Treadmill Suggestions

I am on the hunt to buy a treadmill, but I'm struggling to know which one to buy. I've been doing my research, but there are so many to choose from. So, I was wondering if any of you could recommend the treadmill you have!!

Pumpkin Patch Time

Each year while we lived in Maryland we would make the drive to our favorite pumpkin patch. I always looked forward to this. The pumpkin patch was about 1/2 hour drive North from where we lived. We would take a hay ride out to the pumpkin patch and we could stay out there as long as we'd like to choose our favorite pumpkin. Emmet always loved the hay ride and Sam always brought his inhaler along to make sure he could breathe!!
For some reason Sam loved the gourd. He just laughed and laughed and had me take a picture of it!!
It always amazed me how many of hundreds of pumpkins there were. One year we could never decide on a pumpkin and we came home empty handed!! But we still got fun pictures.
Sam always happily wore the baby bjorn. He would hold Emery has much as possible.

I love this picture, I think it's sweet of Sam and Emery.

Looking Back

October is the start of a few rough months. Two years ago Sam was just beginning his one month stint lying sick in a hospital bed and if I let myself, I can relive each horrific day. It's been a challenge not thinking about what Sam and I went through. His death tugs at my heart everyday, but this time of year it tugs even harder. So, I've created a challenge for myself to write down fun memories Sam and I had together. I thought it would be fitting to start with my favorite Halloween.

I am not much for dressing up, but Sam always brought out my fun side. Sam's oldest sister always throws a great Halloween party. I typically complained about dressing up. It's quite out of my comfort zone. Thankfully, Sam had the ability to "make" me have fun. He convinced me to dress up. Sam loved SNL and since he's a foot taller than me he thought the Spartin cheerleaders would be perfect. And you know what, it was. I had so much fun that night. Sam was a little ridiculous attempting to do cheers jumps and the such, but it was a great night. The pictures still make me laugh.

Emmet's Finally Five!!!

Emmet has been looking forward to his fifth birthday since the day after he turned four!! Seriously, the biggest threat Emmet could give to anyone was, "you're not invited to my birthday!" So I have felt no pressure in delivering him an awesome birthday. I decided the best way to celebrate was by making it a week long celebration!!


We began the festivities with a small gathering at my parent's home. My mom and dad were both in town visiting and they gave Emmet a present and I decided to give him my gift, a bike. That way my brother and dad could do all the work teaching Emmet how to ride a bike without training wheels. Emmet at first hated the bike. The entire time he was on it he was mumbling under his breathe, "this is the worst birthday ever". All I could do was laugh.

As the day continued on he enjoyed going out to ride the bike. We would only go outside for 10 minutes at a time, because it was such a hot day (over 100 degrees). It has started to cool off ( I mean it's in the 90s), so I'm now willing to help Emmet, I just wish I could be the one to fix the skinned knees and not do the running!! Wish me luck.

Emmet's birthday morning was a big day for him. He always promised me that when he was five he would dress himself. He actually remembered and dressed himself, underwear and all. It always makes me laugh what Emmet picks out to wear. He wanted to be extra comfy on his birthday. He also let me know that he expected another present from me. I told him the bike was his present. He then said, "if you don't have a present for me today, I'm quitting my birthday!" I convinced him that I didn't have a present for him to unwrap, but that we would be the first one's at Target and he could choose his own present because he changes his mind so much. He loved that. We used his birthday money from his great grandparents!!

Emmet's birthday is extra special because he shares it with Sam's dad. So we headed to Papa's house where he opened his "dream" gift. It was a huge lego Star Wars ship. With the help of Emmet's eleven year old cousin Collin and Papa we were able to put the ship together. We worked on it for three hours at Papa's house and then I completed it that night while the kids were asleep. Here is the finally product.

Overnight I have become a lego master. Not only did I put most of this together, I am now able to fix it when it breaks. I have the instructions close by. This was not the only set of legos Emmet got for his birthday. I put several different cars, smaller Star Wars ships together and boats together. I calculated that I have spent over six hours putting legos together this week. I'm all legoed out, yet it's been nice having a project to do at night to keep me busy!!

Emmet's birthday culminated this past Friday night at our neighborhood park where we had a Hot Wheels party with family. Emmet absolutely loves his cousins and rarely do they play at a park together. It was such a beautiful evening and the kids had so much fun, most of them didn't even eat dinner. The next morning Emmet asked when his next party was. That means he had a great week, mission accomplished. I'm glad birthdays only come around once a year.

Emery's Birthday Celebration

Yesterday my life changed drastically, I no longer live with a toddler!! I can't believe Emery turned three. It is so strange and sad that my youngest child is three. I am constantly thinking of the next thing to look forward to. It helps keep me motivated!!! So...I love birthdays. Here's a fun run through of Emery's birthday celebration.


It had to be a pink day so we started off going to church in one of her favorite pink dresses!


After church we headed to Chris and Jenny's to i-chat with my parents and Chance. (Since they live in Chicago, including Chance who moved there this weekend. It's nice having 1/2 the family in AZ and the other in Chicago.) Chatting over the internet is wonderful, Emery was able to include Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Kenny in the birthday festivities. They were able to watch Emery open their gifts to her. It's not the same as having them with us in person, but it's a close second!


My mom made Emery a cute new blanket and Emery got another Fancy Nancy book. Her third and I'm sure we will be reading it every night for the next two months.


I just liked this picture!


Aunt Jenny made a giant cupcake for Emery!! Emery loves aunt Jenny!


We spent the night at Nanny and Papa's (Sam's parents) and today, Labor Day, we had a cousin party for Emery. She has been looking forward to her cousin party for some time now. Nanny knows how to throw a party and Emery loved it. She had to wear a "Nanny suit" to swim in!! It's a little big, but she insisted on wearing it.


Emery couldn't wait until the party began so she was able to open one gift from Nanny and Papa. It was this dress, her party dress. She was quite excited to put it on. I took her outside and let her choose which flowers to stand by. I was really hoping to get a good picture of her. She never looked up. Nanny was in the house watching, just laughing. Sam was the same way. I have always said her personality is so much like her father's, but this picture really shows how much alike they are. Sam always cried when he had to have his picture taken when he was younger. So does Emery!!



The plan was to eat lunch, open presents and then swim. The birthday girl was not happy with that and they headed to the pool first. Here she is with some of her cute cousins. Once she went swimming, she was much happier the rest of the day, thankfully.



It is amazing how long she will hang there. It's always done with a huge grin!


Emery really wanted me to eat next to her. The conversation at that table was so fun to listen to. One cousin would say, "you have doodie on your face." The next would say, "no you have doodie on your head." Then all the kids at the table, including Emery would just bust up laughing. It was so funny to listen to and yet so cute to watch them all interacting and carrying on their own conversations.



Emery could not handle all of the attention. Again just like her dad at that age. I ended up blowing out her candles for her. I know she loved the attention, she just didn't want anyone to know she liked it!



Emmet was so cute the entire day. He absolutely loves spending time with his cousins. I was also proud of him because it's been hard for him having Emery's birthday come before his!!!


This is most of Emery's cousins. Some of the babies were inside. What a fun group of kids!!


A day at Nanny and Papa's would not be complete without racing bikes around the track in the backyard. Emery's learned it's more fun to make someone else work. Thanks Maddy.


At the end of the day, Emery put back on her party dress and dressed her baby doll in the same outfit. She was quite happy with such a fabulous day.

How grateful I am to have family that helped make Emery's birthday special. She will be able to think back and remember how loved she is. I can't help but hope that days like today will fill Emery and Emmet with happy memories so when they think about growing up without Sam, that they can have happy memories to replace the ache in their hearts. I know I thought a lot about Sam this weekend and wished he could have been here to celebrate.

A Quick Remodel

I love my home. I love the feeling in it and the little sanctuary it really has become. But, I've hated how small and limited I was in my kitchen.




Notice the bar area is high up and it was scary for the kids to use that area. It was waisted countertop space. So, I got the idea to turn that area into an island and make it all one level. I consulted with my brother-in-law Jason (married to Sam's sister Tamara). He said it could definitely be done. So last week Jason spent Wed. tearing down the existing countertop.

It took Jason most of the day. I have to admit it was so nice to have another adult in the house. I had no idea how hard it would be to take down the countertop, nor how messy.
The second day the countertop guy came over and spent an entire day putting the countertop on. I had never seen a countertop put on and I again had no idea how labor intensive it was. He actually came back the third day to finish. Saturday morning Jason came over at 7:30am to put my kitchen sink in. Hallelujah!! Three days without a kitchen sink was beginning to get to me!!



I don't know if the pictures do it justice. But, I finally have a functional kitchen. I splurged on the red stools, but I couldn't resist. It tied everything together so well. Plus, they are really sturdy!! Sunday morning I was feeding my kids breakfast and I was crying with tears of joy because it was so nice to have them sit at the counter and it has made meal time so much easier. It's the best decision I've made in a long time!! So I had to share!!

Same Dress

Every Sunday in order to make it to church on time, I allow Emery to choose her dress. She often will wear the same dress three weeks in a row. This Sunday she surprised me by choosing a dress that my mom had made for me when I was a little girl. I was reluctant to have her try on the dress for fear it would be too big. I wore the dress when I was five years old. The dress not only fit, but almost was too tight around the neck!! I could not believe it. I pulled out the pictures of me wearing the dress. I don't think Emery is exceptionally tall for her age, I think I was exceptionally short!!




This last picture I took with my phone and Emmet was not happy to be posing for a picture!! I think looking at these pictures Emery's coloring and looks are her dad's!!!