Some Time in Ohio with the Family!

We were able to spend Saturday and Sunday with Aunt Allie, Uncle John, Jonah and Greta in Ohio!  We even got to meet up with Nana and Papa in Indy and drive the rest of the way together!  It was nice and relaxing and the kids got lots of play time in!  The best part was that we were able to celebrate Jonah's birthday and Brecke was lucky enough to get in on the celebration too!

The little ladies entertaining us with their music

Looks worse than it was!!  Thought the picture was too priceless to not capture!

These two are buddies!  What she won't do for us--she will for Jonah!

Getting ready for the party

Playing a little peek-a-boo!

Making wishes!

First time she has EVER fallen asleep sitting somewhere!  Just goes to show how much fun it was!

Illinois 5K

First 5K of the summer is in the books!  I ran the Illinois Marathon's 5K tonight and my boys came to cheer me on!  It was cold and WINDY, but thankfully the rain held off!

Over 5000 people ran this year. The course is through the University of Illinois campus and ends on the 50 yard line inside Memorial Stadium.

It was a good race and I did better than last year's time.  Here are some stats:
2011 time: 32:31
2012 time: 31:06

Overall I was:
1779 out of 5037
771 out of 3087 women
90th in my age division

I absolutely LOVE to see Matt and Alex along the route!  They always hang out in the AGR yard at the beginning of the race and then move into the stadium so I can see them as I am finishing!  Alex has a blast and says "run mommy run" and gives me a high 5!!  Amazing what those little boosts do for you!

Pictures to come...

Minus One Door

We decided to remove one of the three doors that were in Brecke's room to give us a bit more wall space.  She has a closet door and her main door now.  We closed in the one that led into the bathroom.  Some might think we are nuts, but we really feel that it will be "OK" if she has to walk down the hallway to get to the bathroom.  Most of us survive...right!?  Well Matt and I don't think it will ruin her! This gives us some wall space for the future when she will need a bed and a dresser in her room.  Otherwise, her room was made up of windows and doors!

Before with door

Removed and drywalled

Partially repainted

Finished except for nailing the baseboard in.  Looks nice and gives us some nice flexibility!

The Barnards in St. Louis!

Uncle Steve and Aunt Kelli came back to the US for a couple of weeks and the whole Barnard clan decided to take in a Cardinals game!  The weather was absolutely perfect and we were in the shade the whole time.  The nachos were excellent and the kids were well behaved (well, minus Matt having his Philly sandwich stolen since Alex ran away from him while he was waiting to pick it up).

Thanks to Darla, Natalie, and Brooklyn we were able to leave Brecke home and just take Alex.  He was so excited, he had his clothes changed and shoes on before I could even think about getting ready!  I had to laugh at him because I laid out a pair of shorts and his 3 Cardinal shirts he had and said he could pick.  Before I knew it, he has 2 of the shirts on (layered), went up and got his Cardinal shorts and put those on instead of the nice ones I had picked out, AND went and got his Cardinals hat.  He was decked out!!  Mean Mom that I am...I made him shed some of the gear!

Alex could not WAIT to see Aunt Kelli.  He absolutely loves her and looked at
me sheepishly and was like can I go sit on her lap??

Silly Cousins!

Hitching a ride!

Pigtails!

Just plain adorable!!!!

Party Day for the Birthday Girl!

Today is the big day!  Grandma & Grandpa Barnard, Nana & Papa, Great Aunt Pat, Uncle Brett, Aunt Lindsey, and Brody, Pastor Ed, the Aberles, the Littles, and Jack & Susan came out to house to celebrate Brecke's birthday!

Alex and Nana helped make fruit kabobs

Brecke's cupcakes and the flowers that Daddy bought her

Big one on top just for the birthday girl!

Happy girl

KK is a friend from daycare!  Brecke loves her!

Alex, Brody, Natalie and Brilee eating before presents and cake

KK, Brooklyn and Brecke

Blowing out candles

Got them!

She is going to be my shopping buddy!  I will just have her carry my bags! ;)

Swimsuit from Nana and Papa

She loves Andy (KK and Brilee's Dad).  She took him every piece of tissue paper!

Andy tying a pretty bow for her

So proud!

It was a happy, fun day with many special people!  

Can't wait to see what this year brings for you, Brecke!  You are pretty special and it is hard to not fall in love with your personality and big smile! Happy Birthday!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Brecke!!

The little lady of the house is officially TWO!!!  Wow...where DOES the time go!?

Alex gave her her first present of the day.  He gave her a VeggieTales video!

Today was a fun day!  Daddy took time away from farming and all four of us went to the Children's Museum in Normal for a few hours in the morning!  It was a super fun day and we wore everyone out (boy, did we had a crabby little girl on the way home)!

Crawling through the mirrored tunnel

A little water fun

Big brother posing for a shot with the birthday girl!  She even got her name announced over the loud speaker!!

Paint Room--he was in HEAVEN!!!  He even drew an awesome rainbow!

Funny that their FAVORITE parts were the tractor and the combine!!

Nana came in the afternoon and after naps, and we had some birthday brownies and opened presents.

Checking out the progress on the deck

Brecke got a sandbox (not shown :)), some sand toys, and a talking apple from Mommy and Daddy.

Brother is a good help!

We are looking forward to having some family and a few friends over tomorrow for a party to celebrate!  I am sure it will be a house full of lots of kids having tons of fun and the adults struggling to hear themselves talk! :)  

Some "Breckeisms" at age 2:

3-5 word sentences

The words "me", "no", "stop", "again" are used a lot!!!!

Loves to rock and especially with her Daddy

24 lbs. 8 oz. and 2 ft 9.5 inches

Loves to brush her teeth (all by herself)

Getting pretty good at drinking from a cup without dumping it down her front

Loves to wear pink fleece coat for hours at a time

Can zip up coat by herself

Loves tractors just as much as her brother

Loves to say "bye bye, see ya!"

Mommy's iPhone and iPad might as well be Brecke's

Really loves looking for the moon (every night)

Is good at praying and even says grace with us at the table (too cute to see her hands folded and peaking out with one eye!)

Favorite books: Peek-a-who; Icky Sticky Frog

Favorite cartoon: Chuggington (she does a great job of saying that big word too)

Favorite movie: Cars

Favorite color: purple (picks out all the purple crayons from the bucket of crayons)

Still loves her MILK!!!