New Sod!

While we were in Big Springs a GIPS employee that does lawn work in the summer came and sodded our front lawn for us.  We were very pleased with how it turned out.  Now we just have to keep it watered.  I hope it settles in and blends in with our previous grass.  It makes that empty spot look so much better.  

Grandma Lillie's 90th!

This past weekend we traveled to Big Springs, Nebraska to celebrate Kurtis' Grandmother's 90th birthday and to have a family reunion.  Our gathering place was the Phelps Hotel which is actually a Bed & Breakfast in Big Springs.  If you ever need a place to stay in that area it was absolutely perfect, cheap and it felt like home.  The Dudo crew stayed upstairs and all the events took place downstairs.  Each room was unique and they each had their own bathroom with a clawfoot bathtub.  Let's just say I could have stayed in there forever.

We arrived in Big Springs on Friday along with many of Kurtis' other family members. My ultimate goal by the weekend was to learn everyone's names and I think I mastered it. It was fun getting to know his family.  There were a lot of people there that Kurtis hadn't seen since he was a little boy, so it was fun.  

On Saturday we had our celebration.  We spent a lot of time eating (of course) and some went to the pool.  Landon and I hung out all day and Kurtis went golfing with his cousins in the morning.  That afternoon we took family photos.  I was the designated photographer for the weekend since I had one of the nicest cameras.  I was really nervous that I was going to mess them all up since everyone was relying on me so I had his cousin help me as well.  She does photography on the side as well and does a lot of landscape photos.  It was just nice having backup just in case mine didn't turn out; however, I am very pleased with the family photos I took.  I didn't post them all but I did about 6 different families.  

That evening we all sat around and told memories of Grandma.  It was so fun to hear all the things that she did with her kids and grandkids.  What a super fun lady!  Of course it was followed by cake and ice cream!  

It was a very nice weekend!  

 I was actually in a picture!  

 Uncle Fred's Family!  

Uncle Fred and Landon

Kurtis' mom, her sisters, brother, and Grandma

The Dudo Crew

 Everyone hanging out!

 The entire family!

 Kurtis' cousins Natalie and Aaron picking on their nephew Nolan!

 Kurtis' cousin Cody and Grandma

 Grandma and her 90 candles

Grandma's personal cake that she took home with her.

 All the great-grandkids

Kurtis and all his cousins.  He is the youngest cousin.

Escapee!

There are some early mornings that Landon wakes up at 6 and I'm just not ready to get up yet so I put him in his swing to go back to sleep for a just a little longer.  However..... One morning I woke up and this is how he looked.  It was even worse when his butt was hanging off and the only thing left on the swing was his upper body.  What a crazy little kid.  I put him in the swing another afternoon and I caught his escapee action!  He wiggled and kicked himself all the way to the bottom of the swing.  I guess it is time to strap him in!

Cereal!

 Our first bite of cereal!  I must have thought his reaction was funny.

 He really didn't know what to think.  He kept making a sour face after each bite.

 We both reacted to this one.  

After awhile he didn't think it was all that bad.  

4 month checkup!

Well we headed to Landon's 4 moth check up and everything looks good for the most part...we'll get to that in a bit.  He is a BIG baby and I've always known that; however, it is a healthy BIG.   He weighed 17 lbs. 15 oz and is 27 inches long.  The doctor said he is not overweight by any means.  His height and weight match up perfectly.  Since he is so long that plays a huge role in his weight.  He is in the 95th percentile for weight and 98th percentile for height.  He is continuing to meet all his milestones and we got approval to start cereal even though we have already been doing it the last 2 days.  


So.... now for the most part.  The doctor is still concerned about his head and his flat spot on the back.  Dr. Steinke said it is getting better but still has a ways to go.  She scheduled us an appointment with the Omaha Children's Hospital for a consultation at the beginning of August.  The appointment will last for 2 hours and we will meet with a nurse, a doctor and a therapist.  If they feel the need for him to wear a helmet then they will do all the scans while we are there too.  Makes me kind of sad, but I would rather do it now because she said it is harder to fix when he gets older.  I am very happy though, that we are blessed with a healthy little baby!  

Giggles!

This weekend was the first weekend Landon really started to giggle.  The first time was when we were on our way home from Dairy Queen.  Grandpa Dudo was in the backseat playing with him and he was just giggling away.  Then on Monday my brother and his wife came over and my brother got him to giggle as well.  Way too cute!  

Annevar!

Our GRAND PRIZE float!!

Landon and Grandma Phillips

Wow, what an awesome weekend we had with our family!  Every year it is our family's tradition to attend Annevar together in Ravenna.  My mom's side of the family is from this area so it has been something we have done since I was a little girl.  This year was fun of course because Landon was there to take part in the events and it was the first year in eleven years we made a float.  We don't make one every year and we decided this was a year we needed to make one!  

 Our long weekend started on Wednesday night when Landon and I traveled to Grandma Urwiller's house to begin working on the float. The mosquitos were horrible so Landon hung out with my Grandma in the camper while we all worked on the foundation.  We didn't get home this night until around 10:30.  Let's say that Landon was exhausted.  

Then on Thursday we headed back to Ravenna for the Prince and Princess contest.  I entered Landon in the 4-8 month category.  This was definitely an event to see.  There were sooooo many cute kids.  Landon had 7 other little ones in his category and they gave out two awards.  We had to stand in front of the judges and they decided right then on the spot who the winners were.  The little girl next to use kept trying to kiss Landon.  Good thing he is used to the kisses, thanks to Jadyn.  He won the cuddliest award!!  He got a certificate and his picture will be in the newspaper.  After the contest we then went back to my Aunt's house to meet up with the rest of the family and she made us homemade pizza. My parents, Aunt Christie, and grandparents then went back to the melon stand to finish up the float so it was ready to go for the morning. 

Friday we had a day off and Kurtis' parents came this direction to take part in the weekend's big events since we talk about how awesome it is every year.

Saturday was the big event!  My mother-in-law, Landon and I met up with the entire family in Ravenna to get ready for the parade.  We got Landon all dressed up in his watermelon costume and hung out waiting for judging and the parade to actually start.  Let's just say waiting around for that long was a little hard on a 4 month old especially with the temperatures rising.  He was such a trooper though and toughed it out.  My mom helped a ton with keeping him happy and cool.  After waiting around for 2 hours we finally started the parade.  Landon was so cute!  (I'm sure I already said that but he really was)  The crowd loved our float and it was fun to hear all their comments when we passed by.  

It was all worth it because we got the GRAND PRIZE!!

After the parade we headed back home and later that evening went back to Ravenna again.  Kurtis and his Dad went to the Tractor Pull and the rest of my family walked around the carnival, rode on rides and of course played Bingo (another family tradition especially us cousins).  I played about 30 games and kept losing and of course my cousins Dylan and Kody kept winning.  Finally the very last game before the storm hit and I had to leave, I WON!!  I bought 4 cards the last game to finish it out and I guess it was worth it.  

Annevar is absolutely amazing and I think a lot of it has to do with the time I was able to spend with my family.  I am so blessed that we are all so close.  It is so fun to spend time with all my Aunts and Uncles, cousins, grandparents, etc.  It was also fun to have my in-laws there for the festivities.  I am definitely excited for next year already!!  

4 months!

My little man is already 4 months and I'm loving every minute I have with him this summer.  I have yet to take his 4 month pictures but in the mean time here are some of the highlights of what is happening in his life.  

*  The teeth are coming!  We are constantly drooling everywhere and chewing on our fingers and fists non stop.  Mommy is always changing his shirts and putting bibs on.  

* He slept through the night again on Saturday but it is still not consistent.  1 time around 4:00 isn't bad though!! 

*  He is yet to roll over but we are really close.

*  He is working on his fine motor skills by playing in his excersaucer.  He is really starting to figure out how to turn the various shapes and make it bounce using his legs.  It is fun to watch him because he is so serious when he is playing.  

*  Holding himself up with a little support.

*  Noises...Bubbles...Noises...Bubbles and more Noises!  He is constantly making noises and blowing bubbles.  It is fun to have little conversations with him.  He really loves talking.

Stars!!

Landon and I went to a few garage sales this morning in town but it was so hard getting in and out of the car.  I definitely like the city wide ones better.  Anyways our final stop was the Barnett's garage sale.  I walked around their neighborhood and found a bag of star glasses and trophies for $1.  It was the biggest find yet! Landon and Kurtis had so much fun playing with them.  Landon didn't mind them on at all.  He even practiced his rockstar moves!  Way too fun!

Visit!

Today my high school friend Sarah, her husband Chris, and their two boys (plus another on the way) came through GI to visit.  They were on their way to Omaha for a family vacation and decided to stop through to visit.  This was the first time they have seen Landon since he was born and our house. Of course it was fun to see how big her boys are getting.  One will be starting Kindergarten in the fall.  It is so hard to believe how fast they grow up.  They were both full of stories and of course they wanted to explore our house.  "Somewhere New"!!  I put together little travel bags for them that had a traveling drawing/game board, water toys for the pool, a visor for the zoo, gummy bears and other little toys/books to keep them entertained on their journey to Omaha.  It was so much fun to spoil them!  

I don't make it back to Hays very often anymore since my parents are here so much so I miss getting to see her.  Even though we are miles apart it is awesome that we are still so close.  I don't know what I'd do without her.  I am truly blessed.  Thanks to the Desaires for coming to visit!  I can't wait to see them again in July when I finally make it home.

Bye Bye Dead Tree!

 Our tree being chopped down one piece at a time.

 It is crazy how fast they were able to take it down.  After this stage they tied a piece of rope to the top and sawed the bottom trunk.  When it started to fall two guys pulled the tree down towards the corner of our lot.  

 The remains of the tree!  

 Now, our huge bare spot.  They are coming back later to take out the stump. So now what to do..... I really want to put in some sod and maybe a smaller ornamental tree so that our yard is not off balanced.  I may re-landscape down the road but probably not this year.  

A little off balanced but we'll come up with something.  It is crazy how big that tree was and how much space it took up.  It really blocked our house.

The tree in our front lawn was beautiful but way too big and way too close to our house.  Plus, if you walked up close to it you would notice that it was pretty much dead on the inside.  The tree people said that those types of trees don't last for more than 20 some years and ours was long past that.  We just decided to take it out rather than let it get worse.  

House Projects!

 We finally got our back door painted and our friend Jon is coming over tonight to put on our new screen door so that I can paint the outside of the door.  Now, we need to add the trim in the sunroom.  Then on to the new blinds.  We are planning on new white ones so it should make our door look better. The greens clash right now.

 A three year project in the making... I am finally painting the trim in our living room.  It just needs refreshed.  However, as I was painting I realized the floor is uneven so we may have to add an accent piece of trim around the entire room so that you can't see that.  Oh how I love when one project turns into another.  

My newest project is getting the stairs painted underneath.  I can't wait to do this one because I found online the idea to put a number on each stair going up.  So, if you come to my house you can count up to 11!  I can't wait!!  We have our floor guy coming over tonight too to give us an estimate to refinish the tops of them to match the landing stairs. 

When Kurtis and I were searching for a house we were wanting an older house with some character.  However, the only bad part about an old house is that the projects are never ending.  Plus it seems like one project leads to another; which is fine.  But... when you have a husband who doesn't like doing home projects it makes it harder.  I love it but it just takes twice as long especially with a baby to care for too.  So, I may need to rent a husband for a weekend or two!!  

1st Play Date=Success

Today was the first of many summer play dates.  Landon and I met Hayley and Hayden, Megan and Jadyn and Erin and Monroe at the park.  There were many others that couldn't make it this week but will join us next time.  Even though Landon is too little to play it is so nice to get out of the house and have some adult time.  It was also fun playing with the other kids.  I can't wait to hang out the rest of the summer.  It is so fun watching all the kids interact and grow up.  I am blessed to have such an amazing group of friends where I work.