Happy 4th!

Hope everyone had a fun 4th of July! With the holiday on Thursday, it felt like we had a long weekend even though we worked Friday.

We started the holiday on Wednesday with a visit to the pediatrician. She wanted us to come back at 2.5 years to see if Kasper would start to gain weight. Good news - he did! The newest stats:

Weight: 25 3/4 lb - 9%
Height: 96 cm - 86%
Head: 18.5" - 7%

He moved from the 3% to the 9% so the Dr. is not ordering any further testing at this time. What a relief. Funny that he's still not even 26 lbs at 2.5 but we'll take it. And check out that height! He's a perfect string bean. He did well at the check up and even participated a bit! He got his last vaccination (besides flu shots) until he's 5 so he'll be happy to know that.

When we got up on the 4th we had no plans! Kasper asked for pancakes so we had pancakes for breakfast then hung around for a bit deciding what to do next. Kasper decided Lois needed to be put to bed.

It worked!





We looked around at some events happening in the West Metro and decided a parade would be fun. Turns parades are not as common on the 4th as you'd think! We ended up in Edina, found a seat right at the start of the route and had ourselves a fun (and HOT) morning! I didn't even think about candy but Kasper came home loaded up with candy.






Since we were right at the beginning there were barely any people. Kinda funny!


Steph and Tim came over for dinner and we grilled brats and chicken. I had picked up sparklers which I thought Kasper might enjoy. He had no interest in getting near one but watched Rob! And ate cookies.



We hadn't decided what to do about fireworks but Kasper was doing an awesome job of staying up a little late so we went all out. We played outside until around 9 when Kasper got a bath and into his pjs. Around 9:40 we headed out the door, Kasper in the wagon, and walked up to the high school. It turns out it's a 20 min walk. We got to the high school, watched 10 minutes of fireworks, K snuggled with Rob then me then went back to his wagon and said "I want to go home and sleep in my bed." No crying, no whining, just the facts. I was so impressed with him! Of course we headed home and he finally got to bed around 11 pm. Turns out he's still a little young to stay up for fireworks but for sure a trooper.

We went to work Friday, Kasper went to daycare. There were less than half of the kids there.

Yesterday Kasper asked to go on the columpio (swing) as soon as he woke up. He's obsessed again. After an hour of that, we had a quick breakfast before heading out for some errands.




Last night Rob and I went out to eat with Steph and Tim at a favorite place of all of ours - Bar La Grassa. It was delicious! Maybe the best meal I've had there.

Today was a lazy day. It was just too hot to play outside. We did some stroller pushing/flower watering in the morning but by 10 am it was too hot and humid.

I got a couple pictures of Mama and Papa bluebird that have a nest in our bluebird house. I set it up last year but only got wrens. This year I thought there were wrens in there again until we've been seeing the bluebirds flying in and out. The dad usually sits on the telephone wire nearby while the mom usually feeds the babies. I LOVE bluebirds and love that they are using the house! They're always around which is fun.




I show you these because it's the best I can do with the camera equipment I have. Our neighbor has a serious photography habit and the equipment to go with it. He's as tickled with the bluebird as we are and sent us this picture one morning out of the blue.

ISN'T THAT AMAZING?? What a fun surprise! Makes me want an awesome new camera lens. :)

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and weekend!

Baby #2

I thought I'd give a little more background on our new anticipated arrival. Without going too far into it, we had been trying to have another child for over a year and a half. Not the longest anyone has waited by any stretch of the imagination but it was starting to wear on us a bit. We had been in to doctors for various testing and there was nothing obviously wrong with either of us. We decided the next step was to go to a fertility clinic after a final test we had scheduled for April 30. With the trip to Hawaii coming up in mid-April we didn't put much thought into a second baby. Of course you know what happened next. I had a hunch I was pregnant the last couple days in Hawaii and took a test as soon as we walked in the door. It was April 24 and I had that final test less than a week later. I was so happy to be able to call and cancel that.


This picture is so gross. This is 16 hours of travel on a red-eye flight. Had to take a pic anyway.


I tested close to 5 weeks so we just started the belly pics at 6 weeks. I also opted for a clothed belly. See above. And yes I like the Old Navy vintage t-shirts. Highly recommended.


So far things have been going smoothly which I'm thankful for. I had a little nausea but it was pretty mild. My blood pressure has stayed normal and sometimes even mildly low - a problem I've never had. I had pregnancy induced hypertension with Kasper and hope to not have a repeat of that. The worst part, though it's not really bad at all, is how huge I look already! I've heard this is common with second pregnancies but it's a little ridiculous. The funny thing is I've MAYBE gained one pound.

Here are a couple more from our DIY photoshoot. We just set the camera up on the tripod and used a remote control. It worked pretty well!









Kasper is still pretty unaware there's a new baby coming and is mostly uninterested in my growing belly.


So now you're caught up! December 25 will be here before we know it.

Ahhhh...summer

Well, today was one of those days Minnesotans wait for all year. It was amazing.

Back to this week, it was a pretty average week. I had my 12 week OB appointment Monday - I have another post to go with that whole story later. Thanks for all the nice congratulations!

Ever since we got rid of the paci Kasper has been waking up way too early in the mornings so I invested in a toddler clock to see if that would help. The clock glows yellow all night (another bonus - a nightlight!) then turns green when it's time to get up. The first morning Kasper still woke up at 5:30 and called for me. I reminded him that I would come get him when his clock turned green (6:30). He whined until it turned green and I went to get him. After the first morning he seemed to get it and is quiet until the clock turns green! I don't know if he actually goes back to sleep if it's still yellow or lays quietly and I don't really care all that much. he gets it. For the weekend I set it for 7:15 and it worked. Nice.


This boy is OBSESSED with Berenstain Bear books. He totes them all over the house to read. This was 6:45 one morning before school.


Saturday we played outside and did some gardening in the morning. It was nice and sunny. We pushed nap back an hour so we could go to the Chanhassen Library to watch one of our favorite bands - the Okee Dokee Brothers! Kasper loves theses songs so we thought it would be fun for him to see. He's a pretty shy guy at first and wanted to sit on my lap in the back of the room at the beginning.



Eventually he got up and danced.


One of the funnest parts for Rob and I - the tallest guy we've ever seen was there! I've talked about him on the blog before. We saw him at the zoo once. We didn't notice him at first because he was sitting on the floor. Then when it was time to dance he somehow unfolded all 7'3" of himself and got up to dance. (Someone asked how tall.) He was dancing and having a great time. Isn't he TALL??

Rob is standing right next to him. Also, that's his wife standing in front of him.

Ready for a nap.


We delayed the nap for an hour so of course he only slept about an hour. Boo. He was totally grumpy last night. He did help me make brownies.


This morning we got up, had breakfast and headed over to Lake Nokomis for a beach day with friends. It was such a beautiful morning and it was so fun to see everyone out enjoying the lake. Us Minnesotans take advantage of every nice MINUTE of the summer. It's amazing. Kasper started out shy again and only wanted to sit on my lap while the other kids hopped right in the lake. I think he's going to be more like his Mama sometimes. He eventually warmed up and left the nest. We had SUCH a fun time this morning!



This is about as close as he got to the water. He didn't go in past his ankles.



The Dads

Checking out the lifeguard. This is before that back board totally fell down and almost nailed him.



At around 12:30, Kasper walked up to me and said he was cold and wanted to go home and take a nap. After yesterday, I knew I owed it to him to let him have a nice nap today.





Nap time!


Homeboy slept over 3 hours this afternoon. In fact, I went in and woke him up when he stirred so he wouldn't sleep all evening! We had such a fun morning outside and the weather was still so nice we decided to pack a picnic dinner and head to Excelsior!








Cool kid


He is CONSTANTLY licking his top lip. It's always chapped.








We ended the day with some ice cream. The perfect summer day.


Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!