Chicago, here i come

Busy day......laundry, working out, Target run, Valentine party at daycare, 4 hour night shift at work, and packing for Chicago!!!!

Yes, the dreaded 30th birthday is soon upon us....and for that reason, a girl must go shopping! Nothing better than heading to Chicago with your older sis and mom, doing some shopping, having some drinks, enjoying great food, sleeping in......

Yes, will miss my boys, but i welcome the little escape too:)

In other news around the house......

Owen loves to walk around and say "mom mom mom" esp if he wants something. He loves to tell you what santa says..."ho ho ho" and he loves to sing the ittsy bittsy spider. really he just does the hand movements of hte spider climbing up. His new favorite cartoon is Diego and he will only eat breakfast/lunch/dinner with his diego spoon and fork. he kinda hums the opening song to Diego....kinda cute.

Hummm, what's new with my big boy ryan? I do have to admit we are nto the greatest at remembering to say our prayers at night but last night, after laying down with him and asking about his day, i heard him quietly talking to himself. i asked what he was doing and he said "praying to God." made mommy smile :) He said he also helped out in worship yesterday while he was at school. the kids attend a christian daycare and they have worship at 8:30 every morning. he is super excited about his valentine party this afternoon. need to go buy some valentines at Target.

And so i better stop typing and get my day started.....have so much to do!!!

Arizona, here we come!

So Scottie caught me in a wak moment sunday night! we were discussing AZ and how much we both wanted to go. For those of you who don't know, we flown to the Phoenix area for hte past 6 years to see the Royals in spring training. Along with baseball, we hike in the morning, hit a few shopping places, and a few bars....to watch some basketball. Ideally, i shop while scott sits in a sports bar and watches the basketball :)

we call it our compromise trip b/c scott hikes with me in the morning and i attend the baseball games. We were discussing this weekend how we can't wait for warm weather, scott is looking forward to baseball, and i have been dreaming of Pinnacle Peak...a nice hiking trail in north Scottsdale. and so i gave in! For my own justification, we had one free flight on SWA, two free nights at a marriott hotel and i found a rental car for $30/day.

Scott and I so need this vacation! I kinda feel guilty that i will be in chicago next weekend for three days and then two weeks later, i will leave the boys for another three days but i need to be able to maintain my sanity! Can't wait to post pics from the Chicago and AZ trip. Oh warm weather, i can't wait to meet you again in a month!!

Happy birthday Ryan

Happy 4th birthday Ryan! Last weekend, we headed to Sedalia to celebrate ryan's birthday a weekend early. Ryan wanted choc cupcakes with blue icing. well, this is as creative as mommy got....considering i had just had foot surgery. A few days before the party, he informed me he wanted a baseball party....thank goodness the balloon store had Royals balloons!


Ry and Owen being silly before the party

mommy, daddy, and the birthday boy!

daddy and ry

Make a wish and blow out your candles.

Present time!

Grandma cathy bought him his very own batters glove. awesome!

It's perfect to go with his new bat and his new baseball glove.

Later that night, while daddy was at the mu game, ryan and owen shared some popcorn with papa larry.

And finally, Ryan's actual birthday....January 30th. mommy and daddy sang happy birthday to Ryan then he blew out his candles from his chocolate donut!

More presents to open.....

Then off to the movies...just the three of us. Thanks uncle matt, for watching owen.


Had to end with this picture.....while i was fixing dinner sunday night, owen decided he better reorganize the frig. Hey, whatever you gotta do to get food on the table!

This is the look i have wanted to capture

Don't let this look fool you....i have wanted to capture this look for awhile! This is the onry little 17 month old who does not listen, laughs when you say no, has no fear, and is not phased at all if you yell at him. oh my. i have seen this look all too often over the past month. It has frustrated me to no end.

But the past few days have been nice. Yes, he is still onry, but not as bad. Owen has given me tons of hugs and kisses, semi understands that it hurts when you pull mommy's hair....

Owen was such a good eater tonight that i thought i would take some pics of dinner. Scottie has been working late so i have been surviving "the two hours of hell" all by myself (that is what i call 5:30-7:30 at night....when kids and mommy have just about had it and bedtime can't come soon enough).

And this would be the super-tired-soon-to-be-4-year-old. Oh my, he was so tired. I did turn the tv on so he could watch tv and eat....it kept me sane while i tried to get owen to sit down in his chair to eat. Here is ryan's "i'm so tired/dazed and out of it look!"

On another note, my foot is doing better. Went yesterday for my postop visit. She removed all my surgical dressings and i was finally able to see all my stitches. she then covered my foot up with gauze/co-band (spelling????) and tape. And no, i am not a k state fan....if she would have had black or gold co band, i would have worn that but i refused to wear the red and blue...hell no for jayhawks!

bathing is still super fun as i have to hang my leg over the tub...can't get foot wet. so much for shaving the legs! then i have to go to the kitchen sink to wash my hair. bless my sweet husband for washing my hair yesterday! We will see how i handle being on my feet for a half shift tomorrow at work!

Always making those lists

kids are in bed and i am bound to be productive tonight! during bedtime, i usually end up falling asleep with ryan and then end up doing nothing the rest of the night. My list that i intend to make tonight will be....
1)grocery
2)things to do this week
3)cost of all utilities/bills
4)try to come up with a better "budget"

i am sure my husband will love #4. seriously, if we want to move, i need to have a better budget in place....and scott HAS GOT to get with the program and sit down and know what our finances are! he has no clue! i hate that i always worry about finances and he doesn't. but to his defense, if i am not saving X amount of money, i think we are in a financial crisis! oh how we have different views of money!

on a lighter note....scottie surprised me with a shopping trip to chicago with my mom and sister for my 30th bday....in three weeks. i am excited, yet was a little freaked out b/c i had not "set money aside" for the trip. gosh darn it, why do i have to be so darn weird with having little "accounts" set aside for everything we do. well, i know i will enjoy the trip. looking forward to great shopping (if i can make myself spend some money), great food, and wonderful "adult" time with no kids around!

alright, off to make my list and study for my cpr recert. will post pics from ryan's bday party with grandparents later this week. going to doc tomorrow for my post surgery follow up. hope my dressing will be removed and i will be able to actually walk somewhat normal.

My poor foot :(

My poor foot! Finally had the fluid/cyst removed and tendon repaired. And now it looks like this!

I was so super excited for surgery b/c i thought i would be groggy all day...but not so much. was out of it for a few hours then back to normal. so much for my idea of "sleeping all day." and so much for "bedrest except for getting up for the bathroom only" per the recovery nurse. there is no way i could have survived if i was on bedrest during pregnancy....i can't even stay bedrest for the first 24-48 hours! was up at 11 to make sure kids were playing well with grandma margaret and getting ready for lunch. was up at 3ish after owen's nap. again at 5 during the rough 2 1/2 hours before bedtime when everyone is cranky. oh well, maybe i can do better tomorrow! the boys have been so good about watching out for mommy's foot. owen will walk into the bedroom, look at my foot and say "ouchie." ryan just tells me that i need to hop everywhere i go. cute boys! hopefully will be able to walk decent in the next few days. back to work on wednesday, stitches out in 2 weeks. i just hope i can somehow figure out how to shower...b/c i am not to get my foot wet for 2 weeks. hummmmmm


so, otherwise, i have been very bad about updating the blog. here are some pics that i have taken over the last two weeks. nothing new around our house. have been staying busy with work. scott is in his "hell" right now with year end close....oh, will it ever get better. if only his employer would hire more staff!!! we will be heading home this weekend to grandparents house to celebrate ryan's birthday and to be at church when baby maddie gets baptized.

scottie playing with the boys.....they love to spin his ring on the floor.

walked into the kitchen one morning to find that owen had opened the dishwasher, hopped right on up and started unloading the dirty dishes. glad there were no knives in there!

one of the few pics when both the boys actually looked at the camera!

one of my favorite pictures! my almost 4 year old.

Ryan, Owen, Lexi, and baby maddie

Owen being silly....and yes, we cannot get that boy to sit down in a chair. he is always standing. and if you tell him "no" or to "sit down" it does not phase him at all. oh lordy, he will be my difficult child growing up!

say cheese!

Baby, it's cold outside!

Don't ask how many inches of snow we have had....snow has been on the ground since Christmas Day. I just can't wait til it reaches 32 degrees and some of this starts melting. Snow is pretty....but two weeks is plenty for me! The arctic air is moving this way. More snow today and windchills down to -25 degrees. This doesn't sound like Kansas anymore!

But Ryan and the neighbor kids have enjoyed playing in the snow. This was taken 12/27 when the temp got up to 30 degrees and you could actually send the kids out in the snow.

Owen didn't know what to do...he just stood there...then i had to hold him the rest of the time. Maybe next year.

So with the bitter cold temps, we have gone a little stir crazy in the house. And it's year end close for daddy so he has been working late. Tonight, the boys had fun at dinner. Owen kept feeding Ryan....kinda sweet. (yes, Ryan is at the age where he will not look at the camera and smile...he likes to make faces)

Boys finally calmed down from the "feeding frenzy" and they enjoyed some pudding for dessert.

Just a few pics from the past week....

Ryan....supporting his two Missouri teams...Go tigers...Go royals!

The boys in their cozy fleeces from aunt emily