We hope you had a nice Christmas! Here are a few of my favorite pics so far:

My little man will know how to cook some day! Here we were making pecan sandies and other goodies to deliver to some of our friends.

Going for his stocking:

We learned that he was quite the maticulous unwrapper! Each little piece of paper was torn and put in the trash very carefully. I have no idea where he gets his attention to detail!




Lawrence and my niece all bundled up to play in the cold. He is such a little lover!

I can't wait to get my hands on pictures from Christmas morning of him in his tie (that I made) and sweater vest. Yes, I made him a tie and I felt that it was decent enough to wear! Stay tuned for more.

nice people are nice

I got the sweetest compliment today while we were at Hancock Fabric (for one hour). We had crossed paths with another shopper a few times and then again at the check out. The older lady commented that 'this little guys deserves a medal; I marvel at kids who are as well behaved and quiet as he has been'. It was so sweet of my little man to make us look good today. Of course the craisins, bunny crackers, and benedryl helped.

SO kidding! But not about the snack, it works wonders.

Here is a preview of our family pictures and 18 month pictures that we got taken recently. We had so much fun! I will post more later.

my tummy hurts

Lawrence and I were having some fun after lunch. I was laughing so hard my tummy hurt. Corey came down with the stomach flu Sunday night. Thankfully, Lawrence and I have been spared this round (so far anyway).

I think I was laughing as hard as he was during this. I could have wet my pants. Just so you know, when he says 'DIN' he is meaning Again!

By the way, he got his cast off yesterday :) The dr said he should be walking again in a day or so. I put him down and he took off! He still walks stiff legged like he has a cast on, but that will go away soon. Yea for healing!

fun with pumpkins

A few weeks ago Lawrence and I were able to go to another pumpkin patch. This time with my folks (Nana and Grandpa John). There were a lot of activities that Lawrence could try and we had lots of fun. They even had a slide! That we avoided.

We all picked out pumpkins and Lawrence even got one just his size!

We got to ride the train. I was just glad that my hips fit in the seat.

He is turning into such a little boy.


And of course rode on our first Deere.

We had a beautiful day and especially enjoyed spending it with Nana since it was her birthday!

I have mad a couple fun pumpkin recipes lately and thought I would share:

Pumpkin Fluff Dip

1 16 oz whip cream

1 small instant vanilla pudding mix

1 15 oz pumpkin

1 t pumpkin pie spice

Mix together and serve with cinnamon graham crackers.

* I think that next time I would have several things to serve with it. Maybe some apple slices would be yummy?!

Fluffy Pumpkin cookies

1 15 oz pumpkin

1 pkg yellow cake mix

Mix together and place on cookie tray! Bake at temp on package. Do not overcook.

* I mixed in chocolate chips which made these SO yummy. They are so light and moist. Variations I want to try: spice cake mix instead of yellow. Craisins. Cream Cheese frosting. Muffins instead of cookies.

my turn to vent

What NOT to say to a mother whose one year old has a broken leg:

It's good that it happened now rather than when he is 3 or 4.

NO. It is not good that it happened now. If he was 3 then he could tell us what was wrong when he cries and cries. Are you in pain? Are you frustrated because you can't play? Are you ticked off because I set you down for 5 seconds? If he was 3 then he would be walking around on his cast because he would be stronger and more coordinated.

It is not good that it happened now. It is not better that it happened now than another age. It is not ever good. Grrrrr. That's all. I'm over it.

our first broken bone

Corey's never had a broken bone. I have never had a broken bone. Our one year old son now has his first broken bone. So sad.

Last Saturday we spent a beautiful day outside at the pumpkin patch. We had had a nice time and were getting ready to leave so we could go home and have lunch. On the way out, Corey decided to go down the slide with Lawrence one more time since he had enjoyed it and we might as well get our money's worth, right? On the way down, Lawrence's little foot got caught on the slide and went up underneath both of them. He cried but Corey scooped him up and he was fine. When he got up from his nap we realized that he still wasn't able to walk on it. After a call to the doctor we headed to the emergency room. After xrays they determined that there were no fractures and we headed home.

Fast forward to Tuesday morning and our little man still couldn't walk on his leg or put any pressure on it. Which is really hard to watch, by the way. So we went in to our doctor who suggested more xrays. The hospital had taken pictures of his entire leg and we were confident that the problem was below his knees. So they were able to get better pictures that time. Our pediatrician didn't see any fractures so we headed home with instructions that if he wasn't walking by the following Monday then we needed to come back. As we were pulling in the garage, he calls back with news that the radiologist looked at the xrays also and saw something that he didn't. A very small hairline fracture.

We headed to the office for a cast. It was a pretty quick process and Lawrence handled it all very well. It kinda broke my heart as they bandaged him up for the next 3 weeks. But now he can crawl around and just drags his blue cast along. He has been such a tough little guy and hasn't let the cast bother him much. He has started to pull up to standing now and take a few steps with our hands. It's like he's learning to walk all over again since he is lop-sided. I really think in the next few days he will be walking on it. Which will be so wonderful for me and my back especially. The hardest part for him is falling asleep. It is taking him much longer to get comfortable and fall asleep. Understandable. He complains much less about it then I probably would.

Moral of the story: slides are apparently very dangerous and many fractures occur on them. Heed the warning!

goal accomplished

Today I completed my first fairly long race! It was 10 miles on a very very straight trail. Five miles west, turn around, 5 miles east, done. Easy enough, right?! It actually felt amazing. Okay, maybe not the last 2 miles. That part was pretty rough. But I finished and I ran a good pace (for me). I finished in 1 hour 32 minutes; which averages out to 9 minute 12 second miles.

As I was running I thought about why the heck I wanted to do something like this. And this is what I came up with:

~ When I run I think of Jesus' walk to Calvary carrying his cross. How hard physically and mentally and spiritually that must have been. Although it is hardly a fair comparison, if I can challenge myself in those aspects by running then it brings me closer to my Lord.

~ I did it for my 2 boys that were there to cheer me on along the way. They were the only cheerleaders along the way and they made it to miles 0, 2, 5, 8, and 10. I think it was almost as much work for them! I want to be healthy and fit for my boys and I want it to be a part of our lifestyle.

~ I did it because I can. Today I have my physical health. One day I may not. So between now and then I am not going to waste it. One evening when I was running (downhill) there was a young man that was pushing himself (uphill) in his wheelchair. He was also out getting a work out in. It was so inspiring to me.

~ I did it because it has been on my list of things to do for way too long. I have always had a lot of really great excuses as to why it wasn't the right time. I decided that right now, with a 1 year old, and coming off of the hottest summer ever, was the perfect time. The perfect time to stop making excuses that is.

I am excited to say that there will be more races in my future.

My sweet mom and mother in law drove an hour to watch me!

Love this little man. And I'm pretty sure it is mutual.

cReAtIvE juices

I'm a pretty creative gal. I have my mom to thank for that (thanks mom!). I can't do anything without adding my own little touch. I always have a list of fun "projects" that I want to work on in my spare time. And sometimes my ideas looked a lot cuter in my head. But at least I can say that it is homemade!

-- On a sidenote, I was sent home with my first "class" project last week! I am doing a moms day out program with Lawrence. The first day we were given a piece of paper with the outline of a kid on it (like a gingerbread boy). Our only instructions were to cut it out and decorate it like Lawrence. Oh boy, I thought! I love class art projects! But then my next thought was, 'Ok, Abs. Let's tone it down. You don't want to be that mom that has nothing better to do then perfect your gingerbread Lawrence man. Keep it simple.' And I did! I am not an artist, so I quickly found his newborn clothes and put an outfit on him. Used twine to hotglue on his parted, little man comb over. And printed off a basketball that I taped to his hand (the kid LOVES balls)! And of course added some blue blue eyes! Done. Cute, Free, Quick, Creative!

Back to the point --

I am going to share some of my 'creative juices' on my blog as I complete projects. COMPLETE is the key word. My list tends to grow as projects sit only half finished. But since I am aware of this weakness of mine, then I can focus on it. I came home from Yoder the other day with a brand new project to work on. I am so excited, but I won't allow myself to even look at it. However, it has gotten me moving on some other projects that were collecting dust!

Going back a few months, our little man turned one. I decided that the theme of his party would be frogs. I figured this would be my only opportunity to pick a theme simply because I think they are cute! Next year he will have more of an opinion. Guaranteed.

I started with 1 round cake, 1 8x8 cake and 2 cupcakes. I cut the square cake to make the legs. And by the way, I googled ideas for frog cakes and found something similar so I don't take credit for coming up with the idea; just for adding my own touches. The brown stuff is because it was a marble cake.

After getting his body just right I worked on decorating him. My friend gave me a recipe for a homemade frosting that worked really well and was so yummy also.

I made 2 different greens using a gel coloring from Hobby Lobby and also made blue for the eyes and pink for the tongue. His mouth his licorice. And then I had to add a fly on his tongue made from a chocolate covered raisin and paper. Not only was the fly a cute touch, but it was also funny because Lawrence had just eaten a fly and didn't seem at all disgusted by it!

There it is! Not bad for my first decorated cake! Lawrence wouldn't have anything to do with eating it. Didn't taste enough like broccoli, I guess!

our anniversary

Happy Anniversary dear! This has been the longest and quickest three years of my life :)

To reverse a bit, Corey and I got reconnected in September of 2007. Little did we know that a year later we would be madly in love, married, and living together in Kansas! When you know, you know... we had known OF each other for about 14 years before that moment. However, our encounters were limited to him being around while Kamie and I were hanging out doing teenage girl stuff at their house. I would always wish so deeply that Corey would be at home, but when given the opportunity a little squeaky 'hi' was all I could muster. And not only did Corey want nothing to do with the teenage girl stuff I mentioned, but I was also the "city" girl. Pratt does have a population of ~6,000. Needless to say, our lives took different paths as he moved to Iowa and I moved to Colorado. He moved back to Kansas and I swore I would never leave Colorado.

And then there was that one evening in September when I was back visiting his sister. And ironically, I didn't even hardly get to talk to his sister that night. But I'm pretty sure she didn't mind. Corey and I learned a lot about each other that night. Most importantly the fact that although I grew up "city" I was actually very outdoorsy! He loved that I enjoyed camping, hiking, backpacking, skiing. And most of all he was impressed that I drove a Jeep 6 speed! That Jeep was the best investment I ever made! And I was just impressed that he was talking to me. So by the end of the night, my pit stains were reaching my waistband, and we went our seperate ways. I remember saying to myself as I drove home 'well Lord, it's in your hands now'. I wanted so badly to send an encouraging message through sister or even my digits. But I vowed that I wouldn't intervene and the Lord would work it out if necessary.

As encouraged as I was that night, there was a lot in our way. The timing was all wrong on several fronts. Our homes were 500 miles apart. This was my friends' brother and I felt pretty hopeless towards relationships, so I really didn't want to screw up my friendship too. I wasn't leaving Colorado. I had plans to live in Colorado. No really, I loved Colorado.

Within a few days, Corey had taken the initiative to get my phone number and call me. I still remember trying to have a conversation with him and my heart was beating so fast that I was feeling winded but also trying to hide it at the same time which only made me think I was going to hyperventalate. But I got myself together I think. We talked on the phone for 4 months before he came to visit me in January of 2008. Luckily his cousin was going out to CO to go skiing, so Corey had a good "excuse" to tag along! After that 4 day weekend in Breckenridge we started riding the friendly skies. Almost every two weeks one of us was going here or there. He would fly to Colorado and we would work hard skiing, snow shoeing, hiking, camping. Then I would fly to Kansas and we would rest.

On May 24, 2008 he proposed on top of Pikes Peak!

Yep, that's me engaged to an amazing man!

And then the pending decision of where to build our life... We talked about it at various times thoughout dating. And I felt like I became more and more at peace with moving back to Kansas. That was not easy for me to admit. But I have always been a rational person, and it just made sense. We would be closer to our families, and knowing that we wanted a family of our own, that was really important. The cost of living is much more reasonable. Corey already had a job that he loved and that would support us and you can't take that for granted. There are fewer people and more space. So that was that!

We were married on August 30, 2008 in the foothills of Colorado! After our dream wedding we flew out of Denver to Costa Rica. Our honeymoon was an adventure in itself. Then we flew into Wichita after our honeymoon and have been here ever since!

The move wasn't an easy transition for me. I remember after several months of marriage Corey mentioned upgrading my vehicle in case the Jeep wasn't worth it in the Kansas wind. He was just trying to make me happy and take care of me. And I was brought to tears just at the mention of my Jeep going away. That was the one familiar 'thing' that I still had to hold on to. He felt pretty bad for even bringing it up. Gotta love the differences between men and women!

It's hard to believe that that was just three short years ago. Since then we have spent our timing sitting in rocking chairs sipping lemonade. Yeah right! Our wedding was the beginning of an exciting and enriching and busy marriage! Easily the best decision I ever made!

(I did make a bad decision by not buying the CD of wedding pictures. These are all scanned. Boo.)

dinosaurs and baseballs

Our family took a weekend get away to Kansas City and had so much fun. Lawrence is at such a fun age now and I know it will only get better. Corey and I have been getting the itch to get away since we haven't had a vacation this year.





So we went and visited the dinosaurs at the TRex restaurant in KC. The atmosphere was much better then the overpriced not so exceptional food. But hey, they got us in and trapped. Pretty good marketing. Why follow it up with good food?














The crayons aren't solely for eating anymore!





We also had to hit up Cabela's while we were there. It's a pretty good deal - a zoo packed with deer and an aquarium in one place and for free. Don't they know they could charge for that? Oh wait, another trap. They got us in and hooked and we bought stuff that said Cabela's. More good marketing. However, we opted out of their overpriced food.

We were also able to see our dear friends, the Toftelands. It was so great to spend some time with them and see their new house. And even take in a Royals game! We had a beautiful evening to sit and watch the game.

And about the time the kids got antsy, we took them to play. Did you know they have a carousel, mini golf, mini baseball, and more at the baseball game? Just give them a token and you're in. Yep, you called it. So you're trapped at the game with a kid that wants to mush grapes on the head of the person in front of you, so you give everyone a break by taking them to the kid zone. Cha Ching Cha Ching. Brilliant.

And this is all taking place as the Royals are actually scoring runs. Not something that typically happens. But we had fun with the kids! I had no idea that parents with young children were such unsuspecting, easy targets. I'll remember that!

Based on the pictures, this might seem like a 'boyish' weekend. Nope, I got to do more shopping than I could have asked for. We stayed about a mile from a huge outlet mall extravaganza. Didn't take pictures of that experience. I was concentrating on the task at hand. And both my boys were very good sports about it!

up to date

Hello Friends! I thought some of you may like a quick update to keep you up on our latest happenings. We are enjoying the summer. Lawrence is at such a fun age. It really makes our days and evenings tons of fun. The heat is a bit of a bummer, just because we have to watch when and how long we are outside. Lawrence inherited my sweat glands! We spend 10 minutes outside and he is dripping sweat and his hair looks like he got out of the bathtub! He will hate me for that someday when he is sitting in his high school algebra class, pitting out his shirt, and hoping that the cute girl sitting behind him doesn’t notice (or at least point it out for all to notice). Been there.

There isn’t much noteworthy news around here. But a few footnotes:

- Have you ever heard the story about how important it is to lock your car doors in Kansas? Otherwise, you might come back and find a carload of squash! I get it! We were so excited that our first garden produced… squash. Lots and lots of yellow squash. At least something likes this heat. We also got a basket of cucumbers, a few tomatoes (most were rotten), three zucchini, one nasty carrot, some bitter lettuce, a bunch of cilantro that is in our freezer, four mini red onions, and three butternut squash (even though we didn’t plant any)! Not bad for a garden rookie (me) and a retired farmer (Corey).

- On that note, I am working on my first cookbook. “29 fresh, fabulous and fun ways to fix squash”! I hope you’ll support my endeavor ;)

- I have been working hard at getting our basement in order. Let’s just say that the first time I went down there, part of me was embarrassed and the other part thought about calling ‘Hoarders’. However, in our defense, we never actually wanted to keep all the crap (yes, there is no other word for it) that had accumulated. When Corey drug me back to Kansas, he was kind enough to drive a Uhaul back with my entire townhome packed into it. The Uhaul was efficiently unloaded into the basement. Then Corey’s mom sold her house, so everything Corey could have wanted from their was packed up and unloaded into the basement. My parents were so excited that I was back within visiting range, that they visited and brought all of my crap from their attic and unloaded it into the basement. Then we had this grand idea of remodeling our entire main level. Yep, you guessed it, at one point or another, everything was moved into the basement. And then the little man was born which gave me lots of reasons to block out the basement! So that brings us to our present situation.

I have hired a babysitter to come over a few days and I have focused on tackling our basement. And it feels soooo good! I have made a ton of progress at organizing, pitching, donating, and repacking. Things were going fabulously. Until…

I was bit by a brown recluse spider. Of course I didn’t know it at the time, but by the next day the dime sized black mark made it pretty obvious. And then the red swelling began. So now I am scared of our basement and don’t intend to move anything for a good ten years. Or I am just waiting for a bug man to come out and kill those icky things. Besides reading about all the horror stories of those bites, there is very little that they do for them. Of course you have to see a doctor repeatedly, so they can glance at it and say ‘well, we just need to keep watching it’. And then they put you on medication so that the next doctor you see can tell you to not take it. And then they tell you to go to the hospital over the weekend so it can be “watched” (cha ching cha ching) so that the doctor can tell you to - keep watching it. It is quite entertaining.

- Other sick news – my thumb nail fell off last week. I wanted to see how good my car door sealed so I shut my thumb in it to verify that it sealed just fine. I thought it was ugly before so I would keep my nails painted to cover it up. Now that it fell off it is even uglier. And I can’t even paint it because it is all uneven and dry and raw. Yuck. But the sort of funny thing is I am in the process of losing a toe nail too! How ironic is that!

- Our little man is SUCH a daddy’s boy! It is so cute. He pretty much laughs, smiles and talks from the minute that Corey walks in the door at night until he goes to bed. He is happy during the day, but he is delighted in the evening! He loves playing with balls. He is also in the ‘sitting’ stage, so he loves to back up to anything that looks like it would make a good seat. He sits for half a second and then moves on to the next thing.

Until we meet again,
Abs

big birthday boy

Our little man is now one! He is looking more and more like a little boy and less like my sweet baby. Although still quite sweet most of the time. With a splash of ornery. On Lawrence's birthday we met Corey for lunch and then he met us at the park after work. He normally doesn't get to go with us because we typically go during mom hours. Lawrence showed off his balancing skills by standing on the wood chips in the wind. We have decided that he is holding out on us with the walking. He's able. Just doesn't want it bad enough and hasn't perfected it in his mind.

Lawrence loves to drop his toys and then throw his arms out. Instead of saying 'uh oh' he makes this little high pitched sound that 'says' so much.

The paper still ranks pretty high. But toys are becoming more of a hit.

And then there is the cake. This kid eats everything. Fruits, veggies, beans, dirt, bugs, wood chips, coffee beans... And because he eats so well we haven't wanted to mess it up with sweets, so he has had basically none to date. Even three days past his birthday - none.

He ate a respectable dinner of black beans, squash, peas, carrots, french toast (w/o the cinnamon, sugar, or syrup of course), grapes, and banana. In the much anticipated moment I placed a cupcake on his tray. And then the meltdown. I think it was due in part to him asking for more banana and this is what he gets. Partially due to the fact that it fell over and made a mess of his tray which he normally keeps quite tidy - he eats everything on his tray and what he doesn't want he disposes of. And it was also getting late which probably contributed.

So no cake or frosting made it to the mouth. Needless to say, I'm not real concerned. He's a Bevan - he will find his sweet tooth.

Possibly this weekend at his family birthday party. I heard the cake is going to be fabulous!

Okay, I actually made a cake that looks like a frog for this weekend! I can't wait to share the pictures with you.