NO TIME!!

Where is the time going?  It's been sooo long since I've blogged!  Wow!  So much has happened in the last two months!  I'll try to catch you up on what we've been up to...picture by picture.  Thanks for checking in!

Ryan and I celebrated our 4th anniversary on Aug. 2nd.  We enjoyed a nice dinner  and movie while Grandma and Grandpa babysat!

My little brother, Jameson, got married on Aug. 4th.  Morgan and I were both bridesmaides.  Jack was the ring bearer (pictures to come...) and Ryan was an usher. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful wedding!

Mommy and Lia at the wedding

This is her 4 month picture.  She'll be 6 months old this month!!  Shes growing so fast!

Loves to play in the exersaucer!

Lia and her Great Great Grandma.  I will cherish this photo forever!

94 years of family here...amazing.

Jack and Grandpa at the Indianola hot air balloon show! He loved them!

Pushing Lia around in the grocery cart!

Lia with Great Grandpa Rosien.  Lots of smiles!

My favorite Hawkeye!

She has found her feet, and she LOVES them.  They are almost always in her mouth.

Jack and Grandma Sue at the ice cream truck.  Jack LOVES to listen for the ice cream truck!

My cute new clipboards for school!  My mom helped me with them!

Lia and her cousin, Megan, having some quality play time together.

Lia and Aunt Sarah

We took Jack to 'Kids Day at Kinnick'  Kids got in for free and got to see the players scrimage.  Afterwards we got some autographs.  It was really fun!

Helping Uncle Leo water some plants...with a squirt gun!

Look whose sitting up!  We're also cutting 2 teeth on the bottom.

Wagon ride at Grandma Diane's and Grandpa Maury's!

Jack likes to help take care of Lia (most of the time)

We headed to Iowa City last weekend for our first Iowa game since before we lived in Kansas!  Here Jack is helping Brooke make some delicious pasta salad for our tailgate.

Tailgating with my best girls!

Ry and I at the game.

Go Hawks!

 I am 4 weeks into the school year already!  It's flying.  Teaching special education this year has been quite the change for me!  Wow!  I love my students, and am learning all about IEPs and have become a professional scheduler!  Accommodating lots of minutes and meeting everyone's needs has really kept me on my toes!  I teach 'Level 1' special education, which is for students who need some extra support in the areas of reading, math, or behavior.  I have 7 kindergartners, 2 second graders, and 3 third graders! Some of them come and work in my room, and sometimes I am working in their general education classroom with them. I think special ed is something I'm really going to like.  I have a fabulous mentor who is showing me all the ropes, plus a primary contact provided to me by the AEA for extra support.  Since we are living in Norwalk, I am commuting about 25 min. everyday to Altoona.  Southeast Polk School District seems great so far, and I think I am going to love it.  I'm still the "new girl" around school, but am optimistic that Willowbrook will soon seem just as "homey" to me as Linwood did. Oh, and one more REALLY cool thing about my job...one of my kindergartners is a CHD survivor!  She already has a special place in my heart, as you might've guessed...

Ryan is still staying home with the kids until he finds work.  We are praying that he will find something soon.  He has had some good prospects, and has had several interviews, so hopefully I will have some good news to report on that soon.  In the meantime, he is the most amazing stay-at-home daddy ever!

Not much new to report on Lia's health.  We see her Cardiologist, ENT doc, and pediatrician all in the next couple of weeks, so I will have more to say after that.  She is growing fast and doing new things to impress us everyday!  She LOVES her veggies!  Not so crazy aboutt he fruit, but always willing to give it a try.  The 16th of this month will be the 5 month mark from her 3rd surgery. Still seems like yesterday to me.  I recently came across the little stuffed bear that held the ventilator off her chest in ICU. I don't know if it's a mom thing, or what, but I smelled it.  It still smells like Lia's ICU room at Children's Mercy.  The memories came FLOODING back to me! I got teary holding it, and looked over at my little miracle and couldn't help but think how lucky we are, and how amazing God is. Something to ponder:  Every 2 1/2 hours, a baby under the age of 1 loses their battle with a congenital heart defect. Like I said earlier...we serve one AMAZING God!

Jack is amazing us everyday too!  He loves to color, play Legos, play cars, draw, ride his trike, do sidewalk chalk, take care of Lia, oh, and did I mention that HE'S POTTY TRAINED?  Yay!!  Sometimes when I'm at school and see the preschoolers walking by, I get a little sad, thinking that soon that will be Jack! He'll turn 3 in November.  His vocabulary is so good!  The other day we were talking (I can't remember about what...) and he looked at me and said "well thats awkward, mom!" Since when did 2 year olds use the word awkward?  Who knows...

Well, that pretty much catches you up on all the 'August Events' in the Shields family.  I am going to make my best effort to do more blogging.  I had forgotten how theraputic this is for me.  If you are reading this, please continue to pray for us.  We still have many unknowns in our lives, but are thankful for each day we wake up and get to spend with our kiddos.

To my Wichita friends who might be reading:  I miss you all so very very much!  I think of you all often!

Ashley