Sneak Peek

Here is the virtual tour of the new house (click underlined to see)! It doesn't show every room, nor what I feel is the best shot of some of the rooms, but it gives a good idea. We are getting new carpeting before moving in- we are sick and tired of plain old beige that everyone seems to have.... thinking of a gray or tan friezes to jazz things up a bit.

On The Move

The Atkissons will soon be St. Louis residents!

Jason has accepted an exciting new job, and will be starting on, or before, August 17th. This was pretty sudden, and a wonderful opportunity..... Now we just need to get a new house (and hopefully ours sold), and get settled, in time for Brayden to start kindergarten in our new town; which is only 4 short weeks away!

I hadn't updated on here for a while, and have tried to catch everything up tonight. If I don't post again for awhile, I would think it is safe to assume it is because I have suddenly been put into extra-charged-turbo-drive!!

A Day at the Museum

I had to go to my hometown for a little over a week, to take care of some business. But who could take a week of all business, and no fun? So, I took the boys to the Children's Discovery Center-and they had a wonderful time. We are members of our local Children's Museum, but it is really small. This place was huge- as in our whole museum would fit into one exhibit! So many cool exhibits, that were right up Brayden's alley. They had space, weather, pulleys, human body, airplanes, I could go on and on- but if you have ever met our son, you know what I mean about this being his kind of place!

Brayden in front of a tornado forming

If this handsome delivery guy doesn't get the girls at the office talking, I don't know what would ;)!

Rhylan playing in the Water Works

Mommy and Rhylan on a space mission

Happy (early) Father's Day

Jason has a conference in Louisville, KY, the boys are going on vacation at Grandma and Grandpa's, and I am heading to help Bethany with the new baby for the next week. Since we are all going to be scattered around the midwest over Father's Day weekend, we went ahead and celebrated tonight.

First up, dinner. Brayden chose, and prepared, the meal- mini pizzas.
Next up, gifts for Daddy. He got new clothes, but was most excited about Guitar Hero Metallica- his favorite game, his favorite band- what a perfect combination!

Finally, after dinner the family enjoyed a cookie cake- Daddy's favorite!

Happy Father's Day 2009- From our family to yours.

More pictures of Ian

Just needed to share some more pictures of Baby Ian- he is just too precious not to post!


Auntie Kylla getting to hold him for the first time.

Bright Eyed!!!

Hanging out "tanning" under the bili lights.

Welcome Baby Ian!!

It's has been a long, and emotional 36 hours, but I am happy to announce that Baby Ian is here!

Bethany's water broke about 2 o'clock yesterday afternoon, and today, at 3:25 p.m. (25+ hours of labor later!), he made his appearance weighing in at 6 lbs. 6 oz. Momma is doing well, though very tired. Baby Ian is currently in the NICU due to some complications with the delivery, but is expected to be out, and able to come home, in 3 days or so. Her labor and delivery were quite difficult, to say the least, and ended with his cord being wrapped around his neck multiple times, causing some problems with his oxygen, blood gas levels, and blood pressure.

He is doing quite well thus far, and family was allowed into the NICU to meet him- hopefully tomorrow he can be held, and Bethany can start to nurse him, which she is dying to do!

Seconds before starting to push

Little Ian on the way to the NICU nursery

Mommy with Ian

Baby Ian resting.... and showing off his cool cloth diapers! (I may be biased, but I think he will be voted "best dressed" in the NICU nursery!!)

Welcome to the world, and to our family, little man. We couldn't be more excited, or love you anymore, if you were our own! Your aunt, uncle, and cousins have been looking forward to this day, and now you are here- let the fun begin!!

Coming Soon......

Couldn't resist posting a belly shot, as Bethany (AKA "Auntie Boo) approaches her due date She is just so cute, and SO pregnant! We are all looking forward to the big day when "Baby K" makes his appearance!

Mother's Day 2009

For everything that can go "wrong" in life, there are 2 little people in my world that make everything right (and one "big" person...). These would be my 2 little miracles that give each and everyday so much meaning--- and what a wonderful way to celebrate them/me/us/our family, than to have a day fully devoted to being a Mother.

Brayden kept saying "this is the best Mother's Day EVER" all day today, and I would have to agree! Sure, the very first one a mom ever has is great, and there is something special about each one, but today, having my oldest "baby" old enough to understand, care, and be so passionate about it (while getting his baby brother on board), was really neat.

My day started with being given a present from Brayden, that he was so proud of. He made me a little bag with his hand prints on it. When I asked what the bag could be used for, he told me that he made it for me to use as a grocery bag, and "even though it's small, you can still use it... it can fit cheese, or something about that size". That boy cracks me up!!

He then announced that he had brought me breakfast in bed-even though I was already in the shower. What did he bring me, you ask?? Why, celery and dill dip, of course! What else would any mom want for a Mother's Day breakfast in bed (errrr, shower)?? Mmmmmm!

Then it was off to church- where Jason was in the nursery, and I had to teach children's chapel for the first time.

Here we are on our way to church:

Afterward, we headed to brunch at Flat Top Grill- one of my favorite restaurants (well, one of my favorite kid friendly, instant gratification, eating establishments anyway!).

This afternoon, Brayden and I made a trip to a local nursery and bought flowers to plant in the front yard. Upon coming home we weeded, trimmed, and planted together.

Once Rhylan woke up from his nap, we all 4 played together in the back yard, and then grilled out burgers for the boys to have for dinner.

The boys running in the back yard.

Playing on the swing set

The boys eating their burgers for dinner

....... And Rhylan being a Goofball

All in all a wonderful day. I can't imagine my life without these two perfect and precious little boys to call me "Mommy" (as annoyed as I may get hearing it being said incessantly some days!). This is what happiness is!!

Fall Fun

Fall weather is finally here, and just in time to make our annual trip to the local orchard to pick our pumpkins for Halloween. I take the boys to the orchard fairly frequently to play, but this is always a special trip because Daddy comes with us, it's during the weekend- which means that there are lots of extra fun things to do like face painting, pony rides, and tractor rides. Brayden insists that there is no other place to even think about getting a pumpkin..... and I think Rhylan now agrees:

After picking our pumpkins, and spending an enjoyable afternoon at the orchard, we came home to decorate them. Rhylan did more licking of his pumpkin than decorating, but he enjoyed it- and that's all that mattered. (Right?) Brayden requested painting pumpkins again this year, rather than carving- and did a great job on his Space Pumpkin. (Are you surprised at the theme he chose?)

Family Time

Just a picture of the family last weekend before Jason brought the kids back home for me to stay and take care of stuff for the week.

Bringing Down the Walls

Progress!!

It may not look like much (especially since the magnitude of damage can't really be seen in pictures), but the work crews are really making head way on Grandma's house. These pictures were taken a week ago, and even more work has been done since they were taken. They have cleared out everything in the entire house- nothing left. The majority of belongings ended up being a complete loss :( , and there are a few things that at this point look like they can be salvaged. The carpeting (except on the basement stairs) has been entirely ripped out, and demolition has begun in the wing of the house most burned in the blaze. They have torn down walls, taken all of the insulation out of the entire building, brought down what was left of ceilings.

I am not sure what order things are going to move in, if they completely tear everything out, and then rebuild, or if they rebuild a section at a time, but the entire house is going to be gutted in the fashion that the rooms in the pictures below have been. The shell of the house is all that will remain (other than completely new roof, siding, and windows- those all need to be replaced) as it once was. They have to take the rest of the structure down to the studs and rebuild.

I am happy with the progress that has been made thus far, and hope that things continue to run so quickly. This is going to be a long, long process- I won't even go into what I have gone through in the last week just with trying to make inventory lists ("exhausting" doesn't come close). But, as the state of devastation and shock have started to fade for me, I am able to start seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I have always said that "everything happens for a reason", and hopefully my mantra holds some weight in in this situation. There are a lot of positives that will hopefully come from this- a phoenix rising from the ashes (no pun intended).

(My aunt seeing the house for the first time after the fire- quite a bit different than how it looked when we last saw it a week and a half prior. This is in the master bedroom, looking through what was the master bath, and directly through the hallway and into guest room.)

(View from what would have been where closet used to be)

(The restoration/rebuilding company has already taken "dry sponges" over all surfaces in the home to remove much of the discoloring from smoke damage. This is done to help in the clean up effort, some of the smell, and helps make it safer to breath. Even though the walls/ceilings are all going to be coming down, they have to still do this. The above is a picture of the ceiling- which has already been sponged, where a light fixture was in the front hallway. This is how much smoke damage was left even after the initial sponging- and in a part of the house furthest away from the brunt of the damage!! Just gives a little bit of an idea of how things look in there.)

Back to Reality

Warning.... this is very picture heavy! I haven't updated in quite some time, and we have been pretty busy since the last post!

We just got home late last night after a wonderful vacation to California. We had planned on taking my grandma and grandpa out there to visit family, however Grandpa decided that he would rather not deal with the travel, so he stayed home. We really missed having him there, but it was so nice to have everyone else together. Jason got to meet several members of my family that he had never had a chance to meet before, some of which I had never met and others that I hadn't seen in over 15 years. Brayden loved playing with all of his cousins that he had never met, and we all got to meet Ava, the other new addition to our family. (born about a month before Rhylan- also a preemie, so they were exactly the same size! Too cute!) Brayden with Dakota

Brayden and Rhylan with Madison

Cambria with Rhylan

Makayla holding Rhylan

Rhylan "kissing" Ava


Grandma Olson and Aunt Bonnie with the babies, Rhylan and Ava

Aunt Bonnie, Kylla, Grandma Olson with Rhylan and Brayden

Brayden enjoyed spending time at the beach. At first he was afraid of the water, but quickly warmed up to the idea... only to get caught in an small riptide that knocked him off his feet and face first into the sand underwater. He was a bit shaken, but is telling everyone all about it, and how his cousin, Dakota, "was right there to save him". It didn't stop him from wanting to go back in the water just a few minutes later!

While out there, our family went to Disneyland as well. We had a blast, and both boys were so good. Brayden really enjoyed it. It was neat to see the difference between now and a year and a half ago when we took him to DisneyWorld. He was quite the dare devil- he had been saying for the last year that he wants to ride Space Mountain, and he did that first thing.... and five more times after that. He would put his hands up in the air on every ride, I think because he had seen older kids do it, and scream "WooooHoooo!" the whole time. He kept begging to go on Tower of Terror (a ride that drops you down an elevator shaft of what is supposed to be an abandoned hotel. It is all in the dark, except for when the elevator doors open every now and then.). I finally told him that I would take him on it, but that I didn't want to hear about it afterward if it scared him. I figured that he would bail out just going through the line- you have to wait in the "lobby" of this supposed hotel, which is quite creepy, and then watch a video that gives the background of what the ride is about. The video is done like a Twilight Zone episode. Well, he made it through the wait and the video, went on the ride, and as soon as it stopped he screamed "I wanna go again Momma!!". Crazy kid!

As many of you know, Brayden is currently very obsessed with Star Wars. I think he may have very well been the happiest child on the planet when he got chosen out of the crowd to participate in the Jedi Training Academy. He got to wear a Jedi cloak, was given a Light Saber, and instructed by a Jedi Master as to how to fight against the Dark Side. During the training a platform lifted up from the ground, and there were Darth Vader and Darth Maul. Brayden's eyes got as big as saucers! He was able to fight Darth Vader--- and he must have had the force with him, because he beat him!

The timing of our trip was great, schools had already started back, and we hit the week after the holiday weekend, so the crowds were minimal, at best. We were able to walk right on all of the rides with no wait at all, and ride things multiple times. Brayden was able to meet numerous characters, also with no wait time. Rhylan was such a good baby, he would ride in the stroller much of the time, but was also to go on many of the rides with us. I would just throw him in his sling, and we would all ride together.

We started off our Disney adventure at Downtown Disney- ate dinner at Rainforest Cafe, and perused different shops, including the Lego Store (big hit with Brayden!)









Our Family at Disneyland





Brayden fighting "the dark side"






Our tired boys

No trip to Southern California would be complete without at least one celebrity sighting. We didn't get ours until the last minute, when we were going through security at LAX. I was waiting for Jason to finish helping Grandma get through the security check, and I noticed this woman standing about two feet away from me. I didn't even look at the face, just the outfit- it was very bright purple and pink, not much of it there, and I was admiring the shoes. I could tell that the person wearing it was about my age and thinking to myself "wow! I wish I could pull something like that off", but at the same time thinking "wow! who does this person think she is? someone special or something?!" Just then Jason got Grandma through security and said: "Hey babe, do you realize that you are standing next to Posh Spice (aka Victoria Beckham)?". At that point she grabbed her carry on bag and security guards surrounded her to walk her to her gate.






All in all it was a perfect trip. I am hoping that Grandma continues to be in good health and that we can all do it again (she is 90).