Some catching up to do

So obviously going back to work brought our blogging to a halt.  So this post has become a photo dump of sorts but hopefully it will fairly represent the last 6 weeks of our family.

The holidays have been jam packed with visits to both sides of the family and another one planned in a few weeks.  We also tried our hand at making our annual holiday party a family affair - we moved the day to a Saturday and moved the time to a post-nap pre-bed time frame.  We had nearly 50 people come through the house that day and we all survived, so I'd say it went well.  We learned it definitely took more planning to include the kids, but it was worth it as we all had a great time (and nobody had to find a babysitter!).  We'll have to see whether we can pull it off next year as 7 of the kids that were here will be closer to toddlers by that point. Yikes!

We were able to visit both sides of the family during the holidays as well, with another visit scheduled in a few weeks.  Both kids love being with Grandpa and Grandma so we hope to keep those visits regular in the coming year.

And now for the photo dump!

Practicing her sitting on the couch - she's a pro at it now!

One cold & snowy Sunday night, we'd all been inside too much so decided to take a walk around our neighborhood to look at holiday lights.  She was rosy afterwards but she didn't complain at all!

This guy loved the walk!  The pics I took of him during the walk didn't turn out but you can just tell from this smile!

We visited the children's museum with Grandpa & Grandma Stalder - driving the crane with Grandpa.

Shopping in the grocery store....

Alice playing at the Children's museum.

Playing with the water and balls.  This kid had a blast!

This is Alice's favorite expression right now....you'll see it in the next photo as well.

It's typically a sign that she's happy:)

Christmas morning was great with both kids.  Evan tried to help Alice unwrap her presents but she took care of it herself.

After 10 minutes or so, she had this one unwrapped.

Evan helped shovel snow Christmas morning too.  

Alice enjoyed the snow too, I think.  

We went bowling for Daddy's birthday.  Evan's classic post-bowl pose.  He almost beat mommy this day:)

Back to work

Yes, the time has finally come.  I've been back to work for one week and while I'm surviving just fine, I'm missing my little lady and my little man.  I am lucky enough to be returning part time, though with my job the definition of part time is a little hazy, even for me.  But once I get things moving again at work I hope to have at least 1 complete day off between Mon-Fri.

And as predicted, as soon as I posted that Alice has been an amazing sleeper, she had her 4 month shots and it all went out the window.  She had some feeding issues for a few days after her shots and ended up waking up in the night hungry.  Then when she started daycare, she refused to eat the first few days so made up for it by nursing at night.  Then she just chose to wake up every 30 minutes (or less) one night and Jake and I decided it was time for sleep training.  One night in and we're all a bit more rested so fingers crossed!

Evan has been an amazing big brother since Alice started daycare!  He's grown up so much it's unbelievable.  And he's been loving game night.  Originally we were thinking we would devote only one night a week, but he asks for it more and more.  I don't have any pictures of it, but watching him shake the dice cup in Yahtzee junior is a riot.  And he slams it straight down (instead of letting the dice roll out of the cup), just like he's seen his daddy do.  Too cute.  Here are a few shots from our week.

Checking out one of her brother's million trucks.  

Sporting her new Packer's cheer dress from Grandma and Grandpa T.

She didn't make it too far into the game.

Game night - we were playing go fish and Evan wanted his dragon, Elliot, to play - Elliot took turns with all of us.  It was pretty cute.

Alice helping daddy play go fish (notice daddy's beard coming in for Movember).

October in Review

October was a great month at our house.  Alice continues to grow and gets more fun every day.  She rolled over right around 3 months and is now protesting it, though she will do it here and there.  She grabs things and loves it when Evan shares his toys with her.  She has the cutest smile but she'll make you work for it.  And she's been an amazing sleeper (I hate to even put it in print because I'm sure she'll start waking up now that I printed it).  For a while she was sleeping from 10 pm-8:30 am and I was worried that she wouldn't wake up in time for me to take her to daycare when I went back to work, so I started waking her up a little earlier last week.  Combined with daylight savings time, she's been going to bed around 8 and waking at 6.  We'll see if it sticks.

Alice starts daycare next week and I'm not ready.  It's been amazing to have so much time off with her, but I think it's making it harder for me to be away from her.  Evan has assured me that he's going to look out for her and keep her company so I guess I shouldn't worry, right?

And Evan.  What to say about the little guy.  He's still a sponge with his language.  Today he told me, "see mom, the pee eventually comes if I just poop."  So many of his crazy things happen on or near the toilet.  Lovely.  He's become more interested in Alice for sure.  He works to try to keep her calm if she's crying which is the cutest thing ever - he even raises his voice into that squeaky high-pitched voice we all use with babies.  He continues to become more independent but wants us to snuggle with him every night after stories.  We'll hang on to it as long as we can.   It won't be too much longer until he's embarrassed to be seen with us.

Here's a few shots of what we were up to in October.

Doing a little yard work.

Painting his little pumpkin.

Checking out the inside of the big pumpkin before daddy carved it.  

PJ day at daycare.  I just loved the skinny leg PJs with his bulky coat.  He could do PJ day everyday.

Not the best picture, but he was a construction worker for Halloween.  Bob the Builder if you asked him.  Had to sport a Packers hat under his huge yellow hat.

Doing a little tummy time.  She's so much more tolerant of it than her brother ever was.

Towing the Cozy Coupe.  Of course.

This is the face I frequently get when I put her in the carseat.  That "are you kidding me" face.

Evan bowling at the Town Hall Lanes.  He loved it.

Five Years Ago Today...

Happy Anniversary!!

Fall is here

I'm not even going to try to make excuses for not updating our blog more frequently.  I just need to do it.  We're not really into baby books or even completing photo albums so we are counting on this blog to be a big part of tracking Evan and Alice's childhoods.  So no more excuses.  I just need to do it.

We've been enjoying fall so far.  I love this weather so it's easy for me to do.  Lots of outside time, Packers on Sunday, Gophers and Huskers on Saturday, although since canceling cable our viewing has decreased, and baking fall goodies.  I've made applesauce, apple muffins, apple cake.   You get the idea.  

Evan continues to be hilarious.  One night while we were playing with Alice on the floor, she was fussing because I was making her do tummy time and she was squawking quite a bit.  I said something like, "you're telling me how it is aren't you Alice?" and Evan quickly chimed in with, "yeah, and it's not good."   Empathy for his sister.  Too sweet.

Here are some shots of what we've been up to.

A picnic and trip to the big park at Lake Harriet.  I think that hole was there when we arrived at the park, but Evan wanted to make it bigger.  He had the right equipment:)

Alice was less excited about the park that day.

Alice geared up for Gopher football.  

Evan licking off the spatula while helping mommy make "kids cookies" - basically sugary bars with no eggs so licking the spatula isn't harmful.

Alice has been tearing up her play mat.  She kicks it down or pulls it down at least once a day.

Alice on a not-so-happy day.  Let's just say the pack was the only place she was quiet, although she doesn't look particularly happy in it.

Evan working in his construction site.  He needed water to make the dirt squishy.

Some catching up to do

So I started a post right after labor day, and now it's the 18th of September already.  What happened?  Time is going way to fast for us but we've been having a lot of fun here.  We had a great time at the State Fair, regardless of the heat.  We had a visit from Grandma and Grandpa T, some fun local festivals, and lots of outside play time.  It's been a great month so far!  Here are some photos and stories to catch us up.

Evan rode the bumper boats at the State Fair.

We postponed our trip to the State Fair because it was going to be too hot for Alice (and the rest of us but we'll put the blame on Alice) on the day we were planning.  And we definitely made the right choice.  The day we went, the temperatures stayed comfortable all morning and it really didn't get hot until we were ready to leave.  And we made it nearly 6 hours this year.  A new record.  The fair was even more fun than last year because Evan was able to enjoy more activities, though we did tour machinery hill twice (nothing is going to break him of his love of all things with wheels).  Here are some shots of our fair experience.

We also had a visit from Grandpa and Grandma T over labor day weekend.  They watched the kids so we could have a date night (thank you!) and mommy even got out of the house to run errands and maybe just shop a little.  It was much appreciated and Evan had a great time playing with Grandpa and Grandma.

Playing at a splash pad with daddy.

Evan trying out a new climbing structure at the park.

Evan's hair after playing in the dirt with his cousin - notice the bath was the next stop.

Alice "watching" her first Packers game with daddy.   She's wearing yellow and green!

Evan and daddy checking out some classic cars at our neighborhood block party.  Let's just say it was Evan's heaven.

And I'm not sure how Alice got left out of most of these photos (probably because I was wearing her in the pack), but here's a recent photo of our sweet girl.  Growing, smiling and talking.  

Feel the heat!

It is hot here.  Too hot.  Miserable hot.  I don't think we'll go back outside until it's dark hot.  But enough complaining.

I survived Jake's first out-of-town work trip last week with both kids.  And in classic fashion, Evan got sick the day before Jake left so he was home with Alice and I the entire time.  I can't complain because the kid didn't want to get off the couch the first day (I can't count how many Super Why episodes he watched) and I had friends over the 2nd day and several of them spent time just playing with him. So really, I have nothing to complain about.   Except the heat again.

Here are some shots from our week.

Of course we didn't think he would throw up and therefore didn't empty his bed of his gazillion stuffed animals.  They didn't all catch a direct hit, but I was still grossed out so they all received a thorough sanitizing and a morning in the sun.  Don't they look happy?

This is where he laid most of the first day.  Watching back-to-back episodes of a variety of kids shows.  

After we got back from the doctor to find out it wasn't strep throat.  

Luckily Alice and Evan napped at the same time that day so I could at least do the dishes.  Maybe take a shower....maybe not.

In other news, Alice is losing her hair.  She has a nice receding hair line going so I took some shots of it so we could prove she had adorable curls, in case they don't come back:(

And she's smiling folks!  This was the best I could do for a photo because every time I try to get one, she gets distracted by the phone and stops smiling.  

We tried a slip n slide - he's a little young for it so his fun included mommy pulling him on his knees or tummy down the slide and then just filling up his pool toys with the water.  We stayed cool though!

Summertime

We've had a great few weeks and I'm clearly slacking at updating the blog with our activities.  I'm on maternity leave, so I should have plenty of time to do this, right?  So why doesn't it seem to work out that way?  

We've been loving summer here - with temps in the 70s we've been able to be out and about all of the time.  I'm dreading the heat and humidity that is on its way.  We've had several weekend parties with friends, spent a day at the zoo, took in some new local restaurants, and of course some beach & pool time.  Alice has been a trooper and for the most part does well when we're out (she recently started to hate being in her carseat, which as an infant is a necessity not only in the car but also in her strollers, but she may (fingers crossed) be coming out of it).  And Evan has done awesome.  We're looking forward to squeezing in more activities while summer is still around!

We had a Saturday night cookout a few weeks ago.  Evan insisted on roasting hotdogs while mommy and daddy had pudgy pies.  I think we need to get longer roasting sticks:)

Beach play on a Sunday night - the little girl in the background joined Evan and he was very kind with his sharing.  He didn't talk to her of course, but no one is surprised by that, right?

We had brought his swim trunks along (we were going out to eat before the beach) but didn't think about a towel.  Thank goodness for baby sisters, and all of their baby blankets:)

Mommy and Alice hanging at the beach.

Checking out the Dinosaur exhibit at the zoo with our friends - twin girls his same age, Evan didn't know what to do with himself!

Evan loved the fish, but was clearly afraid when a big fish swam right up to him in the glass and kind of parked himself there (he's brought this up to me three or four times since that day).

Digging in the Mammoth bones park.  Thank goodness for the twins' older brother - Evan got plenty of boy time in that day too.

Evan took a swim with daddy over lunch on Friday.  It was a beautiful day!  Alice and I just lounged by the pool and then we were able to eat lunch on the pool deck before daddy had to go back to work.  Why haven't we been doing this every Friday all summer???

When they are 2 and you are 1...

The title refers to being alone with both kids, which for many people is not a big deal, but we haven't practiced it much.  Evan has continued to keep his daycare routine most days and when he hasn't, Jake has taken off work so far.  And while yesterday wasn't the first time I've had them both by myself all day, the last time was when Alice was still in her i-was-born-early-and-i-want-to-sleep-all-day phase.  She's no longer there.  She's officially an infant.  So I was concerned.  But we made it.  And I think we actually had a good day!  Here are some shots of our day and our strategies for survival.

Alice is a white noise kind of girl.  She's sleeping in her basinet, right next to the vent fan in the kitchen so mommy could be outside on the patio with Evan (windows open so we could hear her of course).

We set up a huge little people meets matchbox town on the patio table.  Hours of fun for everyone!

We spent almost all of our home time outside so this one inevitably took some snoozes on the patio.

And we had to get out.  We got Evan a haircut (hence the sticker on his shirt) and checked out a new park that was close by.  Evan even made a few new friends while we were there!