Clown Guy Marker Face

When I left the room Wyatt was coloring a nice picture at the table... When I returned, he had was standing on the kitchen table with a brightly colored face, in the middle of coloring green circles all over the wall. Thank goodness for washable markers and those nifty magic erasers! : ) I guess you've just gotta laugh, right? I keep reminding myself that he's TWO and all of these little 'setbacks' in our days make for great memories later on! There's never a dull moment in toddlerhood...

Sunshine... Makes Jesus Happy!

I love the spontaneous things that come out of Wyatt's mouth, well most of them anyway! :) He does have a very thankful heart and for that I'm grateful... Another cute little story: So Wyatt and I were watching a Barney episode and the theme was "What do you love?" So at the end of the program I asked Wyatt what he loved... I fully expected him to say Cupcakes! but instead, he said, "I love Jesus!" This is our daily prayer and desire for Wyatt and Isaac...So may these words be true and may Wyatt's life be a reflection of love for Jesus more each day!

Ike wants a sip too!

Here's our little grabby man trying to take a sip of soda from Daddy's cup!

Ike is 8-Months!

Our little charmer is now 8 months and turning into such a big boy on us. Isaac is on the MOVE... He is able to do log rolls to get just about anywhere he wants to go! So long to the easy days of leaving the little guy and knowing he'd be in the same spot when I returned. We're back to baby gates and some serious childproofing!

Ikey is full of personality and just has the sweetest spirit. I absolutely adore him! He's got bright eyes and a great big smile that totally melts my heart!

This is Isaacs 'shy' look, which he's not at all! He loves all people right now... Well, anyone who gives him an ounce of attention, that it!

Ike is very detail oriented. He notices anything and everything on the floor. We've even had a couple of mishaps and very close calls with tiny, clear hair rubber bands that he's somehow found and gotten into his mouth. :( His new favorite treats are Rice Krispies... He picks them up one by one and puts them directly into his mouth! He loves the challenge and will focus hard until he's devoured every single one of them. This has become a great distraction at restaurants!

Wyatt and Isaac are such good buddies. They LOVE their time together. Wyatt wants Ike to be bigger right now and Isaac definitely wants to be a big boy too. Soon enough...

Here's Ike having great fun jumping on Wyatt's back!

Isaac is not the least bit afraid of anything right now! He loves to be tackled and thrown into the air and swung in circles!

Still love the thumb, which keeps him very content most of the time!

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Fun Facts About Our 8-Month-Old: ISAAC...

• cut his FIRST TWO lower TEETH this month!
• is such a ROLY POLY... doing log rolls all over the place. He's definitely not much for being bound to your lap anymore. He wants to be on the GO, for sure!
• has the nickname GUMBY because his arms seems to stretch to grab anything and everything within about a 3 foot radius. He grabs papers off of the fridge, clothes off of clothing racks, girls' hair, wyatt's hair, your shirt, jewelery, straws out of cups, food off the table... anything he can get a hold of!
• puts everything in his MOUTH. Yikes! This is new for me. I've had to childproof and get rid of so many of Wyatt's toys for fear of Ikey choking... there have been too many close calls.
• loves to be OUTSIDE, go for walks and visit the animals and Deanna Rose Farmstead with big bro!
• is obsessed with Gabbi... He gets such a kick out of her. It is too cute to hear him squeal with delight when she comes near.
• continues to love life more and more each day and fills our hearts with so much laughter!
• We're really loving this stage with Isaac... It's fun to see him become more independent and really try hard to figure out the world around him!

Fun days in Kansas!

Over our past 2 weeks in the hotel, our boys have gotten lots of practice at restaurant etiquette, as you can see in the picture below! : ) Since we don't have a full kitchen, it has been much easier to just eat out. I never thought I would get tired of eating out, but I think we've all reached our limit and are ready for a few more home cooked meals again! I do have to admit that we've felt pretty spoiled being on per diem and getting to try lots of new restaurants... maybe just in smaller doses from now on!

We've also gotten lots of 'togetherness' in the hotel! Wyatt has become a pro at feeding lil bro his bottle...

Wyatt and Isaac have gotten tons of time with their cousins, along with Auntie B and Uncle Trent. Wyatt absolutely adores my sister... At night when we're getting ready to say our prayers and I ask Wy guy what he's most thankful for, he usually says "Auntie B!" I love to see the cousins love each other and it has been very affirming that this move was the right decision... It is so fun and such a blessing to live out life together! Here is a photo of Wyatt at his very FIRST FOOTBALL GAME! Daddy missed out but I'm sure there are many more to come!

Wy's favorite part of the game was the marching band... He is my little music man!

We got a quick lunch date with Aunt Jen and were able to meet cousin Alexa for the very first time!

Papa and Gamma also stopped through on their way home from Springfield, MO. Wyatt had a little laughing fest with Papa in the hotel lobby!

We've been to Deanna Rose petting zoo numerous times in the past couple of weeks! Here's Wyatt and his buddy Lawson watching the ponies, I think!

We made a trip to the CIRCUS which has been the topic of many conversations since!

Wyatt was so excited to share the experience with lil bro, who cut his first 2 teeth in the middle of the performance. Isaac was biting my fingers so hard and then all of a sudden, POP! Two sharp little teeth cut through those gums right into my hand!

Wy was determined to get in some pool time even though the water has been quite cool!

We were able to cheer Poppy on at one of his Saturday morning softball games. Yes, that's right, Poppy still plays ball! It was so fun to see a bunch of 60 and older men, mostly former college ball players, still out on the field playing in quite a competitive league. Poppy plays first base and Wyatt kept a pretty close eye on him until he got distracted by a digger! :) Here's my little slugger congratulating Poppy after a big win!

It has been so fun hanging out with family, catching up with old friends, and just enjoying life together now that Joe has a more 'normal' schedule! Life is good...

Bye-Bye Burdette Forest...

Last Friday was a bittersweet day packing up and saying goodbye to our neighbors, friends, home and life on Burdette Forest Road. It was a short, yet incredible 10 months in Maryland! I've learned and grown, been stretched and mentored in ways that I would have never imagined in such a short time! We spent the day getting both Hondas loaded down in prep to head out early on Saturday morning for the long trek to Kansas....

One last fam photo on our front porch!

Still on the market! It was a strange feeling to leave most of our belongings in our fully furnished house and head out for KS, but we're trusting the Lord to protect our home bring the perfect buyers in due time!

Here I am with cousins Lori, Sheila, and Aunt Jackie out for dinner! It was hard to say goodbye to our MD family but we're so thankful for the year of fun memories and holidays spent together!

We split up our 1100mi journey into 3 days, making a mini vacation out of it. Our first stop was Columbus, OH where we stayed at an indoor waterpark and had a blast. Below are pics of Wyatt playing at a park in Louisville, KY which was our next stop. This was the neatest park with an outdoor, live band playing... Wyatt had so much fun being out of the car, running around, and getting very DIRTY!

Isaac took lots of cat naps while Wy guy was out playing!

Our final stop was home of the Arch in good ol' St. Louis!

Wyatt actually took this photo of the 3 of us on the lawn under the Arch... He's quite the little photographer, I tell ya!

Here's Daddy and Wy guy wrestling under the skyscraper...

"Just hanging out." as Wy guy would say!

And finally on Tuesday we arrived in KANSAS CITY!!! We pulled up to our new apartment and were a little disappointed with the location, so we opted to stay in a hotel for 2 weeks while waiting for another apartment to become available... So our new home sweet home is temporarily on the 3rd floor of the Homewood Suites, complete with continental breakfast, housekeeping, and very tight living quarters for a family of 4 plus Gabbi dog! Now this is what you call down-sizing! But we will survive :) and will certainly grow in gratefulness for the comforts of home, I'm sure!

KathQueen came to visit!

My best friend from KSU came to visit me and the boys this weekend. Wyatt called Kathleen, "Kathqueen!" which I thought was a fitting title for the post! ; )

Joe was supposed to be home so that we could have some girl time, but he ended up getting assigned to one last trip! : / Kathleen was such a trooper and a great help to me as we ventured out with the kiddos... She got to see the craziness of life with 2 little boys in tow! We went to the county fair but it was very HOT so we didn't last too long, but long enough for a tractor ride...

and to see lots of animals and even take a cow ride : )... and sit in a big fire engine!

We got to eat out and play at the park and just enjoy some time catching up...in between tackles, and spills, and meltdowns, and everything else that goes along with bringing the boys out! ; )

Thanks SO much for taking time to come see us, Kathleen. It really was just like old times (with a couple of boys added to the mix!). I am so sad to no longer be living only 3 hours apart, but hopefully we'll get to see each other during your visits to KS... and I will definitley plan a girls weekend in PA too!!!!! Thanks for being so good to my boys this past weekend. I'm always so humbled after spending time with you... I appreciate so many of your character qualities, from your sweet spirit and patience that never seems to falter, to your dilligence and and quiet strength... You are such a beautiful person! Love and miss you, Friend!