Daddy's Day 2014

This was Josh's first father's day with both of our children.  We are so thankful for everything that Josh does for us everyday.  He is such a hands on father, and wants nothing more than to give us everything in the world and put a smile on our face.  We truly are his whole world and at times I have to pinch myself and say is this really true? 

He is Bo's hero already.  Bo thinks that Dadddy is the coolest thing since sliced bread.  What's not to love...he gives him cookies, let's him stay up late, but gives him the discipline he needs when he needs it. 

One of my favorite things has been watching Josh's soft spot grow and grow with his baby girl.  She is wrapped around his finger already.  He is such an amazing father to our children.  We are truly blessed to call him ours.  He gives so much everyday and I am beyond thankful. 

For Daddy's Day the kids gave him a special card that Bo picked out (it had a tiger on it, weird:)).  Bo left some of his artwork in the card for him and I gave him one as well.  We also got him a Puma Soundchuck bluetooth speaker so he can take it with him while golfing. 

He requested for his day to get a few things done that were on his checklist and go to the park with kids, so that is exactly what we did.  It was a fun day with just the four of us.  Love my little family!

I heart DADDY (he's the best)

 

V's 11 months

This is the last post that I can put up that will not follow with the word year....tear:(.  My baby girl is moving from being a baby to a toddler.  I'm so sad yet so proud at the same time.  This little girl had changed my life more than I can ever tell her.  She is truly my mini me and I am so excited to see her grow up (and scared at the same time!).

She is talking up a storm and absolutely loves everything her big brother does.  Between Bo and Daddy there are many giggles with this girl.  Even though, she is still attached to mommy a bit, she has her fair share of fun with the boys.  I was telling Josh that I cannot wait to dress us alike (no judging...it's going to happen.).  I still can't believe that Josh and I created something so beautiful.  I thank my lucky stars everyday for both of my kids.  They are the light in my life, the twinkle in my eye.  They are the reason I am here.  Coming home to them or getting them from school is what I look forward to everyday. 

I am already predicting Miss V to be a pretty independent young lady like her momma.  She is going to be forced to be tough and a tom boy.  She can throw a ball so good and loves playing with tractors.  She is crawling everywhere, but still not walking.  She has technically taken a step , but nothing consistent.  She will stand up on something and then let go.  One of these days she is just going to take off and we won't know what to do!  Her hair is still growing like crazy.  She can offically wear a pony.  Seriously, so adorable.

She is officially eating about as much as Bo during dinner.  We haven't fed her baby food in quite some time.  As Josh says "I haven't seen anyone get so excited to eat, other than her mother...."  Glad I could pass it down baby girl.  She is still drinking 4 bottles a day (before school, 1130, 330, and 7ish).  She moved up to the one year old room at 10.5 months (once again, sad...).  She only naps once a day in that room, the same time as Bo, 1230-230.  She will occassionaly take a cat nap on the way home from school.  Her bedtime is at 730-8.  She still sleeps like a champ and wakes up around 7 (or whenever I need to wake her up during the week).  She is officially in 12 month clothes, but mostly 18 month tops.  She is still wearing her size 3 moccs that she has had since Christmas.  She has a pair of Jellie sandals, but doesn't quite fit into them yet. 

She loves any kind of riding toy, sleeping with blankets, playing with Bo, and putting together puzzles.  Vallery is getting fiestier and fiestier everyday.  Josh's new nickname for her is "dozer" because she will put her head down on the floor and doze her way through everything, especially when she is tired.  Daddy and Bo still refer to her as sweetie pie most of the time.  If she gets hurt, Bo will say, "Are you ok honey?".  He is getting very protective of her.  He is going to be an amazing big brother to her. They take a lot of baths together, which usually involves Bo pouring cups and cups of water over her head.  She takes it like a champ! 

We are still so blessed to have such happy, playful, loving children.  They are as healthy as can be and have a loving home to come home to everyday.  That itself is so much more than so many have, so we are so blessed.

 

B & V

 

 

My Boys.

 

 

Another weekend in the dirt (rain)

Josh went to Iowa City for his annual golf tournament at Riverside.  It is always a nice getaway for him to have some time with "the guys", do some gambling and play a whole lot of golf!  With him being gone for the weekend I decided to take the kiddos back to Villisca.  But my mom and Grandma Gray come up on Friday afternoon and got the kids from school.  I cannot even tell you how excited they were to see Gramma at school.  My mom said that Bo ran up to him and gave her a hug that was never ending.  Melts my heart. 

I arrived later that night to my parents house and we had a relaxing evening talking ont the deck.  The next morning it rained super hard for the most part, so Bo and I headed to Uncle Nick's to watch a movie.  After naps for everyone; Bo, my Dad, and I went off to do chores for the day.  This is what I look forward to most when I go back home.  Since it had rained over 10 inches in a week down there, a lot was flooded.  It took a bit for Bo to go into the water with his rubber boots, but after a bit we couldn't get him out of there.  Feeding the calves was old news and he had an impromptu swimming trip instead!  Those are the moments that I live for. 

After the big swimming adventure we started preparing for the big evening cookout.  We had morel mushrooms, ribs, steak, baked beans, and chips.  My grandma came over along with Clint. After filling our bellies Clint and Nick took Bo out to the farm, my dad got in his truck and "checked" on everything, and my grandma, my mom and I sat and chatted out on the deck while have a couple cocktails.  That night I went up to the local watering hole with Nick and Clint to catch up with a few folks.  I love small town Iowa!

the flood.

new besties

its his world...we're just living in it.

there's a first time for everything. :)

Dam to Dam (round 2)

The last Saturday in May my brother and I ran the Dam to Dam again.  He had completed it with me in 2011 when it was 12.4 miles, again last year, and then with me this year when they bumped it up to a half marathon (13.4 miles). 

First off, I was not prepared to run this AT ALL.  But on a positive note, I did much better than I had expected and only walk a few times for short periods of time.  I was like Seabiscuit out of the gates, which is kind of my strategy anyway because I know am going to peter out at the end of the race, because I definitely did not have the miles on my legs to run strong throughout the whole race.  Nick told me to slow down after mile two, but I had to inform that I needed to make up time at the end.  We lost eachother at about mile 3 or 4 because he had to stop and use the facilities, but I told him he could catch up. It was a good run all the way up until mile 9, after that is was pretty brutal.  And then with .7 miles left in the race I get a tap on my shoulder from my brother.  Which thank goodness he was there to push me toward the end because I fully prepared to walk across the finish line in front of hundreds of people without feeling one ounce of embarrassment (I was to that point!).  I was so happy to finish with him, but also happy to do nothing the rest of the day.  My body was hurting!!

That afternoon Nick and I took naps (you have to get on the bus at 5am to even get to race, so it had already been a long day) and Josh played with the kiddos.  That evening we treated ourselves to Jethros and a giant Beer.  I was so happy I did it again and I am looking forward to the Half Marathon in October!

BEFORE 



AFTER

 

 

here a goat, there a goat...

My parents took adavantage of our extra day off work for Memorial Day and decided to make a quick trip to visit the kids.  And oddly enough my dad brought a goat with him.  You never know what he is going to buy next.  But on the plus side, he was taking it to the Wolfe's for permanent housing.  We got a few hours with Diamond the goat, Gramma, and Papa before they traveled south the visit Avery.