Top 10 Moments of 2009 According to Brad

In no particular order...

1. Burning the Christmas tree in the backyard. In July. The old saying was proven true, "went up like a Christmas tree." Maybe that's just Andrew's phrase. Anyway I felt bad afterwards that he wasn't around to see it. Missy wasn't around to see it either because she ran scared into the house.

2. Visiting Great Grandma Budde on Halloween. She couldn't have been happier, or tried harder to keep us. Bribes of dinner, drinks and snacks were relentless and considerably appreciated. It was great to see her. Louis continued to speak about the trip days later.

3. Dancing with Missy at Danny and Meghan's wedding. We both had plenty of drinks and even more fun. The live band played amazing music; Missy was really into their cover of Pink. When the DJ started we both tried dancing to music the young kids are playing, like MGMT. Try it, it's not easy, you'll laugh.

4. Catching a 5lb bass while fishing with Mike Seppelt. We fish Bass Lake in Plymouth once every summer. Every summer it ends up being a highlight. It seems the recipe of light beer in cans, a good fishing hole and 3 hours with a good friend is reliable fun.

5. Louis spells his name in chalk. We were chillin' in the basement and Lou was playing with chalk. Suddenly he writes his name: LOUIS. We didn't even know he could write, much less spell his name. So we erased it and he did it again. How does a kid know how to write his name yet refuse pee anywhere but his diaper?

6. Playing craps in the morning. We went to Vegas this fall with friends. Missy and I are conditioned by our children to wake early, so we finished an early breakfast and explored the Bellagio. A friendly game of craps looked inviting, neither of us have ever played on a table in Vegas, and we very quickly were being given a tutorial by a friendly stranger. In a matter of a few minutes he explained the game and recited all of the odds. Maybe craps is more fun when you've been drinking, but since we could remember this it stands out as one of the unique moments we've had together.

7. Swimming lesson progress. How is it that our children start their first swimming lesson scared and fully clutched to one of us; two months later their favorite part of the week is Saturday swimming lessons?

8. Christmas tree setup. Lou and I bought a Christmas tree on a Saturday morning. The next day we decorated the house and tree. The lower half of the tree was decorated in a single horizontal line, right in Lou's line of sight. In some cases he put 6 bulbs on a single branch. The next few days Lou would lay on the couch and stare at the tree. He'd have to get dressed by the tree. I've never seen anyone love a tree like that. I'm feeling the magic of Christmas.

9. Adam Mikkelson choking on hot sauce in the backyard. He opened one of those hot sauces with the warning label and ate it like Ketchup. The next 15 minutes he spent gagging on the heat. My favorate antidote was spoonfuls of ice cream that he let slide off his tongue as they melted. His daughter started crying too because she was so concerned for her Daddy. We shouldn't have laughed at him, but he was too disoriented to laugh along with us.

10. Finishing Crime and Punishment. It took 3 years. Now I can finally say that I've read Dostoevsky. I guess crazy people make good stories whether they're in classic literature or on Real Housewives.

Snow Day!

Welcome to winter. This week, due to the snow storm, daycare was closed. So the kids got to experience their first ever snow day. Louis seemed confused at first and was worried that his friends were going to be at school and he wasn’t; but he quickly realized that wearing his pajamas all day must mean it is a special day.


Overall, I think the kids were bored with me. I am not nearly as clever with activities like daycare is, nor am I as silly as their friends! But we definitely had our moments of fun. Louis and Mabel played well together. They read books, they hid under blankets, colored and wrestled…yes, they started wrestling each other. I would normally be concerned about this, but they just tickle each other and fall over each other and laugh. It is really sweet.

This past weekend we put up our tree and lights. Louis was excited that he got to help Brad pick out the tree and put up the lights outside (Mabel got to come with Mom to help remember a very dear, very loved friend). Louis was insistent that we buy a star and that he would get to put up the star “like Curious George did”. Both children love the lights and the tree. Our tree is in our “blue room” and Louis now likes to spend all his time in there. He will just get a pillow and a blanket and watch the tree. See that and hearing Mabel say “wow” every time the lights go on – it again makes me feel so lucky that I get to be a parent to these two sweet children.

This last picture is of Mabel’s lump on her forehead. She took a spill down a couple of stairs and ended up with her first black-n-blue mark and a nice bump. Her papa gave her lots of kisses and after a few minutes, she completely forgot about it.

So much to be thankful for

Thanksgiving was very wonderful this year. We celebrated with both sides of my extended family and enjoyed some delicious food and wonderful company.

The day after Thanksgiving we boarded a plane to D.C. to celebrate Nolan Budde’s baptism. Louis was so excited to be in the airport and on the airplane. He loved having his own seat and kept asking “are we flying yet papa?”. It is so great as a parent to see your child with wide eyes and excitement. Every moment of the airport and flight was thrilling for him…that alone made the trip worth it.
The baptism weekend was great. Brad’s entire family made the trip to D.C. for the baptism! We had a great time catching up with Matt and Kristin. Mabel and her cousin Mollie had a lot of fun with crawling races and following each other around the house. While there, we realized what a little toddler Mabel has become. She has been talking more and more adding the words please, cheese, Happy, baby and many more. She has been signing more and more – but only for words she can say (please, more, all done, thank you, etc). She also has finally started saying "mommy" - yeah! In D.C. we realize that little Mabel also is quite the extrovert. She can be dead tired, but if other people are having fun…she needs to as well. She is quite the “party girl” much to her father’s chagrin.
We were all plenty tired as naps were missed, and sleeping in a hotel room with two children can be difficult. The first night, Louis fell asleep on a tiny little bency…I guess the pull-out bed was too big! I don’t think Brad and I have gone to bed at 8:30pm in a long time. Both kids need dark and quiet to fall asleep, so we spent our time texting each other and reading the internet on our phones!
On Sunday the entire family went to Nolan’s baptism. The church that Matt and Kristin belong to has such a diverse congregation and does an excellent job celebrating the baptism event. Louis was able to join the other children up at the baptismal fountain for an up-close view of the baptism. It was very nice ceremony and all of us were very proud to be there. Nolan is a beautiful baby who is very loved.
It was such a great weekend to be with family. We enjoyed lots of great moments together; whether swimming in a pool, enjoying great food, seeing Mabel choose Adam has her new favorite uncle or watching a deer run through the window (and subsequently run throughout) the townhome next door everyone was glad we made the trip!

Can this part last forever?

Right now Louis and Mabel have so much fun together. Don’t get me wrong, they are starting to also fight with each other, but mostly they are just enjoying each other's company. They both love waking the other one up in the morning and enjoy seeing each other first thing.

As part of Mabel’s physical therapy, we have her play in a Rubbermaid to practice standing. Well it didn’t take long for Louis to want the same thing. After I dug one out for him, I sat back and watched. They had a great time playing peek-a-boo with each other!

Louis loves building forts with his Papa right now. It is a pretty standard weekly activity. Lately though, Mabel likes to play in it as well. She doesn’t usually sit in there too long, but rather prefers to go in and crawl out the “back door”

Quick updates: Mabel finally has both front teeth, which now brings her to five. Her second front tooth took forever to cut and must have been so painful for her! Louis can now write his name, but needs a lot of space to do it, so the chalkboard in the basement is getting used a lot. He is already started picking out all the toys he wants from Santa. I am surprised at how into Christmas he is!

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

1 hour back/ 1 month behind

I feel like October came and went in a blink! We had such a wonderful month, constantly busy and running around. It was fun but exhausting! Brad and I went on a quick trip to Vegas with some friends. We had a lot of fun and I was able to get some much need relaxation. It was hard being away from the children for so those three nights. I kept waking up early every morning listening for their voices!

Swimming lessons have ended and both children did so well! Once Louis turns three he can go into the next level. By the last class, Mabel loved the water! She giggled and laughed and like to lay back on relax. It is amazing to see them progress so quickly!

Louis continues to absorb everything. The first Monday after we changed the clocks back, I surprised that he noticed right away that it was now dark after daycare. He kept asking “why is it dark mommy?” and no matter what I said, he responded with “why?”. So I finally got the globe, had him pretend to be the sun and showed him that when Minnesota faces away from the sun – it is dark. He didn’t understand – but he stopped with the “why?”. I love the curiosity, but sometimes it is very exhausting trying to answer him.

Mabel is just goofy! She is talking all the time. Her favorite words are water (waya), eat, shirt, shoe, vroom vroom, thank you (day do) and of course “Papa”. She crawls around the house calling Papa all the time. It is very sweet. Her confidence in standing is growing. She now pulls herself up into standing position all the time, she is starting to cruise furniture and if we hold onto her hands she will take steps. Slowly but surely she will get there. She is so fun to be around right now. She talks like she is telling us a story, loves to do things just to get a reaction and has become so independent. I completely forgot about this stage, I love it!!

Lastly it was Halloween! We had a wedding on Halloween but we were able to get the kids out the week before and they got to do a little trick-or-treating in Avon with grandma. Louis was a dragon and Mabel was a little pig. They were both so cute, I just want them to always wear their outfits!

We have been enjoying the wonderful November weather and are looking forward to Thanksgiving and meeting Nolan Budde for the first time. I can’t believe next week is Thanksgiving already! At some point I am going to need to start Christmas shopping. Tis the season!

Where did September go?

Wow, September was a crazy month. We started swimming lessons, had two weddings, Mabel’s birthday and her birthday party, and Mabel’s one year pictures. Our weekends have been packed full and unfortunately, October is looking the same. We had Mabel’s one year pictures at Minnehaha Falls. A colleague from work just started a side photography business. I highly recommend her! Here is a link to her blog (Mabel is Miss M). http://blog.tentinytoesphoto.com/. Those are just a sampling of 5 pictures, I can’t wait to see the rest!!

We held a wonderful birthday party for Mabel. Again, she loved her cupcake - this time a gigantic one! I am amazed at how quickly she got the hang of opening presents! We had all the local family down for the party. It was a quick 2 hour party, busy but fun! You are one, Mabel!! Way to go!

I mentioned we started swimming lessons. Louis is in the Turtle class and Mabel is in the Tadpole class. Both Brad and I are in the water with the kids and it is at the same time with the same teacher (hmm). Louis has come along so far in swimming. He takes instruction so well! We likes jumping off the diving board, but doesn’t yet like dunking his head. Mabel gets better and better each week. The water is pretty cold, so she likes to curl up as high on my shoulder as possible. But this week she lounged back and enjoyed the water. She even let me hold her back away from my body!

Lastly, at Mabel’s one year appt, her pediatrician was concerned that Mabel is not yet pulling herself up on furniture or cruising. (She did finally start truly crawling the day of her Dr. appt.) To be honest, I was a little concerned as well, but I just thought she would be a slow walker like Louis. Well, at her appt we did end up doing some x-rays to be sure her hips we aligned okay…and they were. But it was pretty emotional for both mom and baby! Now we are seeing a physical therapist. We are told she is definitely fine, she just has low muscle tone and super mobile joints. So, she truly doesn’t yet feel safe standing. The PT is pretty confident that we will have her walking in six months if we work on the various exercises…Mabel now has a workout routine! Overall I am not overly anxious, I just want to be sure we are doing what we can to help her out. She is such a sweet girl, and right now loves to cuddle more than anything – so I have to learn to put her down and work for it!

Even Jesus needs to sleep Louis

A few weeks ago we put Louis to bed at his typical 8:00pm bedtime. Lately he has been turning his light on and playing for awhile, but b/t Brad and I, we usually catch it pretty early and he then goes to sleep without incident. However on this particular night, both Brad and I forgot to run upstairs to be sure the lights were off. Around 9:30pm, I decided to get ready for bed. As I got to the top of the stairs, I saw that Louis’ light was on. I couldn’t believe that he was still up! I was hoping that maybe he played for a little bit and had now fallen asleep with the light on.

I opened the door very quietly but quickly. There was Louis sitting at the foot of his bed reading a book. His eyes were super big – knowing he had been caught. In my not-so-happy voice, I asked him “Louis, what are you doing?”. He quickly lifted his book in the air and said, “Reading my Jesus book mommy”. He had been reading his children’s bible!

I then heard Brad come up the stairs and open the door further. He also asked Louis in his not-so-happy voice, “Dude, what are you doing”. Louis then proceeded to point to his two books he had been reading: his children’s bible and a book on the 50 greatest sports endings in history.

Brad and I were both speechless. What do you say to a 2 year old who is reading and on top of that, reading a bible and a sports book? How do you tell him that what he is doing is wrong? Well, after we got done smiling at our very sweet son and staring at each other with “now what?” eyes, we told Louis that it was very good that he was reading, but now it was late and he needed to go to sleep. He could read this bible and sports book a different day. He more than happily obliged by crawling under the covers and going to sleep. We turned off the lights and they stayed off until the next morning.