i heart spring

oh my goodness, i think i can officially say that spring is here to stay in minnesota land. we have had GORGEOUS weather the past couple of weeks. 60s and 70s. and there is green popping up everywhere. i love spending my days with the windows open and the kids running around in the backyard. liam's already itching for summer though - dying to pull out the plastic pool and eat popsicles. the beautiful thing about minnesota is that there are 4 distinct season. and - all though one particular season is a little longer than it should be - spring, summer and fall are beautiful here!

sprouts that are showing themselves in the beds in front of our house

Easter weekend weather did not disappoint - mild and sunny. Will had to work but i was determined to make Easter traditions happen. So Saturday night the kiddos and I colored eggs.

hayden wanted so badly to be in on the egg coloring action

the look on liam's face says it all: are you seriously going to let her help with this?

The Easter bunny came the next morning and hid the kids' baskets full of treats. Liam was totally pumped about finding his basket and Hayden just liked watching him. (didn't really get a pic of the baskets becuase i was videoing for will to see later)

Hayden was content to shake an egg full of jelly beans and Liam ate every piece of candy he could get his hands on. I decided since it was a holiday I'd let him have at it.

Then we rallied and got ourselves ready for church. Getting out the door for church by myself with the kids is truly an act of God sometimes. We were a little tardy but still made it!

dressed and ready!

I picked Liam up from Bible class and he said, "Mom! (he's been calling me mom lately) Did you know Jesus died on the cross?! And then he went in a tomb?" I asked him what happened after that and he couldn't remember. Maybe next year he'll catch the end of the story. It's the best part.

After church our sweet friends the Grosses had us over for a delish lunch and an easter egg hunt. Thanks Beth!

Ellis and Miller Gross - checking out their loot from the egg hunt with the Copelands

Liam took this egg-hunting business seriously

his face after his second massive intake of candy

In the afternoon we went to yet another Easter egg hunt at the Fermins' house. Love them! Thank you Brooke! And Liam enjoyed a third round of Easter candy. Seriously, i cannot tell you how much candy that kid ate on Easter. I think I might get a red mark by my name in parenting class for that one.

hayden - overwhelmed with the Easter madness!

Luke, Hayden, Samuel and Liam

Happy Easter! We miss you daddy!

our family week-after-Easter pic that we took this past Sunday when Will was off (Will looks like a pirate)

The next couple days after Easter were cool, windy and drizzly. But Liam was determined to draw with the sidewalk chalk that the Easter bunny brought.

look closely and you can see a little tear on hayden's left cheek. the wind was crazy that day!

i think liam is immune to all weather elements - if he wants to do something outside, darn it, he's gonna do it, even if tears are running down his face from the wind

We've been packing away our winter gear and pulling out spring clothes. I like to find one great pair of shoes for the kids to wear through the spring and summer. This year i got Liam some Keens and Hayden some Crocs. Love them both - shoes and kids.

super model

the Keens

the Crocs

Hayden's wondering why i put shoes on her first thing in the morning. i ordered them online and was excited when they were delivered!

I had a sweet friend from my Bible study loan me a bunch of spring clothes for Hayden. a HUGE money saver! I feel like I'm shopping in Gymboree when I open her closet now. Here's a few of her latest:

new jacket

new dress (a little too "Little House on the Prairie" for Will)

pink overalls, presh

new suit that i bought her - but way to0 hard to get over her head so it's going back to the store. bummer cause she looks adorable. keeping the hat though!

i pulled out some of liam's old pj's that fit her now. so funny to see her wear things that he used to wear. Here's Liam, same age:

and here's liam sportin his new suit. he put his hat on backwards and said, "do i look like pops?" Will's dad wears his hat backwards sometimes i guess. funny what Liam picks up on.

Yesterday was so beautiful that the kids and I pulled a table onto the deck and ate supper - chicken and broccoli pizza was on the menu.

I'm so thankful that spring is here and the kids and I can get out of the house! I'm also thankful for my two babies and a husband that was home all weekend! I can't tell you how much I needed those two days with him! Some days are a struggle, but God is continuing to provide for us on this little journey to minnesota. Next project on the list...plant a vegetable garden. yeesh...i can't believe i just typed that...i'll let you know how that goes.

many faces of Hayden

I took these pictures of Hayden last month. She's pretty precious these days. She's just at a fun age where she's really interactive, but can't really disobey and i don't have to discipline her yet. Boo on being a disciplinarian. Thumbs up on the rest of mommyhood.

i'm sweet

huh?

yeesh

yay life is awesome!

clapping my hands is my favorite trick

what are you looking at?

Regarding that last picture...a little sassiness is starting to emerge from this little angel. If I ask her to come to me she gets this twinkle in her eye like, "maybe i will or maybe i won't." She has major melt downs when her diaper has to be changed (kicking, thrashing, wailing) and once it's over she goes right back to her sweet self. When Liam strips her of a toy she attempts to defend herself and shreaks and whops him with her chubby little hands. Then Liam looks at me like aren't you going to do something about her behavior? She's so dramatic in the morning when she's waiting for me to get her cup of milk. She yells "EEEEEEEE! AHHHHHH! over and over and over.

Her hair is growing like crazy! A couple of pics:

see the little wings of hair by her ears? and yum to chocolate pie.

bed head

What's really going on right now...

Will's working A LOT. A resident in his department had to leave the program so Will was moved up to a second year spot for the next quarter (April through June). Second year residents are the junior to the chief of neurosurgery. They carry the pager for the chief's service 24 hours a day and get a break every other weekend.

His week so far: Monday he worked from 5:30 am to 7:00 pm with a couple of pages in the night. Tuesday he worked from 5:30 am to 11:00 pm. Today he worked from 5:30 am to 6:30 pm but just got a page at 10:30 and went back in for the night. So I'm at home right now thinking, ok we can do this. we signed up for this. we knew this was coming. it's only a season of life. don't cry.

Lexia and Gus

Our dear wonderful friends Lexia and Gus came all the way from Amarillo, TX to visit us this past weekend. It was wonderful! I didn't want it to be over. We laid pretty low in Rochester most of the weekend. Will watched the kids Saturday night and Lexia and I went out for dinner and a movie. In general Will doesn't just love to take care of other people's kids, but he said Saturday night with Gus was super easy. Gus is such a sweet sweet kid - big talker, gentle with Hayden, good sharer and just easy to be around. Oh and totally potty-trained. I was hoping that all of these qualities would rub off on my sweet son. The boys played really well together. Gus was totally game to wrestle with Liam and of course Liam loved it! Liam had his momets with sharing but overall he did good. We have missed them so much! Since we've moved, Liam still brings up Gus on a regular basis. They are such good buddies.

I met Lexia at a mom's Bible study that I joined in Little Rock shortly after I had Liam. We were in the same small group and realized that we lived in the same neighborhood - me on A St. and she on C St.

Lexia had moved from Amarillo for her hubby's residency and mentioned one day in small group that she had been lonely since they moved to LR. I thought she was super sweet and down to earth, and I was in the market for other mom friends so i jumped on that and asked her to come over for a playdate. At the time Liam was 5 months and Gus was 7 months so it was definitely more for our enjoyment than theirs.

We clicked from the beginning and got together at least once a week if not more from that day on. Nearly every weekday morning Liam and I would wake up and try to entertain ourselves at home, but just end up called Lexia and Gus to hang out. I have so many great memories from those almost 2 years that we spent in LR together - mornings at the zoo, lunches at chick-fil-a, girls-night-out at macaroni grill, both of our boys' 1st and 2nd birthdays, and having our baby girls. I actually got to be with Lexia when she gave birth to her daughter Nola.

Lexia's husband Blaine finished his residency at the same time that Will graduated from medical school. So in June she moved back home to Amarillo and I moved far from home to Minnesota. One of the biggest adjustments since the move has been living life without them in our weekly routine! We love them so so much and I know they will be lifelong friends.

Thank you to Blaine for sharing his wife and son for a few days! Thank you Lexia for taking the time and money to make the trek to the north - pregnant and all. You're the best!

raising a two year old

Raising a two year old. Oh my. Every month parenting magazines show up in my mailbox. I resist hurling them across the room when they claim you can tame your two year old in 3 easy steps. I lay in bed at the end of most days questioning myself - "I should have been more consistent there" or "I was too hard on him then." Help me, Lord! Liam is energetic, physical, impulsive, daring, and smart. If I draw a line he wants to see how close he can get to it and what will happen if he crosses it.

Examples:

Me: Liam, please don't put your finger in Hayden's eye.

(pause)

Me: Liam, don't put your thumb in Hayden's eye either.

And just today:

Me: Liam, please don't bang the bowling pin on the window.

(bang, bang, bang)

Me: Liam, don't bang the bowling pin on the table either.

(tap, tap, tap)

Me: If you bang OR tap the bowling pin on anything again, I'll take it away.

(tap, tap, tap)

Me: Hand it over bubba.

I feel like I'm constantly correcting, disciplining, and telling him no. I have to really look for things to praise him on because I don't want him to feel like I'm just beatin' him down all day.

And then of course there's potty-training. Too many times I've thought, "i think he's finally got this potty thing down." The next day - poop in the pants. He will go an entire day without wetting his pants. Then the next day, he's wetting his pants every time I turn around. Wearing me out!

Speaking of pants...American Idol fans can appreciate this. A few weeks ago Liam stood up on the fire place (his "stage") to quote his memory verse. He stood there for a minute and then said "Pants on the ground, pants on the ground, lookin' like a fool with ya pants on the ground, gold in ya mouth, hat turned sideways." Not exactly the 23rd Psalm! He did it again at the grocery store. Hayden was kinda antsy and I asked Liam to sing her a song. So he breaks out in "Pants On the Ground" at the top of his lungs. Hilarious! I tried to keep a straight face and switch him to the "Jesus Loves Me" track.

No doubt he makes me crazy. One minute I want to cry because my sweet baby boy is dragging his sister down the stairs by her toes, and the next minute I'm laughing because he's running around the front yard in his underwear with sox on his hands - which he did today.

notice there is no snow! it melted away about two weeks ago. woo hoo!!! we survived our first minnesota winter!

I find myself repeating the same phrases over and over:

"Gentle hands Liam"

"Use a kind voice."

"Yes, please?"

"Yes, please?"

"Hayden is more special than any toy."

"Don't pick Hayden up please."

"Are you dry?"

"Let's have a potty break"

"Yes, please?"

"Time for a potty break"

And the latest addition: "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." (thanks mom!)

He has a MAJOR struggle with sharing. I keep thinking he should be growing out of this problem by now. This is where the line "Hayden is more special than any toy" comes in to play. I don't want him to share just because I tell him to. I want him to share because it's the right thing to do and the right way to treat others - because people are more important than things. He's not grasping that concept so much.

After Bible class or any kind of childcare time I will ask Liam, "how was class today?" Many times he says, "I hit kids and take toys away." Great. Awesome.

So I guess the moral of this story is...what goes around comes around. My deepest apologies to my mother. I know now what she endured to raise me!

The Snowman

Last year my mom bought this wierd old kids' movie called The Snowman. It's about this boy who makes a snowman (with so much snow in his front yard he must live in Minnesota). The snowman comes to life and does all these fun things with the boy. It ends tragically. Sorry to ruin it for you but...the snowman melts. Anyway, Liam LOVES this movie and always wants to watch it when we go to my parents' house. Given his love for The Snowman, it was high time that he made one of his own. So today we made our first Minnesota snowman!

we named him Joseph

Liam, Joseph and Hayden - Liam was seriously so proud

liam's exact words "i yuhv him"

good times

Hayden watching us crazies

A week or so ago Will was home for the day so we had a snow day. We went sledding down our hill, buried each other in the snow, then came in, ate soup and made snow ice cream. I'd heard of snow cream from several people and decided to try my hand at making it. It's just snow, milk, sugar and vanilla. It was actually really delicious! We were going to end our day with ice skating, but ended up napping late instead - love it.

our first batch of snow cream

liam was a fan

It's really been warming up around here - 20s and 30s and supposed to hit the 40s a couple of days next week. But I've been told that this winter has been mild and to watch out because if the winter "comes in like a lamb" it will go "out like a lion". That little terminology must be a traditional saying around here because I've had a handful of people tell me that. So I'm told to brace myself for a big March snowstorm, and then winter, and our snowman, will finally melt away. And in our story that is a happy ending!