Sevien

Here he is.....Sevien!!! Our dear friends Andrea, Randy, & Soren have a new addition to their household and we are so happy for them.

We had been "on call" for the last couple of weeks waiting for the little guy to make his appearance (and for us to hang out with Soren) and it looks like Sevi was just waiting for us to go out of town to make his grand entrance!

Soren is Kai's best buddy and we are anxious for Sevi to meet our little gal in March.

We met Andrea, Randy, and Soren when the boys were just a month or so at our ECFE class at Sullivan School. Soren and Kai are 3 days apart in age and they only live 3 blocks away.

Andrea and I have truly lived through every stage of parenting together....you know, those phone calls when you need a friend to remind you that although you haven't slept through the night in weeks (well, in our case, years) things will get better. Or someone to take a walk with and talk about slings, baby food, time outs and crabby husbands (hee hee...)

And, now, our next babies will be only a few months apart too. I laugh though because I assumed the second time around we would know so much more than before with our first children. But, already while watching Andrea, I realize I have forgotten so much! Thank God this time she will be have a few months experience to guide me through....

Oh, and the BEST news is that Ivy is pregnant too (in the top photo it is Andrea (Sevi), Me, and Ivy). We met Ivy and her daughter Helen just a few months after we began ECFE classes. She is the third side to our triangle of support. Ivy is about 8 weeks behind me with her pregnancy. So, the gang will all be getting bigger!!!

These photos were taken at Andrea's "Meet and Greet" for Sevi this weekend......

Duluth

We joined Joe in Duluth this week for a couple of nights. It was such a treat to have uninterrupted fun with Kai. While Joe was at work, Kai and I checked out the aquarium, watched the ships, chased some seagulls, threw rocks into Lake Superior, and just explored! Then, when Joe came home, the fun kept coming-- the last photo is of us at a Thai Restaurant (Kai has entered into a wonderful phase where it's easy to go out to eat with him, as long as it's noodles!) and I'm not sure what Kai is doing to Joe's nose. I think he missed his lips!

Comics

One of the things that I love most about Joe is that he laughs when he reads the comics. I mean, really laughs. Think about this: first, when is the last time you read the comics and second, when is the last time you had a belly laugh over them? If you are me, the answer is rarely.

Well, Joe doesn't just stop at the comics. You can hear him laughing from the basement when watching T.V. too. And, it looks like Kai is following in his footsteps.

Look what I saw the other day....Yep, Kai laughing while turning the funnies!

Santa

Kai: Mama, how does Santa bring me presents?

Molly: He flies through the air with reindeer.

Kai: You know, Mama, that's a little bit weird.

Babies

Kai just cracks us up all of the time.

The other day, I was listening to him play with a couple of his friends here at our house. I heard him say:

"Now, I am the mommy. I have a baby in my belly. Wait, I have to throw up (insert throwing up noises). Oh, good. I made it to the sink."

You might think he has a good imagination (yes) but unfortunately for me this is what he experienced during the first trimester of my pregnancy.

Yes, this is the same reason why you notice hardly any posts from this summer. Pretty much all of July and August were filled with (insert that same noise now). Ugh!!

But, I'm feeling great now. I am in that wonderful stage of pregnancy where you wish you could be pregnant forever. I know this will end, but I'm going to glow as long as I can.

Today, on the way home from school, Kai said:

"You know, Mommy, after Nonny's birthday, and Daddy's birthday, and Santa's birthday (umm, a little confused here...), and my birthday, and Pop's birthday and then my baby sister's birthday, well, Daddy is going to become a woman."

I asked him why and he said because he wanted two mommies.

This whole two mommies thing!!! A couple of his friends at school have two moms and he keeps asking if he can have another mama too. He will just bring it up out of the blue. Usually he ends the conversation by saying he thinks five mamas and five daddies would be the best. He loves the number FIVE. I think he may be moving to Utah when he is older....

My boys

I often think, especially during this time when it is starting to be cold, that snuggling with my two boys has got to be on my top 10 list of favorite things to do. Look at what I found tonight in bed when I came back from a meeting.....so sweet and lucky me, they are all mine!

My Belly

23 weeks and I've popped!!!

Up until this point, people have been saying..."Wait, you're pregnant?!!" and "For your second baby, you don't look very big..."

But, all those comments have stopped!! I seriously gained 7 lbs. in just a few days. This baby girl is growin' (I guess I'm talking about both of us!)

Like Father, Like Son

So, would you think this face would scare an almost three year old?




THINK AGAIN!!! Kai loved his dad's costume!!

Halloween

(We dressed up for Halloween for weeks leading up to the big day...Here is the dragon costume for outdoor cold weather.)

( Here is the pirate costume he wore basically every day!)

(Here is actually not a Halloween costume, but it's too cute to not include. My friend, Tricia, from Kai's new school (Sunny Hollow Montesorri) took this photo of Kai while at his school's Fall Festival this year.)

It seems that Kai loves Halloween just as much as we do!! He had several costumes, talked about the big day for weeks, and toured the "scary houses" (our neighborhood goes a bit nuts with the decorations) with Joe in the bike trailer the week leading up to Halloween. Then, for the third year in a row, we went trick or treating with our neighbors (along with Molly Cooney, Anne, and my mom). I loved that Kai was more interested in saying hello to the neighbors and checking out the pumpkins and decorations then he was about the candy.

I was surprised that he was never scared by the actual scary decorations (One house had a cemetery, mummies, witches, ladies who are groaning and crawling through the grass (Kai: "Look at the swimming lady!") etc. But, he did tell Joe after seeing some blow-up, cartoon (and very mild and pleasant) decorations that he was scared by them. Go figure!!

Big News, Big Brother

Ok, we don't have any shots yet for this post, but we could not wait to share this any longer! We found out the other day that Kai is going to be an amazing big brother - to a little sister! Honestly, it's always a surprise in this family. Kai came along to the ultrasound appointment, and got to see the first images of his little sister on the screen right with his Mom and Dad. We could not be more excited. Daddy has a little girl to spoil, Momma has a daughter to share girl-talk with, and Kai will have a sister to brag about for the rest of our lives.
Now, we just need to gather girl clothes!
Photos to follow...

First, our camera died, then our laptop did and now it's our printer....so, either the universe is pushing us to return to the days before technology or we are getting a good reminder of why technology is indeed a pretty good thing.

Unfortunately, we lost a lot of photos from our laptop (remember to back up those photos gang!) but I'm going to try to find some and keep on posting.

For now, here is a cute story:

"Kai had a bathroom accident yesterday. While helping him clean up, I said, "It looks like you didn't make it to the bathroom." (Ok, stating the obvious). He said, "You know how it goes, mama, sometimes peanuts, sometimes shells."

Not even 3 yet!

4th of July

Our favorite place to be on the 4th of July is at the cabin! We headed up this year with my mom and my brother, Joey. Joey and I hadn't been up to the cabin during the summer together in years, so it was truly quite the vacation! We ate cupcakes at the bakery, lounged on the deck, went fishing, took a few hikes, and watched the fireworks.

Ahh....the cabin. What would be the cabin, without the S'mores!

Abby and Tommy come to MN!

We are so lucky that our nephew and niece, Tommy and Abby (two of Rosie's kids), came and spent over a week with us this summer. We went to the cabin in Ely for most of the time and had an absolute blast! Kai loved spending time with his cousins and we did too! They are such smart and sweet kids. It was gorgeous weather so we were hardly ever not in the water or in the boats!

Abby and Tommy come to MN!

Here we are in Virginia, MN at a park that features BIG mining TRUCKS!!

Kai can't get enough speed boat!!!

Oh...SOREN!!!

When are you coming home???? Kai's best buddy here in Minneapolis (not to be confused with Kai's best buddy, Soren, in Duluth) has been in Ireland for 2 months. Today, while walking past his house, Kai just looked at me in utter exasperation and said, "Mama, Soren, home, NOW!!!"

We agree-- get yourselves back here quickly! We've missed you!!!

MN Zoo

We love Kai's Montessori School. He has grown and learned so much since attending the school since the Fall. It's an amazing group of kids and families and the staff is just unbelievable. Joe and I couldn't be more happy to have Kai go there 3 times a week.

We went on a community outing to the MN Zoo to see the baby farm animals. I actually think Kai was more excited about the tractors but this goat got him pretty excited too. Actually, he was more in awe of watching the babies nurse on their mothers.

Our boy likes to boogie...

Kai loves to be naked and Kai loves to have tatoos. I'm still laughing about this tatoo. He asked Joe if he could put it on his "pee pee" and when Joe said he had to wait until he was 18 years old to do that all Kai said over and over again was "Why?" It's actually a good question, Joe......why?

Duluth with Ella and Soren

Kai and I joined Joe in Duluth (where Joe goes weekly for work) for a few days of relaxation and fun. Kai loved the hotel. It turns out that for a social guy like Kai, a hotel is a dream come true!
He met tons of kids and figured out which room they were staying and he would go and knock on the door and ask them to come out and play. The pool was another highlight and it confirmed to us, once again, that Kai has no fear of water and he loves to jump in (with or without an adult waiting for him-- yes, I know, scary!). Sarah (Paar) and Tolga Hanhan live in Duluth and we hosted a pool party for the Hanhan kids. Kai loves Soren and Ella and here are a few photos of Kai working his magic on Ella!