Mom's Birthday

Would have been tomorrow...she was truly the most amazing person on this earth. Never a negative thought about ANYthing or ANYone in life which makes me really stop and think when I am complaining about the little things...Sure has been a hard time of year for all of us. WE MISS AND LOVE YOU SO MUCH MOM!

Fall Family Pics

Mamie Woods does an amazing job with our family photos. Here are a few from our recent photo session. We went to a ranch in McKinney early one Sunday morning. Case did SUCH a good job and we had tons of fun!



Mamie Woods does an amazing job with our family photos. Here are a few from our recent photo session. We went to a ranch in McKinney early one Sunday morning. Case did SUCH a good job and we had tons of fun!

Trick or Treat

Case was an adorable golfer for Halloween. He LOVED eating a tootsie pop sucker the ENTIRE wagon ride going from house to house. We had a blast going to a few fall festivals leading up to the big day. Case was definitely a fan of riding the ponies. His expressions when we do something new are priceless. He is such a blessing to our family.

Mamma's and the loot!
HAPPY FALL EVERYONE!

Case Mathew Bishop

My Sweet, Adorable, Loving, Energetic 20 Month Old...

* loves to talk, we call him a parrot because he repeats everything we say. He is starting to put 3 or 4 words together and it just amazes us daily what he can say
* is such a happy, bubbly and busy toddler, his disposition is amazing, even when he isn't feeling 100%
* loves to talk about driving. My Dad let him sit on his lap back in Iowa to drive his truck and now he wants to drive all the time. I tell him maybe in 14 years he can drive. He talks about how so and so is driving, how Daddy drives his truck every morning, Mommy drives the car, etc.
* has pottied in his potty chair multiple times but we aren't being consistent yet with it
* LOVES his girlfriends, Emery and Lindley. He talks about them non-stop and gets to see them at least 4 days out of the week
* runs to me with the BIGGEST smile and open arms when I pick him up from Mother's Day Out, it is the most precious moment of my day
* loves Wrigley, he says "Hi Wrigley" all the time and I catch him petting Wrigley randomly a lot
* wants to be outdoors constantly, now that it is nicer, I can leave the back door open some for him to come in and out
* is outgrowing his clothes and shoes so quickly. I tell Ryan this is going to be the story of our lives until the kid moves out
* has to wear one-piece jammies to bed at night and a onsie during naps so he doesn't dig in his poop when he wakes up. Such a fun, interesting past time :)
* still LOVES books, he can sit for a long time just looking through books and says "I read it"
* has to sit in time out probably once a day and sits there with this ridiculous cheesy grin on his face like, "what, Mom?"
Case is just a blessing in my life. After everything we have been through the past few years, he is a constant joy to have around. I can't even imagine not having Case to get me through my days. He makes me smile constantly and the love I have for him is indescribable. Love this 20 month old crazy kid :)

Lately...

Well, every time I post I say it has been awhile, and this time...it has been awhile. We have been enjoying Case to the fullest. He is an absolute JOY and a blessing in our lives. He is 20 months old going on FIVE. The kid talks from the moment he wakes up, basically narrating my day to the extreme. He loves life...just full of energy and smiles all day long.
We were back in Iowa most of August. Most of you know, my sweet Mom passed away on August 17th. Such a difficult time we all have been going through. My sister, Kirby, got married on the 27th just 10 days later. It was a beautiful day despite everything going on. She looked amazing, as to be expected. Case was the ring bearer and just a doll.
Things we have been doing....
* going on lots of walks and to the park now that it is nice out
* Case is in Mother's Day Out on Tues/Thurs and LOVES it. He just walks right in and says bye bye Mamma. He even sleeps on a nap mat, who would have thought?!
* going to the Y so Mommy can attempt to workout with this enormous belly
* going to Target for our weekly grocery trip...Case actually loves the place :)
* Mommy went to the Taylor Swift concert with her 30-something year old friends this weekend
* Daddy has been golfing at the Country Club and Case gets to join on the golf cart once in awhile
* My Dad and Grandma came to visit a few weeks ago and Case was in heaven! He enjoys being with my Dad.
* Getting ready for baby Kylynn. We are naming her Kylynn Sue, Sue is my Mom's middle name. She is a LOT bigger than Case was (maybe not her, but my stomach is). My Grandma is going to make the bedding for her room so we are excited about that. She is so amazingly talented!
* Case is going to be a golfer for Halloween so we are working on gathering stuff for his costume.

and...many many more fun activities have been going on but I won't bore you. We hope this fall has been great for y'all :)

Trip to Iowa...

Case and Mommy went back to Iowa to celebrate Aunt Bi-Ki-Bee's bachelorette party. We had a great time relaxing, eating fair food and enjoying our family's company. Before we left, Case was diagnosed with hand, foot & mouth disease. This kid catches everything. I am contemplating taking him to an "immunologist" if there is such a thing... we'll see. He never had a fever, never had sores in his mouth and was the happy-go-lucky kid he always is that we called "rashy" all week. It is finally clearing up after, what, 12 days. It was SO hot in Iowa that we spent most of the time indoors. The humidity made the heat index like 120 which is just HOT. Case played in a little pool on the deck every evening with "branpa" and loved every minute of it. Luckily at my parents', Case sleeps like a rockstar, Mommy sleeps amazingly and we get worn out by cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. I am so thankful to be a stay-at-home Mommy and that I am able to go back and forth as often as we can. Ryan works so hard for our family and we are just so blessed.

Swimming with "branpa" and Aunt Kelsey getting him :)

At the park with cousin Nolan

One of the only ways we can get Case to sit on our laps...a little Yo Gabba Gabba!

Helping Aunt Kelsey on her computer!

Baby Bishop #2!

SO SURPRISED!!!

Well, we are very excited to tell Case that he is going to be a BIG BROTHER! How exciting is that?! I am due on February 1st which puts me at about 10 weeks. We have been to the doctor 2 times for the "confirmation" check up and the first ultrasound. That little one was moving his/her little legs, arms around all crazy inside. We can't wait to find out what we are having. I haven't felt quite as good as I did with Case but it the nausea is coming and going more now than being constant. We are thrilled!!!

Sweet little baby...

Sweet little boy...

Kirby's Wedding Shower

On Thursday, June 23rd, we decided to make another trip back to Iowa. Case & I flew into KC and my wonderful Dad was so gracious as to come get us. We went to Bloomfield and stayed until Monday. We had Kirby's wedding shower, hung out with all of the family and had a great time. Case wasn't his "perky self" from Saturday on and come to find out, he had an ear infection, whoops. Here are some pics of our trip..

My Amazing, Loving, Wonderful Grandma Hoskin

Big GUY of the party!

Sweet baby cousin, Hayden!

My truly appreciated, loved cousin, Kelsey

Bride-to-Be, BEAUTIFUL!

LOVE!

We took Case to the city pool on Friday. It was PERFECT weather but the gradual incline of the pool was a little tough for him to understand. He didn't want help and wanted to do it all himself so this is how we dolled him up :)

On Monday, my sweet cousin, Paige and Grandma drove us halfway to Kansas City and we met SUSAN & EMMA!! It was so great to see them. We stayed at their house on Monday night before flying home on Tuesday. It was wonderful to catch up, see where they live and spend some time with them. We sure miss those Chartier's!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!!!

To: MY dad who is truly amazing, so patient, loving and kind to everyone! LOVE YOU POPS!

To: Case's Daddy for being the perfect Dad anyone could ask for. Thank you for working hard so Mommy can stay home with me. We love you and appreciate ALL you do!

To: Grandpa Vern for being such a great Grandpa to Case! He adores you!

To: Grandpa Mark for being a great grandpa as well. We Love You!

To: My husband for being such a terrific Daddy to Case and husband to Me :)

Iowa

We made another trip back to Iowa on May 20th. We got back last Monday, the 31st. It was a long & exhausting trip but worth every minute. Case, Wrigley and I flew into Des Moines on Friday, the 20th. My cousin, Paige was SO sweet to come pick us up from the airport. Here is a video after a 2 hour flight and 1 hour wait in the airport because we lost Case's suitcase (disregard the fact that Case is in a PINK carseat :) we make do...

-----actually it is at the bottom of this post-----

Saturday morning, we drove up to Rochester, MN to see Mom & Dad at Mayo clinic. Mom had her first surgery that Friday to inject the first round of the measles vaccine and actually was released from the hospital on Saturday. She is so amazing! We spent the next few days just hanging around Rochester, going out to eat, going to parks, going on walks and trying to get a 15 month old to sleep in a hotel room! Let me just say it was a LONG three nights. Mom had another surgery on Tuesday, the 24th where the surgeon removed 50-60% of the tumor and injected the measles vaccine again. We drove back to Des Moines on Wednesday and stayed at Kirby's house.

Chillin in the car...

Playing at the park in Rochester.

Waiting on Grandma during surgery (having snacks...this little guy's hand is ALWAYS in this snack cup)

We went on down to Bloomfield on Thursday to wait for Mom to get home from Mayo. Ryan had flown in on Wednesday evening so we stopped by his parent's to visit before going on down to stay at my parents'. He joined us on Friday morning. Mom was able to come home that Thursday and continues to recover at home. She still needs as many prayers as we can get. She goes up to Mayo tomorrow for some more testing on Tuesday. Dad is taking her tomorrow afternoon.

Case & Daddy attempting to fish at my parent's house.

We went to Lake Rathbun on Saturday for Ryan's Mom's side family reunion. There were over 100 attendees and lots of fun!

Case playing with his cousins

Grandpa & Grandma Bishop & their adorable grandkids!

Our one family pic of the week...

One thing I know for sure is I could not make these trips without the help of my Grandma, Aunts, and sister(s). Kirby & Kelsey are always helping me out. I sure do appreciate all that Kelsey does for me when I go home...she works really hard and knows right what I need before I even ask her. I LOVE YOU ALL SO VERY MUCH! Can't wait to go back in July!

Love you AUNT "B"!

Case...

Is a crazy, energetic, lovable, sweet, caring, wild CHILD of mine... He is just so happy (well, most of the time). The poor little guy did have strep throat two weekends ago and it was miserable (for him and Mommy & Daddy). He wouldn't eat, didn't sleep well, had a fever of 103.8 for a few days and just whined and cried. The antibiotics did not kick in like Mommy thought they should but finally we rounded the corner last Tuesday before our visitors arrived. He is back into full Case mode and forgetting he was ever sick. He has learned to crawl up on the couch and uses ALL his might and energy to get up there and once he does, thinks it is the best thing in the world! I told Ryan he is working off all of the "snacks" he eats by getting up on the couch. The kid LOVES TO EAT...he goes to the pantry multiple times a day saying "cacker" (which is cracker and might I add that the small container he carries around ALL day long usually has something more healthy than "cackers" in it. He runs/walks quickly swinging ONLY his left arm for some reason and I have been teasing that it is because he has his snack cup in the other. I obviously feed him 3 meals a day but feel like the little guy wants to snack constantly. Guess he takes after his Mommy, Auntie and Grandma Neill :) We are trying to move to one nap a day and it is working for the most part. LOVE LOVE LOVE this little guy...

Cousins Visit

Last week, my cousin Jacie and her family came down to Texas for their family vacation. The boys played SO well together, it was cute. We attempted to go to a Rangers game (it got rained out) but still had fun. It was so nice to have visitors and another little "boy" for Case to play with (all of his friends are girls :) Thanks for coming to stay with us, Henderson Family!

Race Day

Some of my friends and their families joined Ryan, Case and I for the Head for the Cure 5K race this past Saturday. It was a COLD morning but we weren't complaining considering we were walking for people with cancer :) It was so amazing to see the support that my Mom has through my "Texas" family. The race was the first annual one in North Texas and they were working towards a goal of 500 participants, they ended up with almost 2500. It was great. My Mom is up at Mayo clinic this week for her preliminary testing prior to surgery this coming Friday. She will have a tube place in her brain that will administer the measles vaccine. She will then have surgery again on Tuesday to once again inject measles and remove what the surgeon can of this ever so awful tumor that keeps coming back! We just keep praying and praying that it will miraculously disappear this time around! Case and I are flying into Des Moines on Friday and then driving up to Rochester on Saturday with Kelsey and Kirby. Should be an interesting few days in a hotel with a 15 month old but we will make it work! Thank you for your continuous prayers and thoughts for my Mom!