1st Dentist visit=success

playing in the waiting room while daddy got his teeth cleaned
Harper's turn
X-ray pictures

cleaning with flouride by Hygentist

counting and scraping with the Dentist

I am so proud of Harper for doing an amazing job at the dentist. I had to explain to the hygentist (who was amazed at how well she did for her age) that my role at work consists of preparing children for potentially traumatic events in the hospital setting. By giving them developmentally appropriate explanations, I aim to help minimize the stress of the potentially "stressful event" and empower them with knowledge they can understand. I use this approach with Harper when it comes to the doctor and the dentist. We read about it before hand, she is aware of the events that will take place, and we often times role play with the doctor kit. Going to the doctor and dentist is not scary for her at all and she even looks forward to the event. She loves getting a sticker and the small tokens they give away as prizes at the end of the visit. She picked out this tiny plastic junky ring that broke the minute they got home. Teaf told me tonight that it was sad to see her face when it broke. This crappy little ring was a treasure to her. He looks at me and says "I promised her we would replace it." I am thinking to myself, really? we are going to buy ANOTHER crappy ring that will break. I turn to him and say "did you tell her that she can pick out another prize the next time we go to the dentist." His response: "no, i figured we could get her a candy ring or something." Me- "ok, honey;)"

gnomies...

We call ourselves the 42nd street gnomies:) These Child Life Gnomes took our patients trick or treating at the hospital on Halloween. It was a fun day and it's always a good time to dress out of the normal work attire and spread Halloween cheer.

a year later...

Harper-2 years

Harper-3 years

Livia- 2 months

Livia- 14 months

Another year later and they just keep growing right before our eyes. I know this is how it's supposed to be...it just crazy to me...thats all.

Pumpkin Patch 2011

This is our second annual pumpkin patch tradition day where Grandpa & Grandma Wimmer spoil us rotten at the patch. This year we ended up getting a family pass and attended the patch weekly with the girls but nothing compares to having the grandparents along for the fun. (& Dulce too:) We ate turkey legs, fed bunnies, rode trikes, swam in corn, jumped on all the equipment they had, rode the train & hayrack ride, and watched the pigs race. I've said this before and I'll say it again...this place is a little bit of heaven to both big and little people.

Californian meets Nebraska....

Wow I don't even know where to begin. I feel flooded with all happy emotions, starting with the anticipation of a great friend from California visiting me in my home to all of the events that unfolded during our 3 day visit in October. I feel so grateful to have Dulce as my life long friend whom I met the first few days I was living in California. To start from the very beginning, Dulce worked at the hospital where I did my internship in Cali. My 23rd birthday was only a few weeks into my internship and this lovely lady and a couple other girls took "the new girl" out for dinner and drinks for my birthday. They didn't have to do it for their job sake, they did it because they are amazing:) When I moved to California, I knew no one. This lovely lady is among many great ladies I became to know and love.

I went from intern to co-worker and we developed our friendship over weekend hours spent working on Saturdays together. We had in depth talks about life on the regular and were able to be "ourselves" with each other allowing for a true deep friendship to form. Over the next years after I left California, we didn't get to see each other very often (once) and our talks were oh too frequent, but we always managed to pick right up where we left off.

Dulce arrived in "the good life" on a beautiful Friday afternoon in October. The sun was shining and the air was perfect. The leaves on the trees had just started to turn colors and it was a fantastic fall afternoon. We headed to "the gardens" and strolled around talking about everything under the sun. She decided to cook for us that evening..WHAT???...you are our visitor and you want to cook for us. I had a hard time with that but she wouldn't have it any other way:) We had a fantastic dinner and spent the rest of the evening chatin away. Saturday we headed to the pumpkin patch with the girls and Lateaf's mom & step dad. It wasn't as pretty of a day as the day before and was rainy but we stuck to it and spent hours walking around, playing in a corn pit, hayrack riding, riding the train, watching pig races, etc. That evening we went our for a lovely dinner in the Old Market and played pool witht the locals. Sunday we headed to the zoo for the day and then out to dinner again Lateaf & the girls. Our last evening together we went to an open mic night at a local pub. The hours spent together passed us by quickly and we didn't have many silences as we were talking the ENTIRE time the ENTIRE weekend. It was so amazing to have her visit.

Harper adored her new friend Ducle. She had a heck of a time remembering her name and would call her "the black haired lady." Harper would follow her around and watched her every move. She was mesmerized watching her put on make-up. ( I don't wear it) They brushed their teeth together, played with toys, and colored. Days after Dulce left Nebraska, Harper would say "what's that black haired lady's name?" Liv was equally a fan of her too:) We are all excited for our next visit from our dear friend! Thanks to Dulce for visiting us!

Happy 3rd Birthday Harper Sage!

OMG. Did I really just write that? YES I did.
Our oldest peanut is 3 years old. I can't believe it...yet I can. This little girl blows my mind. The things that come out of her mouth are crazy, beautiful, and really unbelieveable. Between working, raising the girls, being a wife and family member I have a hard time documenting all the fabulous phrases that come out of her mouth and all the wonderful qualities this little/big girl possesses. What I can say right now is that I am so proud of her and love every inch of her being. She makes me a better person everyday and I love her through and through.
Happy 3rd B-day to the girl:

• who says " I don't want to say bye to that princess" (@ our cousin Megan's wedding)


• who kisses her sisters feet before bed


• who wants me to lay with her everynight before bed and then when I go to exit she makes up something to be afraid of, like "I think I'm afraid of my ...."


• who says "yesterday morning" when she means this morning or yesterday


• who gives kisses, noses, and hugs everynight before bed


• who some mornings lays on the bathroom floor with her pillow and blanket while I get ready for work


• who gets so excited and says "that will be awesome" or "daddy will be excited"


• who says "bless you mommy" when I sneeze


• who loves to play the drum (she will pretend anything is a drum) and dance


• who loves to sing loudly to Mumford and Sons


• who loves me for me to list people in her life while laying in bed and will say "tell me all the people"


• who loves to play with her best friend Ryder


• who walks outside and says "it's a sunny day today"


• who wakes me up and says "mom the sun is up"


• who can count to 20 and recognize most of her letters (except she always skips 15)


• who loves to do arts and crafts


• who is so full of life and love every minute of the day (even the minutes she isn't listening and/or following directions;)


• who I terribly miss when I am away at work


• who is my constant ray of light


• who is the best big sister around


• who I love more and more everyday!

A Rainy weekend in October..

doesn't stop our girlies from having a blast "outside" at the lake. Most of the time they were frolicking in the rain. A few times we were able to convince them to hang out on the deck when the rain was fierce. It was a wet, muddy kind of weekend spent with the fam.

Trick or Treating 2011

Liv: 14months: baby chick

Harper: 2 years (almost 3y): Blue from Blues Clues

Ryder: 3 years (almost 4y): Optimus Prime from Transformers

Asher: 3 weeks: cute little pumpkin outfit (not pictured)

This year we were able to go Trick or Treating with our good friends the Reynolds Family. I can't tell you how excited Harper and Ryder were when running up to the houses and ringing the door bell. They took turns at each house ringing (or at least tried to) and would run back to us elated with the treats that were placed in their buckets. We went around my parents neighborhood (2 cul-de-sacs) and called it a night. Harper was mistaken for a bunny in her costume. She didn't keep her hood on that made her look more like "Blue." Liv started the night by walking, but she couldn't keep up with the older ones and really had no idea what was going on but was just happy walking about. I then grabbed the stroller so we could keep up with the bigs and we cruised along. I eventually let her walk again towards the end of the outing. It is as if she had watched what the older ones were doing while she was strolling because she would then trail behind them to the door. She would just stand there and watch and then run behind them as they left the houses. She loved it. It was a BEAUTIFUL night with the stars and moon shining bright. A perfect halloween night!

Pumkin Carving 2011

We started off the festivities with pumpkin carving on Sunday evening. (10/30) We ate pizza and carved pumpkins with the Reynolds Fam (Derick, Sonja, Ryder, and baby Asher), Aunt Shay & Uncle Jay, and the Dorsey Grandparents. Pumpkin carving at this age seems to be more time invested with the adults in scraping, carving, and cooking the seeds. Harper and Ryder were distracted with having each other around to play and therefore weren't too in to the carving session. They did spend a few mintues at the table during the first phase of carving. The adults took on the mission and we're kinda into it:) The jack-o-lanterns turned out great!

Saved by the....

CRACKER...

When taking two small peanuts on an outing with the oldest having no nap and the littlest having only an hour for the day, having crackers on a Target run is a MUST. (especially when you brave the outing by yourself) I was about 1/2 through my shopping when melt downs started to unfold. As I am talking to myself saying "I hope you have some crackers Kandra" I reached in the backpack with a little panick and was saved by the crackers:) Thanks to the smart people who invented such a snack because they are a lifesaver when desperate times call. I know it's hard to imagine these sweet faces having meltdowns;)