Walking and running

Just a typical Saturday morning in our Halloween costumes.

Team work - pushing their picnic table up and down the hall together.

Our big news this week is that Hadley is officially a walker....and a runner.  It took her a little longer than Miles to start walking but all of a sudden one day this week she just took off - no hesitation - running and speed walking around the house.  She looks like a little 2-foot tall whirlwind cruising around everywhere (usually going in all of the rooms we don't want her in).  Her favorite walk is to head into Miles room when no one else is in there so that she can lay on his pillow.  She now officially is giving Miles a run for his money.  I think Hads will be our wild child. 

I can walk and carry my toys!

Hey!  Where did my ball go?

Even though it's hard to tell from these pictures Miles has not felt 100% since he got an ear infection 1 1/2 weeks ago.  This Friday he also had a fever that persisted through today so I finally took him in again.  He's on an oral antibiotic for his ear and has sores in the back of his throat that indicate Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease.  He's been sluggish and has no appetite.  It's probably just a matter of time before Hadley gets it too. 

Cooling off in the pool.

In a moment of both energy and spontaneity Miles struck this pose just as I was snapping the picture.

Hadley couldn't just watch Miles eat a Popsicle - she insisted (by signing "please" over and over again) that she have one too.  This is her first one and she loved it!

Hopefully our boy feels better soon.

This water baby had a case of the giggles in the tub tonight.

What's better than a chubby, laughing baby?

The Farm, Falls and Fathers

Hadley really likes blackberries.

 Now that Hads is a little older she is a better playmate for Miles.  These two love to have fun together (when they aren't fighting over the same thing).  Here are three funny things Miles said this week:

• One night at dinner he said "I want butter."  He wasn't eating anything that would be appropriate to have butter on so Grandpa Gray asked him "where do you want it?"  Miles said "on my finger."  He has been known to swipe butter and lick it straight off his fingers.
• We were talking about the weather and I asked Miles "where is the sun?"  Very matter-of-factly he said "I'm going to test it" and he ran to open the sliding glass door out to the deck.  He stepped outside for a minute and then came back inside and reported "the sun's not out."
• Today we saw a golden retriever and I pointed it out to Miles and said "look at the big dog."  Miles said "yeah, big like you mom."  Ummm, thanks Miles...

Miles is fighting his first ear infection since he got tubes in his ears at 15 months.  His left ear is very sore and he's on ear drops and ibuprofen.  Of note, he's also starting in the younger preschool room at school.

Hadley has been getting worse with sleep.  Mike and I haven't been diligent with sleep training her like we were with Miles.  Gradually though Hads was having a more difficult time going down to sleep and would wake up every night crying.  She would then end up sleeping in our bed - which means she would flop around a lot and sleep while Mike and I would get no sleep.  So we started sleep training her.  We began by putting her down in her crib awake at bedtime.  The first night she cried for 1 hour before falling asleep.  This was torture for all of us because I don't think she's cried for more than 5 minutes at a time her whole life.  She now cries only a few minutes each night before falling asleep.  Last night we started having her self sooth in the middle of the night as well.  Each of the 7 times she woke up crying (yes, it's like we're living with a newborn again) we went to her crib, made sure she had her pacifier and told her it's night-night time.  She cried for about 15 minutes each time before falling back asleep on her own.  Of course this meant that Mike and I got very little sleep.  Although difficult now, we're on the right path for getting our family back on track for sleep (a full nights rest is something Mike I can can only imagine at this point).

Miles loves to give Hads high speed rides up and down the hall.

Just hanging out together.

Here Miles told me  that he was trying to give Hadley a mohawk.

Laughing with mommy.

 We had a very fun and busy weekend.  Saturday morning we visited our CSA (community supported agriculture) farm in Hutchinson with Mike and Mariann.  Loon Organics is a beautiful organic farm that we pay a flat fee to in the winter in return for a large box of fresh produce every week from June-October. 

Hadley and Miles loved the chickens.

We got to pick two varieties of strawberries to bring home.

Miles was very proud of these strawberries...

...And wouldn't put them down.

Hadley and I admired the potato field which will supply us with lots of potatoes later in the season.

We also visited the local pet store and had lunch at Zella's downtown Hutchinson.  The weather Saturday was so beautiful the kids got to do one of their favorite activities in the afternoon - bike riding.

Caught red-handed!

 To celebrate Father's Day, Rachel and I surprised Mike and Graham with a dad's night out at the Twins game Friday night.  Today we met the Sievers at Minnehaha Park for a morning of fun.  We started off my renting bike surreys.  I was laughing so hard during our cruise around the park my cheeks hurt. 

To prepare for our trip the kids each got to pick out their helmets.

Here we are in our surrey.  Hads and Miles got to ride up front while we pedaled in the back.

 After our bike adventure we explored the park.

Miles and Corey climbed a tree.

Mike and Miles took a break.

We enjoyed the falls and ate lunch at Sea Salt.

Caught red-handed again!  Does she look guilty?

Miles is feeding Hads some of the organic strawberries he picked.

We finished our Father's Day celebration with a grilled shrimp dinner with Mike's parents and my mom.  Mike and I are both lucky to have such great fathers.  I think Mike also feels good today about being a dad.  Happy Father's Day everyone!

Maiden Voyage

Life is passing by so quickly with so much going on - I didn't want to leave out a cool thing Miles and I did during the week I had off before starting my new job.  Since Hadley was born, Miles and I don't get a lot of 1:1 time like we used to so I wanted to have a special day - just me and him.  I took him to Nickelodeon Universe one morning for a mom and son adventure.  He wasn't scared and we enthusiastically rode on 8 rides that morning.  He loved Dora's train but wasn't satisfied with only sticking to the littlest rides.  He initiated going on the Ferris Wheel.  I wasn't sure he'd like it but once we were a few stories high I put my arm around him (the bucket didn't have seat belts) and he said "mom, don't hold on to me!"  I couldn't help it - I wanted to protect him but also show him what a great time I was having with him.  We spent about 2 hours there before going to lunch.  I told him he could eat whatever he wanted and he chose cheese pizza.  He probably won't remember this special day together - but I will and hopefully there will be many more in the years to come!

The big news in our household this week was that we got a few trees taken down in our backyard to kick-off a major landscape project.  The tree trimmers were climbing so high in our trees - we sat by our windows captivated for a couple of hours watching them.  

Since Hads is a biker girl we tried Miles' old helmet on her.

 We went to the cabin for the weekend and it seems just in such a short span of time Hadley is now standing up independently (and does it often), has taken more tentative steps without holding on, blows kisses to all of her adoring fans often, makes a clicking sound when she sees or hears us talking about horses and her top 4 teeth have broken through.

So proud of her new skill.

 Here is the "after" picture with our new/old pontoon boat.  Look back at the blog a couple of weeks ago for the "before" picture.  We took it for its' maiden voyage this weekend.  It wasn't only the pontoon's first time in the water since we purchased it - it was also Hadley's first time riding on a boat.

Here we are launching it in the water.

We're ready to take it for a spin!

Hadley and Miles are suited up and enjoying a snack as we leave the dock.

A few minutes later we had engine problems and Mike and my dad started to row us ashore.

The kids didn't care - they were busy snacking and watching the spectacle.

 We made it safely back to shore and the wires that were loose were reconnected.  We did actually take it our for a real cruise the next day.

Enjoying the water.

Of all the new things Hadley is doing and discovering - this is one of the funnier ones.  She now realizes she has a belly button!

1st Birthday Party

Has it stopped raining yet so we can play outside?

A lot has happened in our family in the last two weeks.  We celebrated Hadley's 1st birthday with a big family party, spent Memorial weekend at the cabin, began work on a 1973 pontoon boat in which we now are part owners and I started my new job.  Whew!  That's not mentioning just our daily grind of work, daycare, laundry, trying to eat a healthy dinner and all staying relatively sane.

As I mentioned, we headed up to the cabin for the first time this year for a long Memorial weekend.  It was a full house with my parents, Mike's parents as well as Rachel and Matt's families and 3 dogs.  The more the merrier!  In our family tradition we had very early mornings, ate lots of good food and were busy  keeping 4 kids 2 years old and under entertained - rain or shine.  

What kid doesn't like a horsey ride from dad and grandpas?

We had a lot of close bonding time.  Behind Hads is her new little cousin due in August!

We bought a pontoon but in actuality it's 2 floats that we're building upon  in order to transform it into a party barge!

 

We also had Hadley's 1st birthday party on Saturday afternoon.  After naps we opened presents and had one of her favorite meals of steak, shrimp, cheesy potatoes and fruit.  Hads liked the balloons and all of the gifts - including a doll house, riding toy, new clothes and her own comfy chair. 

She didn't even wait for the toy to be fully unwrapped before jumping right on.

I love to party!

Our best family photo at this party.

Hads held onto her birthday balloon throughout the whole meal.

We made her a homemade carrot cake with cream cheese frosting topped with pink frosting and sprinkles.  Yum!

Hadley picked up her whole piece of cake and chomped on it.  Bradyn smeared it all over his face.

Someone didn't want to go to bed so played cards with Grandpa until 10:30 one night.

Godfather and Godson - they look like real father and son sometimes!

These two busy boys played so well the whole weekend. 

Bathing beauty on the beach.

Here's the whole crew for Hadley's birthday.

We also celebrated Bradyn's 1st birthday - this was the best cousin picture of the weekend.

Lots of cake in the hair and sand in the mouth necessitated a bath.  Who doesn't love a double baby bath?!

Our little "twins" also enjoyed the swing together.

Our big boy.

We are busy this summer but some of my favorite moments are found in enjoying the little things - like Miles singing church songs while helping us trim our bushes.  Hadley now signs please and blows kisses like a pro.  Nothing makes her happier then basking in attention and love from her brother but they are starting to enter a new phase in brother and sisterhood - "Hadley's looking at me!"  "Don't let Hadley touch my puppies!"  These are just a few phrases we hear often these days.  Both Miles and Hads also don't like it when I hold just one of them - they want me to put down the other one and hold only them.  Now that I'm working full time Grandma and Grandpa Gray are taking care of the kids on Fridays and the kids are loving all of the attention they are getting and fun they are having.  Miles is busy helping Grandpa Gray with lots of projects around the house and Hadley likes practicing to walk with grandma.