Friday!

Can you believe this little guy is going to be three months old soon? In just 5 days? Wow.

I feel like it took us so long to get to a point with Michael where things actually got easier and here were are again at that stage with Trace. Things are getting easier: he is getting on a better schedule and sleeping better at night. We are still working on the bottle and I am confident he will get it.

Have you ever tried to get a breastfed baby to take a bottle? It is so hard. I'm sure I can't be the only one who has experienced this. We usually try with it for about 15 minutes each feeding session, which adds up to lots of screaming throughout the day. It's hard, and I know it's wearing on Michael too. This week we were in the middle of trying to feed Trace with the bottle and he was screaming and Michael was screaming and then Michael just sunk his sharp teeth into Trace's fat, chubby little leg and wow...the poor wails from little Trace were heartbreaking. It was tears all around- Michael for going straight to time out and me for torturing my poor little baby.

It was not a good morning.

But we're working on it, and there are lots of good moments in there along with the frustrating.



The good....the weather here has been amazing this week. Nice and cool and just perfect. We went to the zoo for a little bit this week and the animals were all up and about. Some animals that I have never seen move like the gibbons were all up and swinging about. It was awesome.



The bad...my least favorite part of the day are the hours between naptime and bedtime. It is hard waiting for Scott to get home, get dinner on the table, and get kids into bed. I've been trying to be a little bit proactive about this and trying to find some activities to do during this time. It seems to be helping. I usually try not to be out and about after 4 because of traffic but sometimes an outing really helps with things, even if it is just to the small grocery store down the road (which actually doesn't get busy with the after work crowd until 5).

Good...I've been trying to take pictures in manual mode on my camera. It is a fun challenge even though I really have no idea what I'm doing.

Good...Michael loves my flowers. Bad....Michael likes my flowers.

In other randomness, I switched out the upstairs toys this week to give Michael a fresh basket of play things and that has turned out to be a good decision. Our toys keep migrating upstairs to our already overflowing toy basket, so I finally took them back downstairs and sorted, put away, and pulled out fresh ones. I even started a little basket of toys for Trace since he likes looking at them these days!

...and there's my little chunky monkey now! Happy Friday!

Family Weekend

We hosted Scott's sister and her family last weekend. They were here to meet Trace and of course Ellie and Michael had lots of fun playing together.

Our first stop on Saturday was to the zoo. My little groupon deal I bought this spring has paid for itself probably 10 times over. It is so nice to have a membership you can bring guests on; everyone got in for free! We did a lap around the zoo and stayed for about 90 minutes before the humidity got to the best of us.



This picture makes Michael look so big! This was our first trip to the zoo where Michael walked the whole time, thanks in part to Scott who could hold his hand while I wore Trace. It was busy and I'm glad we didn't have a stroller!









We got to feed this guy- another first for me. He is so beautiful up close!





The big male lion was out snoozing on the big rock right in front of the window. So great!



We also had plenty of time just chilling at home and Jen made us some of her blackberry margaritas. She needed some taste testers for a new recipe and we were definitely willing guinea pigs!



Saturday night we headed to Big Creek state park for a picnic but it was way too hot and plus there were a ton of people around. It was kind of a bust- I should have stuck to my familiar Jester Park! Live and learn, I guess. It was Michael's first time at this little beach and he was pretty excited about it.




All in all, it was a great weekend with family. I am living up my final days before school starts in just a few weeks!

Fair and Family

I bravely made the trek back to my hometown this past week for a quick visit. I was pretty proud of myself for making the 3 hour drive with two small kids all by myself! We had very good car rides both on the way there and back...no crying and just one stop. And yes, you can call me supermom if you want.

We stopped by the nursing home to see my grandma and we drew quite a crowd. Michael was being grumpy so one of the ladies at the home gave him a little dish of ice cream and then he was a wild man. We met grandma in the dining room so at least Michael had lots of room to run.

I was happy grandma got to meet Trace. He was such a good baby for her.

Michael had such a good time on the farm, especially with his uncle "Sim" (Sam). Michael looks a lot like Sam when he was a kid; I think it is that blonde, blonde hair!



Hannah, the newest addition to the family. She's a Saint Bernard, can you believe it?

On Thursday we got up early to watch the hog show at the county fair. It was exciting! Denise got two purple ribbons for best in her class and it was pretty entertaining to watch her show her pigs.

The boys both had a nice time at the fair, and we ran into lots of old friends. I'm sure the county fair will become a fast tradition with my boys just like it was for me!

We had a great time and can't wait until next year!

Phone Friday

Weekend

We were at Scott's parents' house this weekend for a little visit so they could see the boys. Scott actually rode another day of RAGBRAI with his brother and his kids but we didn't go visit so I don't have any photos to share. Margie and I hung out with the boys and went downtown for their little town festival and actually got there just in time for a little parade! I think Michael has seen about 3 parades this summer and has loved all of them. We did a little shopping and Margie had fun showing off her newest grandchildren. It is so funny to be back in the town where my husband spent the early years of his childhood.



The rest of the weekend was just spent relaxing and playing with cousins. It is so fun to see Michael with his older cousins. I'm glad we get to see them fairly often especially since our extended family is pretty small.

Scott's parents just finished their new addition but it is not quite furnished yet which made a great area for the kids to play and to run!

Michael was so worn out from all the commotion he slept every time we were in the car and even slept in one morning when we got home!

I love the vintage Fisher-Price sets....I think they are always so fun. My grandma had one when I was little, too!

And as usual, Trace spent alot of time snoozing and snuggling!

Monday

Our heat wave is back again this week. We thought we'd beat the heat this morning and head out to the park to jog and play but when we got home we realized it was already a 100 degree heat index. The sun was brutal.



Scott did a day of RAGBRAI this past week and it was weird not having him do the whole week. Hopefully he'll be able to get back into it next summer and ride the whole time. I met up with him and his friend Adam in one of the small towns to say hi. Michael loved seeing the bikes and waving bye to all the riders.

The elementary school brought our their tables for the riders to use. It is just the right size for Michael and makes Scott look like a giant!

I realize I always post these photos and it looks so funny because Trace isn't in them even though he is there with us. He is usually riding happily in my ergo carrier and looks something like this:

Happy Monday!