The Yordys

Anyone (without facebook) read this?

2012-02-11T22:37:00.000-05:00

Hi friends and family! So I just realized that my last post was from early December...and I'm coming to grips with the fact that I'm just not good at blogging, and to be honest, I really don't like it that much! I'm much too "all or nothing," so if I can't keep this totally updated on our lives (which I just don't have time to do, or maybe I should say I choose not to spend my time doing it) then I tend to just not write posts at all :) And I also realized that I do most of my updates on facebook. So my question is, are there friends/family out there who read this and do not have facebook? If so I will gladly continue the blog with simple snippets of daily life (pictures mainly, and probably not put a lot of writing into it). Otherwise, I'll probably just stick with facebook :) Hope this makes sense! Please just let me know (through a comment, or email me). And to make this a little more interesting, here are a couple recent picture of the two kiddos!

Silent Night

2011-12-09T22:54:00.001-05:00

Tonight was one of my favorite events of the year - Taylor's annual Silent Night Basketball game! Last year it actually made it on ESPN :) The students (and little kids) wear pajamas, and no one cheers until Taylor scores their first 10 points. Brad was out at the high school tonight, but I wanted to take the kids anyway and Auntie Laura came with us so that was fun :)

Molly with friends/MAHE students: Jess, Taylor, and Caitlin

Some of the kids running around at half-time. Max was in heaven.

Fun with Auntie Laura!!

The expression on Max's face all night...pure bliss!

And I just had to share this video. These are two of Max's little friends...absolutely hilarious. Two year olds aren't known for their sharing abilities, but of course when we'd probably prefer they not share, they do. As soon as we caught on to what they were doing, we grabbed our cameras just in time to document it. So funny! (and don't judge us parents for taking pictures instead of stopping them...germs shmerms) :)

I did a craft!

2011-11-22T20:45:00.000-05:00

Those who know me well know I'm not good at doing crafts. I'm just not very creative, and they never turn out like how they're supposed to look. But I really wanted something for Molly's hair clips and headbands - up until this point they've just been piled on a shelf on her changing table. I've seen these types of "holders" on Etsy, but they are pretty expensive. So, I thought I'd give it a shot. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out!! Now Molly just needs to grow some hair so I can actually use the clips :)

The finished product, before the clips and headbands were added.

And there it is!

Trick or Treating

2011-10-31T10:01:00.000-04:00

Upland's night to go Trick or Treating was Saturday, to we headed out with a bunch of friends to some of the "hot spots" around town (Valhalla and Kershner) :) We wanted to go to the residence halls on Taylor's campus, but the kids had reached their max - and it was pretty cold by 8:00pm! So we stopped while we were ahead, and headed home. It was a very successful night - we had a great time, and were so blessed to share it with friends and family! Happy Halloween!!

Bumble Bee and a Dragon! (or Dinosaur - we never did figure out which) Thank you to my friend Bekah for letting us borrow the bee costume!

Trick or Treating at Grandma and Grandpa's! Unfortunately I had left the memory card to the camera in my computer, so I only got a couple shots before it ran out of memory. So this is the best one, believe it or not! Then we went home to get the memory card for the rest of the night.

Trick or Treating at Auntie Laura's!

The town had a chili/hot dog dinner at the fire station, along with "Trunk or Treating" and a costume contest, etc. We went on a hay ride with Uncle Ben and the boys!

This is probably my favorite picture of the night. I have a similar one of Max and Hutson last year, and this year it was Audrey and Molly! HILARIOUS! Plus, Audrey had the costume of the night - a little watermelon. So cute! Sorry you can't see it better here, but you can in the next picture :)

Here are most of the kids we went trick or treating with! Such a great crew. And the kids were told to scream while all the parents took pictures, hence Max's open mouth :) JD (the astronaut) also did a great job screaming!! Thank you Sara Grace for holding Molly!

Hutson and Max - clearly very excited about being in a picture :)

He had so much fun running from house to house with Brad and all of the kids!

I stayed in the street with some of the other parents with strollers. Molly, as usual, was such a trooper!

Finished up the night at Kershner, which meant a visit to Nana and Bapa's! You can't see it very well, but my dad's tie was AWESOME :)

Fun, Full, Fall Friday

2011-10-31T09:42:00.000-04:00

One of the perks with Brad's new job is that he gets random days off during the school year, like Fall Break! So on Friday we headed down to Mounds State Park to go on a fall walk (although first, Molly had to get her flu shot, which was not so fun for her). We had a lot of fun exploring and taking a walk down to the river.

The park had this cool sensory garden for kids - there wasn't much there since we're out of season now, so we'll have to check it out again in the summer.

I love this picture of him.

We were shocked he wasn't more afraid of this. To be honest, we kind of were!

This was taken about 20 minutes after her shot - she sure does recover well!

CHEEKS!!!!!

Getting sleepy. So sweet.

Then we had lunch at McDonalds before heading back home for naps. After they woke up from their naps we carved pumpkins. I don't have too many pictures of this, but here are the final products!

I posted this picture on facebook for a pumpkin carving contest. Brad's (on the far right) won by a landslide, although I'm partial to Max's :)

LOVE this little baby girl!! Such a honey.

We finished our day with roasting pumpkin seeds, blowing up the air mattress, and watching Halloween-themed cartoons with Max. Such a wonderful day!

Molly's Baby Dedication

2011-10-10T21:49:00.000-04:00

What a wonderful, blessed day! We dedicated Molly to the Lord on Sunday (along with three of our closest friends and their babies - the Zeebs, Wehlings, and Drakes). We were blessed to have family and friends there, and even more blessed to know that all of these people in our community will take part in teaching Max and Molly about God's love and the gift of His Son. We pray that both Max and Molly will one day make their own commitments to the Lord!

A couple of extra fun days.

2011-10-10T21:37:00.001-04:00

Most days are fun, but this past week we had a couple of extra fun days. The first was when Max and Molly and I went to the Children's Museum with our good friends Chrissie, Elijah, and Leah. We always have fun with them, and this time was no exception - especially since Max had never been there before. And he had a blast!!!

These boys had a blast together!

What a HONEY! Love this girl.

Love this girl too.

The second extra fun day we had was going to the local pumpkin patch/apple orchard (the one that Brad used to go to with his parents growing up!). Saturday was beautiful, so it was the perfect day to go! There were lots of attempts at getting a cute family or kid picture, but we weren't too successful at either. Here are the best ones we have.

The goal here was to keep Max's stick away from Molly's head/face.

Sweet.

SOREN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-10-10T21:25:00.000-04:00

On Monday, September 26th at 8:50pm we were blessed with our first nephew!!! Soren David Nuesser. What a honey! We were able to go up for a quick trip and visit him, Kelli, and Any that weekend. All are doing well and thankful for God's amazing blessings!!! We love you Soren!!!!!!!

Family!!! (and Kel, you look amazing!!!)

Cutie!

He is so precious!

Happy Aunt.

First cousins picture! (and side note, I think Molly is looking more and more like Max the older she gets)

Out for Soren's first walk! Max's new thing is pushing Molly around in the stroller everywhere we go (which means it takes us twice as long to get anywhere) :)

Love this picture of Max and Uncle Andy.

One of my favorite pictures of Molly!!

Peaceful baby. LOVE him.

Labor Day Parade

2011-10-10T21:11:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite events of the year is the Upland Labor Day Parade. It is the perfect small town event, and the entire town shows up for it. Here are a few pictures from this fun day.

Hanging out with Grandma!!

Such a fun group - 4 grandparents, Uncle Ben, Aunt Sarah and the boys, Uncle Chip, and lots of good friends.

The parade would not be complete without a synchronized lawn mower routine by the men of Upland United Methodist! Well done!!

Enjoying some of the fruits of his "labor" (picking it up off the street) - candy.

This picture was taken for Darla, Chrissie, Jacki, Lauren, and Mallory. AMAZING!

Because it's so crowded, the bike and trailer are the best mode of transportation.

2 months later...

2011-10-10T20:57:00.000-04:00

Yikes. Apparently it's been 2 months since I updated the blog! Oops! Well, 2 months is a long time, especially in the life of a baby! Molly continues to be what we like to call a "dream baby." I just love her to pieces (not because she's a dream baby, but I am certainly thankful for that!). She has accomplished a lot in the last couple of months, too. Right after she turned 6 moths she started sitting on her own, which is my favorite thing. I love it when you can just plop them down on the floor and know they aren't going to go anywhere. She also got her two bottom, middle teeth a week after her 6 month birthday! I couldn't believe it! So she's been chomping away on her teething toys. She's eating solid foods now - just veggies so far, but eating them like a champ. The only thing is that Brad and I need bibs too when we feed her, because she likes to do "motor boat" when eating. Yikes. Max LOVES his baby sister, and is always the first to get her a new toy, or push a toy closer to her if she can't reach it. I love watching them interact! Here are a few random pictures from the last couple of months.

Happy baby! Right around 6 months.

First time sitting up on her own! This is her typical expression - smiling at her brother.

First bath together (well, at least without the infant tub).

What a sweetie.

Sarah and I were downstairs with the babies and it got a little too quite upstairs in their playroom. When we checked on the boys, this is what we saw :) What a twosome!

So this is how they played the rest of the time.

How much do you want to kiss those cheeks.

He looks a little frightened, but trust me, this was his idea. He loves putting blankets around his head - and this is a huge down comforter. And of course he wanted Elmo to join him.

Random pictures

2011-08-07T15:13:00.000-04:00

Such a cheesy smile/pose (pun intended)

"Ai-pane"

Yes Max, airplane!

Yes Molly, you are "purr-fect"

It's not as easy to climb up the slide as you might think.

Max's trike has a hidden compartment under the seat. He puts lots of treasures in there. That day is was a handful of weeds.

Pensive.

Boy can this kid run! (and fall when he runs faster than his body can handle)

He has spent hours walking back and forth on the railroad ties.

Will bike for food.

2011-08-07T15:00:00.000-04:00

A couple of years ago (pre-kids), every once in awhile Brad and I would bike a portion of the Cardinal Greenway (really long biking/walking/running trail - I think it's like 60 miles total, or something) into Muncie, eat dinner, then head back. We used to drive to Gaston, park, and then bike into Muncie (about 8 miles each way). We hadn't done this since Max was born, so we decided to try it yesterday with both kids, and it was a great success! Not knowing how long they would last in the doodlebug (our jogger/bike trailer), and knowing they had to sit through dinner, we decided to just bike 3 miles each way. They did great! The trail comes right out at Texas Roadhouse in Muncie, so we had dinner there (plus we felt a little less weird going there than walking into Olive Garden or Red Lobster all sweaty and in padded bike shorts...don't worry though, we had looser shorts over the bike shorts). All that to say, we had a lot of fun and will definitely repeat this adventure again soon!

Getting ready to take off

Precious

2011-08-07T14:50:00.000-04:00

My favorite thing about having Molly in our family (besides her presence alone) is watching the relationship that she and Max have. No one can make her smile as easily as Max. She isn't interested in anyone as much as Max (she can literally watch him play for 30 minutes and be quite content). We have never seen Max take interest in another person's needs until Molly came along (loves to console her when she's crying...he'll find some toys to entertain her, and loves putting the paci in her mouth). Sometimes when we are tickling or cooing with Molly, I look over at Max and he is watching with a huge grin on his face - he takes delight in watching us love Molly. He talks about her all the time ("Mo-yee," and "Mo-yee nigh-night") (it seems like, according to Max, Molly is always going nigh-night, but Max never goes nigh-night). The list goes on and on. Here are a few recent pictures of the two of them together. Melts my heart.

She wasn't loving it as much as he was.

He has recently been asking to hold her a lot.

SO CUTE!!!!!!

How can he sleep like this?

2011-08-07T14:38:00.000-04:00

Taylor Lake

2011-08-07T14:36:00.000-04:00

Even though Max is only 2, and Molly just a baby, we still love to go to Taylor Lake. Molly has been such a trooper, hanging out on the grass on a blanket while Max plays in the sand and sometimes ventures into the water. We try to go at least once a week, sometimes twice (when it isn't 100 degrees outside), and if we can time it to go when our friends are there, it's even more fun! It works out really well, because the lake opens at 11:00. I pack Max's lunch and he eats it there, and we head home around 1:00 for their naps - perfect! (Usually Max gets really tired by then anyway...sometimes he'll come and sit on my lap and say, "night night, home." That means, I'm tired, I'm done playing, and I want my nap :) There are so many perks about this small town, and I love it. One of them is definitely this late! Even though Taylor lake isn't glamorous by any means (a fish bit my foot the other day when I was in the water with Max...the lifeguard told me to just keep moving my feet), we are blessed to have a place to swim so close to home!! It's officially closed until next June. Bye Taylor lake - see you next summer.

By far my favorite picture. This sweet, beautiful girl in front is Alexa (my friend Kristin's daughter). She is not camera shy, and her mom always laughs about how she loves having her picture taken. She happened to be standing there when I said I was going to take a picture - so she stayed right where she was and gave me her best smile :) I got a good laugh out of it!!

Rachael and sweet little Audrey (my friend Deborah's baby)

Gwen, Bekah, Stella (in the stroller), Molly (on her tummy, of course), and Rachael. I think Deborah's just out of the shot, unfortunately.

Adorable!! Cant' get over how cute she is.

Sweet Molly

2011-07-27T10:37:00.000-04:00

I haven't done an update on Molly in awhile. She is SOOOO wonderful - we just love her! She is so sweet and happy - a great baby!! She loves her brother Max, and LOVES her Daddy - I think she's a daddy's girl already. She will smile at me some throughout the day, but then when he comes home, all he has to do is take one look at her and she starts giggling and kicking. So precious. She's eating and sleeping great, too! She's eating four times per day, and has her last feeding around 7:30. Goes to bed, and doesn't wake up until around 7:00! Pure bliss. Max always did well sleeping at night too, but he was a much earlier riser (usually 6:00 or 6:30 for awhile). Brad and I are both really thankful for the sleep and time together (alone) after 8:00pm :) Anyway, here are some pictures of our precious girl! I can't believe we're coming up to 5 months already. Crazy.

And we officially have another thumb-sucker!

Molly is not sleeping here - I think she's flinching from Max's craziness.

Molly with her friend Leah, who turns 1 on August 1st!!!

Sweet girl.

She's really into holding things right now - and putting them in her mouth.

Sometimes Max takes her toys away ("Mine!") - other times he is a great big brother and brings her toys and plays with them with her.

Another sweet face (and the shiny stuff on her elbows is ointment for her eczema - poor thing)

Loving the Bumbo.

Yep. She's a thumb sucker alright.

Pictures

2011-07-11T23:30:00.000-04:00

Our friend and INCREDIBLE photographer, Traci Falder (tracifalderphotography.com), took these pictures and we just got them! Yay! Here are a few of my favorite:

Two words: angel baby

She had just woken up at this point, so a bit of a funny face but I love it!

Love this of the two of them.

So in love with him.

Thank you, Traci, for giving us something we will treasure for the rest of our lives!!!

Photo Card

2011-07-09T10:34:00.003-04:00

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2011-07-09T10:34:00.001-04:00

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Max's 2nd Birthday

2011-07-06T14:32:00.000-04:00

I cannot believe Max is already 2!! When I was at the MAHE Hooding Ceremony this year, I was thinking about how just two years ago I was up there getting my hood, and was 8 1/2 months pregnant with Max. Two years ago we didn't have any kids, and now just two short years later we have been blessed with two! Wow, what a whirlwind it's been - a wonderful, fun whirlwind! Max is getting more and more fun each day. He is SUCH a sweet little boy - I love how he wakes up each morning babbling away, smiling, and telling us stories, which usually involves his stuffed animals. I can only imagine the adventures he has with them in his crib each night :) He loves to play outside (and swing!! That's his favorite!), loves playing down at Taylor lake with his friends, helping Dad outside with the lawn and watering, etc. He loves to wrestle and tickle and giggle. And run. If he can run, he will. The amount of energy he has in incredible! He is also very affectionate and loves to cuddle - probably one of my favorite things about him :) He loves to give all of us kisses (especially Molly). He is such a huge blessing and joy in our lives. We love you Max!! Here are some pictures from his birthday:

Cake extraordinaire from Grandma Yordy!! Thank you!!

Grandma Yordy!!

Opening presents!

Love this sweet face!

My parents found this horse at a garage sale, and Dad totally redid it - isn't is gorgeous!

The Grandpas putting toys together (Brad was thrilled he didn't have to do all of it by himself) :)

Jen and Donald's Wedding!

2011-07-06T09:42:00.000-04:00

My best friend from Taylor got married a couple weeks ago - she married an incredible guy - Donald - and they had a beautiful wedding! It was so fun and such an honor to be part of their wedding. And she was (and is) gorgeous! Look at that dress! And I'm so glad they live close (Cincinnati), so we can see each other every now and then. Anyway, here are a few pictures from their wedding!

Rehearsal - this was the location in case it was raining for the wedding - not bad, huh! The whole place was beautiful!!

This is a little fuzzy, but here's the happy couple - it was a really nice rib place (hence Donald's bib) - great dinner!

In the hotel room getting ready!

Look at this dress!!! It was even more beautiful on!

Love her.

I will admit - it was crazy hot. But really really pretty!

Always love watching the groom watch the bride :)

We had a great time! Thanks Donald and Jen for letting us be part of your special day :)

Happy 2nd Birthday Max!!!

2011-06-22T20:35:00.000-04:00

I don't have a lot of energy right now (was a wonderful but exhausting day! I will explain later) but I wanted to be sure to say Happy Birthday to our silly, sweet, adorable, lovable little boy - WE LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!

Taken this past Sunday at the Father's Day/Max's Birthday celebration. Doesn't he look so grown up!! And he LOVES Elmo. I wish I had a picture of everyone with the hats I made them wear.

Ok last set of pictures

2011-06-03T09:07:00.000-04:00

I love this picture.

Swinging is one of his favorite activities!

Molly tried it too...doesn't love it quite as much yet.

But she loves her daddy!

One of my all-time favorite pictures of Max.

More Florida!

2011-06-03T08:58:00.000-04:00

We went to this amazing outdoor restaurant - and it wasn't too hot! Great food and atmosphere.

This was the pool attached to the condo we stayed in! They even put up a safety fence so Max wouldn't fall in...perfect!

I cannot get over this adorable suit!!!

Max likes to point out all of our facial features..."mouf"

"eye"

"no" (hasn't added the "s" sound yet)

Again...this suit...

Beach

2011-06-03T08:49:00.000-04:00

We went to the beach twice while we were there. Max LOVED it, and Brad and I would take turns playing with him and trying to keep the sand off Molly :)

First trip to the beach! (and that is Brad and Max in the background)

Having fun with the waves!

Florida!!!!!!

2011-06-03T08:41:00.000-04:00

Thanks to the generosity of some lovely friends, Brad, Max, Molly, and I headed down to Florida for a week. It was absolutely amazing. We had so much fun, and it was really good to be away! The timing was perfect (in between ending Brad's old job and starting the new), and after graduation (a busy time of the year for me, work-wise). So many fun memories!! Very refreshing.

Waiting for the shuttle

This is how she spent most of her time on the planes

But when she was awake she did great!!

Max also did awesome (thanks to the help of some candy and DVDs!). Really we were so blessed by how well they did, especially with long layovers and early/late flight times!!

Melt My Heart

2011-05-19T20:04:00.000-04:00

Tonight Max and I were playing "nigh night" on the bed - basically, pretending to go to bed. He gets a big kick out of it. One time when I laid my head down on the pillow, he came up and give me a kiss on the cheek! It was the first time he did it voluntarily...without me asking him to give me one :) Totally melted my heart!!

Babies galore!

2011-05-13T21:25:00.000-04:00

I am so blessed to have amazing friends here in town. Three of my friends and I all got pregnant at the same time, and the babies were all born within 7 weeks of each other. From left to right (see picture below), Drew Stanislav (March 2nd), Molly (March 10th), Miles Drake (April 23rd), and Phoebe Gin (March 18th). These were all our 2nd babies, and all opposite gender from our first babies! Our first kids were all born within the same year, too, so play dates are extra fun! (also, dealing with four 2 year olds who aren't super thrilled about sharing is an adventure to say the least!) :) Going through this pregnancy (and now experiencing life with two kids) with these three women is really fun and a great blessing!

Sweet, sweet Molly

2011-05-13T21:08:00.000-04:00

I am totally in love with this little girl. She is so sweet, and SUCH a good baby, which is just icing on the cake. Can't believe she's already over 9 weeks old!! She's smiling a ton right now, but I haven't captured it on film yet...every time I try to take a picture or a video she gets distracted by the camera and stops. I'm going to need Brad's help to get some good shots of her beautiful smile.

Book Nook

2011-05-13T21:03:00.000-04:00

I made a "book nook" for Max under his changing table in his room. He loves it. He loves books, and having a little cozy space to read them in is even better. (and you can tell I haven't updated the blog or facebook in awhile...these pictures are pre-buzz cut, which was before Easter. Oops.)

The Zoo!

2011-05-13T20:57:00.000-04:00

Last summer we met our friends Jen and Donald at the Indy Zoo, but Max was still a bit too young to really appreciate it. So we took him last weekend and he LOVED it! He recognized all (most...I didn't know what half of them were either) of the animals, made their sounds, and called a couple of them by name. He said "hi" to all of them, too :)

The highlight of the trip for me was taking him on his first Merry-Go-Round ride :) He LOVED it, and asked for more when it was over :) His face was pure joy the whole time he was riding it. I wish we could have stayed on for a lot longer! Brad took a little video of us:

Mother's Day pictures

2011-05-13T20:37:00.000-04:00

I was really hoping to get some pictures on Mother's Day of me and the kids. But we packed our day too tightly and it just didn't happen. This was the closest we got, and I wasn't quite able to jump in before Molly lost it :) Enjoy the progression...love Max's face in the last one...I completely understand, buddy!

Max finds a frog

2011-05-11T21:59:00.000-04:00

Brad's new job!

2011-04-12T22:10:00.000-04:00

Starting June 1st, Brad will be the Athletic Director at Eastbrook Community Schools! He had a 2nd interview last week with the school board, and was offered the job Friday morning. By Friday afternoon we accepted, and it was made official at the school board meeting last night. We are both really excited about this new opportunity, and are looking forward to being more connected in the community. I'm so proud of Brad, and know he will do an excellent job! Go Panthers!

Books and a hat.

2011-04-12T15:47:00.000-04:00

Can you guess what Max's favorite activity is?

He LOVES to read (look at) books - add a few puzzles in there, and he's content for quite some time.

He also got a new hat for the summer. He loves wearing hats. This morning he put it on, but it was a little low on his head...didn't seem to bother him though!

So cute. I just love him to pieces.

Past the one month mark!

2011-04-12T15:39:00.000-04:00

Molly is over 1 month old now! It's funny how during the first couple weeks life seems to standstill, and then all of a sudden she's been with us for over a month and the days in the hospital seem like a year ago. We are all doing great! Max is totally back to his old, happy, joyful self, and we are all thrilled about that. I think this past weekend I realized that he had gotten past the tough transition time, and his little personality was back - I had missed the old Max!

Molly continues to do amazingly well. She is only waking up once or twice at night to eat, then goes right back to bed. She has good stretches of awake time during the day, in between her naps and feedings. She definitely has her fussy moments (don't we all) but is overall a very content little baby. Max has also taken more of an interest in her, which is sometimes good and sometimes a little...too much :) He likes to kiss her, but often does it a little too aggressively. He likes to press his head against her head, but again does it too hard. I think "gentle" is the word I use the most during the day.

Here's Molly at 1 month! Such a sweet, cute little girl.

Some of Max's words

2011-03-31T22:14:00.000-04:00

Here's a video I took the other day of Max and Molly (mostly Max, saying some of the words he knows). Love these two kiddos! (warning, it's a little long)

Life with 2

2011-03-30T15:38:00.000-04:00

Molly will be 3 weeks old tomorrow! I'm thankful to get to this point - and will be even more thankful to get to the one month mark next week! For awhile there life felt like it was at a standstill (and at a very challenging stage, at that). Molly has been a WONDERFUL baby - we are so so blessed with her - what a joy. She's so sweet. She's eating well, is content (for the most part) when she's awake, and is sleeping like a champ. She wakes up twice each night and goes right back to sleep after eating - yay! I think God gave us a break with Molly (at least for right now - ha!) knowing the adjustment that it would be for us and Max. He's been doing ok. I have nothing to compare it to, so maybe he's doing a lot better than I think with the whole transition. He's at a stage (21 months now) where he's starting to have tantrums, and we just didn't really see them before Molly was born. Now I think he's adjusting to having less attention, and he's needing to be more patient when he wants something (plus since he can't communicate very well with words yet, he's getting more and more frustrated). Overall things are going well, but it definitely is an adjustment for all of us! I thought one kid was challenging, but it's a whole other story when you're outnumbered! I keep reminding myself that LOTS of people have multiple kids, so I can do it too :) And Brad is a HUGE help - I love how involved and hands-on he is - life is much easier and better when he's around. Love you hun :)

A couple prayer requests:
1.) health...we're all getting over a cold. Max got it first and gave it to me and Molly. It's so sad to see her, so little, with a stuffy nose and cough! Breaks my heart. And my energy has been down since I've been trying to get over the cold as well.
2.) continued adjustment for Max, and for me and Brad! I'm sure at some point life will again seem "normal." I think a big part of it for me is being home all the time right now - I'm used to working 30 hours per week, so this is also a huge change for me.

Anyway, Molly's umbilical cord thing FINALLY feel off, so the other night she had her first bath:

She was literally this chill the entire time - we were shocked! Max screamed his way through his first bath :)

Fun in the tub :)


Still chill - amazing. (and how cute is that hooded Molly towel! A gift from my uncle and aunt!)

And then a few other random pictures:

I asked Max if he wanted to hold Molly. He didn't respond one way or the other, so I just plopped her down on him.


After about a minute he decided he was done, and started rolling her off his lap. I had time to snap one quick picture before I needed to catch her.

That's the update for now :)

Love Kelly

Molly Noelle

2011-03-20T21:17:00.000-04:00

Here are a couple quick pictures of Molly - I'll write more later about how we're all doing with our new addition :)

36 (and a half) weeks!

2011-02-21T18:23:00.000-05:00

In case you were wondering, this is what it looks like when a 4 foot, 10 inch woman is almost 37 weeks pregnant. Yikes.

But the c-section is officially scheduled for March 10th! 10:00am. So at the very latest, Molly will greet us two weeks from Thursday. Can't wait to meet her!

Max continues to be a wonderful, fun little boy! He's not perfect by any means, but he sure has been a joy! Here he is playing "horsie" with Daddy, then getting tickled, which he adores.

We will keep you posted with updates on Molly and the delivery, etc. As always, your prayers are appreciated for the remaining couple of weeks of this pregnancy!

Much love,
Kelly

Nursery

2011-02-12T14:02:00.000-05:00

A quick update on Baby Girl Yordy:

First, we have decided on Molly for her first name (no middle name yet), and it's looking like she will be arriving by c-section on March 10th! Long story short, my doctors are telling us that it's unlikely I will be able to do a VBAC with this baby. While that's what we'd prefer (and they strongly encourage VBACs, too), my bone structure is "not conducive to birthing babies" - which is why I never dilated with Max and we ended up having to do the c-section. They said this baby would have to be small (5-6 pounds) in order to fit through! So, we tentatively have a c-section scheduled for March 10th, unless it's looking like I would be able to do a VBAC after all. We trust and pray that no matter how she comes into this world, God is going to deliver her to us safely!

Since that puts us at under 4 weeks until that date, we are getting all geared up for her arrival! We switched some furniture around, and Kelli and Andy went to IKEA for us and brought down a new crib for Max (THANKS you two!!!), so we could put all of his nursery furniture in her room. Both of the cribs convert to toddler beds, so we're hoping to be able to use both of them for awhile.At some point I'll take some pictures of Max's room - it's looking a lot less "baby" in there, now that he has a dresser with drawers that Grandpa Peters made, lockers from Grandpa Yordy, and a desk that we bought from our friends' garage sale this past summer. Our little boy is growing up!

Anyway, here are a couple pictures of Molly's new room!

The bedding and wall hangings are a set from Target that I've had my heart set on for awhile - THANK YOU Mom and Dad for the supplying Molly with bedding for her crib!! It's SOOO cute - I like it even better in person than I did on the website :)

LOVE the vibrant colors of this bedding!!

I will continue to keep you posted with Molly's arrival...half the time, less than 4 weeks sounds too soon, and the other half of the time it doesn't sound soon enough (those are, of course, also the same times I'm not feeling the most comfortable) :)

We would greatly appreciate your continued prayers for her health and my health, especially now as we enter the last few weeks of this pregnancy! I would love for her to be able to stay inside and incubate until March 10th :)

Much love,
Kelly

Christmas with the Yordys!

2011-01-17T00:27:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures from Christmas with the Yordys (thanks Kel for sending these to me!!). We had such a fun time together, celebrating Christmas, decorating cookies, playing games and an outing to Indy! What a wonderful Christmas.

Someone really enjoyed those sugar cookies (actually, mainly the frosting!)

Looks good, huh!

Cute!!

Had an amazing dinner out in Indy - thank you Mark and Colleen!!

31 Weeks

2011-01-15T14:51:00.000-05:00

I'm a little late in getting my 30 week picture up, but here it is. Please keep in mind that this was taken late at night (very tired), and I was recovering from pink eye (that I caught from Max) - so my eyes were pretty puffy and I feel overall not very cute. I basically was not excited about taking this picture, but I have a 30 week picture from Max's pregnancy, so wanted to be sure to get one at the same time with this pregnancy. Can't believe I'm almost 32 weeks already! This pregnancy has flown by...and thankfully the little girl and I are healthy! Let's pray it stays that way!

Pictures from Christmas

2011-01-15T14:47:00.003-05:00

Now that we're half-way through January, I figured I'd post some pictures from Christmas :) I stupidly forgot to bring our camera for Christmas with the Yordys, so I'll post some when I get them from Colleen and Kelli :)

We did our Peters' Christmas the week after Christmas, when Brian and Darla came from her family's in Richmond. We all had a lot of fun with Max and Clara!!! It was great to see Clara again, and it was fun to watch the cousins interact together.

I've started noticing that Max pulls at his ear when he feels awkward and/or doesn't know what to do :) He LOVED Clara but I think sometimes didn't know what to do with her :) (especially when we kept having to tell him to not touch her face)

A kiss...

...and a hug :)

Auntie Laura with her niece and nephew!

Grandma and Grandpa Peters with their grandkids! (way to hold onto Clara's ear, Max)

What a cute little package!

This was taken up in the loft at our house (basically the play area) - Grandma and Grandpa Yordy got Max this great tent and tunnel for Christmas, and he loves to drag his chair in there, and sit in it with a book :) This time, he was taking off his socks (another favorite pastime). It looks like he's yawning, but he's probably saying "Uh Oh," which is what he says as he's taking his socks off.

Forgot to add the family shot that Brian sent! So fun to have everyone together!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T07:12:00.000-05:00

I didn't do a Christmas card this year (sorry, just couldn't seem to get to it), but wanted to share a few thoughts Brad and I had last night as we were reflecting on this past year:

- God has continued to shower us with incredible gifts and blessings. We (and by we I mean Brad) built a fire in the fireplace, listened to Christmas music, and just sat quietly in our beautiful new home while our adorable, precious son was sound asleep upstairs (and a sweet little girl doing cartwheels in my stomach!). Here's the view from our couch downstairs:

While we know God is good all the time, we also know that we will (and have) experienced difficult times alongside the joyous times. Right now we are experiencing the fullness of God's provisions to us, and we praise him!! And our prayer is that we will continue to praise him and bring glory to him, even (and maybe especially) during the difficult times.

- The greatest gift of all is God's son, Jesus Christ. Without him, the rest of this would not matter. He is truly the greatest blessing of all and we celebrate his birth! (Also, Mary riding on donkey for several days while being 9 months pregnant and giving birth in basically a barn has had new meaning for me these past couple of years)

Thank you, God, most of all for the gift of your son. Thank you for the gifts you've blessed us with here on earth, namely our incredible family and friends. We are so thankful to have all of you in our lives, and hope you have a wonderful, Merry Christmas!!!

Much love,
Kelly

Catching up

2010-12-06T22:37:00.000-05:00

I have been TERRIBLE about taking pictures the last month or two, and about updating the blog. I really, really need to take pictures of the house soon, since I haven't done that at all yet! And it's looking especially pretty now all decorated for Christmas. So that's my goal this week.

Not much new going on - had a GREAT Thanksgiving with family, and a nice, restful weekend. I love this wonderful Christmas season, and am excited about lots of time with Brad, Max, and family at the end of the month!

Been feeling OK lately - not great, but it definitely could be much, much worse! 26 weeks tomorrow, so we're getting there :)

Max is fantastic! He has two words: "hot" and "up." He has also mastered "uh oh." Here are a couple pictures of him getting his first haircut (about 3 weeks ago, but better late than never, right?). He actually did pretty well! He's so sweet, and such a joy. We just love him so much.

Well that's it for now - I'll try to post more pictures and updates again soon :)

Love Kelly

Halloween...a little late

2010-11-03T21:42:00.000-04:00

We had so much fun with Halloween this year! Max went as Tigger, and we did our best to get a nose and whiskers on him (it was awful, but we eventually won the battle). We started off the night trick or treating at the grandparents' homes, and then we had a cookout at the Morley's with our small group before heading out trick or treating together! It was such a fun night, and so great to see all the kids dressed up for Halloween. Here are some pictures!

All set and ready to go!

Grandma and Grandpa Yordy's!

Grandma and Grandpa Peters'!

Group shot of the kids before heading out!

Max and Hutson :)

This was taken about 20 minutes after the above shot...hilarious...we didn't even notice it for awhile, because they were both so content!

Trick or treating at Auntie Laura's!

Happy Halloween!

Baby Girl Yordy!

2010-10-27T20:41:00.000-04:00

Brad and Max joined me at the ultrasound appointment today - we had so much fun! I actually brought the camera to take pictures, but of course totally forgot :) We were distracted by our first looks at little baby girl Yordy!!! We are SO excited...neither Brad or I really had a preference - I kind of thought it was going to be a girl, but then again I thought Max was going to be a girl!

So, without further ado, here she is!

So here she is facing us. And yes, that is her eye (and if I'm being honest, I think it looks a little creepy, kind of like a fish).

Side view - she had her hands up by her face the whole time - one time she was trying to put her fist in her mouth!

Side view - nice big brain! And cute little hand :)

When we met with Dr. Voss, he said she was healthy and perfect. Right in the middle as far as size goes (Max was the same), and about 12 ounces. Crazy to think she doesn't even weigh a pound yet!

Here are a couple videos. I was thinking ahead of time that since Max was about 24 weeks when we did the ultrasound, and she is only 20 weeks, there would be a difference - and there definitely is! In his pictures, his face is much fuller, and a little less alien-like. But SO much fun to get to do this so soon!

So little!

This video starts by showing her hind legs (definitely a girl!), and then she flips to a front view. My favorite part is that you can see her heart beating!

I hope you've enjoyed these pictures...we are so incredibly blessed, and do not forget for a second that Max and now this little girl belong to God. We are just thankful that he's allowed us to be part of their lives! What an amazing time of life.

Love, Kelly

20 weeks! Ultrasound tomorrow :)

2010-10-26T22:34:00.000-04:00

I know it has been forever since I've put anything on here. My goal is to very soon put up pictures of Max and the new house! For now, I have slightly less appealing (at least to me!) pictures - my belly :)

I'm 20 weeks today, and we have the ultrasound tomorrow, so we thought it's finally time to take a picture! I'm also putting my 20 week picture from when I was pregnant with Max, to compare...definitely "popped" earlier this time, and I'm carrying this baby much higher. I guess we'll find out tomorrow if those old wive's tales are true :)

Ok so here's me now:

And this was me at 20 weeks while pregnant with Max.

We're so excited for the ultrasound tomorrow! Can't wait to see this little gift for the first time (and praying for a healthy baby!), and finding out if it's a boy or a girl. I remember feeling so much more connected to Max after finding out that "it" was actually a "he." So I'm looking forward to that as well!

Until tomorrow,
Kelly

Long time, no blog

2010-08-31T21:30:00.000-04:00

It has been FOREVER since I've written an update, but it's just because life has been CRAZY this past month. So here's a quick recap, and sorry, no pictures this time. Maybe next time I'll post pictures from this past month :)

Ok so here's the recap:

1.) Brad's sister Kelli got married to a wonderful man, Andy, on August 7th!!! It was a BEAUTIFUL wedding, Kelli was GORGEOUS (seriously, the most beautiful wedding dress I've ever seen), and it was so much FUN (in typical Kelli fashion) :) Brad and I both got to be in the wedding, which made it extra fun for us. I will definitely post pictures when I can find my camera!!! We love you, Kelli and Andy - congratulations :)

2.) My best friend from home, Rachel, her dad died unexpectedly the week after the wedding. I made a quick trip up to MN to be with her and her family and attend the visitation and funeral. Rachel and her husband Andrew are two of our favorite people in the world, and her amazing family was such a great example of being a family. I know that sounds kind of simple, but it's so true. They love and support each other so much, and I felt honored to be close to them during that time. John was a wonderful man, and I have many fond memories of him growing up. Even thought it's been awhile since I've lived in MN and been able to see Rachel's family on a consistent basis, they are in many ways like my 2nd family - when you grow up with greta friends like Rachel, you become close to their families as well, and I will always love the Withams!

The day after the funeral I had some time to see Brian and Darla (very pregnant Darla!!! She IS the cutest pregnant woman ever!!!), and we also got to have dinner with Uncle Kent, Aunt Holly, my cousins Jon and Kelsey, and Nan. It was SO good to see all of them, and fun to catch up for a bit! Brad stayed home with Max, and my parents graciously offered to watch Max during the day while Brad was at work, so I could go up to MN by myself. Although I didn't like the reason for going up, it was unexpectedly refreshing to be up in MN again. I will always love that state and the people in it.

3.) I started work up again the week after I got back - 30 hours a week (I only work a few hours a week in the summer) - and it's been great! I thank God everyday for a job that I love, am passionate about, and feel like I can really make a difference in. I have an incredible boss, and I am surrounded by great people all day. One of the best parts about working, for me, is that it gives me new energy for being with Max! I cherish and appreciate my time with him so much more when I am able to spend some time each day doing something else, and exercising my other passions. I am so blessed!

4.) The same week I got back from MN and started working, we found out we had to move out of the apartment. It's a long story, but basically, since we're moving into the house at the end of September (that's when it will be finished being built), they wanted to fill the apartment now. Which makes sense, and technically they didn't need to let us live there all summer, so, we started packing! We moved in with my parents for a week, and now we're at Brad's parents. What an enormous blessing to have two sets of parents who live close, and who love us so much that they're willing to take us in for awhile :) We will be here until mid-September, and then will move back to my parents house when they leave for MN and then will be traveling for a couple of weeks. So, we kind of feel like life is in limbo for a few weeks, but we are just so excited to get into the house, that it makes it all worth it.

5.) I am 12 weeks along in the pregnancy, and just had my first appointment today (late, I know, but
I figure it's one less trip into the doctor's office :)), and we heard the heartbeat! Yay! All is well with me and the baby, and we'll be able (hopefully) to find out if it's a boy or girl in about 8 weeks :)

So, this is what the last month has been like for us! Upland friends - if you feel like you haven't seen us for awhile, this is why :) We look forward to having life settle down a bit very soon! (at least until the baby comes in March! Ha!)

And I'll post pictures sometime, hopefully soon - I think the camera is in my suitcase somewhere :)

Love Kelly

Max the Martian

2010-07-30T19:44:00.000-04:00

Remember the "Yip...yip...yip, yip, yip, yip" martians from Sesame Street? (I'm pretty sure I can at least count on Darla to remember them!) In case you don't remember, here's a refresher...

Just the last couple of days Max has started doing this funny smacking thing with his mouth. It immediately made me think of the Yip Yip Martians. And it took us awhile to settle down and stop laughing long enough to get a good video of him doing it. He especially loves it when we do it back. Hope this gives you a good laugh too!

Videos

2010-07-29T09:44:00.000-04:00

We took these videos a few weeks ago, but it'll give you a good idea of what Max likes to do :)

This first one is of him playing with his alligator/xylophone thing. He loves it, and gets very proud of himself :)

He also loves to walk around outside. He generally likes to bend down, pick up two little rocks, and carry them in his hands while he walks around. If he could do anything all day, it would be walk around outside. And his little legs toddling around are just too cute! I absolutely love him.

And then this last one was taken at Brown County. I posted some pictures of this, but the video is great! Pure joy and happiness. Love it!

Hope you enjoyed watching these! And hopefully it gives you a little insight into Max's fun, playful spirit. He brings us such joy everyday, and my prayer is that he also brings joy to many others.

Love, Kelly

The Zoo and Brown County

2010-07-25T18:16:00.000-04:00

We are loving summer! And this summer has been so fun and exciting. My parents moved into their new home this past week, my sister Laura moves next week, and then my sister-in-law Kelli's wedding is August 7th! And in between all of that, Brad and I have been meeting with our builder, the carpet guy, picking out appliances, etc. SO FUN! I will post new pictures of the house sometime this week. The brick is done, and they will be putting the siding on this week. I only work about 5 hours a week during the summer, so it's been a lot of fun to have an easier, lighter schedule, and enjoy all that summer has to offer (but don't get me wrong, I'll definitely be ready to get back to work, too!)

I'm about 7 weeks along in the pregnancy, and I can definitely tell :) The constant nausea has started, and I am having aversions to pretty much every type of food. But that's a good sign that the baby is doing well!

Last weekend Max had his first trip to the zoo, and it was extra special because we went with Jen and Donald (her boyfriend we hadn't met yet) - we had a blast! Plus it was just SOOOO good to see Jen and spend time with her, and meet Donald! Here are a few pictures from the zoo :)

Love and miss her!

There was a little water park for the kids - he LOVED it.

Not too sure about petting the goat. I don't blame him.

It was insanely hot out. I think that explains the lack of enthusiasm for the animals.

: )

After the zoo, Brad, Max and I headed down to Brown County. Our friends the Rayburns were kind enough to loan their cabin to us for the weekend. We had a great time getting away for a bit! We went to a pool, canoeing, and shopping in the adorable town of Nashville. It was a wonderful weekend away - thanks Roger and Mary!

His new thing is running into the water into Brad's arms. I would want to do that too if I knew people wouldn't stare.

Pure delight!

First time canoeing! Contemplative...


And I know he should have a life jacket on, but we didn't have one. He probably enjoyed it more this way anyway :)

Big Brother Max!

2010-07-08T20:24:00.004-04:00

Around the middle of March, Max is going to be a big brother! We just found out that I'm pregnant, and we are thrilled! So excited and so blessed to be adding to our family. What an amazing gift from God!

We made a onesie for Max (picture below: if it's hard to read, it says "I'm going to be the big brother"). We put him in it and waited for our parents to figure it out this afternoon! Very fun to watch their reaction together. We then told our siblings, and everyone else! We waited so long to tell people when we were pregnant with Max, that we decided not to wait at all this time.

Here's Max in his onesie...(it's getting more and more difficult to get him to stand still for a picture!)

All of the grandparents :)

The FOUR of us on the couch (Even though the baby is the size of a poppy seed, he/she definitely counts) :) (and sorry it's a bit blurry...but it was the best one)

And then the "proof" :)

We would greatly appreciate your prayers for the health of this new little one (and for my health, too!). Thank you for your love and support. God continues to astound us everyday with his incredible blessings. While we praise him daily for whatever he gives us, today we praise him for the joy of this new life.

Much love,
Kelly

Birthday Boy and Anniversary

2010-06-28T19:47:00.007-04:00

Max's birthday was June 22nd, so we had a small family gathering on his actual birthday - grandparents and Aunt Kelli :) Here are a couple pictures from the fun night: adorable birthday cake made by Grandma Yordy, and Max riding in one of his new gifts :)

He was pretty tired, but I think deep down inside he was excited about his cake.

Riding in his new wagon to look at the progress on the house!

I think this one is so cute of Max and Aunt Kelli! I love how he's looking at her.

Brad and I just celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary on the 25th :) Can't believe it's already been 5 years! We decided to take a 2-day trip to St. Louis (thank you, Grandma and Grandpa Yordy for watching Max!!!), and we had a BLAST! It was so fun to get away for a short time, and it was so fun to explore without thinking about the baby, doing everything on our own time schedule. I didn't carry a purse or anything around the whole time and it was quite freeing! Unfortunately, we didn't do a very good job of taking pictures. We did pack in our time though: tour of Anheuser Busch brewery, Grant's Farm, City Park, The Arch (and the museums and shops associated with it), and some great restaurants, including The Chocolate Bar, which was as amazing as it sounds! We were also planning on going on a ferry boat ride on the Mississippi, but the water was too high and the dock going to the boat was completely underwater. It was super hot, but we brought our bikes and just biked around the city, which was so fun! We had an amazing hotel downtown, too. All in all, it was a great weekend.

View from the top of the Gateway Arch in downtown St. Louis.

This was taken in the Museum of Westward Expansion - I really like this one of Brad :)

This cracked me up - it was next to a display of a fake horse.

2nd Attempt at the blog

2010-06-21T19:42:00.006-04:00

Hi Everyone!

So I know it's been almost a year since I posted anything. I'm really not surprised, though, since I've never been much of a journaler. I currently have half-a-dozen almost empty journals on my bookshelf. But, a friend once told me to just try to do one post a week - enough to keep far-away family and friends up-to-date with what's going on here in Upland. So, I will give it my best shot!

Friday night was Max and Hutson's birthday party. Hutson (Brad's cousin's son), was born two days before Max, so we decided to have a joint birthday party for the boys. It was a lot of fun! I have lots of pictures and a video up on facebook if you want to check that out. Here are a couple of my favorite pictures from the evening:

Brad, me, and Max with Sarah, Ben, and Hutson!

Max sitting in Taylor Lake - we had the party down at the pavilion.

Max with all four grandparents - we are SO blessed!

We also had an amazing Father's Day. I have an incredible husband, and Max has an amazing dad! Here they are playing with some blocks Sunday morning:

We had a fun day! Mom and Dad treated us to lunch at Johnny Carinos. Unfortunately, Max was pretty cranky, so it wasn't the most enjoyable lunch. But we still had fun :)

Ok, well this was my 2nd attempt at the blog. Hopefully I'll be more diligent in keeping it updated!

Love Kelly

2009-08-13T11:17:00.001-04:00

So here are a couple pictures of Max getting a bath - he doesn't love it yet, as you can tell - and these were the best ones! He's crying pretty hard in some of the others :)

2009-07-26T16:50:00.003-04:00

We have a blog.

2009-07-26T16:12:00.010-04:00

Max playing :)

Max at 4 weeks!

Hello Friends and Family!

So I never thought we would be blog people, but we caved :) We just realized that it really will be easier to share pictures and the occasional video of Max, and keep our family and friends updated with what's going on with us. So, here it is! Enjoy.

Much love,

Kelly (and Brad and Max) :)