We wish you a Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Farwell's. We hope all of you have had a wonderful day filled with family, friend's and Christ's love.

We have had a such a great day at home, just the four of us. It has been fun playing, laughing and watching our children's faces as they opened thier presents.



Do you recognize this tent from a blog post over a year ago? Yes, I bought this tent a LONG time ago in anticipation of giving it to him when he got old enough! He loves it! All of his Christmas presents and dad made their way into the tent for most of the morning.



Like most 6 month olds, Brenna was more interested in the bows and wrapping paper than her gifts! But once the wrapping paper made it's way to the garbage, she found Blake's tractor that he got this morning.





Our family before the Candle Light service at church last night.

As for my Christmas gifts... my husband is amazing! In May we will be going to see Riverdance on their Farewell Tour when it comes to Cedar Falls for a few days!!!

Christmas celebrations

The Farwell's have been very busy the past couple weeks... but have created wonderful memories as we've spent time with both Nolan's family and my family.

Last weekend we went to my parent's home in Eldora.



This was Blake's favorite seat in my parent's house. It was out on their 3 seasons porch and he loved to be out there looking out the windows and trying to find the moon. Often it was just he and I sitting out there and I will always remember the time we spent out there. He would just sit and tell me stories about things that had happened earlier in the day and I would listen... I loved our time on the porch.



Do you think Brenna likes her first Cabbage Patch doll? Her face tells all!

This past weekend we headed to Kansas to spend time with Nolan's family and my dad's side of the family. We ended up having to leave Iowa earlier than planned due to a snow storm heading our way, and leaving Kansas one day late due to Blizard conditions in Iowa.

We so enjoyed our time there with family.



Blake and Brenna enjoyed time with all of their Kansas cousins! Can you believe we got them all in a picture together?



Blake and Nevaeh reading a book together.



And of course... presents, presents, presents!

Two Christmas celebrations down and one to go. We are looking forward to spending Christmas day here at our home, just the 4 of us! I'm sure there will be more pictures to share soon!

Merry Christmas from Blake

Speading a little Christmas cheer from our home to yours! (you'll just have to excuse the sloppy video editing and the random shot of Brenna in the middle!)

Thanksgiving Weekend

Our family spent an extended Thanksgiving weekend at my parents home in Eldora. We enjoyed time with cousins, playing cards, many wonderful meals, fun with grandparents, and several competitive Wii games!

One morning Blake was looking out the window in my parent's dinning room and yelled, "neigh, neigh!" Nolan went over to see what he was talking about and there were several deer right outside their window. Blake thought they looked like horses and was very excited. He visited that window multiple times throughout the day to see if he could see another 'neigh.' =)

Unfortunately, I didn't get many pictures taken throughout the weekend but got a few of bath time at grandma and grandpa's house.





Brenna had a big milestone yesterday while we were still at my parent's house. She started sitting up on her own! She has been loving it and smiles so big like she is so proud of what she is doing.



She's getting so big!

race weekend

This past weekend my family got together for a fun weekend in Des Moines. My dad, sister Emily and I ran in the Living History Farms race. The race is North America's largest cross country race... meaning 7500 crazy people running 7 miles through 9 creek beds (freezing cold water), up muddy hills, over hay bails and sliding down steep slopes. We had a blast!! Check out some pictures of the race taken by the Des Moines Register here.



This is a picture of us at the hotel before the race... I wish I had an after picture all muddied up!

Saturday evening after the race I was 'trying' to rest on the couch- then the rest turned into hop on mommy. This picture really represents my life in a nutshell and I wouldn't trade it for anything!!!



Blake and Brenna have really started to play together. Blake loves making Brenna smile and giggle. I can't wait until Brenna is more mobile and can really play with her big brother. Here is a picture of Blake reading a farm book to Brenna. He was making pig and cow noises and Brenna thought it was pretty funny.

we love our grandparents

Nolan's parents came up to visit last weekend. We had such a great time- Blake has been asking about memaw and mempa all day today. On Saturday Blake and Brenna got to spend the evening with both Grandparents. Isn't it fun that Nolan's parents and my parents are best friends?!

thinking Christmas

It's that time once again to start thinking about writing that Christmas letter and ordering those Christmas cards. I just wanted to let everyone know about Little Divas Designs.

Nolan's cousin is a stay at home mom and designs cards as a side business. She does such an amazing job! Be sure to visit www.littledivasdesigns.com to check out her Christmas designs.

the game continues

We've had multiple videos on our blog of us playing this little game with both of our kids, but now the torch has been passed to Blake. The other evening we we just hanging out at home and Brenna was starting to get a little fussy. I asked Blake to see if he could make Brenna smile, and without any prompting this is what he did.

a fun visit

On Friday we had some very special guests at our house. My Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Sandi visited from Oklahoma. It was so great to see them, wish it would have been a longer visit.



Great Grandpa and Brenna

the cutest thing...

Our friends Chip and Alicia came over for supper last night- we had such a great time catching up with each other. Even though we only live 40 minutes apart, we don't see each other nearly enough.

Blake and their daughter Elizabeth (10 months older than Blake) had a good time together. I have never seen Blake warm up so quickly to someone- they gave each other hugs all night long. How cute!

blake the outdoors man

Blake loves spending time outside. We have been taking advantage of the beautiful fall weather before winter officially arrives. I heard there are chances of snow next Friday... yuck!


Blake helping Mommy rake leaves.

This afternoon Blake and I spent some quality time together hiking in the local nature reserve. Daddy and Brenna stayed home to watch the K-State football game. We had some great mommy/son time.


He spent a lot of time climbing on logs.

cutie pie

fall fun and big milestones

Today was a beautiful fall day- we decided to take in a local pumpkin fair to enjoy some of our last moments of nice weather before winter. We saw lots of pumpkins, farm animals and Blake even got to jump in a big blow up bouncer. He loved it, and in true 1 1/2 year old fashion... threw a little bit of a fit when it was time to get out!



Blake enjoyed seeing the horses, llamas, goats and turkey... this horse loved kids and came right up to the fence to greet us. Blake was brave enough to pet him and when I asked him what the horse's name was, he said 'Blake!'


Giddy-Up horsey!!



Sadly, we really don't have many pictures of all four of us together so it was fun to snap this one today.

Blake has had a big week. After putting it off and putting it off... we decided it was finally time to say goodbye to the pacifier. He was only using it at night and during naps- but we were afraid that he would have a rough time without it. Surprisingly, it was a very easy transition. He asked about it a few times but we simply told him that his 'paci' went bye bye and he understood!

An even bigger milestone... Blake is sleeping in his brand new big boy bed!! We bought a bed that was in my hometown, and Grandma and Grandpa Glace brought it up for us today. He did get out of bed once but I am proud to say he is sound asleep as we speak. I'm feeling a little emotional seeing him in his big bed... he's growing up way too fast!

5 things I hate to admit...

This is my very first blog tag. I was tagged by my sister Emily... here we go!

1. I have a very unhealthy relationship with my broom, dust rag, vacuum and Ajax! I like to keep my house nice and clean- which sounds good, but weird that I find myself enjoying it way too much. Nolan often says that if the kids go down for nap at the same time I should rest myself- No way... there's cleaning to be done!

2. I have very little self control. As a physical education and health major and lover of exercise- I try to keep healthy snacks around and feed my family as well as possible. We rarely have sweets around our house... but when we do, look out! Nolan and I ate a row of oreos last night- opps!

3. I am a huge Royals fan! The reason I hate to admit that fact is because they are absolutely terrible and have been for years! Most people would give up on a team like the Royals, not me... next year is our year. (I've been saying that for years, but one of these years it will be true)

4. My oven ruins my cookies! When I have a batch of cookies go bad, I blame the oven when it quite possibly could have been something I did wrong. However, we just got a new oven last week, so the next time one of my recipes doesn't turn out quite right... I'll have to fess up.

5. I like the 'farm' smell. I hear what you're saying... that's gross! But I actually do like it, it reminds me of exploring in the cow pasture when we were young and reminds both Nolan and I of what it was like growing up country. Someday... we'll be back in the country with plenty of room for Blake and Brenna to roam.


Okay... there it is. Now I guess I have to tag two people to pass this on. Annie and Erika- you've been tagged! =)

seeing improvement

We've had a long week with Blake battling croup. Normally croup last 2 or 3 days... but it's Sunday now, meaning he has had it for 8 days! He hasn't gotten very solid sleep with the coughing, which makes for fussier tired days. We went back to the doctor with him on Friday and she gave him a prescription that seems to be doing the trick... he is getting better by the hour!

This is how we found Blake after his afternoon nap on Saturday...


Notice the shirt around his tummy... silly boy!

Brenna had her 4 month check up on Friday. She weighs 12 lbs 10 oz- under the 50th percentile and is between the 10th and 25th percentile for height. In the doctor's words she is a 'cute, petite little girl.'



We got to see Grandma and Grandpa Glace on Saturday... in fact, it was the first time we had all 6 Glace cousins together at one time! I wish I had a picture of them all together!

Blake spent the day enjoying the weather at the park with daddy and the night enjoying a sink full of bubbles! He couldn't get enough of them and fussed when we said it was time to get pajamas on. Here is a picture of him showing me his 'hammer' (aka Spoon).

a lot to talk about

Let's talk about Brenna... she rolled over for the first time today! She was laying on her back in the living room and getting very angry that she dropped the teddy bear she was holding (and trying to eat) to her side. I watched from the kitchen as she worked and worked to get that bear and over she went.
She enjoys tummy time, and Blake is starting to enjoy her tummy time as well. He laughs and laughs when she sticks her head straight up in the air to look at him. She is a strong little girl but I don't think she will be crawling at 5 months like her big brother was!
Brenna is also sleeping through the night! She has been for a few weeks now and we are loving it. She now goes to bed around 8:30 and has been waking up at about 6:00 to eat in the morning- she does go back to sleep though so I can get a few more minutes of shut eye.

This girl loves to giggle, here is a video we took before bed about a week ago. You can catch the same little 'giggle game' played with Blake when he was a babe by clicking here. (thought you might like a little glimpse of the past!)




Now let's talk about Blake... Poor little guy once again came down with croup in the middle of the night Saturday. I was up with him most of the night doing everything I could to help him relax and get good deep breaths. Sunday morning Nolan took him to urgent care while I got a little rest, they came home with a nebulizer and medication. The doctor told Nolan that because Blake has gotten croup multiple times, he thought that insurance would now cover the cost of getting a nebulizer for us to keep here at the house- wonderful news! He is still under the weather today- pretty grumpy and doesn't really know what to do with himself. I'm thinking a trip to get some ice cream may be in order this evening... to relieve his sore throat of course! Oh the things we moms have to go through to help our sick children! =)

I ran my first race since before Blake was born on Saturday! So exciting! I ran in the Iowa's Best Muscle 5K... now, I know I don't have the best muscle, or any muscle for that matter but I did pretty well! I got 2nd in my age group and was the 3rd female finisher overall... not too bad. The race proceeds benefitted the Potter's Hand ministry- a ministry that gives grants to Christian family's to help with the financial burden in the adoption process.

That's about it from the Farwell home for now, more updates to come...

fall means... football!!

smarty pants [continued]

Blake got these letters in the mail from his great aunt Trudy. I tried to catch him saying his letters on video but he was too interested in the camera, but here's a little bit! We think he's pretty smart for being one and a half... but doesn't every parent think that!? =)

Chicago Day 2

Another great day in Chicago! Above is a picture of Michigan Avenue where we spent a lot of my birthday shopping.


Lunch at Ed Debevic's- a 50's style diner where the waiters and waitresses are supposed to be rude. It was hilarious!! Nolan got picked on quite a bit, I think the waitress called him a jerk 3 times while we were there. All in good fun...



An evening spent walking the Navy Pier.


Millennium Park, look closely and you can see the face is 'spitting' water out of his mouth. We sat and watched the faces and colors of the fountain both last night and again tonight. We head home tomorrow morning but sure have had a great time!!

and the answer is...

The hints that Nolan gave me about my birthday surprise led us to CHICAGO! We are staying at the Kimpton Allegro hotel in downtown Chicago! We are having a blast and enjoying our time together. Brenna came along with us, and Blake is enjoying a weekend with Grandma and Grandpa Glace!


This is the view from the top of the Sears Tower. It was amazing.


And you can't be in Chicago without eating the world famous Chicago style pizza. This pizza is from Giordano's Pizza, voted America's best pizza by NBC's Today Show... we agreed!!! Nolan plans on eating some of the leftovers for breakfast- I think I will stick with something a little lighter first thing in the morning! UGH! More pictures from day 2 tomorrow.

birthday hints

My birthday is on Saturday, the big 2-5! If you recall from last years birthday post, my husband is very good at planning my birthday celebration. He gave me a couple hints about what we will be doing for this years celebration and I figured it out, can you? (if I've already told you, don't ruin the surprise for others)

Hint #1: Allegro


__________________________________________________

If you can't figure it out from hint #1, here's the second...

Hint #2: Kimpton


I'm so excited, I'm sure I'll have plenty of pictures to post after the weekend!!!

this weekend in pictures

We had a great weekend and I thought I would share it with you through pictures.



Friday night we went to a birthday party for one of Blake's little friends. It was at his grandparents farm and this is a picture of our family on the hay ride. Blake loved it, Brenna fell asleep.



Saturday we headed to my parents house. My sister Emily and her family were also there. Here is cousin Ellie holding Brenna.



Blake and Grandpa at the park.


Miss Brenna ready for church. Her Great Aunt Warrene sent her the pearl necklace. Adorable!

blake's toy envy...

Brenna's Toy:



Daddy's Toy:

new job

Well, I am officially going to be a Panther once again! I recently accepted a position at the University of Northern Iowa. One of my former professors contacted me a couple weeks ago and asked if I would be interested in coming on board with him at UNI. I was honored that kept me in mind several years after graduating and starting in the spring semester I will become Director of UNI's Kindergym program.

I will be instructing a class of college students, who will in turn will teach and instruct children, ages 2-5, once a week on various physical skills. I am thrilled to be back at UNI and excited to work with college students and children in a profession that I love!

Another great thing about my new position: I still get to be a stay at home mom, the greatest job of all! My position at UNI will take very limited time away from my family- who could ask for more?!

With that, I leave you all today by saying.... GO PANTHERS!

feeling loved

Here is a conversation I had with Blake yesterday after Nolan commented about how much Blake loves his milk:

Me: Blake you sure do love your milk, do you love your milk more than Mommy?
Blake: No
Me: (with a smirk on my face) Blake, Daddy or milk?
Blake's Reply: Mommy!

under the weather

Friday morning Blake woke up at 4:00 am crying and scared. I rushed into his room and noticed that he was burning up. I took his temperature and it was around 103 degrees and I could tell that he had the chills. Poor guy!! I gave him some tylenol and sent him back to bed.
Throughout the day on Friday he played well but still couldn't tackle the fever. It ran around 100 and 102 all day. By Friday afternoon I decided that I should get him into the doctor before the weekend rolled around. After many tears, a strep test, and a pricked finger it was determined that Blake had a viral infection. No medicine- just had to play it's course.


Today was a rough day. Blake just wasn't feeling well and didn't really know what to do with himself. No appetite, very cuddly (very unlike Blake) and satisfied just hanging out on the couch and watching football with dad.

BUT... after about five and a half hours of naps and plenty of rest throughout the day, he is feeling much better tonight- even eating some homemade pizza for supper. He played hard, splashed around in the tub, and is currently back in bed jabbering to himself.... back to the Blake we know and love! =)

This is our happy boy tonight- so glad he is feeling better! It's not fun when someone you love so much is sick and there isn't anything you can do to help. And no- Nolan didn't drool down the front of his shirt... he had just given Blake a bath and usually gets soaked!