Summer!

School is out! It was especially strange this year knowing that I was embarking upon stay-at-home-mom territory for not only the summer, but also next school year and the following summer. With Baby Girl due in September, we decided that it would be best for our family if I did a year leave rather than the typical 12 weeks for maternity. I am more than thrilled about the opportunity, but it was still strange packing up my classroom and saying goodbye to my kindergartners with the knowledge that I would not be seeing them as first graders.

Summer is just beginning, but Dax and I have been enjoying ourselves! Day 1 started off with a bang when we let Dax wear the underwear he had picked out on our last trip to Target. He was SO excited! Potty training is off to a great start and we are so proud of our big little boy.

He picked the Incredibles for day 1

Of course we spent time playing, too! The video shows him playing and singing along to an Okee Dokee Brothers song (though not one of his favorites - he struggled a bit with the words).

Sharing a yummy fruit and veggie smoothie

We also started a new summer class - Dance and Play! Dax is excited to see his friends Cara and Bellamy every week and it was a great first class with a little ballet, some tumbling, and lots of movement.

Dax, Cara, and Bellamy

Lifting and dropping their hula hoops

Shaking their hips

Bus drivers!

With such a great start, we cannot wait to see what the rest of the summer will bring!

Big Boy

Dax's new room has been a work-in-progress for weeks and the rain this weekend motivated us to spend a chunk of time to finish cleaning it out and bringing his stuff in. He loved helping get everything into place, but did not love the drilling we had to do to hang some of his things.

We still have a few finishing touches, but it was close enough that we let Dax test it out. Take a peek:

He was SO excited to spend the night in his new bed.

One of the best parts of being out of the crib is that he can access his own water and he was THRILLED about that.

My personal favorite part is being able to snuggle in with him to read bedtime stories and comfort him when he wakes up.

And after a few giggles, a story and lots of kisses and snuggles, he was in for the night.

He took a little time to arrange his bed, talk to his baseball bear about his new room,and take several drinks. A few minutes in he dropped his water on the floor and immediately burst into tears giving both Jake and I a mini-panic attack thinking he himself had fallen out, but that was easily resolved and he did eventually close those sweet eyes and go to sleep. I spent the majority of our awake time after he was in bed watching the monitor. Then, after going to bed ourselves, I spent the rest of the night acutely aware of every peep and squirm, and especially tense due to the thunder. Thankfully, he slept through the weather, rolled around enough to get comfortable, but not so much that he ended up on the floor, and called to us when he was awake like we told him to do rather than getting out of bed himself. One successful night down!

Nap today caused significantly less anxiety for us and he was still just as excited to be in his new room. We are equally sad that he's growing up so fast and excited for this new adventure with our little boy.

Weekend Fun

This year's Memorial Day weekend was both uneventful and awesome. We didn't have any plans, but the beautiful weather and family time made it the perfect kickoff to summer.

Friday evening Dax enjoyed the outdoors gardening with Grandma Caren and Grandpa Phil. He can hardly wait for the strawberries to come in so he can taste the fruits of his labor!

Saturday night Jake and I snuck in a date while Dax played with Grandpa Mick, Grandma Mary, Uncle Sam, and Auntie Anna. We all had fun, but forgot to take any photos. Oops!

Sunday we visited the playground after church and went to Dax's first St. Paul Saints baseball game. It was a blast!

Monday we spent the morning at the zoo, played outside in the afternoon, and had our first bonfire of the year complete with s'mores.

We capped it off today with a trip to DQ for Dax's first ice cream cone. He LOVED it!

24 Weeks

We had our 24 week appointment this week and realized the fate of the second child in our conversations on the way to and from the doctor. No name so far (we knew both before the 20 week ultrasound with Dax), no major questions for the doctor, and the fastest appointment in history - we didn't even find out her heart rate after hearing it through the doppler. Baby girl, we love you so much even if we aren't quite as detailed in tracking your life as we have been with Dax!

She's definitely growing... The photo on the left shows almost 24 weeks pregnant, compared to 25 weeks with Dax on the right.