The Honeymoon is Almost Over

I'm in my last week of maternity leave.  It's amazing how different my 2 leaves have been!  First off, the weather.  Kade was born in August and I'm pretty sure we went for multiple walks a day, every day, for the entire 12 weeks.  Mason has been on a grand total of 5 walks.  3 of them he was so bundled up, all you could see was his little face sticking out.

It's no secret that Kade was a screamer until he was about 7 months old.  So, I'm not going to lie, I was ready to go back to work.  Mason has his moments but for the most part he's pretty content.  He's the most content in my arms so he's spent quite a bit of time there.  That's all going to change next week and I'm not ready!

My "Mom Guilt" is through the roof because I was so strict with Kade and not quite so much with Mason.  I'm sure that's how most parents are with their 2nd but still.  I am a little worried because Kade has more than made up for his "high maintenance baby ways" by being such an amazing kid.  Does this mean that since Mason is not a high maintenance baby he's going to make up for it when he's 2???  I hope not :-)

I do have to give Kade some credit though.  He was sleeping through the night at 9 weeks.  Mason, not so much.  We're still getting up twice a night with him.  4:14 am on Monday the 5th is going to be rough for me!

Anyway, it is time for me to go back.  Although I get 12 weeks off, it's all unpaid--unless you use PTO and I had a whopping 20 hours saved up.  This means we've had 10 weeks without my paycheck.  I guess I should start contributing again, so I can shop without guilt :-)

Here's some pictures taken awhile ago of the boys with Great Grandpa H.  He's the only grandparent Erik and I have left so it's pretty special we were able to get some pictures with him!

4 generations crammed onto one couch :-)

Easter 2014

The Easter Bunny did not come to our house this year.  Don't worry, there were lots of eggs, filled with candy and money, hidden all around the house!  Mom and Dad hid them though, not a big, creepy bunny :-)  I describe "him" like that because that is exactly what Kade thinks of him as.  It scares the living daylights out of Kade to think there is a creature hopping around our house while we are all sleeping.  He thinks the same thing about Santa.  He made sure we checked every lock on the door and that Molly (the dog) would stay awake Christmas Eve to alert us when an old man was entering our house.

Erik and I decided this year to not perpetuate the myth, so Kade could rest easy and get a good night's sleep.  I have a hard enough time keeping up with all the details I've said about Santa!  Kade asks very specific questions and he doesn't forget a thing. So, we never mentioned the Easter Bunny and he never brought it up.  We told him we were hiding the eggs and making a treasure hunt for him with a gift to find at the end.  He was more than okay with that!

Note to self for next year:

1.  Hide the eggs with lights on.  They seemed really well hidden under the cover of darkness.  Kade took one visual sweep around the room in the morning and found most of the eggs.   Then he proceeded to tell me, "Mom, you didn't find very good hiding spots.  You should try harder next time."

2.  Remember how smart Kade is when doing the hiding.  He was looking in shoes, drawers, high and low.  And we definitely didn't get that creative! Next year, it's game on Little Man!

Kade, in the middle, with his daycare buddies.

First clue of the treasure hunt!

The hunt is on!

Mason found one!

The treasure at the end of the hunt!

My handsome boys, dressed for church!

Kade and Dad working hard!

Bathroom break :-)

 

A Week of Firsts

Mason has conquered Level 1 of "Keeping Up With Kado the Tornado".  He rolled over (tummy to back) at 9 1/2 weeks!  He did it on Thursday for Erik but we assumed it was a fluke.  He did it again for me on Friday morning but, again, I thought he just got lucky.  Then he did it 2 more times on Friday evening, a couple more times on Saturday morning and every day since so I think it's safe to assume he's mastered it :-)  I've been trying to record it but he must be camera shy because he refuses to do it then!

The other first this week is Kade made his very first basket at a regulation 10 ft hoop!  He actually made a few shots so I think it's time to put up a real hoop in the driveway.  

Erik had his annual high school alumni basketball tournament this past Saturday.  Unfortunately they lost the championship game in triple overtime but they had fun and there were no injuries so everybody wins :-). Kade had a blast warming up with the big guys and cheering on his favorite players--in this order:  Uncle Mike, Uncle Jay and Dad.  Yep, Dad is 3rd on his players list...but, hey, at least he made the top 3!

Here's some pictures of my favorite little men from Saturday.  I'll have to do a separate Easter post because there's so many pictures!

Mason has discovered his reflection above so he just sits in the swing and smiles at himself.  He must like what he sees, I know I do :-)

Somebody is excited for a day of basketball!!

Great Grandpa, both sets of grandparents and a cousin.  Life is good for the boys!

As we all know about Kade, he dresses the part for each activity he does.  When he saw Violet walk into the BASKETBALL gym with *gasp* a SOCCER ball, he was more than a little concerned!  Did Violet know we were watching basketball and not soccer?!

Just hangin' out with the guys....

This is what Mason thought of all of it.  He took his best nap of the day amid all the commotion!

This sign isn't quite accurate.  It should probably say, "My Dad's #2" :-)

Violet brought the sign, Kade brought the ball.  Isn't that just typical though?  Each one wants what the other has!

Easter post up next....

Mason had his 2 month appointment today.  I was a little surprised at his stats, I actually thought he is bigger than Kade was at this age.  Nope, they're pretty much the exact same size!  This blog has been a great reference point as far as looking back at what Kade was up to at Mason's age!

Mason is 14 pounds (80%) and 24 inches (75%)

Kade was 13 pounds (86%) and 24 inches (80%)

I'm not really sure how the percentiles are figured, but does this mean babies are bigger than they were 4 years ago?  

Seriously, what are the odds they are that close in size?!  Looks like I'll have some big boys to feed in my future!!  Not to mention their 6'5" father....

 

My happy little guy was not so happy at the end of his appointment.  And, silly me, I totally forgot about the Tylenol before the shots to relieve the pain!  There goes my chances for Mom of the Year!

Kade is still really into Mason, he kisses him all the time.  Which can be a bit of a pain considering Kade had a monster cold this past week and a waterfall of snot coming out if his nose.  I do love watching Kade get big smiles out of Mason though!  And it melts my heart when Kade tells Mason that he is his favorite baby in the whole wide world :-)

There's a lot of delicious cheeks in this picture!!

Now that we're no longer "waiting and wondering" about Mason's status, I'm hard at work getting bedrooms set up.  Hopefully by next week's post we'll be done and I can post some pictures of the boy's new rooms!

We're just laying low this week and finally enjoying "warm" weather!  We took our first walk outside yesterday!  I pushed Mason in the stroller, Kade rode bike and the neighbors, Michael and Taylor, were pulled by their mom in the wagon.  We were quite the sight, I'm sure!  I have a feeling we'll be wearing our road out this summer with all the walks and various other wheeled options Kade has.  I can't wait!

These are just some random pictures

We call this "The Sleeper Hold".  Put Mason up like this and you're guaranteed lights out in less than 10 seconds!

I just love this picture!  It makes me laugh every time.

Tummy Time!  Kade's got the right idea, the floor is hard!

Poor Molly.  She thought it was rough with just 1 boy in the house.  She's not going to know what hit her when there's another one who'll soon be moving on his own!

Someone got some fancy new shoes!!

"Ghaa" is Grandpa Bill's favorite phrase.  And Erik's.  And Uncle Mike's.  Okay, pretty much every male on Erik's side of the family says it.  A lot.  And the girls like to point it out and make fun of them for it. This is why a shirt was made in honor of it.  Looks like Mason is in on the joke already too :-)

Now We Can Celebrate....

Just heard from our social worker, Mason's birthdad did not register for rights!!  Our prayers have been answered.

Finally!!!!!  I mean I love our government, free speech and all that, but could they have made that wait any longer?!!?

I've been waiting for this news before I really started setting up the house for 2 kids.  Sorry Erik but Mama's goin' shoppin'!!!!!

This sweet little boy is all ours.  I can't wait to be his Mommy for the rest of my life :-)

This past weekend Kade and I, along with my parents, made the long trek to Kansas City to help celebrate Vivienne's 2nd birthday!  We had been preparing Kade all week for how long we'd be in the car (about 7 hours) and I'd ask him multiple times a day if he wanted to go or stay home.  Usually when we ask Kade a question with multiple options, we get both options as a response.  This time he answered "KC" every single time!  If he had wavered even once, I probably would've stayed home because I didn't think I could leave Mason for that long.  

About 30 minutes into the ride Kade asked if we were there yet.  He proceeded to ask that about 1.4 million more times.  He did well though and we had a blast, so it was worth the drive.  Mason and Dad had a good bonding weekend too so it worked out well for everyone.

I captured a grin on camera before I left!  That smile made it even harder for me to go!  I think there might be dimples underneath all that cheek!!

The 1st night in KC.  Vivi LOVES her Kade!

Photo updates of Mason from G&G back home.  Working his charm on Grandma!

Grandpa and Kade helping set up for the party.

The Birthday Girl

Snack time!  It was a little chilly in the mornings but got into the 70's by the afternoon.  Made it tough to come back to winter in MN!

Shooting some hoops before the party.  He never made a shot but hit the rim a bunch of times and one shot rolled around the top of the rim!!  Pretty impressive for a 3 1/2 year old!

Party time!  Getting our party clothes on.

 

The theme was Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  Vivi was the cutest little Minney Mouse there!

The bounce house was a hit!

Kade was quite the ladies man too!!

I overheard him tell this girl that he was a "Struction Man".  She must've been impressed because she stuck around him awhile!

I love this picture!  Who knew my little man could put out such an amazing vibe?!  I don't know what they were talking about but he did get her name...Sadie :-)

In the end, he only had eyes for his cousin Viv.

In the meantime, Erik sent me a pic of my other handsome little man...

Kade had a couple pretty funny quotes over the weekend and I think it's pretty clear he's a Daddy's Boy!

Him and I were walking back from the park and I was dribbling the basketball.  

Me:  "Kade, look at me!  I'm dribbling the ball and walking at the same time!  Aren't I a stud??"

Kade: " No Mom, Dad is a stud.  You are a goofball."

We were having ice cream and Jeremy (my brother) was having a hard time scooping it because it was frozen solid.

Kade:  "Jeremy, my dad can scoop ice cream because he has REAL muscles!"

We took this picture when we got home and sent it to Jeremy so he could see what real muscles look like....something for him to aspire to :-)

I don't think he reads the blog, so I'm safe posting this picture :-)  

On the way home Kade informed me that he didn't think he was ready for long car rides :-)  But he sure looks cute doing them!

And I had this little man waiting for me when I got home

I'm a lucky gal!!