Happy Halloween 2010.

Happy Halloween!  Hope everyone had a fun and safe weekend!  It was a beautiful day here in Sioux Falls.  We had a relaxing day with the family and the kids had a great time trick-or-treating around our neighborhood.  The best part was Daddy was home and Grandma Debbie stayed!

We started a new tradition this year and let the kids paint one pumpkin and we carved one pumpkin.  They LOVED the painting!  Kadence painted the pumpkin for the longest time and had a riot.

Landon thought the painting was very fun but lost interest a little faster.

Love how hard Landon is concentrating in this photo.

Here is my 2 1/2 year old.  This is a new stage we have been battling recently.  The picture says it all.

The kiddos with their pumpkins.  They were very proud.  Landon wanted a happy pumpkin, so that's what we did.  We had so much fun doing pumpkins this year.  Unfortunately, it is unlikely it will be warm enough to do this activity outside next year in Fargo...

Here's the kids all dressed up and ready to go trick-or-treating.

The kids both had so much fun trick-or-treating.  Landon loved ringing the doorbells and then would just stand there and look cute.  Kadence skipped along and was so happy between homes, but shy when the people opened the door-except for the house where she saw a kitty.

First Halloween Party.

Both of the kids participated in their first Halloween Party's.  Landon had a party at preschool and wore his costume for the day.  He was very happy to wear his dragon costume and it was adorable to see all of his little classmates dressed up in their costumes too.  

He's the cutest little dragon I have ever seen!

This little girl was pretty bummed when she couldn't stay for Landon's Halloween party at his school.  She was so excited when we dropped him off to see all of the little kids dressed in their costumes, but oh so very sad when she had to leave.  There was a little Halloween party at the gym the kids go to for gymnastics so we went home and dressed her up and headed over for the Little All Stars playtime.  

She was the cutest little ladybug I have ever seen and so very excited to wear her costume like big brother.

Kadence loves to jump jump jump.  She spent most of her time on the trampolines.  Such a cutie pie!

She also spent quite a bit of time swinging-her new love.

Then we headed upstairs and Kadence decorated her very own cupcake.  She had such a blast and felt so special.  

I was so glad the kids had so much fun celebrating today!  

34 weeks.

Baby's growing, Mommy's growing!!  I can't believe the difference between my 32 week photo and this one!  My appointment was pretty uneventful.  Everything seems to be going along as it should.  Baby's heart rate was upper 130's as it has been the past few visits.  Dr. Kemper thought he/she was laying transverse and all bundled in my lower left side.  Hard to believe we have only 6 short weeks to go.  I have baby boy and baby girl newborn clothes all washed and ready to go.  I used to kind of think it was a girl...but now I really have no idea!  I guess we will find out soon enough...so exciting!!

A Weekend in Omaha.

The kids and I ventured to Omaha to visit Daddy for the weekend.  It worked out great as Kristy, Tyler, and Jessie came for the weekend as well.  It is always so fun to get together with family and our kids had a blast with big cousins Tyler and Jessie.  We hung out at Aunty Arin's house spending time with the beloved Leonard (Arin's cat) and taking several walks to the ponds.  The kids did great sleeping there for four nights and it was a much needed break for me!  They are always so entertained around their Aunty's and cousins.  

We visited a pumpkin patch on Saturday and had a great time.  It was warm outside which made it very fun.

The kids loved all the animals of course.  Here were some baby chicks that were perhaps getting tortured a little...  Kadence was eager to hold them and touch them and Landon was a little more reluctant.

Love this picture of all the kids.  This tire swing was the hit of the day.  I think we spent more time swinging on the tire swing than anything else.  

Tyler showing Landon how to drive the tractor, scary thought. 

Listening to a little magic show.  I think Landon almost fell asleep.

The three younger kiddos rode on the ponies.  Jessie looks like a natural!

Landon wasn't so sure about the ride.  He stayed on the whole time but just didn't smile a whole lot.  

Kadence loved the pony ride.  She was smiling the entire time!  She wasn't scared but I made Tyler walk by her because I didn't want her to fall off.  

More tire swing fun.  

Kadence's pink spider.  Once she saw the pink paint, she insisted on having something pink.  Maybe she has been reading Pinkalicious too much!

We made it back in time for the end of the Iowa football game (not that it was a good outcome) and had a great supper.  Ryan, Arin, and Tyler got a movie in and Kristy and I stayed back with the kids and watched a chick flick (I wasn't complaining).  

Sunday we ventured to Bellevue to visit the Carlson's which was a fun time even though we were all exhausted from the busy weekend.  

What a fun fun fun weekend getaway.  There couldn't have been a better ending to my long week at home with the kids by myself.  Well...I take that back, the Vikings could have won.  

Thanks Arin for putting up with Ryan and for the great hospitality!  And, also a special thank you to Kristy for getting up with the kids and entertaining them while Ryan and I caught a little extra sleep, they had so much fun!!

Missing Daddy.

We sure are missing Daddy around here.  So... we made him some Halloween sugar cookies and can't wait to go visit him tomorrow!  This is not the most simple task with a 2 1/2 year old and an almost 4 year old but so much fun!  I think they had more sprinkles in their bellies than on the cookies...

Mama Mama

Landon has started calling me Mama...

It started just yesterday and he says it almost exclusively now.  It sounds so different since it used to be mommy or mom.

I am speculating that it came from one of his new books he ordered from his book club through preschool.  There are several "Llama Llama" books, but the one we have is "Llama Llama Misses Mama."  He really likes the book and I think it may have even helped him through his preschool transition.

It is funny how quickly little ones catch on to things.

32 weeks.

Yowsers, where did the last two weeks go?  According to babycenter.com, the baby should weigh about 3.75 pounds and be about 16.5 inches long.  I guess that explains my many discomforts and complaints I have had.  My 32 week appointment went as expected with everything going along as it should.  The baby's heart rate was 138 and I am still measuring small for my due date.  I think my uterus has just embedded as far as possible into my back as I have had some major back pain in the past few days.  My inguinal hernia is continuing to be a nuisance creating unwanted (and unneeded) pain and restricting some of my activity.  I get so frustrated not being able to do the things that I want to and as I was able to before.  The baby is a mover and a shaker and has the hiccups frequently.  I guess it already doesn't want me to forget about it with all the activity with its two older siblings! With all of that said, 8 weeks is going to go by very fast and it is all so very worth it in the end.  I just keep praying that my husband will be here for the birth of our third (and most likely last) child.  But I can definitely see that the end is in view!

(photo from babycenter.com)

Little Loves.

I know I say this repeatedly, but I just can not believe how fast these little ones seem to grow up.  A few things to remember about this lovely lady at this point in her life:
~Kadence is just over 2 1/2.
~She still loves bugs and enjoys holding them and squishing them between her fingers.
~If you find her a frog (the bigger the better) she will hang on to it forever and be the happiest little girl.
~She wants to be just like Landon.
~She frequently says, "When I get bigger, I do that Mommy." Usually referring to Landon's activities.
~She is a toy hider and hoarder, bad.
~She has to take at least 3 books to bed and toys and animals and whatever else she can hold on to.
~She loves reading books and will read them to herself and others after you read them to her.
~She blames her big brother for everything!
~She is afraid of the dark and always turns lights on.
~She never stops talking.
~She always wants to play with what her big brother has.
~She loves her alone time with Mommy while Landon is at preschool but is lost without him.
~She still talks very nasally and very loud (ahem, Aunt Kristy) but very well for her age.
~She wakes up with a bad case of "bed head" most days.
~She still talks about Aunty Amy's wedding almost every day.

~Landon is almost 4 years old (whoa!)
~He seems to enjoy preschool, but doesn't really like to talk about it.
~He LOVES his weekly gymnastics class.
~He is a very sweet boy and shows a lot of concern for his sister and Mommy.
~He has to have cereal every day.
~He is still all boy and loves to wrestle Daddy (and Papa).
~He asked to have the nightlight removed from his bedroom and the door shut (odd).
~He doesn't forget anything you tell him.
~He still loves to play with his cars and trains.
~I don't think he is going to be a dog lover.
~He learned to ride his bike and actually likes it now.
~He is entertained for a long time with sticker books but doesn't really care about coloring.
~He is shy around people he does not know.
~When Grandma Sue is around, I don't think he goes further than 1 inch from her the entire time.
~He is not afraid of anything, yet.
~He is still a snuggler and I enjoy every minute of it as I know it wont last.

These two little people are so very fun to watch grow.  They change so much so fast and I really don't where the last 4 years have gone.

A long weekend.

Ryan had to work an abundance of hours this past week consisting of way too many 16 hour overnight shifts.  Thankfully Arin came Thursday and spent the weekend with us.  It was very nice to have the help and especially the company.  We made many park trips and ate yummy food all weekend.  On Saturday, we took advantage of the beautiful Fall day and Arin took some awesome pictures of the kids.  They are for sure my favorite of the two of them together and we also got some really cute ones of each of them by themselves.  This one is just a sneak peak and I will post the rest of them in the future.  Thanks Aunty!

Just wanted to mention that last year on this day, we had an inch of snow!  I actually had to turn my air conditioner on last night so the kids did not roast while they were sleeping-INSANE!

Nesting.

"Nesting is the term used to refer to an expectant mother's instinct which gives her a surge of energy which prompts her to clean and do various chores around her home.  Nesting usually arises as the mother nears her due date."

I am definitely here.  I do not remember experiencing "nesting" nearly as much with my first two pregnancies as this one.  There are two things affecting this phenomena for me:  1.  We have MANY big changes awaiting us the months directly after the baby will be born.  2.  Ryan will be going on his 8 week regional rotation soon.  The past week and a half I have cleaned out all of my closets-making two large goodwill trips, cleaned out the storage room (yet again), cleaned out the garage, and done some meticulous cleaning projects around the house.  Thankfully Sue came and stayed with us for 3 days to help with the kids while I was on my rampage.  I feel so much better now that it is all done!  I think I need to take a little break from "nesting" due to the fact that my inguinal hernia and my nesting projects are definitely not getting along very well!

A Warm October.

We have been blessed with a warmer than normal October.  We have spent an abundance of time soaking up the sun and warmth at the many beautiful parks here.  We have even ventured to the zoo a couple of times where there are still a fair amount of animals outside.  I am treasuring every warm day we have as I know it will not last forever.  I <3 Fall!

Harvest Festival.

Our family made our first visit to the Country Apple Orchard just outside of Sioux Falls for the Harvest Festival.  It was sort of a last minute thing that we hadn't really planned but had a great time.  Since it was late apple season and early pumpkin season, the Harvest Festival has a lot of both.  What a great way to spend a cool, gorgeous fall morning.  

The kids took a bumpy, fast ride on a train pulled by Santa himself.  They thought this was pretty fun!

Kadence loved her "little" apple that the boy dressed as a scarecrow gave her.

Landon ate part of his apple-because Kadence was eating hers...

We then hopped on for a tractor ride out to the apple orchard.  There were several rides some pulled by tractor and some by beautiful horses.

Ryan and I had never been apple picking before so were were amazed by the amount of trees and apples in the orchard.  So fun!

The kids each had their own little bags and picked their own apples.  Landon knocked more on the ground then he picked and wouldn't take the ones off the ground even if he had just knocked it off.  I guess that's what we get for telling him not to pick the ones up off the ground!

Kadence wanted all "little" apples.  We had to persuade her to put some bigger ones in her bag.

Kadence was thoroughly entertained with her bag of apples most of the day.  This is what she did with them right away after we got home.  She stayed at the table and played with her "big" and "little" apples for a long time!  It was okay until Landon started playing with his alongside her and they decided to "taste" several apples.  Oh the joys.  We had such a fun family day!  I can't believe that we missed out on the apple orchard the first two Fall's in Sioux Falls!   

The Next Step.

Well after a long month and a half we have found the next step in our path of life.  Ryan had interviews at both of the hospitals in Fargo.  With two interviews under his belt followed by two job offers, I can't express how excited he was and how proud of him I am.  It was a difficult decision to make as one of the hospitals was Sanford (formerly Meritcare) which we both worked at before Ryan started grad school.  However, the offer from Innovis was better and Ryan felt that it would be a better fit for him.  So, after much anticipation and what felt like a lifetime, Ryan accepted his first CRNA job!  Just as exciting, we know where we will be moving in just 5 short months.  Since we will be moving with a 3 and 4 year old and an infant, it is so comforting knowing we will be moving to a place of familiarity.  Our little family actually started in good old Fargo.  Ryan and I met there and that is where we brought home both Landon and Kadence.  The few times we have visited Fargo since we moved brought back so much happiness and so many good memories that we are very excited to move back. So, a painful 2 months with Ryan in Omaha for his regional rotation, a new baby, Ryan's boards, and we're on our way back to Fargo!