Elijah's almost 2

Getting a haircut. So cute

Well, tomorrow is Elijah's 2nd birthday. I'm not sure how this happened. But here are a few things I love about him.
1. He's started "reading." It's hilarious. He gets EVERY SINGLE book out of the book bucket (I don't so much love that part) and then finds one he likes. He opens it and points to things and says strings of gibberish that is so dang sweet.
2. He has a dimple above his eyes. I want to eat it. That sounds weird but it's true.
3. He adores his older brothers. They hand him a spatula and he runs around in pandemonium playing "the swatting baby." Yes, that means he's supposed to chase them and hit them. Hey, they're the ones that came up with the crazy game. He just goes along. Don't you wish you lived at my house? We play all sorts of cool games, like "little Indian worm" and have awesome dance parties.
4. Elijah loves to dance. Enough said.
5. He gives serious wet kisses and zerberts. He's very proud of his belly button and wants to zerbert yours. Priceless.
6. His hair is so blond it disappears in water.
7. When I say "I love you" he nods his head, like, I know mom.

You know you have great friends, when...

they choose to come to Lincoln, Nebraska for their birthday. What??? Lincoln's not on your top ten list of awesome vacation spots? You don't repeatedly think to yourself, Man I wish I could go to Nebraska? Well you should, because it's awesome.

Anyway, so my friend Geri came for a weekend visit. She used to live here but left in May when her husband finished law school. For several weeks I was a little down about the whole thing. I'd tell Jon, I really like you, but I miss my Geri. He understood. We'd go out to dinner with them and it was basically me and Geri on a date, and Jon and Dan on a date. It was a great match.

So she came and we went shopping, to the gym, to the park, to get our craft on and ate lots and lots. In February it will be my turn to get on a plane and head south.

Thanks for coming!

Hey Mom, look what I can do

So my friend Heather inspired the making of this baby. It's super simple. I love the word super. It makes everything that much more awesome. I took some grosgrain ribbon, sewed it to two elastics, and bedazzled the heck out of it. Warning: It's really hard to take pictures of yourself.

Support for my Sister

So my sister was diagnosed with Thyroid cancer on Thursday and she's going into surgery today to have it removed. She's a trooper and is more worried about her mounting medical costs than her surgery. Her husband has a few CDs out(he's a very talented guitarist) and any proceeds from purchases go toward helping with her crazy medical expenses. Check it out. They are acoustic hymns - so there aren't any annoying voices to listen to. :)

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Support-Amber-Woolner/156790287680960 or www.chadwoolner.bandcamp.com

To read her story go here:

http://thewoolners.blogspot.com/2010/09/tale-of-three-cancers.html

Da Boyz Da Boyz

So my post title is a throw back to the Romeo and Juliet with Claire Danes and Leonardo Dicaprio. I don't know why, but I loved that part. These are the most recent pictures of the boys. I took Lincoln and Elijah's one morning and then Isaac's a different day. That's why the lighting looks a little different and I'm kind of miffed because they'll all be hung in the same spot. Oh well. And would you believe that my six year old was the hardest to photograph. He kept making this goofy face and then it would make him laugh and me laugh so then I'd get some camera shake. Uggh. Good enough.

Oh what do you do in the summer time?

When it's too stinking hot to go outside!
You fill up your bathtub with an insane amount of bubbles and PLAY!

Mom, is cigaretting bad for you?

That's the question Lincoln asked me today as we passed the ashtray by the bank. I think from now on I'll call it cigaretting, not smoking. Answer, yes.

My sick bush baby

A couple of days before we were set to head for Texas, Isaac began getting very weird symptoms. He started acting very lethargic, and the night before we were planning on leaving, he couldn't move from the waist down. I took him to the doctor and after some labs and and x-ray, we were told to go to Children's Hospital in Omaha. So up we went and they hooked Isaac up to an IV and poked him about 8 too many times. He had an MRI and sever x-rays. And after all that, we still don't know what caused his arthritis. But after 4 days of isolated hospital time, he was as good as new. Aside from a 7 POUND WEIGHT LOSS. And for those of you who know him, Isaac is a skinny kid. He has a six pack. Not an ounce of extra weight to spare. So when you go from 51 pounds, to 44 pounds, your normally large eyes tend to pop out like mad.

Vintage Elijah

Jon's Mom handed down a beloved outfit of uncle Jacob's to Elijah. It has a dinosaur on it that covers the front and back. I think he looks stinkin' cute - especially with the lone Cheerio.

Lincoln's Brest Friend

A conversation between Lincoln and his friend Gaven:

Gaven - I go to preschool
Lincoln - I go to preschool too. And have tons of friends. Lailyn's a girl and she's a brest friend. Kayli's a girl and she's a brest friend.
Gaven - I know Kayli.
The end.

I'm in love

So I just got my first external flash the other day and was so excited to bring it home and check it out. It requires 4 AA batteries. No problem, we have tons of batteries in our stash. Alas, we have tons of AAA, C (who has those?) and D, but only THREE AA. So I had to wait til I got to the store. I have no real idea how to use it properly, just a few tips from my friend and what I can figure out on my own w/o reading a manual, but I LOVE it. Check out my first attempt and how it captures eyes - when they're not all squinty. :)

flowers in your hair...or necklace...or purse, etc.

Last night while I was waiting for Jon to get home from the airport I whipped these out. Aren't they cute? I showed my friend and she delicately reminded that I don't have any girls, but that's okay because I will absolutely wear them.

Buuuks and Commiddees

Isaac and Lincoln make up words all the time. But my favorites by far are Buuk (pronounced like Boo with a k on the end) and Commiddee. They're conversations go a little something like this:

Isaac - "You're just a buuk."

Lincoln - "Well you're a commiddee."

Isaac - "Then I'm gonna buuk you and put it in the trash."

side note - I love the versatility of "buuk." It can be a noun or a verb. Amazing.

Lincoln - "Mom, Isaac's gonna buuk me."

This morning's conversation

Lincoln - Mom, does Ang (he's the last airbender) know everything?

Me - No, nobody knows EVERYTHING

Lincoln - Only moms?

At this point I wanted to say yes, but instead I said

Me - Even moms don't know everything.

Lincoln - shocked and stunned look on his face.

Katrina and Gordon's Wedding

Baby Anna ready to drive off. She's a take charge kind of girl.

Table decor. I took a lot of pictures of the decor. I don't have an external flash for my camera so it's hard to take good pics of people with indoor lighting. But stills work all right.

This little flower girl had the greatest smile plastered on her face. She must have practiced a lot.
flowers were very pretty.
The head table. Believe it or not, we eat off of this beautiful dinner ware for Christmas/Thanksgiving.
needs cropping, but you get the idea. cute shoes!
This is possibly one of my favorites.
This one needs some cropping, but I really like it.
The pretty face is in focus while the groom is slightly blurred. Isn't that how it should be? Just kidding Gordon. But Katrina does look amazing!
I'm about to fall over, but a million people are taking pictures so I better smile.
This weekend happened so fast it's a good thing I have visual proof it actually happened. Here are a few (I took over 100) of the pictures I like - they are unedited so they can definitely get better.
Katrina and Gordon after the sealing. It was freezing cold outside.
The chairs for the ring ceremony.

Wedges vs. Wedgies

Today I peeled a clementine for Lincoln and he said, "but mom, don't peel the inside because I want to peel those." me - "oh, you mean the wedges?" Lincoln - "yeah, the wedgies."