Blurry Pictures

I finally figured out why blogger was making all of my pictures blurry when I uploaded them. It will take me awhile but hopefully the last few weeks that have been blurry will be fixed soon!

Easter 2011

Easter 2011 was very special to us for many reasons. First, my family came to our house and we were able to celebrate with them at our house for the first time! We had so much fun! Second (which kind of goes along with number one), we were able to celebrate Easter church at our very own church for the first time since we've had children. This was so wonderful as our church family is so important to us. Third and most important, the whole point of Easter is that Christ died on the cross for our sins and then rose from the dead on the third day so that we could enjoy eternal life with Him in heaven. We can enjoy this amazing gift if we only put our trust in Him and believe. We had been discussing this at length with the girls for weeks leading up to Easter weekend which lead to Maryn understanding the great sacrifice that Jesus made for her and asking Jesus into her heart! I have prayed that each of my children will come to know Christ and have a fulfilling relationship with Him since I knew they were in my belly and my prayer was answered with Maryn!!! It is definitely an Easter season I will never forget!


The kids with their Easter baskets (L to R, Chase, Eden, Maya, Maryn, Makenna)


Our three girls


Maryn showing off her puppy from the Easter Bunny... her name is Muffy :) The night before Easter Maryn asked me in all seriousness "You're the Easter bunny, aren't you Mom?" I was like a deer in the headlights, I didn't know what to say! So she repeated "Are you the Easter bunny?" I finally responded with, "Who do you think the Easter bunny is?" She thought it over, giggled and said "I guess it could be Papa and Nana!" Should've known Maryn would figure this out WAY before her older sister even has a clue!


Baby Chase... look how big he's getting!!


The four Boutott granddaughters proudly displaying their Easter baskets.


Our colored Easter eggs and the note from the Easter bunny... the eggs were still slightly wet (despite being colored a week before Easter!) so the Easter bunny couldn't hide them :(


Makenna and Maryn showing off their eggs


Makenna's new headband... I showed her later the correct way to wear it


And the family picture that never works.... but I still try!


This is sure to be my mom and dad's new FAVORITE picture! Aren't they all the cutest?!


My three girls all dolled up for Easter church


Darling Maya


Sister hug!


Pictures of the awesome Easter egg hunt to come!!!

The Girls' Favorite Pastime

As has been noted numerous times on this blog, our girls LOVE triathlons. The Budke Spring 2011 Triathlon took place one evening a week ago in our living room with all three Budke girls competing :) This is totally child driven, but Josh and I love it. Seeing their fun competitive spirits come out (and seeing that the apple really doesn't fall far from the tree!) is a lot of fun! Maryn is a schemer and is always figuring out a way to win and outpower Makenna even though she's smaller. We saw numerous side swipes, corner cuts and stiff arms out of Maryn (her Daddy was proud!) Makenna on the other hand keeps going and going and going until she's sure she's got the win under her belt. She has work ethic and determination that totally reminds me of her Daddy :) Most importantly, I love the fact that my girls think that exercise is fun and enjoy doing it together!

Somehow I completely missed Maya in the pictures... most likely since she never showed up to our "Awards Ceremony" (complete with medals) at the end of the race and the fact that she was running au naturale for part of this race ;)


Makenna and Maryn posing at the awards ceremony. Didn't you know most of the pro triathletes are now wearing nightgowns when they compete?! ;)

Little Mommy

Makenna is a little mommy. She mothers her sisters... sometimes it's annoying, but 90% of the time it's very endearing. One day recently Maya was upset about something and just wanted to snuggle. Of course I was up to my elbows in something at that exact time and was unavailable for the next 2-3 minutes. I asked Makenna if she could soothe Maya until I could get there. My first look into the living room I found Maya completely on top of Makenna, just snuggled in laying on her (and Makenna not seeming to mind). I ran to get my camera and these are the sweet sister moments I captured...







Maya and Maryn are blessed to have such a loving older sister. Makenna is going to be an excellent mommy someday.

Typical Saturday

In typical fashion at the Budke house, Maryn and Makenna were parading around in dresses playing some imagination game this past Saturday. Maryn came up to me and asked me to take her picture with the crown on so we decided it was an excellent opportunity to get some pics of Mommy with her girls since that rarely happens!


The obviously very DRAMATIC princess!

Jammie Dress

Today the girls and I were at Kohl's and Maryn spotted a nightgown with matching doll nightgown that she just HAD to have. Since I had a 30% off coupon and she did need some new summer jammies, I decided to happily oblige her. She is beyond thrilled! You would have thought I bought her some huge toy she had been asking for for a year! She was telling everyone that crossed her path about her most recent acquisition :) She changed puppy into his new outfit in the van on the way home and changed her clothes into her new "Jammie Dress" (as she so lovingly calls it!) as soon as I let her after lunch! She took it off for her bath and then put it on immediately afterwards :) I think we have a new favorite outfit. Now if I can convince her that it's only suppose to be worn at bedtime!


Twins in their jammie dresses!


Sidenote: Look at all the bruises on her shins already and it's only mid-April!!! This may make for a long, accident prone summer.


Best friends forever! Josh and I were joking the other day that she's going to be devastated when her husband tells her she can't take puppy on her honeymoon :)

Beauty And The Beast

Makenna and Maryn were able to enjoy their Christmas gift from Poppy and Peepie this past weekend... the play Beauty and the Beast at Gallagher Bluedorn Theater in Cedar Falls. It was amazing!!! The play was wonderfully done! As good as the play was, I honestly don't know if I had more fun watching the play or watching the reactions on the girls' faces! Thanks for the memory Poppy and Peepie! These are childhood memories they will treasure forever!


All ready for the play!


Peepie's birthday cake made especially for her by Maryn and Mommy


Maya excited about getting to eat a "real" piece of cake (we found a dairy free carrot cake recipe!)


The girls helping Peepie blow out the candles


There was something funny about a bunny on her head but I don't remember :)


And Maryn had to counter that by being silly herself :)


This is a GREAT picture of all three of them :)

Maya's Best Friend

I love these pictures of Maya cuddling with her best friend Teddy!

Maya's 2 Year Pictures

I am so happy with Maya's 2 year pictures! We tried out a new photographer this time around (after our disaster at Portrait Innovations last time) and I loved her! If you're from the Cedar Rapids area you'll have to try out Cara Hocking Photography!

Sick Maya

Maya has had a rough few weeks. Right before her second birthday she had walking pneumonia. Now this past week she had a 3-4 day block of a fever virus that ended in a double ear infection with a yucky throat. She was absolutely miserable today. She had normal temps for one day before the ear infection set in so we thought she was getting better, but I knew something was wrong as soon as she woke up screaming this morning. She would randomly burst out screaming and crying and then started pulling on her ears mid-morning. I knew right away it was probably an ear infection and got her the first available appointment in the afternoon. Sure enough, both ears infected and her throat looks horrible. Thank God for antibiotics and painkillers.

Prior to the appointment, Maya wanted to take a nap. She was feeling so crummy she actually asked to be put to bed before lunch. I put her down and she was quiet for a little bit but would wake up every 5-10 minutes grabbing her ears and screaming. It was so sad. I couldn't wait to get her to the doctor's office. The picture below is her laying in mommy and daddy's bed sleeping with her hand on her ouchy ear :( She has never in her life slept in mommy and daddy's bed, but this was the only thing that would calm her down. Unfortunately this little cat nap only last about 10 minutes before she was crying again.

My Gallbladder Continued

So you'd think that since I don't have a gallbladder anymore that there wouldn't be a story to continue. Oh how I wish that was the case. As last reported on here, the first few weeks after surgery went well. It became apparent pretty quickly that my body still was not tolerating fat and other specific foods (tomatoes, citrus fruits, etc). Towards the end of January I had 3-4 days of debilitating diarrhea that pretty much kept me home bound. It was all due to my inability to digest foods post surgery. It was the last straw and I made another doctor's appointment. The doctor reassured me that this is all somewhat normal after surgery. Since my gallbladder was so horribly diseased and my body was functioning like that for so long, it didn't know what to do now that my gallbladder was missing. She told me it is not unheard of for it to take up to a year for a person's body to bounce back from the surgery. Believe it or not, that was a relief to me since I was starting to think something was seriously wrong with me. The surgeon made it sound like I should be symptom free day 1 post surgery.

My family doctor gave me a prescription for a medicine called Cholestyramine. It's most often used as a cholesterol lowering drug (just what I need since my cholesterol is pretty much nonexistent) that actually helps to bind the bile in my digestive system so I don't end up with diarrhea every time I eat. This drug worked amazingly well and I was doing much better after that.

After about 6 weeks on the drug, my symptoms all started to return despite the fact I was still taking the medicine before I ate meals. Back pains, neck pains, bathroom issues and chest pains all started to return regularly. Grrrrr. Some days I'm fine, other days not so much. My symptoms seem to be getting more pronounced with time (especially my chest pains) so another trip to the doctor is going to be happening soon. Praying that this is all resolved soon.

Makenna's Teeth

Makenna is losing teeth at a fast and furious rate. She lost another bottom tooth last Thursday and the top two front teeth are hanging on by a thread!! She is so excited! I had to take a few last pictures of my baby with her top two teeth still in place! Who knows when she'll come home from school without them (tear tear). Oh they grow up much too fast.

On a side note, the silly tooth fairy somehow forgot our house last week when Makenna lost her tooth. Talk about panic. It was April Fool's day so we decided this was her joke on us... and sure enough she came the next night and made up for it! Whew!

Potty Training Update

I believe when I last posted, Maya had been potty trained for 2 weeks and was still consistently having one accident per day. Shortly after that, she stopped having accidents altogether and has since not had an awake accident in over 2 weeks!!!! She is even waking up most mornings dry!! I'm not sure when to go to underwear overnight (the other two girls insisted on it early on), but I'll just follow her lead. Most nights she's fine with wearing a diaper but still wants to put her underwear on top of her diaper :) She has had 1 or 2 accidents during her nap time, but has caught herself and woken up. She has even gotten up in the middle of the night to use the potty!

She's very particular about the bathroom and is partial to using mommy and daddy's potty. She asks for privacy a lot, but I've become a little leery of that after she got adventurous and fell off the potty a few times :( I think my favorite aspect of all of this is that one of her new favorite sayings is "I proud of you Mommy!" since she hears me say it to her all the time. It's even better when she says it to me right after she sees me go to the bathroom :) Gotta love kids!

Everyone is just amazed by her and can't believe how well she is doing at such a young age. Josh and I are amazed as well, but in all honesty it doesn't surprise us. You have to know her little personality to realize this is just the way she would do it. Maya - Mommy and Daddy thank you for making this so easy on us. :)

Bedhead Baby

As I've mentioned numerous times on this blog, Miss Maya can't seem to grow much hair. Well imagine my shock one day when I went to get her up from her nap to find that she actually had bedhead!!! She has enough hair now to have bedhead! This mom couldn't be happier :) And yes she is almost always this smiley after her naps (when she actually takes them and that's not all that often anymore).