Walk in Water Works

It's been awhile...  

I'll do a springtime highlight update to catch this ol' blog up but thought I'd skip ahead to the here and the now.

Watching the news last night, my trusty weatherman showed some sweet drone footage of Water Works park right now and I told Jed we needed to get there ASAP.  So much green, so many beautiful flowering trees!  So that's what we did tonight and Jed thought to grab the real camera, which I haven't picked up in months.  Literally.

I'm so glad he did!

Wyatt is very into David and Goliath right now and I think that's what he was doing here, ha.  We read it every single day in his toddler Bible and everything he plays and pretends is "the mean giant."  Except he says that he's a nice giant :)  My cousin and Grandma Charlotte mentioned an old Sunday School song called "Only a boy named David" and we found a real cheesy version on You Tube that we've enjoyed countless times in the last few days too.

I think I will treasure this picture until the end of all time.

She's definitely a silly one.

Tiegan is usually so full of smiles but she was pretty serious tonight.

It was a fun family night just to go wander around and enjoy the scenery!

Life lately {November}

Life with 2 (almost 3!) kids just doesn't slow down.  We like it that way around here.  We enjoy our busy, fun filled weeks.  I can't believe how quickly November passed us by!

When I take out a learning activity, no matter what it is, Lainey just devours it.  I love this about her.  I was busy folding laundry the other morning and let her do her thing with these letter tracing cards.  Back in September, she was really slow with these.  I don't mean that in a bad way, because it was new to her and even holding a writing utensil was not very natural.

It's incredible what can change in just a few months.  She worked much faster and traced, then wrote her letters more efficiently, even grasping her pen correctly.  It was so fun and encouraging to watch!


Wyatt is a riot right now.  110% boy, loves his momma, loves his trucks, trains and cars and LOVES to nap.  I cannot believe how big he looks in this picture.  I know he's 2 but he is just still my baby.

Wyatt did his annual croupy cough in the middle of the night a few weeks ago.  This time I had a few tricks up my sleeve and didn't panic and drive like a maniac to the ER.  Luckily he improved and we held out until our doctor's office opened the next morning.  He just took a day or two to recover so I am hoping mayyyyybe he will grow out of this tendency.  I was also thankful to (hopefully) get it out of the way before the baby arrives.

He's pretty much attached to my hip most of the time when we're home.  He's constantly grabbing his blankies and climbing into my lap for a snuggle and is more and more interested in things I'm doing in the kitchen, helping with chores, etc.


Our community group and our church held two different events this past year to pack shoebox gifts for Operation Christmas Child.  This is such a fabulous ministry to be a part of and support and it was really fun to involve the kids more this year, especially Lainey.  She carefully packed at least 8 boxes herself this year, meticulously choosing each and every item and making cards to put in them too.  Such a fun way to teach kids about the blessing of giving to those in need!


November brought us a couple of fun snow falls and our kids LOVED every second of it!





Love those red cheeks after playing outside!

And hot chocolate is a must!

And this is how we ended many, many November days.  To say we are excited and ready for her arrival is an understatement!

May Days

Well, June is nearly over and here I am catching up and blogging about May.  I suppose my excuse is a good one and is no surprise to any of you that read this blog since I know all of you in real life, but it's share worthy anyway...

SO instead of blogging, I've been napping.  And going to bed at an embarassingly early time.  We are due on Christmas Eve and we're all very excited!  Well, Wyatt has no clue, but Lainey, Jed and I are thrilled!

Back to what we were up to during the month of May...

I didn't really struggle with morning sickness but afternoon/evening sickness, which was not fun, but I think God was giving me grace because He knows I have two energetic kiddos who need to get out and about in the mornings.  Thankfully, most days we all take lovely afternoon naps and then when I'm really feeling my worst, my knight and shining armor comes home, helps with the kids and usually makes dinner.  I'm looking forward to feeling more normal to provide food for my family and give the poor guy a decent meal and a break!

My little monkey!  She's gotten so good at climbing at the play grounds.

Picnics have become our new favorite way to eat lunch.  As long as I can get a few things packed before we head out any given morning, it is great.  They eat whatever I pack, I don't have to "clean up" lunch and then if they pass out on the way home from where ever, I can just throw them in bed when we get here.

I cannot get enough of this sweet little man.

Lainey's been working at riding her bike!

This was a genius idea I had one day.  We got to play in the water AND did something productive!  All of my years of car wash fundraisers in high school for the dance team really paid off.

Wyatt is usually more interested in climbing on benches and picnic tables when we're at a park.

We eat popsicles pretty much every night.  Sometimes in the bath tub, which saves me from having to pretreat their clothes before they go in the wash.

Our church did another Mission to the City over Memorial Day weekend where people served dozens of other churches, ministries and individuals throughout Des Moines.  Lainey tagged along with Jed quite a bit throughout the weekend.  I'm thankful he was willing to swap car seats in and out of our cars a bunch of times and even pull Lainey in the bike trailer, just to allow them to spend some time serving together.

She was a great help and loved canvassing neighborhoods and inviting people to church and hanging these door hangers!

May was great!  Can't believe how fast it went - felt like it took forever for the weather to really warm up but we loved enjoying those warm May days!

Terrific typical Tuesday

I have a running list in my head of things I want to remember about these days when our kids were little.  Things like birthday parties, holidays, etc. are easy to remember because they're annual and there are usually pictures to accompany them.  I want to remember trips to the grocery store, kids in my lap reading stacks of books, the smell of baby lotion after a bath... the every day things.  Today has been a totally normal stay-at-home morning.  Our play date fell through and it's just too cold to go out any way.

Lainey's imagination has been on a roll this morning.  An empty laundry basket has been a rocket ship, a huge bath tub for all kinds of plastic and stuffed animals and a bed of hay for baby Jesus (played by a Minnie Mouse doll).  The dialogue to go along with each scenario is a riot.  None of this was encouraged or suggested by me, it's all her.  My living room is a mess of toys and books and the sink is full of dishes, which normally drives me a little bonkers, but I'm trying to be more present, less distracted and enjoy these moments more.

Moments like this.  Wyatt, such a sleepy head.  I always have to wake him up if he takes a morning nap at home otherwise he'd sleep the day away.

And moments like this.  She took control of this all on her own too.  They both loved it.  They are becoming so much more independent each day.

And this.  She beat me, fair and square, twice at Candy Land.  Then proudly declared she was done.  I like to quit while I'm ahead too!

Thankful for these kids and that I get to be a part of their every day moments.