Dear Dec and Ev, Hi Ho Hi Ho

Dear Dec and Ev,

Hi ho, Hi ho, off to work I go!

I just have to thank you both (and Daddy, and school, and God) for making the last few months the most memorable months of my life.  I have never been one to believe that every moment of our life is predestined by God, but I know with all my being that He orchestrated the timing of Evan, Dad's new job and move to this exact time of our life.  I hope some of the stressful moments will fade with time, but I never want to forget the simple moments due to the long term effects of infant and 2.5 year old sleep deprivation!  Here are a few of my favorite moments:

1)  Meal time "dates"   and making meals together.  Declan, you and I cook almost every meal together!  And your Christmas present from Grandma Sue and Grandpa Tim was awesome...  You want to make all the recipes yesterday in the cookbook and carry it everywhere.  Now if I can convince you to wear the apron when we cook...

2)  Belly giggles brotherly love.  Peek a boo over the couch is now a big one too!

3) Library story hour on Monday was always a highlight of my week!  Evan, you always captivated the toddlers... "Baby... baby... baby" and they rarely listened to stories but came and stared at you.  I loved being able to play with you alone more when Declan "shared" (kept toys) from new "friends" (I don't want to play with them Mommy)!  Declan, you had fun with storytime, songs & rhymes, craft, toys and books though.  

4) Book nook... I am pretty good at saying no to things and holding my ground... but reading more books isn't always one of them.  I loved the giggles and snuggles and talks we'd have in the Book Nook!  Though I could be ok without reading Harold and the Purple Crayon for a few years! 

5) Netflix snuggles  Morning and after nap snuggles from you waking up Declan.  And when you nursed Evan it always slowed me down in the most perfect rejuvenating way!

6) Children's Museum in the mall and St. Paul really were probably my favorite field trip outings!  I love watching your imagination and play come to life!  

7)  Raquetball stair toss!  Declan, this has become your new favorite game when Evan takes his morning nap and your belly giggles are infectious!  Of course when I tried to video you, you didn't want anything to do with it and I discovered it is because you like all 8 of the balls hitting me in the face! 

8) Fun mini vacation trips!  They weren't stressful as I didn't have to stay up late getting packed and unpack like while working!  We had fun St. Nick's weekend in WI and fun at the Hinckley Casino/Hotel after Christmas with Papa, Grandma Connie & Auntie B!

 9)  Snow play!  We haven't had a bunch yet but loved watching you and Daddy build Little Pooper and Big Pooper snowmen.  Mommy and you had fun with squirt gun color painting!

 10)  Our first holidays in our new home.  Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's it was fun (for mom especially) to just be in our own beds and enjoy each other.  We loved FONDUE!  Declan asks for fondue every night for dinner now!  We loved being with family, playing games and with all the new toys!

Even though we were so busy at times during the move and being on the go because I'm just not a homebody, I learned and enjoyed more than ever that it was the simple things of just being with you both that made this leave amazing.  

And while your Auntie B is giving us one of the best selfless gifts in the world nannying with us, I think she will be getting one of the best gifts too enjoying the simple times with you both too.

Declan & Evan, I love you through and through.   I love you for who you were yesterday, today and who you are yet to be,

Mom

2015 Interview with Declan and Evan

I started this last year with Declan!   I thought this year would be more entertaining typing Dec's exact answers but he is in a "EVERYTHING ... ALL of THEM"... mood... so I had to pry more than I wanted too... but his thoughts on Evan's answers were entertaining and all pretty accurate!


I am this old:   2                      EVAN:  Idk..   (Almost 6 months)

The best show on TV is:  Einsteins and all the shows   (Daniel the Tiger, Paw Patrol and YouTube Tayo are his real favorites)   EVAN:  Signing Time  

My favorite thing about school is:  All the parts...  Jumpolene  EVAN:  Watching kids

The thing I'm best at is: Jumpelene     EVAN: Pushing Up

If I could change my name it would be:  Declan   EVAN: Sausage (we are eating breakfast right now...)  or Ducka Ducka (What Andy calls Dec sometimes)  

My favorite color is: All the colors!!  Yellow  (probably just his favorite fruit but he says it the most)   EVAN:  Blue

My favorite toy is: Fishing Game    EVAN:  His Toys... His book

When I grow up I want to be:  Fisherman    EVAN:  Daddy

I like to take these to bed with me at night: Book, Bubbles ( He is sleeping in two beds right now... an air mattress and sometimes his toddler bed... with a sleeping bag... )   EVAN:  All Declan's Toys

My favorite book is: The Rainbow Book   EVAN:  Flashlight books

My favorite movie is: Nemo             EVAN: Nemo

My favorite season of the year is:  Winter making snowmen    EVAN: Summer

A food I really like is: ham, treats, sausage  EVAN: Mommy's boobies

My favorite animal is: All of them... zoo in our house... giraffe  EVAN: Croix

My favorite sport is: All of them...  wrestling  EVAN: Racquetball

My best friend is:  You are (mommy) and then when I said someone not in our house or family he listed Adam, Eli, iZ, Sarah and David   EVAN:  Other babies

My favorite holiday is: In the Pools (after listing a few and explaining times with family)   EVAN:  Birthday


My favorite thing I did this year: Played a lot!!   EVAN: Watch Signing Time

Toddler Photography

We first started letting Declan handle our little blue digital camera as a bribe for taking belly pictures of Firecracker (aka Evan).  And back then I was so cautious... it was our honeymoon camera we bought with  wedding money... don't drop it Declan!!

But now the joy (and countless moments) it has engaged him, it could drop and break tomorrow and  have been worth it... (plus our phones take better pics now!)

Of course most of the 600+ pics I have deleted look like this:

Although quite focused... I had probably 40 shots alone of feet in different outfits:)

And 20 of carpet

And 20 of Mr. Pointer

But here are some keepers:

Selfie 

Tent he made for Auntie B too!

I do love how many pics of Evan and me he has gotten as this activity is often used when I need to feed Evan and I have had enough Mickey Twice is Nice Christmas on Netflix!  

"Momma, I taking a pic of the picture room!"

He helped me make Evan laugh during "photo shoot" but had his camera too!

My fav! Though I don't think Croix was a fan as the flash was on!

Sleep!!

It's my thing... I have said it before in this blog and will probably say it again, but I LOVE and NEED sleep.  (And a hiccup this past week with my 2.5 year old crawling in our bed has reminded me fully of that!)

I am VERY grateful I had two full term, good latching, healthy, not colicky boys. And I know there are different personalities of even babies, but when people say I am lucky to have good sleepers, I don't believe it was all luck.  Here are things I learned before my firstborn was here and thru child #2

1)  Babywise was the guide book I followed via many recommendations of friends who had 3 months old sleeping 7-10 hr stretches!  I knew cosleeping/baby in our room wasn't for me as I am a light sleeper! Has recommended schedules but so does a babywisemom blog.

2)  Eat Wake Sleep Eat Wake Sleep is cycle to start striving for from 2 weeks on. Premise is fuller feedings because baby is rested, and lay them down while they are in their zoning out, tired phase before they are asleep.  Really believe this sleep

3)  DO wake a sleeping baby during day to EAT then PLAY... DO lay a baby down to sleep at last bedtime feeding and middle of night feedings if night!

4) After day EATING and PLAYING, SLEEP baby in one or two locations where they learn this is where they sleep putting them down awakish.

5)  DON'T wake a sleeping healthy growing baby during the night. (Or yourself to pump unless desperate to build supply for work return.)   DON'T go get a baby at first sound in crib during night or nap.  Make sure they are up and not falling back asleep. 

6) Research safe sleep environments and sleep baby on back... and try stop swaddling around 2 months, especially if attending daycares... they can't be in swaddles there.  (I learned there were 54 infant deaths in MN in 2014, and 52 were preventable!)

7) Good sleep brings on good sleep!  Routines are important.  BUT be flexible too... even when you all start getting good nights, they will get sick, teeth, regressions, etc... but you know easier they need you when they have had good sleep.

8) Study their cries.  They will have a different tired/fussy cry vs a hunger cry.  My first would cry for 5ish minutes most times whether I held him or not so I was ok laying him down knowing sleep is what he needed.

9) ASK FOR HELP! Dad's and family need to know if you are desperate for naps or after feedings wake dad to hold if baby unsetteled

10)  Good sleep makes them smarter.  At least I read something like that in my other favorite baby prep book: Baby Brain Rules.
And because I could get chores and work done while they slept on their own, I had time to rock them and sing and play on the floor with them when they were happy and awake!  (But of course holding for some naps during tv show netflix marathons happened too, just not every one!)

Good "luck" Momma's!

Christmas Letter 2015

This has to be one of my favorite things to write all year as reflection and gratitude of the great moments always trump the hard times!  The few stressful moments of our year were also the best moments!  Moving and having a newborn filled me with wild emotions matching Declan's toddler extremes!!  Ultimate excitement and happiness, quickly followed by (unnecessary) fear and sadness.  But everything works out the way it was supposed to, and 2015 was definitely one of the best years of our lives!

Our travels of this year (and the next few years I'm sure) kept us close with lots of short trips to Wisconsin over Easter , to the Dells and attending the PGA Championship at Whistling Straights for Evan's first vacation! We got to be there for St. Nick's day/Timmy's birthday this past weekend too!   We didn't get to see and fireworks at Whiteface cabin this year awaiting Firecracker's arrival!  But our California family made it to Hutch to meet Evan before they headed back to the west coast and that meant a ton to us!  We are hoping to "repay" the visit and get there in 2016!

Andy is no longer in the world of blue tape and is now working in SAP (Systems Applications and Products) at the 3M center.  I may be getting a little too used to this "not-working" thing basically being "off" since June, but I think I worked 2x as hard most days than teaching!  It was a full time job relocating with a newborn and unpacking our new home, but my extended maternity leave couldn't have been better timing.  It would have been 10x more stressful if I had been working.  Back to HLWW in January and excited to see my students and coworkers!

 Declan is busy being a chef everyday with his "tool".  He loves books, Netflix, music, art, trucks and trains!  He is getting lucky still asking for new parks but completing our Hutch Park Tour was a ton of fun!   Evan is working hard as a 5 month old flipping all over and scooting already to what he wants.  His two brothers (Dec and Croix) are his favorite people getting the best belly giggles out of him!  Croix loves the new house since it is so close to a small walking park and a 10 minute car ride to a great dog park.  Bouncer and Fuzzy have plenty of places to hide from hug tackling Declan and his friends' that chased them all over the place at our housewarming party.

The winter snow we did have got us ready for the Christmas season with candy canes, snowmen and painting snow!  We had fun decorating our tree and learned today in the kid's Bible App why we decorate trees.  Declan is having fun finding our elf, Happy Glitterballs, every morning and kissing baby Jesus goodnight before prayers thanking him for his birthday month and being the best gift!  We will see Santa ride by on a firetruck tonight before we unwrap our Christmas book for stories! I love the fun traditions we are starting and continuing and looking forward to fondue on Christmas Eve in our new home!  We wish your family a Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday season and a marvelous 2016! 

10 reasons to join a (big) gym

Ok, joining any gym is awesome for you and your body, but these 10 reasons aren't mostly about my health... they stem around some random perks I didn't know how much I would enjoy when we joined "a big gym" after our move!  In no particular order:

#10: Cheapest childcare around... we pay 20$ A MONTH for both boys.. they can stay up to 2 hrs a time... do the math... way less than a dollar an hour if we make out 12 visits!!

#9: Mommy guilt-free me time. .. I am working out to be healthier to live longer for them, right??

#8: Me time... even if you don't wanna "work-out", hot tub or walk on the treadmill for the news

#7: Variety in classes and activites... I get bored doing the same thing... now I can continue to mix it up with Zumba, cycle, yoga, swimming, racquetball, volleyball, lifting!

#6: Save money on not buying hottubs, pools, treadmills, etc. you don't use enough and don't have to maintain.

#5: Use up all those hotel shampoos and soaps you know you take (while enjoying a shower on their water bill with no kids banging on the door crying that Netflix has stopped!)

#4: Blogging and reading blogs in the sauna... (That's where I started this blog!)

#3: Sleep better and have more energy... they say working out regularly does these things but always hard to believe until you feel it!

#2: Get some education with the free personal training consultation. It was interesting to use the body fat hand machine and have them working you to an intensity you maybe wouldn't push yourself.  Of course they try to sell you sessions with a trainer, and definitely do that if you can afford it, but I can't so figured there had to be an app for that!  I am using the JEFIT app for workout plan ideas to mix up my strength training.

#1: For us, reuniting with college friends who we played racquetball with has been a ton of fun. Even Andy and I having "date" matches where I make up rules to even the handicap bring us back to the dating years!