About Me

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I am a Mom of two young lads, a fitness fanatic and wife to a die-hard Packers/Brewers fan. I worked in corporate america for 12 years. Now I am on a new adventure - raising my sons and working part-time in the fitness industry as a Personal Trainer and Group Exercise Instructor. I hope you stop by and read my updates- family, fitness, or life related!

Monday, April 29, 2013

Liam: 1 year + 8 month

 Handsome haircut!
 Being silly!
 Will he be a lefty? He loves ball!
Walking down the stairs, taking a break w/ his toothbrush!
 
Wow, Liam is 20 months old and the big TWO is approaching quicker than I expected. What is Liam up to this month? He is full of Shenanigans. By that, I mean he is my little jokster and playful fella. He will steal his brother's teddy or favorite car and go running around the house as fast as he can until big brother is in tears. He also has turned into a crazy animal as I change his diaper. It seriously is like trying to wrestle a gator. I have to use my legs to pin him down and it still takes 10 minutes because he flips around and kicks and laughs so hard as he sees me struggle. Liam says more words each and every day. Basically whatever his brother says, he tries to say now. It's a lot of fun to see these guys being active and outside now that spring has decided to bless us. Liam loves splashing in puddles. He loves riding in the Coup car. He loves his water table- he could play with that for hours. He loves  pressing the buttons in the van, making the doors open and close. If I take him out when he's playing, he will kick and scream and let me know how mad he is at me. But that wears off about 20 minutes later and he is back to playing with something else. Liam still loves to throw and chase balls, and of course most of them are thrown into the street so I have to watch him at ALL TIMES right now. He can also walk down the stairs like a big boy now, and wants to practice all the time holding the wall and walking down one step at a time. BIG BOY!

Liam had a slight fever for a few days with a runny nose and low and behold he popped about 8 teeth in a week! He went from having 6 teeth total to about 14. We have his check-up next week, and I'm pretty sure he weighs real close to big brother. Liam is a STRONG little boy. He can hang from things, push up on things and it is hard to get things away from him. He loves soaking up all the things there is to see outside- from bugs to trucks and planes.

I recently spent a week alone with the boys and we lost Liam's puppy at Target, but the next day they had him there so he was reunited with his snugly sleep/comfort toy. Phew. He understood when I told him Puppy was lost, and he was all smiles when he was reunited. It's so much fun to watch Liam grow, change and learn each day. He understands everything you say and even though his stubborn "No" is heard a lot or his "Stop It" - he still makes me laugh and is still my sweet little baby boy who likes to snuggle. Even though this stage is a bit exhausting, I am trying to soak it all in as it does go fast and I will take the cuddles when I can get them! He is definitely a Mama's boy. If I am missing from his view, he will come find me within five minutes yelling "Mama" at the top of his lungs. It is a good feeling to be loved so much. Liam's infectious belly-laugh is the best sound ever!

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

April Showers Bring May ???

Since April was filled with snow storms this year, what will May bring us? Typically it's April showers bring May flowers, but I am hopeful that with all the extra moisture on the ground in the form of snow, May will bring green grass, flowers and lots of heat and sunshine! We sure deserve it here in MN after the 6 months of straight winter we had.

I do have to admit, though that although this year has been such a shock to us all here in MN and everyone is getting so angry and frustrated, it has actually helped me a little bit (in some ways). I am trying to study for two hours a day, and I don't often get two hours of peace- so if the weather was nice out the boys would want to be out playing (which means me out playing too). But, if they play in the house nicely sometimes, I can then sneak in some more flashcards or quickly review my notes.

So, I am definitely ready for nice weather but the extra month of staying indoors has helped this mama out in the form of studying and keeping me on task for the most part. The boys have extra energy though, so bring on the sunshine this weekend so they can finally get out and play (and get tired- ha).

Here are some of the things we have been doing to keep busy during this "interesting" non-Spring!

Splashing in puddles on the melty days!
One or two days we snuck in a park visit!
Choo-Choo Bob's keeps them entertained!
We got to sit in a firetruck at the Woodbury Expo!
 
Indoor parks has been the theme this non-spring!

Monday, April 8, 2013

Braden: 3 years + 6 months


 Happy haircut boy.
 Sporty guy!
My movie date.

Well I can officially say Braden is three-and-a-half. With that milestone, comes a lot of new found independence, energy and abilities. Where do I start? He sometimes has opinions about what he wants to wear for the day. He likes to pick out his own hat, shoes and jacket too. Today he had on rubber rain shoes, a swimsuit and a winter coat as we headed to swim lessons. I had to tell him to put pants on over the suit (a little too chilly yet!) He also is shining in his big brother skills. He asks Liam, "Do you want me to help you with that?" in this cute high pitch voice that he uses only when asking Liam if he wants help. The other week I brought the boys to an indoor play place and he insisted on holding Liam's hand down the slide. It was way too cute. Now, there are plenty of tears and fighting over "Liam took ____ of mine", but mostly he is a good helper to Liam and is excited when he sees Liam do new things.

Braden is at an all-time peak of sportiness right now. He wants to play baseball, basketball, he wants to run, jump and hit golf balls (the list goes on). I consider myself a very active person, but he has me running all over the place - especially when I'm trying to chase a fleeing 19-month-old at the same time. The best part is he is constantly saying "watch this Mom" or he wants me to join him in every activity. Again, I wish I could be two places in once with these boys so I am going to have to put on my running shoes all summer long!

I love Braden's excitement for the little things in life. Easter morning he was so excited to look for eggs, he loved coloring the eggs, he says "YESSSS" when I suggest going somewhere fun (like the fist pumping type of yes). If I say he can do something special like go see a movie he screeches and jumps up and down. He is at a great age right now. He can articulate everything on his mind (sometimes a little too much - ha). He challenges me in ways I am not used to being challenged. He is so eager, curious and determined to learn, see and do everything. I am incredibly blessed and proud to be Braden's Mom, and so looking forward to see what more he can surprise us with! In his 3.5 years he has surprised me more than anything else ever has.

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Liam: 19 months



My tractor riding guy!
 
Do you think he likes Cherry Berry (More than Mom and Braden I think)?
Belly laughing boy!
 

Liam's vocabulary is multiplying each month. He can now say short sentences like "bye-bye Daddy/Mommy or Love you Mommy/Daddy", "Help me", "All Clean", "More please" or "Thank you Braden." He also likes to repeat all words you say, so he really can say a ton more words now, even two syllable words- like bedroom or garbage. But the phrase he uses the most, which happens to be my least favorite, is "Stop it." I think that phrase is totally my fault. I probably have been saying that for the first year of his life, ha! Karma! He says a ton of people's names now which is fun and recognizes them when he sees them. He can point to all the basic body parts if you ask him to show you them- nose, ear, eyes, hair, teeth, mouth, tongue, toes, etc...

Liam is a playful and spunky little boy. He knows what he wants and doesn't want. He now steals things from his big brother and runs as fast as he can, which usually ends up in tears from big brother and laughter from little bro. So, watch out- little brother is fast and mischievous! Liam also has that great belly laugh that everyone cpmpliments. He still is obsessed with balls, dogs, birds, balloons and now we can add trains (choo-choos as he calls them) and planes. At night, we sit on his rocking chair and pull back the shade and wait for any blinking lights for him to yell "plane". If we hit it right, at about 8:00ish we see two or three, but this weekend we have been going to bed later and miss out on the bedtime planes. He also points out and names the moon and stars. Liam is all about his surroundings right now and soaking in nature. When we go for walks he is pointing constantly and running into things because his eyes are up towards the sky and nowhere close to the path in front of him. He will stop in his tracks if he sees a dog or bird.

Liam wants to do all the things that his big brother does, including zooming trains around the track, running and dancing. The two boys are very entertaining together. Liam is very opinionated, telling you yes or no if he wants something or does not. I am trying to teach him not to get so frustrated when things don't go his way- there are a lot of tears, screaming, kicking and hitting when he gets mad- but hopefully that will get better in time. Hopefully is the key word. I don't know how many times I was kicked or hit today when I had to pull him away from something, yikes.

I really look forward to summer, seeing what Liam does. He jumps on the tricycle and is very close to pedalling but his little legs need to grow a tad more. He can swing a baseball bat, not always with the correct form but he tries. He can throw the ball pretty good. He runs like the wind. He is full of life, laughter and spunk. His giggles and smile are what I look forward to seeing each morning! I have my work cut out for me this summer- this guy running in one direction and then other going in another! Wish me luck.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Easter Recap!


I hope you all had a wonderful Easter!

Ours was really nice. We dyed eggs on Saturday night, and Braden was really into that as you can see in the above picture. We even made some Packer colored eggs (on accident really). Then Braden couldn't wait to get to bed since it was only "one more sleep" until the Easter bunny came! He woke us up at 7:15 Sunday morning and came in so excited and asked me if I thought the bunny came. We all headed down the stairs together, and as soon as he saw things he was yelling and running around. It was a ton of fun to watch. Liam didn't quite get it. He was excited because Braden was. He opened one egg, ate the candy and then sat and screamed because that candy was gone. He didn't understand he needed to find more! Anyway, the boys hunted for eggs around the house and found their baskets. It was an exciting morning. We headed off to church after breakfast, we came back and played with new toys/books and watched a new Easter movie- HOP. We had some candy induced quiet/nap time in the afternoon for a bit (studying for Mom) and then off we went to my sister's house for an early dinner. It was a quieter Easter with only my sister's family and ours there this year, but it was nice to catch up with everyone and the cousins all played great together. They also had fun doing another egg hunt on all levels of the house.

The best part is the next day, Braden asked if he could do it all over again because he had so much fun. He also asked if that guy, the Easter bunny, could come back again too! Too cute. What a fun age for holiday magic! It is so fun to see how the older they get the more they get involved and excited.

Spring Fun!


Well, it's been a long chilly spring here in MN. We are patiently waiting for all the snow to melt and the temps to get warm enough so kids can play outside. Today was pretty decent, but still below average. The streets are flooded with water. We get outside, get wet and get back in to eat dinner and bathe all the mud & water off little bodies. Mother nature has been not so nice to us this year, but we are so excited for warm weather to start.

It will be so fun to see what the boys will be up to this summer. Braden talks about baseball and more baseball, along with going fun places like parks and swimming in pools. Although today we hit golf balls and he does also love to ride his bike and just run. Wonder where he gets that from? He can climb up all the big stuff at the play structures now too so it will be nice to not have to be following behind him so close this year.

Liam on the other hand is my non-cautious guy, unlike his older brother, and I will have to watch him every second. He is the risk-taker. He splashes in the puddles, giggles and goes back for more. He runs into the pool at the YMCA even though the water is over his head. He runs the other way when you tell him to come. So, I will have my hands full when we get outside! He loves to throw balls and run down the driveways, and yes there is always a fall with a scrape or running into the street when I tell him to stop. Oh boy. I better have my fast reaction skills ready to go. His little feet go faster than his legs, or vice versa I am not sure, so far there are a lot of tears as he tumbles over on the pavement.

It will be a lot of fun to watch these guys play this summer, now if we only could get above 50! It's gotta be so close. Hope everyone is surviving by thinking nice weather and all the fun stuff you want to do just like we are!