Visit from the Duncans!

We had some friends come to see us today! Oh wow! These kids were wound up by the end of their visit tonight! I think they all had tons of FUN! Thanks for coming to see us Duncans!! :)

Day 22 - 40 Days of Blogging

I'm a little late getting this post up...but our weekend was busy! As a matter of fact, I did TWO sessions on Sunday and below is a little sneak peek of those sessions! These sessions turned out great...now I have to edit the rest of their pics! :)

Meet Annie...all kinds of CUTE!

My friends Erin & Aaron...and their new little girl Annie!

Mark and Nikki are good friends with Aaron and Erin, so it worked out to take their maternity pictures while I was in town. Lots of fun working with them!

One of my favorite maternity pictures I've taken!

Day 17 - 40 Days of Blogging

Last Friday night, we had Jaymi & Erin over...and on Sunday we had Jill and Jennifer over with their families! That's 4 high school friends over to our house within 3 days! Amazing considering I just don't see that many high school friends that often! Lots of fun catching up with all these great ladies! :)

And then we were talking about back in our cheerleading days...we almost did a full extension...or basket toss...haha, maybe not! But it was funny to think back to those days when I was a flyer and they were the best 'bases' a girl could ask for! ;)

Day 15 - 40 Days of Blogging

Almost missed this day of blogging...because I was busy hanging out with these two gals! It's been waaaay too long since we've all been together!

Great to see you - Erin & Jaymi!!!!

Day 13 - 40 Days of Blogging

Yesterday we took a little trip to the Children's Museum! It seems like we make it there every so often, and Ellie is really to the age that she can really get into playing. However...this is spring break week so it was packed with kids!! So little missy pretty much stuck to me like glue...at least that made it easier to keep track of both kids! ;)

Zay's favorite area...the 'hospital/doctor's office". Do you think he's a little familiar with this type of thing? ;)

Ellie and I rode in the ambulance, while Zay drove us. He kept asking us where he should take us...THE HOSPITAL, Zay...the hospital! :)

Thought maybe she'd fall asleep after lunch, but she was too interested in all the other kids!

A picture with all the other moms and kids that we went with...we had a crew!

 Remember how I mentioned Ellie was attached to my hip the whole time. The one time she wandered around a bit, she lost track of where I was. I was watching her as she kept looking up at people as if she were asking 'are you my mommy?" Then she spotted me and was SO HAPPY! :) 

Day 5 - 40 Days of Blogging

Dinosaur Train

This last weekend we had the opportunity to take Zay to a Dinosaur Train performance at Gallager Bluedorn. I had a photo session earlier in the day, so since we were in town it worked out to go to this show with the Duncan family! And to be completely honest, Zay doesn't love this PBS show, but he REALLY enjoyed this live show! It helped that he has his little buddies with him!

Tiny, Shiny, and Buddy...and Mr. Conductor!

BIG dinosaur...I can't remember his name! ;)

Meeting Buddy and Tiny after the show!

And since Travis works at Gallager...he got us into the bounce house room - our three boys had the place all to themselves!

Silly, but happy little boys!

A weekend visit to the Hovey's!

Last weekend we had a great time visiting the Hovey's in Bettendorf! Abby and I have been friends since elementary school and it was so fun to catch up with her! She had her little Jillian just 2 months after Isaiah was born. However, the pictures will fool you! Jillian is a petite little gal, and Zay appears to be a giant next to her! :) Just look at this picture and you will see what I mean...

I thoroughly enjoyed watching Jillian and Zay play and interact. They are two high-energy little 2 year olds! Jillian can chat up a storm, while Zay can find all kinds of things for them to get into!

There were a few common interests between the two...

They both love books! 

  They love playing outside!

And they love to laugh!

Thanks for having us, Hovey's! Hope to see you guys again soon! :)

A weekend back in the Cedar Valley!

This last weekend we were back in our old neck of the woods! We finally had our house closing...feels pretty good to be mortgage free! Although, we've been looking at A LOT of houses down here now, so it probably won't last long! :)

While back in the Cedar Valley - we were able to stay with the Duncan's for part of the weekend. We had so much fun! Sometimes it's hard to believe that these three boys are only 6 months apart...you probably wouldn't guess it by size, but they sure do love playing together. And I'm sure that friendship will only grow as they grow up! Soon there will be another little Austerman to join the fun...I keep wondering if it will be another little boy or a little girl that is tagging along with the boys. Even if it is a girl, that's ok - I spent many a days chasing my older brother and his friends when I was younger...they might not have appreciated a 'girl' joining the mix, but it didn't phase me a bit! 

On our way to the park for some playtime! What a great wagon they have! And can you believe how identical these boys are? All weekend I could tell them apart without any problem, it helped that Mr. Riley had a tiny scratch on his nose...but seriously, I'm getting better each time!

Leyton riding the Spaceship!

And then Riley came to join him!

Riley having fun on the slide!

We enjoy the Duncan family so much! They were in our church small group for 5 years or so, and we enjoyed hanging out with them when we were all just couples, then we went through pregnancy together, and then to new parents. It's hard to find friends that you've shared so many memories and life changes with! We are so blessed by their friendship! 

Wasserbahn Waterpark!

We had a great time over the weekend having the Duncan's visit and going to the Wasserbahn indoor waterpark! What a great time for the boys...and the parents! :)

It was VERY evident that Zay has a love for the water! We did the kiddy slide more times that I could count! And he got so excited when the BIG bucket would dump water...and if he could be under the big splash, that was even better!

One of the Duncan boys...Leyton I think?

The other Duncan boy...Riley (I think).

Both boys with their mommy!

And Zay with his mommy!

And afterwards...the daddy's did a good job entertaining the boys while the mommy's got ready!

Friends...

The Duncan boys (Leyton & Riley) came over to play yesterday...we had lots of fun!

All the boys enjoying an afternoon snack.

Eventually Zay thought it was necessary to help Riley out and feed him his puffs. He's learned how to share well from feeding our dogs. :)