Miles on the minivan

That dream boat of a car I drive (a 2006 Chrysler Town & Country, be jealous people) has been hitting the roads hard this past week. In seven days' time it journeyed to Okoboji, Ames, Omaha, and Des Moines - all different trips on different days. Basically our children are spoiled and have been soaking up the sun - and fun - like crazy around here lately.

Last week we planned a day to meet up with friends and their kids in Okoboji. 
They'd never been before, so we decided to plan a little picnic/park/beach action and play tour guides. But a little honesty upfront here: we're probably not the best people for the job because our minivan abruptly stops for all kinds of free shit on the side of the road.

But ain't that a sweet *free* table and chairs set?!

The day was really great because Jared and I have basically non-existent social lives, so chatting all day with people we like was a lot of fun for us. Plus our kids love the Hiler girls. And I think the feeling is mutual since many times throughout the day all five of them could be spotted in a circle hugging. 

It was such a nice day, even all four adults got in the water. And being the ever-prepared hosts that we are, we forgot beach buckets and shovels. So below is our stand-in: a yellow bucket from my parents' garage that probably fed hogs at one point in its existence. 

Side note: it took only about 124 tries to finally get that bad boy to stay together for the beach's largest sand castle. 

We capped off the day with some backyard grilling while the kids ran around getting dirtier and dirtier. Bailey dominated some watermelon, and watching Eden eat an ice cream cone was the highlight of my day.

We eventually bathed the filthy little things and while the adults cleaned up, the kids did what kids on vacation do best: zone out to mindless cartoons.

The next day I got to drive to Ames with my mama for my 6-month endocrinology appointment. The highlight of the appointment: I get up to leave and my doctor says, "And hopefully the next time I see you you'll have lost that last 10 pounds. Take care. Buh-bye." 

Ugh. Men....

And then I went and ate a patty melt and fries at Hickory Park... I win.

The next afternoon I loaded up the kids and made the trip to Omaha for a few days. The kids spent one night at Aunt Fe's house watching a movie and eating popcorn. The following morning we planned a picnic at a park. In 100º heat. Brilliant!

There are no pictures of our outings. 

Believe me when I say that it was so hot out, taking a picture required more energy than I was willing to expend. We hung out at a local pool - which reached capacity quickly - and it was some straight-up crazy, overwhelming toddler crap. I don't know how those lifeguards do it. At the end of the day they have to be hoarse from yelling, "Bud! Bud! Bud, don't climb up the slide!" and "Stop hanging on the rope" over and over and over. Two hours of that was enough to fry my nerves. 

And then this week we made our kids' first trip to Adventureland in Des Moines. I went every single year growing up with Linda and Eddie - listening to Meat Loaf all the way down in their station wagon. So I love it there. Jared got half-price tickets through his job so we loaded the kids (along with our 4th child, Justina) and hit the amusement park for the day.

All our kids loved the rides, but no one more than Bailey.

This girl is a roller coaster queen! She's 5 and was tackling every single ride. 

A roller coaster that goes upside down? Sign her up! 

Ride it twice in a row? Sure, let's do it!

This was her face for basically the entire day. Pure joy.

And can we talk about those tan lines? 

Teenage Vanessa would have killed someone for those.

The only bummer to the day was the line of severe thunderstorms that popped up throughout the afternoon. We spent an hour in a theater that served as the storm shelter, although we did get smart toward the end and find ice cream to eat while we waited it out.

A few hours later the second round of storms came on quickly. It started to sprinkle and within 30 seconds was a complete downpour. We sought shelter under the first available awning. 

And as luck would have it, it was a beer stand. One of only two in the park. 

Justy knows how to pick 'em.

It was a good day despite the rain. And with entertainment this cheap (thanks State of Iowa benefits!), I think it will probably become a yearly tradition.

up and down

This past weekend our friend Kate came to town. It was fun and carefree and hilarious as expected. We hosted a tiny little get-together on Saturday night in our backyard. BLT dip and flippy cup and some Dancing Queen were all on the menu.

We spent another day recovering from the night before and the next was spent taking the kids to the park and the lake. (We really show people a good time around here. Obviously.) Then we shared quite a few laughs over margs with my sister Justy on Kate's last night in Iowa.

That brings me to some of the less exciting events of the week.. the "down" portion if you will.

On Monday night Jared developed pretty nasty hives. He had some the week before and they went away with a dose or two of Benadryl, so he didn't think too much of it. Cut to Tuesday afternoon: I am preparing to leave for a doctor's appointment. I wake Jared because Graham woke up early from his nap. He is still covered - and I mean covered - in hives. His face was swollen like I have never seen before. He had lips even Lisa Rinna herself could not compete with. He was drowsy and delirious. I don't even want to think how bad off he might have been had I let him keep sleeping. No neighbors are home, so I call my mom up to come stay with the kids so Jared can come to the doctor with me. By the time we reach the doctor's office, his hives are even worse. He gets a steroid injection and a Medrol pack to go home with, and we head out the door.

We aren't even home an hour when he starts feeling short of breath. It gets worse. We call my mom (again) and she comes back in so we can go to the ER. He gets admitted, IV steroids with Benadryl every 4 hours. His hives go away and come back again about an hour before the next dose. He continues to be short of breath. His chest feels tight. This continues off and on for a full 24 hours. By that point the steroids have gotten Jared so amped up he is verging on a full-on panic attack. Not cool.

Meanwhile, I am at home feeling like the world's worst wife for leaving him at the hospital for the day by himself. I'm torn between my needy, bottle-hating baby and my 'roid-induced anxious husband. I end up putting the kids down early and calling my mom (again!) to come hang out while they sleep. Jared is beyond anxious so they discontinue the steroids and ask him to try to survive on Ativan alone. (Spoiler alert - it didn't work.) His hives keep coming back with a vengeance, and he had only slept for a total of about one hour in two days. Some of his labs came back elevated, which led to more labs and a CT scan to rule out a PE. {FYI: none of this was helping the anxiety.)

I hung out and tried my best to entertain him. He made it quite a while without any meds, but the Ativan did zilch and he was practically begging for relief from the itching by 3am. One dose of Benadryl and Jared was snoring within 30 seconds of it hitting the IV fluid.
Meanwhile, I slept awesome on my pull-out chair - and I am not even lying. It was much better to sleep on a horrible mattress with a pillow as comfortable as cement and know what was going on than to be at home in my comfortable bed feeling clueless and worried.

Today seemed to be a better day. The hives were flat and less angry-looking, although still very itchy. I brought the kids down to visit. It was slightly bad timing since Jared was exhausted and just wanting a nap, but it worked out well for Graham.

 

As of right now Jared has gotten by with just two doses of Benadryl today. We are hoping he might be able to come home some time tomorrow if he does okay overnight. As much as I am looking forward to having him home again, if he doesn't feel good enough yet, he might as well stay where he is at. At least it is (somewhat) quiet there.

 

 

And because the drama of having my spouse in the hospital is not enough, we had some other excitement of sorts today.

After spending the night in the hospital with Jared, I arrived home this morning to this sight:

That is our backyard.

With a giant tree in it.

Awesome.

 

This tree belongs to our neighbors and was right along the fence line. At some point in the night, about half of the tree fell into our yard. Miraculously it missed the fence. And most importantly it missed our house.

View from our patio door to the backyard.

(The first thing out of the girls' mouths: "Cool! Look at all those nuts!")

Yeah, real cool....

 

The tree has been in bad shape since that May snowstorm. It's basically been a ticking time-bomb. I am just very thankful that this happened over the night and not during the day when our children could have been out there playing.

 

It fell on our main power line, which ripped our outside electrical box from the side of the house. It was still hanging on and we had power, but it scorched the siding and melted all the wires inside of it. Another near-miss there. The electrical company immediately cut the power once they saw it around 9am and let my mom and I know that we would need to have our electrician come before we could have power hooked back up. Seriously? I don't have an electrician! Thankfully my mom played general contractor: she made some calls, called in some favors, lined everything up, and then stayed to supervise. An electrician was there by 11 and we had power back by 2pm. It wasn't a moment too soon since the house had already reached 80+ degrees. The morning was a mess of calls back and forth with our neighbors, calls to insurance companies, and generalized dread of the mess that was our backyard.

 

The bright spot of the day: team spirit.

My mom and I came back with the kids at 1:30 to find half of the tree already chopped up and gone. With the help of many of our kind neighbors, the entire mess - including every single buckeye (sorry kids!) - was gone by 4pm!

How awesome is that?!

So yeah, today sucked. But regardless, I am feeling very thankful for quick repairmen, helpful neighbors, and a mom that did whatever was needed without me even asking.

 



Today was a mess.

This week has been super stressful with lots of don't-do-the-tired-cry-in-front-of-the-children deep-breathing.

Our kids have been misbehaving demons (God love 'em).

I have had enough! It can only go up from here, right?

 

college roomies reunite!

Back in 2005, I transferred colleges from my current one in Iowa to Fort Hays State University in Kansas. (Best decision EVER, but I digress...)
I was a junior and didn't know a soul but Jared. Jared had his own apartment off campus. I wanted to meet people, plus I wasn't able to travel the seven hours to apartment search, so I got a dorm room on campus. This could have been a big disaster, but it was a blessing instead.

I had been paired with a roommate. The smallest room in an entire dorm filled with single-only rooms and I had a roommate. Her name was Kate Clifton. I don't know if it was luck or fate or whatever, but thank God for Kate. We meshed instantly. Life was good in our cramped little room.

Our first weekend on campus

 

We both were looking for the "college experience" - a.k.a. wanting to make new friends and find as many house parties as possible. We regularly trolled around the dorms looking for open doors and opportunities to meet people. We were largely unsuccessful except for the open door we found at a dead end in the basement of our dorm. Those two guys playing guitar and video games ended up being Kate's housemates once I moved in with Jared.

We attended many a house party together.

 

We were both nerdy and listened to songs from our favorite Disney movies, having sing-alongs in the showers. I introduced Kate to country music and how to successfully squat to pee when no bathroom was available (a very useful life skill!) and she introduced me to Team America and was pretty amazing at getting us invites to parties.

 

We attended Ladies' Fair for the free drinks every year.

 

We watched every episode of every season of Sex & the City together. And we made cosmos in our dorm room while watching said episodes. We stayed up late talking most nights. We also took the classiest of pictures at our classiest moments. (obviously.)





 

We had our share of fun moments even when we didn't live together anymore. Jared and I would go to their house to play drinking games or watch our weekly episodes of Nip/Tuck. We drank way too much tequila together and spent a night sleeping together in her bathroom. We took random trips to Pizza Hut for their lunch buffet (known as PHB in our lingo) where Kate would take home a couple pieces of pepperoni pizza in her Ziploc-lined purse. There were shopping trips to the mall in Hays where we would load up on $2 shirts and cheap necklaces, most of which were usually broken on the dance floor later that night.

 

Kate and Jared were good friends too. He knows just as much about her as I do - probably more since he has the better memory! She got to know my friends from Iowa and fit into the group seamlessly. We had a blast together at our joint bachelor/bachelorette party in Kansas City, even if we did forget her at a bar and she had to beg a ride back to the hotel. (Sorry Kate!)

 

Our last weekend in Hays together was pretty epic too. She was my wingman when I punched a guy in the face on a bus for talking smack to us. There is no one else I would want to run from the cops with. :) 

 

 

Kate always listened after Jared and I had a fight. I held her hair more times than I can count. And even though there were times we didn't see each other much, we were there for each other when the other needed a friend. We made a lot of great memories together during my time in Hays, Kansas.
Sadly, we have only seen each other once in the last 5 years - at the Herndon Ox Roast in 2010.

And while this is far from a good picture of us, it is probably my best memory:

dancing in the street, beers in hand, in the pouring rain until 4 o'clock in the morning. 

Best. Night. Ever.

And now my dear friend Kate is coming from Colorado to visit this weekend.

Eeek!

I am so excited I could pee!

I can't wait for her to get here. We have so much catching up to do!

 



good for the soul

Yesterday I was driving down the highway, and I had one of those moments. The sun was shining, a great song came on the radio, and I got that feeling of complete unencumbered happiness. That feeling that makes you feel devoid of obligations and take a second to notice just how great your life really is. And just for a few moments, you feel free - even if there are three small children in the backseat. But this time, rather than fighting or whining for a dropped sippy cup, they were actually singing along. Happy. And believe me, with toddlers and a baby, you have to cling to these sweet moments.

We had a good weekend filled with lots of small little moments that added together to make it special.

Friday was a lazy day. We had nowhere to be, and Jared and I actually got to spend time together - just us. We put the kids to bed and had a conversation. An uninterrupted adult conversation. That lasted longer than two minutes. Sadly, it seemed like a real treat.

Saturday was Sweet Corn Daze in our town. Usually by this point in the summer, I am so tired of eating it that I turn down every offer from my dad. However, this year it has been significantly delayed. I hadn't had any until this weekend. And the girls LOVE it, especially Avery. (This should be no surprise.)

Bailey rode with her Aunt Justy in the parade. She was so stinkin' excited about it. You could just tell she was so happy to be riding in the car's rumble seat and throwing candy to all the people. I don't think she ever stopped waving.

Avery was dressed in a jumper. How is it that I have a three year old now and neither of my girls have ever worn a cute summer jumper like this? It wasn't so convenient for diaper changes, but that cuteness outweighed the annoyance this time.

There were events throughout the day. The main highlight for my children was the "jumpies" - aka the inflatables. For five bucks, you have unlimited jumping and some tired out kids come nap time. Money well spent.


My sisters Catrina and Justy came over later that night and we did each others' hair and picked out clothes. Later we headed up to a street dance held outside a local bar.

Saturday evening our babysitter showed up, and we were free of children for a few hours.

Seriously, just a few hours of childless fun

shows an immediate positive change in my life outlook some days.

It feels amazing to act like a crazy college student again. No thoughts of scattered toys or diapers or fighting over which bedtime song gets sung first. Just a night of fun ahead.

The street dance also served as my 10-year class reunion. It was very informal, which worked out great. A band was playing and the drinks were flowing. Out of a class of 40-something, about half showed up. There were very few awkward moments and it was good to share laughs with some of the people that were my friends from way back. Like fighting over toys at preschool as 4 year-olds far back.

I love these people.
We never see each other enough.
And we can all be flaky bitches, but they are my flaky bitches.

My Saturday was fun and I paid for it Sunday morning as Graham woke me up after three hours of sleep. I groggily warmed up a bottle and he ate a whole 2 ounces before realizing he wasn't drinking straight from the tap. Crying ensued, but seeing as I didn't want a drunk 8 month-old, he had to tough it out with the bottle.

The rest of the day was spent out at my parent's farm. After a nice lunch with my grandma Connie and grandpa Lyle, we spent the afternoon out in the sunshine watching Bailey learn hopscotch while Avery threw and kicked every ball she could find.
It made me happy to see my dad and his little sidekick Bailey go about feeding cattle and "fixing" things. I liked seeing my grandparents enjoy little moments of my kids singing songs and giving hugs. It felt good to just not care that all three kids were filthy and naps were missed.
It all just felt good.
Summer will be coming to a close oh-so-very soon, and I want to squeeze in some final carefree moments before it is gone for good.

KC

This past Saturday trip was a total success. For me at least. (Sorry Jared.)

Old friends reunited for a night of laughs.

And beers.

And cupcakes.

We talked into the wee hours of the evening about old stories, new events in our lives, and even more old stories. Lord knows we have a lot of them; just ask our significant others - they can probably recite them all, too.

Some time after 1 AM Kevin lugged out a large box of old photos. Almost all of them brought back old memories. Many of them were embarrassing. And some were also slightly depressing as we realized just how much thinner we were back in those days.

I have known these people f-o-r-e-v-e-r.
I honestly went to preschool with Kevin, Shelby, and Holly. 

That's like 23 years of friendship right there.

And Sarah was my best friend starting in 3rd grade.
She was my friend through the fat years, the braces years, the glasses years, and the short hair year. Sadly a couple of those overlapped... Yikes!

I think it's really awesome that 10 years out of high school now, we are all still good friends. We might not see each other very often, but our histories are interwoven in a way that I won't experience with anyone else. Every single time we get together my stomach hurts from laughter. We don't have to do anything special. Some of the best times we have had involved a cooler and someone's living room/garage/barn. I can always count on them to remind me of all the stupid things I have done in the past - most of which they were doing right along with me. (Believe me, Kevin has the pictures to prove it!)

I am so glad we got together.

I love you guys.

Getting Away

I love having something to look forward to. Before Jared and I had kids, we would plan vacations. It gave us something to look forward to during a particularly hellish day/week/month at work. It was extra motivation to pick up a bonus shift or two.
Now it is rare for us to have more than a few hours alone; unheard of since Graham came along. {That needy little baby...}

So I am particularly excited about the month of April.

For one, I will be reuniting in Kansas City with my hometown friends:

Holly, Shelby, Sarah, and Kevin.

 

It will be a girls' weekend {Kevin's words}.

And while it is actually only one night since both Holly and I have newborns, I am still psyched for it. It will be a much-needed break from my never-ending routine around here.
Plus, a certain little man can't attempt to nurse on me if I am hours away.
Hooray!

I love my kids dearly, but they are tiring.
And while I really do love the baby stage, there are moments when I am in the same recliner every evening for a 2-3 hour stretch, unable to move with a little boy latched onto me where I literally feel like I just need to do something else - anything else!
Forget restless leg syndrome, it is more like restless body. I just feel claustrophobic.
I think a good 24 hours away will help me feel refreshed. {Usually the word "refreshed" doesn't apply to a night spent drinking and eating way too much while sleeping too little, but it just might in this case.}


And then a few weeks later, my three sisters and I will be meeting up in Des Moines for a night.

Yay!

{one of my faves of all time. doing what we do best: laughing}

 

Jared was given two vouchers for a free night's stay while he was in Des Moines for training last April. We used one of them ourselves back last June for our anniversary {story here}, so we still have one remaining free stay.
Jared - being the wonderful husband that he is - suggested I use the voucher and meet up with my sisters for some shopping and a night away. And believe me, I jumped on that offer!

I know some women probably don't think a night hanging out with their sisters sounds that amazing, but I definitely do. I love my sisters. As much as we can piss each other off, they are my best friends. Each of us knows exactly what to do or say to crack the other one up. Throw in a million inside jokes and old family stories - along with some beer and vodka - and you have the makings for a really good time.
Oh, and food.   
It wouldn't be fun for Felicia if we weren't planning on some delicious food, too.

gratitude

I have been doing pretty good on my new year's resolution to keep a gratitude journal.

In fact, I haven't even missed a day yet. Pretty good for me.

Most nights I lay down Little Man in his pack-n-play in our room and ready myself for bed too. And because I set my glasses down on the bedside table, I always end up feeling my journal that is sitting there in the dark. And then I remember: oh yeah, I need to write in that.
So it is a built-in reminder apparently.
It hasn't been too hard to find things to be grateful for. There is a lot really.

Yesterday's entry:

1) Old friends
I met Kevin at Holly's house to meet her newborn daughter Landrey for the first time.
So cute! We just sat around gossiping, discussing gross birthing topics (sorry Kevin!), and holding our respective newborns.

2) Mexican food
We met my grandparents and my sister Justy for supper. The food tasted extra good now that I can finally enjoy a tiny little margarita with it.

3) Baby snuggles
Graham and I shared an amazing mid-afternoon nap in the recliner. Nothing better than a warm blanket and an even warmer little baby.

And speaking of sweet little babies...
 mine is letting me know it is time for a snack.

This mobile milk machine better get going!

Birthdays

Today is Number 28 for me.

28 years ago, after laboring at home for most of the day, my mom had to call up to my grandma's house to beg her to make my dad come take her to the hospital...NOW.
His response: "Well... let me finish this last load of corn first." 
Thankfully they made it to the hospital for my arrival a few short hours later.

This year I got to thinking of some of my past birthdays. We always had a birthday party with family - grandparents, along with my Aunt Donna, Uncle John and my two cousins, but I didn't have a big party with friends very often.

Therefore, the birthday that sticks out in my mind is my 7th birthday party. I begged and begged to be able to have a whole bunch of friends over. I was so excited when my mom agreed and all the girls in my class came over after school.  I remember getting off the school bus with all my friends and seeing the huge "Happy Birthday" sign my mom and younger sisters had made for me and hung on the fence.

We opened presents, played outside and, of course, had cake and ice cream.

I remember my dad loading up a hay rack and taking us on a hay ride behind the tractor. I thought that was so cool.

I don't remember much about presents, with the exception of the awesome new shirt I got to wear the next day:

There is a wonderful home video of me opening a present with this shirt inside. I make the most obnoxious over-the-top excited face when I open it. And it has become a classic in our family. When we stumbled across it on accident a couple of years back, I thought I was going to have to do mouth-to-mouth on my sisters and Jared because they basically stopped breathing they were laughing so hard. If they could figure out a way to upload it from VHS onto the Internet, believe me, they would - just for their own entertainment.

And lastly, a birthday that stands unparalleled in its awesomeness is my 21st birthday.

My friends Shelby, Holly, and Kevin made the 8 hour drive to Hays, Kansas to surprise me for my birthday. Unbeknownst to me, Jared had lined it all up - having never even met them before - and they jumped out of his apartment bedroom to surprise me that night. I was so shocked I started crying. It was seriously the best.  {Jared is really good at surprises.}

We spent the weekend doing the things you do for someone's 21st.

(And if you don't know what that entails, we clearly are not friends.)

Many shenanigans ensued.

And many biscuits and gravy (and gravel) were consumed from Tiger Alley at 2 AM.

 And then there was a small E.R. visit the next morning so my torn-off toenail could be sewed back on.    

Hey, at least alcohol is a good analgesic...!

I also got some good sympathy and a courtesy ride in the WalMart wheelchair.

All in all, it was a majestic weekend.

Holly got a free fake ID from a drunk girl on the street, Kevin opened a door on my toe, and my closest friends and future husband bonded over many (many, many) cans of beer. It was a success.

And while this birthday will certainly be liquor-free, I will certainly still be surrounded by people I love.

I will just have to make up for the lack of tequila next year.  ;)

Kansas weekend

The weekend was fast, but it was a good one.

We were loaded up and on the road by 6:30 Friday morning, with a quick stop for a donut or two at Casey's, of course. The girls were cooperative and Bailey was even excited about a trip in the car.

I did the driving (all 7 1/2 hours of it) while viewing this in the passenger seat:

Jared was mighty comfy camped out with two pillows and a blanket.

Thankfully he was tired enough to not object to my choice of music or its volume.

We made the trip is good time - very good time actually. Except for a 40-mile stretch of "road construction" in Nebraska (which literally consisted of traffic cones and blocked lanes with no actual construction), the traffic was good. I tend to drive pretty, shall we say, "aggressively."

If you are a slow driver in the left lane, we are definitely not friends.

After a lengthy lunch break, we made it to Jared's dad's house in Herndon by 3:30.  We had just enough time to unload, clean up, and make it to the wedding rehearsal. Everyone basically turned in early in preparation for the wedding the following evening. Which, in hindsight, was definitely a good idea.

Saturday was a pretty casual day to start off with. We hung out at Alan and Ann's and let the girls enjoy not being trapped in the car. Esther (Jared's step-grandma) got to meet Avery for the first time and Bailey got in some Papa Alan time.

Later we took Bailey around and introduced her to some horses.

She was okay with looking at the horse and maybe even petting it for about two seconds, but she wanted nothing to do with sitting on it. The first time Jared put her on she screamed and cried hysterically.

It wasn't until we were ready to leave that she suddenly said, "I want on horse!"

{She always needs to do things on her own time table.}

The "ride" lasted all of half a minute, but it was enough to snap one quick picture and for her to tell us over and over that she rode the horse.  We also had to go see some cows so that she could bring them up for the next day as well.

Later that night was Greg and Lina's wedding in Atwood. 

Greg Mumm and Jared are 2nd cousins. They have spent many hours drinking beer together in Herndon, at Oktoberfests, or anywhere else cold beer is available. We have many fond college memories that involve Mr. Greg Mumm, many of which should not be detailed in any form on this blog. Greg was the best man in our wedding and I know Jared was honored to be a part of Greg's.

Sadly, since we have lived so far away, we only met his new bride for the first time this past weekend. Lina is a cool girl and I can see why Greg snatched her up. {And she voiced approval of my M-Bolt concert attendance, so she is definitely top-notch in my book.}

The wedding reception was a good time, even while managing two little kids. Thankfully other kids were there so ours weren't the only ones making noise and running around during the reception. I was also very thankful for help from Jared's dad, especially when it came time to doling out the food and keeping them entertained at the table. Bailey was more than ready for the dancing to start. She was practicing her moves as soon as the dinner music began.  Then someone gave her a popsicle that was completely thawed out. So basically juice in flimsy plastic.  She loved it. And to the lady who gave it to her: umm thanks, but you really shouldn't have. Like really - you shouldn't have.

She was a sticky, orange-flavored mess.

Meanwhile this one insisted on only being held by me.

A room full of eager and willing relatives, and I got stuck holding this little stinker the entire time.

Family picture at the wedding

So as you can imagine, we had an even better time when Papa Alan took the girls home and watched them for the rest of the night.

HEAVEN!

{Alan: you were super-grandpa and we definitely owe you one.}

So even though I was sober and completely aware of how ridiculous I looked, I danced and had fun. That's the thing about Kansas. Every time we go back there and hang out with friends, we always have a good time. No matter what we are doing.

I was reflecting on that thought as I was driving yesterday.

It's so great to catch up with good friends you haven't seen in a while. You remember all the fun you always had together and how much you still have in common. But it is bittersweet in a way. At the wedding we were talking to Jared's cousin Abe and his wife Alex, who have two girls about the same age as ours. Alex said, "Why don't we ever have a play date or just hang out together?" And I replied, "It's probably because of that whole 6-hour distance thing." Oh yeah...

It sucks. We have friends spread out across Colorado and Kansas and Nebraska and Iowa that we just don't get to see much. I suppose that is what happens when you go to college out of state and meet friends from other places. When you graduate, you all go your separate ways and live your own lives. But I miss them. I miss all the fun times we had and the fun times we could be having. Sometimes I wish I could call up my friend Tara to come have a Long Island Iced Tea with me on some random Tuesday afternoon or that Jared could swing by Greg's house to talk about whatever it is guys talk about.

So while I occasionally wish we were all just one big happy group of friends like those featured on a weeknight sitcom, I am grateful for the good friends that we can see once a year (or even less) and still pick up right where we left off. We might not see each other all that often, but I still cherish these friendships. And I am thankful for reasons to get together. Like a wedding.

Congrats again to Greg & Lina Mumm!

Hello 2012!

The Solkos had a less-than thrilling New Year's Eve. I was on call for work and at Beaner's apartment in Omaha, where I drove some (already tipsy) girls to a bar to celebrate. I arrived home at 11 to find everyone asleep. I rang in the new year alone while pumping on the couch. Ho-hum... And come to think of it, the last fun (ie: involving alcoholic beverages) new year's celebration that I celebrated was waaaaaay back in 2005. Wow. Lame-o. But I suppose things are a bit different now... {like I have a job and kids}. Oh well. One of these years we will party it up in style - assuming the world doesn't end this year of course.

2011 was good to us.

We got to take a trip to Denver and visit Jared's mom's family. 

And Jared's Grandpa Norm got to meet Bailey for the first time.

We celebrated Bailey's first birthday in February...

and then welcomed another little handful in May.

Avery Josephine Solko

                                

Summer brought a lot of fun and parties to celebrate great moments in the lives of some of our favorite people.

Justy, my youngest little sis, turned 21 in July! And it's a good thing that it only happens once, too.

Say whatever you like about us, but we know how to have fun!

             

My cousin Alan married Tierney in August.

I feel lucky to have two cousins that are more like brothers to us.
{And I know the picture is horrible and blurry, but I love it anyway.}

Our friend Shelby married JD in September. And as every bride fears, it rained on her wedding day.

Despite the rain monsoon, the ceremony and reception were beautiful and the night was epic.

[and here is my official apology for kinda sorta knocking over the bar... Sorry Stoolmans!]

Not everything was rosy and wonderful (ie: most of the month of May), but we got through it together. And the hard times make you appreciate the wonderfulness of ordinary, run-of-the-mill days along with the days of joy and celebration. 

I hope for happiness for you all in 2012!