Aedan: 52 Months, Week 2
Owen: 10 Months, Week 4 (Week 47)
Sunday, August 5th was a big day for Owen because it was his dedication day. Both sets of grandparents came up to visit so they could be there for the dedication. I ended up waking Owen up a little after 7:00 that morning so that he could be awake for a couple hours and still get a morning nap in before the second service at church. He took a good nap, and I had to wake him up again in order to leave for church. Here he is fast asleep during this morning nap. I had to get a few pictures of my baby sleeping peacefully on his tummy.
We got to church with plenty of time to find a row to accommodate our whole family. It was a little different having all the kids in the church with us, and Owen was definitely very active while we were trying to sing songs and listen to announcements, but once it was time for his dedication, he did a great job being content to be held and looking around the sanctuary. Our whole family went up on stage to be there for Pastor Brooks' dedication of Owen. We got both Samantha and Aedan dedicated at ECC, which had a little bit different of a feel to it than at SWC, but we are glad to be publicly committing each of our children to raising them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Here are some videos and pictures of Owen's dedication.
The rest of our Sunday seemed to fly by with having lunch with both sets of grandparents, saying good-bye to Ema and Papa, and hanging out for the afternoon. I felt pretty tired that afternoon, and probably could have taken a nap as well. Owen took a nice, good nap, sleeping for about an hour and forty minutes. Since he slept so well, Ben and I decided we would be safe to take my up my parents on their offer of babysitting the kids so we could go out to dinner. We decided to go over to Canada and try out an Italian restaurant. We went there with Samantha and Aedan a long time ago but didn't remember too much about what we thought of it. However, the food was really good, and the service was slower in a good way, giving Ben and I plenty of time to just sit and talk with each other. We enjoy trying new restaurants in Canada, and we will definitely have to go back to this one again sometime.
On Sunday night, after getting the kids to bed, we convinced my parents to play Euchre with us. They had never played before, but they picked it up quickly, and my mom had quite a bit of beginner's luck. It was fun to play games together, especially when it's a game that requires four people, so there's no way Ben and I can play by ourselves.
Once Owen woke up from his nap, we crossed over the International Bridge to Canada. It was a little bit of a line, but it didn't take too long. We were a bit worried that the museum might not be open because as we drove around town we noticed signs saying that it was a civic holiday in Canada. However, the museum was open, and we were allowed to bring our food in, which was good. I made sandwiches for us to eat for lunch, so we sat back in the kids' area to eat lunch since we get there when it was pretty much already lunchtime. Seeing fun things to look at and play with gave the kids motivation to eat quickly.
Aedan couldn't wait to go in this pretend cockpit, and Owen followed behind him once he was done eating his baby food. Owen loves to follow Aedan around and be a part of whatever he is doing.
The museum is inside an old hangar, there are lots of old planes to look at, and most of them you can actually go inside as well. The kids had a fun time exploring this museum again.
There were a couple different movies you could watch inside the museum, and the kids were really excited to watch this 3D movie where you got to wear the special glasses. We saw this movie the last time we came, and they remembered it. It was already 2:30 and Owen was starting to get really tired, but we decided to let them watch the movie before heading back home so we could put Owen down for a nap. Here are my cool kids wearing their cool glasses.
Owen didn't take too long of a nap that afternoon since we got back late and he took a longer morning nap, but it was enough to get him through the rest of the night. Ben had a set of softball games that night, and my parents offered to get pizza for us, so we had dinner together before getting the kids bathed and in bed. The kids were all tired, especially Aedan, and he was acting super emotional, crying about everything the past few days, especially later in the evening when he's tired. I think just having all the commotion of extra people staying in our house had tired him out and he was just way overtired. Because of that, and because it rained that day and I didn't want to deal with kids playing in mud and puddles at the ball field, we didn't even attempt to go to the softball games that night. It was a bit stressful of an evening for me in getting everyone bathed and to bed, so I was glad for the chance to relax and just talk to my parents that night once the kids were asleep.
On Tuesday my parents planned on heading back to Chicago around lunchtime. However, they hung out at the house with the kids and I that morning while Ben went to work. They even watched the kids for me while I went to my foot doctor appointment. Shortly after I got home, they needed to get on the road, but I had them all sit on the couch together first so I could get a picture of the grandparents with their grandchildren. (I wish I would have gotten a picture of the kids with Ema and Papa as well.)
Owen took another good nap for me on Tuesday afternoon, sleeping for an hour and forty-five minutes, and I was so glad to see that he could nap well and get a decent amount of sleep without needing my assistance. The big kids needed some time by themselves in their rooms for quiet time. They had a lot of commotion for a long time and needed some down time to just play. A lot of the time we didn't make them go into their rooms for quiet time while we had grandparents here, so it was also nice for me to have a little bit of a break that afternoon to get some things done in some peace and quiet.
Tuesday night we had small group like we usually do and our main item on the agenda was to discuss the future of our small group. Our group has several couples that could lead groups themselves, and our church desperately needs people who are willing to be small group leaders, so we are thinking of splitting our group into two or three small groups so we can open ourselves up to new people that are looking to join a small group. My ideal situation would be to have a group from like 4:30ish to 6:30ish on Sundays so that way we can still have a meal together and do our study, but we can finish earlier and get our kids to bed at a normal time. Plus, I am very wary about still having small group on Tuesday nights. Ben will be teaching straight from 10:00-5:00 on Tuesdays with only half an hour break for lunch, so I know he will be fried on Tuesday nights. Plus, with me doing MOPS Kids Leadership, every other Tuesday will be really busy for me, and Owen will not get morning naps on those days, and at least for the time being, that will make him pretty crabby on Tuesday nights. Also, I would just really like to protect our family time during the week. I don't want our weeks to fly by because we are so busy, or to feel like we don't have any time to just relax and be together as a family during the week, so I would prefer to move small group off of Tuesday nights. We will see what happens and what new families we can get interested in small groups.
When we got home from small group, we followed our normal routine of getting the kids to bed and then Ben took Izzy on her nightly walk. A little after 9:30, she kept looking at us because she wanted to go out, and we should have known she was a little too eager to go outside because as soon as Ben let her out, she dashed out the door to chase something. Ben saw her chasing a skunk across the yard and called Izzy back up to the house. She came running back to the house, but as we quickly discovered when she came in, she had already been sprayed by the skunk. Our house quickly was overpowered by the skunk smell, and Ben and I sprung into action. He took Izzy to the bathroom to start spraying her off and wash the yellow spray that went straight across her chest, and I looked on the internet for how to get the skunk smell off your dog. The method I found that had ingredients we already had in the house was one with apple cider vinegar and water mixed together, so we tried that first, with plans to just have her sleep in her kennel in the laundry room that night so the smell didn't get into the house more than it already was. I sprayed Lysol, got the diffusers running, and we just hoped the smell would dissipate over time. It was amazing how quickly the smell got into every room of the house. Ben and I even showered before going to bed that night because we felt like we smelled and didn't want to go to sleep like that. Needless to say, we got to bed much later than we would have liked, and it was a much more eventful night than we were planning on having.
On Wednesday morning, Ben took Samantha and Aedan out early, as soon as they were both awake, to get supplies we needed to wash Izzy again, this time with hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, and dish soap. So after breakfast I got the mixture ready and scrubbed Izzy as well as I could. I had a MOPS Leadership Team meeting that morning, so Ben had already planned on staying home with the kids so I didn't have to take them with me. Another mom picked me up so that Ben could have the car. We desperately needed to go grocery shopping, and being the loving husband that he is, he took all three kids grocery shopping that morning before coming back home, putting Owen down for a nap, and having the kids help him put the groceries away. My meeting went really well, and I am excited to be a part of this group of women this year, to be intentional about loving and encouraging other moms, and to use a little bit of my teacher training in being in charge of the MOPS Kids program.
Aedan was still super tired on Wednesday afternoon, and we had a busy evening ahead of us, so we decided to have him nap that day. I feel like he could still benefit from napping every few days or so, and his lack of sleep and busy days had definitely caught up with him. It did not take very long for that little boy to fall asleep that afternoon, and he took a nice good nap. Owen also took a good nap, sleeping for two and a half hours! Can you believe it?! Are you sure this is my baby we are talking about? I am so glad we seem to be turning a new leaf in sleeping. It seems like night and day, and it's making me feel so much better about him, about my ability to mother, and in my perspective on life. While the boys slept, Samantha played outside in the back yard while Ben and I sat at our patio table and did work on our computers. She comes up with the most imaginative games, and she could care less about playing in the back yard by herself. She had a whole pine cone family back in the trees by the fence, and every once in awhile she would come up and talk to us about something. Once she got a little bored of playing, she went inside and got a book to read at the table with us. It's fun having these moments of quiet together, too.
As we sat outside that afternoon, Izzy was acting much too interested in the long grass on the other side of our fence. I went over to see what she was looking at and saw the skunk walking around in the grass. I called Izzy away, and told Ben about it. I was not happy that I saw the skunk walking around in the daytime right next to our yard. Ben blocked a few holes in and under the fence that a skunk could possibly squeeze through, but we definitely were going to be more careful in letting Izzy out for a few days. We do not want to deal with her getting sprayed by a skunk again, if we can do anything to avoid it.
Ever since our trip to Glen Arbor, Owen has been working on taking steps. I have tried several times to get them on video, but it seems like he gets too distracted and doesn't walk quite as far. However, I was able to catch this great video of Owen walking towards Daddy. Do you see how many steps he took all by himself? I love watching these little toddling steps. I'm not so sure about seeing this out of my not yet 11 month old, but he is so proud of himself when he walks, and he's so adorable toddling around our house. :)
Wednesday evening was a big deal for Aedan because it was his Open House at his new preschool, Sault Cooperative Preschool. We were able to go see his classroom, meet a couple teachers, and just spend some time there, getting him familiar with where he will spend his afternoons this coming school year. When we first went in the building, Aedan acted a little timid, hiding behind our legs and not really wanting to go off and play. However, after smiling for a picture for his classroom, he finally decided to go over and play with some toys for awhile. He got more comfortable fairly quickly, and then he didn't want to leave. We were even able to get a cookie on the way out, which he loved. I took a picture of him in front of his school's sign before we left. Our little boy is definitely ready to go to preschool (even if I'm not quite so ready to let him go sometimes), but I'm excited to see how much he will grow and learn this year while he gets to spend his afternoons learning and playing with new friends.
After visiting Aedan's preschool, we quickly went through the Wendy's drive through and headed back home to eat, meet the babysitter, and then head out to church for a training for volunteering in children's ministry. The kids did a great job with the babysitter, and it was nice for Ben and I to be able to both go to the training together.
On Thursday morning we had some friends over to play so that I could talk to Telisa about plans for MOPS Kids stuff. They didn't come over until after 11:00, so the kids had plenty of time to just play for awhile and I was able to get Owen down for his morning nap before they arrived. He slept in more that morning, so he only slept about half an hour, but that was good enough to get us through to his afternoon nap. I was feeling a little overwhelmed by plans for MOPS Kids this year since I didn't really know much about it. However, after talk to Telisa and seeing all the bins of materials she had, it didn't feel as overwhelming to me anymore. The kids mostly played outside in the back yard, and they all get along so well, that we just enjoyed watching them play and hanging out in the back yard with them. I invited them to stay for lunch, so we made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and ate outside at our new patio table. It was fun to have people over and just enjoy their company.
Our day of hanging out with people continued into the evening as we invited the Heidman family over for dinner. We have wanted to invite more people over for meals, just to get to know more people and expand our circle of friends. They have three girls, and the kids had fun playing in the back yard together before dinner. We were able to put the leaf into our dining room table and we all fit around the table for dinner together! It was great to get to know them and to welcome people into our home, even for just a couple hours. We will definitely have to do this more often. It's fun to host people.
On Friday, we decided to head to Tahquamenon Falls for the day. It was supposed to rain on Saturday, which is why we decided to go on Friday. We hadn't been to the falls all summer, and it's definitely a great place to go walk around and explore. We are trying to fit in a few last day trips to local places, squeezing out the last drops of summer before schedules get busy and kids are back in school. We started at the Upper Falls, walking on a new path we hadn't been on before that gives you a view of the falls from farther away. The boardwalk went right along the water, and it was a really pretty view.
Ben took a picture of the kids and me. I don't always love being in pictures, but I definitely want my kids to have these memories with me in the picture and not just taking the picture, too. I am a quality time person, and days like this definitely make me feel loved and happy. In fact, on the way home I commented to Ben that sometimes I wish I could just capture a day in a bottle and then open it and relive the day all over again sometime in the future when the kids are older and don't need us so much or when they want to be off with their friends instead of with us or when they are grown and moved out of the house. This day was one of those days. I just love this time with our family all together, and I am feeling so emotional about the start of another school year and everyone going off their separate ways.
We then walked up the path and down the stairs to the view of the Upper Falls. These falls are pretty cool, but after visiting Niagara Falls at the beginning of the summer, these don't seem quite so impressive.
On our way back to the parking lot for the Upper Falls, it started to rain, at times pretty hard, which was ironic because we came that day because it wasn't supposed to rain. The rain was all pop-up stuff, and our plan was to eat the restaurant at the Upper Falls anyways, so we figured by the time we were done eating, the rain would pass through.
After eating lunch we went to the Lower Falls, and we got these cute pictures of Samantha Moose and Aedan Beaver.
Another family offered to take our picture here, but Owen was too distracted looking at something else.
Here are Samantha and Aedan wading in the water with Daddy. I decided to just keep Owen in the stroller because he would have wanted to get himself in the water too much.
As we headed back down the path to go to the bathroom and head back home, Owen was almost falling asleep in the stroller, which I did not want to happen. I tried to keep him awake and ended up having to take him out of the stroller to help keep him awake. It didn't take long for long for him to fall asleep on the car ride home. In fact, Aedan fell asleep, too. We had a fun day, but everyone was tired from being out and walking quite a bit that day.
After getting back home, I fed Owen again, and then let him explore and walk around. I took these next two pictures to show how much he is standing up now. He will stand up while holding on to toys, or to get a better view of what the big kids are watching on TV.
Since I still have to put Owen to bed since he nurses to sleep most nights, Ben usually finishes with the big kids and then takes Izzy out for a walk around campus. On Friday night there was a beautiful sunset, and Ben took these great pictures from campus, overlooking the water. We definitely live in a very beautiful location. I would much rather be surrounded by water and trees than highways and skyscrapers.
On Saturday we had more of a relaxed morning, let Owen take a morning nap at home, and then went out for a family bike ride around campus. The kids were excited about going on a bike ride together, and we even put Owen in the bike trailer to pull him around. Samantha and Aedan love to ride around the sidewalks of campus as fast as they can, and we don't have to worry about where they go or watching out for cars. They had a blast riding wherever their hearts desired.
After riding bikes for awhile, we went back home for lunch. Here is what Owen likes to do as we are getting food ready. As soon as we open the refrigerator, he makes a beeline and climbs up inside the fridge, trying to get into stuff in the drawers and in the doors.
One night during the week, as I was putting Samantha to bed, I was laying in bed with her, talking with her and scratching her back, and she had a sad look on her face. I asked her what was going on, and at first she didn't want to tell me anything. I tried to open up to her, telling her that I will be sad when she goes back to school because I will miss having her at home every day. I have really enjoyed having summer with her this year, and sometimes, the school day just feels so long. After I shared that with her, she mentioned how she wishes it was just her, Mommy, and Daddy sometimes (and Izzy, too). I told her that sometimes I wish that too, and I told her about what we used to do when it was just her. After hearing her talk like that, I decided she might really enjoy having some one-on-one time, so Ben decided to take her on a date on Saturday afternoon. He left it as a surprise. So while Ben was with Samantha, Owen napped for close to two hours (wahoo!), and Aedan watched a couple shows and had some time to play on his own. At one point while he was playing, he turned around and started petting and talking to Izzy so sweetly, saying, "You're such a good girl..." and giving her sweet little kisses. I love watching the relationship he has formed with Izzy over this past year. She's such a good puppy for our family.
Daddy took Samantha to play putt-putt golf, another thing she wanted to do again before the end of the summer. They had a great time together, and I know she really felt special having time without her little brothers around and getting all the attention just on her. He took some really cute pictures. This little girl certainly loves her Daddy. :) She has always had a special place in her heart for him.
After playing golf, he took her to Karl's, which is right next door, and they ordered special desserts. Samantha got a brookie, which was a cookie put on top of a fudge brownie, with ice cream on top, too. Daddy got creme brulee, which Samantha tried, and kind of liked it, too. It was definitely a successful afternoon date.
We had a fun evening ahead of us as well because we were invited to Chad and Denise's house for a game night. The Sayer family was going to be there as well. They cooked out burgers, had sides, and we brought cherry cheesecake and rice krispie treats for dessert. The kids had a blast playing in the back yard and in the kids' rooms while the adults were able to have good conversation and play a couple fun games without being interrupted by kids. The first game we played was Telestrations, and that was a funny game to play since Ben and I aren't the best at drawing, but it got lots of laughs, and Ben ended up winning because of his creative drawings. We also played Wits and Wagers, which I wasn't as big of a fan of, but it was still fun to play games with other adults. We got a babysitter for Owen and left him at home so that we didn't have to spend our evening chasing him around, and it was so nice to just be able to sit and relax with other adults. I feel like we are finally starting to make some friends here, and I am glad that we are able to have people over at our house and be invited to other people's houses as well. Ben and I are definitely excited about making more "couple friends" that we can spend time with, and it seems like the Sayers and Folkersmas could be some good friends for us. Plus, our kids get along really well with their kids, so it's a win for all!
(Blog about August 5-11, 2018)
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