Catching up

I haven't posted for awhile. Things have been hectic. Here is a photo story of what we have been doing the last 10 days or so...

Corbin has been working on the same things. Kneeling, crawling position, trying to get him to self feed, working on grabbing objects with both hands. As you can see he can grab his sister's hair just fine and pull! :)

Always has to check out what's on the tv!

Hallie has taken up arrow shooting :)

Corbin feeling sorry for the Hawks for losing!! :)

But super happy the Cyclones won!!

The Hallie duo at homecoming!

Last weekend was homecoming. Hallie was ecstatic to learn she was nominated to be one of the homecoming crown bearers! Here are a few photos of that fun experience!

Her and the little boy!

 

 Hallie and her teacher

 All the beautiful girls she couldn't stop talking about!

 

Her true colors! :)

Little man got his first goose egg. He rolled into Hallie's dresser.

I cannot believe how BIG he is getting!!

Not much new to report. I could not be prouder of my kids. Hallie is doing very well in school. She loves her teachers, classmates, and everyone. I am so thrilled that I do not have to fight for her to go to school. She is learning so many new things and my heart is so happy for her! Corbin is continuing to grow stronger. We are working on the next step of crawling. We feel he wants to so bad. He will pull his knees under himself and push up, but can't get his arms and legs to coordinate. Oh I guess we do have some news... We finally heard from Iowa City. So far all his extensive blood panels have come back normal. So we have ruled a lot of things out on our path to a reason for his delays, but we aren't anywhere close as to getting a cause. While we are happy to hear everything is normal, we are still hoping to find what is causing his Ck levels to be elevated as well as his delays. We want the best for the little guy, and we will keep searching until we get an answer.

{11 Months!}

Our little guy is 11 months (plus a couple days by now!)!! Time is going by way too quickly! 

Last week at the Dr. he weighed in at 19 lbs 11 oz and was 29 inches long! We still have yet to find a table food he doesn't enjoy. I am so thankful that he is an amazing eater. Gaining weight was an issue at the beginning, but I am thrilled it is one less thing for us to worry about! Corbin got his 3rd and 4th teeth this month. He had his middle lower two, but now also has upper "fangs"! That's right. His upper middles haven't came in but the two next to them did! I tried to get a picture, but its a little hard to see. He won't keep his mouth open long enough for me to snap the picture! 

We are continuing to work on gaining new skills. This week we are concentrating on holding an object in each hand, kneeling, and taking toys out of a bucket or something similar and learning to purposely put them back in. He is doing so well and has come a long ways. We are very proud of this little guy and all his accomplishments!

Happy 11 months to our handsome fella!

Sissy put him to sleep for us!

His sleeping habits are the strangest thing ever!

Always chewing on something... and always looking to see what Daddy is doing!

 

Labor Day Weekend

Have I mentioned how much I love 3 day weekends? I love them almost as much as I love 3 day weekends and quality family time! Labor Day weekend is always a favorite of mine. It is the winding down of summer, a chance to catch up, and the perfect weather to get out and do something.

We did a lot. We went and visited "Uncle" Steve at Center Grove Orchard. That place is so neat and its amazing how much he has expanded it. While the orchard hasn't officially opened, Steve was kind enough to show us the new attractions, and it was nice to catch up with him.

We also were able to spend time at Aunt Chris & Uncle Troy's house. I love getting to spend time with family, and it is amazing how much Miss Ava grows every time we see her! Next up...we headed to the hotel. We learned after Iowa City that Corbin loves hotels, and once again he proved how excited he gets. We had a great time swimming until some kid  Hallie puked in the pool. Walk of shame as we left the pool and didn't dare show our faces again!! :) If you want the gruesome (hilarious!) details keep reading. If not skip down!

We had gotten to the pool, and Hallie ate her supper. Jon and I were going to order pizza later but wanted to swim before the kids got tired. So off to the pool we went... mistake #1. We were having a blast. Corbin loved the water, and Hallie was just as excited. We would rotate kids so our arms didn't fall off from holding Corbin. Jon had Hallie and was launching her into the water. She LOVED it... mistake #2. We switched kids, and being the cool Mom I am I threw Hallie up and into the water as well.... mistake #3. I couldn't figure out why she kept freaked out and was swallowing water the first time... eh oh well... let's do it again... mistake #4. Launched her again... same response... mistake #5. Jon then informed me he was throwing her so she could so the water, and I was throwing her backwards. We switched kids and no sooner than I had taken Corbin I saw the most horrifying thing. Vomit coming out and into the water. JON HALLIE IS PUKING! I couldn't get it out fast enough. He launched her onto the side of the pool where it continued. I threw Corbin back to him and made a dash out of the pool (imagine a whale trying to dive up and out of a pool). That is what I looked like. I didn't have time for stairs. I needed out. Okay she is done puking. And then it hits me- there are a dozen other people in this pool. I quickly walk out to tell the front desk what happened (thinking this was the worst possible thing). However, I got off easy. I left Jon with both kids (including the one that just made a mess) in the pool area with all the other parents and kids staring. Oh my gosh. I got back we grabbed towels, bowed our heads, and found the quickest route back to our room. What a night!

Next up - the zoo!

 We had a blast! It was nice to get away for a bit. Once we got home it was back to work! The flower beds have made progress! Now we just need the front deck on and the doors are painted, and maybe just maybe we could enjoy our home next summer!

Once again I am reminded of how lucky we are. We have two children that are happy and overall healthy kids. We are fortunate enough to be able to take trips and small getaways with our kids. We were blessed with finding each other early in life so we could spend many many years together. I am very grateful for all the things I have been given, and I continue to vow to take one day at a time. Enjoy the good days, and rise above the not so good days. At the end of the day, I have my family. What more could a girl ask for?

Happy 2nd Anniversary

When I first met Jon, I did not think he would be the man I would marry. While I thought he was fun, nice, charming, and damn good looking... I did not think he would be my prince charming. Boy was I wrong. The more times we talked, the more I knew.

I truly feel we are a good pair for each other, he tries to mellow me out, and I try to get him to be a planner. He is relaxed, laid back, go with the flow, easy to anger, not detail oriented, and super sweet. I am a planner, detailed, hate change or disruption, and maybe a little OCD. Bottom line, we push comes to shove we got this. We are at both ends of the spectrum and can meet in the middle. We have had our ups and downs but have always come out ahead. There is nothing I couldn't take on with this man by my side.

Jon and I met when Hallie had just turned two. Jon was a bachelor. I was a Mom. It was quite the pair. With this came its challenges. However I must say, Jon turned into one hell of a good Dad. He took one the challenge of Hallie and I. The bond that formed between them is unbreakable. It is a bond that makes me fall in love over and over again.

Fast forward TWO years... during the first year of our marriage we built our home together and got pregnant. We were 8 months pregnant for our 1st anniversary and had moved into our home that weekend as well. Wow... year two was up for the challenge. I am happy to report we had a little less "chaos" than the year before. This year has brought different events to our lives. We adjusted to being a family of four. It was quite the adjustment. No longer did one parent have their hands free. Going to the grocery store or out to eat is very different with two vs. one. To all you parents with multiple children.... you are saints. Hallie started Kindergarten, Corbin has been through drs and tests, we started finishing our basement, and honestly I don't know what happened to the rest of the year.

What I do know is here we are two years after our marriage started. Are things the same? Absolutely not. Would I change anything? Absolutely not. I get to wake up next to my best friend (other than the mornings Corbin is between us ha!), I have a partner to walk through life with, he is the best daddy I could have hoped for, and above everything at the end of the day we still have all the love in the world. Thank you for being my rock Jonathon!

Some throwback photos! Boy have we changed through the years!!

 

And lucky me the man of my dreams got me flowers for our anniversary. He knows how to make my day! :)