Watch Out!!!

This will be Brady's new ride...let's hope he can drive safely! :-)

Just sittin on the counter...

This is Brady's favorite spot to sit...on the counter...silly monkey!

Memories

Where the rehearsal dinner took place (due to rain) was the same place growing up that we would have my dad's extended family Thanksgivings and Christmases. There is a little bench type seat under this counter and we have an old pic somewhere (I need to find it) of me, my cousin Jeremy, Chris, my cousin Josh and Nick all lined up and my uncle thought it would be great to somewhat re-create it. Unfortunately my cousin Jeremy wasn't there but it was still a great photo-op.


Chris, Nick, Josh and Me (the lone girl most of the time!)

Fun in the Mud!

After the rehearsal dinner for Nick and Kayla on Friday the 4 little ones there found some nice water and mud puddles and before we knew it were running through it all, splashing each other and covered from head to toe in mud! Normally my 'Type A' 'OCD' self would have been freaking out but watching them have so much fun was worth the clean-up. They were having a blast and we all decided to just let them go have their fun. Needless to say, they had to be stripped down before entering the house and there was some serious Oxy Clean soaking but it all came out and they had the time of their lives!

Nick and Kayla's Big Day!

Saturday was a wonderful day!!! It was my brother Nick's wedding day! We are so excited to have Kayla as a part of our family. Their day was absolutely gorgeous. They got married in The Glass Chapel by Shelby, IA (which is breathtaking) and had a fun reception at the Greenbriar Golf Course (they've completely remodeled it and it's beautiful!). We were so blessed to be a part of their day. All 3 of us were in the wedding and Brady did an amazing job as ringbearer! I couldn't believe it! He walked right down the aisle...and then proceeded to walk back down it but luckily Heath and Eric (the ushers) were in the back and then sent him back down after Kayla was up the aisle. He then went to Andy and then came right over to me and I held him for the service...which was short and sweet! Whenever we'd pray and say 'Amen' he would then repeat Amen loudly after everyone was done saying it...too cute! After the wedding we headed to the reception in a limo---but you always need some unexpected thing to occur---the limo BLEW a tire...not a flat but a full blown blow out!! And they had NO spare...so here we are (only about 7 miles away luckily) on the side of the highway and people thought we were just stopped to take pictures or something cuz people would just drive by and honk...too funny! Luckily the photographer was there and got to capture it all---we just had fun with it. We called in come reinforcements (mini-van drivers), and then headed to the reception. It was a wonderful night, SO fun and beautiful! We are so happy for Nick and Kayla (who looked amazing!!!). Now they are going on their honeymoon to Punta Cana...we're so jealous!!

This sums it up!

Our week nights are pretty much on repeat if the weather is nice. We push Brady on his swing or glider and he spends all evening outside playing and 'helping' daddy do things in the yard.

Always in to something...

Brady is all over the place! He gets in to everything but has been doing a better job of listening and understanding what we're saying to him. The rainy weekend was tough on him, he LOVES to be outside all of the time so being cooped up is no fun for any of us!

Meeting Rilyn

I'm a little late on this post but it was a long weekend...poor Andy was sick all weekend long so Brady and I got to have lots of fun together. Anyway, on Mother's Day we finally got to meet Rilyn, Matt and Erin's little girl. She is a sweetie pie! We definitely need to get together with them more often (Cedar Rapids isn't that far away!).

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope all the Mothers out there had a great day on Sunday! I know that I did! My boys really spoiled me. On Sunday we got up and went to a great breakfast/brunch buffet at Dahls (nice and kid-friendly!). Then the rest of the day I pretty much got to do whatever I wanted...did some relaxing, baking, playing with Brady, catching up on a couple shows and then we headed to Urbandale to meet up with Erin and Rilyn as they were passing through town on their way back to Cedar Rapids. We hadn't seen Rilyn yet so it was great to finally meet her! After ice cream, we headed back home and Andy grilled up a great dinner. And my new camera came in so I got to spend the weekend trying it out! LOVE it!!!
I am truly blessed to have the two best boys in my life. Being Brady's mommy is such a blessing. He has forever changed my life and I feel so lucky to have him.

Tulip Time

We headed to Pella late on Friday afternoon. We were able to walk around, see the beautiful flowers, catch some of the parade, buy a few items for our house and taste-test plenty of yummy foods! Andy LOVED dutch letters and we found a church that made them homemade and we both think they are way better than the bakeries in town (and we didn't have to wait in line for over an hour!). Overall, it was a great time!














This picture says it all...

Friday Recap

We've been pretty busy lately and blogging has taken a back seat. Here's what's going on in this Cathcart household:

1. Last Saturday I ran the Drake Half Marathon with my friend Mollie and we did a personal best at 1:46 for the half! We were very excited and happy with our race.

2. Door woes--our storm door (which took a beating in the wind a couple of times and has never really been all that sturdy) is out of commission...so it's time for a new one. It's one of those unexpected expenses but must be done and done right so we are going to go pick out a new door and have some work done on the door frame. Since we don't have a window in the front of our house, it's very important to have a storm door, especially when it's nice out, so that we can get some air moving and let in some sunshine!

3. Our summer is full of WEDDINGS!! I love weddings so to me it's exciting! We had one in April, my brother's in May, we have 2 in June, 1 in July, 2 in August and another in the fall...CRAZY! But it will be fun!

4. Tulip time! I'm so excited that this weekend is Tulip time in Pella...we are going to go over on Friday to get some dutch letters and see my favorite flowers--tulips! Growing up in a Danish community with that sense of tradtion (folk dancing, danish pastries, etc) it's fun to experience a Dutch take on it all!

5. Mission Organization: We've been working on getting the garage and storage areas organized. Andy bought some cabinets to hang in the garage and he was able to get it lookin' good!

6. Jabber Jabber...Brady has been talking up a storm and it's so funny and sweet to hear. He is making full sentences and using new words every day. He keeps us on our toes and is such a fireball! He has one speed: warp-speed! Ha ha!

7. Family vacation! We booked a trip to the Wisconsin Dells in June! We are excited to take Brady up there and have fun in the waterpark and have some fun family time.

So that's a recap of a few things we have going on...it's going to be one busy summer but it will be a fun one!

So Excited!

I can't tell you how excited I am for my Mother's Day gift from Andy and Brady...yes, I know what I'm getting but it is big purchase and we always decide on these types of purchases together...but I'm getting a new camera!!! I'm getting a Nikon D3000 which is the level I need since it's a good beginner SLR camera. I'm so tired of blury photos and with an active 2 year old, I need a better one! And great minds think alike--Bryce is getting Meggie one as well (not to worry--she already knows) and we are going to take a photography class to learn really how to use it! Oh, I'm SO excited!!! It's something I've wanted for a while now. A big thanks to my favorite boys!!

2 Silly Monkeys

On Saturday afernoon we met my brother Chris and Cadence at Monkey Joes. We'd been wanting to get the cousins together for a while and thought this would be a great way for them to burn off some energy. Cadence went right at it when we got there, she was running around and jumping and Brady took a little longer to warm up...Mommy had to go with him for a while but before long they both were wanting to go down the huge slides and having a great time!

Family Time

Last Tuesday (yes, I'm super late updating our blog!) all the Cathcarts met for dinner at the Sports Page here in Ankeny and then headed back to our house so Nana and Papa Cathcart could give the boys their Easter baskets...the 3 of them had fun sorting through their loot and playing together!