Christmas 2010

It's hard to believe Christmas is over already. It always goes by way too fast for me! We always alternate where we are for Christmas and Thanksgiving between our 2 families. This was the year that we headed to Iowa to be with Kyle's family.

After arriving on Thursday night I had to make a run to the store for fever reducer meds for Macalan. He was running a temp and the next morning both the boys had temps and were coughing pretty bad. We decided we had better make the trek to Davenport to the urgent care. It was a wasted trip when we found out what they had was viral and there was nothing we could do other than let it run its course. Thankfully they both were in pretty good spirits throughout the weekend. I guess it's better to be safe that sorry.

During the Christmas Eve church service Macalan decided to be a stinker and in his loudest voice demand a snack, which of course I forgot. He wouldn't let it go so I had to escort him from the pew to the back of the church. While we were walking he said to me "don't put me in time out!" Everyone who heard (which I guess was a lot of people) thought he said "don't tell me to calm down!" Apparently everyone got a good kick out that. After hanging out in the back we were able to eventually rejoin our family in the pew. :)

Grandma Mary was able to pull some strings and get Santa to stop by for a quick visit on his way to deliver toys. Macalan was a little unsure but when Santa pulled out that first present he was excited! Sutton had no idea what to think and was having a hard time staying awake. When it was his turn to open presents he just laid his head in my lap and yawned. It was pretty darn cute! We did the fast version of opening gifts and then he went to bed.

Christmas day was pretty lazy. We opened more gifts and spent the day lounging around and playing with all the new toys. Kyle and I had high hopes of taking the boys sledding, but with them being sick we didn't get a chance to do that.

We have spent some time reflecting on this past year. Although we are blessed in so many ways, especially with our two wonderful kids, this really was a pretty yucky year in many ways and we are happy to ring in the New Year with hopes for a better year ahead. We keep the memory of Jake, Kyle's best friend, in our hearts and continue to pray for his family. We are very grateful for the amazing family and friends we have! We couldn't have gotten through the year without you!

Happy New Year everyone!

Gingerbread House

Today was my first official day of being on Christmas break! Macalan and I attempted to make a gingerbread house. It turned out pretty cute, but was not nearly as fancy as it could have been. Macalan had a great time eating the candy! By the end it was smeared all over his face.

We are looking forward to Christmas. Hopefully we can beat the snow tomorrow as we try to make it to Iowa to spend Christmas with Kyle's family. A little elf told me Santa might be making an early appearance at Grandma's house! :) Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Cookies and a Snowball Fight!

This past weekend while we were snowed in Macalan "helped" me bake and decorate sugar cookies. I use the term helped loosely. He seems to think he's the next Top Chef, but he is mostly really good at making a bigger mess than what I anticipated. It is very cute though to see how excited he gets when he "helps." I don't know why he couldn't give me a normal smile, but every picture I have of him he is making some weird face! For anyone who might eat these cookies: yes he did frequently stick his fingers in the dough and frosting, but I promise I had a rag nearby to constantly clean his hands! :) Maybe we should keep these cookies for our family and make a different batch for others!

For anyone who thinks Sutton no longer exists: I purposely took pictures of him this weekend to prove his existence! Poor baby never gets in any of the pics because he is still so little he can't really help or do the things I am doing with Mac right now. Because we couldn't get outside I had the boys have a snowball fight with cotton balls. It was fun for about 2-3 minutes and then Sutton tried eating the cotton balls and Macalan just wanted to dance to Christmas music. I made sure to snap a picture of Sutton enjoying one of the cookies Macalan and I made. He wasted no time gobbling it up!

While I was making/feeding/cleaning the boys up from dinner tonight I couldn't help but think about the part in the movie A Christmas Story when the family is sitting down to eat. Ralphie says something along the lines of "My mom hadn't had a hot meal to herself in seven years." Every time I sat down to attempt to eat my dinner one of the boys would ask for something or squeal a demand! I cherish the nights when Kyle is home for the obvious reasons of having our family time, but more importantly so there is someone else to take orders from our little men! :) Just kidding Kyle, I really love having you home so we can spend time as a family.

We are trying to find the time to squeeze in all these fun holiday activities, as well as finish up a little shopping. I am looking forward to having some time off to relax and enjoy my boys!

I WILL POST PICS WITH THIS ENTRY SOON! BLOGGER WON'T LET ME UPLOAD RIGHT NOW. ANNOYING!

A Message From Santa!

Kyle spent a little time last night creating a special message for Macalan from Santa. I had Macalan watch it tonight. He thought it was great that Santa was talking to him! He kept saying "Hi Santa!" At one point he asked me why Santa wasn't answering him :)

I highly suggest creating your own for the little ones in your life. It was just too cute!

http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/watch/guest/bYuYVp_QJ17nnDH5YtXrbg

It's Christmastime!

I LOVE Christmas! I am the annoying person who wants to start listening to Christmas music right around October! I don't do this of course because I want to stay married! :) Kyle can be kind of a scrooge when it comes to Christmas music.

I decided to break out the decorations a little at a time over the last week or so. I have started decorating before Thanksgiving only because we are always gone for Thanksgiving. I feel like once we get back I never have enough time to decorate and enjoy it before it's time to put it all away again.

Macalan and I had fun decorating a little tree in his room this year. He has been really good about not touching it, so far! When we were all done he said, "You did a good job mom!" :) Since Sutton still doesn't know the difference I thought he could handle not having any decorations this year, especially since he's still at the Curious George stage when EVERYTHING he's not supposed to touch gets touched!

This is the first Christmas that Macalan seems to get what Santa is. He has heard the "Santa won't bring you presents if you throw a fit and take toys from your brother" speech a million times in the last couple of weeks. Last night I heard him repeating his own little version of this speech to Sutton. It went something like this: "Sutton, Santa not bring you presents if you're not a good boy!" Now you have to imagine him saying it in a high pitched "baby-talk" voice that he reserves only for when he's speaking to Sutton!

On a side note- Today as we were driving home from S.D. Sutton got a hold of one of Macalan's favorite stuffed animals. Macalan freaked out and demanded that Sutton give it back. Of course they were both strapped tightly into their car seats so neither one could move much. Sutton started to hand it back and just as Macalan went to grab it Sutton snatched it back and giggled! I think he'll be able to hold his own pretty well! Kyle and I couldn't help but laugh and Macalan told us to "Stop being silly at him!" This is what he says anytime we laugh at him. He's our sensitive child. We've tried to explain that we're not laughing at him, we're laughing with him, but that goes over the head of a two year old!

Well I need to go find my copy of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. It seems to be missing and it's one of my favorite movies to watch this time of year. Happy Holidays!

Happy Thanksgiving

On Thursday we traveled to South Dakota to be with my family for Thanksgiving. Technically, we didn't celebrate until Friday because it was difficult trying to get everyone together. The boys had lots of fun playing with their grandparents, aunts/uncles, and cousins! It is so cute seeing them develop their relationships with our families. It is especially neat to see how my dad interacts with the boys. He was such a tough guy when I was growing up and he has become such a softy with them. :)

Saturday Kyle, my dad, and I took Macalan to see a train show. He thought it was great seeing all the little model trains race around the track. I got some practice taking pictures of my niece while we were downtown. They turned out so cute! She is growing up so fast!

Later in the day I went to see The Nutcracker Ballet. This is a production I was involved in for many years while I was in dance. It was fun to see all the great changes they've made, yet it was still so much the same. While I was at that, Kyle and my dad took Macalan to a "Cowboy Christmas" (right up my dad's alley). I missed seeing Macalan sit on Santa's lap and tell him what he wants for Christmas! He even gave him a hug! This is very different from the experience we had a couple of weeks ago when we had pictures taken with Santa. Sutton of course didn't mind at all sitting on Santa's lap, but Macalan screamed and cried the whole time. The pictures are pretty funny. I really should scan them and post them.

The car rides there and back are always challenging, but it is worth giving our boys lots of fun family memories!

Thirty???

Whether I was ready or not today I turned 30! I can't believe how that just snuck up on me. I don't feel old or anything like that, but it's a little weird saying I'm 30 years old. I brought cupcakes to school for my kids today and they had a great time guessing my age. Most of them were pretty close, but of course I had to have someone guess 80!
I feel like I have been celebrating all week. On Saturday Kyle and our families surprised me after the ISU-Nebraska game at the hotel. His mom and our nieces spent the afternoon decorating the hotel room and my sister snuck out of the game early to go pick up a cake for me! It was a nice and fun surprise. My mom has been here this week watching the boys since we don't have daycare so on Tuesday we all went out to eat at Red Lobster. This is a rare occurence because Red Lobster brings out the devil child in Macalan. Don't ask my why or how, but every time we go there he becomes loud and crabby and I feel like one of "those" people who interrupt the dinner of everyone else. Thankfully he was pretty well behaved.
Besides all the birthday celebrating I've been exhausted this week with getting ready for conferences, reading and writing a paper for my grad class, and dealing with Macalan's nightmares. Every night this week he has woken up screaming and crying and climbs into our bed. I know I should just take him back to his bed because I am creating a monster, but I am sooo tired I don't care. It's funny how all of a sudden he has started to realize that there are things that scare him. He mostly complains about either a monster or dinosaur that's going to get him. It's so sad! I wish I could take that scared feeling away from him. Sutton continues to be a champ when it comes to sleeping! He is such a laid back kid!
On top of all of this I am trying to get my photography business started. I am starting slow and very basic, but I'm so very excited about this! I was lucky enough to get my lighting for my birthday so my goal for the weekend is to figure out how everything works and take some practice pictures. Anyone who reads my blog please keep me in mind for taking pictures of your family and little ones! I hope to start a new blog for my business as soon as I get a few more details figured out. I have the urge to jump in and do a million different things with this, but I have to remember how much I have on my plate and to take everything one day at a time. I would sincerely appreciate good thoughts as I begin this new adventure! :)

A Cowboy Birthday Party

Sutton enjoyed his birthday party this weekend. He will officially be one on Tuesday, but we wanted to have a party for friends and family so we decided to celebrate this weekend.

We decided on a cowboy theme. Luckily a couple of years ago my school did a western theme so I was able to borrow a lot of the decorations. It was a money and a time saver! I was also able to get a Wilton cowboy cake pan off of ebay. Thanks to my friend Jaime for spending over three hours of her Friday night helping me get it decorated. Now that I've decorated a cake like that, even though it was time consuming, I think I might try it again for Macalan's birthday.

Sutton was spoiled rotten with lots of fun toys. Macalan had fun helping open the presents and promptly taking them away from him. Someday Sutton will get his revenge! :)

He LOVED the cake. In fact he ate two pieces. He wasn't sure what to think about the ice cream, as you can tell from the picture.

As we were singing Happy Birthday (with Mac crying in the background, he HATES that song), I couldn't help but get a little teary eyed. The first year goes by so fast and this past year has been filled with so many special memories. Sutton was a little bit of a surprise to us, but has been such a blessing. I can't imagine life without him. I'm looking forward to many more years of birthday celebrations!

I will update later in the week with his one year stats.

A child fills a place in your heart you never knew was empty.

Big Woods Run

Yesterday my sister and I ran another 5K. We did the Big Woods Run in Faribault. I was a little nervous because I haven't had the chance to run a three mile distance since school started. I thought I would really struggle, especially since I had no idea what the route was like.

When we got to the church where it was being held at we found out we had to ride a bus to the starting point for the 5K. The guy driving the bus didn't even know where he was taking us! People who had done the run before had to tell him where to go. When the race finally started most of us couldn't start running because there was a huge bottleneck of people trying to get on the path that led into the woods.

Right away I could tell it was going to be a tough run. The path through the woods was covered with leaves making it hard to see the tree roots sticking up out of the ground. Lots of people wiped out around me. Thankfully neither my sister nor I fell! About half way through there was a steep hill to run down and then we immediately had to run back up a hill. I usually save hills for the end of my runs so I was a little tired, but managed to run the whole way! The last mile felt like it took forever! It was great to accomplish another run.

Afterward LIsa and I turned in our slips for a door prize. It turns out all the door prizes were either small fleece blankets or a jar of homemade jelly. The jellies were all made by the ladies from the church that was hosting the event. We joked that only in middle America would you get a jar of jelly after finishing a race:)

Hopefully we can do it again next year!

Fall Photo Shoot

I was so happy I was able to get some really great pictures of the boys today! When Kyle got home from the ISU game we headed to a farm that belongs to the parents of one of my co-workers. They had lots of great old buildings that made the perfect backdrop for pictures. It wasn't easy, but thankfully I had lots of help to make the boys laugh and have fun.

After looking at these pictures it makes me really want to jump into photography, but I can't do that until grad school is done. One thing at a time. I can't wait to get these ordered!

Memories

Since I found out I was pregnant with Macalan I have been keeping a journal of what pregnancy was like, the birth experience, and any milestones he has reached or funny things he has done. I have been doing the same for Sutton. Last night I was looking through Macalan's journal and so many memories came flooding back. It's amazing how quickly you forget some of the things your kids do.

One particular entry had to do with the words Macalan was learning to say. The date at the top was from last August when he was about 16 months. He was saying words like bubble, water, and cracker. I also made some comments about him being nuk free for several days!

Now he speaks in very clear sentences and uses words like delicious. In fact people often comment on how well he talks. It's crazy how fast things change. There are days when Kyle and I wish he couldn't say so many things. :)

I thought I would include a picture of him from the summer of 2009, but I don't have any on my computer so I posted one from his first birthday pictures. He looks so different now!

Tailgating

Last weekend the weather finally cooperated and we were able to enjoy some ISU tailgating, not to mention an awesome 52 to 38 win! Macalan was practicing his bar backing skills. For some reason he thought it was great to fill cups with ice from the coolers. Hey...whatever keeps him from having a red-headed temper tantrum, which did occur while we were there! Sutton loved being cuddled by Aunt Penny, Grandma, AND Mommy. It was a great weekend!

I'm looking forward to hanging out at home this weekend. Kyle is heading to Ames without us. I just can't stand the thought of packing up the boys' stuff for a third weekend in a row. It will be nice to just be home and relax and hopefully get some of Sutton's birthday pictures taken.

Thomas the Train and a Cyclone Game

We had great plans this weekend to head to Ames and see Thomas the Train and enjoy the ISU game. However, the rain had other plans! Macalan had been looking forward to seeing Thomas so we went anyway. It was cold, rainy, and crowded. They were charging $18 to ride for twenty minutes and do the activities. Luckily we found out right as we were about to leave that we could do the kid's activities for only $5. We managed to get a tattoo on Mac's hand and check out the petting zoo before deciding that none of us were really having any fun. There's always next year I suppose! I did snap a picture of Thomas pulling out with all the suckers who decided to spend what I thought was an arm and leg for a short ride and not very exciting activities. Can you tell I have a bad attitude about this experience!? :)

It was intended that Sutton would have his first tailgating experience too, but it was so rainy and cold we decided to hang out with some friends who live in Ames. It was nice to be in a warm house with a clean bathroom and not a port-o-potty! Later in the day the tailgating sites were getting closed down because it was so wet. I'm glad we didn't waste our time trying to set up. I guess we'll try again next weekend.

I included a picture of Macalan showing off his Percy tattoo that he got at the Thomas the Train event. He was pretty proud of himself. He was also having fun making an Oreo, turkey, cheese, and cracker sandwich!

I am crossing my fingers that we'll have a better week this week. Last week was so crazy with all the rain and water in the basement. Right now we have the padding in the garage ready to be thrown out and every available storage bin holding up the carpet so it can dry out. Eventually we'll have the carpet relayed. I just hope this doesn't happen again! I really can't feel too bad for our situation though. I saw pictures of what other people are dealing with and we're pretty lucky.

Scary Week

I have no fun pictures to include in this blog post because life have just been too crazy right now. We are all doing pretty well adjusting to our hectic lives during the school year. Macalan and Sutton are having lots of fun playing with their daycare friends. Barb our daycare lady informed me that Sutton has started army crawling to where ever the big boys are playing! He is really getting around lately! Macalan had lots of fun at the Gustavus football game last weekend with his friend Carson. They got to run around on the football field after the game and pretend they were the big football players. Gustavus played Wartburg and that was the same day as the Iowa/Iowa State game. We felt kind of funny walking in all decked out in our Iowa State gear. We heard a few "Go Hawkeyes" and a couple of "Go Cyclones" as we walked around. Too bad they had to lose so horribly!

We had a pretty bad scare this week at our house. On Thursday a repair man had come out to fix our oven. He did a few things and left a note for Kyle that as soon as he could he should switch out the cord on the oven. Kyle was home alone with the boys that night because I had class. Thankfully he decided to do what the note said and he started changing out the cords. When he bent down to switch them he could smell and feel gas blowing in his face. He ran downstairs to shut off the gas and called the gas company. They said to call a plumber so that's who he called next. Our plumber came right over and was able to fix the problem pretty quickly. He determined that somehow the pipe had been snapped in half. We are wondering if when the repair man pulled it and then slid back in its spot if that's when it happened. I got home as soon as I could and according to the plumber we were very lucky. He said if we had tried starting the oven or lighting the burners there would have been an explosion. I couldn't help but get teared up on my way home thinking about this. I could have lost my whole family. Someone (probably Kyle's dad) was watching over us that night. The next day Kyle made a phone call to the repair company and they are waving the fee. I know none of this was done on purpose, but it still makes me angry!

Hopefully this next week will be a little more calm for us. We are headed to Ames on Friday for another ISU game! Hopefully they can pull out a win, especially since it will be Sutton's first tailgate! I will do my best to post some pictures of all the festivities!

So I have to include this! I am sitting here typing and Macalan is playing with his cars on the table by me. He just crashed them into each other and said, "Knock, Knock!" "Who's there?" "Calan!" and then he started having a conversation between his two cars! It was pretty cute. He has been really into knock knock jokes lately. The punch line for every single one when you get to the "Who's there?" part is "Calan Jophus!" He thinks it's hilarious and it's even cuter because he can't say Joseph, which is his middle name. Kids know how to make you smile even when things aren't the greatest!

First tumbling class!

Macalan had his first tumbling class tonight. He really seemed to enjoy it. I was afraid he'd be scared and freak out and not want to participate, but he did really well. I can already tell we'll need to be working on some things at home. He has always struggled a little bit with large motor activities. Hopefully this class will help with that.

Sutton and I enjoyed hanging out in the lobby and watching while Kyle took Mac in to the class. It was fun to sit back and watch his reactions to everything. We were happy to see that some of our friends had enrolled their kids in the same class. It's always nice to know someone!

At the end the kids got to go in the foam pit. Macalan called the foam pieces ice cubes because they were light blue squares. He told me I should throw him in the ice cubes next week. Thankfully he wants to go back again! It probably helps that the teachers pass out stickers at the end of every class! Macalan is a sticker fanatic!

I'm hoping to get some pictures of him at some point, but I'm not sure if they will allow that or not. I hope they do because he looks so cute trying to do the different activities.

First Haircut and 10 Months!

Last week I took Sutton in for his first haircut! I really wanted to hold out until he turned one, but his hair was covering his ears and he was starting to get a mullet in the back. :) He did pretty well except for the times that I had hold his head still. I can't believe how much bigger he looks just by getting his hair cut. I made sure to ask the girl cutting his hair to save some in an envelope for me. It's crazy how much his hair has changed since he was a newborn. When he was first born he had lots of dark hair and now it's pretty much blonde!

Sutton also turned 10 months old today. I feel like I was just posting his 9 month entry. Each month seems to go faster and faster! It makes me itch for another baby, but don't worry...I think we'll hold out for a couple more years! I don't think I can handle much more right now.

In the last month Sutton has decided he's tired of just sitting on the floor and allowing his brother to come and take his toys. Now he has taken matters into his own hands. He has gotten to the point where he could be crawling at any time. At this point he gets up on all fours, rocks back and forth, and then slips to his tummy and army crawls. I think he got tired of being "bullied" by Macalan so now he wants to get his toys back! We'll see how that goes!

Aside from trying to crawl, there really isn't anything different from 9 months. He continues to explore and try to get into everything around him, he finds sneezing hilarious, he loves splashing in the tub with his brother, and he's trying to master using a sippy cup. It's hard to believe I almost have a two year old AND a one year old!

Almost a crawler!

Sutton is getting closer and closer each day to crawling! He's been able to get up on all fours pretty easily. However, once he's up he rocks back and forth and sometimes is able to move one hand forward a little, which typically makes him slip back on to his belly. I don't think it will be too many more days before he's on the move! This is exciting and scary. I will now have two busy boys to chase.

It's funny how different kids can be. Macalan wasn't at all interested in crawling until he was just a couple of weeks away from his first birthday. Then he finally did it! Once he mastered crawling he must have thought that was better than walking because it took him until about about 17 months or so before he walked! That was when we took our first trip to the ER because he split his head open on the corner of his bed! I remember discussing at length with the pediatrician how concerned I was for him. I kept being told not to worry, that it would happen and that once it finally did I would miss the days when he didn't walk/run all over the place. I have to say, sometimes I do miss those days when I could plop him down and he stayed in the same spot. Now I find him on top of the coffee table or trying to climb into Sutton's crib, etc.!

As busy as these little guys keep us and as often as I am having to deal with "terrible twos" issues lately, I wouldn't trade it for the world. It's so easy to get upset about small, insignificant things that, when it comes down to it, just don't matter. I am grateful for every moment I have with my kids, both the good and the bad. I am reminded of this even more lately after experiencing the death of a co-worker's son. At just 15 he was taken from his family and friends, who loved him dearly, due to an undetected heart problem. I think about him and his family often, especially his mom. I can't imagine what it would be like to lose a child. I hope and pray I never have to experience such a heartbreaking loss. I am amazed at the strength this family has had through this very emotional time. The strength they've shown both in their faith and in themselves is inspiring. It just reminds me that no one is promised tomorrow and that we need to enjoy life as much as possible.

Hopefully I'll be able to post a picture or video of my littlest blessing crawling soon!

Fun weekend!

This past weekend was Riverboat Days in my hometown. It's the annual summer event with a parade, food, crafts, and of course a beer tent! Five weeks ago Kyle, my sister, and I decided to run in the 5k that is always Saturday morning before the parade. I have to say I was really worried about doing this. I have never been a great runner so I was worried I wouldn't be able to run the whole way or that I would embarrass myself by coming in dead last. Fortunately I ran the whole way and didn't come in last! I am even thinking about running in another 5k this fall. Kyle and my sister did great too! I am so proud of us. I guess I can cross that off my list of things to do before I turn 30!

While we were home we decided to take some cowboy pictures of the boys. My brother lives near a lake in the country so it was the perfect spot. He also owns horses so we had access to a saddle for them to sit on. I am planning on having a cowboy themed birthday party for Sutton's first birthday. I figured this would be a great opportunity to get some pictures to use on his invite. They turned out awesome! I was so happy with them that I made a trip to get them printed off the very next day. I even made his birthday invite on Shutterfly! I am a little ahead of the game on this, but I had lots of homework to do this week and I needed a distraction from actually doing it! :)

We had a fun time with my family and catching up with old friends. I feel blessed to have so many wonderful memories of this summer. Work starts on Monday so ready or not here comes another school year!

Another trip to the zoo!

The weather the past few days has been gorgeous so my friend Katie and I decided it would be a great day to head to the zoo. The boys had fun with her little girl Zoie. Sutton loved being carried around by Katie all day. She was getting her "baby fix" as she likes to call it! =)
The bears were being fed apples when we stopped by their exhibit. That particular day there were horses pulling the trolley that takes you out to the farm area so that was a fun ride. Macalan was brave and went inside the pen with the goats. He even pet one! Sutton wasn't so sure he liked the goats. We also took a ride on the tram. We had never done that before so it was fun to see a view of the zoo from a different angle. My days at home with the boys are numbered so I'm glad we could get another trip to the zoo in before I head back to work.
On a different topic, we got our swing set put up on Sunday! Macalan is having so much fun playing on it. I'll post more about that soon.

9 month stats

Sutton and I went to the doctor today for his nine month check up. It was a great surprise to find out he didn't need shots! He was all up to date so he won't need them again until he's one.
It was nice for he and I to have some time together. Even though we were at the doctor and not doing anything very fun it was great to have that one on one time. Potty training Macalan has been very time consuming and he is just a busy boy so I spend a lot of time chasing after and entertaining him. Poor Sutton often has to wait a while for his turn. That has been the only downfall to having 2 kids. I feel like I can't give either of them all the attention they need. I think Kyle and I will be trying harder to spend more quality one on one time with the boys from now on. I could tell Sutton just loved having mommy all to himself!
Here are his stats:
20 lbs 4 oz
27 1/2 inches long
18 1/2 head circumference
His weight and length are average, but of course his head is huge! I guess we just make babies with big heads! I just tell myself it's to hold all those brains!! =)

9 months

Sutton turned 9 months this week! We are heading to the doctor tomorrow. I'm anxious to see how much he weighs now. He has become quite a little tank! During Macalan's nap today we headed outside to get a few pictures. He was in such a good mood (as always). I think he had a smile on his face in just about all of the pictures. I will update tomorrow after we visit the doctor!

Summer Fun

Summer has been going by way too fast! The boys and I have been having lots of fun doing the things we don't always have time for during the school year. We've visited the library several times. I usually end up chasing Macalan trying to keep him away from the water feature! Sometimes I wish he could tolerate being in the stroller for longer periods of time.
The pool has been a fun place to hang out too. It is a little challenging going to the pool with a 2 year old and an 8 month old, but I always have very reliable friends to go with who help me out!
Macalan has been having fun doing different art projects. The other day he had a blast finger painting. At first he didn't like the feeling of the paint, but it only took a few minutes for him to get good and messy! He has also discovered how much fun baby toys can be again (as you can see from the picture). While I was making the bed one morning I heard the excer-saucer bouncing up and down. I knew it couldn't be Sutton because he was taking a nap. Sure enough Macalan decided to try it out again.
Sutton is busy scooting around on his back. He has no interest in learning to crawl. It has been really cute to see he and Macalan playing together more and more. I love how they can make each other laugh. Sutton has recently learned to hold his own bottle. However, it's a skill I don't let him use very often because I like our cuddle time during bottle feedings.
I'm trying to relish every moment I have with them this summer because I know soon enough it will be time to go back to work.

Happy 4th of July!

We had a fun Fourth of July. We headed to St. Peter in the morning for the parade. It was the first time we had gone and it was a lot of fun. We sat with a fellow teacher's family. Her kids were so sweet! They made sure they shared their candy with Macalan who wasn't quite as quick as the other kids to get to it! Sutton enjoyed being held by everyone and watching the parade go by.
Later in the day Kyle's family joined us for a BBQ and some fireworks. We only had sparklers and few other types, but it was still pretty fun. Hopefully next year we can make it to a big fireworks display, but Sutton was too tired make it this year.
Macalan had a blast wearing his necklace he got at the parade and his new fireman boots from Grandma Mary. I wish I could have gotten a picture of him with the blue star glasses. He looked like Elton John!
The boys and I said goodbye to Kyle early this morning. He left for a trip to the Boundary Waters with his brother and some other guys from our church. Luckily I won't be home alone all week. We have Grandma Mary and Cousin Allison here to help keep us company!