Adventures in the Heartland and Clare's First Visit to Kansas

Day one, we boarded the plane with two kids, 5 carry-ons, and checked 3 suitcases. I swear I used to think traveling was tiring, but it has now achieved a whole new level. We occupied 1/2 a row on the plane and both the kids did great. Especially Clare who did well for her first time, with no painful ear incidents. Hayden loved the turbulance, so while I smiled through my nausea, he was exclaiming "ooooh, bumpy" with glee. We made it there with one flight (thank God) and were received happily by my parents who drove up to pick us up. We stopped at my Grandma and Grandpa B's house to drop my parents off and visit with them for a bit. To Hayden's surprise they had given him a battery powered John Deere tractor and trailer and one for his cousin Colton too. Let me just tell you that I would have died and gone to heaven if I could have had one of those when I was a kid. Shoot, I'd take one now if I could fit into it. But, my two and a half year old loved it and was a blur in most pictures I took. He caught right on to driving it but was fascinated by the wheels and would watch those instead of the "road." Needless to say, its a good thing that Dad was chasing him around saving the day as needed. Clare also met for the first time her Aunt Katie, her Uncle Jeremy and Colton (who at this time could have cared less since he is 2.) It was an exhausting but fun-filled day. And I'm so glad we got to see so many in one day!

Clare's first plane ride

Daddy on the plane with Hayden. One of the many highlights of Hayden's day.

A big welcome

Aunt Katie meeting Clare for the first time

A natural on our new battery powered John Deere

Hayden and his cousin, Colton

Grandpa with his pile of great grand-kids. Happy man. A happy man.

Great-Grandpa getting his hands on baby Clare. He could hardly stand the wait.

On Sunday, the first full day we were in Kansas we stayed with Grandma B we got to enjoy the company of both of the kids aunts, Michelle and Rachael, as well as some other extended family who came in for dinner. We broke in Grandma's new pool for its second summer and this was the first time Clare had donned her rocking new bikini. Ok, now I said I would never buy a bikini for my baby, however, it occurred to me that this could be practical in the case of an emergency diaper change. I still do not like what it stands for. But you have to admit, she's pretty cute in it. Hayden loved playing in the water but still loves the security of the floaty. We had a really nice time catching up with everyone.

Prepped and ready for the pool...sunglasses, check, sun hat, check, coverups, check, towel, check

Rocking his tanlessness in his swim trunks.

Hayden gets the whole idea of lounging.

Don't be mad at me Michelle. I thought you looked awesome in this picture. Great shoulders and arms!!!

Hanging with Daddy post-swim

Aunts Michelle and Rachael

On Memorial Day we just bummed around and slipped in a visit to Grandma B's old house. Derrick and his sister Michelle helped out by mowing the expansive yard and the kids played around outside. I wanted to take Clare there just once so I could say she had been to the place where Grandma and Grandpa lived and where Daddy had once lived too.

A family photo at the same spot that Derrick and I stood and took a picture when we were just dating.

Hayden at Grandma B's old house

Riding the big bad grasshopper lawnmower with Daddy

So much green!

On Tuesday we visited Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa B for the day. We got to see a couple of Derrick's cousins and Hayden took a quick liking to Jack, Derrick's cousin's son. It was restful. Their house is always like its own little world. Its peaceful and you feel cared for and its just a happy place to be. This was Clare's first visit there and first time meeting her great-grandparents. She came out of her shell after a little nap.


Playing on the living room floor together

Walking through Great-Grandma B's flower garden

Taking in the scenery with Grandpa

Having dinner at Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa's house

On Wednesday, we bummed around Grandma and Grandpa K's house. We had two visitors, the the kid's Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa K. This was the first time that they had met Clare and almost a year since they had last seen Hayden. We got to listen to a few thunderstorms that day which is a rarity for us these days.

On Thursday, we got to try out the Kansas Children's Discovery Museum. It was its opening week and Hayden and Clare really got to enjoy it. They had a crawling area for babies and appropriate toys for her which she loved. For Hayden he loved to paint. I had no idea how much. There is such a creative side to him. Grandma and Grandpa K really got to play with both the kids as did Derrick who misses out on on weekday fun a lot. It was a lot of fun for both big and small. Where was this when I was a kid????

A manly man with his hard hat on

Ahh! A nurturing side to my boy. No I did not encourage nor set this up. He even got the doll to put in it himself.

A climbing fool

Who is that cute little girl? I think I'll give her a kiss.

Trying to paint Grandpa's face. Aren't you glad there is glass between you and Hayden?

On Friday we went to A Day Out with Thomas. For those of you who may not be familiar with him, Thomas the Tank Engine is very popular with the little boys. We actually rode a train pulled by the Number 1 blue engine. It was very Special, Special. Sorry, a lot of Thomas lingo in there. We went there with Grandma and Grandpa K, Aunt Katie, Uncle Jeremy, and cousin Colton who shares the interest with Hayden. Hayden loved loved loved his first train ride and that it was on Thomas himself. He loved the petting zoo, getting a Thomas character temporary tattoo, playing with all of the Thomas train sets that they had out for kids to play with, jumping inside the bouncy, and getting to experience the fire truck up close and personal. It was smoking hot for early June, be we powered (and sweated) through it and overall had a blast. It was a great end to our trip. Clare, well, she fell asleep part way through. When she is a little older we will find something like this that she enjoys a little more.

All Aboard!!!

Clare at 7 months...and she's on the move

Our sweet baby Clare is 7 months today and creeping quickly toward that one year mark. I can't hardly believe it though I say that every month. She has grown more opinionated through the passing months. She is impatient especially when it comes to food. I can say with certainty at this point she loves Cheerios the most and the independence of feeding herself. She doesn't like to wait for someone else to do it. She cocks her head sweetly to the side when she is being silly. She is the noisiest in the morning and right after her bath before bed. She loves to scream, not out of anger, but just to feel and hear herself scream. Shes saying a lot of syllables like dadada, bababa, and mamama and occasionally something that sounds like a sentence that makes no sense at all. She's experimenting with language nonetheless. She loves loves loves her boys (that would be Daddy and Hayden.) She squeals in delight when she sees them or even hears their voices coming her way. And one day shy of 7 months she really got going on that crawling. She had been trying to and landing a crawl step occasionally for about the last week and a half. And yesterday she finally got the motion right. I would try and help her with the coordination of it much like I did with Hayden who would let me, but she would have none of that. She likes to do it herself. She follows Hayden as fast as she can now wherever he goes and wants to play with what he is playing with. Its a new experience for him too. That whole sharing thing with a sibling no less. It will be interesting trying to childproof with a toddler who is a whirling dervish of hazards for a newly crawling baby who is still very oral. I'm going to have my work cut out for me keeping a very close eye on both of them. I'm convinced she will be walking for a year because she will want to keep up with Hayden when he is outside no doubt. I at this point have to keep a tight hold on her as she tries to wiggle out of my arms at a park or somewhere he is running around. She is still our happy little girl and always a breath of fresh air. Seven months later we are so blessed to still call Clare ours.

A Big Boy and A Mobile Girl

So, here is baby girl Clare. She is mostly a happy little girl. She is now crawling a bit but is creative in how she gets around by rolling like a Team 6 Navy Seal, army crawling, face dives forward and now the ever classic crawl intermingled in there. If you turn your back on her, you will most likely find her under a piece of furniture.

Exhibit A: We have a thing for tables and sometimes brother Hayden even joins in the fun (though often forgets there is a table above him and hits his head.)

Exhibit B: We don't always like the positions we get ourselves into. (Yes, I know she is crying in this picture. But it was too humorous to pass up and I promptly saved her after it was taken.)

Hayden is going to preschool two days a week in the fall (small tear forming in the corner of my eye.) He's such a big boy and is so excited about going. I thought I would beat the rush on mini-backpacks and get him one for his carry-on for traveling this summer. When he has it on, he looks like such a boy. Lord knows he thinks he is all the time anyway. When I give him a kiss on the cheek he wipes it off and says "NO! Hayden big boy!" I tell him that even big boys can get kisses on the cheek from their mommies.

Hayden with a baseball in hand. Currently his favorite sport. He's contemplating life in this picture.

Hayden's version of a smile when I told him to look at the camera and smile. Well, we need to work on that one a little.

Take Me Out to a Ballgame

Last night we took our kids to their first baseball game. Our friends Kelli and Daniel were nice enough to share with us some tickets they had received through Daniel's work. It was a bit chilly for May 2nd (considering we'd seen snow that morning) but we decided to fare it anyway. It worked out because there was hardly anyone there so we got the no lines at concessions or bathrooms frill and didn't have worry about annoying people around us who weren't fans of the runaway toddler. For Hayden's part, he did really well. He even sat and really watched the game for an inning with his Daddy who was attempting to explain some of it to him. He got to hi-five the team mascot, Orbit. He couldn’t decide whether Orbit was a dog or a bear and really neither one of us can really tell either. And, whilst Hayden didn't get the full experience with the food, he did get some nacho cheese-less nachos. Our little Nacho Libre often asks for "chips." Chips is in quotations because he says it just like the character in the movie Nacho Libre. Rent it if you haven't seen it. Many quotable lines. Anyway, back to the original content of this entry. Overall we had a great time. In one of these pictures you will see Hayden snuggled up with Kelli. I think he was happiest at this point because, well, Kelli is his first crush. I kid you not. He asks for her all the time and cries for her when she leaves. He even woke up last night crying for her. That’s awesome for a 4am wake-up call, your two year old son crying for another woman. When he found out she was married and met her husband Daniel for the first time, he said to me "Mommy, who dis guy?" Needless to say, he was a little disappointed that he had some competition for her affections. So I think that Kelli was probably the cherry on top of the whole baseball game extravaganza for him. So add another first for Hayden...and we'll repeat it for Clare because while she was trash talking the other team with her babbles, I just don’t think she have even the tiniest recollection of this event.