We have had very, very little snow this year. This morning David had to actually shovel so we threw Mari into her snow suit and set her free. She loved it so much. She refused to come in despite the -1 temperature. Oh, and because I am a mean mom my baby didn’t get to go outside and he was a little angry at me…

In celebration of the New Year, we enjoyed some new things this past week!

1. My child used the potty chair for the first time. The kids were taking a bath and my little cutie started acting kinda funny. So I put the cutie on the potty chair with the instruction to go potty. My baby said, “peepee” and then peed on the potty chair. Way to go Jack! (Yes, I said Jack. Mari refuses to use the potty and were not pushing it at this point.)

2. Jack got his first hair cut. The curly blond mullet was getting a little too long. He was a perfect angel once the stylist gave him a hot pink comb to chew on. He is one little handsome dude.

Wishing you all a happy and joyous New Year!

We had a great Christmas and are still recovering from everything. Hoping your family is enjoying the Christmas season.

I have so much to be thankful for. Food, shelter, and clothing are just the beginning. My husband is my rock. Mari is my spirit. Jack is my love. I have incredible families (Nortons and Grutsch’s). And a faith the centers me and leads my life. This Thanksgiving we had so much to celebrate and enjoy.

We also traveled to Muncie, IN to visit my big sister and her family. And like an awesome mama, I only took pictures one day. But we had such a great time. And, oh, I have one more thing to be thankful for, our kids are incredible travelers. Not even one minute of crying in the over 20 hours in the car!

We can’t believe that Jack is one. It seems just like yesterday I was in the hospital with my little chubbers. His first birthday was a great celebration. We had friends over in the morning, went out to lunch with Grandma, had our first Chuck E. Cheese experience, and gave Jack a train table and train set to celebrate his special day. Four days later we had his pirate party. Complete with pirate oreos, a pirate ship cake, and pirate hats. Jack ate his whole birthday cupcake in one bite. The next night we gave him some of the chocolate pirate ship and he LOVED it! All in all I think he had a great time.

We love our little Jack so much and can’t wait to spend another year with him!!

My baby girl is two. It makes me want to cry, but I am too busy smiling at my increasingly adorable little girl. She is fantastic. Her birthday was perfect. She woke up to apple pie for breakfast (daddy’s idea), went to coffee with Grandma, cake for dessert after dinner, presents, and an awesome tea party. I love her. I love her so much. She made me a mom. She changed my life.

This is a couple of months late, but better late than never, right? Right? Some one please tell me that I am not the only one with toddlers that is consistently late on EVERYTHING. Well, my kids are loved, (well) fed, dressed, and housed. And, I consider that a great success.

These are the pictures of our long road trip from Northern Minnesota through the UP of Michigan, which was absolutely beautiful. We went to a Grandma Norton’s family reunion in Michigan. The next day we drove to Papa Norton’s dad’s (Pa’s) house in Ohio. We ended the trip by visiting friends in Chicago. I didn’t take any picture in Chicago which was very silly because we got to visit with one absolutely beautiful baby Chiara. Anyway, We had a great time with all of our Norton (and Young) relatives. We miss them all so much and love visiting!

Every year the whole Grutsch clan heads up to the great North to enjoy a week of family fun. This is quite possibly my favorite week of the year. Last year we all got the flu and I ended up in the hospital with contractions (Jack is just not a patient kid). This week was much more enjoyable.

Highlights this year: Mari caught her first fish, all 6 grand-kids together for the first time, the trampoline, David won the 10k (with little to no training), Grandma gave the three new little boys their quilts, an awesome county fair, lots of good food, and much much more…

Enjoy the pictures!

I seriously can’t believe that my baby is growing up so fast. He is now nine months old, and while he is still a big boy, he has definitely slowed down growth wise. At six months he was a whopping 23.2 pounds. He was so far off the charts that 23 pounds isn’t even on the little graph at the doctor’s office. Well, now three months later he is only 25 pounds. Perfectly plump in the 80th percentile. His big sister was the same way. By 9 months she was 28 pounds and now at 21 months, she is only 31 pounds. Our kids just pack on all the weight those first couple of months. Here are some pictures of our cutie. Sorry they aren’t the best, but this little stinker can scoot around so fast it is hard to get a picture of him anymore!

Today is our third wedding anniversary. We are more in love today than the day we were married, but our love has changed and grown as we have added two beautiful children to our family.

This morning Mari reminded me just how much our love has changed in three short years. I was cleaning the kitchen when I noticed that the herbs on my deck were very dried out because I forgot to water them before leaving for the long weekend. I open the door to the deck and I hear the all too familiar pitter patter of chubby little toes running towards me. Mari loves to be outside so I wasn’t surprised that she quickly joined me on the deck. However, the fact that she had proudly dressed herself in two of my lacy nightgowns (two that I bought for my honeymoon, in fact) was quite the surprise.

Three years ago we were wedded in married bliss. Today my daughter discovered a fun new collection of dress-up clothes.