The Sutko's

Monday, April 23, 2012

March Madness

We had some amazingly warm weather in March. And we all really took advantage of it enjoying afternoons at the park and plenty of trips to the zoo. Grant's favorite animal to see is a hippo. It's always the first thing he wants to see and at the end of the day, his favorite thing he saw. I love the zoo because I feel like there is so much for the kids to learn there, Grant gets a ton of energy out, it's great exercise, and we usually pack a picnic (so no cleaning up the kitchen for me :). As for Hadley, I think she is just content with people watching and a ride in the stroller. And an extra special day at the zoo are the days Dad gets to join us. This makes everyone's day. :)

March also seemed to be about the time Hadley started eating about anything and everything...and loves it! She takes after her Mama and loves the sweets-cookies, ice cream-can you blame her. But she also loves pretty much anything we are eating. Hopefully this will keep up!

The Big 3-0!

March 8th brought the start of "life in the 30's" for me...and who wouldn't smile ear to ear waking up to this!

Nick's effort was quite cute-decorations in the kitchen, party hats for the celebration, a fantastic DQ cake, and a little "me" time to get a pedicure.

And the best part was that the festivities did not end there. Nick got us a cabin at Mahoney for the weekend. We brought the kids out Friday night and had fun making smores and hanging out. Then Saturday Nick's Mom took the kids for the night so we could run the Leprechaun Chase and have a fun evening at the cabin with the West's. s320/IMG_4444.JPG" />

l I think we were both pretty happy with our race times, but Nick was too quick for me and caught me in the last 1/2 mile. (The theme for the race was that the girl's got a few minute headstart and so if a gentleman finished the race first, they received a free beverage. But if a lady won then they would.) Needless to say the weekend was fun and relaxing!

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

A Little More of February

What else happened this month? Hadley has a total of 6 teeth, had her first swimming experience, is saying "Mama" (does she know what it means-who knows-but it's adorable) loves to smile and giggle, and continues to amaze us each day with her easy little demeanor. The new big thing with Grant is that he has an imaginary friend. One day he started talking about a friend named Casey. "He and Casey did this, and Casey likes that, Casey gets put in time-out for this, Casey's Mom is having a baby, and Casey's going to have a baby brother". This "Casey" was being talked about so frequently that we asked about him at daycare only to find out there was no Casey. :) We now know Casey is a girl, her Mom's name is Kalia, her Mom has since had her baby brother, and that Casey does a lot of the same things Grant does. :) This is all very amusing to Nick and I and we love to hear the newest Casey stories.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Faith, Family, and a little Love in February

February 19th marked Hadley's Baptismal Day. It was a beautiful day, a very special service, a great brunch with family, and of course the most precious baby girl ever. :) Welcome to God's Family Hadley!

The start of February took us back to Kearney to visit my Grandpa who is rehabilitating there after suffering a stroke in January. He is working hard and making strides. We had a fun weekend visiting him, spending time with a lot of the family, and having-what I think was pretty special-a second birthday party for Grant at the hospital. And obviously Grant loved it!

Holiday's seem to be taking on a new face for me since having kids. And Valentine's Day was no exception. Grant and I had a great time making up V-day cupcakes and putting together a special, candle-lit dinner for our little family. I also was fortunate to snag Grandma Diane to watch the kids for a couple hours while Nick and I met up for a yummy V-day lunch at Zen.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

3 years and 6 months!

On January 23rd, Grant turned 3 and Hadley turned 6 months. We had a fun "Dance Party" and Cars themed birthday with family to celebrate Grant turning 3. Grant's really been into dancing so we made up a playlist, bought some glow necklaces and bracelets, and turned on the lighted disco ball...it was a success and Grant had a great day! These ages brought the 3 year and 6 month check-ups. So here are the stats-Grant 41 in tall (95%) and 35 lbs (80%), Hadley 29 1/4 in tall (99%), 17 lbs (70%), and 17 1/2 in head circum. (90%). What can I say, our kids are tall! So since Grant turned 3, we have been hearing a lot of "why", we also have been hearing a lot more "I can do it myself". And tonight as I watched Grant sit indian style, looking through a book, in his little jeans, top, and spiderman watch-I just smile-because our little boy really is becoming a big boy.

What else is up with Grant at 3-he continues to love books, cars (especially the Cars themed cars), helping cook, his Toy Story characters, playing outside, swinging, sledding, making her sister laugh, music, dancing, and singing. His newest song is "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands"-I know I'm biased but man it's cute. :) He is constantly saying things that make us smile-a few that come to mind-out the blue he says "Dad, your the Man!" or telling me "Mom, you look handsome" or "you washed my clothes-thank you!-he is so genuine and so much of what he says melts my heart. Yes, I am one proud Mama of my little man. :) And Miss Hadley, well her dad started calling her "Hadley Girl" not long after her arrival home and it's stuck for Grant. He calls her this all the time! :) So our little Hadley Girl turned 6 months and she instantly became much busier. She's grabbing and reaching for anything in front of her, always wanting to be where the rest of us are, loving when anyone plays and tickles her, so much more involved with her toys, sticking everything in her mouth, and sitting up like a big girl. Her dad, brother, and I love to greet her upon awaking from her night's sleep or nap and love to see her smile when she sees all of us. She makes sure she gets sat at the table and fed whenever we are eating-and she is eating like a champ! She is definitely our little sweet pea! :)

Monday, February 13, 2012

Looking back at 2011

Nick and I have been discussing the happenings of the last year and it's almost comical to recall all the changes that took place. So here's a little recap of 2011...and a bit of 2010 because that leads us into our 2011. October 2010-Nick takes his PE Exam, Heather takes her Med Surg Certification Exam November-We find out we are pregnant! December-Black and Veatch is going to open an office in Omaha and would like to have Nick in it. January 2011-Heather is finally coming out of her 1st trimester haze and Grant turns 2! February-We prepare our home to be put on the market. March-Our home is on the market, the showings begin, and we have our appointment that confirms we have a healthy little baby growing inside me. April-Heather and Grant pack up the van and head to live with Diane in Omaha. Heather starts her job on Bergan's Oncology Unit and Grant starts a new daycare. May-Nick joins Grant and I in Omaha, we stay with Diane until the end of the month when we move into our rental. June-We make our rental a home, move Grant to a big boy bed, start getting things ready for baby #2, enjoy the pool and Popsicle's. July-Miss Hadley Lynn is born! August-who knows...we have a new baby and the month is a bit of a blur. September-Heather returns to work. October-We have an offer on our home in KC. November-We close on our house in KC! December-Ahhh, we breathe again...enjoying our two beautiful kiddos, being close to family, not having to worry about a home in KC, and all the blessings bestowed on us this past year. Makes me exhausted just thinking about it!

The Holidays

Christmas came and went, as did the end of 2011. I was really looking forward to Christmas Eve service and festivities with Nick's family, but things don't always go as planned. And we are learning this statement holds even more truth when you have kids...Grant came down with a nasty little virus Christmas Eve day. So we spent the Christmas Eve at home watching movies, taking a nap in front of the fire, and actually making an alright Christmas dinner (Store bought lobster bisque with beer battered shrimp). After a good night's rest Grant woke up feeling better and we had a relaxing Christmas morning.

Then we were off to Kearney to spend Christmas with my family. Grant had a blast with all his cousins while Hadley received an enormous amount of loving from them. Especially her baby loving cousin-Abby Jo. We had fun playing games and just hanging out with the crew all under one roof for a couple days.

As I mentioned in a previous post, all Grant wanted from Santa was a little flashlight...well he made out pretty well because he told a lot of people that's what he wanted. Santa brought him a Toy Story flashlight, then he also got two additional headlamps. Let's just say he was super excited about all three and they are still getting daily use. :) We had a pretty quiet New Year's Eve with some friends at our house and because I had to work the next day, Nick had another year of watching the ball drop by himself...maybe next year I will be awake :) The end of December also brought the start of cereal for Hadley. She's having no problem with it and excited to eat it!