Thursday, December 24, 2009

It's not Christmas Eve without a little baking in the kitchen!




Thomas and I made Kringlas today! They turned out beautiful! Up next are gingerbread men and more sugar cookies! We ate all of ours from last week so now we have to make more for Santa. Weight Watchers and gym membership...see you in 2010! ;-)
Here is the recipe we used:

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups of sugar
1 egg
2 cups of sour cream (2 8 oz size containers)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
3 1/2 cups of flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease baking sheets.

Combine the sugar, beaten egg and sour cream together. Add vanilla extract and almond extract. Stir well. Mix in the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Blend thoroughly.

Gather dough into a large ball. Take a freezer size ziplock bag. Spray with a little nonstick spray on the inside, then sprinkle in about a 1/4 cup of flour and shake up. Place dough in ziplock bag. Cut off a 1/2 inch or narrower tip of the bag in the corner. Use to squeeze out little tubes of dough. This keeps your hands from getting super messy in the sticky dough.

Roll lightly with hands on lightly floured board into a tube about 6-8 inches long. Form into a figure "8" , and pinch ends together. You can wet your fingers with water if necessary if dough doesn't want to stick very easilly.
Place figure 8's on cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining dough. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 10 minutes or until tops are just starting to brown.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Happy First Birthday Oliver!

Here is a video of Oliver eating his birthday cake. He kept laughing at us while he ate his cake. I think he really liked all the sugar.

Friday, December 11, 2009

"On one hand, every single one of my ancestors going back billions of years has managed to figure it out. On the other hand, that's the mother of all sampling biases."

Just thought I'd share this funny XKCD today.


Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Countdown to Christmas!

It's December! And that means its time for Christmas sweaters. I found an old sweater from when Thomas was a baby and gave it to Oliver. It fit perfectly. Too cute for words.

Last weekend, Brent's side of the family visited and spent Thanksgiving with us. Reid and Jessie stayed with us Wednesday night and Todd, Kim and Kayla were in town Wednesday thru Saturday. We enjoyed some yummy Amana Colonies food and Kim was so nice, she got 3 pies to go. Unfortunately it was so good that we are already out of it! :)

We also put the Christmas tree and decorations up in the house on Thanksgiving. The tree is all decorated and most of the presents are all wrapped or hidden in the closet away from little eyes to peak at. Though, Thomas has been quite the sneaky one already. Monday morning we woke up to him ripping open a present. We had to explain to him that its not Christmas YET. Can't open the presents until Santa comes.

Here are some cute pictures of the boys today. Lindsay hiding in the background there in the picture. She stopped by to say hello today and see the boys. She was trying to get Oliver to walk for the camera. He is very close to full on walking. Last night he walked half way across the living room all on his own. Hard to believe how fast both of the boys have grown this year. I can't believe it's almost 2010 already!







Saturday, November 14, 2009

Halloween Costumes



















Well its 2 weeks until Thanksgiving but its better late than never to share our Trick or Treat pictures! The boys had a blast on Halloween. Thomas decided to be Max from his favorite book, Where the Wild Things Are. Oliver was a lion. We had fun trick or treating around the new neighborhood. Aunt Mary trick or treated with us too. She was a pretty awesome witch. Unfortunately we all had the H1N1 flu the following week so we didn't get a chance to enjoy that candy right away. But we are all feeling better now and still have a good 2+ lbs of candy that will last probably until Christmas. :)


Friday, October 30, 2009

Little Pirates

They are all set to steal your candy loot tomorrow night. Be on the look out for these 2 hooligans. :)




Tuesday, October 27, 2009

PUMPKINS PUMPKINS!


We carved and painted the pumpkins tonight. The boys helped me paint the little pumpkins and Brent carved the big pumpkins. We lit them up outside and they look pretty cool from the street with their candles in them. We are all set for Saturday then. I also picked up some funky glow sticks for a dollar at Walmart and a pumpkin flashlight. Should make for some fun little treats for the kids.

Thomas can't wait to trick or treat, he has been asking to go every night now for over a week. He keeps changing his mind on what he wants to dress up as. He has a couple costumes to pick from, so Saturday he will surprise us with what he wants to be. Oliver is going to be a little lion. He has been practicing his roars and is a very ferocious but cute lion. As it so happens, he is also teething so this little lion bites too. :)

Children's Place $5.99 SALE!

The store has a lot of sales going on this week! With the home game and Halloween coming up its going to be a busy weekend I am sure!

Today all sale items from fall went to $5.99. And the Halloween costumes are also included in that. Some of the Halloween accessories are under $5.99 as well!
The outerwear is back on sale! The winter coats, ski overalls, and snow pant sets are 30% again.
And select Dressy holiday items are on sale for 25% off. A couple of items were added to that sale today.

And don't forget to use your Place Cash or coupon mailer if you still have yours! They both end at the end of the month.

LOTS of things going on that you can check out at your local Children's Place. Definitely for a limited time so get there and check it out! Call before heading out to check to see if your store is participating. Happy Shopping!

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Need a laugh?

Visit http://myfirstfail.com/ . They have pictures of kids doing funny and hilarious things. Totally worth checking out!

My personal favorite has to be this one:
http://myfirstfail.com/2009/09/30/funny-baby-photos-these-are-my-ever-dry-deadly-claws/

Monday, October 19, 2009

Every bargain hunter's dream: more steals!

Hooray for more daily deal websites! Brent already shared http://kids.woot.com with everyone but now there is also http://www.KidSteals.com which is a spin off of my personal favorite: http://www.babysteals.com . Kid steals offers kids and toddler deals and baby steals offer baby deals. These are great places to check for baby shower gifts, birthday gifts, and christmas gifts with the holidays approaching. You can bet I will be browsing for some last minute Christmas deals. Happy Deal Finding!

Upside-Down Peach Cake

I tried this recipe for the first time and it was so yummy. I have to share it with you to try!

A recipe for peach upside down cake made with a white cake mix.

Prep Time: 15 min
Cook Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 can peach slices, (29 ounce can)
maraschino cherries, halved
2 eggs
1 box white cake mix

Preparation:
Pour oil in 13x9x2-inch pan; sprinkle brown sugar evenly in pan. Drain peaches, reserving syrup in a large measuring cup. Arrange peaches and cherry halves in the sugar mixture, I used a bundt pan and made a ring of peaches. Add enough water to peach juice to make 1 1/3 cups of liquid; add liquid and 2 eggs to cake mix. Mix as directed on the package. Pour batter over the fruit. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 60-70 minutes or until cake pulls away from sides of pan. Let stand 5 minutes then turn upside down onto a cake dish or large platter. I recommend placing a pizza pan or baking sheet with edges covered in foil underneath where you would like the cake because it can be messy when you flip the cake. Serve warm with peach or vanilla ice cream.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Pumpkin Patch 2009

October so far has been very busy. Last weekend we had our first "snow" in Iowa, which for us was a light trace of snow and meant that the heat go turned on for the first time. Brent was pretty thrilled because that meant no more seasonal allergies with the temperature dipping below freezing.

This weekend, Kim and Todd came to visit us to celebrate Brent's 25th Birthday! He is a quarter of a century old and (hopefully) a year wiser. Brent isn't much of cake guy so I made him a peach cake. It was pretty good and I think I might have to post the recipe to share.
We also visited the Pumpkin Patch on Saturday. The boys had fun feeding the animals and playing on the play equipment and fall rides there. Oliver loved the tractor ride and Thomas loved playing in their corn box. The corn box is like a sand box but with corn feed. We got our pumpkins and enjoyed some of Bloomsbury Farms specialty hot apple cider. Hopefully we get to paint and carve the pumpkins this week. They look pretty cute on the front porch right now. We got 5 this year. We normally only do 1 per person but Thomas decided he wanted two little pumpkins this year.

Today, I enjoyed a day off from work and we went and saw the movie Where the Wild Things Are. Thomas loved having popcorn and water as a treat and was cracking up at parts in the movie. The ending was super cute and I noticed myself tearing up at parts. There were lots of good lessons and most importantly Thomas loved seeing his favorite book as a movie. Afterwards we made a quick trip to the children's museum and checked out their new Take Flight exhibit. The kids love the parachute jump and the flight simulator there. Its more of a big kid exhibit but Thomas and Oliver both enjoy that room and we could easily spend a couple hours in there if there was enough hours in a day.


After picking out our pumpkins at the pumpkin patch:




All giggles and fun:

In the corn box:


Partners in crime for life:


I'm a ghost here, but I am even more scary when I wake up in the morning. My vampire husband and scarecrow and Frankenstein children will tell you that for sure...


Thursday, October 1, 2009

Wendy's Halloween Coupon Book for $1


Stop by any participating Wendy's through October 31 and purchase Frosty Trick or Treat gift books for only $1. Proceeds benefit the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.
The booklet contains coupons for 5 FREE Jr. Frostys and all benefits go to help children find adoptive families in the United States. Support a good cause and treat yourself today!

Monday, September 28, 2009

Eat at Chilis TODAY!



Today (September 28th) when you eat at Chilis 100% of the profits go to St. Judes Children's Hospital. Its only for ONE day so go ahead and eat out today. Its for a good cause!






From the Chili's website:


"Chili's is a proud to support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital®, one of the world's premier centers for the research and treatment of pediatric cancer and other catastrophic childhood diseases. As part of a 10-year commitment, Chili's plans to donate $50 million to help St. Jude fight childhood cancer. Funds and awareness for this important cause are provided by the Create-A-Pepper campaign, which invites guests to create custom pepper designs and make donations. The annual campaign also includes a one-day event where Chili's restaurants offer up 100% of their profits to St. Jude. Learn how you can help Chili's find cures and save children."

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Seven Straight Penn St is No. 8

Earlier this year, Brent wasn't sure which Hawkeye game to go to this year. Today, I think he knows he picked the right game. Every year Brent has an annual boys trip and this year he picked Iowa @ Penn State to go to. Not just because it was furthest game from home (where his wife and kids would be), but because it also was a night game.

The trip began late Thursday, September 24th, of 2009. Something was stirring in the air and a man by the name of Jordan Kappos stopped at our door to show off a bright yellow sign. A short 6 hours later these men would wake to start their journey. A few good men and their homemade sign were starting their voyage to State College, PA to cheer on the mighty Iowa Hawkeyes.

Well as luck would have it, this game was going to be big, very big. Going into the game Penn State was ranked at #5 and Iowa was not ranked. Iowa was unfavored by 10 points and didn't face good odds. Last year in 2008, Iowa smashed Penn State's chances at a national title by defeating them at Kinnick Stadium. Penn State was looking for revenge this year. ESPN's Game Day knew this was a big game. Saturday morning bright and early all the media and Penn State fans gathered in Happy Valley.

But so were some very special Hawkeye fanatics who were brave enough to cheer in the rain and wind. Weekend warriors that tailgate and follow the Hawkeyes wherever they play--rain, snow, or shine. This is what college football is about folks. And that the Iowa Hawkeyes won the game, well that only sweetens the ending and makes the whole trip priceless.

Final Score: Iowa 21, Penn State 10

Friday, September 11, 2009

Ollie Cruisin'

Ollie has gotten so BIG! Last weekend I caught him walking around the basement with the walker. He falls a lot but gets right back up! SO cute!

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Wednesday Funny

I saw this online and think it is pretty funny even if some parts of it are mildly offensive. Enjoy!

Honest Random Thoughts of 25-35 year olds:
-I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

-More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can't wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that's not only better, but also more directly involves me.

-Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

-I don't understand the purpose of the line, "I don't need to drink to have fun." Great, no one does. But why start a fire with flint and sticks when they've invented the lighter?

-Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.

-That's enough, Nickelback.

-I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

-Is it just me, or are 80% of the people in the "people you may know"feature on Facebook people that I do know, but I deliberately choose not to be friends with?

-Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or FAQ's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft.

-There is a great need for sarcasm font.-Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the f was going on when I first saw it.

-I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the only one who really, really gets it.

-How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

-I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

- I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

-The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to finish a text.

- A recent study has shown that playing beer pong contributes to the spread of mono and the flu. Yeah, if you suck at it.

- LOL has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to say".

- I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

- Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.

- Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart",all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".

- How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?

- I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to prevent a ---- from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!

- Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using 'as in' examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. Today I had to spell my boss's last name to an attorney and said "Yes that's G as in...(10 second lapse)..ummm...Goonies"

-What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each other
While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.

- MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

- Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

- I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.

-Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty,and you can wear them forever.

- I would like to officially coin the phrase 'catching the swine flu' to be used as a way to make fun of a friend for hooking up with an overweight woman. Example: "Dave caught the swine flu last night."

-I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

- Bad decisions make good stories

-Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if I do!

- Is it just me or do high school girls get sluttier & sluttier every year?-If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.

-Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be a problem....

-You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything productive for the rest of the day.

-Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't want to have to restart my collection.

-There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

-I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

- "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.

-I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren't watching this. It's only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?'

-I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello?Dammit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What did you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

- I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

-When I meet a new girl, I'm terrified of mentioning something she hasn't already told me but that I have learned from some light internet stalking.

-I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle,then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.

-Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles...

- As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers,but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.

-Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

-It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.

-I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

-Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it.

-Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, hitting the G-spot, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I’d bet my --- everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time...

-My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Dad what would happen if you ran over a ninja?" How the hell do I respond to that?

-It really pisses me off when I want to read a story on CNN.com and the link takes me to a video instead of text.

-I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.

-I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

-I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.

-The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words,someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think about it, and then estimated that there must be at least four people eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by myself. There's nothing like being made to feel like a fat bastard before dinner.

Such little men!


The boys are getting so big these days. I caught this photo on my phone yesterday and it is my favorite. Brent was wrestling with the boys and they just loved playing with daddy. I love my little men!

Monday, August 31, 2009

Time to blog!

We are all moved in and ready to blog!
That's right! Brent and I will be getting back into blogging mode this September! We took a little 2 month break from the blogging world to get all moved into our new home (well and moved out of the old one) but we will be back to our regular blog-tastic selves now.
The boys have grown up so much over the summer. Ollie is crawling and pulling himself up on everything and eats tons of table foods. His favorite meals are mac and cheese and pancakes which just so happen to be his big brother's favorites too! Thank you Ollie for not making me a short order chef! One meal at a time to cook is so much easier than catering to every one's separate demands!
Thomas loves the new place. He likes to go on bike rides around the lake across the street from us. Today we played in the backyard and visited the park. Thomas also has made some new friends and loves to play with our neighbors and share a popsicles with them outside. July and August have been kind of cold for summer so we never got to go swimming. But we are hoping September will be warmer.
We have BIG plans for this September. This weekend kicks off the start of the Hawkeye football season. To prepare we bought Ollie his first Hawkeye tee shirt and stocked up on tailgating foods. Auntie Melissa turns 20 this Friday!!! Happy Birthday Melissa! And at the end of the month on the 30th Noah turns 1!!! Lots of big things going on this month. Also, very soon we will be making a trip to Wilson's Apple Orchard for our annual apple picking and pie making date with Lindsay! Can't wait to take Ollie for the first time. And in between all of this we will hopefully squeeze in some end of season golf outings! Got to get those in before snow comes!

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

KIDS.WOOT.COM

just an FYI for anyone wanting to purchase gifts for their little ones. Woot.com, an online favorite of mine, has just opened up a site for kid's toys. For those of you who are unfamiliar with how woot.com works, it sells one item a day until it sells out. The price is typically discount and the items on the site were purchased by woot wholesale or are refurbished items. Anyways, today is the second day for kids.woot.com and it's a Thomas the Train engine set for 50 bucks, and after searching for it on various other sites, this same exact set is around 100. So if you are in need of a train set this might be the one to start with but you can only get it today. I'll keep posting here when i think an item on either site, but mostly kids.woot.com, might be useful.

and for those of you veteran wooters, just imagine a kids.woot.com woot off!

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Who needs quiet anyway?

My little rock stars love to make noise. Not just any noise, but sweet music. That's right....my kids are the next musical prodigies. :-)

Though I admit, I may have to break down and invest in some earplugs if they start a grunge band in the garage.


Happy 4th of July!


We are all set to enjoy an early weekend here. We leave tonight for Des Moines to spend the holiday with family. For the big plans, tonight we will be at the capital enjoying Yankee Doodle Pops, complete with live music, vendors and of course fireworks. Tomorrow we haven't made any big plans for the day but will go to the Annual Iowa Cubs 4th of July Game. They have the best fireworks at the end and it will be Ollie's first baseball game so I am looking forward to it. Saturday we will visit the old neighborhood and go to the parade before heading home. If we still have energy we will catch some more fireworks in Coralville or do some golfing. Can't wait to spend the weekend with the family. And hopefully I will catch some good photos of the boys to share too. Happy 4th of July and hope everyone has a great weekend!

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

New Family Photo!

Check out these great family photos my sister took of us. Not perfect, but I have never been able to get both kids to look at the camera anyway! Thanks Melissa! You're the best!




Monday, June 29, 2009

1 month until moving day!

Well it is officially 1 month until we move! Anyone else nervous? I know I am.

We do have a good head start on all of the packing. Our basement is about emptied and the office and playroom have been nearly cleared out to storage. So far we have filled up almost 2 entire storage units. I think we officially know we have too much junk.

Brent and I went to the new place this last Thursday to take down some measurements. No idea how to decorate the place yet but getting excited that we will finally be out of the downtown area. Looking forward to it despite all the trouble moving will be.

Things only a parent would really know...

Hand sanitizer is important. Especially when your child wants to touch everything--including dead bugs and animals.
Sticky fingers usually mean something else that is not supposed to be sticky IS.
The person who said babies should cry it out has it all wrong--mom is the one who wants to be alone and cry.
White clothing should never really have ever been invented.
Children think bathrooms are a communal place.
Playdoh is really hard to get out of carpet.
You don't even probably know it, but there is probably playdoh in your hair too.
If there isn't playdoh in your hair, something else is.
Dirt is going to happen. So is sand, dust, and everything else that is dirty. And your mother will notice it when she comes to visit no matter how many times you vacuum.
Getting to the grocery store can become quite the marathon.
Diapers and formula are expensive. So is anything related to baby.
Somewhere in your house, there is a lego on the floor.
Your workout will look something like this: chasing after your kids (cardio), picking up toys (squats), putting together puzzles and train tracks (mental), carrying your baby around (strength building), and getting your child to nap (endurance).
Spills will happen most of the time. Most of the time is usually when its something that won't come out.
Children might be God's work, but they are still work.
The only thing that can prevent a diaper blow out is no diaper. And even that makes a blowout sound better.
One of the first word's a child knows how to say is no.
Somewhere out there, someone else's child is sleeping while your child is not.
Your kitchen floor is probably covered in stepped on cheerios and goldfish.
Your two kitchen staples are probably ketchup and ranch. Your children love ketchup and your husband probably loves ranch.
You really wish someone would event a parenting tool belt with everything you need for the day. You also wish it would be in fashion.
Midday naps are the sweetest when everyone naps.
Kisses make everything better.

Friday, June 19, 2009

Ollie is 6 months old today!

This was Ollie the day he was born. What a change! Ollie has gotten to be such a BIG boy! Today he is 6 months old. Time is just flying by and he is growing up so fast. His favorite people are his daddy and Thomas, although he loves mommy too.

At 6 months old he:

  • Can scoot backwards and in circles
  • Is able to sit up unsupported
  • Loves to touch his toes
  • Is a yeller, he loves to screech and squeal at the top of his lungs in a very high pitch
  • Smiles when a familiar face walks in the room
  • Wears size 12-18 month and 18-24 month size clothing
  • He wears size 3 huggies diapers but only because I am trying to use up the big box we have--he should be in a size 4!
  • Is very long and lean, but his thighs are chubby chubby chubby!
  • Has size 3 feet but never wears shoes or socks
  • Hates the bottle and refuses to take a pacifier
  • Cries when someone leaves the room
  • Loves to eat baby food and has ate rice cereal, carrots, bananas, peas, and applesauce
  • Has one front bottom tooth in and the other front bottom tooth is almost there
  • Loves his jumperoo and likes to "stand" with help
  • Enjoys peekaboo and row row your boat
  • Does not sleep through the night and mostly cosleeps
  • Puts everything in his mouth
  • Is very fussy at night and hard to sooth--he fights his sleep a lot
  • Has started to "talk" and "sing" and can say the syllables DA, DEE, and GA and GU
  • Brent also thinks he might have heard him say "Daddy" although I have not heard it and am holding out hope for his first word to be "momma" or "mommy" :-)
  • Loves to play in the grass and go for walks in the stroller
  • Has favorite toys now, the two big ones being his lion and rattle
  • Loves meeting new people and "flirting"
  • Is attached to his fleece blankie and won't sleep well without it even though its summertime
  • Wants to be held all the time and loves to cuddle

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Happy 22nd Birthday Lindsay and Mary!

Happy Happy Birthday to 2 of my favorite ladies!!! Hope you both enjoyed the ice cream cake that Thomas picked out for you. :-)
Blowing out the candles!

Me, Lindsay, and Mary

Thomas showing off the birthday cake! 1 pink candle for each girl!

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Trip to West Des Moines and the Zoo

Oliver at the zoo

Thomas and Logan

Oliver and Noah

Mmmmmm what does this taste like?

Monkeying around outside the monkey cage

Matching lightning bolt paint tattoos

Playing at the PBS kids area


Meeting "Duck" from Word World

Little bit of t-ball in the back yard

Thomas played "catcher"

Driving around Grandma Patty's neighbor hood


Hitting the street to look for some girls to impress in their hot ride :-)

Ollie playing in the grass

Logan just loved the car, I think he wants one for in China now!

Kicking back

Playing dress up

Mary got in on the fun

The Chinese have that Irish spirit too!

What is a fun night without karaoke?

Lets get funky!