Sand castles and kayaks.

Sand castle time!

The "babies" were in charge of shoveling sand into the bucket.

That's Marilyn out in the kayak.

Group shot! All who built the castle say, "AYE!"

Bennett's turn?

Time for a little bit of a show... or movie. Disney's Incredibles.

Silly kids. Bennett and Kaitlyn were playing with each other so well today, running around, pushing each other around, kicking each other. It sounds like I'm kidding, but I'm not. They were roughhousing and enjoying it, laughing so hard!

Adorable "Harrison John Deere Green." He told us today he wanted his name to be John Deere Green. Apparently, that is his favorite country song. I overheard him playing a few minutes ago and he was calling himself "Harrison John Deere Green." :)

Sweet Bennett... chewing on a pool toy!

A few from today... only a few... I'm tired and going to bed.

As you can see from the photos, we had a very long day on the beach. God gave us a beautiful display of clouds today, along with plenty of sun and even some dolphins swimming near the shore. What a beautiful day!

James got his wish, we went to the pool first today.

Mommy? Mommy? Where's my Mommy?

Harrison and James LOVED jumping in the waves. Even more, they loved going out into the water with us holding them. Beth and I are stunned that James is liking the beach so much.

Jump James!

Check out the clouds in these photos!

A day in the life at New Smyrna Beach

We've only just arrived, and look at these great photos... the first two credits go to Beth. I was still up in the condo with the napping younger kids. Tomorrow will be more of the same, but, since James is insisting, we WILL go to the pool FIRST, then the beach. ;)

James digging... by Beth.

Harrison standing on the beach... by Beth. Hi DAD!

DON'T SMILE JAMES! No... DON'T SMILE!

I love this shot!

STINKER! I had just told her, also, to not smile. Ha.

Mama and James.

Look MOM! A shell! I like her hat. :)

Sweet Bennett.

Best buds on the beach. Isn't this great?

"Knock, Knock... Who's there? Ivan... Ivan who? I've been working on the rail road..." brings giggles every time.

The storm that put an end to our beach time. :( I love the shot though.

Kaitlyn traded in her pink hat for a bucket. ;)

More tomorrow! Happy weekend everyone, and Happy Birthday to one of my best friends, ANA!! XOXOXO!

James Nicholas Wilcke born June 23, 2005

Aunt Beth... silly Aunt Beth... just posted the story of Harrison's birth on his 4th birthday, and now I've got to do the same. Not because she did it, but because it's a more than wonderful idea, and I'm copying her. I'm typing this on December 3, 2008, Harrison's 4th birthday, but it'll post on June 23, 2009, on James' 4th birthday.
Here it goes, the tale of James Nicholas....
Nathan and I were expecting a boy, due June 24th, 2005. We were living in Ames, Iowa on Foxley Drive. We got pregnant with James two months into our marriage and were so excited about the addition to our family. James (who wasn't named until we saw his face) was very comfortable in my belly, but on the 22nd, Dr. Lines (at Doran Clinic in Ames) stripped my membranes to try get things started. I had very dull but steady aches in my belly, not really contractions, just a very uncomfortable feeling. Dr. Lines had told me at my appointment that if I feel like I'm haivng contractions, or just want to get admitted to the hospital (Mary Greely Medical Center), then to arrive at 6 p.m. I told Nathan that I wanted to go be admitted, but being the naturalist that he is, wanted me to wait until James was good and ready to make an apperance on his own. I felt guilty not listeining to my husbands desires, but we went to the hospital anyway, pretty much in silence in the car. I was being selfish, but rightly so. I had this being in me, hijacking my body for 9 months, and I wanted him out.
They put me in the triage room, got me comfortable in a smock, and then broke my water. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEW! What a feeling. But what a glorious feeling! Ha. Now there was no turning back... he had to come out sooner or later or they would take him out.
We called family, and they came over to the hospital. Grandpa Gary, Grandma Marilyn, Grandma Kathy, Aunt Beth, Uncle Chris, Harrison (who was 7 mo.), and Chris' brother Ryan and girlfriend Kaylee. Par-tay! Everyone started placing bets on birth time and weight... none of them came close. Ha ha.
Labor started, slow and steady, and then on came the contractions! Nathan ran a warm bath for me, and I tried that for a while, but when the contracitons really started to hurt, I asked for my epidural. AHHHHHH, relief. It is ridiculously strange to not be able to move your legs, even while using all the brain power you have, nothing happens. LOL.
I labored through the night, plus got more medication put in my epidural in the middle of the night (maybe at like 2 AM?) and in the morning (at about 6 or 7 AM?). I didn't get much sleep, but at least got some, the arm cuff testing my blood pressure kept waking me up... of all things.
My doctor, Dr. Joyce Lines, came in to check up on me at around 8 AM and told me that I was getting ready to start pushing. By now I had been in labor for 14 hours. Here was the catch: Dr. Lines had to leave for a medical conference THAT MORNING so she wouldn't be arrond to deliver the baby. Figures. So, I asked for the other most favorite doctor of the group, Dr. Leads, to deliver James. I had never met Dr. Leads before, and I wasn't actually sure I had even seen him before in the office, so this was a strange first impression. Hi Dr. Leads! Here is my V! :) LOL.
When I started pushing, the nurse turned down my epidural so I could feel where to push. Ok, so maybe she turned it OFF, I don't know. All I know is that I felt everything, EVERYTHING. I pushed for two hours, and after an episiotomy and some screaming, out came our beautiful boy. James Nicholas! He weighed in at 9 pounds 4 ounces, was 22 inches long and had a LARGE head. I was shaking, green, and at a loss for words since I felt like I had just been ripped in half, but seeing that baby was the best thing on Earth. Nathan and I both cried tears of joy as our family grew to include this wonderful baby.
I've been hearing the story of his birth from my mother's view, who was standing out in the hall with Aunt Beth and Grandma Marilyn, and when they heard the nurse announce, "How about 9.4?!?" They all burst into tears for me.
What a magical day, and we have been blessed with this amazing child every day since. God is good, we love you James Nicholas.

Side story:
Nathan and I kept names that we liked for our son a secret until he was born and named. I did such a good job I even kept them secret from my Mom. This drove her completely nuts, and for the entire pregnancy, she was suggesting names for our little boy. She'd say, "I like Chase! Or how about the name Matthew?" She'd say this in hopes to get some sort of clue out of me what we were going to name this child. James was always our number one choice, well, for me anyway, not sure what Nathan's first choice was.
Mom came to help out the week before James was born and to be there for the birth and to help afterward. We went to Nathan's softball game one evening when she was there, and she says to me, "James Nathan! That's it! That's the name!" I shrugged and played it out like I did with all the others, then had to WADDLE as fast as I could over to Nathan to tell him that she had guessed the name and not to blow it that she actually had picked it right. Can you believe that? Out of the million and one names that we could have chosen, she landed on the ONE name that was at the top of my list. We didn't Nathan as his middle name, not sure why really, but we didn't want to name him after anyone. After James was born, Nathan went out to the family to announce that he was here, a boy, and his name is James Nicholas, and he looked at my mom and said, "Not because you said, it was the name we liked all along." Crazy.

For Grandma Marilyn, Aunt Beth, Harrison and Bennett

Silly Kaitlyn

This is hysterical! I really don't know why she insisted on flicking the bird while plugging her nose and talking. :)

Whirlwind of a day, and first movie EVER!

I had a whirlwind of a day yesterday. It all started off with a shoot in the morning of a beautiful family in Dr. Phillips. They are expecting their second child, a girl, after having one of the cutest little boys in the world. Their son is almost 3, so for them, the kids are spaced perfectly. :) I will update my photo blog with those shots and details in the coming weeks when I get a chance to work on them.
At 1 pm, after the kids were in their beds for naps and Daddy was playing his new Tiger Woods golf game on the Wii, I headed over to Jo-ann in Altamonte Springs. I've decided to take a sewing class with my friend Jeannine from MOMS. I'm so excited. I've always wanted to learn how to sew, but my mother never even attempted to teach me anything except how to sew on a button. She could have taught me how to sing Opera, but sewing and algebra were not her strong points. :)
Marilyn, my mother-in-law, further encouraged my desire to learn to sew by buying me a starter sewing machine. I used it once to try to fix Kona's bed that was a little too thick and nearly broke the machine. I had great aspirations to make curtains, and even a new slip cover for our family room ottoman, but alas, the sewing machine has been packed up and in a closet for a loooong time. It's time to break it out today and bring it to class. I'm so excited!
After Jo-ann's I went over to Saxon Clark, a furniture store, to look at book cases for our family room. That took about two hours, and I ended up leaving with a quote for one bookcase and a small table for our formal living room. The only thing I purchased was a framed poster to hang above the settee in the formal living room, it's really large and we haven't seen if it'll work yet or not, so let's hope!
I headed over to the Altamonte Mall to meet up with Nathan and the kids, and met them while they were at the play place in the mall. Talk about a crazy madness. It was 90+ degrees outside and the clouds were starting to roll in, so everyone and their kids were at the play center at the mall. Lovely. We quickly got out of there (well poor Nathan had to sit there for a while and watch the kids until I showed up) and shopped a bit for clothes for James.
After shopping, we headed to the food court for a quick dinner and then we went to the movie theatre by the mall to take the kids to their first movie ever! Too bad we had to battle the rain when leaving the mall and going into the theatre. I guess that just adds to the dramatic story line! When I finally got out of the rain and into the car at the, James told me "Mommy! You have spots!" when referring to the spots on my shirt from the rain drops.
We saw the movie "Up", and it was awesome! I loved it, but of course, there were funny parts but also the kids were scared to death, and also sad in places. At times, James was sitting in his seat kicking his legs as hard as he could straight out in front of him trying to run from the dogs. I was crossing my fingers that one of his Reef flip flops wouldn't go flying off of his foot and smack someone else in the head. By the end, James was cuddled up in Daddy's lap nearly crying from being so scared. Poor thing. Sorry James. We had a nice talk after the movie about how sometimes movies are scary. I tried to explain to him that good movies make you feel happy, sad, scared and excited at different times during the movie. I'm not sure if any of that sunk in or not.
Kaitlyn did very well during the movie! She sat still for most of it, sometimes with her kid sized popcorn between her legs munching away, and other times with her lemonade between her legs. She got restless toward the end, especially at the scary parts. She'd announce, in full volume, "I scared, Mommy! I scared!" She was easier to calm down since she didn't really understand what was going on. You should have felt that bowling ball of a diaper after all that lemonade! Ha.
By the time we got out of the theatre it was 8:30, way past the kids' bedtimes. We headed straight home for bedtime, and after getting them into their beds, neither kid made a peep. Ah, goodnight kids. ;)

Here is a snap shot I got in the theatre... and this was just during previews! :)

So... I'm off to sew today at 1. Wish me luck! I'm so glad my friend Jeannine is going with me for moral support. :)

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

I got Nathan a Wii for his birthday. Frankly, I didn't know what to get him, and it sounded fun... especially since I had heard that James and Harrison were playing bowling on the Wii at the Neipert house. So we are now a proud owner of a Wii, and Nathan got it hooked up about four days ago... make that TWO days ago, on Wednesday. James is in LOVE with the bowling game and would literally play it for hours if I let him. He bowled a few games earlier today with Uncle Rich, and then after Rich left, he played probably about three more times (games are really quick). I finally told him it needed to be turned off, and that maybe he could play with Daddy when he got home from work. Of course, when Nathan walked in today from work James told him to go change out of his work clothes (usually the first thing Nathan does when he gets home) and play the Wii with him. I had to giggle because Nathan made James sit through watching Daddy play a game of golf before they started bowling. James was golfing too, after a while, so he'll probably want me to put that on for him tomorrow. Sheesh.
Uncle Rich was laughing with me today at James and his bowling mannerisms. The kid doesn't stand still. He basically is jumping up and down the whole time! "He" (James' personal avatar) steps up to the lane, does the bowling motion and then starts jumping and continues to jump in place until he has to stand still in order to throw the ball. It's so funny!

Knock Knock... whose there?

The kids, especially James, are getting into Knock Knock jokes. Oh goody. Ha.
Right now James' favorite joke is:
"Knock Knock"
"Whose there?"
"Ivan"
"Ivan who?"
Then he sings, "I've been working on the rail road, all the live long day!" If we don't laugh, even after the 15th time of him telling this joke, he instructs us to laugh (which actually encourages such behavior in the act itself).
Kaitlyn attempts to tell the same joke, only to get to the punchline in "Kaikin" language: I workin' on rooooooad! It's so cute because she's so far off but she is so PROUD of herself for telling the joke.
My favorite one to tell the kids is the "Boo who?" "Why are you crying?" knock-knock joke. EVERY time I tell them that joke, I get the same response from James... (screaming) AAAH ha ha ha ha ha!
The other day the kids and I were leafing through the most adorable cupcake decorating cookbook that Beth gave me for my birthday. The book is Hello Cupcake (click here for online blog) It was Daddy's birthday and I was desperately trying to pass the last 30 minutes before he came home. We were laughing SO hard. This book is so amazing, it shows you how to make any kind of cupcake in any way, shape or form, especially how to decorate them in the most amazing manor. The ones that really made the kids crack up were the photos of the cupcakes that were decorated like peas and carrots, corn on the cob, mashed potatoes with butter and spaghetti and meatballs. I was egging them on too, with a bit of silliness, but listening to them scream, "AAAAAAAH ha ha ha ha ha!" was just the best. Look James and Kaitlyn! SPAGHETTI! AAAAAAAAAAAH ha ha ha ha! :)
Kaitlyn has decided that her favorite words since returning from Iowa are, "No, thank you." "Kaitlyn? Do you want a drink of water?" I'll ask.
"No, thank you."
"Kaitlyn? Do you want to go to the store?"
"No, thank you."
"Kaitlyn? It's time for bed."
"NO, THANK YOU!" Ha ha. Like it's an OPTION. ;) I blame this behavior on Grandma Marilyn. Ha- just kidding Gram.

Kaitlyn's new bed!

Isn't this just the cutest little bed you've ever seen? :) Now imagine Kaitlyn in it, taking up only about 1/16th of the bed! Ha.

Isn't this just the cutest bed you've ever seen? :) Kaitlyn seems to think so... every time she walks into her room she squeals... OOOH! My new bed! Sweetie. I laid down with her tonight at bed time and we got to snuggle and sing some songs together. I wish life had a pause button.

McFlurry time!

The kids and I were home way too long yesterday afternoon, and since it was 92 degrees outside, McDonald's ice cream came to my mind. We were off to run some errands at around 4:30, so I took them to McD's for a McFlurry with mini M&Ms. They thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and to my surprise, they didn't even get too messy. Ha! As you can see from the photos, Kaitlyn had to get every last DROP.

We sing to Daddy!

Mute this unless you want to hear some really off-pitch horrible singing. ;)

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today is Nathan's 30th birthday- Happy Birthday Nathan! He didn't get to celebrate much this morning as he was awake (much earlier than the rest of us) to go to work. The kids and I spent the day planning though, and we had a blast playing together all day. We went to Publix to get Daddy a balloon, James HAD to get him one that sings. He had seen those kind of balloons there about three months ago, and remembered them when I mentioned that maybe we'd go get Daddy a balloon for his birthday. I'm telling you, he's got Daddy's memory, that's for sure- which is a GOOD thing. Ha.
When Daddy got home from work, he got to play with the kids, the BEST birthday present in the whole world. We had "Dance Party USA" going on in our family room while the balloon sang, and sang and sang and sang! Kaitlyn told Daddy while in the middle of shaking her booty, "Dance Daddy!" So cute.
Rich came over to have dinner with us. I made Nathan's favorite casserole, Chicken Curry with broccoli and Cheddar, but I added a bit to it this time. I'm not so sure he was that enthused about my additions, but whatever, he told me to do what I wanted, so I DID. ;)
For his cake, I got him a cheesecake. We love cheesecake. LOVE cheesecake. I got an assortment of toppings for him to choose from, cherry topping, lemon topping and caramel topping. He chose the caramel topping, which proved to be a great choice. BTW, Whole Foods' caramel sauce is TO DIE FOR. We sang to him as I brought his caramel-drizzled cheesecake plate (decorated with "Happy 30th Birthday Daddy" written in red sparkling cake decorating goo) to him, and then noticed, after the candles had been blown out, that my camera wasn't recording. Everyone was a great sport, and we had a do-over. So Nathan got to blow out his candles twice. Ha. Nathan escaped in time for me to put the kids into the tub and into bed, to go play a few rounds of Golden Tee at the local watering hole, Spatz. He has to work tomorrow, so he should be home soon, hopefully. Ha. It's been a fun day, playing with my kids and celebrating Nathan's birthday.

Today also brings me great sadness and loss. My cousin Maureen Green Casey passed away on June 1, and her funeral was held today in Madison, South Dakota, where Maureen grew up in a huge family (she had 12 siblings). She had been fighting ovarian cancer since late 2007, and it took our sweet Maureen from us. See her obituary here. I was lucky enough to get to go to Phoenix last January (for a photography conference) and see the Casey family and to photograph Maureen, Katie and Aiden. I snapped a photo of Mike with Maureen too, at a restaurant that their son Connor works. When I was there in January, Maureen had just found out that her cancer had returned and her counts back up. She was waiting to find out if she would be eligible for a drug trial through Mayo clinic. She was so positive, upbeat, honest and trusting in God's plan. When photographing Maureen, I remember looking into her eyes through the camera and seeing such a beautiful soul, such a beautiful woman. We will love you Maureen, forever.





Here is a bit from yesterday....
I went to the airport last night, after a week to myself at home, to pick up my family. The day couldn't have been longer, but thankfully, I had several things to do to keep me busy until it was time to drive up to Sanford. I made the Target and grocery run, then went to mass at 6, ate dinner at Panera (and ran into a couple that were both teachers at Bishop Moore when I was there- Mr. and Mrs. Thanski), and then headed out. Nathan had tipped me off via text that they were either on time or early, and thanks to lovely technology, I was able to check their flight time on my iPhone. Sweet- EARLY!
I was eagerly awaiting their arrival while standing at the bottom of the escalator, but near the elevator since I knew they had a stroller with them. To my happiness, and surprise, when that elevator door opened up and I saw James' monkey bag roll out first, I knew they were coming. I intentionally fell to my knees and put my purse down for the biggest, sweetest, most gut-wrenching hugs EVER. "HI MOMMY!" Kaitlyn said. I was all teary-eyed and sappy, but it had seemed like they had been gone FOREVER. Then I got to hug Nathan, my loving husband, who so willingly took the kids on the trip by himself. :)
After the tears re-absorbed back into my eyes and I could see clearly again, I noticed that Kaitlyn didn't have any pants on. Luckily, her new Iowa State shirt was long enough to just barely hide her diaper. Apparently there had either been a very large pee-pee or she had gotten Gatorade all over her shorts... we never really will know what happened. Ha.
I'm so thankful that they had a good time in Iowa, but even more thankful that they are now home. :)

Excerpt from Beth's blog! :)

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Tired

James spent the night again with us last night. Bennett LOVES this. It means that he gets to sleep in the office in the big bed. And it takes him forever to get to bed because he is rolling around with all of the room he has. Really cute!

Anyway, I got all three boys to bed and was sitting down to read my book. I expected Harrison and James to do a little talking and giggling, but I wasn't prepared for "Mom!" "Mom!". I got up and went into the bedroom.

Harrison - "Mom, I am really tired and want to go to sleep. But James won't stop laughing."

James - (giggling) "I'm sorry Harrison, you are just so funny!" (more giggling)

As I stifled my laughter, I politely asked James to try and be quiet and shut the door. Harrison was asleep about 3 minutes later. I guess he was telling the truth!

Narrated by Beth at 1:14 PM