Best Friends, Worst Enemies

These two are such good buddies.  They share a room now and seem to enjoy it very much.  In fact, Kadence has been going to bed much better with Landon than she was in her own room in Sioux Falls.  When one is not there, the other is very concerned about them wondering what they are doing.  They love to chase each other around and play cars, trains, and barbies together.  They seem to have the same favorite movies, some boy movies and some girly movies.  If I take Landon somewhere with me and he gets a treat, he always makes sure to bring one back for his little sister.  Although Kadence is pretty independent, she always wants to do things, "like Landon."  It melts my heart to see a 3 and 4 year old such good friends and I pray every day that they will share a lifelong bond.

But...

how can 2 best friends also turn into worst enemies at times?  It seems as though the past few days these two have been spending more time as enemies than friends.  They fight, fight, fight.  They know each other so well that one knows exactly what to do to get under the other's skin.  This is a two-way street, but does involve a bit of an instigator (not mentioning any names-Kadence).  Just when I think I can not handle anymore picking and fighting...they flip back to best friends.

It's a good thing that I love these little people more than anything!

Toofers.

I can't believe I am writing this post already.  My sweet baby girl who is just 5 months old has her first tooth.  I was shocked as I looked in her mouth and noticed that her lower left central incisor had poked through!  The other one is visible and will probably be making its appearance soon.  She has started the lovely teething process earlier than the other 2, not surprising curveball Kenzie!

For the most part, the little dear has been herself.  She has been waking a bit more during the night, but she is so inconsistent it is hard to know if it really has anything to do with the new toofers.  Growing up too too fast!

Easter 2011

We spent this Easter in Cloquet with my parents and sister's family.  It was fun to be back "home" for the holiday and to watch all 4 cousins and all their excitement with the festivities.  The kids colored Easter eggs together on Saturday and had a great time!

It is so fun to share in holiday traditions with cousins so close in age.  

We went for a nice Easter brunch at Blackwoods in Proctor.  The food was excellent and we were there at a great time that was not too busy. 

When we returned to the Skowlund's house, the kids searched for their Easter baskets.  They thought this was pretty fun this year.  They got all kinds of goodies and had so much fun.  

After the kids found their baskets inside, they headed outside to see if the Easter bunny had left any eggs.  It turns out he left a ton of eggs and all four kids had an absolute blast finding the eggs.  We were blessed with an awesome day for an Easter egg hunt.

 

 

The kids didn't really care what was inside the eggs, they had more fun finding them!

Ever try to get a picture with 5 kids 4 and under?  It is so hard.  I should have tried to get the picture before we had all the Easter festivities.  I still like the picture of Grandpa and Grandma and their sweet grandbabies.  

I thought this picture was pretty neat.  Annabelle and AJ wanted to hold their baby cousin so bad.  She loved all the attention and stared at Annabelle most of the time.  It was pretty sweet to see how gentle and loving they were with Kenzie. 

My 3 sweet babies on Easter.  Love them so much.  I just hope they cooperate with pictures better someday.  

One of my favorite pictures of sweet baby Kenzie.  I can't believe how big she is getting!  Love her to pieces. 

We had such a great Easter weekend!  It was busy with all the events, but great to catch up with so many  loved ones.  The drive home was a gift as well!  Kenzie slept most of the way (unheard of up to this point), and the older two slept on and off and were quiet.  I even was able to sit in the front seat the whole way!  I am very thankful for a drive "home" that is 2 hours shorter!

Surprise!

We had a surprise 60th birthday party for my mom last Saturday.  Her birthday was actually March 21st, but we had to have it later due to Ryan finishing up school and such.  It actually turned out okay because she had absolutely no idea.  We kept it a secret that we had come to town for the weekend, and had told my mom we were going to the farm for Easter.  We stayed with Jill on Friday night and kept her away Friday and Saturday.  This is a picture of her first walking in the door at the Cozy.  We had the four kids meet her at the door with balloons.  She said she saw Landon first (and before she realized what was going on) thought, "wow, that little boy looks just like Landon!" Then I think it registered once she saw the rest of the kids and we all shouted, "surprise!"  I think it was a good thing Dad was standing behind her or she may have turned around and went right back outside.

We had a great turn out considering it was Easter weekend.  There was even a huge rainbow right outside the cozy confirming the presence of Uncle Dave.  I just know he was so happy watching us all celebrate and even happier knowing how old she is!!

Amy made my mom a beautiful and delicious birthday cake.  Here she is doing what she does best, spoiling the grandkids and letting them each have a frosting flower.

It was great to see so many people I haven't seen in a long time and celebrate my mom's birthday in style.       Gotcha!

Baby Piper

When we were back in Cloquet Easter weekend, I was able to finally meet baby Piper.  Piper was born March 29th, so she was 3 1/2 weeks old already.  Jackie is doing well and looking great of course.  We had a nice little visit Saturday morning without my two older children.

Isn't it amazing how just 4 months can make such a big difference at this age?  In a couple years, 4 months will be nothing!  So fun to have a baby so close to my very best friend.

Let's not forget about one of the cutest little boys I have ever seen, big brother Rocco.  We got some play time in and I think I played 10 different sports with him while I was there :) Too cute.  Congratulations Will, Jackie, and Rocco on your sweet baby girl!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through resurrection of Jesus Christ...
1 Peter 1:3

5 months.

Lil' K is 5 months old today!  She is such a sweetheart.  She is very happy when she is happy and very crabby when she is crabby.  Kenzie remains my most challenging baby but also the smiliest baby I've had.  It never ceases to amaze me how quickly she can find a way to melt my heart.  From the day she was born, she has always known what she wants and how she wants it done.  I am pretty sure she will have an older brother and sister doting on her for the rest of her life.

Right now, Kenzie's favorite thing to play with is her fingers and her toes.  She is constantly chewing on her fingers and always reaching for her toes any chance she gets.  She also loves spending time on the floor without her diaper on.  She will just lay there and watch Landon and Kadence for the longest time.  She also loves pat-a-cake, peek-a-boo, and looking at herself in the mirror.  When she can reach, she always has her hands on your face and is fascinated in particular by mouths.

Kenzie has also liked cruising around in her jogger stroller and even fell asleep once (not unusual for most babies, but extremely unusual for this one).  She likes making "raspberries" and is doing just that in the above picture.  She has definitely found her voice and is in to high pitch screaming, not my favorite thing at this moment.

Kenzie's hair is starting to come in and reminds me of Landon's at this age.  It is very fuzzy.  It is hard to say what color her hair is going to be at this time.  She still has dark blue eyes that seem to change with what she is wearing and what kind of light she is in.  She has grown out of most of her 3 month clothes and is starting to fill out the 6 month ones.  She is still pretty lean compared to most babies I see that are close to her age.  She is still nursing well, so well that she thinks she needs to get up 2-3 times in the night still.  I have found that it is the comfort she is seeking more than the milk, but on a positive note it is probably what has kept my milk supply sufficient to this point.  Overall, she is sleeping better at night and is even starting to take some longer naps during the day.

I feel so blessed to have this sweet, happy, healthy baby.  Love, love, love her to pieces!

Easter Egg Hunt.

We headed over to the West Fargo High School for the nighttime Easter Egg Hunt on Tuesday.  We didn't have a clue what to expect, but decided to check it out since the school is literally just across the street from us.  Much to my surprise there were a TON of families there when we arrived just before 6.  Our night started out with a greeting from, Bob.  For those of you unfamiliar with Bob, he is the mascot for one of the country stations here, 95 fm.  The jingle for their radio station is one that is terribly difficult to get out of your head once you hear it...

Anyhow, little Kadence was deathly afraid of Bob.  It was unfortunate that we saw him at the start of our night as it made her quite sensitive for the rest of the adventure.  As the picture above shows, she wanted absolutely nothing to do with the Easter bunny.  So our Easter picture this year is missing her.  Perhaps next year the three of them can be together.  

I had to laugh at my sweet little Kadence.  Deathly afraid of the costume characters, but absolutely no fear when it came to the GIANT inflatable slide!  

These two crazy kids had a blast on the inflatables even with the very long wait in line.

The Easter egg hunt was in the dark!  Landon brought his flashlight and they each found their 5 eggs in the giant pit of shredded paper!  Then they turned their eggs in for a treat bag, how fun!

It wouldn't be an Easter party without decorating a cookie...

This may have been the kids favorite part even though we did it quickly at the end.  Yum.  

Lil' K was a trooper.  We are always learning something new with our family outings with 3 little ones.  Today we learned that we should have brought a stroller.  If not for a child, at least to throw all of ours stuff in.  It never fails, Ryan and I always seem to need an extra set of hands.  Kenzie was happy to be cruising around in the Baby Bjorn.  She just loves to be able to see what is going around in her little world.  

Our first family event in Fargo was a success.  If anything it was good entertainment for two preschoolers who are anxiously awaiting some warm weather (and sod).  

Ry's First Day.

Ryan had his first day of work today!  Yay!  He has been in a state of limbo waiting for some certification paperwork to get taken care of at the hospital and was getting very anxious to start.  It seems like it has taken forever to get to this point, but we are here!  Ry came home very excited about his job, very cute!

I'm Gonna Soak Up The Sun...

Kadence received a new swimsuit in the mail from Grandma Sue and was very excited!  She put it on immediately and didn't take it off until bedtime!  So, even though it is far from swimsuit weather outside, little Kadence is going to soak up some sun...inside.  I thought this was an appropriate post for today, April 16th, because we woke up to nothing but white.  Ryan figures we got about 5 inches of snow or so.  In December, very pretty.  In April, nothing but nauseating.  Here's to warmer weather!

Missing these guys SO much.

Here's my new favorite photo.  The O'Connor and Strasburg kids all together.  I have wanted to write this post for awhile, but it has taken almost 2 weeks for me to be able to do it without bawling.  This doesn't mean that there have not been plenty of tears.

I met Ryan and Katie O'Connor when Ryan and I first started dating.  They quickly turned from good friends of his to good friends of ours.  Katie was a heart nurse, so we had an easy connection from the beginning.  In fact, I often felt bad for Ryan (O'Connor)  as the 3 of us would talk "2 East" and nursing- knowing he usually had no clue what or who we were talking about.  He would throw in random comments and always cracked us all up which was a subtle reminder that we could probably change the subject.  I will never forget the time early on when we all went out to Johnny Carino's and Katie and I ordered the exact same thing, "spicy shrimp and chicken-NO mushrooms."  From then on, the friendship  between our families blossomed.

Ryan and Katie had their first baby girl Hayley in April 2005 and 7 months later we had Landon.  What a joy it was to share our first baby experiences with each other and spend time together in Fargo.  We had some great memories at the pumpkin patch and the little ones were all dressed up for Halloween together.  Then we shared our unexpected news of being pregnant again with the O'Connors.  I truly think that Katie was more surprised and scared for me than I was.  Having a baby when you have just a baby at home is a very scary thing.  Then there was the news that Katie was pregnant again.  Although their babies were not going to be just 17 months apart, I felt comfort knowing she would be right there with me.  In March 2008 we had our precious angel Kadence and 4 months later Ryan and Katie had sweet Lily.  I remember seeing sweet Lily as a newborn in Fargo and being so sad that we were moving away to Sioux Falls.  When Kadence was just 4 months old, we moved to Sioux Falls and just 5 months later the O'Connor's moved to Sioux Falls!  How great was it to have such good friends back in town with us!  Katie and I spent many days together chatting and watching our kids grow together.  They had become such good friends it was heartwarming.  Both of our families shared our first family camping experience with one another and it was great.  Then we found out Katie was pregnant again.  This was sort of a shock for them and we had been through the exact same thing with all the emotions just two years before.  Sweet baby William was born in May 2010 and 6 months later we had Kenzie.

We do not have any other friends that we have shared so much of our lives with.  Katie and I were pregnant together with all 3 of our babies, that's amazing.  Both of our families went through a big move with small children and we always had each other for support.  Ryan and Ryan remained the good friends they always were and Katie and I built a friendship that will last a lifetime.  Our kids enjoyed all the play dates and I know that Hayley, Lily, and Baby Will became a part of our daily life.  When we weren't spending time with them we were talking about them and being excited for the next time we would see them.  The O'Connor's house was our outlet when we were stuck inside, especially when Kenzie was tiny (and very high maintenance).  Katie was a great support for me when I was stressed out about Kenzie and was a God send while going through a very stressful time with Ryan finishing up school.

Then came the next big news.  The news that for the first time we wouldn't be sharing together.  We were moving back to Fargo.  Although we were very excited it was a very bittersweet time knowing we would be doing it without the O'Connors.  I tried not to think about it too much because it made me too sad.  All of the sudden the time had come and gone and it was time for us to move.  We had spent so much time together that I knew it would be nothing but a difficult goodbye.  The very last day we played at the O'Connor's house while our movers were loading us was also bittersweet.  The kids really had no idea what it meant for our families, but I know that Katie was just as sad as I was and thinking the same thoughts all morning.  Then Hayley gave Landon a picture she had colored for him and I had never saw such excitement from him.  He went over to her and gave her a big hug and said, "Hayley, I Love You."   It was so innocent, so sweet, and oh so very sad.  As Katie and I both observed the same action we looked at one another and then quickly looked away with tears in our eyes.

Friends like the O'Connors don't come and go, they are forever.  It's not like we won't see them ever again, or won't talk to them often.  It just won't be the same.  But often life takes you in different directions, away from the people you love most.  I know that we are where we should be right now and that although we may not spend as much time together, we will still have a great family friendship with the O'Connors.  We will cherish the times we do spend together  and find comfort in the plans of the next get together.

Ryan and Katie-Thank you for all the support, all the good times together, and all of the memories.  We love you all so much!