Sophie-isms

Jan called me today after picking the kids up to take back to her house. They saw a purple car while they were driving. Sophie's reaction? "In all my life I have never seen a purple car!"

Then when asked why she is rubbing her eyes, "my tacts (aka contacts) are bothering me." No she does not wear contacts but now that she has seen Mike and I put them in our eyes so often, she likes to pretend she has "tacts" too. She probably won't be as thrilled when she most likely needs glasses/contacts later on in life.

This girl is FUNNY. I don't know where she comes up with half of these things.

p.s. in case you were wondering about how Sophie is going to sleep at night these days...after 2 nights of these screaming fits, we finally figured out that we think she is dreaming about a wolf. So "scary wolf" now sleeps on a blanket outside of her door. It seems to have worked. She told her Oma today that "scary wolf does not come into Sophie's room." This wild imagination of hers came quickly out of nowhere and it sure is fun to watch, but I can see some crazy times ahead as well!

it's official...

Jackson's first tooth broke through!  Apparently our kids like to teeth early as Sophie was just about the same age (almost exactly) when she got her first tooth.  I'm starting to realize that Jackson isn't my little newborn baby anymore. It's a little sad but exciting too. Mr. Smiley seems to have quite the personality that I can't wait to watch develop!  I won't even try and show you a picture of the tooth...well, at least until it's a little bigger :)

sleep...

Today was just one of those days.  Jackson was a little crabby...he has a tooth just waiting to pop through, I think it was a little uncomfortable for him today.  He didn't take very good naps today at all.  Sophie decided this was the day to make going down for a nap or going to bed nearly impossible and trying our patience to near limits.  This included screaming, crying, getting out of her room...it was great fun.  She FINALLY fell asleep for her nap. When I went to peek in on her, I had trouble opening the door as she was sleeping on the floor right by it.  We're hoping that this really was just one of those days and not a new trend, but we'll see!

not the best picture but this is what I saw as I was trying to open her door

I had no idea the floor would be so comfortable...

while I was trying to get Sophie down for the night, Mike was feeding Jackson. When I came downstairs , this is what I found.

after we were done getting stuff ready for tomorrow, I went to get Jackson and found him well protected

4 months

Jackson turned 4 months old last Friday.  He is getting so big and seems to be all of a sudden growing up so quickly (the first 3 months or so seemed to go by really slowly for us!).  His stats are:  16 lbs (71%) and 26 in (84%).  He's about the size of a typical 9 month old (:  He is eating like a champ and we've added a morning cereal feeding to help him get through the day.  Formula just isn't cutting it for him anymore!  He is close to sitting up by himself, but his favorite position is standing up.  He is starting to enjoy his exersaucer more and can entertain himself for a bit of time.  We think teeth are coming soon (Sophie was about the same age when she got her first one too).  We're still waiting on those full nights of sleep, but it's getting close.  If he would just stay un-congested and full, he'd easily be sleeping through the night.  We're getting there though. And, pretty much the look in these pictures is constant...he's only crabby when he gets hungry or tired.  Otherwise, it's a huge smile...all the time.  If you're ever in a bad mood, just have this kid grin at you...guarantee it won't last! And, yep, that's a big ol' dimple in his left cheek (:

heart-wrenching story...

I have been diligently following a story about a little boy who is just about a month older than Jackson on his mom's blog. They are from around here and his story has been in the news as well as talked about all over the world. While I appreciate reading her blog and the honesty that she shows, I'm attached to this story because of that little boy who is so close to Jackson's age. I'm constantly putting myself in her shoes and wondering how she does it. It definitely helps keep things in perspective...waking up in the middle of the night just doesn't seem as hard.

If you are a pray-er, please check this out and keep him in your prayers today as he is in a very high-risk heart surgery right now.

the big 3-0

Mike has finally joined me in the next decade! Yesterday was Mike's birthday.  We enjoyed being at camp and then out to dinner with Kevin, Kari, & Addy.  Tonight we had friends and family join us at Maxwells (where else would Mike celebrate such an important occasion!)  It was fun to have a bunch of friends from different areas of our lives in one place.  I had even emailed with the GM of Maxwells and asked him if we could reserve a few tables (since they don't usually take reservations).  He agreed and we had a great area to be able to sit down and eat but also move around and talk with everyone. Thanks to everyone for helping make this such a great birthday for Mike!  I realized afterwards that I forgot to take a picture of a couple of tables so I'm missing some people in my pictures. Sorry guys...please don't take it personally (remember I still am suffering from mommy brain!)

we had to document the sign since they don't normally reserve tables!

Sophie's favorite dinner...macaroni & cheese from Maxwells

Mike and his homemade carrot cake

getting Jackson to take a nap!

janna, kevin, brent, jed

rebekah, mandy, greg, jim

ava, lauren, lisa, monica, josh, & ryan.

jenny, opa, sarah, matt, matt

kaijsa, heather, axel, chad, me, sophie (and jackson...kind of)

sophie showing off her "writing" skills to mandy 

imagination gone wild

We're not sure if it's from playing with a bunch of older kids at camp this weekend or what, but tonight Sophie introduced us to Maria (or "ria" as she calls her), who happens to be imaginary.  We spent a few minutes trying to figure out what she was talking about as she is telling the cuckoo birds to stop teasing Maria.  We were introduced to Maria as well and Sophie seemed surprised when we asked her where Maria was.  We tried so hard to not be bursting out laughing but there were times that was nearly impossible.  Swiper (from Dora) also came to visit and met Maria.  We were a little confused on his relation to Maria as sometimes he was her father...but then Maria's dad came and took her home, so as of now we're pretty sure Maria is not around.  Hopefully we don't almost step on her like Mike did tonight and Sophie had to push him out of the way to stop him.  

It's amazing to watch her start pretending and imagining. The things she comes up with are usually hysterical but well thought out.  Her snack tonight were the pretend peanuts that Mike gave her.  She was fully satisfied with it too.  

I have a feeling we are going to have some GREAT stories over the next couple of years!

weekend at camp

This weekend we were up at camp.  I was really hoping for some warmer weather but no luck.  It must be why I forgot to pack any type of sweater/jacket/coat for Jackson.  Some day (hopefully soon) I'll get used to packing 2 kids!  We had a great time of hanging out together, meeting new people, and running into old friends.  Sophie had a blast running around with a bunch of other kids and Jackson just smiled at everyone and pretty much was a hit.  We love being up there and it's such an important place to us so we are excited that our kids will grow up going there.  

this is how jackson spent most of his time outside (luckily we had brought along a few extra blankets...)

he's chilling in the stroller...he would fall asleep almost anytime we went for a walk

sitting by the campfire

checking to see how cold the water is because Sophie informed everyone that she needed her swimsuit

she had grand intentions of roasting marshmallows but decided to just eat them

"playing" a game with MK

still had tummy time, even at camp

happy birthday daddy!!!

we didn't bring anything for Jackson to sit in during meals...he was asleep during most of them. for lunch today we sandwiched him in between a couple of blankets in a high chair. he loved it!

outside our cabin...of course had to document jackson's first time to camp!

this is what happens when...

...left alone with daddy

time to eat!

We've tried a couple of times to see if Jackson was ready to start on some cereal.  We thought (and HOPED) it might help him get through the night since he is so big and just can't make it on a bottle.  Tonight I tried again and he actually ate some!  We'll keep trying as we know he's on the younger end of eating solids, but only formula just isn't cutting it for this big boy! 

easter weekend

We drove down to KC for Easter weekend.  Since I had Wed-Fri off we left Wednesday night and drove to Iowa to spend the night with Mike's grandma.  The next morning we made the rest of the drive to KC.  We had a busy weekend...seeing family, visiting friends, keeping the kids occupied, etc.  We were able to see my Grandpa & Jenny,visit Kylene and meet baby Charlie, spend some time at Becca's salon where we all got our hair done, and enjoy some time outside.  We of course had fun with Easter eggs and baskets, and Sophie LOVED being in her Easter dress. There are lots of pictures because I could not narrow them down very well.  On Sunday we made the drive back. It took us 8 1/2 hours with all the stops but overall I think we'd agree it was a pretty good first road trip with 2 kids.  Jackson was pretty much done being in the car the last hour or so, but it definitely wasn't miserable and he finally ended up falling asleep.  Enjoy the pictures!

baseball season is here!

Last night was the twins home opener.  We weren't sure how it was going to go, but we were definitely impressed with the kids.  Jackson slept most of the game, got hungry near the end, and then charmed all those around with us with his contagious smile.  I had packed Sophie's Dora backpack full of things to do, but the girl kept herself occupied almost the entire game!  She was very excited to see "daddy's friend" Ken Griffey Jr and kept pointing him out as daddy's friend. Mike was thrilled as he is #1 on Mike's list.  However, he did miss seeing Griffey hit a home run (again!) while waiting in a line with Sophie to get popcorn.  We loved having MK with us as well...it was fun to hang out and she was a HUGE help!

Sophie took these (plus many others of the dome and of various parts of her face)...

charming the crowd around us

Mike showing how sad he is about missing Griffey's homerun

Jackson and I hung out most of the night...

and Sophie and daddy hung out

the must-have family picture

I also couldn't resist looking at the past couple of years too...it's amazing to see how much time has gone by!

2008

2007

really???

today we went to the mall of america with aunt sarah. as we were leaving I saw Sophie standing there looking like this...I shouldn't be too shocked since I did buy her the sunglasses (when the sun is actually out, she's been complaining in the car about it) and the purse...but did she need to look so grown up?!

too much tv?

We really don't watch too much tv in our house.  There are a few shows that Mike and I hate to miss though (Amazing Race, Law & Order, & Biggest Loser)...otherwise it's the 2 Dora episodes Sophie gets to watch.  Usually we watch them after Sophie has gone to bed, but sometimes we'll have them on while we're doing things.  Lately Sophie has wanted to watch Biggest Loser with us (no idea what the attraction is!).  However, as Jan called me on her way over to our house this afternoon to tell me Sophie's newest funny story, we joked that she must watch too much tv. 

As they're driving over a bridge, there are 2 guys running.  Sophie says, "Look there are some big loser guys."

Apparently, everyone exercising is on the biggest loser in Sophie's world!

fun day

Tonight was busy but fun. Sophie had "nasnics" again and wore the new leotard my friend from work got for her.  She LOVED it.  She did however keep calling it a swimsuit.  After she got on she said "my friends are going to LOVE this." Seriously, where does she come up with this stuff?!

We also decided to give the johnny jump-up a try with Jackson.  He loves to stand up and bounce so we figured he should figure it how to do it.  He liked it for about 10 minutes and then was done.  He got himself to bounce a couple of times, but liked spinning it around the most.  It's hard to believe that he's big enough!

Here are some pictures from the evening.

taking a rest?

learning how to flip...after doing it once with the coach she decided she could do it all by herself (which of course she couldn't!)

his "surprised" look

this kids smiles a lot and now has a laugh to go along with it.  best noise ever.

wedding weekend

This past weekend our good friends Janna and Robby were married.  It was such a fun day and night!  Here are just a few of the pictures from the day...it was so hard to narrow it down.  Sophie and Jackson were with Mike's parents, so we enjoyed an evening of hanging out together. It was much needed and a lot of fun.  Congrats you guys!