What we've been up to!

The last few months have brought about a lot of changes for our family. First being that at the end of April we moved to Omaha. We moved in and took over Nick's mom's house, lucky for us she has a huge heart and took us in with open arms (and probably a lot of patience). This little adventure of ours was a great experience and I believe only a few things came out broken. :) Grant really enjoyed all the extra time and loving from Grandma and we really enjoyed her company. But at the end of May we decided it was probably time to get into our rental. The whole "nesting" thing was really kicking in for me and each week I am feeling less energized and able to do everything I used to, so I was really itching to get settled. So after a few van loads from Diane's and Nick helping the movers get all our stuff packed up in KC, we are settled in our new residence.
Grant seems to be loving the extra space and a neighborhood full of kids, while I'm finally feeling at ease and ready to enjoy the summer until our next big change takes place...the arrival of baby #2.
We've already hit up the zoo...a few times. :) And the day Nick was able to come we rode the train. This was a huge hit for Grant, I don't think a smile ever left his face. Not to mention the train whistle noise that he has become so good at just from hearing it that day.

Since we have moved Grant has shot up about a foot (continuing to look more like 3 than his actual 2). He is our little jaber-box and each day seems to impress me with all the things he knows. I got started right away in my new job at Bergan on the Oncology floor and Grant started at daycare there as well. He has been a champ with all the adjustments going on and is really enjoying his new daycare. He says this is where he plays with "the kids and the cars" and "where he has blue blankie". (His green blanket stays at home and we took one just like it only blue to keep for naptime at daycare). He has even come home singing a few new songs he has learned-Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Baby Bumble Bee-to name a few. It is so cute to hear him sing them.

He is loving the warm weather, playing in the pool, running through the sprinkler, and Icee pops. We decided to go with the buzz cut again this summer and I can't help but smile when I see him running around shirtless, barefoot, buzzed hair, and popsicle in hand. He really is 100% boy. After being spoiled at Grandma's (as we all were) he has also found a love for ice cream and popcorn.

It's been fun having the ease to see family in a matter of minutes and fun to listen to Grant ask to see at least one of his cousins everyday. He is quite consumed with Millie (Doug and Brandi's little girl) and Ruby (Heidi and Tommy's little girl). They are both about 8 months and Grant adores and tries to be such a big help with them. I am hoping this adoration for babies continues when his own baby brother or sister arrives.

After a lot of trips back and forth between Omaha and KC, Nick finally seems to be getting settled in here too. His office is downtown and so he is adjusting to a little commute to work, but also enjoying what he is doing and some of the new roles he is taking on in his professional world.
While Grant shot up a foot, I think I have shot out a foot. This baby is growing quickly (actually just the size he or she needs to be according to the Dr's appointment this week). But the weeks are flying by...so quickly that I am already almost to the point where the Dr. is saying my traveling for the summer is coming to a close, which seems crazy to me. I am definitely ready to be done being pregnant but don't want to rush the arrival of the baby because I'm not sure I am ready for the sleepless nights and all that will entail.
However, we are looking forward to meeting this baby. Grant is talking more about the baby in my tummy and since moving here is saying it's a baby brother. I change my mind every other day on the sex, again we will just have to wait and see.

A Little Trip to Arkansas

The weekend before last Nick was heading to Nevada for a little golf trip with the Sutko men...so Grant and I decided it would be a great weekend to head down to Arkansas. Angie and her family moved down there at the end of last summer and we've been wanting to make a visit, especially before we have to add a few hours to the trip when we live in Omaha. So Friday morning Grant and I took off and ended up staying 5 days (once we arrived at their house we found out it was the girls' spring break and figured why not stay as long as we can). And wow did we have a good time! :)

Spring begins to bloom just a tid bit earlier in Arkansas than it does in Kansas City so we enjoyed the beatiful white and pink budding trees, the yellow budding bushes, and the mid 70 degree weather they were having. It truly felt like May instead of mid March and Grant and I felt like we really were on our own little Spring Break vacation.

We went for plenty of walks/bike/trike rides, played in the parks, had picnics, and of course learned plenty of new things from our big cousins. The first picture is from our first day there when we went to see the beautiful new home the Nachtigals are building. We stopped at the little park in their future neighborhood and Grant was a big fan of the teeter-toter. We also had a our first experience at Chucky Cheese's...huge hit with all the kids!


We were able to spend some time at the much talked about Beaver Lake. It was a beautiful lake and we all enjoyed our time there. The girls collected sea shells While Grant collected sticks and threw rocks in the water. We played on the playground and had a great picnic. When they took a bath that night the water was dirty! The girl's taught Grant how to "look to the sky" when he is getting his hair washed...he is still talking about this and all the bubbles they had in their tub. :)

A few other tidbits...
Nick could not believe how much Grant was talking after returning from his 5 day trip (some of this I am sure is just from being around the older girls) but it sure is fun to hear him tell us about his day, his friends, what he did, or what he had for lunch. He has also become our little parrot. Last night we made cookies and when I would tell him what to do in between ingredients, he would repeat it right back (including all my "ums" and "oks"). He has also become a big fan of Baseball and I must say is getting quite good. He throws like a champ and his hand-eye coordination are coming around for hitting. We've had pretty crummy weather this past week so of course all this practice has been taking place right inside.
As far as baby #2, on my birthday we had the big ultrasound where we could find out the sex...but again we decided we would wait till this babe's big arrival to tell us that. The Dr. said the babe looked great, which we were so happy to hear. The baby's movements are getting stronger and we are now able to see the baby move just from looking at the outside of my stomach. Grant continues to stay strong with his "baby Sister" prediction...I think he may be convincing me...but we shall see. :)

Busy, Busy, Busy

This update is long overdue but to our defense there has been a lot going on in the Sutko household! Nick's company-Black & Veatch-has opened an office in Omaha and we recently found out they would like Nick to be in that office. So we will be moving back to Omaha and the date is set for the end of April! It's quite the bittersweet situation as we love Kansas City and the friends we have made, but with the majority of our family back in Omaha and Kearney, we think the close support system will be nice...especially with #2's arrival this summer.
So our last month has been spent figuring things out with his company, finding me a job in Omaha, working to get our house on the market...and the list continues as there seems to be so much to figure out and even more so when there are kiddos involved. I joke with Nick that it feels like we are running a business because the majority of our conversations are what needs to be done, what's happening with the move, when's this meeting or that interview, etc.

But for Grant's sake we are trying to keep the craziness as calm as can be and let him continue to enjoy his little 2 year old life...which he seems to be doing just fine. We celebrated his Birthday at the end of January, it was a little more quiet compared to last years but we all still had a great time. His biggest thing was the Birthday cake, all he wanted was the "happy cake". And he did enjoy it!

Since being 2, Grant continues to be his goof ball, strong-willed, happy self. He loves to help out and is so proud when he does. He has also become a bit more demanding when he doesn't want to leave somewhere (the park, a friend's, etc.) and when I say demanding I mean we are starting to see some tantrums thrown...we are working on this :)

I must say one minute he might be throwing a tantrum but the next he's melting our hearts. Just the other morning he woke up and Nick brought him back to our bed and he gave us both huge hugs, numerous kisses, and I got my head patted...that brought a chuckle. Then the other day when we were playing at a friend's who has a little girl who loves to push Grant's buttons (she's just 1 and thinks they are playing games or something) but for whatever reason Grant seems to think she's bothering him. So the other day when she was making loud noises at him, he told her to "hush". I've never heard him say this before (and I don't think we say it) but he said it in such a grown up manner I could not help but laugh.

He continues to LOVE cars, trucks, tractors, trains, and the newest one "neener-neener's". This involves any fire truck, police car, or ambulance because when there sirens go off that's the noise they make, makes sense right. :) He also will spot these vehicles all over town...many times impressing Nick and I because we have not even seen them yet.

We are anxiously awaiting more nice weather as Grant has absolutely loved our few days we've had it. He's crazy about the park but is just as content getting his bucket of toys out in the backyard and having the freedom and fresh air this involves. I am looking forward to what I think is going to be a very fun Spring and Summer!

Happy 2nd Grant!

He's 2! Grant has grown so much in the last year and I couldn't help but make another picture slide show for him. And once again more for ourselves to look back on the year. :) Happy Birthday Grant!

Holiday Highlights

Nick, Grant, and I had a wonderful holiday week. It started with our own little Christmas here in KC, then onto Omaha for a 30th birthday celebration and Christmas Eve festivities, then ended with Christmas day and a couple more relaxing days in Kearney. Grant was not really into Santa or really even the presents...and Nick and I took full advantage of this knowing it will probably be the last year. We knew regardless he would be coming back to KC with more toys than he would know what to do with. I think he had more fun playing with his cousins, seeing aunts and uncles, and getting some quality time with his Grandparents...as did Nick and I.

So a few highlights from our fun filled days...celebrating Nick and his siblings 30th birthday with lots of family and friends, Grant's first sledding adventure (he absolutely loved this and even after a pretty good crash continued to say "no bye-bye"), waking up to a blanket of snow Christmas Eve and Grant stating "What happened?" (this was his first time he has been old enough to understand snow, he also loved eating it), a bowling outing with my family, meeting Jess's love, Riley, and of course all the quality time with family.


And our latest update on baby #2...12 weeks along, the belly is popping (this is long before I ever remember Grant popping, guess that's how it works with #2), and the heartbeat sounded strong and healthy at our last appointment.

Hope you all had a blessed holiday and looking forward to an exciting 2011!

A Little Catch-up

It's been awhile since we've last posted and so I feel the need to highlight a few things that have happened in the last month and a half. And going back to the end of October brings us the fun of an am at the Red Barn Pumpkin Patch and a great Halloween night with friends.

Grant was ambitious and set out to help the workers get the pumpkins out of the boxes. We also saw some farm animals and went for a hay rack ride. Halloween night was spent at the Pelton's with yummy food, a warm fire pit, and a neighborhood where we have never seen more trick or treaters. We borrowed a Tigger costume from Grant's cousins, but he was having nothing to do with it...until he saw his friend Noah in his Buzz Lightyear costume. From that point on he was a Halloween champ, going from door to door, saying trick or treat and thank you, and of course getting lots of candy.

November brought Nick's annual deer hunt with his dad and brother and a weekend with family and friends in Omaha for Grant and I. To Nick's dismay he did not bring home the big one...but his brother did and I think Nick was just as excited about that. We did hit up the zoo that weekend and I had to laugh because Grant was most exited about the butterfly area. As soon as he saw the butterfly statues he started yelling "fly" and running towards that area. I believe he may of been influenced by the ride to Omaha watching Elmo and bugs (which included lots of talk about butterflies). We were also able to spend Thanksgiving in Omaha. It was a quick trip, including a little barf fest by Grant (not fun), but nice to spend some time with family.

A couple other highlights from the end of October and November. First, Nick completed his PE Exam (Professional Engineering Exam). I am told this is the real deal of Nick's career. It requires multiple years of work and if (when :) he passes he will finally get to put his stamp on his projects. After months of studying, this was a huge relief for our whole family to have behind us. Now if only those results did not take so long to come back.

And lastly, we recently found out Grant is going to be a BIG BROTHER! We are due the end of July and could not feel more blessed as this holiday season approaches us. It's crazy and exciting to think we will soon have 2 little ones! This morning we asked Grant if he wanted a baby brother or sister and he immediately responded sister. I am not sure if he even knows what a "sister" is but it was pretty cute all the same. :)

The Things They Say and Do...

Grant has so many different words, comments, and actions that he is doing right now and I've been meaning to get a few of them posted. They make us laugh every time we hear them now, I can't imagine the smile they will produce to read them at a later time.

What he's saying:
-"upper"-what he tells us as his crawling and jumping all over us at 6:30 every morning and is his version of "get up".
-"two"-for a long time we only heard the number one (or his version of the number one) when counting...now all we hear is two...I guess he is gearing up to tell people how old he will be in January.
-"tee-dah"-somehow we started saying ta-dah to Grant but he can't quite seem to get that ta part of it so he always mimics back tee-dah!
-"no way"-we don't just get a simple no from Grant when we ask or want him to do things, we get a demanding no way!
-"amen"-when we say our prayers he loves to chime in with the amen...it's adorable.

What he's doing:
-Grant loves to give pounds...and following every pound is a high five. Sometimes we won't even be paying attention and we'll look down and he is standing there with his fist ready. Nick got a pound in the communion line the other Sunday...he said that he couldn't leave him hanging.
-Not only does Grant love to say amen at the end of prayers but he loves to initiate them. We started holding hands at mealtime to pray and now he wants to do this 2 or 3 times a meal. It doesn't seem right to tell him we don't need to pray again, so we go ahead and pray another prayer.
-I love winking at Grant because he will give his best effort to to do it back, which consists of multiple attempts at squeezing his eyes shut tight in hopes that he has winked back.
-If Grant is out the door prior to us getting the garage door open you can guarantee he will be jumping on for a ride. He will grab hold of the bottom of the door as it's opening and ride it up as far as he can.