House reno

We are in the midst of a bit of a renovation around here.....

Emotions are high and the stress is the same. Nothing is where it's supposed to be (fridge is in the dining room, tupperware in a random tote), and feeding this family of 5 has never been so difficult (it's microwave and grilling)!

  

There are so many decisions to be made and not a lot of time to do so. I think I stared at these options for 10 minutes without saying a word (until Lincoln took a flying leap off the counter height table nearby and got my attention quickly!).

All of our "stuff" is crammed into other parts of the house and hiding out in various boxes. It's a giant mess and we are doing our best to hold it together. There are nails and staples requiring shoes on when you need to walk into the kitchen or family room. There is dust everywhere and I'm trying to let it just be for now. We are forever thankful for this beautiful weather so we can get outside to play.

I can't tell you how long I looked at these two pieces of limestone...and Ryan wasn't much help with that decision "I like them both, you pick". Ugh. I had an easier time with the stacked stone than I did the limestone hearth. Only two options and I still couldn't make a decision! 

I commented to one of the workers this past week that doing a kitchen reno with 3 kids is not easy and all he could reply was "I cannot imagine". I know in the end it will look wonderful and we will be so happy to have it in our past, but living through a renovation takes a lot of patience!

Here's hoping to a smooth flooring install tomorrow and the remainder of this week. In a few short weeks we should have our lives back to normal :)

Lincoln-age 3

 

 And just like that this little guy is already 3. How in the world could that be? One friend commented to me on Lincoln's birthday, "it seems like he was just born!". Isn't that the truth. I remember the moment he was born, just like it was yesterday. How quickly he arrived (45 minutes after my water broke!) and the up and down of that delivery where it felt like I might not be awake to see it all unfold (I have some odd interactions with epidurals that we may have forgot to tell anyone in the rush of everything). I remember the exact moment that the door to our room opened and the girls walked in for the very first time, the flood of emotions having our entire family together for the very first time. I remember every detail. And so, yes, it does feel like he was just born; oh how quickly those 3 years have gone.

He continues to touch so many people with his outgoing personality, and cute sweet voice. People will forever comment about his beautiful curly locks and his darkest brown eyes. He has the hearts of almost the entire elementary school and it seems that everyone knows him. He is Mr. Loved, that is for sure. He gets high-fives and 'knucks" from friends, fellow students, teachers and staff. And then there's his most favorite friend (of Regan's), Addyson who gets hugs and kisses. Lucky girl :) 

How do I describe him at 3 years old? Here's a bit of our favorite little boy

* Biggest toy interests: trains, cars, balls.
* Biggest sport interests: hockey, football and watching the girls play "fofball" (softball)
* When he sees/does something he likes, he screams "NICE" only he says it like the way a man would scream at his football team for scoring. It's hilarious! 
* The boy is learning empathy, always concerned when someone gets hurt and quick to offer support. 

* He loves to hop from one foot to the other, slowly and methodically. It's so funny that he belly laughs at himself doing this. 

* He eats his meal and then, when he decides he is done, will take one last bite, chew it up and spit it back out. This little habit needs to stop. Cuz Regan can't stand the sight of it anymore. 

* He still loves his nuk (mostly only at nap or bedtime) and we can't seem to break him of it. I keep reading he will ditch it when he's ready....but I wonder if we should just cut off the tip. There are 1.5 left (one's partially broken) and I refuse to buy more. 

* He plays hard and sleeps hard, still napping 2-3 hours/day. 

* He cannot let me say "I love you" back to him. He has to end with an I love you; it can't come from me. This is a funny dialogue to hear.
* Ryan repeatedly gets hollered at for pulling down the upper sunglasses compartment in the car "no up daddy!".
* The kid is a wiz at our iPhones, iPods and iPads...even has taught me a thing or two.
* He speaks in full sentences, but his listening skills are horrendous. Five thousand times a day he says "what?". Which is met with "Listen Lincoln!", to which he replies "ookkaayyy"
* The boy doesn't know what a fork is used for, nope, he eats like a cave man.
*He loves to show us things that are "koo kiny" aka: too tiny. It's Ryan's favorite saying :)
* He is a spit fire. Fast and fun, always on the go.
* But incredibly sweet, always ready to give a hug or a snuggle.

Love you birthday boy!

Lincoln-birthday eve

Tonight I put to bed our 2 year old for the very last time. For tomorrow he will wake as a THREE year old!

So tonight, let's take it back a few years.... to the last time I went to bed pregnant. I loved being pregnant. Every single time, every single minute of all 9 (10 really!) months! I'm one of those people who had pretty easy pregnancies and never seemed to mind the nausea, lack of sleep, waddle in my walk, or any other "perk". I knew it was a blessing and I never took it for granted. I'd do it all over again another 10 times!
Thankfully, as my coworkers so lovingly tell me, I "tend to deflate well"!

This was taken roughly 18 hours before Lincoln was born (also my easiest birth).

  

And the day these two got to meet their little brother for the very first time. Having our sweet little boy enter our family was the most precious time of our lives. He has been a ball of joy and we have loved him from the very start.

Oh how I miss those big squishy cheeks (and arms and legs and button nose), which have now slimmed down with his always-on-the-move demeanor and non stop chatter. He was, by far, the easiest baby I have ever known. From birth-12 months, he slept, he nursed and he played. He let me hold him all day long when I could, and boy did we snuggle that first year.

And then he started walking....and he hasn't stopped moving since! He's hard to keep up with and I'm convinced a mom invented hoods for my own sake (yes, I have been known to grab his hood just in the knick of time).

Tomorrow when he wakes, we will celebrate our 3 year old and love him up just like the day we met him.

Happy Birthday Eve Lincoln!
We love you :)

Lincoln is (almost) 3!

With a birthday approaching, we had a pretty fun-filled weekend of celebrations. It's always a little bittersweet to celebrate another birthday, especially for the littlest of the bunch. I'm so excited to watch him grow, but a little sad to let go of the baby stages. Let's be real, he will ALWAYS be my baby. And the best part, is that he knows it :)

Friday we were blessed with Kari and her kiddos. They spent the entire day hanging out with us and the kids ran around the back yard until their legs could no longer move, and then they did it some more. Kari and I got a lot of girl time talking in during that afternoon. A win for all!

The next day, we hosted Lincoln's family party with all sorts of cousins and aunts/uncles. He wanted a fire-truck party and that's what this little boy got. He loved the balloons picked out by daddy and Regan and didn't mind a bit to pose.

I'll write a little more about him turning 3 later this week, but for now, I'll write my 3 favorite things:

1) the way he talks. He says the word "yes" in response to questions. Not just 'yea', but "yes", with an accented S at the end. And darn it is it cute! When he's frustrated, he says "dane-it", as in dang-it. Oh boy is it adorable!

2) he takes each day in stride. Sure he gets upset about things, after all, he's a typical toddler. However, in the grand scheme of things, he is the most easy-going kiddo around. We run here-there-everywhere almost daily and he's always up for our plans.

3) how much he loves his mama, and frankly, his whole family! Now it's no secret that he has a thing for me and I love it to no end. But when it's just me and him, he asks constantly about everyone else: "Where's Sinney", "Regan go?" "daddy workin?" He loves his entire family and it melts my heart.

Back to his party day...., with all of his food allergies, he gets the shaft when it comes to cake. We can't trust a bakery to make anything safe for him yet, so sadly I get to test my talent (or lack thereof) once a year. The cake itself tastes pretty good, but the decorating is.... well? Let's just say I won't quit my day job :)  

It's a good thing that Lincoln clearly doesn't care what the cake looks (or tastes) like! He just loves it when we sing Happy Birthday to him! He loves loves loves that song! It's the most adorable thing ever to watch his face light up when he realizes it is being sung to HIM!

I didn't have my camera on hand much but managed to snap a quick picture of these guys playing with his new train table. He's one lucky (almost) 3 year old!

Happy birthday Lincoln!

Fall photo shoot 2016

Well, we managed to time it just right for another year. Each and every year, I take a picture with the same tree. And each year it doesn't disappoint. We love this beautiful maple tree and all of its vibrant colors! Back in 2015, I made a collage of all of our years with this tree, click HERE to see it.

About a week ago, I grabbed the kiddos after school and we headed a few miles up the road to our most beloved tree. It was a beautiful shade of yellow, with a hint of orange. The tippy top was red, but I couldn't seem to get a full picture with the kids in it and the top of the tree. 

This will suffice :) 

This photo shoot was an excellent warm up to our family picture photo shoot more recently. Lincoln posed and posed for me and later did a great job with our photographer too! 

We just love fall around here. The kids play outside until it's dark (which is far too early in my mind!) and have a new love of tag as of late. They grab a sweatshirt , run outside to play and quickly shed their extra layers with the way this gorgeous fall has continued. 

Although we love fall, not many of us are super excited for what is to come. So let's relish these days as long as they last! 

Here's to another successful fall photo shoot! 

UMD at Gophers

We love sporting events around here, that's no secret. And generally speaking, we are Gopher fans. But when UMD plays, Ryan's alma mater, it's a requirement to cheer for the dogs. Toss in that my cousin plays hockey for UMD and we really had no choice but to root for them this weekend! 

All of us got to experience a women's hockey game for the first time and we had a blast! Maybe because our seats were in row 4, or maybe because of all the constant movement, but the kids were in awe. 

It was so cool to see someone we know play as well. The girls didn't want to bail early and were actually sad when the game ended (even more sad that they lost in OT). It was a great game! 

Lincoln sat mesmerized for the first entire period. Barely moved a muscle. He adored watching the "teddy bear" aka Goldy and all of his antics. Eventually, Goldy came over to us and Lincoln got his hug, high five, picture and a few fist bumps. 

Great game Bulldogs!, thanks for the entertainment! 

Snapshots from daycare

Our little (or big?) guy has been having a great time lately at his "school" aka-daycare. We get frequent updates about his day, but even better are pictures they send. They stop us in our tracks and sure are a highlight of our day as we buzz about our work. He's always smiley and happy and that makes us relax knowing he is in loving hands. 

This lawnmower is one he has claimed for himself....and thankfully they have more than one available so sharing isn't typically a problem. It's the little things; and he adores this mower. Each and everyday at pick up time, he's mowing and always has a big grin on his face. 

Nap time pictures just melt my heart. Plus it's a wild surprise that he just lays down and goes to sleep. No nuk, no stuffed animals, no any extras. Just his cot and his cozy blanket. 

Seeing him at meal times, sitting beside his buddies, with his red cup (allergy identifier), puts our minds at ease knowing they are taking his needs seriously and keeping him safe. 

Oh this sweet cutie pie. He sure is a ham for his teachers and it seems they love him just as much as we do. He's still working on defending himself among the bully in the class, and we hear about it daily. Poor Lincoln is not the only kid who is pushed, hit or bit. But despite those moments, he still puts a smile on and loves his days at school! 

Pool pictures

Our girls, like most kids their age, have IPod touches, or other devices that allow them to take selfies. That said, they seem to be in love with taking pictures of themselves; not that there's anything wrong with that :) However, this summer, they discovered the joy of underwater cameras. And no matter how much I reminded them that they are not designed to take good selfies, they didn't listen! We got a lot of pictures like this as a result:

 

Oh but not to worry, we had plenty like this as well! Good think we keep a clean pool.

Eventually, sometime around August, they got the hang of it and I got a few more pictures that looked like these last two instead.

Here's hoping they pick up next year where we left off. We're missing summer already around here....

Fall ball 2016

We wrapped up another season of softball this weekend when the fall ball state tournaments came to a close. It's tough having two ball players in different age brackets, in a fairly competitive league. This season, it meant practices spread across 4-5 days/week and an overlap of games on most days which meant having to 'divide and conquer'. Ryan was an assistant coach for Sidney's 8U team which meant he obviously went to all of her games. Lincoln and I then went to all of Regan's games but thankfully were able to make it to many of Sidney's as a result of timing/good location. Unfortunately that was not the case for the state tournament. Sid played in Rosemount and Regan in Minnetonka, and as luck would have it, after a very long day of ball, they both ended up in the consolation championship game! And then they both won! We had all of the grandparents divide and conquer yesterday too, which meant that I had a few extra hands to help chase a busy toddler (just look at those devilish eyes!). 

After 6 straight months of softball (summer then fall seasons), we are actually all a little sad to see it end! I'm going to miss the friendships, both of the girls and our own. This sport is just as much an activity as it is socialization and we have been with some pretty great parents. I'll miss the excitement, the nail-biter tied-up games, the triumphs and the successes. I'll miss the look in their eyes after they made an out, the pride after sliding safe at home, and the cheering on of teammates. Heck, I might even miss the rah-rah repetitive cheers...ok maybe not! 

But I'll tell you what I won't miss: the never ending amount of sand at the back door. No matter how often I would sweep, mysteriously, more appeared seconds later. Some days, I swear we brought home more sand than we left on the field. We all are looking forward to a few clinics during the off season, improving skills and having more fun as we gear up for next spring! We're down to just dance 3 days/week for the bulk of winter, and I'm a little curious what we're going to do with all of our free time!

Congratulations girls, on another great season! 

Wedding festivities

The girls got to be involved in one of the prettiest weddings last weekend. To say they were over joyed is an understatement. Ryan said it best, you could see the joy in their eyes! 

Let me back up a bit. Several years ago, Ryan's cousin-Leigha moved just down the street. We started having her over for weekly dinners and the girls clung to her. Lincoln came along and she continued to come over whenever our schedule would allow. She's even brave enough to babysit all 3 of them, sometimes at 7am so we can be crazy and run a 5K. We all love her! 

Once she met Craig, he would join us when his schedule allowed; the girls liked it best when they would beat Leigha in their regular game of Old Maid. 

One night at dinner after their engagement, she surprised the girls and asked them to be a part of her wedding as usherettes. To them, it was like winning the lottery! They were so excited! 

She picked out some adorable dresses and the girls fell in love instantly. We fielded question after question about weddings as the months went on. Finally the day arrived and they got to put on their pretty dressed for more than an alteration session. They got to pick out a cute hair do and Vicky did amazing at dolling them up.

"Look mom!" I heard over and over again.
But they were just so beautiful in their twirly dresses. 

We spent several hours ahead of the wedding having pictures taken and enjoying the sunshine. Despite the bugs and the bees, I had so much fun watching our girls be a part of Craig and Leigha's special day. And shockingly, never once did I hear "are we done yet?", or "my feet hurt" or "can we leave?". They wanted to be right where the action was at any cost. 

They entertained little Eddie a bit and fell more in love with that little boy. 

Their official "job" was to hand out programs and guide guests to their seats before the ceremony started and then be the first to walk up the aisle with little Eddie. I heard multiple times just how adorable they were and I completely agree! 

They took their job seriously I tell you, planning out where to stand and how many programs to hold at a time. They were so grown up!

Finally, the rest of the family showed up. This stud-muffin was something else. (on a side note, a cutie like him is hard to resist and we are about ready to purchase a few t-shirts for these large parties to help inform well-intended people from feeding the kid with food allergies-yes, they actually make tshirts for this reason....we did a lot of chasing him all night). 

However, we purposely put him in pants and long-sleeves....the bugs were out of this world bad! Poor buddy kept asking for "sade" aka: shade, because he was so hot. He may have watched the bulk of the ceremony from beneath a tree :) 

With the girls busy at work, we snapped a partial family picture, but I love how it turned out. It's so fun to get everyone dressed up sometimes and even better when we get a cute picture too. 

The girls and Eddie were the first down the aisle and did a wonderful job. The instructions were along the line of 'if it takes Eddie too long, or he gets distracted, pick him up'. He was just as happy being carried so that's what they did part-way up the aisle. And how pretty were they walking up. 

Leigha was simply stunning in her gown....all day (and night, and weekend), the girls would tell us that "Leigha was the prettiest!" and "she looks like a princess!". Sidney went so far as to say she's using Leigha's dress for her own wedding one day :) ha! 

Before leaving the ceremony venue, we snapped a quick full-family picture with the whole gang. We then spent the night eating and dancing and having a grand time celebrating. We are so grateful that Craig and Leigha choose the girls to be a part of their wedding, it is something they will remember forever! Thank you!