Catching Up

 If you ever wonder where your shoes (or gloves, in Ben's case) are in my house, just check my kids' feet!

 Hunting for eggs at Grandma and Papa's house!  

An art project over Spring Break was painting Easter eggs.  Since Ben is allergic to eggs, so dying them isn't an option.  Personally, drawing eggs on white paper and letting them go with watercolors would be my first preference anyway!

Although the picture is blurry, you can somewhat make out the ADORABLE pink shoes Abby wore on Easter!  She was quite the cutie pie!

I think the title of the post pretty much sums it up... a constant game of chase my tail and playing catch up!  What's new?!  I think from the pictures above you can get the general gist of both spring break and Easter.    We are now on to thinking about and looking forward to summer.  Ben's eyes light up at the thought of going  swimming, playing in the sprinkler, and going on picnics.  My eyes light up too!  It is definitely time to be able to step away from the day-to-day for awhile and rejuvenate.

Ben is excited to start swimming lessons next week at the Y.  We've been hoping to get him signed up for several months, but haven't managed to get past the waiting list for weekend classes.  So, he is scheduled for Tuesday evenings.  Judging on last summer, he seems to love the water and it seems like something he will really enjoy.  Getting him into the water without Mom or Dad might be another story... I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  In other Ben news, Brant built a swing set for the kids several weeks ago and Ben LOVES to swing in his new "big boy" swing.  I love that both kids can swing at the same time instead of having to take turns on our old swing that hung from a tree!  Now that the weather is nice, he is also back to loving baseball.  When he was looking at books the other night, I said to Ben, "Pretty soon, you're going to be a reader!"  Ben looked at me in disgust and said, "No, I'm not going to be a reader, I'm going to be a baseball player when I grow up!"

Abby had her annual appointment in Iowa City two weeks ago to retest her urinary reflux condition.  We found out that nothing has changed and it is still grade 5, which I wasn't too surprised about.  However, the doctors were a bit concerned about her blood pressure being on the high side, so we are now monitoring that daily and emailing the results to a nephrologist on a weekly basis to make a decision about next steps, if any are needed.  That threw a monkey-wrench into the day, and extended our appointment by several hours, but we're glad it all is being closely monitored.  Everything shows that her kidneys are growing and functioning fine, but the doctors want to do a few more tests, so we'll be doing that here in Des Moines over the next month or so.  I'm slightly frustrated at the run-around I feel like I'm getting on getting these things scheduled, but that is another story.  Besides having too many ureters and them not functioning correctly, Abby is a healthy, happy little gal!  She is starting to say more and more, but often still in her own little language.  We hear "All done" constantly, she has her own jargon for saying "Want a drink", loves to tell everyone to "Stop!", and a variety of other words and phrases.  She is also very attached and affectionate towards Ben lately, giving lots of hugs and kisses and copying the things he does.  It is pretty neat to watch!  Luckily, he eats it up!

I decided a while back that I needed to do something to get an exercise routine going that would motivate me and get me out of bed in the morning.  I find that morning work-outs are really best for me, but it was just so hard to get out of bed.  So, I signed up for Dam to Dam, which is a half mile short of a half marathon the first weekend in June.  I've been a 3-4 mile runner since I was about 15 years old, never having run more than 6 miles since high school, so this has been something I'm pretty proud of lately.  My long runs are on the weekend and last Saturday, I ran 8 miles without a problem.  My run this Saturday is 10 miles.  I love the feeling of doing something I haven't done before every Saturday morning!  Not that I needed something else going on in my life besides work and home, but it has felt very refreshing to have something else to take pride in that makes me feel healthy, and just really good about myself!

4 Years Old!

A racecar cake!!

Check out that cake - complete with a firey
crash!

Light up shoes! Ben has talked about all the kids at preschool with lights on their shoes and was in disbelief that he now has his OWN pair!

Ben loves Legos!

Brant built Ben his very own workbench so they can work on projects together and it looks like a miniature verions of Brant's. Ben was floored!

Ben's first bike!

We've had a fun week with several birthday celebrations! We celebrated with Great Grandma Anderson by going out to dinner last Sunday, Uncle Nick joined us on Ben's real birthday (March 6), and we had a party last night with the Ausenhus family. Happy Birthday, Ben! We can't believe what a big boy you are!

Little Lady

In the past month, Abby's girlie-girl side has really come out. She has turned in to quite the little lady in the things she seems to be enjoying and exploring. I'm not sure where all this came from, as I'm not exactly the girlie-girl kind of mom, but I'm pretty in love with how very cute it all is!

This girl loves to carry a purse! Anything with a handle turns into a purse for Abby. Most of the time, she throws the purse over her shoulder, just like she sees me do everyday.
I know I just said I'm not the girlie-girl kind of mom. This is the first pair of tights Abby has ever worn and the whole giddup was a gift. But, it was ADORABLE and turned many heads! Abby felt pretty neutral on the tights. She seemed extremely relieved to take them off that evening. Who can blame her?

Abby cannot get enough of shoes! When things seem to get eerily quiet in the play room, most of the time it is because Abby is around the corner trying on everyone's shoes.

Pushing babies in her stroller is a huge hit! She loves it even more when one of us pushes the other stroller and around the house we go. She also likes to show us how she hugs and burps her babies.

Abby loves putting hats on her head and, on this particular day, was also insistent on wearing one of Ben's vests.

And, nothing like a little multi-tasking to prove that you truly are a little lady. I caught Abby toddling around the kitchen drinking milk and jabbering on her play cell phone. Now that she can say the word "Hi!" we hear it a lot. I also think I've picked up on some "Uh-huhs" while she chats away.

We have also noticed in the last month that the way Abby communicates with us has become clearer. She seems to have her own jabbering language a lot of the time and can become frustrated when somehow, we can't interpret what she means. However, she is very clear in her pointing, nodding her head "yes" and saying "Okay", and nodding her head "no" when something is unfavorable. Her other words include dada, ba (for ball), okay, uh-oh, mama, hi, and more. She likes to think she is very independent, with doing such things as combing her hair (which really isn't necessary for reasons that don't need to be explained), putting her own sippy cup back in the fridge, putting her clothes in the hamper, and throwing away her cups after brushing her teeth.

Obviously, this whole post has been about Abby. However, our Ben is still as sweet as can be. He is very excited about Valentine's Day. He and I did his Valentine's for preschool yesterday and he stuck with it long enough to write his name on seven of the cards, but then got sidetracked with the Lightening McQueen tattoos included with the Valentine's set.

As most of you know, Ben tends to be a picky eater, but he must be going through a growth spurt. Either that or he is turning over a new leaf in the world of eating. I'm hoping for the latter. Ben has eaten entire meals over the past week! This is rare in our house. I'm practically beside myself! In fact, one night this week in which I made meatloaf, Ben had eaten everything on his plate, but had not touched his meatloaf. He said to me, "How many bites until I can have dessert?" I replied, "I don't know, you'll have to eat a lot." He has become a master negotiator and said, "I'll eat five bites and then I can have dessert." I said, "No, six bites." Holding firm, Ben said, "Five bites!" I replied, "How about this, if you eat five bites, you can have one cookie. If you eat six bites, you can have two cookies." Ben's face lit up, and not to allow me to have the last word in this negotiation, stated enthusiastically, "And if I have TEN bites I can have three cookies!" Deal, with the result being the consumption of yet another entire meal! This might not be creating a healthy relationship with food, but at least it is creating a relationship with food - and meatloaf at that! Score one for Mom... and Ben!

Christmas on the Beach

Sunset walks on the beach...
Strutting her cute self on the beach...

Going on a stroll with Daddy...

Enjoying the biggest sand mound EVER...

A being "King of the Beach!"

Yep - it doesn't get much better than that! Over Christmas, we enjoyed a wonderful vacation to Bonita Springs, Florida with the Ausenhus family. The weather couldn't have been more perfect, with daily temperatures in the 80s and the skies clear and sunny. Although it was far from our traditional Christmas, it was an awesome getaway and we all had a great time!

Ben and Abby both loved playing on the beach. On our first time going out on the beach, Abby was very unsure about the sand on her toes and the water. She sat with Papa for awhile and just watched Ben, and suddenly it was like she thought to herself, "I can do this too!" She got up, bee-lined it for the water, and was fearless from there on out. She would squeal with excitement every time the water would touch her legs!

Ben enjoyed being "buried" in the sand, making and knocking over sand castles, running into the water, and playing on the massive pile of sand you can see in the pictures above. On a few evenings, we'd go out on a walk at sunset. We quickly found that we couldn't walk far because Ben would spend most of the time sifting through the shells to find what he considered to be the most interesting ones. He was also glad that Santa was able to find us in Florida and still fill his stocking.

While on vacation, I decided that if I could get out and jog on the beach every morning, my life satisfaction rating would sky-rocket! There is nothing better than an empty beach, cool air, low tide, the sunrise, and a good run. Oh well... my life satisfaction rating is pretty darn high the way it is!

Overall, many fond memories were made and Ben is bound and determined that we need to go back to Florida very soon. I think we all agree!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, friends and family! During this time of year, I always find myself reflecting on Christmases from the past, and the events of the last year. Today was no exception. As I reread my Christmas post from last year, out of curiousity and the fogginess of my memory, I remembered how much has happened and how much the kids have changed in the last twelve months. I've recently been reminded by someone that, "The days are long, but the years are short." If I have any resolution in 2012, I think it will be to remember that and to better appreciate every moment.

In thinking about last Christmas, Abby was only two months old, and in fact, a year ago this weekend, was hospitalized with a high fever. Of course, I remember it vividly. I also remember that last Christmas, Abby was not the happiest baby. I think I (or whomever had a turn with her) spent most of last Christmas in a separate room with her, trying to comfort a crying, colicky baby. Oh, what a difference a year makes! Abby's first few months of life are a stark contrast to the spunky, smiley, playful, cuddly, and happy fourteen month old we all know now! In the past year, we've watched her roll over, crawl, sit up, and walk. Currently, she is talking in her own language, and knows exactly what she is telling us, but we have yet to figure it out. We've found that Abby is a girl who knows what she wants, and will go after it, whether it is a snack she just pulls out herself, or incessent pointing for something she sees, or simply some cuddles. Since starting to walk just before she turned one, she is after Ben all the time. She loves her big brother, while also finding him hysterical most of the time. A few other things she enjoys at the moment are taking her shoes and socks off during every car ride, being chased (this results in the cutest squealing!), and tickling us (she does this with a funny sound with her tongue, which we can only assume is her version of saying, "Tickle, tickle!").

Ben has grown up so much in the past year! Over the summer, he started to get interested in baseball and wanted to play all the time. Brant and I both spent a lot of time pitching him the ball and chasing after it while he hit "home runs". He also loved the water over the summer. On a trip to Oma's and Opa's over July 4th, Ben shocked us by strapping on a life jacket and leaping off the dock over and over into the lake with the big boys. That was not our typical reserved and cautious Ben. He did the same on our summer vacation to The Lake of the Ozarks, and also loved the pool we set up in our yard. Ben started preschool in August and seems to enjoy it. He also started going to Sunday School at church this fall. We are excited for him as he shares the things that he has been learning in both places (on the occasions he decides to share!). Currently, some of Ben's favorite things are dinosaurs, movie nights with mom and dad, art projects and science experiments, and helping Daddy with any sort of project. Some of my favorite things about Ben at the moment are that he is writing his name and Abby's name, doing more drawing, and "reading" to himself during his rest/nap time. I can't get enough of listening to him retell the stories we read together - and most of the time, with gusto!!

Brant is still working for Bader Rutter and Associates, which is in Milwaukee. I am still an Instructional Coach for Ankeny Schools, and am serving two elementary buildings this year. I think we would both strongly agree that we continue to enjoy the work we do and people with whom we work. However, nothing compares to the days at home that we spend as a family of four!

I know I say it every year, but the Christmas season also causes me to reflect more frequently on those who are not with us during the holidays. We miss my mom and dad every day and I think so often of the joy they would have radiated with their two grandchildren. It still doesn't seem fair that Ben and Abby will never truly know what wonderful people that they were. However, I also know that Mom and Dad would never want us to forget the true reason of this season - and that they are at peace together, enjoying this Christmas with more love and joy than any of us can imagine.

In conclusion, here is a wrap up of the past year...

This budding sibling relationship has been a joy to watch! Abby thinks the world of Ben and Ben is very conscious of including her and making sure she is okay. Let's hope that continues!

Abby couldn't get enough of the swing on summer days!

Ben LOVED the water this summer!

Ben started 3 year old preschool this year!

Trick-or-treating with our pumpkin and our triceratops

Helping Daddy with the "kid's" Christmas tree (or with his hair?).

We wish you all the joy of the season and the best of 2012!