Spring State of Mind

This warmer, rainy weather recently sure has me in a spring state of mind. We've been enjoying getting outside again as much as we can in between the days of rain. And we've been learning and growing more than I can even imagine. 

Brayden and Ashley have really enjoyed the "mess" that building a house makes. When it's not muddy, they like to climb up and around the big dirt pile in the front yard. And they've really enjoyed climbing up our rock pile and sliding- or more like scooting- down the pile. Both of these activities usually result in pretty messy children, so baths usually follow their fun on those days.

Walks are still a big part of our outdoor play. Ashley is loving expressing her independence, and always wants to either pull the wagon by herself or help me pull the wagon. Brady has no issue riding inside while Ashley pulls, but they do both like to get out and walk around, especially if we are looking at the cows or see a puddle to splash in. 

On March 20th I had the honor of taking pictures of my newest nephew, Jack Niebrugge. After his session, Erin and Chad brought Jack inside the house so Brady and Ashley (and Eric) could meet him. We were all so in love with him. Brady kept leaning in and waving and saying "hi" to him, and Ashley wanted to be a big girl and hold him and feed him his bottle. 

Eric and I headed to southern Illinois on March 26th to explore the wine trails with some friends. Though it was a little windier than we would have liked, it was really a beautiful day and thanks to some covered patios we were able to be outside a lot of the day. It was a much needed break away from everyday life to just enjoy each other and some friends. I'm told the wine was pretty good too, but I'll have to wait a few more months to enjoy that. 

When the weather hasn't been so nice, we've enjoyed cuddling inside and watching our "b's" (or movies). Ashley has been obsessed with cats lately, so we've been watching "Turning Red" on repeat. And yes, I know it's a red panda, but Ashley insists it's a kitty and there's no changing this girl's mind on that one. 

Brayden is in LOVE with our play kitchen. He will lay all his pots and pans out on the coffee table and mix random food (and sometimes not food) together to make something. He will come up to you with his spoon, open his mouth and say "ahhhh" and want you to take a bite of what he made. He also really enjoys using their toy blender, mixer, and coffee maker while he cooks. 

We've also had lots of updates to the new house in the past month! Our insulation was blown into the walls in the garage and house. 

The front porch, back porch, and side entry porch were all poured.

Drywall was hung and has been mudded.

We are really enjoying watching it come together little by little. We are hoping that siding will be happening soon so the outside looks even more complete, and then watching all of the fun interior things- like flooring, cabinets, and trim- come together in the upcoming weeks as well. 

This past month Ashley's vocabulary has exploded and she is starting to use some pretty long sentences. She wants to do everything herself, even if that means putting on her shoes in the slowest manner possible when you are running late in the mornings. Brayden likes to sometimes bring things to Ashley, like her milk cup or a toy that she is wanting, and sometimes Ashley will get upset and put whatever it was back so she can grab it herself. 

Ashley can be mean, especially to Brayden. She enjoys taking whatever toys he is playing with and throwing them on the floor. With some prompting she will come up with her bent over head "hug" to say sorry to him. She's also hit a nice tantrum phase where she cries over what seems like anything. Like I mentioned earlier, she is in love with kitties and loves petting our neighbor's cat when we see it on our walks. She eats about anything and will try new foods. She still says that daddy is her favorite, but she sometimes says it's me or pawpaw, so there's hope for the rest of us haha. She really enjoys her hugs and kisses before bed, but has to give them to me first before Eric. And she needs a million things in her crib to go to sleep. I don't even know how she fits in there with all of her things, bear being her favorite and one she definitely needs every night in her crib.

Brayden is starting to blossom more in his language skills as well. He has a lot of articulation errors, the biggest being that he leaves the ending sounds off of almost all of his words, which makes him very hard to understand. He talks so much, and if you know the context he does have a pretty big vocabulary. And he is starting to combine 2 and 3 words together as well. Where Ashley likes to repeat everything that you say, Brayden is not so keen on repeating what you model to him, so it's harder to see that progress with him. His monkey and pillow are must haves for him, and he is almost always sleeping on it in his crib. He even likes to lay on it for diaper changes now. 

He is a lot pickier in his eating, and doesn't like to try something if he's never seen it before. Sometimes we can trick him into trying something, and he might eat three or four helpings of it that day. But then if we give it to him again the next day, he acts like he has never seen it before and won't touch it. Brayden is a big momma's boy, and had been giving Eric a tough time of not letting him do anything for him. Luckily he has gotten a lot better and has gone to Eric for things that he normally would only come to me for, so that's been great for all of us. 

Brayden and Ashley have sure been a treat, and we've loved watching their little personalities develop and watching them grow and learn new things every day. We are soaking up the last few months of just the four of us, and are looking forward to watching them adjust to being big siblings. 

Riley's "Lellow"

This picture. Even seeing it now brings a slight tear to my eye. To probably everyone at the winery this weekend, Riley was my daughter. She wanted her "lellow", which I was affectionately referred to the entire time we were in St. Louis this weekend. And to most people looking at this photo, I'm just flying a kite with a two year old.

But this two year old is so full of spunk and sass. She has the sweetest smile and the orneriest grin that could get her anything she wanted. She is everything that I have ever envisioned Madison would be. And seeing that their birthdays are only a few weeks apart, she's the closest child in my friend realm to what Madison should be doing. What she should be saying. The experiences I should be having with my own daughter.

As Eric and I sat on the couch last night after a day with Riley (and Jaycen and Katie of course) full of kite flying, lots of "uppies", some couch cuddles, story time, and hand holding everywhere we went, Eric asked what I was thinking. I got real close to him, smiled, and remarked how much fun I had had that day. And in the exact same breath, my heart came crashing down as I also said how much it reminded me of the life we could be having if Madison were here. While we will never know exactly what that life would have looked like, I'm thankful for friends like Jaycen and Katie who let me love on Riley all weekend long. I'll tell you there's nothing sweeter than waking up and hearing Riley ask her mom and dad if "lellow" was awake yet. I hope she always likes me that much! (And maybe one day knows my actual name!)

But enough of the sappy stuff- here's a little peak into our weekend in St. Louis! We don't get to see these guys near enough, so we love to soak it in when we do. 

After chilling at their house that morning and Riley's avoidance of an afternoon nap, we decided to drive up the road to a local winery. Remember when I said earlier that people probably thought I was Riley's mom? See photo below ha!

I'm so glad that Jaycen brought out their kite. Saturday was the perfect windy spring day. We all had a blast flying that thing. I think I might have earned the title of best kite flyer of the day!

And of course I have to include a few candids Eric took of Riley and her actual momma, because seriously, could these two get any stinking cuter?? I hope that when I get to mother some babies here on Earth that I can have as great a connection with my own babies as these two have.

And last but not least, my rock of a husband! (And Jaycen photo-bombing while kite flying in the background.) Here's to many more adventures with you!

Galena Getaway

Thanks to so many of you (our wonderful friends and family), we were on a little Galena getaway this weekend. And what a relaxing getaway it was!

Robert and Douglas, the innkeepers of Aldrich Guest House, made us feel right at home in their beautiful bed and breakfast. The food they made was absolutely delicious, especially the extra treat we received for having to go a day with a broken shower. (The guests before us broke off the knobs on the shower so we could only take a bath that first day. They had a replacement part shipped and installed by the time we got back that night, and it was as good as new. We even joked that we would have totally had that happen again if we could eat their sea-salted caramel chocolate torte again!)

We spent Friday touring the Blaum Bros Distilling Company, which you should totally tour if you are in that area, eating lunch and beer tasting at the Galena Brewing Company, and then winery hopping at the four local wineries.

Saturday we were in total tourist mode as we took a historic trolley tour of the city and learned so many interesting facts about the history of Galena. We visited the Belvedere Mansion and the home that the people of Galena bought for Ulysses S. Grant after the Civil War. We walked up and down the "Helluva Half Mile" admiring the historic buildings and little shops that adorn the streets. We even indulged in some ice cream and all sorts of dips, jellies, and spreads at the Galena Canning Company. We enjoyed wine and a snack back at the Aldrich House with Robert and Douglas. I loved that we were able to learn more about them, how they ended up in Galena, and about all the renovations they made to the place. If you could see their before and after pictures you would understand- there is such a thing as too much floral. Before dinner that night we went out to Horseshoe Mound to check out some of the amazing scenery that Galena has to offer. I think I only mentioned about a thousand times how badly I wanted to come out there and do family or senior pictures. If only it wasn't over five hours away!

Overall, it was the perfect way to end our summer. If we ever make it up that way again, the Aldrich Guest House will definitely be where we will stay. Thank you to everyone who donated towards this trip for us, we are forever grateful to you all!