Happy Birthday Kinnick!

Kinnick's actual birthday was a hard day for me... For Sadie's 1st two birthdays, I was able to be off work for the day and we celebrated as a family by doing something fun. I wasn't able to take off Kinnick's birthday... this was really hard for me and my day started with a lot of tears. (I'm sure that being exhausted and pregnant contributed to my emotions.) As it turned out--we had a pretty great day.

We have a tradition of waking the kids up by singing "Happy Birthday" to them. Sadie was super excited for this! She climbed in the crib with her excited brother.

Kinnick dressed in his "Birthday Boy" shirt

I made football cupcakes for Kinnick to take to his sitter's. The kids hadn't been to the sitter's all week, so they were excited to see their friends and have a party for Kinnick.

Kinnick's Birthday Party

So... I'm a little behind on posting! Kinnick's birthday party was 3 weeks ago. I can't believe how BIG he is getting! We had so much fun planning a Hawkeye party for him. (We bought all of his plates, napkins, balloons, etc. during one of our IA visits.) We had one big party at our church and invited friends and family. Here are some pictures from the fun day:

The birthday boy--all decked out in his black and gold.

This was Kinnick's little cake that I made. (After cutting out all of the pieces for his invitations, I was able to free hand the tigerhawk logo fairly successfully!)

I decided to get help with the big cake this year... (I'm glad I did, because this week turned out to be a pretty stressful and exhausting one!)

Grandpa Chuck, Aunt NeeNee and Jaren (The "CO Gorschs" got here just in time for the party--we were so excited that their visit coordinated with Kinnick's birthday!)

Getting ready for cake--Kinnick immediately started grabbing at his cake (and his candle) as soon as we put it in front of him.

Big sister helped him blow out his candle.

Kinnick knew just what to do!

I'm pretty sure he would have eaten the whole cake--I finally took it away.

Kinnick with his friends and cousins

We sat on the floor to open presents and it got a little crazy--all of the kids wanted to help open presents.

Kinnick did like to walk around his presents and check them out.

He also liked looking at his new toys--he really liked this John Deer tractor that his dad picked out! After about half of his presents, he was done sitting on my lap and I ended up (along with the group of CRAZY kids) opening the rest by myself!

My little man's first birthday party...

Daddy and his little hawkeye...

After the party, we invited the grandparents back to our house to have pizza. Kinnick was so exhausted, he just sat in his highchair and looked around. This is very unusual because he LOVES pizza!

Unexpected Visit

Several weeks ago, Trista decided (at the last minute) to come for a visit with Jadyn & Jaren. They hadn't been to our house since last December, so it was a lot of fun! Sadie always loves seeing her cousins. It was a SUPER nice weekend so we tried to spend a lot of time outside...

Jadyn & Kinnick snuggling in the morning

Sadie & Jaren after bathtime

Our picnic at the park

Enjoying a bike ride

This is probably the best picture of these four cousins that we have to date... It's always interesting trying to have a photo shoot! (Jadyn-7, Sadie & Jaren-almost 3, Kinnick-almost 1)

6 Month Belly

Well, I've officially hit the 3rd trimester... I can't believe how close Feb. is getting! It seems far away with holidays coming up, but I also know that the holidays will fly by... My biggest challenge now is getting ready for my maternity leave. This week has been pretty exhausting trying to get ready for Kinnick's 1st birthday, but I'm SO excited! I can't wait to see friends tomorrow at the missionary convention and we can't wait for the Colorado cousins (and other family) to arrive on Saturday! It's going to be a *FUN* week!

"You are my brother, and I LOVE you!"

I just adore watching my kids interact with one another. I believe that Kinnick is going to be very tough thanks to his big sister, but I also know that he has a big sister that loves him a whole lot! Bathtime!

Baking with Mom...

Sit & Spin

Kinnick's 1st wagon ride

Kinnick first learning to crawl...

Growing Up

This park is just down the street from our house... When Sadie was one we went here a few times to play. Last summer was a much different story--if I didn't want to stop I had to re-route my walk in order to not go near the park! Sadie loves going here--we ended up here at least every other day over the summer.

Back in May we started going after school ALOT to pass some time before Marc gets home from work. On one of these occasions, there were three 5th or 6th grade girls here playing. As I overheard their conversations and watched them play, it was good to see that they still had somewhat of an "innocence" about them. As I watched, I couldn't help but think, "Did their moms bring them here when they were little?" and "Do their moms know exactly where they are right now?" It got me thinking... How old will Sadie be when I let her walk down the street with a friend to the park? Will I secretly watch her to make sure she's safe? When do you start letting go and trust your child to make her own decisions? WOW--being a parent is really hard. I'm glad I still have time left, because I'm not at all ready to start handling these thoughts!

Although Sadie is years from going to the park by herself, I witnessed huge changes in her in just one summer. All of our first trips to the park were filled with calls of "Mommy, help me!" I can't pinpoint exactly when it happened, but somewhere along the way those calls turned into "Mommy, watch me!"

Don't get me wrong--I'm glad my little girl is growing up and I'm so excited she is becoming more independent and learning new things every day; however, it's sad to know that "Mommy, help me" will be used less and less as she continues to master so many new things.

(Don't even get me started on the little guy--he's growing up WAY too fast! With Sadie, I was so excited for each new milestone. This time around, I've continually thought, "Could you wait just a bit longer before learning that?" I can't even imagine how I will feel with baby #3 knowing that it may be our last!)

As Sadie continues to grow, I'm continuing to pray daily for wisdom, patience, and an abundance of love to give her. I know that our relationship will continue to change throughout her whole life and I'm excited to experience each new stage.

But for now, I just want to capture this moment in time...

By the way--just for the record: Sadie told me yesterday, "Mommy if you turn that water off again and I don't like it, I am going to tell you to go to timeout!"

Trick or Treat..

or "trickin treatin" as Sadie called it. We had a fun night... Sadie was very excited when Marc got home from work. "Are you going trickin treatin with us Dad?"
My two Monkeys!

Sadie's friends Carson & Megan stopped by earlier in the afternoon. (They wore these monkey costumes two years ago!)

Before we left, we gave the kids there Halloween presents. Sadie got her first pez dispenser. She had to carry it w/ her in her bucket. She was a big fan, but she continues to call them "Fez".

Kinnick is checking out his new Halloween book with dad.

Before we left, we moved our pumpkins to the front door--Kinnick kept dropping the little one, I'm surprised it didn't break!

Headed across the street... We took the kids to two neighbors houses before we went to the church (kind of ridiculous how much candy (and other goodies) we ended up with from only two stops!)

Our church's Halloween alternative this year was a continuation of our VBS from summer. We started with family photos and dinner and then got to visit different rooms. Each room had a VBS character and a game. After each game, the kids got candy and collected Bible verse cards. Sadie really enjoyed it and was able to do most of the games.

Carrying an alligator egg to the nest.

Playing the spider game...

Making a craft--she LOVES stickers!

This pic is after a few pieces of candy...

When we got home, Sadie wanted to dump all of her candy into the Hawkeye bowl (w/ her candy from the morning.) Kinnick wanted anything he could get his hands on!

He kept trying to put candy in his mouth that was still in the wrapper--it was pretty fun. Since last night, I think Sadie has had more fun sorting and organizing her candy then eating it!

Let the Fun Begin!

I guess this is part 1 of our Halloween fun... Sadie is really starting to get more into Holiday festivities (I can't wait for Christmas this year!) She enjoyed helping me get out some fall decorations and was very excited to see her stack of Halloween/Fall books come out of the basement. She liked helping make some Halloween treats this year (including pumpkin bars and orange rice krispie treats w/ Halloween sprinkles. She has LOVED seeing kids dressed up also. She was a bit hesitant of the scary costumes at first, but she told me yesterday after talking to a skeleton (w/ a mask) in my classroom--"Mom, I like that scary man." Her dad has enjoyed teasing her about "scary" jack-o-lanterns and she likes to tease him back by being scary (a dryer sheet over her face = a ghost).

Sadie chose to make Halloween trail mix for her friends at church and Ms. Jennifer's. She loved dumping everything together, stirring, and filling the bags--perfect for a 2 year old! (Kinnick enjoyed sitting in his high chair and eating cheerios and dried fruit.)

Sadie came to my party at school--she thought she was big stuff marching in the parade then watching all of the big kids march by. She also enjoyed the cupcakes and treat bags. My Kindergarten kids always love to have her.

Last night, we carved our pumpkin from the pumpkin patch. Kinnick loved exploring the slime. He of course was trying to eat the seeds. He also kept trying to put everything back into the pumpkin--makes sense, right?

Sadie was a bit more of a priss this year... she wanted to wash her hands every time she reached in. She was also very concerned about when we would be washing her clothes and the sheet on the floor. She told us that Kinnick was getting way to messy. This picture is her showing her messy hands and making a pouty face.

After the big debate, Sadie wanted a "nice" jack-o-lantern. We decided to carve it to match Kinnick's shirt...

Both kids were in awe when we turned off the lights and lit up our jack-o-lantern. Kinnick got very mad that I would not let him reach in and grab the candle. Sadie told him "No Kinnick, we do not touch candles. That is very dangerous!"

Today was Streator's down-town trick-or-treating. This is the first year we attended. We stopped at the library first--they give out books every year. Sadie had fun!

Marc had to work this morning, but we went with Sadie's friend Mikenna and her parents. (I was glad, b/c I don't know if I could have handled both kids by myself--too many stores to go into w/ a stroller and a 2-year old!)

Kinnick was out by 10:30 when we were ready to head home. He was a tired little monkey!Stayed tuned for part 2...