Expecting the Unexpected: June 2014

I want to shout from the rooftops....I LOVE SUMMER!!!!!! I love flip flops and having the windows open. I love that Jase can play on the porch and when we go outside we don't need coats and hats. Golf, cookouts, the smell of sunscreen, watching Kiel spray Jase with the hose, tank tops, bubbles, our rose bushes that didn't die, slides and swings, "mawnmows" and tractors. Welcome June...you've been greatly missed!

6-1-14 - More water fun (video)

And BUBBLES!

Jase regularly has a meltdown around each meal time reminding me I'm too slow for him. He stands in between me and the cabinets pushing and pulling on my legs, all the while whining. I can't even be mad because I know I do the adult version of this. Tonight I stopped making his dinner and because there was no time to move to the high chair, he had yogurt right there on the kitchen floor.

He is his mama's son and we get #hangry

6-3-14 - Love.this.laugh.

Sidenote: I really need to stop taking videos on my phone vertically.

6-4-14 - Kyra took the 4th and 5th off to go see Cher, love it! So Amy & I split the days to keep us from having to miss 2 days of work. Exhausting? Yes. But we had a GREAT day :)

6-5-14 T-Ball twins :)

6-7-14 - Grandpa's popcorn and matchbox cars at A & B's t-ball game...and that sweet pony tail

6-9-14 - Golf basics (video)

6-11-14 - Motorcycle, motorcycle VROOM VROOM VROOM (video)

Oh these two...

6-13-14 - Dinner with Dad & Cindy to celebrate: Dad's birthday, Amy's birthday, Cindy's birthday, and Father's day. I guess we were slackers about getting together this year...

6-14 through 6-18 #pshakstoLA

6-20-14 - Naively, I added a bag of Cheetos to the grocery cart tonight. I caved to the loud obnoxious fit after a few minutes and then vowed to never buy Cheetos when shopping with Jase again...

6-21-14 - We had a big day Saturday...

Introduced Jase to the #royalpotty...the lawnmower may have lost it's place as #1 obsession.

For the record, I did this with no expectations. When Jase had his last VCUG, one of the nurses made the comment that he has crazy bladder control and we should get him on a potty. He wakes up dry every morning so I figured why not?! No dice today, but he really likes to sit on it.

Aden & Bevin had their last t-ball game...So proud of them for completing and actually enjoying their first t-ball season!

And in the afternoon, we celebrated their 5th birthday (June 23rd). Instead of the blistering hot we're used to on their bday, we got a reprieve from the heat as a few storms rolled in. They stayed clear of the party so no harm done!

6-22-14 - A nice little Sunday with corn on the cob and a post dinner walk to the park...

6-23-14 - Happy 5th birthday Aden & Bevin!

5 years goes by extraordinarily fast when you're measuring time by a child's growth. I love being their aunt. I love listening to their stories and watching them grow. Life would be so so dull without these two beautiful faces. Happy Birthday Aden Scott & Bevin Nicole xoxoxo

I'm happy to report Jase peed on the #royalpotty for the first time today! The look on his face when the song went off was priceless! We still aren't holding him to any expectations any time soon, but I am one proud mama!

6-26-14 - Aden lost his first tooth! And 10 seconds later asked for it to be put back in lol

6-28-14 - Kiel has been working a LOT of overtime this past week and since we didn't have big plans this weekend he took some more today. Jase & I ventured to Champaign to swim with Suzy & Reagan and I again failed to take any pictures. We really need to get some pictures of them together to capture the difference in their size. Reagan will be 1 August 1st and while she is developmentally right on schedule....she is still wearing 6 month clothes...such an adorable peanut!!! And then we have our monster walking around like a giant at 16 months. They could NOT be any more opposite and I hear those attract so maybe there really is hope for them ;)

Some outside time with daddy after a long day at work...

And we've added firefighter to the list of future career possibilities (video)...

6-30-14 - Henry had a double header in Mansfield which kept Matt & Amy out until 11pm so the twins had their first sleep over at Aunt Nicole's. I was a little nervous about telling them they were going to stay at my house, but I a double YESSSSSSSS from the backseat :)

5 out of the last 7 mornings, Jase has peed on the #royalpotty (he woke up while I was in the shower, so I didn't get him in there in time). He's only missed once and I haven't been peed on yet (knock on wood!). Pretty sure he doesn't really understand the concept yet, but he seems to be enjoying our new routine. I hope I haven't started too early and jinxed any future potty training endeavors. Time will tell!

I haven't taken the time to measure or weigh him this month so I will make that a priority for 17 months.

Every month I look back and marvel at how much Jase has learned, but it really is every single day that he picks up on something new and grows right before our eyes (am I repeating myself?!). Toys that he had trouble with just a few weeks ago are starting to make more sense to him. The jack-in-the-box isn't thrust in your face any longer as he understands to turn the crank, the puppy on a leash doesn't always look like he's being strangled as Jase actually pulls him through the house instead of "carrying" him.

He comprehends so much of what we are saying or asking. He regularly says thank you when given something he has asked/motioned for and we are working on using please correctly. Assuming he feels like listening, he can follow pretty much any direction we give him. A favorite task is throwing anything "yucky" in the garbage. Using utensils has become a must at every meal and the kid at least attempts to repeat everything we say...yikes. The other day when I told him to stop touching his weenie while he was on the potty he said "weenie" with a HUGE grin on his face I knew it was time to start the language clean up.

Words he's added to the vocabulary recently include: pickle, golf cart, golf club, bell butt (belly button), potty, weenie, Mayme (used interchangeably for Aunt Amy and Uncle Matt lol), thank you, please, chip, corn, beans and many others I'm sure I'm forgetting.

His car seat has remained forward facing since we made the switch in Louisiana and I'm pretty sure he approves. The boy talks a mile a minute 24/7 anyways, but when we're in the car he really kicks it up telling stories, pointing at everything and whipping his head back and forth in an effort to take everything in. Kicking the back of the seat in front of him has also become a favorite. Welcome to the club right?

I started this blog so long ago I'm not really sure how we got to the end of June already. We're excited to see Jase's reaction to the fireworks this coming weekend and a few other plans we have in July.

Hope everyone has a safe & fun holiday weekend! Happy early 4th of July!

-Nicole

When Kiel & I first started dating, it seemed like we couldn't go and DO enough. We went to Florida, Nebraska, Vegas, Chicago, Jamaica and multiple concerts all within the first 2 years of meeting. As you can imagine, since getting pregnant our adventures have slowed just a little (sigh) so in April when Shilo told us she was flying to Louisiana in June with the ladies to visit her parents, I crashed the vacation :)

I suggested we make it a surprise for Mark & Diane which meant we'd have to keep it from Jamison & Hayden too since they're a little loose lipped when it comes to Grammy. Unfortunately, they weren't the ones we had a problem with. We spent 2 months dodging burns from Diane like:

"Do you think you guys will ever come visit us?"
"What do I have to do to get Kiel to come visit us?"
"Free lodging and Grammy & Papa will take care of Jase while you guys relax"
"We supply the booze!"
"Can you just send Jase with Shilo & the girls?"
and my personal favorite "The dang boy forgets I gave him life!"

I will admit, it was TORTURE talking to her. My stomach would do flips every time I thought about her reaction. I was slightly excited the morning we left and literally had to keep reminding myself to slow down and focus on what I was doing in order not to forget anything.

Day 1 - Saturday, June 14th
At 11:30ish, we all loaded up and headed for Midway. Sidenote: Bloomington airport really needs to hook up with Southwest.

After hitting a small amount of traffic (for Chicago I mean) we made it to the airport parking lot at about 1:30. We got lucky and parked right next to a bus stop just as a shuttle was driving up to it. The driver waited for all of us to get out, unload our bags, unhook & bag Jase's car seat and he even helped us load everything. Nice guy! Jase was a little nervous on the shuttle ride, holding onto Aunt Shilo for dear life lol

And of course there was a long line to get our boarding passes so we waited...

Luckily, we breezed through security and had plenty of time (but not too much) to let Jase walk around a little before they called family boarding on our flight.

This kid is a super traveler. It was about an hour passed his usual afternoon nap time so he fell asleep moments after take off and I didn't even realize it. Big thanks to Aunt Shilo for loaning us Jamison so we could have a little extra elbow room :)

325468767 games of tic-tac-toe

We landed at NOLA 15 min early.

"I can smell the hot outside. My feet are already sticking to my flip flops" - Jamison

But some over eager grandparents were already waiting for us at baggage claim. Shilo headed down with the girls while we hit the restroom to change Jase and give them a minute to distract Mark & Diane.

Their reactions were PRICELESS! (please excuse my nervous/excited laugh). video

I swear Diane looked directly at me without even noticing me and in the video you can hear her pointing out Mark to Shilo (who kept asking, "where's dad?" to get Diane to look over at him) completely oblivious to Kiel standing next to him holding Jase. Over the course of the weekend, Diane's above comments were replaced with, "I can't believe you guys came!" and "I've never actually been speechless before!" #surprisegrammyandpapa #success

After picking up our rental car, we headed downtown New Orleans for dinner. Shame on me for not taking pictures of the beads hanging from the stop lights on Bourbon Street, the ass crack on the guy at the bus stop that apparently had a little too much fun earlier in the evening, the buses full of kids rapping and twerking and the more beautiful sights to be seen in downtown New Orleans at night. Next time, I'd like to make it a point to go downtown during the day so I can enjoy the parks and architecture instead of the butts and crazy drivers ;)

We headed to Grammy & Papa's in Geismar for some much needed sleep...we were exhausted.

Day 2 - Sunday, June 15th

Jase let us sleep til about 8, much appreciated. Diane made us breakfast and we just hung out for most of the morning so Jase could take his morning nap before we went over to Mr. Paul & Miss Diane's (friends of Mark & Diane) to have lunch and swim.

Picture overload below.

Their home is on the Diversion Canal which you ~~can't~~ shouldn't swim in due to the alligators and other critters that live there. It's located in a gated community down a long one way road with a great area out back for entertaining. The pictures are proof, we all had a great time!

Happy Father's Day, Daddy :) We love you so much!

The set up they have was perfect. No one on either side of their lot so it felt like we were all alone out there listening to some entertaining stories, swimming and watching boats go up and down the canal. The 90 degree weather and humidity made it a perfect day for the pool!

No fear (video)

My poor child caked in sunscreen with the hat, rash guard, and swim shoes #gingerprobzzz

Model Haydie

And the highlight of the day, the boat ride...

He really gave it a good try...

I learned that the canal is lined with Cypress Trees because they can soak up, 150+ gallons of water a day and since the water table is so high there they help with the flooding. Unfortunately, the trees stain the water so it has that murky, swampy tint. There are bees here that don't sting, but drill holes in Mr. Paul's deck. And the Dragonflies were EVERYWHERE!

We pretty much crashed upon arriving at the house and getting cleaned up. Glad to report no one melted.

Day 3 - Monday, June 16th
Another day of sleeping in til about 8...I'm getting used to this.

"Bwaffle!!"

Mark & Kiel took all the kids to Bass Pro (Kiel received a F in picture taking today) so I went with Diane & Shilo to do some shopping. We hit Mall of Louisiana, had lunch at CPK, walked in and out of a few small shops and then headed to the big Tanger Outlets. It started raining on our way...the strangest rain I've ever experienced. It was like we were driving through individual rain clouds. It would rain or rather pour for a few hundred feet and then nothing. A few hundred feet later it was pouring again and then nothing. We're not in Illinois Toto. I ducked into the bathroom when we got there and just as I sat down, the power went out. Nothing like peeing in the dark! #gottalovecellphones The shops closed up so we called it a wrap and headed back to the house for dinner and some more relaxing.

Chasing Chameleons

So many moving pieces it's hard to capture a good one of everyone :-/

The "Gate Keeper"

We plan on putting up 2 posts and a gate. Entertainment for days.

Day 4 - Tuesday, June 17th
The ladies are staying with Grammy & Papa for 3 weeks, but Aunt Shilo's flight left today so Diane took her to the airport before anyone got up. They will be in Vegas for part of the time, but I hope it flies by for her cause I know she was already a little sad leaving the girls :(

Mark & Kiel took the boat out fishing so us ladies & Jase went back to Mr. Paul & Miss Diane's to swim after Jase's morning nap (kid proved yesterday it's a necessity).

And for our last night we got cleaned up to have some real Louisiana food...crawfish, catfish, red beans and rice and of course I had a cheeseburger haha I did get to taste everything though :)

Day 5 - Wednesday, June 18th
Our flight left at 9:35am so we had to leave about 6:30...I did not miss waking up to an alarm.

FYI - When planning a vacation to go visit family, the arrival becomes so anticipated you forget to think about how hard it will be to say goodbye.

I wasn't really sure who to feel worse for when we said our goodbyes in the driveway. Grammy or Jase.

Seriously...it was like he knew we wouldn't be right back. He did NOT want to leave his Grammy...as sad as it was, it kind of melted my heart a little to see his attachment to her :) But he did look like this for a good portion of the drive the airport.

We had such a great time and I honestly wasn't ready to leave for more reasons than not wanting to go back to work. It's hard to live far away from family, but now we know we have a great vacation spot waiting for us whenever we want. Thanks Grammy and Papa for the great weekend! We love you!!!!!!

Unlike our arrival at Midway, we breezed through the boarding pass line and security at NOLA so we had a good hour wait til our flight boarded.

Lots of time for selfies...

We could not have planned the flight times better. Since Jase was up earlier, he was exhausted by the time we took off and was asleep within 30 min of take off. He slept for 2 hours only waking up for the last 20 min of the flight.

Too bad the weather in Chicago kept us from landing on time and forced us to detour to Milwaukee for fuel. Thank goodness for snacks and lots of activity outside the plane. Jase handled the detour and extra time on the plane much better than the adults.