It seems hard to believe, but our sweet Abby turned 2 on Friday! Unfortunately, she had strep throat and a check-up in Iowa City on her birthday, but we certainly made up for it today with her birthday party. If she did not completely understand the whole concept of birthdays up until today, she is definitely a fan now! She was showered with very girly gifts from family members, feasted on purse cake and ice cream, and enjoyed the spotlight for the day. Here are a few of the highlights:
Since
we've been on a bit of a hiatus from blogging over the past few months,
here are a few other updates and pictures from the last few months.
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| We had our house painted over the summer and have a variety of house
projects and repairs that have been keeping us busy over the past few
months. Brant and Ben are putting on one of the finishing touches - the
shutters! Choosing the color was quite a fiasco... ugh. After
much time and uncertainty, they look sharp, and are actually the first color
we chose. Go figure! |
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| Ben and Abby have become quite the duo. We love that they are such good buddies and can entertain each other endlessly! Giggles coming from the playroom are like music to my ears. |
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| Ben has continued to take swimming lessons. He really enjoyed swimming this summer and has continued the lessons (indoor, of course) into the fall. |
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| Soccer! Ben participated in a 6 week soccer team, and Brant was the coach of his team. He seemed to enjoy it and it was a nice introduction to team sports... very low key! |
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| Brant and I traveled to Boston in August so Brant could get a second opinion on an eye condition (diabetic retinopathy). While there, we enjoyed a few days together in the city. He had surgery in Iowa City on September 7 and just found out this week that both eyes now back to 20/20 vision! We are very thankful! |
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| Halloween time! With the birthday party this weekend, we celebrated our family Halloween party last weekend. My friend Pinterest helped me plan a ghostly art project, and a meal full of breadstick bones, apple teeth, hot dog mummies, and ghost-krispie bars. This is the kind of stuff I love! |
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| Enjoying our abundance of fall leaves. |
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| All three of my loves! This is a glimpse of everyday silliness. |
INSERT HERE: Photo of me finishing my first half marathon last weekend!
Yep, I don't have any pictures of it, but if I did, it would be of a sweaty, tired version of myself. The highlight for me was seeing Brant, Ben, and Abby as I rounded the corner before the finish. I certainly needed the pick-me-up, and it propelled me to the end. I beat my goal time by four minutes, so I was pretty happy... and sore!
As I reflect on the past few months, we've certainly had our ups and downs, but all in all, life is pretty darn good! Hopefully, it won't be February before I make it back to the blog again! Here's to hoping...
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