A new year! January 2012!

Could it be? No, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you...I've actually updated the blog with two posts this month. :) Here's the pictures and an update on our family from January. Happy New Year!

Can you say tired baby? Good morning Jackapoo- it's time to start the day.

This is Jack after daycare. Can you say tired baby?

Such a handsome boy. Getting big too!

What is this?! Probably good blackmail when he reaches his teen years! Here's our lil' buddy playing with his big sister. You all know siblings love to copy their old siblings when they are younger right? Jack is living proof. I guess Ashley makes dressing up look so fun that he just had to participate too!

Jack loves to lay down on Ruby's dog bed. It gives me the hebejeebees every time he does but on this particular day, I grabbed my camera because he just looked so comfy and cozy. Daycare takes all his energy and he is usually pooped out when he gets home.

I forced Ashley to let me take a picture of her when I discovered all the pictures on my camera for the month were of Jack. Ashley is just as cute as can be and getting so tall and mature.

Daddy & Jack at the Celebration of the Lakes event. This year due to ice conditions it was held at the Ki Chi Saga park. Totally lame in comparison to having the events on the lake and not nearly the crowd of people either. It was however just as cold as it usually is! BRRRRR!

Maddy & Ashley

John, Sheli and Maddy met us for the events.

Ashley, Maddy and Matt took a ride on the dog sled. I was amazed at how fast those dogs flew around the track.

Ashley got a new sled for Christmas. It's great! She can carry it and get on it without any help from us. Up and down she went, spinning and giggling away. I showed her my pink ski mask and she instantly wanted to wear them. Can you blame her? They are pretty awesome!

Jack, Daddy & AJ

End of January and we already have spring fever! AJ and Jack took a cruise around in her Mustang. Notice the snow packed in the grill? She attempted to go up and over the snowbank. It's a Mustang honey...not a Jeep! :)

Other events in January: 1/2/12 Jack now says Ah oh! 1/4 I found a sheet from daycare with pictures of the yoga moves they do at school. I decided to do yoga with Ashley and was pleasantly surprised when Jack joined us and attempted to do all of the same moves. It was one of the cutes things I've seen. 1/7 we went to Menomonie for the Drinkwine family Christmas. 1/10 Jack started coughing...on 1/12 I took him into the doctor. A new clinic and doctor we haven't seen before. I was NOT impressed and will never go see that doctor again. After 1.5 hours in the clinic, she finally prescribed azithromyzin which I know from past experience will wipe out just about any infection. We also did nebs and prednizone for the next week. A friend of mine gave me the best advice ever...instead of crushing up the prednizone and trying to stick it in food etc, leave it in it's whole form and give it to him in pudding or yogurt. It worked! He swallowed it down and it never came back up like it did when I had tried crushing it and giving it to him in applesauce. I highly suggesting tasting it yourself next time the doc gives it to you for your kids...it's AWFUL! On 1/12 I also took Jack to his post op appt from his surgery and got the all clear and reassuring news that he can now hear great and his illness was not effecting his ears. 1/13-1/15 Matt was on his annual spear fishing trip with the guys. 1/14 G & G J took Ashley to go see the Muppets. For any of you counting, yes, this was her third time seeing the Muppets in the theaters. 1/22 I hosted a Lia Sophia party. Expensive jewelry but hosting a party allows the hostess many discounts and deals on the jewelry. 1/25 AJ showed me that she can put her hair into a pony tail all by herself! Wow. Another realization at just how grown up she is getting! 1/27 I took Jack for his 18 month check up. Stats: height 2'10.75" (96.98%); weight 27lb 6.4oz (70.23%); head circumference 20" (98.71%). On 1/29 we signed an offer for our house. Yes, after 4 or so years and a decrease in our asking price by $230,000 dollars we finally have an offer. The whole process stinks. We're now waiting to see if the bank accepts the terms. If so, we'll be moving anywhere from 30 days to 3 months from now. We're considering a move closer to the city. 1/30 Jack says wawa (water)! 1/31 We attended Kindergarten orientation at the Chisago Lakes Primary School. Yep- realization #101 that my baby girl is growing up. Are you wondering how I handled receiving the welcome kindergarten families letter in the mail? I shed a few tears. :) Until next month - take care!

December 2011

Life doesn't slow down once it's on the fast track...does it? I've kept up with this blog because I use it similar to a journal or baby book for the kids. It's not so easy to remember what happened back in December when you're documenting it 2 1/2 months later! Where does the time go?!

Ashley is very into writing notes. She will ask, "how do you spell...". On this night, I don't think I was home when she was going to bed so she had told daddy she wanted to write a note. Daddy wrote the note for her (right) but that isn't what she wanted...she wanted to write the note. What Ashley wanted her note to say was "Mom, don't forget to hug & kiss me before you go to work! Love Ashley." (Daddy got it right on his scribed note.) Ashley's simply said "Mom, Don't Love you. Ashley" I laughed and laughed. Boy do I love that little peanut!


This may have been one of the only snowfalls this winter...and you won't find me complaining about that!! We dressed up the kids and headed out to play in it.

Ashley Jane

Big sister pulling lil' brother for a sled ride.

Down the hill they go! Wheeeee! You can see from Ashley's face, she loved it!! Jack...not so sure. Actually, he really likes going down the hill, he just doesn't like when it stops at the end or having to walk back up the hill to do it again.

Here's a video of Jack's first time down the hill. Hear the laughing?!

Here's a video of Jack's second time down the hill. Not so fun anymore.

Disney on Ice! Sheli & I took our girls to go see Disney on Ice, featuring the infamous Rapunzel. As you can see, both girls are wearing purple dresses, just like Rapunzel. Maddy even had the hair! Crazy thing is, half of it is Maddy's real hair!

Sheli and I both picked up glowing trinkets for the show in hopes we could escape the $25 gimmicks at the show. It worked, but it still took dragging them away from the booths that were selling it! Imagine paying $25 for a headband with long hair like Rapunzel.

Three cuties! Maddy, Allie & Ashley

Pretty awesome event...here are all of the Disney prince and princesses and there was even floating lanterns just like the movie Tangled.

The annual Christmas cookie baking day at Grandma's. Jake & Ashley helping Grandma. Can you see Ashley's tongue is sticking out? A sign of how hard she was concentrating? :)

Ashley & Jack on Christmas Eve. Ashley and I made pretty poinsettia barrettes that morning.

Ahhhhhh.

Christmas eve at Grandma Schuette's! We have quite a crew and this isn't even all of us! Pretty great picture considering we all just got in to position and no one instructed anyone to sit, stand or adjust into place.

Christmas morning! Yay! Ashley is holding up a wedding girl barbie from Santa!

Jackapoo taking a ride on his present from Santa.

Daddy got a new watch!

Christmas day at G & G J's. This year we also had my sister in law Lydia's mother & father in town from Kentucky and her sister too all the way from S. Korea. It was a great time.

Christmas at G'ma Terry & G'pa Randy's. Jack's sporting his new sweater. Such a handsome boy!

Jake, Marianne, Dennis, Luke, me, Ashley, Matt, Jack, G'ma Terry, Doug, Dallas, Dougie, G'pa Randy.

Ashley got an awesome girls pedicure kit from Uncle Doug for Christmas. I think we did pedicures for the next 4 or 5 nights after receiving this gift. She loved warming up her feet in the warm water.

Jack wanted to participate in pedicures too. Wrong end buddy!

We still spend a lot of time dancing and singing at our house. Ashley now has her own ipod (an old one of ours) that's loaded with my dance music...most not appropriate for a 4 year old but we haven't gone through and edited her play list yet.

Other events in December: On 12/2 McDonald's opened in Chisago. BIG NEWS for this little town we live in. 12/3 Matt & I went to see the St Paul Chamber Orchestra at the Orpheum with Sue & Larry. Larry scored some good tickets off of Livingsocial. Pretty amazing and talented musicians. I couldn't get over the oddities or mannerisms of the conductor but I was told by my husband that is all very old customs and they all had their own significance and to stop laughing. Haha! Major case of the giggles. On 12/6 I took Ashley to the dentist in the last attempts to get two cavities filled. If this visit wasn't successful, we'd have to take her to Children's and have her put under to have them fixed. Well, Ashley had been begging for Squinkies for about 3 weeks. I bought Squinkies and put them into what I called my magic bag (a velvet jewelry bag) and used the Squinkies to bribe her into cooperating...she got one for sitting up in the chair, she got two for letting them put on the "kitty nose" which was really the gas mask and they started the gas, she of course cooperated. I was so proud of her. Two people sticking their big adult sized hands into her mouth with the tools etc. We take her to a pediatric dentist which of course is specialized in kids and everything is kid oriented and they have fun kid friendly names for all of the tools but that didn't make a difference to Ashley in our first 4 or so visits. Squinkies saved the day...or at least saved us from having to shell out mega bucks for the procedure at Children's. After the visit Ashley told me, well mom, that wasn't so bad. I wasn't even scared. Good thing too because we were headed back the next week to get the second cavity filled. Yes, this too required a new package of Squinkies. Daddy got connected with a job doing construction work again mid December so Jack started back at daycare full time on 12/12. On 12/12, I took Jack to have his hearing evaluated on recommendation from our doctor to have his speech evaluated. When scheduling the speech eval, I asked if they'd be checking his hearing to which the answer was no. She suggested if I had concerns I should take him for a hearing eval first. So, I did that and learned Jack wasn't hearing. My insurance coverage through work was changing as of 1/1 so I made the quick decision to take advantage of a free surgery and scheduled him for tubes on 12/23. This procedure was free because we had already met our out of pocket maximum due to Jack's 5 day stay at Children's 9 months earlier in March. The week of 12/12 was insane with doc appts. Jacks hearing eval, AJ was at the dentist, I was at the dermatologist, Matt had his procedure, Jack had a preop appt and all along I was working remote or going into work after the appts or working late at night to make up the hours. Exhausting! On 12/20 I went to see Cinderella at the Orpheum with Sue, Lydia, and Lydia's mother Penny and sister Georgia. We went to the St Paul Grill for dinner. Fun evening! 12/21 I took PTO and I surprised AJ by picking her up from school and taking her to the movies. We say the Muppets. 12/23 was Jack's surgery. 12/24 was Christmas, 12/25 was Christmas, 12/26 was Christmas. 12/29 our friends Reed & Stacey took us to Running Aces for their seafood buffet as a thank you for passing down a bunch of kids clothes and a bunch of our other friends joined us too. 12/30 I took another day of PTO. I don't think I have ever had the chance to take the last day of the year off in the last 11 years. It was awesome to sneak in a long weekend. 12/31 Gma Terry took the kids overnight and we got to go up to the Dinnerbel for bingo with our friends and then everyone came over to our house to bring in the new year. Lastly, Ashley no longer takes naps. The days of a sneaking in chores and bills etc while the kids nap are over.

November 2011

November 2011

Jack loves slippers. These happen to be daddy's slippers but they are just as fun!

Snuggle time. These two don't usually slow down at the same time...this day was a fluke. Two little peanuts with their taggie blankies.

On 11/12/11 we went to Great Grandma's house for the annual rake the leaves and have a bonfire party. Here Ashley is with her second cousins!

L to R: Ashley, Izzy, Ayla

Mommy's friend Jill from work gave Ashley 4 flower girls dresses. All were different color and size. Ashley quickly let me know that one was yellow like Belle, one was blue like Cinderella, one was pink like Aurora and one was purple like Rapunzel. For those of you who don't know...those are the names of Disney princesses. Ashley was thrilled that two of the dresses were long enough to reach the floor!

Sweet baby boy! This is Jack dancin'. He puts this fingers up and shakes his booty. Jack is 16 months and 2 days old in this picture.

Attempt #108 to get the kids to pose for a picture together and both look at the camera.

Deck your kid with lots of tinsel, fa la la la la, la la la la. After this picture she went into the kitchen and got a barrette and then clipped the tinsel into the barrette so that she would have long hair just like Rapunzel.

Attempt #109... :) One of these times they will both look at the camera.

The pink flower girl dress. There's a video below of how great these dresses twirl.

The kids dancin, dancin, dancin!!

Ashley & Jack sledding down our hill. We have a great hill for going sledding. This was Jack's first time going sledding. This year Ashley will run up the hill, pulling her sled and will go down by herself too.

Other events in November: Ashley continued with her Tuesday night swimming lessons and ended the class on 11/29. 11/1 Jack has mastered his bye bye wave. 11/6- I took the kids up to the high school swimming pool. 11/7- Jack's communicating and responds to things you ask him to do but says very little. He just grunts and says ma (more). He also does evil eyes and loves to tease. He puckers his lips up for a smootch and then turns his head just as soon as you try to give him a kiss. 11/17- Mommy went to see the midnight showing of Breaking Dawn with a group of friends. 11/19- the kids stayed over night at Uncle Brent, Auntie Lydia and cousin Alex's house. They had a blast. Matt and I went out with some friends for bingo at the Dinnerbel and then back to our place to make dinner and play games. It was a fun night. 11/20 - went to the high school pool with the kids. Jack woke up with a terrible cough around mid-night...a familiar cough... I packed the diaper bag and we headed to Children's Hospital. Sure enough, he had croupe. 11/24 - Happy Thanksgiving! 11/26 - Jack's words: More, Wow, Da. We went to Menomonie to visit Great Grandpa & Grandma Drinkwine. When we got home we put up our Christmas tree, the watched Shrek 4 and when the kids were in bed, we watched Water for Elephants. Productive day! My favorite quote from the day was out of Matt when we were putting up our artificial Christmas tree. To set it up for you, he had just lugged the huge, awkward shaped tree box over from the other garage. Then lugged the box through the front door. Once the box was opened we began our attempts to sort the branches out by size as the colored stickers indicating the ring they fit into on the post have long past fallen off. Matt took in a deep breath and sighed while saying "Ahhh there's nothing like putting together the Christmas tree". Of course that comment was then followed by...next year we are getting a real tree! 11/30- Matt took Ashley on a special date after dinner to go see the Muppets. I was asleep by the time they got home. She had to wake me up to tell me all about Miss Piggy. She also told me that she and I have to go see the movie together too...which we did and as a matter of fact, she got to go see the movie with G & G J too... yep, she's been to see the Muppets in the theater 3 times!