A New Adventure

Today marked the beginning of a new adventure in our household! I've started providing childcare for two children. Brady and Madelyn, who are 4 1/2 and 2 1/2 are going to start coming to our house on a fairly regular basis. They are family friends, and I think it is going to be a great arrangement for all of us. The kids will be here as needed, and the boys really enjoy having friends here to play with.

This first day has been great so far. The kids have gotten along great and currently ALL of them are sleeping. I think that even Avery may have dozed off today! Maybe??? I don't hear him anyway! The boys have enjoyed showing off their toys, and have played with stuff that they haven't played with for a long time. It's been fun and a great change of pace!

Tomorrow Silas and Brady will both begin their first full week of preschool at the YMCA. Silas is the very first snack leader for the year. He is very very excited for his school career to begin. I'm thinking it is going to be a whirlwind adventure, especially with our new friends coming. Avery will leave for school at 8 (our friend Kristen picks him up!), then Silas has to be at school at 9. We pick Avery back up at 10:45, and then Silas at 11:30. I'm thinking Tuesday and Thursday mornings will be like a blink around here! We'll find out starting tomorrow!

I will add pictures soon of the kiddos playing with their new friends. And I'll pray that the time after naps will be as great as the rest of the day has been so far!

Thanks for reading and keeping up with our crazy life! :O)

First Day of Preschool

Today was "Orientation" for Silas' preschool class at the YMCA. It was essentially his first day, although his official first day will be September 1st. He stayed all day, and I had a short parents meeting to attend and then left him on his own. He was so excited that he couldn't hardly sleep last night. When he got up this morning, he ran straight to the clothes I had laid out for him and began getting ready! It reminds me so much of Avery that first morning of preschool, and makes me sad to think that it has been 2 years since that day... Seems like yesterday!

Here are some pictures from Silas' first day:

Grandma Debbie kept the babies so that I could attend the parents' meeting. Nolan had a wonderful time playing, and Chaille was a really good girl! Here is a picture of Nolan playing with Grandma:

There were no tears today on Silas' behalf or Mommy's! I must say it is so sad when I realize how quickly they are growing up. Time just slips away.

I was a bit disappointed to find out that I have to walk Silas into school and then out of school every day. He is totally worth it, but this will mean dragging 3 other children into the building in the winter, just to grab Silas and buckle them right back into the van. Ugh... Just not the ideal situation! Avery's preschool just walked the kids straight to and from the car. I'll miss that feature FOR SURE!

And... Chaille ROLLED OVER for the first time yesterday! She went from her belly to her back twice yesterday. She's progressing right on schedule. Yay baby girl!!!

Growing Boy!

Nolan had his 18 month check-up with Dr. Halter yesterday. He was 28.5 lbs. and 36" tall. This put him in the 75th percentile for his weight and off the charts for his height (by quite a bit actually!) He has gained 2 lbs. and 2 inches in the past 3 months. This doesn't surprise us, as we have noticed how quickly he has "shot up!" Dr. Halter was not concerned, as he is right on track with where he has been growth wise. And, he says that developmentally he is ahead of what he would expect at 18 months. He figures that having two older brothers are contributing to this. I'm sure he is right!

Steve and I have been amazed at Nolan lately. He's transforming into one of the "big boys" right before our eyes. He instigates wrestling matches, and holds his own! He talks to all of us and lets us know what the desires of his heart are. He listens to complex directions and follows them. It's amazing for such a young age, and we marvel at his growth. He's really branching out and starting to get a little more adventurous a little at a time.

God gave us 3 VERY SPECIAL little men, and 1 VERY SPECIAL little lady! I'm so proud of how each of them have grown! I'm so glad that we have been given the privilege of being their parents!!!

Sweethearts!

I post about our little "sweethearts" on here all of the time. But recently I went through a box of pictures and enjoyed looking at pictures of my big "sweetheart." Steve and I started dating when I had just turned 16. We essentially have grown up together. And I pray that God also allows us to grow old together :o)

These pictures that I'd like to share are just the pictures that happened to be in one particular box that I looked through. They don't include professional photos, more recent photos, or wedding pictures. These are just some snapshots that we found from the past, and there are SO many more here to see. If you want to see more pictures, you'll just have to come and visit and I can dig them all out for you :O) It was fun to look at them and be amazed at how time has flown and life has changed!!! Enjoy:

This was before Steve's Junior Prom (I was a sophomore.) We had just started dating shortly before prom that year. Funny to think that these pictures are in the living room of the house that we live in now with our four children!!!

At the prom. This prom was at the Holiday Inn in Shelbyville.

Yep, I was sitting on his lap. I was SO in love with him even then!!!


Steve's Graduation. I love it that we experienced the big milestones in life together!


This was my Senior Prom. Steve came home from Grace to go with me. And, once again, we are in front of what is now "our" house!

At my senior prom. It was at Jonathon Byrd's in Greenwood. Sadly we did not go to Steve's senior prom together. We were broken up at that time but still BEST friends. We got back together right after that!

Post Prom my senior year at GreatTimes! We had a BLAST together!

We went on a fancy date to Illusions in Carmel (back when it existed.) Steve bought me the dress and some beautiful shoes, which I still wear :o)

This is a little out of order, but this was the summer before Steve left for college. We went to California with his family. We were in the back of a little Rodeo, listening to Bill Engvall, I'm sure. We memorized his tape on that drive!

Skipping rocks in California. We skipped them EVERYWHERE we went. Oh, I miss those young, carefree days!!!

The proposal. Steve proposed on Christmas morning in the living room of the house we now live in (I think that is pretty cool!) I thought I was getting boots for Christmas, so imagine my surprise when he popped the question!! I don't regret my answer that day AT ALL!!!

Christmas at my mom and dad's house together.

And my birthday at my mom and dad's house too.

I love this picture of us together. This was at Suzanne and Scott's wedding!

My short hair "phase," shortly after we got married. This was at my cousin, Katie's wedding rehearsal in Illinois.

Christmas about 3 1/2 years ago... Our first picture with our digital camera!

Weekend Fun

We had a wonderful weekend as a family! Friday night Steve and I went to the Indianapolis Colts' football game courtesy of tickets from Randy and Deb. We had a great time and enjoyed being able to have an excuse to go out alone together. It was a fun break!

Saturday I took the babies to some garage sales with my mom and then we had a "family" nap time, where we all rested. Then we got in the car and went for a drive in the evening. I set the GPS to go to a location and Steve had to follow where it told him to go! He did not know where our final desitination was, he just got directions one step at a time from the TomTom. It was fun to surprise him! We went down to "The Reservation" in Milan for supper and then down to Aurora where we played at the city park and walked down to see the river. It was very humid and by the time we left there, we were ready for some ice cream! We went to Dairy Queen, and let me tell you... the Tagalong Blizzard is delicious! After that we took country roads home. It was a great evening!!!

Yesterday Steve made us blueberry pancakes for breakfast. They were restaurant quality if not better! We all cleaned our plates!!! Then we headed down to Grandma and Grandpa Frye's so that Steve could work on building fence. It was a lot of fun, and I took some pictures while we were there (I wish I'd have taken some on Saturday too, but I didn't!) Anyway, here are some pictures AND a video of the boys driving the tractor. To hear the sound on the video, you may have to pause or stop the music player at the bottom of the posts.

A still shot of Avery driving the tractor.

I put Chaille on a blanket in the yard. Avery was trying to give her bunny ears from upside down!

She's started this thing where she pulls her clothing up and puts it in her mouth!

Smiling at Grandma Frye, who was talking to her.

Look how big she is! This is her new favorite pose!

Nolan with his buddy, Grandpa Frye!

Silas, who had just finished driving the tractor back from the woods! I missed getting him while he was driving! :o(

Daddy helping Nolan take a turn driving!

Life is GOOD! Daddy plays with his boys in the shade after a hard day's work!!!

Chaille practicing her favorite pose again today! She's so adorable!

3 Months old

Our baby girl, Chaille, is three months old as of yesterday. Boy how the time has flown. She is growing so quickly and is starting into her 3-6 month clothing right on schedule (which is a first in this family!!!) She's starting to push up on her elbows and look around the room when she's on her belly. You'll see that in the 3 month picture I've put below. She's sleeping well, getting up around 4:30 and then sleeping until around 7:00. She's taking at least 2 naps a day, sometimes for 3 or 4 hours and sometimes for just 45 minutes or so.

Enjoy the pictures capturing her 1st 3 months of life! What a sweetie!!!

Just born!

1 week old

1 Month Old

2 Months Old

3 Months old

First Day of School

I can't believe it is that time of year again! School is starting. This morning was a little rough for us, as Silas had a bad dream right around 5:30 and that woke Avery up. Avery was too excited to go back to sleep, so both of the boys have been up ever since. Avery did great this morning, but Silas was a mess! Now that we are back home, Si is much better, just a little lost without his best friend. They truly are best friends!

Here are some pictures that I took of Avery on his first day. The second picture is a bit blurry, but I didn't want to "hover" over him to take it! So, we watched from a distance as he entered the school. He was super excited, and I can't wait to hear all about his first day!

Back on track

I feel like life is finally back on track for us. Steve's fishing trip has ended and school is getting ready to start. We're about to settle into a routine and that excites me! I'm not necessarily looking forward to trying to be out the door by 8 am every weekday, but I do love routine!

We had a fabulous weekend! Saturday we spent some family time, and worked through some important family issues. Sunday was PERFECT! We had a nice blend of down time and busy-ness, family time and friends, and a wonderful day of weather! It was hot for sure, but we enjoyed having Matt and Jennifer Jones, their 3 boys, and Kristen and Brooklyn Hudnell over for dinner. Steve grilled hotdogs and hamburgers AND some of his salmon! It was wonderful!!!

Well, it is naptime and I've got a mound of laundry waiting to be folded. I wanted to share some random pictures from this past week, although I forgot to take pictures from our cookout! Actually, I was too busy most of the time to even think of taking pictures :o)

Here is Steve with his 17 pound salmon!!!

Nolan, Chaille and I visited Melissa and Jacob while Steve was gone. Here is Nolan painting with sidewalk "chalk" paint.

This was the cabin that Steve stayed in while in Michigan fishing.

Chaille smiling at me. Growing so fast!!!

Rub a dub dub, three boys in the tub!

18 Months

"Baby Nolan" was officially 18 months old on Wednesday. Boy, how those months have flown! I can't believe how he has grown so quickly!!!

Nolan 1 day old

1 Month Old

2 Months old

3 Months old

4 Months old

5 Months Old

6 Months old

7 Months old

8 Months Old

9 Months Old

10 Months old

11 Months old

1 YEAR old!!!

13 Months old

14 Months old

15 Months old

16 Months old

17 Months old

18 Months old! We are so proud of how you are growing Nolan! Thank you, God, for the blessing we have in this sweet boy!!!