March 2016 Life.

Our life seems full right now and it's crazy to think we are adding another little human to the mix in less than three months. Six years ago I had NO idea how this road of childbearing would look, clearly. I feel bad that this little boy is not on the forefront of my mind like the other kiddos were... thankfully he moves so often that he is constantly reminding me "mom! I'm in here! I exist! thanks for all the goodies!" You're welcome, son. I am constantly hungry and often eating, I'm quite large and feel ready to pop even though I do have months left to go! Oh well, last time I can play the pregnancy card so I guess I'll live it up for this babe!

It has been a stressful few weeks for us. First, we had a daycare scare when our beloved provider, while on her exotic vacation, thought she tore her rotator cuff again and was going to need to close for many months. Four days later it popped back into place and minus a badly sprained ankle she also battled, she was ready to open a week later. Praise be! Of course this happened just days before a super-important, crazy-busy conference at work that I was in charge of planning... so my stress level was fairly high scrambling to find care and wondering about the future. Gratefully she was better the day before the conference and my co-worker and I did a fabulous job so the conference was a hit.

Then ten days after the conference, I got an "you have to come in for an emergency meeting at work" call. My boss and one co-worker were let go due to budget cuts and our whole Education Department was changing structure, our future completely unknown. It was all part of other cuts around the hospital that were done based on budget but the ramifications of the decisions weren't thought through well. It's been a complete whirlwind since. Our department was such a beautiful place to work! So many positive people, doing such great things. Now no one is quite sure what is happening. It has been so very terrible. For now, my sweet senior education program exists until June but unsure about after that, we are in limbo. Thankfully I do still have a job (since we get our family insurance through my work, leaving that before baby is born would be a big stressor) but I don't know how long I'll be there if things change considerably. I have loved my job share situation... truly it has been the best of both worlds! Such a great fit for us these two years. We shall see. I did great self-care dealing with the stress last weekend and continue to encourage my co-workers in any way I can. Having my background of losing my ideal job back in SC, plus Maelee and God's grace in my own life, gives me great empathy for tough situations like this. And since I'm not really afraid of getting fired, I have confidence to stand up for my coworkers and our programs and the good, meaningful work we did. So yep, it's been bizarre.

Then this past Tuesday we had sickness hit. It involved puke in both our vehicles, an 8pm visit to the walk-in clinic, and a resulting FIRST ever ear infection diagnosis for Mr. Eli. By Wednesday they were much improved and minus some interesting diaper changes for Annalee, they are back to normal. I will not complain because so many parents deal with constant ear infections and this is my first battle with it (oh it was rough to see him writhing out in pain, unable to form a sentence). Glad we are through that and can (hopefully) enjoy Easter sans sickness.

I thought about trying to potty train Annalee during this week off from work. That's looking very, very unlikely at this point. Oh well, two kids in diapers is still two kids! :)

Eli and Annalee this afternoon 3.24.16

Some things about these two darlings to record:

• Annalee sings often. She loves songs. Last week she sang "Happy Birthday" for over two minutes to herself before bed. Today she sang itsy bitsy "washed the 'bider out" for at least five minutes. I am a terrible mom in this regard, I rarely sing or listen to music and I'm certain she would absorb it all like a sponge if I did. 
• Eli is so affectionate. He gives me kisses on the belly or arm, even if it's just sitting at the dinner table. He can also not listen to me to the point I'm at my witt's end... then be giving me kisses ten minutes later.
• Eli hates, hates, hates to see Annalee get in trouble. If he can intervene, he will. I love how he sticks up for her. And spoils her. (ie, I told her I wasn't going to put her back up in her chair for the third time, she needed to stay there and not get down... she got down then wanted up (again) and I said "no", she flips out, so Eli goes over there and helps her in her chair behind my back). 
• Eli is competitive. If you want him to get him to do something, add some sort of competitiveness to it and it'll actually get done. Who will win to make it to the bathroom to brush teeth?! Eli. Annalee doesn't care as much about winning. 
• Greg is king at bedtime with these two. He has a song to get them to run to the bathroom to brush teeth. And he will read them stories loads better than I. Annalee is hit and miss with stories - sometimes she wants to listen and other times she'll make it a page or two before she wants to go read her own story. Eli would still listen for hours on end to stories. 
• Annalee loves the color purple right now. She picks it out and knows it and loves many shades of it. She has two tiny My Little Ponies and the purple one is by far the winner of her affections over the pink one. Her beloved Care Bear is pink but I'm pretty sure if we had a purple one, she'd love it more! Her other favorite toys are Eli's Leapfrog laptop, Eli's doctor kit, light sabers, play picnic food, and her stuffed animals.
• Eli's favorite toys now are the light sabers, legos (he adores lego time), random stuffed animals, and Star Wars anything.
• Eli has a great imagination. At lunch he told Annalee and I all about his dream (Riley (from daycare) and Deker (from preschool) and Eli were on a walk and they found a house with upside down windows and doors and everything and...) twenty minutes later. Sometimes I'm not sure if he really dreams this all or if he just makes up his stories. Regardless, the kid will be a story teller. 
• I tell Eli to stop saying poop or pee or some rendition of that at least ten times a day.
• This brother and sister do play very well together. They fight, of course, but overall they love each other and love to entertain one another. They are sad when the other is away for too long. It's quite cute to see them enjoy each other so fully.  

Random tidbits to record of our lives right now!

-Heather

Three Months Later.

Because Shutterfly was having a sale and I was motivated to get caught up on photo books... meaning I made our "Christmas in Minnesota" one... and here are a few fun group photos I finally got around to looking through:

We tend to do silly much, much better!

Love you, fam!

-Heather

AZ gems.

These two living, breathing kids are such a joy. It may be crazy having kids, multiple kids definitely, but they make life full without even trying. Arizona was lovely: the weather, time with my parents, family outings, resting, and eating. A week full of gifts. Here's a few cell phone pics:

HLK

Baby on Board.

We have a tradition. It's small, unpolished, and not always possible, but when we can manage it, we try take a photo of us and our luggage at the airport. Ideally we would before and after a flight but I don't think we've ever managed it both times in one trip. We did not get it taken on our way to Arizona one week ago - when we were happy as can be to be headed to warmth and relaxation. Today, however, I asked the nice lady behind us in line to snap a quick photo.

I thought "oh I should post this on Instagram." And that lead to a very spur of the moment decision to announce publicly that we were travelling as a party of five... what!!

Yes, we are expecting a BABY! Whoa! This baby is due in JUNE. So far all is normal and without anything concerning. I am pregnant AGAIN. Isn't that the craziest news you've heard all day?!

My quick photo this afternoon that will forever be important to our littlest.
And if you look really closely, there is a stranger on a cell phone above Annalee. 

Since this baby was a bit of a surprise, and since we've had a lot going on the first trimester, I just decided to wait on sharing the news for awhile. I needed time to process being pregnant again. And even though I had a million ideas of how to share the news of this latest blessing, I never got it done just so (Think: "another red head coming June 2016"). Then time just kept getting later and later... never the right moment. Yet as I was thinking of posting a photo, I realized my belly is full-on pregnant looking now. The last two weeks, especially this last week of vacation-eating, has definitely solidified the baby-on-board status.

So here we are, over half way there, four months away from meeting another Kasowski. I cannot believe I will birth another child. FOUR kids! Oh my!

This pregnancy has been wildly different in that with all the others, I was so crazy anxious to meet them, I wanted so badly to push the fast forward button to their safe arrival (especially with Eli). This baby is different. I am not ready for June yet! I am excited but I am not pushing that fast forward button. I am okay with some time left in utero. I have had much PEACE this time around. Partially because it wasn't quite our plan... so it is just loudly clear that every single day of this baby's life is God ordained. However many days we get, it's all His plan. I enjoy the kicks and the fact there is a baby in there and the fact we get to be pregnant again. I don't take that gift lightly.

And since we know this news... you should know too... the kids had a race and...

Eli's Team Won!

Did you get that? Do you understand? We have a pattern? Girl, Boy, Girl, Boy!

Admittedly, we were surprised and a bit disappointed. I was all ready for another girl. It took maybe one second for us to see in our ultrasound that baby is indeed a BOY though! Holy moly, folks. I am a mom to TWO BOYS. I can hardly grasp it! It took a few days to process, but we are excited for this guy. He is going to rock our world in so many ways, I am sure of that. There needs to be more amazing men in the world, men that fear God and work hard and love deeply and enjoy life, and I know that we will raise our boys to be men like this, God willing. I am convinced one of the reasons we are having a boy is so there is another awesome man in the world (like their dad).

Of course being pregnant brings some concern. We want him to live and arrive safely and be healthy. I take the same shots I did with Eli and Annalee. Our super long ultrasound and meeting with the specialist went smoothly. We will induce early again (mid-June if all goes like the last two). I will go to the doctor twice a week for monitoring and ultrasounds once I hit 32 weeks. It's going to get crazy. I may never blog. Three kids five and under is going to be a whirlwind. But the world needs more red heads. Truly.

Now on to find him a name...

-Baby Boy #2's Momma

PS - it was actually quite fun to post a photo with a subtle message, turn off your phone for a flight, and then turn it on again once at home to lots of comments!

It's...

Chewie! Darth! 

Sparky and Lucy.

I never wanted pets but I sure love these dogs. 

-Heather

2 Years 3 Months and Some.

Annalee is one of the cutest little beings ever.

There is just no denying it. She is goofy and sweet and smart and silly and really a delight to have around. She can also be stubborn and opinionated and selfish.

Fun tidbits about her stage in life right now, at two years, three months old.

• Most mornings the first words are "I breakfast" - more often than not, she is ready to go join anyone that may be eating already. And when I bring her down to join Daddy, it's all "Hi Dad!" and smiles.
• She enthusiastically will say "Hi Eli!" or even "Good Morning Eli!" as soon as she sees him most mornings. Lord help me, I think she's a morning person. 
• She was on a Rice Krispie kick for a good four months. She calls them "crispees" and she will eat two bowls without any struggle.
• Annalee is a great eater. Our daycare lady's husband joked one day "we'd have to charge more if all the kids ate like her." Ha! She can still be picky but will usually try everything. 
• Food favorites: cheese, cereal, yogurt, peas, applesauce, crackers, tacos, scrambled eggs, and avocados "kados". She doesn't really eat more than a bite of toast or sandwiches even though she says she likes them and asks for them. She doesn't like slimy veggies. 
• Her cheeks. She is a chipmunk. If she doesn't like something or can't handle the texture, she will chew it up and leave it in her mouth (for an insane amount of time... at first we didn't notice she was doing this and now we know). We make her spit it out. This happens often with carrots (she likes them but can't quite chew and swallow) and with other hard foods. Silly girl.
• She loves small groups of familiar people. Not a fan of crowds or strangers. It takes her awhile to warm up to people. She will be content in someone's lap though and watch and usually not cry or be overly fearful.
• She is silly. Partially due to her older brother, I'm sure. But there is a wacky, funniness inside her. You can see it on her facial expressions when she's being a goof. 
• "I do it!!!" is said by her many,  many times a day.
• She still has 12 month size leggings that she wears. She mostly wears 2T though. But her legs, they are short. I really just need to go through her drawers and pick out all the non-legging pants because leggings are really the only thing that fits. All other styles look ridiculous. 
• Unlike her brother, Annalee only tolerates a certain amount of books read to her. She loses interest (same with TV, will not watch more than 30 minutes without getting bored). Lately any book you read to her, she immediately takes and says "I read it" and precedes to "read" it back to you! 
• She has the most adorable babble when she's telling a story. Random words put together. 
• She can count to twenty but usually messes up at five and twelve and eighteen. 
• Annalee wonders what her brother is doing most of the day. She likes to know where he is. And they do play well together most of the time. One of their favorite games is to play doggie. Eli is Sparky and Annalee is Lucy (names they came up with a year ago and have stuck). 
• Her hair is growing in where Eli chopped it in the back. Thankfully the other hair compensated well. It's long now too. I love to put it in a pony tail - oh gosh it's cute! But ponies never stay in long enough for me to get a good photo it seems. I'll need to trim her bangs again soon... not an easy task or something I am skilled at... but the price is right. Sorry, Annalee, for however I mess it up and the inevitable bad photos!  
• This last week she twirled around and said "Annalee princess!" - no idea where she got that since we really don't watch/read/talk about princesses much (I'm sure daycare does though) but it was super cute. 
• She says her own name perfectly. Not Annawee (which Eli still calls her half the time). A perfect Annalee. She also says Annie and very occasionally will call herself that.
• Annalee loves pieces of things. I gave her an alphabet set of cookie cutters to play with and she carts the bag around and places them on the floor, then picks them up. She likes the mini muffin game she got from the Browns for Christmas. She likes sorting and placing piles of little things. In the same fashion, she's a great cleaner-upper. Tonight she picked up most of Eli's legos (his task) while he played (he's going to really love her). 
• Another favorite game, especially this last week, is picnic! "Play picnic Mom!" She has designated plates for us and everything. 
• She also enjoys her dolls (she has four) but likes them without their clothes on and only plays with one at a time! She loves stuffed animals (she has a million) and certain ones are her current faves but that changes week to week it seems (current is the birdie from Grandma Welle's stash and her small Care Bear). 
• Both kids are good sleepers, going to bed at 8pm and usually sleeping fine until 7:30 or 8am. I type this and I'm sure it'll be a rough night! The bedtime routine isn't too bad either with minimal fussing to go to bed, praise be. Awhile ago, however, Annalee started to fuss so now we give her a gummy vitamin when her head is on her pillow. Magical, that little vitamin! She has to have her blankie and an assortment of stuffed animals to sleep with in her crib (which we will transition out of this spring). 
• She likes to pick out and put on her own socks. She doesn't really show interest in picking out her clothes but she will pick out her pajamas. Sometimes she will take her clothes off and this week even her diaper "I do it"
• We are waiting to potty train until after our trip to Arizona. It's just easier! She's not very interested or ready but we'll try sometime in March or April I hope. 
• She has finally gotten into actual high "Fly to the Moon with Daddy" (before she was too scared to go high). It's hilarious to watch her hair flying!
• If you let her play with my phone, even just for a few minutes, it will take an army of distraction or discipline to get it back. She does love being in control of it! Her play phones are also favorite toys. 
• Annalee will cheese it up with her grin for a camera with no problems at all. But most of the time after you take a photo, you'll get her saying "I see!!!! I see!!!". Vanity. 
• Her saying "luv you" melts my heart.

trying on my bracelets

silliness

thinking face

such a cutie

much of my life! 

Whew! It was time for a sweetie girl update!

-Heather

GGW.

Sorry for my hiatus on the blog front for you few faithful readers. Life moves pretty fast. True that, Ferris Bueller.

Greg's sweet grandmother passed away Sunday afternoon surrounded by her family. She was 87. You can read her obit here.

Grandma Welle had been declining the last year from a variety of ailments yet she was still living in her own home by herself last week. That's exactly what she wanted. No nursing home, no fuss. It came about quickly on Friday that she would not make it out of the hospital so all of her kids and many of us others were able to get there to spend time with her in her last hours on earth. She was cognitively fully there which I'm especially in awe of (considering my family history). She was tired and conversations were short between her naps and energy level. Yet we were able to say what we wanted to say, say our goodbyes, and hear from her. Eli told her a few times "I love you, Grandma Wewhee" and oh, it was precious.

We had a family prayer service Saturday night right after the last two of her kids arrived, then a family Mass service in her hospital room Sunday morning (which, praise be, both Eli and Annalee attended and they did not interrupt or cause a fuss in any sense). Her son, Father Tony, tearfully led us in Mass and communion. She even made a joke mid-service. She said she had the best family in the world and I'm pretty sure none of us had a dry eye. It was hard to see her frail and failing, knowing the outcome, yet it was joy-filled because we knew the true outcome. The Lord greeted her hours later (the doctors removed the two pieces that were sustaining her body and it really did not take more than a few hours, truly a gift that she did not keep living in pain). Her family was surrounding her (all except me and the kids as I didn't really want them to witness that).

Grandma Welle knew what Jesus had done for her, lived her life in that knowledge and faith. And oh what a sight heaven was for her - and I assume her husband came up right after Jesus and their reunion must have been glorious. For oh my, they were in love. A true love story, those two. Grandpa died of prostrate cancer seventeen years ago and she has been yearning for him since. I loved to hear Grandma talk about him. She would still melt thinking of meeting him and their first date. How many people can boast of that love, that bond these days? Lasting years after one has passed on. I'm thrilled we get to share in that legacy.

She told me she would hug Maelee (after hugging her grandson John) and it makes me jealous to be where she is. Oh the peace in heaven! Oh the grief and yearning here!

I told her thank you for making me always feel a part of the family and she laughed and said "like that was hard!" (we did get along so, and really, Greg would agree, they may just keep me over him!). I just liked being around her. I didn't get that chance with my grandparents so I have made a better effort with these in-law grands and have been blessed because of it. Family, however you acquire them, is such a gift.

I love that we have a few decorations painted by her "dodie" and around our home. I love that even though I could never stomach one, I will always smile when I hear a "yum yum" and might just have to have one in her honor on her birthday next year. I love that she was stubborn (a family trait she passed on to her grandson, perhaps?). I love that she had a kind heart, kind words to say about people more often than not. I love her sense of humor and if in the right mood, she could have you smiling and laughing retelling stories, with a exaggerated gasp and eye roll if the story needed it. I loved watching her be overly honored during our time in Florida. I loved how she would let dating Grether and newly married Grether come and stay with her for a weekend and the yummy meals she would make us. I love that she adored our kids, especially Eli, always talking about how his eyes were so intelligent. I loved that she would be silly dressing up in clothes at the thrift store for a laugh. I love that I got to go golfing with her once and glimpse her love for that sport. I will always remember how blasted hot she wanted to be - her thermostat had to be set at 90 and really, she was made for Florida weather, her favorite was to be laying down in the sunshine soaking it all in. I love that she loved her husband so affectionately even after he passed away. Thanks for all the memories and love, Grandma Welle.

Here are some photos I conjured up to enjoy of Grandma Dolores' life:

Gorgeous wedding couple!

Look at how she is looking at him...

August 1980 - with one adorable baby (that would be Greg)

Look at the difference in their skin tone!!

Greg sitting between these two grands of his, how special! And to note how much Annalee looks like her daddy!

THE.HAIR!

Greg in high school with his grandparents. 

April 30, 2005

We had such a fun dance - so glad Grandma Welle had fun bustin' a move!

So glad I got to know her and be a part of her family!

During our visit in September on her deck, overlooking the golf course.

-HLK