Friday, December 23, 2011

It’s the holiday season . . .


And we have been busy! Hard to believe tomorrow is Christmas Eve already. We’re heading to my parent’s house in the morning, so we made special arrangements with the “man in red” to stop by our house tonight. Nolan has been trying very hard to be a good boy so he can get his blue present!

Last week we had both boys to the doctor. Nolan LOVES going to see Dr. Deb (our NP)! Kale’s 15 month check up went well – 24 lbs 15 oz. (56%), 32.75 inches long (90%), and a head circumference of 18.75 inches (27%). I did check the box next to hyperactive on the assessment form, because I feel like Kale does not stop moving, unless he’s sleeping. He is an extremely active child who shows his displeasure with being told no or not getting what he wants by throwing tantrums. Deb said it seems normal, given his busyness and age Deb noticed a slight drifting of his left eye, so we made an appointment with a specialist. We got in the next day, which was great, and found that other than a very slight droop in his left eyelid his eyes are great. We have a follow up with both he and Nolan in 6 months. The best part of the appointment was when the specialist introduced himself to us by shaking our hands. Kale watched us do it, then proceeded to walk up to him, extend his little hand to the dr. and shake it. He is an observant little bugger! Nolan was checked out for a few things with Deb, too, and is overall really healthy. He’s having a procedure done in mid January, so hopefully that will go well.

A few days after the appointments we heard a funny story from Jane. She was letting the kids dip bugles in chocolate, then place an M&M on them. Kale and another 1 year old were “helping”, when the helping went south and they both stuck their grubby little paws in the chocolate. Jane made them sit in the living room and play with other things while the older kids finished. Shortly after finishing she had to run upstairs to let a repair man in the house. Upon her return about 30 seconds later she found Kale had crawled up on the stool and was helping himself to the bugles. She said his name, he turned to look at her with a big grin, and sticking out of his mouth were 4 bugles! He is a sneaky one!

Last Saturday we were busy celebrating Christmas with the Bleck family. We had a lot of fun. Nolan’s favorite gift is the train table and train set from Grandma and Grandpa. He literally can play with it for hours! Kale likes his awesome little man hat, and pretty much anything Nolan is playing with. Up until recently they have played so well together, and for the most part they still do; however, Kale is starting to assert himself more and it’s causing toy sharing heartbreak for both of them. We try and redirect as much as possible, but it’s getting a lot more difficult.

On Sunday we started our day at Lord Fletcher’s for breakfast with Santa, with all of the families from daycare. The food was amazing, and overall the kids did well. Kale did not like being strapped in to the high chair for very long, so we spent a lot of time chasing him around. Nolan loved the buffet (especially the strawberries and marshmallows dipped in the chocolate fountain!), but his favorite parts were seeing his friends and getting to finally see Santa. Neither he nor Kale were scared – they walked right up to him and sat on his lap. Nolan asked for a blue present and answered all of Santa’s questions. Kale stared at Santa and cracked a few smiles. The each got a candy cane when they were done. Kale broke his right away and we had to take it away (which resulted in a minor melt down). Nolan saved his so he could eat it in the car on the way to Build a Bear. We met all the families and Jane again at noon at Build a Bear. Nolan walked right in and selected his bear – Adam was so proud, because he picked the camo bear. It’s certainly not the cutest bear, but Nolan was thrilled with his choice. He also picked out the outfit for his bear, a lovely Woody from Toy Story get up. He calls him Cowboy Woody, and he sleeps in bed with him every night.
Kale initially picked out this super cute puppy, but changed his mind and went with the monkey. Luckily we got to pick out the outfit, so he’s cute.
We were the first family to have to leave, because both kids were melting down – lots of tears and crying. They both fell asleep on the way home, so we made a pit stop at Adam’s parent’s house and let them sleep in the car. Two hours later when we were finally a few minutes from home they both woke up. Being out of routine is exhausting for them!

The weather has been amazing, which means no snow. We played outside with the kids last Sunday, and the pictures make it look like fall. We did get a slight dusting of snow today, but not enough to make it look like Christmas. I’m thankful for good driving conditions, as the last 2 years when we’ve gone up to my parent’s house the roads have been awful, and we’ve been snowed in for 4-5 days.

We received some sad news earlier this week. Adam’s aunt Audrey passed away, quite unexpectedly. Thankfully she was surrounded by her immediate family in her last days. We’ll be joining the family for the funeral next week. She lived a great life, but it’s always hard to say goodbye.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

The Annual Bleck Family Christmas Letter


Merry Christmas, and welcome to the Bleck Family Blog! We keep a decent amount of the Bleck family goings-on here, so feel free to look back at what we’ve been up to – or read on for the abbreviated version.

We begin with a current status update…Kale is 15 months old and Nolan is 2 ¾. Both Tricia and I trade off being exhausted keeping up with them, especially the little one! Kale is routinely experimenting with how much he can get away with in regards to keeping up with his brother. He really loves Nolan, or as he calls him, “budda”. He started walking 1 week after he turned 10 months old, so he is now running, jumping and climbing on everything. He is also commonly referred to as “Tank” since he will typically burst through anything and everything versus going around it or trying to move it. Kale has no fear of the steps or anything that’s in his way. He’s talking a lot and saying new words almost every day.

Nolan is a great little man who loves tackling Kale and playing with his cars and trucks. He’s our little chatterbox as well…A typical car ride involves a constant flow of “look it” or “what’s that, Mommy/Daddy?”-and that’s just on the way to daycare. We are in the midst of celebrating Nolan’s most recent achievement of potty training. It only took him about 7 weeks, so we’re thrilled. We especially like the money we’re saving on diapers!

After two promotions in one year, Tricia is working hard in her new role as an Employee Relations Specialist in the HR department at Park Nicollet, where she’s been for 6 years. In June Tricia and I ran a 5K adventure race called the Go Commando. Who knew running through mud, water, and an obstacle course could actually be fun? I should clarify that I’m speaking for myself, as Tricia doesn’t like to run or get dirty!

As for me, I’ve been keeping busy at UnitedHealth Group working on audits with some of our delegated business functions. Hard to believe I’ve been there two years already. This fall I was able to take time off for 2 extended duck hunting trips in North Dakota, and spent multiple weekends in the woods with my bow and gun trying to take down a deer. No luck yet, but that doesn’t stop me from trying. I’m beginning to think I’m more of a gatherer than a hunter!

We spent a week in July in Wisconsin Dells with Tricia’s family – 16 of us in a 6 bedroom house! Highlights included enjoying our morning coffee while Grandpa Tom took the boys for a long stroller ride every morning, Kale learning to walk, Nolan riding on his first train, each of us enjoying a girls day/boys day away tubing down a river, the Tommy Bartlett show and a night out singing at a local karaoke bar.

Both sides of the family are going to be expanding in 2012. Tricia’s sisters Christianne and Paulette are both expecting babies (March and June), while my sister Erica is in the same boat and due in April. The holidays will continue to get louder and louder!

We’re looking forward to celebrating our 5 year anniversary on New Year’s Eve. Hard to believe it’s been that long already – and boy, has our life changed! We wouldn’t trade it for the world. As we reflect back on 2011 we are so thankful for our friends, family and good health.

Thanks for checking in on us, and as the year progresses feel free to stop back for a periodic laugh or miscellaneous update about the Bleck family.

Cheers, and Happy Holidays!

Sunday, December 11, 2011

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas


Sugar cookies cut out, baked and frosted - check. Pretzels dipped in almond bark - check. Presents wrapped - check. Christmas picture ordered - check. Watched Elf - check. After this weekend it really does feel more like Christmas! And check out the best picture I've gotten of the boys by the Christmas tree -

We even made it to church today. The music was beautiful, but neither of us got a lot out of the service beyond that. Based on feedback from a few people at church today, you'll understand why. "How old are your boys? They sure are cute, but are they busy!" Another person thanked us for providing him with great entertainment during the service (as Kale kept trying to crawl under the pew to escape and played peek a boo with the people in the back pew). I spent over 1/2 of it walking around in the entry way with Kale. That kid can not sit still! Hopefully between now and Christmas we'll get some more snow. We can still see grass at our house. What a difference a year makes! Nolan and Kale are excited for Christmas. They love talking about Santa, looking at the tree, and of course the singing Elvis bear. Nolan loved putting sprinkles on the cookies, and dipped a few of the pretzels before deciding he would rather watch me do the dirty work.

On Saturday morning the boys and I took some friends to the airport. After we dropped them off we spent some time driving around the airport so Nolan could watch the planes. He was so excited! I ended up getting on a road that I wasn't sure if I was supposed to be driving on. It took us right to the runway where the Fex Ex and UPS planes take off and land. Nolan loved being that close!

Last weekend we were quite busy. We attended a surprise party Friday night, had our family church picture taken on Saturday, and followed that by attending Adam's work Christmas party. The surprise party was loads of fun, but I learned that it's getting a lot harder to stay up late, especially when our kids get up so early (3 hours of sleep is just not enough!). The church picture turned out fine. The best part was we had a chance to measure the boys outside of the preschool classrooms. Nolan is 37 inches tall, and Kale is close behind him at 32 inches! We have Kale's 15 month appointment on Wednesday, so we'll see what the official measurement is then. It was really nice to take the boys back to Jane's house on Monday. I wasn't sure how they would adapt after not being there for a week and a half, but they did great. Our boys are definitely creatures of routine!

Friday, December 2, 2011

All I want for Christmas is . . .

Backseat driver

N: Mommy, what are you doing?
M: Driving
N: Be careful, Mommy. Don't crash the car.