Happy Birthday Sweet Sweet Sullivan

Dear Sullivan,

Two years ago I was getting yelled at by a nurse in the hospital for sleeping with you, barely 10 hours old, on my chest.  I know this will be hard to believe, but I didn't abide by their strict "no co-sleeping" rule, even (especially?) after being sternly told I was breaking it, and you and I slept soundly together your first night in this world. 

I have fought for you since the day I knew you were growing in my belly.  Someday you will hear the stories of what it was like to be pregnant with you, of the close calls you and I both had, and I like to think you will be pretty impressed at how your mom kicked ass to bring you safely into this world so that you could bless us all with your ever-changing presence.  You are worth every second of every fight, Sully.  And you have so many people who love you and will fight for you always.

The past year has been transformative to say the least.  You have evolved from being a sleepy and quiet koala to a very loud, very punchy toddler.  It is so fun watching you grow, especially when we compare you to your brother at this age and see how different you are.  While Asher tended to gently take in the world and quietly contemplate it, you lean more towards hitting it with a bat and running through it with your hands in the air screaming.  You are so full of life :)  And so comfortable pushing boundaries and learning your place in the world.

You have a soft spot for puppies, are obsessed with granola bars, and say 'good night' to the character in the book you read before bed.  You love following your brother, and Asher is so in love with you.  

You bring your family so much joy, and we can't wait to see what kind of mischief you cause this next year.  

I love you Sully, so so much.

Love,

Mama

Asher Learning his ABCs

Asher is learning letters, but gets stumped by a handful- Ds, Us, Ws, Ks, and Vs to be exact.  Tonight while trying to guess what letter a "D" was he said, "Ummmm, that's a tricky one.... B? M? Q? P? Concrete."

Yep.  Totally ready for kindergarten.  :)

Host in Training

Asher informed me this afternoon that he is going to be in charge of decorating for Sully's birthday party, and asked if he could practice.  He took it very seriously, and worked independently, every now and then finding me to show me what he had done (never asking if it looked okay, he was completely confident that it looked great).  I don't know that I've ever been more proud of him, working so hard to be able to warmly host our family to celebrate Sullivan.  

Making sure everyone would have a cup, with a utensil in the cup.

Ash asked me to write "Family Come Over" on a piece of paper (so that he could copy the letters and write it himself).  He wanted a sign on the door so that people knew they were in the right spot.  Then said, "Oh, I should sign my name so they know who invited them!"

He hung tinsel...

...everywhere.

So much tinsel.

Sheet Caking is a Grass Roots Movement.

I love Tina Fey.  So much that in her honor (completely unrelated to how much I may or may not have wanted to bake a cake), Asher & I baked a sheet cake today.

Then we 'family style' devoured it in one sitting.

Back to School Shopping

Ash & I went to our favorite 2nd hand kids clothes store today to stock up on fall clothes, and we made a deal.  I was allowed to buy these clothes for him....

 ....on one condition: we also had to buy this dress.

Out and About

We met Scott & Melissa at Lake Monster last night then took the light rail to Surly.  It was a bit of a walk from the light rail stop to the brewery... but we got to take in some new local art work.  Worth it.

Sometimes, some things shouldn't be in children's books...

One of Those Days

Today was one of those days where it kind of felt like from beginning to end I was doing all the things I am supposed to do.  I spent the morning working on health equity projects; including preparing for a meeting next week on how MDH can better utilize community engagement, during which time I listened to Tupac, talked with friends who are 'my people', drew out the face paint designs to offer the kids at Hand in Hand, and drew a huge cartoon on the white board for the entertainment of the adults in the office.

I went from that meeting to Asher & Sully's school, where I painted the faces of the preschoolers and toddlers ahead of the circus-themed family dinner picnic.

About half the boys got unicorns....  

...of course some made very unique requests, like a "rainbow tiger"...

 ...Ronan wanted to be a "ring leader"...

 ...and some of the boys weren't quite sure about 'face' paint, so we did 'hand paint' instead.

And then there was this one kid who cried and screamed and absolutely hated getting his face painted.  This one kid.

After face painting, I went to a meeting with my favorite local public health department and talked data for 2 hours.  One of the nurses there is my favorite and gives incredible hugs.  We talked about Trump being such an idiot today (and every day).  We talked about the importance of better memory care for aging adults.  We talked about how to support first-time teen moms.  

Then went back to Hand in Hand for the circus picnic.

My favorite clown.

The preschoolers.

Balloon race starting line!

Asher was by far the last kid done with the balloon race (of the kids participating).  And didn't care even a little bit.  Just took his time, kept his balloon, smiling and laughing as he made his way to the finish line.  

Then there is this guy :)

I got my ticket for the long way 'round, two bottle whiskey for the way....

Apparently Asher knows how to ride a bike without training wheels?

Trouble Abounds.

The Cousins Do Mankato

Asher & Josiah stayed with Dad and Jo for a whole week in Mankato (Asher's first 'sleepover' with a friend!).  The boys had an amazing time, and I think Dad and Joleen enjoyed themselves okay too :)

Spring Lake Park - the same pool Mal and I went to as little girls.

Working hard on the farm.

The Dudes.

Bounce Bounce!

Ash told Dad he was picking flowers for mommy... and my heart squeaked from 100 miles away.

Very serious.

Sully is Almost 2.... Sigh

Sully is almost 2, which is insane.  I was looking back at the blog to see exactly where we were 2 years ago, and on August 16th, 2015, this is what was happening.

I was 38 weeks pregnant...

...Asher was being moody about coffee (this was definitely a harbinger of things to come)...

Asher's last few days as an only child.

Oh how things were about to change :)

Some good ol' fashioned lake fun

Josiah is here!  And what better way to welcome him back to Minnesota than to bring him to a lake and have Uncle Tim teach him how to knee board?  I mean, there isn't a better way.  He did great... and he did actually go in the water, he didn't just sit on a knee board on the back of the boat and call it good.

Watching Josiah.

Adorable Charlie was very interested in unzipping and rezipping Sullivan's life jacket.