Best Boys

These are my best boys, my favorite men in the whole wide world.


Head scratch anyone?

I don't know which one is cuter.

I love them both so much.

It's Fall

It's Fall. Obviously. But with the new house and everything that has happened in our lives since June, it will be amazing if I will even be able to remember this time of life a few years from now. With the lack of sleep combined with the amount of things there are and have been to do, I feel a little bit like my brain has been on auto pilot for the past four months. It was suddenly August and I was thinking, "We had summer? What? When did that happen?" and I feel like I was thinking that yesterday and now it's mid-fall. And someone was talking about November yesterday like it's coming up soon. And some darn company sent me an email last week saying there are only 8 weeks left before the real holiday shopping begins. Meanwhile, I think my brain turned off the day Kyeson was born, so all this time passing is blurry to me.

So, it's Fall. Not obvious to all of us I guess :) During the past 4 months the times that feel real to me, that stand out, are the days where we did something besides pack or unpack boxes or go from project to kids to project to kids all day long. Such as the day my lovely friend Becky suggested that we visit an apple orchard.

It was a perfect fall day. Between the three of us (Steve, Becky, and me) we took about 200 pictures on my camera. I've only downloaded 150 so far because - yet again - I have run out of room on my computer and need to delete more stuff before I can download more pictures. I have already deleted everything in iTunes so I could add more pics...and have now completely filled up that space. New computer? Yes, please.

Anyway. Here are some of my favorites from what I have so far.



A family picture? These NEVER happen for us, so I am super excited that we have one! Even if we didn't plan our outfits and Kyeson is in a sleeper (lazy bum). At least we have a picture of all 5 of us together that isn't the one of us sitting on my hospital bed! :)



These are two of my most favorite pictures of the day for sure.




This is funny. Steve told Berlin to put her arm around Tryn...who said it had to go around her back? Also, Trynie's cheek has a wad of caramel in it, so it's just all together funny cuteness to me.



Me and Becky, laughing at Steve :)



It was a great, great afternoon.

Differences...

I love it when I see very clear differences between my kids. It just makes them seem more and more like their own person and I like figuring out what their personalities are like.

Tryn continues to be fairly timid. For example, we wait at the bus stop every morning with two other mom's who have sons who are in second grade. When the bus pulls up, even if she is standing closest to the bus, Tryn will move out of the way and let the boys get on the bus first. She will not get on before they do. She's like that on the playground too. If a bunch of kids come past her while she is standing near a slide she will just move out of the way and let them all go ahead of her. She'll just stand there and watch them.

Berlin, on the other hand, was playing out in our front yard with Tryn yesterday and a neighbor boy rode by on his bike. Seeing an opportunity Berlin yelled out, "Hey! HEY! Do you want to be our friend?"

She also didn't seem to mind much as he just looked at her and rode on by.

A short time later he rode by again, "Hey! Hey boy! Can we be your friend?" I don't think he was very interested.

Later that night we went to a friends house and a boy the girls had never met walked up to them and said, "Hi! My name is Owen. What's your name?"

Tryn just stared at him and didn't say a thing, so Berlin jumped in, "I'm Berlin...and this is Tryn."

I can already see who is going to be looking out for who in the future. :)

And the chaos that followed...

We moved.

Moving is unnerving. It shakes the core of the rhythm of life - not to mention is completely exhausting. We only moved 5 miles from where we had been living for 4 years, but moving 5 miles in a city is like moving to another town that you've visited a few times. It's not like everything is foreign, but at the same time nothing is the same. Top that with the fact that Kyeson and I are still not sleeping through the night and it makes for some crazy days. For instance, shortly after we moved in here I ran with the girls to Target and got lost. I didn't get lost on the way to Target, I got lost in Target. The new closest Target that I run to is different in layout from all the other Targets that I usually frequent and I was so tired that I literally could not remember where the different areas of the store were. At one point I was standing in the cleaning supplies, and I didn't even know which direction to go to get to the front door. It was a crazy feeling.

We lived like this for about a month.



That whole month we didn't know for sure if we were going to be moving into our house, we didn't close until the day we moved. We just kept planning, hoping, and praying. August 30th the last paperwork finally went through, 2:00pm on August 31st we closed and at 4:00pm we got home and started loading the moving truck.

Chaos.

This is the new place :)



And then 5 days after we moved in Steve started a new job and Tryn started school.



So we had to adjust to new schedules, figuring out how to do the whole bus thing. The first few days found us running down the block to catch the bus - it was a great way to make a first impression with the other moms in the neighborhood.

Even though moving was a very positive experience for us - buying our first house!!! - there were days when all I wanted is to know where my socks were, to not keep opening the wrong kitchen cupboards, and to not feel like I was searching for a new proverbial needle every hour. We went from living in a one level 900 sq foot condo with no yard to a two story house with a basement on a double lot, which was grand, exciting, and more than I had hoped for. It's amazing. What is even more amazing however, is that every morning I know where my favorite coffee mug is and whether or not there is coffee in the cupboard. I can cook a meal with my dishes, which is more therapeutic than a massage and more necessary than the food itself. Normal is good, normal is comfortable. Things are starting to feel normal here. It is so good to feel normal in a bigger house with a great yard in a quiet and safe neighborhood.

Really good.

Today, A New Normal?

This is the first day since moving that we have had a semi normal family day. We actually hung out and did something together that was fun and not work - pictures to come later. However, this is what "normal" means right now...

Wake up. Feed Kyeson. Realize Tryn has 24 minutes left until she has to get on the bus and she is still in pj's. Get Tryn dressed and ready to go. Steve takes Tryn out the door as the bus is pulling up a few minutes early at the end of the block. Watch Steve pick up Tryn and run half a block with her down to the bus. Open up the fridge and coffee gushes out. Proceed to clean up 4 1/2 quarts of cold press coffee that leaked out of the container all over the inside of the fridge. Finally eat breakfast while holding fussy baby. Put Kye down for a nap. Drink a cup of coffee. Start laundry. Kye wakes up screaming after 20 minutes. Feed Kye. Go on a run with Piper. Shower. Make the family lunch. Eat lunch while, again, holding a fussy baby. Drive to an apple orchard with friend Becky. Have a really fabulous time picking apples and playing outside. Drive home. Start apple pie with Berlin. Stop making apple pie because Kye is freaking out. Put Kye down for nap. Make apple pie with Berlin. Start dinner with Tryn. Realize planned chicken dinner also needs to bake. Work out a plan to bake apple pie and chicken at the same time. Finish apple pie. Husband comes in and asks if I made two pies as he needs to bring a dessert to work tomorrow. No. We negotiate. I agree to make another pie. Eat dinner. Run to store with Berlin for more apple pie ingredients. Berlin spills a bag of almonds all over the floor at the store. We pick them up. Come home. Hold Kyeson who is having a rough and gassy day. Put the girls to bed. Start second apple pie. Stop making second pie to hold Kyeson who is not happy. Steve makes some pie. I make some pie while holding Kye in one arm. Finish pie. Remember I started laundry. Do laundry. Put Kye to sleep while Steve irons shirts. Eat a piece of pie. Sit down on the couch. Collapse.

And I told Steve just after dinner, "Today has been a really good day!" He agreed.

Moving Eve

You might be wondering how I am finding myself blogging on the eve of a very big day when I have a countless amount of things to do...the truth is, I don't know. I am eating Sebastian Joe's Nicollet Pothole ice cream (which, lets be honest, if they don't stop making it I am going to have to renew my gym membership! It is the best ice cream I have ever had in my entire life. Not kidding.) and trying to take a small break from the chaos of my life and my house.

Steve and I have lived here on Bryant Ave in North Minneapolis for 3 years and 11 months - moving out one month short of our 4 year anniversary. We have welcomed 2 babies into our family at this house, had countless late night hangs with our besties, Thanksgiving dinners, Christmas breakfasts...this is the home that our girls know. This is the longest I have lived anywhere since I moved out of my parents house when I was barely 17 years old (I think I moved out exactly this week 13 years ago).

Steve and I are bringing our family into our very first house tomorrow. Steve and I own a house, this is brand new for us. It's is exciting beyond words. Something that we have dreamed about for a long time. It's real, it's happening, it's tomorrow. I can't wait to start decorating!

So many thoughts tonight. So much mess. So many boxes. So many feelings. So much chaos.

Freaking Out

Today I am trying not to freak out about several things. One of them is this:



Remember this little baby that I had practically yesterday? She starts school a week from tomorrow. If I think about it too long I might start crying and never stop.

See these two?



They are almost exactly 5 years apart. Five years ago Tryn looked like Kye does in this picture, and now she is big enough to hold him.

Two weeks ago, for the first time ever, I felt excited for Tryn to go to school. She is going to have so much fun learning things that I don't know how to teach her, having all of her questions answered, and making new friends. Her mind is at a place where it needs to be stretched, used, and grown - all with information and projects that I don't have time to do with her. And so I am glad that she will get to learn, because so far she loves to learn.

But I am going to miss her being around.

Also, I am a little nervous about the fact that we are embarking on this journey of "school"...for the next 20 or so years. That seems like a really big thing. Every year around this time we are going to be getting ready for school, the kids will be gone most of the day, and that feels crazy. I was homeschooled and childhood was a totally different experience for me, I don't really know how to do this "going to school" thing. And that seems weird.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, I don't have a ton of time to think about it because I also have a newborn to take care of, a three year old to run after, a five year old to occupy, and a puppy who needs attention. Not to mention we are moving into our first house this week and my husband is starting a new job today.

Call me in a few weeks to see if I am still sane.

:)