Drew's Faithful Feet

This past weekend we drove over to Geneseo for a visit with Heidi and Nate, and to participate in Drew's Faithful Feet, a charity event in Geneseo in memory of Devon's little boy, Drew.  Devon, Julie and I all lived in Mayflower freshman year at Iowa and have a lot of fun memories.  It had been a year since I saw Julie, and over 3 years since I saw Devon.  It was such a great event that Devon did a great job organizing.  Her and Dan have been through so much in the past 2 years and her faith is inspiring.  I am lucky to know her and was so glad to be able to reconnect and watch our kiddos play together!  And such a small world that Heidi and Nate live in Geneseo, which means more visits!

Nate and I made good time on the 5K, Heidi and Andy walked it with the the kids, and we spent time together after the race at Devon and Dan's catching up.  The weather was absolutely beautiful and the kids played together so well. 

Hannah playing with Julie and Blake's son Colin, who is just 3 months older than her. 

Loving the swingset in the backyard. 

Friends playing house together.

Henry playing with Hayden, who just turned 4. 

Hannah kept ordering Colin around.  'Sit here Colin' she would say.  It was too cute! 

Blake watching the boys play together. 

Devon, Julie, me and Jill.  All Iowa Grads who go back a long way!!

Playing peek a boo with Colin in the house. 

Crazy to think that the last time these kiddos were together they were just This Big!

We hope to make this an annual event.  Good time with good friends and family. 

Cruisin'

And we are back!  Andy and I were fortunate enough to take a 9, yes I said nine, day vacation down to Florida and the Caribbean.  We left on a Friday night, flew into Orlando, and then drove down to Fort Lauderdale the next morning in time to board the World's largest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean's the Oasis of the Seas for our 7 night cruise through the Eastern Caribbean.   

We stopped in the Bahamas, St. Thomas, and St. Marteen.  Each place seemed to get better and better.  And the ship was just amazing.  We had never cruised before, but can safely say it will not be the last time. 

First stop was Bahamas.  We took a self guided tour through downtown, then caught a taxi over to Paradise Island to enjoy the beach for the remainder of the day.  Each beach we stopped at I would enjoy my sun time while Andy enjoyed his ocean time.  It was the perfect mix. 

Then we spent a day at sea before we stopped at St. Thomas - which was just beautiful!!  The views were just unbelievable.  Much prettier than the Bahamas. 

We snorkeled at Coki Beach in St. Thomas.  Quite the workout, but well worth it. 

We got back to the ship in time for our first of two formal nights. 

View of our nicely made up room.  We had a Stateroom Attendant who cleaned our room for us twice a day and always left a nicely folded towel animal in our room. 

 The next day we sailed over to St. Marteen.  We took a taxi up to the popular Orient Beach.  We rented some chairs, got some island drinks, and enjoyed the beautiful views.  I got an ocean side massage, while listening to the waves.  Not a bad deal!

Eating lunch at an ocean side restaurant. 

The last two days were spent at sea so we took in all the ship had to offer.  We saw Hairspray the musical, watched an ice skating show, several other musical events, a comedy show, a lot of karaoke, and hit up the midnight pizza place a little too much.  We worked out two times, which took a little getting used to with the ships movement. 

We rock climbed.

At dinner in the main dining hall each night except for one.  We were lucky enough to receive a voucher for one of the upgraded restaurants during our stay.  The food was delicious every where. 

Spent time in the different neighborhoods on the ship - my favorite being Central Park.

Dinner at Chops Steakhouse.  Awesome, awesome food.

Spent a lot of time on our balcony watching the different shows on the Boardwalk Neighborhood below us.

Zip lined.

Spent a little too much time at the casino.  Our new favorite was the automatic blackjack machine.

We could see the Aqua Theater from our balcony so could watch the nightly water shows whenever we wanted to. 

Enjoyed views like this.

And mostly did a lot of this. 

It was so nice being disconnected from the world for over a week.  Of course we couldn't stay disconnected from our kids for that long, so brought our iPad along so we could Skype with them a few times while we were gone.  They didn't seem to miss us too much - maybe we will do this more often!!

A huge shout out to all of our family that helped us with the kids while we were gone.  We owe you big time, love you so much, and are so lucky to have you in our lives. 

And She Escaped!!

Remember how I told you last night that Hannah successfully climbed out of her crib??  Well I caught her in the act.  The little ninja....

After the 6th time of her climbing out of her crib I called for reinforcements (daddy).  It was 9:30 at night and she needed to go to sleep.  I was nervous about her hitting her head on the dresser that is so close to her crib.  Andy came in with his screwdriver and took the side of the crib off.  Just like that.  And I'm pretty sure it isn't one of those 'transition to toddler bed' cribs. 

At 5am I went in to check on her and found her on the floor with her head next to the dresser.  I put her back in her bed and she went right back to sleep.

Then at 7am we peeked in her room and found this:

I guess it will take her some getting used to. 

So here we go - transitioning into the big girl bed - a little earlier than expected, but I guess it was going to have to happen one day.....

The Little Gym

I purchased a Living Social Deal a few months ago for 6 classes to The Little Gym in West Des Moines.  Hannah's friend Peyton also bought the same deal, so we have been attending the Saturday morning Bird class.  This class is for toddlers up to 19 months old, and with Hannah now at 21 months old she is the oldest one in the class, so she is able to do things like jump, and run, and is a little braver than the others.  I credit that to her having an older brother as well.  I took a few videos today at class - check them out below!  We may have a little gymnast on our hands...

Hannah and her friend Peyton playing on the mats.

Henry came along to watch his sister. 

Mastering the balance beam. 

10 minutes ago....

Guess who came walking through my door while I was folding laundry???  Hannah!!  That little monkey!!  I put her down in her crib 20 minutes earlier, and she somehow managed to successfully climb out of her crib - luckily without hurting herself.  Looks like we will be switching over to a big girl bed sooner than expected.....

Babbling Girl

Hard to believe, but Hannah is quickly approaching her 2nd birthday.  Now that she is almost 2, her vocabulary has grown by leaps and bounds.  I took this video about 3 weeks ago when she first started 'talking' in 'complete' sentences.  Her own language is just adorable!!  And actually, since this video was taken, she is actually talking in clear 3 and 4 word sentences.  I remember back when Henry was this age, and once the 3 word sentences started he was talking in complete, clear sentences in just a few months.  My baby girl is growing up so fast!!

Check out Hannah's most recent interview below:

Palm Sunday Photo Shoot

We broke out the kids 'Sunday's Best' outfits today for Palm Sunday.  We got them home and I had to snap a few pictures.  Much to my surprise they actually listened to me, stood still, next to each other without poking at each other, and smiled!  The pictures turned out great - check out the shoot below.

Hannah yelling cheese and Henry pumping the air pump.

Hannah's bruise matches her dress!

Sibling love. 

Hope everyone had an awesome Sunday.  We spent the entire day outside, put the kids in their swim suits, got out the water toys and enjoyed the sun.  I even got my first burn of the year. 

Balance Bikes

Have you guys heard about these Balance Bikes?  They are the latest craze and are just awesome!!  Of course, I didn't learn about them until after we bought Henry a bike with training wheels, but I just couldn't resist getting him one after I read through all of the awesome reviews. 

Henry has been riding it for about 2 weeks now and has pretty much mastered it.  I took a video the other day of his gliding down a hill in our neighborhood, keeping his balance pretty much the entire time.  I am so impressed!!  It won't be long before we will be able to introduce him to a real bike with pedals!  I highly recommend looking into these if you are getting ready to purchase your kids first bike.  Henry doesn't even touch his other bike now....until we take the training wheels off that is. 

 

Easter Traditions

Are there decorations that you just loved putting up as a child?  Well I have a few of them and the Easter Tree at my parents house is definitely one of them.  This year my mom gave us the famous Easter tree to put up at our house.  The kids loved to help decorate it and they have even left it alone like they promised as it is in their reach at all times. 

Hannah carefully placing the tiny ornaments on the tree.

Henry and Jordan put up the finishing touches.

Thanks mom for passing down the decorationss to us - the kids (and I) love them!!

Opening Season at the Zoo

It was our first trip to the Zoo this weekend!  The weather was perfect, and we couldn't wait any longer to check out the new Sea Lion Exhibit at the Blank Park Zoo.  My mom and Brianna joined us for the trip since my dad was at Danielle's helping with their kitchen remodel.  The kids had been asking to go for weeks now - so they were very excited!

YAY - the otters are back for the season!

We had quite the exciting day at the zoo.  The peacock was so excited to see us that he showed off his beautiful feathers.  It definitely scared us for a second when he marched toward mom and Hannah - but then he calmed down and folded his feathers back up.  Seeing the feathers spread out in person was a first for all of us!

Feeding the coy.

And the Sea Lion exhibit!!  It just opened this past weekend and it is so so cool!  I definitely recommend everyone go and check it out. 

Hannah and Grandma Deaner watching from up top.

One of his many tricks. 

There is an underwater viewing area too for the seals/sea lions. 

Hannah running and jumping.  This is how we got around the zoo the last half. 

The kids weren't too sure about the Ice Age Exhibit.  I kept telling Henry it wasn't real, but he wouldn't take his eye off of the Mammoth!

We are glad we got our annual zoo pass again.  We definitely will get our use out of it yet again this year. 

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

What a fun weekend we had.  The weather was just beautiful and we definitely took advantage of it. 

Tuesday night the Hawkeyes played and we had Jake, Erin and Peyton over to play.  The kids played outside, then brought their energy inside taking turns jumping off of the couch.  Peyton wasn't so sure at first, but after a few minutes of watching Henry and Hannah she took her first leap off!

Girls jumping on the couch.  Love the picture below of Peyton just landing and Hannah mid-air!

Then on Friday we took a half day to celebrate Erin's birthday.  We ate downtown at Dos Rios on the outside patio, then hit up a beer garden for the afternoon.  It was just glorious!!  We left in time to pick up the kids from daycare and head over to Jake and Erin's to grill out and continue the festivities.

We played and played outside.  Henry loved the tball. 

How amazing is this - all three girls looking at the camera.  The funniest thing about this picture is we didn't even have to set them there.  I just nicely asked them all to sit on the steps.  Georgia listened first and then the other two followed.  It was awesome!!

Supper time!

Saturday morning we packed up the kids and headed to downtown Des Moines for the annual St. Paddy's Day parade. 

The kids had a little picnic before the parade started.  We learned pretty quickly that the kids didn't quite have the attention span for the parade (and neither did the adults).  There was no candy thrown, which we have no learned is a city ordinance.  So after about 30 minutes we decided to walk around downtown for a bit and then head back home. 

Hannah got some beads personally placed around her neck from a parade goer.  Pretty cute!

After the parade Henry and I drove to Newton for his friend Drew's 2nd birthday party.  My friend Abby from college threw Drew an Elmo themed party.  It was so much fun to watch Henry run around with all the kids.  It took him about the first hour of the party to warm up, but once the toys came out he warmed up quickly.  Andy stayed home with Hannah while she took a marathon 4 hour nap!!  Glad I made the last minute decision not to wake her up and bring her along...

We headed home and were just zonked.  It was a great two days, but with just one 30 minute nap for Henry, and all of that fun, it created quite the monster.  Several tantrums, very whiny, and not good listening.  Today after a trip to the zoo Henry and Hannah both took 3 hour naps and they are still ready for bed tonight.  Tired kids!!

Great weekend - So happy it is finally warm out again!!

My Grandma Marilyn

My Grandma Marilyn is such a special person.  I love her so much and am so lucky to have such a great Grandma.  My parent's had me while still in college (11 months after they got married), so I spent a lot of time at my Grandma and Grandpa Stenberg's house with wasn't too far away from where my parents went to school.  I've always had a special bond with my grandma and love our talks and time we spend together.  

Last week my Grandma was having some heart problems and had a pace maker placed on her left side.  She is now in recovery so we were able to go to Shuey for a visit on Saturday.  My Grandma lives in North Dakota at the farm she raised her family in during the summer, but during the winter she lives in Iowa with my Aunt Laurel in Cedar Rapids.  It is so nice to have her so close to us, but with how busy we get we don't get over to see her nearly as much as I wish we would.  So this weekend we were luckily able to get over to Shuey to see her and spend quality time.  I love you Grandma!!

Dance Party

Do you ever wish you could just stop everything you are doing and dance??  We do it ALL the time at our house.  Seriously.  We have full out dance parties often.  Sometimes multiple times each day, especially on the weekends.  This video features Hannah and her sweet moves.  Henry usually dances along with her, but Jordan was there, so he was a little 'too cool'.  But the video I got of Hannah is just priceless!!

Night Time Prayers

Each night before bed, as part of our night time routine we say prayers with the kids.  Sometimes we do them together, but most nights I tackle one kid while Andy tackles the other kid.  We read books, cuddle in the chair while we sing songs, and then say the same prayer that we always said as kids growing up. 

Hannah is getting so good at prayers now I knew I had to get it on video.  She must really love her Uncle Nate because most nights, during the introduction, she will bust out his name.  And during prayers she usually repeats everyone's name after I say it, but when I come to Heidi she never says her name and just jumps to 'Nate!'.  I love it and had to share. 

Goodnight everyone!