SHOW ME THE MONEY $$$$$$!!!!!!!!!

So, finally, after selling 2 kidneys, part of my liver, receiving experimental drugs, etc... I don't owe any more money to my beloved institution of higher learning... That's right, suck it, I don't owe you any more money!!!

Finally, after a short 16 months, all my student loans are paid off, FOREVER!!! No more borrowing for me, we're finally in the black!!!

Of course, only because I went to Rice have we been able to pay off the loans, but that is beside the point right now!

We feel very fortunate to have been able to spend the time, effort, and money and for the circumstances we are in.

Thanks Kinsey for your help in getting this done and paid off!

Next up... Weekend in Vegas for me, perhaps this post was a little premature????

May the FORCE be with you... and also with you...

Drew is doing fabulous with soccer now (his red team is called the Force)! What a relief! It only took one practice and one game that went terribly wrong before he understood soccer a bit better and is able to have fun playing it. He loved practice last week and he had fun at the game. As far as his soccer personality, Drew is not the aggressive kid fighting for the ball but he's in there wanting to kick it and doing a lot of running and chasing. He did follow the ball very well - in other words, he's not wasting any time looking around or doing anything else. He wants to play and he's interested in the game. The funniest part was that he loved me yelling, "go Drew!," but when I said it, he would turn and smile at me and lose track of the game. It was too funny. He also saw me taking pictures and would turn around towards me and smile or pose. What a fun kid - he just makes me smile.

Happy Fall!

It's 55 degrees today - is that a bad sign? We aren't even into October quite yet but I am still hopeful we can enjoy Fall even though it probably has only a month left of being here. I caught this expression on Dilan's face the other day while she and Drew were playing right before bedtime. She is wearing her "little pumpkin" pajamas Nannie gave her (Thanks, Nannie and Uncle Lars!) and the look on her face is so silly and cute.
Dilan is doing so many new things - she is scooting along the floor and can pull herself into a sitting position. She also is up on her hands and knees rocking back and forth and I predict will be crawling very soon! She can finally put herself to sleep on her own once she is tired, has her bottle and her bed. She is in 9 month clothing and has developed her pincer grasp too.

The other day, Drew helped Dilan with her bottle in the backseat of the car, and I said, "you are such a good helper." And he replied, "that's why I'm a brother."

Two Dilans?

I am starting to work on my sister's wedding video - the one of all the pictures of Keely and Lars growing up and them as a couple, etc. It will be shown at their rehearsal dinner in about 3 weeks.

Seeing this picture, Drew asks, "Why is there two Dilans?"

I admit, Dilan looks a lot like me (I'm on the left) in this picture and it's so fun to see how much my sister and I looked alike when we were little.

Although I think it's even funnier that Drew didn't ask why we were taking a bath in this sink. :)

Soccer kid? Maybe, maybe not...

My soccer boy...

... although the first practice and the first game could be considered a total nightmare but we will be working on that. This cute little boy starts out the game like this:

and then ends up like this...

Drew is so excited for soccer, looks forward to it and wants to play. But he is struggling with the emotions of feeling left out (at practice when Daddy was coaching), and today at the game feeling like all his friends were not playing with him (he wanted the attention and instead the ball was getting it). So, we are working on how to deal with our frustrated emotions and disappointments.

As a parent, I felt mortified that he was crying so much. And when I say so much it's the screaming and crying scene that you just can't stop your child from having. If it's one thing I know, it's when Drew melts down, there is no turning back. I knew this scene wasn't getting any better no matter what we did. Drew cried so much, he fell asleep on the way home exhausted.

On a side note, I am struggling with my feelings as a mom and as a therapist. I know he should be able to express his feelings and emotions and I want him to do it where he feels safe and not judged, but I am learning as a parent I have to teach him that there are appropriate places and ways to express himself. I just want him to have fun, learn how to play on a team, and get some exercise. I am hoping this scene improves or it will be a long couple of months "playing" soccer.

Dress by Dilan

My sister, Keely, got Dilan this adorable pink and brown dress with her name on it that she gave us at the hospital the day Dilan was born. It is so cute and Dilan was finally big enough to wear it recently. Before she grows out of it, I wanted to do a photo session with her in it. So, as the sun was setting last night, I took her outside for a quick shoot (Tiffany notice the blanket - we love it!). Here are some of the shots I got:

Older brother, younger sister

Dilan is crawling all over Drew

Dilan goes in for a kiss (or a bite if she had any teeth!)

These two play together so well. They are three and a half years apart so I was worried it would be too much time but it's not at all. Drew loves playing with his sister and she adores him. Dilan watches everything Drew does and I cannot help but think of my relationship with my brother (who is 6 years older than Keely and me) when I look at these two.
Dilan will always look to Drew as her example, she will always think he is so cool (even when he's about to turn 40), she will always want his approval, she will always want him to like her as his sister, she might even want to attend the same college he did, she may even want to date his friends some day, she will always want him to protect her and hopefully they will always be very close friends.

7 months

So, I'm still working on taking pictures with my camera but I'm making progress. I feel each time I do it, I get better. Here is one of Dilan crawling around our house and another of her up close looking at her brother. By the way, if you are wondering where her pants are in any of these pictures lately, she totally takes them off with her feet while she crawls around. Can't keep them on the girl!
At seven months, she is just getting cuter and cuter! Smiling, laughing, squealing... but not eating solids as much lately. She continuously spits it all out at me so I've reduced her feeding of solid food to once a day. I also feed her mostly fruits because she actually might eat that (try to hide the veggies in there or even the rice cereal). This girl is going to be my picky eater, I can tell! But I know she is growing well, and she's a happy girl. She sits up completely on her own and her favorite is when you sit on the floor with her and she can climb and crawl all over you. She drops whatever she is doing or playing with to follow Drew or Beva. She is sleeping through the night still and enjoying two to three naps/day. When she handles a toy, it goes in her mouth but she also flips her wrist back and forth to look at it. Dilan is also good at shaking her rattles and toys that make noise!

At the end of the day - Part 2

So, what was my older child doing the same night and time that my little baby was falling asleep playing? Just look below...

At the end of the day - Part 1

Dilan loves her exersaucer (thanks to Nannie and Aunt Amy) and I just had to take these pictures the other night when she was so exhausted, she was laying her head down on it. She is trying so hard to stay awake here and play.

The yawn...

the attempt at playing...
and you would think she's asleep here but this girl is so hard to put to sleep, she would never fall asleep like this - but it wasn't too long after that she went to bed pretty easily that night.

Madison, WI

We traveled to Madison, Wisconsin, this past Saturday. We wanted to go to the Farmer's Market there and see the capitol. We were in luck because we actually got there at the tail end of the market and what was the beginning of the Taste of Wisconsin. We enjoyed walking around Capitol Square with different foods being offered on such a gorgeous day. Drew had a balloon airplane made for him that he played with the rest of the day (until the wings and the plane finally popped or deflated) and Dilan enjoyed sitting and playing in the grass while we ate and enjoyed the atmosphere.

6 months, 3 weeks old

Dilan is fast approaching 7 months already! She is just growing and growing and hitting all kinds of milestones. She is already up on her knees rocking back and forth getting ready to full-on crawl. She already scoots to wherever she wants to be and is sitting up well. She absolutely loves her brother and thinks he is the funniest thing ever. She also thinks Beva (our dog) is fascinating. She lights up when she sees her dad because he has such a twinkle in his eye for her. Life wouldn't be the same without her - she brightens our whole world. We love our precious little girl, Dilan!

Note: I was frustrated about the cost of getting good pictures by a photographer (which we have scheduled this fall for our whole family) for Dilan's 6 month pictures. So, my mom challenged me to get outside and just try to take some with my good camera. I mean, after all, I should be able to do this, right? I am trying but I want to take a class so bear with me, here are a few from our session. :)

First Day of 4K

Drew had his first day of school! It was too bright to take pictures outside as you can see but he did great hanging up his backpack when he got inside and he started playing immediately. He told me he had a good first day, that he cried for me (surprising because he was fine when I left) but the teacher just showed him a Thomas book and he felt better. He says he's ready to go back tomorrow so that is a good sign!

"I can do hard things"

I got this idea from my friend, Tiffany (thanks, Tiffany!), that she posted on her blog. She did a Family Home Evening before her kids started school with a theme for the school year that had a spiritual message. I loved the idea and decided to implement it in our family as well. Of course, she is way more creative than I am but I think Drew appreciated it all the same.
I set the table with some nice plates and printed out our theme and scripture to go with it. I asked Drew what he wanted for the dinner as I would make him anything he wanted and he chose spaghetti (I know Mimi is proud as she reads this!). I also made chocolate chip cookies ahead of time because those are his favorite as well. We had a nice family dinner and had our family home evening afterward.
We asked Drew what things were hard for him to do at times and he listed things like taking a nap, going to bed, going to time out. We talked about what was hard for each of us (David said going to work, Mommy said waking up early) and that we find strength through our faith to do hard things. We read our scripture (Philippians 4:13 - "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.") and discussed how our faith in Jesus Christ can help us through prayer and Christ's example in his own life. It was a wonderful night and we talked about Drew going to school and that he will be asked to learn hard things but that we know he can do it.
Thanks, Tiffany, for a wonderfully inspired idea, keep posting them! :)