Welcome Back!

Flights were delayed, but after a 60 hour travel day (or days, more appropriately) everyone made it home! They are all safe, and for the most part, all healthy. We're so proud of them for everything that they did, and are relieved that everything went well.

Below is a picture of the happy group at the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro!

Delayed...

I just got a text from my mom and she let me know that their flight out of Tanzania was cancelled. They likely won't be able to leave there until tomorrow night. They are all more than ready to be home and are hoping for the return trip to go as smoothly as possible.

I did also get a call from my mom earlier this week (I apologize for not updating sooner... Life got busy!), and to quote her "I overestimated my abilities and underestimated the mountain". She said that the climb was much more difficult than she had anticipated. Apparently all of them got sick at various times and each of them wanted to turn back multiple times during the ascent. I can't wait to hear the full story when they get home, and am so proud of their accomplishment!

I will post a travel update once I hear from the group, and will post more photos once the group returns!

Summit update

I got the following email from John last night. Apparently I was one day off in my summit guess and they lost cell reception... I am happy to have gotten their updates now.
From John: "Pictures and details will follow, but here's the latest... Sorry I couldn't email the past few days--we lost cell phone service. We all made it to the top! We were so proud of Mom. You'll get more from me later today!"

_____________________________________________________________________

Here are the other updates John sent:

From September 2, day 3: "The group during our day 3 hike. In the background is Mawenzi peak, one of three peaks on Kili and the second highest. The highest is Kibo peak, and that's our destination."

From September 3, day 4: "Our climb today was the steepest yet, and took us to over 14,000 feet. Tomorrow we'll go to about 15,600, which is our base camp for the summit push (which we start at midnight tomorrow night to try to be there for sunrise, around 7am). We get to each camp around mid day, and we take an acclimatization hike further up in elevation, without our packs and gear, though. This photo is from the hike tonight. Everybody's doing well, including mom! The guides call her "mama", which is mother in swahili. Oh, and grandmother is "bibi"."

I also got a text from my mom today letting me know that they were at the hotel and ready for bed. They travel to Zanzibar tomorrow for a few days of relaxing on the beach. I'm sure they're all excited for some relaxation and a little bit of personal space. :)

I will update again with anything else I hear from the group!

They did it!

I still haven't gotten an email, but heard that my aunt Jodi had texted her boyfriend earlier today to let him know that ALL SIX of the Kili climbers safely made it to the summit! They descended about a third of the way and are sleeping now. They will spend the morning tomorrow finishing their descent. I can't wait to see pictures and hear all about it! I will update again tomorrow!

In case you missed the enthusiasm in my post... I am both relieved and excited that they all made the summit and are safely on their way back to flat ground. :)

On another note, The Kili Climbers online donations for Up With Downs are now at $6139. Wow! Thank you all for your generosity... We are truly blessed!

****Updated to add that Jodi's texts said that the summit day was hell, but they did it. They hiked for 14 hours and at least one of them got dehydrated, but all are fine now. Cell phone batteries were running very low by yesterday, but they will update us when they reach the hotel tomorrow.

Hopefully not much longer...

Until we hear from the group! I still haven't gotten an email from any of them, so at this point I'm thinking that the cell reception must not be as good on the south side of the mountain (they ascended on the north side and will descend on the south side, I believe). They travel to Zanzibar on Wednesday morning (Jeff's birthday!) so they have to be off of the mountain by Tuesday night. Although I'm sure they are all doing great, I got used to getting updates and photos and am anxiously looking forward to hearing that they are safely off the mountain!

As always, I will update as soon as I hear from them.

Still no news...

Still no updates from Tanzania.  I had hoped to get an update sometime today after they reached the summit, but they may not have had cell reception at that elevation.  If my schedule guesses are correct, they will be back at a low enough elevation by tomorrow to send a message.  I will be relieved to hear from them.  Although I'm sure they're all doing great, it is somewhat unnerving to have so many of my closest family members on a remote mountain in Africa!  

I will keep you posted as soon as I hear from them!

No updates...

I didn't get an update from the crew today.  I believe that tomorrow is summit day, meaning that they will start climbing at midnight Tanzanian time tonight (4 PM central time).  Their Saturday climb was only 4-5 hours, and the rest of their day is spent resting at the campsite and letting their bodies acclimate to the elevation/lack of oxygen.  Hopefully they all got some good rest and are ready for tomorrow's big climb! 

I will update again as soon as I hear from them.

Above the clouds

Good morning!  I received two brief emails and photos from John early this morning. The first email read as follows: "Our day two campsite. Days are still nice, but last night got pretty cold. We slept at about 11,050 feet."


Doesn't look like the coziest place to sleep, huh?

The second read as follows:  "Also from near our campsite, which is by a cave formed when Kilimanjaro's volcano erupted (long ago).  The lava came to rest on thick sheets of snow and was cooled by it.  Eventually, the snow melted and left the caves.  As you can see (hopefully), we're above the cloud line now, which is pretty surreal.  Everybody's handling the physical exertion and the altitude very well so far.  All say hi and thanks for the well wishes and prayers."

Here is the photo from the second email. Amazing to see that they've climbed above the clouds!

I am relieved to hear that everyone is feeling well and handling the climb and elevation well. Last night I looked up info on the specific trail they are taking, and although I'm not sure that this is the company they chose to guide them, the schedule is probably close to what they are doing. 

http://www.climbingkilimanjaro.com/rongai-route-kilimanjaro.php

It is Friday evening in Tanzania, so they are likely finishing dinner at their day three campsite.  I believe that they will reach the summit on day five, which would be Sunday.  In reading through this website last night, I learned that the summit day climb typically starts around midnight (yikes!) and it takes 6-8 hours to reach the summit.  The length of the climb depends, in my understanding, on which part of the summit they attempt to reach.  After reaching the summit, they will descend for about six hours to a warmer/safer elevation to sleep for the night. 

They are doing so well and I couldn't be more proud of them.  I will update again tomorrow!

Day two!

Despite refreshing my inbox every fifteen minutes yesterday, I didn't get an update at the end of the first full day of climbing.  I was relieved and thankful to see an email from John waiting for me when i woke up this morning.  The email read as follows:  "Two hours into our second day.  First day it's clear and we have a great view of Kilimanjaro's peak."


He also sent this picture of the six of them.  It's so great to be able to get updates from them and to actually be able to see pictures of their progress!  If you look at where they are standing in the photo compared to the mountain, you can get a sense of the distance/elevation they still have ahead of them  Kilimanjaro is quite an undertaking!

They are likely done climbing for the day by now, and i am not expecting another update until tomorrow morning.  I will post again when i hear from them!

They're Off!

I got an email from John around midnight our time letting me know that they were heading out. I apologize for not posting sooner, but I had a baby who wouldn't let me put her down for long enough to post. :) In any case, the email from John read as follows: "Just wanted to let you know we're heading out now. I got a Tanzanian sim card, so I'll have email access. I will be keeping my phone off, but will send regular updates. We just got on a shabby little bus with all our gear on top and full of our guide, porters, etc. We have about a four hour trip around to the north side of the mountain and we'll start the climb around noon or so."

Noon Tanzanian time is 4 A.M. central time, so I'm guessing they are done climbing for the day and have set up camp for the first night on the mountain. I haven't gotten any new updates on their progress for the first day, but will update when I hear from the group!

Settled

This morning's text update from my mom read as follows: "Met with our guide this morning. His name is Rashid and he was extremely knowledgeable and kind. We have met many locals and all have been very nice if somewhat persistent. Our adventure officially begins at 8 A.M. tomorrow."

They are eight hours ahead of us (central time), so they are likely starting to settle in for a night of great sleep before they embark on their climb tomorrow. Please keep them in your prayers over the next few days... This climb is quite an undertaking!

They've arrived!

When I turned my phone on this morning, I had this picture message (see below) from my mom.  This is all six of the group members just after arriving in Amsterdam. I also got a text from Jodi just a few minutes ago letting me know that they have now arrived safely in Tanzania. I'm sure they are all exhausted after a nearly 24 hour travel day... Hopefully they will rest well tonight!

Leavin' on a jet plane!

Well, the Kilimanjaro climbers left their respective homes today and are currently en route to Tanzania, by way of Amsterdam. They will arrive in Tanzania at 7:00 P.M. (local time) on Monday and will spend Tuesday getting acclimated to the elevation. The climb itself will begin on Wednesday. I know they are all very excited to start the adventure they've been preparing for!

The Fargo Forum published a nice article about the climb in today's paper.  Check out the link if you're interested!  http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/332048/

I just checked the fundraising website and I am thrilled to report that the Kili Climbers have raised $5099 so far!  What a blessing to our group!

I will update again as soon as I hear from my family.  Keep them in your prayers!

The Kili Climbers!

This Sunday, six of our family members will be leaving for Tanzania, Africa.  They will be attempting to reach the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.  The group includes my mom, two brothers, sister-in-law, brother's girlfriend, and aunt.  They have been busy preparing all summer and are excited to get the actual journey underway!

The climb, while quite an undertaking in and of itself, isn't the only task they've set out to complete.  They've decided to use this climb as a fundraiser for Up With Downs, our local Down syndrome support group.  They've set out to raise $5895, one dollar for each meter of their climb.  I am one of the co-facilitators of the group, and believe I speak for our entire group when I say that we feel so honored and blessed that they've chosen to raise money for our group.  As members of the group for the past three and half years, Josh and I have truly appreciated the activities and family networking opportunities provided by the group.  The money raised by the Kili Climbers will be used by Up With Downs to continue and enhance the opportunities provided to our member families.

At least one of the Kili Climbers will have a global cell phone along on the climb and will be sending daily updates on their progress (as cell reception and battery power allow).  :)  We are excited to be able to follow their progress and will update this blog as we receive updates from Mount Kilimanjaro!

Yes, we have a new baby...

And we've been very poor with updating the blog with pictures!  Life with three kids keeps us busy, and we tend to not spend our limited free time blogging.  We promise to get better once school starts up and we get into some sort of a routine.  Stay tuned for photos of our newest cutie, Claire Elizabeth St. Louis.  :)

Big news!!

Well, it's been several months since we've updated... again.  But we have a good reason!  We found out in November that we are expecting our third (and FINAL!) baby.  We are thrilled to welcome this new little one into our family, but the past three months have been somewhat exhausting for me.  While I've been trying to stay afloat with work and giving the older kids attention, Josh has been amazing with taking care of literally everything around the house.  I am so blessed to have him as my husband!   

Our due date with this new little one is July 30th.  Avery is hoping that the baby holds out for her birthday, but I'm hoping that it decides to come a few weeks early.  I imagine that I will be huge and more than ready to meet the baby by mid-July.  I also would love for the birthdays to be separated by a few weeks!

So far the pregnancy has been progressing normally.  Our appointments with the midwife have been going well, and I can't believe that I'm already nearly halfway done with the pregnancy!  I'm trying to enjoy every bit of this amazing journey... even the not-so-fun-or-glamorous parts.  It is bittersweet knowing that this is my last pregnancy, but I am ready to move on to raising our children rather than adding any others to the family.

We have chosen (so far, anyway...) not to find out whether we are expecting a boy or a girl until delivery.  The time right after Avery and Tate were born were such amazing times to share as a couple... finding out whether we had a son or a daughter, and naming the child together are special memories for both of us.  With that being said, a big part of me wants to know this time... so come ultrasound day we'll see what happens!  Our ultrasound is scheduled for April 1st.  I'm looking forward to seeing the baby again!

Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday we went to the Pumpkin Patch! We had a lot of fun watching the kids enjoy themselves. We got a ton of great pictures, as you can see from our current blog heading. My mom was with us as well, and I believe she had a great time as well. It's not often we see her at this time of year, so it was special for everyone involved, especially the kids, to spend the extra time together.

We tried as best as we could to get a great family pic, but it's challenging. It seems that no matter what we do, at least one of us is either looking away, closing our eyes, not smiling, or any of 100 other things that can keep a picture from turning out as well as planned.

Finally, a pic from fall yard work. As usual, the kids enjoyed raking leaves and picking apples. Well, maybe not so much with raking, but they did enjoy playing in the leaves. Avery loved picking apples for about 3 minutes. After that she was more concerned with eating them. The weather has been great for the entire month of October thus far, which has made all of the fall activities a blast!

Busy Fall!

We've had a busy fall. We went to Disney, and were in a family wedding. Apple picking and yard work have kept us busy at home. It's hectic, but, I think that life is always hectic with kids.

For starters, we went to Disney at the end of September.

We left Tate behind for the trip, though not by himself (we figured he's not quite old enough to care for himself yet). We had a fantastic time! Avery loved being pampered like a princess, meeting all of the princesses and fairies, and going on the rides.

Her favorite ride was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, one of the roller coasters at Magic Kingdom, which I think surprised Liz a little bit. I was pleased, because I love roller coasters, so we went on it about 6 or 7 times. Her other favorite ride was Pirates of the Caribbean, which we also visited about a half dozen times.

It was an extremely enjoyable experience, one that we plan on sharing with Tate sometime in the future.

Last weekend it was Uncle Jeff & Aunt Terese's wedding. Everyone was involved, as we were a groomsman, bridesmaid, a flower girl, and a ring bearer. It was a beautiful wedding, and we were honored to be involved!

In addition to those major events, we've been having fun around town as well. Tate continues to amaze us with everything he does. His walking continues to improve, and he rarely crawls these days. While he's always been a great eater, his self-feeding has improved tremendously. As you can see, he still makes a mess, but he's gotten much better at using his utensils.

Tate's Walking!

He started about 2 1/2 weeks ago! After a year of working on it, he finally decided it was time to do it on his own. It was Saturday, and he walked out from the hallway out to the living room. He wanted to keep doing it, over and over. Now he does it most places. He'll still do some crawling, but each day it's less and less. It's been pretty exciting. The clip below is from Monday, really quickly in between running errands. You can see he's still working, but it's pretty amazing to see in person!

Avery's swimming lessons

Last week Avery started swimming lessons. It's 30 minutes, every day, for 2 weeks. Last summer she was in beginner, and she passed, so this year it's level 1. If Liz and I had to guess, she'll probably be taking level 1 again, and you'll see why. She likes being in the water, but not all the way. Avery says that she doesn't like the water in her eyes, whether open or closed, so she doesn't have put her whole head underwater.

At the same time, they do expect a lot from them. She's been swimming in the deep end, with her swim belt on, which makes us a little nervous, but she does well. Hopefully we can get her in for another 2 week session after this one ends on Friday.

Below you'll see a 24 second clip of her trying to jump off the edge of the pool into the water, last Friday. This was what she did for over 10 minutes while her instructor tried to her to jump. All the parents we sit by crouch with her, trying to "will" her to jump.

Finally, after about 12 or 13 minutes (again, the class is only 30 minutes), she finally jumped in while holding his hand. Now, she had jumped with his help all week, but he was really trying to get her to jump on her own.

A couple of minutes later, he had her try again. This time it only took about 2 minutes, and this was the best jump we've ever seen her do. Of course, it took some assistance, as you'll see.

And then to show you something besides jumping, here she is learning to swim on her back. The belt helps her float, and she gets a chance to work her arms and legs.

Riding on Angels' Wings!

At the beginning of the summer, Tate began his therapeutic horseback riding. He was a little hesitant at first, mostly because someone was taking him away from me. Each week is has gotten easier for him and he really looks forward to it! He loves being on the horses, and is great at signing "horse". It has been great for him so far!

Today was his 4th session and he loved it! Here he's riding Two-Step, the same horse he rode last week. He's also been on Shadow and Brandy.

In this clip he's riding side saddle. Notice how much he loves waving to us, and even cranks his body around to continue the wave!

Here's one of the activities that they have Tate do: Putting rings on the ring tree. It's great for his core strength and balance.

And finally, one of our favorite clips. Again, they change his position on the horse a ton, and this one was pretty cool to see!

We'll try to get better about posting in the future, but no guarantees, as this is our first post of 2010 and the year is half over. Oh well.

Life is going great for us right now. Both kids continue to gain height and knowledge, and they have each mastered the art of "talking non-stop in an outside voice". Needless to say, we don't live in a quiet house!

New pics!!!

We finally put all of our pictures on the computer! I know some of you are waiting (not so patiently... :) so here are a few recent photos of the family!

Still Alive

Yes, we are still here and kicking.

Apparently it has been eons since we last blogged. I don't know what the deal is, other than the usual happenings that keep us busy.

We still haven't put any new pictures on the computer. We have about 1300 on the SLR, and another 600 on the point and shoot. Yep, about 200 pictures from this summer and fall just sitting on memory cards in the cameras. Seriously, one of these days we should try to put some pictures on here, just so everyone can see how they are doing. At this point, though, there probably isn't anyone even reading after our 4 month hiatus.

Update on the kids - Avery is enjoying preschool these days. She loves going, and is fitting in well socially, which has always been our biggest concern. Academically, she's learning to read. She has some short phonics stories that she can read by herself, which is a great start. Beyond that, she is having fun being Tate's big sister.

Tate is also doing well. He continues to army crawl everywhere, but he has shown a willingness to get into a four-point crawl position. Additionally, he is able to stand up while bracing himself against objects for extended periods of time now. He'll pull himself up on the coffee table, couch, or bathtub, and just hang out. His favorite thing is trying to get into the tub, whether there is water in there or not. He is also improving his vocabulary as well. I personally can't understand more than a couple words/phrases he says, but Early Intervention has a list of words he says. It's pretty exciting to hear. He's making fantastic progress all around, including in the weight department. I don't know his most recent figures, but he has to be over 30 lbs, so plenty heavy enough.

Liz and I are doing well. We just got back from a mini-vacation. My cousin got married last weekend, so we went out to see him. It was a beautiful wedding/reception. We had a ton of fun, and truly enjoyed our couple days away from the kids. It was nice to get back, though, as we had not both spent more than a night away from them.

That's about it for now. We'll try to update more frequently, but I'm sure that's not the first time we said that, so you know how that goes.

Busy Summer

Okay,

Like Liz said previously, we have been blog slackers this summer. Well, I guess I've been a blog slacker for a longer time than just this summer, but you get the idea. In any case, we've been busy this summer/month.

Quick Recap

Vacation at Long Lake with the Borgens. Great time, lots of family, lots of sun, had a blast...

Actually, we did have a lot of fun. Ave did great swimming in the lake, which was fun to see. Tate continues to amaze us with how much he loves the water. When we get the pictures uploaded, we'll post some. They're pretty cute, because he splashes constantly when he is in the water. The only time he stops is after he gets too much water in his mouth.

Wedding for my brother in Minneapolis. Great time, lots of family, lots of sun, had a blast...

It's true, we had fun there as well. We left from the lake to head to "the cities" for my brother's wedding. We had a great time doing the whole rehearsal, dinner, golf, pictures, wedding, dinner, dance bit. Teresa is a wonderful addition to the family and we're excited to call her sis/auntie/etc.

Back to work/daycare in FM. Great time, less family, lots of cold, had a blast...

After the wedding it was nice to get back home, unpack, and get some "Liz, Josh, Avery & Tate" time. Everybody was drained, so early to bed on Saturday, and then relax at home on Sunday. The weather was colder this past week, which was nice as we tried to get back into the daily summer routine. It was tough (relatively speaking), but somehow we managed. After a long work week (for Liz, anyway), we decided we needed to relax again, so we took the kids swimming at Borgen Pool. The kids had fun, as did Liz and I. With the help of a floatie ring, Avery tooled around the whole pool! Swimming lessons worked wonders for her!!! Tate, as usual, splashed around a whole bunch and had a fantastic time playing in the water.

So, that's been our July so far. Pretty eventful, and will get even more so this week. Liz will be gone later this week/weekend for work, so I'll be handling the kids. It should go smoothly. Jane will get some grandkid time as well, which will be fun for all.

Finally, a couple of Avery stories, if I can remember them -

First, last night she was talking about wanting a sister (today she said she wants 2 brothers and 2 sisters - she might be disappointed). We asked her when and she replied, "for my birthday". "Umm, that might not happen since that's coming up soon," was our response. We told her it would take a longer time than just a couple of weeks, that having a baby takes many months, and it would happen when God wants it to happen (BTW, we aren't pregnant and aren't trying, in case any of you are trying to read into this...). That answer didn't satisfy her (as is the case with the majority of our answers to her questions, since she's almost 4 and knows more than either of us). Actually, I think that not only didn't it satisfy her, but she told us we were wrong. We asked for an explanation, then, because we wanted to know if the whole birthing process had changed in the 26 months since Tate was conceived. This is what she said - "Well, you can just build your bed really high, way up into the sky. Then God can just reach out with his hand and put a baby in your tummy and hide it from you so you won't know. And then it can be born on my birthday!"

Liz and I just looked at each other and had to laugh. How could you not, especially if you've ever seen Avery telling a story. She is so expressive that it just cracks us up sometime. We had to let her down gently by explaining that it doesn't quite work like that, but that we loved the idea. That, and I'm not handy enough to build any kind of bed, let alone one that reaches high enough in the sky for God to reach...

Second story, at dinner tonight - We had homemade pizza on the grill (it was awesome) and we were talking about how many pieces we had. Liz and Avery each had had 4 pieces, so Liz asked Avery how many pieces the girls ate. Avery counted to 8 and said, "4 and 4 is 8!" Then we said I had 6 (they were small pieces) and Tate had 2, so how many did the boys eat? Again she counted and said, "6 and 2 is 8! Two ways to get 8! (Liz and Avery had been working on the same thing with 4 earlier in the day). I told her that was a good lesson to learn at dinner. Her reply? "Yeah, just like the other week when I learned not to climb my bookshelf, that was a good lesson to learn!" Again we had to laugh, and then told her that we were glad that she hasn't forgotten that lesson. She's our good little elephant, but it's going to come back and bite us some day.

So there you have it - 2 weeks in the life of the St. Louis family. Sorry again that we aren't regularly blogging, but as Avery would say, "Well, that's okay - You tried your best." We are trying our best, but we don't have time during the waking hours, and we don't always get to the computer after they go to bed. Maybe we'll post again this month (hopefully with pics), but if not, you can understand.

Blog slacker...

Summer is going well for us but we've been spending our time outside rather than updating the blog... Not much has changed since I last updated. The kids continue to keep us busy. Avery is in swimming lessons this week and is loving them. I really thought she would be the shy kid who sat on the edge of the pool until the very last day of lessons, but she has definitely proven me wrong. She got into the pool the first day and loves her new "friends" and teacher. She's learned to go under water on her own and is learning to back float... exciting things for a three year-old!

Tate isn't in any summer activities but keeps us busy chasing after him. In the course of a seven minute phone conversation today I redirected him from going towards the dog's water dish at least ten times. Now that he's figured out where the water is and multiple routes to get there, we're in trouble! :) Honestly though, Tate is doing so well. He's signing more each week and is learning a few actions to "The Itsy Bitsy Spider". It's pretty cute!

Josh and I are both busy with work. We also celebrated on Monday because it had been ten years since our first date. Hard to believe! We agreed that if we had been told ten years ago on our first date (the one where Josh asked if I'd date him exclusively... :) where we'd be today neither of us would have believed it. It's been a crazy ten years but I feel truly blessed to have shared those years with him.

And here are a few long overdue pictures for all of you. The are from April through this past weekend. Enjoy!

The kids and I on my birthday

Tate and I on Mother's Day

Tate's new orthotics and shoes

Vertical!!

Both kids love to play outside, especially on the swings

Avery collecting worms during garden planting time

Best buddies!

Awww...

Perspective

Sometimes I forget how blessed Josh and I really are. We are both healthy, have jobs that are stable, love our jobs, love each other, and have two perfect and healthy kids. Honestly, what more can anyone ask for in life? I know that I have been known to get mad at Josh for silly things that really don't matter at times, or to snap at Avery when she's acting out. Everyone does those things at times, right? An old friend recently lost her five month old son to SIDS. I went to the funeral this weekend. The service was beautiful but very sad. I hurt for them and the pain and grief they'll be dealing with for a lifetime. Going to the funeral service was a not-so-gentle reminder for me that life is a precious gift, and not one to be taken for granted. It reminded me to take a few extra minutes to snuggle my kids. No matter how difficult parenting can be at times, I am truly blessed that my kids are here with me to share in our crazy life.

Avery...

Avery has been quite the little performer lately. Last night she put on a show for Josh and I in the living room. She gets all dressed up, grabs her sparkly microphone and stands in our bay window and serenades us. Her performances usually involve her interesting dance moves and at least one jump off of her "stage". Yesterday afternoon while we were at home she put on a show for Tate and I. She made up several songs for us, including one that she informed us was going to be about Strawberry Shortcake and her flowers. We've been learning the names of the plants in our yard (lilies, peonies, tulips, etc.) so I wondered which would be incorporated into her song. The song she made up was given the title of "Strawberry Shortcake's Peenies". Lovely. It was her way of saying peonies, but the song was interesting...

We made a day trip to the cities this weekend to stop in Albertville and pick up some deck supplies for Josh. On the way back to Moorhead, Tate kept babbling. I wasn't paying much attention to exactly what sounds he was making, but all of the sudden Avery says "Tate, you're full of a$$ today!". Josh and I looked at each other and tried to keep straight faces. I asked her what she meant and she said "Tate keeps making S sounds, so I told him he's full of a$$." We just let that one go... hopefully if she doesn't know it's a naughty word she won't keep repeating it!

Updates!

I'm not sure how other families do it, but we never seem to have enough time around here to get it all done! Life is so crazy lately that taking even a few minutes to blog just doesn't happen. I apologize for the lack of info lately, especially to those of our relatives who keep updated from afar via the blog... we'll try to get back into the blogging groove!

Let's see... Tate is now commando crawling EVERYWHERE and is pretty much a one man wrecking crew. He has four teeth now and had his first visit to the dentist last week. Avery was getting her teeth cleaned and I went up to the counter to get her rescheduled for 6 months and asked if I could make Tate's initial appointment for that same date. The dentist happened to be behind the counter and mentioned that they'd just had a cancellation and could see Tate now. I didn't really think he needed to be seen yet, but I did have a few questions for the dentist so it was nice to have them answered. Tate doesn't have to go back for a year; hopefully he'll have many more teeth by then!

Tate got measured for orthotics last week and we went today and had them fitted to his foot. They are Sure Steps for any of you who have kids with Down syndrome and will actually know what I'm talking about. He doesn't seem to mind them yet, but we'll see as time goes on. After leaving the orthopedic shop we went to Stride Rite to get fitted for Tate's first real pair of shoes. The girl at the store measured him as a size 5, but when we tried them on they were too narrow. Size 5 wides were also too narrow, so we tried 5 double wides. Yep, they fit. We bought the only pair in stock and special ordered another pair. Avery has always had good tennis shoes, but we've often bought her dress shoes at Target. I don't see the point in spending more than $15 for shoes that she'll likely only wear a few times. We won't be able to that for Tate...he'll be a special-ordered shoes kind of kid. Lucky guy! :) I'll post pictures of Tate in his orthotics tomorrow.

Avery has her first cavity and will get it filled next week; I feel a little guilty that she has a cavity and told Josh that I am worried about how she'll do during her filling. His favorite saying on the subject is "worrying is like a rocking chair... gives you something to do but doesn't get you anywhere". So helpful, right? Not so much. Back to the cavity. It's a challenge explaining a cavity to a 3 year old and not making it sound like a good thing, but not scaring her about how the dentist will fix it, all while making sure she knows it's a bad thing that she doesn't want to have happen again!

I've decided to run the Twin Cities Marathon again this fall. I've done a few in the past and was getting the bug to do another one. I was talking to a patient about wanting to do it but not being sure if the time was right... I have two kids, a husband, and a business that I have trouble balancing at times as it is. She said "that is exactly why you need to do it; take time for yourself!" I agree, but finding the time to run while not feeling like I'm sacrificing time with my family might be tough. I asked Josh if he wanted to run with me, but we compromised by buying a bike and a double bike trailer for the kids. I'll run and he and the kids will bike/ride along so that we're all together rather than me leaving them at home while I run. It's been great so far and I'm really looking forward to the training process. And for those of you who know that both of my kids were post-marathon babies, no, there are most definitely not plans for another little St. Louis in the near future. Just ask anyone who saw me at the mall today with my two little handfuls and they'll tell you that I'm not ready for another just yet :)

Off to spend the rest of the evening with my hubby. Enjoy your weekend- hopefully your weather is warmer than ours. We have a high temp of fifty degrees tomorrow. Yikes!

We're still here... :)

We've been taking some time off from the blog... it's not intentional but we've been busy and the blog tends to be the first thing to go! We've had lots of new happenings in our life and will blog about them tonight hopefully.

To be continued...

Quote for the day

When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us.
--Helen Keller

I love this quote! It does a great job of explaining how I felt right after Tate was born. I was worried too much about the things he wouldn't do rather than seeing all of the joy he would bring our family. Thankfully things are much different now.

On another Tate note, he's getting his top eye teeth. He's going to look pretty goofy when he has his two middle bottom teeth and his top eye teeth... our little vampire!

Have a great weekend!

Easter!

We had a great Easter and took tons of pictures. Here are a few for you to enjoy! Since this weekend we've been busy playing outside and enjoying the spring that seemed like it would never arrive! Avery has been having a blast riding her bike and scooter and just being able to be outside without having a hat and mittens on! Tate has been riding in the little car my mom got him and he loves it. This will be his first summer of being able to actually play outside and I can't wait!

We had Tate's second IFSP meeting yesterday. Those of you who know what an IFSP is will understand why I dreaded the meeting. It ended up going okay... but I'll write more about it in my next post.

Have a great weekend!



Easter Sunday




Getting ready to dye Easter eggs



Avery and our chalk drawing from Saturday



Tate in his new car

Normalcy... for now

Both kids signing "mama"

Things have gotten back to normal for everyone but Josh now. I headed back to work on Wednesday when the mayor said that non-essential businesses could be back open and the kids started back to daycare that same day. I loved having some extra family time over the long weekend, but was honestly starting to go pretty stir crazy by Tuesday. We had finished sandbagging on Friday afternoon and been home as a family since then. Family time is great, but when you add the stress of watching the flood and trying to explain things to Avery, not to mention both of us being off of work and no routine whatsoever... things were getting a bit tense around here. I tried to stay busy with projects, but after four days I started to run out of things to do. I baked cookies, started my garden from seeds in little planters that will be in the house until spring (which I swear has to come eventually...), and did lots of painting/gluing/coloring projects with Avery. By the time we were in the middle of Tuesday's winter storm I could hardly wait until the streets were cleared so I could get out of the house and have a few minutes of alone time. As soon as the storm let up I headed out to buy some fabric to create something. No, I don't really know how to sew but I needed something to focus on and occupy my hands for a bit. I bought enough fabric to make a baby blanket for Avery's doll and a dress for her. The blanket turned out cute and Ave loves playing with it. The dress, on the other hand, might have been a bit ambitious as I'm not convinced I even know how to follow a pattern. Here's a picture of the blanket and I'll post pics of the dress once it's finished.



Avery's new blanket



Proof that I made a batch of cookies that are actually edible :)

The kids are happy to be back at daycare and back to their daily routines. Avery is in the middle of a challenging phase right now so by Wednesday our patience with her was wearing thin and we appreciated the break from the constant struggles between us and her. I don't think I've ever been around a preschooler as difficult as her and I've been fearing her teenage years lately... yikes! Josh asked her to clean her room the other day and asked a bit later if she'd done it yet. She looked at him and said "No daddy, I certainly did not clean my room yet." We appreciate her honesty and her ability to talk like a 6 year-old, but she doesn't listen very well and we're working on that. In spite of all of the challenges, she is constantly making us laugh and definitely keeps life in our house interesting.

Tate has finally learned how to drink out of a straw! We've been working on it for two months with a cup we got from his speech therapist that allows us to squeeze a little liquid into his mouth and help teach him the purpose of the straw. He can do it on his own now!! We're excited not only because we've been working towards that step for so long but because it's one step closer to being done with the bottle. He's also gotten a lot better at army crawling and can get pretty much wherever he wants to around the house now; he especially loves chasing after our dog Jersey and crawling to knock over block towers we build for him.



Tate and daddy playing yesterday

Josh will head back to school on Monday and is anxious to get back to teaching and having his normal routine back. I realized the other day when he started telling me things about The Bold and the Beautiful and Guiding Light that he has too much time on his hands... :)

A prediction was released yesterday for a second crest of the Red River and the NWS is saying that there is something like a 75% chance of the crest reaching the 40 foot mark again. We're hoping that the prediction is wrong and that at the very least our lives will be less interrupted by this second crest.

We're off to buy the kiddos some Easter outfits now. Enjoy your weekend!

the kids

I forgot - I was going add a couple of pictures of the kids. As you can tell, Avery is still Avery - A lot of fun mixed with a case of teenage independence. Tate is moving around the upper level well. He has perfected the army crawl/roll to get where he wants to go. We love them both very much and continue to be amazed by the things they do and say.

Quick story - Yesterday I asked Avery if she had cleaned her room yet, because Uncle Jeff and Terese were coming over. She responded matter-of-factly, "No Daddy, I most certainly did not clean my room yet." Not quite the response I expected, but I definitely appreciated her honesty. Liz said it is going to be a sad day when she turns 12 and has a bigger vocabulary than either of us!

Flood Pics

Okay, we're going to try and update again. Yesterday was our first real day at home, because as Liz said, we've been busy either filling or laying sandbags. After 2 straight days, we were a little sore yesterday. I can't even imagine what it is like for everyone that has had to do that for 5 or 6 straight days.

I don't recall what we've posted, but our house should be fine. We do have our basement drains plugged in case the sewers back up. We also moved our computer, pictures, and some other valuables upstairs, just in case. Better to be safe than sorry! Poor Tate - we had to put all of that stuff somewhere, so his room became a huge closet, with boxes and laundry baskets stacked high, leaving just enough space to walk to his crib and dresser. Again, we'll take that over the alternative.

School up here is cancelled for everyone for the upcoming week (Mar 30-Apr 3). This means that with the 3 days we had off last week for snow/flood issues, spring break the week before, and 2 days off for the blizzard the previous week, I will have taught for a grand total of 5 days during a 4-week stretch from March 9 - April 3. It is unbelievable to think about, and even more unbelievable to live it. Personally, I would rather be teaching. It is a lot less stressful the dealing with the flood. Typically I would worry about student progress, mandated testing, and other school related issues. That has been replaced by worrying about how my students & coworkers are managing. Are they safe? Did they have to evacuate? How is there house doing? Additionally, I have the same worries and concerns for our friends and our family. It all adds up to a lot of stress, which I could do without.

Being a city boy, I wasn't here for the '97 flood, so this is all new to me. It has been amazing to see the community come together during this difficult time. I've filled and placed sandbags with friends, family, and total strangers, with everyone working towards a common goal. I was talking with a young college student while filling sandbags Thursday morning, and he said that he had met more people this week sandbagging than he had in six months of college. He isn't from here and doesn't have family here, but still felt the responsibility to help. He and many other students like him have helped keep most of the cities dry, as they have been the main sandbag fillers on both sides of the river.

We know that there are a lot of pictures available online of the flood, but we thought that we would post a couple that we took by Jane's house. We weren't going to sandbag her house, because we thought she would be fine (and she still might), but as the crest predictions kept rising, we didn't have a choice. I was filling sandbags north of Moorhead when Liz called and said her mom needed help moving stuff upstairs and getting ready to sandbag. I went over there and helped her empty her basement, while Liz's dad came over and prepared the exterior for sandbagging. We laid sandbags around her house from 11 pm until about 1:30 am, and then had to stop because we ran out and couldn't get anymore until Friday morning. We then spent a majority of the daylight hours Friday (8 am-4 pm) finishing up the dike around her house. You can see it in the pictures. So far, with the water apparently cresting yesterday at a level of 40.82 feet (It is currently down to 40.2 feet) everything inside her house is dry and hopefully it will stay that way. We'll have to see.

Anyway, here are the pics. I'm having a little trouble captioning by them, so I'll do that here. The first two are of Jane's house and front yard. You can see the dike we built all around her house. It is about 2-3 feet high all around her house. Tim surveyed all around and it should protect her house up to 42.75 feet. You can also see the water in her front yard. Thankfully, it hasn't gotten any higher in yard.

The third picture is the main road that runs by her house. It had about 12 inches of water covering it for a couple hundred feet. We were obviously driving through it - I felt like I was on "The Dukes of Hazzard". The only thing missing was a ramp for me to jump! Anyway, we hope everyone is doing well, staying safe, and keeping dry.