Get Out And Enjoy It

And thats what we have tried to do the last few days. We are looooving the cooler mornings. All we can do is enjoy it while it is here and look forward to it more often in a month or so hopefully!

Makin getting some chalk time out in front. No shade on the patio so we do front in the AM. He was also fascinated with all the trucks/buses etc going past. The last house on our block is being built now so there is even more excitement.


And since Lorelei has been asking to go to a park for months, that was our top priority.
Crossing our fingers this weather will become the usual soon!

Loves Peek-A-Boo

And extra time to himself with Mommy while Lorelei sleeps in. :)

Labor Day Weekend

The aftermath of the party... :) And thank goodness we had an extra day! We finally got a lawn mower etc and Brad was busy working on that Sunday afternoon. We picked up a fun sprinkler at Lowes with the mower, so the kids loved using that after nap. As you can see it was a big hit, especially with Makin.

The kids drawing with chalk first thing in the morning. Monday morning was BEAUTIFUL. A cold front!!! Finally!!! It was perfect pumpkin patch weather! So where did we go??? The pool. :( We had already made plans to head to the fun pool with the Fur girls and didn't want to let the kids down since we knew they would love it. We lasted an hour or so before Lorelei's teeth were chattering and then came home to try and get down for nap on time for once.




And after an afternoon working hard unpacking, we can now fit my car in the garage! There are now some totes in the guest room, but its still major progress. Slowly but surely. :)

And we finished our night up with some yummy grilled chicken. Back to t ball practice with Brad helping. Telling her "keep your eye on the ball" actually helps a lot so it was great to have the sports one in the family around to help! Loved our extra day together!

Party Day

I have to start by saying it was very hard to get excited for Lorelei's party this year. We miss our Virginia friends dearly and they have been at both of Lorelei's other parties, so this was our first big one without them. We missed you all so much and it just wasn't the same. You were at the top of Lorelei's invite list along with Mickey Mouse.
On the happier side, we were so glad that Nana and Papa made a special trip up just for her party. Lorelei was so excited they were there and it would not have been the party without them. We are also so glad we have at least TWO friends, Addy and Josie, for Lorelei to party with. :) So much to be thankful for!

It was party time! Poor Lorelei had to wait until AFTER nap for her party. Thank GOODNESS!!! We needed all the time we could get to get ready! :)

Here we have Makin, always the helper, wanting to help Brad with blowing up the balloons. This kept them amused for quite some time while I was frosting for hours.









The cake that started it all. Since Lorelei requested a puppy cake for her party, we went with a puppy/kitty theme this year. And note, no pink! I did try extra hard for that one. No promises about next year. ;)
She loved her cake. She better, it only took me 2 hours and 10 minutes to frost. ;) I'm going to get faster I'm sure!




Decorations, games etc.


Activities were painting puppies/kitties, pin the tail on the kitty, throwing dog treats and a cat toy into various cat/dog bowls, and finally, the pinata! I heard Nana ask Lorelei what her favorite was later that night and she said it was the "yada" :) She is still hitting the poor kitty's head just for fun in the backyard. Getting our money's worth out of that thing! It worked really well with the three girls and they all got in plenty of hits before Addy finally broke it mostly open, then Josie got to hit it open a bit more, and Lorelei finished it off. Great team work and everybody was happy! (I was worried it would break open before Lorelei had a chance to do it and she would be devastated!)

Can't tell you how much I love her expressions here with her cake. So excited and loves being sung "Happy Birthday."


And what could be a better way to end her party night than some time in the backyard with Nana using the new t ball set they brought her?
It was pretty neat having my mom there. As she was helping Lorelei play ball and hanging the cat head back up a million times I was thinking about three years ago and how she came right after Lorelei was born and was helping through those rough first nights and buying sleepers...again, what a difference three years makes and so glad she was here to celebrate with us again! :)


And finishing it off with Nana reading her books before bed. Thanks for my new pony Aunt Heather! :) Nana and Papa couldn't stay too long since they needed to get back to take care of Aunt Heather, but we are SOOOO thankful they came for the short visit they did. It was extra special.

Lorelei's 3rd Birthday

We were reminded how much this girls is blessed by amazing and loving family and friends.

THE BIKE: The plan was to have Lorelei find a brand new bike was soon as she woke up...just like last year only a WAY bigger bike. :) Anyway, Brad worked for hours trying to get it put together but we were just one simple pedal short of having a bike for her in the morning...and it would not go in for anything. We finally gave up at 2 am or so, and then resolved to just exchange it in the morning. Thankfully we had a couple other gifts for Lorelei to get in the morning. :) Brad put the new bike together over his lunch (worked from home for our special day) so she was excited to try it out right away.


Clockwise from left: Excited to be opening presents, using her new vet kit on her new Cleo, loving the requested tassels on her new bike (we are still getting the hang of it. Very rusty as have not ridden in a long time, not to mention the bigger bike factor!) , Mickey Mouse pancakes, getting sung to by Grandma, Hannah and Karter (Nana sung later that afternoon too, lucky girl!), and finally licking her chocolate from the cake I was baking for her party the next day. One picture I didn't get was that she got some great time to herself that night since Makin went to bed early. It was great having that extra time with her!

As you can see this girl was all smiles from being shown so much love on her special day. Thank so much to all of you who I know were thinking of her and showing her how much you love her. We are so blessed by her and you!

Something about turning three...the last few weeks Lorelei definitely seems older. I am both in shock and happy and sad at the same time...so getting a little nostalgic and had to take this picture Friday night of the three of us. The top is the first-ever picture of us together and then one 3 years later. :) How time flies!

P.S. Will do the three year update soon...when my brain can think!

Our Little Girl Is Three!

Happy Birthday Lorelei! It seems like only yesterday we were cuddled up with you our first time together as a little family in the hospital and then bringing you home!

We cannot believe you are already three years old! What a fun year it has been. You make us smile every single day and bring so much joy to our lives. We love you little girl!

Last Day As A 2 Year Old

Was Spent...



Discovering kids cereal...yep almost made it three years, now I'm in trouble. Spent a little too much time in the cereal aisle... ;) And this is how Makin prefers to sit. :) He is such a trooper for our shopping trips!
















Getting her second package (the mailbox too the day before!) with her name on it from Grandma and Grandpa!














And calling Daddy to tell him about her new kitty she is in love with. So far its name is "just kitty." :)






And then we had a crazy evening after Brad got home as we had been waiting to run our errands until he was back from his trip...this meant going to pick out Lorelei's bike (which he is working on assembling at 11:30 as I'm typing this...gotta love parents birthday prep), going to pick out mattresses so that our guests have something to sleep on and Lorelei will get to use the bed my parents are bringing for her, and finally, getting an 8 ft ladder...how else are we going to put up the decorations? :) So, the kids got to bed around 9:45. Yikes! They were both very good! And soon the celebration will begin...yeah pulling three late nights getting ready is still way easier than the three days I was in labor with you little girl! :) Bring on Year Three!