Young Forever

Snow Snow Snow Snow SNOW!!!!!!

2011-10-26T10:53:00.005-06:00

Snow Snow Snow Snow SNOW!!!!!!

Our neighbor's tree :(

And Jordan's car

Our poor little Pinion Pine only about 2 years old

2 shots of our front Bradford Pear

This is our big shade tree in the back yard. You should be able to see the rest of the swing set and our shed, but the limbs are hanging too low and several are broken.

View from Monica's window out the back. You can see the kids sledding on the hill behind us.

More shots of our big shade tree in the back. :(

Bundled up and ready to go!

Snow bunnies

She was happy as long as Aunt RaeRae was holding her.

Snow Angel

"Cheese" Note this is before she actually tried to move around in the snow.

Eating snow. As you can tell Monica isn't happy.

This is how Monica was 90% of our playtime. She isn't a snow fan!

Fall in the mountains.

2011-10-07T07:21:00.007-06:00

Here are the most recent pics.

She's turning into our little girl instead of our baby!

Deck resurfacing BEFORE

Deck resurfacing AFTER

She thinks she's big stuff when she wears bubby's shoes

Her hair is finally long enough for a pony tail. This is the flower hair band that aunt Melody bought her in Hawaii.

Postcard like view in Estes Park last weekend. Picture taken at Lily Lake

Storm brewing over Long's peak

We found a tree just her size

Using daddy as her personal recliner

Lily Lake

Andrew liked this tree

This was Monica's favorite park of the trip. And the only wildlife we saw that weekend. Even though it was Elkfest, it was a little too warm during the day for the Elk to come down for buggeling.

Trying to get a better view of more ducks.

Andrew's new friend he met in Downtown Estes Park.

Monica modeling her new hat she got in Estes!

Monica's Bath time chat

2011-08-15T07:54:00.004-06:00

Video of Monica. The only place I can get her to sit still long enough to video her is in the bath. :)

VBS Beach Service

2011-06-26T19:10:00.001-06:00

Children of God by Third Day

VBS Chant and Songs

Father's Day Weekend "staycation"

2011-06-23T08:02:00.020-06:00

Here is a whole novel worth of pics and info from our Father's Day weekend trip down to Colorado Springs and the Royal Gorge.

Monica is a true Young. Her new favorite food is corn on the cob.

Trying to look like bubby on a bike!

The fountain outside PF Chang's in the Springs

Manitou Cliff Dwellings

Baby Diva!

Our little Daniel Boone

Royal Gorge

We walked across the mile long bridge. Which was a little un-nerving when cars would drive across and you felt every board under you rattle. But hey, it's only around a 1500ft drop down to the Arkansas River! They have a each state flag along the bridge, so you can get a picture of your home state.

Andrew took this pic!

A look straight down from the middle of the bridge

There were a few gaps in the bridge. Glad Monica was in the stroller!

Views from the other side of the bridge

Train outside the Magic Show

Our new Joovey Caboose stroller was so handy for this trip!

They loved playing in the outhouse, until we told Andrew what an outhouse really was!

Burro/Pony Rides

Wild Life preserve with a White Buffalo

We took the Arial Tram back across the canyon. And we learned our lesson! If you ever go to the royal gorge, I suggest taking the tram across first and walking down the hill to all the sights, then walking back across the bridge. Otherwise you have to climb a killer steep hill to catch the tram.

A view while waiting for the Arial Tram

The tram holds about 35 people and takes about 4 mins to cross the canyon

Views from the tram...

This shot looks like a postcard, but really I took it after we got off the tram

Waiting in line to take the incline cars to the bottom of the canyon

Going Down!

A view from the bottom look up at the bridge we walked across

"Cheese"

A train came by while we were at the bottom!

Going UP!

On the way home we stopped at the Holy Cross Abby/ Monastery. It's open to the public, but it was closed for the day when we got there, so we didn't get to go inside. This is just one of the shots we took of this BEAUTIFUL building!!!!

We had a wonderfully, exhausting weekend!

I just want to close by thanking all the wonderful dads in our lives. Whether you have biological children, or have just loved someone as if they were your own... thank you for making a difference in my life and the life of my children!

Monica being cute....

2011-06-08T14:03:00.002-06:00

Here is a video I took of Monica sitting in the laundry basket reading and talking. Just being cute! :)

Summer is in Full Swing!

2011-06-08T12:18:00.007-06:00

As you can see from the following pictures, our summer has begun!

SUMMER KICK OFF

Annual Cornerstone Kids Last Day of School Shaving Cream Party!

*Before

*AFTER

Pretty new Spring Dress

Ready for the park!

Like Father, Like son!

The Three Musketeers!

Wearing Daddy's safety glasses

Centerra's Free Kid's Day Wk 1 Theme: Animals!

Monica LOVED the bunny in the petting zoo! She tried to feed it the bedding and when that didn't work she tried to cover it with the bedding

Free wagon rides

Later that night Monica found a rabbit near our house and desperately wanted to touch and hold it like the rabbit at the petting zoo. then she cried when it hopped away.

Playing in Daddy's truck!

There will be much more to come, I'm sure!!!!!

NO TRAINING WHEELS

2011-06-08T12:10:00.002-06:00

We have been working with Andrew on and off since last summer. He would do fine with dad to help him get started, but would not try with out us out there. So we'd put the training wheels back on for a while. Then about a month ago we took off one training wheel, and yesterday we took off the last one. It was like he'd been riding for years! He went in the grass, dirt trail, up and down curbs, standing up and peddling... He finally got it!!!!!

SpAsTiC FrIdAy!!! to say the least

2011-02-18T12:59:00.001-07:00

so it started out waking up with a headache this morning. After a fairly normal morning, we headed to town for some quick shopping before lunch and school. that's when it all went to heck in a hand basket! :)

When we get to the library to pick up our book that were on hold, there was a disabled man sitting in front of the hold shelf pulling all the books off the shelf and throwing the tags around and trying to bite anyone who came near. So it took about 30-40 min to dissolve the situation and get find our books to check out. Then we get to target and while walking down an aisle Monica reaches out and grabs a towel off the shelf as she pulls it it catches the next shelf which has coffee cups and bowls on it and they all come CRASHING down. Scare her and Maria so they both start hysterically crying. Luckily there was a sales associate right there and she completely understood what happened and didn't make me pay for any of it.

THEN we get are "simple" shopping done at walmart and grab lunch at Subway. I see the clock on the wall says we have 15 min to eat before we have to leave to get home in time to get Andrew ready for school. Ahhh and decent chance to sit down and breath for a few mins... WRONG! After a few mins I hear the lady say, our clock is way off... I glance at my cell phone... it's 11:27 and the bus will be at our house at 11:45. SCRAMBLE!!!!! Throw the kids and the groceries in the car, tell Andrew to scarf his pizza and fly home. Of course when normally every drives over the speed limit, today of all days everyone is driving under the speed limit and the railroad people decide what a perfect time to check the crossing to see if it's working properly! AHHHHHH!

We pulled into the driveway, I tell Andrew to get out as I run to grab his backpack. My hand hit the door and there is the bus. Luckily his bag sits right by the door so I tossed it to him as he was getting on. Now we are home, no more pressing time deadline, I can just feed the girls and put them down for nap. As I walk into the kitchen to get my lunch while the girls are eating I open the pantry door and out falls a brand new 3lb box of spaghetti dumping all over the floor. So I start to clean it up and I hear Monica yell "ah dun, ah dun mama" which means I have exactly 2.2 second to run over to the highchair before she takes what's left of her food and turns it into projectile missiles across my house!

Alas the girls are in bed, lunch is done, my kitchen looks like a bomb went off in it, but OH WELL!!!! I'm done! Time for a nap!!!!!

Birthday Blast

2011-01-26T16:10:00.010-07:00

Happy (late) Birthday Monica and (early) Birthday Andrew!!!!!

Here are some pics from the weekend. Nana and PawPaw came into town for the party so we had lots of fun with them. Monica not only started saying Nana, and even said PawPaw a few times, but this weekend she decided two feet were better then four. She had taken a few steps to daddy in the weeks previous, but now she loves to walk. He first instinct is to pull up on something and walk until she falls (anywhere from 3-10 or so steps) then crawl over to something she can pull up on and start again! And she's getting fast!

Here are the kids latest stats from their well check visit last Thur.

MONICA: Height 30in 70% Weight 21lbs 40% Head Cir 18.25in 80%

ANDREW: Height 47in 80% Weight 47lbs 60%

She has about 7 teeth now

Andrew, Monica and Maria reading with PawPaw

Bath time:

Cuddling with Nana

Giving Nana hugs

BIRTHDAY GIRL! (didn't get a pic of birthday boy, he wouldn't stand still long enough!)

Andrew's Balloons

Monica's balloons

The cake turned out PERFECT!!!!!!

Showing off her new birthday dress that Nana bought her

playing with Aunt RaeRae in one of the bounce houses

This is Monica's friend Quinn

PaPa E. with his two girls

Monica's friends!

From left to right...Monica was born Dec 27th, Janae was born 3 weeks later and Quinn was born 4 weeks after Jane.

Uncle Gabe and Aunt RaeRae

Waiting for cake!

"is ALL that for ME?"

someone decided to give her a fork, it didn't last long...

Sharing with Nana... she was a very good sport about it! :)

CLEAN UP TIME:

All dressed up for church, in his suit that Grammy and Poppy sent him. When he opened it at the party he said "wow now I can look like a principal!"

Mr. Safety! Uncle Gabe got Andrew a "safety backpack" filled with all sorts of safety gear like a helmet, safety goggles, "danger" tape, safety signs, etc... And Nana/PawPaw and Mama/Daddy bought him a Harley Davidson Police "turn on" aka power wheels.. motorcycle!

And these are just some random pics from the weekend

I can't believe my little girl is 13 months old and my little boy is going to be 6 next Thursday. Time flies by way too fast these days!

Happy Birthday Monica

2010-12-27T14:16:00.006-07:00

‎(Sung to the tune of Grace Grace Marvelous Grace)
"Grace, Grace, Monica Grace. Sent down from heaven, a bundle of Joy.

Grace, Grace, Monica Grace. Sweet Little Monica Grace"
Hard to believe one year ago today, God gave us such a beautiful little angel.
Happy Birthday Monica Grace. We Love You!

Night before the big day... She loves her new sleep sack, Lullaby Seahorse, Ladybug pillow-pet and her lavender bunny

In her birthday outfit! With the singing balloon.

Birthday Princess

First Cupcake! She had no problem getting messy!

Yummy Cucpcake!

Birthday Bath!

Walking with her gift from Santa...

Christmas 2010

2010-12-27T13:46:00.005-07:00

Andrew helped Daddy make Peanut Butter Fudge for mommy. My favorite holiday treat. We shared some with Santa too.

Andrew and Monica at our Christmas Eve service

Andrew and his friend Ella on Christmas Eve

Ella (6yr) Andrew (5yr) Quinn (10.5m) Monica (just shy of 1yr)

Christmas morning in their Christmas pj's and Santa hats

Final Basketball Pictures

2010-12-21T08:41:00.003-07:00

FireHawks 2010

#91

A date with Santa

2010-12-21T08:29:00.004-07:00

Thurs. Night: So our first attempt with Santa... failed. Andrew was scared, but decided to be brave for Monica and so we could get one good picture. I grabbed my camera... battery dead. So I grabbed my phone. It was the perfect pic, everyone was happy and smiling. Couldn't wait to get home and post it for all to see. So I grabbed my phone... no picture... I didn't save the picture and it doesn't auto save. I cried, Andrew cried harder.

Sat. Morning: Another FREE chance to get a pic with Santa from 12-4pm. We got there at 11:50am, the line was already out the door and down the sidewalk, much to John's dismay, we joined the crowd. Luckily the line moved quickly. As we made our way inside we found out they had different stations set up. The first station was milk and cookies. Why they put that as the FIRST station, BEFORE picture, when all the kiddo are dressed nice for their picture... good question. 2nd stop was Santa's slay. Santa looked amazing. He had the most beautiful silver curls in his real hair and beard. Andrew had no problem sitting with Santa this time. And Santa even knew he wanted Star Wars Legos. So we got a good pic of Andrew with Santa, then is was Monica's turn to sit with brother and Santa... this time, she didn't really think Santa was much fun... so she screamed. Yes, I am one of "those parents" that thinks the screaming with Santa pics are cute. So of course we got one. Kodak was there taking the pics and giving you free prints! After Santa, we went around the corner to see the Santa Cow from Chik Fil A who was handing out free kids meals. Then Mrs. Claus was reading Christmas stories to the kids. They also had a craft room but it was too crowded so we decided to skip it.

Here are the pictures taken that day...

Children's Christmas Program

2010-12-19T21:33:00.003-07:00

Andrew singing a duet with Ella at tonight's Christmas program!

Basketball

2010-12-07T09:56:00.002-07:00

Andrew only has two more games left in his season. Although he has not come anywhere close to making a basket, he has improved a lot. At his first practice he couldn't even dribble the ball, now he can not only dribble and pass, but he's pretty awesome at defense. Here is some video of his game last week. He still has no concept of offense. But hopefully that will come next year.

I'm also adding a video of Monica cheering for him.

11 Month Turkey

2010-12-02T10:10:00.004-07:00

Monica had her first table food meal at Thanksgiving. Roll, Green beans, stuffing and blk lives. She ate it all like a champ, even though she was to keen on the blk olives. She never spit them out. She just acted like she was chewing forever so daddy wouldn't give her another bite. last night she had honey lemon ckn ,green beans and half a banana. She loved the ckn. And when it comes to table food, she prefers to feed herself. She doesn't really like much help. But so far she will still let me spoon feed her.

I was really late getting the 11m pics so these are more like 11 1/2 month

You can see 3 out of about 4 1/2 teeth that she has.

Everything is worthy of YAY and lots of clapping.

11 1/2 m pic with Hoppy

Her attempt at saying "Cheese"

Playing the telephone game with DaDaDe

First basketball game

2010-11-07T18:34:00.003-07:00

Ready for his first game!

warming up

Rebounding a layup during warm-ups

taking a shot during warm-ups

Pre-game pep talk with Couch Doug

He's number 91

Defense!

Go 91! Go FireHawks

In PeeWee Basketball, which is K and 1st grade, they play for fun and to learn the fundamentals of the game, aka no keeping score. However, I kept score! :) So the unofficial score was 20-16. YAY FIREHAWKS!!!

10 months already

2010-11-05T16:25:00.004-06:00

Well even thought the 10 months have flown by, i can say I'm very thankful for one thing... unlike her brother she's NOT walking yet! PRAISE THE LORD!!!!!!

Here are some pics taken in the past week.

Riding with mama at the Pumpkin Patch

Austin and his "girlfriend"

Looking lovingly at her "boyfriend", Austin

Hoppy pictures are getting harder and harder to get!

You can really see her two bottom teeth. Still waiting on the top ones to break through

This is her new "silly face"

It's also getting a lot harder for big brother to hold little miss wiggle worm

Watching Scooby Doo with brother

Youth Corn maze and FEAR FACTOR theme night

2010-11-02T13:40:00.011-06:00

The giant Jumping Pillow at Fritzler's Corn Maze

The girls doing the Macarena

Austin and his "girlfriend"

Monica looking lovingly at her "boyfriend"

FEAR FACTOR Worship service
BatBoy... I mean Batman

Our fearless leader

Brenden being Brenden

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!!!
Mustard Marmallows

This picture was taken moments before...

...this one. Yes we managed to make some of the kids vomit!

Some of the "delicacies" for the food compitition

Notice it says "semi-boneless"

Sardines

This kid has a stomach of steal!

BatBoy... I mean BatMan and Robin

Halloween 2010

2010-11-02T11:34:00.000-06:00

Pumpkin Carving with Uncle Gabe and Aunt RaeRae (Jordan)

Mr. Mom roasting pumpkin seeds

I decided to save money... hahaha... and get creative and make the kids costumes this year

Monica's first Trick or Treating.

This was our 2nd year trick or treating with the Syrings,

"baby Gabe" and his mom Laurel. He's not such a baby anymore. We celebrated his 3rd birthday

Pumpkin Patch 2010

2010-10-19T14:32:00.006-06:00

This was Monica's first trip to a pumpkin patch. As you will see she loved it, because their were so many things to put in her mouth. It made it hard to get any good pictures. But we had fun. And the best part is that Andrew's huge pumpkin was only $4 and her little one was $1.50 I'll post pic next week of our pumpkin carving extravaganza we have planned for this Sunday.

getting "so big"

2010-10-19T09:32:00.003-06:00

Once again Monica has learned something new... she loves being "SO BIG"

Andrew has been practicing his rhythm at church. We turn on one of the preset sounds on the electric drums and he keeps the beat. It's hard to tell in the video, but he can do the bass with his foot as well as both hands.

8m, 9m, and Kindergarten Pic

2010-10-12T14:30:00.006-06:00

So I messed up and didn't get an 8m pic with Hoppy, but I did a get few with big brother. We also had prof. pics taken that I will post sometime next week... hopefully. :)

As of the past 2 months, so much has happened. Monica is now a baby on the move. She never stops. She gets into everything! She has figured out how to crawl, normal crawl, and how to pull up to her knees. She also is a human vaccum cleaner. Unlike her brother which didn't put toys in his mouth til 2 1/2 yrs old, every little speck goes in her mouth. To the point that if she's on hardwood floors she gets frustrated that she can't pick up the knots and get them in her mouth.

She now says Dada and Mama, waves hello and by-bye, claps, gives kisses and waves her hand at her nose if we say she is stinky. We are working on signs, but she doesn't' really do them yet, even though she does recognize them. She has two bottom teeth, but it looks liek more will be following soon. She loves any and all baby food, but still wants it thick. So we do 3+ jars of stage 3 jars a day. She also loves Gerber puff, veggie crunchies, yogurt drops and crackers that daddy occasionally sneaks to her.

Her current stats from her recent 9m check up are...

Height 28in 60% 6m was 26.5in 75%

Weight 18lbs 11oz 40% 6m was 16lbs 6oz 55%

Head Cir. 17.75in 80% 6m was 17in 74%

9 month pic with Hoppy *notice the bow is in her hair without a headband. It didn't stay long, but slowly she's getting more hair.

Trying to kiss Hoppy

two teeth

Andrew Kindergarten Picture! He looks so much older then last year's picture.

Last hike of the season

2010-10-12T14:11:00.006-06:00

Last weekend we drove up to Estes park to squeeze in one more hike before it snowed. It was chilly but we saw some beautiful waterfalls.

Andrew's new adventure

2010-10-12T14:03:00.005-06:00

Missouri Trip

2010-10-12T13:54:00.003-06:00

A few weeks ago the kids and I had the chance to make an extra trip to Missouri. On our last day there Grammy and Poppy took us to the Dickerson Park Zoo. Not much has changed from when I was little!

This was our favorite duck We named him Einstein.

I think this fish could have eaten Monica

The otter loved playing with Andrew. We stood there for at least 15min watching the play through the glass

One new thing they have is an area where you can feed the Giraffes. Andrew thought the food smelt bad, but the Giraffe sure didn't seem to mind.

Newest addition...

2010-10-12T13:23:00.007-06:00

This is the newest addition to our family. Our dear friends, gave us this HUGE swing set since their three boys had out grown it. It literally takes up the whole grass area in our back yard. But it has been so awesome this summer. Andrew has spent countless hours on it and John figured out how to tie his hammock, he got for Christmas, between it and the tree.

It has three place for swings, one of which we put a baby swing on, a slide, rock wall made of REAL rocks, a rope/disc swing, and monkey bars

Andrew's first day of Kindergarten

2010-08-18T12:53:00.004-06:00

And he's off. I even got to take him to school because the bus never showed up. :) And I barely teared up!

Waiting for the bus, that never came.

Andrew with his new teacher, Mrs. Oler

Vedauwoo Getaway

2010-08-18T12:35:00.004-06:00

Mom and Dad came out for 10 days this past week. We spent the first couple days camped out at Vedauwoo (vee-da-voo), our favorite place to camp and hike. We had a blast. Great way to end summer vacation.

Cuddling with Papa

Getting ready for our first chilly night

Andrew's favorite camping activity

Ready to go hiking with daddy

Tired baby after a short hike to the Beaver ponds

Testing out daddy's Christmas gift

A view from above. Andrew and John hiking.

Hiking with Daddy

Our shade rock at our campsite

Playing in the pop-up

7 month snarles

2010-08-04T16:22:00.005-06:00

Monica has a new face. Snarly face as we call it. She wrinkles up her nose and snuffs at people. Personally I think it's something she learned from Ross, our Pug. :)

It's hard to get pictures with out the snarly face.

She has also entered her grumpy phase. When you set her on the floor she gets so frustrated that she can't get to the things she wants. As much as I'm not ready for her to start crawling, I'm ready for grumpy baby to be gone.

And yes, I can take pictures without a bow in her head. I just don't like to.

6 month/ Missouri Trip

2010-07-21T10:37:00.008-06:00

I know, I'm WAYYYYY behind. In fact I should be posting 7 month pics in less then a week. But better late then never!

Here's a quick update on the family...

Andrew: He has spent his summer in the sun and the water. Most days he is bouncing between his pool in the back yard and his scooter or bike. He's really getting into rideing his bike. In fact he went on his first bike tour with daddy last Sat. They were gone for 3 hrs and rode approx 8 miles. I thought he'd be zapped by the time they got home, but instead he wanted me to take him to the park. (wish I had that kind of energy) He's getting really excited about Kindergarten. He can't wait to tour his new school next week.

John: John spent the first have of the summer in the yard working on his ongoing landscape project. He also got a new "toy" a few weeks ago. A recumbent bike. Make those longer rides with Andrew much more comfortable. John has also stepped up at church as our youth leader. So is been really busy building the Sumer Nites program and attending different events with the youth. His favorite so far has been Elitches (the old Denver Six Flags) with the Skillet concert.

Tiffany: Well, besides for lathering Andrew in sunscreen, feeding a baby and working with Maria... I don't think I've done much of note this summer so far. The kiddos and helping John with the youth, keeps me pretty busy.

Monica: My how things have changed in the past month. She can now sit completely independently and when she's done sitting she moves herself to her belly. While we were in Missouri she figured out how to roll from her back to her belly and is starting to figure out how to roll and wiggle to reach something. She even got her first bruise the other day buy wiggling to the coffee table and trying to pull herself up on the bottom level. We finally found a food that she doesn't like... green beans. She gags and makes horrible faces the whole time you try to feed them to her. But she loves squash, carrots, sweet pot, and apples with cinnamon and oatmeal. She tried apple with granola last night and didn't gag, but seemed unsure the whole time The doc suggested we start puff and a sippy cup just to get her used to it. She does great with both, except gets mad that there is only water in the sippy cup.

Missouri Trip: Well is took 15 1/2 hrs to get there...way too long. But the kiddo did great. Monica finally gave up about 2 miles from mom and dad's house. She was done and started screaming to high heaven. But other then that it was fine, boring and slow but fine. As you all know there is NOTHING to do as you drive 460+ miles across Kansas. We found out that there are 192 windmills between our house and Missouri and the longest irrigation chain was 14 sections. :) However it's always somewhat interesting to see that random signs along the way. Whether it's the giant replica of Van Gogh's Sunflower painting in Goodland or our new fav in Colby... the painted billboard of Jesus holding a sheath of wheat. No words, just the picture. John loved it. Once we got there the fun began. I found it much harder to fit in everything and everybody in 6 days, when we normally have 9 days. Next time we will have to make sure we are there in time for the parade so we can catch a few more people. But we had a great time. If we missed you, I'm very sorry. There just wasn't enough hours in the day. When it was all said and done we made the long trip, back across Kansas. But this time we made it in 14 1/2 hours.

I have to throw out a huge THANK YOU for our friend Jordan that came along with us. She is such a saint to put up with my kiddos in the van the whole time. I don't know if we could have done it with out her! We love you Jordan!!!!

6 month picture with Hoppy

First time with a sippy cup!

Sitting in the rocking chair i had when I was a little girl

With Great Grandpa.

First trip to Nakatos

Andrew loves the Hot tea at Nakatos

Sisters (practically) Me and Jordan. It was her first time at Nakatos also

Hangin' with cousin Caleb. (2 1/2 months younger)

being smoother with love by big brother

The Young clan

Cuddling with Poppy

Loving on Grammy

a lesson in the ways of the Young family, the PYRO ways that is.

Cuddle time with Great Grandma

Meeting cousin Larry shortly after his surgery.

Andrew loves to ride horses at PawPaw's house.

Splashing in the kiddie pool at Grammy and Poppy's house

Slip N Sliding old school style!

Grammy had pink and green doily that Monica just loved playing with and wearing as a hat.

Sitting

2010-06-10T19:23:00.002-06:00

She still can't figure out rolling from back to front, but she started sitting

Summer has begun!

2010-06-07T15:53:00.006-06:00

At our house the official start to summer is when we get the pool up and running. It's not a very big in size, but is big in fun for our family. I think Andrew would live out there 24/7 if I'd let him.

Fun in the Sun!!!!

Just chillin'

Flubber Floats!

Trying to figure out if splashing is fun or not.

Monica was really intrigued. By the end of the day she finally figured out how to splash and make everyone smile and laugh.

5 months already

2010-06-06T07:29:00.004-06:00

There have been lots of new exciting adventures in the last month for Monica.

Let's see if I can list them all off...

She found her toes, and she is fascinated by them...

in this pic you can see her chubby little legs

She also started baby food. At first she HATED carrots. She screamed and gagged, but the next time (when I heated them up and added cereal) she fell in love with them. Now she screams when the jar is empty.

She is still full of smiles. She even wakes up with smiles while she's rubbing or covering her eyes.

Mama couldn't keep up with my little chunk-a-munk. So she gets about half breast milk and half formula thought the day. Plus carrots and cereal. She loves to eat.

Andrew is still in love with her. Even when she pulls his hair. And she is amazed by him... most of the time.

5 month picture with Hoppy

She's getting so wiggly it's hard for Andrew to hold her much anymore.

She now scoots across the floor on her back, talks like crazy, grabs anything and everything to try to chew on. And when she is tired she loves to snuggle down into your shoulder and "give kisses" a.k.a. suck on your neck. Her two favorite places these days are the floor and the mega saucer. And she's pretty happy as long as someone is there to listen to her talk. Even if it's just the animals on the saucer.

The last 5 months have gone by so fast.

Easter and Sandbox

2010-05-12T12:26:00.005-06:00

Our family!!!

Andrew and his friends Ella

Picture with Ella, her mom Alexa and their new baby Quin. (7weeks younger then Monica)

Andrew won this GIANT Chick at the church Easter Egg Hunt

The 8ft x 4ft, 16in deep sand box that Daddy built for Andrew.

John and all the kiddos (Maria, the girl I nanny for is 2 now)

4 months

2010-05-12T12:15:00.006-06:00

Monica just had her 4 month check up. She is 25 1/2 in (85%), 13lbs 14.5oz (50%) and her head circum. is 16 1/4 in (50%)

Compared to last check up she jumped way up in the height chart. From 30% to 85%. She's finally starting to the scale for our families. :)

As you can see she is changeing more and more each day. Her current favorite things are, laying on the floor, kicking and pushing herself on her back, talking and grabing at things.

We had a wonderful Mother's Day with Nana. She even sent John and I away for a night in Estes while she kept the kiddos. They had a great time, and so did we, except that I was up most of the night having "mo guilt" for leaving Monica when she had a fever from her shots. She's such a great Nana.

Here are the latest pics...

The tutu is my newest hobby.

4 month pic with Hoppy

Mother's Day Weekend with Nana

She is now eating cereal once, sometimes twice a day. She loves it. But makes a huge mess.

I've given up... I have a thumb sucker!

3 months... already???

2010-03-29T13:31:00.007-06:00

Not only can I not believe she is 3 month, but Andrew is 5 yrs old. Where did the time go?

Moncia is still a great sleeper. As long as we "gut bust" her each night... a.k.a give her 4 oz of formula after her last feeding... she will sleep from about 9pm-7am. She is still in love with lights. We got her a Twilight Ladybug which shines stars on the ceiling. It's now the only way she will go to sleep at night.

Here are the most recent pics of Monica and Andrew!

Fun the "The Farm"

First time in the Mega-Saucer

The three new dresses Grammy made

Smiley! :)

My new favorite headband

Monthly picture with Hoppy

Ready for Spring

2010-02-27T16:12:00.004-07:00

Maria is doing great with "Baby Caw" as she calls her. She's such a little Mother. She does get a little sad/jealous when I'm nursing but she lights back up when I let her sit by us. However she doesn't like Andrew to get near her. She yells "ME BABY!!!!" a.k.a. "my baby". She has even gotten upset when she wakes up from a late nap and realizes that I've already left for the day. Let me re-phrase that... that Monica has already left for the day! :)

Maria trying to help me carry Monica

I think we all have a bit of cabin fever. Andrew has been begging to go to the park near our house. So the first half-way warm day we had I ventured down there with all three kids. Andrew walked, Maria rode in the stroller and Monica rode in the Baby Bjorn. Andrew and Maria had a blast, while Monica slept through the whole thing. It's been fun to watch Andrew grow through the years on the park equipment. Now it's Maria's turn. This was her first year to climb around and even slide down all by herself. She's such a big girl now. I can't believe she'll be two in about a month. Here are some pictures from our recent venture!

The first time he climbed this slide was when he was only 11 month old. Hard to believe that was over 4 yrs ago!

2 months and full of smiles

2010-02-27T15:01:00.003-07:00

As of yesterday (one day before her two month birthday), Monica is full of smiles. She had smiled off and on at daddy and often smiled at me as soon as I'd change her diaper. But now as long as she sees you and hears you, her little face lights up! I am starting to see a lot of similarities to her and Andrew. One of which is how, at this age, when they smile big they pull up one of their forearms right up to their little mouth. Unfortunately I couldn't catch that one of camera yet.

Over the past month, Monica has gained a lot better head control and now doesn't mind tummy time as bad. However when she's done she continues to flip herself over then get mad that she's still on the floor! Her acid reflux seems to be getting better or at least stabilizing with the meds. She has been down to only one feeding a night since 3 weeks and has made it all the way through the night about 5 times. We moved her to her room, and she didn't seem to know a difference... just like her brother.

We are both currently fighting thrush, which SUCKS!!!!! At least for me. It doesn't seem to be bothering her at all.

Here are the most recent pictures.

Bright eyes

Little spring outfit that Grammy made her

The adorable sun hat that Grammy made for her

I did a good job of catching this one right before she screamed. It almost looks like a cheesey smile.

2 month picture with Hoppy

10lbs 10.2oz and almost 23in.

Cuddle time

How time flies...

2010-01-29T11:12:00.007-07:00

I can't believe it's been over a month already! Where did the time go?

Last week was really hard for me, knowing it was my last week of maternity leave. I just wasn't ready to go back yet. I know, I know... you're wondering why am I complaining? I have the best of both world with my job. It's not like I have to put Monica in daycare and be gone for 8-10hrs a day. But still the idea of dividing my time now between three kids... I just wasn't ready for that challenge. But I told both my boss and John, unless there was some medical reason holding me back, that I would return after 4 weeks. Well, heard the cries of my heart. Poor little Maria had a fever and bad cough this whole week. Normally I would go ahead and watch her, but since Monica is not 6 weeks old yet, we really didn't want to willing introduce her to a fever quite yet. Although I was sad that Maria was sick, I was so happy to have one extra week. Now i'm already to go back on Monday.

As for a quick update on Monica... she is doing great! We've had a little ore trouble with her acid reflux, but hopefully that is under control for now. Two of our first milestone have been hit. So much for tummy time in our house. She has rolled from her stomach to back 4 times now. And for the past 7 night she has only woke up one time at night to eat. Perfect timing since I will be losing an hour of sleep and my extra naps next week! :)

Here is a quick look at how much Monica has grown. As you will see, I'm stealing an idea from my friend Tammi. Every month I will try to take a picture of Monica with Hoppy (the rabbit Andrew made for her), so you can see how much she has grown.

Brotherly Love

One month picture with Hoppy

Like father, like daughter

Snuggly

"I want my DAAAAADDDDYYYY!"

Angelica

2010-01-12T20:15:00.001-07:00

Here is a look at Monica's Room

2 weeks have flown by...

2010-01-12T19:56:00.004-07:00

I can't believe she is already 2 and a half week old.

As you can see in the first picture, she has a great body guard!

We tried our first bottle this week. She did awesome! In fact she reached up and grabbed it and held it by herself for most of the feeding!

We had a wonderful two weeks with my mom. Of course I cried when she left, but I know it will only be a few month before she's here again! And this

weekend Grammy and Poppy (John's parents) are coming out to meet

Monica!

Wrapped in Love

2010-01-12T19:41:00.005-07:00

Grammy, Aunt Melody and Nana

have all made

Monica beautiful blankets and quilts.

First week at home

2010-01-12T19:08:00.006-07:00

Here are some of the pictures from our first week home!

Happy Birthday Monica

2009-12-30T08:11:00.003-07:00

Ok so Blogger is driving me nuts today. I"m having trouble getting these pics in the order I want them, but at least you get to see a few pics! I'll try to write a full blg in a few days but for now here is the important info!!!

Monica Grace Young was born

Sunday Dec. 27th 2009

5:54pm 7lbs 1oz 20in.

More Christmassy Pics

2009-12-17T11:36:00.002-07:00

Andrew had his Christmas program at school today. They sang songs and did cure little finger-plays. I also snapped this adorable pic of him and Maria sporting their Christmas hats! :)

Gingerbread House

2009-12-13T21:33:00.004-07:00

Today our friend Gabe came over and brought a Gingerbread house kit. So while I was busy making Christmas candies and cookies, the boys had fun constructing, and shortly thereafter demolishing the Gingerbread house! :)

My mom asked me to get some good pics of Andrew in front of a Christmas tree. Since we have the pitiful 4ft "charlie brown" tree, we took the pics in front of the trees at church.

Andrew's Gift

2009-12-06T21:27:00.003-07:00

As soon as he found out he was going to be a big brother, Andrew has been asking if he can go to Build-A-Bear and make something special for Monica. Well the time finally came. So last night, we braved the cold and ventured into the holiday mayhem. I think John was a little over-whelmed buy the whole experience. He could not believe all the "stuff" they had for stuffed animals! After a lot of thought and some persuasion from his parent's, Andrew picked out the cutest bunny. The biggest issue was the sound. He really wanted to put either Frosty the Snowman, or a Jonas Brother's song in it. Dad and I veto both! Finally he settle on the heartbeat. It's nice a quite, but you can slightly feel the beating heart when holding the bunny. So sweet!

The other great accomplishment of the night was picking out paint and ordering the wall border for Monica's room! The "plan" is to have the carpets completely cleaned this week and by the end of next weekend have the painting done! :) Then we can move in the furniture the week before Christmas and finally finish off her room!!!! Nothing like cutting things a little close.

Speaking of close... as of today there are only 32 days until Monica's due date! PRAISE JESUS!!!!!! We originally had a c-section scheduled for Jan 14th if I went past the date. The 14th is my Grandfather's birthday. However, I found out that the one and only doctor that I really can't stand happens to be on call that day and would be doing the c-section... NO WAY!!!!! If I go into labor on my own and he ends up being on call, well that is in God's hands, but I will NOT schedule a day with him. So we moved it up a day, the 13th. So that means a MAX of 38 days till we get to finally meet our little girl. I'm still praying for an early delivery, just preferably not on Christmas! :) New years area would be good. Or even around the 15th, which could fall on either my grandma's birthday or John's dad's birthday!

Andrew also made a little shaker in Sunday School today out of beans and paper cups. When he gave it to me, he asked me to save it for Monica. He said it was a rattle to remind her of Jesus! He is already such a great big brother!

Here are a few photos of Hoppie, the bunny Andrew made for Monica!

Single digit countdown continues... 7 1/2 weeks

2009-11-14T20:39:00.004-07:00

As of last Tues things were still going good. I had been having a lot of cramping but everything checked out fine and it was determined that it's just because of her low positioning! My blood pressure is slowly climbing, but I'm just now at 120/62. Which yes is pretty high for me, considering I'm doing good to break 100, but it's still considered normal at this point! I will say she must be packing on the pounds. I've gained about 7 lbs in 3 weeks or so. Again they say they are not concerned, since i was slow to gain in the beginning and have still only gained at total of 17 lbs. My luck I will have had a c-section for a tiny 6lbs 5oz baby and this time that I'm going for a VBAC I'll end up with a 9+ pounder!

We did get sad news that Andrew will NOT be allowed to visit us in the hospital. Because of the H1N1, the hospital is restricting any visitors under the age of 12. I cried off and on for a full day about it. It breaks my heart to think he won't be one of the first people to meet her. And now I'm praying for a VBAC even more, so I'll only have to be in the hospital for 2 days instead of 4. I can't imagine not seeing him for 4 days. I don't think he even knew it was possible to come visit us at the hospital before, we hadn't really talked about it much, so it won't be as hard for him as it was for me! :) My mom is going to bring her laptop with webcam for us to use at the hospital, so we can video chat with him.

He is so excited. He's always saying how he wishes she was already here. And when he talks to her he tells her all about the things she's going to get to do and see and the people she will get to meet! Just about every store we go into he finds something that he wants to buy her! :)

Monica's room is SLOWLY but surely coming along! It's about half way cleared out from being a computer room. We got her changing table and dresser on Thur (gotta love craigslist), and I've hung up most of her clothes. Hopefully the two weeks I'm off around Thanksgiving, I'll be able to finish up clearing out the room, steam clean the carpets and maybe, just maybe get to start painting! :)

Well here are the most recent "belly" pics at 32 1/2 weeks. In a few weeks we have a professional photo session set up to take maternity pics so I will post those as soon as I get them!

Trick or Treat Fun!

2009-11-02T11:17:00.005-07:00

This year Andrew grew his own pumpkins in HIS garden. They were a little small becuase we had to pick them early so they didn't freeze and turn to mush with the first snow (first week of Oct.) Some friends of our gave Andrew an adorable pumpkin decorating kit. We called them "Mr. Pumpkin Heads" (aka mr. potato heads) They were alot of fun! And much less messy and smelly then carving pumpkins.

This is a gourd Andrew finger painted at school. Since we had left over pieces, we decided to put a face on this one too. It turned out to be our favorite! :)

This year instead of staying home we went to our friend's house and the kids went trick or treating together then after bedtime, the adults had fun hanging out and playing games!

My "cheesy" Lion

Cooper. He was supposed to be a Rodeo Clown, but he refused to wear the clown nose make up so he turned out to be a cowboy instead.

Laurel the Cat (you'll see her tail in the next pic) and Gabe the chubby monkey!

Laurel and ANdrew walking. I just had to get a pic of the tail!

The men stayed at the house and handed out candy while the mom's took the kids trick or treating.

Andrew preschool class party. Unfortunately my camera batteries died so this is the only pic I got! :( There are two Andrew's in his class and both chose to be Lions this year.

Big Brother...

2009-10-14T10:59:00.003-06:00

I'm amazed each day how involved Andrew is in the pregnancy. He's always asking how I'm doing, and how Monica Grace is. He wants to hug and kiss her first thing in the morning and last thing at night. I told him last week that she could hear him talk to her so now he will randomly comes over and tell her things or sing her songs. Last night he heard something on a commercial and came over and said he needed to tell Monica Grace a secret. "Monica Grace did you know cupcakes are made for fun?" It was adorable! I've tried to tell him he doesn't have to say Monica Grace all the time. He can call her just Monica, but he says he likes Monica Grace better. This morning he was explaining to her what her name was, Monica Grace Young... "Young is our family name, it says you are part of our family" He also seems very concerned about what I'm eating or drinking. He's always asking me if that's ok for Monica to eat or drink. Or he'll tell me that I should eat more so Monica can have plenty! Last night he told John he needed to go to the grocery store and get me some sweet stuff, because Monica must be wanting it since I was craving it! :) John came home with a cheesecake for me!

Maria is also starting to get jealous over who's turn it is to talk to "Baby Ica" She doesn't want Andrew to talk or touch my belly! Only her! :) Little does she know how that little baby in there is gong to turn her life upside down soon!

I'm including a pic taken last month of Andrew and his best friend/girl friend McKensie. They moved to Arkansas so we got the kids together one last time at JumpIn for a simple farewell party! We miss them very much, but can't wait to see them when we go back to MO next June

After much nagging...

2009-10-10T09:09:00.008-06:00

Ok so this will be quite the hodge-podge of pics. My mom has been nagging at me pretty much since the reunion to post new belly pics. I finally got around to taking them this morning.

I'm also throwing in some pics of Andrew, and the Rose John made for me during the boys play dough time! Oh yeah, and look what we woke up to this morning... about 3-4 inches of snow.

And the ultrasound said...

2009-08-24T09:04:00.006-06:00

Yep, that's right... a girl! Monica Grace Young! Andrew is so excited! John and I are slowly adjusting to the idea. :)

On Friday, John got to work and found his cubicle in wall to wall pink streamers and balloons and candy. Here are a few pics. The last one is PRICELESS!!!

Before and After

2009-08-22T18:29:00.002-06:00

Ok, so I just realized that I still never got these pictures posted! I'm so sorry! But the house is 99% done now. All we have left is the trim around the door and we plan on repainting the doors them self, but that will have to wait til this fall when it cools off a little! The sunlight has not been cooperating so the lighting for the pics is a little off. But you get the general idea!

Mom also pointed out that I never took pictures of Andrew's new big boy bed. He graduated from his Toddler bed to a loft bed! It make the perfect fort or play area underneath, plus it's much easier for prego mom to tuck him in at night. We currently have his nap mat set up underneath in case of midnight accidents it's an easy transition instead of stripping and remaking the whole bed at 1am. Night accidents rarely ever happen but when they do, like last night (as you can see by the lack of bedding on the loft) it's a life saver!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Andrew's new bed

A whirlwind week

2009-07-29T10:07:00.006-06:00

Our weekend went pretty smoothly! As ou can see Andrew had lots of fun in his pool this weekend. Then Monday hit. WHen I got to work that morning my car was smoking! yeah, white smoke coming from under the hood. So Andrew and I started our day yesterday by going to my ob appt., were he got to hear "cutie's" heartbeat for the first time. Dr. Hayes was great about getting him involved in the process and asking him good Big Brother questions. Then we grabbed a quick lunch at Culver's, and headed over to the car doctor. Where we sat in the shop for 2 hrs. Only to find out that the other day when John pushed the plastic guard back into place, he pushed it too far and the plastic started melting against the exhaust pipe. Luckily they didn't charge us for looking into it. So worried we would have a $200-$400 bill, I walked out of there paying $48 for the 28 point insp/oil change and replaces two light bulbs.

After all that we met John and our friends Simon and Karen for dinner at the new Rodizio Grill Brazilian Steak House in Fort Collins. I have never ate so much food in my entire life We had over 15 different options cycling to our table as often as we wanted... 4 types of beef, 3 ckn (including ckn hearts) , 3 pork, pot roast, pinapple, turkey wrapped in bacon, grilled zuc., mahi mahi, and a some type of sausage. Plus 21 different salads options along with rice, blk beans, stroganoff, mashed pot., and pasta alfredo. Oh, and some of the best sweet blk tea I've ever had. I was even amazed at how much Andrew ate. He's not a big meat eater so I was worried. But he loved the basic salad, rice and mashed potatoes, and then he pigged out on the pork tenderloin, ham and grilled pineapple. When we got home he told us he was "tired all the way to Jesus and outer-space" and "mama, can we go back there tomorrow and get more pineapple?" :)

So even though yesterday was very busy, it turned out very good!!! Except for one little piece of bad news. My ultrasound was supposed to be done before our trip to MO. However they need me to be at least 18 weeks. I turn 18 weeks on Thur. Aug 6th, but the ultrasound tech is only there on Tues. And we leave for MO at 7:30am Tues the 11th. So we had to schedule it for Aug 25th. SORRY MO friends and family!

The count down has begun. We leave for MO in 13 days! :) We are so looking forward to seeing everyone. Espeically at our Friends and Family Fiesta and Fireworks party that Friday! :) Hopefully the humidity and temps will stay unseasonably low like they have been! Pray Pray Pray!

Week 15

2009-07-15T09:42:00.003-06:00

Ok so I'm not actually 15 weeks until tomorrow. So these pics are 14 weeks and 5 days.

Our Daycation in Estes!

2009-07-01T16:29:00.008-06:00

It seems like summer is slipping by so fast. We haven't even had a chance to go camping yet. But yesterday we decided to play hooky from church and get away for a little "daycation" as a family! We took off for Estes first thing in the morning with the plans of having a picnic at Endo Valley then climbing around the Alluvial Fan. We also found a new park part way up the canyon, Viestenz-Smith Mountain Park , that has quickly become a new favorite spot.

John doing his normal. CLimbing around on anything that is in or over the water! :)

The branch of the river the runs through Endo Valley

Me trying not to fall in backwards

Andrew making his silly face near our picnic spot

THe Alluvial fan

JOhn and Andrew headed up to the top! I was surprised Andrew's little 4 r old legs did so well. He only needed a few boosts from John.

If you look towards the right had side of the water, you will see John and Andrew amongst the bushes waving! They were about half way up!

OK, this one is the hardest to see, but all of a sudden I looked up and saw John and Andrew on the other side of the water fall at the VERY top of a HUGE rock! If you look at the top of the rock on the left of the water you will see a little blue dot. That is Andrew and John. John found a shallow spot in the waterfall, so he took off his shoes and socks, picked up Andrew and decided to cross the FREEZING water! And of course he saw a shiny rock in the water. If you know the Young's, then you know they are rock hounds. So he decided to stop in the FREEZING water and try to pick it up without dropping our son down the waterfall... he was successful! :)

Here is a zoomed in pic of the boys at the top!

John and Andrew trying to dig to China at the new park.

My climber! He was so proud. He said he was climbing up to rescue someone like a firman! THen he slid down the fireman pole! :)

John once again monkeying around to get out in the water as far as possible with out getting wet! The river runs right along the park. It was beautiful and the sounds of the water was unbelievable! The perfect park!

They have a few huts with picnic tables inside and fireplaces. They were awesome!

My two handsome rock climbers! :)

Well that's the quick run down of our weekend. I'm know I still need to get up the before and after house pics as well as some new prego pics. I promise, they are coming soon!

VBS and Lakeside Service 2009

2009-06-16T15:35:00.003-06:00

Last week we had a wonderful VBS!!!! We had 210 kids register with an avg of 175 in attendance each day! We ended the week with our 2nd annual lakeside service and hole hog roast! It was the most wonderful day! We had 400-450 people there, which is almost double our normal Sunday attendance. But the best part was that 39 people were baptized! It was such an amazing day, that I can't even put it all in words. Hopefully a picture is worth a thousand words! :)

The Kindergarten class in the missions class at VBS. The outdoor tent was a "boat" and they traveled all over the world in it.

Each day different kids got to wear the life jackets while they took their "missions boat ride"
Friday it was Andrew's turn!

VBS kids getting ready to sing their theme song at the Lakeside service

Singing the Boomerang Express song!!! "All aboard!!!"

Pastor David giving a short sermon, lakeside! What a beautiful day!

A small view of the 400-450 people that attended the lakeside service

My little beach bum

Our fearless Youth Pastor. And yes, that is what he wore into the lake to help with the baptisms! We love you Eric!

39 people were baptized at the Lake service! AMEN!!!!!

Now this is the way I want to get around the Lake.

The Lake was so cold...

But it didn't take long for both my boys to turn into fish!

John was harder to get out of the water then Andrew was!

My little fish! No matter how cold it was, he LOVED the water.

Prego Week 8

2009-05-27T08:10:00.003-06:00

This is for all the family that is dying to watch me "grow". I will try to post a photo each week... eventually! At first it might be more like one a month! My goal this time is to have a sign saying which week it is, and to wear the same shirt in each picture, so you can really see the difference. My actual due date Jan 8th. So there will be plenty pf pics between now and then.

Let's just hope this nausea goes away long before Jan.

a message from Andrew...

2009-05-12T12:03:00.003-06:00

That's right... we had a wonderful Mother's Day surprise! Due date is Jan 8th!

My son the photographer

2009-04-15T13:26:00.003-06:00

These picture were taken by Andrew on his new KidTough Camera.

He loves to take pictures of random toys. Many times he'll set a toy in the floor, move everything else out of the shot and take pics from different angles. Unfortunately he deletes them before I get them loaded! :)

Self portrait

Two of his best friends, katie and McKensie

Ok... I don't know who took this picture, but it was cute so I threw it in!

Maria getting ready for lunch

Easter photos

2009-04-15T13:24:00.003-06:00

Here are a few quick photos I managed to get on Easter morning

More zoo pics

2009-04-15T12:08:00.006-06:00

This is the new baby! He was born March 27th.

This Grisly needs a manicure

This baby mnt goat was born at 8 am that morning.

I love the mudskippers

Spring snow blast

2009-03-30T08:58:00.006-06:00

Here is a look at our spring snow blast from last week. We ended up with between 8-10 in. It drifted so bad it was hard to get a good measurement. Luckily most of it was already melted off. :) Gotta love CO!

Sorry the first pics are kind of small. They were taken from my phone.
Thur. morning about 11 am at Maria's house. THis is how the snow was drifting on their deck.

Thurs. late afternoon. A look at our back deck
Friday morning. The sidewalk by Maria's house

The rest of the pics were taken at our house on Friday.

Andrew's first snow man... ok so he threw snowballs at me and was climbing on the forts dad made, while I built the snow man. He then proceeded to kick it over the next day and eat his nose!

A quick taste test of the snow before launching it at me.

It was easier to crawl then walk in some areas

Attempting to make snow angels

Oops.. I guess I cut off his angel's wing in this pic

Standing in a snow drift on our deck.

Slightly random pics for the families benefit! :)

2009-03-30T08:44:00.003-06:00

So this is a pic of the new growth chart in Andrew's room. The corn stalk matches the farm theme perfectly! Right now I'm just using pencil on the wall, until I know that we will stay in this house (but hoping we don't) :)

20.5 in Andrew's height at birth

42.5 inches Andrew's height at his 4yr check up

He has doubled his height.

This is a pic of Andrew's b-day cinnamon roll the morning of his birthday! :)

It's been awhile...

2009-03-09T09:11:00.002-06:00

Ok, so I've been a very bad blogger lately. Honestly I've been swamped! Let's seem if I can give a quick synopsis...

John and I were asked to join a Southern Gospel style, singing group at our church, In His Service. John has picked up the bass guitar very quickly. I know I'm a little bias but he's really quite good at it. I sing lead with them, and sometimes fill in the alto of tenor part when needed. We really enjoy it. We normally do the praise and worship music one Sunday a month, and have even performed for another church in town. We may not be the best group around, but we love what we do... praising God. :)

However this little adventure has added to our already crazy weeks. A basic run down of our weeknights is as follows...

Monday - home :)

Tuesday - John's bible study

Wenesday- Awanas

Thursday- Praise team practice

Friday - home :)

Saturday - home in the morning, then practice and normally something with friends

Sunday - at church from 7am-12:30 then back at church for practice between 4:00-5:00

Along with all of this, I helped out with the youth conference the first weekend of March. I was a small group leader for 6 middle school girls... AHHHHH. Ok so that's what I thought at first. I'm so NOT a girl mom. I've never been much of a girly girl, so I figured it would be a rough weekend. The weekend started on Friday night at the church with dinner and a quick introduction to the weekend. We then went to our host homes. Our host home was the best! :) We sat around the dining room table and decorated our children... eggs. The lesson was about God the Father. It went fairly smoothly then the girls wanted to go out and look at the stars. There is a park right across the street so we decided to go there, only to find out it was too cloudy to see anything. So they started to play tag... at 10:30 at night. I just asked them to try not to scream or squeal. Yeah right... middle school girls... remember? You barely tap them and even at half volume, they could still be heard into the next county! Finally the mom-mode kicked in and I made them go inside, fearing that the neighbors would call the cops on us.

They were fine with that since our host family had bought 6 cartons of ice cream.

6:30 Sat morning came awfully early considering the girls didn't go to bed til after 1:30am. Sat was filled with team building fun and service projects. All the high school and middle school girls, and female leaders, decided to go do the project at the nursing home... except me. I'm not to fond of nursing homes. I choose to go with the guys to a senior living apartments and do some yard work. Wow was that an experience. 5 middle school boys and I went to the apartment of an elderly women who attends our church. She needed us to clean out her flower beds and pick up sticks and twigs in her yard. At one point we start hearing her yelling sh** sh** sh** sh** sh**, like 12 times. THe boys are looking at me in disbelief. THen she starts yelling at her motorized wheel chair "WHEN I TELL YOU TO STOP, YOU STOP... DO YOU HEAR ME?" THe boys quickly picked up the trash bags and slowly started walking away... they looked terrified! :) The day finished up by returning back to our host homes after dinner to do our final lesson on Jesus... however the kids were so tiered that most of them slept through it! :)

On Sunday I realized I don't thikn I ws there for the girls, nearly as much as God had put them there for me. We had a blast. It might have helped that no of them were girly girls either! :) What a blessing!

Along with all of this I've been trying to organize our 10 yr high school class reunion. I'm actually really excited about this reunion. John says this is the perfect job for me since I'm nosey! :) It's been interesting to find people. However it is posing to be quite the challenge trying to track down the 80 people or so that have seems to disappear! I've had a blast designing the invites and tickets and creating a database for the addresses. I can't wait to finish up with the addresses so we can get the ball rolling, like mailing out invites, planning food, gathering pics for a slide show! I thought this would be a lot harder since I don't still live in the area, but thanks to modern technology... email, facebook, myspace... it's not to bad!

I found out yesterday that a friend of ours, Gabe, is coming to visit the weekend of my birthday. :) As many of you know I have this incessant need to take care of bachelors. I love having them over and cooking as much food as possible. He's my last bachelor to take care of. All the others have gone off and gotten married. I'm excited to hear his stories from his latest deployment to Iraq and for him to come visit our new church.

I'm hoping after Easter things will slow down a little bit. I can't wait for summer. I want to go hiking and camping. I'm getting a little stir crazy. Hopefully we'll be able to do some decent hiking this year. I have my appointment with the cardiologist tomorrow morning to figure out if we can fix my little blackout problem. For those of you who don't already know... this problem started back in college. Anytime I exercise or get my heart rate up, everything goes black. Luckily I've only passed out once or twice. it's bothering me a lot more these days. I don't really think it's getting worse, I just think I'm trying to do more things that trigger it, like hike, swim, and chase Andrew in the park. I'm sick of it limiting my family when we try to do things together. So hopefully after tomorrows appt. we will at least have a plan of action to figure everything out.

Well, that is the basic update... not as brief as I had planned... Hopefully as the weather improves we will be able to get out and takes some updated pics.