Happy 2nd Birthday, Sweetheart!

Letter from Mom:



Macy,



You are our little princess with a cute personality topped off with a little attitude and spunk. I'm not quite sure if you'll ever understand the happiness you brought to both your dad and me the day you were born. We prayed and prayed for three years and finally God blessed us with you.


August 15th, 2007, 12:21 p.m. our beautiful baby girl had arrived! Daddy couldn't keep from smiling and I couldn't believe you were ours. You had the darkest hair and cutest little face. Grandpa Jerry and Grandma Marla, Grandpa Chuck and Grandma B were all there that day to welcome you to our family. We were and still are so blessed!



2 year milestones and stories:


~You can say just about anything. Well, you at least try to say anything although sometimes it doesn't sound quite right. Your dad and I have had fun listening to your vocabulary and speech grow. We've even had a few chuckles at how you mean to say one thing and it clearly sounds like something totally different, which at times, can be a little inappropriate (but you don't know that).


~You love to hug and kiss your little brother. You've been so loving since the day he was born. Sometimes you hug him so hard, he can barely breathe. We can see your little arms trembling because you squeeze him so hard. That's normally when you hear Dad or me say, "Ok, that's enough" followed by a scream from Greyson.


~You graduated to a "big girl" bed on July 15th, 2009. You seem to like it. The other night when I was reading to you, you kept looking over the side of the bed and would not lay still. I asked what you were looking for and you told me, "a monkey." I don't know if you were scared. We did get a little close to the monkey cage when we went to the zoo a couple weeks ago. I wonder if you still think about that?


~Every night after reading books, we say prayers. For the last couple months you fill in the lines/words of both "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep" and "The Lord's Prayer." We've said these prayers with you every night since the day you were born. This is what it sounds like:


Words in black = Macy


"Our Father who art in heban, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heban, Give us this day our dayee bed and forgive us our pacifiers as we forgive those who pacifier against us. Lead us not into tation, but deliver us from ebil, kingdom, powo, gory, foever, Amen! "


~You sing lots of songs including, the ABC's, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Mr. Sun (Barney), Happy Birthday, and the I Love You song (Barney).


~Pushing babies in the stroller, and putting them to bed in their baby crib are some of your favorite things to do. After putting your baby to bed you will yell politely tell whoever is around to "SHHHH! Baby sleepin!"



~November of 2008 you had tubes put in your ears. You had ear infection after ear infection and the doctors, Dad and I decided enough was enough. Since tubes you've had 2 sinus infections and one ear infection. You are still a serious mouth breather, especially when you sleep and your tonsils are huge even when you're healthy. We've decided, along with Dr. Young (your ear, nose and throat doctor), that you will get your tonsils and adenoids out soon (like September 3rd). We're hoping you sleep more sound and stay healthy.


~I started a little game with you a few months ago. I'll ask you, "How much do I love you?" and you'll answer with your arms spread wide, "This much!" However lately you've been playing a game with me. I'll ask you the same question and you'll answer one of two things: "Ummmmmmm..." or "I don't know..." with a smirk on your face. You stinker;)


I've only scratched the surface of what you are doing now. There's so much more I could say, but I'll save it for later. However, when you bring your first boyfriend to our house, remind me to tell the story that involves you at 20 months, Frazier, and dog poop. Or, if you want, you can just stay our "little girl" forever and I'll spare you the embarrassment of that story. Just kidding, Princess. I know you're going to grow up. My hope for you is that you have a happy and full life. I want to instill in you that you WILL have this if you put Jesus at the center of your life. And, always remember the answer to this question, "How much do I love you?" Yep, you're right!......."THIS MUCH!"



Love you my baby girl!

Mom

Took a trip to the Zoo!

M at the hotel after swimming

M before we even exited the zoo parking lot

M and Dad enjoying the view of the sleeping bears


G and Dad on the train

Yep! We sure did. It was short and sweet, but lots of fun! Our friends from Urbandale asked us to go with them and their little boy to the Omaha Zoo. To be quite honest I was a little hesitant. A Saturday in August with two children under two (aka: busiest day of the week in the heat of the summer with two children in diapers) didn't, at first, seem too appealing. I had to remind myself that Jared and I aren't the first people in this world to do something like this and that I better get my butt out of my comfort zone and start doing these mini vacations. These types of things are what memories are made of, right? Contrary to what I was thinking would be the case, I must say that we all had the best time. Yes, it was busy, but the weather was beautiful, not hot. Both kids were great! Macy loved every aspect of zoo. Greyson, of course, didn't really care but was totally content as long as he had a cracker in hand;) After the zoo, we went back to the hotel and did a little swimming. Macy is a little fish and I'm pretty sure Greyson is right on track to be one as well.

We're up and running........

as far as having a computer goes. No, Grey is not up and running, yet. We've been without a computer for far too long. Oh, the torture. Sad to say, but I think some of us are addicted. Ahem. I found myself getting a little perturbed at times not having my so desired Internet. So, what have we been up to you ask? Well, let's see. During the past month, I traveled back home with just the kids and spent a few days at my parent's place, I've hosted family (about 20 people) for a weekend, had my two little cousins (Madi and Olivia) come spend a week with us, gotten Macy's "big girl" room painted (thanks to G and G Colegrove), transitioned M to her "big girl" bed, taken Greyson to the doctor for his first ear infection, taken Greyson to the doctor again to get a stronger antibiotic, taken Macy to the doctor for her first ear infection since having had tubes put in last November, traveled to Jared's parent's place to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary (Woo Hoo!), taken both kids back to the doctor to have their ears looked at because they didn't seem much better, scheduled a consultation with M's ENT doctor to hopefully schedule an adenoidectomy before school starts back up for me. Busy? Maybe just a little. And, we still plan to take a little family trip to the Omaha Zoo, go boating with some friends from the Cities, and have a birthday bash for our almost 2 year old!

40 Years!

Grey and Dad

Macy

Great Grandma and Grey

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!

Here's Daddy and us on his second Father's Day. Well, if we count Frazier, it would be his 7th;) What did we do for the special occasion you may ask? Well, we let Daddy sleep in until 9 (with only a few minor interruptions), gave Daddy a story board of pictures of himself and us, Macy took Daddy to the park, the whole family went to Gibson's 2nd birthday party, we let Daddy take a 2 1/2 hour nap, and Cassandra and Garrett came over to play. Relaxing day for Daddy? We'd say so.

Macy, Frazier with no head, Jared, Greyson

Gibson loving every moment of us singing "Happy Birthday" to him. In fact, he asked for us to sing again!

Gibson, Greyson, Brecken

(in back) Emerson and Macy

Big boy, Gibby!

Block Party!!!

Last weekend our street had a block party. It was a blast. Our neighbors who planned it even had a fire truck come for the kids. Macy loved it! She would have sat in the truck for an hour! Pics from the party........

Macy had so much fun on her friend (see above pic) Kelsey's pink Power Wheel. Yes, Macy, I heard Daddy say, "Maybe for your birthday."

Golf, anyone?

If you know my husband, you'd know that golf is one of his greatest passions. His love for golf started at a young age when his grandpa first introduced him to the game. If you know my husband, you'd know that every summer after graduating college he would get in almost 80 rounds of golf between the months of May and October. That is........until........ we (Jared) accepted a new job (June 2007), had a baby (2007), lived separately (due to the new job) in different parts of the state (June 2007-June 2008), found out we were expecting AGAIN (February 2008), finally moved back together (June 2008), (Lindsey) started a new job (August 2008), had baby #2 (October 2008). This would explain Jared's 4 rounds of golf this summer. Seems about right, huh?

June 13th was the annual Immune Deficiency Golf Outing. Our niece, Cassandra, has an immune deficiency. She recieves infusions of antibodies (from donated plasma) twice weekly. She is, I suppose we'd call her, the "poster child" for the Plasma Centers in the area. Without plasma donations from healthy people, Cassandra would not be able to lead a normal life, let alone, live. She is so thankful for those who give up their time to go donate. Every year at this golf outing, she gives a little speech. Here's a picture of our tough girl;)

And, yes, J got to golf. I'm not telling any scores, though!!

Miss Cassandra

Grandma Marla and Macy~"M" was exhausted after being outside all day.

Greyson and Grandpa Jerry



Cory M., Macy, and Jared

Good-bye, Uncle Jerry, for now...

Macy and Great Uncle Jerry

Christmas 2008

Lindsey, Macy (5 weeks) and Jerry

Macy and Great Uncle Jerry

On June 1st, my uncle Jerry left this world and entered the kingdom of our heavenly Father. He had been bound to a wheelchair for many years with unexplained deterioration of his nerve endings causing numbness in his feet and legs which led to his inability to ever walk again. He battled time and time again, infections, including pneumonia. He was tired.

A few memories of my uncle Jerry:

During summer vacation when I was young, both my cousin Danielle and I would go over to Grandma's. Grandma's house was across the street from my uncle Jerry's vet clinic. Before his days of using a wheelchair, Jerry was a great bovine podiatrist. In many areas, he was known as being the "best" when it came to this. Danielle and I couldn't have been much older than 7 and 8 and he would put us in charge of running "the table." This meant that when the cow/bull was lead up to the table and strapped on, our job was to pull the lever that tilted the table back so the cow/bull would be laying on her/his side to make their hooves easy to access. Our next job was to scoop "you know what" off the table if the need presented itself:)

Shortly after graduating from college, I was complaining about how I didn't know how to cut up a chicken. Jerry explained to me that there was a certain way of doing it. Try to tell me something like this and I won't get it. I mean, c'mon, this takes expertise. However, show me, and I will certainly understand. And "show me" is what he did. He made a video tape of himself cutting up a chicken, made two copies of it, and gave one to me and the other to Danielle. Although I still don't find myself cutting up too many chickens, that video just became one of the most dearest to my heart.

Okay, one more. Back to the days when Danielle and I went to Grandma's. Daily Grandma would cook lunch for Jerry (her son) and when we were there, for us as well. This particular day one of the items to be eaten was a fresh tomato. Danielle was never a fan of tomatoes, but in OUR family, everyone needs to "try it." Jerry was a huge gardener and I'm sure these tomatoes had come from the garden. I've failed to mention that Jerry is Danielle's grandpa (just wanted to clarify before I finished the rest of the story). Yes, my grandma and grandpa spaced out their children. Enough said;) Okay, so tomatoes. Grandma had beautifully, sliced tomatoes on the table. Danielle and I were asked if we wanted a tomato. I, most certainly, said yes. Back in those days, I would have never refused any food hence my stage of chubbiness;) I'm guessing you know what Danielle's response was. Well, it didn't matter. Jerry informed her that she was to eat it. Again, her response was "no." If you don't know my uncle Jerry, he was a big man. At that point I wanted to say, "Danielle, just eat it. Plug your nose, chew it and swallow." I remained silent. "You either eat the tomato or I'll make you eat it." Seriously, Danielle, do the above mentioned! Nope. Let's just say, in a matter of seconds she was being fed the beautiful tomato, savoring each bite. Is that how it was, Danielle? I thought you're supposed to eat with your mouth, not your ears;) Does Danielle like tomatoes today? I'll let you decide? Ketchup?... Maybe....

I feel very lucky to have been able to spend as much time as I did with my uncle when I was young. Although he was a big man and to many would have seemed a little intimidating, he was such a big teddy bear. I learned much from him--to love animals, importance of family unity, and most of all, eat your tomatoes! How lucky we are that our memories will never leave us.

Uncle Jerry, today would have been your 69th birthday. I know you are being thrown a party that no one on earth could top. You are already so missed, but we are happy that you are walking with Jesus--no cane, no wheelchair. We take comfort knowing that our farewell to you on June 1st is only temporary and that one day we will see you again. Until that time, we will keep memories of you in our hearts. We love you, and for now, goodbye.............