Reflection on 4 Years Ago!

This was Kolbe the day he was born!

Sometimes, when he gets really upset now, I see resemblances in this picture. The mouth definitely looks the same. Hard to believe that up until that day we had no idea he was even a boy, what he looked like, what color his hair was, what he sounded like, his personality, his facial expressions-and now I know him like the back of my hand.

Nickolas looked just like him the day he was born. I wonder all the time what the new baby will look like-every little thing. Is it a girl, a boy, how big, the looks, the sounds. Now is the time when we are still pondering all those things, awaiting 3 1/2 months from now when we will forever know them all.

HAPPY 4TH BIRTHDAY KOLBE!!!

Today is Kolbe's 4th birthday!! He was so excited when he woke up this morning, and the first words out of his mouth were "Next time I'll be 5!" (Where's the patience?)

Every birthday is a milestone, and always gets me thinking back to the day he was born. I had checked out of the hospital the night before, and had to be back the next morning at 5am for them to induce. I had been having contractions for weeks, and not progressing and they were concerned with how big he might be.

Induction started at 7am and I went until almost 3pm until getting an epidural (after they manually broke my water). I still hadn't made any progress after almost 10 hours, and Kolbe's heart rate dropped suddenly and within 10 minutes they had me in for a c-section to get him out.

I can't say the surgery was the best experience, but I would do it 10 times over again to have that single moment where he came out and the doctor said "It's a boy!" The best moment of my life.

I can still hear all the sounds, the smells and remember it like it was yesterday. And now it's already 4 years later.

Thank you to my little boy for bringing such joy into my world.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY KOLBE!

Thomas the Train Ride

On Saturday we drove down to Rusk to ride Thomas the Train with Oma and Opa. It was their birthday gift to Kolbe. Of course, the boys absolutely loved it. It was a little different than last time and only ran 30 minutes, which was really good timing with Nickolas there. We walked around and let the boys play, then took the train ride and then had a picnic afterwards. The weather was beautiful and the fall colors in the trees were so pretty. It was a great time to go and they did great in the car ride too. Slept the entire ride home which was almost 3 hours!

Must have been planet alignment that day, everything went off without a hitch!

We Saw SAW V!

On Friday Keith and I were able to relax for a bit and we saw "Saw V"! How can you NOT see this during Halloween month? Plus, we've seen each one in the theatre.

Of course, I was a sucker for it, and really liked all the blood and guts while enjoying my popcorn and peanut M&M's. It was a lot of the same stuff from the other 4, and it got kind of confusing when they started backtracking to clips from the others, but overall it was worth taking the time to go see it.

I can't account for about 10 minutes in the middle when I dozed off, but the rest I give 2 thumbs up!

Camping 101 with Kids

Last weekend we went camping down at Inks Lake-it was was, how shall I say...an adventure!

Kolbe had soccer on Saturday at noon, so we headed out right afterwards, which was perfect timing because that's the time the boys nap. They did really well on the way out, they had a snack and slept about an hour or so, and Nickolas kept dosing off and on the rest of the way. We only stopped one or two times. It took us a little under 4 hours to get there, and that was with the time it took to find the campsite-which was awhile.

Keith's parents, brother and his family (including his kids, 4 and 2 year old) were already there and had slept there the night before. It was nice because we had an RV and tents. It was kind of close to the water which made me a little nervous, lots of people and bathrooms close by. The evening went well because it was new. The kids played, we went to the park, ate dinner, talked. Kolbe slept in the tent with Eric and Dorys and their kids. We slept in the RV with Keith's parents and put Nick in the daybed in there. He did GREAT! I was impressed. One of the kids accidentally hit the power button and we didn't know what the problem was so there was no electricity all night, but it worked out. Everyone was up about 7 and the chaos started!

The kids were crazy. We went fishing, took a walk, played, ate and tried to keep them entertained. They just got worn out so quickly and our boys were ready to go by noon! We headed out about 1:00 anticipating they would be so exhausted they would sleep the whole way home-that would be a no.

What should take about 3 hours, took 5 1/2! We stopped at least 6 times to get gas, for Kolbe to go potty, get water, let Nickolas stretch, you name it. The boys didn't sleep until we were about 15 minutes from home and they were NOT happy in the car. Needless to say, it was not the greatest car ride as we were all exhausted and ready to get home.

Camping.

Worth it-but in short periods and close to home! Just my advice.