Halloween 2018

William had a new options for what to dress up as for Halloween. He settled on Darth Vader. I don't have the heart to tell him Darth is a "bad guy", although Bret says he's just misunderstood ;)

Potty Training - Summer Project

Late Summer 2018 is dedicated to POTTY TRAINING

We introduced William to potty training with a Paw Patrol training toilet and used sticker charts with prizes to get him motivated. We did the three-day potty training where he was naked for the first day, undies on for the next two days. Pretty much, we didn't go anywhere for the weekend. Each time he filled in a row on his sticker chart, he got to pick from the prize bag. But what he really wanted was the MnM's he received as reward as well. He took to it very well! Playing up the part of him being a big kid and not needing diapers anymore helped. We packed up all the leftover diapers and gave them to a friend of mine for their kiddo. He is excited to wear undies with his favorite characters on them as well.

Wearing pull-ups for nap and night sleep still :)

Couples' Trip to Nashville

Bret and I met Megan & Robert in Nashville, TN for a couples' vacation! It was a city none of them had been to & I hadn't been in ten years. We had fun exploring the area and visiting the bars & restaurants downtown. It was nice to get away for a bit and just be with Megan & the guys. I'm thinking we should do this more often!

plane rides are so relaxing without a toddler to entertain!

No way were Bret and I going to be in Nashville and NOT stop by Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace Plaza & studio. It was a day Dave was out of the studio (of course!) so we didn't get to meet him, but we did get a tour of the facility and a free cookie & coffee cup for visiting. Bret and I wouldn't be where we are today financially or relationally without going through FPU. It literally changed our marriage.

We got to visit the Grand Ole Opry on our Nashville trip as well. It was so fun to see performers on such a famous stage!

LOVED having sister time!

Surprise: We Bought a New House!

In my mind, we weren't looking to buy a new home at this point. I thought we would be in our Spruce Street house for another year or two. We were working on paying down the mortgage to get it under $100K. Bret started looking around at homes and we talked with friends of ours whose home we have always loved. There were three more plots on their street; thinking we could possibly build a home and move next year. We tried to contact the builder, but never got much information from them (come to find out, they were folding their business). But, as luck would have it, a house on that sames street came up for sale! We went to an open house and fell in LOVE! We got in touch with the realtor Bret's sister worked with a couple of years ago. He's also a Jayhawk and I know his wife through Bret playing rugby at KU. We went and looked at some other homes for sale in Gardner and back to the one on our friends' street. Nothing compared to it!

Since we had been playing down our current mortgage so much, and had quite a bit of savings, we were able to put a lot down for a down payment & afford a good offer on the house. Before we knew it, we were signing lots of papers and the house is now ours. This all happened in the span of 3 months (open house to moving day!)

new playroom!

always a helper

our NEW home

Of course, moving out of our house couldn't be easy. The night before moving, there was a tornado warning. Bret and W slept in the basement til the all clear was given.

Easter 2018

This was the first year for William to "get" Easter egg hunting. He wanted to stop and open each one of the eggs as he found them instead of gathering as many as possible. Not scared of his buddy the Easter Bunny either (did NOT get that from his mama!).

Trying on outfits Bret wore as a child 

Annual IVF Celebration

Happy Embryo Implanting Day!!