May...

I apologize for having to recap on a "monthly" basis right now. Just trying to pick out the meat & potatoes of where this summer has gone & how I haven't found any time to blog. Makes me sad & crazy to be so behind, but I'm slowly catching back up!!!!


So, first of May we had to go to Children's for Brady to have some tests run. We had to stay overnight for the video EEG & he also got an MRI. It was a rough couple of days, but our prayers were answered ~ no brain tumor! God is great! Luckily we don't have to go back for awhile!

They also started sitting at the "big kid" table to eat instead of high chairs! So proud!

We celebrated Toms birthday & we all got to go out! Yeah! Next year will be the big one!


Brady and Bria were still enjoying gymnastics!!

Bria took class pics at Montessori in Toddler 1 with Ms. Trish & Ms. Emily! Love those teachers!

Mayme, me & kiddos at the park kicking off Mothers Day weekend!

The sweet & precious gifts the kiddos made for me at school for Mothers Day! Melt. My. Heart. I will cherish these forever!


I'm not quite sure how it happened, but I got some amazing cuddle/nap time in with my sweet babies on Mothers Day! Which of course meant more to me than anything else!

Richie spent some QT with Barb!

And of course these kiddos made Mothers Day special for Baba too!

Our "happy feet" soccer didn't go so well...Brady just wasn't interested. At all. So, we loaded up & headed home for a quick change & then...the pool! That was an adventure in itself!!!!!!

Sweet moments were shared (and caught) for sweet memories later on...

Love this pic of them at the park!

Bria moved up into EP2 (Early Primary ~ classroom 2) with Ms. Kristina & Ms. Madison. It was hard at first, but she was excited quickly! Lots of new things to "work" on in this room!

Brady had his end of school year party with Ms. Ruth's 2 year old class! It was a great time at the park! Even Bria had. Great time double fisting the pizzas - chubs!



More park fun....couldn't resist these cute pics!!! Bria's first "selfie"....



And, to conclude May - we put our house for sale after finding our dream home! We didn't know it at the time, but wow - what a huge blessing it was to sell SO quickly!

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Catch up...

I have a lot of catching up to do...I will start with April!



Playing at the park!


My cuties!


Love these lil pics of them!


Bria in Toddler 1 - loving music time!!


Brady in Ms. Ruth's class - grandparents day 2013!


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AIM Walk ~ 2013

Wow, where do I begin here?? It all started when Brady was diagnosed with HFA back in November...I felt like it would be good to go to an autism support group meeting & speak with other parents going through what Richie & I were going through. It's hard trying to make decisions that you feel will make an impact on the future & not really knowing everything that is going on. So, we attempted the meeting in Rogers & didn't stay very long for several reasons that I won't get into on here. However, what I did get out of the meeting is that A) there is an autism walk annually & it would be coming up in April and B) I needed to partner up with the existing group & start a sister group in Fayetteville for families who want the resources but can't get to Rogers once a month. Little did I know, God had a plan to make both happen seamlessly. Lesa Otten is another mother at St. Joseph & her son Matthew is 10. She is very informed w HFA and is a super lady (and advocate) & she gladly stepped up to say "yes yes!" when I asked if she would be interested!

Richie and I also reached out to the ladies in charge of the Rogers group & they loved the idea. So, we decided to step it up & help them with the AIM walk as well as have a team for Brady & little did we know we were about to have a huge "AH HA" moment!

"Brady's bunch" was started & we met up with a friend of Richies from college & he designed the team shirts for us! We love them! We set up a web page & hoped that we had a few friends & family that would want to donate so we set a goal of $500 & we surpassed our original goal within the first 24 hours of sending out the original email! Without going into tons of detail, we kept increasing our goal & I finally stopped at $2,000. I was just in utter amazement that so many friends were so kind, thoughtful & generous to give to such a great (and still unknown) cause!!! We ordered over 100 team shirts (ordered a few extra & knew that some of those friends wouldn't be able to make it) but never even thought we would need more than 36! Wow! I actually still have shirts to deliver & feel terrible that I've been so super busy & haven't had a chance to do that yet...anyway, here are a few pics from the walk!!!

On our way to the walk!  What a crew!  The fam supporting our sweet lil Brady!

Sweet lil family of 4. Love these kiddos so much!

Our signs supporting Brady from us and Papa and Baba!

Brady's God mother drove down from Kansas City to make the walk!  She said she wouldn't have missed it!  So sweet of her!

Me & mom!

Bria - supporting her big bro!

Daddy chasing big guy...

Mommy loving on her lil man!

Part of our team! A few of them that were able to come & walk with us! It was so crazy busy that I felt terrible that I didn't really get a chance to chat with everyone like I wanted...But, I appreciated them coming!

Some of my best friends from high school & their daughters drove up for the event. Meant the world to me!

Yes, Brady slept through the majority of the walk. I think he was a little overwhelmed with all the crowds & the sun was bright & he is very sensitive with sunlight. So, he decided a nap would be good! Ha!

My sweet friend Poco (Kristen) who came with 2 kids under 3 by herself! I swear she is super mom!

Brady & his best friend Maddox!

What a great day!  Richie and stayed to help clean up and get the auction items that we won.  It felt so great having such supportive friends donate and come and walk with us!  It was so successful and we are just in amazement that we raised $2,105 for team "Brady's Bunch" and I really appreciate my friends that also donated items for the silent auction too.  All of those funds stay local and help families that need assistance in Washington and Benton counties.  Thanks to everyone who made our day so special.  We love you all!

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My work trip to Nashville...

Well, I had been dreading this work trip to Nashville for months. I knew I was going to miss my family & being gone for 4 nights made me very anxious...But, I was lucky to have Barb come & help Richie out so he could have help at night w dinner, bath & bedtime. That made me less anxious thank goodness, but it was a LONG 4 days. I drove to Little Rock on Sunday night after I tucked the kids in so I didn't get to my hotel until midnight. We carpooled to Nashville on Monday & I was so happy to get these pics while I was at my meeting! The pics were the highlights of my days there!















It made me realize how much fun they were having back home! I actually slept so good while being there bc I knew they were in great hands & having such a good time! On my last night there, they had a closing reception & I was able to have a man on stilts make them these balloon characters & he made an Elmo & a monkey in a palm tree. He was so talented & I couldn't wait to get home to give these balloons to the kids! I really was hoping I could make it back before bedtime on Thursday but I didn't...And even though I was off on Friday I had SO much to do to get ready for the AIM walk. I really wanted to just hang out with the kids, but I had a list a mile long to get done. So, I dropped them off late & picked them up early! Ha! And the balloons were a big hit! I missed my precious family so much, but they were totally ok without me. Teachers said they both were great at school & Richie told me that they were good for him too! I was so pleased to hear this! So proud of them! I really appreciated Barb for helping & happy to have that behind me!



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