Friday, September 23, 2016

Bending Oak

I remember going to look at homes with our realtor ten years ago and finding a beautiful house on our street. I loved the floor plan and the updates in the home, and knew it was the house for us. We walked outside to call the listing agent only to find out that there was already a contract on the house. We were really  upset and I didn't think I would find a house I liked as much! Another house had come up on the market on the same street so my realtor scheduled a showing for later that week. Nic couldn't meet me and I went to see it by myself. When the front door opened, I was thrilled.  It was the same floor plan as the other one down the street. When I walked in the high ceilings and iron spindles from the banister were so stunning. The house would work great for the family we were planning. Upstairs in the media room was a gigantic screen, built in speakers and projector. I was in awe and knew that the media room would sell Nic on the house. We closed on June 27, 2006 and moved in that day. When we moved in, we thought we would never be able to fill up this house!! The entire upstairs was  empty except for a guest room (a bedroom with just a bed!). Our giant pantry had one shelf full of food. We had to buy furniture to fill the dining room, hallway and living room! We met a bunch of neighbors the next month at National Night Out and fell in love with the people in the neighborhood. We celebrated our first wedding anniversary that October. 

Some of the most significant events in my life happened in this house. We found out we were pregnant with our first baby July 1st of the next year. I will never forget waking up at 5am and waking Nic up because I was too nervous to sleep. He told me to just go take the test. I went into the bathroom, took the test, left it on the toilet, walked out and shut the door. Nic looked at me and said, "well???" I told him I couldn't look. He went in and came out with a positive pregnancy test. We were in shock! 

Decorating Kaden's nursery was our first house project and I'll never forget falling asleep on the floor with Max and Roxy while we watched Nic paint. 

We brought Kaden home to this house and I'll never forget how scared I was walking in the garage door into the kitchen with this tiny baby. Two weeks later, exhausted and in tears, I will never forget sitting at our kitchen table, trying to eat dinner with a crying baby in the bouncy seat, telling Nic that I think we made a mistake and shouldn't have had a baby yet! Ha!! Oh, the hormones! 

We celebrated Kaden's first birthday in this house and what a fabulous party it was! I booked a petting zoo which was set up in our back yard. I'll never forget the look on Kaden's sweet little baby face, sitting in the corner of the yard petting a baby bunny. 

I'll never forget sitting in the half bath on August 12th of 2009, laughing hysterically, when we found out we were pregnant with Cam. 

I'll never forget the completely overwhelming feeling of walking back through the garage door, carrying a newborn Cam, and trying to process how to be a parent of two boys. 

I'll never forget standing with the fan on in the half bath trying to calm a colicky baby and falling asleep in our bedroom with the hairdryer on for white noise. 

We celebrated Cam's first birthday and I'll never forget the Chuy's Mexican buffet in the dining room. I will never forget the  mommy guilt of not getting a petting zoo! 

In February of 2012, I'll never forget standing in our bedroom when we found out we were pregnant with Ryane. She was the most planned baby of all, yet it was still a surprise to find out the news! 

I'll never forget locking myself in the back yard while Nic cooked dinner because I was so sick. I'll never forget crying on our bed because I didn't think the morning {all day} sickness would ever end. 

When we walked in the garage door with a baby girl, I remember  feeling like I had to do everything in my power to protect her forever. I will never forget that. 

I'll never forget Ryane's first birthday party at our home. It was floofy and flirly {yes, I realize these aren't actual words} and everything I dreamed of. 

I will never, ever forget February 11th of 2014. I will never forget the pacing in my kitchen waiting for Nic to get home from work. I will never forget trying to make it through dinner without telling him the news. Sitting in our kitchen, I will NEVER forget the look on Nic's face when I told him that I had found out at my doctor's appointment that I was pregnant with Avery!! 

I won't forget taking the first picture of the four kids sitting in Cam and Kaden's room and thinking, "wow, that's a lot of kids."

I will never forget the feeling of setting up my last baby's 1st birthday party.

So many significant moments that I'll never forget happened right here in this house. The first steps, first words, first days of school, first bus ride, first tooth fairy visit, first baseball game...  The love, the frustrations, the tears, the laughter, the celebrations. In every room of this house, I can picture these moments with Nic and the kids. In a way, it is hard to let go. What a great ten years it has been! I truly have been blessed.  






Monday, April 18, 2016

First Recital

Ry is gearing up for her very first dance recital! She has been taking ballet and tap since January (last semester it was more of a creative movement class) and the recital is next month! Yesterday we had dance pictures and here are a few I took of her in her costume. I can't wait to see the show! I just leaned it's a tap routine and I almost died!!! 





When I tell people that I have three boys and one girl, they most always say, "Oh! A princess?!" Um, no. Nic and I describe her as the Pink Power Ranger. While she likes the color pink, she definitely has a Power Ranger mentality (beating the heck out of her brothers with a sword, for example). But she does love to dance, and I'm cherishing this time before she decides she would rather play football and baseball like her brothers!


Cam is SIX!











Cam was so excited for his birthday this year and as a mom, that's so fun to experience! 

It's hard to put into words how proud I am of my Cam-bone! This boy has grown up so much in the past year and has gained confidence in himself. He is doing great in school, has good friends, loves playing baseball and is a kind and patient big brother! 

Cam was getting extra help with reading on school and I received this email from his teacher:

Cam was dismissed from LLI yesterday because he is reading at exit level Kinder! We are so thrilled because his growth was AMAZING!! Thank you for your support at home with this. Cam is so adorable because he reads so loud and proud during our independent reading time. His confidence is at a super high level. We are going to continue his growth through guided reading.          
GO CAM!!

Nic dropped him off for a kindergarten performance the night of his birthday and he ran right in, stood on the stage and performed just like he was supposed to. Who is this kid?!

Cam is playing baseball this year and practices 2-3 days per week! He doesn't complain about going and is constantly throwing, running, dribbling and catching all kinds of balls around the house. 

He loves playing with Avery and they have fun wrestling with each other. He is also really good at pretend playing with Ryane, although he knows how to get under her skin, and they can bicker quite a bit. 

Cam has good friends at school and loves Walker and Gregorio the most. He also loves to go outside and play in the neighborhood with some of the neighbor kids (all quite a bit older than he is). They play hide and go seek, four square, soccer, basketball, and they make up games about building things out of materials they find outside. Pretty cool!! 

Happy birthday to this big, cute SIX year old! I love you so much and I couldn't be more proud!

Friday, April 8, 2016

18 months

Avery weighs 27 pounds 11 ounces (85%) and is 34 inches tall (80%). 

Avery is wearing size 5 diapers and 18-24 month clothes. 

Each month I write that Avery is into everything. And each month, I don't know how, he gets into more and more. He's my only child who drags chairs to reach things on counters and the only one who's ever opened my china cabinet. 

Avery has earned the nickname No No Little Joe. This is from a tv show the kids watch where a little panda gets in trouble and they tell him, "no no, little Joe!" Now, before he does something he's not supposed to do, he will either say "uh uh uh" or "no no little Joe!"

He thinks it's funny that he's bad!!

He gets frightened very easily! He's scared of some of the talking apps, big rumbles from trucks, thunder, Elmo and Kaden's nerf bows. He comes running and crying, "Mama? Mama? Mommyeeeeee!!!"

He can count to six!!!! No joke!!! I have it on video!

He is obsessed with buses. Loves singing Wheels on the Bus, loves watching bus videos and loves seeing the school bus pick up and drop off in front of our house. 

He sings! He knows the words to Wheels on the Bus and says round and round, wah wah wah, up and down, shhh shhh shhh and also says all through the town. He signs a Shabbat song and Happy Birthday (hah to you). 

Some new words this month are:
Peekaboo
Peekaboo barn (peeboo bah)
Apple
Sticker
No no little Joe (go go wih dah)
Ribbitt (deep growls voice)

He answers yes and no questions (yeah and nah). 

He tells us when he poops or is pooping. One day he was fussy and we asked what was wrong, and he said, "poop" and pointed to his diaper. Potty training soon???

Avery sniffs Garrison on the nose and Barrett on the ear and sucks his tongue just like Cam and Ry. 

He is so polite and says please and thank you all the time. 

His favorite books are Big Red Barn and Happy Birthday Elmo. 

Avery loves playing with Cam and wrestles with him every chance he gets. 

Avery and Ryane are starting to play with each other and they pretend play really well!

Avery likes to try to walk up and down the stairs now instead of crawl or slide. 

He's cute, funny and smart. What more could I ask for?! Happy half birthday, sweet love! 



Best monthly pictures so far! Thanks to Eric and Sara for making him giggle!! He didn't even try to knock down the blocks!!




Friday, March 11, 2016

17 months


Avery wears 12-18 month clothes (although I am certain he would fit into 18-24 month tops) and size 5 diapers. 

Avery loves to explore and make a mess. He doesn't actually play with toys - unless they make a mess. 

He runs. And he's a bit bow-legged. 

He has 16 teeth and drooly. Assuming he is getting some teeth in the back. 

He talks a lot.  Some new words he says are:
Glasses
Mommy (instead of mama)
Daddy (instead of dada)
Roxy
Crackers
Snack
Bar (snack bar)
Barrett (new bear friend)
Beep beep (riding car)

He still does the sign for water, eat, milk, more, all done and yogurt. 

He has been sleeping well at night. He goes to bed at 7 and usually wakes between 7-7:30. 

Avery LOVES reading and is so content in the car if he is holding a book! 

He naps once a day around 1-1:30. He generally sleeps 1.5-2 hours. 

Avery loves riding his beep beep and goes super fast!! It's fun to watch all the kids riding around together. 

Avery asks to talk on my phone but he mostly just listens. 

Avery listens and understands so well! If you tell him a set of directions (go get your water in the kitchen, go give that to Kaden, etc) he can typically follow what you say. 

He loves all of his grandparents so much and gets so excited when they come over. 

Avery loves to play with balls and balloons. He throws pretty well and likes to shoot baskets. 

Happy 17 months, my baby boy!

Monday, March 7, 2016

Big Girl Bed

At Ryane's 3 year check up, I asked the doctor when was an appropriate time to transition Ryane out of her crib. He started laughing and said, "Wait, she is still in a crib?? And she doesn't try to escape??" I explained that her crib is very tall and there is no way she can climb out of it. I also told him how she is into everything and I haven't been ready to deal with what will happen when she is not confined to her bed. She also LOVES her crib. It's comfy and cozy and she keeps a million stuffed animals and toys in there. There is barely room for her!

In February we decided it was time. My mom and I went to Nebraska Furniture Mart and found the perfect bed! I had been looking online for months and only found one bed that I loved... And it was waaaaaaay too expensive. Ryane started getting excited for her "princess bed" and talked about what kind of sheets and blankets she wanted. She was so excited when the delivery truck pulled up!!





She has done pretty well with the transition. For the first week she did not get out of bed at all. Now I hear her out of bed, but she usually gets toys from her closet and books and brings them back into her bed to play. She had yet to open the door or come out of her room. 

Her bed is so pretty and matches her room so well!! And she loves it which is the best part!! 

Thursday, February 18, 2016

91 of 103

91 of 103. 

In the last 103 months, I was pregnant or nursing 91 of them. There were only 12 months in the last {almost} 9 years that I wasn't carrying or nursing a child. Four months between finishing nursing Kaden and getting pregnant with Cam. Eight months between Cam and Ryane. ZERO between Ryane and Avery (as I found out I was pregnant when I was still nursing Ryane). I have been consecutively pregnant or nursing for 47 months straight (February 2012 until January of 2016). 

When I was pregnant with Kaden, I knew I would try to nurse him. My goal was 6 months as I thought it was gross to nurse a baby longer than that. The first month was horrible. I remember sitting in my glider one night in the middle of the night trying to nurse him when he was two weeks old. I was bawling through it. It was harder than I expected (he would nurse for 45 minutes to an hour and would wake every 2-3 hours) and I was exhausted. Nic woke up to help me that night and he encouraged me to keep going. I honestly don't know why he was so encouraging at the time. Was it the thought of paying for formula? Was it because of the health benefits of nursing? Was it just because he thought he should? I don't know and I have never asked. I'm just thankful that he was so encouraging that night. That became my biggest advice for people who want to nurse- make sure your husband is 100% on board and ready to encourage you, especially in the first month. 

When Kaden turned 6 months and one day old, I continued to nurse. To me, he was no different at 6 months than he was at 6 months and one day. I continued to nurse him till he was 11 months and then I spent the last month pumping and giving him bottles to wean from nursing. 

Cam was easy to nurse from the first day. He nursed for about 10-20 minutes total in the hospital and pretty quickly, once we got home, nursed about 10 minutes every 3 hours. I nursed him for 14 months. 

Ryane continued the trend of being a good nurser and nursed for 16 months. I had not planned on nursing for that long, but thinking she was my last baby, I had a harder time thinking about weaning. Plus, we were a busy family and I had trouble finding the time to get it all planned out. It was just easier to do what we were doing! 

When I found out I was pregnant with Avery, one of the first things I said to my doctor was, "Oh my gosh... I'm still nursing!!" She told me it was okay but it was probably a good idea to start to wean within the month.  

Nursing Avery was the easiest of them all and I definitely tried to enjoy this special one on one time we had together. My plan was to finish nursing by the beginning of December (14 months) but on my "last night" of nursing I decided I wasn't done. As much as I wanted to have my body back, there was something I wasn't ready to let go of.  I was only nursing him before bed and I continued until January 20th (almost 16 months) when I went out of town for my Grandma's funeral. 

I sobbed the last time I nursed him. For me, carrying and nursing my babies has been my greatest honor as a mom. My pregnancies became harder physically with each baby, but there is something I will forever cherish about being the one person responsible for growing these tiny babies. That every decision I made for myself affected someone else. That feeling I got every time I could feel them move inside me. The feeling of knowing that no matter the circumstance I, alone, could keep my baby healthy and nourished. 

It truly was an honor... My greatest accomplishment to date. 

91 out of 103. 

Thursday, February 11, 2016

16 months


Avery wears 12-18 month clothes and size 4 diapers. 

Avery loves getting into everything he possibly can. Trash can, dishwasher, cabinets... You name it! 

He is walking! 100% of the time.

He has 16 teeth! Holy moly!

He talks a lot.  Some new words he says are:
Biscuit 
Please 
Kaden - Dee Dee
Thank you 
Keys
Baby
Bye bye
Fish
Penguin

He still does the sign for water, eat, milk, more, all done and yogurt. 

He has been sleeping well at night. He goes to bed at 7 and usually wakes between 7-7:30. 

Avery LOVES books! He picks out a book before nap and bed and climbs up in his chair for me to read it to him. He likes to bring books downstairs too and look at them on the couch!

He started giving up his afternoon nap so we started putting him down once a day around 1:30. He's only napping about 1.5 hours right now so hopefully he will start sleeping a bit longer. 

Avery loves to put Roxy in her crate and gives her a biscuit and her blanket. 

Avery has started getting a little rough with Ryane. She's not used to that and it makes her cry.  We are being careful to make sure he is being more gentle.

Avery loves looking at the pictures on my phone. Whenever he sees my phone he asks to see a picture of Papa. 

He still gets very excited when Nic gets him from work. He waits by the garage door and cries if Nic doesn't pick him up right away. 

Whenever a grandparent is holding him, he doesn't ever want to come to me!!

He loves dropping Ryane off at school. He waves to the security man and to Cynthia. He walks into her class and goes to wash his hands! 

Avery loves to play with balls and balloons. 

Happy 16 months, my love! 

Saturday, January 23, 2016

Grandma

The 



My Grandma had been sick for a long time. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's 12 years ago. The three pictures above were from my bridal luncheon where everyone was asked to stand up and say a funny story or memory. When it was her turn, she declined. I understood completely! I wouldn't have wanted to get up and talk in front of anyone either! But after everyone had their turn, she said she wanted to say something. She stood up and told me she was proud of me. It's one of the last memories I have of her where her mind was clear enough to say something like that to me. It's been a very long battle and I'm happy she's now in peace. But I sure to do miss her. She used to mail me newspaper articles to read and cartons of orange tic-tacs. I used to pay her $100/month for my car and she would tell my Grandpa she cashed the check, but she would actually throw the check away. We would go to the mall and she would tell me all the clothes and shoes I picked out looked like they belonged in space. Before we took this picture she said, "hang on, let me tuck in my chins." She was funny, sweet and kind. She had a good heart. 

One of my funniest Grandma stories happened after she had been diagnosed. We were in Omaha visiting for my Grandparents' 50th anniversary and she had left a lot of the planning to my Grandpa because of her memory. We were in the pool swimming, talking and listening to some music. She seemed so relaxed and was really going with the flow. She started humming to a song that was playing and was dancing with her hands (she had a tube around her so all I could see was her hands). I smiled at her because she looked cute, and she turned to me, still dancing and said, "you should see my ass!"

I love you and miss you very much, Grandma. I feel blessed by these memories of you!

15 months



Avery weighs 24 pounds 6 ounces  (75%) and is 32 inches tall  (75%)

Avery wears 12-18 month clothes and size 4 diapers. 

Avery is into EVERYTHING. He is just as busy, if not more, than Ryane was. Which is a lot. He is opening locked cabinets, playing with glass bowls, opening drawers and fishing for goodies. In the time it takes me to put Ryane in her bed, he had already taken out her books from her bookshelf and tossed them all over the floor. He is a mess!!

He is walking!!! He started walking (more than 5-7 steps) at the beginning of January and walks about 50% of the time. 

He can stand up from the middle of the floor with ease. 

He has 12 teeth and is cutting 4 more! All at the same time, poor guy. 

He is starting to talk more and more. He says a lot of new words! Book, ball, balloon, banana (he moved his tongue back and forth on his top lip to say it) , mama, dada, papa, Mimi, please, more, bath, fish, woof, bye bye, 

He still does the sign for water, eat, milk, more, all done and yogurt. 

He sleeps well. He goes to bed at 7 and usually wakes between 7-7:30. 

Avery started to let me rock him again before I put him down in his crib. And now he will get the giggles (especially when I am humming a song to him) and we will both be rocking in the chair giggling at each other. It's the best part of my day! 

He naps 1-2 times per day, depending on if we are home or out. If we are out he will occasionally fall asleep in the car for about 30 minutes in the morning. If we are home he will go down down for a morning nap. He is usually pretty happy even if he doesn't get a morning nap. Even if we are home in the morning, he sometimes just plays in his bed and doesn't sleep. I will start weening him to one nap soon, it looks like!

Avery has always been very ticklish. He laughs even when you wipe off his hands! But he is EXTREMELY ticklish on his head, neck and shoulders! Whenever you try to put a hat, mask, sunglasses, etc on him, he scrunches up his face and raises up his shoulders to his ears. It is hilarious!

Avery is in love with his siblings. And they adore him too. It's fun to see how his relationship is different with each one. With Kaden, he loves to be near him and watch him. He loves when Cam plays with him, and he is still a little nervous around Ryane. But he has started to take toys from her and throw them away from her to make her mad! It's always someone!!

He started to love reading books and likes to pick out the books from his shelf. 

He and Roxy have the best relationship and Roxy tolerated him more than she did with any of the other kids. 

Avery loves looking at the pictures going up the stairs. He points at the kids and I say their names. Then he points at Nic and whispers "dada!"

He still gets very excited when Nic gets him from work. He waits by the garage door and cries if Nic doesn't pick him up right away. 

Avery loves balloons and gets so happy when we have balloons that he can chase around at home. He loves to say "ba-oon!" when he sees one. 

Happy 15 months, cutie boy!



Awesome Award and Principal's Shining Star

Within one week, both my big boys had BIG weeks at school!!

First, on November 6th, Cam got awarded the Awesome award at school for being an awesome student of the week!! We were so proud and I think he was pretty excited when they called his name during the morning assembly! However, he did not want to stand up in front of everyone and once he realized he was standing, he slowly sunk back down to his knees. Too funny!


The next Friday, November 13th, Kaden got awarded the Principal's Shining Star award! His teacher said "Kaden is doing so great at school, he is always eager to learn, help others and brings such joy to our class.  I am so happy to be giving him this well-deserved award!" This award is given to 2 second graders once a month and I was so excited that Kaden was able to receive it!! We all got to sit on stage with him when the principal read why he was getting it. When he saw us he thought maybe he was getting the Awesome award and said he never thought he would get this one! We were extremely proud!!





Love my big boys and how well they are doing this year! 

13 and 14 months









Avery is wearing 12-18 month tops and  bottoms although the bottoms were a little big on him at 13 months. 

He is still wearing a size 4 diaper. 

Avery has 10 teeth at 13 months and 12 teeth at 14 months! I can't believe how quickly he gets teeth and he doesn't get very fussy when teething (he does want to be help more often). 

He sleeps at night 7:00pm -7:00am

Avery naps twice per day when we are home, typically at 10 and 2:30. He sleeps around 1.5-2 hours. If we are out the whole morning, he will either sleep in the car for 30 minutes in the morning or just take one nap when we get home in the afternoon. 

Avery still sleeps with his arm around Garrison. 

He has a few other bears in his crib and he likes to throw them all out during naps. If he throws Garrison over he cries and usually doesn't sleep till we toss Garrison back over. 

At 13 months he nurses once per day, right before bed. I had planned to be done nursing at 14 months but I couldn't bring myself to do it! 

Avery loves to eat. He goes absolutely crazy for bananas! He eats everything that we eat for meals and there is nothing he doesn't like. When he is full (which isn't that often) he usually starts dropping food on the floor. 

Avery no longer takes a bottle when I work.  He just drinks water and milk from sippy cup. He isn't a huge drinking and I try to offer it to him often throughout the day. 

Avery loves to clap and play peekaboo. 

At 13 months, Avery isn't talking much more than he was at 12 months. But he started saying more around 14 months. He also points and makes a question sound ("eh?") where his tone raises like he is asking "what's that?" Sometimes it sounds like he is saying "dat?" 

He pulls himself up to standing on everything and everyone. 

At 13 months he cruises a little bit along the furniture and will go from one object to another if it's close. At 14 months he is starting to stand on his own more purposefully like he's testing it out. He still doesn't love to be standing and if you try to make him stand or walk he bends his knees to go back to the ground. 

He loves to help give Roxy a biscuit when we put her in her crate.  He makes kissing noises like he is trying to call her in to her crate. At 14 months he says crate. 

He can climb the stairs and at 14 months he attempts to go down backwards. 

He climbs and climbs all day. He actually climbed into the tub upstairs and out of the deep garden tub in our bathroom! We put him in the garden tub when we are giving Ryane a shower so he doesn't continuously crawl in there. 

Avery loves when Paw Patrol is on and at 14 months says Paw Patrol (sounds like papa or paw ta)

He still loves to play anywhere that gets him in to trouble such as Roxy's food or water bowl, the pantry (he climbs and stands on whatever he can to reach items on the shelves) and the dishwasher. 

Avery is a busy guy and he rarely plays with toys. He explores and climbs mostly, although he does love to play upstairs in the play kitchen. He also still love to find small objects to put in his mouth!!

He's the happiest guy and he loves his grandparents. He gets especially happy when he is hanging out with Papa! If Papa is holding him and I put out my arms for him, he will not come to me!!

Happy 13 & 14, my sweetest! 

Fall family pictures

My sweet friend, Laura, graciously took our family pictures out at Arbor Hills. It's such a stress hoping that everyone is going to smile {who am I kidding... Look at the camera} but she got sone great shots!!