25 October 2017

Duke is 2!

At 10:31 a.m. on October 24, 2015, my sweet baby Duke was born. 8lbs 1oz, a screeching pterodactyl cry, and the sweetest round face I've ever seen.  He's been LOUD since the beginning.  He's happy, excitable, funny, and sweet. He's also super sassy, challenging, and stubborn.  He's 2.

Duke made us parents and it's clearly become my favorite thing. Raising 2 wild boys is so much more than I ever could've imagined- more fulfilling, more loving, more chaos, more noise, more snuggles. Duke reminds me to smile more, be in the moment, pay attention, and play. He provides a perspective I desperately needed.


October has been a pretty crazy month for us so I was giving myself a healthy dose of mom-guilt that I hadn't done enough for Duke's 2nd birthday party.  We didn't have any family coming in town this year so we knew it would be a small get together with my parents, my sister and brother-in-law and 2 nieces.  Dennis and I had gotten the bright idea that Duke needed a power wheels Ford F150 to match his daddy but we couldn't find one in store in town so we ended up driving to a nearby town at 9:30 on Friday night to pick up the gift.  I am so glad we got it for him because he seriously loves it and it should last him many years of crazy driving all over the yard. We just need to teach him to keep his eyes on the road!  Anyway, party day was Saturday, so while Dennis put Duke's gift together at work, I hung out with the boys and picked up the house to get ready to decorate during naptime.

We did a Mickey Mouse themed party because Duke loves "Mou" as he lovingly refers to Mickey.  I found some super cute decorations at Walmart and loaded up on streamers.  My sister and oldest niece came over to help get everything setup while Duke snoozed away.  I prepped some of the food for grilling later and my mom brought some yummy sides.  When Duke woke up a little before 4, Dennis went upstairs to distract him while we finished setting up and waited for a couple people to show up so he could make a proper entrance!


He was a little confused at first but seemed to get used to all of the attention being on him pretty quickly! We played and hung out until it was time for dinner and as soon as someone said "I think we should open presents", Duke bolted into the living room and immediately tore into a gift. It was hilarious. We literally couldn't even get up from the table fast enough and he had clearly just been waiting for the moment he could let loose on some wrapping paper.
Duke was spoiled with some awesome gifts- a heavy duty Case tractor, Maui character doll that sings, clothes, a Magnadoodle, magnets for the fridge, balls, a personalized puzzle stool, and toy animals. We took him out to the garage to reveal his truck after he opened everything inside and proceeded to crack up as he took turns driving around the yard with my nieces.  I never thought the truck would make our backyard seem so small but we've since expanded his territory to outside the fence and I think our crash rate has decreased significantly.
Yesterday, on the real BIG day, we woke Duke up with a balloon avalanche.  He was super excited and I could tell he knew the day was special. He had an awesome day at daycare and came home to drive his truck a few rounds before we had a yummy birthday dinner of pancakes, eggs and bacon....just a few of the birthday boy's favorite things! We capped off the night with brownies and singing and a couple small presents.


At 2 years old, Duke is constantly working on expanding his vocabulary and getting excited about communicating more with us. I can tell he gets frustrated if we don't understand what he's trying to say and I can see his little mind working to figure out how to pronounce a word before he repeats it.  If all else fails and we truly have no idea what he's trying to get at, he'll grab our hand and show us exactly what he wants.
Duke loves snuggling, tickles, playing and messing with his brother.  He's a pretty picky eater which I constantly struggle with and loves milk.  He has quite the crew of sweet friends at daycare and picking him up is still the very best moment of the day with him. He squeals with excitement, jumps into my arms, and promptly looks for the treat bucket.  Duke loves to dance, sing along to music or make up his own tune, and spends hours each week pretending to build things on his tool bench or cook in his kitchen.  Next on my list of things to buy is this because he absolutely loves being in the kitchen and wants to help with everything {or spray water all over the counter}. Life with Duke is so much fun and while part of me is in awe that my sweet baby is 2 already, I honestly can't wait to see what's in store for us this year!




Happy Birthday sweet baby Duke!

-T-

22 October 2017

10 in 10

October has been one for the record books {or blogs} this year, so I’m breaking down 10 things that we’ve loved in this 10th month of the year! Where has 2017 gone?!
Dakota Days Parade
We kicked of the month with USDs homecoming which means a big parade that goes right in front of our house!


We had a big crowd of family and friends, breakfast burrito bar, bloody Mary’s, coffee, etc. it’s becoming one of my very favorite things about living in our house!
Football games!
We love supporting the Coyotes and we’ve made it to a couple games so far. Theo loved some Charlie snuggles during the homecoming game and we loved the free beer in the dome club! 


Farming
Fall has been absolutely beautiful on the farm so we’ve made an effort to do some exploring and check on the cows often to satisfy Duke’s obsession.




Brothers
Duke and Theo have always loved each other but this month has been really fun- Theo thinks just about anything Duke does, short of biting, is comic gold and Duke is always looking for Theo when he’s sleeping so he can promptly wake him up. It makes my heart burst when I watch them interact and I am so thankful they will know the wonderful gift of siblings and never remember life without each other.




Girls weekend
I need to do an entire post about my girls weekend in Charleston because it was amazing, but the short version is that it was the perfect mix of historical sites, amazing food, cocktails and sleep. All wrapped up in a 4 day weekend with 2 of my very best friends!




Boys Weekend
While I was gone, Dennis enlisted a few reinforcements {my awesome family} but was pretty much solo with the boys. I missed them so much but loved seeing them have a fun boys weekend while I was gone. Duke has been a total cling monster since I got back

❤️


New office
Our building at work was renovated over the course of 6 months and we just moved in this month. It is beautiful and so exciting to be back in and working side by side my coworkers, instead of spread out all over town! They put in a wellness room which has been a game changer for us moms with babies {4 of us right now!}.  It is amazing to work for a company that takes care of its employees and I appreciate the work/life balance so much!
 
R+F business
I’ve had a few fun Rodan + Fields parties this month and my favorite part is Duke and Theo helping me get everything setup. It takes 10x as long and we spill things along the way but it’s the perfect testament to how this business fits into our lives, at our pace, in our home! Or wherever we want to be. So thankful.



Halloween Jams
We busted out the Halloween pajamas this week and I love seeing these matching candy-filled skeleton bellies.


Pumpkin Patch
We had an awesome afternoon adventure at the pumpkin patch today with my sisters family and my mom. We wandered through a corn maze, picked perfect white and orange pumpkins, bought some delicious produce and drank fresh apple cider. The kids loved running around, my nieces called dibs of 47 pumpkins “I changed my mind I want THIS one!” and we all left in full fall mode.









We've still got Duke’s 2nd birthday and Halloween to celebrate this month and I can’t wait! It’s been busy and a ton of fun with absolutely gorgeous weather. Stick around Fall, I’m totally into you!

-T-