Too nice outside to blog!

The weather around here has been so gorgeous that I can't find time to blog! The kids have really enjoyed this weather and so have I. It has been wonderful to have Ivy outside without worrying so much. Here's what we have been up to lately!

Last Thursday/Friday the kids and I went to Decorah to spend a couple days while the kids were on spring break! I got to see my Grandma in the nursing home, my friend Bree and her adorable daughter Hattie and I got to help coach the high school tennis team both days. It was so fun to be on Decorah's new tennis courts and to spend some time with my cousin Kylie who is a senior on the team. Most importantly, it definitely made me realize that when my kiddos get a little bigger, coaching/teaching tennis is definitely what I want to do. I loved every second of being out on the court and helping the girls. By the end of the 2 practices, I had roughly 30 out of 36 names memorized and taught the girls at least 10 new drills!



Max, Mya and Ivy had a couple of great days with their Grandparents and cousins as well...Max and Mya got to go to the fish hatchery, McDonald's and Phelps Park with Livi and Grandpa Rog. Thanks to my mom and dad for rearranging their schedules and taking time off of work to help me out with the kids while I was in town! Not that it took a lot of convincing...:)



The only bad part of the trip came about a 1/2 hour outside of Dubuque on the way there and on the way home. On the way there, I realized I didn't have my bag. Of course I had everything the kids could possibly ever need, but I didn't even have a toothbrush for myself. I made do just fine...my friend told me it was a good thing I don't wear contacts or make-up:) I'll take that as a compliment??!? And on the way home, Chris had to come and meet me because my two lovely daughters decided it would be great to cry/scream/whine/wimper the last hour of the trip and I finally couldn't take it anymore and called for back-up! It was a good thing I have such a willing hubby, because on the way home 2 deer passed right in front of our van and I most likely would have hit them because my blood pressure was so high I wasn't even thinking about deer. Whew! Good thing I was in the car behind him enjoying some peace and quiet:)

Saturday we got up and went to Cedar Rapids to see my friend Kindel, her husband Brad and their two kiddos. We hit up the St. Patty's parade downtown (along with every other person within a 30 mile radius of CR) and then spent some time at their new house. Their baby #3 is due in a couple of months so it was fun to share some of my stories with them:) No pics...our camera is having trouble and I forgot to tell Chris my tricks for getting it to work so all of the pictures he took at the parade were lost.

Ivy had her 4 month appt. today. She was 14 lbs even and was 24.5 inches. Both were 50th percentile. She got two shots and didn't even make one peep! She looked at me with a little grimmace, but by that time they were done and she was all smiles! She has turned into a bit of a nightmare in the car though...surprise surprise, one of my children hates the car!! She screamed the first 10 minutes out of CR and so we pulled over and switched around carseats so I could sit by her in the back. Sure enough...that's all the little sh*t wanted! Here's a video of her laughing when we were pulled over and Chris was getting gas. I kid you not...she was screaming so hard I thought she would stop breathing 30 seconds before this.

Sunday Chris and his brother Jeff assembled our basketball hoop. Max (and the other neighbor kids) are very excited for the finished product to get into the ground! We didn't think we'd be able to do it until April or May, but with this weather I think we'll get it going a lot sooner! Below is a picture of the hoop assembly party and a couple other random photos from my phone.





On another very different, sad note...a Luther tennis teammate of mine passed away last week. Ali Hill (some of you fellow Luther bloggers probably remember the short, blond spiky hair) Her and I went to tennis camp at Luther when we were in junior high/high school, played on the tennis team 4 years and also did a J-term trip to New Zealand. I'll always remember how she would read the Paideia books at the same time as me and then explain them to me in English:) She was so smart, fun and will forever be missed.

Spring Break Trip

This week the kids have spring break. We're not quite adventurous enough to take our brood on a big trip, so we decided to do some mini spring break trips instead! Today Chris took the day off and we went to the Iowa Children's Museum in Iowa City. We didn't tell the kids where we were going until we got in the car and I'm telling you...it was the best car ride we've ever been on. They were so excited! I took them there last year around this time and I think Max has asked over 100 times since then to go back! The pictures pretty much tell the story here...

Fun in the airplane



Max was able to try out the flight simulator with Chris. It was a little over his head, but he still had fun!



One of Max and Mya's favorite part was the rocket station. They built a rocket and then got to shoot it up in the air by stomping on the pedal. I think they could have easily done it 100 times!





Mya loved going down this slide over and over again:) At one point I thought I had lost her, but she was inside the slide and thought it was so funny that I couldn't find her! I didn't find it as funny...



Max entering his PIN to make a withdrawal out of the ATM:)



I could tell these two have been to the grocery store a time or two...they knew just what to do!




Lego World was a big hit as suspected.....



Ivy just hung out in her car seat most of the day. She did manage to have quite the blow out, which is always fun to deal with while out in public:)



We ended the day with a ride on the carousel and Whitey's Ice Cream! We all had a great time and everyone was exhausted! Not exhausted enough to sleep on the way home though. It was nice to get home to a 70 degree day. The kids hardly stepped foot inside before heading out on their bikes to enjoy the day!

4 months!

Ivy is 4 months old today! She is changing every day and starting to do some really fun things! These days Ivy is frequently seen giggling at her brother and sister, putting her hands, a blanket, her shirt, a bib, a burp cloth, etc. in her mouth, rolling over from tummy to back, getting close to rolling over from back to tummy, yelling when she wants something, waking up 1-2 times per night, getting excited when she sees a familiar face, discovering her voice and all the different pitches it can make, reaching for toys...especially the ones in her bouncy seat, sucking on her paci when her hands aren't in her mouth, smiling at anyone and everyone, wearing Max's pajamas each night (not sure what happened to my 3-6 month girl pj's:), wearing lots of Mya's 3-6 month clothes, enjoying stroller rides, and wrapping her mom and dad right around her little fingers!

Happy 4 months Ivy Anne...can't believe how fast time has gone!





Ivy shares her 4 month birthday with my 32nd birthday! I had a wonderful weekend filled with friends and family. My mom came down today and we went on a much needed shopping trip with no kids! Max and Mya made me the cutest little book with some coupons including 1 hour of peace and quiet..no kids, cleaning up their toys, making me breakfast, and giving me as many hugs and kisses as I wanted:) Chris's Grandma Bev had given me a $50 gift card to Von Maur ever since I've known her and since this is my first birthday since she has passed away, Chris gave me a Von Maur gift card in her honor. It was really really sweet. Now I just need to get to a Von Maur because I didn't have the heart to tell Bev we didn't have one here in Dubuque! Below is a picture of the best 3 presents around...even though I just got home from a run and the picture is from a phone, and you can see my laundry room disaster in the background, I think this is the only one of me with my 3 kiddos that I own! Must change that....:)

Bike!

Max really needed a new bike and we decided March was pretty much the perfect birthday month to get a bike! We made him go into the spare bedroom in the basement while we got it out and here are some pictures of when he came out of the room and saw the bike! They are a little blurry, but I had to post them because they were too darn cute! The pictures remind me of the ones of me when I was 4 years old and came down the steps on Christmas morning and saw my play kitchen:)







Here's Max trying out the new bike outside! Mya was feeling left out so she wanted some pictures on her bike as well:)




We have had to bring Max back down to reality the last couple of days after a spectacular 5th birthday! He asked me before church on Sunday if they were going to celebrate his birthday at church! I had to tell him his birthday was now over and there would be no more celebrations that are solely about him until March 3rd, 2013:)

Max turns 5!!

Dear Maxwell,

Today is your 5th birthday! I can't believe you are 5 years old and that I have been a parent for 5 years! I was just telling your daddy that we have been parents for 1,826 days and have probably only slept through the night 200 of those days! I wouldn't trade it for the world though...you have made me one happy mama. Your birthday this year falls on a Saturday which is the same day you were born. I was home from school the entire week leading up to your birthday because of a huge snow/ice storm. My sub plans were not ready at all because I was expecting to be at school that whole week and you weren't due to arrive until March 13th! The ice/snow had just let up enough for both sets of grandparents to be at the hospital the day you were born. After a long day of labor and then a C-section, I should have been exhausted. However, I couldn't sleep that night because I just kept looking at you with disbelief that you were mine! I will never, ever forget that feeling for as long as I live. Your head was pretty beat up from everything you went through, but you were a perfect little 8lb 14 oz baby!

I'm going to do my best to describe you as you are right now...

You are doing really well in school although you are resisting writing lower case letters. You just don't understand why you need to learn to write a lower case "e" when you can write an uppercase one just fine! I don't push, because we all know what happens when I push you:) Your teachers always have such nice things to say about you and how you treat others in school. We are so proud of you for that. All day, every day kindergarten in the fall is going to be an adjustment for us both! I think you'll do just fine once you get used to being gone all day. The thing you're most looking forward to is the bus! You are as social as they come. Every time there is a children's sermon at church, we can guarantee that you will raise your hand and participate in some way.

Other things about you...you are incredible at finding Waldo (better than daddy or I), you would eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (sans crust) for every meal and snack if I let you, you hate spicy food and spicy gum, you are amazing with the iPad...lingo and all. You love all sports, but it seems like you're most interested in tennis, swimming, football and volleyball these days. You went skiing several times this winter and even went down the "sun-bowl" a few times. I love our Thursday nights when you come to tennis lessons with me and you actually think it's cool that I'm the teacher. You are an awesome big brother (most of the time) to your little sisters. Ivy was your show-n-tell on Thursday for your birthday celebration at school and you did fabulous telling the kids all about her. You can do an activity longer than anyone else...you will be the kid who always wants to play "one more game" when everyone else is done. You have a super sensitive side, but you also know how to push buttons and you know exactly what those buttons are with Mya. You love legos...both building and destroying, and you are convinced there are monsters in our basement right now.

Your favorite TV show is Arthur followed closely by Wild Kratts. You are better at the Wii than I would like to admit, you are an awesome sleeper, but you wake up at 7AM no matter what time you go to bed, you have started using the inhaler for the croup issues and have taken to it like a champ, your sense of humor is coming along nicely..you know how to get your Aunt Tara all riled up on the facetime by pressing "mute" over and over again:), you think about what you're going to say before you say it and many times your dad and I look at each other like "did you just hear that?" You love to shop as long as we're shopping for you and much to the dismay of your dad, you have no regard for saving. If you get a dollar, you want to spend it IMMEDIATELY. (hmmmm, wonder where you get that??:) Sadly, the slip-ups in the language department are becoming less and less. You do still say "straight-away" instead of "right-away" and I'm not going to be the one to tell you it's wrong:)

Your dad and I are so proud to be your parents and can't imagine what life would be like without you. A part of me is really sad you're growing up, but the other part is so excited for you because there are so many things for you to look forward to and I can't wait to experience all of them with you! Happy Birthday Lovie Bug:)

Love,
Mommy

March 3rd, 2007


March 3rd, 2008


March 3rd, 2009


March 3rd, 2010


March 3rd, 2011


March 3rd, 2012