Ikea Trip

I ventured into new territory today.  I embarked on my first Ikea shopping adventure.  Kate needed to go to get a crib and some other things for the new baby's nursery.  I've always wanted to go and told her I'd meet her today.  We got there before 11:00 and started shopping.  We had a great time and I found some great stuff. 

Kate and I both showed up in stripes which was kinda funny. 

 

We had a great time, found everything on our lists, had a great long lunch, and had checked out around 4:40.  I stayed with the cart so Kate could pull around the vehicle to load the big stuff.  She had borrowed her aunt's car since the crib and mattress wouldn't fit in hers. Apparently, while we were shopping, on of the tires was leaking air.  The rear driver's side tire was completely flat.  This nice gentleman (below) and even another one stopped and tried to get the spare on for us.  Neither of them could figure out how to even get the spare tire out from underneath the car.  Then, it started raining.  Not just a sprinkle or regular rain, but a torrential downpour complete with lightning, etc.  We sat in the car trying to call for roadside assistance.  They asked us to get the VIN off the front of the car.  We both tried to read it off the car, but the rain was coming down so hard you couldn't see a thing.  All we managed to do was soak ourselves in the process.  We finally found the title certificate in the glove box and found the VIN there.  Why didn't we try that first, you ask?!?  Well, we're stupid, I guess!  The rain slowed down a bit after about 20 minutes and we headed back in for a snack and bathroom break.  Thankfully, Kate's parents only live about 20 minutes from there and they were able to come stay with her and wait for assistance. I headed home around 6:00 in more heavy rain.

Kate ended up having to stay at her parent's that night because they couldn't get the original tire fixed until the morning and none of us wanted her driving 2 hours home on a spare tire. 

 

The rain finally slowed about 30 minutes from home and the sun began to shine through.  It was a good sight to see.  Although the evening was a bit stressful, it was still a great day!

Breaking That Paci Habit

We've been attempting to wean Cam from his paci for months now, but it has been easier said than done.  At 15 months I had Ryker down to just naptime and bedtime.  Camden has been an entirely different story though.  He's much more of a screamer (mad screamer, happy screamer, sad screamer, etc.) than Ryker ever was.  So, in order to preserve my sanity and those around us, we gave in and let him have it pretty often.  I've been getting fed up with it lately and really wanted to break the habit before his sister arrives.  I was hoping to do it early enough he will forget he ever had one and not revert back when he sees his sister with a paci.  So, I randomly decided to just take it away one day last week.  He did ok during the day for the most part.  He did have a few meltdowns where he was searching and asking for one and crying to get it.  I stayed tough and was able to redirect him eventually.  The car was not as easy and he screamed almost  the entire time. He has typically demanded a paci the minute he gets buckled in so that wasn't a huge surprise to me.  As the days progressed, things got easier and easier, even, much to my surprise, naptime.  Nights, however, have been a different story.  He has screamed and cried and continued to get out of bed over and over again for hours at a time some nights.  This is especially hard when he shares a room with Ryker who has to get up for school in the morning.  Thankfully, Ryker can sleep like the dead and was able to fall asleep and stay that way through most of his brother's fits. 

After he finally gave in on Night One.

Night Two he was still up and chewing on his arm at 10 pm.  Thankfully, he finally crashed with me laying in bed with him a little after this.

 

It's gotten better and better as the days have gone on, but nights are still proving to be the tough spot. 

We locked him in the other day and found him asleep on the floor like this when we checked on him later.  He'll the hang of it eventually, I'm sure.  I'm just relieved it's over for the most part and I'm pretty proud of myself for staying strong!

 

 

 

Babies, Babies, Babies

We have added another precious blessing to the family!  My cousin, Mike, and his wife, Jalyn welcomed their third little one Monday afternoon.  Camden and I went up to meet him today.  He is so sweet!

Tyler William (Ty for short) weighed in at 8 lbs. 5 oz. and was 22 inches long. 

Is there anything more precious than a newborn?!?

 

Camden did really well with him and even "held" him for a while.  I basically held him on Camden's lap.  He would pat him and stare at him.  I tried taking him away a few times and Cam would pat his lap again as if to say, "Put him back!"  He was good with me holding him for a long time and sat with me some too.  I'm praying he handles our new little one as well!

We are looking forward to many new babies in the family this year.  My family is in major reproduction mode this year.  My cousin, Collin, and his wife Ashley welcomed their second son, Baylen in April.  Now Ty has been added to the mix.  Next up is my brother and sister-in-law in October, myself and two of my cousins are due in November, and then three more in January!  Babies, babies, babies everywhere!  I love it!

Bug Fest

Southeastway Park advertised a Bug Fest event that took place today.  We'd never been before but given Ryker's obsession with all things bug-related, we thought we'd check it out.  We came home after church and lounged a bit before taking early naps.  As soon as the boys were up we were out the door.  Parking was pretty scarce when we arrived, but it looked like it was thinning out.  Sure enough, before long, the crowds had diminished and we had a blast.  They have several different booths set up.  Each one details information on different bugs.  They have a butterfly tent, a beekeeper, an entomologist there to answer questions, and much more.  The boys had a great time!

Checking out the butterflies.  They had cut pieces of fruit to attract them.  It was cool to see what they were drawn too.

Digging for worms!

Daddy helped them catch some creatures in the pond.  Some other kids found tiny frogs and crawdads and we were able to check them out too. 

 

We ended to evening at Mama Nita's for some pizza and ice cream.  Such a fun family day!

 

Rodeo

Back during the 4-H Fair I saw some signs advertising the Indiana High School Rodeo Association coming to Greenfield.  I made sure to put it in my calendar then and we went tonight.  As much as my boys loved horses and livestock, the rodeo is the place for them.  It was fun watching the young kids compete.  They had some competitions I'd never seen before which was really fun.  Robert ended up getting invited to the Colts game at the last minute so he went to that and my mom and I took the boys and met my dad there too.

This cowboy insisted on wearing his boots and sitting up higher than us for a better view.  He's such a stud!

Camden was cracking me up.  He kept resting his hand on Dad's back and patting him.  They have a special bond.

He was too into the horses and calves to look at the camera.  He's pretty cute nonetheless.  :-)

This is a tradition at Nana and Papaw's hosue.  They did it with Ryker when he was younger and now Camden is enjoying it.  He is obsessed with it!  He goes and gets the blanket, puts it on the floor and lays down waiting for them to come swing him.  My brother and I did this as kids too and always loved it.  It's fun to watch my boys doing it too.

 

 

Orchard

Today was Kate and Hudson's last day in town, so decided a trip to the orchard was a great idea.  The orchard we chose is close to us and also on Kate's way back to Kentucky.  It ended up being much hotter than we expected so we didn't stay too long, but we still had fun.  We picked some delicious apples, bought some fresh peaches and local honey as well. 

All of us

Camden loved picking and, of course, eating some of the apples.

The boys enjoying an apple snack.  Camden made sure Hudson had one too. :-)

Sisters!

28 Week Appointment

Today was my 28 week appointment.  It's hard to believe we are in the third trimester!  Today brought the dreaded glucose test as well.  Thankfully, they gave me a fruit punch flavored drink ice cold which made it much more bearable than the orange room temp one I had with Camden.  It was all I could do to keep that down!

Today's Stats:

Weight Gain: 13.8 lbs.

Blood Pressure: 102/72

Fetal Heartrate: 150s

Fundal Height: 29 cm

 

I was surprised to be measuring a week ahead since I've gained less weight than I did with either of the boys.  However, I think the measurements can vary depending on the position of the baby, etc.  We'll see what it looks like in 2 more weeks. 



Caleb and Bailey's Wedding

Today was my cousin Caleb's wedding.  He and his bride, Bailey have been dating since high school.  She's been around so long now that we are thrilled to officially have her as part of the Kennedy clan!  The wedding took place at my aunt and uncle's farm which is a gorgeous setting for an outdoor wedding.  They had tons of great, vintage touches that were so cute and unique.

Ryker all dressed up and ready to go.

Me and my handsome hubby

All my studly men

The cousins had a great time on the dance floor.

Garn, Ashlyn, and Ryker form quite the trio!

Cam can't seem to help himself from practically hugging Hudson to death.

A little more dancing before we left. :-)

Sponge

Since starting school Ryker has truly been blossoming and becoming quite the little sponge.  He's soaking up everything he's learning and is amazing me more and more each day.  I find him singing songs he's learned at school at random times and he's getting more and more eager to work on reading, sight words, and writing. 

Week 2 of school began color time.  Each day for the last two weeks has been a different color.  They are learning to read, spell, and write all these words.  Ryker worked on writing them in the van on the way to and from his dentist's appointment.  He did great!

We stopped to get dinner and took some silly pics while we waited on our food.  He was asking about his baby sister and how big she was.  I was explaining how much longer we have to wait and said something about how God will tell me when it's time to get to the hospital.  He asked why I had to go to the hospital and I replied, "So the doctor can make sure I have a safe and healthy delivery." He was quiet for a second, then started chuckling and said, "Delivery? hehe...Deliveries are for the mailbox."  It cracked me up!  I love seeing how his little mind works though. ;-)

We used our Rainforest Colors book to practice reading our color words.  This was the first time he'd tried.  He does a great job!

Ryker has  become obsessed with making his own books.  One morning before school we worked on his new book, "The Tiger Finds a Home"  He will tell you all about the different parts of the book now (like the spine) and tell you how to read it (as if I didn't know). 

He's also taken to copying sentences out of books and can decode more words than I expected at this stage. 

 

 

 

SSMT: Verse 16

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

- Matthew 6:33 NIV

Another Day on the Lake

We went back out to the Rush's lake house today.  The weather was perfect and it was once again a relaxing and fun time.  We arrived just in time for an early lunch and met them at the lake community's restaurant right on the beach.  We all had a great lunch out on the deck and then enjoyed some time on the beach. 

The guys staying cool in the water.

This goofy kid had a great time and even ventured out to the diving board with everyone.  Cam even went off.  Such a fun time!

Amber spiked up Cam's hair on the boat ride back to the house and the wind blew it dry right in place.  It was too funny!

After putting Amelia down for a nap and taking a snack break, Camden and I went along to spot Robert while he tubed.  Amber stayed with Ryker and Carson while they swam near the dock and explored.  Robert had a blast and provided us with some great entertainment with the different positions he tried tubing in.  He's a wild one!

Cam and I had a great time!

 

Zoo Fun

Camden and I met Auntie Em, Kainen, and Piper at the zoo this morning for some fun.  The weather was great and we got to see some things we've never seen before.  It was a fun trip!

When we first arrived the trainers came out to work with the seals and sea lions.  They brushed their teeth, fed them, checked them over, and worked on some simple commands.  The vet came out and really looked over one of them.  The little guy on the left of this picture was being pretty ornery and kept coming back up after the trainer told him to get in the water.  It was pretty funny.  The kids LOVED watching this.

 

This big boy was very vocal this morning and Camden ate it up while mimicking him.

Cam and Kainen got to know each other in a different way today without Ryker around.  They are almost 2 years apart so it's a bit of a gap for Kainen to adjust to.

The lion put on quite the show for us.  It sorta sounded like he was trying to hack up a furball, which was pretty amusing to Emily and I. Ha!

 

Parent-Teacher Meeting

Tonight was our parent-teacher meeting at school.  It was nice to hear more from Miss Oliver about what they'll be covering this year and expectations, etc.  After her main presentation, I went up to ask her a few questions (mainly about bringing snack on Thursday).  I mentioned Ryker's name and right away she said, "Oh, I love Ryker! He's so funny!"  I immediately said, "Oh, dear...what did he do?" 

She told me a story from Monday that had us all laughing.  They are working on their colors for the next two weeks.  Monday's color was red.  Their daily snacks coordinate with the color of the day.  Monday's was Twizzlers.  Ryker has a sensitivity to red dye and we try to avoid it if possible.  He knew enough to ask her if they had red dye.  She told him she wasn't sure, but to go ahead and peel them and make his name out of the peels while she looked into it.  She was able to look up the info and came back to tell him that they did indeed have red dye and he could just do the activity and throw his away.  He responded with, "Too late.  I ate some.  You killed me."  I about died when she told me!  She thought it was hilarious.  He seems to really like Miss Oliver and enjoys teasing her.  They are already seem to have a good rapport going and I am so thankful for it! 

Day at the Lake

Our neighbors, the Rush's, recently bought a house on Lake Santee near Greensburg.  They've been asking us to come out all summer.  We finally had a free day and the weather looked great so we took full advantage of their standing invitation.  We had an amazing time!!

Carson and Camden were trying out the tube while we got the boat ready to go.

Ryker had an obsession with his goggles the entire day.

My honey and I enjoying the boat ride.

Clint took the moms and the kids to the beach to play for a bit while the guys did some tubing.  The beach area was so much fun with slides and a diving board out in the water.  There were swings and playground equipment up on the beach too.  The kids had a great time.

Cam and I on the way back to the house for lunch.

After lunch it was time for these two squirrely boys to go tubing.  Ryker got pretty brave quickly and was scooting forward and hanging his foot off the edge and dangling it in the water.  They kept wanting to go faster so we let them.  They did great and thought it was a blast.

Cam really tried to stay awake to watch Bubby in action, but he finally cashed out on me.

These two are becoming such great buds!

Cam took a short snooze and was up in time to go tubing with Daddy.  He was grinning the entire time!