Thanksgiving and a snowfall

Living in Minnesota, we never quite know what to expect for weather around Thanksgiving. There have been years when it is bitter cold and miserable, one (not terribly long ago) where we wore sweaters and ran around outside, and then there was this year: snow. 

Yep, a beautiful pretty snow came down just enough to make a mess of the roads and allow the kids to go outside and explore. 

Lincoln pitched a complete fit when we tried to put his snowpants on. And the boots?, that was worse! He downright refused his new winter coat and insisted on his (much too small) jacket from last year. But eventually, he ventured outside with Regan and Sidney and had a complete blast playing in the snow. 

The best thing about having three kids, they have each other! And goodness do they love to play together. 

Oh we have plenty of fights, I'm not painting an all rosy picture!

But when things are just right, they are exactly just right.  

We spent Thanksgiving at home with family. All of the grandparents made the trek through the snow and we even had Hope with us (love that girl!). 

I neglected to take very many pictures as I was busy cleaning and cooking but we sure have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. 

And at the end of the night, after everyone had gone home and we were getting ready to bring Hope home, I turned the corner to find Lincoln snuggled up by the fire, flipping through my phone. I'm positive he was watching videos of himself, or YouTube videos of trains. 

No doubt that I'll get a picture of him exactly like this in another 14 years. 

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Giving thanks

This Thanksgiving, we have so much to be thankful for. So very much. This was one of those weeks where I reflect on our health and am forever grateful. I can't even put into words how thankful. 

I looked back on all of our Thanksgivings as parents and was reminded that it was Regan's first Thanksgiving that she took her first steps! Oh how I remember the excitement in her (and our) face! 

A lot has happened between 2006 and now. Most importantly, two more beauties have joined our family to make us complete. As this Thanksgiving season is upon us, we say thanks for all that we have. 

Life: Happiness and Health

With working (nearly) full time and 3 young children, sometimes it's all we can do to stay afloat. I wrestle with being "good enough" both at home and at work. Knowing there is always more to be done on both fronts: an extra hour at the hospital could wrap up a lot of work, but the loss of an hour with the kids is time I will never get back. The house needs tending to, my car looks like a bag of pretzels exploded inside and the kids are begging for some attention. And by the time they go to bed, we both crash on the couch in pure exhaustion. This is life. I've read a lot of inspirational pieces lately, but a few have hit home. One (which I don't have a copy of), told me to stop looking for the next milestone/opportunity, and instead, enjoy the current moment. Boy are we trying hard to do just that. Not looking for what next week or next month has in store, but swallowing up the time we have right now. Enjoy it to the fullest. 

The second was this letter, because it really is funny and matches our lives exactly right now (I've shortened/edited it a bit): 

"Dear Toddler Mom,

There are smushed Cheerios on the seats of your car.  You went to work with a Donald Duck sticker on your rear end…and didn’t find it until this evening when you were cooking dinner. 

The tantrums are at a whole new level.  How dare you turn on { garbarge trucks }, when he clearly wanted { trains }?  I mean, he asked for "ucky", but don’t you read minds?  Also, he wanted chicken nuggets for dinner- no, wait, now he wants pizza.  Or cookies.  No cookies!  Stop it, mommy.  Apple juice, please?  Is avocado a fruit or a vegetable?  Doesn’t matter, that’s all he’ll eat for dinner anyway.  Did he just throw the apple juice on the floor?  And these are just the tantrums that we can semi-explain.

What about the tantrum on the way to the park the other day?  When you had to carry a flailing screaming toddler all the way home?  You had no idea what caused it, but you were sure someone would stop you and accuse you of kidnapping that poor little guy.  Actually, you wished they would have.  Maybe the nice officer would give you a ride home.  Or just turn on his siren – that should distract him, right?

The laundry you just folded is now artfully strewn across the floor.  You can’t remember the last time you used the restroom without fingers sticking under the door or someone yelling “Moooommmmmmmyyyyyyy” through the door.  Is there a wine delivery service in town?

I know today seems hard.  But soak it up.  Because one day you’ll wish for these days back.  Someday you’ll shed a tear thinking about the little hands that were “helping” with the laundry.  You’ll miss the hours spent dancing to  music.  Crashing cars off the edge of the couch.  Plus, think of all the calories you burned carrying a thirty pound resisting child home.  Definitely enough for a margarita, right?

Soak it up.  Sing “Let It Go” at the top of your lungs.  Run in circles around the house.  Have a wine break as necessary.  It’ll all be okay.  Bedtime is near.

You’ve STILL got this, momma." 

Reading that, talking to friends, it all helps. The girls are older and how quickly we forgot just how different having a toddler is. But I just know we will miss it when this phase is over. So we're hanging on for dear life! 

The last piece, I stumbled upon and it resonated hard with my own line of work. The stuff that happens inside the walls of the hospital, it's tough. Day in and day out, we are faced with scenarios and problems that are sometimes unexplainable. They're sad and emotional; but they make me so very grateful for the health of my family. Something taken for granted all too often. 

"Truth be told, happiness is not the absence of problems, but the ability to deal with them. Imagine all the wondrous things your mind might embrace if it weren’t wrapped so tightly around your struggles. Always look at what you have, instead of what you have lost. Because it’s not what the world takes away from you that counts; it’s what you do with what you have left." 

A great reminder for this month of thanksgiving. 

An early Thanksgiving

We celebrated an early thanksgiving this weekend as Ben/Jon were able to be in town. Ben made a mess out of our kitchen but created a wonderful meal for us all to enjoy Saturday evening. He worked the day away, while the rest of us took Lincoln to his very first movie theater experience (I got the most giddy when they told me the popcorn was made with cottonseed oil...no butter!). Lincoln sat patiently for an entire hour before he started to get restless. Not bad. And he felt like such a big boy attending a movie with his older sibs!

From the get-go on Friday, Lincoln took a liking to Jon and insisted he play with him, change him, and help get him snacks throughout the entire weekend. Lucky for us, Jon obliged and played trains, trucks, danced, watched YouTube videos all with Lincoln by his side! 

Of course, whenever Hope comes around, the girls are all over her. We played a few rounds of Twister before it was on to some made up game of charades (that somehow even I got suckered in to!). We laughed so hard at our ineffective attempts to act out words and squealed for joy when someone guessed it correctly! 

Love this extended family of ours and the fact that we got to spend some time together in the spirit of Thanksgiving. I know how thankful we are to have each other, and it's safe to say the kiddos are thankful for them too (I snuck a peek at Regan's reflection journal for school tonight and Regan wrote about her meal and how much she enjoyed it!).  

We spent Sunday at Minihaha exploring and showing everyone a place we love so very much. 

While we waited for the rest of the crew to pick up some coffee, we played around at the park. Ryan and I chuckled at these little teeter-totters....with rubber tires on the ground below to prevent a big THUD. 

"back when we were kids...."

We were lucky that Regan climbed up here before Grandma Jan showed up! She might not have appreciated those heights as much as Regan does :)  

Eventually we made our way over to the falls and headed down to hike around. Lincoln did plenty of walking around (which made for a nice nap later in the day), including down 100 stairs....Regan may have counted :) 

It's no secret, that we love this place. The pictures are stunning and all of us just love to explore all of the nature around. 

Disclaimer: I took a LOT of pictures! 

(we're missing Hope who had to work all morning)

Thankful this November for quality time with family! 

Elmo Party

Some days it feels like birthdays last several weeks, and Lincoln's fell into this category as we finally held his Elmo party today. He was pretty excited to see the Elmo balloons come home with us from the party store! 

There were presents and presents and more presents for our favorite 2 year old. Harlow was a good helper as she showed Lincoln just how to rip off that paper. She was patient and very sweet with him! Then he lost interest and Grandma Sheri opened the rest! 

I've always loved picking out the kid's birthday cakes (usually with some input from the kids when they are old enough), but with Lincoln, the responsibility to bake and decorate the cake falls totally on me.
And I don't like it one bit. 

If these allergies persist, I'll be enrolling in some cake decorating classes..... 

Good thing he could care less what it looks like (it really wasn't that terrible; and the pinata effect was pretty darn cool). He was thrilled to see Elmo on top and even happier that he could eat it. All if it. Without a fear or being given an Epi afterwards. 

This boy of ours loves when we sing Happy Birthday to him-just look at that smile! 

After a couple of rounds of "happy birthday" and his best efforts at blowing out the candles, I started cutting/plating the cake. Regan was taking orders of cake/ice cream and skipped right over our birthday man on accident. Kari caught him, sitting like this, waiting patiently for his piece of cake and coconut ice cream. 

Thankfully, the smile reappeared as he finally was served his piece. 
Thank you to all who helped us celebrate! 

Happy 2nd Birthday Lincoln!
We love you! 

I make a slideshow every year for the kids' birthdays, something I've been doing since Regan turned 1 and just now, have I realized how to upload them to the blog. Click HERE to view Lincolns 2nd year. 

Flashback videos

I found this video searching for something on my computer. I simply couldn't resist to post it. This girl kills me! Her shaky butt, and the way she was telling Grandma Sheri to go sit down is hilarious!

Happy flashback to circa 2010: Sidney's first dance recital.

Halloween 2015

Trick or treat has come and gone. Though we are into November, this tease of summer weather has me begging for July again! 

We prepped for Halloween by carving pumpkins...lots of them. The girls did great helping and here are a few of our finished products. 

The Friday before Halloween was the Harvest parties at school. With 2 in school, it means 2 separate parties at the exact same time (our school does all parties on the same day, at the same time). As lovely as that sounds, it means I can't be in 2 places at one time. And so, I have to alter my days volunteering in each class and then ensuring someone is around to watch Lincoln. Because let's be honest, adding him to the mix of chaos at school would prove disastrous! This time it was Sidney's turn to have me. I loved seeing her interact with her new (and some old) friends. 

Sidney and Emma

I arrived a tad early to help all those first graders get ready so when they were prepped and ready, I dashed over to Regan's class for a quick photo op. 

These girls are just fabulous. And their parents have become friends to us. 

Because it takes a village....

Josie, Abigail, Addyson, Regan, Kaitlyn and Becca

After a quick parade around the school, it was time to start the parties. Sidney took her hand at bowling, but first, Mr A had to chuckle and remind her to throw underhand! Our little softball player was winding up with that plastic pumpkin....

Here is her wonderful group of first grade friends. 

Once Halloween rolled around, my mom came up to help man the house while we took the kids out trick or treating. Lincoln was terribly unhappy as I put on his Dalmatian costume so I gave him a dum dum ("orje " his favorite) and he quickly cooperated for pictures. We made it about 15 houses before Lincoln asked to go home; eventually I got sad anyway as I realized for every 10 pieces of candy he received, he was able to eat maybe 1. 

Darn allergies.  

He was adorable chasing the girls from house to house, but what surprised us was his concern for "cows" (aka: cars) as we crossed the street all night. He refused to walk along the side of the street (then the next day he darted into our street after a ball without a care in the world!). The girls made a haul as they kept going for another hour. At the end of the night, we dumped the bags into a pile and I think we have enough candy for 6 months!  

 Happy Halloween! 

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!