Birthday presents from the neighbor's!

Our wonderful neighbors gave the kids birthday presents and they were a big hit!

Bishop got a "fun" straw, which he thought was pretty cool!

Nora got a Cat in the Hat book--with stickers! She loves it!

It was fun to continue to celebrate their birthdays with these unexpected presents!

2 and 4 year Check ups

Kindercare was closed on Monday so I took the day off to be with the kids. We got a bunch of snow, but we had the kids' 2 and 4 year checkups in the morning so we had to brave the elements and head out in the snow!

Here is an update on each of the kids:

Bishop-42 lbs (89%) and 43" (95%). He's healthy and he passed his vision and hearing test, so he's good to go for another year!

Nora-30 lbs (85%) and 36" (94%). She's struggled with her ears the past couple of weeks, but her Dr. thought both tubes were in place and looked good-no infection, no plugged tubes with wax, so she is good to go for another year!

I still find it hard to believe that Bishop is 4 years old already. So far it seems like a great age! His imagination is in full force and he loves for us to tell him stories. Lately he'll request stories from when I was younger. He is still a ball of energy and his excitement for life is amazing! He has a very tender heart and he has become quite the mama's boy the past few months.

He is doing really well in his Pre-K class at "school". His teachers are Miss Janelle and Miss Janelle! :) He's come so far in the past 2 years, which is to be expected, but it's amazing to watch him grow and mature (but don't get me wrong-we still have some work to do)! :) He has come so far with his writing in the past couple of months. He seemed to be a bit behind with his writing, but Miss Janelle worked with him and he's doing awesome now! He's still tracing the letters, but he's doing really well! He has struggled with number recognition, so we've been working on that, but it's not a major concern, just something to keep working on. He's starting drawing more stick people and I feel like he's growing up so much!

From other posts it's obvious that he's really into Spiderman these days and has been for quite awhile now! He loves the show Jake and the Neverland Pirates, but he will watch movies and other shows. Luke gets the kids to watch nature shows and he likes that. He also enjoys building things--with the magnets and legos, it's fun to watch!

As I've posted before-he's so good to his sister and they play really well together! He's got it figured out--he knows how to talk her into what would be best for him! ;)

NoraLina (as her dad calls her) has learned so much recently and is such a honey! She LOVES to sing the ABC's and knows the entire alphabet. She is also pretty good with colors. She'll get them wrong from time to time, but she does get them right at times too!

She LOVES to play with her babies and she takes such good care of them....and she has a lot of them to manage! :) She'll put them to bed, take them for walks (inside now) and she even let one of her babies come out to go sledding with us! :)

She got a few tea sets for her birthday and she LOVES to have tea parties and to make us icecream to eat. She stays pretty busy playing with her food and kitchen. It is amazing to see the difference between  a boy and a girl.

She's doing really well at school as well! One of her favorite things to do is to let her friends play with her hair. Her teachers say she'll sit in a chair for over a 1/2 hour and let her friends play "barbershop" with her.

She has a lot of words, which is really nice and it's helping her to communicate! She still has her moments, but she's very good about telling you "NO THANK YOU", if she doesn't like something. She is very sweet and will say "I wuv you and I miss you" when I'm gone! :) And one of my favorite things she says is her brother's name. She can't say her B's yet....so she calls him ISHOP! and it's not Ishop, it's ISHOP! I need to record that one sometime soon! 

We are very blessed with 2 healthy and happy kids! They are so good for each other. Bishop gets Nora to try more things and enjoy more experiences that she might have otherwise not tried and Nora always reminds Bishop of when he's making a bad decision (NO THANK YOU, ISHOP)!

Waterpark and Visiting Great Grandparents

On Saturday morning my parents brought the kids out to the hotel and we went to the Waterpark. The kids had an absolute blast and the slides were perfect for them! They could ride down with us on the tubes and everytime we got to the bottom Bishop would say "AGAIN"!

Bishop and I

Luke and Nora

Luke and Bishop

Nora and I

Hanging out at the bottom of the slide

Warming up in the hottub!

After the waterpark we showered, got ready and headed over to visit my Grandma first. It had started snowing and blowing pretty badly....and the roads weren't that great, but we made it! 

My Grandma was particularly interested in what Bishop had in his little box-she thought it was candy and was a little disappointed to find there weren't any treats inside! :)

Nora and her Great Grandma, Marlys!

We then visited my Grandpa and wheeled him down for lunch on our way out.  It was great to see them both. They're both hanging in there and they both seemed better to me than the last time I saw them. Luke hadn't seen them since Thanksgiving and he noticed a big change in my Grandpa. We're trying to enjoy as much time with them as we can while they're still here!

Our original plan was to eat lunch at my parents and head back home--but the roads still didn't look too good, so we took the kids to see the movie Frozen instead. My mom joined us-and especially enjoyed holding Nora while she slept during part of the movie. It was such a great movie!! We all really enjoyed it!

The drive home was less than enjoyable! Luke and I had both cars in Owatonna and so we both had to drive home. I had the kids in my car and I was a nervous wreck for part of the drive. We made it to Elko and traffic was completely stopped--there had been a bad accident that involved 12 cars and they were still working on clearing the last 2 cars (a semi and a pickup truck)--so it held us up for about an hour. The drive usually takes us 50 mins-1 hour, but took 2 hours and 15 minutes! It could have been much worse though--Bishop slept and Nora watched Elmo Potty about 10 times! :) I was thankful I didn't have hungry kids who had to go the bathroom!

When we got home we all relaxed--and Bishop was excited to get another magazine. My aunt and uncle (Bob and Sandy) gave both kids a subscription to a magazine--and they get excited to get them every month! Here's Bishop reading his!

Sunday was a fun day as well--we went to church, brunch, sledding and then Luke and I went out to celebrate Liana's completion of Grad School--a great way to end a fun weekend!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day 2014!! I am so thankful for all the love I receive from my family and friends!!

Valentine's Day 2010 was spent in the ER with Bishop. He was just 4 days old and since he was born 4 weeks early we had to monitor his temperature. Well, his temp dropped on Valentine's Day, which was a Sunday that year. The on-call ped suggested we bring him to the ER to have him checked out. By the time we got there his temp had come back up--but we found out he was jaundiced, so he spent the night in the ER. It definitely wasn't my favorite Valentine's Day. I was a mess--over tired, a new mom, who had just come off bedrest and I left my pump at home (and wasn't smart enough to ask to use the one at Children's Hospital, if they had one). So I drove home late at night in a snowstorm to get my pump. Long story short--the nurse could tell I was a mess and she instructed I go home to sleep. Luke ended up sleeping IN the ER, as the hospital was full that night. I felt horrible for not being there and guilty that I would leave my new born son. Wow-we've come so far in 4 years!

Valentine's Day 2012 was also spent at the hospital....but thankfully this time was just for a blood draw for Nora. When she was born her umbilical cord broke off while she was being delivered.....she was born with a fever and there was concern of blood mixing (we have 2 different blood types). So....they had to monitor her blood the first few days to make sure she didn't have an infection, etc. Luke and I took her to Abbott to have her blood drawn and then we stopped for a treat on our way home to the bakery (Patisserie 46), so it was an enjoyable day.

Valentine's Day 2014 was a great day! :) I was able to attend both Bishop and Nora's parties at school and then Luke and I had some time to ourselves that night in Owatonna! It was a great day!

Nana and Papa gave the kids a shirt a small toy and a sucker for Valentine's Day! This was their thank you video for the gifts......and yes, they are eating suckers for breakfast! I think I'm ready for these Holidays and Birthdays to be over for awhile! ;)

Bishop eating his cupcake at his Valentine's Day Party

Me, Bishop and Gabe at his Valentine's Day party

Asa and Bishop

Nora and I at her Valentine's Day party

The cookie Nora made for her party! 

Luke and I stayed at the Holiday Inn in Owatonna on Friday night. We went out to dinner and enjoyed some time to ourselves. My parents brought the kids out in the morning to play in the waterpark--I'll update that blog post soon!

It was so fun to be home and have a normal, happy Valentine's Day! Last year we were in Steamboat, skiing!

February 11th, 2014

On Tuesday, February 11th, 2014 Nora turned 2!! She brought in cupcakes for her class and I was invited to join her-so I went in and had fun at her birthday party at school!

Nora got a birthday donut for breakfast too! She was all smiles!

The next 2 pictures are of Nora with her friend, Cole! He is such a great friend to Nora and they are constantly giving each other hugs and hanging out together! I love watching kids at this age interact-they are so sweet!

Birthday hugs from Cole!

CHEESE!

 Big brother Bishop was invited to join for the party too--he would never miss the opportunity for a cupcake!

After school we went to Lund's to pick up a movie to have a pizza party for her birthday celebration! The store was pretty quiet, so I let both kids take their own shopping cart around the store!

Nora's been into hiding her eyes when we take pictures lately--she's so silly! :)

Daddy--he's something special to her! She absolutely ADORES her daddy! Whenever she gets hurt or is upset, she always asks for Daddy--and he's always able to make her feel better. I love their relationship!

We picked up Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 for their pizza party--Bishop loved it and Nora really enjoyed it (for as long as she enjoys movies)!

 Watching Nora open presents is so entertaining--she gets excited about everything!!

It was another great celebration for a very special girl! 

February 10th, 2014

On Monday, February 10th, 2014 Bishop turned 4 years old! I ran out early before anyone was up and picked up some donuts, as a special birthday treat for breakfast! He was pretty excited!  My dad usually gets donuts when Bishop stays with my parents--so Bishop was a little confused....he asked me "did you go all the way to Papa's to get the donuts? Where did you get them?" 

Blowing out candles first thing in the morning

Loving his donut

After school we celebrated at the Mall of America. Since Nora's birthday was on Tuesday we had a joint celebration! We had never taken the kids to the MOA to go on rides, so it took us a little while to figure out which rides would be good for Bishop and Nora and how many tickets to buy, etc. Bishop literally skipped through the entire night--he was having so much fun!

Bishop ended up going on the Merry Go Round (3 times), the swiper car, (which went too fast for Bishop--and he didn't like it because he didn't get to steer), the Log Chute with mom (he said the man was too scary and he didn't like the scary man inside the dark area), the bus (he loved the bus) and the train (he liked the train too).

Nora went on the Merry Go Round (2 times), the bus and the train--she had a great time!

Measuring to see which rides he could go on!

First time on the Merry Go Round

Nora was a bit apprehensive at first--but ended up LOVING it!

He looks pretty happy in the car! ;)

He FINALLY got the dragon he had wanted to ride!

Dad, Nora and Bishop on the train

Riding on the bus with mom!

After the rides we went to the Rainforest Cafe, which was a big hit for the kids. We got to sit at a great table to watch the Gorillas dance every 10 minutes and there was even a thunderstorm while we were there!  

The kids even got a surprise cupcake and the waitresses sang to them-it was a real treat!

When we got home Bishop got to open his presents from mom and dad--he got a big Spiderman and a Sipderman bedset--he was thrilled!

His Spiderman collection!

Tucking Spiderman in to bed

 I don't know why this picture won't flip for me......but regardless, my "baby's" last night of sleep as a 1 year old!

Nora's last night of sleep as a 1 year old!

Maia's Birthday Party

Our God daughter turned 5 on February 7th so it was a weekend full of birthday celebrations!  On Friday night we went to the Hennum's for the family birthday party! The kids had a really good time playing with Siena and Maia and their cousins!

Nora adores Siena and Siena is so good to her!

The birthday girl!

Maia, Bishop, Nora and Siena

On Sunday Maia had her friend birthday party at Pump It Up! We'd never been there before, but the kids loved it, of course! Mom and dad even got to go down the slide a few times to help Nora out!

The birthday girl was having so much fun running around we didn't get too many pictures of her!

Nora and Siena

The crew!

The beautiful birthday girl!

Maia, happy birthday! You are beautiful inside and out and we are so proud of you! You are such a sweet, funny girl and you are always so good to both Bishop and Nora! Thanks for your friendship and love! We love you!