Day 10: Thankful for Time with Blake

Having two boys, so close in age, means that they are usually doing everything together. We play together, read to them together, bathe them together, go places together, etc. So today was a rare occasion of time with just Blake. He had his first eye doctor appointment! He and I went and got our eyes checked and found that he's a little nearsighted already (which is not surprising considering Luke and I both had glasses by a young age). He did a great job reading the letters and even got a toy car for being so good. He was thrilled. We then went and did a little grocery shopping. Just the two of us and it was so fun! He helped me pick things out, he listened well and he made me realize how quickly he is growing up :( He has his own ideas and opinions and I really enjoyed spending that one-on-one time with him. As much fun as the boys have together, I think it's important to have that alone time with mom or dad. I look forward to doing it again soon!

It's been how long??

Has it really been that long since my last post? I'm so frustrated in myself for not documenting the events in our lives. My goal is to try and go back and capture the highlights: Easter, the 4th of July, the boys' birthdays, Blake's 1st day of preschool and so on... In the mean time here are some more recent pictures:

Our family at Nathan and Sadie's wedding in August

Drew enjoying corn from the garden

Blake enjoying the corn (Papa gave us the seeds)

Our only family shot during the boys' birthday party

He mastered the playground this summer!

It took this little man until August to finally warm up to the idea of playing in the water

In Grand Marais for the 4th of July!

Blake taking cousin Croix for a ride!

What a cutie!

Waterpark Weekend

Blake has become a little fish in the bathtub lately - splashing and swimming around like crazy! So we decided to get away for the night and take the boys to hotel down in Green Bay. We stayed at the Comfort Suites and I would highly recommend it to those with small children. Blake had a blast and I think he'll like it even more when he's 3 - 4 years old. They had a play area with a zero depth entry that at the deepest point was only 3 inches deep. There was also a small water slide and a traditional pool area with basketball hoops. I thought that Blake would be afraid of the water slide, but boy was I wrong! He would climb up the stairs, go down the slide, get out and repeat...... about 500 times! Baby Drew liked splashing in the water but it was a little cold for him. He enjoyed being wrapped in a warm towel and watching his brother run all around. When we checked into the hotel room, Blake was running back and forth saying, "I sited, I sited" (aka: "I'm excited, I'm excited"). It was so much fun to watch him having fun! We swam Friday night and again in the morning. The hotel also had a great free breakfast - eggs with cheese and chives, Belgium waffles, sausage, etc. Blake ate really well so that was a great start to the day! We finished up our get away with a quick run to Kohl's and some stops to look at dining room furniture. All in all, it was a super fun, quick trip. Can't wait to go back next year!

This picture pretty much sums up his excitement level!

Shooting hoops with Dad!

Blake was not amused that I made him stop playing to take this picture!

Warm and comfy, snuggling with Mom

An action shot - wish I had a better camera to take these pics! (any recommendations?)

He got very brave and began running through the "waterfall"!

Dad and Blake on the "big slide"

Going down all by himself!

Time to relax!

Tired out from all the swimming!

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

Blakey loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse so Daddy made him an extra special pancake for breakfast! Notice the tears in Blake's eyes because I made him wait to start eating until I could take a picture :)

Generations

Luke's Dad, Steve, was an avid hunter/fisher/trapper and definitely passed on the love of the outdoors to Luke. Now Luke has started to teach Blake about his passions. Here are a couple of neat pictures showing multiple generations enjoying the sport of trapping:


Luke and his Dad Steve (~1986)

Luke and Blake (2010)

Sesame Street Live!

On November 21st, Blake and I traveled with Melissa and Zoe to Green Bay to watch Sesame Street Live! The show featured Elmo and the rest of the gang and Blake LOVED it!! He waved to the characters and sang along with the songs. Cole, Owen, Karen, her sister, niece, nephew and mom joined us at the show. It was such a fun time and Blake had a blast with all of his best friends. It's the first time I've ever taken him to something like this and we will definitely be going back. Wish I could say the same for Zoe :( The poor thing was terrified of Grover. Thank goodness for popcorn! After the show we all went out for a great lunch at Hu Hot. Blake and Zoe fell asleep for most of the ride home and Melissa and I got to chat and catch up. It was a really fun day!

Blake LOVES Elmo!

A wonderful Blake/Mommy Day!

Zoe was SO excited for the show to start!

Our seats were in the 4th row - Good for Blake / Bad for Zoe!

I took this self portrait of the two of us. This was when the characters first came out. Blake was in awe!

Fall Is In The Air!!

Last weekend we traveled to Getzloff's Corn Maze for an afternoon of fun! I had heard about the corn maze from a few friends but wasn't sure what to expect. We ended up having a great time! The weather was perfect and there were a ton of 'little kid' activities to keep Blake occupied for a few hours. He LOVED the sandbox filled with corn and the giant slide, but wasn't too sure about the petting farm. We also went on a hay wagon/tractor ride and climbed up a huge pile of haybales that were in the shape of a tractor. The last thing we did was the actual corn maze. We let Blake go first and just followed him and he choose which way to go. After about 30 minutes we weren't making much progress and had to bust out the side of the maze! Drew was a trooper and stayed in the Baby Bjorn for the entire time we were there. Can't wait to go back next year when both boys will be running all around!

Drew wasn't totally thrilled to be in a pumpkin!

On the wagon ride

Blake running through the haybale maze

Would have been a nice family pic if Drew's head was up!

Time for the Corn Maze!

On top of the haybale tractor!

Blake going head first down the slide!

Blake would have played in the corn for hours!

Goodbye Playgroup

While on maternity leave I was blessed to find a group of friends with kiddos all about the same age (even Drew had two other babies to "play" with!) The playgroup was sponsored by our local YMCA, which is just forming in our area (the goal is to have an actual YMCA building in about 5 years). So for now, we just met once a week at "Park in the Pines" which is a really neat wooden structure playground. Not only did Blake look forward to going every week but I did as well! There is just something about other mothers that are at a similar stage in life... we can commiserate and celebrate with each other so easily! Blake loved getting to play with other kids again since he was really missing his friends from Wee Care. Since I return to work next week, today was our last playgroup. I was sad, but look forward to getting together with this awesome bunch of mothers and kids in the future. Thanks to Melissa, Jacci, Michelle, Erin and Stacey for making the last several weeks so much fun!!

Blake can go down the twisty slide all by himself! "I do it, I do it!"

These kids LOVE to swing (Zoe especially!)

Too cute!

Drew's buddy Jackson (they are 3 weeks apart)

Attempt 27 at a group photo

The bouncy bridge is always fun!

Like Father, Like Son

Blake loves nothing more than to be "ough-sigh" (outside) with his Daddy! They enjoy so many activities together from riding the four wheeler, to working the gardening, to hauling wood. It's so amazing to see their love and friendship continue to grow and grow. Last fall all Blake could do was toddle after Luke and this year he is actual starting to be a helper. I had some cute pictures of them and thought I would post a couple!

Just like Dad in the flannel shirt!

Successful grouse hunt

Digging the potatoes from the garden

Eagle River Children's Museum

Blake inside the giant bubble maker

Blake LOVED the train display!

I lost count on the number of times he went down the slide

Driving the Ambulance

Cruising around the grocery store!

One of my goals during my maternity leave was to take some special "day trips" as a family. We decided to take the boys to the Eagle River Children's Museum in late August. The museum was great! There were several activities that were perfect for a 2 year old, along with activities for older kids that we'll be sure to do in the future. As luck would have it, the local news station was there filming a story so Luke and I got asked to share our thoughts on how we balance everything with two small kids and how we make time for eachother and our marriage. Luke quickly declined since he "would have to make something up" :) But I rattled off a few thoughts and then they took some nice footage of Drew hanging out in the Baby Bjorn and Blake and Luke playing around the museum. I'll try to add the link to the news story, but for now here are some pictures of our day!

Introducing...

Andrew Luke Tomasoski! Drew was born on July 14th weighing 9lbs 2oz and was 21" long. I was induced at 6:00 a.m. and he entered the world at 12:23 p.m. The labor was about the same as Blake's, but the delivery was MUCH harder. After struggling to maintain his blood sugar for the first 24 hours Drew is now doing great. He is a chunky monkey and at his 1 week check up was already up to 9lbs 10oz. Big brother Blake is very loving and protective already. He constantly asks about "Baby Dew" (we're working on saying Drew!) and likes to give lots of kisses. Hopefully I will figure out how to post pictures soon! It's only been about 15 months since my good friend Sam created this blog for me :) Here's hoping I can keep it up as I know my mom would love the updates!