Pretty Princess

I bought this yellow dress for Sadie last year on "end of summer" clearance (pretty much like I'm buying a lot of her clothes for next summer right now!) I hadn't put it on her yet because it wasn't one of my favorite in her 30+ dresses. I put it on for church last Sunday and I couldn't get over how cute she looked! I think she looks very pretty in yellow with her blond hair...

Sadie enjoys going to church. She likes to play with her little friends in the nursery and she usually brings home a bible picture that she's colored (with about 3 or 4 marks!) She always has her shoes off & her hair pulled out when we go to pick her up. Last week she got a sucker from the 2's & 3's teacher and she LOVED that! She also enjoys running around the hallway and foyer before we leave, saying "Hi!" to everyone--whether she knows them or not!

Hiking at Starved Rock

Saturday morning we decided to go for a hike... This was the first time Sadie rode in the back-pack hiker. She wasn't sure at first, but she enjoyed it. It didn't take her long to figure out how to climb her feet up daddy's back to try and get out! She also discovered toward the end of our hike that she could pull daddy's ears and take his sunglasses--this was great fun for her! With Marc carrying our 23 pound baby and me carrying our 1lb. 2 oz. baby, we were tired after about an 1 1/2 hours of hiking. On our way home we stopped at a small local ice cream/hot dog place for lunch. It was a great morning! Sadie & Daddy
Looking out at the river...
On "Eagle's Lookout" overlooking the river.

5 month belly!
Sadie & Mommy
At the end of our hike, we let Sadie out to walk--she loved exploring the trail!
Daddy found her a "walking stick"--she proudly carried it until she broke it.
Enjoying a grape slushy after our hike!

Meeting Baby Micah

Sadie and I traveled to Indianapolis last week to spend a few days with Neil, Amy, & Micah. This was our first time meeting baby Micah, so we were very excited! It was also fun to see Sadie interacting with someone younger (and a boy!) For the most part they did really well together. There were a few times that Sadie became a bit overwhelming for Micah, but who can blame him--she's overwhelming for us too! Besides just hanging out and relaxing, we enjoyed swimming, shopping, a trip to the park, and even some adult time while Sadie & Micah napped! It was a great trip...

Sadie & Micah at the pool.
Just hanging out (after a LONG day of shopping!)
Enjoying a fudge pop!
Kisses for Micah.

Sadie LOVED this park. She found lots of little tunnels to crawl through (I did NOT join her!)
Down the slide...
Swinging...

It's a...

BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Yesterday was our ultrasound. I was very excited and nervous to find out. I didn't really have an expectation and I knew I would be overjoyed either way, but I can't explain the excitement I felt when I know it was a boy. About 5 minutes into our ultrasound (after seeing all those oh-so-important parts) our tech finally asked us if we wanted to know. OF COURSE! She said "Well, I think it's a boy, but we're going to get a closer look." Sure enough the little guy gave us a clear shot of his manhood! (I've heard that boys enjoy to do that at even this young age...)

After our appointment, we had a long day of car shopping (I'll share more of that later...) and I couldn't resists making a final stop at Children's Place. I can't even describe how much fun it was to walk in and go to the "Boy's Side". It was so great to shop for baby boy clothes (and believe it or not, I didn't buy a single thing for Sadie today!) Of course I wanted to get a little 0-3 outfit, but the bargain shopper in me couldn't resist all the great deal on clothes for next summer--I got all of this stuff for $22! What a great day...

Happy Anniversary!

Marc and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary last Wednesday... I can't believe it's already been that long (and it sometimes seems that it's been much longer!) We had a great anniversary week! (We enjoyed 3 dates without Sadie and a dinner date with her!) For our actual anniversary, we went out to eat at one of our favorite local Mexican restaurants. We also enjoyed a play the next evening with our friends Megan & Jeremy and went to the new Batman movie yesterday with Ryan & Liz. Saturday evening we went out to eat at a restaurant called "Turtles". Funny story--we tried to eat their last year for our anniversary which happened to be on a Monday, the day the restaurant is closed. We had been meaning to go back, but never did. Megan & Jeremy invited us Saturday night so we got to try it for the first time! They are famous for their house salads and their skillet cookies (both were fantastic!)

I have always tried to do the "traditional" anniversary gift for Marc. For 3rd anniversaries it is glass or leather. He just got a new leather coat and I wanted to get him gloves to go with it, but it's hard to find those right now! I stretched the "glass" category just a little by getting him a new Bunn coffee maker. The one we got for our wedding has occasional problems (meaning it gets coffee EVERYWHERE!) Marc got me a bike trailer for our bikes so we can take Sadie for rides. This is something I have been wanting all summer, so I was very excited. Marc also got Sadie an anniversary present--a car riding toy with a handle so you can push it around. She LOVES it! We've already taken it to the park and for numerous rides around the driveway! Marc told me that he wanted our anniversary to be a celebration of our family. This completely makes sense, but I never though of it in that way... I'm so crazy about having family traditions, so I told Marc that our "Family Anniversary Celebration" is a tradition credited all to him!

All in all it was a great (but very busy!) week. We are also looking forward to a weekend getaway to Galena the first weekend in August...

July 16th, 2008--3 years from our Wedding day!
My beautiful PINK roses... (Still my favorite!)
Sadie's New Car

Wild Woman!

I LOVE this picture (compliments of Aunt Nee Nee)--it captures Sadie's personality so perfectly!

VBS

This week was our VBS. I helped as a pre-school guide--a pretty easy job that just involved escorting a group of children to each place that we needed to go and helping them out with their crafts, etc. The first day, I only had 1 little girl in my group, but what a spitfire! Her name was Alissa and she was there every day. She was the little kid that everyone falls in love with and that is CONSTANTLY being told "shhh!" She cracked us up every day!

Our theme was "Outrigger Island"--lots of tropical decorations! Since day 1 I've had songs stuck in my head about "living God's unshakable truth" and "teach my what is right, O God and I will do it." How basic these truths are, yet such a great reminder of what our faith is all about!

Sadie got to play in the nursery each day with several of her little friends. She had fun, although Thursday and today were pretty rough because she typically doesn't go a whole week without a "two nap day". My favorite conversation with her was on day 3...
Me: "Did you have fun today?"
Sadie: "Yeah" (with a big smile on her face)
Me: "Did you eat blue jello with fish in it?"
Sadie: (Shaking head yes, with an even bigger smile) "Yeah!"

Here are a couple pictures of us leaving in the morning and one of the crafts that she made:

Waiting for Daddy

Corn Souffle (aka--Cheesy Corn)

This is a FAVORITE recipe of mine... I don't make it too much, but we had it last week! It's a good substitute for cheesy potatoes :)

• 2 T. butter
• 1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese
• 1 bag frozen (or 1 can) corn
• 1 can cream-style corn
• 1 pkg. corn muffin mix (8.5 oz.)
• 2 eggs
• 2 c. cheddar cheese

Microwave the butter and cream cheese until melted. Add both corns, muffin mix, eggs, and 1 c. shredded cheese--mix well. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Pour corn mixture into pan and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for 40 minutes (don't overbake!) You can also cook this in a crockpot--it comes out so fluffy and yummy!

Branson Family Vacation

We spent the past week in Branson with Marc's family--his parents, his sister Steph, his brother's family-Nathan, Cori, Jaren, & Emmy. We had a GREAT time! It was nice to relax and spend time as a family. Sadie did very well riding in the car (about 8 hours with stops).

Welcome to our vacation photo album... Enjoy!


We've arrived! Unpacking and Relaxing.

Swimming in the Pool at our Resort:
Sadie & Dadddy
Nathan & Emmy, Marc & Sadie
Putt-Putt Golfing at Pirate's Cove: The cousins...
They gave Sadie a plastic golf club & ball--she loved it! Thankfully, she rode nicely in her stroller until we let her out to "play" the last couple holes!
Sadie loved getting the balls out of the hole--she was confused when they disappeared on the last hole.

Shepard of the Hills/Inspiration Tower:
For our date night, Marc and I went to "The Shepard of the Hills". We started with dinner, complete with musical entertainment by "Sons of the Pioneers" (not exactly our style, but we survived!) Next we went up in Inspiration Tower--it was beautiful to see the Ozark Hills from this height! Finally we got to enjoy the show. It was about a legendary Ozark Mountain family. It took place at night--it was face paced with animals, fire, etc! We enjoyed our eveining out! Inspiration Tower
Boating:
We rented two boats--a pontoon and a ski boat. I started out on the pontoon with Sadie. She was a little annoyed with the life jacket, but it didn't slow her down to much... She was walking all over exploring everything. She would walk to the side of the boat and stick her arm out and wave to the water... She also went right over to Paul and climbed on his lap to help drive the boat!
Sadie with Grandpa & Grandma (she really had more exploring to do and didn't want to pause for a picture!)
On the ski boat with Daddy. Swimming in the lake--it was pretty cold, but that didn't stop Sadie, she wanted to go in in her inner tube!
Sadie enjoyed a nice morning nap while we cruised on the ski boat!
Back at the harbor--feeding the fish. Sadie was facinated with them!
Branson Landing:
We stopped for a smoothie and used a little cup to make Sadie her own. (For some reason she doesn't really like to share food & drinks!)
We enjoyed a neat light/water show here!

Dinosaur Museum: Sadie was very interested in the dinosaurs. She walked around growling at them!


4th of July:
The resort hosted a big 4th of July party. They had clowns doing face painting & balloons, big inflatables for the kids to play on, a cookout with hotdogs & watermelon, music, and of course fireworks! We took the kids down to enjoy the inflatables and clowns. We had a picnic supper and then went for a swim. After swimming, we cleaned up and made ice cream sundaes. Finally we enjoyed a dance party, sparklers, and firewords right outside our back door! It was a great night!
I couldn't believe how nicely Sadie sat while she got her arm painted!

Sadie's sundae--Daddy helped her make it!
Emery's sundae
Jaren's sundae
Sadie wanted daddy to hold her during the fireworks...

Fun with Cousins:

The kids enjoyed many rides on the luggage rack!
4th of July!
Loaded up and ready to go!
Bath Time!
The pool was closed on our last day b/c of lightning, we were all dressed and ready to go, so we had to improvise!

Twinkies!

Go-Karts & Kiddie Rides:

This was pretty much the only ride that Sadie could do, but she LOVED it!
Uncle Marc & Jaren on the BIG go-karts!

Driving Home...