K & S Three Years

{December 16th, 2013}

CELEBRATING 3 YEARS OF MARRIAGE!!!

If you asked me during year 1 how year 2 would be....I would laugh at you.

If you asked me year 2 how year 3 would be...I would laugh some more.

Marriage....hmmm. Totally insane! Fun! Ridiculous at times! Hard! Very Hard! Hardest thing ever!

Yup. I think that sums up my thoughts on marriage right about now.

One thing is for sure... God brought us together and I believe there is a reason...so we fight on!

We are incredibly happy to share our 3rd year anniversary pics with you!!! 

~ Love,

Our Shank Family

Morgan Turns 2!

Catching Up :  November 30, 2013

___________________________________________________

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MORGAN

Age: 

2

Height:

32 3/4" tall

Weight:

24 lbs

Potty Trained:

Not yet. This is something that we have been working on since she was around 22 months old. She makes it into the bathroom to her potty but hasn't yet figured out that it goes IN the potty. We aren't worried yet that she isn't potty trained but it is something that we hope happens soon.

Words:

Morgan talks a lot! she can repeat anything that we say with about 75% accuracy. Sometimes, we will says words like shirt...and they come out of her mouth without the r. It's actually pretty funny. I will repeat shirt and she screams the other word! Kale and I do correct her but...we laugh so hard when this happens.

Words she uses regularly: (to get what she wants)

Please
Thank you
I love you
I love you too

A little humor:

When our little Morgan does her business, she politely tells me that she has a stink pickle. WHAT? A stink pickle. It's hilarious and I am really not surprised that she followed daddy's lead on this one.

Diaper is not a diaper. It is a dipe. Pronounced just like ripe.

Sippy is not a sippy. It is a sip. 

Morgan is really funny when she talks. She talks so well that she can hold a conversation with us. I love it!

Favorite foods:

Eggs

Cottage Cheese

Yogurt

Toast

Bacon

Venison

pb & j

Pretzels

Steak

Corn

Peas 

Cereal

Ice Cream

Cookies

Foods that she will eat any-day and every day: CORN. We like to think she got that from daddy.

Favorite tv shows:

Jake and The Neverland Pirates

Sofia the First

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

Good Luck Charlie
Spongebob

Favorite Movie:

RIO

Without a doubt...hands down...Rio. She wants to see RIO every single day. Of course we let her! It's adorable to watch her laugh hysterically at the movie {part: when Blue is sipping his hot cocoa and the two geese throw a snow ball at the window: she just laughs hysterically}

Favorite things to do:

Morgan loves to play with her babies. You can't touch her babies. Only Morgan can touch her babies. Unless her baby is "crying" then you can help hush her baby to sleep :) She also loves her new tea set she got for Christmas. She started screaming out of joy that she got a new baby and made us open the gift. She started feeding her baby right away. She feeds me, daddy and her babies.

Dance. She loves to dance. It can be a commercial, my phone, daddy's radio...any music that she hears...she immediately starts dancing. And when the music turns off, she goes back to doing what it was that she was doing. I think this is one of my favorite things at this moment!!

Firsts:

Morgan got her first hair cut while we were in Texas for the Holidays. I am not happy with the results. I very clearly asked the stylist not to cut off any length. I asked her to just trim it all even. Well, I don't really know where my brain was. She ended up giving her a real bob. It is actually really cute. However, I really miss her curls. I don't think we will be experimenting on our daughters hair until she is like 12 now!

Morgan also had her first pedi for the Holidays! Yes, a little extreme for being 2 BUT she is a mini diva. I was shopping with a good friend of mine and our first stop was the nail salon. Morgan asked for a pedi. Yep. She can say pedi :) It was cute. I really enjoyed that little moment with her.

We decided this year would not be an all out birthday party for Morgan. I was closing out the year in my business and Kale was working so that he could take his full 2 week vacation for the Holidays. I really don't think Morgan would have known the difference. We went out to eat as a family to TGI Fridays and then I made a cake at home. She was really excited to sing Happy Birthday and blow out her candle.

A few Candids of Morgan in her natural non-posed state:

Dressing daddy just like her

With bubby at Qdoba

There's that smile!

Morgan's official birthday session will be coming soon :)

~ The Shank Family

This Crazy Foot of Mine

{ Catching up on the latest }

So you all remember my foot surgery? I will opt for showing you the gross photos again but if you don't remember... I had a bunionectomy in 2010. The surgeon opened my foot, surgically broke  my bone (the largest knuckle in the foot) and then reshaped it after placing 2 pins to hold it all together. This was supposed to free me of the pain and correct the tendon that ran along the top of my foot as well ( it was pulling my largest metatarsal in a direction that it was not meant to go).

Well... Things weren't going so smoothly. Ever since my surgery, I experienced pain and swelling in my foot. I continued to run despite the pain. I could only make it around 2 miles before I had to call it quits and run home.

 I finally had enough pain from running that I decided to go and see my doctor. 

So, 9 months ago, along to the doctor I went. He told me I had to wear my boot because I "possibly" a stress fracture. I completely ignored his advice...his medical opinion...and said ah ah. I am going to continue running and I am NOT wearing that boot again.

Well, I did myself a big fat favor. My stress fracture got so bad, I couldn't walk anymore. Am I seriously that hard headed?? Yes.

So I went back to my doctor in October and without a doubt, he scolded me. I asked him to fix it!

He placed me in a boot again.  I have had several x-rays and exams but I really couldn't get any answers. The one thing my doctor did tell me was that this may be permanent from the surgery. What does that mean? That means that the surgery performed changed the anatomy of my foot and the way it physically reacts to running and even walking.

:( HUGE SAD FACE!

How is it that I love to run and I will probably never get to run again.

Needless to say...I have gained well over 18 pounds from not being able to run. I am not really a gym kind of person. I ignored the weight gain completely until I hit 18 pounds. Then it hit me...I had to do something to take care of this foot and be able to keep my metabolism at its best.

So, wore the boot as directed for 2 months. I got the boot off December 11th. Unfortunately, I am still in pain even when walking. I will be seeing my doctor again today. I am really hoping for better news this time.

I am not sure if corrective surgery is a route that he will want to go. I believe orthotics will be the next step. I really don't want to have to wear special shoes but at this point, I am willing to do whatever it takes to be able to run again. I really hope to hear some answers.

At least I am back to wearing two shoes :)

~ The Shank Family

New Beginnings with 2014!

Hey! Guess what? I am keeping my end of the bargain with the family!! I promised a few of you that I would start blogging again in 2014. I have given our family blog a little make-over too. I am really excited about keeping everybody up to date with Our Shank Family news and happenings!

We are really excited about being back to the blogging world. I am especially excited and I can't wait to start sharing pictures too...Tache... :)

What is new?

Well, for starters, the blog is new. It has a new look. I worked all morning on revamping our outdated blog and refreshing it for 2014.

I will not blog as often as I did in previous years BUT I am hoping to blog at least once a week.

We just got back from a wonderful vacation in Texas. Things are definitely hectic right now as we are still unpacking and resting from such a long trip.

Morgan is on her 4th round of "trying" to potty train. The little stinker can even SAY potty train! I am not going to rush her and I know she will train when she is ready.

Colten loves Texas. He enjoys being with his dad. We really miss him a LOT but are finding ways to visit often this year. Financially and Emotionally, this is very hard for us. We are planning a move and really don't have any details to share at this time. I am praying that the Lord will provide for us and hoping to move during the summer. However, we aren't going to force anything. We will have patience and pray for God's will and his timing.

Tyler turns 8 today!! Can you believe that he is getting so big?! He is doing wonderful in school too. We are very please with the System that the school has put together for him. 

Kale and I are looking forward to the completion of a very large project we started months ago. We originally started a rental house investment but it soon turned into a flip home. We are hoping to complete the project this month and have it sold by the end of March.

We said good-bye to our tiny chevy malibu this past month. We can't really travel in it and it is already a tight fit for 3 kiddos. We are also wanting to expand our family in the near future so we took the plunge. It was definitely time for a BIGGER vehicle for us. We opted for the sporty Tahoe and went the route of a Suburban. I can't even tell you how wonderful it was to be able to fit our entire family, both our dogs, all of our luggage AND all of our Christmas gifts in the same vehicle this year!! 

We took some new family photos this year while we were in Texas! How exciting is that? Our family has never been photographed with my brothers family...ever...so we made that happen and are really excited to show off some awesome photos! We are going to make it a goal to get photographed with all of our family this coming year.

Sneak Peak :

We will post individual updates of everything soon!

How are all of you!?!?! We missed you for the Holidays this year. We are going to be planning more trips this year. Our priority is to see Colten as much as possible but we are also hoping to take several trips to Colorado, Kansas and Florida!! We really can't wait to see you guys. We miss you and love you so much!

~ The Shank Family