As Time Goes by

So over the last couple of months life hasgone on.  What can I say kids grow they play bills still need to be paid.  Unfortunatly, we can't just hide under the covers all day and pretend that the events of the last couple of months never happened, but they did.
So her are some random photos of what we have been up to. (They are in no particular order)

cousin Heath's 1st birthday party

double the bubbles

 

why cry over spilled milkshakes

what's for dinner hot stuff?



This is my chair...



This is my brain on Diet Coke.....any questions?

Well, the last couple of months I have kind of been in a funk.  Between Mom passing, Mandy's father-in-law passing 3 1/2 weeks later, Kevin going back to Korea (only 46 more weeks to go), and 2 kids that decide to get sick two days after Kevin leaves i haven't felt like doing much of anything.  I don't remember what it is like to sleep through the night or to wake up with what sleep i was able to get with out two small children in bed (one of which i don't remember taking out of the crib and bringing to bed with me).  I doesn't look like much is getting done, even though i spend most of my days doing laundry, dishes, and changing diapers.  Can i just tell you how much I miss the cleaning lady.
I crave nap time for the boys, the trick is to get them back on the same nap schedule so i might get a nap.  Ethan sadly has begun to out grow naps.  It is becoming a rare occasion that i can get him to go down, and it never fails with in minutes of him going down, Blayne is awake.   And if i can get Ethan down, it is no longer the 2 1/2 hr naps he once took, but more around an hour. 
 Then there is dealing with Mom's "stuff". That is a catagory all it's own, and there are days I just want to pull my hair out.
My goal of quiting diet coke is now on the back burner, it is what get's me to the end of the day most days.
This week I have started going back to the gym.  With the supervised play room for the kids, i think this will be part of an almost daily routine.  If for no other reason than to keep my sanity and for some mommy time.  It has been about two months, and i can tell when i get on the treadmill that i can't jog or run as long as i used to, but i can now run/jog for 2 1/2 minutes without holding on for dear life and wanting to pass out or cry.  I can then finish my time by walking, now up to 35min. ( i was up to 60min).
All I know is that it is going to be a very LONG year.

With love...

I think this is the most perfect picture that shows Mom's personality.  She loved her chunky jewelry and always had her glasses sitting on her head (and could never find them).

Sadly, Mom unexpectedly passed away on 9 Sept 2010 due to complications from her treatment in her fight against breast cancer.  She was an amazing woman who always found something positive in everything she did.  She even considered this bought with cancer as an inconvenience.  She was the best mom, and an even better grandmother.  She loved life and all it had to offer (good bad or ugly).  Where do I begin?  There is so much to share.  All I know is that I am blessed to have been able to come home and live with Mom for a couple of months and that my boys had the opportunity to know what fun she was and how much she loved them.  I am grateful for the family that I have and the love and support that they have shown to me and my sister and our families during this time.  I know that through our Heavenly Father's plan, this separation is temporary, and that we have been blessed to be an eternal family and we WILL see her again.  I know that she is whole and without pain and is surrounded by her parents and her brother that went before her.

She will be missed.

Day at the beach

We wanted to do as much as we possibly could before Kevin leaves for Korea.  One of the things was to go to Corpus Christi to the beach, and while we were there see the USS Lexington and the Aquarium.  I found a hotel right on the beach and next to the USS Lexington and on the other side of the Lexington was the Aquarium. It was the perfect spot and we had a room of the beach side.  It was great! again no pictures of us in the water, was not going to get sand and salt water all over the camera.

Shaving of the head!

No, not my head.  So mom is undergoing Chemo for Breast Cancer.  It was a big shock to us all when they found it.  She was told of all the side effects that she would have including that her hair WOULD fall out.  So far she gets a bit queasy, and tires easily.  So she didn't believe that her hair would fall out.  Little by littler her hair started to break off, then it started to fall out more and more each day.  She started to look like the refugee with mange.  At that time it was time to shave it off.  So we gathered everyone together especially the grandkids to shave off the remainder of her hair.  We were trying to make it a fun thing so the kids could see it was Grandma who chose to take it off and try and make it fun.  So the kids wanted to see Grandma with a mohawk, so they got their wish (even if just long enought for a photo opp.).  Jared did the honors of shaving it all off.

Schlitterbahn

Ok, so this is something we like to do at least once every summer.  Schlitterbahn is a local water park that is on the river in New Braunfuls.  We went with Grandma and Grandpa Pressgrove.  There are pictures of us waiting to get in and when we are taking a break for lunch (and for some a quick nap).  No pictures of us playing in the water but maybe next time....

Climb every mountain.. (or rock)

Since Daddy is hom we only have 37 days to cram as much stuff in as we can.  So for starters we thought we would travel just north of Fredericksburg to a state park called Enchanted Rock.  It is as the name suggest a Rock.  Now Kevin and I had climbed this thing before, when we were engaged. (you do alot when you are dating or engaged that you would normally have no desire to do, all to impress a boy).  I have a picture of this somewhere in a box that has not yet been unpacked since I have been home.  I promise I will add it because it is a cute picture.  Now other than being 14 years younger and in much better physical condition, the only difference was that it was fall and A LOT cooler than the beging of August (the hottest month of the year) and we did not have two little people in tow.  So we got there around 11A, already too hot, but we were there are we were going to do this.  I had a snuggie for Blayne and the jogging stroller for Ethan.  I remember taking the long trail up the last time we had done this, it wasn't as steep.  For some reason I remember this being a fairly flat trail and way shorter.  I guess when you get older your memory starts to fail you.  Or I just rewrote the story in my head to make the experience more enoyable in my memory and after 14 years it just became fact.  Let's just say, this time round we didn't get too far as in not even on the the trail, just to the begining of the trail at the base of the rock.  But we had pictures.  We decided since we were there we would eat lunch in town, and then go peach picking.  However by the time we got to the orchards the boys were sound asleep and so we just drove to the 1st place that sold peaches and bough an 1/8 of a bushel and made cobbler when we got home.

  

   

 

Das Peach Haus

   

We're so glad when Daddy comes home....

glad as we can be.  Clap our hands and shout for joy and climb up on his knee!  Yay Daddy came home!! (pictures on new cell phone meeting him at the airport, will download later)  The boys had not seen him in over 3 weeks, this is the longest they have ever been away from him and were delighted
when he got home!

      

      

 

Afternoon at the Museum

So while dad was gone and before Ethan got sick we went to The Children's museum.  I left my camera at home so used my cell phone.  Unfortunatly it was my old cell phone that I no longer have service with and I couldn't figure out how to get them off the phone to the computer.  Keep in mind that this cell is at least 3 years old.  When/if I figure it out I will post them or I will have Mandy email me some of the pictures she took so I can post them.  Until then, just pretend.

Random Playtime

We had 3 weeks with out dad, sadly he had to go back to NC for a time before he could take a long vacation to spend with us before leaving for Korea.  But in the meantime Ethan had an ear infection that lasted 3 weeks and took two different antibiotics to clear up.  So we had a few pictures where we were felling good enough to play so here they are....