After reading a friends' blog this morning, I finally decided it's time to update mine again. Since it's been nearly 5 months since my last blog, I decided to put a few highlight from recent months on here. Of course, there were a ton more that I could have put on but I couldn't spend the whole day doing this.
This was on my 30th birthday. Ben took me out to dinner and then back home to "get the kids" but he really had planned a surprise birthday party for me. I was actually really surprised which was awesome because somehow I always seem to find out his surprises before I am supposed to.
Ben and Caleb on a hike at Hartley Nature Area. I can't wait for this weather again!
My parents came up for a weekend last fall and we had lots of fun taking pictures by the lake.
My dad and the kids.
Our new addition! We got our first dog, Riley the Monday after Thanksgiving. He was 5 months old at that time and has been quite an adventure! The kids can't get enough of him.
We might be nuts, but on the same day we found out that I am pregnant with our 3rd kid!! I am due August 5th. We saw the movie Marley and Me the other night and halfway through I leaned over and told Ben they had the same life as us...minus the swimming pool and huge houses! Mostly the crazy dog and adventures of parenting!
Baking Christmas cookies in December. They loved the frosting.
And of course the sprinkles too.
I am not sure if it's possible anymore for Sophia to get her picture taken without doing some kind of funny pose. She's like a Hollywood teenager inside a 5 year-old Duluth kid's body.
Caleb turned 3 the week after Christmas and I made him a motorcycle birthday cake. He had been talking about wanting a motorcycle birthday party for months beforehand and now has next year's party planned already.
Don't tell Caleb when he's a teenager that I actually put this picture online! I was on the phone with my mom one day this winter and the kids both came down the stairs in Sophia's leotards. I couldn't stop laughing. Caleb was still all boy though...he thought it was hilarious to pull the leotard up in the back and would pull it up like a sumo wrestler every time it started to slide down.
"Look Mom it says, 'ho-tel!'" That's exactly what he said. This was at a hotel we stayed at for a conference in Mpls. in January.
Sophia and my sister-in-law Karna at her baby shower. Hopefully she will have her baby any day now! She will make grandkid number 18 for my parents!
I had to put this photo up. This is what Sophia does with her clothes nearly every night before she goes to bed...accessories and all, so that everything is ready for the next morning. I don't know where she got that from but it definitely was NOT me!
I think that's all for now but I will try to update this more often.
We had our ultrasound last week and thought this picture with the hand on the forehead was pretty cute. And, we found out that we are having.....another boy!! Ben's genes are apparently not stronger than the Metzger genes still since we are following the girl-boy-boy pattern that nearly everyone seems to follow to the T.
This was on my 30th birthday. Ben took me out to dinner and then back home to "get the kids" but he really had planned a surprise birthday party for me. I was actually really surprised which was awesome because somehow I always seem to find out his surprises before I am supposed to.
Ben and Caleb on a hike at Hartley Nature Area. I can't wait for this weather again!
My parents came up for a weekend last fall and we had lots of fun taking pictures by the lake.
My dad and the kids.
Our new addition! We got our first dog, Riley the Monday after Thanksgiving. He was 5 months old at that time and has been quite an adventure! The kids can't get enough of him.
Baking Christmas cookies in December. They loved the frosting.
And of course the sprinkles too.
I am not sure if it's possible anymore for Sophia to get her picture taken without doing some kind of funny pose. She's like a Hollywood teenager inside a 5 year-old Duluth kid's body.
Caleb turned 3 the week after Christmas and I made him a motorcycle birthday cake. He had been talking about wanting a motorcycle birthday party for months beforehand and now has next year's party planned already.
Don't tell Caleb when he's a teenager that I actually put this picture online! I was on the phone with my mom one day this winter and the kids both came down the stairs in Sophia's leotards. I couldn't stop laughing. Caleb was still all boy though...he thought it was hilarious to pull the leotard up in the back and would pull it up like a sumo wrestler every time it started to slide down.
"Look Mom it says, 'ho-tel!'" That's exactly what he said. This was at a hotel we stayed at for a conference in Mpls. in January.
Sophia and my sister-in-law Karna at her baby shower. Hopefully she will have her baby any day now! She will make grandkid number 18 for my parents!
I had to put this photo up. This is what Sophia does with her clothes nearly every night before she goes to bed...accessories and all, so that everything is ready for the next morning. I don't know where she got that from but it definitely was NOT me!
Sophia took this one. She's our photographer in training.
Caleb and his new leash...er....harness. We bought this before we left town yesterday because he's just wild enough to run to the edge of a cliff and then decide to jump off! It's very cute, with a little monkey on the back, and he did really well with it. And no, we didn't ever yank on it to make him go where we wanted. It just meant that we had to actually run with him everywhere. You can see the tail hanging off the monkey; that's the strap we hang on to.
See? He really liked it!
Our little model, posing for the picture.
For some reason Sophia decided she didn't want to be in the picture of the whole family so she's hiding in Ben's arms.
Mmmm...Mom's Camelbak. For some reason that water seems to taste better to her than the water in her own water bottle.
Caleb the explorer.
There's the monkey on his back.
Searching for agates...or pretty much any rock they like.
My nieces and Sophia in all my bridesmaid dresses from my brothers and sisters weddings. Gotta love those poofy sleeves!
Sophia's last day of preschool! She was so excited.
Ben and the kids at the lake for Father's Day.
Cheering for Uncle Tom who was running Grandma's Marathon.
Sophia and Caleb saying "Goodbye" to their friend Gwyneth. She's moving to Belfast with her mom and dad, our good friends Wes and Lesley, any day now. We will miss her dearly. Of course we have a plan in place for how to get her back to America when she's older so she and Caleb can fall in love and get married.
My parents at one of the stops along Seven Bridges Road in Duluth.
The boys going on a boat ride. Doesn't Caleb look just like Ben in this picture?? Except the hair color of course!
We went up to a camp called Luther Dell for the 4th of July. A bunch of people from church were there for a family camp weekend but we were just there for the day. Caleb pretty much jumped off this end of the dock all day, yelling for us to watch each time!
Our 6 year anniversary. We borrowed a couple of kayaks a friend of ours made and took them along the lake for an hour or two. It was absolutely perfect weather and tons of fun!
All dressed up at Enger Tower for a wedding rehearsal Ben was doing.
This was before the wedding. Aren't they cute?
All the 3 to 5 year-olds (plus Caleb) at a day camp we did at church last week. They all got to have a turn sitting in the driver's seat. Caleb and Sophia couldn't stop talking about it.
My favorite picture. Sophia is all princess at heart.
I don't even remember what was happening here!
Caleb sporting his new shades!
A kiss from Caleb!
