reasons, we don't give Evan a cup of pudding and a spoon and let him have at it............

Although, it looks like he really enjoyed himself so I guess the mess is worth it for that incredible smile!!!

Evan Wade - 11 months

*SIGH*.......................
They say that time flies when your having fun, well Evan has brought nothing but fun and joy to our lives and man does is show.............I can not believe that my baby boy will be 1 in just a month!

He is walking, he is completely off of baby food, finally sleeping through the night in his own bed. He follows Daddy when he comes home from work, loves to play with his older siblings (well Rylie and Owen anyways....I think Katelin must drive him a little nutty!) He loves anything with wheels, he will dance when he hears music and he likes mommy to be in his sight at all times (and if i'm not he will find me).

He drinks from a sippy cup but still likes his bottles, he is still nursing but not much.....the next month he will be weaned. He is still in a size 4 diaper, all his moving around has thinned him down some. He has gorgeous hazel eyes and 4 sharp teeth. And of course, here are some pics of my beautiful baby boy.......


Evan on a big green tractor!



How can you resist that face?!?!

Love his smile!!!

At the park!

That's his "mom's taking a picture" face.

Man.......I love him!

 And just in case you were wondering....................Yes he is happy almost all the time but he does have him moments.................

It's Official......

my sweet baby boy is officially walking!

 and let me tell you.....he thinks he is hot stuff! He still stumbles and falls but he is getting around pretty good, won't be long and he will be running with the big kids!

Not only is he walking but he is also sleeping through the night!

And yes, I realize this is a milestone most babies have reached well before 10 months. I have coslept with all of my babies and they have all continued to nurse during the night because they could. Well between Evan waking up and Katelin sneaking into my bed every night........I was one tired mama so I decided it was time.... and for the first time with any of my kids I let him cry. I sat in his room so he didn't feel like I had abondoned him and he cried for almost an hour the first night, 25 minutes the second night and just a few minutes the third night. Now he may cry for a second but then he lays down and goes to sleep and is sleeping all night, waking up sometime between 6:30 and 7:30. Starting tonight I won't sit in his room with him, I will just lay him in his bed and leave the room but I don't think this will be a problem.

My next challenge will be getting Katelin going to sleep without mommy or daddy laying with her and then staying in her bed all night and man is this going to be a rough one. She is one bull headed little princess with a set of lungs......good thing she is so darn cute and sweet!!!!

A Quick Trip to the ER...........

Any guesses on which kid landed themselves in the ER on Friday night????
I can tell you that this kid was very impressive showing no fear until they saw this.......

 and asked me...."why do they have those snappy things?" I assured him it was just for holding gauze and such! Other than that my Owen didn't twinge or fling or anything.........he did awesome! So, what happened???

 Well....Owen gets hyper and starts jumping, trying to do cartwheels and just being crazy. We were waiting to go to dinner when he was doing just that and BAM.....right into the corner of two walls. The same corner that gave him a huge goose egg last year (you may remember that blog post!).....He was holding his head so I went to check on him expecting a big lump and instead...............lots of blood, he cut it open pretty good. So after some debate we decided it was best to go get stitches since he already has a scar on his head from falling when he was 2. Grammy and I took him to the ER and Daddy stayed with the other kiddos, we got in and out pretty quick after getting 3 staples in his head and like I said he did awesome!!!

4th of July!!!!

Well since the kids had all recovered from their puking episodes by Saturday night we decided to go ahead and go to Chet's brothers house on Sunday for a 4th of July celebration.....................

Shooting off fireworks at Uncle Chris' and Aunt Michelle's

Hey this is a good view Dad!

Katelin played with this cat for a lot of the night, she even kept having me pet it!

Uncle Chris smokin some meat.

 

Our Nieces and Nephews.....Tiffany & Zayne, Brandon, Jessica, and Kaylyn and Makayla.



 So many babies.............

Evie, Our great nephew Zayne and our nephew John.

What did Katelin think of the fireworks???

 Not much.....except for the really loud ones......

 It's not the 4th without some sparklers.

We had a great time at Chris and Michelles but towards the end of the night I started feeling the kids' stomach bug hit me.....we even had to pull over on the way home. Chet had been drinking so I had to drive and let me tell you that was one loooong hour drive home. Monday I was soooo sick, laid around in bed or on the couch most the day.....Thank Goodness for Grammy and Daddy, not sure how I would have been able to care for my kiddos with the way I felt. By Monday night I was beginning to feel a bit better so we went up to watch some fireworks.

I hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th of July..............Always greatful for the men and women who have given us our independence!!!