When my kids were at an age to begin talking, all I wanted was for them to say Mommy. Of course both of them said da-da first:) I know this word "mommy" is something that I will miss hearing when my kids are older and only refer to me as mom or don't refer to me as anything because I'm not cool enough for them. But there are days around here when I would like to yell....YOU HAVE A DAD! ASK HIM!!
Whenever we're in the car it seems like it's the worst. Max can say mommy 5 times in one sentence and I swear I'm not ignoring him. A conversation will go something like this:
Max: Mommy
Me: Yeah?
Max: Mommy
Me: What, honey
Max: Mommy...do cows drink milk mommy?
Anyway....since this is the norm during car rides, I decided to keep track of how many times Max said "mommy" on the way to Decorah a couple weeks ago. I ran across my tally card in the car yesterday so that's what sparked the post. Do you care to guess? The trip was about 100 miles and lasted 1 hour 45 minutes. Well, he said it ONE HUNDRED TWENTY ONE TIMES!! Yes...1-2-1 you read it right. That was just Max...Mya probably said mommy as much if not more.
Like I said before...I'm sure someday I'll go back and read this post and kick myself for this:)
side note: My friend Marie recently took some photos of the kids. You can view some of them on her blog by clicking here!
Friday, August 27, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
A day on the Mississippi
Yesterday we finally made it out on the river with our neighbors! We have been trying to schedule this the entire summer, but everyone's schedules never seem to match up. Saturday night we were out and about and someone suggested it and of course since it was planned last minute, all 5 families were able to go!
We basically just boated out to a beach and spent the day there at the beach building sand castles, reminding kids to keep their life jackets on, eating lunch and talking. There were a couple side boat trips to get some tubing in too! Max and Mya even got a chance to tube for the first time! Believe it or not, Max loved it and Mya wasn't a fan. Our neighbors have a kid friendly tube that you can sit up with a back and is virtually impossible to be thrown from. Mya kept saying "all done" and "home" so her ride didn't last more than 2 minutes:)
We got home around 4 so we decided to skip naps for both kids so that they weren't up until all hours of the night. Max was so tired he kept running into things randomly, but Mya manged a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th wind! They were both in bed by 7:15 and right now it's 7:45 a.m. and Max is still sleeping! He definitely needed it I guess!
favorite picture of the day:)
We basically just boated out to a beach and spent the day there at the beach building sand castles, reminding kids to keep their life jackets on, eating lunch and talking. There were a couple side boat trips to get some tubing in too! Max and Mya even got a chance to tube for the first time! Believe it or not, Max loved it and Mya wasn't a fan. Our neighbors have a kid friendly tube that you can sit up with a back and is virtually impossible to be thrown from. Mya kept saying "all done" and "home" so her ride didn't last more than 2 minutes:)
We got home around 4 so we decided to skip naps for both kids so that they weren't up until all hours of the night. Max was so tired he kept running into things randomly, but Mya manged a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th wind! They were both in bed by 7:15 and right now it's 7:45 a.m. and Max is still sleeping! He definitely needed it I guess!
favorite picture of the day:)
Friday, August 20, 2010
potty-training and strong-willed children
Mya is officially potty trained as of this last week. I was really nervous about this venture and here's why.
1. I felt a lot of pressure because everyone always says "Girls are easier than boys to potty train." I think it totally has to do with the child individually and has nothing to do with gender.
2. Mya is not the kind of kid who gets satisfaction from making me happy. Max absolutely does, but little Mya couldn't care less if I'm happy or not. I wasn't sure how this would work knowing that me saying.."Mya, I'm so proud of you!" 50 million times a day wouldn't matter like it did with Max.
3. My daughter is what you might call a strong-willed child. She does things when she wants and where she wants. Nobody tells her when to pee.
4. The whole "When you do this, I will give you a reward" thing doesn't do it for Mya. If I were to offer her some candy to go potty, she would want the candy RIGHT NOW THANK YOU VERY MUCH and would throw an absolute hissy fit if I were to hold her off from the candy until she went potty.
So, to sum it up, I was scared to death about potty training her. The only thing I had going for me was that she loves competition (Mya..can you go potty before Max does?), she hated wearing wet/dirty diapers, she wants to be like Maggie (next door neighbor) and she has eczema on her bum so badly that I really wanted to get those diapers off of her!!
Since we were seeing the signs that she was ready, we decided to go for it even if we weren't quite ready for the venture. For 3 weeks we put her on the potty every hour or so depending on how much she had to drink. Believe me...this wasn't an easy task. Each time it took some major coaxing to get her to that damn potty. Typically each of her 5 babies would go potty first (each time Mya would follow up with a "good girl" to her baby) and then Mya would show them how she went potty and I would then clap the hands of her babies saying "good girl!" After going through this escapade 10+ times per day, I would just shake my head and tell myself..it'll be worth it when I don't have to buy diapers anymore! Other times I would challenge her to go potty or have her show someone (Max, daddy, Chloe, neighbor kids, etc.) what a big girl she was.
After 3 weeks of this nonsense I decided to run some concerns by a friend of mine who has 3 kids older than mine. She's the best for advice because she just tells me how it is and doesn't sugar coat anything. Anyway...she told me that I was potty trained, but Mya was not. Since she was not telling me she had to go potty, she was not getting it. So, after this discussion, I decided to just let her go and if she had lots of accidents we would go back to diapers for awhile. This was all little miss independent needed apparently. She just wanted to do it on her own time and she didn't even want to tell me she was going! A couple times a day I go into the bathroom only to find potty in her potty chair but she never said anything. She also has a bladder of steel (2-3 hours in between her trips to the bathroom) so I just have to bite my tongue and let her do it on her own.
All in all..we're really proud of Mya and also proud of ourselves for taking on the challenge and winning. Based on her first 2 years of life, we think we're in for a few more challenges, but I think we're up for it! She's a pretty cool kid, but might need a little different approach:) Here are a few "quotes" that Chris and I live by these days:)
"You should not blame yourself for the temperament with which your child was born. She is simply a tough kid to handle, and your task is to match her stride for stride"
"The best news for parents of strong-willed children is the rapid decrease in their rebellion in young adulthood. It drops almost immediately in the early twenties and then trails off even more from there. Some are still angry into their twenties and early thirties, but by then the fire is gone for the majority. They peacefully rejoin the human community."
Ahhhh, there is hope;)
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
beautiful wedding weekend
This last weekend we were in the Decorah area for one of my college roommates weddings! Bree and I grew up 10 minutes away from each other yet didn't know each other until we met freshman year at Luther. We ended up spending a semester in Spain together junior year and then living in the infamous Happy House senior year! She married her best friend Brian and their wedding was unbelievable. All the happy house girls were able to be in attendance and we had a blast dancing the night away to a country cover band with the bride doing some of the singing!
The wedding took place in rural Ridgeway (10 min. west of Decorah)at the Old Stone Church. My dad grew up a couple miles from this church yet I had no idea it existed. I'll post some pictures so you can get an idea of how incredible it was. The weather gods were shining down on Bree and Brian this weekend as it was perfect.
The Happy couple!
(Happy house girls minus the bride. We have a great shot of all of us, but not on my camera obviously:)
Our kids were invited to the wedding, but since we had grandparents 10 miles away, we opted not to bring them. Here are a couple pics of my friends' kids. They all did so well. They were out dancing at 10pm! There were a few times I wished Max and Mya were there, but those were few and far between:)
(L to R: Olivia Haverback, Anna Miler, Kellan Haverback, Drew Miler and Elise Washburn)
The wedding took place in rural Ridgeway (10 min. west of Decorah)at the Old Stone Church. My dad grew up a couple miles from this church yet I had no idea it existed. I'll post some pictures so you can get an idea of how incredible it was. The weather gods were shining down on Bree and Brian this weekend as it was perfect.
The Happy couple!
(Happy house girls minus the bride. We have a great shot of all of us, but not on my camera obviously:)
Our kids were invited to the wedding, but since we had grandparents 10 miles away, we opted not to bring them. Here are a couple pics of my friends' kids. They all did so well. They were out dancing at 10pm! There were a few times I wished Max and Mya were there, but those were few and far between:)
(L to R: Olivia Haverback, Anna Miler, Kellan Haverback, Drew Miler and Elise Washburn)
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Top 10 List
Top 10 things I could not live without these days
10. curb side recycling. This is the first city we've lived in that we have this service and now it might be a deal breaker if John Deere wants us to move again and the city doesn't have it! We fill 2 big bins each week with our recycling and that doesn't include cans/bottles. We still return those for the deposit even though each time we do, we wonder if it's worth it.
9. DVR. Although the summer is a bit slow as far as TV goes, I still enjoy sitting down at night and watching a show or two without commercials.
8. High speed Internet. This is something you don't appreciate until you don't have it. Slow connection speeds are painful.
7. Iced coffee. I don't know who came up with this idea, but whoever it was is a genius. I have a really good recipe for Iced Lattes, so if you want it, let me know.
6. My minivan. Call me crazy, but I was not one of those people who said they'd never drive one or is embarrassed about it. Max can open the doors himself and get into his seat before I even come outside. We never have to worry about where to park because of the sliding doors.
5. Fly Swatters. I don't know if the flies are crazy in other cities or just Dubuque, but seriously we kill like 10 per day.
4. Sams Club. I don't mind shopping alone, but I despise shopping with kids. If I can buy things in bulk I'm going to.
3. My digital SLR camera. Funny moments with a 3 and a 2 year old happen really fast. If I had to wait for my camera between pictures, I'd miss half of it.
2. Eggo waffles. Mya lives for Eggo waffles and since she's not the best eater in the world these have saved us. We made the switch to whole grain ones without her noticing which is a bonus.
1. Swiffer. Seriously. I don't know what I'd do without it. If I knew how to buy stock, I'd buy Swiffer. I use it 2-3 times per day and sometimes more. With kids who brush crumbs onto the floor regularly and a dog who sheds so much it's a miracle she has any hair left, it's a necessity.
10. curb side recycling. This is the first city we've lived in that we have this service and now it might be a deal breaker if John Deere wants us to move again and the city doesn't have it! We fill 2 big bins each week with our recycling and that doesn't include cans/bottles. We still return those for the deposit even though each time we do, we wonder if it's worth it.
9. DVR. Although the summer is a bit slow as far as TV goes, I still enjoy sitting down at night and watching a show or two without commercials.
8. High speed Internet. This is something you don't appreciate until you don't have it. Slow connection speeds are painful.
7. Iced coffee. I don't know who came up with this idea, but whoever it was is a genius. I have a really good recipe for Iced Lattes, so if you want it, let me know.
6. My minivan. Call me crazy, but I was not one of those people who said they'd never drive one or is embarrassed about it. Max can open the doors himself and get into his seat before I even come outside. We never have to worry about where to park because of the sliding doors.
5. Fly Swatters. I don't know if the flies are crazy in other cities or just Dubuque, but seriously we kill like 10 per day.
4. Sams Club. I don't mind shopping alone, but I despise shopping with kids. If I can buy things in bulk I'm going to.
3. My digital SLR camera. Funny moments with a 3 and a 2 year old happen really fast. If I had to wait for my camera between pictures, I'd miss half of it.
2. Eggo waffles. Mya lives for Eggo waffles and since she's not the best eater in the world these have saved us. We made the switch to whole grain ones without her noticing which is a bonus.
1. Swiffer. Seriously. I don't know what I'd do without it. If I knew how to buy stock, I'd buy Swiffer. I use it 2-3 times per day and sometimes more. With kids who brush crumbs onto the floor regularly and a dog who sheds so much it's a miracle she has any hair left, it's a necessity.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
garden update II
We are really enjoying the "fruits of our labor" right now when it comes to our garden. The tomatoes are just starting to get ripe, the green beans have been devoured by my children, the peppers are turning colors as we speak, the carrots are starting to pop up and my refrigerator permanently smells like vinegar and onions from all of my cucumber salads!! It has been a really great experience having this garden. Max absolutely loves to pick the veggies and sometimes when I'm getting dinner ready I'll ask him to go and get me a tomato and an onion or something like that and he does it! He's so proud of himself when he comes up the steps with the right thing in hand.
Mya is enjoying the garden too. She just walks over, picks something and eats it! Won't even wait for me to get the hose to wash it off! Tomatoes, peppers and green beans are her favorite. The other day she was over by my neighbor's garden and picked a jalapeno. I caught her just as she was putting it in her mouth!
We are also getting some lessons in garden creatures. Yesterday we saw a big toad digging himself into his home and a caterpillar. The neighbor kids were here so they held the creatures, but Max and Mya were content to just watch. Here are some recent pictures!
Stuffing green beans in his mouth as fast as I could wash them in the hose!
Mya showing off all her green beans
Mrs. Caterpillar and Mr. Toad
Mya eating a tomato as if it were an apple.
Wouldn't be summer in Iowa without shucking some corn. (we did not grow this ourselves:)
Mya is enjoying the garden too. She just walks over, picks something and eats it! Won't even wait for me to get the hose to wash it off! Tomatoes, peppers and green beans are her favorite. The other day she was over by my neighbor's garden and picked a jalapeno. I caught her just as she was putting it in her mouth!
We are also getting some lessons in garden creatures. Yesterday we saw a big toad digging himself into his home and a caterpillar. The neighbor kids were here so they held the creatures, but Max and Mya were content to just watch. Here are some recent pictures!
Stuffing green beans in his mouth as fast as I could wash them in the hose!
Mya showing off all her green beans
Mrs. Caterpillar and Mr. Toad
Mya eating a tomato as if it were an apple.
Wouldn't be summer in Iowa without shucking some corn. (we did not grow this ourselves:)
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Weekend
We've had a nice and relaxing weekend around here. Friday night we went to the Dubuque County Fair. Chris took Mya last year when Max and I were out of town, so this was Max and my first experience. The kids had a blast and we decided next year we are going to either go on $1 ride night or buy them wrist bracelets to let them ride as many rides as they want! Mya got to go on 1 and Max got to do 2 rides and they absolutely loved it.
I have to admit...Max totally surprised me with his love of the rides. I can't think of a whole lot of things I'd like to do less than go on a ride at the county fair and since Max is leaning towards being a lot like me so I was fully prepared for him to be afraid of rides or want Chris and I to go with. Totally the opposite occurred. He wanted to go on bigger and better each time and he wanted to do it alone! When asked which was his favorite, he always answered "the spaceship one" because it was faster:)
Here are a few pictures of the highlights.
A tractor picked us up at our car and brought us to the fair. We definitely parked close enough to walk, but once M & M saw the tractor, we had no choice.
The kids got to give some geese Mountain Dew. It was really, really strange I have to admit.
We all got to pet this 4 month old cow. This was Mya's favorite event of the night and she kept talking about the BIG cow over and over. When she said BIG, her eyes got huge and her voice got really low. It was super funny.
Max and Mya on the fire truck ride. I was sure Mya would stand up and try to get off mid-way through, but she managed to sit for the whole 1 min 30 seconds!
Max's favorite ride.
Sitting in John Deere tractor tires.
This is the last time Max and Mya sat in a tractor tire:) Definitely growing up....
I have to admit...Max totally surprised me with his love of the rides. I can't think of a whole lot of things I'd like to do less than go on a ride at the county fair and since Max is leaning towards being a lot like me so I was fully prepared for him to be afraid of rides or want Chris and I to go with. Totally the opposite occurred. He wanted to go on bigger and better each time and he wanted to do it alone! When asked which was his favorite, he always answered "the spaceship one" because it was faster:)
Here are a few pictures of the highlights.
A tractor picked us up at our car and brought us to the fair. We definitely parked close enough to walk, but once M & M saw the tractor, we had no choice.
The kids got to give some geese Mountain Dew. It was really, really strange I have to admit.
We all got to pet this 4 month old cow. This was Mya's favorite event of the night and she kept talking about the BIG cow over and over. When she said BIG, her eyes got huge and her voice got really low. It was super funny.
Max and Mya on the fire truck ride. I was sure Mya would stand up and try to get off mid-way through, but she managed to sit for the whole 1 min 30 seconds!
Max's favorite ride.
Sitting in John Deere tractor tires.
This is the last time Max and Mya sat in a tractor tire:) Definitely growing up....
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
future politicians take to the streets!
Last week when we were up in Minnesota we were able to walk in the Maple Grove Days parade to support Grandpa David and his run for the MN House of Representatives! I wasn't sure how our kids would do with a long walk and no candy, but they did awesome! We brought a stroller for Mya and she sat in it for a grand total of 2 minutes.
Max and Mya stole the show. They held signs that said "Vote for my Grandpa" and Max was yelling "Vote for David Hoden" and Mya was waving to the crowd beauty pageant style. More than once I heard people say that they were going to vote for David because these kids were so cute! Unfortunately, the people saying this looked like they were not eligible to vote due to the fact that they were 16:)
After the parade we had a cook-out at Chris's parents house and it was really fun to meet fellow supporters and talk some politics. I don't claim to know a lot, but I think I held my own! Enjoy some pictures..they pretty much tell it all.
Max and Mya stole the show. They held signs that said "Vote for my Grandpa" and Max was yelling "Vote for David Hoden" and Mya was waving to the crowd beauty pageant style. More than once I heard people say that they were going to vote for David because these kids were so cute! Unfortunately, the people saying this looked like they were not eligible to vote due to the fact that they were 16:)
After the parade we had a cook-out at Chris's parents house and it was really fun to meet fellow supporters and talk some politics. I don't claim to know a lot, but I think I held my own! Enjoy some pictures..they pretty much tell it all.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
The Lake 2010
This last week we were up at Chris's family cabin on Lake Mille Lacs. It was a beautiful week and we all had a great time. It was the first year that both kids were able to really play on the beach without me worrying they'd be eating sand! Here is a run-down of what we did this week and a few pictures to enjoy along the way!
The week started with a 6 hr 40 minute drive North. It would have been about 30 minutes faster, but we had to stop 5 times. Believe it or not, it wasn't for the kids! I had a case of the stomach flu so it wasn't such a great trip for me. Thankfully, the kids were behaved rather well for once so that made it somewhat tolerable. (probably b/c I wrapped 14 presents from the dollar spot at Target so they got to open one per hour:) At one point I was on the phone with my sister trying to figure out how she could get me to the cabin later in the week because I didn't think I could make it past the twin cities! A special thanks to my mother-in-law for making me rice, peeling my bananas and buttering my toast for a few days:)
Onto the better parts...Uncle Jeff was up at the cabin with us and he took the time to teach Max how to skip rocks. Lots of fun was had by all seeing whose rock could skip the most and who could snap the best picture of the rocks skipping across the calm water.
One of the area towns was having a parade while we were at the cabin so Grandma and Grandpa, Chris and Jeff took the kids to see it. They got prime seating and came home with a huge bag full of candy. Highlights were the horsies (Mya's word) and the fire chiefs! (Max's word) We have a few videos of Max retrieving candy, but are unable to upload them right now. If I can keep my eyes open, I may try again later tonight:)
This year marked the 10th year I've been going up to this cabin. In those 10 years, there has been a little boat propped up against the side of the hill...never been touched. Leave it to Chris and his brother to try to get this thing working. They cleaned out the 10+ years worth of bugs and leaves from the inside, got the engine out of the shed and hooked it on. What happened next is best described by my brother in law who stated...."it's a miracle"! The boat started right away!!! We had lots of laughs over this boat and only once were stuck a little ways out and had to paddle back into shore:) Max was in heaven when we told him he could ride in this boat and better yet...could even drive it for a little bit. One night after the kids were in bed we decided to try to pull someone on a wake board. I was the guinea pig and it didn't work out too well. Apparently 5 HP isn't very much:)
Other highlights included Max and Grandpa hunting for the perfect maple tree to transplant in the yard, watching Max and Mya have races down the hill, building sand castles, perfecting the diving catch of the football in the lake, campfires complete with s'mores and hot dogs, late night dairy queen runs, sitting in the loft hopeful that the neighbor's wireless connection doesn't go bad, watching movies, trying my best to not think about the minnows nibbling on my legs while in the lake, eating good food (later in the week:), and making sure my kids always had dry clothes on!
Chloe of course had the time of her life. Since we went after the 4th of July this year, things up there were calmer so she got to be off her leash a lot more and enjoyed countless hours of swimming in the lake and rolling in dead fish.
Each year since we've had kids we have taken a family picture in a different location up at the lake. Here are the top 2 from this year...if you want, you can leave a comment and vote on which is your favorite for the wall:)
The week started with a 6 hr 40 minute drive North. It would have been about 30 minutes faster, but we had to stop 5 times. Believe it or not, it wasn't for the kids! I had a case of the stomach flu so it wasn't such a great trip for me. Thankfully, the kids were behaved rather well for once so that made it somewhat tolerable. (probably b/c I wrapped 14 presents from the dollar spot at Target so they got to open one per hour:) At one point I was on the phone with my sister trying to figure out how she could get me to the cabin later in the week because I didn't think I could make it past the twin cities! A special thanks to my mother-in-law for making me rice, peeling my bananas and buttering my toast for a few days:)
Onto the better parts...Uncle Jeff was up at the cabin with us and he took the time to teach Max how to skip rocks. Lots of fun was had by all seeing whose rock could skip the most and who could snap the best picture of the rocks skipping across the calm water.
One of the area towns was having a parade while we were at the cabin so Grandma and Grandpa, Chris and Jeff took the kids to see it. They got prime seating and came home with a huge bag full of candy. Highlights were the horsies (Mya's word) and the fire chiefs! (Max's word) We have a few videos of Max retrieving candy, but are unable to upload them right now. If I can keep my eyes open, I may try again later tonight:)
This year marked the 10th year I've been going up to this cabin. In those 10 years, there has been a little boat propped up against the side of the hill...never been touched. Leave it to Chris and his brother to try to get this thing working. They cleaned out the 10+ years worth of bugs and leaves from the inside, got the engine out of the shed and hooked it on. What happened next is best described by my brother in law who stated...."it's a miracle"! The boat started right away!!! We had lots of laughs over this boat and only once were stuck a little ways out and had to paddle back into shore:) Max was in heaven when we told him he could ride in this boat and better yet...could even drive it for a little bit. One night after the kids were in bed we decided to try to pull someone on a wake board. I was the guinea pig and it didn't work out too well. Apparently 5 HP isn't very much:)
Other highlights included Max and Grandpa hunting for the perfect maple tree to transplant in the yard, watching Max and Mya have races down the hill, building sand castles, perfecting the diving catch of the football in the lake, campfires complete with s'mores and hot dogs, late night dairy queen runs, sitting in the loft hopeful that the neighbor's wireless connection doesn't go bad, watching movies, trying my best to not think about the minnows nibbling on my legs while in the lake, eating good food (later in the week:), and making sure my kids always had dry clothes on!
Chloe of course had the time of her life. Since we went after the 4th of July this year, things up there were calmer so she got to be off her leash a lot more and enjoyed countless hours of swimming in the lake and rolling in dead fish.
Each year since we've had kids we have taken a family picture in a different location up at the lake. Here are the top 2 from this year...if you want, you can leave a comment and vote on which is your favorite for the wall:)
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