Hooray! Max is 3 today!

11-23-11

If there is one thing to pull me out of blogging retirement, it's my baby's birthday that does the trick! My Maxwell turned 3 today! 3 years ago I met him on the outside for the first time. What an amazing thing! Now he has been here for 3 whole years! I am a proud mama!

Max at three: potty trained this past week, right in time for his big day. Still loves to play cars, LOVES his stuffed puppy dogs, thinks his sister is okay, sleeps in a toddler bed (about 10-12 hrs), goes to ECFE( alphabet zoo and numbers, too with mom) on Tuesday's, took a sports class and thought soccer was great, still squeezes into his cozy coupe, likes play dough and painting. He has run 3 races and will "run" his first 5k tomorrow! He is a pretty good eater, is 39" by mom's calculations, and close to 40 lbs. He is shy around new people and "revs" his engine instead of talking to them. He loves to pretend his is a race car or a puppy/kitty. He loves his bedtime books. He knows his colors and shapes. He can count to 12 most times and can recognize numbers to 10. And he continues to have great curly blonde hair! So much more to him...

Today we, as a family, went to the original pancake house for his favorite breakfast food.. pancakes! Then, Max, Grace and mom headed to the Maple Grove community center to swim while dad headed to work. I am happy to say everyone had fun and it wasn't as bad as my preconceived notions lead me to believe!! On the drive home Max says to me. "mom, i'm happy i'm three, are you happy?" Then we came home for a special cupcake with a #3 candle to blow out. Grace had great timing and took a 4 hour nap and I got to spend some quality time with my favorite little man. We played outside most of the time. Colored and he helped me clean the floors for his birthday party on Friday. He is a great helper with the swifter and cleaning toilets! Gracie woke up about 3:15, she ate and nana Mary came to hang out with the little one so mom and dad could take Max to the movie theater to see the Muppet movie that came out today! He liked it! We liked it! Then we headed to my mom's to retrieve the little one and Max got some birthday presents! It was an all around great day with so much to be insanely grateful for. A wonderful feeling heading into Thanksgiving! We are blessed!

Have a Terrific turkey day!

Our garden 2011

-This year we grew strawberries, cucumbers and sugar snap peas in the circles by the house. The cukes have been plentiful!

We have had a great crop of raspberries. Our best year yet! Thanks to my friend, Nancy from work! And even our blueberries produced a handful!

In the main garden we had/have carrots, lettuce, cantaloupe, watermelon, magic purple beans( thanks again to Nancy), mini pumpkins, broccoli, tomatoes ( best tasting ones I've ever eaten!), squash that I never produced, giant pumpkins that never produced, a few pepper plants, spearmint and peppermint and basil!





We have never taken advantage of eating this much out of the garden! Lots of fresh salads, cucumber waters with fresh mint, I froze a few meals worth if beans tonight and we are going to can some tomato sauce tomorrow! For the first time we even have both melons producing! They both have a bit bigger than softball sized fruit right now!



The really exciting part is that I brought my mini pumpkins and ome purple beans to the MN stare fair this year! I am not sure what happened with the beans ( i dropped them off but Robb said he didn't see them there today when we went with work) but



my pumpkins took FIRST place! I am pretty excited! Thanks to Jen who told me and my mom for sending me some pictures!

The pirates of the Whitefish chain!

Circa July 2011


- what started out as a fun idea turned into a reality for these three boys! The imagination of my husband and his dad grew into a pirate ship...


With flags that we sewed out of old t-shirts....costumes compliments of my amazing mother-in-law's handiwork! They even hand swords and eye patches!






A treasure map that the boys followed ( and Robb got poison sumac from hiding the flags) and a hidden treasure. Candies, monies and cars!





Aarrrrrr! Matey!

Elm creek swimming lake

We have been here a hand full of times this summer. We load up the "buggy" our burley and bike up to the beach.


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It's especially fun when we pack a picnic and play at the newly remodeled park!

Max and his puppies

-This is my son Max! These are his puppy friends ( all 15 of them!) and two kitties!

They are his best friends and constant companions!

From R to L: Mitty, Mitty kitty, Bulldoggy, Blue ( from blues clues), Pink Dots, Blue Dots, Buster, Bella, Clifford ( aka Cliffy), Blu, Lucky, Bogie, the Christmas pooch, Taco, Cody, Brownie, and I am not sure the Ty beanie has a name!

He is happiest when they are all in his bed with him! You can find him having them talk to one another, give puppy smooches or lick us!

My sweet boy!

August recap 2011

I have so much to recap. After the fun wedding and family time in Hayward we came home. Our kids now strongly dislike any time in car beyond going to Target, 3 minutes away!

That next week we finished up swim lessons! Our final night I got to Jaskson pool and realized I didn't have my suit just Max's and Robb's. So, I called Robb and asked him to bring it( he was home with the sleeping Gracie). When he got there he surprised me with only bringing my top piece! Decisions had to be made.... So, in we go, ten minutes late, with me in my top piece and Robb's bottoms! Hot stuff, I tell ya! Can not tell you how embarrassing that was. However, I got got through it and just hope to not see any of our swim friends again!

The second weekend we had a Headlee ( Robb's moms side) family reunion in Pequot! We just drove up for the day. It was at Robb's uncle Dans house. I am so glad we went. There was a great turn out and it was so nice to spend time with all his cousins and aunts and uncles. Robb's grandma was not able to make it to the party. Too much effort to get her there and then i think she falls asleep if over stimulated! And she probably would have been with the 11 brothers and sisters and their families all there!

The third week, the kids and I had a fun day with my friend from work Jen and her two adorable kiddos! We went to the St. Louis Park splash pad and park. It was great, fun to see her out of work and my kids were exhausted afterward! Then, Thursday I meet up with my cousin Katie and her two kids for a fun day at the zoo!

Did I mention that this was also the week when we found out our Volvo wagon was dying? The battery drained twice during that week and the fuel pump was leaking. So, on the 20th we got a new car! A Subaru Outback! I will be the one to drive it! Hoping to keep it nice. We went with it on the recommendation of the Goodyear station manager. He said they have great resale value, don't break down too much and are pretty fuel efficient!



We still are search for a name for it!

The 3rd weekend, well we bought the car, then headed to the westmoreland birthday party. This years theme was carnival! I helped run a booth that the kids used a sling shot to shot at numbers hanging down for a sting! Both kids got goodie bags and a tie dyed shirt! The special treat instead of cakes was three kinds of homemade ( of course!) ice cream sandwiches! They even had cotton candy! Huge hit with Max!


After that party we had the Dalbec annual luau! First one in the new house. I really enjoyed it!

This past week we have celebrated my mom's 54th birthday! Happy birthday, nana! She had 3 cakes at work and brought one over to share with us! Then next night we all went out to eat at the Olive Garden! I thought we were brave to go out to eat with the kid!


This weekend we will finish up all the loose ends because I start back to work on wednesday! I hope to post about the state fair and our fun upcoming play dates!

Book Family Hayward time

Following Mat and Sarah's wedding we woke up and drove to Hayward, Wisconsin. The trip took us about 7 hours with a few stops in there. We pulled into hayward in time for Robb to hit the links with my dad and uncle Dan. I finished the voyage to the cabin with a littel fuss yet safely. By now the natives were getting restless and I can't say I blame them.

My uncle Bob, my dad's eldest brother, has this magnificent cabin on Teale Lake. We all gather there every August and every other Christmas. I have been fortuntate to be apart of it most years. This year we had 42 family member in attendence. We go to a fish fry on friday nights. The crowd gets pretty rowdy and the fish is always good! Saturday we mingle, catch up with everyone, some play golf, some go into town. I ran one last errand before "hosting" a baby shower for my cousin's Dave and Lisa who are about to welcome their Son Clayton to this world. I had a lot of fun organizing the shower and I think they got some pretty cool stuff!

This is Lisa, Uncle Bob and Dave. Clayton, too!

Hayward 2011

Wish I had a family picture of all of us and some of the shower, but alas, I was too busy to get some pcitures! So glad we got to spoil Lisa and Clayton. Can not wait to meet the little man!

Mat-o and Sarah's nuptial's

8-4-11

So, funny story... the day Gracie was born we got a message from Mat-o saying he was getting married and wanted us (Robb) to be "special guest" at his wedding! I say to Robb, "hey, you should call him, to congratulate him of course, and get more details". He didn't. The next thing that happens we get and invite to the wedding. It is to be Thursday August 4th, 2011 in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada!

the guys heading out for photos!

Fast forward to the friday evening before the wedding, when Robb gets an email saying what time the grooms dinner is and what he is to wear! Auuugh! He is in the wedding... that is what "special guest" meant! We felt terrible because our plan was to have Robb work a full day of work, attend Max's swim lesson and hit the road. After a conversation explaning all this to Mat, he said no problem! Robb's brother Joe was also in the wedding and he would "take notes" on what Robb needed to know and fill him in!

So, after a long day if work, swim lesson, the car was packed and we took off. We got to Duluth about 830pm. Had a potty break, Gracie ate and Maxers got changed into Pj's. We then ventured north, rolling into Canada about 12:15am. Funny, we were the only ones going through customs. Not so funny, Ontario is an hour ahead of us. SO it was actually 1:15am! We got into Thunder Bay about 2am and unloaded. Joe, JOhn and Robb's dad were still awake and helped us move into our room and we slept from about 3am-630am when Robbs alarm went off. He had pictures ya know! Good thing the kidlets slept much more than we did. I saw in awe when we pulled back the shade in the morning to see the beauty around us! The hotel had spectacular vistas!

This picture doesn't do it justice! Such a beautiful place to get married! Robb left for pictures and I got myself and the kiddos ready. We left on time but need to find a place to buy a bottle nipple since I conviently left those at home. Opps! We also needed directions to the church. We got there just a tad late but didn't miss much. Then we headed back to the hotel where the brunch was. Both kids fell asleep on the drive so I stayed in the room with my sleepers and Robb was sweet enough to bring us some food. It was tasty! They took more photos after and then we got to hang out for a bit. Max got to swim, which he thinks is the best part about hotels, and then we headed to the BBQ at the Kekebeka Falls, National Park. It was also very beautiful and fun to just hang out. Both Sarah and her mother are teachers so there was a ton of kid friendly events including a pinata!

by 9pm we were exhausted and need to gear up for the following day. We headed back to the hotel for one of the earliest nights I can remember. Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson! Get started on your hockey team!

trying for a dressed up family picture!

Two month stats

8-2-2011

Last Thursday we took Gracie in for her two month appointment. I am truly amazed at how fast she is growing... She was 24.25" that is 3.25" longer, 13 lbs, 4oz which is up 5 plus pounds!!! Wow! She definitely gets cuter each day and the smiles are more and brighter! I have been putting off saying it but starting last Wednesday, in honor of her two month anniversary of birth ( I am sure), she started sleeping 8-9 hours at night! Even sleeping in her crib a few of those nights! No prompting from me or anything! She usually goes down between 9pm-11pm and wakes up between 5:30am- 7am. What a rock star! We will see if it lasts! The daytime naps are less predictable but that is my fault for trying to run errands and get things done. I think if we were home more or at the same time we would have a better schedule!

The big guy Max had is first day back at daycare after a 9 week hiatus! He had a great time and was FULL of energy upon return! It sounds like they all had fun being reunited! I am so happy about that because I felt bad having him go, it has been fun having him home with us. I know it's good for him to be with his pals though and it was so nice for Gracie and me to have some girl time, too! He will just be going one day a week until I head back to work.
I got am call from my boss last week and we set a date of August 31st as my first day back. I am less nervous this time around about going back. I did have a moment when I thought about applying for a L&D position but it would have meant more daycare for the kids, so after talking with Robb about it I decided to pass for now. I think I need to try it at some point though, just to know. Growing up I wanted to be an OB and once I realized how little the Md's are there I wanted to be a labor nurse. It scares me just a little which is good. I am also worried I would be bad at it. Nerdy, I know but it is hard to give up the know for an unknown and be bad at it. But at some point I will want a new challenge to keep growing and learning. For now learning the ropes with the two kiddos is my challenge! :-)

Robb finished up his summer softball league in seventh place. Pretty sure he had a good time and some needed time away with the guys! His company got sold and they are just integrating with the new company this week. He was pretty nervous for the town hall meeting today and the actual meeting of the new boss. He said it went well and he really liked what is on the horizon, so that is good to hear! I am sure there will be bumps in the road but it is a promising start!

I got to see a few old friends from high school tonight and it was super fun to hang out and chat. We have somethings like being mommies in common so it was a fun time! Tomorrow I will meet up with a couple college friends, run some errands, attend swim lessons with my little guy and hit the road for Thunder Bay, Ontario for a wedding of Robb's good friend. Robb found out last Friday that he is standing up for Mat in the wedding. That is a special honor! After the wedding we will head to my Book family weekend in Hayward! So much to look forward to! Plus we just got our car boo-boo's fixed up (ouch!!) so we are ready for a fun road trip! See ya on the flip side of it!




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Max's new stuff

7-27-11 Mom do you need a decaf?

7-22-11 my tire is broken...( When his shoe falls off)

7-23-11 I found Max trying to calm his sister... He called her "little" and started singing a song to her " Gracie Macie, you're ok, Gracie Macie"


We started swimming lessons at Jackson Middle School on July 20th, Robb's birthday. It's funny because that is where is took swimming lessons. It has been fun, we are hoping to move up a level soon since Max is pretty comfortable in the water. When asked what his favorite part of swimming lessons was... Jumping in. That's my boy!





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One picture of the birthday dinner we had for Robb and the yummy cake!

7-27-11 coming out of swimming lessons.... What are they doing..(pointing to tennis courts) me: they are playing tennis... Max: " I want to play Tennis. I'll park my car right here and play tennis and you can watch me!"

7-22-11 "what is that store about?"

Gracie baby is two months old!

7-27-11

Grace turned two months old today! Two months, already!! It goes fast! Gracie is getting so big. We have her appt tomorrow so I can update her stats but she is a little sprout, growing so fast! Grace started smiling at about 6.5 weeks, they are coming a lot more frequently now! She continues to be a great eater and sleeper. She has pretty good control of her neck and has only minimal baubles now. She has started to grow out of 3 month sleepers but the outfits are still okay! It is crazy to put her in 6 month sleepers though! Luckily with how fast she is growing we have gotten hand me downs from my friend Erin and we found some good garage sale clothes. They definitely help get us through!



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Gracie had a big day last Sunday, July 24th! She was baptized at our church Advent Lutheran in Maple Grove! I found the sweetest little dress from baby gap, one of my addictions, and she looked beautiful! Her sponsors are my sister Lisa and brother Jason! They have been super coming over lots to help out and visit. We are so lucky!





We had a great bunch with us to witness her blessing and to help us celebrate it. We are very lucky to have such a great family to help us support our children!

These past two months have been great and really flown by. There were SO many post I should have done this past month like the 4th of July, Max's pirate adventure and our visits to Elm Creek Swimming Hole ( Robb turned 34 in there some where, too! :-)) We have been enjoying this summer to the fullest! One more month to enjoy and we have lots planned. Hope to update more regularly. Maybe make it a habit... We'll see!

Funny stuff

6/29/11

Out for a walk with Max's scooter

Max: I am out of gas, fill me up mom.
Me: glug, glug, glug...okay you are full
Max: thanks, mom..... ( 3 scoots later) I am out of gas, mom, fill me up!
Me: glug, glug, glug, alright you are full
Max: thanks, mom... ( 3 scoots later) I am out of gas, mom!
Me: I think you have a leak buddy!


6/30/11
Coming down the stairs...
Max: my engine is broken, you need to fix it!
Me: okay
Max: (pointing to his stomach) I got a front engine and a back engine. Can you fix it?
Me: (tickle his stomach and back...) Okay all fixed!

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Grace Cadia is one month old!

Wow, one month goes so fast! Sometimes it's seems like it has been a month and sometimes it feels like we were in the hospital yesterday.


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We had a fun little photo shoot in Gracie's room on Monday to help her celebrate being one month!





I think she is just over 10 pounds now! And I measured her and it looks like she has grown at least an inch! There is so much I have forgot about babies. I mean I work with babies but... Well it's different when it's your baby. I forgot how much they sleep and how they grow so fast. I forgot when they smile. Sometimes I forget if I have given vitamin D gtts or tummy time.

The days are still a blur. I don't know what we do to make it go so fast. I have these expectations each day that we will get so much done or we will go some here fun. So far the only "fun" place we have gone is Target! No wIt we went to Em Creek Park Reserve to see the new park last friday to celebrate Gracie being four weeks old. Grace had her first babysitter, too! My brother and Ashley watched her last friday evening so Robb and I could take Max to see Cars 2! It was a success on both fronts, she was a good baby and Max loved the movie!
I am seriously trying but I am not on time anywhere these days. It seems so silly now that I was so nervous about all this. I worried about managing two kids and how it would change Max's life even though we both agreed that having a skiing would be great for him. Max has been home with me so far and we might start having him go to the sitter one day a week to keep him in the loop there and having time to play with the kids his age. I will feel guilty about it but it is nice to think about having a day to just me and my girl. Maybe getting a walk in or lunch dates or a nap or house cleaning. I put that last because it can wait, my babies will not wait to grow up. Most days this is better than what I thought I would be. Two days now I have gotten both kids down and been able to catch up on things that require attention.

We still are off on Max's bedtime but we seem to be reigning it in at least! Well that is the news here!

Max's first bike

This past Wednesday we took Gracie up to get a passport for some fun upcoming and obviously out of the country weddings and then to get Max is first bike from my uncle Dan's bike store! You should check it out ( Maple Grove Trek)

Gracie at 4 weeks!

Cute things:
Max: Happy Weekend Gracie, you get to stay at Ashley's house!

Max: hey mom, do you want a latte?
Me: oh, boy...is mommy getting a little coffee addiction? Yes, I do!




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Max's first bike

This past Wednesday we took Gracie up to get a passport for some fun upcoming and obviously out of the country weddings and then to get Max is first bike from my uncle Dan's bike store! You should check it out ( Maple Grove Cycling)


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June update

June 23-24th, 2011. **** warning long post'****

What a few weeks it has been. I will try to summarize it all but won't do it justice and I'm sure I'll leave forget to mention happenings, too.

Robb's time at home was a blur. He spent a lot of time crossing off home projects from the to-do list and cramming in family time. We went on at least one walk a day with the puppies, which I can only assume they loved, hence the recent poo-ing in the garden and sand-box... Gross-I know, which has added to the to-do list of putting up fences. Robb and my brother Jason took on pressure washing the deck and staining it. It looks so great.

And with that done we got the patio furniture out and bought fun lantern lights for under the table umbrella! Yay for a summer maternity leave! Robb had to miss his annual boys trip since it had only been a week after my surgery. I know it was really hard for him but I sure appreciated having him home. We got to spend a few night over at his aunt Lori's house watching Max swim and letting the grandma's ogle over Gracie! We took Max to the childrens museum one day which had the Lego castles exhibit. That was pretty fun. I found candyland the sweets store and we got some treats for the road home... What made it even more awesome was the Lego candies I found at the store! Max and Robb loved them!

Tuesday the 7th Robb headed back to work and left me with two kiddos! Which is when I realized we had KIDS now. Not just the kid or the boy but KIDS! Crazy! The day went fine.. Really kind of a blur most days. It is getting up changing and feeding the baby, changing and feeding Max. Changing, if I'm lucky showering and feeding myself and then thinking of what to do for the day. Tuesday we were lucky, we had an agenda. My friend Jilanne from work is having a baby girl next month and there was a surprise "sprinkle" for her at another co-workers house. So, that was fun to go to and fun to see everyone and their cute kids! Also, fun to see Jilanne and spoil her since her pregnancy has been stressful.

We did have a fun visit from my friend Erin and her two kiddos this week. She had made a trike from diapers, a couple burp clothes and a sippy cup. Too cool, the boys had fun playing too.

The rest of the week was getting through the day. Robby plays softball with some guys from work on Thursdays which make those days extremely long. I am lucky, though, my mom ( whom I am forever grateful for!) comes over to help keep me sane. That next weekend we ran errands and hung out at home. Sunday the 12th we went to the Twins game with my mom, step dad, sister, brother and his girlfriend Ashley. We took the northstar light rail downtown and it was perfect. It dropped us off right at the stadium at the actual gate where our seats were. We got there early and walked around out side taking pictures and looking around. It was kids souvenir jersey day so both Max and Gracie got jersey's! Twins won over the Rangers... I think it was 6-1. It was actually a weekend sweep and the Rangers are supposed to be the hottest thing in baseball today.... And the Twins the worst. My mom got the tickets through her work and they were in the skybox... They were definitely expensive but a great way to see the game, especially with a 2 week old and a two and a half year old.

To start the week of Monday June 13th we got a call at 6am from Robb's dad saying his uncle Dick had passed away the night before. The news hit us hard.. Especially Robb who had worked for Dick for a few years when we first started dating. He had also helped Robb buy and sell his first home. It was Robb's mom's twin sister's husband. The twins are very close and thus their families were close. So, we saw Robb's family a lot during the week. We had a fun visit for lunch from my beautiful cousins who brought us food! Thanks! I had my 2 week OB appt and then we meet up with my girlfriend, Andrea, from college for lunch, too! Friday was the memorial service for Dick, it was very nice but very hard to go to. It seems that uncle Dick has started our parents generation of funerals. So scary to think about. So, so scary. I absolutely love my parents and the impact/ relationships they have with my kids. Robb's parents, too. Saturday we went to the bank to open Gracie's bank account, picked strawberries at the local berry farm that i grew up living across the fence from

and then over to Lori's again to help pack up her house.. It turns out she was going to have to move out by the end of the month anyway so the packing began. We stayed there through most of the day, then headed to my aunt and uncles birthday/anniversary party. They both turned 50 at the beginning of June and celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary in June, too! Congratulations Mark and Katie! Max got ahold of his first water gun at the party and had fun soaking us! He also started the party with a terrific meltdown. He has been having these lately. I am thinking the combo of no nap and overstimulation from all the people were not helping. The bummer of this full Saturday is that I missed out on partaking in Jilannes benefit. I was really hoping to go to that. I heard it was amazing. Sunday was Fathers day and my 32nd birthday. We celebrated in high style bring taco bell over to my moms (that's what the dad's wanted :))playing croquet with the family and then heading to Chaska and my family to do the annual Book fathers day and June Birthdays.










This week was busy, too. Monday we had family pictures taken from my friend Ana from work. I just got the proofs back today and they are terrific. I am so glad to get some taken and to have them be done by someone you know is so great. She is so great with the kids and it's a relaxed atmosphere. Thanks for giving up your Monday evening Ana!
Tuesday evening my girlfriend Megan and her "trio of doom" soon to be "quartet of doom" came over for playtime and dinner. We had lots of fun watching the kiddos play and catching up with our chatting. We all walked the dogs and ended up at the park which was heavily doused with rain water. Eventually the four big kids ended up completely wet from splashing and playing in the puddles. It was hilarious to watch them swim in the puddles and thoroughly enjoy themselves. Thursday was softball night and I was lucky to have my mom and Sister come over. We had dinner, played with the kids (again.. I have KIDS) and my sister gave me a pedicure! Thanks, Lis!

Today is Friday. My baby will be 4 weeks old today. I will honor that by letting her get babysat for the first time while we bring Max to see Cars 2. We pre-bought tickets and are super excited to go!

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