College Roomies

Tonight Katie, Nissa, Lisa & I met in Shakopee for dinner.  We were college roommates our senior year at GAC.  Thanks to Katie & Lisa we were able to live in the Collegeview apartments (because they were CFs the year before).  Nissa and I were roomies all 4 years!  I couldn't have picked a better roommate(s)!  We had a great time together.....both in college and tonight.

Always so fun to connect and catch up.  It's crazy but we usually only all get together 1/year.  With families, work and busy schedules it gets harder and harder to connect......but it makes our annual get togethers even more fun.  Here's to great friendships!

3 years!

Ryan makes me so happy!

I can't believe we celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary today!  In ways it feels like just yesterday that we got married but in other ways it feels like we have known each other and been married for so much longer (in a great way!!)!!

Our wedding day was so special and a day I will never forgot.  I remember as the girls were getting ready it hit me that I was getting married and going to marry my best friend.  I started crying and couldn't stop.  I seriously cried the whole way up the aisle as I went to see Ryan for the first time.  Then I couldn't get a grip as I basically cried through the whole ceremony.  What a special day that brings back so many amazing and wonderful memories!

So much has happened in the past 3 years......we welcomed our nephew Bishop, we moved to our new house, we became parents when Miss Madelyn arrived (best day of our lives along with our our wedding day!), we now have a niece sweet Nora and we are excited to add to our family in January when Baby Bormann #2 arrives!  We've traveled to New York, Chicago, the North Shore (many times), Hawaii, San Diego and San Francisco.

I am so blessed to have met Ryan!  I know I am the luckiest girl in the world!  He is way too good to me.  I honestly can't imagine what my life was like or would be like without him!  He is an amazing husband and father!  

The Girls

The Wedding Party

The love of my life!

Spoon

Madelyn is learning how to eat with a spoon!  She's getting better and better and actually ate most of her yogurt all by herself!  It gets a little (a lot) messy since Madelyn has also recently decided that she is not going to wear a bib.  I figure, you pick your battles.  I have resorted to soaking her clothes at the end of the day :)  Madelyn is definitely becoming more & more independent every day!

Cabin

This past weekend we spent time at Katie, Matt and their kids at their cabin.  It was a fun weekend!  I have been going to the cabin with Katie since college and it's so fun to keep the tradition going and to add new people along the way.....Ryan, Madelyn and next year Baby Bormann!

We spent time in the water, playing in the sand, walking on the dock and running around the yard.  We went out on the pontoon two times.  Madelyn was not very happy but started warming up to it close to the end of the 2nd ride.  I think she hated wearing the life jacket so that was probably why she was so unhappy.

I was a little nervous how Madelyn would do sleeping at the cabin since she isn't a huge fan of the pack and play.  She did great!  She napped awesome and then she went to sleep at 7:30 and slept until a little after 6.  It was me, who didn't sleep well.  I think I was nervous about Madelyn waking up and then wondering what I/we were going to do since sound carries at the cabin and there aren't any places to go where you are by yourself.

We had a great time as we always do with Katie and her family.  Her twins are 3.5 and so good to Madelyn.  Plus they have a dog and since Madelyn is into "puppies" she loved having a "puppy" around! :)  We can't wait to go back next year!!

Madelyn and Daddy
this is the happiest picture we have of Madelyn on the boat

Lyla didn't like the noisy motor

Cal driving the boat

Madelyn really excited to be on the boat

Lyla driving the boat

Madelyn driving the car - she loved this!

Big Sister

Our fun news is that Madelyn is going to be a big sister in January (1/7/13)!  We are beyond excited and can't wait for another little munchkin to join our family!

I had a 1st trimester ultrasound at the end of June and everything looked great.  I will be 35 when I deliver so I am considered "high risk".  There are a couple perks to that......we had an ultrasound at 12 weeks and we have a level 2 ultrasound at 20 weeks.  We are 99% we are going to find out the sex.  I go back and forth......I know it would be so fun to not find out and have it be a surprise but I'm not sure I could go through the ultrasound and not find out.  We'll see!  Ryan said it's up to me as he picked the 1st time around.

So far I'm feeling good!  The nausea is basically gone which is such a relief.  I'm starting to show (15 weeks) but I knew that would happen soon as everyone says you show earlier the 2nd time around.

Madelyn loves to "kiss the baby" (by pointing at my tummy) so hopefully she loves her sister/brother as much when they arrive!  We know she'll be a great big sister!

Friends, Maple Grove Days & More Friends

A couple weeks ago my very good friend and her two daughters came over.  I always love seeing her & her girls.  Her girls are such cuties and absolute sweethearts and they are so good to Madelyn!  We had a great time and can't wait to see them again!!!

This past weekend was Maple Grove Days.  We decided to check it out.  It was in the high 90's and very humid but we still had a good time even though Madelyn was dripping sweat the whole time.  There wasn't a lot that Madelyn could do yet but she checked it all out.  She enjoyed the petting zoo and laughed and giggled the whole time as she touched the animals.  We ran into her old daycare teacher and it was really fun to see her.

Then on Sunday a couple of the high school girls that worked at Madelyn's old daycare stopped by.  It was so wonderful to see them!  We miss them and they miss Madelyn!  It was perfect because they got to play with Madelyn and we got to catch up.  One of the girls goes to college at the end of August so we'll have to for sure see her again before she leaves.  They are both so special to Madelyn.  It seemed like every day that I picked up Madelyn one of them was carrying Madelyn around because you know Madelyn always likes to be part of the action :)

Pushing the car with Kati

blowing bubbles with Kati & Jessie

This was the best we could get.....Madelyn isn't much into posed pictures these days!

To top off the busy and fun weekend, we met Shari & Max at Weaver Lake park on Sunday afternoon.  Madelyn & Max have a blast together even though Max is almost 9 and Madelyn is only 15 months.  They just adore each other and it's so fun to watch them!  Here's one of my favorite pictures of the two of them!!

15 month check up

Madelyn had her 15 month appointment on Friday.  I can't believe she's 15 months already!!!

It seemed like the entire appointment was traumatic for Madelyn.  She screamed when they weighed her, screamed when they measured her, screamed when the doctor looked in her ears (and as she was trying to do any part of the exam) and of course screamed when she got her shots.

Funny thing is that I'm not sure the shots were the worst part - she actually screamed louder for other parts of the appointment and recovered very quickly after the shots.  Poor thing!

She's doing great and is our healthy & happy little girl.  Her ears were both clear - yippee!  She is 33.5 inches long (off the charts: 97%+), weighs 26.5 lbs (90%) and her head is 48 cm (95%).

She is at such a fun age and like everyone says, it just keeps getting better & better!  She has started talking so much in the last couple weeks.  She will repeat words.  She says daddy, mommy, baby, puppy, bubbles, belly, papa, nana, weeeeeee, hi, bye bye.  She has learned sign language and signs please, food, more and we are working on thank you.  She can point to her ear, nose, belly button and sometimes her toes.

She started climbing all the way up the stairs and is learning how to come down.  We will be happy when she figures out how to come down so we don't have to worry about her.  A couple nights ago she learned how to stand at the end of her crib (on the outside).  We'll have to keep an eye on her so she doesn't learn how to crawl out when she is in the crib!  This morning Ryan said she figured out how to get into the bathtub (no water in it).  Funny because she still hates the bath so whenever we put her in the bathtub she kicks and screams.  She learns new things every day and is always so curious and interested in everything.  It's so amazing and fun to watch her grow up!

Ears

We have been back to see Madelyn's ear specialist 2x since her last appointment when we thought we were in the clear until December.  Madelyn continues to have ear problems.  Her surgeon isn't happy that she has had 2 ear infections since the end of April (when she had her tubes put in).

Her latest issue is that the tubes are getting plugged.  We're learning that the ear we are giving her the drops in is the ear that is clear.  Her doctor only wants us to give her drops in the ear that's plugged.......and then of course the following week (7/6) when we went for a follow up, the right ear was great but the left ear was plugged.  They do an in-office procedure where they clean out her ears.  Madelyn HATES it and it's so hard to watch as she kicks, screams and cries the whole time.  I think the worst part might be that she doesn't like to be restrained (who does?!?) so that is more than half the battle.

At her 7/6 appointment her surgeon said that after he cleaned out her left ear that both ears looked great!  Hopefully they stay that way for awhile!

We also started seeing a chiropractor about 3 weeks ago.  We've heard testimonials from other parents with kids in a position similar to Madelyn (has tubes but still getting ear infections) that chiropractic care has worked.  We thought we would give it a shot!  Figure it can't hurt anything......

So far she has been seen 3 times.  The 1st time went ok - the chiro wasn't able to do much as Madelyn was a little freaked out as she didn't know what as going on.  The 2nd time was awful - Madelyn basically screamed any time the chiro was in our room.  The 3rd time was much better.  I brought bubbles, snacks and that seemed to help.  We are going to give it a few more times to see what happens and we'll see where we go from there.

We are thinking positive and hoping that with the tubes being cleared out and the chiro appointments that we won't have to go back until her follow up appointment in October.

4th of July

We had a great 4th of July!  It was low-key day which was awesome since the 4th was in the middle of the week.  We went swimming......with the rest of Maple Grove!  It was so hot that I think everyone was at the pool.  It actually wasn't that bad as both the indoor & outdoor pools are so big.

We swam outside for awhile.  With it being so hot we didn't want to keep Madelyn out in the sun long but she enjoyed it while we were outside.  She loves swimming and we couldn't be happier!  She walks  in the water by herself and when she sits on the edge of the pool she will slide into the water.  Every time we go she does new things.

Then Ryan's best friend's family stopped over for a BBQ.  It was so fun because they live out of town and happened to be in Maple Grove visiting family so it was such a treat to see them.  They have 2 boys - ages 9 & 3.  Madelyn had a blast with them!  They were so good to her.

We played outside after dinner since it wasn't as hot and before we knew it, it was 8:15 and Madelyn was still going strong.  She usually goes to bed around 7:30-7:45 but that night she didn't go to bed until closer to 9.  She was a trooper and I know she didn't want the fun night to end.  The best part was in the morning she slept until close to 8:00!!

Drawing with chalk

Riding in the cozy coupe

Matthew with a sparkler

Benjamin with his sparkler