Sisters

Sisters, sisters
There were never such devoted sisters....

My sweet sisters (and brother in law) came to visit over labor day. With all three of us living in different states and all three of us with extremely busy lives, seeing each other happens far less than we would like. So when they called and said they were both coming over labor day I was thrilled, and so were their five littlest fans.

Aunt Kelly is always a hit. She brings face paint, sour gummy worms, a great imagination and is ready to play!

Aunt Dana and Uncle Ry are favorites too. Ready to wrestle, play doll house, read books, they are ready for action.

The weekend was filled with celebrating the twins birthday, eating cinnamon rolls, biking (and sweating) to the park, face painting, ordering PF Changs for dinner, going to Caribou and lots of playing!

There is something sweet about spending time with my sisters. It's always fun to sit and talk through life with two people who I have spent my whole like with and although we have spent the last decade in different states no one knows you like a sibling.

I am very excited to have a new niece or nephew on the way. Dana and Ryan are due January 2. They are going to be surprised about the gender. It has been fun to start giving them some of our baby stuff that Jett doesn't use anymore.

It was a little sad for me as they packed our baby swing in their car. Five of my babies have rocked for hundreds of hours in that swing. I can picture each one of them all snuggled in the swing. It brings tears to my eyes even now. Jett no longer enjoyed being strapped down in the swing so we passed it on with the hope that baby Bohlen can enjoy many hours swinging.

We made cinnamon rolls and sang to Rex and Myla Saturday morning.

 

 

And they didn't disappoint with their birthday presents, Barbies and legos, both were a big success!

A wonderful weekend together. We are not sure when we will all be together again. Dana and Ryan won't be in Arkansas for Christmas since their little baby will be arriving around that time and although I'm sure we will head to Minnesota we probably won't all be together again for a while. I'm so thankful that we were all able to be together and enjoy the weekend! So blessed to have such wonderful sisters and my children are so blessed to have them in their lives! 

Fearless

I live with four adventurous children.
Four children who like to climb high, jump far, run fast, wrestle hard, flip, and let's be honest, sometimes flop through life. As their mother I battle between knowing how to protect them and yet let them skin their knees, learn their limits, challenge themselves and learn to be tough.

I have learned though, that my children are pretty good about knowing what they can and cannot do. That doesn't mean that I don't have to occasionally rescue them from a tough spot, but I am amazed as to how, if given the opportunity, they can do far more than I would have thought.

It's pretty cool to see how at different times my children rise to the challenge in front of them. I love watching them figure out things on their own. One of the phrases out of Titan's mouth on a regular basis is, "I do it Mom!" Since more often than not I'm holding someone in my arms, my children are probably forced to learn to do things on their own.

 

Quinton can't seem to go fast enough on his bike or scooter. To him a hill just means an opportunity to go faster, a curb is basically a jump to conquer and riding through the grass is just the coolest thing ever. Quinn is not a typical first born when it comes to being cautious. He was born for speed and action.  

I'm sure this doesn't surprise any of you if you're read anything about my Titan but for the last few months if he's thirsty he will slide over a chair to the counter, climb up, grab a cup, climb down and go fill it himself, keep in mind he just turned two! He can figure out a way to get just about whatever he wants. He's a strong willed child and I love that about him.  

You will notice the bump on his head. That bump looks like nothing compared to what he got this week. 10x worse on his head and face (pictures to come). He plays hard, falls hard! 

 

I'm assuming that someday soon four monkeys will turn into five. Jett is well on his way to moving.

 Love their adventurous side!

Hoping we can continue the good streak of minor injuries! Can't wait to see all the mountains they climb in the future.

Our Twins are 4!

I screamed and cried (tears of joy), Dan just laughed in disbelief, "You're having twins," is not usually something that you hear for the first time in your 21 week ultrasound. Less than five weeks later I was on bed rest and somehow without going crazy I made it another six weeks before holding my Rex and Myla. After a month in the NICU we brought home a tiny little four and a half pound Myla Jane and six and a half pound Rex Michael.

 

Let's be honest, I don't remember a ton about the first four months or so. Quinton was just a year and a half when we brought them home. Beautiful chaos is a good description of our house for the last four years. Going from one child to three brought a certain craziness to our family. 

Little did I know that when I held Myla for the first time that it would be just the two of us girls in a house filled with boy! So she and I have decided that we must stick together and we regularly chant, "We are the girls" while the boys are trying to dominate us.

Doesn't the picture below look like Jett? My little blue eyed babes!

Miss Myla Jane is something special. I can honestly say that I know no other girl that can, "run with the boys," the way that this girl can. She's a pro at all things "boy" and when she's ready to be done wrestling she lets out a shriek that only a girl can do and grabs a baby doll to play with. She's quite funny and can win Dan or I over quickly when she wraps her arms around our neck and kisses our cheeks. She's filled with sweet sass. I love all her emotions because I understand all her emotions. She truly is a gift to this family of boys!

  

And as I've said before, I love that my boys know how to play Barbies and dollhouse and get excited to play girl things with her. She keeps us all twirling and dancing around!

Rex Michael, he has a heart unlike anyone I know. He is always so concerned about other people and what would make someone else happy. He is one who is fiercely loyal to those he loves. He will save a couple bites of a treat for his daddy because he's always thinking of others. He will pick out a toy for Myla when he's sitting in a hospital bed and they tell him he can pick a toy just because he's thinking of what Myla would like. He's Quinton's biggest fan, he is the first to run to Titan and Jett's room when he hears them awake. He will hear me mention wanting something in passing and next thing I know he will be standing next to me holding whatever I needed. He's thoughtful, he's caring, he's generous, he's loyal and he melts my heart with his big brown eyes. He challenges me daily with his thoughtfulness!

Rex is my morning buddy. Most days he joins me downstairs at about 6:30. Rex and I have a good little morning routine down, he makes my coffee for me and I get his milk then we either snuggle up with a book, he colors and I read, or we sneak outside and look for a few bugs. He's my first one awake 6/7 days a week. I understand that about him, I like the mornings too. I like the quiet. I like that he enjoys it with me!

Time goes too fast. It's amazing how quickly life goes and how easy it is to look to the next stage in life. I don't want to do that. I want to enjoy the morning snuggles and the arms wrapped around my neck. I just feel so amazingly blessed by these two four year olds.

Dan and I are delighted and proud to call them our children.
Happy 4th Birthday Rex and Myla!