{today is someone's BIRTHDAY!!!!}

Lukie is 1 today!!!!!!

Happy Birthday buddy!

I can't believe that one year ago today my little Lukie was born. He was so tiny. He weighed only 5 lbs 3 oz. It was such a happy time for us but also a very scary time. When he was admitted in to the NICU I was heart broken. I look back on that time and realize how hard it was for us as a family. We didn't have help from neighbors because they had all gone home for Christmas and my parents didn't get in until late Christmas Eve. I hope we never have to go through something as hard as that again.

Lukie has come a long way from that tiny little guy. He is now walking, if he chooses to, and loves to do anything his brother is doing. He is so much fun, full of personality, laughs at anything, is very easy going, likes to try new foods. He just melts my heart when he smiles at me and says "mama." I love this little boy so much.
He is still tiny as ever. But we love his little stick legs and big eyes. We are so lucky to have him in our family. Just the other day I was watching the two boys playing in the tunnel at Grammy Russell's house and loved hearing them giggle with each other and play for just a few minutes. I can tell these boys are going to be good friends.

We love you Mr. Lukester! You make our family so much more complete. I can't wait for your daddy to get in town so we can celebrate. We are excited for this next year and what adventures you will take.

Happy 1st Birthday Lukie!!!!

{6 years baby}

And we still look as young as we did when we got married, thanks to my youthful husband.

Another wonderful year has gone by. So much has happened. We had our sweet baby boy Lucas last December. Jake finished his second year of medical school and is half way done with his third. He took his step one boards for medical school and did great! We watched our boys grow up so fast this last year. We maybe went on three whole dates throughout the year. Sad, but true. Life is hard when you have two young kids and a husband in school and a wife who doesn't make much. But we love it!

I'm so glad I met you Jacob Rabe. Can you believe it has already been 6 years?! I still feel 18 and free to do what I want. I love you honey. You are the sexiest man alive! I couldn't have married a better man. This marks our second time not being in the same state for our anniversary. We sure did pick the wrong time to get married. Someday, right? We all can wait to see you. Love you honey!!!!

{Ginger Bread Houses}

Last night our friends got together, minus Phil and Tiff, to make some ginger bread houses. It was so much fun! The girls and I anticipated that the men wouldn't participate in this but much to our surprise they did! Jake and Judd were crazy builders. I was not even aloud to touch the house until it was done. Jake had to give me the go ahead to decorate it.
Dave just kicked back and gave Kelsey compliment after compliment about how good she was doing. I had to beg Jake to tell me how amazing mine looked.
Nolan and Luke were the lucky ones that were able to just eat to their little hearts content. Nolan probably had more candy last night than he did on Halloween. It was just too much fun to stop him.
Kelsey was a babe and held Luke for most of the time. I couldn't believe how good my boys did. Luke just sat in Kelsey's lap and ate graham crackers all night. He never does that with me.
Us girls went to town on decorating. Haley didn't have much to work with since her husband made this very weird house. So she went with a grave yard theme. So funny! Her little man at the top of her house just cracks me up. Kels definitely took the contest. Her house was covered. I don't think you could even see the graham cracker on hers. Very impressive Kels!
Mine was only cool on the roof. That was my only creative spot. I did, however, use oreos to make a fence. I thought it was cute.
The whole night was a blast! We did miss Phil and Tiff. We missed hearing Phil's classic laugh and Tiffany telling us things that are far beyond our brains. The night wasn't complete without you guys!
No it is the next day and every time I walk in to the kitchen there is another piece of our house missing. I think Nolan has figured out how this thing works. Not too excited for the plane ride home tomorrow with this sugar high. But I can't wait to be in UTAH to see my family and friends. I love this time of year!!!

{Tiffany's Birthday Dinner}

Another birthday yet again. Tiffany is turning the big 2..5.. on the 18th! I know it's a little early but because I am leaving tomorrow we needed to celebrate it now.
Tiff was amazing and had an excellent choice in the restaurant. We went to a Mongolian Grill. So good!!!! The best part about it was there was no menu for Tiffany to toss and turn over what she should get. You just head right up to the food and put exactly what you want on your plate and they fry it up nice.























Can we say delicious!!!! The sauce definitely makes or breaks your meal. Mine was perfect! We were laughing and having such a great time. We even were getting eyed by some weird European men sitting on a table behind us. Kind of creepy. We, of course, saved room for some amazing deserts. We got two of them because we don't mess around. My favorite was the chocolate cake pie thingy and then we also got some apple crisp type thing. They were devoured in seconds from all of us. Even the waiter made a comment.
After dinner we got ready to leave and Haley's scarf, that she made, was having a hard time with her particular jacket. So we thought to just put it under the jacket. Turned out that she looked like the hunchback of Nortre Dame. Hilarious!!! She played the part so well. All of us were rolling on the ground laughing as we left the place. We even heard some ladies say, "gosh, their having a good time." The sad thing about it is, they probably think we are drunk and we totally aren't. Can you imagine if we were......
So on our way home we started to get a little bit more silly, like always, and took some more crazy pictures. These girls are the best. My face is always so soar after a night with them. Happy Birthday Tiff!!!! Love ya to pieces.

{give me strength}

Say AAWWW!

I don't know if I can do this anymore. Luke has been sick for two weeks now, Nolan was sick for 5 days of it, and now Nolan is sick again!!!!! He woke up this morning with his left eye completely shut because of the pink eye crap. He kept asking me, "fix it mommy, fix it." Talk about tearing out your heart. I wish I could buddy. After we got all the gunk out he wanted to see the snow plow in the street, so he stared out the window for the first part of the morning.
While he was doing that I decided to I needed to prove how sick my boys have been. Look at this kid!!!! His left eye looks so soar. He even has a tear coming down his face. I mean, come on!!! Aren't my kids ever going to be healthy? I hate seeing them like this. Nolan has been a pretty healthy kid for the most part. He was sick very first when we left for TN but he knocked that one pretty quickly. And Lukie had his pink eye a week ago. Why is Nolan just now getting it?!
It just snowed a good amount out here so I was nervous to take him to the doctor but knew I had to. So the kiddos watched me scrape the car from the window, then we packed up all our stuff and headed to the doctor. Turns out Nolan does have pink eye and an ear infection. Looks like we won't be getting any sleep at all around here. So now, Nolan is on an antibiotic, Lukie is on an antibiotic, and I'm just praying that I won't get it and that I can have the strength to get through this with patience and love.

{trying to make my boys laugh}

Since Nolan is now the sickest of them all, I tried to make him not think about his aches and pains by playing a little ball. He was loving it, for a little bit. I would bounce the ball up so high that it would hit the ceiling. He thought that was the funniest thing he had ever seen! I love when he is smiling with delight.



After a few minutes of watching me do it, Nolan decided he wanted a turn at it. I don't think he really got the idea of it. He would just throw the ball high in the air. But it didn't matter because I got him laughing so hard. I felt like a "patch Adams" today.



The whole time we were playing with the ball Luke was chillin' in the rocker watching our every move. It was pretty cute seeing him so relaxed.
I really hope we can get rid of the crap that has been in our home soon! These boys need to be able to get out and have some fun with their friends. I haven't taken them to see anyone in awhile. I mean really, if they are so excited about me bouncing a ball then I haven't been stimulating them enough. There is work to be done as soon as they are healthy. But I did have a good time with my boys this morning.

{i'm sick of the sickies}

Is this ever going to be over? Luke has been sick for two weeks now. And I feel horrible because he got Marshall, the kid I babysit, sick too. I think I am going to have a new policy. If my kid is sick, I cannot watch yours. Because I just feel so bad when they get what my kid has. I do think it should go both ways too. I really need to be more stern in when to say I can't.
Anyway, while these two little sickies were wining away, I snapped some shots. They were both trying to climb on the rocker and surprisingly didn't fight over it. It was funny to watch them trying to desperately to reach outside.
These poor boys were miserable yesterday. Marshall especially. I didn't have the mothers touch. He was so much happier when his mama came to get him.
The top picture on the left was the closest I could get to showing you how sick they were. Lukie's nose is still running like a facet. And Marshall looked so sad with his red eyes and runny nose. Don't you just wish you could be sick for them. I hate seeing little kids like this. I just hope that they don't keep passing things back and forth.
My house was sprayed down yesterday. I was locking rooms up and leaving toys out to dry. I sprayed the entire apartment with Lysol. I don't want to have anymore sick kids. But I still got them!

{an afternoon off}

Since I have done nothing but deal with sick kids, I was in need of some time away. Jake had his flag football tournament on Saturday morning so I went with the ladies in the afternoon. My friend Wendy wore this darling scarf to church one day and I asked her where she got it. She said she made it. So me, Kelsey, Haley, and Tiff all went over to Wendy's to have our own Super Saturday. She taught us how to crochet.
I figured since I am getting so old....no, not really. But seriously, I did feel old when I came home that day and all I wanted to do was sit and crochet all night long. Is that what I have to look forward to when I get older? The pic is just showing you a tiny portion of my scarf. I have a long way to go because my dear friend Tiff got me the smallest yarn ever!!! Love ya Tiff. So while they are all done and laughing at me, I am still hard at work. I will take a picture of my finished product. Don't count on me making anymore.

{must have been some good sleep}

Lukie has been so sick that all of us haven't been getting any sleep. One morning Luke got up around 5:30. I was so exhausted from getting up all night with him that I made Jake do it.
A few minutes after Luke was crying I heard nothing. So I went back to sleep. When I woke up I came in to the room with Luke lying on the floor with his head down. He instantly woke up from my walking and had this huge red mark on his head from his hand. Jake said nothing worked to get him to stop crying so he put him on the ground and he fell asleep instantly! Crazy! He must have been one tired little boy.

{trying to cheer him up}

Since we've been back from TN we have done nothing but try to get these boys healthy. Not doing so well on that one. Luke has had a temp of 102 for 10 days straight!!! He has been to the doctor two times and is on a lot of drugs. His cold started about the middle of our trip to TN. On the drive home his eyes started to get really goopy.
The next day I took him to the doctor and they gave him an antibiotic for his pink eye but said he didn't have an ear infection. So We gave him that and thought that he was just going to have to fight of this virus. Well, about five days later we took him to the urgent care because he wasn't sleeping, we weren't sleeping (or should I say "I"), Luke's temp was still high, and we couldn't just keep giving him Tylenol or Motrin to keep his temp down. Turns out he had a horrible ear infection!!! Really? I thought we went over this on the first visit. Anyway, the whole week Nolan and I tried everything to cheer him up. Nolan even pulled him around in his wagon. Nothing seemed to work. The only that came out of this was some cute pictures of brotherly love.

{one slipper.....two slipper!}

I was in Target just the other day checking out new shoes for Luke. He needs something that will keep his little feet warm here in the ridiculously cold weather. So I'm looking and looking and then......oh no! He spotted them. Nolan's eyes came upon some CARS SLIPPERS!!!
There was no turning back. And I for one was not going to have a huge tantrum walking out of the store that day. So I gave in. Much to my surprise, Jake thought they were awesome!!!
Since that day he has worn them nonstop. He even wears them to bed. Let me tell you, this kid is beaming every time he puts these puppies on. He won't even let Lukie touch them. He is very protective about his slippers. This kid and Cars. What am I going to do? Let's hope he grows out of this fix some day. But for now we put on "one slipper.....two slippers!!!!"

{there is something about this season}

I love Christmas!!!! It is definitely my favorite time of year. That sounds so sappy but it really is. I get so excited to set up all my Christmas decorations and start listening to songs of the season. Jake was bugged that I started before our set date of when it was legal to listen, but I didn't care.
In fact, I was so excited about this Christmas that I didn't even wait for Jake to help. Our Christmas tree was in the storage downstairs and I lugged it up and put the tree together all by myself!!!! When Jake got home he was so impressed. It wasn't an easy task but I knew Jake was going to be busy with his Ortho rotation, so it was up to me.

You should also know that I put the lights on myself too. I will not show you a picture of that. Let's just say the top is full and beaming of lights and the bottom not so much.
As I started putting my stuff on the tree, I realized how bare it was because we have such a big tree. So I headed off to Michael's to buy some new ribbon and some holly berry to stick out. When I got back I couldn't wait to start decorating. It turned out beautiful!!!! I got two different colors of ribbon. I love the green one! The pictures don't do it justice because I'm a horrible photographer. Let's not even call myself a photographer. I'm shameful. Anyway, I can't stop staring at the tree.
One of my favorite things about the season is to have all the lights off except for the tree lights. Grab a book or snuggle watching a movie. The tree is so soothing to me. It seriously calms me down every night.
This season is so much different for me now. Since we've had Luke, I get even more excited. We were so lucky to have him as our Christmas baby! This will be his real first Christmas since he was in the NICU last year.
I can't wait to get home to visit family! My boys are so excited! Now, if I could only get excited for the plan ride all by myself.....

{last day in TN}

On our last day we were able to go to Ben and Kendra's ward for Sacrament meeting. After that I took a quick picture of the Nashville Temple. It is literally right next door to their church. Lucky! Then we headed out for a nice Sunday drive to check out celebrity homes.

This is Alan Jackson's home. When you drive up to this it is breathtaking. I can't believe people have as much money as they do. His house looks like the White House. HUGE!!!! We also saw LeAnn Rimes home and Carrie Underwood's first home.

After the drive we ended up back at the Critchlow's for some last minute fun before we had to leave the next morning. The fam played a mad game of Settlers. I started out playing and let Jake finish. It wasn't my best game. I thought Jake could turn it around better than me. He didn't. We lost horribly. But Ben came away with a victory. As long as the Critchlow's don't win. Just teasing. We had so much fun on out trip. I wish we could have stayed longer. But Ben and Kendra had to get on with their lives.

That next Thursday Ben graduated from his schooling. I don't know his proper title but he is nurse anesthetist. We are so proud of you Ben!!!! Hopefully we can "try" to get down there for residency. Here's hoping. Thanks for the wonderful trip Rabe's!!!!!!

{night out on the town}

Ben and Kendra took us to downtown Nashville for a little date night while we were there. We walked the streets of Broadway. This is the street that has all the country music bars. We in to about three of them. The first one was the bar that Pamela Anderson and Kid Rock got married in. The singers in the back stage were great!!!! It was so funny to watch all the drunk people and how stupid they look. We probably stuck out like soar thumbs but who will remember in the morning anyway, right?

Of course there are many funny pictures on this post. Mainly because there were so many funny things to pose with on this strip. Like this horse for instance.

I had to do a picture with this huge ice cream in honor of my record breaking amount that I consumed earlier in our stay. This one's for you Brad. I think you'll get a good laugh out of it.

We tried to do our own self portrait and it turned out pretty funny. Some lady felt bad for us in the bar so she offered to take a better, thus the one below. This was the bar of Kid Rock.

The boys had to get in on all the fun so they did their best Elvis pose. Jake's isn't so bad. Ben on the other hand.....I don't really know if he is posing or just constipated. Either way, hilarious! Thanks boys for the good laugh.

The night was fun. Ben and Kendra really know how to have a good time. I think this was mine and Jake's first date in a pretty long time. And we were only gone for about an hour. Pretty pathetic.