Swimming Pool and Muddy Mess

Tuesday brought us to Sidney again heading to the pool. Lorelei was very disappointed on our trip up because the hotel pool was FREEZING so Sarah and Jeanette thought it would be fun for the kiddos to get a chance to swim. I had figured on Brad being around to swim so hadn't brought my suit but they were gracious enough to swim with my kids. Well, they attempted with Makin but he was not a huge fan, so it was mostly Lorelei, who had a blast.


Brad's cousin Marci was also there with her niece, Drew, and new baby boy Jack. Will be fun to see Makin and Jack together in the future, as he is HUGE next to Jack...that will probably be the same for a while. :) Was fun to catch up with her and share fellow mommy awes and woes.

After nap the kids and I decided to head out to the gigantic mud puddle (mostly just mud this time) just a little ways down the road.

Makin was supposed to sit in the wagon for me while the big kids played...but since he thought he would just stand up and climb out, I decided to hold him instead. ;)



And the cousins had fun in the mud. Of course this was a huge hit with the Dirt Queen herself Miss L. :) They even coated her and themselves with mud boots and gloves. :) Ahhh mud!

Lorelei Loves Kitties!

We knew for our outdoor and pets girl, the farm would be the ultimate blast for Miss Lorelei. She had a WONDERFUL time and especially fell in love with their kitties. Thanks to Hannah for catching them for her so many times!



It took a while for her to get the hang of carrying them without practically choking them, but she got better at it each day. :) Thankfully we had very patient kitties to work with.




This one just cracks me up. With a kitty in one hand, she threw a stick and then was telling Oreo to fetch. :) Oreo doesn't fetch. :) She then decided the kitty needed to fetch. :) Oreo was a very, very sweet dog and extremely tolerate and gentle with our kiddos. She even went over and laid right by Makin and gave him a little lick on the hand before plopping down next to him.

Lorelei is now deliberating over the whole puppy/kitty thing and is starting to think she would rather have a kitty...much to her dad's dismay. She was very insistant upon a puppy cake for her birthday and yesterday I asked if she still wanted a puppy one or if she would rather have a kitty and she said "A puppy and a kitty." I said, "Well you can only have one" and her reply was, "Well, my friends come over." :) So apparently friends mean we need two cakes??? Hmmm. :)

Grocery Time

Now some of you fellow control freaks may be wondering how Jeanette coped with the aftermath...and I have to say amazingly well! NO freak outs (well, I can't say for what she did when I wasn't around) and she just went with the flow and enjoyed every moment of her array of visitors and having no plans. My favorite moment embracing the whole thing was when we woke up Sunday morning and she simply chuckled and said, "Guys, I don't have any food!" :) Of course, she had eggs and bread so scrambled eggs and toast made a wonderful breakfast for us. But needless to say, Monday morning we headed out to the grocery store!

Another side note...managing four kids in a grocery store even with three adults...yeah, I don't know how you moms of four do it!!!

Surprise!!!

After plotting for over a year, we pulled off a huge surprise for the Stahl family. Brad's parents are celebrating 40 years of marriage June 20th of this year, and we thought that deserved a special event. SO we gave them their favorite thing (heh, not) lots of surprises!

Here is how it all played out...

Sarah (who I now deem "The Queen Of Everything" with how she kept the entire small town in on this secret with no one spilling the beans and managed to wonderfully decorate the legion hall with both parents possibly seeing her every time she went into town!) told them they needed to show up for pictures with her family that afternoon.

Side note: We had been concerned that the Stahls were catching on because Sarah thought they were just a little too agreeable on everything she was telling them...but earlier that week we became painfully aware they had NO CLUE we were coming when they decided to go ahead and tear down the fireplace in their living room. :) We didn't get a family picture in front of it as I had planned but we had to laugh at the nice "hole in the wall" during our visit. Can't wait to see the new sun room when its all done!




Well, little did they know that the WHOLE family was going to show up. :) Lorelei did a great job on the part we had been practicing for months yelling, "Surprise!" and giving them big hugs.



Then we took family pictures.


And then we gave them their final envelope of surprises which Sarah worded to make it sound like we were all going out to eat...we then headed into Potter as if we were going to combine car loads when she eventually just parked at The Legion. (The SR Stahls were contemplating all the cars and wondering who was having a party until the point they saw her park and THEN decided they better drive around the block for Jeanette to compose herself.) Then they got to see the huge crowd of family and friends there to celebrate with them. :)


After a couple of speeches, the video and cake, everyone just enjoyed visiting. This included each and every sibling from both sides! Yep, even Auntie Di and Uncle Bob made the trip from Texas too! :) And of course many, many more friends and family as well. It was awesome.


All this planning and I took a whopping TWO pictures at the party. I know. This is what happens when you have kids I guess. Anyway, they show Lorelei's highlight of the party. The chocolate fountain. :) Brad and I were discussing what all she had eaten that afternoon/evening...and it went something like this, Me: "Well she had a Kit Kat bar before the party, then she had cake..."
Brad: "Then I got her a chocolate covered marshmallow and strawberry at the fountain..."
Me: "Wait a minute IIIII got her a chocolate covered marshmallow and strawberry at the fountain!" Brad: "Oh and I saw her walking around with some random chocolate covered apple someone gave her too."
Oh my that girl got her chocolate fix for sure. :)





















The kids and I called it a night early but the rest got to party much later. Brad went back in (after helping me get the kids to sleep) to join his cousins and friends till I think 1:30 or so??? :)

Sunday we got together with the siblings from both sides and enjoyed some left overs and extra yummy sides Sarah made (including their home made mac and cheese which I am now determined to master with NO recipe!) and it was great catching up and having sooo many cousins for Lorelei to run around with.

Everyone at both parties was SO excited to see Mr. Makin. Each and every one of them had sent up many prayers during his surgery for all of us and I was so glad they finally got to meet our special little guy.

Looking forward to many more family gatherings...but maybe we'll let the SR Stahls do the next one. ;)

And of course much more to come on the week following... :) for another post!

Headin Out

Hmmm We need superman to carry many bags of things down many stairs...

And Lorelei is settling in her car seat to do some serious reading....

But where are we going??? ;)




















A delicious dinner cooked by Aunt Heather when get got to Edmond for the night after work on Thursday. We loved getting a chance to see her apartment and of course eat her wonderful food. Lorelei was her usual rowdy self and Heather even let her use her yoga mat for her version of gymnastics. :) Then after getting the kids down for the night Heather picked me up for a kid-free visit. Unfortunately much later and much less caffeinated than planned so we were both half asleep, but it was still nice. :) Thanks for a fun visit Heather!

Nope...she doesn't need all those chips...gotta keep drivin. ;)


Brown baggin it for lunch! (Compliments of Heather again, thank goodness she is our food supplier!) Great little break on the drive at a rest area where Lorelei found a small hill she could roll down.

And the purpose for the trip coming up next post!!!

How Much We Love the Sand and Sun!

Finally a break in the dreary weather! With sun and a high of 92 in the forecast we packed up our sand toys and headed out to the little beach.

-After getting to Skype with the Bonfiglios! We got a request from Kira to Skype and were so excited. We even got to see Little Miss Leah walking! Miss you guys!
-Also after our crazy storms last night that had Brad and I pacing watching the weather and debating whether or not to wake the kids and take them downstairs in case of a tornado. Thankfully we had minimal storms although they were all around us. Didn't have to wake the kids and sure do miss having a basement! Heather is also fine and weathered the storm safe in a bank vault. :) Puns intended. :)

Lorelei did her usual mixing of sand and water and even did more and more "swimming" as the water is getting warmer and she is getting braver. Makin was content playing drum on a sand bucket for a while but then was raring to go in the water. He LOVES it. The splash king takes on the little beach! He loves walking out and wanted to go all the way to the fountains coming into the pool. He loved jumping and being swung around in the water. So glad that both kids enjoy this so much. Also took our beach umbrella especially for our little guy...was such a big help and luckily the wind cooperated until the very end.

Hoping the end of school won't result in a ton of school kids running our little ones over...if so I guess we'll just have to get their earlier than them. ;)



P.S. Very hard to get picture of splashing...guess I need a sports setting for that one, but you get the idea. Also Lorelei now likes to pose for pictures...as long as its next to a tree or something like that...she will say something about a jungle and then ask to have her picture taken. Guess we are going to have to work on finding a lot more jungles so I can have great pictures!

Typical Day

A little of this and a little of that and somehow this is how Makin gets across a room for the most part. If I dare to sit near him he immediately expects me to help him stand and then help him walk around. Took a video over the weekend but it is too big to upload so will try another one soon.








The latest favorite thing to play? Haircut. She loves brushing hair and pretending to give hair cuts. The first time she did mine a few week back she said "Here's a lollipop" after my "cut." :) She is a bit rough on my hair so we have been able to get a break now and then by getting the stuffed animals involved. At least they are good for something other than taking up space and being thrown all over the room. :)

Am ready for all this cloudy weather and "scattered showers" to be out of the forecast so we can have some good outside plans. Apparently MAY showers bring June flowers around here?

Not Much To Speak Of Weekend

But apparently enough the require a blog post!

The good news is the house is much tidier! Not a lot of memorable moments this weekend, but somehow I always manage to take a picture of something. We were excited to head to the pool but the weatherman neglected to tell us the sun would come out in the afternoon! Sooo we had couple of mostly cloudy days home working on cleaning.

One of the toys most keeping him entertained these days is the Drs. kit!










Weird Sunday morning when Lorelei woke up complaining about her knee hurting. We brushed it off and thought she was just being dramatic over a tiny scratch...as we were almost ready to head out for church and finally getting her dressed, we became sure she was definitely not faking it. No idea what she did but after some ice and heat a few times she could finally walk normal in the afternoon. Definitely still favoring it a little but mostly back to normal...notice she knows how to milk it and get her pacies out of bed?? :)










Enjoying the latest toy getting hauled out of the closet for new entertainment. Was blown away watching Lorelei play with it...remembering when we first got it for her! She is even hunching over a bit in this picture!












And finally, playing the new game (cannot wait to start getting her games since most of them are for 3+) we got garage saling last weekend, Elefun. She had a great time playing! Just need to work on our skills... :)

Somewhere Over The Rainbow

Lorelei was ecstatic to see her very first official rainbow! She was thrilled at the site of not one, but TWO rainbows spanning across the sky right before bed.

Pulled To Standing

And his two favorite cheerleaders were sooo excited for him. :)
















The cheerleaders. :) She would rather take a picture with me than me take one of her...I'll take whatever I can get!

This Boy Loves His Pasta

Can you tell? :)

Lorelei's Chatting

Had to add some quotes from Lorelei I have been jotting down.

Me: "Can Makin use it?" (some toy I think)
Lor: "Yeah...(hands toy) Slobber on this? (I nod) No!"
(she may like dirt, but she has major slobber issues)

L: "Whats that?"
M: "A Gas station"
L: "We go pee pee there?" :)

(At the park an older girl was climbing up the slide)
"Ah ah ah, we no climb up slides."

"No. Its to spicy." (Telling Makin why he can't have some food she is eating, which was totally not spicy.)

In the car we occasionally hear her comment looking out the window: "Wow. Fancy car."

M: "Do you want a club cracker?"
L: "No reger (regular) cracker."

She walked around measuring things with a ruler and each time would exclaim an item was: "Two yickers." :) No idea how long a yicker is but it sounds like a fun way to measure!

(As she waves her hand in a circular motion over a hat...) "Aaaaaaaahhhhh Dayah! (abracadabra)

She is big into playing doctor and says in a sing-song voice like Daisy on Dr. Daisy, "Whaaaat's the matter?"

Every time she doesn't want food she says, "I can't like that."

She asks "What that noise?" or "Why do dat?" and then makes the sound that she is hearing so we will know what she is talking about.

Nicknames for Makin: May, Makey Makey Makey

Cute words: Snubeen (something), prak (park), poot (spoon), doppers (golfers), purtet (perfect)

And finally, Brad and I are a bit sad because the last couple of weeks she has started shortening Daddy and Mommy to Mom and Dad. :( Too soon little girl.

Another note but cannot be ignored...We have very rough days and right now no discipline seems to be working with her and her "attitude problem" as I guess we could call it. Please pray for patience for me. I'm going to find books with loads of wisdom to help me figure this out...if I ever find time to order the books and then read them before I need to get books about dealing with teens... ;) Taking recommendations if you have any!

Read a devotional today that is trying to motivate me to think, "Positive, Positive, Positive" so we'll see how that helps. :)

Sad Mommy - Makin's Upcoming Surgery

We knew Makin would need more surgeries, and I knew he needed one soon, but I'm still not ready to do it. We met the surgeon here in Dallas we will be using (probably...a few hesitations but emailed lady from VA to make sure they have the same "policies" for recovery so we'll see what she says) and now have a date set for June 29th to repair the fistula (hole) in his palate.

Dr. Genecov seems very nice and has great reviews from many people, but its hard for me to get on board with a whole new doctor who does things very differently. He asked when Makin's repair was and after I said "one month" we had about 30 seconds of jaw dropping silence and then, "Wow. I thought that was a typo." and then about 30 seconds more of silence. :) Obviously not a big fan of the early surgery, but after talking with a family we met today I am even more sure that we made the right choice for us...just imagining waiting until NOW to have Makin's palate fixed is incomprehensible to me. All of us have been able to live our lives so much better for the last 8 months than we would have if we had waited. They typically do the palate surgery here at 9 months. Incredible difference, but thankfully Dr. G said that he is "right on schedule" since they would really only be doing the palate surgery now anyway.

His surgery should only be an overnight stay and then be able to go home, but the recovery is going to be very hard on him from the sound of it. He will be restricted to liquids for 2-3 weeks as well as having his arms in restraints so he cannot put anything in his mouth. This mom is not at all happy that the sweetest little boy in the whole world (I'm not biased at all though) has to be so unhappy and put through this, but we know it has to happen.

Dr. G also mentioned that he would do a couple more touch ups with the nose and lip and would do that later, but before age two. I asked about the orthodontist and they usually do not meet with them until age 5.

I was not a fan of the lady in charge of feeding/speech, but I guess it comes with the package so we'll deal with it. :) Another sidebar from what she told me...she was shocked Makin has had only one ear infection and said that there are children his age who have had tubes put in 2-3 times by now...um HELLO that is because they get so much fluid from not having their palate closed!!! Sorry. Done now.

The upside of the appointment today was meeting a family who drives here from Northern Oklahoma. Their daughter is a year older than Lorelei and the two girls had a great time playing and we enjoyed a break and letting them play in the play area a bit. She is having her surgery tomorrow for a few touch ups. They are very happy with Dr. G and will let us know how the "other" hospital "just across the street" is, as that is where he will be doing Makin's surgery vs The Children's Hospital we were at today and with Lorelei. Can you tell I'm not a big fan of this idea?

Highs of the day (because I always try and stay positive!): finishing McDonald's lunch with Lorelei thrilled to be eating in the front seat of the car after getting home; some one on one with Makin since he napped on the way home; bubble fights; cuddle time; the fact that we were in VA so had Makin's surgery much earlier; meeting other families we can relate to; beautiful weather; friends from NE moving here in June; Makin loving getting read to and smiling at his books

Fresh Air and Free Fun - Can't Say It Enough - We Love Parks!

Today Lorelei's two favorite things were the rock climbing wall, which she can scale quickly and easily, and going down the slide on her stomach...I decided I better break the rules on a few things, but she still can't climb up the slides. :) Gotta give the teachers something to yell at her about. ;)

May Family Picture

Park and Lake Time With New Friends

Friday after nap we headed to a park by the lake, which will be very close to our new house when it is finally built. Our friends, the Furrs, live near this playground, so we met up there for a park play-date. (Reminder, Jen is the lady I met in line at the consignment sale who went to CU...not sure how many times I'll feel the need to mention that. :) ) The girls enjoyed some playground time and then attempted to feed the ducks who were surprisingly already full, and then a little sand/lake time where we got to check out the closest thing we will have to a beach near us...really no comparison but it is sand and water so I'm sure we will be heading there often! So great for Lorelei to get some time with kids her age as she is really missing that lately!

Starting To Break Out The New Old Toys

The day after I told Brad "8 months is the BEST age" Makin turned whiny. Yep, he is sick and tired of sitting on the floor and wants to be up and moving, so you better get him that way. Result: start breaking out some new old toys...this kitchen was the handiest thing to dig out of the closet so its the first attempt. More soon to come when we dig them out.

Puddly Muddly Mush

I have a feeling when Lorelei fills out something for Mother's Day at school it will go something like, "I love my mom because...she lets me get really dirty!" :)

Wednesday was a rough day as we were stuck inside waiting for a downpour all morning, and then watching the downpour all afternoon. It was one of those days where you meet your poor husband at the door, throw him the kids and lock yourself in your room.

I determined Thursday HAD to be better, and it was much, MUCH better. Thankfully I listened carefully to the weather report and, although there was more rain in the forecast, it was going to hold off till late morning/afternoon. This meant we were on a hunt for puddles!

We went out (without camera, gasp!) and enjoyed some wonderful puddle time first thing in the morning where Lorelei found most of her puddles on the tennis court and loved making footprints. Makin wanted to do it all too of course, but I did get him to stay in the stroller for a bit so I could look at the mail! (I know, I enjoy the small things these days!)

Then back upstairs for a quick nap for Makin, then back out decked out with boots, sand toys, and more importantly, CAMERA! :) We found a huge puddle on the sand volleyball court and enjoyed the rest of the morning there. Love these days!

Chuck E. Cheese

Yep, our big girl earned her trip to Chuck E. Cheese!

She goes all day in big girl underwear, uses the big potty and only wears her pull up at night. As long as we remember to have her go before bed she usually wakes up dry. Woo hoo! Soooo happy to only be buying diapers for one!

She actually earned it just before Easter, but we wanted to wait until we got back and go on a week day so it was not too crowded, so Tuesday became our big day to celebrate being potty trained!

And why Chuck E. Cheese you may ask? Because C.E.C. has done a great job promoting themselves on PBS! There are no commercials on Lorelei's shows, but in between each show there is a little plug for C.E.C. Lorelei is on a huge "want to meet them" kick and wants to meet every character she sees, so we were happy to make this her big reward.



Lorelei (and Brad some too) had a great time playing games. We had to force her to take a break and eat a slice of pizza, and then more games. She even spun a big wheel and got the "jackpot" winning 125 tickets! :) She picked out a C.E.C ball with all her winnings.

Finally meeting the big man. :) She ran up to him as soon as she saw him and got lots of high fives and hugs.

We are so proud of you big girl!

Strawberry Plant

We are going to attempt to grow our own Strawberries...lets hope we can keep them alive! :)

Morning Water Painting

The last few days Lorelei has been big into painting with water...great activity of course! This particular morning I got to retrieve a paint brush accidentally dropped three stories down. :)

Its Only A Matter Of Time...

Until he figures out how to get out of reverse...

He started out on the right side of this picture.






So tell us how you really feel about crawling Makin?? :)

When Lorelei and I got to the room to find him this far we were so excited and Lorelei ran up to him, gave him a hug and said "Good job Makin!" Then he would have nothing to do with moving anywhere when he knew we could easily pick him up and take him.

Laundry

For some reason laundry takes a lot longer to do than it used to...

Our Own Red Hat Society :)

Makin Is 8 Months Old

Eight Months...it sounds SOOO much older and we cannot believe you are already there. You are still our sweet wonderful baby and we are so blessed by you each day.

Stats we know: weighing in at about 21 lbs, wearing 12 month clothing

Favorite things: balls, wheels, food and of course, your sister :)

You love crackers and especially love pasta with sauce...not so big on it without! Really prefer finger foods over being fed.

You love to bang things together and clap. You have waved a couple of times but usually shake your head "no" when we ask you to do that or clap. :) You think that is hilarious.

You seem very coordinated. You even managed to knock a toy off the table with one hand and then catch it with the other!

You want to stand. All. The. Time. So far the record is 15 seconds (yes, Mississippily) but its usually somewhere between 5-10 and you are SO proud of yourself.

Roll over in your sleep and are NOT happy to wake up on your stomach.

No interest in crawling but get moved around a bit while sitting. Take a few steps while I'm holding your hands if you want to follow your sister somewhere.

Most common talking is usually "wa wa" or "ma ma" and no its not for me, but I can pretend. :) We have taught Lorelei to coach you, "Say Mama!" :)

Naps seem to vary each day because of what we are doing. You usually get a 30 minute morning nap, then an afternoon (we aim for the length of big sister's nap) and sometimes we have to stick in a quick one in the evening if the afternoon is very short. You really still sleep best in the carseat if you get the chance. Usually get up about 5-5:30 AM and we change and feed you and you go back for about an hour.

New favorite book seems to be "Pat The Bunny" and you even stare at it in the basket of books like, "Mommy please pick that one!" :) If its not a touch and feel book you close the book when I'm trying to read it.

Have five teeth showing, only two are all the way out and the rest partially.

Still generally very easy going and happy as long as we keep you fed and get you some cuddle time.

We love you so much little man!

P.S. Slow down. You are growing up too fast. :)