Annie Production

Sunday night a girlfriend and I took our two Annie loving five year olds to the production at Shawnee Mission Theater in the Park. It was simply a wonderful evening had by all. The weather was perfect, we endulged on some scrumptious snacks and our two beans were enthralled with the show.
Evenings have consistantly been my worst time of the day throughout this pregnancy so I was so thankful that I was able to push through to enjoy this fun evening out with my favorite girl.

A Hug from Heaven

These two have been such a blessing to me as of the past month. Hold your horses, this isn't a bragging session, I promise. I believe their sense of imagination, ability to play together (as well as independently) for hours, fend for themselves in many ways ... the list goes on has been a little hug from heaven direct from God to little ol' me. You see, God rocked our world about this time last month when it was revealed to us that his plans for our family were much different than what we had thought. Travis and I had many talks about being fortunate enough to have one healthy girl and one healthy boy (after what seemed like a rough 1st year). We talked about the emotional ups and downs with all the testing and therapy we endured with Dawson as well as were raw and honest with one another about our fears of having a baby born with even larger scale health issues as we have had others close to us experience. Let's be completely honest here, we also discussed the fact that we were loving our new gained independence to do things and go places with ease ... we talked about the financial aspect of raising a larger family and we touched on the issue of "did we have enough energy and stamina" to start over again. Guess who is in control? GOD! So, here we are - almost 11 weeks pregnant with baby #3. I am fatigued and dealing with awful indigestion. I had virtually stopped ALL cooking, cleaning and couponing (catch your breath as I am here). I am compulsive about cleaning and am passionate about couponing and frugal shopping so putting those things on hold was a stretch for me. I have felt much better over the course of this past week and am happy to report I have prepared and served at least two hot meals to my family so far this week. I am so thankful for my little one's sweet attitudes when they have heard their mommy say repeatedly "Mommy doesn't feel so good right now" or "Let Mommy rest a few more minutes then we will work on getting lunch together." I am grateful that Gabrielle allows me to rest EVERY day during Dawson's nap time and she fills that time with creative play and making an awesome disaster in her room. I have began referring to the disaster in her room as an extension of her creative being. I am blessed beyond measure that my amazing parents live within a 5 minutes walk from here. They never fail to make special time for the kids and fill their love tanks to overflowing on a regular basis. I am loved more than I realize by my husband who works from 6:30AM until supper time then walks in the door and immediately takes over meal preparation & clean up, entertains the kids & gets them ready and tucked into bed. I appreciate that we live in a beautiful neighborhood that has a community pool that has provided more than one "bath" for my kids on occasion over the past few weeks. So, what I am feeling right now is a deep sense of overwhelming joy that the Lord has entrusted us to be parents again and that he is daily sending me a Hug from Heaven letting me know that this 1st trimester blah stage will soon be past allowing me to enjoy my family more.
Grateful - yes!!!

Sweet smiles from the Big Brother and Big Sister to be!!

In the Blink of an Eye

I headed upstairs this afternoon to shower and when I was headed back downstairs I was greeted by this toothless grinned girl! No fuss or tears, just simple childhood joy over loosing her 1st tooth. She is eagerly awaiting a visit from the tooth fairy tonight.

Sweet Treat = Loose Tooth

My parents arrived home last night after an extended weekend in Iowa at a dear family friends wedding. They stopped by here to pick up their dog which we were puppy sitting. We all happened to be outside working in the front yard - well truth be told Travis was doing all the work while I kept watch on the kids running amuck. The short of the story here is they brought the kids a rock pop lollipop (not sure what it is called, but it looks like crystals stacked on a long stick). Both my kids have their Mommy's sweet tooth so they wasted no time at all tearing into it. We were saying goodbye to my parents and I guess Gabrielle got a little over zealous with her sucker and bit down on it and the next thing you know she is pushing her lower tooth forward with her tongue. What? My baby is just shy of 5 1/2 which is too soon for her to be loosing her 1st tooth. The funny thing is is that it really upset Gabi. She began crying and asking all sorts of questions about would the tooth fairy come, would her tooth fall out today, would it hurt, would her friends make fun of her or call her names (ugh! I hate that she even associates loosing a tooth with the prospect of getting ridiculed my others), and so on. She refused to eat supper in fear of it hurting or causing her tooth to come out and then was concerned that somehow swimming at the pool was going to be the cause of it coming out. Silly girl! Well, today is a new day. She said at breakfast this morning that she was excited to show her friends her loose tooth. My hope is that it does indeed fall out before the roots start to die and her tooth begins discoloring. Stay tuned for her 1st toothless smile candid shot to come!

Daddy's Little Princess

Earlier this year Travis was encouraged by a mentor friend of his to begin the process of "dating" Gabrielle. They had a conversation about what this meant and would mean in years to come ... how it would establish grounds for how Gabrielle was to expect to be treated when she begins dating boys at the age of 20 :0)
Travis really has embraced the opportunity to date Gabrielle at least one night a month and to make that time away with her both meaningful and special. This month provided for another fun daddy/daughter date night. Our church hosted a Paris themed Father/Daughter dance this past Saturday night.

I have to admit I gushed a little when they walked down the stairs together. I think Travis looked so handsome and Gabrielle truly was in full on princess mode with her speech and mannerisms. It was too cute!
Gabrielle and I had fun shopping for a dress for her as well as a shirt and tie for Daddy. We ended up with two options for both of them and this was ultimately Gabrielle's end choice. It had a LOT to do with the fact that this dress met her expectations when she would twirl! A GREAT (probably my favorite) Leawood garage sale find of the year. We purchased four ties for Daddy and let him decide amongst them - two conservative and two ... well PINK of course. I was sooooo happy with his choice!


This picture definitely captures Gabi's affection for her daddy.
Travis participated in a benefit golf tournament Saturday and didn't arrive home until 7PM - hence the sunburned cheeks. Gabrielle was ready and awaiting her prince as he entered the door. She ran to the top of the steps and said oh so sweetly "Daddy, your princess is upstairs all ready for her prince!"

Ms. G insisted on stopping to see Papa and Mema on her way to the dance.
She arrived home very excited about a little trinket of the Eiffel Tower (she studied France quite a bit in school this past year) she received as well and raving about her "new favorite cheese!" I wish the Mr would have been better about capturing some pics of her cutting it up on the dance floor with her friends. If anyone has pics to share, please shoot them my way.

A Day at the K

We have some amazing friends who generously gift us their season tickets to one or two Royals games each season ... did I mention their seats are awesome? They are just to the right of the Stadium Club with complete sun cover directly behind 3rd base. We generally try to attend the Royals versus the Detroit Tigers during one of the series. This past Sunday happened to be the rotation that my distant cousin Jeremy pitched for the Tigers. He actually had a pretty lousy game, but it was fun to watch him none the less.

The kids could not have been more better behaved. They were really good troopers considering Dawson only napped 15 minutes of the drive there and it was a pretty hot day.

We took a short break after the 3rd or 4th inning to treat the kids to a little time at the Kids Zone. Travis watched the kids as they played in the play area while I visited with a friend for a couple of minutes. Apparently that is all the longer it takes to lose one child. Yep, a moment of fright as he couldn't find Gabrielle. The Kids Zone is heavily staffed and they promptly returned her to her fretting Daddy. After recouping, we braved what seemed like an endless line for the marry go round that actually moved right along very quickly. We cooled off a bit near the water area before heading back to watch the rest of the game.

Following the game the kids wanted to stay for the Fun Run (where an insane amount of families wait in line to run the bases). We were one of about three smart families who sat in the shade until the line was complete and then entered the field to get in on the action. Dawson lived for this moment! His only regret was not getting to "hit the ball to Daddy." The day was made complete with an awesome performance by Jeremy Camp. I was a big fan before seeing him live, but after hearing a piece of his testimony I am now an even bigger fan.

Kicking Myself

Do you ever have something occur that is a little difficult to swallow or get past? I had one of those moments today! After researching online the requirements for donating to Locks of Love, I had convinced myself that I would not meet the minimum requirement of a 10 inch ponytail. With that said I went to my scheduled appointment and within short order my hair was being cut to a just above the shoulder length. After about 90 seconds of cutting my stylist says nonchalantly "wow, I just cut AT LEAST 10 inches off already (and that was BEFORE she cut another almost 3 inches)" I caught my breath which signaled her I had something on my mind. I told her how my hope was was to donate to Locks of Love however had reservation about the length. Unfortunately at this point it was too late. She felt terrible and responded by stating she hadn't even thought about it. I am a little heart sick right now - something I can and will soon be over. It would have just meant a lot to me to know my hair was being put to a great use/cause rather than being swept up and placed into the trash.
Hubby to the rescue ... he just phoned and is picking up Pei Wei on his way home. Love that man! It is funny how the thought of good eats can change ones mood :)