Chicks In Our Nest

You want to know where I have been?

2010-11-30T11:47:00.004-06:00

Looking for me? Wondering why I have not updated?

My hands are full, full of a little shit named Zack

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-03T08:04:00.006-05:00

Happy Halloween!

The kids had a great time going trick or treating, Zack was a little unsure at first but after the first 2 houses he realized he was getting candy for free he took off running!

Wyatt was darth vader, Lucy was a lady bug and Zack was a cheeseburger

In case you were wondering...

2010-10-11T09:29:00.004-05:00

In case you were wondering...yes Zack is still a little crap!

A bath? Yes Please!

2010-09-13T12:41:00.003-05:00

Bath nights are fun here, but chaotic as well. Some want to shower, some want to take a bath.

One night last week it Wy's turn to take one with Zack. Yes, they fight over who takes a bath with cookie. So both boys took a bath and got out. Miss Lucy decided she wanted a bath too, so while the boys got dressed she got in.

5 minutes go by and we don't hear from Zack. Lucy calls us and this is what we find

Back to School Time!

2010-08-31T08:50:00.003-05:00

Today is the first day of school for Wyatt, he is now a 2nd grader!

Being a 2nd grader at his school brings a few more responsibilities, he now has a daily planner to write all of his homework in, and he also got his own bible, so he can start to read scripture! How exciting!

He was very excited to go this morning, here are a few pictures we snapped before we left

The Last Swim

2010-08-06T10:14:00.003-05:00

My Grandparents cabin sold, we have to be out by the end of this month. It's so sad, but my grandma can't keep it up anymore since my grandpa passed, so it was sold.

We took the kids up a few weeks ago for their last time up there, we went to the beach, played out in the yard and went swimming out front too. It's heartbreaking to watch it go...

I got some pictures of the kids swimming, their last swim up there

Water Fun

2010-08-02T10:16:00.009-05:00

It's hot and humid, it's the dog days of summer so why not have a little water fun?

4th of July--A little late of course

2010-07-23T10:07:00.010-05:00

I just realized I never posted any pics from the 4th of July. Oops

To be fair it was 3 days after my Grandpa passed and we had family in town and were getting things ready, so I just sort of forgot about it until now

We went to downtown St.Paul and parked on top of a hospital parking ramp. It was a cool idea, there wasn't that many people, the kids could run, we got some White Castles and waited for the show to start! Once they started our view was fab and we will be going back next year! Here are some pictures from that night, enjoy!

Zack with Great Aunt Cindy

My Aunt Sandy enjoying a White Castle Burger

Yep, that's the only picture I got of the fireworks. I only brought my tiny point and shoot camera and it just isn't made to take great pics at night and of fireworks. Next year I will have my tri-pod and my fabulous Cannon SLR.

A nap is a nap

2010-07-22T08:12:00.002-05:00

Lately Zack has been down to one nap a day. It's been a bit of adjustment for me mostly, but I think for him too, he is going to bed earlier but also waking up earlier.

Doesn't he know it's summer time? This is sleep in time for mommy! I suppose I will have to pass that memo along to him...

Anyways getting back on track Zack has been falling asleep in random places and it's oh so cute! Mainly it's the couch, but he has been known to fall asleep on the floor too

Here are some of his sleeping positions that he has done recently

Beach fun!

2010-07-10T20:39:00.003-05:00

It's the middle of summer here in Minnesota, which means it's hot and humid. Ick, but tonight we tried to make the best of it and took the kids to the beach. We knew it was closed to swimming as the water is so low, but we wanted to let the kids walk around and goof around, after the past 2 weeks they needed it

Sad news

2010-07-07T20:37:00.000-05:00

I am sad to tell you all that my Grandpa Rodger passed away on July 1st. He was like a dad to me and it has been very hard on me and my family.

He was a great man and we are all very sad he is gone

Missing you a lot Grandpa, hoping you and Everett are having a blast up in Heaven!

Bye Bye June

2010-06-28T13:02:00.002-05:00

Can you believe June is almost over with? It seems like school was just let out and here we are 3 weeks later and it's almost the 4th of July.

This past week it actually started to feel like summer vacation, Wyatt was done with camp, Mark was on vacation and we have no where to go, we hung out at home a lot and it was fun. Wyatt and Lucy played outside from sun up to sun down and we barely heard from them, thats good I suppose, but me being the nervous type I was constantly checking on them and yelling for them. They play house, or cars or whatever else sparks their imagination.

Zack is getting more and more obsessed with The Wiggles, as soon as that boy wakes up he is asking for them. He dances and hums along and it's quite cute really

Other than that it's business as usual around here, lots of playing outside and relaxing. Ahh summer!

Here is a pic of Wy and Lucy at the airshow

Jail time?

2010-06-21T21:30:00.004-05:00

On Saturday we took the kids to jail. No really, we did.

Ramsey county opened up the Sheriff's office for tours, it only happens every few years and hey who doesn't want to see jail right?

So we packed the kids up and off we went for a day of fun.

When we got there they had a ton of cars, ATVs, boats and swat vehicles there all lined up, most had their lights on and that got the kids excited. We decided to take the tour first, it's an hour tour and we wanted that out of the way.

It was very neat to see everything, we got to see 911 communications center, the gun range, a courtroom, the SWAT training area and even got to go into one of the ten jail pods. It was all very cool to see how things worked behind the scenes and all. The kids had fun and at the end got lots of little goodies to take home with them.

After the tour was done we headed back outside to check out all the vehicles and cool toys they have. Overall it was a great fun time to see things you normally don't get to see.

School's out for summer!

2010-06-09T09:24:00.002-05:00

Yes I am singing that Alice Cooper song

Yesterday was Wyatt's last day of school and to be honest as I sit here this morning and write out this post, I wish school was all summer long. It's 9am here and Wyatt and Lucy are already fighting.

I don't remember fighting with my sisters this much, maybe I did, I will have to ask my mom. But they are fighting now, first it was about who could go into the fort first, then it was over who's blanket was going to be used for on top of the fort and now it's about what movie they are going to watch. I feel a very long summer coming on...

With that being said Wyatt finished 1st grade and Lucy finished her first year of preschool. Both kids go back August 31st. Maybe I will start a countdown clock.....

It's been nice weather here and the kids have had a blast playing outside, we bought them 2 water slides ( thank you Target for having them on sale!) and we also got about 400 water balloons. Good times!

Zack has found a new BFF in The Wiggles, for some reason I decided to put in the DVD for him and well now we watch it daily, sometimes 2-3 times a day. Some days he dances through the entire movie, other times he pulls up a chair and blanket and relaxes. A certain other boy in this family used to love them too.....

Playing in the sprinkler, the sprinker is on, they thought it would be fun to put it under the chairs and goof around

Memorial Weekend Fun!

2010-05-31T19:33:00.005-05:00

Happy Memorial Day! Did everyone have fun? We stayed home this weekend, my sister moved back in with us for a few months so we did a BBQ on Saturday and another one today. The kids played on their slip n slides and we did a water balloon fight that was pretty fun!

Wyatt has 5 days of school left and then it's freedom! No more getting up early to make lunches, drive kids to school, find matching clothes, etc... I just hope I can keep my sanity this summer with the older two, they fight like they are an old married couple and some days our nerves are just worn thin!

But let's just keep our fingers crossed that they get along and I am not putting out "fires" all summer long

Just a side note, Zack was very tired when these pics were taken, it was a long day and he only had one nap, so please excuse his lack of expressions

Photos!

2010-05-19T13:04:00.004-05:00

For my lack of photos lately, I took a bunch while the kids were outside playing yesterday. Enjoy!

Whats new?

2010-05-18T12:29:00.002-05:00

I have been a bad blogger, I know. Time gets away from me so easily! I constantly have a list of things to do, this being one of them and the list just gets shuffled around.

So let's see, you know about Pickles, we did Wy's 7th birthday, what else is going on.....

Well this is Lucy's last week of school, her last day is tomorrow then we have a picnic and she is done for the summer. I thought about signing her up for summer pre-school, but I want a summer off I guess, of not getting up early and driving.

Zack is 19 months old and is funny as heck, that kid has an awesome personallity, he is funny and charming and full of wonder. While I don't enjoy the tantrums that he has, this age is the best...yes, even when he gets into powder lol

Wyatt is about 3 weeks away from school ending, I think his date is on June 8th, or something close to that. He is excited to be able to sleep in and play outside all day long.

Other than that, it's pretty much the same stuff going on here, just busy stuff! I have not been taking many pictures lately either, (bad Jamie) so this is all I have recently, sorry. I am hoping these last 3 weeks of school go fast and then things can start to be more relaxed around here.

We have lots of plans to go to the zoo, parks, museums and other stuff this summer and I am so excited!

The kids eating at aunt Emmy's house

Meet Pickles!

2010-05-10T12:54:00.002-05:00

This is pickles

Wyatt saved up his allowance and he also saved his birthday money and was able to purchase Pickles and all his gear. He is so happy! He has wanted a hamster for over a year now and we finally gave in. He is soft and sorta cute, minus the red eyes and so far he is low key and easy to take care of

Baby Powder Disaster

2010-04-27T13:46:00.006-05:00

I know this was posted on Facebook, but some people (Ahem--Emily!) don't have an account, so it's getting posted here too

So I was downstairs folding laundry, Lucy and Zack were in the living room playing and watching a show. After about 5 minutes I heard them running through the kitchen and dining room, which is a normal game of theirs.

It wasn't until I smelled the baby powder that I realized they might actually be doing something bad

This is what I came up to:

I even took video:

At first I had no idea how to clean it up, it was everywhere. When I heard they running through the kitchen it was them dumping the powder all over. They used 2 full size ones. I vacuumed up as much as I could, then I started to mop with water and vinagar. Well, that only left streaks of wet powder. I tried a dry swiffer, a wet swiffer, the vacuum again and finally what worked was getting on my hands and knees and scrubbing the floor with pinesol and hot water. It took 6 full 2qt buckets to get it clean.

And in case you are wondering, all the baby powder is now out of this house.

Wyatt's Birthday Party!

2010-04-19T10:56:00.008-05:00

We had Wyatt's 7th birthday party this past Saturday. We did a BBQ and we ended up renting a moonwalk. Some of you might call it a bounce house.

The kids had a great time, the adults had a great time. Wyatt got lots of awesome gifts and a black eye to boot!

Zack

2010-04-08T13:23:00.002-05:00

2 things Zack didn't want to give up for his nap today

His cell phone and cup of milk

And yes, Easter pics are coming. Hopefully tomorrow.

Celebrating Wyatt's 7th Birthday!

2010-03-31T12:45:00.018-05:00

I know I know, Wyatt's birthday isn't until Mid-April, but Mark had the day off, the kids were off for spring break, so we decided to celebrate early.

Of course Wy wanted to go to Mall of America so we packed up and went. Everyone had a great time, even Zack went on a few rides. He was quite unsure on a few of them but grew to love them.

We spent 6 hours out there going on rides and walking around and by the end of the day everyone was so tired. BUT it was a windy day and Wyatt wanted to fly his new kite, so when we got home we went down to the baseball fields and played for a bit.

Here are pictures from the day

Zack checking out the sites

All 3 kids and Mark on the trucks. You can't see Zack but he is sitting next to Mark, Wy and Lucy are in the cab

Lucy, Mark and Wyatt are in the back row

Zack's 1st haircut!

2010-03-19T15:03:00.009-05:00

Zack got his first haircut this morning. He looks so much older now! No longer our little baby. He did a great job, never cried and was more annoyed at the gal for moving his head all around. He only asked me us once and was fine the rest of the time looking around at everything.

I think the best part for him was the sucker at the end

Before:

During:

These are the best after shots I got of after, it was naptime and he wasn't having any of my photo taking lol

Easter came early!

2010-03-17T18:52:00.006-05:00

The Easter bunny came early to our house. Did you know the Easter bunny knows how to use email?

Yep, it's true! The Easter bunny emailed Mark today and said how sad he felt that the kids had to wait 3 more weeks to get new bikes. So the Easter bunny sent us some money and the kids got new bikes today.

They were SO happy and SO excited!

The kids all ready to go!

Photo Friday

2010-03-12T09:18:00.001-06:00

Olympics

2010-03-09T09:34:00.002-06:00

Here is a cute video of Wyatt doing his own version of the winter olympics

Spring Fever!

2010-03-01T12:56:00.005-06:00

The kids have spring fever, I guess Mark and I do too. It's been a long winter. Not really super cold or snowy, but it's been a long time since the sun has felt warm and the kids have been able to play outside.

This past weekend was just lovely! The temps were in the upper 30's, the sun was bright and we let the kids loose! Zack had a great time exploring, this is his first time out walking and man he was everywhere! He even loved riding the Wiggles car.

Wyatt wanted to ride his bike and I was sure he wouldn't remember how to balance and all that but he got on it and was riding around like winter never happened!

Poor Lucy really doesn't have a bike to ride, she managed to get on her 3 wheel bike but it looked so uncomfortable and all.

Don't tell the kids, but the Easter bunny is bringing them all new bikes!

Here are some pictures from the weekend

Lucy's Finger

2010-02-19T09:44:00.006-06:00

***WARNING--PICTURES OF LUCY'S FINGER ARE BELOW***

Skip this blog post if you get grossed out easily!!!!

Ok I warned you!!!!!
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Here are some pictures of Lucy's finger. I ended up taking her in to the doctor yesterday to get it looked at because a black spot had formed in a day and I was worried it was being rejected. Good news is that it's a blood blister and the finger is healing great! We go back on Monday to get the stitches out.

Click on pictures to make them bigger

All the supplies we need to clean it and wrap it daily. First we have to wash it with soap and water, add anti-bacterial medication, wrap it in a gauze pad, wrap gauze around for cushion, then add sticky tape to keep the cause on, then paper tape to keep it on her finger.

Her finger all set to go

Bad Blogger

2010-02-16T08:54:00.005-06:00

I know, it's been a week or more since an update, I am a bad blogger. Sorry!

So I think where I last left off Zack was sick, today finally he is better! The molars are still coming in, but the cold he had is gone.

This past Friday night we had some excitement here, Wyatt slammed Lucy's index finger in his bedroom door and cut it 95% off. We heard the door slam, Lucy started crying but it sounded like any other cry. Mark went over to see what was going on and yelled for me to call 911. I went into the bathroom to see what was going on and there was blood everywhere and the top of Lucy's finger was hanging there. So I called 911 and asked them what to do, if an ambulance should come or we take her. They said either one. We decided on an ambulance for a few reasons. I would have had to get Wy and Zack both dressed, get Zack's sippy/snacks etc... and they would have taken 20 minutes at least, also Zack was still coughing and had a runny nose and he would not have been allowed back in the room.

So Mark rode with Lucy and I waited for a family member to come and I headed down. They numbed it, cleaned it, took xrays to make sure she didn't cut off any bone and then started stitching her up. Only they didn't put enough lidocain in and Lucy felt the entire first stitch. We have never heard her scream and cry like that, it was awful. They put more in and were able to do the other 3 stitches without any problems. So 4 in all.

We go back on Monday the 22nd to have the stitches taken out and go from there. The ER doctor said there is a good chance she will keep the tip, but as of today she is starting to get black dots all over it and that is not a good sign, so we are watching it today and will take her in tomorrow if it gets any worse.

She is such a trooper and has done great with the pain and all. She even went bowling with us on Saturday night. It was grandpa's 83rd birthday and we all went bowling. Here are a few pics from that night

Wyatt helping Lucy put her bowling shoes on

No front teeth and the sickies!

2010-02-05T10:58:00.006-06:00

I forgot to post last week that Wyatt lost his other front tooth at school. He told me he was eating a cheese-it and it just fell out.

So he is now toothless in the front and it's so darn adorable!

Then the sickies, Zack is sick with a terrible cold. Plus on top of being sick he is also getting 4 molar teeth in. It's been fun here...not! I feel bad for him, I can't imagine the pain he has. We are keeping him covered with Motrin and Tylenol and it does help.

Here he is this morning playing with Wyatt's glasses

And just in case you are missing the Diva

Wy's new room...again

2010-02-02T15:09:00.005-06:00

So Wyatt is a pack rat, he has to keep everything because he says he can always use it for something. For the most part we do let him keep a lot of things, and well, over the past 6 months or so he has kept a lot. It was to the point where there was a path to get into his room. Not good.

So today I decided to change that. I cleaned his room and moved some of the furniture. After 3 hours, 4 bags of trash and 1 box full of donation items we have this

These are 2 Little clay animals Wyatt made in art class. The one on the left is a squirrel and the one on the right is an owl

Wyatt's Being Wacky

2010-01-28T09:03:00.004-06:00

It's spirit week at Wy's school and today is wacky day

So thanks for the ideas everyone, we went with this:

And just in case you are wondering.....

It looks like the wedding is still on! Notice all the "o's" at the bottom? Those are kisses Wyatt says, as in XOXOXO--no hugs for his future wife, just kisses. Lots of them :)

Best Buds?

2010-01-27T12:16:00.004-06:00

For the most part Wyatt and Lucy don't get along. It's true, they fight and argue over anything and everything. But ever since Christmas we have noticed they have been playing together more and more and getting along.

We think they both are starting to realize how much fun they can have when they do play together and get along. We still get the random tattletale from them, but it's actually been kind of peaceful here.

For anyone that has been to my house that is quite odd lol

And then there is this picture, taken this morning before school, notice the look on Wy's face, he is actually mad because I asked Lucy to hold Zack and not him. Grrr..... I don't think I will ever win lol

And finally I want to wish my newphew a HUGE Happy First Birthday!!! Little E has come a long long way from being born early and spending his first month in the NICU, to now where is as cute as can be and is a happy fun loving 1 year old!

Happy First Birthday Little E!!!

Exciting news!

2010-01-20T12:30:00.005-06:00

Folks I have exciting news to share, Mark and I are going to be
in-laws! That's right, Wyatt is engaged! He came home yesterday from school and announced the wonderful new to us.

The lucky gal's name is Alicia and she is in 2nd grade. Yep, Wyatt went for an older woman. He met her through his club. At recess Wyatt runs a club, I don't really know much more than that, but she asked to join and I guess the rest is history! He is very excited and can't wait to have her come here to meet us.

Gosh, it seems like yesterday I was sending him off to kindergarten and now this.....

Last night he even wrote her a note. He was nice enough to let me take a picture of it for you all to see.

How cute is he right? First love, how sweet!

Sledding fun!

2010-01-14T12:11:00.010-06:00

It has finally gotten a littler warmer here, well, if you call 30 warm, but hey it works for us, so we got the kids bundled up and took them sledding in the backyard. We have a great hill that not too steep and prefect for them.

First Wyatt took Zack around the front yard, this was Zack's first time being out in the snow.

Then When Wyatt was taking him around a third time he fell out of the sled and he was done with that.

Wyatt got him to sit back in the sled and for a photo

And we attempted a group photo. This was the best of the 6 I took

We headed to the backyard so the older two could go sledding down the hill

Zack was content sitting on the ground watching them

Everyone had a great time!

Spaghetti

2010-01-12T18:49:00.007-06:00

Sorry for the lack of updates. Mark is off of work due to a back injury he got while at work. So he was off all last week and is off all this week and next week. So we have been enjoying time with the kids at home and it's been a great relaxed atmosphere.

Tonight for dinner was spaghetti, Zack had never had it so we just had to give it to him.

As expected it was a messy result. A bath followed and he is running around with Wyatt and Lucy blowing off some energy before bedtime.

15 Month Checkup

2010-01-07T12:40:00.003-06:00

Zack had his 15 month checkup this morning, he did great and he was happy to see his favorite doctor.

He weighed in at 32 pounds and is 35 inches long now. So far off the charts they don't even make one she said lol

We decided to put him on 2% milk instead of whole since he eats anything and everything and because of his size. He is a big boy, just not in the fat way.

He got 4 shots and is now napping :)

Happy New Year!

2010-01-05T13:24:00.005-06:00

So it's 2010 now! Happy New Year! We hope you have a great upcoming year!

2010 brought some new things to us here, Wyatt lost another tooth and Lucy got a new haircut! Oh and Zack is as cute as ever lol

So here are pictures!

Zack must have had a rough night lol, as he fell asleep for his nap like this

Lucy's new haircut, we cut off 5 inches

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-28T08:36:00.009-06:00

Merry Christmas! We hope you and your family had a great day!

The kids woke up at their usual time on Christmas morning, they were so excited to see all the presents under and around the tree. Everyone loved what they got and it was a great day!

What the kids liked the most was the fact that I "caught" Santa in the act of putting gifts out.

I made the photo using a site called Capture the Magic. You upload your own photo, then they have about 30 different Santa poses you can choose. So we told the kids that I left my camera out and it was on a timer so it took a picture of Santa as he showed up. They loved this and told everyone about it!

Helping Zack out, he really had no idea what was going on

Our new Christmas Tradition

2009-12-25T22:18:00.006-06:00

I think tonight we offically started a new Christmas tradition:

Bowling!!!

My aunts came over and asked us all to go and we are so glad we said yes, we had a blast and so did the kids! We had no idea they would be open but man, it was fun!!! And just in case you were wondering, I beat Mark in both games. Woohoo!!!

Merry Christmas!!!

Pictures and more coming in a few days!

Zack Dancing

2009-12-22T09:25:00.002-06:00

Here are a couple of videos of Zack dancing last week

His first shiner

2009-12-21T19:00:00.004-06:00

Zack got his first black eye tonight. I should start out by saying it's been a terrible few days for him. Wednesday night he came down with a fever, a pretty high one too that didn't break until Saturday morning.

Then this morning he wakes up and his entire body is covered in hives. So I call his doctor to get him seen. We get there she looks him over and we discover he has a massive ear infection, in the same ear as when he had surgery. She thinks it could still be the same ear infection. Poor baby!!

So we got him some new stronger meds amd he naps most of the afternoon. Come tonight Wyatt and Zack are goofing around together and Zack starts screaming, turns out Wy bumped him with a toy on the face. We didn't see anything and once he was calmed down he went back to play. Fast forward 30 minutes and his eye is red and swollen. Oh boy. I bet it's going to look great in the morning lol

Here are some pictures of the poor little guy.

Here's to a better tomorrow Zacky!

Christmas Train and Concert

2009-12-16T10:05:00.003-06:00

On Saturday we headed downtown to see the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train, they come through every year the kids love seeing all the lights on the train and of course there is Santa!

Waiting for the train to head in

Here is comes!

Since it was moving a tad too fast for my little Cannon camera, I took video of it instead

Last night was also Wyatt's Christmas concert at his school

Here is a video of him singing Away in a Manger

Art Day!

2009-12-08T09:38:00.009-06:00

It's art day here at Chicks in Our Nest

Below you will find a adorable assortment of art that the kids have done within the last 2 weeks

We are going to start with my favorite right off the bat, Wyatt's camel. I love the humps. Ha Ha Ha

Then we have Lucy's paint art from pre-school. She sees a girl when she looks at her painting

Next up is Wyatt again. He had to write out a story that was told to them, about not liking spaghetti. Here is his version along with pictures.

Lucy's drawing of Zack

Finally my homemade birthday cards from yesterday

Wyatt gave me a rocket and $5, Lucy drew our house and a lovely picture of me

Hope you enjoyed looking at all the art pictures!

Update and a video!

2009-12-03T15:54:00.002-06:00

So we went to the dr on Tuesday, we got in right away and the dr popped off one side of the bandage and it came right off!

Turns out he used glue on the outside and disovable stitches on the inside so there was nothing to take out! Very nice!

Test results came back as it being a Lymphangioma only, so no cancer! Woohoo!!!

Dr said he can and will get more, but they won't be so fast to take them out now that they know what it is.

He has a nice 3 inch scar that will take a year to heal fully but we will take it! I tried getting a picture of the scar today, but that didn't work, so I will try again tomorrow.

But I did get a video of him walking!!

Guess who is walking?!?!

2009-12-01T12:48:00.002-06:00

Zack is walking!! I can't belive I am excited over this lol, as this boy gets into everything! But I am and it's SO adorable watching him stumble around.

I will get some video of it and post it this week.

So far he can make it about 30 steps before he gets tired and falls down. He is loving it and at times he walks to fast he is almost running.

So far no bumps on the head lol

Today we go to the doctor to see if Zack's stitches can come out, fingers crossed that they can! I am also hoping we get some test results back.

Home!

2009-11-23T19:30:00.003-06:00

We are home! Surgery is done and it went well. We got to the hospital about 1pm and we went through a bunch of pre-op stuff, then we were taken down to the surgery waiting room area and we sat there until 2:40. The doctors came in to talk to us and tell us what was going to happen. Mark walked back with Zack to put him to sleep, I just couldn't do it after doing it on Friday.

About 3pm a nurse came in to let us know they had started and things were going great. 3:50 the doctor came in and let us know that it went great, he thinks it's a lymphangioma, which is a collection of tissue and fluid that forms under the skin. He still sent the mass out for testing to be 100% sure and now we just wait for the results of that. But we think the worst is over with.

So I had never heard of a lymphangioma before and I had to look it up, it's also called a cystic hygroma. A cystic hygroma is a birth defect. It occurs as the baby grows in the womb from pieces of material that carries fluid and white blood cells. Such material is called embryonic lymphatic tissue. After birth, a cystic hygroma usually looks like a soft bulge under the skin. The cyst can't be seen until after birth, and sometimes is not noticed until the person is older.

So not too bad, just weird that it came on so fast. We are so thankful to all of our family and friends for all their thoughts/well wishes and prayers. It worked!

We go back in a week to have the bandages taken off and the ENT doctor will check it out to make sure it's healing correctly. He shouldn't have to have another surgery, he thinks he got it all.

The rest of this week is going to be so much better, no more stress wondering about the what if's and all.

Here are a few pictures from the hospital, thank you again everyone for all your messages! We are truly blessed!

Before surgery

After surgery

Pics

2009-11-22T18:00:00.002-06:00

My sister Chelsea took these tonight of Zack

Update #2

2009-11-21T16:18:00.003-06:00

Ok, so I think I left off on Friday morning, we were supposed to have a CT scan to see what the mass was. I stayed with Zack at the hospital and when we woke up Friday morning we had doctor after docter come in and look at it. Around 11am the ENT specialist came in and took a look at it. After asking many questions and feeling it for 10 minutes he said it was one of 2 things, a cyst or a tumor--meaning cancer. Only 2 things can grow that fast and get that big in a matter of hours.

When I heard those words come from his mouth panic set in. He decided instead of a CT scan that Zack needed a MRI, they needed to "see" deeper inside the mass. He also made the decision that no matter what it was, it was coming out on Monday. So the decision was made and the doctors had to do a bunch of arm pulling to get Zack into the MRI at the scheduled time of 1, which was the time of his CT scan. He had not eaten since 6am and well, you tell a 13 month old no food lol.

Finally we got in. We took him down for the MRI and I held him as they put him to sleep. One of the hardest things ever. MRI took an hour and they brought him into us still asleep. They said it would take 20-30 minutes for him to wake up.

My stress level is at the top and him not waking up on time is making it worse. After an hour he still had not woken up so they took him upstairs back to his room. Mark carried him and lifted him in his crib and he woke up. I lost it. I grabbed him and hugged him and was sobbing my eyes out. My baby was back.

So we had to sit and wait for the results, after an hour or so the doctor came in and said it was one of 2 things, just like he thought, a cancerous tumor or Lymphangioma--which is a rare cyst filled with tissue and fluid.

They decided to let us go for the weekend since it's not directly afecting his airway and we have to be back Monday for surgery, After surgery is done we will get it tested to find out 100% what it is.

Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers, it truly helps us get through this difficult time. I will update on here & my facebook once we know more

Here is a video of Zack from Friday morning, you can see the mass on his neck

Update

2009-11-20T06:22:00.002-06:00

Ok so yesterday didn't go at all like I thought it would. I thought we would go to the doc she would say it's a cyst, let's drain it and you will be on your way. Nope.

We got to the doc and she took one look at it and its placement and immediatly sent us to the ER. I stopped on the way there to pick up Mark and grab a bag just in case. We got there and we had a doc come in and us it's probably a cyst, no big deal etc.. Then he looks at it and was surprised and said oh, we will need more tests.

So he got an ultrasound, that didn't help, what it did show was blood flow to the area which is unusual. They they wanted a X-ray, so we did that. All that showed was that his lungs were clear.

After not being able to tell anything they decided to admit him. Lots of doctors came in and poked him, touched the mass, all gave their opinions on what it is. All decided that a CT scan is needed to be able to see exactly what it is. Because of his age they need to have a PICU doctor there in case, since he has to be sedated.

So today at 1am he will have the scan and we will go from there. Zack has an IV in and is getting fluids. He didn't sleep well last night due to rolling around on his line, it would always set the alarm off and the nurse would have to come in and fix it. I am about to wake him up to have his last bottle until after the CT scan.

The mass did get a little bigger from last night, so we are hoping and praying that its nothing serious. We will have a specialist come in today to look at it and go from there as well.

Here are a few pics from last night

Doctor

2009-11-19T09:22:00.003-06:00

Taking Zack to the doctor in a few minutes for this:

It's not the best picture, but at 13 months Zack just doesn't want to sit still.

Last night Mark called me over to look at something on Zack, we saw this huge bump by his throat. It was hard as a rock and semi purple. So we called the on call nurse and she said to watch it and come in to the doctor in the morning.

This morning it has gotten bigger and is now the size of a golf ball.

I will update when we get home

Busy days

2009-11-16T10:28:00.007-06:00

Things are busy here with 3 kids, between keeping the house up, keeping things for schools straight, doing my craft business and all it's just busy busy busy! All is good though, we are very blessed.

Not much new stuff has been going on, kids are wishing they could play outside more, it's getting cold and frosty here and I am sure the snow will start flying soon. We are working on doing more indoor fun stuff to let their energy out at night.

Here are a few recent pics

Zack found a piece of Dove chocolate and before we knew it we had this mess on our hands

Lucy before school today

Wyatt before school today

Stay tuned tomorrow for Lucy and Zack's birthday pics!

So it's been awhile....

2009-11-03T12:29:00.015-06:00

I know, it's been a long time since an update, but so much has been going on here. Finally this week I think it's going to finally calm down. October is always our busy month.

So let's see where to start...

On Saturday the 24th we had planned to have Zack's 1st birthday party. My cousin Amy was in the hospital and we knew things were touch and go. That morning as we were getting the house ready I got the call that I needed to come say goodbye. So we put a hold on the party and pushed it back a few hours. I met my entire family down at the hospital and we all got to say our goodbye's to sweet Amy girl.

I came back and frosted my litted heart out and got 2 dozen cupcakes frosted along with his cake. A few family members came and we did our best to celebreate Zack's birthday. Late that night we got the news that Amy girl had passed. She is now among the angels flying high.

The week that followed that Saturday was busy with family, we had Amy's wake and funeral and it was just a lot of remembering her and laughing about all the good times. Tuesday was also Mark's and my's 8 year anniversary! So we went out to dinner and had a great time.

So now we are onto Halloween, it was fun! My sister and her family came out, our mom was also here and then Mark's mom and brother came as well with his daughter.

We carved pumpkins, decorated the yard, had dinner, got the kids dressed and off they went! Everyone had a great time and got lots of candy.

I realized I never posted pictures from Lucy's birthday party and I have Zack's left to post too, so that will be this week. For now, enjoy the Halloween pics!

Lucy's Pumpkin

Everett's Pumpkin--there is a little "E" carved into the side of it too :)

Wyatt's Pumpkin--he says it had the chicken pox

Zack's Pumpkin

The entire group

We had to change Lucy's costume, the other one was just too small

Zack watching all the kids

Mason didn't like Wyatt's mask

The house all decorated, with the fog machine going off

Saturday fun?

2009-10-18T09:29:00.007-05:00

I think it's safe to say Zack has no interest in the fall leaves.

We even tried with Wyatt and Lucy, nope, he just wasn't having any of it.

At least Wyatt and Lucy had a good time

Zack watched from the safety of daddy's arms

Just Stuff

2009-10-13T10:56:00.008-05:00

Thought I would post some more birthday pictures of Zack eating his chocolate donut and then we got snow here! It's the earliest snowfall in 32 years! The kids didn't get to play in it because I have not gotten all the winter gear yet, but it was pretty to look at

The snow took all the leaves down with it, see how they are all green? Yeah, they are supposed to be brown and dead, so it was a really early snow. We got 4.2 inches

Happy Birthday Zack!

2009-10-06T09:04:00.006-05:00

Zack is one years old today. One. Our little rainbow baby is one, I can't believe it! This past year has flown by, I feel like we just brought him home!

Since it's his birthday he got a chocolate donut for breakfast and we all sang happy birthday to him. Tonight he will get a cupcake as desert.

Happy birthday little guy!!

2 hours old

3 months old

6 months old

9 months old

1 year

Happy Birthday Lucy!

2009-10-02T14:17:00.007-05:00

It's Miss Lucy's birthday today, she is 4. I can't believe my little girl is 4 years old already! So far she is having a great day, she was the princess at school, we took her out for lunch and she got a leapster and game from us. Tomorrow is her party.

Happy Birthday Lucy!!

Lucy 2 hours old

Age 1

Age 2

Age 3

Today

Fall Cabin Fun

2009-09-29T12:58:00.012-05:00

On Saturday we headed up to the cabin to take the boat, dock and boat lift out, just getting things ready for winter. We usually don't do it so early, but we have 3 birthday parties in October and knew there would be no other time.

Zack checking everyone out

Mark clearing a path so we can get the truck down the hill. The leaves were wet and we needed traction to get the boat and dock out

Aunt Kellie and the kids found a salamander

Leaves are just starting to change up there

Zack's first tractor ride at the cabin

Zonked Out

2009-09-22T09:31:00.005-05:00

Zack is getting over a cold and has not been sleeping too well. Yesterday I came in to check on him after his bottle and found him asleep like this

Lucy and school

2009-09-16T10:38:00.007-05:00

Lucy started pre-school last week, we had her in the Tuesday/Thursday class but the class size was too big for her (19 kids) so the teacher and myself made the decision to move her to the Monday/Wednesday/Friday class. She is doing much better in there.

In pre-school they don't need to wear uniforms, so she gets to wear whatever she wants and she loves that she can pick out her own clothes each day to look beautiful as she says.

Some days she has to carry a purse in, other days it's a backpack and today it was a backpack and sunglasses. What a diva!

Remembering Everett

2009-09-10T07:00:00.000-05:00

Labor Day Fun!

2009-09-09T15:20:00.011-05:00

On Labor day we headed out west to my sister's house, we met my mom and other sisters there and had a day of hanging out. It was a blast!

We took the kids to the park, played some 500, then headed back for pizza and a little Guitar Hero World Tour. They have the complete set with drum, guitar, microphone etc... and we had so much fun playing and listening to my sister sing. I have not laughed that hard in a long long time.

The kids had a great time playing together and even all the babies had fun looking and touching each other. Zack and Little E are 14 weeks apart and Zack and Miss A are 5 months apart, so they are all close.

Here are some pictures of our fun

All the babies lined up at the park

Playing 500

Wyatt was out little punter

Even Mr. M got in on the action

2 of my 3 sisters and myself

Miss A

Little E

Here Comes Trouble

2009-09-04T11:34:00.005-05:00

He sure looks innocent doesn't he?

You wouldn't think this sweet little guy would lift up the toilet seat and stick his hands in would you? or dig through the bathroom garbage?

This sweet faced baby boy doesn't ever stick his hands on dirty dishes as I am loading the dishwasher, dirty dishes with syrup, ketchup and then proceeds to rub those chubby dirty little hands all over his shirt and legs.

Nope this little guy is perfect.

A beach day

2009-09-02T10:25:00.002-05:00

On Monday, the day before Wyatt started school we took the kids to the beach to play and have some fun. There was no one there and the kids had a blast running around and playing in the water. They couldn't actually go swimming as the beach was closed, but they went in up to their knees.

I didn't get too many pictures, Zack was clingy that day and there were bee's all over, and then for the grand finale Lucy slipped off the playground and scraped her knee and elbow pretty bad, so we left in a hurry.

Hope you enjoy these though!

First day of School!

2009-09-01T09:09:00.003-05:00

Today is Wyatt's first day of 1st grade! He was so excited to go, I thought for sure he would be a little scared and all since he was starting a brand new school, but nope, he was like ok mom, you can go now. I didn't even get a hug, I got a high five. Really, my 6 year old won't hug now in public? He is growing so fast!

I was nervous for him, and this morning I was running all around making sure he had everything he needed, his lunch was packed, his uniform was correct. After dropping him off I was feeling my hair and it felt weird, like I had forgotten something, so I drove home thinking about it and yep, I forgot to rinse the conditioner out! Whoops!

No tears, which is good and I think he is going to love it there!

Mall of America fun!

2009-08-24T13:07:00.003-05:00

On Friday we took the kids to the Mall of America, they have a huge indoor park area with tons of rides, I think it's called Nickelodean Universe now. Anyway, we had promised Wyatt to go for his birthday back in April, and well, it just worked out now that we were able to go.

The kids had a blast and went on every ride they could. I took a few pictures, but did mostly video's. Hope you enjoy!

Wyatt's New Room

2009-08-17T10:41:00.012-05:00

Yes you are so lucky today, 2 blog posts in 1 day.

About a month ago we moved Wyatt into his own room. We moved him into the playroom so each kid would have their own room. Minus Zack of course.

Wy's room is now about 95% done, we still need a few items for the walls, but overall we are happy with how it came out and most of all he LOVES it. So here are pictures, he did all the decorating--as in putting his stuff where he wants it lol

Wyatt found this at Bargain Bills and Grandma Demaree was nice enough to get it for him. It cracks me up that he got this, but hey it's his room lol

Close up of his desk with the random items he has

His nightstand

Slippers next to the bed

Wow

2009-08-17T10:08:00.008-05:00

Look at the video below to see what Zack does whenever you say no to him when he is doing something he is not supposed to be doing.

In the video below he was pulling on a cord, I said no and immediately hit record on the camera and this is what I got.

He is 10 months old. I could not stop laughing, I mean really, he's already getting an attitude?

Must be something in the water

2009-08-14T10:40:00.003-05:00

Wyatt's fish died this morning too. Poor guy bust into tears when I confirmed it. His fish was named Flipper, so as my Aunt Cindy said: Flipper Down!

I actually think his tail got caught in the filter and he was not strong enough to pull himself out.

We had another proper burial and after many hugs and kisses he was re-assured that he would get another fish next weekend.

So long Flipper!

So long Fishy

2009-08-13T10:15:00.004-05:00

Lucy's pet fish, Fishy as she named him, lost his battle with life yesterday when he jumped out of his fishbowl and died. The kids found him dried and stuck to the wall.

So we gave him a proper burial. RIP Fishy

Cabin fun

2009-08-12T13:00:00.020-05:00

We were up at the cabin this past weekend, we just went for the day but we had tons of fun!

It was raining at first so we made a trip to Bargain Bills, it's a warehouse full of random cool stuff. They have an awesome crafting section, I could have spent hours, but the kids wanted to swim. By the time we got out of Bargain Bills the weather had cleared and it was hot and muggy.

We went swimming, did some frog catching and Zack tried his first cookie. He loved it!

My aunt Sandy outside of Louie's Meats

Zack getting ready to get in, once Mark and I got in we decided it was too cold for him.

Wyatt had just caught a frog here

First bite of a cookie. Watch his shirt as you go through the pictures, it gets messier and messier with each bite lol

Inside joke here for my mom and aunts lol

And that was our weekend!

More Crawling

2009-08-07T08:54:00.004-05:00

Well I was all set to upload another video of Zack crawling and Blogger is being a booger today and not working.

So I will try again later today or this weekend.

So it begins

2009-08-05T13:06:00.003-05:00

My life with a non mobile baby is over. I think I am in for it with this one

2009-08-03T09:09:00.007-05:00

Has it really been a week since I have blogged? Whoops!

Time has gotten away from me a lot the past few weeks.

Did you have a good weekend?

Ours was fun and relaxing, just the way they should be.

On Saturday we went to the Sibley County Fair, it's out at my mom's house. It was fun for a small town fair. We ate some good food, the kids went on a ride, and yes only 1 ride, out there the cost is $3 per ride. GULP That is very expensive, so we told them they had to pick one, they picked the jump house, which was perfect they got to jump as long as they wanted. Zack snoozed as usual lol After the fair we headed back to mom's house ate some dinner, hung out and then took the kids to a cool park. We all played tag and had a great evening!
Here is a video of Zack on the swing at the park, you can hear the race going on in the background. (my mom lives 4 blocks from the race track)

Signs

2009-07-27T13:32:00.003-05:00

These are the 2 signs that Wyatt has made and hung on the door to his new room

What do you think?

Stuff

2009-07-27T09:27:00.008-05:00

I forgot I had some pictures from our zoo and park trips 2 weeks ago, they are on my small Cannon camera, the one I like, but don't like lol

So we went to the park, we were supposed to go to the zoo, we drove there and could not find parking. So the park it was.

After awhile Zack wanted lunch, so we sat under a tree and played

Lucy had informed me when we got to the park that she didn't feel like having her picture taken--total diva lol, but I took one anyway

The next day we went to the zoo, they have a ride area there and as soon as the kids saw it, they 100% forgot about the zoo, so we spent our morning going on rides and dodging the rain

Zack snoozed

We have a bike rider!

2009-07-22T08:38:00.003-05:00

After only 1 day of practice, Wyatt can now do this!

Awwww!!

2009-07-20T10:39:00.003-05:00

Look who fell asleep while playing

Isn't he just the cutest??

Some Summer Fun!

2009-07-15T08:44:00.010-05:00

Things are busy here, thats why the delay is posting. Ever since we got back from vacation I feel like 10 steps behind!

Today I feel like we can catch up some, and I am finally able to get on a post a blog

Whew!

On Monday the kiddo's were begging me to go swimming, and it wasn't hot enough to get the pool out, so I suggested using the sprinkler, yep that worked!

No need for swim suits, it was bath night anyway, so why not let them have some fun right?

Zack wanted no part in that, so he sat next to me reading a magazine

Caught!

2009-07-10T08:11:00.004-05:00

I caught a certain baby, who will remain nameless, doing this today:

He did this all on his own, and yes he did fall once, thats why his face is so red

Baby laughs are the best!

2009-07-08T12:03:00.003-05:00

Turn your volume up and listen to our sweet little guy laughing.

Brothers

2009-07-06T08:53:00.004-05:00

Wyatt and Zack are the best of buds, Wyatt even takes little Zack for rides

Fawn-Doe-Rosa

2009-07-02T09:39:00.014-05:00

Fawn-doe-rosa is a wildlife park in St.Croix Falls, WI. I have been going up there as long as I can remember. It's always been on the way to the cabin and at least once a year my parents took us girls.

You get to feed the animals, they roam free within the park. So you have deer, ducks, chickens, goats, bunnies and lots more. It's always been a fun place to go.

Mark and I started taking our kids back when Wyatt was a few years old. We took them again on day #5 of our vacation. We were heading up to the cabin for 3 days of fun and Fawn-doe-Rosa was our first stop!

We met my aunt Sandy, my mom and sister Chelsea and my other sister Emily and her family up there.

This is the first year where Lucy really got into feeding the animals

This guy was digging around looking for more food

After he was done looking, he went over to Zack, licked him on the head then headed off to see who else had food for him

Feeding goats

My aunt Sandy was determined to "goose" a goose

Got him!

Zack didn't know what to think of these guys

Oh yeah, they had bears. (shudders) Anyone that knows me knows I am teriffied of bears. Thankfully these were locked up and I got one picture then got out of there!

In the bag of food you get there are dog biscuits that the bears love, so here is everyone else throwing their biscuits to the bears

My farmer

My boys

Pony Rides

And with that we were done and headed up to the cabin! We had a good time and ended up coming home a day early, but all is well and we had a good weekend at home.

So that was our vacation, we had a blast and can't wait until next summer to take our next one. This time hopefully to visit my good friend Kim Anne and her family out in Wyoming!

North Shore Vacation day #4

2009-06-30T09:41:00.015-05:00

Well we are almost at the end of our vacation, this is day #4, Wednesday. We are now in Two Harbors at our lakehome. We are enjoying sitting outside listening to the loons and watching the kids throw rocks in the water and look for interesting things.

We didn't feel like doing much today, I suppose we had been running around so much since Sunday we wanted a relaxation day. So we went down to the shore to goof around

Our happy boy playing on the floor as we were all getting ready for the day

But the mid morning the kids were getting antsy so we decided to drive into downtown Two Harbors and see where the day took us.

As we were packing the diaper bag and getting the kids ready to head out, Zack decided he needed his morning nap, right there in the middle of the living room on the floor

We headed down to the ore docks to see if there were any ships, nope!

So we just did some walking, Wyatt thought the train tracks going straight into the water was so very cool and he had a million stories as to why tracks when into the water

After walking around for a few hours we headed back and had lunch. The kids wanted to get out and about so we headed down to Duluth to visit the Great Lakes Aquarium. It's the largest fresh water aquarium in the USA.

Pointing this out now, the aquarium does not allow any flash photography, so I had to go without my flash and well their lighting stinks! So moving kids, bad lighting equals please excuse the poor photos coming ahead. lol

Wyatt petting a stingray

Lucy too

Steering a ship

After the aquarium we headed back up to Two Harbors and decided to eat at Betty's Pies. Everyone in MN raves about their pies, so we decided we just had to eat there. The food, not so good. But we did order a pie to go, strawberry rhubarb and YUMMY! So we were saved there

And that's that! The rest of the night was relaxing and enjoing our vacation. We got up the next morning and decided to head home, we had a lot of laundry to do and we were heading to the cabin that Friday. It was a great trip and I can't wait to to do again!

A cute picture before I go, we woke up Thursday morning to find Wyatt and Lucy snuggled up next to one another. Too cute!

North Shore Vacation Day #3 Part 2!

2009-06-29T11:44:00.012-05:00

After we had dinner at Sven and Ole's, we headed back down towards our lakehome, it was going to be a 1.5 hour drive without any stops. About 20 minutes outside of Grand Marais is Cascade Park, Mark and I had our honeymoon here so it always holds special meaning to us.

We didn't think we were going to stop, the kids were tired and ready to get to our lakehome, but I told Mark we just needed to, it was vacation and who knows when we would be back up there again.

So we did, we hiked up to see the Cascade river and all the beautiful falls along the way. Now the river may look dirty, but it's not, it's tannic acid, so it makes it brown foamy. Kinda like a root beet float :)

I wish the weather had been better, it was grey and overcast so my pictures didn't come out as well as I had hoped, but mother nature has her own thing, so you take what you get right?

We got to our lakehome around 6:30 and wow, it was so beautiful! We were wishing we would have stayed there the entire time. The views were amazing and it was our own private cabin. When we got all of our things inside, the sun popped a few times and I went to to the lake to snap a few pictures and I got these

We took all 3 kids swimming before bed, Zack had a great time splashing and watching the kids jump off the deep end to Mark. it was a great end to a great day!

North Shore Vacation day #3 Part 1

2009-06-26T08:28:00.020-05:00

Part 1 of Day #3 was Tuesday, that morning we checked out of our hotel early, like 9am and took the kids to the park to play before we headup to the north shore.

While we were playing the train that we rode on Monday passed us by with a new set of passengers

After playtime we were off! Two Harbors is 22 miles from Duluth. Our lake home was there, but checkin time was not until 4pm so we had an entire day to spend. Mark suggested we drive up to Grand Marais, and while I was not to happy with the idea at first (it's almost a 2 hour drive) I am happy that we did go.

There were many stop along the way, about 35 miles outside of Two Harbors is Split Rock Lighthouse, we stopped in and took a tour. It's such a beautiful place and the views are amazing

The water is really this blue, this is not re touched at all

Here we are about 15 miles from Grand Marais, this is a favorite beach of ours, we always stop when we head up there

mark taught the kids that they can break open some of the rocks up there and see tiny crystals, so here is Wyatt giving it a try. See that ring on his finger? He found it at the park on Monday and he wore it the entire trip.

Lucy insisted that her and Mark were to go swimming in the big pool as she called it, so Mark told her they were going to test the waters first. What Lucy didn't know is that the lake doesn't get above 45 degrees ever, so it's very cold!

Zack could not get over all the rocks and he spent most of the time sitting, picking them up and dropping them

I think Mark is saying that Zack is heavy.....

We left the beach and headed up to Grand Marais, we went on a short walk then we ate at Sven and Ole's, a famous pizza joint.

Wyatt found the stick and it ended up coming home with us

North Shore Vacation day #2 Part 2!

2009-06-25T07:27:00.012-05:00

Part 2 of day #2 of our north shore vacation!

So after the train ride we went back to the hotel to hang out for a bit. Zack needed to nap and the kids needed to wind down. So we turned on cartoons and everyone laid in bed watched tv. We ordered in pizza for dinner, a quick easy meal and when that was done we were off to the Vista Cruise! It's a decent sized ship that takes you around the harbor of Duluth and explains the history of it all. While the kids would not understand that part, I thought they would be excited to at least go on a boat ride.

Here is a picture of the boat we rode on

So our cruise ran from 5-7pm and it was really nice out so we were all excited

First we got to go out of the harbor and onto Lake Superior, so they had to life the bridge for us, Wyatt thought that was very cool since we had just walked accross that yesterday

After being out on the lake for 10 minutes we went back into the harbor. We happened to choose a great time to take the cruise, there were many other ships leaving and we got to see them up close

I should point out that Mark took pics for the rest of the cruise, Zack had fallen asleep on me and well, you can't take decent pics with a sleeping baby on your lap. I think he did really good using my camera!

Remember the ship Alexia from day #1? Here she is getting pulled out of dock by a tugboat after filling up with grain

Lots of Iron Ore

Made by GE, so of course Mark had to take a picture of the windmill parts lol

After the cruise we took the kids to the giftshop and they got to pick out a new toy, Wyatt picked a die cast mail car and Lucy picked a pirate ship. We went back to the hotel so they could play. We did go swimming that night and the kids had a blast in the pool! Zack and I statyed in the hotel room to get things cleaned up since we were checking out that next morning.

Good bye Duluth, Hello Two Harbors!

North Shore Vacation Day #2!

2009-06-24T08:38:00.016-05:00

Day #2 Monday. Part 1 We woke up early to get a good start on the day. The kids had been begging us to take them to a playground, so we found one near our hotel and took them right after breakfast.

Zack on the swing

After all that swinging Zack got tired and pooped out in his stroller

Meanwhile Wyatt and Lucy played on the tire swing

After the park we went back to our hotel for lunch, we had the Lester River train ride coming up.

Waiting for the train ride to start

This is our 2nd time taking the train, it's a 1.5 hour round trip ride from Duluth to the Lester River, there they un-hook the engine and take it to the front to head back to Duluth. We rode in the open air car, where it's just benches and it's all open so you get the best views, but you also have the weather. We though the kids would be warm enough in shorts with long sleeves, we were wrong it was cold, so they say huddled together with my jacket wrapped around their legs.

Here they are un-hooking the engine and moving it to the other end of the train. Lucy loved this part

Wyatt wrapped up in my jacket

View from the train heading back into Duluth

After we got back to the depot we decided to tour the museum, it has a lot of old trains with exhibits the kids can climb on.

Wyatt was very happy to be warm and was in a goofy mood lol

A plow that was once used to clear snow from the tracks

In case you were wondering, Lucy had no desire to climb on the trains, she was more interested in pushing Zack around in the stroller, he was asleep. So Wy was my train climber.

Stay tuned for tomorrow for part 2 of day #2!

North Shore Vacation day #1 part 2

2009-06-23T12:29:00.021-05:00

Part 2 of day #1 of our North Shore vacation!

So we got to our hotel and I was quite happy with the view we had.

This looks right out at the canal and the light houses, so we got to see ships coming and going all hours of the day.

We decided to head down to Canal Park and hang out for the rest of the day.

This is a view of Canal Park from the lighthouse, our hotel is the one on the right with the green roof, closest to the park and water

More views from lighthouse

Wyatt then had to walk accross the lift bridge to the other lighthouse, so thats what we did!

Half way accross

Made it!

After visiting the light houses and doing a lot of walking and running we decided to get some dinner. So we ordered in Famous Dave's in our hotel room and man let me tell you, it was SO good!

After dinner we went back to Canal Park so the kids could see some ships come in and out and they also wanted to throw rocks.

The ship Alexia came into port, it's a salty, which is a ocean ship, not a fresh water one. The kids loved watching it go in and when they blew the horn they both jumped.

Zack was in the stroller a lot but we got him out to watch the waves which he thought were very cool. Lucy just sat there, didn't want to do much of anything. I think she was just wore out.

Before we headed to get some ice cream another ship came out, this one is called the Canadian Transport.

Before getting some ice cream the kids found a fountain that they wanted to look at, so we let them play for a bit and enjoyed all the people watching. We got some ice cream and called it a night, it was a busy day of travel and lots of walking.

North Shore Vacation day #1 Part one

2009-06-22T12:19:00.007-05:00

Sunday June 14th, we are off to Duluth! We left around 11am to make the 3 hour drive up to the north shore.

This is a shot from my seat, the older 2 are watching movies and Zack is playing with his toys

About 2 hours into our trip, Zack is asleep and the kids are ready to get out of the car

Getting Closer!

We made it! Check out these views from the start/top of Duluth!

Wyatt and Lucy enjoying the views

My boys

My goofy family

Stay tuned for part 2 of day #1!

Happy to be home!

2009-06-22T08:26:00.003-05:00

We are home from vacation! We had a great time and can't wait to go back! The weather was great, the views were beautiful and spending time as a family up along the north shore was just awesome!

I am working on pictures now, have to edit a few and get them all set and I will be back to post about each day we were up along the north shore, so stay tuned!

Vacation!

2009-06-11T08:10:00.002-05:00

Mark is on vacation and it's wonderful! He has the next 11 days off. So we are taking a family vacation up to the Duluth area. We are staying at a few different places and can't wait to do lots of exploring and such.

We will be without internet access all next week, so you won't hear from me until the 22nd.

This is not my last post, we don't leave until Sunday, so you still have a few days with us.

I was just looking at my memory card and I haven't taken any new pics in days! Better get going on that!

Happy Birthday Mark!!

2009-06-10T11:44:00.001-05:00

Just wanted to wish my hubby a very happy birthday!!! Love you tons!!!

XoXo

Kindy Graduation!

2009-06-05T09:29:00.006-05:00

Last night was Wyatt's kindergarten graduation, it was actually the closing service for his school but the kindergartners graduated, each got a little certificate and a handshake, it was really cute.

Wyatt also sang 2 songs with the choir. It was such a bittersweet service, to know that this was the last on ever for ESPL, but happy in the fact that Wy is done with his first year of school.

Here are a few pictures from last night:

Sorry for the quality, we were in the far back of the church and my poor little flash just won't reach that far.

Wy getting his diploma

Wyatt with his principle Mr. K

After the service we let them play at the playground for a bit, here is Wy coming down the slide

And Lucy

Bananas

2009-06-04T11:32:00.005-05:00

Zack got his first food in the mesh holder on Tuesday, a big fat banana. He loved it! Next we are going to try watermelon!

Stay away Summer!

2009-06-03T07:26:00.009-05:00

Yes, I might be crazy by saying that, but I am LOVING the weather we are having! 70 degrees, sunny with a slight breeze. Perfection! I do not want it to get any warmer than it is now. So stay away warmer temps!

Because it's so nice out we let the kids stay out past their bed times to play, I mean before we know it it will be 90 degrees with 80% humidity. Ick. So we played long and hard yesterday, I have lots of pics to share!

Wyatt going down the hill

Doesn't it look like he has a big head in this pic? lol

I tried to get a kid shot, but Zack would not look

Then I guess we made him upset and he was done

Our little Diva

Wyatt

Last week of school!

2009-06-01T10:25:00.003-05:00

This is Wy's last week of school and I am so proud of what he has done in 1 year of Kindergarten! He has come so far and he is going to do great in the years to come.

This week is casual week so no more uniforms, he is very happy about that and on Wednesday they head to the Minnesota Zoo for the day.

Now I am happy that he is done, but a little nervous on how to keep him busy all summer without losing much of what he has learned.

So I have thought of a few fun projects to keep him going and I am thinking we will have family field trips during the week to keep both kids busy. Fingers crossed that it's not a long summer!

This weekend was pretty mellow, on Saturday we went to a BBQ at my aunt's house, she made ribs and all the fixins, it was good stuff!

Sunday was a hang at home day, we did venture out to the grocery store, but that's about all the excitement we had lol

Wyatt and Lucy were not in a picture taking mood this weekend, so all I have is a cute one of Zack playing in the front yard

A fun busy weekend!

2009-05-26T10:36:00.004-05:00

Did you have a good weekend? We did! I love long weekends and love it more when Mark is home :)

We did a lot of fun things, the most exciting being our new garden! Mark tilled and the kids and I planted. Fingers crossed that in 7-10 days we have corn, carrots, lettuce, cucumbers, watermelon, radish, strawberries and raspberries starting to sprout! We can't wait! This is our first real attempt at a garden, we have had raspberries and strawberries for a few years, but the other items are all brand new to us!

On Sunday we headed to my mom's to hang out for the day. All my sisters and their familes were there and we had a blast just all being together. All the kids played well together and it was great to have all 3 little babies around. Here are some misc pics from the weekend

A zoo day!

2009-05-20T07:46:00.007-05:00

Yesterday I took Lucy and Zack to the zoo, it was a beautiful day and we all needed to get out. Lucy was very excited to go, she was talking about all the animals that we were going to see. Little did we know that it must have been school day there, because there were a ton of school kids there! The zoo was packed! I decided to still go in and we would do as much as we could.

Over all it was fun, we were able to see a lot of animals, I didn't get too many pictures because I was pushing the stroller, keeping other kids from touching Zack, or our view was blocked. It's a good thing it's a free zoo, so we will try it again on another day when hopefully there will be less kids.

And this is crazy, here is the temps for yesterday, we are in the Twin Cities. Our vacation next month is up in Duluth and Grand Marais. It didn't feel like 97! It's not too bad with no humidity! I mean yes it was hot, but it could have been much worse. We still turned our A/C on though.

Happy Monday!

2009-05-18T09:40:00.006-05:00

Happy Monday! Hope everyone had a good weekend!

We spent a ton of time outdoors working on the backyard and just enjoying the weather. Saturday was a little cold, but we made it work alright. Sunday was even better mid 60's, sunshine and a slight breeze, it was wonderful!

The kids were busy with all sorts of projects, Wyatt was very into helping Mark and me cut up small branches to take to the compost site, he also got to use a handsaw for the first time to cut down a small bush. He loved that. We washed the van on Sunday and when the water started to pool in the driveway in the cracks all the worms came out and he was off picking them up and giving them all new homes. Kid loves picking up worms and frogs. Lucy rode her bike a lot this weekend and she also learned how to pump her legs on the swing so she can get higher and higher without one of us pushing her. She is quite proud that she figured this out and is constantly telling us to look at her lol

Zacky had a laid back weekend, really what work is he going to do at 7 months lol. OK, he worked at being cute as ever. He is back to having his fingers in his mouth all the time, Mark says he saw a spot where a top tooth is making an appearance so that explains all that.

Here are some pics from the weekend

The boys thought it would be fun to see if they could reach me with the water