Of weddings and humidity

Over the weekend, we attended Russ's cousin's wedding. It was held on a farm in Platte City, Missouri. The weather was hot, muggy, and not exactly desirable, but the ceremony and reception were lovely and very creative. In fact the whole affair reminded me of a recent article in the NY Times about wedding trends. Apparently the new "thing" is to have homestyle weddings. Codi and Simon certainly made their day as fun and comfortable as can be. They had a pre-wedding candy buffet, wandering magician, a photo booth and a mini-carnival set up.

Codi was a beautiful bride, her dress was lovely and she seemed to be enjoying the whole day.

They even had a giant tire swing set up behind the altar. Everett was in heaven and even practiced his sharing. Those are his little feet poking out from the tire.

I think he may have enjoyed the breeze as he was swinging even more than the tire. I know I would have loved a little wind.

My sweet, happy boy. He was so well-behaved, until we tried to get him off the swing! Originally, I had him dressed in a sweet white oxford shirt. He looked like a perfect little Southern gentleman. However, after 2 minutes with the candy buffet, it was apparent that a costume change was necessary.

Yep, in the only good picture of Russ and I, Everett is literally showing his backside. Oh well. My mom, very sweetly sent me the lovely watermelon-colored frock to wear. It fit beautifully and made me feel like a princess. I have to say that my husband cleans up pretty nicely as well. He didn't even take off his tie!

Russ tried teaching Evie how to play with the beanbag toss, but Ev was more interested in using it as an incline board for climbing.Russ is such a wonderful father. I am truly blessed with how patient and loving he is, even in hot yucky weather.

Evie did enjoy the soft dart game though.

All in all, the wedding was about perfect for a very busy boy. He got to play outside and run around and eat candy and barbeque. Life is good.

A partial family picture. Missing are Max, Russ's grandfather, and Cindy, Kailynne's partner. Also missing was the information that my strap had slipped off my shoulder, so I look like a very pregnant floozy in all the family pictures. Great!

While Everett didn't crash until a little after 11, he did sleep in the next morning.

My sweet angel boy. I love him so very much.

Derby 2009 update

Russ is hoping and praying that Miss Bea holds off her arrival till after July 24th-which is the date of the Clay Center demolition derby. Last year he made it to the feature in this car and he is hoping for a repeat. Of course, this year, his schedule is considerably more full, so finding the time to work on the car has been difficult.

The other weekend, he did manage to do a little re-wiring of the ignition switch. Hopefully, he can figure out why the car will run and then quit.

As you might notice, he is significantly cleaner than last year--which shows exactly how precious his time is. To really work on a derby car, you have to get dirty. So thank you Russ, for putting us first! I know it is a big sacrifice, but we appreciate all the hard work you have put into the move and our new house.

Hot fun in the Summer

Phoebe and Evie love the water. In fact they have matching pools to play in when it is too hot. However, they don't mind sharing either. The weather here has taken a turn and now instead of unseasonably cool days we are having 100+ heat index on a daily basis. Evie doesn't mind it too much, but I sure do.

She sits so pretty for her picture. Of course she also thinks "good girl" means "sit"

Now that we only have Phoebe, Everett is more comfortable playing. And Phoebe, for the most part is gentle and a good sport.

My little water baby. His favorite game is putting every outdoor toy he can find into the pool and then trying to find space to sit down. I am not sure I understand the appeal, but hey, if it makes him happy, who am I to complain.

The hose also provides hours of amusement. And, Everett is quite good at watering all the plants and the puppy.

Did you know that rain boots make an excellent water toy? Well, now you do. I promise I feed him.

A few pictures to catch up

So even though I am spending this summer as an incubator, I have been keeping my eyes open whenever I go thrifting for fun, pretty things to be incentive for next summer. I found this lovely dress about 2 months ago-- it combines so many things I love, white, eyelet, true wrap dress, and tailoring! And to top it all off, it was made in France, so strange to find such loveliness at one of the more dirty and disorganized local thrift stores. Anyways, it is currently packed away, waiting for next year's warm weather and a smaller me--although, the wrap style will be great for nursing too. And yes, Milly is actually adjusted to my pre-preganancy measurments, so with some hardwork, I am hoping to be that size again.

This might border on inappropriate, sorry! I was just so excited that Evie actually wanted to use the potty! He got out the little seat himself and was sitting on it before his bath last night--he wanted to wipe, flush, and repeat at least 4 times before I could get him into the shower! However, I don't think any real contributions were made. And then after he was clean he had to do it all over again. Maybe the tides are shifting on the potty-training front! I hope so.

And here he is as Bob the Builder. And yes, the weird weather continues. I am not complaining because I doubt there are many 32 week pregnant women as comfortable as I have been this summer.

This is from a few weeks ago when we still had boxes lining all the walls of the house. Thankfully we were able to move all the pre-packed boxes to the garage at the new house. I thought Evie was pretty cute on the dolly though, especially flying his airplane!

I can't believe it has been almost three weeks already. My mom suprised me with an amazing visit when we thought we were moving over Memorial day weekend. It was so special to have her all to ourselves, and she helped make Russ's 30th birthday really special. While you probably can't tell from the picture (I need a wide-angle lens) Evie is showing his Noni how to bowl.

I love this picture of my guys. Behind them is a giant painted Coca-Cola sign located in an alley in our new, soon-to-be, hometown.

Mom has better pictures on her camera--but she hasn't forwarded them to me yet. (Guilt trip intended) I think she looks really fantastic and I can't wait to see her again. Almost every day I wish she lived closer.