2015 Christmases

Christmas Report Card 2015

A Science Experiment, Mom!

Maggie was playing into my love of learning and science this morning.

Maggie:  "Mom!  We're going to do a science experiment!"

Me:  "Oh, really?  What are you going to do?"

Maggie:  "We're going to take Bode's cars and paint them, and see if they change color!"

Nice try, Mags.  Nice try.

Here's Four!

Our guy is 4 years old today!  If you've been following our new Twitter feed, you've seen what we've been up to lately.  Bode has the advantage of having his birthday fall around the annual teacher's state conference, which means three days with no school and lots of time to do fun activities.

Today we opted for a McDonald's birthday party.  Less for me to worry about - they take care of food, activities, and cake!  I did make Bode a Baymax cake to have later at home since, as you can see from his answers to the year birthday questions below, that is quite his favorite thing at the moment.

We love our Bode boy and all his smiles and cuddles and compliments, as well as his habit of turning any sort of long stick-like objects into weapons.  

Birthday Questions:
I am... 4.
The best show on TV is... Mickey Mouse.
My favorite thing about school is... playing.
The thing I'm best at is... wrestling.
If I could change my name, it would be... Big Hero 6.
My favorite color is... blue.
My favorite toy is...Baymax.
When I grow up, I want to work... with Dad.
I like to take these things to bed with me at night: my bear.
My favorite book is...Baymax.
My favorite movie is... Big Hero 6.
My favorite season of the year is... winter.
A food I really like is... pepperoni pizza.
My favorite animals are... giraffes.
My favorite sport is... Vikings.
My best friends are... Krosby.
My favorite holiday is...Halloween.
My favorite thing I did while I was 3 was... go swimming.

And Now We Are Six

Now We Are Six

By A.A. Milne

When I was one,

I had just begun.

When I was two,

I was nearly new.

When I was three,

I was hardly me.

When I was four,

I was not much more.

When I was five,

I was just alive.

But now I am six,

I'm as clever as clever.

So I think I'll be six

now and forever.

It's been six years since our beautiful spitfire made herself known in the world.  And our lives haven't been the same since!  We've come full circle as she was born on a Wednesday morning in 2009 and now this year had her first birthday since on a Wednesday.

She loooves birthdays (who doesn't?), so in preparation for today she made a checklist for us:

Wensday Plan:  Poptarts, Mom off (Mom does school drop off), Make cake, Watr (water?), Pant nils (Paint nails)

 So this morning after a breakfast of generic Pop-Tarts (her choice!), a quick shower and a change back into pajamas for the Homecoming week dress-up day, she requested that I do the drop off instead of riding the bus.

After Bode finished preschool, we joined Maggie at school for lunch.  Such fun to see part of her new normal day.

Birthday crown and cape.

She requested a sports-themed birthday party this year, which will take place on Saturday.  But she surprised us a bit when out of all the princess cupcakes available at Target Bakery, she chose these birthday treats to bring to school.

This afternoon, she and I got manicures before coming home to presents, spaghetti and meatballs, and cupcakes.  Then off to AWANA for crazy hair night.

A very full day!

As she opened her first present today, a gift certificate to get a manicure, she queried as to whether the nail salon was in Rochester or Stewartville.  "Stewartville," I replied.  To which she tried to clarify, "Pure Pleasure?"  Ahh!  Pure Pleasure is the adult novelty store located on the edge of Stewartville.  It's flashing billboard has quietly existed along our route to Rochester with no questions from our reading daughter, until today.  Thankfully the questions went no further this time. 

And here are her yearly birthday questions:

I am... 6 years old.
The best show on TV is... Alvin and the Chipmunks
My favorite thing about school is... library.
The thing I'm best at is... reading.
If I could change my name, it would be... Violet.
My favorite colors are... maroon and gold...and violet.
My favorite toy is...my new nail salon set.
When I grow up, I want to work... as a librarian at school.
I like to take these things to bed with me at night: my blankie.
My favorite book is...Frozen Fever
My favorite movie is... Alvin and the Chipmunks.
My favorite season of the year is... fall.
A food I really like is... pizza.
My favorite animals are... cats.
My favorite sport is... soccer.
My best friends are... Ava and Josie.
My favorite holiday is... Halloween and Christmas.
My favorite thing I did while I was 5 was... going to California and Disneyland and when Brooks was born.

You're Beautiful

Watch out, ladies.

I already knew Bode was a charmer, but that sweet part of him is becoming more and more refined.

Yesterday evening when I returned from a couple of school meetings, Bode stopped in his tracks when I walked in the door.  He declared that I was just "so beautiful."  Heart. Melted.  He thought I looked so great, in fact, that I should just go ahead and keep the scarf I had on when I went to bed.  Perhaps he thought it was a nice change from the normal casual duds and messy pony I don on at-home days.

Yet again, as we were getting ready to walk to his preschool today, he reiterated his admiration of how beautiful I looked in my scarf from last night by requesting I wear it again today.  He was a little disappointed when I instead changed into my workout clothes for a post drop-off run with the babies.

Seriously, gals.  This one is a keeper.

Nature Lover

This past weekend, I recruited Maggie to accompany me on a run (you know - trying to instill a love of being active while she's young).  :)  She was more than happy to come along and we ran and walked for a mile and a half together.

We hadn't made it too far into our run, however, when she observed trash along the side of our path.  She seemed utterly disgusted that people would litter our beautiful world and dedicated the rest of her time to picking up the garbage we came across.  Not wanting to discourage her, I did mention that it would be hard to bring it along since we did not have a garbage bag.  That didn't deter her in the least and instead opted to carry as much as she could before we got to a trash can in Kiddie Park and then reload.

While I know we have talked about not littering (I mean, c'mon, Steve calls me a tree hugger), this is just one more example of all that she is soaking up in Kindergarten.  I love it!

First Day

I have a Kindergartener!  I know it shouldn't be quite so unbelievable since I had almost a whole extra year with my fall birthday girl, but seriously.  It's sinking in that it's an end of an era.  I am SOOOO thankful for almost 6 years with Maggie at home with me, both of us learning a lot along the way.

Last week was Meet the Teacher.  An already excited 5-year-old became even more pumped after seeing her locker, dropping off her supplies, meeting her teacher, and checking out a school bus.

After a full weekend at Grammy and Bapa camp, she was up early and excited this morning.  However, in true Maggie fashion, she asserted her independence and tossed out every plan that we had made in regards to her first day.  

Mom drive her to school?  Nope - bus!  And of course, she wanted to walk to the bus stop HERSELF!

Mom lovingly pack her lunch on the first day (so I could add a special note)?  Nope - school lunch!  I did still pack a special note in her backpack.

Eat homemade muffins with the family for breakfast?  Nope - eat with the class for mid-morning school breakfast!

Yes, she is certainly ready.  

We tried to hop in the van and spy on her entering school, but alas it was so busy and I had no idea where to park.  Instead, we came home, and I busied myself in the kitchen getting ready for a Boo Hoo Brunch with some other moms and young children while the older siblings were off at school.

The day seemed to fly by for the most part.  When she hopped off the bus at the end of our street, she raced towards our house.  The first thing out of her mouth?  "That was awesome!"

"The Night Before..." books sent from Grandma and Grandpa

My helper.

Exploring the bus on "Meet the Teacher" day.

In front of her school on "Meet the Teacher" day.

Had to do one last Caribou date last Friday morning before the school year started.

This morning, Maggie ran in to tell Brooks she got to go to school today!

First day of Kindergarten. 8/24/15

Maggie let Bode trail her to the bus stop.

Waiting with the others.

Bode needed a hug, so Maggie came back to where we were waiting.

Consoling.

Best friends.

Here we go!

She's off!

And she's home!

First day of school snack.  Tradition copied from my bro-in-law and sis-in-law.  Stewie colors.

West Coast Adventures

Are you sick of the videos yet?  This one is a little delayed in coming, but back in May we flew with all three littles to California to join the rest of my family in celebrating my brother Andrew's graduation from medical school.

It was Bode's and Brooks' first airplane rides, and everyone did great!  We flew into Palm Springs and spent lots of time at the pool and just hanging out.

We took one day to surprise the kids with a jaunt to Disneyland, which ended up being extremely crowded due to 60th anniversary festivities.  Despite the crowds and therefore limited number of rides we spent the time waiting for, Maggie and Bode were thrilled with their first Disney experience.

The Dells Tradition - Vacation Number Two

As has become a yearly (and sometimes biyearly) tradition, our family took off for Wisconsin Dells for three nights this past week.  We spent most of our leisure time enjoying the waterparks at the Wilderness.  Maggie continues to love the water and even accompanied Steve on a dark tube waterslide called "Dueling Mammoths."  Both were quite relieved to see the light at the end of the waterslide tunnel.  And Bode surprised us by venturing down several waterslides that he had not previously attempted.  He needed some coaxing, but then kept requesting "one more time" as we tried to make our exit.

Besides enjoying dinners out at our favorite restuarants, Moose Jaw Pizza and Marley's, we also revisited the Wisconsin Deer Park after a one year hiatus.

Enjoy Steve's video!

Principal Conference...or Summer Vacation Number One

June traditionally brings the MASSP (Minnesota Association of Secondary School Principals) conference at Breezy Point Resort.  The past two years, Steve has attended while Maggie, Bode, and I held down the fort at home.  After observing many other school principals with their families last year, Steve invited us to come along for this session.  While his days were filled with useful meetings (seriously!), the crew and I found activities to keep us busy as we enjoyed some good ol' Up North relaxation.

Steve volunteered his skills at making a slide show of our time, also including photos of a few hours at the superintendent's cabin on Ten Mile Lake, a brief tour for old time's sake at Camp Shamineau, and a day and a half with family in Princeton.

Pomp and Circumstance

Congrats to the graduate!  The preschool graduate, that is.

After her class sang a couple precious songs to an adoring audience, Maggie walked across the stage to receive her rolled-up coloring sheet, wearing a miniature mortarboard.  Adorbs.  The program finished with a slide show recapping their year.

Cookies and juice were awaiting us in the lobby, and Maggie picked up the alphabet book that she had constructed over the course of the school year as they learned about each letter.  The teachers also had wrapped books for each of the children as a graduation gift.  Maggie's package contained three chapter books (have I mentioned she is a voracious reader?).  More than her academic proficiencies, however, I am most proud of how her teachers talk about the kindness she shows to others.  While we, as parents, are more aware than anyone of our children's shortcomings and weaknesses, we give thanks for the way we see their character being refined by God.

On to Kindergarten!

Six Months

Happy 6 months to this guy!

Can't believe half a year has passed since he came into our lives. Here's what he's up to these days:

• Still just two bottom teeth, but working on two top ones.
• Finally figured out rolling over from back to front. Even though he can also roll tummy to back, he often gets too frustrated when he gets to his tummy.
• Sleeps a 2-3 hour stretch at the beginning of the night in his own crib, but then likes to be up every hour or so after that, so it's easier to be in bed with Mommy.
• Starting to nap in longer chunks during the day in his crib.
• Can sit on his own for short lengths of time.
• Just started making drooly raspberry sounds.
• Now eats rice cereal, sweet potatoes, apples, mangoes, and bananas.
• Laughs and smiles when he sees Maggie and Bode.
• Coos at Asia (dog) and Toby (cat).

Sisterly Love

The other day, I overheard Maggie inform Bode,

"You made me a big sister.  Did you know that?  I wasn't a sister before you were born."

Awww, they really do love each other.

Future AFV Star

One of the favorite shows at our house is AFV ("America's Funniest Home Videos," as it used to be called).  Maggie desperately wants to be on this show and is planning how to make it happen.  Today she gave Bode permission to "be mean" to her so they could be on the show.  She just had a few stipulations:

"You can't push me out of a chair.  You can't push me off the swing."

"I know!" exclaimed Bode.

And that was that.  We'll see what comes of their scheme.  I'm a little nervous.

Broken Eggs

Thursday while I was working online with a student, my sweet children opened the door to play outside and our cat bolted for freedom.  This feline becomes quite adept during warmer weather at making escapes. If he was a normal cat, I'm sure this would be no big deal, but once outside, Toby turns into crazy demented demon cat. In the past I've decked out in protective clothing from head to toe and gone after him with a fishing net. Lately, however, I've found that I can simply chase him with a rake until he dashes back inside, with a puffy tail and the most horrible howl I've ever heard.  In fact, it's not uncommon to see me out two or three times a day working to corral this monster despite my constant reminders to the children to "Watch the cat!" as they open the door.

Well this time, since he escaped while I was preoccupied, I couldn't immediately retrieve him. So after I finished with my student I put Brooks in the Baby Bjorn and walked a couple blocks around the radius of our house. Even though I didn't find the cat during this walk (he returned later), the children and I did discover something else -  two broken robin's eggs that must have just fallen out of a nest onto the edge of the private drive leading to the town homes behind our house. As we observed the beautiful blue color of the shells, we thought they would be a perfect addition to the nature table at Maggie's preschool.  Since they were yolky and I was carrying Brooks, we opted to come back later with a Ziploc bag to gather the treasure.

When it came time for school, we went back to find a car had run over the eggs. The shells were completely shattered. Maggie was disappointed, but managed to hold her emotions somewhat in check as we instead gathered violets to add to her class's nature table.

When she came home from school two and a half hours later, she was proud to show me a picture she colored, chronicling our saga, which clearly was fresh in her mind.

A modern piece, it shows the eggs falling from the tree while simultaneously being shattered.  Also, in reality, I did brush my hair that day...I think.

I guess, as Maggie showed, art really can be healing, no matter how small the tragedy.

Brooks Eats Cereal

Jewels

I've been in survival mode recently.  Yes, it's been busy since I've been back to work after my maternity leave, what with the never-ending to do list, the baby that insists on being held almost every hour of the day, and the many activities we tote our family to and from throughout the week.  These past few weeks, however, the challenges have intensified even further with the onset of some major sleep disturbances in our four-month-old.

Brooks' six-hour nighttime stretch that I had previously become accustomed to, recently shortened to four hours and then shortly after he turned three months old, his first evening with a babysitter somehow set off a pattern of waking every hour or two.  Every night.  Exhausting.  Utterly and completely.

I've seen this poem here and there a few times during the last several months.  And I'm pretty sure it has made me tear up every time.

I remember the deep sense of loneliness in the weeks following the birth of my first baby; the feeling that the sleepless nights and constant crying would never end.

But they do and it does.

And with each tiny newborn baby, I have become more and more aware of the fleeting moments I have while they're young.

And so this morning, both fresh from the second consecutive night of only one night-time feeding, Brooks and I made our way downstairs before the other two got up.  Shortly thereafter, my sweet three-year-old shuffled into the dimly lit living room.  As we plopped onto the couch with Elmo on TV, I closed my eyes and relished his warm hug and cuddles for a few minutes, remembering the early mornings from a couple years ago when the quiet house would be ours.

I then tiptoed to the children's room and softly peeked inside.  My spunky daughter was just starting to stir.  I swiftly climbed onto the top bunk and curled around my still-sleepy first born as she giggled conspiratorially about our girl time.

I feel like I don't, or even can't, cherish these moments as much as I want to.  Life gets in the way.  Chores need to get done; work needs to be completed; each child vies for my attention in demanding and draining ways.  But on days such as today, armed with a good night's sleep (and coffee, of course), I am trying to treasure each special jewel of time that will be gone all too soon.

Four Months

Go Time

Ugh. Two o'clock in the morning. Ever the cuddler, Bode climbed into bed between Steve and I in the wee hours of November 7th. I rearranged my 40 weeks and 8 days pregnancy bulk on my small sliver of bed and just started to doze off again when I felt it.  The first contraction.

Used to feeling the regular tightening of Braxton-Hicks by then, I knew the ache of this particular contraction was different.  Could I finally be in labor? I rolled over to grab my phone from the bedside table and opened the Contraction Timer app that I had optimistically downloaded approximately three weeks prior.  Four minutes, four minutes, three minutes, three minutes, three minutes. After confirming a regular pattern, I gently poked roughly shook Steve awake to alert him of my progress.

Around 3:30 am, I decided to get out of bed, shower, and finish packing Maggie's and Bode's suitcases to bring to our friends' when the time finally arrived. Considering the regularity of the contractions at that time, I debated waking the children but opted to let them continue sleeping while I labored at home. By the time 5:30 rolled around, contractions were starting to slow, and I thought maybe I could get a little more sleep before they picked up again. Yeah. That didn't work. After about an hour, despite my weariness, I got up again and left Steve and the children watching cartoons while I took a brisk walk with Asia.

Seven minutes, eight minutes, ten minutes. The frequency diminished, though the intensity stayed consistent. I assured Steve he could go into work for a bit while I took Maggie and Bode to Caribou. The treat took my mind off things for awhile, and when we got home I settled on to the couch and turned on the TV again for the kids. Things started picking up again around 10:30 and though she and Bode didn't quite understand why I had to pause our conversation at regular intervals, Maggie was her normal helpful self as she fetched me water and tended to Bode's needs.

Steve brought home Subway for lunch and I then put the kids down for a nap while I again tried to relax and finished packing. By the time they awoke around 3:00 pm, I knew for sure it was time to make our way to the hospital.

After dropping Maggie and Bode off at our friends' house and swinging by Fareway to pick up energy in the form of Clif bars, we arrived at Olmsted Medical Center at around 3:45 pm.

At the entrance of the hospital, the security guard who had, the day before, assured me I was the largest girl he had ever seen, asked if it was go time.  Yep!  We checked in at the Birth Center and I was soon hooked up to monitor contractions and baby's heartbeat. When the doctor came in to talk to me, he didn't seem convinced that I was in active labor. He encouraged Steve and I to walk the halls and he would see how far I was dilated after about 40 minutes.

As we walked, I became discouraged thinking that I still had several hours to go. Nevertheless contractions were now increasing in intensity and were occurring less than two minutes apart.  When it was finally time to see how far I had dilated, the doctor seemed surprised and leaned over to ask Steve if I have a high pain tolerance. I was dilated to 7 centimeters! I was so surprised and happy that I teared up.  The rest of labor is a bit of a blur as things got more and more intense and finally it was time to push around 6:45.

Brooks William Gibbs arrived at 6:54 pm, measuring 21 inches and weighing in at 9 pounds, 11 ounces.  A hefty boy, he had to be on formula the first night to regulate his blood sugar, but was doing just fine by the time morning came around.

Maggie and Bode were thrilled to meet their new little brother on Saturday morning, and they haven't stopped doting on him since.  We finally arrived home on November 9th and I can't imagine our life now without our new sweet guy.

Photos below are from Brooks' newborn photo shoot with Studio 4 Photography on November 15th.