Here I go again with my writer’s block. But I’m going to skip the extra step of pictures and give a quick update before nap is over.

Ben continues to love trains. Like, we might need a serious train-tervention over here. It’s how we spend our days. But oh, it could be so much worse, so I’m living it up engine-style while I can. He continues to be my man of few words and in his own world, but every now and then he goes on a story telling kick or lets me in on what’s happening at school. He still moves like a turtle to school, but it’s a tolerant turtle. I won’t complain about that either.

Fred is starting to communicate more, although he still prefers serious babbling, whining, or grunting when it’s faster. He is my runner and early riser. He has the best “I’m getting into trouble” face and is starting to pretend that he can count. It’s adorable.

As lame as this is, I’m going to publish without pictures or editing so that I have a January blog in the books. If I get another one in, bonus!

Greetings, friends!

Seven years ago, we changed our wedding RSVP website into a blog when we bought a house that had just a weeeeeee bit of character. Then it morphed into baby updates, and I’ve been trying to update the family blog at least once a month ever since then. Well, since the last entry was in the beginning of October (covering things that happened in September), I made the bold move to put the web address on our Christmas cards in order to hold myself accountable. So, Merry Christmas everyone! Here’s the official update from our family.

Justin/Jesse/Dad

By day, Jesse continues work as a software developer and data engineer. He enjoys his work and coworkers, so that’s pretty awesome. By night, he continues to hold title of Dad Extraordinaire. Talents include shadow puppets and high tolerance of tantrums. Jesse still keeps up with a few freelancing projects and enjoys catching movies when he can.

Heidi/Mom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I continue to love staying home with the boys, even when it’s not so great. I’ve already cried about this season of life ending – and we still have a couple years left in it. When not changing diapers, preparing food that will be tossed on the floor, or trying to get my boys to enjoy coloring, I like finding excuses for mom-night-outs and volunteering with the CASA program.

Ben/Benjamin/Benny

Ben has hit a sweet spot at the 5 year mark. He is independent and funny but still sweet and innocent. I’m soaking it up. After a bumpy start in school, he has suddenly decided that it isn’t soooooo bad. He talks more about friends and teachers this year, and he has suddenly picked up a love for writing and drawing his own ideas for video game levels. He is at the beginning stages of reading and loves books. His Christmas list includes “All the Paw Patrol toys and a new Trackmaster set”. He doesn’t have any pup toys at the moment, so it will be exciting!

Frederick/Freddy/Fred

“Fearless Freddy” loves life. He lives in an amazing world where he is so comfortable that he assumes SOMEONE will catch him or follow him or find him. Boundaries are meant to be pushed and everything is meant to be explored. He is joyful and stubborn and determined and frustrating and ridiculously cute. Fred is two.

Now that you’ve caught up with the basics, here are some more highlights of 2017. Then I’ll wrap up with some cute things the boys say – even though I forget half of it all.

Coast to Coast to Coast to Coast 2017
Even though most of our days are delightfully slow and predictable (the way we like it), we had the opportunity this year to log some miles. Because when the husband of your college roommate says to reunite in Disneyland, you GO TO DISNEYLAND. To make life easier (sorry Fred), we only took Benny – and he LOVED it. One of my favorite memories of all time is watching Ben walk in awe into Radiator Springs (Carsland) and declare, “Hey! This is the road that Lightning made!!!” It was so much fun to have a college reunion in Cali, and it was also the first time Ben saw the ocean!!

Then we went to the other coast (sorry Ben and Fred) without kids (WHAT!?) to attend the hitching of Holly and Kyle. Treasure Island, FL was amazing, and it was the most perfect weekend to celebrate those lovebirds. Hooray for an extra brother, two more nieces, and my first nephew!

A business trip took Jesse back to California – this time to San Francisco! He walked by the set of Ant Man 2. I fell asleep to Ant Man on the couch. So we were pretty much having the same experience.

And finally, to even things out, we went BACK to Florida in December. Cheap airfare and the chance to get all the cousins together. I was going to go by myself with the boys and Jesse would join us later in the week. However, after witnessing a rather spectacular tantrum from my youngest, my sweet mother volunteered to also grab cheap airfare and assist me. I cannot tell you how much she helped – I would have been the mom crying in the airport (multiple times). Anyway, it was such a great trip – lots of downtime at the Florida house, play time with cousins, lunch date with the sister, Fred’s first movie, our first trip to Legoland, and getting to see Olivia & Brooke’s dance team during the half time of a Globetrotters game!

Things that Keep us Out of Trouble

• Parks, Community Centers, and Libraries
• Not falling asleep during movies (I try!!)
• Monthly “birthday club” dinners
• Playdough, Lego, more Lego, lots of Lego
• Playing in the backyard/neighbors
• Game nights with Nate
• Church and Bible study with some friends
• Indulging in the guilty pleasure of ladies’ nights with The Bachelor
• Sundays at the in-laws & visits with my folks
• Working out and enjoying the Play&Learn center at the Y
• Trips to the zoo

More of 2017

We continue to throw darts at the “Things Ben Might be Interested Other Than Trains and Building Things” wheel. Heads up: One of those things is not ice skating (although he finally came around on the last lesson, of course).

House Projects!
Oh my, how far we’ve come since my first fixer-upper blog. This year, we flattened out the backyard to put in a play set (best thing ever), evicted a bat family, replaced some doors, and patched the big hole in the wall from a plumbing issue. And in true Chicken-in-Flight fashion, we discovered that our backyard was actually a thin layer of grass on top of a cement dump. The good news? No bodies.

In August, my last surviving grandparent passed away. Grandma Vernie was one of a kind and spent her last days cracking jokes and telling stories to a constant rotation of family. All of the cousins were able to come for the funeral to celebrate an amazing life.

We also had a great canoe trip (without Fred – sorry, Fred!) on the Upper Iowa River with Grandma and Grandpa, themed our second Halloween in a row around Ben wanting to be a ghost, and completed another round of 31 Parks in 31 Days for Des Moines Parks and Rec.

Okay, wow, what a year. I could keep going, but I need to wrap this up. I should actually mail the Christmas cards, and my husband and I have a hot date to the new Star Wars movie. Because when you have just cleaned up after the kids having a stomach bug for a week and your mother-in-law wants to babysit for an afternoon, you RUN to drop them off and check out to a galaxy far, far away. But if you’ve made it this far, I applaud you! Thanks for being awesome.

Here are a few funnies and pictures to end this thing…

When I asked for help with Fred at the doctor, Ben announced, “Yep, Mom! I will make fun of him!” (He will make him smile….)

“Ice Cream is like snow in a cup.” – Ben

“Miss (Director of the preschool) will send any kid that is sick or ANGRY to their families…”

“Ben, why do you ask why so much??”
“Because I don’t know everything. I have a lot to learn.”

At the dentist, the hygienist kept saying, “Jesse”, and Ben announced, “I don’t call him Jesse. I call him DAD!!!!” Also….”I think they have white Christmas lights on the tree because they look like teeth.”

Merry Christmas to all and a very happy 2018 to you!

Text to my sister this morning:
Parenting classes really need to tell people that mothering is 93% holding your sh*t together while other humans don’t want what you want.

Truth is, I’ve been super humbled a lot lately and I’m trying to be mature about it. It sure would feel good to drop to the floor and cry about things every now and then. Maybe that’s why my boys do it so often. Maybe I’ll try it…..

(BLARGH! WHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYY???? THIS IS STUUUUUUPPPPPIIIIIIIIIDDDDDDD. I DON’T WANT TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!)

Awesome. That felt great. Good thing it’s nap time and I’m by myself. Or else that would have been somewhat embarrassing.

OOPS. Guess what? I totally spaced a September blog. Time to catch up! Back on track. Focus, Heidi. Focus. Crank that 2002 Justin Timberlake and get to work.

(Dance party)

OKAY. FOCUS. GOODNESS GRACIOUS! PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER, WOMAN.

Lazy Mom 101: Have both of your kids’ birthdays be within three weeks of each other, combine the events, and raise them to believe that birthday parties only involve having a handful of family members over for an easy lunch (which you would totally do anyway…). Hey, it works for us, and I’m going to ride it out as long as I possibly can.

Luckily, all Ben desired for a birthday party was some cake and at least one new train set. And Fred just needed a nap and a box. The fact that the box had some cool Mickey stuff in it was an extreme bonus. May they always be this easy to please, for this year totally exceeded their low expectations.

Yes, we have a 5 year old. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – he’s truly one of the most interesting people I know. His way of thinking changes my perspective quite a bit, and I’m learning to match his pace. After all, why would you change things that are going well? If you are content, why can’t you just be? If you like trains, why can’t you just play with trains all the time? Love your family deeply and be fine beating to your own drum. I can learn a lot from this kid.

Mom: “Come here, Love…”
Ben (snuggling in): “Awe……..thanks for calling me Love!”

Ben pointed out a man in a wheelchair as we drove by a bus stop. I explained how sometimes people need help to move around. Ben got very concerned that “It’s not working, Mom!!!” So I had to explain how he was waiting for the bus and didn’t need to be moving at that particular time…

“I told the police that I love TrackMaster.” Thankfully, they had an officer as a guest speaker at school that day.

Speaking of school, Ben has settled into life as a developmental kindergartner. It was a rough start – needing to be pried from the car in the drop off lane – but he has discovered that having a routine and life outside of home can be tolerable. In fact, I had to pull him out of school on Monday (did you know that ear infections can also give you rapidly spreading hives!?), and he actually told me that he missed school all afternoon. And then he was decently willing to go the next day. So that’s pretty huge improvement from yelling, “I HATE SCHOOL” and refusing to put his shoes on. Yeah, his mom was a teacher. That didn’t go well. But to my delight, he has mentioned several friends and routines at school that he enjoys. They have already gone on a field trip to a nursing home, and he randomly sings songs from school. He writes more (thanks, peer pressure!) and drops some serious new knowledge at the dinner table. It’s funny to hear him sing the months of the year and explain syllables out of the blue! So yeah, I’m optimistic at where this year is going. Here’s his picture from the first day:

I’ve also been really enjoying some quality Freddy time. Having Ben at school from 9-2 gives Fred and I the option of an adventure before nap time. (Sweet, sweet, nap time…) We’ve done the zoo, hikes, library time, lazy home time, play time at a community center, etc. It’s awesome to get one-on-one time with my spunky and curious Frederick.

Fred still loves to have a constant flow of a sippy cup and the comfort of Blanket. He remains a fearless climber and is continuing to grow his vocabulary. He is stubborn and likes to run. He is social but loves to have some quality time with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He still doesn’t converse much, but his first phrases or “WHEREITGO?” and “WHEREAREYOU?” are pretty darn cute. He can name animals and identifies all numbers and letters as “two”. The boy’s a genius.

MY BOYS!

Okay, I’m hoping this jump starts more blogging. We flattened the back yard and added a new-to-us playground. We also stopped a bat infestation. That’s worth an entry. And of course Halloween is coming up, where Ben plans on being a ghost for the second year in a row. Because if it’s not broken, don’t fix it!! Man, I love that kid.

Happy Thursday!

We are in a sweet spot  – after summer super fun and before school starts. Finally time for a decent update about the boys.

Fred is fearless and hilarious. He is saying a lot of random words and phrases, but a few of the most frequent/favorite are:

• “I GUCK!” Guck = stuck, used when he crawls into tight spaces
• “knock knock helllllooooo!!!!” His favorite game when shutting doors.
• “RISSSSSSSEEEEE!” His favorite game when opening doors.
• “AREYOUUUUUUU??!!! BRUBBER!?!!???” Looking for Ben. Ben loves that Fred calls him “Brubber”. I do to. I kinda hope he calls him that forever.
• “AWT DAWG” Must be lunch or the end of Mickey Mouse Club House…
• “El-phant” Followed by a trumpeting sound.
• “ELP! ELP! ELP!” Help. Usually yelled at the top of his lungs when I’m carrying him away from an activity he doesn’t want to stop but I find somewhat dangerous. Sigh…
• “Owie” The kid is a tank, but he knows when things hurt.
• “DADADADADADADADADADA!” He gets pumped when Jesse comes home.
• “aaaAH-Kay…” Probably my favorite phrase. I never realized how many questions I end with “okay?” until Fredy started repeating “awe-kay”. Then whenever he falls, he pops up with an “AH-KAY!”

Fred is definitely pushing boundaries, testing what he can do, and being adorable while doing it. He loves any form of Mickey cartoon and still loves Blankie (DEEEE!). It’s going to be fun to have a lot of Fred/Mommy time while Ben is at school this year.

Ben continues to be one of the most interesting people I know. He is thoughtful and sensitive but also has a very spunky side. He has created an alter-ego “Lightning McBen” that challenges people to races and announces, “I RUN SO FAST THAT SPIT COMES OUT OF MY MOUTH!” Unfortunately, Lightning McBen needs to practice his track and field races, and we are learning how to be a good sport during losses.

Ben’s love of Trackmaster trains has become more of a lifestyle. The kid’s engineer brain is really quite amazing and can spend a lot of time redesigning track and telling stories. For better or worse, he’s been hooked on YouTube videos of Trackmaster toys during Brother’s nap time. It’s been really adding to his own imaginary play and giving him ideas, but it also fuels the desire to have more and more train sets. Good job, marketing YouTube geniuses! He has developed a pretty track-heavy birthday wishlist.

Ben’s most common phrases are “But why?” and “What happened?”

One of the best things happening in our lives is that the boys are really playing together – not just near each other. Ben can be a really sweet big brother. He can also be super annoyed by his brother. But most of the time, they are wrestling and sharing trains. I caught Ben teaching Fred about a Jack in the Box the other day (“I showed him the popper!!”). Sometimes, Ben announces that Fred is his best friend, and I hope they continue to be great friends throughout their lives!

We are still lucky to have GREAT luck with bedtime. The boys crash pretty hard around 7:30. No matter when we put them to bed, though, Fred is ready to party by 6-6:30. Today it was 5:50….yesterday was 5:00. Oh, buddy. I’m trying to desire being a morning person, but the urge just isn’t hitting me yet….

Next updates will be birthdays and school and the end of summer. Oh my!

I have slacked off on the blog this summer. But, oh, how this summer has been lovely. Other than the boys being at really sweet ages and having lots of time to just play around, there were two glorious weekends this summer that took us coast to coast. It’s rare to pull off nearly flawless trips, and we conquered two of them this year – making a million amazing memories. I’m going to try to sum them up and be brief – which will be a very challenging task. **Also, we were joined on both trips by spectacular people, but I never know who wants to be splashed across the internet. So, I’m keeping those pictures to myself. But our friends and family on this trip were ammmmaaaaazzzzing travel companions.**

First trip: California!

When one of your college bestie’s husband asks for the roommates to reunite for her birthday at Disneyland, the only answer to say is: YES. Ten adults and two preschoolers met up for a glorious 48 hours.

Our family went a day early to catch an additional Disney day and try to meet up with an aunt (unfortunately that didn’t work out…). Ben was an excellent traveler, but by the time we took two planes and drove in LA traffic….well, he was DONE. Even the next morning, he wasn’t keen on going anywhere. However, when we took him to Disney’s California Adventure, it took him about 10 seconds to realize this was a GREAT plan.

Taking Ben to Carsland was everything I wanted it to be. As he looked around and realized that he was pretty much in the movie, it was bliss. He turned and announced, “Hey! This is the road that Lightning McQueen made!!” We were able to walk-on many rides and enjoy all the details of the area. It was so cool.

Check out this smile! It pretty much sums up the day.

After California Adventure, we met up with the friends at the hotel and the reunion began! It is a gift to pick up where we left off and still be in touch with these friends.

Friday was spent hiking, swimming, and exploring Crystal Cove State Park. I guess I didn’t really know what to expect in Southern California, but it was so gorgeous. A very tough hike (with a preschooler, anyway) led to super awesome fun time at the beach. It was Ben’s first time to the ocean and it LOVED it. He hopped the waves wearing his “sea pants” and had so much fun.

After putting the kids to bed, most of the adults went out to Downtown Disney for a dinner. And then we were ready for……..Disneyland!!

Ben was pretty pumped about a NEW Disneyland, and it exceeded expectations for all of us – perfect weather, extremely low wait times, happy kids, cheesy stage shows, characters, friends, parades, AWESOME. Ben said his favorite part was playing in Goofy’s house. He also loved the speedway cars. He would have loved the parade too, but the preschoolers were super tired by that point. After a couple hours back at the hotel to regroup, Dana and I headed back to the park for Spectromagic – which was full of super legit magic.

And then it was (thankfully) only one flight home and we were back to Iowa.

It is so sad to summarize the trip so briefly, but I have to keep moving if I want to catch up on this whole blog thing. Because after three weeks back home, it was off to Florida!

Oh, you might have missed Fred in that last trip. We decided he would have way more fun with my parents instead of three flights and three action packed days. For our Florida trip, we left BOTH boys with Jesse’s parents. Getting into our AirBNB at 1 AM, full beach days, fancy dinner, and an evening beach wedding did not seem to match the current development of our kiddos.  😉

We celebrated Jesse’s 35th birthday, relaxed on the beach, caught up with friends, and sat and read actual books. But most importantly, we celebrated the sister’s wedding. I gained a brother, 2 nieces, and a nephew. It was really a perfect weekend for the new couple!

JUNE POST FAIL!
I started it. I never posted it. Booooo….. I’ve only skipped a month a couple of times since Ben was born. But if I can get myself in gear, I’ll make up for it! It’s been an amazing summer so far. So I’m going to post a few pictures that some up the boys in June and skip ahead with a new post about our coast-to-coast summer and where the boys are now. Whew!

AH! It’s June 3rd! Stop! I’m not writing things down fast enough. Yowsa…

May was awesome and exhausting and busy and fun….and we are ready for summer!
Lightning Round List for May:

• Mother’s Day and celebrations with family
• Weekly yoga classes made me hurt.
• Our annual Adventureland adventure!
• The end of preschool!
• A trip to my folks while Jesse was at a work conference
• I completed CASA training and started volunteer work with that
• Friends, outside, yard work, bike rides
• Mommy nights of another Bachelorette season have begun

Fred is absorbing everything. He loves his Brubber Ben and wants to keep up. He is talking more and more, but here are some mastered and frequent phrases:
WHAZZAT?
UP
NO
HEREGO!
Names of family members
Names of Mickey characters (GOO! LOO-LO! MEEEE! MIIIIII! DUCK!)
DEEEEEEEEE (I want my blankie!)
OT DOG! (hot dog dance)
I swear he’s trying to repeat everything now. There are many times I swear he says things, but I refuse to believe it.

In the most shocking news, Fred has a great interest in the potty – at 21 months!! He lifts the lid, puts on the potty seat, and pulls at his clothes. He actually goes potty 50% of the time we humor him and put him on the potty. I’m not over-encouraging this right now or expecting anything, but this is HUGE for us.

I’m slightly bias, but Ben is just a really neat kid. He’s sensitive and really thinks about things. He’s social, but he likes to play by himself. He is annoyed by his brother and LOVES him at the same time. He asks, “But why??” to most things. He tries to use grown up phrases and mostly gets them right.
“Okay! I will be there in a flash!”
“Indeed!”
“Awe, shucks!”
“That much for me is good swell!”
“A __________ would be nice.”

His jokes are still amazing:
“How does an octopus get 500 puppies?
FROM A STORE!”
“How does a sandwich brush his teeth?
WITH ITS TOOTHBRUSH!!!”

Out of the blue, he told me, “You’re the best mom I could ever have.” Just stop it, kid. I can’t handle it.

When he opened the door and I told him that he needed to ask permission….
“May I have a mission please?”

I just didn’t realize how much he really grew up this year. Then preschool ended, we got a portfolio of his work/development, and I saw these pictures. Woah.

So much more is happening, but if I don’t publish this now, it just won’t happen. So here is “May”! Looking forward to a summer full of popsicles, a few sweet weekend trips, and loving up these boys without a schedule of any kind!

Here is a quick snapshot of the boys. Hopefully, I’ll be catching up on the awesome of Easter, story times, family times, zoo visits, and more soon. We’ve been on a streak of good health (fingers crossed that continues) and the boys have been a lot of fun lately. But for now, here’s a monthly update before another month slips by!

FRED (20 Months)

“What’s the deal with Fred?”
“He wants to be in the laundry basket until he’s in it.”
“Yeah, that makes sense.”

Fred is hilariously cute and independent and easily frustrated and adorable. Everything in the world is better when he looks for something by throwing up his arms and exclaiming, “WhereGO? WhereGO?” Another favorite thing is when he agrees with something and wiggles his eyebrows and nods his whole head at the same time. But my absolute favorite thing is what he calls Ben: “Brubba”. He says it with concern and excitement. He loves trying to name everyone in the room and in pictures. DAH DAH! MAH MAH! BRUBBER! Mickey Mouse is definitely his favorite show and he won’t move as long as it’s on the screen. He is still our early riser and thinks one nap is enough – even if it’s a ten minute power nap in the car. He’s starting to name things (socks, shoes, bubbles) and does great sound effects (cat – neeOW, elephant, monkey, car, plane, dog, snake, etc.).

BEN (4 1/2)

“What behavior are you going to have at school today?”
“I don’t know. Let’s check and see!”

Ben is starting to use more expressions:
“I’ll be down in a flash!”
“Indeed!”

And asking more questions:
“Why do we have necks?”
(To hold up our heads…)
“But why?”

He is at such a sweet spot of being a big kid and still being ridiculously innocent. 4 1/2 is awesome. He tells people his age and holds up a hand with one finger bent. “I’M 4 AND A HALF!” He’s so excited for his next birthday. He’s finally enjoying preschool enough where I think he will be sad that it’s over. He’s starting to draw more (kind of) and loves to play Mario as a reward.

BROTHERS

The pictures say it all….

Without jinxing us, we have all been healthy for two whole weeks. It has been so ridicu0lous0 t0here0re0s0lgint.

Okay, I’m leaving that in there. This is why my monthly blogs are barely getting done. Thanks, Freddy.  🙂

But like I was saying, it has been so ridiculously nice to be healthy. After we had a two day streak of health, I was seriously worried about leaving the house and interacting with anyone. It’s been that kind of germ-filled, germ-phobic winter. Finally, slowly but surely, we joined the rest of society and have been enjoying the mild temperatures!

**Quick note: I didn’t post this in March. It’s April – it’s been cloudy for 12 days in a row – and 3/4 of us have pretty bad colds. Ha!**

Quick boy updates:

Ben is talking more with peers and telling stories to us. A common introduction: “Hi! I’m Ben! But my family calls me Benny. My mom and dad call me Benny. I have three names! Ben. Benny. Benjamin!” Jesse and I still have to do a lot of improvisational work, as he still just demands, “What does __________ (minions, Minnie, Thomas, etc.) say?” And then he will give a short response and then ask us again what our character says. It’s upping my acting skills.

My favorite thing Ben says right now is, “I DON’T LIKE THAT GOOD IDEA!” As in:
“It’s time to pause the game and go potty….”
“I don’t like that good idea!!!”
Gets me every time…

He’s improving his writing and showing more interest in lower case letters. He loves to play Candy Land and LOVES to win at Candy Land. His favorites continue to be Thomas, Lightning McQueen, and Mickey Mouse.

Fred continues to be brilliantly cute with moments of heightened frustration. It’s hard to only have a few words and phrases in your communication toolbox. He points to things and tries more words. He has some books memorized based on the sounds he makes. He loves Peek a Boo and anything his brother has. He is a picky eater but lights up at the word “snacks” and nods his head with gusto.

Update Lightning Round! Since this post is already super late….

The boys have finally discovered a (small) interest in stickers…

The zoo is always fun.

Sometimes you need some privacy to eat cheese.

We finally discovered Snap Chat. Ben wants to “Snappychappy” with me every day to see the new filters.

Almost friends…..kind of…..

Grandpas are awesome.

They have the power to melt my heart.

Our first trip to Reiman Gardens was a huge success. I look forward to going in the summer when there is more to see!

Yard work and yard play. We hatched several baby dinosaurs and a chicken!

Everyday life.