K2s Birthday Bash

Saturday was the day to celebrate Natalie and Harvey's birthdays. We had a delicious lunch, followed by LOTS of gifts and cake and ice cream. I even got to try out the new trampoline for a bit. Those things sure are a workout....Here are some pictures that highlight the festivities!

Natalie is all ready to hit the sidewalks with her new roller blades and protective gear!

Harvey has TONS of new Iron Man and Spiderman toys!

Natalie got some more outdoor adventure fun with this new scooter!

I couldn't resist this. Tony, Charlie and I got Harvey this mask and cool glove that makes the spidey web noise when you pretend to shoot the web out. 

We got Natalie this Barbie and little sister tagalong bike. The Barbies actually ride the bike! It looks just like Natalie and Jon on their tagalong!

Natalie and her Hello Kitty cake. 

Harvey and his Spiderman cake

Tickle fun with Uncle Tony and Grandpa Alan!

Big helper feeding Charlie

Snuggle time with Harvey and Aunt Mindy.

It was such a fun party! We can't wait to spend the week with those cuties on vacation next week!!

Sol's new toy

Mindy was at a friend's garage sale and found a neat toy that she thought Charlie might like. I said, get it and we'll pay you back! He's a little too young for it now, but Sol is showing him how to use it the right way.

She's trying to figure out how to get the little beads around the wires.

Now she figured it's easier to use her teeth. Although she quite effectively used her paws to move the beads around. 

Now she's moving the little animals around as well. 

Cousin Lovin

My cousins Connor and Megan spent the day with us today. Of course I had my camera out...

Charlie loved talking to Meg during floor time. 

Here he is anticipating Larry the Lion Blanket covering his face. 

"Mom, why is that camera always glued to your face...?"

We had a piano lesson. He's getting quite good. I'm thinking child prodigy.

Marvin the Music Making Monkey also was a good conversationalist. (Yes I name all of Charlie's toys. No I don't care if that makes me weird)

Meg and Connor both get 20 minutes a day on the iPad. Here's Meg taking her turn. 

Since Meg was busy on the iPad, Charlie talked with Larry the Lion. 

We had a fun day, and we can't wait to have them back again next Wednesday!

The Rebels

My cousin Kaylee is playing on a summer softball league. They are The Rebels! Charlie and I walked over to watch a game and a half last night. Charlie is clearly like his mom and likes ball games. He was smiling and talking through the entire game!

Here she is on first getting ready to head to second!

For the first half she played 2nd base.

Here's Charlie yelling "Go Kaylee!" 

The 2nd half of the game she was catcher. 

They won one and lost one. It was fun to see her play! She has home games every Thursday and away games every Tuesday, so hopefully we can catch a few more games!

3 Month Smiles

I just love his face in this one. You can't tell so much in this picture, but he's laying on the blanket knit by Grandma Cher.

I know I mentioned my friend Ali took Charlie's 3 month pictures last weekend, and I just got them in the mail!  Here are a few of my favorites. He was a bit of a stinker due to the wind, but overall, he was a trooper!

He was laughing out loud for this shot!

The Hungry Caterpillar hat made another appearance only now it's too tight for his head!

Family photo. The wind was intense, so my hair is flying!

There you can see Grandma Cher's blanket. He didn't know about the grass underneath the blanket...

We could not for the life of us get him to smile or look at Ali for the next 2.

I think this is cute. Snuggling with Daddy!

Update

For those of you wondering how my cousin Matt is doing, here is an update. The surgery went great. It took a little longer than planned, but he was a trooper. He now has a rod and 6 screws in his left leg. The surgeon said that it will take a good 3 to 4 months of hard work to get it healed, but he has no doubt that Matt will recover just fine.

Throughout the accident, Matt managed to keep the bike upright. I asked him how, and he said he had absolutely no idea. Clearly it was a "God thing". How amazing! Grandpa drove down to Houston, MN to the impound and picked up the motorcycle today. He said if it wasn't for a few busted lights, you'd never know it was hit by a deer. Matt's leg took the brunt of the hit.

Tony took the day off today so we could go to LaCrosse to spend some time with him. He looked good, but we could tell he's in a lot of pain. This is to be expected unfortunately. They're hoping for a discharge tomorrow, but you never know what the day will bring.

We had to leave around 1 since Charlie was being a bit of a stinker, but my mom is there with him for the rest of the day. Luckily, Matt's mom, Diane, is flying in this evening from her trip to DC. I know he's excited to have his mom with him. I can't imagine going through this without your parents/sister at your side. I know it's not tough just for him either; Diane, Dave and Jacque are all wishing they could be here right now! Luckily we have a close knit family that takes care of each other.

Keep sending prayers for Matt and his family! Thanks!

Prayers

As many of you may know, family is very important to me. I have always been so thankful for the amazing friendships that have formed between my cousins and myself. One such cousin, Matt, who as become an older brother to me was involved in a motorcycle accident this afternoon. 

He was driving along, enjoying this beautiful day when a deer ran out and struck on his left side. He was able to call 911 on his own and an ambulance transported him to Mayo in LaCrosse since it was the closest trauma center to the accident. 

Since Matt's immediate family is in South Dakota and his mom is on a trip to DC, my Aunt Amy flew (drove speedily) to LAX to be with Matt and assist in any way possible.

Matt broke his lower left leg in 3 places. BUT from the picture Amy text me you'd never know he was in an accident. He was so fortunate to go away from the accident with just the broken leg. It's not a small injury mind you, but he's alive and still in good spirits! Surgery was scheduled for 7pm, but I spoke with Amy at 9:15 and they were still waiting to go in...I just received a text saying they were in the surgical waiting room. 

I titled this post prayers for several reasons. Today I have prayed prayer after prayer for my cousin Matt. The first is a prayer for thanksgiving that he is still here with us. He has become one of my best friends over the past few years that he's lived by me. 

The next prayer was asking God why? This is not what Matt had planned for the next few months. This throws a huge wrench in his life plan and its going to be a difficult trek back towards where he wants to be. Even though I feel I have a strong faith in God, when things like this happen I struggle. I struggle with the fact that I struggle. I want to be able to fully put my trust in God, but its with sadness that I admit I fall short of this at times. Today is one of those times. 

I won't fill you in on all the details of my prayers. Let's just say, I've been in constant prayer mode. What I ask is for you to send your prayers for Matt. Ask God to heal him physically and emotionally after this traumatic event.

Charlie and I are heading to LaCrosse in the morning to bring Matt some goodies and be with him. In the meantime, I'll be praying.