Bye Bye Nuk!!

That's right! Jenna is officially a "BIG GIRL"! Last night we said "Bye Bye" to her nuks and she entered the Big Girl world!! It's been a rough week with her having HFM, but as it's starting to clear up I feel like it's the perfect time to do this since she will be home with us until Monday and we can have this process pretty well taken care of by the time she goes back to daycare.

Yesterday was a rough day for her b/c she wanted her nuk throughout the day. She is only allowed to have it at bedtime and in the car. She spent the majority of the day crying for her nuk and it was a long day for us all. I was afraid she was becoming more and more dependent on it and figured now was the time to let it go!

Last night went pretty good. She only cried for a little over a half hour at bedtime, then a little bit around 4am. She did a lot better than I thought she would. I know the next few days will be rough, but it will all be worth it in the end.

I feel guilty b/c I feel like she thinks she's being punished or something, but we're just doing what's best for her and soon this will all be a distant memory! That's a picture of her when she was about 5 months old....

Is it still today?

I was working from home today while taking care of sick kiddos. Jenna has Hand Foot and Mouth (Yuck)! My poor girl has horrible sores in her mouth and also has blisters on her feet. Anyways - Cory and I are alternating being home this week until her sores go away and she's cleared to go back to daycare. (Keeping my fingers crossed that Bryce doesn't get it just as Jenna's clears up!)

Today Bryce cracked me up when he woke up from his nap and said "Is it still today Mommy?". Ha! I said "Yes - it's still today." He said "Ok - so it's today and it's not tomorrow yet?". Yep - that's right buddy - it's definitely still Today!! :) Too cute!

The kids being goofy and dressing up like Moe! You would really never know Jenna was sick unless you looked at her sores or watched her eat, so she has all kinds of energy to play with her brother!

Peek a Boo!

Jenna loves to pose for the camera and say "CHEEEEEESSSSEEE"! :)

Bryce cracked me up a second time today when we went to the dry cleaners. He said "Where are we Mom?" I said "This is the dry cleaners." He said "Oh - are we going in?" Me - "Yep - I need to drop this off." Bryce - "So we go in there to get dried off???" ha! :) Oh - the things kids say!

Hope you're enjoying your week!

Roughing It!

This past weekend was our annual SYC camping trip. It's what we call "Camping With NO Kids". We rough it in the primitive tent spots with no electricity or water!! :) It's always a great time!

Cory helping to get the campfire set up!

DJ Ric put together about 4 hours of music... here's a few of the girls dancing to.... what else, the Macarena!! Ha!

Saturday we rented a couple boats and jetskis.

Cory thought he was pretty funny and was throwing food into the water by us and the seagulls were diving down at us trying to get the food. He was getting quite a kick out of it! :) I have to admit it was pretty funny!

Back to relax by the campfire for the last night. The weekend goes by so fast!



I guess this was an acrobatic act! ha! Jeff showing his vertical leaps!

Great weekend... but back to reality!

GOOOOO 3-Day Walkers!

Today is the Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk in Chicago! My friend Jenny is walking and I'm so proud of her! (This is Jenny's 3rd walk!) Another friend, Kris, is working in the medical tent! I have been thinking about them and all the other women & men walking & volunteering today to find a cure for breast cancer. It brings tears to my eyes to think about how awesome this event is and what it stands for! It's overwhelming to think about how many people are involved... all of the walkers, the volunteers, the medical staff, the supporters at the cheer stations, the donators, the sponsors, etc! It's down right amazing how such an enormous event can be put together and a mini-city can be built up to house everyone. ALL of this to FIGHT BREAST CANCER!

Last year I participated in the 3-Day walk and I hope to do it again sometime in the future. Here are a few pictures from last year...

Today the walkers are having to endure some rain... not fun when you're walking approximately 20 miles in it!! I hope they are holding up ok and not too many blisters are forming! Best wishes to them all!!

Attack of the Bees!!

It appears we have a bee nest of some kind under our front step. We've been watching bees fly in and out for a couple weeks now. Cory dug a foot or two and we haven't found the nest yet, but he is fighting quite the battle! Check out this video of him battling the bees!! :)