Saturday, April 30, 2016
Day Trip to Humboldt (April 30)
We had such a great visit down to Humboldt once again to hang out with our family down there. The boys just adore their cousins, and love spending a wild, crazy day with them. It was raining, once again, so we didn't get to go outside, unfortunately. But between play dough, dressing up in costumes, and playing games, there's never a dull moment.
We're excited to be able to make slightly more frequent trips down to visit now that I'm no longer pregnant (hallelujah!!), so hopefully the next time, it won't be raining. The farm is the most fun when it's nice out and the kids can run around outside!
April Recap
April was a pretty good month overall for us, as we continued to adjust to being a family of five. It was a BUSY month, and I can't even believe how much we jammed into it, truth be told. Some of this "busy"ness was just Ryan and I driving all over the place, and some of it was altogether as a family, but all in all, it was good!
Overall, the biggest frustration this month was dealing with what can best be described as extremely belligerent children. I've been through the whole "adding a kid to the family" thing before, so I knew it was coming, but that doesn't make it any less eye-rolling when it happens. It was a rough month in that regard. April is always a tough month as Mark is in the field, and the boys miss him, so this month we tried to get down there to the farm a time or two while Mark was out there so they could at least see him. It helps that I'm not working right now, in the midst of twelve glorious weeks (weeks that almost make the aches, pains and sleeplessness of pregnancy feel worth it) of maternity leave. But I do recall numerous times during April saying out loud to myself, "Yeah, let's have three kids, we said - it's a good idea, we said." lol Ohhhhhh April. Planting season. Although I don't wish to rush time, I'll admit that I'm always so thankful when we're back to our "normal" and I have my backup parent to keep up with the wild big brother hooligans while I tend to the baby and supper preparations. We've been eating out too much for my liking, and I'm just ready to get back to "normal" again.
I turned my attention on re-upholstering the chairs at the dining room table, which turned out great, and put a few finishing touches on the decor for Cashel's bedroom. However, here are the highlights of the month:
We're also very much looking forward to fun Memorial Day weekend activities (whatever they end up being) as well as the 4th of July and then at the end of the month our week-long trip to Alexandria as a family.
And, of course, I'm already dreaming of some sort of warm-weather destination for this coming winter, but I've promised myself that I won't start thinking quite that far in advance for a few more months anyway :)
Until next month...
Overall, the biggest frustration this month was dealing with what can best be described as extremely belligerent children. I've been through the whole "adding a kid to the family" thing before, so I knew it was coming, but that doesn't make it any less eye-rolling when it happens. It was a rough month in that regard. April is always a tough month as Mark is in the field, and the boys miss him, so this month we tried to get down there to the farm a time or two while Mark was out there so they could at least see him. It helps that I'm not working right now, in the midst of twelve glorious weeks (weeks that almost make the aches, pains and sleeplessness of pregnancy feel worth it) of maternity leave. But I do recall numerous times during April saying out loud to myself, "Yeah, let's have three kids, we said - it's a good idea, we said." lol Ohhhhhh April. Planting season. Although I don't wish to rush time, I'll admit that I'm always so thankful when we're back to our "normal" and I have my backup parent to keep up with the wild big brother hooligans while I tend to the baby and supper preparations. We've been eating out too much for my liking, and I'm just ready to get back to "normal" again.
I turned my attention on re-upholstering the chairs at the dining room table, which turned out great, and put a few finishing touches on the decor for Cashel's bedroom. However, here are the highlights of the month:
Highlights:
- Jed's Birthday Dinner at Ground Round (April 2)
- Ryan's 3 week checkup (April 5) (recap here)
- Farming Days (April 15th) (recap here)
- Getting our New Mini-van (April 22)
- Cashel's AWANA Awards Night (April 27) (recap here)
- Maternity Leave Girlfriend Dates (April 21st and 28th) (recap here)
- Day trip to Humboldt (April 30) (recap here)
Photo Highlights:
You're in for a treat! Being on maternity leave means I'm almost caught up on my family scrapbook for 2016, so instead of a barrage of photos, you get them all in scrapbook form :)Looking Ahead...
May brings more farming for Mark, and lots of pretending to single-parent three kiddos (which, in all seriousness, I can guarantee is NOTHING like actual single-parenting - kudos to those of you who have that going out, because O...M...G...) for Mama. We're hoping for warmer temps and a fun time at the end of the month when we head to Wisconsin Dells for a long weekend, and it's crazy to think that after next month, we'll all be getting back to our new "normal" with me back to work June 6. We hope to make it back down to the farm in Humboldt at some point, as we've yet to have a fun outside play time there for a while, and the boys talk about it quite a bit. I'm sure we'll be in Worthington a fair amount as well, since we just love visiting Grandpa, Grandma Pam and Aunt Jess down there :)We're also very much looking forward to fun Memorial Day weekend activities (whatever they end up being) as well as the 4th of July and then at the end of the month our week-long trip to Alexandria as a family.
And, of course, I'm already dreaming of some sort of warm-weather destination for this coming winter, but I've promised myself that I won't start thinking quite that far in advance for a few more months anyway :)
Until next month...
Friday, April 29, 2016
Lately in Windom (April Edition)
These two were being too quiet one day. That's never a good sign when there is chocolate cake in the house...
Kendrick's favorite part about Ryan: His Neck
How I ever get any housework done is beyond me.
"Cheers!"
The boys have both been SO excited to feed baby Ryan his bottle on the weekends.
One of my FAVORITE things to make on the grill during the summer. Pinterest WIN!
We had a serious cold snap for a bit. The boys insisted we stop at "Lake Park" to play, and guess who got to supervise?
I swear I am clipping this kid's fingernails every 3 days.
I think these boys are going to end up being like their (1st) cousin (once removed) Drew: Can't ever take a normal picture haha :)
Strawberry milkshakes on the deck! The day before, it was in the lower 40s and raining out, with tiny flakes of snow. This day, it was in the mid-70s and gorgeous!
I made it out for my second postpartum mile on the 3rd. It was still too soon for me, but I did run almost the whole thing!
Park fun with the family :)
We ended up getting like SIX North Carolina's. I kinda wonder if anyone ever is sitting there just begging for what pieces we have. We're just happy when we get free food out of the deal haha
Ryan and I surprised Cashel at his preschool for his sharing bag day. He had been begging me to bring Ryan to share. The kids (and teachers) were so excited to see him! Pretty sure Mrs. Erin has a picture of us sharing, but this was all I got with my phone.
At his 3 week checkup, this chunker was 12lbs 6oz and still only 22 inches long.
Never a dull moment at our house. This was one of Cashel's distraction techniques for, once again, trying to not eat any supper. The struggle is real with getting kids to actually eat food. Of course, every.single.night he asks for mac and cheese and hot dogs. When we finally put that on the menu? Yeah, not a bite.
Snuggling with one of my old baby blankets :)
It's amazing I haven't renovated the entire house Chip & Joanna Gaines style with as much HGTV as Ryan and I watched while nursing those first few weeks.
I'm gonna admit: It's absolutely embarrassing how many selfies Ryan and I take during the day. I still haven't found a single one of them that captures how sweet these snuggles are.
Before/After shots of one of my maternity leave projects: Recovering the chairs. Not even 2 days later, the boys had dumped entire glasses of milk, applesauce and spaghetti sauce ALLLLL over the new chairs. SO very thankful that we chose fabric that wipes right off this time.
These boys don't always get along, but when they do, it's sweet. On a side note, they have been on this strange kick where they want to eat with their shirts off. #ThankGoodnessIHaveAllBoys
If you don't cook with your kids, let me encourage you to! My boys LOOOOOVVVEEEE it! You can give them super simple tasks like just pouring the veggies into the pot to cook them, or...
...stirring something in a pot (under careful supervision, of course). It's a good way to keep them from, oh, you know, running out the door, down the driveway and into the road...or something.
Another weird thing (beyond them insisting on eating without shirts on) is their total disregard for using utensils these days.
I mean...
The bigger Ryan gets, the more he looks like THE spitting image of his father. I've yet to get a picture of them both sleeping where you can see it even more clearly, but it's CRAZY!
Oh man do I love this kid! He is a HUGE handful right now, and I'm nervous about the coming year with him turning THREE at the end of August. But he is really such a huge sweetheart when he's not tired, hungry or over-stimulated.
He absolutely ADORES his little brother, and is EXTREMELY gentle with him.
Fun background fact: I tried to get a cute picture of Cashel in his towel for probably 5 minutes. The other 4 minutes and 58 seconds? I couldn't get one because he had his butt in the air and you could see parts that shouldn't be photographed. ::sigh:: #boymom
It's incredibly sweet to see these boys love on their baby brother, but we have to watch out BIG time when they both want to hold him at the same time, because it goes about like this...
I know absolutely that we are done having babies, but I really wish I could keep him at this stage right here for like...10 years?
Can I bottle these moments for the days when it's crazy and stressful and no one listens to me and I feel like I'm going to go crazy?
I am super excited that Cashel is at this story-telling stage right now. I can't wait to continue to get all sorts of really awesome stories like this for his school books :)
Kendrick has been super silly about doing baby things lately. He was laughing so hard when I decided to treat him just like a baby with his sippy cup :)
Ryan already prefers stomach sleeping. I'm way too chicken to allow it at night when I'm sleeping and can't check in on him, but most mornings, once I get up, he'll sleep like this for another solid 2 hours.
I'm trying to let go a little more than I usually do, and do things like...throw on the rain boots, grab an umbrella and ::gasp:: GO OUTSIDE when it's STILL RAINING out. I sometimes forget that I'm not going to melt.
After the rain comes...the bubble machine!
Kendrick was a little restless going down for a nap on the 24th. When I went in to wake him up, I found this :)
Daddy and Ryan time looks like this most nights while I'm snagging a shower and getting ready for bed :)
This is how Kendrick kisses these days, but it looks like he's going to take a big chunk out of Ryan's head lol
As anyone with a newborn knows, it's extraordinarily difficult to capture those first baby smiles :)
Cashel was SUPER proud of himself for taking his first ever batch of cookies out of the oven. (He pretty much just wore the mits while he stood really close and I took them out with another set of mits, but don't tell him that haha)
AWANA Awards night! Cashel has SO enjoyed AWANA this first year, and asks us regularly throughout the week if it's Cubbies night :)
We met this special lady for supper to celebrate her 91st birthday! The boys each gave her a carnation and we got her a potted plant, but I think the best gift was the necklace Cashel made especially for her :)
We have been working on tracing letters with dotted lines lately.
Cashel was upset about the flies getting into the house, so he made a trap. It was also supposed to be good at keeping out bears.
I really do have the cutest boys :)
There's nothing quite like exploring at the farm :)
Cashel made these all by himself, aside from me measuring the oil for him.
How did mama's of 3 or more children ever make it without baby wearing? I seriously adore my K-Tan Breeze wrap! Between this and the essential oils, I'm feeling kinda crunchy these days...
I am so thankful that all of the trees surrounding us are too high up for this little monkey to climb. When he gets tall enough, I'm going to be terrified!
If THAT doesn't terrify me enough, the looks on their faces here should. We're going to have to do a whole lot of praying around here!
It has been NINE YEARS since I saw this woman! My friend Becky from HS days moved about 2 hours from me, so we met up for a "playdate" for our babies, who share a birthday, in Sibley, Iowa. SUCH a fun time catching up!
I am seriously so sad that all of my babies are officially too big to wear this adorable little bear outfit anymore :( This was the last time Ryan will be able to wear it. I just love how sweet they look in it.
I tried NOT to focus in on the contents of Cashel's hand here for the squeamish haha It has been ALLLLLL about worms at our house with all the rain. It has been a challenge to explain to the boys that the worms need to be in the ground to survive.
It has also been a huge challenge to keep the boys from running off like mad men after the Canadian geese that frequent our area in the spring. ::sigh:: I had a nightmare the other night that he just kept running and running and running after geese and I couldn't catch him and couldn't scream loud enough for him to hear me. When these boys get something on their mind, they simply can't focus on ANYTHING else. Gee, I wonder where they get that from, Mark.
Poor Aunt Jess had one heck of a rough week towards the end of the month. A few snuggles with baby Ryan seem to be just the prescription she needed :)
Bubbles with Grandma Pam and Aunt Jess make these boys so happy :) I was so grateful for their visit while Daddy was at the farm on this particular Saturday.
Yes, that is a deer tied to the top of that garbage truck :) We had city clean up, and I guess one of the guys wanted to keep the lawn ornament for himself. Cashel was SUPER mesmerized, and had to have Grandma Pam walk with him to go "help" the guys get things into the truck. We may have a future garbage man on our hands. He was just enthralled!
We were a couple days late, but had a fun visit with Great Grandma Vi to celebrate her 91st birthday at Arby's. Cashel picked out the beads and made the necklace all by himself for her. I just love the love he has for his Grandparents :) It's so sweet! He also made her a card with a trap to keep away those bears and flies.
Cousins (of some sort - first cousins twice removed, I think?) Levi and Ryan got to have a little playdate while Levi's Mama Kirsten and I caught up a bit. SO FUN!!
Ryan and I also got to meet up with our good friends Angie (and Emma) and Sara for supper on our way back home at Boulder Tap House. Word to the wise: If you go there, make sure you have at least 3 people to share an order of the cheese cubes. Oh.My.Goodness.
The boys always have a wonderful time down at the farm playing with cousins. This is our second trip down there in the past couple months, and once again, it was raining and nasty outside. What gives? We're hoping the 3rd time is a charm!
Caitlin Ann promised to change all Ryan's diapers while we were there. :)
Sometimes I feel so jipped that my Dad never got to meet the vast majority of his grandkids. Having my Mom be able to have sweet moments with them, though, helps soften that a bit. It stinks that she is still dealing with the Parkinson's and all that comes with that, but being able to snuggle grandbabies is something she's still darn good at :)
If you can believe it, I actually think I'm *missing* some events from this month, but I can't remember what they are. I know one of them is buying a mini van (2014 Red Chrysler Town and Country), but I don't have any pictures of it that I can find.Kendrick's favorite part about Ryan: His Neck
How I ever get any housework done is beyond me.
"Cheers!"
The boys have both been SO excited to feed baby Ryan his bottle on the weekends.
One of my FAVORITE things to make on the grill during the summer. Pinterest WIN!
We had a serious cold snap for a bit. The boys insisted we stop at "Lake Park" to play, and guess who got to supervise?
I swear I am clipping this kid's fingernails every 3 days.
I think these boys are going to end up being like their (1st) cousin (once removed) Drew: Can't ever take a normal picture haha :)
Strawberry milkshakes on the deck! The day before, it was in the lower 40s and raining out, with tiny flakes of snow. This day, it was in the mid-70s and gorgeous!
I made it out for my second postpartum mile on the 3rd. It was still too soon for me, but I did run almost the whole thing!
Park fun with the family :)
We ended up getting like SIX North Carolina's. I kinda wonder if anyone ever is sitting there just begging for what pieces we have. We're just happy when we get free food out of the deal haha
Ryan and I surprised Cashel at his preschool for his sharing bag day. He had been begging me to bring Ryan to share. The kids (and teachers) were so excited to see him! Pretty sure Mrs. Erin has a picture of us sharing, but this was all I got with my phone.
At his 3 week checkup, this chunker was 12lbs 6oz and still only 22 inches long.
Never a dull moment at our house. This was one of Cashel's distraction techniques for, once again, trying to not eat any supper. The struggle is real with getting kids to actually eat food. Of course, every.single.night he asks for mac and cheese and hot dogs. When we finally put that on the menu? Yeah, not a bite.
Snuggling with one of my old baby blankets :)
It's amazing I haven't renovated the entire house Chip & Joanna Gaines style with as much HGTV as Ryan and I watched while nursing those first few weeks.
I'm gonna admit: It's absolutely embarrassing how many selfies Ryan and I take during the day. I still haven't found a single one of them that captures how sweet these snuggles are.
Before/After shots of one of my maternity leave projects: Recovering the chairs. Not even 2 days later, the boys had dumped entire glasses of milk, applesauce and spaghetti sauce ALLLLL over the new chairs. SO very thankful that we chose fabric that wipes right off this time.
These boys don't always get along, but when they do, it's sweet. On a side note, they have been on this strange kick where they want to eat with their shirts off. #ThankGoodnessIHaveAllBoys
If you don't cook with your kids, let me encourage you to! My boys LOOOOOVVVEEEE it! You can give them super simple tasks like just pouring the veggies into the pot to cook them, or...
...stirring something in a pot (under careful supervision, of course). It's a good way to keep them from, oh, you know, running out the door, down the driveway and into the road...or something.
Another weird thing (beyond them insisting on eating without shirts on) is their total disregard for using utensils these days.
I mean...
The bigger Ryan gets, the more he looks like THE spitting image of his father. I've yet to get a picture of them both sleeping where you can see it even more clearly, but it's CRAZY!
Oh man do I love this kid! He is a HUGE handful right now, and I'm nervous about the coming year with him turning THREE at the end of August. But he is really such a huge sweetheart when he's not tired, hungry or over-stimulated.
He absolutely ADORES his little brother, and is EXTREMELY gentle with him.
Fun background fact: I tried to get a cute picture of Cashel in his towel for probably 5 minutes. The other 4 minutes and 58 seconds? I couldn't get one because he had his butt in the air and you could see parts that shouldn't be photographed. ::sigh:: #boymom
It's incredibly sweet to see these boys love on their baby brother, but we have to watch out BIG time when they both want to hold him at the same time, because it goes about like this...
I know absolutely that we are done having babies, but I really wish I could keep him at this stage right here for like...10 years?
Can I bottle these moments for the days when it's crazy and stressful and no one listens to me and I feel like I'm going to go crazy?
I am super excited that Cashel is at this story-telling stage right now. I can't wait to continue to get all sorts of really awesome stories like this for his school books :)
Kendrick has been super silly about doing baby things lately. He was laughing so hard when I decided to treat him just like a baby with his sippy cup :)
Ryan already prefers stomach sleeping. I'm way too chicken to allow it at night when I'm sleeping and can't check in on him, but most mornings, once I get up, he'll sleep like this for another solid 2 hours.
I'm trying to let go a little more than I usually do, and do things like...throw on the rain boots, grab an umbrella and ::gasp:: GO OUTSIDE when it's STILL RAINING out. I sometimes forget that I'm not going to melt.
After the rain comes...the bubble machine!
Kendrick was a little restless going down for a nap on the 24th. When I went in to wake him up, I found this :)
Daddy and Ryan time looks like this most nights while I'm snagging a shower and getting ready for bed :)
This is how Kendrick kisses these days, but it looks like he's going to take a big chunk out of Ryan's head lol
As anyone with a newborn knows, it's extraordinarily difficult to capture those first baby smiles :)
Cashel was SUPER proud of himself for taking his first ever batch of cookies out of the oven. (He pretty much just wore the mits while he stood really close and I took them out with another set of mits, but don't tell him that haha)
AWANA Awards night! Cashel has SO enjoyed AWANA this first year, and asks us regularly throughout the week if it's Cubbies night :)
We met this special lady for supper to celebrate her 91st birthday! The boys each gave her a carnation and we got her a potted plant, but I think the best gift was the necklace Cashel made especially for her :)
We have been working on tracing letters with dotted lines lately.
Cashel was upset about the flies getting into the house, so he made a trap. It was also supposed to be good at keeping out bears.
I really do have the cutest boys :)
There's nothing quite like exploring at the farm :)
Cashel made these all by himself, aside from me measuring the oil for him.
How did mama's of 3 or more children ever make it without baby wearing? I seriously adore my K-Tan Breeze wrap! Between this and the essential oils, I'm feeling kinda crunchy these days...
I am so thankful that all of the trees surrounding us are too high up for this little monkey to climb. When he gets tall enough, I'm going to be terrified!
If THAT doesn't terrify me enough, the looks on their faces here should. We're going to have to do a whole lot of praying around here!
It has been NINE YEARS since I saw this woman! My friend Becky from HS days moved about 2 hours from me, so we met up for a "playdate" for our babies, who share a birthday, in Sibley, Iowa. SUCH a fun time catching up!
I am seriously so sad that all of my babies are officially too big to wear this adorable little bear outfit anymore :( This was the last time Ryan will be able to wear it. I just love how sweet they look in it.
I tried NOT to focus in on the contents of Cashel's hand here for the squeamish haha It has been ALLLLLL about worms at our house with all the rain. It has been a challenge to explain to the boys that the worms need to be in the ground to survive.
It has also been a huge challenge to keep the boys from running off like mad men after the Canadian geese that frequent our area in the spring. ::sigh:: I had a nightmare the other night that he just kept running and running and running after geese and I couldn't catch him and couldn't scream loud enough for him to hear me. When these boys get something on their mind, they simply can't focus on ANYTHING else. Gee, I wonder where they get that from, Mark.
Poor Aunt Jess had one heck of a rough week towards the end of the month. A few snuggles with baby Ryan seem to be just the prescription she needed :)
Bubbles with Grandma Pam and Aunt Jess make these boys so happy :) I was so grateful for their visit while Daddy was at the farm on this particular Saturday.
Yes, that is a deer tied to the top of that garbage truck :) We had city clean up, and I guess one of the guys wanted to keep the lawn ornament for himself. Cashel was SUPER mesmerized, and had to have Grandma Pam walk with him to go "help" the guys get things into the truck. We may have a future garbage man on our hands. He was just enthralled!
We were a couple days late, but had a fun visit with Great Grandma Vi to celebrate her 91st birthday at Arby's. Cashel picked out the beads and made the necklace all by himself for her. I just love the love he has for his Grandparents :) It's so sweet! He also made her a card with a trap to keep away those bears and flies.
Cousins (of some sort - first cousins twice removed, I think?) Levi and Ryan got to have a little playdate while Levi's Mama Kirsten and I caught up a bit. SO FUN!!
Ryan and I also got to meet up with our good friends Angie (and Emma) and Sara for supper on our way back home at Boulder Tap House. Word to the wise: If you go there, make sure you have at least 3 people to share an order of the cheese cubes. Oh.My.Goodness.
The boys always have a wonderful time down at the farm playing with cousins. This is our second trip down there in the past couple months, and once again, it was raining and nasty outside. What gives? We're hoping the 3rd time is a charm!
Caitlin Ann promised to change all Ryan's diapers while we were there. :)
Sometimes I feel so jipped that my Dad never got to meet the vast majority of his grandkids. Having my Mom be able to have sweet moments with them, though, helps soften that a bit. It stinks that she is still dealing with the Parkinson's and all that comes with that, but being able to snuggle grandbabies is something she's still darn good at :)
Until next month...
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