No more diapers!

We are officially done with diapers in the Bormann house!!!  Jack has been hit-or-miss when it comes to being dry all night but every time we would get close to trying undies at night, he would have a few nights where he was wet.  I wasn't going to push it as I know he's still young but he started acting more interested and would wake up telling us he was dry and would race to the bathroom to go potty.

He was at my parents over Memorial Day weekend and was dry every night he was there......so on Sunday night we went for it......and he was DRY on Monday morning!  He was so proud and of course we were too!  He has woken up a couple mornings where his undies are wet but his bed isn't wet so I think he just starts to go when he wakes up and then rushes to the bathroom.  Regardless he's doing great and we are thrilled to be diaper-free here :) :) :)

This picture has nothing to do with this post but I think it's a cute one of Jack.......
he had gotten into the kleenex boxes that we bought at Costco and opened them all up all by himself :)

God is Good!

Yesterday was the last day of church school for this year.  I have been Madelyn's teacher 1x/month and we have both really enjoyed our time together.  Madelyn loves church and church school.  In the month of May, they did a 4 week lesson on life in Norway, titled God is Good.  It was really cool because one day on our way home from school Madelyn drew a picture of a cross and told me that God is always with her - no matter what.  My heart was full of joy when those words came out of her mouth.  We talk about God and the special relationship we all have with him but there is nothing better than when it comes out of their mouths and you know it is sinking in.

They sang a song called "God is Good" and we have since downloaded it and listen to it all the time.  The kids love it and so do I!

Jack had the opportunity to go to church school starting in January but he chose to come to worship with us.  He does great during worship and listens, follows along, claps and can't wait to hug Pastor Peter after the service.  I truly believe that Jack loves this one-on-one time he has with Ryan & me  It is some of the only alone time we get with him and you can tell he absolutely eats it up.  Special times for all of us!

Mother's Day

We celebrated Mother's Day at my sister's house again this year.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day!  The sun was shining and it was a perfect day to be with family.  Rich & Eileen (Luke's parent's) were there and it's always fun to see and catch up with them.  Luke grilled burgers, while the kids played and the mothers sipped on champaign!

After lunch we came back home and spent the rest of the day as a family which is exactly what I wanted!  Madelyn had been asking to play tennis so we went and tried it out.  She quickly realized it was a lot harder than it looks but I'm proud of her for wanting to try new things and not getting frustrated.  We ended up playing at the park and then having pizza for dinner.  We celebrated with ice cream later in the week since we already had a big food day!

The kids were so excited to make cards and give me gifts this year.  It's a great age as they are so into it.  At school the kids always make fun things.  This year Madelyn made me a plant and painted a special vase and Jack gave me a picture on a cute mounted frame.  Adorable!  Then Ryan and the kids got me 2 apple trees!  I was totally surprised and thrilled as we lost our other apple trees in a storm last year.  Hopefully we will have honey crisp and zestar apples in a couple years :)

Mother's Day is such a special day as I'm so thankful for my mother -- I don't know where I would be without her.  She is always there, no matter what life is throwing at me, and knows just what I need to hear.  I am a better mother because of my amazing role model!  And now Mother's Day is even more special because there was a time in my life where I didn't know if I would be a mother and now I am so thankful that everyday I have the 2 sweetest, cutest kiddos who call ME mom!!!

 My sister -- another amazing mother! Love you Carla!!

 We don't get many pictures like this anymore - since we are always chasing the kids -
so I cherish these times even more!

 The mom's sipping champaign and mimosas!  Cheers!!

Madelyn's Birthday Party!

We told Madelyn when she turned 5 she could have a friend birthday party.  We ended up having her party at Gleason's Gymnastics Club.  It was so awesome and the perfect place for a birthday party (at least we thought so!)  There was an instructor who led the kids in activities which included the parachute, jumping into the foam pit, using the trampolines and other gymnastic equipment.  After an hour of play time we had cake, juice and everyone was on their way.  Both are kids are asking to take gymnastic lessons so we will be looking into that!

 Incredibly thankful so many of Madelyn's closest friends, cousins and family could make it to her party to celebrate with her!  We are truly blessed with an amazing daughter!

Disney World!

On Sunday after the wedding we headed over to DisneyWorld!  We were all excited -- even though I had been there I knew there wouldn't be anything like watching in through the eyes of a 3 & 5 year old -- and I was not disappointed!

We went Magic Kingdom on Monday, Animal Kingdom on Tuesday and back to Magic Kingdom on Wednesday.  For us, it was the perfect schedule and just the right amount of time.  I think any additional days would have been too much considering we had been in Tampa for the wedding 4 days prior.  We stayed at a resort which was within walking distance to MK which I would highly recommend, especially for the stage we are in.  We didn't spend time on the buses going back and forth during the day when we needed to head back to the hotel for a break/rest.  We went swimming every afternoon and there was a day or two where all the kids wanted to do was swim so we had to convince them that swimming was fun but we can swim in MN but we can't see Mickey, Anna, ride Dumbo in MN!  Most of our time was spent meeting characters.  Madelyn's favorite was Tinkerbell and Jack's favorite was Mickey!  Madelyn's favorite ride was It's a Small World, which also happens to be Nana's favorite :)  Jack loved the Dumbo ride.  We were so impressed with how well the kids did.  They napped in the stroller when they got tired otherwise they just took it all in.  We stayed for the parade on Monday night.  It was fun to see but we weren't in the front row so it was harder to see. We had hoped to stay for the fireworks but the kids were absolutely exhausted.  Thankfully we were able to see the fireworks from the balcony when we got back to our room.  

Animal Kingdom was fun and we all enjoyed the safari ride.  It is a smaller park so we only stayed for 1/2 a day and then spent the rest of the day swimming and hanging out at the hotel.

The last day we spent at Magic Kingdom.....celebrating Madelyn's birthday!  A day I will never forget and I hope Madelyn can have some recollection of her 5th birthday at Disney when she is older!  So special!  We were also able to see Woody & Jessie from Toy Story.  Jack's face lit up when we saw them -- he was such a trooper visiting all the princesses (which he honestly loved!) but it was fun to see someone else and you could just tell that made Jack's day.  As we were getting to the end of the day, I told the kids this was our last day at Disney and we would be flying on the airplane in the morning and coming home.  Madelyn said to me "I'm ready to go home" and Jack looked at me with alligator tears running down his face and said "I want to stay and live with Mickey".  Needless to say, he enjoyed every minute.....we all did!  Our first family vacation was a huge success and we are excited to see where our next one takes us!

Rafiki was too much for Jack, which is why it's mommy & Madelyn in the picture withy mommy closest to Rafiki!  Mrs. Bunny was one of the kids' favorite characters as well.  She as soft and fuzzy, according to the kids :)

We ate at a BBQ place -so yummy!- the night before Madelyn's birthday but they treated her like it was her actual birthday.  She got a cupcake and the entire restaurant sang happy birthday to her!

 While Jack was napping, we each got to spend some one on one time with our birthday girl!