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!

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!

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!

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!

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.