Home Improvement

One great thing about owning your own house is making it your own. We've been slowly adding and changing things in our house since we bought it eight months ago. One of the big things I would have changed about our home is having more sunlight in our kitchen. Our solution: a Solar Tube! Jon, our friend Tod, and my dad have all been slaving away last night and today and TaDa!!
















Home ownership is fun still at this point. And it's made a real handy-man out of Jon (good job, Sweetheart!).

Now that this one is in, I think I want to do a few more (up for it, Sweetie?!).

Kelly Family Pictures

Yesterday Jon's family got together to take our first ever full family pictures! Other than an antsy Braeden, who did not want to sit still (and had also got up that morning at 3:30!!), I thought they turned out pretty well! After our pictures, we made our way down to Ft. Collins to see Jon's dad whom we haven't seen in about a year. It was a good, and long, day!

Swimming... Check!

Well, we can check swimming off the list (of my previous list from my last blog including zoos, parks, and swimming), although, I'm sure this isn't the only swimming venture we'll have this summer.

Today, we had a family night with our church which consisted of swimming and dinner together afterward. The kids had a great time with Daddy (I stayed out of the pool with Landen)! Emerson can wrap herself in the noodle and swim like a fish (well, not really like a fish, more like a drenched skinny preschooler paddling with all her might, but she's good at it!) all around the pool. Braeden, my little daredevil, wants to do it all himself, without any help, which is very scary sometimes (Ok, go ahead, Braeden, throw yourself into that deep spot right over there. I know you're only two and can't swim, but it'll be fun! Sheesh!).

Anyway, here are some snapshots (sorry Matt, you made it into one. Hope that's ok! Don't worry, I'm pasty white, too).































This is Braeden saying "Look! I'm smiling!" after I threatened to take him out of the pool if he didn't smile for me. I know, great "mommy-ing" right there, but that's how it gets done! :)



























And this is an extra, but too cute not to share. She wanted to be a princess today, so I let her take her fancy tiara she wore at my sister's wedding (see that little thing on her head) from my jewerly box and wear it to play outside today. She really is a princess, though, you know, at least to me and Jon. :)

Graduation Day

Ok, so it really wasn't a graduation, but Emerson just had her end of the year program at her preschool. It was so cute to see her up on stage reciting her Bible verses shyly with her class while smiling and waving a little wave at us every once in a while. She's made a new good friend, a sweet girl named Macy, this year. Her mom and I exchanged phone numbers so we can continue to let the girls play this summer.
So she is officially in 4-5 year old class now, even though she'll turn five right at the beginning of the school year (her birthday is right after the kindergarten cut off date). Which means I have all three kiddos for another year, which, to be honest, is a little overwhelming sometimes. I am, however, thankful to not be giving up my sweet Emerson to school all day every day. It will be a tough day that first day of kindergarten. I don't know that I'd be ready to give her up to her teacher every day.
So summer has now officially begun for us. By the way, I just love the summers in Laramie.

Bring on the zoos, parks, and swimming pools!
















Emerson waving her shy little wave from the front. Below and to the right is her friend, Macy.























Emerson and Braeden!














Emerson and another of her best friends, Aliyah, who actually graduated to Kindergarten today (of course, BOTH their eyes are closed! :) ).


And last, sorry the video is so grainy, but here is Emerson's class performing a song with bells. I loved it.

Cutie Patootie!

May Update

I think I am officially the worst blogger in the world! I believe it's been close to two months since the last post! And I think this one will be short and sweet!
I'll begin with the great fact that Jon got a job at the end of February that he is enjoying very much (and that we are so thankful for!). He was quick to make friends with all his coworkers and they seem to love having him there (not surprising, being Jon!). And this weekend and past week we celebrated his 29th birthday with our families, which was great fun and Jon loved that there were technically three days this week to celebrate him (one day with my family, one with just us, and one with his family)!
Landen is growing up so very, very fast. He's HUGE already, but is just the sweetest baby. He is a talker, for sure. And the doctor was impressed with how much he was talking, squealing, and laughing at his two month check up.
Emerson and Braeden are keeping us busy, tired, and laughing every day. Emerson is just about to finish up her first semester of preschool, which she has come to love and has made some good friends. And Braeden is just developing more of a great personality as he's growing!
Otherwise, we're gearing up for the summer, which will hopefully include some of our favorite annual summer activities which include a trip to the zoo, a camping trip, and endless days at the park.
Here are some recent pictures. And here's to more current and updated blogging in the future!

Landen's First Bath

Isn't he beautiful? Hopefully he won't hate me too much someday for posting this!

One week and 4 days

First, I'd like to say that the last post in my blog, Jon actually posted. After recently viewing this post, he and I had a little talk about the pictures he chose to share! And now he knows that next time he needs to consult with me the pictures of me he decides to share with the world! So I apologize to you who were, yourselves embarrassed, or even embarrassed for me because of the very scary pictures. :)

Anyway, that said, here are some pictures of my sweet boy and his older siblings that Jon took today. Landen is proving to be the most wonderful baby. He's just beautiful for starters and is, so far, very mellow and content most all the time. He's getting a little bit better every day with his night sleeping and he makes tons of the cutest faces while he is dreaming (which is what he is doing in the picture of him smiling).

Here are my three beautiful ones!

Happy Birthday Landen

We arrived at the hospital this morning at 5, ready for them to just start the c-section and take Landen out. Instead, we got to prep and wait around until 8:02 a.m. when Landen Reese Kelly was officially delivered! He came out looking great, with an awesome set of lungs to boot. The official stats are: 8 lbs 8oz and he was 20 3/4" long. He looks incredibly small to me, but when I see the 4 lbs baby in the nursery, he's a giant! Sandra and he are doing very well, and Emerson and Braeden are so excited to finally see and hold him. We thought people might want to see some pictures. I'll post some videos of him on youtube in a while, but the site won't load right now. Enjoy!

One week away!

We're one week away today from having our newest member of our family arrive. Wahoo! Landen Reese is scheduled to be born Friday, February 20th at roughly 7 a.m. (we have to be at the hospital at 5 a.m. ugh!).

I'm in my living room right now listening to Jon snore and the kids are still quiet in their rooms and I'm realizing I have only 7 days left until this peace in my morning will be gone for a while. I am rejoicing having my new little one here. I know that he will change our lives, all four of us, in such a wonderful, unknowing way, but at the same time I'm grieving a little of the time when there was just four of us. Emerson is old enough, I think, to remember this time before Landen, but Braeden probably won't. And I'm hoping that the following week will be a sweet one with my family preparing together for our baby. I ask for your prayers that my already born babies will know and understand how much I love them and how they fit in to loving and caring for their new sibling.

It's ridiculous, but every once in a while, I think that there is no way that I have enough love in my heart for all of them. I love Emerson and Braeden so much that how can I possibly give more, however, I had these exact same feelings when Braeden was growing in my belly and obviously my love for him was instant and big and continues to grow every single day, so I know that this thought is silly. I worry, too, about them thinking the same thought as I am. I'm about to invest a lot of time nursing and diapering and caring for this new little one. I'm praying that God will show me the best way to include them in caring for him and showing them how important and loved they are still and how baby Landen needs his big brother and sister as much as he needs Mommy and Daddy.

So, I ask for your prayers this week as we look toward and get ready for Landen's big arrival. And I ask personally for prayers for safety and ease of getting through the surgery as, like last time, my anxiousness grows the closer we get to the big day (I absolutely HATE the thought of them giving me an injection in my spine. That is SO scary to me).

I'm so very excited to share our new baby with you all! Be assured that many pictures will be posted for you who are not near. And thank you, thank you for your love and encouragement and prayers! We are a very, very blessed family!

The results are in...

Discussions have been had, the polls have been tallied, and the final decision has been made (see Jon's blog for the polling outcome)! We ended up going against the majority for the spelling of the first name and went for second place for his middle name. So... the verdict is....

Landen Reese!!

The more I looked at Landen, the more I liked the "en" ending. And Jon surprised me with Reese. I suggested it several weeks ago and he nixed it, but when discussing it recently, Jon brought it up again and today, when making the final decision, I was leaning toward Daniel and Jon suggested Reese again! I've liked it from the beginning, so Reese it is. And I love that Braeden and Landen are spelled similarly.

Thanks to you who gave input and are excited to share our new baby boy with you! Only 2 weeks and 3 days to go! :)

His name shall be...

Baby #3 will be here in exactly 2 weeks and 6 days (not that I'm counting or anything) and we have yet to make a final decision about this little baby boy's name (does this make us bad parents?)! So, as we are narrowing down this HUGE decision of naming our boy, a name which will be his for the rest of his life, we are asking for friend and family input.

We have officially picked his first name, however, we are uncertain how to spell it. Both of our kids have names ending with "en" and "on" (Emerson and Braeden if you don't already know) and were thinking that we'd continue with the "en" ending being the second boy, but have received feedback saying that the "en" ending could be weird. Anyway, this beautiful name we have chosen is Landon/Landen. While we have a first name for sure, with spelling nailed down or not, we do not have a middle name. Now, I'm not going to list the names we've been narrowing down here (with one exception. Keep reading.), but instead am going to direct you to my husband's blog where he has conveniently placed a poll.

I did just say that I would not list the middle names, but this is the exception. I have one request. If you do decide to take part in the polling, do not - I repeat, DO NOT vote for Oliver. It will absolutely not be our son's middle name.

Thanks for your thoughts and input and suggestions! You could forever have an impact on our little one's life, so think and choose carefully. :)

Disclaimer: Jon and I reserve the right to choose, regardless of polling outcome, the final and official name of our baby (for those of you who are now going to vote 50 times for Oliver).