There is No Place Like Nebraska

This past month has been such an exciting one. Jesse, the kids, and I packed up our stuff and headed out west to Nebraska on July 1st. Jesse took a little over a week of leave to spend with us out there before making his way back to Dayton. During the week he spent with us we hit up the Lake, The Lincoln Children's Museum, and Chuck E Cheese. It was great having the whole family spend time together. Jess had to report home soon there after, because he was due to start his new job he will be at for six months (starting with nights). I had made a prior commitment to help out with my 10-year high school reunion, so Jesse and I made the decision that I would just stay back with the kiddos and spend some much needed time with my family before the big 1-0 reunion (I'm doing a separate post about this...so stayed tuned).

It was great having the time with my family, because normally we would only probably get to see them twice a year if that. My mom set up a kiddie pool in the backyard, so W, P-man, and I spent a lot of time out there. We got to visit the Lincoln Children's Zoo, as well as an outdoor concert for kiddos put on by the Lincoln Children's Museum called Music and Mozzarella (there was pizza involved as well). If you can't tell, Lincoln is extremely family oriented with tons of stuff to do, hence the reason why I miss it so much. It was also great being able to catch up with our great friends as well, we miss you all so much! All and all it was a great vacation and we were able to spend the much needed time with everyone. Plus, P-man got to meet his great-great grandparents for the first time. Here are just a few pics from our trip. :)

The season of the Great Pumpkin

It's been a while since I've posted any pictures. So, I thought I'd share some of our fall adventures here in Ohio. I have to give it to Ohio, because they sure know how to bring out the fall season. I can't believe how beautiful fall is here...definitely does not compare to Nebraska. Anywho, W and I have been really busy with fall outings. I've been very privileged to be meeting so many wonderful people over the past month. My neighbor, Shelly, invited me to a Girl's Night In, and there I was able to meet other stay-at-home mommies. We have been quite adventurous lately. Here are a few pics from our trips.








W and I have also joined a group called MOPS, which is an acronym for Mother's of Preschoolers. It's a Christian organization which brings mother's together for informative meetings, speakers, and bible study. W gets to have his own fun in moppets during the meeting. Anywho, we've been able to have some adventures with MOPS as well. One of our first adventures was a local pumpkin patch. Here are some pics from the event.





As you can see we have been trying to stay very busy. We are definitely looking forward to Halloween, which is only 48 hours away. I'll definitely have some pictures up from that. Also, look for some exciting news come Monday evening. We will be finding out if W will have a baby brother or sister. He keeps telling me there's a "baby sister" in there, but we'll see come Monday. Also, please keep us in your prayers as we're hoping the ultrasound brings joy of a very healthy baby.

Living in the moment....

Okay, I know I've become terrible at updating my blog, but life has been so busy for me lately. I haven't even had time to go onto my mommy message boards. I've been extremely busy with W, house cleaning, laundry, working out, having a girls night out, paying bills, and balancing the checkbook. Then, on top of everything else, I've been busy getting W's 1st Birthday video and invitations done and out. I really need to get his video done within the next week, but I really hate my editing software. It literally takes 3-5 min for my video to upload from my video file. I seriously wish we had a MAC right now with Final Cut Express. I worked on it for two days, and have only gotten 1 min and 30 sec. done...oh yeah and that's on the first song out of two. I really need to get some more motivation for patience on this video. LOL! Since I'm still on the topic of W's birthday. We have both decided to plan a John Deere Theme birthday. A week and a half ago when it was really nice, W and I went outside on the grass for a "John Deere Photo Shoot". He had on his overall shorts with no shirt and his John Deere tractor. W loves pushing that thing around, and it's so cute when he makes "tractor noises". Katie did an excellent job editing the photos to go along with the invitations she was making. I was so amazed by her talent in graphic design, because the invitations look fabulous. I was able to get them addressed and sent out soon there after. So, the only thing really I have left is to purchase birthday decorations, order balloons, order W's cake, finish birthday present shopping/wrapping, and finalize the dinner menu. I know that sounds like a lot, but as soon as I get all the RSVPs back it should only take a few hours to get done.

William and I have been trying to be more active in Lincoln Mommies. It's a group of stay-at-home moms who get together at least twice a week if not more with our kiddos. This past Thursday a good friend of mine organized a get together at the Pioneers Park Nature Center. Even though the weather wasn't cooperating, the mommies and kiddos made our day so bright. We went on a fun hike and W was able to witness his first turkey, owl, snake, turtle, and he even saw a bald eagle. He wasn't too fond of petting the snake, which was okay by me. I'm not a huge fan of snakes, plus I didn't know what kind of germs, etc snakes carry. We finished our hike with a picnic by the park. However, we didn't stay too much long there after, because W was getting tired. We are definitely looking forward to our lunch date with Lincoln Mommies next Tuesday at Applebees. We wanted to try and make some play dates this week, but they land on days where we can't make it.... it's either on swimming lesson day or the morning's I'm at the YMCA. W loves being around his new friends, and it's great for mommy to meet new friends too. :)

Oh, I almost forgot something that's pretty important. W got his first haircut this past Monday, the 21st of April, which happened to be his 11 month birthday. His hair was starting to get into his eyes...plus I wasn't a big fan of the baby mullet or the hair around his ears. So, I made the decision to get his haircut. We went to a kids salon called, Lollipops. W did such a great job, and didn't cry once. The hair stylist was pretty impressed with his behavior. We were able to take home clips of his hair, a balloon, and a Polaroid of his "1st haircut". We probably won't be back there again, since I paid $14 for a baby cut....yep that's right $14 smack-a-roos. He looks so much like a young man, and I can't get over how much he's looking more and more like Jesse. That's definitely not a bad thing, because my hubby is pretty handsome... :) Here's a picture of his new do, and of course if you look closely you can see his new upper tooth. He's cutting three more as we speak. Well, that's all I have for now, so I'm signing off. Hopefully, I don't get too lazy to post more blogs. Things will hopefully start to quiet down so I can make more time for this. I'm definitely trying to live the moment... if ya know what I mean?!?!