Slow Dancing

This will melt your heart seeing these two slow dancing together!!! X will make some girl a very happy bride someday dancing like this!!! :-)

A Year Ago Today..

I can hardly imagine where Nate and I were a year ago today. We were heading to our adoption agency to meet our future children. We were so both nervous since we had NO clue what were doing. We were told we would have a few months to prepare and everything was moving sooo fast. When we got to Des Moines we were really early (if I remember like 45 minutes early!) We circled the adoption agency a few times trying to get a glimpse of the children before we walked in. When we finally parked and got enough courage to walk in we met Grandma Mary, Vicki (a family friend) and G. I think I was seated for a total of 1 minute before they asked if I wanted to hold G. She was such a cutie and sooo shy. She was playing with a small block toy and so content sitting there in my lap. We talked to Vicki and their Grandma and told them a little about us and our house and neighborhood.

Then in came the other two! They were full of energy and found a few balls that the agency had as toys and were instantly playing with us. I had brought along an album of the dogs to show them our other "kids". We decided right then and there we wanted those kids in our lives!!

So a year ago today our family grew 3 fold!!!
Today we celebrated in our own little way. We stayed at home and had tons of fun being together. We did a little dancing...

X even got into the mood to dress up!! He thought it was hilarious that he was wearing a tutu!!

These two wanted to dance like mommy and daddy!!!

Then mommy decided to make a special dinner. We explored the garden and found loads of yellow pear tomatoes and enough carrots for a Carrot Cake!! The kids helped me pick the veggies and then we got out all the pots and pans to make a Wonderfully Tasting Carrot Cake!

The kids helped me every step of the way. We made the carrot cake first and then started on our elbow macaroni spaghetti. They were the best stirrers, carrot shredders, and flour and sugar measurers (okay the last one NOT so much!)

Here is R finding the yellow tomatoes in the garden (we threw them into our spaghetti sauce) YUM!

It was a great way to remember the first day we met. I am in awe of them and just amazed at how they have changed in just ONE YEAR!!

Rosetta becomes a Fish!!

At the pool all the kids wanted to try to swim without their life jackets. Daddy took them one at a time and tried to help them float and start to swim. X tried to keep up straight in the water and arched his back a little too much. BUT R took off swimming in no time!! Her head was above the water, she moved both her feet and arms and everything!!! I was such a proud momma!!

Pedicures and Chlorine

I cannot believe the summer is almost gone!! It's not that we haven't done TONS of things this summer. We Have! And this weekend was just another filled with lots of family times and fun memories. Nate started the weekend a little early by taking some time off on Friday and Nate and I headed to Des Moines to speak at an Attachment Seminar for our Adoption Agency. I believe it was the first time all week I was out of my sweats!! I decided that since I was actually wearing makeup and had taken some time to get ready I would get a belly pic. Here is the baby bump at 27 weeks! It was nice to get away for a few hours and spend some time with my hubby!! We were able to stop by babies r' us and look at baby furniture and tested out a few gliders for the baby's room. ( I ordered the baby furniture last night!!! YEAH!!) When we got back home that night we had a few of our friends over to hang out and chit chat. I got to show off some of the fun baby girl clothes I received from my cousin who had a baby girl in January. Also the baby bedding and a few other things we all ready had here for the baby. The more things that go into the baby room make it more surreal!!! Can't believe in less than 3 months we will get to see our baby girl!!!! WOW

Here is just some of the fun things we have been getting out of our garden!!! Yum Yum!

On saturday morning me and R went to go get pampered and got pedicures. It won't be too much longer and I am afraid I won't be able to reach my toes. I hope we didn't create a monster by getting her first pedicure at age 5..... I didn't have a pedicure til I was in college.
She got to pick out her color and then the lady put a pretty flower on her toe! She was in heaven!!!

After our fun morning at the nail salon, we packed up the kids to go to the Quad Cities to see some old friends. We promised the kids if they had been good while we were out on Friday that we would get a hotel with a pool and go swimming. They kept their promise so we kept ours.

Daddy took the kids to the pool and they took to fish in water! Even G was swimming around with just her lifejacket. (mommy forgot her tube so she had to either stay on the steps or try to float around. She took a few minutes before she didn't even want daddy to hold on to her anymore.

The boys even got some hot tub time in!

"Mommy look at me!!!"

Sisters... so cute! It was nice that they got all of the energy out in the pool because later that night when we went to put them to bed..... they were exhausted and didn't say a peep! What a great weekend!! Lots of Fun!!!

Oh the Places We Go....

"You're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting,
So... get on your way!"

WOW... another long road trip behind us. It's always fun to count down the days until a vacation and the anticipation of a couple days of pure fun. But the coming back home..... not as much fun! The laundry, the long hours in a car, the swollen feet, the kinked neck from trying to sleep in the car, the "how many more minutes?", is not something to look forward too. It is like dragging feet to get everybody back in their car seats to sit for 12 hours. I don't blame them, do you?

But we made it home and now we have SO many memories to remember and make us smile even days, weeks, and months later. Who could ask for more of a paradise to vacation anyways? R said it best yesterday "Can I just stay at Grandma's forever?" I wish little girl.....
We have a family vacation planned every year, when all my brothers and sisters and their families get together at my parent's house in LaFollette, Tennessee. This year we had everyone there except my nephew Jacob who was on a life changing wildlife adventure in Canada. It is amazing to see how the nieces and nephews have grown since the last time I saw them. They just keep getting taller and smarter!!! Once you get to the house the plan of attack is rest and relaxation. You don't have to do anything you don't want to (except get your picture taken!! :-) and there are plenty of things to do!
Here are the guys knowing how to relax! Not a care in the world!!!
The sun was hot and intense the entire week. If it would rain, it blew over and the sun came out and we would be right back out in the water.

Quite the Crew!!!!
We take the boat out and cove up on the lake for some fun too! I went out with the family on Friday's boat excursion.... it wasn't without it's excitement! Here are my brothers using teamwork to try and get the anchor up from the bottom of the lake.... unfortunately it wasn't budging and we had to leave the anchor at the bottom of the lake.

Nothing better than just floating in the lake.... Our kids loved the water. in no time they were going from clinging onto Daddy to jumping off the dock. X even got to the point that he only wanted his life jacket on! He was like a little fish in the water.

We even made it to the pool a few times where they could touch where they even got more comfortable. R was dunking her head under the water and blowing bubbles and X was jumping off the sides doing front flips!!!

"Look at me!
Look at me!
Look at me NOW!
It is fun to have fun
But you have to know how."
— Dr. Seuss (The Cat in the Hat)

Blowing bubbles!!

Our sunset cruise

It was so relaxing to be out on the water as the sun came down.

Here is Uncle Dennis and G watching the sunset.

One night we took some family picture... since it is very rare we get the family together.

Here is mom and the girls... can you tell we are related??

Siblings

The grandkids.... this picture has changed alot in the last year... and will change again in 3 months... the grandkids just keep growing!!!

My Brother Dennis and his family (missing Jacob)

My brother Kurt and his family (they live in Tallahassee, FL)

And who are these cuties??

Here is Kurt and Will..... wow does will look like his daddy?!?!?
And here are the boys in the family .. just chillin'

And my sister Beth and her family which will grow by one come November!
I even got a little time to take some pictures of my beautiful nephew Lincoln. What a Cutie!!!

On Saturday we headed to my Uncle Jim and Aunt Carolyn's house who live just south of Knoxville, TN to have a family reunion. It had been a while since we have seen alot of the Blankemeyer family members. It was alot of fun!! The kids played in the pool for hours and we had excellent food and fun entertainment by way of a heated volleyball game. It was fun hearing stories of when my dad was younger and hearing what each family is up to. We couldn't have asked for better weather either!!

After the reunion, most of our family headed home but we got to spend another 2 days at the house with grandma, grandpa and Aunt Kathy. It was wonderful!!! None of us wanted to head home yet. On Monday we took the kids and grandma and grandpa to a marina to have lunch and fed the fish and ducks. They had a ball!!

It was a great vacation... and we can't wait to go back next year. But with baby coming I don't think we will be making that trip this year again! I think I took enough pictures for us to keep those memories alive for a few months!! :-)

Here is my little one giving the baby a kiss!

"You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep

because reality is finally better than your dreams."
— Dr. Seuss

(this quote is sooooo true!!! Our life is a fairytale!!!)