Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Sneak Peak

It is so hard to imagine that in two short weeks my 'baby' Kaylen will be six years old! I have been hard at work perfecting invitations for one of her two parties and I am so excited with how these came out! In these pictures the outside is finished but they still need wording on the inside, but you get the gist. Tonight Kaylen is going to help me put on the finishing touches (the cherries on top!) because she really wanted to help, and then she will 'hand-deliver' these little gems. She couldn't be more excited!

The outside. Doesn't that just look yummy! In case you couldn't tell we are having an ice cream themed party! They are so sparkly!




The inside where the wording goes!


Monday, April 28, 2008

Z.O.O. spells Zoo!

Last weekend as Britton was getting ready for the day, and the girls were playing in the living room, I looked outside at the beautiful spring weather, and decided that I didn't want to spend the day as I had originally planned. Most weekends I catch up on leftover tasks from the week, folding laundry, cleaning bathrooms, and such while Britton tinkers in the garage or the yard. I intercepted Britton in the bathroom as he was finishing getting ready and suggested that we pack lunch and head to the Topeka Zoo, fully expecting him to protest and spell out everything he had planned to accomplish that day. So I was surprised when he agreed and seemed excited about my idea! We decided to keep our plans a surprise and just told Kaylen that we were going somewhere fun. She spent the next half hour trying to guess where we might be taking her, as we gathered up snacks and packed the car.

As we were driving out of our neighborhood we saw a co-worker of Britton's riding his bike, and stopped to say hello. When he asked where we were headed for the day I spelled out "z.o.o." Without missing a beat Kaylen pipes up from the backseat "Z.o.o. spells zoo!The zoo?! We're going to the zoo!" So much for spelling our secrets!

When we got to the park we saw the old fashioned train pulling into the station across the street from the zoo, and Kaylen decided that Avery would definitely be disappointed if we didn't take a ride. (Avery is obsessed with trains! Whoo! Whoo!) This was Avery's first ride on the Gage Park train and you can tell by the smile on her face that she loved every minute of it!





While we were on the train we passed the carousel and the tulip garden, and decided that after checking out the animals at the zoo we would stop by both on our way out. The highlight of the zoo trip was visiting the monkeys. There were two of them in their outside exhibit, and they both had sheets or blankets wrapped around their shoulders like capes as Kaylen sometimes does when she's pretending to be a super hero. When they saw us standing by the glass window in their little "observation" room one of them came right up to the window where Kaylen and Britton were standing and put both its hands up to the window exactly as Kaylen was doing. He put his hands up to Kaylen's hands exactly! She was a little freaked out at first, but got over it when the monkey reached out and tried to hand her the stick that he was holding. Unfortunately all of my pictures are just of my own camera flash, so you can't even see the monkey. In the meantime I took Avery outside to get a closer look and the same monkey came outside and THREW the stick at me that he tried to hand to Kaylen! So, so funny. I think Avery was very confused by the whole thing!! Every time I said, "Look Avery! Look at the monkey (or the giraffe, or the hippo) she did this. . .



In case you can't tell she is turning her back on whatever it is that I'm pointing out. So not impressed. (Yes. She still drinks a bottle. See that little line on the top of her head that looks like a part? It's a scar. From brain surgery. When (and if) you ever have brain surgery than you can drink out of a bottle too! For as long as you want. Really.)

We had a fun time riding the carousel, but by that time everyone was getting a little cranky. . .




Despite my best efforts and attempts at bribery, I couldn't get my girls (or Daddy for that matter) to pose in the beautiful flower beds! Avery was having none of it!

So my dreams of a fabulous photo shoot in the breathtaking tulip garden, didn't really pan out. I rarely take pictures of "nature" or things other than my girls, but these flowers just took my breath away. There was every color imaginable and they were absolutely gorgeous!!

I have dreams of having a garden of brilliant blossoms like these in my own yard someday. Sadly I definitely don't have a 'green thumb,' mine is more of the dried up dead brown thumb variety.





I am so glad that we decided to be spontaneous and take off on a little adventure! It was well worth stepping over the piles of laundry to spend the day having fun with my favorite people instead!

Friday, April 25, 2008

Foursweetharts "Four on Friday"

four jobs i have had in my life:

camp counselor

sales clerk at sears (in the baby department)

teacher

mommy



four movies i've watched more than once:

pretty woman

how to lose a guy in ten days

when harry met sally

topgun



four places i've lived:

Osage City, Kansas

Manhattan, Kansas

Kansas City, Missouri

Olathe, Kansas



four tv shows i watch:

jon and kate plus 8

oprah

grey's anatomy (well used to, before the writer's left us all hanging!)

the bachelor



four places i have been:

chicago

d.c.

orlando

dallas



favorite foods:

chips and salsa

pretty much anything chocolate

mc donald's double cheeseburger

cheesecake

(hmmm. . . .I wonder why I've gained a few pounds in the last couple of years. . . . )



four places i'd rather be right now:

on a beach

on a date with my husband

sleeping

shopping


four things that drive me cRaZy:

slow drivers!

rude store clerks

losing my keys (often)

laundry


four things i'm looking forward to this year:

summer (and flip flops, the pool, the lake, barbeques, picnics. . .)

bethany and crew coming home to visit

our step forward to cure tsc walk

Christmas, (I start looking forward to it on the 26th of December)



four places i love to shop:

target

kohls

gymboree

old navy

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Wouldn't You Know It?

For the first time in a long, long time I have been REALLY sick. I don't know if it was the flu, or just a really nasty cold, but whatever it was, it totally wiped me out. So Daddy graciously offered to get up with Miss Avery through the night last night. As most of you know, Miss Avery does not sleep. Ever. She gets up every three or four hours like clock work, like a newborn. Always has, and perhaps always will. Or maybe not. Last night, on Daddy's shift, she went to bed at 8:30 without a fuss, and woke at 8:00 THIS MORNING! What? Are you kidding me? Why? How? Huh? So instead of experiencing a night in the life of Mommy, there Daddy was snoring away peacefully as usual, while I crept into Avery's room every few hours to be sure she was still breathing. At one point I just peered at her in the darkness thinking, "Come on, are you seriously going to let him off the hook like this?" If she hadn't looked so peaceful, I might have given her a gentle, "time to wake up, honey" shake, or at least "accidentally" shut the door with a little too much force.



So much for Mommy "sleeping through the night."

Friday, April 11, 2008

Flashback Friday

I will never forget the first few moments Kaylen and Avery spent together. I don't know what I was expecting, perhaps a little indifference or jealousy on Kaylen's part, so needless to say it was an unforgettable moment, watching her instantly fall in love with her baby sister. I guess we took for granted, that she too, had been anxiously waiting to meet this person we had been talking about for so long. And what a meeting it was! These pictures are a little dark, as they were actually taken off of our video camera, but I am so thankful that we captured these moments. Even though they are forever written on my heart, and I couldn't ever forget that amazing day, these images still bring a smile to my face and tears to my eyes.







I guess God knew that Avery would need an especially loving, patient, and empathetic big sister and he choose the perfect little girl! Kaylen is Avery's biggest cheerleader, best friend, and fierce protector. What an incredible bond these two little people share and how lucky are we to witness it every day?

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Story Time with Daddy

Avery is usually in constant motion. . . running, climbing on a chair to get to a kitchen counter, getting on and off of the beds to bounce, so it is interesting that one of her favorite things to do (when she's not running full speed ahead) is to sit down and look at books. It's even better if she can find someone to sit down and read with her. She loves to turn the pages and point to the pictures and have you tell her what they are. We treasure these "quiet moments."


This is a good one, Daddy!



Read it again!

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Long time

no blog! Wow, time flies when you're having fun I guess. I haven't found a moment to sit down and add to this little blog, and that's a bummer, because we've had lots of fun these last two weeks. We've also being going through a really rough time with Miss Avery and her health issues, (for more on that for you random 'blog stalkers' go to www.carepages.com enter page name LittleMissAveryUpdates exactly.) So for today I'm just going to leave you with some great before and after shots of Miss Avery's first real haircut!

Before (obviously)

Can you say CrAzY HaIr?! It was a two bottle kind of day!


You didn't tell me we were doing a photo shoot today!
I would have done something with my hair!


Cheese grin! Such a goofy girl.

After
Ahhhh, so much better! Can you say c.u.t.e.?
Stay tuned for more fun from the Hart house! Things seemed to have calmed down for the moment, and I'll be updating lots of fun pics in the next couple of days!