The hard times and the good times

Where the changing table once was is now her dresser. So interesting, eh? :)

Cleo's new room...new toybox and shelves.

Gus and his Spongebob popcicle...it stained his entire face

It's been a trying week. Work is out of control crazy and things are slipping through the cracks and hitting the fan, so it's been stressful. Andy was out of town all week, but thankfully he's back home. Today we figured out that Charlie has been depositing blood from his tooshie (sorry) on the carpet downstairs behind our desk. I have no idea what's up with him, so to the vet we go...again. We just spent a huge amount of money on Ruby recently only to figure out he's just fine. But that's how it is with pets. And that's okay.

But when I get down about work or bloody cats or something like that, I remember that bigger things could be happening. One of Andy's co-workers is going through a terrible time right now as her daughter battles cancer, and another friend's brother was killed in a very tragic accident recently. So, when the stuff hits the fan for us, I say a prayer and give my kids a kiss, b/c life is sweet but sometimes way too short. And it could be so much worse.

We're gearing up for our Michigan vacation, and even though I can't imagine getting done all that I need to for work before we leave, I'm so ready to go. We're driving and we'll stay over in Iowa City at Andy's parents on our way up, so we can break up the drive. We'll be in Ludington for a week, and we're staying in a cabin. I'm excited to have some R&R with the kids and Andy's family. I love it up there, and hopefully the weather up there is pretty nice...in the 70's and maybe 80's. Not as humid.

The kids are changing so much every day. Gus' new favorite things in the world right now would be Dora and Boots (from Dora the Explorer...or as Andy likes to call it: "Dorah the Explorah"). Gus adores anything Dora right now. Loves her show and would watch it 24/7 if we allowed him to...and he's even created little imaginary Dora and Boots friends he keeps in his pockets. They even get to sleep over with him at night. I'm serious...we're dealing w/ our first imaginary friends! It's adorable, really. He picks them up and carries them with him everywhere. When we leave the house, he'll say, "Oh, Mom! I have to get Dora and Boots!" and at night he says "Mom, Dora and Boots can sleep with me!" Pretty funny stuff. As long as he's not doing this when he's 15, it's all good.

Cleo is walking! She takes about 5-10 steps at a time before she goes back to crawling, but she's doing more every day. She loves her new freedom. I call her my little Houdini b/c she likes to break out of any straps we put her in (car seat, high chair, etc...). She loves the challenge of breaking out of any constraints, including clothes. She has figured out how to take off her pants, and I often find her in just a diaper and t-shirt, smiling at me as if to say, "See? I did it! Ha ha hahaha!" She's ornery, this one. I have to keep my eye on her. She says new words like "Momma" (yes!) "Dadda" "Kitty" and "Baby" and sometimes I think she even says "Pretty"--oh, and she pants like a dog when she sees dogs. Gus used to do that, too. So funny. Last wknd we reconfigured Cleo's room. We got rid of her changing table and move stuff around to accomodate shelves and a toy box. It's so nice not to shove toys and stuffed animals in her closet now. Of course she still prefers to play in Gus' room, though. But her room is so cozy that I'm proud we were able to utilize vertical space to our advantage. HGTV, eat your heart out.

Let's see...the GREAT NEWS that came out of this week is that our friends Tom and Marisa had their 2nd bundle of joy, a boy! So now they have Ebina, who is almost 2, and Abel Thomas Hegeman, who was born early Wednesday morning. He is absolutely gorgeous...full head of dark hair (Ebi had the same) and looks like a mini Tom Hegeman! Everyone calls Tom "Old Man Hegs" so we were joking that now there's a junior "Old Man Hegs." Marisa was worried b/c she had to be induced with Ebi b/c she was so overdue, and it looked as if the same was going to happen with Abel. He was over a week overdue when she finally went into labor. She had him in around 2 hours total--the labor was that short! I am so happy it was short for her.

Until later...take care. Oh, and the new poem is one I wrote when I was a child. I remember being SO PROUD of it. I wrote it on yellow lined paper and my mom posted it on the fridge where it stayed for a very long time. So deep, right?!

Oh, and Gus starts preschool Monday! Woot! So excited for him.

Gus is 3! And other updates

Gus celebrated his 3rd birthday the first weekend of August. We took him to Vinland Valley Nursery where he had a little party. The nursery is technically in Baldwin City, but it's really in the country b/t Lawrence and Baldwin. It's beautiful out there. We had a great time, and for once the weather was pleasant. We're so used to the scorching heat on his birthday. On his actual bday (August 6), I took the day off and we went downtown to the Toy Store to pick out his gift. He picked out a toy Mack truck, and he loves it, needless to say. Between the Mack truck, the matchbox cars and carrying case and all the other fun toys, he's in heaven. Oh, and he's still our healthy boy. In the 75% and 76% for weight and height. He's 39" tall and weighs 34.5 lbs.

Andy and I went on a sales incentive trip to St. Pete, FL, with some of his co-workers last week. It was so nice to get away, and the resort was great. I met some of Andy's co-workers and their spouses, so it was fun to meet new folks. I've posted some photos of the trip. I didn't take too many b/c I didn't want the camera to get wet. We essentially just laid on the beach or by the pool for 3 days straight! It was heaven, but we really missed the kids. My Mom watched them until Sunday and then Annie came for the last night. I think overall they did really well.

Let's see...work is insane right now. I'm trying to keep my wits about me, but it's hard. It'll calm down, but there are so many new things going on, and I've taken on a lot of extra work. We're going on vacation to Michigan the week of Labor Day, so I'm already excited for that. It'll be a long drive, but thankfully we'll stop over in Iowa City so we can break it up. We've rented a cabin in Ludington, so that should be fun. We usually stay at Andy's parents house in Ludington, but with 2 kids, we need a little more space, so we'll see how this cabin works out. Michigan should be a nice break from the hot sizzling weather here. It's usually in the 70's there in September during the day, which is so nice.

Gus talks to people on the phone now and has conversations, vs. just saying one or two words. It's funny. And he's really into things and their mothers b/c of a book we've been reading by Eric Carle (Kangaroos have mothers, too!). He asks where the cats' mothers are. He even gave Funny Face one of his toys the other day and told her it was b/c she didn't have a mother anymore, so she could have one of his toys. Delicious! Gus starts preschool on August 31. I can't believe it! He's in the "Under the Sea" room with his daycare friend, Elizabeth. I don't really know what all the rooms mean, but I know the "Under the Sea" room has fish tanks and whatnot, so he'll be thrilled. He goes for 2.5 hours every M, W and F. We'll go with him on the first day. I think I may get emotional. I mean, it's not like he's in Kindergarten yet, but I feel like it's just around the corner. Crazy.

This isn't my best photo...but it's hilarious how white Cleo is next to me right now.

Cleo is a little spark plug. She's so fast and into everything these days! She's not walking yet, but she pushes her little walker everywhere. She moves all over the place, and tries to break out of her high chair, her car seat and the grocery cart at the store. Gus never did any of this, so we joke that we'll have to carry duct tape with us to keep her in one place. She's usually still pretty mellow, but she's very stubborn, too! I really see so much of us both in her personality. She and Gus are so tight. They wrestle together, snuggle together, play together all the time. It's so fun to see them actually interact for real now. Gus told me the other day Cleo was his best friend. Oh, and Cleo says the following words right now: "Kitty" and "Daddy" and "Meemaw" (that's me) and "Pretty" (that one cracks me up...she already knows she's pretty! ha ha).

That's it for now! Hope you all are having a great summer. It's winding down...can't wait for fall! My favorite season! I'm already excited for Halloween. Yes, I'm dorky like that.