College friends reunited

Today we hosted a whopper of a pool party and I'm pretty sure that all 30 of us will be sleeping soundly tonight! Each year, we invite a group of my college girlfriends/families for a fun afternoon, and with all the multiplication we have done over the last 16 years, we added up to 30 people this year! The weather was picture perfect. Simply beautiful. 

One angle looked like this often....

and another like this...

The kids pick up where they left off the last time and are instant friends. 

And there were a LOT of friends to play with today! Sixteen little tykes ranging from 4 months to 7 years. Sure kept us parents busy this afternoon! Thankfully the only crisis was a cookie that got dropped into the pool and a little guy who thought it was worth falling into the pool for :) He was swiftly saved; but the cookie?...not so much. 

There were some breaks in the water action and with a toy room stuffed full of dress up, all the girls were in their glory!

Regan and Lucy even ate dinner in their dress up clothes! We had such a big group that it was picnic time for the kiddos, either pool side or grassy patch. And not a one of them complained about not sitting around a table (except possibly those who didn't want to take a break from the water of course). 

This group of gals seem to pick up where we left off last time too. I'm soooo thrilled to have them all in our lives! 

Happy Birthday Hudson

We headed to Hudson's 5th birthday party yesterday and it was an afternoon of Scooby fun! The kids were happy to be chasing around the backyard with Hudson and Paxton and this year, Harlow got to join in the crazy fun. 

Regan turned out to be a great babysitter for Harlow; following her around as she caused trouble and then keeping her out of harms way. 

Sidney enjoyed splashing around with both boys in the kiddie pool. 

Ryan had a little too much fun on the trampoline, he went back to it over and over throughout the day. He and Regan played a game that she learned in gymnastics where he had to bounce her hard and then catch her. Eventually he figured it out. 

Harlow finally convinced her mama to let her into the pool and then Ryan caused her to scream as he bugged and splashed her. 

Sidney and Paxton shared a chair while watching Hudson open his gift. I couldn't resist taking their adorable picture together. 

All the kids took a few whacks at Scooby but eventually the bottom trap door opened instead and out fell the treats! Trouble maker (aka: Ryan) later took a whack at him and decapitated the poor dog. 

Happy 5th Birthday Hudson! 

Thanks for letting us celebrate with you! 

Life lately

in general, we've kept busy. 

Between play dates, birthdays, swimming, gymnastics and all sorts of family fun, it has been a very busy summer.
We're wrapping up the month of June and it is definitely our favorite time of the year. All 4 of us simply L-O-V-E the heat. The more the merrier. We just don't seem to get enough of it in our 3 short months of summer, so when we do, we live it up. 

Updates:
Regan has settled into her summer program routine and is starting to enjoy herself a little more each day. She was overwhelmed at first, but has adjusted well. She's making new friends, keeping some of the old, and learning her new role in her 3 day/week summer schedule. She continues to attend weekly swimming and gymnastics classes and is doing great in both of them. She's working on the butterfly stroke (AMAZING!) as well as handstand-bridge-kick overs. Fun stuff! She is keeping up with some reading this summer (not as much as she should be, I'll admit) and continues to pick out chapter books on our regular library outings. She'd much prefer to watch a movie or the beloved Disney channel and I swear we could drive to Russia and she would be content watching TV the whole way (in her defense, the poor girl gets car sick if she tries reading in the car). 

Sidney is still little Miss Popular in her ongoing preschool program. She has remained with the same core group of children for a very long time. Some of them since infancy. This really is her second family. They love her and she loves them right back. She's told us she is trying to decide which of two boys to marry. Yes, we have our hands full. Depending on the day, she is married to either one of them. This girl cracks us up! She too is participating in swimming lessons and gymnastics classes on a weekly basis. She has mastered swimming across the deep end of our pool without any floatation device; quite impressive to watch her tiny 34 lb body paddle 16 feet without stopping. In order to keep up with the bigger kids, she still puts on a life jacket or grabs a noodle but she's really making some amazing gains. Though she adores her Disney channel like her big sister, she tires quickly and we joke that on a 2 hour drive, we can't make it 10 blocks without her saying she's bored. Makes for some long trips. 

As for us parents, well, we're taking life as it comes these days. I commented to Ryan that with all we have going on in our house right now, we are both handling the summer in a positive manner. Not much rattles us anymore, and while we still have very full weekends (and week nights), we've learned to take things one moment at a time. And it's proving quite helpful for both of us. 

Ryan's loving his new job (something he hasn't ever really been able to say) and is still a goofball in the pool, doing all sorts of "tricks" as he likes to call them. As for me, I'm enjoying my sleepless nights feeling baby kick (the first pregnancy to keep me awake with kicks), multiple trips to the bathroom day and night, and wishing my (other) full time job as social coordinator for this family would pay in dollars :) 

Here's to another two months of fun in the sun! 

Babies everywhere

Roughly two weeks ago, Grandma Sheri sent me this picture while she was babysitting. Three robins eggs in a nest (the fourth showed up the next day). 

 Ryan and I spent one evening this week, reading up on the life cycle of a robin. Boy did we learn a lot, and information we have had fun sharing with the girls. 

Who knew that robins laid eggs one day at a time? For a total of 4 days. 

Who knew the mama robin is the one that sits on them for 12-14 days? 

We read that she turns them several times a day so they don't stick to the side of the egg. Gross. 

And that they peck their own way out of the shell, in the same order that they were laid. 

One egg per day. For a total of 4 days. 

So for the last 2 weeks, we've watched mama sit on her eggs. And if we happen to scare her away (so that I can quickly water the flowers), boy does she give me grief. Squawking and chirping to her male counter-part who, today, nearly took off my head! 

(See him perching on the side?)

It's no wonder he was so ticked off, Ryan had pulled down the basket so we could all take a quick peak at her nest. Gosh those things are ugly, but it was another lesson in the cycle of a robin. 

By this evening, we had 3 baby robins being fed non-stop as mama and daddy robin take turns flying in/out of the nest. They are busy busy birdies! 

Baby Belly #3

Baby is growing and it's showing on the outside. I'm beyond the questionable stage and into the full blown "you are pregnant!" stage. 

I don't have any real complaints while pregnant, never really have. Spent the first 9 weeks feeling like I had just gotten off a roller-coaster every moment of the day, but that has since subsided. I'm loving this warm weather because it means cute skirts and dresses on a daily basis and that means a very comfortable waist. 

Baby does a lot of flips and kicks throughout the day, but more importantly, throughout the night. This is a new experience for me, having never really been woken by a pregnancy (other than bathroom trips). Now I lay awake, smiling at the beauty inside of my belly keeping me awake. Let's just hope it figures out night/day in the next 4 months! 

No major cravings to describe. I really wanted a donut a couple of weeks ago but resisted the urge. Shocking! 

My workout routine has slowed down. I still head to the gym 4 days/week, but instead of busting out a 2-4 mile high paced run and some strength training, per the doctor's orders, I'm lazily going through an easy Elliptical or bike workout. 

Lap swimming in our pool hasn't been something I've been able to participate in. I tried a couple of times but each time I get out of the pool with some belly cramps so until I get the all-clear, I'm holding off on any more laps. 

Here's a progression over the the last 8 weeks: 12, 18 and 20 week pictures. 

The things she says....

...leave us in stitches most days. 

And lately it's been no different. 

We've seen a lot of Uncle Shane lately, a lot. And to say that those two (all 3 if you count Regan) have bonded is an understatement. Both girls adore him. 

The other night, as Ryan and I took the girls out for dinner, Sidney pipes in from the backseat 

"hey daddy?"

Dad: "what's up hon?"

Sid: "Did you eat Uncle Shane?"

Dad: "what?, no I didn't eat Uncle Shane. Why?"

Sid: "Because you sound just like Uncle Shane". 

Just another round of comedy hour around here. 

Ah, the mind of a 4 year old :) 

Love it! 

Father's Day 2013

Father's Day 2013 was a successful one! The sun was shining brightly by 8am and the girls jumped out of bed ready for the day. We let the daddy of the bunch sleep til nearly 10am (he had a late night with Uncle Shane the previous night), and then we all hopped in the warm pool because the air temp was already 82F. Not bad considering the summer we've had. 

We took a mid day break from swimming and, at dad's request, went for a walk around a nearby lake, took some pictures (really the only ones I took all day) and climbed a few trees. 

By then, everyone was hot and ready for more swimming so we headed home and did just that. Ryan mowed the lawn (a necessity after all the recent rain), and jumped in to join us in the warm June air. 

His dinner request was a local "wingie" place where our entire bill was comped due to some crazy happenings throughout the dinner. All in all, it was a wonderful Father's Day and we want to wish our fathers a happy day as well! 

Something's growing around here.

This weekend we took a family picture a top Herman the German in New Ulm. 

A picture of our growing family :) 

It hasn't been easy to hide a pregnancy for the last 20 weeks, and I haven't exactly been successful other than removing most pictures of myself from the blog. 

But the time has finally come, to introduce the blog world to this beautiful baby who will be joining our family around Halloween. We are thrilled and so in love with this new bundle of joy that is doing flips in my belly while I type. 

We learned about this addition back in February. Yes, February! It's been a tough secret to keep :) Sometime around 3 months pregnant, we announced it to the girls. Their reaction is something to write about in another post. In a nut-shell, Sidney jumped up and down screaming "I told you! I told you that you were pregnant!" (somehow she just knew, and had been telling me for several weeks that there was a baby in my tummy). Thankfully the announcement was all caught on camera :) Shortly thereafter, the girls brought my parents both a pink and a blue balloon, and after 5 short seconds, tears fell from my mom's proud eyes. Gotta love it! 

Today we had our regular half-way mark ultrasound. Regan got to join us, while Sidney opted (on her own choice) to stay behind at daycare. Regan paid close attention to all the angles, watching the yawns, and really enjoyed seeing our baby all wrapped up in a ball.
Here you can see the leg, which is actually up against baby's forehead. Curled up in one little ball. 

All of us are in agreement that this 3D shot was our most favorite. Such a gem and we are already so much in love! 

So while this skinny boy gets skinnier (side by side shots of his new/old driver's license)....

This mama is getting bigger!! 

And if you are wondering, no, we didn't find out the gender.
Yes, that was done on purpose. Just following suit from pregnancies of the two girls we already love so much! 

Baby birds

Shane discovered a robin building a nest in one of my hanging baskets last week. We watched as she worked and come Monday, we found these! The girls are in awe at the teal color of the eggs and are looking forward to them hatching. For now, we will keep our distance as mama robin keeps watch.

Congratulations Hope!

My oldest Godchild, Hope, just graduated High School and today, we celebrated her accomplishments! We couldn't have been more excited to spend the afternoon with her, reminiscing all about the last 18 years. I still remember the day this sweet one was born :) And now she ventures off into the land of college. We are so very happy that she will be super close to us and can't wait to see more of her beautiful face! 

She has some dear friends/family who care deeply about her and came through the door today with platters of bars, salads, etc. Her bestie made cupcake after cupcake in Hope's honor-gourmet style. Oh if only I could have tried one of each...but sadly I resisted. 

It's been a lot of fun watching the girls get to know her over the past years. They love her as much as she loves them. 

Since Hope's party was at the local Herman Heights complex, we took full advantage of the sights from atop the statue over looking New Ulm. 

Just moments after this picture, we climbed through the hole at the top, me going last, and the wind took my skirt and pushed it clear up around me waist. Yes, I flashed everyone around....that was fun. 

The views from up high are simply stunning. It really never gets old to me. Thankfully this family doesn't have much of a fear of heights!

Awww, how sweet is this :) 

And guess who showed up to surprise Hope??!...Uncle Ben flew all the way from DC to attend this big event. You know something is a big deal when he finds a way to make an appearance. The shriek of Hope's mom and the bulging eyes of Hope when they first saw him are embedded in my mind :) 

Congratulations Hope! You deserve nothing but the absolute best! 

Weekend with my BFF

Kari and the kiddos came to visit us this weekend, and we couldn't have been more excited to have them! The kids were b-e-g-g-i-n-g to get into the pool on Saturday morning, and although the air temps were barely in the 60's, we were all tired of listening to them whine, so by the time mid-morning rolled around, we caved. Good thing the water temp was toasty warm! 

Boy did they have a great time! I'm not sure we could have fit any more toys into this corner of the pool. 

Sidney herself has become one brave girl: jumping off the edge by herself with just floaties on, sliding down the slide on her own, and then of course, letting ducky take a turn!

Us moms were not nearly as brave as Ryan and the kids, we opted to sit poolside and chat the day away, listening to "mom, watch this!" and "hey mom, look at me!". We had our own little bit of fun dressing up Mr. Ducky in some protective goggle gear. 

And we all cracked up at the sight of Natalie, inside a tube, with floaties on her arms, two noodles behind her, and the arm bell out front. That girl was NOT going to drown! You can barely see her inside that mess of floatable gear!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to Kari, Thomas, Natalie and William for making the trek up and hanging with us all weekend! Can't wait for you all to come again! 

From First to Second

Our toothless, budding first grader has grown and learned and is now a confident second grader! Regan worked very hard this year and managed to get through hours and hours of homework (but not without a LOT of encouragement). Her report card came home with the rest of her year-full of desk items yesterday, and to celebrate her accomplishment, I took the girls for frozen yogurt at our beloved Cherry Berry. When she started first grade back in September, she was apprehensive and nervous about what to expect for the next 9 months. And when she walked out of school yesterday, she bounced with certainty that she had mastered all that was set in front of her this year. We are very proud of who she is becoming and couldn't be more grateful for some amazing teachers/staff at her school. 

Congratulations Regan! 

Welcome to summer, we are so proud of you!! 

Celebrating Ryan

We hosted Ryan's extended family this weekend to celebrate his birthday. It was immediately following Regan's dance recital and she was burning hot from the stage lights and begging to get into the pool. The weather was chilly, but the heater was turned on so the water was warm. In an effort to curb any begging throughout the rest of the day, I totally caved and let them swim. No way I was heading in, but they were in heaven! 

It was short lived because the rain came in, but they were satisfied well enough (for one day) by getting in and having a swim. 

Harlow was mesmerized by that pool and begging to climb in. Left to her own, she would have been sinking swimming  in 2 seconds flat. She splashed her little toes around instead. 

Sidney was happy to have all the family at her house, especially lovely Maddi; because where Maddi is, Nala is sure to follow! Ryan caught wind that Nala might be our visitor for a bit in September....good thing he was distracted because I think I would have gotten an earful otherwise :) The women of this house love that tiny dog, Ryan?, not as much in love. 

And what's a birthday party without cake and candles? Ryan's mom made his favorite German chocolate cake. Even with his weight loss, he couldn't help but indulge in his favorite. 

Happy Birthday Ryan!

Thank you to everyone for coming to celebrate! 

Dance Recital 2013

We gathered up the grandparents today to watch Regan's few minutes of fame on stage. She shines up there and loves every second of performing, showing off her fake smile with her perfect posture. I think she was bummed that her combo class only got to perform ballet for this recital, but she is our gem on stage! She's already talking about taking jazz next year; I think this one likes a faster beat.
Click HERE to watch her dance.
Congrats Regan; we love you!