Caught Up!

I am going to attempt to get CAUGHT UP!  
Time just doesn't slow down.
It seems like just yesterday we were celebrating our special little boy's 3rd birthday! When in reality, it is ALMOST CHRISTMAS and a NEW YEAR!! Yikes!

OCTOBER
We made a family night out of carving pumpkins! Of course daddy took on the task of carving a complicated design and I took on the SMILEY FACE! And Cael, well he decided that poking holes in some Styrofoam was much more entertaining!

Daddy's pumpkin! That took him almost an HOUR to do! 

 

Notice my CHEESY one on the left! 

TRICK OR TREAT
I am really not a huge fan of Halloween, I never really have been. However, I think that when kids are little it is so fun to dress them up and give them the experience of Trick or Treating. We opted to go to the Trick or Treat stroll down main street in a neighboring town that just happened to be during the day time.  We were able to spend some time with cousin Madden too, so that is always fun! 

What does the FOX say?

Madden: Jerry and Cael: Fox

Our church's outreach night!

BIG BOY BED
One of Cael's birthday presents this year was a BIG BOY BED! He was not as thrilled about this gift as mommy and daddy were however.
Now, if I said that this was a smooth transition, I would be lying! This transition into a big boy bed was quite possibly the HARDEST and LONGEST struggle we have had (still having) with him so far. To add to the transition we also clipped all of his pacifiers and took those away completely and forever!
He has had this beautiful bed for about 6 weeks now. I think we are starting to settle in however there is still a TRANSITION happening. 

Before

After

What a BIG BOY!!!

 INDOOR PLAY PLACE
Since winter weather has arrived our local FREE play place has opened.  We are so excited to have somewhere to go and run off energy during the cold months!
I have to share this picture of him riding on this pedal tractor. Just last March when we were there playing, he couldn't reach the pedals but wanted to ride this so bad! He ran right to it last week, hopped on it and began pedaling like a CHAMP! It was so fun to see his determination and excitement when he knew what he had accomplished!

 

Fuelin' up!


December
We have now entered (and nearly completed) December. 
I will leave with this family picture we captured when we were attempting a picture for our Christmas cards. 

Remember JESUS is the reason for this SEASON! 

Merry Christmas
 from 
Down Drury Lane! 

Birthday Boy

I'm really not sure where the time has gone but this little boy just grew right before our eyes.
My heart just melts when I look at some of these baby pictures. To be quite honest, I get really teary as I reflect on the past three years. Part of those tears are sadness, some of the tears are joy and a lot of those tears are gratitude. God had blessed us beyond measure with this little guy. So we took the time on his actually birthday and had a party. The party was celebrate his life and all that he brings to our family. We had a wonderful time bringing our extended family together to celebrate his 3rd birthday!

The morning of his birthday we had a special quiet celebration with just Mommy, daddy and Cael. I wanted this to be a special time as small family. We talked about how special he is to us and then we gave him a few presents to open. He was so surprised to see presents!

We love DIGGERS and we love BOOKS!

Big fan of SNOOPY!  This is also a throwback from the 80's too! 

MATER!

A special birthday breakfast with 3 candles and a birthday song!

Then that afternoon, we had our extended family come over for a party.  We asked Pete's aunt, who makes amazingly DELICIOUS cakes to make a digger cake.  I told her that I was not picky and I didn't really mind what it looked like, I just wanted to eat her cake! So that day when she showed up with THIS CAKE, we all were amazed by her talent! Cael was a little excited, to say the least. He couldn't wait to get his hands on the digger that was about ready to destroy the cake! 

 

Cael (3), *cousins*  Mallory (5), Mason (9) and Madden (2)

 

A party isn't complete with a little Mustache!

The best family picture we got with his awesome cake! See, he can't take his eyes off of that cake!

 Right before we put jammies on for the night we begged for ONE MORE picture of him in his birthday shirt. We stood back and snapped this BEAUT! Wow, ONE picture and this is what we got! Isn't he just so handsome. This picture seriously brings the biggest smile to my face. 

Here is the shirt I made for his birthday! 

 

Just 4 short years ago, we felt a gaping hole in our hearts that we desired so deeply to be parents. We had broken hearts and were facing our second attempt of IVF, that would end in a sheer disappointment. Now our wounded hearts were broken to pieces. Little did we know that in four years from that we would be here celebrating this special little boy's birthday.  A little boy that calls me MOMMY and calls him DADDY! Even though our hearts are still a bit wounded we know that God himself is restoring us for greater things.

Thank you Lord Jesus for this special gift of life you have given to us. Help us to seek your wisdom and knowledge to raise this little boy to know you, to love you and to serve you each day of his life. Help us to never forget the ways you have provided for us. 

Favorite Season

Fall is our favorite SEASON!! 
We have been trying to enjoy every moment of this weather. 
 Here is a photo "dump" of what we have been up to this season!

Cheering on the CYCLONES!

GO CYCLONES! 

Playing baseball in the yard!

Doing crafts!

About 3 weeks ago, Daddy decided to take Cael to the Monster Truck Rally. Our son is in love with anything that has wheels and/or motor. We have a few Monster Truck books that he loves to read and has a few trucks that he plays with as well. Daddy thought this would be something that he would enjoy....and OF COURSE...HE DID!! He still talks about it, three weeks later!

 

Super excited about the Monster Trucks!

Reading Apple books and paining apples!

A is for APPLE!

Of course we had to sample the apples we picked! 

Friday Night Lights! Cheering on the Mustangs!  

Our 1st Movie Theater Experience! Loved every minute of it!

Family Campfires!

Curious about the outdoors!

Watching Harvest happen across the road!

 

 

He LOVES tractors, combines, wagons, semis....anything with wheels & a motor!

We have been getting ready for a little boy's BIG birthday! 
In just a few short days

 This sweet little boy will be turning 3!

So a few days ago we put our invitations in the mail.  He was such a good helper too!

This is a picture I think I will want to keep forever. Look at that sweet baby (big boy) face. There are moments that I look at our son and think "stop growing so fast....I want to keep you little forever". Time just goes by too fast, sometimes. 

Stay tuned for the BIG BOY's 3rd Birthday party post! 

A BLUR

Honestly I really don't know where the last month has gone but it has been a blur.
De-tasseling came and went with a vengeance. It was the worst year yet. :(
School has started.
My new position has been a bit of a transition for me but it has been a good distraction.
God is providing in a very HUGE way for us with this job, so most days I try to keep things in perspective.

Other August HAPPENINGS have been ..

Watching the CROP DUSTERS fly near our house.
This is great entertainment for our son!
 

We attended the annual BALLOON FEST!
It was really lame this year and we were very disappointed in it all. There were not many balloons this time for the night glow and it was super HOT! We tried to make the most of it but we sure hope it is better next year.
 

The IOWA STATE FAIR happened! We LOVE the fair!

CORNDOG!

SKYGLIDE RIDE

The BIG SLIDE!

FAIR SQUARE!

Cousins at Little Hands on the Farm!

 

 

 

 

Sitting in the cab of a tractor with cousin, Madden!

Animals!

TRACTORS!

BIG WHEELS!

AND MORE TRACTORS!

 

DIGGERS!

LEGOS!

Despite dealing with all sorts of emotions with our not so good news, we made sure that we still continued to make memories with this little guy. He means the world to us. 

Love these boys with all of my being!

Love this little boy more than words can describe!

Summer 2013 will be a summer that we will never forget.
If it would ever cool off here..it has been in and around the 100's for the last two weeks..I could feel good about saying
GOOD RIDDANCE, SUMMER!
BRING ON THE NEXT 
"SEASON".