July/August Birthday Bash

My sister-in-law and I decided to organize a small gathering for the July/August birthdays for the little ones.  Caleb turned 3 on July 2nd, my nephew Bjorn turned 3 on August 4th and my niece Norah turned 5 on July 24th.  Since my brother and the family probably won't be home in October and since Isaac is too little to understand we decided to include him as well since his birthday isn't too far off.  We ordered an ice cream cake and they had a few hours to play in the pool.  The boys loved playing with their cousins.  Who would have thought my brother that is 8 years older would have a child the same age as my children....pretty neat in my book.

Nephew Bjorn

 

The cake

Eating icecream cake

 
















Jumping in the pool ribs and all

Grandpa pouring water on Isaac

Isaac eating icecream cake

Kiddos sitting on the couch

~Emily, Norah, Kim, Bjorn, Caleb & Isaac

 The littles~ Norah, Bjorn, Caleb & Isaac

 Mom had to get a picture of the 3 siblings

~Chad 41, Amber 31, Ryan 39

Pioneer Days fun

Pioneer Days has always been a fun event to attend.  This year I decided to get the boys involved.  Okay so maybe the Kiddie parade would have gone better had I started the project more than the day before.  My best friend Sheila and I had talked about doing the Kiddie parade with our kids last year but of course time got away and here we were a week before the parade and just discussing it.  I'm pretty sure we didn't even know what we were going to do until a few days before.

Thanks to my awesome niece and babysitter Kim I was able to leave the boys at my parents with her while I got the necessities to make the "boat".  I decided to do a summer/fishing theme and made the boys wagon into a fishing boat.  My friend Sheila also pulled her daughter in a wagon wearing an adorable bumblebee swimsuit.  It was fun but unfortunately we weren't creative enough and didn't place.  I have no clue what to do next year because I'm pretty sure at 4 and almost 5 years they aren't going to want to ride in the wagon!

It was a hot walk during the Kiddie parade but the kids had fun.  Afterwards we had hotdogs and then  they picked up their tyed dyed shirt and balloon.  It was a little overwhelming for Isaac so we didn't stay real long.

Saturday morning I had the pleasure of running/walking a 5k race with my niece Kim and her Mom Kathy.  It was quite humid and buggy out so my run wasn't the best and I came in at about 37:00.  I had fun though.

Later in the morning we all went to the big parade and the boys really enjoyed it and the candy of course.  They were able to get a free rootbeer float afterwards.

All in all it was a fun weekend and the boys enjoyed it. 

Caleb's birthday activities

Caleb turned 3 on July 2nd.  Considering it was the 4th of July weekend we avoided having his birthday party since some family members are usually busy that weekend.  That day Ross quit working early and we took the boys to the pool.  They had a great time and loved the water so much.  They behaved very well.  We even took them down the slides a couple times.  Isaac is a dare devil so we had to keep a close eye on him because he tends to forget he can't swim.  After the pool we ordered pizza from Pizza Ranch and brought it home.  The boys love pizza so that was a huge hit.  We topped the night off by having cupcakes I made earlier that day.  We put 3 candles in one of the cupcakes and sang to Caleb.  He thought it was great.

July 10th we had Caleb's birthday party with the family.  We set up 2 kiddie pools and a slip and slide outside.  Caden and Emily joined in on the fun so they enjoyed that.  After swim time we  had tacos, opened presents and ended with cake and icecream.  We had a great time and Caleb got many nice gifts.  He seemed to really like the truck and horse trailer we got for him.  He even shared with his brother so that was good.  Cousin Caden passed down his leaf blower so both boys enjoyed that and all the noise that comes with it. :-)

It's hard to believe 3 years have come and gone.  He's definitely growing up. Happy Birthday Buddy, we love you!

Caleb~ 3 years old

I can't believe my little man is 3 years old.  Wow time sure does fly. Mr. Caleb is growing like a weed.  He's really gotten tall and thin lately and he looks more and more like his Daddy every day.  Somedays I look at him and wonder if I really had anything to do with bringing him into the world LOL!  Caleb has been potty trained for a couple months already which was pretty surprising.  I didn't expect him to be fully trained already but once he started staying dry at daycare I knew it was time so I pushed through and put him in underwear.  He had plenty of accidents but he's now pretty much accident free.  He still won't do the big job at daycare but at least he doesn't have accidents.  He feels more comfortable at home which is pretty common.  He's really smart and talks a lot (unless he doesn't know you then he's shy guy).  He asks many questions which are usually about farming so I usually direct him to his dad.  He's learning a lot at daycare, he knows when his birthday his, he is counting more and more every day, he's learning letters and so many new things. 

Caleb had a checkup with Dr. Springer.  His stats are:  33 lbs and 38 inches!

Caleb is very excited to turn three because that means he gets to join his brother downstairs at daycare in the 3 year old room.  Caleb has a girlfriend at daycare named Danica.  They are about 2 weeks apart in age and Caleb loves her.  He talks about her a lot and he told me he gets to turn 3 and be with Danica again.  When we were at Herritage Days a few weeks ago we saw Danica and her Mom in the park.  Caleb went over to her and they were holding hands just talking away.  It was the cutest.  They should be good friends, they've been going to daycare together since they were just a few months old.

Caleb's experienced a few "trying three's" moments already but honestly he's a really laid back child and just goes with the flow.  His personality is so much like my own.  I see myself in so many things he says and does.  Lately I've been getting a lot of "are they twins" comments about the boys.  They look nothing alike (obviously) but they are close in size.  These 2 boys couldn't be more different then night and day but they also couldn't be any closer even if they were biologically related.  They truly were meant to be brothers. 

This summer we got the boys new tricycles for becoming potty trained.  It's basically their "big birthday gift" only they get to use it now.  We decided to give each boy a smaller gift on their actual birthday.  Caleb will be having his party next week so I can post pictures then.  We're also working on a plan to take the boys to Boone for "A Day With Thomas".  I can't wait because I want to see their excitement.

I dedided to give up on JCP pictures and just do my own for Caleb.  I saved money on pictures and gas and they turned out good enough for me.  I'll probably attempt the same thing with Isaac since I have a nice camera now.

Be on the lookout for birthday party pictures soon.  In the meantime here are a few pictures I took of Caleb for his 3 year old photo shoot.



HAPPY BIRTHDAY CALEB BENJAMIN~ WE LOVE YOU!

I did it

I completed my 2nd 5k of the summer in Rock Rapids for Herritage Days.  My goal was to make it under 36 minutes.  My Dam to Dam race was 36:32 so I figured I would come close.  Well I outdid my expectations and finished at 34:31.  I was so happy.  I still didn't place and I didn't expect to but I was proud of how far I've come.  Last year I finished in over 44 minutes so I've shaved just about 10 minutes off of my time in just one year.

The F2F program I'm still doing is really paying off.  I'm still losing inches but of course it's never fast enough for me!  I'm hoping to drop another pant size by the end of the summer.  I believe the last time I measured I had lost over 20 inches since January.

Well here's the one and only picture from my 5k.  Why must the pictures always come at the end of the race where I look terrible????

Is summer really here?

I can't believe the last post I made was for Easter.  Where has the time gone?  To say the boys have been keeping me on my toes would be an understatement....

It's finally getting warm, I just hope it sticks around.  It seems like we get the pool out, fill up, they enjoy it for a couple days, then the temp drops, it rains and we put the pool away. 

All 4 of us took a mini vacatioin to Des Moines the first weekend of June.  The original purpose of the trip was so I could run in a 5k, but we decided to make a weekend out of it for the boys.  We got in town late Friday afternoon.  The 4 hour trip was a breeze.  We left shortly before nap, they slept 2+ hours and then watched a movie and before we knew it we were in Des Moines.  Friday night we ordered pizza and went swimming.  We were lucky to stay at such a nice motel with a heated pool and a hot tub.  The boys absolutely love swimming.  Isaac is our daredevil and jumps in, goes under and comes right back up.  He is wearing his puddle jumper but it still scares me when he goes under like that.  Saturday was race day followed by dinner with friends and races in Knoxville.  The boys loved the races.  Caleb was fascinated by the tow truck that had to come onto the track to get the wrecked cars.  I never thought we'd stay for the whole thing but they loved it.  We went down on the track afterwards and looked at the cars.  Caleb wanted to find that tow truck but no such luck. 

Back to my race.  I ran my first BIG race and there were approximately 2,500 people participating in the 5k and 8,000 people in the 20k.  That sure beats small town Rock Rapids Heritage Days 5k.  I've done a few 5k's in the past, probably about 5 or so, but I've only ever walked them with a slow jog in the beginning and end.  I decided I wanted to change that.  I've been working out religously since January.  In March I started running and the trainer of the program I'm doing has really helped me to be able to run.  A year ago I could only run 4 minutes without stopping to walk or rest.  I'm proud to say I've been running 3+ miles without stopping. Yes you read that right, 3+ miles not minutes.  I'm starting to really enjoy it and am working on increasing my speed.  I wanted to finish  the 5k in under 36 minutes but I didn't quite make it.  I finished in 36:32.  The best part was my trainer ran the entire race with me.  My time was only that good because of Nick the best trainer in the world! 

Nick is also a fellow adoptive mom and I met her on an online adoption board I frequent.  I met her for the first time along with 3 other adoptive parents.  It was definitely something I'll never forget.

In case people are unsure if I really ran the 5k, here's some pictures to prove it.  The photographers are great at getting pictures when you're near death at the end of the race.  I look pretty dorky but whatever, I did it!!!!

My 2nd 5k is tomorrow and I'm excited.  I.WILL.BEAT.MY.TIME!!!

Front Row:  Nick and Maureen

Back Row:  Jill, Mike and Amber

Running with Nick

Easter 2011

Well Easter has come and gone.  It was a nice weekend but went fast as usual.  Saturday our first stop was to the Easter Egg Drop at the grocery store.  I'd never taken the boys before and really didn't know much about it but Ross' sister Gina was going to go and bring her son Caden.  We got there a few minutes before the drop and boy was it cold outside.  The eggs (or should I say wiffle balls) were dropped and they each had a number on them.  The boys gathered up their wiffle balls and then we were to take them into the store to cash them in.  Apparently we could only cash one in per child (the directions weren't very clear).  Both boys ended up with candy.  I think Caleb had butterfingers and Isaac M&M's.  They were pleased and that's what counts.  Gina and Caden took Caleb back to Grandma and Grandpa Kooiker's and I had to take Isaac into the clinic.  Yesterday Isaac had a mishap on our way into daycare and ran into the railing outside the door and cut his head open.  The cut was pretty deep so I took him in and he had his head glued.  However, by the time I picked him up from daycare that day he had picked all the glue off.  I really didn't want a scar on his head so I took him in hoping they could put something on it so he would leave it alone.  They ended up just leaving it though because it had already started to heal.  Oh well!

After the appointment we went over to Grandma Kooiker's and stayed there most of the afternoon.  We had dinner and then Caleb and I took a nap on the couch downstairs.  Grandma tried to get Isaac to take a nap but he wouldn't cooperate with Caden being there.  After naps we dyed Easter eggs. Both boys had a blast, even Isaac.  It was funny because at first Isaac kept putting his egg in the yellow dye.  He didn't realize he had lots of colors to choose from!!!!

Easter morning we went to Sunrise service which really isn't at sunrise but 8:30 is good for me with 2 little pokey boys in the morning.  I had gotten the boys cute short sleeved polo argyle dress shirts and khaki pants for church.  They looked so cute but of course we had no pictures in their outfits because at breakfast we had after church, Isaac decided to spill his orange juice and get frosting from his donut all over the front.  Figures.

We didn't go to the regular service but instead went home, changed and headed to my parents.  Ryan, Norah and Bjorn were there too for a visit. They had to get home early as Michelle had to work so wasn't able to come and they wanted to spend Easter with her.  We got to eat with the clan and the boys played for a little and then Ryan and the kids hit the road. 

We had a nice dinner with my parents and Ryan and the kids, then the boys took a nap for a while and then we had a chance to go play at the park for a while.  It was a good day for all of us.

Here are some pictures from the weekend.