9. The Year of the Nerf Gun.

Mitchell Lee Bunger entered this world 9 years ago today! And that 10lb 1 oz baby who was a week over due had been a blessing each day since 2004.

We started his birthday celebration on Sunday in Kearney before leaving for home. Grandma ordered this awesome Pokemon cake and Mitchell got a huge Nerf gun.

This morning he awoke to what he called a balloon water fall.

And of course, birthday donuts with candles!

After a birthday surprise lunch with mommy at school we went to La Fiesta for supper and a birthday "treat."

And then more...presents! And you guessed it... More Nerf guns. 

By the time we took back a DS game that he already had, we could say we now have 3 large Nerf guns and more darts than a dozen trigger happy kiddos could ever hope to have. The jury is still out on who is enjoying our new love for Nerf Guns more...the boys or Daddy.

Happy 9th Birthday to our easy going, inquisitive, hilarious and creative oldest son!

2 for 1

We spent the weekend celebrating two special occasions in Kearney, NE!

First we went to our nephew Wyatt's 2nd Birthday at the YMCA. We always tell our boys this is the place mommy and daddy met and the reason they are around. This time as I started to say this Collin responded "Yes, we already know that,Mommy."

What a cutie and we also got to snuggle and spoil baby Aiden too. :)

That evening was Kim and Alex's wedding. Kim and I met during our junior year of high school at GINW and then we were college roommates all 4 years at UNK. She looked beautiful and we are so happy for them both!

And a big thank you to Grandma and Grandpa Bunger for our awesome hotel stay and early celebration for Mitchell's 9th birthday!

Wyatt's birthday today, my birthday tomorrow and Mitchell's birthday on Tuesday....the birthday a thon has now begun. :)

New Ride

Believe it or not, Saturday we did something we have never done (separately or as a couple) before.

We bought a brand new car!!!!!  Thanks to Chad's cousins, we are now the proud owners if a 2013 Chevy Sonic. If you are ever looking for a new car, we highly recommend John Kohl Auto Center in York, NE. Not only are they family, their customer service is fantastic and they go above and beyond every time we go to them.

For the past year, Chad has been driving my Grandpa's'83 Chevy that has been tagged as "Big Red" over the years. Over a year of no radio, AC, and a truck that sometimes doesn't turn off after you turn it off. Thanks to him for making this sacrifice we could continue to stay afloat while we continued to pay off the van.

But now that we no longer have the monthly massive chunk of change going toward daycare....Chad finally has a new ride!!

And while Collin's had a successful few days of school, the poor guy has had a severe allergic reaction and is currently covered head to toe with hives. Hoping steroids will help get him feeling like his old self and back in the classroom soon.

School Aged

In the blink of an eye...we now have 2 school aged children!!!

With great anticipation our school year has started. Each year leading up to this, Collin would be upset at being left out of this first day of school experience....until today!

He is now a Kindergartner!!!!! 

Attempting to make a "K" like Willie the Wildcat does, only his stands for Kindergarten. ;)

And Mitchell moves to the "upper elementary years" of third grade. At least this is what he says....however I think this is him basing things off of the Boys and Girls Club splitting of age groups before/after school. But what do I know as a mom anyway.... ;)

It seems unreal that we could have both our boys be school aged, it could even make me sad if I wanted to dwell on this...but I am mostly excited for the year ahead and all the wonderful new things they will learn and experience!

And here is how we left Collin this morning. Making himself right at home and talking away to his teacher. ;)

No looking back (maybe just once to make sure mom really is coming along too)...the 2013-2014 school year has begun!

Mitchell's First Triathlon

Today Mitchell competed in his first triathlon at City Pool/Park in Manhattan!

Mitchell was in the 7-8 year old division where they swam 50 yards, biked 2.2 miles and then finished with a .5 mile run.

Mitchell did so great...we were incredibly proud of him!

He didn't give up, never stopped ( even though he said he wanted to during run) and finished strong!

There were over 100 participants in this morning's youth triathlon and it was awesome to have Mitchell be a part of this.

Follow-Up

Tuesday, I took the boys to Kansas City for a follow up appointment at Children's Mercy for Collin.  After I LONG wait to see the doctor and then an x-ray of his left hip/leg, it was decided that he would need an additional two weeks of oral antibiotics.

He is still doing great and has had no pain at all or any other symptoms of concern.  However there is still a small, questionable spot on his upper femur that the ID team felt warranted another two weeks of treatment.  And as long as all goes well, we will not have to return for any follow-up appointments after this round of medicine is complete!

After our appointment and trip to radiology, we headed to Crown Center for a quick bite of lunch and then across the street to the KC Aquarium and of course....LEGOLAND!!!!

It was a pretty busy day at both of these locations, but both boys still had a great time and we ended our time there with the 4D Lego Movie.

Up until a few days ago, Collin was having no troubles with the huge dosage of antibiotics he has to take 3 times a day.  Since then he has started breaking out in a rash.  We have been to see our pediatrician and consulted again with the ID team at Children's Mercy.  For now, since there are no hives, fever or other serious symptoms, they would like him to continue on this medicine since it is the best course of treatment for Collin.  We are hoping that his rash will not worsen and that he has no other side effects as he still has 11 days left to go on antibiotics.

Corn Run

We have spent the weekend in Nebraska and had the surprise of getting to meet our newest nephew, Aiden while in Kearney!

I've also tried to get some consistent running in these past two weeks. While I haven't ran more than 3.5 miles at a time, I'm hoping to keep this trend going as work starts again next week.

I took advantage of the cool weather this afternoon and got outside to run next to the cornfields just beyond town in Hildreth. Very peaceful and no expectations of time at all. Mitchell even joined me for most of the first mile...he still clomps along sounding like a herd of elephants when he runs but it's always fun to get him out there! :)