Just passing through

A friend from Florida just happened to be passing through Cincinnati on her way to Michigan.  Scarlett went to preschool with Baylee  (who is sitting next to her left).  Mackenzie and Kiley came too.  The girls had so much fun for the few hours that they were in town.

It was a fun night of riding cars and playing train.

The girls had so much fun rekindling their friendship.

This was getting late into the evening and they had to get moving.

But not without a silly picture.  We are so glad they stopped even if it was for a few hours.

Days later, one of Ryan's best friends from high school was just passing through Cincinnati to head to KY.  So Jessie and Paula (his wife) and their nieces stopped in for a quick grill out and swim.  We are so thankful for the many friends we have made all over the country.  God has truly blessed us!!

chicks at chickfila

Yes, we went to Chickfila and this was the 45 minute line.

Yes, this was the line to get into the chicken fast food place.

This was the mass chaos to pull into the road to get to the chickfila

This was McDonalds next door.

 We were just some chicks at chickfil-a.  The girls and I love to go there and they love to play.  We love how nice everyone ALWAYS is.  We love the super CLEAN play area.  We love chicken.  We love that they play christian music.  We love that it was started as a chain to be the best and not the biggest.  We support Chickfil-a and what it represents. 

Moo Goo Pan Plate

Friday night we usually order pizza and do a movie sorta thing.  But we decided to change it up and go to P.F.Changs, thanks to a great friend who gave us a gift card.  Every once in awhile I find myself getting caught up in memories of some great friendships that I had in Florida, and I have decided...its not a bad thing.  One of the first times that I went out with Rachael was to go shopping and grab a bite to eat at the Changs.  I am blessed beyond my thinking of the wonderful friendship that I have with her and many others. 

However, Florida or not, Scarlett is loving these chopsticks.  It was sorta rainy and breezy that evening, so it was even funnier when we compared it to being beachside when the wind picks up and blows...I know, wishful thinking.

Scarlett loves her some rice and she is getting so good at those chopsticks!!

Of course, Willow has to get in on the action and she was doing pretty good with them too!

Ryan and I ordered the yummy salad wraps that are to die for and of course this platter to split....

For some reason I thought that the sauce was a different sauce and I never heard the end of it.  My hubby couldn't stop making fun of me, and he had every right.  The Moo Goo Pan something is really, really bad...don't ever order it unless you want a really BLAND, PLAIN dinner.

Willow gave up on the chopsticks and figured it was time to "pound" her food as she calls it.

Later, we went to Babies r us to register for a few things = um, diapers, so that when I need them I can get them at discount!

Chillin at the pool

It is sooo hot out, so a day by the pool is pretty normal around here.

We invited a few friends to our neighborhood pool.

Scarlett and Parker enjoying a snack!!!  Enjoying these summer days before Scarlett is off to kindergarten in the fall!!

the name is......

Lane Joseph Butler

otherwise known as LJ.

FYI: Ryan's dad's name is Joseph.  I think we have finally decided the little guy's name.  It's not to say that we won't pull off a "willow" in the hospital and change the name.  I seriously thought Willow was going to be an "Estella"   Ha..to think of that now makes me laugh.

Runners up were: Graydon, Waylin, Griffin.....We were pretty set on Graydon, many reasons why we liked it....(but decided that the name is being used a lot lately, especially with that 50 shades stuff coming out)

Waylin.....this was all Ryan and completely had nothing to do with me...(and our cousin Paul Miller, who was trying to convince the hubby that this was the perfect name)....i told him maybe for the next boy.

Griffin....my sister in law threw this name out to us last week and we LOVED it, but we were already leaning towards Lane.

Another part of the nursery, can't wait to post more pictures when we are all done!

The middle "lane" picture actually looked like this....use a little mod podge and ta-da

Get your picture, put some mod podge on that little guy and wait about 15 minutes until it dries (this is in the middle of drying stage) and it looks like the first picture from the post!!

The day before

Love this pose, can you see her nails are painted.....she was stoked!!!

Mommy got a pedicure, Scarlett got a pedicure and a manicure.

Then, we were off to get another hearing test and to pre-op for surgery.

Cincinnati Children's is an amazing place.  This hallway is actually the most boring part of the hospital.  The hospital is totally centered around children and it is beautiful. 

Quick picture from our nail salon....

We had so much fun and I can't wait to have so many more of these days with my girls.  Mommy and Daddy love you sweet girl!

Surgery Day

The day came and went.....we are doing great!!!  Not so sure Scarlett felt the same way that morning.  We tried to tell her that her ears would feel so much better after the surgery, and she tried to convince us that she thinks her ears are fine. 

Recovery from ear tubes and adenoids wasn't too bad, she did great!!

Slowly but surely, she was getting back to her old self.

Especially when packages, letters, mail, gifts and etc arrived.

She was so excited with every little treat that was for her.

Thank you for those of you that prayed for our sweet girl on this day.  We will continue to get hearing test in the next few months to see if we can see improvement on her hearing.  We are so excited for her and starting Kindergarten soon!

Party Time

This past weekend was super busy for us.  We had so many visitors and we loved it!!!  Suzi and Regina came in for about 24 hours and it just happened to be Ms. Suzi's birthday too.  The girls just loved it!  Suzi and Regina came down to see us last year in Florida too.  The support and love I get from them is indescribable.  They are amazing Christian friends that I am so glad God blessed me with.  It is wonderful to see the girls look up to them too!

On the same day, my cousin Heather was in town for a few hours, so she brought her kids over to play. 

They loved the pool and we were the only ones there because of the overcast sorta day.

Willow, Scarlett, Emily, Trace and KK....

And nothing beats some yummy treats after a hard swim.

My mother-in-law, Vicki came into town too, she helped us with some landscaping which was just wonderful.  After she left, my parents rolled into town with these two boys (my nephews Tagen and Adam) to help us out with Scarlett's surgery and babysitting Willow.  Love this picture as Scarlett is like really.....I have to put down the Ipad, Adam looks miserable and of course, Willow is hiding.  As you can see we had quite the busy weekend, but we loved it!!