So Thoughtful

I get quite tired of eating when I’m pregnant. I also get tired of the hunger attacks. Augustine noticed I was hungry and couldn’t figure out what to eat (again). He disappeared for about 5 minutes and then turned up with this plate. I was so impressed by his thoughtfulness and noticing someone else’s needs! 

Snowy Days

Snow started early this year, which means more time inside. Today the boys got out some board games which is unusual. We played some games together, and then they played on their own for quite a while. 

Weekend Helpers

Logan AND G&G were away this weekend, but I managed to find some helpers, thank goodness. 

Aunt Beth spent 12 hours with us. She helped Elias make a periscope. Elias was definitely head of the project, and was very pleased with how it turned out!

Two of Logan’s disciples helped for four hours. They took the boys outside! Everyone was so happy. 

They helped with dinner, books, and even clean up. Not your typical college students! I’m always impressed how helpful they are. 

Toddler Life

Elias decided to start fighting his naps a bit. I figured out that he wasn’t so opposed if I pushed it back a half hour and became religious about him being in bed by 1pm and not a minute later. Phew. 

This particular day was a mess. He only got 30 minutes of sleep. We had to pick up the big boys so he fell back to sleep in the car. 

I’ve been at the hospital for IV fluids twice a week for almost 10 weeks now, so I try to spread out the babysitting among family and friends. Elias LOVES playing with Baby J and holding him. Thanks to all those who take turns watching him!

Parish Bazaar

Logan and the boys had fun again this year working the Fishing Game. Augustine’s bestie helped out too. 

Lewis didn’t play bingo, he just practiced.

Logan is getting really good at the silent auction! It stresses the heck out of me, so I tell him one or two items I’m interested in, and he does his best. This year he got both of my requests! Baby diaper bag for me, Lego Mass set for the boys. 

Lewis got some good game prizes this year, and was sure to bring a few home to share with Elias. He is very thoughtful. Elias hates crowds so he and I went home for naps. When I asked Elias if he wanted to play any games he said, “I will play NO games. I do NOT want a sucker.” and flung his arm in front of himself for emphasis. 

Augustine put the Mass set together with some help from Lewis and played legos for the rest of the afternoon.

This & That

The big boys pray after Mass prayers with the priest every Sunday. Sometimes the priest lets a kid lead the prayers in the microphone. It’s one of Augustine’s favorite things to do. 

After three long months of doing absolutely nothing in the kitchen, I decided to bake scones. It went really well, but I was exhausted after two batches. I’ve always had to use a water glass to make them round, but now I have Grandma Carlson’s biscuit cutter, and it works perfectly. 

We had snack and a play date with some of the cousin’s who were visiting G&G for the weekend. Homemade cinnamon rolls...is there a yummier snack?! And the house smelled amazing, which is about as much cinnamon roll as I can “eat” these days. Thank you, pregnancy. 

I’m on the low carb diet already, and it definitely makes me feel better. The goal is to not have a 10 lb baby again due to gestational diabetes. I tried zoodles for the first time. Not bad at all! Definitely fulfilled my spaghetti craving. I still can’t drink more than 3oz of water at a time without being horribly nauseous for the rest of the day, so Gatorade and ginger ale it is. They’re pretty good mixed together too. 
The boys went to work with Logan one evening to help with a student cookout event. They had fun bussing hot-of-the-grill steaks and hot dogs to the parish hall for students. 

Family Pics 2018

What Elias Has Been Up To

Being a hipster baby. 

Holding babies. Tonight he got hurt and I asked him if he wanted me to hold him. He said, “I want our baby to hold me.” and awkwardly cuddled my belly. 

I asked Elias to turn around and smile for the picture and he kept right on cutting paper while saying “I has to get this budget done for Daddy!”

Snow goes a long way with this guy. Snow and sprinkles go even further. 

Time at Home

The big boys had a few days off of school, so we enjoyed all of Lewis’ new art supplies he got for his birthday. I’d say Lewis’ love language is glitter glue. 

Grandma’s Bowl

My Grandma used to put her famous potato salad in this bowl. We’re not much for potato salad, but we like stuffed eggs a lot, so we decided to make it our stuffed eggs bowl. In my mind, potato salad and egg salad are similar. 

He did a really nice job! Delicious!

Grandma’s Chairs

They have quickly become the favorite spot(s) in the living room. 

Halloween 2018

We didn’t make it to the orchard this year to pick our own pumpkins due to me being so sick, so I was very excited when Hy-Vee had giant pumpkins for $4 each. Each boy picked one out. 

A few days later we open them up to carve them, and unfortunately they were somewhat rotten and moldy inside. See Lewis’ face? Accurate. Turns out they had some cracks in the bottoms. 

Elias really enjoyed scooping out his pumpkin. We were able to scoop them out and carve them anyway, but someone was quite disappointed nonetheless.



Team breakfast was at our house on Halloween morning, and Jack was in charge. He wowed is all! He made his family’s sausage soufflé recipe for us, which was amazing. He also decorated the tables and hung a sign, had festive paper goods, AND dressed up like a shark. Elias wanted the shark to read him a book (see pic above). 

That evening we went trick or treating with friends, and Augustine was adamant that the kids have a dance party afterwards. I think because he recently made up some sweet moves and he wanted to wow his girl. ;) Lewis went trick or treating with us for the first time ever! He usually stays home and passes out candy with Grandma. And Logan threw together an impressive last minute costume...a traffic cone (he wore the pointy hood on his jacket to complete the look).

The pumpkins turned out great despite being quite mushy by that evening. We had fun trick or treating a few blocks away in the old ‘hood. 
As always, we visited the Sisters and Jesus on our trick or treat route. 

And Augustine got his dance party in at the end of the night!

Boo at the Zoo

Grandma got to join us this year! We took the SWAT team and a fire fighter along for safety. ;)

They were excited, as always, to see the fire fighters and the police. 

Of course, Grandma got to see some good friends!

Turns out a person assisted by a wheel chair is as good as a VIP (early bird) ticket, so we were done in an hour! We got dinner on the way home and sat down to check out the treats. 

Elias was wide-eyed the whole time, but understood quickly that this was a sweet gig. He was really good about giving up everything with dairy in it, and still very happy about his safe treats.