a birthday party success!

Good morning!

Well, today I wore myself out! I had a work deadline (that I actually have to finish today) and just had birthday party day, and I'm tuckered!

The party day was just perfect. The morning was filled with cleaning and the afternoon with food and family and friends and fun.

Well worth the effort. I agonized over making sure it was perfect and the right people were there, and they absolutely were. I loved every person who came and exactly what happened. It was a Lego party with a cake and a few Lego challenges.

Well worth the effort. I knew it would be... I also knew I worried endlessly for not much reason. Funny how that is... I knew I shouldn't worry and I should pray more before the party, but I just was in cleaning mode and thinking, I'll get through it! It was like I was set on just doing things my way, even though I could have prayed more and let go of worry more and enjoyed the prep a little more if I had trusted God.

Well, it's an area to work on, that's for sure... learning to trust God and leave worry behind, even when I don't want to!

Happy day to you! I will be resting up today after a big push of "things to do!" How about you?

this was lego art from the party people in front and a "fire seven (station)
on the left and a five with a pool on the right, made by the boys.

Our annual picture almost got missed - that's why Brielle has on the boys old jammies
I like to let her wear and she randomly saw her favorite summer dress she had to wear on top! We were all also tired because it was the end of the day!

Birthday boys and their lego cake!

A better view of the cake... the boys helped make it! Very pleased with how much they could do. Two sheet cakes (one choc and one vanilla) mixed and matched into Lego blocks that we decided on as we went! Erik did the best buttercream work. You can't see his yellow brick - it's on the other side of the cake, but he did yellow and blue and I did red and green, which the green included an "accident" with the powdered sugar getting all over it!!.

today's celebration!

Well, today is party day! I think the boys think this is the day they realllly turn 5 and 7 because it's their party day! Funny how little brains work! (Yesterday was their birthday!)

They are such fun. I am so grateful to have them in my life! We had a low key day yesterday, making a lego cake for their birthday today and a birthday dinner at Red Robin last night. (I highly recommend them for bday dinners, if you have signed up for their rewards club!)

This morning, I was up before light. I placed my phone down with the flashlight facing toward the ceiling and walked away. When I walked back, it fascinated me how much that single light illuminated the darkness. It reminded me of the truth that God is light and we are the light of the world.

Now when we get to heaven, God is the light. There is no shadow, no need for other light, so everything is exposed. Here on earth, however, there are shadows, probably because God's light extends through us.

Our light doesn't show things perfectly. I wonder if that's one reason why people stumble: light isn't yet fully shed in their lives. We need grace to move closer to the light. That helps us see better and for the right things to be exposed so we don't hurt ourselves.



“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." -Matthew 5:14-16 NIV

happy birthday, boys!

It's a favorite day in our household!

Brayden and Jase's birthday!

Yep, Jase was born on Brayden's 2nd birthday. Seven years ago, I was at the hospital with B and five years ago, I was at home, wondering if we would get a double birthday. It wasn't until later in the day that I called my mom and said, "Could you take Brayden to go get a birthday treat? We have to go have a baby!" 

So happy birthday, Boys. I'm excited to celebrate you!

Oh and according to you, you don't officially change ages until you blow out your birthday candles. Who knew? ;-)

Birthday donuts:

Somebody else got donuts too, but she doesn't have mommy's sweet tooth like the boys do (although she thinks she does and definitely wanted a donut)... here she is frosting her donut with yogurt and not really eating either!!

Shutterfly update... pics of the family!

Today I got another bright orange box in the mail. If you haven't gotten one yet, I highly encourage you to check out Shutterfly! Every time you get a bright orange package, you have family memories coming your way in a unique form.

This time it was another book. I was catching up on winter/spring of this year, so I had a lot of fun as I pulled pictures together. I consider this my scrapbook for the kids!

Here's a peek:

8x8 photo book is the one I most commonly get; I always try to remember to label the spine with the time of the year the book covers. This time it was "winter/spring 2015."

Occasionally I love putting pages in my book that are all photos. Sometimes on the page before or after I'll have a note describing the event. This time it is picture of our boys birthday and the cakes we made for them! (top left and bottom right) 

I liked this particular style because I could put a bunch of pics on a page and then there was plenty of room for text/description. Erik and I tried to write a bunch of fun things about the boys that we will love to remember years down the road!

This isn't the only Shutterfly package I have at home right now. My grandma's 91st birthday is Saturday, and I thought a mug was a nice choice... that's something I like getting for grandparents who like coffee! One grandma has gotten a new mug every year for the past three Christmases!

Mugs are an easy and practical way to give pictures to family members!

Anyhoo, I thought I'd share. I love the accomplishment of getting photos printed and memories documented and sharing them with others. :-) Thought you may like it too. 

The boys are doing awesome right now. Such a fun stage... Glad it's summer and we can always get outside!

All for now! 

My boys are 3 and 1!

Happy birthday to my boys! Last Sunday (1/11), they both turned a year older... for Jase, that means 1 and Brayden, 3.

As you can imagine, there's much I could say right now... but for now, I want to show you what I got in the mail. On the right is a picture of Brayden at 1, which I've had for a couple years. He was in the middle of eating his one-year-old birthday cupcake... I love this pic... he's just a-staring at the camera. I thought I might get a similar pic during Jase's one-year cupcake celebration, but didn't, so I printed this one instead (and just got it in the mail!)... one of my favorites of him smiling in the bath! Although they often look alike, I think these pics show their differences.

Now, here's the cool thing... Shutterfly always has fun credits, coupons, and freebies that they send to their email list or have on the Facebook page. I definitely recommend signing up for their email and following them on Facebook to see what they are offering. (By the way, if they do offer you a free gift, you cover shipping, which usually isn't too bad compared to what you are getting!)... I often take them up on it, partially because it's a great way to make sure I actually take the time print pictures and/or make photo gifts. I use them a whole lot around Christmas. 

These pics I have pictured are "desktop plaques" and I've actually given them for gifts as well as purchased these two and I love them! They are frameless... just the picture with a nice shiny finish. I would highly recommend them! Great gifts and great to have around the house. 

Anyhoo... hopefully I'll take the chance soon to share more stories about the boys. Until then... go make memories yourself. Life is beautiful, crazy, and definitely worth living... and yes, it's all with God at the center, as best as possible. :-)

my three sons

Last summer, we knew it could be a possibility. Brayden's due date was 1-23-12 and baby #3 was due 1-20-14. It was clear that they could share a birthday.

To have it become a reality six months later is definitely surreal, especially since I went into Brayden's birthday feeling no sign of a baby being born that day. My dad even supplied a countdown for me - early afternoon he said, "You have about ten hours to have two born on 1/11" ... to which I shrugged and said, "No, it won't happen today." ... and then when he was driving Erik and I to the hospital he declared, "Well, you have about five hours to have a double birthday" ... to which I replied (while I was in labor), "Nah, I don't think this will happen until after midnight." 

Boy, was I wrong. 

:-) 

Jase William Wegener gave the first hint of appearing on his brother Brayden's birthday at 5 p.m. Everyone had been sleeping, which I then took advantage of as I realized my contractions were close together. I quietly finished pulling things together for our overnight bag... and got my makeup on, of course! Last time I forgot my makeup bag in the car, and for some reason, I was set to make sure I had makeup for pictures. Kinda funny, huh? 

By six o'clock, I knew contractions were becoming serious (aka painful!), so I let my mom know plans had changed and they wouldn't be joining the three of us for ice cream for Brayden's birthday... instead, I hoped they could give him a mini celebration that I had planned on. Then I called the doctor, woke up Erik and Brayden, and we headed out. 

To make a long story short, we arrived at the hospital probably between 6:45 and 7 p.m. and Jase William Wegener was born at 8:47 p.m. Yes, it was as surreal and crazy as it sounded; thankfully, as I look back, I see God's peace was in that room, despite the quick decisions the doctors were making to help baby and me stay safe and healthy. Yes, I was one of those people whose labor went too fast for an epidural (kinda never thought I would be!), but I was very grateful that they could switch and give me a different pain med that worked faster and lasted for an hour and a half to two hours.

We are grateful to God for a healthy baby and healthy mom, because we had lots of questionable things happen that could have created much bigger problems. The nurses saw right away when I checked into the hospital that baby had pooped in the amniotic fluid, which could be a sign of the baby being in distress and potentially the cord being wrapped around his/her neck or limb or somewhere (which ended up not being the case). Then I had trouble pushing the baby out, which we later found out was because Jase was such a big baby! He ended up needing to be vacuumed out for his health and mine. Scary in the moment... and also a little later that week as we learned the bruise from the vacuum created extra chance for jaundice for Jase as it broke down and healed. My milk came in a little later than normal because it was a fast delivery, which meant Jase became a little dehydrated as he waited for the milk to come in... all that to say, everyone's prayers came together to cover us through a bit of a crazy delivery and our recovery. Jase is not jaundiced and him and I are both recovering well!

Jase was a huge baby - definitely not the biggest I know of, but big enough! My doctor and nurses all exclaimed at how big he was when he came out...big hands, long toes, big head, thick chest! My doc had actually guessed a 7 lb. baby earlier in the night. When he was born, she said, "You hid the baby's weight well." Jase clocked in at 9 lbs. 10 ounces, 22 inches long and a 14.5 inch head. Yikes! :-) I say I got payback since I was a 9 lb. 12 ounce baby. (Sorry, Mom!)

It's funny looking back because once the baby was safely delivered, Erik and I just broke down in tears of joy and relief... so much so that there wasn't the "It's a boy" or "It's a girl" exclamation I was kinda expecting in my head as the way it would happen. Instead, they placed the baby on my chest, and one of the nurses who was looking right at him (and had been excited we didn't know what we were having) finally said, "Well, can I say what it is?!" And then I was like, oh yeah, we have no idea and really didn't care at the moment because (s)he was safe and healthy! Then I answered her, "Yeah!" She said, "It's a boy!"

It was definitely worth that moment in time finding out what it was. It was perfect, and nothing like I had planned in my head as I pictured that moment of finding out what we were having. And yes, not knowing did help me make it through labor!

Then Erik and I both realized, Brayden just received a wonderful birthday present... a baby brother.

I've always pictured myself with little boys, so I'm kinda thrilled about it, although I know the joys of having a girl would be fantastic as well. And Erik kinda wanted Brayden to have a brother, since he had always wanted a brother himself. Erik has a sister and I have a brother, so to have two kids (make that three including Brody!) the same gender is kinda fun.

Brayden met him the next day and overall loved looking at him. He occasionally gets upset when he has to share his grandmas with Jase, but he's learning it's okay to share. Now at home, he wants to hold Jase quite a lot, and he loves it. He laughs and giggles and is proud and shows him off. Hopefully pictures or video to come of the two of them. I'm proud of Brayden. He'll be a great big brother, and I'm super excited to watch them grow up together!

Now, it's a week later, and I kinda still can't believe the flurry of life that has happened. We're slowly but surely getting on a routine, and have had an amazing amount of support and help from our family and friends. (THANK YOU!) I know we'll need the support a little longer because the newborn stage is a little overwhelming, but now I have a much clearer picture of what comes after the newborn stage, and that makes it all a little more exciting. We know how much joy is to come in watching Jase grow up.

Coming home with baby Jase!

Like I said, pictures of B and J will soon be coming! Thank you again for all your prayers and thoughts and congratulations for our family. Most of all, thank you, Lord, for your blessing of another child! We are very, very grateful and honored. With love, the Wegeners.

celebrating brody

So tonight I wanted to do something special as we celebrated and remembered Brody. We didn't make it out to Brody's grave, but will soon. Instead we laid low at home.

Since it's his birthday, I wanted to at have a sweet treat to celebrate. I had been pondering it for a few days - something simple but kinda fun to be a birthday cake for him. We have Halloween candy from our party at church and a bunch of them are laffy taffy. Since those candies are so hard, I decided not to ruin my teeth eating them or let Brayden or Erik either. Instead, I wanted to do my own Chopped dessert and find a recipe where I could melt the candy. (On the chopped TV show, they melt candy often and use it in recipes. I felt the need to try that myself!)

So I found a recipe for laffy taffy frosting that I could put on the leftover whoopie pies we had in the freezer from Erik's birthday.

It started out well and grand.... I got my laffy taffys out and pulled out ten cherry ones.

I threw them in a pot with some butter and milk and found out that, yes, candy can really melt down into beautiful liquid:

I started blending it with my handheld mixer. Brayden was intrigued by the noise. I was making decent progress whipping up the butter until I heard a strange noise and suddenly found butter on my shirt... and on the wall, the microwave, the knives in the knife block, all over the powdered sugar bag... and even on Erik's jacket hanging on a chair in the next room. 

Seriously... what happened? I was baffled until I saw this: 

Notice the beautifully misplaced whisk thingy? Yeah, that wasn't super great! 

Here's a sideways glimpse of the frosting and a bit of the mess... 

Now I can't say it turned out exactly as I pictured. Well, it kinda did. The cherry frosting was decent, but then I realized that adding a little bit of almond extract would make it extra amazing, since we've always enjoyed almond buttercream and cherry almond is a good combination. 

So I went for it and went to the fridge, pulled out the small extract bottle, looked at the peppermint extract bottle and thought, that seems a little off, but mostly right, put a bunch in the frosting, and then it dawned on me. Nothing about the beautiful peppermint extract carried the flavor of the almond extract my head was planning on. Total pregnancy brain moment! It definitely over flavored the frosting to be minty... but it wasn't bad enough to not eat it. 

So I grabbed two thawed chocolate whoopie pies, dolloped a bunch of frosting on each (chocolate peppermint is great, right?), added some mini chocolate chips for good measure, and then brought it over to my boys. We sat down, sang happy birthday to Brody, and enjoyed our little treat. Happy moments and happy memories and dreams of being with our little one again. 

And yes, here's the proof it must have tasted decent enough.... :-) 

happiest third birthday to my firstborn!

Today, I'm thinking of my little mister, Brody Mark Wegener. He was born 11-20-10, weighed a little less than a pound, was a little less than a foot long, and lived for a little less than an hour. He was such a trooper because he stayed in my tummy with minimal amniotic fluid for over five days. He's a fighter!

We had a beautiful funeral for him about a month after he was born; it was long enough after so I had enough time to physically recover and our family could be together. It brought nice closure to a short life that had such an impact on me and my family and who knows who else.

Sometimes I forget how much it hurts to have lost a family member... and yes, I highly dislike that I lost two of them within a little over a year (my brother and my son). Each of their legacies live on in unique ways... and every once in a while, it's good to sit down and just have a good cry that they aren't there any more and that you just miss them and want them back.

I can't explain the odd feelings I have that Brayden, although he thinks he's the oldest kid and certainly acts like the only kid because he is the only kid we're taking care of, my heart knows he's my middle child. It's so strange because it's this intangible feeling that he's not my oldest. Brody is. Like I mentioned when I said we were pregnant with our third, I am reminding myself that Brayden has no understanding about him not really being the oldest or the only kid, so his behavior will be oldest/only kid. But he will most definitely grow up knowing about his big brother in heaven.

I'm really grateful for this odd feeling though... this constant, subconscious remembrance of Brody. My guess is a lot of parents, including my own, feel that same way if they lose a child. No one else may know or everyone might know that you've lost someone, but you know, and that knowing is something you hold dear to you. They are forever a part of your heart and life.

Thanks to his grandma, Brayden has a few different books (he loves books!) on becoming a big brother and I think he has a pretty good 22-month-old grasp on the subject. I really think he'll do great once the next little miss or mister comes along in January.

Erik and I have had occasional questions from people - and we've asked ourselves these questions as well - will this be our last kid? And that's a fabulous question. I really like the idea of three kids, but I'm not sure how that will look in the future. Going through another pregnancy with light activity is rather intimidating, but the reward is great... Then we have always talked about adoption. I have no idea what the future holds, but I really like the fact that it doesn't matter what the future holds, I already have three kids. One just happens to be extremely easy to take care of... although, Brody, just so you know, I wish I were the one planning your birthday party. I do know you're in good hands.

All my love, Daddy's love, Brayden's love, and baby's love... happy birthday, Brody Mark Wegener! We love you and miss you dearly and are super excited to be reunited in heaven with you soon!

make crazy memories with your kids

One of my favorite birthdays I remember as a kid was when my great aunt from California, my mom, and I were at Byerly's (an upscale grocery store) and for lunch we each got one item from the pastry case. (I'm sure my great aunt greatly influenced that decision!) It was my most favorite birthday lunch ever... so good!

And yes, I had a relatively upset tummy a few hours later... and I still remember how I remedied it. I ate a cucumber! Not cutting it up or anything, just washed it and ate it like an apple!

Sometimes the best memories come when you throw aside the "rule" book and just treat yourself to something special! :-)

Happy Friday everyone!

Brayden's first birthday pics!

Brayden is a lucky boy! He got two birthday parties in two different states with our respective sides of the family. That meant two homemade dinners and two homemade cakes! :-) I wanted the dinners to be stuff that Brayden liked, and although E and I initially wanted to do the full decorating thing for the cakes (we had some great ideas), we let time and energy limit to us to just really good tasting cakes. I loved cooking and baking for him! 

The first dinner was spaghetti!

Grandma Ruthie was at this party!

His special cake was chocolate with amaretto butter cream frosting.  Yum!

Grandma Wegener playing with him on the floor

Opening presents

He's liking the cake....

Playing before dinner with the other side of the family. Daddy smoked chickens for dinner-
pic below. Football in the background!

Me and the smores cake... chocolate cake with marshmallow cream filling, toasted
graham crackers, and chocolate ganache. 

Reading one of his new books!

Oh my goodness!

More cake!

happy first birthday, Brayden!

One year ago today, Erik and I were in the hospital meeting our little baby. Love!

newborn

I am happy to say I'm so content with this past year. I'm grateful to be home with my baby and get to enjoy him with my husband and just watch him grow. Amazing! I don't wish time to be faster or slower or anything. I'm enjoying every moment as best as I possibly can.

a few weeks old

I do feel like Erik and I have an extra special appreciation for Brayden that makes him extra special to us since our first son and my brother are in heaven. I know I talk about them a lot, but it's true. :-)

three months

So in honor of Brayden's birthday, here are a few things about him. I love watching his personality grow!

Walking? Yes, but not on his own. He prefers to hold onto couches, tables, walls, etc. He will walk with people, but he does like doing things on his own, so he's not quite as much a fan of walking with people it seems. He stills scoots and crawls, of course!

six months

Favorite things: TV remotes, cell phones, eating

nine months

Favorite brag moment: he whistles while he plays.

Favorite food: chili, bananas, and after his birthday cake, I'm sure he'll add cake to the list!

Here is a favorite pic from his recent one-year photo session. Thanks to Beyond Photography for taking it and thanks to my hubby for suggesting the idea!

Happy 1st birthday, Brayden! You bring such joy to our lives! We love you. :-)