Things Have Changed in Eleven Years

Last Saturday was our eleventh anniversary. It also corresponded with the day that our friend Kim was available to shoot some family pictures. And what a perfect Minnesota fall day it was too! The colors were stunning!!! Mike chose the perfect location. Everyone's clothes fit (once Mike made a rope belt to keep D's pants from falling down). The small Vs were ... mostly cooperative. Quinn is not quite photo session pro yet. She does great when it is a photo of just her. But the "come here, stand with your family, and smile" skills need a bit of polish.

Luckily we were able to walk around in the woods, pick up some leaves, throw some rocks in the lake, watch our dog go for a swim (silly puppy!), and have fun. It's amazing how pictures look better when we are actually having fun!

Then Saturday night, my sister watched the kids for us. My parents were in town too on their way home from an extended vacation. But as Q established, Auntie was in charge. Mike was on call, so we just headed out for some drinks and apps and barhopped our way around a couple suburbs - with the Wild home opener on in the background. It was a low-key, but very fun, date night out. Mostly just nice to spend some time together and relax.

It's fun to look at these photos and see how our family has grown in the past eleven years. We've gone from two kids with stars in their eyes, standing in front of a church, promising to love each other forever. To two less young people with stars in their eyes (and bags under them) who now have three kids and a dog of their own. Who still promise to love each other. Forever. So ... maybe not that much has changed over the years.

Three Kids in a Pumpkin Patch

Every year. I must take pictures of the kids in the middle of piles of pumpkins every year. Just ask them. Two out of three of them just sit on a pumpkin and pose. They know it moves things along if they just make my camera and me happy from the beginning. We are still working on the art of the group shot ... and getting everybody (anyone) to look at the camera at the same time.

The one is called:
When You Try to Get a Group Shot -
And the Baby Falls Off the Pumpkin

Pumpkin Weekend

We hit Fall hard this weekend and did all the pumpkin things. The weather was beautiful, crisp, and cool. We spent Saturday morning across the street at the neighbors' house (where Bugs goes every morning to catch the bus). A couple other friends from the bus stop were there as well, so we had a nice pack of kids playing. It was awesome! Then the kids figured out that they could use the picnic table as a stool to climb up one of the trees in the yard. Fiona was the bravest and tried right away. Quinn watched a couple rounds and then was in. I was glad - because it was climbing. That's pretty much Q's wheelhouse! Even Dec got in on the action a few times.

After rest on Saturday, we made our annual Pumpkins at the Park trek. I really tried to get the kids to be creative with their costumes this year, but everyone just wanted one of the costumes we already had. When I realized that I didn't have a spend a cent on costumes, I dropped my arguments. So Batgirl, Minnie Mouse, and Mickey Mouse came to Pumpkins with us. We met some friends there, saw some other friends, got to check out a fire engine, picked out pumpkins, and played a few games. [Funny story; we didn't immediately go get our pumpkins. Poor Q. We were at the Pumpkins in the Park. At the park. With no pumpkins. It was simply not okay!]

After we left the park, we headed over to A&B's for the revival of our S-town dinner group. We had eight adults and ten kids, a taco bar, and a lot of fun! The kids are getting old enough where they really just headed off with their friends and we had real conversations with other tall people whom we like very much. It was pretty awesome and was hard to leave for bedtime. So we stayed a little longer than we maybe should have. 

Which is why we tabled going to the corn maze today. It was apparent rather early in the day that blowing through nap was not going to be a good call - or a recipe for anything resembling fun and success. After rest (and a Vikings win!), we did go to a local pumpkin patch and explore. We got a tractor ride, walked around the actual patch for a while, learned that pumpkin vines are not very forgiving and to step high, and picked out a couple pie pumpkins. Q wants me to make a pie with a real pumpkin ... wish me luck!

Thoughts on Nicknames

This will surprise you, based on her unpleasant, anti-social personality (sarcasm), but Fiona is well-beloved at school. Especially at the YMCA after care program. She told us this week that all the teachers at after care had given her a nickname: Nugget. I can't imagine how they came up with such a perfect nickname for her ... completely unrelated, at her 6 year well check, she was 40.5" tall (0.42%) and 34 lbs 1 oz (1.41%). We basically high-fived that we are still on the growth chart! She has also mentioned that the big kids like to pick her up because she's so tiny. [She is totally fine with the nickname. The teachers asked her permission to call her that. They are so sweet and respectful.] It does make me giggle when I pick her up and they yell "Nugget" across the room. And then I greet her with a "hi Bug!" People are going to wonder if she has a real name.

Earlier this week, I was telling Declan that my Grandpa Johnson used to call Auntie and me "Pumpkin" and "Peanut." He was very intrigued by the story and was trying to imagine me as a Pumpkin. Then he got really excited and asked me to call him "Blueberry." And that has been the nickname he has wanted all week. He answers to it - and occasionally will ignore me until I call him Blueberry. Quinn has been trying out Pumpkin and Peanut to see if one fits her. But I'm pretty sure she will always be my Bot.

The Big Kid Room

The final vestiges of Baby-dom are disappearing from our home. On Saturday, while Fiona, Dec, and I went to F's well check, Mike and Q disassembled the crib. This crib has been up and occupied by V babies for almost exactly six years (Fiona came home from the hospital on Oct 2, 2010 and the crib left the bedroom on Oct 1, 2016!). It was fun to look back at the nursery set up before Fiona was born and to see how much that room has changed to now accommodate three babies!

Little dude thinks he is BIG STUFF in his new toddler bed. And - since he dorked around during nap on Saturday to the point that he fell out and clunked his head pretty good, he now also stays in his toddler bed! For our sanity, we also hooked the video monitor back up and reattached the gate. We'll make sure there are no late night wanderings before we completely remove the gate again. [He also inadvertently found where I had stashed - and then forgotten about - his pacifiers. He was super pumped. So they got tossed in the garbage! I'm done pulling the plug on the gang.]

Since we painted the room, the bunk beds have been assembled, the new dresser has been painted, and the crib has been replaced. I still need to work on some of the finer details of the organization and we have some wall space to fill. But I love how it is coming together - and the occupants really love it too! While it is bittersweet to see the crib pieces stacked in the garage, we are really excited for them to have a Big Kid space that they are proud of and that is growing with them.

**Ignore the poor lighting in the photos. Their room was clean, the beds were made, and I had five minutes. Those pieces don't always come together at the same time.

I spy a little guy who is proud of his bed

Bunked. Q on top, F on the bottom. For this month.
They switch on the first of every month.

New dresser in the corner
And Gopher hockey figurine on the top.
So they know which team to cheer for.

The one wall with stuff on it. They love the photo collages.
And their letters are their favorite part of the room.