MERRY CHRISTMAS

From our house to yours, have a very Merry Christmas

and a happy, safe and healthy New Year!!

the black train is loud

This past Saturday after we celebrated Christmas with my dad's side of the family, we went out to the Mower County Fairgrounds where the Mower County Historical Society was hosting Christmas in the County. My dad was supervising the steam engine for a while so that little kids could climb aboard and ring the bell and blow the whistle. We walked over to the steam engine and right as we turned the corner, someone blew the whistle REALLY loud. We all jumped and Joshua went running, crying and screaming, "the black train is loooouuuud!!!" The poor boy absolutely loves trains and the piercing whistle of the steam engine left him traumatized. We decided that we would go onto the Milwaukee Road passenger car that is there, which is the picture above. The kids were pretending that it was the Polar Express train waiting for the hot chocolate waiters to come out and serve them! This calmed Josh down a lot. However, we left the train to go inside and get warm. In a few of the buildings there were art projects for kids, cookies, a model train, and Santa and Mrs. Claus. When we got off the passenger car, the whistle blew again and Josh was in pieces. We went inside where he was crying so very hard repeating, "the black train is loud, the black train is loud." Brian got him interested in an art project and I took Logan and Lauren over to the steam engine to see my dad. My dad was happy to see us and Lauren was excited that Bumpa was there! Lauren rang the bell and then blew the whistle. Of course, Logan cried, which I expected. Then it was another girl's turn and she kept blowing it and blowing it! Lauren was in tears, Logan was screaming and I was just trying to make my way down the wooden ramp all in one piece! We survived and met Brian and Josh in one of the buildings where Joshua was STILL crying (or else crying all over again!). We decided it was time to go and as Brian was buckling Josh in his car seat, Josh exclaimed that "the black train is loud" and "I crying" and then "I shaking like a leaf"!! What? He came up with that one all on his own!! Even today he is still talking about the black train. I'm sure it's not likely to leave his memory any time soon!!

Santa

We had our annual trip to the Mall of America to see Santa today! My dad helped, which is always appreciated. In fact, I'm pretty sure that I couldn't take the kids to MOA by myself. Unless we didn't go into any stores or stop and do anything. Walking with them I can handle!! Anyways, we all had a good time and Lauren and Josh both proclaimed to Santa their hearts desire for gifts this Christmas. Logan cried in the beginning, but ended up doing pretty good. Joshua was so excited he was running around in circles. Lauren and Josh each got a candy cane and some gummy treats. All three of them got a paper Santa hat to wear and then we were off to McDonald's for chicken nuggets! And now that we are home, all three are fast asleep : )

ear tubes and food poisoning...

Logan had his ear tube surgery yesterday and everything went great! We found out that he is not a fan of nurses (sorry to all you nurses out there). Maybe it was just that he sensed something was going to happen. I don't know, but everytime a nurse walked into the room, he was start to cry! He is also not a fan of anything out of the ordinary touching him. The hospital bracelet was a 'trauma' that he relived the entire time we were there until we cut the darn thing off. He also did not like the pulsox that they taped to his foot to get his blood oxygen level.

We arrived at the hospital late (see below) at 8am and we were on our way home at 10am!! How fast!! The hardest part was watching him go to sleep. We were with him when they anesthetized him and boy, I tell you, that was really hard on me! He started breathing funny as he was going to sleep and I felt panic start to creep up. The anesthesiologist assured me that they see that happen quite often, but I've never been more ready to rip my child away and into my arms since having kids! It took every fiber in my being not to overreact to that. Walking back to our room to wait for the surgery to be over (it took 15 minutes, total), I saw another mom crying her eyes out and then I felt justified in my own tears : ) When the surgery was over, the nurse brought him into our little recovery room and he was very disoriented and crabby. So, I held him and we rocked and tried some apple juice. All he really wanted was the banana that was sitting on the table, so eventually we opted for that and all was right in Logan's world.

We arrived late at the hospital because Brian and I were both up all night long with food poisoning or something. It hit us both about 9pm Monday night and lasted an hour before we left for the hospital. We were both so dehydrated and weak, but we got the kids up, dropped Lauren and Josh off at daycare, stopped at the gas station for two giant Gatorades and headed for Minneapolis. Lauren was so excited to be going to school early and that her "Bumpa" was going to pick her up from school! My dad came up to help since I didn't know how Logan would react to the anesthesia and just didn't know what to expect. So, Brian went into Lauren's room at 5am and she jumped out of bed exclaiming, "Today's a BIG day!" Then as Brian and I were laying on the floor of the upstairs landing, we overheard Lauren tell Josh, "Logan is going to the dentist to get his ears fixed." Neither of us had the energy to correct her.

Happy Thanksgiving

ENT and ear tubes

Well, it's official....Logan is getting ear tubes. We took him in to a pediatric ear, nose and throat specialist (ENT) yesterday and the doctor agreed that the tubes would be helpful for Logan. He had to see and Audiologist first and she measured the vibration in his eardrum. Well, there wasn't any and from what she could tell it was because there was so much fluid built up behind (I think she said behind) his eardrum. But the good news is this: he has great hearing! He passed the hearing test with flying colors, so we're good to go there!! So, his surgery is scheduled for Tuesday December 1st in the morning. The doctor told us that the surgery itself takes less than 5 minutes, but Logan will have to be sedated.
We are hopeful that this will provide Logan with some relief. I noticed last week at the Mall of America that he freaked out in the elevator and he did the same thing yesterday at the doctor's office. I'm sure that the pressure in his ears is very painful when the elevator is moving. We'll get it fixed soon, buddy!!! Then you'll love the elevator as much as your sister and brother do!

Mystery, Inc....Kraby style

Daphne, Shaggy, and Scooby-Doo

no jail for mommy

This is a real conversation that Lauren and I had last night at dinner:

L: Mommy, I don't want you to go to jail.
M: Sweetie, why would I go to jail?
L: If you give me some of that orange stuff that you had that one time, you will go to jail.
M: What are you talking about?
L: Remember......when friends were here and you had the orange stuff to drink and I couldn't have any or else you would go to jail.

Okay, so for the Packer/Viking game on October 5th our neighbors came over and we had food, drinks and fun. I remember pouring myself a rum and something tropical that was orange. I remember Lauren asking me for a drink of it and telling her no way. I don't remember telling her I would go to jail, but I probably did! What a memory she has!! She has never mentioned it before last night!! Guess I better watch every word I say : )

all boy

This is Joshua. He is all boy. It seems as though he has turned into a full-fledged, guns blazing, "I'll do it myself," "hey, watch me pee all over the bathroom," bad-guy chasing, grown-up big boy all in the last couple of months. The change really happened over the course of a week, but since I am so behind on blogging, here we are a couple months later! Josh is all about "NO, I DO IT MYSELF" right now. And while I like to promote individuality and personal responsibility as much as the next parent, I'm also in a hurry sometimes. He has the most dramatic meltdowns. You'd think that I burned his stuffed Pluto right in front of him, the way he carries on.

D-R-A-M-A!!!

Anyways, he is also fully potty-trained - YAY!!! Even at night! Woo-hoo for Josh! He still has accidents at night, but pretty sporadic. His big thing right now is busting (literally) into our room at 1am, 2am, 3am, and 4am telling us, "I awake" and then I guess expecting us to get up with him. Unfortunately, he mostly just gets told in a sleepy voice by one of us to go back to bed, which he usually does willingly and quietly. Well, as quiet as Josh can be, which is a lot louder than the average bear. He's just a loud boy by nature - his voice, his actions, his playing, everything about him is loud. Always has been.

He can spell out the letters in his first name. He can't write them yet, but he is working on that at school. He is now in the Preschool room at school - the same room Lauren is in. They are only together for half of the day (the morning), but it has been interesting. I never got a bad report on my kids until Josh moved up to preschool. I'll never forget (and I will make sure that neither of them forget - especially when they are about 16 years old) how I came to pick them up about a week after Josh moving into the preschool room with a note waiting for me in each of their cubbies explaining that they were separated for wrestling with each other during circle time. Really?! It's not that they were fighting, they just refused to leave each other alone and respect each other's boundaries. It's much better now, but I tell you, for a while I wondered what was going to happen!

At any rate, this is Josh. He is a big boy now. He will be three in January and I can't believe it. He's our tender-heart Joshy : )

jack-knifed Logan

This is how sweet Logan fell asleep a couple of weeks ago! I've been trying to ween out his morning nap because his sleep schedule is so screwed up. I recently found out why he's not sleeping at night and it's not because of the morning nap! He has and ear infection and it doesn't seem to be clearing up. He's on some antibiotics now and if that doesn't clear up the fluid, we are seriously going to look into getting tubes put in his ears. The poor boy doesn't cry, he's just up, awake in his bed from about 3am to 5am, having a party all by himself! One night I went in and he was standing, but bending over looking backwards between his legs - silly boy!

me and my babies : )

Lauren, 4; Logan, 1; Joshua, 2 1/2

time

I have SO much to blog about but NO TIME to get it done!!! Arghhhh!! So, here's what's on the docket: Defeat of Jesse James Days, pumpkin patch, Logan's first haircut and so much more.....stay tuned!!

happy birthday Logan!!

Our little Logan is 1 today!! We had a party for him and was so happy to have all the people there that we did! It was crazy, but that's just how we roll right now! Logan really liked the "Happy Birthday" song, but did not like his cake at all! Who knew?! He's such a big boy now and it feels strange that my baby is 1 already.....but not strange enough to have another quite yet : )

Happy Birthday Logan!! You are a go-getter! It won't be long and you will be up and running after your brother and sister. We love you very much!

bitter mommyhood

I am not a huge Desperate Housewive's, but I happened to catch this clip on last night's season premier (thank goodness for DVR!!) I thought it was REALLY funny and it made me laugh really hard out loud!



http://www.movieweb.com/video/VIsXRsszoucVwx

is it too much to ask?

I just want to do a little venting here. It's my blog, so I guess I can. I love my children very much. However, I just had one of the most frustrating evenings with them - and I was only with them from 4pm on!!!! Sad!!! It started before we even left 'school' when Lauren pinched Josh for no apparent reason. It then continued in the car when she slugged him, again, for no apparent reason. They tormented each other at the grocery store, even though I got the cart with the car in the front of it so they could "drive" the cart! Of course, all that really did was bother me and everyone around me. Oh, and I forgot to add in Logan's occasional falcon screeches, which I'm sure were entertaining to everyone but me. We get home, Lauren socks Joshua yet AGAIN and gets sent to her room, where she cries the most dramatic cry I've heard in a long time, stomping up the stairs exclaiming with each stomp, "YOU....ARE....SO....MEAN!!" Mmm hmm. The "Falconer Jr." continues his vocal mayhem as Josh repeats, "Mom, mommy, mommy, mom, mama, mama, mommy, mom........." Can anyone say insane assylum??!
I send Lauren over to the neighbor's with a bag of stuff that belongs to them thinking that an errand might do her some good. It seems that sometimes when she feels "responsible" she starts behaving as though she is older than Josh instead of acting like she's 2. I tell her to come back home right away, she can't stay there and play (as I am afraid of her behavior!!) She comes back over and asks very excitedly, "Can I play over there?" I ask her if she was invited and she informs me that she was by her friend's mom who said it was okay if she comes inside to play. These are her words, not mine. Some sort of instinct inside of me thinks that this just might not be the case, so I decide to walk over with her to find out. As we are walking out the door I inform her that if she is lying to me, she will be in big trouble (she got caught in a lie last night). So, we get next door and my neighbor tells me that she told Lauren she COULDN'T play inside because the neighbor friend was in trouble. HMMMM....REALLY?!?! ARRRGH!!!!!!
So, you get the picture. And that was all before dinner!! What it comes down to is this -

As a mom, I just want to know is it too much to ask that:
-my kids not lie to me?
-I not be asked literally 15 times what is for dinner?
-I not be required to repeat "stop hitting your brother" a gazillion times in one stinking day?
-I be able to have a two-minute conversation with the neighbor while we are on a walk to get the mail without my daughter continuously squeezing her baby brother's cheeks seemingly just to get my attention?
-We get through one day without me hearing "My tummy hurts" - the indiscriminate tummy ache has got me baffled.
-Tattling be abolished?
-I have just one son that is not constantly committed to mimicking a falcon or a velociraptor?

Again, ARRGHHH!!!!

It really isn't bad and it could be terribly worse.

I know I'm incredibly lucky to have three healthy, beautiful children.

I really do realize this and I don't take it for granted.

Just some days are......arrghhh!!!

the guitar

Lauren really wanted a Hannah Montana guitar for her birthday. She didn't get one and although she loved all of her presents, she still remembered that this beloved guitar was missing. We made a deal with her that if she worked through an alphabet workbook, practicing her letters and finished all the letters before preschool started, we would get her the guitar. She worked very hard and finished all the letters. It got hard towards the end when I'm sure to her it felt like forever she had been writing these letters with no guitar. Finally, we went to Target and picked out the guitar. She even carried it up to the check-out herself! We brought it home, tore it open and she's been strumming and rocking out ever since. I'm so proud of her for willingly sharing her prized possession with Josh and being genuinely excited for him to "rock out." I'm glad she got to feel what it is like to work hard and earn something that she really wanted. Now......if I could only disable the "Best of Both Worlds" song since that's the only one BOTH kids will play on there! Good job, Lauren!!!!!

"If you become a bird and fly away from me," said his mother, "I will be a tree that you come home to."

Runaway Bunny

by Margaret Wise Brown

a couple = two

This past weekend we were at my aunt and uncle's house in for a family BBQ. Lauren asked my Aunt Sandy for a cookie she spotted in the cookie jar. Sandy told Lauren that she would have to ask me before she could have one. Lauren asked me if she could have a cookie, to which I replied that she had to eat a couple of grapes (that Sandy was cleaning at the time) before she could have a cookie. Sandy put three grapes in her hand for Lauren to grab. Lauren looked at her and in a very serious voice stated, "A couple is two" and only took two of the three grapes! Miss smartypants!!

school friends...

This is Lauren and her friend from "school," Kate. Kate and Lauren are like peas and carrots at school and the teachers have told me that wherever one is, the other is not too far away! We were invited over to Kate's family's house a few weeks ago and what a great time we had! Lauren and Kate played and were very good about including Josh. Logan stuck pretty close to me, but that's to be expected!! We had a campfire, smores, some Scooby-Doo, a wonderful dinner, a walk to the nearby park and Brian even managed to see Favre throw a few passes thanks to a sneak at the first pre-season game! Thanks so much Joe, Karla and Kate for a great "playdate" for us all!!

family, farm, and elvis....oh my!

Cousin Kelcey, Josh & Lauren watching Elvis

My dad's cousin's hosted the "Lee Family Fall Festival" a couple of weeks ago down in Brownsdale, MN. It was such a fun time! It was held on my dad's cousin's farm and it was filled with food, fun and family! It was great to see so many people that I haven't seen in so long. And yes, Elvis did make an appearance! Seriously, who knew that an Elvis impersonator could keep little children occupied for so long! I may hire one for the next birthday party I throw!!

So, here's to all the Lee's that made it and to those who didn't! We're a goofy bunch, but a family filled with love! Oh, and special thanks to John and Patti and the Weldon girls (and their families) for use of the indoor bathroom for Josh. He was scared of the porta-potty and the last thing we want to do to a boy during potty-training is frighten him!!



" Are you REALLY Elvis?" --------------------------Lauren and Grandma


Elvis serenading my great-aunt Joy----------- Grantie Dana and Lauren

it's official...

We have a crawler!! My earliest crawler out of all three kids! He beat Lauren by a couple of weeks and Josh, well, he didn't crawl until he was about 13 months old.

He's off and going and does NOT want to be held back!

Look out!

thirty years

My lifelong friend, Brooke, came to visit us recently with her family. She and her husband, Adam, have three kids: Kiersten, 3 1/2, Vaughn, 1 1/2, and Bennett, 2 months. Sounds a little like our house, right?! Their visit was so much fun! The kids played and the grown-ups talked and relaxed. Think of that - six kids under four in our house! Crazy! It was a good crazy, though. It took a while for Lauren and Kiersten to warm up to each other, but once they did, they were so cute! I recall them playing "butterflies" where Kiersten was running around calling Lauren "mama butterfly". Josh and Vaughn were loud boys together. Logan was a little cranky, so he napped a lot of the time and Bennett, well, he slept and ate, slept and ate, slept and ate. You get the picture.

I was amazed watching all the kids play together. You see, Brooke and I were 3 years old when her family moved to the neighborhood and her house was two houses away from mine. So, we've been friends for thirty years!! We used to call ourselves "salt and pepper" because Brooke had blonde hair (salt) and I had brown hair (pepper). Sure, we spent our fair share of time fighting over who got to be Daisy Duke, who liked McDonald's better, who got to sing the Michael Jackson part to "The Girl is Mine" (and who got stuck singing Paul McCartney), and a thousand other things. But, we also spent an entire childhood creating memories that were great like walking to Ankeny's or the A & W, playing soccer, kickball and frisbee, drawing on the sidewalk with chalk, building snowforts, playing grocery store, singing along to my records, and many, many more things. I think that we both want for our own kids what we had: lasting friendships and a loving, safe neighborhood.

To see our children all play together was really quite a site!

And Brooke and Adam were such troopers. They packed up their whole family to come to Minnesota from Chicago to visit family and friends with their crazy crew and get this - NO dvd player in their car!! They are crazy!!! : )

We miss you and hopefully we will see you soon for playdate number two!

Brooke, Bennett and me

Lauren and Kiersten (Kiersten loves corn on the cob!)

Josh and Vaughn

miss organization

Hmmm.....I wonder where she gets that trait from?!

odds and ends

Here are a few of the latest happenings at our house:

• All three kids stayed with Grandma Marcia and Bumpa Smiley on Saturday night and all went crazily good...
• Lauren's imagination is really starting to take full force. She pretended in the car a couple of weeks ago that her blankie was a baby and then proceeded to ask me where babies come from.....
• Joshua's new favorite word is ridiculous. I thought he learned it from Sponge Bob Squarepants (it coincided with him watching the show) until my neighbor informed me I say it all the time. That's ridiculous....
• Logan is trying so hard to crawl and REALLY upset that he can't. He flops down on his belly and screams at the top of his lungs in frustration.....
• Lauren's favorite Disney princesses at the moment are "Sleeping Bleuty" and "Jasmint" (no, those are not typos)....
• Josh was doing awesome at potty training, going 3-4 times per day in the potty. Now he gets a sticker if he will sit on the potty without throwing a fit...
• Logan loves peas. I think it is his favorite food. He inhales the jar like it's going out of style.
• Brian and I went to my 15-year class reunion on Saturday. We didn't get back to my parent's house until 3am. Needless to say, Sunday was not pretty (especially for me!). Brian was a trooper and changed all the poopy diapers so I wouldn't throw up.....now THAT'S love!!

picnic

Happy Birthday Lauren!

Lauren is 4!! She had a wonderful birthday weekend. We had a birthday party for her yesterday. She started her party with a birthday twirl in her favorite party dress. We rented a bouncy castle, had some pizza and cheese balls for lunch, plenty of juice boxes, a princess cake, lots of fabulous presents, and tons of fun!

In fact, this is how much fun was had! Passed out cold on the couch right after supper. We had a neighborhood bonfire in the evening and she managed to show up for the last half hour or so of that!

Today we went to the zoo. We saw the dolphins and all the other fish (Lauren's favorite part), we played in the great playground there, rode the monorail (Josh's favorite part) and we all had a great time.

I just can't believe that my sweet girl is 4! It seems like so long ago that we brought her home from the hospital, but it has really gone by so very fast. She is growing up more and more and really starting to understand concepts like "responsibility" and "treat others the way you want to be treated." She's such a loving, kind, sweet little girl all sprinkled with a little bit of attitude!

Brian and I were telling her last night about the day she was born. We told her how when the doctor placed her in my arms, she didn't even cry, she just stared at us like she had been waiting nine months to meet us. She stared at everything, exploring her new world. It was so calming and beautiful. It also got me thinking about the fact that she was born on a Tuesday night at 8:07 pm. Brian and I were also born on Tuesdays, but Brian was born at the EXACT same time as Lauren - 8:07 pm! Isn't that crazy?

I've always seen Lauren as a butterfly. I don't really know why. Maybe because she's so fluttery and pretty. Maybe because I know one day she will fly away. She's my baby girl and she's growing up so fast and I just want to imprint every moment with her (and Josh and Logan). I know in the blink of an eye they will all be growed-up and I will want to push the rewind button. I know this even though a lot of days it feels like it isn't going fast enough! The last four years have been wonderful and I can't wait for the next four!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAUREN!!!!!

silly

Here's Lauren and Josh being silly! The top picture cracks me up! She's trying to tie Daddy's shoes on him while he looks through the Hello Kitty binoculars to check her work!

LOGAN!

Logan is nine months old. It's just plain crazy! It feels as if the last 9 months have gone by so very fast, but at the same time I feel like I've aged so much in that time! Logan is such a happy baby boy. He is sitting up now, rolling all around, creeping, and grabbing every toy he can get a hold of. He isn't crawling yet, but he is trying very hard so I'm sure it won't be long. He gets mad when his brother and sister leave the room and he is left behind! He is eating a lot of different foods now. He really likes all of his baby food, peas, squash, carrots, and of course all the fruit. He is good about trying all the food I put on his tray. He likes chicken and he tried some roast beef one night. He's not a huge fan of green beans yet, but his favorite food by far is crackers, any kind. Right now we are eating sesame crackers and he LOVES them! He loves sitting in his high chair and eating with Lauren and Josh. He's sleeping good and no more ear infections (KNOCK, KNOCK!!!!) And teeth! He has two on the bottom and is getting his top two teeth! Lauren says that he is "big" now and can talk because he has teeth. Hmmm......

Anyways, here are is "stats" from his doctor's appointment.

Weight: 26 lb 1 oz

Length: 2 ft 7 in

We are excited to see what Logan will be up to next - I'm sure it will involve moving and trying to catch Lauren and Josh!

neighbors

I love my neighbors. It sounds silly, but neighbors can really make or break how happy you are in your neighborhood. We have the BEST neighbors. Before we moved in when we were painting inside the house, one of our neighbors brought us over a plate of fresh baked cookies and a map of the neighborhood with everyone's names so we wouldn't have to remember anyone! Isn't that super nice and thoughtful?! Our neighborhood is FULL of kids and it's so great - probably because we have kids ourselves! And I cannot think of a neighbor that I truly dislike. I even like the grumpy neighbor who lives next door to us. I'm gonna break down his grumpiness one of these days! My goal is to get him to the neighborhood party that we have in the summer!

With all that being said, this is what happens when your husband becomes buddies to the neighbor next door (not the grumpy one).......



That's right. Our backyard is a baseball field. Not just a "hey, let's play some ball" kind of field, but a "here's the foul line and the pitcher's mound" kind of field. It was definately an unauthorized use of the lawnmower. I was told it was for the "kids" .......hmmmm, I'm not buyin' it!!

ear infections, oh my

It has been a couple weeks since I have posted....sorry! Right after the boys' baptism, Logan came down with an ear infection. He wouldn't sleep, wouldn't eat and only wanted to be held by me. I realized that he is the first "baby" to have an ear infection. Lauren and Josh were both right around two years old and could tell us that their ear hurt. All Logan did was cry! It was really frustrating and I felt so very bad for him. On top of it, Brian and I were exhausted from being up with him, Logan was exhausted from being ill and Lauren was exhausted from being awake everynight from Logan's crying. Josh slept through it all.
I also think that he had a case of hand, foot, and mouth disease. For those of you not familiar with it, it is really common and most adults and older children that get it don't even know it. But for little ones, it shows up as painfuls little red sores in their mouth, on their hands and/or on their feet. Lauren had it once as a young toddler, but just on her hands and feet. Logan didn't have anything on his hands or feet (one little dot on his finger), but I could see sores in his little mouth and I'm sure it was painful for him to swallow anything.
After almost a week of endless crying, hardly any eating (at one point I was using a medicine-dropper to get apple juice into him to keep him from getting dehydrated), he turned the corner and started to perk up. WOO-HOO!
Now he's back to his old self, but he's extra HUNGRY!!!!
When my kids get sick, I don't ever really worry about the not eating 'cause my kids ALL have plenty of reserves!! I just worry about the dehydration and them being in pain.
Oh, and my own lack of sleep!
So here's to none of my kids catching the four-day fever/flu-ish yuckiness that seems to be going around the neighborhood!

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

This is my dad, Smiley. I've never met anyone's dad that was quite like mine. He is definately a character! Growing up, he had nicknames for all my friends - silly nicknames, right Boohe? He was always singing nonsense songs and chattering away about random silliness. He teased me a lot and built a lot of character in me that way. He has his own language - mittens/gloves = handshoes; tires = screamers. Like I said, I've never met anyone quite like my dad!

Through all the silliness, teasing, and chattering, I always knew that he loved me. He is such a great dad and I'm lucky to call him mine! He always provided for me, made sure I was taken care of, and supported me.

Dad, thank you for being you and for being such a great dad. I'm very lucky and my kids are very fortunate to call you "Bumpa." I love you very much!

Gone Baptizin'

We got Joshua and Logan baptized today!! It was such a great day.....very busy, but wonderful! The boys did really good and we had many friends and family members here to celebrate with us. I get very emotional about our children's godparents. It's a big deal to me, to name people as my children's godparents and to be a godparent myself. I know that I maybe don't do all the things I should as a godparent, but I truly hold my three godson's so close to my heart and pray for them every day.



So, to Melissa, Levon, John, Katie, Brenton and Stephanie, THANK YOU for being such a significant part of our boys' lives. You are all a blessing to us!

Sorry, Katie, I know your eyes are closed, but this is the only with where Josh didn't have his finger up his nose!

our little ball player

Josh is a beginning ball player! He loves playing catch and also loves hitting the ball with his bat. He can actually hit the ball with the bat (little bat, not big fat bat), which I think is pretty good for two years old!
So, I think that instead of investing in our 401K, we take all our money out of it and start Josh on private ball lessons and really start pushing him to play. That way, instead of a retirement 401K fund, we'll have a major league ball player and won't need a 401K!
Okay, so we might be better leaving things the way they are and let him have fun learning to love sports. I guess we should reevaluate when he is three to see which is the better investment - Josh's ball skills or the stock market!! I'm going with Josh on this one!!

Memorial Day Weekend

Lauren, Zoe the dog, Grandma Jane and Josh

We had such a wonderful Memorial Day weekend! We had both sets of grandparents here on Sunday, a cookout with them and the neighbors Sunday night, and Brian's parents, Grandma Jane and Bumpa Larry stayed until Tuesday morning. The kids went to daycare on Tuesday and Lauren was so sad to leave our house knowing that Grandma and Bumpa were still there. Grandma Jane also brought her dog, Zoe. Lauren and Josh were in LOVE with Zoe! Dixie even liked Zoe, too : ) It was a wonderful visit that we had with everyone and it was so nice of Jane and Larry to drive such a long way to see us. We all miss our family in Milwaukee and wish that we could see them more often.

Lauren

Lauren can pump on the swing!! She doesn't need a push at all. For those of you who either don't have kids or haven't experienced the pain that it is to constantly push a three and a half year old on a swing all the while being critiqued on how you are doing it, you cannot fully appreciate the greatness of this feat. To have her go to the swingset and start swinging all on her own is sooooooo wonderful!! And she basically started doing it by herself. My neighbor and I each worked with her teaching her when to bend her knees so she would start getting the hang of it. To not have to hear, "MOOOOOMMMMY, PUUUUUUSH MEEEEEEEE" is such a glorious feeling! Now, I just need to teach Josh how to pump his legs.......

Lauren is getting better at writing her own name, too. Brian drew the lines and she wrote the letters on her chalkboard. That tricky "R" sometimes gives her trouble, as does the "N" which often turns into an "M." But she is working hard (when she wants to) and is so proud of herself when she does write her own name!

Here are the latest Lauren-isms:

"Butterfly's are ridiculous" "Willow trees are special trees" "Gavin (boy at school) likes me all the time" "I need to put that on my birthday list" "That's amaaaaaazing" "We need to be 'sponsible"

Lauren is a wonderful big sister. She takes care of Joshua - even when he doesn't want her to! And Logan is just in love with her. She can make him laugh so hard and he watches her very intently whenever she is around him.

It is so fun to watch her grow : )