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Monkey and I were in Topeka today for his 9 month pics and since the professional photographer wore him out, I caught my pictures of the day on our commute. I love rural Kansas, it just has it's own unique beauty to me. This picture almost captures how amazingly clear and beautiful the sky was today, it was a perfect summer day:Ah, country traffic. Country traffic jams are caused by people like me who are still scared to death to pass on two lane highways:

And of course, we have the stereotypical windmill:

and farm...and no, not all of us in Kansas live on these :):

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It was the perfect summer day for the park, so we packed up Monkey and headed to the awesome park we are lucky enough to live near by:

His first ride on his Daddy's shoulders:

My Monkey in his monkey shirt:

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Every weekend when I come home from work, the OCD part of me has to take a shower before picking up Monkey and loving on him (hospital germs can be scary things!). So our weekend tradition has become that the boys snuggle up on the bed and talk to me while I'm in the shower, because Tired Stephanie + Hot Shower = Zzzzzzz. Cole, of course, is always up for snuggling...

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Urban Art: KC style

The first picture is one I see every time I drive to work, he's an endearing little guy :). I had some free time so I thought I would drive around and look at some of the other art and store fronts on side streets I usually pass by. I loved the big metal sculptures against the sky and the mishmash of colors, metal, and chains on the bikes. The bike shop is proof it doesn't have to be pretty to be art :)

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Today we went to our local pool for the first time (Monkey's 2nd time ever in the water) and I couldn't help but marvel at what an amazing spectacle the local pool has become. I remember being beyond excited if my mom drove us 20 minutes away to the pool that had the amazing water slide..one water slide! The one we went to today has several water slides, a lazy river, several different pool areas, and water toys and fountains galore. For a water loving fish like me, it's heaven...and it looks like Monkey had a pretty great time too :).

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There is nothing better than driving around at night in the summer time with the windows down, letting the balmy air blow your hair around...while singing loud and off key of course :). And why is it that not matter how old you are, feeling the wind through your fingers never gets old :)?

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(Cue angels singing...) At last, after long wait and anticipation, today is New Mattress Day! After an awkward afternoon of bed hopping on Saturday (yes, I know how bad that sounds), we finally picked a mattress and it arrived today...oh, and it is glorious! I only got to take a quick nap on it since I worked that night, but it was the best nap I've had in years :).

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Monkey's new hobbies include chewing on spoons and using them as drumsticks and launching them onto the floor when he done. Everything set out to entertain him eventually gets launched. I am curious if he is making mental notes like "Hrmm, spoons get good distance but my singing toy makes a LOT more noise..."

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Our friends Joel and Angela come to visit this weekend and one of our stops on our Tour of Legends was Dave & Busters. The Hubs was happy to have someone else who enjoyed shooting aliens and flying helicopters, while Angela and I enjoyed games that didn't include a body count, like skeeball. I also loved the honesty in the sign below:

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I'm working on making our house a home, we've been in our house long enough that I should have more of it decorated than I do. I get such a kick out of putting up something new and the feelings lasts for weeks, so I am using that as my motivation to finish getting things up on the walls. The above picture is the fountain where The Hubs proposed and below is another quote plaque (I have several) and my favorite flowers (Gerber daisies) in wall vases. I'm no Martha Stewart but they make my home feel a little more cozy!

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The rarest of all rare occurrences...a picture with the family photographer in it! I remember working on a scrapbook project and telling my mom how hard it was to find pictures with her in them from when we were little, I now understand why!

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We been married four years today, and I still love seeing that simple gold band on his finger :)!

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What can I say, I slept today because I worked last night and Money was at daycare so it was a slow picture day...also because my favorite show "Jon & Kate plus Eight" was having a mini marathon on TLC, so I wasn't super motivated :). Ahh, our life is so exciting!

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Part of my motivation to do this photoblog was to learn more about photography and get more creative than point, smile, and click pictures. Today I was reading up on different features my camera has and working with perspective and angles. Luckily, I had a very nice model :). I love that I was able to capture Monkeys long eye lashes on the pic below!

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Today I was admiring my favorite little guy and thinking (in shock and amazement) how not to long ago, I was gazing at this:

His early birth was scary and traumatic and he was a fragile little thing for so many months, but I look at this happy healthy baby he's become and am overwhelmed with how blessed and lucky we are.

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I have come to realize that although posed pictures are great for framing, pictures like this (of a moment caught and suspended) are fascinating to me and tend to be my very favorites. We'd gone to see The Hub's family for Father's Day and were getting ready to sit down for dessert :).

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They finally started construction on our neighborhood pool and although we won't get to enjoy until next summer, I can't wait!

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Oh, Sonic, how I love thee, let me count the ways...32 ounces...44 ounces...
Ironically enough , my trade off for my Route 44 Sweet Tea on my way to work is that I must refill it with ice water at least twice during my shift...needless to say I am very well hydrated and hepped up on sugar when I work on the weekends :). And a lovely pic of the KC skyline...

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Monkey went for a head CT today since he is growing a larger than average noggin. The doc just wanted to double check and make sure everything was working fine, I was really hoping to avoid sedation (he'd need an IV for that) and luckily 6-7 hours of no sleep and no food plus bouncing and laughing hysterically at people in the waiting room meant Monkey was out cold in two minutes when we were in the darkened room and I was able to rock him.

They got him all swaddled up for the scan...it took longer to get him just right than it did to do the actual scan...

He slept through the whole thing and his eyes literally opened up when the tech said, "Okay, you guys are all done." He got a little bear from the tech for being such a good boy :).

And we got the good news this afternoon, everything is fine :)!

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Oh, how I love words of wisdom. I bought both of these and love the sentiments they remind me of every day :).

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Our firstborn boys, Jack & Cole, sharing some brotherly love

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Moving on to bigger and better tubs :).

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After coma nap Sunday and spending some quality time with Monkey and The Hubs, the scary weather rolled in. What is amazing to me is how the sky on your left can be dark and ominous and the sky on your right looks like a beautiful summer day. After Monkey was tucked in, we busted out or new game for the Wii. I love that we have something we can both play, but I forgot how competitive The Hubs can be!

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At work we have a set of dinosaurs with various medical conditions sitting on the nurses's station. This is my masterpiece, the Halo Traction dinosaur! Physical therapy came and made him a little hand splint and an AFO for his leg. It did meet the approval of the Ortho residents who put the real thing on people :).

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In honor of The Hubs' birthday, I thought I'd share these with the world :)

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Since I am working on The Hubs' birthday we celebrated it a day early. I spend several hours dirtying every dish in my kitchen to make him his favorite childhood meal, named Bean Shit. It resembles it's name, it's not at all good for you nutritionally, and it does taste pretty good. I did notice however that I chose to pair it with green beans...the ONLY bean not in the dish :). And a big thanks to the Target Dollar Spot for the party hats, very appropriate for the birthday boy :).

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Our last day in Indy and Monkey went swimming for the first time :)! We said our goodbyes and headed back home to a Hubs who missed us very much :). Monkey is checking out the clouds outside of his window...