March Randomness

If you are on Instagram  you can get a more up to date of our daily happenings in the Bangert family! Follow me here #bangertfameveryday2014

One Saturday afternoon Avery kept going over to Adelyn’s doll highchair and trying to climb on it so I decided to see if he fit. Adelyn was pretty excited ‘cause she had her own real life doll to feed!

This was Avery’s response when I asked him if he wanted more…such a sweet boy!

Adelyn was sharing her pasta with Avery, such a good big sissy!

Who needs matching PJs?!? ha!

We had a Sunday afternoon play date with our friends Chris & Sarah. Their kids are about the same ages as Adelyn & Avery and they always have a good time!

March 13th was first real nice day of 2014 and we couldn’t wait to get outside and play & swing!

I’ve mentioned before, but Avery loves to play in the bathroom. Mostly he loves to find mama’s stash of tampons and carry them around! Silly boy!

Kyle usually works one evening a week. Those evenings we will usually go for supper so the kids can see Daddy since he usually gets home after they are in bed. Avery is always very entertained with all the people while we are there, always a good time!

The kids enjoyed their toys from our good friends Mark & Kathy. They recently went on a cruise to Mexico and were very sweet to bring back some gifts for us!

Adelyn loves to play “catch”, but you have to sit with your feet together and she usually ends up rolling the ball! Avery even got in on the fun this time! Love hearing my kiddos giggle with their Daddy!

Grandpa Steve was on babysitting duty one weekend when Wendi & Hayden were back. Avery was already in bed when we left for the evening, but I think Adelyn & Hayden kept him on his toes! Ha!

Kyle Runs 26.2

October 20th, 2013 Kyle ran his first marathon, the IMT Des Moines Marathon. He completely amazed me and stuck to his training really well despite some of the HOT days of summer. He did have a few injuries, but pushed through. Read on to check out his marathon recap!

Kyle’s parents, my sister Mindi, Adelyn, and I all were there on race day to support and cheer Kyle on! We even had special shirts made (the day before I might add…I get those wild hairs, just wish they would show up sooner!) The 26.2 on the front was in the shape of the Superman symbol (he loves anything superman!)…

And the back read: “Team BANGert Faster than a speeding bullet” It was surprise to Kyle that we got shirts for race day! He loved it!

We spent the night downtown the night before so Kyle could get lined up at a decent time. Check out the incredible amount of people! Wow! We said our good bye’s, hi-fived, & he was was on his way!

Around mile 3 was the first time we saw him and he was looking great! And running FAST! This was where the 1/2 & full split. 4 years ago Kyle & I were on the other side of race. I’m so proud that he stuck with his goal to run the full marathon!

Mindi was our driver and I was the navigator. I wanted to try to see Kyle as many times as possible. I know when my family was there to cheer us on at our 1st 1/2 marathon it was a HUGE motivator and I wanted to be able to do that for Kyle too. This was at mile night…at the top of a good size hill! Check out our signs!!

Patti is in the orange & black. We work with her at the college. She is a ROCK STAR! She ran 2 marathons in 2 weeks! And has ran in the Boston marathon multiple times. Oh and did I mention she is in her 50’s and in amazing shape! Such an inspiration! It was so fun to spot her on the race route.

Adelyn was a great trooper getting in & out of the car multiple times! She was always excited to see Daddy “run fast”!

Thanks for the warning Mindi!

This was mile 9! I was completely amazed at Kyle’s pace and he looked strong!

After we saw Kyle at mile 9 we piled in the car (for the 4th time!) and drove a little further down the route to Drake stadium where runners ran around the famous “blue mile” and were announced as they came into the stadium! SO COOL!!

This is when I got nervous. {didn’t find this out till post race} But Kyle wasn’t feeling as well around 15 and slowed down a lot. We were waiting and waiting and I just had this awful feeling in my stomach. Where was he? Did we miss him? What happened?

But finally we saw him at mile 20 and I could see the pain in his face. He ended up injuring his knee and in his words: everything hurt! I know it was so devastating for him after all the time, training, and effort he put into it.

Check this out: He ran a 9 minute pace the first 10k and slowed to a almost 15 minute mile for the last 10k. He had to walk the majority of the last 4 miles and said that was even incredibly painful.

But he was determined to finish! We saw him again at mile 22…cheered as loud as we could, gave him hi-fives, and kisses and said “see ya at the finish”. At this point I was praying like crazy! Praying for healing, for his mental state of mind, and that he would get the strength to finish strong.

HE DID IT! It wasn’t the picture he had in his head for his 1st marathon, but he did it, nonetheless and I couldn’t be more proud! I know it took so much for him to finish despite all the pain he was in. So proud of you babe!!

This was the sign Adelyn held! I forgot to get a picture of her with it at the race, but I thought it was pretty funny! Her face even matches the sign, she’s not amused!

Now keep in mind, this recap is from my perspective! I’m trying to convince Kyle to sit down & write his perspective. Oh and I’m thinking this wont’ be his last marathon. He’s determined to do it again (injury free)!

Meeting Baby Jordyn

Back in October Kyle and I…very sneaky…went down to KC to meet our wonderful friends’ new baby girl Jordyn when she was just a few days old! I could hardly handle the excitement when I heard the news that she had arrived…we sold our IA football tickets, got a babysitter, hopped in the car, and headed south!

She was everything I anticipated and more. Pure sweetness!!!

To say we are excited for these new parents is an understatement. Parenting is the hardest and at the same time, the best thing we’ve ever done! So excited for you guys to experience it!

Love these 2 girls SO much!! Jordyn is going to be girl-iest girl I know!! No pressure or anything…but I could see an arranged marriage in Avery’s future! Ha!

I made a fun little video of our surprise! Still makes me smile, laugh, and even cry today! Love you Mark, Jenna, and sweet baby Jordyn!

Kicking and Screaming

Thursday May 30th was my first day back to work. To say I wasn’t excited about the transition is a complete understatement. The day before I was pretty pouty and sad, but then decided I have to go back to work I need to be positive. So I gave myself a pep talk and surprisingly Thursday went really well. There were minimal tears (by Mommy!) and I got through the day ok. BUT….then came Friday and I was a complete mess. By the next week I was still pretty sad each morning thinking about leaving my babies. I think it was fully sinking in that this is for real! Thankfully I like my job, have a wonderful group of people to work with, and our office is busy so my days go fast.

As of today I’ve been back to work for 3 weeks now and, honestly, I still hate leaving them (and still cry sometimes)! Pretty sure it will get easier, but you never want to leave your kids! I still don’t feel like we’ve settled into a routine yet, but we’ll get there, that I know! I just wanted to post this so I remember this time in our family and how the transition went (and to show that the point of me blogging is show our life…real life.).

Days 1 & 2 in Florida!

Thursday we made it to Florida by 3pm local time! Can you see the excitement in our faces?!?!?  

My little sister, Wendi, picked us up from the airport and we headed to Clearwater Beach!  

This place holds a special place in our hearts, Kyle and I spent our first 6 days of married life here…AKA our honeymoon!

It was windy and only about 60 degrees, which is quite nice compared to Iowa..but I think on the water it makes it much colder!

We still wanted to at least get our toes wet! 

Kyle says it’s a “little” cold! ;)     

Defiantly brought back LOTS of memories being in our honeymoon spot…it’s been almost 5 years! I sure do love this guy! 
After getting out feet wet we walked around for a little bit. This guy was doing some street entertainment…he was actually really quite good!   

We walked down Pier 60!  

Live statue! He was funny…a kid walked up to him and then he moved and it scared the kid! I’m sure I would have jumped too!! 

After Clearwater we drove through Tampa and stopped at a Fro-Yo place…berryism! 

Happiness in a cup is right!! :) 

I got peanut butter chocolate fro-yo and topped it with green M&Ms , mini chocolate chips, Oreo pieces, and green & white sprinkles! MMMMmmm good!!! 

Wendi loved it too!!  

After our Fro-Yo stop Wendi drove us around Tampa. We say the Bay and LOTS of SUPER nice houses.
Then she remembered her friend of hers told her about Derek Jeter building a house on Davis Island in Tampa. So I looked it up on my phone and we drove by it….all 30,800 sq ft!! Sheesh!!

It was so big I couldn’t get it all in the shot! Kyle made it though! ;)

Here is a picture I found on the internet…this place is HUGE!! 

Wendi drove us through downtown and we saw where Kyle and I will be boarding our cruise ship for our November “Thanksgiving cruise”!!!  

We headed back to Lakeland and went out to eat at Olive Garden.  

It was extra fun because this is where Wendi spends about 30+ hours/week…AKA her job! ;) 

Everything was SUPER good and it was fun that Wendi had the “DL” on everything!! And the other bonus is that we got a discount too!!

After our late supper we went back to Wendi’s apartment, chatted a bit, and hit the hay! It was a long, but fun first day in Florida!
Day 2 in Florida was a little less beach than day 1, but a little more of something else I love…shopping! :)
We headed to Orlando to hit the shops! Kyle was especially excited because they had an Under Armour Outlet! Pretty much everything he wears for running is Under Armour. We hit up Kyle’s choice first and got a TON of stuff!! He is stocked up for running season in Iowa now!
We stopped at a few other places and then wanted to get on the road to my Granpa’s house.

On the way Kyle and I had two new “trys’!! The first was Chick-Fil-A! I ordered the original chicken sandwich with the waffle fries and Kyle got the chicken strips…both were great! 

After Chick-Fil-A, I knew right where we were headed next. I had read abut it many times on Meghann’s blog and knew the next time I was down here I wanted to try it! Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt! 

To say that this place is great is a HUGE understatement!! You take a cup and and pick a flavor of fro-yo you want, there are 12+ choices!      

Then you add on whatever toppings you want!! 

Just look at all these choices! I was like a kid in a candy store! ;)

We all went for the chocolate! And added pretty much any topping that went well with chocolate….cookie dough bites, mini pb cups, brownies, mini caramel cups, crushed Oreos, cheesecake bites, gummy bears, crushed Reeses PB cups, mini chocolate chips…….

AAAAHHH-MAZING

Then you put your creation on the scale and pay by weight! The 3 of ours came to $19….I think we all had a tad too much! ;) And we couldn’t finish them! But it was still SUPER good and SO fun!!
Next time we all want to try a more fruity kind and definitely get less!!
After our fro-yo experience we headed south to my Grandpa’s house near West Palm Beach. It was about a 2 1/2 hour drive straight down the Florida Turnpike.
And of course, what was the first thing he wanted to do when we got there….eat! Ugh….the three of us will still STUFFED from our two new “trys”!
But we went along with him and he was excited to go to this new place he said that had just opened….Golden Corral. I think all old/retired people like buffets! It ended up being ok though. Kyle, Wendi, & I just ate pretty light after our afternoon filled with food!
It was a pretty low key night and we hit the hay early, but that was ok with us! We don’t want to be tired on vaca!