Dear Daddy

Thank you for working so hard so we can play with Mommy during the day. We are having so much fun at the lake this week but we miss you. We can't wait to see you Friday. We have been very busy this week. We drove the boat to Lee's Ford for dinner last night.
Warner got to drink a soda on the way and help captain the boat with Grandpa. Life was good.
Maren hung out with Bobbie and ate a lot of veggie straws. Veggie straws make Maren happy.
Warner has become quite the water bug, tubing with Mommy and jumping in the lake the moment the boat stops. He'll stand on the back of the boat and announce "one, two, three, JUMP!" as he flies into the water. This particular tube ride was a bit bumpy but we survived and laughed a lot along the way.We have also spent a lot of time at the park. Warner seems to like the cowboy boots you got him more each day. He insisted on wearing them (and his cowboy hat) to the park today and made sure everyone knew his Daddy got his boots for him. You'd be so proud of us, sharing the swings. You've taught us so well.We decided we didn't even need to go to the beach, because they have a sand volleyball court here that has plenty of sand for building sandcastles and shoveling.Maren is working hard to figure out how to drive the golf cart. She might need a lesson from you when you get here this weekend.Even though Mommy is a lot of fun, it's not quite the same without you. We thought you'd enjoy these pictures until we see you in a few days. We love you - Warner and Maren

Like father, like son

Warner likes me okay but when it comes to Kevin, that kid is sure his dad hung the moon. He wants to do everything his father does, talks about Dad when he's at work during the day, and is elated when Kevin walks through the door each night (he usually yells "hewwoh, Daddy!!!" at the top of his lungs when the garage door opens).

So Kevin lets his facial hair grow from time to time, keeping perhaps a short beard or goatee to keep things interesting (and to avoid shaving). I prefer my man clean-shaven but I'm okay with the shaving breaks. Well last week after having grown a beard he shaved everything off except for a moustache. Yes, you read that correctly: a moustache. He wore it to work Friday and kept it for his entire guy's golf weekend. Here's the proof:
One of his coworkers thought it was so funny he went and got Warner a matching 'stache:
Surprisingly he wore it for the picture but wasn't too jazzed about it after we were through. And thankfully Kevin shaved the moustache and is now back to normal but he got such a rise out of his friends I'm afraid he might do it again.

Warner also has an affection for Kevin's cowboy hat. So, the last time my parents came to visit my mom brought him a cowboy hat from Texas. Kevin got him a pair of cowboy boots to match the ones he owns so now they are quite the pair together.Warner wanted to wear his cowboy boots with his shorts and polo shirt to church today, but we nixed that idea. Maybe we should have let him.
Warner is showing us that he is as big as his Dad. Happy Father's Day, Kevin!

Another day, another co-pay

I've honestly lost track of how many times we've been to the pediatrician the past few months for Maren. It's really getting old. She had an ear infection two weeks ago, followed by an asthma attack that put her back on Prednisone for four days. She was acting irritable again this past Monday so I took her in, thinking the ear infection never went away. Surprisingly, she was fine and Warner had scarlet fever (Seriously? Seriously. Go figure).

Two days ago she started another runny nose and an asthma attack. I took her back in this morning and she has another ear infection as well as an asthma flare. They gave her a double-dose breathing treatment at the office and she is now going to get two Pulmacort treatments daily instead of one.

Anyone hiring? I might have to go back to work to afford our co-pays and pharmacy bills.

Walking and Talking

Maren is cruising but has yet to venture into the world of walking solo. She likes to walk behind her car, despite getting stuck occasionally (she's so happy though, even when she's stuck).
My favorite is when Warner helps her take a few steps.
Usually it's only a few feet before one of them falls down, but they love it. Kevin predicted she'd be walking by July 4th but I'm not sure she'll make that deadline. She is quite the crawler, zooming around on her hands and knees, so the incentive might not be there just yet.
Meanwhile, Warner has started to say things that make me laugh. A few days ago he stood at the top of the stairs after naptime and proudly announced: "Ooooh, Mama! Me up! Nap!" Then he came bounding down the stairs. Most days he wakes up grumpy so this was a nice change of pace.

Another saying he's picked up is "hot diggity dog" (pronounced "hot-dee-dog") - from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, of course. The best part is how he uses the phrase. Example: we were at the zoo yesterday. Me: "Warner, would you like to ride the carousel?" Warner: "hot dee-dog!"

He's also having conversations with Maren. The other day he was feeding her Cheerios in her highchair and I overhear him saying "Open up, Mono. Mmmm ... like it? Good, sweet pea" (I call Maren sweet pea from time to time and he has picked up on this, apparently). I wonder what Maren will have to say to him when the time comes?

Helpers

It's amazing (and scary) how kids mimic their parents. Warner has appointed himself Kevin's mowing assistant, closely following each step his dad makes as he cuts the grass.

Of course Warner uses his own mower while Kevin uses his. It makes my heart melt to watch my little man help his Dad.

Meanwhile, Maren has taken to helping me with the dishwasher. I swear she can hear the dishwasher door open from anywhere in the house. She comes speed-crawling as fast as her little legs will take her to snatch a spoon or cup to bang together and scoot across the kitchen floor.
Of course they pick up our bad habits too, like Warner wiping his nose on his shirt - I'm ashamed to admit Kevin and I are both guilty of this when a kleenex is not handy. Do as we say, kids, not as we do.

Summertime

I'd like to think my lack of blogging is due to all of the fun we've been having lately but honestly I've just been too tired to craft a thoughtful blog post. So, please accept my apologies in advance for this less-than-exciting entry.
We are in Somerset this weekend while Kevin is on a guys golfing trip, so we've been able to spend time with the Platts and Whitakers. Warner loves loves loves his cousins and it brings me such joy to watch them play together. Here they are eating dinner together last night. Warner even ate salad because Abby and Ashley were doing it.

This afternoon we spent a few hours at the pool and Warner has really gotten the hang of it. My friend introduced me to "puddlejumpers" - basically swimmies with an extra strap of flotation on the front, and let me just say they are the best invention ever! Warner is jumping into the pool, going under water, and swimming all by himself.
Maren tolerates her swim raft and all of the splashing from her dear brother but really prefers to crawl and explore outside the water. After a trip to our neighborhood pool earlier this week her knees and shins were scraped from all of the exploring on the concrete but it didn't stop her.
We have also filled our time here at Woodson Bend taking golf cart rides (still one of Warner's favorite things to do), visiting the park, and looking for animals. Last weekend we went on the boat with my parents and Warner rode the tube with me, but a computer glitch made me lose the pictures. Ugh. Hopefully there will be plenty more boating and tubing this summer and more pictures to come.

Pool

We got our first taste of summer yesterday when the temperature hit 88 degrees. So, I drug out the baby pool that we used last summer when I was too pregnant/hot/lazy to take Warner to our neighborhood pool. Despite it's small size, it was a huge hit.
The slide+pool combination accounted for most of Warner's time playing.Maren primarily chased this ball around the pool and then chewed on it when she succeeded at grabbing it.
Of course, getting your hair wet is always fun.
Happy girl.

Nice.

Maren has developed a fondness for chewing on the darts from Warner's Nerf gun. We thought this was cute and funny until we realized it looks like she has a cigarette hanging out of her mouth. That's our classy girl.

Growing!

While Maren and I enjoyed our stay at St. Elizabeth hospital last weekend, my sweet husband and father-in-law prepared and planted our entire garden. This, after Kevin vowed to have nothing to do with the whole gardening thing. So, I owe them both big time. They even put up a fence so our furry friends don't think we planted a salad bar for their dining pleasure. Isn't it lovely?
Ten days later, we have green beans, zucchini, and squash growing!! The tomato and bell pepper plants seem to be thriving as well. I nearly lost it when I saw those tiny little sprouts emerging from the ground. I asked Warner to point to the beans for the picture. He's such a trooper.
And, here's a (non-edible) mushroom from our yard that Warner found. Great.

The last ten days or so have not turned out as expected. Unfortunately Maren had an asthma attack last Saturday that landed us in the ER and eventually turned into a stay until Sunday around 8pm. The pediatrician put Maren on a daily inhaled steroid in addition to Albuterol as needed, an antibiotic for another ear infection, and an oral steroid for five days. Our kitchen is beginning to resemble a pharmacy.

Additionally I've had a few health issues/scares that have had me at the doctor more than I'd like to be. Thankfully everything has checked out okay, but Kevin is now giving me a hard time for being a hypochondriac. I'd rather label it as being an "advocate for my family's health" but I think he's probably right. I'm trying to calm down but it's a work in progress.

Meanwhile, Maren is growing like a weed and seems to get happier with each day. She can now take a few steps behind her car, and is cruising a ton. Why couldn't I be blessed with late walkers?? I'm afraid Maren will walk before Warner did at 11 months. Then life will really be over.Getting the kids to play nicely together is another work in progress. Between cries of "No, Mono!" from Warner and "if you can't share the toy, then no one gets to play with it" from Kevin and I, sharing seems to be miles away. But, here's a brief moment captured where both kids are playing with the same "toy" (the piano has become another toy since I rarely play it) and no one is screaming.

Nine Months

Maren was nine months old last week. Time is flying by. She had her check-up today with the pediatrician and weighed 20 pounds 8 ounces (80th percentile) and measured 28 1/2 inches long (80th percentile). She has reached all of her milestones except clapping her hands. She does bang one hand at a time a lot, seeing how different objects make different noises (I tell myself she's a little scientist - experimenting - so it's not as irritating to listen to all of the banging).

At nine months, Maren is: crawling, pulling up, cruising a bit, saying "dada", "baba" and "yaya", eating baby food but liking puffs and graham crackers as well, and sleeping better but still not enough for this mama (she wakes up 1-2 times a night generally). She is one of the happiest babies I've met and is incredibly interactive. She is curious/into everything and is also spunky - she'll scream if Warner takes a toy away from her or if I'm not feeding her fast enough. She has such a fun personality and I can't wait to see it develop more. Here are a few of her nine month pictures - and one with Warner as well:

Mere

My sweet, sweet, Meredith:

April 22, 2010 marked the two year anniversary of your going to heaven. Last year the day was terrible for me, and I was haunted with the fear that each subsequent year would be the same. However this year, we forged onward with Meredith's Miracles Colon Cancer Foundation and spent April 22nd speaking to college students about your story, colon cancer symptoms, and taking charge of your own health (there were a ton of pictures of you in the Power Point by the way, and you looked fabulous. You would have been pleased).

To say that this was therapeutic is a huge understatement. I am so confident that God is working through your Foundation and it is amazing to watch. We made our first two presentations at Ball State University and Butler University - fulfilling one of the two "missions" you envisioned: to save lives by raising awareness of the symptoms of colon cancer. We met two young women at these presentations that have been suffering from severe digestive issues for 12+ months which have been dismissed by doctors. They were so impacted by our presentations that each pushed their doctor to have a colonoscopy to determine what is ailing them. I sincerely hope they do not have colon cancer, but am thrilled that the foundation encouraged them to take charge of their own health.

MMCCF has also given "miracles" to three young colon cancer patients (the second mission you envisioned - to provide financial assistance to young colon cancer patients), and I had the inexplicable honor of meeting one of those recipients at the Butler University presentation. JR is 30 years old, married, and has two precious twin daughters. Here are some of the foundation board members with him at Butler:JR has been battling colon cancer for several years now and is currently one of ten patients undergoing an experimental treatment for the disease. It is amazing to see your wishes come true and meet a man who has directly benefited from the organization you dreamed of over two years ago.

I miss you like crazy. I wish you could see Warner and Maren - they are amazing. I wish they could see you. They would love their Aunt Muff. I know we will be together again soon, but in the meantime, I want you to know that your battle was not in vain. God is sovereign and He is working good out of all of the ugliness of your cancer. You would be so proud of the foundation. So, I wanted you to know. I love you.

Laurs

Playing

Warner has discovered the fun of pushing Maren around the kitchen in her highchair (it has wheels) and Maren loves the ride. Occasionally he'll push her too hard and the chair will hit a cabinet and she'll sort of ricochet back. She'll pause for a minute, then laugh in delight. It's almost as if she enjoys the faster and bumpier rides. Crazy girl.
Regardless of how he tortures her, Maren still lights up whenever Warner is around. I wonder how long this will last?