t-minus 5 weeks!

my little sister's wedding is 5 weeks away!!  which means baby kehrli's due date is 5 weeks and 3 days away!  (and i only have 4 more weeks of work!)  i just got my bridesmaid dress in the mail yesterday and thankfully it (semi) fits.  the chest is wayyyy too big (which might the first time ever) so i'll have to get that taken in.  i had to order the dress in January and had absolutely no idea what size to get, so i am thankful that it zips up!! my very prego belly looks rather odd shaped but it will work (and i have no makeup on in this pic but that is pretty typical these days).

 this is really a better reflection of my current 35 week shape.  watch out for the big belly!

maybe if the baby drops more, the dress will fit better.  here's to hoping i don't go into labor the day of or day before the wedding.  i already checked out kansas city hospitals and have everything ready to go if i have our little one out of state. please, baby kehrli, wait for your due date!!!

parker--2 years

dear parker,
you are TWO YEARS OLD!!  congrats little man.  your daddy and i love you soo much and are proud of the boy you are growing up to be.  you are 37" tall and weight 34lbs (both 95%).  you are full of joy and get so into saying "cheese" that you squint your eyes like this...

 you are adventurous, friendly, and LOVE to play!

during the week, you usually spend 2 days with daddy (and go to the gym), 2 days at kids' day out, and 1 day at my friend gretchen's house.  you honestly have not got in trouble at any of those places and everyone always comments on how easy you are to watch.  it is such a blessing knowing that you have fun wherever you go (when we drive by your "school" you whine to go "skoo" and often ask if you can go to "gigi's" because you enjoy both so much) and that you are not high maitenance.

you have been bitten 5 times!!  at kids day out.  they just kicked out the kid who has been biting you.  i feel bad for his mom, but i feel better knowing you are a little safer in your class.

you are using more and more words and say "may...i...please..." when you want something (with daddy's and my prompt).  i am trying to teach you some southern manners in hopes you will be a very respectful young man.

you continue to be a good sleeper and usually sleep from 8pm-7am with a 2 hr nap from 1-3pm.  i am hoping this does not change with your new baby brother.

your favorite foods are chicken nuggets and pizza.  when you wake up in the morning the first thing you usually ask for is a nuggie.  i give you a peanut butter and jelly instead, but you would eat nuggies every meal if i let you.  you still enjoy oranges, grapes, bananas, milk, and other healthy food (you just switched from whole milk to 2%!).

we bought you a power wheels jeep for your birthday and it is your new best friend.  daddy and i are impressed with how quickly you picked up the steering, reverse, etc.  we are also thankful to live on a culdesac where you can drive around without going into a busy street.

you are still struggling with your colors, but you have every one of your neighborhood friends' names memorized and say them each night when we walk by their respective homes.  you get all of your energy from being around people and other kids.

you love to laugh, even though it is often when you do something that makes mommy, daddy or one of your friends mad (like stealing their toys), but i am glad you have a good sense of humor.

we have thoroughly enjoyed these last two years getting to know you and watch you grow up.  you are the biggest blessing in our lives and we are thankful for every day we get to spend with you (and for all of the hugs and kisses).  love you ohhhhh so much!

Love,

Mommy (and Daddy)

update on the accident

i have been pretty sad about cainan's death...and by that i mean i have cried every day since it happened.  the newspaper released more information about the driver who went across the median and what do you know--he tested positive for having several drugs (pot and several prescriptions you are not supposed to take and drive) in his system that impaired his reaction time on top of him having a suspended/expired driver's license.  he should never have been on the road that day, and our friends were literally feet away from their exit off the highway when he went across the median and struck them head on.  i know dwelling on that does not change the fact that little cainan was stripped of his life, but it makes me angry.  there have been many comments and posts on the newspaper articles about how the road is dangerous and needs barrier cables or a median. although that might help, if we could just stop people from driving negligently that would've prevented this whole tragedy.  i know his family is hurting and grieving as well and we all make mistakes, but it is just hard to forgive his actions. 

look at this sweet face:

and this one from his obituary...the funeral is tomorrow and i hope they have a lot of people come out to support cainan and the shutt's.  i know a memorial fund is set up and the community is planning other events like a cainan shutt memorial softball tournament in june, which has been very encouraging to ali and tommy.

in the midst of cainan's loss, his little sister, courtlyn is on the path to recovery!  courtlyn is just one month younger than parker and ali wrote me last week before the accident that courtlyn would've loved to come to parker's bday party because she looooves elmo.  i am so glad that the doctor's think she will be able to fully recover, broken neck and all.  look at this sweet photo of her from today.  isn't she beautiful?

james said i need to stop looking at all of the photos of cainan because i am just making myself depressed.  i'm not sure why it is hitting me so hard, but i just can't imagine if that happened to p.  i told james he and parker are never allowed to die because i would go crazy.  i am not good about losing people in my life and it just tears me apart even though i know and believe we will see them again someday.  anyway, hopefully with the positive updates on courtlyn this will turn into a story of hope, love and the support of a community.  i am still praying for my friends every day, but i know God has a plan for everything.  love yall and make sure to give your little ones extra hugs and kisses tonight!!!

heavy heart

my heart is broken tonight for my high school friend, ali, and her husband, tommy--they lost their 5 year old boy in a car accident today.  tommy's parents were driving on k-10 when a car went across the median and hit them head on (both vehicles were going 70mph and there were no skid marks so it was a very bad crash).  their little girl was not breathing but firefighters rescitated her and she is in the lawrence hospital in critical care.  here is a link to the story: http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2011/apr/16/multiple-helicopters-being-dispatched-accident-k-1/

i know ali loved her little boy sooo much and i sit here crying thinking about how she must be feeling.  if i had to look at parker's lifeless body at his funeral knowing he would never breath again, laugh again, smile, hug me, etc. i don't know if i could do it.  it is just so sad.  a few weeks ago ali and were talking about how her son was starting football this year and how she had been waiting 5 years for this day (we both love sports and are so excited to watch our kids play them) and now she will never get to watch him. 

here is a picture of her sweet little boy.  she has a lot of photos of him and i am sure she is thankful for every single one right now. 

i need to get off the computer before i drive myself nuts thinking about this, but it is all that is consuming my thoughts right now.  love you all.

upcoming events

in an effort to mentally prepare for upcoming events before baby kehrli arrives (in 8 short weeks!), here is what we have on our calendar for our next few months...

april
*baby shower for baby kehrli next weekend!
*james--camping trip with his brother and best friend from high school
*easter!  we will have guests so i'm going to order a meal from honey baked ham and just focus on cleaning...makes life so much easier!
*baby shower for my friend, sara, who is having a little girl in july!

may
*3 year wedding anniversary!
*mother's day
*florida/disney trip (james and parks with james' family)

june
*abbey & brett's wedding in kc!!  james, parker and i are all in it
*baby kehrli is due (3 days later...we'll see how that goes)
*father's day

july
*levi's wedding--james is in it and i am going to stay home with the boys in arkansas, but...
*erin is flying in for 5 days!!  can't wait!
*mini vacay at our friends' cabin (have i mentioned i love going to the lake?)

i am taking off work may 27th-sept 1st, so hopefully this will be an incredibility relaxing and enjoyable summer where we can make lots of memories as a family and enjoy our time together.

and because i can't do a  post without some parker lovin', we got a new store at our mall this week, crazy 8. i got a few little things for p including this new hat (and a smaller one for his brother...can't wait to dress them in matching outfits).  parker usually hates hats, but i got him to keep this one on for a few minutes yesterday.  isn't he so cute!! :)

love yall!

elmo party picture overload

since there are so many pics from parker's party, i'll try to keep the words brief...

decorations...found these juice boxees at walmart the day of his party!

the cookies.  love them!!

mom and scott.  parker's biggest friends!

elmo balloon...still parading around in our house

elmo elmo everywhere!

the cake.  i was kind of impressed with myself at how well it turned out!  my neighbors were super sweet and helped make the icing and decorate it with me the morning of the party.

my awesome friend amy brought over her bounce house for the kids to play in.  it was the hit of the day!!!

every kid's dad came to the party (which meant there were a few more people than i was expecting but the more the merrier) and they all hung outside with the boys because it was 75 degrees!  so perfect.

red fruit, yummy.

james organized the pinata fun and decided the pull strings were boring so we let every kid have a swing at it!

the girls/moms (they made all the pregos stand in the back)  3 of us are due in the next two months!  it was nice to be able to hangout with them inside while the dads watched the kids.

james and parker on their motorized scooter.  they love to ride this thing around the neighborhood!

and last but not least, the kiddos in their elmo shirts!  excuse my super sloppy edit...i just downloaded a free trial of lightroom and am playing around with it.

as much fun as everything was, it is nice to have elmo behind us.  mommy is soooo sick of elmo (and now we have like 15 new elmo toys and it is all my fault).  next year we're doing a sports or jayhawk theme, ha! :)  love yall.