15 months

Bishop is 15 months old today!!

He has his 15 month appointment on Friday, so I will update more after that with specific details....for now:

He officially transitioned into the Toddler room today and he's doing great!! He sleeps on a cot, drinks from a cup, goes down the slide by himself and as one of his teacher's said "is such a nice, good boy". I am so proud! :)

Bishop LOVES to play outside--he will throw his golf ball down the sidewalk and run after it. He is talking even more these days--and he is so expressive. He is so happy and he has a great laugh and giggle! He absolutely LOVES dogs--we will go for walks looking for dogs for him to pet, he has no fear and he loves to pet and kiss any dog that will let him!

Happy Mother's Day!!!!

I hope you all had a wonderful day and were loved just a little bit more on Mother's Day!!

Luke and I are so blessed to have 2 wonderful mother's!!

Mom, thanks for absolutely everything!! I could never thank you enough or express to you how grateful I am for you and our relationship! Thanks for ALL your help with Bishop and for ALWAYS being there for me!!! You are an amazing woman and you have taught me SO much!! My hope is that I can give my children the love you gave and taught to me! Thanks for your unconditional love and friendship, you are simply amazing!!

Eileen, thank you so much for being such a wonderful mother-in-law!! I am so thankful to have met Luke and I appreciate all you did and taught him, as he is an amazing man and in large part because of you! Thanks for all your love, we appreciate you so much!!

Lastly, I couldn't be more excited and grateful to be a mother myself. Bishop makes it pretty easy to be a mother and I have learned so much from not only our mother's, but my friends who are mothers--I have learned something from all of you-THANK YOU! Being a mother is the best job in the entire world and one I enjoy every single day!!

Weekend Plans

We had a very fun weekend--it was busy, but very fun!

Friday night Bishop's friends, Siena and Maia came over to play, along with their parents. Bishop went and gave Siena a hug when she got here, it was so cute! They played really well together--the girls are so good to him!

Saturday we went to the library, went out for lunch and went to The Wild Rumpus, which is a great bookstore in our neighborhood that has real animals in the store (including cats, chickens, a ferret, some birds, etc). Bishop is a real animal lover--he LOVED the cats and chasing the chickens around!

Hanging out at the library

Eating lunch with Daddy's hat on

Chasing the Chicken

Chasing the Chicken

Saturday night Bishop played with his friend, Liam, while Luke and I visited Michael and Michelle...it was a great way to end the day! The Heller's have a dog, Milo, and Bishop LOVED chasing Milo around!

Bishop and Liam

Sunday we walked in the March of Dimes to support the Johnny Walkers! Johnny Kahlert was born at 28 weeks at 2lbs 2 oz and is doing SO well now (at just about 20 months)! We are good friends of the Kahlert's and they live across the street from us. It is an emotional day to see all the babies we walk for...and to know how little of a sacrifice a 4 mile walk in the COLD weather is. While Bishop is considered a premie, he was relatively healthy compared to a lot of the babies we walked for...nonetheless, we're in 100% support of donating money to support a cure for healthy pregnancies and babies, since my pregnancy, delivery and birth wasn't the healthiest....we are so blessed to have such a healthy boy now! I so wish I had taken some pictures, as we all wore the neatest t-shirts to support a network of "Premie Pandemonium" babies! There were all the footprints, birth weights and weeks of gestation they were born at on the back of the shirts--it was amazing!!

Toddler Room

Bishop spent his first full day in the Toddler room on Friday and he did great!! He's been visiting in the mornings and having breakfast there, but Friday was his first full day in the Toddler room. He played outside, went down the slides by himself, participated in group time, drank from a cup, and took a nap on a cot....and never cried once! He even had a friend scratch him on the face and he didn't even flinch. The teachers were very impressed and said that they haven't seen any other kids transition that well and they usually cry at least once. I am so proud of him, especially because he's going from a room of 2-4 to a room of around 20 or so AND he's young. Since he's not 15 months yet they had to get a variance to allow him to visit. I know he's ready and he loves it in the new room and we're ready for a 100% transition whenever they are!

Way to go Bishop--we're so proud of you, bud!

They took pictures and gave them to me, I'll see if I can scan them in and post them!

Easter Weekend

Easter Morning!

We had a wonderful Easter Weekend! I was able to catch an early flight home on Friday so I was able to spend time with Bishop (originally my flight wouldn't have gotten in until after he was in bed), so it was a real treat!

Saturday we went to the Froehle's and celebrated with Rich, Eileen, Jake and Father Alberic. It was a wonderful day!! Bishop had such a great time playing at Grandpa and Grandma's, especially with Uncle Jake and their "dog"!

Rich and Eileen used to have a Boston Terrier--and Bishop was VERY excited to see a "dog" at their house!

Finding his Easter Basket at Grandpa and Grandma's

Easter is my favorite holiday--I just love it.....I love springtime and the story--it's the best story!!! We started our Easter Sunday by going to church (just the 3 of us)--and we were nervous for how long Bishop would last. Of course the church (Mount Olivet) was PACKED and we were crammed in the last pew on the inside. Remarkably, he did great and lasted the entire service! I was so proud!

Sunday we celebrated at our house with the Bishop's, including the newest member of our family...Madelyn!! Bishop loves his cousin and kept kissing her over and over and over again. He was very gentle with her and very good, but I'm sure she could have done without a few of the slobbery kisses he gave her (she didn't seem to mind though). I'm so excited that they are so close in age!! Of course it was a beautiful day and Luke and I were fortunate enough to have some help with putting our new patio set together--thanks Dad, Shelly and Ryan (and mom for holding Madelyn)!

Bishop LOVES to kiss his cousin, Madelyn!

The Dad's and their kids

The Dad's biked to Maple Grove from Mpls, so the mom's went for a walk with the kids!

Great Grandparents Arnie and Marlys got to meet Madelyn for the first time on Easter Sunday, it was pretty special!!

We were reminded of how blessed we are on such a special day and Holiday! It was a beautiful day for so many reasons!

Busy Weeks

It was a crazy couple of weeks, as I was traveling for work the past two weeks. Two weeks ago I was in Long Island, NY and last week I was in CT, which was beautiful!! I loved CT! I learned a lot and had a great time training, but traveling is exhausting (especially with layovers on EVERY flight)!

S0, what's new here?!?! Bishop started visiting the new toddler room at daycare in the mornings. He has gone 2 mornings now and he's really enjoying it. He eats breakfast with the big kids and drinks out of a real glass (no lid)! I'm not sure how they maneuver that one, but they say he's been doing really well. Luke dropped him off Friday since I was out of town and I dropped him off this morning and I was kind of sad bringing him to a new room. I know he's ready for it, and I was surprised I was sad (he's just visiting after all)! :)

Both Luke and I were out of town one night last week, so Bishop got to play with nana and papa that night. His Great Grandparents Ray and Darlene came to visit and they went out for dinner and had a blast!

It is nice to be home this week. Bishop is so much fun and has so much energy! It's amazing how much he understands and how well he listens. I can ask him to do things now and he'll do them. For example I will ask him to get his socks and shoes and bring them to me and he will! I'll ask him to sit down so we can put them on and he does! It's great! There are more situations like that too.

Bishop can now tell you what a dog says and what a cow says and then he'll clap for himself after he does. He is OBSESSED with dogs--he absolutely LOVES them! When we go for walks and he sees a dog, he'll start kicking and flailing his arms because he wants to get out and pet the dog. I have to ask just about everyone we meet if he can pet their dog. Don't worry...we will not be getting a dog anytime soon, although I know he would love one! :)

He has also recently learned how to "make things work"...for example he can push the buttons on his books or toys to make them start up or make noise. It's fun that he can entertain himself. He loves to play outside and when he's sitting he's always crossing his ankles/legs.

I never really knew what people meant when they said "he's all boy", but I completely understand now....Bishop is ALL boy and what I mean is he's into everything, not afraid of anything and has more energy than I know what to do with at times! He's at such a fun age and he's able to communicate to let us know what he wants and doesn't want (including playing with the electric toothbrush--he ALWAYS wants to play with that). He's also a VERY good eater...there are a few things he doesn't like, but for the most part he'll eat whatever we're eating and then some!

Bishop will be 15 months old soon-I cannot believe it!! The time continues to fly by, but we're enjoying it as much as we can!

Madelyn Michelle

I am very proud to announce the arrival of Madelyn Michelle Bormann!! She arrived Wednesday, April 13th at 3:44pm...weighing in at 8lbs 15oz and 22" long! She is absolutely PERFECT and is BEAUTIFUL!! Mom and baby are doing great and they are adjusting so well.

Here's the history of her arrival. I was in New York for a few days last week for some training and Shelly had her appointment on Tuesday. Nothing had changed, so she was scheduled for an induction for Thursday (the 14th). I was ecstatic because my flight landed on Thursday night at 9:40pm, so I figured I'd make it in time for her birth. Miss Madelyn had other plans!! Shelly went into labor naturally Tuesday night and was born Wednesday afternoon! I was overwhelmed with emotions--I was SO excited to hear the news and talk to Shelly and I felt so bad I couldn't be there for her. My sister is my best friend--she is absolutely AMAZING and she has ALWAYS been there for me...NO MATTER WHAT!!! I could go on and on and on, but let's just say that she was the one who got me McDonald's after Bishop was born and I wanted to be there for her after her first child was born and I couldn't be. But....this isn't about me and I understood that I'll have the rest of my life to make it up to them! :)

Luke took Bishop up to visit Wednesday night. Bishop has always been very sweet to the babies at school and he's always been interested in them, so I was excited for him to meet Madelyn. I think he was a little distracted by all the other "fun" things to check out in the hospital..plus, his PAPA was there (and NOTHING beats Papa)! :) Nana gave him his own doll to take care of, but he just threw him on the floor, so we decided he won't be holding Madelyn anytime soon (or ever)! :) I am so excited for Bishop and Madelyn to grow up together and to be so close in age!

I was finally able to visit on Friday and it was perfect--I was able to hold Madelyn for almost 2 hours straight and she was so peaceful and beautiful! Like I said, Shelly and Ryan are adjusting so well!! We're going to visit this afternoon and it can't come soon enough!!

CONGRATULATIONS Shelly and Ryan! You are already phenomenal parents...Madelyn is a lucky girl to have you as her parents and we are so blessed to have her be a part of our lives!