Worth 1000 words

My two wonderful, adorable kids!

Short on Power, and the BIX!

Another huge storm hit Iowa last week, so we were without power for about twelve hours. I was nervous that morning trying to figure out what I was going to do with no power, no a/c and two children...Luckily Russ's classes were canceled and it was a decent day outside so we headed to the park, along with Hannah's "boyfriend." (Russ's good friend from school). We then treated ourselves to lunch at Genghis Grill, my new fave place)!

Hannah thought it was pretty neat she got to watch her movie on our portable DVD player during the outage. As soon as we got it out she asked for her Mickey Christmas show, which we watched about a billion times while driving to utah and back over the Christmas break. I can't believe she remembered that!

She loves to jump on the couch now...pretty sure it can only end badly.

My sister sent me this outfit for Emma. It was my absolute favorite outfit of Blayr's, and I am so glad we inherited it!

This year Hannah as old enough to run in the Jr.Bix. She has been practicing for her race for months now, and she was so excited to run it. When we got there though I was worried about her having a total meltdown. It was a really hot, muggy day and we had to wait around with 2000 other kids and their parents, and miss Hannah was not too thrilled about that. But as soon as she heard "On your mark, get set, go" she took off, and loved every second of the race! I tried to get a good shot of her during the race, but I was trying to juggle both cameras, and a screaming Emma. So...not such a great shot. Her face says it all though. I have to admit I got a little emotional watching her run. You can just see the joy radiating off of her face. The look on her face melted my heart! The best part was that at the end she got her own medal! She loves it!

There was a huge party after the race complete with balloons, junk food and popsicles!

Russ ran in the grown up Bix the following morning, and we had front row seats because the course goes right in front of our house. I feel like we are old pros at this whole race business, and I really do enjoy cheering for my awesome hubby!

Luckily Hannah always has fun friends to play with during these races, and her friends have awesome moms that help me out!

This is how Emma usually hangs out on race days! The Moby is the biggest blessing. She passes out as soon as I put her in it, and sleeps for hours! I felt so bad though because it was SO hot, and we were both a sweaty mess when we got back to the car. Poor girl!

Think of me...

Memory Tag

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.
This tag can be for anyone in our family

A Day at the Races

We have been trying to make the most of Russ's last week of break, and we have had a blast. Hannah and I got to go on our first mommy-daughter "gate" since Emma was born and we had so much fun. I am obssessed with Jon & Kate plus 8, and she took her girls out to a ceramic painting place, and I found out we have one here and knew I had to take Hannah. I thought it would be hard for me because I hate messy things, but Hannah was having a ball, so i couldn't help but enjoy it. They warn you to wear old clothes because the paint doesn't come out, so I made sure that Hannah did, not thinking about me...so of course we got bright orange paint all over my new clothes! I couldn't be mad because as soon as it happened she turned to me and said, "I'm so sorry Mommy, I'm so sorry I got paint on you." She has such a tender heart.


The finished project, her special cupcake!


She had so much fun. And did it all by herself.

This weekend we headed to Burlington so Russ could race in his first Olympic distance triathlon. It is a .9 mile swim, 25 mile bike, and 6.2 mile run. We braved a hotel for the first time since Emma came along, and all things considered we fared pretty well!
I was really nervous about getting the kids up at 5:30 and keeping them entertained outside for 5 hours, but luckily we made friends with the families of some of the other racers. They had a little girl to help keep Hannah busy, and Emma slept the entire time! And would you believe that in mid-July Iowa summer it was in the low 70's all morning?

Biking into transition.

The final sprint to the finish!

Hannah is such a sweetheart, she ran up to give Russ a hug as soon as he was finished with his race...she didn't even care that he was soaked with sweat. I wasn't quite as anxious to do the same.

Hannah said this was her best friend! Her name is Ella, one of the families we met at the race. They played and walked around holding hands the whole time.

Just a random cute picture of our Emma Ann.

Hannah tried on Russ's swim cap...as you can see she wasn't too impressed by it!

Russ really liked this bridge from Burlington over to Illinois...it is actually still closed from the flooding.

Hannah helping Dad get ready for the race.
We are all pretty sad that our break is coming to end. We know it has to end sooner or later if we ever want to get done out here, but still, it will be sad to have Russ gone all day again.

Fireworks, Family and Fun!

We've had such a busy, fun week with all of our families here! We had a trip to the zoo, to the family museum, many trips to the swimming pool, a river ride, and a 4th of July baseball game! Hannah was so spoiled and loved all of the attention from her grandparents, aunts and uncles. We blessed Emma on Sunday, and it was beautiful. We really missed everyone who couldn't be here.
Hannah is slowly adjusting to having no one here. It was pretty emotional for all of us when everyone left. Christmas seems too far away...


Russ caught a foul that almost knocked Emma out...Hannah was so excited because she had waited the whole game to try and catch one. Her and her aunts stood down by the wall waiting for a ball or autograph forever...She can't stop talking about her famous baseball now! Her aunts were pretty upset that they didn't catch it!
Hannah was in usual meltdown mode at lunch. We always kept her up way past her naptime, and paid the price :) Grandpa W. thinks he's hilarious.
We love going to John Deere to check out all of the huge tractors. Last time we went Hannah as too terrified to climb into any of them, this time she was kicking everyone out so she could climb up!

I couldn't get this pic to turn, but it shows how much Emma is growing...
This is usually how we found Grandpa T. Hannah doesn't seem impressed.


We love Uncle Mikey!
All of the aunts were such a huge help! We miss them all.


Thank you everyone for making the long drive out here, and spending time with us. come back soon!

Every girl wants a pony...

Hannah's first pony ride!
We didn't think there was a chance she would do it...but she absolutely loved it. She's mad in the video that the ponies stopped moving because she wasn't ready to stop...the pony was just taking a potty break :)

We've had a pretty exciting week here so far. My parents and three of my younger sisters got here on Saturday, and Hannah has kept them busy! I don't think my sisters know what hit them. So far we've had fun at the zoo, swimming, and hannah went to her first movie. She has been obsessed with the previews for WALL-E and we decided this would be a good time to test the waters. She did amazing, and loved the movie. Right when the previews ended and the lights started to dim it got really quiet in the theater and Hannah yells out "WALL-E" in the perfect wall-e voice. Everyone in the theater started laughing...pretty cute if I do say so. She only asked to leave one time, so Russ just took her out in the hallway and walked around for a few minutes, then she was good to go again. Emma made it through as well. Not a peep the whole time!
We are excited for Russ's family to get here this weekend! We are blessing Emma, and we are going to have a full house. Can't wait!

Hanging out in the pool with her aunts!
Emma loves her baths,until you take her out. This is the two seconds of quiet before she starts screaming...
She has started smiling and talking to us so much. It is so fun to interact with her and get such a cute response!