Snapshots in August

I have come to the realization that keeping a blog is not a strong-suit of mine.  I'm going to try and post once a month with the highlights from the previous month.  We will see how long that lasts :)


Iris turned one back in January, but all 3 kids were sick.  We decided to postpone her 1st birthday until the summer.  We threw her a 1.5 birthday party last month.  This is her waiting for her guests to arrive. 

 We didn't sing Happy Birthday or do a smash cake.  She just enjoyed a gluten filled cupcake with lots of icing.  She was crazy the whole night do to all the sugar.

 Dylan started school this month.  He is going to New Song Christian Academy.  They are a tutorial school, which means he goes to school 2 days a week and we home school 3 days.  We LOVE it.  He likes going to school and making new friends and he also enjoys staying at home and momma teaching him.

 At the end of August we went to Atlanta for the Braves vs. Yankees ballgames.  We went to the aquarium one day and the kids loved it.

 We had a blast at the games, even though my boys lost all 3 games.  Dylan got a ball from a Yankees player and ate tons of ballpark food.  He was in heaven.

 We tried out a new place to eat that was very yummy.  It's called Homestead Manor and it's a farm-to-fork, all organic restaurant.  It was so good.  It's in an old plantation home and so cute.

Iris Rae

UGH!  Sadly it's been a YEAR since I last posted and there is no way I will be able to catch up with everything that's been going on.  I'm just going to jump right in to where we are right now and you will more than likely be able to fill in the gaps.

Iris is turning one (BIG gap right here...I had a baby, it was a girl and we named her Iris Rae) on Jan 5th.  This last year is by FAR the fastest year of my life.  Dylan started school, Pre-K to be exact.  He goes 2 full days a week.  Cheyenne and momma have had a lot of bonding time without her sidekick around.  I feel like she has become her own self this semester and it is so fun to see her personality coming out.  We drop Dylan off at school and she'll say, "come on momma, let's go shopping."

Dylan loves school and is so excited to tell us what went on...who said what, who got in trouble (never him or so he says) who slept during naptime and who chased who on the playground.   He will turn 5 at the end of January.

Iris Rae

(aka: our little game changer)

When Iris was 2 days old, we left the hospital and headed for home.  We learned real fast that she held a very real hatred for car, as she screamed the whole way home.  We pulled in the driveway and Trey looked at me and said, "well, that is a game-changer."  I feel like we have probably said that phrase at least once a week for the last 50ish weeks.  

The girl knows what she likes (momma) and what she doesn't (cars and anything and anyone who isn't momma).  I'm kidding! 

 I remember a specific prayer I prayed when I was pregnant with her.  I actually prayed this with all of my kids, but I can remember where I was and what I was doing the first time I prayed this prayer for Iris.  We didn't find out the gender of the baby, so I didn't know she was a "she" until she was born.   Anyways, I prayed I would have a child who was strong-willed and who stood for what he/she believed in.  I wanted them to be passionate for God and for life.  There is NO doubt in my mind that Iris is all that...and more.  I love her passion, her strong will and her spunk.  I feel like it will take her far in life and serve her well. 

Anyways...I think back on this prayer often...like when she was 8 months old and pitching a fit b/c a toy was taken from her.  I remind myself that I prayed for this "will" and I'm happy she has it.  I also tell myself there will probably be many tears shed in the molding and shaping of her strong will, but I've always liked a challenge and I am up for this one.  :) 

Here are a few pictures from the last year...

9 months pregnant with Iris

 She is a good mix of both her brother and her sister

 Dylan's first day of school. 

 Cheyenne waving bye to Dylan on the first day.

 Our first pic with Iris. We were SO excited to have another girl.

 Dylan loves being a big brother.  He told her in the hospital that he would always protect her :)

 Cheyenne turned 3 in November.  My sweet girl! 

 We took an amazing Disney trip this summer with my parents.  

 I thank God daily I get to be their momma! 

*As I read back over this I think it sounds negative about Iris and I don't mean it that way.  She really is a very fun baby.  She has a quick wit about her even at the age of 1.  She will make silly faces just to make you laugh or lick your face just to be funny.  She loves Dylan and Cheyenne and will laugh hysterically at anything they do.  She LOVES her daddy.  Anytime he walks in from being gone she drops everything she is doing and crawls as fast as she can to get to him. 

She is just what our family needed...she makes us so much better by being in it.  Someone asked me the other day how our family was adjusting to having 3 kids.  I told them that our family was already crazy with the 4 of us (just call us the Keller house of Crazy) and adding one more Crazy was easy :) 

2013 Summer So Far

Playing catch up on the last few months.  

April/May
We found out we were expecting #3 :)  We are super excited and a little nervous at the same time.  Mostly super excited, but sometimes when I am out with the kids and they start acting up I get a little panicky thinking I will have another one to handle in 5 months-yikes!  Hopefully by then we will have the older two in tip-top shape-HA!

This was us after our 1st ultrasound appt and we saw the little heartbeat :)

So far I have felt great.  I have not had any morning sickness, thank goodness. I was super tired the 1st trimester, but thankfully I am getting more energy everyday being in my 2nd trimester.  I am 19 weeks this week and I definitely have a baby bump.  Dylan wakes up everyday and tells me my belly looks bigger :)  He was concerned right when we told him I was expecting that I didn't have a big belly.  I told him everyday my belly will get a little bigger.

This is not the best picture of me, but you see my 18 week belly.  I've been horrible about taking belly shots this pregnancy. 

Cheyenne doesn't really know her world is about to be rocked.  If you ask her where momma's baby is she will point to my belly, but I really don't think she grasps what that means...she will soon enough.  January 8, 2014 is the official due date, but I was a week late with my other two so I'm not holding my breath he/she will come that day.  Also, we are not finding out the gender :)

Hanging out at the pool.

June
In June we flew out to LA to visit my sister.  We had a great time with Kicka, Uncle JD and Mamaw, but we missed daddy.  We stayed around the LA area and had fun seeing the sites and eating at good restaurants.  Dylan had fun playing in the sand at the beach and flying in the airplanes.

Neither one of my kids switched over to west coast time, so they were both up at 4:30am and we would go to bed around 7pm.  We got to see a lot of LA from 6-9am when we would drive around and see the sites before traffic became terrible.

Dylan eventually liked being buried neck-down. 

At the end of June my mom turned 60, so all her family flew in to surprise her in North GA.  We had a fun four days with everyone (including Jess) at their cabin.  She got a wooden bear (see pic) that Dylan named Enchilada :)

July
We had friends from Texas come stay with us over the 4th and we had a blast showing them around town.  They were super sweet to entertain my kids, and Cheyenne LOVED them.  She is not one to warm up fast around new people, but she immediately took to both Arlon and Amber.  It was fun to see her with them.  We spent the majority of time eating when they were here :) I'm a little nervous to get weighed next week at my Dr's appt.

Until next time... a few to leave you with.

Lots of summer fun at the pool

Visiting Trey's grandma in Weiner, AR

At a wedding at the beautiful Carnton Plantation in Franklin, TN

Last, but not least, saving a kitten. Momma and daddy are allergic, so we get double-points for this :)

Playing Catch Up...

I can't believe it's been since January that I posted...oops!  I'm sure all 4 of you are dying for an update :) I will play catchup on the last 2 months.

FEBRUARY

We went down to Florida for our 10 year reunion.  It was SO good to see old friends and to meet their kids.  I will forever be grateful for FC.  Besides meeting Trey there, I made friendships that will last a lifetime.  I love how I hadn't seen some of the people in YEARS, but we immediately reconnected again and it was just like old times. 

A bonus of family living down there was we got to spend a week with the Bassetts.  We had so much fun hanging out and spending quality time with them.

 

We also went to Disney while we were in FL (it was a very busy week).  I could spend a whole post on how much fun Disney was and what a magical experience it was, but I will spare you all.  We had a blast and I can't wait to go back.  I love experiencing Disney through the eyes of your children-precious!

After leaving FL we stopped in GA and Trey dropped the kids and I off at my parents.  He was going to be out of town for 5 days so we hung out with my parents while he was gone.  He got back on Valentines Day and we went out to dinner and did a little shopping.  It's always nice when you don't have to pay for a sitter and my parents can watch them-SCORE!

MARCH

In the beginning of March, the FC chorus came through on their tour and we got to spend the day at the park with the Bassetts (minus Jenny and baby Luke) and the 54 college students on tour.  Dylan LOVED all the attention and will still ask when the college kids are going to come play with him.  We followed the bus on Sunday (10th) to Arkansas and then spent time with Trey's parents, Jenny, Anna and baby Luke.  We always have a good time in Jonesboro and this time was no exception.  Dylan loves all the animals Grandpa and Nema have and the 4WHEELERS!

We got back from Jonesboro and a few days later Trey left again for Dallas.  I can totally handle both kids by myself, but when my mom offered to come help I jumped on it.  Mamaw spent the week with us and we went to the zoo, parks, shopping and Dylan had a stomach bug that luckily only lasted one night.

 We had a good Easter, but it was rainy and we didn't get to have an egg hunt, so some friends from church are hosting a BBQ and egg hunt for this Sunday...better late than never.   We took the kids to see the Easter bunny and Cheyenne is probably going to be scarred for life.  She wanted nothing to do with the freaky bunny, but I made her sit on his lap anyways and she let everyone in the whole mall know that she was VERY unhappy about it.  

And that bring us up to present.  Dylan and Cheyenne are growing like crazy and learning new stuff everyday.  Cheyenne is our little songbird and sings ALL DAY LONG.  She loves Twinkle Twinkle, ABC's, My God is So Big and Bumpy Thumb.  She finally decided to walk at 15 months and no  longer wants to be held-ever.  

Dylan is turning into a little boy.  He loves to ride his balancing bike, play with cars, music, and anything outside.  He has just started pretend playing and interacting with his  toys.  I love listening to him play in the playroom by himself.  He will set the stage with his toys and fill everyone in on what they are suppose to do.  Sometimes Cheyenne is allowed to play, but if she doesn't "follow his rules" she can't play with him anymore-that makes for some lively times. He also loves to tell stories.  He will start a story and I have to ask him if it's "for real or for fake"...he came up with that phrase and I love it so much I use it often. 

PHEW, I think we are all caught up...see you in 3 more months :)