Baptisms, Thanksgiving, and More!

A few weeks ago, our beautiful babes were baptized at St. Thomas More in Coralville. It was a wonderful ceremony. I cried a few times. :-) It ended up being a very small congregation because of the Iowa/Ohio State game that was ongoing. We didn't care one bit. It was wonderful and both kids behaved beautifully! We had a wonderful evening afterward celebrating with all the attendant and the kids' godparents, Michelle and Bill Andrews. Thanksgiving was also a wonderful. We went back home to celebrate with my parents. We had a wonderful traditional meal and got to hang out with a lot of family. We also had the pleasure of meeting my cousin Grant's girlfriend Sarena. It was a great experience and we hope that we made Sarena feel welcome. On the Friday after Thanksgiving, Chris had the pleasure of moonlighting in Storm Lake. It was a relatively slow day for him (totally not expected) and went really well. My mom, brother, the kids, and I went Black Friday shopping in Sioux City. All I have to say about that is...never again. What a miserable way to spend a day! :-) At least I was with people I love. Over Thanksgiving break, Carter had the immense pleasure of riding in a tractor with my dad. It was a great experience for him and he frequently says "Gampa dive tator!" Translated to Grandpa drives a tractor! It's so cute. He had a great time and we are thankful that he got to ride in a tractor since he is in love with being a cowboy and farming at this time. Finally, to finish up Thanksgiving break, we went to visit my best friends Michelle and Bill (the kids' Godparents) in Dakota Dunes. We had a fantastic break filled with fun, shopping, food, and drinks. We love this family so much and have extra fun because Michelle and Bill have a son (Adam) who is 3 weeks older than Carter and a son (Aaron) who is 1 month and 1 day older than Addy. The kids had a blast and so did the adults!
I wanted to add a video of the boys giggling together, but it wouldn't load. It was hilarious. They were giggling back and forth forever! So funny...

Hope you all have had a great holiday so far. God bless... Amy

Growing Like a Weed!

Our binker-less boy!

Smiles McGee!

Mama Alien and Ham

Papa Woody and Buzz

Carter with his backback

Addy pulling up to her knees

Yesterday Addy had her 6 month well baby check up. We are pleased to report that she is up to 17.5 pounds (65th percentile) and 27 inches (75th percentile). For comparison sake, at this age, Carter was 19.9 pounds and 28.15 inches.

Addy got 4 shots and an oral immunization along with her general well exam. She handled it like a champ. She cried for about 20 seconds and then quickly passed out for a nap. Carter also got his flu shot after Addy's appointment. He also cried for about 20 seconds and said "Mama, boo boo!" and that was it. They're both very tough!

As a treat for Carter being such a good boy during Addy's appointment and being tough for the shot, I told him he could eat whatever he wanted for lunch. He chose "meatballs!" so we went to Olive Garden. In adorable fashion, he ordered "wapancheez with meatballs" translated to macaroni and cheese with meatbalss. Sounded gross to me, but he loved every bite!

Last week, while Chris was in Boston, I decided that we were going to get rid of Carter's binker. I ripped his remaining pacifier in two and had Carter help me throw it away. I thought it was going swimmingly when he went to bed and laid for 20 minutes without a peep. Just when I was bragging about how lucky I was, que water works! He screamed for 2 hours and woke up several times during the night. However, just 5 days later, he is sleeping without a hitch and not even asking for it.

Addy is no longer army crawling at all and is crawling on all 4's everywhere at a rapid pace. I can run to the bathroom and have to search for her when I come out because she's traveled to a new room! She's pulling herself up to her knees, "standing" with all 4's straight, and has also moved all the way through her veggies and will progress through fruits next. She's babbling up a storm and I have honestly never met such a happy baby. She is constantly smiling, laughing, and giggling. We are so blessed.

Finally, we had a most fantasic Halloween. My mom was here to celebrate her birthday and helped us all go to Haunted Happenings in North Liberty on Friday evening. It is the annual Halloween celebration in the Rec Center filled with treats, a haunted house, and kids activities. It was really fun! Here's a few pictures of us in our Halloween costumes. For those of you who are not familiar, we were characters from Toy Story. Addy was Ham, Carter was Buzz, Chris was Woody and I was the alien. We had a blast and seeing Carter's face when he saw Chris and I all dressed up made the entire night!

Moving and Shaking

Wow. It's been a while again. I know...as a primarily stay-at-home-mom, you would think that I would be better about posting, but as it turns out these kiddos are busy! :-)

Recently, my friend Caren and I started a playgroup with mothers of two year olds. We meet every other Wednesday at one of the mom's houses and let the kiddos play while the moms have coffee and chat. We have only had 1 meeting so far, and have to miss the meeting this week, but we really look forward to these sessions. It's especially fun to see the kiddos interact and learn to share. It will be a great day out during the upcoming winter months--which tend to get a little long. :-)

Carter continues to crack us up daily with his imagination and catch phrases. He has developed a huge love for football and frequently asks to watch it on tv, asks to watch papa play flag football, and asks to tackle us several times a day. He also has such abounding love for his sister, it's amazing! Every morning he says "Baby skeeze!" followed by "Baby mooch!", which translate into baby squeeze and baby smooch. He has also taken to playing with her on the floor and is quick to bring her toys or rub her back if she's upset. It melts our hearts!

Addy is our little ahead of the curve superstar. She is now crawling and going from her tummy to sitting up like it's nothing! She is very content and will sit and play in her pack 'n play for well over an hour while I work out. She started eating veggies this week and has conquered green beans thus far. She seems to be liking them pretty well. We just have to tackle that pesky getting up several times a night and this mama will be happy. :-)

Chris seems to be living at work in one way or another lately. Poor guy is constantly there for work, chief resident responsibilities, and various meetings. If he's not working, or babysitting while I work, he's moonlighting at a local ER. He works so hard and we are extraordinarily proud of him! He's also well into the "real" job interview process. In September he interviewed at the University of Iowa and may be offered a job. In the beginning of October he interviewed at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha and has not received official word, but has gotten some hints that they may offer him a job. This week we trek to Ann Arbor, Michigan for an informal ER interview and an official sports medicine fellowship interview. It should be an interesting trip as it is 7.5 hours one way and we are bringing the kiddos!

Well, that's about all I have for now. My desktop computer is currently at the "dotter" (doctor) according to Carter as I seem to have broken it so I'm not going to post many pictures this time. Sorry...it takes too long on the netbook...and please excuse the upside down picture. It is not upside down in the file and I can't seem to flip it. As soon as I get my computer back I will post some long overdue pics of the brood.

Hugs and loves!

Amy

Poodin'! and Johnny Jump Up

So Carter had his first experience with pudding today. He called it "poodin" and said "Hmmm. Hmmmmm." after each bite. It was hilarious. Here's how he looked afterward.




Addy had her first experience with the Johnny Jump Up today. She kept twisting and un-twisting. Perhaps with the help of her brother?! :-) She really seemed to like it and it provided a good hard surface for her to chew on. I think she's working on getting her first chompers and has been chewing on everything!

The Big 3-0!

On September 9th, I turned 30! Much to Chris's delight, I handled it much better than I handled turning 20. :-) I did keep the number quiet, though, because I didn't want anyone to get any ideas for a party. I got my wish and had a wonderful, family-centered 3-day celebration!

On Tuesday, I was scrubby and just getting ready to start cleaning the house. Imagine my surprise when the doorbell rang and it was my mom! I was 100% SHOCKED beyond imagination. She had come to watch the kids so that Chris and I could go to a Cubs game that night. We had tickets, but had decided that we didn't want to drag the kids to a night game. I was so excited by the surprise trip to Chicago, decided the house cleaning would have to wait, and got ready to go! Chris and I had a great time without the kiddos and it was a great start to my birthday celebration.

On Wednesday, my mom had gotten appointments for us at Zenders salon in Iowa City for massages and pedicures. It was a wonderful massage and the BEST pedicure I'd ever gotten. No rough spots on these feet anymore. :-) After the spa treatments, mom and I went out a wonderful lunch and then she took me on a shopping spree at the mall. It was a great time!

On Wednesday night/Thursday morning, Chris got up with Addy every time she woke up (every 2-3 hours...) He changed her diaper and brought her to me to nurse and then put her back in bed. I didn't have to get out of bed one time!

Thursday morning I got to sleep in until 9, which would have been gift enough for a whole year. As it turned out, it was just the beginning. The boys had made me a wonderful breakfast including sausage, bacon, pancakes, eggs, and orange juice. After breakfast we had some relaxing family play time and went for a long walk. For lunch, we went to Red Lobster. We all took a nap in the afternoon, played out on Carter's swingset, and then Chris grilled the most wonderful steak for supper. After the kiddos were in bed Chris and I watched the Hangover again (love it!) and went to sleep relatively early. I also got a bunch of great gifts including clothes, kitchen utensils, an awesome Bears glass, and Cubs slippers.

It was a wonderful 3-day birthday and I thank everyone who thought of me on my special day!

Papa's Birthday!

September 6th was Papa's 29th birthday. He worked late the day before so he slept in a bit. We woke him up with lots of hugs and kisses and "Happy Birthday!"s from the kids.

Carter and he shared a bowl of cereal, in their adorable way, and then we got ready to go to Des Moines.

We went to eat with Colin and Michele, Chris's brother and his girlfriend, at Fuddruckers. It's one of our favorite places to go as a family. Chris loves the burgers and Carter eats great there. We even had a birthday coupon for a free burger!

After lunch, we all trekked to the Blank Park Zoo. None of us had been there before so we didn't know what to expect. It turned out to be really great! It was pretty small--mostly because we're all used to the Henry Doorly Zoo--but that was actually great with the kids. Carter loved seeing all the "aminals!", fed the fish, chased a duck, petted a steer, and saw "Memo!" (AKA Nemo). Addy was a quiet little princess the whole time and only required a diaper change the entire visit! It got a little "national geographic" (according to Mish) at one point as two of the giraffes were attempting to mate. But, I guess that's all part of the lustre of the zoo. We wrapped up our zoo trip with a ride on the "Choo! Choo!" Even Colin, who was a little resistant, came along.

After the zoo, the four of us headed back to North Liberty for a supper of meatloaf, hashbrown casserole, fresh green beans, and rolls. We finished up the feast with a bit of cake with strawberry frosting.

All in all, I think Papa's birthday was a success. Happy birthday again, Papa! We all love you very much!

Addy's first trip to Wrigley...

Good morning, all!

On September 3rd, the whole family made the trip to Chicago for Addy's first trip to Wrigley Field. It was great! We were running a little behind and ended up arriving sometime in the 5th inning. That actually worked out well because I doubt that both kiddos would have lasted the whole game--and it cut down on traffic!

When we were walking into the stadium, one of the ticket takers told us about a neat feature for "First Timers". We got to take Addy to the Customer Relations desk and she got a packet for her first game. It included a plaque, stickers, coloring book, and other fun memorabilia for her first game. We wish that we would have known about the service when we brought Carter to his first game.

The kids behaved very well during the game. Carter kept occupied with a hotdog and lemonade and he watched the game like a hawk. This is quite the change from the games he has attended in the past where he didn't really seem to care much about the game. In typical Addy fashion, she was great and only fussed when she was hungry. She got a bottle part way through the game and was our little angel the rest of the time.

After the game we went to some of the souvenir shops in Wrigleyville. We found a great Cubs shirt for each kiddo and aside from the crowds, had a wonderful time looking at all the cool Cubs "stuff".

Enjoy the photos from our trip.

The Best Birthday a Guy Could Ask For!

Hello fellow blog readers! It's me, Carter. I just wanted to give you a little update on me. I just had a big momentous event in my life. I turned 2! My official birthday was on July 30th, as most of you recall. On that day, Mama, Papa, and Addy dedicated a day all to me! We had great fun going to the Par-T-Zone in the morning, then Pizza Ranch for lunch. I then crashed for a long nap, played for the remainder of the afternoon and had a great supper filled with grilled chicken and cupcakes! In the afternoon, Addy gave me her birthday gift. She rolled over from her back to her front! Leave it to her to do the hard roll first! I was very excited when she did it and shouted "Yay!" and gave her a round of applause. I'm proud of that little girl. I have so much to teach her and just can't wait until she's more mobile (and less fragile). :-)

Post birthday roll!

Sunday we had a great big gathering of family and friends for my birthday. We had a lunchtime party with 30 of our closest friends and family and it was so much fun! My friends and I played with all my toys, then we ate lunch and had cake (Gramma A decorated the coolest Elmo cake EVER!). Finally, we went outside and played there. Papa and the guys were working diligently on finishing my big birthday gift. It was a huge swingset and it is amazing! I want to send an extra special thanks to Uncle Jess, Frank, and Gramma for their many, many hours spent on that project. I look forward to many years playing on it--and according to Uncle Jess I'm required to play on it EVERYDAY! Ha ha ha. I have held up my end of the request so far. :-)

Swinging on my horsey tire swing from Grampa A

Well, I'd better get some lunch in me. I hope that you are all having a great weekend. Enjoy some new pics from my birthday and of Addy and I.

Hugs and loves.

Carter