few quick pics

Just a few pictures from throughout this week - my little water babies!

leavin' on a jet plane...

In less than 48 hours!!! Holy cow! Have we packed yet? Nope. Have we done laundry yet? Nope. Have we even checked the weather to see what it is going to be like? Yes! It's going to be HIGHS in the 70's - yes, the 70's! SWEET! It's 97 outside right now at our house, but it won't be up in Illinois :) Now the big question is - what do we pack for 70 degrees? We don't really know what 70 degrees feels like because we only get it for like a week, and during that week we put the kids in pants in the morning and shorts in the afternoon, but all of those clothes aren't really practical when going through an airport with 2 toddlers. Hmm... we'll have to figure that out!

We're going up for Todd's grandmother's memorial service. She passed away in February, but the service was post-poned until his grandfather got settled in his new place. Although the main purpose of the trip isn't really an enjoyable one, I think it'll be a good trip overall. Kate has never been to Todd's parents house - so that'll be an adventure in and of itself! I hope grandma has done some SERIOUS babyproofing because this is one inquisitive little girl! She can shred an entire magazine in under 5 minutes - not kidding. I think we may try and meet up with a few of the Rockford boys and their wives and munchkins too... we'll see how things play out. It's going to be a quick trip up and back, so we won't have much time around all of the family stuff going on. I'm just excited for a little vacation - not that I expect this to be relaxing at all, but it'll still be nice to get away for a few days.

We didn't plan any vacation until the end of the summer, and then it's vacation non-stop! We have a beach trip scheduled in August, which I seriously can't wait for. I've been talking about it since before we even booked it. Check out our beach house (well, ours for a week anyway):



Then we have the very first annual "Wedding Party Without the Wedding" over labor day weekend. Basically - it's the guys (the same group of them that have been in each other's weddings), and their wives (some of whom will be VERY pregnant) and 6 little munchkins. It should be a blast! Can't wait!

happy birthday, mama jenn!

Yep - that's right. Brett now calls me "Mama Jenn" about 20% of the time. It's hard not to laugh!

morning play time

In the morning, the kids tend to get in each other's face and fight over whatever the toy of the day is. Yesterday, though, they both just played nicely on their own. The peace was wonderful! I knew that Kate was in the closet playing (i.e., being highly destructive), but I didn't know where Brett disappeared to. I found him in his little bed with his cars all lined up, perfectly content. What a funny little man!

monkey see, monkey do

Anytime Todd goes outside to mow the grass, Brett throws a little mini tantrum because he wants to go outside too. The next best thing, though, is to stand at the window and watch - and I mean watch until Todd is done - however long that might be. I pull up the blinds on a few windows around the house so that Brett can race around to watch Todd in the yard. Kate thought this whole thing was hysterical, so she *tried* to join in the fun. Luckily, Brett was cooperative and actually shared a windowsill with her!

happy daddy day!

Reasons we LoVe our daddy:

He plays with us on the floor

He gets us with "the claw" even though we say no because he knows we really like it

He teaches us how to kick a soccer ball before we can even walk

He is way anal, and appreciates that we are too

He makes meal times fun and tricks us into eating everything

He lets us splash water in the bathtub so hard that it's hits the far wall

(what??? we seriously don't have bathtub pictures!)

He plays tag, even with little Kate

He reads us lots and lots of stories

He teaches us about the Cubs, Packers, and WARRIORS (and the heels for mommy)

Did we mention lots of stories - we really like those!

He gives lots of hugs and kisses!

WE LOVE YOU DADDY!

stayin' cool in the hot summer sun

We are seriously happy that it is no longer over 100 degrees, but it was stil pretty stinkin' hot today! Brett kept asking to go "out" - meaning "out in the pool." So, like any other good parents, we bribed him :) After a good nap, he could go outside in the pool. He was so excited, at least until after his nap when it was actually time to get into the pool. He and his little post-nap grump-in-his-pants wanted nothing to do with it!

Kate was having a blast in that big pool all by herself, and Brett was eventually convinced that he'd have fun too. I think my favorite site of the day was Todd sitting in the kiddie pool, beer in hand!

rough housing with daddy

Brett & Kate LOVE to rough house with daddy as soon as he gets home from work - what a little trio they are to watch!

Ahhh... free from "the claw" at last!

splish splash!

Memere took Kate and Brett out to play in their new swimming pool and they LOVED it! Click on the "Mat's Mac" link to see some really cute video too!

tiptoes for ice chips

Kate makes up for her size by standing on her toes to reach everything! She apparently really likes ice chips!! Yummo!

the hot NC sun

The hot NC sun has made today the 4th straight day of triple digit temps!!! It's still early June, right?! I hate to think what August might be like at this rate - yikes! Needless to say, we've been trying to get creative with ways to entertain the kids indoors to avoid this heat wave. Today, it's with BLOCKS! Kate likes to throw them and Brett likes to stack them - what a pair!

happy boy...

Brett was so happy that he got to sit on Mommy's spot on the couch and play with this car - I just had to take a picture!

el destructo

My destructive little girl caught in the act!

whew - it's over

What a weekend! I was genuinely looking forward to celebrating Brett's birthday with all of our family and friends. I'd ordered all the food and done all of the decorations and everything else so that I wouldn't be running around like a crazy person the day of the party. It all payed off... I ended up in the ER the morning of the party! My doctor thought I might have appendicitis. Luckily, he was wrong. After a morning full of tests and stuff, Todd & I got back from the ER around 1:30 that afternoon - just enough time to get showered and finish doing all of the last minute stuff. Thank God for family! Between my parents & Renee they had almost everything ready to go by the time we got there.

The party went nearly 100% smooth - as smooth as a house full of toddlers on a 90 degree day can go! I think all of the kids had a great time. We know that our kids did - they were both exhausted - a sure sign of a good party! Thanks to all those who came over that day to celebrate with us - we hope you had a good time too!