Thursday, May 15, 2008
They're Growing Up
Hello all! I figured it was time to post another blog to greet and update you all on what's been going on in our lives lately. I'll try to review the last two months' events...family member by family member.
Stella turned 1 on May 3rd. It's amazing to believe that a whole year has passed, however we cannot imagine the world without her. She truly is the bright spot in our day. Her smile, her personality, her attitude -- she's just a treat to have around and makes it pretty easy to love life! She's not yet walking (she can, but is a bit cautious yet at this point), but boy can she get around. She loves the stairs, and follows her sister around the house. It's so fun to see them interact -- she laughs at Sofia all the time! Stella just had her 1 year appointment, and she's still in the 85th percentile for height and weight. She likes to eat, which is odd for us to deal with, as her sister eats like a bird. She also loves her daddy, which makes me pretty happy. Sofia was no doubt a mama's girl, but I think Stella has a soft spot for me. Maybe it's because she's like a mini me. There's no way I can deny her, as you'll notice in the pictures! Anyway, Stella is growing up perfectly, and was the perfect finishing touch for our happy family!
Sofia is a busy little lady! She turned 4 on May 2nd, and is certainly not a toddler anymore. A quick rundown of her average week -- swimming lessons on Monday, Montessori school on Tuesday and Thursday, Gymnastics on Wednesday...whew -- seems like Ang is always running. I also have the flexibility to get to these events once in awhile, which makes me very happy. Swimming lessons are her newest venture, and she's doing great! She's going under now to pick up rings off the bottom of the pool. I'd bet that she'll be swimming by herself by the end of summer. Sofia is as social a little girl as I've ever seen. She could spend 24 hours a day playing with her friends in the neighborhood, and we try to get her out as often as we can. She still complains when we have to go in though, and is getting quite good at whining...ughghgh!!! Sofia will be taking the summer off at school, and has grown so much since starting last fall. She's learning so much, and comes home talking about things that we learned late in grade school. It's pretty incredible.
Angela, as mentioned, is quite busy running with the girls, and is still an amazing mom. For many of us, we have great early of our moms, and hope that we're lucky enough to have a mother for our children who can live up to that. My mom set the bar very high, and I have no doubt that Sofia and Stella will look back at their childhood and know that they had the best mom ever, and will be thankful for that. There's no harder job than being a mother and I couldn't be prouder of Angela with the job that she's doing.
For me, things have pretty much been status quo. My new gig is going well, and I have been quite busy! Spending time with the fam is high on my priority list, and that's what I've been doing for the past couple months. Some may call it a pretty ordinary life -- a wife, 2 kids, a good job -- I think I'm the luckiest guy in the world.
What's on tap for the summer for the Limoges'? We're looking very forward to meeting our new niece/cousin in early June! We're going to head back to SD for the first time in 7 months in mid-June, where we plan to spend a good amount of time with Angela's family, as her uncle from FL will be in town. I always look forward to hanging with Grandma Lee -- we're pretty tight, and I've never met a person who's happier than the times when she's with family! The girls will be coming to Chicago with me in early July -- we're hoping to spend the 4th of July in the Windy City. Outside of that, I'm pretty sure we'll be spending a lot of time outside playing, swimming, and hanging with friends. We're really happy that summer is so near! I hope you all have a great summer as well. Enjoy the pics -- we took some professional photos a couple weeks ago, and we're very happy with them! Take care!
Stella turned 1 on May 3rd. It's amazing to believe that a whole year has passed, however we cannot imagine the world without her. She truly is the bright spot in our day. Her smile, her personality, her attitude -- she's just a treat to have around and makes it pretty easy to love life! She's not yet walking (she can, but is a bit cautious yet at this point), but boy can she get around. She loves the stairs, and follows her sister around the house. It's so fun to see them interact -- she laughs at Sofia all the time! Stella just had her 1 year appointment, and she's still in the 85th percentile for height and weight. She likes to eat, which is odd for us to deal with, as her sister eats like a bird. She also loves her daddy, which makes me pretty happy. Sofia was no doubt a mama's girl, but I think Stella has a soft spot for me. Maybe it's because she's like a mini me. There's no way I can deny her, as you'll notice in the pictures! Anyway, Stella is growing up perfectly, and was the perfect finishing touch for our happy family!
Sofia is a busy little lady! She turned 4 on May 2nd, and is certainly not a toddler anymore. A quick rundown of her average week -- swimming lessons on Monday, Montessori school on Tuesday and Thursday, Gymnastics on Wednesday...whew -- seems like Ang is always running. I also have the flexibility to get to these events once in awhile, which makes me very happy. Swimming lessons are her newest venture, and she's doing great! She's going under now to pick up rings off the bottom of the pool. I'd bet that she'll be swimming by herself by the end of summer. Sofia is as social a little girl as I've ever seen. She could spend 24 hours a day playing with her friends in the neighborhood, and we try to get her out as often as we can. She still complains when we have to go in though, and is getting quite good at whining...ughghgh!!! Sofia will be taking the summer off at school, and has grown so much since starting last fall. She's learning so much, and comes home talking about things that we learned late in grade school. It's pretty incredible.
Angela, as mentioned, is quite busy running with the girls, and is still an amazing mom. For many of us, we have great early of our moms, and hope that we're lucky enough to have a mother for our children who can live up to that. My mom set the bar very high, and I have no doubt that Sofia and Stella will look back at their childhood and know that they had the best mom ever, and will be thankful for that. There's no harder job than being a mother and I couldn't be prouder of Angela with the job that she's doing.
For me, things have pretty much been status quo. My new gig is going well, and I have been quite busy! Spending time with the fam is high on my priority list, and that's what I've been doing for the past couple months. Some may call it a pretty ordinary life -- a wife, 2 kids, a good job -- I think I'm the luckiest guy in the world.
What's on tap for the summer for the Limoges'? We're looking very forward to meeting our new niece/cousin in early June! We're going to head back to SD for the first time in 7 months in mid-June, where we plan to spend a good amount of time with Angela's family, as her uncle from FL will be in town. I always look forward to hanging with Grandma Lee -- we're pretty tight, and I've never met a person who's happier than the times when she's with family! The girls will be coming to Chicago with me in early July -- we're hoping to spend the 4th of July in the Windy City. Outside of that, I'm pretty sure we'll be spending a lot of time outside playing, swimming, and hanging with friends. We're really happy that summer is so near! I hope you all have a great summer as well. Enjoy the pics -- we took some professional photos a couple weeks ago, and we're very happy with them! Take care!
Monday, March 10, 2008
Think spring!!!
Hello family and friends. A quick update for all of you whom we haven't had time to chat with in awhile...
I seldom say much about me in these things -- I'm quite boring, but I did want to mention to those of you who may not know, I've changed positions at Sico. I am now part of the Hospitality division -- selling to high end hotel properties. I travel a bit more but make up for it by working from home the rest of the time! I love it thus far. It's another step up on the "rung", so I'm moving in the right direction. I absolutely love not having to drive into work...I roll out of bed and walk about 15 steps to my office and I'm "punched in" for the day. I've been working really hard trying to learn the industry and hoping to get out of the gates strong. There's a lot of flexibility with the position -- I've been able to drop-off and pick-up Sofia on Tuesday and Thursday when she goes to Montessori. On the flip side, if I'm home, I'm accessible, which means that I catch myself working pretty much non-stop from about 7:30 in the morning until whenever the phone stops ringing. Anyway, it's been wonderful to be "at work" and still have the ability to walk downstairs and give one of my three beautiful girls a kiss whenever I want! It's been a good change.
Ang is liking the change as well -- she's still working a couple days a week at Spalon (unless I'm traveling. It's kind of her "out". She's been pretty dedicated to working out lately -- she used to call me psycho about it, but she'll go for an hour and a half and come home and eat yogurt and other healthy stuff -- even without dipping it in ranch or sour cream!!! She's really anxious for Spring (as we all are) and for getting out and playing outside a bit.
Sofia and Stella are both doing great. They're so damn smart it's amazing! Sof's doing great in school -- Grandpa and Grandma came up last week and spent a half day there with her. She's growing up fast -- it's like having another woman around sometimes -- an INDEPENDENT one. She's so good with Stella though and loves having Stella chase her around. Yup, Stella's mobile. I forgot how much work it was to be constantly making sure that there weren't little toys around to be eaten or stairs to tumble down! Her big brown eyes are enough to melt you! I think she's going to be kind of a tomboy -- she's got freak-like strength! She'll jerk on Sofia's cutesy dresses and almost pull her over. It's hilarious!
Other than that, things have been pretty much status quo for us lately, which isn't all bad. We're hoping to list our home soon, and Ang is positive it will move quickly -- you can tell she's a big fan of reading the newspaper. I guess if Brangelina or Paris isn't on the cover, it's not worth reading! Although, she's kind of into politics this year. She thinks Hilary is a bitch (who doesn't) and that Obama is pretty charismatic. She's a conservative at heart though, and I may even be able to coax her into voting this year!
Well, until next time, enjoy the warming temps and the blue skies. Oh, and remember, there's no better time to tell someone how you feel than now.
Jer
I seldom say much about me in these things -- I'm quite boring, but I did want to mention to those of you who may not know, I've changed positions at Sico. I am now part of the Hospitality division -- selling to high end hotel properties. I travel a bit more but make up for it by working from home the rest of the time! I love it thus far. It's another step up on the "rung", so I'm moving in the right direction. I absolutely love not having to drive into work...I roll out of bed and walk about 15 steps to my office and I'm "punched in" for the day. I've been working really hard trying to learn the industry and hoping to get out of the gates strong. There's a lot of flexibility with the position -- I've been able to drop-off and pick-up Sofia on Tuesday and Thursday when she goes to Montessori. On the flip side, if I'm home, I'm accessible, which means that I catch myself working pretty much non-stop from about 7:30 in the morning until whenever the phone stops ringing. Anyway, it's been wonderful to be "at work" and still have the ability to walk downstairs and give one of my three beautiful girls a kiss whenever I want! It's been a good change.
Ang is liking the change as well -- she's still working a couple days a week at Spalon (unless I'm traveling. It's kind of her "out". She's been pretty dedicated to working out lately -- she used to call me psycho about it, but she'll go for an hour and a half and come home and eat yogurt and other healthy stuff -- even without dipping it in ranch or sour cream!!! She's really anxious for Spring (as we all are) and for getting out and playing outside a bit.
Sofia and Stella are both doing great. They're so damn smart it's amazing! Sof's doing great in school -- Grandpa and Grandma came up last week and spent a half day there with her. She's growing up fast -- it's like having another woman around sometimes -- an INDEPENDENT one. She's so good with Stella though and loves having Stella chase her around. Yup, Stella's mobile. I forgot how much work it was to be constantly making sure that there weren't little toys around to be eaten or stairs to tumble down! Her big brown eyes are enough to melt you! I think she's going to be kind of a tomboy -- she's got freak-like strength! She'll jerk on Sofia's cutesy dresses and almost pull her over. It's hilarious!
Other than that, things have been pretty much status quo for us lately, which isn't all bad. We're hoping to list our home soon, and Ang is positive it will move quickly -- you can tell she's a big fan of reading the newspaper. I guess if Brangelina or Paris isn't on the cover, it's not worth reading! Although, she's kind of into politics this year. She thinks Hilary is a bitch (who doesn't) and that Obama is pretty charismatic. She's a conservative at heart though, and I may even be able to coax her into voting this year!
Well, until next time, enjoy the warming temps and the blue skies. Oh, and remember, there's no better time to tell someone how you feel than now.
Jer
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Christmas 2007
Well hello again to all. As you have probably guessed by now, we didn't send out a Christmas picture or letter this year. We had good intentions to do so, but time just ran out on us. So, this is going to be our "letter" for the year -- more of a follow-up to our Christmas season this year. I hope you all had a wonderful time with your families and friends, that Santa was good to you, and that you gained the standard 10 pounds that I did from all the goodies! As I write I'm going to mention some past Christmas memories that I have as well -- this time of year always has me remembering some specific events. Also, please take a few minutes to view the Christmas slide show below.
We started off our "season" the first weekend in December. We'd arranged to get Twila (my mom's sister) and her daughter Molly out here for the Buum Christmas -- it's something I'd wanted to do for years, and had talked about, but just hadn't gotten done until this year. I remember years past when we'd all be at Owen and Adele's house and we'd make a call to the New Yorkers', and all the siblings and "outlaws", as we call them on the Buum side, would get a chance to say "hi", and every time we'd hear talk of wishing she could be with us. We finally made it happen this year! Anyway, we spent the whole weekend hanging with the Buum crew, which included trips to the Spink Cafe, the Nora Store for some caroling, and ended at the fire station in Alcester for, you guessed it, more food! We also managed to get up to the nursing home in Alcester to sing to the residents and spread some Christmas cheer! Twila and Molly got the opportunity to participate in the traditional 12 Days of Christmas -- a song that we've been singing to Twila on the telephone for years, only to find out that she hates it!?! We loved having them there nonetheless, and created many new memories to go along with the ones that we reminisce about every year.
We got up early on Sunday morning to head down to Sioux City to spend some time with Angela's family. It had been a long time since we'd spent a good amount of time with them, so it was nice to be able to relax and visit, rather than just eat, open gifts and run. The girls really got some good bonding time with Grandpa and Grandma Nelson and Andrea and Armin. We also got to spend some time with Grandma Lee (AKA, Grandma "Hoyle") -- the best card player I know. She's also one of the smartest people I know -- just ask her! We always love seeing her and you can't help but feel good when you're around her. Sofia had a blast playing with Viola and Paisley, and they made a lot of cookies. Half the frosting and sprinkles went on the cookies, and the other half directly into Sofia's mouth! Ang got to see some relatives that she hadn't seen for some time and we all binged on Cathy's treats. We spent the night and got up in the morning to head back to MN.
The following weekend was the Limoges' Christmas at Mike's. We unfortunately couldn't make it -- Ang had to work, and both girls were under the weather mid-week, so we decided not to make the trip back. I thought about them all day Saturday, wishing I were there, remembering years past -- singing Christmas songs, and rock songs -- everyone singing along. I remember making the trips down to Yankton on Christmas Eve night when Grandma and Grandpa lived down there. The trips down were filled with Christmas music playing on the radio and excitement about seeing everyone when we got there. Grandma always made enough food to feed an NFL team! I remember Pee Wee's first year @ the Limoges' Christmas -- I suppose I was five or six. I had gotten a boom box from Santa and Mom and Dad pleaded with me to call it that when we got there...I didn't -- I slipped up and called it what I'd always called it. ('bad, tasteless, not politically correct word' box") I locked myself in the bathroom for 20 minutes. I'm sure my parents felt worse about it than I did. Pee Wee handled it amazingly! To this day I'm still trying to figure out how I spent 20 minutes in the bathroom during a Limoges' Christmas!!! Well, back to 2007 -- my parents reported that the Limoges' Christmas was again a success, and that there were very few people that weren't there. While I'm bummed I missed it, I know that a great time was had by all, and that's the most important thing!
Sofia had her Montessori "Holiday Concert" a couple of weeks before Christmas. It was so damn cute to see her standing up there singing. She knew all the words and did a wonderful job. They went through the last few months and sang about things they'd learned about -- Christopher Columbus, the Pilgrims, a couple Jewish songs, Kwanzaa, and of course some old Christmas standards. Mom and Dad came up and Sofia (as always) was tickled to see them. There are a couple of videos of her concert on the sidebar if you're interested in watching them. The first one is about the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria --we all know the fate of those first two -- they "capsized *gasp*" -- watch it and you'll know what I'm talking about!
The weekend before Christmas, Dodie, Dalton, and Damon came up to stay with us. They brought their Nintendo Wii, including Guitar Hero, so you can imagine what we spent most of our time doing! It was great to have them up here! We'd had plans for a long time to go to the Redskins vs. Vikings game, and of course my Skins won! Willie also was up for the game so I got to see him for a bit and buy him a birthday drink. One of my favorite Christmas stories about Dodie is when Angela was in high school and opened up all her gifts to see what they were before Christmas. Well, let's just say that Angela isn't the best present wrapper, much less re-wrapper and was caught red-handed when she left pieces of scotch tape on the floor! Ooops!
On Christmas Eve we drove down to my parents' place. As always it was great to see them during the holidays. We spent much of the day eating again on Monday, and Marty and Karen came out for dinner and a couple drinks. We ended the night with a couple of presents, and then got the kids to sleep and prepared for Santa. Christmas morning we woke up and spent a long time opening gifts. The girls of course made quite the haul! I continued my goal to gain weight and ate nearly everything in sight for the rest of the day, until I'd had enough and we had to leave. It was Mom and Dad's 2nd Christmas here in MN and in their new house, but right when we got there again this year, it felt like home -- proof that "home" isn't made up of bricks or wood -- it's made up of memories, family, and love.
Stella's first Christmas with us will always be cherished. She taught me an important lesson this year. Just when you think you don't have any more love in your heart to give, someone comes along and it's like your heart grows. I guess that's the way it was intended -- when we allow our minds to be open to new things, we often surprise ourselves and are rewarded in ways that were previously unimaginable! When I was young I used to hear people say that it was better to give than to receive, and now I get it. When you give from the heart, you're heart gets much more in return than it gave. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that it was filled with memories, old and new, and that those that you hold most dear to you were with you, at least in spirit. May your 2008 be the best year yet!
We started off our "season" the first weekend in December. We'd arranged to get Twila (my mom's sister) and her daughter Molly out here for the Buum Christmas -- it's something I'd wanted to do for years, and had talked about, but just hadn't gotten done until this year. I remember years past when we'd all be at Owen and Adele's house and we'd make a call to the New Yorkers', and all the siblings and "outlaws", as we call them on the Buum side, would get a chance to say "hi", and every time we'd hear talk of wishing she could be with us. We finally made it happen this year! Anyway, we spent the whole weekend hanging with the Buum crew, which included trips to the Spink Cafe, the Nora Store for some caroling, and ended at the fire station in Alcester for, you guessed it, more food! We also managed to get up to the nursing home in Alcester to sing to the residents and spread some Christmas cheer! Twila and Molly got the opportunity to participate in the traditional 12 Days of Christmas -- a song that we've been singing to Twila on the telephone for years, only to find out that she hates it!?! We loved having them there nonetheless, and created many new memories to go along with the ones that we reminisce about every year.
We got up early on Sunday morning to head down to Sioux City to spend some time with Angela's family. It had been a long time since we'd spent a good amount of time with them, so it was nice to be able to relax and visit, rather than just eat, open gifts and run. The girls really got some good bonding time with Grandpa and Grandma Nelson and Andrea and Armin. We also got to spend some time with Grandma Lee (AKA, Grandma "Hoyle") -- the best card player I know. She's also one of the smartest people I know -- just ask her! We always love seeing her and you can't help but feel good when you're around her. Sofia had a blast playing with Viola and Paisley, and they made a lot of cookies. Half the frosting and sprinkles went on the cookies, and the other half directly into Sofia's mouth! Ang got to see some relatives that she hadn't seen for some time and we all binged on Cathy's treats. We spent the night and got up in the morning to head back to MN.
The following weekend was the Limoges' Christmas at Mike's. We unfortunately couldn't make it -- Ang had to work, and both girls were under the weather mid-week, so we decided not to make the trip back. I thought about them all day Saturday, wishing I were there, remembering years past -- singing Christmas songs, and rock songs -- everyone singing along. I remember making the trips down to Yankton on Christmas Eve night when Grandma and Grandpa lived down there. The trips down were filled with Christmas music playing on the radio and excitement about seeing everyone when we got there. Grandma always made enough food to feed an NFL team! I remember Pee Wee's first year @ the Limoges' Christmas -- I suppose I was five or six. I had gotten a boom box from Santa and Mom and Dad pleaded with me to call it that when we got there...I didn't -- I slipped up and called it what I'd always called it. ('bad, tasteless, not politically correct word' box") I locked myself in the bathroom for 20 minutes. I'm sure my parents felt worse about it than I did. Pee Wee handled it amazingly! To this day I'm still trying to figure out how I spent 20 minutes in the bathroom during a Limoges' Christmas!!! Well, back to 2007 -- my parents reported that the Limoges' Christmas was again a success, and that there were very few people that weren't there. While I'm bummed I missed it, I know that a great time was had by all, and that's the most important thing!
Sofia had her Montessori "Holiday Concert" a couple of weeks before Christmas. It was so damn cute to see her standing up there singing. She knew all the words and did a wonderful job. They went through the last few months and sang about things they'd learned about -- Christopher Columbus, the Pilgrims, a couple Jewish songs, Kwanzaa, and of course some old Christmas standards. Mom and Dad came up and Sofia (as always) was tickled to see them. There are a couple of videos of her concert on the sidebar if you're interested in watching them. The first one is about the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria --we all know the fate of those first two -- they "capsized *gasp*" -- watch it and you'll know what I'm talking about!
The weekend before Christmas, Dodie, Dalton, and Damon came up to stay with us. They brought their Nintendo Wii, including Guitar Hero, so you can imagine what we spent most of our time doing! It was great to have them up here! We'd had plans for a long time to go to the Redskins vs. Vikings game, and of course my Skins won! Willie also was up for the game so I got to see him for a bit and buy him a birthday drink. One of my favorite Christmas stories about Dodie is when Angela was in high school and opened up all her gifts to see what they were before Christmas. Well, let's just say that Angela isn't the best present wrapper, much less re-wrapper and was caught red-handed when she left pieces of scotch tape on the floor! Ooops!
On Christmas Eve we drove down to my parents' place. As always it was great to see them during the holidays. We spent much of the day eating again on Monday, and Marty and Karen came out for dinner and a couple drinks. We ended the night with a couple of presents, and then got the kids to sleep and prepared for Santa. Christmas morning we woke up and spent a long time opening gifts. The girls of course made quite the haul! I continued my goal to gain weight and ate nearly everything in sight for the rest of the day, until I'd had enough and we had to leave. It was Mom and Dad's 2nd Christmas here in MN and in their new house, but right when we got there again this year, it felt like home -- proof that "home" isn't made up of bricks or wood -- it's made up of memories, family, and love.
Stella's first Christmas with us will always be cherished. She taught me an important lesson this year. Just when you think you don't have any more love in your heart to give, someone comes along and it's like your heart grows. I guess that's the way it was intended -- when we allow our minds to be open to new things, we often surprise ourselves and are rewarded in ways that were previously unimaginable! When I was young I used to hear people say that it was better to give than to receive, and now I get it. When you give from the heart, you're heart gets much more in return than it gave. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that it was filled with memories, old and new, and that those that you hold most dear to you were with you, at least in spirit. May your 2008 be the best year yet!
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