And then we Cheers

Our summer

2015-07-25T18:48:00.001-05:00

We are having one of those summers where every weekend is penciled in with an event. Zoo, retirement party, wedding, arts festival, wedding, farmers market, wedding. Yeah, there are a lot of weddings around these parts.

PS when is the right time to bring children to a wedding? I hate bringing kids. I forgot that I hated it so much so we ended up bringing them to a wedding last weekend and I nearly stabbed myself in the eye with a wooden spork at our table. They are just such a handful! That's putting it mildly. The spork stabbing feeling is much more accurate.

And now photos of non-spork stabbing inducing moments from our summer.

^^Visited our zoo. Fed a llama. Kind of a big deal.

^^Went to Farmer's Market. The mini donuts continue to be a hit with the Thiessen children.

^^Arts Festival snocones. Mix your own is a very clever idea and a thrill for a four year old. Hit up the Tiger's Blood, obviously.

^^Had a small sampling of fireworks for 4th of July and Dex loved it. He's using a lot of adjectives these days so everything was "really coool" and "awesome".

^^Oh, Evy. You're hot, then you're cold. You're yes, then you're no. We fight, we break up. We kiss, we make up.

Tidbits about our new old house

2015-06-28T14:50:00.000-05:00

I love our new old house. We have a large list of projects to get through but I'm kind of in love with that list. I am all about flipping the entire house into something new and making it ours. I'm obsessed with HGTV and events like Junk Jubilee and family trips to Home Depot. Paint swatches are my jam and pinning on Saturday morning with a cup of coffee is my idea of a great time. I'm in. I'm all in.

You should know a few things about our new old house. Quirky things. Examples:

The previous owner was a horticulturist, something is always in bloom in our yard. It's kind of a jungle though.

The washing machine makes a train whistle noise twice during its run. I kid you not, it is exactly like a train whistle. We went for a family walk once and could hear it from half a block down.

The ceiling fans in this house operate under a non-standard number of blades design. Our bedroom fan has four, Dexter's has three and Evy's has two.

The window treatments throughout the house are a combination of lace curtains and vinyl roller shades...from 20 years ago.

The walls in Evy's room are covered in what one could only describe as ripped up papier-mached brown paper bags.

We have our work cut out for us but then there's the butler staircase, the finished attic, and the reading nook in Dexter's closet. Those are pretty good things. And then there's that lovely front porch with a swing. The porch that lends itself so well to morning coffee, afternoon snacks and blowing bubbles for this family. And that might be the best tidbit of all.

Little boys, baby girls and the mama who loves them

2015-05-31T14:32:00.001-05:00

I spent three days traveling for work last week. It seemed quite short and too long at the same time. I was up at 3 am for my flight on Wednesday and returned home shortly before midnight on Friday. By my flight home, I started looking at photos and videos of those two chickens and feeling a twinge of heartache.

On my flight out of town, I had made the mistake of dashing out of the house without a book or podcast downloaded for my flight from Des Moines to Orange County. I spent that journey trying to sleep on the plane and staring blankly ahead in silence. So in an effort to correct this amateur move, the night before my flight back home, I downloaded two episodes of The Moth. Have you listened to The Moth? It's really quite good. A series of five minute true stories that share a common theme told to a live audience. I didn't read the descriptions of the episodes that I chose but they ended up being about moms and dads. Some of the stories were about moms and dads either being ill or dying. Sigh, another amateur mistake. Read the description before you download if you do not want to be the girl pretending she has something in her eye as they prepare for landing. The stories were authentic and funny and heartbreaking and perfect.

I haven't been sure if I want to continue this blog thing. Even the bi-monthly posts I muster up are exhausting. However, one thought that has crossed my mind in the past and was again propped up in front of me after hearing these stories, was the idea of my kids and I missing the opportunity to know each other. What if history repeats itself and I leave this world when they are 17? I have photos and my own memories of my mom. It isn't enough.

And so, I am forging on. In addition to photos and memories, I think I'll give these kids my words. My stories of our long and short time together.

A few snapshots

2015-05-16T08:53:00.000-05:00

Right now our lives are full of:

6 am wake up calls from a little boy asking if today is a school day.

6 pm fits from a baby girl who just wants to be held by her mom all.the.time.

playing on the front porch

Brother and sister starting to really play together

paint brushes and Pinterest and projects for the house

laptops and tip tapping on keyboards after the kids are in bed

date nights with dinner and errands

On Mother's Day

2015-05-10T10:08:00.001-05:00

This last week has been silly. Evy came home with a fever on Monday. I left work with a fever on Thursday. I picked Dexter up with a fever on Friday. Yeah. Silly.

Two weeks ago, I took this video and haven't been able to stop watching it and laughing. Dexter does an excellent James Brown impression and Evy shakes what her mama gave her.

Motherhood is a journey of ups and downs, my friends.

Happy travels to all you Mamas out there.

What our Easter looked like

2015-04-06T21:28:00.000-05:00

We had a lovely Easter filled with coloring eggs and food and family and visits from THE Bunny. We didn't even make a spectacle of ourselves at church! God is good, my friends. :)

^^These two. They are quite the duo.

^^I had this super good French toast with bananas and peanut butter and bacon at La Mie a long time ago and wanted to recreate it at home. So good! Jethro's tries to do it too but make no mistake La Mie kills it. Yum. Also, #notpregnant

^^I say we recreate this in 20 years. Who's with me?

#stressedandblessed

2015-03-09T21:33:00.000-05:00

This past weekend was filled with house guests and parties and little boys running up and down stairs hollering at the top of their lungs. We celebrated our February birthdays finally. Josh's parents and our nephew came up to stay for the weekend and my whole famdamily came over for Sunday brunch.

I like parties. I like picking out decorations. I like thinking about logistics and food. I don't even mind the whirlwind of setting up and tearing down. The things that I could do without though are the present opening and cake cutting. Every year it's the same. The kids, Dexter included, want to grab the cake and tear into all the presents. They stand in a one foot circle around the cake or presents and then drone on and on about helping unwrap or which piece of cake is theirs. I am quite certain that the whole scene is akin to a zombie apocalypse.

After everyone left, I was telling Josh about this terribleness and then I was kind of thinking to myself you know, so much of what I get stressed about are actually really good things. It is good that Dexter and Evy have cousins who love them and come to their birthday parties. It is good that we have family who care so much about Evy's tiny unsocked feet freezing in a 50 degree weather in a house full of people who carry her everywhere anyway. It is good that we live in a house where the complaint is not about the size anymore but is about the location of the bathroom...the er, one and only bathroom.

Stressed and blessed, right? It sounds so cheesy but it's kind of where I'm at right now. If this isn't a thing on Pinterest or some lame-o hashtag mom thing then it should be. You're welcome. DIYers and social media mavens of the world, this is a thing. Unite the clans.

And now photos of random birthday bidness.

^^I said, I'll make lightsabers out of these. After seven of them I ran out of steam.

^^Grandma and Grandpa for the win.

She owned that cupcake.

They love hard

2015-02-28T14:19:00.000-06:00

Around here lately

2015-02-27T14:52:00.001-06:00

February is birthday month in this house. Evy had her first at the beginning of the month and Dexter's birthday is this week. We made our daily, er, weekly run to Target today and for giggles let Dexter wander up and down all the toy aisles to see what he might like for his birthday. Conclusion: all of it. He thinks everything is cool. Everything deserves a "Guys, look it!"

For the first time ever we will be hosting the birthday party. We have always had the party at my dad's since our old house was too little for all of our family but now that we've moved into our larger forever home, (my words, not Josh's. I am never moving ever again and you can't make me) we can finally host! I am equally thrilled and and frazzled at this idea. Thrilled because we can leisurely set up, decorate and just do things the way we want to. Frazzled because did I mention how slowly this house is coming together?

We have kicked it into high gear to try to get things a bit more settled but it seems like every time we start a project, we unearth another project. Like let's paint the living room...that looks good...but did the crown molding always look so dingy...and what is up with the popcorn ceiling...and maybe we should do something with the fireplace...I told Josh that we need to be on Fixer Upper or get our own DIY/HGTV show. They love interracial couples! And ooh, look at these cute halfsie kids! We would be a smash I am sure of it.

He is so me

2015-02-16T19:46:00.001-06:00

A cat darts across the street on our way home.

"There's a cat, mom."

"Yep."

"We don't like cats."

"We don't like cats?"

"Yeah. We are dog people. We are not cat people."

Amen, brother.

Everly: One year

2015-02-09T14:34:00.000-06:00

Dear Evy,

Happy birthday, baby girl! Good heavens, one year old! We started the celebration this weekend with a trip to see Grandma and Grandpa. You were much more polite this trip than over Thanksgiving. Doling out a few more smiles, letting other people hold you. You're really maturing in your old age.

I took the day off so I could escort you to your one year old checkup. You braved a finger poke without a squeak and howled when they tried to weigh you. Makes sense. After all the prodding and measuring the diagnosis is you are tiny. Tiny and fit as a fiddle.

Here's to a year of sweet and sass, of cuddles and crankiness, of big brother and little sister, of pigtails and topknots, of just us girls and daddy and daughter. Here's to you, baby lady.

Love,

Mama

The one where my heart nearly busted with pride

2015-02-02T21:06:00.002-06:00

We always conclude our day with a bedtime story for Dexter. He loves books. He always has and this mama hopes that he always will.

Tonight he started "reading" this book to me. He recited it from memory start to finish, stumbling over a few words that he couldn't quite remember. I prompted him and once he remembered what part we were at he quickly shushed me so that his voice was the only one we could hear.

I tell ya, this parenting stuff is tough. But every now and again it's pretty awesome.

On starting and stopping

2015-02-01T21:27:00.000-06:00

Can I just say that I have no idea how anybody with children under five gets anything done? I mean, seriously. It took us several weeks to get that wall up there to this point. Several weeks! In case you were wondering what Manhattan mist looks like, it's the middle swatch there. The dining room walls are now sporting this color. However, we still need to do the trim. I estimate that will get completed mid-Spring 2015.

These days I am feeling quite unaccomplished. We have been in our new house for a few months now and it is still so unfinished. Walls unpainted, picture frames not hung, items that have no home. Unfinished.

Like Evy may or may not be sleeping in a pack and play still.

She is.

She is most definitely sleeping in a pack and play still. Her crib is all propped up in her room waiting for someone to get up the gumption to assemble the damn thing. Dream big, baby girl. Someday.

I tell you what, friends, the adults of this house aspire to do great things. They aspire to turn this house into a home one DIY and Pinterest project at a time.They aspire to do very official educational crafts and games with their soon-to-be preschooler. They aspire to not have a heaping pile of laundry that needs to be folded or washed or put away at all times. They aspire to get shit done.

But these adults are so so tired.

The woman is nearly narcoleptic. The man, in his own words, "passes the eff out" at night. Nap time hits the kids and it takes all my willpower to not let it hit me too.

Walls half painted. Books half read. Blog posts partially written. This is the season of starting and stopping.

Everly: 11 months

2015-01-19T21:04:00.000-06:00

Evy Girl,

We are rounding the corner to a year! Sound the trumpets! Big happenings this month include climbing stairs and yelling "Det-tah!! (Dexter)". You love that guy.

I anticipated that you might be walking earlier than your bro but I think you might follow in his footsteps (hardy har) and actually walk after your first birthday. This is where I breathe a silent thank you to the heavens because I don't know if I have it in me to keep up with a walking you quite yet.

You are a sweet girl and a sass bucket. We just love you, baby lady. Can't wait for your big party next month.

Love,

Mama

PS Baby jeggings--yes, please!
PPS That wallpaper is flipping amazing, right?

Everly: 10 months

2015-01-01T22:23:00.000-06:00

Dear Evy,

First Christmas down in the books, baby girl. You weren't that impressed with it all. The hubbub of gifts and parties and lots of willing arms to carry you and cart you around didn't faze you. You skipped afternoon naps and were still quiet and content to just crawl around and watch your cousins.

You love playing with your brother and he loves watching over you. He is our third eye for small toys and steep staircases. He lectures you a lot about these dangers, wagging his finger at you. I think you two are going to have a lot of fun when you get older ;)

Love,

Mama

Feelings about 2014

2014-12-12T22:47:00.000-06:00

I had a rough day today. I annoyed myself by discovering that I locked my keys in my car last night. I also ugly cried in a conference room at work. So there's that. P.S. Women of the working world, crying at the office is THE worst, am I right? I don't know if calling out women specifically is being sexist or whatever but honestly, in my anecdotal, non-scientific research it appears that women tend to shed tears at work. Anyway, it is just so awkward. Awkward for me and awkward for the person who has to witness it. Ugh.

I am fine. I am thinking this blip is just a nice little cherry to the year that is 2014. If I had to have a Facebook relationship status with 2014, it would be "it's complicated". I don't know how I feel about her. She brought me a daughter, but she also made me a mom of two which can be exhausting. She kept Josh and I busy with our careers, filled us with ambition, but challenged us with long hours and overtime. She rolled out the welcome mat in a bigger home for us, but left the door on our first home cracked open.*

There are nights when we sit down for dinner and Dexter is acting as three year olds do-with smiles and frowns all at once--Evy is working her way to a fever pitch because she wants more or doesn't want any or wants to get up or wants to get down, etc. Josh and I look at each other and this is what we say, "This is our design." It's a reference to the show Hannibal. Yes, I realize that show is about a serial killer who eats people, pretty gruesome stuff. However, we said it jokingly once when we were tired bleary-eyed parents of a newborn. And it stuck. Editor's note: we also pulled out this phrase a lot when we were dealing with the trials and tribulations of potty training. It's like our version of "Serenity now!"

So this is our design, people. This chaotic, exhausting, ugly-cry inducing, delightful, special, amazing year is ours. I can't hate on 2014 too much I suppose. She was following her marching orders and I can't fault a girl for that. I will say that she seemed to go about it in a pretty sassy way though. So, yeah, she's a little bitchy. But in a fun way.

Like I said, it's complicated.

*Yes, while I was away from the blog we bought a house and will be renting our old house!

**Also, this photo has nothing to do with this post. It was taken at the Arcade Fire concert that we went to over the summer. It was fun, our trip was fantastic! I alluded to it being crossed off the bucket list in a previous post but then never said a peep about it. So here it is. Peep, peep.

Everly: 7, 8 and 9 months

2014-11-28T22:25:00.000-06:00

My dearest Evy,

Good grief, lady. Things go by much faster the second kid around. I can't believe that it was just the beginning of this year that I was still pregnant with you. It feels like ages ago! I blinked and now you are crawling, pulling yourself up and chomping away on beef stew (true story! No exaggeration, you like your food. You are your mother's daughter).

You are still kind of a miser. A cute little miser but a miser nonetheless. Dexter seems to be able to crack your curmudgeon-y ways sometimes and get you to smile. It is just about the cutest thing ever.

Here's to the last three months, baby lady. The next three are sure to go just as fast.

Love you,

Mama

Scenes from our summer

2014-09-01T20:44:00.000-05:00

It's September! I always mark September as the end of summer. The end of our travels and vacation and carefree afternoons lazing around the back porch around the grill. Now we just have to solemnly march on until we hit the holiday season. ;)

We spent a good chunk of our summer visiting playgrounds and parks across the city. And when our old standbys in West Des Moines and Windsor Heights weren't cutting it, we ventured out of the city to this old gal...

^^Big Creek's playground is exactly as it was when I was just a little girl. We are talking old school. Just look at that solid wood structure and METAL slide! None of that plastic stuff here. Just your old fashioned burn the backs of your calves on a hot summer day slide.

And wouldn't you know it--tire swings!

It wouldn't be summer without an Avett Brothers concert. We went to Saturday in the Park in Sioux City. We are groupies. We realize this.

^^And here's a terrible photo from the concert that I made black and white to try to mask it's terribleness.

Also, kids, remind me to tell you about the walk home from that concert when you are older. The general takeaway is to always have an exit plan.

We experimented with headbands.

Important life changing stuff for Evy going on up there, right?

And to cap off the entire summer, Josh and I crossed off a certain concert on our bucket list. More to come on that later!

Happy September, friends!

Real estate is not for the faint of heart

2014-08-30T16:31:00.000-05:00

Image from here

We bought a tiny house on a hill when it was just us two. Soon to be married and official grown ups with a very official mortgage to prove it. The space was small but it was ours. We brought home a puppy, a large puppy, mind you. No big deal. And then we brought home a baby who turned into a toddler, and is now on the brink of boyhood. A little bit of a big deal. And then we brought home another baby, who is beginning to give us a look that says she might like to try crawling one of these days, if her little belly would just cooperate. Yeah, a big effing deal. We don't have our puppy anymore, (RIP Sudsy), but we are certainly beginning to burst out of the seams of this house.

We have been house hunting this summer. Let me clarify, Josh has been house hunting for the last year or so. When I was pregnant with Evy I was all like, we can totally have another kid in this house. They put babies in closets in New York. We're cool.

I was wrong.

Well I was right...for a little bit. But now we are at the point in the story where we need to make our next move. A move that involves decisions on square footage and school districts, planning for mortgages and property taxes. And yes, a move that involves crossing our fingers and toes for the sale of our first home.

A few weeks ago, we put an offer in on a house and then at the eleventh hour were outbid by another buyer. Heartbreak ensued and lots of "must not be our house" talk tossed around. It was a sad day. A depressing reminder that while money can't buy you love, it can certainly buy you square footage.

I am fretting over our next move. The stress of selling our house and finding our next home hovers like a dark cloud. If I think about how to make our move at the right time for the right house and for just the right price I want to vomit. Real estate is not for the faint of heart.

So this is where I am now--one foot tethered to our home that was made for just the two of us and one foot out the door searching for a home for the four of us.

Everly: Six months

2014-08-28T21:32:00.000-05:00

Dear Evy,

Welcome to half a year! You are delightful and stubborn. We started crying it out with you and you are putting up a very good fight but guess what--mama really likes her sleep so...

Also, food! You're in the food business now and seem to like it. Let me tell you, purees are fine but it only gets better from here.

Love you, love your pigtails,

Mom

P.S. Apologies for stuffing you into three month clothes. These months are going by fast, baby lady.

Roommate weekend: Kansas City

2014-08-09T15:27:00.000-05:00

^^Let's call it a night...but first, let's stop and dance here on the steps instead of making it all the way down to the floor at Power and Light District^^

It has been about three years since my last roommate getaway. Too long, right? It was such a lovely weekend with shopping and sushi and fancy girl drinks and beer in 16 oz. glasses and singing loudly to 90s jams and dancing like I was at Drunk Monkey at UNI and eating a most delicious breakfast to end the whole trip on the right note. I might venture to say it was perfect.

A love letter:

To my former roomies and always friends, so happy to have you ladies in my life. Let's do this kind of thing until we are old and gray.

And to you, Kansas City, how fun are you? Great shopping, good food, fun nightlife. I shall return to thee. This is my solemn vow.

Travel notes:

Find delicious sushi here.

This place has a fun atmosphere and a tasty brunch.

We took a vacation/went on a trip

2014-07-29T21:02:00.000-05:00

You know that saying that if you travel without kids, it's a vacation but if you travel with kids, it's a trip? I wasn't sure what that meant...until a few weeks ago.

We went back to Minnesota for our annual family vacay and it was a flippin' mess. We had some good times but we also had a kid with fever, a baby with fever, and a baby who wouldn't sleep. Fare thee well, my plans for a relaxing day drink. Nope, just day drinking to ease the pain. I kid...mostly. The car ride home was the cherry though. We stopped five times before even hitting the Minnesota/Iowa border! Potty breaks for Dexter, feedings for Evy, crying jags for Evy (and maybe for us too). I tell you what, I like going on this family trip a whole lot but this year really beat me up. It felt like one of those vacations that we'll someday look back on and laugh about. Someday. Not today, but someday.

But by all accounts of my facebook and instagram, it looks like we had the most awesome time ever. Had I not written all this out, you would've thought oh, man those Thiessens have it all, don't they? Bahahaha. The internet: helping craft fake realities one status update at a time.

The big pool was a little intimidating at first but he warmed up to it eventually.

The turtle mascot bypassed us while we were waiting to register for the turtle race in Nisswa. This is the face of a kid who got snubbed.

We hunted that turtle down and demanded a photo. We're pretty pleased here.

Evy and Grandma waiting for the turtle race to start.

Before Dexter caught the big one.

How have your summer travels been? Can you believe it's nearly August already??

P.S. Rest assured next year the Thiessens are about to kick some serious vacation ass, friends.

Everybody poops...well, not everybody

2014-07-27T15:33:00.000-05:00

To quickly debrief you on what I referred to in my post about potty training, let's just say certain messes got on certain couches and a certain mama.

Let's just say that as a result of all those messes, a certain three year old is now "withholding".

Parenting is the shit.

Everly: Five Months

2014-07-27T15:32:00.000-05:00

Several weeks late but...

Dear Evy,

Congrats on rolling over! You're one step closer to running with the big dogs.

Also, you win the prize for most shrill cry ever during a six hour car ride back from vacation. Hooray, you did it!

Love,

Mama

Father's Day weekend 2014

2014-06-29T13:11:00.000-05:00

*** Please note: I started writing this post last weekend before I knew what kind of shitstorm was brewing and headed our way, but more on that later***

We have been housebound this weekend. After months of avoiding the inevitable, we have devoted this weekend to potty training our dear son. Things have been going fairly well...except for the fact that we are squarely in a standoff on the concept of #2. So now begins Poop Watch 2014.

I realized that I didn't post anything from Father's Day weekend so thought I would take a break from the vigilant potty reminding and false excitement about toddler underwear to share a few photos.

Saturday we went to the Iowa Craft Beer Festival and sampled beers for an hour or so. It was a fun outing but not sure it was worth the $30 a ticket. You got a souvenir glass and all the free samples you'd like which was fine. Weird part was that they charged $5 a ticket for designated drivers but then didn't even have water on site. Very puzzling.

Just two dads talking about dad things.

Sunday we gifted Joshie with this manly display of photos for his desk at work. In the afternoon, we headed to my dad's to grill out. Josh and Dexter made homemade ice cream for everyone. He's a worker, this one.

Hope all you dads had a good one!