A weekend with Grandma

This past weekend my mother had planned for my niece and nephew from Brainerd to visit and spend the weekend with her. She decided to make it a fun filled weekend with our 2 oldest as well. Saturday she also watched Gabriel for the afternoon and Evening so that Prob and I could attend a wedding for an old friend of mine.

Our 2 eldest children spent 3 nights in a row over at Grandmas, which was the longest we had ever had them away from home. I had forgotten how very easy it is with just one child to take care of. The peace and quiet was nice and a break was much needed from the everyday battles of older siblings but I think Gabriel missed them and was wondering where they were.

The children had a great time with their cousins and Romeo and Olivia have always loved spending time with my mother. They went to a waterpark on Friday, Minnehaha falls Saturday and we all went to the pool on Sunday. In between all of that Grandma rented them movies, made them good meals and kept them busy with arts and craft projects.

I feel very lucky that my children have my mother who is very hands on with them. She always makes an effort to spend time with them and esteem them as individuals. She is really the only grandparent they have that plays an active role in their lives and one of the only people I can always count on and trust to help us with them and I don't know what we'd do without her. Thanks Mom for being a really good Grandma!

First Little Chomper

I have been wondering when Gabriel's first tooth was going to emerge. I figured it would have to be soon since he is a little over 10 months now and his upper gums have been super swollen. I have been checking with my finger for the last few days because I didn't want to miss the exact day of the big event! Well this evening was the time, I checked earlier and it hadn't but when I checked after dinner, there it was, a brand new little tooth, of course only the sharp little bottom of it but it had finally popped through. More exciting for me than him! I am glad that we are now on our way to more teeth because Gabriel wants to eat everything we do and its been a bit hard without teeth. Such a happy moment of development.

Today the children and I went to Minnehaha Park and rode on a bike cart, something Romeo has wanted to do for a long time. It was really fun even though it was a bit hot for it, we still had a good time. It was a little harder than it looked. My swollen feet are paying for it tonight, but my body definitely needed the workout.

Roller Skating and Yay for Gabriel!

Sunday Romeo, Olivia and I went to Saints North Roller skating rink. I hadn't ever taken them before because honestly, I didn't even think the roller rinks were still in business. Prob and the baby stayed home and napped. Going to that rink brought back a lot of memories from when we use to go with school. The place still looked just the same all these years later. It was really busy and all the children there were about Romeo and Olivia's age. They had a really fun time. I however was surprised at how unnatural it felt to be on roller skates after all this time and found myself holding onto Olivia lol. All in all we had a great time though. Here are some pretty bad pictures but pictures nonetheless. I really need a new camera.

Hoola Hoop Contest





Limbo



Another exciting thing that happened was Gabriel rolled over for the first time. Such a proud moment for us all.



Congratulations handsome (:

Waterpark of America

Yesterday since my niece and nephew were in town staying with us for a few days, we all went to the Waterpark of America. Romeo, my brother and his girlfriend and I all went on a family raft ride which was really fun. I like the fact that Romeo is at the age now where he isn't afraid to try the big things and he really enjoys them. Olivia and cousin Midas's favorite was the lazy river. Cousin Raina liked the wave pool the best.Grandma didn't really want to swim and just hung out on the side with baby Gabriel. Once I realized that

the water was super warm and that the place was really hot, knowing how much my Lil peanut enjoys water I decided to let him try swimming for the first time. He seemed to really like it. Afterwards he was so worn out, he crashed out for a Lil nap, he was so cute. Here are some pictures from our adventure, the only one missing was daddy, but he had to work. It was a nice family day, and a nice end to the children's winter break. I am sure going to miss not having to take them to and from school each morning especially since that means not sleeping in with Gabriel anymore since he has become such an awesome snoozer.

Gabriel's first time swimming

Olivia and I on the lazy river

Someone coming off the waterslide lol

Romeo, Midas and friend Robert playing chess

A day in the life of an elf and The birds and the bees

This afternoon we took the children to the holiday display "A day in the life of an elf" at the Macy's in Minneapolis. We had seen it a few years back but decided we'd like to see it again. At the end of the adventure we saw Santa.

On our way home while stuck in traffic we decided it was a good time to have the birds and the bees talk with Romeo.(Olivia and baby were sleeping) We had been going back and forth for quite some time about if it was the right time and how to initiate the subject. I had read an article in the Parents magazine about the right age and how to go about it so that was helpful information.

When I found out I was pregnant, the children were still under the impression that the stork drops off the baby or thought that the doctor just cut it out. I decided then it was time to tell them the truth and it went very well. This conversation also went well. Olivia woke up while we were explaining things to Romeo so we talked with her as well.

One of our reasons for wanting to talk to them about it now is because we figured with all the things on television and in songs and boys and girls starting to notice each other in school that they probably knew something about it already. To my surprise they really didn't know much.

We didn't get into too much detail but told them the basics. Olivia thought it was gross and Romeo was a little weirded out. It was much easier than I expected though and I think it went well overall. I think it was a good icebreaker for future questions they may have.

For now they didn't have many questions about it but with Romeo approaching the age of liking girls and puberty, I just wanted him to know that he can talk to us about anything. I want them both to always feel comfortable coming to us with their questions whether it be about sex, friends, school, whatever it is because that's what we are here for as their parents, to guide them and to be there for them through everything.  I want us to do the best we can because we are shaping the future and that is not to be taken lightly, that's something I always keep in my mind and so far I think we are doing a pretty good job.

Ice skating for the first time

 

Starting out







  

Today since Prob had the day off, we decided we would take the children ice skating for the first time. Romeo has been saying that he wanted to try it and since the weather was supposed to be nice we thought it would be a good day for it. We did try taking Romeo once before when he was 5 but back then at that age he didn't have the patience for it and he didn't like it at all. 

I wasn't sure what to expect with how they would like it but to my delight they absolutely loved it! When we first got there Romeo took off running on the ice and fell but just got right back up and off he went again. When Olivia first got on the ice she held onto the walls and had no idea on how to balance herself so Prob and I helped her. At first she wouldn't let go of us but soon enough she built up the courage to let go and skate by herself.

 It was such a joy to watch how happy they were and funny to watch Olivia laugh at herself every time she fell. She would just laugh and laugh. It's good that she was such a good sport because that was pretty much what the experience consisted most of, falling and getting back up, but they didn't care, they had so much fun. After being there about two hours we had to leave to pickup Gabriel who  had spent some time with Grandma and great grandma. The kids didn't want to leave and now this evening all we've been hearing is,"Can we go skating again tomorrow?"

Looks like we are going to have to start fitting skating into our schedule and two nice things about that are that there is a nice rink at the children's school and the fact that the Grandma's coincidentally bought the children ice skates at a garage sale the other day, so it will work out perfectly 

Getting the hang of it

Rice Park

Gabriel and Great Grandma

 
 



Game Night

Olivia had the idea that she wanted to have family game night tonight, so during dinner each one of us chose a game and after dinner we played.
We played four games and realized that everyone has definitely outgrown Candyland, so we'll store that one away until the baby gets big enough.

Olivia made a list of all the games and had her little microphone to announce "Family Game Night" to everyone.  It was a lot of fun and i'm always so impressed at all the things she wants to do as a family, and all the preparation and work she puts into her ideas.

Earlier in the day Olivia also treated Romeo and I to pedicures in bed while we took our afternoon rest, it was very relaxing. She is always such a little sweetheart and we are so blessed to have her.

Tomorrow  Prob and I were going to try and sneak away to the State Fair for a rare date without the children before we become the parents of 3, but the few people we have to ask to watch the children aren't available so I guess we won't get to. It's ok though, we've come to realize that's the way it is when you are a parent. So plan B will probably be lunch and fishing after church, which is always a fun time and will probably be much easier on me anyway.

Family Time

My husband and I have been talking and agree that we need to do more things together as a family. We decided yesterday after church that we would go fishing at a place nearby since we haven’t done much fishing this summer and my husband really enjoys fishing. We didn’t end up catching much except a few small sunfish each but it ended up being just what we wanted, a chance to all be together doing the same thing and being the close family we are. Sometimes at home with the computer and TV, various different household tasks and busy away from home things we have to do, we forget to just enjoy each other, so this was a nice outing that reminded me that we do need to get away from just the stress of it all and be together doing things we enjoy on a more regular basis.

Today was also another nice day. Lately since I have gotten to the end of my pregnancy I haven't been up to doing much since I get tired so easily and the kids have been bored.  We decided since school starts next week and since life is only going to get more busy with a new baby due to arrive in 3-4 weeks that we would go out to our favorite Sushi restaurant "Akita". Daddy didn't get to go because he was working so that was the only downside but afterwards we rented a few movies and headed home, it was a nice day and I was just glad to be with my children being a happy family!