Thor is born... and is turning 7!

7 Years ago today, Jake and I were living in Colorado Springs. We had a tiny apartment off of Pikes Peak Avenue, went to at least 2 movies a weekend, and had just said good-bye to all his Army buddies as they had left for another deployment. Jake was in physical therapy for his ankle, and our future in the military was uncertain. Top that with the fact that I just gone into labor, and it made for a pretty busy week. Wednesday morning I woke up with contractions about 5 minutes apart, but decided I wanted to wait until my doctor's appointment later that day to go to the hospital. Jake came home to go with me and away we went. My doctor told me we would be having a baby that day, and sent us up to labor and delivery. I would just like to go on record as saying... we did not have a baby that day, or that night, or even in the wee hours of the next morning. Our mighty little  red-head (yes it was red when he was born) did not come out to meet us until 22 hours of labor, 4 hours more of pushing, and the threat that we would be having a C-section if I did not get him out in the next 20 minutes.

I was drugged, starving, exhausted, and ready to see our son. We had still not decided on a name. The nurses had asked us when we came in and we said we were just calling him "Thor" because he had such mighty punches and kicks. By the time he was born we still had not chosen a name. When we saw his pretty red hair and perfect porcelain skin, we knew he was a Thor. The newest Nielsen man was born. He was the first grandchild born to Jake's family, and the 4th in mine.

7 years later, he still has that perfect white skin, but the red hair has faded and is now an amazing blond, with just hints of strawberry. Since he was a little guy he has loved, dinosaurs and wildlife of any kind. He collects bugs and reads books on animals whenever he gets the chance. He will sit for hours and watch documentaries on flora and fauna. He is the sweetest, most thoughtful little guy. His favorite subject in school is Art and his art teacher Mrs. Amendt loves having him. She stops almost daily to tell me little stories of things he has made for her, or shown other students. His favorite animal is still the orangutan. He has had a mild obsession with them since he was about 3. He can tell you all about their disappearing habitat in Borneo, and their diet and lifestyles. Jake and I are proud to be parents to such a tender hearted, thoughtful little man.

                                                  

8 Years And Still Madly In Love

This fall has been full of weddings for our family and friends. My best friend in the whole world got married a couple of weeks ago and this past weekend was the wedding of another close college girlfriend. We still have several family weddings to attend in the coming weeks, so it has given us a chance to think about the years that we have been married.

Eight years doesn't sound like much time, but when one considers that it is nearly a quarter of our lives it seems more significant. We still love spending every night together and miss each other deeply when we are separated. I never "got" those couples who took separate vacations or loved going off for extended weekends to "get away" from their spouse. My favorite memories are Jake and I spending time together going places, and sometimes just staying home and doing projects together. I really believe that one day we are going to be that old couple who still holds hands at the movies and who could never imagine their lives without the other person.

Every year gets better and better and I am looking forward to what marriage is like in the next decade. Happy Anniversary to my wonderful husband and partner of 13 years. We must be doing something right.

Auntie Katie's Perfect Wedding!

Baleigh and Maggie waiting patiently for the day to begin

Sister of the Bride and Flower girl

My baby girl and I looking all fancy

Ring security. They were too freaking adorable

First kiss

Ra-hole and her lady friend Jen

Mandy and her man John

Cutting the cake

Bob and Katie

My funny little kids

Fit Kids... and Pinterest

Last night after the kids had taken their bath they were supposed to be brushing their teeth in the main bath. All of the sudden I hear a crash and a bang. The kids were then furiously whispering about something and I hear Baleigh start crying, and asking Thor why he said it was a good idea. I walked in to find the kids futilely attempting to put the town bar bracket back in the wall.

The story came out that they were attempting to do pull-ups on the bar and it pulled out of the wall.

This would have been cute and funny - IF - and it was a big if - I had not put off hanging that towel bar for about 6 weeks because the wall anchors were such a pain to get in. Now I have a GIANT hole in my bathroom wall that needs to be patched and the rack re-hung.

The take away from this for me, was that no matter what my kids will find a way to work out. I should be proud, right?

* Bonus to this story: I took time to chill out with some pinterest later that night and found the cutest hooks with a backboard that will look so much cuter in the bathroom than that towel rack. Now I have a new project for the weekend....and I am pretty sure they will cover the hole in the wall so I won't have to break out a patch kit. That is what I consider a win-win.

First Day of School 2013-14

 Thor had his picture taken by this sign the first and last day of the school year when he started school. We are making it our tradition to take one for each school year beginning and end.

 Our Bean-ie Baby is officially in school. Today I was able to take her to her open house to meet her teacher. She was not thrilled about going to school, but she changed her tune when she got there. She found that one of her good friends from church is in her class, and they have lockers right next to eachother.

                                                              Ready for school!

                                                             She found her locker!!!!

Memory Wipe

On Friday Thor had a consultation with an oral surgeon. He has to have a tooth extracted before it becomes and issue for his adult teeth. While discussing pain management options during the operations, we opted against Novocain and laughing gas, in favor of a liquid drug that will make him forget the whole appointment.  I was very forthcoming in the steps of the process and he seemed to be at peace with what was going to happen.

The following evening I was talking with my mom and told her what was going to happen. Thor came out of his room and was hysterical. He explained through his tears and snot bubbles that he was scared about his surgery. I had no idea why he was so worried, until he said he had heard what I said to grandma. He said he heard me say he would not remember anything and he didn't want to lose his whole memory. He wanted to know about animals and stuff! He was so sincere it was heartbreaking. I explained that the only thing he would not remember would be the surgery. That seemed to calm him enough to allow him to go back to bed.

It was just too funny of a story not to share.

Quick Learners...Long Summer

This summer has been full of first for the kids. A few weeks back Baleigh learned to tie her shoes all by herself in an afternoon. She has become even more proficient and confident in that skill since then.

Both kids are reading (slowly but surely) easy reader books to us instead of the other way around.

Last week Thor and Bean decided they wanted the training wheels off their bikes and away they went. Thor was the first to take off, and Baleigh, not to be left behind figured it out by the following day. They are tooling around the neighborhood with the other kids now.

Early in the summer the midgets took swimming lessons at the public pool. After 10 days of lessons we have two little fish. Thor is confident going down the giant water slide and Baleigh is jumping off the diving board into the deep end - WITH NO LIFE JACKET!!! I am so proud of how much they learned and practice when they are in the pool. I know I was not that fearless at their age and it makes me proud to have such active, gifted children.

The summer has seemed long and short all at the same time. Starting a new job mid summer was unexpected and it has made it seem longer. I am excited for the kids to head back to school and see old friends and make new ones. Baleigh will have the same teacher as Thor had last year and Thor is excited to meet Mrs. Kryder his 1st grade teacher. I am pleased that I work across the street from their school so they don't have to ride the bus anymore. They will go to school with me and then walk across to the elementary school when it is time, and come and hang out with me for 40 minutes in the afternoon, when I get off work. It is really ideal for our schedule at the moment and Baleigh is especially glad that I will be close to her for the first few weeks. She was very apprehensive about who her teacher would be and riding the bus was a stressful thought for her. Now she knows who her teacher is and she doesn't have to ride the bus if she doesn't want to.

In other big news, Thor is having oral surgery the end of this month. He had X-rays at the dentist last week, and we discovered he has an issue with his baby tooth in the back by his 6 molar. The baby tooth has not fallen  out and it is dissolving the adult molar. He has to have the baby tooth extracted and a spacer put in. So thankful that my job offers GREAT dental insurance. We would have had to dig into our emergency fund to cover this one. Also, thankful that we found this issue before it became a painful thing to fix - the dentist said it could abscess at any moment and it was an urgent issue to resolve.