Pumpkin Patch Fun

I can't believe that my last post was October 2. I don't usually go that far between blogging. But, Cindy and I caught the 2nd round of sickness circulating through town and are just now getting better. So, that's my excuse!

Now I need to think back through the past 2 weeks and try to remember what happened. I must be getting old, because I can barely remember yesterday. Is that sad or what?

I do know that today is our last post-placement visit. Hurray! If we are lucky, our social worker will get the final report typed up and to Holt quickly. Then once our lawyer receives the Consent to Adopt, he can file a petition and set a court date. Please pray that we can finalize Cindy's adoption before the end of year. Not only will it be nice to have all loose ends tied before going into 2010, but it would be a very big tax advantage as well.

I also do know that we went to Harvest Farm yesterday. Harvest Farm is a pumpkin patch with lots of fun activities for kids. They both had a great time. Just like last year, Kaden was happy as a clam to just play in the giant sandbox all day. Cindy, on the other hand, wanted to try out everything! She really enjoyed the hayloft slide, hay bale tower, tire horse swing, and playhouse. Plus, while there, I ran into an online friend that I've known for a year but never got to meet in person. I wish I'd thought to get a picture. Duh!

Speaking of pictures, I took almost 100. You can hop on over to DropShots (contact me if you need the password) to see them all, but here are a few of my favorites.

It's October!

September seemed both long and short at the same time. How is that possible? It seems like forever ago that we went to Branson, yet I can't believe it's October already. Quite the paradox!

On October 7, Cindy will have been home 5 months. We'll hit the 1/2 year mark before we know it. I can definitely tell that she is attached and accustom to her surroundings now. Sometimes I wonder if she still remembers Korea. I'm having a hard time remembering life before her, so does she remember life before us? Hmmm....

Anyway, she is growing and changing, that's for sure. She's walking all over the place now and is quite proud of it! The only time she wants us to hold her hands to walk is when she wants to take us someplace. It's her way of "dragging" us to the desired location! We are still trying to figure out a good schedule for her. She goes back and forth between taking a morning nap or an afternoon nap, but I suspect teething has a lot to do with that. On the days her teeth don't hurt, she is a very happy little girl. Now if we could just get her to understand the word "no", we'd be doing great! LOL!

Here's a video clip of her walking. Kaden wanted to be in the video too apparently!



Kaden had a rough patch there for awhile, but we've discovered a new discipline technique that is working very well. Much like the Sportacus phase, I have a feeling this won't last, but we're going to run with it as long as we can. He was getting really bad at talking back, being rude, not sharing, not doing what he was asked, etc. So we explained that if his tongue was going to keep getting him in trouble by saying bad things, then it needed to be cleaned to make it say good things! Anytime he starts acting up, all I have to say is, "Should I grab the bar of soap?" That's all it takes. We have not actually had to use the soap yet. Just the thought of having to lick it straightens him up in a heartbeat! The bar of Dial sits in a prominent spot where he can see it and be reminded to think before he speaks/acts. Let's hope this lasts!

Kaden is also really enjoying Pioneer Clubs this year. He needed the social interaction, so we are so glad that he was allowed to attend even though he's *technically* not old enough yet. He is doing a great job learning his memory verses. Here's his first one:



The next few weekends will be busy with the college auction, birthday parties, a visit to the pumpkin patch, and our final post-placement visit. Before we know it, the kids will be dressing up in their costumes for Halloween, and then it will be November! Time certainly flies these days!

I'm One Lucky Woman!

I have the best husband in the world! Last night Ryan completely surprised me. I was working on the computer and he came up to me and handed me a red rose and a certificate. I thought that was very sweet and romantic, and then he said, "Follow the trail of lights."

I looked around the corner and there was a candle next to another rose and another certificate. As you may have guessed, there was a trail of candles, roses, and certificates until I had a full dozen roses and certificates ranging from "This entitles you to sleep until noon" to "This entitles you to a kid-free afternoon"! At the end of the trail, there was a room beautifully lit with candles, Nora Jones playing softly in the background, and yet another dozen roses.

Can you believe it? My wonderful husband gave me these amazing certifcates AND 2 dozen roses! I think he must be the most romantic man alive. I know I'm the luckiest woman alive! Here's a photo of my beautiful flowers.

Picture Day

Well, we are all finally better! We went to the doctor on Monday and they said it was just the H1N1 virus that's going around and there wasn't anything they could give us. Cindy had an ear infection also, so she's on antibotics now. Kaden's illness was a few days behind us, so he's coughing a little still, but the runny noses, fevers, headaches, body aches, and other symptoms are gone, gone, gone. Hurray!

We had our church directory picture taken last night and I can't wait to see it in print. Our pastor was a professional photographer before he went into the ministry. So, rather than paying a company to do our church directory photos, Donnie did them himself. He performed a miracle in my mind because he actually got a photo of us where BOTH kids are smiling. It's gorgeous! He said once all the pictures are done, he's going to upload them online and we can order prints. I can't wait. I'm so excited that we'll finally have a professional family photo where we all look happy!

Speaking of miracles, Donnie actually performed two. After we were done with the pictures, Cindy walked right over to him and let him pick her up. Then she sat there, perfectly content in his arms. I've never seen anything like it. She normally doesn't let anybody hold her but me. Or, she'll let them hold her until she sees me, and then she dives into my arms. But, I actually had to take her from his arms. She didn't want to leave him! We told him he must have something special for her to be that comfortable with him!

Before we went to get our picture taken, I played with our camera a bit. I've been having fun trying to learn more about photography on my own. You can see my "experiments" at Dropshots. Some of them turned out pretty good! I had to stop abruptly though when Cindy found a pile of dog poop in our yard and proceeded to smear it on herself and even EAT it. It was so disgusting. Plus, silly me, had already put her in the dress I wanted her to wear for the directory photos. So I had to clean and dry it in a hurry! Anyway, here's a few of my favorite photos from my experimentation:

The Oren Home for the Sick

Wow. It's been almost 2 weeks since I last updated. I can't believe how quickly this month is flying by. Being sick has really made me lose track of time!

First off, we took a family vacation to Branson over Labor Day weekend. It was a lot of fun until I got sick Saturday evening. My throat got really sore, my ears hurt, my nose started running non-stop, and I felt cold and sore all over. The next morning, it was a full blown cold. I ended up staying in the hotel room by myself to get some more sleep while everyone else went to Silver Dollar City. It was a bummer, but at least I felt well enough to go to Dixie Stampede that afternoon.

Here are some pictures from our trip:







And here are some cute ones of the kids in their hats Grandma got them at the Dixie Stampede and a fun picture of them with Tina:








I am so glad Tina was here visiting and was able to go on the trip with us. She was a huge help with the kids, especially in the car on the way there and back. Plus, she came over and helped with the kids this past week once since I was sick. Both the kids got it and now Ryan is coming down with it as well. On Monday I will be calling the doctor's office to make a family appointment!

Finally, for a good laugh, check out the videos below the archive list in the sidebar. I think we all make pretty good bobble head dancers, don't you? LOL!

Happy Gotcha Day Kaden!

I'm a bit late in posting, but we celebrated 3 years of parenthood on Monday. On August 31, 2006 I held my sweet baby boy for the first time. It's hard to believe that 3 years have gone by in the blink of an eye.

To see my blog post from that happy day, click HERE. To see his Gotcha Day video click HERE. There's also the video clip of his Gotcha Day in the sidebar to the right from the Steven Curtis Chapman video.

Here is our happy family 3 years later. Happy Gotcha Day Kaden! We love you!

Lots to Report

This has been a really busy and stressful week. I'll get to all of what's been going on in a moment, but first, I want to thank everyone who has prayed for me and my family. For those who don't know, my grandmother, Dad's mom, went home to heaven last night. We knew it was coming, but it's still hard. Here's a picture of Grandma and me at my wedding 11 years ago. I was very honored to wear her wedding dress. It was such a special day.

Dad is flying out to Idaho on Saturday. I have not heard all the funeral details yet. I wish I could go, but I just don't know how that would be possible financially or with the kids. It's too early to leave Cindy with anyone yet, and I'd be of no use to anyone out there with her in tow. So, I will just have to send my condolences and my hugs along with Dad.

Losing a grandparent is stressful enough, but it seems like stress has been hitting me on all sides lately. I know this because my body is letting me know it's stressed. My IC has flared up, I am clenching my teeth at night and waking up with a sore jaw, my fingernails have been subconciously bitten down to nubs, and my mouth is full on canker sores. Anymore stress, and I'll be a really big mess!

The crazy thing is, I can't pinpoint exactly what's bothering me. Yes, the kids get on my last nerve every now and then, yes, my house is wreck, ans yes, finances are tight, but none of this is new. So why am I having such a rough go right now? I'm really not sure. I've been talking it over with Ryan, praying about it, and taking as many measures as I can to "relax". Hopefully it all helps soon.

Last Friday night, we had a nice calm evening of fishing and picnicking at Piester's again. I always love being out there. It's very peaceful. Then we came home to a message on our answering machine from our social worker asking us to meet her in Wichita on Sunday. Our post-placement visit went well, but unfortunately Kaden was not in a good mood that day. Road trips with small children are stressful enough, but when you add a very grumpy child into the mix, it just makes it that much harder. It was a big sigh of relief to get home and get him in bed.

Speaking of Kaden, he is now officially part of the CARS mania! I think all boys around that age are fascinated with that movie. He almost has the whole thing memorized and wants to act out scenes all the time. Of course, he is Lightening McQueen. Ryan is Mater, I'm Flo, Cindy is Sally, Grandpa is Doc Hudson, and Grandma is Lizzy. The funniest one is that he's made Uncle Jon Frank. Frank is the big combine that chases them after tractor tipping!

Cindy is soooooooo close to "officially" walking. She can now stand up in the middle of the floor completely on her own, balance herself, and then walk about 2-3 feet before falling. She is doing this with more and more frequency, but still chooses to crawl most distances. With a little more practice and better balancing, I don't think it will be long before she's walking all over the place. I'm not entirely sure I'm ready for that.

Well, I need to wrap this post up. It's about to beome a novel. I should be utilizing nap time to try and get the house picked up. Tina is arriving from Germany tomorrow and she will be shocked at how my housekeeping skills have nose dived since becoming the mother of 2! I'm very excited for her visit and am looking forward to our big family trip to Branson next weekend. I need a vacation in a bad, bad way. Here's hoping it all goes smoothly!

Lazy Weekend

Yesterday Ryan and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary. My wonderful husband let me sleep in late that morning and then we enjoyed a very low key afternoon. That evening, we left the kids with Mom & Dad and went to town to eat and walk around Wal-Mart. It was nice to walk around the store in peace!

Here's a self-portrait of us on our anniversary. Still in love!

Today we enjoyed a lazy Sunday. This afternoon we took the kids to Grandma & Grandpa's and I had some fun playing with the camera. Cindy was wearing a very cute dress and Kaden was riding his bike, so I had some "Kodak Moments" to work with! Here are a few of my favorites.

Not Much To Report

It's been awhile since I've updated the blog. There's a good reason for that. It's because there isn't much to report on! Things are pretty boring around here.

We did have one fun event last week. On July 27, Kaden had his library summer reading program party. We read a total of 83 books this summer! The theme was "Ice Cream for Books" and Kaden was so excited to get to eat ice cream at the party. Here's a cute photo I got of him at the party.


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Cindy is still teething. She's up to 7 visible teeth now, 3 that are peeking through, and 1 that is doing it's best to get there! We almost have her completely switched over to milk and off formula, but she is still resisting the sippy cups. So, we'll be sticking with bottles for awhile. She's also walking very well while holding our hands, but hasn't taken any steps herself yet. I don't think it will be much longer.


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

That's about it. The kids' nap schedules are so crazy that we don't get out much. Cindy sleeps from 9:00 to 11:00, Kaden from 1:00 to 3:00, and Cindy again from 3:00 to 5:00. So, that means we can't go anywhere or do anything. I had hoped to get a lot of swimming in this summer, but now the summer is all but over and we have only gone twice. -sigh- It will be nice when Cindy can wait until 1:00 for nap as well.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

We've been meeting ourselves coming and going lately! For those that didn't know, Dad ended up back in the hospital Wednesday. He had an infection that they wanted to combat intravaneously. While there, they also discovered the early formations of gout, a blood clot, and he had a blood test that showed liver problems. By the time we went to visit him Friday night, things were looking much better and he was able to go home Saturday.

On Saturday, we went to Wichita and enjoyed a fun day with friends. First we met up with Todd, Tisha, Noah, & Mavery and went to Exploration Place. None of us had been before and it was a lot of fun. The kids had a blast with all the hands-on things to do. It was also fun to see the boys interact (although they seemed to mostly just pester each other!!!!) and to meet each other's girls for the first time. Here are some pictures.






After a quick nap for Cindy, we stopped by the zoo. Then we met up with Dustin, Lanette, Chris, Lilly, & Claire for dinner at the Hangar Steakhouse. Kaden wasn't feeling well, so it was kind of a hectic eating experience and I didn't get any really great pictures, but we still had a great time!

Then Sunday afternoon, Ryan and I went on a date for the first time since Cindy's been home. We went to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. It was good, but they had to cut a lot out of the book to make it fit into movie format. Since we're big fans of the books, that was a bit disappointing. But it was still very entertaining and makes us look forward to the last 2 movies!

Today we met up with Mark & Nancy and their kids to go to Piester's. We had a picnic and then they went fishing while I brought Cindy home for bed. It was nice to be out in the fresh air. I would love to live out in that area. Anyone who thinks our part of Kansas is not beautiful should visit Piester's!






Hopefully things will slow down a bit now. I need a vacation from all our mini-vacations! Oh, and before I forget, I need your help. I am particpating in a digital scrapbook contest. It is a battle of the creative teams and I am "battling" on behalf of Randi Oh Designs. The first challenge was to create a layout using "white space". Here's my entry for Team Oh.

To vote for The Oh Girls team, the one I'm on, please click HERE. Then select The Oh Girls near the end of the list and hit "Vote". It's that easy! I'd appreciate the help. If we win, we get gift certificates to spend on digital scrapbook products. In these budget tight times, that would be wonderful!