Happy Birthday Isak!!

Three years ago today I gave birth to the cutest little boy in the world. He also had the largest head in the world. After several hours of horrible labor, out popped his crooked, smashed and upside down head. And my life was never the same.

He was super chubby and I loved his big cheeks. He was trying to go from the moment he was born and has never stopped. This kid is non-stop energy all day long and I wouldn't change it for a minute.

Isak has been so fun to have in our family and his spunky personality has kept us on his toes. He is always suprising me with things he says and comes up with on his own. He is very smart and has a wonderful spirit.

Isak decided he wanted a "wall-e" cake for his birthday so I researched it out and came up with this. It took 3 cake mixes and several hours and some tears, but it eventually came together. It still looked like a 3 year old made it, but Isak loved it and that is all that mattered!

We celebrated Isak's birthday on Saturday with a BBQ out at the park by our house. We had a few friends over and some kids Isak's age. It turned out to be pretty chilly and windy so Isak spent a lot of time sitting wrapped up in a blanket next to his cake. Sadly, Kevin's grandma passed away during his birthday party..we knew she was close but also knew that Isak had no idea what was going on and decided to make things as normal as possible.

Isak giving me a big cheesy grin next to his cake. He kept telling me he wanted to make Wall-E walk, I think he though he was real. When we actually cut him up to eat, he asked me to fix him. I

We got Isak a sweet little Buzz light year bike for his birthday. I know, I hate things that have brands all over them so I feel like I'm buying an advertisement. And the generic one was cheaper. But it makes him happy when he recognizes him so I guess that makes me happy too!
He also received two nerf guns, sweet tunnel with two tents, lots of army guys, cars, a frisbee,

and some new pj's...and some cash. He had a pretty fun day and kept asking me to tell him stories about his party the rest of the day.

When he woke up this morning, he insisted on "eating my birthday cake by my sef for beakfest". So I made him eat some real food first and then let him have a little piece. He was pretty darn excited. So little Isak, at 3 years old you are:

• Loving to tell stories and have stories told to you. You often will request a goldilocks story, a fire wall-e story, or any other random object and then will start off by saying "once upon a time..." ...or 'and one day".... and then wait for us to finish.
• You still really need a nap everyday and take one pretty well, at least a few hours. Your bedtime..well, we lie down with you till you fall asleep. We're working on that one.
• Are pretty much potty trained, still have accidents but usually are pretty good. Always are dry during your nap.
• Love curious george and Wall-E. Like to play with your army guys and robots.
• Love to be outside and play with the hose and bubbles. And walk to dad's office.
• Favorite food is strawberry milk, popsicles, apples, chips , green yogurt
• Listen surprisingly well when we are reading to you or telling you about something.
• Love to say your prayers and are getting so good.
• Have quite an imagination, can play pretend with just about anything.
• Have a memory like a steel trap. We can't get anything by you.
• Love your little sister and have a big heart, although sometimes have a hard time showing her that love....
• Still sleep with "hopdog" for every nap and bedtime..(peter rabbit and the little dog head blanket).

I would say I can't believe he's already three, but 2 felt like a really loooong year. I think he feels like he should be about three.

Our weekend

What we did this weekend.....played in the dirt a whole lot. Planted some more of our garden. Napped. Cleaned the house. Spray painted some more furniture. Planned Isak's birthday for next week. Grocery shopped. Went to church. Had dinner at Aunt Elaine's. Kevin worked on his not yet working motorcycle. Ran. Went to Robin Hood with Kevin. I work at 11 tonight. All in all, a pretty relaxing weekend at home. Those are always the best kind.

Cleaned dirty children and I'm pretty sure I will be rinsing dirt out of their hair for the next week. They were so filthy, the bath water was brown. Sick.We found a great new timeout spot for Isak....we strap into an extra carseat in our living room facing the wall. He hates it and it is incredible effective. This is usually how it goes when he is in trouble
"Isak, do you want to be strapped into your carseat? "
"No, I not be strapped in!" And then he yells at his sister, who likes to climb into it as well.
"No Lucy, that's my timeout spot!"



Lucy's cheesy new grin, she loves to do it with dirt in her teeth as well. Especially awesome. She walks around and squints her eyes and smiles like this. Pretty funny.

15 months and a new stroller!!

My little Lucy Lu turned 15 months on Sunday and today was her check-up. She is growing great and these are her stats:

weight: 23.5lbs (66% percentile)

length: 31.5" (82% percentile)

head: 19.5 " (99% percentile)

Funny, her head really doesn't look that big. Isak's looked big and it WAS (is) big but hers looks normal. But I guess it is a struggle to get her shirts on over it most of the time. Weird. Things Lucy is doing at 15 months: She climbs on everything

Waves bye bye to everyone

loves to annoy Isak and push his buttons

Responds to "no" by laughing and saying, "yesssh"

Loves to be read too and will bring books to you.

Will only drink by herself if she's laying down.

Sleeps through the night, usually 2 small naps a day.

Doesn't tolerate discomfort well, hates teething.

Loves to eat dirt and chalk rubbed in dirt.

Still super smiley and sweet, loves her grandmas.

And...Guess what?? I found a stroller! I have been hunting for a double jogging stroller since Lucy was born and haven't wanted to cough up the cash for a decent one as they are usually fairly expensive. So I have been scanning craigslist for any deals and Kevin found one this morning in Kennewick...some lady selling her BOB ironman stroller because her children had outgrown it. I was so excited! Its in great shape and its really hard to find these second hand because people don't tend to get rid of them. All the possiblities this now opens! I can now run to the park, to my mother-in-laws, to the store, to kevin's office...it will be great! Now if I can only get use to pushing 60lbs of baby I'll be good to go. Turns out, the kiddos are pretty darn heavy.

Isn't she beautiful? I feel like I had another child and I just want to stare at her. Isak thinks it is way cool, especially since it is called "ironman" and is the same color and as the bumblebee transformer.

Our front yard has been completely ripped out so all we have now is lots and lots of dirt. It was really bumpy and in bad shape so we decided to start from scratch. We want to put in sprinklers and do some landscaping. I am sure all of our neighbors can hardly wait. Meanwhile, my dirt eating daughter is quite delighted that she has a whole yard to feast on. I think her new name is "pigpen"...isn't that the super dirty character on Charlie Brown? Anyway, that's who she reminds me of.

And this what Isak and I have been up to......if you have to ask, I'm not sure I could tell you.

"Floating in Space"

What we've been up to recently....I painted my already mismatched chairs several colors and now I'm gearing up to paint my table. I love the way they turned out and how bright they are.

"take a picture of me mom while I jump off the table!"




My brother, aka, uncle mark, has been working in othello so we get to see him alot. These are some of the awesome things he does with my kids. Make them sweet hats out of our recycling pile.

I planted my garden (its small, we'll see if anything grows). And I found buzz lightyear outside watering it for me. I am especially excited for the watermelon plant I am growing.

We have also torn out our entire front yard and filled in about half our pool. We have a lot of work ahead of us! That will be an entire post or two by itself...
The kids and I are so excited that Kevin is done with his CPA exam studying for at least a few weeks. This means we get to see him before 8pm every night!

The little girl below has also grown increasingly naughty in the past week and has discovered how to climb on EVERYTHING. I don't know who remembers this post with Isak but pretty much all my thoughts on how because Lucy is a girl she would be calmer have been shot down. She climbs on the coffee table, to the chair, to her rocking chair, on the fireplace, stands up in her rocking chair and screams. She loves to get into the toilet plunger, garbage can, fridge (recently broke several eggs) and the cat water dish at kevin's mom's house.
Those dang pigtails let her get away with waayyyy too much.