Big 12 Champs

We had an awesome weekend in KC last weekend. My parents scored 4 tickets to the Big 12 tournament, and Chad & I were lucky enough to get 2 of them! Initially, we considered bringing the kids with us. But, we had a few sweet offers from friends and family to babysit, and we took Scott & Kaitlyn up on their offer. :) So, Thursday afternoon after work, we hit the road. We made it to the Sprint Center with about an hour to kill before tip off.
 

Thursday nights game was a heart wrencher. We won by a buzzer-beater vs Texas. With a few minutes left to go in the game, we were starting to get sad that we were going to have to turn around and go home. But the Cyclones came through for us. Thursday night in the Power and Light district was madness. So fun.

 



Friday had us meeting the rest of the Julius clan at Kelly's bar, known for their Iowa State affiliations. It was packed with Cyclone fans. My Dad said he was going to photo bomb our picture. And he did. :)

 



We couldn't pass up the mugs they made especially for us Cyclone fans.

 

 

It was really fun to spend the weekend with my parents without the kids, and just enjoy being together. All the good food, basketball, and cold beer didn't hurt either. :)

 



Brooke and Ryan

 

My Dad's side of the family are also huge Cyclone fans, and we got to see a lot of them this weekend too, which was fun. They've been to the tournament before, so they know all the good places to go, and how to upgrade your tickets!

Ron & Kelly

 

 

After we had our fill at Kelly's, we headed to the Power and Light for the pep rally. An appearance by Cy, the cheerleaders, and the Pep Band. Iowa State fans outnumbered every other team there, so it was fun to see all the cardinal and gold chanting the fight song. However, it is not a place for the claustrophobic.

 



My mom and I.

 

Another close game, but we beat Oklahoma and were onto the championship!

 

 

On Saturday morning, we did a little shopping at Crowne Center and a KC perfect BBQ lunch. We were driving home after the game, so we had to pace ourselves better this day.

But pretty soon, we were headed back to Power and Light to brave the mass chaos. A few more Julius's joined us on Saturday.

We thought we better take lots of photos. 

We thought we got at least one with everyone in it, but Chad and Ryan both missed this one. Oh well, there's always next year!

 

And later that night, we watched the Cyclones beat Kansas to win the Big 12 Championship. It was oh-so-sweet. The weekend really couldn't have gone better. We had a kid-free weekend with my parents, beautiful weather, and great basketball. We got to hang out with family, and ran into a lot of old friends. We came home to 3 happy kids and a clean house. We don't know how we'll ever re-pay Scott & Kaitlyn, but we were so thankful for all their help. The kids had a blast, and we were so happy to see them. As excited as I was for a weekend away, I was lonesome for them after just a few hours. 

House Updates

A few house updates. I'm trying to keep track of the timeline, we will see how long that lasts. We are taking bets on how many times we will drive by in the next few months. So far, Chad has me beat by a mile, but to his defense, it's just minutes from his work. 

 

Lumber delivered - February 12th


Basement is framed - February 19th



Basement windows - February 22nd


1st floor is going up - February 23rd, that's a lot of progress in one day!

More framing - February 28th


A few inside shots - living room/fireplace - February 28th

Kitchen - February 28th

2nd floor going up - March 5th


We have a roof now! March 10th

 

Finally safe enough for the kids to walk through it. Evan in his soon-to-be new room

 

Lauren's room

Scarlet in her new room. Obviously, she's thrilled.

We got a call one morning that an entire pallet of plywood was dropped off the fork light into the middle of the kitchen. It shattered 5 or 6 floor trusses and left a hole in the floor. Thankfully, no one was injured. 

Starting to take shape! Windows and front door installed. Getting ready to shingle. March 15th

 



 Right now, our goal is to move in sometime in June. 

A Double Birthday Party

Chad's parents and his brother, Kyle, came all the way from Florida and Missouri to celebrate our birthday girl and boy! Scarlet and Chad share a birthday week, so we felt like an extra-special double birthday party was in order. And, since both of them are big Cyclone fans, an Iowa State party was just the ticket. 

Blowing out the candles! Ok, so maybe when I planned for the cake, I was still in FROZEN mode. But blue icing did made for an interesting cake smash, so it all worked out. ;)

And remember how little miss didn't give 2 thoughts to smashing her FROZEN smash cake? Well, as you can tell, she sure figured it out this time around! I think it was her way of telling me that a box cake mix and boughten frosting are better than an expensive bakery cake. :)

Digging in!

Happily covered in cake and frosting. To the bathtub, we went. 

The rest of the weekend was filled with lots of celebrating as well. The kids enjoyed swimming at the hotel pool, going to the indoor trampoline park, and giving the fam tours of the new house. 

So much celebrating, that Chad snapped only one picture of his Mom and Scarlet in one of her new dresses. 

The kids got Chad a few new Iowa State shirts to wear to the Big 12 tournament in KC, and Scarlet got a new stroller push toy so she can start walking. (Another post on that coming soon!)

Evan's Prayer

We were sad to hear that Iowa State's Athletic Director, Jamie Pollard, had a heart attack last week. While in the car on the way home, Chad asked me if I heard about it. I said, yes, it was too bad, and hoped he was ok. Evan chimed in and asked what happened. We told him that someone from Iowa State got sick and was in the hospital so that the doctors could make him feel better. He didn't seem satisfied with this answer, so I added that we should say some prayers for him. He said, "Ok, I will." I asked him if he would say his prayer out loud for us. He said, "Sure." Then, in perfect timing, launched into, "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Bless us, O Lord, and these thy gifts, which we are about to receive, from thy bounty, through Christ, our Lord. Amen."

So sweet. So genuine. 

Now, if only it had been mealtime. :) 

 

 

Happy Birthday Chad

Happy Birthday Chad!

 

 

Love you.

 



Knuckle Sandwhich

 

I got a call from Evan's preschool teacher at work the other day. I thought, uh-oh, this can't be good. However, she was just calling to let me know that Evan took a bad spill on the ice and hit his head. He was fine, but a little worked up, so she just wanted me to be aware of it.

 

On the way home that afternoon, I asked Evan about it. He said he was running and slipped on the ice, and his hands were in his pockets, so he hit his head. I asked him where he was running to. 

 

"I was running from Robert because he was about to give me a knuckle sandwhich."

 

Boys.

Why was I not surprised to learn that Evan knows exactly what a knuckle sandwhich is, and how to give one.

 

For the record, this is the first call I've gotten from Evan's teacher this year. He has made big strides in the listening category this past year. He has really grown up. Last year at school, he sat in time out almost daily. This year, he hasn't had any time outs at school, at least not to my knowledge. His teachers expect a lot out of the kids, and they get a lot in return. My favorite part of his conference in February was when Mrs. Van Blair said that he is really a thoughtful and compassionate kid. She told us that if one of his friends is having a bad day, Evan knows enough not to make fun of them when they're down. I think I was more proud of him for that than I was seeing all the letters he's learned.

Between that and knuckle sandwiches, what's not to love.

Scarlet is 1!

I took Scarlet in for her 1 year check-up today. She was given a clean bill of health. She was a little wary of Dr. Secory this go-around. She checked him out just as much as he checked her out. She got 3 shots, which is always a bummer. However, I was relieved to see her get her first MMR vaccine, with the measles outbreak and all these crazy anti-vaccinators out there right now. 

Her stats:

Height: 31.5 inches (99%)

Weight: 24 lb 12 oz (96%)

Head Circumference: 47 cm (94%)

Of course, I had to compare to the other kids. At 1 year, Lauren weighed 20 lb 2 oz (34%) and Evan weighed 21 lb 15 oz (35%). I would argue that Scarlet has been our healthiest, happiest babe, and at least in the first year of life, it seems like size helps. :) She's only been in for 3 or 4 sick visits to date, which isn't too bad. She had a double ear infection to which we discovered an amoxicillin allergy last November. Hopefully she will outgrow the allergy, and we may re-challenge her at some point since it was just a skin rash, we'll see. The stomach bug she had earlier this month was way worse. She was sick with vomiting and diarrhea for 10 whole days. 10 very long days. We said some extra prayers for moms of cancer patients that week. Scarlet has 8 teeth, and 2 upper molars coming in. Ouch. She is more sensitive to teething than her siblings were, so we stocked up on Tylenol today. Otherwise, today's checkup was fairly uneventful, for which I am so grateful. My job provides me so much perspective.  I would give just about anything to give my patients an uneventful visit. 

While waiting for our appointment today, someone thought she was pretty hot stuff sitting at the big kid table playing puzzles. Hand sanitizer was invented for waiting room toys. We went shopping and out to lunch afterwards, just the two of us. Love my healthy little sidekick. :)

Winter ONEderland

 Scarlet turned ONE today. It's incredible, really. I remember March 2, 2014 like it was yesterday. I can still hear the words, "It's a GIRL!" coming from my doctor. :) I remember bringing her home from the hospital, and being amazed at how well she slept and ate, and how happy she was. I remember waiting for the other shoe to drop, thinking someday soon she'd start acting like a normal newborn. She was such a flexible baby, spending much of her first summer in the stroller on the way to Arnold's Park, or at the park down the street. I never had to worry about her schedule too much, because I knew she'd be pretty flexible. I could feed her early or late and she didn't mind. So NOT like her brother and sister.  I know I say it a lot, but she is just such a happy girl. She has her moments, of course, mostly when she's tired, but overall, she is all smiles. The only wrench in this sweet girl's life has been the adjustment of daycare, which has brought the expected germs and illnesses. Hopefully, the exposure to all this crud will help her immunity down the road.

I don't know what we ever did to deserve her, but I am so thankful.

In honor of Scarlet's first birthday, we set about planning a FROZEN Winter ONEderland birthday party.  Scarlet was born on the coldest day ever recorded in the state of Nebraska in the month of March. The wind chill was -30. The weeks leading up to her first birthday were also some of the coldest days in the Midwest. So, a FROZEN themed first birthday party seemed fitting. 

My best attempt at getting all 3 kids smiling in a photo. At the time, it wasn't worth trying to get a family photo, but of course, I regret that now. 

 The smash cake, made especially for Scarlet by our favorite baker, Larita. 

Planning a Frozen party was pretty fun. I found millions of cute ideas on Pinterest, but only a few of them actually made it to the party.

Surprisingly, Scarlet was pretty timid with her smash cake. She stuck a few little fingers in it, but it wasn't the whole body experience I was expecting (and hoping for). 

 

 However, she was all over the gift opening. She loved all the colorful tissue paper. She had some help from Lauren, Evan, and Carly, and I think watching them getting excited to help rip open a big present was her favorite part. She definitely has the cheesy grin thing down.

 We were so happy that Erin and Brandon were able to make it all the way from Montrose, MN.

Watching Scarlet open presents was so exciting, these guys could hardly contain themselves. 

 Evan, Kaitlyn, Lauren, Carly, my Mom and Dad. Somehow Laurie and I escaped the photos. Such a lucky girl to have so many people that love her. 

Happy 1st Birthday Scarlet! Stay tuned for details and stats from her 1 year check-up later this week, and for her second 1st birthday party with Chad's family this coming weekend!