I’m back, but we’ve moved:

I’ve moved the blog because I can restrict access if needed.  You can now find us here:  A Little Bit of Life

Inactive

Due to some recent events, our blog will be inactive for awhile.  We need to look into password protecting it or moving it to a place where we can protect it so if you want to know the login info once we have it all set up, make sure to either comment on this post or send me an email (or message me on Facebook).  I will compile a list and pass on the necessary information when the time comes.  It could be awhile so until then, you can keep up with us on Facebook, email or give us a call.

Thanks!

Birthdays

That time is approaching once again.  The time to think about what we want to do for our child’s birthday.  This time though, it is for Emily and not Matthew.  Before we know it our little girl will be turning 1.  I’ve been looking at the calendar to see when would be the best to have a party since her birthday is on a Tuesday.  Then I thought, it doesn’t really matter what day her birthday is on if we didn’t have a party.  So now Brian and I get to have the “birthday party talk” to decide if we’re having one, where it will be and who we want to invite.  I’m pretty sure, I’ll be voting to have it here.  Matthew had two parties when he turned 1.  That is too much work and hassle than it’s worth and I’m done catering to everyone else’s requests when it comes to my children.  I’ll see what we come up with but I do know one thing, Brian, Matthew and I will be celebrating in some fashion.

What we’ve been up to…

We haven’t been up to anything too exciting around here.  We’ve started the whole potty training thing again and Matthew was doing well, but has since started losing interest and we’ve had to tighten up on the routine again.  We stopped using a timer and just kept reminding him, he was doing well but now we’ve had to bring out the timer again and make him go in the bathroom every time it goes off.

Emily is just 2 days shy of 10 months.  Wow, where did the time go?  She’s not crawling yet but she gets up on all fours all the time.  She can move around and either get what she wants or doesn’t care enough to try hard for it.  She’s also learned how to go from laying on her tummy to sitting up, kind of funny to watch and something Matthew never did.  She’s been more vocal than Matthew was at this age, too.  She’s been saying mama and dada since around 9 months, although she strongly favors saying mama   Matthew didn’t say those until well over a year.  I think Emily is going to be the one who advances mentally earlier, the opposite of her brother who had all the physical stuff down and walking at this point.

A couple weekends ago we decided to split up our family vacation this year and took part of it early.  We just went to the Twin Cities, we’re sticking closer to home this year.  We stopped in Cottage Grove on the way up to visit friends we don’t see often (but should see more often!) then headed over to the Mall of America.  We took Matthew to Nickelodeon Universe and as we expected he wasn’t interested in riding any of the rides (bonus for us, saves money!)  He was thrilled just looking at the characters from his favorite cartoons that he can’t watch anymore.  He also got to meet Dora and Diego and get his picture taken.  The workers said he was the most excited kid they had all day!  Since he didn’t want to ride the rides, we went to Underwater Adventures and he really liked that.  He thought it was really cool that the fish could swim around and over us, and seeing Nemo and Doree was a hit too.  After the mall we headed to our hotel before going to bed for the night.  We hung out in the morning and Matthew got to watch a movie while Emily took a nap, he liked that since he only gets to use the portable DVD player while we’re driving.  After Emily woke up and we got everything packed up we headed north to see Brian’s godparents.  They were leaving for Arizona the next day and we’re glad it worked out for us to see them before they left.  On our way home we stopped at the Science Museum.  It was our first trip back since our wedding reception nearly 5 years ago.  We both commented on the different memories from that day and pointed out places we had pictures taken or rode past in the limo.  The purpose of that stop was to see the Titanic Exhibit before it left.  That was interesting to see but both kids were bored and didn’t want to be very quiet.  We walked around the Museum for a little bit so Matthew could have a look around and then we headed home.  A quick trip but we enjoyed it and I think it helped get over cabin fever from being inside all the time; a nice change of scenery.  And of course it’s always nice when we can visit friends and family we rarely see, too!

Dancing with Dora & Diego

At Underwater Adventures

Miss Emily

Matthew & Daddy

The day we were at the Mall was the day the Vikings played the Cowboys.  You may have noticed both  kids were proudly sporting their Purple Pride!

Anyone home?

It’s been so long since I’ve posted, I actually forgot the login information.  It took  me a couple of tries to get in.  Since so many more people use facebook, I find it so much easier to update on there because so many more people are kept up to date and it’s a lot easier to post pictures.

I suppose there is probably alot I could update on but I’ll just stick to the most recent stuff.  We took Matthew in to a different doctor for a second opinion on his constipation issue.  His doseage has been cut in half and as soon as he starts complaining of a tummy ache or seems to have issues, we’re supposed to bring him back in for an x-ray.

We had Emily weighed at Matthew’s appointment.  At 6 months she was 19 lbs 7 oz and at 7 months she’s 20 lbs 5 oz so we have probably a month until she’s outgrown her infant seat.  We are researching seats and deciding what to get for her.  We were hoping to keep her in an infant seat until she turned 1 and then get her the same seat Matthew has because then we’d be done buying seats for them.  A friend of ours has an infant seat with a higher weight limit they said we could borrow but we don’t know if we want to go that route.  I’m having a hard time carrying her now and our friend’s seat is heavier than ours.  Matthew’s convertible seat is having issues with the straps and we think it’s a pain in the rear, which is why we got him a new seat awhile ago so we don’t want to use that one.  Maybe if we’re desperate we can get it to work but we don’t know if the straps will even adjust properly for her to be safely in it.

Right now I’m fighting off the start of a cold while trying not to add to my already achy body from carrying Emily.  Her weight is really taking a toll on me and sleeping is getting uncomfortable because my back & neck hurt and I can’t find a position that doesn’t hurt.  Brian has been fighting a cough off and on for about a month or so.  It came full swing when he was in Chicago the beginning of October.  He took a sick day last week too but otherwise we haven’t had any major sickness. There are families in my MOPS group dealing with flu like stuff and thankfully we haven’t brought any of that home.

We did have a niece hospitalized for observation of H1N1 but after getting some fluids and rest and she was good to go.  It was quite cute seeing Matthew responding to the situation.  As soon as I got the text message saying Kylie was being admitted, I had the kids sit next to me and we prayed for her.  Then at bedtime he wanted to pray for her again.  The next day she was released and he said he wanted to go see her.  Brian said that maybe he could call her later and let her know he was concerned about her.  We called and Matthew talked to her, the best that a 3 year old with his vocabulary can.  Then he talked to Uncle Shane.  Ever since then he’ll point to Kylie’s picture on our fridge and say “that’s Kywie, she’s not sick anymore. She’s went back to Uncle Shane’s house.  Uncle Shane, Aunt Denise, Kaityn, Kywie & Tasha are coming to my house!”  During his phone conversation, Matthew asked Shane if he could go to his house to see Kylie, Shane told him that everyone was coming to our house for Christmas.  This boy certainly isn’t going to let us forget that people are coming “to MY house.”  When asked whose house they’re coming to, he’ll often say “to Matthew’s house” while pointing at himself   He’ll also point to the hospital while we’re driving past and say that he wants to go to the hospital like Kylie did.  I think he’s a tad obsessed with his cousin Kylie right now.  Thankfully, in 6 weeks he’ll get to see her!

And a couple recent pictures.

With mom on her birthday

Emily doing what she does best, chewing on stuff

Matthew & his cheesy smile

Reflecting

With everything that goes on concerning Christmas and the drama that surrounds it, I’ve told Brian that I’m considering staying home this year.  We are hosting Christmas for my side and I’m not really concerned about that at all.  I’ve never cooked for that many people before but my sister in-law offered to help, and eventually the food will get to the table, it just may not be exactly when I plan on it.

We’ve considered having our family stay home and opt out of particpating in Christmas with Brian’s side this year.  There is no reason for all the drama and politics that go on every year.  Sadly, we’ve started dreading getting together instead of looking forward to it.  We’ve also discussed having our children’s names excempt from the gift drawing and not have them receive any.  We wouldn’t have to be concerned that we show our appreciation or ensure we give thanks appropriately for the people giving the gifts because it seems saying “thank you” just isn’t enough anymore.  Quite frankly, our kids don’t need gifts and I will NEVER say that someone has to give them one to show they care about them.  When we were asked our thoughts about gift exchange this year we said NO GIFTS, including kids, but our compromise would be that the kids exchange because we know no one will ever come to an agreement with us.  Now the names have been drawn and Matthew and Emily have cousins to get gifts for.  I’m still debating sending Brian with the kids and staying home myself.  The kids shouldn’t miss out on spending time with their cousins and the opportunity to see Grandpa and their aunts & uncles.  I just feel it may be best that I’m not there.  I don’t want to create any awkward situations for anyone and I don’t like walking on egg shells with what I say.

I’m sure now that I’ve posted this though and said my kids don’t need gifts, it could come across that I don’t want them to get any and that I don’t want them to give any either.  That is not the case, but people can think what they want.

Pics from Matthew’s birthday

Since I never posted pictures from Matthew’s birthday, I figured I probably should.

Just saw Thomas pulling up

Waiting in line to board with Thomas in background

Auntie Anne Marie with the kiddos

Our Family with Thomas

Trying to give Sir Topham Hatt a high 5

Going down the jumbo slide

His birthday brownie & candles Great Aunt Sally had for him

He had a great time on his Day Out With Thomas and getting to spend it with his Auntie & cousin helped make his day a little more special!

Getting on my soapbox

This will be a venting post so if you don’t care to read it, I suggest you stop right now.  I don’t feel like sugar coating what I need to say, so I won’t.

I’m getting back up on my soapbox concerning Christmas, yet again!  The Christmas talk has already started and, yet again, the biggest disagreement is how to handle gifts.  The decision was made for only the cousins to exchange gifts this year and everyone seemed fine with it, BUT there is always a but!  There is always a suggestion or recommendation from someone but no offer to help with the extra work required to carry out those suggestions.  This is no different when it comes to holding any type of family gathering so I guess I wasn’t too surprised.  This is the third Christmas we’ve had to deal with these issues on a more “heated topic” level.  There are always suggestions for who we should buy gifts for, the aunts & uncles should at least give their nieces & nephews gifts to show that they care about them, the siblings should give the parent(s) gifts or go together and get one nice gift, the parent(s) should get their children & grandchildren gifts, etc.  If I am told I should give someone a gift because “it’s the way things should be,” it really makes me NOT want to do it!  I should give because I WANT to, not because I’m told to.  Not only are we told who we should buy for, but what, in very intricate detail &  heaven forbid we get the requested item with the wrong color hair, or shirt, or accompanying toy, etc. It feels awfully greedy to be given such suggestions on who we should give gifts to.

NO giving gifts at Christmas is not “how things should be anyways.”  Biblically, there is no mention of Christmas or the exchanging of gifts amongst family.  Jesus received gifts from the Wise Men because he was a King & he didn’t get just any kind of gift, he got Kingly gifts.  Christmas is what we like to refer to as a Hallmark Holiday.  A Holiday that someone came up with to give people a reason to spend money (i.e. on Hallmark Cards).  When we celebrate what the world considers Christmas is not actually when Christ was born, either.

We’ve considered boycotting Christmas with parts of the family this year.  We’ve considered requesting that our children’s names are not put in the gift exchange.  Unfortunately, we know that neither of these options will get our point across…just like our decision to not exchange gifts with the adults 3 years ago that in turn started this whole thing.  For the majority, everyone agrees that things need to get scaled back and spending time together is more important than getting expensive gifts, but we don’t have total agreement on that and that’s why we have so much tension and frustration during this time of year.  We are so sick of the selfish attitudes about gifts.

Personally, I cringe when someone tells me I need to buy a niece or nephew a gift to show that I care about them.  I know what it’s like to grow up with someone who tried to buy my love & the only way to remotely show that they cared was to buy me things.  Did that make me feel loved & cared for?  NO!  It made me feel used & gives me a much better appreciation for those who truly give from their heart, even if it’s something I can’t open.  Spending true, quality time is MUCH more important than things.  The Bible even tells us to store up our Treasures in Heaven, not on Earth…we can’t take any gift that we can open to Heaven with us.  I used to really enjoy Christmas shopping for my family growing up, trying to find the perfect gift that I just knew they would like, and they’d know I really thought about what to get.  Seeing them open the gift to see what I put so much thought & love into finding was priceless.  That feeling & enjoyment has all disappeared now that gift giving has become so political, greedy & selfish.  I can’t go buy a gift that I think someone would really like because it isn’t on the “list” I’ve been given & someone else may have that item on theirs.  The last time I was excited about giving a gift for my extended family was quickly ruined when I saw the attitudes (ungrateful) come out because a doll didn’t have a specific shirt color &  the response from the parents were “we’ll take it back & try to find you the right one.”  Boy, really makes me want to run out and buy another gift for that person again, doesn’t it?

What’s wrong with just getting together and doing some fun things together as a family?  We could bake/decorate cookies, decorate ornaments or some other fun activity that everyone could be involved in.

Okay, I’m stepping off my soapbox now.  I fully expect to receive some emails about this one.  Feel free to email me instead of commenting publicly.

26 days without a post…

Considering I haven’t posted in 26 days I figure I probably should do a little updating.  The kids and I traveled to Silver Bay to attend my grandpa’s funeral.  I was exhausted by the time we got back home but I’m glad we were able to make it.  We also got to visit with my grandma for a bit the night of the funeral, which was nice since she was heading back to Kansas City later that week.

We also celebrated Matthew’s 3rd birthday.  We took him to Lakeville for “A Day Out With Thomas” and were joined by his auntie Anne Marie and cousin Amber.  I think everyone had a good time and it was nice for Matthew to have a couple extra people to celebrate with.  After the days festivities were over we headed north to see Brian’s aunt & uncle and introduce them to Emily.  We had a nice visit and hope to get together with them again before another year passes.

Then after a weekend home, we were on the road again for a reunion type thing with my dad’s family.  We stayed with my brother and then carpooled to the reunion.  We were later joined by my other brother who lives in North Dakota.  It was nice catching up with some of the distant family and introducing them to my family.  I know my grandma really appreciated seeing us and getting to meet Brian and the kids.  Later on, my dad decided to drive over to Sartell and join us for the night so we had a little extra time with grandpa.  Sunday morning we had a delicious breakfast before grandpa had to leave so he’d be home in time to get the dogs ready to go to the camper with my mom that night.  Shane & Denise took all the kids to the park while Brian and I ran to Hom Furniture to see if we could get any ideas for Matthew’s bed.  After lunch we headed home for what turned out to be a 5 1/2 hour trip due to slow traffic, a supper stop, blow out diaper & change of clothes & having to feed Emily.

I’d also like to take the time to just say how much we appreciate what my brother and his wife do for us.  This is not a my side of the family vs. Brian’s side thing but simply recognizing those who always make us feel welcome, never hesitate to let us stay at their house, feed us delicious meals and offer to watch our kids.  When we first asked about staying with them to break up our trip for the reunion, right away they said even if they weren’t home we were more than welcome to stay there and make ourselves at home.  When my dad decided to come and stay the night on Saturday, Denise took a few minutes to think about meals and headed out to the grocery store to pick up a few things, she washed the bedding so my dad would have clean sheets to sleep on, and never once complained that she had less than 2 hours notice.  I think she had anticipated my dad would be around for lunch and when he left after breakfast she simply altered the amount of food she cooked.  She just goes with the flow and changes her plans as needed without a problem.  When we visit we never expect them to babysit but they are always very willing.  This last trip Denise just asked if there was anything we wanted to run to town for, or just walk around the mall for a bit to have a break while they watched the kids.  These are the reasons we enjoy getting together with them.  It is not a stressful visit, there are no complaints that they don’t know our agenda, if plans change the needed adjustments are easily made, if we get there at a different time than expected it isn’t a big deal, we’re offered to use their house basically as a hotel and we feel very welcome.  Our visit in July yielded little visiting time with them because of our traveling to Willmar & then going out to eat for our Anniversary, then we had to leave right away Sunday morning.  Still no complaints that they didn’t see us that much even though they provided us a place to stay, watched our kids and fed us.  Thanks, guys for always giving us great hospitality and making our stay enjoyable!

Rest In Peace, Grandpa

We love you and we’ll miss you!