The love of a family is life's greatest blessing.

Sunday, August 17, 2014

No longer a secret...


We are thrilled to announce that our family will be growing by one (yes, there's only one in there) later this winter!!

This baby is already so loved... Cooper loves to kiss my belly and remind me that the baby is pretty small, but, "It's getting bigger and bigger every day, mommy!"  When he says his prayers at night, he goes through his 'God bless' list and always ends with, "And don't forget about the baby in mommy's belly!" with a sweet little kiss good night.  Sometimes he blows on my stomach and tells me he's playing with the baby.  It's pretty sweet.  And he now likes to listen to my stomach and report to me what the baby is saying... This is one intuitive baby because just listen to the things he or she is already saying... (in the words of big brother Cooper, of course)

"I can't wait to sit by the campfire."
"I think I'm ready to go to bed."
"I'm hungry for pizza."

And Izzy is quickly following suit, giving gentle kisses to my belly and pointing out babies everywhere in public.  If a baby is crying, she either says, "Baby sad," or "Baby hun-gee."  She gives sweet soft kisses to her new cousins Drake and Laura, and she likes to be a little helper. 

Jeremy and I can't exactly imagine what baby number three will bring, but we have some good guesses.  We imagine this baby is going to be pretty laid back, mostly because he or she will have to be with the flurry of activity that goes on in this mad-house.  We think Cooper is going to be great with the baby, patient and understanding, and we think Izzy is going to be a bit jealous.  She already seems to fit the middle child mold be frequently reminding us not to take our eyes off her... she likes to push the limits to say the least.  Neither of us has a strong feeling what gender this little peanut will be... I'm still waiting for my 'mother's intuition' to strike me.  I was right with both Cooper and Izzy, so we'll see if I can go three for three.  Cooper insists it's a girl and that we should name her Penny.  (He also thinks his future dog should be named Penny, and his favorite dinosaur is named... take a guess... yep, Penny.)  Izzy keeps saying it's a boy.  So one of them will have a wonderful life lesson in 'getting what you get.'  

I can't believe in less than six months, we'll be pulling baby stuff back out of the closets, shifting bedrooms again, making room for new 'gear' around here (where the HECK are with going to put the swing, the bouncer, the bottles, the blankets, eek!!), buying tiny little diapers again, making room in our budget for another human... those are the parts that make me a little nervous... but I cannot wait for all the amazing things a new baby brings...  the sweet little smells, the teeny tiny little hands and toes, the instant bond with baby, the snuggles, the sleepy feedings, the first smiles and coos and giggles, sheesh... I could go on!  But one of the things that makes baby #3 so special is that we already have two siblings to LOVE him or her from the minute of birth.  

So, Baby Kalal #3... we are excited to meet you!  Keep growing big and strong each day.  We'll keep praying for you each and every day.  Love you already, and we can't wait for our hearts to grow!!

Demo Derby Champion!

So although I'm still a little behind with blog posts, I am slowly but surely, going to catch up from this crazy busy summer!

Jeremy built his eighth derby car, and decided to run it for the first time in Scott County.  His decision paid off, because he WON first place!  We were all very proud of him, but no one was more proud than Cooper.  It was Cooper's very first derby, and he couldn't have had more fun.  The kid was on cloud nine the entire night.  I hired a babysitter for Izzy, got out of the Fair office early, and got to enjoy a little bit of the Fair for once with my little man :)  Although he had a really tough time sitting still and staying in his 'space,' his cheering for daddy was absolutely priceless!

The paint job... Cooper grabbed a brush and went Picasso on us :)
She looooved doing her handprints

Look at that concentration!





Can we say EXCITED!?!?

Cooper pulling the car into the garage one last time...

Not too crunched just yet!

Cooper got to be in the official Fair photo with the race sponsor

My two proud boys
"Great job, dad!  You won!!!"
The kids love comparing their heights to the height of the trophy...
The obnoxiously tall trophy has been relocated from the living floor/kitchen counter and now resides in Cooper's bedroom.  He couldn't be happier.

Jeremy had a great run, and the heat was actually a pretty quick one.  It felt as though it went from ten cars left to three in just a couple of minutes.  And he actually had enough of his car left to fix it up a bit and run it again.  Just tonight, he ran in Hutchinson and took 4th place.  Not a bad run :)

The final carnage, after the Hutch derby.  I think this car is spent.
Cooper reminded me about ten times tonight, "Mom, someday I'm going to have my OWN race car."  Hmmm... I wonder who's been talking to him about this...

Yes, buddy, like father, like son.  I'm sure your dad will not give up this hobby until you have a chance to build your very own car with him.

Friday, August 1, 2014

Bar-B-Q Days & County Fair Fun

Nothing marks the mid-point of summer like back-to-back weekends of fun at Bar-B-Q Days and the Scott County Fair... 

Our Bar-B-Q Days weekend included a parade, rides, food, and fireworks.  We are so lucky to have a fun celebration in our backyard!

Watching the parade with Uncle Adam

...and not watching the parade... goofball
Seeing dad's car in the parade was pretty cool, too!

Cooper's favorite ride...
Of all the open seats, they wanted to sit together.  Super sweet!!

Mmmmmm!  Izzy has a sweet tooth, and loves ice cream more than life itself.

Mommy's girl
On the way to the fireworks with Abby and Olivia.  A lady on each arm...

"Fireworks are for big kids..." Izzy and Ben stayed home and slept great for a babysitter :)

A great end to a great weekend!

And the Fair weekend was exhausting and exciting.  The kids made it to the Fair all five days--sometimes twice!  Their favorite parts were the baby animals and the horses.   Oh, and I'm sure they loved coming into the office to visit mommy:)  This summer marks my last year in the Fair office.  It's been a few years of saying, "This is my last year..." but this time I mean it.  I am ready to just have the summers to enjoy with Jeremy and the kids.  I can't tell you how excited I am to have the next three weeks of August completely and utterly to ourselves!

The kids had Jeremy running from one end of the Fair to the other, in and out of the same barns at least twenty times in five days, and helped him spend plenty of cash buying treats that one only enjoys at the Fair ;)  Needless to say, daddy needed his sleep each night!  If you need a tour of the fairgrounds, call our kids.  They are experts.

"Baby goats are called kids.  Just like me!"  Cooper learned a new baby animal name at the Fair.  Although we didn't get a picture with the new kids, both kids loved to see them each day.

Photo
The baby calf in the Miracle of Birth Center... so soft!

Cooper was pretty proud to count his vegetable ribbons... 5 blues and 1 white!  Pretty good for his first time!

Vroom vroom!!
I'm ready for my next lawn.  The hardhat is sure to help.
Isabelle and Grandpa Gary

Cooper in the Straw Dive.  I don't think he was even looking for the tokens... he just loved throwing and digging up the straw.
Swinging together on the tire swing with Grandma Dawn pushing.

Hanging out with Grandpa on the People Mover golf cart.
Waiting for the derby to get started with soon-to-be-Auntie Chelsea
Reading up on the pre-entries for the night.  He's picking winners.  (More about the big winner in another post!!)
Izzy riding Black Jack the pony.  They LOVED the pony rides.
This boy was right at home on Tony the pony.  This is the face of one happy guy.
Until next year...



Pickin Berries

Cooper reminds us to find the "Dark and Red" ones.  (Nice sun face, Izzy)

Mmmmm-MMMMMM-Mmmmm

Found some more good ones!  Sometimes Izzy just starts pulling without really looking how ripe they are.

Look what I found!!
I love that our kids are turning into little gardeners!  They absolutely love going out to the garden to check how things are growing.  The raspberries are very close to done now, but it was a fun month of eating off the bush for us!