Our UP NORTH spring break escape...

Unfortunately, due to Baby D being in utereo and giving us some pre-term contractions, we could not getaway for Cole's spring break to a place where warm breezes blow. So we decided to get out of town a little closer to home and head UP NORTH (as they say here in Minnesota). We left after school/work on a Thursday evening for the drive up to a resort on Lake Superior, Blue Fin Bay. We rented a 2 story condo right on the lake that was dog friendly. As we pulled up around 10pm, the stars greeted us with a dazzling sky. It was cold and there was quite a bit of snow for late March. The condo was a wee worn but absolutely fine for a few days as we were simply excited for the change of scenery. Cole's room had a cool loft and our room had a beautiful view of the vast lake. The rocks lining the lakeshore were caked in layers of blue ice and the water crashed in waves and sounded like the ocean. We walked the perimeter of the resort property poking around the first day under sunny but single digit skies. The boys went and explored while I got some pampering at the resort spa. We played games and cards and just enjoyed being away from the routine. On Day 2, we drove up to Grand Marais about 30 miles north and had lunch at a local brew pub and shopped in a cool trading post style store. Dave and Cole spent some time in the sauna/hot tub and pool later that afternoon. We made cookies and found a rustic lodge to enjoy dinner at. On Day 3, the boys went snowshoeing and I enjoyed some quiet time and a long walk with Tucker. Later on, Cole and I headed to the pool after some Easter decorating in the resort's activity center. We headed to Lutsen's ski mountain lodge for dinner that evening and vowed to return to ski in the years to come. Lots of trails and autumnal activities, it would nice to come back with bebe over October's school break.

Getting ready for Bebe D...

We have been busy here at Casa Denham getting ready for Bebe D's late spring arrival. Dave worked his magic on the nursery walls and armoire while I continued shaping my vision of it. I should be done putting it together and its finishing touches on over the next few weeks. My gal pals threw a shower for me last week so I have a ton of fun things to place around bebe's room.

Cole has been readying himself for big brother status with lots of belly hugs and talking/whispering to bebe. He has written about his soon-to-be sibling in his school journal and created several drawings as well. We have been reading lots of books from the library about life with a baby. Cole has asked a bunch of questions and I answer them the best I can. He still has quite a few concerns about me and the hospital stay since the few times I have had medical/surgery issues, his mommy hasn't felt so well afterwards. :-(

Cole can't wait to teach the baby how to do lots of things (though he was worried about his toys since they aren't baby safe) so we explained what baby gates are used for. :-) He has also begun a bebe countdown calendar of sorts though at this time they haven't scheduled my c-section. They would prefer I go into labor on my own initially without getting too far along in that process but Cole still wanted to countdown so we chose May 30th, a week before my actual due date since my c-section will probably be in/around that day. He has been keeping track and as we inch closer and closer, you can definitely feel his excitement grow. He repeatedly has talked about how our family will go from four to five (since we consider Tucker a family member) which I absolutely love knowing he is comprehending. I know he will be a proud big brother and I can't wait myself to watch him take over a new role within our family.

Here is one of his drawings. That is me in the hospital bed and him holding the baby. It says "I am so ik sid thedatmy mom is haveing a baby" :-)

Off season news...

Now that Cole can read, he reads EVERYTHING. It has been amazing to watch that "switch" go on for him. He loves to grab the sports section of the newspaper and read the headlines and scores. He is like a sponge and we joke (somewhat seriously) that he would be a terrific sports analyst or reporter some day (though he wants to be both a VIKING and a TWIN player).

Anyway, the off season NFL trade was in the news this week and locally one of our existing VIKINGS player was joining the Seattle SeaHawks. Cole heard the story and immediately replied "hey, don't you remember that Percy Harvin got hurt during the Seattle game, he hurt his ankle?". Of course I didn't remember but Cole was absolutely correct. "Isn't that funny that he is going to play for them now?" he inquired matter-of-factly. I couldn't believe that he so quickly was able to bring up that specific statistic. All I could say in reply was "wow buddy, you know you are correct, you have an amazing memory." Cole shrugged his shoulders and retorted "yeah, I'm good like that".

#2 Gone...

Two weeks after Cole lost his first tooth, his second front bottom tooth came out. This time instead of DURING karate, it fell out in the car AFTER karate. There seems to be a trend here, lol. We knew shortly after the first tooth was lost that the adjacent tooth was losing its footing. No other wigglers currently so it might be awhile until we lose number three.

Karate chop...

Cole had been asking to do karate for some time but in the fall it was soccer and swim and for the early part of the winter it was ski lessons and swim, add in school activities and playdates and our schedule was full to the brim so I've learned to keep him at a maximum of two sports or such each season.

The day that ski lessons ended in late January, Cole inquired about beginning karate. I had already done my research months ago when he began asking so all I had to do was schedule his first trial session. We showed up at the dojo to get his 30-day trial t-shirt and I knew within the first 20 minutes of that first day that he was hooked. He received his gi and white belt after three weeks (once I knew he was continuing to dig it). Every five classes (he goes twice a week)he gets a stripe on his belt. After remaining committed and coming to ten classes he received his second stripe and was permitted to test for his yellow belt. His Sensei (Mary) does a great job teaching and getting the kids to be serious and have fun all rolled into one. He'll begin sparring next month which he is very excited about and test for his orange belt in late April. Below is a video from a recent class.

Karate Class-Winter 2013 from David Denham on Vimeo.