My Conner...

He was SOOO tired after his LONG birthday!

Happy 5th Birthday Conner. You mean more to me than I can ever express. You are such a sweet boy. Always thinking of how to make others feel better. You are so helpful with or without being asked. Your heart is so sweet that it makes me melt. I love you so much and am VERY proud of you. You are such a special son and a special brother. Our family is so blessed to have you be part of it!

Thank you God for SWEET Conner!

I enjoyed sitting with Conner on his bed while he fell asleep tonight. I held Brooke and watched Conner doze off. It was so surreal. Thinking that it has been 5 years since I got to hold him like that and rock him to sleep. Watching him and holding her it was neat to go back to that time when he was little. He is still just as precious as he was as a baby. I am so very blessed with these three children and there awesome daddy. Thanking God daily for such a life as this!

seems like all I have time for lately

are quick picture posts... no different today:/ Hoping soon I can do more! But here is our Halloween! We had lots of fun!!!

A post of few words

I don't have time to write about each pictures... but just a summary...
We've decorated pumpkins, looked at Halloween items in each store we've visited... each time we visit that store, decorated cookies with friends, made a haunted cookie house, spent time with friends, spent time with our sweet little girl, and Conner got to play the catcher on his baseball team.
Unfortunately among all these fun things we did, I could not figure out (simply- I really didn't try to hard-sorry) how to rotate the pictures that I downloaded from my phone. Sorry. Hope you don't leave here with a sore neck:)

Happy Birthday Parker

Happy 3rd birthday Parker. I can't believe you are already 3 years old. I can very distinctly remember bringing you home 3 years ago. I remember exactly what you were like as a baby. What a sweet little thing you were... and lucky for me, you are still just as sweet.

I am surprised at how much love my heart overflows with love for you. You are my little boy and I look forward to watching you grow just like you have these last 3 years. I love you!

sweet ladies...

This picture is so special... My auntie loving on my sweet daughter. Oh my goodness, I just love showering my babies with kisses, and it melts my heart to see my special auntie doing the same thing. Brooke loves kisses! When she's fussing, so far a sure-fire way to soothe her is to give her lots of kisses and she calms right down. Love that!

I guess I didn't see this picture of the ones Darin took, but I really liked it... it was right after she was born. Isn't she darling?!

Life doesn't get any better than this!

Proud Daddy with his little princess!

Proud Great Grandfather with his 6th born great grandchild. 2nd born great grand daughter.

Oh I love this family!

Here she is! Happy Birthday beautiful Baby Brooke!

"I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind that I put into words, How wonderful life is that you're in the world." Elton John.

I am so blessed by what God has given me! First and foremost a son who came and died on the cross in my place. Because of this sacrifice I am able to enjoy these precious gifts without reservation and no heaviness on my heart. Then... in 2004 two blessings came one in January, my wonderful husband Darin and another in November, my incredible little boy Conner who now is actually getting really big, in 2006 my sweet cuddly Parker boo, and now in 2009 a precious little girl Brooke. This song may be a little corny, but seriously... So glad Elton John "put into words" how wonderful my life is with these 4 in the world. Hope you enjoy the pictures. I'd like to write more, but I am having a REALLY hard time keeping my eyes open.

What a sweet boy we have on our hands!

A few mornings ago I was in my bathroom blow drying my hair, and Conner came in and said...
"Mommy, I made your blanket up for you." I didn't really know what he was talking about, but he said "Come look." So I did, and this is what I found. My sweet little 4 year old son who doesn't make his own bed decided to make our bed for us without any kind of prompting. Isn't that the sweetest thing you've ever seen. It was for me. I actually cried. And, I told him that was the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me! Had to share it!
And he did a pretty good job.

more pictures from Wisconsin, and one for Wanda...

Sorry, there isn't much in this post except pictures. I am so tired, and lucky to have done this much!

Here is me at 35 weeks and 5 days. Wanda your mom said she had orders to get a picture of me to see how fat I am:) Well, she didn't say fat.. but there is a reason I haven't posted many pictures of myself lately!

"Gampa App" and Conner driving the four wheeler... that is Darin and Parker in the trailer they are pulling.

LOL... it actually looks like they're driving here... But they were just playing on it.

Conner and his first sparkler

Parker and his first sparkler

Grandpa Lapp and Parker out fishing on the lake.

Daddy and Conner with yet another catch. Lots of fun!

My dad and I with our very old friend Bob. My dad and him have been friends since before I was born.

Parker and my uncle Rory. Conner had LOTS of fun wrestling with Uncle Rory, but Parker was VERY unsure about him.

Conner and Great Grandpa Lapp. He just LOVED the boys, and they sure loved him too! We are so blessed to have great grandparents on both sides for the boys!

Great Grandpa with the boys again.

Conner with another fish.LOL... everytime they caught a fish they wanted to touch its eyes, and then they would comment on how "squishy" they were. Don't know what we are going to do with a girl.

Parker and one of his catches.

a picture from Wisonsin...

Lots to say... little time.

Not that I have a little bit of time right now... I have many other things I should be doing, but nothing pressing on me. The problem is that I have been having a really hard time getting around to posting something lately.
We had a fabulous trip to Wisconsin which ended last Friday. We did so much while we were up there! Fishing, campfires, four wheeling,a fish fry, clay bird shooting, and most importantly spending time with special family up there... My dad, my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, great aunts and uncles. We had so much fun, and made some special memories.
We rented a minivan and I can't even begin to say how well the boys did! They totally exceeded our expectations of what the trip would be like! Conner enjoyed getting to watch unlimited movies, and Parker just kind of hung out. One day while driving (a day that we spent 12 hours traveling) Parker got bored, and it was the funniest thing to watch a two year old get bored. He was babbling, and drawing out his words like a song... Darin and I were hysterical.
We enjoyed swimming in each hotels pool that we stayed at... and we really enjoyed all the corn fields we drove by. Not really, actually. I could not believe the miles of nothing that Iowa and Kansas are.
While in Wisconsin the boys got to fish quite a bit and they both caught several fish. It was really fun to watch them reel them in (with help) and the excitement on their faces was priceless.
The hilarious story of the trip is that on our last night there Darin and I were talking about all the things we did while we were there and what were the boys favorite parts of the trip. We asked them if they enjoyed fishing, and then if they thought it was fun to watch Grandpa Lapp clean the fish. They both said yes, and I said (note: my dad is a big hunter) "Maybe someday you guys could watch grandpa clean a dear, or a duck or something." And Parker, as serious as can be said "Or a people." At that Conner, Darin and I just laughed and laughed. Being the little comedian he is Parker continued on with all kinds of things he thought would make us laugh. He is so cute!
Anyway, I have pictures to post, but they are not here at the computer... I know I'm lazy... but I will post them later.

4th of July fun

Ok, I am really tired... long sleepless night last night. So here are some pictures from our really fun day before my endless night of backache, headaches, leg cramps and Parker in my bed which led to worries of a toothless almost 3 year old that I was afraid I might wake up to. Seriously, can grinding your teeth chip them? Make them fall out? This kid was at work last night while he was sleeping. I was so nervous, I kept waking him up to stop... and I am so not the type of mom that wakes up a child. Finally I had to force myself to get up and take him to his own bed. I was getting NO sleep over the sounds of jackhammer next to me. Not that I got any sleep without it... Ok, sorry that you had to read that vent. All that to say, we had a WONDERFUL 4th of July.... The only thing that would have made it better was if Darin was in town.:(

Me and Parker watching the Double Oak parade in the 100 degree heat after our mile long walk in it. Poor NeMa and PopBob... I think we miscommunicated about the distance of our walk. They were pretty hot and tired by the time we got there... and definitly by the time the parade ended and we walked all the way back home.

Conner took this picture of NeMa and PopBob. Pretty good huh?

SWEET BOY!

Another one!

Cuties at the parade!

Oh yes, I watched the parade from the red wagon.

The "4" of us in the back of the truck filled with sleeping bags waiting for the fireworks to start. I don't think I spilled anything on my shirt. Not sure what those marks are... but hey, I totally could have spilled something!LOL

Yay next year we'll have baby Brooke in the back of the truck with us. And hopefully, Daddy?