Sunday, September 28, 2008

September 26, 2008

Align CenterThis silly little 'walking' toy that I bought for $3 at a garage sale when Braden was one has gotten more miles out of it than probably any other toy. Somehow it always makes it out of the garage AND the kids still fight over it?!?!

September 25, 2008




Fun day of playing in the dirt at the park!

September 24, 2008


Gavin left his John Deere hat at our house and Braden secretly loves it - ok maybe not so secretly. Maybe he should ask Santa for one this year!

September 23, 2008


My beautiful fall mums!

September 22, 2008


After the weekend of fun - Braden was very worn out tonight and fell asleep mid sentence around 5 pm...I didn't have the heart to wake him up right away so he got a little catnap in!

September 21, 2008


Nothing like a morning swim!!

September 20, 2008

My family came to town this weekend and I took senior pictures for Adam, then we stopped at the skate park for some action shots - this is one of my favorites!!

Then Braden got to spend the evening with Meena C, PopPop Joe and Adam swimming at the hotel while Chris and I enjoyed a 'date' night at a wedding!!

September 19, 2008


Chris's fall project is killing all the fescue and crab grass in our yard and making it pretty again...hopefully I'll have some great 'after' shots for you too :)

September 18, 2008


We found out today that team Miracle Monster was the 3rd place team overall at this years March for Babies - we've never placed in the top 10 as a team - so it is a huge honor!!! I know it is because MANY of you too - so I wanted to share the award with you all!!!

September 17, 2008


Braden made his bed all by himself today - he was so proud!

September 16, 2008

I don't know what it is about the hallway - it must be the cool place to play!
Braden and Gavin love playing tug-o-war with poor Snakey!

September 15, 2008


Just a little game of "crazy boy in the hallway"?!?!?!

Sunday, September 14, 2008

September 14, 2008

The main reason we went to KC this weekend was to attend the March of Dimes Bikers for Babies event! This is one of the largest in the country and it was awesome!! Over 8000 bikers there to support the March of Dimes - it truly is an awesome sight!

Leighton, Braden and Peanut
My girls and their *babies*

Braden found an M&M's bike and thought it was pretty cool - then the very nice owner let him get on it and 'ride' - he was loving it!


D and Braden (she wanted to keep him!!!)
All the kids - who got along fabulously!!!
Thanks for having us D - love ya girl!




September 13, 2008

We stayed with my good friend D - this is her daughter Em - she is a hoot to say the least!

Gorgeous Kansas sky - after enduring a night of tornados and 2 days of rain!


September 12, 2008

Braden and mommy escaped to Kansas City today to visit some friends! Here are all the boys together Braden, Peanut, Sullivan, Lorne and Isaac! They had a blast playing together and got along great! Amazing to think that all 5 of these guys were under 2 pounds at birth -WOW!


September 11, 2008


Had an appointment today and everything looked great! I'm 8 weeks 1 day officially but the baby is measuring BIG at 8 weeks 6 days!!! That is sweet music to a mom who has trouble *growing* her babies :) I just hope that growth rate keeps up! We'll get another picture in 4 weeks - can't wait! Everything else is going well. Feeling pretty good. Driving Chris crazy with my keen sense of smell :) I'm getting used to the shots...a day at a time...

September 10, 2008

Braden had his own photoshoot today for a March of Dimes promotion. Chris Maharry from Maharry Photography did an awesome job!!
Then we stopped over so Braden could finally meet baby Grace - he thought she was pretty cute and was so sweet with her!

I think he will make a good big brother after all :)


September 09, 2008

This is just so wrong! (and this combination was found in Iowa of all places!)


September 08, 2008



Just a little photo session with Miss Grace! One week old and such a cutie!

September 07, 2008

Braden and Sally enjoyed the day at our church picnic! Braden loved it b/c they had areas of the driveway and parking lots blocked off for games and dancing - he kept saying it was just like the block party - something about being able to run free in the streets!

Monday, September 8, 2008

September 06, 2008

Oh boy - this kid has some crazy dance moves!!! Our neighbor had some music on in his garage so Braden and the gang were bustin' a move - it was very cute! And he finally got the wear his RED today!!!

September 05, 2008

I caught our neighbor Joshua *riding* the BIG 4-wheeler, he was loving it!

September 04, 2008

Story/Bed time at our house is probably the exact opposite of many households...Usually it's a time of quiet reading, soothing voices...oh no, not at my house! Braden usually prefers daddy to read to him because he does silly voices and all I hear is screaming and yelling coming from the bedroom! It's a nightly occurance - I guess it's a father and son kind of thing...awwww, bonding moments!

September 03, 2008

This is my lovely friend Lovenox! We will be close friends for the next 200+ days (God willing)! If anyone has ever desired a very purple, bruised tummy - you should try these ;)


Also a big Happy Birthday to my brother-in-law Nathan! Hope you had a great day -- a quarter of a century old...you're getting up there :)

September 02, 2008

Hey...when you've got to pull out the nebulizer for the first time this year - you got to get a little goofy! Braden's allergies were really bad this weekend so we pulled his *breathing machine* out when we got back from Missouri. Then - just for the fun of it - he caught some kind of stomach bug and couldn't hold ANYTHING down for over 10 hours - not even the sip of water he rinsed his mouth out with! It was not fun - but thankfully it was short lived...YUCK!

September 01, 2008

Introducing...Miss Grace Elizabeth!!!
Lindsay and Glenn had a beautiful baby girl this morning! I rushed up to the hospital as soon as we got home from Missouri! She is quite sweet and is already great at posing for pictures :)
Congratulations Lindsay and Glenn, she is precious!!!




Tuesday, September 2, 2008

August 31, 2008

Fun at Mimi's pool with KT and John! He was all into smiling and waving while he was way up high - what a cheeseball! I think KT and John were pretty tired after the half hour of tossing him :)
Then we went back and got to help PopPop Dirk mow the entire yard!

Then we headed back to Mimi's house for a "talking fire" that night! Braden loves a good fire!!

August 30, 2008

Braden was very excited to be at Meena K and PopPop Dirk's house! And yes he wore Mizzou gear on opening weekend b/c we were in Missouri and we were able to watch Mizzou on tv...Husker fans don't worry, he'll be in RED very soon!!

August 29, 2008

Surprise...
We went to the doctor on Friday and saw the tiny baby and the amazing flutter of a heartbeat! I am 6 weeks and 4 days pregnant. It still amazes me that something the size of a chocolate sprinkle can have a heartrate of 146 bpm!!! It was awesome!! We are excited, thrilled, scared and nervous. It will be a long road - but I know I can do it! I know we are still early, so I am cautious - but it is so hard to not jump for joy. I will be followed very closely with this pregnancy. I will be seeing my perinatologist ONLY! Which eases my mind - no back and forth between offices and doctors! I will be seen every 2-4 weeks and have an ultrasound at the minimum every 4 weeks to follow the baby's growth, so we'll get lots of pictures of this little munchkin!! I already go back in 2 weeks b/c my blood pressure was already high - we need to get that under control which I'm sure means more medicine and I'm already on a pretty high dose (but no where near what I was on with Braden) I also started Lovenox shots of Friday. I give them to myself every night in my stomach. It is not fun, it is not pleasant and it leaves pretty bruises all over my stomach - but it is worth it, if it even helps a tiny bit with the growth of this baby!!! So here we go on a new journey! I hope to make it to the end of March/early April which will be 37-38 weeks and have a planned c-section! My due date is April 20! I would appreciate any prayers or good thoughts that you can spare - I will keep you all updated on my progress!!!
As a funny - we asked Braden if he wanted a baby brother or sister and he said "No Mommy, I have Elmo" (he sleeps with an Elmo) then I said, "What if Mommy has a baby?" he said "Mommy, don't worry, I'll share Elmo with you!" So we have a little work to do there - but I think he'll make an awesome big brother!!!

August 28, 2008

This is often the view I have of him lately - always going somewhere - he's a busy little guy! Happy Birthday to my Brother-in-law John and Grandma Gross! We hope you all had a great day! We love you!!

August 27, 2008

Our little future excavator operator!

August 26, 2008

Man, maybe we should stop working this kid so much :) He's always working on his 4-wheeler ;) Takes after a few uncles I know!