My baby is a BIG GIRL!

I can't believe this day has finally come. Makenna went to her first morning of preschool today! I honestly thought it wouldn't bother me at all and I was pretty strong until I bent down to give her a little goodbye kiss and I felt the burn in my eyes as I fought back a few tears! Don't worry, they didn't fall and I was strong for my little sweetheart. She, on the other hand, had zero second thoughts and almost forgot to give me a kiss goodbye!! Before I know it she will be going off to school full time and I'll be all alone during the day. Yikes!

Going going...almost gone!

Summer is keepin us busy! Here is a little sneak peek of what we've been up to so far. More to come. :)

Up north lake fun

We had a fabulous time this past weekend up at the lake with my parents. It was filled with food, camp fires, fishing, water fun and of course lots of laughs! Adam decided to take Fri off so we got a good start on our almost 4 hr drive. We arrived in time for me to prep our foil dinners for supper and get things all unpacked for the weekend. So much work, but worth it! I enlisted one of the guys to make a fire and cook up our dinners. I don't do that part! Mary, my dad, Aaron, my Adam, the kids and I all enjoyed supper around the fire. YUM!! I've been craving those dinners lately and they totally hit the spot! We then of course whipped up a couple s'mores and called it a night.
Saturday we did some fishing while Gma and Gpa stayed back with Rex so he could take his morning nap. We caught some fish and Makenna LOVED it! She had the best expression when Adam cast her line in the water and told her to watch her bobber and tell him when it went down under the water. Not 2 seconds later she said "daddy it went down" and they reeled in her first real "catch" - oh how excited she was! You can totally tell by the expression on her face in the picture. :) Later that afternoon we all went out to find a beach to pull up to and play. Adam wandered off to fish along the shore and the rest of us played with the kiddos. Makenna had a great time with her uncle Aaron! She is at such a fun age for playing! Rex enjoyed the sandy beach, rocks, and sticks that he found. He's such a boy. Later that afternoon the guys went out in search of more fish but didn't end up getting enough for supper so we went out to R & R to eat. Another camp fire that night and the kids retired for bed before it got too late. Fun in the sun sure wears them out!
We had another nice day on Sunday. Made a yummy brunch and Adam, gma and gpa took Makenna out on a little fishing expedition. Aaron and i stayed back with Rex and weeded the entire front flower garden that was crazy full of weeds! Later in the afternoon we took the boat out in search of another beach to play at for a bit but the wind was so strong out there that the water was up too high on the sand and there would have been no spot for us to hang out without being in the water. So change of plans and we ended up going back to the house and packing up to head home.
Of course the weekend always seems too short but it certainly was perfect this time with the weather. We couldn't have asked for more perfect temperatures! We'll be back again in mid July when Lauren and Jake are back in town. So excited to spend time with the whole family!

Bring on SUMMER!!!

I'm telling you this blogging on my iPhone is awesome! I just pull up the app, type away, quickly click the pics I want and I have a new post! One of the things that I so much dislike about blogger on my computer is how long it takes pics to load. This literally takes seconds and I love it. My phone is also what I take pics with a lot for convenience purposes so it's perfect. I'm sold!

Onto our awesome morning...M had a friend over for the morning. It couldn't have been a more perfect day! The girls played chalk, bubbles, rode bikes and cars, ran through the sprinkler and took many many runs down the slide. They had a fabulous time! Rex took his nap and also joined in on some outside fun. He was not a fan of the sprinkler! Maybe when he can run though it he'll enjoy it more. :)

I'm looking forward to many months of the same fun. I can't wait! And I'm sure the kids will love it too! ;)

Early riser and the weekend

Rex was sick last week but still managed to sleep through the night. This week he has decided that his new wake up time is sometime between 5 and 5:30 am. Not cool little dude! Is it really THAT important to see the sun rise?!? I'd be fine with just leaving him in his crib for awhile but he isn't a happy riser. As soon as he wakes he stands up and starts screaming and crying from the side of his crib. M was the exact opposite. She always woke up smiley and happy. And she's still that way! I've never seen such a chipper person in the morning. Hopefully Rex changes his ways soon!

This past weekend we went out on our boat for the first time this year. Makenna was beyond excited and is still talking about it! She wanted to put on her swimsuit, grab her "handy fishing rod" (thanks to Mouske Tools for that phrase!), and head to the beach! We did take her to the beach but because Rex was napping when we got there we just played in the sand and didn't tackle the water this time. She loved it and can't wait to go back!!

On Sunday Adam and I built two more raised garden beds in the backyard. We now have a total of three. Two are 4' x 8' and one is 4' x 10'. We started with the 4' x 8' last year and liked the concept. It's nice to have it raised a little for weeding and also to have better soil than planting directly into our dirt. We'll see how it goes! That's lots to weed and eat but hopefully we can do it. We've definitely found that M is more willing to try/eat stuff that she's able to plant/pick. Do you know many 3 year olds that like arugula?!? Ours LOVES it! Won't even eat Snickers salad because of the word "salad" but she'll eat a plate full of arugula! I'm hoping we can have some good variety and will save some time and money at the grocery store. :)

I'll leave you with some recent pics. Makenna NEVER wants her picture taken anymore. I'm telling you, whoever thought "terrible 2s" were tough hasn't encountered the "tricky, sassy and back-talking 3s" that this little monster brings. Yikes! Wish us luck to survive the summer without too many time-outs for her and less pulling out my hair for me!

What we've been up to lately

Wow! It's sure been a long time. I don't even know where to start. Rex is now 9 and a half months old! And Makenna turned 3 in March. We've been having a lot of fun lately. It's great now that Rex is on the move, crawling that is, and he finally is on some sort of schedule. This kid certainly isn't like his sister!

We just got back recently from a trip to Dallas to visit my mom and Alex as well as Lauren and Jake. This was my first flight with both of the kids solo and it went surprisingly well! They were both awesome on the plane and because I've flown several times with Makenna I seem to have the system down. Yea for helpful people too!! When they see 2 kids alone with a mama they sure seem to be accommodating! When we were in Dallas we went to the Arboretum and the Dallas Zoo. So much fun! M was so cute and Gma Barb loved it. Rex was a little mommy magnet as usual. I mean, I love that he loves me, but sometimes I just need a break from the clinging! Geesh!

Last week we went with some friends to the Children's Museum here in La Crosse. M had tons of fun! I asked her on the way home what her favorite part was and she said it was the water part! They have this awesome area called the Mighty Mississippi and it's water rushing through this table where the kids get to put the plastic boats in the water at the top and watch them float down to the end and then they get them and bring them back to the top. So fun! We went with 2 other friends and their girls. They had a fun time shopping at the Kwik Trip, playing in the tree house and pretending to be sleeping beauty in the lofted bed. Such silly girls!

Rex is growing into quite the little sweetie. He crawls all over the place and generally is a pretty happy baby. He likes to eat his food, pull his sister's hair, pull all the toys and books out and make as much noise as he can. A true boy.

I did this whole post from my iPhone. We'll see how it turns out. Now that I can actually do this it will be easier for me to maybe keep up... Hope so anyway!!

6 weeks and smiling! :-)

We have a new baby BOY!

Yes, I know...I haven't updated this blog in FOREVER!! Sorry. Time has just gotten away from me and I guess I just don't make it a priority. However, I just figured out how to updated from a mobile device, so that may make things easier. I'm always snapping pics with my phone and iPod to send to Facebook or family so now I'll just send stuff to the blog too!

Anyway, here is what's new with us - we had a baby BOY on Monday, July 18th! He's just as sweet as can be and has totally made our lives 100% busier than before. It's really quite crazy how adding another baby can change things so much. I mean I thought we were busy with a wild toddler but now it's even more of a challenge! Don't get me wrong though - we wouldn't change things one bit! I love being able to stay home with both Rex and Makenna and we have a wonderful support group through family and my many friends both through MOMS club and otherwise.

So back to the sweet baby boy...Mr Rex William arrived on July 18th at 3:35 pm. He weighed 6 lbs 3 oz and was 19 inches long (Makenna was 8 lbs 3 oz and 21 inches when she was born). Labor with Rex was similar and different from with Makenna. I again was "induced" for this labor. The difference was that my midwife just broke my water this time and labor started where with Makenna I was given Pitocin to start labor. She broke my water at 10 am and the little man arrived just a short 5 1/2 hours later. My labor pains were primarily in my lower back again so the pain was really intense - not enjoyable! The one thing that was WAY more pleasant was the fact that I only had to push for about 20 minutes (or less we aren't even that sure!) and he was out!! I'm sure it helped that he was a lot smaller or perhaps that he was the second baby but either way I'm not complaining.

Makenna is a very proud big sister and introduces him to people all over the place. She says "this is my brother, Rex" (or "Rax" as it seems to sound sometimes) - super sweet! :) I can tell that she is a little starved for attention as she's acting out more these days. We're working on that...

We're getting sleep. Most of the time. Rex likes to sleep most of the day and then some pretty good stretches at night. I'm usually only up once during the night to feed him - thank goodness! Luckily we have had good luck with both of the kiddos sleeping well. Hope it stays that way!

Until next time...enjoy the pics of our new family of four!

 

Rex William just minutes old. I don't even think he was officially named "Rex" yet!



Our new family of 4 - Makenna just adores "Rocks" (as she called him that first day!)



Mr Rex - 1 day old



Our sweet baby boy Rex just snoozing away!

Paradise.

Adam and I just got back from 5 wonderful days in Puerto Rico. It was simply heavenly! We were able to go on this trip because in the short amount of time that Adam sold insurance he qualified for this incentive trip with one of the companies and we couldn't pass it up. We spent lots of time in the sun and have some sunburn to prove it...sad...I know. Sunscreen was applied regularly but apparently it doesn't work as well if it's old or not strong enough for the INTENSE rays of the Puerto Rican sun. Oh well - we'll survive - that's why our fair skinned bodies are meant to be in Wisconsin! Also, don't expect any pictures. Adam and I wanted to enjoy our vacation and he didn't want to be the "pack mule" all the time that had to carry a camera around in his shorts pockets. I know - we're ridiculous. We have 3 pictures total but I don't even think those are blog worthy...we'll have to see.

Makenna had a vacation of her own in EC with my parents and Rachel. They took great care of her and she loved every minute of it! Mean moms like me don't give their kids fruit snacks for breakfast but grandmas sure do - lovely. I recall not even being able to have a Pop-Tart for breakfast if we didn't have cereal or toast first - funny how those rules don't apply anymore. ;-) I wonder how long it's going to take for her to stop calling me grandma??

In baby news, things are progressing nicely. I feel almost exactly the same with this pregnancy as I did with Makenna. No noticeable differences and I even seem to be growing at the same rate (or so Adam and I think) - that's good I guess. I can feel baby moving around quite a bit and will randomly have sharp jabs of pain if I pick up Makenna too quickly or something. Next week is my glucose test. I'm hoping I pass with flying colors again as my taste of heat in the last week or so has proved to need ice cream and NA frozen drinks. At least the heat didn't make me miserable and I'm hoping I'll survive this summer as baby grows bigger and bigger. Also, on a naming note...this one seems to be more difficult. We have our boy name from last time (and some additional we have come across) and still really really like it but I have yet to find ANY girl names that I (or we I guess) like. Ugh!

That's all for now. I'll try to post some pics a little later. Makenna wants me to play and I missed her sweet little voice while we were away so I can't say no!

Here we go again...

Well...I'm a little late in announcing this to the Blogging World but our family is growing again. We are expecting another baby in July. Don't get me wrong it's not that I didn't want to share - we are SUPER excited! :-) I just can't seem to get into a routine with this blogging thing...I love to stalk others but hate to create my own! Ok, back on track, one of the things I'm most excited about is being pregnant again. I had a fabulous pregnancy with Makenna and this one is right on track to be the same. YES! Maybe that means another girl...maybe just a well-mannered and non-wild boy (those DO exist, right???)...you'll all just have to wait until around July 20th to find out! We had our ultrasound last Thursday and didn't find out gender but the little munchkin looks very similar to Makenna in it's profile. My midwife did tell me that the measurements of baby in the ultrasound put him/her to be a little farther along than originally anticipated but Adam and I think we had the same thing with Makenna...maybe we just have large babies. I mean she was 9 days overdue and 8 lbs 3 oz - little porker! I'm hoping for a smaller on-time baby this time - I can hope right?!? This would be especially convenient as my sis, Lauren, is getting married Sept 17th and I'm the matron of honor. If it was just the duty of showing up I'd be fine but fitting into a dress and standing in front of everyone is a different story...not to mention the fact that there are lots of other "duties" of the matron of honor that require energy and planning. :-) Hopefully I can keep it all together and get it done!



Baby Keer #2 - the coolest part about the ultrasound was that they now have 3D!!

 Ok, enough about that...life has been busy here the last few months since I've updated. We had a great time in FL with my family in October. Makenna LOVED the beach and ocean and having lots of family to play with at any time.

Loving ORD's Children's Museum area!

Playing in the sand

The whole group out to dinner and watching the sunset over the ocean





Adam has been VERY busy with work in the last few months, which includes working about 12 hour days and not seeing Makenna sometimes for days on end. It has proven to be challenging and requires lots of patience on my part for sure! But we are getting along and it has become lots easier. Hopefully this won't go on forever and there will be some sort of benefit out of it all - we can only hope!

December seemed to be quickly consumed with Adam's long work hours and TWO trips to Dallas, TX. We did our annual Holiday baking weekend at the beginning of December and then we also decided to celebrate Christmas in Dallas this year as well. The whole family usually comes North for the holiday but this year was South to Dallas to visit La/Jake/Mom/Alex. We had a fabulous time - even though I'm still weirded out by Christmas without snow... There was lots of family time, game playing and Skyping with family back in WI. Gotta love the power of technology! We also took some family pics because it's not THAT often that we're all together.

Lauren, Makenna, Mom and I in our homemade aprons with lots of our goodies!

This is what life with an almost 2 year old is really like - glad she could capture that for us!



The whole family group

  Nothing comes to mind in January as big events. My good friend, Andrea, started back to school after Christmas break. Her hubby, Rob, stays home with Maya during the day most days but Makenna and I have the pleasure of enjoying her company usually a couple days a week in the afternoon. She's such a little sweetie and Makenna absolutely adores having her here! It's so funny to watch her get soooo excited for Rob to come and drop her off when I tell her Maya is coming over. I'm hoping her helpfulness will prove to really be "helpful" and of course it's good practice for being a big sister in just a matter of months!

I can't believe February is almost over... A couple weeks ago Lauren and Jake came to La Crosse to have their engagement pics taken and do some other wedding prep stuff. When the rest of the family heard they were coming to WI of course they had to come too! Sooo...Dad, Mary, Rachel, Brandon and Jake's parents all came down to visit! We had a great weekend with everyone here and were busy busy of course. We realized throughout the weekend how awful we have all become with taking pictures...I just very much dislike to be the one who is always watching everything through a camera lens!

How did Makenna get so old already? In just a little over 2 weeks she will be 2 years old!! I can't believe how quickly things change with her right now. She really is a little person - definitely not a baby anymore! She runs everywhere, loves to talk in full statements and ask meaningful questions. I'm not joking - she just cracks us up with some of the stuff she says! If she is still awake when Adam gets home from work she runs to the back door to greet him and says, "Daddy you were working??" in the cutest voice ever! It gets him everytime! He loves it! :-) She also comments on whether people have glasses on, remembers where we've been and recognizes where we are. As an example, we now cannot go to the grocery store without getting stickers (and sometimes cookies from the deli). We pull into the store parking lot and she knows that "Terri" her favorite lady at the store will give her TWO stickers - how wonderful! She also talks about everything in the store as we pass it but overall is an excellent shopper. Hope that continues! Maybe she'll be like her Mama and love the grocery store. :-) Makenna also loves to name everyone that she knows. She knows EVERY member of our family (even people she rarely sees!!) and Rob, Maya, Andrea (to her it's An-rea) and Annie (Rob and Andrea's pup). We also have lots of friends through MOMS club and she knows her friend's names which is really cute! She asks for her bestie (Tessa) everytime we talk about friends or go to an outing - such sweet little girls they are together - they act like sisters really.

Our little helper loves to play outside and of course be covered in snow!



She was left unattended for a couple minutes with her markers from Aunty La - OOPS! At least they are washable....

 And that pretty much brings us to the present. I'll try to keep this updated more often and fill you in on the crazy happenings in the life of Miss Makenna. As she says "I crazy!" and "I'm nuts!" - both phrases her lovely uncles have taught her...