Mom brag.

Yep, I'm doing it.
I feel like I don't talk enough about how amazing Jasper is. I mean really, he's amazing.  So I'm going to take 2 minutes to do so.
Every time I ask him to go straighten up a room, or pick something up/put something away he does it immediately, and usually asking what else he can do to help.
He is kind. So kind. 
He's the best big brother. Tindra is so lucky to have him. He reads to her, asks to get her dressed, stands up for her, he's just the best brother all around. He loves her so deep.
On Saturday he played an entire soccer game (with no break because only 3 other team mates showed up) in freezing rain (literally, it was 38 degrees and windy) and only once complained about his hands being cold. I was huddled under two blankets and an umbrella and complaining in my head the entire time. 
He's so darn smart. A few months ago he was advanced to a spelling challenge list at school which comes with weekly hard spelling tests with words like, chimpanzee and incredulous, yeah I have to double check his spelling test because I'M not always positive on the spelling. And last week, he took another reading test that shows that he's at the top of his class and reading at a third grade level. IN FIRST GRADE! And as one of the youngest first graders there! He's 6 years old and I'm quite sure smarter than I ever was in elementary school. 
He's just the best. 

Easter

Easter kind of snuck up on me this year since it was the day before Tindra's birthday and for the past month I have been focusing on that, but luckily the Easter bunny showed up anyway! Bright and early! Also..no clue how Jasper still believes (though I'm grateful he does!) since he heard us at midnight hiding the eggs and peaked outside and then came upstairs.
"I saw you picking up some Easter eggs mommy" "Oh yeah...uhm...I was checking to make sure he left some eggs for you and Tindra, and then I put them back down...so if you saw me putting down eggs, thats what I was doing"
And then he went on to ask if we had heard or seen the Easter bunny etc..so looks like crisis averted. For now. I will be ridiculously sad when he stops believe in the easter bunny, tooth fairy, santa etc, once the magic is gone. Because right now I live for seeing their faces light up when they realize the easter bunny (santa...) has come. It makes my whole day/month/ basically my life. 
After our bright and early easter hunt, I'm talking 6:30, we opened eggs and got ready for church. Some friends invited us to their nearby church for Easter service, and I'm so glad we went! It's definitely a church we want to go back and try out in a few weeks! After service they had easter egg hunts for the kids, bouncy houses, food, and even a petting zoo which we couldn't drag Tindra away from to save our lives. She was so thrilled to pet the chickens, sheep, pigs and ponies for over an hour. 
Such a fun and relaxing (mostly..minus toddler in church) Easter slash Tindra's last day as a one year old!

She's two!

From this

to this. 

I really have no clue where the past two years have gone, but on Monday April 21st, Tindra Helene Birgit turned 2! She is such a little fire cracker and she has every single one of us wrapped around her little finger. Especially her brother.
Right now my mom and nephew are in town helping us celebrate her and tonight my sis and BIL arrive! It's so much fun having family in town so things are a bit quiet around here this week! I'll be instagramming like normal though so make sure you are following along there!

Some random nap time thoughts.

Tindra's nap time that is. 

I took this picture this time two years ago. Just days away before my water broke in the middle of the night on April 20th. I really have no clue where the past two years have gone. I'm definitely feeling very bitter sweet about it! I'm so loving these ages right now with both kiddos and time just needs to freeze for a few years. Or decades. 

Spring has officially made it's way to Colorado! Finally! 81 degrees reported in the 5 day forecast!
Easter, whats your family traditions for that? Seems like everyone does it differently! Growing up we did a combination of Swedish and I guess my mom's traditions growing up in America. Drew and I have sort of been winging it. The last couple of years we had little Easter baskets set up and got up super early to scatter some eggs from the Easter bunny in the yard. When we lived in a condo in Sweden and in Superior one of us stayed in with Jasper (Drew) while I went and played Easter bunny in a court yard in Sweden and by the lake in Superior. This year we will do the same and then probably go to church with friends who invited us followed by an easter egg hunt at the church. 
The day after Easter (and Tindra's second birthday!) my mom and nephew are coming from Iowa and then Wednesday night my sister and brother in law are coming! So SO excited to spend some time with family!
I'm challenging myself to doing just a little bit of yoga every day for 30 days. Even just 10-15 min at night will be good enough! So far I'm 2/2! I'm just trying to get some of the most simple moves down and I'm really realizing how UNflexible I am. Apparently that's not a real world. Anyone have any favorite yoga websites? 

Child spacing.

One of the questions I get asked most by friends/strangers/online friends etc. is about child spacing. Was Jasper and Tindra's almost 5 year age gap on purpose? Do you like the age gap? What are the positives/negatives of that age gap?
For the most part, their age gap was planned. Having Jasper so young we were in No way ready financially to go ahead and have another child shortly after Jasper. Having had such a rough childbirth with Jasper I wasn't even positive I wanted any more children till he was about 2. We also wanted to get married first, study abroad, have at least Drew finish school and get a good job etc. After we had accomplished all those things, by the time Jasper was 3.5, we decided we were ready for another. It took us several months to get pregnant after we decided we were ready, giving us the 4 years and 8 months age gap between Jasper and Tindra.
I used to tell people I liked the age gap, but that if/when it came time for a third I wouldn't want that age gap again.
But the more I've thought about it over the last few months. The more grateful I am that I have had that age gap, and the more okay I am with having another good age gap between two and a hopeful third someday. There's plenty of little reasons like, only having to diaper one kid at a time, and having my body to my self again after a year and a half of pregnancy and breastfeeding. But the biggest reason why I have absolutely loved having that age gap is time. 
Time alone with each of my children. Time I wouldn't have if that gap hadn't been there.
I had over four and a half years with Jasper. Just us. He was my everything. My all day and night. We have such a special relationship, and I think a big reason is because for so long it was just us. Of course Drew was in the picture also, a big part of the picture. But lets face it, the first three years of Jaspers life Drew was in class 18 hrs a week and worked another 45-50, plus all the commuting. He had Sundays and once in a while a Saturday off. After those three years were up he no longer had class but instead worked 50+ hrs a week plus commuting time before we moved into the city. So a good majority of the time it was just Jasper and I. And I wouldn't change that for anything in the world.
Then Tindra game a long and things changed. More than I even imagined possible. Jasper was only in preschool a few weeks before the summer and then I had all summer with both my babies home all day. Some days it was a lot to handle with a 5 year old and newborn who were at such different places in their life, but Jasper has always been a fairly independent child and it just worked. We had a great routine and had so many little adventures. 
And then Jasper went off to full day kindergarten and it was even more of a game changer. Now Jasper was gone all day (7 hours) and it was just Tindra and I for the first time. The first few months were the hardest with adjusting (for me the hardest I think, Jasper did amazing from the start!) but then we figured out a system for that to. And having Jasper in school during the day has given me a chance to devote so much of my time during the day to Tindra like I did with Jasper all those years, and it just has worked so amazing for us! 
I go back and forth on when would be a good time to add to our family, and a big part of me thinks waiting till Tindra is heading to preschool would be a good time so I get that alone bonding time with a third child as well. But I do know that deep down, you can have a house full of a dozen kids and as a mom we would still make the time and bond just as well with a new baby, tons of alone time or not.
Part of me used to feel guilty that Jasper and Tindra wouldn't get to be as close having a few years apart, but then I watch them play like this and I realize, their age gap doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if they are 1 year apart or 10 or anything in the middle, they are BFF's for life just like I am with my siblings. 

Winners

Winner of the Bee Chique giveaway is Brittany C and the winner of the Tiny Blue Lines book is Jennifer Dunn! Please email to get your prizes!!

That mom.

I always assumed spending weekend mornings, or week night evenings watching my children at their various sporting events would just be something I had to do. Just a part of being a parent. I've never hugely enjoyed attending sporting events, except of course when theres yummy nachos involved. Just wasn't my thing. I played some sports in jr high, softball, basketball, volley ball and ran track in high school, but I was never very competitive or any good. I just did it to be around the boys if we are being totally honest here. 
I never thought I would be that mom. You know the ones who gets excited, like Really excited to watch their kids games. Turns out, I was very wrong. During Jaspers first real soccer game of the season on Saturday I was so into it you would have thought I was watching my team play in the world cup. I was anxiously cheering loudly the whole time. On the edge of my seat or actually out of my seat jumping and screaming as Jasper helped lead his team to victory with his three goals (out of 5 I believe.) Afterwards I kept talking to Drew about how surprised I was with just how much I enjoyed it! Like actually Loved watching him play. This is the 3rd year he has done soccer, but honestly in the 'munchkin' league its just not the same thing. Barely any rules, and really just a mini scrimmage against other teams. But the league he is now is very similar to a real soccer game with a referee and everything and he just had a blast out there. I can't wait to watch him play for years to come and hope it's really something he will stick with!

I was too busy watching the game (and Tindra between Drew and I) that I didn't even think to take any pictures till this one right at the end taken a few seconds after he scored his hat trick goal (a soccer term I learned this weekend, guess that officially makes me a soccer mom?)

Potty talk.

Unless you are a mother to a toddler I'm expecting zero interest on this post, and even if you are, still not super exciting. But I've had people ask about it so why not.
Tindra has been 100 percent potty trained (during the day) for about 5-6 weeks now. At around 18 months she started showing signs that she was ready, so we potty a potty chair. Those signs for her were following me into the bathroom and watching me go, saying 'mamma pee' whenever I went etc. She also started telling me when she had gone in her diaper and letting me know when it was time to change her. 
After we got her potty chair (just a cheap, simple one at Ikea) she would sometimes sit on it when she was naked and go potty. When she did, we would make a big deal out of it, clap for her, give her a coconut cashew (which she thinks is candy) and lots of praise. 
Around 20 months we started having 'naked mornings' when we were home. We would just put a shirt on her and let her run around naked, and most of the time when she had to pee she would run and sit on the potty and do her thang. Yes I just said thang. 
Right at 22 months I was grabbing a (cloth) diaper to put on her because we were heading out and she said 'noooo, teeter no that' as in nope, not happening I'm not wearing a diaper. She went and grabbed a pair of her my little pony underwear and put them on. And that was that! She's been wearing underwear ever since and hasn't had a single accident (knock on wood!) And that's basically the story of how my not even two year old potty trained herself! 

Shorts shorts shorts

Today it's chilly and windy, but the next two days will be in the 70's! Which has me realizing I need to dig out the rest of my spring/summer clothes and see what pieces I need to add to my wardrobe. I have so, SO many dresses, but I'm severely lacking in the shorts department! Today I spent nap time  online short shopping instead of folding a large pile of laundry that needs my attention, but here are some of my favorite I found! 

Jcrew

Nordstrom

Forever21

Asos

Asos

It's been a slow week on here..

mostly because it's been a crazy busy week away from the blog. Just in this week we have:
Been to the zoo Been to the aquarium Had soccer practice Had soccer game Had first football scrimmage Been to an indoor water park/center Been out to dinners and lunches (and brunches too!) Had several play dates Spent hours outside (in 60 degree weather and in half a foot of unexpected snow)  Played in the sand and built a snowman  And just really, Really enjoyed having Jasper home for the week. We have one more day of spring break left before he goes back to school on Tuesday and we have a busy, fun day planned! 
Happy Sunday! 

Bee Chique: Giveaway

Today I'm really excited to introduce you to Bee Chique, a fabulous new online boutique. They have lots of great dresses and tops for an affordable price, and all free shipping! I love online shopping, in fact I pretty much never step in the mall anymore, and when I see free shipping I'm Always sold! Brooke, owner of Bee Chique sent me this adorable dress and I couldn't wait to wear it! It's comfortable, has a unique pattern and it was pockets! Probably my favorite quality in a dress! 

Brooke is offering up a $25 gift card to one of YOU guys, so go check her out and come back and enter! Who doesn't need a new spring dress? Several ways to enter, make sure you leave a comment for each one you do! Visit Bee Chique and come back and let me know your favorite item! Go like Bee Chique on Facebook and let me know you did! Like my new Facebook page and let me know you did! Blog/instagram/tweet about this giveaway for extra entries! Giveaway ends in 10 days!

Wrap Giveaway

Check out below how to win an awesome baby wrap! Perfect for those of you with babies for this summer at the pool!

Summer is coming!! It's time to think about all those pool and beach days! The Wrapsody WrapDuO is the perfect baby carrier for those hot summer days. It's perfect to wear in the water, but it's also a nice lightweight material, so it's perfect even just for the hot weather days that lurk ahead!

Wrapsody was kind enough to donate one to a lucky winner!! The review is over on Mommy's Favorite Things blog. It's such a wonderful carrier!

Some features below:

Hypoallergenic stretchy fabric feels great on the skin and is perfect for carrying your child both in and out of the water! 

Tapered ends and narrow body make this carrier lightweight and cool. 

Fabric blocks 97.5% – 98% of the sun’s rays (UPF 45), reducing the need for sunscreen. 

Just-right stretch makes it easy to wash between you and baby or pop baby in and out without adjusting the carrier. 

Portable and packable — folds down into a quart-sized sandwich baggie.

Hi-tech sport knit wicks moisture and sweat away from the skin. 

Water use to 35 pounds; land use to 25 pounds.

Giveaway runs from 4/1-4/14 so enter now and keep coming back every day for more entries!

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