Our family is hitting the Reset Button. Our life in Texas did not turn out as we hoped, and we have decided to regroup and make some changes. We love our friends in Texas dearly. We have the most AMAZING support system of friends there. We love the school opportunities there. We still love the area, so may be back there in a year or two, but will have to see what the next year brings. I'm trying to stop planning too far ahead but as most of you know, I'm a planner! So we will fill you in on Plan B later...
I am dealing with it the best I can. I have to deal with it because I have two beautiful kids who's mommy has always been their entire world. I have to keep it together for the most important people in my life who are counting on me.
Get ready for the longest post EVER!
Well, here is what we have been up to since the beginning of March...
 |
| We made our own bath paints. They loved painting the tub and then Lorelei even let Makin paint all over her. :) |
March 2nd we celebrated Lorelei turning four and a half. She woke up and wanted to color with markers first thing (she got them back when she turned 4 1/2, since she couldn't remember to put the lids on they got taken away till she was older) so that was what we did first. She can write two words. Her name and "mom." :) The kids were also very into playing BINGO, so we did that a bit later.
Here we have Mr. Makin on March 8th, officially two and a half, when he wrote his best M ever! :)
A couple of weeks later we finally celebrated their half birthdays by taking them to a special cupcake shop. As you can see they both picked chocolate. :) They look so grown up!
Brad knew of a golf course in a smaller town that was family-friendly so we decided to head there to golf with the kids. They had a total blast. Brad golfed, I drove and the kids golfed as they wanted, for the most part on the green so they could hit it to the hole. If we could I wouldn't mind doing this every day. Thankful for fun family time. (The pic of Lor and the pond she is looking at turtles, if you can't tell!)
I would count the bottom left pic as our March family picture. I did not get family pictures the following months, so we won't have our usual "year in review" but will try to get back into the habit in July.
 |
| Bedtime Books |
 |
| Easter Fun (No usual Easter celebration as they had just finished being sick and I was still not feeling 100%) |
 |
| Bits of Hotel Fun |
 |
| Friends Met Us At Arbor Hills |
Makin and I took a trip to Virginia Beach for Makin to have surgery on his nose. This was not planned at all. He his nose was rejecting the implant they put in. He is such a trooper and wonderful travel buddy. :) The bottom right is our Starbucks date before Melissa picked us up to head to the beach.
Although I dread Makin ever having surgeries, the bright side is we get a chance to see dear friends. Melissa, Sara and I took our "babies" to the beach the morning before Makin's pre op appointment. Can't believe how much they have grown...I remember getting a pic of the three of us all pregnant together and now love seeing those kiddos running into the ocean together! Time flies! And they are all so stinkin' cute! :)
 |
| Makin and I staying busy taking a ride on the ferry the morning of his surgery. |
A few more pics from our visit to Virginia. Top left is Makin with Lily and Emma at their house the evening before surgery. Can't even talk about how grown up these girls are! We loved getting to visit with the Checks. Middle pic is Makin the night after surgery. He did wonderfully. What I want to remember from this trip is how he left for his surgery. He was pretty cranky from waiting till after 2 pm without eating all day, so getting him prepared for surgery was a challenge. The nurses are so amazing. What did it take for them to get this boy happily to surgery? (And ignore his yellow surgery "pjs" he hated! :) ) Makin was driving to surgery in one of those plastic cars following the nurses who were blowing bubbles all around him and cheering to keep him entertained. They are so wonderful at CHKD. Makin ate as many snacks as he could get his hands on that night after surgery and watched some DVDs. He did SO well. Okay, top right pic was Makin at the beach the day after surgery shoveling sand. Bottom left Chase set up his cool car ramp and they loved testing out which cars went the fastest. Bottom right, Makin and Leah asleep on the way to the airport. Thankfully he slept a good amount on the airplanes on the way home. Thankful again for amazing, wonderful friends who are so supportive from Virginia Beach.
When we got back from VA we spent about a week at my parents for some recoup time. Lorelei stayed there during our trip and had fun joining Nana for preschool some of the week. Thankfully Nana sent me a pic nearly every day to keep me updated on my girl.
 |
| Nana and Park Time |
 |
| Lovin' The John Deere Playground ;) |
 |
| Cheesin' It Up |
We had a cold rainy day and happily decided to take a trip to Liberal's air museum. The kids loved seeing hot the hot air balloons worked and trying out many, many different types of airplanes. Makin was thrilled to have so many buttons to push! They also had a dinosaur exhibit there temporarily. Although they were very excited about the idea, they ended up VERY scared of the loud roaring dinos! At the end there was a small "dino dig" where they uncovered dinosaur bones. Much less scarey. :)
 |
| AJ's ball, Papa's New Mailbox, and Fisher Price Wonderfulness |
We were invited to the Stegers apartment for supper and Lorelei loved her special strawberry pie made just for her! We also enjoyed spending time at Lorelei's school family picnic. The children rotated through different game stations and had a blast! Her class was kind enough to include Makin in all their games as well. They were so fun to watch! The bottom left and middle right pics are her last day of school. Her teachers Ms. Amy and Ms. Kirsten were wonderful. I feel I cannot do justice in saying how glad we were Lorelei was able to go to school here and have a great first year of preschool experience. She absolutely loved it.
We also took a trip to Great Wolf Lodge. Lorelei was the perfect age for this trip. She loved every minute of it. She went down almost every slide she was allowed on (not the ones with the inter-tubes, but she did do one of the group slides with me along) including the big ones and climbed to the top all by herself! I was amazed how brave she was and how much she enjoyed it. Makin did not want to wear a vest at all but did enjoy playing in the kiddie pool area quite a bit.
 |
| Makin's Favorite - The Jet Skis |
 |
| Loving Storytime |
 |
| More Storytime Fun |
 |
| Loving The Water |
Heading out...had to get a partial shot of the huge area they had played in for a couple of days. So hard to get very many pics unless you have a water camera! :) Lorelei loved seeing almost all of the characters. Makin refused to go near them...the wooden bear that didn't move and was smaller than him was much better for a picture. :)
And with Lorelei out of school, we will move onto summer break...think I'll save that for another post!
And will work on a non-wintery background soon! Sorry need help from Brad on that one!
Great post! Love you all!
ReplyDeleteE! You are the strongest person I know and an incredible mother and wife. We love you guys and I'm so excited to read about your new adventures.
ReplyDelete