Red, Red and More Red (heads)

Slow Poke...

2010-07-14T22:20:00.004-05:00

Yes, our computer is up and running! And have I posted any updates? Obviously not. But I really do plan to. I swear. Maybe tomorrow I can work on it a bit. Um yeah, maybe tomorrow. But never fear, when I do start posting, I have tons of photos. Because if you know me, then you know I take hundreds of photos...a day. And it's incredible to think how fast these kids are growing....

Could it be?

2010-06-21T21:08:00.003-05:00

Could it really be? Could our computer really be fixed?? After several rounds of pulling our hair out on the phone with tech support, and then after Ian put in a new hard drive...Ian is having Shelley do some test things. But since this is a blank computer with no cute photos of Daphne and Jude, Shelley had to use a generic photo found on Google Images with search phrase, "broken computer".

If all is well, more posts will be coming soon with many more photos!

Asleep....at last!

2010-06-12T10:44:00.003-05:00

Child are beautiful all the time, but they are exceptionally beautiful when they are sleeping!

(and yes, Daphne is asleep on the floor next to Mom and Dad's bed. It's a work in progress to get her sleeping in her bed again)

Moms and Daughters

2010-06-12T10:37:00.003-05:00

Since Shelley bought the same house she grew up in, there's something very special for her children to grow up there as well. And even more special, some of the same friends that Shelley grew up with are still in the area and have daughters about the same age as Daphne. Now they are friends and will grow up together! (pulls your heart strings a little, doesn't it? Or is Shelley just really cheesy?)

Bounce House

2010-06-12T10:27:00.005-05:00

(Catching up on old items still since our computer crash - just uploaded about 400 photos from December to now to the little PC....)

Last December, our next door neighboor turned 4 years old and invited Daphne to his birthday party at the Bounce House! We wondered if Daphne was too small to fully enjoy the air-filled obstacle courses. At first, she was very hesitant... Shelley finally had to get inside with her to show her it was ok. Finally she realized just how fun jumping in them could be!And of course, what's a birthday party without cake!

Before long, Shelley couldn't drag Daphne away from them!

Judeism's

2010-06-04T17:24:00.002-05:00

Since Jude isn't even two yet, he's only saying the basics. He's putting two and three words together, and sometimes will tell you a whole story (even if you don't understand but every fourth word). But not to play favorites since the last post about Daphneism's, it's time to post some "Judeism's"!

Sorces! -> he wants to go see the horses
Nahnies! -> means "Daphne"
When he says "sorry" he has to touch your head (Misty at daycare taught him this...)
Ladybug! -> what he says when he sees any insect
Jude will repeat anything over and over, continually getting louder, until you acknowledge him. So unless you want him to say "Ladybug! LAdybug! LADybug! LADYbug! LADYBug! LADYBUg! LADYBUG!!!!" One should say, "Oh yes, I see that spider on the wall" after the first time.
Tat you! -> Thank you, and he's very generous about saying it
Zeba -> means Ophelia
Biz -> means any other dog (Biz is Grandma Marlene's dog's name)
Dego! or Ruby! -> means he wants to watch Nick, Jr channel on TV
Jesus -> his complete prayer. If you try to help him pray, he'll hold his hand up and say, "WAIT!" as he wants to pray on his own. But all he'll say is "Jesus. Amen!"

Daphneisms May 2010

2010-05-27T15:55:00.002-05:00

Daphne is a little talker, that's for sure. Here's some of her recent "Daphneisms" that made us all laugh.

"I almost fell in the toilet! But God stopped me from falling in!"

"Mom! I saw a dinosaur at the zoo!" Daphne said to Shelley (mind you, we've not been to the zoo in over a year). Shelley asked back, "Oh yeah, what's a dinosaur?" Daphne looked around a moment, then said, "If you see a dinosaur on the bridge, you better run away!"

Daphne was sitting in the living room and Shelley overheard, "Dear Father, help me feel better. Amen!" Then Daphne came to the kitchen with Shelley and said, "Mom, I'm sick. My throat is sword." Shelley suppressed a giggle and replied, "You mean your throat is SORE?" Daphne looked at Shelley with a strange look and said, "Yes, I have a throat."

Daphne looked puzzled and asked Shelley, "What's Jude's name again?" Shelley laughed and said, "Jude." Daphne still looked puzzled, then like a light bulb turning on, she said, "Jude! Yeah, that's right!"

Christmas Goodies

2010-03-21T13:50:00.003-05:00

For some reason, Christmas time has become known for it's goodies. And we're not talking gifts here. We're talking about sweets! Here's some of our favorites from Christmas 2009! Aunt Kathy's dogs were treated like royalty with this goody package from Three Dog Bakery! It's not Christmastime without Aunt Kathy's candy cane cookies!

Yumm.... Wally's Pastry's animal cupcakes and pettifores!

Shelley tried her hand at making the famous snowmen cookies! Daphne put all the M&M's on all by herself!

And a Wally's cake for Eric's birthday!!

Christmas Morning

2010-03-21T13:35:00.006-05:00

Christmas is such a beautiful, wonderful holiday! Celebrating the birth of Christ, of course, but everyone is so festive and HAPPY! And even though we had mounds and mounds of snow, we were still happy! First order of business was to give Ophelia a special treat Shelley had bought for her at Three Dog Bakery!

Then of course the kids wanted to plow into gifts! Grammy and Gramps bought a big tool work bench, and even though Jude is a bit too small right now, he'll grow into it. Daphne loves it, too!

Jude got several small John Deere tractors, too... of course!

Ian's favorite gift for Jude is the miniature Honda Dirtbike that Jude got!

It was a blessed morning. Shelley made a big breckfast, too. We had big plans for the day...but they got pretty much ruined due to the mounds of snow. We couldn't get the car or the truck out of the driveway. Uncle John brought down the tractor to help us clear it, but even it got stuck! Eric, Courtney, Drissy and Tatum were stranded here, too! (Oh darn on that one!)

Christmas Eve

2010-03-21T13:14:00.006-05:00

Don't get too excited by seeing new posts...our computer is still dead as a doorknob. We should take it out to the backyard and bury it. But Shelley figured out how to hook an external drive to another PC to grab photos to upload here. And so...it's Christmas Time! Start with Christmas Eve...

Shelley's brother, Eric, had been living with his family in Nashville, but were moving back to Denver. On their roadtrip back, they happened to spend some time here with us. And it just worked perfect it was over Christmas Eve! Here's Eric showing off Tatum, who was about three months old.

Since Jude was outgrowing most of the "baby" things, Eric and Tatum took a few things back with them. Including this excersaucer! Tatum loved it! Wonder if she still does?

Aunt Kathy and Uncle John hosted everyone at their house for Christmas Eve. Presents were overflowing everywhere... And as with any families house on Christmas Eve, we tried to get a photo of all four kids in front of hte tree... But with three under three, only Drissy would look and smile at the camera... Jude, Daphne, Tatum and Drissy - Grammy's pride and joy!

Then we tried to get our own family photo. Daphne and Jude are almost looking at the camera and smiling...

Daphne became Drissy's shadow while they were here... Hopefully Drissy didn't get too annoyed with her!

But Daphne was just as enamored with her little cousin Tatum! She wanted to hold her, just like how she wanted to her baby Jude when he was first born.

The four "big" kids (Luke, Katee, Ethan and Emily) couldn't get enough of little Jude handing out the presents!

And of course we ate way too much food as usual. Since Eric's birthday was on the 21st, we had a special Wally's cake, too. Celebrating Jesus's birth with lots of family fills our hearts with joy...

Computer update...

2010-02-24T14:44:00.001-06:00

Our computer is still not working. We bought a harddrive, but it won't work. Trust me when I say this is a HUGE source of frustration for Ian and Shelley. We do have an external harddrive where most of our photos are saved, so Shelley is going to use a USB cable to hook that up to her netbook and try to upload some photos on here.

Sorry for all the problems....to all three of you who still read the blog.

Hopefully soon!

2010-02-09T17:58:00.003-06:00

Ian bought a new hard drive and will hopefully get it installed into the PC tower soon. Do you know what that means? Hopefully it means Christmas photos coming soon! How sad is that that it's February and we haven't been able to post Christmas photos yet?

Thanks to Ethan for coming up and watching the Super Bowl with us! Since we don't have hardly any family that live in the same state (including Ethan!) sometimes we get a little lonely. So it's wonderful when we can hang out with friends and family. Ironic side note, we were thinking about our friends and we realized that the majority of our friends are related to each other! Some are siblings of each other, cousins or step-siblings of each other. Maybe one day Jude or Daphne will marry into one of those families and we'll be related to them, too!

Gateway STINKS...

2010-02-04T20:35:00.003-06:00

Gateway mailed our computer back to us. It worked the first day...and now it's doing the same thing AGAIN. So we are back to using internet on our phones and netbook. This really stinks! We are very much regretting ever buying this computer!! And we didn't buy any of the Best Buy protection plans, so they can't help us either.

Life isn't fair sometimes.

But if you've ever read "The Lottery" in your Lit classes then you already know life isn't fair.

What have we learned? If you buy something at Best Buy, get the protection plan. And don't buy a Gateway.

So until we can get it fixed...all the photos are stuck on our external hard drive and can't get posted here...

We're back in business!

2010-01-27T20:26:00.004-06:00

Shortly after the last post (dated Dec 16, 2009) our home computer crashed, taking everything with it that wasn't backed up. After Shelley stopped bawling, she realized she only lost a few photos. Whew! As you know, Shelley loves her photos - savors them like the best steak in the world. So the thought of losing any was gut-wrenching.

The computer was mailed to Gateway Support Center and we just got it back this week. We're back in business! Well, sorta. The computer is blank. So we've got the long process of downloading all the photos back into the PC. And then have no fear, Shelley will post up all the photos you missed out on the last month and a half!

We've missed you, oh computer...

Two smiles and a funny face

2009-12-16T21:50:00.005-06:00

On a crisp Saturday morning, Daphne and Shelley were enjoying time in the new front porch. Shelley was taking her "after photos" of the decor and Daphne said, "Take my photo!" Then she grabbed her baby (aka the stuffed Christmas tree) and posed. Daphne is simply adorable! Then she started to act funny and wanted Shelley to take photos of her funny faces, just like they do on Yo Gabba Gabba. And yes, she really is wearing Princess top PJ's with Giraffe bottom PJ's. She picked it out herself and said she looked like a Princess. And she wanted her hair in piggy tails.

And then we have the second smile... Ophelia's smile as she begs to come inside!

Almost time!

2009-12-16T21:39:00.002-06:00

It's almost Christmas!! Daphne is ready! And we've got the house all decorated...

1, 2, 3, Go!

2009-12-16T21:28:00.003-06:00

Daphne and William invented a new game called "1, 2, 3, GO!" They would stand against the far wall (next to the TV cabinet) yell out "1, 2, 3, GO!" and then run as fast as they can and crash into Aunt Leah (or Mom in William's case). Jude pretended to play along, but he couldn't keep up with the big kids. Everyone was loving it! Including Leah!

More Des Moines Thanksgiving

2009-12-16T21:09:00.005-06:00

Found some lost Thanksgiving photos! Even though Thanksgiving was only a few weeks ago, they couldn't really get lost, more like momentarily misplaced. But all that matters now is they are located and can shared by all!

Where there is food, there is Jude. That's a known fact by this point in time. Jude loves himself some good food! Especially Thanksgiving mashed potatoes! William and Daphne both ate at Grandma's little kid table. Oh the little kids table. We all hated it as kids and couldn't wait to get to the grown up table. And after we're grown ups, we wish we were back to the kids table! Grandma must have loved watching two of her grandkids eating the wonderful Thanksgiving meal at her little kids table though!

Grandpa Mark joined us for the meal as well. He loved seeing how much Daphne had grown since he'd last seen her.

Happy Thanksgiving to all! We pray you all found something to be thankful for!

Little follower

2009-12-09T20:10:00.003-06:00

Jude finally figured out walking is faster than crawling...his favorite target of course is Daphne.

Potty Trained...Carpet Trained

2009-12-09T17:11:00.003-06:00

Daphne may not be potty trained yet, but she is carpet trained!

How Many Red Heads?

2009-12-04T21:45:00.005-06:00

Just to make it clear to everyone - the myth's that redheads are going extint are FALSE. Our family alone shows how many redheads there are (even if we are only 2% of America and 4% of the world). And to back me up are articles from "How Stuff Works" http://science.howstuffworks.com/genetic-science/redhead-extinction.htm

Marlene wanted a family photo taken this year, so the camera timer got some good action. Seven red heads in one photo - Whew! Three little kids - Whew! It took us seven attempts and here's some of the mess ups as well as our favorites. First one - Jude not looking and William half hidden. Ian is almost in blink mode... Daphne is acting cold (but who can blame her, we were outside in November in Iowa!)
Ooops, Shelley accidently took a photo instead of hitting the timer button! But it's kinda a cute photo!

Here's one of the good ones

And lastly, the majority's favorite photo.

Thanksgiving with Great Grandma Kathleen

2009-12-04T21:30:00.004-06:00

Great Grandma Kathleen has been transfered to a nursing home in Iowa, so when our family made a one day trip up for the holiday of course we stopped in to see her. She was in great spirits and very happy that we stopped in to see her! She enjoyed seeing all the kids, even if some of them *cough cough Jude cough cough* wouldn't sit still long enough for a photo! Leah and William came with us to visit her as well. All three kids running around her room sure gave Kathleen the energy she needed that day!

Daphne was nervous at first, but soon Kathleen was tickling her and getting Daphne used to the hospital type setting.

Mark was also there with us and loved playing with his grandkids for a while! Jude is currently in a kissing phase (watch out - it's open mouthed!) and William is in a hugging phase. Those two hardly parted....hugging and kissing. Phrase "kissing cousins" taken quite literally!

Great Grandma Kathleen, we loved spending time with you this Thanksgiving and pray we brought enjoyment back to you as well! Happy Thanksgiving!

Little Man

2009-12-04T21:25:00.004-06:00

Shelley was taking photo of her new front porch and when she turned around and looked upstairs, she saw a Little Man smiling down at her. How precious is this?

The Laptop Part 2

2009-12-04T01:55:00.004-06:00

See part 1 to hear how and why Jude has a laptop. Twice a week, Shelley works from home and keeps Jude at home with her. And now he can work with her. His new laptop is set up in the living room floor and the other day while Shelley was hard at work, he literally played on his computer for several hours straight. He was so proud of himself, too. And eventually he laid down to get a better view. He was in heaven not having to share the laptop with his sister!

The Laptop Part 1

2009-12-04T01:49:00.003-06:00

Just before Gramps and Grammy left for Arizona for the winter, Gramps gave the kids his old broken laptop. The screen will still come on and applications loaded directly on the PC will still open. But it's rather old and doesn't work the way it should anymore. The kids are fascinated with technology and love to watch any screens - phones, netbooks, PC's, laptops, etc. So Gramps gave his old PC to the kids. You would have thought he gave them a million dollars. For hours upon hours, they sit playing with that silly machine! They've already figured out how to use the mouse finger pad (kinda) and hitting keys will do certain things.

Pretend Piano

2009-12-04T01:44:00.004-06:00

At some point, Daphne must have watching someone playing a piano. Last Saturday morning, she pushed her comfy chair over, then sat down in her doll's stroller and rolled up to the knocked over chair. Then she started to "play the piano". Ian and Shelley were both amazed, she was moving her fingers as if she was truely playing. Then she proceeded to hum and sing along!

The Diner

2009-12-04T01:34:00.003-06:00

The digital camera has a placeholder on the kitchen counter; with two little kids you never know when you might want a photo RIGHT NOW, thus it's easily accessible. There are some nights when Ian or Shelley might take a few somewhat random photos, nothing worthy of getting enlargments or wallets made but good quality memories. One night playing with the kids at the diner was one such night. First Jude was "eating" the table...

Then Daphne tried to mimick him, but check out Jude's face! Priceless! To only know what he was thinking...

Then Shelley turned the camera around and tried to capture the image of both kids climbing on her lap.

Daphne is quite the little ham when she wants to be...

Jude's hair grows in very strange. The top is straight and sticks straight up in the air. The sides and back is very curly, and as it grows longer it knots up. After some hesitation from Shelley, Ian convinced her that buzzing it off would look the best. Naturally, Jude hated it, but his hair finally looks good. See photo below for proof. And Shelley just loves his expression - this is his classic face he makes rather often.

Moving day!

2009-12-04T01:21:00.004-06:00

Before you freak out, no our family is not moving. But our friends Nate and Devon did move from our neck of the woods up to Nebraska. On their final moving weekend, we dragged them up to our house for one last night of food and games before they left town. And you can't exactly play games without Dan and Laura coming too! Above and below are two photos of all the girls... We were trying to set up a group photo, and Shelley accidently hit the release button instead of the timer button. Made for a funny photo of Nate though!

After which, Shelley told everyone to get in place and correctly set up the timer. Jude was already fast asleep so that's why he's not in the photo. Left to Right: Shelley, Daphne (notice her hamming it up!), Ian, Oliver, Dan, Laura, Nate and Devon.

Nate and Devon, we will truely miss you. You both are dear friends of our family, but we must remember that Nebraska is not that far away. And the Lake house is calling your name every summer! May the Lord bless your family as you start this next chapter of your lives. Good luck with new positions and as your settle into Cornhusker territory.

Five pairs

2009-12-04T01:17:00.003-06:00

Even though Daphne is approaching three years old, she's still not potty trained. It's hard to potty train when you only have a few hours in evening and weekends (oh the joys of two working parents). But Daphne adores her "pannies" as she calls them. One day she came out of her room and said, "Mom look! Pannies!" And she had not one, not two, not three, not four but five pairs of underware on....on top of her diaper nonetheless! She was so proud of herself...

Daphneisms

2009-11-19T20:44:00.003-06:00

Daphne and Shelley sit down to eat dinner. As both start to eat, Daphne suddenly stops and says, "Mom! You didn't say 'Thank you Jesus, Amen!' "

After Daphne has been asleep in bed for several hours, Shelley goes in and turns off the lamp. Instantly, Daphne sits up and whimpers in the saddest most pathetic voice, "Mommy, why did you turn off the light?"

"I won't" in Daphne language means "I will."

Daphne: Daddy, can I play game?
Ian: Not right now.
Daphne: Mommy, can I play game?
Shelley: Daddy said no.
Daphne: Maybe I'll ask Jude. Jude, can I play game?

Daphne and her friend Oliver were playing. "Run with me Oliver!" Daphne asks Oliver. Oliver does not want to run with her and stands still. Daphne leans down and gets within several inches of Oliver's face and says sternly, "Listen. Run with me!"

Shelley: Daphne, finish eating lunch. We have to take Jude to the doctor.
Daphne: Jude sick?
Shelley: Yeah.
Daphne: Me sick, too! (She's not)
Shelley: Oh yeah? What's wrong?
Daphne: Me go to doctor too! My tummy hurts.

Daphne and Ian are driving down the road. Cornfield is alongside the road and is tall and ready to harvest. Daphne says, "Daddy, that grass is bigger. You need to mow."

Daphne: That truck is up ahead. (Shelley passed the semi truck on highway)
Daphne: Now that truck is back of us. (Shelley was impressed at Daphne's spacial knowledge)

Shelley: Daphne! Guess what? We have friends coming for dinner tonight!
Daphne: Roger and Susie and Ben?! (She doesn't know a Roger or a Susie)

Thanksgiving (Early)

2009-11-19T18:47:00.004-06:00

Before Grammy and Gramps could leave for Arizona, we had to celebrate Thanksgiving! So we gathered the family together and ate way too much food! Here's Daphne with Katee! Grammy got in some Jude loving!

And here's some photos of the family. First up, Ethan and his girlfriend Emily.

Second, Katee and her boyfriend Luke.

Can't forget Uncle John and Aunt Kathy!

And of course, here's Grammy and Gramps!

Only missing is our family, which we didn't realize until later we didn't get a family shot! At least the food was great!

Tennessee Camping Trip - Smokey Mountains

2009-11-15T17:21:00.007-06:00

Last month in October, our lovely family plus Grammy and Gramps packed up and did a big roadtrip to Tennessee. We spent the night in Nashville, to visit with Shelley's brother Eric and his new family - Courtney, Drissy and Tatum. After the short visit, we all drove over a few hours to the area around Smokey Mountain National Park to camp and hike for a the next week. The area is chuck full of "tourist" attractions, but we avoided all those. Instead, we went bear searching, waterfall searching and mountain view searching! Here's a couple of our favorite mountain photos. First one shows off why they are called Smokey Mountains! Next one is a great sunset shot.

Along the tip ridge of the mountains is a wonderful overlook where you can see for miles!

Along the same ridge is the Tennessee/North Carolina state lines, too. Daphne couldn't resist the photo op... (Okay, okay so Shelley and Gramps couldn't resist the photo op, we just forced Daphne to be in the photo!)

The Great Smokey Mountains are known for their bear population. But we only saw three total, and one was just shot and killed (see post down below for more details). One was a tiny bear cub. It was about sunset and the cub ran across the road right in front of us! It happened so fast we didnt' get any photographic proof of the cub. We stopped and waited a few minutes to see Mom, but we never saw her. The next day, we were driving in the park and a ton of cars were parked. A Ranger was standing there and we asked what was going on. He said, "Bear" non-chalently (this is daily adventure for him, unlike us from Missouri who have NEVER seen a bear - if you don't count the small cub). So Ian and Gramps looked for it and spotted the bear up in the trees eating. Look in the middle of this photo and you'll see some black bur. It was easier to see in person....

See tons of posts below for many more of our adventures!

Tennessee Camping Trip - The Sinks

2009-11-15T17:03:00.004-06:00

Back in October, our family traveled to Tennessee. We spent a day in Nashville with Eric and his family, then drove a few hours to Smokey Mountain National Park to hike and camp for a week. Our family stayed in a tent, but Grammy and Gramps were in the same site in their mini truck camper. When it wasn't raining, we either went on a hike or drove in search of waterfalls. We found one called The Sinks just off the road. Since it was easy access, everyone got to go see it together! Here's our entire family checking out The Sinks.

With the massive amounts of water falling over The Sinks, it was rather loud. Jude was fascinated with watching the water!

Here's the entire camping entourage in front of The Sinks!

Daphne said she wanted to go swimming. But we knew it was way too cold for that....and not to mention it was rapid water! So she went "swimming" in Grammy's arms!

Tennessee Camping Trip - Laural Falls

2009-11-14T19:03:00.010-06:00

Back in October, our family traveled halfway across the country to Tennessee. We went for two reasons, one to visit Uncle Eric and his family, and two to hike and camp in the Great Smokey Mountains. One of our first days in the Park, we decided to try an easy trail to Laurel Falls. It's a short 1.3 mile hike along a paved trail. So we decided to take Daphne on it with us. And let's just say it's a very glad thing that Shelley didn't see this sign until we were leaving the trail... Daphne loved walking the trail with Ian, Shelley and Gramps. Well, the little that she did walk; she rode on shoulders quite a bit.

Laurel Falls was divided into two falls, with a bridge inbetween.

With the way the rocks are layed out with the falls, it was easy to play along the top section of the falls. Daphne loves to splash in water, so she was in heaven!

Gramps climbed down to the bottom of the lower section so that he could get a full photo of the falls. What a beautiful waterfall!

Tennessee Camping Trip - Hen Wallows

2009-11-14T18:41:00.005-06:00

In October, we went to Tennessee. See other posts for beginning story.... One day Ian, Shelley and Gramps took off on their own for a big mountain hike that ended at the Hen Wallows Waterfall. It was a beautiful day, but hiking in the mountains was very muggy (excuses for our heavy sweat!). Shelley and Gramps getting ready to hit the trail! Ian and Shelley at the top of the mountain, standing just under the falls. Surprisingly enough, at this point there was a large view of the valley. And that also provided cell coverage. So Shelley was able to upload a photo of the falls on her Facebook account, as well as call Grammy back at camp to check on the kids.

Since the Smokey Moutains have over 2000 bears, which equals out to 2.5 bears per acre. So it was only a matter of time before we saw one... And Shelley's worst fear was to see one while on a hike. One would think after reading that a bear came into the path, but no. Just evidence of recent bear activity!

Tennessee is a vastly different culture than Missouri, including the plant life. Ian and Shelley were both amazed at seeing rhodedendum's the size of trees along every trail. One grows in our kitchen in a plant, but it only stands around two feet tall. These plants were amazing to hike through, even though it was a mountain, it had the feel and look of a rainforest. Since most of our hiking experience has been in the Rocky Mountains, this was a very nice change of pace.

How can we post about a waterfall without posting a photo of the falls? So here's the lovely Hen Wallows Waterfall.

Tennessee Camping Trip - North Carolina

2009-11-14T16:46:00.004-06:00

In October our family traveled to the colorful state of Tennessee. We spent an evening in Nashville to visit Uncle Eric's family, then went down to Smokey Mountain National Park to hike and camp for a week. One day we drove down to the North Carolina side of the park. Here's some of our adventures in North Carolina! Meigs Falls in the tallest waterfall in the park area, at almost 200 feet tall. It was so beautiful! But the way up to view it was a doozie! It was only a .2 mile hike, but it was a solid staircase. Doesn't sound hard, but it made the walk up to Red Rocks in Colorado seem easy! Daphne stayed in the truck with Grammy, but Jude rode on Ian's shoulders to see the waterfall with us.

And Jude loved it up there! Or maybe he liked the cookies we munched on from Subway.

Here's an interesting story that happened to us while we were up there. Technically, we were in the Cherokee Indian Reservation and no longer in the National Park. At the base, where all the cars were parked, there was a truck with several hound dogs. The dogs were going crazy. We didn't think much of it when at the base. But just as we got to the top of the stairs, we heard a gun shot...very close. About a minute later we could tell something was coming toward us through the trees. Shelley has been terrified of seeing a bear when on a trail, and so her fear was becoming very real. But then we all saw the bright orange of hunter clothing. But we could also tell the hunter was dragging something! Sure enough, the hunter had just killed a bear. He brought it just past us down the stairs. So we came within two feet of a bear, but it had just been killed.

Then a few minutes later, we heard another gunshot. We waited for that hunter to come down with a bear, but he came down empty handed. He said he had been chasing the bigger of the two bears, but had missed with his shot. Well, that was my cue to head back down to the car. Bears are in the area and they are mad for getting shot at!

But our drive to N. Carolina didn't end with only seeing bears. We got to see several elk as well! (Much to Gramps pleasure). We were passing the Cherokee High school and looking at the football field, when we suddenly noticed a young elk bull standing there! So we pulled over to look at him. Then Ian was shocked to see yet another elk bull standing about five feet from our truck on the other side of the road! The two elk joined together then ran to play on the football field. It was great to see the giant animals, but also interesting to look at the signage in the Cherokee language. Here's a photo that shows off both at the same time!

After all the excitement between the bear and elk, it was time to eat. So we found a small local diner for dinner. And then it was time to drive back to Tennessee. Just after we crossed back into the National Park, in a large clearing we were blessed to see a huge bull elk!

All in all, it was a great day. The waterfall was breathtaking and well worth the drive!

Tennessee Camping Trip - Cherokee Orchard Road

2009-11-14T16:30:00.005-06:00

In October, our family traveled to lovely state of Tennessee. We visited Uncle Eric in Nashville and then we spent a week hiking and camping in Smokey Mountain National Park. Despite the fact it rained half the week, we still enjoyed ourselves tremendously. One day we drove around the Cherokee Orchard Road. It's a one way road that loops through the mountain side. Along the road were many sites to stop and look around. One place held a mini hike down to the creek. Daphne went down with Ian, Shelley and Gramps. She loved crossing the make-shift bridge. The creeks are unlike anything back home, and everyone enjoyed playing around them!

Ian loved to rock hop down the creek, and Shelley was sure that he was going to fall in, but he never did.

What do you think of the new house we bought?

Our family wouldn't survive without technology. We thrive on it. So we'll leave the house as Park property after all. But just behind the house was this site....we all would love to have that to wake up to every morning!

The Cherokee Orchard Road was a beautiful drive, but Gramp's big truck scared us a few times. The one-way road was so tiny and the truck was so big, there was times we weren't sure the truck wouldn't make the curve!

Tennessee Camping Trip - Cades Cove

2009-11-14T16:14:00.003-06:00

In October, our family traveled to Tennessee to both visit Uncle Eric and also to camp and hike in Smokey Mountain National Park. One day we drove around the Cade's Cove Loop. For those of you who have never been, this is by far the busiest place in the park. It's an 11 mile loop drive, chuck full of 1800's Homesteads and Churches open for exploration. But one of the real attractions of Cades Cove Loop drive is that it's one of the most common places in the Park to see bear. Our family was very excited to see the bear. But before we could drive through the park, we had to stop in the picnic area for lunch! Here's a great photo of Ian and Shelley outside one of the homesteads.

For some reason Shelley became fascinated with all the old barns. They all had unique shapes that suited their purpose. And since they were hand built long before machines were used, Shelley also loved how "un-square" some of them were. See Exhibit A.

Daphne didn't enjoy the part of riding in the car driving behind other cars. But she loved when we stopped to look at another house!

Just look how cute she is!

It took several hours to drive through the Cades Cove Loop, and we all drove home very saddened...not a single bear sighting that day!!

Tennessee Camping Trip - Bison Reserve

2009-11-11T21:32:00.003-06:00

In October our family took a roadtrip to Tennessee for a week's vacation. We went to visit Uncle Eric and his family, as well as to camp and hike in the Smokey Mountain National Park. And since we drove there with two kids ages 1 and 2, we had to get creative with our stops. So while driving through Kentucky, we had to drive to the "Land Between the Lake" national recreation area. Inside this area, there is a 700 acre Bison Reserve! Since we weren't in South Dakota, we didn't think we would see them just anywhere along the road, so we went through the reserve. And sure enough, we came across a big herd of buffalo! Daphne kept yelling out the window, "Come here Buffalo!" Jude seemed obvilous to them...

Tennessee Camping Trip - Road Trip Down

2009-11-11T21:16:00.004-06:00

In October our family went to Tennessee to visit Uncle Eric and his family, but also to camp and hike in Smokey Mountain National Park. But we had to drive there first! On the way down we made a few stops. One stop was to show the kids just how big the Mississippi River really is. Jude might not have realized what he was looking at, but he sure did enjoy being out of the car for a bit. Daphne and Shelley enjoying a break from the carride as well!

It was just the beginning of the vacation, so the kids were still smiling at photos!

Even though it looks like Daphne is already nervous about how many photos might be taken over the next week...

Vacations are wonderful and were long overdue to get out of the state!

Here's the kids' travel state count now:

Daphne - Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina

Jude - Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina

Tennessee Camping Trip - Road Trip Home

2009-11-11T21:05:00.004-06:00

In October our family traveled to Tennessee for a week to visit Uncle Eric and his family, but also to camp and hike in Smokey Mountain National Park. And what's a road trip without some pictures from the road? Here's the iconic symbol our state offers when you cross the Mississippi River (nothing says welcome home like it!) And good thing both kids do great in the car...especially since it was a 14 hour drive home! Jude was looking good and happy!

Isn't Daphne cute while sleeping?

Road trips are fun while on vacation, but it sure is nice when you get home and can stretch your legs!

Tennessee Camping Trip - Around Camp

2009-11-11T20:36:00.006-06:00

In October, our family traveled to Tennessee on a two fold trip. One to spend time with Uncle Eric and his family and two to camp and hike in Smokey Moutain National Park! This post has several of our favorite photos from around the campsite.

Who knew a Cheerio's box could be such a good toy?? Our campsite was amazing. It was hard to find a campground that allowed both an RV and a tent in the same site. So we had to go off the beaten path to find one, but we hit paydirt! It was the prettiest camp in all of Eastern Tennessee! This creek was about ten feet behind our site. What a beautiful thing to look at when you wake up and crawl out of your tent! (too bad we could only enjoy it for half the week due to all the heavy rain)

Daphne really loved throwing rocks into the creek. And of course, what is camping without a camp fire and s'mores? In the picture below, you can see the little girl's reaction to s'mores fresh from the fire!

Is it time to go back?

Trick or Treat

2009-11-01T21:27:00.004-06:00

October 31 can only mean one thing when you have kids - Trick or Treat time! Technically, Jude had gone out the year before, but he was only 3 months old. So this was really his first time to enjoy it. But since he's just started walking, we didn't think he could handle walking that far. So we piled the kids into the wagon and off we went down the street. Jude's first ever house was right next door! They were very excited for us to Trick or Treat at their house!

After the sun set, we went further into town and met up with a few friends. Here Daphne went up to a house with Spiderman (aka Elijah) and a Princess (Eden).

Since both kids had a slight cold, we didn't stay out too long. But we still enjoyed our Halloween!

Pumpkin Patch

2009-11-01T21:08:00.004-06:00

A few miles down the road is an Apple Orchard/Pumpkin Patch. It's a small one, but the perfect place to avoid the crowds. Each fall, we've taken the kids over there to get a few photos. We took the kids in their Halloween costumes this year.

A Frankenstein monster and a Halloween Princess! Aren't they cute?

There was a cute wagon where we wanted to get a few photos, but Daphne wanted to move it first. She's a character!

We sat Jude up in the wagon and he tried to touch the scarecrow's nose. That's the first body part he's learning and therefore, likes to point at noses. (Even though in this photo, it looks like he's pointing at the eyebrow)

Grammy was trying to keep the kids' attention during some photos.

It ended up being a great day at the pumpkin patch!

Is Jude walking?

2009-10-29T20:47:00.003-05:00

At the end of September, Jude finally showed some interest in walking. At 14 months it was about time. And it helped that Gramps would walk laps with Jude (the house makes a circle loop). This really help build Jude's confidence.

Family Time!

2009-10-27T21:45:00.003-05:00

On September 19, our family welcomed a new baby!! Tatum Grace was born, and she is simply adorable!! Tatum is the daughter of Eric (Shelley's brother) and Courtney, and little sister to Drissy! Eric couldn't be more proud of his daughter!

And not long after Tatum was born, the new family had to move cross-country for Eric's new job. Luckly for us, our house was a perfect stopping point halfway. So we got to see them for a few days. And we got to celebrate Drissy's Birthday! She's into ribs right now, so Eric and Aunt Katee picked out Jack's Stack on the Plaza. Here's the new happy family!

Daphne and Jude were very excited to meet their new cousin! Too bad all their cousins live in different states.... And Daphne better pay attention to how she is holding Tatum!

When Daphne was a baby, one of our favorite photos is this one of her in Ian and Shelley's hands...

So Shelley tried to recreate it for Tatum with Eric and Courtney's hands. Daphne was about two months old in her photo, and Tatum is only two weeks old in hers. Oh, and she peed on Eric!!

Jude's First Haircut

2009-10-27T21:31:00.003-05:00

Jude's hair had gotten rather long in the back and on top, but ironically the front was still very short. It had gotten long over his ears, so around 11 months old, Shelley trimmed that. But at 14 months old, it was time for the "Official First Haircut!" Even though his hair was long, it's curly and thin. So it probably could have held out, but the curls were getting matted (madded?) together and knotting. So it was time for a cut. Shelley and Ian did the haircut instead of taking to a barber... Here's the before shot. Shelley holding up the hair to make the first cut.... *don't close your eyes Shelley! don't cry Shelley*

And just like that, a almost two inch chunk of hair was cut off! Time to repeat all over his head.

Here's the finished product. Jude wasn't too fond of this process and was bawling by the end and not wanting to hold still. So the back might not have been too straight. Thank goodness for curls, huh? We discovered he has some unusual calicks (again with the spelling tonight, geez!) on the top of his head in the same places as Daphne's. So his next haircut might be at a Barber so Shelley can watch to see how they do it for later replication.

"I like to feed myself"

2009-10-27T21:24:00.004-05:00

Jude may only be 14 months old (or he was when these photos were taken) but he's already getting his independent streak. No longer the days of clean feedings, nope. Jude has gotten to the stage where he wants to feed himself. And sometimes this works out for the better, because when Jude wants food - he wants it NOW.

And we get some cute faces out of him. Plus he has learned to say the word "Drink" instead of pointing at his cup. So mealtimes have gotten a little easier on Mom and Dad, but a little messier to clean up after.

September in the Zoo

2009-10-24T22:43:00.005-05:00

Three years running now, Shelley has joined her friend Laura at the Zoo in September. It's so nice to go in September because the crowds are much lesser, the temperatures are cooler and it's now a tradition. Keep it up. Since we've done this three years running, we've taken some photos in the exact same spots all three years. The last two years, there was a "crashed airplane" in this spot. They have removed the plane and put up a fence now. Darn! That plane was so much fun! But we still took our photo here.

Another place that Daphne has taken her photo all three years is standing next to this tree archway. And yes, she is sticking out her tongue... First year she could barely stand. Second year she gave us a model pose...and this year - it's the tongue sticking out.

Laura brought her son Oliver. He is about six months older than Jude, so next September the zoo trip will probably have to include Jude instead of Daphne. Or have Ian come along to help with the kids. Oliver and Daphne get along great, though. Here they were sharing a snack while we stopped to watch the lions play.

The Zoo was preparing for a big charity event scheduled for the upcoming weekend. At the event, the zoo was going to auction off paintings done by some of the animals. We happened to catch in action the artwork being painted by the turtles! We just missed the hippo painting!

Always a fun day at the zoo. Is it September 2010 yet?

Parkville's Paris

2009-10-24T22:29:00.003-05:00

A shopping district in Parkville has created a miniature Paris as a children's play area. But big kids seem to enjoy it too. Lisa and Shelley played in the Arc D'Triumph! (spelling??) Daphne's trying to run into the picture... The have a "Normandy Beach" area with steam vents. Daphne was scared of the steam, and Lisa was trying to show her it was fine to walk through...

Daphne much prefered climbing up the Lourve. Daphne's version of King Kong??

Lisa and Shelley enjoyed their day running around Parkville taking photos, which of course included one of the famous traditional shots Shelley always takes...

Go Chiefs!

2009-10-24T22:19:00.004-05:00

Yes, Kansas City is a great place to live. But the sport teams here over the last decade or so have been a little lackluster. But that doesn't we still don't support them! GO CHIEFS! September 2008, Daphne and Jude showed their red and gold in this photo... And Shelley decided to re-create the photo in September 2009. And ironically, the kids are in the exact same outfits....Notice both fit much tighter now. My my my have the kids grown in a year!

It was quite the chore to get this photo, as you can well imagine with a 14 month old and a 2.5 year old. Here's one of the funnier "bad" ones. Classic Daphne face! And Jude is always taking off........

Sarah and Grace

2009-10-24T22:09:00.003-05:00

Just after college, so many of our friends got married in the same one or two summers. It was always fun to share similar life experiences around the same time. And now, it's happening again. Except it's pregnancies and babies! One of Shelley's best friends has a beautiful daughter named Grace! Just look at her eyes! Grace's family lives about four hours away, so we don't get to play with her very often. So when Sarah came into town recently, we got some facetime. Daphne and Jude loved playing with Grace, too!

Sarah tried to help encourage Jude to walk more on his own...

And the traditional style picture that Shelley just can't resist....

Chadwick Weekend

2009-10-24T21:53:00.003-05:00

Weekend trips to Chadwick are always fun...even if Ben gets hurt (and he has the last two trips!) Most of the group takes off riding their dirtbikes on the trails during the daytime, but Shelley will often take off into town to do things (like get new tattoos or retouch old ones at her favorite shop!) or visit old college friends. This trip, Shelley met up with Jody and had a fun time catching up over Starbucks! On our last trip, it was pretty cold and raining the entire weekend. Thankfully, Ian's Mom had volunteered to stay at the house with the kids. So this was a kid-free weekend - which meant we didn't have to get up at 7am....sleeping in is always a huge blessing! Thank you Marlene!! But the rain didn't stop the boys. Here is a great shot of them getting ready to go off riding.

And while they left on the trails, Misty and Shelley had to get the camp rain-proofed by trying to tie up a huge tarp over the tents.

At the end of the day, Ian still loves his toy and trips to Chadwick even more!

Playing with Friends

2009-10-20T17:03:00.004-05:00

Occasionally getting together with college friends is a must. And while Amy and Austin Brown were in town with their family (on their anniversary none the less! They like to spend their anniversary nights at our house for some reason...) We had to see them. We also saw Steve and Andi, as well as Julie and Brad!

Daphne and Olivia enjoyed a book read to them by Amy.

At one of our favorite places to grab a burger (Five Guys Burgers and Fries) Malachi and Jude enjoyed Amy's entertainment! Amy is wonderful with kids!

It was great to see Steve and Andi too! They only live a few miles from us....hmmm, we need to see them more than just when Amy and Austin come into the state!

Four Red Heads

2009-09-27T12:10:00.004-05:00

On our friend Shawn's birthday, his wife Misty surprised him with a special night out. So we watched their kids and enjoyed a night of four red heads! Elijah had his blanket tied on like a cape and enjoyed playing on our swingset.

Elijah and Eden got over their fear of Ophelia by chasing her and playing "catch" with her! Then after we went inside to eat dinner, all four kids wanted to watch Shrek. How very cute. Misty later told me, both kids slept great that night - so maybe we should watch them more!

Webb Family

2009-09-27T12:04:00.003-05:00

Not long ago, the Webb family came up on a lovely Friday night for dinner and to let the kids play (that means the actual kids and the husbands). The Mom's enjoyed chocolate cake, too! Dylan and Daphne are only about ten days apart in age, and they love to play together! Here's a photo taken from the kitchen window of them playing together in "Daphne's house".

And the big boys got in an hour or so on the Wii. They got pretty hard core playing our new game Sport Resort!

Jude was embarrassed to take his picture with Shelley... this is his "Put me down!" look.

Happy Birthday Nancy!

2009-09-27T11:49:00.003-05:00

One of Ian and Shelley's coworkers had the big birthday - 3 - 0. So her husband gave her a surprise dinner party. Ian and Shelley were happy to go, and even happier that Aunt Brenda would watch the kids for a much needed night out! Seen below are coworkers Cara, Nancy and Shelley.

Merry Go Round

2009-09-27T11:38:00.003-05:00

While Shelley was still recovering from her surgery in July, each kid spent a week up at Grandma's house in Iowa. In the middle, Shelley and her cousin Lisa drove to near the Missouri/Iowa border to swap out kids. At a small diner where we all met, the kids wanted to ride the fake Merry Go Round. It was only a quarter to ride, but around five bucks was spent letting the kids ride. It's okay, it was well worth it!

Now a Family Blog

2009-09-25T23:33:00.003-05:00

Welcome to our newly revamped FAMILY BLOG! All the posts older than this one are written from Jude's point of view. But Shelley is a little too lazy to keep up two blogs and a facebook account in the few tiny moments that she actually gets to play online. So....both kids blogs have been reduced to the one family blog instead. Makes it easier for all. And Shelley promises to update more frequently, like she used to. She promises. Or else you (all three readers of you!) can be really mean to her. Or give her chocolate.

Bumbo Growth Chart - One Full Year!

2009-08-12T21:38:00.003-05:00

I did it! I'm a year old! And this means......my last ever Bumbo Growth Chart photo! Boy am I glad that is over... And of course this means I have to give my stats...

I'm 24 pounds and 2 ounces (70%) and 30 inches tall (59%). So I'm kinda tall and a little plump. That's okay, I don't mind. Here's my 12 month Bumbo photo followed by the photo montage of months 1-12. Talk a walk down memory lane with me and look at my growth... (or something cheesy like that.)

Hanging with Uncle Eric

2009-08-09T11:14:00.003-05:00

Last week, my Uncle Eric came in town for one day. It was great to see him! Unlike my sister, I like my uncle! He's funny and he's got red hair like me. Actually, both of my uncles have red hair. Strange. What a weird family I have. Eric wasn't alone, he brought Courtney and Drissy with him too! Drissy wanted to ride a horse, so we saddled up Sonny. Eric took me up to Sonny, but I wasn't too sure about getting any closer than this. Horses are BIG!

Here's a family shot! Mom, Daphne, Eric, Courtney, Drissy, Gramps, Grammy, me and Aunt Kathy.

It was a fun day, I'm glad that Uncle Eric, Courtney and Drissy came into town!

Cake time!

2009-08-09T11:05:00.004-05:00

And now the part of the party I was most looking forward to!! My first cake!!! Let me at it! Hmmmm, how do I start? I think I'll stick just one finger in first to start...

Yum, that was good! Time for the whole hand!

Why stop at one hand! I'll give it the old two handed approach! This cake is calling my name!

This is so good! Look how messy I am, I don't care, it's cake!

What? It's all gone? Who ate it all! Me? No way. Guess I'll lick off the plate now...

Now I'm full.

Child Dedication to the Lord

2009-08-09T10:55:00.006-05:00

We are a gifts from our wonderful God and creator. We thank God daily for the wonderful world He created for us, including our own life breath. Some parents choose to make a public declaration of their intent to raise their children in a loving manner, choosing to teach them the love of God and how to follow Him. This declaration can't just be made by the parents alone, it must be made by the entire family and friends - so that everyone can help raise children to love Jesus. My parents dedicated Daphne in our church, but it was a little too inpersonal for thier taste so they decided to do something slightly different for me. Therefore, our good friend Shawn led the child dedication at my party! Shawn shared the story of Hannah, how she prayed for a child. The Lord heard her cry and gave her a son named Samuel. Hannah dedicated Samuel to the Lord, where he was raised in the church. I don't remember the exact scriptures Shawn used in 1st Samuel, but I intend to get them soon.
After Shawn talked for a few moments, some of our friend came forward and prayed with and over our family. I'm lucky to be born into a great family and have lots of friends to all greatly care about me!

My First Birthday Party!

2009-08-09T10:17:00.006-05:00

I did it, I made it to my first birthday without strangling my big sister! But she'll tell you, my tackle is getting harder - so I might not be able to say the same at my 2nd Birthday... My mom is a dork, she drew this on our kitchen blackboard... And for some reason my sister picked my party decor. And she picked Curious George. Mom was going to make me a cake, but in her surgery recovery and broken toe woes she ended up buying one at Walmart. I didn't care, as long as I got to eat it!

And you can't have a party without guests! My Grandma, her dog Biz and my Great Grandma all came down from Iowa. We invited a few more Iowa guests, but they couldn't make it. Hopefully soon after my dad switches to a Monday-Friday shift we can go up to Iowa to visit all of them!

Wow, that's a lot of kids! I spot some Kellermeyer's, Demski's, Benson's, Churchill's, and Watson's in this photo!

It was a fun party and I'm glad everyone came!

Lake Trip - Swimming

2009-07-28T14:05:00.004-05:00

Sorry for the lack luster July posts... My mom had a hysterectomy and spent a week in the hospital, then we spent a week down at the Lake and then last week we were just lazy at home! But here's some of our adventure at the lake!

Swimming! Isn't that one of prime reasons to go to the lake? The first couple of days before Dad got there, we had to settle for the kiddie pool on the deck (since Mom can't go in the lake with her stitches...) But that's okay! I loved the kiddie pool!! It's just my size.

But after Dad got there, he took me out on the lake! At first I didn't like it, the water was still pretty cold. Dad told me the water doesn't get "perfect" temps until about August.

I still had a lot of fun though. If I can splash, I'm happy!

And of course Ophelia was watching every move I made. She wanted to make sure I didn't drown or something.

Another week at the lake......can we go back?

Lake Trip - Ha Ha Tonka State Park

2009-07-28T13:57:00.003-05:00

Sorry for the lack luster July posts... My mom had a hysterectomy and spent a week in the hospital, then we spent a week down at the Lake and then last week we were just lazy at home! But here's some of our adventure at the lake!

Another day at the lake, we went down to Ha Ha Tonka State Park. This rich guy built this huge house, but it burned down in like 1908 or something. Now it's a state park. People go there to hike and look at the castle ruins. Mom wanted to get a photo of me to turn into wallets for my first birthday...so here are some of her attempts...
and another attempt (Gramps actually took this one)

I didn't mind all the photos, because I knew there was a cooler in the truck with food for our picnic!!!!!! (Food is always at the top of my thoughts...) Here I am getting ready for the picnic. See my teeth? That's why mom likes this photo. She's strange sometimes....

Lake Trip - Buffalo Creek

2009-07-28T13:51:00.003-05:00

Sorry for the lack luster July posts... My mom had a hysterectomy and spent a week in the hospital, then we spent a week down at the Lake and then last week we were just lazy at home! But here's some of our adventure at the lake!

We went over to Buffalo Creek one day so I could swim in the shallow creek. Gramps and I were sitting on the rocks watching the water at first...
Then Gramps took me to the water....thanks for the warning it was so cold Gramps!

Then as we were leaving, my mom wanted to re-create an old 1970's photo that Uncle John has with his old black truck in the creek...Except this time it's Gramps truck.

Lake Trip!

2009-07-28T13:44:00.004-05:00

Sorry for the lack luster July posts... My mom had a hysterectomy and spent a week in the hospital, then we spent a week down at the Lake and then last week we were just lazy at home! But here's some of our adventure at the lake!

Grammy had a drawer full of toys. And a bucket full of 1980's matchbox cars! Toy haven!! Look how happy I am...
Yes...we are red neck. I am taking a bath in a cooler. Please don't laugh...

Let me give you a warning...I'm serious about my food. If I feel I am being cheated out of a meal, I'll let you know. Or if food isn't coming fast enough... I'll tell you. Exhibit A.

But after I get food in me, I'm quite the happy camper! Exhibit B.

One must love the lake cabin...

Bumbo Growth Chart - 11 Months

2009-07-05T19:29:00.005-05:00

One more month till I turn One!! I'm porking out a little right now, probably so I can start walking. I can pull up just fine, I can "cruise" just fine, but I can't venture out and walk on my own just yet. My month 11 photo was taken inside the fort part of our swingset in the backyard... And check out photos from months 1-11 below...

Mom says I am growing up too fast... Oh yeah, and I almost weight as much as my sister... We don't know exact numbers, that's just judgement by those picking me up.

Happy July 4th!

2009-07-05T15:33:00.004-05:00

Happy Independence Day everyone! My mom made a big deal how this was my Last "First Holiday." Then I reminded her I still have my "First Birthday"...and that quieted her down. Kathy and John came over, and Grammy and Gramps are in town. So the four of them, plus the four of my family had a big dinner. It was pretty good. Then we went outside for some homeade ice cream - but it was too cold and raining to really sit outside for that. So we went back inside - and I went to bed. So I didn't really see any fireworks, it didn't really seem like a holiday - just seemed like a family gathering. But that's okay. I don't mind. My grandparent's dog Peanut enjoyed licking up all the ice cream droplets that fell (some as you can see fell on top of her head...)

Guess God didn't want me to go to bed without seeing anything pretty - so he put a big rainbow in the sky. This was right in our backyard. And yes, we got back inside before the rain really started to fall down...

First ever Lake trip!

2009-06-27T17:16:00.005-05:00

My first trip down to the Lake Cabin was a success - zero bug bites! But I did get stuck in a hammock... I got two boat rides in, and both times I was stuck wearing a life vest that is too big for me. They can't buckle it because then it covers half my face!

But don't worry, if I took it off I was either on the boat floor...

Or in someone's arms. (By the way, those rock cliffs behind Dad - that's Pirate Cliff - where everyone jumps off into the water! I don't think I'm ready for that just yet...)

But I'll take this shallow water! It was really dirty this weekend, but I wanted to swim anyway. I couldn't let Daphne have all the fun! I was loving it too, when Dad lifted me out I started bawling. Five more minutes please?

In a few more weeks we'll be back down there! I can't wait!

My first PB&J

2009-06-21T20:06:00.005-05:00

Supposedly, kids aren't supposed to have peanut butter until they are a year old...but my mom forgot. She made Daphne a PB&J the other day, and she only ate half. Since I was screaming for more food, she gave me one of the quarters. I gobbled the whole thing down - and then she remembered I'm not supposed to have it yet... But nothing happened. I must say, I want another. More please!

Shatto Farm

2009-06-21T14:56:00.006-05:00

Yesterday my parents, Daphne and I went to Shatto Milk Company's dairy farm! They are a local farm that still uses glass milk bottles. They are a very small farm, with just one barn and sells their milk around our area. It was fun to go up there though! They had a family day with music, free samples, and we could milk our own cows and see baby calves! This is the closest I got to one... We stared each other down... It was really hot, but worth it. Plus, after we got there we ran into some of our other friends! Too bad Daphne was in a bad mood and didn't want to play with them...

Backyard Fun!

2009-06-14T17:09:00.003-05:00

Last week my Gramps and Dad put up a new wooden playset in the backyard! It sure is fun!! It has a slide and three swings and a lemonade stand! And soon it will have rocks all around underneath it. Listen to me ramble - just like Daphne would be. Oh no, does that mean I am turning into her?? Down the slide I go!

Hey Dad! Look!

The next door neighbors have three little kids - Zane, Callie (not sure how she spells it) and Asher (ironically, that made the short list for my name! But he's only about 10 weeks old) and they come over and play with Daphne and I on it too!

Hands and Knees

2009-06-14T16:43:00.003-05:00

For about a month or so, I've perfected the art of crawling - on my toes and elbows. I'm a speeding bullet - 0 to 60 in 4.7 seconds. But last Friday, I accidently discovered something - I can do the same thing on my hands and knees... Interesting this is.

Omaha Zoo Trip!

2009-06-14T16:29:00.005-05:00

A few weeks ago, my parents woke me up at the butt crack of dawn. Wait, I'm not supposed to say butt. But bottom crack of dawn isn't a normal phrase and no one would understand me. So I'll cheat and say butt this one time (or three?). Anyway, my parents woke me up and we immediately drove for several hours. I slept the whole way. Then they all made a big deal of saying we were there. Where I wondered... Well, I guess it's this place in Omaha, Nebraska called a Zoo. They keep big animals there, for you to look at them since it's really expensive to fly to Africa and see them there. Well, as soon as we got there, I missed the first several animals due to my desire to eat... By the time I was done eating, I had to show off my new shoes to Grandma. They are big boy shoes!

Dad, what are you doing? You are putting me on the shell of a turtle that is bigger than you! Wait...it's metal. It's not real. Oh man, now I'm embarrassed. This is such a Daphne thing.At least I felt better when Aunt Leah made William do it too... Later, I was just minding my own business, then William walked up to me. He was telling me some sort of joke, I think it was a knock knock joke. Then Daphne walked up and ruined all the fun. See how William is running away without making it look like he is? I was pretending to listen to her, I have no clue what she is saying.

But we saw all sorts of animals... But my favorite part of the day happened to be when Daphne left her sippy cup in the wagon! I snatched that thing up and started drinking! I've never used it before, but man was it fun!

The Omaha Zoo is known for it's indoor habitats, like the Desert and the Jungle. While in the Jungle, my mom had to take me across this wooden swinging rope bridge. I think she was trying to pretend she was in an Indiana Jones movie or something.

Hanging out with Grandma, Aunt Leah and William was a lot of fun, especially since I only get to see them about once a month or so. Soon I'll be as big as William!

It's about time!

2009-06-11T05:52:00.002-05:00

About a week ago, I discovered something new. If I crawl up to something taller than me, grab it with my hands - somehow magically I can end up standing up! Yes, I know I'm a tad late on this, but I mean, come on.... My sister does everything for me. Why do I need to do anything? She's my little slave. I reach for a book, she gets it for me. I reach for a toy, she gets it for me. Best part is, she doesn't know she's my slave! She thinks it's all her idea! But the point is, I can finally pull up to a standing position and I love to do it. If I can reach it, I'll pull up on it now.

Bumbo Growth Chart - Ten Months

2009-06-02T21:22:00.006-05:00

Yup, I'm officially ten months old. Where has the time gone? My advancements this month, I can finally crawl (albeit it's on my feet and elbows instead of hands and knees, but I am faster than a speeding bullet!) and I am finally pulling up to a standing position. My favorite toys: DVD cases. I love to nab two of them from the entertainment unit, toss them out in front of me, crawl to them, toss them out further, crawl to them, toss them out further, crawl to them...etc. Mom is finding DVD cases in some strange places (the bathroom). And I've recently gone through a growth spurt and all my nine month clothes are suddenly too short...

Teeth Count: 6 - four on top and two on bottom...

Don't kid around...

2009-06-02T21:19:00.004-05:00

...with food times! My Dad thought it would be funny to tease me with my food. How dare you? Here's how meal times should go. Sit down, pray, eat, get up. Nothing else. Don't tease me, that's like cruel and unusual punishment!

My First Harley

2009-06-02T21:16:00.005-05:00

My Dad may be a dirtbike guy, but I'm a Harley guy. And at the ripe age of 10 months, I got my first one! I'm ready to hit the open road!

Don't tell anyone...

2009-06-02T21:10:00.003-05:00

But I think Hannah is cute. Too bad she lives in Colorado.... Hannah and her Mom came over to visit the other day; her mom Haley went to high school with my mom. She's about 8 weeks younger than me, not Haley - Hannah is 8 weeks younger. I think it's impossible for Haley to be 8 weeks younger than me and have gone to high school with my Mom... But you already knew that. I'm still trying to figure out this whole time thing. My world is like watching an episode of "Lost" every single day! But my point was, I have a crush on Hannah.

I like Daphne...sometimes...

2009-05-21T21:00:00.004-05:00

Most of the time, I like my sister. And one of the days when I liked her, my wonderful mom happened to be close by with a camera. So here's proof that Daphne and I like each other...

Thank the Lord for beds!

2009-05-21T20:55:00.003-05:00

You see, I love my sleep. Allow me to repeat, I love my sleep. I take two, sometimes three naps a day - and I sleep a good 10-12 hours at night. The Lord did very good when he created mattresses. I love my bed! I always used to sleep on my stomach, but my new favorite - my side. I sleep like this almost every night.

Need advice...

2009-05-12T19:55:00.002-05:00

Alright, I need advice. For the last two hours, my parents have been sitting at the dining room table pouring over spreadsheets and talking with strange numbers to each other and on the phone... I figured I would help them make the decision and get it over with. My parents bought our house almost four years ago, and the interest rates weren't as good back then. After making some calls today, they can refinance and get 1.75% lower. But now they can't decide....do they do a 15 year loan - which would get the house paid off while my sister and I were still in high school OR do they do a 30 year loan and make the payment the same as the 15 year loan, which would still pay the house off in the same time frame, but give them room to make a smaller payment if they can't afford it all one month?

It's funny to listen to them. Dad can't figure out which is best...and Mom is working the computer and putting all the numbers in when Dad gives her more figures...

Who knows.... All I know is that I have to sit through one more night of Dancing with the Stars here in two minutes since my Mom and Sister are addicted.......

Bumbo Growth Chart - Nine Months

2009-05-10T18:55:00.005-05:00

I've done it...I've now officially lived outside the womb as long as I was inside the womb. I am the big nine months old now! Here's all my newest stats... (Pretend you are reading this in an announcer voice, thundering music overhead, and then I'll step out on stage like a pro wrestler). Height - 29 1/2 inches (87 percentile) and Weight - 19 lbs and 11 oz (37 percentile). So that means that I am taller than average and weigh less than average (don't know what that means about all my fat rolls...) Here's my months 1-6 Bumbo Growth Chart photo. Here's my "official" 9 month Bumbo Growth Chart photo. If anyone knows my cousin Ethan....my mom swears I look like him in this photo - something about the eyes she thinks...So here's the newest update to the 7-12 month Growth Chart.

Chadwick Camping day 2

2009-05-02T22:02:00.003-05:00

Morning of Day 2 of camping - the sun came up so it was time for me to get up too! Luckily everyone got up about the same time (or so they say - it might have been me to wake up the whole camp...) But I chilled out in my Bumbo while the old people made me a bottle... As quickly as b'fast came and went, so did the guys. They got all geared up and got the dirtbikes ready. Elijah wanted to take part in the fun, so he challened his dad to a race before they took off on the trails.

Here's some of the guys getting ready - can you tell which one is my dad?

Strange, after riding all day you would think Dad would be the one to pass out. Nope, that'd be me!

My Mom got a good laugh at me. You see, on the morning of Day 3 at camping, the guys went out on the trails again. So with camp mostly empty, Mom started the packing process. So she put me in the tent in my bumbo as she rolled up the sleeping bags and repacked our clothes. And that's when she heard the familiar crumple noise of a chips bag. Yup, that's right. I was hungry, so I grabbed the chips!

Camping was a BLAST! When can we go again?

Chadwick Camping day 1

2009-05-02T21:48:00.004-05:00

Not that I'm comparing, but by the time my sister was 9 months old she'd been to five states already. I only have three. But I beat her on something. I went camping at 9 months! (Took her almost 2.25 years!) Some would think it's insane to take a 9 month old camping, but not me. Then again, I'm an easy baby. Give me food and hold me, and we are good to go! My family, along with a slew of other people, all went camping last weekend. But camping wasn't the main priority, riding dirtbikes was.

I didn't care what the reason of the trip was, as long as I was in someone's arms I was happy. I tried to sneak some s'mores, but no one would give me any. So I had to stick to my bottle. Not that I need s'mores - I'm a little chubby right now...

My parents are working on me to build my leg muscles, not that I am anywhere near walking. But it's good to stand up like this. Dad, just keep your hands on me please.

Boy campus sure wears me out though! As soon as that sun went down, I was ready to go down! My parents weren't too sure how to make a bed for me in a tent. So they brought along a change pad and stuffed hard things on all four sides around it. It worked like a charm!

Day 1 is over, can't wait for day 2 of camping!

Feed me!

2009-04-15T21:29:00.008-05:00

When I want to eat...I want to eat right now! Here's my actions and noise I make every meal...

Almost crawling...

2009-04-15T21:12:00.004-05:00

I'm eight months old and I'm almost crawling. I know that some babies crawl sooner than others, but why do I need to move around when I have a big sister who gets everything for me and brings it to my doorstep? But my parents still keep trying to make me crawl - and I almost can...

I can CLAP!

2009-04-14T19:21:00.002-05:00

Guess what? I taught myself how to clap! Yesterday, Dad and I were playing and the next thing he knows I was clapping!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-14T19:08:00.007-05:00

Happy is such a glorious holiday! Jesus Christ, our LORD and Savior gracious died on the cross for you and me. But I'm happy the story doesn't end there. He became the sacrifice over all sacrifices for our sins! And then three days later he rose from the dead! How amazing is that? In my very short life span of less than a year, I've lost two Great Grandpa's - and I'm rejoicing because I know they are celebrating Easter up in Heaven! And because Jesus died for my sins and I can be forgiven, I'll join them one day in that big celebration! Let's just hope it's not for a very long time...

Since my Dad has to work on Sunday mornings, instead of getting up and going to church like most people on Sunday morning; I slept in a little so that Mom could sleep in. She was very happy when she woke up and I was still sleeping! So she went back to bed too! After everyone finally woke up, we all ate a good breakfast. I got a bottle and fruit, but something must be wrong here because Daphne and Mom got donuts! And they didn't offer me a single bite! After we all ate, Mom gave us some Easter baskets!! And then she put these silly looking rabbit ears on Daphne!

On no....I have rabbit ears on too, don't I? Oh Jeez, Mom, don't you know stuff like that is only for girls?

So then I tried to get Ophelia to demolish the ears while Mom wasn't looking, but Ophelia wouldn't cooperate...

I bet she wishes she did it now, don't you think?

Yummy yummy yummy

2009-04-14T19:04:00.002-05:00

Food? What? Where? I want some!! If there is one thing I'm good at - it's eating. Unlike my finicky sister, I'll eat anything and everything. And I want to eat anything and everything! Mashed potatoes with Turkey and Noodles? Good! Chicken casserole? Good! Spinach Manicotti? Good! Broccoli and choose? Good! And I'm even getting decent at feeding myself finger foods!

This or That?

2009-04-14T19:03:00.002-05:00

Hmmm, do I look thoughtful or mad? I'm not sure... Either I'm debating whether or not I will crawl today or I am mad that I can't quite crawl yet...

Happy Palm Sunday!

2009-04-14T18:51:00.004-05:00

Happy Palm Sunday! (albiet a little late) I was very happy to wake up on this very windy day to the arms of my Grandma who was in town visiting my family. And I was even more excited to tell her my version of the original Palm Sunday when Jesus rode into town on a donkey (which of course Daphne took over the story there with her love of Donkey from Shrek). But I took the story back over to tell more about Jesus coming into town and how all the people waved palm branches and put them on the ground in front of Jesus. This was my first ever Palm Sunday, so it was rather exciting. And the Easter Bunny came a week early! Grandma said she had presents for me, but I had to wait for Daphne to wake up. So of course I made a lot of noise to wake her up, otherwise it would be 9am before she woke up! Grandma had all sorts of little gifts for us! Thank you Grandma!! You are the best!! Some of the gifts were yummy, too!

Grandma brought Biz down with her, too. When Biz was a puppy, I was bigger than her...but she's grown a little faster than me! As you can see, she's really big now! She's almost as big as Ophelia!

I hope you all had as good of a Palm Sunday as I did!

Love my Mom

2009-04-03T21:04:00.001-05:00

Daphne and I wanted to update everyone on Mom. In case you didn't know, she had surgery on Friday. She's been having some pain, so the doctors took her in for surgery to determine the cause of the pain. They did two different scopes to see on the inside of her body - and did another procedure to remove some polyps they found. They also found the source of her pain - major scar tissue from her two previous c-sections. The scar tissue was overtaking the organ, to the point that if they remove it, it will just come back. So the doctor desires to do a hysterectomy. Mom said this will happen sometime this summer.

Mom wanted us to tell you all thank you for praying for her surgery today, and please continue to keep our family in prayer as we advance towards the hysterectomy.

Bumbo Growth Chart Month 8

2009-03-30T18:33:00.004-05:00

I'm Eight Months Old!! Where has the time gone? Lets see here, what am I working on these days? My favorite thing by far is eating. I will eat anything in sight, including your finger if you don't remove it fast enough! I'm not crawling yet, but have no fear - I can get where I want to go by rolling and scooting. The other night I was sitting up and I fell over - and I was able to push myself back up to a sitting position. I'm lifting my arms up for you to pick me up (my other favorite thing). I'm "talking" more now... I say "mamamamamamam" and I just started to say "daddadadadada" and "babababababa" As much as my sister watches Shrek, you would think that might be my first real word. I love to stand up, but I only do this when an adult is close by... I "dance" myself over when standing. I'm posting two Bumbo photos... This first one was on Sunday morning. And since it was only about 7am and still pretty cold outside - I wasn't in the best mood for photos...

So on Monday (today) Mom took this photo. Yes, these photos were taken in consecutive days. High yesterday was only in the 30's and you can see there was snow. Today the bank sign said it was 73! What a difference a day makes! So here's the overall - Months 1-8...

Happy St. Patty's Day!

2009-03-28T13:28:00.004-05:00

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!! To help celebrate my friend Miss Samantha decorated me up a little bit... What do you think?

I Can't Beleive...

2009-03-28T13:26:00.004-05:00

...she actually did it... A few weeks ago Mom posted on my blog an ambigram of my name that she had created in Photoshop. Well, she went and got it as a tattoo! She actually did it. Crazy that woman is... She tweaked it a little from the version that was posted on here, but it's very similar.

Guess I shouldn't be complaining, she got my name as a tattoo before she got Daphne's! Take that Daphne!

Good Morning!

2009-03-28T13:25:00.010-05:00

Good Morning! One fine Saturday morning I was in wonderful spirits, so Mom took my photo. Even though it's slightly blurry, Mom said I was cute. Gosh darn it Mom, you better say I am cute no matter how bad the photo is! I just like how if you look close you can see all four of my teeth.

Joy Ride

2009-03-28T13:25:00.006-05:00

March weather in Missouri is always so iffy... One day it will be in the 70's, sunny and like a touch of Heaven. Then the next day it's only 25 and snowing! (I'm not kidding...It's snowing today and earlier this week it was in the 70's!) So on those nice days, it's time to get out of the house we've been couped up in all winter and enjoy that sun! The subdivision across the street from us has a walking trail, so my family enjoys venturing out to that trail.