Sisterly Love.

The older little miss Kenzie gets the more she wants to be like her big sister.  She does everything her big sister does.  I just chuckle when I see her following her around and copying her.  Depending on her mood, Kadence either loves it or hates it.  I cherish the times she actually likes it because they play so well together and it is the most adorable thing in the world.  Unfortunately, there is usually plenty of sass and Kadence shouting, "Kenzie stop "coppering" me!"  Pretty normal I'm sure.

 I wanted to share this story.  Landon asked if he could go to dance class with Kadence and I so I left Kenzie at home with Ryan.  She has been kind of a stinker about going to bed and we usually have to endure some sort of crying or screaming for at least 10 minutes.  Ryan put Kenzie to bed before we got back from dance class and it did not go well.  He said she screamed worse than normal and did a lot of shouting for "KK."  She must have finally cried herself to sleep and was quiet when we got home.  When I brought Kadence into their bedroom I looked in Kenzie's bed and it was empty.  I didn't see her anywhere and panicked for a second, then realized she was sound asleep all curled up in Kadence's bed! She is used to going to bed with her big sister and missed her so much!  I thought it was adorable and Kadence giggled and I could tell it made her feel pretty good.  Sisters-a constant love-hate relationship!

Eggs Baby.

Kadence has such a spunky little personality.  She loves music and dancing around the house.  She says the funniest things and is always making up songs and dances.  We recently watched Pitch Perfect a comedy about a college glee club competition.  One of the songs they sing is, "Let's talk about sex baby."  Now I know the song is probably inappropriate for a 4 year old to sing.  So you can imagine how happy I was when she had her own G rated version-EGGS BABY!  I laughed so hard.

Pretending to soak up some sunshine.

Here she was eating something chocolate and realized it was stuck in between her teeth.  She came over to me and said, "look mom I look like your Michael."  I have a slight obsession with Michael Strahan and she watches it with me sometimes in the morning.  Again, I could not stop laughing.  Such a character.  Love her.  

Landon 6 Year Check.

Landon had his 6 year well check today.  It was just a couple months late this year.  Landon is progressing physically and socially right where he should be for his age.  I asked his pediatrician about his toe walking that we were hoping would have stopped by now.  She gave us stretches to do with him to increase his flexibility in his legs.  His calves are so tight from walking on his toes that she said it probably is uncomfortable for him to walk normal.  She doesn't think he needs to see a specialist at this time so we are being diligent about the stretching and constantly reminding him to not walk on his toes. It is truly just a bad habit that he needs to break!  I also expressed my concerns about Landon being so sick this year.  He has had several colds, strep throat, an ear infection, severely swollen neck glands, and the stomach bug on and off since November.  She reassured us that it has been a bad winter and that since it's his first year in school that it's not all that abnormal to be sick a lot.  We did bring him to an ENT earlier in January for a consultation about removing his tonsils.  Landon has large tonsils and a lot of the symptoms that goes with it: bad breath, snoring, mouth breathing, and food getting caught.  The ENT physician said that at this time he hasn't been chronically sick enough to remove them.  We were kind of hoping we could just take them out, but we trust the opinion of the specialist.  So, overall a happy, healthy perfectly normal little boy!  We are blessed.

Height: 3 feet 10 inches  (26th percentile)

Weight: 42 pounds  (59th percentile)

BMI: 14.6

Kenzie 2 Year Check.

Kenzie had her 2 year well check today.  I have switched her provider to a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner who I really like.  She was so good with Kenzie and I think she was the first provider to be able to fully examine her without her screaming bloody murder.  She is doing everything she should be for her age and growing well.  She is still a peanut like she has been since birth!

Height: 39 inches        34th Percentile
Weight: 24.5 pounds   13th Percentile

Kenzie is a fun-loving, energetic little 2 year old.  She has the biggest smile and the most expressions of any child I've ever known.  She loves yogurt raisins, Emma, copying big sister, Daddy-O, iChatting with Aunty, Barney, the iPad, and Llama Llama books.  She doesn't like to go to sleep, be told no, or sitting still.  I love listening to her new words every day and it is obvious that her mind is thinking a lot faster than she is able to express.  She is very independent and wants to "do it" all herself.  I forgot about this stage and how much longer everything takes when they "do it" themselves.  I really wish I could just freeze her at this age for awhile.  So fun and still innocent.  Love her to pieces.

Crazy Vikings Kids.

Ryan ended up working all day Saturday so the kids and I spent all day at home.  They dressed in their Vikings gear right away in the morning even though the Vikings/Packer playoff game didn't start until 7 pm.  They wanted me to send the picture to Ryan to let him know they were ready.  How cute is that?

Needless to say we didn't quite make it to game time without baths and pajamas.  Kenzie was posing and begging me to take her picture on my phone.  She was being so funny and I couldn't stop laughing.

She has such a fun personality.  I would just love to freeze her right now...well, potty train her and then freeze her.

The kids then created this video for their daddy.  These three make my heart happy and they are just so funny.  Love them all so much.

Happy New Year!

We were fortunate enough to spend New Year's weekend with Gary, Sue, Arin, Holly, & Jack.  For some reason I didn't take out my camera the entire time.  I missed a lot!  I don't usually do that.  We had a little lunch and opened presents on Saturday and then headed to the Holiday Inn here to swim and have some fun.  Gary, Ryan, and Mike (Holly's boyfriend) headed to the NDSU/SDSU basketball game and the rest of us hung out and played cards.  The kids were so glad to see everyone and to have Aunty and her kitties at our house for awhile.  We were all too spoiled in Sioux Falls.

 Unfortunately, we missed the Frasher family but never stopped thinking about them and wishing they were all here, too!

Nothing like some adorable pajama's to ring in the new year.  How cute are these 2?

Had to post this one with Kenzie styling in her new play heels.

Kadence loved her new work out clothes, "Just like yours, Mama!"

We have had a tremendous year of health and happiness and I can't wait to see what the next year brings.  Happy New Year!

This Christmas.

Our family of 5 plus Emma made the trip to Cloquet to celebrate Christmas.  We all had a fabulous time celebrating the birth of Jesus and just being with each other.  Grandma Betty spent the holiday at mom and dad's so we all had some great time together.  Ryan, Curt, and I took the 5 kids sledding at Pinehurst Park which was so much fun.  Thankfully, no one was injured and we all had fun, even Kenzie!

 We went to Jill and Curt's church on Sunday as well as on Christmas Eve.  The kids were more than glad to be back home after church on Christmas.

 Grandma Betty and Mom.

Dad, Mom and Sofie after church.

 Kadence opening her Christmas Eve present.

And Landon.

Then there was Kenzie.  She was just so funny I had to post all of the pictures.  She is at such a fun age.

 Love this one.  Her face says it all!

 Then it was time for PJ's and putting Christmas cookies out for Santa.

 They were so excited about Santa!

And...this was the scene just minutes later.  Apparently Kenzie thought we were putting all of those yummy Christmas treats out for her to eat.  So you can see her disappointment when she realized that wasn't happening.  There really doesn't have to be a caption for this photo but man does it crack me up! It was definitely time for bed!

 All 3 kids slept until 8 o'clock (which is unusually late for them) and then were very excited to go downstairs and see if Santa had visited.

Her birthday and then Christmas just a month later-this peanut was a present pro.

 The kids all received nice gifts and had so much fun.  Kenzie's favorite presents were actually clothes and she tried them all on.  It was so funny and beyond adorable.

 Emma had a rough time.  This is where she spent the majority of the 4 days, sleeping on Grandma Betty's lap.  She actually had to be forced to come home with us!

 Always so good to see Grandma June :)

 We headed back to Fargo on Christmas day because Ryan had to work early Wednesday morning.  We had a great celebration and are so fortunate to have a great family.

 We actually had to stop in Brainerd at Perkins which was the only restaurant open to have our Christmas Supper.  I guess there's a first time for everything!  The kids were happy to be out of the car and pumped for sprinkle pancakes and we walked out with a $3 banana creme pie.  Not long after dinner I turned around and saw these two fast asleep and snuggling.  They looked so comfortable and adorable.  Kenzie was also fast asleep and even though we were traveling on Christmas day, Ryan and I talked about how beyond blessed we are to have each other and our three beautiful, healthy children.  God is good.