Trunk or Treat

This post is an overload of pictures, but I couldn't help myself! We had trunk or treat this weekend at church (where people decorate their car trunks and park them together in the church parking lot, then the kids trick or treat at each car). It was a blast! The afternoon turned out rainy and I was not thrilled about needing to set up in the cold rain, but it stopped just in time! 

Navigating the maze

I didn't even get a picture of our trunk! :( We did a beach theme, with beach towels as the back drop, sand in the bottom with toys, and a cooler full of candy. It was so fun to see everyone else's ideas too. But you can't tell how creative everyone was because I was too obsessed with taking pictures of Lyle Lyle Crocodile! 

Dressed up with Papa!

Sharing our sucker with Grammy

Lyle was so excited everyone was giving him candy! And that Mom was letting him eat it! Lol

Some of our youth group kids

Love my family!

Eighteen Months

Our boy is one and a half!  How can that be?  I just finished your one-year photo book and it crazy to see the differences from a year ago! 

 

Eating bugles the right way!

There has not been a lot of change in the size department lately.  You weigh about 24 1/2 lbs. (50th percentile) and are about 31 1/2 inches (35 th percentile). Here's to hoping you still gain some of your Dad's height!  I think this is the first time in your life you have ever fit into age-appropriate clothes.  It seems so strange!

Your loves this past month or so have turned from basketball (and getting really good at catching a football) to the farm.  You love everything about the farm.  Every time we are in the car you ask "bomb bom-bine??" (Meaning where's the combine?) And you don't just ask it once. This question is on repeat. Sometimes we drive out of the way to make you happy. :) You also ask for the tractor and Papa (who takes you for rides in the combine and tractor). You still love to be outside.

 

You are getting the hang of coloring and putting puzzles together. You LOVE stickers (stick-sticks) and this is our secret weapon to keep you sitting still in church or at a restaurant.

You have learned all kinds of new words and are pretty good at communicating. You are so sweet when you say "hi" "bye" "night night" or "love you" in your cute high pitched voice.  You definitely still make friends everywhere! Most of the time you like to pray at supper (unless you decide to be shy) and then you throw your hands up in the air at then end and say "amen!" 

You  are such a good helper! You are good at picking up your toys, and like to help refill Charlie's food and water bowl. You especially like to give Charlie treats but we have to put a limit on that! You love to help Mama cook and we try to let you help as much as possible.

 

Helping Grammy sew

 

You are a very ornery boy! You love to tease and know what makes Mom and Dad laugh (which usually makes it hard to keep a straight face if you are in trouble.) I ask you for a kiss before bed, and you giggle and try to get out of my reach...but always give up in the end :) You have the best laugh...you go crazy when we tickle you! 

 

 

Although sometimes you wear us out, we are so grateful for the joy you bring into our lives.  We are excited to see what you learn and discover in the next few months, and are excited to celebrate holidays where you understand at least a little bit of what is going on!  We love you!

Five on Friday

1.  Painted nails. I have painted my nails twice this week. Write it down in the records books people.

2.  Lunch and shopping. I am meeting my mom and sister tomorrow to go out for my mom's birthday. We are leaving the kiddos at home, and I can't wait for some girl time!

3.  Friday Morning. We had an immunization conference for work two days in Wichita this week and I ended up with some overtime. So I am staying home this morning, and heading in after lunch.  A morning full of drinking coffee, bible study, sewing, and catching up on Grey's Anatomy.  That's my kind of Friday!

4. Gifts. I have been "Pinterest Inspired" lately! I am starting to make a list of projects...some to get done quickly and some to make for presents for Christmas. So excited! Maybe I'll make a stop at Hobby Lobby on my way home on Saturday! 

5.  Our small group is doing the Beth Moore study, "Esther."  This is my first Beth Moore study and I have always heard good things.  Excited to get going!

Enjoy your Friday!!!!

We Are All Stars

 

 

We had such a fun time at Zach's company picnic on Saturday.  Lyle learned to play putt-putt and he is destined to be a pro.  He hit a hole-in-one on his first try (with Dad's help of course.) 

 

Poor boy was too short to ride most of the rides.  We tried to sneak him onto the go-karts with us, but they made us measure him and he was a good five inches too short. lol.  The super enthusiastic (can you hear my sarcasm?) workers in the kiddie section let him ride these with us.  He had such a straight face on the mini roller coaster.  I don't think he was scared, but he didn't seem too impressed by the whole thing. 

 

We had beautiful weather, and enjoyed time with Zach's co-workers.  I think it will be a fun place to come in a couple years when Lyle is a little bigger, and can enjoy a few more things!

 

Five on Friday

"It's Friday night and I just, just, just, just, juuusstt....got paid! money money money money money"

Hah! Anyone else remember that N'Sync song?  Sometimes it just gets in my head!  As all Backstreet Boys and N'Sync songs tend to do from time to time. :)  ANYWAY...It's Friday and I am ready for the weekend! 

One We have been flu shot giving fools at work this week.  We have done a ton of outreach clinics giving shots at the schools for the teachers, Zach's work, and senior meals.  We still have to make trips to the nursing home and assisted living.  But other than being at work earlier than normal, they are usually pretty fun!  And there is no lack of jokes from the middle age men pretending to cry for their friends or wanting their shot in their bum.  Maybe boys never grow up?? :)

Two  We had a group of the MYF kids to our house Wednesday night for a meal, and their devotional time.  It was so fun!  I made Easy Cheesy Enchiladas, fruit salad, cilantro lime rice, chips and salsa, and brownies.  It was so fun to host at our house, and get to know a few of the new kids this year.  Easy Cheesy Enchiladas are a staple at our house.  They are originally from my home church's cookbook, but I included the recipe below!
 

Easy Cheesy Enchiladas

• 1 lb. hamburger
• 1 can enchilada sauce
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 cup milk
• tortillas
• shredded cheese

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Brown your hamburger, drain off grease.  Add enchilada sauce, soup, and milk.  Heat until warm.  Warm your tortillas, and roll each one with cheese.  Place in the bottom of a 9x13 pan.  I usually fit a whole package of 10 in one pan.  Pour rest of ingredients on top  of tortillas, and bake for 15 minutes.  Top with salsa and sour cream.  Enjoy!
   

Three  Saturday we are going to Zach's company picnic.  This year it is at All Star Sports.  They had it there six years ago, and I went with Zach on probably our second date.  It is so fun to think back to those first few dates, and how awesome life has been these past six years! :)

 

 

 

Four  Our new iPhones came yesterday and I am so stinkin' excited!  Hooray for things like Siri (our old models were pre-Siri), a home button that works, battery life that lasts longer than half a day, slow-motion videos, and panoramic pictures!  Plus, it's so pretty!

Five  This boy makes me laugh everyday.  If you ask him to make a silly face he will stick out his tongue and shake his head back and forth.  It cracks me up! 

 

 

There's my Five on Friday update!  Join the link-up and share in some Friday love! :)

The "Flower Park"

 

After being consumed by our "sick week" I forgot to post pictures from our outing to Botanica with my sister and her kids!  We had gotten free tickets from Smithsonian's Museum Day Live!  It rained the morning of, but by the time Lyle and I got up to Wichita it was beautiful!  And it felt wonderful to wear a sweatshirt! :)  My sister was explaining to my niece where we were going and she described it as the "flower park."  It's a perfect explanation!  Flowers for the momma's, park for the kiddos! 

Loving the water!

 

 

We also convinced ourselves to get family passes for the year (they were buy one get one free!) so now we can meet up anytime!  For us I think a pass will be really nice...sometimes we are up in Wichita for the day running errands, and really need somewhere to let Lyle run around!  And when you have a membership, it's nice to just go for 30 minutes to an hour and not feel guilty for not staying long enough to get your money's worth. 

We are only getting slightly better at group pictures.

Red Riding Hood

Princess Lyle

 

I was impressed with the flowers, and the butterfly house was fiiiilllled with butterflies.  The kids loved them!  Lyle kept walking around with his hands up trying to catch them!

 

 

Weekend in Pictures

A trip to the park on Saturday

A visit to Walmart

After a blue sucker from our favorite older friend at church, Dewey.  

I got most of Lyle's quilt cut out (except for the fabric in between these stripes), and the blocks sewn. My husband was very helpful as I rearranged them a hundred times.  Progress!

Cold enough for fall clothes!  I made myself this infinity scarf using a combination of tutorials from Pinterest.  I bought 2 yards of fabric and used the length of it since I like them a little longer.

Down with the Sickness

We have had a sick boy over here at our house, and I hope that we are finally getting back to normal and count this as our one sickness for the winter!  Hah, wishful thinking I'm sure!

At the end of last week Lyle had a runny nose, but nothing too out of the ordinary.  Saturday night he did not sleep well, and was up quite a bit.  Sunday morning I got up with him and he was definitely not himself.  He was crying constantly (crying-crying, not whining), didn't want to drink his milk, and was starting to wheeze.  We canceled our church plans for the morning, but as the morning went on he was just not sounding any better.  I had Zach hold him while I tried to shine a light in his throat, and listened to his lung sounds.  Sorry bud, that's what you get for having a nurse for a mom!

We decided we needed to take him in, so we found an immediate care clinic in Wichita and headed up (because we hate to pay ER bills if we don't have to.)  His oxygen was only 90%, and lungs didn't sound great so they hooked little bud up for a breathing treatment.  Meaning Zach held him, while I held the mist in his mouth, and we all cried.  It was awful.  The Dr. listened to him afterwards, decided he had bronchitis, and sent him home with antibiotics and breathing treatments.  We came home and spent the remainder of the day resting and watching TV.  Which Lyle NEVER does.

That night was probably the scariest.  We pulled his pack and play right next to our bed, and prayed all night long.  I prayed that if something was wrong God would let me know right away, whether I was asleep or not.  We got up every four hours and did breathing treatments.  He still fought them and cried, but I could tell they helped.

I stayed home with him on Monday, and he seemed to improve through the day.  The night was not as rough, and we had a doctor apt. scheduled Tuesday morning with his main physician to see how things were going.  I felt like he was a lot better already, but his oxygen was still only at 90%.  His lungs were a little wheezy still, but in all he was acting pretty normal.  Our doctor informed us that a lot of kids he would have put in the hospital at 90%, but he was pretty sure there would be no chance at keeping Lyle still enough to keep oxygen on. :)  I would have to agree!  We decided to do a chest xray just to make sure there wasn't pneumonia that was keeping his oxygen down.  Sure enough there was.  So we added more antibiotics and steroids and kept him home for a few more days.  It was crazy how normal he was acting to still have all of that going on!

Zach was super husband and Dad and stayed home Wednesday with him.  He took him in Wednesday and checked his oxygen levels again.  Improved, but not great yet.  Thursday they were up to 96% so he was finally able to go back to the sitter's.  

We had a check up at the end of the day Friday and the report was great! No abnormal lung sounds, and his oxygen was right where it needed to be.  This also meant no more breathing treatments!  Woo-hoo!  We go back in for a repeat chest xray next week, and hopefully all will be clear.

Now I know not many people are interested in all these details, but the nurse in me needed to record them!  We were very blessed it was not worse, and that he didn't end up needing to be in the hospital.  We are also extremely grateful for all the people that were praying for us.  We could feel them!