First time fishing.

The day after our 10K run was a beautiful, sunny and warm day..so we decided to FINALLY take the boat out and fish! It was quite the process to get out on the water since we needed our fishing licenses, some bait, new letters/numbers for the side of the boat and Keller needed a lifejacket. Luckily enough, the Wal-mart that was on the way had all of that! Our roommate Nate came with, which was very nice since his company is always fun and he was able to help with the boat stuff and I could just focus on Keller, since this was his first time on a boat.

We finally made it out onto the water and here a few pictures we got...

This is just a picture of a spot we stayed at for awhile, it's where Broghan caught our one and only fish, but I think it shows how nice it was out!

THE fish!

Keller was SO excited about his new life jacket and being on the boat he fell asleep!

The Reilly's first 10K!

So a few weeks ago was the first race of the season for this family. We did our very first 10K for all of us in Altoona (a town literally connected at the hip to Eau Claire). Keller got to join in on the fun in his runner stroller and the timing was pretty perfect since it was his nap time so he just slept through the whole run!

Here is Broghan's pre-race smile!

And mine...

And KELLERS! I was trying to show what it was going to look like during the race..

Post-10K with a finishing time of 58:00 minutes! Our goal was to finish under an hour and we did it! So proud of us..

Madison's place

I was kind of unsure how to title this one since it's really pictures of Maddie's gravesite. Just skip past this if you aren't into looking at these! But here is her marker. She is buried on Broghan's parents property. They have an acre of land designated as a graveyard so that one day they can be buried there. I believe it's Reilly Acres.

Anyways, in this one you can obviously see her information and then the pink bunny for Easter. That yellow toy is what we gave her for Valentine's Day. And if you look really close, there is a glow-in-the-dark sticker..haha, she can thank her dad for that one. Oh and those white flowers are fake so they will stay beautiful all the time and all of those things are leaning up against a little butterfly light that my grandpa gave her. It's solarized so it never runs out and it's always glowing when we get to their house (since it's usually late at night when we get there!!)

This is a picture of a wooden angel hanging above her. We put it there the day we buried her and it blends in so nicely you wouldn't even notice it really unless you were looking at it. The ribbons used to be a brighter pink but after almost a year and a half (wow it went fast) they're dulling.

These are christmas bulbs that my family brought. They all wrote messages or little "I love you" notes to Madison and hung them on a mini-christmas tree for her (she was buried Dec. 20th). Now they are hanging on branches and limbs all around the area. Most of the messages have faded now though but the bulbs are still shimmery. If you look into the background of this picture you can also see the bench that has been put near her. Now we don't have to sit on the pine needles when we visit, which is nice since sometimes we end up sitting down there for awhile..

EASTER!

Easter Weekend! It was a really great weekend. We traveled out to Broghan's parents' house on Friday night after Brogs got done with patients and paperwork. When we got into town (Waupaca that is) we stopped over to our friend Jimmy's parents house so they could meet Keller. It was great getting to catch up on life with them. Then, off to the 'Burg (Ogdensburg that is). Saturday turned into a beautiful day with bright sunny weather and a strong breeze. It was warm though so it felt really nice. Broghan and I were able to go for a long jog and enjoy some time alone while Bob and Janet took Keller for a walk. He really seemed to love their stroller! He fell asleep in it every time he went for a walk!

Saturday night was AMAZING too! Grandma and Grandpa offered to watch Keller-man so Broghan and I could go out for dinner AND stay out to go to a bar, listen to a band and dance some! It was SUCH a great time! I think I really needed it and Broghan and I hadn't had that much time just for the two of us...in well, 7 months! Plus, having a few glasses of wine was pretty awesome too. I really do miss that stuff sometimes! haha.

Here are some pictures of Keller and Broghan playing on the floor. I just thought these were so darn cute!

Easter Morning we got a late start due to our acting like kids again and staying out past mid-night...(can you catch that sarcasm??). But we ended up attending mass at 11AM so not TOO bad. Then some great family friends came over to the Reilly house and enjoyed an awesome Easter Lunch. I don't have any pictures of it, but my husband convinced his mom to stop and pick up a $1 kite which he proceeded to successfully fly! Easter was a VERY windy day so it was perfect for his little smurf kite!

I think Marvin like him!

So, as I've often times pointed out, Keller has a knack for being able to take his naps anywhere. Here are a few examples. On the kitchen floor and on the futon under his play stuff. But notice the companion who is next him! Haha, everywhere Keller goes, so must Marvin. Do we think he likes him? Just a little?

Cancer sucks.

That is an absolute. No, I do not have cancer. But my dear, beautiful, wonderful, amazing, inspirational, loving, hilarious, life-loving friend Annie does. This past weekend we learned that her battle with cancer will end this week or next. The tumors have invaded her lungs and liver and will continue their horrible path of destruction until her life is over. That is, unless a sneaky blood clot forms and does it first. She is currently at home on hospice and has many visitors coming and going from all over the nation.

This has been a very hard and strange week. The questions that have been going through my mind are endless. Why? being probably the biggest one. But after that come the ones that really don't have any kind of answer, or if they do, they have many, meaning none are "right" or "wrong".

How do you mourn a person who is still alive?

How are we supposed to be okay with losing someone like Annie after only getting her for 25 years?

How do you say goodbye to her without making it sound like death is on the doorstep? Even though we all know it is.

How do you visit, leave, visit again?, then leave again? then how many times do you say goodbye like its the last and then do you just wait? Just wait for death to come...

How do you plan to attend a funeral for a person who hasn't died? For a friend.

Is it wrong to think about way to memorialize her life before she's dead?

All in all this just suck. Cancer sucks.

Annie O'Dell, I love you, and will miss you more than words can really express. I will never "poke" you back on facebook, so that little message will always be on my home page. I will treasure the too few minutes of video I've been able to capture of you, especially those with you and Keller. Thank you for allowing me into your life and sharing your awesomeness. Any day I'm having a particularly good hair/make-up day I will always think of you and our "holidays". I will always consider you a sister. I will do my best to never forget the sound of your voice or the warmth of your hugs. You are bigger than life and heaven better be ready. I pray every day for my little angel to keep an eye out for you. Take care of each other up there. Your mantra will stay with me forever "they asked me what I came to do; I came to LIVE OUT LOUD!" and you did my friend, you most certainly did.

First girlfriend?!

So we recently became friends with another young couple here in Eau Claire, Raya and Caleb. They have a little girl who is just one week older than Keller! This past Sunday we had them over after church to do a little BBQ, play some cards and get to know each other better. It was so much more fun than I had expected and it was really great to meet a young couple that had so much in common with us!

Lauren is their little girl's name and here are some pictures of Keller and her together. Notice how much longer her legs are then Kellers! It's really funny to see the differences between them with only being born one week apart...granted we all know Keller is a preemie, but it's still always interesting.

He discovered Lauren's toes too and was trying to for them with his mouth!

Almost hugging!

Spice up your life!

Broghan decided to thin out our stock on spices the other day and once he got everything out of the cupboard I snapped a picture because it really is ridiculous how many spices we had...granted we still have about half of these, but at least they all fit onto one shelf now! (oh, and the spice rack too)

Keller's NON crawling adventure

So from what I've gathered from watching other babies, most at least somewhat enjoy being on their tummies and learning how to crawl. Well, not the Kell-man. This little guy, once on his stomach, will be okay for about 2 minutes, then fuss, then just give up! I will give him this though, he has managed to life his torso off the ground with his arms and toes! Kind of like a push-up. He just hasn't quite masted the whole rocking back onto the knees part yet.

Hello!

Let the fussing begin!

And we've reached the giving up point! haha

I'm sure he's thinking "I'm done, pick me up!" right about now.

Aunt Anna & Krissy came to visit!

My sister Anna and her girlfriend Krissy took a day to drive all the way out here, hang out for about two hours and drive back to MN! What a trooper! She must have really missed this little guy... here are some pictures I snapped while they were here...

He looks like a little eskimo baby

Me, Keller & Anna

It's a little blurry but a good one...and much better than the one where Keller is slapping Krissy in the face.

More pictures from Cullan's Visit

Just some pictures I hadn't posted of Uncle Cullan and Keller