oh happy day

☆✭☆The Fourth of July

It was really sad to be without Andy for the fourth of July weekend, but the kids and I tried to make the best of it (2 weeks down, 3 more to go until Andy returns home from his officers training in Alabama). They had a carnival on the Air Force base complete with face painting, bounce houses, cotton candy, snow cones, balloon animals, and games. All I had to say was cotton candy and the kids jumped in the car as fast as they could. The flyer said FREE so I jumped too! :)

Fireworks are all legal in Nebraska, so the kids and I bought a few to entertain ourselves. They begged me all week to do them. I asked some friends in the ward where they go to watch fireworks and they all responded that they just hang out in their driveways. I was a little perplexed by this. I am used to going to big controlled shows put on by the city. But, sure enough, there was plenty of entertainment to be seen right from our front door. I can not even begin to describe what it is like. You really have to see it to believe it. People spend thousands of dollars on fireworks and on every street in Omaha there is a big show. It is a WAR ZONE!! So loud and smokey and OUT OF CONTROL! There are fireworks EVERYWHERE. Our neighbors started at about 5:00pm and literally did not stop until 11:30pm. Over 6 hours of CONSTANt fireworks. And, not just the little rinky dink ones, full blown fireworks going off in the middle of the street. I was a little nervous being so close to them, but everyone else seemed to be fine with it. Wow, what a crazy night!

Of course we can't forget Drew's funny for the night. We were sitting by our neighbors watching the firewroks and this really strange one went floating by. It looke like a little parachute type thing. It was lit up and just floated forever up in to the sky. We were all trying to figure out what it was and kept saying "how are they doing that? what is that?" over and over. Drew's answer to the question? He leans over nad in the cutest voice says "I bet Jesus is doing it. Jesus is doing fireworks too. huh mom!" :)

We had a few minutes to kill before church, it was raining outside, so the kids and I were hanging out in the garage. I grabbed my camera to get a picture to send to Andy. It ain't perfect, but I sure love it.

Especially since I am used to getting pictures like this:

and this:

Hope you had a great Fourth of July!! Having my husband in the Air Force now gave me a different perspective on things. I am sure Grateful for all those who serve our country and allow us to have the freedoms that we do!

Just Because

✈Utah

After we unpacked the house in Nebraska, we all jumped back into the car and drove to Utah to spend some time with Family. It was a blast as usual. Filled with lots of baseball games, treats, family bbq's, photoshoots, and no bed times. I spent so much time taking pictures of everyone else, that I didn't do a very good job documenting the trip. But, here are some random snaps from our Utah vacation 2010

We ate LOTs of good food. Here is Livi with the remnants of one of Aunt Julie's famous cookies on her face

And no Family BBQ is complete without a Red Punch mustache

We jumped on the Tramp (one of Livi's Favorite things to do)

We had a few lazy summer days at the park with grandma

And of course lots of snuggling with Grandma too

and fun with cousins

And we can't forget the birth of our first Ingersoll cousin Baby Ethan! The kids Loved him!

There was plenty of good times with cute Uncles

and much much more. Thanks for the fun everyone! We miss you and love you!

A New Chapter

The day after graduation we finished packing up the truck and locked the doors to our first home for the last time. We were all SO tired and glad to be done that it masked some of the pain of saying goodbye. Cleveland will always hold a spot in my heart. There were so many things to love about it. We miss our dear friends so much. Tears fill my eyes as I think about all that we experienced in our 4 years there. Such amazing memories amidst the angst of school. I can't believe it is all behind us now. Nebraska has welcomed us with open arms though. We have only been here for a few weeks but cannot believe how nice everyone is. The day we arrived several neighbors came over to introduce themselves, and one even brought us dinner! Our next door neighbor mowed the front lawn today knowing that Andy is away (more on that later). So while it was/is hard to say goodbye, we are in a good spot here in Papillion, Nebraska. We really lucked out on our rental home too. I was so nervous about choosing one over the internet. We decided to go for price rather than comfort since we will only be here for a year. But, the house has exceeded our expectation. We had no idea when we rented it, but we are 6 houses away from the church! How lucky is that? So, we are starting a new chapter in our lives. For the first time in 7 years, we are no longer students. This chapter is all about family life in the United States Air Force. Oh what fun adventures await!

We got the biggest sized rental truck available because we didn't want to worry about cramming things in. When we fist picked it up, we thought we were only going to fill up like half of it. By the end, we used every last inch and still had to leave a few things behind. We gave our neighbors a desk, the bbq, our lawn mower, and the rest went on the tree lawn.

The last picture at 4030 Ellison Road

patiently waiting

A tiny peek. Thanks for being so patient guys!

Isn't he beautiful? Andy's cousin Jayni is the proud mama of little T. Ray. I could seriously eat him!

The Gorgeous J Family has the most amazing blue eyes! Check out his peepers!!

This Handsome guy is Andy's little brother Aaron and I was lucky enough to capture his cute mug for his senior pictures

Stay posted, more to come!

9 months

I am up to my ears in editing and needing to update the blog, but I thought I better take a moment and wish our sweet grumpy buns a happy 9 months! I'm not sure how a baby can be so sweet and lovable and yet be the grumpiest, most spoiled thing ever. crazy girl!

Livi is just starting to venture out and army crawl. Today she got into the kitchen cupboards for the first time and had a blast sliding the pans across the floor. She is also little miss snaggle tooth. Her right lateral incisor came in last week. I'm hoping her front teeth come in soon to balance it out :)

and a post about Livi would not be complete without a picture of her adorable chubby little feet. Andy says she is a monkey because she uses her feet like her hands. She feels everything with her toes! Livi is our feisty red head and we couldn't love her more!!

Is there a DOCTOR in the house?

Introducing

Captain Andrek J. Ingersoll DMD

After four long years of hard work we are finally done. Graduation was amazing. I think Andy and I both had perma-grins the whole day. It was just such an amazing feeling of accomplishment. We couldn't be more proud of you hon!!

Newly commissioned Captain in the United States Air Force

We were lucky enough to have Andy's parents and grandma come to help us celebrate

Andy and a few of his buddies

Avery and her future husband Talmage :) hanging out before the ceremony

I Got a Dollar, I Got a Dollar, I Got a Dollar, Hey Hey Hey Hey!!!

We signed Avery and Drew up for the spring toddler soccer team. The weather was terrible for the first 4 games. It was so cold and windy that the kids did not even want to play. The weather finally decided to cooperate for our last game, and Avery had such a great time (Drew was too sick to play)! I think she was showing off for Grandma and Grandpa :) We told her (or bribed her, how ever you look at it ;)) that we would give her a dollar for every goal she scored and boy did she deliver. Especially for a little girl who thought it was too mean to take the ball from the other team :) She scored 2 goals and had one assist!!! It was so fun to watch her dribble down the field with a serious look of concentration and her tongue hanging out :)

So Andy gave her 3 dollars for her goals and 1 dollar for playing so good. He looked at his grandma and jokingly said "Is that bad parenting?" As he was saying it, Avery handed Drew 2 of her dollars because he was sick and couldn't play. Andy's grandma smiled and said "I'd say that is good parenting." What a sweet girl she is!!

Drew-isms

I have a ton of updating to do, but for now I wanted to write down a few things before I forget. I say this all the time, but Drew is So funny. He keeps us laughing! Here are some Drew-isms from the last week:

Yesterday in the car he says to me "Mom, do you know who President Erying is?" I said " Yes, do you know who he is?" Drew says "Yes, he is the president of the country of our church." I say "You think so?" to which he adds "Ya, and do you know who Elder Bednar is? He is the one who makes everyone go to sleep." I chuckled and asked him why he thought that. he says "Duh mom, he is Elder BEDnar!!!" with extra emphasis on the Bed :) I got a good laugh out of that one.

Last week when Andy was being commissioned a Captain in the Air Force Drew leans over to Grandma Cindi and says "um, I think this is President Obama's house." So Random! What 3 year old says that?!?

Grandma Cindi was playing robot with the kids and Drew really got into his role. He was robot blue and Grandma was the Commander. He was playing mean robot bear and got a little too wild so grandma pushed his nice robot bear button and he changed instantly to a nice robot. Cindi calls me yesterday and jokingly says "being a mom isn't so hard. All you have to do is push their nice button." To bad it only works for Grandmas!! I tried to push his nice button yesterday and he says "Mom, I'm not a robot anymore. I don't have any buttons. you can't push my buttons Mom!" Like nice try! :)

A Tisket A Tasket

...Livi is in a Basket!!

A few fun facts about sweet Alivia Rae

*She is always smiling

*She just got her first tooth

*She hates baby food

*She makes spitting noises ALL DAY long

*she LOVES her mama :)

* She weighs 15 pounds 15 ounces

Notice anything different??

Avery Chopped her hair today and she LOVES it. She looked in the mirror and said "Mom, I really like myself". Thanks Julie! She looks adorable!

And now I am riddled with guilt. I want to take pictures of all of you!! How am I supposed to pick from all of you Fantasticly Amazing people?? But I must, so I think I am going to go with the first 2 people to comment. That would be the adorable momma to be JAYNI and the adorable new momma Bridi! Thanks guys for helping me get my groove back! I can't wait to shoot your cute babies! :)
And to the rest of you, I know you must be heart broken, so I'm sure we can work something out for you too ;)

Buddies

Our neighbors have the sweetest dogs. The kids LOVE them. The other day Billie was hanging out in our yard and Drew asked if he could go out and play with him. I said he could. I looked out the window to check on him and grabbed my camera as fast as I could. This is what I saw...

How cute is that?

"Whoever said you can't buy happiness forgot little puppies." - Gene Hill

"Give a boy a dog and you've furnished him a playmate." -Berton Braley

“No animal I know of can consistently be more of a friend and companion than a dog.” Stanley Leinwoll

I need to get this boy a dog!

and my girlies hanging out with Drew and his buddy too

p.s. don't forget to comment on the last post. I'll pick the winners on Sunday

Please help me get my groove back :)

Okay, so I haven't had any photo shoots since before Livi was born. I am feeling a little rusty and want to try to get back into it and see if I can handle it with 3 kids :). So I am giving away (or begging you to take) a free session to one lucky person (wink wink) here in Ohio before I move in May. Also, I will be in Utah for a few weeks at the end of May and beginning of June. I will do a session there too. So hurry and comment and tell me why you love me and how you will help me get my groove back ;) Good luck!

sPrInG iS hErE!!!

It has been 4 years since we have had a sunny springy Easter. And all I can say is that this week has made up for those four years. It has been absolutely Gorgeous!! It is 81 degrees right now, and I am as happy as a clam. The kids and I took a bike ride over to the park to soak up the rays. Livi got to bare some skin for the first time in her life, and I think she thoroughly enjoyed it. She especially loved rubbing her cute chubby little feet together. Here she is basking in the sun in her new ruffly Liberty of London romper from Target (is anyone else obsessed with Liberty like I am?)

p.s. did you notice how Livi's mouth is always wide open just like Drew?

Chore Charts

I have been looking for a cute, fun, and easy way to get the kids to help out around the house. It is always such a battle!! A few weeks ago we had to clean the house for a showing. So I told the kids that we would work together and after we cleaned a room, we would put a handful of marshmallows in a pot and make rice krispie treats after the house was clean. It was fun and actually worked! We carried the pot and marshmallows around the house and before we knew it, it was clean and then we got a yummy treat! I can't alway do this though, so I found a bunch of ideas for chore charts online. I'm not sure which one I am going to make yet. With summer fast approaching, I thought some of you guys might be interested in some cute chore charts too. So here you go! And please share your ideas for getting the kids to help out!!

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