Ice/Snow Storm Round #2

We had an ice storm come through a few days before Christmas and then another blizzard came through the Omaha area over the Christmas holiday. We left town on Thursday so we could get home to see my family for Christmas--and we're glad we left when we did--otherwise, we would have been snowed in for sure! Gretna ended up with another 15 inches of snow--on top of the 12 inches we already had from the previous week!

Christmas Pictures Coming Soon--Stay Tuned....

Family Photos

Winter Storm 09

Birthday Weekend

Chuck and I celebrated my birthday last weekend with a day out together. I told Chuck this is what I wanted for my birthday--a day out with no kids to finish the Christmas shopping, go out to eat and see a movie--and that's just what we did! My parents were planning a visit to see us and last weekend worked out for them to come, so they watched the boys all day for us! We appreciated it so much and we were able to get lots done! Our day started out at the dentist's office for teeth cleanings (fun, huh?!) then we went to 3 malls, ate out at the Cheesecake Factory, saw Blindside the movie, made a quick trip to Sam's Club followed by Wal-Mart and Target! Whew! What a busy, but GREAT day!

Chuck and I at the Cheesecake Factory
My friends Tara and Mona joined us for lunch

Grandma reading to the boys

Kieran helping Grandma make Chex Mix

Playing trains with Grandpa

Thanksgiving on the Farm

We traveled to Iowa to celebrate Thanksgiving with Chuck's sister Violet, her husband John and thier son Luke--who is only 2 days older than Kiptyn!

It was a 3 1/2 hour trip and both boys did great! We enjoyed a wonderful meal with John's family on Thursday and then had a couple of days of family time and relaxation. They are in the midst of harvesting, so Chuck was able to help out and Kieran got to ride in the tractor and the "big combine!" He was very excited about that! I admit that I was a bit lazy when it came to picture taking, but here are a few:

Kieran watching the popcorn in the microwave

Luke (left) and Kiptyn (right)--We didn't even plan this picture!!

Looking Cute on Thanksgiving Day!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thankfulness

As Thanksgiving approaches, I thought I would share my recent thoughts on the subject:

Even though Kiptyn takes up most of my time--including the wee hours of the morning when he decides it's playtime or when he needs to eat every 2 hours during the day; I am THANKFUL that he is a happy, healthy 2 month old with beautiful blue eyes and a smile that would melt anyone's heart!

Even though Kieran is tesing his boundaries and loves to push mommy's buttons; I am THANKFUL that he is also happy, healthy and loves to sit on my lap to read books and he can make me smile and laugh numerous times in the day!

Even though Chuck works a lot and is very busy with his job; I am THANKFUL that he has a job and is willing to work so hard for his family and that we have a roof over our heads and food on the table because of his hard work!

Even though I wish I could get more sleep and find time to get all the things done on my "to do list" everyday; I am THANKFUL for my 3 boys, my improved health and my life--the one that I wouldn't change for anything!

Bubble Bath? ha!

Dear Hot, Relaxing Bubble Bath,

Oh, how I have missed you! Maybe someday when my children are potty trained, able to feed themselves and put themselves to bed--then, we will meet again! It's been too long since we've had a chance to spend some quality time together--without the 2 1/2 year old banging on the door! I look forward to our next meeting--hopefully sooner than later!

--Cheryl

Trick or Treat!

My little John Deere Farmer and Baby Giraffe:

Happy Baby Giraffe:
Eden and Alex came over to trick or treat with us:

Checking out the Loot:

Pumpkin Carving!

Our neighbor gave us 2 BIG pumpkins to carve and as you can see from the photos below, Kieran had no fear about cleaning out the insides!

The Finished Products:

Road Trip #2

We survived! We traveled to Colorado Springs last weekend for Lavender's wedding and our trip home from Colorado took a few days longer than we anticipated, but we made it! Here's the details:

We spent the night at my parents' house on Thursday night and both kids did great on the trip to Kearney and slept well too! Friday was a day full of traveling and stopping-thank goodness for the portable dvd player! Kieran's new saying is "wanna get home mom!" We heard that a lot in the car! We arrived in Colorado Springs at 4:45 p.m. Mountain time--just in time to check into the hotel, freshen up and make it to the rehearsal dinner at 5:00 p.m.!!

Jeff (our new brother-in-law) has a great family and we had fun getting to know them at the rehearsal dinner and also on Saturday during the wedding festivities. After dinner, we headed back to the hotel so the kiddos--and their dads--could go swimming. Kieran is now comfortable jumping off the side of the pool into daddy's arms! As far as sleeping arrangments--we (well, I) was a bit concerned about how well Kieran would sleep in the same room with all of us--mostly Kiptyn. But, they both did well and we managed to get some sleep on Friday night!
We woke up on Saturday morning to ice on the cars, ice on the roads--ice everywhere! There was a 25, 30, 50 or 60 car (depends on who or what news channel you listen to) pile up on I-25 on Sat. morning! Thankfully we didn't need to take the interstate to get to our destination, but we left early anyway!

The wedding was one of the most beautiful, Christ-Centered weddings I had ever been to! As Jim started walking Lavender down the aisle--I think everyone got teary-eyed and the tears just kept coming! We are so happy for them both and we welcome Jeff to our family with open arms!

Most of the Bear family left on Saturday afternoon to go back home, but we stuck around until Sunday. I have some cousins that life in Colorado Springs so we met up with them at Fargo's Pizza and then hung out at their house for awhile on Saturday night. It was nice to get out of the hotel for awhile!

We left early Sunday morning and this is where the real adventure begins! Kieran started fussing in the car about 2 hours from the NE/CO border and I knew he was tired and was hoping he would fall asleep! Didn't happen! We stopped in Ogallala for lunch at a KFC/Taco Bell and as we are standing in line--Kieran throws up all over the floor!! You've got to be kidding me?!! He ended up getting sick 2 more times before we were able to leave and then he threw up in the car at North Platte--but this time I had a bib on him so it caught MOST of it--but not all!! Having a sick child is bad enough--but much worse when you are traveling! Luckily, my parents' house was only about 1 hour away from North Platte!

We pulled into my parents' house and started washing clothes, Kieran's coat, the carseat cover etc. and decided that we should just stay the night there--it was beginning to rain anyway--which was turning to more ice! Kieran was still sick on Monday morning and then I got sick on Tuesday morning! By Wednesday morning, my dad was home sick in bed! Anyway, we made it home on Wednesday afternoon and we are all well now!

Wow--what a trip to remember! We've decided we're ready to stay home for awhile!

1 Month Old!

Kiptyn is 1 month old today! The time has flown right on by! He is doing very well and growing so much! We've been having some issues with his tummy and feeding etc. so the doctor switched us to a special formula and that seems to be helping a lot! We don't seem to have as many 1-2 hour fussy periods--and it is definitely nice not having to deal with that in the middle of the night! Yep, he's our little blessing and we can't imagine life without him--or big brother Kieran!

Road Trip #1

Have you ever heard someone say that when you have your 1st child you take a ton of pictures and then when you have other children you don't take near as many? Well, that statement is so true for me! I'm sure I had taken 100's of photos of Kieran by the time he was 4 weeks old and Kiptyn--well, maybe 20? Does that make me a bad mom?!! I blame it on the busy, busy life I now have! I'm lucky if I even know where the camera is!! Adjusting to life with 2 kids has been just that--an adjustment--but, we're making it!

We took our 1st road trip with 2 kids last weekend. We traveled down to KS to see my family and to attend some family events. Honestly, this trip was quite stressful for both Chuck and I--we were both glad to be back home! Don't get me wrong--it was fantastic to see family and friends, but it was a tiring trip too! Kieran had been sick last week and he still wasn't feeling the best so that made him grumpy and Kiptyn has these fussy periods at night that we have to deal with. Thankfully, grandma was there to take Kieran--he loves her!!--and my friends that we stayed with took their turns at walking the floor with Kiptyn! Anyway, here are a few pictures from the weekend:

My great-grandma Loree was the Queen at Old Settler's Day in Kirwin, KS. Here is a photo of her with some of her grandkids and great-grandkids.
Kiptyn being loved on by his great-great grandma Loree!

So, I've been doing laundry and getting ready to pack for our next trip--yep--another road trip--this time to Colorado! Chuck's sister is getting married this weekend so we'll be traveling out there and back this weekend. Yep--we're crazy! ha! Oh well--the busyness of life continues but even when I'm sleep deprived and have a million things to get done--having 2 little boys and 1 big boy to love makes it all worth it!!

In the meantime, this is what Kieran has been up to:

First Bath

Of course, we had to take pictures of Kiptyn's First Bath!:

"Gas and Fried Chicken"

Kieran is definitely in the stage of life when he likes to copy things that you do and last week he wanted to be like daddy. You can see in the photo below that he had daddy's security badge, wallet and his keys. Kieran put on some sunglasses, walks to the garage door and says, "bye mom, goin get gas and fried chicken!" I honestly don't know where the fried chicken comment came from because Chuck has never left the house saying he's going to get chicken!