We got back from KS a week ago....and I have bunches of photos!

We had the blessing of flying to Kansas a week ago and staying to hang out with family for an entire week! Justin had to stay behind and work on some workshop stuff that takes place every other month then fly to LA for some meetings. He was disappointed that he couldn't come and celebrate my brothers wedding reception and welcome into the family, Mrs. Julie Stein with us. We were bummed too! But we made the best of it and saw oodles and oodles of family and had a wonderful time. :)

We saw Mimi and Grandpa Stein, Aunt Pie and Uncle Dustin, Uncle Tommy and Aunt Julie-(a post all for them soon), all my mom's sisters/brothers/families-which is about 30 + people, Grandpa Hime, Aunt Brandi and Mr. Silas, Great Grandma Yeahquo (Justin's grandma), Justin's Aunt Debbie and Chandrea, Nana and Papa, Uncle Drew, Granny (Justin's grandma), Tamara, Kristin, Kate, and Jacob...and SO many others. It was a jammed packed week!

It was a good time being there and it was nice to be back here in our own beds and give daddy hugs. But to everyone in KS. We LOVE you guys, can't wait to see you again, and you all are always welcomed out here at our home!

Katie was SUPER excited to go to KS, she RAN down the gate to the airplane. :)

She got bunches of rides on Grandpa Stein's 4-wheeler

She made sugar butterfly cookies with my Aunt Mary Kay

The cookies were demolished in 3 minutes by everyone in the family!

Owen put EVERYTHING in his mouth-there was all sorts of new things to taste. :)

Me and my sister Jessa. Love this girl.

Me and my cousin Marina. Wish we lived closer to CO and could visit more!

All the girl cousins on my mom's side, plus the kids...

My cousin Hannah that Katie loved. It didn't hurt that Hannah had games on her phone.
Hannah and her brother Hayden live in CA. I nannied for them while I was in college one summer. They were 3 and 5 years old then! Whew that was a while ago. :)

Katie getting some Grandpa time!

Ahh....what a sweet couple-Aunt Pie and Uncle Dustin, you both look great! My sister is three years younger then me.

Just hanging out with my little boy! We enjoyed beautiful weather the entire time. So therefore we lived outside whenever possible. :)

Is that gun for me Grandpa? (Don't worry, Owen DID NOT get to to shoot it...yet! :)

So many rocks and sticks to choose from....so little time.

This tractor is from when we were kids and it is still a hit! Amazing that it has been saved for all these years. What a great toy!

Hangout out with Mimi and Grandpa. Grandpa was taking down a dead tree and we watched then helped him clean up.

Me and my dad! What a special photo.

We made a trip to the local pumpkin patch. We all loved it! I had never been so it was a treat for us all.

It is So had to get a photo of both kids smiling...but they were on the search for the perfect pumpkin....so I understand!

Owen LOVES slides! This one was super fast and he laughed the entire way down. :) And Katie is not sure of this tunnel-it was too bumpy she said.

Grandpa and Katie found the perfect pumpkin!

Owen and Mimi enjoyed the dusty trail.

"Come on, Owen, find a pumpkin with me!"

Loving the hayride and Mimi hug!

We finished the week by reading the "sillys" aka the funnies.

We celebrated Owen turning one! And a side note. By this time in the week, Owen was NOT feeling good. I think he and I got a bit of some food poising-ahhhh. Made the plane ride home a bit, ummm, challenging! But Owen was blessed with some new toys and clothes. Thanks Mimi and Grandpa. :)

Mimi and Owen.

Grandpa...I love you, I am just tired! That tool box, super!

And finally one last game with Grandpa. Katie played tickles with Grandpa, wrestled with him and hit the ball back and forth with a fly swatter. What fun. I am sure next time Owen will be in the middle of the games too!

We Love you Grandpa and Mimi Stein. We will see you soon!

And in another post soon...Nana and Papa, then Grandpa Hime!

Owen's dediation to his fingers

Owen has sucked his two fingers for a while now and I am thankful that he does for contentment. I know someday we will have to work on him not sucking them, but until then...Take a look and see the dedication he has to his left hand.

Owen did it.

So, one night for the record....HE SLEPT! I think he only woke up once, maybe not at all if that one wake up was a dream I had. Ahhhhh....Thank you Jesus. Thank you Lord.
I pray we are getting there. May he keep learning to rest well. May we all learn to rest well, physically and spiritually.

And the heat goes on...

We have been enjoying Millbrook Exchange pool while the weather has been hot. They have a shallow pool and also a spraypark. Maybe you can tell by the photos, they each like something different,-Owen the spray park and Katie the pool. Katie made some friends and Owen worked on diving underwater. Thankful that there is a pool to relax at while the September heat droons on and on and on...

Journaling-melt down times four

Owen...update...sleeping is still a battle. Bummer. We are continuing to try the earlier bedtime, but even tonight he went down at 6:15 and has already been up and crying twice by 7:30. What gives? Anybody have any thoughts? Yesterday he woke up 5 times between 7:00pm and 10:30pm! I haven't gone into his room, but let him work himself back to sleep. But tonight, I finally gave him some water and a hug. Back down, we will see how long. Oh, and he now also has a cold-a runny nose. Lovely. I gave him some Tylenol and I hope that helps, though it doesn't seem to yet and I gave it to him at 5:30. He did play just fine all day long. Took two short naps about 45-an hour each, so again he is tired, way overtired.

Katie...skipped her nap today and played in her room, trying to "sleep" she said. In bed by 7:25 and having a melt down because daddy was putting her down...though normally daddy is who she wants. She couldn't sit still for her Bible story and wanted to sing her own song while we say My Mercy, My God. The three's are a tough age since they think they know so much. Plus, they can try and talk their way out of things. Whew....hopefully she is asleep almost by now. She has been coughing at night-I am sure because of her overdose of dairy this past week. Oh and she has decided to get up to go tinkle ALL THE TIME during the night.

Justin-working hard to be a joyful dad today. Doing a much better job then me. Also tried to get me to understand his thoughts on what to do with the house...yeah, my ideas on a couch/chair...different then his. Oh and he gave me a message for Mother's Day that I just redeemed this weekend at Massage Envy...Lauren, was the girl that I went to and was superb. Thanks for the treat, Love!

Me-I could have cried at multiple points. I am tired. Tired of waking up 5 times a night. Tired of Owen working on sleeping and crying himself back to sleep. Tired of praying for a joyful heart-though I know that won't change, yes, I am a sinner. Tired of trying to get things done only to be one step backwards and not forwards on my list. Tired of looking for a couch. Tired of being afraid to make a wrong decision. (But we ARE buying a couch this week! :)

But overall...thankful for another day. Thankful for time with my kiddos and husband. Thankful for the mercy and grace of God. Thankful that I can ask for help. Thankful that it is 8:00 and I can get ready for bed soon. Thankful we can even afford to buy a couch. Thankful, thankful, thankful. Jeremiah 33:3

And I know that I am posting thoughts that are not always encouraging to anyone reading them. But this is our life right now. And right now, again just so we are clear, we are THANKFUL for where we are, what we are doing and WHO we are serving.

Somebody hold me accountable...

Owen NEEDS to go to sleep at 6:15 tonight. HE IS EXHAUSTED and so am I.

We will win this sleeping, or lack of sleeping, battle.

We are the parents.

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child this book is necessary in my life. I am reading it, again.

:)

That corner and this happened

He was going for that toilet paper

He leaned down and smashed his head square on that corner in the above photo

He immediately got this goose egg

He cried for 2 minutes then successfully got the toilet paper and was back to playing. Whew...I guess I won't try to clean the bathroom while he is awake again...just to much going on!
Oh and why do kids always go for pulling out the toilet paper.......I have found ROLLS UNROLLED around our home.

And a side note-recommendation-If you don't have some of this on hand, it does wonders to bruises. I have used it on Katie, myself and Owen and seriously it is worth having. It heals much faster and helps with the pain.