let the weekend begin.. a little early!

...its been a long week. and its only thursday! dalton was in & out of the hospital all week.. and even from a far it was stressful! cant imagine how nick and jenny must be feeling.. we've been so worried about him, but i think he's finally getting back to his mischievous self. at least thats what nick tells me... jenny tells the story of their week much better than i could.. and the pics of dubbers in the hospital gown are too much!

http://theshoffners.blogspot.com/2007/07/past-five-days.html

and this weekend is our river trip!!! it looks like we all need this much anticipated break more than ever!!! i know i do.. and im sure they do! im so excited about getting out of town!! not too excited about the camping part...but i guess it comes with the territory..mosquitoes and all. got a new swimsuit.. been tanning.. (shhh, dont tell jenn) and i think im ready!

korb is all packed for his visit to nana and papa's. im going to drive him to childress today as soon as the last baby goes home.. my mom and dad have strict instructions NOT to let him take his first steps during his stay. mom said, "well.. what if he just does it on his own? and we dont help him..." i said, "knock him down!!!" of course, i dont want her to knock him down, literally, unless thats what it takes to keep him from walking! kennedy will be home in 2.5 weeks and she doesnt want him to learn without her! this weekend is the old settlers rodeo and parade in my home town.. i tried to find a good link for more info..but all i can find is dates and times. so basically.. its a rodeo. that travels around texas. and in my little home town they make quite a weekend of festivities to celebrate. the rodeo will actually take place friday and saturday night at the arena.. but there will be a parade on saturday morning.. booths.. paddle boats.. and barbeques in the park all weekend. im leaving my camera with nana.. well, maybe papa. (nana doesnt take the best pics) so hopefully they will document korb's first rodeo well.. no pressure guys!

so today is my friday!!! ready for a little break... im attaching a few random pics of the little man to hold grandma trish and kenners over til we get back! he's a funny little guy.. check out that grill as dada says..

to new beginnings!

finally talked kelly into playing poker with us... last weekend she had practice time and this weekend she wanted in on the action...and she won. beginners luck im sure. :) or we may have created a monster!

AND!!! i finally talked her into blogging!!! yea! she created the blog forever ago (literally weeks) and hasnt posted anything til sunday.. but now its officially up and running... we will be checking up on it! im adding it to my list.. and who can i pick on next?!?!? hmmm, maybe nicole.....

http://www.teamcardwell.blogspot.com/

a good week!

wow.. its been more than a week since ive made a post. time sure gets away from you when your having a good time! my mom was here last week.. it was so great to spend time with her! ive seen her at least once a month since she stopped being our full time nanny and went back to her real life..but we havent gotten to really just hang out since our vacation in march. somehow that seems like a life time ago! we had lots of quality time together. she was a saint with the babies. TONS of help! LOVE YOU MOM!!!

here's a cool story that unfolded last week. my mom is an only child.. and both of her parents have been gone for sometime now. family is very important to her, no big secret.. she'd love for all of us to live on the same street and eat dinner together every night! last week, while she was here she made a phone call to a cousin she hasnt seen in about 15 years.. she found out that he lives in mckinney thru another family member that she doesnt see often. they talked on monday evening.. she had lunch with he and his wife on tuesday.. AND they invited us over for dinner friday night. we all really enjoyed their company! we had a great time..and i really hope they keep in touch. when we were leaving on friday.. they asked my parents when they are planning to move to mckinney.. ive been asking that for years!

im posting a few pics from nana's visit..the giant dog belongs to my mom's cousins family. his name is sparticus --- and he is HUGE!

crazy 4th of july week..

what is up with this week!?!?! dont know about anyone else..but i have no idea what day of the week it is! and even though we had a break in the middle i am so tired!!! whats up with that?

first i have to issue a special thanks to my partner in crime auntie kel.. with out her this would be a pretty boring post.. you see i totally forgot my camera both days. how lame is that! thanks, kelly, for saving the day..twice!

we had a great holiday.. it was all fun..maybe too much fun. could be why im tired! we went to addison to the kaboom town festival with the cardwells and mincheys tuesday the 3rd.. we really had a good time. after much debate we ended up setting up camp in a parking lot on the corner of addison rd and keller springs (right across the street from the outer marker..man did that bring back some memories!!) the kids were so good .. as usual. we bought them glow sticks.. which they thought were super cool. of course eventually they ended up chewing on them.. but that was not the last we saw of the glow sticks that night! the fireworks did not begin until 930ish.. well after their bedtime. and while they seemed to think they were cool and all.. korb didnt quite make all the way thru with his eyes open. and then there was the traffic debacle on the ride home - kelly and i were the only ones laughing, im sure. gotta make the best of a bad situation, right?

pretty babies..

sound asleep on daddy's head.. so sweet! ..crazy traffic on the way home-notice the glow sticks. pretty hard to take them seriously like that.and we spent the day at the cusano's on wednesday the 4th. it was so great to see everyone!! we had an awesome time. the food was amazing, as always. we ate, we swam, we ate, we talked, then we ate some more... the house is beautiful! congrats you guys! we had such a good time, you really out-did yourself this time! one of our favorite parts of the day was getting to see all the babies together. last year we were all prego.. this year we were discussing first birthday plans. my how time flies!

there are several of these.. i just picked the best of my boys.

to end the holiday.. the cardwells, mincheys and palmers headed to frisco. the plan was to watch the frisco fireworks from the roof top of casa de cardwell. while that only happened for a select few.. derek and kyle... it was a nice way to end the holiday. reminded of how lucky we are to have great friends. im pretty sure kyle will not be happy with me for posting this pic -- but it proves the point so well. we are definitely creating a last friendship between ava (aka cub) and korb. a true attitude of 'whats yours is mine and whats mine is yours'...

whats wrong with this pic?

one month down..one month to go

we are in the home stretch!! well, really just the half way mark but im trying to stay positive.. kennedy is having a great time in california with her father. she really hasnt had two minutes of down time to miss us... while we are all glad she is having fun...its always hard to watch her grow and learn and experience from afar. such is life i suppose.. no need to dwell. we will just count the days til she's singing songs about texas falling asleep next to dirk.. and teaching the little man to say sissy.

since she left on june 2nd, she has gotten to do a ton of stuff. she spent a little more than a week in childress living the lazy small town life.. she went to a wedding in pecos, texas.. she visited carlsbad caverns in new mexico.. she drove across several states and up old route 66.. spent some time in LA.. went to a graduation party.. learned the basics of surfing at surf camp.. and all about horses at horseback riding camp.. saw a few movies and this weekend she is on her way to vegas for a 7-7-07 wedding. there was a story in the associated press about the wedding they are attending and it will be featured on good morning america.. so by the end of the weekend we could have a television star on our hands too!!! i'll keep you posted on that!

kennedy and her father sent pics thru shutterfly yesterday of her adventures so far.. im gonna post a few and link the rest of the album if anyone wants to check them out.

miss you baby girl..dont forget about us! i love you and we will see you real soon... xoxoxo, mommy!

a party she attended in CA.

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN2zhs3btGL_w

surf camp..

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN2zhs3btGL7g

horseback riding camp..

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN2zhs3btGL94

there should be more to come of horse back riding camp.. just all they had time to download yesterday.

korb is 10 months old!

can you believe it? i can not believe it! how have 10 months already gone by? seriously.. i wish i could make it slow down - but i love watching him grow and learn... i think he learns a new 'trick' daily.

he has 6 teeth now. finally 2 on the top - and they make him look so much more like a little boy instead of a baby.

he can stand up/pull up anywhere on anything! he even lets go and stands on his own for long periods of time. i dont want to rush him.. or assume anything but i dont think it will be too long before he is really walking! we have found that walking, unfortunately, is not necessary to get up the stairs. we will probably be climbing over that gate for the next couple of years!

he has such a personality of his own... he has this thing about putting his hands up in the air. we just love it. its so cute. he often does it in restaurants sitting in a highchair. everyone at the table (and sometimes the wait-staff) always follow his lead.. hands up! we've been the table with their 'hands up' at 3 or 4 restaurants between frisco and mckinney over the last two weeks. ava hasnt quite figured out how to join in yet - but im sure it wont be long! i took this with my phone.. to send to team cardwell - this was one of the very few times we've eaten out with out them lately and we felt like they should follow along from home!

of course he is still a big boy.. couldnt tell you exact measurements but he has an appt this month with his pediatrician. i'll update again then. he is eating big people food and loving every bite. he is a fruit & vegetable guy for sure, unlike daddy! he loves mixed veggies, peas & carrots, green beans, bananas, oranges, peaches.. he does eat 'meat sticks'. turkey's his fav.. he's also a big fan of baby snacks like puffs and those dried fruit things...not sure if they have a name. we have found one picky thing that korbin nickolis does not like. anything warm. its so funny.. if you give him a bite of anything that is not room temp or below. he makes the most awful face, his eyes water, he gags, he cries. it so sad! not sure what thats all about but im not complaining - less work for mommy, not having to warm things up.

he learned to say mama!!!! so exciting! it was the day we went to the zoo when he said it for the first time.. and since then its more like a distress call than my name but thats ok with me! he is really starting to communicate more. he still says dada of course.. he has mastered 'hi'.. still ba for bite and baba for bottle.. he knows kitty.. almost puppy and papa.. he has said uh-oh a couple of times.. and when he waves bye-bye it is absolutely precious! he has definitely learned the names of the people he spends time with the most. if you ask him where mom or dad is he always looks to that person.. and if you ask where ava is he can find her with his eyes too.

im sure there are things that he does that im forgetting to write about... he is so much fun right now. every month kyle says to me that this is his favorite age.. im sure that wont always be the case so we are going to enjoy every minute while it is! here are a couple of current favorite pics..besides all the great ones from the zoo.