Fishin in the toliet

Dear Friends, Family, and Readers,
My goal is to get better at blogging on a regular basis, but since so much has been going on my life the blog has been not my top priority. I have had so many experiences, thoughts, and emotions as I have been transitioning into having two children and now my maternity leave is over. During maternity leave I made sure to use the time to be with my children 100% and was not focused on the outside world. It was so nice to have unlimited time with my children, to have a more relaxed schedule, and to be able to meet with others. We had a lot of playdates, trips  to the library, music class, indoor/outdoor parks, and the childrens museum. It was so great being able to be fully there for my children and to be a part of their whole day. Adjusting to two has come with its challenges and it has been nice to hear from others that I appear to be a calm parent. That is my goal 99% of the time is to keep my cool and to understand where they are at developmentally. My favorite parts of being back to work have been going to the bathroom and lunch by myself. Can I get an Amen from the moms out there? But I know already that time goes fast when you have little ones and that there will be a day when they don't want to hang out with you 24/7 and then you will miss those moments. So I am choosing to embrace motherhood with its ups downs and everything in between. My goal in this blog is to share moments I have with my kids/family as well as how I balance being a working mom.
So back to the fishin in the toilet story......
I normally always have the door closed to the bathroom. I went to change Scarlett and then I hear water hitting the floor. I race to the bathroom to find Addy using her bathroom water cups in the toilet just scooping out the water onto the floor. I was horrified to see all of the water on the floor and to see Addy playing with toilet water. Trying to keep my cool I remembered that she is at a curious stage developmentally and that she does not know its wrong to play in toilet water. I also remembered that I did not shut the door to prevent this time. So I cleaned up the water and explained to Addy that the toilet water is icky and that we can use those cups in the bath only. It would have been sooo easy to lose my cool and to get upset but after thinking through this time I learned that it is better to use this as a teachable moment instead of a upsetting time.
So you just never know as a mom what will happen:)
Until next time,
Kara

Stillwater Day

Hi Everyone,
This whole summer I have been a stay at home mommy and had so much fun picking out fun things everyday for Addy and I to do. Wading pools, parks, and library story time were the three that we stuck to the most. This past Monday I went back to work and I have been missing my Addy time, so I am looking forward to the weekends. I am blessed though because I love my job and the students and staff I get to work with so it makes it worth it. I was hired at my internship site from last year and I loved going everyday then so it is even better now that I am getting paid to do what I love.
Grant has been working security all summer and had such an array of shifts. There were some weeks that he was putting in back to back 12 hour days and working 50 hours a week.
Last Wednesday Grant had the day off and I made sure that we made the most of our time together. We decided to go visit the town of Stillwater, MN which is 15 minutes away from where we live. We did one activity for each of us and had such a blast. For me we visited Nelson's ice cream, for Addy we went to Teddy Bear Park and for Grant we went to the Maple Island Brewery.

1) Nelson's Ice Cream- So this should have come with a warning. I had heard many times that it is a great place to get ice cream and so I thought ya, let's go try it out. I had no idea how big the portion sizes were. I ordered a child size cup for 3.50 and grant ordered a single sized cup at 4.00. The child size cup was 4 large scoops and the single was 5 large scoops. I am pregnant and unable to finish my single and grant was not able to finish his either. Really good ice cream, but we could have shared the child size. You live and learn!
2) Teddy Bear Park- Addy had a blast running around this park. There are large teddy bear statues and there is a big kid area and a little kid area. The ground is also soft so if they fall it does not hurt. It was a really hot day so I made her take breaks to drink water since she had pink cheeks. It was fun to watch her explore and for her to have a place to go where she could touch everything and it was all her size.
3) Maple Island Brewery- this is a relatively new brewery which opened in 2014. Grant enjoyed trying out two different kinds of beers. The location is right by the water so you can see the St. Croix right out of the window. They also serve free popcorn:)

It was a fun filled day and it felt good to "get away" just for the afternoon and have some family fun!
Grant and I have learned to seize the moments we have together due to the busyness of our lives.
Hope you enjoy the pics!
-Kara-

Sweet Summer Days

So I have officially finished my first week of being a stay at home summer mom and I have been loving it. The weather has been great and it has been so fun being able to be able to spend my days with Addy. Wading pools, swinging at the park, and stroller rides have been on our agenda this summer and it has been so nice being able to say yes to spending time with others and having a flexible schedule. Grant has been working nights this summer so we have been trying to make the most of our days together. Even though summer has just started, I am making sure to make memories with Addy and to enjoy the beautiful weather together.
Here are some of the fun times Addy and I have been sharing:)

Addy and I sharing Dairy Queen! She was a fan!

Swinging at the Park!

She loves to swing!!!

Outdoor Movie Showing of the Lego Movie at the Roseville Oval

Movie night with Grandma Marilyn!

First time at the wading pool, she was leading me!

Garage saling with daddy!

Little swimmer!

Back to blogging

Dear Friends and Family,
It has been about 2 years since I've kept up with this blog and sooo much has happened and a lot of changes have happened since then. Now that I have more free time, I am hoping that blogging will be a good outlet for me in order to share my experiences and thoughts.
We have now lived in the Twin Cities for 3 years and are on year 4 of living here. It is becoming home for us and we are feeling blessed to have made so many connections and close relationships during our time here.
So to catch you up:
I graduated from Bethel this past weekend with my Masters in Counseling Psychology, I can't believe that all the classes, homework, and my final paper are now in the past. I felt so blessed that my family was in town and I was able to celebrate with me. I also feel so supported by all the people who came to my graduation party:) On graduation day, one lady saw me holding Addy and said, You graduated and you have a baby? I pointed and said I actually have two babies. She couldn't believe it. I will have another blog post about what it was like being a mommy and student.
I have finished with my internship at Bethel working in the Disability Resources and Services Department on campus. It was a 700 hour internship, and it was an enriching time of getting my feet wet in starting out as a budding counselor.
I am excited to share that I will be working at Bethel as a Disability Resource Specialist starting August 1st and I am sooo blessed that my internship turned into a job for me post graduation! I love my co-workers that I work with, I am looking forward to spending time with new students and continuing care of my former students and working in a Christian environment.
 I now start my summer job of being Addy's mom:) Excited for some down time and to be only mommy instead of mommy and student.
Grant finished his 3rd year of seminary and is working at Bethel in the Security Department as a Student Sergeant.
Addy is 11 months now and is enjoying walks, swinging at the park, her music class, and she loves being around people. She is cutting 6 teeth at once, so it has been a drooly time for us. Addy just loves life and everyday with her is such a blast!
I am now 22 weeks pregnant with baby number 2 and this pregnancy has been going well:) I was more nauseous than last time but that stage is over, I am only having the normal pregnancy complaints such as being easily tired, hips hurting, and having cravings. I am feeling so blessed though that I am doing well being pregnant, and that baby is healthy as well:) Baby Fife #2 is a girl and we shared that this past weekend. We had both sets of grandparents in town and so I thought it would be fun to share it with them together:) We had a piñata cupcake and inside of it I had filled it with pink candy and pink confetti. The grandparents pulled from the bottom and so everyone found out at the same time that Baby Fife #2 is a girl!!!!
So lots is going on and stay tuned for more blog posts in the future.

Girls Weekend in Kansas City

After spending a week with my family it was time to surprise Jackie with a girls weekend to Kansas City. We were in KC from July 6-8th! Angie, Peggy, and I had been planning this trip for Jackie for a long time and it was fun being able to finally tell her. So Angie came in from Colorado and then the three of us went to Jackie's house to surprise her. She had no idea and had originally thought that her fiance had planned a weekend for her. (we filled in her fiance on the plan so that way she couldn't plan anything for that weekend).
She quickly figured out where we were going and we decided to fill her in on the rest of the details on the road. We had a great time road tripping while listening to music from our high school days (like savage garden). Once we were there we went to our hotel and went to bed early since Saturday was going to be a big day. On Saturday we went to Oceans of Fun which was perfect since it was 102 that day. We spent the day playing on tubes on the lazy river, going to the wave pool, going to the adult pool, and Jackie and i made sure to go on the big monsoon ride. It was a relaxing day and we had a wonderful time staying cool in the water.
From there we went back to the hotel so that way we could get ready for the night's agenda which was to have fun at the Power and Light District in Kansas City. I had never been there before and it turned out to be a pretty sweet place. It is an outdoor area which has a stage and public area in the middle and then it has bars all the way around on the sides. We went to the bar Howl at the Moon since Peggy had organized for us to go there ahead of time. It was a piano bar and we spent the night listening to great music. We put in the request jar that Jackie was a bachlorette and they had her go on stage to embarras her by playing a game in front of everyone. There was a lot of bachlorettes there and it was fun watching them all dance together later in the night. On Sunday we had breakfast and headed back.
My friend Jackie is getting married in September and we wanted a time away from life and distractions so we could just be the four of us. While I was in Saipan I missed these girls a lot and am so glad to be able to spend time with them again. It was a wonderful weekend of being with friends and I am looking forward to being a part of Jackie's big day. Enjoy the pics!

Jackie's surprise face when we all showed up!

Jackie, Peggy, Angie, and I at Oceans of Fun.

We thought it was funny that it said single on our tube wristbands.

Jackie, Angie, Peggy, and I hanging out in the sun.

Oceans of Fun is one of my favorite water parks.

The view of the Power and Light District.

Jackie and I at Oceans of Fun.

Jackie getting nervous for when she will be called on stage.

Angie and I at the piano bar.

They had dueling pianos which was neat to see.

Peggy and I at the Power and Light District.

The piano bar we went to.

All of us having fun at the piano bar.

Jackie (bride to be) dancing on stage.

-Kara-

Celebrating 4th of July!

Hi Everyone,
After the vacation in the Twin Cities, I rode down to Omaha with my parents. It was wonderful timing since I had an upcoming girls weekend and I was able to ride with my parents. This meant that I was able to spend the week with my family! It also meant spending a week without Grant which is something we had not done in the last 2 years since we were always together in Saipan. We talked a lot on the phone and kept busy with family activities.
For the 4th of July we started the celebrating by going to my Uncle John's house on the lake on the 3rd. It is a family tradition that we have been doing for years. It was nice being able to actually be there this year since I don't live in Omaha. I spent the night talking, hanging/swimming with my cousins (They taught me about who is hot in One Direction), and the highlight of the night was watching the fireworks over the lake while being in my uncle's boat. This year we were so close to the fireworks that the shrapnel was landing on us. The fireworks were amazing and it was a great great time of with family!
On the 4th my sis, mom, and I went to the movie People Like Us. It is a different kind of movie where there is no romantic story but it is an emotional family story about a brother and sister relationship. It was a very emotionally heavy movie but I really enjoyed it. Then we grilled out and had the typical American meal with hot dogs and hamburgers. At night we went to Boys Town to watch their firework display and then we came back to shoot off our own fireworks. I love shooting off fireworks and had so much fun shooting them off with my sister and her fiance Derrick. It was a wonderful time and I was glad to be able to spend the holiday with my family.
Enjoy the pics!
-Kara-

My little cousins, my sis, and I.

Fireworks over the lake.

So pretty!

Wow!

Amy and Derrick on the boat.

My cousin Emma and I with our gangsta faces.

My mom and dad on the boat.

My sis and I with our parachutes.

Family!

Derrick and the sisters.

My sis, mo, and I getting ready for the fireworks at Boys Town.

My sis and I laying down while waiting for the fireworks.

My collection of fireworks.

Me lighting a firework.

Amy and Derrick lighting the lantern.

Sparkler Time.