Christmas Spirit

Warm winter greetings! Lately we've been getting into the Christmas spirit! Our house is fully decorated, the trees are up and trimmed, the stockings are hung, presents have been bought, the kids went and saw Santa Claus, we've been to Bentleyville (an amazing display of lights at Bayfront park, definitely worth a trip up north!) in Duluth, and the snow has fallen! All that's left to do is send out Christmas cards, bake cookies and enjoy time with family and friends!

This past weekend I brought the kids to the library for our weekly visit to the story time/craft time they offer, however I wasn't paying attention the week before when the librarian was explaining about the children's holiday party. What a great surprise for Blake! There was a kids entertainment band who did songs and stories, cookies and milk and Santa! I say great surprise for Blake, because he loved it all and had a blast, I on the other hand was a bit stressed, there was a TON of people there, kids, parents, grandparents, etc. it was peer chaos at the beginning with kids and people all over and me and my kids (I felt like I was in the middle of a tornado! So busy!). Blake wanted to play and have fun as he normally does there and at first didn't want to sit and participate, thankfully a nice lady offered me her rocking chair so I could sit with Blake and Brooke and keep them contained in one area! After the initial chaos it was fun to listen to Christmas songs and spend time with my kids. We didn't wait in line to see Santa there as the line was crazy long, so we bundled up and headed to the mall where we met Kevin. There was no line to see Santa at the mall, perks of small town living :-) Blake was so excited to see him and he even walked right up to him and sat on his lap. He did get shy once Santa started asking him questions. Santa asked, "What would you like for Christmas?" Blake's reply "Presents!" LOL Brooke of course was thrilled and happy to see Santa, as she is when she sees anyone!

They look so not happy :-( sadly the picture that I bought is the one with the smiles, not any of my pictures has them smiling!

We attempted to do Christmas pictures this week and wow was that a production! Just getting both kids dressed in their outfits was a task but then trying to get a hyper 2 almost 3 year old and 5 month old baby to sit nicely, look at the camera and smile was a lot more work then we thought it would be! It was fun doing it and I now have about 50 pictures that need to be deleted. LOL I picked out the best I one I could find and let me say I didn't have much to choose from with both kids smiling or even looking at the camera! So the picture I'm sending out is off center, a little blurry and the red eye corrector wasn't the best and Brooke is laughing so much her little face is all scrunched up! LOL Here are a couple of out takes:

Once again we entered a float in the Rice Lake Holiday Parade. Kevin did a great job decorating the two seater and the trailer. Blake and his friend Brylee did a great job waving and yelling Merry Christmas to everyone, it was cute :-) We all had fun participating in the parade, its a fun tradition.

This weekend we are off to the cities, we are bringing Blake to Monster Jam and also going to the Mall of America. We're going to the aquarium, probably ride on some rides and get a few last minute Christmas gifts. Brooklyn sadly is staying home with grandma, she's too little for monster trucks! Next year :-)

Speaking of Brooklyn and being too little, she's 5 months old today! I can't believe how fast the time has gone, it just seems like yesterday she was a tiny little newborn. Brooke is doing great with baby food, her favorites are sweet potatoes and bananas! She is also trying to rollover :-) I've noticed in the last couple of days she hasn't needed as much sleep as she has in the past....I'm hoping she will at least get back into her afternoon nap schedule, today she wouldn't sleep very much, but was happy and smiling all day. I couldn't even get mad or tired because I'd be rocking her and she would smile her big toothless smile and coo at me. Those are the best moments and makes my heart melt <3

Blake hasn't been up too much, he's been enjoying all the traditions of Christmas. He even decorated his own Christmas tree this year, he LOVED it! He's been outside playing in the snow almost everyday but won't stay out for long because he won't leave his mittens on. He'll be out playing and take them off and then come crying to me that his hands are cold....well leave your mittens on stinker!

Blake's tree

Well enough of my rambling, I hope you all have a wonderful and very Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Years!!

2011 Wissota National Banquet

This past weekend was spent in St. Cloud, having an awesome time with our friends at the Wissota banquet and celebrating Kevin's points championship. We had lots of fun, laughs and drinks and sure didn't have a lot sleep! I'm still exhausted! Kevin and I, our crew, family and friends always look forward to this weekend, its great to get out of town with everyone and have a great time, and I love shopping at the mall there! Thank you to all of our crew, family and friends for all of your hard work and support as we couldn't have won national points without each and everyone of you, Kevin and I appreciate it more than words can say!

The banquet itself was good and went pretty fast, all the champs had nice speeches as well, I enjoy listening to all that they have to say, its great to see how excited they all are and how much they appreciate the honor. I'm a little biased but I enjoyed Kevin's speech the best! Congrats to all the 2011 National Champions!

Friday night at the Green Mill

Our only picture together from the banquet!

The 2011 Wissota National Champions!

Our kids stayed home and were spoiled with love by mom all weekend, by the sounds of it they had a blast! (Thank you mom!!!) It was great to come home to them, Blake and Brooke we're super excited to see us, but had way more energy then their tired parents! :-)

Blake hasn't been up to too much mischief lately, he's sure growing like a weed though, clothes that fit him a month ago no longer fit and he just looks so tall! He's growing out of the toddler stage and into the boyhood stage. He's still quite the character though, he's just a ball of energy with a big imagination, the things he says and does amazes me! Blake is very much into make believe and all of his stuffed animals are his babies, so he talks to them like a parent, its hilarious! He also has to sleep with them, he's usually buried somewhere under them during nap. Blake is my naughtiest child out of all my daycare kids and he will even tell you that, so he gets a lot of time outs and knows the routine of time outs like the back of his hand so if he sees his parents, grandparents, pets doing something he thinks is naughty he will put them in time out! Its so hard not to laugh :-)

Boys and Trains

Trouble! But the best kind!

Brooke has been a spitfire lately! She really has a personality now, she smiles, coos and giggles all the time. She has a very girly, high pitched squeal when she gets super excited. Brooke is starting to get a bit more mobile, she scoots herself around in her crib at night and when she's on the floor playing she will kick and wave her hands so much she inches herself around! Monday night we started baby food and she's done pretty good, it will take some time to get used to tho! We had her 4 month check up on Monday and she is weighing in at 18lbs and 26 inches, so she is in the 98% for her age and developmentally she is right on track!

Always so happy!

The loves of our life!

Hard to believe its already the middle of November! The holiday season is right around the corner, yay! We actually have a busy beginning to our winter lined up already. We are putting a fireplace in our living room, I'm already stressing about the mess! We are planning a quick getaway to the cities in December to bring Blake to Monster Jam and the aquarium at the Mall of America. I'm also hoping to get over to the cities to see the play Cinderella. This week we are also finalizing our plans to go back to Florida with Blake, can you guess where?!? Yup, Disney World! LOL We're not bringing our little princess, as we think it would just be too much for her, my stomach is already in knots thinking about leaving her home, but it will be for the best and a certain little boy will sure enjoy some mommy and daddy time all to himself!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Trick or Treat

Halloween was a lot of fun this year as Blake was so excited about all of it! Blake was a pirate and Brooke was a witch, Blake insists she was a "baby witch!" And our poor embarrassed dog, Paris was a bumble bee! I even wore ears- not sure if they were cat or mouse ears! And Kevin wore a goofy hat, that Blake was thrilled to see! We only lasted an hour or so and that was plenty! Blake started getting bored and Brooke slept most of the time and was tired of being so bundled up!

Our first stop to grandma and grandpa Adams!

And we're off! Paris only made it to one house as it was just too much pushing a stroller and controlling a very excited Pirate!

So fitting a crabby pirate! ;-)

Grandpa Dave and the kiddos!

I think Blake's favorite part of Halloween was the daycare Halloween party, we played games and decorated cupcakes! Brooke seemed not to care about all the hoopla!

The kids have been growing like weeds lately! Brooke will be 4 months on Sunday and she is still the sweetest, easiest little one! She is always happy and is so content to just watch all that is going on around her (her brother!). Brooke smiles, giggles and coos all the time, its sweet! But as soon as the camera comes out she is straight faced and quiet, we have to be sneaky if we want pictures of her smiling! Just this week we finally put her in her crib for bedtime, she's been in our room since birth, as the kids' rooms are on the other end of the house, and I felt better having her close to me at night. Brooke always napped in her room and seems a lot more comfortable in there, so its been an easy transition. Since I've had her, I've always had in the back of mind that she could be my last baby, so she is held quite a bit, ok as much as I can! LOL Brooke actually prefers to lay on the floor or play mat and kick and grab things. Blake has been as much as a handful as ever! As I write this, he seems to be on a sugar high and is driving me nuts! He's really into playing with his tools and "fixing" things, he also has been playing a lot of make believe with all his stuffed animals, its pretty funny listening to him! Even though he has moments of naughtiness (ok many moments) he sure can be sweet. Blake still loves Brooklyn to pieces and it sure is precious to watch him give her hugs and kisses and say "I love you sissy!"

Our anniversary dinner in downtown Minneapolis, it was a much needed getaway, too bad it went so fast!

Have a great weekend to all who read this!

Happy Anniversary!

Today is Kevin and mine's 5 year wedding anniversary! Its hard to believe that its been 5 years already, it feels like just yesterday!

The story of us....

The summer of 2000 is when we actually met and spoke for the first time. We were at Superior Speedway for the fair races and my dad and Kevin had both won that night, a friend of mine wanted to go talk to Kevin and brought me along, I'll be honest I didn't really know who he was and didn't put much thought into it. Once we were all introduced Kevin talked to me most of the time we were there. We talked about racing and that was about it. The next couple of years we occassionly saw he each other at the races and had always been nice and talked to one another. This was also back when instant messaging was "in" so we sometimes chatted on the computer. The winter of 2001-02 we talked quite a bit and then spring and racing came and guess what?! We didn't talk as much as he was too busy with his cars.. LOL My dad happened to go race in Rice Lake one Saturday and I conned my sister into going to get a picture from Kevin (good thing she was a little girl that couldn't go get  pictures by herself!!). Kevin and I had talked for a while that night and in the weeks to come we started talking, emailing and instant messaging quite a bit. I would BEG my dad to race in Rice Lake on Saturday's, to the point of probably annoying, to be able to go see Kevs. On August 13, 2002 Kevin came up to Duluth for a first real date, dinner and the beach. It was a "perfect" first date, minus the fact that we got pulled over on the way home. LOL That was the first of many many many rode trips north for Kevin and vice a versa for me! Kevin would always come up on Wednesday nights as that was always our date night and we would spend the weekends either in Duluth or Cameron. It was a long distance relationship that was actually pretty easy, probably because my parents allowed it to be an easy relationship. Many have wondered why they let their 16 year old daughter date a 22 year old guy, thats easy to answer if anyone has ever met Kevin, he is the sweetest, nicest, most caring and responsible man, and what my mom calls a "dream son in law." I was always safe and taken care of with Kevin, they trusted him and liked him as person even before we started dating. My mom thinks the world of him as he is such a good man and genuine and has always been so friendly and honest with her. As for my dad, obviously he likes him and has from the begining as those two are more "buds" then father/son in law, they get along so good and actually go out and hang out. I can't tell you how many date nights I missed because my boyfriend was in the garage drinking beer with my dad! LOL

Kevin bought our first house the year I graduated (2004), I was going to college so I didn't move down until the summer of 2005 and that was only for the summer. But that was the summer he proposed! Kevin proposed on the 4th of July on the deck of our house. He grilled steaks and potatoes and onions and we were sitting on the deck enjoying a perfect summer's night when he pushed play on the cd player of Nick Lachey's "This I swear." I thought he was going to ask me dance because when we were eating dinner I ran my hand down his right leg and there was notta in his pockets. LOL (We had been talking about getting engaged and Sonia had me all worked up that it was going to happen SOON! Even tho she didn't actually know anything about it, just a hunch I guess?!?) Well he shocked me and got down on one knee and proposed! I cried and of course said YES!!!

We set our wedding date for October 21, 2006 in Duluth at my families church, and the reception at the Holiday Inn. It was our dream wedding (for sure mine!). I loved every minute of planning and preparing to marry my best friend, it was all so exciting. I will never forget the moment Kevin first saw me in my wedding dress or the moment when my dad walked me down the aisle to the man of my dreams. So many memories of that day are so precious and close to my heart, I will never forget them. If I started typing about that, this would be the longest blog EVER! LOL

We settled into married bliss and in 2008 we decided we wanted to build a new home on the land our barn and horses were at, and then we got the biggest and best news ever. We were expecting a baby! We got pregnant in April, we were shocked it happened so soon but so excited to start our family. Blake made his entrance to the world on January 16th, 2009 and life has never been the same since! LOL He's been the best thing that has ever happend to us until July 6th, 2011 and Brooklyn was born, now we have 2 beautiful kids that are the best things that has ever happened to us. Our children are the biggest blessings and our pride and joy :-)

Kevin and I have been together for 9 years and married for 5 and the road here has been a blast, a true roller coaster that I never, ever want to get off of! We've had lots of ups and some downs, just like any other couple, we've had laughter, happiness, tears, madness, chaos, you name it. But through it all I wouldn't change it for the world. I love knowing that I get to hold my best friends hand through life.

I love you so much Kevin, thank you for making all of my dreams come true-you! Happy Anniversary baby!

Home Sweet Home

This past week/weekend was spent in Huron, SD for the Wissota 100, and it was a blast! Kevin won his 3rd straight Wissota 100 in the mod, making that a total of 7 Wissota 100 wins! It was a huge accomplishment that we didn't expect to happen again, it couldn't have happened without all the support we have from our crew, family and friends, thank you all!


Kevin and the guys headed out Monday and I along with some of our crew went out Wednesday. *Its the LONGEST MOST BORING drive ever! :-) I hated being away from Blake and Brooke so long, as I'm used to spending all of my time with them, but I admit it was a nice break to just be in "couple" mode and get to have fun with Kevin and not worry about things at home (and actually getting to WATCH the races this year!). Knowing our kiddos were being taken care of and loved so much sure made it easier on both Kevin and I to enjoy ourselves! We had a great time hanging out with new friends and old friends, the sun may have come up a little too early most days... but it was usually so gray and cold outside that an afternoon snooze was perfect! The races were pretty good, some races were fun to watch others were a bore, but thats come to be expected when there are so many races to be ran. Kevin seems to always run good at DSFS and enjoys it, minus the fact that the place is such a tire eater! Kevin ended up winning his heat race, winning the qualifying feature (the first night to start pole of the feature), placed 2nd in the Race of Champions and then won the main feature. The bmod that we own was raced by Matt Leer and he also won for the 2nd year in row! Needless to say Lexie (Matt's wonderful girlfriend), Tara and I  had a blast all week! *The following pictures are from Lexie and Tara's facebook pages, thanks ladies! I didn't take any pix...


Kevin, after he won!



Congrats after the win!



The group!

Me, Lexie and Tara, Saturday night of the Wissota 100

Kevin and I both agree that the best part of the whole weekend was coming home to our kids! Blake was sooo excited and kept giving us hugs and kisses all night! All week he's been telling me "mom, I missed you!" He sure knows how to melt his mommy's heart! And of course seeing Brooke's big smile was precious! Sunday night all we did was cuddle them! Home Sweet Home!

Kevin and I both enjoy "invitational season" its fun to travel to different tracks and see friends and fellow racers we don't see often. It always seems as the racing season comes to an end, we are more than ready to be done, so getting to travel and go somewhere new kind of gives us a boost of excitement that we all need at the end of the season. This weekend we will probably head to Menomonie for the Punky and will most likely be our last race of the season, well don't quote me just yet! The following weekend I'm going to Ashland for the Red Clay Classic, I've always gone with my family since I was little to this race so I will be up there cheering on my dad! Kevin is still unsure what his plans are for that weekend, so we shall see!

So when I logged on here, I noticed I haven't updated in quite a while, oops! I've been so busy, I haven't found the time to sit down and type! Life has been blissfully sweet lately, our kids are growing so fast (too fast) and are happy which makes everything sweet! Blake is turning into such a little boy these days, he's all about racecars, trains and anything he can throw or kick. I think we may have a little athlete on our hands, he can throw and catch better than me! LOL And FINALLY he is wearing big boy underwear, he just had to be stubborn to the very end and decide for himself when he was ready. :-) Brooke has been just the most perfect princess, she is the easiest baby! She only fusses when she's hungry and boy is she a good eater! Brooke has a very easy schedule and she is on "daycare" schedule, meaning she naps when the other kids nap, yay! Brooke has been smiling for a few weeks now but it seems whenever I get my camera out she won't smile at me, what a stinker! She also has been cooing a lot! Its been an exciting month in our house with all these milestones!

Blake's favorite summer dinner, I love how he squeezes his eyes shut!



Tummy time!



Blake loves Brooke so much!

Little stinker stopped smiling!



Sibling love!



A big smile for daddy, of course!

Relaxin' after dinner...

Fall is finally here, which is my favorite time of year! I love watching the leaves change color, I love sitting in my big comfy chair reading a book with my candles lit on a lazy sunday, I love getting things done around the house that don't get done all summer and most of all I love all the things we get to go and do as a family on the weekends! Yay for fall!

Have a great week!

5 weeks

Today our sweet baby girl is 5 weeks old! I can't believe she is "that old" already, time has flown by as usual! Brooklyn has been a wonderful baby, we've been so lucky at how easy she's been. As of right now she will sleep 5-7 hours straight at night, wake up have a quick bottle and back to sleep she goes for a few more hours. She's quite the little eater, she is hungry just about every 3 hours and drinks 3-5 oz at a time. When I had her in for a check up at 3 weeks she weighed in at 9 lbs 1 oz, and looking at her now, she's starting to fill out and look chubby! I love it, nothing better than a chubby, healthy, happy baby! Brooke's not much of a crier (unless your taking too long), she's more of a sqeaker, thus her nickname: sqeaks! (Blake also calls her sissy!)  Brooke LOVES to be cuddled and prefers to be held more than anything, although she does like her swing, bouncer and laying on the floor looking around. I admit I hold her a lot, in the back of mind I keep thinking she could be my last baby, so I'm soaking up as much snuggles with her as I can! Brooke is such a happy baby, we are so blessed!

She loves her nuk!

Blake has been a wonderful big brother, I can't believe how much he loves Brooke and how good he is with her, it makes my heart melt! He always wants to hug and kiss her or get her things for me. He wants her to play with him so bad, he puts toys next to her and then just watches her, waiting for her to play! Its sweet. He's adjusted very well to not being the only child anymore, there are times he acts out and does things that make me want to scream, but all in all he's done great and we're so proud of him!

He's so proud of her!

This last month we've been pretty busy, we all hate being stuck in the house, so we are out and about quite a bit, doing things we would normally do with Blake and bringing Brooke along as well! She's been quite the little traveler! In July we all went to the Barron County Fair and had a great time! Blake loved the animals and the rides and of course the ice cream! The funniest thing that he remembers from the fair is "the cow had poopy on his butt!" he thought that was hilarious! What a goofball!

Blake, Brooke and I have made 2 mid-week trips up to Duluth to visit my family, its been great to take advantage of my maternity leave to do things I normally don't do unless planned. Last week we were in Duluth and I brought Blake to the train depot to go to "A Day Out with Thomas". There were lots of activites and games and train sets for the kids to play with and of course we got to go on a ride on Thomas! Blake was a little overwhelmed with all the chaos of the day but he LOVED the train ride! The only bummer of the day was Blake refused to get a pic with Thomas!

This is the only pic with Thomas!

Talking to his bear Stewie!

This week has been spent spending as much time with my kiddos as I can and sleeping as much as I can! Because sadly I go back to work on Monday. :-( I have LOVED having the past 6 weeks off, its been so much fun! Don't get me wrong, I really do enjoy my job and the kids I care for are wonderful and sweet, but I will miss my days being spent with just Blake and Brooke. I'm sure it will be fine once I get in a routine of working again.

Story time at bedtime, one of my favorite times of the day!

Good night!

Brooklyn Lilly

We welcomed our precious baby girl, Brooklyn Lilly on Wednesday, July 6th at 12:21pm, she weighed 7lbs 14oz and was 19.5 in and she's perfect!

Our little princess, Brooklyn!

Wednesday morning we arrived at the hospital at 6:30am, as I was scheduled to be induced. We opted to to get induced since I was dilated so far, thinned out, having random contractions and a lot of cramping. Anyway my water was broke at 7:50, the pitocin was started at 9:00 and at 11:00 I had my epidural (thank goodness!). At 11:45 I started feeling the contractions again and complained to Kevin about how bad it hurt  and that I was worried that the epidural wasn't working! (I have a low pain tolerance.) I called the nurses in and my doctor happened to be coming in at the same time to check me. My doctor said well your complete, time to have your baby! I was shocked, I thought it would be a lot longer, as I was hoping for a quick nap after the epidural, I didn't sleep much the night before! Kevin was still sitting next to me eating his lunch and he was shocked too! I started pushing at 12:10 and delivered Brooklyn at 12:21. It was pretty easy and I was thankful that it only took 11 minutes, with Blake it was an hour and 20 minutes, this delivery seemed like a piece of cake compared to his!

Blake loves being a big brother to "Blooklyn"! He gives her lots of hugs and kisses and has been very helpful changing diapers, feeding and burping her. He also loves to hold her! It melts my heart!! When Blake wakes up in the morning or after nap he runs into Brooke's room to see her, its so precious!  Blake has had a few moments where he's acted out, which we expected, so much has changed for him so quickly, he needs some time to adjust. We're just happy he's taken out his emotions on us and not Brooklyn. The main issue is Blake gets jealous when others hold Brooklyn, he keeps saying "give her back to mommy". Other than that I think he's doing really well with his "sissy"!



Blake's first time meeting Brooklyn, he was so sweet and so excited to meet her!



Kevin was wonderful throughout the whole labor and delivery of Brooke, he is my rock and knowing he was with me and holding my hand the entire time was such comfort and honestly gave me strength to get through it, as I was scared to give birth again.  He continues to amaze me at how comfortable he is holding Brooklyn and having Blake climbing all over him. Kevin has such patience with both kids, he is an amazing dad!



My 3 loves!

Brooklyn Lilly, her middle name is after her great grandma Adams.

Our first family picture!

Proud daddy!



My kids! Blake is so proud!

 

Our princess in her princess bed, she's so tiny!



So far Brooklyn has been a pretty easy baby, she is very content and loves to be held and enjoys laying on the floor looking around. She doesn't cry much unless she's waited too long to be fed, usually she makes a little squeal to let you know she's ready for some attention, a diaper or to be fed. Its really cute and very girlie! Brooke has been a very good sleeper, we haven't gotten into to much of a routine yet but she has a bottle at bedtime and then she will sleep 5-6 hours, its so nice! Our days have been relaxed, no routine yet, but she's only a week old today! I've been trying to keep Blake on his normal schedule as much as possible, at least when it comes to nap time, he's a kid that needs a nap daily! We did manage a picnic at the park on Monday, it was nice to get out and have some fresh air and Blake had fun and needed a change of scenery too! Brooklyn was wide awake the entire time, she seemed to enjoy being outside!

Blake got a new pool!



I can honestly say I feel wonderful having 2 children, I was so worried about handling 2 little ones, it hasn't been easy but its been a lot of fun and I'm loving every minute of it, Blake and Brooklyn are such blessings! I'm in mommy heaven!!!!