Cincinnati Reds

While in Cincinnati I got to check another item of the list.  My dad got tickets to game 5 of  the Reds vs the Giants.  And although he was hoping to take Taylor, who had class I was runner up.  I had not gotten to go to a game in the new stadium.  I was hoping that this would be a family event for all, maybe next time.  The ball park was beautiful!  I do like baseball but I usually don't go for just the game I like the conversation more then anything while watching.  Sadly, the Reds lost and did not put up much of a fight and the Giants deserved all the wins!  Sorry, Cincy but it is so true.  Anyway here are a few pictures from the day.  Oh and we didn't get a picture before the game because it was so crazy   and everyone was in such a bad mood after I did not dare ask;)

 the Giants pitcher warming up

 All American Ball Park

Driving Without a License

I took an early morning trip to the grocery store while in Cincy and they had the carts that Gracie loves.   Nolan got his first try at driving.  Gracie loved for a while except Nolan kept taking over on her wheel.  But they did stay in it until I got threw the checkout line.

Lunch with Papi

One of the days we were in Cincinnati we all headed downtown to have lunch with my dad.  Gracie was so excited to see where Papi worked.  See below some of the pictures from our day.

 Gracie and sheep hanging with the Cincinnati Enquirer Flying Pig

she thought it would be great if sheep sat on his head, 

not to sure the pig is loving it

 my gracie and her papi waiting to be let in the office

 nolan waiting for papi to get off the phone

 a little blurry but he is so cute

 the kids checking out Papi's view

ok this is at fountain square.  what you should know is gracie was running towards the fountain and I went to take a picture and she stopped turned and smiled without me asking, I think she has figured me out;)

10 Years Ago

10 years ago on this day Troy proposed to me.  Although I could give you the some of the details of the day I decided to pull it off an old site we used when we got engaged.


How We Met
Freshman year Troy was my powder puff coach.  Only memory from that year was that I asked him if I could go in the game and thinking how scary he was.  My sophomore year is when we started actually making conversation, well my friend Lily did most of the talking trying to hook us up.  This usually took place in Melton(the cafeteria) where she talked and antagonized him which was just hilarious and I said barely anything.  When we finally started dating, which took a long while, we did a lot of talking at night on the phone but I ignored him anytime I saw him during the day.  On the phone he was suave and handsome a really good dresser;) You might be laughing because you know in person he was a farm boy from Kansas.  I was lucky if he wore a belt with his pants when his shirt was tucked in, I also found that most things he wore did not match and his pants were WAY to tight and tapered all the way down.  He also had this purple sweatshirt that I will never forget, that he clams was for K-State, even though it was no where on it, he just looked like Barney.  Needless to say it took me a long while to date him and to talk to him in person.  But a gentleman he was and always looked after me.

Engagement Day
October 24, 2002

How It Happened
Troy decided that since he had a vacation day in October he would spend the day with me.  Troy had the day all planned out.   We were going to go out for lunch then head to the botanical gardens, but the rain ruined his plans.  Troy and I grabbed carry-out  for lunch and hung out at his apartment for the afternoon.  Then we split, Troy went to football and I had to nanny.  Around 7pm, Troy and I headed out to dinner at Stoney River.  After dinner Troy asked if I was up for a walk so we headed out to our favorite spot.  As we headed back to the car from the walk, Troy asked me if I would drive.  As I opened the door there was a sticky note stuck to the steering wheel that read, "Candace, you might want to look in your trunk!" with a picture of a present on it.  I opened the trunk and there were a dozen  pink roses in my trunk.  As I picked up the roses I noticed a blue ribbon that was tied to the roses and then ran behind a box that was in my trunk.  I pulled on the blue ribbon and a white box came flying at me.  On top of the box there was a receipt from a restaurant in Cincinnati, my dad had signed it.  Troy had gone to Cincinnati to ask permission to marry me, I was in shock.  Troy took the white box and opened it, and inside was a black box.  He then got down on one knee, opened the box, and said a bunch of stuff I do not remember with will you marry me at the end, I of course replied with a yes!



It is so fun for me to think about all that occurred between now and the day of the wedding.  We had some amazing moments but the road was not always easy.  It was a tough engagement with job struggles and family but God got us to the altar.

Fall Door

I have not done a whole lot for fall like I planned but I did finally finish a craft I literally started probably the same time last year.  I cut the S out and then started covering it with yarn.  This was taking too long and it got put aside.  I decided to cover it with a coffee bag that I had and I love it.  It still has the texture I want but it was much quicker.  Plus every time I open the front door I get a wind of coffee smell in my face.

The original idea came from pintrest of course

pinterest link

The Fun Run

Really The Color Run was just that a fun run.  This was my first and it won't be my last!  I loved it would be an understatement.  It truly was for fun, when they asked how many of you have never run a 5k I was shocked it was almost everyone.  I would say maybe a 1/4 of the 10k runners ran.  The rest of them were walkers and it was not even timed.  People were ready to be crazy and have fun.  I was in the first batch of people that were allowed to go.  I walked for the first 5 minutes because there was no where to go.  I literally just had to jog in place to keep my muscles warm and wait for the crowd of 1k spread out.  At each color station there was congestion.  People would stop just to get as much color on them as possible and some even rolled on the ground, seriously.  Just hilarious!  There was a group of guys that ran from left to right pretend to be planes through the whole route.  When I crossed the finish line the line for people to run was still crazy long.  But it was fun and I have no idea my time.

 start

 the line behind me

it was freezing

 crazy runners

 the color party

a little painted

11 Months & Counting

My baby is 11 month, oh my!  Although, I am surprised that he will be one he is just is so grown up already.  He has been walking for months, talking, and just already acts like he is ready to be with Gracie and play all the time.  BUT he is still my baby and he still loves his momma.  I am going to miss every stage of this last year but I am so excited to watch the rest of his personality come out.

Mom Look at Me:

• you still have 8 front teeth and you have you 2 one year molars already broke through and the bottom 2 are on there way.
• you love to play horsey.
• you love climbing the steps.
• you love being chased.
• you love being tickled. 
• you still need 2 naps a day.
• i have put away almost all you 9 month clothes and move into 12 month stuff.
• you are in a size 3 diaper at night we started a size 4 you pee a lot.
• you love bath and now understand the sit on your bottom words but you love to splash, I end up soaked.
• my favorite is the random cuddles and the kisses you give me
• nicknames: squirt, sweet boy, buddy, pumpkin, you little bugger, little man, 
• nicknames when you are up to no good: rat, bugger.

Surprises

Even though it has taken along time for us to believe you do repeat word/sounds.  You say things like hi, hat, mamma, dadda, and kind of gracie.  It is just strange when someone else says he just said hat.  I think ok I am not that crazy.

Food

All table food baby!

• We have pinned down your terrible diaper rashes to tangerines or strawberries. {this was a lie, we have no idea but it is gone and we thought maybe it was the formula but God only knows}
• you have now had eggs, cheese, and yesterday you chugged your sisters milk.  Your tummy was just fine.  You steal you cousin Nora's sippy of 1/2 juice & water and chug that as well.  
• you love chicken
• you did have cold cuts this week and I did not warm that up and I got a big no no from a few people on that, oops!  I promise I will warm it up for now on!

Routine - These are pretty true - you are now using a sippy for all feeds except for the bedtime bottle

• 8am sippy
• 10 nap
• 11:30/12:00 Lunch
• 1:30 sippy
• 2:00 nap
• 4:30 sippy
• 5:15 dinner
• 7:30 final bottle (this final bottle goes like this: 7oz of water, 3 scoops of formula, add oatmeal)
• bedtime around 8pm

all bottles are 7 oz 

Things that melt our hearts

• We love your hugs so much!  They are not often but when you give them we stop and soak them up.  If you give hugs to others we tell them to take it in and it will end soon.
• When you are cold you put your hands by your tummy and hug us.
• When I come home from being home and you have gotten to hang with the sitter you walk/run to me and give me the biggest hug.  Melts my heart every time! 
• Gracie and I love getting you out of bed in the morning.  You are so happy after sleep!
• When you get up before Gracie I will set you on the hallway floor.  You will them walk down the hall and look in Gracie's room.  You always smile like you know she is sleeping and how you can push her buttons.  You then will walk to her bed and yell at her.  It seriously is so funny!
• Your big smile.

Behind the Glass

Trips to the zoo are pretty regular for our family.  This fall Gracie, Nolan, and I decided to take advantage of the cool weather and enjoy the animals.  As always they were very active.  We had a great time and for the first time Nolan actually seemed to notice them behind the glass.  I am not sure if it was because the place was dead or because he is just at that age but it was a lot of fun and Gracie was enjoying showing off her knowledge of all the animals.

Dr Pepper

Ok so as you know Troy loves Dr Pepper.  On this morning my little man decided he wanted a little Dr P as well.  Pictures aren't great but you get the idea.

Bucket List

Ok so the term bucket list has become famous due to a recent movie.  Whether you have it written down or just in your head you have a few things that you want to do or places you want to go during your life time.  For at least the past 7 years I have wanted to go to a OSU football game and sit in the student section.  But unless I knew a student there was no way and I knew that Troy would never be able to go, so it was just a wish.  Then my brother Alex decided to go to OSU.  My dream had a light but his first year I was pregnant, about 7 months and I was sure I would not pass as a student with that belly.  When this year hit I thought the dream would have to wait another year.  When I had the miscarriage and was finally feeling more like myself it was mid-september.  I thought I should get my act together and look at a OSU schedule.  It turned out I was only able to attend 3 of their home games, two of which were games that would cost me over $200 and that was not going to happen.  Alex got a hold of 2 tickets at the last minute that were super cheap and I headed down to Columbus.  I stayed at my brothers house which was a lot of fun.  I got up to use the bathroom and realized bed time happens around 5am but to my surprise the guys were all up and ready to go by 10.  It was a great game!  I never sat down except for tv timeouts, I got to see the whole game which never happens with kidos, and I learned some new cheers!  It was like college all over again, it was a lot of fun!
I loved it, thanks Alex!

Football Practice

Well, it has been a long time since the days of showing up to practice in the middle of the day.  But sometimes it is nice to get a chance to pack a meal and head to the field.  Gracie and I play a little run and tackle and Nolan tries to eat the football.  When we got down to the field the girls soccer team was practicing so I got to teach her a little about soccer and let her check it out.  We had a great time.

My New View

Although this won't last too long right now I am loving my new view of my kidos in our little Toyota.  We may not have tones of space but I love that when I look back this is what I see.  My little Nolan loves to talk to me between lights and he loves to watch his sister.  I will miss this once we go to a bigger car.  Time just is going way to fast, I love these moments!

HI!!!

No matter if it is the bank or drive through Gracie LOVES to say HI!  When we go through the line to grab a bit Gracie loves to roll down her window and talk to the person at the window, saying Hi, telling them her name and asking how they are, all of this is so funny to us.  Some will stop and chat it up with her and some just say hi and go about there business.  Troy how ever likes to pull up far enough that the person cannot avoid the little girl talking to them.  He thinks it is hilarious, ok we both love it!

After her first day of pre-school we thought we
would take her out and McD is what she wanted.
She ate the whole double from the $1 menu.