The three amigos and their lady

Our family has been blessed with two babies in one year and two growing boys full of energy to keep us all on our toes. My sister can take care of all three of her boys at once with grace and poise, but when they come to visit the farm or Bubbie and Meme, it takes all of us to keep them in line!

Last weekend while Abby and Brian were on a short weekend getaway, Brayden, Grayson, and Kennon came to visit Nanny B and Papa G. Matney and I were invited over for a play date on Saturday morning and ended up staying until bed time. Our day was filled with make believe fishing, tire swing rides, fights over who was going to drive which John De*re toy, and much much more. It was a magically, quiet, serene moment when Dad, Mom, and I got all four of them to sleep at once (which lasted all of maybe 10 mins)

Little Kennon doesn't get much camera time and is usually seen sleeping in his 1980's stroller or in someone's arms. He is such a good little baby and so mellow. I am sure he is this way after having two spit-fire big brothers. We love watching him and Matney grow together and comparing their rolls and activities. They don't know it yet, but I hope they will be great friends one day; even though at this point all they do is stare at each other. They have seemed to figure out that if their respective mommy is holding the other one during a rare baby swap, it is time to start fussing so they can get "their" momma back!

Grayson has such a sweet disposition and loves his little brother and cousin. He is always wanting to kiss on them and runs around saying their name. He has been known to call Kennon by Matney's name, but can you blame the kid for being confused when two babies show up at once :) It is so much fun watching Grayson grow and seeing how quickly he changes.

Brayden, the oldest and the wildest of the three boys, is such a joy to call my nephew. Though there are times you want to ring his sweet little neck for not listening or for torturing the others, it never seems to fail that he will give a random hug or ask some deep question and all you can do is remember how much you love this little man. I cannot believe my little Brayden who I drove 90 mphs an hour from Columbia to KC in order to be there when he was born, is getting ready to turn 5. I love watching how he grows and changes and how much he loves his brothers and cousin (even though there are times we question this!)

I cannot wait to see what the future brings for these four cousins. I can only imagine all the adventures and trouble making that lies ahead. The looney bin might need to make room for Abby and I in a few years--hopefully we can room together!

Pool Parties and Bonfires

As the summer is quickly coming to an end and we are all feeling the need for cooler weather, we decided to combine a summer and fall tradition into one evening for the joy of seeing our nephews have an absolute ball!

The boys haven't been done in a while to swim, so since their Mommy and Daddy were out for an evening by themselves, we had the boys over to swim and roast hot dogs or dadda's over a warm and toasty bonfire. The evening was filled with water fights to the ole, "Meme' throw me across the pool"; fishing pole catastrophes to walks around the pond bank, Ranger rides to babies driving the truck for the first time. Papa and Nanny B had has much fun as all and we all can't wait to do it again! Hopefully the next time Abby and Brian can join us and the weather will be a little cooler for the bonfire :)

Mmmmm Yummy?

August 1st was the first of many new things for our little Matney. She had her first taste of rice cereal and as you can see above, she wasn't so sure about it! She has started waking up more at night and the doctor thought it was probably because she was getting more hungry at night so we have started feeding her the cereal in the evening every few nights. She is eating cereal at lunch during the day at daycare so she can pick up the habit and learn how to eat better as there is quite the learning curve! She is getting much better at it and is starting to enjoy something new. She also has started eyeing my water glass and loves to have a little taste!

The many faces of Matney

Our little bug has many different things she enjoys these days. She loves to roll over and smiles as soon as she makes it over, but then gets mad shortly after if she doesn't get her arms in just the right place so she can push up. She recently found the love for sleeping on her belly as long as the boppy is involved, otherwise it wakes her up as soon as she rolls over and she starts to cry. More often then not, our little bug is found smiling and talking.

As of tonight, there is no more swinging for little M as from the pictures above, you can see she attempts to climb out. As soon as she gets over just far enough, the swing attempts to completely dump her out. Thus, the recent upgrade from swing to exersaucer. She has quickly become a pro at spinning to the toy she wants and reaching for others. She gets so excited when the music comes on, she just doesn't know what is making it come on and will look all around.

Her newest endeavor is the attempt to get her toes in her mouth or to pull them up to her face so she can look at them. (I tell her she learned this from Auntie Ab). I wonder what new tricks the next few weeks will bring...

Corn, corn, and more corn

As far back as I can remember, the hottest days of summer have brought the family tradition of gathering under the Bradford Pear tree at Dad and Mom's and shucking more ears for corn then I can count. (I tell Brandon that this one small pile is nothing, as Dad used to bring home a truck bed full of corn that we would shuck and cut off to freeze.) This year the same tradition began on a hot, stickey Sunday evening after a long weekend at the lake. The crowd was smaller than years past, but one new little "shucker" or should I say "sucker" joined the crowd. I say "sucker" as every year I think, "why are we doing this", "don't we still have some in the freezer", "is the pile every going to get smaller" but when Dad asks if we will come help, I always get "suckered" back in to helping knowing I will enjoy every minute of it. We like to complain and grumble as we clean the silks off each ear, but it is a good way to catch up on the gossip, spend time with those I love, and enjoy a beverage on a hot, summer evening.

Even though she slept through most of the experience, we made sure Matney knew she wouldn't get out of this job in the years to come.


Every year it is tradition that while I work, I nibble on a piece of the yummy, mouth watering corn. This year did not disappoint and as you can see little M has joined the tradition.


Now that we have worked our harvest and all is safely stored in the freezer for those cold winter days when you want to enjoy just a little piece of summer, I look back on yet another year and remember how much I love that I have a family who gathers together to celebrate the simplest of traditions.

4 months and growing strong

Little Matney, you are 4 months and almost 2 weeks as I write this post about how our love for you is growing each and every day and as you grow into a strong, more beautiful little girl with each passing moment.

Daddy and Mommy took you to the doctor today for your 4 month checkup and shots. Just as before, you were an angel and the doctor and nurse thought you were as cute as could be and loved your tricks. You let out a nightmare of a scream when you got the shots, but the minute Daddy picked you up, you put your thumb in your mouth and fell right asleep.

Here are your 4 months stats so that Mommy and Daddy will remember in a few months how big you were.

Weight: 14 pounds (50th percentile) Dr. Mai even said you had slimmed down from the last visit, but not enough to cause concern. We wondered if she checking out the same little girl who loves to drink her milk and is full of sweet little rolls.

Height: 23 3/4 inches (50th percentile)

Head: 16 1/2 inches (75th percentile) Papa Curt gave you this gene along with your Daddy.

Each and every day it seems like you have a new trick. You roll from front to back and back to front like a pro. You know the minute the clock strikes 7:45 it seems and your thumb pops in your mouth and off to sleep you go. If we aren't at home to lay you down or we are doing something you start to fuss just a little to let us know that you want to go night night. You are picking your toys up and more often then not, they go straight to your mouth. You are so curious about everything and will just stare at things or watch what is going on in the room as if you are going to jump right in and join the crowd. You love to touch our faces and grab on and pull. It is fun at first, but when you sink your nails in, it gets a little painful. It is almost as if you know the minute Daddy pulls in the driveway each evening because you will be perfectly fine one minute and then fussing the next until your Daddy steps in the house and you here his voice. You light up when you see Daddy or me and will just smile and laugh. You have started to develop a beautiful belly laugh that cracks us up all the time.

We can't wait to see all the tricks you will develop in the next few months, but if time could slow down just a bit, we would really appreciate it as you are growing up in the blink of an eye.