Backyard Painting

The kiddos are always begging to paint and I am always trying to find easier ways to “clean up” once they are done.  It was a gorgeous morning, warm, overcast and humid so outside to paint we went.  I put some harder protective plastic over the kids learning tower and then let them at it with paint.  They painted away for about 10 minutes before they turned the brushes on themselves.  Elin started it and as soon as Thomas saw the fun he couldn’t resist…Stella watched on not too sure if she would end up in the painting disaster or not.  After they were satisfied that they were covered I got to turn on the hose and they happily ran through until they were mostly clean and freezing cold.  Then it was time for a hot shower and getting on with the rest of our day! 

Mother’s Day Weekend

Mother’s Day weekend was filled with the people and things I love.  On Saturday morning we were up early to head to Thomas’ 1st Tball game.  Mike, along with most Dad’s/Mom’s were out in the field for the game helping the kiddos know what to do. Elin and I cheered from the sidelines, with Minny Mouse of course.  After the game we came home and then I needed to take off to go to an Essential Oils class hosted by one of Thomas’ former preschool friends mom.  Not quite sure how I feel about oils being the cure to everything, but they smell nice and I got to take home a free bath salt and won an orange essential oil.

Once I got home Mike and Thomas went for a bike ride and to try their hand at fishing in our little pond near our house.  Elin was still sleeping, so I snuggled in next to her and got a quick nap too!  Then it was off to the pool before heading home for dinner, bath and bed.  Sunday morning I got to sleep in, til 8:30!  That used to seem very early pre kids, but now post kids I will take anything past 7:30 and I have “late” sleepers!  When the kiddos came up to wake me up we got some snuggles in and then I headed down for coffee and more cartoons and snuggles.  Mike made Swedish pancakes with berries for breakfast and they were soo yummy.

Then I got my wonderful homemade cards.  They seriously made my day and I still smile thinking about them.  While I was at the oil class, Mike and the kiddos constructed/cut/glued these beautiful cards.  Mike even thought up the “thunderific” and “womb and board” cards himself.  Thomas presented me his card and told me that on the inside he had written “Happy Mother’s Day Mommy, Thank you for being the best Mommy ever and I love you very much!” 

After breakfast we started our project for the day…we started to make over Thomas’ closet.  More on his makeover in a different blog post! 

Thomas had requested to take Mama to lunch for a beer and fizzy drink for Mother’s day, so off to a Mexican restaurant we went, I wasn’t going to complain with not cooking/cleaning and getting a fizzy drink!  On our way home we stopped at Home Depot, picked up a closet bar and I scored a aloe plant. 

We went home, Elin took a nap and Thomas helped Mike and I work in his room, then he got to go for a bike ride and when Elin woke up we all headed to the pool for a dip.  The pool was chilly, but refreshing when it was hot out.  Then it was time to come home for some dinner with fresh pesto from the garden and I got to check over my garden quick.  The tomatoes are growing like crazy and we have several little green tomatoes already…yum…I can’t wait for them to be ready to eat!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a perfect way to spend the weekend, nothing over the top, the family I love all around and happy, and I told Mike I was feeling super content with our new life in Dallas.  Hope all the other Mama’s out there had a Happy Mother’s Day!  I feel so blessed to have the 2 and 4 legged babies in my family and to call myself a Mother. 

Drawing/Thomas works on his name

With Thomas not in preschool this year he hasn’t had much practice writing his name, so when we sat down to sign and send our Mother’s Day cards I realized that we needed to do a little writing work!  The next morning he and I spent a few minutes writing while Elin colored.  Then that night when Mike came home Thomas wrote his name below to show Mike.  Pretty impressive for a few minutes of practice.

Thomas Starts T Ball

Thomas started his second year of T Ball on his team the Indians.  They had their first practice and Thomas was more than ready.  He wasn’t hesitant about heading out with his coach and teammates and Mike and I got to watch from the sidelines and play with Elin.  Can’t wait to see what this year brings for Thomas and his teammates. 

On the first night the kiddos practiced running the bases, got to have a few at bats and throwing. 

While Thomas practiced Mike and I took turns watching and then playing with Elin who had crazy amounts of energy.   All she wanted to do was to go out and play baseball with Thomas, so we had our hands full trying to occupy her and keep her busy and content.  It was a fun first night of practice for everyone.

Elin’s 1st Night in her Own Bed

For the last few weeks, maybe a bit longer I have been asking Elin at nap time where she wants to sleep “her room or Mommy and daddy’s room.”  Her answer is usually “Daddy’s room.”  Up until this afternoon when she replied “Elin’s room.”  So off we went, I laid down next to her and nursed her and in 5 minutes she was out cold then taking an hour and a half nap in her own room. 

Again for bedtime we asked her where she wanted to sleep and she again replied “Elin’s room.”  She nursed and had her warm milk and then she tossed and turned, played, talked, got her tutu on (because it is a necessity for sleeping in ones own bed and then finally about 2 hours after we first started this process she was asleep.  Several times during her “going to bed” we offered up our room again and she happily declined wanting to stay in her room.  She spent the whole night in there waking up once at 10:30 when I went in the room to check on  her and set up the monitor, but after a quick potty break I laid her back down in her bed and she was asleep before I plugged the monitor in.  She then woke up again about 2:30 a.m. for another potty break and then slept until 6:30 when she woke up wanting her hot choc (warm milk) and a PAW Patrol.  What a big girl.  

About this same age Thomas explored sleeping in his own bed but it was more started by us, so we will see if this sticks or if it is a phase.  I have always had a feeling that Elin might be out of our room/bed first because she has never been a snuggly sleeper and she is stubborn and independent like her Mama.  Either way Mike and I are proud of her and excited to watch her make this next step however it works out.  Stay tuned!

Weekend Recap-Friday Night Dinner, Elin’s Birthday Cake, Swimming

Friday after our adventerous day at the arboretum we were joined for dinner and catching up by one of Mike’s life long buddies, John, his family and the couple that they were staying with.  Their son, Sam, is 5 and he and Thomas were like 2 peas in a pod from the minute he walked in the door.  Mike tried his hand again at shrimp and chicken tacos and they were very good.  After the kiddos played outside while we all got dinner ready, we ate and then the kiddos all settled in to enjoy some popcorn and watch Frozen, while the adults continued to catch up.  We ended up pushing the kids way past their bedtime and by the time our guests arrived it was already after 11!   We all headed up to bed and were fast asleep in no time.

On Saturday we got up and had a chill morning at home.  The kiddos were still exhausted so we got a few things done around the house and then it was an early nap day! While the kiddos napped Mike headed for a quick mountain bike and I got to construct Elin’s birthday cake.  We went with a lady bug theme this year as we often call her “little lady” and “lady bug.”   My friend Kami who was still on “maternity leave” also made her adorable shirt.  Elin was really excited when she woke up and I showed her her birthday cake.  I was pretty excited as to how it turned out as well, by far this was the easiest time I have had making, assembling and covering a birthday cake, I just might have gotten the hang of working with fondant?!  I will also say I am by no means an expert as I do it 2 times a year, but it is fun to play around with “adult playdoh” and create something special for the kiddos.   Once the kiddos were both up and the Ellis’ arrived we sang to Elin and she got to blow out her candles.  It was a lot of fun to see her eyes light up with her cake.  I think after having Thomas’ birthday so close to hers, she actually knew what the whole birthday thing was about and was genuinely excited.When the kiddos were nice and sugared up we sent them outside to run through the sprinklers.  T quickly bailed as his tummy hurt from sugar overload, but Elin stayed out with the other boys and played her heart out. 

Last but not least is the picture of Elin’s birthday balloons.  Every time we asked her what she wanted for her birthday she told us “balloons.”  This was fantastic as Mike and I’s present for both of the kiddos, along with Grandpa and Grandma McConachie was their playhouse.  Balloons were a simple treat that stayed within our birthday budget!  We had a great time celebrating 2 years with our little lady, it was a fun way to wrap up her birthday!

On Sunday we had more chill time around the house and then headed over to our community pool.  Our neighborhood has a pool and we have found that this is such a wonderful treat for us.  The kiddos would swim all day, every day if we let them.  The water is still pretty cold, but it should be warming up pretty soon, and after about 30 minutes both kids are usually out sunning themselves!

That night when we got home Elin and I were lucky enough to have 2 master chefs, who are very handsome, cook us some pizza…...yum! 

Well Child Visits and A Trip to the Botanic Gardens

Thomas and Elin had their 2 and 4 year old well child visits on Friday morning.  After a Tuesday-Thursday travel week for Mike he decided to take the day off and spend it with us, which we were so excited about. 

The kiddos both did great in their checkups, they were cooperative and there were not any tears.   I had a few questions that I wanted answered for each kiddo, we will start with Thomas.  I wanted to have his moles checked to see if they “looked ok” to the doctor. We also asked about his lymph nodes that continue to be swollen in his groin and the doctor was also not concerned with those.  Thomas was 39 inches and 34.8 lbs.  Everything else looked great and best news for Thomas was he didn’t need any shots, he was pretty concerned as we drove to the appointment.  He said “Mom, I know I am super brave when I get a shot and that I don’t cry but I still don’t like them and don’t want to get one.” 

For Miss Elin I had some questions about her cold/allergy tendencies and the fact that if she is around someone sick she always seems to catch their cold no matter what.  He recommended some extra supplements she could take to help boost her immune system and then said we could do allergy testing after we have lived in Texas for a year.  I don’t know that we will test for allergies, but we will probably treat her symptoms for them as all of us, mostly she and Mike, have been struggling this season.  I then asked about her belly button as it is an “outtie” and could possibly be a little hernia.  He said it felt ok, could be a small hernia but that at this point he would wait to see if it is painful to her, which she has shown no signs of at this point.  So all great news there, she too did not need any shots and her statistics were 33 inches and 23.4 lbs. 

Mike and I too were very impressed with the doctor and really liked him. Although I had Elin’s 18 month appointment with this same practice I had seen a nurse practitioner as this doctor is very popular in the area.  He books out well in advance and then saves several slots a day for sick patient visits, which we really appreciate.  All in all a great visit and nice to hear the kids look good and healthy and are developing on track. 

After the kiddos appointments we were off to the Botanic Gardens.  We started in the Children’s garden in the opposite direction as we had the last visit and were able to check out everything we had previously missed.  I am still so impressed with this facility and highly recommend it. 

The first exhibit was about growing foods and what foods come from different places in the world. Then it was off to the wetland exhibit, where the binoculars and coyote statutes were the hits.Again the tree house net climb didn’t phase Elin but Thomas was super cautious.  In fact he was not even going to walk on the same area Mike and I were on, because he didn’t think that it could hold us all.  Finally he and Elin went to a spot all on their own and then he came back and made it out to touch the tree.  Both Mike and I were so proud of him pushing his limits and his fears and overcoming them, in this particular instance.  Then we went to probably our favorite exhibit of the area.  It is the area for kids under 5 and it has the play house, sand box and a few water play features.  It was about noon by this point and already 80ish degrees.  We spent a good 45 minutes in this area and then we were all ready for a late lunch.  The kiddos too were starting to show how tired they were getting.  We headed over to the little café and Thomas ordered for he and Mike.  He politly told the waitress that he and his Dad would “both take the chicken salad sandwich.”  Mike and I were giggling, he loves being just like his Daddy.   Following lunch we checked out the rose garden which smelt absolutely heavenly.  I love the smell of roses and roses in general, Mike on the other hand isn’t a big fan.  Hopefully when we redo the front landscaping we can add a few rose bushes in for me!We then strolled through the “test gardens” to see what we could.  This is an area that is strictly for testing different plants from different nurseries to see how they grow stand up to the climate in North Texas. As we walked to the water fountain area their was a nice woman that saw me taking a picture of Mike and the kiddos and offered to take a family picture, yaay1  Love having a picture of all 4 (or well 5 of us) even if it shows how big this belly (and I) and getting.  Then it was time to enjoy the water feature and the kids burned their last ounces of energy.  When they were good and tired we dried them off, changed their clothes and headed to the car.  Elin was asleep before we got out of the parking lot, Thomas was soon behind.  Mike and I took the time to chill together and then he stopped at the grocery store.  I kept the kiddos in the car snoozing and all was well.  They both took a long car nap and then were ready for the night of fun we had planned.  More on that in the next post!

Elin’s “mini” celebration

On Elin’s actual birthday Mike was traveling and out of town, so we did our best to make her feel special without him here while waiting for the weekend to “really celebrate.” 

The morning started with Thomas heading to the inside play area with Anna and crew and E and I having some alone time.  We had to wait at the house for the insurance adjusters to finish assessing the damage from our hail storm earlier in the month.  Once they finished we headed out the door to go do a little shopping adventure at Costco with Anna and the boys.

After enjoying our Costco trip, especially the samples, we headed to lunch.  Apparently the little lady had filled her belly enough that she crashed in the car. I pulled her out of her seat and she wasn’t about to wake up.   In fact when Thomas and I had to go to the bathroom, I needed to lay her down to wash my hands and she still didn’t wake up, I guess turning 2 is exhausting.  She slept through the entire lunch so T and I had a great lil lunch date. 

We then headed home for some chill and play time before we were heading to a pizza party dinner.  This gave me a chance to make some brownies quick.  When she came in and saw the mixer working she happily said “ahhh its my birthday cake!”  It was really sweet.  After our brownies were finished we packed up and headed over the the Ellis’ house for our pizza dinner.  Their dad was traveling too so it was the mommies and kiddos.    Elin and the boys played in the sandbox and with the “moon sand” until the highlight of Elin’s night, getting to hold baby Presley!  Elin was absolutely smitten!Following dinner the kiddos got to dive into their brownies.  In true Elin eating fashion, the fork was tossed and she was diving in mouth first.  The older boys thought this was too silly and then she couln’t help but keep up the show. By the time we got home she crashed without even taking off her party dress.  I think that her actual birthday was a success even if Daddy wasn’t around. 

Elin is 2

Our wild, feisty, cheerful, smiley little “Baby E” is a 2 year old!  She is such a little love and is fiercely independent.  She packs a ton of personality in to her tiny little body and isn’t afraid of much (except guys and coyotes-more on that later!)  She currently has a few nicknames that are sticking around: “E,””little lady,” “lady bug ,” “sweet pea” (her Daddy’s), and “chaos.”  It is hard to believe that 2 years, 730 days, 24 months or any amount of time has passed since she joined our family.  I cannot help but feel an overwhelming sense of joy and pride as I watch her continue to grow into the fantastic spunky charismatic little girl that she is, not that I am biased or anything right?!

Her personality is, with most children, truly unique.  She is like sugar and spice, she has the sweetest disposition but a streak of wild and feisty.  Hands down Elin is a tough little cookie and she reminds me a lot of myself.  Mike and I often giggle thinking about what she will be like, and how our relationship is now and will be as she continues to grow.  What I enjoy is that I can for the most part understand and see where her intentions/motivations are and it helps us immensely when it comes to “figuring her out.”   Although she can be just straight out wicked landing a punch or pinch on mostly Thomas, the majority of the time she is very kind. She is the first one to run over and help with a crying baby or little kid who needs help.  When she gets into trouble, especially if it was an unintentional thing (for instance she didn’t realize throwing her cup without a lid with frozen peas everywhere would create a huge mess) you can see in her eyes that there is a part of her completely devastated that she just made a boo boo.  One of the other personality traits that is already very evident is her determination, once she has her mind made up, it is made up.  This makes her both very successful in completing things and also super hard to redirect if what she wants to do can’t happen or isn’t safe.  This is the best I can do to put this little love into a personality nutshell.

Her speech and language continues to excel and blows people, even me, out of the water.  She is coming up with 7+ word sentences, asking questions, telling us how she feels, what she is doing and for the most part remembers to use her words instead of scream or crying.  My favorite is when I am on the phone with my SLP/therapy friends and they hear her talking and they ask me to remind them how old she is.   This also makes it much easier for her to have her needs met and therefore helps us reduce her amount of “tantrums.”  She knows a lot of her colors, her basic (eyes, ears, hand, ect) and secondary body parts (elbows, knees, hair, cheeks, ect), she loves to sing and is starting to try to “boss” her brother around.  

She is a physical little girl who has a ton of energy and loves to run, swim and climb.  She is completely fearless when it comes to any of these things, so we are constantly trying to keep her safe and save her from herself.  She has just started to try to petal her tricycle, but if Thomas is riding his bike she would still prefer to run behind him.  She has so much stamina for running it is slightly nuts.  I remember this with Thomas as well, but it just seems crazy to watch her little legs go a hundred miles and hour and for a long time.  She can run all the way to the park which is by our house and refuses to go in the stroller on the way there, on the way home I can usually coax her in with a snack/water.  If Thomas is doing something she isn’t far behind him and she will push herself until she can do it, like climbing huge ladders at the park or going down super scary (to us) slides.  There are even things that Thomas won’t dare do/try and she is all in.  Most of the time we call her the “crazy lady” or “danger mouse.”  Thankfully, Whitney (Seattle friend) introduced me to her danger mouse and I have learned a lot about how to keep this little one safe from herself most of the time.  What this means is that Elin, much like her Mama, if you tell her “no or don’t do that” she will find a way to do it just to prove to you she could.  So teaching her to do things, explore, run, climb and jump safely is the name of the game in our world now, because telling her to not do it doesn’t work out so well.

Elin loves to dress herself when she decides that wearing clothes is a good idea.  She is still running around naked or near naked 3/4ths of her life.  She understands that she needs to wear clothes when we leave the house but when she is home she like to rock her cute little buns.  She usually goes through a few outfits a day between taking them off, playing hard, and food.  She is able to get all pieces of clothing (shirt, pants, undies, socks, shoes) both on and off.  Socks sometimes trip her up or she decides that after she has put one on she would rather be helped with the other.  She helps us pick out her clothes and usually she has something to say about it.  Choices help us with this daily task immensely.   E is still pretty petite and is currently wearing size 18 months-24 month clothing. Some of her 2T stuff fits her it is just a little big.  We are finding this slow and steady growth to be nice as she is able to wear her clothes big at first and then grow into them so she wears things for about a year before outgrowing them. 

Our tiny little bug continues to be a messy and experimental eater.  She is able to use a fork and spoon well but finds that her hands deliver more food and quicker.  Many meals she will try to combine things in “different” and weird to us ways, it isn’t unusual for her to have her corn dipped in her milk or something similar, she is always mixing and blending as she eats.  She is not a picky eater, but doesn’t always eat a whole lot, depending on the meal and how much she likes what we are having.  Some meals she grazes and other meals we can’t believe how much she has eaten.  She is still nursing before her nap and bedtime and then will also have warm milk (her hot choc) most nights. 

She is sleeping from about 8 p.m. to 7 a.m in our room, naked or sometimes with a t shirt on.  She wakes up to go potty 2 sometimes 3 times a night, we try to sneak a diaper on her after she is asleep, but many nights she takes it off.  When she wakes up we take her to the bathroom and then we can lay her back down  and almost immediately she is asleep again.  She is also a funny sleeper because she likes to fall asleep with her head smashed straight into the bed, which super scares me about her breathing, somehow though it works for her.  She has started to occasionally have a bad dream here and there and will let us know “I had a bad dream” through her sobs.  We can also usually tell because she will hold her hands over her eyes as tight as possible and then we have her “poof” the bad dreams away.  I really don’t like this part of the kiddos imagination development, it is so hard to see them so sad/upset from a dream.  

She loves her babies, horses, cows, animals, playing in the sandbox and backyard.  She is also a super fan of Stella, Tucker and Itzy and has also fallen in love with the neighbors yellow lab Zug Zug.  Books are also her thing and she could spend hours with you reading books and looking at the pictures. Elin loves doing art projects and drawing/writing with markers/colors/paints, true to a 2 year old and her the messier the better.  She loves to paint and cover herself head to toe in color.  She has some great independent play skills, but for the most part is playing along with Thomas.  Socially she doesn’t have many friends that are her age yet, but she has a few, and we are working on this, but she does hang out with Thomas and his buddies.  When they are around she is usually playing with them for a bit and then will go do her own independent play.  She is doing a good job with taking turns and “sharing” her stuff, but with a big brother around she is also a little bit of a scrapper.  If someone tries to take her toy she has no problem holding on for dear life, and if they get it she will try to bop them on the head.  We are obviously working on this but it is nice to see she will stick up for herself and hold her own, even to kids 2 to 3 times her size.  She also loves to be the big helper and try to take care of the kiddos her age an any baby.  She, like Thomas, becomes quite concerned when they hear a baby crying and want to fix it.  She says she is very excited about being a big sister and getting to help with the new baby. 

All in all our little bundle of energy is a sweet and feisty little thing.  She is eccentric and marches to the beat of her own drum.  We cannot imagine our life without her keeping us on our toes and making us constantly giggle.  We love you baby girl, and cannot believe we have had you with us for 2 years already.  We cannot wait to love you and nurture you while you grow you are truly a blessing and a gift. 

 

A few of her favorites:

Shows: PAW Patrol, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (specifically Mickey had a farm), and Sheriff Callie’s Wild Wild West.

Activities: Playing with her babies/stuffed animals, doing anything with Thomas, reading books, playing in the water/sand outside.

Foods:

Meats: Chicken

Veggies: Avocados, Snap peas, frozen peas, carrots, red peppers

Fruits: Grapes, Apples, Strawberries, watermelon, black berries

Other: Rice, chicken noodle soup, guacamole, cheese, dunkin’ eggs

Elin Answers: (these were fun to hear)

What is your name? “Elin Laschen”

Where do you live? “In Elin’s room”

Who is in your family?  “My babies”

What is your favorite toy? “I play with stelly, I love stelly”

What is your favorite thing to play? “I play with my stuff”

What is your favorite color?  “Pink like my paint on toes”

What is your favorite thing to eat? “I eat all my stuff in my belly”

What do you want to be when you grow up? “I count two look at Elin big muscles look at Elin’s ninnies mommy”

What is your favorite thing to drink? “I just eat my milk”

What are your thoughts on turning 2? “good”

Smorgus Board of Our Lives

I absolutely love this picture of these two…couldn’t help but post it twice

Afternoon naptime…

“Look Mom this carrot has legs…can we send a picture of this to Dad at work?”

Thomas and his buddy hanging out in the playhouse

Sleepy Stelly McAbelly

A sick stuffy Elin baby…she handed me her carried and wanted “in please Mommy.”  Guess it is still one of her comfort/happy places.  Glad that even with a growing baby bump I can still make it work for she, I, and the new little bug.

Sleepy nap hair

Imitating Mom and Dad?  Elin has the camera and Thomas is fixing the chair with a screw driver

Almost 2 or 16???

Changed upstairs and walked downstairs to no kids…where were they?  Oh of course they were in the garage in the car playing “Daddy and Mommy driving on a trip.”

Thomas and Tucker snuggling while watching a show

At one of my doctor visits popping bubbles to occupy themselves

90 degrees in April means these kids are constantly trying to be naked and in water…thankfully we have a big privacy fence.

Rockin’ out with the guitar

Crazy Elin after an afternoon at the pool

The prettiest giant one

Every girl loves her heels

Naptime snuggles with Tucker