Kinda looks like Fall, huh?

It's such a small world, especially when your a member of the church. I was looking at a photographers website who lives here in Round Rock. As I was looking through her pictures I recognized someone. I met this person while I was on my mission in Houston. As it turns out this photographer (Kristen) is really good friends with the girl I knew! Kristen and I decided to meet to go out and shoot together. What a beautiful girl she it! Inside and out. I felt like we'd known eachother for a long time. I'm so glad I got to meet her. Thanks for a fun morning, Kristen.
So here are a few shots from our photo shoot. I have to admit I was doing more talking than I was taking pictures but I thought these turned out pretty cute...

Quesadilla'a anyone?

We were at a friends house having dinner. She made quesadillas for the kids. Madaline ate a little bit of one and then left to go play. Later that evening she went back to the table finished the rest of her quesadilla and then announced,

"I'd like another diarrhea, please!"

"Uh, QUESADILLA, you mean.", I said.

She ended the conversation with, yeah that's what I said, DIARRHEA."

I'm not going to battle it out with a 3 year old. If she thinks she's having diarrhea for dinner, so be it.

Maddie and I having a little fun with the timer on my camera.

Cowboy Days

I took the kids to a fun little hometown event in Georgetown today. They had so much fun. Maddie was so excited to ride a horse. She was a little nervous at first but when she got off she was all smiles and had to tell me all about it.

There were a lot of fun kid activities. Not a lot for Lyndon to do but that was fine with him because she got to sit in the stroller and eat a sucker. What a mess but it was worth the distraction.

Here she got to paint a picture.

I showed her some video's on-line from last years activities and it showed some kids learning how to throw a rope. After she saw it she was so excited to try it herself. She did a good job.

The people in Goergetown are so friendly. Someone offered to take our picture.

There was a little buck-roo and cowgirl contest. I thought it would just be fun to dress them up. Well, fun for Maddie. Lyndon wanted nothing to do with that bandana tied around his neck. But he forgot all about it when I buckled a holter and gun around his waist!

To my surprise Lyndon ended up winning first prize! He couldn't have cared less but he sure liked playing with the ribbon.

All in all it was a fun morning. Too bad Jonathon wasn't able to join us but it's all for a good cause. That record will be done soon enough. :)

Jon-a-thon

Today is Jonathons 28th birthday. 28 in human years. He actually counts his age in "performing musician years" so in his mind he feels about 100. He has a fear that he's going to get too old before his career in music finally takes off and no one will want to see a 28+ year old rockin' out on stage. I wish I could convince him there is no need to worry. I know I'm just his wife but I'll love watching him rock out at any age.

Since he's still plowing through this recording for the record he couldn't take any time off to celebrate. So all in all it was kind of a pathetic birthday. I tried to make it a little special but in his words the theme today was "it's the thought that counts"!

I made him breakfast, Jonny style. Which is basically any food that doesn't resemble breakfast food. So he had mozzarella sticks, artichoke/spinach dip and and strawberry strudel for dessert. I even found these cool dishes. Skulls and crossbones-a perfect match for him.

Here are some of my favorite things about my man:

• He loves me with all of his heart and soul. Oh man he loves me. He always puts my needs first no matter what. Before we were married I heard him explain what love was to him. He said that that love was when your spouse wanted you to bring her home an apple you spend as long as it takes scanning the produce department until you have found that perfect apple clear of any blemishes or bruises. And you do it not so that you will be recognized for your effort but so that the one you love will have the very best apple that she deserves. When I heard this from him I thought, humm, I wonder if love like that really exists? Jonathon is proof that is does. After almost 6 years of marriage he has always given me the perfect "apple". I have never once had to wonder about his commitment toward me, our marriage or our kids. What an amazing, comforting and secure feeling that is. Why am I so lucky?
• He makes me laugh so hard. I love his sense of humor. Out of no where he will just hit me with a word or phrase that will send me into a fit giggles. I love to to see him laugh that really deep belly laugh. You know the one where you can't breathe. He has so much life.
• He loves our kids so much. Jonathon has wanted to be a dad since he was about 14. I'm not kidding. He has had all of his kids names picked since about the same time. (I've talked him down form wanting 6 kids to wanting 4. Now I'm kidda thinkin that 2 sounds about right!) He is such a good dad. Our kids have no doubt that their daddy loves them. I never have to worry when he is with them they are in very capable loving hands.

• His love for music is contagious. I think I listen to music differently now that he has rubbed off on me. I hear the melody and the lyrics with more thought and feeling than I used to. One of my favorite quotes from him is "I listen to albums like other people watch movies." Music is magic for him.
• He is naturally good at just about anything. He has this uncanny ability to succeed. Whether it be board games, sports, cooking, teaching the kids, learning a new skill...anything, he can do it and do it really well. If you need a winning strategy for any game, Jon's your man. It's a little annoying as his opponent but I do reap the rewards when we play on the same team. I would be shocked if anyone could beat him in the game "Scene-It".
• He loves his family. They mean the world to him. He has so much respect for his parents. He's not just their son but also their friend. I love to see him call them up when he has exciting news to share. They are the first people he wants to tell. I can remember when we found out i was pregnant with Maddie. After we had our moment of rejoicing he couldn't wait another second to call his Mom and Dad. He's a pacer while he talks on the phone and the more excited he is, the faster he paces. you should have seen him pacing for that phone call!
• He has so many hopes and dreams for himself and for our family. He is someone who plans and makes lists. His vision for what we have in store for us is amazing. I'm so grateful I get to be his wife and come along for the ride.

I could go on and on but I'll stop for now because I know he is downstairs taking a break and I want to go see him. But I want him to know how much I love him. He makes me so happy. Happy Birthday.

He brought these home for me. What a sweetie. I love daisies.

Amazing Family

I've had a particularly long day. I'm not sure why. It seems as if the kids have been extremely whiny and needy today. Our house is a disaster. Seriously. I don't even have a clean corner somewhere to escape to. How in the world does it get this messy this fast? Why can't I be one of those people who are so organized and have a clean beautiful house?

8 pm finally rolled around and I was rejoicing inside because it was time to start the bedtime ritual. For some reason getting them ready for bed was also extremely tedious and drawn out so by the time they were both down I was beyond ready to sit down and relax.

I decided to first check my e-mail. I have one message. It's from my Mom letting us know that Heather, my older sister, has updated Quincy's (their oldest son) care page. Quincy just turned 12 this week. (He's a deacon now. So weird.)

Here is the short version of what is happening with Quincy that Kelly (My brother-in-law) wrote to everyone back in July:

"A couple of weeks ago while visiting family in Idaho falls, we took Quincy in for some stomach pains that he had and the doctor thought that it was an onset of ulcers. As a routine, she drew a blood test and sent us on our way with some medication. We we contacted by the doctor a few days later telling us that we needed to go in for some more extensive testing due to the unexpected results of his blood test that showed some kidney problems. We went in and drew some more blood and he went through an Ultra Sound to see if they could tell what was happening to his kidneys. A kidney specialist reviewed the results and wanted us to get to a specialist in Alabama ASAP to go through more extensive testing since he could only find one kidney and the constituents in the blood that indicated kidney function was very abnormal. We came to Alabama and took him in this last Thursday for a consult and they drew another blood sample which showed that he only had 13% kidney function. They sent us over to Baptist Medical Center immediately where they soon realized that they were in over their heads. They sent all the results up to the Children's Miracle Hospital in Birmingham AL which has a wing that is dedicated to kidneys. They came back and had him life-flighted up there because they did not know how long they had since they normally get ready for a transplant at 25% kidney function. Up in Birmingham, he went through extensive testing and they determined that he truly only has one kidney from birth and that it is dying. They subsequently performed a myriad of other tests that led them to the conclusion that he is stable enough at home with multiple medications that simulate what the kidneys do for a short time and monitoring gear until they can fully determine why his kidney died (they can't perform the transplant until they know why first so they don't waste another kidney). Additionally, they are giving him a hormone that replaces what the kidneys do to work with the bone marrow to create the red blood cells. We will go up to Birmingham every couple of days for testing and to meet with the transplant team to start the process of donor matching. We will start with our immediate family first and then move out to our extended family until we find a match. There is a high probability that it will come from myself, Heather or the kids."

Well, as it turns out they just got the news today that my sister, Heather, will be the kidney donor for Quincy.

All of a sudden my "bad day" seems so trivial.

I don't know if it is like this for everyone but as I was growing up my older sister was pretty much perfect as far as I could tell. Yeah, there were times that she made me so mad I could have punched her out but all in all, in my eyes, she was perfect. Well, time hasn't change much. Except that I don't ever feel like punching her out. In my eyes, she is still perfect. She married the perfect guy for her, she has the perfect kids, her house is always clean and most important she always does what's right. Heather, thanks for always being a shining example to me. I will always look up to you.

Here's the Perkes family. This was the best picture we could get while we were all together this summer. We spent the entire day at Cherry Hills in Kaysville, UT and then took our family picture. Do I think I look my best after swimming all day? No. But this this will have to do! :)

P.S Lyndon no longer eats broccoli. How dare he trick me like that.

It's the simple things that bring me the most joy...

Lyndon isn't in to eating anything that is green, leafy or has any nutritional substance to it.

Today he ate BROCCOLI. Not just a small bite but a whole CUP full of steamed broccoli.

I'm so happy.

It's odd...

Jonathon is in full swing with recording this record. Monday he started recording all of the drum parts. His studio is here in the house so that means we need to be as quiet as possible. But only when he is doing the drums because the mics will pick up any other noises throughout the house. When he records the other parts, i.e. bass, guitar, vocals, he plugs right into the DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) so there is never a problem with outside noise leaking in. (Yes, I pretty much know all of the sound engineering lingo and terms. I'm sure it makes me sound extremely cool. :) Please don't be too jealous.) Back to the story at hand...needless to say, the only way to really keep the noise down in the house is just to leave. So we've been hitting all the local parks this week. The kids have been in heaven!! I have loved it too because the weather has cooperated. And not only have I done my regular workout but I've been literally CHASING Lyndon all over the play structures. Up the stairs, down the slide, up the stairs down the slide. I would just let him go by himself except that he insists on playing on the "big kids" playground because it is more to his liking. The little kids playground is not nearly as life threatening.

This morning Jonathon didn't have to record any drums so we took the time to just lay around and relax. It was basically a "Playhouse Disney Marathon" all morning. Please don't judge too harshly. So as I was watching there were two things that caught my attention...First, why do cartoon characters only have 3 fingers and a thumb? Are they not good enough for that 4th finger? Is it too time consuming for the artists to draw one more finger? And second, Why do the Higglytown Hero's arms disappear every time they put their arms at their sides. It's disturbing.

Why do I even bring all this up? It's either post a blog entry or do the laundry. Need I say more?

Shout out to Maddie

It's Maddie's turn...

Oh how I love this girl. Here are some recent "Maddisms":

• I was tucking her in for a nap and she wanted me to open her box of mini nerds. I didn't think there would be too much harm in that. (Boy was I wrong but that's a different story.)As I opened the box and handed them back to her I saw that they were grape flavored (I ADORE grape flavor, it makes me think of summertime) so I said "hey, can I have one of those?" Without skipping a beat she said in her most bubbly voice, "YOU BET MOM!"
• Last week she had on a really cute outfit. The shirt had a skeleton on it and she wore her black shoes for the first time with it. Everyone kept telling her how cool she looked. Well, on the way to church I see her taking off her white shoes to put her black shoes on. They didn't match so I asked her to put the white ones back on. She replied with, "But Mom I need to wear my cool shoes so I can be cool."
• She has a speech impediment that I think is terribly cute. At the park the other day Jonathon is helping her on the monkey bars and out of now where she says, "konnichi". What the heck? Did she just say Hello in Japanese? She sure did. It had nothing to do with her speech. She was speaking very clear! She later confessed that she learned it from the Wonder Pets.

Maddie has an extremely vivid imagination. She loves to pretend and can stay in character for days on end. Yes, we are still all members of the Mickey Mouse clubhouse. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother with putting clothes on the girl because she strips them off and puts on her dress-up clothes as fast as she can.

She loves princesses. We tried to simply not introduce the whole princess mania thing to her but some how, some way she found it on her own. She knows all the characters, all the stories and of course, all of their princes. Sometimes I make up obscure Disney Princess trivia for her just to see if she knows the answer...it's frightening how good she is. Her favorite, by far, is Aurora. (Sleeping Beauty for those who need to take Maddie's Princess 101 class.) Maddie is convinced she has purple eyes like Aurora. She has NEVER swayed from this fact. Go ahead, ask her what color her eyes are. She will say, "Purple, like Aurora's" each and every time.

She loves to be silly. She's the easiest person the play hide and seek with. This how it works...She hides her head under a blanket while you say, "Hummmm, I wonder where Maddie is? Is she in/on/under the (fill in the blank)". The sillier, the better. Lately she's been asking me to "make it funnier". My old stand-by of "Is she under her bed?" is just not doin' the trick these days. I have to be more creative and say something like, "Is she on top of the car eating cotton candy?" She usually doesn't respond but every once in a while I hear a snicker and a little "no".

She has the best memory of anyone I know. I now find my self asking her about things that I can't remember. How cool is that? But at the same time we are ALWAYS held to our word. If we say she can't have a cookie tonight but she can have one tomorrow after lunch...you better believe tomorrow after lunch she will most definitely be asking for her cookie. Although there seems to be some kind of memory malfunction when it comes to remembering to stay out of my make-up...

She is and always has been extremely shy when she first meets someone. She isn't one to join in with other kids right away. If we are with a group, large or small, you will most likely find her glued right to my leg or very close by. Lyndon on the other hand...We were at the playground for 30 minutes and Lyndon made about 6 new friends from the ages of 2-9 years old. I'm surprised he didn't have me pass out his phone number.

I really could go on and on about my sweet Maddie. She is such a joy in our lives. I love her more than words can describe.

Enjoy the photo gallery of my Maddie

Baby Isaac

Our friends, Gina and Jamie had their baby last Tuesday. Isn't he so precious?! I had the pleasure of going to the hospital to have a little photo shoot with them. He is just the most easy going sweet little thing since...I don't know...probably Lyndon! Congratulations Adams family, we sure love you guys!

I posted a few more pictures on my photography blog.

My Retreat

A couple of weeks ago I was having a very less than perfect day. My breaking point came at 1pm. I was trying to put Maddie's pull-up on so she could take a nap. After the 16th time of me pulling it up to her knees and her kicking it back off I'd had it. I pretty much turned into this other form of myself that really doesn't show it's face all that often...Crazy Katie. I took the pull-up threw it across the room and fumed out slamming the door behind me. (Extremely mature, I know.) Well, lucky for me Jonathon works from home so he came out to investigate. After calmly assessing the situation and dealing with everyone so lovingly he decided it was time that I had a small respite. In all honesty I'm not sure if he was scared FOR me of OF me but none the less I earned myself a 3 day get-a-way to a nearby spa. How great is my husband?

So here it is The Barton Creek Resort...beautiful, huh?

This is the view from my room.

I took this picture to show how close I was to the actual spa, just 20 feet away! For 3 days I slept in, worked out, went hiking, read, relaxed in and by the pool, watched chick flicks, had spa treatments, enjoyed the white fluffy robes and slippers and sat in the steam room, whirl pool and sauna! Wow, it was amazing.

It was all so relaxing and wonderful but...

I can't tell you how much I missed my little family. Absence surely made my heart grow fonder. I was really excited to come home and be with the ones I love. The spa was amazing and something I definitely needed but my family (little frustrations and all) are so much amazing.

Last night Maddie sat down on her stool and beckoned Jonathon over to her. She politely asked him to sit down because they really needed to hold hands. How cute is that?! :) Jonathon loved it. So just as I'm giggling over Maddie here come Lyndon zipping around the corner with his new accessory...the purse. It's hard not to love purses when he has an older sister who teaches him everything he knows!

Catchin' Up

Sometimes I wonder what the point is when we try so hard to get to church, let alone on time, and we end up just spending the whole Sunday in the hall with the kids. Here's a question...Why can't I catch a one year child? Seriously. My legs are like 4 times the length of his!

Highlights from church today:

• spending sacrament meeting in the hall trying (and failing) to keep Lyndon and Madaline contained and quiet.
• Trying (and failing) to keep Lyndon either on my lap or even within 5 feet of me during Sunday school. Oh how I miss the back of the gym in our old ward!
• watching Lyndon sandwich himself and slip through the back of one the chairs only to be caught in mid-air by the kind man sitting behind us.
• #1 highlight at church today was when Madaline took her name tag off to put it on me and yelled, "Here Mom, I'll put this on your bra!"

So here are some pictures I've taken over the last few weeks that I've been meaning to post.

Lyndon LOVES LOVES LOVES music. It seems to be the fiber of his being. After getting frustrated that the ear-buds didn't stay in his ears we figured out this little trick. I turn the volume up pretty high and let the ear buds hang around his neck. TaDah! Now he can blissfully walk around while listening to Blink 182 or any other band with a rockin' beat.

He's a multi-tasker. He will push buttons on the i-pod while playing with his other toys.

He is such a sweet boy. I found him in one of his favorite spots...on Maddie's bed with her silky blanket and Cinderella (his lady friend). This time I found him lovingly stroking this baby dolls face.

He's pretty much infactuated with his and Maddie's silky blankets. Here he is walking around with the blankie on his head.
Caught ya!

I've mentioned before how much Maddie loves to pretend. On this day I happened to have my camera handy during the course of about an hour pretending session. Let me take you through the journey...

We started out at the beach. Note the visor. Then she became the photographer.

Next comes the series of events starring the bowl of fish crackers.

They began as a birthday cake.Then moved on to be a bowl of puppy food.
Here she is being a puppy. Her name is Ellie-dog.
We ended this pretending session with her as a puppy so that was her identity for the rest of the day.

Two friends of mine, Gina A. and Stacy R. are having baby boys this month. So a few of us threw them a combined baby shower. I made these centerpieces/party favors. I thought they turned out really cute. I had a great time at the party. No kids, no silly games just yummy food and great friends. Does it get any better than that?