omaha.

first of all, i must apologize. may has come and is nearly gone and i've done little "blogging." this month has been busy, busy, busy. the down time that we have had i just haven't sat down with the computer, other things have been taking up my time!

we're way behind on here. at the beginning of the month we went to omaha to see renee's new little girl penny. it was such a special time!

starting off the trip with mom's famous donuts. lane ate FIVE of them in one sitting.

the babies enjoying..
addie caught in the act. "you didn't see me eating this donut"
the dogs outside were always a hit with the babies.

hanging out at aunt renee & uncle tom's house. such big boys sitting there. (and where are lane's pants? i don't know.)
and here she is....the precious little penny ray!


lane & gage testing out the stroller.
my parents picked up one of those cars for the kids. you know, the toy you always wanted as a kid. THEY LOVED IT!! at first i was a little scared to let my babies drive off...i chased after them:)

lane is a PRO at driving that thing. he has it all down. he can turn it on a dime, flip in in reverse, and back up without hitting anything. it was sooo funny to watch.

addie waiting her turn...



the cousins. (minus penny.)
good girl ginger.
even ginger got in for a drive.
mom's pretty trees.
she's a doll!!! 8lbs 2 oz of pure love.







grandpa with all his grandsons.
addison had a photo shoot in her fancy dress. could she get any cuter!? i think not!
although...she wasn't too fond of owen trying to sneak in her shoot.

gage wanted a turn too...
the babies looooved the piano. always always fun!

the only outing we all went on....to get donuts.



we went out to eat one evening for ice cream with all the cousins. as always, a great time!

one of my new favorite pictures of lane.
helping grandpa organize the garage.
summer came while we were in omaha. there were multiple days in the 90s. it.was.awesome!
gage laughing...
at his...
big brother...
splash with the stroller.
getting SO big!
bike ride with grandpa.
some baby cuddles.
oh how i miss her!!

ps....check out renee & tom's blog to get more pictures of penny. i know i can't get enough!

AND check out my mom's blog. more great pics from our visit, loooove the pictures she captured of us sisters meeting penny for the first time!

dear lane, 3 yrs.

my sweet sweet lane.

i cannot believe another year has flown by. you are now three. when you turned two i panicked b/c the next year you would be three. now here we are and i'm panicking b/c next year you'll be four. you can't pass as a baby anymore, not even a toddler, you're a kid. (although you'll always always be my baby. baby lane.)

you've changed soooo much this passed year. shortly after your second birthday we had your speech evaluated b/c you said barely 5 words. the specialists told us you were perfectly normal and you'll start talking one of these days. were they ever right. you carry full on conversations. the conversations we have are so grown up. i often have to stop to remind myself that your a little boy. you are so observant. so quick. you really really want to understand things.

you are shy. unless you really know someone...then you aren't shy one bit. in fact, you're so loud, crazy, all boy. you constantly run, bounce, giggle. and you sweat. you are the sweatiest three year old around.

you're the sweetest kid i've ever met. and i'm not just saying that b/c your mine. you love life and live with such passion. you're constantly running up and giving us kisses, hugs, my love yous. your daddy and i are so proud of the little man you are becoming. i pray that your joyful spirit touches everyone you see. i pray that your kind heart touches those in need. and i pray your silliness gives smiles and brightens days. God has big plans for you. you know that....and you have a sincere love for God. everynight you yell at the top of your lungs, "love you Jesus!!" i pray that your love for Him keeps growing and growing and you'll seek His path all of your life.

your a special little man lane.

mama loves you!

about you...

...you love dora fruit snacks.

...you still take at least a 3 hour nap everyday.

...you love milk. you still drink 3 8oz cups everyday. i'm convinced you could live off just milk.

...you can put on your own shoes and everytime you ask "this right foot?" just to make sure i'm paying attention.

...you LOVE anything with wheels. really. your obsessed with cars, trucks, tractors, you name it, you love it.

...you can easily tell me what type of car is what and never get tricked.

...pretty much the only time we have to discipline you is if you get a little to aggressive towards gage. sharing is hard.

...you have a freaky good memory. this sounds like i'm bragging about you, maybe i am?, but you are so smart. i'm amazed all the time. you sing songs, abc's, and i loose track of how high you can count.

...we say "obey the first time" at least 30 times a day.

...you still sleep with blankie, bunny, little blue bear, tiger, and turtle. yes, all of those.

...you have a deep fear of the dark.

...you are SO organized. you like things done a certain way...your way. your cars are always lined up perfectly. you like to sit on a certain side of the couch. like to walk down the stairs holding my hand, you on the left and me on the right, always.

...you are such a slow eater.

...you love to read books.

...you are huge. according to the dr, you are the size of an average 4 1/2 year old. you grew 4 inches this past year!!

...you've been potty trained for nearly a year now. you were so easy to train...your little brother has lots to live up to:)

...you love music. particularly music you can dance too.

in 15 minutes or less.

so, we've been gone and this week is super busy. like, super duper busy. i'll stop in for 15 minutes...so, here we go.

::this weekend we are having lane's 3rd birthday party. as in party, just a family party. i haven't done a single thing for it. nothing. absolutely nothing. must.get.started!! the other day he heard me talking to dana on the phone and i was saying how we're just having family for his birthday, no friends or anything, just real simple. he instantly spoke up and said "no, my want to have friends. my friends make me real happy. my friends at my house, eat cupcakes too?" oh man, that kid knows how to put a quilt trip on his mama's heart. i'm hoping he'll forget about friends once he sees some presents.

::vance and i just celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. actually, we weren't even together on our actual anniversary. sad, but, tickets were way cheaper to travel when we did...practicality always wins at our house.

::we celebrated 6 years by going out to eat without the kids!! a first for us....a babysitter!!!! we may be the most overprotective parents around. its way hard for us to even think about leaving our kids with someone....but we did it. and they survived. uhm, want to go out this weekend babe?!

::we have all been fighting a horrible terrible cold/flu bug. in fact, our anniversary date was pretty much lack luster. vance and i both felt terrible. body aches, coughing, temperatures, and mexican food are hardly a good combo.

::speaking of being sick....the boys have been too. it never fails, they hear the word "omaha" and get sick instantly. somehow every trip we end up going to pediatric emergi-care. this time they both have double ear infections and have been soooo not fun to be around. our family must have low thoughts of our kids, they pretty grumpy when sick....whiney, crying, icky. come to colorado and see the real them:)

::this past week we've had lots of cute moments.

...we saw the ever darling addie.

...mr. owen

lane brain...

gagers...

and of course, the brand new precious penny...

::today, instead of checking off the huge list of to dos, i took nearly a 2 hour nap. it was glorious. it seemed like a good idea at the time. now, not so much.

::gage took a 5 hour nap today. he woke up only because i woke him. crazy.

::saying goodbye to penny & renee last night was one of the hardest things i've done in a long time. we were a soppy crying mess right there in the middle of b&g's tasty foods saying our goodbyes. my arms miss holding that sweet baby.

::gage is in such mama mode. he won't let anybody else hold him. straight up, mama's boy.

::the other night while in nebraska we were all about to sit down for supper. owen started to throw up. i said, "don't let lane see it, he can't handle seeing throw up" it was too late. all of a sudden lane was yelling/covering his mouth/gagging "trash can. trash can please." ...even in a moment of throwing up, lane remembers his manners. thats my boy:) ...and yes, he did throw up in the trash can.

::colorado has very little appeal to me today. its has snowed all day! yesterday we were in shorts & tees.

::ok, my 15 minutes are up. we've got some crazy busy weeks ahead...may is a very full month!

we'll be back.

sorry it's been quiet around here. we'll be back sometime. no promises of that sometime being soon. we've been much to busy cuddling sweet penny....and having fun!