In her dreams...

Sarah's morning hug was accompanied by:
"I dreamed 'bout purple kitties
and chickens and...
pink horsies and...
that's all I've got."

26 months

Sarah has begun her 2 year old language explosion!  I love to hear the sentences that come out of her little mouth.

 

She can identify several colors; most of the time correctly.  Pink, orange, & blue are definite.  She just added brown... but consistently calls it "chocolate". 

Uncle Fr. Jon ("Unk Jon") is still one of her favorite people in the world.  Teresa ("Teesa") is her best friend with Andrew ("Bubba") & Rebecca ("Beck") in close second. 

 

A new interest is identifying where we're going & what we do there.  As soon as we get a block or so away she shouts, "Guys!  Home!  Hi, house." 

If there is any talk of Hy-Vee she says, "Store!  Cookie!  Cheese!" 

She's getting much better with behaving at Mass & sometimes even asks to go.  As soon as I mention Church she says, "Mass.  Father.  Tootsie roll!"

 

Amazingly, she still stays in her toddler bed until we walk into her room.  She's still a binky addict &, even though she's only supposed to have them for sleep, she'll sneak one when we're not looking.

 

Sarah could eat cheese, crackers, Gogurt, & meat all day long.  Anything italian or Mexican is usually a winner.  The only fruits she will eat happily are apples, pears, pineapple, & oranges.  She rejects any vegetable that she can still identify except for sweet potatoes.  She doesn't even want anything else on her plate.  She'll pick it out & hand it to me or put it on my plate.  I've never had a child who refused fruit!  Kind of crazy.  But she makes up for it in cuteness.

Hello, this is Andrew.

Andrew has been a pro at answering the phone since Teresa was a baby. The other two kind of have it figured out, but I still make sure I'm nearby in case something goes awry. Well, today it rang right as we were starting lunch. Andrew jumped up to answer it said, "In the name of the Father..." before he caught himself. That's a first!

Butterflies

Rebecca telling Teresa about receiving the Eucharist

"And after I receive Jesus,

I have all these butterflies in my stomach

from all the happiness!"

Happy anniversary!

Happy Father's Day!

 So thankful for our Daddy!  Glad to spend the day celebrating the gift you are to our family. 

Love you, honey!

(This progression of pictures is so telling of Teresa's current attitude towards photographs:  After this one I said, "Hand down, please!")

 (Then, "Come on, Teresa.  Smile nice with your eyes open.")

(End result... yeah, not worth it.)

Happy Father's Day, Darren!

Holy baseball

Had SOOOO much fun watching my little brother play baseball with a team of his brother priests on Father's Day weekend!  They seemed to really be enjoying themselves & played rather well, too.

It was also one of those fun "Catholic reunion" events where I saw friends that I haven't seen in years.  The big bonus was that we didn't have to be all dressed up or have the kids sit quietly to be able to be together. :)  Such a blast!  I hope they do it again!

Curly is 2!

 My baby is 2!  It's so hard to believe.  She's just a wonderful burst of joy around here.  We started off with some celebratory donuts for breakfast.

 This little gal loves monkeys, so we let her open this one from her sibs right away in the morning. 

 

 Family & friends joined us for dinner.  She was really excited about her cake before everyone arrived, but then was rather shy about the attention when it came time to sing.

She got over it.

This duck call was the best $3 purchase ever.  She LOVES it & it is absolutely hilarious!  

Blest to have the grands join in the fun.

Happy Birthday, Curly!  We love you!

Robomom

After a quick walk around the block on a super humid day... my hair curls up a lot like hers.

 

About a month ago, Andrew & I were having a lively game of baseball in the backyard.  Supper was ready to go in the oven, Sarah was having a blast in the swing, & the big girls were checking out the garden.  Then, it happened.  I jumped up for a high ball, caught it, & then came down with half of my foot on the cement & half of it on the significantly lower grass.  I sprained my ankle.  Trying to catch myself as I fell, my hand wasn't much help since it still had a glove on.  I sprained my wrist.  The brunt of my weight fell on my elbow.  Yeow! 

 

Severe dislocation led to me laying there whimpering until Andrew brought over super-friend Stephanie to save the day.  Her parents watched her kids & ours while she ran me to Urgent Care.  Darren met us there & took over.  2 hours later we finally saw a doctor, who told us we  needed to go the ER.  Yep, seriously 2 hours later.  After some more waiting, some x-rays, morphine, & all kinds of fun, they tried to pull my bones back into socket... to no avail.  Sedation.  Finally, 5 hours after it happened my elbow was back in place.  Thank goodness! 

 

I've been in this brace now for a while & they say it could last up to 6 weeks.  I guess we'll see!  Until then, I get to be the woman with the bionic arm... or Robomom as the kids like to call me.  Darren & Andrew have taken over pretty much everything around here & I've been doing a whole lot of hanging out on the couch.  This walk around the block today was one of my first! 

Thank you to everyone who has helped us out with rides for the kids, meals, & general love.  So grateful for all of you!

Almost 2

We had out the water guns yesterday just for fun & Sarah ran inside so that she could put on her "swim SOUP".

***

She's started this habit of sitting down on her couch, crossing her ankles, & saying, "So..."

***

Since I dislocated my elbow, we've had to make a few adjustments.  This included *gasp* TEACHING Sarah how to climb in & out of her crib since I can't lift her well.  She has tried maybe once 6 months ago, but has never attempted since; never thought I would be the one to show her how!  So, we dropped the side, pulled up the couch, & she climbs in & out like a pro.  She thinks it's hilarious!  Even better is the fact that she went a full TWO weeks staying in there until given permission to get up.  The streak has ended.  She decided to climb out multiple times yesterday, so we put the side back up & pulled the couch away... she screamed for almost two hours before giving up to take her nap.  This morning Teresa pulled the couch back for her & she climbed out with the side still up.  Geesh.  At least she thinks she needs the couch there to do it.  Gave up with just 45 minutes of screaming tonight.  I guess the heavenly sleeping streak had to end sometime, too.

***

She's rediscovered a love for eggs & is now a pro at opening the refrigerator, so four times this weekend she got out an egg to eat... only two of them ended up cracked on the floor & inside of the fridge.

 

Terrible pre-twos???

Thank goodness she's adorable.

Archery practice

Shooting hoops

 Since I hurt myself in May, Rebecca has stepped up to be Andrew's sporting buddy.  For being generally disinterested for years, she's finally starting to like it & becoming a competitor.  Fun to watch!

Flowers for Maria

Muchachas locas

Gus' graduation

 

Prayer Walk 2015

Monkeying around

Took the Moms' group crew out for one more blast before the big kids invade for the summer.  Had tons of fun!

 

So thankful for the friendship & support of these ladies!

Mother Son Game Night

Hungry hippos!