The Photo Shoot

Let it snow, and snow, and snow. We have had a very snowy December. By December 5th we already had more than the monthly average of snow. Check this out...









F has been growing and growing and growing. He is 16 lbs now and is already eating us out of house and home. People tell me, 'wait until he's a teen'. Wow, now I can see it coming. Thank goodness that's a long way off. Here is the little man in his truly Wisconsin outfit and with his poppa playing guitar. J was scared of the guitar when she was a baby, but the bean was born to hear his poppa play.













Our friend B took our pictures about a month ago and we got a lot of fun and nifty artsy shots. Thought we'd post them to show off his photography...and that little J is a ham as you will see. Notice the ever-present lifesaver that got us through the photo shoot. We'll post more pics after the holidays! Happy holidays to all of our friends and family!

Moments like these

Having a child makes you look at things so differently. It's so fun to see things in such a fresh light through their eyes and experiences and words and interpretations.

It snowed for the first time this year and J just adored it. She couldn't get enough of the snow, especially feeling it melt on her tongue. She finally planted her tongue in it and just smiled:

This is the best story though. Yesterday I was talking to my friend J who is living in Wales. When I got off the phone with her I started to tell my little J that someday we were going to go on a trip to Wales and we'd have to fly in a big airplane for a long time and then we'd see this new, beautiful place. J looked very concerned and even a bit frightened, which I thought was unusual because she loved the airplane the last time we went on a flight. So I asked her what was wrong. She said, "Mommy, do they have teeth?" Between laughter and tears I then explained to her that yes, whales had teeth, but we were going to a place called Wales that didn't have teeth. It's moments like these that just make my day.


Then there is my buddah bean. Check out this belly:

He is starting to sit up with a little help from the boppy, and he does this yoga move where he lays his stomach flat on his legs while he sits cross-legged, reaches for something, then sits right back up. Who taught him pilates?




Then there is reading time with Poppa:








And I caught the kids holding hands which I just loved and they will probably hate someday:







Thanksgiving was at our house this year with cousin M, K and W. K helped me cook and we had quite the feast. Here's most of the clan at the dinner table:





Hope everyone had a very happy Thanksgiving. We have much to give thanks for including all of our wonderful friends and family. Cheers to you all!

October blew by

Wow, I can't believe it's November already. My last month of Fridays off before I start back working full weeks. We had some pretty amazing weather in October for the midwest. This video and pictures were taken in late October on a beautifully sunny day.

We had a lot of Halloween fun last month. J got to go to a Halloween party which is becoming an annual event. Here is the crew:Part of the party was collecting pumpkins at the pumpkin patch:
Then the weekend before Halloween we carved pumpkins and J had a blast. Look at this concentration:
Then here are the halloween pics:
The most exciting news is that F is sleeping through the night most nights now. It must be that wonderful rice cereal that he's started eating. And oh boy, is he an aggressive eater. He lunges for the spoon when he sees it coming. Here is his first taste of solid food, check out the blond locks coming in.

Good Times

I'm a bit tired, so the blurbs will be short, but here are some pics!

Have you ever heard of the 'bumbo'? We borrowed one from a friend and decided to try it out with F. He now can sit on the table with us while we have dinner. He looks like he's ready to sit down with a drink and watch TV. Check it out...Of course his other favorite place to 'hang out' is in the highchair:
And F loves his walks. This is too cute with his tigger fuzzy.And F is enjoying time with Gma J. It's so great that F has strong bonds with both grandmas now. J has started swim lessons and it's probably the only time she gets ready quickly. Here she is waiting at the door:
And I love the outfit she chose to wear one day last week. She turns on the smile for the camera.The last little bit is a couple of videos, now that I figured out how to cut them down enough to post them. This one is of J and her cousin W. Who says innertubes are just for water?



And this is of the J doing her jingle dance one night.

Singing in Whale

OK, no pics this time, but I have to share this funny story.

J is very into Nemo, the movie, and the other day she asked me to tell her the story of Dori, Nemo's dad, and the whale. So I told her about it, whale-speak and all.

Then she asked me to sing twinkle twinkle little star really fast. So I did. Then she said, "Mommy, sing it in whale." Wish I took a video of it. Yes, somehow I got through the song in whale without laughing, but after it was over we all had our laughs. Silly mommy. J loved it. I don't think F knew what was going on. And if you don't know what speaking whale means, watch the movie. You too can speak whale!

North Woods

Lots of pics to share.
We went to the north woods of Wisconsin and rented a cabin with G's cousin M and family. It was absolutely gorgeous. The colors were changing and we had sunny days (after the big storm that we drove through). Here are some pics from our adventures.

The lake down the hill from our cabin.










Hiking with the kids.





















Lets call this F in a stump.








J discovered throwing rocks in the lake is fun!








And who said that inner tubes were just for water?









The summer season is drawing to a close in our garden. Just picked the last tomatoes, tomatillos and eggplants. Thought this pic was pretty cute of J and her cousin W, little gardeners that they are.










Gma T's visit is coming to a close and we've really enjoyed having her here. F and she have formed quite a bond.


Gma T and the little man.



Can't wait for Gma J to join us for October!

A week of firsts

This week has been a week of firsts.
J started at her new Montessori school and absolutely loves it. She's already made a new friend and we are told that they 'bonded' the first day. J's other first is that she actually used the toilets at the school. What a big girl! We are so happy that we made the decision to start her at the school. We even have a school BBQ coming. It has such a great sense of community. Anyway, here is J on her first day. She picked out her own outfit!Onto F's firsts. Just today he took the plunge and rolled from his back to his front. He still hasn't figured out what to do with that arm stuck underneath him, but he thinks the whole thing is pretty cool since he does it now every time we put him on his back. He's also started laughing and what a joy it is to hear him chuckle. Silly mom tries to do anything to make him laugh. He's also filling out quite a bit. Look at these biceps:

G took a break from basement work last weekend and we went to a park by one of the lakes. The kids loved the beautiful weather. Here's the F hanging in the pouch:And here's J in her red ladybug hat. It's hard to catch her standing still these days.
And the dudes hangin' out watching the boats:

Then crashed out for a nap:I realized that I've been the one with the camera recently so haven't gotten in many of the photos. Next round, I promise!

Summer Fun

Well, after many rainy days, which J totally enjoyed because she got to wear her nifty yellow raincoat,

we had a glorious sunny weekend that was in the high 70s and low 80s. Felt like summer again, but definitely heading to a close. F took some good naps...

and J had some great playdates. Yes, the potty can be quite interesting to these little girls when there is hand-washing involved.
And J and cousin W are having a grand time together these days. Some days there is this adjustment period when they get together, but always they get to a point where they crack each other up (and of course provide entertainment for us adults) This weekend was our neighborhood block party. We block the street, bring out chairs, tables, grills (and even a couch this year) and celebrate summer together in the middle of the block. It is such a blast and it reminds us every year what a great neighborhood we live in. Of course J and W found the one puddle that remained after the rains and jumped right in. They were hilarious. What you can't see here is J has her cute white mary janes on. That's my girl!!
And here are the boys chillin'.
I head back to work tomorrow after 12 weeks off and am feeling the same mixed emotions I had after J was born (looking forward to some adult intellectual time yet I know I'll miss watching the beautiful kiddie smiles during the day). I feel fortunate though to have had the summer mostly off. On to the next adventure!