Father's Day and More!

Good morning blog readers!

The Hogrefe Household has been up to some fun things since the last post. Yesterday, for Father's Day, we had a great time at a 1st Birthday Party for our friends son Reed. Carter ran around and keep Papa busy trying to keep him from running into the road. :-) Addyson stole the show in her little hula outfit (the party had a luau theme). We had a great lunch there and had fun playing with all the kids and visiting with friends. After the party, we went home and Carter and Papa, who was post-call, napped while Mama and Addy watched the Cubbies. Then Carter and Papa went to Toy Story 3 as their Father's Day father/son time. I was very worried that Carter wouldn't sit still through the whole movie, but as it turned out he was extremely well behaved and cried when it was over! They both thought the movie was excellent and Chris thinks it's the best of the Toy Story series. For supper we had Papa's favorite meal. Meatloaf, hashbrown casserole, corn, fresh rolls, and strawberry pie were on the menu. Carter even suprised us and ate some meatloat. Maybe he's getting over his aversion to ground meats. We can only hope--this is a Hamburger Helper family! We finished up the evening reading books to the kids before bed. It was a fantastic day.



I wanted to let you all know about some of the super cute things Carter's been saying lately. He's stringing more words together and is communicating much better. Our household is filled with a little less whining and pointing and grunting.

1) Owwwwww. Mama 'mooch! (This is what Carter said to me when he bonked his head and his owie needed a kiss.)

2) Awish. Wooo wooo. (This is what Carter says when he's done eating and wants Alice to eat the rest of his food. Alice. Woof woof.)

3) Mama. Baby! Uh oh! (This is what Carter yelled from his bedroom the other morning when he heard Addy crying).)

4) Ewmo down, pwease. (This is what he says when he wants to watch Elmo and get down and dance with him.)

He is so funny! We are really enjoying watching both the kiddos grow and change daily. Addy has been smiling much more lately and I finally caught the tail end of a smile with the camera today.



Finally, on Friday night, Chris and I had our first night out since Addy came along. We went to the residency graduation ceremony and then downtown for drinks with the class afterward. We had so darn much fun and although I missed the kids and texted/called my mom incessantly to check on them, it was totally worth it!



Have a great day, all!

Amy

5 Years and Counting!

Greetings! Things are going well here in North Liberty. Yesterday, Chris and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary! Neither of us can believe that it has been 5 years. I guess time really flies when you're having fun! For our anniversary celebration, we went for family dinner at Texas Roadhouse. There is really nothing more convenient for parents of a toddler than their "Call ahead seating". That helps to decrease the wait time, which is especially important when you're already feeding your toddler later than he would like! We had a wonderful dinner and Carter loved the peanuts and bread which helped to keep him satisfied until his chicken and taters came. After dinner, we put Carter and Addy down to bed and then each had a piece of "Slice to go" cake from Yummy's. For those of you who are not from this area and have never had Yummy's, it's unbelievably good! I had a piece of German Chocolate and Chris had a piece of Strawberries and Cream (as a tribute to his strawberry "8" grooms cake). We got to sit and talk for a couple of hours before Miss Addy needed some attention, which was wonderful and long overdue! We look forward to spending many, many more years together!

Alice got to come home yesterday after having her girl parts removed on Thursday. She did really well and was unbelievably well behaved when Chris picked her up. The surgery doesn't seem to be bothering her much and she is acting pretty normal. In 10 days Chris has to remove her sutures and she'll be good as new--without the ability to procreate, of course. :-)

Miss Addyson has finally started to sleep without being held by her Mama. Thank goodness! She sleeps from about 11 until 2 consistently every night. From then on, she's a little less apt to sleep, but at least it's a start. I'm pretty tired, but I try to get a little nap in when she and Carter nap in the afternoon (even if it means that I have to hold her to get her to sleep--I'm willing to do anything to get a few minutes of sleep lately!).

Carter has been having fun getting a few minutes outside to play whenever he can. With all the rain recently and the rain in the forecast, we do our outside play as much as possible because he does not tolerate being inside all day very well! I don't think that we'll be able to play outside today. The Hogrefe household was awakened to a torrential downpour at 5 am today and our backyard is still flooded. We got over an inch of rain in about an hour and it's supposed to rain more today. Boo hoo.

Well, Miss Addyson calls. Here are a few recent photos of all of us.






Amy

Novel and Enhanced...

Greetings and salutations,

If you think I look rough, you should see the other dude...

Well, well, well...Where have you all been? It has been many a fortnight since we last convened. In all honesty, I take the bulk of the responsibility for the relative dearth of communication recently. Let me tell you, raising a six week old is tiresome and time-consuming. But, by enlisting ol' Mama and Papa, I think that Addyson will be alright. It truly does take a village to raise a princess...and to fend off the neighborhood boys.

Re-introductions aside, I thought I would take a moment of your important time to acclimate you to the novel and enhanced (or "new and improved" for those who prefer the antiquated vernacular) blog format. If you are only reading this through your e-mail browser, I highly encourage you to click on the provided link to the actual website, it is a website to behold for sure. I shall accept all of the credit for the title; Papa just does not know that I was saying "Family Circus." I find the theme to reflect the times in this house. Excitement abounds constantly, there are always animal droppings on the premise it seems, and Mama and Papa use circus peanuts for doorstops. It is too perfect; all they need to do is start charging admission.

Perhaps most importantly, to share is to love, which was the concept at the epicenter of the alterations. To that end, I have elected to share my articulate (and wildly popular, I might add) blog with the entire family. Of course, my regular dissertations and monologues will remain a fixture. But now you all have one-stop shopping for the marvelous stylings of a host of contributors, all of which are listed to the left. Think of this as the Wal-Mart of blogs...We do not pay as well (which is a sad statement I suspect) and we lack snazzy vests, but we always greet you with a smile and, coincidentally, plan to take over the world.

I have learned that while Matthew Broderick may not always be right (see his performances in Godzilla, Inspector Gadget, or Deck the Halls for instance), Ferris Bueller most certainly was. "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." And thus, so you and I both do not miss some of the best parts of life, I will be certain to pull off to the side of life's superhighway regularly so we can view my life's snapshots together.

Carter

Someone in Heaven is always looking after me...

A Big Healthy Girl...

Addy's 1 month doctors appointment was Tuesday. She "performed" beautifully. Here's her stats!

She is now 21.9 inches, which is the 74th percentile.

She weighs 10 lbs. 13.6 0z, which is the 86th percentile!

For comparison's sake, at his one month appointment, Carter was 22.74 inches (82nd percentile) and weighed 12 pounds (90th percentile).



Carter's favorite activity. Playing outside. Notice Papa's great grass out front! :-)


On another note, I want to relay a funny story from Wal-Mart today. I was checking out and the checker said, "Uhhhhhhh. That just leaves the item he's sucking on..." Completely oblivious, I turn to see Carter sucking on the can of sunscreen. Ooooops. I take it from him and see (as the clerk is seeing) a big wad of spit trailing down the can. I look at the clerk. He looks at me and his eyes said "Lady, I do not get paid enough for this. That is freaking disgusting." Not knowing what to do I wiped the can on my shirt and glanced at the checker again. He was still clearly not thrilled. Finally, I said, "Let me just scan that for you" and reached over and scanned it and tossed it in the bag. I saw, but chose to ignore, the big sigh of relief on his face. Being a mom cracks me up sometimes.



Carter and Papa playing on the slide in the Ped Mall after a dinner with some of Papa's fellow residents.

Memorial Weekend Fun!

Hewwww-ohhhhh. It's Carter! I am finally taking my blog back. I am pretty busy, but not too busy for my faithful followers.

This past weekend was full of fun! On Friday afternoon, Graham and I played in his new pool. It's really big and although we have a little trouble getting in and out of it, we have a blast in it! I am really good at putting my face in the water and splashing. The bottom of the pool is really slippery and sometimes I fall down and have to swim around to get my footing. I am not at all bothered by water in my face or over my head! I can't wait to get to the pool for the summer. I'm not sure how often Mama, Addy, and I will go to swim in the afternoons, but hopefully a lot. I did get signed up for swimming lessons for July so at least I'm guaranteed a solid two weeks!

Here's a picture of Addy in one of her swimsuits. She's too little to actually swim, but Mama says her swimsuits keep her cool (and are cute!).

Back to the weekend...:-)

Friday afternoon, Papa's friend and college philosophy advisor Dr. William Stephens came for a visit. He was actually coming from Omaha to go to a wedding in the Quad Cities on Saturday and he wanted to see us. Unfortunately, Papa was on call on Friday so he only got to see him on Saturday morning. We had a great visit and he played lots of ball with me. He was also pretty impressed with our Cubs museum. I sure love to hear people talk about the Cubs and all our cool gear in the basement.

Saturday was filled with Bouncy House fun! Papa and Kate (Graham's mom) blew up my castle bounce house and filled it up with the balls. Graham and I then got to play in it a few different times over the weekend. I have a little trouble keeping my body upright in there, but it's still fun. I really have more fun throwing the balls out of the house at Mama for her to pick up and throw back. I just love to play ball!

Sunday was the North Liberty Blues and BBQ fest. We went at about 5:30 in the evening and were a little disappointed because we missed the petting zoo. To make up for my disappointment, we went across the road to the playground. I got to swing a lot and go down the two slides. That was really fun, but soon I wanted to "Eat!" so we went back to the festival to listen to the blues and eat a "Hot dog!" I did a lot of dancing while I ate and Papa even shared his lemonade with me. What a good time!


Monday was filled with water table fun! Papa put my water table and toys out on the deck and even put up the gate so that Alice couldn't drink out of it. I had such fun in that water table. I love to fill up my bucket and dump the water over my head and splash Alice. Of course, that requires Mama to make several trips to replace the water I dump out. But I think it's worth it. Papa also gave Alice a bath while I was playing with my water table. He even let me help "Wash!" Alice and he let me spray her to rinse her off.
She was a very good dog and only tried to run away once. After water table fun, Papa grilled chicken ("Bock, bock!") and Mama made some potatoes and corn on the cob. I ate my first corn on the cob and loved it!

I hope you all had as much fun as I did this weekend!

Hugs and loves.

Carter