On Vacation

We will be gone for a week starting on Monday!  I will update our blog when we get back:)  We have our neighbors Larry and Darcy taking care of our animals and watching our house for us.  Happy 4th of July everyone!

The Farm Was Amaz'n!

 We headed to the Farm again this year that is just down the road from us.  It's so fun to see the differences in her from what she was like and looked like from last year.  She was so excited, a little timid of the animals at times, and very brave all at at the same time.

 We were going to the farm anyway, but we told her because she stayed dry for a whole week that we were going to the farm to celebrate her hard work:)  Yes, she is in underwear in all of these pictures and we did do a potty break there as well!  No accidents!  I think it's safe to say in print that we're trained!

 I love baby goats...Svea was a little bit nervous at first.

 Hopefully Kieran enjoyed himself.  I did catch a few smiles out of him as he watched the puppies and saw the goats prancing around his stroller.  One of the babies even tried to climb up his stroller to check things out.  Here are the guys just hanging out:)

 Svea was a little timid of the kitties too.  Not quite sure about petting them.

 A girl and her Dad...so sweet!

 Not the best picture of Kieran, but he had to part of the action too!

 Here's where the brave part comes in.  Svea saw the slide from far away and said she wanted to go down.  We thought she just had "high" hopes and didn't think she'd actually want to go down.  The thing is huge!  She got to the bottom to look up and she was all in.  Dan took her up the steps and she walked the whole way and didn't flinch once.  He laid down the sack and he seriously thought she'd be too scared and change her mind.  Instead she asked him if she could go alone! 

 Here they come and then we did it again two more times!  She loved it!

 Before we took off we raced these girls and sat at the top talking to them as two of them are my students.  She kepts asking me if she could go alone with the girls:)

 We said maybe next year:)  We have a fearless one on our hands.

 We raced some ducks. 

 Played with some real chickens.

 Played with some fake chickens.  Or the other way around, I'm not sure which.

 And fed the birds:) I thought she would be scared of this event too, but she was all for it and at one point about fifty birds swooped past us all at once inches above our head and she didn't mind at all.

We love taking her to do new things and seeing how she reacts to things.  Next year we'll have Kieran running around too and he'll be almost two.  That seems so crazy! Here's a picture of Svea last year to compare how much she's grown!

They grow too fast!  I forgot...see behind Svea and Dan...the bouncy houses?  Last year she was obviously too little, but this year she couldn't wait to get into them.  She bounced in one, we did a maze one together, and then we went down the a slide one too!

First Intro to Star Wars

Or is it Star Trek?  Just kidding honey:)

 Kieran is in training to be a Jedi

 He's pretty excited about it.

 But he didn't study hard enough because it says clearly not to do that!

 We think he looks so grown up here.  Tear, tear, tear....my baby is almost not a baby anymore:(

We had Blueberry and Banana smoothies for breakfast this morning.  Dan brought home something like a 2 lb. dub o blueberries so we have had blueberry pancakes twice and blueberry smoothies so that they didn't go to waste! They were all awesome.  So is this berry grin!

Next Post: We go to the FARM!

Things We LOVE Right Now

More time together! We have had so many nights home together grilling dinner, going on walks, following Svea on her bike through the neighborhood, etc. I love lazy relaxing stress free summer days! I love being home with the kids!

 Lunchtime workouts-Dan comes home at lunch time and we time it for right when the kids go down for our naps.  Then we motivate each other to get a workout in.  We've been doing the 30 Day Shred by Jillian Michaels.  We are always sweating by the end and breathing hard so hopefully it's successful.  It feels good to feel strong!

 Kieran giving us big bear hugs and now has started to pat us on the back.  So cute! The fact that he says "mum" and actually associates it with me.  He has also done Dad too (Father's Day/how lucky) and I think he gets what that means too!  Dan was showing him his own image in the mirror today and saying "baby" and Kieran would pat the mirror and say bebe, bebe.  It's fun that his language is starting to develop!

 7 Full days of wearing big girl underwear!  Svea made it the WHOLE week with only one tiny accident!  She peed in her underwear just a tiny bit, but stopped herself and made it to the potty in time.  She is so proud of herself.  We played outside and went to church twice this week in underwear.  She just decided and that was that.  Crossing fingers it continues! We have a potty whistle, she was getting chocolate chips each time she went, but she's already forgetting about that, and if she stays dry all day we give her a little toy or "potty treat".  We made blueberry/banana smoothies tonight after dinner and she asked, "Is that my potty treat, Mommy"?  It wasn't, but for staying dry a whole week we are telling her we are taking her to the farm!  "The animals not get me there though," she told me at bath time tonight.  We'll hopefully go tomorrow and post pictures of course:)

A vacation coming soon for a whole week!  Dan hasn't been to Mandan for the 4th in two years.  We're excited to get back since we missed last year and spent it in the hospital trying to stop labor:) Hopefully we can relax!  Bismarck friends, if you are reading this call, text, or sky write a message to Dan to get together.  He really wants to, but his top priorities when he has a spare minute are to check football stuff, see the kids, and pee, but not in any particular order. I'm hoping we get to see our friends, but really hoping he can get together with some guys!!!

Potty Training Update

We are on our 5th day of wearing underwear except for naps and bed!  Svea has stayed dry for four and a half FULL days and she is going on her "little" potty that we have for her in the bathroom both ways!  She gets so excited, especially when she goes #2.  My favorite is when she is finished and has to run out to tell Kieran what she did and appears to be so proud of herself!  

At first I made it mandatory to sit on the potty every half hour, then an hour, and now this morning I've let her go an hour and a half before making it a must.  Last night with Dad she went and then five minutes later told him she needed to go again.  I loved getting my phone call from her to let me know:)  (I was at a fundraiser for relay for life). 

We are so proud of her, relieved that it finally caught on, a little sad that she is growing up so fast, but mostly excited about only having one child in diapers!!! 

I have no pictures, but you don't want to see what goes in the potty anyway right?

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Sorry this birthday post is so late, but the evenings have been long and hard.  Svea is on a sleeping strike.  If she doesn't nap then she's a bear and crashes at night, but if she does nap she is wired until 9-10 at night.  She's not sleeping crazy late in the morning so I don't know what is going on.  On top of that we have a teether too.  Kieran's top tooth just won't pop through and last night he was up for over an over from 10-11 crying and screaming.  Poor guy!  I feel so bad for him:)

 The kids and I messed around outside in the morning.  Here are some shots of Aldon Park and biking. Kieran looks out of it basically because he still had a mild fever with whatever virus he had.

 Dan's birthday was unique, powerful, and fun.  We woke up to a call that someone was dying and he raced to the hospital.  As Dan was comforting the family as to what she was going through right now she slipped away.  It was a powerful moment and a not expected way to start his birthday, but good.

 Dan and I worked out over lunch time and the kids napped decently if I remember correctly!  JackieKayla came to babysit and we raced up to St. Cloud for a nice dinner and 45 minutes of shopping together.  We haven't done that just the two of us for a LONG time! It was fun!

 We ate tons of leftover Father's Day Dairy Queen cake and overall I think Dan said it was a birthday he'd never forget.  Sounds like it was a success to me:) Happy 39th Birthday sweetie!

Svea Sayings and a Sick Boy

Kieran got a fever the other day and still has it.  We're not sure if it's from teething (a top tooth is JUST about ready to pop through), or is he's caught a virus.  His temp is staying pretty steady at 99.9-100.8.  I've been giving him tylenol at night and he slept all night one night.  Wish it was because he knew he can instead of because he was too tired to get up!  Ha!  Anyway, he's just sleeping a bit more and is more mellow and snuggly.  Not sure if you can tell or not, but we can....poor guy:(

Svea was a HAM yesterday on Dan's day off.  She and Dan were outside playing together while Kieran and I hung out in the house watching from the window.  She was standing in the yard with her bike helmet on and talking to every single person that went by.  To the man on the bike=HIIII!  To the kids on their bikes who said hi to Pastor Dan=Hi, have a nice night! Ha ha, those kids call my Dad Pastor Dan, but I call him Daddy!  To the couple walking down the sidewalk=Hi, my name is Bea, this is my Dad, I like mac n cheese, and there's my Mommy and little brother Kieran in the window!  

Seriously this girl just cracks us up!  She will give a full run down of everything about her day to anyone who will listen.  She got a lot of laughs from people.  I love that she is so social!

 I think he was getting ready to smile, not sure, but Dan caught this goofy look on Kieran's face as we snuggled together while he wasn't feeling well:)  At one point during the day I took him back to Svea's room just to snuggle and rock in her chair.  I sang to him and once I stopped he started making goofy noises. It took me awhile to figure out he was trying to sing.  As soon as I started to sing again, he stopped.  So cute, I think he just wanted me to keep singing to him as we rocked with his head on my shoulder.  Oh do I love our little boy SO much! We are SO lucky to receive not one, but  two very special gifts from God:) We will never take it for granted!

P.S. Happy Birthday Daddy!  I will hopefully post tomorrow or the next day on how Dan's birthday went!  2nd half of Peanut Butter Cup Dairy Queen Cake here we come:)

Father's Day 2013

Father's Day 2013 was a super special and awesome day at our house!  We got to see Dan before he left for church that morning and Svea ran up and told him Happy Father's Day and gave him a big hug.  She sat so nice for the children's sermon and gave him another huge hug at church. She kept asking me so nicely if she could go to the toy room.  Each time I said, "not yet" and she'd sit for another minute patiently waiting until she asked again quietly.

 We had corn dogs for lunch (one of Dan's favorites).  Dan and I got a workout in during nap/rest time.  We enjoyed some time outside, ate Zorbas for supper, had peanut butter cup Dairy Queen cake, and just enjoyed each other and celebrated Dad!

 These two kids are so lucky to have him.  They love him and he loves them more! Thank you for knowing and appreciating just how very lucky you are! Happy Father's Day Dan....I hope you enjoyed your day.  We sure did!

Just so you know Svea IS laughing here.  If you didn't know or know her you might think she is yelling or something:)  She WAS SO excited about eating cake!  "I share with you with that"!  Raise your hand if you've ever heard that phrase once, or twice, or a hundred times:)

Sprinkler!

 Svea had a first today!  The first time running through the sprinkler!

 It was overcast and dreary up until nap time (she napped today/but struggled at bedtime) and then the sun came out!  As soon as Svea woke up we put on her suit and headed outside!

 The neighbor kids were out so we invited them over too!

 Can you see her face?  She would just stop, stand, and giggle with delight.  It was so much fun for everyone!

 Jaylee/4             Svea/2.5              Brody/3.5 (He's at tiny guy!)

 Mr. Blue eyes was just getting up from his nap, but came outside with Dad later.  I put his toes in the water and he just breathed in really sharp....cold MOM!

This was supper later:)  Spinach and Peas! Happy Guy!

We LOVE Summer

Even if it isn't 80 degrees every day with sunshine, we are enjoying our summer so far.  More time together, less stress, and fewer obstacles in general!  Dan is still working full time obviously, but there are no crazy Wednesday nights and he is going to be able to take a total of three weeks off here and there through it all! I am getting two extra hours of sleep A NIGHT and it makes such a huge difference.  We play outside almost every day (as long as it's not raining) and I just love all of the quality time we get together. We're also right here when Dan comes home for lunch.  Shall we talk about grilling and healthier food too?  I think that helps every one's mood too AND I have time to work out when the kids nap.  I only get in about 20 minutes, but its enough to get some endorphins going. 

Speaking of naps that is something new for Kieran.  We've started to push him off and dropped his morning nap and now we sleeps anywhere from 1.5 to 2.5 hours for his nap.  It's very nice!  On the other hand Svea has decided to boycott her naps this week so that's been a struggle.  We are crossing our fingers it's a phase...again:)

Hair to the middle of her back and lots of bouncy curls, especially in humidity. She's going to be 6 at her next birthday party.  It's what she tells everyone when they ask her how old she is...matter of fact I might add;) 

 This is a lunch time trend since we are pushing little man to one nap.  Here's a cute video of how it happened the other day too!

 Thumbprint art!  I quick took a picture because three minutes after this she scribbled over top the whole thing.  She LOVES new activities!  Gonna have to break out my Pinterest page full of "kid ideas"!

 Matching babies in diapers:)  Climbing up the walls trying to see....

 The amazing Riker!  He's still with us folks even if the vet said he's ancient for a boxer.  A tumor, cancer, a stroke, and arthritis doesn't stop this crazy guy!  He's happier too these days as he gets 3-4 walks a week and time to roll around outside in the grass and play!

 These two love hanging out by the window whether it's just watching cars go by, talking to people that walk by, or chatting it up with Jaylee and Brody (neighbor kids from next door).  Tonight before bed Svea played with them by riding bike up and down the sidewalk a bajillion times and then running up and down the block another bajillion times.  She then came in the house, ran to the window, and called them back over to talk to her!  They are sweet kids and good to her:)

 She did this all on her own the other day!  "I'm smiling, Mommy", she said!

This isn't the best picture, but what Kieran was up to the other day.  It's Woodstock and I'd push his tummy and he'd play the Peanuts tune and he'd get this goofy grin on his face.  Also, everything is still in his mouth constantly...we can see very clearly which tooth will probably pop through first, but still hasn't quite yet!