2017 Highlights

 - We visited Charlotte and the rest of my family over the new year. The kids played so hard! So many toys were scattered all over the house, and they had a great time. Jesper and Gavin slept in the loft, while Oscar preferred to be in his own air mattress in Mom and Dad's room.

 - I had gotten a Fitbit for Christmas, and Jodi encouraged me to put it to use when she and I went for a couple 3 mile runs while in Charlotte. It was perfect running weather - 40 and crisp, and it was a great way to knock the rust off. That really kicked my motivation into

 - Jesper had a rough patch at school. We heard from his teacher that he was having some attention and behavior issues, and it all came to a head one day in February. We had noticed that his behavior seemed to get better when he spent more time away from digital devices, so we went on a "device cleanse" for a month. We did away with the iPads and TV for the kids for a full month. They moped for a couple days, but then rediscovered their toys. Their attitudes improved, and it proved to Josh and I that we could parent without devices as a crutch. The boys got the iPads back in March, but we all learned that moderation was key.

- Oscar turned 3. It was a good time to be reminded about how our difficult baby had gradually developed into a caring, thoughtful, and loving preschooler. Three had been a tough year with Jesper, but Oscar reminded us of how amazing that stage can be - big emotions of both love and frustration, and unfiltered thoughts and new independence.

 - We participated in our first Polar Plunge event. My exact words that morning were, "I would rather be in labor and have another baby than jump in a lake today." The ice out was early and we had to run around a loop in the lake rather than jump in off an ice block. It actually wasn't that bad! Grandma and Grandpa had brought the boys to watch, and Jesper thought it looked like fun. "I want to do it next year, Mom!"

 - Jesper turned 6. The week of his birthday, he also learned to ride a two-wheeled bike for the first time. In typical Jesper style, he was cautious and reluctant to try it at first (far longer than he likely needed to be), but was racing down the street at full speed within another couple days.

 - Jesper did spring soccer through CC United, and had a blast! He was very engaged and was able to score several goals. He was hooked, and couldn't wait to play again the next year.

 - We made a point to have our staycation align with the end of Jesper's school year. We made a point of filling the week with truly fun activities - dinner at Lago Taco with ice cream from Licks Unlimited afterwards, a Twins game, lunch at Matt's bar for the Jucy Lucy (which quickly became Jesper's new favorite food), coffee on the deck, plenty of outside time playing with bikes and in the pool, and generally a lot of relaxing together as a family. I am so grateful that we have the chance to pause and enjoy our kids for more hours in the day. We left the week feeling truly relaxed, happy, and rejuvenated.

 - Jesper went to summer club care at his school and Oscar transitioned to the Goddard School at Chanhassen. The drive to his old daycare in Edina had just become too much, and he was becoming older and better-adjusted, so the timing felt right. It took about the first 8-10 weeks, but Oscar (and Josh and me) acclimated to his new school. Academically, he took off and was able to do things after the first summer at Goddard that he hadn't been anywhere close to doing earlier that year. However, he took a bit more time to make new friends. He told us frequently that he missed his old teacher, but by the fall we were hearing that he had found some new buddies.

 - Jesper started a new school year as a first-grader. As a testament to how many kids were in our neighborhood, his first grade class was nearly filled with kids from our street (about 15 of the 20-some kids were from our neighborhood).

 - Fall was filled with  our traditions - getting pumpkins at the neighborhood pumpkin patch, neighborhood fire pits, and celebrating Halloween with our friends.

 - My parents came to visit in late September, and my mom and I visited a flea market and they made slime with the boys.

 - As a new tradition, I also ran the 10-mile with Julie Vasatka, one of our neighbors. She had talked me into it one night while we were sitting on our deck with a few glasses of wine. I couldn't believe I was going to do it! But I had been running 3-4 miles on a regular basis since January, and thought the challenge would be fun. It took some time and discipline, but the rush after finishing the race was fantastic! I couldn't wait to do it again the next year. I also ran the Turkey Trot with Don and Julie that Thanksgiving. The weather was crisp and it turned out to be a great way to kick off the holiday season.

 - My parents visited again right before Thanksgiving because my Uncle Dennis passed away. We went to Mountain Lake for the funeral, but my dad and Josh were able to hang the Christmas lights on our house before they left. First time ever with holiday lights! Josh also swore it would be his last. It was a cold, blustery day, and it took hours to figure out....but they made it work, and it was beautiful!

 - Christmas was full of fun activities. As usual, Black Friday was one of my favorite days of the year with getting our tree and decorating the house. Oscar participated in the Goddard School's holiday program. Our neighbors, Peter and Ali, threw a fantastic holiday party (Christmas movie character themed).

2016 Highlights

 - We finished our basement over the winter, with the goal of having the guest bedroom ready for people by that summer. It went quickly this time (vs. when we did it ourselves) because we hired out many of the projects, other than painting, trim, doors, tile, and limited plumbing. The extra space was really nice when people came over, but the kids still preferred to play by us in the main area.

 - Oscar turned 2! He still wasn't a fan of a lot of attention, so we only invited grandparents and Nissa's family. It may still have been too many, because he started crying when we all sang him Happy Birthday. The tears were short, and he enjoyed the cake. :)

 - Jesper turned 5. He chose to go to our new favorite local taco place (Lagos Tacos), because he liked their chicken strips. :) Grandma Gail and Grandpa Carlson also joined us. Five seemed like a monumental new age - I couldn't believe he was going to be a kindergartner that fall!

 - That summer, we did a "staycation" and took a week off to spend with the kids and explore the local area.

 - Lucas and Lindsay came to visit. The boys loved exploring the arboretum with Carter and Jackson and seeing the rest of the Accredited kids.

 - Jesper started kindergarten, and all the feels came with it. That morning, the bus stop had approximately 15 school-age kids and 20 parents swarming around taking pictures. I am so grateful to live in a neighborhood that truly feels like my "village." Some of the moms and I celebrated with bloody mary's and brunch at Maynards. Seems like that should become a tradition....

 - I started a new job at Optum as a marketing manager. My position at Novus had been a great fit for my talents and I really enjoyed the people that I worked with, but it was out of whack with my work/life priorities. After a lot of thought, I decided to move on to a new challenge. It was difficult to start again at square one in a new company, but it was the right decision for us as a family.

 - Kai DeSmet and one of his friends, Vince, came to stay with us during the Ryder Cup. Because the event was only a couple miles away from our house, many roads were closed and schools were cancelled that week, so Jesper stayed home with me while I worked.

 - Megan Ohly and Jake Fellows got married! We got to spend some time with John and Stacie, Claire, and Ari, and enjoyed seeing extended family at the wedding as well.

 - We welcomed a new baby to our extended family when Brett and Diana had Addy in October.

 - We spent Christmas at Paul and Gail's with the rest of Josh's family. There were so many children that it was crazy and fun and reminded me of the best holidays when I was growing up. It had been a turbulent year with new milestones and job changes, but we left the year feeling grateful for all the love and community that we have around us.

2015 Highlights

 - New home, new neighborhood, new friends! When people asked how we liked our home, I told them that I really liked our house, but I loved the neighborhood. I felt like we joined a club - one with a multitude of really amazing people who happened to be at a similar life stage as us and have many similar interests. It expanded our world and brought a new meaning to the word "community" that we hadn't really known in our adult life.

 - Oscar turned 1! Such a huge milestone, since it meant that we were nearing the end of a really rough year. He had been a tough baby - he didn't sleep more than four hours through the night until January 2015 (that's 11 months, people!) and, by the time evening hours rolled around, he was cranky and difficult. There's a reason that he also had the most gorgeous smile to share when he chose to use it. :)

- We met Lucas and Lindsay Bucl and their sons Carter and Jackson at the Ramada Inn waterpark in Des Moines. It felt like we checked into a cruise ship and didn't leave - it was warm enough to

- Curtis and Cally got married! Jesper was the ring bearer, and made everyone laugh when he walked up front with the rings and gave his dad a high five when he reached out instead of giving him the ring cushion. He looked adorable in his suit and danced the night away with Gavin and Ari. The day after the wedding, we went on a pontoon ride with the family.

- Jesper turned 4. He celebrated with our family and loved every minute of it. His obsession with trucks, cars, and anything that moved was still going strong.

 - That summer, we enjoyed so many leisurely days in our front yard and street getting to know our new neighbors and watching our kids play.

 - Fourth of July was amazing! It landed on a Saturday and the kids had a great time with pop-its and ice cream.

 - In September, Josh and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary with a trip to Nashville with Joe and Becky Pitzl. We explored Broadway and visited Dos Perros brewery, hung out by the pool, and listened to a lot of live music.

 - Halloween in Chanhassen is nothing like Halloween in Bloomington was. First, it kicked off with a Halloween potluck hosted by our neighbors, Don and Julie, and then everyone proceeded down the street. There were so many kids that it looked like a scene from ET! Oscar was dressed as Oscar the Grouch, and he hung out in the wagon all night (going up to houses he didn't know was NOT his idea of a good time), while Jesper was dressed yet again in his firefighter costume and had a great time going door to door with his friends (and us, of course).

 - Decorating our house (for real) at Christmas was fun and challenging. We ended up getting rid of a lot of decorations that didn't fit our new home, but started to make some really great new traditions. We exchanged gifts with each of the neighbors and were invited to Wooddale Church's Christmas for Kids program, where Oscar sat on Mrs. Claus' lap. I've never seen a kid's face so unhappy so quickly! More on that later...

Christmas 2014

We closed on our house on December 12, and moved in on the 14th during a steady rain. It was so exciting to finally be in our house!

Jesper brought home a note from daycare that said, "All I want for Christmas is a Christmas tree in my new house", so with less than 10 days left in the season, we bought a (very dry) Christmas tree to put up in our new home.

In other news, Oscar got ear tubes in December 2014 to help with the sleeping / eating issues. It wasn't a silver bullet, but it certainly helped! And the best part is - no more full-body antibiotics needed when we got a couple other ear infections following the tubes.

x

The house we built

We finally have our close date set for December 12! We are so excited to move into our new space and see the house we've dreamed about as a finished product!

Here's a few pictures of the house progress so far.

Also, we have a crawler!! Oscar stared crawling on October 24 (almost exactly 8 months) and pulled up on the coffee table for the first time that same weekend. This kid is so much braver than our first - after pulling up for a mere two weeks, he successfully transitioned from the coffee table to the couch by himself tonight. He's going to be standing on his own very soon - he can already do a couple seconds on his own.

He has nearly 8 teeth (7 have broken through with an 8th on the way) and is gradually becoming a better sleeper. He has gotten up only 1-2x per 12 hour night stretch for the last several nights. We're making progress!!

He's such a cute little guy. He is so smiley and loves to be talked to. It continues to amaze me how physical he is - he LOVES to move and use his body.

Jesper is learning to become much more independent. He can even brush his teeth, get his pajamas on, and goes to the bathroom all by himself as he's getting ready for bed (not that he will every night...but he CAN). :)

He's learning the sounds that letters make and is very interested in sounding out words and looking at them in books. So fun to see him enter the world of language! Also, it's pretty cool to see him write his name on his schoolwork.

Goodbye Bloomington! And Oscar's 6/7 Month Updates

It's been a busy summer....understatement of the year. We put our house on the market on the same week that I went back to work at the end of May. Sixty days and a couple price reductions later, we sold it in late July and closed on August 29.

We are building a house in Chanhassen, and it will be done in late November / early December. We broke ground in mid-August and the house is about halfway completed (framed and roof and windows are in!). In the interim, we moved in with Paul and Gail in Victoria. They generously allowed us to move in only a few short weeks after they got settled.

Oscar

• Oscar is a horrible sleeper (up every 2-4 hours, about 2-3x per night). At this point, I've learned to function with a consistent sleep debt. But oh, how great it will be to sleep more than 3-4 hour stretches at a time!! #functioninganyway
• On the recommendation of our pediatrician, we tried to "cry it out" over Labor Day weekend. Despite sticking with it for 4 nights, the result was that we established a consistent 7/7:30pm bedtime but didn't lengthen stretches at night. However, I think part of the problem is that he still fights his bottle, so he prefers to get his calories straight from the source at night. It's a good thing nursing is going well!
• Another issue is that he's been in the throes of teething. He got his first tooth on Aug. 6, the 2nd one shortly after, and the 3rd one in mid-September. He also seems to be working on about 3 others. He might be eating steak by Christmas!
• Oscar is a very physical baby. He rolled over on his own from back to front at 4 mos. and was sitting up well on his own by 4.5 months. He's just now starting to army crawl and I would imagine that he'll be all over the place in just a couple weeks.
• Personality: Quietly happy, unless he's uncomfortable. Then he's crabby. He's a little stinker - he already thinks it's funny to swat at the spoon while he's being fed to see if he can hit it and make food go flying. And the other day, he tooted and then laughed at himself. He's a little more sensitive than Jesper was - more likely to fuss if nervous or surprised. He loves to observe and likes physical play ("sliding" down Mommy's legs or practicing scooting around the ground). It's hard to get a giggle out of him, but he smiles a lot.
• He's a good eater and has liked everything but green beans. Favorites are carrots and sweet potatoes (actually seems to like veggies more than fruits).
• He's very coordinated - he could pick up a cracker and feed himself at 6 months.

Jesper

• My precious little Jesper boy has had a rough summer with all the changes. He is very good at adjusting to change, but we've thrown a lot at him in 6 months. He LOVES his little brother and does a fantastic job of being gentle and is a great little helper. However, we've been dealing with some behavior issues at school - more bathroom accidents and reports that he isn't listening. My theory is that he hasn't been sleeping as well because Oscar disturbs his sleep and he is missing some attention from Mom and Dad with as busy as this summer has been.
• He's started to have a phobia of bugs - we actually had several nights where he would wake up with nightmares because "there are spiders on my face."
• Added to all that, I think 3 is a difficult age anyway - he needs to start being more self-reliant yet it's not as safe and secure as when Mommy and Daddy help him. He started Pre-K this fall at his daycare and we've noticed that he's doing a better job of several tasks - getting dressed, zipping his jacket, getting his shoes on, getting his own tissue, etc. Hopefully as we move into our new house and things calm down, we will all adjust more easily to this next step of childhood.
• Current favorites: construction trucks (I.e. "Working trucks"), Oscar, Soukie (Paul and Gail's little white dog), crashing his cars together

Other updates:

• I received a promotion at work to the Account Manager position. It's been a challenge - I'm learning a LOT and am being asked to take on projects that make me stretch and grow. I have a great team and manager and have been enjoying the learning curve, but it has also meant more late nights and business trips. Josh has been great about taking on more responsibilities with the kiddos so I can meet my deadlines.
• Josh and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary on Sept. 20. Representative of this season of life, we went out to eat at a local Mexican food restaurant with Paul and Gail and the kids. There will be many years ahead for nice romantic dinners, but Jesper and Oscar will be little only once. :)
• Chris and Morgan Macbean came to visit at the end of September. It was SO fun to see them again! We went out to eat at Barrio for lunch and then had dinner with Brandon and Sarah on Friday night. We spent Saturday walking around the Arboretum and enjoyed hanging out with them at the house for dinner that night. It was like no time had passed - we are so lucky to have wonderful friends like them! We're looking forward to our turn to visit them in Hollis.

Balancing life, work, parenting, and love right now is as difficult as it's ever been. I'm thankful for a great partnership with Josh and the support system of our friends and families. Here's hoping for a few more calm and quiet moments in the months ahead!

Our New Normal - Family of 4

Oscar meeting Grandma Millie - he was 10 days old

"Can I hold him?"

Tummy time

At Eagan Community Center - Jesper played basketball almost the entire time!

Playing basketball

Both boys playing on the floor - puzzles for Jesper and watching his hand for Oscar

At a play area in Hopkins - it's great to get out of the house and find a way to burn off some of Jesper's energy

Oscar hanging out with Evie Pitzl while the big brothers play

Our little "O"

The snow is finally almost gone! Playing hockey outside

Goal!

I love this face! Napping with Mommy

Oscar's favorite way to be soothed - Mommy or Daddy bouncing on an exercise ball

Hanging out with Daddy before bed

Playing with Daddy

Brothers