Tuesday, February 17, 2015

No pictures again. :(

I don't know what's going on with my blogger account, but I once again am unable to load pictures today.  I'm super disappointed because I had a lot to share with you.  We've been very busy, and have had some big changes (big changes for a 4 yr old and a 2 yr old). 

A week and a half ago we loaded the car to head to Des Moines for a weekend get together with Luther friends (Nate's college roommates and their wives, who all also graduated from Luther, and the kiddos).  We didn't arrive until late Friday night so I dropped Nate off at the hotel and the kids and I went to Aunt Lisa & Uncle Brent's for the night.  The kids had a great time seeing everybody, and Grandma & Grandpa even came up for the night.  The next morning the four of us met up with everybody at the hotel and then went to the SkyZone to jump.  The kids had so much fun, as did the adults.  The guys had so much fun that that evening they were all popping Ibuprofen and getting adjustments from our friend Jason who is a chiropractor.  Sucks getting old!  :)  After jumping we headed back to the hotel for lunch and naps, and then hit the pool.  The kids had so much fun playing on the water slides and in the pool.  Grant has been talking about the trampolines and water slides for the past week and a half.  Grant went and spent Saturday night with Aunt Lisa & Uncle Brent, which was so nice.  We joined them for lunch on Sunday before heading back home.  We had such a great time reconnecting with our Luther friends and their kids.  We're looking forward to our next gathering already.   

This past weekend I took vacation on Saturday, not because of Valentine's Day, but because I dread my 12 hr night shifts so much.  Our neighbor Susan came over and took some pictures of Ava for her 5 yr old pictures.  Yes, 5 yrs.  I can not believe that in 8 days (she informed me of this this morning) that she will be 5.  It seems like such a big number to me, as so much will be changing as she gets ready to head off to Kindergarten.  I went and enrolled her last week and it was kind of surreal.  Where has the time gone?  I'm so excited for her as I know that she'll love it and is definitely ready for it.  However, I feel like this is the beginning of the slippery slope where I start to "lose her".  Perhaps that makes no sense to you.  I am so grateful that she is the independent and smart little girl that she is.  I know that she will thrive in kindergarten and I am excited for her to experience these new things.  On the other hand, it makes me sad that we won't have the random play dates to the zoo or Children's Museum.  My time with her is becoming more and more limited.  It's a love/hate thing really.  I love that she doesn't need me for everything little thing all the time, but also hope that she'll always "need me" or at least want to be with me.  I don't want to be her best friend, but want her to know that I will be her biggest cheerleader, will support her in good and bad times, and will always love her unconditionally.  Even when she's 33, she'll still be my baby girl!

As we get ready to celebrate her birthday, her theme changes from day to do.  The constant is that it's always a princess.  Her big change is that we took her 5 point harness car seat out of the cars yesterday and put in her booster seats.  This morning we went for our first drive.  She showed me that she could buckle herself in, and unbuckle herself.  The good thing is that this will save me time from being out in the freezing cold and strapped two kids in.  I just pray that they are as safe.  I would probably keep her in a 5 point harness until she was 16 if I could.  She's plenty big for the booster (Grant is big enough for it), I'm just overly paranoid/protective. 

Now to Grant being big...he's becoming more and more of a big boy every day.  Big news from him, he's starting to go pee pee on the potty.  Today we've already had three successful trips to the bathroom.  He is so proud of himself, and Ava is proud of him too (or she at least acts like it so that she can get an M&M too).  I love it!  What I don't love is how defiant this little man can be.  He definitely has a case of the terrible twos.  The bad thing is that he's 41 pounds now, so picking this kid up when he's misbehaving is getting more and more challenging every ounce that he gains.

On the health front, Grant had another ear infection.  We followed up with our ENT last week and he thinks that it would be beneficial to put in another set of tubes and take his adenoids out.  I agree and we will plan to proceed with this.  In the meantime, we have an appointment with a general pediatric surgeon to get Grant's umbilical hernia looked at.  If he's going under anesthesia I would like everything done at one time if it needs to be repaired.  I'm anticipating that he will need it repaired, and the poor little guy will have three surgeries while he's out. 

Other than that, our week has consisted for spending some time with Mema & Boppa on Saturday.  They came down for the day, and Nate and I got to run a few errands during the day which was very nice.  Mema helped bake cookies and decorated them, while Boppa got plenty of time playing ball with G-man.  It was a very nice, low key day. 

Thanks for checking in.  I'll be working on pictures.  :(