Happy 4th of July

I hope everybody had a safe and fun 4th of July, ours was pretty active for the kids, they ended up taking a 2 and a half hour nap, an hour over what they normally do! It was a lot of fun to hang out as a family with Kendall...ALL DAY! Aww holidays...and should i mention that we have 2 more nights before we are in our OWN house, it couldn't come too soon. Kendall ordered our washer/dryer and dishwasher, all to be ready on Tuesday for us. We have some nice patio furniture with a firepit to pick up on Tuesday, and Kendall is getting his bed back home so we do not have to pump up half our deflated bed each night only to wake up in the morning completely deflated...Yay!
Our day started out by going to Freedom has a Birthday celebration in a local park. We met Karen and Zach there for a bit. I always enjoy this part, because the whole town comes together for a little hometown celebration, were vender's, local business's, churches, whoever comes and set up booths, giving away and selling different things. Union Pacific had this little train that they would give kids rides on but we never caught it in time to get a ride, it was always parked. There was firetrucks, bouncy toys for kids, a lot of food vender's, a dog fly ball and agility course set up for the public to watch, and a pool for kids to play in. There was live entertainment, starting from the band shell having different culture groups come and teach their music/dancing, along with local bands. To the middle of the park there was a stage set up for rock bands bands to come and play a set for people, and as you made it across to the other side there was another stage for local entertainment by kids and teens. It seemed like 1 of out 3 people there had a dog, so the kids got to enjoy seeing every kind of breed of dog, Beagles, Mastiffs, Border Collies, Dachshunds, Retrievers, Labs, German Shepard's...a variety breeds!
We met up with Gary and Nikki downtown for the farmers market, it was still pretty small, being the first of the year, but we ended up on this walking bridge over the railroad tracks so the kids could watch a train REAL up close since lately, all i hear is trains going by, and Aidan LOVES it. He will turn to me every time he hears one go by and yell "Train! Choohooo!" So now and then we go out on the sidewalk to watch.
Here comes the train!!! The train engineer honked as neared us, we were waving big and they saw us! The kids absolutely loved it, yelling "GO! GO! Go!", "Choooochoooo Train!", "Look Mommeeeeeeee, Daddeeeee".
Aidan gave running through the sprinklers a go. He didn't like them hitting his face though.
The kids enjoyed the puddles made from the sprinklers more than running through them, i don't think they liked the noise from them or how hard it hit their faces.
The kids got to see and touch their first earth worm. We first showed them one that had unfortunetly drowned, and Aidan would not leave it alone, standing over it saying "Night night worm!! Shhhhhhhhh (as he put his finger to his mouth). " So i was determined to find a live and moving one for him.
Aidan enjoyed the live worm a lot, but still kept going to the "sleeping" one as he thought to point it out.
For fire in the sky fireworks, we drove up the interstate to near the summit to a hill to watch, hoping the kids might enjoy it better without the loud booms. This place overlooks the whole valley and we enjoy going up there to see everything. The kids did enjoy it, we pulled them out of their car seats to sit on our lap and point out the different colors.
Aidan on my lap, this is about 10 pm, they were real troopers staying up this late from such a long day!
Layla smiling on Kendall's lap, i am glad they enjoyed it, even though they were exhausted, they were REALLY good about staying up 2 hours after bedtime. I think it made their evening just to be in the car OUT of their car seats for once and in the front seat, a first time thing!

Hiking Around Pictures

Oh, that is what a butterfly looks like without his wings spread? Layla not sure what to think about the butterfly on my finger.
Aidan loves the rocks...so much so that he is giving this boulder a nice big hug!! I caught him crumbling off pieces of it and eating it a bit later.....
Layla and Aidan LOVE flowers, they have to smell them all the time, here she picked me some wild yellow snapdragons! You can see the river behind her.
Aidan taking a stop to smell the purple snap dragons. I am planning on planting a little flower garden next week (yes in our NEW house!) with the kids, i think they would love it!
Layla stepping off the trail to pick more flowers. Yes she is wearing a dress with pants, i slipped pants on both of them because they are so little they can't step over the brush and get all scratched up.
Taking a rest before we headed back down the way to the vehicle. There is a river behind them but hard to see with all of the trees.
Layla striking a pose to look extra pretty for the camera!
Throwing rocks in the river, they were thrilled that we didn't yell at them to stop throwing rocks! We couldn't really anyway, Kendall was throwing rocks in too, haha.

Bucko...Poop!!

I really am starting to worry about my little man, he seems to get some bad constipation at least once a week, so bad indeed that he pushes randomly throughout the day until his face is bright red and his body is stiff as a board to gain nothing from the effort. He goes meal after meal not eating but maybe a bite here or there, so i imagine his tummy hurts. He screams out in pain, and reaches for me to hold him and rub his back to offer him some sort of support system during these times. I try everything, i change his diet, fruit usually does the trick by the end of the day, and i heard plums may also get the process to go along. He gets plenty of fiber, plenty of fluids, and i just worry that its something deeper that i cant see physically. It doesn't help when we go away or leave him over night because then he forceably holds it in until he is home, and well it makes it worse. Today he worked all day trying, nothing. That is until bath time, it was although the hot water sped things up (i am actually glad for his sake!). Although it was our first poop incident in the tub, i wasn't upset at all, i was prepared just couldn't reach him in time to plop him on the potty. He sat on the potty afterwards, with his little towel wrapped around him and this sad embarrassed look on his face, i smiled and reassured him that it happens, and i am glad he is feeling better! If anybody else has an idea on what can speed this process up that would be lovely...i'm willing to try most anything to help him feel at ease.

Let's Cheer Up Mommy!

These past few weeks have been pretty stressful for me, and with the news i received yesterday things seem to be getting even more stressful. It is something that i now have to balance school, doctor appointments, paying money to receive medical records for myself, Layla and Aidan, and lastly, figuring out if i need to progress forward with talking to a lawyer, or if its something that could have been for seen and somehow i missed the concept. The kids have picked up on my negative mood, and seem to be acting a lot sillier as if to cheer me up. So i decided if we are going to make silly faces at each other, why not to the camera too?
When i told Aidan to smile big for the camera, this is the face i got. Him squinting his eyes and pressing his lips together...he did this every time i asked for a smile!
So i decided, ok lets get a picture of this face and me doing it with him...so i said "smile Aidan!" and i made the face knowing this was a smile in his head!
Layla will stick out her tongue when i ask her too, so this picture was a little easier to get! :) She hasn't yet mastered the whole far out sticking of the tongue (she inherited my loooong tongue, so i need to teach her how to stick it out properly to take advantage of the full length!).
Aidan really wanted to get his "boos coos" AKA "blues clues" in the picture. So he sneacked it in when i was giving him a kiss, and by the look on his face he is pretty happy to get it in the picture...or is he really happy that i am kissing him? :) Either way these photos and silly times with the two really helped to cheer me up!

Relay for Life

This past Friday was our local Relay for Life sponsored by American Cancer Association. I have walked as many years as i can since Highschool for Relay for Life, and even if i am not officially on a team, i still enjoy going to support the cause. I walk a couple miles by the end of the night and i buy up a lot of the popcorn and candy they are selling at booths since the money all goes to the research. My sister is a cancer survivor (age 12 and 15) and being there to support her is very important to me. This year was just as important too, since this past year we had a good friend (22 at the time) go through the whole cancer ordeal, and at this time Kendall's nephew is going through chemotherapy for leukemia (i think he is 12 or 13). It is such a hard thing to accept, but i have learned that the love and support from family and friends is very important. I can only hope that Layla and Aidan share the support with us as they grow to understand the reason behind walking and standing by those who have been through the trials in their lives.
Zach and Karen smiling for the camera...What a pair. :) Karen worked real hard to make things run smoothly for her team and everything else involved.
It as every year rained for a short period, delaying the survivor walk a bit, here is everybody posing for the camera under the tent during the rain. It was a lot of fun, Kendall got his shirt a bit later.
The survivor walk. I am really glad i was able to make it to this part of the walk, the past 2 years i have missed it for numerous reasons, so making it this year was wonderful! Usually my parents were able to but this year unable to attend, so Zach, Kendall, Layla, Aidan, and I walked by her side.
Kendall and I smiling for the camera! It was real nice that Kendall was able to come and support the cause also!
Kendall taking his turn walking for the Board of Realtors . He has ruby slippers on to show he is the one on his team walking, part of the Wizard of Oz theme..."There is no place like Hope".
Zach surrounded by two little munchkins. They LOVED the little flowers they carried them around to get the air to spin them. This is Karen's bank's site, and that is where we spent most the time when we weren't walking.
The kids walked the whole way around the track, Layla ran half of it, and then pulled the wagon the last 100 yards. They were pretty proud to walk around with everybody else...almost like they knew why they were walking.
Karen's luminary bag, after i put the kids to bed, and Kendall too...(he was tired so he stayed home willingly) i went back for the lighting of the bags, and announcements of the survivors and in memory of. Karen's bag was very decorative, she had Ebony color on it, Adrianna, Layla, and Aidan, so all of her neices and nephews left their art on it. Very special.

Gooo Drag Racing!

This weekend i have spent most of my time with just the kids. Kendall has been working his butt off this whole week, and Saturday spent from 8-5:30 working on either a class for our house loan or showing houses. Since he has been so busy, i have tried to come up with new ways and places to entertain the kids considering i can't take the wagon in my car, and Kendall has the SUV to show people houses. Yesterday we went to Safeway, and although that isn't exciting to the average person, the kids LOVE the shopping carts because they have a little firetruck attached to the front of the cart, and the kids sit in there and honk the little horn. If i stop for more than 10 seconds they turn and go "mommmeeeeeee" annoyed like because they want to be moving.

After that we met a friend at Chili's restaurant. Yes, we are moving up, although it isn't officially open yet, Laurel's boyfriend Craig is working there, and they had a day sponsored by Saint Jude's for special VIP invites to come eat for free, donations excepted, to get the staff practice. It was real nice and the kids were very well behaved. I do not think they have been so good at a restuarant before, i didn't even have to pull out any tricks out of the diaper bag (animal cards, books, stuff like that). I think it helped that we were directly under a tv with dragracing on it, the kids would raise their fists and yell "GO! GO! GO!" at the cars, and when they started driving they would yell "YAY!" and clap their hands...they did this all on their own we didn't even encourage it, very cute. And when our friend Craig stopped by to tell us he already had gotten a great tip, Layla excitedly yelled "GREAT!!!!" Very cute.

The kids went home for a nap, and soon as they woke up i piled them in the car and we went to a BBQ at Gary and Nikki's. They ended up spending the night there since we stayed so late. It was a nice time, :)

Today we picked up the kids, played at the park. At the park we had seen a little stuffed dinasaur that looked like it was pretty new, i put it on the pole so a parent could see it if they came back...however today it was still there, lonely and sad, and Aidan begged to play with it so... all in all he took it home and will not put the thing down. I figured it the parents didn't miss it after 2 days then it wasn't very important to the child. By the time we headed home, Layla and Aidan got to say hi to their little girl friend Stacy. She is 5 months and the kids adore her! They gave her little kisses on her forhead before they left. It has been a good weekend, the only sad thing is most of it has been spent without Kendall...We all miss him, and hope all this hard work will pay off, because again he is off showing houses, on a Sunday afternoon.

Dancing with the Stars has Nothing on us!

Father's Day Weekend!

Our fathers day weekend was a nice time. Kendall got a lot of time with the kids, and surprised us with a trip to veaduawoo. I always love hiking up there, and the kids enjoy it too. Aidan is showing me something of interest on the ground during our hike.
This picture is a little blurry, but i love that she is showing off the little opening between the rocks so excitedly!
Kendall actually found a nice deer antler when we first got up there...the kids were not as fasinated as we were, but here Layla is showing it off anyway. I never realized how heavy antlers tend to be until i saw her struggling to carry it! We kept it. :)
I had to show off the antler too..plus it is 1 of 2 pictures i am in the whole weekend. (not complaining....ok maybe a little!)
Layla walking by a tree that is her size, Kendall took this picture and i thought it was pretty neat that she is looking at it like...hmmm you are my size tree!
The kids are real troopers and walked as far as they could, until they started to lag behind...mostly Aidan, you could tell he was real tired. Layla hitched a ride on Daddy's shoulders, I carried Aidan for a little bit, he just cuddled me until we got back to the car, then they played again like they were never tired.
Here is Aidan between a group of rocks, i am so happy they have such good times up in the mountains! I love the outdoors and glad they do too...even if they are too young to walk very far.
After we got back to the vehicle, Kendall helped the kids collect arms full of sticks...they were having a blast passing sticks back and forth. After Veaduawoo we went to Gina's house for a nice steak dinner.
On Sunday morning and Fathers day i cooked breakfast for us. I told Kendall the night before to sleep in, and i would wake him up at 9, so we could make it to the movie. We had french toast and bacon...Layla got up with me, and we woke Aidan up right before i let them go wake up daddy with their card they had colored for him. A local church that is starting up here paid for a 10 oclock matinee to either see The Hulk, or a cartoon Kong Fu Panda. Of course we chose the cartoon panda movie, and the kids sat through the whole thing! Minus 10 minutes where Layla went for a little walk with daddy to calm down. Kendall was excited to bring the kids since it was free so leaving early wouldn't waste money...a lot of other parents had the same idea with many babies and tots there. It was nice because Gina came with us also, and it was a nice start to the day. Later Kendall went golfing with some friends, and now he is over at another friends watching game 5 of the NBA finals.
Layla smiling before the movie started, she was real excited to sit in her own chair, even though it would half fold up on her since she isn't heavy enough.

Weekday fun

Monday evening, i went to a mary kay party that Karen was hosting..it was nice that my mom drove down to go too and hang out. Here are the beautiful mother daughter duo smiling pretty at Arby's.
Tuesday my mom mentioned she wanted to see the kids more since they are oh so fun, so the kids and i took off on the spur of the moment to my parents house so the kids could get some Nana Grandpa time. My mom and i took them to the park, they had a lot of fun.
Layla would have rocked back and forth on this duck all day if we would have let her, she absolutely loved it!
Nana holding Layla on the teeter totter. She also loved this, but Aidan not so much.
I did manage to get a picture of Aidan on the teetertotter with me by his side. He looks annoyed.
The kids loved watering the lawn and trees in the yard. Although they took turns, Aidan was very unhappy that he was not at the nozzle of the hose...look at that face!
I love this picture, Aidan and Grandpa hand in hand walking. Aidan really looks up to the men figures in his life, i am glad he has such good men in his life to look up to!
Layla snuggling next to Grandpa as she drinks her milk before bedtime. She had a blast talking about "gampa(grandpa), nana, Abby(parents dog), and Doey (zoey, other dog)

Aidan getting a goodnight hug from Nana, while sneaking a peak at Zoey who is behind Nana.