Missed us so much that you're blue?

As always, we have lots of good excuses for being gone.

We've been learning our colors. (Asher pretty much already knew his colors, but Heather had told me some fun things that she used to do with her boys, so having different color days really helped him perfect them.) For each "color" day, we ate, drank, wore, crafted with and played with all things "blue", "red" or whatever color day it was.

These are from red day:

This was also the first time McKlayne had spaghetti...it was a fun, messy night for all of us!

(Don't be fooled...these pics were taken on March 18...I'm only 3 months behind in editing pics and blogging...as Asher would say, "No big deal.")



Proof that Asher already knew his colors before this whole things started: the morning of the first color day (which was red) I was so excited to show Asher his red pancakes.

me: Asher, what color are these pancakes?

Asher: Umm...pink! (he was really impressed)

me: My mouth wide open, annoyed that my son was so smart.

Charlie: (saving the day) Well, you're riiiiiiight...but this is red day and pink is a shade of red. Cool pancakes, huh?

The little smartie pants with his pink pancakes and milk.

Blue Day...this was the most fun of all.

We painted ourselves blue and went to eat at Blue Baker to celebrate Blue Day!
(You get free food depending on how "blue" you are.)


Asher loved looking at his blue-self.

Some of our sweet friends met us there.

The Apel girls...minus one...but that will be another post...umm...soon! Promise.
(I'm not pregnant...I just gained a sister-in-law.)

Our Sweet Em...she's one of the precious college girls (and babysitters among other things...) that's always at our house. Asher loves her.

We also potty trained the big guy at the end of April! 3 days. That's all it took. I was prepared for a whole week worth of staying in the house, constantly next to my two year old pal. Nope. The 3 Day Potty Training REALLY works, people! I was a skeptic.

My sis used this method on Brynn. I thought maybe since she was a GIRL it worked for her, but wouldn't work for my Asherboy. I was wrong. He had 9 accidents the first day, 5 the second day and 2 on the third. For the second two days he was just holding himself or dancing around like crazy, holding it in. But by 7 p.m. the night of the third day, he was telling us he had to go...I think he went about 4 times between 7 and 9 that night and was super proud when he went poop in the potty.

When he does have to "go"...like really go...he tells us (while pointing), "Go out there! Shut the door!" (I'd like to add that I don't know where he learned this...because I sure don't get any privacy when I have to "go".)

And he likes to read while he "goes".

We've also been busy working on the house...Charlie sprayed the brick.

Then a group of precious college students came out for Big Event and painted all the white trim on our house! We adore them. They saved us many weekends of having to do this just the two of us. Remember what it used to look like? It's really come a LONG way...inside and out!

You don't have to have any socioeconomic need or disability...we used to think you did until last year when we noticed that like 10 houses (several of which were young families like us) in our neighborhood had groups come out. It's basically just a big community workday were 10,000+ students get together with groups of friends or their student organizations and go serve in the community for about 4 hours. The last several years Big Event has actually needed MORE jobs! So, remember to sign up next Jan/Feb at BigEvent.tamu.edu if you live in B/CS. You'll get free work done on your home and be able to build relationships with college students.

And, I'll leave you with this of our sweet little kiss-blower:

Are you thinking, "Does this kid ALWAYS have a clip in her hair?" Pretty much...otherwise she can't see. When she wakes up most mornings and I haven't clipped her hair back right away...I often hear this, "Uh-oh, Naney Bop...need a bow?" Her big bro is always watching out for her.

Finally...an Apel Update

I know, I know...it's been forever--OVER two months since our last post and I never kept my promise about posting videos of Asher or pics from his first Christmas or birthday...but Adobe Lightroom (the best photo editor around!) is on it's way to me in the mail right now. It is going to make my job editing and documenting our family so much easier! So, as I work on them, I will post them! PROMISE!

Here is what Asher has been up to lately:

He loves playing outside...it is far better than any "toy" to him. He loves to climb, dig, explore, and, of course, play in the water.

We got him this babypool and it has been the best entertainment...he loves to splash around and play with his shovels and buckets in the water.

He loves going to the park behind our house...we go there just about everyday, but last month the Splashpad opened and since it's been warmer the last few weeks we've finally gotten to go! He loves it so much, we usually stay there about an hour or longer. Here are a few more pics of him at the Splashpad:

About two weeks ago, Charlie taught him showed him how to pick flowers for Mommy. Now, everytime he sees a flower he picks it, holds it up to his nose, says, "Mmmmm," and runs over to me with the sweetest grin on his face, to give me the flower. How I love my sweet boys! They're so good to me!

A lot has been going on around the Apel house, as well. Charlie closed in a doorway from the garage to the kitchen, which will soon be our converted laundry room/tv/playroom, where we'll put another bed since the guestroom will soon be McKlayne's nursery.

He closed in this wall right here. This man amazes me with his "handiness". At the beginning of each new task I always skeptically ask him, "And how do you know how to do this?" or "How do you know that this is going to work?" Most of the time he shrugs his shoulders and says, " I don't know...I just do." Sometimes, I get a, "I don't, but I'll figure it out." I don't know how I ended up with such a handy husband, but I'm so thankful that I did! He's brilliant!

We also made a few great purchases in Roundtop on Antique Weekend at the beginning of April! This farm table was our favorite find! We needed a long, skinny table, so that we could fit at least 8 people around it! It's been wonderful the couple weeks that we've had it for our HOPE Group!

And listen to this...it's the best part of this find: we bought five of chairs (all that we could find that day!) and figured we could try to either find three other matching ones later that week when I went back or just mix and match a few others...but when I went back I couldn't rind any of them. The next night, we were at the Hendrick's and they had four chairs-the same style we had gotten and I said, "Hey! Did you get these from Roundtop? I need three more of these!" (thinking that Heather had bought my other chairs) and she said, "No, Aaron's parents gave us these...actually seven of them! Three of them are sitting in our attic right now...you want 'em?" So, we went home with three more chairs to complete our set of eight! We love those people.

(Also, notice my antique stained-glass window...I got that in Roundtop, too..it was a steal compared to how much they normally are! It's from somewhere in England--where did the guy say he was from, Kyle?)

We've also refinished some furniture and I've been doing quite a bit of spring cleaning-going through closets and drawers- giving stuff away, organizing, and selling the "valuable junk" on Ebay! There is so much still to be done before our Baby Girl gets here in a short 10 weeks! Here is the before pic of an old hutch that had been in my parents garage for years!

It's amazing what a vision, a lot of cleaning, some sanding, and some stain can do! We still have to find some hardware to put on it...I loved the original but a few were broken and one was missing!

Last week, I was in HEB and 3 people commented on how "beautiful" my "little girl" was...I just smiled. This pic was from the same day...he was dressed in blue...with a lizard on his shirt. Is he just too pretty? Or is his hair too long? I am not ready to cut it...he wouldn't look like the same kid without all that beautiful curly hair!!

And, lastly here's my belly at 22 weeks:


And again at 26...here I have gained a total of 14 pounds. I gained 50 lbs with Asher! Yikes! At this point in my last pregnancy, I'd probably already gained 30-35lbs:

I am now a full 30 weeks. I'll have to get Char to take a pic of my belly today, so you can see how much I've grown!

Phase I complete, Phase II begins!

Phase I Apel Remodeling has officially ended and Phase II started this morning. Phase II will not be so extensive...just a wall being punched out, a couple doors being added, and a wall that needs to be closed in! Isn't my husband amazing?

In celebration of Phase I being complete, I wanted to post these pics of all Charlie's hard work!

This was the kitchen BEFORE we moved in (notice all the wasted cabinet space on the left):





During construction...look at all that cabinet and countertop space we gained! We closed in one of the doors, took out a wall and a closet behind it (to open our living room up) and put in a window bar and widened the other entry to the kitchen:



Look at my BEAUTIFUL red kitchen:



More Before and After views:

Apel July/August/September Update

Alright! You can all rest easy. We are still alive. A lot has happened since our last post....so hang in here while we fill you in.

First, on July 25th, Kirby had surgery to correct some complications brought on by Asher's delivery. Most of you know the details, but for the sake of having a public blog, I will keep it pretty vague. She was kept in the hospital for 3 days. And for the first 40 hours, she had no pain medication!! Her wounds and pain were that or worse of having a baby--and yet no pain medication. She is the strongest person in the world. The nurse had made a mistake and 4 nurses after her had missed it...but then she got Demoral for the next 36 so it made up for it!

We were released that Saturday night and able to catch some of Kirby's family reunion. Kirby has been healing really well ever since. She had one follow up appointment almost two weeks later and the doctor said that she was ahead of schedule -- normal Kirby.

The next major thing was our house. On August 2nd we closed on our first home (see "We Buy Ugly Houses" below). It was a complicated, but exciting process. It's been a ride the last two months with this house. It's over 50 years old and had never been updated so we decided to do some renovating before we moved in. We knew it would never get done if we waited until after we moved in. And if we were going to put some money into it for the sake of 'resale value', we would prefer to get to live in those updates.




A couple from our church, Duane & Marylou Breiger, were gracious enough to let us stay with them for a few weeks -- which turned into about seven -- while our house was being finished. Words cannot express our gratitude to you guys. We love you. We're so thankful for the friendship we share. Thank you, thank you, thank you for all that you have done for us over the last 2 months.

Lance and Blake Czajkowski did a lot of the remodeling and were awesome (if you need anything done let us know and we'll get you Lance's digits). They took out walls, added ceiling joists, created custom cabinets, and dealt with all of our requests and changes.

And Mike Garratt knows a lot more than just chicken -- this guys is a machine and knows a ton about remodeling! And I cannot get away without mentioning the faithfulness and hard work of Tommy Clements and Jonathan Houston and their wives for letting us have them for many nights into the wee hours of the morning.



Thanks also to my brother, Cary, for all that you did and Aaron for helping tile our countertops.



My Dad also made many late-night trips to help us with the tile, sink, gas problems and a lot of other things. We love and are so thankful to you ALL!



Shipley Wedding

A month ago, on September 2, our best friend, Cate married Ryan Out-of-Shapley. (Sorry Ryan Helena Boy spirit never dies.) It was the most beautiful wedding EVER (says Kirby)! The entire family was so honored to be in the wedding: Kirby was the Matron of Honor, I was an Usher and Asher was a "ringbearer" who was pulled down the aisle in a wagon--he did great!

He was the cutest thing and smiled at everyone the whole way down.

Pretty soon you can check out all of the wedding pics here.

We were so happy to welcome Ryan into the family, since Kirby is like the sister that Cate's never had. I could go on and on and never quite capture how we value her our friendship with these two...here was Kirby's toast at their Rehearsal Dinner:

Ryan, you know how much of a gift this girl truly is. I don't have to tell you that. She has been the best friend a girl could have--and how much more she will be for you as she was created to specifically be your helper! You will have the most loyal friend and devoted wife a man can find.

For several years everywhere we went we were known as, "Cate and Kirby"...actually we didn't go many places without each other. We were pretty much inseperable.

Then two years ago, when I got married and it became "Charlie and Kirby", Cate graciously stepped down from the title of my best "best" friend, to my best "girl" friend. Tomorrow night at 7:30, I look forward to doing the same.

I've often told Cate how easy Charlie makes my job. I can't help but desire to do anything but love him by the way that he loves and honors me. When someone is constantly considering you better then himself-truly modeling Christ in your home by putting your needs and desires before their own-you can't help but love them and constantly try to out bless them in return.

I know that you will treat her the same. I've seen you treat her this way. And because of this, I have great peace and much thankfulness in passing on my title. I'm confident that now Cate has her "Charlie" (as he's been her standard since I met him.)

I realize that I keep comparing you to my husband, but this is the biggest compliment I can pay anyone. How thankful I am that she's never settled for anything less than an equivelant to Charlie.

Ryan, I love you. For the way you love our Cate and the way you love our Lord.

You have my word that you will never have to worry about Cate bad mouthing you to me. I can't imagine her ever doing that now. But years down the road, I want you to know that I will forever do all that I can to encourage and build up your marriage with my actions and words, and everything in my power to encourage her to love and submit to you like she loves Jesus.

I want all of the rest of you here tonight to know-if you don't already-just how much the Lord really is the author of this marriage-I can testify to that.

I'm so thankful to the Lord for Ryan. As we've been praying for Cate's "future husband" over the last several years-long before he even came around-He's been shaping Ryan into the man that will love and lead Cate under Christ's leadership. The very qualities that we've been praying for, the Lord has given Ryan.

We've prayed for someone who would be gentle yet bold in dealing with Cate, someone who would be careful with their words, and cautious in their decision making, someone who would be strong enough in their convictions that they would honor the Lord before seeking to please Cate. I've seen all of these displayed through Ryan...and yet none of these are truly just from Ryan, but what the Lord has done in him.

Ryan and Cate, I can't wait to see how God uses your marriage and your family to show others that Christ's love is still real and relevant today.

I'm passing on my title of "Cate's best best friend" to you, Ryan. I know that you will fill this role with much care and much more completion as the two of you become one. As you grow together in your love for Jesus you truly will be inseperable.

We're soooo IN

Last weekend, Kirby's family came in to help us get the house "move-in" ready.

The MVP goes to her mom, who did all the dirty work. Bathrooms.(I wish we had before and after pics b/c you had to see it to believe the magic that she worked.) Windows. Screens. And after all that-she mowed the lawn!

Both her brothers moved boxes and furniture to their various rooms. Todd completely transformed out landscape with all the cutting, trimming, and tidying up he did with the yard and trees. Thank you, Todd! It looks GREAT! Jordan also helped Todd with some yard work and swept off the roof.

Kyle and Kirby were able to finish setting up the kitchen and Asher's room so that we could finally spend the night in our new home the next evening. We're so thankful you were here to help us get going.

Thank you to Kirby's family for getting us in! We appreciate you all so much!

As of last Sunday, we have been living in our house over a week now!

It's good to be home.

Thank you to all of our many friends and family who helped us in so many ways and stayed up long hours, working really hard.

Asher has been doing so much and growing up right before our eyes, but he will get his own post. SOON...

We Buy Ugly Houses

The rejection of the first house ended up being such a blessing...we are buying a house 5 houses down from that first one that we put an offer on.

Get this: this home is a little bit bigger, is on the same size lot (just under 1/2 an acre--this is the thing we loved about the first home), has one more toilet than the other one (which makes Charlie very happy), beautiful refinished hardwood floors, and is $35,000 less!

Our ugly duckling definitely needs some work, but we are so excited about our little fixer-upper...we love to do this kind of stuff! And with my husband-the brilliant artist, ex-architect, and handy-dandy carpenter-pretty much anything is possible.

The sellers accepted our contract last week, the inspection went really well yesterday, and we close August 1st! With a lot of paint and a few updates this home is going to be perfect for us. So, if any of you like to paint let me know-we close a week after my surgery, so we'll take all the painting and moving help that we can get!

We're still playing with color options but look at what my husband did with just a few minutes in Photoshop. A little paint plus one amazing man can completely transform a house!