Fall Fun with Daddy!

Joe has now been away for 3 of 4 weeks overseeing the move in MD, followed by training in SC for his new job. I went and picked him up at the airport LATE last night (luckily Mimi was able to come babysit the boys so we didn't start our weekend being too off schedule!) for a little surprise weekend visit. The boys were SO EXCITED when they woke up on Saturday morning and Daddy was HOME!!!!!! It was a priceless memory! The first thing Wyatt wanted to do was try on his costume for Daddy, so that's just what we did...

The boys enjoyed breakfast consiting of orange rolls on orange plates in their costumes!

Wyatt was one PROUD and LIVELY clown! I think my lil cub was a bit HOT in his lion ensamble! We headed out to the cider mill for some cider and donuts! It was a perfect day to be outdoors. Everything goes in the mouth these days...even PUMPKINS!

After the cider mill we headed to Wyatt's favorite 'Space Ship' park for some more outdoor fun! Ikey bear loves to swing!

It was a FULL and FUN day! In the evening we headed to Mid America Nazarine College with the cousins for all of their fall harvest festivities. The kids had a blast and filled up on way too much sugar! : )

Sunday evening we had to take Daddy back to the airport : ( but made it to Mimi and Poppy's church afterward for an hour of fun before bedtime! Here's my crazy clown climbing a very high wall (He lost his britches the first time up! :)...

He wanted to go again and again and again on the moon bounce/wall slide, but started to finally wear out towards the end of the night!

My half-lion hung out with Mimi and watched big bro climb and jump and play.

This was one of my favorite weekends and one I definitely won't forget. Absence certainly does make the heart grow fonder! Our time apart always makes us appreciate our time together all the more! Only one more week til we're together again! So thankful for the GIFT of my hubby and handsome lil fellas. God is SO GOOD! : )

Look Who's Crawling!

At 9 and a half months, Ikey finally figured out the FORWARD motion and is now a true CRAWLER!!! He's been crawling backward for about a month now, but reversed his skills today, and is sure motoring along and very proud of himself!

Up on all fours...

Eye on the prize... In for a landing. So proud of his accomplishment!

Costume Party at Music School!

Here's my music man with his 3 teachers at music school today after their costume party!

Wyatt absolutely LOVES going to music school every Monday morning with the See Family (hence the name of his class is the Key of See--how clever!). Wy guy is singing constantly and has all of the words from their albums memorized! Definitely music to mommy's ears! : ) Wyatt dressed as a "Happy Clown" today, or so he says. The little story behind the Happy Clown is this: So there's a guy who dresses up on a street corner as a scary clown, advertising a costume shop for Halloween. Wyatt does not like the scary clown one bit so he always makes sure to remind everyone that he's the Happy Clown! The idea came from our trip to the circus this year, of course!

Here's fireman Dax and Happy Clown Wyatt all dressed up for their party!

So fun that the boys get to share the music school experience together each week!

Both boys with bells in hand singing their good morning song!

Another cute little Wy guy story: So after he went into class this morning, he came running out the door just sobbing. I immediately thought he was missing me already (Yeah right, Mom!) but he was just devastated because his RED NOSE FELL off. Well, at least this was an easy fix and he ran back in with a big smile on his face and kept his red nose on the rest of the class

I heard!

And Baby Makes FIVE!

Here's the first photo of our Lil Buagaboo in the cooker at just 12 weeks on 9.22.10!

I think we might just have another thumb sucker on our hands. Love it! : )

THE SURPRISE: Life IS full of surprises and this one caught us completely off guard! Our family will be expanding from four to FIVE in early April, 2011. So were we planning this one, you might ask? Well... not exactly! But the Lord obviously was, and his timing is always better than our own! So we're feeling amazingly BLESSED and THANKFUL for this good GIFT! 3 KIDDOS, 3 AND UNDER: When Baby 3 arrives, Wyatt will have just turned 3 and Isaac will be 15 months. I always knew I wanted to have 3 kiddos but just didn't think they'd be quite this close in age! It's funny because our 'plan' was to have Isaac and baby #3 be at least 2 1/2 years apart! We actually thought an April baby would be perfect.... April 2012, that is! But I know this little bugaboo will be the perfect fit for our family and my heart is growing with love and excitement for this new little life by the day! I used to always say that I wanted to have 3 kids by 30 so I guess this is one way of making that happen! : ) HOW WE FOUND OUT: We are in week 17 now, so let's rewind a couple of months.... It was mid-August when Joe was traveling often during his last rota with the Secret Service. I had 2 lil boys waking up during the night (these rare episodes always seem to happen while Daddy is out of town!) and I was crazy busy with packing and trying to plan for our move to KS. So needless to say, I was feeling completely exhausted. I felt slightly nautious in the mornings and didn't have much of a taste for coffee (which I forced myself to drink anyway to get me going for the day!). Something just didn't feel quite right but I attributed it all to being so tired. I went for my usual run one morning after Joe was home... Afterward, when I was getting ready to jump in the shower, I caught a glimpse of my belly in the mirror which had all of a sudden POPPED! It was completely obvious to me and I knew I had to take a pregnancy test immediately. Joe politely tried to reassure me that I must just be 'bloated'. But a Mommy's instincts are usually right and sure enough... there was a + sign in that little window! I was already 9 weeks along. There was kind of the silent, blank stare at one another and an understood "OH MY GOODNESS... How did this happen? What are we going to do?" But they were questions not really worth answering at that point. We just had to laugh in that moment and keep on truckin' along with the packing and cleaning and loading and driving 11oo miles and moving into an apartment and hoping to sell our house and praying, DEAR LORD, we know you have plans to prosper us, to give us hope and a future! : ) I'm so thankful we had HIS promises to cling to during what could have been an intensely stressful time! THE HERE AND NOW: Well, we made it across the country... we stayed in a hotel for 2 weeks, have been in a 2 bedroom apartment for over a month, and have survived Joe being away for 2 weeks now, with 2 more to go. Our house in MD is due to close tomorrow and we have a contract on a house in KS to close in November. I have been feeling amazing and I'm ever so grateful. With 2 little rascals keeping me busy all day I couldn't possibly afford to be sick or tired. The Lord has been FAITHFUL and our lot remains secure in Him! His grace IS sufficient and his power is made perfect in our weakness. It has been so awesome to see the events in our life play out in ways that only the Lord could possibly orchestrate... all for His glory and all for our good, of this I'm sure! So we've got 22 more weeks before welcoming this new little baby home. Would you be praying with us for a healthy pregnancy and delivery of this new little one?

Pumpkin Patch-Round TWO!

We had another BEAUTIFUL Saturday so we decided to hit another pumpkin patch with the cousins. This time we visit Johnson Farms and had a great morning together!

lil punkin' posing for the camera

Here's Ikey eating a little bit of grass...

Wy guy got to get in a real fire truck and pretend to be a fireman! He was so focused that I couldn't hardly get a photo... or get him to do anything else on the farm!

We love spending fall in Kansas and are taking full advantage of this family-friendly city! I can't believe how many fun activities there are for the kiddos to do around here. We're loving all of our new adventures...

Isaac is 9 Months and going to be a BIG BROTHER!

My little rascal is now 9 months old and will be a big brother in April! He's still my BABY until then...

Ikey is a MOVER...he log rolls FAST and is now crawling backwards! He's really rocking and almost ready to crawl forwards too. Where did my baby go? Oh, but this stage is so FUN!

Here's my roly poly under the chair! and playing in the laundry basket!

I think Ike is eating Rice Krispies here or just making a really 'thoughtful' pose!

Isaac LOVES his bottle and Wyatt loves to be the one to feed it to his lil bro. It's so sweet!

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Fun Facts About Our 9-Month-Old:

ISAAC...

• now says DA-DA-DA-DA-DA-! over and over. It is so precious! If you say dada to him, then he repeats it. He loves to feel like he's really 'communicating'. I love it!
• has little (and very NOISY) screaming fests with Wyatt in the car. Isaac is ALWAYS this instigator... He screams until Wyatt gets so annoyed that he screams back, then it becomes a game and they scream back and forth. It makes me crazy, but it's so fun that they have their own little games and are communicating in the back seat!
• is doing fast log rolls, crawls backwards, is rocking and getting really close to crawling forwards, and stand on all fours like a bear--it's so funny to watch!
• has his arms and legs and hand and feet moving constantly!
• have I mentioned how much he loves the WATER? Well, bath time is getting a little out of control with splashing. I'm covered head to toe with water after every bath I give Ike!
• is such a sleeper... he normally sleeps from about 8pm-7am then wakes to eat and heads back to sleep until 9:30 or 10am (if we're home!). We're normally out and about in the morning with activity so he normally just has to sleep on the go! Then he goes back down for a nap from about 12:30-3pm! He's a very good SLEEPER and an independent one at that!
• is just so CHEERFUL! He makes me smile every time I look at him.
• is going to be a perfect MIDDLE MAN in our family... He's got such a loveable personality and he's easy to adore! I'm not one bit worried about Isaac getting lost in the middle or having the 'middle child syndrome' as I hear many families talk about! : ) He's now a little brother and soon to be a big brother...I think he's got the best role!

I love you Isaac Owen... all the way to the moon and back!