On being 7: Sidney

Our big (middle) girl had her official 7 year visit with the doctor today and aced it all with flying colors. She shall remain true to Ryan's nickname for her-"scrawn"; but healthy nonetheless. Our only true concern is that she's taken a liking to a semi-vegetarian diet. She'll still eat meat, but not always, and can go days between a meal with meat. So we'll try some vitamins and hope this phase passes.

She's learning and enjoying being a first grader. She takes homework seriously and feels proud to have assignments. I love her teacher for giving us a whole weeks worth of homework at a time and letting us complete it when it works best for our family. That really is awesome! Today she came home with this little project that had been done about a book they read in class. Her "brave" spelling is delightful and looks perfect to me! 

We love you our sweet (and sadly very sassy) Sidney! 

She rides!

With as crazy as life is around here, the last thing we were excited to hear was Sidney announce "I want to ride my bike without training wheels". It's not that we weren't ready for this phase, or happy for her eagerness, it's just that finding the time to teach a kid to ride a bike can be exhausting. And with 2 other kids in tow (busy kids!) we weren't sure we had the time to invest in getting her on her own. 

Well, let's just thank our lucky stars that she was a quick learner! We took off the training wheels and practiced for 30 minutes (probably less). She was getting the hang of it, but needed more work. The next day, she had enough confidence to ask to have her bike supported during take off and she did the rest. Where she got the idea that she was ready for this was beyond me, but she did it and succeeded! Two days later was her next opportunity to ride, and she just took off all on her own! Rode her bike around the neighborhood like she was an old pro. Click HERE for a video. 

She is quite proud of herself and we are so happy for her! Way to go Sid! 

Tubes-round 2

Friday morning, before the sun rose, we headed to the Day Surgery center for Lincoln's second round of ear tubes. The girls had gone on a sleep-over, at a dear friend's house to avoid having a 5:30am wake up call. Not that what they got was much different....apparently they could be heard at about 6am chatting away. I was relieved to hear they did well, and enjoyed their sleepover (Sidney's very first night away from home without a parent!). 

I can't say enough about how grateful I am for good friends. You know, the kind you can trust your kids' lives with. The kind that offers to take your kids for a sleepover. The kind that treat your kids as their own, complete with 11pm tuck ins and hugs when you  "miss my  mommy". It takes a village, and we are forever thankful for our village. 

Ok, back to the tubes. We arrived at 6:20am (only 5 minutes late), and were able to keep Lincoln happy despite his completely empty stomach. The poor baby hadn't eaten anything since about 9pm the night prior. He let us know that he was unhappy, and that he, above anyone else, would be in charge. As if that is different any other day of the week!

After a quick wait in the lobby where he played catch with a friendly family nearby, we headed back to the pre-op room where our lovely nurse tried her darndest to convince Lincoln for a weigh-in. He wasn't having any of it, and so we did the next best thing. I held him and got weighed, and then got weighed without him and we did the math. Thank goodness it measured in grams ;) We tried getting him into those cute purple PJ's, but he fussed and whinned and we quickly removed them. Again, our dear nurse tried her best, offering white pants (shorter) but he politely shook his head in disagreement. She offered to let us get him dressed in just his own PJ's, but by then, he preferred to run around with nothing. And so, we obliged. I think what was really making him mad (other than being in a strange room with strangers coming in constantly and no one bringing food), was the fact that his ankle bracelet was uncomfortable. 

I volunteered to bring him back to the operating room when the time came. Let's be honest, we knew Lincoln would prefer it this way and we didn't want to make him more upset. The time came, and I gowned up, scooped him in my arms, and walked to the OR with yet another nurse. The team in the OR was fantastic, sensing his attitude when we walked in (keep in mind, Lincoln was still just wearing a diaper at this point). He clung to my arms and the entire room tried to help him relax and sang Itsy Bitsy Spider and Pat-A-Cake....the entire room! It was so cute. I had been warned that he wouldn't like the anesthesia mask, and Lincoln proved that. He screamed as I had to hold his arms until his body started to relax and he was taken from my arms and laid on the table. There was a brief moment where I heard his shallow breathing and got alarmed, questioning the anesthesiologist  who assured me he was fine and in good hands. I trusted him. I had to. Our ENT was ready to work and I was ushered out to the waiting room with Ryan. 

In less than 15 minutes, Dr. H appeared and we breathed a sigh of relief. He was finished and Lincoln had been moved to recovery. In another 15 minutes we were back to see him and helped him come out of his anesthesia. He was crabby and out of it and really really mad. As long as I held him while standing, he was happy. Within about 45 minutes, we dressed him and had our discharge paperwork in hand. Happy to have that behind us, we headed home to spend the day snuggling! Here's hoping these tubes do the trick and we can avoid more infections, keep fluid out of his ears, and start talking more! (on that note, he spent the entire afternoon saying "mama, mama, mama"!!). 

Back to school

Like every other person in the state of Minnesota, we headed back to school after Labor Day. It's a bittersweet moment for us, as we send off Sidney to Kindergarten this year. Bitter as she is growing up, much too fast. And sweet because she is growing up, maturing into a beautiful little girl (that and the fact that our daycare costs are reduced exponentially!).

Regan started 3rd grade this year. She was eager and ready and not really nervous at all. Coming home after school she said her only complaint was that she didn't have enough time to have a "real conversation" with her teacher. Yea....she likes to socialize. That's our Regan, the one who is in right field at a softball game and talking to the coach about everything and anything. Or the one who strikes up a conversation with an adult about whatever is on her mind. She likes to talk (though not so much listen!). 

After school, she told me all about her day. I've learned that the less I ask, the more she tells me. She said she had gym class and described the game that they played (kind of like a meet-the-class game where you say something you like and the rest of the students that also like that object, run to the nearest cone. She said she liked pickles.). She has oodles of friends in her 3rd grade class, having made new BFF's each year. Throughout the evening she mentioned lots of names of children she talked to, played with and sat next to. As for learning, they're working on cursive: letters t and i. She proudly wrote them in her daily planner and had me sign my name to prove that we looked at it together. Her school is striving for student independence and ownership....I'm gonna like this :)

When asked the following questions, here are her answers as we start the new year:

I'm 8 1/2 years old

I want to be an: artist

My favorite food is: donuts

My best friends are Danielle and Kailey

As for Sidney, she had a mock first day on the Tuesday after Labor Day. More like a one hour orientation where she got to spend time in her classroom, organize her school supplies in her cubby and meet a few classmates (not everyone goes at the same hour). She was nervous, but more just unhappy that I didn't let her wear flip-flops to school and other students wore them. Such a bad mommy. I spent most of that hour meeting with the principal, PTA president and school nurse. We spent the rest of the day together at home, reading books, playing games like Hi Oh Cherry Oh. She helped me clear out flowers and put things into the attic. I'm going to miss this helper of mine as she ventures into the real world of school. 

At night before bed, we read 3 more books: one about Kindergarten, and the other two heart wrenching books: Someday and If I Could Keep You Little. Why do I do this to myself!? The girls hate those 2 books, because they make me cry. And they hate to see mommy cry. Such sweet girls.

Her "real" first day was Wednesday; and again, she was upset that she had to wear tennis shoes. When we explained that she might have gym and needed gym shoes on, she tried telling us she would just go find Regan and have Regan tie her shoes. Sorry kiddo, that's not going to work. She obliged and wore tennis shoes.

I was disappointed that her first day of school had rainy weather and we couldn't do our traditional pictures, so we had to go out back and take them under shelter. But they will work. 

After some photos, we all walked in together to her new school. She found her hook for her backpack, took out her lunch and waterbottle (she changed her mind early this morning and wanted home lunch on her first day. I obliged because there was just so much new to her, I felt she needed control of at least this one thing). We gave a few quick hugs, took one last picture, and into her classroom she went, briefly waving to us. We peaked in after her.

There were no tears. No looking back.

Just excitement as she wandered around her classroom searching for her table spot with her name. Which meant there really were no tears for us either. She's brave, that girl. As I drove away with Lincoln to his daycare, tears welled up in my eyes as I thought about how much growing she will do over this next school year. I'm telling you, speaking from experience with Regan, the things that these kids learn and do over the next 9 months is simply amazing. And I'm so excited for all that she will learn. But secretly, I just want to hold tight to this little girl who is growing up so fast!

When asked the following questions, here are her answers as we start the new year:

I'm almost 6 years old (birthday next week)

I want to be a teacher

My favorite food is: cucumbers and mommy's home made lemon poppyseed muffins

My best friends are Natalie and Madilyn (neither of which attend her new elementary school).

And today, when I picked her up after school she announced "I like Kindergarten!" and quickly followed with "I'm excited to go back tomorrow". 

We all just breathed a big ol' sigh of relief. 

Labor Day weekend-2014

Labor day weekend we did a little "lake living" again; it's been about 8 or 9 years that we have held this tradition. And it's probably our favorite weekend of the year; not one of us can tell you our most favorite part....because I think all of it is our favorite part. Each minute of each day, we have a great time just hanging out in/around the water. 

This year again we went with my parents, Uncles Ben and Jon, my cousin and her family with 2 young girls and my aunt/uncle to Idlewilde Resort on Lake Osakis. Nothing glamorous, in fact, it's anything but. However, it's less than a 2 hour drive and provides some great entertainment. 

The cabins are set just up the hill from the lake. The docks are wobbly (though several have been replaced) and walking on them gives everyone the heebie jeebies. The kiddos love spending hours on them :) 

And as long as my cousin's husband-Shane or grandma Jan are around, the kids ask to fish.
And fish. 

And fish. 

Off those not-so-glamorous docks. 

Sid was a great fisher-gal, catching a great keeper sunny right off the bat! She squealed and realed and brought in that sunfish for Shane to un-hook (lucky guy!).

There are some amazing sunsets and sunrises off the lake. Thankfully we didn't see any sunrises....which means the kids slept beyond the sunrise each morning!

Tried as I might to make it 3 days without bathing him, I just couldn't do it. And so, little Lincoln had a bath right in the kitchen sink one night. Something my mom used to do with me, and really our only option in this particular cabin (the first night I noticed a nice large mushroom growing in our walk in shower so the girls now call it the "mushroom shower"; not to mention it was much too small for me to hold him while showering). 

The girls scored the biggest Mr. Freeze we had ever seen at the local gas station.
Seriously it was 1/3 of the size of Sidney's height! And wouldn't you know it, she ate the whole darn thing.
I didn't even get one bite.

Lincoln seemed to be very at home the entire weekend. He happily slept most of the car ride there and partially back (not like that middle sister who whined "I'm hungry" "I'm tired" "I gotta pee" "I'm bored" for two full hours). He ate great, trying new foods and eating a lot of table food. He napped wonderfully in the cabin, and we were mighty thankful for that (thanks to a big box fan to drown out any noise) and he played all day outside with the rest of us. 

 He sat on the golf blanket, surrounded by toys and eager to pet my cousin's puppy when he came around. It was lazy days at it's finest as we watched the world around us and soaked in some fun belly laughs.

And he waved at each and every boat one afternoon.
Each. And. Every.

They'd cruise along past and he would wave and wave and wave. Sadly a ride in the boat for him means a really uncomfortable life jacket, so he was much happier just waving as they drove past.

Not the same story for these cuties. They delighted in the fact that Grandma Jan found an awesome deal on a 4 person tube at the end of summer. Thankfully both Grandpas let us use their boats for some rides around the lake throughout the weekend.

SCORE! 

We could hear them from shore screaming "faster!" as the boat went back and forth for 30 minutes at a time. They loved it!

I'm thinking Lincoln was ready for his own ride on a tube....ready to crawl off that blanket :) 

He hasn't quite got the movement part of it down, but he is "moving" so to speak. One lunch, he and I shared the blanket for mealtime. I kept him a few feet away so he wouldn't steal my plate and dump it. By the end of the meal, he had scooted himself all the way over to me and was resting his hands on my lap. So although he's not crawling, he sure is moving. 

It's no tube ride, but the giggles are just the same. And flying through the air with daddy is a lot of fun when you're 10 months old.

The kids know of a park nearby and so we took a couple of walking trips there to get away from the resort for a bit. Regan is strong enough to go around these circle dealio's with ease...ok, maybe not ease, but she has the strength and determination to accomplish them. 

And in Sidney fashion, she was pouting about something during my attempt at a picture. I think she was mad that I let them all come up on "her" rock so I could snap a picture. Oh the things she will need to learn in Kindergarten this week. 

Camp fires each  night are just one of the many loves of the weekend. Who doesn't love sitting around a fire, eating s'mores and making memories? The girls grabbed up some glow sticks, glow wands, glow poop (yes, Regan had glow poop) and had some good giggles around the fire. 

And on our final night, while Sidney whined and complained about her tooth hurting (add that to the list of things she whined about...oh so tired little girl), her Uncle Jon offered to pull that wiggly wiggly tooth. And she let him! One little tug and out it came!! Boy oh boy was she excited the next morning to see that the tooth fairy had found her at the lake; she was mighty worried that the fairy wouldn't know where she was. And after looking under her pillow and finding a handwritten card and $5 she announced "I love the tooth fairy!". (note: her adult tooth happened to be growing in behind the baby tooth so we were pleased as punch to learn she wouldn't need it pulled by the dentist; only Dentist Jon! She, however, exclaimed "my big tooth didn't move up like you said" immediately after the tooth came out. Here she thought that the adult tooth was going to instantly move into place; oh how we wish!)

Lincoln seemed to be smiling no matter what we were doing, including packing up to leave for home. Even in the midst of a power outage at 9:30pm when we were putting the kids to bed, he smiled and went with the flow. It was pitch black in the cabin! Like dark as dark. And he never made a peep. Someone sarcastically mentioned during our vacation "don't you wish you had a happier baby; geez, he's so grumpy and crabby all the time", because he is anything but. He might just be the happiest baby on the planet! 

Seeing Uncles Ben and Jon are always a lot of fun. They fished their hearts out in the early morning hours and caught many o fish this time around; making a trip from DC well worth their while! Oh, and they get to see their sweet nieces and nephew too :) 

Regan and Sidney had to share a bed for the weekend; something we completely discourage on any other trip. But at the lake, they are outside from morning til night and totally on the move. So night time rolls around, and they crash...hard. Normally Regan will read for 30-60 minutes each  night, but not here. She was simply too tired to keep her eyes open. 

I chuckled one night as I went in to check on them and noticed Regan sprawled out over Sidney who had a very small fraction of the bed. 

They are so adorable, quietly sleeping all snuggled together. 

Whenever I couldn't locate Regan, I would immediately look on the dock, and she was usually there. Fishing. That girl loves it like no other! Ryan smiled and said he wished he wouldn't have stopped fishing because now, having so many years without it, he wants nothing to do with it. He's bored sitting on the dock, he's grossed out putting on minnows/worms and he certainly doesn't want to unhook anything! Kuddos to Regan for loving it so much, and for having the patience to sit and take in the beauty of it all. 

She's convinced Grandma Jan that she can handle a bigger fishing pole, so I would have to imagine that I know one Christmas present that Regan will be getting :) And she is so ready for a big kid fishing pole!

A huge THANK YOU to Grandma Jan and Papa for yet another wonderful Labor day weekend at the lake. 

Until next year.....

End of an era

Three days/week, Sidney has spent the last 4 1/2 years at her "home away from home" while we were at work. She was about this age when she started her journey with New Horizon. And throughout that journey, she met some amazing friends and was cared for by some loving caregivers. 

Today, we said 'goodbye', one final time. 

And it broke my heart a little. 

I cannot tell you how much she loves these classmates. Many of them, having known her since infancy. These kiddos grew up together. 

They shared more than crayons and books.

They also shared boyfriends and laughter. 

Smiles and tears. 

And as we walked out this afternoon, after saying our final goodbyes, I'm caught with tears flowing down my cheeks knowing my baby is growing up. 

It's the end of an era. 

Next stop: Kindergarten

Toothless

A very exciting day has come for our sweet Sidney. She lost her very first tooth! Not too long ago she first showed us that wiggly thing, actually claiming to have TWO wiggly things. We reminded her that it's ok to eat (and swim and play and sleep) with a loose tooth. Then we reminded her that although it would bleed, it wouldn't really hurt when she lost her tooth. (Five year olds can be such nervous little beings and Sid is no different). So she wiggled. And wiggled. And wiggled. She had a dental cleaning this past week where her dentist informed me that she did, in fact, have two loose teeth! Going on to say her guess is the second will be about 3 weeks behind the first. However, she warned us it could pop out this week, or be another YEAR! So we weren't really expecting a visit from the tooth fairy this week! I got a big surprise last weekend when Ryan was out of town golfing. The girls piled in my bed to sleep and at 4am, Sidney taps my shoulder giving me a toothless grin and showing me her tooth laying in her tiny 5 year old hand. She was beaming with excitement! She asked if she should put the tooth under her pillow...um, not at 4am sweetie! She was so proud that she went to wake Regan and share her news, thankfully I stopped her before she tapped her shoulder too! 

Congratulations Sidney! 

We are so proud of you! 

Preschool Graduation '14

Another preschool graduation is in the books for our family. Two down, one to go. And trust me, I'm not rushing on that next graduate. He can take his sweet time turning 5! 

Isn't she the most precious thing in her cap and gown?! She was beyond proud of herself. 

Sidney was adorable as can be singing songs like "Kindergarten here we come!" and a tune with the lyrics telling the kids to "make new friends, and keep the old". Because oh my, has she made some great friends. 

 She has been going to this "school" aka daycare center, since she was 4 months old. That's a long long time when you're only 5! She has made some incredible relationships and grown exponentially. The director/instructors put together a slide show of pictures, set to music that made this mama cry, displaying these kiddos from babies to toddlers to preschoolers. Oh talk about a tear jerker! 

She talks about her friends everyday. And by everyday, I really do mean EVERYDAY! It's incredible. We hear story after story (though I'm convinced that many of them are made up) about adventures and friendships. 

This past year, she was in the "High-Five" classroom. Her teacher really got to know her as there were only 10-14 kids in the class on any given day. It was wonderful for us to watch her come home with pictures, lessons and exciting stories about things they were learning about. She's pretty excited to spend the summer with Miss M too, as this summer means field trips for these High-Fivers! 

The grandparents came back up to join us for this wonderful event and showed Sidney their support by cheering (and crying) in the audience too. 

 And don't worry, these two knuckle-heads were present too; they solved all of the world's problems from their seats in the audience while the rest of us snapped pictures of all the graduates. 

Congratulations Sidney! We are so proud of you and cannot wait to see what Kindergarten has in store for you!
We love you!!