Cambridge Weekend

Last weekend Alisha and I took the kids up to Cambridge for a few days. I went up Thursday through Sunday morning and Matty joined us on Friday night. It's always fun to go to Nana and Papa's but it's even more fun with the cousins! It's crazy how big Macey and Case seem now that Jordan and Sadie have been added to the mix.
On Friday my mom, Alisha and I took all the kids to the Isanti County Fair - I figured out the last time I had been there was 9 years ago!! It was great to see some familiar faces, the best was visiting with Laurie Solle, I was hoping I'd see her and the Cambridge Ambassadors painting faces like I did 9 years ago! Case got his face painted, it was a green "star" that he wouldn't sit still for and then wouldn't stop touching so it was basically a blob - so fun! Then we went to visit the animals - here's Case waving to a pig.

Then ate a really quick lunch because the picnic tables were right by the rides and Case was just dying to go on the rides! First was the car ride - I love this picture of Macey and Case!
Then they went on the merry go round - Alisha and I have such bad motion sickness that my mom rode with them and we could barely even watch! I wish I could be a "fun" mom and go on rides with my kids but that's a dream I'm going to have to give up!
Macey and Case had a blast, Jordan did great and Sadie did what she does best! She slept the entire time, not even a peep!
The next day we went and visited my grandma where there was a great little fenced in courtyard for Macey and Case to run around in. They have the best activities there too - Case had a blast spinning the little windmills, bowling, and they had this thing that made HUGE bubbles.
But the definite highlight for Macey and Case is always my grandma's walker!We headed back for naps and then woke up to play outside! The fought over toy this time, the hose!
Here's some great pics I got of Macey and Sadie that afternoon. Macey just loves her little cousin and she's so much more gentle than Case, it's much easier on me!

A little tired after all the fun!

Camp Lockhart!

Matt and I got a GREAT opportunity to take advantage of being in New Jersey - we decided to stay an extra couple of days to visit a family from our PC year. Jen, Bryon and their kids were wonderful friends of ours who served us time and time again during our year in MD. We learned so much from them about parenting, marriage, fellowship and so much more! It was amazing to see them and catch up on everything that's happened in the last year - like both of us having another child! Jen's sixth!! (Did I mention, she's amazing!) We laughed, swam, played volleyball and got to worship with them at their church. I shouldn't have been surprised, but Jen remembered all my favorites and made chocolate chip cookies, taco salad and even Kraft macaroni and cheese! I didn't take my camera out until our last day there, but here's some shots of us and the kids!

Case just wanted to throw this "fish" in the water to anyone who would retrieve it for hours on end...

Love this shot of Ella!

Jen and I with some of the kids!

Lockharts - Thanks so much for letting us crash with you for a couple of days, we had a blast! We are so excited to see everyone in November!

Cookie Date

Case and I had our first ever cookie date! He helped me make my favorite - chocolate chip cookies! It was so much fun for both of us! He loved helping measure and scoop the flour and sugar out of the canisters and into the bowl and I loved watching him enjoy being a helper!
This was his face after tasting the flour/salt/baking soda mixture... I think at this point he didn't believe me that we were making cookies!
He was very curious about the kitchen aid mixer
Sadie was a perfect angel while we baked!

And what kind of mom would I be if I didn't let Case lick the mixer while the cookies baked!
Enjoying the finished product...

Welcome to the Family!!!

I have my first ever sister in law! Kari Jacobsen has now become Kari Wassink - she married my brother in law, Ryan Wassink on Friday, July 9th. Matt and I love Ryan and Kari so much and couldn't be happier for them. We've been anticipating the wedding since October and I was also nervously anticipating the trip with two little ones. The wedding was in New Jersey, so we flew out the Wednesday before the wedding. My WONDERFUL mom offered to come with us to the wedding to help out with the kids. It was so great having her there and she helped us out SO much! Traveling actually went great, Sadie slept on all the flights and Case slept during the long ones (we had a layover in Chicago). We borrowed a friend's portable DVD player so Case watched Cars - couldn't have been better!
After we arrived, we rested for a couple of hours and then got ready for a welcome bbq! The bbq was great, but my mom and I left early with the kids because I just wasn't feeling well. We went back to the house we were staying at and I was up all night with the full blown flu! It was miserable and I was so bummed to get sick out there, what horrible timing! The next day I pretty much stayed in bed all day, went to the rehearsal, came back early to go to bed and I finally felt better a couple hours before the wedding. It really was too bad I got sick, but I was so thankful for my mom and Matt who took great care of me and for the fact that I did at least feel better before the wedding.
Not only was Matty a groomsman and one of the officiants, but Case was the ring bearer (so brace yourself for a ton of pictures of Case in this post!). We were so excited to see what Case would do! Matt and I both thought for sure he'd run down the aisle which is exactly what he did at the rehearsal. I even had some fruit snacks for a little incentive!
On the day of the wedding, we found out there was a pillow for him to carry. I think it was actually good that he didn't have it during rehearsal because then it was something "new". I took my spot at the front and watched all the bridesmaids come down, I couldn't believe how nervous I was! Then it was time! My mom set him down and told him to "walk to mommy". He walked about five feet and stopped in his tracks. Just stood there! So my mom went up and pointed me out, and he started going again. He did the complete opposite of running down the aisle! He took his sweet old time, swinging the pillow, looking up at people in the pews and just meandering down the aisle. It was so cute and hysterical! And then when he was about 1o feet from me, he decided to throw the pillow! It landed a couple feet in front of him, so he picked it up and was just out of my reach and swung big and threw the pillow way into the air, over my head and my father in law caught it! It was so adoreable! Ahh, I just laughed forever about it, he was great!
Alright, here's some pictures!
He loved being dressed like Daddy and Uncle Ryan!
Sadie was her usual wonderful self the whole week!

Aunt Kari!!

Our family having fun at the reception

The wedding was beautiful and fun and just amazing! Congratulations, Ryan and Kari! We love you guys!

Two weeks old?!?

It's hard to believe that Sadie is already two weeks old! She has been a really sweet and easy baby, typically only waking me up twice at night. That has been a VERY pleasant surprise! Matt had one week off, it was so nice having him home those first couple days. Unfortunately, the weather has been miserable, so he didn't get to take Case outside to get much energy out. His last day home it was sprinkling, so we put Case in his rain boots and coat so he and Matt could go explore some puddles. He had a great time! The next morning when Matt went back to work, I found Case like this...
He put his boots on (even on the right feet) all by himself and kept saying, "ouside, ouside??" (outside). So sweet!
Another morning while I was changing Sadie's diaper, Case walked into the room with the toilet bowl brush in his hand! GROSS!! I try not to think of what germs he got all over the apartment before I saw him with the toilet bowl brush.
Case is very good at "sharing" with Sadie. He likes to bring everything too her, this is how I found her one morning!He must love her a LOT to share his cars with her!
Last Saturday, my mom, Alisha, Macey, Jordan and Brooke all came over for a play day! We spent a little time at the park before it started raining, then we headed back to our place for lunch and play time. Macey and Case were hysterical, I love that they are best buddies. Case always talks about "Mace". Here's a really sweet picture my sister got of Macey and "SadieBelle" as Macey calls her.
Here's a couple of other sweet pictures - Sadie in her newborn outfit that is supposed to go to her ankles, she was only five days old in this picture! Guess she won't be wearing many of her newborn outfits - she is just so long!And here's our little Sadie after her first bath at home. Matt's aunt, Molly, made her this towel - isn't it adorable (the little button says, I heart u)! And it's so nice and big, she'll be able to use it forever!

That's a little of what's been going on here lately! Today ends my ban on driving and picking Case up. I don't quite feel like I can carry him all over the place like I used to, but I am excited to just be able to pick him up instead of having to sit down and ask him to climb into my lap whenever he wants to be held. It also ends my days of having help! Ahhh, on my own! I'm really looking forward to going to the park, zoo, library - anywhere!! Let me know if you are up for a play date!

Family Movie Night

We had our first ever family movie night yesterday evening. It was so much fun! We watched the Pixar movie, Cars. It really is SUCH a cute movie, I had seen part of it and Matt had never watched it. We both LOVED it. But... our excitement didn't come close to matching the excitement of our car-loving Case! He ranged every where from running around in front of the tv saying "Car, Car!" to sitting with Matt saying, "tickle-tickle-tickle-tickle-tickle" super fast (his way of saying he's having a lot of fun) to being a super sweet snuggle bug with me! But maybe the best was this picture - don't worry we didn't let him sit here very long!

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Sibling Love

We had no idea what to expect with regards to how Case would respond to Sadie. We have been blown away by how much he loves his little sister! It has been an absolute joy to see him interact with her. When he came to the hospital to see all of us, he was slightly interested in her, liked touching her nose and her hair, but then he was off to play with a balloon, run with Daddy or jump on my hospital bed! We were really glad that he was so good with her and he was fine when he had to leave the hospital. He'd come say bye to me, walk to the door, turn around and say, "Bye, Baby!" - it was super sweet! Here's some pics from the hospital!


I for one, LOVE the hospital. Best part of the c-section, I get to stay at the hospital for an extra day. I know so many people are itching to get home, but man, I feel like the hospital is a hotel!! They bring me food that I don't have to prepare or clean up after, they change my sheets everyday, they take the baby so I can sleep at night, how does it get any better?!

I did REALLY miss Case so that made me excited to get home, but I was thinking it would be pretty chaotic the first few days. I thought Case would have a hard time with me not being able to pick him up or play with him when I was feeding the baby.

Although he does sometimes like to sit right with me on the boppy while I'm feeding her, he does a great job of understanding when she's eating and he waits patiently for her to be done. He loves to just look at her, touch her, talk to her, bring her toys - he's just been unbelievable! As soon as he wakes up from his nap or comes home from playing at the park with Matt, he says, "Where da baby?" Matt and I have said that's easily the thing he has said most often over the last couple days, we love it!

His new favorite thing is to "hold the baby" he gets her blanket, sits on the couch, pats his legs and says, "Baby, Baby", over and over until we put her in his lap. He actually does a great job! The first couple times, I held her head or had my hand on her body for support. He quickly realized what I was doing and would push my hands away and say, "No." He wants to hold her all by himself! We just couldn't ask for him to be a better big brother! Now we just hope he does as well when Matt goes back to work!

We got Case a present from Sadie... I don't think Matt could have picked a better present! We got him a basketball hoop! Besides "Where da baby", his other phrase we hear constantly from Case is "a hoop!" meaning he wants us to come play basketball with him. He's actually REALLY good at it, he's got great aim and even shoots with one hand.We are loving being a family of four and have loved these days at home together!