Our Sweet 2 Year Old

We celebrated Isaac's 2nd birthday last Friday.

I can't believe that my littlest man is 2!

He was so excited to celebrate and we had a wonderful day filled with lots of fun (so much fun that I have a whole post devoted to it).

He is such a sweet boy who truly brings laughter to our house daily.

He wants to be just like his big brothers so bad and is constantly imitating them and following them around the house.  They are pretty good about letting him tag along and including him.

His vocabulary is exploding daily and it is sure fun to hear him putting words together in sentences.

He adds the letter a to most words and does this most adorable thing where he will ask you for something and then say okay before you can answer.  So he will say, "A-choca milk? okay." "A-watch-a mooovie? okay." He gets so excited and is so adorable it is often hard to say no.

He still adores Olivia and spends his day loving her and "helping" me taking care of her.

He LOVES chocolate milk, fruit, cereal, almonds and applesauce.

He also loves sweet things. 

(wonder where he gets that from?)

He continues to be very busy and sleeps from about 830pm to 7am.  He usually takes a 1 to 2 hour nap each day, but has been having a hard time falling asleep while picking up Elijah from preschool at 1130 and doesn't seem to be able to go back to sleep again. 

He LOVES trucks, trains, and cars (which is new for us). Jonah and Elijah didn't get into them quite like Isaac has.  His favorite toys are Thomas the Train (and friends), Elmo, and characters from Toy Story.

He loves to read and could sit and read for hours, which is so much fun.

Some of his favorite books are Little Blue Truck, lift the flap little people books, Pajama Time, Elmo books, Thomas the Train books, and books about trucks

(and no I did not properly cite these books and yes I am aware of this)

He sleeps with his blanket and a little stuffed Elmo nightly. 

He also really enjoys cleaning....weird huh? (he doesn't get that from me)

He will often "weeps the floor" aka sweep, or take the vacuum out and start pushing it around.

This is helpful when I really do want to clean because he follows me everywhere and I conveniently am able to know where he is and get work done. 

Isaac,

   It is amazing to think how much you have changed and grown in the past year!  You are such a delight to us and we are so blessed to have you in our family.  The past month has been refreshing as I believe you have finally accepted life with a baby sister.  You have been doing so well with following directions, obeying, and listening.  I am learning to cherish each "good"day we have and be thankful the "tough" days are fewer than a few months ago.  

   I love watching you with your big brothers and baby sister.  You love them so much and it is so sweet.  If I ever give you something to eat or a piece of candy you are quick to ask for one for your brothers and make sure they are included. I am also enjoying a little more one-on-one time together with you while your brothers are at school.  

  You are our biggest boy yet weighing in at 32 lbs and measuring 37 1/2 inches tall!  You love playing hockey or ball downstairs and being outside.  Driving in the car is so exciting for you as we see many different trucks and cars, which you LOVE.

   You are very independent, a little too independent at times helping yourself to a drink in the fridge in the middle of the night, or bringing supplies (milk, chocolate syrup, a cup) to me to make you some chocolate milk no matter where I am in the house.  You also LOVE to help and get upset if I ask your brothers to do something and you don't get to. You often get mad and tell me "I got it, I got it" while pushing them away. 

  You love going to daycare to see "Grandma Helen" and your friends, but days I am home you frequently tell me "Momma home, Icass (what you call yourself) happy.  You also get really excited at the end of the day when we pick up your brothers from school or when daddy gets home.  Going to Grandma and Grandpa's house is SO exciting for you and seeing them or your Auntie Nikki, Uncle Tom or Auntie Laura makes you so excited. 

   You also enjoy singing to yourself ( Wheels on the Bus, Jingle Balls (bells), Twinkle Twinkle are some of your favorites).  It is quite adorable to hear you singing away when you are supposed to be napping or when you are playing by yourself. 

   We love you so much and look forward to watching you grow and learn!  Happy Birthday Buddy!

    Love Your Momma

A Blue Moose Birthday

Tomorrow our littlest man is turning 2!

It is also my mom's birthday....she is 29 again I think ;0)

Last night we started the birthday celebrations early at one of our favorite restaurants...The Blue Moose.

We had a table upstairs which allowed for the kids to run around a bit and we were able to relax and enjoy the great company and delicious food.

Olivia was all decked out for the party with a mini-skirt, sparkly tights, and furry boots.

Hey, if you have the cute clothes why not wear them right?

Liv and Nikki chilling.

Grandma with 3 of the grandkids.

 Grandma and Olivia

Great Grandma Sharon and GGP (Great Grandpa Tony)

The Birthday duo enjoying a little mud pie...Isaac was quite distracted by dessert and couldn't look at the camera long enough for a picture.

Daddy and Olivia

Grandpa and Olivia

 Isaac came over to "help" us finish our dessert after helping finish another one

 My parents, her parents and our 2 smallest (I love how they are looking at each other)

 Elijah celebrated Mardi Gras at school yesterday so he brought his mask with...when it was on we were to call him Gousteau.

 Isaac was calling some friends during dinner

Me and my little lady

Olivia snuggling with her Great Grandma

I often think how blessed we are to be so close to family.

It always feels even more special when we celebrate special occasions. 

Although I can't believe Isaac is already 2, I am looking forward to celebrating more.

When you ask him whose birthday it is he says "Mine Birthday" and finally is ok sharing it with Grandma.  He also says he is one, two when you ask him how old he is.

Better get out my kleenex and get ready to watch my little man get older!

We MUSTACHE You A Question...

We MUSTACHE

 You

A Question....

But are

shaving it for later!

Weekend at the Cabin

Last weekend we packed our bags, cooler, and kids into the suburban and headed to Bemidji.

We rented a cabin for the weekend with some of our closest friends from Iowa.

They are like family to us and have 2 boys of their own.  

We met them right before Jonah was born when we hosted a young married couples bible study in our extremely tiny first apartment. We became close over the next 4 1/2 years and have stayed close after we moved back to North Dakota. 

They live in St. Paul and are soon moving back to Iowa.

Richard and I have been looking forward to this for quite some time. 

Especially since Olivia's RSV prevented us from seeing them over New Years.

Here we are on the way there...

We didn't make it out the door until 6:30pm so it was already dark and unfortunately this momma forgot to charge the batteries on all electronic devices so we traveled "the old fashioned way" passing the time making up stories, playing the 'I am going to Grandma's (only we substituted the cabin cause it confused Isaac) and I am bringing____' game, & singing songs.

Everyone fell asleep shortly before we arrived in Bemidji, which worked to our advantage.  They had been sleeping just long enough where we were able to transfer them to the cabin and they kept sleeping. 

Then Olivia woke up and she joined the adults for a mini reunion before heading to bed. 

Katy and Olivia.

The next couple days were filled with relaxing, playing, and just enjoying each other's company.

It was so much fun and the boys played so well together.

The boys playing legos together

Olivia relaxing

There were some tough games of go fish and crazy eights...

more legos

we fortunately had plenty of food

These 2 are only 5 months apart and were a riot.  They were a great match for each other!

We read some stories...

Went swimming

Olivia tried the pool out for the first time and was indifferent.  She didn't seem to mind it, but wasn't thrilled either.  The boys all enjoyed the water though!

Katy and I were able to sneak away one afternoon with Olivia and enjoyed some time together.

We were on a mission to find bottled water (since we weren't huge fans of the delicious Bemidji water from the cabin) and a sled for the boys.

We stumbled upon a liquidation sale at a Pamida store that was closing in a few weeks.

It was comical, but we managed to leave with almost everything we had come in looking for.

The big boys went for an adventure across the lake in the sled and rope we scored at the big sale. 

They may have been gone a little longer than the momma's would have liked, but they returned in one piece just a little colder than when they left.

The oldest boys playing together...

Olivia enjoying all the entertainment from 5 boys 7 to 1 years old.

The adults enjoying a meal while the kids had already eaten and were sleeping or relaxing.

Sunday we ate together at the Green Mill before heading our separate ways. 

It went surprisingly well considering we had a handful of hungry and worn out kiddos.

Here is our crew...

Starting with Jonah we have a 20 month gap between them all except the last 3....

There is only a 5 month gap between Isaac and Finn and then only 14 months until Olivia was born.

We feel so blessed to have friends who are like family. 

The weekend was surreal reminding us of our precious time together in Iowa and reminding us of the importance of friendship and spending that time together. 

We laughed together, encouraged each other, dreamed together, and caught up on life. 

We love you guys!

The older boys talked about how Isaiah and Finn were there cousins.  They both knew they weren't their  "real" cousins, but we talked about how sometimes you can have friends who are your family. 

Then the next day Jonah came home with this from school...

It says:  On Thursday I went to Bemidji to see my cousins.  I went swimming 3 times. One cousins name was Finn he was the littlest and the other cousins name was Isaiah. 

It brought tears to my eyes.  I often wonder how great it would be to live just blocks away again, but know that the distance between us won't stop our friendship.

I am looking forward to watching our kids grow up together and the wonderful memories we will continue making together as families. 

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

We hope your day is filled with Hugs, Kisses and Valentine's Wishes.

Here is a message from a cute little girlie...

I was attacked by a nasty GI bug sunday night and am home with my girlie today sleeping and laying low.  Praying no one else gets hit with it and thankful so far it has just been me.

Since my little lady and I were the only one's home today....we had a small photo shoot with her Valentine's Day outfit from Grandma.

She is so sweet.

(That is a pretty good deal on a hug from such a cute little girl)


Hoping to catch a pic of all my valentine's together after school, but not going to hold my breath.

So blessed with my 5 precious Valentines.

Looking forward to spending the evening together as a family.

Hope you have a lovely Valentine's Day.

Will Work For Legos

Today I needed the kitchen floor washed.

It was disgusting a little dirty.

Ok, so a chemistry class could have studied the "leftovers" on the floor instead of using a petri dish.

Funny how I haven't had time to clean it....I really have nothing else better to do. 

Since I could hardly walk through the kitchen this morning without stepping on something or sticking to who knows what (and this was after I swept), I decided it was time to buckle down and wash the floor. 

However, Isaac and Olivia were extremely needy and I spent the morning getting very little accomplished.

Elijah was a great helper this morning "watching" Olivia while I cleaned up Isaac, took a shower and threw in a few loads of laundry.  He also played with Isaac this morning when Olivia needed a little TLC.  Since he had been so helpful I asked him if he would be interested in helping me clean the kitchen floor....tons of fun for a 5 year old I know....how could he resist.

He said no thanks. 

I knew I had a 15 minute window after laying Isaac down for a nap before Olivia needed to eat and be laid down so I asked him one more time. 

This time I offered an incentive.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. 

I told him he could have a lego set if he helped me.

 I found it on super clearance after Christmas and had tucked it away for rainy day, or a kitchen-floor-washing-bribe.

He was a floor washing machine after that...

 using a little more water than we probably needed...

but good help is hard to find so I couldn't be picky...

He even helped me wash the cupboards and floorboards.

Then I told him he was getting the lego set not just for helping me wash the floor, but also for his good attitude all morning while helping me man the crabby duo.

 Olivia lost it just as we were finishing up and I fed her while Elijah put his new lego set together.

The best part was I knew it would be clean for at least 90 minutes (since Isaac was napping).

Since it will probably be dirty before Richard gets home, I figured I better blog about it!

Double Take...5 years later

I took this picture today...

I had a flash back to 5 years ago when Jonah and Elijah were this little. 

(Jonah and Elijah are 20 months apart, 

then 3 1/2 years later we had Isaac and 20 months later we had Liv)

I can only hope that Olivia and Isaac become as close as Elijah and Jonah are. 

I would have laughed at you 5 years ago if you told me I would be a mother of 4 today.

Thank you Lord for blessing me with these 4 miracles.

Please help me cherish these crazy moments before another 5 years fly by!