Monday, November 12, 2012

Autumn leaves have fallen

Fall came pretty quickly this year and the snow has started to fall....and stick!  The kids love being able to dive into the leaves and trample about.  Ollie is not too fond of having wear so many different types of clothing, but he is dealing okay!






Duluth has a very small (and I means small!) Veteran's Day Parade.  This was our 2nd time watching (and Derek marching) and I was extremely disappointed in their turn out.  I guess coming from Key West where the parade lasts an hour and a half, the whole town (tourists included) are watching and every military member that can, participates.  It was me, the kids, a girlfriend of mine with her two kids and a nice couple next to us, literally, on the street.  Yes, it was rainy and cold (it started hailing a little bit at one point!) but you know what?  My kids watched.  They said "Thank you" to every person who marched by.











Thursday, November 1, 2012

Loose teeth and Halloween 2012

Halloween has come and gone.  Whew.  October was seriously the longest.  month.  ever.  I thought Halloween would never get here!

Evie and Ollie went as a set this year, Beauty and the Beast.  Yes, she was Belle last year but she wanted to wear the same dress, same everything as last year (thank you, said my wallet!).

Ollie wore his cape part of his costume long enough for two pictures to be taken.  The rest stayed on until dinner.





Evie recently lost her FIRST TEETH!  She had two loose teeth, both on the bottom.  The first fell out and then the other, literally, 6 minutes later.



The tooth fairy came and left her *Fairy Money*.  I found it on Pinterest!  Its a dollar bill (or whatever you wanna use....I was gonna do $1 for each tooth!), spray it with hairspray and sprinkle glitter on it!  She loved it!  The tooth fairy also left a trail of *Fairy Dust* from her bed to the window and she is refusing to let me change the sheets because the dust will be gone!


Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Its been a few months since my last post....sorry!

Ollie will be 14 months in a week and is all over the place.  He is running, climbing up and down the stairs (though he wants to go head first DOWN the stairs), and running a muck anywhere he can.

Evie will be 5 in two weeks and I can't believe my little girl is growing up so fast.  Her attitude, well, let's just say I am not looking forward to the teen years!  She has two loose teeth (bottom middle and the one right next to it!).  I don't remember loosing my first tooth, but I am sure it wasn't this early!

Im too tired to be clever and have a nice story, so enjoy the pics.....


It's Ollie's first marshmallow!

Diggin for bones at the new Children's Museum


Enjoying our *dinner* in the medieval castle at the Children's Museum

Ollie wasn't quite sure about the crow puppet....


Fishing...

 It's fall!  Bring out the rakes and let's play in some leaves~






Monday, August 6, 2012

Its true. Your parents bed is much better.....

Where does the time go?  Ollie was 11 months old  yesterday.  11 months.  Good lord!  Evie is almost 5.  How are my babies getting so big?

I type this with Ollie sleeping next to me.  As *big* as he is getting, he still sleeps with us.  I have tried a million different ways and times to get him to sleep through the night in his crib and he ends up back with us.

I was never one for co-sleeping.  I wanted my own space, my own little haven for me to relax in.  Then came the kids.

Evie was a great sleeper.  She still is.  She can sleep in any position, in any location for 12 hours.  Now, she's a snorer and will wake the dead with her noises, but, she's sleeping! How this child doesn't wake up in total agony from the strange positions she sleeps in is beyond me.

Ollie, on the other hand, is his mother's son when it comes to sleep. I have never needed more then 4 hours of sleep to function.  If I can get 4 straight hours, I am gold.  So is he.  He naps for maybe 2 hours total during the day and sleeps for about 8 hours at night.  That's it.  He doesn't sleep for 8 straight hours though unless he is with us, in between us, in our bed.

I have read all the scary literature about babies in parents beds and all the good reads about how beneficial it is to the child.  Blah.  I just wanna sleep and if this means he sleeps, so be it.  I don't co-sleep for the *bonding* benefits, I do it for my sanity.  And for the sanity of my family.  You know the old saying, If Momma isn't happy, nobody is happy!

Now, I am not slamming the parents who co-sleep with kids until they are 10 (Mom and Dad and Lacey...lol).  To each their own.  What works for one family and one particular child, will not work for another.  After a while, after several kids, its just easier to give in to the little things to make life easier.

Will Ollie sleep in his own bed?  Yes.  Will he sleep in his crib?  Probably not.  At the rate he is growing and moving, he will be climbing outta our bed soon and his crib will covert to a toddler bed and hopefully, he will sleep there.  I'm not crossing any fingers or toes on this, but, it will be in the future....maybe.

If I truly had my own way, I would have a custom made bed, larger then a California King, big enough for both kids, Derek and myself to comfortably sleep every night.  But, sadly, the USCG doesn't pay Derek enough to order a custom bed of that stature.

As a kid, my parent's bed was the most comfortable bed in the entire world.  No matter how old I got, it was the softest, warmest, safest place to be.  It protected me from the loud thunder, scary monsters and just when I needed my Mommy and Daddy.  It seems as though part of my wish to become my mother is coming true.  I have fantastic kids, a loving husband, a warm house and my bed is becoming their safe haven from scary monsters, loud thunder and any needed Mommy and Daddy comforts.

Oh, here are a few new pics of my  babies too!








Saturday, July 28, 2012

First steps....

Derek has been wanting Ollie to walk for about 5 months now and he finally got his wish!  Ollie took several steps this afternoon.  They were very wobbly and he is no where near ready, but, there steps!

Here is the link:

http://youtu.be/1lqXpgGOk9Q

I can hardly believe he is old enough to start walking.  Where did my little man go?

I remember when Evie  took her first steps.  She was 18 months old.  I had gone to the bathroom and she followed me, crawling down the hall.  I was sitting there, in all my glory on the toilet when she decided to stand, walk the 5 steps to me and then sit down!  I was so excited that I screamed. It scared her, of course and I had to hold her and calm her down.  She didn't walk again for 4 days.  I think I traumatized her.

My children are growing up.  Why can't they just be babies forever????

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Happy Anniversary to us!

On June 29, 2002, Derek and I were married.  I can hardly believe it's been 10 years already.  We have had quite a ride on this journey of ours.  It all started August 1, 2001, when he moved into the apartment across from mine in Galveston.

Derek has just graduated A-School for MST and was stationed in Galveston.  I was working as a corporate meeting planner for Moody Gardens.  Our balconies faced each other.  We met August 1, 2001 and after a quick romance, married 11 months later!

We moved to St. Thomas, VI in 2005 and literally, partied until the cows came home!  We left in 2007 and moved to Key West, FL.  Talk about a life changer!  We had struggled with infertility issues since we were married and decided adoption would be our best bet.  Little did we know how much one little girl would change us!  Evie gave us the family we always wanted.  We were content in knowing she was ours and this was probably the only way we would have children, by adoption.  We have both come to peace with it  HA!

The judge granted the termination of parental rights for us and we along came Ollie!  If I had known all it would take was adoption, we would have tried that years ago!

In 2011, we moved up north, way north, to Duluth, MN.  We love it here, minus the cold weather.  This town is amazing, always something going on, family friendly and though its fresh water, a massive HUGE lake (Lake Superior!) which looks like an ocean!

We decided to spend our anniversary WITH the kids, going to dinner then taking them up to Enger Park Tower to look out over the city.








Our wild life is only beginning and as our favorite song goes.....

"The Road Goes On Forever, And The Party Never Ends"


Fun day at Lincoln Park

A few blocks from us, is Lincoln Park and it has a wonderful waterfall to walk around and over.  We took the kids a few days ago and Evie loved it.  They have a playground as well, but its a little on the big side for her.  Part of the park was damaged from the flood as well.



This is part of the waterfall we can't get to!





Ollie didn't wake up until about 10 minutes before we left!


Elephant Rock!




 Looking for a worm she saw on the path!



 What her pants look like after a day at the park....




Trying out the shaking bar!  She will do it with me, but not alone.



You can't see me!

Here I am!