How do you name a child?

This is how we do it...babybrackets.blogspot.com

Pumpkin Patch

The best part of living in Minnesota,

well,

at least a good part,

is that you can find some where close by

to be your own farmer.

When I say farmer,

I don't mean grow your own stuff,

but you get to go pick it

and pretend like you were able to actually grow something.

In the summer that means berries,

in fall it is apples and pumkins,

in the winter it will be Christmas trees.

Well,

the pumpkin patch here is a little different,

from OK at least.

We enjoyed a little country store

with fresh baked apple goodies.

Then there was the petting zoo,

you could do a tractor ride,

there was live music by some guy on a fiddle,

and a hay stack to climb up with slides to go down.

But.....

When you are done playing

you actually go out to a field to get your pumpkin!

What?!?!?!

You get the size and shape you want,

take it to the scales to weigh it,

pay your money

and voila,

you just "farmered" your own pumpkin.

Look at me Grow!

This is Miss L trying to pet a very territorial Rooster.

Yeah,

we stopped her before she got bit.

We sure are amazing parents. :)

Who wouldn't enjoy a nice wagon ride

to check out the animals

and pumpkins?

Apparently I needed to pull out the camera more

but I didn't.

It was a cold, wet, windy day

but we still had fun.

G loved pulling a wagon through mud,

while we decided which pumpkin was best.

L was just trying to stay upright

because her feet were caked in so much mud.

It was throwing her off balance.

The pumpkin is home

and now a jack o'lantern.

Aren't holidays just way more fun with kids?

29 weeks

I always have every intention

of taking these photos closer together.

But that requires me to be showered and ready

and The Man to be home to take the picture.

So, we finally made it to another Sunday morning

where one of us wasn't running off to a meeting.

Here it is,

my belly at 29 weeks.

Not much to look at to most people.

But I do a double take 

whenever I catch my reflection in a mirror.

Baby girl is growing great.

She moves ALL OF THE TIME

and I am pretty sure my innards are bruised,

in several places.

My other two

were much more calm and complacent.

I wonder what her personality is like?

The other day

GMan rested his foot on my belly,

I still don't know why,

but she started attacking his foot.

Pretty funny to me

and pretty amazing to him.

Either she wanted her space

or she wanted a high five.

I told him it was the high five,

and to leave his foot there

as long as he wanted.

We got quite the show out of her. :)

I will try and get another picture in sooner,

or wait longer,

 and see if we have a more drastic difference.

Chicago

Chicago,

quite possibly,

my happiest place on earth.

There is always something going on

and there is never a shortage of things to do.

As one final hurrah before the baby came,

The Man scheduled a quick weekend trip to Chi-town.

First, thanks to J and J for taking our kids.

It was a little slice of heaven,

and a little flashback to life before kids,

to not have to worry about

nap time,

feeding times,

bed times,

etc.

We crammed on as much of the city as we could in 1 day.

Naturally we skipped all museums,

because each could take one day by themselves.

Plus we wanted to cover as much city ground as possible.

We started walking down Michigan.

Not sure exactly what to cram in?

start there.

This is the Water Tower.

If I remember correctly this is where the great fire stopped.  

Leaving this as one of the oldest, original buildings.

We have been here dozens of times

but it is never open.

It's not big,

probably serves no function

but as a reminder of 

Mrs. O'Leary's cow.

On the day we were in town,

it was actually open,

and somebody had converted it into an art exhibit

for a limited time.

Here's our chance!

We can actually go in.

So go in we did.

And this is what we found.

The entire structure

completely full of red balloons

about 6 feet high.

And what does one do in over 5,000 balloons?

We play!

We run!

We accidentally pop a few.

Sorry!

Man do we love art.

Saw this statue

and it provided too many fun one liners

"Look, I'm clinging to hope"

"It's the only hope we could find in Chicago"

"Embrace hope!"

We entertained ourselves for a long time

with Hope.

 The skyline from the end of Navy Pier.

Oh, miss that skyline.

ps - It was a very cold day,

should have worn a real coat.

Mental note for next time.

Even though we were only there a little while,

we were able to meet some friends.

I miss these friends

(and you too Steve a Kerri,

sorry we couldn't get together)

This is K,

her and I moved into the ward

at the same time,

neither of us had kids,

and we pretty much lived across the street.

We got to become dear friends.

We had a fun life back then. :)

Thanks for the get together lady!

The is D,

K's hubby,

This is pretty much how him and The Man

behaved when they were together.

Oh the good times.

The trip was amazing.

Cold,

no sleep,

and left with some illness

but it was all worth it.

I would go back and do it again

ANYTIME!

You like sugar, huh?

Is there sugar in syrup?

Yes...

Then YES!

Sidenote:

If  you have not seen the movie Elf

you must stop reading

and go watch this incredible piece of entertainment.

(Then my post will seem funnier to you.)

That is the scene that kept running through my head

as I discovered Miss L

licking the syrup off her plate.

This girl sure loves her 

sugar!

Once I got caught taking pictures

It just turned into a game.

Funny girl.

The American Past Time

GMan got to attend his first

Major League Baseball Game,

with his dad.

I thought they had seats

right on the 1st baseline

but the picture shows the 3rd baseline.

Maybe the picture is flipped. 

Either way they had a great time.

They got Twins beanies at the door,

they got a "giant" hot dog,

they walked around the stadium

and they watched "our team" hit the ball,

on the way out they got back packs

and G fell asleep in the car.

All in all it sounded like

an amazing Man Date.

This is the ticket that G carried around for days!

He kept telling me that if he got lost,

he needed to show an adult

to get back to dad.

Glad The Man drilled that into his head.

Even more glad he didn't get lost! :)

Best buddies

I love,

that my kids,

LOVE each other.

As a mom you want your kids to get along

but I don't have a secret book

or any idea how you do that

exactly.

So when my kids naturally gravitated toward each other

it made me the happiest mom in the world.

It makes my heart,

and some times my mouth,

sing when they go running down the stairs

or into the backyard to enjoy each others company.

I generally find them doing everything together.

Sometimes it's good things,

 like reading books,

and other times it's mischief ,

like emptying out the cabinets in my bathroom.

Either way,

I am just happy they enjoy doing it together.

These are giant calculators that they found.

G is using his as a camera

and L is using hers as a cell phone.

Do we live in a world of technology or what?

First Day of School

I love the first day of school!

I apparently am not that mom that cries

when her child walks into the class room.

Maybe with my last,

but those might just be tears of joy.

September 10th

(Happy Birthday Kendra)

could not come fast enough!

G has been asking me for school since we moved in February.

That's a long time.

We counted down to the days

and I don't know who was more happy,

him or I.

Well,

This is his sweet face that morning

when he was ready 30 minutes early.

This is Miss L,

she thinks she's happy too

until she realizes that her best friend is gone.

Her real happiness occurred when we picked G up.

We tried to stay busy while he was gone.

This is L helping me with dishes

And the cooking

All in all it was good.

We have gotten in a nice routine.

Miss L still misses her buddy when mom is doing chores

but it lets her and I have one on one time

three days a week

and G gets his mom time during nap time.

I love it when everything works out!

Labor Day

You know what's annoying?

When you prepare a post,

then save it,

because you need to get pictures off your phone.

Then you forget.

And that post has now been sitting,

unpublished,

for over a week.

Blast you pregnant brain!

Well, here it is.

Labor Day,

is not a holiday that we generally make plans for.

It never dawns on me to go on a trip,

or throw a party.

Instead we generally do something last minute

and enjoy the extra long weekend.

This year was no different for us,

then we got a phone call.

The Man's brother called

to see if we wanted to join them for a weekend

of hiking and rock climbing

and all around fun times.

Heck yeah we do!

Oh yeah,

Gman broke his sternum,

we probably shouldn't spend 

several days rock climbing and hiking

and doing all sorts of other shenanigans

that will break him more.

Bummer,

there goes all the fun.

THEN

I get a phone call from my friend C.

Unlike me,

she plans trips all of the time.

She has gone on at least one trip a month 

almost since we moved in.

We have kids the exact same age

(seriously, both her kids birthdays 

are two weeks before my two)

and she called to see if we wanted to go out of town with them.

Are you going rock climbing?

No.

Then, YES!

She had reserved a condo at a resort

a couple hours north of here.

Grand view lodge.

She didn't realize that the condo

had four bedrooms

and three bathrooms!

Which meant that they needed friends.

Woo hoo,

we love being (and having) friends!

It was a low key weekend

filled with swimming,

playing,

ice cream,

grilling,

going out,

and this giant statue of Paul Bunyon.

What could be better?

These are the girls.

They are quickly becoming best friends.

Again, yeah for friends!

On our drive home we stopped at this random,
in the middle of no where,
diner.
It had an indoor and outdoor playground,
a sand box,
these fun picture cut outs
and grass to run around in.
I wish every trip had a random diner!

 This is G (right) and his friend C (left).
Good buddies who like to play together.

Miss L, I just love that she can barely peek through

Mommy, you're belly is big!

Yup,

that's what my 4 year old

said to me

a week and a half ago.

That's when I figured

it was time to bust out the camera.

This picture was taken a week ago when

I was 24 weeks.

I feel much bigger

now that I am 25 weeks.

It's like feeling

older and wiser

when you have a birthday.

These days my milestones just occur weekly,

not annually.

Back to my GMan,

I asked him why my belly was so big?

His ever so thoughtful answer,

because you ate too much food.

Apparently his sister is a hamburger,

not a baby. :)

Pancakes, Yum!

Do any of you ever

dread the thought of having your kids help

in the kitchen?

Sometimes

I just think

I want to get this done,

quickly,

and with minimal mess.

Well,

I have been trying to change my outlook.

My kids LOVE to be in the kitchen with me

and think it is so awesome

when I will allow them to do the most menial tasks

associated with cooking.

As a result,

I am working on incorporating them

and their excitement

into our kitchen.

Enter pancakes.

Not hard,

everyone can stir,

and take turns flipping,

and everyone had a blast!

We made a mess,

we ate our hearts out

and we cleaned it up

all without complaints or tears

from anyone.

Have your own pancake party,

they are a rocking time!

We're Broken

Well,

not all of us

just GMan.

He fell down

at a day camp,

on his birthday.

When I went to pick him up

he told me he had fallen,

on his chest,

on a little box,

and that he cried really hard for a long time.

Sad!

I asked him how he was doing

and he said it was better but still hurt.

I checked him over,

there were no bruises,

no bumps

and he would even let me touch it.

To me that means he's fine.

Well,

over the next week he would wake up at night 

complaining of pain.

Cue more Motrin and back to bed.

(ps - he also would only sleep on his back,

he is a side sleeper,

and he couldn't sit up from laying down without support).

7 days after falling

he went for a bike ride with dad.

Where he proceeded to fall,

off his bike,

and hit his chest and head.

Perfect.

A couple nights later he not only woke up

but he was screaming.

His screaming was so violent it hurt his chest

so he wouldn't breathe

(because that also now caused pain).

I thought FINE,

first thing tomorrow we will go to the doctor.

We went,

I explained to the doctor what happened,

even he said he wasn't worried about a break

because the pain was right at the top middle of his sternum

and sternums don't break,

generally ribs break.

Just to be certain we got an x-ray.

The verdict came in,

his sternum had fractured right down the middle.

WHAT?!!?!?

So after talking to a cardio thoracic surgeon

(scary!)

we learned that this break was extremely rare,

like almost impossible to do rare,

but our G had managed it.

For now there is nothing they will do.

We keep it wrapped up in an ace bandage

and keep the motrin coming to control the pain.

He is supposed to "take it easy" 

for TWO months to let it heal.

I laughed and reminded him he was talking about a 4 year old.

I am hoping it is healed by the time he turns 5.

As long as he doesn't fall right on it again

we should be fine.

If he does fall again

we are to report to the doctor

IMMEDIATELY!

Apparently he can now do serious damage 

that can require surgery with wires and rods.

Fun times.

It's been 2 1/2 weeks

and already he is doing better.

He complains a lot less

and sleeps a lot more

but that could be because the doctor told us

that he needed twice the motrin we were giving him. 

Oops :)

Here's the wrap

Doesn't look like much

but really helps a lot.

Most people think it's a toy or dress up for him.

The look on their face when he says

"No, I need it cause I broke my bones"

is pretty classic.

Just messin around

The other morning we were just playing with the camera.

Hope you enjoy 

my little "models"

who love the camera. :)

We found this scarf in our basement

that immediately became a bandana 

to be like 

Jake and the Neverland Pirates.

Took the pic late

but she's still cute

This is the messed up haircut

I would have taken a before picture

but I was only planning on trimming her curls

Not cutting them off.

Thank goodness hair grows back.

Mr. G is 4!

Last week we celebrated,

the birthday

of our sweet GMan.

He is a simple kid

who does not ask for much.

For his birthday I asked what he wanted

and his only request

was doughnuts.

So why not!

As a side note - 

Minnesota stinks in the junk food department.

There is not a doughnut shop in our entire city!

We had to go to the grocery store.

Good thing he doesn't care.

 (FYI - today I asked him

what he wanted Santa to bring him for Christmas.

And he told me 

Santa would figure it out.) Hehe

 For his presents he got Wedgits

(if you don't know what they are look them up,

they are fun "blocks" for any age,

we have all spent time creating with them,

yup, that fun)

he also got a sleeping bag for camping with dad,

and a remote control car.

Miss L who was so excited

to watch G open his presents

and play with his stuff. :)

Now, I know there are many of you

who do the birthday party thing.

You can plan games,

food,

and prizes

to fit in your theme

and make it this amazingly awesome affair.

I am terrified of birthday parties.

G has never had one because I am scared of what to plan.

Well this year we decided we owed him something.

There are several birthday's around his

and it only seemed fair that he got a party like everyone else.

Since I am pregnant,

and extra lazy,

we were going to do the typical summer birthday party

and pull out the slip n slide,

some kiddie pools,

and water tables (for the babies)

All I had to do was provide water.

Easy peasy.

Well,

6 days before the party

we checked the weather.

The high on August 18th?

68 degrees!!!!!

You can't have a water party

if you're going to give your guests hypothermia!

Aghhh!!

So, I took action.

The day before G had picked out his cake.

An American Flag cake.

You sure bud?

Yup!

Okie dokie.

Well, that became my platform

for all things party.

I tried to turn regular party games

into something our nation could be proud of. :)

At the same time I thought

why not incorporate some Olympics?

Within a few days I had it figured out.

Then,

the night before the party

GMan gets a mild concussion

when he fell and smacked his head on the concrete.

Double Aggghhhh!

Another new plan.

Keep low key games,

throw out all things Olympic

requiring running or jumping.

Deep breath, no big deal.

And here is what we ended up with...

 Pin the stars on the flag

 For 2-5 year olds they did pretty good.

Some did cheat though

 This is a little game

I stole from my friend Kerri,

off pinterest.

It was our "boxing"

They got to punch out a circle

and behind it was prizes that they got to take home.

The kids LOVED it.

This was our wall of targets

for "archery"

We filled up 60 water balloons

and told the kids

to try to destroy the targets.

So archery without bows or arrows

but they had a GREAT time throwing water balloons.

They did a great job destroying every target too.

 The inspiration cake.

Vanilla with a vanilla center with white frosting.

Yea, our kid doesn't branch out much.

Chocolate is very hit or miss with him.

Blowing out those candles.

While making a birthday wish.

Our MN friends

It's great that he has some kids to play with

and party with.

Happy Birthday sweet guy!

The Announcement is......

It's a GIRL!

We think....

It's hard to be definitive

when it is based on the lack of evidence.

But I am pretty certain

the technician was right.

So more pink,

and more opinions,

will grace the walls of our home.

Yeah for sweet girls!

Hello?

Hello?

Anybody still out there?

I wouldn't really blame you

if you weren't.

It's been awhile,

hasn't it?

I realized

since I can check my email

on my phone

I don't get on the computer

very often.

That needs to change!

Family,

and friends,

need to see what my family

is up to.

Since it's been awhile,

we will do a quick recap.

Of 5 months.

Oops

 Baby Girl loves to climb into confined spaces.

While I was taking out the garbage

she climbed right in the cans spot.

At least she thinks she's funny.

 We got a fun visit from grandma and grandpa,

before they left for their mission.

This is the kids at the zoo

watching the bears fight each other.

 Also with G and G

we made a trip to the Children's Museum

This was by far the favorite room.

Who doesn't love playing in bubbles and water?

 In May,

baby girl had surgery,

again.

This time she got to have her tear ducts opened.

Hers were clogged

and they were never going to open themselves.

So we opted for the procedure.

It was extremely fast,

like getting tubes,

and now her eyes tear up a lot less.

Yeah!

 We have been trying to find activities to do

since we moved here mid semester

and G couldn't get into any preschools.

This is his sports class.

He loves to learn/play new sports

and I love that he comes home completely worn out.

Win/win

 In June,

we celebrated

the Man's 1/2 birthday.

We got to have family over

and enjoy a fun day.

 We love watermelon in the summer.

Who doesn't?

When we get to the end

it's too annoying to try and cut

so we just scoop out bites with a spoon.

Thus resulting in a hat.

It's delicious then fun.

 Baby girl growing up.

She finally learned to walk

at 15 months.

It makes everyone happier. :)

 Even when silly

he's cute

This sweet thing

has become the biggest ham.

Whenever she sees a camera

and hears "cheese"

she plasters this smile on her face.

Thus cracking me up.

If you will also notice

the "purse" (my scripture bag

the brush,

and the toothpaste

these are all the types of items

that she prefers to play with.

At least she has good hygiene.

For those of you who made it this far

Congratulations!

For your effort you will now be rewarded.

I am Pregnant!

Again.

I will be 20 weeks on Sunday

(My c-section will be

December 31st)

and we will find out a boy or girl

on Monday.

Woo Hoo!

I will be blogging more,

so let's rekindle our lovely

friendships.