Days of Summer

We had a fabulous and fast summer. It was filled with play park trips, the lake, the zoo, friends and lots of fun. The kids really enjoyed the summer and loved being outside. I think both of them take after Brad in that department. Some big events of the summer included my parents 40th wedding anniversary. The whole weekend was great fun to hang out as a family and the actual celebration was enjoyable as well. I am very proud of my parents to have reached this milestone!! We also had the Budde Family Campout in August. Everyone had fun. All of Brad’s siblings and their families were there including the DC and Milwaukee Budde’s. The adult boys loved the monster slip and slide. I am not sure if any little kids even did it!

Mabel on a scooter

Teasing grandpa

We ended the summer with a trip to the zoo, a trip to the arboretum and trips to the play park. Mabel has really started to enjoy the swings and could stay it in all day

Louis measuring up the water fountain

Both children grew tremendously over the summer. In February Louis just started wearing a 3T, and he now wears a 4T. Mabel’s feet grew a ton, over 3 sizes in the last five months. We have more shoes than we know what to do with! Louis also continues to amaze us with his “reading” skills. He has a few books memorized and is constantly starting to memorize more. He is so fun right now, and has such “adult” conversations with us.

Lastly, my sister Katlyn lived with us this summer. It was nice having someone else around at night to help out with the kids, or to watch vampire movies with me and Harry Potter movies with Brad. On September 7th she left for a semester abroad, so she moved out about a week before. Both children miss her immensely as do Brad and I. The house feels so different. We are so proud of Kate and can’t wait to hear about Europe.

Split Personalities

In the last few months, Mabel's personality has really developed and she is quite the character.  I am torn many days between laughing at her and sighing in exasperation.  In fact, it is almost as if there are split personalities.

Personality #1:
The child in the photo below is sweet and kind.  She says, "please, thank you, excuse me and sorry" without provocation.  She giggles and plays hide and seek.  She loves ice cream.  She will push her babies in a stroller all day if you let her.  She will sing songs (ABC's, twinkle twinkle, Baa Baa black sheep) and says things like "I'm a naked" while wiggling her butt.  She plays pretend with her brother. She cuddles and she loves and she is nothing short of an angel.

Personality #2:
The child in the below photo is the same child...I think.  In this photo she is refusing to go to bed and is holding her baby stroller four feet in the air refusing to let go.  It is hard not to laugh at her attitude.  I am not really sure where/how it started; but she crosses her arms and scowls with the best of them.  She is very strong willed. She also went through a biting phase and everyone was a victim at least once.

I am not sure if these are the terrible twos arriving early, but this little girl sure keeps us on our toes - you never know what you are going to get on a moments notice.  But no matter what - I wouldn't trade her for anything else.

Are my teeth still shiny?

Louis had his first dentist appointment this week.  I called on Wednesday and we got in right away on Thursday morning...I wasn't expecting such a fast turnaround!  So Wednesday night we briefed Louis on what would happen at the dentist and promised him if he did a great job, we would go to Target and get something "superhero".
He was a little nervous going in, but he soon was very comfortable and eager to go back for his checkup.  I was a little nervous his shyness would kick in, but man he did great.  We grinned the whole time in the chair and didn't mind at all that I was sitting six feet away.  He listened very well and did everything they asked.  The clinic it self was great in explaining all their tools to Louis and letting him feel them ahead of time.  While at the dentist he got a new toothbrush, floss, a little toy and a whole lot of confidence.  I left with an amazing amount of pride over how big my little boy has become.  I also realized in that moment, that nothing else in my life gives me the same feeling that my children do in moments like this.

As we left for Target, he was beaming.  He kept talking about how the polisher tickeled his teeth but how we liked the grape stuff (the flouride) best.  That night after school he talked to Brad all about it and he told Brad and I both separately that he should go back to the dentist again soon.  As he was getting ready for bed that night he stopped and asked me one thing..."Mommy, are my teeth still shiny?"

Oh, and his Target prize...see below.

Summer Catch-Up

Things have been going very well in the Budde household.  So much has gone on but I haven't had time to update, mostly because I haven't been good at taking pictures and the blog is just boring with out them.  Instead of catching up on what we have been doing for the last 5 weeks, here is an update on the children:

Louis continues to love words and spelling.  He wants to know how to spell everything.  He wants to know what letter every word starts with and loves to spell out words.  It really is amazing.  The other day he asked me, "how do you spell, Clark Kent turns into Superman?"  I find that is a request you cannot deny!   When we read him his books we will ask him to sound out Clark (as in Clark Kent) and to find that word on the page.  And for the most part he is successful.  He loves to tell us stories and loves to run "fast" everywhere.  If you ask him how fast he is, he will respond with "faster than light".  Ha!  He has been enjoying summer very much.  He has been having fun playing in the water and the sand and going to the play park.  His imagination has really started to kick in as well.  At the play park he loves to pretend that he is in a space ship and will count down "5,4,3,2,1, blast off!!".

Mabel is also doing well.  She is getting faster and stronger with her walking.  In mid-April we took her to a pediatrician that focuses on genetic disorders just to be certain that there wasn't any underlying condition that she might have inherited.  Long story short she was diagnosed with Type 3 Ehlers-Danlos - which is nothing to be concerned about and that she probably got it from me (even though I haven't been diagnosed).  As a final precaution she had an echocardiogram done at the end of the month to be certain the arteries in her heart were working correctly.  Everything turned out amazingly normal and it was a huge relief!  She loves to talk- none stop. She no longer calls Louis "Lou Lou" but just plain old Louis.  it is good, but it is a little sad to see her growing out of it.  She loves to tell everyone to "come" and "listen" and "where is she/ it/ him/ baby?".  She loves to carry around a purse, wear bracelets and even likes nailpolish!  She is full-on girl.  She is getting rather adventurous now that she is mobile and has also developed a little bit of attitude.  Unfortunately, she has also become a biter - so I apologize in advance to the people she bites, I promise we are trying very hard to break her of that habit!  Mostly right now Mabel just loves her brother (or rather loves bugging her brother).  She finds it so funny when he gets frustrated with her.  She is starting to get interested in potty chairs so we bought her first pair of underwear - Dora of course.  Lastly, Mabel is now rid of her pacifier.  She was biting on them when she was teething and tearing them apart.  So we took them away.  To be honest it was a pretty painless transition except for Church time - that is the one time I want to give it back to her!!

The first few weeks of summer have been filled with fun, water, play parks, friends, family and silliness - all of it a great time.  Lastly, welcome to our new niece/cousin Quinn!  She was born on 6-1-2010.  Welcome sweet girl!

To whom much is given...

much is expected.

At the end of 2009/beginning of 2010, of group of our friends agreed to volunteer as a group, once a month.  As a group we all feel it is important to give back to the communities that we live in and to help those who are less fortunate then ourselves.  For us, it also serves as an example for our children.  So far we have helped make food, make blankets, played with kids at a shelter, cleaned a park and planted potatoes at a community farm.  Some of the events were adults only and at some we were able to include our kids.  The great thing about the group is that we are builiding our friendships, exploring different volunteer activities and I feel truly making an impact that sometimes is difficult when you only have one day a month to give.

Louis and Mabel obviously don't quite yet get the whole volunteer concept, but we hope that it just becomes something that we just do as a family, an expectation - and that when our lives get busy, that volunteering and helping others stays a priority.  Below are pictures from our April park clean up and our May potato planting.  Louis and Mabel didn't like the cold and wind but both had moments where they enjoyed throwing the potato "seed" in the hole.  Our plan for June is bingo with the elderly - kids included!

And She's Off!

Mabel is walking! About four weeks ago she started taking more and more steps and for the last three weeks, walking has become her primary mode of movement. We are so happy and thrilled for her. She loves it too! All she wants to do is walk. It is great, except, along with her independent movement came independent, strong willed Mabel. ALL SHE WANTS TO DO IS WALK, no carrying, no hand holding, just walking. If you pick her up, you will hear a “No, I wanna walk!!!”. For the most part it means we just slow down, but in cases like parking lots, it means we win and we pick her up (and there will be a meltdown - so maybe we don’t win).  Either way it is great to have the months of physical therapy, dr's appts and practicing pay off!

Getting Caught Up

So much has been going on in the last few weeks that I could write a ten page post. I will try to keep this one short and sweet, just to get caught up!

The weekend before Easter, Brad sent me on a trip to NYC with a college girlfriend to visit another friend who lives in the city (a positive of having a husband that travels so much is all the free trips we get with the miles!). We had a great time. It has been a few years since I was in the city, so it was great to get back. We saw the musical Wicked, which was amazing and had a great time shopping, eating fabulous food, great drinks and of course even better conversation and company. It was an exhausting few days but good to get away and not have to worry about being a mom and a wife! Brad did a great job with the children, even though he was stuck at home with a sick Louis. As great as the trip was, it was wonderful coming home and getting all the hugs I missed so much!

Oh, and while I was in NYC, my brother Brian and his wife welcomed their third child, baby Ben! Welcome to the world Ben!

Easter weekend was great. On Saturday my family came over. The children had a great time with the Easter egg hunt and hanging out with each other. The adults also had a great time. Brad impressed us all again with his cooking. It is so nice to have a husband who is the cook in the family. It really allows me to just enjoy hanging out. On Easter we visited my aunt who lives nearby. Another day with family and Easter egg hungs, does it get any better? Below is a picture of Louis and his cousin Owen both dressed as Spiderman.

For the most part Louis and Mabel get along great, but they don't exactly play together - that usually ends up in fights.  So they more or less play side by side and co-exist.  The other night I was trying to do a work out dvd and they were not being cooperative.  So I quickly grabbed my iPhone (not sure why I didn't just grab the computer) and let them watch a Mickey video via YouTube. They fought a little over how to turn the phone but mostly they both just stayed still and watched it - together.