Happy 2nd Birthday Lincoln!

We celebrated the littlest of the bunch this week as he went from one to two! It was a Wednesday, so I took the day off from work to spend it with him. The girls announced that morning they were "taking the day off school" too. Sidney went so far as to tell me she already called in. Ha! Nice try kiddos. 

He woke up to a room full of presents, and with a lot of coaxing from the girls, he opened them one at a time. 

By far, his favorite, was this 4 wheeler that is just his size. 

After we dropped the girls off at school, we headed over to Choo Choo Bob's Train store/play area to explore. They have 10 train tables for the kids to play around and another 2 with automatic trains constantly going around and around. 

He played for over an hour, going up and down the tracks. 

To say he was in his glory is an understatement! 

And how could I deny the birthday boy a new locomotive engine on his special day! 

We went out for dinner, where he sat next to Sidney and had his arms all over her. I wish I had a picture, because it was so adorable. He ate much of his meal with his right arm draped over her shoulder; and it was so sweet that she let him climb all over her throughout the meal. 

Dessert waited for us at home. With egg/dairy and peanut allergies on his list, he'll never taste a dessert from a restaurant. I baked a crazy cake; a total blast from the past remembering my own mom having made it when we were kids. That beauty is vegan, and pretty darn tasty! 

Happy birthday Lincoln! 

You are loved more and more everyday! 

At 2 years old:
* naps 2-3 hours/day and sleeps overnight 10-11 hours (8pm-6 or 7am).
* eats great at some meals and terrible at others; and many meals, wants to sit on my "slap" aka: my lap. I oblige, because as I say, he will not ask to sit on my lap til he's 18, guaranteed. (they grow up way too fast)
* plays with trains, trucks, balls and stuffed animals, sometimes preferring to be on his own, other times preferring someone to play with him
* sleeps with his rear end high up in the air, and seeing his toes peak out from underneath is the most adorable sight
* says many many words, and is starting to string them together in 2-3 word sentences
* asks "why" to everything, knowing I think it's cute.
* loves to be outside, and really likes to go on a bike ride in the bike trailer where he giggles when he points to my back side and says "poopy"
* which leads me to potty training: the boy is ready. But he is stubborn! We are going for it....stay tuned.
* knows how to operate the iPad or our iPhones, swiping his fingers across the screen to get to his destination. Mostly he watches YouTube train videos or the home videos saved to our phone
* sadly hasn't been sleeping well and we discovered more fluid in his ears at today's doctor visit. Ryan's convinced he'll need tubes for years (note: the second set are at least partially in place still; one side is not in view due to the fluid currently).
* weighs 28 lbs and is 34 1/4 in, putting him in the 55% for both. Our chunky monkey is averaging out!

Off to the races

 We have a thing about the kids learning how to swim. And not just a "survival" swim mode, but learning how to swim correctly, and for distance. There are so many reasons behind this: good exercise, lifelong skill, we have an inground pool, etc.
Within this requirement, is swimming lessons. When Regan was little, we tried various programs, and ultimately, settled in on Foss because their methods worked well, and worked quickly. What took them 8 weeks in another school, took 1 class with Foss. No brainer. 

With this 'school', comes some opportunities for fun swim meets.
Sidney asked to sign up, and I obliged. 

And then, on the day of the meet, she fussed and whined that she didn't want to go. 

No my dear, we do not quit. 

Honestly, the girl was fussing as we drove. She didn't want to do it. She was nervous. She didn't want to be the only girl.
And so I promised her that if she didn't like it, she never had to sign up for another meet. 

Well, in true Sidney fashion, she hopped into the pool and swam her heart out in 3 races: front crawl, backstroke and breaststroke. 

In the end, she walked away with 3 first place finishes! 

She giggled as she showered, beamed as she changed back into her clothes, and as we sat down for dinner to celebrate, announced "THAT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!"

I think it's safe to say that she is hooked! 

Congrats Sidney :) 

Birthday eve

Tonight, we reminisce over the last year (or two) with our sweet Lincoln. I can't help but do a little reflecting on the days that led up to his birth. Our little baby was cozy (and big) and had zero intentions of coming out on his own. No matter what we did, he wasn't about to budge and was only getting bigger. 

My mom snapped this picture the evening before he was born. When I felt that I could hardly move any longer and had resorted to resting my water cup on my big round belly. Where it would stay provided he didn't kick!

We are all very thankful that we decided to schedule his birth, because once my water broke (already in the hospital), he came out within 45 minutes. My sweet nurse (who happened to have once worked with me on my unit at the hospital) kept begging me to wait for the doctor! He came out purple, but we were assured over and over that it was only bruising because of his quick delivery. The unedited version of this picture looks twice as bad as this one below, he was really really purple!  

But oh so sweet! 

And now, just two short years later, he is a: 

wild

rambunctious

energetic

sweet

snugly

adorable

funny

loving

toddler! 

I'm lucky enough to have him all to myself on his 2nd birthday tomorrow (I made up my own law long ago that we shouldn't have to work on our kids' birthdays)! The presents are ready and I'm ready to love him up all day :) 

Happy birthday eve Lincoln! 

Star of the week

This sassy girl is pretty excited to go to school this week, because she's the Star of the Week! 

She was bouncing off the walls with giddiness on Friday afternoon. Turns out, it was a pretty awesome day. So awesome that she asked me "mom, do you ever have one of those really good days?" Friday was her day. 

She earned yet another White Tiger ticket at school for being responsible. 

And then at the all school rally, her name was drawn (she had lots of chances given the number of White Tiger tickets that she had in the pot) as the winner.

And then she finds out that it's her turn to be Star of the Week and is handed her poster to fill out over the weekend. 

It was a great day! 

Here's a close up of her poster that she finished Friday evening. She is so excited to show her friends at school! 

MN Largest Candy Store

Each fall, we make a stop at Minnesota's Largest Candy store. When we started doing everything fall related, the girls asked when we were going to the candy store. It warms my heart that they love all of the traditions we have started with this little family of ours. 

My favorite part is always the rows and rows of pumpkins which create a wonderful photo op. We were a little worried they wouldn't have many seeing as though it's only 1 week from Halloween, but this place never disappoints. 

Once we ventured inside, we nearly lost the girls in a sea of candy. We had to help them pick out some hard to find candy like Big League Chew and candy cigarettes :) Yes, we bought them. This mama's boy clung onto my hip which was fine by me making the visit much more enjoyable. He loved all of the decorations more than the candy! We bought lots of root beer, peanut logs, beef jerky, a funnel cake (to make our own!) and candy, candy, candy! 

Pumpkin carving

It's been all things fall around here lately. We've scoped out various fall events in our jeans and sweatshirts, had our first first fire in our fireplace (and proceeded to schedule a chimney sweeping realizing it's been a while), and this weekend, carved pumpkins. 

The girls knew we would be carving pumpkins after Lincoln's nap and as much as they begged to get started without him, we sure are glad that we waited. Seeing his precious face as he dug into his pumpkin was simply precious. 

At first he peeked inside, gently placed his hand amongst the "sakes" (ie: snakes) and quickly pulled it out saying "ewww. ewww. ewww". 

Didn't take him long and he was inside of that thing playing with the guts and pulling out seed after seed. 

Both of the girls took a stab at actually carving this year. Regan did her entire pumpkin on her own, and Sidney managed to get through about half before tiring out. They had so much fun and are so very proud of their work (have to wait a bit to see their final projects). 

I baked the seeds in two batches this year, one for Lincoln, and one for the rest of us. I think it's safe to say that he enjoys eating a few seeds here and there, but his preference by far, was when they came nice and warm fresh out of the oven. 

Happy Fall! 

Videos

Lincoln is catching on verbally and expressing himself in ways that I often can't describe without a video. The other day, I asked him what he wanted for a snack....and his response was that of a teenager. Listen for yourself: 

https://youtu.be/g8vIjPHVV4E

Is it bad that my favorite part of the video is his (fake) blown kisses to my "I love you". And my second favorite part is that he suddenly disappeared because he tripped on his own feet at the end. Toddlers are incredibly uncoordinated and our little guy ranks right up there when it comes to stumbling on himself. 

He's also learned how to softly ask "why" to every darn request/statement/comment that is made. Now I could find this mildly irritating (and eventually I probably will), but currently, I think it's the most adorable sound. And he knows it. You can see it in his smile that he knows he's cute. 

https://youtu.be/j3G96ewxOBI

And as for spitting out every bite of an apple?, yea that's his latest act. Talk about irritating! It's a mess. I feel like Hansel and Gretel with his trail of Apple bites! 

Oh how I love you Lincoln! 

Apple Jack's Orchard

Every year we scope out a local apple orchard to visit. We've seen a lot of them in the area but each one seems to have something fun and special about them. This year, after reading reviews and asking around, we took our time deciding which one to visit before landing ourselves in Delano at Apple Jack's. 

It did not disappoint one bit!
We started out with a little lunch, some yummy homemade mac n cheese, a beer brat for Ryan and dear Lincoln was content with his brought-from-home safe lunch. 

We checked out the grounds and took some time for a photo op before heading to the activities. 

 Although I don't love these corn pits, they are becoming more popular by the year and the kids all seem to LOVE them. My dislike comes not only from the germs (think about it people, I scooped out handfuls of corn from Lincoln's diaper and many more went in and back out again...gross), but also because one day a while back Ryan commented "I wonder how many mice are living at the bottom of that thing". 

So, yea.
That's gross. 

Back to the fun: Lincoln had so much fun picking up corn, filling his pail, dumping it on himself and starting all over again. 

There wasn't a fancy swing or a big slide like those we have seen in the past. But somehow, a pit filled with corn is super fun for our kiddos! 

I felt better when the girls were nearby because they did a good job at keeping the crazy folks out of Lincoln's way. There were tons of people (adults included) who thought wrestling next to Lincoln was a good idea. Thank goodness for big sisters! 

The girls each took their hand at the apple cannon, something they have never tried before. They enjoyed shooting apples across a field, though neither came anywhere near the target. Ryan kept reminding them both to "keep your hands off the gun!" when the guys were loading apples...cuz that would've been awful!

I was excited to plop Lincoln into this little cow train. And it did not disappoint. He rode it more than once and no matter what employee was driving, they went FAST and he giggled and loved it the whole time! 

We took a family tractor wagon ride that probably proved to be everyone's favorite part. Silly how that happens. There's all sorts of fun kid activities, and then at the end, when we asked their favorite parts, both of the girls said the wagon ride!...and maybe the giant cookie they devoured while I lagged behind with Lincoln. 

Here's to checking off another classic fall family event!

MEA week

Our kiddos are blessed with 3 extra days off at MEA each year (somehow our schools didn't get the message that MEA is only 2 days). I opted to take off work to spend some extra time with them this week. We all know that life can run more smooth when there's an activity in place for the day, so I had a few options in mind. 

We made an impromptu visit over to Stillwater one morning. I text Ryan a picture and he replied "where are you!?". 

Stillwater has this really fun park-Teddy Bear Park, with several sculptures of bears but even more fun places to play and explore. 

Lincoln loved the slides. Over and over he would say "side" (add an L). He had a great time climbing the stairs and sliding down again. 

 The park is basically carved out of this wall of rock.
Seriously. 

How cool! 

I had to take a picture from the distance to show just how massive the rock/hill is. Regan helped Sidney up and then back down again, all the while, they were solving the world's problems as they climbed. I loved listening to them :) 

Nothing tops this hair-do, with too many trips down the slide and standing up tall from electricity! 

I couldn't drive all the way to Stillwater and not take in the river. Despite the wind, the kids were all up for a walk along the river and a few photo ops. 

(don't get too worried mom, I'm sure Sidney was never close to falling in as she leaned way over.....)

We saw several families getting professional pictures taken. What a great location for family pictures! The old historic buildings nearby, the water, the trees, it was beautiful!

I need to just pause and remember this phase we are in. Lincoln is the master snuggler. I mean, nothing compares. Each evening, just around dinner time, if I have the opportunity to lay down on the couch, he will climb up on me and just snuggle, watching the bustle around him. I wish I could take the time more often, but there are hungry kids and homework to be done, but I'm sure getting better at taking a few minutes to snuggle. Because this phase will not last forever! 

We opted to spend another day at Como Conservatory/Zoo. 

The girls are growing tired of this, but they agreed and were reminded that Lincoln hasn't been to the zoo nearly as many times as them. 

And gosh darn, aren't they cute in that sunken garden!

Ryan was totally bummed that he couldn't come along; seeing as though it was feeding time and these fellas are his ultimate favorite! 

It was quite chilly around the zoo and we were all bundled up as we walked from building to building; all of the animals had been moved inside due to the overnight temps. 

This guy does not care one bit about cooler temps! He was playing in the water, climbing out and jumping in, and swimming up close to the window. We loved the show he was putting on!

I love finding adventures around town with these three in tow! 

Fall photo shoot 2015

Every year, since Regan was 1, we have sought out a local park which holds my most favorite tree in the whole metro area. The thing is spectacular. The colors it produces are out of this world, vibrant and beautiful. Sometimes we catch it too soon, other years almost too late. This year, I had a very close eye on it, especially over the last 10 days. The first time we visited, it was still bright green! Much too early. The next was a quick drive by, and the girls were giddy because we could see some changes. 

So today, after work, my  mom and the kiddos met me at the park so we could capture some pictures on a beautiful fall afternoon. 

And our favorite tree, was perfect golden yellow. You can't see it on this picture, but the tip was red. And between the two colors, it was orange. I'm telling you, this thing is a beauty!

The park in general is probably 4 city blocks square and just filled with trees. This year, they seem to be changing colors at an odd pace, all of them on their own schedule. Historically, they would all be changing pretty close to one another. But today, some of the leaves are still green, while others are brown or bare. 

The girls are quite used to this photo shoot op and were very cooperative today, and I was in love with their impromptu "here mom!".  

Lincoln did great too. I have probably 50 pictures from our afternoon and their reward was a trip under the canopy of trees over to the playground. I'm pretty sure Lincoln was checking out the local traffic and "trucks" while I tried to take this picture. Oh this boy and his trucks! 

Here is a picture from every year 2007-2015 all in the exact same location.

the memories; those kiddos are growing up at such a fast pace! 

Sidney's 7th birthday: friend party

Sidney's 7th birthday celebration finally came to a conclusion this weekend when she had her "friend" birthday party at a local gymnastics location. She waited a long time before us parents could get our act together, find a free Saturday and line it up (sorry Sidney!). When your birthday falls within 10 days of the start of a new school year, it's a little more complicated to schedule a birthday party. 

Lucky for big sis, she let her (and a friend) tag along for the afternoon. It was a lot of jumping, running, flipping and flopping. Since her party time ran the same as Lincoln's nap, I flew solo for the bulk of the party. I didn't mind running around the gym snapping action shots of the kids. 

I had to giggle at the relay race area when the coach paired up the two sisters against each other and Sidney left Regan in her dust! She bolted right past her, used some excellent technique with her jump into the pit (not too far so she could hustle back out) and then raced back, all the while despite being on the more difficult red side of the track! 

And then later, when coach offered Sidney (and 2 friends) to sit inside the deflated bounce house while it inflated (how fun!), proud mama tears welled in my eyes when the first friend she picked was her big sister! Out of all her friends, she didn't bat an eye as to who she wanted to pick first. 

The best part about having your birthday at this specific gymnastics location is that you get to do THIS. 

Sidney talked about this part of her party for weeks ahead of time. She was so excited and told coach to get her super high and there was no fear of heights for her. 

High up into the sky she went! Soaring above her friends as they sang happy birthday to her while she went for a quick swing: back and forth, with a big smile stretched across her face! 

The kids got to enjoy part of the party with free play. I loved watching all of the kids tumble and jump through their play, laughing and smiling and having a great time.
Sidney always loves the beam so she spent some of her time pacing and perfecting a few moves. 

Although Regan hasn't been in gymnastics in at least a year, she started doing cartwheels off the diving board this summer and translated that into the beam. To say I was impressed in an understatement. All of the rest of the girls were much too nervous to attempt such a move, but she climbed right up and dismounted with a cartwheel. 

Way to go Regan! 

After play time ended, it was time for cake and presents. Sidney was in pure little girl heaven surrounded by her friends who came to celebrate her big day. We are so thankful for their friendship and so happy that she finally had her celebration! 

Happy 7th Birthday sweet Sidney!