A Little Comparison with Hats

 I just had to compare these two.  I can see here how much they do look alike:)  This is Svea and Kieran at just shy of 21 months.  I just love their baby blue eyes:)

 Kieran LOVES hats.  It doesn't matter if it's a stocking hat, baseball hat, or his fedora hats.  I can plop one on him and he doesn't even attempt to remove them. 

 It's kind of big ma!

 Don't take it away, OK?

I think he looks honkin' huge here, but maybe it's the angle.  We would normally have him in a booster chair by now, but he's WAY to wiggly and we know he'll tip his chair right over. Our little guy is growing up.  We now can ask him to do almost anything and he understands well enough to do so.  The other night he was anxiously waiting to get into the bath and I told him he needed to go put his paci in his crib (those darn pacis!) and he came running back smiling and ready to hop in.  He throws away garbage, gives hugs and kisses, and just learned how to say the word "apple".  It comes out like AAAA-bel:)

Easter Egg Hunt

The queen of looks.  I'm not sure what this one is about, but last Monday Dan took Svea outside during Kieran's nap for a little egg hunt out side! He told her the Easter bunny came again!!!

She was very happy he decided to come again and do an Easter egg hunt outside too!

 I found one!

It was very cool of Dad to make sure someone got to go outside to see what the Easter Bunny brought outside too! The other night I had Svea come down to the basement with me while I cleaned up a bit.  She found some of the Easter baskets and was playing with them going around to stuffed animals, me, etc. and handing out candy to everyone:)  Very cute!

Easter 2014 (Tons of Pictures!)

 The kids woke up to Easter baskets from the Easter Bunny and an egg hunt around the living room. Svea's were pink and purple and Kieran had blue and green eggs.

 At first glance they were super excited and going through and pulling out everything in their baskets.

 The Easter Bunny is quite practical and Mom and Dad love that!  New sunglasses and summer hats to fit the growing heads:)

 Svea loves this new headband. She wears it all of the time and dances and prances around singing about her pigtails!

 Making funny faces!

 Kieran...just looking cute.  Sorry for the pink paci.  I hate to buy him new ones at this point because we hope to wean him soon.

 "How do I get these things on, MOM?"

 "Sweet...there!"

 "Ok, now what?"

 This is Svea's "I"m cute".  She does this when we catch her being good or she is just trying to be silly:)

 "I found an egg!"  Exciting stuff!

 Kieran just wants to be a big boy and to be able to sit on the tall chairs like this sister.  I so wish we had smaller chairs at this point!

 All dressed for church! 

 I've got nothing for this one except to say that it makes me laugh each time I look at it!

 Svea all ready for church!  The kids wore their hats to the car, but left them in there for church.

 "Let's Go!"

 She was swaying and singing before I took this shot. I had asked her to quit moving so I could get a picture that wasn't blurry.

 Hanging out in the toy room after the Children's sermon.  They have a tv and speaker in the nursery so if I position my chair right under the speaker I can hear the sermon.  Dan preached and I'm 99% sure it was great, but I only heard 50%.  I sometimes get the outline of them the night before. 

 Such a big boy....sigh....

 Best shot at a family picture!  If they are both looking then we call it success!

So that was our Easter and how we celebrated the not as important parts.  It was fun this year to share more of what Easter is all about with Svea.  We read a book explaining what it's really all about.  I'm pretty sure it's from Grandma and Grandpa D:)  Svea would talk about how Jesus had to die and was with God.  Then she kept asking us why he had to die. We had a busy, chaotic, but wonderful Easter season.  Wednesday nights were special because we would head right over to the church for the evening after I picked up the kids.  We would get to have dinner together and it was really nice.  As we continue to teach Svea about Christ's ultimate sacrifice we are reminded how blessed we are for our time here on Earth. We strive to make the most of every day and are thankful for our many blessings.  Happy Easter!

Coming Soon...Dad does an egg hunt with Svea outside!  The Easter Bunny came again.  Can you believe it?

Totally Random (Because That is Our Life Right Now:)

 Kieran and Svea love to help with the vacuuming.  It takes awhile to complete, but I'm thankful for their help:)

We went to Jamestown this past weekend!  Dan and I snuck away to Fargo for a night and on Saturday we all brought the kids up to Mayville to see my Grandparents.  I haven't seen them for a year. They were very excited to see the kids!  Kieran put on a show reading his books to everybody.

 Dan is going to play the trumpet this coming Sunday for Easter!!!  He's been practicing and the other day he let Svea try it.  She does really well at it, surprisingly.  He holds it for her, but she blows it and pushed the keys! She thinks she is pretty cool!

 Mr. Blue Eyes!!!

 Dan noticed just tonight, Wednesday, April 16th that all of the robins were hanging out in our trees during a snowstorm (you heard right).  It's as if they are all hanging out wondering what in the world is going on and where is spring.  "Whose idea was it to come back this early"?

 Svea made a  mess puzzle for us:) She also played with bubbles in the bathtub and got her pants all wet.  She decided to go in just her underwear for the rest of the night.  Brrrrr!

 Kieran and Mommy and Daddy playing with the animals sounds toy.  He has been saying quite a bit lately.  Again, Gaga can pick out way more things that he is saying than we can, but in the last two days we've clearly heard him say, "Let's Go", "Good boy", and "What's That".  It's fun to be able to understand a little bit more of what he is saying.  I was holding him before bed the other night and he kept squirming to play with his lamp.  I told him if he didn't stop he would be going straight to his crib.  He threw his head into my shoulder.  It was quite funny.  He's also had a few time outs and that little bugger knows just what he is doing.  He stays in time out and pouts and shuts his bedroom door on us.  Do we have an even more spirited child than the first?  Time will tell:)  We love them to pieces though!

Happy Holy Week!  A couple of kids have been sick at daycare.  We are praying it doesn't hit our family and looking forward to enjoying this weekend.  Grandma and Grandpa D......you should pick a long weekend sometime soon and come out to stay with us!!!

A Little of This and a Little of That

 The other night I found Svea hanging out in the kitchen doing the dishes.  I didn't ask her and she didn't tell me she was going to do this either.  She was very proud of herself.  It was a full sink of dishes and she sat and washed them all.  After she was done she wanted to rinse them as well.

 Then, she placed them on the towel to dry.  Very sweet. I was proud of her.  Of course, I had to redo them later, but it was fun that she took the initiative to try it herself. 

 And then I fond this guy like this! The other day I found him on top of the counter.  It's been nice outside the past couple of days and we've found our way out there a few times.  I can already tell that this summer is going to be BUSY!!!  Keeping track of Svea while at the same time not letting my eyes leave Kieran for a second.  I thought we had to watch Svea closely at this age.  Kieran is a whole different story.  There will be no flip flops....all running shoes:)  He is already loving being outside as well and cries when we have to come in.  It's nearly impossible to get him into his car seat to go somewhere if it is a nice day because he just wants to play!

 These moods were in a span of seconds. Oh, the frustrations of being a preschooler!  "I can't get this open, Mommy!" 

Things are blurring at the moment for me.  I can't quite remember what has been happening.  Lent has been fun this year.  I always love heading right over to the church on Wednesday nights.  We play for awhile and then Dan comes and gets us and we get to do dinner together as a family and I don't have to get it ready.  I love it! 

 

My car said it was 79 degrees out today at 5:30 pm.  That was a little slice of heaven!  We are headed to ND for the weekend.  We are excited to get to do some fun stuff with Gaga and Grandpa!

 

On a sad note, we found out last December that my Aunt Jane has lung cancer.  She's been going through chemo and radiation since then. They found a tumor in her brain that isn't cancer, but now the cancer has moved to her liver.  The doctors are giving her four to nine months to live.  I am hoping she has much longer. It's a huge blow and my family is devastated.  She is a ring leader in our family and has always kept in touch with me.  She was the one that got Svea to finally get into the water last year by having her toss rocks into the water.  She has a husband, three kids, and three grandchildren.  My heart hurts for all of them. I was able to visit with her the other weekend when I went down to the cities to see Pam.  I hope I can see her as much as I can.  I hope she is feeling strong for our reunion this summer.  I pray that she has quality time with her family.  I just don't know what to even think or what to say about it sometimes.  It feel surreal.

 

In the meantime, we keep praying and asking God to be with us and give us peace.  We thank him for the numerous blessings he gives us.  We are thankful for each day we get to be with each other here. And we pray for those who are hurting.

 

20 Months Old

Clothes: You mainly wear size 18 month clothes and jammies with a few 12 month pieces left.  You are still very short legged and your pants sometime fall off your butt.  If you are wearing sweatpants we have to roll them once.

Shoes: Size 4

Diapers: Size 4 diapers day and night.

Sleep: You sleep very well through the night from about 8 pm-8am.  We got you to switch to a later bedtime at daylight savings time.  Yeah for sleeping in for all of us:) You are still a very good napper too.  You will sleep anywhere from 1.5 to 3 hours in the afternoon.

 Teeth: 12! No new teeth this month.
Traveling: We have not traveled anywhere this month. Too cold and snowy! 
Talking: You finally tried to say "please" the other day and made a small attempt to sign it.  You love making animal sounds and sometimes say two word phrases although they are really hard to make out.  You still love thumb through a book page by page and babble and pretend to read.  Well, you are actually reading in your mind and it is the cutest thing ever.  Sometimes I just sit and watch you do this.  It's so cute and endearing.

 Favorite Activity: books (reading to yourself or having us read to you), playing with your cars and tractors, feed Svea's babies, climb/run, put big shoes and wearing things on your head and walking around with it.  You also love playing with Little People, but the ones that are animals.  The other day it was 57 degrees out and Mom took you outside with Svea.  We went for a walk and you held on to each of our hands and I couldn't believe how far you walked with us.  You loved it and were smiling and giggling.  A few days after it snowed again so we'll have to wait for the next time:)

Favorite Books: Go Dog Go, Hop on Pop, Snow, Ten Apples Up On Top, etc.  You love all of those Dr. Seuss books.
Favorite Foods: peanut butter, grapes, noodles, dried peas, cereal, and cooked veggies with parmesan cheese.
Foods Dislike: So many:)  You are still a picky eater.

Favorite Songs: We sing you your bedtime prayer and Mom sings you Eidelweiss and you put your little head on my shoulder or Dad's right before you go into your crib at night.  We cherish those moments with you. 
Dislikes: Getting into your car seat.  You usually fight it and cry at first, but then settle down right away.  You also get quite upset at not being able to always communicate with us what you are wanting and you obviously hate it when your sister messes with you.

Favorite Word: Not sure.  You really don't repeat the same word over and over or a majority of the time.
Things we are learning: You are learning how to follow directions.  Most things we ask you, you pause, think about it, and then go and do it.  You have learned how to take your shoes off and you are getting better at using a spoon.  I caught you the other day trying to use your fork as well.  You also know where your belly button is now and we are working on your nose.  We'll ask you where your belly button is and you pull up your shirt.  Then we tickle you and you giggle and give us a big hug...repeat! Another favorite is when you like to tackle Daddy.  He gets you laughing and Mommy's favorite is covering my eyes and asking you where Mommy is.  You come up and move my hands and laugh and giggle and then give hugs too. 

Kieran, we love you so much.  You are such a sweetheart and we can't imagine our family without you in it. We are so happy to have you as our little boy!  We love you just the way you are....super sweet, fun, loving, and happy!