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.

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!

Nolan's Christmas house

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!

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.

Kale's Christmas dancing moves

Kale likes dancing to the Elvis bear almost as much as Nolan - and in really short bursts of time! Nolan also loves turning on the Christmas ornaments that flash different colored lights, even when he's not supposed to touch the tree:)

Sharing popcorn

Nolan sharing the free popcorn he got at the hardware store with Kale.

Thanksgiving (and some other misc. ramblings)

Talk about a lot to be thankful for… we have two awesome little boys who continue to crack us up with the new things they say and do on a daily basis and we’re able to spend a fun holiday with relatives! Here’s a brief update of what we’ve been up to-With our daycare provider, Jane, being on vacation I took the Wednesday before Thanksgiving off and got to spend some quality time with the boys. Of course this meant taking the boys to go see Tricia and Grandma Ellen at work. We stopped at McDonalds to grab a Happy Meal to take to see my mom, and talk about hilarious…you forget that if you’re a normal person that it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to talk into a wall with pictures of food on it, drive to a window and give them a credit card, then pull 10 feet further ahead and end up with a bag full of food! Nolan and Kale were chit chatting in the back, until I had to order and get the food-you could tell they were amazed. We had a nice lunch and the boys showed off for all of Mom’s co-workers, then we went home, did naps and by the time Tricia got home I was ready for a break. Thursday morning I got to sleep in until 7! We got the boys and potatoes, green beans, and rolls packed up in order to spend the day at my folks’ place. Everyone in my fam was able to make it except for Dave (who was sleeping after his night shift) but the boys did really well. They both took naps and we enjoyed watching them wolf down the Cool Whip, like father like son(s). Friday wasn’t spent shopping. Tricia had to work, so Daddy Daycare was open once again. I must’ve done something right though, as the boys both took 3 hour naps which allowed me to get the new icicle lights put on the house and the other outside decorations put up. The boys are doing really well playing, both together and separately. Nolan will take something, like a car or food from the play kitchen and go do his own thing while Kale will find something else and work on it for 5 or 10 minutes at a time. But, if you start wrestling with one of them, well they’ll both be jumping or hopping on you in a second. Later on that evening Tricia and I got the tree and other Christmas decorations put up-we’ll see how long it takes the boys to pull the tree over…Saturday we pulled together the green bean casserole to take to my cousin John’s place to celebrate Thanksgiving with my Mom’s side of the family. We had 35 or so adults and 9 kids at the house, all under the age of 6. It was awesome. As I washed dishes with my Mom it was amazing to realize just how loud the house got. The aunts had some wine in them and began they’re cackling/laughing. And after all was said and done the Tricia/Adam Sequence team came in 2nd in the annual tournament. The boys both took naps, and we all enjoyed a fun afternoon eating too much and getting caught up. Afterwards, Chris and Sasha brought Jackson and Maya back to our place to spend the night. We fed the kids a delightful last minute meal of grilled cheese and baked beans, then the adults had chicken tacos, beer and a dessert of fudge brownies with ice cream…we figured we might as well enjoy the WHOLE day-right?Sunday was spent keeping the boys out of the Christmas tree and watching the darn squirrels eat all the bird seed from the feeders. After the boys, and Tricia, went down for a nap I went bow hunting over at my parent’s place. There’s a big buck running around there, and since Dad kicked it up on Thanksgiving it gave us a little glimmer of hope that we’d see it!So far the Christmas shopping is on track and if the Holidays are anything like the last couple of get togethers we’ve been to, I think the boys are going to be hilarious! This week we are again daycare-less, so Tom is watching the boys Monday and Tuesday, our friend Jackie has Wednesday, I’m taking Thursday and Tricia has Friday…whew, it’s going to be fun!


Mom's top 10 list from the Thanksgiving holiday:
10. Asking Nolan what his favorite thing was at the end of the day on Sunday and his response of "TJ's store", which meant his trip to the hardware store with Adam.
9. Nolan wanting to shake our hand and say "nice to meet you", repeatedly.
8. Hearing from Grandpa Tom that he and the boys played kickball with the Santa decoration in the front yard.
7. Asking Kale what Santa says - "ha ha ha", instead of "ho ho ho".
6. Asking Nolan what Kale's last name is - and saying "baby".
5. Having all my boys stop in to visit me at work. One of my co-workers wondered if we ever get asked if our boys are twins (which happens quite a bit). The first thing a woman asked us in the elevator on our way out was if our boys were twins!
4. Nolan watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and being amazed at the floats. His favorite was Buzz Lightyear.
3. Nolan seeing a tweeted picture of Mariah Carey during the parade and asking "is that Paulette?"
2. Kale saying "Christmas tree" when he saw the tree.
1. Nolan and Kale running to see the Christmas tree with the lights on first thing Saturday morning. Nolan happily announced that "I like lights!"

It is going to be a fantastic holiday season!

Highlights

This month is flying by! Updating the blog has been on my to do list all month, but I just haven't gotten to it. I've been sidetracked by busy weekends and sickness - for both me and the boys! I'm finally on the mend after a week and a half, but now Nolan has pink eye in both eyes and Kale looks as if he's next. I have to say I'm glad I'm headed out of town for the weekend for a little shopping therapy with my mom and sisters! I wish Adam the best of luck - I'm sure they'll do just fine without me:)

Here are a few of the highlights/lowlights from the last 2 weeks:

November 5th: Drive up to Moose Lake to celebrate Maya's 1st birthday. On the way out of the cities see a minivan on fire on I694. Nolan is in awe of it. Stopped at the local muni in Moose Lake to pick up some beverages. Have I mentioned Nolan loves going to the liquor store? Load up the car with our purchases and Nolan announces he has to go potty. I ask him if he can wait, and he says no. We had back in to the muni and find the women's restroom. Me, Nolan and Kale head in to a stall. I get Nolan on the potty and am holding on to him, while Kale bends over to look at the poor woman next to us. I have flashbacks to my sister Gina making friends in the bathroom on our childhood family camping trips. We finish up and head back to the bar area. Nolan spots the popcorn on the floor and asks for popcorn. I say no. Nolan puts his hand on Kale's back to lead him through the bar. I feel like mother of the year.

November 6th: Nolan had so much fun shooting hoops and playing with a huge Thomas the Train set. Kale enjoys doing acrobatic moves on the Little Tikes truck. THey both have fun playing with their 2nd cousins. Nolan finally gets to celebrate Maya's birthday with cake. He's thrilled. I'm happy because both boys slept well, except the darn time change meant that Nolan was up at 4:53 a.m. Luckily he laid in bed with me until 6, when Kale woke up. We had back home after dinner, and after a stop to get a Diet Coke in Hinckley Nolan sees a deer strapped to the roof of a car. He says cool. He asks when Daddy is coming home from hunting, and I tell him tomorrow. On our way around Lake Minnetonka I see 3 houses with their Christmas lights up and plugged in for everyone to see. It's too early for that!


November 8th: My body finally wears out on me and I come down with the fever, aches, chills that the kids had in October. Bummer. Turns in to a cough that is just starting to subside.

November 10th: Celebrate Claire and Mara's birthdays. Nolan and Kale are both thrilled to be able to take home a balloon. Nolan is also thrilled to enjoy 2 pieces of cake, with ice cream. He begins talking about how his birthday is next year, again. This kid loves birthdays!

November 11th - 13th: The boys and I drive to Mankato for the weekend. It's nice to have a little extra help with the kids, since I'm not feeling well. Christianne and I go to her friends house for a personal garage sale of awesome boys clothes. We're pretty well set for clothes through size 5/6! Nolan announces at lunch that he misses his dad, which is totally unprompted and impressive. He then continues to tell Brian how Adam is hunting deers, and that they are does and bucks. He also asks me when he can go hunting. I tell him when he's bigger. Nolan thinks it's fun to play with the Barbie stuff, especially the cars. He races them. Nolan and Kale also played crash with the baby strollers. Lola and Lalayna have 3 strollers, so there were plenty to crash. Nolan and Lalayna helped Brian shovel leaves, and then played in the them with Lola and Kale. We made our first trip to the library. Both boys thought it was great. Nolan's favorite part was seeing the fish. Kale just liked running around. Before we left the library Christianne let all the kids throw pennies in the fountain. We love cheap entertainment! The boys were nice and worn out Saturday night, but so were the adults. Everyone was in bed at 9:30.

November 13th: I got to work with about 25% of my normal voice. Not a huge deal, except that I'm facilitating new employee orientation. Nolan starts wearing pull ups to bed. He has been dry overnight all week! He has an occassional accident, but all in all he's potty trained. It's only been 7 weeks since we started the big potty push, so we're happy with the results.

November 16th: Kale is talking more and more. He is saying versions of: I love you, Rielle (one of the girls at daycare), and brother - which is what he calls Nolan.


November 17th: Nolan woke up at 4 a.m., upset because his eyes were stuck. He also kept telling us he had dirt in his eye. We take a look and are not so pleasantly surprised that he has pink eye. Adam stayed home with him. Nolan went to the dr. and got his eye drops. He also got a haircut. The stylist asked him if he wanted a combover over a fohawk (fake mohawk). He wanted the fohawk, and he looked adorable! Adam kept his lunch plans with some old co-workers, so I got to stop by and see them. At dinner I asked Nolan if he was a bunny, because he was eating a lot of lettuce. He said, "no, I'm a big boy".

Hard to believe we'll be celebrating Thanksgiving next week, and then pulling out the Christmas decorations right after that. I'm looking forward to a fun and busy holiday season with all my boys!

Out to eat

I was a little late picking up the boys from daycare tonight. Adam is out of town hunting for the weekend, so instead of rushing home to make dinner I decided to take them to the local restaurant. I told Nolan on the way there that we were going out to eat, and asked him what he wanted. He stated "chicken and ranch". That cracked me up, because last night we asked Nolan what his favorite meal was, and he said the same thing! The boys behaved themselves perfectly while we were there. I am always so thankful, because I'm sure other people at the restaurant get a little nervous when a mom with 2 small children sits down next to them. I ended up giving Nolan 3 options for dinner - pancakes, grilled cheese or chicken and ranch. He picked pancakes for himself, and chicken and ranch for Kale. While we waited for our food they both colored. Kale even kept his coloring on the paper. Nolan and I carried on a nice conversation about the man in the moon, fire engines, stars, cars, milk and football. Kale even piped in, talking about me (mama) and bananas! Both of the boys ate like champs - pancakes, chicken strips, fruit and a few french fries. I even got to enjoy my meal, which doesn't happen at home that often! A couple sitting in a booth in front of us stopped by on their way out to compliment me on how well behaved they were. I know I've said this, but it make me so proud as a mom to see my boys behave, and to have it get noticed. Hopefully it will continue, even as they get older!

Tomorrow I'm heading up to Moose Lake with the kids to attend a 1st birthday party. We're leaving after lunch, so hopefully they'll both nap. 95% of the time they do really well in the car, so I'm not too worried. It will be fun for the kids to have a few playmates. I'm not nearly as fun as other little kids!

Come in

D (Dad): Nolan, let's go read books before bed.
N: Ok
N runs in to his room
D: I'll turn the light on.
N: No, I've got it.
N proceeds to get his stool and turn the light on
After light is turned on and his stool is put away, N looks at us
N: Come in now

Happy Halloween!

Halloween was really fun with the kids this year. It's our first Halloween that we celebrated on a weeknight. It's a lot more rushed, but we managed. We were home and had the kids fed by 5:30, were dressed and on our way to Jane's house by 5:40, back home at 6:10, and home by 6:45. Before we went to Jane's we tried to get some pictures of the kids. Kale sat as still as he could, so we were able to get a few pictures. Nolan refused to put his cowboy hat on - until we told him he had to wear it or his head would get cold.
He's a good listener (for the most part), so he kept the hat on the rest of the night.
We took them up and down our street in the wagon, which they thought was great. They both held on to their orange pumpkins, and were excited when we put candy in it. Nolan practiced saying trick or treat and Happy Halloween and had it down great. But, he ended up being a little shy and instead of saying trick or treat he said please. At least he's polite! Both of the kids held on to a dum dum sucker the whole time. Nolan actually got to eat his. Kale tried to get a lick of it, but I told him he was too little - and that we would talk about it next year.
Nolan is really big about things happening next year - his birthday, Kale's birthday, fishing with grandpa. He's now added a sucker for Kale next year! Kale was in bed a little after 7, and Nolan followed shortly after, at 7:30. I am still so thankful that they go to bed so easily!

The brighter side

Kale turned the corner toward better health on Wednesday - finally! He is back to his old self again - happy, smiley, sleeping well, eating and dancing! He is painting and coloring at Jane's house, which he really seems to enjoy. He and Nolan like to sit at the little table in the living room and color together. We just have to watch Kale, as sometimes his grubby little hands wander with the crayon and it ends up on things that it shouldn't! He loves to feed himself with a spoon, but it's still pretty messy. Practice makes perfect, so we keep letting him do it.


















Nolan had a great week at daycare. Jane made a deal with him on Monday that if he had dry underpants all week, including at naptime, that he would get a special prize on Friday. I am proud to report that he did it! After 6 weeks of official training he is trained (except overnight). The best part is that he can take himself. It sometimes gets a little messy, but it's nothing a disinfectant wipe can't take care of! His new favorite sayings are: That's fine, It happens, and Of course you can. He's learning to get himself undressed, too. He is becoming so independent!

After naps today we're going to carve a pumpkin with the kids. Adam and I are going to a Halloween party tonight, so we have a babysitter coming over to stay with the kids. It should be pretty easy, because they'll both be in bed.

Coloring

Just a little patience

Last weekend was definitely a test of patience for me with the kids. Thankfully the fevers broke mid day on Saturday for both the boys, but that didn't mean that they weren't crabby. Kale had a small break through before lunch (see picture), but he quickly tanked after that. I did get them out on a walk to Gale Woods Farm on Saturday afternoon. I was thankful it was a nice day so we could get out of the house! Sunday wasn't a lot better, and by the time Kale woke up after 45 minutes in to his nap crying to the point that he couldn't catch his breath, I was ready for a break! I rocked him in his room for an hour while he slept, all the while listening to Nolan sing songs and not nap. Kale woke up a little before 2 and Nolan around 2:15 (after a short 1/2 hour nap). I packed up the boys and headed over to Paulette and Ryan's for a much needed break. It was nice to be able to get a little help and have some adult interaction. While I was there I noticed Kale had a rash on his back and neck. By the time I got home it was all over his back, front, butt, neck and forehead. It didn't seem to bother him, but it looked awful. I let it be, hoping it would disappear by morning. Thankfully the kids went to bed great and slept all night. Kale's rash was still there on Monday, so I brought him in to get checked. He had roseola, which is caused by a fever for more than 3 days. It's viral so there's nothing you can do for it, except let it pass. I felt kind of silly for bringing him in, but I told our dr. that I've seen a lot of things with my kids, but not that! Adam arrived home Monday for dinner, which was fantastic. We were all very happy to see him! It was fun to be able to tell Adam that Nolan had dry underpants all weekend long!

Down with the sickness

Looking back at the summer of 2011, I think the thing I appreciate most is that our kids were healthy, minus one bought of strep throat. Fall is here, and the sickness has returned. Kale has had a fever since Wednesday. He's been up almost every hour the last 2 nights, so I took him to the dr. this morning before work. He so rarely even makes a peep at night, so I know he must be feeling awful. He had a little fluid in one of his ears and the strep test came back negative, so that's good. What's not good is that there is nothing else I can really do for him, except hope all his teeth come in faster. He was at daycare all day today. Thank goodness for Jane! Kale has been really needy, so she basically had to sit in the recliner with him all day. He slept an hour this afternoon on her lap and only ate yogurt. Jane texted me at 3:30 this afternoon to let me know that Nolan spiked a fever of 101 out of the blue, so he was also needy and whiny. I made a quick stop at Walgreens on the way home to stock up on nasal drops, Motrin, Tylenol and vapor rub. When I arrived at Jane's both boys were sitting on her lap while she rocked them. I'm sure she was glad to send them home, as I know what a long day it was for her!

Kale ate a little bit for dinner, which is more than what I can say for Nolan. I also gave them medicine with dinner. Nolan really liked his bubblegum flavored Motrin and wanted more. That was a fun conversation - he literally screamed at me when I told him no. I know he can't help it because he's sick, but it's tough to have to listen to it. I gave them a cool bath which seemed to help. I pulled out the humidifiers for both bedrooms and thankfully they were both sleeping by 6:45. I'm off to bed shortly. If the last 2 nights are an indicator I'll be up with one or both of them around 11.

I think the hardest part of all of this is that Adam is out of town on a hunting trip. It's just me and the boys until Monday evening. Hopefully they'll pull through and be on the mend soon. I called Paulette and put her on stand by, in case I need back up. Tomorrow is a new day (and thankfully not a work day), so I'll just hope for the best!

Potty update: Nolan woke up dry again this morning. Jane told me he napped in his underpants all week and has woke up dry every day, too. He also got a popsicle today. I'm so proud of him and how well he's doing!

Fall Fun

Nolan is a singing machine these days. His faves are Twinkle, Twinkle, Wheels on the Bus, Ring a round the Rosie, ABC's, and Happy Birthday. He doesn't always get the words right, but that makes it even funnier. His new catch phrase is "of course you can". I have no idea where he picked that up, but it's super funny, because he uses it in the right context. Twice last week he woke up with a dry diaper - which means he held it for 12 hours. We think it's spectacular! He's not ready to go diaper free at night yet, but it's getting better. We only had one accident last weekend, too, so we seem to be heading down the right path.

Kale is still not feeling well. He is getting every tooth imaginable! He's getting a cold and has been running a slight temp of about 100. You can just see in his eyes that he's exhausted. The good thing he still perks up to play with Nolan and read books before bed. He recently started pointing to things when we ask him to while we're reading. I forgot how much fun it is to watch them start to make the connections - where's the kitty? Where's the cow?

Last weekend Nolan had a blast playing in the leaves. Kale did not like it, but it was because of those darn teeth. During nap Ellen came over to watch the kids so Adam and I could go on a pedal pub and out to dinner with friends. It was super fun, but slightly more than work than I was anticipating. There were 16 of us on the pub - which weighs 2000 lbs without people on it!

Sunday was my relaxation day, because it was my birthday. I slept in until almost 9:30, we took the kids for a walk, and after nap went to a pumpkin patch, Target and then picked up pizza for dinner. Nolan decided he wasn't interested in taking pictures at the pumpkin patch, so I started having flashbacks to my poor mother dealing with me as a kid, not wanting to take pictures. The funniest part of the whole day was that every time I told Nolan it was my birthday he would tell me "my buthday is next year." He is a typical 2 1/2 year old - all about me!


Big news on the baby front, and it's not us. My sister Christianne is expecting her 3rd in March, and Adam's sister Erica is expecting her first in April. It will be a busy baby-filled spring!

The Chronicles of Nolan

While I was bathing Kale tonight, Adam was trying to get Nolan to finish his dinner.

A: Nolan, please drink your milk.
N: I'm too busy.
A: You're too busy to drink your milk?
N: Yep

Later on in the evening (about 20 minutes after Nolan went to bed) I heard him start practicing his counting in a very loud voice. He made it up to 14 twice before quieting down and falling asleep!

The Spoon

We have been giving Kale a spoon to practice using for quite a few months. It wasn't until we actually put yogurt in a bowl in front of him did he show us his new skill! We're guessing Jane has been working with him at daycare - or he just picks things up super fast!

The Potty theme continues

Adam: Ah, it's potty time! Jane called me on Thursday to tell me she overheard Nolan talking to a doll he was playing with at daycare. Apparently the conversation was quite one-sided and sounded like this. "Baby, you need to tell me when you need to go potty. You need to tell me when you need to go poopy, so we can get you on the potty!" You'd think that if he's able to tell a baby doll this that he'd be doing really well at it himself! Actually, things have gotten better. We're burning through all sorts of gummy bears, since he gets one every time he goes potty. Today he made it the entire day with dry underpants! We're keeping our fingers crossed on the #2 category.

As noted in the previous blog entry I was in North Dakota hunting last weekend and when I got home Tricia wasn't too far behind with the boys. I couldn't believe that after they each got a haircut and being gone 5 days it looked they both aged 6 months! Nolan's vocabulary continues to expand, and on Friday morning he reminded Tricia that we need to buy bananas-which is what I told him yesterday morning as Kale was scarfing down the last one of the bunch. Thursday night Kale, Nolan and I were outside after a quick walk around the neighborhood and Kale pointed to an airplane up in the sky--it won't be long before he's chit-chatting as much as Nolan. Right now everything is more of a screech or scream, but he's definitely becoming more aware of what's going on around him. It's a lot of fun!

On a last note, Kale is popping 4 or 5 teeth through right now…I'm not going to be the one to put my fingers in his mouth, but so far he's been doing pretty well with the pain. Every once in a while we'll give him a dropper of Motrin/Tylenol or a little Oragel, but for the most part he's handling his teeth a lot better than Nolan ever did! Oh, and I got a call from Jane on Friday, letting me know Kale has quite a kind heart. One of the other 1 year olds had gotten in trouble for not listening, and he was really upset and crying. Kale walked over to him, hugged him and patted his back. It's nice to know that all the time we spend teaching our kids to give hugs and kisses pays off! One more thing - Kale has started using a spoon to feed himself yogurt. He's doing really well, but it still involves a bit of a mess!



Tricia: We had a great weekend with the kids. Adam went hunting on Saturday morning, so Nolan, Kale and I made a quick Target run. Nolan kept saying over and over "are Grandma and Grandpa home? Can I see em?" so we stopped out at Ellen and Greg's for a quick visit to see Grandma. After lunch the kids took a fantastic nap, and when they woke up we headed out to a birthday party at a farm in Chaska. It was great - there were lots of motorized rides for the kids to ride on, a bouncy house that both of our kids LOVED, and a hayride. The first time Nolan saw the tractor pulling the trailer he literally started jumping up and down, yelling and waving like a crazy person. Nolan may just end up being a little farmer - as long as doesn't get allergies like his dad!


Today we managed to make it to church. Nolan kept saying "chuch is fun"! He walked up with me for the children's message, carrying his money for the collection. When he saw the basket he tried grabbing a $5 out of it. I told him to put his money in and then asked him if he wanted to sit with the rest of the kids. He got scared and said no, so instead he sat on my lap. Halfway through the message he asked for his snack, so as soon as got back to our seat he was happy. Adam took Nolan to go to the bathroom at the beginning of the sermon, and as soon as they left Kale freaked out - so off I went with him so he could walk off some of his energy. Overall the boys did well, but as we were leaving one of the ladies said you sure have cute kids, but boy do they have a lot of energy! After another good round of afternoon naps we took off to visit with our friends and their new baby. Adam left to go hunting after that, so it was me and kiddos until bedtime. To book end this entry, the most exciting news of the day was that Nolan stayed dry all day. Every week it gets better, so that must mean there's hope for us!

To !?#!? in a handbasket

My Sunday afternoon took a turn for the worse shortly after I tried to put the boys down for a nap. Tried is the operative word. Kale's teeth really started bothering him, so he cried/screamed for about an hour and 20 minutes before I finally gave up. Durig this time Nolan was up and down from his bed, opening and shutting the door, playing with his flashcards, singing songs - doing everything he wasn't supposed to be doing. I tried to get him to nap with me, but that didn't work either. We had planned to go over to Ellen and Greg's to pick out pumpkins for the kids, but by 2:20 my patience had worn thin, as Kale screamed in my face and wouldn't let me put him down. I gave him some Motrin and thought a walk might do the trick . . . and it did, thank goodness. Both he and Nolan relaxed and ate a snack. By the time we got home they were calm enough to head over to pick out pumpkins. Nolan was so tired he fell asleep during the 15 minute car ride! The boys had fun with Grandma, Grandpa, Claire, Mara, Anna, Erica and Elmer, the cat, and we came home with 3 pumpkins that Nolan picked out for us. I made a quick dinner of pizza, peas and blueberries while the kids took every single spice out of the spice rack. Seriously, we have an entire house full of toys and that's what they play with?

I gave the kids a bath and Kale was in bed at 5:50. Nolan held out a little bit longer and finally went down at 7. I had a feeling it wouldn't last because he hadn't gone #2 all day, and sure enough he was up at 9:40 and midnight with a tummy ache. Needless to say I was very tired when the alarm went off at 5 this morning!

At 5:31 this morning I heard a knock at the bathroom door, and sure enough Nolan was, as he announced it "awake". I made him lay on the floor outside the bathroom door on a pillow and with a blanket so I could get ready. By the time we got upstairs at 6 Kale was up, too. As the boys were eating their breakfast Nolan said "Mommy, I'm tired." No kidding. Maybe you should sleep later! I thought I had covered the going potty thing this morning by having Nolan go twice before 6:30, but it wasn't enough as he went in his underpants (still funny) before heading out the door. At the same Kale decided to do his business. I'm pretty sure I'll never leave the house on time again.

Tonight was a little better, even though Kale was crabby because of his teeth again. After a 30 minute debacle Nolan surprised me by doing his business in the potty - and he earned his first popsicle at home! It was very exciting, and he was so proud of himself. While Nolan was working on that Kale proceeded to pull everything off the kitchen table, including Nolan's juice box, which he squirted all over the living room. It's really fun taking things away from Kale now, because he runs away and screams when you finally get it from him. I was relieved when the boys were finally in bed so I could relax a little bit. And by relax I mean do the dishes, put the pill bottles that normally go in the bathroom but are all over the kitchen back where they belong, move the spices from the living room back to the kitcehn where they belong, and move the toys from the kitchen back to the living room where they belong. I know, I shouldn't let the kids play with the pill bottles. I'm learning to pick my battles, and as long as the bottles are child proof I'm not going to fight it. The kids love to use them as "shakers", as Nolan calls them.

Nolan's new favorite saying has served me well - "oh, man". He's also a fan of singing Twinkle, Twinkle, his ABC's (but not all in the right order), Row, Row, Row your Boat (he likes the merrily part), and Happy Birthday to Tale (Kale). He also surprised me by counting to 13 by himself. He still brings home an acorn a day from daycare. I didn't know where he was putting them until he showed me today - in the little part of the car door beneath the handle. He had 6 of them hidden there! Jane recommended I do an art project with all his acorns. I'm not real crafty, so it should be interesting!

Underpants

It's been 2 weeks since Nolan started wearing "underpants" every day. Yes, he calls them underpants. Must be a daycare term! He is not fully trained, but Jane thought it would be good if we got moving on it. He doesn't tell us when he has to go, and has only done that a few times at Jane's. He goes potty every 45 minutes to an hour, and goes every time. He hasn't figured out #2 yet, although we think we're getting closer. Jane called me at work on Friday morning to let me know she had caught Nolan in mid act and made him sit on the potty. 10 minutes later she heard him yell "all done, Jane", and when she went in there he had finished the job. His reward was a purple popsicle, and he was so proud of himself - he even told me over the phone. Overall I'm excited that we're in this stage, but have come to realize we're going to be potty training for the next 2-3 years. It's a lot of work for the parent! The most work comes in the morning, as we're heading out the door a little before 7. Kale will come running over, stinking to high heaven - so we have to change him. Then Nolan dribbles just enough in his underwear that he needs an outfit change. This is of course after he's already sat on the potty 2 times in 45 minutes! Needless to say Adam and I seem to be running late every morning.

About a week and a half ago Kale started to get sick - fever, not eating or drinking, and overall crabby, which isn't like him. We chalked it up to teething, as he's getting 5 teeth right - 3 of them are his 1 year molars. I ended up taking him to the dr. to get checked out because he was also digging in his ears. Side note: he was 24 lbs, 2 oz! His ears were fine, but he had ulcers in the back of his mouth, which typically indicates the onset of hand, foot and mouth disease. There wasn't anything they could give us to make him more comfortable, because it's viral. We treated it with over the counter Tylenol and Motrin. He seems to be getting better, but you can still tell he's uncomfortable - his hand is in his mouth quite a bit!

Nolan has been adding quite a few "things/thoughts" to his nightly bedtime prayer. This week he added shout outs for "Cookie Monster, Elmo, "Tale's" burfday next year, my birthday next year, fire engines and cars". I guess we know what's important to him!

I finally decided to get serious about working out again, so I joined the fitness center at work. Twice a week I roll out of bed just before 5 and leave the house by 5:15 to go to boot camp. It's pretty intense, but it must be working, as I feel very, very sore! In a few weeks I'll feel great, though, so that's what I keep focusing on.

Adam is gone hunting until Tuesday night, so it's just been me and the boys since Friday morning. Overall they've been very good. Yesterday we went to St. Cloud. Our first stop was at Kid's Hair. It is amazing how fast their hair grows! Nolan marched himself in the store, walked up to a stylist and asked to get his haircut. He even let her take his jacket off and lift him in the chair. That was actually quite helpful because I had both boys by myself! Neither of the boys made a peep, and I was complimented by the staff on how well behaved they were. It makes me so proud to hear that! We spent the rest of the day at my parent's house. We rolled back in to town just in time for bed. This morning we left the house a little before 9 to go grocery shopping. We were there for almost an hour, and again they were so good. 4 people stopped as I was bagging our groceries to tell me how well behaved they were. Part of it was the cool cart they got to ride in, and the other part may have been the Teddy Grahams they enjoyed while I bagged!


Hopefully by the time Adam gets home the house will be completely painted. Wednesday the garage door is getting installed. The house is going to look so much better! Now to find the time to wash the windows . . .

The boss

Nolan is turning in to quite the little bossy 2 1/2 year old (see video for proof). Tonight it went something like this: M: Nolan, it's time to say prayers. (Nolan walks over to his window and looks at me) N: Listen, Mommy. After awake, I go fishin wiff gampa.

The Apple Orchard

We made our now annual pilgrimage to the Minnetonka Apple Orchard on Sunday after naptime. The weather could have been better, but at least it wasn't crowded! Ellen and Greg were able to come with us, so that made it extra special for the kids. Nolan was able to ride the Apple Express, pet a llama, see a few chickens and goats, and ride on his favorite thing at that moment - a tractor. He especially like the green tractor! At the top of the hill Nolan helped Adam buy a bag of donuts, so he was able to enjoy 1 1/2 of them. He is getting to have quite a sweet tooth. Kale had a great time chasing all the chickens, petting the llama, and in general running around. He thought it was fun to take pieces of hay out of the hay bales on the hay ride, throw them over the side of the trailer and then watch it fall to the ground. He's really in to cause and effect these days! The most amazing thing of all was looking at the pictures we took of the boys. We take a picture each year in front of this apple chart, and what a difference a year makes!


Saturday the boys spent the day with Jackie and Keith while Adam and I attended my cousin's wedding. Thankfully the boys were good! Sunday morning after Kale's nap we headed to Target to get his 1 year pictures taken. We thought about rescheduling because of the huge yellow/purple/green bruise on his forehead, but the next time available was mid-October, and I didn't want to wait that long. Besides, he probably would have hurt himself again. As Jane says, Kale doesn't go around things. He blindly walks through and over things, which causes him to fall quite a bit! Kale did pretty good at his pictures, but I found out it's a lot more challenging now that he's walking. He did really well for the first 6 pictures or so, when he was sitting. Once we had him stand it was all over. Oh well. I've learned you take what you can get!

The cake

Kale tried to dig in to his cake on his birthday, but all he did was get the frosting smeared on his face and hands. Luckily we had a sheet behind him, because quite a bit ended up on it! Nolan was again thrilled to celebrate Kale's special day. He sang happy birthday many times, and really dug in to his special cupcake.



We had Kale's 1 year appointment today. He weighs 23 lbs 8 oz. (65%), is 31 inches long (85%) and has a head circumfrence of 18 inches (only 30%!). He took his shots as best as he could, and hung in there for the hemoglobin test. He is a very healthy boy, which is all we can ask for! And the best part is he said another word - banana, which just happens to be his favorite food!

And just like that, Kale is 1!

Exactly one year ago at this time I was resting comfortably in a bed at Park Nicollet. The epidural was keeping me comfortable as we waited for our baby to make the grand entrance. Adam and I watched the first full Sunday of football and enjoyed the movie The Three Amigos. All the nurses and our dr. thought the baby would arrive on the 12th, but Kale waited to make his grand entrance at 1:46 am on the 13th. What a year it has been! Kale is turning in to a very fun and active toddler. He loves eating, his brother, bath time, and playing with trucks. He doesn't like it when you take something away from him! He never stops moving, and has successfully made the transition of no bottle and no nook. He goes to bed every night like a champ - sometimes fussing for a 1 minute or 2, but then comforting himself with his blanket and the toys in his crib. He is so much fun!

Adam was gone all day on Saturday at a golf tournament. I worked really hard every night during the week so I wouldn't be stressed out on Saturday when it was just me and the boys. We hopped in the car at 7:45 to start running errands. The boys enjoyed riding in the funny double seat cart at Target. We made a quick stop at Kohl's and then spent about 45 minutes at the play area. It as the first time for Kale and 2nd for Nolan, and they both had fun running around. Nolan's favorite part were the mall rides. I never put money in them, but he's content to just climb and sit. He and Kale shared a ride in a red convertible! Kale tested his boundaries again and finally figured out how to go down a slide by himself. He also figured out how to crawl up a slide! Now we have to try and explain to him why we don't do that. After one last stop to pick out an outfit for Kale's 1 year pictures we started our drive home. I made a last minute decision to stop at Baker's Square to eat with the kids. I never do stuff like that with both the boys - it's so much work and it's a lot harder to deal with melt downs when you're the only one there to do it! This was literally only the 2nd time I've ventured out in public with both of them and I was pleasantly surprised. Both boys were happy to sit at the table and color while we waited for our food. Nolan made fast friends with all the servers and managers at the restaurant. He is so social, just like his dad. Once the food came out the boys were content to eat without fussing. I even got to enjoy my meal, which doesn't even happen at home! Both kids fell asleep on the way home, and I was successfully able to get them down for naps, all while talking on the phone at the same time:) After nap we paid a visit to Erica and Dave, and then headed home for dinner and our bedtime routine. As soon as the kids were in bed I set out on my now semi-annual mission of creating a great cake for a birthday party. I was proud of my first attempt at a cake in the shape of a number 1. It wasn't perfect, but that's what made it great.


We had Kale's birthday party on Sunday. We had 27 people over, and we had fun. Kale was oddly quite out of routine, so he wasn't awake for much of the party. When he was awake he wasn't real smiley, either. Nolan, on the other hand, had a grand time celebrating Kale's birthday. It was actually more like Nolan's 1/2 birthday - he opened all of Kale's gifts, really enjoyed the cake, and had fun entertaining everyone. While everyone was just about to start singing Happy Birthday to Kale he reached out and grabbed the lighted, flaming candle. My bad keeping it within reaching distance of his wandering little hands! He didn't burn himself, but did get quite a scare when everyone yelled "no". He started crying (which is quite a funny picture), so I ended up holding him as we sang happy birthday. Adam and I thought he would really dig in to the cake, and again were surprised when he didn't do that. He picked at it for quite a while, tried sticking his face in it a few times (but was prevented from that by the tray on his booster seat), and finally picked it up to eat it. There was hardly a mess. All the fun wore Kale out, and he was in bed at 5:40 that evening.

Tomorrow we're looking forward to celebrating Kale's real birthday with just our family at home. I plan on picking up the free cake from Byerly's, and we're hoping he'll really dig in to it. Nolan wasn't messy, so we're hoping Kale will make up for it!

Kale talks!

Kale surprised Jane today by pushing away his cereal bowl and announcing "All done". He must be listening to Nolan! I'm just waiting for him to say Nolan's all time favorite - "I don't want to!".

Labor Day

We had a fantastic Labor Day weekend. Saturday morning we took a long walk with the boys that included a pit stop at a neighborhood park. This park happens to have 2 play areas - 1 for big kids and 1 for kids Kale's age. Kale had a fantastic time climbing the stairs, walking around near the slides, and testing his limits by trying to walk down the slides! Our youngest doesn't have any fear at all, which is a little scary sometimes. Nolan and Adam had fun climbing on the big slides. Adam learned the hard way that slides that look wet with dew actually are wet with dew - which left him with wet shorts. My favorite part of the morning was watching Nolan and Kale "ride" together in a little blue truck on a spring. Nolan "steered" and Kale hung on, all while Nolan rocked them back and forth. The two of them giggled up a storm! While the boys were napping Jackie came over to watch the 2 of them so Adam and I could attend a wedding he was officiating in St. Paul. It turned out to be a really nice day, and the wedding was great. We had a bonfire later that night.

On Sunday Adam spent the day at the state fair, so the boys and I headed to a co-workers hobby farm to "help" with chores. Nolan thought it was fantastic to help feed the turkeys, chickens, cows, goats, cats and horses. He even got to ride on a 4 wheeler with Kirsten! Both of the kids were really good. Kale's highlight was chasing the baby kittens are the barn and watching them climb on the hay. Nolan's hightlight was getting nuzzled and hugged by the friendliest goat I've ever seen. Since we were half way to St. Cloud I decided to take the boys to see my parent's. It was nice to eat a lunch I didn't have to make, and we got to see my grandma, too. That evening we headed over to Erica and Dave's for a campfire, as Nolan calls it. He was exicted to roast marshmellows and really enjoyed a slushie that Erica made for him. We found out that Nolan reacts to sugar just like Adam does - right away and a little crazy! We took it easy on Monday, exploring a new part of the Dakota trail and making sure the boys took good naps. After the kids went to bed Adam and I enjoyed a bonfire. I tended to the fire while he participated in an on-line fantasy football draft. What a great way to end a fantastic weekend at home! This week will be busy getting ready for Kale's 1st birthday party. We're expecting between 25 and 30 people. The weather forecast looks great - hopefully it stays that way!

Hidin'

Nolan and Kale love playing "hidin", as Nolan calls it.

The Happy Birthday Song

Nolan is really in to birthdays lately. Here is his rendition, sung to aunt Paulette for her birthday.

Kid free = relaxation

Adam and I had a fantastic kid free weekend with our friends a few weekends ago. We don’t get away often without them, so we lived it up! Great food, drink and friends was just what the dr. ordered for me to feel refreshed and rejuvenated. Plus, the kids had fun with Grandma and Grandpa.

It’s hard to believe, but Kale’s 1 year birthday is quickly approaching! He is at such a fun age. His favorite thing to do is to play with Nolan, which works out really well because Nolan also loves to play with Kale – or as he still calls him, “my brudda Tale”. They play hide and seek and catch most often, but they also just like to run after each other, yelling. There is rarely a quiet moment in our house during the waking hours! Kale is developing quite a little personality. He’s still really happy and smiley, but lately he gets mad when you tell him no or make him stop doing something. He starts whining, sits himself on the ground and then cries, all while looking at you. This morning he actually said “no” to me when I took something away from him, which is new. He’s probably learning it from Nolan! He is still a fantastic eater. Last night we had ravioli, and while he was eating it he kept saying “yum, yum, yum”. He has had no problem adjusting to drinking whole milk, either. We still give him a few bottles a day, but that will be ending on his birthday. Kale also lost his nook about a week and a half ago. We weren’t able to find it, so we just stopped giving it to him. I was afraid for what might happen, but he hasn’t skipped a beat. The only time he was using it was after his bottle and before bed. He really loves his blanket, so we’ll just stick with that. He is quick on his feet, and is almost running. He can reach things on the kitchen table and counters, and is tall enough to reach door handles already. Kale still has no fear. Last weekend I forgot to put up one of the gates, and I heard the pitter patter of his feet just in time to grab his arm before he tried walking down the stairs. Seriously. Nolan never did stuff like that – and still doesn’t! I guess every family has to have a little daredevil!


Nolan has been really funny lately. He is talking in sentences, and talks about everything! Adam is on a work trip this week, so on Monday I told Nolan that daddy was flying in an airplane. On Tuesday morning at breakfast he said “Daddy flying, Mommy?. I told him not anymore, but he would again on Thursday. He looked at me and said “Mommy, you fly, too?”. He was really excited about the 3 family birthdays we celebrated last week. He loves singing Happy Birthday, and last night was still talking about Paulette’s birthday, which was last Saturday. I told him Kale’s birthday is coming up, so he is moving on to “brudda’s birthday”. We’ll see how excited he is when Kale gets to open all his gifts! Nolan is also copying everything we do. Last night I used a slice of garlic bread to help me scoop pasta on my fork. I looked up at Nolan a few minutes later and he was doing the same. It’s a good reminder for me not watch what I say and do – because you never know who’s watching!


Last weekend we were finally home, and it was wonderful. We took a long walk with the boys on Saturday morning and took time to play at a fantastic playground near our house. Nolan loves the slides, and Kale loved the freedom of being able to climb on the equipment. He almost walked down a slide – again, he’s a daredevil. My highlight was seeing the 2 of them in a race car on a spring. Nolan made it move back and forth, and they both held on to the bar, laughing up a storm. They are such great buddies! Nolan is so good to Kale that he started crying when Kale shut himself in our bedroom. Kale is really in to closing doors these days, and when Nolan heard the door slam and couldn't find Kale he came running in to the kitchen, crying "Where Tale go?" On Sunday we walked up the bike trail to Gale Woods Farm. We’ve never been – and it was a great surprise! We were able to walk around with the kids and see the chickens, sheep and cows. We were happy to discover that the farm buildings are open to the public 7 days a week, so we’ll be taking a lot more walks that way.

Adam is officiating a wedding on Saturday afternoon and going to the State Fair on Sunday, but other than that we’ll be home this weekend. It’s supposed to be really nice out, so maybe we’ll get out for a ride on the motorcycle – if we can find a babysitter!

The Slinky

The boys have so much fun playing together!

Nolan learning to play polish horseshoes

Our Camping Misadventure

August 13th, 3:48 a.m.: Adam and I are hiding under the quilt and turning on my phone to look at the weather report. Rain has been dripping in our tent for quite some time from the monsoon of rain that's falling from the skys. The lightening and thunder have thankfully not woken up the boys, but we’ve both been up for some time. The weather report doesn’t look good – more rain on the way. It’s going to be a wet, cold, long night.

We were so excited for our camping adventure last weekend. We knew it was going to be a ton of work, but we were in the mindset to make it work. We prepped and planned all week, and had the truck packed to the brink Friday afternoon. The only item that didn’t make the trip was Nolan’s potty chair – we ran out of room!

We made a few stops on the way to the campground. Nolan had been asking for a haircut for the past few weeks, so our first stop was at Kids Hair. It was Kale’s first haircut – and he did so well! He kept smiling at himself in the mirror and sat as still as I’ve ever seen him sit. I’m not going to lie – I was really sad to see his little blonde curls cut off, and almost shed a tear. He looks like a little man now!
Nolan also did really well, but he was purely motivated by what happens at the end of a haircut. Yep, as soon as we pulled in to the parking lot and he knew he was getting a haircut he announced he was excited to get a sucker. There has only been one other haircut he has gotten a sucker, but he hasn’t forgotten it!
After the haircuts we made our way to Stride Rite to get shoes for both of the boys. Nolan is a size 7 and Kale a size 5 – and we have a feeling Kale is going to keep creeping up size with Nolan. Our last stop was to meet Greg and Ellen at Ruby Tuesday’s for dinner. It sounded good at the time, but turned in to quite a disaster. The boys had been so good for their haircuts and shoe shopping that they were both burnt out and crabby – which made me and Adam a little crabby! We barely survived and left as quickly as I could finish my food. All Greg and Ellen could do is chuckle at the chaos they just observed! Once we got in the car they calmed down, thankfully.

We arrived at our destination after a quick 45 minute drive. As we drove in to the campground Nolan announced he was “exshited to go comping” – things were looking good! Adam got the campsite set up as I walked around with the boys in the double stroller. Kale went to bed really well, and Nolan got to stay up late to watch the movie Mega Minds on a big screen attached to the Robinson’s camper. Yes, you read that correctly. Nate brought his projector from home and set up a large screen on the side of the camper – camping has certainly gotten more high tech than I remember! Nolan stayed up for about half the movie and fell asleep as soon as I put him on his air mattress in the tent. I didn’t stay up too late, as I knew the kids would be up early. Plus, my allergies had started acting up so I didn’t feel the greatest. I slept restlessly and heard the storm rolling in. Adam was jittery and nervous, primarily because I had turned my phone off to preserve the battery and he couldn’t find it to turn it on to check the weather. Our tent held up for about 45 minutes of the storm – and then the rain started dripping on the quilt, and then on my face. There is nothing better than big, cold raindrops falling on your face in the middle of the night. That brings us to 3:48 a.m. – Adam and I huddled under our wet quilt, turning my phone on to check the weather.

Adam and I didn’t hear the boys right away Saturday morning – we had barely slept the entire night. We woke up to Nolan and Kale playing peek a boo and laughing, which was a pretty good way to wake up. A quick assessment of the tent showed a big puddle of water under the pack n play and wet blankets and air mattresses – nothing that couldn’t be dried out if the sun came out. We got up and made breakfast, and then I headed out for a walk with the boys again so Adam could take everything out of the tent and hang it out to dry.
We looked like a bunch of hobos! By this time everyone else was awake, so we set off on a walk to see the waterfalls. We seriously walked down and up the steepest hill I have ever seen. I pushed (or should I say pulled) the stroller down about half way, but realized my sandals weren’t going to hold me up very well so Adam took over. The falls were awesome – reminded me of the North Shore. I pushed the stroller up the hill about half way, but again had to have Adam take over. After we got back to our camp site we had to let the boys run around, even though it was super muddy outside. Kale is doing really well walking, but it’s a bit more difficult for him on uneven ground. He was filthy, to the point that both he and Nolan showered with Adam before nap. As Adam was doing that, I got everything put back together and back in the tent for naps. Nap time did not go well – we tried for an hour and a half to put the boys to bed, and nothing would work. Adam and I were exhausted and really needed to nap, but that wasn’t going to happen. We were super frustrated at this point, and a little crabby. Everyone else was at the beach, so we decided to join them. We were there for about a ½ hour when someone pointed out a huge storm that was coming across the lake. You could see the sheet of rain coming for us – it seemed like it came out of nowhere! We quickly packed up everything and I literally grabbed Kale and started running for the truck. For those of you who know me, I’m not much of a runner so I’m sure it looked pretty awesome. Adam was running with Nolan. We barely got the kids in the car and it started pouring. We drove the 2 miles back to our campsite, knowing full well that all of the tent windows were open and we still had stuff drying outside. I jumped out of the truck to assess the situation – and it wasn’t good. All of our bedding and mattresses were soaked. My bag was open and below one of the windows, so all my clothes were wet. All of the clothes that were outside drying were again soaking wet – Adam dumped about an inch of rain out of his tennis shoes. The double stroller that had just dried from the previous nights rain was again soaking wet. We were defeated. I told Adam there was no way we could stay – we didn’t have time to start to dry things out, it was already 4:15. I put some towels down in the stroller and took the boys for another walk while Adam and a few of our friends took everything down and packed up our truck. That was definitely the low point. We pulled out of the campground at 5:20 – and both boys immediately fell asleep and slept all the way home. Once home we had to try and feed the kids. Kale ate a little, but was so tired that we just gave him his bottle and got him to bed by 6:45. Nolan, on the other hand, was completely distraught from being woken up. He screamed and cried for about 20 minutes, finally ate a Gogurt, and we got him to bed at about 7:15. Adam and I then had to go outside and unload the truck and set up everything that was wet in our garage to dry - which was everything we had. We did take 45 minutes to enjoy a campfire in our backyard and have pizza and apple turnover pie irons. We were in bed at 9:30. Quite pathetic!



Had it not rained again Saturday afternoon we would have had a great time that night. Both boys were so tired that they would have gone to bed quickly and quietly. Our boys are at ages that are quite challenging sometimes. We sometimes forget that Nolan isn’t even 2 ½ yet and that he still requires quite a bit of attention from us. Kale just turned 11 months and is overall a great kid, but he’s teething right now. We won’t be doing any more camping adventures with the boys this year. Next year should be better, right?

Adam and I deserve some time away from the kiddos, so we are leaving them with my parent’s for the weekend so we can enjoy a cabin party with friends. I’m looking forward to sleeping in, enjoying some adult beverages and basically being selfish with my time!