Update

So, I can't officially say the germs are gone because my nose is starting to run again!! Andy and I are still coughing and Kaelynn is the only one who has not gotten sick. I thought she was going to but it never happened thankfully. So, we are not germ free yet. The other news in our family is that Kaelynn has decided to put herself on a new 1 nap a week schedule. I have tried putting her down more than that, but she sits in there and entertains herself through singing or conversations with her dolls until I finally come to get her. Her newest phrase regarding naptime is "No, I never take a nap. Never, Never!" The days get to be pretty long, with 3 at home all day long and no break- especially when it isn't warm enough to go outside. I think I have played Candy Land 20+ times in the last week. That is no exaggeration :) We are looking forward to another quiet weekend. If it warms up Andy might take the boys on a fishing adventure. We'll see!

Kaelynn's birthday video

Hi all,

Andy here.  Thought you might enjoy a short video of Kaelynn's birthday.  She insisted that she was only one year old for a long time!  Finally she now admits that she is actually two!  I guess women don't like to admit their age at any stage in their lives:).  Enjoy!

Andy

The germs that never end

The sicknesses are multipying at our house!!! I'm ready to throw everyone into a tub full of Lysol. Andy's been sick since December, Carson and I have been sick all week long, and Kaelynn is starting it now. And we got more snow yesterday, so the weather is not going to help us out anytime soon. I have never experienced cabin fever so badly as I have this winter. Thank goodness for something to look forward to. We leave for our cruise 1 month from today. We can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Other than being sick, everyone is doing well. Connor had the share bag for school yesterday and was able to show his class his fishing and hunting collage book. He is so proud of it and never misses a chance to show it off. I got up this morning and he had already started on another one. Earlier this week he wanted to make collage pages for all of his friends at school. He was going to cut out pictures of fish and hunting and cars for the boys and pictures of flowers and houses for the girls. I asked him why the girls couldn't have hunting and fishing pictures and he said that girls don't like those things. I told him he was very intuitive and he said "I know". He's humble too!!!! I hope to be able to write in a few days that the germs have made a mass exodus from our house. Pray for us if you remember!!!

Kaelynn turns 2!!!

We had a wonderful time celebrating Kaelynn's 2nd birthday this weekend. It started on Friday morning when she received a balloon bouquet from Grandma and Grandpa in ND. She also got a balloon butterfly and the boys got balloon dogs. She loved them! Thank you Grandma and Grandpa!!!! Then the guests started arriving. Grandpa and Grandma from Mpls. came down for the weekend. They went to the park and played outside and read books. The kids were in heaven. I was very glad to have grandma and grandpa here to help as I started feeling sick when they got here and continued on a downward spiral for the rest of the day. I got a respiratory bug and was pretty sick for 4 days. Today (Tuesday) is the first day I have felt well enough to not be laying down. Nasty stuff!! That put a little damper in the weekend for me, but everybody was so good to chip in and help and I am so thankful for them!!!

On Saturday, Katie and Rusty (or Frosty as Kaelynn affectionately calls him :) came to join the festivities. We went with a butterfly/spring type theme for the cake. She received a lot of wonderful things- clothes, CD's, shoes, a Barbie trike, a pack 'n play, high chair, stoller and swing for her dolls, and BOZ items. We had to light the candle on the cake three times because as soon as I would light it, she would blow it out. She definetly knew what to do :) The boys did very well at letting Kaelynn open her own presents and were helpful only when they needed to be!

Last Thursday we went to a friend's house to decorate Easter eggs. The kids did very well and we have some beautiful eggs sitting in our refrigerator.

All ready for church on Easter Sunday :)

To be like my brothers

Kaelynn loves to be like her brothers. She thinks she can do anything they can including climbing, wrestling, running, etc. This weekend she figured she better dress like them if she really wants to be like them. It looks like we are going to have to work on which colors go together and which ones don't when she starts dressing herself :)

She got to move to the 2-year old Sunday School yesterday. She shouldn't have moved until June, but they had an influx of toddlers into the nursery and needed to move her early. She did very well. She learned songs and colored a picture. All afternoon she sang, "Hosanna, Hosanna to the Lord!" Our little girl is growing up!!!

We are in the midst of party preparations for this weekend and are looking forward to celebrating a start to a new year for her. We'll post pictures next week of the party!!

Boys vs. girls

In the recent weeks I have been noticing many differences between the boys and Kaelynn. When the boys draw a picture it is usually a dinosaur or marine animal of some kind. When Kaelynn draws a picture it is always a house. When Kaelynn plays with her dolls she loves them and wraps them up in blankets and takes them for walks and feeds them. When Connor and Carson play with dolls, they are the catch of the day. They have either hunted them or caught them on some amazing fishing lure. They hold them up by one foot and proudly proclaim how big they are for me to ooh and aah over. I love that even with two older brothers who are all boy, Kaelynn is still my girly girl. I hope that continues!!!
We went to conferences for Connor and Carson today and received glowing reports on both of them. They are both very cooperative with their teachers and with their classmates and have progressed quite a bit since the beginning of the year. Carson especially has mellowed out and is doing very well. We are so proud of them!
Connor has found a new love of collages. He spent over an hour yesterday cutting out fishing and hunting pictures from old magazines of Andy's. He then pastes them onto construction paper and bounds the papers into a book. Here he is with some of his recent pages: We moved Kaelynn to her big girl bed!! I did it on Monday and was under the impression that she couldn't open doors yet (I'd never seen her do it). I put her in there for nap time on Monday and went down to walk on the treadmill. Ten minutes later she was standing next to me asking "What are you doing mommy?" Surprise, Surprise!! She now has a plastic knob on the inside of her door :)

Fun in the sun

We have finally gotten some nice weather and were able to enjoy being outside yesterday and today! It has been in the 50's with lots of sun. We went for a walk to the bridge to throw sticks in. The first attempt was unsuccessful as Connor rode/fell into a mud puddle and we had to come back to get him and me cleaned up. The second attempt to take a walk went better as I had an arsenal of cleaning products with. Thankfully I didn't have to use them.

It's been 4 months since they have played on the swing set. It was the highlight of the day!!!