Today we set up the pool. It was humid, low 70's, and extremely windy. Naturally that didn't stop my two kids from jumping in the pool, but it did lead to some seriously funny faces!

I love those two!

And in exciting news, baby Nora has finally made it home from the hospital. We're very happy their family is all under one roof as it should be!

Friday I had an extremely hard time leaving home to head up to the lake; between Nora being in the NICU, my girlfriend miscarrying her child, and Dusty not joining us so as to catch up on our garage timeline, well lets just say there were many tears on that drive.

Thankfully, while it will never be my favorite Memorial Day weekend, it was still fun for many reasons. We got to spend time with my cousins Nikii and Lucas and my Aunt Joy, whom we never get to see enough of. (And meet Joy's boyfriend Tim too!) We sneaked in a few boat rides and finally broke in the new pontoon. 

There were bonfires both evenings with smores roasted, and a very silly game of charades. And on Sunday Dusty showed up unexpectedly which made the kids' and my day! Naturally that meant we needed another boat ride.

And of course some fishing, where many crappies and sunnies were caught!

It was great to get to see Joy, Nikii and Lucas. The kids had a lot of fun, Dusty got to get a little fishing in before returning home to continue working on the garage, and I attempted to relax. So I'd say it was a successful weekend even if it was a hard one for me.

Last night we brought Lyla home and met Katie and Andrew for dinner. I cannot explain what a relief it was to just see them and get to hear everything directly from them. They are planning to start a Caring Bridge website to keep everyone updated on Nora so I'll be sure to share that address when I get it. Nora is scheduled for surgery today and will probably remain in the hospital until next week sometime. The biggest and most important news though is that she is doing exceptionally well! The nurses love having her on their watch because she's just not nearly as sick as most of the babies in the NICU. This is fabulous news and by far something to be thankful for!

Andrew decided to help the kids, who were sent outside to keep out of trouble, get into lots of trouble by bringing out water toys!

Oh, and this picture was taken before we left, but Rory would not stop crying when she woke up from her nap and when I offered to cuddle her she said "No, I want Yla" (Which is how she says Lyla.) So Lyla climbed up in the chair and cuddled with her cousin. How stinkin' cute!

And last, but not least, don't forget to call child services on me. Dusty and Chris have been hard at work getting the garage prepared for concrete and apparently Max has been recruited for working!

Of course there was an adult directly behind him in this picture, but it looks so much cooler when you cut Chris out and make it look like Max was just busy at work all by his big boy self! Now if the weather would just cooperate and it would stop raining so much we'd really like to get this part done.

We're still praying and thinking about you Nora and family!

Today we got the privileged to watch Lyla and Bella as Katie and Andrew are with Nora. (Sorry, no updates here, I doubt I'll hear much until later this afternoon but keep them in your thoughts and prayers.) I decided that the kids and I would have a picnic in the yard for lunch since it is beautiful outside. I turned around after I picked our spot just in time to catch the kids all preparing to hold hands.

Yup, everything was dropped to catch this. I mean, how cute can they be?!

Lunch was perfectly messy. We laughed, spilled yogurts, and yelled at Bella to stay in our yard.

What a perfect lunch with my children and goddaughter!

Nora Wynn Polehna was born at 2:07am weighing 6 lbs. 11 oz. and was 20" long. We were lucky enough to get  to see her less than 12 hours after she was born!

***There has been an update added at the bottom of this post.

Unfortunately we missed Lyla and didn't get to congratulate her on being a big sister but we did get a nice picture of Nora with her parents.

And Max and Rory were curious about their newest cousin.

Rory was even brave enough to kiss her squishy faced cousin. Max, not so much...

We also had Jane with us today. (I know, my life is never easy...) and she was so good while we visited Nora. The kids loved playing with her!

And she may have gotten a little dirty while she was here. Hee Hee!

***And now a bad news update. Shortly after we visited with baby Nora, Katie and Andrew found out that she has some intestinal issues and had to take her to an NICU to meet with specialists. The extent of the issue is not known at this point, although surgery is going to be necessary. Please keep them, and especially baby Nora, in your thoughts and prayers.

Today Max and I visited with my audiologist so Max could have a hearing test done. I had tried to prep him as much as I could with what to expect but he really wasn't all that interested in my descriptions. Thankfully he handled leaving Rory with Grammy at the farm pretty well, and he especially liked that I made a big deal that it was just Max and Mama going because he was special.

By the time we saw the audiologist he was pretty excited and in a really good mood. We went straight back into the little sound booth where the audiologist asked Max to repeat a few words and looked in his ears. Then she went out of the booth leaving Max on my lap as he wore some headphones and a microphone. I have no idea what completely went on after this point, as she talked to him through the headphones leaving me in silence. But since I'm a bit of a pro at hearing tests now (and I got to hear all of Max's side of the conversation) she had him repeat words back to her and she also had him tell her when he heard the birdy. (I'm not sure if the beeps change to a different sound or not for him, but I do know that he'd suddenly yell out "BIRDY!" every couple of seconds and it was so funny since I had no idea what was going on.)

It was over and done within 15 minutes and Max passed with flying colors. Looks like I'm not passing on my bad hearing to the little man. YES!

Also in exciting news? Katie and Andrew are currently at the hospital and we should hear if Max and Rory have a new boy or girl cousin sometime today! Yippee!

We didn't get as far on the garage as we had hoped, all the raining stopped us from being able to work on it, but thankfully the rain let up enough times that we could get the veggies in the garden and we sneaked out to a movie one rainy afternoon which was a nice treat since the kids were with my parents. But mostly? We were sitting somewhere in the yard watching the storm clouds and calculating how long until they got here. Like on Saturday, while planting the garden, when I took this picture.

Friday was the only day we worked on the garage.The kids didn't get picked up until that evening and they sure had a lot of fun helping. They loved watching the dump truck pour the fill!

And don't forget helping Daddy with the skid steer!

Mama cut down a tree to make room for the garage. (To all you tree huggers, of which I consider myself, we had a tree service come out to move it first but it was decided the tree was on its last legs and not worth the expense.)

And of course, getting muddy after it rained. Because in our house we believe we're pigs and need to roll in the mud to survive.

Look at those knees! It was the greatest day of their lives!

I didn't take much for pictures after Friday. We were either scrambling to get something done between storms, eating, or sleeping. It was a busy weekend but I'm very happy with how much we were able to accomplish given the weather. The forecast predicts dry weather ahead and I predict many evenings spent working on preparing the garage for concrete.

Today is no ordinary day. You saw the picture of the gigantic truck that pulled up to drop off our tresses for our soon to be built garage? Yeah, Max saw that too. He also saw that Daddy had a big truck, pulled a big trailer, and had a big skid steer inside said trailer yesterday evening as we followed him home. It was impossible not to let him get one quick ride in before bed even though it was quite late.

This did not bode well as Daddy was outside playing in a real tractor right in our yard! But Daddy got him to go quietly to bed a bit later. His secret? To let Max know that if he doesn't go to bed nicely he won't get to drive in the tractor tomorrow.

This morning Max came down into my bed with me like he does every morning but he would not sleep. I finally kicked him out of my bed and told him I'd get up in a couple minutes. Fifteen minutes later, with Rory yelling for me in the monitor, I roll out of bed and come face to face with Max, fully dressed. "I need to go help Daddy on the tractor!"

After some reassurances that when Daddy got home from work he'd get to help he insisted on putting his boots on to check on the tractor and make sure it is still in the yard. So out the door he goes and returns a few moments later to announce that the tractor is still here!

So today has been a pleasant day, as Max will do no wrong to insure he gets to help Daddy in the tractor. And Daddy is coming home early, unbeknown to Max, so they can work all afternoon. Oh, and don't forget we're getting two truck fulls of fill dropped off. So he's got that excitement to look forward to. What an un-ordinary day for the little man. He'll be talking about this for weeks!

Today has been an arts and crafts day. We made hummus for our lunch (and snacks for the week). We made pine cone bird feeders.

Spread the peanut butter on the pine cone, roll in bird seed, attach string and hang from a tree. Viola!

Naturally Rory ate all the peanut butter she had so her pine cones were a bit bare. And they spilled the seeds all over the patio for fun but it was a good way to distract them while I spray painted a couple shelves. (Thanks GG for the pine cones from your yard!)

I thought they would get a nice nap in and then we'd be ready to go for our dinner plans tonight but that was made impossible by the the big truck that showed up.

Yup, the tresses are here for our garage, so Max was allowed to stay up and watch them be delivered. Hopefully he still takes a good nap as I really don't want to deal with crabby Max today, especially after dealing with sick and whiny Max yesterday. Wish me luck!

Today the kids and I visited with GG. She wasn't able to make it to Max's birthday so we made plans to visit her at her house instead! As soon as we got there the kids dug right into their presents! (Yes, GG had to get Rory a gift too apparently.)

After opening the gifts GG got the kids to work watering all her plants on her deck.

Since it was so beautiful outside we decided to enjoy our lunch in the sun. My grandma has had this table since we were kids so it was pretty cool to watch them eat at the same table we used to as children!

And I just love this picture of GG and Rory snuggling so I had to share it!

Many of you probably realize this already, but GG loves to spoil her grandchildren. This also includes me. By the time we left the van was bogged down with toys and games along with an assortment of plants that she insisted on digging up while I was there so I could put them in my own yard. I now have some plants that she had dug up from her mom, my great grandma and the kid's great great grandma! How cool is that? So I had to get them in the ground as soon as we got home to keep them safe. And then you have to water them real good. Rory took the nice watered plants as an opportunity to shine.

Have I mentioned how much I dislike mud?!

I've got more cute pictures to share! Yippee!

I took down the baby swing last week. Rory still enjoyed it but I was done lifting her in and out of it, she's not light, weighing only 4 pounds less than Max! Plus, she swings like a champ on the big swing. The one time she lost her grip and slipped? She hung on for dear life with her other hand until I grabbed her and then started crying because I had stopped her from swinging to catch her. Yeah, she's a big girl! (To also note: Today, she started yelling at me, "No! I big girl!" before climbing into her own seat or unbuckling her shoes by herself. So much for waiting for her birthday to start the terrible twos!)

Max and I took a little stroll down our street as we worked on his pedaling. He can pedal his tricycle like a champ but getting the hang of only pedaling forward on his bike has proven quite cumbersome. (Especially since he insists on wearing rain boots.) He'll get it though!

The baby girl, who insists she is not a baby anymore, has been growing leaps and bounds. I took this picture on Saturday to show off just how crazy her curls are getting as her hair grows out. It's going to be quite the mess now that the humidity is kicking in! (P.S. How cute is that skirt I picked up at a garage sale?!)

And last, but oh so not least, I get to tattle-tale on Daddy. Sunday morning Dusty, Uncle Randy and Max were packing up to go fishing. I grabbed some sunscreen and showed Dusty that I put it in the boat so he'd remember to put it on. Guess who forgot and let his little boy fry in the sun all day? Yup, that's right, Max has his first real sunburn. You remember this Max, if you get skin cancer later in life it was all your Daddy's fault and Mommy tried to stop that from happening!

That little boy up there? He also had his 3 year checkup today with the pediatrician! Yup, that's right, I got to bring Max in to see his doctor the day after his sunburn. (And also to the gym where there were even more jokes and questions...Daddy is in so much trouble later...but I digress.) Max weighs 32 lbs putting him in the 53% and he is 3' 2" tall putting him in the 62%. We have a pretty average boy on our hands!

The doctor visit was pretty traumatic for Max this time around, and our pediatrician assured me that between 3 and 5 years of age most kids get freaked out. He had to undress and wear a gown, but since Max refused to put it on he spent the whole appointment in his underwear and socks. He had to get a booster shot that we weren't expecting which lead to more tears. And he slipped and smashed his mouth against my knee biting his cheek on our way out. It was a tough morning for the little man!

A couple cute stories to share today.

The other day Dusty, the kids and I were in the car and Rory kept saying something that sounded like "boogely". We threw out all sorts of words hoping to figure out what she was saying and she continued to tell us no and repeat the word. In my frustration I jokingly told her, "Use it in a sentence Rory." She blurts out "One, Two, boogely". Dusty and I laughed so hard we woke Max up from his slumber in the car. Whoops!

Auntie has taken the kids on two separate trips with her so they could get some special one-on-one time with her. Rory was none to pleased at the prospect of being left at home with her mom and was pretty upset when they left without her. She settled down for her lunch and went down for her nap. When she woke up she started looking all over for Max and yelling "Maxwell!" "Maxwell!" "MAXWELL JOHN!!" It was so cute. Thankfully they got home within a few minutes of her being awake.

Max has developed a bit of a sensitivity to smells. When we arrived at the Italian restaurant for Auntie Katie's birthday he started to look green and told us, "Lets go, it stinks in here". We gave him a piece of candy to suck on and the nausea from the smell must have subsided as we never had an issue again. Fast forward to later in the week and we're in line at the checkout. We get up to the checkouts to pay and Max shoves both his fingers up his nose and looks at me with big bug eyes. When I asked him what was wrong he points at our cashier and says "She Stinks!" before shoving his finger back into his nose. Thank God she was too busy ringing up the customer in front of us to notice, or was polite enough to not wince, as I calmly explained that the cashier couldn't smell, we were too far away, he must be smelling some of the food. Talk about embarrassing!

In related news, Max has taken to smelling people and telling them "You smell like good" when he likes their smell. It does make you feel good when you're little boy tells you that you smell good, even with his improper grammar.

And to end with a swear word, yesterday Max was running in the garage without his shoes on when Daddy went outside and I yelled at him to get in the house. He ignored me but Dusty repeated what I said, that Max had to get in the house and put his shoes on. Max turns toward the door to head in the house and goes "Oh dammit!" Naturally Grandma and Dusty laughed hysterically preventing any sort of corrective behavior from happening. Naught Grandma and Dusty!

Yesterday was beautiful out, so instead of writing the post about Katie's and Conan's birthdays during nap time, I sat in my lounge chair and soaked up some sun. I'm sorry I left you hanging an extra day, but man was it worth it! Also worth noting, I lathered the kids up with sunscreen twice yesterday to protect them from the sun but didn't protect myself, and I didn't get a burn, so much for being over cautious!

So to backtrack, Friday we went to dinner with a group of 16 people to celebrate Katie's 30th birthday. Now Katie is 9 months pregnant so I imagine her 30th birthday is not going to be her favorite but she took it like a champ celebrating with family!

Oh, and Lyla was scooping the icing off the cake and feeding it to Max. How cute!

Sunday we spent the afternoon at Conan's 1st birthday! He got lots of nice presents, and got his own cupcake to eat.

And after they cleaned up the mess, Conan came down in a new outfit that announced he was going to be a big brother! Everyone was really excited!

So the weekend was overloaded with cake and cupcakes, lots of singing and presents, and most importantly good times with family and friends! Look for an entry on the arrival of my new niece or nephew in the next few weeks as Katie should have that baby anytime now; and in December I'll be sure to post about Conan's new brother or sister too!

It was a birthday weekend. Friday we went out to dinner for Auntie Katie's 30th birthday, Saturday was Max's big day, and Sunday we celebrated Conan's 1st birthday. This is just too much to post about in one day so today will be about Saturday and Max's celebration. 

To start, my legs were apparently not tan enough for a dress but see if I cared. Martha Stewart had nothing on me this year!

I spent three days, THREE DAYS, working on these cupcakes. They turned out pretty amazing if you ask me. Of course, I didn't have Anna so they were a boxed cake recipe but the decorating is where all the work came into play with frosting, cookies, candies. Sorry Anna, I just couldn't bake from scratch without you by my side! 

We didn't start out with cupcakes of course. Tacos were served and I got lots of compliments so I must have done something right. Of course, Mexican is my first go to for a quick meal so I think it's one of my strongest meals to make! 

P.S. How adorable is our new red picnic table? I'm in love with it!

After eating we had some play time before opening gifts. Rory and Lyla were having a blast yelling down to everyone from the deck. It was adorable!

Max got lots of awesome gifts, including this bike from Grandma and Bopa!

And then there was the 4 wheeler...

Yes, my 3 year old son got a four wheeler for his birthday*. Naturally he is in love with it and would make us bring it into his room every night if we could. How cute is Rory getting a ride from her brother? (With Daddy's help.)

*I was not aware of this gift that Daddy and Chris (along with Randy and Ashley getting the helmet) had picked out until a few days before the party. So you can't judge me, I wasn't involved. 

Afterwards we had a bonfire and just enjoyed spending time with our families. I love this picture I captured of Rory with one of her godfathers, Cecil, just precious!

It was a great party. Thank you to everyone that came and helped Max celebrate his big day!