Dan & Van

Candy Day!

2012-01-08T15:59:00.000-05:00

The church had a Trunk or Treat festival on Halloween that we took part in. This was the kids' first time dressing up or trick or treating and they thought "Candy Day", as we called it, was a pretty good deal! Daniel had the idea of dressing them up as Thing 1 and Thing 2 (extra appropriate since they run around like Energizer Bunnies making messes all day), and they were super cute!

Our lil Chinese watermelon

Joshua REALLY enjoyed having blue hair

Checking out her stash

The look on Joshua's face after his first trip down the GIANT bouncy slide - pure joy and pride!

Fishermen

2012-01-08T15:52:00.000-05:00

Daniel, my dad, and Joshua went on a special fishing trip in October. Dad and Dan picked Josh up from school with the boat in tow (not something you see everyday, but probably not the first boat to pull through the preschool pick up line)! They headed out on the intracoastal and came back with a huge flounder. Joshua was pretty proud!

Daddy's big (and delicious) flounder! Joshua proudly "caught" a mullet out of the bait well!

Captain Joshua - all business

More pics of our lil munchkin

2012-01-08T15:09:00.000-05:00

Corinne and Addison - best friends and just 1 month apart

I like how the baby doll is "at the gym"

Another thumb girl

This one just kinda captures her look and disposition (and drool)

Sweet daddy time

Sleeping baby pictures make me breathless

Pretty in purple

Siblings

2012-01-08T15:04:00.001-05:00

Corinne (2-4 months)

2012-01-08T15:02:00.000-05:00

Okay, so it's true - the third baby gets the shaft...Corinne hasn't gotten a blog update since Month 1 and here she is over 8 months old - sigh! She may not be getting as much verbage or photos, but hopefully she's getting just as much love! I know we're sure enjoying having her in our family and each family member has their special way of interacting with and loving on her!

It's hard to even remember back to what Corinne was like during months two, three, and four. I've said she's more emotional than the first two - while she's quick to smile, she's also quick to cry. She's an early riser - up before seven every day. She's just sweet - so sweet with her chubby, chubby, chubby legs. She's ticklish, and right now tickling is pretty much the only way to make her laugh. She started sleeping through the night right on track - about 8 hours at 8 weeks, and 12 hours at 12 weeks! (Thank you, Babywise!) She likes the jump-a-roo, watching her siblings go crazy all around her, belly sleeping, and the doggy teether/stuffed animal toy. Sucking her thumb and twirling her hair are her self-soothing techniques and signs she's sleepy. All in all, she's doing great, meeting her developmental milestones and bringing much joy!

2 months

3 months

4 months

Cutie Pie aka Cutie Face

2012-01-08T14:49:00.000-05:00

Here's some cute ones of Corinne at 4 months old!

slip n slide

2012-01-08T14:46:00.000-05:00

Summer lovin'

Brielle's version

other stuff (summer edition)

2012-01-08T14:42:00.001-05:00

So, I'm finally taking a deep breath and gonna catch this blog up! Needless to say, we've been busy and it's hard to think about blogging once I fall behind a little bit. Here's a smattering of fun photos from the summer months...

Josh got super brave in the pool this summer and could swim all over with floaties, jump off the side, and go underwater!


bumper crop of tomatoes for the first time in five attempts

Here's the 2 monster plants that grew those yummy tomatoes

Enjoying a sunrise with daddy

Brielles first tea party at "mommy school"

Nothing sweeter than these two getting along...nothing worse than them fighting


Both kids are really enjoying helping in the kitchen right now


priceless

Family picture on my 33rd birthday

Bedtime Prayers

2011-12-21T20:15:00.003-05:00

When I asked the kids who they wanted to pray for tonight, I was expecting the usuals - Ezekiel, McKenna, and HaHa. Instead, Josh answered, “Santa’s reindeer”, and Brielle piped in with, “Strawberry Shortcake”! Hmmmm.

Perry Thanksgiving

2011-11-27T15:40:00.001-05:00

Another Perry Thanksgiving has come and gone! So much fun, so much food, so much FAMILY! There was quite a crowd this year! (around 35?) It was the first time the whole Kuder family has been together in a while - I'd guess last Thanksgiving, maybe. Fun times were had by all!

Annual family picture

THE SITE

THE HOSTS

THE "TABLE"

THE INFAMOUS APPETIZERS

Joshua and Russell were both SO excited to get to play together and played so well all day! Both are surrounded by sisters, so they appreciate having a boy cousin all the more!

Brielle surprised us all by wanting to ride on the horses (She's afraid of carousels, after all.) She must have ridden for nearly 2 hours and only got down because the horses were worn out! She keeps asking when we're going back to Markle Juddy's house to ride the horses again - it's gonna be a long year for her!

This was Corinne's first Redneck Thanksgiving, as well as her first time meeting Papa and Mimi. She enjoyed her own Thanksgiving feast of sweet potatoes, peas, and milk.

Cousin Beth is such a lovey girl

With Mimi

It was also our first time to meet our newest niece, Elena Gail. So pretty!

And, just to make sure it's thoroughly documented - Daniel has been growing a mustache for Mowvember November...just 4 more days left in the month...I might be counting down. I think the other guys might be a little jealous of his uber-manlyness...

Mockstache Tribute

Josh's latest passions

2011-11-23T15:57:00.004-05:00

I love it when Josh gets passionate about something...his latest passions are:

swinging on his new swingset in the backyard
giving Corinne zerberts...actually Corinne in general
bike riding on his birthday bike and
chocolate ANYTHING

We still fondly remember when we finally fulfilled Josh's request for a tricycle. He literally rode it or sat on it continuously for four days. It gave us such joy to see him enjoy a gift so much. Here's some pictures of him with a few of his current obsessions...

This week he has learned to get himself started swinging by pumping! Amazing for a just-4-year-old and delightful for his momma that he can now swing unassisted (i.e. while I work in the yard or watch from inside the house!)

Corinne ABSOLUTELY adores Joshua! She gives him the biggest, silliest grins of all. I hope they continue to have a special relationship as they grow.

Priceless - almost makes me teary - there's nothin' sweeter than that

Brielle hasn't seen much blog time lately - not that she's not changing, growing, beautiful, and cracking us up (with a fashion sense like that, one can't help but love her). We just haven't had any milestones to document...she'll get her very own post soon to update you on her latest and greatest! For now a picture...

1st Day of (pre)School

2011-08-27T14:54:00.002-05:00

Joshua started preschool this week. He'll be attending Christ United Methodist Preschool on Thursday and Friday mornings. I think it's going to be a really good thing. It will give our social boy the chance to get out of the house without having to sacrifice Corinne's nap, and also frees me up to run errands with only two kids (three just seems too overwhelming for grocery shopping or major Target runs).

We didn't want to start talking up school too early because he tends to get VERY excited about upcoming events and it disrupts his sleep as well as him not having a concept of time and expecting the upcoming event to happen immediately. We introduced the topic gradually, but started talking more details the past few weeks. He was very excited to get to go to school. Brielle, of course, expected that she would be starting school as well. Both woke up every morning last week talking about whether they would be going to school that day. We told Brielle she would go to school at her house and that mommy would be her teacher and thankfully, she bought it! We made a paper chain for Josh to count down the "dark naps" until school started, and I got to take him on a special date to buy some school shoes and a lunch box and treat him to a McDonald's ice cream cone, too. It was so sweet how excited he was to be going out with mommy by himself.

Finally, the first day of school arrived! We started the morning with chocolate chip pancakes and the whole family got to go get him settled into his classroom.

His lead teacher is Miss Lindsey and the teacher's aides are Miss Lulu and Miss Denver. They all seem very sweet and affectionate with the kids. He was just a little hesitant to go in, but in the end was a very brave boy. I was so proud of him (and of me)...no tears!

Post drop-off

We headed home to start Brielle's school...

"First" day of school pic

For school, Brielle colored a picture, did a lacing card, helped me make chocolate chip cookies, and ate her packed lunch. After that she was done with school and ready to play, but she didn't quite know what to do without Joshua...I'm sure she'll get the hang of it, but she just kind of wandered around trying to figure out what to do without her best buddy around to take the lead!

Despite the great drop-off, I still had butterflies in my stomach all morning wondering how my little man was holding up. He was all smiles when we went to pick him up and Miss Lindsey said, "He had a great first day today. He was outstanding and fit right in!" What a great report! When I put Josh down for his nap he said, "Mom, I'm glad I went to school today because I liked that school." Friday morning went off without a hitch, too. So, now were are officially parents of a preschooler!

Chattanooga

2011-08-24T21:14:00.000-05:00

Daniel had to take an ATLS (Advanced Trauma Life Support) class in Chattanooga for work, so the kids and I decided to tag along and make a vacation out of it. This was a big decision since our last vacation with kids was 3 years ago, which not coincidentally, was also the last time we had driven further than the required 3 hours to get to Gigi's house. Our first "family" vacation had left quite a mark (scar?) on us, but we were finally ready to try it again...this time with two more kids in tow! But, we had called in reinforcements as well. Daniel's sister, Janelle, came along with us to help with the kids while Daniel was in class. She is always such a pleasure to have around and having that extra set of hands and eyes made all the difference in being able to sightsee and enjoy it. Huge thanks to Janelle for ALLLL she did that week!

Daniel's family was headed on vacation the same day, so we were able to meet up in Atlanta at their family friend's house and pick Janelle up there. They have grandchildren about the same age as our kids, and their house has quite the set-up for preschoolers! Toys galore, a beautiful swimming pool, and a sleeping loft where you are allowed to jump on the beds - at least that's what their grandkids told us! We had a good time catching up with them, and seeing the rest of the fam. Josh bonded immediately with one of their grandsons and had a big time. It's so sweet how kids can become best friends so fast! As a bonus, I also got to meet Daniel's Uncle Ivan for the first time!

We left Atlanta after supper Weds. evening and drove the final two hours to Chattanooga. The kids were really good travelers. Corinne got tired of her car seat, but hung in there pretty well. I don't know how we traveled before you could watch movies in the car...they are such a sanity saver for our family!

We stayed at Homewood Suites and that was perfect for us. We had hot breakfast every morning and a two room suite, so the kids could go to bed early and the adults could stay up later. The first day we checked out Coolidge Park in downtown Chattanooga (which seems like a really cool town). The kids had fun running in the open field, playing in the splash fountain, and riding the carousel. Brielle still chooses not to ride, but at least she doesn't burst into tears of fear while watching Joshua ride.


Amazing Grass! It was nice to see some "real" grass for a while.

We ate hot dogs for lunch at this funky, local place called Good Dog. (I got a Chicago Style dog - it was no Portillos but still good.) And, then we had hot dogs for dinner as well at the hotel (another bonus of Homewood Suites is free dinner on weeknights)...the kids weren't complaining! Daniel got out of class around 5pm and could join us for dinner and an evening swim in the pool. We treated ourselves to a movie in the room that evening after the kids were in bed.

Friday morning Janelle and I took the kids to check out the Creative Discovery Museum. It took us a while to find the stuff that was most interesting for young children, but once we did the kids were enthralled. They also had a special Bob the Builder exhibit on display.


Just like daddy

Brielle REALLY enjoyed dancing on the stage and Janelle was a good sport. Joshua did lights and sound effects!

Shoe fetish

Daniel finished up his class that afternoon and passed his exam. We went to the Terminal Brewhouse for dinner. The food was yummy and the homemade root beer was delicious. Saturday morning we rode The Incline railway up to the top of Lookout Mountain. It's a one mile ride at 73% grade. STEEP!

There's always time for a game of Ring Around the Rosie

"We all fall down!"

Four sleeping passengers

After the train ride, we hit the road for Tallahassee. We crashed there Saturday night, so we could drop Janelle off at home, then finally got back to Jacksonville on Sunday. We were worn out, but fun times were had by all!

Somebody's Getting Married

2011-08-06T20:56:00.000-05:00

Last month we traveled to Minneapolis to celebrate my sister, Renee's, marriage to Mark (Marky G or Gigi as we affectionately call him). Since it was an outdoor wedding and had been raining for the past two weeks in Minnesota, Mark and Renee had been carefully watching the forecast. My favorite quote of the week was Mark saying, "Saturday's forecast, 10% chance of rain...100% chance of getting married!". Both were glowing and grinning all week - we were so happy for them!

Dan and I kept low expectations for the trip. We expected it to be pretty stressful and exhausting - traveling with a 7 week old, 2 year old, and 3 year old as well as all of us being in the bridal party, and we were staying at my parents house...A.K.A. - wedding details central! But, we were pleasantly surprised. We were definitely BUSY, but were able to enjoy some time together just the two of us (Thanks, Mom for excellent babysitting), the kids were great travelers, and Corinne started sleeping 8 hours at night while we were there (She's a champ!).

A full night's sleep does wonders for baby (and mommy)!

The wedding festivities were kicked off by going Pedal Pubbing with the bridal party. A Pedal Pub is a bicycle built to hold 16 people that you can rent and tour around the Twin Cities. Their slogan is, "It's SLOW fun!" It was a super fun way to get to know the rest of the wedding party.


Not our group, but gives an idea of what it is

Next was all the usual stuff, family arriving in town, manis/pedis, bridesmaids luncheon, etc. Fun times!


Corinne and Great Grandma Nettleton

Great Great Aunt Diane meets Corinne

Nettleton Girls at the Salon


Bridesmaids

There were a few issues of un-planned people coming down the aisle during this wedding extravaganza...The first occurred at the rehearsal, where Corinne accompanied Renee, Mom, and Dad to give away the bride!

Entertaining the kids during the rehearsal

A long-time friend of the couple performed the ceremony

The rehearsal dinner was at Mancini's Char House and was delicious and fun!

Carcas loading up on wings - after all as he likes to say, "You snooze, you lose!"

Brielle chose to eat a pat of butter rather than cake - we figured it was probably lower in fat and calories, so just went with it!

The other bridesmaids spent the night before the wedding at Renee's house, and although she offered for Corinne and me to stay as well, I wasn't about to bring sleepless-night-potential into the wedding day equation. We were able to bring breakfast over on Saturday morning and spend a little time with the bride!


Corinne was stylish in her jeggings!

The wedding was held in a pavillion on a lake at Como Park in St. Paul. Very beautiful setting. Josh was a ringbearer, and Brielle was a flower girl. I was a bridesmaid, and can't help but mention that the Carcas was a "brides-man" which he handled with impressive poise and confidence! I went down the aisle just before the kids were supposed to come down. Dan stayed at the back to send them down at the right time, and they were supposed to "walk to Mommy" where they would get a lollipop reward for "doing their job". Things pretty much went as they had in the rehearsal. Brielle pranced down the aisle on her tiptoes, along with Allison, Mark's 3 year old neice, who even remembered to sprinkle the flower petals. Josh got a little stage fright and wasn't budging, so Dan ended up walking him down the aisle while holding Corinne in the car seat! Instance #2 of extras coming down the aisle...but not a big deal.

The ceremony was sweet and extra special to have someone perform it who knew them both so well. Mark was neighbors with Brooke growing up, and she and Renee were cross country and youth group buddies in high school. I don't have any pictures from the ceremony and just a few from the reception, but hope I can post some of their professional pics at a later date.

Making their entrance

Sweet relief for the hosts!

Dad's toast

Siblings

Kids before the ceremony

Special thanks to my cousins, Ryan and Sofie, who played with the kids all weekend. They adore them both!

The newlyweds on their front stoop

Firsts in the First Month

2011-06-10T20:51:00.009-05:00

I have a feeling this first year of Corinne's life is going to fly by and she's going to be walking and talking before we know it. The first month has been so FULL! I am definitely busier than ever before with three take care of, but we are settling in to life pretty well and taking it one day at a time. We've already made several trips to the library, park, beach, and restaurants as we try to entertain Josh and Brielle, plus we'vehad lots of fun visitors.

As far as her schedule, Corinne has been eating about every 2 1/2 hours pretty much around the clock. And, she is definitely growing. Through the night she's waking up about every 3 hours, but thankfully, goes right back to sleep after eating. I've been able to sneak a quick nap while J and B nap (or during NBA Finals games when I fall asleep during the fourth quarter - much to Daniel's dismay!). We barely had to cook dinner the first month because great friends provided A LOT of meals and my parents were here. What a blessing! Other than eating, Corinne spends most of her days sleeping and is usually awake an hour or less before she needs another nap! I've swaddled her more than the other kids. I think because they had her swaddled so tightly at Wolfsons, but am moving away from it now. She doesn't seem to care too much either way. Josh and Brielle are doing great with her, but express it in different ways. Josh wants to shower her with lots of hugs and kisses and has a baby voice (I think it's an imitation of mine) and his own pet name for her (Cutie-face). Brielle has gotten VERY interested in playing dolls and likes to change their diapers and feed them milk ("I'm feeding her milk like you, Mom").

Below are some pictures from Corinne's first month.

Bubbles

First Beach Trip

Working hard at sleeping

First bath

Hanging out in the nursery

Already a silly willy like her siblings

On her 1 month birthday

So pretty

Sleeping in the cradle Papa made

Meeting more family

2011-05-16T06:42:00.002-05:00

We were so glad some of the Kuders could come visit for the day on Friday. Corinne was so glad to meet Gigi, Papa, Aunt Janelle, and Uncle Jeremy. Thanks so much for coming, and we look forward to seeing you again soon!

Meeting Grandbaby #8

Corinne proved she's a part of the Kuder family by showing off her long tongue!

Gigi in her happy place - with a lapful of kids

Aunt Anna was able to stop in to meet Corinne on her way home from vacation. We were glad she could make time to see us and brought us fun goodies from the Bahamas!

Coming Home Pictures

2011-05-15T20:36:00.002-05:00

Sweet pictures of our girl in her coming home outfit lying on the quilt Tata made her!

Joshua at 6 days old - they look so much alike!

The adventure continues

2011-05-15T20:33:00.000-05:00

It seems as though Corinne is going to keep us on our toes...once we got to the hospital after the speedy delivery, we figured the craziness was over and that after a few days to recuperate, we'd be headed home. Unfortunately, Corinne's routine blood work came back showing high white blood cell counts and low platelet levels. She didn't show any signs of being sick, but just to be safe, the neonatologist started her on antibiotics to knock out any infection before it became a big deal. Fortunately, after more tests, they ruled out infection and her white blood cell counts came back to normal. The problem with the platelets remained a mystery, though. Again to be on the safe side, the doctor wanted to transfer her to the NICU at Wolfsons Childrens Hospital for observation. The thought was that she either had a hematology problem (more serious) or that she had a different platelet type than me and my antibodies had crossed the placenta and were destroying her platelets (most likely). If the second scenario were the case, it would resolve itself in a matter of weeks, but they wanted to keep a close eye on her for a few days. The danger of low platelet levels is that she could get a bleed in her brain, but fortunately, her platelet levels were not ever as low as the threshold for serious concern.

While we hated being apart from our girl, everyone at Wolfsons was sympathetic, friendly, and extremely professional. Corinne stayed there from Friday evening until Tuesday afternoon. She continued to act like a perfectly healthy baby and was eating and sleeping like a champ! She even earned the nickname, Chubby, because at 7 pounds she looked huge compared to the premies in the NICU. It was hard being separated from her, especially on Mother's Day, but at the same time, Daniel and I had a peace that she was okay and this was just a precaution, not something to be worried about. We weren't able to stay with her there, so would trek back and forth to the hospital a couple times a day to try to encourage breastfeeding and drop off milk I had pumped - plus get some sweet cuddles from our girl! We were SOOOO happy when we were able to bring her home on Tuesday at 6 days old. At this point, every day at home feels like such a privilege and we are enjoying getting to know our sweet Corinne Nicole!


Corinne gave me a sweet Mother's Day gift and stayed awake for a long visit!


People kept calling her a boy, so I got a ginormous hair bow to eliminate the confusion


So thankful she didn't have a lot of tubes and wires and we were able to visit as much as we wanted

Corinne's "room" in NICU

The whole family came to take her home. Josh and Brielle were so excited. (She got to ride through the hospital in a wagon.)


Home sweet home!

I'm not a person...

2011-05-14T19:55:00.008-05:00

At dinner tonight Brielle was talking up a storm and I commented to my parents, "She's such a little person now." Brielle responded, "I'm not a person yet, I'm a princess."


McKenna gave Brielle this princess outfit as a "Big Sister" Gift and she loves it!

Meeting the family

2011-05-10T20:19:00.021-05:00

First pic of the 5 of us!

Needless to say, Josh and Brielle were pretty excited to wake up Wednesday morning and find out their Baby Sister was born the night before. They couldn't wait to get to the hospital to meet her and their reactions were sooo precious! Both just starting giggling and were so tickled that they got to hold her. They have continued to be an excellent Big Brother and Big Sister...so proud, gentle, and interested in everything she's doing. It's been fun to watch them all interact!

Of course Tata and Papa were anxious to meet their newest grandbaby as well. We forgot the camera in the rush to the hospital, so Papa brought it down to us in the middle of the night and got the first snuggle. We could not have survived this first week with Corinne and all the adventures she had in store for us with out them. Thanks so much, Mom and Dad, for all the babysitting, washed dishes, meals, laundry, etc...we are SO glad you were here and love you much.

And the last of the Jacksonville Nettletons...looks like Corinne has Uncle HaHa figured out already!

Corinne's Arrival

2011-05-10T20:17:00.001-05:00

Corinne Nicole Kuder

May 4 2:47 am

7 lbs, 4 oz

19.75 inches

So, on to the birthday story...Around 1:30am I started having contractions, but I've been having a lot of false labor the past few weeks, so I wasn't sure this was the "real deal". By 2:15am, the contractions had gotten pretty intense and had sped up from 6 minutes apart to 4 minutes apart. I started thinking that I must have forgotten what labor feels like because I was already in serious pain and figured I still had several hours of labor ahead of me. The contractions had only been going on for 45 minutes after all. As soon as we decided this was for real, we called my parents to come over from their condo about 20 minutes away to stay with Josh and Brielle. Around 2:30 my water broke and I felt the urge to push! I told Dan, who sternly said, "DO NOT PUSH!" He then called 9-1-1, got me in the bed, and said, "We're gonna make it to the hospital." (Even though he knew at the time, we were not going to make it. And, really, I did too.)

Daniel then took over as "Dr. Dan" and was telling me not to push until the fire truck arrived so we'd have equipment and a fast ride in case there were any complications. The firemen arrived, including Fireman Dave, our kids' hero and one of our closest friends! Dave was carrying the OB kit and got to assist Dan in delivering Corinne. About that time my parents walked into the room too. I pushed twice and Corinne was out! She came out crying, pink, and perfect! They wrapped Corinne in a towel and handed her to me, then loaded us on a stretcher, and off we went in the ambulance. Despite all the commotion, Josh and Brielle slept through the whole ordeal!

Even though Dan works as an ER Physician Assistant, this was the first baby he's delivered. He was completely calm and in control the whole time. We've been laughing all week about how we never would have planned it to happen this way, but somehow it just fits - it's just the type of thing that would happen to us. We are so thankful to God that Corinne was born safely and everything worked out fine, despite the crazy birth story! Apparently she was in quite a hurry to make her dramatic entrance into the world!

The delivery team - Dan and Dave

I was able to piece together a timeline of the events using our cell phone call log:
1:30am    First contraction
2:00am    Start timing contractions
2:19am    Call mom and dad to come over
2:25am    Call dr. who tells us to head to hospital
2:33am    Dan calls my parents and tells them to HURRY
2:35am    My water broke and feel urge to push
2:37am    Dan calls 911
2:41am    EMS arrives
2:47am    Corinne is born!

First picture in hospital that night

We went back to thank the firemen and get a picture with Corinne a few weeks later.

Delightfully sprinkled

2011-04-29T20:07:00.000-05:00

My sweet MOPS friends threw a surprise baby "sprinkle" for me a few weeks ago. It was disguised as a planning meeting, and I had absolutely no clue! My girlfriend, Erin, had planned to host the shower/meeting (3 days before her due date! crazy girl!), but ended up having her baby the night before! Lauren graciously hosted at the last minute, and they definitely managed to pull off the surprise!

I felt blessed and loved that they wanted to celebrate with us the upcoming arrival of our baby girl, and we were definitely generously "sprinkled" with some essential baby items that were still on my shopping list. Thanks so much, ladies!

Some of the guests

Cupcakes to match our nursery theme with amazing, edible hibiscus flowers and surfboards! (And made by a fellow MOPS mom!)

Opening some fun gifts!

Easter

2011-04-27T15:00:00.000-05:00

We had a fun Easter with the kids. It's fun for me that they are getting old enough to anticipate and enjoy the excitement of holidays, but at the same time, we are trying to focus on the reasons for the holidays and not make it primarily about treats and gifts. That being said, it's quite a challenge to figure out how to explain abstract concepts like death, life, and resurrection, to preschoolers. Josh knows that Jesus died and was put inside a cave and that Easter is for celebrating that Jesus is ALIVE again. We also taught them that if someone says, "He is risen", they should say, "Hallelujah!". I love the sound of hallelujahs coming out of those little mouths.

They got new sand buckets as Easter baskets and a few fun treats inside. We had a traditional Nettleton-syle candy hunt, yummy breakfast fixed by daddy, and then headed off to church.

The church has a ginormous Easter Egg Hunt after the service. The kids were more anxious to see (and eat) what was inside the eggs than to collect them, which works out fine for everyone since that leaves less candy for them to continually beg for during the days following!

The Carcas joined us after church and we headed over to the Baughmans' for dinner with friends. They really know how to entertain, and fun times and full bellies were had by all!

38 Weeks

2011-04-27T14:59:00.000-05:00

Easter: Last family photo as four!

I am getting super anxious to meet our new baby girl! For whatever reason, I've thought (hoped?) that I would have this baby early and am now spending every day (and especially the middle of the night) thinking that TODAY is THE DAY! I think my eagerness is a combination of being anxious to meet her and to not be pregnant - an end to the tiredness, awkwardness, and weird aches and pains that come with it. However, as good as it feels to not be pregnant, it will be a whole new kind of exhaustion, awkwardness, and body aches as we return to babyland! And, who knows what kind of temperament Baby #3 will have? Lord, please, another good sleeper and "easy" baby! Not sure I can survive life with three otherwise! I have been trying to catch up on the stuff that just seems like it will be harder with a newborn...photos caught up, closets organized, rooms deep cleaned (nesting, anyone?)...and also preparing for the baby's arrival. I've just about overflowed the freezer with prepared meals for those days when it's just a little too crazy, gone a little overboard stocking up on household products in anticipation of it being harder to run errands, gotten all the baby stuff out, washed, and put away, and set up the nursery again. My parents arrive on Saturday for help with the big kids while we're in the hospital and the days following. So, all bases are covered! I've been having a lot of Braxton-Hicks contractions, but nothing regular...just enough to make me pause and wonder at what point I need to call Daniel at work to make sure we don't end up having this baby at home! Here's some pictures of the nursery:

We haven't decided on a name yet, but have a short list to pick from once she's born. I guess from this point on, it's just a waiting game until Baby #3 decides to make her entry into the world...come meet your mama, baby girl!

More to love about spring

2011-04-22T21:15:00.001-05:00

...so, I think I'm all caught up after a major blogging session (see posts below)...one more thing off the "To Do Before Baby Comes" list...

So, I leave you with a few more spring pictures...

First outing with new rain boots

My garden is growing like crazy...time to pick the beans already!

Getting my artsy on! The kids are great ages for the beach this year - such a blast!

Josh and Ezekiel (or Freakiel as Brielle very fondly calls him)

Playing rough and other things 'boy'...

2011-04-22T21:05:00.000-05:00

Daniel and Joshua have gotten some great father/son time lately - they've bonded over fishing, the Seminoles, baseball, a love of showering outdoors, and playing rough (Josh's newest favorite thing to do). I'm so grateful they've been able to spend great quality time together. Daniel is such a great daddy and it seems to be making a difference in Josh already!

This whole playing rough thing is stressful for me as we try to encourage him to be a 'wild at heart' kind of little man, but figure out how to teach him that it's only okay to play rough with boys, and if they agree to it, and that it's still not okay to hurt the other person...

Josh's first fishing trip on daddy's boat - rewarded with a nice Red! Amazing fish fry at the Kuder home that night including sweet tea, fried okra, and cheese grits!

Go 'Noles!

Joshua and Daniel have both enjoyed immensely the outdoor shower that Dan designed and built this month! Isn't the cedar with the industrial look metal walls super cool looking? Nice work, babe!

And finally, both kids got in on helping daddy wash the cars...

I can't resist...I just think she looks so cute in little boy undies! Perfect little princess-tomboy!

Just cute

2011-04-22T20:50:00.000-05:00

like mommy!

My friend, Christine, made these aprons for the kids and they've enjoyed playing restaurant in them!

Joshua has learned to pedal his trike and with that has become obsessed again with biking. It's fun watching him ride all over the house and down the sidewalk as far and as fast as we'll let him go!

Factoid

2011-04-22T20:43:00.000-05:00

While looking through my pictures tonight I discovered that while I usually take around 100 pictures a month, I took only 27 in September, 16 in January, and 33 in February - not surprisingly, these are the months I was dealing with pregnancy related nausea...

Babymoon (of sorts)

2011-04-22T20:40:00.000-05:00

We have struggled with figuring out good family vacations with toddlers...when I've looked into it, most of the suggestions have been to try the beach, but when you live at the beach already, what do you do? After an exhausting, somewhat teary (both for me and Josh...Dan may have even shed a few) trip to the Smokies when Joshua was one, we've pretty much only traveled to see family or gone on trips without the kids. The trips without the kids (Caribbean cruise, Colorado skiing, MN North Shore, staycations here in Jax) have been surprisingly frequent, so fun, and much needed for Dan and I to rest and remember who we are as a couple...but, I was anxious to do something fun as a family before Baby #3 came and we were back to babyland with its frequent naps and limited flexibility.

We decided to try a fun, resort hotel in Orlando for one night...keep it short, simple, and sweet! The main requirement was a fun kiddie pool. We were able to meet up with my friend, Kristin, who was visiting from Ohio, for lunch at the Rainforest Cafe and a stroll around Downtown Disney. I guess Rainforest Cafe made quite the impression on Josh because he still talks about it every day when their (super annoying toucan) commercial comes on during Curious George. Downtown Disney turned out to be the perfect amount of Disney for the kids. I am soooo glad we didn't try to do a theme park! We walked around, saw a statue of Mickey Mouse (which I was surprised the kids cared about because we don't have a lot of Disney stuff and haven't watched TV or movies), and best of all in Josh's book, got to go on a free pontoon boat ride across the lagoon there.

We met Baby Jackson for the first time - I LOVED how smiley he was!


This one just cracks me up! Poor Joshy!

It was fun to see Kristin again and meet each others' kids...the last time I'd seen her was August 2007...funny thing is, I was about as pregnant then with Josh as I was this time - go figure!

Next we headed to the hotel to check out the pool, then ate delicious dinner at Pizzeria Uno (I LOVE and miss Chicago-style pizza), and headed to bed. The next day we played some more at the pool and headed back to Jax around naptime. A successful family get-away...maybe we'll shoot for two nights next time?

Big Kids' Room

2011-04-22T20:11:00.000-05:00

Our three bedroom, 1200 sq. ft house is soon to have 5 people living under its roof and with that has come the need for some adjustments. I feel no need to move to a bigger house...we love our house, it's super location, the Beaches community, the beach itself...and it's not like selling is a real option seeing as we bought near the height of the housing market. Also, I feel like it's silly to say we NEED more space...most of the world lives with a lot more people in a lot less space! (When I was in China, there were 8 girls in a room the size of a typical American dorm room.) But, adding more people to a smallish house (by American standards) comes with some growing pains. We can't save every sentimental thing we may want to, we can't store everything we think we might find a purpose for at a later date, the kids (and me too) are loud during the day making it impossible for Dan to sleep in after working a late shift (let alone an overnight shift!), the rooms have less "air" than I'd prefer and more piles...and most recently, bedrooms will need to be shared.

We have typically moved our newborns into their own room around 6 weeks old and feel like EVERYONE sleeps better that way. My plan (which I've since learned may not work) was for Josh and Brielle to share a room for this next year, and then once Baby Girl is around a year old, to move the two girls into a room together. Phase 1 of the plan started with purchasing a trundle bed and getting Josh adjusted to sleeping in a big boy bed. Phase 2 was moving Brielle out of a crib and into the room with Josh, freeing up a room for the newborn. I figured it was better to get Josh and Brielle adjusted to sleeping together before I was also dealing with intense sleep deprivation...so, this winter we started working on transitioning them to one room. (We've since given up and moved Brielle back to her crib in the nursery, so time will tell what happens next once Baby Girl comes on the scene!)

Anyway, all this to say...I wanted to redo Josh's room to be somewhat gender neutral, but without spending a lot of money (or painting the blue walls!) since I intend to do something completely different in a year and didn't want to have invested money in certain colors/patterns...so, below is the result of my attempt at a thrifty room for a boy and girl to share...not quite what I had envisioned, but it will have to do (for now!)...I'll just be saving my ideas/energy/budget for when we decide on a more permanent arrangement and perhaps realize more of my vision for the kids' rooms then!

Thanks to mom for sewing some groovy curtains

Brielle's 1st Haircut

2011-04-22T19:49:00.000-05:00

Brielle got her first haircut ever on March 4th - at age 27 months! My babies just don't start to grow much hair until they hit 1 year old, so it takes a while to need a trim. She did a great job holding still for the hair stylist and looks cute with her new bangs and less of a mullet in the back!

Before


After

Joshua also got a cut while we were there. We went bold and cut off his long, surfer dude locks for a cooler start to the hot weather season. He's happy that he can now have a "spike" like Daddy!

Mom and Dad to the rescue (again)

2011-04-22T19:05:00.000-05:00

My mom and dad were here for about six weeks this winter. As always, it was great to see them and get spoiled by all their help...and they came just in time because I experienced third trimester "morning sickness" (which is apparently fairly common). For most of the time they were here I was feeling under the weather - as though I was coming down with the flu. That made the extra sets of hands and company that much more of a Godsend!

I was thinking that we didn't DO a lot while they were here, but when I started making a list, it ended up to be quite a bit...potty training Brielle, buying and installing new kitchen appliances, a quick late night trip for just me and Dan to Mark's Oyster Roast in Orlando, an overnight staycation for just the two of us at the Sawgrass Marriott, shopping trips with mom for baby supplies and stuff to spruce up the house, buying and putting together a shed, planting the garden, haircuts for the kids (Brielle's first), hosting a Super Bowl party, an afternoon at the spa getting pedicures, kid-free meals with mom and dad at Bonefish Grill and Ocean 619, moving the kids into the same room and redecorating it as we prepare for the baby, not to mention, lots of playing, reading, and eating!

The men watching the Super Bowl! Daniel grilled wings on his new Big Green Egg Grill...delish!

The girls stayed close to the food table, of course!

Big helper loading stuff in the new shed

Tata and Papa took them on a special outing to meet Elmo

Sweet Southern Comfort

2011-04-21T16:26:00.000-05:00

I love, love, love the smell of jasmine and seeing it blooming like crazy all around town...
Spring is a great time of year!

Big Girl Brielle

2011-03-18T13:59:00.000-05:00

Brielle has been working on potty training this past month! Overall, she has done a fantastic job! While I have some friends who have successfully done a three-day method with great success, it hasn't worked for us yet! But, after a three-day potty boot camp and a few more weeks of practicing, Brielle is just about potty trained! We are still having some accidents, but, more often than not, she's keeping those panties dry! Such a big girl! It will be nice to have a little break from diaper changing (and diaper buying).

So proud in her 1st pair of panties on Day 1

Rockin' the cowboy boots

32 Weeks...and counting

2011-03-17T20:13:00.001-05:00

Baby Girl's arrival is quickly approaching. I am certainly ready to get rid of this big belly and hold that sweet baby girl in my arms, but at the same time feel like the day is coming soooo fast - there's still so much I'd like to get done before I return to the zombie-like trance that the first few months with a newborn brings.

The baby continues to measure right on track and everything looks good at my doctor appointments. I went through what I've decided could only be "Third Trimester Morning Sickness" during the month of February, but am feeling A LOT better the past few weeks. (Girl Scout cookies are "helping" make up the difference for the weight I lost during that time!) Thankfully, it happened while my parents were here, so I had plenty of extra help while I was feeling less than 100%!

As far as preparing for the baby goes, we are making progress slowly but surely. We've been transitioning Josh and Brielle toward sharing a room, so that we can use the third bedroom as a nursery. All of their clothes is in one room, I've been working on some decorating, and they sleep together most nights. Brielle's toys are still in the nursery and we are still calling it "Sissy's room", so we'll have to work on those things, as well as, get all the tiny baby stuff down from the attic, put back together, washed, and ready to go. I do have a big box of newborn diapers and a coming home outfit ready to go, so I figure the necessities are covered and we're ready when she is...except for a name...the name is still under discussion and probably will be until after Baby Girl is born...settling on girls' names is hard for us...

28 weeks

Mountain Climber

2011-02-20T22:42:00.000-05:00

We took a trip to the zoo last week. While they like the animals, the kids' favorite parts of the zoo do not involve animals. They love the train ride, playing in the fountains, the carousel, and cool tree themed playground. It has a rock wall for kids to climb on. Joshua tried it out for the first time last week, and he was a natural! I finally said we needed to leave because my nerves were shot, but I'm pretty sure this was just the start of many future rock climbing adventures for my boy...and just the start of my nervous onlooking...

My have a beard...

2011-02-20T22:13:00.000-05:00

Brielle has started eating her food with some sticking to her top lip and then saying in her silly voice, "My have a beard!" She is such a goofball.

A recent bubble bath gave another opportunity for her new exclamation...

big GIRL bed

2011-02-20T22:10:00.000-05:00

There's a lot of growing up going on at our house lately as we prepare for the arrival of the new baby. Not only do we now have a big boy in a big boy bed, we also have a big girl in a big girl bed! We bought Josh a trundle bed when we moved him out of the crib in preparation for the new baby coming and the two "big" kids sharing a room.

We had company staying with us in January and use Brielle's room as our guest room. We'd planned to have Brielle sleep in our room, but on a whim we decided to try her in with Josh and just see how it went. We had the Pack n Play set up in our room and were ready to pull the plug at any point. After a few duets of the ABC's, some strobe light action from the light switch, giggling, and Josh repeatedly saying, "Brielle, momma said, 'Go to sleep!'", combined with quite a few reprimands from me and Daniel, they finally went to sleep and slept through the night!

We don't put them together every night yet, just depends on how badly we think they need to go to sleep right away. And, there are still many shenanigans going on in the room. They just aren't very sneaky either because it would be okay if they were up whispering and giggling quietly, but instead they're jumping on the bed and singing "Jesus Loves Me" at the top of their lungs - their song choice makes it kind of hard to charge in a dole out discipline!

Anyway, we are proud of our big kids and how well they are doing sleeping together (that is once they actually fall asleep)!

Big Boy Bed

2011-01-25T17:10:00.000-05:00

We recently moved Joshua from his crib to a big boy bed in preparation for the new sleeping arrangements once the baby comes. He's done such a great job with the adjustment, and I think is very proud of himself.

I know it probably won't always be this way, but for now, he seems to be staying in bed, is still taking good naps and sleeping through the night, and calls us in the morning to come get him rather than getting out himself...overall, the transition has been much smoother than I'd dared to hope!

Out of the blue he requested Spider Man sheets and has LOVED them!

This is him posing in his usual sleeping position

He has adopted a "lovey" since moving out of the crib...right now it is a pink teddy bear...we may have to encourage a switch-a-roo to something a little less...pink...before he gets too attached!

Brielle Belle turns 2!

2011-01-25T17:01:00.000-05:00

It's hard to believe Brielle is already two, but at the same time, she's talking so well and doing so much, that she seems like a big kid already too! We celebrated Brielle's 2nd birthday on Christmas Day evening, after all of the regular Christmas festivities had calmed down.

Getting a little help with her candles

We have really enjoyed this second year with Brielle Joy. She learned to talk like a champ, sing, run (she's fast too), and dance. It's been fun to see Josh and Brielle interacting more and more. They now have conversations together and play pretend (and of course, lots of disagreements and fights too). Brielle is definitely learning to hold her own though, and we are seeing that we have to be careful to not assume big brother Josh is at fault - because sometimes she's the instigator. (The other day I found her alone in front of the mirror, shaking her finger and repeating, "No, it's mine! No, it's mine!"...I guess she was just practicing or something!)

Some of Brielle's favorite things to do are to swing, play outside, push her shopping cart around the house, make us "coffee" and other assorted foods, read books, wear her squeaky shoes, and sing the ABC's. She has the sweetest little voice and can say anything she wants to. She is friendly and laid-back, but has always had a little spunk of her own. We are now seeing her "two-ness" come out and are having to spend more time training and correcting, but overall she has been such a blessing to our family and brings us many, many, many smiles and laughs every day. We look forward to what Year 3 will hold!

White Christmas

2011-01-25T16:11:00.067-05:00

This year we were more than dreaming of a white Christmas, we were livin' the dream! (To the extreme...)

We spent Christmas in the Midwest for the first time since the kids have been born. Until I moved to Florida, I didn't realize how much Christmas is associated with snow, sleighs, cold weather, etc. So many of the songs and images of Christmastime are those types of scenes, but it had never struck me because that was what it actually looked like outside during this season. I remember seeing a Christmas cup with a snow scene during my first winter in Florida and realizing that it looked so out of place because that's not at all what Christmas looks like here. I still have a hard time getting into the holiday mood each year because it doesn't "feel" like Thanksgiving or Christmas. but I definitely have acclimated to the Florida climate. I can't handle the cold anymore!

I was a little nervous when we told Joshua that he would get to play in snow this year at Christmas because while they usually have snow, you can't always count on a white Christmas. No problems in the snow department though. There was record snowfall for the month of December and great weather for playing outside. We spent a few days in Minnesota first, doing Christmas with my family and playing in the snow, then headed to Iowa for Christmas with the extended Nettleton clan and more snowy fun!

Sledding in Papa's yard

Eating some tasty snow

Joshua had high expectations for the fun he would have in the snow and wasn't disappointed! We played outside at least an hour every day we were there. Brielle wasn't as into it. She'd start saying, "Go inside" not long after we went out, but never insisted on it. She went sledding and ate snow and all the other stuff, but seemed pretty indifferent. I guess she's a true Beach Girl!

We also toured a model train museum and did a special Christmas light tour in Phalen Park. Then we headed to Iowa for the rest of the festivities. We woke up on Christmas Eve morning to a fresh snowfall of about 8". Our cars were stuck and we almost couldn't get out of the driveway for the evening festivities.

We spent Christmas Eve at Joe and Lori's house eating our traditional chili and oyster stew (plus the delicious additon of lobster bisque). Christmas Day was spent at Grandma's house preparing the turkey and fixin's and opening gifts...we ended up the evening with a lively game of Shanghai rummy and the next morning we were off to the airport to head back South! We had a really great trip! The kids traveled and slept really well and fun times were had by all!

Think Pink!

2011-01-02T16:11:00.000-05:00

We found out on December 2nd, that Kuder Baby #3 is a GIRL! We are were surprised, but are excited for Joshua and Brielle to have a new sister. Now, we just have to get to work picking a name, resisting buying all the adorable clothes, and figuring out the best bedroom situation.

The pregnancy is going great at this point. I can feel her moving a lot, am not too big yet, and have overcome the first trimester food aversions and exhaustion. Whew!

21 weeks

Christmas Letter

2010-12-25T22:46:00.001-05:00

I'm posting this here, mostly for my benefit as I look back on the past...Here's our 2010 Christmas card pictures and letter...

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! We hope your family has had a wonderful 2010. Our year has been BUSY! Chasing two toddlers has kept us on our toes, filled the house with endless noise, and brought tons of priceless moments! It has been fun to see Josh and Brielle start to really play together this year. Thankfully, they get along pretty well most of the time.

Joshua (3) has fully mastered talking and is very inquisitive! He loves to talk on the phone and is good to always ask the other person, “What are you doing today?” Josh enjoys trains, trucks, and playing outside, especially at the beach!

Brielle (almost 2) is talking, running, singing, and dancing right alongside her big brother. She has the sweetest voice and delights in saying “Hi” repeatedly to people. She is starting to get into dress-up and baby dolls, but also likes to push her dump truck around and can hold her own with the “big” kids!

Daniel and I have kept busy with the essentials – work, kids, house, an occasional date…and this year, football! We had season tickets for Florida State football this fall and enjoyed a great season cheering on the Seminoles! Last, but not least, we are excited to welcome another baby girl to our family in May! Check out our blog for the latest family updates and pictures--http://danvanadventure.blogspot.com.

May God bless you richly in 2011!

Feliz Navidad

2010-12-19T23:18:00.002-05:00

We have had a lot of holiday action already this year and it's only December 19th. We celebrated Christmas with Daniel's immediate family on Dec 11th. It was a full weekend with Christmas dinner on Friday night, Janelle's FSU graduation on Saturday morning, our kids first trip to Lake Ella, and Christmas on Saturday evening. It was great to be together, but we sure missed the Mike, Melanie and the cousins!

Loving her new dress up clothes

When Josh first got in the tent he said, "This is fun!"

On Friday night, the Burkes invited us to St. Augustine for a train tour of the lights. They also had a Santa's workshop set-up with some crafts for the kids to do and kid karoake!

McKenna gave a great rendition of Jingle Bells and Josh yelled a jolly, "Merry Christmas" repeatedly!

I tried to get it on video, but it didn't quite come out...the end is the kids dancing to Feliz Navidad.

And finally the last of our pre-Christmas Christmases...we had our family Christmas on Saturday morning. Daniel treated us to holiday shaped French Toast for breakfast.

Then we opened presents. We gave Joshua a wooden train set and Brielle some furniture for her baby dolls. They also opened gifts from Tata and Papa. Josh was so excited and was good to say "Thank you for my..." after each gift that he opened. Brielle is just starting to get into opening presents.

Note Tata and Papa on Skype in the background

Tata and Papa to the Rescue

2010-12-18T20:31:00.001-05:00

We were so glad to have my parents here for the month of November. You can always count on good meals, lots of laughs, and free babysitting when Tata and Papa are around. They hadn't been down since April, so we were anxious for them to come visit.

While they were here, it was mostly life as usual. I scheduled all my yearly appointments while I had childcare, so I made visits to the doctor, eye doctor, dentist, hair dresser, and caught up with some friends. We took an outing to Conner's A-maize-ing Acres, went to the beach, did some landscaping, went to the St. Augustine outlets, had Brielle's baby dedication at church, and did lots of playing. (I guess that's a lot of stuff to do in just a month, especially when you throw in two trips to Tally for football games, plus Thanksgiving, and the first trimester of pregnancy!)

We did a house swap for two nights. They watched the kids at our house, while Dan and I stayed at their condo. Dan and I did a tour of the Beaches restaurants, hitting up The Reef (St. Augustine), Salt Life, Roy's (progressive dinner - Happy Hour oceanside at The Reef, dinner at Salt Life, and dessert at Roy's.) The next morning we continued the tour with Bagel World, Starbucks, Angie's Subs, and Mezza Luna. Finally, we topped it all off the next day with breakfast at The Beach Hut. We didn't do a whole lot - we bought some new jeans for Dan (something we've been talking about for literally years!), finished reading the Francis Chan book Crazy Love that we'd been working on forever, explored Fort Caroline, and walked on the beach...oh, we even worked out. We came back refreshed and reconnected (and full!).

Tata and Papa kept the kids busy while we were away with a field trip to Krispy Kreme to learn how doughnuts are made and a visit to the train at the Beaches Museum.

We are so grateful that they are willing and able to come and visit for extended periods of time. It's really helped the kids to feel connected to them and has been such a blessing for me to have extra hands and company during the times Dan is working a lot. We are looking forward to their next visit coming up already in January!

Skateboarder

2010-12-18T16:16:00.000-05:00

Joshua has been extremely interested in skateboards for a while now. He loves to stop by the skate park at our playground to watch the big kids and keeps asking if he's big enough yet to get his very own. We didn't think he was, until one day at the park he was able to get his hands on another little boy's and give it a try (and this boy was younger than Josh). Joshua did great riding it all over the tennis court with one knee on the board and using the other leg to propel himself, proving that he was indeed already "big enough" for a skateboard.

Daniel's brother, Jeremy, gave us his old one to give to Josh, and we decided it would make a good "Officially Pottytrained" reward. We Skyped with Jeremy on the morning Josh received his big gift and here's a few pictures to capture his delight.

Speaking of pottytraining...wow! We are soooooo happy that Joshua has mastered this skill. It took three different attempts over about 9 months before we could truly say he's got it! We are so proud of our big boy and what a good job he's doing now staying clean and dry ALL of the time! (Too bad I won't get much of a break before it's Brielle's turn - here's to hoping what everyone says is true - "Girls are easier!")

Preparing for the holidays

2010-12-18T09:01:00.001-05:00

We've been busy in the kitchen preparing holiday treats. It's fun to do cute projects now that the kids get a kick out of them. I made Pear Bear (in my case, Apple Bear) muffins from an idea in a Publix magazine and also had fun making some Turkey Cookies for Thanksgiving.

I've got some good little helpers too!(Making breakfast one morning, everyone needed a turn with the wisk - some with Cheerios, others with eggs)

After a cold morning walk (Josh, Brielle, and our friend Jude all began crying as soon as the strollers turned around heading into the wind), we NEEDED a hot chocolate picnic to warm us up!

We've also been busy around the house putting up and enjoying our Christmas decorations. We have an extra pretty (and large) Christmas tree this year. We were in Tally when Papa and Gigi set up their tree. As soon as Josh woke up from his nap and found the tree, he kept asking where the Christmas Star was for the top. At first, we couldn't figure out how he knew there should be a star on top, it's not like he remembers last year, but then we realized it was from a Word World episode we'd watched weeks earlier about the holidays. Good thing our tree topper at home is a star and not an angel or we'd be in trouble. He was seriously, almost obsessively, concerned about it. (Papa and Gigi's star never did turn up, so Papa got sent out on a special mission the day we arrived in Tally for Kuder Christmas to ensure that there was a star on top by the time Joshy arrived...good thing too. He definitely noticed!)

I just realized how great the kids have been with the tree this year. Last year, we considered not even putting one up because we couldn't imagine them not bothering it all the time (we did put one up, but carefully placed all breakable ornaments). This year, Brielle touched some ornaments the first day, but I only had to discipline her once to get the message across and since then it hasn't been an issue at all. Yay!

I also had a little bit of fun getting my "crafty" on by making some handprint Christmas tree tshirts with some girlfriends.

Thanksgiving in Belleview

2010-12-17T08:37:00.002-05:00

We were excited to get to go to Redneck Thanksgiving again this year after missing last year due to Daniel's work schedule. The entire Jake Perry Family was there, so it was fun to catch up with the cousins and of course see Mimi and Papa, and all the rest of the extended, extended family.

The food was great, the weather beautiful, and the kids had a blast enjoying our Thanksgiving meal out in the oak hammock on Uncle Juddy and Aunt Lillian's ranch in Central Florida.

As they get older, the kids have really started enjoying time with their cousins. We are sad that they no longer live in Florida and we won't be seeing them as often. Brielle and Jessie enjoyed this game for hours!

We headed to Tallahassee for the rest of the weekend to hang with the fam and, of course, to cheer the Seminoles on to victory over UF on Saturday afternoon!

Brielle's "Baby" Dedication

2010-12-16T20:36:00.002-05:00

We finally had Brielle dedicated at church on November 21st. Snuck it in before she turned 2 - that's still a baby, right? Regardless, it was important to Daniel and I to ask for our church family's support in raising her in the Lord and to make a public commitment to do our part as well. Afterward, we had a quick celebration with swings and Cici's Pizza! (Pictures in the church didn't turn out well, so we just have pics of the after parties!)

Check out that hottie in his new jeans...

The girl of honor definitely enjoyed herself!

Latest addition

2010-11-11T21:28:00.000-05:00

The more the merrier...

We are excited to announce we're expecting Baby #3 around May 10th. I'm 14 weeks along now, feeling good, and the baby's heart is beating strong. Can't wait to find out on Dec. 2 if Joshua and Brielle will have a brother or sister!

Conner's - Part II

2010-11-09T15:18:00.000-05:00

We returned to Conner's A-maize-ing Acres for another dose of down-home farm fun! The cowboy boots also made a repeat appearance. This time we took Daddy, Tata, and Papa and met up with the Murphys once we got there. More fun was had by all...

This girl loves to swing

Not sure Daddy will fit in the cow train

Tate and Brielle on the hayride

Josh and Asher feeding cows on the hayride


So many fun things to do there!

Sorry I didn't get a picture of everyone...it was a little bit of a whirlwind tour!

Vintage

2010-11-08T08:54:00.001-05:00

Brielle wore vintage Kuder wear to church on Sunday...she was retro cute!

Josh wanted his picture taken too - in his new winter coat that he LOVES!

Needless to say, it was bathtime!

2010-11-02T14:12:00.000-05:00

Kids had a blast playing at the field next to our house

Conner's A-maize-ing Acres

2010-10-26T15:36:00.001-05:00

Last week we visited Conner's A-maize-ing Acres with our MOPS group. It's a family run farm that puts on a fall festival with a corn maze, hayride, pumpkin patch, petting zoo and other fun stuff. We all had a blast and are hoping to go back there with Daddy, Papa and Tata before the end of the season.

Joshua had just gotten cowboy boots from Gigi and Papa for his birthday, so, of course, the cowboy wanted to wear them to the farm. I couldn't believe it, he tromped around all day in those things! What a stud!


Brielle was the leader of our whole group in the corn maze.

Best buddies

Fun times playing in the "corn box"

Common quote around our house, "What's that farmer doin'?"

On the homefront

2010-10-26T15:08:00.001-05:00

It seems like life has been extra busy around here lately. It's just the usual stuff - work, housework, fun with friends, etc. I guess both kids are going through some new phases right now that are requiring some extra energy and training on our part, so I think that's leading to some of the extra tiredness we're feeling at the end of the day.

Brielle is starting to act like a two year old! Imagine that! She now has an opinion and definitely makes it known when she doesn't like something. We're trying to nip in the bud her new habits of screaming when she doesn't get her way, whining, and throwing a fit. The other day she started throwing her first temper tantrum (which I was ignoring) and in the process ran right into the couch and got a little boo-boo. It worked out perfectly because she got distracted from the temper tantrum, I was able to comfort her, and we all moved on. She is a clumsy little thing, but at least this once it worked out to everyone's advantage!

Joshua has been working on potty-training, which anyone who's been through it can attest to how exhausting that is. It's been a long haul with him...he's definitely capable, but that strong will of his gets in the way sometimes, and he'd just rather play than pee. Ugh! He's also entered the "why" phase. I know this is normal, but Josh seems to have taken it to an extreme! We sometimes think it's literally going to drive us insane! It is non-stop and often after we give a command (unacceptable) or at a time when "why?" doesn't make any sense and there's just no answer to it (nor does he really care about our answer). So, we're wrestling with how to encourage his curiosity, but preserve our sanity and make sure that he's not questioning our authority...oh, life as a parent, somehow, I don't think it really gets any easier as they get older...


Daniel fried up a big platter of fish he'd caught! Yum-yum!

We've been feeling a little out of sorts because we've never taken our kids camping, and it was such a big part of what we did before kids. At the same time, we were skeptical that it would work because both kids are still in cribs and just seemed too active...but, other people with toddlers do it, so we figured we'd give it a shot...in the safety of our backyard, that is.


Testing out Brielle's sleeping bag

We bought the kids fun sleeping bags, ate dinner outside, set up the tent, built a fire in the chiminea - everything was going relatively smoothly. Then it was bedtime. We got our PJs on inside the tent, read a bedtime story with flashlights, and did our nighttime prayers and songs. As soon as we tried to get Brielle to lay down she started crying and saying, "Hold you, mommy." She wouldn't calm down until I stood up holding her and got upset again if I tried to sit down. Joshua was doing okay, but obviously, not asleep with all that going on around him. We decided it just wasn't going to work for Brielle, that we had nothing to prove, and it would be better to get a good night's sleep and enjoy our Saturday together rather than all be cranky and tired. So, I went to take Brielle inside to sleep in her crib. We gave Josh the option to stay outside or inside, but he wanted to be with me, so we all wound up in the house, in our own beds.

While it didn't go as we'd hoped, it went pretty much as expected, and definitely answered any notions we had about attempting to camp anytime in the near future...so, overall, I'd say it was success! Thank the Lord we weren't at a campground far from home and that the kids went right to sleep once they were in their own beds. (I guess that's the downfall of sleep training your kids to fall asleep on their own...once and a while it sure would be convenient if they would fall asleep in your arms or laying next to you, but it's a small price to pay for the many, many, many nights of uninterrupted sleep we've enjoyed these past three years!)

Happy 3rd Birthday, Joshua!

2010-10-19T21:08:00.000-05:00

Joshua has been talking about his next birthday since October 14th of last year - wondering if it's his 'birthday time' and requesting another choo-choo cake, just like last year! It's been fun to see him so excited about something. For several months after he turned two, whenever we sang Happy Birthday to anyone else, he always sang 'dear Joshy'. He's recently come to the realization that every birthday is not for him, but I don't think he minds, since they all still involve cake, friends, and fun times!

Joshua started his birthday morning off with a couple of serenades...one from Sis and one from himself. When he walked out of his room and saw the birthday banners I hung up, he said, "Does that say 'Happy Birthday, Josh'?" So cute...and smart! ;)

For breakfast he ate a chocolate donut with candles in it, then we were off to the zoo with the whole family for his special day.

Joshua got to ride on the train at the zoo, as well as ride the carousel there for the first time. Brielle wanted nothing to do with it (I knew this from previous experience and didn't even try to take her on), but even started crying while watching Joshua and Daddy ride. Too funny! I'm not sure if she was afraid I was about to put her on it or was scared for them, but for whatever reason, she lost it!

After naps, HaHa came over for a dinner, cake, and presents. Josh LOVED his choo-choo cake again. For whatever reason, it truly delights him. So fun.

Brielle enjoyed it too, I think!

For his present, we bought him a zoo train (how appropriate). He has loved it and played with it all the time since.

It's hard to believe how much our boy has grown up this past year, and even especially so in just the past few months. He's gone from speaking in only phrases, to whole sentences, paragraphs, and thoughts. Throughout the year he's transitioned from asking "What's that?" to "What's his name?" to "Where are they going?" (about every person or car we pass) and now we've moved on to the dreaded "Why?" (we're wondering how long this phase is gonna last!). We are glad he's so inquisitive, but the questions just keep getting harder!

He has started to enjoy reading books. Some current favorites are Oliver and Fire Cat. Joshua continues to be a great big brother. He asks for an extra lollipop from his Sunday School teachers so he can give one to his sister! We've been working hard on potty training, and I think we've almost got it down. Joshua is still into trains, planes, cars, balls, dirt, the beach, getting dirty - basically all things BOY. He's started to like going for rides in the boat and canoe and is showing an interest in fishing...much to Daniel's delight. He makes us laugh everyday. Yesterday when he needed a tissue he told me he needed a 'noser'...not a bad guess while trying to figure out the difficult English language!

Overall, Joshua is independent, extroverted, curious, and active. He loves to leave home and asks every morning what we're going to be doing that day. We still can't tell him more than moments ahead of time what our plans are because the anticipation drives him crazy - he wants to go NOW!

We love our boy - he's brought so much joy into our lives. We are thankful to God for this past year we've had with Joshua and look forward to what the coming year will bring!

Florida State, Florida State, Florida State, Wooo!

2010-10-19T20:14:00.001-05:00

We have season tickets for the first time for FSU football. Although only a 'Nole (or even football fan for that matter) by marriage, I've enjoyed the games and everything that comes with it. It's been fun for Daniel and I to spend time together doing something we wouldn't normally do (and something that's close to his heart). We've also gotten to spend a lot of time with our good friends, Brian and Amy. (Daniel was friends with Brian in high school and roommates in college, and he has known Amy literally his whole life.) And, of course, it hasn't hurt that FSU is having their best season in several years, so we've gotten to see them WIN some games too!

An added bonus has been getting to spend more time with Daniel's family. We haven't made it to Tallahassee much lately because of our schedule and the difficulty of traveling with kids (much easier now with a minivan and lifesaving DVD player). It's been fun for us to see everyone more and especially fun to see Joshua and Brielle bond even more with Papa and Gigi. Brielle is Gigi's girl! She runs right to her when we get there yelling "Hi, Gigi. Hi, Gigi!", grabs their special book about farm animals, and heads for the couch. Josh is completely entertained with the ponds for fishing, a swingset, and tractor rides!

So far, so good as far as the season goes. It will be interesting to see what the rest of the season holds...

Daniel and Jeremy doing the Chop!

Fashionista

2010-10-06T21:28:00.000-05:00

Brielle has started showing a lot of interest in dressing herself. She especially likes to put on and take off shoes (regardless of who they belong to) and really wants to learn to take off her socks. Here's some of her 'outfits'.

She likes to put on Josh's big boy underwear and waddle up to me saying, "Dry. Dry."

She put this outfit together all on her own...

shoes on the correct feet, PJ shorts backwards and inside out, bib, and beach hat!

So silly!

Introduction to Popsicles

2010-10-06T21:23:00.000-05:00

Well, Josh and Brielle now know what a popsicle. Thanks to a bout with Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease, Joshua's diet for the past week has been yogurt, applesauce, popsicles, and mac 'n cheese...

We're over the illness - that was a doozie, though. Here's some pics of the kids enjoying a treat and the beautiful weather:

Poor kid doesn't know what a popsicle is...

2010-09-28T20:34:00.001-05:00

Josh brought this home from Sunday School saying, "What are those kids doing with those knives?" (Knives was pronounced "Nife-is") Apparently the meaning of the verse was lost on him. Cracked me up...hardest I've laughed in a long time!

Aunt Nene

2010-08-24T15:22:00.004-05:00

Since Dan had to return home to work, my sister, who's a teacher in Minneapolis, graciously accompanied me and the kids on the flight back from Minnesota. While we really appreciated having an extra set of hands around, not only for the flight, but for the entire next week, mostly we were just glad to get to spend more time with Renee since we don't see each other very often. The kids definitely bonded with her, and were asking where she was the morning after she left...she'd become a part of their everyday lives!

We took it pretty easy because the kids were worn out from our time in Minnesota. We did venture out for a few trips to the beach and a day trip to Alexander Springs. We introduced Renee to some of our favorite Jacksonville eateries, including The Seafood Kitchen, Al's Pizza, and Chick-fil-a (Chick-fil-a doesn't venture that far into Yankee country). We also set out to cook up some recipes from my 'To Try' folder. We made Venezuelan Arepas (that I had eaten in NYC this spring), Gyros and Greek Salad, and Shrimp Tacos with Corn Salsa and Minted Sour Cream.

I did a terrible job capturing her visit on film, but we did get the camera out at the springs. We like to introduce people to what we call 'The Real Florida' when they come to visit. That way they find out there's more to Florida than Disney, palm trees, and beaches...and sweat. Going to a spring is our favorite way to blow the stereotypes, but we needed to find one that was kid-friendly. Dan did an awesome job in picking Alexander Springs. It had a sandy bottom and was shallow almost all the way across, except for over by the spring where it was deep, cold, and you could snorkel and see the limestone formations and some fish. So fun! I wish only it wasn't quite so far away, so we could go there more often. We're considering making it the destination for our first family camping trip, maybe this fall.

General view of the spring. The aqua part is where the spring is.

All you non-Floridians should check one out sometime!

The girlies

The kids really enjoyed being in some shallow, wave-free water.

Look how clear it is!

Josh had a little too much fun!

But had one more good picture left in him

Thanks for all your help and company, Renee!

Fun in the Land of 10,000 Lakes

2010-08-17T19:58:00.001-05:00

After our whirlwind Iowa tour, we headed back to Minnesota to my parent's house. Dan was able to stay a couple more days, and the kids and I stayed another week after he left. My grandma came back up with us for the week as well. It was good to get more time with her and fun to see the kids bond with her. Brielle would always greet her, "Hi, gra-ma-ma." in her sweet voice.

How many great grandmas can still do this?

Riding Rawhide - our rocking horse growing up!

(Yes, my parents save everything.)

Josh was in heaven in the basement full of tractors, trucks, and balls

My mom had lots of fun kids activities lined up for us while we were there. We went to a storytime at their church named "Moose on the Loose" which was perfect for our kids with their imaginary pet moose. We also went to Como Park Zoo and saw lots of animals, including ones we don't have in Jacksonville, like polar bears. We played at some parks and went to see a puppet show.

And of course, we enjoyed lots of delicious food...

And enjoyed the cooler weather...

Catch me if you can, Gra-ma-ma!

Splashes and Showers

2010-08-17T19:43:00.002-05:00

Here's a recap of the rest of our adventures in Iowa. It was the first time we've stayed in a hotel as a family for a long time, maybe the first time ever with all four of us. The kids enjoyed the swivel chair, breakfast bar, and swimming pool.

Brielle is really good with the water wings, but every time the water touches her chin she just starts giggling and can't keep balanced anymore. It's so funny (and delightful)!

Hotel Room Fun

On my mom's side of the family, the aunts always host a wedding shower when one of the cousins get married. For a while there was about one a year (with 21 cousins, that's not hard), but Dan and I were actually the last to get married, so it's been 7 years. Brielle and I attended the luau shower while the boys went to McDonald's for a Happy Meal and to play on the playground.

World's Largest Grass Skirt
Aunt Shirley, Amy (the bride), my mom, Aunt DiAnn (mother of groom), and Aunt Teddy

After the shower, we packed up and headed back up to Minnesota for more adventures with Tata and Papa!

Congrats to Nathan and Amy

2010-08-01T15:14:00.006-05:00

Next we were off to Des Moines to celebrate my cousin Nathan's marriage. He and his bride, Amy, got married this spring in Maui, but had a reception in Iowa this month, so we were able to celebrate with them and see lots of family in the process.

(Thanks to Facebook for supplying this gorgeous pic)

In honor of the luau theme, Renee and I wore vintage Hawaiian dresses that belonged to my mom when she and my dad were stationed in Hawaii with the Navy in the '70s!

The kids went crazy chasing beach balls all night!

Josh really enjoyed himself at the par-tay! I think it was his first experience with The Chicken Dance - surely not the last. Here's a few videos of Josh breakin' it down...

Life is Good in Ames, IA

2010-08-01T15:11:00.001-05:00

All 3 of us in Life is Good t-shirts

Our next pit stop was a brief visit at my alma mater, Iowa State University. We met up with my good friend, Lori, at one of our favorite places to eat - Hickory Park. It just so happened that another college friend, James, was in town at the same time! I hadn't seen James in about 7 years, so it was fun to catch up with him too.

Lori brings a party wherever she goes and had brought tiaras, birthday hats, and decorations to the restaurant (not to mention all the celebratory window paint, body art, and sidewalk chalk awaiting us at her house). I felt very celebrated!

Dan stayed at Lori's house while the kids napped, and Lori and I went for a quick bicycle tour of campus. It had been a few years since I was there, and it brought back lots of good memories. There are new buildings and some things have changed, but at the same time it felt like a very familiar, happy place.

Photo courtesy of this site.

O we will fight, fight, fight for Iowa State,

And may her colors ever fly.

Yes, we will fight with might for Iowa State,

With a will to do or die,

Rah! Rah! Rah!

Loyal sons forever true,

And we will fight the battle through.

And when we hit that line we'll hit it hard

ev'ry yard for I.S.U.

Greene, IA

2010-08-01T14:43:00.002-05:00

We're back in the good ole Midwest for a few weeks for a whirlwind tour. The morning of my birthday we took an EARLY flight (dep 6am) into Minneapolis, met up with Tata and Papa, ate a quick lumberjack breakfast at Ikea, and drove to Great Grandma's house in Greene, IA...all before 3pm! Fun times in farm country were had by all...

Farmer Josh

They have different taste in lawn ornaments in IA!

Workin' hard

Swinging with Great Grandma

Our other swing lover

After a morning of 'working' the fields, we headed out to the Floyd County fair to check out the 4H animals.

In addition to our farming activities, the kids also enjoyed spending time and sharing delicious meals with Uncle Joe, Aunt Lori and twin cousins Sofie and Ryan. Sofie and Ryan are so good to play with Josh and Brielle and make them feel like one of the big kids.

Fish Tale

2010-06-23T14:36:00.000-05:00

In May, our good friend, Mark, was in town for the afternoon, and, of course, Daniel wanted to take him out on the boat. They headed to the intracoastal just north of our house and had a fishing trip to remember! It was dusk, and apparently, the fish were going crazy jumping up out of the water constantly all around them like nothing they've ever seen before. They claim that they'd have had a great trip even if they hadn't caught any fish, but I think bringing some fish home definitely increased the experience.

BIG REDFISH - almost too big to keep

(I think it was 9 pounds?)

2 Redfish and 1 Sea Trout

They got back after dark and were excited (and hungry), so Dan cleaned the fish and blackened them outside while I made cheese grits. Dinner (or second dinner for me) was served at 11pm and was delicious! Can't get any fresher than that!

Growth through Changes

2010-06-22T19:43:00.001-05:00

While I typically use this blog mostly for sharing our daily lives with our friends and family through photos and stories (a.k.a. bragging about my kids), our family has walked through something this year that I want to document and remember in the future. (I recently found out I can my blog into a book, and think this should be recorded as part of our family life this year.)

Over a year ago Daniel and I began discussing changing churches. It was for a variety of reasons, mostly revolving around trying to figure out what was going to be best for our family in the long run. The church we were attending is small (but growing) and there aren't a lot of young families in the church. It has it's strength and weaknesses - as do all churches, but for me it had become family. There were a lot of things about the church we love...focus on the Word, right in our neighborhood, and genuine, welcoming people to name a few. And, the body of Christ has served us sooo much as we welcomed our two children into the world with baby showers and meals.

But, although we had attended regularly and had been fairly involved for three years, we had never both been at peace about joining the church at the same time. At first, I was more skeptical and hesitant and then Daniel was. When Dan started talking seriously about visiting other churches, I was sad...but, supportive. I knew if we weren't both content with our church that eventually it would cause major problems in our marriage and family. Although I didn't want to leave, I did want Daniel to be happy and to find a place we could both agree on. He was also sympathetic to my feelings and didn't want it to just be a role reversal, where we just went somewhere else and he was content, but I wasn't.

We visited several churches, but didn't fall in love with any. It's hard to really "get to know" a church when you only attend once in a while. And, both of us are looking for more than just a great Sunday morning experience out of our church home. Around Thanksgiving, we decided to try plugging into the church that seemed like the 'best' choice until the end of the year and then re-evaluate.

The new church is much bigger - probably 10 times bigger - which provides more resources, but also a completely different atmosphere. I still miss the relationships at the old church and the comfort of being known. Looking back, God had been graciously preparing me for this change though. I had been in a summer bible study at that church, so I had met several women already. Also, the MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group that I have loved attending this year meets at that church and several of the moms involved go there. Plus, some good friends of ours go there and helped us get acclimated. These connections helped to make the church feel less impersonal and intimidating to me. We've been attending there regularly about 6 months and while it doesn't feel like home (yet), overall, it's been good for our family. We are growing in our relationship with God, making new friends, and doing better at spending time in the Word.

But, what I wanted to record here is the way God worked in us to change a potentially divisive decision into an opportunity to willingly submit to one another (Ephesians 5:21). Since we are both pretty laid back (and are still crazy in love), we don't have major disagreements all that often, but typically when we do, it causes tension, tears, resentment and bitterness. This time it was different...while definitely emotional, we didn't direct our emotions at each other, but were able to listen to each other, take our time really sort out our true feelings, desires, and fears, and realize that we really ultimately desired the same thing - to be in the best place for each member of our family to grow in Christ. Daniel was willing to remain at the other church if that's what I really wanted...and not begrudgingly, he would have made the most of it. And, I was willing to lay aside the security of the old church, in order to find a new place with even more potential for everyone. It was neat to be able to follow Daniel's leadership, even as it hurt, with a willing heart...and knowing he was willing to sacrifice for me too. We are still in transition, but this process has grown us individually and brought us closer together.

Zoo Delight

2010-06-21T00:00:00.001-05:00

As we pulled up to the entrance to the zoo, Josh squealed and exclaimed in his happiest voice, "Yay, zoo! Yay!" Dan and I thought our hearts would burst. It brings such joy to give your children something that brings such pure delight.

One thing I love about my toddlers is that they have no awareness of self. They don't try to restrain their emotions according to social norms. They cry, shout, clap, love, wave, whine, and laugh as they feel it. It's genuine, real, raw. While learning to control their emotions is an important skill as they get older, I'm NOT looking forward to them becoming aware of themselves and self-conscious. I dread those wounds to their hearts that are an inevitable part of growing up. I hate that those experiences will shape them and influence how they express themselves. And, I hope that our family will always be a place where they are free to express who they really are.

Yet, I know there are lessons to be learned in the hurts that will come. Hardships draw us to God and help us learn the valuable traits of finding our security in Him alone, being steadfast, loving our enemies, and so much more. It will break our hearts, but hopefully will make both us as parents and our children draw close to God for comfort that only He can give.

Baseball

2010-06-19T14:26:00.000-05:00

Joshua has been practicing hitting a baseball off of a homemade tee. He's pretty good at it...

walk and talk

2010-06-09T15:30:00.003-05:00

I'm stealing Melanie's blog post about our trip to New York. She said it WAAAY better than I could have, so, here you go, a recap of the essence of my girl's trip to the Big Apple...

Mel writes:

vanessa and i have known each other for more than 20 years now ... i suppose as the years increase, that might get a little easier to believe. we began as friends through gymnastics carpool and junior high youth group; grew together through high school mission trips and a college career of roommate-hood and overall inseparability; and have remained close as we have each gone through multiple jobs and moves, met and married our sweet guys, and given birth to two children apiece. what a tremendous blessing, to have a friend who has seen just about all there is to see of my life -- the old, the new, the ugly, the beautiful. so many jokes, so many stories and memories.

i e-mailed vanessa a while back and told her i had a secret dream that the two of us mamas might be able to get away to New York City for a few days and live like the grown-up girls we once were ... drinking coffee, walking slowly, eating at non-kid-friendly restaurants, and talking as long as we wanted to. and a few weekends ago, our husbands each held down the fort at home with the kiddos while we did just that.

we saw a wonderful show, ate several different kinds of special desserts, rode subways and walked all over the city. we spent time with a college friend and were so blessed by her hospitality (thanks, kristen!). but what characterized our weekend, more than any other activity, was genuine conversation -- a precious commodity for moms. just like in our college days, we found ourselves struggling to keep our voices down as we lay in bed chatting away long after we meant to go to sleep.

PJs from East Asia

2010-05-14T23:16:00.000-05:00

My parents brought some pjs for the kids back from their visit to my brother last year while he was serving as a missionary in East Asia. I finally put them both in them tonight and it's a good thing I did because they won't fit much longer. The kids weren't really in a picture taking mood, so I did the best I could to capture the cuteness of their Asian stylings!

Chinaman

Strut that stuff, Briellie!

Strikin' a pose

Brielle is really into closing doors right now...Unfortunately, Josh DOES NOT like his bedroom door closed when he's just waking up...and Brielle is usually anxious to come greet her brother in the morning and after naptime. It causes much distress for our boy until we get a doorstop firmly in place.

BFF

2010-05-14T22:55:00.002-05:00

Josh and Brielle have really started playing together a lot lately which makes my heart happy. Their favorite thing to do is ride their little cars around and around the house chasing each other.

It's hard to get an action shot...they move sooo fast!

Here they are at their most common destination - "Gigi's house"

Together in the 'boat'

Choo-choo (hmm, realizing vehicles are the toy of choice, real or created, around here)

Before and After

In the puddles at Joshy's beach

And last but certainly not least...

Plus one final bonus...

(So, yeah, a few n*ked pictures in these last few posts...but, it is summertime in Florida, we are potty training (sort of), and...they are babies with uber-cute buns! Couldn't resist...hope they don't kill me when they're older!)

X-Treme Josh!

2010-05-14T22:10:00.002-05:00

Looks like Joshua has inherited a love for thrilling sports from his dad (and mom too, I suppose.) He has recently become VERY interested in skateboarding and loves to go watch the skaters at the skate park by our house. He REALLY wants a skateboard of his own. I keep telling him he has to wait until he's older, and he then responds, "My older NOW, mama!" Yes, but not old enough. Unfortunately, it will be at least a couple more years before he's ready to test out his skills, so he's got a while to wait. In the meantime, he's turning regular household items into skateboards, surfboards, boats, etc...and loves to jump off of things...the taller, the better.

The makeshift surfboard..."Joshy surf lil waves...Daddy surf BIIIIIIG waves."

A few weeks ago Joshua got it in his head that he NEEDED a 'bike'. One night before bed, he couldn't stop talking about it and was starting to get upset. To settle Josh down, I told him we'd talk to daddy about it in the morning. Daniel and I had talked about getting him a trike and a friend from work had offered to give us his hand-me-down, but they hadn't been able to connect for the hand-off. It worked out perfectly because Dan's friend had remembered the trike that day and left it at the hospital, so Dan was able to bring a 'bike' home for Josh the next morning (and it was free!). Joshua was thrilled. For the next four days, if Joshua was awake, he was sitting on his bike! He literally did NOTHING else. So fun to give your kids something that brings such delight!

We have taken it outside too, but since we live on a fairly busy street, so trying to keep an eye on both kids (who are undoubtedly riding in opposite directions) doesn't leave time for the camera!

Ummm, not sure what to say about this one...Extreme house vacuuming?

(Daniel says this one's a keeper for Josh's wedding slideshow!)

Goofball

2010-05-14T22:05:00.000-05:00

Brielle is such a goofball. She is constantly entertaining us and cracking herself up. Daniel and I were talking the other day about the nature of her goofyness and were finally able to put a finger on it. Unlike Josh who will be silly to get attention or make us laugh, Brielle does goofy things simply for her own enjoyment. It cracks her up and makes her giggle. She gets a kick out of it whether we're paying attention or not. So funny. She is ONE of a KIND! We love our precious goofball with her sweet ticklish spots, friendly nature, and hat and shoe fetish. It will be fun to see how her personality takes shape as she gets older. I often find myself praying that she'll be confident in who she is and remain a joyful, playful spirit.

CHEESE!

New favorite place to play

Her latest favorite hat...that girl will put anything on her head!

Mother's Day

2010-05-09T15:04:00.003-05:00

"Motherhood brings as much joy as ever, but it still brings boredom, exhaustion, and sorrow too. Nothing else ever will make you as happy or as sad, as proud or as tired, for nothing is quite as hard as helping a person develop his own individuality especially while you struggle to keep your own." - Marguerite Kelly and Elia Parsons

All caught up now!

2010-04-11T14:24:00.007-05:00

It's feast or famine with me and this blog, but I'm proud to be up to date now...I could vow never to fall that far behind again, but that's not a promise I'm willing to make... so for now, I'll be relieved to finally cross 'blog' off of my To Do list...for a few days anyway. YES!
Dan built a raised bed garden for us a few weeks ago. It's not too big, so it feels manageable and we can add another bed later if we want more space. This year, we planted corn, romaine lettuce, yellow beans, peppers, and tomatoes. We're having fun watching it grow.

Progress after only 10 days - amazing!

My little herb garden...basil, garlic chives, lemon grass, oregano, rosemary, sorrel, and mint

The weather has been beautiful this week, so we took full advantage of it with a trip to the zoo, two to the beach, and setting up our baby pool for the first time. Brielle seems to love being outside just as much as Joshua, and we're glad they're active. If the door is open, Brielle runs over to it and starts scooting out. (She started running this week. Also, got her first skinned knee today and didn't flinch or make a sound...just got up and kept on running down the sidewalk...such a second child.)

Swimming

Fun at the beach with friends

Brielle wandered around on her own...happy as a lark.

Love this action shot

Making their surfer daddies proud...boogie boards are surfboards in our house.

Making their mommas proud by playing so nicely together

A few more cute stories...mostly because I want to remember them...a month or so ago Josh picked up on the word Hallelujah in a song on the radio and started saying it, but then it died off. This week, he brought it back with a vengeance and randomly busts out with his own Hallelujah choruses. It's so precious to hear that sweet word coming from that little mouth. Brielle has started imitating him and saying it too...doubly precious!

Also, Josh has entered into the question asking phrase with his favorites being..."Who bought that?", "Who's car is that?", and "What's his name?". Sometimes "Who bought that?" isn't an appropriate question...like for homemade pumpkin bread, so we've corrected him with "Who made that?". It rained the other night and Josh's first question in the morning was, "Who made that rain?" Which he answered himself with, "God made it."

And finally, both kids are in a super friendly stage. Especially Brielle. They wave and say 'Hi' repeatedly to anyone and everyone we pass in public. It's fun to see how much it brightens other people's days and interesting to note how many people either don't hear them or ignore them...which causes Josh to say, "Talkin' you"...as in, "Hey, I'm talking to you here!" Too funny!

Christ the Lord is Risen Today...

2010-04-11T14:22:00.003-05:00

While we had a fun Easter 2010 filled with egg hunts, cute clothes, yummy food, and good times with friends and family, most importantly, we reflected on and celebrated Christ's conquering death once for all and the incomparable power that gives us who believe.

CUTIES! (before church)

Getting crazy (after church)

Since our kids are exhausted after church and Sunday lunch is usually an emotional meltdown, we decided to eat our Easter meal as an early dinner. Tata, Papa, and the Wights came over. We combined forces for a delicious spread and enjoyed the backyard.

This tree is the kids' favorite place to play

Daddies and babies

We had a few different egg hunts...the kids are just starting to get the hang of it.

(Just thought this was so cute of Elle juggling all the eggs in her hands.)

Giggle bunny

Latest Family Pic

Ski Trip

2010-04-11T14:05:00.000-05:00

Right after we got back from our cruise in November, Daniel got a brochure in the mail about an Emergency Medicine ski conference in Colorado taking place at the end of February. He immediately wanted to go (who wouldn't?), but knew that he didn't dare go without me. We started brainstorming ways we could make it happen...I wondered if I should feel guilty leaving the kids again so soon, but decided if Dan was for it, I should seize the opportunity to ski and have time alone with my husband. We hadn't beeing skiing in three years and I'd pretty much written off this ski season too, but you just never know what will happen.

We left the kids in Tallahassee with Daniel's parents and headed out to Copper Mountain, CO. It was so fun to just be together, go out for dinner every night, and most of all SKI! I always forget how much I love it and it surprises me how your body just remembers how to do it - like riding a bike. Daniel had lectures in the early morning and late afternoon, with most of the day open. We just relaxed the first day and went ice skating (our first time skating together).

Then we skied the next two days. The conditions were great - around 30 degrees and no lines to speak of.

We had a lot of fun and the kids did great too. Every time we'd call to check in Daniel's parents would say really great things like: "The kids are being good as gold." "We love them so much." "They're eating well and go to bed so easily." Just what a mom wants to hear when she's away! The kids really enjoyed extended time with Papa and Gigi and Joshua was talking about all the things they did there for days afterward.

We've been blessed this year to be able to get away just the two of us and have quality time together, a change of pace, and be able to do activities we used to enjoy that are harder to do with kids. It's been good for our relationship and we're so glad we have parents who gladly watch the kids for us. I think the grandparents enjoy it too!

Brielle's Birthday Party

2010-04-11T13:46:00.000-05:00

Still playing catch up, but not as far back as it appears since Brielle's birthday party was actually about 6 weeks after her birthday! We are still trying to figure out how to negotiate birthdays for our Christmas baby so it doesn't get lost in the shuffle. This year, since she didn't know any better, we celebrated on Christmas Day with family and then later with friends. In the future, we're thinking about trying to celebrate it early...that way it won't be lost in the Christmas bustle or during the post-Christmas exhaustion period. We'll see how it evolves though...

We got to celebrate our precious girl with some good friends in early February. It was also a good excuse to break in the new deck that Dan and my dad had built that week.

THE GUESTS
(I didn't manage to snap pics of a few, but we're so glad you were there)

Jenny, Paige, Tate, McKenna and Brielle

Anissa, Her Mom, Tate and Asher

Tata and Papa were there...

Elle, Paige, McK, and Joshy

Erin(+Jude) and Ron

THE CAKE

For the cake I baked cupcakes in ice cream cones and topped them with Cool Whip and sprinkles...easy decorating and turned out pretty cute.

Of course, as expected, Josh sang "Happy Birthday, dear Joshy". Brielle pretty much acted like it was any other day and was her usual easy-going self. No exciting cake mess or dramatic tears...she just rolls with the punches...

...then let us know she'd had enough.