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!

Father's Day Weekend

This past weekend Kyle and I took the boys to the Ames/DesMoines area for some family fun. We got to the hotel on Friday night. Macalan and Kyle went swimming right away because Macalan had been talking about it all week. The next morning we had to stop at the mall to grab a few updates to our ISU apparel. We're already excited for tailgating season!
Next, we made the trip to Boone where they have several old train cars that are still running. Macalan had lots of fun picking out a new train to add to his Thomas collection. Sutton even got a stuffed train toy. Soon it was time to board the train and take a ride. It was so much fun! However, I think people in the early 1900s must have been really short because we could barely fit in the seats without our knees hitting each other or another seat.
The boys both had a great time watching the scenery go by. We enjoyed eating lunch and I was very distracted with taking pictures. I thought I could quick set my bag of chips in Sutton's lap while I snapped a few pictures. I was wrong! He grabbed the bag and proceeded to dump every chip and crumb into his lap! That was really fun to clean up! He just sat with a big smile on his face. Stinker!
Later on we drove to the ISU campus to walk around and take pictures. A nice little boy shared some bread with Mac so he could feed the swans, Sir Lancelot and Elaine (I think those were their names). We even saw a wedding in progress and several bridal parties taking pictures. It is such a beautiful campus! Our visit wouldn't have been complete without Kyle taking pictures of Jack Trice Stadium. As I said before, we're really excited for football season!
On Sunday Macalan and Sutton presented Kyle with his Spongebob Square Pants card, complete with a badge for Kyle to wear (which he never did put on, I wonder why). Mac insisted on this card while looking at cards in Target last week. I think he wanted it so he could wear the sticker. He has been obsessed with stickers lately. I should mention that I really dislike Spongebob, but Macalan went to a b-day party and that was the theme. Ever since then he notices him in the store and calls him "BunSponge."
To end the weekend we went to the Iowa Cubs game! We will probably never make it to Wrigley so we decided this would be the next best thing. We had tickets right behind the bull pen and some lady, who must be a groupy, got one of the pitchers to give Macalan a ball, which we later had signed. The game was slightly stressful because Mac was all over the place and Sutton was really fussy. This was strange for him because he is the kid we sometimes forget we have because he is always so quiet and mello. We jokingly call him our resident pot head. He never gets his feathers ruffled. However, they made it through six innings and even though the Cubs lost, we had a fun time!
To end a really, really long post, we had a great family weekend! I hope to do it again soon.