The Family that Legos Together

What does your family do to spend time together?  Do you have game nights, watch football games, or play a sport?  Maybe you ride bikes or do crafts.  Well, in our family, we build with Legos. 

My husband has always been a Lego fanatic.  We have so many tubs of Legos in our basement, I am pretty sure we could save money by just using those to finish our basement.  Despite the abundance of available Legos, he still loves getting new sets to put together, and he has passed that love of building with Legos to our children.  His parents have continued to get him new Lego sets for birthdays and Christmas as long as I've known him.  And so, his Lego collection has continued to grow. 

A few years ago, my mom started getting Billy and my brother each a Lego set for Christmas.  They, subsequently, would race to put the sets together that night.  The first occurrence I have documented of this event is in 2010.  Billy got a crane and Brian got an airplane.

 

Over the years, Billy's collection has grown to include the Sydney Opera house, the Batmobile, a Star Wars B-wing Starfighter, several Technic trucks, and the Ghostbusters Echto car (among others).  Now, the children have also started to build their collections.  Audrey really likes the "Friends" Legos sets that are targeted to girls, and she got several of those this year. 

So, without further ado, here are some of the shots I captured of our family's Lego obsession this Christmas. 



All I want for Christmas...

If you asked my kids prior to Christmas what gifts they would like to receive, these were their responses:

• Audrey:  An American Girl doll, a new bike, play high heel shoes, crafts, a sewing machine, Junie P Jones books, leg warmers, an EOS Chap stick egg, and of course, Legos amongst other things
• Barrett:  Hot Dog

Now, I have previously written about Barrett's hot dog infatuation, but I don't think anyone was convinced about how real that was until now.  That isn't to say that Barrett didn't love the gifts he got.  He has been playing a ton with the remote control dump truck, fixed the living room with his tools, and wore his Batman robe around the house after we got home.  Miraculously though, my mom did find him a hot dog.  It is a play grill set that included hot dogs and hamburgers, and Barrett was thrilled.  

Audrey's list was much more typical for a child of her age.  So, I should add that Audrey was lucky enough to get most of the things she asked for and more.  She only got a miniature American Girl doll with three books, but she was still thrilled with that, and from my perspective, that is good practice to see if she can handle a big one.  Besides, she got enough Legos to keep her busy for days and the play shoes that she has worn continuously since she opened them. 

It's Almost Christmas?

This morning, I woke up to the sound of thunder and flashes of lightening.  Barrett was at my bedside requesting we go to the basement, because the storm was scary.  I convinced him he didn't need to go to the basement, but he did crawl into a bed for a little while. 

Last week, Billy took the kids to the hockey game, and it was colder in the arena than it was outside.

Yesterday, the kids and I spent time at the park enjoying the sunshine and unseasonably warm temperatures.   We weren't he only ones that had that idea either.

Today, it's muggy and rainy.  It feels like April outside, not December. We are inside listening to Christmas music and making holiday crafts (with the assistance of my mother-in-law and Billy's cousin who are much craftier than I), but it still doesn't feel like Christmas could be two days away.  

I was just listening to Bing Crosby sing about having a White Christmas, but I am pretty sure there is no chance we will have a white Christmas in St. Louis this year.  Honestly, having a white Christmas here is not all that common.  Statistically, St. Louis only has chance somewhere between 11 and 25% for a white Christmas each year.  The last white Christmas we had was on 2010. 

Knowing that the weather won't be bringing us a Winter Wonderland anytime soon, it looks like we'll have to set the mood ourselves. Fortunately, we'll be seeing lots of family and friends over the next few days to bring Christmas cheer.  Happy Holidays everyone! 

First World Problems

When you have small children, you should always expect the unexpected.  So, why is it that when the unexpected occurs, we are still caught off guard? This past weekend, I have to admit I was wholly unprepared for what transpired in our house. Here's the rundown. 

When:  Saturday morning, 3 am
Where:  Nance house
Who:  Barrett
What:  Everything

So, I ask you, what is worse than a sick child at 3 in the morning?  When you go to clean up their mess and discover you have no running water to support the cleanup efforts. That's right.  I put Barrett in the bathtub thinking it would be easier to rinse him off there than try to clean him up otherwise and was surprised to discover the faucet just hissed and nothing came out.  I gained a new appreciation for baby wipes, Clorox wipes, and hand sanitizer through this experience.  Come to find out (after child and bed were cleaned and child was resting again), the water main on our street had burst at about 10 pm the night before.  It was all fixed by noon the following day, but that morning illustrated for me how fortunate we really are to have running water at our command 24/7.  In honor of that, here are the top 5 things I realized I missed/appreciate the most about having running water in my house.

5.  Showering
4.  Running a load of laundry whenever I need to (or at least being able to rinse out clothes before they stain)
3.  Cleaning...well...anything (dishes, counters, kids, etc.)
2.  Being able to get a drink of tap water whenever I need it
1.  Being able to wash my hands

I am sure the day will come when, each time I turn the nob of the faucet, I forget to be thankful for the clear, clean water that pours from the spout.  But, for now, I will gaze upon that glorious liquid with a smile and pray that next time something like this happens, we're out of town. 

My Christmas Wish

Christmas is almost here.  We've been preparing for weeks and the stores have had shelves stocked with Christmas goods for two months now.  Our house is now decorated inside and out displaying the splendor of the holiday.  But if I'm honest, I have to admit that I am greeting this season with mixed emotions.  On one hand, I want to share traditions with my children and make the holiday special for them.  But at the same time, I question why it is that we put so much emphasis on the event of the annual Christmas celebration.  Now, before I start losing people right off the bat, let me quickly elaborate.  God made Christmas special by sending his son in human form to live, suffer, and die on earth so that the rest of the human race can live eternally.  So why is it that in the midst of all of the decorating, shopping, and get-togethers I seem to lose sight of the fact that I can't do anything to make Christmas more special than it already is? 

Don't get me wrong...I love the scent of a live Christmas tree as the next person.  I love looking at all of our ornaments as we hang them on the tree and reminiscing about where they came from or who gave them to us.  I love getting to see family members that I haven't seen I months.  And I love that feeling when I give a gift that someone I love really loves. But it is easy for all of that pomp and circumstance to make me tired and stressed, and for those of you that know me well, that is a bad combination. 

This has been on my heart so much lately that I actually told Billy last week that I wanted to skip our normal Christmas next year.  Instead, I proposed we go on a mission trip somewhere to really spread the spirit of Christmas where it will have a true impact and not be lost in the hustle and bustle.  I know that will likely not happen; I mean, who goes on a mission trip with an 8 month old?  Nonetheless, I hope I can stand firm against the pressures to buy more, do more and deck the halls more.  I pray that I will be able to give more of myself to God's purpose beyond what I can adorn with paper and bows.  And I pray that he will stir in me a more generous spirit that will stick around long past December 25. 

Tiebreaker

As I sit here and type this, it seems very odd that I am just now writing this post.  It has been such a long time coming that I almost forgot I hadn't done it.  What is "it" you may ask.  Well, we have officially announced to the world that our family will be welcoming another little one into the world.  Because we have one boy and one girl, we're calling this one the tiebreaker.  Here is the video we put together to make the big announcement about whether Team Girl or Team Boy would take the victory.

I am officially due on April 14, but we all know how accurate due dates are.  I am just a few days away from being 20 weeks, which is officially halfway through the pregnancy.  Thus, it has become part of my day to day, so it is easy to forget that not everyone knows.  I have known since about a week before my brother's wedding...that's right, I was struggling with nausea as I watched my baby bro get hitched, and no one figured it out! 

This pregnancy has been surprisingly different from the others.  The nausea was present but wasn't as bad.  I have had a lot more indigestion though.  Spicy foods are my favorite.  If I can find an excuse to put jalapeños on something, I do.  I am now past the extreme exhaustion, but I am still trying in bed by 9 pm every night. 

The kids have known since about 8 weeks that we would be welcoming a baby to the family.  We waited until after my first ultrasound to tell them, just to be sure.  We thought about waiting longer, but we knew Audrey would figure out something was up as soon as we told anyone else, and neither Billy nor I could wait any longer to tell people.  I am impressed we made it as long as we did!  Initially, Audrey prayed every night that it would be a girl.  Now that we know it's a boy, she prays that this brother will be nice like her friend Sophie's brothers and not mean like Barrett.  Oh, sibling love.  I know her relationship with this baby will be very different though; I have a feeling we're going to have to watch her closely to make sure she understands that he isn't a doll and this isn't playing house. 

We are so excited about our little tiebreaker and can't wait to welcome the newest Nance to our household!

Halloween Fun

A few months ago, as my brother and Laurenn were preparing for their wedding, my mom dug out a bunch of photos from when we were kids for them to choose photos from for their wedding slideshow.  As we flipped through old photos, I was struck by all of the Halloween pictures there were.  Moreover, we were kids, we had a tradition where certain friends came over to go trick or treating with us and eat pizza for dinner.  So, each year, there are photos of all 4 of us kids together.  It is fun to see the evolution of our costumes and our general appearances. 

Now that we have kids of our own, we are starting our own traditions and helping our kids make their own Halloween memories. Here are just a few of the fun activities we did this year. We've been so blessed this year with so many fun opportunities and happy memories!

Pumpkins:  Every year since we moved out of downtown, we've decorated pumpkins.  The kids really enjoy carving pumpkins, so that is what we did again this year.  The way it works is, we clean out the pumpkins together, and then each child decides what "type" of face they want (happy, scary, etc.).  Then, Billy carves the pumpkins for us.  I am not complaining, because I am not the most skilled pumpkin carver.  It is amusing to see him in his creative zone though.

Trunk or Treat: For the first time this year, we took the kids to a trunk-or-treat.  I learned about decorating the back of your car.  The kids really enjoyed running from car to car to get candy, and boy did they get a ton.  The highlight of the event, however, was the fire truck that stopped by for the kids to explore.  Both kids had so much fun.  If we'd done that before Barrett picked his costume, I am pretty sure he would have chosen to be a fireman instead of Batman.

Dressing up the Dogs:  I remember the days when we didn't have kids, so we would dress up our dogs for Halloween.  I think our dogs are happy to share that those days are behind us...well, for the most part.  Yesterday morning, I was working on laundry, and Billy found a pair of pajama pants that I'd left in our bedroom.  So, he threw the pants toward the door of our room so he'd remember to carry them downstairs.  Much to his surprise, the pants landed on top of Jackson, who then proceeded to walk downstairs with the pants still affixed to his back.  The kids, naturally, thought this was the funniest thing they'd ever seen.  So, to no one's surprise, they chased Jack around the house laughing hysterically.  The entire time, Jack's tail was wagging and he couldn't have cared less that he had a pair of pajama pants hanging from his back. 

Trick or Treating: The pat 2 years, we've tried staying at home and trick or treating in our neighborhood.  There are two challenges with that.  The first is that we really have to drive to get to the part of the neighborhood where there are a decent number of houses with lights on.  The second is that we get only a handful of trick or treaters at our house.  So, this year, we opted to go hang out with friends.  The best part was getting to see all of our children together having fun.  And yes, in case you were wondering, Barrett is the only boy sitting on that couch.

 

Being Barrett

It is tough finding a place to start in talking about my son.  He is growing up so fast as he becomes his own, independent person.   

·         Barrett is starting to show his sense of humor.  As a three-year-old, it primarily revolves around calling things by the incorrect names and laughing hysterically about it.  In particular, Barrett likes to call things “hot dog.”  People, inanimate objects, other foods…it’s all hot dog to him.  He also gets a kick out of calling his Papa Bill “Willie, “ Nana “Nanny” and Stella “Stelly.”  

 

·         Barrett is working hard on his shapes and alphabet.  He knows his name starts with a B, and every time we see a capital B on something, he has to point it out.  He also likes to tell us what shape his food is during dinner.  Audrey is quick to correct him when he’s wrong, so we’re encouraging her to give him hints to help instead of just giving him the answer.

·         Barrett is finally completely potty trained.  I guess it’s actually been a couple of months, but he just started going poop at school last week.  He would hold it until he was at home, so almost every night during dinner, he would have to get up and go.  We’re still doing pull-ups at night, but one big box of pull-ups lasts us two months! 

·         Barrett is loud.  It doesn’t matter what he is doing, he always does it several decibels louder than his sister.  When pretends just about every toy he owns has a motor, and he makes accompanying noises for each.  When he sings a song, it is so loud I can barely understand what the words are.  When he plays dolls with his sister, his baby cries louder than I bet any real baby would.  We have been talking a lot about inside and outside voices; I don’t think he’s figured out yet that the car is considered inside.

 

 

·         Barrett loves to play pretend.  He is extremely imaginative, and his sister gets frustrated when his imagination varies from her own.  His pretend scenarios typically involve traveling somewhere in some motorized device; boats, monster trucks, stand up wave runners, helicopters, motorcycles, and fire trucks are his favorites.   

 

·         Barrett has started becoming attached to random things and trying to hoard them.  Some recent examples are acorns, rocks, and leaves.  When I try to tell him those things belong outside, his response is inevitably, “but I love them.”  He says it in the most gentle, innocent way that it almost makes me want to give in.  Every time he says it, I can also see his older sister saying the same thing, and then I realize where he learned that from. 

·         Barrett loves to wear sunglasses.  He has several pair that he likes to rotate out.  

 

 

·         Barrett is gearing up to play hockey.  We’ve taken him ice skating a few times, and he has his own skates.  He has a few more months before he can start, but I think he will definitely need some ice skating lessons before he joins a team.  We can’t get him to try to skate on his own without using something for balance.  

All About Audrey

My mom always used to joke that I was 6 going on 16 or 8 going on 16.  As a kid, I used to get annoyed by that.  Now, however, I completely understand where that was coming from.  As the mother of an extremely independent, strong-willed and sometimes moody 6 year old, I have started saying the same thing about my daughter.  It is just so amazing how quickly they grow up.  That said, I wanted to take a moment to capture this current Audrey and describe how I see her at 6 and a half years old.

·         Audrey loves her brother very much, but sometimes his annoying tendencies cause her to forget that.  He most frequently gets on her nerves when he refused to do whatever it is she wants him to (play her way, give her something she wants, or just leave her alone).  It often makes me chuckle, because it reminds me so much of me and my brother.  When Audrey doesn’t let herself get frustrated, she usually does a pretty good job of getting her brother to come around to where she wants him to be.  She’s still working on harnessing her frustration when he doesn’t though.

·         Audrey loves the monkey bars and climbing on the jungle gym.  They built a new one at the park across from our house, and I am pretty sure she has scaled every wall in one way or another (and usually not the way the designers intended). 

 

·         Audrey is still doing dance, and is getting much better.  She is in a more advanced ballet class this year, which I think has been really good for her.  She is one of the youngest in her class, but she is being challenged to keep up with the older girls, and she is managing pretty well.  For their next performance, they are doing Fantasia, and she is a bird.  I’ve gotten to see them rehearse a couple of times, and I must say that Audrey has the stage presence down.  She is still working on the dance steps, but she is a performer.  Even when she’s messing up, she is so confident that it almost makes you wonder if everyone else is doing it wrong. 

·         Audrey is reading!  Every weeknight, she has to do 20 minutes of reading.  We rotate between having her read to us, having her read to herself, and us reading to her.  Admittedly, this has been tough to keep up with.  Since she has dance twice a week, she frequently ends up reading out loud to us in the car while we drive to and from dance.  It is amazing how much progress she has made even in the past month.  Having that constant practice is really helping her.  I am sure that by the end of the year, she’ll be reading chapter books on her own. 

·         Audrey has always enjoyed coloring and drawing, but she has really started to take a keen interest in all sorts of crafting.  She has several jewelry making kits that she plays with frequently; she especially loves the Rainbow Loom.  If Audrey disappears for a few minutes, she is usually in the office with paper, tape, markers, and scissors making some sort of craft creation.    Yesterday, she was making a purse for herself using the aforementioned tools.  She also loves going to Michaels almost more than a toy store.  I try to encourage her creativity, but I am not particularly crafty myself, so it is hard.  I try going outside of my comfort zone though, especially when it comes to making gifts for friends and family.  So, beware of what might be coming your way this Christmas ;)

 

·         Audrey loves the dogs.  She finally has the self-control to sit with them for long periods of time just petting them.  I think all three of them really enjoy it, although Stella always wants more attention for herself J

What's Going On?

Since I have not done a very good job lately of keeping this blog current, I figured that I would jump back into it with one of those all encompassing, high-level summary type posts that captures the happenings of our lives over the past couple of months.  So, here goes!

Since school started, we still managed to make it to the lake for Labor Day.  Unfortunately, I left the memory card for the camera in the computer, so I only have a couple of photos I took on my phone.  The kids had so much fun together, and Barrett and Logan decided to take everything they could pick up on the patio of the lake house to build a tower.  So, here is a photo of their masterpiece. 

Since Labor Day, we haven't made it down to Lake of the Ozarks.  We have spent a few weekends just trying to get caught up on things around the house, going to birthday parties with the kids, and trying to find some time to relax.  We went to Greenville one weekend for my cousin Cody's wedding reception. 

One of the highlights of the past month for the kids was attending the Greentree Parade in Kirkwood.  It is sort of the like the local homecoming parade.  All of the Kirkwood schools have a float, and our kids could have walked in the parade, but chose instead to watch.  It was a beautiful morning, and the kids really enjoyed themselves.  Barrett loved seeing the fire trucks, but he did not like hearing them.  Audrey had fun waving at all of her friends that were in the parade.  And, they both LOVED collecting candy.  I was surprised by how much they got too!

 

The past couple of weeks, Billy started work to finish out the drywall in the garage so we can paint it and build a storage loft.  That means lots, and lots, and lots of mudding and sanding.  Fortunately, the kids thought it was fun (at least for the first day).  Audrey actually helped sand for about 2 hours.  She said she wanted to learn how to mud, but when the time came, she opted to play with her dolls instead. 

 

 

 

While working on this post, I realized that I did not use my real camera (not the one on my phone) during the entire month of September!  So, as we get into the fall groove, gear up for Halloween, and get as much time outdoors as possible before the winter cold sets in, I plan to be much more diligent about updating the blog and taking lots of photos (especially of the kids).  I am posting it here, because if I post it on the internet, that means it will happen, right? 





10 Years Later

I have been falling down on the job, and managed to let more than a month go by without a blog post.  Today, however, is definitely worth breaking that record.  Why?  Because today marks 10 years since the date my husband and I said "I do."  The crazy thing is that it seems like just a moment and forever at the same time.

As with any marriage, the past 10 years has seen both ups and downs for Mr. and Mrs. William J. Nance.  Despite the sometimes rocky road, I wouldn't trade it for anything.  Each day we have spent together has brought Billy and I closer to each other, and I thank God every day that I get to spend the rest of my life with him.  I feel so blessed to have such an amazing husband that is willing to stick by me and work with me to keep our marriage strong.  It is hard work, but it is totally worth it.

So, in honor of these 10 years of marriage, I would like to introduce:

The Nance's 10 Year Anniversary Top 10 List

10. Ten Years Since We Started This Journey
9.  Nine Amazing Years in St. Louis
8. Eight Seasons of House
7. Seven Christmas Trees (5 real and 2 artificial)
6.  Six Cars that Carried Both of Our Names on the Title
5.  Five "Permanent" Addresses
4.  Four Babies (2 human and 2 canine)
3.  Three Churches that have helped make our marriage stronger
2.  Two Mortgages
1.  One Bond Joined by God

I love you Billy Nance!

Happily Ever York

One week ago, my baby brother said "I do" to an amazing woman that is now my sister.  The past few months have been a flurry of wedding preparation and celebration, and now the end result is a happy union and a new member of our family (even though Laurenn has really been part of the family for a while).  I am so thankful to have both of them in our lives.  I am also appreciative that our entire family got to be part of the special day.  It was a whirlwind in many ways, but we had so much fun. 

We had been trying to prepare the kids for their roles in the wedding for some time, and fortunately, it doesn't take much to get children excited about being in a wedding.  Audrey was, not surprisingly, elated with the idea of a pretty dress and "high heels" that she insisted on having.  In fact, she told Laurenn when we were dress shopping that Laurenn could pick the dress she liked the best, as long as Audrey got to wear shoes with heels.   Barrett was also beside himself with excitement over wearing a suit like daddy and getting to walk down the isle with Audrey.  The little "suitcase" that he got to carry  helped too. 

In the end, I was amazed by how good they were through the whole process of the rehearsal, the rehearsal dinner, two days of shorter than normal naps for Barrett, the full Catholic mass during the ceremony, and taking many photos.  I had many people tell me how amazed they were by how well-behaved our children are.  Admittedly, I think I was more amazed than they were. I know how much they love their uncle Brian and aunt Laurenn and how honored they were to be part of their special day, so I guess they knew that part of making the day extra special was for them to behave really well. Barrett started to melt down after dinner at the reception, but he and Audrey both made it through a few dances before Bill and Lana took them back to the hotel. 

I tried to take photos throughout the weekend, but, as you can imagine, that was difficult to do at times with two children to attend to.  So, here are some of the images I captured of the kids and our family.  Barrett barely had enough stamina to make it through the professional photos, so I don't have too many of him. 

Lunch on Friday with the wedding party

 

 

 Rehearsal

 

 

 The Big Day

 

 

 

That last picture is one of my favorites.  My mom was dancing in an attempt to make Barrett smile for the picture.  I love the way it captures what went on behind the scenes to make the picture happen.

 

Brian and Laurenn are in Hawaii on their honeymoon now.  I can't wait until they get back so we can all share stories and reminisce about the day they were joined in holy matrimony.