Happy 14th Sidney

We wished sweet Sidney a Happiest 14th Birthday this month. 
In true teenage fashion, she had loose plans for the day which ended up being re-worked a few times but it was a happy ending! Our little ball player spent the morning at practice and then a quick trip to Valleyfair before ending the night making TikToks with friends in the basement. And from the sounds of it, they sure had a good time. Oh teenage girls can sure be loud. 

In no particular order, some photos (new and old) to commemorate her big day :) 

A favorite black sand beach on the southern part of the Big Island of Hawaii

Oh the love these two had for each other at this particular age, melted my heart. Someday it will return! 

The day Sidney showed up to her hitting lesson wearing the same sweatshirt as her hitting coach (who happened to play for the Gophers at one time)

One of my most favorite photos of our sweet Sidney, with her mischevious smile :) 

The requested "cake" again this year for her 14th was actually a cookie cake

She was lucky this summer to get a ride on Uncle Mike's 3 wheeler....just don't tell Lincoln because he wants to go too! 

Happy 14th Sidney! 

 

Happy Birthday Sidney

This little sweetheart turned 12 just as the school year started. She was very specific when it came to the dessert she wanted on her day (which entailed a long early morning drive to pick it up). She was so excited to open that box and see a gigantic birthday cookie! 

We were fortunate to get to have lunch with her during the school day, since we're all working/learning from home. And she wrapped up the day at her favorite spot: softball practice. 

This Sidney of ours. She is sweet and kind and social and friendly (this ongoing COVID lockdown is getting more challenging as a result). 

She loves softball and Netflix and is turning more and more into a teenager each passing day. 

The things she says make us laugh every single day, I only wish I'd write more of them down. As a memory, here is the most recent 'Sidney statement'.....we drove past Hyland Ski area as they were making snow for the upcoming ski season. She glanced over and asked me "is that snow cold?"

Yes my dear, snow is always cold. 

And one more, just because.....she was telling me about the upcoming health unit in school about puberty, "mom, we're going to have to learn about tentacles". 

Um, not quite kiddo. 

Boy she makes us laugh! 

Happy Birthday sweet Sidney!

 

Sidney is 11!

Sidney turned 11 last month! She's growing up so fast and we have some mixed feelings about another teenage girl in the house....(pray for us!).

In one moment, she can be sweet and adorable, teaching Lincoln in their make believe "school" and in the next she can be crying, upset and frustrated with life. These pre-teen (and teenage) years are exhausting and uplifting all at the same time.

Sidney's actual birthday fell on a school day, so in true tradition, we met up with her at lunch. I'll be honest, it's a hassle for me to drag myself across the city, in the middle of the day to pop in for a 20 minute lunch. I have to re-arrange my entire day and put a pause on seeing patients for several hours due to travel time. But the smile across her face each and every year makes it completely worth it. These years go by fast.

We went out for dinner a few days prior to celebrate her birthday (because she had softball practice on her actual big day). She scored a pretty big dessert; that thing was the size of her head!

And she got this big surprise on another birthday dinner! She's one lucky girl!

Most days people tell us "she is something else" because she really is.

She's sassy and adorable and we love her to pieces!

10 years old-Birthday eve

It's funny that when you are pregnant and expecting a little one, people tell you over and over "it goes by fast". But we don't really comprehend the meaning of those words until years down the road when "it's gone by fast". 

On this night 10 years ago, I was big and pregnant and barely fitting into even maternity clothes. 

Although nothing fit, and I could barely reach my feet to put on shoes, I still adored every second of pregnancy. 

And that next day, when I drove to work with some back pain, I thought nothing of it. Even as I sat through a meeting, trying to get comfortable because of that back pain, it never crossed my mind that I was having contractions. 

Until at 11am, as a patient was leaving my office, my water broke. Right then and there, I hovered over a garbage can frantically calling Ryan, then my mom (who happened to be babysitting Rehab), and then some coworkers. And it was a mad scramble after that...tho all I had to do was go up 2 floors to the labor and delivery floor! Ryan on the other hand had to drive my parents stick shift truck, killing it on a not-so-safe neighborhood near the hospital. And then was directed into the wrong room where another mom was giving birth. Good stories! 

Next thing we know, this little one has entered the world. All crabby looking and fussy. I spent the next 5 months holding her or she wouldn't sleep (and I have permanent shoulder issues to prove it!). 

These last 10 years have gone remarkably fast. But I can still feel her nestle into my arms as she finally was quiet. 

She was loved from the start and we adore her still today....although Regan certainly doesn't cuddle and coo over her anymore :) 

She goes to bed our 9 year old, and tomorrow enters double digits....and a GOLDEN birthday at that! 

I put this sign on her door after she fell asleep tonight :) 

Happy birthday eve Sidney! 

A week in review

In an effort to soak up as much sun and time off from school, I took off work for a full week of kid-centered fun. It was 10 days of finding fun, sometimes at home, sometimes not. Don't get me wrong, we did plenty of cleaning, cooking and projects around the house too :)

 

Regan started off with a quick trip north with a gaggle of girlfriends where she skied, surfed, played and had a complete blast. This girl would live on water if she could! She had an absolutely lovely time taking in as much water fun as she possibly could.  

 

 

Sidney decided to host her birthday party in August rather than wait until her real birthday in September so she could enjoy a pool party this year. She gathered up a group of friends who helped her celebrate on what turned into a sunny beautiful day. I'm so thankful we opted for this type of party this year, she was beyond excited and it was everything she wanted it to be (she planned it entirely herself, including doing most of the decorations!).

 

 

We started back up with fall ball season after a quick week off. Living with a pitcher and a catcher in the house, we tend to spend more time than many on the fields putting in extra hours. Sidney in particular has been working hard on achieving some of her own goals for this season. I'm so proud of how far she has come in a short time-span. She will start this next fall ball season as the starting pitcher and is so proud to have that title :) I'm happy to spend my day behind that plate acting as her catcher and encouraging her as she gets in some extra reps.

 

 

Not to be forgotten, our little man Lincoln had a great week hanging out at home. He loves to do tricks with Ryan in the pool (who can clearly toss him way higher than I can!). Lord help this boy who has no desire to sleep past 6:07am on most mornings, including my week off! Thanks buddy. I often chuckle at my friends when we talk about "sleeping in"....to me, that would mean anything past 6:40am. I don't ask for a lot, but I'd love to get an extra 30 minutes when I don't have to be up for work!

 

 

We headed out with the family for an early anniversary celebration (softball prevented celebrating on the actual date). If we couldn't actually re-live our Honeymoon in Hawaii this August, we could certainly pretend! The kids got a kick out of this place :)

 

 

And the atmosphere at Psycho Suzie's does not disappoint!....nor does this awesome face I get to look at daily.

 

 

Cheers to many more years!

 

 

I swear we didn't only play ball on my week off!, but by the pictures, it sort of looks like it. Lincoln loves when the girls have a private lesson because it means he gets to feed the pitching machine. Safety first, that blue helmet looks good on him.

 

 

We spent some time around Lake Harriet and the fun shops nearby. I had offered to take them on a day trip but no one was overly excited for an hour car ride, and so Lake Harriet sufficed. By mid week, Regan's allergies were raging and she was feeling pretty miserable (and too cranky to join this picture).

 

 

A trip near the lakes is never complete without a stop at Wild Rumpus, the coolest bookstore I have ever entered. Cats roaming around, rats (in cages!), birds and fish, sometimes even chickens. We love it!

 

 

And of course, I may have spent endless hours with the kiddos sitting poolside enjoying the sun, soaking up as much Vitamin D as humanly possible. Because like I continue to tell the girls, we can watch TV in January!

 

By the end of 10 days, I was sad it was over and thankful I have a job that I love so I didn't have to be too tearful leaving them.

Party day!

With how busy full life has been for us lately, we ended up doing a combined family birthday party for Sidney and Lincoln. Sometimes it's just the little things, like finding an open weekend, that can prove super challenging!
This sums up what our calendar looks like right now....

We found a Saturday that happened to land pretty much between the two kids' actual birthdays and it just made the most sense for everyone to combine the two. These two were easy peasy when it came to picking out decorations and themes as well (whew!). One wanted ORANGE everything, the other didn't care at all :) Made my life so much easier. Lincoln and I ventured to the party store and picked out an assortment of orange and pink items and viola, we had ourselves decorations for a dual birthday party!

The weather cooperated with us in a big way too. Despite the rainy dreary morning, the sun peaked out around party time, dried up all the rain and made for a great day to play outside. I was beyond thrilled that all those kiddos could run off some energy (and cake and treats) OUTSIDE!

 Too bad Regan missed out on this picture :( 

We are so thankful to everyone who came and helped celebrate these two munchkins of ours. Where has the time gone?!

Happiest of birthdays to our two littles! 

Sidney's birthday party day

We had to hold off a bit for Sidney's friend birthday party because of all the softball hoopla around here lately, but I think she will agree, it was well worth the wait! Once she finally decided on a party location, she choose some awesome friends to join her, and we got to spend the day rock climbing! How fun does that sound?! I'm so glad that she surrounds herself with some pretty great friends who seemed to have just as much fun as her at the party :) 

Let's take a closer look at that big huge smile! 

Her little arms were exhausted after all of that climbing. But it never got old for me to watch her pull herself up, wall after wall, one rung at a time. 

Regan was lucky enough that Sidney let her join the party (let's be real, I was hoping she would help me out a little too!). Turns out, she's a real climber herself! Scaling those walls like it's no one's business. 

They even got to do a little bouldering (climbing without harnesses), which seemingly was more exhausting than with a belay! 

Isn't this group of girls just the cutest?! We had a great afternoon of games, climbing and of course, cake! 

Happy birthday (party day) Sidney! 

Birthday Girl-Sidney turns 9!

Our sweet Sidney lucked out and turned nine on a weekend :) That meant we had more than one day to celebrate, and we took advantage of that little fact. I asked her what we should do for a birthday treat, and being the kind hearted girl that she is, her request was "will you please make a cake so that Lincoln can eat it too?". 

Tears welled up as I thought about how thoughtful that tiny statement was. She could have asked for anything, and her single request was to be sure her little brother could also enjoy it. I'm so glad our kiddos have their values in check :) 

And so, I obliged and made a "safe for Lincoln" cake, with white frosting and sprinkles (her choice)! They all devoured a piece as quick as possible as we sang Happy Birthday and Lincoln took the opportunity to beat her at blowing out candles (for the record, she was pretty hot about that fact!). 

Our full of spunk little girl is growing up so quickly and each day, she brings a huge smile to our face, laughter in our house and the day wouldn't be complete if she didn't make a statement that made us roll our eyes and shake our heads. "She's something else", is the most common statement out of my mouth. That girl is a hoot!! 

Nine things we love about her: 

* she's energetic. 

* she's creative, and as a result, is fun to be around. 

* she's a magnet with loads of friends because of her lovable personality

* she's sweet (need I say more?)

* she is funny! 

* her smile is contagious and big. 

* she loves her siblings (most of the time) and knows how to get them engaged

* she's willing to try new things from food to sports. New is exciting to her

* she's independent and responsible---making my life far easier! 

Where has the time gone? 

Happiest of birthdays Sidney!! Love you! 

Birthday eve

How can it be, this little spit fire, crabby little baby is about to turn NINE!? 

Sidney came out looking crabby (we use another word usually). But really, she did look cranky. Always had a scowl on her face. Her birth story is one to laugh at: in a nutshell, I went into labor at work of all places. In my office, just as a patient was leaving. My water broke and I promptly hoovered myself over my garbage can while holding up my dress. A lovely sight I'm sure (thankful for solid wood doors!). After getting a nice escort to the birth unit upstairs, Ryan racing to get to the hospital, was told the wrong room and entered only to see another mom named Liz waiting to give birth.
We like to keep things exciting :) 

I'm so thankful that crabby baby of ours finally started to get happier (it took a few years!). And that after 5 months she finally managed to sleep somewhere other than my arms. She made us work, that sweet Sidney of ours! And it blows my mind that tomorrow she turns 9....where did all of the time go?! 

Happy Birthday Eve Sidney!