Pink Parade for Mama and Baby Girl S

Last week with Brian refreshed and on his final day of vacation I escaped for a day to do some shopping and attend Natalie's baby shower.  In her natural style, Natalie is conquering this pregnancy with style, spunk and finesse.  For the rest of us, it has been the fastest pregnancy on record - especially since it was a secret until week 23.  Together Natalie and Kevin have been blessed with three beautiful/handsome, smart, humble, polite, well-behaved and compassionate kids.  We expect no less of this new baby girl.   All I have to say is watch out S men the S women are evening the score....as if they didn't rule the roost already.

Macy and Natalie posing with the coolest baby shower cake ever.

Close up of the cake.  We actually ate this gorgeous creation. 

The zebra and pink leopard pink were inspired by the babies bedding.

Macy - the very proud and excited big sister-to-be. 

Beautiful Life

Early this month we had our photographer come to the house to take family photos.  While I love the planning and coordination of what we will all wear without being overly matchy, family pictures are easily in the top five of most stressful events.  It is a fine art to have three joyous children cooperate to get great shots.  It was so nice to have the pictures taken at our home because Brian could take the other boys and play or have a snack in between their photo shoots. It was just the break they needed.

Amy's assignment was to catch us doing what we do all the time in our own home.  I think she deserves an A+.  The pictures follow with a bit of commentary.  Do not be fooled.   The blissful moments captured on camera do not convey the full story unfolding behind the scenes.  Scenes of crying fits, wardrobe protests, bribery, snack time and baby spit-up.  Regardless of the hysteria, Amy did a beautiful job and even though it is crazy I'm proud of this beautiful family and life we have together. 

My sweet Kennon was smiling and happy.   Priority #1 was to get a great family photo with all 5 of us.  Wait for it.....

Sweet smiles and adorable little baby feet. 

I love this photo because it captures the boys in a very happy moment. 

The hand holding melts me and makes me think they are going to grow up to be great buddies.

The boys love books and Brian reads to them often. 

This book is about the farm and tractors which they love probably as much as they love their mama and daddy.

Brayden having a peaceful (rare) moment.

Grayson is still reading the tractor/farm book.

Just look at that sweet little face.

And the finale.....surpasses my expectations.  These four boys are priceless and precious to me. 

Nurturing and watching them grow and learn is a blessing beyond measure.  

Take Us Out to the Ballgame

Last week we enjoyed another week-long "stay-cation".  We filled our days with a nice balance of finishing little projects around the house, but made sure we did something fun together as a family every day.  We kicked the week off with a spontaneous trip to the ball game.  By spontaneous, I mean we decided 1 hour before start time to go.  This is BIG for us.  I'm a planner and it takes effort to get the boys corralled and presentable.  Nonetheless, we threw diapers and a bottle in a bag and off we went.  We have some work to do in terms of our attire and team spirit because not one of us had on a thread of red. 

Red or not, I loved it most because 1) we were all together and 2) we ate dinner there too so it meant no clean up for me.  Yea!  The boys enjoyed the game (for about 45 minutes), playing the the Kid Zone and meeting the mascots.  While we were in the Kid Zone Brian spotted a foul ball and snagged it.  He was really excited and we will now be keeping that ball for all time with the rest of his junk....ah, I mean stuff.

It was the start of a Triple A week.

Incredible Fun

Over the past two years we have enjoyed getting to know some great neighbors...especially the F family across the street and the M family on the other side of the empty lot. We have so many things in common with young kids, hectic schedules, interests, careers and the list goes on. Together and seperately we have lots of fun with both of these families.  The three boys are a little wild when you get them all together.  The girls add a nice balance of calm and sweetness to our spontaneous block parties. 

A couple weeks ago Melissa invited us to join Andrew and her at Incredible Pizza.  We hadn't been before and the boys loved it.  It was a challenge to manage four kids with only two adults, but we did it and the boys had a blast.  We are so thankful for great neighbors.

Shots and Gallbladders

As boys will do Brayden dreams of being his daddy's little protege.  Since the age of 2 when asked what he wants to be when he grows up Brayden always replies with the same answer - "A doctor and a farmer."  Brayden adores his dad.  He adores his Papa G too. 

As his mom, I love that our boys have the opportunity to experience their daddy's career, but to also experience the joys and challenges that come with country living from cattle, to gardening, to tractors, baling hay and so many other interesting life lessons.   The boys have always loved tractors and farm animals and count these among their favorite toys.

Recently, they rediscovered their doctor kit and I've enjoyed listening to them play and mimic what they hear Brian talk about.  Just this week they set up an OR in their bedroom, learned to say anesthesiologist and gave me about 355 shots.  Oddly, they get very excited at the chance to inflict just a little pain on their momma - even if it is imaginary. 

While I was making dinner this week, Brayden walked in and said, "Mom, get to the OR fast.  I've got to take your gallbladder out right away." 

Just when we think he isn't listening and ignores our attempts at teaching him new things he is lurking listening to our grown up conversations and learning when we least expect it.  I guess that means we better be extra careful about the quality and content of our conversations. 

Please excuse me.  I'm being called to the holding room for 45 more shots and another gallbladder removal.....I guess we have more teaching to do on anatomy.

Cousins Weekend 2010

This weekend we enjoyed a beautiful weekend at the lake for our 24th-ish annual Cousins Weekend.  My mom's cousins get together every summer and we have a great time.  The destination has changed overtime and the group has evolved tremendously as any family will do, but I think it is really cool we make a point to do this every year.  Oddly enough, I'm not sure if the original cousins would keep it going.  Their kids (including me) have become slaves to tradition.  The summer just wouldn't be the same without it. 

The celebration has evolved significantly over time.  It started out in Overland Park, Kansas when several car loads would go up to visit Uncle Ken (my grandmother's brother and one of the original five Ragsdale kids) to ride horses, play in the pool and shop.  Back then I was one of the kids enjoying the pool.  Today, I'm a kid with kids.  Together we celebrate special milestones.  For example, for the past 6 summers at least one of the girls has been pregnant.  I wonder who it will be next year?

We missed a few who couldn't join us this year, but we spoke very well of them in their absence and reminisced a bit about the fun they add to the party when they are present.  We always eat great food, float in the water until we are nearly pickled and wrinkly, share fun stories, go for boat and jet ski rides and have a great time.  The photos below capture just a few of the faces present and the fun we shared.  A couple of highlights included Landon passing out on a boat ride and taking a great nap in the floor of the boat once it was safely docked.  A second highlight was some distracted mother allowing her 2 year old to invade the community dip by using his grubby little hands to shovel fistfuls of dip directly from the bowl to his mouth - again and again.  I mean, good grief, parents really need to pay more attention to their kids......

I hope the "kids" of today grow up to enjoy spending time with their extended family just as we have over the past two+ decades.  Let the fun continue.

Flawlessly Flawed

As Brian and I celebrated our ninth anniversary in June I was reading a novel that talked allot about peoples flaws.  It made be think about how far Brian and I have come and how much our relationship has changed in the past 11 years.  Like most, it started out romantically.   Disagreements were few and love abounded.  We were willing to look past each others short comings because we were so in love with the person right in front of us. 

As the years flew by I became less willing to overlook those little flaws and - sometimes - the flaws become the focus.  The little details nagged and frustrated me.  By anniversary #2 I was spending a good amount of time praying and wishing God would change Brian because heaven knew it couldn't possibly be me that needed changing. 

As I think about the energy I've wasted being frustrated because Brian didn't wash the condiments off the plates before he left them in the sink to dry, the bed wasn't made with mathematical precision or he selectively listened to 85% of something I said, I feel bad I didn't put that energy towards being more positive.  Don't get me wrong.  I'm not saying I'll never be irritated again by something small and petty.  I now have a great appreciation that the real focus is supporting and loving each other unconditionally - with and without flaws. 

In the time I spent trying to coach B to fix his "flaws", I didn't consider I might have "flaws" of my own that - coincicentally he has never tried to "fix".  Lesson learned.  As I reflected, I realized everyone - including me - is flawlessly flawed in some small way.  If I spend all my time focusing on flaws I miss out on the true beauty and talent in myself and others. 

In the past several weeks I've spent a lot more time accentuating the positive and eliminating the negative.  I appreciate how hard Brian works with 12-16 hour days being the norm.  How he walks in the door at night and finds the energy to play with the boys or read them a book before bed.  How he makes a point of giving me hugs and thanks me for taking good care of the boys.  He has done the same and all because we took a little time out to enjoy a great anniversary dinner and reflect together on where we go from here to make the next 10 years even better than the last. 

Fun in the Hot Summer Sun

At the end of July Natalie and kids came to spend the night on Saturday night.  We went out for pizza with six kids.  The boys basically terrorized their older and very-much-adored cousins Riley, Cooper and Macy the rest of the evening.  The next morning Kevin showed up bright and early and off we went to the amusement park.  It was super hot so little Kennon stayed behind with Nanny and Papa. 

If you look closely at Natalie in the picture below she is about 31ish weeks pregnant.  As usual, she looks great.  Kevin was brave and rode the scariest roller coaster with Riley while the rest of the adult wimps (Brian and Abby) and pregnant mama (Natalie) hung out with the other kids.  We left filled with about one each of salt water taffy, drenched in sweat and ready for a shower.  It was so much fun - especially because of the company.

We Love Daddy!

Just the other day I was chatting with my mom and then later the same day a friend.  Both of them commented they had barely seen Brian all summer.  Come to think of it we haven't either.  He is home often, but the boys and I spend weekends at the lake, on the farm and out and about without him.  Fortunately or unfortunately, those are the events that make the cut for this reviting blog, but leave Brian a bit absent. 

In all the excitement of keeping up with the boys I am remise in commenting on Brian and all he does to keep us "afloat" - so to speak.  Although others may think he is a phantom we see him at least 3-4 nights a week at home and he joins in our fun 3 weekends every month.  We are usually so busy on those weekends I just forget to pick up the camera. 

Brian comes home from long, long days happy and always willing to step right in and chat with the boys about their day, wrestle, fix the latest legless action figure and stop by for a quick peck on the cheek his sweet, loving, always-cheerful and adoring wife. 

Lately, we enjoyed relaxing at home on the hot summer evenings and taking a few pictures to remind us how much we love daddy/Brian.  We love to visit/play with our friendly neighbors, go for walks, go out for frozen custard and so many other fun, summery things.

The boys are always so happy to see him when we gets home they practically attach him.  He greets them with hugs and kisses as they climb all over him.  Believe it or not he is actually awake in the picture which reminds us that even when he is completely worn out he always has enough energy left to show us some love.