A Refreshing Weekend

This weekend Joel and I had the rare opportunity to spend some time alone. We thought it would be a perfect time since it's Valentine's Day weekend, and also since very soon it will be much harder to find time alone!

Saturday morning we dropped Caleb off with Grandma and Grandpa. I am so glad that Caleb just loves spending time with family members. He doesn't cry when we leave - just happily gives us kisses and waves out the window as we drive away.

Joel and I headed toward the cities to spend some time shopping. Our first stop was Carter's. It's so hard to control myself in that store! We picked out a going-home outfit for our baby boy, along with a couple other things from the clearance rack. Then we had Famous Dave's for lunch - Joel was in heaven!

During the afternoon we spent some more time shopping. We didn't have too much on our list to get, but it was so relaxing to spend as much time as we wanted just looking at whatever. Shopping with a toddler, our focus is to get what we need as quickly as possible and get out. I think now I feel like we have everything we need if baby decided to come today. After most of our shopping was finished, we headed to Caribou to enjoy a coffee date. Oh, how I've missed coffee dates! We each grabbed a drink and sat next to the fireplace to enjoy chatting together for as long as we wanted! For some reason, that atmosphere is so calming and refreshing.

After a little more shopping in the evening, we drove down to Maple Grove to have dinner at Biaggi's. We first ate at a Biaggi's in Moline, IL when we were dating. It is a beautiful and very yummy place! Surprisingly we only had to wait 30 min for a table. It was the perfect way to end a perfect day.

Sunday we slept in a little and enjoyed church together without distracting a 2-year-old through the whole service. We had a lazy afternoon (including naps!) and then went to Joel's parents to enjoy dinner together to celebrate his mom's birthday before bringing Caleb home.

The stress that has accumulated lately concerning money, school, disciplining a toddler, and fatigue during 3rd trimester all just melted away as Joel and I spent that quality time together. Sometimes it's so hard to have great conversations when Caleb is competing for attention, and by the time he's in bed, I'm exhausted! I feel so much closer to Joel, and I also feel more ready to have this baby. Joel has been so great at taking care of Caleb when I need breaks, and checking often to see what he can do for me, but nothing can replace that extended time to just connect again. We've decided to make it more of a priority to have some time alone (maybe one coffee or dinner date a month) to keep this connection strong. It's such an adventure going through each stage of life and figuring out how to adjust relationships and priorities as our family grows. What a joy to have my best friend at my side the entire way!

Girls Night!

Last Thursday some wonderful friends decided to throw a girls pampering night in honor of two preggos being almost ready to give birth. It was a very relaxing evening spent exchanging fun Valentine gifts, encouraging each other, receiving foot and hand spas, and eating some very yummy food! It has been too long since we all got together without any kids, and we really enjoyed hanging out and catching up. Thank you Lord for such wonderful friends!

Due 5 days apart!

Approx. 36 and 37 weeks!

Saturday Thoughts

The count-down is now at four weeks! I just can't wait to meet our second little boy. I want to know what his face looks like, and how much hair he has. I want to introduce him to his big brother, who already adores him. The nursery is almost ready, and it was completely surreal to pick up those newborn clothes and imagine a baby that small! Yes, Caleb was that small, but he's not anymore, so it just seems impossible.

I am still feeling ok for the most part. My feet swell some days, my back cramps up sometimes, but other than that I really can't complain. I think the biggest challenge right now is the crazy hormones messing with my emotions! Poor Joel - he's so patient with me! But I'm sure he's excited to have this all over with too! It's such an amazing joy to watch and feel my little boy squirming around inside me. I never get tired of feeling that movement - even if it's uncomfortable sometimes. What an amazing God we have who created us in such a way that we can have such a strong bond with an unborn child! Thank you Lord for blessing us with this new life!

Caleb is such a typical 2-year-old. His favorite word is "NO!" He is testing every limit. Temper tantrums in Target are not fun. I pray every day for patience, because it is his job to test boundaries so that he can learn how to make decisions and see how they affect his surroundings. And yet, it is so challenging to be a parent! We call him our little sour patch kid, because one minute he is the biggest sweetie ever, and the next, he is hitting, or throwing a fit. This, combined with my crazy emotions, and a high-stress job, sometimes throws me over the edge. Oh Lord, thank you for your Scripture.

Scripture is what brings me peace, and it doesn't matter what form it's in. Today the three of us drove to St. Cloud to get some groceries and necessities. On trips like this, we usually play some good old G.T. and the Halo Express for Caleb to listen to.

Did you ever listen to this growing up? They are fun kids stories with songs that are straight Scripture throughout. I think we listened to four episodes today, and my soul just drank in every Word. The Lord knows exactly what we need.

Weekends are such a wonderful time to spend as a family, and I am especially looking forward to next weekend. Caleb is spending a night with Grandma and Grandpa, and Joel and I will get the rare chance to do some fun shopping, go out to eat alone, and have a date at Caribou. I don't think I've shopped without Caleb in over a year! It will be so nice to get some rejuvenating time as a couple before a second child joins our family!

Random

My grandma gave Caleb this "Kissing Elmo" for Christmas. He loves it, and I love how it has seemed to bring out a compassionate side of Caleb. He takes Elmo for a walk, feeds him a snack, gives him hugs and kisses, puts him to bed, and, as in the picture, takes him for a ride on his truck. It's so cute!

Caleb absolutely loves playing in the snow, so it was fun to have a little warm weather a couple weeks ago so that I could take him out. He goes out at daycare sometimes and also has with my mom a few times, but I hadn't had many chances to play with him outdoors, so I really enjoyed this sunny Saturday afternoon (Jan 15th).

December 28-29

So I still haven't gotten around to finishing the posts about Christmas break! There was just so much packed in there! On December 28th we headed to my parents to celebrate Christmas together and watch the Vikings game!


We had a very fun evening together - had a nice dinner out, came home and opened some presents, and finished just in time for kick-off!

This is such a fun Little People set - I'm sure it will get tons of use in the next many years!

We enjoy watching the Vikings together!

Yep - even Caleb, and especially with Auntie April!

The next day my grandma came over and we had a nice dinner together and opened some more gifts. I think Grandma likes to spoil her great-grandson!

It was a relaxing couple of days together as a family!

On Wednesday we left Mora and headed down to Roseville to hang out with some college friends. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures, but we had a great time visiting with them! It's kind of a weird realization though when you get together with college friends and the place you meet is the McDonald's playland! It makes me feel old! It was perfect though - the kids played well for a couple of hours and we had a great time catching up with our friends.

Our last weekend of break was set aside to make an attempt at potty-training Caleb. So Thursday morning we removed his wet diaper and put him in underwear and plastic pants. Meanwhile, Joel left for a session of behind-the-wheel with a student. I took him to the bathroom about every 15 minutes, and asked him if he was still dry in between. He was so patient sitting on the potty for 5 minutes at a time - we played and sang. But most times we ended up with a dry run, and then wet underwear 10 minutes later. It was a discouraging morning (especially because I was doing it on my own), and by naptime I decided that it just wasn't going to work yet. So we put the treats and big-boy underwear away for now. I think his bladder is just too small yet, so he's going too often. No big deal - I just thought it was worth a try to see if he was ready. We'll probably try again in late March or April after we've all had sufficient time to adjust to being a family of four.

We spent New Year's Eve just relaxing together as a family. It was so nice to spend some quiet time together at home after being gone and rushing around so much during the rest of break. Joel and I had some fun times playing games together that night. And with that, our break was pretty much over. It's hard to believe it's been a month already since break! January went so fast, and now we only have 5 more weeks before our second little boy is due!

Personalized Decor

I recently made my very first purchase on etsy.com, and I received it in the mail today. I am SO excited about it! I had been looking for a long time for something fun to put on the wall in Caleb's new room, and have had no luck at all. Everything was either baby/nursery, or too old. So I was browsing on etsy and came across a (Christian) woman who paints things for kids rooms, among other things. Her stuff was so cute, and she advertises that she personalizes anything. I got in contact with her, sent her a picture of Caleb's bedding, and received this in the mail today:

I absolutely LOVE it, and I'm so excited to put it up in Caleb's room. I'll post more pictures once his room is officially finished - later this week.

December 26

December 26th we left Joel's parents' house, made a little side trip to Wal-Mart for some after-Christmas sales, and then headed to my grandparents' house for an extended family celebration. It was a slow trip with snowy and icy roads, but we made it.

Caleb playing cars with second-cousin Sam.
I guess I wasn't so great at taking pictures there. We had a nice meal and played the traditional dice game - where our family usually fights to win the roll of duct tape!

We left early because we knew there would be lots of snow to remove at home since we hadn't been there for more than three days of the big storm. We arrived to this! Hey, at least the house looked pretty! Joel parked on the street, jumped the almost 4-ft snowbank, and started up the snowblower. I was honestly a little afraid that the blower would break from working so hard, but it was the Little Engine that Could!

If you look really closely here, you can see the orange top of the snowblower and Joel's head straight above it.

Almost through!!!

Amazing! Caleb and I had a nice path to get into the house. Meanwhile Joel spent lots of time clearing the rest of the driveway. It looks like hard grueling work to me, but he loves doing it! The whole drive home he kept saying, "Oh I hope nobody plowed our driveway for us!"