birthday girl & 1/2 birthday boy

I have a fourteen year old!! And, and six month old!! (and a few others in between)  Is it uncommon? Yes. But I wouldn't have it any other way.

We celebrated Jocie's 14th birthday with a family meal at our house consisting of a Taco Bar (and a Ceaser Bar for the adults) and all the fixings that apply. We were happy Grandma and Grandpa Adolphson, Dana and Ryan, and Nanny (my mom) and Denny were able to join us! We topped our meal off with delicious cake pops which were shaped like little basketballs.

The basketballs were a tip as to what she was getting for her birthday . . . Timberwolves tickets for that night, followed by Gopher Men basketball tickets for a future date! She was pretty pumped! :)

I have said it before, and I will say it again . . . . it's hard for me (and others) to believe that Jocie is already fourteen. It slips by so very quickly. Who knew the sassy toddler who cried every time anyone "laughed at her" would turn into such a smart, self-driven, self-confident, good natured, beautiful, and all around awesome teenager?! The act of her getting older should make me feel old as well, however, Jocie continues to make me feel young whenever we are together. Of course, I am first and foremost her mother . . . the one who tells her "no", makes her do the dishes and babysit her siblings when needed. But, we also have this awesome type of mother-daughter "friendship" where we laugh, make jokes, and share things just like friends would, and that to me, is priceless.

The day we celebrated Jocie's birthday was the day Carter turned 6 months old. I can't believe in half a year from now, he will be the one eating cake!

Carter's 6 month stats

 

Weight: pushing 20 pounds (will get his actual weight tomorrow at his appt)

Clothing Size: 6-9mo, and 9 month

Diaper size: 3

Number of Teeth: 1

 

LOVES: To smile!! Yes, that's right! His colic is over and he is a HAPPY little boy! He also loves, his toys, reading books, warm baths, being sang to, nursing, his exer-saucer, playing peek-a-boo, eating bananas, sweet potatoes and cereal, and pretty much life in general.

 

HATES: long car rides and drinking from a bottle

 

 

This past weekend, I was able to take his 6 month photos at my friend Nicole's house (Thanks!!!). Here are just a few of the photos. If you would like to see them all, please head over to our website (CLICK HERE) and click on "Carter" under "client gallery" (password - "adolphson") Family members - please let me know which one(s) you would like and in which size.

 

 

(Carter's totally going to make sports page "headlines" someday!)

 

As far as Jocie's 14 year old session . . . she can't stand when I take her photos lately. So as a birthday present, I didn't drag her out in the cold to do so.  However, I will be taking her out this summer when I take the younger girls for their session :)

 

Life is flying by! I am trying to soak up every minute I can!

 

 

 



 



"you look like you just got hit by a bus"

As I stumbled into the door of my school this morning, with my computer hanging from one shoulder, my pump hanging from the other, my lunch in one hand, and my coffee mug clutched by my other, a co-worker looked at me and said, "You look like you just got hit by a bus! No offense."

None taken, my friend. None taken.

My co-worker hit the nail right on the head, because I feel as though I have been hit by a bus.  I am exhausted. The adrenaline rush from starting back to school has worn off, and I have hit the wall. I feel like I am always running....from our early morning routines (which are much more organized less stressful this year, thankfully), to 8 hours at school filled with running, screaming high energy kids and rushed pumping sessions every chance I get, to the after school shuffle, to getting dinner on the table and homework done, to bed-time routines, to getting every one's clothes laid out, lunches packed and jackets, boots, mittens and hats set out, then on to a night of interrupted sleep (Carter still eats 2-3 times a night) . . . needless to say, I don't know how I/we are going to keep this all up. I know there are other mothers that do the same thing, but it still doesn't make it any easier for me and our family.  Thank goodness my mom was here my first full week back! She has made dinner, did all my laundry and helped pack up the Christmas tree stuff . . . if it weren't for her, we would have nothing to wear, and would be eating things like mac-and-cheese for dinner.

On a positive note, Carter has started eating at daycare! My provider switched to a different bottle, and he has learned he has to eat from it. I also started him on solids (oatmeal, bananas and sweet potatoes) and he has been loving it :) Plus, my students have been wonderfully sweet, which has made teaching really enjoyable.

I haven't even had a chance to blog about Christmas! But I assure you - - we had another fabulous holiday. We started things off right at our own home by going to Mass on Christmas Eve, then coming home and enjoying our annual candle lit dinner, and then opened presents.

We woke up on Christmas morning to a tree full of Santa presents. Buddy (our elf on the shelf) mustn't have given Santa a full report because the kids were certainly spoiled by the man in red!

After packing the van to it's limits, we hit the road! Our first stop was in Grand Forks to have Christmas dinner at Joe Black's with my family, then traveled to the lake to hang out and "relax" (I used quotes because we all know that when you travel with small kids, you never get a chance to truly relax). Carl and the kids got a chance to get out and skate on the lake just like they did last year, but I was stuck in the house with Carter....so no skating photos this year.

On Friday, we headed over to Argyle to spend a few days with the Adolphsons. We had a great time visiting, "snowcatting" (aka snowmobiling), eating and opening tons of gifts! What can I say? The kids love being spoiled by Grandma and Grandpa!

 (exploring an old barn on Grandpa's land)

 

 

 

  It's so incredibly fun to watch Austin and Carter together! They already seem to love each other....when ever they are close enough, they hold hands :)

 (one of Annika's presents....so totally has the "photographers eye"!

 

 

 Claire is loving her new "clicky shoes"

 

 

Annika and Claire are a hoot to see together! They play so well and even give each other words of advice:

"Claire, you shouldn't cry so much. It's embarrassing." !! :)

The Christmas season was bitter/sweet for me. I love Christmas, but it was tainted this year with the thought of returning to the "work world" right after the new year. As I watched the ball drop, instead of feeling hope and joy for a brand new year, I felt a pang in my heart because I knew my time at home with Carter was over. But with every door that closes, a window is bound to open . . . Cheers to 2013! I am hopeful it will bring us just as much happiness as 2012!

I still have to blog about Jocie's 14th birthday and Carter's 6 month milestone.....the rate I am going, it will be about a month out.... :)

the grind

I have so much to post about! So many Christmas things have happened and I have had 0 time to work on the blog. I hope to tackle it some time soon, but life has been crazier than usual as of late.

I went back to work yesterday, and to be completely honest . . . my heart is broken. It's not that I don't like my job, but I love my kids way, way more. It's very hard . . . . and there's no (real) way to put a positive spin on it. To compound the problem, Carter refused to eat at daycare. If you have seen photos of Carter, you know he likes to eat. And yesterday, my daycare provider tried over 30 times to feed him from a bottle with no luck. Being the creative person she is, she resorted to using an eye dropper to get some milk into him . . . after a looooong time, she finally got 2 oz down . . . needless to say, it was a trying day for the both of us. Because of this, he basically ate all evening and all night, so I hardly got a wink of sleep.

And BONUS, I realized last night that I only fit into two pair of work pants.  I am too fat for any of the others . . . which is hard to grasp because I wear active wear to work (a fancier version of sweat pants) . . . riddle me that! Reality has a funny way of kicking you when your down.

I will try hard to get some photos up from Christmas soon! It might brighten my spirits to look back on happier times. :/