Ahh... It's finally beginning to feel like summer and in the Singewald house, and we LOVE it!!
Since we last updated, our days have been filled with excitement, fun, stress, and even exhaustion, but through it all, we've kept our humor and love of the little moments in life!
John is getting bigger and bigger every day and loves to spend time with his little sister! He is an AMAZING helper with Emma and when you watch him interact with her, you can see his deep love and respect for her, even if there are times when he trips her, wrestles her to the ground or takes something from her that she's currently playing with! I just try to remind Emma that it'll make her tough, but all the while reminding John to be nice!
At only a few months from being 5, John also enjoys:
* riding his new Lightening McQueen bike. His goal is to be off his training wheels by the time he's 5, which we remind him is closer than he thinks, but he's convinced that with multiple trips to the park this summer, he can do it!
* exploring new things, whether it is layering sidewalk chalk on top of one another to see what new color or pattern he can create or learning about the midnight zone in the ocean and all the fish that can live there, he never ceases to amaze us!
* trips to the park to swing and go down the slides! He is getting more and more daring each time we go, which is great to see, as he was a little more on the reserved side in past years
* fishing with his Daddy, Nana and Papa! He doesn't like to touch the fish like his Mom, but he sure does enjoy catching them, and he's quite good at it!
* printing pictures of the Octonauts, Disney Junior friends and PBS Kids friends, and then coloring them and cutting them out. He has also enjoyed cutting out any other pictures of animals and fish and soon will have quite the collage to be glued together!
* talking to and getting excited for his little brother or sister's arrival. He's convinced it's a boy!
* rocking with Emma at night to calm her down. He snuggles with her and softly reads to her and snuggles with her. He is so precious with her!
Emma is now only a few weeks from being a big 2 year-old and we can't believe where the time has gone! She is a chatty, energetic, feisty and fun little lady who loves to:
* read her favorite stories of Goodnight Moon, Ten Little Ladybugs, Ten Wriggly Wiggly Caterpillars, Goodnight Thumper and Thank you for Me in her rocking chair
* do things on her own! Little Miss Independent's favorite phrase is "me do it!"
* watch, read or play with Minnie Mouse or Sophia the First
* snuggle with her blankie and thumb
* fishing with her Daddy, Nana and Papa! She LOVES to touch the fish and is even willing to throw them back when they're not keepers!
* she is fearless! Emma is not afraid of anything and will run for anything John is doing and believe she can do it too! She definitely looks up to her big brother!
* give her little baby brother or sister big kisses and greetings! She is convinced the baby is a girl!
* say the phrases she knows she shouldn't! One of her favorite phrases to get our attention is "Oh, Poop!" to which she will look out the corner of her eye and smirk to see what our reaction is. We always respond with "Oh, silly!" "Oh, gosh!" (which is one of her favorites to repeat since it's almost hard for her to say!) and "Oh, golly gosh!"
* break into random bouts of "Baby Beluga"as she is playing, but she only knows "Baby Beluga" on her own, but can fill in other words if we sing it all together.
* loves to color with crayons, paint with water and create pictures in her Color Wonder book too. She is an artsy little lady!
* loves to create pictures with stickers too! She, like John at this age, likes to line them up in rows on the paper, rather than have them scattered all over. I wonder if that leads to a more concrete sequential learning preference for later in life?
* calls "yoo hoo!" if she can't find something and asks, "________, where are you?!"
Enjoy some pictures of our sweet little blessings!
John's sweet snuggles with Emma...
We found out the end of February that we would be welcoming another new little one to our pumpkin patch the end of the October and we were thrilled! The beginning portion of my pregnancy was rocky with severe morning sickness that lasted all day. Sadly, this time, my Zofran didn't really do anything to touch it, so I didn't take it very much. Thankfully, by 13 weeks, I started to have more energy and less nausea, which was good because my school year was ramping up into the final weeks and life was chaos in all directions! It's hard to believe we're already half way through our pregnancy to meeting this little bundle and will soon know if we will be blessed with more pink or blue!
During a cold, winter day (in March) we enjoyed some time swimming at Nana and Papa's apartment pool. The kids loved it and were definitely tired when we headed home! John did a great job being more comfortable in the pool and jumping in off the side. Emma was a little more snuggly in the water, but did a great job of getting her face wet and splashing too!
On St. Patrick's Day, Emma wanted to wear her apron (yes, it has hearts all over it!) and was more than pleased to smile and take some pictures! Whenever she sees the camera she shouts "Cheese!" and smiles!
As I was making dinner that night, I heard some soft singing from the office area. When I peeked around the corner, Emma was sitting in the chair, spinning herself around and singing! Her random bouts of singing are common, but she loved spinning in the chair. I tried to get a few pictures to show the glee on her face as she spun around!
Phil was interested in going to the Northwest Sports Show the end of March, and I was not (it was a rough day in the land of morning sickness)! He went with his family and brought John along for the fun and John felt like he was in heaven! He loved sitting on the Four Wheelers...
fishing in the trout pond...
I caught one!!!
sitting and "driving" the tractor...
painting the duck decoy ("Mom, it's head is green because it's a boy Mallard and they have green heads.") I see a future hunter in the making and he was obviously listening to one of his daddy's many lessons on the different coloration of ducks...
making his own turkey call, which he lovingly gave to Phil to use on his turkey hunting weekend in April!
Emma looking cute...
Over spring break the last week in March, we laid low, but also enjoyed a few outings here and there with the kids. We took a ride one day to Choo Choo Bob's Train Store in St. Paul and the kids were able to play there for awhile and were in awe of all the model trains set up in the store. After that, we headed to enjoy lunch with Nana at her school, since our spring breaks were at different times. The kids loved visiting her and seeing her classroom.
On Tuesday, March 26th, Emma had ear tubes put in with hopes that it would stop her constant ear infections, help her sleep through the night (since she wouldn't be in pain anymore) and aid in her speech development. At the beginning of the whole process, honestly, I wasn't the least bit concerned about her speech development or that she had any hearing loss from the constant ear infections since the beginning of December. She was talking in 2-3 word phrases and was picking up new words regularly, and was certainly above the "average" of where she should be verbally at 20 months. We were more concerned with her being on meds that weren't working and that she was in pain. However, when they did the initial hearing test prior to the surgery, she came out as being on the edge of a hearing loss! We were shocked! Only a few days after the surgery though, we were AMAZED at how fast her vocabulary had increased and her spunky personality had consistently come back!
Waiting for surgery in the big rocking chair...
Starting to get tired, as her surgery wasn't until early afternoon. She did a great job with the food/drink restrictions though! What a trooper!
Look at how cute I am in my hospital gown! I'm sleepy, but still full of smiles!
Emma came through the surgery with flying colors! We were shocked that it was only 15 minutes and she was done! Within an hour after surgery, we were on our way home to snuggle and relax! She cried a lot after surgery, which we were told was common for kids to be upset for periods of time throughout the evening because of not knowing why they had that icky feeling from being put to sleep and then hurting and feeling gross overall. However, the next day, she was mostly back to her normal self, with a few snuggle periods throughout the day. At one point, she decided she wanted to snuggle on "Mama's pillow, please" and rest on my bed. How could I say no to that?
We were excited to end our week of spring break with our first glimpse at our new little addition. He or she was very active with a heartbeat of 173 and we had a few fast glimpses of his or her little arms and legs.
Easter in our house this year was so much fun for both of the kids! Emma really enjoyed looking in her basket and seeing what the Easter bunny had brought her and John enjoyed all the different treats left for him too!
Nice! It's a new Thomas the Train engine named Belle!
Ohhh...
Whoppers! YUM!
New Color Wonder books!
(How perfect for Easter Mass a few hours later! That Easter Bunny is one smart cookie!)
Time to carry the baskets around...
and take all the grass out!
One more smell of my Whopper.... Don't worry, Mom, I won't eat it...yet!
All ready for Easter Mass!
We enjoyed time together as a family that afternoon when our parents came over for dinner and to decorate Easter eggs together. Sadly, our time was cut short after egg dying because John had to be taken to the doctor for impetigo that had quickly spread on his cheek and we were afraid it was going toward his eye like last time. Thankfully, all ended up fine and with a few days of medication, he was good to go again!
Emma LOVED ribs, but certainly didn't want hers cut off the bone. She wanted to eat it like a big girl!
Time for the Easter egg hunt! In the tradition of my family, Russell Stover Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Eggs were hidden around the house. We didn't think that Emma would fully grasp what was going on, but with a little help to point out the easily "hidden" eggs on the window ledge, on top of her toys, etc, she quickly found the fun and excitement in the hunt! She proudly showed off those she had found and even did a little victory dance after finding the box of peeps! John also loved the egg hunt and was so sweet to help Emma find some when she struggled too!
Hey, Mom! I found John's hat, one of my shoes and one of daddy's! I'm ready to go outside!
The end of April, the stomach bug hit our family hard. Phil, Emma and I all were hit hard enough to have to go to the ER at different times to get IV fluids. Thankfully, after a few liters and some extra rest and anti-nausea meds, we were all better soon!
John has done a great job lately of completing his chores/expectations around the house and has earned some special time with mom or dad, picked dinner, etc for his reward. One reward that he chose was a sleepover with Dad. They stayed up late, watched Duck Tales cartoons and slept downstairs in the family room. He talked nonstop about his Daddy time for days after!
Finally, the weather was nice enough to be outside! John pulled out the little trike at my parents so Emma could enjoy a ride too! She loved every minute of it! Soon, her legs will easily reach to pedal on her own!
Over Mother's Day weekend, we enjoyed having Mike and Jeanna home to celebrate the upcoming arrival of their little baby girl! Katie and I planned a nursery rhyme theme shower and tried to be creative and coordinate the food with nursery rhyme titles as well! It was a great celebration and wonderful to see family we don't connect with often!
The kids loved the balloons! They provided days of fun following the baby shower!
The parents-to-be!
After the baby shower we enjoyed family time together. Emma loved the corn on the cob at dinner that night and gladly took it right off Uncle Steve's plate!
Other cute kid moments...
Emma found her winter boots and put them on to head outside one day. She was so proud!
It's sunny outside! FINALLY!
Rain boot fun! Emma LOVES her boots and will randomly put them on in the house!
It was almost summer break and the sunshine seemed to be around to stay, at least for a few days! We took advantage of a beautiful morning and went outside to blow bubbles and draw with sidewalk chalk. The kids had a great time, even when Emma was tasting the bubbles because she didn't just blow the air out, but sucked it back in too, and brought her bubble wand right to her lips!
Ewww... pucker up!
Ewww... pucker up!
Stories on mom's bed!
As crazy as it was to believe, John was finishing his first year of preschool on May 23! Where did the year go? He loved his year of meeting new friends, learning new things and being able to go to school with mom and dad!
Preschool graduation...
A Tootie Tot Song... One of John's favorites!
John's singing!
Getting his "diploma"
Our proud little graduate....
Other funny moments from John and Emma...
They are so lovey with each other! One will ask for a kiss and the other will instantly pucker up! It's so cute!
They are the best of friends!
"Oh, feet smell good," says Emma!
Over Memorial Day weekend, we headed up north to enjoy some time on the lake and some fishing! John and Emma both loved every moment! We didn't realize that Emma was going to be such an outdoors girl and willing to touch every fish possible and even throw them back in when they were too little to keep! She is fearless! They both participated in the kids' fishing contest as well and had a great time! John even won 3rd place for his age division with the Northern he caught!
The beginning of June marked that the end of school was finally around the corner! After many long days and MANY extra hours spent wrapping things up after school was out June 5, it was time to start summer off on the right foot and relax together! We headed to Como Zoo that weekend for a day with Phil's brother, Matt. The kids loved the extra time with him and an opportunity to see so many animals we normally don't see at the MN Zoo.
Instantly, we all loved our time at home and that summer was finally here! Creativity shone through as sticker pictures were made, coloring was completed, cutting and collages were made!
Little Miss Emma and her cute self... She thought she was pretty funny sitting on the toy for a picture!
It's sidewalk chalk time!
Uh-oh! Messy hands!
You know, it's a lot more fun to ride the broom than use it to sweep!
Father's Day weekend up north...
Baby #3 at 19.5 weeks!
As I finally finish this post 3 weeks after I started it, I have to sit back and sigh at the fun, but chaos that has happened since then! After school ended, we had a week at home to start to get things organized for our family vacation to California that we had been planning since January. We were so excited! We headed up north over Father's Day, enjoyed our family time together and then returned to quickly unpack, start repacking, head to Mayo for 2 days for a few routine tests for Phil (which all turned out amazingly well!), have my final doctor appointment and ultrasound for this new little one... to then leave the following morning! As hard as I tried to get this posted before we left, it just didn't work! Oh, well! Enjoy multiple posts in a short amount of time!
Coming up next.... ultrasound pictures and It's a........ ????!!!!
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