Collin's First Birthday!

It happened, I allowed Collin to turn one:) I hadn't planned much as we had decided on the day to celebrate only two weeks prior and my brain can't handle much to begin with these days. So, it was kind of a low-key event, I kept thinking of awesome things I could do but then just didn't have the time/energy to complete them. Bummer. Well, there is always next year, right?!

His birthday was officially Friday (the 21st) and we started the day with Kate singing Happy Birthday to him about three seconds after she woke up:) We had pancakes for breakfast as it is one of Collin's favorites and Kate wore a party hat for the occasion. We tried to clean the house a bit and make a grocery list. Dave was on call for the whole weekend, but I think he got home at a decent time. We had planned on going out for fish fry that night and drove (in two cars, never love that) to the golf course by us, but the place was closed! So we headed to Shipwreck Bay on the lake. It was so cold out. It is always a little funny to go to these places that we sometimes walk to in our swim suits and almost barefoot:) Brrr. 

We had a nice little birthday fish fry and then headed home to greet Mom and Dad and Andrew and Kylie when they arrived. Though all were tired, we stayed up late and played games, watched the Olympics, etc. A nice, relaxing time! 

Mom, Kylie and I had a lovely (long and ridiculous) trip to the grocery store and carwash Saturday morning while the guys watched the kids. We then got word that Plamann's couldn't come as Clara was sick. So, our party was a little smaller than originally planned, but that was alright. We had lunch, made some food and hung out. Snopek's arrived around 3 p.m. and we played for a bit before opening gifts. Dave struggled a little with how "helpful" Kate wanted to be....I was totally expecting it. They did great and (both!) received awesome gifts. More playing while supper was finished (white chicken chili and tomato basil parmesan soup) a special thank you to Dave and Mom for working so hard in the kitchen! 

Our kids love balloons:)

Ready to open gifts, Gma!

As I did on Tony's birthdays, Kate got some presents!

I'm one, Kylie!

Opening gifts

Eating boxes...

Playing with Nolan

Ready for some cake:)

Closest we came to having his hat on:)

He liked it!

And the plate...

My baby!

After supper, we watched Collin smash a piece of cake and then joined him in the sugar fun:) We timed that all just right and he was ready for bed, straight up to the bath and then to sleep. That night was a bit rough as Kate was having nightmares and crying and kicking, brought her into our bed and thus we didn't sleep. Dave got called in in the middle of the night and then since Kate was in our bed thrashing when he got home, I sent him to the couch. We had meant to get up and go out for breakfast Sunday morning, but we were all pretty tired! 

We played some more and then hit up the Buckhorn Cafe for lunch (pierogies!) and then Mom and I peeled off and went to Buckhorn State Park to cross country ski. I had wanted to take Mom somewhere with groomed trails and the Buckhorn is close to us, just across the lake. It was cold, but we are super tough:) so we went for it. After some fun skidding around on the ice and figuring out where to start, we had a beautiful ski together in the sunshine. Loved it. 

The view from Buckhorn across the lake to our beach - VERY windy here!

Awww..love you, Mom!

Mom taking on the snowdrift

Some of the awesome clothing and shoes he received

Some more of his gifts...thank you to everyone!

Blurry, but I love this little coy smile he has:)

Whoa, both kids looking at the camera and smiling! Jackpot!

Our happy little big guy

Collin had his 12 month well check yesterday and he now weighs just over 22 lbs and is 30.25 inches tall, he is still pretty tall and average weight. He is wearing 18 month clothing (maybe a few lingering 12 month?) is wearing a size 4 shoe and will not keep hat and mittens on:) 

He is a very happy boy with a great laugh and a very mischievous and coy nature sometimes! He seems to study people a bit more than Kate and is less of a "ham" than she was. In many ways, he shows us how easy Kate was when it comes to eating and sleeping (believe it or not!). He is great at the doctors office (a far cry from Kate - yay!) tolerates his car seat pretty well, LOVES his sister unless she is smothering him or picking him up and moving him. He already likes things with wheels, loud things, banging things together, destroying towers or whatever toys we have built up, likes to put his feet in the grass (seems like a long time ago!), is pretty fearless so far, loves his baby swing (on the playset outside), still looks like both of us (though I see my brothers in him very often:) and likes to roar!

The first year is so amazing with obvious growth and development, I definitely miss my little (not so little) newborn at times but love interacting with him at this age. Dave and I are both so excited for the next year - one to two is SO much fun, or at least it was with Kate. I love hearing the beginnings of his little voice and am looking forward to hearing what he has to say. More words, first steps, so much in store!

It was a really wonderful weekend. Thank you for making it special!! Oh, you know I took too many photos.... click here:)

 

February

Whoa! Long time, no blog! And it doesn't even make sense, we have been staying home and not traveling as much lately....go figure. It will just be another random update of what we have been doing lately, let's see if I can remember...

We finished the sunroom! We had a three-season room off the great room and it has served as many things in the almost 2.5 years we have been here (stop for a minute to let that sink in....what?!) It has been a screened in deck, art studio, warm weather playroom, bedroom and mostly a catch-all. I was a little wishy-washy on finishing it but as we approached the winter with two kiddos in the house, I decided I wanted more space:) So, we worked toward getting it done late last fall, but blah, blah, blah...it got done in February:) Our crack home improvement team (Dad, Mom, Andrew and Kylie) came up to help and of course it was bitter cold out, but it seems that just couldn't be avoided this year! We had to replace the windows and door, all of which were basically "storm" versions. It already had HVAC and was insulated, so that made it easy (says the person who did no work toward this improvement:)! After our new windows and door were installed, we had carpet put in a few days later to make one cozy, soft and bright room! The toys (well, mostly Collin's) have been moved in and it is already a favorite play space. A little sewing table is in the corner where I hope to learn how to be crafty and the red hutch remains in there with the TV and art supplies. A huge thanks to our "crew" for helping us with this!! 

New windows!

Collin telling the guys how to do the door

Mom and I took Kate to get her first haircut the first day they were up to work on windows. I needed a trim and she finally said she wanted to come too. So, we dropped Collin at a friend's house and went to a new little salon in Reedsburg. She sat on Gma's lap to watch me and then it was her turn. I didn't let them cut much at all!! We are not anxious to cut her hair but I wanted her to try it out and see if she had any fear or whatever. No need to worry, she was perfect! I think she had fun and will be excited to get her hair cut again....eventually:) Unfortunately, the gal did a horrible job on my hair, we will not be going back! But we had a nice lunch date at Culver's to celebrate and then went home. Fun first for Kate. 

The before picture...

Did so good in the chair!

The "after" pic! Okay, I know it is hard to tell she even got it cut:)

Valentine's Day was fun for the family. We worked on our valentines since right after New Years (takes awhile to keep her focused on the task at hand and I always pick things that require too much work! Oh well, they were cute) so they were mailed and off. We dressed in red and played in the sunroom until Dave called and said that he was coming home early! Like really early (thank goodness they hired another anesthetist!) and so we ran down to Mauston and met him for lunch at Cinco de Mayo. The kids were great, we had a yummy lunch and some margaritas and then the nice gentleman who works there brought us each a shot. So ridiculous. They know us (okay, maybe we go there too much) and appreciate that we try to have Kate use Spanish when we are there, and you know, our kids are adorable, so they always treat us nice. I have never taken the proffered shots before, but on Valentine's Day, Dave made me do it. He changed mine from tequila to Rumchata (I had never had before!) and oh my...it was delicious. And ridiculous. 

Happy Valentine's Day!

I stopped at the grocery store to pick up sometime nice to make at home that night. But we were so full from the late lunch that we just fed the kids and skipped supper. We did make time to go outside and snowshoe since it was, you know, super warm and probably 20 degrees? It was a lot of fun, Collin went in the backpack and Kate used her new snowshoes. We went out onto Castle Rock Lake for the first time and that was pretty cool, especially since the full moon was super low over the horizon. Love that!

Trouble in snowpants

After they were asleep we ate the cheesecake  - whoops! Guess we had room for our dessert:) - and then settled in to watch a movie. We ended up doing Good Night and Good Luck which was good but definitely not a Vday flick. I hadn't wanted a lovey, sappy movie but maybe next time it should be.

I can't remember what else we have been doing...hmmm..is that good or bad? Okay, here is a bit on each of the kids...

Kate
We were talking about babies and I asked if she wanted Mommy to have another (I keep asking not because we are expecting but because I'm very curious how she feels about it and with the exciting news of her cousin coming, it is just something we talk about a lot!) well...she broke my heart when she said she didn't want me to have another baby because then Daddy and I will have to take care of the baby all the time and not have time to play with her. Oh my gosh. I felt so awful. So.....needless to say, we have been trying to really make sure she doesn't feel neglected these days. She plays so well on her own, I'm sure there are times that I think she is doing just great by herself when she really wants me to be more involved. Once Dave gets home, I'm trying to dedicate myself to her more and let the boys worry about themselves:) (press time note, she was singing/praying this morning at breakfast and she asked God for a baby sister in Mommy's tummy, so maybe she is not completely traumatized!) 

Lots of interesting conversation during our breakfasts:)

She is still singing Christmas songs...

When we are somewhere in public or if someone sees Kate and they do the, "Aww..hi! What is your name?" She will reply with, "Kate. 4 years old." So many people ask how old she is next, that she just states it right after her name, before they even ask. 

I'm thinking she may be a song-writer when she grows up. She is constantly singing and usually changing songs or making them up entirely, but it is not just silly (all of the time) it kind of makes sense and one day I told her that I really liked that song. At this point, she is more of a talented lyricist than hitting the perfect pitch:) I think she takes after her mother in her obvious love for music and dancing but somewhat lacks the talent to use it beyond the shower/car, etc... Another part of this that I love... I remember making up songs as a child. This one is for you, Dad - "I'm getting a suntan....with the trees with no leaves and snowflakes on the window...I"m getting a suntan." I can still sing it in the way I did when I was about six, I was sitting at Grandma and Grandpa's in the dining room chair looking out the window...wow:)

Kate is still an amazing helper and as she is able to do more and more, it gets even better! And scarier. Apparently, she thinks she can get my coffee in the morning. Not very keen on that, but she is loving adding chores to her list. She makes her bed, helps load the dishwasher, wants to set the table (though we eat at the kitchen island most nights). She helps to feed Collin. And I think she is wanting these more challenging tasks. She is getting less and less enthused with the same ol' "Hey, Kate can you get Collin a diaper?!" As she always tells me, she is a mother too, and wants "mother" kinds of things to do. 

She had her own little knife and helped chop up veggies for the soup

She wants her new soccer net up. And so does Mommy! I can't wait to go out and play with the net and ball. We are using the ball a little bit inside, but as everyone knows, we are starting to have a bit of cabin fever these days. I swear I almost considered putting the darn thing up in the house. Came to my senses, though:) No worries. 

When Kate is playing with barbies, she refers to herself as a giant:) She has a Barbie that has a figure skating outfit (how timely) and she show us her "freeskate" on the train table in Collin's room. "Watch her do this super duper leap, Mom! Don't worry, if she falls down her giant will pick her up" (pointing to herself). It has happened a few other times, so funny! 

Lately, Dave and I both get "Mom/Dad, you are the best mom/dad I ever got!" I always say, wow thanks! or something. Dave likes to point out that she has no other dad:) She also will say that we are the "best cooker ever" during supper:) One of Kate's amazing traits is how complimentary she is of others and how encouraging. If you are struggling or working hard, she will say "Good job, you can do it, way to go, thank you so much, etc." All the time. She is acutely aware of emotions. We were watching Kung Fu Panda 2 the other night while Dave was gone and I was getting Collin to bed. I had her changed into jammies and was cuddled on the couch waiting for me. I had wrongly assumed that since it was animated, she could watch it no problem. Of course, the movie has a part (pretty long) where the mean peacock is being truly awful and saying to the panda  that his parents abandoned him and never wanted him. He flashes back to a baby panda that sounds like a baby and they burn down the village and the wolves chase them, the mommy panda hides the baby panda and then distracts the wolves away. Kate. was. a. sobbing. mess. She was wailing, "Collin!" when the baby panda sounded like a real baby. She didn't understand why the mommy panda left him there. Oh my gosh, we were both upset and I was trying to calm her down. She can take all the scary scenes out there, but if it is sad...she can't handle it. By the way, what is with these movies?!!!

Collin
He has started roaring again:) Though this probably has more to do with the fact that Kate is always "roaring!" I don't know what it is, but she is always a monster or tiger or something and if she is playing with him, she is chasing him and roaring. And he does it right back. Then they usually start giggling. Super cute. Still my favoritist thing ever...the two of them playing and giggling. 

Collin is eating better, though still not great in our opinion:) I want him to be eating more finger foods, but since he was delayed in just eating purees, I'm trying to be patient. He doesn't like Cheerios or those little puffs! He liked the yogurt bites for about a week. He likes his purees now:) and loves toast and pancakes:) He likes much of what we are eating, but if I cut up some fruit or put cereal on his tray, he just frantically sweeps them off the tray. Oh, he loves graham crackers too. We'll see if he likes cake this weekend! 

He is cruising and crawling faster these days, starting to stand alone for a few seconds, but not walking and not really trying:) He likes to push his walker around and climb up on the rail. Actually, I have noticed him trying to crawl up or climb lots of things lately. That little foot just hikes up and he sees if he can get up. Sheesh! No thank you! Kate never was into climbing things too much, but I know that will not be the case with Mr. C. 

Trouble...

Oops!

Speaking of, he gets lots of boo boos! Already probably has more than Kate has to date. Nothing terrible to speak of, though the scar on his cheek from something I didn't see isn't fading very fast! Still see it. He gets his fingers pinched and face scratched more than I ever expected and he is starting to take his little tumbles better and not cry, but look hurt for a second and then move on. Tonight, Dave said he almost tumbled head first into the tub while it was filling and Dave was undressing him. My response was, "We will be visiting the ER with this one, won't we?" Yup. 

He loves to put things on his head. This one has us stumped, sometimes it is like he is trying to tell us something, but we don't know what. We do sign things like "more" "all done" "milk" etc., but I have never patted my head! Sometimes it is like he is putting something to his ear like a phone or on his head like a hat...I don't know. Kind of cute though! He still puts everything in his mouth and sometimes will bite down on something and just leave it there. Crawl or cruise around, play with something else with that toy still in his mouth. My little weirdo:) 

He also likes to sing. I keep hoping he will have a voice like Dave's! If others are singing, he kind of sings along, it can be loud (if we are in church:) but is pretty sweet and I want to encourage it. A favorite of all of ours is when we have our little dance parties...put on the music loud(ish) and sing and dance around. It's the best! Another favorite (okay, I know, I have a million favorite things:) is when he makes the tractor and truck sounds! How are they born knowing how to do this? He makes airplane and tractor sounds when he plays with them. Oh, also, he loves his airplanes and tractors, really anything with wheels. Kate and him like to race things, okay, mostly Kate racing them and Collin trying to get them, but they both have fun!

Lately, we have been over to friends' houses for birthday parties, Superbowl party, etc. and we are always so proud of how the kids behave. It does seem to differ which side of the age bracket Kate lands on, if she is the older one, I do see her bossy side come out. If she isn't, she will follow just as much. She is pretty warm with the adults right away (most of whom she knows or has met) She listens pretty well to us, throws no fits (unless it is super late past her bedtime) and uses manners and shares from what I can tell. She will roughhouse with the boys one minute and show us her ballet dance the next (did a special birthday dance for Clara after most of the others had left). She can be pretty protective of Collin and is interested in other babies that are around. She is adventurous, will sit for movies/TV and will usually eat plenty, though sometimes is too distracted to eat a whole lot (she's burning up the calories!).

Playing together at Clara's party

Collin behaves well too. He really is a super content guy, especially when there is a lot going on around him. He will just sit or stand and play/take it all in. I will usually sit near him for awhile and then if I get up to get some food or do something with Kate, he is fine. Dave or I keep an eye on him, but he just plays, cruises around. At Clara's birthday party, he was in the middle of the room with toys and other little ones and pretty soon a grandma was over playing with him. It was so adorable, she reminded me of Grandma Rosendahl and she was just playing ball with him and talking to him. I'm not sure if she got many smiles, but he just played right with her. He never made a fuss even though we couldn't get him down for the afternoon nap. (side note - I like having him nap twice a day when I am at home:) but when we are busy with other things, it sure does make it harder!) 

We have really enjoyed getting together with friends and the bonus of feeling proud of our kiddos and being able to relax at the same time! The birthday party I mentioned was at our good friends' house on Saturday, Clara turned two and she is just the sweetest little girl. She was born right after we moved up here and it has been a joy watching her grow up. They live up on a hill overlooking the whole county and they had a sledding party complete with hot cocoa and a bonfire. Super fun. It was about 20 degrees that day. Cold, but of course we all thought felt just fine, at least it was above zero! Kate was amazing, she was the first one out there with Clara and they were champs, heading down the hill a million times and never complaining. She had two little cups of cocoa and had endless energy. Dave and I had fun sledding too:) Collin stayed inside hoping for a nap, but alas, just getting snuggles and snacks. I had plugged in my camera battery to make sure I had enough juice to take a ton of photos and of course, promptly forgot to grab the battery before leaving the house, so I have zero pictures of the fun sledding day:(

I've gotten out skiing more this year, love it so much. Sunday was the first day I've wiped out since I can remember! I was on a trail that someone else cut around our pond out back and they tended to veer down towards the water more than I usually go. Admittedly, when listening to my workout playlist, I can sometimes start to do a weird mix of skiing and dancing...it is never a good idea, I've almost wiped out on an elliptical machine at the gym doing the same thing, but anyway...I don't think it was the music, but I started going down the slope of the beach and couldn't stop. Went down hard on my backside. I was surprised at the yelp that came out of me and then when I could barely get up, I definitely started laughing. I have not been laughing, however, these last few days as I have been super sore and my back is hurt! In addition to the ski wipeout, I had a scary fall on some ice outside Kate's dance studio last week. I was carrying Collin in his car seat and fell, never letting go of the seat but it crashed to the ground and I landed half on top of it. I scraped my knee and felt bruised and embarrassed. Collin was screaming - I felt SO bad. Kate was worried and came rushing over, nearly falling on the ice as well. Uff da. 

Many people have commented on my still carrying him around in that heavy seat. I do so for a couple reasons. 1) He will oftentimes stay content in the seat for errands and doesn't fuss when I just snap him back into the car. If I take him physically out and then have to put him back in the car seat at the car, he fights it more. 1a) it has been so cold! Standing with the van door open while I get him in freezes us all! 2) If I am just running into the post office/gas station, etc. I can put him down and use both my hands. If I hold him, I have one hand [or possibly no hands to complete the errand if he is being mischievous] 3) it has been so cold!! I can keep him warmer in the seat. If I carry him, he is pulling off his hat, mittens and dropping them on the floor or parking lot. 4) if I fall on the ice, it is safer!! Okay, this last one I just added, oh my gosh, when I think what could have happened if I had been carrying him without the seat...I get super scared. Basically, it just needs to hurry up and warm up. 

Well, as many of you know, Collin's birthday is approaching....Friday! I am trying to really enjoy it but have been super sentimental about it. I have basically planned nothing for his party, as we decided to have it this weekend kind of last minute. We tend to have lots of little celebrations these days with the logistics of coordinating everyone. Dave is on call and so I was sort of avoiding a party but we will do the best we can and hope that he doesn't get called in to the hospital. It feels like yesterday I was starting to get anxious about the baby coming....my doc was going to Aruba a few days after he was born, I thought it would be awesome if the baby came on Tony's or Dad's birthday...I was enormous and having a lot of back pain and was ready to have the babe here! So, I'll post again soon about Collin's first birthday!

Only for your eyes:)...uff da, this was me a year ago! 

To see more photos from February, click here! I take way too many and don't put them all on the blog:)

Random Thoughts

Okay, time for another quick update, these are random thoughts rolling around in my brain...


Collin is still nursing strong at 11 months. With him finally eating solids well, I am looking toward weaning him. I nursed Kate until her first birthday and that is my plan for Collin as well. I do love nursing, but it has been a little more trying this time, Collin is so distracted by noises (namely his sister:) and he has six teeth....so, yeah. I am also getting quite anxious to wear normal clothing:) I don't think he will be super happy about weaning and I won't stop cold turkey obviously, but as soon as he turns one (oh my gosh, I'll jump into that denial later...) we will be introducing cows milk and trying to free Momma up a bit! So...I'm trying to soak up the last month or so of our nursing snuggles, as emotional as I have been since his birth, I'm sure I will have some trouble with this too. 

One area that has been wonderful lately is Collin's bedtime. Did I mention this already? We are getting better at having a consistent bedtime for the kids and we do his bath, then he gets to nurse, we read books  - he loves this part! He could just sit and look at/play with his board books for a long time. His favorites right now are Words, Curious George at the Zoo and Peek Bah Boo. He will just snuggle with you and be really focused on the books and sometimes I get this big sigh out of him:) Once I get the sigh or if he starts to try and chew on the books, then we turn off the lights and turn on the sound machine. I sing You Are My Sunshine on the way to the crib and he usually burrows into his blankie. Often now, he will actually try and get into the crib, no extra cuddles then, he is ready to go to sleep! I lay him down awake and it takes him up to about 15 minutes to fall asleep. It is such a warm and comforting, easy routine. I look forward to it each night. Because I am nursing, if Dave is home, he will do the bath and then I do the rest. I used to have anxiety leading up to bedtime because it was... well, just awful. He wouldn't fall asleep, I would nurse him asleep and then try to get him down without waking him,  or bounce around...not good. Needless to say, for many reasons, we are very pleased with this! By the way, it took us doing sleep training and me finally digging in my heels to get here. More on our sleep training later...

Dave and I have been moving furniture around again:) I'm not sure if Dave loves it or not, but things are basically getting determined by my ability to see Collin and get to him if he is about to pull something down on himself:) The kids' rooms are also drastically different and once Dave and I discussed what we were going to do, we just started doing it. Oops, Kate saw the changes and was sobbing about her room. That's right...she is old enough that she needs to be included in some decisions, or sat down and explained things prior to the changes..sometimes we forget how old she is! At bedtime, she of course was saying how much she loved her new big girl room:) Long term disaster avoided! 

Kate has been practicing how to whistle and must have had some instruction from Dave, she is kind of doing it! It is pretty cute and she is very focused while doing it. So, basically during the day I have a little chorus of "Uh ohs" and whistling throughout the house. 

There should be a special book of firsts for siblings...the other day I noticed Kate playing fetch with Collin in his walker. She would throw the ball, tell him to fetch it and then say "Good boy!" (he did not fetch it, but she would go get it for him:) He loved it of course. One of my greatest joys each day is watching Collin's face when he sees Katie, he just lights up. When I bring him down from a nap, he searches around for her and she usually, says (loudly, as she says most things), "Hi, Buddy!!" and comes running over. He gets so excited, he wiggles around and grins from ear to ear:) Precious. 

I will let you know when Kate stops singing Christmas songs, please realize it may be around the Fourth of July:) She will just randomly burst into, "Have a holly, jolly Christmas..." or "on the third day of Christmas, my Mommy gave to me, three huge fish, two roving ducks and a par-pigeon in a tree." This last one is a mix - we have a 12 Days of Christmas in Wisconsin book and it has the crazy verse changes, she mixes it all up:) But her favorite is probably Hark the Herald Angels Sing. She will stand tall, or climb something and sing loudly, "Hark the herald angels sing, glory to the newborn king. Peace on earth and mercy rhymes..." It is pretty cute.

"Hark the Herald Angels Sing!!"

Dave and I had a date night! We finally got a sitter but we didn't make serious plans until she was here:) We had tried to have her come a few other times, but she cancelled last minute. We have had the worst luck with sitters, but I think the tide must be turning now, we have two different sitters that we can use and intend to do so more often! Dave actually remembered while I was getting ready that we had a gift card to the nicest restaurant in the Dells! So, we headed down and had a wonderful evening. It was a great place and the food was incredible. We will definitely go back for anniversary dinners or something special. The report form the sitter when we got back was that the kids did great. Collin was super tired and went to bed easy. Kate did fine, but was not super thrilled we were gone at bedtime. Tara Jo ended up laying down with her for awhile. She also got up a couple times and at one point said she was just going to sit up and wait for us to get back. Then she got sad and said she was sad about her room being different...I'm sure Tara Jo was rather confused! 

Kate did this to me the other day. She was upset about Dave being gone at bedtime and was standing next to the rocker in Collin's room crying, she opened the door to the nightstand thing and found the candle from her 3rd birthday, she just added that in along with everything else...."I miss Daddy!..(sob, sob sob)..and....I...wish...I...was...still...three!" What?! She went on and on about how she wished she was still three years old. Oh my goodness, so I was nursing Collin, or trying to, and trying to calm Kate down and get her to realize that it was okay she was four.

Kate is still crushing Collin with her hugs:) She is so sweet but while Collin loves her back as I stated above...he dislikes being smothered:) Luckily for him, he is growing and we are starting to see some retaliation. If she is within reach, he is grabbing her hair. I would say it is pretty effective:) And is probably just our jumping off point for many years to come! 

And lastly...This is a Kate quote from the other day. I'm not exactly sure what I said that triggered it:
"I trust my Grandpa. Mom, Pastor came and talked to us about…trust. Like how I trust grandpa to jump in the pool. And then parents had to walk in the desert for five weeks! Parents! Five weeks!"

Peace!

 

A little Erin time...

One of my New Years resolutions (I don't really make a serious one, but have a number of things that I try to work on) was to make it a priority to have some "Erin time" when I need it. I really do not make much time to do the things that are required for just me (at press time, I am overdue for a hair cut, dental appointment and eye appointment...ugh) If I'm not making time to get a hair cut, I'm also probably not making time to put my feet up, read a book, take a bath, take a walk, etc. As most moms know, we just don't have much alone time, I guess there are the occasional trips to the grocery store without the kids (maybe half the time??) and the middle of the night after I have just put one of the kids back in bed (wow - that sure doesn't count!), I've made it to Zumba twice in the last four months, even the bathroom is seldom without the children:) 

I know! Who could need a break from these cuties?!

Dave has always told me to just speak up and make it happen. And so I am! A couple times, I have decided to put the dishes down and go for a walk (one day it was about -13 degrees, so it wasn't a very long one!) but I got some fresh air, time alone to think. I have been doing yoga at night after the kids are in bed and am loving it. Ideally, I would find a league somewhere and have a standing night that I get out. Dave has sand volleyball league and dart league, so roughly once a week, he gets out to have fun with friends. How can this town not have a competitive volleyball league?!! Well, I'm on the search for something that would make sense. 

When the weather is nicer, it is a little easier to get outside and find a little break each day, but I was craving more of an adventure. I told Dave last week that since he was not on call over the weekend and we didn't have plans, I wanted to go somewhere. Anywhere. Just outside, by myself. For a couple of hours. He was all for it and I decided to go to one of the state parks nearby (there are so many, love it). On Saturday, I decided to go cross country skiing at Mirror Lake State Park near the Dells. 

Of course, Dave made sure to get some "time off" in as well:) he went snowmobiling with a friend for a few hours on Saturday and then our families met up for supper. Dr. Eckerman and his wife have four kids, so we were quite the bunch to show up at Portofino Bay:) Dave had a blast out on the sleds and we had a wonderful supper too, good day!

Yesterday morning (Sunday) we - ahem - didn't make it to church...had breakfast and played, worked on reorganizing a few rooms (kids rooms, sunroom) and then I headed down to the Dells. It was a bit of an adventure as I had never been there before, and I was quite surprised when I pulled into the main parking lot, it was crazy busy! People everywhere and I got a little intimidated. It turns out it was a free day and there was a fishing contest and some sort of winter celebration going on. I grabbed a winter trail map, some free cookies and put my skis on. There were so many trails to choose from - how fun. I picked the easy classical/combination trails that were nearby. I have never skied on groomed trails before...it was so nice! A beautiful day, I just enjoyed it so much. I was vowing to come back...practically every day:) I really can't wait to take Dave and the kids back soon, as well as over the summer. 

Nice groomed trails..

I was out on the trails for about an hour and came back to head home. It was the perfect little break and should spark me to make these breaks a priority in the future. The kids slept while I was away (so that means Dave probably did too:) 

Can you see the sign? I'm headed to the beach!

Very beautiful, we'll be back. 

Happy New Year!

Ha! I'm getting caught up finally:) This makes me so happy. Also, I just ordered my Christmas New Years cards...so those will be getting out. Hooray! This is all extra wonderful as I am the current victim of what has been a quick but not fun flu-like illness. I should be in bed, but I am going to power through this quick post and then hit the sack. 

The week after Christmas Dave had committed to working in Clinton, Iowa as a "locum tenens" at a surgery center. It is basically free-lance work that he gets paid well for, he actually enjoys it and it helps us accomplish some things a little faster financially (this week paid for our new windows and door coming for the sun room - yeah!

Anyway, he had to head down Sunday night (Dec. 29) and wouldn't come back until that Friday night. Though, I know I can handle the kids by myself for five days....I mean, it's not my MOST fun way to tackle that:) In the past, I have escaped to Burr Oak to have some help and see some other people and I didn't want to go for the whole week, but it worked out that we could come down New Years Eve and stay through January 2. I was so happy because it gave me someone to be with on NYE, someone to watch the Hawks with on New Years Day, gave us an opportunity to see the Peterson's and check out the Jan Brett exhibit at the Vesterheim (I had wanted to do that since it came!) Score!

New Years Day!

Adorable. Vests from Andrew and Kylie:)

So, we drove through some snow and snow-covered roads to get to Burr Oak, set up camp at the house and waited for Mom and Dad to come home from work. The kids went to bed pretty easily and then the three of us tried to stay up until midnight:) We were joking how crazy and rowdy we were...Mom and I had had a glass of wine earlier, but by the time we watching Ryan Seacrest, I was drinking water, crocheting and eating lefse. A very happy Norwegian New Years Eve:) I loved it. 

This was the first time Dave and I were not together since we started dating and I wasn't loving that part. But luckily (well, for me) Dave was stuck in Clinton at a hotel room and celebrated by grabbing some Chinese food, a couple beers and Facetiming with me at midnight. Well - New York's midnight. A nice option for us Midwesterners to go to bed early..watch the ball drop and call it a night! So, I Facetime kissed Dave at 11 p.m.:) and went in to sleep with Kate (actually in bed with me) and Collin (in pack-and-play in same room). Well, wouldn't you know, Collin wanted to experience his first New Years Eve, so after him waking around midnight, we rang it in together:)

He was up early the next morning and we had a nice lazy start to the day, watched the Hawks (ugh) caught up with Andrew and Kylie, and then I loaded up the kiddos and we drove down to Clermont to visit our beloved Peterson's. The roads were a bit slow-going, but we got there in one piece. New toys, old friends, burgers and fries...it was a great time. We have the typical issues that arise when preschoolers are playing together, but Waylon and Kate are just so adorable together. They did so well. Collin and Lawson did great too, Collin as the slightly more mobile one was pulling other kids' hair....okay, need to watch out for that. It was awesome to catch up and never enough time, but so glad we were able to stop by for the evening! 

My only pic of all four kids

These two can get a little crazy together!

A great pic of Kate and Waylon!

The next morning, we had breakfast with Mom and Dad before they headed to work and then I attempted to get us packed up, showered and down to Decorah for a few outings. I wanted to get to the Luther Bookstore, Oneota Coop for coffee and lunch and then the Vesterheim. Well, Collin fought me on his nap, I showered, but did I dry my hair?...I don't remember. It wasn't my smoothest morning along, but we made it to Luther to shop (Kate pushed Collin in an umbrella stroller, first time doing that - went pretty well!) I had wanted to make a separate stop to eat, but Collin was so sleepy, I decided to just eat in the Union. Luckily, Oneota (the other one!) was open with limited food. Very limited, but enough to satisfy us. Then we headed to the Vesterheim where Mom was able to meet us for a couple hours. 

Collin at the Vesterheim

We discovered it was better to hold her:)

Checking out The Tradewind

 It was awesome to be there! I love the Vesterheim and it was fun to see it through Kate's eyes. I should have done a little more prep on how to act in a museum, but we were able to wrangle her:) Thank goodness mom was there. I thought I could do it alone, but it would have been much harder! It was also during her nap time, so that is always a little more challenging. 

We saw the Jan Brett exhibit upstairs, did some of the scavenger hunt, made a craft, ate a snack, bought a new book...pretty nice. I again wanted to look at things more closely and for the hundredth time told Mom that I want to do some of these things without the kiddos (Luther Bookstore, museum, etc.:) Mom was sweet enough to walk us down to Java John's so I could get my first coffee of the day! Then we headed back to Wisconsin as she headed back to work. A very full but fun and relaxing trip. 

Thursday night, I was able to get the kids to bed on time (yes!) and get ready for a trip down to Madison to see our beloved Swoboda's the next day! However, Friday's plans changed when Kate got sick in the car on our way. Luckily, we weren't even out to the highway yet, so we were back home in a minute and just rested at home until Dave returned! What a joyous homecoming. Kate took his week away hard and she was so glad to have Daddy back. As was I! 

Red cheeks! (coming to get Mommy...:)

His new favorite place

PS - Did I mention that his new, first and only word is "Uh oh!" My days are filled with his little "uh ohs" all day, I love it.