play time.

lately, i have been so consumed with trying to soak up my kids, and remember each and every detail about our life right now. i just don't want to forget anything! even though i know i will, because i can barely remember kade being a newborn! it just seemed to all fly by.

 

so when i have the time, i just try to sit and watch the kids play. and take lots of pictures of them. this particular morning, kade woke up before jillian, so it was just the two of us playing for awhile.

  

 i want to remember how much kade loves this farm. and how his chubby little fingers grab the animals.

 

 and how he doesn't really know how to actually play with the farm. he usually just flips it over and over.

 and that he has one of the cutest baby smiles, i've ever seen.

and i just can't get enough of him.

disney world!

{we went to Disney World the last week of December. it's almost the last week of February. nice blogging skills, Kaci.}

 here is a super detailed, most people don't care, post about our trip, just because i want to remember!

back in the summer, kyle's parents asked us if we wanted to go to DisneyWorld with them in december.  i was still pregnant with Kade and we thought awhile about it (a lot), and finally decided to go. only because we knew we could cancel as late as november! our cancel date passed and there was no turning back! 

well, there was almost turning back! seriously. both the kids got sick right before Christmas and i took them to the doctor on the 23rd. both kids had RSV and ear infections! as i was picking up all the prescriptions for antibiotics and breathing treatments, and buying a nebulizer, i was thinking..we are so crazy to take a 20 month and 3 month old kids to disney world sick like this. a lot of other people told us we were crazy to take them healthy!

so on christmas night, we were all so exhausted, the kids hadn't slept in days, on top of the holiday craziness, we were giving breathing treatments around the clock, and about midnight, kyle and i looked at eachother, and agreed there was no way we could put these two on a plane like this, and expect it to all go ok! 

but alas, we pushed on. we woke up at 4 am on the 26th and headed to the airport. the kids slept the whole way (to the airport), while i was physically ill, because i was soo nervous about the whole trip!

we got to the airport and security and everything went perfectly smooth. i was carrying kade and they didn't even make me go thru the machine everyone else was. i had kade swaddled, and they just asked if i would unwrap him so they could see under the blanket. {i was terrified that they were going to want to pat down one of the kids}. but thank goodness, we had really nice workers.

we got on the plane, and our bags were so loaded down with entertainment for jillie, but she drew on her magna doodle and watched the ipad, then fell asleep after about 30 minutes! we were so shocked! kade fussed a little, maybe just 5 minutes. i knew when we started our descent, we were going to make it!

we were so exhausted by the time we got to our rooms. us and the kids took about a 3 hour nap, then we were off to the races! at this point, i was actually thinking, we had not made a terrible decision!

so here's a ton of pictures, although a fraction of all i took. you can thank me later for not posting them all!:

{jillie with kyle's parents}

{woody kade - sweet boy slept half the trip!}

 

{jillie decided to have some popcorn with minnie mouse}

 

{our family, with jillie making a funky face!}

 

{one of our really late nights at the park. after quite a bit of work, sara 

and i had both kids to sleep! success!}

 

{a lovely sight at disney world! this was a really cold night, and i didn't quite have enough blankets, so we piled on jackets, and bought jillie that hilarious hat. this was, of course, the one day i forgot her toboggan}

 

{jillie got this little buzz and woody, and she was in love with them!! here she was telling kade all about them, and you can see how interested he is! on our last full day, woody fell out of the stroller. kyle was quite upset, because it's just like the movie (jillie liked buzz more anyways). so we had to go buy another set. not because jillie wanted to, but kyle!}

 

{we wasted a ton of time waiting in line to meet mickey and minnie. the sign said 15 minutes. it was not. kyle was not pleased. but when he saw the sheer joy on jillie's face, all of his frustrations were gone. we didn't know how she would like the characters, but she was ecstatic to meet them!}

 

{giving minnie a kiss before we leave.}

 

{jillie's first "all to herself" ice cream cone}

{at the character dinner. this was probably the highlight of the trip for me, because it was for jillie. it was so fun to see how excited she was to meet each character! and have a buffet of desserts! we decided to just let her go all out! and that she did! here she is 'tooting' minnie's nose. kade was pumped too!}

 

{kade and donald. this sweet boy was such a champ! almost near perfect. the few times he decided to melt down, happened to be quite inopportune times, but we allowed it, because he was so good the other 99% of the trip!}

 

{animal kingdom. normally my least favorite park, but it was the least crowded of the week, so it became a favorite this time!}

 

{this was the first day jillie got to really get out of the stroller and run around a lot without being engulfed by insane crowds. so she decides to play in a puddle?}

 

{me and my kade man. this was our last day, and we're both looking a little weary!}

 

{on the last night, we took it easy, hung out at our  hotel, ate pizza, and colored some pictures. disney world has these random color stations everywhere for kids - genius.  a good way to end the trip!}

 {jillie watching airplanes! the only airport/airplane picture i took! on their first trip! i was just too nervous to think about documenting! the trip back went just as well, if not better!}

so the trip was a complete success! kyle and i were just talking about how we can't believe it went soo well! not sure how we pulled that one off! well, besides all the help from kyle's family! we could have never ever done it alone! the only group picture we have is from the character dinner, taken by a photographer there, so i couldn't upload it. bummer.

there were minor bummers, like it was so insanely crowded. you couldn't just walk. you had to wait in line just to get down sidewalks! 

and the kids were sick, but were unbelievable troopers! they got their antibiotics and breathing treatments and kept on trucking! (can't believe RSV didn't hit kade worse, being so young).

so for all the people who said we were crazy, yes we were. and it was such a great, yet oh my gosh exhausting trip, that we will remember forever. 

i'd do it all over again with a 20 month and 3 month old. but kade might appreciate it a little more if we wait awhile longer =) so we will.

week in phone pics..

i have never wanted a iphone, but i will say, i am very jealous of the camera on them! the camera on my phone is no bueno. takes like 3 seconds after you press the button! literally. but i still take lots of pictures on it, because it's so easy to just whip it out, rather than go get the big camera.

so here's some random shots from the week..

 we went on a family date to lowes and "chick a ay" for an ice cream cone, and jillie to play on the play ground. me and little brother hanging out while j and daddy play.

 i was sitting in the living room and j was in the kitchen, and i hear her say "mommy, i see you!" and looked over and saw this peeking over the half-wall.

a common sight in our house. jillie doing crazy things to entertain kade. although he looks a little scared here!

the weather was so nice, we got to go on a walk and play outside! j is a little high maintenance and needed like 5 toys before we could go.

kade's first time in the swings outside. papa built us a swing set, but the weather has been yucky so we haven't been able to use them, but now they will be getting a lot of quality time!

jillie loves to swing/spin on her belly, but she usually hits the pole then says "ohh, my pace!" (face)

jillie has two shopping carts, so we took one outside - she thinks it's the greatest thing ever to have one outside.

i don't even mess around when i'm shopping!

she never looks comfortable to me sleeping, but whatever works! i should have taken a pic of her whole bed, to show how many blankets and animals she sleeps with. whatever gets her to sleep! and when she wakes up, she has lots of friends to play with while i get some extra sleep!

we have started trying time out with jillian. i think discipline is a lot of trial and error to see what works for each child. this particular incident was for putting toys in the toilet. yes. so she had to sit there till i mopped up all the water and washed the toys off. having to sit still is super hard for her, so this may be an effective tool! when she got up we talked about what she had done:
me: ok, jillie, now why did you have to go to time out?
j: i pooped. (she did before the toy incident)
me: no, you didn't have to go to time out because you pooped, you had to because you played in the potty. do we play in the potty?
j: no!!!
me: that's right. now what do you say for playing the potty?
j: sorry kade!!! (and runs over to give kade a hug).
i guess it worked???

the kids were just being sweet laying next to each other on the couch. love both of their expressions here!

right now we are really working with jillie on cleaning up. oh my, it's not the easiest task. it would be so much easier and faster to just do it myself, but i want her to learn. this is the bookshelf after she worked on it for a solid 15 minutes. the funny thing is, there were only like 3-4 books on the floor and she picked them up in 10 seconds, but then she kept moving and rearranging the bookshelf to get it just perfect!

so convicting..

ok, so i rarely post anything on here that isn't a cute picture/story about the kids, but, i've been totally consumed by a blog i found this past week.

this sweet 2 year old boy, tripp roth, passed away last week, after battling a rare skin disease from birth (epidermolysis bullosa). the disease causes his skin to be soo thin and sensitive, that the tiniest bit of friction or even temperature causes terrible blisters and sores. his mom kept a blog all about the day to day life, caring for him, because the disease is so rare, very few people know anything about it.

 

tripp's mom, courtney is a believer, and her faith and trust in God is unreal. she truly believed tripp was given to her for a reason, and even though their life was so impossibly hard, if his purpose was to bring more people to God, that's what they had to fight for!

i just read and cried sad, happy, thankful, guilty and every other emotion tears.

it has seriously changed my point of view and attitude of motherhood. i love love love being a mom. since i can remember, all i wanted to do was be a mom. and i still know that is exactly what God wants for me, but i think everyone still has days, when you're just tired and discouraged at the same time. both jillian and kade have been battling terrible colds that they just cannot kick, and it has just been exhausting.

then i read about this sweet boy and his mom, and all they go through, and i realize i do not have a clue what a true "hard day" is.

so now on days when jillian is just being crazy, i have to stop and be thankful that she can walk, run, talk and laugh, even when she can test your patience like the best of them! and when kade is super fussy, i have to be thankful that he can even cry, smile, and giggle.

so yeah, if you want to read her blog, take a huge box of tissues! and just so you know, as tripp reached the end of his journey, his poor little body was so consumed with EB. it's so heartbreaking!