Christian looses a tooth...or two!

We noticed a few weeks back that Christian had a loose bottom tooth with a permanent tooth coming in behind it. We have been encouraging him to keep wiggling it so that it comes out.  But our hesitant, reserved little boy was scared of loosing his tooth so he wasn't wiggling much.  Grandma threatened to use the good old doorknob trick but I wasn't all into that (even though my mom swears that they used this trick with me, I clearly don't remember it!)

Today we checked on the status of his wiggly tooth and noticed that the tooth next to it was also loose, and actually more loose than the first one we noticed. And both of his permanent teeth are coming in. Christian tried eating an apple to get those stinkers to come out but to no avail. 

 Instead of waiting any longer, Grandma took matters into her own hands... a piece of floss, a very worried little boy, a tiny tug, and out the first tooth came!

We couldn't leave the other loose tooth in their by itself, so out came tooth #2.  By the second time, Christian was laughing!

We now have a toothless little boy with a super cute lisp :)

It looks like the tooth fairy is going broke tonight! 

Sledding Fun in Pictures

Welcome 2014

Each year I set goals for myself to accomplish and at the beginning of the following year I like to look back to see what I have accomplished.  So in 2013 I had hoped to:

1.Bible Study every day.  (This continues to be a goal of mine.  i used to faithfully read my bible devotion each day. One excuse after another has led me to not spending enough of my personal time with Jesus.  I enjoy attending church weekly with Bryleigh and my mom while Christian attends bible school.  My goal this year is to set aside time each week to continue learning about my Lord and Savior)

2. Donate more to charity.  ( We continue to sponsor our Compassion child, Manuel. We also like to do random acts of kindness in an effort to pay it forward.)

3.Work on my patience.  (The Lord definitely likes to test me but I'm working on it!)

4. Work on my time management (I was thrown face first into this challenge when I started my internship this past fall.  I finally feel like I am in a routine which involves work, school, internship, and family time.)

5..Start using a reward system chart so that the children can start earning rewards for helping out around the house. (We did attempt to start a reward system but it did not work as well as I would have liked. Rather than commit myself to this for 2014, I think I will just continue to ask the kids for help around the house which they love to do.)

6. Work on my cooking skills. (I laugh at this goal I set for myself. Bryan has become the homemaker and chef in this family.  I''m so thankful for all the meals he prepares for us since I do not have a spare second in the day to think about meals.)

7. Spend more quality time with my sister and nieces. (In the Spring, it was so nice to spend almost every Friday with my sister and nieces. Then school started again and I have no free time. Once I complete my internship this year, I plan to start this Friday tradition once again.)
New Goals for 2014:

7. My main goal is to spend less time using technology (unless its schoolwork related) and more time being in the moment with my family! 

8. I also want to focus more on my relationship with Bryan, Not only am I a mother but I am also a wife! 

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2013 In Review

2013 seems to have come and gone in the blink of an eye!  It has been a challenging year that seems to have flown by very fast. We are blessed to have been able to spend another year with our family and friends. We thank the Lord for all the blessings we have in our life.  

While 2013 has come to a close, we are excited to see what 2014 has in store for us!

Here is our 2013 review...

January

• We took a weekend trip with our good friends to the Mall of America during my winter break from school.

• On a whim, we decided to repaint the living room. 

• We prepared for the arrival of my best friend's little guy. Gavin James was born at January 23, 2013!

February

We enjoyed the snowy weather by going sledding.

• Bryleigh started gymnastics.

• Bryan and I enjoyed a weekend getaway to Eau Claire to celebrate the marriage of our good friend, Leslie.

• Bryleigh went to the dentist for the first time. 

• Bryleigh had her first hair cut.

March

• Bryleigh and I went to get pedicures. 

• Christian had an unexpected visit to the ER for second degree burns from touching the gas fireplace. Ouch!

• We purchased a new car.

• Christian received his first "shiner" while at school.

• Bryan and I went our friends to Mexico while the kids enjoyed Grandma and Grandpa time.

• We celebrated Easter.

April

• The weather finally started to get warm up. 

• Christian started soccer.

• The kids enjoyed the Children's Festival with Dad while Mom was at school.

• Bryleigh started dance. 

May

• Over memorial weekend, we took our first camping trip of the year. 

• My Grandma was diagnosed with stage 4 brain cancer. 

• We celebrated Mother's Day. 

• Bryleigh was able to celebrate Prom with her "princess"  Lindsey!

• I survived my first year in graduate school. 

June 

Christian survived his first year as a Kindergartner.

• Christian's baseball season began. 

• Christian took sessions of swim lessons. 

• We took a trip to Mount Olympus in Wisconsin Dells.

• I resigned from my job (and my beautiful office) to take a position working with special needs kiddos!

• We celebrated Father's Day.

• We took care of Homey, my childhood dog, while my parents went to Florida for a week.

• Our hometown hero, Treyden, lost his battle with cancer but Heaven gained a beautiful angel!

• We took several more camping trips. 

July 

• Christian passed his first vision test with flying colors. 

• We enjoyed 4th of July while camping. 

• We celebrated Christian's 6th Birthday. 

• We had family pictures taken by Nieman Photography.

• And we camped some more!

• Bryleigh fell in love with her first boyfriend, Tyler! 

• We took our first family trip to the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters game. 

• We went strawberry picking with Grandma.

• We took a day trip to Bay Beach. 

August

• Our beautiful niece, Ducati, turned 1.

• Bryleigh made her first Build a Bear, Rapunzel, while on a weekend getaway to Mall of America. 

• We went camping at Sera Park.

• We took the kids to the Big Sky Drive In Theater in the Dells. 

• We enjoyed Vacation Bible School at Church. 

• We went to Packers Family Night. 

• My sister married the love her life, Drew, in a beautiful outdoor ceremony. 

September 

• We went to Helene's Hilltop Orchard for some fall fun. 

• Our beautiful niece, Phoenix, turned 4.

• We took our last camping trip of the summer over labor day weekend. 

• Bryleigh started Preschool. 

• Christian started first grade. 

October

• My grandma entered the nursing home and later assisted living.

  

• The kids enjoyed dressing up as Rapunzel and Ironman for Halloween. 

• Bryan and the kids spent the weekend with me in Madison while I attended school. 

• Bryleigh got her ears pierced!

• Bryan and I went to a friend's wedding in Iowa. 

• We carved pumpkins. 

• I was finally able meet up with my best friends, Audrey and Heather, for a night out. 

• We went to the pumpkin patch. 

November

•  I celebrated my 27th birthday and received the best surprise from my hubby and kids...a gorgeous diamond ring!

• My niece, Phoenix, started school!

• We celebrated Thanksgiving!

December

• Buddy made his annual debut!

• We received our first snowfall of the year!

• Our baby girl turned 4 years old!  We celebrated with a Rapunzel party!

•  We celebrated Bryan's 27th birthday!

• We visited Santa!

•  We found the perfect Christmas Tree. 

•  We enjoyed Christian and Bryleigh's Christmas programs. 

• We got Bryleigh's 1st school pictures and they turned out amazing! 

•  We enjoyed our family Christmas celebrations on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day! 

We had an eventful 2013 and look forward to what 2014 has to offer us!  Happy New Year Friends!