Ramblings from Kansas

For My Peeps That Aren't On Facebook

2009-07-31T13:13:00.000-07:00

Where has the time gone?! Summer is almost over and I haven't even blogged once! I have so many pictures to share of what we've been up to...hopefully I'll get to that soon. But till then I thought I'd share the pictures we just had taken of the kids. They are Bethany's 4 year and Hayden's 1 year pictures. I wish I could say these were taken in our yard...but they weren't. They were taken in the yard of a family that goes to our church. A little farm that sits up on a hill on the edge of town...Drew and I love the place and they were sweet enough to let us have the kids pictures taken there. My parent also had Peyton, my nephew, part of the week so he got in on the action as well.

SUMMER IS HERE!!

2009-06-01T12:40:00.000-07:00

Bethany's last day of Preshcool was May 21st. They celebrated by having their field day that day and Drew, Hayden and I went to watch.

Bethany ready for her last day of Preschool. She was so excited that Daddy was going into work late so he could take her to school that morning and attend her field day. They have such a special bond and I hope they will always have that.

At Preschool Field Day there was...

a bean bag tosses,

sidewalk chalk,

bubbles,

a parachute,

flower seeds to plant and take home,

funny things to laugh at,

popsicles to eat,

friends to hang out with,

a little brother to watch everything going on,

and teachers to say good bye to for the summer. This is Bethany's favorite teacher, she says she's going to be Mrs. Wheeler when she grows up. :) I'm not sure where the other teachers where...I wish we would have gotten a picture of all three of them with Bethany.

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As for Hayden, he started the summer out right...with a birthday and new toys to play with!

One of his favorite things he got is this bubble mower from Uncle Daren, Aunt Heather and baby Mason.

WOW!! That's a lot easier!!

Hayden is also working on cutting 4 one year molars. And this is about to do me in...and Hayden too! My sweet easy going little guy has turned into a very unhappy grumpy-gus. He just follows me around and wants to be picked up and once you pick him up he wants down. As soon as you put him down he wants back up...he just doesn't know what he wants.

The only thing that seems to make him happy is going outside. He'll walk around and picks up rocks and sticks. Then he wonders over to the swing set and points to his swing and we swing awhile. Then he wants out and wonders around or plays with a ball till he goes back to the swing and points again. He just goes back and forth...but it seems to be the only thing that makes him happy...so we wonder and swing, wonder and swing...you get the picture.

I took this the other night when he looked beyond pathetic. **Yesterday I found that one of the molars had finally pushed through!! Maybe there is a light at the end of the tunnel!! I hope to welcome my sweet easy going little guy back very, VERY soon.**

I took this Saturday night at dinner...have you seen anything funnier?! Hayden was so tired but that wasn't going to stop him from eating those cheetos! He was in such a daze that I don't think he even knew I took his picture.

Hope y'all are off to having a great summer! :)

Hayden's Birthday Party

2009-05-25T12:59:00.001-07:00

We celebrated Hayden's first birthday Saturday. We had family and friends over for a cookout in our backyard. Here are just a few pictures we took.

Happy Birthday Hayden!

2009-05-16T21:28:00.000-07:00

Happy first birthday sweet baby boy!

One year ago today Drew and I headed into the hospital so that I could be induced. At 2:36 pm we welcomed little Hayden Lee into our lives.

A little about Hayden--

weights 26 lbs 6 oz

eats real food--he LOVES fruit...so much so that I won't give it to him till he's eatten everything else I want him to! :) I found if you give him fruit too soon he'll feed everything else to Mabel! What a little skunk!

walks almost every...but still crawls when it's faster for him

LOVES balls, trucks and being anywhere Bethany is

WHEN

2009-05-15T06:57:00.001-07:00

did my first born turn into a little girl? Bethany found these skates we bought at a garage sale last summer in her toy box this morning and she had to put them on. After helping her "skate" from her room to the kitchen it really struck me how much she's grown and changed. My little rolly polly Bethanydoodlebug has grown into this long legged skinny little girl. When did this happen and where has the time gone?! **sniff, sniff**

And look who is walking before his first birthday! Crawling is still faster at times but Hayden is amazing us by walking more and more everyday.

SWEET NECTAR SENT FROM HEAVEN!!

2009-04-29T12:52:00.000-07:00

Today while I was in the kitchen peeling garlic for Crockpot 20 to 40 Clove Garlic Chicken (found here at A Year of CrockPotting--check it out she has some really great recipes). Like I was saying I was in the kitchen and the kids were playing in the living room. I heard Bethany run back to their room for something and after awhile (it takes awhile to peel that much garlic!) I realized Hayden was pretty quiet (never a good sign). Just as I was thinking that I heard a really weird noise coming from the living room and when I walked around the corner to see what it was, this is what I found--

Yep, that's Hayden chugging a PRINCESS sippy cup. Nope, that's not the one I gave him. One guess who's going be be mad when she discovers that he has it?

**Yes, that means I still give Bethany a sippy cup. I know, I know she's 3. Yes, she can drink from a glass. But if she's going to be running around the house with her drink I put it in a sippy.**

Man, I've been spotted.

I really don't care this stuff is SO GOOD!!

**This is the first time Hayden has ever had straight juice...it's usually water or water with a little juice for flavor.**

At this point he couldn't figure out why I was laughing so hard...but I couldn't help it! He was really getting after it.

Do you really have to take so many pictures of this?

Who cares! Take all the pictures you want...as long as it means I can chug the rest of this!

Empty...grrr!

No, wait there may be more. I better check. Good to the last drop!

HA! HA! Look what I got back!

**Note the pictures have now moved from the living room to the kitchen. That's because someone wearing a lime green outfit DID throw a fit once she found her brother had HER cup. She cried till she took it from him then he screamed his head off and crawled after her till I gave it back to him and promised her a new clean cup.**

MORE PLEASE!!

MMMM, this stuff tastes good...not like that stuff you normally give me!

SWEET NECTAR SENT FROM HEAVEN!!

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What else do you expect us to do on ANOTHER rainy day?!

At least it's good for our baby grass! Can you see it?

One Year Ago Today

2009-04-25T09:06:00.000-07:00

One year ago today Drew loaded us all up in the Yukon. We threw together a few items we might need in case the baby came early and packed the uhaul with things the moving company wouldn't take. And we left North Carolina for the long trip back home to Kansas. I was days away from being 36 weeks pregnant, Bethany was 2, Mabel was as wild as all get out and Drew was praying he wouldn't have to deliever a baby on the side of the road...which he tried to reassure me would be fine if he had to...he'd pulled calves before...lucky me marring a small town boy with a farm background. ;)

Here I am in all my glory one year ago. :)

Now one year later life is a little different. We live in Kansas.

Hayden is no longer the wild man in my belly, today he is just our little wild man. He's into EVERYTHING and EVERYWHERE!

Today Bethany is "helping" Drew and Grammy (my mom) plant a garden.

Today Mabel loves to go out to the country and just be a dog.

And guess who feeding himself today?

Moving back to Kansas has been one of the best things we have ever done...we love being home and so close to our family and friends. But to all of you in Texas and North Carolina...we miss y'all! :)

**For those of you that saw that a tornado went through Tonganoxie today--it touched down about 5 miles from my parents. As for all our family we are all safe. God is good!**

HEY OUT THERE!!

2009-04-16T14:34:00.001-07:00

I am sure some of you have wondered if I'd been sucked of the face of this planet...well I'm still around...just really busy with my two wonderful kiddos! ;)

Hayden is exactly one month away from his first birthday! (**I'm wiping away a tear right now...where in the world has this last year gone?! Just a year ago we were in NC and Drew was interviewing for jobs in KC and we weren't sure if we'd make it home in time to have this baby!) Check out his eye lashes! Just like Bethany and Drew...LOVE THEM!

Miss B in an outfit she put together...she LOVES to wear the lime green dance outfit...believe it or not it was once mine!!! LOL! I LOVE how she picks out all the little "extras" to make the outfit...because snow boots DO go with EVERYTHING! I love this age and how much fun she is.

Hayden at an Easter egg hunt we had for our MOPs group. He is crawling EVERYWHERE and pulling up on EVERYTHING...but isn't a fan of the grass yet. Even though he hasn't been in the saucer in forever I took it so he could watch all the kids running around. Someone was sweet enough to give him an egg to hold. And check out the fauxhawk!! No, I do not style his hair that way (I can't count the number of times I've been asked that) it grows like that all by itself due to his double swirly!! Bless his little heart the fauxhawk is so cute on a baby but will make him crazy as he gets older!

We spent Easter in Smith Center with Drew's parents. We had a great time but didn't get to take any Easter pictures outside due to the rain. We ran out of time to take them before church and Hayden fell asleep on our way home. So after his nap I redressed him and we tried to get a couple...as you can tell he wasn't a fan of this. Bless his little heart he really had a Chris Farley look going on with his little Easter suit. He's just a chunk! We couldn't get his shirt to stay tucked in and he looked like such a block in the jacket! And why is it so hard to get a 3 year old to smile like a normal person? These are the best out of all the ones we took!

I've been busy

2008-12-09T12:44:00.000-08:00

I've been really busy...so my blog has been pushed to the back burner lately.

After we moved back home I signed up for a quilting class at church with my mom. I figured it was time to bite the bullet and learn to use the sewing machine she gave me for my birthday...before Bethany was born. Yes, that means I'd had it over three years and my mom was the only one to take it out of the box...to use at my house...to make things...for me. How bad is that?!

I made a baby quilt for my soon-to-be-brand-spankin'-new nephew Mason LaVon Overmiller. :) He is due in February and I wanted to give the quilt to Daren and Heather (Drew's brother and wife) before I posted it here. This quilt is my first completed sewing project since 8th grade Home Ec. and as you can guess I've got a pretty proud mama (she was my 8th grade Home Ec. teacher!)

This is the second quilt I started...Drew and I were so sure that Baby Mason was a girl that I actually started a girl quilt! But after the first quilt was started we found out Baby O. was a HE and not a SHE! So I had to start a new quilt for a boy. I'm going to go ahead and finish the first quilt...there is another baby coming in the family (NOT ME) and if I finish the girl quilt she may get it.

So here it is!

It's made all out of flannel and I LOVE it!! The navy fabric has little trains, planes and cars all over it. If I wouldn't have had Mason's name embroidered on it I might have tried to keep it. :) So I'm thinking about going back and getting more fabric to make one for Hayden.

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IN OTHER NEWS

It snowed here today! It's our first snow here in Kansas.

And look at this little butter ball! We've started calling him Hayden square head squishy pants. :)

A Bethany Funny

2008-10-27T13:38:00.000-07:00

It's been FOREVER since I posted...and it's not for the lack of pictures or things going on here! :) I have so much to share but I just haven't had the time to get it up. I'm hoping to find time this week to "catch up"...but till then here's a little Bethany funny and some Hayden Highlights for y'all.

This morning Drew was rushing around getting ready for work and before he went to iron his shirt he laid out his shoes and socks. When he came back Bethany was laughing to herself and that's when he noticed his socks were missing. When he asked Bethany what happened to them...she laughed again and said--"Daddy, I hide and you seek!" We got a good laugh out of it...after she handed over the socks! :) What a little skunk she is!

HAYDEN HIGHLIGHTS

started cereal and baby food in September (LOVES them)
rolling from his back onto his tummy since the beginning of October...and then gets really mad because he can't roll back the other way
since finding his voice, Hayden LOVES to talk...we think he gets that from Drew ;)
at 5 months he weighted in at 18 lbs 12 oz!!
sits by himself for a few seconds now--for a little fat toad he's really trying to work those ab muscles!

My Boys

2008-09-13T13:55:00.000-07:00

Football season has started.

Up to my eyeballs in CrAzInEsS!!

2008-08-19T13:30:00.001-07:00

We've officially lost it...seriously...we're crazy!

You haven't heard from me in awhile because we've been busy moving...yes, you read that right. We're moving for the second time in two months...or is it three...does it really matter? No one in their right mind should move again this soon after moving and having a baby.

My parents have a little rental house here in town...and when we first moved back to Kansas someone else was living in it. The renter moved out this summer so after a whole lot of thinking, soul searching and praying about it we decided to move once again. Why wouldn't we jump on this right away? It might have something to do with the fact we were living in a house that had three bedrooms, two baths, a three car garage and a full basement. The new house? Well it's a two bedroom, one bath, and has a one car garage (which neither of our TEXAS sized vehicles fit into)...oh yeah, and no basement. The more we discussed it the more we thought this was the best thing to do...honestly would we ever look back and regret that we saved money? I sure don't think so! We want to buy land and build and to do that sooner then later we need to save everything we can. So we're moving. The new house does have some great things--a really nice back yard for the kids to play in, huge trees that shade the house, beautiful hard wood floors and landlords that let me turn the garage into a play room for the kids. :)

The new house

The weekend we moved Bethany stayed at the lake with Grandad and Grandma Overmiller. Grandad tried to teach Bethany to fish. She LOVED her pink fishing pole that Drew got her. :)

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FAIR

Tonganoxie hosts the Leavenworth County Fair every August. This year we caught two Box Turtles for the turtle race. Bethany could only enter one--so we raced them to see which was the fastest...the big one won. But we decided to keep the little one around to keep the big turtle company till the big day.

Our two turtles

The smallest turtle entered in the turtle race (he wasn't ours...but he was so cute I had to take his picture!)
Bethany and her turtle...she wouldn't set the boxed box turtle down!
Uncle Jeff (in the blue shorts), Papa Hughes (in jeans) came to cheer on Bethany and her turtle.
Bethany watching the competition...we were in the 10th heat of turtles.
Bethany giving her turtle a little pep talk before his race.

GO TURTLE GO!!
He didn't win...in the grass he was really fast but he turned out to be a real dud in the turtle race box with all the screaming kids around...but Bethany loved him anyways! :)
Cheering on Bethany's turtle really wore Hayden out...by the time it was all over he needed a nap.
Bethany enjoyed the rides at the fair.
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Bethany's First Day of Preschool

Bethany started Preschool at Genesis, the school at our church, today. She was so excited about wearing her new dress and taking her new princess backpack to school.

Bethany with her "kissing hands." The teachers had all of us trace our hands...Bethany was to take mommy and daddy's hands to school and we were to keep hers. That way if she missed us she could get our hands out to hold and if we missed her we had hers to hold onto. In full Bethany style she told Drew she needed to take ALL of them so she had a "family."
She's a nut!
One of Bethany's teachers helping her find her hook to hang up her backpack and put on her name tag. **She loves her backpack so much that she had to wear it into the grocery store tonight. Too funny!**
Bethany with her friend Lily.
Bethany decided that she needed to cut paper first thing at school. Bless those teachers that hauled out paper and scissors once everyone else thought that was a good idea too! :)

In honor of her very first day of school we stopped at Sonic on our way home for ice cream.

Bethany Grace is 3!

2008-07-23T09:40:00.001-07:00

July 2005

July 2006

July 2007

July 22, 2008

Looking back through all the pictures we've taken since Bethany was born has blown me away...where did the last three years go?! My baby has grown into a full blown little girl! We had Grammy, Papa and Great Grannie Hughes out for dinner last night. After we had cake Bethany opened her gifts from us. It was a hoot, she had to open all the "baby" gifts from Grammy and Grannie first. (Right now anything small is called a baby, anything medium sized is a mommy and anything large is called a daddy.) We got her a trunk of dress up clothes and the little Vanity. Hayden got Bethany a princess backpack for school.

Bethany couldn't even wait for Drew to finish putting the Vanity together before she had to sit down and check it out! She also had to have several costume changes last night.

Bethany Grace's Princess-Pool Party

2008-07-21T13:30:00.000-07:00

Saturday (July 19th) we celebrated Bethany's upcoming third birthday with her friends.

This year was so much fun since Bethany understood she was going to have a birthday and we would be having a party for her. Back in June we got a birthday party supply catalog in the mail. It was so cute, she would sit FOREVER looking at each theme in the catalog and then come running to me and point to a page and tell me she wanted this party. And the theme was always PRINCESS. So we decided on a Princess Party...but since it's so blazen' HOT here we thought we'd make this a Little Mermaid Princess Pool Party. We had six little girls (all but one related to us!) over to splash in the water, play a few games and then have cake and ice cream. They all had so much fun! Here are a few pictures from her party.

And where is the birthday girl you may ask?!

Taking a picture of all the girls in the pool!

Bethany got the play camera as a gift and insisted on taking a picture of all the girls in the pool. It was the funniest thing we'd ever seen--she kept yelling, "GIRLS" and motion for them all to bunch together! TOO FUNNY!

Even Peyton enjoyed splashing in the frog pool--I think he was trying to impress the ladies with his cool shades. (And Hayden slept though the whole party!)

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In other news...

Hayden turned 2 months old July 16th. On the 18th I took him in for his two month well baby exam...DRUM ROLL PLEASE!! Before he even ate he weighted in at 13 lbs 12 oz (I think his shirt should say Mommy's little leach--not monster!) and was 23 inches long. He's quite the little chunky monkey!

Once I get Hayden's two month pictures back I'll post them. We had them taken on the 16th by a gal here in town. She gets the proofs to you in about a week and then once you order it takes about another week to get your pictures...but they should be worth the wait!

Don't you just LOVE those frog legs?!

Tough Guys do cry! :)

Mabel, Chalk Art and Baby Feet!

2008-07-06T22:58:00.000-07:00

For those of you worried about her...Mabel is still around. :) This is her favorite place to be...asleep on one of the sofa pillows. Well that is till someone is willing to throw a ball for her. Then she turns into hyper dog.

Life with Bethany has really been hard on our little dog--look at all that gray hair--POOR DOG!

Bethany drew her first self portrait tonight. Complete with pink clothes and purple arms and legs. **The blue thing to the right is a picture of Daddy.**

And who doesn't love baby feet!

4th of July

2008-07-05T11:06:00.000-07:00

Hope ya'll had a great 4th of July! We spent a wonderful day out at mom and dad's with family and a few friends. The weather was amazing and Drew did the grilling--he tried a couple new recipes that were a hit with everyone! Here a few pictures for you--

Bethany and Hayden

Getting a good picture of two kids is so hard! :)

Remember all the embarrassing things I did to Bethany while she was a baby?

Well it's Hayden's turn...isn't he cute in his little 4th of July hat!

Peyton (Scott and Carly's little guy) and Hayden

They were born 7 weeks to the minute from each other!

On the 4th Peyton turned 14 weeks old and Hayden turned 7 weeks old.

Peyton, Bethany and Hayden

Bethany enjoyed her fireworks that she and Drew picked out.

I know, I know this doesn't look very safe...but they're only lighting those little snakes.

Hanging out on the porch.

Scott and Peyton

Hayden spent most of the day being rocked by Grannie Hughes.

We couldn't believe it was cool enough to need blankets to wrap up in while we watched the night works--that is really rare in Kansas!

Not even fireworks could disturb Hayden's sleep.

I guess it's about time!

2008-06-29T17:23:00.001-07:00

Hey Ya'll! I told you that I was going to be working on a blog...so for those of you that doubted me (yes, you know who you are)--well here it is! :)

This is my first post...and it's not what I had planned but oh well! Maybe I'll get around to telling you all about our trip from North Carolina to Kansas someday...but till then I have to get Hayden's one month picture(s) posted before I have his two month pictures taken. Hayden is now 6 weeks old so I better get this thing up and running. :)

June 15th we had Hayden's pictures taken. I had planned to have his pictures taken and then have one or two with both him and Bethany. I tried to feed Hayden before we went to the photographer, but he refused. Of course once he got in front of the camera he decided he wanted to eat so to stall the photographer we had them take pictures of Bethany.

As you can tell by the millions of pictures of Bethany she performed like a champ for the camera and Hayden...well he's only a month old...he'll get better. I hope! :) Hope you enjoy my beautiful babies!