FIVE!

Ingrid turned five yesterday.  It seems like she's way older sometimes, and others it seems like she shot up before I could even notice.  I look at pictures from just a couple years ago and she just looks like such a baby then!  She has turned into such a girl now, no longer a toddler or even a little girl. 

We had a party for her Saturday afternoon.  It was exhausting.  Nine 4 and 5 year olds came over and we did something pretty much every single second they were here!  We made glitter wands, which they took outside to have a parade with.  They marched up and down the street singing happy birthday and shouting "Sparkle! Sparkle!"  The neighbors thought it was funny.

Then we did a pinata, which I have to say I will never do again.  It is just NOT fun, the kids can't seem to break it so I ended up breaking it open with my hands so they could grab the candy.  Then they all argued over who got gumdrops and who got suckers.  And it cost a lot. 

 We had cake.  We played outside. 

And then they all went home and my mom and I were absolutely exhausted.  But it was so fun and Ingrid was so happy to have all her friends over.

Yesterday we had some family over and cooked out.  Twice.  We also had neighbor friends over and had more purple cake.  It's like birthdays just keep on going around here! 

Ingrid got a new bike for her birthday, purple of course.  She has been really good at it, although it makes me nervous because she still doesn't quite get the brakes when she's going down a hill. 

She also got this AMAZING vintage electric piano from Grandma and Grandpa!!  I love this thing!  Right now it's down in our basement, but I will be making room for it somewhere up in our living room.  It is just too cool!  And the sound is amazing.  Love this!

 Now the festivities are over and I am left with a five year old.  She starts full day school in a couple months!  It amazes me how fast it's gone.  Happy Birthday, Ingrid!

Our Weekend

It was a birthday party filled weekend here.  Brendan's birthday was yesterday, so we had cake for him.  Then our friend Junie turned two and we went to her party.  And then Brendan's parents came over to celebrate his birthday with another cake.  Sheesh, a little birthday overload!

Fun pictures from this weekend--spaghetti night messy faces:

 Ingrid's amazing vintage dress we got awhile ago.  She is too funny--when I told her she was going to wear a party dress to the birthday bash today, she cried and cried and cried, swearing up and down the dress was too tight and she hated that dress and she wasn't going to wear it.  Then she went up to her room, grabbed the dress I wanted her to wear and said "Please, Mama, can't I wear this one?"  I do not know what goes on in her head but she can be so dramatic sometimes!

After his nap, Otis was also quite dramatic.  I was napping and woke up to hear Otis screaming like crazy.  It was his frustrated-nothing-is-going-right-for-me scream, and it was all because his pasta wouldn't get on his fork right or something like that.  It's tough to be a kid.

And lastly, I caught the kids jumping from coffee table to couch this afternoon, giggling like crazy so I couldn't really be mad.  As soon as I saw it probably wouldn't cause a trip to the ER, I let them at it while I took pictures.  So cute to see them getting along after a day of them being pissy with each other!

 And now it's FINALLY bed time and I can relax and get some more bibs done and watch Downton Abbey on Hulu.  Yay.

Ingrid is Four!

Ingrid turned four on Saturday.  We had a crazy hot day for the middle of May, but we had fun.  One grandma got a kiddie pool, the other got a sandbox, we had an EZ-up for the oldies to sit in the shade, and used a sheet on the clothesline to make a tent for more shade.  It was crazy hot, we even ended up having to come inside to get away from the sun, something that doesn't happen that often in Wisconsin!

Last year we went all themey, with rainbows and gnomes and toadstools, but this year I'm going easy.  I told Ingrid to pick a couple colors and I figured we'd make a bunting for the table and get matching balloons, maybe some matching candles.  I have decided that it was fun to do once, but I am just not a good themed party thrower.  I don't think anyone actually took home my goodie bags and I ended up with a million rainbow crayons and mushroom spinning tops in my house...So, this year was a simple neopolitan theme.  I made a simple brown and pink felt bunting, got some pink and white balloons, and asked our friend Carole to make another amazing cake.  She did not disappoint!!

 We also had neopolitan ice cream.  The kids ran around in the sprinkler, splashed in the pool, and played in the sandbox.  It was super fun, totally summery, and Ingrid had a great time!  So did Otis.  He absolutely loves the sandbox!  He sat in there for an hour, just digging and pouring sand from bucket to bucket.  I see a very laid back summer spent in our backyard!

In non-birthday news, my mom and I planted a garden this weekend, too.  We have raspberries, blueberries, zuchinni, lettuce, carrots, green beans, and strawberries.  So excited to see how things turn out!  It's my first time planting food plants, so we'll see.  And in completely other news, I am still in shock after finding out one of my close friends is having TWINS!!  She never had a dating ultrasound, just heard a heartbeat, went about her first few months preparing for a new baby.  Then today at her ultrasound the tech said "Here's baby number one, and here's baby number two."  Wait, what huh?  If I'm in this much shock, I can't even imagine what she's going through!!!  I am super happy and excited for them, though.  I know it's going to be crazy and hectic and I hope that I can help her out when she needs it.  Jeez louise, twins.  With a two year old ready to help out :)  Crazy.

Happy Easter.

We are not religious, so Easter is a thing purely of bunnies and eggs and chocolate.  Which is all good in my book!  Although dying eggs is not fun, and then I'm left with colored hard boiled eggs that I end up leaving sitting out and having to throw away.  But Ingrid thinks it's cool, so we do it.

We had dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's, after which we had an egg hunt.  Ingrid was SO excited about this, she kept asking if the Easter bunny would know we were there and not at our house.  Oh, the young.  The stupid, believing young.  I am such a bad mom, I said "well he's not real, it's just a joke.  Like Santa!"  My mother in law was laughing at me.  I don't sugar coat it, huh?

She got her eggs, she ate her chocolate, and she didn't seem to care one way or another if the Easter bunny was real or not!!

Ingrid the Photographer

My inlaws got Ingrid a really cool digital camera for Christmas.  It was the favorite thing she's gotten, by far!!  Today she kept going around the house taking pictures, and I have to say, I really love seeing life through her eyes.

Today she played fabric store with my scraps, and then took pictures for a couple hours.  She is totally my daughter...

Here are a couple shots from her little camera.  Who knows, someday maybe she'll get one of my old ones to use for real!

My Weekend With Otis

This weekend Brendan took Ingrid camping with his parents.  I stayed home with Otis since he's getting another tooth and was not sleeping very well the few nights prior to them leaving.  Truth be told, I was looking forward to a weekend of relaxation, which I knew I would get with only one baby.  Who naps twice for two hours.  And goes to bed at 6:30pm. 

I got so much done this weekend!  Sewing, cutting out other things, hanging out with Otis, catching up on sleep.  It was amazing!  It was so strange how quiet our house was without Ingrid in it!  Seriously made me realize how loud and talkative she is. 

We got some homeopathic stuff for Otis' teeth, which helped.  I am still going to get an Amber necklace, I just need to see if I can find one locally.  But whatever it was I gave him seemed to work.  My  my, aren't I a great mom?  I don't even know what the hell I squeezed into his mouth--I just know it worked to calm him down!  He slept marvelously and it was wonderful to have one on one time with him.  He is so drooly and smiley and chatty and rolly and man, I'm so glad he's part of our family!

The Cottage

The cottage is getting a new kitchen, so it's been kind of a war zone around there.  Hence, we have not been there in awhile.  Today we had to go look at refrigerators so we braved it with the kids.  Luckily it was nice out so we could stay outside.  Hopefully the next week or so will see the end of remodeling and a return to calm.  It sucks when the place to which you go for relaxation is not relaxing...

Is there anything better than a drooly baby in a classic white Gerber tee?

Perhaps it's a muddy girl planting seeds with her Grandma.

They drive me crazy, but I guess I'll keep 'em.

Baseball With Otis

Last night we went with our friends to a Brewer's game.  It was awesome--we left Ingrid at home with Grandma and Grandpa, we tailgated with the babies, and we got really good seats.

Unfortunately, Otis was not having it.  When we brought Ingrid when she was a month old, she just slept and hung out in the front pack.  Otis was wide awake, would not or could not fall asleep, and ended up getting really freaked out.  Seriously, he looked like he was on a bad trip or something, eyes wide open, sucking madly on his pacifier.  Luckily our friend Jess had some kiddie sized earmuffs we could borrow.  Look how freaking cute Otis looked in them!!

Jess and I were joking that we were going to nurse right at our seats so we'd get on the jumbotron, but we didn't.  Instead we were shown to the first aid room, where they were really really nice, pulled curtains for us to give us some privacy, and even gave us a little certificate saying it was Otis' first baseball game.  How sweet!  Even though I couldn't sit in my really close seat (I was swaying back and forth trying to lull Otis to sleep in the walkway instead) I had a lot of fun and can't wait to take both kids to a game this summer!

Happy Easter, Everyone!

The Easter Bunny showed his fuzzy little butt today.  Hooray! 

It's only 7:45am and Ingrid's already eaten a chocolate bunny.  What the hell is today going to be like??  We are going to hang out at home this morning and then go celebrate with Grandma and Grandpa later.  Looks like it's going to rain so perhaps there will be an indoors egg hunt. 

Hope you all have a great Easter!

Toddler Birthday Party

We went to a new friend's 2nd birthday party yesterday.  Sheesh, those things wear me out.  It was fun, Ingrid got to run around with new kids, play with toys that weren't hers, and make an ice cream sundae with lots of yummy goodies.  She thoroughly enjoyed herself!

Before the party, Brendan's parents came over with fun things for our house.  One was a family heirloom rocking chair for our living room.  I am really nervous about it being in our house, as we tend to ruin furniture between cats and babies, but they swore up and down that the rocking chair is for rocking babies and it's lasted a long time.  The first thing Fletcher did was curl right up in it, so yeah, cat hair will be all over in no time!

They also brought this awesome old desk for Ingrid's room:

I'm pretty stoked about it.  I found it lying in their basement when we lived with them a few years ago.  Ingrid was just a baby so I didn't want it right then, but I knew when she got older I'd want it.  Well what do you know, she's really the right size and age for it and we are back in Milwaukee, so it's ours!  Hooray!  Overall a very good day.

The Best Christmas Ever.

It seriously was a great Christmas this year!  Brendan's parents came over from Wisconsin and it was the perfect day of relaxing, eating food, and watching A Christmas Story.  They came from their hotel this morning and we opened presents, then they all went swimming at the hotel pool while Otis and I hung out cleaning and nursing and sleeping.  Once they were back we ate a huge meal and then hung out playing with Ingrid's new toys and asking each other Trivial Pursuit questions. 

Ingrid got two drums this year!  One an old school Fisher Price, and one a real true bongo set from Grandma and Grandpa.  It was so cute, we had gotten Brendan's dad some homemade guitar picks so he was playing the guitar.  Ingrid got her drums and sat down right next to him, and Bob and Kathy sang songs while they played.  We are so going to be the Partridge Family.

And Otis was a little sweetie all day long.  I had to try to wake him up, which is SO HARD!!  He just will not wake up no matter what you try.  But once he did wake up, the little genius finally figured out how to latch on properly so I don't even need the nipple shield anymore!  I am just amazed how this whole nursing thing is all coming together.  I was so worried I wouldn't be able to do it, especially since he's a preemie, but he's just gotten the hang of it so quickly.  And when he's not nursing, he's sucking his thumb...something I'm not sure I like.  Ingrid never ever sucked her thumb, but Otis does it all the time, it's kind of cute.  But you can't take a thumb away like you can a pacifier.  That's a long way away, though, no need to worry myself now, right?

Overall it was just a great day.  Tomorrow Brendan is taking Ingrid to swim again, then they are all going to the Henry Ford Museum, which means Mama and Otis get a big chunk of the day to ourselves!!  I envision a nap and working on Otis' cross stitch birth announcement.  Good times.  Hope you all had a Merry Christmas, too!!!